Command line parameters give you the ability to modify certain ways that PCBoard will behave. The following is a brief listing of what some of the command line parameters do:

• Automatically assume a local login and skip the call-waiting screen.
• Assume that the call has already been answered by a front-end program and continue with the connection.

Usually, you will modify your BOARD.BAT file to include the command line parameters that you want to use. Use a text editor to modify the PCBOARD line in the batch file. To add one or more command line parameters, specify them after PCBOARD as shown in the following:

if exist endpcb del endpcb
    PCBOARD /LOCALON /KEY:y;q^M
if exist remote.bat remote

Notice that two command line parameters were specified on this line. To separate the parameters, a space is used after PCBOARD and also after the first parameter.

/C:[carrier speed]

If you run a front-end program that answers the call, you need to inform PCBoard that the call has already been answered by using this parameter. When this parameter is used, the carrier speed of the connection must be supplied. If you do not specify a valid carrier speed, PCBoard will print

Invalid use of /C: switch
Exiting to DOS!

and return back to DOS. When a valid carrier speed is specified, PCBoard will check the port to make sure that carrier is detected on the serial port that PCBoard is defined to use before allowing the user to login. If carrier cannot be found, PCBoard will notify you and then exit.

Example

PCBOARD /C:14400 /ERR

This parameter tells PCBoard that the connection that has been established by a front-end program is an error-correcting session. Users who have error-correcting sessions are able to select file transfer protocols that require error-correcting sessions. You must use this parameter in conjunction with the /C parameter to have any effect.

Example

PCBOARD /C:14400 /ERR /EVENT:[minutes to event]

If you have a front-end program answer all of the calls, PCBoard will not be in control of running events. Instead, it is up to your front-end program to run all of your events for you. To help insure that all callers have logged off by the time your front-end program is ready to run the event, PCBoard uses this parameter

You must specify the number of minutes after the user has connected that the event is scheduled to run. Most front-end programs will set an environment variable with this value.

Example

Assuming that your front-end program sets an environment variable called EVENTIME with the number of minutes until the next event occurs, you would use the following line in BOARD.BAT:

PCBOARD /EVENT:%EVENTIME%

NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with using environment variables in batch files, refer to your DOS manual for a detailed description.

/FILE:[location of PCBOARD.DAT]

By default, PCBoard will assume that its configuration file (PCBOARD.DAT) is located in the current directory. If you attempt to load PCBoard from a directory that does not have a PCBOARD.DAT, you will receive this message:

Unable to open PCBOARD.DAT
Exiting to DOS!

In some setups, it is desirable to share the same PCBOARD.DAT file for several nodes. A good example of this would be if you have several users on a network that will be logging into your nodes. The /FILE parameter, enables you to specify where the PCBOARD.DAT file can be found for the node you are trying to load.
After the /FILE:, you must specify where the PCBOARD.DAT. If you specify an incorrect location or forget to specify the filename, you will see the following error message:

Unable to open PCBOARD.DAT
Exiting to DOS!

Example

PCBOARD /FILE:C:\TEMP\PCBOARD.DAT /KEY:[text to stuff]

When used in conjunction with the /LOCALON parameter, you can automatically send the keys specified with the /KEY parameter. This would allow you to setup a batch file that may automatically answer the graphics, name, and password questions for you – saving you from entering this information each time you want to log in locally.

When specifying the keys to use on the command line, you need to be aware of the some special conditions:

To send a carriage return, enter ^M on the command line. See the examples for this section for additional details.

If you need to send a space, you must surround the entire /KEY parameter in quotes to make sure that DOS treats it as one single command line parameter. See the examples for this section.

If you need to send a %, you will need to enter two % characters in a row. This character has a special meaning when used in batch files and it will be stripped unless you specify two of them together.

If you would rather send the contents of a file instead of specifying the keys to send on the command line, you would enter an @ followed by the filename you want to use after the /KEY: parameter. By sending the contents of the files, you would not have to worry about the special conditions outlined earlier in this section. For a sample of using the contents of a file, see Examples.

Examples

To automatically answer the graphics and name questions, you could modify your BOARD.BAT to read:

PCBOARD /LOCALON /KEY:y;q^mFirst^mLast^m

Using the previous example and stacking your name (instead of answering each prompt individually) would require that you use a space. As mentioned previously, you will need to surround the entire /KEY parameter with quotes if you want to send a space.

PCBOARD /LOCALON "/KEY:y;q^mFirst Last^m"

Finally, if you want to specify that the contents of LOGIN.TXT be sent to the local login session, then you would modify your BOARD.BAT to read:

PCBOARD /LOCALON /KEY:@LOGIN.TXT

or

PCBOARD /LOCALON /KEY:@C:\LOGIN\BOB.TXT /LOCALON

Not all users have to connect with a modem to login to PCBoard. In fact, the ability to let users login from remote with a modem or locally is one of PCBoard strong points. You could have all of your users login locally from the call waiting screen using the User - Busy or User- Not Busy buttons but this would introduce some serious and unnecessary risks to your system.

Instead, you should use this command line parameter. When this parameter is used, PCBoard bypasses the call-waiting screen and automatically performs a local login similar to selecting the User - Not Busy button. The following conditions are in effect when the /LOCALON parameter is used:

The status line is changed to a one line status line, displaying a minimal amount of information. This status line more closely resembles the status line that one might see in a regular modem terminal or communications program.

With the exception of ALT-F, ALT-I, ALT-P, ALT-T, and 5, all SysOp functions keys are disabled to prevent potential security risks. Descriptions of these function keys can be found in the While A User Is Online section of this chapter.

The function keys that are defined in PCBSetup > Configuration Options > Function Keys still remain active.

Users may upload and download files using any protocol that is internal to PCBoard.

For additional information about setting up local logins for multiple users, please refer to the Multiple Nodes chapter in this manual.

Example

PCBOARD /LOCALON /NOENV

Normally PCBoard will create environment variables to aid the setup of doors in a multiple node environment. If you do not want the PCBDAT, PCBDRIVE, PCBDIR, and PCBNODE environment variables to be created, use this parameter.

Example

PCBOARD /NOENV /READSYS

This parameter will search the current directory for a USERS.SYS file.
If found, the user file will be updated with the information in the file. Once the update is completed, PCBoard will immediately exit to DOS. This parameter is useful for third party applications that want to update the user file.

Example

PCBOARD /READSYS /USERSYS;[first];[last];PWRD:[password];TPA:[application]

This command line switch is designed to be used by developers of third party applications. It generates a USERS.SYS file for the user specified and then returns back to DOS. The USERS.SYS file will be found in the directory where PCBoard was run from. The text surrounded in brackets must be replaced with the following information:

NOTE: The ;TPA:[application] is purely optional and should only be specified if the USERS.SYS file should contain the information of a particular TPA.

Examples

PCBOARD /USERSYS;John;Doe;PWRD:anyoldthing

PCBOARD /USERSYS;John Doe Jr.;PWRD:anyoldthing;TPA:mail