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The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus, v3.01 Copyright (C) 1992, 1993 by Cutting Edge Computing All Rights Reserved. Installation and Reference Manual Written by George Hatchew Cutting Edge Computing PO Box 90476 Burton, Michigan 48509 USA BBS Support Number: 313-743-8464 FAX Support Number: 313-743-5910 Voice Tech Support: 313-743-9283 (REGISTERED USERS ONLY) TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- License Agreement ....................................... 3 Registration and License Information .................... 4 Registration by FAX ................................. 4 Registration by Credit Card ......................... 4 Registration by Mail ................................ 4 About this Documentation ................................ 5 Credits ................................................. 6 What is The Blue Wave Mail Door? ........................ 7 Installing The Blue Wave Mail Door ...................... 8 Installing The Blue Wave Mail Door Into Maximus ......... 9 Multi-Line Considerations ............................... 11 Command Line Parameters ................................. 12 The Blue Wave Mail Door Configuration Editor ............ 18 General Information Editor .......................... 18 The Options and Toggles Editor ...................... 21 The Directories and FilePaths Editor ................ 25 The Message Area Override Editor .................... 31 The Limits and Maximums Editor ...................... 35 The Protocol Configuration Editor ................... 38 The Archiver Definitions Editor ..................... 41 Sample Command Lines for Popular Archivers ...... 43 The Security and Netmail Manager .................... 44 The User File Editor ................................ 45 Maintaining The Blue Wave Mail Door ..................... 46 The BWUTILS PURGE Function .......................... 46 General Overview of Door Operations ..................... 47 Keys Used While a User is Online .................... 48 Carrier Checking .................................... 49 Inactivity Timer .................................... 50 Lastread Pointers ................................... 50 Offline Configurations .................................. 51 Sending Netmail Through The Blue Wave Mail Door ......... 52 File Requesting Through The Blue Wave Mail Door ......... 53 Local Mail Door Usage ................................... 54 Sample BWDOWN.BAT ................................... 55 Sample BWUP.BAT ..................................... 55 Product Support ......................................... 56 Electronic Mail ..................................... 56 FAX ................................................. 56 Voice Technical Support ............................. 56 US Mail ............................................. 56 ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 2 LICENSE AGREEMENT ----------------- Cutting Edge Computing has taken every precaution to ensure that no harm or damage will occur on systems running The Blue Wave Mail Door. However, we cannot be responsible for any damages or other losses suffered as a result of running The Blue Wave Mail Door on your system. The user assumes full responsibility for the proper use of this mail system, whether damage occurs as a fault of operator error or software error. NO WARRANTIES ARE IMPLIED OR EXPRESSLY STATED. The Blue Wave Mail System and its documentation are copyrighted materials of Cutting Edge Computing and George Hatchew. Cutting Edge Computing reserves all rights to these materials, and is protected under United States and International Copyright laws. No part of these materials may be reproduced or modified in any way without the prior express written permission of Cutting Edge Computing. Use of The Blue Wave Mail System constitutes acceptance of the stated terms and conditions. Cutting Edge Computing reserves all rights which are not expressly granted. The Blue Wave Mail System is fully copyrighted, and is not, nor will it ever be, in the Public Domain. The Blue Wave Mail System is NOT FreeWare. It is distributed under the concept of ShareWare. Users are allowed to try this program for 30 days before paying for and registering the mail system with Cutting Edge Computing. In this 30 days, you may use the program to its full capacity. If the software does not meet your needs, and you do not plan on registering with Cutting Edge Computing after your 30 day trial period, you are to cease usage of the mail system. Continued use beyond the authorized evaluation period requires payment of the registration fee in full. Cutting Edge Computing grants an unlimited license to make and distribute UNREGISTERED copies of The Blue Wave Mail System which have been released to the public by Cutting Edge Computing. Absolutely no modifications to the files contained in the software package, including this documentation file, may be made before distribution. No fee may be charged by anyone other than Cutting Edge Computing beyond the actual cost of providing these copies without the prior written consent of Cutting Edge Computing. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 3 REGISTRATION AND LICENSE INFORMATION ------------------------------------ Registered users of The Blue Wave Mail System are granted an unlimited license to use the product, provided the following: Registration fees are NOT refundable. Registration codes are not transferable to other parties. Unofficial software patches must not be applied, and all copyright notices in the documentation and supporting files are not to be altered. Backup copies may be kept of all registered versions of this software for archive purposes only. Use of a registered copy is limited to one machine at a time. Use of multiple registered copies on multiple machines requires additional payment to Cutting Edge Computing. You can register your copy of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door and Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader in several different ways. Cutting Edge Computing accepts credit card registrations by way of VISA, MASTERCARD, and AMERICAN EXPRESS. You may register online on The Blue Wave Support BBS by calling 313-743-8464 with your modem. You can also register by phone by calling 313-743-9283 voice. To register by FAX, please fill out the enclosed REGISTER.BW form completely and FAX your registration information to 313-743-5910, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Fax-back registrations and technical support are probably the fastest ways to get your software registered. To register by Check or Money Order, simply fill out the enclosed registration form and mail to the address shown. To register in EUROPE, please see the form REGISTER.EUR. To register from anywhere in the world, please see REGISTER.BW. Corporate and government site licenses are also available. Please call Cutting Edge Computing (313-743-9283) to negotiate a site license. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 4 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENTATION ------------------------ The documentation presented in this file is designed for sysops and system administrators responsible for installing, maintaining, and running The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus. A separate documentation file (BWDOOR.USE) has been enclosed in the distribution archive. This file should be put online for download by users and clients of The Blue Wave Mail Door. BWDOOR.USE describes the functions available in the door, including options on the door's CONFIGURATION menu, selecting and deselecting message areas, use of The Blue Wave Bundling Commands and general operation of the door. This documentation is formatted with Form Feeds for printing on all Personal Computer printers. This documentation file contains no IBM Extended ASCII characters, so it should print fine on all printer models - even non IBM ProPrinter compatibles. To print this documentation in hard copy, simply execute the following DOS command: COPY BWMAIL.DOC PRN If you would like to print this documentation using the PRINT.COM spooler enclosed with most versions of DOS, simply execute this command at the DOS prompt: PRINT BWMAIL.DOC The documentation is formatted to 60 lines per page so that printing on laser printers should also work with no problems. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 5 CREDITS ------- The documentation for The Blue Wave Mail Door was written by George Hatchew. The programming of The Blue Wave Mail Door was done by George Hatchew. Cutting Edge Computing would like to extend credit to Scott J. Dudley for his work in creating the Squish message base and the Squish MSGAPI, which is used in the code of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus. Use of the MSGAPI ensures maximum compatibility with Maximus and the Squish message base. Cutting Edge Computing would also like to extend credit to the following people who worked hard in testing The Blue Wave Mail Door for Maximus. Their generous support and work has helped to ensure that you have received the most problem free and extensively tested code possible. They are listed here in alphabetical order: Raymond Beriau Brian Coffey Rick Cooke Frank Koza Doug Langley Tracy Perry Ryan Potts Dale Weber The following software is mentioned in this documentation, and the copyright information appears below: Maximus-CBCS, copyrighted by Scott J. Dudley PKZIP/UNZIP, copyrighted by PKWare PKARC/PKXARC, copyrighted by PKWare ARJ, copyrighted by Robert K Jung LHA, copyrighted by Yoshi PAK, copyrighted by NoGate Consulting DSZ, copyrighted by Omen Technologies X00, copyrighted by Ray Gwinn BNU, copyrighted by David Nugent & Unique Computing Pty Ltd OpusCom, copyrighted by Bob Hartman DESQview, copyrighted by Quarterdeck Software MS-Windows, copyrighted by Microsoft OS/2, copyrighted by International Business Machines Corporation FrontDoor, copyrighted by Joaquim H. Homrighausen D'Bridge, copyrighted by Chris Irwin ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 6 WHAT IS THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR? -------------------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door is only half of a complete package. It is the part that you, as a sysop, will run online from your BBS. Users can then sign into The Blue Wave Mail Door, download mail packets to read offline, and upload replies that they have created offline. The Blue Wave Mail System is a complete package consisting of The Blue Wave Mail Door, and The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader. Both programs work together to make your message bases more active. Since users can download their mail in less than one tenth of the time that it would take them to read it online, your system is open for more callers, or activity in other areas of the BBS. Users are not pushed against time limits, and long distance users are not paying for the extra connect time to the BBS. The advent of offline mail systems has helped amateur e-mail networks, such as FidoNet, grow and prosper into a wealth of useful information. Since users can take their time and reply offline at their convenience, many times their messages are more meaningful. The Blue Wave Mail System allows users to utilize the editor of their choice in order to reply to messages. This gives them even more comfort with the idea of entering mail. The Blue Wave Mail Door has several advantages over conventional mail doors. For the system operator, it offers a quick and easy installation procedure. Once the mail door is installed, there is very little or no maintenance required! The mail door reads most of its settings and control parameters directly out of your current Maximus BBS installation. You never have to worry about adding message areas to the door's configuration, because once you add it to the BBS, the mail door immediately recognizes the new area. If you remove message bases from your BBS configuration, the door will recognize that, too. The Blue Wave Mail Door offers the BBS user an extremely easy to use menu interface. The mail door gives the user more than a simple interface however. Power BBS users will find the mail door extremely flexible, allowing them to custom-build mail packets containing only the messages they wish to download. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 7 INSTALLING THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR ---------------------------------- This section is meant to provide a quick step-by-step installation procedure. If you read no further in the documentation, it is highly suggested that you read this section! If you very carefully follow the installation procedures described below, you are (almost) guaranteed a near hassle-free installation. NOTE: The Blue Wave Mail Door requires that you have a FOSSIL driver loaded. Currently available FOSSIL drivers include X00, BNU, and OpusCom. You should be able to find a FOSSIL driver on a BBS that carries communications files. 