Text Files

Text files that are displayed to remote clients / users and some configuration type files are stored in the text directory.

Contents

Text files with the following filename suffixes/extensions, may include Synchronet @-codes and Ctrl-A Codes to customize the appearance and contents of the files for your BBS:

  • .asc
  • .ans
  • .mon
  • .msg
  • .seq
  • .rip
  • .utf8

Display Files

Filename / Page Default ContentsDescription
answer.* answer.msgLogin screen displayed to Terminal clients upon connection (all variants also supported)
bullseye.asc bullseye.ascBullseye! Bulletins Menu (see also bullseye.cfg)
sbbs.msg sbbs.msgMessage regarding Synchronet features and usage displayed to new users (1st)
system.msg system.msgMessage regarding your system displayed to new users (2nd)
newuser.msg newuser.msgMessage displayed to user during new user sign-up (3rd)
feedback.msg feedback.msgMessage displayed to user before requesting new user feedback letter (4th)
welcome.msg welcome.msgOptional welcome message e-mailed to new users (enabled in the newuser module)
nonodes.txt <none>Optional message displayed before disconnection due to no Terminal Server nodes being available for login

Logon Message Flow Chart

╔═══════════════╗
║ text/answer.* ║
╚═══════╤═══════╝
  ┌─────┴─────────────────┐ ┌─────┐ ╔═══════════════╗
  │ text/banner.* exists? ├─┤ Yes ├─╢ text/banner.* ║
  └─────┬─────────────────┘ └─────┘ ╚═══════════════╝
┌───────┴──────────────────────┐
│ Login Prompt (exec/login.js) │
└───────┬──────────────────────┘
  ┌─────┴─────┐ ┌─────┐ ╔═══════════════╗ ╔═════════════════╗
  │ New User? ├─┤ Yes ├─╢ text/sbbs.msg ╟─╢ text/system.msg ║
  └─────┬─────┘ └─────┘ ╚═══════════════╝ ╚════════╤════════╝
     ┌──┴─┐                               ╔════════╧═════════╗
     │ No │                               ║ text/newuser.msg ║
     └──┬─┘                               ╚════════╤═════════╝
        │                                ┌─────────┴──────────┐
        │                                │ Password Selection │
        │                                └─────────┬──────────┘
        │                               ┌──────────┴────────────┐
        │                               │ Default Configuration │
        │                               └──────────┬────────────┘
        │  ╔═══════════════════╗ ┌─────┐ ┌─────────┴──────────┐
        │  ║ text/feedback.msg ╟─┤ Yes ├─┤ Feedback Required? │
        │  ╚═════════╤═════════╝ └─────┘ └─────────┬──────────┘
        │    ┌───────┴───────┐                  ┌──┴─┐
        │    │ Send Feedback │                  │ No │
        │    └───────┬───────┘                  └──┬─┘
        │  ┌─────────┴──────────────────────────┐  │
        │  │ New User Module (exec/newuser.js)  ├──┘
        │  └─────────┬──────────────────────────┘
        │  ┌─────────┴─────────┐                   
        │  │ New User Event(s) │
        │  └─────────┬─────────┘
┌───────┴────────────┴─────────┐
│ Logon Module (exec/logon.js) │
└───────┬──────────────────────┘
        │  ╔═══════════════════════════════════╗
        └──╢ text/menu/logon<security-level>.* ║
           ╚═════════╤═════════════════════════╝
          ╔══════════╧════════╗
          ║ text/menu/logon.* ║
          ╚══════════╤════════╝
          ╔══════════╧═════════╗
          ║ text/menu/logon1.* ║
          ╚══════════╤═════════╝
                    ...

          ╔══════════╧══════════╗
          ║ text/menu/logon99.* ║
          ╚══════════╤══════════╝
          ╔══════════╧══════════╗
          ║ text/menu/random*.* ║
          ╚══════════╤══════════╝
            ┌────────┴───────┐
            │ Logon Event(s) │
            └────────────────┘

Area Info Files

If you want to have an information file displayed for sub-boards when using the 'I' scanning command and 'IS' main menu command, create a file for the sub-board in the data/subs directory using the internal code for that sub-board as the base filename and any supported display/menu file suffix/extension. Example:

data/subs/general.msg

If you want to create in information file for file directories to be displayed with the 'ID' transfer section command, create a file for the directory in the data/dirs directory using the internal code as the base filename and any supported display/menu file suffix/extension. Example:

data/dirs/games.ans

If you want to create a custom file listing header for a file directory, create a file in the data/dirs directory using the internal code as the name and .hdr as the extension. Example:

data/dirs/games.hdr

Filter Files

Trash can (.can) files allow the sysop to specify words (or any sequence of characters) that will be used to disallow users or their content.

