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SMREAD.TXT
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1993-03-17
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══════════════════════════════════════════════
S F M A I L for SPITFIRE 3.3
S M R E A D
The Offline Mail Reader
Offline Mail and Message System
══════════════════════════════════════════════
A Quality Product from Meta·Sys
Supported via The Mainframe BBS
Sysop: Bob Zimmerman
(708) 223-2344
Meta·Sys
PO Box 1387
Arlington Hts, IL 60006
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
═══════════════════════════════════
(1) Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
(2) Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What is SFMail? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What is SMRead? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Some SMRead Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
(3) Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
(4) Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
(5) Sysops wanting to register the SFMail Door . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
(6) Hardware & Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
(7) Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
(8) Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Communication Software and Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SMREAD Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SMREAD command line parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A mail packet name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
/MONO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
/SUBJORDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
/DATEORDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
/NS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
/NOZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
/BEEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
/TONE=150 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
/TONEDELAY=20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
/FORMAT= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
/DISKSWAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
/NOHIGH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SMREAD.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
SUBJORDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
NOSORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
DATEORDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CONFNUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
VGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
NOTRUNC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
TOYOU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
BEEPONMINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
TONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
TONEDELAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Setting SMRead's Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
DISKSWAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
NOHIGH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
FORMAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
UNZIP, UNARJ, UNLHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
i
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page ii
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZIPMOVE, ARJMOVE, LHAMOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
ZIPADD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Using An External Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Installing Your Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Getting The Latest Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
(9) SMRead Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SFM.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SMREAD.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
VERSION.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SMREAD.TXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SMREAD.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
SMREAD.KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
SMUSERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
SMTAGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
xxx.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
xxx.REP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
xxx.SFP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
SFMAIL.WRK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
SFMAIL.SYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
SFMAIL.MSG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
NEWFILES.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
(10) Step By Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using the SFMail Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Selecting Which Conferences To Process . . . . . . . . . . 27
Selecting Which Messages To Process . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Extracting Messages From You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Extract Deleted Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Selecting a Download Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Completing The Download . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Configuring the SFMail Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
(11) Using SMREAD To Read Your Mail Packet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The SMREAD Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
F1 - Selecting The File You Downloaded . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
F2 - Show File Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
F3 - Read and Reply to Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Reading Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Moving Around The Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Finding/Searching Through Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Searching For Unread Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Message Threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Getting An Index of Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Jumping Around Message Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Saving or Printing a message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Saving User Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Entering A New Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Deleting a Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
ii
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page iii
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Replying to a Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Editing Your Replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
F4 - Entering A Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
F5 - View New File List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
F6 - Save BBS Conference Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
F7 - Reset Message Read Pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
F8 - Edit your replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
F9 - Shell to Dos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
F10 - Sort Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
ESC - Quit to Dos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
(12) Using the Editor to Create a Reply or Message . . . . . . . . . 44
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Using the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Copying Text Into Your Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Saving A Copy Of Your Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Quoting A Message Into Your Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Routing Netmail Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
(13) TAG LINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
DEFAULT versus RANDOM Tag Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Specifying The Default Tag Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Random Tag Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
(14) Uploading Your .REP File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
(15) History of Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Version 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Version 2.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Version 2.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Version 2.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Version 2.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Version 2.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Version 2.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Version 2.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Version 2.8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Version 2.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Version 2.95 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Version 2.96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Version 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Version 3.02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Version 3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Version 3.11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Version 3.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
iii
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 1
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(1) Disclaimer
---------------
In no event shall the author of SFMail/SMREAD and/or his associates be
held liable for any damages whatsoever, including, without limitation,
damages for loss of profits, business interruption, loss of
information, or other pecuniary loss, arising out of the use of SFMail
or it's associated software (such as the Reader/Replier SMREAD)!
If you do not agree to this in whole, you are to delete SFMail and/or
SMREAD and their associated files immediately; you should not run it
at all. By running it in any part, you are agreeing to the above
terms!
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 2
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(2) Introduction
-----------------
What is SFMail?
---------------
SFMail is an offline message system for Spitfire Bulletin Board
Systems. SFMail allows you to extract messages from your Spitfire BBS
in just seconds. SFMail consists of a door program that you run on
your bbs and a reader program that your callers use to read and reply
to messages offline.
The door is typically installed on the Message Menu. It allows you to
extract messages in either SFMail, ASCII or QWK formats. (QWK is a
standard for offline readers, but is a bit slower and has less
Spitfire message base features then the SFMail format). SFMail is
priced and available with and without QWK support; a Sysop is not
forced to purchase the QWK support for the door.
After they hang up, callers use the READER (SMREAD for SFMail format
or any QWK reader for the QWK format) to read, reply and enter new
messages. They can then call back and upload the replies and new
messages.
Long distance callers can save some big bucks. If you are trying to
get callers to use your message base more, this door may be just the
trick. It has worked very well for netmail systems such as PC Relay
and Circuitnet. Mike Woltz, the author of Spitfire, uses SFMail
exclusively when he travels.
As a caller, you may not want to "use up all your logon time" by
reading messages. SFMail gives you the opportunity to extract messages
(and a list of new files on the bbs) and then download them to your
pc. After you hang up, you can read and reply to messages without
incurring phone charges or using up your logon time.
What is SMRead?
---------------
When you download a mail packet from the SFMail door, you then read
the SFMail format packet with the SMREAD program. SMREAD currently
only supports SFMail format message packets. It currently does not
support QWK format messages.
SMRead will organize the messages you download just like they are on
the bbs. The reader (SMREAD) will list all available message
conferences and allow you to read messages in any conference.
You are able to create replies to any message, and enter new messages
as well. If you have the authority, the reader will allow you to
delete messages off the bbs (something no other offline mail system
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 3
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does today). The built in editor has many features, including saving a
message, copying text from an ascii file into a message, quoting a
message you are replying to, support for tag lines and too many more
features to mention here.
Some SMRead Features
--------------------
· No limit to the # of messages processed
· Can search for a string anywhere in the message
· Has a full featured built-in editor
· Supports using your favorite external editor
· Bookmarks are supported so you may save your place
· Reading messages by thread are supported
· Full support of tag lines
· You may print copies of messages or their replies
· Full copy and save functions are supported within the editor
· Quick Help Screens are supplied for reading and editing messages
· Drop to Dos while reading or editing a message
· Maintains an address book of callers you correspond with
· Full support for routing messages on PC Relay or Circuitnet
· Defaults replies to private if the original message is private
· You can toggle any message's netmail and public flags
· You can move a reply across conferences
· You can delete the message(s) off the bbs
· Supports up to 255 conferences
· Preview and table of contents by conference
· Full support and upgrades
· Only $15 Shareware!!!
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(3) Support
------------
SMREAD is shareware. It is supported by Bob Zimmerman of Meta·Sys. If
you have a question regarding a feature, first check this doc file.
The sysop running the SFMail door should be able to answer most
questions you have for the reader.
If you still need further assistance, you may call the Mainframe BBS
at 708-223-2344. It run Spitfire 3.1 using a US Robotics Dual Standard
modem (v32/v42).
You may also contact Bob via RIME. There are several Spitfire
conferences setup, including one devoted to Meta·Sys and product
support. If you prefer, you may route messages to node ->METASYS.
If you prefer, Bob Zimmerman has an account on CompuServ. His ID is
72371,1700. You may leave messages via CompuServ Mail. Bob logs on
fairly often and can help answer questions there.
If you are reporting a potential problem with SFMAIL the door or
SMREAD the reader, it is important that you include your Autoexec.bat,
Config.Sys, Dos version, if you are running on a network or under
Desqview, how many file areas you have, if you have CD Rom, what
version of Spitfire you are running, what version (compile date) of
SFMAIL you are running, and what steps lead up to the problem. You
would be surprised how many messages every week say something like:
I tried running SMREAD on my system and it doesn't work. Do you have
any ideas why not?
<grin> We simply cannot help folks posting that little info. If you
prefer you may contact Meta·Sys or Bob Zimmerman at
Meta·Sys
PO Box 1387
Arlington Hts, IL 60006
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 5
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(4) Registration
-----------------
SMREAD is shareware. Many hours of work and design went into this
program. It contains a full editor with features found in stand alone
editors. MetaSys and Bob Zimmerman have designed this program to make
it the mail reader of preference for Spitfire. Mike Woltz himself uses
this program to manage his messages.
You may evaluate this program for 30 days. If after 30 days you still
want to use this program, you must register this program with MetaSys.
The current registration fee is $15. After registering the reader, you
will receive a KEY file that turns on your license number in the
reader tag line. This license/serial number will only be assigned to
you. Each number is unique! Sysops registering the SFMail door are
entitled to download their key file. If you are registering the reader
(you are not a sysop) then MetaSys will send you the latest reader
along with your key file on disk.
Please specify 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" diskette. You should also specify a
return address (you would be surprised how many folks neglect to
specify this address). Finally, please provide the name of the bbs
that has the SFMail door installed. This way we can keep track of
which readers are used by which bbs.
All funds must be in US Dollars!
Registered customers are supported by MetaSys. If need be, we can call
you and make sure that you get the program running to your
satisfaction. As with all our software, if you have any requests and
or changes, don't hesitate to contact us. Many existing SFMAIL and
SMRead customers will find their requests included in this version.
You should mail your registration to:
Meta·Sys
PO Box 1387
Arlington Hts, IL 60006
Be sure to include the information specified above. Without that
information, your registration will be delayed.
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(5) Sysops wanting to register the SFMail Door
-----------------------------------------------
If you are a sysop and are interested in running the SFMail door on
your bbs, you should contact Bob Zimmerman on the Mainframe BBS (phone
number on the front cover of this doc). SFMail (the door) is not
available as shareware at this time. Full information on obtaining the
door, costs etc... can be found on the Mainframe in a doc file called
SFMail.ZIP. There are also several bulletins that discuss SFMail on
the Mainframe.
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 7
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(6) Hardware & Software Requirements
-------------------------------------
SMRead is designed to run on Dos based PCs. SMRead has been tested on
XT, 286, 386 and 486 systems. The specific disk space requirements
vary depending on your message packet size. Since SMRead "un-
compresses" the message packet, you should always have enough space to
uncompress and re-compress that file. Your compression program (e.g.
PKZIP) can tell you more specific information on how much disk space
it requires.
