Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk1.iso/answers/waffle-faq

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Newsgroups: comp.bbs.waffle,news.answers,comp.answers
Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!darwin.sura.net!ra!fenner
From: [e-mail] (Bill Fenner)
Subject: Waffle Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: comp.bbs.waffle
Sender: [e-mail]
Supersedes: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Bill Fenner)
Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1993 07:12:45 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]
Expires: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 07:12:02 GMT
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Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu comp.bbs.waffle:13431 news.answers:13433 comp.answers:3192

Archive-name: waffle-faq
Original-Author: [e-mail] (Vince Skahan)
Last-modified: $Date: 1993/07/01 12:46:32 $


                    Waffle Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
                    ========================================

INTRODUCTION

  The intent of this document is to assemble, in one place, a general list
  of Waffle-related Frequently Asked Questions.  It is not intended to be
  all-inclusive, since no one document can replace the 400KB or so of
  documents that come with Waffle.

  Rather than repeat material maintained in other newsgroups, other periodic
  postings, or the \waffle\docs directory, this document will attempt to
  point the reader to the right place for information that is either too
  complicated to describe here, or is kept up to date elsewhere.

  This document includes information for the current official release of
  Waffle (v1.65, released 8/1/92).

  In many cases, the answer to a FAQ might be something along the lines of
  "you can't at v1.64 or before".  Version-specific answers are indicated
  whenever possible.

  At this time, this document primarily addresses the DOS version of Waffle,
  but feel free to submit unix-Waffle FAQs to the address above for inclusion
  in the next posting.

  Comments, additions, and corrections are welcomed (via e-mail please).


GENERAL INFORMATION

1. What is Waffle ?

    Waffle is a USENET-compatible BBS system which supports UUCP
    mail, UUCP, and USENET news.  In addition, there is a built-in
    editor, file upload/download, and the ability to hook in
    external programs and gateway to (or from) other packages.

    DOS Waffle supports (but does not require) external Fossil
    drivers to allow use of high speed modems and allows an MSDOS
    PC to be a fully RFC compliant USENET node.  It also provides
    the UUCP-based transport mechanism that generally comes with
    unix systems.

        Unix Waffle provides just the BBS functionality and requires the
    'traditional' unix communications, mail, and USENET-news software
        for those functions.

        See \waffle\docs\readme, unix.doc, and dos.doc for more details.

2. What operating systems does it run on ?

        IBM-PCs and compatibles running MSDOS (which includes Microsoft
                Windows, DR-DOS, and OS/2 if you have enough memory).

    Many variants of unix.  In particular, configuration options are
    already in place for: NeXT, BSD 4.2/4.3, A/UX, SUN, LINUX, IRIS,
    Ultrix, XENIX, Interactive 386/ix, HP/UX, Altos 2000.  If you
    have one of these environments, Waffle should just drop in with
    no problems.


LICENSING

1. Is Waffle free ?

        In a word, no.

        The DOS version is shareware that is made available in
        binary form at many locations so you can 'try before you buy'.

    The UNIX version is available as source code only, and there
    is no provision to 'try before you buy'.  However, the look
    and feel of the two versions are almost identical, so the DOS
    version serves as a 'try' version.

2. OK, so what's it cost ?

    For non-commercial sites, DOS Waffle costs $30.00 (US) for
    binaries and $120.00 (US) for sources. The unix sources are
    $120.00 (US) for non-commercial sites.

    Contact the author, Tom Dell <[e-mail]> for info
    about purchasing Waffle, or see \waffle\docs\register.doc from
    the DOS distribution for more details.

3. What if I bought DOS binaries and I now want sources ?

        You pay the difference between the binary fee you've paid
        already and the cost of the source code.

4. Once I'm registered, can I upgrade to new versions for free ?

    Yes, although you might have to download a copy rather than
    expecting a floppy to come in the mail.


AVAILABILITY

1. How can I get Waffle by ftp ?

        Anonymous ftp:
        -------------

        Waffle (DOS version) is available via anonymous ftp from
        SIMTEL20 and its various mirror sites as follows:

        wsmr-simtel20.army.mil                  26.2.0.74
                pd1:<msdos.waffle>waf165.zip

        wuarchive.wustl.edu                     128.252.135.4
                /pub/mirrors/msdos/waffle/waf165.zip

        There are other SIMTEL20 mirror sites.  See the periodic postings
        in comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d and news.answers for more details.

