Software Vault: The Gold Collection

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Software Vault: The Gold Collection / Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO / cdr35 / bgfaxb01.zip / BGFAX.TXT < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-06-19 | 32KB | 684 lines

BGFAX 1.0 BETA 01 SAT 19 JUN 93 -------------------------------- I have been getting reports from all over about ways people have been getting BGFAX to work with certain FidoNet front end mailers. See the included text file BGFAX.HLP to find setup hints for BGFAX and your mailer. Thanks to all the people that have included reports. BGFAX seems to be getting more stable as time moves on, so I have decided to move the test into the beta phase. Just like the alpha test, this is a public beta test, and all can run and test the software. Additions/Changes to BGFAX since the last Alpha version: 1. The previous alpha versions would sometimes hang requiring a user to press <Esc> to manaully exit BGFAX if something odd happened during a connection (or if your front end mailer or modem accidently passes control of a non-fax call to BGFAX). Now, BGFAX attempts to handle these events better. A timeout will occur if no data is received from the modem within 60 seconds. Also, if a "RING" or "NO CARRIER" happens before those 60 seconds, it will force an exit of BGFAX as well. 2. On errorlevel 4 exits previously, the fax file name was not being passed in any manner. Now, when a fax is received, the program will exit with an errorlevel of 4 (as before) but it will also construct a DOFAX.BAT file which calls EXEFAX.BAT file with a single parameter (the fax file name). Here is an example DOFAX.BAT file constructed by BGFAX: C:\BGFAX\EXEFAX FAX0007.QFX In your EXEFAX.BAT file, you can try something like @ECHO OFF PRINTFAX %BGFAX%\%1 9PIN.QLP 3. Some people wanted BGFAX (in front end mode) to create DOBBS.BAT files just like FD and other frontend programs. The EC = entry before held the "string" that was to be inserted as the 4th parameter on the DOBBS.BAT file if an error correcting session was established. The following is what happens if you get a CONNECT 14400/ARQ and EC=/RELIABLE C:\BGFAX\EXEBBS 14400 1 876 /RELIABLE However, now, if you set EC=<ECHO> the program will echo the exact rest of the connect string as the 4th parameter (like FD), like so: C:\BGFAX\EXEBBS 14440 1 876 /ARQ 4. Some people liked the old method of passing parameters to BGFAX in rear end mode, and some people don't like having to use the BGFAX environment variable for rear end mode, so I combinded this wishes into one: BGFAX rearend mode can be started in the usual way (ie., BGFAX /FAX or BGFAX /FCON) as long as the BGFAX= environment variable is set as the BGFAX.CNF file is still rear. If you do something like this though ... (OPTIONAL) BGFAX /FAX C:\BGFAX 1 Z BGFAX rear end mode will start WITHOUT USING THE BGFAX= ENVIRONMENT VARIBLE OR BGFAX.CNF CONFIGURATION FILE. First parameter is /FAX or /FCON Second parameter is the directory to store faxes in Third parameter is 1-4, the com port number, place a bang after the com port number if you use a ZyXEL (like so: 2!). Forth parameter is fax type, (Z or Q only) AN OPTIONAL FIFTH PARAMETER ALSO EXISTS ... you can specify a one to three digit node number if you want multiple nodes to receive faxes in the same directory. Example: BGFAX /FAX C:\BGFAX 1 Z 12 Would cause BGFAX to make a BGFAX12.LOG file rather than the normal BGFAX.LOG file, and will also allow incoming faxes at the same time from multiple nodes. (THIS IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN REAR END MODE). 5. Elapsed time was being garbled during parts of the day (as well as the midnight crossover). Fixed. 6. A slight cosmetic change has been made so that people with monochrome monitors can see what's happening in the state window. 