Dropfile
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A drop file (or dropfile) is a term used by BBS enthusiasts and sysops to describe a simple binary or text file created by a bulletin board system to pass information about the BBS itself and the current user to an external BBS door.
[edit] Different dropfile types
There are many different types of dropfiles available and most are software-specific. There never was a specific "standard" dropfile, but there were several that were commonly used:
- DOOR.SYS
This format originated in the GAP BBS software and quickly became a de-facto standard. The "original" DOOR.SYS contained 52 lines. Nearly all modern BBS software support this format.
- DORINFO1.DEF
RBBS-PC used this format exclusively. This file is 13 lines long. The name of the dropfile never changed, even if it was used in multinode environments.
- DORINFO#.DEF
Used by RemoteAccess, this allowed slightly more flexibility for one to nine nodes. This is the exact same format as DORINFO1.DEF.
- CHAIN.TXT
This was used by WWIV BBS and contains 32 lines.
- CALLINFO.BBS
- SFDOORS.DAT
Spitfire BBS created this dropfile.
- PCBOARD.SYS
This binary dropfile was created by PCBoard, FeatherNet PRO and others.
- JUMPER.DAT
Created by 2AM-BBS and not a very common dropfile.
- DOOR32.SYS
Created by Maarten Berkers, author of EleBBS, and James Coyle, author of Mystic BBS, this dropfile is able to handle telnet connections created by newer BBS software (EleBBS, Mystic, Synchronet) and by certain other older BBS software (mostly OS/2-native: Maximus, Telegard, AdeptXBBS).
- USERINFO.DAT
Wildcat! 3.0 and above create this file for additional information not supported by other dropfiles.
[edit] Clarification
Unfortunately, not much documentation exists anymore for many dropfiles. General formats are known, but specific values for certain fields or meanings for the actual fields have been lost with time.
