Source: SPITFIRE.DOCEdition: searchable Web reading editionPresentation: historical wording retained
7.0 - SPITFIRE QUESTIONNAIRES
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Questionnaire files are created with any ASCII text editor and
placed in the directory you have configured as your Work File Path.
The Questionnaire answer files will automatically be created by
SPITFIRE.
There are 2 types of questionnaires available for use in SPITFIRE.
There is the NEWUSER Questionnaire which uses:
SFNEWU.QUE - The new caller questionnaire file.
SFNEWU.REP - The new caller reply file.
SFNEWU.QUE is automatically utilized ONLY when a new caller logs on.
There is also, the ORDER Questionnaire which uses:
SFORDER<x>.QUE - The order/questionnaire files.
SFORDER<x>.REP - The order/questionnaire replies.
SFORDER<x>.QUE is utilized only from the MAIN MENU when the caller
selects the <Q>.. Questionnaire Menu option.
SPITFIRE will allow up to 24 different questionnaire files to be
accessed from the Main Menu. The files which contain the questions
are SFORDER<x>.QUE. The replies are stored in the corresponding
SFORDER<x>.REP. <x> represents an alpha character ranging from A
to Z (with the exception of G and Q which are reserved by SPITFIRE
for Goodbye and Quit). For example:
SFORDERA.QUE SFORDERA.REP
SFORDERB.QUE SFORDERB.REP
SFORDERC.QUE SFORDERC.REP
The caller's answers are appended to the end of the appropriate reply
file. If the file does not already exist, SPITFIRE will create it.
SPITFIRE uses a very basic process for utilizing Questionnaires on
the BBS. Questionnaires are simple text files that are interpreted by
SPITFIRE. The special control codes discussed in the section - ABOUT
SPITFIRE DISPLAY CODES - of this manual also apply to the SPITFIRE
questionnaire files. Any line in the questionnaire file will simply
be displayed to the caller unless it begins with a special character.
SPITFIRE uses established first characters (one code per questionnaire
line) to determine the type of response required by the caller.
These are:
: - If the first character in the line is a colon, SPITFIRE pauses
for the caller's input. The caller must respond to the question
before SPITFIRE will continue with the questionnaire.
; - If the first character in the line is a semicolon, SPITFIRE
will pause for the callers input. But unlike the colon, the
caller is not required to respond to the question. The caller
can simply hit the Enter key and SPITFIRE will continue with the
questionnaire.
@ - If the first character in the line is an "at" sign, SPITFIRE
will pause for the caller to input a date in the format of
MM-DD-YY. SPITFIRE will automatically insert the hyphens
when the caller responds. Once the caller has entered the
response, SPITFIRE will redisplay it to the caller and ask
whether the information is correct.
# - If the first character in the line is the pound sign, SPITFIRE
will pause for the caller to input a phone number. The
format will depend on how the Sysop has the system configured.
If the Sysop has used the ALT+T to configure the phone
number to US format, then SPITFIRE will require the following
format: ###-###-####. Again, SPITFIRE will automatically
insert the hyphens when the caller responds. If the Sysop does
not have the system configured to US format, SPITFIRE will
accept any input up to 12 characters in length. Once
the caller has entered the response, SPITFIRE will redisplay
it to the caller and ask whether the information is correct.
$<x>$ - If the first and last character of a questionnaire line is
a dollar sign and the <x> character between the dollar signs
is a value ranging from 1 to 32767, then SPITFIRE will set the
caller's subscription date to the number of days which is
represented by the value between the dollar signs. For instance,
if you wished to grant a 30 days subscription then the line, $30$
would need to be included within the questionnaire. At the time
the subscription date is updated, SPITFIRE will record the change
to the CALLERS.LOG. No other text should appear on this line.
^# - If a line begins with a caret sign followed by a number, SPITFIRE
will adjust the caller's security level equal to the number
following the caret sign provided the number is less than the
configured Sysop security. If the number used here is equal
to or greater than configured Sysop security level, the caller's
security level will not be changed. The number should be a valid
security level available on your system. SPITFIRE writes
a note in HEYSYSOP.LOG to advise you that the callers security
level was changed. No other text should appear on this line.
~ - If the first character in a questionnaire line begins with a
tilde character, the caller will be disconnected from the BBS.