7. After looking at the source code, it looks like Alpha 11 shouldn't have worked with ZyXEL modems as the "!" port modifer wasn't being treated successfully. I'll have to get my ZyXEL friend to test out this beta for me tomorrow. BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 11 THU 10 JUN 93 --------------------------------- Miscellaneous comments and news regarding BGFAX ... a. I've heard reports that Frontdoor 2.20 Beta works with BGFAX b. The latest beta of GT Power software works with BGFAX c. I've heard reports that Dutchie 3.0 works with BGFAX (I've never heard of this software before though). d. It seems that putting "+FCLASS=0" in an init string on a Supra causes it to reset to factory settings. +FCLASS=0 is always default anyway, so it really isn't necessary to have this on any init string. e. Some modes don't seem to like multiple fax commands stacked the way I listed commands in my sample config files before, the ";" semicolon can be used to seperate fax commands on modems such as the Practical (PPI). 1. Numerous people have reported problems regarding environment settings by BGFAX. Because of that, BGFAX now longer attempts to set any environment variables. Now, like FRONTDOOR, it will create a DOBBS.BAT file that is in the following format: C:\BGFAX\EXEBBS 9600 1 783 /RELIABLE You will need to make a batch file called EXEBBS.BAT (in the BGFAX directory) that loads your BBS software like so: @echo off gt1706 %key% /mn /f:%1:%2 bbs My BBS software (GT Power) requires it be passed the DCE speed and the COM port ... DCE speed is %1, COM port is %2, minutes until the next event is %3, and the error-free connection string is %4. 2. Since the BGFAX.LOG contains detailed and debug information that most sysops aren't really too interested in (except for curiosity), BGFAX now builds a second log file (FAXIN.LOG) in the BGFAX directory that contains a single, one-lined entry for every fax received. Here's a sample: Date Time ET Bytes Rate Filename Remote Fax ID Pgs Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 06-10 16:22 00:48 31629 9600 FAX0180.QFX BJ GUILLOT/HOUSTON1 1 Finished 06-10 16:29 00:55 26654 9600 FAX0181.QFX BJ GUILLOT/HOUSTON1 2 Finished 3. In frontend mode, added the following commands while waiting for calls Ctrl-A ... Force answer (send answer string to modem) Ctrl-R ... Reset counters 4. Fixed problem with elapsed time counter. BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 10 SUN 06 JUN 93 --------------------------------- 1. Found a major bug in REAR END mode. Alpha 9 apparently was hanging up whenever it loaded. No longer does this. 2. Many people were reporting they were getting "Unable to set xxxx environment variable" because they had too little environment space. Now, BGFAX will beep twice and delay for a second or so if the environment space is less than 100 bytes. This will probably change in the future. If you are getting this, you will need to increase your environment size. You do this in your CONFIG.SYS with the SHELL command, like so: SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:xxxx /P Where "xxxx" is the number of bytes in your environment (I suggest using something like 1024). The /P means that you want the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to execute. (If you don't put it on there, your system will just sit at the C:\> prompt after it reboots!) 3. It seems that there are many variations on the "EOL" symbol that marks the end of each "scan line" on a fax page. I have already identified at least three types of EOLs. Does anyone know why there are SO MANY??? I thought there was only supposed to be one, but that doesn't seem the case, unless I'm misunderstanding something (which is a good possibility). I still need to do a little work on this. 4. May have been a problem with COM4 addresses. Fixed. BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 09 THU 03 JUN 93 --------------------------------- THE FORMAT OF THE BGFAX.CNF CONFIG FILE HAS CHANGED, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE INCLUDED BGFAX.CNF FILE!!! Also, for people running in REAR END mode, only one command line parameter is now required (/FAX or /FCON, the port and fax type will be determined from the config file). (The new config file allows user selectable errorlevels for events now). Also, when working with BGFAX rear end mode, now only one parameter is needed (the /FAX or /FCON) the fax type and port are now taken out of the BGFAX.CNF file (you really only need the PO= and FT= entries though if you will be running in rear end mode.) The errorlevels have changed around, too ... if you had been running a previous version, you'll have to change your batch files around. 