›             INTRODUCTION››  Congratulations! You've purchased the most powerful, flexible, and really modifiable bulletin board system for your ATARI computer!››  Please take the time to read the manual! You will save yourself a lot of time by following the manual step-by-step. Despite its enormous size, the CARINA II bulletin board system is very easy to set up IF you know what to do! I hope this manual will serve the purpose as a manual and not just as a means of keeping the disks flat during mailing (although that's part of its purpose too). I've spent many hours writing this manual so please take the 30 minutes or so it is going to take to read it. If you are having trouble getting something to work, and you have read the manual (thoroughly), give me a call on the support line listed in the back of this manual. Please try to avoid leaving a message on the support BBS. It is very difficult to determine what you are doing wrong by reading a message.       Calling the voice line is the best and quickest way to get the answers.››  SEND IN THAT REGISTRATION CARD!! Make sure you are satisfied with the program first, but when (notice I said when, not if) you decide to keep it, send in the card! Sending in the card will help us keep you informed about new products available for your CARINA II BBS. It will also keep us informed about where other CARINA II's are located. If you want, we will put you in our CARINA II BBS listing to help you get more callers.››  Before you get started, make sure you make at least two backups of your CARINA II BBS disks. The disks are written on both sides, so don't forget to copy the back sides. If you do not like writing to the back sides of disks, or your system cannot do it, then copy each side to a separate disk---leaving you with four disks per backup copy. These disks are unprotected for your convenience, however, there are unique serial numbers encoded into each CARINA II BBS products. These serial numbers can be traced back to the original owner. This serial number can be displayed on-line. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), this type of protection against software piracy is very effective when it comes to bulletin boards because it is very easy to get caught. For your sake and mine, please don't pirate this program. Shadow Software is one of the few companies still supporting the 8-bit ATARI. Please don't drive us out of the market too.›››          SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS››  To run this program, you must have all of the following: AN XL or XE computer, at least 500K of storage capacity (including ramdisk and drives), SpartaDos version 2.3 or greater, and a Hayes-compatible modem with an interface or an XM301/1030 modem with the XM301-Hayes emulator, or a Supra modem with the Supra-Hayes emulator, or an SX-212 modem with the SX-Hayes emulator. If you are using an SX-212 modem without an interface, you will need to use the SX212 Hayes emulator located on disk number 2 side 1 of your CARINA II master disks. The XM301/1030 and Supra Hayes emulators are sold separately.››  The following hardware is HIGHLY recommended: a 192K ramdisk or greater, and an R-TIme cartridge.››  The following hardware would be    nice to have: An MIO interface and a hard drive.››  CARINA II consists of 19 modules (not incuding the games). That's a lot of modules. To give you an idea of how big the system is, CARINA I consisted of 5 modules (and it was considered big at the time). Even with the 192K ramdisk, it is still going to be a tight fit. Needless to say, the more modules you have in your ramdisk, the faster your system is going to be. If you have a hard drive, then you may not need the ramdisk. A hard drive will only be a little slower than a ramdisk, however, this will make your hard drive work for a living.››  The R-Time 8 cartridge is a clock. It comes in real handy because CARINA II uses the Z-Handler supplied on your SpartaDos disk. The Z-Handler is much more accurate when you use the R-Time 8 cartridge. It also allows you to skip entering the time and date upon boot-up. The R-Time 9 cartridge allows you to be a little more relaxed. It knows what it's doing; SysOps, on the other hand, can be a little absent-minded at times.››  If you have a hard drive, you are going to be very happy. This BBS was made for you. No other BBS for the ATARI 8-bit computer gives you close to the amount of power that this one does. This is a VERY expandaable program, and if you have room to expand, then you are going to be a very happy SysOp.