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Text File | 1993-06-29 | 36KB | 771 lines

TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 1 T X T 2 M S G Textfile to PCBoard 14.x / 15.x Messagebase Utility (fondly referred to as "Tex" by the FTL users) Copyright 1989-93 Robert Vostreys All Rights Reserved Version 2.42 (revised: June 29, 1993) Table of Contents What is TXT2MSG? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ZipFile Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Distribution Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 TXT2MSG Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Commandline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Commandline Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Commandline Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Header Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Message Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Screen/Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Textfile Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Script Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 SQ2MSG Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Notes and Limits of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Contacting the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 2 What is TXT2MSG? TXT2MSG is a BBS Sysop utility for inserting ASCII text files into PCBoard 14.x, 15.x, and ProDoor 3.x messagebases. It is widely used to import new user welcome messages, event logs, FAX notices, questionnaire answer logs, and similar text files. It can take Script Questionnaire ANSWERx files and import them into a messagebase as if each user had entered them. This allows the Sysop to use the (F)rom command when reading the script answers to adjust that user's access. Specified callers logs can be scanned by TXT2MSG searching for entries by users answering script questionnaires. TXT2MSG can then add the information from the questionnaire and the callers log to a message. This allows the Sysop to easily determine what actions their users have (or haven't) taken -- like reading required bulletins. TXT2MSG becomes very useful when used with your event processing. It can give you the ability to send reports of operations, netmail traffic, abnormal user logoffs, etc. to your messagebase as public or private messages. If used with PCBoard 15+, TXT2MSG supports File Attachments. You could have TXT2MSG write a message notifying you of an incoming FAX and actually "attach" the fax to that message. Then, with some careful batch writing to adjust PCBVIEW.BAT, you could even (V)iew the FAX from within PCBoard. For folks who are playing with RIPscrip, you could use TXT2MSG to insert a RIP message to each new user with a button to download an attached ICON file. Users would simply need to read the message, push the button, and they would then be downloading the needed ICON's! The uses for TXT2MSG are unlimited! TXT2MSG has been written for speed and functionality in Borland TurboC++ with about 30% of it using TASM assembly subroutines. Full DOS3 network support is implemented, and TXT2MSG will correctly recover when in conflict with another process. TXT2MSG operates in multi-tasking and LAN/network environments, and will automatically detect TaskView, OmniView, DesqView, DV-X, Windows, NetBios, and a number of other OS related tasks, using the correct video addresses. If a critical error occurs, TXT2MSG will do everything it can to correct the error and then continue processing. When run in a shell of a shell, it will use an internal fatal error handler since Sam Smith's FATAL will have been disabled (if using DOS5 or later). Notice, Warning, and Error logs are created if something is detected which may need the Sysop's attention. Since first being written for PCBoard 12.0, SQ2MSG, and TXT2MSG have been in wide use on a large number of systems around the world. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 3 Acknowledgments Special thanks to these folks for their initial support of TXT2MSG: David Hellwege (Access In Melbourne BBS) Ed Hopper (Ed Hopper's BBS) NASA Huntsville (SpaceLink Educational) Tim Farley (Magee Enterprises) Dave Shubert (Casino BSS) Robert White (Cobb County Government) And, of course, the FTL users for putting up with "Tex" when he gets mad. Copyright, Trademark, and Servicemark notices Various products and names mentioned herein may refer to copyrighted, trademarked, or servicemarked products or services. If any are missing from this listing, it is simply an oversight. PCBoard Copyright 1985-93 Clarke Development (CDC) TurboC Copyright 1987,1989-91 Borland International PKZIP Copyright 1989-93 Phil Katz TXT2MSG Copyright 1988,1990-93 Robert Vostreys SQ2MSG Copyright 1987-88 Robert Vostreys RNET Copyright 1989-93 Robert Vostreys MS-Windows Trademark of MicroSoft