Protocol Configuration - (F2)

The second option in PROCFG.EXE is “Protocols”. You may want to skip this option when doing a first-time installation of ProBoard, as many protocol configurations are included in the file PROTOCOL.PRO (which can be found in the file EX_CFG.ZIP). You should select each protocol listed and set 'Enabled' to 'No' (you won't lose the protocol configuration) unless you have the actual protocol file itself physically on your hard drive. The protocols themselves are NOT included with ProBoard, but can be obtained from any ProBoard Support BBS, as well as many others.

Downloading and uploading files has always been one of the most important activities of BBS's. Most BBS programs have file transfer protocols pre-installed and do not allow additional protocols to be configured. ProBoard's philosophy is entirely different: no protocols are actually embedded in the code, all protocols are external and are being called by ProBoard.

As of yet, we don't know of any external protocol incompatible with ProBoard, Bimodem included! If you happen to find one that you think is an incompatible external file transfer protocol, please let us know!

Upon selection of the 'Protocols' option, a submenu is displayed containing the protocols already present. Add a protocol by pressing <Ins>, remove a protocol by pressing <Del>.

A protocol is entirely defined by the following parameters:

Protocol Name

Protocol's name, to be displayed in the down/upload menu. This can include a short description if you like.

Hotkey

Key to be pressed by the user to activate the protocol.

Batch ………………….. Determines whether the protocol can handle

batch-mode (whether it can handle multiple
files). Xmodem for example can handle only
one file at a time, while Zmodem can handle
multiple files.

Enabled ………………… ProBoard comes with several pre-configured

protocols for which you may not have the
necessary files. It would be useless to
have these protocols displayed in the menu.
You can prevent this by setting Enable to
'No', without having to lose the
configuration for this protocol.

Both-Way ……………….. Determines whether the protocol is a full-

duplex protocol, i.e.. whether it can send
and receive files at the same time. (eg.
Bimodem)

Bimodem ………………… The Bimodem protocol uses an odd format for

its control file. Setting Bimodem to 'Yes'
causes the control file to be written to
disk in Bimodem-format.

Log File ……………….. Name of the log file created by the

protocol. After the file transfer, the
information needed to update the user-
records will be obtained from this file by
ProBoard. Most protocols write a file
specified in the environment variable
DSZLOG. ProBoard will set this variable to
the right filename for you. ProBoard checks
for the logfile in the directory where it
was started from, so if some external
protocol writes a different logfile than
the one specified in the DSZLOG-variable,

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make sure it writes the file in the
startup-directory!

Control File ……………. Protocols that can handle batch-mode

usually allow parameters to be passed not
only on the command line, but also (should
the command line grow too long) by means of
a control file. ProBoard must know of this
file, to be able to pass the filenames to
the protocol.

Download Command ………… Command needed to start the protocol in

download-mode. You may want to use the
shell options of menu function 7 here. If
the first character of this command is a
'@', the named pex-file will be run. Note
that no shell parameters (*x) are supported
when calling a pex-file. You can use string
macros though.

IMPORTANT: The command should be
independent of the path it is
called from.

Batch-mode protocols also require a control
file to be specified. Should you, anywhere
in this field, fill in a '#', then this
character will at run-time be replaced by
the filename of the file to be sent (only
for non-batch protocols).

Upload Command ………….. Command needed to start the protocol in

upload-mode. Here also, the command should
be independent of the directory it is
called from and a '#' will be replaced by
the filename of the file to be received
(for non-batch protocols), or by the
directory where files should be received
into (for batch-protocols). A '@' as the
first character will execute a pex-file
(see DL Command).

Download String …………. Determines what should be written in the

control file when downloading. A '#'
character is replaced by the path and
filename of the file to be sent to the
user. Most often, a single '#' is the only
character in this field. This works for
most of the protocols.

Example:

In case a user wants to download 3 files,
entering 'Send #' in this field causes the
following to be written in the control
file:

Send C:\PB\FILES\COMM\TM.ZIP
Send C:\PB\FILES\COMM\TBILL.ZIP
Send C:\PB\FILES\UTIL\SHEZ55.ZIP

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You can always take a look at the pre-
configured protocols, to lighten things
up for you.

Upload String …………… <reserved for future use>

Download Keyword ………… In order to allow ProBoard to update the

user-records from the protocol's log file,
a keyword must be specified to indicate a
file has successfully been sent. If a
protocol writes 'Sent <filename>' in the
logfile, you should specify 'Sent' as the
keyword. This keyword is CASE SENSITIVE!

Upload Keyword ………….. Same as the previous field, for uploads.

File Word Number…………. This is the number of the sent file's

filename, counting from the keyword, but
NOT including the keyword. This is used
for both uploads and downloads.

Eg. Sent 12/05/90 12334 PB_220.ZIP

In this case, you should enter '3' as the
word number, because PB_220.ZIP is the
third word counting from, but not
including, the keyword ('Sent').

Efficiency ……………… A percentage that gives the throughput

efficiency for this protocol. This value is
used to estimate the time needed to perform
a file transfer.

Local Only ……………… If set to “Yes”, this protocol will only be

available when logging in locally.

CONCLUSION:

Correctly installing the protocols may seem somewhat difficult at first, but you will soon get used to it. And don't forget that the most commonly used protocols are already pre-configured in ProBoard!