    In addition, halcyon.com has a large waffle-related FTP area:

    halcyon.com                192.135.191.2
        /pub/waffle/waffle/waf165.zip

2. What if I'm not on the Internet ?

        From the author's BBS:
        ---------------------
        The Dark Side of the Moon BBS      1.408.245.SPAM (7726) (Tom Dell)

        From SIMTEL20 and mirrors via mail-based-archive-servers:
        ---------------------------------------------------------
        A number of sites run archive-servers to give non-Internet folks
        the ability to do the equivalent of ftp-by-mail.

        If you do not have FTP access to SIMTEL20, files may be ordered by
        mail from:

           Internet-style:      [e-mail]
                                [e-mail]

           UUCP-style:          uunet!vm1.nodak.edu!listserv
                                uunet!vm.ecs.rpi.edu!listserv

        Send this command to the server to get its help file:
                GET PDGET HELP

        NOTE: remember that if you request items from an archive-server
        via mail, that your traffic goes through every system between the
        server and you, and adds such load on each system.  Be courteous.

        There are a number of periodic postings in news.answers that tell
        how to get software via mail in far more detail than what is
        provided here.

        From other BBS sites:
        ---------------------
    Via mail:
        questor.wimsey.bc.ca (Steve Pershing):
            mail with text 'help' to username 'MailServer'

    Available for downloading:
        The Heart of Gold BBS
        [phone]
        300-2400/v.32/v.32bis/ZyXEL 16.8k, free download on first call
        look in /file/ibm/bbs/waf*.zip
        [The Heart of Gold will be disappearing soon; if it's after
         May 1993 don't be surprised if it's gone.  Yup, I got a job.]

        New Life Forum
        [phone]
        2400/v.32/v.32bis, free download on first call

        Wafflemania Unlimited
        [phone]
        2400/v.32/v.32bis/HST 16.8k, free download on first call



SUPPORT MECHANISM

1. How can I get questions answered ?

        First, read everything in \waffle\docs.
        Then read them about 3 more times.
        Then read them again.

    Running a USENET site is not difficult, but it's also not
    trivial.  Running Waffle is not always immediately self-evident
    either.

    The docs will help... a lot.  Yes, there is a lot to read, and
    yes, it seems ponderous, but most of your questions are
    answered either in the docs or in this FAQ.

        Use of a version of 'grep' to scan all the documents for
        keywords is highly recommended, or looking in 1.65's new
    \waffle\docs\index.

2. Is there a USENET newsgroup for Waffle ?

        Yes, comp.bbs.waffle (also known as 'c.b.w.')

    Don't be shy, there's a lot of expertise in c.b.w.  That's what
    it's there for.  However, be sure that you have looked through
    all the documentation before posting your question; you will
    likely get flamed if you ask a question that is clearly
    answered in the documentation (or in the FAQ, for that matter.)

3. Can I get in touch with the author of Waffle ?

        Yes.

        Tom Dell reads comp.bbs.waffle, though he doesn't generally
        post too often since he's busy 'doing good' for us all :-)

        He's also reachable via e-mail at [e-mail].
        Be aware that Tom gets *LOTS* of mail, so replies usually
        take a while.

    In general, normal questions to comp.bbs.waffle will get quite
    a few responses in a very timely manner.  There probably aren't
    too many questions you can't get answered in c.b.w.

4. How many Waffle sites are there currently?

    It's hard to say since there are sites that are unregistered,
    not in the UUCP maps, and/or are mail-only and do not exchange
    news.

    I periodically count how many Waffle sites have posted to USENET
    in the past 2 weeks.  The last survey was done on Apr 16, 1993,
    and the results were:
        10/29/92 1/16/93 2/16/93 4/16/93
    1.61:         2         1         2       1
    1.63:         9         8         9       5
    1.64:        81        44        57      46
    1.65:       266       266       280     286
                ---       ---       ---     ---
                 358       320       348     339



MAIL

1. How can I route domainized mail for my uucp neighbor directly to them ?

        Domain-based mail goes to your smarthost (as defined in static)
        unless you override that route with an entry in paths.

        If you mail to '[e-mail]' and you're directly
        connected to them via UUCP, you can force a direct delivery
        with a /waffle/uucp/paths entry of :

                hostname.domain         hostname

2. What should I do with my headers?

        Nothing unless you know what you're doing.

        In general, you want your 'netmail' and 'netnews' parameters in
        static to result in valid headers, so that people can reply to you.

        If you can do so, get into a domain and domainize all your headers.
        It'll make your life easier and will do the same for people who
        exchange mail with you.

        The important thing to remember is that if you put a domain-style
        address out without being domainized, people will probably not be
        able to reply to your mail.  Just because an address looks good
        doesn't make it valid.  Most notably, "[e-mail]" is
    invalid.

