





                                      KINGDOMS

                           KINGDOMS MANAGER DOCUMENTATION


                                    Version 2.18



                  Programming & Design : Dave Chapman : The Web BBS

                     Copyright c 1993, 94, 95, 96 - Dave Chapman
                                 All Rights Reserved





















                                  3:712/523@FidoNet
                                61:9600/350@WorldNet
                                69:1171/200@AdultNet
                                169:3005/2@BattleNet
                                 151:6121/823@EzyNet
                           InterNet - dave.chapman@ibm.net

                              - Kingdoms Support Page -
                     http://www.magna.com.au/~davec/kingdom.htm



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                                  TABLE OF CONTENTS


          SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION                                        4

           1.1. Overview                                                  4


          SECTION 2 - FILE MENU                                           5

           2.1. Edit Paths                                                5
            2.1.1. BBS (Doorfile) Path.                                   5
            2.1.2. Kingdoms Game Directory.                               5
            2.1.3. ASCII/ANSI paths.                                      5
            2.1.4. Netmail Path.                                          5
            2.1.5. Inbound Directory.                                     6
            2.1.6. Outbound Directory.                                    6
            2.1.7. Recon Directory.                                       6
            2.1.8. Temp file path.                                        6
            2.1.9. Report Viewer                                          6
            2.1.10. KM Defaults                                           7

           2.2. Check Paths                                               7

           2.3. Other                                                     7
            2.3.1. Sysop & BBS Name                                       7
            2.3.2. Days to keep old users.                                8
            2.3.3. Days to keep Log data.                                 8
            2.3.4. Kingdoms Net ID.                                       8
            2.3.5. Poll Frequency                                         8
            2.3.6. Self Correction Frequency                              9
            2.3.7. Next Reset Due                                        10

           2.4. About Kingdoms                                           11

           2.5. Maint Flag                                               11

           2.6. User On Flag                                             11

           2.7. Logs                                                     11


          SECTION 3 - NETWORK                                            12

           3.1. Your Routing                                             12
            3.1.1. Setting Yourself Up : In Brief                        12
            3.1.2. KIDX.DAT                                              12
            3.1.3. Default Outbound                                      12
            3.1.4. Normal Outbound                                       13

           3.2. Preferences                                              13
            3.2.1. Mail Type - Hold/Direct                               13
            3.2.2. Crashmail - Yes/No                                    13
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            3.2.3. Compression - Zip, Arj, Rar, None.                    13

           3.3. Alias                                                    14

           3.4. Verify                                                   15

           3.5. Erase Routing                                            15

           3.6. Net Times                                                15

           3.7. Zero Times                                               16

           3.8. Defaults                                                 16

           3.9. Index File Dump                                          16

           3.10. Link Diagram                                            16

           3.11. Worms                                                   17
            3.11.1 What IS a Worm?                                       17
            3.11.2. Spawning a Worm                                      18

           3.12. Other Routing                                           18

           3.13. Reports                                                 19
            3.13.1. Overview                                             19
            3.13.2. Worm Report Layout                                   19
            3.13.3. Routing Report Layout                                20


          SECTION 4 - REGISTRATION                                       22


          SECTION 5 - COORDINATOR                                        22


          APPENDIX A : MAIL ROUTING                                      23

           A.1 Overview                                                  23

           A.2. Defining your Routing - Standard Systems                 23

           A.3. Defining your Routing - Intermediate Hubs                25











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          Section 1 - Introduction


          The Kingdoms Manager (or just `The Manager') is the control
          centre of Kingdoms. It provides the Sysop and Kingdoms
          coordinator with all facilities needed to manage and maintain the
          Kingdoms realm operating on his or her BBS and on the network
          itself.

          This document is NOT intended to be an installation manual. If
          you're installing the game, please see KSYSOP.TXT for that sort
          of information. This document simply takes each option available
          to you in the Manager and explains what it does and what it's
          for. If you find yourself stuck, or just want to know more about
          something in the Manager, then this is a good place to be!


          1.1. Overview

          The Kingdoms Manager (KM) should reside in and be executed from
          your main Kingdoms directory. This is where KCFG.DAT, the
          Kingdoms configuration file, resides and where the Manager
          expects to find it. If the configuration file cannot be found in
          the current directory when KM starts, the Manager will create a
          new one using defaults.

          When you start KM you are presented with the main Manager panel.
          You can use your arrow keys to select options or use Alt-letter
          key combinations to jump to an option you want. Menus will pop
          down for the option you're on and again you can use your arrow
          keys to choose which option on the menus you're interested in, or
          press the capitalised letter of each menu option.

          Having positioned yourself on the one you want, press Enter to
          select it. The following sections describe each option available
          and it's function.
















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          Section 2 - File Menu



          2.1. Edit Paths

          2.1.1.    BBS (Doorfile) Path.

          This is the directory where Kingdoms expects to find the
          DORINFO?.DEF or DOOR.SYS drop file which your BBS creates when
          shelling to the door. You can override this parameter by using
          the Kingdoms /D parameter to fully specify the drop file you wish
          to use. You would do this primarily if you're using the
          DORINFO#.DEF format drop file, where `#' is the node number in
          multiline sites. See the Installation section in the Sysop
          documentation for further detail.

          This entry is ignored if Kingdoms is entered locally using the /L
          parameter. In this situation, the required information is taken
          from the configuration information specified in the Manager.



          2.1.2.    Kingdoms Game Directory.

          This is the directory where all your main (.exe) Kingdoms files
          and game data files (.dat) are located . Generally, this will be
          something like C:\KINGDOMS. You should be in this directory when
          you start Kingdoms itself or the maintenance/network utilities.



          2.1.3.    ASCII/ANSI paths.

          Kingdoms uses .KDI (Kingdoms DIsplay) format files for
          scoreboards, newsfiles, and other files created by or used by the
          game to display information to the players. These files always
          reside in the Kingdoms (game) directory above. If told to, using
          the /A parameter at runtime, the maintenance utility (KMNT) will
          also create ANS and ASC flavours of those files. If created, they
          are placed in the ASCII/ANSI path specified.