SMRead itself requires approximately 300k to run. 100k is required for
shelling to PKZIP. We will be supporting other archive programs in the
future (such as ARJ and LHARC). You may need more memory depending on
their requirements. SMRead can be run when shelling to Dos from
Spitfire (if you are a sysop)... but you are required to unzip your
mail separately. This is discussed later for sysops only. If you have
at least 450k free memory, you should have no problem running this
reader along with all of it's features.
With version 2.8 of SMREAD, we have added some memory swapping code.
This will allow you to run SMREAD in as little as 300k. SMREAD will
swap itself out of memory if it cannot run the archive program.
SMRead has been tested with Dos 3.2, 3.3, 4.1 and 5.0. It has run
successfully under Desqview, Novell, Lantastic and standalone. SMRead
supports netmail systems such as Fido, Rime, Circuitnet, Throbnet,
Interlink, all PC Relay based system as well as Qnet/Rnet based
systems. As long as the messages are imported and exported to the
Spitfire message base using the SFMail door in SFMail format, SMRead
can handle it.
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 8
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(7) Quick Start
----------------
If you want to JUMP right into things, create a directory on your
drive and call it SMREAD. Unzip the SFM.EXE file into this directory.
Several files will be generated including SMREAD.CFG and a tag line
file called SMTAGS.
Next, download a sample message packet in SFMail format. Move the
packet to your SMREAD directory.
Finally type SMREAD followed by the name of the message packet. For
example, if you download mail from the Mainframe BBS, the message
packet will be called MAIN.ZIP. Start SMREAD with the following
command:
SMREAD MAIN or SMREAD MAIN.ZIP
Choose option 3 from the SMREAD main menu to begin reading messages.
While reading messages, there are MANY commands you can use. For
example, pressing the letter S will save a copy of the message to an
ascii file. Pressing ENTER or the SPACEBAR will take you to the next
page of your message.
Press F1 for a full screen of HELP. All of these commands are
available when viewing messages.
To reply to any message, simply press R (while viewing the message).
You will then placed into the built in editor. While in the editor,
you may again press F1 for a full screen of help on the "editor".
The above should be enough to get you started. SMRead has far too many
features to document them in a Quick Start section. The above
information should be enough to get you started using the reader.
When you exit the reader, any replies you have created are stored in
the file xxxx.REP where xxxx matches the mail packet name. For
example, MAIN.REP if the mail packet was called MAIN.ZIP. You upload
the .REP file to the bbs to post the messages to the bbs. You can then
delete the .REP File.
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 9
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(8) Installation
-----------------
Communication Software and Hardware
-----------------------------------
There are no special requirements placed on your hardware or software
when using the SFMail door on the bbs you call. Begin the SFMail door
and extract a mail packet.
The door will compress your mail packet using a compression program.
The default is PKZIP. You will need to have a copy of PKZIP and
PKUNZIP on your PC so that you may uncompress and re-compress the mail
packet. If you do not have PKZIP/PKUNZIP, ask your sysop how you can
obtain a copy.
The SFMail door will use Chuck Forsberg's DSZ program to transfer the
file to you (download). It supports Xmodem, Ymodem and Zmodem
transfers. Any communication program that supports these protocols can
be used to download messages and upload your replies.
Make sure that PKZIP and PKUNZIP are placed in a directory somewhere
in your Dos path. If you have "any" questions on how to do this,
please don't hesitate to contact us or your sysop for assistance.
In addition, SMREAD uses the Van Buerg's LIST command to view the list
of New Files available for download. You can alter what programs
SMREAD's uses with the SMREAD.CFG file.
SMREAD Installation
-------------------
You may place SMREAD in it's own directory or in a directory
containing your downloaded files. I actually recommend that you place
SMREAD in any directory that is in your path.
For example, I keep all of my utility programs such as PKZIP, DSZ
etc... in a directory called C:\UTIL. This directory is included in my
Dos Path.
I place my SMREAD.EXE and it's files in that same directory. That way,
I can read a mail packet anywhere on my PC. I don't have to worry
about moving it anywhere... I can read it in my download directory as
well!
SMREAD command line parameters
------------------------------
When starting SMREAD, you are able to type "parameters" on the command
line. With version 2.0 of SMRead, some command line parameters are no
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 10
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longer available. Specifically, /VGA and /C have been made
configuration options in the SMREAD.CFG file. This is explained in the
next section of this document. The following summarizes the valid
command line parameters.
A mail packet name When downloading mail, your mail packet will be
named xxxx.ZIP where xxxx identifies which bbs it
came from. Prior to version 2 of SFMail, the mail
packet was always named SFMAIL.ZIP. As of version
2, the mail packet is uniquely named, allowing you
to download different packets from every bbs and
not "overlaying" any mail from another bbs. For
example, if you download mail from the Mainframe,
it's mail packet is called MAIN.ZIP, while the
mail packet from Buffalo Creek Software is called
BUFFALO.ZIP.
When starting SMRead, you may specify which mail
packet you would like to process. If you do NOT
specify which packet to process, you will have to
select option 1 from the SMREAD menu to specify
the mail packet name. So, if you want to start the
reader and process the MAIN.ZIP mail packet,
simply type SMREAD MAIN.
/MONO This command line parameter is actually being
phased out. By specifying /MONO, the color set
used by the reader will be black and white. With
the release of v2 of SMREAD, you are able to set
all colors using the SMREAD.CFG file (explained in
the next section). We will be supplying a sample
CFG for mono systems called MONO.CFG in the reader
package. This option will remain active for only a
few more releases.
/SUBJORDER This command instructs the reader to automatically
sort the messages into thread/subject order. See
page 13 for a complete discussion. This feature
only works in registered readers.
You may abbreviate this command by specifying /T
instead of /SUBJORDER.
/DATEORDER This command instructs the reader to automatically
sort the messages into message date order. See
page 13 for a complete discussion. This feature
only works in registered readers.
You may abbreviate this command by specifying /TD
instead of /DATEORDER.
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/NS This command instructs SMREAD to ignore any sort
requests (in the .CFG file). Once a given mail
packet has been sorted (into thread order), you
don't have to sort it every time you re-read the
same mail packet. Specify /NS on the SMREAD
command line to avoid the sort.
/NOZIP Normally, the first thing that SMREAD will do is
uncompress your mail packet (PKUNZIP by default).
This means that you must have 300k of free memory
for the reader and an additional 100k of free
memory for PKUNZIP.
If you don't have enough memory to run PKUNZIP, it
will fail and SMREAD will NOT be able to continue.
By specifying the /NOZIP keyword, SMREAD assumes
you have already unzipped the files. For example,
if you are constantly running low on memory, you
may have a bat file as follows:
CD \DOWNLOAD
PKUNZIP MAIN.ZIP -o
SMREAD MAIN /NOZIP
PKZIP -fm MAIN
The above lines are required to run SMREAD with
the /nozip keyword. Note that the "bbs id" (in our
example MAIN) is required or an error will occur.
For sysops running SFMail locally, you have the
ability to move the 'unzipped' files directly into
your SFMail directory when running the door
locally. To read those files, you are required to
use the /NOZIP keyword with your BBS= ID.
/BEEP This command line option is the same as the
SMREAD.CFG option BEEPONMINE. It instructs the
reader to sound a TONE when getting to a message
that is addressed to you.
The commands TONE and TONEDELAY can change the
level and length of the tone sounded.
/TONE=150 This command allows you to set the "level" of the
beep sounded by the BEEPONMINE (/BEEP) commands.
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You should never set this lower then 25 and it can
be set as high as 2000.
You can use this command line option to test
different tones and when you find your preference,
set it in the SMREAD.CFG file permanently with the
TONE command.
/TONEDELAY=20 This command specifies how long the "tone/beep"
signals for. The default is 20 milliseconds. You
can set this to any value from 1 to 1000. 1000 is
1 second * 3. (the tone is altered so what ever
value you use is multiplied by 3). You can set
this permanently with the TONEDELAY command in the
SMREAD.CFG file.
/FORMAT= This command tells SMREAD what the "extension" of
the mail packet is. For example, you are able to
download a mail packet in SFMAIL doors with the
extension of .ZIP or .SFM (depending on the
version of SFMAIL the sysop uses). Specifying
/FORMAT=ZIP tells SMREAD to process files ending
with .ZIP. Specifying /FORMAT=SFM (the default)
tells SMREAD to process files ending with SFM.
SMREAD will automatically detect what type of
compression was used. PKZIP, LHA and ARJ are
currently supported.
You may abbreviate /FORMAT as /F=.
/DISKSWAP Informs SMREAD that if it is going to swap itself
out for a compression program or for dropping to
dos, it should swap to disk instead of EMS. Can be
used to test if your EMS is non-compatable with
SMREAD and some Win 3.0 customers may require
this. I don't recommend this parameter. You may
specify SET SWAP=dir in your Autoexec.bat to tell
SMREAD what directory to swap to. The default is
your root directory of the current drive.
/NOHIGH This command line parameter forces the tag line to
use low ASCII characters in place of high ascii
characters. The ■ SMREAD uses * SMREAD in it's
place. This is required if you use FIDO.
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SMREAD.CFG
----------
This file is a configuration file which should reside in the same
directory containing SMREAD.EXE. This file is a simple ascii text
file. You may use any text editor on it. Every line should have one
command on it. Any text following a semi-colon is considered a
comment. A default SMREAD.CFG is found in the SFM.EXE file. The
following explains the commands found in the SMREAD.CFG file:
SUBJORDER
---------
Normally, when you read messages with SFMail, it will read them
in message number order. This is "typically" in date-entered
order, although for netmail systems, it is NOT by date... It is
the same order the messages are in, if you read the messages
online the bbs!
By placing this command in the CFG file, the messages are sorted
into THREAD order automatically after loading the file. This
allows you to read messages of the same subject in subject order.
This feature ONLY works in registered readers.
See page 42 for a full description of "how" the sort works.
NOSORT
------
If you want to "exclude" a conference from being automatically
sorted, then specify NOSORT followed by the confernece number.
For example, if you don't want Conference #1 sorted by thread
automatically, but you do all others (maybe they are netmail),
then in your CFG file, have both SUBJORDER and NOSORT 1. The
NOSORT command should be on a line by itself. If you want to
exlucde more then one conference, you need multiple NOSORT
commands on separate lines.
NOTE: If you sort using the F10 from the Main Menu, then NOSORT
is IGNORED! It ONLY applies to the auto-sort at start up!
