 
 
 
 
 
















   Using the SLC ADAM-LINK BBS
            (Part 6)
        The DATA LIBRARY
         By Alan Neeley 
@ 
For those of you who aren't familiar 
with what one is, a DATA LIBRARY is a 
place where text files and programs can 
be shared by the users who call the 
system.  The programs and files are UP 
LOADED to the BBS by the users and 
system operators so that the other users 
can DOWNLOAD them for use on their 
computer.  Programs found in a Data 
Library are usually Public Domain 
(unless stated otherwise) and can be 
freely distributed amongst friends and 
other computer owners.
 
Unfortunately, The A-NET BBS's weakest 
point is its Data Library. This is main 
ly due to the ignorance of the author of 
the program (also the author of this 
article) towards the subject of File 
Transferring and its internal workings. 
Hopefully, someday I will be successful 
in providing all of the standard 
features that so many would like to see!
 
A-NET's main weakness is that it DOES 
NOT offer XMODEM file transferring. This 
protocol is one of the standards used 
in the telecommunications world and 
almost every BBS and telecommunications 
program offers it.  The only file 
transfer protocol offered by A-NET is 
the ASCII protocol (the same protocol 
used by the ADAMLink II telecommunica 
tions program). Other weaknesses include 
the fact that uploading is extremely 
slow and that ADAMLink II is the only 
program available to ADAM owners that 
can successfully upload a file.
 
Despite these weaknesses though, A-NET's 















 
data library is functional and there are 
a lot of good files and programs that 
can be taken from there.  The remainder 
of this article will be dedicated to 
providing information that will help you 
get the MOST out of this area.
 
Like we have learned with all the other 
areas that the A-NET system has to 
offer; to get to the Data Library, the 
user must first be at the BBS's main 
prompt (known as the central point of 
the BBS).  Once there, type in UD and 
press RETURN to be taken to the Data 
Library Area. If you've visited the Data 
Library before and know a specific UD 
board that you would like to go directly 
to, you can do so by entering the 
board's number after the UD command 
before pressing the RETURN key (Ex. 
entering UD3 will take you directly to 
UD board 3).
 
Upon arrival to the Data Library Area, 
the user is notified what UD board they 
are entering (if just the UD command is 
used without a number, the BBS defaults 
to UD board 1).  The user is also in 
formed who the SubOp is and how many 
files there are on the particular board 
that is being entered.  Here is an 
example of what could be seen:
 
U/D-Board #1 
ADAM General:
 
"LEEPER": SubOp
 
(10 files / -7318 Kilobytes free)
 
UD/1:
 
Notice that the prompt used by the Data 
Library Area is UD/x:  (where x is a 
number that represents which UD board 
 
you are currently visiting).  You can 
switch to any of the other available 
boards by entering its number at the 
UD/x: prompt.
 
By entering ?  (and pressing RETURN) at 
this prompt, a menu or list of commands 
available in the Data Library Area can 
be displayed. Here is an example of what 
this menu looks like:
 
Data Library Commands:
 
D Download a file 
UF Upload file 
Ax About a specific file 
S Scan current library section 
L List available libraries
 
Special Commands:
 
CONTROL S pauses downloads 
CONTROL X saves uploads 
CONTROL C aborts uploads/downloads
 
Commands available from any level:
 
Q Quit from subsystem 
O Log-Off system 
+ Fast log-off 
F Feedback to System Operator 
I System configurations 
U Re-read system rules 
TD Local Time/Date information 
ST Your current call Status 
H System Help file 
_______________________________________
 
Let's go through and take a look at the 
commands that are used specifically for 
the Data Library Area. These include the 
commands that are used for downloading 
and uploading files as well as some 
others.  We will not discuss the general 
commands that can be accessed from any 
level (they were discussed in Part 3 of 
this article found in issue #10). 
@
           DOWNLOADING 
@ 
The DOWNLOAD feature gets used the most 
in the Data Library Area.  Keep in mind 
that A-NET's Data Library only supports 
the ASCII or 'TEXT capture' file 
transfer protocol so the telecommunica 
tions program used must offer this 
protocol before files can be downloaded 
(most of those available for ADAM do 
offer this feature).
 
 
The D command is used to start the DOWN 
LOAD process.  After this command has 
been entered, you will be asked to enter 
the number of the file that you wish to 
receive (see the section in this article 
labeled FINDING FILES).  After entering 
the number, a brief explanation of the 
file that has been chosen will be dis 
played along with a prompt asking if the 
correct file has been chosen to receive. 
If it is not, a N can be entered and the 
process will be aborted returning the 
user to the UD prompt.  If it is the 
correct file, a Y is entered and the 
process will continue on.
 
