           INTRODUCTION TO THE BULL SUPPORT BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM.
           -------------------------------------------------------

     Welcome to the Bull Information Systems Ltd On-Line Bulletin Board System.

     This document is intended to introduce you to some of the features and 
facilities provided to you by the BBS. It cannot cover the whole of the BBS
offering in a small document but it should give a flavour of what is available
and what you may expect from the system.

     In general, the Bulletin Board is set up in the traditional fashion of 
many other BB systems but has been customised to meet the needs of our users.
If you are familiar with PC orientated BBS systems there should be no real 
surprises in either the layout or the operation of the Bull BBS.

     The BBS supports a large number of simultaneous users and allows online
communication between the currently logged in users. It also has the usual file
and messaging areas, both at a top level and at a 'special interest group' 
level. Extra facilities not normally found on a BBS are the online
'Known Problem File' and 'Technical Service Bulletin' lookup facilities.

     During the testing and pilot phases, there are a limitied number of
external access lines into the BBS, but these will be increased to eight lines
running at upto V32bis speeds of 14,400baud soon. With data compression being
carried out by the modems, the effective speed will be 19,200baud.  Callers 
using the high speed modems should expect very reasonable response times from
the BBS.

     At the moment, the only terminal types supported for accessing the BBS
are ANSI compatible and vanilla tty formats. If there is a big demand for
extra terminal types to be made available, this may be provided in due course.
Almost any PC communications package will support the ANSI colour and PC line
graphics characters used in the BBS menus and banners, but the system will
be mostly functional even in tty mode. There are one or two items that may
be made available to selected users which will require fully ANSI compliant
terminals or emulations.

     Q. Ok, so how does one access the Bull Information Systems BBS?

     A. One sets up a PC or similar system with a communications package, an
        asynchronous modem using any of the V21, V22, V22bis, V32 or V32bis
        standards and a phone line. 
        The communications package is configured to the following settings.

        SPEED:  The fastest that your modem will support, upto 19200 baud.
        PARITY: None
        BITS:   8

        Options such as flow control between the modem and the comms port
        must be left upto your own choice, but RTS/CTS flow control is best.
        Having set up the communications package, and the modem settings,
        you dial 081 893 8004 if outside the area, or 893 8004 if inside
        the 081 dial code area. Assuming all is well and that there is a modem
        available to take your call, you should see a CONNECT reply from your
        modem. Shortly after the CONNECT is displayed, a banner similar to
        the one shown below will prompt the next step.

CONNECT 14400


      [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
      [*]                                                         [*]
      [*] Login as 'bbs' to access the Bull Bulletin Board System [*]
      [*]    (If asked for a login password, please use 'bbs')    [*]
      [*]                                                         [*]
      [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]

login:

        Once this has appeared, you follow the prompt and enter the 'bbs'
        login and the 'bbs' password as follows.

login: bbs
Password: bbs (<- this will not be echoed back to you.)

        The following messages will then appear.

(C) Copyright 1986-1990, MIPS Computer Systems
All Rights Reserved

BOS/RISC (Bull Open Software) 2.10.02 (kernel version 2.11.01)
System Number : DR0011
Login last used: Wed Mar 10 10:08:36 1993
XBBS    Version 7.200  08/15/92
Author: Sanford J. Zelkovitz      Data: 714-821-9671

The System Administrator for this system is Kelvin Hill

Would you like ANSI colour & graphics?  (y/N) ==>

        It is at this point that you have to make the decision whether or not
        your terminal emulation will be able to handle the extended colours
        and graphics of the ANSI set. If in doubt, answer 'N' or just Enter.
        The default is to not use ANSI unless specifically requested. You 
        will be able to flip back into ANSI mode later on if you want to test
        out the functionality of your communications package.
        Following your key entry the following banners will appear as shown
        if you are NOT using ANSI mode, and in colour and graphics if you have
        selected ANSI.

  ****************************************************************************
  *                                                                          *
  *        ***************                         ******   ******           *
  *        *****************                       ******   ******           *
  *          ****        ****                        ****     ****           *
  *          ****        ****                        ****     ****           *
  *          ****       ****   ******     ******     ****     ****           *
  *          ***************   ******     ******     ****     ****           *
  *          ***************     ****       ****     ****     ****           *
  *          ****        ****    ****       ****     ****     ****           *
  *          ****         ****   ****       ****     ****     ****           *
  *          ****         ****   ****       ****     ****     ****           *
  *          ****        *****   ****       ****     ****     ****           *
  *        ******************     *****   ******** ******** ********         *
  *        *****************       *************** ******** ********         *
  *                                                                          *
  ****************************************************************************
  ****************************************************************************
  ****************************************************************************
  ****************************************************************************


