Tech Arsenal 1/Tech Arsenal (Arsenal Computer).ISO/tek-05/view9206.zip/VIEW.TXT

Text File | 1992-05-07 | 16KB | 314 lines

                 VIEW - A SMTP Mailer for TCP/IP
                          January 1991


Introduction

View is a mailer designed to work with the networking software from Phil Karn
(KA9Q).  It is a full screen system that allows you to scroll through a message file
quickly and easily.  Mail can be read, or new messages created.  You have the choice
of selecting your own viewer and editor programs.  This program creates the files, but
it is up to the external software to view and/or edit them.

View was written in Turbo Pascal 6.0.  It can operate in color, or non-color modes.
The configuration page must be filled-in in order for View to operate correctly.

View was written by Mark Bramwell, VE3PZR, London, Ontario.  I can be reached
during the day at [phone], and at home [phone].  View can be
downloaded from the internet from HAMSTER.business.uwo.ca [129.100.22.100].
Hamster supports anonymous FTP logins.  If you want a copy of view and have a
modem, then call me at home and will make some arrangements. Feel free to send any
comments regarding view to [e-mail].  I can also be reached via packet by
mailing to VE3PZR@VE3GYQ.


**   A Novell network version of View is available.  The novell version uses
     POSTMAN to deliver the mail.  Up to 8 servers can be served by the
     POSTMAN machine.

Quick Setup

Copy VIEW.EXE to your computer.  Make sure that you have a PATH command in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT so that DOS can find VIEW.EXE

If you have been using BM.EXE for mail, then the setup is simple.

If you have not been using BM.EXE, then some directories are needed.
Type in the following commands:

C> MD \SPOOL
C> MD \SPOOL\MAIL
C> MD \SPOOL\MQUEUE

You are now ready to start View.

C> VIEW

Test Drive of View

Before you start, you must copy 3 files into your \SPOOL directory.  These files are
required to use some of the functions of View.

COPY CONFIGR.EXE  \SPOOL
COPY ADD-ON.EXE   \SPOOL
COPY MAILBOOK.EXE \SPOOL
COPY VIEW.HLP \SPOOL

When you enter View for the first time, you will have to configure it for your system.
Select the f5 function key to enter the configuration page.  Choose F1, main
configuration.  Most items should be filled.  Here is an example of some of my
responses:



           Userid:  Mark
           Hostname: HAMSTER.business.uwo.ca
           Realname: Mark Bramwell

           Reply-To: [e-mail]

           editor: \util\qe.exe
           viewer: \util\list.com

           Comments:
           Signature: \spool\signatur.txt

           directory: \spool\mail         25+: Y  DirMask: *.TXT
           Color: Y    Timezone: EST   Filter: Y  Printer: LPT1



Remember to hit enter with each entry.  When you have filled in the configuration page, hit ESC to save
it.  View will resave the configuration each time you exit the config screen.

Some messages will appear on the screen if you had mail waiting.  If no mail is waiting, then a short
message will appear on the screen.

To read a message, use the arrows keys on the keyboard to move the highlight bar.  When the desired
message is highlighted, hit ENTER to read the message.

Configuration:

In order to use VIEW, you must fill-in the configuration page.  It is this info that tells the mailer who
you are, where you are, and what type of equipment that you are using.  The Gateway setup is only
required if you intend on sending email through a gateway.  Gateways are being setup to allow hams to
send mail through the Internet system.

USERID:  This is the userid that will be used for all outgoing mail.  VIEW
         will read the mailfile for this userid whenever you start VIEW.
           Example:  MARK

HOSTNAME:This is the hostname used by view and should be the same as the
         hostname set in AUTOEXEC.NET.   My hostname at the
         university is HAMSTER.Business.UWO.CA, but at home it is
         VE3PZR.ampr.org
           Example:  VE3PZR.ampr.org

REALNAME:The name that your mother gave to you when you were born (or
         close to it).  The mailer simply inserts this info into the outgoing
         mail header. (This entry is optional).
           Example: Mark Bramwell

Reply-To:Sometimes your incoming mailbox might have a different name
         than the userid used to send the original message.  This allows you
         to specify where you want mail to go if someone replies to one of
         your messages.  (This entry is optional.)
           Example:   [e-mail]

EDITOR:  The full dos path and filename of the program that you want to
         use to create messages.  This entry must be filled in order to send
         outgoing mail.  It is not required to read mail.
           Example: c:\util\qe.exe