          2.1.4.    Netmail Path.

          When Kingdoms creates outbound files, it creates a .MSG style
          Netmail message in your mailer's netmail folder. The message is a
          file attach message to which files in the Outbound Directory are
          attached. The status on the attached files is Kill Sent, which
          means the files will be removed from your system by the mailer
          when they've been forwarded to the destination node. If you don't
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          plan to participate in a net, you can just make this C:\KINGDOMS
          (your Kingdoms directory). If you do, this should be the
          directory in which your mailer stores its Netmail (.MSG) files.



          2.1.5.    Inbound Directory.

          This is the directory where Kingdoms should look for incoming
          files. It will usually be the same directory specified in your
          mailer inbound (NOT your mailer download!) directory. If you
          don't plan to participate in a net, you can just make this
          C:\KINGDOMS (your Kingdoms directory).



          2.1.6.    Outbound Directory.

          This directory is the directory where Kingdoms will put files it
          generates going out to other Kingdom Realms, or BBS's. It does
          not have to be a directory related to your mailer in any way and
          will generally be a directory under Kingdoms for these files, eg,
          C:\KINGDOMS\OUTBOUND\. If you don't plan to participate in a net,
          you can just make this C:\KINGDOMS (your Kingdoms directory).



          2.1.7.    Recon Directory.

          Data on other Realms is held by Kingdoms in Recon (Reconnoitre)
          files. These files reside in this directory. Again, this will
          normally be a separate directory under your Kingdoms directory.
          If you don't plan to participate in a net, you can just make this
          C:\KINGDOMS (your Kingdoms directory).



          2.1.8.    Temp file path.


          When working, Kingdoms sometimes need to make temporary files and
          this is the place where they'll be put. Generally, this will be
          the Kingdoms directory itself. Where you put this does not matter
          particularly to Kingdoms, but it's recommended you make it a
          local drive in a networked environment to minimise traffic during
          heavy disk activity.

          2.18 includes the facility for players to chat with each other in
          a multinode environment. This directory is also used to store the
          multinode communication files.



          2.1.9.    Report Viewer
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          This entry is the path *and* filename of your preferred text
          editor/viewer. When Reports (discussed later) return to your
          system, the data they provide are stored in various Report files.
          The editor you define here is executed when you select a report
          view in the Network options of KM. Valid entries for this field
          might be :

                         C:\DOS\EDIT.COM          (The DOS editor)
                         C:\UTIL\LIST.COM         (List)
                         C:\UTIL\Q.EXE            (QEdit)

          You may prefer to use an editor such as QEdit rather than a
          viewer such as LIST. The worm report is not sorted and holds
          information from worms in order of arrival. The right editor (eg
          QEDIT) will allow you to do any sorting you may desire. To
          accomodate sorting, incoming Worm data always contains the Worm
          ID then the full Julian date and timestamp of the Worm. Sorting
          on the first 13 columns therefore will always give you your
          incoming Worm data sorted by Worm ID, then date.



          2.1.10.   KM Defaults

          As mentioned, if an Configuration file doesn't exist, KM will
          create it for you. The defaults provided are :

        *      BBS (Dorinfo1.Def) Path       : C:\KINGDOMS\
        *      Kingdom (Game Files) Path     : C:\KINGDOMS\
        *  ASCII Text Files Path             : C:\KINGDOMS\TEXTASC\
        *  ANSI Text Files Path              : C:\KINGDOMS\TEXTANS\
        *  Net Mail Path                     : C:\FD\NETMAIL\
        *  Inbound Files Path                : C:\KINGDOMS\IN\
        *  Outbound Files Path               : C:\KINGDOMS\OUT\
        *  Recon Data File Path              : C:\KINGDOMS\
        *  Temp Files Path                   : C:\KINGDOMS\
        *  Report Viewer                     : C:\UTIL\Q.EXE



          2.2. Check Paths

          This option will examine each of the entries you've configured in
          `Edit Paths' to check they're valid. Any which are not will be
          highlighted and should be corrected before attempting to run
          Kingdoms. It's a good idea to select this option whenever you've
          edited your paths as it will pick up any typos that may have
          crept in unnoticed to you.


          2.3. Other

          2.3.1. Sysop & BBS Name
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          Self explanatory. Your name and the BBS name. If you decide to
          register Kingdoms, the names entered here MUST match the ones you
          send in on your Registration form. If you enter Kingdoms locally,
          the Sysop name here is also the default logon name in Kingdoms
          when using the /L startup parameter.



          2.3.2. Days to keep old users.

          Users who have not logged in for the number of days specified
          here will be removed automatically by Kingdoms maintenance. 30 is
          a good default.



          2.3.3. Days to keep Log data.

          During maintenance, Kingdoms will automatically trim all it's log
          files to purge old/unwanted data. The number entered here
          specifies how many days worth of data to keep when doing the
          purge. Coordinator's please note : the log created when
          performing Coordinator functions, such as adding or deleting
          nodes on the network, is never trimmed automatically as the
          potential is too high for important historical information to be
          lost. Any trimming/deletion must be performed by hand on
          KCOORD.LOG.



          2.3.4. Kingdoms Net ID.

          This field is used to specify which Kingdoms net this game is
          operating in. If your board is connected to several Kingdoms
          nets, each Kingdoms game in each network must be set up as a
          separate game and MUST have a different net identifier. If you're
          participating in a net, your Coordinator will tell you what Net
          ID your game is using. Make SURE you get it right as Kingdoms
          will not process inbound or outbound files if the data within
          them belongs to a different net Id than the one you have defined.
          Your Network ID will be alphabetic numeric characters to specify
          your Id. Special characters will cause problems as this Id is
          used in the generation of outbound file names from your Realm.

          The NetId _IS_ case sensitive.

