Node Configuration
Board Name
In this field, enter here the name of your bulletin board system.
This name is shown to the caller at connect time together with the PCBoard copyright notice. In addition, it is displayed when someone uses the I user command and at the top of the call waiting screen. You can enter up to 63 characters to identify your bulletin board system in this field.
Origin
This field is reserved primarily for use with netmail networks to identify your system. The format of the information you enter here depends on the netmail software you are using and the netmail system you are connecting to.
Contact the netmail software authors and/or your netmail system administrator for details.
Parallel Port Num (1-3,0)
There are a few places within PCBoard where you can send output to the printer. For example, you can press ALT-P while a user is on-line to start capturing the text on the screen to the printer. Likewise, you can toggle printing of the caller logs from the call waiting screen. All of these functions need to know what LPT port to send the output to. In this field, enter the LPT port you want PCBoard to send printout to. Valid entries are 0-3. If you enter a value of 0, no printer output will be sent.
Running a Network / Multitasker System
If you are running more than one node on your system, you need to let PCBoard know so that it may use the proper file sharing routines and otherwise take care of other multiple node concerns.
| N | PCBoard will allow a single node to operate. No file sharing will be used and many of the user and sysop commands relating to multiple nodes will be disabled. |
| Y | PCBoard will enable file and record sharing so that multiple nodes can access system files at the same time. PCBoard uses the DOS standard for file sharing. If you enable this option, make sure that you have either load SHARE.EXE in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, or that your multitasker/network provide the sharing functions that are completely compatible with SHARE.EXE. |
If you have told PCBoard that you wish to run more than one node, you will need to assign each node a unique node number. You enter the node number in the Node Number on the Network field.
Node Number on the Network
In this field, enter the node number you wish to assign for the node you are configuring with PCBSetup. Node numbers must be from 1 to the highest number supported by the software you have purchased. Numbers higher then that will default back to 1 by PCBoard.
If you answered N to the Running a Network question, the answer to this question will be ignored.
Float Node Number
The ability to float node numbers is a feature designed for enabling a large group of local network users to login to a limited amount of PCBoard nodes.
What makes this feature even more desirable is that you can mix these local nodes with your dial-in nodes (if you have any).
When this option is enabled, PCBoard will start looking for a free node number in your system starting with the node number you defined earlier on this screen. If a node is found, the user will be logged in, using the free node number. If no free nodes can be found, a message is printed to the user stating that no nodes are available and that they should try again in a few minutes.
The setup for floating nodes is more complicated than simply enabling a switch in PCBSetup. You will need to modify some of your batch files and other system files to make it work properly. For additional information on setting up float nodes, see the Networking section in the Multiple Nodes chapter of this manual.
Valid options for this field are:
| N | Node numbers will not be floated. You will want to use this switch for your dial-in nodes since you most likely want their node numbers to remain fixed. |
| Y | Node numbers will be floated. As mentioned previously, this is most useful when you are operating in a local environment where several callers are trying to get into a few single nodes logging in across a network. |
Network Timeout on Errors (20-99 secs)
This is the number of seconds that PCBoard should wait after it has detected a network time-out before failing the operation. You can enter any value between 20 and 99 seconds.
In other words, it is common for resources on a network to be in use at the time that another user wants to use the same resource. This is normal and should be allowed. You should set this value depending on the size and speed of your system. The bigger and slower the network is, the longer the network time-out delay might need to be.
Node Chat Frequency (once every 5-99 secs)
In this field, enter the number of seconds that PCBoard should wait in between each checking of the USERNET.XXX file. This file is used for node chat requests, broadcasts, drop to DOS commands, mail waiting notices, etc.
The lower the number the less delay there will be after an action is requested. However, a low number also increases traffic on the network or multinode system and can slow it down.
Include City Field in WHO Display
When the WHO user command is used in PCBoard, a display of the users that are currently logged onto the system is shown. Depending on how sensitive the city/location information is to your callers you may choose to show the city/location information of each users from the WHO display.
| N | Only the node number and the user currently logged in will be displayed in a WHO display. |
| Y | The WHO display will include the city/location field of each of the users currently online. |
Show ALIAS Names in WHO Display
For some systems it may not be desirable to display the alias names in the who display even though aliases are allowed. For example, a public system with an adult section might allow adult oriented aliases in the adult conference, but displaying those names in a public WHO display might not be desirable.
Other systems, which are either not adult oriented or are not open to the public, may not experience this situation in which case showing the alias might be preferred.
Valid responses for this field are:
| N | Always display the real name of the caller in the WHO display even if their alias is current active. If you have only certain areas that allow aliases it might look funny if you have a user named JIM SMITH on one node and CAPTAIN HOOK on another. |
| Y | When the user's alias is active, show their alias in the WHO display. |
Remember: You must install the Alias PSA for PCBoard to allow alias names on your system.
Using Slave Cards (slows file access)
Answer Y to this question if you have an Alloy Slave system and are running NTNX prior to version 2.0.
NOTE: This option will slow down access to some files.