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Fidocat! Version 1.10 A tutorial for setting up your Wildcat 3.55M BBS to receive FidoNet Echomail using BinkleyTerm v2.50, Wildmail v2.04 and QM v1.30 *gamma* Copyright (C) 1992 by Rudolf Rothemund, all rights reserved FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 2 WHY THIS DOCUMENTATION ====================== Just before my vacation in July, 1992 I decided that I wanted to become a member of FidoNet. The reason for this was because I became interested in the Star Trek Echos that I had seen on other BBS's. I had recently joined a chapter of Star Fleet Command, the USS Columbia (NCC-621), and I wanted to offer the members with computers the opportunity to communicate with their counterparts at a national level. I did some research and found that FidoNet had at least two Star Trek echos available on their backbone. I also found out that I had to apply to Star Fleet Command's TrekNet in order to receive their Echos, which were different than the ones offered on the Fido backbone. So I set out to find the "right" software to accomplish my goal of becoming a FidoNet member. I have been running a local BBS for about three years (Wildcat! 3.55M) and I wanted to run my BBS as well as send and receive messages from my echo conferences. Wildcat! 3.55M does not come packaged with a mail system (something I hope will change with future releases, Rick Hemming!), so I had to look for a software package that would pass normal calls to Wildcat and handle mail sessions to send and receive Net and Echo mail. I found out the hard way that it would take many many hours of configuring many software programs to accomplish my goal. Worse, I became obsessed with it, and it took me away from my family. It took so much time because all the programs were not available for download from one place. Also it took a while for me understand the FidoNet concept of Net and Echomail and how each is handled. There really isn't one documentation file that ties in all these programs together unless you are a FidoNet Hub. And being a hub for these systems requires a lot of programs and configurations that I simply did not need. So I decided to write some documen- tation on what I did on my system, the Red Phoenix BBS, so that the "average person" could become a member of the FidoNet mail network. I also wanted to become a FidoNet node at a minimum cost so where I could I used public domain software. This is not to say that this kind of software is "cheap," or ineffective. Binkleyterm from Bit Bucket Software is one of the most versatile front-end mailers written and it is offered free of charge. But when I found a software package that I tried and liked, I registered it, and I expect that you will do the same. The shareware concept won't work unless we all help it along. This version of my documentation deals with how to set up your system and software packages for Fidonet echos ONLY. I had to learn to do this before I could branch out and learn how to get both FidoNet echos and TrekNet echos. Another version of this FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 3 documentation (version 2.10) will deal with how to set up your system for more than one zone address. KUDOS ===== I want to thank Rick Nash (1:226/1250) for all the help he gave me through this. Rick and I went through this trial together, and I'll bet we racked up at least $300 apiece in calls. I want to thank my family for putting up with my obsession. And lastly I want to thank all the shareware software authors for their fine programs. FIRST DISCLAIMER ================ I want you to know up front that I don't consider the way that I get FidoNet mail as the ONLY WAY. There are lots of other pro- grams written that will accomplish the same goal. I'm only going to tell you how I use the programs that I have chosen to receive FidoNet mail. Please feel free to modify what I do to suit your needs, and choose other programs if you feel that they are better suited for your system. I also am not claiming that my configurations and these programs will be absolutely safe and that your systems will not crash. I didn't write the programs, and you use them and my suggested con- figuration files AT YOUR OWN RISK. I'm only trying to help here; I don't want to end up in court. SECOND DISCLAIMER ================= Now I'm going to tell you something you might not want to hear. Setting up your system to accept FidoNet mail is definitely going to take some time and effort on your part. Hopefully this docu- ment will smooth a lot of things over for you, but YOU have to put in your dues. As with all things, your effort WILL pay off. One of life's greatest feelings is watching your first successful mail run. SHOPPING LIST ============= OK, so you're ready to procure all the programs that you need to get started. Here's the list. You can get all these programs on my board in the FIDO files section, The Red Phoenix BBS, 216-345- 5807, (1:226/1260): FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 4 Name of Program File Name --------------- --------- BinkleyTerm v.2.50 BEXE_250.LZH BDOC_250.LZH QM v.1.30 *gamma* QM_130GM.LZH VFOS v.1.10 (optional) VIBM_110.ARJ Wildmail! v.2.04 WMAIL204.ZIP Wildnode v.1.10 WNODE110.ZIP X00 v.1.24 X00124.LZH Xlaxnode v.2.56 XLAX_256.LZH One real quick lesson in extracting LZH, ARJ files and ZIP files. First, make sure that LHA.EXE, ARJ.EXE, and PKUNZIP.EXE are in your PATH statement. I put them in my C:\DOS directory. For LZH files, type "lha e BEXE_250.LZH" (without the quotes). This will extract your LZH file. To extract the ARJ file, type "arj e VIBM_110.ARJ" (without the quotes). This will extract your ARJ file. For ZIP files, type "pkunzip WMAIL204.ZIP" without the quotes and your ZIP file will be extracted. The documentation files for BinkleyTerm v. 2.50 are in a separate file, BDOC_250.LZH. I suggest that as you read a section of any of the documentation files, make a copy of my working configuration file as documen- ted in this article. You should make the necessary changes such as drive and path statements that reflect actual conditions on your system. Along with the previous programs you will need ALL these compres- sion programs, also available at the Red Phoenix BBS in the COM- PRESSION PROGRAMS file section. Take the compression and decom- pression executable files and put them somewhere in your PATH statement. I put them in my c:\dos directory. Name of program File Name --------------- --------- PKZIP.EXE PKZ110.EXE PKUNZIP.EXE PKZ110.EXE ARCE.COM ARC602.ZIP ARJ.EXE ARJ230.EXE LHA.EXE LHA213.EXE LHARC.EXE LHARC.ZIP PAK.EXE PAK251.ZIP PKARC.COM PKARC.COM PKXARC.COM PKXARC.COM ZOO.EXE ZOO210.ZIP One of my greatest problems was trying to find ALL the programs on my shopping list in ONE PLACE. I hope that I have solved that problem for you. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 5 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS =================== Computer -------- I run a 386DX clone with 4 megs of onboard RAM. At this writing I have an 85 meg IDE hard drive. I intend to get another bigger drive, as I found out that these Star Trek echos get a large volume of calls per day. You should have at least 20 megs of free space for your system files and echo conferences. I use Micro- soft's DOS 5.0 and Desqview's QEMM to manage my memory (sorry, Microsoft). I have Desqview 386, but I am not running it with BinkleyTerm. I intend to do so in the future, then I may write another version of this document. My autoexec.bat and config.sys files are also included with this documentation. Please compare them with your own. You will see that I use some of my 386 extended memory to make a RAM disk and about a meg of memory for a disk cache. I also use X00.SYS as my FOSSIL driver (more on that later) and it is loaded as a device driver in my config.sys file. Autoexec.bat file ----------------- C:\QEMM\LOADHI /R:1 C:\QEMM\BUFFERS=40 PATH=C:\QEMM;C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WC30;C:\WC30\DATA;C:\WC30\WCWORK; C:\WC30\WCWORK\NODE1;C:\ME;C:\DV;C:\BINK;C:\BINK\NODELIST; PROMPT $p$g VERIFY=ON SET BINK=C:\BINK D: MD SWAP MD WORK C: CD\wc30 CAT.BAT Config.sys ---------- DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ROM SORT:Y MA=10 X=E000-E7FF TA=30 FILES=40 FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 6 BUFFERS=1 STACKS=0,0 DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 /RES=8192 /SQT=F600-F7FF C:\X00.SYS E 1 B,0,19200 T=512 R=1024 DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 /RES=416 /SQT=F600-F8FF C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 /RES=1152 /SQT=F600-F6FF C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 1024 512 1024 /e DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 C:\DOS\TANSI.SYS DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:2 C:\SMARTDRV.SYS 1024 256 I put blank spaces between the actual lines so that the lines would be in a more readable form. The spaces do not appear in my actual autoexec.bat and config.sys files. Modem ----- I have a US Robotics 14400 Courier external modem locked at 19200. If you're going to have a lot of conferences, I suggest you get a high speed modem. Here are my settings: DIP switches 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 U U D D D U U D D U I leave the QUAD switch alone in the UP position. Please note that #2 is UP (verbal results), #5 is DOWN (auto answer sur- pressed), and, importantly, that #10 is UP (load from NRAM at power-up). Here are my NRAM settings for my US Robotics 14,400 Courier modem. I obtained these setting by typing ATI5 in my comm pro- gram: USRobotics Courier 14400 HST NRAM Settings... Dial=PULSE B1 F1 M1 X7 BAUD=19200 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 &A1 &B1 &G0 &H1 &I0 &J0 &K0 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0 &R2 &S0 &X0 &Y1 S02=255 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=002 S07=050 S08=002 S09=006 S10=007 S11=O50 S12=050 S13=000 FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 7 S15=008 S19=000 S21=010 S22=017 S23=019 S24=150 S26=000 S27=000 S28=008 S38=000 I have no stored phone numbers in my NRAM. PERTINENT WILDCAT MAKEWILD SETTINGS =================================== There are a few MAKEWILD settings that must be in place for you to send and receive FidoNet mail. In the GENERAL INFORMATION screen, part one: 12. Path for node information file: c:\bink\nodelist This is where I keep my nodelist. In the GENERAL INFORMATION screen, part two: 2. Database File Safety Mode: None This speeds up the tossing of mail to your databases. 3. Terminate on Doors and Menu Hooks: N You should Shell to DOS for these functions and not use errorlevel checking. 4. Swap out during DOS shell: Y You should Shell to DOS and not use errorlevel checking. Other than these settings, you should make sure that your Comments to the SYSOPS conference is conference zero, and I have my Netmail conference as conference 1. MINI-GLOSSARY ============= Now you will need some explanation of words and terms: Address: The zone/net/node number assigned to you by FidoNet by your host system. In many configurations, the zone is assumed to be zone 1, or North America. Front-end mailer: The program (in this case, BinkleyTerm) used to send and receive electronic mail in the FidoNet mail network. It is called a front-end program because your new CAT.BAT file will run it before it starts Wildcat. A front-end mailer passes normal calls to the BBS software. If the call is a mail call the front- end mailer, along with other software, handles the mail session. Netmail: A system of sending "private" messages to people by FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 8 using their Fido net/node address and the name that they use on that system. Your netmail conference is separate from your echo conferences and is treated differently. Echo: An ECHO is essentially a national or international message base. This is almost always a public conference. Echomail: The actual messages in an ECHO collected and processed by hubs and host systems. Hub: A Bulletin Board or other system that acts as a way station. You will probably use it to send and receive Echomail, and Netmail if allowed. Think of it as being the county seat of a county. Host: A Bulletin Board or other system that collects mail from a number of hubs. Think of it as being the state capital of a state. (Not quite a perfect analogy, but it will do). Node: A system within a hub. This will be your system. Think of it as being a city within the county. Poll your hub: To place a call to your hub, usually to initiate a mail session. Mail session: The time period during which your system connects to your hub for sending and receiving Net and Echo mail. Session password: A unique password assigned to your system that allows you and you alone to start your mail session. FREQ: FREQ stands for File Request. A remote system may request a file on your system, and BINK may be set up to send a requested file to the remote system. Nodelist: A list of systems within the FidoNet mail system. The list contains the names and locations of the systems, their FIDO address, the name of the SYSOPS, and other important information. MINI-EXPLANATION ================ Let me explain what happens during a mail session. I have a lot of echos: Binkley, Wildcat, many FidoNet Star Trek echos and a few others. BinkleyTerm (my front-end mailer) polls my HUB every night around 5AM for new mail. When BinkleyTerm makes the connec- tion, it identifies my system to my HUB. My HUB then asks for the session password and BinkleyTerm (from now on I'll use the term BINK) supplies it. After my HUB decided it's me, his system lets BINK upload my mail to him. My mail consists of all the responses that my users have entered into the various ECHOS on my BBS. After I send my mail, my HUB sends to BINK mail destined for my system. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 9 OBJECTIVE ========= I use BinkleyTerm v2.50 as my front-end mailer. To use BINK, you first need to install a FOSSIL driver. BINK also needs to have a processed nodelist. I use XLAXNODE v.2.56 to process my FidoNet nodelist for BINK. To collect and pack your mail to send to your hub, and to toss your incoming mail into the proper echos, you need Wildmail v2.04 and QM v.1.30 *gamma*. To be able to use your Netmail function in Wildcat, you need another nodelist pro- cessor, Wildnode v.1.10. There are other utilities that make life easier for you, but I will not get into them as they are not necessary to get a FidoNet Net/node number. You will run across them soon enough and will want to make your own choices for FidoNet utilities. X00 v.1.24 Fossil Driver ======================== A FOSSIL driver must be installed in your system prior to running BINK in order for BINK to work properly. I place X00.SYS in my root directory and have a line in my config.sys which installs X00.SYS as a device driver whenever my system is booted. I use QEMM manage my memory, and it handles my X00.SYS installation to maximize memory. For those of you who don't use QEMM, place X00.SYS in your root directory and add this line to your config.sys: DEVICE=C:\X00.SYS E 1 B,0,19200 T=512 R=1024 This configuration works well with my system. If you have problems with your FOSSIL driver, please consult the X00124 documentation file X00USER.DOC. BinkleyTerm v2.50 ================= Let's get to the nitty gritty. Create a directory off your root directory named BINK. Place in your BINK directory all the files that come with BEXE_250.LZH, (BinkleyTerm 2.50) and BDOC_250.LZH. PRINT OUT THE DOC FILES. You should have four of them. Two of them are user and reference guides for BinkleyTerm 2.30. The other two are the update docs for versions 2.40 and 2.50. Put them all in a suitable notebook. I suggest that you use space tabs for the different sections so that you can get to them without too much trouble. Please read the documentation. Page 54 of the USERS GUIDE has a nice glossary of terms that you should be familiar with before proceeding further. You will see from the TREE.TXT in the appendix that I have all my mail-related files in either my BINK directory or in subdirec- tories under it. I keep them separate from my Wildcat system files where possible. If you choose to use my configurations, FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 10 then you will not have to change drive and path statements. The heart of BINK is the BINKLEY.CFG file. It is a straight ASCII file that should be placed in your newly created BINK directory. This file tells BINK how to do certain things and where to find the files to do them. The BinkleyTerm 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 docs tell you what the different parameters mean, and your BinkleyTerm pack- age gives you a sample BINKLEY.CFG file. I suggest that you make a copy of my sample configuration in this documentation, then copy it to another directory and delete the one in your BINK directory. Then substitute my sample BINKLEY.CFG file. Edit it with your own drive and path statements to reflect your system. My BINKLEY.CFG file has no comment lines in it. I don't like cluttered configuration files, and I only use comments when absolutely necessary. I will now describe my BINKLEY.CFG file. BINKLEY.CFG file ---------------- Port 1 Baud 19200 Carrier 80 Init ATZ| Prefix |ATDT~ Busy |ATM0H1| Answer ATA| StatusLog c:\bink\bink.log Serial 071755 LogLevel 1 NoSLo SwapDir d:\swap Unattended BoxType 4 Banner The Red Phoenix BBS BBSNote Loading Wildcat! 3.5M. Give me a few seconds... DoingMail The BBS is currently processing mail. Please try again later. EnterBBS Press <ESC> to Enter BBS BBS BATCH Colors 113 30 30 30 31 31 78 15 ScreenBlank call BlankWait 60 System The Red Phoenix BBS Sysop Rudolf Rothemund Address 1:226/1260 NetMail c:\bink\netmail NetFile c:\bink\netfile Hold c:\bink\outbound Nodelist c:\bink\nodelist Version7 Okfile c:\wc30\okfile.txt Avail c:\wc30\allfiles.zip About c:\bink\phoenix.txt FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 11 MaxReq 8 MaxBytes 2000000 MaxTime 60 Port 1 - I use comm port 1. If you use com port 2, change it to 2 and so forth. Baud 19200 - My maximum baud is 19200 (I only have a 16450 UART chip). One of these days I will install a 16550. Carrier 80 - This has to do with FOSSIL status bits and the BINK documentation files say that this value is nearly always correct with modems that support carrier detects. Init ATZ| - (Note - the | is a carriage return). The initial- ization string. I am a whole-hearted supporter of NRAM (non- volatile RAM) on the HST. When ATZ is sent to the modem, the modem defaults to the settings programmed in by the NRAM. I use these setting for my BBS as well as for the front-end mailer (nice, huh?) Prefix |ATDT~ - This tells my modem to use tone dial. Busy |ATM0H1| - Takes the modem off hook. Answer ATA| - For modems that are not set to automatically answer the phone (such as my system). This keeps the modem from answering the phone if BINK is off. StatusLog c:\bink\bink.log - This is where BINK puts it's log file. Serial 071755 - Binkley is free. I like to think that this is my serial number. You can put anything that you want here. This happens to be my birthday. LogLevel 1 - I like minimal log levels. If you are having a problem with BINK and you want to have a more detailed log change this to LogLevel 5 (the most verbose level). NoSLo - For No SeaLink overdrive protocol. SwapDir d:\swap - Enables memory swapping, and this is the path for BINK to swap to. On my system, this is a RAM disk. Unattended - This statement is necessary, and it is used to tell BINK that it is to be used as a front-end mailer. BoxType 4 - The kind of box that I like to see the BINK screen use. Banner The Red Phoenix BBS - This is what callers see before they press the ESC key to enter the BBS. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 12 BBSNote Loading Wildcat! 3.5M. Give me a few seconds... - This is what is displayed after the BBS caller types the ESC key to enter the BBS. DoingMail The BBS is currently processing mail. Please try again later. - (note - this is all on one line in the real config file). This statement is sent to the caller when the BINK is processing mail and non-mail calls are not allowed. This occurs when the B flag is not placed during an event (more on this later). EnterBBS Press <ESC> to Enter BBS - This statement is sent when the B flag is present during an event (more on this later) and callers are allowed into the BBS. BBS BATCH - This is an important statement. This tells BINK how it will interface to the BBS. This subject is discussed more in depth in the BBS INTERFACE section. Colors 113 30 30 30 31 31 78 15 - I use a modified Mark Kromm. Mark Kromm was the guy who originally made up these colors and a lot of FidoNet nodes use them. The only modification that I made is that when an outgoing call is made, the line that contains the Fido address of the remote system is backlighted in red and the number is yellow. ScreenBlank call - Tells BINK that I want the opening screen to become blank after a certain period of time to be designated later. The screen will unblank when a call is placed, comes in, or a key is depressed. Note - this only works if you have a video fossil (VFOS) installed. I have one installed and will deal with it in the CAT.BAT section. BlankWait 60 - Tells BINK that I only want 60 seconds to pass before blanking the opening screen. Note - This only works if you have a video fossil (VFOS) installed. I have one installed and deal with it in the CAT.BAT section. System The Red Phoenix BBS - The name of my BBS. This information is needed during a mail session. Sysop Rudolf Rothemund - The name of the SYSOP, which is also needed during a mail session. Please don't use my name. Address 1:226/1260 - This is my FIDO address. (Note - how does one send for a FIDO address? You NEED a FIDO address to send for one. A "catch 22" that will be answered in the section HOW TO GET A ZONE/NET/NODE NUMBER). NetMail c:\bink\netmail - This is the area where Wildmail places newly extracted netmail from my Wildcat netmail conference. BINK also uses this area to build a mail.sys file using the compiler BTCTL (more on that in the BTCTL section). NetFile c:\bink\netfile - This pathway points to the directory FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 13 where incoming mail and files are stored before being processed by Wildmail. Hold c:\bink\outbound - This is where outbound mail is kept until a BINK mail session is initiated. Nodelist c:\bink\nodelist - This is where the nodelist and related files are kept. Version7 - I use the latest version of nodelist compilation, version 7. Okfile c:\wc30\okfile.txt - This file lists the drive and path- ways to the files that I allow people to FREQ (file request). When someone FREQ's a file from The Red Phoenix BBS, OKFILE.TXT tells BINK where the file resides on my hard drive. Since FREQ's are generated from calls coming in, cost is not a problem and any file that is available on The Red Phoenix BBS may be FREQ'ed. A sample OKFILE.TXT is located in the appendix of this documen- tation. (Note: I don't have this set up yet, but files may also be FREQ'ed from other systems via MAGIC NAMES, which are defined in this text file. Page 46 of the BinkleyTerm 2.30 user's guide has an elegant explanation on how to set up MAGIC NAMES and their paths on your system). Avail c:\wc30\allfiles.zip - This is a list of files available to be FREQ'ed. When anyone FREQ's my system with the MAGIC NAME of FILES, this is the file that is sent. This file happens to be the same allfiles.zip generated by WCPRO during my nightly main- tenance run. This keeps the file current (neat, huh?). About c:\bink\phoenix.txt - This file is sent if a FREQ is not possible. It is a little blurb file describing my system and letting the other person know as nicely as possible that the file doesn't exist on my system. I have an example included in the appendix of this documentation. MaxReq 8 - I only allow 8 files to be sent during one FREQ session. I don't want my board tied up for too long. MaxBytes 2000000 - I allow a total of 2.0 Megs of files to be sent during one mail session. It is this big because sometimes I get requests for nodelists and nodediffs (more on these files later). MaxTime 60 - I only allow FREQ'ers 60 minutes per FREQ session. BINKLEY.EVT file ---------------- The BINKLEY.EVT file lets BINK know when to do certain things and for how long. It is an ASCII file that is placed with the other BINK system files in the BINK directory. My BINKLEY.EVT file FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 14 looks like this: EVENT ALL 00:00 00:03 N L=0 E1=80 ;MAINTENANCE EVENT ALL 00:04 03:59 B H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60 A=30 ;RUN BBS EVENT ALL 04:00 04:59 H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60 A=30 ;NMH EVENT ALL 05:00 06:59 D H M N L>0 E1=10 E2=60 A=30 ;MAIL RUN EVENT WEEK 05:00 23:59 B H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60 A=30 ;RUN BBS EVENT WKEND 05:00 15:59 B H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60 A=30 ;RUN BBS WKEND EVENT WKEND 16:00 18:59 D H M N L>0 E1=10 E2=60 A=30 ;WKEND MAIL EVENT WKEND 16:00 23:59 B H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60 A=30 ;RUN BBS WKEND Here's the syntax for the BINKLEY.EVT file, taken from page 26 of the BinkleyTerm version 2.30 Reference guide: EVENT <day> <start> [<stop>] [<string>] <flags/options> I don't have any use for the "string" parameter, and fortunately this parameter is optional. I will now describe my BINKLEY.EVT file in human language. The first event that I have is a maintenance event. I run WCPRO to create my statistics bulletin and my ALLFILEST. I also renumber my local conferences. I want to do this every day of the week so after the word EVENT I have the word ALL. I want this event to start at midnight. The batch file takes about three minutes run so I have the start time at 00.00 and the finish time at 00:03 (from midnight until three minutes past midnight). The first flag, N, means that the mailer will not accept FREQ's (file requests) during this time. The second flag, L=0, means that mail with a cost of zero (local mail) will be sent. Since I normally don't send any mail to anyone except to my long distance HUB and one other long distance node, no mail will be sent during this time period. BINK always starts an event by exiting to the errorlevel desig- nated by the E1 