If you are charging a user for access to your system (per minute access is
not 0), access time to the system will be restricted if the user doesn’t
have enough money in his account. In addition, before a user is able to
perform any function with a CHARGE attached to it, his balance will be
examined. If he hasn’t enough money, that function will be denied. A user
may display the amounts that you are charging (or crediting) him for each
system function by using the ‘AC’ command from the main level. The ‘T’
command, will, in addition to displaying the time and date information,
display information about the users balance and charges. Here, the per
minute access charge is given for the user’s access group, and the charges
that have been incurred for this call due to this charge. A composite
total of charges and credits for all of the other system functions is given
in a value ‘other charges’. The access charges and other charges are
summed to produce a ‘cost of this call’ value. Taking these charges into
consideration, the user is then informed of his remaining balance. In
addition, he is given his maximum credit ($Dbt) value, telling him how far
below $0 he may spend.
You may, of course, actually use this system for money -- add money to a
user’s account when he sends you a check or something. However, the entire
accounting system may simply be used as a type of CREDIT system, where the
credits are in units of dollars and cents. When used as a credit system,
the possibilities for control over user activities are endless!
For example, if you wish to allow an access group to be able to download
exactly 6 blocks for every block that he uploads, with no ‘free’ blocks at
all, simply set that group’s per block uploaded CREDIT to -600, and per
block downloaded CHARGE to 100. Also make sure you don’t allow a DEBT
value (set to 0000). $0.06 is credited when a block is uploaded, and $0.01
is charged when a block is downloaded. You may set these charges and
credits to tenths or hundredths of a penny, but remember that the user’s
balance will be rounded to the nearest penny when he logs off. If you want
to give the user 10 ‘free’ blocks to begin with, for this example, set the
$Dbt value for his group to 0010 ($0.10).
Many other relationships such as this one may be established through the
accounting system -- post a certain number of lines in the BBS before
downloading so many blocks, upload so many blocks before being able to use
so many minutes worth of time in the P-files section, etc. Be creative!
- ELECTRONIC MAIL SUBSYSTEM -
10.0 ELECTRONIC MAIL SUBSYSTEM
The electronic mail (e-mail) subsystem is C-NET’s inter-user private
message exchange system. A flag in an access group’s configuration
controls access to the e-mail subsystem.
10.1 MESSAGE NOTIFICATION
Entering the e-mail subsystem, the user is told how many messages there are
waiting for him/her in each mailbox. If there are any messages in the In-
Box they are unread and considered new.
10.2 MAILBOXES