DATEORDER
---------
Normally, when you read messages with SFMail, it will read them
in message number order. This is "typically" in date-entered
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order, although for netmail systems, it is NOT by date... It is
the same order the messages are in, if you read the messages
online the bbs!
By placing this command in the CFG file, the messages are sorted
into message DATE order automatically after loading the file.
This allows you to read messages in chronological order.
This feature ONLY works in registered readers.
See page 42 for a full description of "how" the sort works.
CONFNUM
-------
When reading messages, you will find 2 "message numbers" on the
screen. In the upper left hand corner is the actual internal
message number. This number is unique within the given
conference.
In the upper right hand corner you will see Message x of y. This
tells you where you are in the current packet. If you are reading
message 1, then this will say Message 1 of 30 (for a 30 message
packet)...
When using netmail systems, it is usually more meaningful to view
your position within the message conference, rather then the
message packet. For example, 1 of 30 where 30 messages are in the
current conference, as opposed to 1 of 276 (276 messages in the
packet). When viewing messages, you can toggle this counter by
pressing Alt-C.
If you always want to view your relative position within the
conference, then specify CONFNUM in the SMREAD.CFG file. This
command takes no parameters and should be placed on a line by
itself. If you want to comment the line, place a semi-colon after
CONFNUM.
VGA
---
The SMREAD program supports reading mail on Ega/Vga monitors in
43/50 line mode. Normally Dos shows you 25 lines at a time. With
EGA monitors you are able to view 43 lines in extended mode. On
VGA monitors, this extended mode actually is 50 lines long.
When viewing a message, you can toggle EGA/VGA mode by pressing
Alt-V or Alt-E.
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If you always want to be in EGA/VGA mode, then place the VGA
command in the SMREAD.CFG file on a line by itself.
NOTRUNC
-------
When using the built-in editor and replying to a message, you are
able to "quote" that message into your reply. If the message you
are replying to already contains QUOTES and they are too wide to
fit within your message, they are truncated.
If you want SMREAD not to truncate them, and to wrap them to a
second line, specify NOTRUNC in your SMREAD.CFG file.
LIST
----
When downloading a packet of mail, you are able to extract a list
of New Files available for download from the bbs. This file is
called NEWFILES.DAT. On the main menu of SMREAD, you are able to
view this file.
SMRead will shell to the LIST command (from Van Buerg -
shareware) to read the file. If you want to shell to another DOS
command, then specify LIST followed by the Dos Command Name. For
example, to shell to a program called BROWSE.COM, your SMREAD.CFG
file would contain the line:
LIST BROWSE
TOYOU
-----
When viewing the LIST of messages in a conference using "I" or
F7, all messages to you are flagged with a check mark. If you
specify the keyword TOYOU in the .CFG file, then messages
addressed to ALL or ALL USERS are also flagged as being TO YOU.
BEEPONMINE
----------
This is the same as the SMREAD command line option /BEEP. It
instructs the reader to sound a TONE when getting to a message
that is addressed to you.
The commands TONE and TONEDELAY can change the level and length
of the tone sounded.
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TONE
----
This command allows you to set the "level" of the beep sounded by
the BEEPONMINE (/BEEP) commands. You should never set this lower
then 25 and it can be set as high as 2000.
You can use the command line option /TONE to test different tones
and when you find your preference, set it in the SMREAD.CFG file
permanently with the TONE command. The TONE command takes one
parameter, the level. For example, TONE 150.
TONEDELAY
---------
This command specifies how long the "tone/beep" signals for. The
default is 20 milliseconds. You can set this to any value from 1
to 1000. 1000 is 1 second * 3. (the tone is altered so what ever
value you use is multiplied by 3). You can set this permanently
with the TONEDELAY command in the SMREAD.CFG file, or test
different delays with the /TONEDELAY command line option. For
example, setting the delay to 20 milliseconds is: TONEDELAY 20
Setting SMRead's Colors
-----------------------
You are able to customize the colors that SMREAD uses. The
SMREAD.CFG file comes with one set of default colors. If you
totally remove the color commands in SMREAD.CFG, then SMREAD uses
the default colors used in version 1.x of the reader.
You can change any set of colors, by specifying the following
commands in SMREAD.CFG. Each command should be followed by one of
the following colors:
BLACK, BLUE, GREEN, CYAN, RED,MAGENTA, BROWN, GRAY,
DARKGRAY, LIGHTBLUE, LIGHTGREEN, LIGHTCYAN, LIGHTRED,
LIGHTMAGENTA, YELLOW and WHITE.
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Place each of the commands on a line by itself followed by the
color code. See the SMREAD.CFG for examples. The color commands
are:
FC Sets normal foreground color
BC Sets normal background color
PLAID Sets the "speckled" background used on the menu
HFC Sets the foreground color used to highlight text
HBC Sets the background color used to highlight text
EFC Sets the foreground color for the edit window
EBC Sets the background color for the edit window
EHFC Sets the foeground color for edit highlighted text
EHBC Sets the background color for edit highlighted text
EAFC Sets the foreground color in edit for the window lines
EABC Sets the background color in edit for the window line
DISKSWAP
--------
Place this command in your SMREAD.CFG file to force all swapping
(when shelling to a compression program or Dos) to use Disk as
opposed to using EMS. You may specify SET SWAP=dir in your
Autoexec.bat to tell SMREAD what directory to swap to. The
default is your root directory of the current drive.
NOHIGH
------
This parameter will turn off the high ascii characters from the
tag line (required when messaging via FIDOnet)... The ■ SMREAD
will be changed to * SMREAD and the » is changed to a greater
then sign.
FORMAT
------
The default compression routine used by SMREAD is PKZIP. In the
future, if the sysop allows, the door will support other
archivers such as PKPAK, ARJ and LHARC (to name a few). The
format command tells SMREAD what type of archiver you would like
to use. The default is ZIP.
If you are downloading the file in a different archive format,
then simply specify the "extension" of the file here. For
example, for ARJ files, you would specify:
FORMAT ARJ
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in SMREAD.CFG on a line all by itself. You also have to set the
next few commands.
UNZIP, UNARJ, UNLHA
-------------------
These commands instructs SMREAD how to uncompress your mail
packet. If your mail packet ends with .ZIP, or it ends with .SFM
and it was created with PKZIP, SMREAD will use the UNZIP command
line to uncompress the packet. UNARJ is used for SFM mail packets
created with ARJ and UNLHA for LHA. The SFMAIL door only supports
these 3 types of compression programs at this time.
If you want to use a different program other then PKUNZIP, ARJ or
LHA to uncompress the file(s), you must specify this command
line followed by the DOS command to unzip the file. On this
command line, you MUST specify the parameter %FILE. This is where
we "stick" the mail packet name. For example, if I have
downloaded a mail packet called MAIN.SFM, then the UNZIP line
would be:
UNZIP PKUNZIP %FILE
When SMREAD sees the above, it replaces the %FILE with MAIN.ZIP
so the command it actually issues to unzip the file is
PKUNZIP MAIN.ZIP
For ARJ, the command may look like:
UNARJ ARJ x %FILE
If you have any questions, please ask. We will supply sample
lines in the SMREAD.CFG file as the "SFMAIL door" begins to
support these archivers.
ZIPMOVE, ARJMOVE, LHAMOVE
-------------------------
This command instructs SMREAD how to re-compress your mail packet
after you are done reading your mail. As described in the
previous UNZIP, UNARJ, UNLHA section, SMREAD will process SFM
files and will automatically detect what type of archiver
compressed the program.
You may override the command line with your own command as
follows:
ZIPMOVE PKZIP -m %FILE %FILES
NOTE! There are 2 keywords on the previous command. One is the
%FILE (singular) and the other %FILES (plural). The first is the
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"archive or mail packet name". The second is the list of files
that need to be moved into the mail packet. For example, the
above command would be translated to:
PKZIP -m MAIN.ZIP SFMAIL.WRK
or to something similar.
ZIPADD
--------
This command instructs SMREAD how to compress your mail packet if
you save the bbs info from the Main Menu of SMREAD. By default,
SMREAD will PKZIP the work files into a new ZIP file. This new
zip file contains a valid mail packet with NO mail in it, so you
can enter new messages for that bbses in the future, without
requiring you to extract a mail packet.
If you are using a different archive format (see FORMAT above),
or if you want to use a different program (other then PKZIP) then
use must specify CMPRADD followed by the Dos command that SMREAD
should issue. For example:
CMPRMOVE PKZIP -u %FILE %FILES
NOTE! There are 2 keywords on the previous command. One is the
%FILE (singular) and the other %FILES (plural). The first is the
"archive or mail packet name". The second is the list of files
that need to be moved into the mail packet. For example, the
above command would be translated to:
PKZIP -m MAIN.ZIP SFMAIL.SYS SFMWORK\SFMAIL.MSG
SFMWORK\SFMAIL.WRK
or to something similar.
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Using An External Editor
------------------------
SMRead has an excellent editor built into it. Things such as Auto-
routing, Auto-quoting, address books etc... all customize the editor
for Offline Mail use. Very few other offline readers have a built in
editor.
If you do prefer to use another editor, create a file in the SMREAD
directory called EDITOR.CFG. This file should contain a the command to
invoke the editor (the one word!)... For example, to invoke QEDIT the
file should contain:
QEDIT
That is all. When replying or entering a new message, SMREAD will
shell to QEDIT. The editor must be found in your path and run in under
200k memory. This editor will not be used when editing existing
replies. It will only be used when creating new replies or new
messages.
Installing Your Serial Number
-----------------------------
When you register your reader (and sysops that register their door)
will receive a key file from the Mainframe BBS. This key file will be
called ###.KEY, where ### is your serial number. Sysop serial numbers
all begin with the letter S.
Simply place this file in the directory containing the SMREAD.EXE
file. You must also RENAME the file to SMREAD.KEY. That is all there
is to it. When SMREAD starts, it will look for this file and decipher
it.
If the file has been hacked in any way, the reader will mark the tag
line of each message with a HACKED message. Your serial number is
licensed to you only. Sharing your key file is a violation of your
license agreement. It is also, simply, stealing. Please support
shareware and keep your file for yourself only. A special thanks for
your understanding.
Getting The Latest Readers
--------------------------
The latest reader is always available on the Mainframe BBS. Many other
bbses that run the SFMail door, make a habit of carrying the latest
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reader. Simply go to their SFMail door and check option R. It will
list the version of the reader they have available.
