The Arsenal Files 6/The Arsenal Files 6 (Arsenal Computer).ISO/wildcat/mbox112.zip/MAILBOX.DOC

Text File | 1996-02-13 | 14KB | 353 lines

*****************************************
      Cynosure Mailbox for Wildcat!
*****************************************

Version 1.12 -- February 13, 1996
Written by : Doug Granzow ([e-mail])
Support BBS: Cynosure Online - 410-781-6271. (Voice #: 410-667-0260)

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
----------------

Cynosure Mailbox is Copyright 1996 by Douglas Granzow.  All rights
reserved.  Any use other than for evaluation purposes
requires registration.  Registration instructions are included at the end
of this file and in the file REGISTER.DOC.  This program may be distributed
via online services such as BBS's or commercial online services.  This
program may not be sold as part of a CD-ROM or other package without
written permission from the author (I probably *will* give permission --
I just want to know about it).


DESCRIPTION
-----------

Cynosure Mailbox is a program which gives each user on your BBS an
individual mailbox where he or she can get a list of private messages sent
to them. The user can decide which messages to save and which to delete,
and can easily refer back to old messages.

Mailbox supports Internet email and local email.  Mailbox also provides
users with an address book to save important email addresses.

Cynosure Mailbox requires Wildcat! v4.10 or later.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
----------------

Thanks to Brent Alberts, Sid Choudhuri, Ron Doty, Rick Durso, Tony
Jackson, James Marous, Donald Price, Kyle Russell, and Tom Tcimpidis for
help with the beta testing of this program.  Thanks to Paul Davis, Greg
Hewgill, Bob Jones and Sam Robertson at Mustang for their help in
answering my questions about Wildcat!, wcCODE, and wcGATE.  I couldn't
have done it without their help.


WHAT'S NEW IN THIS VERSION
--------------------------

February 12, 1996 - v1.12

- Added French prompt file for French language users.


October 16, 1995 - v1.11

- Fixed the attached file bug, again.

- Fixed the delete command so that deleted messages are removed from the
  mailbox immediately.

- Fixed the delete command so that deleted messages don't continue to
  show up as "new" when the caller logs on to the BBS.

- Wrote a conversion program to convert data files from Lance Stewart's
  Address Book to Cynosure Mailbox address book files.  The program is
  named ABCNVRT.WCX.  ABCNVRT.DOC explains how to use it.

- Updated UPGRADE.DOC to remind you to install the updated PRM files.

- Updated REGISTER.DOC with new mailing address.


October 2, 1995 - v1.10

- Fixed a bug where if you attached a file to a message, that file would
  be attached to every message you send until you quit mailbox.

- Fixed the kill command to fully parse a list of messages such as
  "1,4,7-10,13-21".  Previously this would cause only message #1 to be
  deleted, as anything after the "," was ignored.

- Fixed a bug that would corrupt the mailbox files under certain conditions.

- Fixed Mailbox so that it will still work even if the sysop forgets to
  add "\"'s to the end of paths in the MAILBOX.CFG file.

- Removed all hardcoded color settings.  Added prompts 52-59 to do this.

- Increased address book to support up to 40 names/addresses, and changed
  routines to only load one address into memory at a time (instead of
  loading all of them at once).

- Added "B"ook command to message read prompt, allowing the current user
  to add the sender of the current message to his address book.  Added
  prompt 61 to do this.

- Added "S"ave command to send (download) the text of the current message
  as a file to the caller.

- Added "F"orward command to forward a message to someone else.  Added
  prompts 62 and 63 to do this.

- Added "A"gain command to read the current message again.

- Added "X"tra Cmds command to display a second prompt (since all these
  new commands don't fit on a single line!).  Added prompt 60 to do this.
  Note that the X command only displays a different prompt -- you do not
  have to press "X" first to use any of the extra commands.

- Updated documentation with new voice telephone numbers for orders or
  tech support.


August 1, 1995 - v1.03

- Fixed a bug that caused Internet email to not be listed in certain
  situations.