Corporation MS-DOS Trademark of MicroSoft Corporation References otherwise not documented: FTL FTL BBS, home of TXT2MSG, +1 404-292-8761 / 296-3120 / 299-3930 RNET Reliable Network Echomail Tosser (Robert Vostreys) ILink ILink International Echo Network RIME RelayNet International Message Exchange DOS Microsoft's MS-DOS TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 4 Distribution ZipFile Contents TXT2MSG is usually distributed using the Phil Katz PKZIP packing utility but also may appear in an ARJ, PAK, or LHZ format. All references to the distribution file will be termed 'Zipfile'. The Zipfile used to distribute TXT2MSG is named using the following naming convention: TX2Mvvvx.zzz vvv = version release number (ie '200') x = alpha/beta version code ('a'-'n') registered version code ('r') unregistered version ('u') zzz = packing method extension ('ZIP') Please take the time to examine the contents of the TXT2MSG Zipfile. You should find the files listed below and perhaps a couple of additional example batch files: TXT2MSG.EXE - The actual TXT2MSG program TXT2MSG.DOC - The documentation you are now reading QUICKREF.DOC - Quick reference information/listings REGISTER.FRM - Registration form and information CHANGES.vvv - List of recent changes (history files) ABNORMAL.BAT - Example batchfile (abnormal logoff rpt) LOGMAIL.BAT - Example batchfile (mailrun process rpt) NASAMAIL.BAT - Example batchfile (multi-file example) SCRIPTS.BAT - Example batchfile (SQ2MSG processing) FILE_ID.DIZ - Description In Zip The only file actually needed for TXT2MSG to operate is the program itself (TXT2MSG.EXE). All of the other files are provided for information and understanding of how TXT2MSG works. If you find a 'bbs ad' within the ZipFile, please let me know. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 5 Distribution Rules TXT2MSG may be distributed freely and posted on BBS's so long as the following rules are taken into account: * Sysops MAY place 'ZIP Comments' or similar external ads to the ZipFile. * Sysops MAY NOT add additional files to the ZipFile (such as BBS ads). * TXT2MSG is NOT to be included in 'rack software' or vendor programs. * User groups and non-profit organizations may charge no more than $3. Shareware Since this product is only useful to BBS Sysops, and BBS Sysops should be very aware of what Shareware is, there is no need to waste your time describing shareware. The important facts about TXT2MSG: * it is Shareware (US $15 suggested) * it is not crippled (but the tagline is forced on) * it does not 'expire' nor does it have any delays * there is a registered version available (which turns off the tagline) * lifetime registration - no upgrade fee ever! * support is available to everyone (registered or not) * support is available via ILink, RIME, SmartNet, and the Internet * it will continue to be supported, upgraded, and enhanced * to get the registered version, you will need to call and download it * if you need a feature or function, simply ask That is everything out front - the way it should be! TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 6 TXT2MSG Operation Defaults TXT2MSG defaults to inserting a public message. TO and FROM field defaults depend on the public/private status of the message: Public message (-p) defaults: TO : ALL FROM : SYSOP SUBJECT : TXT: <basefile.ext> ECHO : non-echo (unless force echo flag is enabled by PCB15) Receiver/Only message (-r) defaults: TO : SYSOP FROM : SYSOP SUBJECT : TXT: <basefile.ext> ECHO : non-echo (unless force echo flag is enabled by PCB15) Script Questionnaire (-q<file>) defaults: TO : ALL or SYSOP (based on public/private status) FROM : <user answering questionnaire> SUBJECT : SQ: <basefile.ext> ECHO : non-echo (unless force echo flag is enabled by PCB15) [files] : all files listed are considered "callerlog" files Other defaults: Number of lines per message: 390 (may override for 10 to 9999) Number of messages per file: 10 (may override for 1 to 9999) Thus, the default is a maximum of 10 messages of 390 lines (3900 lines) for each source file specified. There is no limit to the number of messages which may be generated by Script answer files (one per person in the file). TXT2MSG, by default, accepts "header control" from within the message body. This may be a security problem or if you don't "know" what the body might contain, use the -n switch to turn this feature off. (see below) If the "force all messages private" is enabled, the inserted messages will be made private regardless of any commandline switches. Note that the defaults above do not know if the message will be forced private or not, so take that into consideration. TXT2MSG will insert messages into PCB15 "read only" conferences. Useful for moderators or Sysops to put messages in those types of conferences. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 7 Environment Variables TXT2MSG will search for the environment TXT2MSG= before it checks the commandline. You may specify any options you wish TXT2MSG to use in the environment as you would via the commandline. If any switches are found on the commandline which conflict with the environment, the commandline takes precedence. For example, your AUTOEXEC.BAT might have: SET TXT2MSG=-ibml -fSYSOP This would set the default operation to: include tagline (-i), use BIOS (-b), use mono color (-m), local (non-echo) (-l), and messages will be addressed from SYSOP (-fSYSOP). If another -f was found on the commandline, it would override the -fSYSOP set in the environment. As well, if a -e was found on the commandline it would override the -l. If you have a batch file with several calls to TXT2MSG, you might want to include a SET TXT2MSG= statement to avoid having to repeat yourself on each invocation. If you find that the commandline for TXT2MSG is too long (either by the DOS limitation of 127 bytes or for aesthetic reasons) simply move some of it to the TXT2MSG environment. The TXT2MSG environment is NOT required for TXT2MSG to operate. TXT2MSG needs to know the location and name of your PCBOARD.DAT file. In trying to find it, TXT2MSG will first use the PCBoard standard PCBDAT= environment. If PCBDAT= does not point to a specific file, TXT2MSG will add PCBOARD.DAT and try again. Should that fail, it will try using the PCBDRIVE= and PCBDIR= environment variables. If that also fails, it will look in the current directory. Should even that fail, it will look along all directories on the DOS PATH= environment. If you are still using Sam Smith's ProDoor and have an old version of PCBoard, TXT2MSG will search for, and use, the CONFINFO= environment in order to find the ProDoor CONFINFO file. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 8 Commandline Syntax: TXT2MSG [options] conf# [@listfile] [files...] TXT2MSG accepts option switches using both "-" or "/". Use whichever switch character you like (or both). TXT2MSG will accept options and file specifications in any order EXCEPT that the first "non-switch" item it finds (ie, the first thing without a "-" or "/" in front) is expected to be the conference number. Anything else on the commandline that does not start with a switch character is considered a file to be processed. Single-letter switches may be combined with a single switch character. In other words, if you want to use the switches -i, -b, and -m, you may combine them as -ibm (or /ibm, or -bim, or /mbi, etc). Filenames specified on the commandline may be any valid DOS filenames (including network server specifications and wildcards). You may also use an "@" followed by a filename to indicate that TXT2MSG should read the contents of the specified file to get a list of files which should be processed. The listing in the specified @list file may also be any valid DOS filenames, including wildcards. You may specify any number of @list files. Note that the @list specification itself may not contain wildcards. The three switches that accept multiple words (-t for TO, -f for FROM, and -s for SUBJECT) may be specified in two ways: Either place an underscore where a space would be or place the entire switch within quotes. I.e. use "-tTO THIS NAME" or -tTO_THIS_NAME. If only specifying a single word (like SYSOP), no quotes or underscores are needed (-tSYSOP works fine). Two switches accept numbers (-k# for maximum lines and -x# for maximum messages per sourcefile). Simply specify the desired number (no spaces allowed) such as -k400 (400 lines max per message) or -x5 (5 messages max per source file). Finally, three switches require an accompanying filename (-u, -v, and -q). Simply append the filename on the end. Examples: -uC:\PCB\PCBOARD.SYS and -qK:\LOGS\NEWUSER. Switches, while always shown in lowercase, are NOT case sensitive. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 9 Commandline Examples TXT2MSG 1 textfile.doc TXT2MSG 102 -p -i /l /n -tALL "-fNASA Select" k:\nasacomm\*.SKD TXT2MSG 102 k:\nasacomm\*.SKD -piln -fNASA_Select TXT2MSG 49 -r k:\rnet\report.log ..\confs.log q:uupcb\post.log -fEVENT -n for %%a in (500 501 502 503) do TXT2MSG %%a -peh INIT.TXT -sFTL_is_here! TXT2MSG 21 @c:\pcb\listfile e:\text.