4 - fax was received 3 - local logon 2 - data call 1 - restart batch file 1. I found out BGFAX was not working with COM3 and COM4. Fixed now. 2. For people using BGFAX in frontend mode, the number of rings to answer on is now configurable. I'll probably stick to answering on one ring myself, but some people may want to use 2 rings (or more). It should be noted that some older fax cards (like "The Complete Fax" and its cousins, "The Complete Communicator", etc.) won't send out a fax CNG tone until after the second ring. Also, areas that have Caller ID, will have the caller ID information logged into the BGFAX.LOG if you specify to answer on the second ring if your modem allows this. (I belive some Rockwell based modems, such as the Supra, will use Caller ID when the command AT#CID=1 is used in one of the initialization strings.) 3. I finally figured out how to calculate the scan lines per page of a fax image. The numbers will be displayed on the screen when a fax is begin received, and the proper values will be placed the in QFX file header (if you choose to use the QFX format.) "lct" on the display will mean "scan line count." Different fax softwares seem to send the EOL in different ways, and I've tried to account for the two ways I've seen so far. 4. The calculation of the cps speed has changed somewhat. It will now calculate the average cps for the current page rather than the instatanteous cps for the current block of data being written to disk. BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 08 SUN 30 MAY 93 --------------------------------- BGFAX alpha 7 was compressed with the EXE compressor DIET 1.44, and it seemed that 486 systems didn't like my compressed EXE that much, so all future versions will remain uncompressed. 1. Fixed a bug that caused system to hang when null remote fax ID string received. (Alpha 7 would get stuck in an infinite loop trying to delete spaces from a non-existant string.) 2. The log will now indicate whether the fax document was incomplete. Sometimes a +FHNG:102 occurs (which indicates an error), but the fax document still goes through. However, using another method, it is possible to determine if all pages were in fact received. 3. Added "cps" to display screen while receiving a fax. The "cps" reading measures only the actual data transmitted during a fax page stream, not the actually handshaking, etc. On a 9600 bps fax receiption, my Supra was registering a cps rate of 1240+, which seems a little higher than I thought it should be getting, so my routines might not calculate it right. BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 07 FRI 28 MAY 93 --------------------------------- A few people have had trouble getting BGFAX to work with PC Board 15 Beta and Intermail in "rear end" mode. I've had reports that confirm that BGFAX works with these two products, but sometimes people have trouble because they forget to put the important "+FCR=1" string somewhere in the PC Board or Intermail initialization strings. +FCR=1 enables fax receiption, and even if you put the +FAA=1 (which enables adaptive answering), some fax modems (like the Supra) will not take a fax without +FCR=1. 1. I wasn't correcting identifying all types of ARQ strings during Frontend mode. Now, any CONNECT string with the following strings will be treated as ARQ (this is after 'CONNECT' is stripped): ARQ REL 42 EC M 2. I have made the program look more professional. (Many cosmetic changes during the actual BBS call/Fax call process.) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ For those of you not on my Internet mailing list, here is a copy of a progress report sent to all of them regarding BGFAX Alpha 6. BGFAX ALPHA 6 ... PROGRESS REPORT ... GOOD NEWS AFTER THIS 1st PARAGRAPH Well, I spent all day today trying to test BGFAX rear end mode in a real operation environment. I tried messing with Binkley, but couldn't even get the thing to recognize a RING. (Remember I have no experience with FidoNet what-so-ever, so I know nothing about this mailers.) I tried my hand at Frontdoor again, and was finally successful at getting it to exit with an errorlevel on FAX calls, BUT ... Frontdoor takes its sweet time just sitting there twiddling its thumbs, and before it even exits to BGFAX, the remote fax modem will already give up because its too long a wait! I know someone who is a Frontdoor beta tester and will try to see if he can get a message to the author so that we can fix this. (This is the non- commerical version of Frontdoor, by the way.) Anyway, I