*** Depress a key to continue ( control-k to quit ) ........


        **********************************************************
        *                                                        *
        *  ****************************************************  *
        *  *   Welcome to the Bull Level 3 Customer Support   *  *
        *  *   Unix Bulletin Board System. Operated by Bull   *  *
        *  *   Customer Services, running on a DPX 2/510cs.   *  *
        *  *      (Speeds: V22, V22bis, V32, and V32bis)      *  *
        *  *               Data  - 081-893-8004               *  *
        *  *               Voice - 081-479-3233               *  *
        *  *    Internet mail: bbsadmin@thed.uk22.bull.com    *  *
        *  ****************************************************  *
        *                                                        *
        **********************************************************
The following limits are in effect:      Max Downloads: 4096 Kb/Day.
                                         Usage time: 3600 minutes/Day.
                                         Login time: 2 minutes.
                                         Response time: 3 minutes.




*** Depress a key to continue ........

       The next set of prompts ask you for a user name and password that you 
       will use to access the system in the future. The sequence looks a lot
       like that shown below.

On at 12:12:35    Wednesday   March 10, 1993

Enter your first name ( or first and last )   ==> new user

Hello New User
Did I get your name right?  (Y/n) ==> y

Checking user file...

Welcome, as a new user I need a few pieces of information.

Please enter the City, State/Provence/Country you are from
    ===> Littletown, UK

Ok, now I need a 4  to 10 character password ===> _____
Just to make sure, enter it again ===> _____

       From here on, it is mainly a case of following the prompts and answering
       the questions. Eventually, you will end up at the following top level
       menu.

Time left = 59 minutes and 44 seconds

M(essage section), F(iles section),   V(ersion of XBBS), user (H)andbook,
T(oggle page),     B(ulletins),       N(ew user msg),    e(X)pert toggle,
W(elcome message), D(ate/time info),  R(ead info files), P(assword change),
J(iggle ANSI),     Q(uestionaire),    Z(ip thru mail),   who's (L)ogged on,
G(oodbye),         s(I)g & KPF menus, Y(our A/c status), ? --- help.


Commands: M,F,V,H,T,B,N,X,W,D,R,P,J,Q,Z,L,G,I,Y, or ? ===> 

       Not all of the possible menu options are shown at this time but will 
       become visible once your registration is confirmed and your access
       level has been increased appropriately. Some of the menu functions
       lead off to further levels of sub-menus, eg. M, F, and I, while
       others provide a facility at this level, eg. D, X and J. Once full
       registration is confirmed, the menu will look as below, preceded by
       the sample output from the Y command. 


Name:      New User
Password:  1234
Status:    Active User
Location:  Littletown, UK
1st Time:  at 12:12:35   on 03/10/93
Last Time: at 13:30:03   on 03/10/93
Expert:    No
Page Mode: Yes
PrivLevel: 50 (Bull LEVEL 3 Customer!)


Time left = 59 minutes and 43 seconds

M(essage section), F(iles section),   V(ersion of XBBS), user (H)andbook,
T(oggle page),     B(ulletins),       extr(A) features,  N(ew user msg),
e(X)pert toggle,   W(elcome message), D(ate/time info),  R(ead info files),
P(assword change), J(iggle ANSI),     C(hat to Sysop),   Q(uestionaire),
Z(ip thru mail),   j(O)in conference, in conferenc(E),   who's (L)ogged on,

Commands: M,F,V,H,T,B,A,N,X,W,D,R,P,J,C,Q,Z,O,E,L,G,S,I,Y, or ? ===> 

       Entry of M at this point will lead into the Messaging portion of the BBS
       and will provide the following options.

Commands: M,F,V,H,T,B,A,N,X,W,D,R,P,J,C,Q,Z,O,E,L,G,S,I,Y, or ? ===> m

    Directory     Description
    ============= ==========================================
 1) general       General Message Area
 2) helpwanted    Requests for help and Answers.
 3) Bull          Bull Customer Message Area


Enter Selection ===> 

       Selection of one of the choices will take you to the specified message
       area and will display the Message menu for this message area, as shown.

Enter Selection ===> 3

The following messages are for you:

You left the following messages:

The following messages are new to read :

Time left = 56 minutes and 56 seconds

Current message area = Bull


A(rea change),     K(ill message),    Q(uick scan),      S(can messages),
R(ead messages),   Y(our messages),   C(heck messages),  E(nter messages),
e(N)ter blocked,   M(ain menu),       G(oodbye),         e(X)pert toggle,
B(atch read sel),  T(oggle page),     ? --- help.

Commands: A,K,Q,S,R,Y,C,E,N,M,G,X,B,T, or ? ===>

       If the choice of F was made instead of M in the main menu above, it will
       take you into the File handling portion of the BBS. The same principles
       apply as in the Messaging portion. An example of the process is shown.