          An up-to-date list of Network Id's currently in use (so you can
          select yourself one that hasn't already been used) is maintained
          on our web site, http://www.magna.com.au/~davec/kingdom.htm.



          2.3.5. Poll Frequency
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          Poll Frequency is only used if you're participating in a Kingdoms
          network. Kingdoms will to keep track of how often mail takes to
          move between (both to and from) any given node and all other
          nodes in the Kingdoms network. The value entered here specifies
          how often, in days, Kingdoms should send automatic polls to all
          other Kingdoms nodes to maintain network statistics. The
          statistic data can be viewed by you and your users using option
          `N' on the Kingdom Realms menu. The data provided will look
          something like :

          -*Net Statistics*-

                                                  Mail to   Mail From
               No.   Kingdom Realm                Average   Average
               -------------------------------------------------------
                 1 - The Web                           N/A       N/A
                 2 - Bad Company                  2 days    3 days
                 3 - Way Out West       3 days    4 days
               -------------------------------------------------------
          Press any key ...



          Of course, there will be one node listed for each node in your
          Kingdoms network. The N/A next to the Web above indicates Not
          Applicable. The Web in this case, is the home realm and, of
          course, there are no mail statistics to report! In the above
          example, it takes two days (on average) for mail to get from The
          Web (the local Realm) to Bad Company. It takes three days for
          mail on Bad Company to get to The Web.

          Note that the Poll Frequency value is based on day in the year
          (ie, the Julian day) not the day polling was first requested. For
          example, a value of 4 will NOT necessarily poll other nodes the
          first time it runs and for every four days after that. It polls
          if the current day or the year is divisible by four. If you want
          Kingdoms to poll all other nodes every day, just  set the Poll
          Frequency to 1.



          2.3.6. Self Correction Frequency

          Self Correction is a major feature and an integral part of
          Kingdoms network management. Since version 2.10, Kingdoms carries
          the default node routing/link information originally specified by
          your Coordinator within the Index itself. With this information
          available, each node is able to intelligently work out what
          connections (outbound or routed) it should have with what other
          nodes. This effectively frees the Sysop of each node having to
          know anything about the network itself as is required to get your
          routing right in most other InterBBS games. A typical example of
          where this is useful is when a routing change is required. Rather
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          than the coordinator having to tell every node in the network of
          the change and make sure everyone affected updates their routing,
          the Coordinator can simply issue a routing update from his or her
          node. Each realm the update reaches will then automatically (in
          inbound processing) re-evaluate it's routing rules and
          reconfigure them if necessary to the specified settings.

          It may have already occured to you however that updates may go
          astray or not arrive at their destination for some reason. If
          they miss getting a node connection update, how can the problem
          be fixed without further manual intervention? This is where self-
          correction is used. The value you specify here is how often you
          want your node to poll your Default Outbound for `self-
          correction' information. If you specify 5 for example, then every
          five days your node will automatically request update information
          from your Default. The information it recieves and processes by
          this request is effectively a complete copy of your Default's
          index file. That information will be compared against the local
          Index and any modifications to the default routing or to
          Sysop/BBS names will be applied locally. Likewise, downlinks from
          THAT node will then receive any missed updates by self correction
          and the information will flow down the network until all changes
          are effected on all nodes.

          Note the importance of the Default outbound here. For self
          correction to work properly, your Default Outbound MUST be the
          most direct link `upwards' in the network to the Coordinator
          node. Thus in many parts of the Manager and in the documentation,
          the Default is also called your `uplink'. This is required so
          that correction information always flows outward from the
          Coordinator node which, by definition, must always be correct
          itself. If the Default is set to a node which is not on a direct
          path to your Coordinator, self correction may actually pick up
          old data which, when re-evaluated, may incorrectly configure your
          routing based on out-of-date Index information on the link
          specified as the Default. During the automatic evaluation of your
          index links Kingdoms will, of course, set your Default to the
          right uplink. You don't normally have to worry about getting this
          right as Kingdoms will do it for you. This information is only
          pertinent to those who need to change their Default manually for
          some (rare) reason.

          A self-correction frequency of five is suggested as a good
          default. The coordinator node must never have self correction
          turned on and it should be left as a zero value.



          2.3.7. Next Reset Due

          The Coordinator has the ability to force a reset network wide as
          he/she desires. This line allows you to see if one is due and, if
          so, when it will take place. If there is no reset pending, the
          words `None Scheduled' will appear beside the prompt.
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          2.4. About Kingdoms

          Gives general information about Kingdoms and the Author.




          2.5. Maint Flag

          When Maintenance starts, a flag within Kingdoms is set on
          indicating this. If a player attempts to log on while Maintenace
          is running, Kingdoms will inform them of this and ask them to
          wait (or exit with a keypress) a short period until it completes
          before allowing the player to enter the game. If something
          serious happens such as a crash or power failure while
          maintenance runs, the flag may not be flipped off as it normally
          is when Maintenance completes. This will effectively bar players
          from entering the game at all. Should this happen, simply select
          this option and confirm you want the flag turned off and all will
          be well again. If this DOES become necessary, I suggest you also
          check your KMNT.LOG to see if some sort of error or problem is
          being reported.


          2.6. User On Flag

          When a player is online, their user record is marked to reflect
          this. As with Maintenance, a major system problem may mean this
          flag doesn't get switched off. Selecting this option allows you
          to turn all `user online' flags off. Of course, you shouldn't run
          this while someone is actually online!




          2.7. Logs

          Allows you to select any game log for viewing (using the external
          editor defined in Paths) without leaving the Manager.












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          Section 3 - Network



          3.1. Your Routing

          3.1.1.    Setting Yourself Up : In Brief

          Network Routing is the area you use to identify your node and the
          nodes you exchange Kingdoms mail with to Kingdoms. To enter
          Network Routing, you must have a valid KIDX.DAT file which will
          be available from your Kingdoms Coordinator.

