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┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ├──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒────▒──────▒▒ ▒▒-▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒───────────────────┤ TM ├──▒▒───────────▒▒▒──────▒▒ ▒▒--▒▒ ▒▒───────────▒──────┤ ├──▒▒──────────▒▒ ▒▒──────▒▒ ▒▒───▒▒ ▒▒──────────▒ ▒───┤ ├──▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒───▒▒ ▒▒──────▒▒▒▒▒────▒▒ ▒▒───▒▒▒▒▒───▒▒▒────┤ ├──▒▒────────▒▒ ▒▒────▒▒ ▒▒───▒▒▒▒▒▒▒────▒ ▒--▒ ▒────┤ ├──▒▒───────▒▒ ▒▒--▒▒ ▒▒--▒▒─────────▒ ▒--▒ ▒───┤ ├──▒▒───────▒▒ ▒▒-▒▒ ▒▒-▒▒──────────▒▒▒▒▒ ▒-▒ ▒──┤ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ F A X P a k (tm) Command Line Utilities for Intel Fax Boards (C) 1989-1992 Jeff Hofstetter All rights Reserved 1722 Drake Street Longmont, Colorado 80503 USA voice: 303.440.7683 fax: 303-651-1161 BBS: 303-772-6778 FAXPak User's Guide TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT.............................................i LICENSE...............................................i WARRANTY..............................................i INTRODUCTION..........................................1 FAXPak OVERVIEW.......................................2 INSTALLATION..........................................3 COMMAND SYNTAX........................................3 REFERENCE GUIDE.......................................4 FPABORT.............................................5 FPANS...............................................6 FPDEL...............................................7 FPLOG...............................................9 | FPMON..............................................10 FPNEXT.............................................11 FPRECV.............................................12 FPRETRY............................................14 | FPSEND.............................................16 Getting the command options from a file.........18 Manually" receiving a fax.......................19 Sending a list of files.........................19 | Adding a FROM to your @phonelist................20 | Net SatisFAXtion File Conversions...............20 Sending to a list of addressees.................20 Sending list of files to list of addressees.....20 Looking up phone numbers in a "phone book"......21 Process input file and send faxes...............21 | Using an external conversion program............23 FPSTAT.............................................24 FPPRINT............................................25 FPQMOVE............................................28 FPVIEW.............................................29 Zoom levels.....................................30 Command keys....................................30 Mousing around..................................30 TECHNICAL INFORMATION................................31 FAXING FILES.........................................31 INTEL SOFTWARE and QUEUES............................31 HOW FAXPak RELATES TO THE INTEL SOFTWARE.............33 CUSTOMER SUPPORT, UPGRADES, BUG REPORTS..............34 | FAXPak Support Bulletin Board System (BBS)...........34 | Using multiple fax boards............................35 FAXPak Order Form....................................37 FAXPak User's Guide i ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COPYRIGHT FAXPak (tm) including all supporting documentation and programs is Copyright Jeff Hofstetter 1989-1992. All Rights Reserved. Copying of any of the programs or documentation is prohibited except that you may make copies of the program disk for archive purposes. LICENSE FAXPak (tm) is licensed for use on a single computer with a fax | board installed. A special network license is available for use | with Intel's Net SatisFAXtion product. This license allows all | users of a Net SatisFAXtion server to use FAXPak Utilities for | one low license fee. WARRANTY The programs contained in FAXPak are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk related to the performance of the programs is on you. In no event will I be liable to you for any damages (including incidental or consequential damages) arising out of the use of the included programs. All that said, within sixty days of paying the license fee, I will return your license fee (less any shipping charges) for any reason. Simply return the product with a note requesting a refund and you will receive it via return mail. FAXPak User's Guide 1 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── INTRODUCTION FAXPak (tm) is a set of programs for use with the Intel Connection Coprocessor or the Intel SatisFAXtion fax boards. The software provided with the boards is designed for interactive sending and receiving of faxes but doesn't handle things like sending faxes from the DOS command line or from within batch files. FAXPak provides these capabilities. As a simple example, typing "FPSEND file.dat 303-440-7683" at the DOS command line will fax the file 'file.dat' to the phone number shown. Other FAXPak commands allow displaying and printing of the fax log (no 100 entry limit!), deleting entries from the log, turning on and off the auto answer feature, etc. FAXPak is available in three different versions: TRIAL EDITION is the "try before you buy" version and is available for downloading from various computer bulletin board systems. Not all functions are available. STANDARD EDITION is the version that contains basic features suitable for most users. ADVANCED EDITION provides all of the features in the Standard Edition plus support for multiple Intel fax boards installed in a single computer, a program for viewing PCX and DCX files, a program to print PCX and DCX files on a Hewlett Packard Laser printer (or compatible), plus many enhancements to the standard commands. The chart on the next page summarizes the major features of FAXPak and which versions have which features. 2 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FAXPAK VERSION FEATURE CHART ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───┬───┬───┐ │ MAJOR FEATURES │ T │ S │ A │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───┼───┼───┤ │Send files from DOS command line │ X │ X │ X │ │Send multiple files to multiple addressees │ X │ X │ X │ │Lookup phone numbers from a "phone book" │ │ X │ X │ │Send files using multiple fax boards │ │ │ X │ │Display or print the fax log │ X │ X │ X │ │Delete faxes from the fax log │ X │ X │ X │ │Save received faxes/files to normal DOS files │ X │ X │ X │ │Turn auto answer feature on and off │ X │ X │ X │ │List pending faxes │ X │ X │ X │ │Display status of fax board │ X │ X │ X │ │Cancel a fax event before it completes │ X │ X │ X │ │Monitor fax transmission in real time │ │ X │ X │ │Perform automatic or manual retries of failed faxes│ │ X │ X │ │View PCX/DCX files │ │ │ X │ │Print PCX/DCX files to HP compatible laser printer │ X │ X │ X │ │Print faxes as they arrive on an HP laser │ │ │ X │ │Send faxes based on info in a message file │ │ │ X │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───┴───┴───┘ T - Trial Edition, S - Standard Edition, A - Advanced Edition FAXPak OVERVIEW FAXPak consists of several separate programs. Here is a quick overview of what they do: FPABORT cancel the current fax board operation FPANS control the auto answer feature of the fax board. FPDEL delete items from the fax log, pending faxes, etc. FPLOG display/print the fax log FPMON display fax operations in "real time". FPNEXT list pending faxes FPRECV view the receive