3. I'm not in a domain.  What should my headers look like ?

        In general, you want to have an address that is a known-good route
        from a known site.

        Some possibilities are:
                All bang-path ===> some_known_host!your_site!you
            (i.e. mailfrom: psuvax1!%u!%A
               or mailfrom: psuvax1!%n!%A)
                mixed format  ===> you%your_site.uucp@some_internet_site
            (i.e. mailfrom: [e-mail])
                                   your_site!you@some_internet_site
            (i.e. mailfrom: %u![e-mail]
               or mailfrom: %n![e-mail])

    (All of the examples above assume something like:
        node: hogbbs.UUCP
        uucpname: hogbbs
     in your static file)

        The actual format that works best for you depends on who you're
        connected to and what their mailer can handle.

    Note that the all bang-path format is not reccomended for news;
    sites running B News will mangle your article in such a way that
    downstream sites running newer software will drop it on the floor.

4. I'm a single site. Should I register in the UUCP maps?

    Yes, or get a domain name.

        The bottom line is that if people try to mail to you, you want
        your address to be reachable.  From Internet, you want to get
        domainized and get a MX record if you can.

    From UUCP-only sites that don't touch Internet, you need a map
    entry (or a header that routes you through somebody with a map
    entry you can trust).

5. Can I display something other than the sender when listing mail ?

    Yes, as of 1.65 you can specify the header you want to see when
    you do a list of messages via the 'listmail' item in static.
    Unfortunately, this is not configurable per-user, only per-site.

6. Does Waffle support mail folders ?

        Yes, as of 1.65.

    If you have no new mail in your mailbox, you can say 'mail *' to
    get a list of mailboxes to read.

7. Can I use (my favorite mail program) ?

        Some people have had luck with 'readmail' for reading only,
        and at 1.65 either mush or pc-elm should work for read/write.

        Version 1.65 has MMDF-style mailboxes with messages separated
        by four control-A's, so mush and pc-elm should be able to
        read/write these messages, though you'll have to reindex your
        mailbox with 'makebox' or the like if you write to it.

8. Can I keep a record of all mail that comes into the system ?

        Yes, create a file called 'inbox' in \waffle\admin and all
        incoming mail will be copied there. You can stash this file
    elsewhere via the rr.inbox variable in the static file.
    See rmail.doc for more information...

9. Can I get FidoNet Netmail on my Waffle?

    See question 12 under NEWS, for information about Erin/Amanda.


FILES SECTION

1. How can I set the prompt in the files section ?

        Use the undocumented (before 1.65) 'fileprom' static file
    parameter.  Try 'fileprom : [$f] :' as an example.

2. I use a Fossil driver and a 16550 UART with FIFOs enabled. After
     someone transfers a file, why does it seem as if characters are not
     being transmitted?

    If you use DSZ, it directly accesses the UART, and uses the
    FIFOs.  By default, it turns them OFF when it finishes. Since
    Waffle doesn't reset the Fossil driver, it tries stuffing
    characters into a buffer that's turned off.

        The fix is to use the 'F' flag on DSZ's command line in
        \waffle\extern\_send and _receive:

        Z /command="C:\waffle\bin\dsz F port %d est 0 %b sz -m %i",

    or to use the new (as of 1.65) /reset flag on the extern to
    make Waffle reset the FOSSIL:

    Z /command="C:\waffle\bin\dsz port %d est 0 %b sz -m %i" /reset

        This can also affect file transfers using the built-in
        editor.

3. People with priv 9 can access the file section fine, but people with
    normal access get "Validation is required to use the FILES section."

    Check your /waffle/system/dirs file.  This error occurs if
    the user does not have access to the root file directory
    ("files:" in the static file).  A sample from hogbbs's (working)
    configuration:

    /waffle/system/static:

        files: f:/file

    /waffle/system/dirs:

        1 /dir="f:/file" /access=1


EXTERNALS

1. How do they all work ?

    Simple.  There's \waffle\extern\_system for the normal
    commands, and you can add any command you want with any access
    you want by adding a corresponding file to the \waffle\extern
    directory.  The file that you create corresponds to the name of
    the new command.  Be very careful regarding security, though,
    as externs can be the least secure part of Waffle.

2. I use 4DOS, yet Waffle shells out to DOS, not 4DOS...

        You need to change the command interpreter in \waffle\extern\_system
        to use 4DOS rather than command.com

3. If I implement Waffle as a door from another BBS, how can users exit
    from Waffle without dropping carrier?

    First, disable the 'exit' command in Waffle by adding the
    following line to your static file.

    disable: exit

    Then provide an external implementation of the exit command by
    creating extern\exit with the following contents.