* -bimp "-tALL_USERS" -fSYSOP TXT2MSG 0 -rny c:\pcb\welcome.txt -uPCBOARD.SYS -fSYSOP -sWelcome_Aboard! Additional examples are shown under the heading "Script Processing". If you invoke TXT2MSG without any parameters, the version, compilation date, copyright, commandline syntax, and valid commandline switches are displayed. Likely, TXT2MSG will be able to parse most any commandline sequence you care to give it. If it gets confused or lost, you will be shown the offending switch(s) as it aborts operation with a non-zero DOS errorlevel. Commandline Switches Header Control Control of the message 'header' (to, from, subject, echo, security, etc) is usually handled on the commandline. See "Textfile Control" below for information on using the message text itself to control the header. -p Public message to "ALL" Commandline override: -r -r Receiver-Only to "SYSOP" Commandline override: -p -e Echo message (turn echo flag ON) Commandline override: -l Special override: subject starting with "NE:" -l Local message (turn echo flag OFF) Commandline override: -e Special override: subject starting with "E:" TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 10 -s Message SUBJECT (if multiple words, use '_' or place within quotes) Textfile override: SUBJECT: This is a subject -f Message FROM (if multiple words, use '_' or place within quotes) Commandline override: -u or -q Textfile override: FROM: firstname lastname -t Message TO (if multiple words, use '_' or place within quotes) Commandline override: -v Textfile override: TO: firstname lastname Note: If multiple -t switches are present, a message will be sent to each person specified. The overrides listed are actually additional names, not overriding the -t name. -u Use PCBOARD.SYS for FROM Commandline override: -f or -q Textfile override: FROM: firstname lastname Note: Use -uD:\DIR\PCBOARD.SYS to specify that the message should be "from" the user found in the file PCBOARD.SYS. -v Use PCBOARD.SYS for TO Commandline override: -t Textfile override: TO: firstname lastname Note: Use -vD:\DIR\PCBOARD.SYS to specify that the message should be "to" the user found in the file PCBOARD.SYS. This name is in addition to any -t names specified. -h Header modifications allowed (textfile may change header) Commandline override: -n Note: TXT2MSG allows you to specify the header information for the message from within the message text. This switch enables header control from within the textfile. -n Header modifications NOT allowed (commandline control only) Commandline override: -h Note: Use -n if you do not want the text within the message body to change the message header. If importing from an unknown source file the -n switch is recommended. -d Use the text file's TIME/DATE stamp for message time/date. -a File attachment (-aD:\DIR\FILENAME.EXT) Textfile override: ATTACH: d:\dir\filename.ext Note: Use -a to specify a file to be "attached" to the message. Requires PCBoard 15+. -i Add id tagline (* TXT2MSG v.vv) Environment override: SET TAG=<text to use as tagline> TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 11 Message Control -k Maximum number of lines per message (-k#) Note: Use -k# (# = 10 to 9999) to specify the maximum number of lines allowed per message (default is 95). If more than # lines are needed, multiple messages will be created up to the limit specified by -x# (see below). -x Maximum number of messages per source file (-x#) Note: Use -x# (# = 1 to 9999) to specify how many messages TXT2MSG may make when the textfile is longer then the maximum number of lines allowed. A "(continued)" line is added to the end of a split message and to the beginning of the next message. -x has no effect during script questionnaire (-q) processing. -q Script Questionnaire processing (SQ2MSG) Note: Use -q to specify the filename of a script questionnaire ANSWERx file to process. This should appear something like: -qD:\PCB\MAIN\ANSWER1. When this switch is in effect, TXT2MSG uses different rules for the FROM field and processes any other files specified as callers logs instead of message files. See "Script Processing" for more information. -z Single-node fast multi-message insertion (disable directory flush) Note: Included mostly for compatability with older versions of TXT2MSG -- the 2.40+ versions use an internal speed cache. Screen/Interface -b BIOS screen writes Note: -b will force BIOS writes for screen displays. This is likely not needed unless using an older multi-tasker or a not- so-compatible computer. TXT2MSG detects most of the common multi-tasking systems (TaskView, OmniView, DV, Windows, MultiLink, etc) and enables this option automatically. -c CGA snow reduction (use slower writes on CGA) Note: Use -c if you get 'snow' on the screen during direct screen writes and would rather not see it. -m Monochrome/LCD display colors (if auto-detect fails). TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 12 Textfile Control One of the most useful features of TXT2MSG is that it allows the message header to be modified by the text in the textfile. This allows control over the header without having to modify the commandline switches. Header control may be disabled with the -n switch or enabled with the -h switch. TO: name TO: @d:\dir\filename.lst FROM: name FR: name SUBJECT: subject SUBJ: subject SB: subject CC: name CC: @d:\dir\filename.lst ATTACH: d:\dir\filename.ext FILE: d:\dir\filename.ext .PG (force a MESSAGE break; similar to SLMR's message