log. Copy fax files to DOS files. FPRETRY retry faxes that failed. FPSEND fax files from the DOS command line. FPSTAT display info about the fax board. FPVIEW view PCX and DCX files FAXPak User's Guide 3 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FPPRINT print PCX and DCX files to an HP laser (or compatible). FPQMOVE moves pending faxes from one fax board's queue. Note: not all programs are included with some version of FAXPak. INSTALLATION No special installation of FAXPak is necessary! Simply copy all of the FAXPak files to a directory on your hard disk. For ease of use, you may want to include the directory where you install FAXPak in your DOS PATH statement. If you are not familiar with the DOS PATH, any good DOS book (or even your DOS manual!) will explain the purpose and how to use the DOS PATH. COMMAND SYNTAX All of the FAXPak programs are used in a similar manner: FPname [arguments] [options] The square brackets [] indicate optional items. Some FAXPak programs do not use arguments, others allow multiple arguments. Here is an example command line: FPSEND file1.dat file2.dat 1-303-440-7683 -a "Bob Smith" This shows the FPSEND program command line with three arguments and one option. The arguments are 'file1.dat', 'file2.dat', and '1-303-440-7683'. The option is '-a "Bob Smith"'. Options are always preceded by a dash or slash (- or /). Arguments ALWAYS come before options. The command name is separated from the first argument (or option) by at least one space. All arguments and options are also separated by at least one space. You can type options in UPPER or lower case. In the example, '-a' is the same as '-A'. When an option requires additional information, it may be separated from the option with one or more spaces OR it may be placed directly behind the option. For example, the -A option (with FPSEND) requires that you provide some text following the -A. This text will be used as the ADDRESSEE name on the fax. You could use the -A option either of these ways: -A "Jeff Hofstetter" or -A"Jeff Hofstetter" Note that the quotes are required in this case because the extra information -- Jeff Hofstetter -- has an embedded space. If the extra information doesn't have any embedded spaces, you can leave the quotes off. For example: -A Jeff works okay, but -A Jeff Hofstetter won't. 4 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── You can get a short list of arguments and options for any of the FAXPak programs by typing this: FPprogname -? (for example: FPSEND -?) REFERENCE GUIDE The remainder of this Guide is a reference to each of the FAXPak commands. Each section describes one command, which versions of FAXPak include that tool, and how to use all of the arguments and options. If a feature is ONLY available in certain versions of FAXPak, the notation [ xx ] is used where xx represents the version which HAS the feature. For example [ SE ] would indicate that the feature is ONLY available in FAXPak Standard Edition OR HIGHER. The abbreviations used are: SE - Standard Edition and AE - Advanced Edition. | New lines in this manual are marked with a "|" in the left margin. FAXPak User's Guide 5 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND:FPABORT VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION Cancels the currently sending (or receiving) fax board operation. If you submit a fax then decide to cancel it, simply type the command FPABORT. It may take up to 30 seconds for the operation to actually stop. USAGE FPABORT [options] FPABORT -? OPTIONS -Q Quiet. Don't display copyright notice. [ AE ] -O filename Send program output to 'filename'. [ AE ] -B n Select board n (1, 2, 3, 4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPABORT cancel the current operation (if any) FPABORT -B 2 cancel the current operation for fax board #2. [ AE ] FPABORT -? display short help screen. 6 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND:FPANS VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION Displays and optionally changes the fax board auto answer feature. The fax board can be set up to automatically answer the phone line if desired. FPANS allows you to determine the current auto answer state and change it. USAGE FPANS display the auto answer state FPANS n set auto answer to ring 'n' FPANS -? display short help screen OPTIONS -Q Quiet. Don't display copyright notice. [ AE ] -O filename Send program output to 'filename'. [ AE ] -B n Select board n (1, 2, 3, 4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPANS display the fax board auto answer state (ON or OFF) FPANS 1 set fax board to answer on the first ring FPANS 0 set fax board auto answer to OFF. FPANS 1 -B 2 set fax board 2 to answer on the first ring. FAXPak User's Guide 7 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND:FPDEL VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION FPDEL allows you to delete entries from any of the fax queues. Refer to the TECHNICAL ASPECTS discussion for more information about queues. USAGE FPDEL id1 id2 ...idn [options] delete events with id numbers specified FPDEL * [options] delete ALL events. (Requires the -P, -R, -L, or -A option). FPDEL -? display list of options OPTIONS -P Delete from PENDING queue only. -R Delete from RECEIVE queue only. -L Delete from LOG queue only. -A Delete from ALL queues. -O filename write output to filename [ SE ] -SC delete if status = complete [ AE ] -SA delete if status = aborted [ AE ] -SE delete if status = error [ AE ] -N NO PROMPT before deleting [ AE ] -X Delete FILES associated with event [ AE ] -U text Delete event if user field = text [ AE ] -D mm/dd/yyyy Delete event if BEFORE option date [ AE ] -Q Quiet. Don't display copyright notice. [ AE ] -B n select fax board n (1,2,3,4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPDEL 10355 delete event #10355 FPDEL 10355 9802 3422 1099 delete the four events listed FPDEL * -P delete ALL events in the PENDING queue. Before actually deleting anything, a prompt will be displayed to verify the delete. 8 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FPDEL * -L -N delete ALL events in the LOG queue with no prompt to verify the operation. (dangerous!). FPDEL * -A -N -D 02/01/1991 -B 3 delete ALL events in ALL queues that are dated BEFORE 02/01/1991. Only delete from the queues for fax board #3. FPDEL * -L -SC -Q -O output.dat delete all events in the LOG queue that have a status = complete. Do not display the copyright notice. Write the command results into a file called 'output.dat'. FPDEL * -P -U "DENVER" . delete all events in the PENDING queue that have the word "DENVER" in the user-defined field. FPDEL * -L -SC -X delete all events in the LOG queue that have status = complete. ALSO, delete the files that were transmitted. This last example bears a little explanation. Suppose that you sent a fax to me and sent me a file called 'MESSAGE.TXT'. You might have typed this to send it: FPSEND message.txt 1-303-440-7683 -a "Jeff H". If this transmission actually gets completed successfully and you type the FPDEL command line shown above, the FPDEL command will remove the log entry showing that the fax was completed AND IT WILL DELETE THE FILE 'MESSAGE.TXT'. FAXPak User's Guide 9 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPLOG VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION FPLOG allows you to view or print the fax log. Unlike the Intel software, FPLOG will display ALL events in the log, not just the last 100. USAGE FPLOG [options] display the fax log. FPLOG -? display list of options. OPTIONS -P n display 'n' lines per page -W display log in WIDE format (132 columns) -R display in REVERSE order (newest first) -V Verbose. Display file names with log. -L n list only the first 'n' entries. -I include event ID in log list. -N NO report header. -O filename write output to a disk file. [ SE ] -U "text" print if user field = text. [ AE ] -Q Quiet. Don't display copyright notice. [ AE ] -B n select fax board n (1,2,3,4) [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPLOG This displays the log on the screen in standard format. FPLOG -P 45 -W -V -O PRN Print the log on the printer in WIDE format, with 45 lines per page. Include the file names in the listing. FPLOG -L 5 -R Display ONLY the newest 5 entries. (The -R option causes the log to be displayed in reverse order). FPLOG -U "FEB 1991" Display entries from the log that contain the text "FEB 1991" in the user-defined field. FPLOG -B 2 Display the log for fax board #2. 