    /access=0 /logout=exit /log /exit=81

    This causes Waffle to exit, without dropping the modem connection,
    with errorlevel 81 (or whatever level you want to specify).  The
    /access=0 ensures that all Waffle users can get back out once they
    get in.  Then you just trap errorlevel 81 in the batch file that
    started Waffle to go back to the other BBS.


EDITORS

1. What editors can I use ?

        Locally, any editor your little 'ol heart desires that works
        in pure ASCII (ie, you could use WordPerfectOffice, but not
        WordPerfect itself since that saves in a non-ASCII format normally).

        Remotely, you have to be careful to use an editor that is ANSI
        oriented and that doesn't do direct DOS screen I/O. Some editors
        that are frequently used (and are available on SIMTEL20 and other
        fine archive sites) include:

                MEANSI     - MicroEmacs compiled to use ANSI mode.
                BBStevie   - vi clone
                FSED       - a very configurable editor that can be made to
                                look like just about any editor you want
        WWIVEDIT   - the editor for WWIV

        Be aware that if you set up external editors for your remote users,
        you might have a security risk on your hands.  Be sure that you
        know whether your editor will let a remote user shell out to the
        operating system or not, and that you're giving exactly the
        privileges you mean to give out.

        BBStevie in particular is designed to be configurable so that you
        can prevent folks from getting to the shell (if you want) and you
        can use the same binary to ALLOW some other folks shell access if
        you want to do that, based on their Waffle access level.

2. How can I use different local and remote editors ?

        At 1.65, you can define different local and remote editors from
        within Waffle, so it's simple.  The STATUS command does not let
    you edit your local editor, however; you have to ADMIN T <you>.

    Prior to 1.65, you should modify /waffle/extern/_editors to run
    a batch file which gets passed the baud rate, and decides based
    on that whether to run a local or remote editor.

3. Why does (insert editor here) work locally, but not remotely?

    If you try BBStevie locally and it's fine, yet you get a blank
    screen when you use it remotely, make sure that you do not have
    an ansi driver loaded.  Some people have luck using PC Magazine's
    ansi.com, which can be loaded and unloaded as part of a batch file
    around your 'waffle local username' command, so that there's no
    ansi driver loaded by default for remote users.

        Version 3.0 of BBStevie can use a FOSSIL driver to do its own
        modem i/o, so that you can use a local ANSI driver to handle
        local use and remote use will take care of itself.

4. How come STATUS / EDITOR still says there are no editors on the system,
    when I just added stuff to /waffle/extern/_edit?

    You need to manually edit /waffle/menus/editors to reflect the
    editors that are available on your system.  Make sure to include
    that the user can select "none" to get back to the internal editor.


NEWS

1. Can I keep a copy of all posts ?

        Yes, look in static.doc and the USENET file distributed with
    Waffle for /spy=monitor.

2. Can I gateway mail to news ?

        Absolutely.  You need to set up an alias in 'aliases' that
        looks something like the following:

        newsgroup-name  | post newsgroup.name

    To go the other way, add

    newsgroup.name /mod="submission-address-of-mailing-list".

    For example, I have the Pink Floyd mailing list gatewayed on
    hogbbs to mail.echoes .  I got the list maintainer to send
    the mailint list to [e-mail], and have
    the following entry in 'aliases':

    echoes-list    | post mail.echoes

    My definition for mail.echoes in my USENET file looks like:

    mail.echoes /name="The Pink Floyd Mailing List"
            /mod=[e-mail]

    (That should all be on one line; it was split for inclusion
    in the FAQ.)

3. Does Waffle provided threaded newsreading ?

        Not at this time.  See the section on AFTERMARKET ADD-ONS
    for info on external newsreaders which do provide threaded
    newsreading.

4. Does Waffle support kill files ?

    Not at this time.  This is planned for v1.66 if Tom responds to
    all the pleading.  Meanwhile, check the section on AFTERMARKET
    ADD-ONS, as above.

5. Why do I see multiple copies of the same article ?

        Because Waffle has no 'real-news'-like history mechanism
        at this time.  Waffle considers an article to be a duplicate
        only if the local site is already in the path.

        If you get a newsfeed of the same newsgroup from several Waffle
        sites into your DOS Waffle, expect to see lots of duplicates :-(

        History mechanism is currently planned (rumored) for v1.66

    There are several third-party solutions - see the section on
    AFTERMARKET ADD-ONS.