flag. In my first event, I have my E1 flag set to E1=80, which causes BINK to exit with an errorlevel of 80. I have a statement in my CAT.BAT file (which is used to start BINK, the mail processing software, and my BBS) that starts my maintenance program when BINK exits at this errorlevel. My second event allows normal callers access to the BBS. It starts at 00.04 (four minutes after midnight) and runs until 3:59AM. It is active every day of the week (ALL). The event contains seven flags. The first flag (B) allow BBS callers during the event. The second flag (H) allows callers (including the SYSOP) to send crash mail. This is mail that is sent immediately to another FidoNet node. The third flag (M) tells BINK that it is a mail event; that is, mail can be sent and accepted. I allow mail to be sent to me anytime except during my maintenance period. The fourth flag means that only local mail will be sent. The fifth flag (E1=50) means that the event will start with BINK exiting at an errorlevel of 50. I have BINK start in unattended FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 15 mode at an errorlevel 50. The sixth flag, E2=60, tells BINK that whenever mail comes in from an outside system (usually my HUB), it is to exit at an errorlevel of 60. At an errorlevel of 60, my in- coming mail gets processed. The last flag, A=30, tells BINK that I want an interval of 30 seconds between outgoing calls. The third event is the national mail hour event. FidoNet has a rule that the BBS MUST be down and able to accept mail during National Mail Hour. This is keyed to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and the time in zone 1 on the East Coast (North America) is between 4AM and 5AM Daylight Savings Time. The event is struc- tured like the previous one except that the B flag is removed. Without the B flag, the BBS cannot accept callers, but everything else is the same. My fourth event starts after National Mail Hour. It is during this event that my mail processing software scans, tosses, and packs outgoing mail and polls my hub. This is a dynamic event, and the first flag, D, reflects this. BINK will call my HUB until it reaches him, and then it will send and receive mail. It will not stop until this is accomplished. I do not have a B flag in this event, which means that BBS callers are not allowed. The H flag means that I can send crash mail, the M flag means that it is a mail event, and the N flag tells BINK not to allow file requests. The fifth flag, L>0, means that any mail with a cost greater than 0 cents per minute will be sent. This essentially means that all mail will be sent during this event. The next flag, E1=10, causes BINK to exit with an errorlevel of 10 at the start of the event. At an errorlevel of 10, my mail processing software tosses, scans and packs the mail and directs BINK to call my hub. The next flag, E2=60, tells BINK to scan and toss (but not pack) any in- coming mail. And the last flag, A=30, tells BINK that I want an interval of 30 seconds between outgoing calls. The fifth event occurs only on weekdays (Monday through Friday), so instead of using ALL I use WEEK. Please also note that the starting time of this event is exactly the same as the starting time of the previous event. When the previous event (the mail event) is completely finished, then it ends and this one takes over. For this to occur, the starting times of the two events must be exactly the same. Except for the use of WEEK and the starting and ending times, this event is like the second event. The sixth event occurs only on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), so instead of ALL or WEEK I use the term WKEND. Other than that and the start and end times, it is like the previous event. The seventh event also is a weekend event. This is my extra mail event. There is usually more mail to pick up on Saturday and Sunday, so I call my hub twice a day. Other than the WKEND term and the start and end times, this event is like the fourth event. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 16 The last event is also a weekend event, and other than the start and finish times is like the second event. Caveat Emptor ------------- One quick note about the BINKLEY.EVT file. If you make changes to your BINKLEY.EVT file and then plan to restart BINK with the new file in place, you have to do several things. First, make sure that you are outside of BINK's code before replacing the file. You can't be in BINK's DOS shell. Next, replace your old BINK- LEY.EVT with your new one in your BINK directory. Then delete these two files: BINKLEY.SCD and BINKLEY.DAY. If you don't delete these two files, BINK will "remember" the old BINKLEY.EVT file and use those parameters instead of your new one. This caused me some distress and I thank RICK NASH (226/1250) for the solution to the problem. An unfortunate side effect of deleting those files will be that you will lose the information in your "TODAY AT A GLANCE" screen. This screen is located at the upper middle part of the BinkleyTerm opening screen. This information includes how many BBS/MAIL calls were made and how much you spent making those calls, so if you need this information write it down before deleting the two files. BTCTL ----- BTCTL.EXE is a small compilation program packed with BinkleyTerm 2.50. The purpose of this file is to create MAIL.SYS, which is necessary for some mail processing programs to work properly. BTCTL.EXE should be placed in your C:\BINK directory. After your BINKLEY.CFG file is properly configured, type BTCTL at your DOS prompt. Do not start BTCTL while in BINK's DOS shell. The pro- gram will create the necessary files and display your address, netfile and netmail path statements. I suggest that every time you change your BINKLEY.CFG file, you should run BTCTL. The docs say that you don't have to unless you make changes in address and/or path statements, but in my exper- ience with BINK I have found that the BTCTL program needs to be run with additional BINKLEY.CFG changes. Better to be safe than sorry. MINI-GLOSSARY ============= Here are some more words and terms for you to digest before pro- ceeding further. Nodelist: A list of systems within the FidoNet mail system. The list contains the names and locations of the systems, their FIDO address, the name of the SYSOPS, and other important information. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 17 Nodediff: A list of systems to be added, deleted, or otherwise modified to the nodelist. The NODEDIFF is produced weekly. Merge: The process of adding the NODEDIFF to the NODELIST. Compilation: Processing the NODELIST to a form usable by Wildcat and BinkleyTerm v.2.50. MINI-EXPLANATION ================ In order for BINK to call your hub (or any other system) for your mail session, you need to have several files that pass infor- mation to BINK such as the phone number, FIDO address, and baud rate of the remote system. The NODELIST contains such information but it needs to be processed by a compiler to a form that BINK understands. XLAXNODE II V.2.56 ================== XlaxNode II v.2.56 contains a series of programs used to process the FidoNet nodelist. We will need two of them in order to process the FIdoNet Nodelist to a usable form. The first program is called XLAXDIFF. This program merges the current NODEDIFF into the NODELIST. In order for XLAXDIFF to work, the file compression program ARCE must be somewhere in your PATH statement. I keep all my compression programs in my C:\DOS directory, which is in my PATH statement. I keep my NODELIST and all my nodelist processor files in a directory with the path C:\BINK\NODELIST. All I have to do is go to this directory and type at the DOS prompt XLAXDIFF and the program merges the NODEDIFF into the NODELIST. You should reserve about four megs of disk space to ensure proper operation. I keep an earlier NODELIST and all subsequent NODEDIFF's in case my current NODELIST becomes corrupted. The second program is called XLAXNODE. I use this program to produce two nodelist files used by BINK. There are other options with this program such as making human readable files but I don't use these options as the files take up too much space in my hard drive. The heart of XLAXNODE is the XLAXNODE.CTL file. It is a straight ASCII file which is kept in my nodelist directory. Here is the file with my explanations: NODE 1:226/1260 SORTWORK D:\SWAP MAXBAUD 19200 ZONE 1 FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 18 PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX PASSWORD 1:104/330 XXX PASSWORD 1:226/1250 XXX VERSION7 COUNTRY 1- DIAL / 011-/# 1-216-262 262 1-216-263 263 1-216-264 264 1-216-287 287 1-216-345 345 1-216-435 436 1-216-567 567 1-216-624 624 1-216-669 669 1-216-682 682 1-216-683 683 1-216-684 684 1-216-698 698 1-216- 1- END COST 15 250 1-800 0 1-216-262 0 1-216-263 0 1-216-264 0 1-216-287 0 1-216-345 0 1-216-435 0 1-216-567 0 1-216-624 0 1-216-669 0 1-216-682 0 1-216-683 0 1-216-684 0 1-216-698 0 1-216 11 1-419 11 1-513 11 1-614 11 END NODE 1:226/1260 - This is my zone/net/node address. Make sure that you DO include the zone address here. SORTWORK D:\SWAP - This is the path to the directory where files are sorted if they can't be sorted in memory. This is a RAM disk. MAXBAUD 19200 - This tells XLAXNODE that the speed of the modem is 19200. ZONE 1 - This is my zone. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 19 PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX - This is the way that XLAXNODE enters passwords into the nodelist. The zone/net/node of the remote system is entered along with the password. The password doesn't have to be three letters; I have just X'd out my passwords. PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX This is another example of the password feature with another remote system. PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX - And still another remote system. PASSWORD 1:104/330 XXX - And still another remote system. PASSWORD 1:226/1250 XXX - Last one. VERSION7 - This is the latest nodelist version compilation. This version produces two files, the nodex.xxx and the nodex.ndx files. COUNTRY 1- (The dash needs to be included) - This is the entry for the US and Canada. DIAL / 011-/# - This tells XLAXNODE how to treat North American telephone numbers (it leaves them alone), and what to do with international numbers (it adds the prefix 011 and the suffix #). 1-216-262 262 This list of numbers are all local to my 1-216-263 263 exchange. You will have to go to the front of 1-216-264 264 your phone book and look up all the exchanges 1-216-287 287 that are local to your exchange and place 1-216-345 345 them here exactly like the ones in this 1-216-435 436 example. When the nodelist is compiled by 1-216-567 567 XLAXNODE, the numbers, for example, that start 1-216-624 624 with 1-216-345 will be truncated to 345. That 1-216-669 669 way, my modem will be able to dial a local 1-216-682 682 call. At this writing, there are no other 1-216-683 683 FIDO nodes in my local dialing area, but you 1-216-684 684 never know. 1-216-698 698 1-216- 1- This needs to be here in order for calls in your area code that are not local calls to be dialed properly. END This statement ends the DIAL parameter COST 15 250 The 15 is the cost of a local call in cents per minute and the 250 is the cost of an international call in cents per minute. 1-800 0 These are all exchanges that are local to me, 1-216-262 0 and all these costs are 0. 1-216-263 0 1-216-264 0 1-216-287 0 1-216-345 0 1-216-435 0 FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 20 1-216-567 0 1-216-624 0 1-216-669 0 1-216-682 0 1-216-683 0 1-216-684 0 1-216-698 0 1-216 11 All these costs are night time call costs in 1-419 11 cents per minute. I have REACH OUT OHIO from 1-513 11 AT&T, and this is what it costs in all the 1-614 11 area codes in OHIO at night. END This ends the COST parameter and the XLAXNODE.CTL file. MINI-GLOSSARY ============= Now I get to throw more terms at you. AREAS.BBS file: This is a straight ASCII file which tells Wildmail where WILDCAT keeps your echo conferences. It includes the conference number in WILDCAT, the name of the echo, and the place where all mail from the conference is to be forwarded. It does NOT include any information about your Netmail conference. Netmail conference: This is the conference in my Wildcat BBS where Wildmail tosses your "private" netmail. In version Wildcat 3.0 and later, you may specifically create a Netmail conference (as opposed to a Normal conference). Badecho directory: Mail that comes to your system that does not have a conference that is defined in your AREAS.BBS is routed to this directory. The reason for routing of echomail to this area is usually a spelling error in the AREAS.BBS file. Netfile directory: This is the place where your incoming mail is kept until they are processed by WILDMAIL. All your incoming files are also stored here. If you make an arrangement with your hub for you to pick up the weekly NODEDIFFS during a mail session, they will be stored here. Scan: When Wildmail processes mail, it searches the netmail conference and the conferences defined in your AREAS.BBS for new messages. Then it searches the BADECHO directory messages and tries to match them with conferences in AREAS.BBS. It then extracts all these new messages and packs them in an archival format. Toss: The term used when WILDMAIL takes incoming mail from your hub and places them in the proper directories according to your AREAS.BBS file. Wildmail also places netmail in the netmail conference, but it gets that information from BINK. An analogy would be when your mail person tosses your mail in your mailbox. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 21 MINI-EXPLANATION ---------------- Just before my mail session, the new messages that my BBS users leave in their favorite conferences need to be collected and packaged for delivery to my hub. During the mail session my hub deposits my echo mail in my C:\BINK\NETFILES subdirectory. After my mail has been delivered, it needs to be unarchived, and the messages deposited (tossed) into the proper conferences. I use Wildmail v.2.04 to process my mail. This is available on my BBS as WMAIL204.ZIP. WILDMAIL ======== I suggest that you create a subdirectory under your BINK directory named WILDMAIL and place Wildmail v.2.04 in it. Unzip it and PRINT OUT THE DOCUMENTATION FILES. Place them in a suitable notebook. You will then have to call the wildmail support board at either 1-510-687-0236 (USR/DS) or 1-510-687-2134 (V.32bis) and log on with your real name. Be sure that you have your Wildcat registration number handy. The reason that you have to do this is because this program needs an ID file for it to work, and the ONLY place that you can get it is the WIldmail support board. You can download it with the first call, and the key is good for one only month, and then it pukes. You can't get another temporary file; you have to register the program after the month is up to get the permanent ID file. Then everything works fine again. Wildmail has a voice number for support and they will help you with all your stupid or otherwise questions. That number is 1-510-687-1122. The company is on the west coast so don't call before 12 noon or after 9PM EDT on weekdays or you'll get a recording. WM.CFG ------ Wildmail can be said to have two hearts. The first one is the WM.CFG file, and the other one is the AREAS.BBS file. Let's examine the WM.CFG file first. ZONE 1 ADDRESS 226/1260 MAILER BINKLEY INBOUND c:\bink\netfile WILDCAT c:\wc30 NETMAIL 1 MATRIXMAIL c:\bink\netmail OUTBOUND c:\bink\outbound LOG c:\bink\wildmail\wm.log BADECHO c:\bink\badecho DUPLICATES 7500 NULLMESSAGE FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 22 NONETMAILMESSAGE NOTIFY PURGE STANDARDARCHIVE ; Keyword Constant Command/Arguments ; -------- --------- ------------------ UNPACKER ARCPACKER pkxarc.com -x @a UNPACKER ARJPACKER arj.exe e -n @a UNPACKER LZHPACKER lha.exe e @a UNPACKER PAKPACKER pak.exe e @a UNPACKER ZIPPACKER pkunzip.exe -x @a UNPACKER ZOOPACKER zoo.exe xO @a ; Keyword Constant Command/Arguments ; ------ --------- ----------------- ; DO NOT COMMENT OUT ARCPACKER!!!! THIS IS YOUR DEFAULT PACKER. PACKER ARCPACKER pkarc.com -a PACKER ARJPACKER arj.exe a -e PACKER LZHPACKER lha.exe a /m PACKER PAKPACKER pak.exe a PACKER ZOOPACKER zoo.exe -add PACKER ZIPPACKER pkzip.exe -a ; Keyword Constant Node Address Definition ; ------- --------- ----------------------- TYPEPACK ZIPPACKER 226/0 10 1210 1250 104/330 SWAPEMS DELETESEENBYLINES FORWARDPACKETS LOCKCOUNT 0 QUIETARC ZONE 1 - This is my zone. ADDRESS 226/1260 - This is my Fido address. Do NOT include the zone of 1 here. MAILER BINKLEY - This is the front-end mailer that I run. INBOUND c:\bink\netfile - This is where all my incoming mail is placed. This includes files either requested by my system or files offered to my system. WILDCAT c:\wc30 - This tells WILDMAIL where my WILDCAT system files are located. NETMAIL 1 - This tells WILDMAIL the conference number of my netmail message conference. I use conference 1 as my Netmail conference. MATRIXMAIL c:\bink\netmail - This is the path to the outbound netmail message directory. When WILDMAIL scans my conference 1, FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 23 which is my netmail conference, it places the outbound netmail in this directory. This is the same directory as defined in the BINKLEY.CFG file. OUTBOUND c:\bink\outbound - This is the path where all mail archives will be placed. This is the same directory as defined in the BINKLEY.CFG file. LOG c:\bink\wildmail\wm.log - This is the path to where WILDMAIL keeps it's log file. BADECHO c:\bink\badecho - This is where WILDMAIL puts echo mail that does not have an AREAS.BBS entry. DUPLICATES 7500 - This number reflects the number of messages that WILDMAIL will keep information about to check for duplicate messages. If an incoming message has already been scanned by Wildmail, it is not allowed in the echo conference. I get about 1500 messages per day, and the WILDMAIL manual suggests keeping about 5 days worth of data, so this number is 7500 on my system. WILDMAIL will tell you how many messages it tosses per day. NULLMESSAGE - This parameter allows deletion of messages that have no text in the message body. NONETMAILMESSAGE - This option will permit only one incoming netmail message which is created in the Wildcat netmail conference. NOTIFY - This option scans my WILDCAT user file and notifies the user if he/she has netmail waiting for them. PURGE - This allows WILDMAIl to maintain the size of the echo conference as specified makewild. I generally allow 500 messages in my echo conferences, and when the number of messages exceeds 500, WILDMAIL will purge the oldest messages to make room for the new ones. STANDARDARCHIVE - This causes WILDMAIL to use the standard archiving name used by FidoNet of MO, TU, etc. for all outbound mail archives. Mu hub uses this method so I use this method also. ; Keyword Constant Command/Arguments (Header Lines) I use these ; ------- --------- ----------------- two lines as headers for the lines below. UNPACKER ARCPACKER pkxarc.com -x @a In plain English using UNPACKER ARJPACKER arj.exe e -n @a the first line as an ex- UNPACKER LZHPACKER lha.exe e @a ample, the decompression UNPACKER PAKPACKER pak.exe e @a (UNPACKER) method is ARC UNPACKER ZIPPACKER pkunzip.exe -x @a PACKER (a name that I UNPACKER ZOOPACKER zoo.exe xO @a supply) and the full file name is pkxarc.com, the FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 24 extension MUST be specified) which uses a parameter flag, -x. The @a is used by WILD- MAIL to provide the path to insert pkarc.com when it de- compresses mail. ; Keyword Constant Command/Arguments (Header Lines) ; ------ --------- ---------------- (Header Lines) ; DO NOT COMMENT OUT ARCPACKER!!!! THIS IS YOUR DEFAULT PACKER. PACKER ARCPACKER pkarc.com -a In plain English, this is PACKER ARJPACKER arj.exe a -e the compression method. PACKER LZHPACKER lha.exe a /m Using the first line, the PACKER PAKPACKER pak.exe a compression (PACKER) PACKER ZOOPACKER zoo.exe -add method is ARCPACKER (the PACKER ZIPPACKER pkzip.exe -a same name as the de-com- pression method and in the same order) and the full file name is pkarc.com, (which uses a parameter flag, -a). Note that the @a is not present. It is not needed. ; Keyword Constant Node Address Definition (Header Lines) ; -------- --------- -------------------------- (Header Lines) TYPEPACK ZIPPACKER 226/0 10 1210 1250 5200 104/330 The line just above this one tells Wild- mail what kind of compression to use when dealing with specific nodes. In plain English this line says that the kind of compression (TYPEPACK) to use is ZIPPACKER, (which was defined in the two earlier PACKER and UNPACKER lines), and to use ZIP to pack mail to the nodes listed. The node address definitions may seem strange so I will explain. A complete node address looks like this: 1:226/1260. Wildmail assumes that you are dealing with Zone 1, so it allows you not to include it in your address definition. Also, if numbers are listed such as 226/0 10 (the 226 is part of a net and 0 and 10 are nodes) that the 0 and the 10 are part of the same node. So the line 226/0 10 1210 1250 5200 104/330 is "shorthand" for 1:226/0, 1:226/10, 1:226/1210, 1:226/1250, 1:226/5200 and 1:104/330. Each program has it's own "shorthand" syntax, although they are usually similar. SWAPEMS - This allows Wildmail to be swapped to EMS memory as opposed to being swapped to disk. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 25 DELETESEENBYLINES - This option deletes SEENBY lines (lines which show the caller which systems have seen the messages) in my messages. These lines take up a lot of space and the caller really doesn't need to see them, so I let Wildmail delete them. FORWARDPACKETS - If mail comes to my system and it is not to addressed to me (1:226/1260) this option will forward it back to my HUB. You should only use this option if your HUB agrees to this. LOCKCOUNT 0 - This means that the message base will lock after Wildmail tosses 30 messages into it (the 0 means 30). The default value is 1, which means Wildmail will lock the base after each tossed message. Since I have a fast computer, I can use a value of 30. Slower computers need to use a lower value. QUIETARC - This option redirects the screen output of the compression programs to NULL. They still work, but the screen doesn't display it. This option doesn't work with LZHPACKER, but I don't care becuase I don't send or receive any mail packed with LZH. AREAS.BBS --------- AREAS.BBS is another straight ASCII file that tells Wildmail where to place the Echo mail delivered to my system. I will now describe my AREAS.BBS file. The Red Phoenix BBS (216) 345-5807 # 2 REGION11 1:226/1210 3 SYSOP226 1:226/1210 10 TREK 1:226/1210 11 STDSN 1:226/1210 12 STTNG 1:226/1210 13 R11STTNG 1:226/1210 14 WILDCAT 1:226/1210 15 BINKLEY 1:226/1210 16 NFL 1:226/1210 17 COMICS 1:226/1210 18 CMX4SALE 1:104/330 19 BB-CARDS 1:226/1210 20 HST-SALE 1:226/1210 21 TVRO 1:226/1210 22 FANTASY_SPORTS 1:226/1210 23 STARWARS 1:226/1210 24 DIABETES 1:226/1210 25 STOCK_MARKET 1:226/1210 26 STARTREK 1:226/1210 27 WRITING 1:226/1210 28 DISNEY 1:226/1210 29 JOBS 1:226/1210 The first line shows the name of my BBS along with the phone FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 26 number. The # sign is used by Wildmail to place my zone/net/node FIDO address. This information is added to every message that is extracted from my system. PLEASE be sure to change this line before you fire up your mailer and send mail. I don't want tons of mail out in the universe with my tagline on it that's not from my system. Thank you. The next set of information is organized in columns. The first column of numbers indicates to Wildmail the number of a Wildcat conference. The second column tells Wildmail the official name of the Echo. The two columns together tell Wildmail for example, that the mail for the Echo REGION11 will be tossed into my Wildcat conference number two. The third column tells Wildmail where to forward any new messages that my users will enter in the conference. Using the above example, the mail that a user enters into the REGION11 conference (2) will be forwarded to the Fido address 1:226/1210, which happens to be the address of my HUB. Note that a list of all Echos available from FidoNet is available from 1:1/201. The file that should be FREQ'ed has a "magic name: of ECHOLIST. Once you get BINK set up to send and receive mail, FREQ the file so that you have a current ECHOLIST. The file changes at the beginning of every month so try to wait for a few days in the month to be sure that you get a current list. HOW TO SPEED UP WILDMAIL ------------------------ In my opinion, Wildmail tends to be a slow tosser and scanner. There are ways, however, to speed up the process. In the section PERTINENT MAKEWILD SETTINGS for Wildcat, I have this comment: 2. Database File Safety Mode: None This speeds up the tossing of mail to your databases. This turns off integrity check of the databases, including the message databases that Wildmail tosses the mail. Setting this to NONE will speed up the tossing process. The Wildcat docs say that there is little danger of message base corruption if this is set to NONE, and whatever is corrupted is easily repaired by the Wildcat repair utility WCREPAIR. Another way to speed Wildmail's performance is to use some of your extended memory to make a disk cache. I have a 386DX clone with 4 megs of memory. I use about a meg of memory for a RAM disk and about a meg for a disk cache. The disk cache is very important; let me give you some actual numbers. Before I installed a disk cache, Wildmail took 31 minutes to toss about 500K of messages. That works out to be about 16K of messages tossed per minute. I left a message in the WILDCAT echo, FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 27 and I got an answer from Joe Martin, who works at Wildmail. He suggested things that I had already implemented, with the excep- tion of creating a disk cache, so I created a one meg disk cache with SMARTDRV.SYS from Microsoft. The next time I tossed and scanned mail, I was astounded. Wild- mail took ten and a half minutes to toss about 380K of messages. That works out to be about 36K of messages per minute. The im- provement is about 125 percent! So I would greatly suggest that you install a disk cache if you can. CAVEAT EMPTOR I --------------- One quick note about Wildmail and the netmail