got a lead from something about a trial version of the commerical Intermail. I found a copy of IM221APR.ZIP on a local BBS in Houston. It's a trial version that expires 4/30/93, so I had to set my clock back to use it, BUT ... I got it to work with BGFAX successfully!!! (The fellow that told me about Intermail says the version he had was IM221JUN.ZIP that doesn't expire until the end of June, so maybe we can find that one.) Intermail looks VERY similar to Frontdoor. Can someone tell me if these programs are related in any way? Anyway, here is the relevent info for setting up BGFAX in rear end mode with the trial version of Intermail that expires 4/30/93. I configured it to work with my SupraFax Modem. (It's the v.32bis external, 1.7B4 ROMs). IMSETUP.EXE ... Modem -> Advanced setup -> Command strings Init-1 ATZ| Init-2 AT&K3+FCLASS=0+FCR=1| (+FCR=1 is VERY important) Init-3 AT+FLID="TRANQUILITY BASE"| IMSETUP.EXE ... Modem -> Advanced setup -> Answer control Manual answer Yes Force answer AT+FAA=1A| (that's all that will fit, I know the ZyXEL modem likes AT+FAA=1 A| with a space, so ZyXEL owners may want to add +FAA=1 to one of the init strings and just use ATA|) IMSETUP.EXE ... Modem -> Advanced setup -> Connect strings You will see a list of 14 or so preconfigured connect strings, press <INSERT> to add one, and set it up like so: Connect Message Speed EC BBSexit Terminate FAX 19200 N 0 123 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "FAX" is the string my SupraFax Modem returns when it hears the Fax CNG tone from the remote modem/machine. I belive the ZyXEL returns "CONNECT FAX", and some modems return "CONNECT 9600/FAX", etc. You will have to find out which your modem uses. Notice that "BBSexit" is equal to ZERO. It should stay like that! Notice that "Terminate" is equal to "123". This number can be set to whatever you want as long as its NOT ZERO (and any other value Intermail is picky about). I set it so that when Intermail receives the string "FAX" it will IMMEDIATELY exit with an errorlevel of 123. (Notice IMMEDIATELY, it doesn't twiddle around like Frontdoor). Here's the sample testing batch file I used for BGFAX, IMBATCH.BAT: @echo off im if errorlevel 123 goto fax goto end :fax bgfax 1 z /fax :end imbatch Notice I don't include any BBS handling errorlevel instructions. You'll have to do that yourself (it's all configured in "Connect strings"). By the way, I tested this both with and without the BNU fossil driver loaded. (Note that BGFAX does not use a fossil driver. Also note that Intermail can use one, but doesn't have to as it has its own SIO communications routines built-in as well.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just for kicks, I decided to test Intermail and BGFAX rear end mode with the /FCON parameter. Some fax modems do not transmit any kind of "FAX" or "CONNECT FAX" warning messages, only the "+FCON" (which means the faxes have passed first base in their mating game.) I changed my Intermail setup string from "FAX" to "+FCON" to do this test. I also changed my IMBATCH.BAT file line that read "bgfax 1 z /fax" to "bgfax 1 z /fcon". The first fax call attempt I made JUST BARELY made it. In fact, the fax DCE downshifted from 9600 to 7200 because my computer (286/8 mhz) was too slow. I thought that was a miracle. It should have hung up! Anyway, I tried again, and it seemed the disk cache had kicked in, and the transfer went through. (Note that I still received the "Computer too slow" message from BGFAX). So, you still may want to play around with the trial version of Intermail. End of Progress Report for 5/26/93. BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 06 WED 26 MAY 93 --------------------------------- POSSIBLE VERY GOOD NEWS --- THIS RELEASE SUPPORTS "REAR END" OPERATION. I'll list the minor changes first, then discuss "rear end" mode after. 