6. Why do my local postings not make it to USENET ?

    Check your /waffle/system/feeds file.  Is there an entry for
    your feed there, saying to send all newsgroups there?  If you
    have a /batch= flag in that feeds entry, did you forget to run
    the 'batch' command to take the list of articles to go out,
    assemble them, compress them, and queue them up for
    transmission.

        You should call 'batch' from your poll.bat or from cron via the
        schedule file.

7. Can I edit the newsgroups line when making a post ?

        Not directly, but you can 'followup groupA groupB' and get
        the same functionality.  Same goes for mailing a reply to
    somebody and also kicking your reply to somebody else.

8. Can I effectively read and followup to saved news messages ?

        Not really at this time.  If you're at the console, you could use
        'readmail' to read them reasonably efficiently, though you
        couldn't respond via mail or followup.

    There are also a myriad of relatively ugly workarounds available
    in 1.65 making creative use of makebox.exe, perl, etc. to make the
    saved messages into a mail folder.

        Being able to have saved news articles as a mail 'folder' and
        use the mail program to read/follow/reply to saved news has
        been suggested to Tom for a future release.

9. In 'rn', how can I mail an article to somebody other than the author?

    Hit ":m username"

    Same idea for saving a message to a specified filename. In that
        case you want to hit ":s filename".

        Think of it like hitting ':' to get to command mode in vi.

    Be careful, though, if you're at a "More" prompt - at the "More"
    prompt, a ':' just gets you to the "What next?" prompt, so you
    have to hit two colons.

10. I get a message "D:\NEWS/monitor/1 access denied" when posting a
    message.  [someone wanna give me the exact text of the error?]

    You must create the monitor newsgroup manually.  monitor and
    local newsgroups are the only ones that must be created manually;
    rnews will create directories for groups in your FORUMS file
    as needed.

11. My users want to use their QWK offline reader to read their netnews.
    Does Waffle support this?

    There is a .QWK door for Waffle, called WafLineMail, which was
    written for 1.64 .  It will sort-of work with 1.65 if you use
    the 'explode' utility to unpack your 1.65 mailbox; it works OK
    with news in 1.65 still.  Unfortunately, WafLineMail 1.0 is the
    sort of program that works perfectly on some machines and
    doesn't work at all on others and nobody can ever figure out
    why.

    There is a beta of WafLineMail 2.0 floating around, which knows
    about 1.65's mailbox format, and may or may not be more reliable.

    WafLineMail 1.0r is available as "wafm10.zip", and the beta that
    I saw was on halcyon.com:/pub/waffle/wlmb5.zip .

    As far as I know, development work on WafLineMail has been dropped.

    Rhys Weatherly, author of Helldiver, is working on an offline
    reader / Waffle door combo that will allow native handling of
    USENET messages (the .QWK handling was always pretty hack-ish).
    He will presumably announce to comp.bbs.waffle when it is
    available, and this FAQ will be updated when his announcement
    occurs.

    Jack Kilday <[e-mail]> wrote a system called ZipNews,
    which will allow offline reading/replying.  In combination with
    the ZipNews Reader, the ZipNews door allows true USENET-message
    style handling, with none of the yucky kludges necessary for
    .QWK .  The biggest disadvantage is that to take advantage of
    many of the features, the user must run the ZipNews Reader,
    which only runs under MS-DOS at the moment.

12. Can I get FidoNet echoes on my Waffle BBS?

    There is one package, Amanda, written by David Douthitt
    ([e-mail]) to process Fidonet news packets
    for MSDOS Waffle v1.65.  This package is still in beta testing,
    though admittedly WIDE beta testing.  Amanda should ONLY be
    available through the amanda-l mailing list.  To subscribe,
    send "subscribe amanda-l" (without quotes) in a message to
    [e-mail].

    There is another package, Erin, written also by David Douthitt,
    which will handle Fidonet mail packets for MSDOS Waffle v1.65.
    However, this package is not yet released.  Information on Erin
    will be released through the amanda-l mailing list as it
    becomes available, and will be available there first.

    Both Amanda and Erin require MSDOS Waffle v1.65 (complete), and
    a Fidonet mailer such as FrontDoor or BinkleyTerm.

