Welcome to BulkRate 2.1.2. This document contains important info not included in the manual.
BulkRate is an offline reader for FirstClass BBSs that runs on the Macintosh. It can capture messages for offline reading and replying, and can automatically retrieve attached files for you.
If you re-upload BulkRate to other BBSs or services, please include all the files that came with it, especially the documentation.
Send bug reports or suggestions to greg_neagle@pop.com or to the OneNet BulkRate conference.
••BulkRate registration update:••
The cost to register BulkRate is now $25.
If you live outside of California, you may register BulkRate by Visa or MasterCard through DigitalPopcorn Online Services, a Los Angeles-based online service that is an authorized reseller of BulkRate. The price is $25. You should still send me the registration request and appropriate credit card info via e-mail or snail mail - I will forward the credit card info to DigitalPopcorn for processing.
If you live in the UK, you might be interested in a service provided by John R. Macrae of MacTel.
Bank charges and other costs associated with sending foreign currency overseas are a great disincentive to computer users outside the US who use the vast amount of high quality shareware which is available. John Macrae runs a non-profit making shareware payment service from the UK which caters for the needs of UK users. He will be happy to answer any questions on this service by email at the following addresses:
John_R._Macrae@iconex.mactel.org,Internet (daily)
John R. Macrae,InfoWEB UK (daily) - Tel: 01992 503242
John R. Macrae,MacTel Iconex (daily) - Tel: 0115 945 5444
John R. Macrae,MacTel Metro (rarely) - Tel: 0181 543 8017
John R. Macrae,MediaWorx (weekly) - Tel: 0131 539 6003
New in BulkRate 2.1.2
• New additions to the address book (1/2): Command-] copies the address of the sender of the currently open incoming message to the current address book. (You can also invoke this from the Address Book submenu under the View menu).
• New additions to the address book (2/2): You may now enter a note or memo for each address book entry. The note is visible only when editing address book entries.
• Fixed a problem that sometimes caused BulkRate to hang when exchanging mail in the background.
• Fixed a bug that caused BulkRate to crash when dealing with very large incoming messages formatted as large blocks of text without spaces or return characters; typically BinHexed or UUEncoded files embedded withing the message body.
New in BulkRate 2.1.1
• Fixed a problem with some FirstClass BBSs that caused outgoing messages to send improperly and appear as a single character.
• Adjusted the outgoing message splitting code so as not to split in the middle of a word; first it attempts to split on a paragraph boundary, then on a space character.
• Changed the message sort routine:
1) When sorting by Conference, the MailBox now always sorts to the top.
2) All sorts are now secondarily sorted by date/time.
3) You may now sort items in a list window by clicking on the header at the top of the
window, just like in the Finder.
New in the final release version of BulkRate 2.1:
• Enhanced the Find text command to look for text in the entire mailbox, rather than in just the open window.
• Fixed a bug where a blank subject line in an outgoing message was sent as a single random character.
• Fixed the Address Book "auto-sort" so that it is no longer case sensitive.
• The Other... menu item under the Size submenu in the Edit menu now works again; it apparently stopped working in some earlier version and I had not noticed this.
• BulkRate no longer reformats text that has been word wrapped at 80 characters (typically messages from the Internet).
• Creation dates are now preserved on mailboxes.
• Other minor bug fixes and enhancements.
New in BulkRate 2.1b9:
• Support for extended keyboard editing keys: Cut, Copy, Paste, Page up, Page down
• New "Reply special" menu: Reply to sender, conference, or all.
• Improved Address Book functionality
- type a name and BulkRate will
replace it with the appropriate address
• Improved message handling
- outgoing mail window can stay open during an exchange
- you may create, edit and delete outgoing mail during an exchange
• Automatic translation of extended characters in outgoing mail
• Improved connections when using an .fcl log on script
• Option to delete old mail in your mailbox on the server
(This has changed somewhat from version 2.1b7.
Check Service setup->Exchange settings)
• Many bug fixes
New in BulkRate 2.1b8: (was released 1 day after 2.1b7)
Fixed a bug that sometimes occurred when attempting to turn on "Delete mail from server after reading" under Exchange settings in Service setup.
New in BulkRate 2.1b7:
• Fixed a bug that caused messages in mailboxes to become corrupted after deleting or archiving.
