The Matrix logon
PBMatrix is an optional plug-in (PEX\PBMATRIX.P3X) that gives callers an old-school “elite BBS” front door before they log in: the board's name in big block letters (or your own ANSI art), a lightbar menu, a logon box and a small system-status box.
| Menu choice | Does |
|---|---|
| L Logon | Username (name or handle) and password, inside the screen. |
| A Apply for access | The new-user process. |
| C Check status | Shows whether an application was granted, is pending or was denied. |
| F Feedback to SysOp | Leave a message. |
| P Page SysOp | Ask the sysop to chat. |
| D Disconnect | Hang up. |
Use the arrow keys and Enter, or press the highlighted letter. Callers log in inside the screen; afterwards ProBoard goes on as always. Pop-over boxes ask for the system password, a new name, feedback or a page reason. The system box shows members, callers online, the last caller and the time.
Turn it on
- In PBConfig open Options, then System Options. The group Login / PBMatrix has:
- Login style: ProBoard Default (the classic prompts, the default) or Matrix.
- P3X file name: the plug-in in the PEX folder, without
.P3X(defaultPBMATRIX). - Use system password / System password: with the Matrix the password is asked in a pop-over box after the caller's name and password are right (or before the screen).
- Matrix settings…: the rest.
- Save. The next caller gets the Matrix. Set the style back to ProBoard Default at any time.
ProBoard Default ignores every Matrix setting except the system password.
Callers who cannot use it
Callers without ANSI or IBM graphics, local (console) logins and screens shorter than 24 lines get the classic prompts. RLogin auto-logins from trusted hosts skip it. If PBMATRIX.P3X is missing the classic prompts are used too.
Matrix settings (''Configs\PBMATRIX.CFG'')
New accounts
| Mode | Effect |
|---|---|
| Open - anyone may apply | “Apply for access” runs the normal new-user questions and the caller is signed in. |
| Open - SysOp validates every account | The account is created at level 0 (not active) and a message goes to the sysop. Give it a level in the User Editor to grant access. To deny it, mark it deleted and put the reason in its Comment field; the applicant sees the reason under Check status. |
| Closed - system password needed | Apply asks for the system password first. |
| Closed - invitation-only notice | Apply shows a notice and points to Feedback to SysOp. |
| Closed - Apply hidden | No Apply choice at all. |
If ProBoard's New user level is 0 (a private system), Apply is closed whatever you choose here.
Check status lets anyone type a name and see GRANTED (level 1 or more), PENDING (level 0) or DENIED (deleted). That also reveals whether a given name exists on the board, so turn Apply off if that matters to you.
Header screens. PBMATRIX1.ANS to PBMATRIX10.ANS in your text files folder replace the big-letter banner. Choose Single, Random, Sequential, By node number or By day of the week, and the first and last screen (1 to 99). A number with no file is skipped. If none exist, PBMatrix draws the board's name from Site Info in block letters. Screens 11 to 19 are full-screen pictures (below).
Colour theme, tagline, countdown. Themes: blue, red, green, magenta, amber or gray. The tagline is a line under the name. The countdown is the Login Guard pause after a wrong password, shown inside the box.
Making your own header screens
A header screen is ordinary ANSI art, 6 lines tall (screen rows 2 to 7; the menu starts on row 9). Save it as PBMATRIX<n>.ANS in CP437. Anything after a Ctrl-Z (SAUCE) and any line beyond the sixth is ignored. Use only ASCII and CP437 characters 0x80 and above (no 0x01 to 0x1F “smiley” glyphs).
| Token | Replaced by |
|---|---|
@BANNER@ | One row of the board's name in big block letters, centred, in the colour in force. Use three on three lines for the whole 3-row banner. If a name is too long for block letters, a one-line banner is drawn at the second token. |
@BBSNAME@ | The board name as plain text. |
@TAGLINE@ | The tagline from the settings. |
A first line ;theme=red (blue, red, green, magenta, amber, gray) sets the box colours for that screen.