13. What hosts should I put in my "backbone:" static file entry?

    The sites currently maintaining these lists are given in the
    following list.  Pick the one that is "closest" to your site
    and use it in your "backbone" format string:

    ames.arc.nasa.gov       beaver.cs.washington.edu  cis.ohio-state.edu
    decuac.dec.com          decwrl.dec.com          eddie.mit.edu
    kddlab.kddlabs.co.jp    linus.b.mitre.org       math.waterloo.edu
    mcnc.org                ncar.ucar.edu           rutgers.edu
    tektronix.tek.com       ucbvax.berkeley.edu     ucsd.edu
    uflorida.cis.ufl.edu    uunet.uu.net            wrdis01.af.mil


ADMINISTERING A USENET SITE

1. What books should I buy ?

        There are several that no USENET admin should be without.

        From O-Reilly+Associates:

                Administering UUCP and USENET
                A Directory of Electronic Mail Addressing and Networks

        From 'The Waite Group'
                Unix Communications

2. What other stuff should I read ?

        Read USENET news, particularly some or all of the following
        groups:
                comp.bbs.waffle
                comp.mail.uucp
                news.admin.misc
                news.answers
                news.newusers.questions

    There is a FAQ posted to news.admin.misc,news.announce.newusers
    and news.answers called "How to become a USENET site", which
    includes lots of useful information about finding your initial
    connection.


COMMUNICATIONS

1. What settings do I use for my Telebit modem ?

        That's far too complicated a question to answer here.
        In general, turn compression off, and turn uucp 'spoofing' on.

        This can all be done on the fly by sending register settings as
        part of your send-expect sequence when you call out, or you can
        do so as part of your modem initialization string in static.

        Some Telebit modems don't save the register settings.  You might
        have to set the registers in both the init string and in the
        calling sequence.

    Also, grab a FOSSIL driver to control the port if you are
    running a 9600 baud modem or above.  BNU and X00 seem to be the
    most popularly used fossils according to the folks in c.b.w.
    Don't forget to set the driver to 'fossil' in the static file.

2. What's the best throughput I can expect ?

        Throughput is a function of a variety of things, including
        (but not limited to):
                - the speed and load of both systems
                - the speed of both modems
                - line noise on the phone line
                - the size of the batches being transferred
                - whether or not you are using a FOSSIL driver

        With a 2400 baud modem, you should get anywhere between 200 and
        220 cps unless you're transferring very small batches.

    V.32 (9600 bps) should get anywhere between 700 and 1020 cps.

        With a Telebit Trailblazer Plus, you should expect something on
        the order of 800 to 1400+ characters/second to a similar modem.

        Watch your \waffle\admin\net file for details regarding your
        average characters per second.  A drop off from what's "normal"
        could indicate hardware problems or line problems.

        To summarize your DOS net file easily, grab a copy of 'netsum' from
        the Waffle directory on one of the archive sites..

        It can generate a variety of reports that can answer things like
        "based on 11 cents/minute, how much DID I spend to uunet so far ?"

3. What are the special characters recognized by the chat script ?

        See \waffle\docs\network.doc or 'Managing UUCP and USENET'
        for details.

4. How can I stop my connection from timing out while switching speeds ?

        Use uu.delay in static to set a default delay or use the -t
        parameter in your uucico command to override the default.
        See network.doc for more details.

    Also, make sure your modem will wait for a carrier at least as
    long as the uu.delay you specify.  If your modem uses the AT
    command set this is probably the S7 register setting.

    Lastly, if you talk to a Telebit modem and you have a
    non-Telebit modem (that talks just fine to anything else), you
    might want to ask your feed to put PEP tones last.  Initial PEP
    tones can confuse non-Telebit modems quite a bit.

5. What does this error mean?

    See \waffle\docs\network.doc, 'Managing UUCP and USENET', or
    Ian Taylor's UUCP Internals FAQ, posted to comp.mail.uucp, for
    details.

6. I have a high speed modem.  After saying [Connect 14400], Waffle complains
   [14400 unsupported]!  Why can't Waffle handle high speed connections?

    You have locked your FOSSIL, without telling Waffle about it.
    This is a no-no.  Put "locked: xxxx" in your static file, and
    Waffle will shut up about "unsupported".  It actually doesn't
    matter what speed you use in the locked: parameter, if you have
    locked using the FOSSIL.

7. Waffle keeps saying "[ Echo should't be on - waaah! ]" when initializing
   the modem.

    For Waffle to not complain about this, echo must be in a
    consistent state - either always on, or always off.  If you
    want it to be always off, put E0 in your default profile.  If
    you want it to be always on, put E1 in your default profile,
    and E1 (MUST be uppercase, "e1" won't cut it) in your init:
    static file entry.

    Note that if you occasionally get the error message, then
    you're probably starting up Waffle after having echo on (in
    your terminal program, for example), and not resetting your
    modem.

