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Development Guide

Internal development notes for Total IP Control (SNTIPCTL). For build and packaging steps see BUILDING.MD; for architecture and internals see TECHNICAL.MD.

Project Overview

Total IP Control (SNTIPCTL) is a The Major BBS v10 module written in C. It consolidates and expands functionality from two earlier modules — PROXCLIP (proxy protocol / real IP restoration) and IPControl (per-IP connection limiting) — into a single, unified IP management system.

Platform

  • Target: The Major BBS v10 — a 32-bit Windows DLL module
  • Language: C (Win32, built against the MBBS v10 SDK)
  • Build tool: Visual Studio 2022 (v143 toolset), MSBuild
  • SDK: The Major BBS v10 SDK — proprietary, obtained separately and located via the MBBS_SDK_DIR variable (see BUILDING.MD)

Build

# Build Release (Win32)
& "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MSBuild.exe" `
    SNTIPCTL.sln /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=Win32 /t:Build

# Output: BUILD\Release\SNTIPCTL.DLL

Required compiler flags (must match the MBBS SDK):

  • /Zp8 — 8-byte struct alignment
  • /J — char is unsigned by default
  • /MT (Release) / /MTd (Debug) — static CRT

Required libraries: wgserver_lib.lib, galgsbl_lib.lib, ws2_32.lib, winhttp.lib (the last provides the HTTP client for GeoIP lookups). galtcpip_lib.lib is intentionally not linked; _tcpipinf is resolved at runtime via GetProcAddress to avoid an ordinal-mismatch load failure.

Architecture

MBBS v10 modules are single- or minimal-file C implementations compiled as 32-bit DLLs. Key patterns used here:

  • Entry point: init__sntipctl(), called by the BBS when the module loads.
  • Gateway pattern: intercept menu navigation to enforce per-module policy.
  • Hook-based interception: patch hdlcon and the recv() IAT to intercept socket data before the BBS processes it.
  • Configuration: a Btrieve settings record (SNTIPCTL.DAT), created at runtime and editable live; display text and editor templates live in a message file (SNTIPCTL.MSG → SNTIPCTL.MCV).
  • Online config: a Sysop menu (/TOTALIP) for view/modify/save/apply without a BBS restart, implemented natively with MBBS v10 SDK patterns.

Features

  1. Global IP connection limits — system-wide max connections per IP, configurable; disconnect with a message on violation.
  2. User profile IP recording — write the current IP to a configurable user profile field on each login.
  3. Proxy protocol support and audit logging — restore real caller IPs from a reverse proxy; daily, thread-safe log files under TOTALIPCONTROL\ with timestamp, username, IP, and event.
  4. GeoIP location — resolve each caller's City / State / Country from their IP at login and store it in a configurable profile field. Lookups run on a background worker thread with per-IP caching; a failed lookup never delays or blocks a login. Built around a provider abstraction (default: ipwho.is).
  5. Live online configuration — all settings editable while the BBS is running.

Design priorities (in order)

  1. Reliability
  2. Maintainability
  3. Stability
  4. Sysop usability
  5. Performance

Directory Structure

/
├── SRC/              # All source code
│   ├── SNTIPCTL.C
│   ├── SNTIPCTL.H
│   ├── SNTIPCTL.RC          # Windows version resource
│   ├── SNTIPCTL.vcxproj
│   ├── SNTIPCTL_EXP.DEF
│   └── DIST/                # Module descriptor + message source
│       ├── SNTIPCTL.MDF
│       └── SNTIPCTL.MSG
├── DIST/<version>/   # Deployable files (DLL, MDF, MSG)
├── DOCS/ADR/         # Architecture Decision Records
├── TESTS/
├── TOOLS/
├── BUILD/            # Build output (not committed)
├── README.MD
├── TECHNICAL.MD
├── CHANGELOG.MD
├── BUILDING.MD
└── LICENSE

All deployable filenames must be UPPERCASE with UPPERCASE extensions (e.g. SNTIPCTL.DLL).

Code Comments

This project favours more comments than typical. Comments should:

  • Explain intent and non-obvious behaviour.
  • Describe MBBS-specific functionality.
  • Be clear enough for a non-programmer to follow the purpose of a section.

Documentation

Keep these accurate to the actual implementation — do not document speculative features:

  • README.MD — public overview, features, install, config, usage, license
  • TECHNICAL.MD — architecture, APIs, data structures, workflows, file formats
  • CHANGELOG.MD — added/changed/fixed/breaking per release
  • BUILDING.MD — toolchain, SDK setup, build and packaging steps
  • DEVELOPMENT.md — this file
  • DOCS/ADR/ — one ADR per significant design decision

DLL Metadata

Every DLL ships with a Windows version resource (SNTIPCTL.RC) carrying:

  • Product name
  • Version number
  • Copyright: Copyright © Sysop Network
  • Company information

Repository Hygiene

Never commit to the public repository:

  • Credentials, API keys, tokens, or passwords
  • Internal IP addresses, server names, or local filesystem paths
  • Real user data or private test data
  • Generated build artifacts (BUILD/, object files, compiled .MCV files)

Use .example config files in place of real config files.

Release Checklist

Before tagging a release: the build passes, version numbers are updated, CHANGELOG.MD is updated, DIST contents are verified, DLL metadata is correct, installation is tested, and the repository is audited for any of the prohibited content listed above.

Attribution

Total IP Control is developed and maintained by Mark Laudenbach at Sysop Network. Released under the MIT License.