conference in Wild- cat. I purge my old messages in all my local message bases periodically using WIldcat's purge option on the SYSOP's menu, and then run a maintenance program to renumber my conferences every night. The renumbering also used to also include my netmail con- ference. I found out the hard way that if you delete and purge old messages and renumber the netmail conference every night, WILDMAIL will not scan and toss new messages UNTIL you run Wild- mail from the DOS prompt in the c:\bink\wildmail directory using this set of parameters: WM -T1,XX where 1 is the number of my wildcat netmail conference and xx is number of my last message in the netmail conference. What this does is to reset WIldmail's high water mark for this conference, and new messages above xx will be scanned/tossed. Not knowing this little trick took a week out of my life, and I had no idea why Wildmail wouldn't scan my new messages. I thought I'd configured Wildmail wrong, and it took a call to my friendly Wild- mail support person (Eric) to clue me in on the solution to the problem. I hope I have just saved you lots of grief. Needless to say, I DON'T renumber my netmail conference nightly anymore. CAVEAT EMPTOR II ================ Another grief-ridden two days was spent needlessly because of another undocumented feature of Wildmail. There is a file in Wildmail v.2.04 called WMCRASH.LST. DO NOT, I repeat DON'T put any names in it if you plan to run with multiple addresses. It is just a straight ASCII text file, and I thought I had to put my name in it in order to be able to send crash mail to other systems. This is not entirely true. If you configure your QM_ROUTE.CFG (which is your QM mail routing configuration file) correctly, you can send crash mail to other systems without the WMCRASH.LST file. Let me tell you what happened to me. I use two names on my FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 28 system: My sysop name of John Redmund and my real name of Rudolf Rothemund. I was setting up my system for dual addresses (not covered in this documentation) and I sent my TrekNet hub a message using my real name. I couldn't get Qmail to route the mail to his TrekNet address of 87:6001/0. It would get routed to 1:6001/0. I couldn't figure out why this was happening. I poured over all the docs in BINK, Wildmail and Qmail to no avail. Then I did something quite by accident (don't we all learn the most when this happens?). I sent a message to my TrekNet hub with my SYSOP name, and it WORKED. It was routed correctly to 87:6001/0. With my new-found courage and wisdom, I whipped off a message to my Trek- Net hub with my real name, and BAM, my system puked again. I was stymied. Here I had two different messages, one which was routed to the correct address and one with the wrong address. I looked at the messages and the outbound areas what they were in and found that the correctly routed one was zipped, even though it was a one line message. The incorrectly routed one was NOT zipped, even though it was larger. So I checked Wildmail and QM for ANYTHING out of the ordinary and came up with NADA. Zip. Wild goose chase. Then I went back into the board and saw that I used the two different names to write the messages. I used my sysop name and real name for another test and lo and behold, I was able to duplicate the results. I immediately realized that I had put my real name in Wildmail's WMCRASH.LST because I wanted to be able to send crash mail anytime I wanted to with my real identity. So I took my name out of WMCRASH.LST and repeated the experiment and guess what? BOTH messages were zipped together and routed to the correct zone 87 address. The moral of the story: DON'T use the WMCRASH.LST if you want to use multiple addresses. QM == Wildmail is a good program, however, it does not route outbound mail. This is unfortunate because I paid good money for the pro- gram, and I hope that Online Computer Resources (the people that wrote Wildmail) will someday support their own internal packing, bundling, and routing of their outbound mail. Online Computer Resources suggests using a program called QM for this function. I use QM v.1.30 *gamma*. This program is provided free of charge by Greg Dawson and George Peace. It is not pack- aged with Wildmail, but it is provided on my BBS as QM_130GM.ZIP. Create a directory under your BINK directory named QMAIL and place your QM_130GM.LZH file in it. Decompress it with lha.exe, print the documentation file and put it in a notebook. I have my Wildmail and QM documentation files in the same notebook. As I only need QM for it's routing capabilities, I don't use QM's tossing and scanning routines. I still had to configure the whole FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 29 program to get it to work properly. There are two files that must be configured with QM. The first one is QM.CFG. This configuration file is surprisingly similar to WM.CFG. Where possible I have used the same parameters on both configuration files. The second file is the QM_ROUTE file. This is the file that tells QM and BINK where to route (send) your mail and how to route it. This file is tied in with the CAT.BAT file and four other batch files. These other files will be discusses in later sections. The QM.CFG file is another straight ASCII file that is placed in the Qmail subdirectory. It directs QM much as WM.CFG directs Wildmail. QM.CFG ------ Primary_Zone 1 Address 226/1260 NetMail C:\BINK\NETMAIL NetFile C:\BINK\NETFILE Outbound C:\BINK\OUTBOUND 1 Status_Log C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM.LOG Sysop RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Swap 7 Bad_Msgs C:\BINK\BADECHO Dupes 7500 No_Content No_Private_EchoMail ARC_Unpack 8 arce.com %s *.PKT /r ARC_Unpack 9 pkxarc.com /r %s *.PKT ARC_Unpack 10 pak.exe e /wa %s *.PKT %ARC_Unpack 20 arc7 e %s *.PKT ZOO_Unpack 0 zoo.exe xO %s *.PKT ZIP_Unpack 0 pkunzip.exe -o %s *.PKT LHARC_Unpack 0 lharc.exe e /m %s *.PKT LHA_Unpack 0 lha.exe e /m %s *.PKT ARJ_Unpack 0 arj.exe e -y %s *.PKT No_Private_EchoMail Routing_Config_File C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM_Route.Cfg Define_Packer ARC pkarc.com -oct a Define_Packer PAK_W/CRUSH pak.exe a /wa Define_Packer ZOO zoo.exe -add Define_Packer ZIP pkzip.exe -a Define_Packer LHARC lharc.exe a /m Define_Packer LHA lha.exe a /m Define_Packer ARJ arj.exe a -y Pack ZIP 1:226/0 10 1210 1250 5200 104/330 Primary_Zone 1 - This is my zone (North America and Canada) Address 226/1260 - This is my FIDO address. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 30 NetMail C:\BINK\NETMAIL - This is the path to the NETMAIL directory. As stated in the WM.CFG section, when WILDMAIL scans my conference 1, which is my netmail conference, it places the outbound netmail in this directory. QM then takes these messages, compresses them and routes them to their destination. NetFile C:\BINK\NETFILE - This is the path to the NETFILE directory, where I get my incoming mail and files. Outbound C:\BINK\OUTBOUND 1 - This is the path to my OUTBOUND directory, where mail is stored and sent. Note that this directory does NOT have an extension (such as outbound.txt). QM will supply one if necessary. The 1 refers to my primary zone, 1. Status_Log C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM.LOG - This is the name and path of QM's information log. Sysop RUDOLF ROTHEMUND - My name. Swap 7 - This tells QM to swap to EMS, XMS, of file (in that order) during the unpacking, tossing, or DOS shell functions. Bad_Msgs C:\BINK\BADECHO - This is where my echomail goes that is not properly labeled in AREAS.BBS. Dupes 7500 - This number reflects the number of messages that QM will keep information about to check for duplicate messages. No_Content - This parameter allows deletion of messages that have no text in the message body. No_Private_EchoMail - This option does not allow any private messages in the echo mail conferences. ARC_Unpack 8 arce.com %s *.PKT /r These lines tell ARC_Unpack 9 pkxarc.com /r %s *.PKT QM the name of ARC_Unpack 10 pak.exe e /wa %s *.PKT the unpacker, it's %ARC_Unpack 20 arc7 e %s *.PKT compression method ZOO_Unpack 0 zoo.exe xO %s *.PKT number (for ARC's) ZIP_Unpack 0 pkunzip.exe -o %s *.PKT the name of the LHARC_Unpack 0 lharc.exe e /m %s *.PKT decompression file, LHA_Unpack 0 lha.exe e /m %s *.PKT and the path (%s). ARJ_Unpack 0 arj.exe e -y %s *.PKT (Please note - I have the line ARC_Unpack 20 arc7 e %s *.PKT commented out because I can't find the ARC7 archiving program). Routing_Config_File C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM_Route.Cfg - This is the name and path of QM's route file. Define_Packer ARC pkarc.com -oct a These lines tell Define_Packer PAK_W/CRUSH pak.exe a /wa QM the name of Define_Packer ZOO zoo.exe -add the compression FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 31 Define_Packer ZIP pkzip.exe -a utility and gives Define_Packer LHARC lharc.exe a /m each method a Define_Packer LHA lha.exe a /m designated code Define_Packer ARJ arj.exe a -y name (such as ZIP). Pack ZIP 1:226/0 10 1210 1250 5200 104/330 The line above tells QM, for example, that it should ZIP all mail going to 1:226/1210 (my hub). QM_ROUTE.CFG ------------ The QM_ROUTE.CFG file is yet another straight ASCII file that is located in the QMAIL subdirectory. After Wildmail scans and tosses the mail, QM routes, or sends, the mail on it's way. Where and how the mail is sent is determined here. SCHED MAIL1 ALL 00:00 23:59 SEND NORMAL 1:ALL POLL NORMAL 1:226/1210 SCHED MAIL2 ALL 00:00 23:59 SEND NORMAL 1:ALL SCHED MAIL3 ALL 00:00 23:59 SEND CRASH 1:ALL ;SCHED MAIL4 ALL 00:00 23:59 ;ROUTE NORMAL 1:226/1210 1:ALL 2:ALL 3:ALL 4:ALL 5:ALL 6:ALL Page 28 of the QM documentation file shows the syntax of the QM_ROUTE.CFG file. SCHED <tag> <day> [<start_time> <end_time>] I have four schedules in my QM_ROUTE.CFG file. The first three schedules are active. The fourth one is not (commented out by the semicolons). When the schedule is active it will start at the first line and then continue to the instructions on the next line. It will go from line to line until the schedule is complete. SCHED MAIL1 ALL 00:00 23:59 SEND NORMAL 1:ALL POLL NORMAL 1:226/1210 My first schedule has the tag MAIL1 which is defined in my CAT.BAT and MAIL1.BAT files. This schedule operates every day of the week (ALL) and starts from midnight until one minute before midnight the next day. The second line tells QM to send all mail directly to all addresses in zone 1. In other words, if I need a file request FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 32 from or mail for a Fido system in North America or Canada, and I use this schedule to route the mail, QM will tell BINK to call this system normally. In other words, the message will be sent directly without routing through a hub. It will also ONLY send the request or mail IF it is allowed to do so according to the BINKLEY.EVT file. Remember, if my L flag is set to zero (L=0), then only LOCAL mail will go out directly. When my L flag is set for greater than zero (L>0), then ALL requests and mail will be sent. I use the third line to direct BINK to call my hub on a regular schedule. The third line in my first schedule directs BINK (through QM) to call the net/node address listed, which is 1:226/1210 (my hub). BINK will ONLY do this when my L flag is set to zero (L=0). This usually is only at 5AM during the weekdays and 5AM and 4PM on weekends. The reason I have this line in this schedule is because BINK will not call my hub if there is no mail to send. Note: when you determine the zone/net/node of your hub, you should replace the FidoNet address of my hub with your hub number. SCHED MAIL2 ALL 00:00 23:59 SEND NORMAL 1:ALL The second schedule is like the first schedule except that the POLL line is removed. I sometimes like to send mail or request files without polling my hub. SCHED MAIL3 ALL 00:00 23:59 SEND CRASH 1:ALL I use the third schedule to send crashmail. Crash mail is mail that goes out immediately (I can also request files this way, also). The tag is called MAIL3, and the starting and ending times are the same as the other schedules. The second line directs BINK through QM to send all mail or file requests CRASH (immediately). The 1:ALL means that all mail that is destined for zone one (North America and Canada) will go CRASH. Unless used otherwise, the verb CRASH will send mail directly (BINK will call the remote system, not route the call through a hub). ;SCHED MAIL4 ALL 00:00 23:59 ;ROUTE NORMAL 1:226/1210 1:ALL 2:ALL 3:ALL 4:ALL 5:ALL 6:ALL The last schedule is not an active schedule, and is commented out by the semicolons. It is not active because at the present time my HUB does not support routing of netmail. I have to send it directly to the system. I have made this schedule in case the policy of my HUB and HOST changes and allows host routing of netmail. The first line has the tag MAIL4 which is defined in my CAT.BAT file. The times that I want it to route netmail would be all the FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 33 time, so I use my usual start and end times. The second line tells QM that I want to route mail normally. This means that I only want to send mail whenever the BINKLEY.EVT file allows mail, which in my case is when