    Note also that this message is basically harmless and can be
    safely ignored.


AFTERMARKET ADD-ONS

1. What add-on products are available for Waffle ?

        Lots...and I mean lots.

        When in doubt poke around the Waffle directory on SIMTEL20 or a
        mirror site for the list of stuff that's purely Waffle related.

        Also, keep your eyes open in the Waffle newsgroup for information
        related to utilities that might not have been uploaded to Simtel.

    halcyon.com (192.135.191.2), on the Internet, has a huge
    anonymous ftp section, in /pub/waffle, which is mirrored by
    remote.halcyon.com for anonymous UUCP.

        Lastly, look in \waffle\docs\third.doc in 1.65

2. I don't like Waffle's user interface.  Is there another program that
    I can use to access the news?

    There are several third-party news readers that can be used
    with Waffle:

    Package            Author
    --------------     --------------------------------------
    NWREADER       [e-mail] (Stefan Reck)
    RusNews           [e-mail]
                   (Russell Schulz)
    rnf           [e-mail]
    ZipNews Reader       [e-mail] (Jack Kilday)

    For Windows:
    HellDiver       [e-mail] (Rhys Weatherly)

    Any of the MS-DOS readers should be easy to hook into Waffle's
    Chrome hook - in RUN.BAT, instead of running CHROME, run the
    reader that you like.

    I have never used NWREADER, so I know nothing about it, but it
    was described by the author in his original posting of the
    program as an "offline full screen mail and newsreader".  Look
    for nnXXX.zoo or nn386XXX.zoo to run on 386 machines.  A
    companion mailer, RWMAIL, is available as rwmXXX.zoo.  They
    should be available from ftp.FU-Berlin.DE in /pub/pc/uucp .

    RusNews is written in pascal, and offers an "nn-like"
    interface, where you select which articles or threads to read
    in one screen and then go read all that you selected.  RusNews
    has a limited kill file facility.  RusNews also works online,
    if you want to offer it for your users as well.  Look for
    rusn-*.zip .

    I have never used rnf, and have heard nothing about it.

    The ZipNews Reader is pretty speedy once it creates its indexes
    (which can sometimes take a while if you have large newsgroups).
    It can "accumulate" its indexes, if you can spare the disk space,
    for more complete threading.

    I have never used HellDiver, but from what I have seen about it
    on comp.bbs.waffle, if you're using Windows anyway, you
    definitely want to give it a try.  Look for helld*.zip .

3. Duplicate message killers

    checkdup - by [e-mail] (Russell Schulz)
    Must be run in each newsgroup directory seperately -- good if
    you're only getting a few groups duplicated.

    nscu11 - by [e-mail] (Christopher Horn)
    Runs through whole directory tree, good if you get lots of
    dupes.  Also resequences articles, so that your users don't get
    to see weird article number jumps.  NSCU compares CRC's and not
    full Message-ID's, so should be faster than the others.

    dupweed - by [e-mail] (Kevin Houle)
    Provides approximately the same functionality as nscu, but
    compares full Message-ID strings.  Limited to 750 articles per
    newsgroup, and 40 subdirectories per directory.

    history - by dawson@(?) (Willard Dawson)
    (?)

MISCELLANEOUS

1. How can I set my mail and news signatures to be different ?

        It's built-in already.
        The mailsig file is for mail, the sig file is for news.

        The \waffle\system\sig file gets inserted if it's there and you
        don't have a personal sig or mailsig file.

    If you want to be able to pick which sig goes on which message,
    try Roy Silvernail's APPSIG.ZIP .

2. Why doesn't /waffle/system/mailsig work?

    The different names are only for the user's personal signature.
    If you have a system default signature, /waffle/system/sig, it
    is applied to *all* messages.

3. Can I use 16-bit compression ?

        Sure, if you have enough memory and can find a 16-bit compression
    program.

        One is provided with 1.65 and there are a variety of add-in
        16-bit compress programs for 1.64 and earlier available on SIMTEL.

        If you use 16-bit compress, be sure you have the 'compress' flag
        in the static file set correctly for the compress you're using.
    See \waffle\docs\comp16.doc .

4. What are all those files in \waffle\* anyway ?

    See \waffle\docs\roadmap.doc for descriptions of almost every
    file that comes with the software.

5. What document in \waffle\docs contains what ?

    \waffle\docs\index.doc has the table of contents of each of
    the other documents.  Use a text editor or something similar
    to look for keywords in index.doc, then it will point you to
    which file to look in.