          Setting this up is very simple. All you need to do is identify
          from the list presented which node you are in the Index. Based on
          the Connection information contained in the Index, the Manager
          itself will configure the rest of your routing automatically for
          you. It is not the purpose of this document to tell you how to
          set this up - the Sysop documentation (KSYSOP.DOC), Installation
          section can tell you that. Provided here is a general discussion
          of what things are and what they do so you understand fully what
          is happening when it is set up, or to give you help if you are
          experiencing difficulties.



          3.1.2.    KIDX.DAT

          The KIDX file is your Kingdoms `nodelist'. It contains an entry
          for each BBS in your Kingdoms network. Unlike a lot of other
          InterBBS games, it is not a straight text file you can edit. The
          reason for this is that Kingdoms manages it, not you, and there
          is therefore no reason why you should need to edit it manually.
          Your first KIDX.DAT will be provided by the Coordinator of your
          Kingdoms network. Any changes from that point on are handled
          automatically by Kingdoms when the Coordinator distributes them.
          There should be NO need for you ever to edit this file. Indeed,
          if you try, you could easily break your routing, so DON'T!



          3.1.3.    Default Outbound

          You will have one Default Outbound on your system. Your Default
          Outbound an outbound just like your Normal Outbound nodes with
          one important distinction - it is the node to which you connect
          for Kingdoms mail WHICH IS THE MOST DIRECT PATH BACK TO YOUR
          COORDINATOR NODE. Normally you don't have to worry about this as
          Kingdoms will work out which node should be your Default and mark
          it appropriately and automatically for you. If you are unsure
          however, you can generate a Link Diagram and identify from that
          the node your Default should be (it is the node marked `Uplink'
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          in the diagram for your node) and set it accordingly. As
          described previously, the Default MUST be the most direct path to
          your Coordinator node for Self Correction to work. If it is not,
          you should disable Self Correction by setting it to zero.



          3.1.4.    Normal Outbound

          A Normal Outbound is simply that. It's a node in your nodelist
          with which you communicate directly. That is, you call them, or
          they call you, to transfer Kingdoms data. Like the Default
          Outbound, you can only route data for other nodes to an Outbound
          to get it out on the network and to the place it should be going.




          3.2. Preferences

          When selected, a list of all outbound nodes on your system (both
          Default and Normal) is presented. You can then tailor options for
          mail for your outbound node(s) to suit your preferences. The
          possibilities include type of mail, (hold or direct), crashmail
          (yes or no) and compression type (ZIP, ARJ, RAR or None). While
          the highlight bar is on the outbound node you're interested in
          changing preferences for, F1, F2 and F3 will toggle through mail
          type, crashmail and compressions options respectively.

          3.2.1.    Mail Type - Hold/Direct

          Pressing F1 will toggle between Hold and Direct mail for the
          highlighted node. That is, the .MSG file attach will be marked
          `hold' (waiting for a call in to pick it up) or direct (will be
          delivered on either an outgoing or incoming call to/from the
          destination node).

          3.2.2.    Crashmail - Yes/No

          Pressing F2 will toggle crashmail on and off. If on, any new .MSG
          file attach created will be marked Crash, Immediate. As soon as
          your mailer has the opportunity to do so, an outbound call will
          take place to (attempt to) deliver the mail. This generally means
          an extremely good throughput of mail to/from a system but can
          cost in terms of phone bills. Not using crashmail generally means
          you want your Kingdoms data delivered to its destination during
          normal mail hours/sessions.

          3.2.3.    Compression - Zip, Arj, Rar, None.

          Compression is available on all outbound packets in Kingdoms
          using your choice of the standard compression tools, ZIP, ARJ and
          RAR. Note that this is specifying compression for OUTBOUND
          packets only. Kingdoms will scan Kingdoms inbound data, work out
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          what compression format, if any, is being used, and decompress it
          accordingly if required. In other words - Inbound processing pays
          no attention whatsoever to what is specified here when
          decompressing packets - it decompresses inbounds according to the
          archive type it detects itself.

          When Knetout runs, it will search for compression on any outbound
          packets and decompress them accordingly. It will then do normal
          processing to add outbound data then, according to the type
          specified here,  compress them again ready for transmission.
          Kingdoms must be able to locate the archiver(s) you have
          specified either in the current directory, or in a directory on
          the path, when it needs them.

          You should, of course, make sure that the destination outbound
          supports (ie, is able to decompress) any archiver type you choose
          when compressing mail that is destined for that node.


          3.3. Alias

          Much as it would be nice if everything stayed stable and systems
          kept working, it is a fact of life that nodes will come and go,
          addresses may change and other less desirable things may happen.
          Such events can create havoc with a well running network!

          To help manage these changes, Aliases are supported under
          Kingdoms. An Alias basically comprises two addresses - the
          `Convert From' and `Convert To' addresses. These are simply
          addresses which allow information destined for one node to be
          readdressed to another dynamically, or `on the fly'. The
          following example will explain an example of where this may be
          necessary.

          Let's say the a node with address 1:2/3 has dropped their Fidonet
          link (ie, being a Fido zone) and no longer wants to (or can) use
          their original address. Let's also assume that the board is a
          member of BattleNet and has the address 169:2/3 on that network.
          The node who wants to change should notify their Coordinator who
          will distribute an Index Change instruction, telling all boards
          of the change. That's fine, and everyone will start distributing
          data to the new address as they should, but there may be a
          considerable amount of data already in transit in the network for
          the old address. When it reaches a node who has already processed
          the update, the destination address (the old address) for the
          inbound transit will no longer exist, and the transit data would
          be returned to the sender as undeliverable. Not a really good way
          to do it! This is where aliases come in.