Simply download the reader file, SFM.EXE. Then check the .TXT file
(this file) for a list of changes that occurred since your last
reader. The history of changes are located at the back of the
document.
Most of the time, you can simply overlay your old reader with the new
one and begin using it.
THE ONLY THING YOU SHOULD NEVER DO IS ATTEMPT TO EDIT REPLIES FROM AN
OLDER READER WITH A NEWER READER. NEWER READERS CAN NEVER EDIT THE REP
FILE CREATED BY AN OLDER READER. IT CAN APPEND TO THEM ONLY!!!
SMREAD v3 from MetaSys Page 22
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(9) SMRead Files
-----------------
The following lists all files you should be aware of (using SMRead)
and what they are used for. If you have any questions, please don't
hesitate to ask...
SFM.EXE
-------
This is a self-extracting ZIP file containing the SMRead program. This
file can be downloaded from any SFMail door by selecting option R of
the door. After downloading this file, create a temporary directory
and run SFM.EXE while you are "in" the new directory. It will generate
the SMREAD files. Most of them are explained below.
SMREAD.EXE
----------
This file is generated by SFM.EXE. It is the actual reader program.
You should never see this program available for download. It should
always be inside the SFM.EXE file.
VERSION.DAT
-----------
This file is a small text file. It is found inside the SFM.EXE file.
It contains the version and release date of the reader (SMREAD.EXE)
found in the SFM.EXE file.
SMREAD.TXT
----------
This file is the doc file you are reading. A history of changes to the
SMREAD program can be found at the end of this file. This file is
found in the SFM.EXE file.
SMREAD.CFG
----------
This file is a sample configuration file. It contains default colors
and options for the reader. A default file is found in the SFM.EXE.
Once you customize it, you will not need a new one. This file should
be placed in the same directory that contains your SMREAD.EXE file.
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For more information on SMREAD.CFG and how to configure it, see
page 13.
SMREAD.KEY
----------
This file is only distributed to registered users of the readers. It
contains the "key" to your serial number. You place this file in your
SMREAD.EXE directory. SMRead will automatically read this file and
will place your serial number at the top of your Main Menu and in the
tag line of every message you write.
You must NEVER give this file to anyone else. It is licensed to you
for your use only. Distribution in any manner is a violation of your
license agreement.
At the current time, the shareware version of the reader is full
functioned. Registrations have been few in number. Less then 20 for a
two year time period. We may add some features to the reader, that
will only be unlocked when this key is available. This key will not be
required for any current feature.
SMUSERS
-------
This is sort of an address book you can save other callers names in.
If you are using PC Relay software, their NODE ID is also saved. This
way, you can remember their NODE ID so that you can route messages to
them at any time. This file should be placed in your SMREAD.EXE
directory.
Creating this file is actually done by the reader itself. When viewing
a message, pressing U or Alt-U will save the name in the To or From
fields.
When editing a reply (or new message), pressing Alt-U will bring up
the list of callers and allow you to select a NODE to route the
message to (for PC Relay software).
SMTAGS
------
This file contains your tag lines. You create this file using an ASCII
editor you would like. The file should be in the same directory
containing SMREAD.EXE.
The file contains tag lines to be added as "signature" lines at the
end of messages and replies you write with the reader. It is not a
required file, but is a very common file in Netmail systems.
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Each line should be from 1 to 52 characters long. If you wan a 2 line
tag, the 2nd line must be indented at least one space.
xxx.ZIP
-------
When you download a mail packet in SFMail format, it will be called
xxx.ZIP where xxx is the BBS ID the sysop has assigned to it. This
should allow you to download packets from several bbses, and each
packet should have a unique name.
xxx.REP
-------
When you finish reading a mail packet, any replies you have created
are placed in the file xxx.REP, where xxx is the BBS ID that sysop has
assigned. For example, if you have downloaded MAIN.ZIP, then the rep
file will be called MAIN.REP. This is the file you upload to the bbs
so you can post your replies to the board.
xxx.SFP
-------
Within every mail packet you download (from a version 2.x SFMail door)
you will find a file called xxx.SFP where xxx is the BBS ID assigned
by the sysop. For example, if you downloaded a packet called MAIN.ZIP,
then the SFP file inside the MAIN.ZIP file is called MAIN.SFP. This
file is very small, usually less then 1k in size.
When you extract "new messages" from a bbs, there is a "Last Message
Read" pointer that tells SFMail (and Spitfire) what was the last
message you read. Then we know what messages are new for you.
For example, if you read the first 200 messages in a conference that
has 250 messages, then your LMR (Last Message Read Pointer) is set to
200. If you want to read new messages, we know to begin with message
201. If you then read to the end of the message conference, your LMR
is "updated" to reflect your "new" LMR of 250.
There are times, that when you extract messages, you may want to reset
your Last Message Read. For example, if your mail packet is
accidentally deleted or corrupted, you would want to be able to reset
your LMR to what it was "before" your download.
The SFP file contains the LMR pointers, both before and after it's
download.
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I KNOW THIS CAN BE CONFUSING, BUT LETS LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE AND THIS
WILL CLEAR UP!
Let us say, that yesterday, in a given conference, there are 200
messages. My LMR was 150. This means that 50 messages were new for me.
When I downloaded yesterdays packet, I receive 50 messages.
The BBS then updated my LMR to say that my "last message read is 200".
This is simple enough. The SFP file in my mail packet has, internally,
both "150" and "200". It has what was my LMR before I downloaded
yesterday's mail and what was the LMR after I successfully downloaded
yesterday's mail.
Let us say that today, the conference has 225 messages in it. That
means there are 25 new messages for me. I download the file and my LMR
is now set to 225. BUT...
The packet I download was accidentally deleted! DARN! I go back to
SFMail but when I download new messages (or try to read them with
Spitfire), it tells me there are no new messages. It assumes I already
downloaded them!
I can take "YESTERDAYs" SFP file and upload it to the SFMail door.
The SFMail door will look at the file and say, Do you want to set your
LMR to 150 or 200 (to what it was before yesterdays packet or after
yesterdays packet)... I say AFTER. My LMR is now set to 200.
I can now download new mail again without losing ANY!
Because all of this is done with internal message numbers, you will
always get the correct mail, even if the sysop has packed his message
bases and there are a "different number" of messages.
NOTE! When you read your mail, the SFP file is extracted and always
left on disk. Every day (or week) when you get more mail, the SFP file
is overlayed with the new one. It is never deleted by SMREAD from your
disk, in case you need to recover the LMR.
*** If this was too confusing, please ask for help. This is one of the
neatest recovery features built into SFMail and SMREAD.
SFMAIL.WRK
----------
In every mail packet, there is a file called SFMAIL.WRK contained "in"
the compressed mail packet. This file is internal to the reader. It
should always be in every mail packet.
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SFMAIL.SYS
----------
In every mail packet, there is a file called SFMAIL.SYS contained "in"
the compressed mail packet. This file is internal to the reader. It
should always be in every mail packet.
SFMAIL.MSG
----------
In every mail packet, there is a file called SFMAIL.MSG contained "in"
the compressed mail packet. This file is internal to the reader. It
should always be in every mail packet.
NEWFILES.DAT
------------
This file contains a list of new files available for download from the
bbs. It is only extracted if you have the feature turned on within the
BBSes SFMail door.
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(10) Step By Step
-----------------
Using the SFMail Door
---------------------
To begin using SMRead, you must logon to a bbs containing the SFMail
door. Once you start the door, it will create a configuration file for
you. This file is on the bbs and remembers your preferences for using
the door.
The SFMail door has several options and most of them are self
explanatory. Option R will allow you to download the latest SMRead
available. Your SMREAD.KEY file should work with all versions of the
reader.
Option C allows you to configure SFMail to your preferences. We will
discuss this option last.
To begin your mail run, select option 1) Download SFMail Format. The
following assumes you have never run SFMail before and you do not have
a configuration defined (using option C of the door).
Selecting Which Conferences To Process
--------------------------------------
At this point, SFMail will ask you which conferences to download. Your
choices are:
* All Conferences
* Queued Conferences
* Selected Conferences
* Local Conferences
* Current Conference
Note that Queued Conferences does NOT refer to the Spitfire Queue. You
set up your conference queue using SFMail's option C from the main
menu. By default, all conferences available to you are in your queue.
When the sysop adds a conference to the bbs, or makes your security
level higher, and you now have access to new conferences, those
conferences are automatically added to your SFMail queue. Using option
C from the main menu, you can customize which conferences are in your
queue.
You should select which conferences you would like mail from. If you
are trying SFMail for the very first time, you may want to select mail
from only the current conference (for an initial test).
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Note, that only conferences that Spitfire would allow you access to
are available to you. If Spitfire would not allow you to read messages
on-line in a conference, then you will not have that conference
available to you via SFMail.
Also note, that if you select "Selected Conferences", then when the
extract of mail begins, SFMail will present "every" conference to you
and ask you if you would like mail from that conference. You may
specify:
Y yes, you want mail for this conference
N no, skip this conference
C yes, this conference and Y for every other conference
Q no, and stop asking, no more conferences
A abort, stop and return to bbs
Selecting Which Messages To Process
-----------------------------------
Next, SFMail will ask you which messages (in the selected conferences)
you would like to process. You may select:
* All messages in the selected conferences
* New messages in the selected conferences
* Your messages (messages to you)
* Messages entered after a given date
* The last # messages (you specify the number)
If you are using SFMail for the very first time, it would probably be
wise to select messages as of a given date. Then specify a date about
a week ago and you will get a good selection of messages to read. This
will vary depending on the bbs and the type of conference you are
processing.
Extracting Messages From You
----------------------------
Next, SFMail will ask if you want to extract messages you have posted
on the bbs. Many callers prefer NOT to see messages they have posted.
They obviously have read these messages when they wrote them. They
would answer no.
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Others prefer to be able to read messages they have posted on the bbs
(sort of review past messages). These callers answer Y to extract
their messages.
Extract Deleted Messages
------------------------
If you are a Sysop, or have Sysop status on the bbs, you are asked if
SFMail should extract deleted messages. Many sysops want to read
messages their callers have marked deleted. Specifying Yes to this
question instructs SFMail to extract the deleted messages. The reader
will display a <DELETED> status on the top line of the message when
you are reading it.
