DialPHP

Thank you to Marc Frega / DialSoft for providing the source for for DialASP.

TCP/IP authentication and user-management module for The Major BBS v10. DialPHP loads as a Windows DLL into your BBS server and opens a TCP port that allows external PHP web applications to authenticate users, query account information, and perform administrative operations in real time.

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Screenshot

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Overview

DialPHP is a modernization of DialASP, originally developed by DialSoft for Worldgroup 3.x NT. The module has been re-built for The Major BBS v10 using Microsoft Visual Studio, with the commercial licensing and registration code removed in favor of an open MIT license.

Once the DLL is loaded by the BBS server, any PHP script on your web host can open a TCP socket, authenticate with a shared secret, issue one command, and receive a response — all within a single connection. This makes it straightforward to build login portals, member dashboards, sysop panels, and automated account management tools without requiring direct database access.

Key Features

• 24 supported commands — user verification, authentication, key management, credits, days, class switching, account actions, field updates, audit messages, and system statistics
• Shared secret authentication — every connection must present the correct secret before any command is accepted
• Per-command logging — configurable audit logging for each of the 24 command types
• Connection management — configurable port, timeout, and maximum concurrent connections
• Timestamped activity logs — written to dialphp\YYYY-MM-DD.log on the BBS server
• Open source — MIT licensed; no expiration, no registration keys

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Requirements

BBS Module (server side)

Requirement	Details
BBS Platform	The Major BBS v10 (Windows NT/Server)
Build Tools	Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 (Build Tools edition is sufficient)
SDK	The Major BBS v10 Module SDK

PHP Client (web side)

Requirement	Details
PHP	7.4 or higher
Extensions	Sockets (enabled by default in most PHP installations)
Web Server	Apache 2.4+ or Nginx
Protocol	TCP access from the web server to the BBS server on the configured port

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Installation

BBS Module

1. Copy the three files from DIST/v1.0.0/ to your BBS server's module directory:

   dialphp.dll
   dialphp.mdf
   dialphp.msg
   

2. Restart the BBS server. DialPHP will appear in the module list.
3. Open the DialPHP module options and configure:
   • TCP Port — the port to listen on (default: 3425)
   • Shared Secret — a strong random string; keep this confidential
   • Timeout — seconds before an idle connection is closed (default: 120)
   • Max Connections — maximum simultaneous TCP clients
4. Verify the startup message in the BBS audit trail: PHP Authentication TCP server listening on port XXXX

PHP Client

1. Copy the contents of PHP CODE EXAMPLES/ to a directory on your web server.
2. Edit config.php with your BBS server address, port, and shared secret.
3. Load index.php in a browser to verify connectivity and browse the command reference.

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Module Configuration

The following settings are configured through the BBS module options screen after the DLL is loaded:

Option	Default	Description
TCP Port	3425	Port DialPHP listens on for incoming client connections
Shared Secret	(set at install)	Required string that clients must send before any command is accepted
Timeout (seconds)	120	Idle connection timeout; connections exceeding this are forcibly closed
Max Connections	(configurable)	Maximum number of simultaneous TCP connections
Log Command N	OFF	Enable/disable audit logging for each of the 24 supported commands

Security note: The shared secret grants full ability to query and modify BBS user accounts. Treat it like a database password — use a long random value, restrict it to trusted IP addresses at the firewall, and rotate it periodically.

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Protocol

Each DialPHP session follows this exact sequence. One command is executed per TCP connection; the BBS closes the socket after sending its response.

Client connects to BBS on configured TCP port
BBS → Client:   [greeting text]\xF5\xF5
Client → BBS:   your-shared-secret\r\n
BBS → Client:   Secret is good...\xF5\xF5
Client → BBS:   COMMAND param1 param2\r\n
BBS → Client:   Answer is : RESULT\xF5\xF5
Connection closed by BBS

Message terminator: Every message sent by the BBS ends with two 0xF5 (ASCII 245) bytes. Read until you receive this sequence to detect the end of each message.

%% separator: The commands AUTHUSER and UPDATEUSERFIELD join compound parameters with %% (two percent signs) rather than a space, because userids, passwords, and field values may contain spaces.

AUTHUSER         userid%%password
UPDATEUSERFIELD  fieldname userid%%newvalue

Case sensitivity: Command verbs and user IDs are case-insensitive. Passwords for AUTHUSER are case-sensitive on the wire, but The Major BBS stores and compares passwords in a case-insensitive manner — see Password Limitations below.