10 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPMON VERSIONS: Standard, Advanced DESCRIPTION FPMON displays information about the current event occurring on the fax board. You can run FPMON to watch as faxes are sent or received. After you are done watching, press the ESC key to end the program. USAGE FPMON [options] FPMON -? OPTIONS -E n 'n' is the number of seconds for timing out. -B n select fax board n (1, 2, 3, 4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPMON Watch activity on fax board. FPMON -B 3 Watch activity on fax board #3. FPMON -E 10 Will cause FPMON to display fax board activity until there are no more pending faxes AND the board has not had any activity for 10 seconds. FAXPak User's Guide 11 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPNEXT VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION FPNEXT is used to display the "pending" faxes. The event ID number is displayed with this list. Thus you can easily cancel a fax before it goes out by using FPDEL along with the appropriate id number. USAGE FPNEXT [options] FPNEXT -? OPTIONS -A display ALL pending events. Default is to display only the NEXT pending event. -V Verbose. List file names as well. | -G Show info about group sends. -O filename write output to 'filename'. [ SE ] -U "text" display if user field = "text". [ AE ] -Q quiet. Don't display copyright notice. [ AE ] -B n select fax board n (1,2,3,4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPNEXT display the NEXT event to be sent. FPNEXT -A display ALL pending events. FPNEXT -A -V display ALL pending events. List files names as well. 12 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPRECV VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION FPRECV displays information about items in the receive queue. In addition, you can specify that the received items be converted to normal DOS files. Please see the TECHNICAL ASPECTS section for information about how files are stored when received by the fax board. USAGE FPRECV [options] FPRECV -? OPTIONS -M MOVE faxes to DOS files. -F move FILE TRANSFERS to DOS files. -D Dirname specify directory name to move files. -W OVERWRITE files with the same name. -V verbose. List file names. -X DELETE event from RECEIVE queue after move. -O filename write output to 'filename'. [ SE ] -U "text" move if user field = "text". [ AE ] -Q quiet. Don't display copyright notice. [ AE ] -B n select fax board n (1,2,3,4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPRECV Display a list of items in the receive queue. FPRECV -V Display a list of items in the receive queue and list the names of the files received. FPRECV -M move received faxes to DOS files. FPRECV -M -D C:\MYFILES move received faxes to DOS files in directory C:\MYFILES. FPRECV -F -W move received FILE TRANSFERS to DOS files. If a file with the same name exists, overwrite the old file. FAXPak User's Guide 13 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FPRECV -F -M -D C:\NEWFILES -X move faxes and file transfers to normal DOS files in directory C:\NEWFILES. After moving the files, REMOVE the event from the receive queue. NOTES When FPRECV moves faxes and files to normal DOS files (see the -M and -F options), a DOS file name is required. In the case of received faxes, FPRECV generates a unique name in the format nnnnnnnn.DCX. 'nnnnnnnn' is 8 digits. The file extension is always DCX. When received file transfers are to be moved, FPRECV uses the file name provided by the sender. If a file with the same name already exists, FPRECV will either OVERWRITE the old file (-W option), or will create a unique name from the original file name. It does this by changing the LAST LETTER of the file name (not the file extension). As an example, if you receive a file called MYFILE.TXT, request FPRECV to move the file, and a file with that name already exists, FPRECV will save the file with the name MYFILA.TXT. Note that it changed the E to an A. 14 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPRETRY VERSIONS: Standard, Advanced DESCRIPTION FPRETRY scans the fax log, locates faxes that did not complete, and retries them. USAGE FPRETRY [options] FPRETRY id1 id2 ...id10 FPRETRY -? OPTIONS -A automatic mode. -AQ automatic QUIET mode (no log display). -E include cancelled events as eligible. -M n set maximum retries to 'n'. -G GLOBAL. Retry all eligible events one time. -I n set retry Interval to 'n' seconds. -L filename Log results in file 'filename'. -U "text" retry events with user field = "text". [ AE ] -B n select fax board n (1,2,3,4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPRETRY Display events "eligible" to be re-tried. This display will include the event id # which can then be used to re-try specific events. FPRETRY 5044 8023 6023 Retry the events shown. They will be retried immediately (or as soon as possible). FPRETRY -G -M 5 Perform a GLOBAL retry. Do not retry an event more than 5 times. A global retry is simply a single pass through the log, examining each event to see if it should be retried. For example, if you submit 30 faxes during the day some of them probably will not get completed. You could at various times in the day issue a global retry. Each time you do, the log will be scanned and every event that did not complete will be re-tried. If any failed events remain after 5 global retries, they will not be retried again UNLESS you change the max retries setting (-M). To perform a global retry of all failed events REGARDLESS of how many times they have been tried set the max retries to 0 (i.e. -M 0). FAXPak User's Guide 15 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FPRETRY -A Perform an automatic mode retry. Automatic mode continuously scans the log looking for events to retry. Since the max retries number was not given on the command line, the default value of 3 will be used. Since no interval was specified, the default interval of 120 seconds will be used. FPRETRY will continue to retry events until all events are completed OR there are no events left which have not been retried three times. FPRETRY -AQ -M 5 -I 300 -L myfile.log Perform automatic retries (in quiet mode). Set the max retries to 5, set the retry interval to 5 minutes, write the retry results in the file myfile.log. NOTES: The fax board setup allows you to specify how many dialing retries should be done. I refer to these dialing retries as "hardware" retries. They work as follows: the fax board dials the number and waits some number