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1988-06-16
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7KB
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226 lines
W0RLI MailBox and GateWay Page 1
Created for packet community by:
Hank Oredson, W0RLI
134 Ponderosa Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
The code will run under DoubleDOS or DESQView.
The code will run under Micrsoft Windows, but there will
probably be difficulties with the serial ports. These difficulties
will appear as lost characters from the tncs. If it works for you,
please let me know - what machine, how many ports, which ports,
how did you set it up, etc. etc. I do not have Microsoft Windows,
so cannot check this myself.
Running multiple copies of the MailBox.
To run multiple copies, simply execute MB again in another window
or partition. All files and ports may be shared by up to 8 copies
of MB. Each copy will create it's own log file.
Bringing things up for the first time.
1) Prepare an AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
The supplied serial device driver (MBBIOS from AA4RE) replaces
the standard INT 14 drivers included in the IBM ROM BIOS.
MBBIOS supports many different serial boards. See MBBIOS.DOC for details.
MBBIOS was created by Roy, AA4RE.
Example driver setup as it might appear in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
LM
SHARE
MBBIOS
MBMODE COM1:12,n,8,1
MBMODE COM3:96,n,8,1
MBMODE COM4:96,n,8,1
MBMODE COM5:96,n,8,1
MBMODE COM6:96,n,8,1
MBMODE COM7:96,e,7,1
Note that LM and SHARE have also been loaded. LM is the MailBox
Lock Manager, SHARE is the MS-DOS file sharing utility.
2) Edit CONFIG.MB for your configuration.
Put in your call, name, qth, and zip (or postal) code in the appropriate
places. Set up various subdirectories for user files and for MailBox working
files. Setup the port definitions to correspond to the hardware on your
computer.
3) Plug in the tncs.
Make sure they are set for hardware handshake. See the *.SET files for
examples of correct tnc parameter settings.
4) Put it on the air!
W0RLI MailBox and GateWay Page 2
Files on the distribution disk:
- The MailBox and GateWay programs:
MB.EXE - The MailBox program, for 80286, 80386, V20, V30 processor.
MB88.EXE - The MailBox program, for 80xx processor (XT).
MBMODE.EXE - Replacement for MODE command, supports COM1 - COM16.
PRTLOG.EXE - Log file analyzer.
RECOVER.EXE - Message and User file recovery program.
LM.COM - MailBox Lock Manager.
- Documentation and other text files:
CONFIG.MB - Configuration data, login message, error messages, etc.
*.DOC - Release notes, tech notes, installation notes, etc.
PK232.SET - Setup parameter list for PK-232 and PK-87.
README - Basic information on getting started.
TNC1.SET - Setup paramater list for TNC1.
TNC2.SET - Setup parameter list for TNC2.
MailBox support files:
HELP.MB - The text for the "H" command.
INFO.MB - The text for the "I" command.
FWD.MB - The routing tables for forwarding messages.
You can create this file with any text editor.
The following files will be created by the MailBox:
BID.MB - Log of Message Identifiers.
CALLS.MB - All calls heard by the MailBox.
MON.MB - The saved "J" lists.
USER.MB - The user database.
MAIL.MB - The message database.
LOG.n - The log files. A text file that contains the user log.
A seperate log is kept by each copy of the program.
The cable between the computer and the TNC should have pins 2,3,4,5,7 and 20
connected. Hardware flow control (CTS/RTS) is used in both directions.
W0RLI MailBox and GateWay Page 3
Known restrictions.
If you attempt to change a users information while that user is
connected to the system, the change will not take effect. User
information can only be changed when that user is not connected.
There can be at most 50 pending different message destinations. These
are the calls that show in the beacon text plus any calls in AT fields
of messages that have not been forwarded. The only time this might cause
a problem is if you keep many bulletins on the system, and they are
not marked as read ("Y") or forwarded ("F").
Message manipulation.
One problem that confronts the sysop from time to time is the message
that has the wrong type, wrong distribution list, etc. There are two ways
to correct this problem.
1) Use the "E" command and edit the message header. Because of the many
possibilities, this command is limited in scope. For simple changes,
such as "unkilling" a message, it will work. It will not create a
distribution list.
2) Copy the message to a file and then make a new message.
This is simpler than it sounds. It requires two commands.
Here is an example. Assume someone sent a message to KB6BHN, and
instead of using SP KB6BHN @ W0RLI used instead SB KB6BHN @ ALLUSA.
Assume it was message number 325.
First put the message into a file using the F command:
F 325 J
This puts the message into file J.
Then make the new message:
MP J KB6BHN @ W0RLI
You can either enter the orignal title, or, since you had to do
all this work to correct a users error, just give the new message
a blank title!
Now kill the orignal message.
K 325
W0RLI MailBox and GateWay Page 4
PRTLOG.EXE - The log file analyzer.
PRTLOG OUT.PRT -opt
The output is placed in file OUT.PRT.
Options: -L lists the entire log.
With no options you get the usual monthly summary.
PRTLOG prompts for the names of log files. Enter them in time sequence order.
Log file format
Each line in the log file contains an event code, the date and time,
followed by further information about the event.
'C' - User connected to system.
'A' -> 'H' - A user connected on that port.
'I' - Program startup.
'L' - User was linked via the station that just connected.
'S' - "connect" from local console (sysop).
'G' - GateWay event.
'A' - Connection attempted and failed. Path shown.
'C' - Connection attempted and obtained. Path shown.
'E' - End of GateWay event, or use.
'M' - Start of monitoring.
'S' - Start of GateWay use.
'U' - Entry to unprotocol mode.
'X' - Exit.
'A' - Owner put MailBox on line.
'B' - User said good bye.
'D' - User disconnected.
'E' - Excluded user attempted connect.
'F' - User forced off by system owner.
'Q' - Owner exited from program.
'T' - Timeout, forced disconnect.
'F' - File event. Command line shown as user entered it.
'D' - File downloaded.
'K' - File deleted.
'U' - File uploaded.
'M' - Message event. Message number always shown.
'F' - Message forwarded.
'FE' - End of forwarding session.
'FR' - Start of reverse forwarding within forwarding session.
'FS' - Start of forwarding session.
'K' - Message killed.
'R' - Message read.
'Z' - Message entered. Message size shown.