VIEWER:  The full dos path and filename of the program that you want to
         use to read messages.  If no filename is specify, then view will use
         a very simple built-in message reader.
           Example:  c:\util\list.com

COMMENTS:This allows you to place a comment in the header of all outgoing
         mail messages.  It can be almost anything, and is ignored by the
         mailer.
           Example: I like my MTV

SIGNATURE:The full dos path and filename of a text file that you want to be
         your signature file.  The signature file is appended to the end of all
         outgoing mail messages.  Some people like putting cute phrases,
         while others simply put there name, address, phone number where
         they can be reached.  (This entry is optional.)
           Example:  C:\mystuff\signatur.txt

DIRECTORY:The full dos path where your mail files your stored.  If you are
         using KA9Q NOS, then this should be set to \SPOOL\MAIL

      25+:            If you have an ega/vga system, then setting this to yes will give
         you more than 25 lines per screen.  This entry does not effect cga
         or TTL monochrome monitors.

DIRMASK: DOS wildcard description of your mail files.  For most people,
         this setting should be *.TXT.

COLOR:   If you have a color monitor, then set this to yes.  VIEW uses
         slightly different patterns if this is set to Yes.  Try both to see
         what you like.  If you set it to 'A', view will try to determine the
         type of monitor you are running, and set the color on/off as
         required.

TIMEZONE:Where are you?  I am in the timezone called EST (Eastern
         Standard Time).

FILTER:  Setting this to Yes will cause VIEW to filter out alot of useless
         header info.  This header info gets generated when mail passes
         from machine to machine.  This entry was created because I was
         tired of reading 1 line messages with 15 lines of headers.

PRINTER: Which printer do you want VIEW to use to print messages?  I use
         LPT1 on my computer.  VIEW closes the print job after every
         message allowing it to print on Novell networks without
         difficulties.


On the gateway setup screen....   (Stand-alone version only)


GATEWAY: Hostname of a machine that will accept your mail and push it
         onto the Internet or other mail system.

FORCE:   If set to 'YES', then all mail will be directed to the gateway host.
         If set to 'NO', then you will need to use Shift-F2 to push mail
         through the gateway.

The configuration is stored in a file called \SPOOL\MAILER.CFG.  You can use a normal editor to
view the file.  The first word on each line is a keyword or command for VIEW.  Unknown keywords are
ignored.
Special Keys

Certain keys have functions assigned to them.  For example, you can move the hi-lited bar by using the
following keys:  Arrow up, Arrow down, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn.

You can mark messages for deletion with the DEL key.

ALT-A Add-on manager.  This will allow you to run external programs from within the mailer.
Programs can be assigned to any key on the keyboard.  Hitting that key will cause the program to
execute.  The add-on manager is simply a method of running programs without shelling to dos.

ALT-C The credits.

ALT-D allows you to jump to DOS without exiting view.  When you type EXIT
at the dos prompt, you will be returned to VIEW at the same point that you left.  This is usefull when
you are reading large files and it takes a long time for view to read-it-in.

ALT-F is the full display key.  It opens a window at the bottom of the screen that will display the full
hostname and subject of the current message.  It can be toggled on and off and the mode is save in the
configuration.  This is stored in the config file as LINEMODE.

ALT-P will print the highlighted message on your printer.  Check config page to ensure that you have the
printer defined.

ALT-S will allow you to save the current message to a file.  View will ask for a filename.  The message
will be read and stored in that file.  This will not erase the file if it already exists.  View appends messages
to the file if it already existed on your disk.

ALT-U is the update key, and forces view to immediately update the file by removing marked messages.
View automatically updates the file whenever you have finished reading the file and have selected another
file.  You can also setup View to automatically update the screen when new mail arrives.  This is done
through the configuration menus.

ALT-X is the same as f3.  This simply exits view completely.

ALT-Z reads the current mail file and checks for EOF markers.  I have found that our IBM 4381 sticks
control-z characters in mail files.  This causes view mailer to think it is at the end of file even though
there are more messages waiting.  All messages after control-z characters are lost.  I would make this
routine run all the time except for the fact that it slows down the initial mail file reading.  Packet radio
mail, and mail directly from the internet does not seem to have this problem.