Selecting a Download Protocol
-----------------------------
The final question asked before the door will begin extracting
messages is what transfer protocol you would like to use. If you are
running the door locally, this question does not appear.
Completing The Download
-----------------------
Next, the door will extract the selected messages from the conferences
you have selected. Depending on how the sysop has configured the door,
you may also receive bulletins from the bbs, and a list of New Files
available for download from the bbs.
After the extracts, the files are compressed (PKZIPed) and the
transfer begins. You then begin your download. After the download, the
door will count down for 20 seconds and then automatically hang up.
Pressing G during this count down will have the door hang up
immediately. Pressing A will abort the hang up and you will be
returned to the bbs.
After the download, you will have a file called xxxx.ZIP where xxxx is
the bbs id (the sysop configures this). If the transfer was
successful, your message read pointers are updated as well. This way,
when you logon next time, you will NOT download the same messages you
have just downloaded. If the transfer fails, your last message read
pointers are NOT updated. Since you did not successfully download the
file, you can re-extract these messages as new.
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Configuring the SFMail Door
---------------------------
As you have just read, there are alot of prompts that the door asks
you when you download a file. Most of the time, you will logon and
want to download all new messages from your queued conferences. You
will probably select the same options each time you use the door.
Selecting option C from the Main Menu allows you to "Configure" the
door so you won't be prompted each time you use it. After selecting
option C, you are presented another menu displaying your defaults.
You can set your Conference selection to Queued, select which
conferences to queue, select new messages etc... By setting all of the
options, and saving them to disk, you will remove the prompts each
time you download.
Once you have set and saved these options, when you begin a download
from the Main Menu, it will simply begin the extract and not ask you
"what to do"!
The specific configuration options are explained as you select them.
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(11) Using SMREAD To Read Your Mail Packet
------------------------------------------
Introduction
------------
To use the reader, you MUST have an SFMail mail packet. Without an
SFMail packet, you cannot read, reply or enter messages for a bbs.
Once you have downloaded a mail packet, go to the directory containing
it. Then type SMREAD to begin SMREAD. If you would like, you can
specify the name of the mail packet. For example: SMREAD MAIN if the
packet was called MAIN.ZIP.
Once you have started the SMREAD program, you will be presented with
the opening SFMAIL / SMREAD welcome screen. If you have not registered
the reader, a line on the bottom of this screen asks you to support
Shareware. If you have registered SMREAD and have your SMREAD.KEY file
installed correctly, there is no shareware notice on the bottom of the
screen. Press ENTER to go to the next screen.
If you specified the mail file to process on the SMREAD command line
(e.g SMREAD MAIN), then it will begin to unzip the file after you
press ENTER. Otherwise, the SMREAD Main Menu is presented. You must
select option 1 to select your mail packet. No other option will work
at this time.
After the mail file unzips, it will scan the mail file and load some
internal statistic tables. To view this information, select option 2
of the menu.
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The SMREAD Main Menu
--------------------
After you start SMREAD, the following Main Menu is available:
----------------------------------------
SFMAIL Version x.x #xxxx
Main Menu
F1 Select your Mail Packet
F2 Review File Statistics
F3 Review Messages (and Reply)
F4 Enter a New Message
F5 View New File List
F6 Save BBS Conference Info
F7 Reset Msg Read Pointers
F8 Edit Reply File
F9 Shell To Dos
F10 Sort messages (REG Only)
-------------------------------------------
You may select any option by using your arrow keys to highlight an
option, or by pressing the Function Key, or the number next to the
option.
The top line (SFMAIL Version) also contains #? if the version has not
been registered. If you do have a valid SMREAD.KEY file, then it will
contain # followed by your registered serial number.
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The following summarizes each option on the Main Menu.
F1 - Selecting The File You Downloaded
---------------------------------------
When beginning the reader, you are able to specify the name of the
mail packet on the command line (e.g. SMREAD MAIN). The reader will
immediately unzip and load that mail file. If you do not specify the
mail file to read, you must select option 1. A Directory window will
open that allows you to select a mail file.
You are not able to use the other menu options until a valid mail file
has been loaded. You are not able to load a second mail file once the
first has been loaded. For memory reasons, you must exit and save the
first mail file before loading the second.
F2 - Show File Stats
---------------------
This option is only available once you have loaded a mail packet. It
shows you statistics specific to that mail packet. Information
supplied includes, What BBS you downloaded it from, What version of
SFMail they run, How many messages are in the packet, "when and what
time" the mail was extracted, a list of conferences and how many
messages are in each conference etc..
This can be handy if you find a mail packet on disk, and you forgot
when you downloaded it. This option will tell you from where and when
it was downloaded.
F3 - Read and Reply to Mail
----------------------------
This is where you will most probably spend most of your time in the
reader. This option allows you to read and reply to mail you have
downloaded. If for some reason, the packet you have downloaded does
not have any messages in it, then this option will give you an error
and say there are no messages available to read.
Normally, after selecting this option, you are presented a list of
conferences containing mail for you to read. If the bbs has 50
conferences, but only 3 have mail to read, then only those 3 are
listed.
Using the arrow keys, select the conference you would like to begin
reading. If you want to read the first conference, Press ENTER on
conference 1.
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While "reading" messages, you can return to this screen (so you can
read messages in another conference) by pressing F10.
While reading mail, there are MANY options available. The available
commands are displayed by pressing F1 while viewing /. reading
messages.
Most commands are obvious. For example, press R to reply to a message.
Press S to save a copy of the message you are reading to a .TXT file.
I always recommend that if you would like to be able to do something
(like print a message), check the F1 screen first!
Reading Messages
----------------
When reading messages, you will find the screen split into two
areas. The top lines are the message header.
The following is a sample message in the reader:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Conference 1: General (C) Msg 1 of 22
2 Msg #2501 4-28-91 13:51 <Public>
3 [Read]
4 To: Sysop
5 From: Mike Woltz
6 Subject: Hello
-----------------------------------------------------------------
7 * Total Lines: 6 (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
8 Just a note to say Hi!
9 I have been using SMREAD for a year now and LOVE it :)
10 Hope to see you at the Spitfire conference this year!
11
12 Bye for now!
13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
14 1 of 1 | F1:Help | R:Reply | S:Save | D:Del | F10: Conf
-----------------------------------------------------------------
On line 1 you will find the conference number and conference
description. On the right hand side you will find the "message
number" within the mail packet. If this is the first message
within the mail packet, it will say Message 1 of xx, where xx is
the total messages in the packet.
If you prefer, you can have the message number specify the number
within the conference (as opposed to the message packet). For
example, if I have downloaded 200 messages, but I am reading the
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3rd conference, which contains 10 messages, I may prefer to see
Message 1 of 10 rather then Message 36 of 200. The (C) specifies
you are relative to the "conference" as opposed to the entire
packet.
Pressing Alt-C toggles the numbering system. If you prefer to
permanently set this to "conference numbering", then check
SMREAD.CFG for the configuration option.
Line 2 contains the message number of the message internal to
Spitfire. This number is always unique. It also shows the time
the message was entered onto a message base, and what status the
message is. For example, Private or Public, Netmail, Received,
Deleted etc...
Line 3 shows the "reader" status. If this line is blank, then
this is the first time you are reading this message. If this line
contains [READ], then you have already read this message at least
once.
If this line contains [Marked for Deletion], then not only have
you read this message, but you have requested that it be deleted
from the bbs. This request has been placed in your .REP file, and
when you upload the file, it will actually delete the message.
If you are not allowed to delete the message by Spitfire, then
SMREAD will not allow you to delete it either.
Lines 4 through 6 contain the regular message heading you see in
Spitfire.
Line 7 is the "split line" and separates the heading from the
message text. The * on this line only appears if the message is
addressed TO YOU. It will bring your attention to "your"
messages.
If the message contains more text then can fit on ONE screen, you
will find a little down arrow next to the * as well. This tells
you to scroll the text using your down arrow key.
On the right half of line 7, you will find Total Lines: xxx. This
tells you how many total lines are in this message text. The
number in parenthesis is what is the "line number" of the top
line.
If a message takes up more then one screen, you may use the arrow
keys to scroll through it. If you press ENTER or the Space bar,
you will see the next page of text for the current message. If
there is NO MORE text, then you are presented with the next
message.
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Pressing Ctrl-END takes you to the bottom of the current message.
Ctrl-HOME takes you to the top.
Line 13 has a diamond on it (reverse video). This diamond
signifies the last line of the text has been reached.
Line 14 is a reminder line. The first field tells you what page
you are on (of the current message text). If the current message
has 5 pages of text and you are on page 2, this will say 2 of 5.
The rest of the line reminds you of some often used keys while
reading messages. Remember that pressing F1 gives you a full
screen of help.
Moving Around The Messages
--------------------------
When viewing messages, there are several commands to help you
move around the messages in the packet. To simply move from one
message to the next, use the Page Down key to move forward and
Page Up to move backward.
As you move from one conference to another, the conference list
is displayed to show you what conference you are entering. Simply
press Page Up or Down again to continue.
If you do NOT want to see the conference list while moving from
one conference to another, then use the RIGHT and LEFT arrow keys
instead of the Page Up and Page Down keys. The Right and Left
Arrow keys move you from message to message the same way, but you
are not notified when you have changed conferences.
If a message is several pages long, Page Down will only view the
first page. To view the other pages, you may use the arrow keys
(up and down) or pressing ENTER (or the space bar) will move
forward page by page through the message.
If you are on the last page of a message, and you press ENTER, it
will take you to the next message.
Ctrl Home and Ctrl End take you to the first and last page of a
message. This is handy for viewing long messages.
The HOME key takes you to message 1 in your packet. The END key
takes you to the last message in your packet.
If you want to go to a specific message (e.g. message number 50
in your packet of 100), then press G. It will show you the
current message number and you can type any new number. It will
jump you to the select message.
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Pressing M places a bookmark on the current message you are
reading. Pressing J at any time will "jump" you to that
bookmark/message. Bookmarks are not remembered when you exit the
reader.
Finding/Searching Through Messages
----------------------------------
The first thing I do when I download my mail packet is "search"
for all messages addressed to me. I do this by starting the
reader and beginning to read messages. On the first message, I
press the letter F (to find some text).
The Find command begins searching all messages "following" the
current message.
