BBSLink

BBSLink is an InterBBS Game Server using a modified version of Manning's Telnet Door which automatically logs the user into their Server and directly into the desired door using the BBS Sysops pre-assigned credentials. You can join for free at http://bbsnet.net

How to install BBSNet for a DOS BBS:

1. Extract BBSlink to a directory/folder. (In this example we will assume C:\BBSLINK) and install Microsoft DotNet (.NET), which is required by the RM Library .DLL

2. Edit your BBSLINK.BAT file, and fill in the 3 codes provided by the BBSLink admin. While you are editing this batch file, you will need to add a “Change Directory” command to change to its directory somewhere before the bbslink.exe line:

CD\BBSLINK

If you are running your BBS from a different drive then BBSLink is on, then you may also want to add a “C:” command on the line above it.

3. In your BBS software, configure your door to run a Command Line such as this example, which will run NFU.EXE and pass the path-only of your BBS Nodes dropfile directory, as well as the BBSLINK.BAT that NFU will execute along with its needed parameters. Say for example, that your BBS software is ProBoard and your BBS directory structure is

C:\PB (main BBS directory)
C:\PB\NODE1 (Node 1 dropfile directory)
C:\PB\NODE2 (Node 2 dropfile directory)

ProBoard BBS uses the following Door Command Line macros:

(*#) is replaced by the Node number
(*D) tells ProBoard to create a DOOR.SYS drop file, and is filtered out.

So the following type-7 Command Line could be configured for this door in ProCfg: So the following type-7 Command Line could be configured for this door in ProCfg:

c:\netfoss\nfu.exe c:\pb\node*# "c:\bbslink\bbslink.bat lord C:\pb\node*#\DOOR32.SYS" *D

Note that for node 1, the above command line would be translated by the BBS as so:

c:\pb\nfu.exe c:\pb\node1 "c:\bbslink\bbslink.bat lord c:\pb\node1\DOOR32.SYS"

Since ProBoard and most other BBS software sets the current directory as the node's dropfile directory before executing a door, you could shorten the size of the first parameter by replacing the path to the dropfile directory shown above with just a “.”, telling NFU to use the current directory to read door.sys from and to create the DOOR32.SYS in, like so:

c:\netfoss\nfu.exe . "c:\bbslink\bbslink.bat lord c:\pb\node1\DOOR32.SYS" *D

You could also shorten the second parameter by replacing the “Full path+\DOOR32.SYS” with a “^” character, like so:

c:\netfoss\nfu.exe . "c:\bbslink\bbslink.bat lord ^" *D

Note: the *D in this example is only used to tell ProBoard to create a DOOR.SYS drop file. Other BBS software will have different ways of configuring this which are often not command line macros. Many BBS programs create the DOOR.SYS by default.

Check your BBS documentation on what macro it uses to pass the node number. While Proboard uses *#, most BBS software use *N and many use other macros.

4. Once you have BBSLink working successfully with the above configuration for the LORD door, simply create additional menu options as above for the other door games available on BBSlink, replacing the word “lord” with one of the other door codes, such as lord2, teos, ooww, tw, luna, etc. A complete list of codes is available at:

http://www.bbslink.net/sysop/

Avoid these common mistakes:

Don't leave out the quote marks on the Command Line passed to NFU. NFU requires two parameters (1: The dropfile path to the door.sys, 2: the full command line to execute), and this second parameter must be in quotes if it contains its own set of parameters.

Do not include the name of DOOR.SYS in parameter 1, just the path where it is located NFU will read the DOOR.SYS dropfile here, and will create the DOOR32.SYS dropfile in the same directory before executing the Command Line in parameter 2.

BBSLink requires NOT ONLY the path to a DOOR32.SYS file as stated in it's documentation, it also requires the DOOR32.SYS filename to be included in that path.

Thank you to Mike Ehlert for his instructions in the NetFoss User Guide!! https://pcmicro.com/netfoss/