• Fixed a bug in the automatic file downloading that caused BulkRate to fail to download a file if the filename appeared anywhere else in the message.
• Fixed a bug that caused a crash that occurred under certain circumstances when closing a message window.
• Added option to delete mailbox mail on server after retrieval.
New in BulkRate 2.1b5:
• Fixed a bug in BR 2.1b3 and 2.1b4 where failing to close all open messages before closing the associated message list window or starting a mail exchange causes the mailbox file to not be closed properly, which can result in file (or disk) errors and crashes when later attempting to open a mailbox file.
• BulkRate 2.1b3 and 2.1b4 do not correctly deal with address book files opened from the File menu or by double-clicking or dragging-and-dropping. Opening address book files this way will cause loss of data. This has been fixed.
• In 2.0.2, 2.1b3 and 2.1b4, closing two windows rapidly with Command-W, Command-W will usually result in a crash. This has been fixed.
• Message list scroll bar problem reported in 2.1b4 has been fixed.
• Other minor fixes and tweaks.
New in BulkRate 2.1b4:
• Scripts: In certain situations, BulkRate would report "Bad service file" and refuse to run scripts that ran fine under earlier versions. This has been fixed.
I recommend that you trash any scripts you tried to create or modify under 2.1b3 and create new ones.
• Service files: 2.1b3 steadfastly refused to recognize incoming and outgoing mailboxes in any location other than the same folder as the service file. This has been fixed.
Note: to undo the damage caused by this bug in 2.1b3, I recommend using the Choose... or Create... buttons in Mailbox settings to reselect the mailboxes you wish to use in all of your service files.
• File downloading: 2.1b3 would refuse to download files that were given an illegal filename (one containing colons) on the host. 2.1b4 now detects this situation and replaces colons with spaces.
• File retrieval requests:
Requests were not saved properly under 2.1b3 if "Use threaded replies" was turned off, resulting in failure of the retrieval. Fixed.
2.1b3 refused to create a File Retrieval Request for files that were attached to messages in your auto-download conferences. Fixed.
New: BulkRate now puts a message in your mailbox which tells you the results of your file retrieval request.
• Cursor: the cursor failed to turn into an arrow in scroll bars in 2.1b3; instead it remained an I-Beam. Fixed.
• Text highlighting: Under 2.1b3, text was sometime inappropriately and strangely highlighted when switching from window to window or application to application. Fixed.
• Address book: Certain sorting problems fixed; new "Leave address book open" checkbox turns off the "Auto-close" feature so you can more easily use multiple addresses; you still need to select addresses one at a time.
• Date sorting is now (finally!) accurate under US script systems; international support has not been added but will be added soon.
• "Your screen name:" in Exchange settings can now hold multiple names; total number of characters in this field is limited to 255, however, so it will hold only a few names.
New in BulkRate 2.1b3:
• File transfers
BulkRate can now upload and download attached files. You can attach files to outgoing mail, and you can download files two ways: first, by specifying conferences and file sizes for automatic downloads, and secondly, by requesting BulkRate to retrieve an attached file on the next mail exchange. **File transfers are enabled only on registered copies of BulkRate.**
• .fcl scripting
BulkRate now supports .fcl logon scripts. If you must use an .fcl script with FirstClass Client to connect to a BBS, you can use a copy of the same script with BulkRate.
• Threaded replies
An option now exists to insert replies in their proper thread on the FirstClass Server.
• New delete options
Choosing Delete from the Mail menu or clicking the Palette delete button now marks the message for later deletion. These messages will be deleted when the list window is closed. You can force delete messages if you wish by holding down the option key as you delete.
• Additional service options
You may now instruct BulkRate to automatically delete all read or sent messages and/or all messages older than a given number of days.
You can specify default sort options for incoming and outgoing mailboxes.
• Archive current message
When reading a message, you can now archive just that message, or add it to an existing archive, without having to find and select it in the list.
• Added "Hold" option to outgoing mail to allow you to mark a message so it won't be sent till later.
• Address Book window now displays the name of the current address book file.
Fixes from version 2.0.2:
• Incoming and outgoing list windows now zoom in and out properly.
• Mail settings and Modem settings menu items have been replaced by a single "Service setup" item; setup dialogs have been revamped to allow room for all the new options in BulkRate 2.1.