After pressing "F", you are asked "where" to search. You may
search for text in:
the TO: field
the FROM: field
both TO: and FROM:
the SUBJECT: field
the "text" of the message
or ALL OF THE ABOVE
Any time you search the text of the message, the search may seem
slow. That is because it is reading every line of text searching
for your text.
Searches are never case sensitive.
The first thing I do when extracting mail is search the TO: field
for text: SYSOP. After I find the first message, pressing "A"
will find Again.. repeat the find and take me to my next message.
This way I can read all my personal mail first.
I then press HOME to go to the beginning of the mail packet and
do a find on "ALL OF THE ABOVE" for ZIMMERMAN. I can see who is
"talking" about me in their message text <grin>...
Pressing F will begin a search. Pressing A will repeat the
previous find command.
If you begin a find command decide you want to interrupt it for
some reason, simply press the ESC key.
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Searching For Unread Messages
-----------------------------
As you read messages, they are marked "read" in the mail packet.
If you want to find what was the last message you read, then
press HOME to go to the beginning of the packet and press Alt-N.
Alt-N starts with the next message and checks to see if you have
read it.
If you have not, it backs up one message (that will be the last
message you read) and jumps you to that message.
Pressing N without the alt doesn't back you up but leaves you on
the next message that has been unread.
Message Threads
---------------
At the current time, SMREAD reads messages in the same order you
find them on Spitfire. We are looking at enabling callers to read
message in subject order.
Until then, pressing the letter T will scan forward and jump to
any messages in the current conference that have the same message
subject as your current message.
Getting An Index of Messages
----------------------------
Pressing I while viewing messages will show you a Table of
Contents for the current conference. It will list all the
messages in the current conference and allow you to jump to any
message. Simply highlight the message and press ENTER.
Jumping Around Message Conferences
----------------------------------
If you want to jump to a new message conference, press F10. Your
message conference list is displayed.
Pressing Alt-F10 will jump you to the first message in the next
conference.
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Saving or Printing a message
----------------------------
Pressing S while viewing a message allows you to save that
message to any TXT (ascii) file. Pressing P will print the file
to your printer.
Saving User Information
-----------------------
While viewing a message, you may want to remember (save) the name
of the person the message is From (or To). Pressing U will save
the name in the TO field to the Address book (SMUSERS). Pressing
Alt-U will save the name in the From field.
When entering a message, you can press ? in the TO field to
search your address book for the saved name.
Entering A New Message
----------------------
While viewing a message, you are able to ENTER a new message to
anyone. Press the letter E and you will be prompted for "who" is
the message to. This is identical to option 4 from the Main Menu.
Deleting a Message
------------------
If you have sysop authority, or if a message is to you, you have
the ability to delete the message. Press the letter D and you
will be asked to confirm your delete request. Pressing Y will
delete the message when you upload your reply packet.
Replying to a Message
---------------------
When viewing a message, you may reply to it by pressing the
letter R. Pressing Alt-R will reply to the person in the TO
field. Pressing R (without the Alt key) replies to the callers in
the from field. A separate section is devoted to the editor used
when creating replies.
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Editing Your Replies
--------------------
While viewing your messages, you may want to edit your current
.REP file. Change a message you have sent, or completely delete a
reply. Pressing F8 will list all messages pending in your .REP
file.
Be sure to press F1 while viewing message for a complete list of
shortcut commands. They are separate form the short cut commands
found when using the editor.
F4 - Entering A Message
------------------------
You may enter a message by selecting option 4 of the Main Menu, or by
pressing E while viewing messages. You must have "loaded" a mail
packet before this option will be available.
You are displayed the complete list of conferences available to you.
Using the arrow keys, highlight the conference you would like to place
the message in.
Next, you are asked who the message is to. Specify the callers name,
or leave BLANK if you are sending the message to ALL. If you have a
valid SMUSERS address book, you may specify a ? as the TO name. You
will then be presented a list of names from the address book.
You may highlight one of the names and press ENTER to send the message
to that caller.
After specifying who the message is to, you are asked for the message
subject. This is a required field. If you leave this blank and press
ENTER, SMRead will beep and give you a second chance to fill it in. If
you again leave it blank, SMREAD will "cancel" your request and return
you to the main menu (or viewing messages if you pressed E to enter a
message).
F5 - View New File List
------------------------
Depending on the bbs you downloaded your mail packet from, you may or
may not have received a New File listing. This is a list of files that
the bbs has available for download. Option C of the SFMail Main Menu
allows you to configure this option for you.
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Selecting option 5 from the SMREAD main menu will shell to a file
viewer to read the New File list. By default, it uses the LIST
program. If you would prefer to use another program, use the
SMREAD.CFG file to configure your program selection. SMREAD.CFG is
explained in the installation part of this manual.
F6 - Save BBS Conference Info
------------------------------
When downloading mail, you receive a mail packet that contains a
profile of the bbs as well as your mail. The profile also contains the
list of conferences available to you.
You may want to keep a copy of the profile, but NOT the entire message
packet. This way, if you want to post an announcement to that bbs, you
have a Mail packet to use with your reader to enter the new message.
Using this option, you can create a new mail packet that contains all
of the bbs profile information, but no messages are saved. This makes
the file rather small.
F7 - Reset Message Read Pointers
---------------------------------
When reading messages using SMREAD, each message is marked "read" as
you view them. Messages that you delete are marked "Marked for
Deletion". While viewing the messages, these flags are displayed.
If for some reason you would like to reset all of these flags, select
option 7.
F8 - Edit your replies
-----------------------
If you have any replies in your .REP file (or delete requests), they
will be listed when you press F8. You can press F8 while viewing
messages as well.
The list of replies, new messages and delete requests are presented.
You may re-edit any reply by pressing the letter E. You may delete or
cancel the reply by highlighting the reply and pressing the letter D
to delete.
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F9 - Shell to Dos
------------------
Pressing F9 will drop to Dos. The files are all open and you should
NEVER move or edit the reader files in any way. Otherwise, you will
corrupt the message and reply files.
Enter EXIT to return to the reader.
F10 - Sort Messages
-------------------
After pressing F10 you are asked if you want to sort the mail packet
into a different order (for reading). You can sort by THREAD, Message
Date or by Message Number (default). This feature only works with
registered readers.
If you press ESC when it asks for the sort order, you are returned to
the SFMail menu. If you press a letter the sort begins. As with all of
SFMail's features, we try not to LIMIT the reader in use... It will
sort up to 1024 messages in "each" conference in your packet. So if
you have 30 conferences extracted, and in total you have 5000
messages, but you do not exceed 1024 messages in any single
conference, this sort will work fine.
When sorting by subject (thread), any (R) or RE: in the first column
of a message topic is removed for purpose of the sort. Also, if the
last 8 characters of a subject line is >>###### (where ###### is your
Circuitnet Node ID), then the node id is also removed for the purpose
of the sort.
If you do exceed 1024 in a single confernece, only the first 1024
messages are sorted. The rest are left untouched.
ACTUALLY THE LIMIT IS HIGHER THEN 1024 (depending on your available
memory) but never below 1024. Usually it is around 1400.
The sort is a "fast sort" using Disk space to swap the messages
around. This could be faster if it was done totally in memory, but it
would limit us to about 300 messages maximum in the sort. Rather then
place this limit on us, I have used the disk swapping sort.
ONE IMPORTANT NOTE! Because we are using a disk based sort, you need
enough disk space for all message ptr (180 bytes each) for any
conference. So if one conference has 1024 messages, and you sort by
subject, you will need 180k free disk space on the current drive. Most
folks have this unless you are running the reader on a floppy or a RAM
disk.
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ESC - Quit to Dos
-----------------
Pressing ESC from the Main menu returns you to Dos. If you have loaded
a message packet, you are asked if it should be deleted. If you have
completed reading your mail, and you want to delete the mail packet,
reply Y to delete it.
If you reply NO, then the mail packet is updated with the "read"
statistics and you are returned to Dos.
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(12) Using the Editor to Create a Reply or Message
--------------------------------------------------
Overview
--------
When replying to a message (using option R), or when entering a new
message (or editing an existing message), you will be asked some basic
questions. For example, should the message be marked public or private
etc... This is similar to Spitfire.
After answering these messages, you are then placed into the built in
editor. This internal editor is designed specifically for use with
this offline reader and has many features built into it.
Pressing F1 while "viewing" messages brings up a help screen. Pressing
F1 while "editing" a message brings up the editor help screen which is
totally different and very helpful.
If you want to see all of the power of the editor, play with the help
screen and its' commands. The following is a sample reply being
edited:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Conference 1: General
2 <NON-Public>
3 [Read]
4 To: Mike Woltz
5 From: Sysop
6 Subject: Hello
-----------------------------------------------------------------
7 You have 100 lines of 72 columns Press F1 for Help
-----------------------------------------------------------------
8 MW> I have been using SMREAD for a year now and LOVE it :)
9
10 Well I am glad it is working for you. If you have any questions
11 please don't hesitate to ask!
12
-----------------------------------------------------------------
13 F1 for HELP | F10:Save | Esc: Cancel | 72,399 Line 1 INSERT
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The top 6 lines are the message heading. You may modify all of these
lines except the FROM field. Pressing Alt-C allows you to change what
conference the message is saved to.
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Pressing Alt-P toggles the public and private status of the current
message. If this is a netmail conference, pressing Alt-N will toggle
netmail status of the message.
Pressing Alt-S allows you to edit the subject.
Messages are limited to 100 lines of 72 columns of text. Word Wrap is
fully supported. As you enter a message, the message will
automatically word wrap and scroll as necessary.
Using the Editor
----------------
Using standard Wordstar commands, you can move through the
message you are editing. For example, Home and End takes you to
column 1 or the end of the current line. Page down and Page up
move you a page up and down. Ctrl-Page down and Ctrl-Page up
moves you to line 1 and the last line of the text.
Control right and left arrows move you word by word.
Control Y deletes the line. Control U restores the line.
The INSERT key toggles overtyping and inserting of text.
To save your reply, press F10 or F9. F9 saves with random tag
lines. See the section called TAGLINEs for a more complete
explanation.
F2 will copy a text file into your reply. F4 will save your reply
into a text file.
Remember to use the F1 key to remind you of all the features. The
following explains these features in more detail:
Copying Text Into Your Reply
----------------------------
There are many times, that you will want to copy a standard text
file into your reply. Possibly it contains a signature, a copy of
your autoexec or something similar.