of seconds to get an answer. If no answer is received in the allotted time, the fax board will re-dial the number until it has dialed the number of times you specify. The problem with these "hardware" retries is that they occur one after the other with no wait time in between (other than the normal "wait for an answer" time). It would be more useful to retry a number after some minutes have passed. FPRETRY allows this. FPRETRY has three distinct modes of operation. The first mode is the "informational" mode. It merely displays failed faxes in the log that are "eligible" to be re-tried. The "manual" mode, simply makes one pass through the log and retries all eligible events one time. The "automatic" mode, continuously monitors the log and will keep re-trying failed events until all events complete OR there are no more "eligible" events. FPRETRY retries "eligible" events. An event is considered eligible if it meets the following conditions: the event failed to send successfully and the event has NOT been re-tried the maximum number of times you allow. Normally an event that is cancelled by you is not considered eligible, but you can use the "-E" option to allow cancelled events to be considered. 16 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPSEND VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION FPSEND is the command used to submit faxes and file transfers. Many options are available. Pay particular attention to the version specifiers [ SE ] and [ AE ] on the various features. USAGE NOTE: this command can be used in a number of different ways. There are full discussions below for some of the unique uses. FPSEND filename(s) phonenumber [options] basic usage. FPSEND M manual mode. Receive fax NOW. FPSEND @inpfile [ SE ] read arguments and options from a file instead of the DOS command line. FPSEND @filename phonenumber [options] [ SE ] send list of files FPSEND filename(s) @phone [options] [ SE ] send files to a list of addressees. FPSEND filename(s) ?abbrev [options] [ SE ] look up phone number in a FAXPAK phone book. FPSEND @filename @phone [options] [ SE ] send a list of files to a list of addressees. FPSEND filename *deffile [options] [ AE ] process 'filename' according to the instructions in 'deffile' FPSEND -? short list of options. OPTIONS -D mm/dd/yyyy specify date to send. Note that 4 digits are REQUIRED for the year. You can specify partial dates and the remainder of the day will be filled in for you. For example, if you specify - D 3/1, this would be interpreted as 03/01/1991. FAXPak User's Guide 17 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -T hh:mm specify the time to send. You must use 24 hours time For example, to send a fax at 1pm, you would use -T 13:00. To send one at 11:30pm, use -T 23:30 -A "text" set the addressee (TO) name. The quotes are REQUIRED. The maximum length for "text" is 31 characters. -F "text" specify the FROM name. If no FROM name is specified, the default sender name from the Intel software will be used. -0 send mode zero. This is FAX FINE resolution. This will result in the best printed results on the receiving end, but will take longer to transmit. -1 send mode 1. FAX STD resolution. -2 send mode 2. File transfer. This option is only useful when sending to other Intel fax boards. -3 send mode 3. This is COVER SHEET ONLY mode. If you want to send a short message to someone, you can send them a single page fax using this option. See below for example. -W WIDE text. Normally (when faxing ASCII files) the text font used allows 80 characters per line. If you use this option, a smaller, compressed font will be used. This allows 132 columns across and 88 lines on a standard letter size page (16cpi and 8lpi). -G Creates an output page size of 8.5 x 14 (legal size). Only useful in FAX modes. | -N x+y Set page length to 'x' inches + 'y' eighths. | -K "kill" the cover page. | -X Delete files sent if fax completes successfully. | -XA Delete files even if fax fails to complete. -C filename Filename specified is a file containing plain text. This text will be used on the cover sheet. This file should only contain about 36 lines of text. -L filename Specify the file to be used as a logo for this transmission. If you don't specify a filename, the default logo file will be sent. NOTE: the logo file must be a PCX file and can only be so large. Refer to the Intel documentation. -O filename write output to 'filename'. [ SE ] -V verbose. Show info about each fax. [ SE ] -V 1 verbose. Output comma-delimited info. [ SE ] -V 2 verbose. Command-delimited with quotes. [ SE ] -V 3 verbose. Output fixed-width columns. [ SE ] -Q Quiet. Don't display copyright. [ AE ] -U "text" Embed "text" in the user-defined field. [ AE ] -Y Convert file(s) using EP2DCX (SFAX only) [ AE ] | -Z "cmd" Convert file(s) using 'cmd' line [ AE ] -B n select fax board n (1,2,3,4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPSEND ? display short list of options. 18 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FPSEND myfile.dat 440-7683 Fax the file myfile.dat to phone number 440-7683. The following default values will be used: STD FAX resolution, no TO name, FROM name will be the Intel default sender name, date and time will be immediate, the file myfile.dat is assumed to be ASCII only. FPSEND file1.dat file2.dat 440-7683 -A "Bob" -T 23:30 -2 send two files to the phone number shown. Put "Bob" into the TO field. Send at 11:30 pm (-T 23:30). Send as a file transfer (- 2). FPSEND C:\MYDIR\*.DOC 1-303-440-7683 -a "Susan" -0 Send all .DOC files from directory C:\MYDIR to the phone number shown. Make the addressee Susan. Send FAX FINE (-0). FPSEND short.msg 440-7683 -3 This is the COVER SHEET ONLY mode. The file short.msg will be read and used as the text to be included on the cover page. FPSEND file.txt 440-7683 -C cover.txt send file.txt. Use the file 'cover.txt' as the cover sheet text. | FPSEND myfile.txt 1.303.440.7683 -N 5+4 | This sends 'myfile.txt' and uses a page length of 5.5 inches. | (5+4 means 5 inches plus 4/8 of an inch). Using -N only has | meaning for ASCII files you send as fax standard or fine. SPECIAL USAGE: Getting the command options from a file. Because FPSEND allows so many options and arguments, it may be possible to exceed the 128 character DOS command line limit. If this is a problem, you will need to put your command arguments and options into a disk file. To do this, use the form FPSEND @filename The file you specify must be a plain ASCII file with the arguments and options specified exactly as if you were to type them. You can put the arguments/options on separate lines or combine them in any way you like. Here's an example: C:\MYDIR\*.DOC C:\MYDIR\*.TXT D:\DIR2\*.PRN 1-303-440-7683 -A "Nelson Foundry" -F "Jeff Hofstetter" -2 -D 03/01/1991 -T 23:30 This example shows putting the arguments and options in various groupings. The only requirement is that the arguments (files to send and phone number) must come before the options. FAXPak User's Guide 19 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SPECIAL USAGE: "Manually" receiving a fax. If you share your fax with a regular phone, you may receive calls that are for your fax machine. If that happens, simply type (at the DOS prompt): FPSEND M . This will cause your fax board to take over the phone line and attempt to receive a fax on the line. SPECIAL USAGE: Sending a list of files. If you frequently send the same list of files, you can prepare a plain text file containing one