the L flag is greater than zero (L>0). The address immediately following ROUTE NORMAL is the address that I will want all my netmail to go through. In this case, it would be my hub. The addresses starting with 1:ALL 2:ALL, etc. mean that I want netmail generated from my system ad- dressed to any of the six FidoNet zones to be routed through my hub. Wildnode ======== I need Wildnode v.1.10 to gain access into my Wildcat Netmail area. This program is like Xlaxnode v.2.56 in that it is compiles the nodelist in a form that the Wildcat Netmail area can use. I unzipped Wildnode v.1.10 and placed all my files in the C:\BINK\NODELIST directory. I suggest that you print out the documentation files and place them with the Xlaxnode v.2.56 documentation files. The program is easy to configure. The configuration file is named WILDNODE.CFG and mine only contains five lines: NODE 1:226/1260 ZONES 1 COUNTRY 1 COST 20 250 END The first line is my Fidonet zone/net/node address. The second line contains the zones that I want compiled form the nodelist. I only want zone 1, so the ZONES line only contains a 1. The code for the USA is 1, so my COUNTRY is 1. The fourth line contains my cost statement. The first cost (20) stand for 20 cents per min- ute, which is what I charge anyone who uses netmail for a domestic call, night or day. The second cost is the cost of an interna- tional call. This cost is really a moot point since I don't allow international calls, but I have it set to $2.50 per minute to keep the program happy. The last line is the obligatory END statement. To run the program once the WILDMAIL.CFG is configured, just type WILDNODE and away you go. But be prepared for at least 8-10 minutes of waiting, and the files that are produced take up around one and a half megs of space. One note about the Wildcat netmail area. You won't be able to send any messages in this area until you give yourself netmail credits. To do this, go to your SYSOP menu in Wildcat and enter the user database. Find your name and look at the bottom right hand section of the screen. Type number 30 and then the enter key. You will be prompted to enter a number. Enter a large FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 34 number there. If you don't do this, you will get a message every time you try to enter a netmail message that states that you don't have enough netmail credits. If you allow your users to have access to this area, you must give them appropriate credits here under their names also. TOSSING SCANNING AND PACKING MAIL: USING WILDMAIL AND QM ======================================================== Now it's time to show you how I use Wildmail and QM to process my mail. I have created four batch files to do this: MAIL1.BAT, MAIL2.BAT, MAIL3.BAT AND MAIL4.BAT. All the these batch files are called from the CAT.BAT file. MAIL1.BAT --------- ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING C: CD\BINK\WILDMAIL WM TOSS SCAN ECHO ROUTING THE MAIL AND POLL HUB C: CD\BINK\QMAIL QM PACK -sMAIL1 CD \WC30 The first line in the first block of lines echos (writes) a message to me that tells me that MAIL1.BAT is working. I was having trouble getting it to work when I first developed the CAT.BAT and MAILx batch files, and I used this echo to let me know where I was. I decided to keep this line in; you can delete it if you wish. The second and third lines make sure that I an on hard drive C and changes directory to my WILDMAIL directory under my BINK direc- tory. The fourth line starts Wildmail. The order of TOSS and SCAN doesn't matter; Wildmail will toss mail if it exists in the NETFILE directory and will scan for new mail in the NETMAIL area and in the conferences defined in the AREAS.BBS, as well as the BADECHO area. The first line in the second block of lines is another echo letting me know that the program and batch file works properly. The next line is the QM pack command. The syntax is: QM PACK -s<schedule tag> The -s activates the schedule tag option, which overrides the normal scheduler (which I don't use) and substitutes a specific schedule tag. When the PACK option is used in this manner, QM will look for mail FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 35 in the Netmail area (c:\bink\netmail) and extract it to the out- bound area (c:\bink\outbound). The PACK option will take this extracted netmail and any echo mail tossed into the outbound area by Wildmail and treat it according to the schedule tag (-sMAIL1). I have defined the schedule tag MAIL1 in the QM_ROUTE.CFG file to send all mail directly to the Fido address, and also to poll (call) my hub. In plain English, when I use my MAIL1.BAT file, I am tossing, scanning and packing my mail to be sent directly to my hub. The mail will only go when my L flag in my BINKLEY.EVT file is set to greater than 0 (L>0), which is at 5AM nightly and twice a day during the weekends. If there is no mail to send, BINK will still call my hub to pick up any mail for my system. MAIL2.BAT --------- ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING C: CD\BINK\WILDMAIL WM TOSS SCAN ECHO ROUTING THE MAIL WITHOUT CALLING THE HUB C: CD\BINK\QMAIL QM PACK -sMAIL2 CD \WC30 The ONLY difference between the MAIL1.BAT and MAIL2.BAT is that the MAIL2 schedule tag is NOT defined to poll my hub. Sometimes I want to toss, scan and pack my mail without having to call my hub. MAIL3.BAT --------- ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING C: CD\BINK\WILDMAIL WM TOSS SCAN ECHO SENDING MAIL CRASH C: CD\BINK\QMAIL QM PACK -sMAIL3 CD\WC30 The first block of lines of this batch file are the same as in MAIL1.BAT and MAIL2.BAT. I want Wildmail to toss and scan my net and echo mail. I use my MAIL3 schedule tag in this batch file, which is defined in the QM_ROUTE.CFG file as my crash mail tag. I use this batch FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 36 file to send mail immediately anywhere in zone 1 (North America and Canada). MAIL4.BAT --------- ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING C: CD\BINK\WILDMAIL WM TOSS SCAN ECHO ROUTING NETMAIL C: CD\BINK\QMAIL QM PACK -sMAIL4 CD\WC30 I use the schedule tag MAIL4 as defined in the QM_ROUTE.CFG file to route my netmail through my hub. This schedule tag is not active at this time. BBS INTERFACE ============= There are three methods that BINK can use to interface with the BBS (allow human callers into the BBS). I have chosen the BBS BATCH method. When BINK detects a human caller (as opposed to a mail call) the BBS BATCH method causes BINK to write to the disk a file named BBSBATCH.BAT. This file always contains the same line: SPAWNBBS %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 Wildcat may be started by using the following line in a batch file: Wildcat /b %2%5 %4 where in both cases %2 = the caller's connect rate as reported by the modem, %5 = error control information (such as MNP), and %4 = the number of minutes left before a hard event (such as National Mail Hour - see the third event in the EVENT section). Please note that the %2 and the %5 are right up to each other. That is how Wildcat likes it; it is not an error (pun not intended). As you can see, Wildcat does not use all the parameters (the % numbers) that BATCHBBS.BAT creates. SPAWNBBS.BAT ------------ To use the BBS BATCH method SPAWNBBS.BAT needs to be created. My SPAWNBBS.BAT is as follows: set live=2 FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 37 set baud=%2 set minleft=%4 set error=%5 cat.bat These parameters are defined (set) in this file and then passed to the CAT.BAT file. A word of caution: The ONLY things that you can change in this file and still get it to work are the words LIVE, DTE, BAUD, MINLEFT, ERROR, and the equivalent words in your CAT.BAT file. The numbers must stay the same and, importantly, the order must stay the same, ESPECIALLY if there is an equal or double equal sign in the equation. Remember if you do change a word such as MINLEFT, be consistent about changing it everywhere you see it or your system WILL puke. CAT.BAT ------- This is the central file for my entire mail system. This file controls all the functions of the mailer, BBS operation, mail processing software, and maintenance. The file is named CAT.BAT and was originally used to start up my Wildcat BBS. I have mod- ified it and placed it in my Wildcat systems directory, which is my C:\wc30 directory. This path is in my PATH statement in my autoexec.bat file. echo off cls SET WCNODEID=1 SET WCPORTID=1 :start IF 2==%LIVE% GOTO WILDCAT set live= set baud= set minleft= set error= REM F1 = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND CALL HUB REM F2 = SCAN TOSS AND PACK MAIL NO HUB CALL REM F3 = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND SEND CRASH REM F4 = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND ROUTE NORMAL REM F5 = CYCLE BBS REM F6 = TOSS AND SCAN ONLY NO PACK REM F8 = MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE REM F9 = ENTER BBS LOCALLY REM F10 = EXIT cd\bink VFOS_IBM bt unattended IF ERRORLEVEL 192 goto RUNBBS FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 38 IF ERRORLEVEL 144 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 120 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 100 goto EXIT IF ERRORLEVEL 96 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 90 goto LOCALBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 80 goto MAINTAIN IF ERRORLEVEL 60 goto SCAN IF ERRORLEVEL 50 goto START IF ERRORLEVEL 48 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 40 goto MAIL4 IF ERRORLEVEL 30 goto MAIL3 IF ERRORLEVEL 24 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 20 goto MAIL2 IF ERRORLEVEL 12 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 10 goto MAIL1 IF ERRORLEVEL 3 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 1 goto EXIT IF ERRORLEVEL 0 goto EXIT goto exit :RUNBBS VFOS_DEL BBSBATCH.BAT :WILDCAT VFOS_DEL C: CD\WC30 if /%error%==/ goto WILD1 set error=MNP :WILD1 wildcat /b %baud%%error% %minleft% set live= goto START :LOCALBBS SET MINLEFT= SET BAUD=LOCAL goto WILDCAT :MAIL1 VFOS_DEL C: CD\BINK CALL MAIL1.BAT goto START :MAIL2 VFOS_DEL C: CD\BINK CALL MAIL2.BAT goto START FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 39 :MAIL3 VFOS_DEL C: CD\BINK CALL MAIL3.BAT goto START :MAIL4 VFOS_DEL C: CD\BINK CALL MAIL4.BAT goto START :SCAN VFOS_DEL C: CD\BINK\WILDMAIL WM TOSS SCAN cd\wc30 goto START :MAINTAIN VFOS_DEL c: cd\wc30 call maintain.bat goto START :EXIT VFOS_DEL goto GOODBYE :GOODBYE My CAT.BAT file is actually simple to understand. I have made it as straightforward as possible and have included some REM state- ments to show what my function (F1, F2, etc) keys do. echo off cls SET WCNODEID=1 SET WCPORTID=1 :start The first four lines turns off character echos, clears the screen, and then sets my node and port to one. This is a necessary statement because BINK and Wildcat both occasionally need to be reminded of this information. The fifth line is a label. When- ever a GOTO START statement is encountered in the CAT.BAT file, the file will jump to this point. IF 2==%LIVE% GOTO WILDCAT set live= FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 40 set baud= set minleft= set error= The first line is like an IF..THEN statement. When CAT.BAT is first started, the statement 2==%LIVE% is false, so the line will be skipped and the batch file will proceed to the next line. The reasoning behind this will become apparent in the next MINI- EXPLANATION section. The next four lines tie in with my SPAWNBBS.BAT file. Please recall that I have set these parameters in my SPAWNBBS.BAT file. When CAT.BAT is first started, the three SET commands cause these parameters to be set to nothing. It clears out these parameters so they can be properly set in the SPAWNBBS.BAT file. REM F1 = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND CALL HUB REM F2 = SCAN TOSS AND PACK MAIL NO HUB CALL REM F3 = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND SEND CRASH REM F4 = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND ROUTE NORMAL REM F5 = CYCLE BBS REM F6 = TOSS AND SCAN ONLY NO PACK REM F8 = MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE REM F9 = ENTER BBS LOCALLY REM F10 = EXIT BINK uses errorlevel testing in order to start it's functions and guide the functions of the other programs. One characteristic of BINK is that whenever an errorlevel is tested, it is tied in with a function key on my keyboard. The relationship is that if BINK sets an errorlevel, the function key on your keyboard that will start the program is that errorlevel divided by ten. For example, when I want to exit BINK, I type F10. If you look at my error- level settings below, you will see that ERRORLEVEL 100 is set to goto an exit marker. For all you math majors out there, 100 divided by 10 equals 10. So my F10 key functions as my exit key. BINK allow me to do this from F1 through F10, so my errorlevels 10,20,30,40,50,60,80,90 and 100 are automatically keyed (pun intended) into my function keys by BINK. I have placed these function key reminders (REM's) here so I don't forget what keys are for what function. cd\bink VFOS_IBM bt unattended The first line changes the directory to where I keep all my BINK files. The second line starts my video fossil. This is not to be confused with my