break) NOTES: CC (carbon copy) names are additional names to send the message to. Use this to specify a "group" of people to send a given message to. If the first character of a CC: name is an "@" the rest of the line is assumed to be a file specification pointing to a textfile with a list of names. This is useful to send messages to a list of users produced with grep or a similar utility. The only limit for TO: and CC: names is memory (around 10000 names per invocation of TXT2MSG... HEH!) ATTACH (requires PCBoard 15) allows you to specify a file attachment to be put with the message. TXT2MSG will automatically copy the file to the conference specific attach directory. The original file is not deleted or changed in any way. PCBoard allows one attachment per message. The .PG option forces TXT2MSG to break the message at that specified point. Note that header control (-h) must be enabled for this to work otherwise TXT2MSG will ignore it. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 13 Script Processing The idea is to process new script questionnaire answers into a message, addressed from the user completing the script, for the Sysop to read along with their other new mail. This gives the Sysop (or Sysop helpers) the ability to do a (F)ind when reading the message and easily upgrade or edit that user's record. Once you start reading scripts in the messagebase instead of going out to disk you'll wonder how you survived without it! Another important use is that you want to know if the new user read the required bulletins, or perhaps want to determine if they tried to download files right off the bat. TXT2MSG will, optionally, append the user's callers log entries to the end of their script answer message. You can then, simply by reading a single message, see their script questionnaire answers and their callers log entries. Then you can simply use the (F)ind command to edit their user record. SQ2MSG processing is slightly different than the normal TXT2MSG processing. Operation is the similar, with these exceptions: The -f (from) switch is ignored. The messages will always be addressed (from) the user who answered the script. You must specify the script questionnaire answer file to process with the -q switch: -qD:\PCB\MAIN\ANSWER1. Do not put any spaces between the -q and the filename to process. Using the -q switch (and the associated filename) tells TXT2MSG that you want script questionnaire processing not normal TXT2MSG processing. The questionnaire answer file is processed differently than normal TXT2MSG processing. The file is scanned looking for "From: username,". Then it takes all text between that point and the next "From: " (or the end of the file) and inserts it as a message. All other files specified (via wildcard, @list, or explicitly) are treated as callers logs. The specified files will be scanned for log entries from the user completing the script. These files are not imported as a whole (as normal TXT2MSG processing would do), instead only the specific log entries for that user are appended to the script answer message. The -n, -h, -x#, and -k# commandline switches are ignored during script answer file processing. All other switches (-t, -s, -r/-p, -e/-l...) are still active and may be used as needed. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 14 SQ2MSG Example TXT2MSG 0 -qc:\pcb\main\answer1 d:\logs\caller? -r -tSYSOP The above example shows perhaps the most common usage for the script questionnaire processing abilities of TXT2MSG (SQ2MSG). The answer file c:\pcb\main\answer1 is scanned and entered as messages to the main board. Messages will be R/O, addressed to SYSOP, and have any callers log entries found in the d:\logs\caller? files appended. You need one of these statements for each of your script ANSWERx files (if you have more than one) since TXT2MSG only accepts a single -qANSWERx statement. TXT2MSG 21 -qc:\pcb\main\answer5 -pil -tALL -sConf_21_Application This second example shows how you might have a script questionnaire (which produces c:\pcb\main\answer5) for requesting access to a private adult conference. The script answer messages are placed into conference 21, are addressed to ALL as public messages, local (non-echo), and have a tagline appended. The conference members could then review the script answers to decide if they wanted this person to join their party. Note that no additional files are specified and thus no callers log entries will be included (which might allow a breach of security since the messages are made public). Since we don't want to have a message for every user everytime someone answers a script, we need to move the processed script answers to a log file. An example batch file, which might be called by one of your EVENTS: @echo off echo ** process script answers to messages... TXT2MSG 0 -qc:\pcb\main\answer1 d:\logs\caller? -r -tSYSOP TXT2MSG 