Each line in a .can file may contain a comparison sequence.

  • Blank lines and lines beginning with a semicolon are ignored
  • Comparisons are alphabetic letters are case-insensitive
  • Sequences beginning with an exclamation mark (!) negate the match logic for that sequence
  • Sequences beginning with an asterisk (*) match only if the characters following the * are found at the end of the comparison string
  • Sequences ending with an asterisk (*) or caret (^) match only if the characters preceding are found at the beginning of the comparison string
  • Sequences ending with a tilde (~) match only if the preceding characters are found anywhere within comparison string
  • All other sequences are “exact match” string comparisons

Examples:

  • sysop in the name.can file would mean users could not use the name “sysop”.
  • sysop* would mean users could not use names beginning with the word “sysop”, like “sysopa” or “sysops” etc.
  • sysop~ would mean users could not use names that have the word “sysop” anywhere in them, like “imthesysop” or “mesysophere”.

The following table lists the supported trash can / filter files, a description of their use, and optional response message (.msg) files that may be displayed to users that are filtered.

Filename / Page Default ContentsDescription
email.can email.canDisallowed (source or destination) e-mail addresses (see also twitlist.cfg)
bademail.msgOptional message to display to users attempting to use a disallowed email address
file.can file.canDisallowed filenames for upload
badfile.msgOptional message to display to users who attempt to upload a disallowed filename
host.can host.canDisallowed hostnames for connections
badhost.msgOptional message to display to users who attempt to connect from a disallowed host
ip.can ip.canDisallowed IP addresses for connections
badip.msgOptional message to display to users who attempt to connect from a disallowed IP address
ip-silent.can ip-silent.canSilently-ignored IP addresses for connections
name.can name.canDisallowed user alias
badname.msgOptional message to display to users who attempt to use a disallowed alias
phone.can phone.canDisallowed phone numbers for new users
badphone.msgOptional message to display to users who attempt to use a disallowed phone number
subject.can subject.canDisallowed message subjects
badsubject.msgOptional message to display to users who attempt to use a disallowed subject in a posted message

Miscellaneous

Filename / Page Default ContentsDescription
bullseye.cfg bullseye.cfgBullseye! Builletins Configuration (see also bullseye.asc)
example.sif example.sifExample Synchronet Questionnaire file
lbshell_bg.bin lbshell_bg.binLightbar Command Shell background image (not text)
ircmotd.txt ircmotd.txtIRC Daemon “Message Of The Day”
zipmsg.txt zipmsg.txtZIP message added to uploaded .zip files.

QWK Files

If the following files existing in the system's text/QWK directory, then they will be copied and packed into downloaded QWK packets (.qwk files):

Filename Description
HELLO Displayed when the QWK packet is opened
BBSNEWS Latest news article (about the BBS) to display to the user
BLT-x.y Bulletins (where x and y are decimal numbers)
GOODBYE Displayed when the QWK packet is closed

Note:
QWK packets created for QWK network nodes will not include these files.

Note:
Not all QWK offline mail readers will display these files when included in opened QWK packets.

Menu files displayed to the remote terminal client / user are stored in the text/menu directory hierarchy.

Menu files may have one of the following file suffixes / extensions:

Extension Description
.msg Ctrl-A Encoded ANSI X3.64-subset and CP437 Terminals
.asc Ctrl-A Encoded ANSI X3.64-subset and ASCII Terminals
.ans ANSI X3.64 Color Terminals
.mon ANSI X3.64 Monochrome Terminals
.seq PETSCII Terminals
.rip RIPscrip Terminals
.utf8 UTF8

See the Menu Directory in Git for the many default menu files and their contents.

Customization

For customizing your displayable text and menu files, see Customizing Menu Files for details.

See Also

config/text_files.txt · Last modified: 2022/03/25 01:18 by digital man
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