enigma-bbs/docs/modding/local-doors.md

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The abracadabra Module

The abracadabra module provides a generic and flexible solution for many door types. Through this module you can execute native processes & scripts directly, and process I/O through stdio or a temporary TCP server.

Configuration

The abracadabra config block can contain the following members:

  • name: Used as a key for tracking number of clients using a particular door.
  • dropFileType: Specifies the type of drop file to generate (See Argument Variables below).
  • cmd: Path to executable to launch.
  • args: Array of argument(s) to pass to cmd. See below for information on variables that can be used here.
  • cwd: Set the Current Working Directory for cmd. Defaults to the directory of cmd.
  • nodeMax: Max number of nodes that can access this door at once. Uses name as a mapping key
  • tooManyArt: Art file spec to display if too many instances are already in use
  • io: Where to process I/O. Can be stdio or socket
  • encoding: Specify the door's encoding. Defaults to cp437. Linux binaries for example, often produce utf8.

Drop File Types

Drop file types specified by dropFileType:

Argument Variables

The following variables may be used in {args} entries:

  • {node}: Current node number.
  • {dropFile}: Drop filename only.
  • {dropFilePath}: Full path to generated drop file.
  • {userId}: Current user ID.
  • {userName}: Sanatized username. Safe for filenames, etc.
  • {userNameRaw}: Raw username. May not be safe for filenames!
  • {srvPort}: Tempoary server port when io is set to socket.
  • {cwd}: Current Working Directory.

Example:

args: [
    "-D", "{dropFile}", "-N", "{node}"
]

DOSEMU with abracadabra

DOSEMU can provide a good solution for running legacy DOS doors when running on Linux systems. For this, we will create a virtual serial port (COM1) that communicates via stdio.

As an example, here are the steps for setting up Pimp Wars:

First, create a dosemu.conf file with the following contents:

$_cpu = "80486"
$_cpu_emu = "vm86"
$_external_char_set = "utf8"
$_internal_char_set = "cp437"
$_term_updfreq = (8)
$_layout = "us"
$_rawkeyboard = (0)
$_com1 = "virtual"

The line $_com1 = "virtual" tells DOSEMU to use stdio as a virtual serial port on COM1.

Next, we create a virtual X drive for Pimp Wars to live such as /enigma-bbs/DOS/X/PW and map it with a custom autoexec.bat file within DOSEMU:

@echo off
path d:\bin;d:\gnu;d:\dosemu
set TEMP=c:\tmp
prompt $P$G
REM http://www.pcmicro.com/bnu/
C:\BNU\BNU.COM /L0:57600,8N1 /F
lredir.com x: linux\fs\enigma-bbs\DOS\X
unix -e

Note that we also have the BNU FOSSIL driver installed at C:\BNU\\. Another option would be to install this to X: somewhere as well.

Finally, let's create a menu.hjson entry to launch the game:

doorPimpWars: {
	desc: Playing PimpWars
	module: abracadabra			
	config: {
		name: PimpWars
		dropFileType: DORINFO
		cmd: /usr/bin/dosemu
		args: [ 
			"-quiet", 
            "-f", 
            "/path/to/dosemu.conf", 
            "X:\\PW\\START.BAT {dropFile} {node}"
		],
		nodeMax: 1
		tooManyArt: DOORMANY
        io: stdio
	}
}

QEMU with abracadabra

QEMU provides a robust, cross platform solution for launching doors under many platforms (likely anwywhere Node.js is supported and ENiGMA½ can run). Note however that there is an important and major caveat: Multiple instances of a particular door/OS image should not be run at once! Being more flexible means being a bit more complex. Let's look at an example for running L.O.R.D. under a UNIX like system such as Linux or FreeBSD.

Basically we'll be creating a bootstrap shell script that generates a temporary node specific go.bat to launch our door. This will be called from autoexec.bat within our QEMU FreeDOS partition.

Step 1: Create a FreeDOS image

FreeDOS is a free mostly MS-DOS compatible DOS package that works well for running 16bit doors. Follow the QEMU/FreeDOS guide for creating an freedos_c.img. This will contain FreeDOS itself and installed BBS doors.

After this is complete, copy LORD to C:\DOORS\LORD within FreeDOS. An easy way to tranfer files from host to DOS is to use QEMU's vfat as a drive. For example:

qemu-system-i386 -localtime /home/enigma/dos/images/freedos_c.img -hdb fat:/path/to/downloads

With the above you can now copy files from D: to C: within FreeDOS and add the following to it's autoexec.bat:

CALL E:\GO.BAT

Step 2: Create a bootstrap script

Our bootstrap script will prepare GO.BAT and launch FreeDOS. Below is an example:

#!/bin/bash

NODE=$1
DROPFILE=D:\\$2
SRVPORT=$3

mkdir -p /home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE

cat > /home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE/GO.BAT <<EOF
C:
CD \FOSSIL\BNU
BNU.COM
CD \DOORS\LORD
COPY /Y $DROPFILE
CALL START.BAT $NODE
FDAPM POWEROFF
EOF

unix2dos /home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE/GO.BAT

qemu-system-i386 -localtime /home/enigma/dos/images/freedos_c.img -chardev socket,port=$SRVPORT,nowait,host=localhost,id=s0 -device isa-serial,chardev=s0 -hdb fat:/home/enigma/xibalba/dropfiles/node$NODE -hdc fat:/home/enigma/dos/go/node$NODE -nographic

Note the qemu-system-i386 line. We're telling QEMU to launch and use localtime for the clock, create a character device that connects to our temporary server port on localhost and map that to a serial device. The -hdb entry will represent the D: drive where our drop file is generated, while -hdc is the path that GO.BAT is generated in (E:\GO.BAT). Finally we specify -nographic to run headless.

For doors that do not require a FOSSIL driver, it is recommended to not load or use one unless you are having issues.

Step 3: Create a menu entry

Finally we can create a menu.hjson entry using the abracadabra module:

doorLORD: {
	desc: Playing L.O.R.D.
	module: abracadabra			
	config: {
		name: LORD
		dropFileType: DOOR
		cmd: /home/enigma/dos/scripts/lord.sh
		args: [ 
			"{node}",
			"{dropFile}",
			"{srvPort}",
		],
		nodeMax: 1
		tooManyArt: DOORMANY
		io: socket
	}
}

Resources

DOSBox

Door Downloads & Support Sites

General

L.O.R.D.