- Mailbox no longer tries to read a conference that the user doesn't have
  access to.

- Changed wcPACK advice in documentation.

- Mailbox now inserts a blank line before adding the signature file.


June 15, 1995 - v1.02

- Changed prompt #51:

Your signature file will be appended to the end of this message.

- Mailbox now goes to the next page of the message list if you press
  ENTER.

- Mailbox now appends the .sig file after the user enters a message,
  instead of loading it into the message editor.

- Now scans the user's mailbox file on startup to find messages that
  were deleted, or are no longer new.

- Mailbox no longer changes the user's joined conference.

- Now uses wcCODE's file locking capability to better prevent file
  corruption.

- Fixed delete code to not lose the last message in the user's mailbox
  each time the user used the kill command.


May 31, 1995 - v1.01

- Fixed potentially serious bug with deleting groups of messages.
  The delete code was completely rewritten.

- Fixed bug where outgoing messages had no text if the program was
  unregistered.

- Fixed some minor appearance issues.  Prompts #1, 2, and 12 have been
  changed.

- Put plug for Mailbox internet mailing list in docs.

May 26, 1995 - v1.0

- Initial release


INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
-------------------------

1. Copy MAILBOX.WCX, BOX#021.PRM, and BOX#028.PRM into your Wildcat!
   home directory (ex: C:\WILDCAT).
2. Copy MAILBOX.PRM, and MAILBOX.DEF into your Language directory
   (ex: C:\WILDCAT\LANGUAGE\).  These are prompt files which you can
   edit with wcPROMPT.
3. Create a directory to store Mailbox data files.  We suggest
   C:\WILDCAT\MAILBOX\.
4. Create a directory to store signature files.  We suggest
   C:\WILDCAT\SIGS\.
5. Create a directory to store Mailbox's address books.  We suggest you
   use the same directory you created in step 3.
6. Create a MAILBOX.CFG file in your Wildcat! home directory which looks
   like this:

        Line 1:  BBS Name
        Line 2:  Sysop Name
        Line 3:  Registration number (0 if not registered)
        Line 4:  Mailbox directory (from step 3)
        Line 5:  Signature directory (from step 4)
        Line 6:  Address book directory (from step 5)
        Line 7:  2 (Just type the number 2.  Trust me. <G>)
        Line 8:  The number of your private email conference (usually 0).
        Line 9:  The number of your internet email conference.

7. Go into MAKEMENU and create a menu entry which will run the wcCODE
   application MAILBOX.WCX.

That's it!  We suggest you try it out at this point.  The program is fairly
self-explanatory.  It will scan through the two conferences you listed in
Lines 8 & 9 and put all messages in the appropriate user's mailbox. The
first run will take several minutes, but after that, it only scans new
messages, so there will be virtually no delay.  You will then be presented
with a list of all messages from these two conferences which are addressed
to you.

MAINTENANCE ISSUES
------------------

wcPACK probably shouldn't be used to delete messages in the conferences
Mailbox scans. It's perfectly okay for you to do so from a functional point
of view -- you won't cause any problems with Mailbox (which, since v1.02,
has checked to make sure the messages haven't been deleted each time the
user enters his mailbox).  However, your users will probably assume that
since the messages are in their mailbox, they will never be deleted.
Obviously you still need to run wcPACK to purge messages that have been
marked for deletion, but you should probably avoid using wcPACK to delete
messages based on age, whether they have been received, etc.


Why is Mailbox so slow?

First off, remember that the first time you run the program, it will take
a long time to scan your two e-mail conferences.  This is because Mailbox
scans every message in both conferences to build the files it uses to keep
track of each user's e-mail.  After the first run, it will only need to
scan through new messages, so it will run much quicker.

Mailbox also scans through all of the messages in the user's mailbox file
each time that user enters Mailbox, so a user with a lot of messages in
their mailbox will experience a longer delay upon entering the program than
other users.  Mailbox does this to keep track of any messages that may have
been deleted or read since the last time the user was in the Mailbox program.

