                                  BBDC


Welcome to the Washington, DC area BBS list produced continuously each month
since 1988 by Mike Focke.

BBDC0995.ZIP containing the September, 1995 DC area list of boards validated
in August.

Most users will just "print ascii.txt" and scan the information that is printed
(about 50+ pages).

The user need only run LIST or some Windows equivalent (like the WRITE
applet) against the file ASCII.TXT to see formatted text output produced
from the comma delimited data base of BBS information called BBS.ALL

A condensed version of the BBS list may be requested by someone who has
access to Internet Email by sending a message to bbdclist@neteast.com.
Please use this way to get a first list and download the much more
complete list once you have access to bulletin boards.

There is also a DOS program, BBSPRINT.EXE, separately distributed as
BBSPRCnn.ZIP (nn is a version number) that will allow select,
sort and multiple types of reports. It also provides conversion services to a
few comm programs dialing directory formats. It is very much a work in
progress and requests for features may be made to its author, Larry
Robertson at the ElectroTech BBS. FONDIR59.ZIP also produces dialing
directories for many comm programs.

DCBB grew out of a long felt need for a verified BBS list.   I had seen BBS 
lists that had once been current but had not been maintained or had been 
added to but never verified.  Old numbers meant people kept calling the 
numbers years after the BBS went down and continued to irritate the 
owners of the new numbers.  DCBB was my attempt to develop a verified 
list and I decided to share the list, as I had done in the Atari-800 BBS 
community for several years before that.

Jeff Morley, sysop of a then-operative board called Interconnect, saw the 
list and provided a program to format the data in ways a user might find 
useful.  But we were always constrained by the size and number  of data 
fields we had to work with in the communications program I was then 
using.

As DOS faded and I grew to using Windows and then NT, it became 
possible to use multi-tasking and GUI advantages to make my task easier.   
So I began designing my dream system and put out a plea for programming 
help.  Larry Robertson, sysop of ElectroTech,  saw the plea and answered.  
All the data import, phone number verification and data base programming 
was done by Larry, an enormous task and one for which I am immensely 
grateful.

The new format allows the sysop to list much more info than they ever
could before. Hopefully, we have removed all the problem areas the sysops
pointed out over the years  but which we were unable to do anything  about
until now.

These are the fields a Sysop should send me in order to have a complete
listing:

      NAME: You have 30 characters for the BBS name.

      SYSOP'S NAME:  And 30 for the Sysop's name (I don't list aliases).

      BBS PHONE NUMBER:  Must be reachable by me from Oakton, VA without a toll
      call. Only one # to a BBS.  Should be the one you want new users to call on.
      Once I get them there, you can inform them of other phone numbers by
      bulletins or the like.

      FREE or PAY: A "PAY" BBS is one where the normal services the
      board provides are only available for a fee.  A "FREE" board might offer
      more time, faster modems or unusual services for a fee but basic message
      and files service must be provided for free or it will be listed as "PAY".

      LOCATION:  You can now list a location specific to your BBS. It no 
      longer has to come out of a table.

      MINIMUM and MAXIMUM Baud supported:  I don't list modem 
      speeds except the standard 2400/9600/14400/28800. For a board to list
      28800, it must support V.34.

      HARD DISK SIZE:  Hard Disk size does not include CD space.

      NUMBER OF CONFERENCES:  Conference refers to a message-
      base/conference/subject area

      DOORS:  Number of Doors

      CDs:  CD describes the number of CDs simultaniously on-line.

      DESCRIPTION LINES:  You have 6 lines of 74 characters each to
      describe the board in prose that amplifies what was not mentioned in the
      more statistics oriented items.  No bragging like "best" or "biggest" as
      those are opinions and change over time.  I reserve the right to edit the
      descriptions.  Don't just list things of interest to hard core modem
      users or sysops.  This description is your chance to describe why a new
      user might want to call your board rather than one of the other 500.
      Your board has a personality and subject areas it concentrates on
      ...describe it.

For examples of what can be  done with the new format, see the listings for
ElectroTech, CPCUG and/or World Data Net.

Much of the data on the number of conferences, doors, file size, etc is still
wrong in this fifth listing.  There was no practical way of acquiring the
data.  But as sysops send me updates for the list, the data will get better and
the BBS list will get more useful to the user so they can better tell what
board might interest them and more useful to the sysop as the "right kind"
of user is attracted and the "wrong kind" are directed elsewhere.

Updates from users or sysops should be sent to:

    InterNet:  fockem@wangfed.com

    CPCUG's MIX (BBS conf): 301-738-9060, 703-319-0069
    (the list appears on the evening of the last day of the month and is a free
    D/L to all)

    US snail-mail can be sent to: Mike Focke
                                  3599 Twilight CT
                                  Oakton, VA 22124

Please send me ALL the data elements listed above.

Do NOT call voice please.  Not under any circumstances.  It irritates my wife.

The listing and data bases are free for individual non-commercial use.
Contact me if you wish to use the information in a commercial manner or to
publish it in some book or magazine.

I will be reasonable (I generally ask for a credit line indicating who produced
the list and when, where updates can be obtained and where information can be sent
to update the list).  I will also want a year long subscription to any book or publication the
list is to appear in.

Because of the cost of verifying the status of a board that is a long distance
call, I am still limiting the list to BBSs that are a local call from Tysons
corner.

If you'd like to verify numbers I can't reach, contact me. Maybe we can expand the
coverage area.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A series of comma delimited files were imported into a Microsoft Access
format data base. The data is thereafter maintained in a Visual Basic for
Windows program with the classic capabilities to add, delete or edit a
record. There is also a Visual Basic for Windows program that verifies all
BBS numbers at least still answer with a modem.  This program creates a file
which is then used to update the data base.  Multiple passes on various dates
and times are done before a number is listed as down. Disconnected numbers
are listed for 1 months and then removed.

I'm sure Larry would allow the total package to be used/modified by some
other BBS list maintainer in another location.  The verify program might well
be useful to a person in another location without any changes.  It expects a
ascii file with a list of phone numbers and keeps dialing until it has
verified them all or until you ask it to quit.  I run it all night for
several nights against my 500+ number list and it gets me down to about 20
I have to on-line verify.

If you are a BBS list publisher of a local list, you will love this
native-Windows verification program.