file name per line. Then, you use this form of the FPSEND command: FPSEND @listfile phonenumber [options] FPSEND then reads your list of files and sends them as if you had typed them on the command line. This feature may also be useful if you are using FPSEND from within another program. You could use the other program to generate a list of files to send, then provide FPSEND with this file name. SPECIAL USAGE: Sending to a list of addressees. If you need to send the same file (or files) to several different phone numbers, you can use this form of FPSEND: FPSEND filename @phonelist [options] "phonelist" is the file name of a specially prepared plain text file that contains the phone numbers and names of where to send. This file must be created with one addressee per line and must be formatted as follows: phoneNumber | ToName | time | date The time and date entries are optional, but the phone number and to name fields are required. You also MUST use the vertical bar character "|" to separate the fields. Spaces are removed from the beginning and end of each field during processing so you can put spaces in your file to aid in readability. Here is a short piece of a sample phone input file: 1-303-440-7683 | Jeff Hofstetter 555-4321 | Bill McHale 212-444-7654 | NY Times Editorial Staff 20 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── | ADDING a "FROM" name to your @phonelist | | A minor change was made to the format of the @phonelist | operation to allow a from name to be added. FPSEND has been | modified to allow a TO NAME to be used instead of the "time to | send" entry. FPSEND distingueshes between the two types of | entries by ASSUMING THAT AN ENTRY THAT CONTAINS A ":" IS A TIME | TO SEND. An entry without the ":" is assumed to be a FROM NAME. | Here's an example: | | 1-303-440-7683 | Jeff Hofstetter *** no TIME or FROM NAME | 1-303-555-1234 | Mike Smith | Allen Brown *** FROM NAME | 1-303-555-1234 | Mike Smith | 23:30 *** TIME TO SEND | | | Special Usage: Net SatisFAXtion File Conversions [ AE ] | | Intel's Net SatisFAXtion product performs two additional file | conversions not done by the non-network product. FPSEND will | now identify these two file types by file extension as follows: | | .PCL will identify a file as being an HP PCL4 file. | .FX will identify a file as an EPSON FX85 file. | | For example: | | FPSEND MYFILE.PCL ... | | Will mark "myfile.pcl" as an HP PCL 4 file when it is submitted | to the Net SatisFAXtion CASMGR function. | | FPSEND MYFILE.FX ... | | will mark the file as an EPSON FX85 file type. | | When Net SatisFAXtion faxes these files, it will translate the | file before faxing it. SPECIAL USAGE: Sending list of files to list of addressees. You can combine the above two special uses to allow sending a list of files to a list of addressees like this: FPSEND @filelist @phonelist [options] The same file rules apply as above. FAXPak User's Guide 21 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SPECIAL USAGE: Looking up phone numbers in a "phone book". If you have a number of places that you frequently send faxes, you can create a special file that contains the names and phone numbers plus an abbreviation to use to "look up" the correct number. This file MUST BE CALLED FAXPAK.PH and must either be in the current directory (when FPSEND is run) or be locatable via the DOS PATH. This file also must be formatted in a special way which is described below. First, here is the proper usage: FPSEND files ?abbrev [options] The 'abbrev' must follow the ? with no spaces. The abbreviation is looked up in FAXPAK.PH. If it is found, the fax is transmitted, otherwise and error message is displayed. The search method used to locate your abbreviation is very simple. First, upper and lower case are ignored. Second, the FIRST entry that matches the abbreviation you provide will be used. This would mean that if your FAXPAK.PH file as entries for "John Smith" and for "John Jones", if you provide the abbreviation "John", then FPSEND will match the first "John" that it finds in the file. FAXPAK.PH must be formatted as a plain text file with one line for each entry as follows: abbrev | phone number | To name Here's a short sample: me | 421-0331 | M - E Engineers, Inc. ghp | 421-6655 | Gerald H. Phipps, Inc. bobw | 440-7683 | Bob Wilson Spaces at the beginning and end of each field are removed so you can spread things out in your file to make it more readable. SPECIAL USAGE: Process input file and send faxes. If you have a plain text file containing numerous individual messages containing a fax number, you can provide FPSEND with the name of that file plus the name of a "definition" file that describes how to process the file. FPSEND can then process your message file and send a fax for each message in the file. As usual, there are some rules that must be followed. But first, the form of the command is: FPSEND msgfile *definition [options] The asterisk (*) is REQUIRED. 'msgfile' is the file name of the plain text file containing the messages. 'definition' is the file name of the "definition" file that controls how FPSEND processes the file. 22 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── DEFINITION FILE. As usual, the definition file is a plain text file consisting of one or more lines. Each line is formatted as follows: Keyword = value The valid keywords are MsgStart = text FromField = text ToField = text PhoneField = text MaxDigits = text FileExt = text The only REQUIRED entry is the "PhoneField=" one. FPSEND uses these entries to control how the message file is divided into individual messages (MsgStart=) and how to fill in the normal From, To and Phone number entries on the fax. The MaxDigits= entry allows you to control whether certain types of phone calls are permitted based on the number of digits in the phone number (more later). The "FileExt=" entry allows you to specify the file extension that will be used on the temporary files that are created that contain the individual messages. This may allow easier system administration. Here's a sample message file that will be used in the rest of this section: ============================================================== 02-15-91 Msg#: 10954 TO: Bob Olson FROM: Jeff Hofstetter SUBJECT: :: 440-5555 Bob, give me a call when you get back! ============================================================== 02-16-91 Msg: 10955 TO: Groucho Marx FROM: Harpo SUBJECT: :: 1-212-555-9876 HONK, HONK. << END OF SAMPLE MESSAGE FILE >> FAXPak User's Guide 23 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── For this particular message file, the definition file would look like this: MsgStart = ========== FromField = FROM: ToField = TO: PhoneField = SUBJECT: :: MaxDigits = 7 FileExt = FTM Note the "PhoneField =" entry. It specifies the text "SUBJECT: ::". What FPSEND will do is scan each line in the message file and when it finds a line that STARTS WITH the text "SUBJECT: ::", it will then consider everything AFTER the text to be the phone number to use. This same method is used to locate all of the fax information. The MaxDigits entry can be used to control access to long distance calling. By setting MaxDigits to 7 (as in the example above), only LOCAL calls (in the U.S.) would be permitted. Using 8 digits would allow LOCAL and INTRA-AREA calls (e.g. 1-555-5555) to go through. If a phone number fails the MaxDigits test, the fax is not generated. In the example message file, the fax from Harpo would not be sent since