21 -qc:\pcb\main\answer5 -pil -tALL -sConf_21_Application echo ** copy answers to log files... type c:\pcb\main\answer1 >>c:\pcb\main\answer1.log type c:\pcb\main\answer5 >>c:\pcb\main\answer5.log echo ** delete answer files... if exist c:\pcb\main\answer1 del c:\pcb\main\answer1 if exist c:\pcb\main\answer5 del c:\pcb\main\answer5 echo ** done! TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 15 Notes and Limits of Operation TXT2MSG will process as many files as it can parse into memory (around 4000). This includes all files found via wildcard or @list specifications. The actual number of messages inserted might be even higher, this is simply the maximum number of "source" files. A single 5000 line text file with 20 carbon copy names and a limit of 100 lines per message would generate about 1000 messages! The number of messages generated by a script questionnaire ANSWERx source file is basically unlimited. The TO, FROM, and SUBJECT fields of a PCBoard 14 message are limited to 25 characters (each). If you specify anything longer, it will be inserted using the PCBoard 15 extended header convention (120 characters for TO, 60 for FROM and SUBJECT). Anything longer than that will be truncated. TXT2MSG will parse up to about 10000 names per sourcefile for processing carbon copy messages. If you need more than that, you're in trouble... (heh). PCBoard limits messages to a total size of 32K. TXT2MSG will, of course, automatically create multiple messages to get everything inserted. Disk space is the only limit to the size of file ATTACHments. PCBoard limits us to only ONE file attach per message. TXT2MSG will automatically make multiple copies of the attachment if inserting multiple messages (so PCBPACK does not delete an attach before someone else can get it). Special and dangerous ASCII characters (such as ^S, ^Q, ^X) are filtered and replaced with something that looks similar. TXT2MSG supports all PCBoard "special" conference flags such as "make all messages private", "force echo all messages", and similar. TXT2MSG will, however, insert messages in "read-only" conferences (so that admin type folks can use TXT2MSG to create those messages in the first place). All files (messagebases, textfiles, script questionnaire answerx, and callers logs) are opened using DOS3/NetBIOS SHARE. TXT2MSG will retry DOS3 SHARE locks for 90 seconds and then abort with an errorlevel if it fails. Multi-user concurrent message entry is perfectly safe. Files without CR (carriage return) such as those generated under the UNIX operating system and files using the Macintosh soft CR are correctly supported. This is useful for non-PC folks to protocol upload messages which TXT2MSG can then process for them. Amiga formatted soft-CR textfiles are also supported. If a conference messagebase, IDX file, or NDX file is missing, TXT2MSG will automatically create it for you. TXT2MSG 2.42 Page 16 When inserting multiple messages per sourcefile, TXT2MSG will append a "##/##" on the end of the subject where ## is the current message number and ## is the total number of messages. This support is all automatic. TXT2MSG will automatically detect multi-taskers and video drivers such as Windows, DesqView, OmniView, VU, and similar. If it this autodetection fails or if you have a strange multi-tasker, use the -b switch to force TXT2MSG to operate at the BIOS level for screen writes. 40 column video modes are not supported. All other video modes, from 80x25 to 156x132 (or whatever other video mode/font you care to use), are supported and used. If you use a 132 column mode, you'll see more. TXT2MSG creates an internal disk cache if memory is available to increase operational speed. This will only make a difference if importing multiple messages at the same time. You need about 135K of free RAM for TXT2MSG to run. Error Messages TXT2MSG has extensive internal error traps and even its own "fatal" error handler (useful if running a shell-in-a-shell under DOS5). While TXT2MSG does everything it can to get around problems, should it fail, it will display a popup Error window and then exit with a non-zero errorlevel. All warnings and errors are logged to the files WARNING.LOG and ERROR.LOG in the current directory for later review. Contacting the Author I am always interested in hearing your comments, suggestions, and bug reports so that they may be handled quickly. If you need to get in contact with me, address all correspondence to "ROBERT VOSTREYS" via: FTL BBS: +1 404-292-8761 [3/12/24] +1 404-296-3120 [HST1440] +1 404-299-3930 [v.32bis] Echo: ILink Sysops or MM-RNET conferences SmartNet MarkMail or Sysops conferences UNI'net RNET Support conference RIME Sysops or Admin conferences Atlanta AtlSysops or NetLanta conferences US Mail: Robert Vostreys Post Office Box 2315 Stone Mountain, GA 30086-2315 USA Internet: robert.vostreys@ftl.atl.ga.us