BulkRate FAQ

BulkRate frequently asked questions

Q) The manual you included is in Word format.  I don't own Word and the word processor I own won't translate Word documents correctly.  What do I do?

A) The manual is now converted to DOCMaker form, which provides a Stand-Alone Document (SAD) that does NOT require any specific word processor or text-editor to read or print.  If you have BulkRate but don't have this version of the manual, you can either grab the latest release of BulkRate (the new manual is included), or e-mail me and I'll e-mail you a copy.

The entire text of the manual is also available in the BulkRate help file, which you can open by double-clicking; from the File menu in BulkRate; or by choosing "BulkRate help" under the Help menu in System 7 or the Apple menu in System 6.

Q) Help!  I just used BulkRate for the first time and now when I log onto my FirstClass® BBS using the FC Client, all old messages in my mailbox and conferences are missing!
What do I do?

A) In FirstClass® Client, choose Preferences... from the Edit menu and uncheck "Show only unread items".

BulkRate checks this when it runs to speed up operations, so it doesn't have to wait for lists of already read messages to be sent.

You can have BulkRate automatically uncheck it for you when it logs off using "FirstClass® preferences" under Preferences... under the BulkRate Edit menu.

More info is available in the Preferences chapter of this manual, or in the help file under Preferences.

Q) Why doesn't BulkRate support extended characters so that I can send mail to my friend José François Günter?

A) BulkRate does support extended characters, but the FirstClass® command line interface text editor does not.   This is a SoftArc issue and there is nothing I can do about it.

BulkRate now translates extended characters for the body text of outgoing messages.  For example, "Günther" will be converted to "Guenther", and "BulkRate©" will be converted to "BulkRate(c)".  This will aid in the composition of outgoing text, but will not help the addressing issue.  For this, there are two workarounds:

     1) In the example above, it might be possible to send mail to "José François Günter" by addressing it to "Jos Fran G" and letting FirstClass®'s address matching match it to the right name.

     2) The other method is to use the new personal Address Book feature of FirstClass®, and create an address book entry that maps "Jose Francois Gunter" to "José François Günter".  See your FirstClass® Help or ask your Administrator for more info on using FirstClass®'s address book feature.

Q) Why can't I get BulkRate to connect reliably at 14400 bps?  9600 works fine, but if I try to connect at 14.4K, I get garbage in the Exchange Status window and BulkRate says "This is not a FirstClass® BBS."

A) Uncheck "Adjust BPS after connect" in your Modem Settings for that BBS.  This should almost never be checked for modems that support speeds of 9600 bps or greater.

Q) I have a problem connecting, or BulkRate isn't grabbing the mail I expect it to, and I want to contact you about it.  Is there anything I can do to help you resolve the problem?

A) Turn on "Include debugging info in log" under Preferences and run an exchange that demonstrates the problem.  Explain the problem as clearly as you can, and include the log when you send it to me at
greg_neagle@pop.com or in the OneNet BulkRate conference.