it fails the MaxDigits test. Other important issues, when matching the definition entries, upper and lower case are treated the same BUT any blank spaces included in your definition file must be matched exactly. In these next few example, spaces are shown as _ for clarity. PhoneField = "SUBJECT:____::" will NOT match the following: SUBJECT:__:: 555-1234 -- not enough spaces. | Using an External Program to Convert Files before Faxing [ AE ] | | The new -Z option allows you to specify the name of an external | program you have that can convert files from one format into a | DCX format suitable for faxing by an Intel fax board. | | When you use the -Z option you specify the name of the external | program, any required command options, plus two special place | holders form the input and output file names. | | For example: (assumes the external program name is CONVERT.EXE) | | FPSEND myfile.pcl 1.303.440.7683 -z "CONVERT $I $O /Q" | | The "$I" holds the place of the "input" file name and the "$O" | for the output file name. Note that FPSEND creates the output file | name. The quote marks are required and any other text is passed to | the external program (like the /Q shown above). You can place the | $I and $O tokens anywhere they are required for your external | program. FAXPak User's Guide 24 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPSTAT VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION FPSTAT displays a screen of information about your fax board and some other useful information. USAGE FPSTAT [options] OPTIONS -B n select fax board n (1,2,3,4). [ AE ] EXAMPLES FPSTAT display a screen of fax board status information. FPSTAT -B 3 display info about fax board 3. 25 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPPRINT VERSIONS: ALL DESCRIPTION: Prints PCX or DCX files to a Hewlett Packard (or close compatible) laser printer. Prints faxes as they are received by the fax board to a Hewlett Packard laser printer. [ Advanced Edition only ] USAGE: FPPRINT filename.DCX [options] FPPRINT *.PCX [options] FPPRINT -a [options] [ AE ] FPPRINT -? -- display short information screen. OPTIONS: -I display info about files (doesn't print). -F n first page to print = 'n' [ SE ] -L n last page to print = 'n' [ SE ] -O device send output to 'device' [ SE ] -O filename send output to filename [ SE ] -N do NOT scale pages [ SE ] -Q Quiet. Don't display copyright info [ AE ] -P DL printer options. d=duplex, l=legal [ AE ] -A auto print incoming faxes. [ AE ] << following options for use with -A only >> -B nnnn print faxes from boards n, n, n, n [ AE ] e.g.: -b 13 only prints faxes received on boards 1 and 3. -G filename loG results in filename [ AE ] -X delete faxes after printing. [ AE ] -M dirname save faxes to directory 'dirname' after [ AE ] printing. -M:n dirname save faxes for board 'n' to directory [ AE ] dirname after printing. -O:n device send output for board 'n' to device. [ AE ] -E exit to DOS after all existing faxes [ AE ] have been printed. EXAMPLES: FPPRINT myfile.dcx. prints the specified file to LPT1 which is assumed to be an HP compatible laser printer. FAXPak User's Guide 26 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FPPRINT *.DCX. prints all DCX files in the current directory FPPRINT *.DCX -i display info about each file (length and number of pages). FPPRINT myfile.DCX -f 1 -l 1 print ONLY page one of the file. FPPRINT myfile.DCX -o LPT2 print to LPT2 instead of LPT1 FPPRINT myfile.DCX -o myfile.pcl print to a disk file instead of LPT1. FPPRINT myfile.DCX -n print the file but don't scale it. It will print approx 2/3 size if no scaling is done. However, it will print faster. FPPRINT *.DCX -p dl print all the .DCX files in the current directory. Print on both sides of the page (this works ONLY on HP printers that have this capability!). Use LEGAL SIZE paper if the fax is longer than 11 inches. Note: This feature is probably only useful on printers that have more than one paper feed tray. FPPRINT issues page size commands to the printer based on the actual size of the fax. If the printer receives a request to print on a page size that is not currently loaded, it will stop printing, display a message, and wait for user interaction. FPPRINT -a -x print faxes as they are received. After the fax is printed, delete the fax files. This process will run until you stop it. FPPRINT -a -b 23 -o:2 LPT1 -o:3 -LPT2 print faxes as they are received on boards 2 and 3 only. Print faxes from board 2 to LPT1. Print faxes from board 3 to LPT2. FPPRINT -a -e If there are any received faxes, print them, then exit to DOS. FPPRINT -a -m C:\FAXES print faxes as they are received. Save the faxes as DCX files in the directory C:\FAXES. NOTES: Most important to remember is that FPPRINT works ONLY with Hewlett Packard laser printers. It should work with printers that emulate HPs, but this has not been tested. You must have adequate printer memory to print graphics pages. Often, the minimum memory is not adequate. If you get printer errors, it may mean that you need more memory. 27 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Paper sizes. The common laser printers can use either letter (8.5x11) or legal (8.5x14) paper. FPPRINT can use either size but there are some other considerations. As each fax is received, it is examined to determine the size of the fax image. If the fax was transmitted in letter size, then FPPRINT will send printer commands to select that size paper. If the fax was sent legal size, FPPRINT will send commands to the printer to select legal size IF YOU INCLUDE THE "-P L" option. If you don't include this option, then commands are sent to select letter size. The fax will be printed on 8.5x11 paper with the extra text from the legal size page printed on a second sheet. Another possible situation occurs when someone with a fax machine TAPES several pages together and faxes it as one long page. When this happens, the fax is received as a single page of many inches. FPPRINT splits this type documents into pages (either letter size or legal size if you use "-P L"). Printing on both sides of the page. If your printer supports two-sided printing (called duplex), you can turn this feature on by using the "-P D" option with FPPRINT. In this case, a print "job" is considered to be all of the pages from a single fax. Each job is started on a new piece of paper. Printer not ready. Laser printers are often slow to feed to the next page, if you get "Not ready...abort retry..." errors, you can instruct DOS not to report these errors and keep trying by typing this (at the DOS prompt): MODE LPT1,,P Change LPT1 to match your printer port. FAXPak User's Guide 28 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPQMOVE VERSIONS: Advanced DESCRIPTION: Allows you to move faxes from the pending queue of one board to another (or to others). USAGE: FPQMOVE srcQ# destQ# [destQ# destQ#] [options] OPTIONS: -N move only 'n' faxes to the destination -Q Quiet. Don't display copyright info. EXAMPLES: FPQMOVE 1 3 move all pending faxes from board 1 to board 3 FPQMOVE 1 2 3 4 move all pending faxes from board 1 to boards 2, 3, and 4. The faxes will be divided among the 3 boards more or less evenly. FPQMOVE 1 2 -n 10 move only 10 faxes from board 1 to 2. 