As the download process continues on, 
the user will get a message that says 
STAND BY and then another that says 
OPENING BUFFER.  Next a prompt is 
displayed like this:
 
(A to abort) Press RETURN when ready:
 
This is the final step before the file 
that has been chosen will actually be 
sent.  The user is given their last 
chance to abort the process by entering 
an A at this prompt. If the user is sure 
that this is the file that they wish to 
receive, then THIS IS THE POINT where 
they must go tell their telecommunica 
tions program to get ready to receive 
the file (each telecommunications 
program has its own methods to start 
this process so I won't go into this - 
refer to the program's manual).
 
Once the user has the telecommunications 
program ready to receive the file, the 
RETURN key is pressed (while in terminal 
mode). The file then begins to be trans 
mitted by the BBS. If for any reason the 
transmission needs to be paused, the 
CONTROL and S keys can be pressed to 
stop the text display.  Pressing any key 
will continue the transmission again. If 
the download process needs to be aborted 
after the file transfer has begun, the 
CONTROL and C keys can be pressed.  If 
the transfer is completed or aborted, 
the RETURN key will need to be pressed 
to return to the UD prompt. 
@
            UPLOADING 
@ 
The UF command is used to start the 
UPLOAD process.  The ONLY telecommunica 
tions program that is currently capable 
of successfully uploading a file to an 
 
A-NET BBS is the ADAMLink II software. 
If any other software is used, it is not 
likely that the upload will be success 
ful.  Only an 'A type' of file should be 
uploaded to the BBS (this type of file 
includes:  SmartBASIC programs, ADAMCalc 
Spreadsheets, SmartLOGO programs, and 
most types of text files).
 
After the UF command has been entered, 
the user is prompted to enter the name 
of the file that will be uploaded.  The 
maximum amount of characters that can be 
used in the filename is six.  The RETURN 
key is pressed to enter the filename. 
The system will then check to see if the 
filename that is used is OK.  If it is, 
the process will continue on (if not, 
the user is returned to the UD prompt).
 
Once a successful filename has been 
entered, the user is asked to enter a P 
if the file to be uploaded is a program 
or S if the file is a text file. This is 
really not vital to the process but is 
simply there to let others know what 
kind of file it is.  After this choice 
has been made the following message is 
displayed:
 
CONTROL X saves transfer 
CONTROL C aborts transfer
 
Start transfer in 15 seconds...
 
At this point the user should go tell 
the ADAMLink II software to begin trans 
mitting the file.  If something goes 
wrong during the process, the user can 
abort the upload process by pressing the 
CONTROL and C keys.  If everything is 
successful and the file is completely 
transmitted, the user must press the 
CONTROL and X keys to tell the BBS to 
save the file.  IMPORTANT: sometimes the 
above CONTROL commands must be entered 
several times in rapid succession to get 
them to perform.
 
With the UPLOAD completed and 
successfully saved, the user will then 
be prompted to enter a brief description 
of what was uploaded (a maximum of 40 
characters).  After a description has 
been entered and the RETURN key pressed, 
the user's record will be updated 
crediting them for the upload and the 
file will be added to the Data Library.
 
@ 

   FINDING FILES 
@ 
So how do you determine what files are 
available in the Data Library? There are 
three commands that are useful to find 
out more about what is available.
 
First, the L command is used to List the 
UD boards that are available to the 
user.  When this command is entered, the 
number of each board is listed along 
with the name of each board (the name 
helps the user decide what type of files 
can be found there).  A prompt is also 
displayed that tells the user to enter 
the number of the board that is desired 
at the UD/x prompt.
 
The S command is used to Scan or list 
the files available in the current board 
the user is visiting.  When using this 
command, the number of each file is 
displayed along with the name of each 
file.  Other useful information is in 
cluded like the size of the file (in 
bytes), and what type of file it is (P 
for program or S for sequential text 
file).  The total amount of files that 
can be found on a single board is ten.
 
If the user would like to find out 
additional information about a file, the 
A command can be used.  This command 
requires that you include a number after 
it (the number of the file that you wish 
to have more information on).  When this 
command is used, the name and type of 
file are included as well as the handle 
and ID # of the person who uploaded the 
file.  The date that the file was 
uploaded is also shown along with a 
brief description of the file. 
@
 IN CONCLUSION... 
@ 
There! That's all there is to know about 
how to make use of the Data Library.  In 
fact, this article concludes a series of 
articles that I have included over the 
past six issues on how to get the most 
out of the A-NET BBS system.  I hope you 
have enjoyed it and have found what was 
shared useful.  As time goes by it is 
imminent that there will be changes made 
to the A-NET system.  Most minor changes 
will be posted on the BBS but if any 
major changes should happen, it is most 
likely that I will include additional 
articles on this system in the future. 
@ 

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