    If you have a version of the UNIX utility "grep", it's best
    to do something like "grep keyword \waffle\docs\*", to find
    even obscure references to things.

    You'll find a lot of neat but obscure references in HISTORY.DOC.

6. Can I alter my headers after composing a message ?

        Some of them are editable in 1.65 via the 'alter' static parameter.
    Don't put "To:", "CC:" or "Newsgroups:" in 'alter'; it won't work.

7. Does DOS Waffle support control messages ?

        Other than cancelling a message you posted that hasn't been
        batched up yet, no.  You might want to look at the contents of
    the control newsgroup once in a while to see what control
    messages you received that Waffle didn't process.

    There's a program called procc, "PROCess Control" which will
    handle control messages for you.  Look for procc-NN.zip where
    NN is the version number.

8. What does this 'Splash file before login' flag do?  I can't find it in
   the docs.

    If a user logs in with the 'Splash file before login' flag, and
    a file exists in /waffle/text named after that user, it will be
    displayed ("splashed") immediately after the user enters their
    password correctly.  Example: user falken has 'Splash file ...'
    set in his profile:

    hogbbs!login: falken
    Password:

    [this is /waffle/text/falken]
    (>

    Greetings, Professor Falken.  Would you like to play a game?

    [this is /waffle/text/welcome, which everyone sees]
    Welcome to the Heart of Gold
    ...


WAFFLE BUGS

As with any large system, Waffle has bugs.  Since the source is available,
some users have fixed some of the bugs that have cropped up.  In this
section, the notation "Patch: <user>" means that the mentioned user has
a patch to the source code available that will fix the problem.  You need
to already have the source code for this to be useful to you.  "BPatch: <user>"
means that the mentioned user has a binary patch available, which anyone
should be able to use.  "Fixed: 1.xx" means that the bug is fixed as of
the mentioned version.  "Workaround:" means that there is a way to avoid
the bug in normal operation.

1. When I mail to a | post alias from within Waffle, it only posts the headers.

    This is a bug having to do with external editors.
    Workaround: use the internal editor when mailing to such an alias.
    Patch: [e-mail]
    Fixed: 1.66

2. When I mail to a | post alias from within Waffle, it only works the first
    time, the second time it doesn't do *anything*.

    Workaround: none known.
    Patch: [e-mail]
    Fixed: 1.66

3. I configured my modem to work with FAX, but Waffle keeps saying
    [Hayes code -2] and hangs up.

    This occurs if you have Auto-ATA: in your static file.
    Workaround: make your modem answer the phone (no Auto-ATA: in the
        static file and ATS0=1 in the initialize string).
    Patch: [e-mail]
    Fixed: 1.66

4. I have personal aliases for "mom" and "dad", and when I type "mail mom dad"
    Waffle complains "No such user", even though I can type "mail mom" or
    "mail dad" and it works fine.

    Waffle's implementation of personal aliases isn't complete.
    Workaround: put the aliases in /waffle/system/aliases
    WARNING: This makes your aliases available to all users, so
     *be* *careful* with what you put there.

5. I have "finger_ok: 3" in my static file but anyone can use the FINGER
    command.

    Apparently, this check got lost somewhere; Waffle completely
        ignores the finger_ok: static variable.
    Workaround: None, save writing an extern to duplicate the
        functionality that you want, and controlling access to
        that via the extern files.


TRANSITION TO 1.65

1. I updated my config files, but they didn't work.

        Some of the config files, notably 'paths', moved in 1.65 to the
        new \waffle\uucp directory.  Make sure you aren't editing the file
        in the old 1.64 location.

2. I'm going to run makebox.  Anything I should know ?

        Yes.  Makebox deletes the old mail files after it assembles the
    new mailbox.  If you're paranoid, you might want to zip up your
    1.64 mail messages before running makebox if you're not sure you'll
    stay at 1.65.

    If you screw up, try to find a copy of "explode.zip" (it's on
    halcyon.com in /pub/waffle/mail); it will take a 1.65 mailbox
    back to 1.64 format.

3. 1.65 sure seems scary, why should I bother?

        Lots of reasons.  See history.doc and release.165 for details.

    Of course, if you're happy with the version you run, there's
    not a lot of rush to get updated, though most of the c.b.w.
    readers keep at the current version and you'll get better help
    from c.b.w.  by staying current.  In addition, there are
    increasingly many utilities that will only work with version
    1.65 .  However, there are still some Waffle sites at v1.61,
    so obviously old versions still work =)
--
Bill Fenner                  [e-mail]