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Password Limitations

⚠️ Important — The Major BBS enforces the following password constraints:

• Maximum 9 characters — The BBS silently truncates passwords longer than 9 characters during account creation. A password set as MyPassword123 is stored and compared as MyPasswor (first 9 characters only).
• Case insensitive — The BBS treats upper and lower case letters as identical. password, PASSWORD, and Password are all the same credential.

These are BBS-level constraints that DialPHP cannot override. Applications that accept user-supplied passwords must communicate these limitations clearly to avoid lockout confusion.

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Command Reference

All 24 supported commands are listed below. Commands that use the %% separator are marked.

User Verification

Command	Parameters	Returns
USERIDEXISTS	userid	YES or NO
AUTHUSER	userid%%password	Password is correct / Password is incorrect / No such user
HASMASTER	userid	YES or NO — checks for the BBS master/sysop privilege
ISSUSPENDED	userid	YES or NO
USERONLINE	userid	YES or NO

User Information

Command	Parameters	Returns
PRIMARYCLASS	userid	Primary class name string
CURRENTCLASS	userid	Current class name string
NUMBEROFCREDITS	userid	Credit balance as an integer string
NUMBEROFDAYS	userid	Days remaining (0 for non-expiring classes)
LASTLOGIN	userid	Date in MM/DD/YYYY format
CREATIONDATE	userid	Account creation date in MM/DD/YYYY format

Key Management

Command	Parameters	Returns
HASKEY	keyname userid	YES or NO
GIVEKEY	keyname userid	Key given
TAKEKEY	keyname userid	Key taken

Credits & Days

Command	Parameters	Returns
GIVECREDITS	amount userid	Ok — use a negative amount to subtract
GIVEDAYS	days userid	Ok — use negative days to subtract; only affects expiring classes

Class Management

Command	Parameters	Returns
SWITCHCLASS	classname userid	Ok — user must already be a member of the target class

Account Actions

Command	Parameters	Returns
SUSPENDUSER	userid	Ok
UNSUSPENDUSER	userid	Ok
DELETEUSER	userid	Ok
UNDELETEUSER	userid	Ok

Advanced

Command	Parameters	Returns
UPDATEUSERFIELD	fieldname userid%%newvalue	Ok — updates a specific field in the user record
AUDITMESSAGE	message text	Ok — posts a message to the BBS audit trail
SYSTEMVARIABLE	varnum	Variable value — see table below

SYSTEMVARIABLE Index

Variable #	Description
1	Total downloads
2	Total uploads
3	Total messages posted
5	Total user accounts
6	Female accounts
7	Male accounts
10	Paid credits posted
11	Free credits posted
12	Total calls to date
13	Users currently online

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Building from Source

The project uses Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 (Build Tools edition is sufficient).

Prerequisites:

• Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with the C++ workload
• The Major BBS v10 Module SDK

The SDK path is defined as a project macro $(MBBS_SDK_DIR) in DialPHP.vcxproj. The default value is D:\MBBS-v10-module-SDK\. To change it, edit the UserMacros section near the top of DialPHP.vcxproj.

# Release build → DIST\v1.0.0\dialphp.dll (+ mdf, msg auto-copied by post-build event)
& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MSBuild.exe" `
  DialPHP.sln /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=Win32

# Debug build → Build\Debug\dialphp.dll
& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MSBuild.exe" `
  DialPHP.sln /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=Win32

Key Compiler Flags

Flag	Purpose
/J	Treat char as unsigned — required by the MBBS SDK
/Zc:strictStrings-	Allow string literals to be passed as char* — legacy code pattern throughout
BBSVER=1000	Selects the v10 API in the SDK headers
USE_DEF_FILE	Enables the DEF-file export method (required for init__dialphp)

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PHP Client Examples

The PHP CODE EXAMPLES/ directory contains a complete, ready-to-deploy PHP client demonstrating all 24 DialPHP commands. See the PHP Code README for setup instructions, security guidance, and a full feature walkthrough.

Included pages:

Page	Access	Description
index.php	Public	Command reference and example overview
login.php	Public	User authentication demo
stats.php	Sysop	Live BBS system statistics with 60-minute cache
sysop.php	Sysop	Full admin panel — all 24 commands

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License

Released under the MIT License.

DialASP Copyright DialSoft! DialPHP is developed and maintained by Mark Laudenbach at Sysop Network.