›››        STRUCTURE OF CARINA II›››  CARINA II, like CARINA I, implements what is known as modluar design. This means that the BBS consists of multiple programs (modules). Toegther, these modules make up the Bulletin Board System---putting the System back into BBS so to speak. CARINA II also utilized a resource called MOE (the Monitor Operating Environment). MOE is an operating system overlay that effectively turns your modem into a keyboard/display screen. It allows someone calling in to access your computer system as if it were their computer system. What does this mean? If you listed CARIN II's BASIC code to your printer, you would see a semi-normal BASIC program. You will find that there aren't any modem commands (or very little). This is because MOE takes care of redirecting everything through the modem. This means that if you decide you want to add or change something in CARINA II, you don't have to be concerned about the modem, either. All you have to think about is BASIC, nothing else. This, along with modular design, makes CARINA II the easiest BBS to modify and the most expandable BBS as well.›››         SECTIONS IN CARINA II››  CARINA II uses what is known as Special Interest Groups (or SIGs)--with CARINA II they are called Sections. A section is like a little bulletin board within a big bulletin board. You can have up to 26 different sections on-line at once. Each section has its own message base, file-transfer area, database, vote-poll, games area, and bulletins. You can even assign one or more SysOps. A SysOp within a SIG is called a SigOp (rather appropriate don't you think?). You can assign a user one of four different access levels within a section:  no access, read-only access (for the message base), read/write access (for the message base), or SigOp access. If a user has access to a section, then the section will not be displayed while he tries to display the available sections to the screen. The section will be totally hidden from that user. A user with read-only access will be able to di everything that a user with full-access can do except write a message to that section's message base. This is very convenient when using a message base as a role-playing game. This way, only users who are participating in the game can exchange messages, but everyone can watch. A user with SIgOp access have special commands that will allow him to do maintainence within the section such as update the bulletins, create a vote-poll, validate uploaded files, compact the file area, edit a user's status (within that section only), etc.›››             GETTING SERIOUS››  Because CARINA II will work only with SpartaDos,it takes advantage of some of SpartaDos's features. One such feature is the subdirectory (or folder---I'll refer to a subdirectory as a folder because it's easier to say). CARINA II needs main folders in order to operate. These folders are called MODULE, SYSTXT, and SYSTEM. The MODULE folder will contain all of your BBS programs used by normal users. The SYSMOD folder contains all SysOp programs. These modules are in a separate folder so that if you don't have enough room in your ramdisk to fit all of your modules, you can place your SysOp modlues on a disk drive. It will ne slower for SysOps, but normal users won't notice any difference in speed. The SYSTXT folder contains all of the system text files. This inlcludes such text files as the hello database, system menus, and regular BBS text files (like the log-on/log-off screens).››    These folders should contain the               following files:››WINDOW.BIN.....ML routines to save/load                user stats›TRANSFER.BIN...ML routines to do file                  transfers›BOOTBBS........Loads pointers into                     SECTIONS.DAT and program                modem›WAITCALL.......Waits for a call and                    activates MOE›GATEWAY........Logs users on/off BBS›USERCOM........Miscellaneous user                      commands›MAILCOM........User commands related to                mail transfers›FILECOM........User commands related to                file transfers›MAILTRAN.......Module where actual mail                transfers take place)›FILETRAN.......Modlue where directories                /descriptions are                       displayed›FILERECV.......Modlue where upload                     descriptions are                        displayed)›XY_TRAN.........X-Modem, Y-Modem upload                 /download module›CM_TRAN.........C-Modem upload/download                 module››   The SYSMOD folder should contain:››SYSCOM..........Extended SysOp                          commands›USEREDIT........Edits user's status›FILEVAL.........Validate uploaded                       files›MAKEVOTE........Make a vote-poll›COMPACT.........Compact file area›EDIT............Edit bulletins (or                      other text files while                  in E-Mail)›COPY........... Used to copy files when                 doing a local upload›TERM........... Terminal program››  The SYSTEM folder should not contain anything until after you have created some sections. Any files created within a folder are temporary files---all except a file called SECTIONS.DAT. As the name implies, this file contains information about the sections you will have created. If the SYSTEM folder is to be located in your ramdisk, you will need to copy this file back to a disk after you have created your sections. I will remind you about this again later; also, as this folder is for temporary files, you should leave some room for file-expansion on the drive in which this folder is placed (about 30 single-density sectors).