29 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COMMAND: FPVIEW VERSIONS: Advanced DESCRIPTION: Allows viewing of PCX and DCX fax files. NOTE! FPVIEW only can view PCX/DCX files that are "fax" files. The requirements (in general) are: black and white image, 200 dot per inch resolution, video type 640x200. Many programs create PCX files but MOST are not designed for use with the Intel fax boards. Only files designed for these fax boards may be viewed with FPVIEW. USAGE: FPVIEW file(s) [options] OPTIONS: -A Advanced mode. No menus no MOUSE! -M Don't use mouse even if one is found. -Zn Set initial zoom scale to 'n'. -Vc Force video mode to 'c' (C=CGA, E=EGA, V=VGA, H=HERC). EXAMPLES: FPVIEW myfile.DCX View the file shown. FPVIEW myfile.DCX -A View the file but in ADVANCED mode. No menu is displayed and the mouse will not be used. FPVIEW *.DCX -Z5 View all of the DCX files (one at a time!). Start viewing at zoom level 5. NOTES FPVIEW uses expanded memory (if available) or the disk. If you have little or no expanded memory, you will find that FPVIEW is slow at displaying files. A future version may help this problem. Zoom levels. FPVIEW can display a fax page at 5 zoom levels. Level 5 is the largest display and will display one dot for each dot in the fax. Zoom level 1 is the smallest display and FAXPak User's Guide 30 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── will display an entire page on the screen. This generally results in an unreadable display! Command keys. Once a fax is displayed, the following keys may be used: PGUP move toward top of page PGDN move toward bottom of page Ctl+PGUP display previous page (if any) Ctl+PGDN display next page (if any). Ctl+RightArrow scroll toward right edge of page. Ctl+LeftArrow scroll toward left edge of page. Q quit displaying this fax and display the next one (if any). + zoom IN closer to page - zoom OUT from page. 1 set zoom factor to 1 2 set zoom factor to 2 3,4,5 set zoom factor to 3, 4, or 5. ESC exit from FPVIEW. F1 display short help screen. Mousing around. For those so inclined, a crude mouse menu is available at the top of the screen. Just click on the desired function. 31 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TECHNICAL INFORMATION The following information is not required to use FAXPak, but it may be helpful is solving problems that develop or in just better understanding how your fax board does what it does. FAXING FILES The Intel boards can FAX only certain types of files: ASCII, PCX, or DCX files. Trying to fax other types of files will result in strange results on the receiving fax machine! Note, however, that you can transfer ANY type of file from one Intel fax board to another. This includes word processing files, executable programs, graphics files, etc. ASCII files are "plain text" files which contain only the normal alpha-numeric characters plus the extended IBM characters (the line drawing characters are acceptable). Each line in the ASCII file should be ended with a carriage return/line feed pair. The Intel fax process will automatically break pages as necessary AND if it finds a form feed character (decimal 12) in the file. Only PORTRAIT pages can be sent. Note that you can send a page in compressed text (132 columns) if you specify that option. PCX files are graphics images that conform to certain standards. In general, the file must be created at 200x200 dots per inch resolution and MUST be black and white. DCX files are multiple PCX files "glued" together into one big file. When an Intel fax board receives a fax (not a file transfer!), the file is saved as a DCX file. The SatisFAXtion board comes with software that can convert a file which contains EPSON FX-85 printer control information to a DCX file. This facility allows some flexibility in faxing documents that contain different fonts and character attributes. See the Intel documentation for additional information. Certain third party software allows converting files from one format to another which may be useful depending on your requirements. The key factor in faxing is that you may ONLY fax the three types of files listed above. If you wish to fax a document that is NOT one of the three, you must use a program to convert it! INTEL SOFTWARE and QUEUES When you install the Intel software, you perform a setup operation which copies the software from the installation diskettes to your hard disk. You also specify which directory to use. In the case of the Connection CoProcessor (CCP), the default directory is C:\CONNECT. The SatisFAXtion (SFAX) setup default directory is C:\FAX. FAXPak User's Guide 32 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────t The Intel installation creates some directories underneath this main directory: CCP: C:\CONNECT\QUEUE, C:\CONNECT\FONTS, C:\CONNECT\MAIL SFAX:C:\FAX\QUEUE, C:\FAX\FONTS, C:\FAX\INBOX, C:\FAX\OUTBOX The primary Intel fax software is CCAM.EXE for the CCP or CASMGR.EXE for the SFAX. This program is ordinarily placed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT so that it automatically runs each time your start your computer. Its job is to manage the hardware activities in the background while your computer does other things. It automatically receives any incoming faxes (if you have set the board to answer automatically) plus it maintains a list of faxes that are waiting to be sent. When the fax board finishes sending one fax, the CASMGR feeds the next fax to the hardware when the time is right. In the terminology of the fax board, the CASMGR manages 'events'. An event is the sending or receiving of a fax. It manages these events by creating and maintaining three lists of events (called queues): a PENDING queue (sometimes called the TASK queue), a RECEIVE queue, and a LOG queue. The PENDING queue maintains a list of events that are waiting to be transmitted. When the scheduled time for an event rolls around, CASMGR submits the event to the hardware. The RECEIVE queue is used to maintain a list of received events. The LOG queue is a "history" list. Every event will eventually result in an entry in the LOG queue. When you send a fax, it first gets placed in the PENDING queue. When it is submitted to the hardware, it is removed from the PENDING queue. When the fax is completed - either successfully or un- successfully, a record of the event gets put into the LOG queue. When a fax is received, it gets put into the RECEIVE queue AND into the LOG queue. Entries in the RECEIVE queue and the LOG queue remain until you take some action to remove them. You can use the Intel software (CONNECT or FAX) to remove them, or you can use FAXPak. It is important to realize that as these queues become "filled up", the operation of the software becomes more and more sluggish. For this reason, it is good practice to remove entries from the queues as soon as practical. You can print out the log for future reference then clear it. Received faxes should be saved to normal DOS files (see the discussion below about received faxes) then the entry in the receive queue should be deleted. When a fax is received by the fax board, it saves the received information in the receive queue. At this point, you can only use the Intel software to view the received information. By using FAXPak or the Intel software, you can move this information into a normal DOS file. Received faxes that are moved to normal DOS files get saved as a "DCX" file. Received file transfers get saved in whatever format they were sent. For example, if someone sends you a word processing document called LETTER.DOC, when you save it, it will be saved just as it was sent. You may be able to re-name the file when you save it if you use the Intel software. 