1. A user requested I check for an actual "RING" response from the modem because some users don't have the RI (ring indicator) capability that most users do that BGFAX uses to determine when to send the answer string to the modem. Anyway, I hope this helps those few that don't have RI. 2. Since Fido mailers can't be rear ended into, I took the "q.,FidoNet" line out of the BGFAX.CNF file. Only one "crash" entry is now available, and that is for GT Power sysops, the "CQ,GT Crash call line". If you were running BGFAX alpha 5, just delete the "Q.,FidoNet" line. Now, here come the major changes. If you want to run BGFAX in frontend mode, you don't even have to read the following. However, if you want to run it in rear end mode, you gotta read through my pitiful docs some more. I'm typing this at near-midnight hours, so I'm probably going to type incoherently after a few minutes. First the bad news. I couldn't get Frontdoor to work on my system so that it would exit out with an errorlevel if it determined the incoming fax was a fax call. However, I hope you will be able to get Frontdoor, or Binkley, or whatever frontend system you use to do this. (If you can, drop me a note so I can try to duplicate it). So, in order to test the BGFAX "rear end", I had to write my own psuedo-front end. This psuedo-front end, BGFFF can be configured to exit with an errorlevel of 80 when it detects a string with "FAX" in it (such as "FAX", "CONNECT FAX", "CONNECT 9600/FAX", etc.) or when it encounters a "+FCON" string. You specify the choice. Why am I telling you this? Because, before you go start to play with Frontdoor, you might want to try to get the BGFAX rear end working with BGFFF first. If it works, then try playing with Frontdoor. BGFFF is very simple to use. It has three command line parameters. BGFFF 1 38400 /FAX or BGFFF 1 38400 /FCON The first parameter is the com port, the second is the DTE rate you want to lock it at. The third can be either "/FAX" or "/FCON". If you specify /FAX, BGFFF will exit with an errorlevel of 80 when it encounters the "FAX" string. Try this one first. (See the included FFF.BAT file). After that, change the FFF.BAT file so that you use /FCON in the two places where /FAX is specified. In /FCON mode, BGFFF will wait until it receives a +FCON from the port. Make a note of which methods work and don't work. If you're lucky, both methods will. You can get read of the FFF.BAT and BGFFF.EXE after these tests. If both pass, you have a pretty good chance of being able to use rear end mode of BGFAX in a Fido mailer. To run BGFAX is rear end mode, it requires three parameters as well. A BGFAX.CNF FILE IS NOT REQUIRED FOR REAR END OPERATION. Recall that no command line parameters are required to run BGFAX in front end mode. BGFAX 1 Z /FAX That means use COM1, ZyXEL Z-FAX format fax files, and the /FAX means that Frontdoor/Binkley/etc. was able to detect the "FAX" string from your modem properly. If you are using a ZyXEL modem, you will have to put an e-point after the COM port, like so: BGFAX 1! Z /FAX this would tell BGFAX *not* to shift DTE to 19200 after the +FCON message is received. (However, ZyXEL users can already use ZyXEL's RCVFAX program to do this, so it's not really necessary to use BGFAX unless you just want something to do for fun.) If your Fido frontend is unable to detect the "FAX"-like string, but will detect the +FCON message (by the way, some FaxModems do not even return a "FAX"-like string, only the "+FCON"), you will have to use the /FCON paramateer on BGFAX like so: BGFAX 1 Z /FCON If your Frontend and modem will allow you to use /FAX parameter on BGFAX, USE IT. AVOID HAVING TO USE THE /FCON PARAMETER. However, some people will have to use it. Remember, BGFFF is only for testing BGFAX's rear end capability on your modem. It is not needed after you use it for the initial testing. Again, if you actually get BGFAX working in rear end mode with something besides BGFFF, *please* let me know. Send me your batch files, config files from Frontdoor, etc., and let me know what kind of modem you use. Special note. I had this file ARJed up and all ready to go on the FTP when I tried a few last minute tests. Turned out, the rear end mode wasn't working too hot on my 2400 S/R faxmodem, so I changed a few routines around. What's quite interesting though is that my 2400 modem doesn't issue a "FAX" command, so it would be logical to think you would have to use the /FCON switch. Well, turns out that BGFAX works best with my 2400 S/R fax modem when used with the /FAX switch. WEIRD, HUH? Oh well, this might just be something you have to try, too. By the way, these BBS systems on the other continent should also carry BGFAX in the future as a downloadable file. The Owl's Nest (Dutch Supra Distr) Support BBS has 3 numbers; (31)-(0)2155-10921 (Also fidonet node 2:512/39) (31)-(0)2155-12571 Node 2 (31)-(0)2155-28096 