          Quite simply, when a Change order comes into a node, not only
          does Kingdoms do the Index change, but it will ALSO, using the
          example above, create an alias address with a `Convert From' of
          1:2/3 and a `Convert To' of 169:2/3. When transit data comes in
          for the old destination address, but to a node who has the new
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          address in their Index, it (the old address) will still not be
          found on the Index. Kingdoms will then however, check the Alias
          file and find the old address in the `Convert From' field of one
          of the Alias records. What it will do then is replace the
          destination address on the inbound transit with the `Convert To'
          address (the correct, or new, one) and continue to process it.
          The network is not affected, the data gets to where it should and
          no problems will arise even though not everyone in the network
          has yet processed updates. Note also that all this happens
          automatically and there is no need for human intervention, other
          than for the Coordinator to issue the original Change
          instruction.

          You can if you wish set aliases yourself, but there will rarely
          be a need to do so. It's better to let Kingdoms manage them. A
          maximum of 10 Alias records are held in Kingdoms at any one time,
          which should be more than ample. If a new one needs to be added
          and no space is available, the one which is oldest (referenced
          the longest time ago) will be overwritten to make way for the
          new.


          3.4. Verify

          The Verify information in Kingdoms is worth running after you've
          changed your routing, should you decide to do so. It simply goes
          through your routing definitions, summarises them, and presents
          the summary data to you on screen. It's a nice check to see if
          everything is ok & I suggest you do it periodically.


          3.5. Erase Routing

          If you've done a lot of things to your routing or incorrectly set
          something, such as your node on the Index file, you can erase all
          your Routing rules and start over with a fresh slate. This option
          allows you to do this. Having confirmed this is what you want to
          do, you will need to reenter the Network Routing options to
          respecify your node again, or your InterBBS functions will not
          operate.


          3.6. Net Times

          This is an extended listing of the Net Times list available to
          players in the Kingdoms InterBBS options. It shows full detail of
          how long data is taking to get from your node to and/or from all
          other nodes in the network. The higher the poll frequency set in
          the `Other' options of the Manager, the more accurate these
          numbers are likely to be. A <cr> on any node in the list
          (excluding your own, of course) will allow you to send an
          immediate Recon Request to that node.


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          3.7. Zero Times

          Erases the statistics kept for Net Times. This allows you to
          `start afresh' with your statistics gathering. You would want to
          do this most probably after things like network problems are
          resolved to give your players the most realistic view of the
          nodes you communicate with.


          3.8. Defaults

          As described elsewhere, Kingdoms is capable of fully managing all
          your network connections for you. You will not normally have any
          reason to change these defaults Kingdoms sets for you. Should you
          do so however, the defaults can be easily restored by choosing
          this option and confirming that this is what you want to do.


          3.9. Index File Dump

          Choosing this option allows you to dump your index, including
          your current routing definitions, to a standard text file for
          ease of reference should you wish it. There are times in Kingdoms
          you may be informed of a problem with node number xx, where xx is
          the physical record number of a node in your Index file. As all
          listings in the Manager which show nodes from the Index are
          sorted alphabetically by BBS name, they cannot be used to
          identify which node Kingdoms is talking about in these messages.
          The Index File Dump is listed (and numbered) according to
          physical record numbers and can also be used to identify these
          nodes with ease when required.




          3.10.     Link Diagram

          The Index File Dump described previously produces a list of nodes
          stating who they are currently routing data to. While this will
          normally reflect the network defaults, a manual change (override)
          to the routing specified by Kingdoms may mean the dump doesn't
          reflect what Kingdoms thinks is the network structure (as defined
          by the Coordinator) due to your manual modification. In contrast,
          the Link Diagram generates a picture of your complete network. It
          shows the Coordinator default links and does not take into
          account (or depict) any changes you may have made. In short, the
          Link Diagram is a complete picture of who connects to who in the
          Kingdoms network according to Coordinator specification. It can
          be particularly useful if you have made some manual modifications
          to your network and want to change something in particular back
          to what it should be without resetting everything automatically
          using the `Defaults' option on this menu.


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          A comparison between the Link Diagram and connections shown in
          the Index File Dump is a simple means of identifying areas where
          your node differs from the Defaults specified by the Coordinator.




          3.11.     Worms

          3.11.1 What IS a Worm?

          One of the major problems I've found with other Inter-BBS games
          is the routing of game data. Too often things go astray or are
          not working properly, often due to a BBS that has it's routing
          defined incorrectly and is sending data off into a black hole
          somewhere. Unfortunately, though this is always a major issue in
          Inter-BBS games, facilities are rarely provided to verify the
          network setup from any node. The concept of the `Worm' is
          Kingdom's implementation of just such a facility.

          A Worm is named such because of it's function. When spawned from
          a node (any node can spawn a worm to any other node), a Worm will
          `crawl' through the network for anything up to ten days in an
          attempt to make it to it's destination. If it cannot reach the
          destination node in ten days, it will give up and return to the
          originating Realm. At each and every node it visits on it's way
          through the Kingdoms network it will, in addition to continuing
          on it's way to the destination, spawn a message back to the
          originator. When this message arrives back at the original node
          that spawned the worm, it will be added to the Worm report,
          `KWORM.RPT' on the local Realm. In this way, a complete report of
          the network links from one node to another will ultimately be
          generated, assuming the link is working as it should.

          In addition to spawning these informational messages on the
          Worm's progress, node data will also be added to the Worm on it's
          travels. That is, it will `grow' as it moves from node to node,
          compiling data about the nodes it travels through as it goes.
          Again, when a worm returns to it's origin node, the data gathered
          will be appended to the Worm report.

          In normal circumstances then, Worm data returned to the
          originator will consist of one record for each node the Worm
          passed through in addition to the compiled information gathered
          as it moves through the network.

          If a worm gets to a certain point then messages from it cut off
          suddenly, there is a problem with the network at the point the
          messages stopped being spawned back. In such cases, you should
          notify your Coordinator of the problem (remember to include the
          Worm report!) so remedial action can be taken.

