The following information covers the file format used by the account tracking file (both .DBF and .TXT formats) which PCBoard uses to track user activities and the debits and credits associated with them. "Account Tracking File" - This file is used to track the user's activities on your system and the charges (and reimbursements) that are made. When you define the name for this file you are also instructing PCBoard as to how it should create the file. For instance, if you name it TRACKING.DBF then PCBoard will write to it in DBF format. Any file extension other than .DBF will be treated as an ASCII text file. NOTE: The Account Tracking File can be SHARED among all of your nodes by pointing to the same physical file in all of your node configurations. PCBoard will properly append each new record to the end of that file. However, due to the frequency of the updates, you may want to have each node post to its own file just to make the updates quicker. Either way works fine, the latter approach, however, may create a little extra work for you in having to analyze and/or combine the files when billing your customers. As a dBase file, the following fields are defined: Field Name Type Len Dec Description ========== ==== === === =========== Date 'D' 8 Date when the activity occured Time 'C' 5 Time when the activity occured Name 'C' 25 The name of the user performing the activity NodeNumber 'N' 5 0 The node number on which the activity worked ConfNumber 'N' 5 0 The conference the caller was in at the time Activity 'C' 15 Text abbreviation of the activity SubAct 'C' 25 Filenames, etc. See below. UnitCost 'N' 14 4 Per-Unit cost (per minute, per byte, etc) Quantity 'N' 9 0 Number of units (minutes, bytes, etc) Value 'N' 14 4 Total cost or payback (UnitCost * Quantity) The Activity values, used by PCBoard, are as follows: Activity Sub-Activity Explanation of Value ============== ==================== ================================== CMD USAGE Name of the Command Cost for this usage of the command CMD USAGE MIN Name of the Command Cost for the minutes it was used DOOR USAGE Name of the DOOR Cost for this usage of the door DOOR USAGE MIN Name of the DOOR Cost for the minutes it was used MSG READ Cost to read messages MSG READ CAP Cost to download captured messages MSG READ CAP "CREDIT" Credits on an aborted capture D/L MSG WRITE TO: name Cost to write public message MSG WRITE PRIV TO: name Cost to write private message MSG WRITE ECHO TO: name Cost to write echoed message DNLD FILE File name downloaded Cost to download the file DNLD BYTES File name downloaded Cost to download the file UPLD FILE File name uploaded Cost/reward to upload the file UPLD BYTES File name uploaded Cost/reward to upload the file UPLD FILE FAIL File name uploaded Backing out charge/reward for upld UPLD BYTES FAIL File name uploaded Backing out charge/reward for upld CHAT TIME Cost for min spent in Group Chat CONF TIME Cost for min spent in conference TIME ONLINE Cost for minutes spent online TIME ONLINE PEAK Cost for time spent during peak LOGON LOCAL or BPS rate Cost for logging onto the system All values are positive if they are to be subtracted from the balance, negative if they are to be added into the balance. In other words, if you reward your callers for uploads, then they will show up as negative values in the account tracking file. NOTE: Additional activities, subactivities, and charges may be posted via programs written in PPL. The ASCII text version of the account tracking file is identical to the above as far as content is concerned. The layout is one record per line, with all fields, except the last one, padded to their full length. The format, then, looks like this: Date 8 characters, left justified 1 character - separator Time 5 characters, left justified 1 character - separator Name 25 characters, left justified 1 character - separator NodeNum 5 characters, right justified, padded on left with spaces 1 character - separator ConfNum 5 characters, right justified, padded on left with spaces 1 character - separator Activity 15 characters, left justified 1 character - separator SubAct 25 characters, left justified 1 character - separator UnitCost 14 characters, right justified with 4 decimal places 1 character - separator Quantity 9 characters, right justified 1 character - separator Value 14 characters, right justified, with 4 decimal places 2 characters - CR/LF