Node 3 All three with Supra V.32bis BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 05 SAT 22 MAY 93 --------------------------------- 1. Fixed some problems with faxes having single trashed lines. Seems I was writing 2049 bytes to the file when I only had 2048 bytes in my disk write buffer. Oops. 2. NOTE FOR ZYXEL USERS: You must change the DTE rate in the BGFAX.CNF file so that you have a e-point (bang, "!") after it. 1 38400! ATZ The e-point will make BGFAX *not* shift the DTE to 19200 when fax receiption begins. Seems ZyXEL conveniently forgot to do this. This is actually a better idea than what CCITT recommends doing (why, oh why did they want the DTE to be shifted to 19200) and that's why ZyXEL users have such an easy time with fax receiption. The other guys, like me, don't have ZyXEL's though, so don't add the "!" if you don't. 3. If one of the three modem initialization strings are less than two characters, the string will not be sent to the modem. (If the line just read "AT", it would not get sent). 4. If you don't want your users to have to hit <Esc> to enter the BBS, ie., you want to it load automatically, change the line in the BGFAX.CNF file that says "Press <esc> to blah blah blah", so that it says "<load>" as the first thing on the line. 5. Look at the included BGFAX.CNF file. A line has been added ... see: Please wait loading the bulletin board. /RELIABLE <-- new line 2400 We're sorry, but we do not accept calls below 2400. The new line can contain anything you want. What happens is when a data call is detected, if it is an error correcting modem (ie., it is something like CONNECT 2400/ARQ, /REL, or 2400/EC), it will set the environment variable called ARQ to whatever is on the line. So, in the case of "CONNECT 14400/ARQ", the following environment gets set: DCE=14400 ARQ=/RELIABLE 6. Another new environment variable is now set. The "EVT" variable will be set to the number of minutes (minus three) until the next event. This is set on both local logins and data calls. BGFAX 1.0 ALPHA 04 FRI 21 MAY 93 --------------------------------- BGFAX alpha 1 through 3 were non-public releases. This is a public release. Send all bug reports to ... (my name is B.J. Guillot) ... Internet: st1r8@jetson.uh.edu GT/Power: Net/Node 001/040 Voice: 713-893-9320 Data/Fax: 713-893-9124 I am a terrible doc writer. You'll believe me by the time you finish reading this, if you can make it that far. :) BGFAX is a program designed for BBS operators that have Class 2 compliant fax modems that support adaptive answering. The only modems that I've been able to test it on so far include the SupraFax 14.4, Practical Periperhals, and an el-cheapo Computer City generic 2400 data, 9600 S/R fax modem. It seems to work on all of these. DISCLAIMER: I'm not responsible for ANYTHING negative that happens to you or your computer system or your business, etc., etc., etc. The program does not require a FOSSIL driver as it has communications routines built into it. Yes, it supports the FIFO buffer of the 16550 UART chip. Here is how the program works: It is to be ran as a "frontend" system to your BBS. When it starts, it will initialize the modem and wait for the modem to ring. When it does ring, it will send the modem answer string to the modem. It the modem determines it is a data call, it will ask the user to press <ESC> to log onto the system. It will also look for "CQ" or "q." and exit with a specific errorlevel if one of those strings is encountered. I am not sure as it the "q." determination is really meaningful, though. If your modem detects a fax call, BGFAX will attempt to take the fax. Please note that depending on the type of modem you have and the way it determines adaptive answering, human faxes (ie., non fax-modems) may not understand how to send a fax to you. This seems to be the case with my Uncle. He tried to send me a fax the other day on his fax machine, but he waits until he hears a fax tone on the other end before pressing his "START" button. So, my Supra never heard the CNG tones from his machine until after the Supra modem decided it was already a data call. I've heard that some modems will shift into FAX mode anytime a CNG tone is heard, but I just wanted to tell you this in case you had problems. (To solve the problem, I told my Uncle to hit the "START" key as soon as he heard the line start