››   The SYSTXT folder should contain:››          MAIN.HLP    A.HLP                         B.HLP     C.HLP                         D.HLP     E.HLP                      CA.HLP THROUGH CW.HLP             These files all make up the help        database. These files are all part      of the HELP command within the BBS.››CARINA.TXT....Text file displayed                     while waiting for a call›NEWUSER.TXT...Displayed to new users›ACCOUNT.TXT...Shown to new users before               new account number›NOTIME.TXT....Shown to users with no                  time left while trying to               log on›BLACKLST.TXT..Displayed to those who                  have been blacklisted›MEMOINFO.TXT..Additional user-                        information SysOp wants                 to know›CHAT.TXT......Message displayed when                  SysOp types CHAT›STATUS.TXT....Text file displayed when                user types STATUS›SYSMENU.TXT...SysOp's main menu in the                SYSCOM module›BULLETIN.TXT..Main bulletins and                      bulletins for Electonic                 Mail. This file you will                need to create yourself›››  Files with .ATA extenders are for ATASCII (ATARI 8-bit callers). Files with .ASC extenders are for normal ASCII users. Files with .v52 extenders are for ST-VT52 callers.›››MENU.ATA......Main Menu›INTRO.ATA.....Intro screens›LOGIN.ATA.....Displayed after a                       successful log-on›LOGOFF.ATA....Displayed directly before               log-off››  MENU.ASC›  INTRO.ASC›  LOGIN.ASC›  LOGOFF.ASC›  LOGIN.V52›  LOGOFF.V52›››  The following are help menus used within the BBS. They are not a part of the help-database:››MSGREAD.HLP...Message read parameter                  help›MESGSRCH.HLP..Message search field help›MESSAGES.HLP..Help for prompt displayed               after a message›MSGEDIT.HLP...Message editor help›FILEREAD.HLP..File between parameter                  help›FILESRCH.HLP..File search field help›FILEDIR.HLP...Help for prompt displayed               after a directory page›FILES.HLP.....Help for prompt displayed               after a file description›EDIT.HLP......Text editor help›USEREDIT.HLP..User editor help›FILENAME.HLP..Filename help---for                     filenames of upload files››› DIFFERENT DEVICE HANDLERS FOR MODEMS›››  You will need to select the proper modem device handler that needs to be used with your modem. If you are using a Hayes-compatible modem and an interface, the handler will be determined by the interface you are using. CARINA II supports all of the following interfaces:  850 interface, P-R Connection, Multi I/O, and the ATR8000 interface. The 850 uses a file called RS"#".COM located on your SpartaDos master disk, If you will be using a P-R COnnection, you will need to use the PRC.SYS file located on your P-R Connection's disk. The ATR8000 uses a handler called AT_RS232.COM. The MIO needs no modem handler (it is built into the MIO).                            If you are using either a Supra 300 (MPP 1000 C/E), an XM301/1030 modem, or an SX-212 modem (without an interface), then you will need to use one of these handlers:  MPPRS232.COM (Supra 300 modems), XMRS232.COM (for XM301/1030 modems), or SXRS232.COM (for SX-212 modems). If you are using a Supra 1200 baud modem, you will have to use an interface. There is no modem handler that will make this modem work without an inteface. If you are going to use a 1030 modem, you will also need a ring detector. Ring detectors are normally made by 1030 owners since they cannot be FCC approved. You can acquire a text file that will show you how to make such a ring detector on our Support BBS. The phone number is located in the back of this manual. Whichever handler you end up using, make sure that it iscalled RS232.COM so that you will be able to follow this manual when referring to the RS232 handler.››  If you plan on using an MIO wihout using the MIO'S RS232 port (i.e., you plan on using your modem or you are using a modem that does not require an interface (like an SX-212 modem) then you will need to turn off the port assignment within your MIO's menu (i.e.,set port assignment to "none").››