other fossil driver. The video fossil controls the colors on my BINK screen. I have my VFOS_IBM.EXE file in my DOS directory (which is in my PATH statement), and I start my video fossil before I start BINK. The video fossil is an OPTION. This is not required, so if you have a monochrome screen, or FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 41 just care to look at BINK's black and white screen, don't include this statement in your CAT.BAT file. The third line starts BINK. BT.EXE is the name of the program, and the unattended mode is the way BINK starts up as a front-end mailer. BINK can also start up as a dumb terminal program. I have my own personal communications program and never use the dumb terminal option. IF ERRORLEVEL 192 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 144 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 120 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 100 goto EXIT IF ERRORLEVEL 96 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 90 goto LOCALBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 80 goto MAINTAIN IF ERRORLEVEL 60 goto SCAN IF ERRORLEVEL 50 goto START IF ERRORLEVEL 48 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 40 goto MAIL4 IF ERRORLEVEL 30 goto MAIL3 IF ERRORLEVEL 24 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 20 goto MAIL2 IF ERRORLEVEL 12 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 10 goto MAIL1 IF ERRORLEVEL 3 goto RUNBBS IF ERRORLEVEL 1 goto EXIT IF ERRORLEVEL 0 goto EXIT goto EXIT The IF ERRORLEVEL statements all point to markers in the rest of my CAT.BAT file. If BINK exits with an errorlevel that is either not hard programmed into it or not designated here, it drops to the goto EXIT line, where BINK exits to my DOS prompt. This has not happened to me yet, so I must have things set up OK. :RUNBBS VFOS_DEL BBSBATCH.BAT One of the parameters that the Wildcat BBS needs to know in order to start it is the baud rate of the caller. BINK passes that information to Wildcat by exiting at an errorlevel determined by the baud rate of the caller divided by 100. For example, if a BBS call comes in at 2400, BINK will exit at an errorlevel of 24. If you look at my ERRORLEVEL statements, errorlevel 24 points the batch file to go to the :RUNBBS marker. I have errorlevels 3,12,24,48,96,120,144,and 192 set up to go to the marker :RUNBBS. The second statement deletes my video fossil program. I keep the file VFOS_DEL.EXE in my DOS directory along with the VFOS_IBM program. The only time I want to run the video fossil is when BINK is at it's opening screen, so I delete the program whenever I FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 42 have BINK do anything else. Again, if you aren't going to run the video fossil, don't include this statement in your CAT.BAT file. The third statement starts the BBS interface process. As previously stated in the BBS interface section, I have BINK configured to use the file BBSBATCH.BAT to pass parameters to WILDCAT. BBSBATCH.BAT is NOT created by me. BINK creates it. It starts another file that IS created me. That file is called SPAWNBBS.BAT. SPAWNBBS.BAT sets the parameters needed by Wildcat to a form that can be used in my CAT.BAT file to start WILDCAT. It also sets an additional parameter named LIVE equal to 2, and then it restarts the CAT.BAT file. MINI-EXPLANATION ================ At this point I will digress to explain a little how the batch files work. When BINK is first started with the CAT.BAT file, the batch file finds the line if 2==%LIVE% goto WILDCAT (WILDCAT is a label in the batch file). Since the parameter LIVE has not been set yet, 2 is not equal to %LIVE% and the batch file continues to the next lines, where the next three parameters are set equal to nothing. This is accomplished by not putting anything after the equal sign. This clears these parameters for future setting. After clearing these parameters, the batch file goes to the next lines, which starts the video fossil and starts BINK in unattended mode (the front-end option). Then Bink waits for either a mail call or a BBS call. If a BBS call comes in, BINK determines the baud rate of the caller, and then exits at the errorlevel determined by the baud rate divided by 100. As previously stated, a 2400 baud caller would cause BINK to exit at an errorlevel of 24. At errorlevel 24, the batch file goes to the label :RUNBBS. The commands at this label turns off the video fossil and starts the BBSBATCH file, which was automatically written by BINK at the time of the errorlevel exit. BBSBATCH.BAT in turn starts the SPAWNBBS.BAT file which, among others, sets the parameter LIVE==2. The last line of SPAWNBBS.BAT restarts the CAT.BAT file. Now when the program gets to the line IF 2==%LIVE%, the statement is true (the parameter was set in SPAWNBBS.BAT) and the program goes to the :WILDCAT label. :WILDCAT VFOS_DEL C: CD\WC30 if /%error%==/ goto WILD1 set error=MNP goto WILD1 :WILD1 wildcat /b %baud%%error% %minleft% set live= goto start FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 43 At this point, the first lines deletes the video fossil and changes to my Wildcat program files directory. The next set of lines, which was written by my good friend Rick Nash (1:226/1250), allows callers with MNP error level checking to be able to enter the BBS with this feature intact. This is important because Wildcat will not allow Y-MODEM-g downloads without MNP being detected. If a caller has a modem with error checking, the line "if /%error%==/" is false, and the call goes to the next line, where the parameter "error" is reset to MNP and then the call goes to the WILD1 label. If the "if /%error%== /" is false, as with non-MNP calls, the program goes to the WILD1 label without resetting the error parameter. At the WILD1 label, Wildcat is actually started. As previously stated, Wildcat may be started by using the following line in a batch file: Wildcat /b %2%5 %4 where %2 = the caller's connect rate as reported by the modem, %5 = error control information (such as MNP), and %4 = the number of minutes left before a hard event. These parameters were further defined in SPAWNBBS.BAT: set live=2 set baud=%2 set minleft=%4 set error=%5 The Wildcat software uses the parameters that are defined in this file to start and allow a BBS caller access to my bulletin board with the proper baud rate, absence or presence of error checking, and time left until a hard event. After the caller exits my board, the next line in the CAT.BAT is followed. This line (SET LIVE= ) sets the parameter LIVE to nothing. That way my bulletin board doesn't accidentally stay resident. The next line is GOTO START, which instructs the batch file to proceed to the label START which is at the beginning of the CAT.BAT file. Since the previous line defined the parameter LIVE to nothing, the equation in the following line IF 2==%LIVE% GOTO WILDCAT is false, the file continues on and BINK is restarted. The whole cycle is repeated with the next BBS caller. :LOCALBBS VFOS_DEL SET MINLEFT= SET BAUD=LOCAL goto WILDCAT FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 44 This label grants me access to my board from my local terminal. If you look at my ERRORLEVEL definitions, I have a statement IF ERRORLEVEL 90 goto LOCALBBS. At this label, I again delete the video fossil, set MINLEFT equal to nothing (I don't want to worry about how much time I have left on my own board). and the baud rate is set to LOCAL. The next line goes to the label WILDCAT, and I am treated as if were running Wildcat without a mailer and typed ALT-L from my keyboard. :MAIL1 VFOS_DEL C: CD\BINK CALL MAIL1.BAT goto START The next four labels in the batch file are similar, the only difference being that the file CALLED is different. I have four mail batch files which are kept in the BINK directory. Each one of them performs a different function. Each MAIL.BAT file is tied to a FUNCTION key by errorlevels. MAIL1.BAT is started when BINK exit at errorlevel 10 (or by pressing function key F1), MAIL2.BAT is started when BINK exits at errorlevel 20 (or by pressing the function key F2) and so forth. The batch files are CALLED, so when the file has done it's job, it exits back where it started. After the batch file exits, it goes to the label :START and BINK restarts. :SCAN VFOS_DEL C: CD\BINK\WILDMAIL WM TOSS SCAN cd\wc30 goto START After I receive mail from my hub, BINK exits at an errorlevel designated by my E2 flag in my BINKLEY.EVT file. On my system, this is errorlevel 60. When BINK exits at this errorlevel, it goes to the SCAN label. It first deletes my video fossil, then it goes to my wildmail directory and starts Wildmail by the command WM TOSS SCAN. After my mail is processed my Wildmail the program goes back to the label :START and BINK is restarted. Please note that I can also cause Wildmail to toss and scan mail manually by typing the F6 key. :MAINTAIN VFOS_DEL c: cd\wc30 call maintain.bat goto START This is my maintenance schedule. I keep the file in my Wildcat FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 45 systems directory, and I CALL it much as I call the MAILX.BAT files. :EXIT VFOS_DEL goto GOODBYE When I type my F10 key, BINK goes to this label, which deletes the video fossil FOR ONE LAST TIME (HURRAY!!!!!) and then it goes to the GOODBYE label. :GOODBYE THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!! BINK goes to the DOS prompt. HOW TO GET A ZONE/NET/NODE NUMBER ================================= FidoNet requires that in order to get a Zone/Net/Node number you must be able to Netmail your request. But here's the twist: you can't send Netmail until you have a node number. Nice catch 22, huh? Well, there is a way around this. We will simply make up our own. The first thing that you must do is to acquire a nodelist. Node- lists can be but are not always available from a FIDO board such as mine. If you happen to call a FIDO board near your city, then try to download it from them. I have a current nodelist avail- able, but the name changes every week. In order to find out the name from my system, you must download my ALLFILEST or ZIP file and look in the FIDO section. Then you can call my board and leave a message for me stating that you want the nodelist. I allow non-registered users three files a day (maximum 200K a file) to be downloaded from The Red Phoenix BBS. Registered users have no download limits and four hours a day of time. If you would like the nodelist from me, please leave a message to me stating that you want to become a registered user on my board and I will grant you registered status on your next call. The regis- tration fee is only $10 a year; I figure anyone can afford that. The name and address to send the bucks to is listed on my GOODBYE screen. The nodelist that you get from me will NOT be compressed. The name will be NODELIST.### with the ### representing three digits. The digits represent the day of the year that the nodelist was compiled. In my allfilest the entry will look similar to this: nodelist.2551,500,500 The reason it looks like this is because the name of the file (nodelist.255) and it's size (1,500,500) are bumped together. If you request the file from me, please make sure that you use only the first three digits as the file extension. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 46 One word of advise before you think about hacking into the node- list: DON'TDOITYOUWILLREGRETITDON'TDON'TDON'TEVENTHINK ABOUT IT!!! The reason you can't hack into a nodelist is because CRC's are checked and if the CRC's don't match, as what will happen in a hacked nodelist, XLAXNODE will puke. And, you will lose a 1.5 MEG file that costs bucks to download. So DON'T hack into a nodelist. After you acquire a nodelist, place it in your C:\BINK\NODELIST directory. Take another copy and put it in the same directory as your favorite text editor and start up your editor. Scan the nodelist until you find the section near the city where you live. This may take some time because the nodelist is, as far as I can tell, not in any order. Once you find entries with your city in it, scroll upward line by line until you find the word HOST. This will be your NET. Take your editor and mark the entire line that has the HOST statement and copy that line to another file named BLOCK1.NET. After you have done this, scroll downward until you see the last net/node entry before the next HOST. Mark the entire last entry line and copy it to another file named BLOCK2.NET. Then restart your editor with the BLOCK2.NET file ready to edit. Your BLOCK2.NET file should look like this: ,1260,The_Red_Phoenix_BBS,Wooster_OH,Rudolf_Rothemund,1-216-345- 5807,9600,CM,HST,XA This is my node entry. As you know, my FidoNet zone/net/node number is 1:226/1260. The 1260 comes from this line. I have to split up the entire line in this example because it can't be printed as one line on this page. When you edit this line, make sure that it all appears as one line. What you need to do now is to replace the number 1260 with the number 9999, and replace the name my BBS name with the name of your BBS, your real name, the phone number of your BBS, and the maximum speed of your modem (no higher than 9600). If you have a US Robotics 14,400 courier or dual standard modem, leave the next three flags (CM,HST,XA) alone. If you don't have a US Robotics modem, then take out the HST flag along with ONE of the commas. (CM,XA). The CM flag stands for continuous mail and the XA means that you are running a BinkleyTerm V.2.50 mailer. Make sure that you follow the example EXACTLY. All the commas underlines, and dashes MUST be in their proper places. If XLAXNODE doesn't process the list, this will probably be the reason. By the way, I used four 9's because there were four numbers in the last node address. If there are only three or two numbers, then you should use only two or three 9's. After you edit it, resave it under the same name (BLOCK2.NET) and then recall your BLOCK1.NET. BLOCK1.NET should look like this: FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 47 Host,226,Buckeye-Net,Columbus_OH,David_Pointer,1-614-457-1701, 9600,CM,XA,HST,V32b,V42b This is my HOST. As you know, my FidoNet zone/net/node number is 1:226/1260. The 226 comes from this line. What you should do now is to copy BLOCK2.NET to the next line immediately under the HOST line. Your new BLOCK1.NET should look something like this: Host,226,Buckeye-Net,Columbus_OH,David_Pointer,1-614-457-1701, 9600,CM,XA,HST,V32b,V42b ,9999,The_Red_Phoenix_BBS,Wooster_OH,Rudolf_Rothemund,1-216-345- 5807,9600,CM,HST,XA Please note that the address of my host is 1:226/0. The 0 (zero) stands for NODE ZERO. You will need to know this later. Once this is done, save the file as BLOCK1.NET and place it in your C:\BINK\NODELIST directory. PLEASE DON'T use my NET number of 226 for your net number unless you live near the Columbus, Ohio area. I don't want David Pointer breathing down my neck for thousands of new FidoNet applicants that don't belong in his area! Once you make BLOCK1.NET, you need to add a line to the XLAXNODE.CTL file. I'll show an excerpt of the file and where the new line needs to be added: NODE 1:226/1260 NODE 1:226/1260 SORTWORK D:\SWAP SORTWORK D:\SWAP MAXBAUD 19200 MAXBAUD 19200 ZONE 1 ADD THIS LINE ======> PVTLIST BLOCK1.NET PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX ZONE 1 PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX Using the PVTLIST command with the name of the list is one of the methods XLAXNODE uses in order to allows private lists of nodes to be inserted into the nodelist files. Without this private list with your name and temporary number, BINK will not see your Fido- Net address in the nodelist (because it doesn't exist yet) and BINK will loop, trying to start over and over again. I can't tell you the number of times this happened to me until I got this right! After you have inserted the PVTLIST command into XLAXNODE.CTL, go back to ALL the program configuration files that need an address statement and make your address 1:XXX/9999, with the XXX the number of your host. I believe they should include BINKLEY.CFG, WM.CFG, QM.CFG, WILDNODE.CFG, and XLAXNODE.CTL. Pay attention to my explanations in the configuration files: some files require zone statements and some do not. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 48 STARTING IT UP ============== Now we're ready to go. Go to your C:\BINK\NODELIST directory and type XLAXNODE at the DOS prompt. The program should take about two minutes to compile your nodelist and your private nodelist (BLOCK1.NET) for BINK. After this is compiled, type WILDNODE at the DOS prompt. The files that Wildcat needs for it's Netmail directory will be created. WILDNODE takes about ten minutes to compile the nodelist. After this is done, change over to the BINK directory and type BTCTL. This will compile the BINKLEY.CFG file for BINK. This should take a few seconds. We are now ready to fire up BINK. Type CAT at the DOS prompt in any directory (boy, and I assuming that you are using my direc- tory paths and file names!) and you should get your opening screen. If everything is OK, you should see this message in the recent activity section of the screen: +14:14:11 begin,BinkleyTerm Version 2.50 2.56 -uSoft6.0 The time on the left of the line will be the time that you first started BINK. In order to get your zone/net/node number you must send a message to node zero (your HOST) with certain information. To enter your BBS, type the function nine key (F9) and you will get Wildcat's familiar prompt for your name, etc. Join your Netmail conference. Type E to enter a message. You should see the following prompt: [Z]one 1: North America [R]egion/Net 0: North America [N]ode.Point 0: North America Zone:Net/Node.Point, [A]ccept, [S]ysop, [Help], [Q]uit ? To send a message to node zero of your net, type 1:XXX/0 at the prompt where XXX is the number of your net. The number of my NET is 226, and you have to determine the number of your NET by searching your nodelist (unless you happen to be lucky and already know what it will be). The name of the person that you need to send the message to will be the name after the BBS name in the HOST nodelist entry. For example, if you look at my HOST entry, you will see that the name of the Host Coordinator is David Pointer. ************* Host,226,Buckeye-Net,Columbus_OH,David_Pointer,1-614-457-1701, 9600,CM,XA,HST,V32b,V42b ************* When you find the name, don't use the underline between the first and last name to send the message. The nodelist needs the presence of the underline, but if you use it when you send the message it won't get to the intended recipient. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 49 You will need to send a message to your host coordinator with this information: 1) Your name. 2) Your voice telephone number 3) The name of your system. 4) The city and state where your system is located. 5) The phone number to be used when calling your system. 6) Your hours of operation, netmail and BBS. 7) The maximum baud rate you can support. 8) The type of mailer software and modem you are using. This information comes from the Policy4.txt that FidoNet issues to people wanting new Net/Node numbers. This document is available from me for download from the Red Phoenix BBS, and should be available on other FIDO boards. Please read this statement for more information concerning the content of your admission letter. Once you compose your letter save it and exit the BBS. You should then get back to your opening BINK screen. Then type the function key three (F3). As you should recall, when you type F3, your mail will be tossed and scanned my Wildmail and then routed to it's destination crash (immediately). It's a neat feeling to finally watch your mail get processed, and once this letter has been sent, you are on your way to getting a zone/net/node number, and joining the wonderful world of FidoNet. And by the way, when you get your real zone/net/node number, don't forget to take out the PVTLIST BLOCK1.NET line in the XLAXNODE.CTL file, substitute your real number where it needs to be substituted and run Xlaxnode, Wildnode, and BTCTL again. If you find any errors in this documentation, or have any sug- gestions, or you want to leave me a message, please feel free to Netmail me. Rudolf Rothemund 1:226/1260 9/17/92 Appendix I SAMPLE TEXT FILES ================= OKFILE.TXT C:\BINK\NODEDIFF\*.* These are the directories that C:\FREQ\*.* the files that I allow for FREQing C:\BBS\*.* reside. The * means that all the C:\BBS\CHILDGAM\*.* files residing in the directory C:\BBS\COMM\*.* are FREQable. C:\BBS\COMPRESS\*.* C:\BBS\DATABASE\*.* FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 50 C:\BBS\FINANCE\*.* C:\BBS\GAMEA\*.* C:\BBS\GRASP\*.* C:\BBS\MISC\*.* C:\BBS\PROGRAM\*.* C:\BBS\SHAREBBS\*.* C:\BBS\SOUND\*.* C:\BBS\SPRSHEET\*.* C:\BBS\TREK\*.* C:\BBS\UTILITYA\*.* C:\BBS\UTILITYH\*.* C:\BBS\UTILITYN\*.* C:\BBS\UTILITYT\*.* C:\BBS\VIRUS\*.* C:\BBS\WINDOWS\*.* C:\BBS\WORD\*.* C:\WC30\*.* PHOENIX.TXT =========== The Red Phoenix BBS, Wooster, OH Running Wildcat! 3.5 and BinkleyTerm 2.50 Sysop: Rudolf Rothemund P.O. Box 8102 Wooster, OH 44691 1 Line: (216) 345-5807 - 1200/14.4K [HST] FidoNet 1:226/1260 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Your request has failed for some reason or another. Requesting the magic name "FILES" will get you a list of files which may in turn be requested. The BBS has many more files than those listed, but they are generally not requestable. Sorry. My hard drive configuration: ---------------------------- Directory PATH listing for Volume HARD DISK C Volume Serial Number is 1A5C-1DD7 C:. ├───BBS │ ├───BATCH │ ├───CHILDGAM │ ├───COMM │ ├───COMPRESS │ ├───DATABASE │ ├───FIDO │ ├───FINANCE │ ├───GAMEA │ ├───GAMEH │ ├───GAMEN FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 51 │ ├───GAMET │ ├───GRASP │ ├───MISC │ ├───MSUPLOAD │ │ └───VIRUS │ ├───PROGRAM │ ├───QUESTION │ ├───SHAREBBS │ ├───SOUND │ ├───SPRSHEET │ ├───TODAY │ ├───TREK │ ├───TREKGIF │ ├───UTILITYA │ ├───UTILITYH │ ├───UTILITYN │ ├───UTILITYT │ ├───VIRUS │ ├───WINDOW │ ├───WINDOWS │ └───WORD ├───BINK │ ├───BADECHO │ ├───NETFILE │ ├───NETMAIL │ ├───NODEDIFF │ ├───NODELIST │ ├───OUTBOUND │ ├───QMAIL │ └───WILDMAIL │ ├───DOS │ └───DOC ├───FREQ ├───MB │ ├───MSG000 │ ├───MSG001 │ ├───MSG002 │ ├───MSG003 │ ├───MSG004 │ ├───MSG005 │ ├───MSG006 │ ├───MSG007 │ ├───MSG008 │ ├───MSG009 │ ├───MSG010 │ ├───MSG011 │ ├───MSG012 │ ├───MSG013 │ ├───MSG014 │ ├───MSG015 │ ├───MSG016 │ ├───MSG017 │ ├───MSG018 FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 52 │ ├───MSG019 │ ├───MSG020 │ ├───MSG021 │ ├───MSG022 │ ├───MSG023 │ ├───MSG024 │ ├───MSG025 │ ├───MSG026 │ ├───MSG027 │ ├───MSG028 │ ├───MSG029 │ ├───MSG030 │ ├───MSG031 │ ├───MSG032 │ ├───MSG033 │ ├───MSG034 │ ├───MSG035 │ ├───MSG036 │ ├───MSG037 │ ├───MSG038 │ ├───MSG039 │ ├───MSG040 │ └───MSG041 ├───WC30 │ ├───ATTACH │ ├───BULL │ ├───DATA │ ├───DISP │ ├───DOOR │ │ ├───BATGUY │ │ ├───BBSLIST │ │ ├───BOGGLE │ │ ├───BOWL │ │ ├───CASINO │ │ ├───DARE │ │ ├───DELUXE │ │ ├───GAMBLE │ │ ├───GUPPY │ │ ├───HACK │ │ ├───KEY │ │ ├───KRAZY │ │ ├───MAGIC │ │ ├───NOTHING │ │ ├───STOOGE │ │ ├───STORY │ │ ├───SUPER │ │ ├───TANK │ │ ├───TRIVIA │ │ ├───TROUBLE │ │ ├───TURBO │ │ └───WHEEL │ ├───HELP │ ├───MENU │ ├───QUES FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 53 │ ├───STAR │ │ ├───BULL1 │ │ ├───MENU1 │ │ └───QUES1 │ ├───TOMCAT │ │ ├───DOC │ │ └───WORK.1 │ └───WCWORK │ └───NODE1 │ ├───EP │ └───TEMP │ └ Appendix II Wildcat! 3.55M -------------- The Professional Bulletin Board System from Mustang Software, Inc. P.O Box 2264 Bakersfield, CA 93303 Tech support: (805) 334-2240 Office Sales: (805) 395-0223 Public BBS: (805) 395-0650 Private BBS: (805) 395-0250 Price - Wildcat! 3.55M: $249 BinkleyTerm v.2.50 ------------------ A Freely Available FidoNet Compatible Electronic Mail Interface and Dumb Terminal Package Software written by Vince Perriello and Bob Hartman. Documentation aritten by Alan D. Applegate. Copyright (C) 1988, 1989 Bit Bucket Software, Co. P.O. Box 462398 Aurora, Co 80046 "BinkleyTerm" and "Freely Available" are trademarks of Bit Bucket Software, Co. (note - there are no telephone, BBS, FAX, or E-mail numbers). QM v.1.30 *gamma* -------------------- FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 54 An echomail processor offered free of charge. Copyright 1992 by Greg Dawson and George Peace. Version 1.00 documentation by Bob Davis (1:106/114). Version 1.30 documentation by George Peace. (note - there are no telephone, BBS, or FAX numbers). Wildmail! v2.04 Echomail Processor for Wildcat! v.3.00-3.02 thru v.3.5x ---------------------------------------------------------------- Copywright 1991, 1992 by Online Computer Resourses 4330-J Clayton Road Concord, Ca 94521 Voice tech support/sales: 510-687-1122 (9am-6pm M-F PST) (10am-5pm Sat PST) BBS (USR HST/V32): 510-687-0236 Fido Address 1:161/503 BBS (v32bis): 510-687-2134 Fido Address 1:161/504 Price: $40 Wildnode! v1.10 Nodelist Processor for Wildcat! v.3.00-3.02 thru v3.5x ----------------------------------------------------------------- Copywright 1991, 1992 by Online Computer Resourses 4330-J Clayton Road Concord, Ca 94521 Phones: Voice tech support/sales: 510-687-1122 (9am-6pm M-F PST) (10am-5pm Sat PST) BBS (USR HST/V32): 510-687-0236 Fido Address 1:161/503 BBS (v32bis): 510-687-2134 Fido Address 1:161/504 Price: Released free of charge to the general public; no registration fee required. Xlaxdiff and Xlaxnode II v2.56 ------------------------------ Copyright 1987-1992 by Scott Samet (Friends of Dorothy) (1:135/990) Address: Scott Samet PO Box 162082 Miami, Fla 33116-2082 Phone: There are no voice or data phone lines. FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND Page 55 Price: $15 for Xlaxdiff and Xlaxnode v2.56 per node. X.00 v1.24 ---------- Copyright (C) 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 by Raymond L. Gwinn. Address: Raymond L. Gwinn 12469 Cavalier Drive Woodbridge, Virginia 22192 FidoNet 1:265/1 Data phone: (703) 494-8331 Price: Free of charge VFOS_IBM and VFOS_DEL VFOSSIL Compatible Driver ----------------------------------------------- Revision 1.10 Copyright 1988 by Bob Hartman and Spark Software, Inc. Fido Address: 1:132/101 Price: Free of charge US Robotics 14400 Courier High Speed Modem ------------------------------------------ Address: US Robotics, Inc. 8100 North McCormick Blvd. Skokie, Il 60076 Phone (voice): 1-800-342-5877 Phone (BBS) : 1-708-982-5092 Tech support : 1-800-982-5151 Price (Sysop program): $349