ringing instead of waiting for my modem to start sending tones). YOU NEED TO SET THE BGFAX ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE. It's easy, just say SET BGFAX=C:\BGFAX or some other directory in a batch file that runs before you run the batch file that runs BGFAX (ie., in your AUTOEXEC.BAT). All incoming faxes will be received in that directory. BGFAX.LOG will reside in that directory, and BGFAX.CNF must exist in that directory. BGFAX.CNF is the configuration file for BGFAX. Here is the file I use with my Supra FaxModem: -----<cut>----- 1 38400 ATZ ATH0M1%G1%E0N1\N3&K3+FCLASS=0+FCR=1 AT+FLID="TRANQUILITY_BASE" AT+FAA=1 A Please press the [Esc] key to load Tranquility Base. Loading the bulletin board. Please wait. 2400 Calls are not accepted below 2400 bps. Sorry. Z q.,FidoNet crash calls CQ,GT crash calls event=07:00 event=00:15 -----<cut>----- Line 1 is the com port number. Line 2 is the DTE rate you use for your BBS software. The next three lines are initialization string lines. My Supra seemed to like it with all commands compressed on one line, but I noticed the Practicial Peripherals was peculiarly picky about packed strings, so one fax command had to be one a seperate line. Anyway, if you don't need three lines for initialization, just put an "AT" on the line. You'll notice my second initialization string has a bunch of garbage in it, "H0M1%G1%E0N1\N3&K3". These are just commands I use when I want the modem to be able to answer calls. You can probably take all that out. The +F things are fax commands and should be left alone, except for the +FLID= command which sets your FAX ID. The line with "2400" by itself lets BGFAX know what the lowest DCE speed you allow on your BBS. Set it to "300" if you want all calls. The line with "Z" by itself means you want BGFAX to store fax files with the ZyXEL ZFAX header record. (So you can use the public domain ZFAX program, available by anonymous FTP to view incoming faxes). The only other valid entry for this line is a single "Q" which means you want BGFAX to store the incoming faxes with the Smith Micro Software's QuickLink II Fax format header, so you view faxes with QL II's "VIEWFAX.EXE" file which comes with quite a few fax modems (but not all). Please note that the QL II header record has a field for "scan lines" and I don't know what to put in it, so it's being fudged and this may create some side effects, but it seems that viewing the fax still works fine. Notice there are two "event" lines. You can have up to 20 of them. The first event is Event #0 and will cause BGFAX to exit with an errorlevel of 50 when the time is encounted for it. The second event is Event #1 and will exit with errorlevel 51, etc. You can have no events by taking out the event lines. So far, these "event=" lines are the only flexible lines in the config file that can be removed without causing BGFAX problems. Here's the batch file I use to run BGFAX: -----<cut>----- @echo off bgfax if errorlevel 255 bbs if errorlevel 101 gtmail if errorlevel 100 fidomail if errorlevel 90 goto faxrcvd if errorlevel 51 midmaint if errorlevel 50 maint if errorlevel 20 goto datacall if errorlevel 10 goto datacall goto end :faxrcvd echo fax received as [%fax%] echo you can put a printing batch here if you want bbs :datacall echo data call received dce=[%dce%] %gt% %key% /mn /f:%dce%:1 bbs :end -----<cut>----- Here's a rundown of the errorlevels: 255 ... bad connect, no carrier, bad fax, etc., rerun BBS.BAT 101 ... mailer software signature #2 100 ... mailer software signature #1 90 ... at least a one page fax received, option of going and doing something with the fax, filename stored in FAX environment varible maintained by BGFAX 69-50 ... Events #19 through Events #0 20 ... data call, actual DCE carrier rate set by DCE environment varible maintained by BGFAX 10 ... local logon, handle however your software requires <no errorlevel> ... terminated by user or something terrible happens :) If sometimes it appears BGFAX gets locked up during a fax receiption, pressing the <ESC> key should quit BGFAX and leave a DEBUG line that has whatever was in the modem receive buffer at the time. ------- In the future, I hope to have an alpha out that will allow the use of another frontend that runs BGFAX when a fax is already ready to come in on the line. This version must be run as a frontend, though!