Other than that, there's no reason Mailbox should be any slower than the
rest of your BBS.  If you are experiencing problems, please send email to
me at [e-mail].


What happens if the Mailbox files get corrupted?

Hopefully this won't happen, but it's not too hard to fix.  Each user has a
file in the MAILBOX directory named #.BOX, where "#" is that user's userid.
There is also a file in the MAILBOX directory named MAIN.BOX. This file
keeps track of the highest message Mailbox has dealt with in each conference.
By deleting *all* of the *.BOX files (including MAIN.BOX), you can force
Mailbox to re-create everyone's BOX file.  (You cannot just delete one user's
file -- you must delete all of the *.box files.)

Mailbox is smart enough to know when it is being used on multiple nodes,
and certain things will not be done when another copy of Mailbox is already
running (such as the scan for new messages), to prevent corruption.


What are signature files?

Mailbox will check the SIGS directory for the existence of a #.SIG file,
where "#" is the current user's userid.  If it exists, Mailbox automatically
appends this to the end of every message that user sends.  Currently
Mailbox doesn't support the creation of SIG files, but it's not hard for you
to write a short wcCODE app to facilitate this, if you have wcCODE.  If you
don't have wcCODE, well, you can create a 1.SIG file for yourself with
any text editor, and just let your users suffer. :)

There is a file included with Cynosure Mailbox, called KATSIG.ZIP.  This is
a short wcCODE program written by Ron Doty (one of the Cynosure Mailbox beta
testers) which allows your users to edit their own signature files.  You can
use it if you wish, but it is not required that you use KATSIG for Mailbox to
work properly.


What are address books?

Mailbox allows each user to keep a list of up to 40 frequently used email
addresses.  If you regularly send email to "[e-mail]", you can put
that address in your address book.  If it's #7 in your address book, you can
then type "7" instead of "[e-mail]" when Mailbox asks "To:".  It's
the same basic idea as speed dial on your telephone.  Mailbox allows each
user to maintain their own address book.  This is a built-in feature, unlike
the signature files.


Why doesn't Mailbox allow me to choose which conference to send a message in?

Mailbox is intelligent enough to know the difference between a local user and
an internet address.  Local messages are saved in your local email
conference, and internet messages are saved in your internet email
conference.  Local messages are checked to make sure the name belongs to a
real user.


I have a suggestion for a new feature for Cynosure Mailbox.

Great!  Let me know by email: [e-mail], or start up a discussion
on the Cynosure Mailbox mailing list.


How can I join the Mailbox mailing list?

I run a mailing list from my BBS for anyone interested in Cynosure Mailbox.
To join the list, send a message to [e-mail] with

subscribe mailbox-l

in the body of the message.  The list is for discussion of the program.
New versions of the program are also distributed through this list.


Differences between the REGISTERED and UNREGISTERED versions of Cynosure
Mailbox:

- The unregistered version displays a message asking users to encourage
  the sysop to register the program.  The registered version displays
  a message "Registered to: [BBS name]".

- The unregistered version has a 10 second delay on entry and on exit.

- The unregistered version appends an "Unregistered version of Mailbox" to
  every email message sent; the registered version appends nothing.


How to register Cynosure Mailbox:

Registration is $20 and includes free upgrades to all versions released
within one year of registration.

The easiest way is to call Cynosure Online at 410-781-6271 and enter our
WC-Charge door to pay by MC/Visa.  I will email you your registration
code within 24 hours.

You can also order using your credit card by phone:  Call me at 410-667-0260.
This number can also be used for technical support.

Finally, you can mail a check for $20 payable to Cynosure Online.
My address is:
                        Cynosure Online
                        76 Cranbrook Road #164
                        Cockeysville, MD  21030

Be sure to include your BBS name and sysop name, since they are used to
generate your registration code.  If you include an Internet email address,
I will email your registration code to you.  Otherwise, I will mail it to
you via snail mail.

Outside the U.S.:  Payment must be in U.S. funds.  If you wish to email your
credit card number through Internet, you may do so at your own risk.  I can
take Visa or Mastercard.