          At present, Worms aren't very intelligent. Certainly they provide
          valuable information about the network so that if you suspect
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          something is wrong with a node, you can spawn a worm to it
          (effectively `ping' it, in network vanacular) and verify the
          links between the suspect node and your own. I plan however, in
          future versions, to add functionality to :

       *  Report on Worms that pass through the same node more than once in
          transit to its destination.

       *  Report on network `loops' by notifying the local Sysops who are
          in the `loop'.

       *  Verify Index file structures are consistent on nodes the Worm
          passes through compared to the originating node.


          Two points to note about Worms :

          1.   Use them judiciously. Particularly in a large network,
          Worm's can generate a lot of network traffic by the time they've
          done a round trip from origin to destination and back again. Use
          them, by all means, but do everyone a favour and keep the traffic
          down by only spawning a Worm when you think there might be a
          network problem.

          2.   When you first connect to a Kingdoms network, make sure you
          *are* connected properly. Spawn a Worm to your network
          coordinator node (the N>etwork V>erify option in KM tells you who
          your coordinator is) to make sure you have a link to the
          coordinator. If that link isn't working, you have a problem!

          3.11.2.   Spawning a Worm

          Spawning a Worm is a simple matter. Select the `Worm' option on
          the Network menu. A scrollable list of available nodes will pop
          up. Select the node you want to spawn a Worm to and confirm the
          selection.     The only restriction here is that you cannot spawn
          a Worm to your own node, for what I hope are pretty obvious
          reasons! :-) The specific format of a returned Worm report is
          shown (and described) in section 4.9 below.


          3.12.     Other Routing

          This is another means of checking suspected problems in the
          network, or even just a facility to satisfy yourself that all is
          as it should be. In short, this option will return you complete
          routing information as defined on any `Other' BBS in your
          Kingdoms network.

          When selected, a scrollable window of available nodes will pop up
          and you can select which one you want to send the request to.
          When it comes back, the data will be added to your Routing
          Report, for viewing at your convenience.

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          The Routing data returned includes (nicely formatted, of course!)
          :

       *  The Realm Name
       *  The Realm Address
       *  A complete list of that node's Index and associated Routing
          rules.
       *  A full list of Aliases active on the selected node
       *  The version of Kingdoms that the node is running
          The specific format of a returned Routing report is shown (and
          described) in section 4.9 below.


          3.13.     Reports

          3.13.1.   Overview

          This option allows you to view the Worm and Routing reports while
          in the Kingdoms Manager. If you prefer to do this straight from
          DOS (or other OS), it will be useful for you to know that reports
          are always named *.rpt for ease of finding/reference. KWORM.RPT
          and KROUTE.RPT are the Worm and Routing reports respectively. You
          must have the Report Editor path and filename set up correctly in
          F>ile E>dit Paths to use this option. See `3.1.9. Report Editor'
          for more information.

          3.13.2.   Worm Report Layout

          The Worm Report will tell you many things about the path and
          operation of your Kingdoms network. It is first worthwhile to
          note that whenever you propogate a Worm, it is given a four
          character ID so you can always tell which worm is which as it's
          quite possible to send out several at once. Thus, the first
          characters of a Worm report line will always be `Worm [nnnn] :',
          where nnnn is the Worm ID.

          Following is a description of all the lines of text and status
          information you can come across in a Worm report, and what it
          means to you. For the purposes of illustration, the worm-id is
          assumed to be 2468.

          Worm [2468] : *** Spawned yyyyddd-hh:mm:ss to BBS-Name

          This line is created when you first select a Worm for
          propogation. The ID is recorded and the date/timestamp of when
          you issued it. The name of the BBS to which you requested it go
          is also recorded.

          Worm [2468] : --- Passthrough Notification on zz:net/node at
          yyyyddd-hh:mm:ss

          This line is created by another node as a Worm passes through it
          on it's way to a destination. Eg, If BBS-1 sends a worm to BBS-3
          and to get there the worm has to pass through BBS-2, then a
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          passthrough notification will be issued back to BBS-1, by BBS-2,
          as the worm is processed and forwarded on. When you get this,
          you'll find out a lot about your network. If BBS-1 gets a
          passthrough notification back from BBS-2, then you know the link
          to BBS-2 is working fine, both ways, that BBS-2 is running
          inbound and outbound processing correctly, and at what time of
          day the outbound processing is run on BBS-2. You know also that
          BBS-2 has forwarded it on, but you CANNOT be sure it got to the
          next place (BBS-3) until you get a similar message back from BBS-
          3, or a message such as those that follow telling you the Worm
          has reached it's destination and it returning. If you DON'T get
          something back from BBS-3, then either BBS-2 didn't forward it
          properly, or BBS-3 didn't process it properly. As BBS-2 has
          returned your pssthrough notification, it's probably ok and the
          problem probably lies with BBS-3, but you can make sure of that
          by requesting a routing report from BBS-2, which will give you
          detail on what it sends where and should answer that question for
          you.

          3.13.3.   Routing Report Layout

          A routing report is not the same as a Worm, but is very
          informative in it's own right. A routing report will send a
          request to any node you wish, asking for detail of that node's
          routing. The complete routing rules for that node will be
          returned to the requestor (normally the Net Coordinator) for
          examination as desired. This is ONLY the information held for
          routing rules which, if specified incorectly, will cause mail
          problems in the network itself. Thus, anyone can check anyone
          else's routing. Indeed, you are encouraged to do so to minimise
          processing errors on the network, and thus problems and hassles
          in the game itself. Information considered private to a node
          (such as registration numbers and status, passwords, user names,
          etc) is NOT distributed and cannot be requested.