Pressing F2 will allow you to do this. When editing a reply,
press F2 and a prompt asks you for what file to copy. If you
leave this blank, a directory window will help you find the file.
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Once you specify the file, it will read the first 512 lines of
the file and display them to you in a window. You should choose
what portion of the file should be copied!
If you want to copy the entire file, press F9 and the entire file
will be copied. If you only want to copy a single line, highlight
the line and press F10. Only that one line will be copied.
If you want to copy a portion of the file (say lines 3 through
10), you need to "tag" those lines. Using the highlight bar,
highlight the first line and press the SPACE bar. You will notice
the line has a check mark to it's left. This means it has been
tagged. Tag all lines that you want to copy and press F10.
If no lines are tagged, F10 copies only the highlighted line. If
any lines are tagged, then all tagged lines are copied.
No text beyond column 72 will be included in the copy. Also, if
you copy so many lines that you exceed the 99 line limit, then
all extra lines are ignored.
Saving A Copy Of Your Reply
---------------------------
When creating a reply, you may want to save a copy of it for your
future records. Pressing F4 will save the file. You will be asked
for a file name to save it to. If the file already exists, then
you are asked if you should overlay it or add to it.
Quoting A Message Into Your Reply
---------------------------------
When replying to someones message, it is very helpful to include
portions of the original message in yours... For example, if I
was replying to a customer asking about registering SMREAD, I may
"copy the 2 or 3 lines" of his original message into my reply, so
he can see "exactly" what I am replying to.
You can quote a message you are replying to by pressing Alt-Q or
Ctrl-Q in the editor. Alt-Q will highlight the quoted text by
placing the persons initials in it. For example, if I quote Mike
Woltz, his quote would appear as:
MW> his text here
Ctrl-Q actually places a BOX around the quote...Try it to get the
idea of Ctrl-Q!
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After pressing either Ctrl-Q or Alt-Q, the original message is
displayed to you. You are then asked what line(s) to quote into
your message.
Pressing F9 quotes the entire original message.
Pressing F10 quotes only the line you have highlighted.
If you tag line(s) by pressing the space bar, then the F10 key
will quote all tagged lines!
You will find the original message has been re-word wrapped so it
fits inside of the quote... if this is altering a formatted
message, you may un-word wrap it by pressing Alt-W. You can then
copy (quote) the message without it being re-word wrapped.
Routing Netmail Messages
------------------------
PC Relay and Circuitnet are software programs that allow Spitfire
BBS systems to network mail (netmail systems). Both of these
software products support routing a message to a single bbs, as
opposed to sending the message to all bbses on the network.
If you are replying to a message and want that reply to be
routed, simply press Alt-R. SMREAD will automatically find the
route code from the original message and will automatically route
the reply back to only the originating bbs!
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(13) TAG LINES
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Overview
--------
Tag lines are very popular on Netmail Systems and with offline
readers. They allow you to add a bit of your own personality to each
message you write. What is a tag line? Basically it is a "signature"
line added at the end of the message.
Each message you write with SMREAD has a "tag line" added to the end.
The tag line starts with the word SFMAIL followed by the SMREAD
version number.
Following the version number will be your serial number (you receive
this when you register the reader). If you are using the shareware
version and you have not registered it yet, then the serial number
will appear as #?.
Following the serial number you will find a little array and that is
where your tag line is added. The tag line can be funny or it may be
your bbs name and number.
Many folks use a small one line joke for their tag line. For example,
one of the tag lines I use is:
" The problem with Spitting Mail is Drooling Tags "
DEFAULT versus RANDOM Tag Lines
-------------------------------
SMREAD and SFMail supports 2 type of tag lines. Default or Standard
Tag lines are tag lines you would like added to every message. For
example, if I wanted the tag line: "Author of SFMail" added to
"every" message I write, that is the "default" or "standard" tag line.
The second type of tag line is called RANDOM. This means, that you
keep a list of tag lines (anywhere from 2 through 512) and each
message you write gets a different tag line added to it (the reader
grabs one from the list randomly). This makes each message you write
have a different unique tag line.
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Specifying The Default Tag Line
-------------------------------
You setup the default tag lines using a Dos Environment Variable. Set
the SMTAG variable to your default tag line. For example:
SET SMTAG=Greetings From Bonzo
sets your default tag line to Greetings From Bonzo. You would place
the above command (SET) in your Autoexec.bat. Every message or reply
you write will have this tag placed on it (regardless of whether you
press F9 or F10 to save the message).
If you want a second "default" tag line, you can use SM2TAG to save
the second tag. For example:
SET SMTAG=The problem with Spitting Mail ...
SET SM2TAG= ... drooling tags lines!
This will add both the above lines as your default tag lines. Tag
lines should never be longer then 52 characters.
Another feature unique to SFMail, is that you can customize tag lines
on a conference by conference basis. So you may want custom tag lines
for a specific conference, different then the tag line for the others.
For example, when I send mail in the SFMail conference, I use a tag
line noting that I am the author of SFMail. But only in the SFMail
conference. To do this you use the "variables" SMTAG## where ## is the
conference number. For example:
SET SMTAG=Normal tag line
SET SMTAG03=Tag line used in Conference 3 only!
Random Tag Lines
----------------
When entering a reply, you save the reply by pressing F10. If you have
a default tag line setup (as described in the previous section) it
will be used on the message.
You may want to use a random tag line from a list. When saving the
message using F9, SMREAD will find the file SMTAGS and reads that
file. It will present the list of tag lines found in that file in a
window.
You may then select an individual tag line by highlighting it and
pressing F10, or simply press F9 and SMREAD will grab a tag line
randomly!
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(14) Uploading Your .REP File
-----------------------------
When you have completed editing replies and you exit SMREAD, you will
find a file called xxx.REP (where xxx is the BBS ID). This file
contains all of your replies.
You need to logon to the bbs and upload this file to the SFMail door.
Choose the SFMAIL UPLOAD option and begin your transfer. After
successfully receiving this file, SFMail will post your replies and
messages to the board.
All of the standard Spitfire rules apply. If you are posting a private
message in a public conference, you will be notified that the message
is being forced public. If you send a message locally and the caller
doesn't exist, you are asked if you want to search for the correct
caller.
After posting your messages, you are returned to the SFMail main menu
and you may logoff.
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(15) History of Changes
-----------------------
Version 2.0
Version 2.0 has many internal changes. Only a few of these changes are
visible. Specifically,
* Readers now have a serial number printed on the tag line.
Unregistered readers have the serial number printed as #?.
Registered readers have the #0000 where 0000 is the serial
number.
The serial number is activated via a "KEY" file that is 32 bytes
long. You receive the key file from MetaSys and it will work with
all readers v2.0 and future. You don't have to download a
personal reader. Just keep your key file. The key file MUST never
be distributed or you will have violated your license agreement.
Sysops registering SFMail v2.x doors (or upgraded to them) are
entitled to a single key file for their use ONLY. Sysop serial
numbers all begin with the letter S or X.
Any key file that is corrupted or hacked prints a message on the
tag line as such!
The reader (v2.0 and on) are designed for use with SFMail door
version 2.x and on. All Sysops that have not upgraded their
SFMail door should not use the newer reader. It may or may not
work. They will automatically receive a key file when they
upgrade.
All currently registered SMREAD customers will have their key
file in the mail by October 15th. All Sysops that are entitled to
a key file will find their file available for download from the
Mainframe between now and October 15th. Keys not picked up by
October 30th are deleted to fee up our disk space.
* There is a new option on the Main Menu of SMREAD that allows you
to view the list of New Files available for download from the
bbs. This list is only generated in Version 2.x of the SFMail
door. SMREAD shells to the LIST command to view the file. You may
change what program it uses by using SMREAD.CFG (explained in
this doc).
* When quoting messages, SMREAD now word wraps the text you are
quoting so it fits in the new message correctly (unless you are
quoting a quoted message).
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* SMREAD now uses SMREAD.CFG to set colors and options. The
delivered SMREAD.CFG (that is in SFM.EXE) has a new default color
set that you can change to suit your needs).
* When using SFMail v2 (the door), you now receive a pointer file
that allows you to recover your place in the message base. See
the explanation in this doc for xxx.SFP for full info.
* The reader no longer automatically loads a mail file. Each bbs
(as of SFMail v2.1 (the door) will have uniquely named mail
packets.. You need to specify which mail packet you want to
process (either by specifying SMREAD xxx or by choosing option 1
of the Main Menu of SMREAD.
Sysops running locally that use the /nozip keyword MUST use the
bbsid as well.. e.g SMREAD MAIN /NOZiP (where Main is the /BBS=
of SFMail).
Version 2.1
* When word wrapping a paragraph that was indented (typical with
Megamail), the word wrap would insert the spaces into the
paragraph. I have attempted to correct this problem.
It is important to remember, that the word wrap built into SMREAD
is "intelligent", attempting to figure out when to word wrap and
when not to. To completely, not truncate quoting quotes, be sure
to use the NOTRUNC keyword (found in the SMREAD.CFG).
If the word-wrap when quoting does mis-align something, simply
press Alt-W and it will be just like previous v2 quoting.
I have also commented out the NOTRUNC keyword (it is currently
not support)... I had a problem with performance and it doesn't
look like it is necessary...
Version 2.2
* When listing messages using the F7 key or pressing I, it will
list all messages in the current conference up to the 1024th
messages in the current conference. Any more messages are NOT
listed (due to memory constraints).
The list now shows the message number of the message internally,
rather then the "position in the message packet".
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Any messages marked TO YOU are "flagged" in the left hand column
with a check mark!
* For registered readers (Sysops too), you can now SORT messages
into thread order. This can be done automatically every time the
messages are loaded using a command in the CFG file (see page 13)
or using a command line parameter (SMREAD /T - see command line
parameters for details)... OR using F10 from the Main Menu!
The previous update (re: I and F7) becomes more important if you
will be reading messages in thread order.
ONE IMPORTANT NOTE! Because we are using a disk based sort, you
need enough disk space for all message ptr (180 bytes each) for
any conference. So if one conference has 1024 messages, and you
sort by subject, you will need 180k free disk space on the
current drive. Most folks have this unless you are running the
reader on a floppy or a RAM disk.
Version 2.3
* With this version, I have changed the tag line to have the word
SMREAD on it instead of SFMail. This more correctly reflects the
reader and if we do go to QWK support in the reader, will make
alot more sense!