• Replies are now addressed so as to be consistent with the default reply preferences for FirstClass Client:
Replies to messages in your MailBox go to all To: and cc: names as well as the originator. Replies to conference messages are addressed only to the conference itself. If you specify your screen name in the new Service setup, your name will automatically be deleted from To and cc lists in a reply.
• Lots of minor tweaks and bug fixes.
New in BulkRate 2.0.2:
• Fixed a bug that caused the amount of memory used by BulkRate to slowly creep up until it ran out of memory.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused a crash when closing windows.
• Added more helpful messages when a logon fails.
• BulkRate should no longer choke when it encounters "bare" uploaded files; that is, files not attached to a message.
• BulkRate now strips all control characters from the text of outgoing mail: inclusion of control characters could cause bizarre behavior as the FirstClass CLUI message editor responded to them as editing commands.
New in BulkRate 2.0 (final):
• Removed the serial port status check added in 2.0b7, because it annoyed people with fax software and PowerBook 500-series owners. It may return in the future with a preferences setting to turn it on and off.
• BulkRate now strips escape characters from any outgoing mail, which cause the FC CLUI text editor to abort.
• "Save as..." suggests the Subject name once again; a bug introduced in 2.0b7.
• Changes to script routines should now allow a script to quit or shutdown if a connection fails.
New in BulkRate 2.0b8:
• Fixed a bug that affected non-registered copies of BulkRate 2.0b7, resulting in a dialog that claimed that resources has been altered, followed by a crash.
• Minor speed-enhancing tweaks to the message read process.
• Improved display of message lists when an item is too wide for its column.
• Should now be compatible with FirstClass BBSs running the F1 front door (for FidoNet). (This was actually added in 2.0b6, I simply neglected to mention it.)
New in BulkRate 2.0b7:
• Changed how BulkRate handles timeouts when waiting for message lists or messages. With any luck, those of you who had frequent timeout errors using BulkRate on some BBSs will find this version an improvement.
• BulkRate now splits the rare incoming message that is over 32K in length into two (or more) messages.
• BulkRate now splits large outgoing messages into multiple parts so as not to run afoul of the CLUI text editor, which cannot deal well with messages over about 5K in length.
• Address Book window is wider, allowing more characters to be visible.
• Mail log now "autoshrinks" down to under 32K each time you quit BulkRate.
• BulkRate Help menu item should now appear under the Apple Menu with System 6 - it will still be under the Help menu in System 7.
• Creation date is now displayed in the Outgoing message list window.
• BulkRate now checks the status of the serial port before using it, and asks if you want to override if it's busy. (Removed in 2.0 (final))
• BulkRate should now deal with disk full situations with more grace.
• Exchange status window now indicates how many messages remaining to be read in the current conference.
• Better "View by Subject" algorithm, thanks to John A. Wasser of BMUG Boston.
• 2.0b6 "broke" the Next in Thread function, it should be working again.
• Fixed (I hope) a subtle problem when sending long addresses (typically Internet addresses) that triggered multiple matches (typically multiple Internet gateways).
New in BulkRate 2.0b6:
• Fixed the major bug affecting 68000-based Macs (Plus, SE, Classic, PowerBook 100, Portable) which resulted in frequent crashes while trying to read or otherwise manipulate messages.
• Hold down the option key while deleting to skip the confirmation dialog.
• The Help file is now accessible via the Help menu under System 7 or the Apple menu under System 6.
• Fixed problem with horizontal palette causing other windows to not activate fully.
• Registration window now waits for you to dismiss it before opening a Service window, unless a script is running.
• When launching BulkRate by double-clicking on a Script, instead of opening an "untitled service," the first service in the exchange list is opened.
• Hitting Delete or Next Thread on an empty list no long crashes BulkRate.
• Fixed a subtle problem that could crop up when closing a window that resulted in a rather nasty crash.
••Currently known problems or caveats:••
• BulkRate still cannot send mail to "unlisted" conferences, though it can send threaded replies to unlisted conferences.
• Under System 6 on machines with 68000 processors (and perhaps other processors), windows do not redraw properly if the Palette is open. They only workarounds currently are to either not use the Palette or to upgrade to System 7.
••Features that I cannot add, but must wait for SoftArc to address (so please don't ask me to add them to BulkRate):••
