In order for users to be able to transfer files on your system, you will need to have some file directories available. Each conference can specify a different set of file directories and each file directory can contain virtually an unlimited number of files. The file directories simply store the filename, date, size, and description of a file that is available for download.

To create a file directory, you must understand how DIR, DIR.LST, and DLPATH.LST interact with one another to form your file directory system. The following lists the three files that make up your file directories in each conference configuration screen:

To help illustrate how these files interact with one another we are going to go through a step by step process on how to setup some file directories.
First, you need to have a brief overview of DIR, DIR.LST, and DLPATH.LST.

DIR is the file that gets displayed to the user when they select (F)ile Directories from the menu.

DIR.LST is the file that PCBoard uses to determine where the file descriptions are stored, and the description for the directory contents.
PCBFiler uses DIR.LST to determine where the files are stored on your hard drive or similar device. PCBFiler also determines what method to use when you sort your directories by reading DIR.LST.

DLPATH.LST is a file that contains a list of paths that PCBoard should search through for files a user requests to download. Only the paths listed in this file are searched when a user requests to download a file.

The first thing you will want to do is to think about categories you would like to define as file directories. For example, you may have categories called Printer Fonts, Adventure Games, Disk Utilities, etc. Once you have determined which file categories you wish to create, you are ready to begin adding entries in DIR.LST.

To edit DIR.LST, load PCBSetup by either loading PCBSETUP.EXE from your \PCB directory or select the PCBSetup button from your call-waiting screen. Once you are in PCBSetup, select either I or J from the PCBSetup Main Menu to enter one of the conference configuration screens. Now you only need to move your cursor over to the DIR.LST entry and press F2 to edit the file.

Your screen should now resemble the following:

The first field you will be editing is labeled as DIR Text File Name & Path.

This is the full path and filename where PCBoard will be storing descriptions (not the actual files for download) for the directory number identified at the left hand side of the line in this file. You can name this file anything you want, although filenames without extensions are highly recommended. The descriptions in your DIR file will look like the following:

PCBSHOW.ZIP     89722  02-20-91	PCBoard v14.5 Introductory SHOW dated
                                      2/20/91.  This program gives a quick
                                      demonstration of installing PCBoard
                                      It's final goal being that of giving
                                      new sysops a quick start. Other SHOWs
                                      may follow in the future.
                                      Uploaded by: Dan Moore

The next field in your DIR.LST is Hard Disk Subdirectory. This field should contain the drive and subdirectory where a majority or all of your files are stored for this file directory. PCBFiler uses this field to help determine where the files are located on disk when you edit/move files and file descriptions. Remember, PCBoard never uses this field to locate files requested for download.

It is only possible to assign one drive and subdirectory per file directory. If you have files stored in more than one drive and directory, enter the drive and directory where the majority of the files for this directory are located.

The last field on this screen asks what type of sort method you wish to use. You can specify any of five choices (0-4) that are listed at the bottom of your screen. When you use PCBFiler to edit/move files and file descriptions, the sort method you specify here will be used to rearrange the file descriptions.

There is one more screen to edit before you are finished. If you press 2, you will notice that the screen changes. You still see the column labeled DIR Text File Name & Path. However, the Hard Disk Subdirectory and Sort fields are no longer on this screen. Instead, there is a field called Description of Directory Contents.

In this field, you enter a description of what type of files can be found in this directory. If one of your directories contains laser printer fonts, you could enter Laser Printer Fonts in this field. When your users are doing file scans using the (Z)ippy, (L)ocate, and (N)ew commands they will see these descriptions to the right of the directory number.

Example:

Scanning Directory 1  (Printer Fonts)
Scanning Directory 2  (Adventure Games)
Scanning Directory 3  (Disk Utilities)
Scanning Directory 4  (Security Related Files)

All of the descriptions between the parentheses were entered in DIR.LST on the second screen. If you do not enter any descriptions in the Description of Directory Contents field, you will see the following when you do a directory scan:

Scanning Directory 1  ()
Scanning Directory 2  ()
Scanning Directory 3  ()
Scanning Directory 4  ()

If you have not yet defined all of your file directories in DIR.LST you should do so now. If you do not have enough lines and need more, you can use ALT-I to insert a new line. Likewise, if you have defined a file directory that you do not want, you can use ALT-D to delete it.

Assuming you have defined all the file directories you wish to define, it is now time to move on to DLPATH.LST. This file contains a list of paths that PCBoard will search when a user requests a file to download. This is the ONLY file that PCBoard will search to determine if a file is available for download. Even if the description for the file is listed in one of the file directories, it will not be allowed to be downloaded unless the file is found in one of the directories listed in DLPATH.LST.

Because the DLPATH.LST is not directly tied into DIR.LST you can enter any directories that you wish in this file. For example, since PCBoard allows callers to download bulletins, you may want to list the directory where all of your bulletins are stored (e.g., C:\PCB\BLT) in the DLPATH.LST file. You might also have a special directory set aside where you allow users to download files that are not listed in the directories. These may be private files that you want to make available to individuals you individually inform of the specific filenames.

For the most part your DLPATH.LST will contain all of the directories you listed in the Hard Disk Subdirectory column in DIR.LST, the location where all of you new uploads are stored.

The final file you will need to edit is your DIR “Menu Listing” file and your file directory setup will be finished. See Creating Menu later in this section.

Adding files for download in your file directories can be an easy process. What you need to do is copy the files to one of your directories, and use PCBFiler to provide the descriptions for the files. See the PCBFiler chapter of this manual for additional information on adding files to your system.

The easiest way to disable your file directories (leaving only your upload directories working) is to blank out your DIR and DIR.LST fields. For example, if your fields in the conference configuration screen look like the following:

Directories : C:\PCB\GEN\DIR               : C:\PCB\GEN\DIR.LST

Modify them to look like this to disable your file directories:

Directories :                              :

When your file directories are disabled, your users will receive a message stating that there are no directories whenever they try to access your file areas.

In order for your users to know what file directories are available on your system (if any), you need to edit the Directory Menu Listing file. This file is commonly referred to as DIR.

This is the file that is displayed to the user when they execute the F user command. This file is nothing more than a text file. Because it is a text file, you can design it to look or display anything you want. As a general rule it should contain each directory number and should also list a description of the contents of each file directory. The following is a sample menu text file.