          Like the worm, a line is written to the routing report when it is
          first requested to keep track of the date such requests were
          made. It will read something like `Routing Request generated
          yyyyddd/hh:mm:ss to BBS-Name.'. Assuming the request gets there
          and makes it back, the information returned is pretty much the
          same as you can view of your own realm within the Kingdoms
          Manager Network options on Routing and Aliases. A sample returned
          routing report follows :

          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          ---------
          Routing Report Created yyyyddd (dd-mm-yyyy at hh:mm:ss)
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          ---------
          Routing at BBS-Name - processed yyyyddd (dd-mm-yyyy at hh:mm:ss)
          BBS-Name is running Kingdoms vn.nn.
          addr1     BBS1 (Sysop1)            Default Outbound
          addr2     BBS2 (Sysop 2)                Route to addr1
          addr3     BBS3 (Sysop 3)           This Node
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          addr4     BBS4 (Sysop 4)           Route to addr1
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          ---------
          --- Alias Data ---
          Alias 1 : Not used.
          Alias 2 : Not used.
          Alias 3 : Convert addr5 to addr4                       Alias
          remarks/last reference
          Alias 4 :
          ....
          Alias 10 : Not used.
          -------------------------------- End Routing Info ---------------
          ---------
          Given that you've set up your own, this should be pretty clear to
          you by now. Quite simply, all the information that affects
          routing on the node is returned to the requestor for examination.
          It is not, of course, possible for someone to change another
          BBS's routing rules, but by mail you can inform another Sysop of
          routing rule problems, should any exist and get them fixed so the
          network continues to operate smoothly.


































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          Section 4 - Registration


          Should you decide to register Kingdoms, this is where you enter
          the registration number provided. You will be asked for your name
          plus the BBS name to match up with a registration code provided
          to you by the Author. Remember that all fields are case sensitive
          when entering this information!

          If you've already registered, this option will display your
          registration details. Registration information is available in
          the accompanying document, KREG.DOC (or the text version,
          KREG.TXT). If you're on the Net, you can register with a credit
          card online at http:www.magna.com.au/~davec/kingdom.htm. You can
          also pick up the latest version of Kingdoms there!








          Section 5 - Coordinator


          These options are available only to your Netowrk Coordinator and
          are fully described in KCOORD.DOC, the Coordinator's
          documentation, which accompies the Kingdoms distribution archive.























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          Appendix A : Mail Routing




          A.1 Overview

          If you're participating in a Kingdoms network, your routing rules
          are set up and maintained using the Manager, KM.EXE. In short,
          your rules tell Kingdoms where to send mail for what node in your
          net. This appendix goes into detail about routing, what it means,
          and how it works in Kingdoms. Generally you won't need to read it
          to run your game (Kingdoms will maintain it fully for you) but
          the information is provided here for those who would like to know
          more about what's happening `behind the scenes'.

          When KNETOUT runs, it will examine the routing rules which are
          stored in the Index file, KIDX.DAT. For nodes which have outbound
          data, KNETOUT will generate a file attach .MSG in your Mailer
          directory (as defined in KCFG). The file attached to the message
          will be placed in your Kingdoms Outbound directory, again as
          specified in the Manager.

          Kingdoms does NOT create zillions of outbound files for the same
          node. It is smart enough to realise if an outbound exists for a
          node which is being sent more data and will simply append the new
          data to the existing file. This makes for a much faster and
          cleaner mail session during transfer and I'm sure those who have
          to pay STD rates to distribute Kingdoms data will appreciate the
          fact!

          It is VERY important you get your routing rules right or your
          players will find that attacks don't get through, money is lost
          they're sending to other Realms, or numerous other undesirable
          outcomes are possible. Kingdoms will define them for you based on
          the information available in the Index file so this isn't
          normally a problem but be aware of the need for caution if for
          some reason you have need to override the defaults chosen by
          Kingdoms itself!




          A.2. Defining your Routing - Standard Systems

          First up, make sure you have the latest KIDX.DAT file from your
          Kingdoms co-ordinator. Place it in C:\KINGDOMS and run the
          Manager. Selecting Network>Your Routing will put you in a screen
          where your routing rules are defined.

          This aspect of InterBBS games always seems to cause the most
          pain, which is why I chose not to use the normal text file
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          interface as I've seen (and seen go wrong in numerous ways!) in
          other BBS games, but rather built this area to allow you to
          easily manage your routing rules.

          You will have a screen before you which lists all the nodes in
          your `nodelist', your Kingdom Index (KIDX.DAT) file.

          If this is the first time you've used this option, you'll be
          asked to define which node YOU are in the nodelist. Using the
          arrow keys, place the highlight bar over your node and press
          enter. If your node is NOT listed, then press Esc to get out of
          there and get an updated KIDX.DAT file from your Coordinator that
          has you listed. Do NOT set yourself up as another node as mail
          routing for the game will get very confused to find multiple
          nodes with the same address on the network!

          Having selected your node, Kingdoms will configure your routing
          for you and there'll not normally be anything further you need to
          do other than perhaps set your outbound(s) to CRASH mail rather
          than normal mail should you wish it and turn on any compression
          you want. When this is done, re-enter `Your Routing' and have a
          look at what Kingdoms has done for you.

          Please note that the remaining discussion assumes Kindoms has
          created your routing and for some reason you wish to change it. A
          full description is provided so you can be sure you know what
          you're doing but do NOT assume you ever need to do any of this!
          In normal situations, Kingdoms will handle the whole thing for
          you and you should NEVER modify your routing definitions without
          first consulting your coordinator. Not only do you risk
          disrupting mail for your node if you get it wrong, but nodes who
          pick up from you and poll your node for network self correction
          will also feel the effects of a mistake and will have their
          routing broken in turn! In short, Kingdoms handles it all
          seamlessley ... if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it!



          The information you see when you enter Your Routing might look
          like :



           Address        Name/Sysop                    Node Routing
           3:712/523      The Web (Dave Chapman)        This Node
           3:712/807      Bad Company (Shane Hunter)    Default Outbound (Direct)
           69:1171/3      Way Out West (Darren Gibbs)   Route 3:712/807
           98:765/4321    Another BBS (Sysop Name) Route 3:712/807

          This simple example, I hope, is apparent. We have :

       *  The Web is the node on which Kingdoms is being set up.
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       *  Bad Company is the BBS to which The Web sends its Kingdoms data.

