
                           ͵ Help Document #4 ͻ
                   TOPIC: RoboBOARD/FX Events             
                     FOR: RoboBOARD/FX 1.00               
                   REVISED: October 26th, 1993. (Rel #1)    
                                                                        
                 ĺ
                                                      
                  Ordering/Info: 1(819)682-9737 9am-5pm EST 
                  Tech Support: 1(819)682-6670 9am-5pm EST 
                              FAX: 1(819)685-0994             
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                Copyright (c) 1993, Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.
       RoboBOARD and TEL-FX are trademarks of Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.


       PREFACE
       

       Welcome to the RoboBOARD technical notes. These notes are provided 
       for  your  benefit  to help you  trouble shoot  your problems  and 
       provide  you with a broader understanding of RoboBOARD/FX. 

       This document  as  well  as  others  written  by  HTG are  revised 
       regularly.  If you do not find a solution  to your problem in this 
       document,  call the  RoboBOARD WORLD HQ BBS  and check for a newer 
       version, or call us on our Tech line at 819-682-6670.
  
       All  RoboBOARD/FX  Technical  notes are dated  and given a release 
       number to aid you in your quest for current information.

       Events
          

       Often while running a BBS you will have a need to do some  kind of 
       regular,  perhaps daily system maintenance.   Events allow you the
       SysOp to run a DOS program(s) at a certain time of day.  RoboBOARD 
       provides the ability  to define  over 40,000 events  per week  for 
       each node.  This would of course be totally impractical,  none the
       less any number of  DOS programs  can still be strung together for 
       each event defined.

       RoboBOARD in Answering Mode (running without a front end)
       
       
       Settings  for  EVENT  management  can be  found  under  the  NODES 
       pulldown of ROBOCFG.   Typically an event need only  be run from a 
       single node  so it is likely  even if you are running  a multinode 
       system that you will never configure more than one list of events.  
       Every time that RoboBOARD recycles after a user has logged off, it 
       will monitor its list of pending events.   An  event is considered 
       due when the current day of the week matches  the day specified in 
       the Event Template  and  the  current  time of day is greater than 
       or equal to the  Hour specified in the  Event  template.  If these  
       conditions pass testing  RoboBOARD  will return system  control to 
       DOS, exiting with the  ERRORLEVEL you have specified  in the Event 
       template.

         Event Queue Editor  ͻ
                                                                       
         Event Editor ͻ          
                                                           ͻ        
                   Name [Door_Maintenance_________________]   Edit  
         DOS ERRORLEVEL  15_  (10-255)                              
                                                             INSert 
                         S M T W T F S                              
            Day Of Week  *  *  *  *                       DELete 
                                                                    
            Hour of Day  5_ :00 (24 hour format)              Quit  
                                                                    
                               [DONE]                               
        ͼ         
        ͼ        
                                                                       
       ͼ

       The following fields are configurable  for any events you  define.
       In our example we will call our event "Door maintenence", exit at
       Errorlevel 15, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 AM.   This
       is for demonstration purposes only. 
       
       EVENT NAME.  The event name field is strictly for your descriptive 
       purposes.  If this is the  pending event  it will displayed within 
       the RoboBOARD/FX answering screen.
       
       DOS ERROR LEVEL.  This is the ERRORLEVEL with which RoboBOARD will 
       exit to DOS when the current event has been triggered.   The valid 
       values are between 10 and 255.   Errorlevels below 10 are reserved 
       for use by RoboBOARD/FX.
       
       DAY OF WEEK.   This set of toggles will let you specify the day(s) 
       of the week that this event should run.
       
       HOUR OF DAY.  This will let you specify the hour of the day (in 24 
       hour format) that this event should be triggered.

       As you know RoboBOARD/FX  is run using a  DOS batch  program.  The 
       following Batch file runs RoboBOARD locked at  57600 in  16 colour
       mode. The PRETEND Door maintenence program is called DOORMAIN.EXE.

          rem - This is RUNROBO.BAT.  First lets turn the echo off and
          rem   clear the screen so it looks good when it runs.

          @ECHO OFF
          CLS

          rem - This is the main driver loop for RoboBOARD

          rem - Typically when a user logs off the BBS, RoboBOARD 
          rem   automatically exits on Errorlevel 0.  As you can see in 
          rem   this loop Errorlevel 0 is NOT met so the batch goes to
          rem   the top and runs ROBOFX.EXE again.

          rem - RoboBOARD exits on Errorlevel 1 when F10 is pressed from
          rem   the blue and grey answer screen.

          :TOP
               ROBOFX -LOCK 57600 -16COL

               IF ERRORLEVEL 15 GOTO MAINTAIN
               IF ERRORLEVEL 1  GOTO DONE
    
          GOTO TOP

          rem - This is the subroutine for the Door maintenence program
          rem   we described earlier called DOORMAIN.EXE. We change dirs
          rem   over to \DOOR run the EXE and change dirs back to \ROBOFX
          rem   then go back to TOP and run ROBOFX again.

          :MAINTAIN
               CD\DOOR
               DOORMAIN.EXE
               CD\ROBOFX
          GOTO TOP

          rem - This is the DONE subroutine which returns you to DOS if
          rem   F10 is pressed by you at the answer screen.

          :DONE

          ECHO RoboBOARD exited!
          ECHO.


       RoboBOARD with a Front End (ie:Intermail)
       

       If you run an external answering program like a mailer,  you  must  
       specify your events using that program instead.  When RoboBOARD/FX  
       is  under the control  of  a call monitoring program or front end,  
       it has no ability to drop to DOS at specific times. It becomes the
       job of the  Mailer to manage events  and  you should  consult  the 
       manual included with your Mailer Software.
       