* Added the /NS command line option. If this option is specified,
then any "sort by thread" command in the .CFG file is ignored.
This is handy if you have already read the mail packet and it has
already been sorted into thread order, the next time you go into
the "same" mail packet, specify /ns to avoid a 2nd sort that is
not necessary.
Version 2.4
* The directory window (option 1 from the Main Menu) was using it's
own colors, ignoring the colors you set in the configuration
file. This has been corrected.
* Added some memory sort logic to the sorting in thread order. This
will make sorting of small amount of messages quicker... Larger
number of messages still require the disk sort.
* Improved the FIND command algorythm... In testing it is a bit
faster, although when you are waiting for a FIND on a large
packet of netmail, it sometimes seems slow (will see if I can
improve this).
* Have re-organized the editor code... I am trying to see if I can
include a crude but working spell checker <grin>...
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* Added a MONO.CFG file for monochrome users... You will have to
rename this file to SMREAD.CFG.
Version 2.5
* Someone suggested that the editor support "indented"
paragraphs... This means, that as you begin typing a paragraph,
if you begin in column 5, all lines should honor that indentation
and wrap to column 5. I have added this feature. All lines will
"follow" the indentation of the previous line
* Have added Alt-B to re-word wrap a paragraph. If you delete words
etc.... and your paragraph needs to be re-word wrapped, place
your cursor on the first line of the paragraph and press Alt-B.
What this command does exactly: Starting from the line the cursor
is on, it will word wrap all lines until it finds a BLANK line!
All lines will follow the indentation of the line the cursor was
on. If you have questions on this feature, please ask!
* Control-C (in the editor) now changes the case of the word to the
left of the cursor. It will toggle the word to upper, lower and
proper case.
Version 2.6
* When editing a reply file (.REP) that was created with "previous
versions of the reader", the reader would have an "Invalid
Pointer Error". I believe this problem will no longer occur. You
are now able to edit a reply file created with a different
version of the reader.
* You now have the ability to turn off the "tear" line that is
generated above the SFMail tag line. This is done with the
keyword NOTEARLINE in the SMREAD.CFG file.
* You now can have the reader "beep" when you get to a message
addressed to you. This is done with the keyword BEEPONMINE in the
SMREAD.CFG file.
* You can set the "tones" of the beep sounded by the BEEPONMINE
keyword by using the TONE and TONEDELAY keywords in SMREAD.CFG.
See page 15 for more information on these SMREAD.CFG parameters.
* /BEEP, /TONE=150, and /TONEDELAY=20 are all command line options
that you can use for these features as well.
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* I changed the default color for "reading" messages to lightgray
(from bright white). The default editor color remains bright
white.
Version 2.7
* I had a report that when editing replies, you could sometimes
lose a single line (the last line would disappear)... I couldn't
reproduce this problem, but did find some code that may have been
causing it... I have changed that code to correct the problem.
This problem would only occur if you had the NOTEARLINE keyword
on (according to reports) and removing this keyword would fix the
problem.
Version 2.8
* In preparation for version 3 of SMREAD, I am making some internal
changes to the reader. These changes CAN change the way the
reader works significantly behind the scenes... I have taken
every precaution to make sure that it works the same, but it is
possible you will find a problem. Please report the problem ASAP
if you find one and I will fix it immediately.
Specifically, when unzipping a mail packet, the reader will now
create a directory called SMREAD.WRK and will place the unzipped
files into this directory. This way, they won't modify in any way
the current directory.
The SFP (pointer files) is still placed in your "current DOS
directory"... When you save a message etc... it will also use the
"current DOS directory" rather then the "SMREAD.WRK" directory.
* Alt-S will save a copy of the current message without adding a
PAGE BREAK at the end of it.
* I have added memory swapping code and redesigned the reader
around it. This will allow you to run SMREAD in as little as 290k
free. If you are running a single node of Spitfire, you are once
again able to shell to dos and run SMREAD... You are no longer
required to "UNZIP the packet first"... SMREAD will swap itself
out if it needs to free up memory for this.
Swapping will swap SMREAD out to Expanded memory if you have it,
or it will swap itself out to disk. If you want to force the swap
file to go to a particular place, use the SET SWAP= to specify
the full directory name where to swap to.
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* Notes about swapping! SMREAD will "possibly" swap itself out of
memory, when it shells to an archive program (e.g. PKZIP, ARJ,
LHA) or when it shells to DOS.
When shelling to Dos or running a compression program, SMREAD
checks how much free memory exists and compares it against a
"memory needed" value. If you don't have enough memory, the
SMREAD will swap itself out (totally) freeing up 300k minimum!
The default "memory needed" values are, PKZIP=120k, ARJ=260k,
LHA=180k and Shelling to Dos=128k.
If you want to "change" the memory needed value, use the
configuration commands, ZIPMEM, ARJMEM, LHAMEM and DOSMEM. For
example, when I shell to DOS, I want ALL memory free so I can run
large programs and then return to the reader! I have my DOSMEM
set to 640. In the SMREAD.CFG file, I have placed:
DOSMEM 640
That is all that is needed. Now since 640k is "never" really
free, SMREAD will always swap itself out to give me a large Dos
Window!
If when PKZIP v2.0 comes out, we find it need 150k of free
memory, simply add
ZIPMEM 150
and SMREAD will compatabile with the new PKZIP!
IF THIS IS CONFUSING, SIMPLY ASK US ON THE MAINFRAME AND WE WILL
TRY TO ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AS BEST WE CAN!
* The configuration file has some changes... We were using CMPMOVE,
CMPRADD etc... Actually, I doubt anyone was using these commands
before... They have been renamed...
* The reader now has built in support for PKZIP, ARJ and LHA.
SFMail v3 (the door) also supports these archive formats!
* SFMail v3 (the door) will begin naming all SFMAIL format mail
with the "extension" of .SFM... So on the Mainframe bbs, your
packets will be called MAIN.SFM or MAIN.QWK (depending on whether
you are using SFMail format or QWK format)...
This version of the reader will now automatically detect if the
file was compressed with ARJ, LHA or ZIP. If it can't figure it
out, it will assume to use PKZIP.
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* The format command tells SMREAD what "extension to process". You
can place the format commad in your SMREAD.CFG file (FORMAT xxx -
where xxx is the file extension) or you can use the command line
SMREAD /FORMAT=xxx or SMREAD /F=xxx.
So if the file you downloaded ends in .ZIP (instead of the
default SFM) then start the reader with SMREAD /F=ZIP or place
the command FORMAT ZIP in your SMREAD.CFG.
IMPORTANT! If the file you download is called xxx.SFM and is a
"zip" file, DON'T use the format command. SMREAD will figure the
type of file out by itself!
* I have changed the default colors of the reader to match those
that I recommended in the old .CFG files. If you prefer the other
colors, simply uncomment the commented lines out in the sample
cfg file.
Version 2.9
* With the new memory management being used in version 2.8, there
was a report of a problem running the new reader under Windows
3.0. I was able to reproduce this problem on one of my machines
but it would never occur on another...
In testing, I have found the problem occured when SMRead would
swap memory to EMS (during PKZIP, Shell to Dos etc...)... I have
added a configuration switch (for SMREAD.CFG) called DISKSWAP. If
you specify DISKSWAP in SMREAD.CFG, it will force the swap of
memory to disk (rather then EMS)... You can further tell it where
to swap by placing SET SWAP=dir in your Autoexec.BAT.
This problem was spontaneous and according to some contacts, was
a problem with the way Windows 3.0 and QEMM work together with
expanded memory.
The other way to get around this problem is to FORCE Windows 3.0
to lock expanded memory for SMREAD. You do this with a PIF file.
You tell the PIF file to allocate a minimum of 500k expanded
memory (600 k min is prefered) and you tell the max to be the
same number. Also - check mark the LOCK box. That should also fix
the problem with out having to use the DISKSWAP command. You can
find the /DISKSWAP and DISKSWAP commands in the appropriate
chapters of this manual.
Version 2.95
This release of the door is the last I am planning to release at
this time. I believe I have incorporated all submitted
enhancments... I do want to see if I can get the read to support
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reading and processing QWK packets... That is going to be my
current project, however, it will take some time...
The significant enhancement is option 3 on the Main Menu now
reads ONLY messages addressed to you while option 4 is read all
messages...
Version 2.96
Some folks reported that Alt-B would "sometimes" lock up their
system. I did find a way where it may do this and I have cleaned
up this code. Since this was an intermittent problem, if you have
this happening, with this new version, please let me know asap.
Thanks.
Version 3.0
When reading messages, any messages that are "quoted" are now
displayed in another color. By default, this is "low-intensity"
of CYAN.
You can configure this color using the QFC and QBC commands in
SMREAD.CFG.
Quotes are determined by the first 4 characters of a line... if
they contain anything that resembles a quote, I assume that the
line is quoted...
CircuitNet v3.1 has changed their tag line format. This version
of the reader will correctly "route" messages when using Alt-R.
Added support for FireNet routing. Pressing Alt-R will auto-route
FireNet messages as well.
Version 3.02
Added keyword /NOHIGH or NOHIGH in SMREAD.CFG. This removes the
high ascii codes from the tag line. Specifically, the tag line of
■ SMREAD 3.0 #? »
is printed as
* SMREAD 3.0 #? >
This should eliminate the complaints of this reader being used
with Fido systems. I will also be adding (in the near future)
code that will BOX quotes using low ascii characters as well.
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Version 3.1
Added a keyword NETMAILDEFAULT to the .cfg file. Normally, when
replying to a message in a netmail conference, the reader will
ask if the message should be sent via NETMAIL? The default (if
you press ENTER) depends on the message you are replying to.
If the message you are replying to is local (non-netmail), then
the default is NO... Adding this keyword to the CFG file will
always set the default to YES (as long as the conference is a
netmail conference).
* POSTLINK Routing has been added to this version.
Version 3.11
Some POSTLINK tag lines included a leading space. This prevented
the routing (auto - routing - ALT-R) to fail. This has been
corrected.
Version 3.3
With Spitfire 3.3, messsages entered with the reader would have a
space in column one in all lines except the first. This has to do
with the way Spitfire was saving messages internally in its file.
Mike has changed this between the versions. This reader will now
work correctly with both pre and post Spitfire 3.3 ways.