       *  Way out West's and Another BBS's Kingdoms' data is being routed
          to Bad Company.

       *  Bad Company will have its routing set up to move data for these
          two on to wherever they are.

          Lastly, note that there is a (Direct) listed after Bad Company.
          This means that mail generated for it will be sent whenever The
          Web is connected to Bad Company - it matters not who made the
          originating call. If Bad Company was ringing the Web, then the
          mail for Bad Company can be placed on Hold to await an incoming
          call to the Web. Placing the highlight bar on the node you want
          to change and press F2 to toggle between Direct and Hold status
          for outbound mail depending on whether you call the node, or the
          node calls you, respectively. Generally, you can leave everything
          as Direct, so mail will transfer at all times, unless you have a
          specific reason for wanting to Hold mail for pickup only.

          For outbound nodes as well, you can set the `CRASH' flag on and
          off by pressing F3 while the node is highlighted. If it is on
          (Y), then file-attach messages created for your mailer will have
          the CRASH and IMMEDIATE flags set on accordingly.

          Having set this up, you often won't need to do any more. Kingdoms
          supports automated update of all Realm Index files so your
          Coordinator will distribute new nodes and they'll be added to
          your index file as they arrive without you having to lift a
          finger. Any new nodes that arrive for addition to your index file
          will automatically be routed to your Default Outbound so you
          don't need to worry about the routing of new nodes either.
          Kingdoms does it all for you!

          Should you ever want to change your Default Outbound, then just
          go back into the routing definitions and press Enter on the node
          you want to make your Default from that point on. You will be
          asked what you want to do with this node so select the option
          that defines it the Default Outbound. Kingdoms will prompt you to
          see if you want to change all other nodes to direct mail through
          this node and if you do, just hit Yes. Everything will be
          directed through a new node with just those few keystrokes,
          nothing more to it. Again, note that the Default Outbound MUST be
          your direct uplink on a path to the Coordinator node. You can see
          which node Kingdoms thinks that should be (and it's probably
          right!) by looking at the `uplink' node for your node on the Link
          Diagram. If you change it to some other node YOU MUST DISABLE
          SELF CORRECTION by setting it to zero or you risk the self
          correction process picking up old network data and incorrectly
          assigning routing definitions for your node.


          A.3. Defining your Routing - Intermediate Hubs

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          The above discussion should cover the requirements of most
          Kingdoms nodes and is very easy to implement. In the example
          however, The Web is calling only one node and sending all data to
          that node. If you are an intermediate hub (a BBS where more than
          one other BBS is picking up or delivering Kingdoms data) things
          are a little different, though Kingdoms still keeps it quite easy
          to do with a minimum of fuss. Again, Kingdoms (since version
          2.10) does all this automatically and you shouln't need to change
          it. The following description is here only for those who have
          some need, and their Coordinator's approval, to do so!



          After routing configuration has completed, a hub might see a
          Routing screen such as :

               Address        Name/Sysop                    Node Routing

               3:712/523      The Web (Dave Chapman)        Route 3:712/807
               3:712/807      Bad Company (Shane Hunter)    Default Outbound
               69:1171/3      Way Out West (Darren Gibbs)   Route 3:712/807
               3:712/611      Sci-Fi BBS (Greg Hope)        This Node
               98:765/4321    Another BBS (Sysop Name)      Route 3:712/807

          Let's assume now that `Another BBS' is calling us (Sci-Fi BBS)
          for Kingdoms, not picking it up from Bad Company as is most
          likely the case above. Simply put the highlight bar on `Another
          BBS', and press Enter. You'll be given the following options :

       1. 
          Make this node the Default Outbound

       2. 
          Make this node a normal Outbound

       3. 
          Route mail for this node to another node

       4. 
          Forget it, no changes


          Simply select `2' and press enter and the routine list screen
          will be returned to you.


               Address        Name/Sysop               Node Routing

               3:712/523      The Web (Dave Chapman)        Route 3:712/807
               3:712/807      Bad Company (Shane Hunter)    Default Outbound
               69:1171/3      Way Out West (Darren Gibbs)   Route 3:712/807
               3:712/611      Sci-Fi BBS (Greg Hope)        This Node
               98:765/4321    Another BBS (Sysop Name)      Normal Outbound

          Simple, huh? Now mail for Another BBS will be held on Sci-Fi BBS
          until Another BBS calls in for it. As with the Default Outbound,

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          you can press F2 while the node is highlighted to change their
          mail status from Hold to Direct.

          Something a little more complex. Assume `Way Out West' calls
          `Another BBS' for Kingdoms, rather than Bad Company. You want
          mail for Way Out West to go then to Another BBS rather than being
          routed to Bad Company. Again, highlight the node you want to
          change, Way Out West in this case, and press Enter. Choose `3'
          this time and a list of available nodes will pop up in another
          window. Kingdoms will ask you to select the node you wish to
          route data for Way Out West to, so highlight Another BBS and
          press Enter. The following screen will be returned :

               Address        Name/Sysop                    Node Routing

               3:712/523      The Web (Dave Chapman)        Route 3:712/807
               3:712/807      Bad Company (Shane Hunter)    Default Outbound
               69:1171/3      Way Out West (Darren Gibbs)   Route 98:765/4321
               3:712/611      Sci-Fi BBS (Greg Hope)        This Node
               98:765/4321    Another BBS (Sysop Name)      Normal Outbound

          A couple of restrictions exist, which are there to protect you
          from yourself <g>.

       1. 
          You cannot route data to your own node.

       2. 
          You cannot route data to a node that is not an outbound node.

       3. 
          You cannot change the status of the Default Outbound node except
          for the mail Hold/Direct flag. You must make another node the
          default outbound before you can modify it.

          That about covers mail routing. It should be pretty clear I hope!
          If you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to
          contact me netmail, on the Internet or via the Kingdoms Sysop
          echo on BattleNet.


                          * End of Manager Documentation *















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