Commands: M,F,V,H,T,B,A,N,X,W,D,R,P,J,C,Q,Z,O,E,L,G,S,I,Y, or ? ===> f

    Directory     Description                                      Upload Path
    ============= ==========================================       ============
 1) GeneralFiles  Information files and Archiving utilities        uploads
 2) unix          Unix/Xenix Files                                 uploads
 3) msdos         MS/PC DOS Files                                  uploads
 4) uploads       New Uploads ----- Not as yet checked             uploads


Enter Selection ===> 2



Time left = 55 minutes and 48 seconds

Current download area = unix
Current upload area = uploads
Allowable daily download limit = 4194304 bytes

A(rea change),     M(ain menu),       U(pload file),     D(ownload file),
F(ile info list),  R(aw file list),   N(ew file list),   Z(ip file menu)
L(ocate files),    C(ontent of file), e(X)pert toggle,   T(oggle page),
G(oodbye),         S(tats. of dir),   ? --- help.

Commands: A,M,U,D,F,R,N,Z,L,C,X,T,G,S, or ? ===>

       A choice of I at the main menu leads you into the more Bull specific
       areas og the Bulletin Board System. It is here that the information
       that is related to particular types of Bull product are held. The menu
       that is displayed at this point gives an example of the system types
       currently catered for by the BBS but this list will probably grow as
       more areas are opened up. Shown below is the sequence of menus seen 
       from here.

Commands: M,F,V,H,T,B,A,N,X,W,D,R,P,J,C,Q,Z,O,E,L,G,S,I,Y, or ? ===> i



                  *********************************
                * Available Special Interest GROUPS *
                  *********************************


                SIGs                     Description           Type
    ============================== ======================     =======
 1) DPX2_200                       DPX 2/200 Users            public
 2) DPX2_300                       DPX 2/300 Users            public
 3) DPX2_500                       DPX 2/500+CSUB Users       public
 4) DPX20_all                      DPX 20 Series Users        public
 5) DPS6                           DPS6 Series Users          public
 6) DPS6000                        DPS6000 Series Users       public
 7) Internet                       Internet Users SIG         private

 Q) Quit --- exit SIG function section

Enter Selection ===> 2

You are being registered into this SIG.



Type CTL-K to skip this


*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*  *************************************************************************  *
*  * ******   ******  **   **     ** ******       ******    ****     ****  *  *
*  * **   **  **   **  ** **     **      ***          ***  *  ***   *  *** *  *
*  * **   *** ******    ***     **    ****         ****   ** ** ** ** ** ***  *
*  * **   **  **       ** **   **    **               ***  ***  *   ***  * *  *
*  * ******   **      **   ** **     *******      ******    ****     ****  *  *
*  *************************************************************************  *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************



*** Depress a key to continue ........

Time left = 54 minutes and 1 seconds

SIG = DPX2_300        - A Public SIG -

M(essage section), F(ile section),    extr(A) features,  L(eave SIGs),
e(X)pert toggle,   T(oggle page),     G(oodbye),         ? --- help.


Commands: M,F,A,L,X,T,G, or ? ===>

       The message and file areas are very similar in layout and use to the
       ones accessible from the main menu, but are specific to the subject
       of the Special Interest Group that you have chosen. The extra features
       menu selection is the entry point into the Known Problem File routines
       and the Technical Service Bulletin and Technotes menus. As more options
       become available, the menu choices will increase and be restructured.

Commands: M,F,A,L,X,T,G, or ? ===> a



                  *********************************
                  * Available Routines to Execute *
                  *********************************


                      Program                          Description
    =====================================================================
 1) KPF_Summary       Examine a summary of DPX2/300 Known Problems.
 2) KPF_Detail        Examine the details of a DPX2/300 Known Problem
 3) TSB               Technical Service Bulletin Info

 Q) Quit --- exit user function section

Enter Selection ===>


     As stated at the beginning of this document, the Bulletin Board System is
quite extensive already and will rapidly increase in the range of information
held on line over the next few months. It is hoped that the very brief overview
given here will tempt you to investigate the available functions and make use
of the facilities provided. Help is available at many of the menu prompts and
there will soon be an online handbook for the BBS available from the main menu. 

     For the pilot period at least, your main contact for assistance, feedback
and registration on the Bull Information Systems BBS will be Kelvin Hill on
081 479 3233. It is probably most efficient to contact the BBS administrator
via the BBS itself sing either the Messaging system or from the message prompt
displayed when exiting from the BBS after using the G (goodbye) command.

     Have fun using the BBS and please let us know your opinions.


Kelvin Hill.
BBS Administrator.