/ pops up a menu.  Most functions of View can be accessed either through the menu, or by using the
function keys. Using VIEW

f1:Help.  This displays a simple help screen for those who can't remember some of the
  special keys.

f2:Compose.  This will allow you to create and send your own messages.  You must enter
  something when View asks for 'To:'.  If you just hit enter, then the creation of the
  message is aborted and you are returned back to the normal screen.  It is not neccessary
  for you to enter anything in response to 'subject:'.

  You must have previously configured View in order for it to find your editor program.

f3:Quit.  This exits Views, updates any messages that were deleted, and returns you to DOS.

f4:Print Msg.  This will print the current message to the printer.

f5:Configure.  Allows you to specify various items about your machine.  This screen must
  be filled-in, else some of the functions won't work properly.  All info is stored in the
  \SPOOL\MAILER.CFG config file.

f6:Split Digests / Read as mail.  (Stand-alone version only) This interesting function has the
  ability to read mail as normal messages, or try to split a long message into its' smaller
  parts.  I use this when I receive the info-hams digest.  This takes the 400 line message,
  and breaks it up into all the smaller messages.  It displays each host and subject
  separately.  This allows me to read only those messages that I am interested in, and
  ignore the rest.  This function can be toggled on/off and is stored in the MAILER.CFG
  file as MAILMODE.

f7:Select file.  This allows you to specify another .TXT file as your workfile.  For example:
  I have all info-hams mail come into my machine under the userid HAMRADIO.  All
  packet mail comes in for the userid PACKET.  This creates 3 files on my machine
  HAMRADIO.TXT, PACKET.TXT, and MARK.TXT.  Using select, I can choose
  which information I am interested in reading at this time.  Any marked messages are
  deleted before the new file is read.

f8:Transfer.  This will allow you to UUENCODE binary files.  When the file is encoded,
  you can email the file to someone even if the gateways don't support binary files.

f9:Forward a Message.  This will read the current message and allow you to forward it to
  someone else.  I use this to send a copy of interesting mail to my home machine.

f10:Reply-to.  This will create a message using the hostname, subject, and text of the hi-lited
  message.  It allows you to reply to a message that you are reading.
EGA/VGA monitor support:

You can now have more than 25 lines on the screen when using view.  If you have an ega or vga system,
you set view for the larger text window.  Set the 25+ parameter in the configuration page to Y.  You will
now have 43 lines on an ega system, and 50 on a vga system.  All functions will resize themselves to work
on the larger window.  The larger text window can be in color or black&white.

MOUSE support:

You can use a mouse to make selections while in view.  Moving the mouse causes the screen to scroll
up/down.  The Left button reads the current message, while the Right button brings pops up a menu.

SMTP Packet <> Internet Gateways (Stand-alone version)

View has the capability to push mail onto an Internet gateway.  At first this would not seem like a big
deal, however there are some problems in doing this.  First of all, most hams have the hostname
CALLSIGN.ampr.org.  Unfortunately, most Internet sites don't know about most ampr.org sites.  People
on the Internet can't get a mail path to you.  One solution is to have the local Internet guru setup an
alias on a 'known' machine to point to you.  People on the Internet can send email to the alias (which is
on a know machine), and the host will resend the mail to your home machine.  This is quite easy to do.

What happens if someone tries to 'reply' to your messages, or if your mail gets bumped by the Internet.
It is possible (and most likely) that the message will get lost or just go around in circles until someone
kills it.  VIEW allows your mail to take on the identity of that alias when you send mail through the
gateway.  Normally you would use F2 to send mail.  If you use Shift-F2, then the message will be created
using information from the gateway setup instead of the main configuration.

For example:  My home email id is:   [e-mail]
However, if you send email to  [e-mail], it will be resent to my home machine.
I want the local hams to send email to my home machine, but want the Internet community to send
through hamster.  The gateway setup allows my machine to appear differently to each group of users.

ADD-ON Manager

What exactly is the add-on manager?

ADD-ON is a part of View that allows you to specify DOS programs to work with View.  It is simply a
fancy dos shell interface.  Anything that can be ran from dos, should be able to run from within View.  I
have written some programs that I call 'View compatible'.  These programs will behave slightly different
in screen handling when called from within View, instead of being executed from the DOS prompt.


NOVELL SUPPORT

There is a novell network version of View available.  This allows up to 8 servers to be served from an
utility mailer machine, and allows novell users to send mail onto the Internet (a SMTP server is required).
 POSTMAN.EXE is required to deliver any mail on the LAN.