Full-screen pictures (11 to 19)
A full-screen picture is a whole 80 by 25 ANSI picture with the Matrix drawn on it: a lightbar laid out as the artist drew it, either a left and right bar along the bottom or an up and down list inside a box in the art. The logon is a pop-over box. Nine pictures come with ProBoard. To use them set Matrix settings > Header screens > First screen 11 and Last screen 19. Keep the artists' own credits when you edit a picture.
A picture is full-screen when a layout file with the same name and a .CFG extension sits next to it (PBMATRIX11.ANS and PBMATRIX11.CFG). Edit the layout in Matrix settings > Screens tab: pick a screen, click a cell to put the selected choice there (drag to size the highlight), or press Auto-detect to let PBConfig find the six words in the art. The file is plain text and you can edit it by hand:
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
layout full | Required. |
style bar|list | Left/right lightbar, or up/down list. |
theme, tagline | Optional overrides for this picture. |
item <name> <row> <col> <width> <key> <label> | One for each of logon, apply, check, feedback, page, disconnect (all six are needed). |
select, normal, dim | Colours of the highlighted, other and closed choices. |
movekeys az | Use A and Z to move the bar (the Apply key is then N). |
stats <row> <col> <width> <align> <fg> [lines] | Where members, callers, last caller and time are shown. |
hint <row> <col> <fg> [text] | The key hint. |
status <row> | The status bar row (default 25); 0 for none. |
text <row> <col> <width> <align> <fg> <text> | A fixed line; @BBSNAME@, @TAGLINE@, @NODE@, @VERSION@ are replaced. |
Colours are black blue green cyan red magenta brown lgray dgray lblue lgreen lcyan lred lmagenta yellow white, or 0 to 15, or - to keep the art's own.
The PBMatrix Settings window
Open it from Options > System Options > Matrix settings…. It has two tabs: General (accounts, header screens, theme, countdown) and Screens, shown here.
Figure 1. The Screens tab, with a full-screen picture selected. The preview shows the Matrix drawn on the picture.
On the left:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pictures found in the Text files folder | Lists the PBMATRIX<n>.ANS pictures with their number, file name and whether they are full-screen. Click one to work on it. |
| Full-screen picture (use the layout below) | Turns the picture into a whole Matrix screen. It needs a layout, which is saved in the picture's .CFG file. |
| Auto-detect and Revert | Auto-detect finds the six menu words in the art and places them. Revert goes back to the last saved layout. |
| Style | List - Up/Down moves or the left/right bar. |
| Theme | A colour theme for this picture, or the Matrix settings theme. |
| Tagline | A line of text for this picture. |
| A / Z also move the bar | Lets callers use A and Z as well as the arrow keys. |
| Status line row | The row of the status bar. 25 is the default and 0 means none. |
| Selected, Others, Dimmed | The Text, Background and Hot key colours of the highlighted choice, the other choices and the closed ones. “Keep art” leaves the picture's own colours. |
On the right is a live preview of the picture with the Matrix on it, and below it the controls for one menu choice:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Editing | Which of the six choices you are placing (Logon, Apply, Check status, Feedback, Page, Disconnect). |
| Show bar on and Apply closed | Which choice the preview highlights, and whether to preview it as closed. |
| Row, Column, Width | Where the choice sits on the picture. You can also click the preview to place it. |
| Key and Label | The hot key and the text shown. |
| Align, Colour, Lines | Settings for a text line. |
| Placed | Whether this choice has been placed on the picture. |
| Text, Add text line, Remove | Add fixed text lines to the picture, or remove one. |
A line at the bottom tells you when the layout is complete, for example “The plug-in will use this picture as the whole Matrix screen.” Click OK to save, or Cancel.
Good to know
- Login Guard still bans abusive addresses before a node starts, so a banned caller never sees the Matrix. Failed logons and the wait are reported to Login Guard as with the classic prompts.
- The plug-in only draws the screen. Name lookup, passwords, the new-user questions, security messages and paging are ProBoard's own code, so the rules are the same either way.
- An idle visitor is disconnected after five minutes.
- Plug-ins are tied to the engine's plug-in interface version: rebuild or reinstall every
.P3Xtogether withProBoard.exe.