33 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FAXPak saves files using their original file name unless the name already exists. In that case, you can specify that the old file be overwritten, or FAXPak will create a name from the original name but modified slightly. HOW FAXPak RELATES TO THE INTEL SOFTWARE In general terms, FAXPak does not directly access the Intel fax board. Instead it issues requests to the Intel software (CASMGR or CCAM) for specific functions. For example, the FAXPak program FPSEND is used to "submit" faxes. FPSEND does not actually transmit the fax, instead it builds an information file containing the names of the files to be sent, the phone number, etc. It then issues a request to the Intel software to actually transmit the fax described in the information file. FAXPak User's Guide 34 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CUSTOMER SUPPORT, UPGRADES, BUG REPORTS Registered users of FAXPak may obtain technical assistance by calling 303.440.7683 during normal business hours (USA Mountain Time Zone). You may also send a fax (or fax board file transfer) 24 hours a day to 303-651-1161. Registered users will be notified of new versions of FAXPak and will be eligible to upgrade at reduced rates. Upgrades from the Standard Edition to the Advanced Edition can be made for just the difference is cost between the two. If you discover any bugs please notify me via phone or fax. Every effort will be made to solve the problem quickly and a fix provided via FAX DELIVERY. FAXPak Support Bulletin Board System (BBS) The FAXPak BBS operates 24 hours a day at 303-772-6778. You can leave technical questions there, download files, and contact other users. An Intel 14.4EX modem can handle modem baud rates from 1200 to 14,400 (v.32bis). 35 FAXPak User's Guide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── | USING MULTIPLE FAX BOARDS IN A PC | | Intel provides information about installing multiple Intel fax | cards in a single PC. At the time of this writing, information | was available for the Connection Coprocessor and the "Classic" | SatisFAXtion card. This information was NOT YET AVAILABLE for the | newer model 200/400 SatisFAXtions. Contact Intel customer service | for the latest information. You MUST obtain the multiple board | instructions from Intel before you can use FAXPak with multiple | boards! | | The software provided with your fax board (FAX.EXE, FAXPOP, etc) | will NOT work with multiple boards. But since most multi-board | faxing is a high volume, command line operation, FAXPak Utilities | fills the need. | | | HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS | | In general you will want to have a 386-based computer or better. | The faster the better! Although you can probably run the fax | process in only 640k of memory, you will find things go MUCH | BETTER if you have enough memory to set up a good size disk | cache. Thus, 4 megabytes of RAM is a realistic minimum. | | You should not have any other "strange" devices in the PC to | minimize the possibilities for interrupt conflicts, etc. | | The PC MUST be dedicated to the fax process. Trying to use | multiple boards implies that you have a lot of faxing to do and | attempting to use that PC for other functions (while you are | faxing) simply increases your risk of problems. | | You will want a FAST hard disk probably no smaller than 40 | megabytes (these days, 80 mb is reasonable). This will depend on | your volume of faxes and the size of the files you will be | faxing. | | | DISK CACHE | | Get yourself a good disk cache program. There are quite a few | available and most of the well-know ones are perfectly | acceptable. Some examples: Norton disk cache, PC Tools cache, | Hyperdisk, Microsoft SmartDrive, and the list goes on. It is very | wise to be sure that you use the NEWEST version of any cache you | choose. For example, Microsoft has been providing SmartDrive for | a number of years. The version provided with Windows 3.1 is a | very good cache. Earlier versions (like the one provided with DOS | 5.0) are not so good. FAXPak User's Guide 36 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── | KEEPING THINGS GOING | | If you do high volume faxing, you are putting considerable stress | on your PC's resources. The hard disk is especially hard hit | (thus the reason for the disk cache). With four fax cards | chugging away, your PC is asked to handle lots of interrupts, | disk accesses, etc. On "marginal" equipment, you will probably | experience various kinds of problems. Use the best PC you can! | | The fax "queues" hold information about faxes waiting to be sent | and log information about the results of faxes. Each fax that you | send creates (at least) one disk file in the queue sub-directory | on your hard disk. If you let these queue files accumulate, the | entire fax process starts to bog down as the fax software has to | wade through all of the files to get to the ones it needs. | | You will have a much smoother operation if you can limit the | number of files in these queues. In general, you do this by only | "submitting" to the fax boards a "reasonable" number of faxes at | a time. You then wait for these to finish before submitting more. | Of course, the big question is "what is reasonable". No hard and | fast rules! My personal opinion is that you should try to submit | less than 100 faxes at a time to any one board. | | After the faxes have been "sent", they are recorded in the log | queue. You should also attempt to keep this log queue as clear as | possible. This means that you should run FPLOG and save the | output to a disk file to record the fax results permanently. Then | you should use FPDEL to delete the files in the log queue. | | You can use DOS BATCH language to write batch scripts that will | break your faxing up into manageable chunks. | | | DE-FRAGMENTING YOU HARD DISK | | With all of the disk activity caused by the fax process, your | hard disk will become fragmented fairly quickly. Invest in a good | disk de-fragmenter program and run it frequently. Again, there | are lots of this type program available. | | | WHEN THINGS GO WRONG | | Using multiple boards to do high-volume faxing is NOT a start it | and forget it operation. You will need to monitor the process | closely because there will be problems. Something will happen | that causes your faxes to quit being sent, some strange equipment | interaction will cause a high number of failed faxes, etc. | | If you find that your faxes just don't get sent any more, your | queue files may be corrupted. If that happens, all you can do is | DELETE ALL OF THE FILES in your QUEUE directories and re-boot the | PC. Any pending faxes will have to be re-submitted. FAXPak Order Form Send order and make checks payable to Jeff Hofstetter FAXPak Utilities 1722 Drake Street Longmont, CO 80503 Ship to __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ phone number _____________________________________ Qty Item Description Amount --- -------------------------------------- ---------- ___ FAXPak Standard Edition ($39.00) __________ ___ FAXPak Advanced Edition ($79.00) __________ ___ FAXPak Advanced Edition Network license (per Net SatisFAXtion server) ($199.00) __________ ___ FAXPak NetShare ($79.00) __________ (Colorado residents add sales tax) __________ ___ Shipping/handling per item ($2.50) __________ ___ non-USA shipping per item ($7.50) __________ Total Order __________ Disk size: [ ] 3.5 inch [ ] 5.25 inch