This could be used by Sysops in the SFNEWU.QUE so callers could
be verified before they are allowed access to the BBS. No other
text should appear on this line.
&<#> - If a line begins with a ampersand followed by a number, SPITFIRE
will adjust the caller's time left on the system by the number
following the ampersand. &20 would provide the caller with an
additional 20 minutes. No other text should appear on this line.
? - If the first character in the line is a question mark, SPITFIRE
will prompt the line and automatically add a "[y/n]?". SPITFIRE
will then only accept a Y or N response from the caller. This
Yes/No question is used to branch to other special questions
depending on the caller's response. For instance, when SPITFIRE
receives a Y response to a question beginning with a question
mark, it will continue on through the questionnaire until a plus
sign, "+", is found. The text or additional questions you would
like to present to the caller who has responded with a Y should
start immediately after the plus sign. This Y series of lines
is ended with a second plus sign, "+". When the second plus
sign "+" is encountered, SPITFIRE will continue on with the
questionnaire normally. Similarly, when SPITFIRE receives a
N response to a question beginning with a question mark, it will
continue on through the questionnaire until a minus sign, "-",
is found. Any text or additional questions you would like to
present to the caller who responded with a N should be contained
between two minus signs, "-". When the second minus sign "-" is
encountered, SPITFIRE will continue on with the questionnaire
normally. It should be mentioned that any text or questions
between where the caller responds with a Y and the first plus
sign will be ignored, just as any text or questions between where
the caller responds with an N and the first minus sign will be
ignored. Each line that starts with a question mark must be
followed by a set of plus signs and a set of minus signs.
For example:
?Are you the Sysop of a SPITFIRE Bulletin Board
+
You have made a wise choice!
+
-
You really should consider running SPITFIRE!
-
If none of the above described characters are found at the beginning
of the line, the line is simply displayed to the caller.
The caller's answers are either written to SFNEWU.REP or to
SFORDER<x>.REP, depending upon which questionnaire the caller is
responding to. In addition to the caller's answers, the caller's name,
date and time of the response is recorded within the reply file. In
the new caller questionnaire reply file, SPITFIRE will also note which
node the caller was logged on to when the questionnaire was answered.
The SFNEWU.QUE is displayed to the caller upon log on. The
SFORDER<x>.QUE displays to the caller if the Questionnaire Menu is
selected from the Main Menu. The Questionnaire Menu file name
is SFORDER.MNU. The SFORDER.MNU file can be created using your
favorite text editor and following the format:
<Title of the Questionnaire>,SEC>=x,ONETIME,PRINT
The first item on the line will be a description of the questionnaire
topic you have available on the BBS and is limited to 25 characters.
The Questionnaire Topic is followed by a comma.
Next the security required to access the questionnaire is defined
with SEC<=x or SEC>=x or SEC=x. x represents a numerical value that
should coincide within the framework of security levels which apply to
the BBS. For example, let's assume x = 10. SEC<=10 would allow
callers with a security less than or equal to 10 to access the
questionnaire. SEC>=10 would allow callers with a security greater
than or equal to 10 to access the questionnaire. SEC=10 would only
allow callers with a security of 10 to access the questionnaire. (Any
caller with Sysop security may access a questionnaire regardless of
how SEC is defined.)
The ONETIME variable will only allow the caller to answer the
questionnaire one time. If ONETIME does not appear, the questionnaire
can be answered multiple times.
PRINT will send the caller's questionnaire responses to the printer.
If PRINT is used, the caller's responses are sent to the printer as
well as being saved to the appropriate SFORDER<x>.REP file. However,
keep in mind that your printer must be turned on and ready for use.
SPITFIRE checks to determine if your printer is properly connected
and ready for use and responds accordingly. If PRINT is not included
on the line, no attempt is made to send the questionnaire answers to
the printer. When sending replies to the printer, SPITFIRE notes which
questionnaire the reply is in response to.
If the ONETIME and/or PRINT options are used, be sure to include
a comma to separate them from the previous parameter.
Optional RIP, ANSI and Non-ANSI display menu files may be created
using the SFORD[x].[BCR] file name. The [x] will correspond to the
security level of the caller. As with other RIP, ANSI and Non-ANSI
display menu files, a file should be created for each security level
assigned to callers on your BBS system.