1) UNPACK BWMAIL.ZIP, which is enclosed within the distribution archive. Make a directory on your hard drive specifically for The Blue Wave Mail Door. Making a separate directory for The Blue Wave distribution files will make life easier in the long run. UnZIP BWMAIL.ZIP into your new directory (we'll call it the BLUEWAVE directory throughout the rest of the documentation). 2) CHANGE TO YOUR BLUEWAVE directory, and execute BWUTILS. This will load the door's INSTALLATION module, and guide you through the initial setup procedures. You will first be prompted to enter the name of your Maximus-CBCS v2.xx PRM file. You should enter the full path and file name here. If the door locates your PRM file, it will find out as much information as possible from your existing Maximus setup. 3) EACH MESSAGE AREA that you have defined in Maximus will be used by the door EXACTLY as it is defined within Maximus. The door reads all message area definitions directly from Max's AREA.DAT file. This includes Privilege levels, area locks, private/non- private status, etc. There is no need to type them all in! 4) AFTER A FEW SECONDS, BWUTILS will show you a screen informing you that it has gathered as much data as possible. The installation program also installed several sample archiver and protocol configurations into your setup. At this time it will be necessary to "walk" through EACH menu item of the installation and maintenance utility in order to enter information that cannot be found through your Maximus setup. Each menu item in the BWUTILS program is described in detail in the section titled "THE BWUTILS CONFIGURATION EDITOR". If you have questions regarding any of the menu items you encounter, please refer to the appropriate section of the documentation. 5) AT THIS POINT, your new mail door has been installed. Now you need to edit your Maximus configuration files to complete the installation process. Please continue to the next section. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 8 INSTALLING THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR INTO MAXIMUS ----------------------------------------------- If you have installed other external programs into your Maximus setup, you should have absolutely no problem installing The Blue Wave Mail Door. If you have never installed external programs into your BBS, don't worry. This section will guide you through the process and have you back up-and-running in no time at all. 1) When you ran the BWUTILS installation module, it created a file called BWDOOR.BAT in your \BLUEWAVE directory. This batch file was created with the paths and file names taken from your initialization parameters, and should be fully functional with your system (as long as you have not changed anything around since you executed the installation module). The batch file contains the following lines: @ECHO OFF C: CD \MAX\BLUEWAVE BWMAIL %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 2) To get Maximus to supply the user with a menu item to access The Blue Wave Mail Door, you will need to edit your MENUS.CTL file (in your \MAX directory). You can place the menu item on any system menu you choose. Suggested menus are the MAIN menu and the MESSAGE menu. Below is a menu entry that can be used for both single and multi-line systems. THE ENTRIES IN MENUS.CTL ARE CASE-SENSITIVE. ENTER THE INFORMATION EXACTLY AS SHOWN! ReRead Xtern_DOS C:\MAX\BLUEWAVE\BWDOOR.BAT_/p%p_/t%k Twit "Blue Wave" The "ReRead" keyword before Xtern_DOS is important, as it tells Maximus to reload the information found in the LASTUSER.BBS file after the door has finished running. The door updates important information in this file, including the Download Kbytes (for file request sessions) and Netmail Credits and Debits information. Xtern_DOS tells Maximus that when the user selects this item, it is going to shell to DOS and run the "BWDOOR.BAT" batch file. The path shown in the example menu item is a sample, and should be changed to reflect the actual drive, directory, and file name of the batch file that you are going to execute. It is very important to keep the UNDERSCORE characters in place. Maximus will replace the underscores with spaces before executing the batch file. The "/t" and "/p" parameters will be passed to the batch file telling the door the task number and port to use. If you want or need further information on running external programs with Maximus, please see the Maximus documentation. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 9 3) At this time you should run SILT.EXE (supplied with the Maximus BBS system) to update the Maximus configuration. 4) You will now need to load your MSGAREA.CTL file (the file that contains Maximus' message area information) into your favorite text editor to verify that each message area that you want active in the door contains a "MsgName <AreaTag>" token line. Because of the way that The Blue Wave Mail Door tracks information about each user and which message areas have been selected for download, it is absolutely necessary to perform this step. (Don't worry - once you do it, you'll never have to do it again!) The "MsgName <AreaTag>" token in MSGAREA.CTL is normally only used by Maximus for EchoMail areas. Because of this, you probably do not have a "MsgName <AreaTag>" token defined for any of your NETMAIL or LOCAL message areas. You can select any <AreaTag> you like for the LOCAL and NETMAIL message areas. "NETMAIL" is a good tag to use for your netmail area, and something like "USERCHAT", "CHATTER", "COMMENTS", or "MAIN_AREA" are some ideas to use for your local areas. The only requirement is that you do not duplicate <AreaTags> between areas. 5) If it was necessary to edit your MSGAREA.CTL file to add "MsgName" tokens, it will be necessary to SILT your Maximus control file once again. 6) If you followed these instructions exactly, the mail door should now be ready for use. To test your setup, simply log into your BBS and select the new menu item you placed into the system. If the mail door fails to execute properly, check the MAXIMUS log file and the BLUEWAVE.LOG file for clues as to what went wrong. You may want to carefully go over the installation instructions once again to make sure you didn't miss anything. 7) If you are running a MULTI-LINE Maximus system, please continue on to the section titled "MULTI-LINE CONSIDERATIONS". 8) If you are interested in using The Blue Wave Mail Door for local use, please read the section titled "LOCAL MAIL DOOR USAGE". ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 10 MULTI-LINE CONSIDERATIONS ------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door is fully capable of multi-node operation, and provides facilities for ease of operation and configuration on multi-line systems. There are a few points that you need to be aware of. All nodes on your system can use the same \BLUEWAVE directory. Full file sharing and file locking is supported. You can use the same door configuration file (BWMAIL.PRM) on all nodes on your system if you like. It is also possible to use DIFFERENT .PRM files for each node on your system by using the -C<door prm name> command line parameter to BWMAIL.EXE. Many (if not all) of the necessary door parameters that can vary between nodes can be passed on the door's command line, thereby overriding any information in the configuration file. It is highly suggested that you read "COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS" for full information on these command line overrides. It is also important to note that all nodes must have their own WORK, DOWNLOAD, and UPLOAD directories. Failure to do so will result in file-name clashes between nodes if two users are using the door at the same time. The solution for this problem is to either use the /DOWN=, /UPLOAD=, and /WORK= command line parameters, or the "%T" and/or "%N" replacement macros in the BWUTILS->Directories setup menu. When the door begins execution, it will replace all occurrences of "%T" and "%N" with the task number passed to the door through the /t<task#> command line parameter. To recap, the following problems must be avoided when running The Blue Wave Mail Door on a multi-node system: 1) Each task must have its own WORK Directory. 2) Each task must have its own DOWNLOAD Directory. 3) Each task must have its own UPLOAD Directory. 4) Each task must have its own SWAP Directory. 5) Each task must have its own LOG file. If the above 5 conditions are not met, your door will not perform as expected, and you may receive SHARE violations. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 11 COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS ----------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door accepts several command line parameters in order for you to override certain settings and defaults within your BWMAIL.PRM file or defaults internal to the door. BWMAIL.PRM Override (-c) ------------------------ Multi-line users may wish to maintain separate Blue Wave PRM files, one for each node. By default, the door will load BWMAIL.PRM. If you use the -c command line parameter, you can override this default. The command line: BWMAIL -cLINE2.PRM would load the door's parameter file called LINE2.PRM. (If you wish to maintain separate PRM files between nodes, you can edit others with BWUtils by specifying the name of the configuration file on the command line: "BWUTILS LINE2.PRM" would allow you to edit the parameters in "LINE2.PRM". USAGE : BWMAIL -c<bwave.prm name> DEFAULT: BWMAIL.PRM MAX.PRM Override (-m) --------------------- When the door initializes, the first file that it loads is BWMAIL.PRM, or the file that you specified on the command line. BWMAIL.PRM contains the name of the Maximus-style PRM file that will be loaded when that particular door configuration file is used. If you would like to override the default contained within BWMAIL.PRM, use the command line: BWMAIL -mC:\Max\Line5.Prm USAGE : BWMAIL -m<max.prm name> DEFAULT: Prm file defined within the configuration file. Port Override (-p) ------------------ By default, The Blue Wave Mail Door uses the port contained within the MAX.PRM file that is loaded during initialization. If, for some reason, you need to OVERRIDE this parameter, use the -p command line. (Port 0=COM1, Port 1=COM2, etc.). The door will support any port that you would like to use, as long as it can communicate with your FOSSIL driver. USAGE : BWMAIL -p<0-based port number> DEFAULT: Found from the MAX.PRM file loaded by the door. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 12 Task Override (-t) ------------------ The Blue Wave Mail Door uses the TASK number defined in the MAX.PRM file that was loaded by default. You can override the task number used by using the "-t" command line parameter. The only time that the door uses this information is when looking for the proper LASTUSxx.BBS file to load, and in the translation of the "%N" and "%T" macros in the Directories and FilePaths menu. If the task number is defined as "1", the door will attempt to load LASTUS01.BBS. The task number *must* correspond to the user's task number within Maximus, or the door will load the wrong information about the current user. Maximus will pass the current task number through the use of the '%k' token. Please see the Maximus documentation for more details. It is highly recommended that you pass the task number to the door whether you are running a multi-line system or not. This will help eliminate some confusion when setting up the door - especially when running multiple copies on multiple nodes. USAGE : BWMAIL -t<task number> DEFAULT: Task number read out of the MAX.PRM file loaded. Local User Override (-k) ------------------------ Normally, The Blue Wave Mail Door can detect when there is a local user through the LASTUSxx.BBS file that is loaded. However, if there is some type of problem with the door's auto-detection, and you wish to run the door in local mode, you will need to specify the -k parameter. The -k can also be used to automatically load a selected user out of Maximus' USER.BBS file and log them in locally. The best use for this is when running the door in local mode to bundle mail for the sysop or other users that may want to use The Blue Wave Offline Mail System. The -k command line parameter is described in greater detail in the section titled "LOCAL MAIL DOOR USAGE". ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 13 Local Color (-n) ---------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door will always output color to the local screen, even if the remote user has TTY graphics enabled. Sometimes this color is not desireable, especially on Monochrome systems. Since the door contains so much BLUE most of the text appears underlined. To disable color output to the local console, use the -N command line switch. This switch has no effect on the remote user. USAGE : BWMAIL -N DEFAULT: Local color output. Carrier Detect Override (-NOCD) ------------------------------- Normally, The Blue Wave Mail Door requires that a carrier detect signal be present in order for the door to send data through the FOSSIL and serial port. This poses a problem when trying to run the door through a NULL Modem Cable, or something similar. If the command line switch -NOCD is added, no carrier detect function will be activated, and data will be sent through the port specified with the -P<port> command line parameter. This switch should NOT be used with a remote user online, since the caller may drop carrier and tie up your system until there is an input timeout (4 minutes). USAGE : BWMAIL -NOCD DEFAULT: CD is ACTIVE unless LOCAL mode forced or detected. DESQview Detection Override (-NODV) ----------------------------------- If the door detects that it is running under QuarterDeck's DESQview multi-tasker, it will automatically write directly to DV's video buffer to eliminate screen write bleed-through and give away time slices to other tasks when the door is idle. To eliminate this behaviour, use the -NODV parameter. When DESQview support is enabled in the door, a line will be logged to your defined LOG file, informing you of this fact. USAGE : BWMAIL -NODV DEFAULT: DESQview support used automatically if DV detected. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 14 Stamping Downloaded Messages as "Rec'd" (-NORECV) ------------------------------------------------- When The Blue Wave Mail Door gathers messages for a user, it stamps all personal messages TO: that user as "Received", to give an indication to the sender that the message may have been read. The -NORECV command line parameter causes the door to skip the process of marking messages as "Rec'd", leaving no indication that the message(s) downloaded have been read. This parameter probably should not be used for normal BBS usage. The switch may come in handy, however, if the sysop wishes to download his/her mail, but not leave any indication that the message had been read. (The sysop may not have time to reply to the messages downloaded at that particular time). USAGE : BWMAIL -NORECV DEFAULT: Marks personal messages as "Rec'd" when bundled. Work Directory Override (-WORK=) -------------------------------- If you would like to override the default WORK directory defined within BWMAIL.PRM, use the -WORK=<path> command line. USAGE : BWMAIL -WORK=d:\path\to\workdir DEFAULT: Drive and path defined within BWMAIL.PRM Download Directory Override (-DOWN=) ------------------------------------ To override the door's default DOWNLOAD directory, simply specify the drive and path to use on the command line in the form -DOWN=<path>. USAGE : BWMAIL -DOWN=d:\path\to\downdir DEFAULT: Directory defined within BWMAIL.PRM Upload Directory Override (-UPLOAD=) ------------------------------------ To override the door's default UPLOAD directory from the command line, add the command line parameter -UPLOAD=<path>. USAGE : BWMAIL -UPLOAD=d:\path\to\upld_dir DEFAULT: Drive and path defined within BWMAIL.PRM ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 15 Log File Override (-LOG=) ------------------------- Each copy of The Blue Wave Mail Door that is running requires a separate log file. Log files cannot be shared between two or more different tasks. This command line is used to override the log file name that is defined within BWMAIL.PRM. In most cases, it would be more convenient to use the '%T' or '%N' metaphor in declaring the name of the log file within the BWUTILS Directories and Pathname Editor. However, this alternate way of overriding the log file name is provided for special situations. To override the log file name from the door's command line, use the -LOG=<file> parameter. This parameter can also be convenient when you do not want to keep a log file for a certain task (usually a local node). If the door receives the command line parameter "BWMAIL -LOG=", no log file will be generated for that session. USAGE : BWMAIL -LOG=d:\name\of\logfile.ext DEFAULT: Filename defined within BWMAIL.PRM. WarpSpeed AutoDownload Mode (-d) -------------------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door has a special command line parameter to force the door into download mode, then exit. When the door is executed with the -d parameter, it immediately begins scanning the message areas and bundles a mail packet. If there is a remote user, the door will immediately fire up the appropriate download protocol, and then exit back to the BBS. If there is no remote user, the door skips executing the protocol, and drops back to the calling batch file. This is extremely handy for local use in batch files to possibly build a mail bundle during a maintenance "event". The door will NOT prompt for user input during the entire session. USAGE : BWMAIL -D DEFAULT: The door defaults to "Interactive Menu" mode. AutoUpload Mode (-u) -------------------- Specifying -U on the command line will cause the door to immediately go into upload mode. This parameter works the same as the AutoDownload Parameter; the user will never be prompted for input during the mail session. USAGE : BWMAIL -U DEFAULT: The door defaults to "Interactive Menu" mode. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 16 Auto Logoff Mode (-LOGOFF=) --------------------------- This command line only has an effect on the operation of the door when the following 2 conditions are met: 1) The door must be in AutoUpload or AutoDownload mode. 2) There must be a remote user online. Adding the /LOGOFF=I command line parameter will cause the door to perform an IMMEDIATE LOGOFF of the user (drop carrier) after a successful AutoUpload or AutoDownload session. Adding the /LOGOFF=C command line parameter will cause the door to perform a COUNTDOWN LOGOFF of the user (drop carrier) after a successful AutoUpload or AutoDownload session. USAGE : BWMAIL <-D or -U> -LOGOFF=I USAGE : BWMAIL <-D or -U> -LOGOFF=C DEFAULT: The door defaults to returning back to the BBS with the remote user still online. ******** Last Minute Addendum ********* There have been reports that Maximus v2.00 does not properly pass an '=' sign to an external program when called from BBS files through the use of the [dos] MECCA token. Therefore, to circumvent the problem, the following command line parms are also supported for this function: /LOGOFF=I ---------> /INSTANT /LOGOFF=C ---------> /COUNT ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 17 THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR CONFIGURATION EDITOR -------------------------------------------- (How to use BWUTILS.EXE to edit your setup.) After the original initialization and installation of The Blue Wave Mail Door is complete, you will be taken to The Blue Wave Mail Door's Configuration Editor. By default, if BWUTILS finds a configuration file already present, you will be taken directly to this menu. If at any time you wish to re-run the Door Initialization module, simply delete the file named BWMAIL.PRM, located in your BLUEWAVE directory. To make simple changes to your setup, run BWUTILS with no command line parameters, and you will be taken to the configuration menu. (If you would like to edit a setup besides the default "BWMAIL.PRM", enter the command "BWUTILS BWLINE2.PRM", or any other .PRM file name you like. A thorough description of each item available for editing through BWUTILS will now be given. General Information Editor -------------------------- The General Information Editor allows you to edit data regarding your system name, your name as sysop, and other general system data. BBS NAME: Enter the name of your BBS here, exactly as you want it to appear in the door. Your BBS name will be shown at the top of the main door menu, and also to the users inside of the offline reader. YOUR REAL NAME: You should enter your real name in this field. If you use a handle or alias on your BBS, this is not the place for it. Your registration code will be computed based upon the name you give here. Rest assured that your users will NEVER see this field. YOUR NAME AS SYSOP: Please enter the name or handle that you use in your Maximus setup to identify yourself to your users. When entering mail in the offline mail reader, users may enter "SYSOP" in the TO: field. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader will insert this name for them, instead of your real name, since it may be different in some cases. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 18 NAME OF MAIL PACKETS CREATED BY DOOR: Enter the root name of the mail packets that you would like to use to identify your BBS. It should probably correspond to the name of your BBS. For example: WILDBLUE -- The Wild! Blue BBS FEDERAL -- The Federal Post The Blue Wave Mail Door will generate mail packets using this field as the 'root name'. If today is Monday, and Joe User is downloading his second packet of the day, and your Mail Packet Name is IOBUS, the file generated will be named IOBUS.MO2. This allows users of your BBS to have multiple download packets available at one time for reading from your BBS. REGISTRATION NUMBER: Upon registration of The Blue Wave Mail Door with Cutting Edge Computing, you will receive a unique registration code. Registration of The Blue Wave Mail Door not only removes the UNREGISTERED COPY on the Mail Menu, but also entitles you to special utilities and support NOT available to unregistered users. If you have a registration number, please enter it here. DEFAULT NETWORK ADDRESS INFORMATION: These four fields (Zone, Net, Node, Point) require your PRIMARY NETWORK Zone, Net, Node, and Point number, if you will be using The Blue Wave Mail Door in a FidoNet-style application. If you do not have a network address, please leave these fields as 0's. Whenever possible, The Blue Wave Mail Door finds the address information for each echomail and netmail area from Max's AREA.DAT file (or other file that you have defined within you MAX.PRM file). The door will append the origin line defined within Max and insert the network address. However, if it cannot find the area within AREA.DAT or the Origin line is blank, this default address will be used to address the message. If you are running a point system, and would like to use The Blue Wave Mail System, there should be no problem. Specify your BOSSnode address here, along with your specified point number. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 19 READER FILES: Reader files are plain ASCII or ANSI files that will be displayed to the user when they load a mail packet downloaded from your BBS. You may define up to 5 files to be displayed. You may wish to send files with each mail packet as an advertisement of new items or echos available on the BBS, etc. These files must reside in the BLUEWAVE directory. Along with each reader file, you can define a security level that is needed to see each file. If the online user does not have enough access to see the file, it will not be included in his/her mail packet. The door uses the same security level scheme as Maximus. You can select from any of the 12 access levels defined in Maximus, and also any of the 32 available lock and key sets. You may use 2 special character sequences in the reader text files in order to control their display to the user: {PAUSE} - Inserts a "Press any key to continue" {BEEP} - Sounds a beep in the reader. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 20 The Options and Toggles Editor ---------------------------- SWAP ON SHELL TO EXTERNALS: If this option is turned on, The Blue Wave Mail Door will perform a "Memory Swap" when shelling to execute the external protocols and archivers. The door will swap all but about 3K out of memory and free your valuable RAM for use by your archivers and protocols. If you enable this option, please also be sure to specify one of the next 3 options. SWAP TO EXTENDED MEMORY: If this option is enabled, the door will attempt to swap to extended memory. If not enough extended memory is available, a swap to DISK will be performed. SWAP TO EXPANDED MEMORY: If this option is enabled, the door will attempt to swap to expanded memory. If not enough LIM v4.0 Expanded Memory is available, a swap to DISK will be performed. SWAP TO DISK: If you choose to have The Blue Wave Mail Door swap its used memory to DISK, you will need about 150K free on your "Swap Drive". You can specify the full path to your swap directory within the BWUTILS "Directories and Filepaths" menu editor. FAST (DIRECT) SCREEN WRITES: If this option is set to "Yes", the door will use direct video writes; diretly to your monitor glass. This is by far the fastest video mode, and may be incompatible with some systems and/or multi-taskers. If you have trouble with direct video writes, set this option to "No". The door will then use generic BIOS screen writes. If DESQview is detected, the door will automatically write directly to the DESQview video buffer regardless of what this setting is at. If auto- DESQview detection causes problems, use the /NODV command line parameter for the door. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 21 ALLOW G)OODBYE COMMANDS: Normally, The Blue Wave Mail Door will give users the option of logging off your system through the door [G)oodbye from the Main Menu], and the choice of an "Instant" or "Countdown" logoff after downloading a mail packet. If you do not want the users given the ability to automatically log off after a mail transfer, or to say G)oodbye from the Main Menu, set this option to "No". In most cases, however, this option should probably be set to "Yes" in order to give users increased flexibility within the mail door. HANGUP ON INPUT TIMEOUT: After 4 minutes of input inactivity from the remote user, the door normally drops carrier and recycles back to Maximus in order to prevent a user from tying up your system. If you do not want the door to drop carrier on the user for inactivity, set this option to "No". If this option is "No", and the online user has been inactive for more than 4 minutes, the door will simply exit and return control back to Maximus, rather than dropping carrier on the user. HANGUP ON USER WHEN TIME LIMIT EXPIRES: When the user's daily time limit has expired, the door normally drops carrier on them and returns control to Maximus. However, if you would like the door to just exit back to Maximus when the time limit expires, set this option to "No". NUKE *.NEW PACKETS AFTER LOCAL UPLOAD: When The Blue Wave Mail Door is used in local mode, the .NEW packet generated by the reader is not normally erased from the Upload directory. If you would like the door to erase your upload packet after tossing the .NEW message replies, set this option to "Yes". This option only affects LOCAL MODE operations. *.NEW packets are always erased after the door has processed it with a remote user online. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 22 KEEP OLD DOWNLOAD PACKETS (DON'T ERASE): Normally, when The Blue Wave Mail Door builds a mail bundle in LOCAL mode, it erases PKTNAME.* in the local download directory, just as it does for a remote user. If you use the door in local mode, and you would like the door to NOT erase other mail bundles which may reside in the door's and reader's download directory, set this option to "Yes". Another feature that is enabled when this option is set to "Yes" is auto-incrementing of the download packet extension numbers. If the door was about to build a bundle called WILDBLUE.TH1, and WILDBLUE.TH1 already existed in the download directory, the door would then check for WILDBLUE.TH2. It will repeat this process until it finds a 'hole' between .TH1 and .TH9. If there are packets named WILDBLUE.TH1 through WILDBLUE.TH9, the door will erase the oldest packet and build a new one. When using this option for local mode use, you should define the DOWNLOAD directory in the reader to be the same drive:\path as the LOCAL DOWNLOAD directory in the door's configuration menu. This way, the door will automatically archive your mail packet into the directory the reader expects the mail packet to be in. LOG SCANNING INFORMATION: If this option is enabled, the door will write into your log file a detailed account of what messages were scanned by a user online. It includes a Keyword count, a count of NEW messages, a Filter count, and a count of the personal messages. All logging done by this function will have a ":" symbol preceding the log entry. To toggle these entries ON/OFF, press the ':' key. LOG BUNDLING INFORMATION: This option is similar to the Scanning Information function, except it writes an entry for each area BUNDLED. All logging done by this function will have a "+" symbol preceding the log entry. To toggle these entries ON/OFF, press the '+' key. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 23 LOG UPLOAD INFORMATION: This option will log all messages that were uploaded through The Blue Wave Mail Door. With this option enabled, an entry will be made for each message a user uploads in a packet, including information about who the message is TO, who it was FROM, the subject of the message, and the area to which the message was tossed. All logging done by this function will have a "@" symbol preceding the log entry. To toggle these entries ON/OFF, press the '@' key. LOG ERROR MESSAGES: This option will log all errors encountered by the door. All logging done by this function will have a '!' symbol preceding the log entry. Press the '!' key to toggle these log entries ON/OFF. LOG SCANNING AND BUNDLING TOTALS: With this option enabled, the door will write the total number of messages scanned and the total messages bundled to the log file. Please note that this is a GRAND TOTAL. In order to get a total number of messages that were scanned and bundled by AREA, please see the previous page regarding SCANNING INFORMATION and BUNDLING TOTALS. All logging done by this function will have a "*" symbol preceding the log entry. To toggle these entries ON/OFF, press the '*' key. LOG GENERAL ACTIVITY: This option is primarily a "catch-all" for those who would like a log file, but not a detailed account of events. General activity will log things such as "Joe User Entering The Blue Wave Mail Door at 9600 Baud", "Scanning Message Areas", and "Bundling Messages". If you want totals and other information included, please use some of the above mentioned logging levels. All logging done by this function will have a '=' symbol preceding the log entry. To toggle these entries ON/OFF, press the '=' key. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 24 The Directories and FilePaths Editor ------------------------------------ One of the many features of The Blue Wave Mail Door is the ability to work easily on multi-line systems. For all of the path and file names described below, it is possible to use the '%T' and the '%N' metaphors wherever you would like to use the TASK number the door is running as. For example, if a system is running 2 lines, it is necessary to specify different WORK, UPLOAD, and DOWNLOAD directories for each line. It is not possible to share the door's working directories between 2 tasks. To simplify the setup process for multi-line setups, you may wish to declare your paths in the following way: DOWNLOAD Directory: C:\Max\Bluewave\Down%T UPLOAD Directory : C:\Max\Bluewave\Upload%T WORK Directory : C:\Max\Bluewave\Work%T If the door is invoked with a '-T1' command line parameter, the door will search for and use the following paths: DOWNLOAD Directory: C:\Max\Bluewave\Down01 UPLOAD Directory : C:\Max\Bluewave\Upload01 WORK Directory : C:\Max\Bluewave\Work01 The door always expands the %T metaphor into a 2 digit, hexadecimal number. A '-T12' on the command line would expand to 'C:\Max\Bluewave\Down0C', and so on. The %N metaphor is very similar to the %T metaphor, except that it translates the %N into a 1, 2, or 3 digit task number that the door is using as a DECIMAL number. A '-T12' on the door's command line would translate to 'C:\Max\Bluewave\Down12', and a '-T1' on the door's command line would translate to 'C:\Max\Bluewave\Down1'. The task number translations work for not only the working directories, but for EVERY path name, filename, and Flag File name described below. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 25 Path to Maximus v2.x .PRM File: The Blue Wave Mail Door needs to load a Maximus v2.00 .PRM file in order to know several things about your system, and the task that it is running under. Please enter the full path and file name to your Maximus .PRM file that you would like the door to use here. Note: For those running multiple tasks, you may specify the .PRM file to use on the command line, if you wish. If you enter the name of the .PRM file on the command line, it will override the default setting that you enter here. Please see the section titled "COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS". Path to Max's LASTUSER.BBS: In order to know certain things, like who is online, at what baud rate, and the user's netmail credits and debits, the door must be able to find and load one of Max's LASTUSER files. The Blue Wave Mail Door supports multiple tasks, and therefore will read LASTUSER.BBS, LASTUS01.BBS, LASTUS02.BBS, and so on. The door will know which LASTUSER file to load based upon either the information in the Maximus .PRM file, or through the use of the -t command line switch. Please see the section regarding command line switches earlier in this documentation. The door tries to load the appropriate lastuser file with the given or assumed task number. In any case, you should only put the PATH to the LASTUSER file here. Do not include the file name, as The Blue Wave Mail Door will append the name onto the path that you give. Path/Filename of Blue Wave's LOG File: The Blue Wave Mail Door will keep a log file of all activity within the door. You can specify the name of this file here. You need to have separate LOG files if you are running more than one task. You can use the '%T' or '%N' metaphor, or use the '-LOG=<path>' command line override when executing the door to specify different log file names for the different tasks you may be running. If you do not want the door to keep a log file, simply leave this field blank, and no log file will be kept. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 26 Path to Blue Wave's DOWNLOAD Directory: Specify the path to Blue Wave's personal DOWNLOAD directory. This is the area where mail packets will be compressed into, and downloaded from. This directory is cleaned of "PACKETNAME.*" whenever a user begins to download a packet. To be safe, you should never keep files in this directory that you want to keep. WARNING: Do NOT share your WORK directory with the DOWNLOAD directory. The door will still work, but may not operate correctly. The download directory *may* be shared with the upload directory, but again, we advise against it. Normally, when a user leaves The Blue Wave Mail Door, this directory is cleansed of the packet that was made. However, in LOCAL mode, the file is kept so that you may download mail in local mode and read the packet with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader. Path to Blue Wave's UPLOAD Directory: The Blue Wave Mail Door uses the UPLOAD directory to accept a user's upload packet. The protocols will be executed with the upload directory on the command line. After a protocol is finished executing, the door will expect to find the upload packet here. After a remote user is finished with an upload, this directory is erased of "PACKETNAME.*". However, after a local upload, this directory is not cleaned, in case you would like to save your upload packet for later use. When the door begins an upload session, it CHANGES to the upload directory, for those protocols that can only accept uploads to the current directory. This means that you must either store your protocol driver in your DOS PATH statement, or specify the full path and file name to your external protocol drivers in the PROTOCOL menu. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 27 Path to Blue Wave's WORK Directory: Specify the path pointing to Blue Wave's personal WORK directory. The Blue Wave Mail Door will perform all of its bundling and unpacking in this directory. You should have enough free space in this directory to handle the MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DOWNLOADABLE MESSAGES specified in the Limits and Maximums Editor Menu. (This path can lie on a different drive). WARNING: This directory will be COMPLETELY erased whenever the user begins an upload or download session. Do NOT point this directory somewhere where there are files that you do not want deleted. Path to Blue Wave's SWAP File: The path you enter here will be where The Blue Wave Mail Door will write its SWAP file when shelling to an external protocol or archiver. If you do not have swapping enabled in The Blue Wave Mail Door, you do not need to specify a path here. If you told the door to use Extended or Expanded memory on a swap, you should still specify a path here, however. If the swap to extended or expanded memory fails, the door will automatically swap to disk. The Blue Wave Mail Door's swap file consumes about 150K, and is erased when control returns to the door. You MUST specify a different swap directory for each task that you may be running. Two copies of The Blue Wave Mail Door cannot share the same swap directory. This is most easily accomplished through the use of the '%T' or '%N' metaphor, as described at the beginning of this section. Local WORK Directory: This directory serves the same purpose as the normal work directory described above, with one exception: This directory will be used when the door is loaded in LOCAL mode (there is no remote user). If you want to use the same directory in LOCAL mode as for REMOTE mode, simply leave this field blank. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 28 Local DOWNLOAD Directory: This directory serves the same purpose as the normal download directory, but is used when the door is in LOCAL mode. Leave this field blank if you do not want separate download directories. Local UPLOAD Directory: Serves the same purpose as the Local DOWNLOAD and WORK directories. A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT DIRECTORIES: The Blue Wave Mail Door checks for the existence of each of the UPLOAD, DOWNLOAD, and WORK directories during the initialization process. If any or all of these directories do not exist, the door attempts to create them. If, however, the door is unsuccessful in its attempt to create its working directories, it will log an error and refuse to run. The UPLOAD, DOWNLOAD, and WORK directories can be overridden from the DOS command line. Please see the section titled "COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS", earlier in the documentation. Path/Filename of Toss Log File: The Blue Wave Mail Door will write an Echotoss.Log style file for every echomail message that is uploaded through the door. If the base has been flagged as ECHOMAIL, the door will write the name of the echo to this file when new mail is received. If you would like to use the ECHOTOSS.LOG option, enter a full path and file name to write the information to. If you do not want to use the ECHOTOSS.LOG option, simply leave this field blank. Semaphore for LOCAL Mail Uploads: When mail is uploaded to a LOCAL message area, the door will create a 0-byte semaphore file in the current directory with the filename specified here. You can use the presence of this semaphore file to do various mail processing after the user logs off of the system. If you do not want the door to create a local mail semaphore file, simply leave this field blank. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 29 Semaphore for NETMAIL Uploads: When NETMAIL is uploaded through The Blue Wave Mail Door, it will create a 0-byte semaphore file in the current directory with the filename specified here. Please see 'Semaphore for LOCAL Mail Uploads' for more information. Semaphore for ECHOMAIL Uploads: This serves the same purpose of 'LOCAL Mail Semaphore File', but is created when a user uploads Echomail into the system. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 30 The Message Area Override Editor -------------------------------- The message area override editor is provided in order for you to have separate read access, write access, and area descriptions between the door and Maximus. The override editor also gives you the power to define DEFAULT message areas for new users, and to FORCE message areas on (the user will not be able to turn it off.) New overrides are added to the door by pressing <INS> after entering the Override editor. A scrollable "pick-list" will then be displayed, and you will be able to highlight the area definition you would like to override. After you have found the message area that you would like to create an Override for, simply highlight it and press <ENTER>. A new area override will be created, and you can then edit the parameters described below. It should be noted that unused or unnecessary overrides should not be created, since it will only take the door longer to initialize when called from Maximus. You should always Delete message area overrides that you do not wish to have active. NOTE ---- If you are trying to override a message area, and it is not showing up when pressing <INS> to select from the pick-list, be sure that the area you are trying to work with has a "MSGNAME <areaname>" line in Max's MSGAREA.CTL file. Areas that do not have a MsgName defined will be skipped by the BWUtils editor and by the door itself! There are circumstances when it may be necessary to define an override for a message area. If you have BARRICADED message areas in Maximus, the door will completely ignore them unless an override is defined. (This does not apply to "EXTENDED BARRICADES"). Therefore, if a barricade is defined for a message area, but you would like to have it show up in the door for certain users, it will be necessary to define that area as an Override. It is also necessary to define an area as an override if you would like to FORCE downloading the area to all users, or have the area active as a default for new users [which will be explained later in this section]. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 31 Area Number: BWUtils allows you to edit the AREA NUMBER of the message area. If, for some reason you would like to change the area's "number" in the door, you can do it here. The door does NOT use the area number to determine which areas a user is downloading. User's message areas are tracked through the ECHO NAME, or AREA NAME. For more information on how The Blue Wave Mail Door handles message areas, please see the section titled "GENERAL OPERATION OF THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR", later in the documentation. This means that you can change an area's "Number" from "9999" to "17" without confusing your users. If someone is downloading area #9999, and you change it, they will still be downloading the correct area! Area TAG: As mentioned earlier, the door keeps track of which areas a user is downloading through the area name defined here. If Joe User is downloading MUFFIN today, and you change the area name to GENERAL_MESSAGES, the door will not know to scan and bundle mail for the user in this area. If at all possible, you should always try to keep the area names the same, so that your users will always be downloading the correct areas. For this reason, the Override editor does NOT allow you to change the Area Tag of a message area. If you would like to change the area tag, it must be done through Max's setup files. (The 'MsgName <AreaName>' keyword in MSGAREA.CTL. You will need to re-SILT your control files before the change will take effect in both Maximus and the door.) Why does the door operate this way? Other<tm> mail systems track message bases based on the area number. There is a large flaw in this concept, because often times message bases are moved around on the BBS. If you move your FOR- SALE echo from area "100" to area "17", the users would then be downloading area "100" still. By using the area tags as the tracking device, you have the freedom to renumber your message bases every day, if you like, with no consequence to the users! ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 32 Another reason for this method is when uploading replies. Other<tm> mail systems use solely the area number. The Blue Wave Mail Door uses the area name defined here. Let's suppose that a user replies to a message area in the FOR- SALE echo. Let's also suppose that during the time he or she downloaded the packet and the time they upload their reply, you have changed the FOR-SALE echo from "100" to "17". The other systems would toss the mail into area "100", resulting in the dreaded off-topic message. However, The Blue Wave Mail Door would recognize that the message belongs in the FOR-SALE echo, and place the message in the appropriate directory. NO MORE angry moderators or fed up users! The door will refuse any message that it receives in a no- longer-existent area name. This is another important reason to try to keep your LOCAL bases' echo tags, or area names, consistent. Long Area Title: The more complete description of the message area should be entered here. This will be shown to the user when selecting areas for download, and in the Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader when selecting conferences to read. This does not necessarily have to match the Maximus setting. The long area title can also be changed without consequence to the user's downloaded areas. Area Origin Line: Normally, The Blue Wave Mail Door will append an Origin line to messages entering the system as Echomail. The origin line used is the one that is defined within Maximus. If you would like to override an area's Origin line, and have a different one appended by the door, you should enter it here. Do not include the Zone:Net/Node information, as the door will automatically add this information itself. Read Security Level: Selecting this option will allow you to define the Privilege level needed to access (read) this particular message area. The Blue Wave Mail Door supports all of Max's Privilege levels and LOCKS. If you enter a privilege level here that is different than Max's setting, this will OVERRIDE what you have defined in Maximus. This is a useful feature to allow you to define different access levels between the door and Maximus itself. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 33 Write Security Level: The Blue Wave Mail Door allows you to define a privilege and lock level for a user to ENTER mail into a message area. If a user has sufficient access to download a message area, but insufficient access to post, the reader will give them a message that says "This is a READ-ONLY Area", if they try to enter a message into the area. *)Default Message Areas for New Users: If you would like to make the current message area a DEFAULT message area for new users, you can toggle the Default status by pressing the '*' key. When an area is selected as a default, it will be active the first time a new user enters the door. They will still be able to turn the message area off through the door's Configuration Menu, or through the reader's OFFLINE CONFIGURATION. Of course, the area is only automatically activated if the current user has READ access to the message area. When entering the door for the first time, the user is shown the default active message areas. !)Force Message area ON Through the use of the Override editor, it is possible to FORCE a message area ON for all users who use The Blue Wave Mail Door. If an area is forced on, a user will not be able to turn it off through the door's Configuration Menu, nor through the use of the reader's OFFLINE CONFIGURATIONS. It is also impossible to modify the download count in the message area through the use of The Blue Wave Bundling Commands. This option is used to Globally force a message area. You can force message areas on for individual users through the BWUtils User File Editor, which will be described in a separate section. It should be noted that a message area will not be forced ON unless the user online actually has READ access to the message area. If the user doesn't have access, they will not even know that the message area exists. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 34 The Limits and Maximums Editor ------------------------------ The Limits and Maximums Editor allows the sysop control over several aspects of the door's behaviour. From this editor you can define the maximum number of messages that you will allow a user to download at each of the supported BPS rates. Additionally, you can specify the maximum size of the mail packets that you will allow to be created at each of the specified BPS rates. MAX UNCOMPRESSED PACKET SIZE: The maximum uncompressed packet size allows you to limit the size of the mail packets that the door creates for users. Each supported BPS rate can be configured independently of each other. One of the best uses of this feature is for those who have limited drive space and need to make sure that a user never tries to package a mail bundle that will exceed the capacity or free space of the drive. To improve message packing speed, you may want to create a RAMdrive to use as the door's WORK directory. Supposing you have configured your system with a 2 megabyte RAMdrive, you would want to make sure that any user does not exceed the capacity of that drive. Therefore, you may want to set the "Max Uncompressed Packet Size" for each BPS rate listed to 1800K to ensure that all files packed will be available to the user. During the mail bundling process, the door will immediately stop gathering messages when the files in the WORK directory reach the size you specify here. The door will then archive the mail bundle, and send it to the user (after informing them that they did not receive ALL of the mail scanned, due to hitting the Sysop-defined packet size). Each individual user ALSO has the ability to set his or her own Maximum Packet Size through the door's configuration menu. If the Sysop Maximum Packet Size is reached before the user's, the Sysop's packet size takes precedence. If the user's defined maximum packet size is reached before the sysop's, the user's maximum packet size is honoured. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 35 The Maximum Packet Size parameter differs from the "Maximum Number of Messages" parameter described below in that the size limit is enforced DURING message packing. The Max # of Msgs parameter is enforced before packing can even begin. (The user will be forced to trim messages from the scanned message list with the Blue Wave Bundling Commands before the door will begin packing messages). If you do not wish to set a Maximum Packet Size for any of the supported BPS rates, simply enter a -1 in the field when prompted for a number. This will disable the Maximum Packet Size Limits for that particular BPS rate, and leave the screen displaying a "(none)" in that field when the limits are being viewed. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MESSAGES: The sysop may define a maximum number of messages that will be allowed for users to download at each of the supported BPS rates. If, during the mail scan, the door announces that more messages have been prepared for download than are allowed by the sysop, the user must trim his or her download using The Blue Wave Bundling Commands before the door will begin packing messages. If you do not wish to enforce a maximum number of messages that users can download, simply enter a "-1" in this field when prompted for input. This will disable the Maximum Number of Messages check for that particular BPS rate, and display "(none)" on the screen when viewing the limits. ALLOW USERS CONFIGURATION OPTION OF NEWFILES SCAN: After building the user's mail packet for download, The Blue Wave Mail Door will scan the file areas defined in your Maximus setup (honouring all file area locks, security levels, and extended barricades) for new files since the user last performed a successful mail download. If you do not want users to have this option available to them, set this option to "NO". Otherwise, set this option to "YES". When this option is set to "YES", users will be able to enter the door's CONFIGURATION menu while online and select whether they wish NO file list, TEXT file lists, or ANSI (color) file lists. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 36 LIMIT NEWFILES SCAN TO FILES LESS THAN ? DAYS OLD: If a user has not used the mail door for an extended period of time, it is possible for them to receive a "new file" list that contains hundreds of files that are dated several months old. Use this setup option to instruct the door to never include files in the NEWFILE list that are more than "x" days old. A good number to use here is anything between 10 and 30 days, however you may limit the scan to any number of days you like. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF FILES ALLOWED PER FILE REQUEST: The Blue Wave Mail Door and The Blue Wave Offline Reader work together to provide users easy access to files on your system. For a complete description of the File Requesting system, please see the section titled "FILE REQUESTING THROUGH THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR". If you wish to disable file requesting through the door completely, enter a "0" in this field. Otherwise, you can enter any number here between 1 and 10. When file requesting, the door honours all file area security levels, locks, extended barricades, and all system DOWNLOAD limits (both for Maximum Daily Download and file system ratios). ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 37 The Protocol Configuration Editor --------------------------------- The Protocol Configuration Editor will allow you to define the protocols that are allowed to be used by users while downloading and uploading their mail packets. The Blue Wave Mail Door comes with 8 "built-in" internal protocols. These are the most widely used protocols, and in most cases you will not need to define any "External" protocols. However, if you would like to support protocols other than those internal to the door, The Blue Wave Mail Door provides the means to do so. When you enter the Protocol Configuration Editor from the main BWUTILS system menu, you will see a list of protocols, labeled from A to R. The first 8 protocols are "Internal", and the last 10 protocol slots are available to be defined as EXTERNAL PROTOCOL DRIVERS. DEFINING THE INTERNAL PROTOCOLS: Each of the Internal protocols have a sysop- configurable "hotkey", or key that will identify the protocol in the door when the user attempts to select a different protocol. This menu selection key is listed in the "Hotkey" column of the display. Pressing the letter preceeding the protocol description will toggle the status of that particular protocol. If the protocol is ACTIVE, it will become "inactive" or unavailable for selection in the door. If the protocol is INACTIVE, and you would like to activate it, BWUTILS will ask you to type the key that you would like to be displayed on the protocol configuration menu. The protocol will be made active if a valid key is pressed. DEFINING THE EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS: The Blue Wave Mail Door allows you to define up to 10 "external" protocols to be used in conjunction with or in place of the internal protocols. There are many external protocol drivers available for use, including DSZ, GSZ, Hydra, BiModem, etc. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 38 Pressing the letter corresponding to one of the external protocol slots will cause BWUTILS to open a window with several fields that must be defined in order to have a properly working external protocol. PROTOCOL HOTKEY: Simply type a letter that you would like to use for selection of this protocol on the door's protocol selection screen. You should be certain that no 2 protocols are given the same hotkey. If hotkeys are duplicated between protocols (including the internal protocols), only the FIRST one listed will be accessible by users. PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION: Type the description of the protocol that you want displayed on the door's protocol selection screen. For example, you might use "DSZ/MobyTurbo Zmodem" as one of your protocol descriptions. SEND COMMAND: Enter the command line that will be necessary to invoke this external protocol for sending files. If the protocol driver is not located in a directory located on your DOS Path, you must enter the full drive:\path\filename.exe of the driver. Several replacement macros are available for use. Before the door executes the command line given, the following characters are replaced with actual parameter for the online user. %P - The com port number currently in use. %B - The online users CONNECTion baud rate. %F - SEND command line=path & name of file to send RECV command line=path & name of file to get %U - The door's UPLOAD directory, with no filename Use the %U macro for Bi-Directional protocols (Hydra, Bimodem) that need to know the name of the directory to store files that are uploaded while the user is downloading files. The Blue Wave Mail Door fully supports Bidirectional protocols. While a user is downloading a mail packet, they can upload their *.NEW packet with a bidirectional protocol. The door will process the reply packet after the user has finished downloading. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 39 RECEIVE COMMAND: Enter the command line that will be necessary to invoke this external protocol for receiving files. If the protocol driver is not located in a directory located on your DOS Path, you must enter the full drive:\path\filename.exe of the driver. The same replacement macros are available for the RECEIVE command line as for the SEND command line. Please see the previous page for a description of the replacement macros. BATCH PROTOCOL?: If this is a BATCH protocol (the protocol driver can accept and send more than one file during one invocation of the driver), enter a Y in this field. If this is a single-file-at-a-time protocol (such as Xmodem and Xmodem-K), enter an N in this field. SETTING THE DEFAULT PROTOCOL: When new users enter the door for the first time, the door assigns them a default protocol. This protocol should normally be Zmodem, as almost all terminal programs today contain some sort of Zmodem transfer capability. If, however, you would like to change the default protocol, simply type "S" while in the Protocol Configuration Editor. You will be asked to type the letter of the protocol that you would like assigned as the default. EXAMPLE EXTERNAL PROTOCOL COMMAND LINE: This part of the documentation is meant as a simple guide to installing external protocols in general. All external protocols contain their own unique set of parameters and command line switches. If you have trouble executing any external protocol, please consult THAT PROTOCOLS documentation. This examples shows how to install DSZ with MobyTurbo as one of the externals: PORT LOCKED AT 38400, SENDING: c:\path\to\dsz.com port %P estimate 0 %B sz -m %F UNLOCKED COM PORT, SENDING: c:\path\to\dsz.com port %P speed %B sz -m %F ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 40 The Archiver Definitions Editor ------------------------------- Unlike the protocols described in the previous section, The Blue Wave Mail Door *REQUIRES* the use of external archiver utilities. The door initialization module installed some sample archivers, but some editing may be necessary in order for the archivers to work correctly. The archivers are used to compress downloaded mail bundles before sending them to the user, and for decompressing uploaded mail bundles after receiving them from a user. DEFAULT ARCHIVER: This field allows you to define the Default Archiver for new users to The Blue Wave Mail Door. (A user may later change his/her default from the door's CONFIGURATION menu.) As with protocols, there must always be a default archiver defined. Because of this, if archiver #1 is set to the default, you will NOT be able to disable it. To select another archiver to be the default, move to the correct definition number, and type the letter "D". Any previously marked default archivers will be toggled off automatically. ARCHIVER HOTKEY: This field allows you to define the "Hotkey" used to select the current archiver from the door's CONFIGURATION Menu. You should be careful not to duplicate hotkeys between different archivers (such as using "Z" for .ZIP and "Z" for .ZOO, both). The letter "Q" should also not be used, as this is used internally by the door for a "(Q)uit" menu option. Any other alpha-numeric character, however, is OK. ARCHIVER TITLE: This is the short, 3 letter extension used by the archiver. You should probably make it match the "standard" extension so as to not confuse your users. Examples of popular archivers would include "ZIP", "ARC", "PAK", "LZH", "ARJ", and "ZOO". ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 41 ARCHIVER COMPRESS COMMAND LINE: Here you will define the command line used to compress your users' mail packets. The Blue Wave Mail Door supports 2 "metacharacters" in the compression command lines, and will be described below. WARNING: LHARC *will* hang your system if you do not give it the proper command line. The door uses "non-standard" filename extensions, and LHARC will complain. You must have a "/m" on your LHARC compression command line. ARCHIVER DECOMPRESS COMMAND LINE: Here you will define the command line used to decompress your users' uploaded mail packets. NOTE: It should be mentioned that there MUST BE ENOUGH MEMORY FREE ON YOUR SYSTEM TO RUN THE EXTERNAL ARCHIVERS! If you are getting "Out of Memory or Disk Space" errors, and you have plenty of disk space, you will need to either enable SWAPPING within The Blue Wave Mail Door, or make Maximus exit to the Blue Wave Mail Door with an errorlevel. Archiver Command Line Metacharacters ------------------------------------ @F Inserts the directory/filename of the file to be BUILT when used in the compress command line. When used in the Decompress command line, the door inserts the directory/filename of the file to be DECOMPRESSED. @I When used in the Compress command line, the door inserts the directory and filename of the files to INCLUDE in the archive. When used in the DECOMPRESS command line, the door inserts the directory/filename of the place where the extracted files will be placed (the door's WORK directory). ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 42 Sample Command Lines for Popular Archivers ------------------------------------------ The following examples have been tested with their respective archivers and work well: PKZIP @F @I ZIP Compression command line PKUNZIP @F @I ZIP Decompression command line PKARC -a @F @I ARC Compression command line PKXARC -e @F @I ARC Decompression command line LHARC a /m @F @I LZH Compression command line LHARC e /m @F @I LZH Decompression command line PAK a @F @I PAK Compression command line PAK e @F @I PAK Decompression command line ARJ a -e @F @I ARJ Compression command line ARJ e @F @I ARJ Decompression command line ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 43 The Security and Netmail Manager -------------------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door has full built-in support for Fidonet netmail. The door allows you to define the privilege level and locks/keys needed to access every BIT on a netmail message. When the door was installed, it defaulted to SYSOP on all privilege levels. You should be careful about allowing users access to certain netmail attributes. That, however, is left at your discretion. The Blue Wave Mail Door simply provides the capability for users to enter File Request messages, and other "usually sysop-only" bits. The Blue Wave Mail Door, however, allows you to have even more control over messages entered in your netmail bases. The door will allow you to define the default bits to place on ALL MESSAGES. Several bits are allowed to be toggled, but obviously those that will never be used were left out. (What do you mean you want to mark ALL Netmail as File Attaches??) For example, you could place the HOLD bit on all netmail messages so that they can be "screened" before leaving your system. The door double checks these locks and privileges when users upload netmail through the door, so there is absolutely no chance of someone "hacking" their way through the security system. For full details on how The Blue Wave Mail Door handles netmail bases, please see the section titled "SENDING NETMAIL THROUGH THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR". The door uses the security listed in MAX.PRM for sending mail to unlisted nodes. Unlisted nodes are those that the door could not find in your NODELIST when doing a matrix- mail lookup for the costing on a node. If you allow "Normal" access to this option, it is possible to run the door without a nodelist. If a node is unlisted, and the user has proper access to SEND to unlisted nodes, the door checks the "COST TO SEND TO UNLISTED NODES" field. Then, if the user has a proper CREDIT/DEBIT ratio, the message will be allowed to enter the system. Otherwise, the user is given an informative message, and the door does not accept the new mail into the system. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 44 The User File Editor -------------------- BWUTILS contains a User File Editor, which allows you access to all of the user-configurable options and several other extra items. Most of the items in the user file editor are self explanatory, so it would only be a waste of time and paper to explain them here. The User File editor contains an on- line help screen, which is accessible by pressing F1 in the editor. The part of the user editor that deserves mention is the Area Editor. To see and/or edit the areas that a user is currently active for, you can press F5 to bring up a "pick- list". Areas that the user has active will be tagged with a yellow box. To toggle the ACTIVE status on the highlighted message area, simply press the [Space] bar. Through the user area editor, it is also possible to selectively FORCE message areas for particular users. By pressing F9 while on a highlighted message area, it is possible to toggle the FORCED status of the area for the current user. Forcing a message area on a user through the user editor is somewhat different than forcing an area through the Message Area Override Editor, although both serve the same basic purpose; to disallow the user to turn OFF the active status either through the door's Configuration Menu or through the reader's OFFLINE CONFIGURATIONS. When a particular message area is FORCED on a user through the user file editor, the door disregards the privilege levels when evaluating whether or not the person has access to see and/or read the area. If you force an area on a user, and they do NOT have access to read the area, IT WILL STILL BE TAGGED AS ACCESSIBLE AND ACTIVE! This provides a very powerful way to give selected users access to higher-security areas without actually having to increase their Privilege and Lock/Key levels for the rest of the BBS. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 45 MAINTAINING THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR ----------------------------------- Careful thought has gone into making The Blue Wave Mail Door easy to maintain. There is nothing worse than having to duplicate efforts while adding and deleting message areas to and from your BBS. After all, you have already edited the Maximus data files, why have to do it again? You don't! Since each time the door loads it reads directly out of Max's AREA.DAT, the message area definitions are always up to date with Max's setup. The only time message area maintenance would be required is if you use the Message Area Overrides feature of the door. The BWUTILS PURGE Function -------------------------- About the only maintenance that may be necessary is the deletion of users from the door's user file (BWMAIL.USR). The Blue Wave Mail Door makes it easy to keep a 'clean' user file. If you want to delete all users from the user file that have not used the door in 90 days, simply execute the command line "BWUTILS PURGE 90" from the BLUEWAVE Directory. The door will automatically pack the user file and remove all inactive users. Any number may be entered for the number of days to pack the user file down to, but the BWUTILS Purge function will not allow the <days> parameter to be less than 30. This is a built-in safety precaution against wiping out your entire Blue Wave user file. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 46 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF DOOR OPERATIONS ----------------------------------- Now that we have examined the operation of BWUTILS in detail, and you have gone through the initial installation of the door, it seems appropriate to discuss (in general terms) the operations of the door itself. The Blue Wave Mail Door interfaces with Maximus almost seamlessly. The main bridge between Maximus and The Blue Wave Mail Door is the LASTUSxx.BBS file. The LASTUSxx.BBS file contains some important information that The Blue Wave Mail Door uses to initialize itself when first executed. In fact, the door will not run at all if it cannot find a LASTUSxx.BBS file in your Maximus Main Directory [unless the /K<user number> command line is used. Please see the section titled "LOCAL MAIL DOOR USAGE" for more information]. If you are attempting to run The Blue Wave Mail Door in LOCAL MODE, and you get a message that says "LOST CARRIER" on your screen, chances are that the LASTUSxx.BBS file that the door is reading does not contain your information. To simplify the usage of the door in LOCAL mode, simply go to the BLUEWAVE directory and type "BWMAIL /k1", where the /K parameter contains the user number of the person you would like to run the door as. "BWMAIL /K1" would load the first user out of Max's USER.BBS (normally the sysop), and execute the door in local mode. An alternative to the /K<user number> command line parameter is to use the NAME of the person to load the door for after the /K. To load the door with "Joe Smith" as the active user, use: BWMAIL /Kjoe_smith. You must replace all <Space> characters with an underscore. Also during initialization, all 3 of the door's PRIVATE directores are purged of any files thay may be lurking around and ready to cause trouble during the door operation. For this reason, you should make sure NEVER to store files in the private directories (UPLOAD, DOWNLOAD, and WORK) that you plan on keeping. After the door has initialized itself, and prepared for operation, the user will be shown either the file BWINTRO.TXT (if they have neither ANSI nor AVATAR selected in Maximus), or BWINTRO.ANS for those with graphics enabled. If the user has never used The Blue Wave Mail System before, they will then be shown the text in the file NEWUSER.HLP, and then their default settings. Otherwise, they will be taken to the Main Menu. From the Main Menu, a user is able to configure their setup, upload new mail, or download their mail packet. Full information on using The Blue Wave Mail Door is contained in the file BWDOOR.USE. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 47 Keys Used While a User is Online -------------------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door contains several keys that you, as a sysop, can press while a user is online. The door is always in "simultaneous keyboard mode", meaning that whatever you type on the local keyboard will also be echoed and processed to/for the remote user. However, there are "Special" key combinations that do not echo to the remote user or affect their input. Before we discuss the "Sysop Keys", let's explain a little bit about the status bar on the bottom row of your screen. The status bar is not visible to your remote users, of course. During normal operation, you will only see 1 visible line, however, there are actually 2 lines that make up the status bar display. When you press your sysop keys, additional information will fill the "second" status line, just above the normal one. This additional information will be cleared, and the status bar updated every 10 seconds. Please remember that anything shown on the bottom 2 lines of your display is not echoed to the remote user! The <HOME> Key: Anytime a user is online, you can press the <HOME> key to get help on the keys available to you. They will be displayed on the STATUS BAR at the bottom of the screen. The <ALT-N> Key: The <ALT-N> key will display extended information about the current user, including their Alias Name and City. The information, as with all of the sysop keys, will be cleared in about 10 seconds for a more "tidy" appearance. The <ALT-C> Key: While a user is online, you can press the <ALT-C> key to "chat" with the user. Entering chat mode allows you to interact directly with the user at the remote end. Each key that you type will be echoed to the remote user, and each key the remote user types will be sent to your screen. To exit chat mode at any time, simply press the <ESC> key. After you exit chat mode with a user, both the remote user's display and the local display will be repainted with the information that was on the screen at the time chat mode was entered. Color will NOT be restored, however. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 48 The <ALT-H> Key: Made for those users who are just plain annoying, the <ALT-H> key will perform a disconnect (drops modem DTR), and exits the door. Control is then returned to Maximus. Maximus will see there is no longer a user online and recycle the BBS system. The <ALT-D> Key: The <ALT-D> key will perform a local shell to DOS. Don't worry, the remote user won't be able to see what you are doing. The <PageUp> Key: The <PageUp> key will raise the user's online time for this session by 10 minutes. The total time remaining is displayed on line 1 of the status bar. The <UpArrow> Key: The <UpArrow> key will raise the current user's online time by 1 minute. The <PageDown> Key: The <PageDown> Key will lower the current user's online time by 10 minutes. The <DownArrow> Key: The <DownArrow> Key will lower the current user's online time by 1 minute. Carrier Checking ---------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door performs its own carrier detect function. If at any time a user hangs up on the system, the door will detect it, clean its private diretories, and exit back to Maximus. If the door is in the process ofbuilding a mail bundle, the door will exit as soon as it is safe to do so. Sometimes this may take a second or two because the files have to be flushed and closed before the door can exit. Do not be alarmed, if during the scanning or bundling process, that it takes a couple of seconds for the door to react. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 49 Inactivity Timer ---------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door has a built-in inactivity timer which will disconnect a user after 4 minutes of inactivity, unless the setting under OPTIONS AND TOGGLES in BWUTILS tells the door not to drop carrier on an inactive user. Twenty seconds before the automatic exit takes place, a user will be given a "second chance" to show that he or she is still alive. If a key still is not pressed, the door will lower your modem's DTR (if toggled ON) and exit back to Maximus. Rest assured that by pressing your SYSOP KEYS (described earlier), the inactivity timer will *not* be reset. If a user has been inactive for 3 minutes, and you happen to type ALT-N to see more information about him/her, the inactivity timer will still be set at 3 minutes. However, if you press one of the "normal" keys, the timer will be reset, just as if the remote user had entered the keystroke. Lastread Pointers ----------------- The door understands and updates Max's LASTREAD pointers for each user. If the user online is the person defined as the Sysop (the name contained in the "Your Name as Sysop" field in the BWUTILS General Information Menu), the file LASTREAD (for *.MSG message areas) or <AreaName.SQL> (for Squish bases) will be updated. If the online user is anyone other than the sysop, LASTREAD.BBS and <AreaName.SQL> will be updated with lastread pointer information. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 50 OFFLINE CONFIGURATIONS ---------------------- The Blue Wave Mail System contains a built-in Offline configuration function. There is absolutely nothing to configure for this function to operate properly within The Blue Wave Mail Door. Everything is automatic. When a user wants to perform an offline configuration, all of the information is entered through the reader. The next time that they sign onto the BBS and upload their mail packet through The Blue Wave Mail Door, the door will process their offline configuration. Through the reader's offline configuration menu, users are able to change everything about their door setup, except for the selection of protocols and archivers. Even message areas can be toggled on and off through offline configurations! ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 51 SENDING NETMAIL THROUGH THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR ----------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door fully supports Fidonet netmail. Both the reader and the door have full netmail capabilities, and can address mail FROM Point systems, TO Point systems, and even handle mail from one zone to another! It has already been described how you can edit your netmail configuration through the BWUtils Security and Priv/Lock Editor. For each netmail "bit" that the user has access to, they will be given the option to toggle it when entering netmail through the reader. Extended attach flags, used by FrontDoor and D'Bridge, are also supported. The DIRECT and IMM(ediate) flags are used to control the handling of your netmail. If you are using a mailer that does not understand these extended flags (a ^AFLAGS line), then you may want to set these bits to "hidden" so that you don't have to deal with them. If netmail is uploaded through The Blue Wave Mail Door which is destined for another Zone, the door writes the proper ^AINTL: line to handle the routing of the mail. To determine whether or not the netmail is destined for another zone, the door compares your DEFAULT network address (zone) to the destination zone of the message. If they are different, the ^AINTL: line is written. The Blue Wave Mail Door also respects user's Matrix Credits and Debits. Netmail cost is handled the same way as Maximus. The door looks up the cost for each netmail message through a version 6 or version 7 nodelist (the same ones used by Maximus). The door finds the nodelist through your MAX.PRM file. There is no where to tell the door where to look that overrides this setting. If a user has enough credits to send a netmail message, the message will be tossed, and the user's debits will be added to. The resulting balance information will be written back to LASTUSxx.BBS, so that Maximus can properly update the user record. If a node is unlisted, or The Blue Wave Mail Door cannot access your nodelist, it acts according to your Maximus setup. It respects the privilege level to "Send Unlisted Mail", and also uses the cost that you have defined for "Cost for Unlisted Nodes" in your BWMAIL.PRM file. If the node is unlisted, the message will only be accepted if the user has enough access to send to unlisted nodes, and the user has enough credits to his or her name. Each netmail message uploaded will be logged to your log file (if you have enabled the UPLOAD INFORMATION logging (@)). The log entry will contain the cost information and the destination of the uploaded message. Obviously, you should be cautious about the people you allow to have access to the Netmail area. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 52 FILE REQUESTING THROUGH THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR ----------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door allows users to download files from your BBS, if you have enabled the option to do so. If you do not want the file request function to be active, you can set the "Maximum File Requests per Session" to 0. Otherwise, The Blue Wave Mail Door will accept them. When a user requests that a file be sent with his or her mail packet, the door performs all necessary checks to be sure that they actually have access to download the file, and that their upload/download ratio, if active, is in balance. Any files that are requested are logged to your log file. The door also updates a user's DOWNLOAD K and Total Download K for each file request made. In order for Maximus to properly update the user record, you must tell Max to reread LASTUSxx.DAT upon return from the door. Otherwise, Max will ignore the changes and the user will not be charged for his/her download. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 53 LOCAL MAIL DOOR USAGE --------------------- The Blue Wave Mail Door has several provisions for making the packaging of local mail downloads easy and hassle-free. Many times sysops will opt to use The Blue Wave Offline Mail System to read mail locally on their machines at home, or even to pack messages in a nightly event to take to work with them. Using this method will also allow sysops running DESQview, Windows, or OS/2 to read mail packets with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader while still leaving the BBS online. For this example, we will assume that you already have The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader installed in a directory called C:\BWAVE, and that your DOWNLOAD directory is defined as C:\BWAVE\DOWN, you UPLOAD directory is defined as C:\BWAVE\UPLOAD, and your WORK directory is defined as C:\BWAVE\WORK. This example also assumes that the physical computer that has the reader installed on it also contains your BBS and mail door installed on it. (Or, different physical computers, but with the same drives accessible through a LAN). To get the best results from the interaction of the reader and mail door, it is highly suggested that you set "Keep Old DL Packets (Don't Erase)" set to "YES". This switch is located on the BWUTILS "Options and Toggles" editor. The next BWUTILS configuration items you will need to edit are located on the "Directories and FilePaths" menu item. While in the directories editor, cursor through the fields to the PATH TO LOCAL WORK DIRECTORY field. You can enter any path here you like, as the reader and the door do not need to share WORK directories. You should then define your PATH TO LOCAL DOWNLOAD DIRECTORY to be the same "Download Directory" defined in the reader (in our example this would be C:\BWAVE\DOWN). Define your PATH TO LOCAL UPLOAD DIRECTORY to be the same as the "Upload Directory" defined in the reader (in our example this would be C:\BWAVE\UPLOAD). Press F10 to save your configuration, choose to exit BWUTILS, and save your current configuration. You are now ready to set up two batch files. One batch file will execute the door in autodownload mode (to build your mail bundle) and the other will execute the door in auto upload mode (to send your replies back through the mail door). Two sample batch files are shown on the next page. BWDOWN.BAT can be executed each time you wish to build a mail bundle. BWUP.BAT should be executed each time you have replied to messages in the reader and are ready to send them back to the mail door to be processed. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 54 In the sample batch files below, enter the commands shown on the left side of the page. Comments on the right side of the page are there for explanatory purposes only and should not be entered in the batch file. Sample BWDOWN.BAT ----------------- c: Change to the drive where BWMAIL.EXE is. cd \max\bluewave Change to the directory where BWMAIL is. bwmail /kJoe_Sysop /d Load with "Joe Sysop" as user in DL mode Sample BWUP.BAT --------------- c: Change to the drive where BWMAIL.EXE is. cd \max\bluewave Change to the directory where BWMAIL is. bwmail /kJoe_Sysop /u Load with "Joe Sysop" as user in UL mode You should, of course, substitute "Joe_Sysop" with the name that you use to log into the BBS with. In both cases, the mail door will perform the desired function and exit back to the batch file. The door will not ask for input in local auto upload or autodownload mode. ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 55 PRODUCT SUPPORT --------------- The Blue Wave Mail System is a growing and developing software package. Cutting Edge Computing is always interested in hearing your comments, complaints, suggestions, and of course kind words. We take into consideration every request that we get in order to make The Blue Wave Mail System a first class offline mail package. We would like to hear from you! If you are having trouble with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader, The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door, or have comments and suggestions, please drop us a line. We can be reached via direct FidoNet NETMAIL, through the International BLUEWAVE Echo (available on the FidoNet Backbone and distribution hubs), and of course through the US Mail. Cutting Edge Computing is owned and operated by George Hatchew in Burton, Michigan USA. Here are the addresses where you may contact me directly: Electronic Mail (methods for REGISTERED and UNREGISTERED users) --------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNet Netmail to 1:2240/176, or the BLUEWAVE Fido Echo Internet george.hatchew@f176.n2240.z1.fidonet.org Internet bluewave@aol.com America Online Name: BLUEWAVE Support BBS The Wild! Blue BBS (1200-14400 v32b/HST) 313-743-8464 FAX --- Faxes may be sent to 313-743-5910, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. If you are a REGISTERED USER, please indicate this on any Fax communications for speedier response. Unregistered user technical support via Fax will be honoured at the earliest available moment. However, registered user support and other commitments take precedence. Please provide return FAX phone number and hours. Voice Technical Support ----------------------- Voice technical support is offered ONLY to registered users of The Blue Wave Mail System. Please have your name (as you registered with us) and your registration code ready before calling. If at all possible, please be at or near your computer when requesting technical assistance via telephone. Voice technical support is offered Monday through Friday at 313-743-WAVE (313-743-9283). US Mail ------- Cutting Edge Computing PO Box 90476 Burton, Michigan 48509 (USA) ------------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for Maximus-CBCS, v3.01 Page 56 INDEX OF KEYWORDS ----------------- %B 39 BWINTRO.TXT 47 %F 39 BWMAIL.PRM Override 12 %k 13 BWMAIL.ZIP 8 %N 13, 16, 25, 26 BWUP.BAT 54 %P 39 BWUTILS Purge function 46 %T 13, 16, 25, 26 BWUTILS.EXE 18 %U 39 Carrier detect 49 -c 12 Carrier detect override 14 -d 16 Chat mode 48 -DOWN= 15 Command line parameters 12 -k 13 Configuration file 18 -LOG= 16 Copyright information 6 -LOGOFF= 17 Cost for Unlisted Nodes 52 -m 12 Countdown Logoff 17, 22 -n 14 Credits 6 -NOCD 14 Credit card registrations 4 -NODV 14 Cutting Edge Computing 3, 56 -NORECV 15 Default archiver 41 -p 12 Default message areas 31, 34 -t 13 Default network address 19 -u 16 Default protocol 40 -UPLOAD= 15 DESQview 21 -WORK= 15 DESQview Detection Override 14 @F 42 Disconnect 49 @I 42 DOS PATH 27 ^AFLAGS 52 Download Directory 11, 27 {BEEP} 20 Download Directory Override 15 {PAUSE} 20 DSZ 39, 40 Allow G)oodbye Commands 22 Echotoss.Log 29 American Express 4 Expanded memory 21 ARC 43 Extended memory 21 Archiver Compress Command 42 External protocol drivers 38 Archiver Decompress Command 42 Fast (DIRECT) screen writes 21 Archiver Configuration 41 FAX 4, 56 Area Number 32 File requests 37, 53 Area Origin Line 33 File sharing 11 Area Tag 32 Forced message areas 31, 34, 45 ARJ 43 General information editor 18 Auto Logoff Mode 17 Hangup on input timeout 22 AutoDownload Mode 16 Hangup when time limit expires 22 AutoUpload Mode 16 Hydra 39 Barricaded message areas 31 Inactivity timer 22, 50 Batch protocols 40 Installation instructions 8, 10 BBS Name 18 Instant logoff 17, 22 Bidirectional protocols 39 Internal protocols 38 Bimodem 39 Keep old download packets 23, 54 BLUEWAVE Echo 56 Lastread pointers 50 BWDOOR.BAT 9 LASTUSER.BBS 9, 26, 47 BWDOOR.USE 5 LHARC 42 BWDOWN.BAT 54 Limit newfiles scan 37 BWINTRO.ANS 47 Limits and maximums 35 INDEX OF KEYWORDS ----------------- Local color 14 Path to local UPLOAD Directory 54 Local download directory 29 Path to local WORK Directory 54 Local mail door usage 10 Path to Max's LASTUSER.BBS 26 Local mail downloads 54 Path to Maximus v2.x .PRM File 26 Local message areas 10 Path/Filename of BW's LOG File 26 Local mode 22, 23, 47 Path/Filename of Toss Log File 29 Local upload directory 29 Port override 12 Local user override 13 Protocol configuration editor 38 Local word directory 28 Protocol drivers (external) 27 Log bundling information 23 Protocols 38, 39, 40 Log error messages 24 Purge user file 46 Log file 16, 24, 26 RAMdrive 35 Log file override 16 Read security level 33 Log general activity 24 Reader files 20 Log scan and bundle totals 24 Register by FAX 4 Log scanning information 23 Register in EUROPE 4 Log upload information 24 Registration information 4 Long area title 33 Registration Number 19 Lost carrier 47 ReRead 9 LZH 43 Semaphore for ECHOMAIL Uploads 30 Maintenance 46 Semaphore for LOCAL Mail Uploads 29 MasterCard 4 Semaphore for NETMAIL Uploads 30 Matrix credits 52 SHARE violations 11 Max uncompressed packet size 35 ShareWare 3 MAX.PRM override 12 Shell to DOS 49 Maximum file requests 53 Speed 35 Maximum number of messages 36 Stamp Downloaded Msg as "Rec'd" 15 Memory swapping 21 Status bar 48 MENUS.CTL 9 Support BBS 56 Message area override 31 SWAP Directory 11 Monochrome systems 14 SWAP file 28 MSGAREA.CTL 10 Swapping 21 MsgName <AreaTag> 10 Sysop keys 48 Multi-line systems 10, 11, 13, 25, 26 Task number 13 Name of packets created by door 19 Task override 13 Netmail 44, 52 Time limit 22 Netmail attributes 44 Upload Directory 11, 27 Netmail configuration 52 Upload Directory Override 15 Netmail message areas 10 User area editor 45 Newfiles scan 36 User file editor 45 NEWUSER.HLP 47 Visa 4 Nodelist 44, 52 Voice technical support 56 Nuke packets after local upload 22 Work Directory 11, 28 Offline configuration 51 Work Directory Override 15 Origin line 33 Write Security Level 34 Out of memory 42 Xtern_Dos 9 PAK 43 Your name as sysop 18 Path to BW's DOWNLOAD Directory 27 Your real name 18 Path to BW's SWAP File 28 ZIP 43 Path to BW's UPLOAD Directory 27 Path to BW's WORK Directory 28 Path to local DOWNLOAD Directory 54