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Welcome to ESC version 1.58 - 04/06/92 last version (1.58) released - 04/06/93 last version (1.56) released - 11/15/92 last version (1.54) released - 9/26/92 EchoMail SetUp Configurator - EchoMail System Controller * 1.1 ESC DOES THREE THINGS 1st: ESC simplifies the installation process of a FIDONET POINT or NODE compatible mailer. In testing, users have a working mailer system in under 20 minutes with little intervention from a second party. 3d, 4d and 5d systems are fully supported. 2nd: a. Manages an entire EchoMail system using existing software. b. Functions as an electronic mailer interface (shell). All functions are controlled through menus (three choices). 1. CMMenu - Mousable, configurable, pulldown (external). 2. QuickMenu - Fast, easy, hard coded system. 3. BatchFile - Very configurable dos batch (slower). In any case, ESC creates the config and menu files allowing you to operate it all from a consolidated menu structure. 3rd: ESC provides a concise example of a working electronic mailer system. Consider it an instructional frame work where a user can observe a free form, basic and streamlined setup. With scrutiny and tinkering, a user can understand the obscure structure of an electronic mail system. ESC brings you closer to the workings of a mailer system because it puts you in the position to learn about the individual programs called upon to accomplish the varied tasks. Once you have an understanding of how the programs function together you can leave the Esc interface entirely where customized applications become unlimited. * 1.2 CONTENTS ESC design and purpose . . . . . . . . 1.1 Table of Contents . . . . . . . . 1.2 What's needed . . . . . . . . 1.3 Installing ESC . . . . . . . . 1.4 Primary Operation . . . . . . . . 1.5 General Overview . . . . . . . . 1.6 System and Software . . . . . . . . 1.7 a. Executables . . . . . . . . b. Fossils . . . . . . . . c. Utilities . . . . . . . . OS/2 support . . . . . . . . 1.8 WIMM personal msg search . . . . . . . . 1.9 YABOM - O/B manager + SBC - Binkley Color Utility ESCOLOR - Esc Menu Colors Polling with the timer . . . . . . . . 2.0 Detailed Installation . . . . . . . . 2.1 a. 4d Points . . . . . . . . Detailed Operation . . . . . . . . 2.2 a. Menu Options . . . . . . . . 1. Adding new areas . . . . . . . . 2. Setting msg limits . . . . . . . . 3. Removing old areas . . . . . . . . Bonk & the ESC nodelist . . . . . . . . 2.3 Msged, Golded or TimEd . . . . . . . . 2.4 Editor Spell Checking . . . . . . . . 2.4a Changing addresses . . . . . . . . 2.5 Nodelist Processors . . . . . . . . 2.6 Node Operation . . . . . . . . 2.7 Hosting 4d points . . . . . . . . Domain Support . . . . . . . . BBS support . . . . . . . . 3.0 Caveats . . . . . . . . 3.1 Problems . . . . . . . . 3.2 3d/4d . . . . . . . . Msgedsq . . . . . . . . Automatic registration . . . . . . . . 4.0 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . 4.1 Disclaimer . . . . . . . . 4.2 Bugs and Problems . . . . . . . . 4.3 Upgrading . . . . . . . . 4.4 Customizing (colors) . . . . . . . . 4.5 Quick Menu option . . . . . . . . 4.6 CMMenu interface . . . . . . . . 4.7 Function keys . . . . . . . . 4.8 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . 5.0 Circumventing problems Using 4dos Ansi Console device EscTimer EGA users Routing and you Miscellaneous menu items Flo files Call Waiting Auto Answer (unattended) Dial translations Binkley Status Flags Zones and Domains UUCP <InterNet Gate> GT Enhancement Memory and operating systems Glossary . . . . . . . . 5.1 Commercial use . . . . . . . . 6.0 * 1.3 OTHER PROGRAMS NEEDED FOR THIS ECHOMAIL SETUP In its simplest form, here is what's needed: BT.EXE (EMSI) version 2.56 front end mailer TimEd.EXE version /8B message reader SQUISH.EXE version 1.01 mail packer BNU.EXE version 1.7 fossil (or X00 or Opuscom) And a good compliment of file compression un/archivers such as PKZIP - PKUNZIP. All are available from most FIDONET systems. * 1.4 INSTALLING AN ECHOMAIL SYSTEM USING ESC (1) From the ROOT directory of your hard drive, type md \bt (2) Copy ESC and the files listed above into this directory. (3) You will need to know, and perhaps experiment with your modem's initialization string. You'll need information from the HOST, who will supply your echomail. Having this person on the phone or present at installation is ideal. (4) Run ESC.EXE, answering the questions with information from the above source, and filling in your preferences. ┌───────────────────── !! VERY IMPORTANT !! ─────────────────────┐ │ Answer each question in the same format as shown in each │ │ example!. If you become creative or unreasonable, the data │ │ written out will not make sense and your mailer will not work! │ └────────────────── !! FOLLOW THE EXAMPLES !! ───────────────────┘ The Installation is complete. These are the essentials. What's left is the fine tuning. Please call ESC from the Mail Menu and have a look around in the three areas which allow you to change parameters. Remember, if you change anything while there, you need to have ESC Write out those changes for them to take effect. The remainder of this document will try to supply general information, warnings and hopefully some answers to questions. * 1.5 Operating ESC as an Echomail system If you chose the default directories which ESC offered, the next two steps should have your system in operation. (1) cd \bt ... at the prompt: MAIL <ENTER> (2) Choose from the menu: (Quick or Batch) ESC - to edit parameters CALL - dial BOSSNODE (HOST system) DELAYED - poll scheduler UNATTND - dial any system listed in your nodelist PACK - prepare OUT mail for sending TOSS - prepare IN mail for reading EDITOR - read mail / write msgs (TimEd, Msged or Golded) AREAS - to add new mail areas SQUISH - maintenance (submenu) for message areas HELP - list feature information QUIT - does just what it says This is only a portion of your options. Should you choose the SQUISH feature, you'll be moved to the next of two more submenus which contain all the functions this setup offers to maintain your message areas (from a menu). The next menu down offers nodelist, outbound and message search utilities. Each menu is accessed by referring to it through number or letter options. * 1.6 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ESC ESC is capable of more than what this intentionally brief document reveals. As you work with the files which ESC has created and the other software and documentation that are a part of your total system, you will find ESC to be a complete application program. ESC consolidates and manages all the features and functions needed to support a FIDONET compatible POINT mailer. Even a NODE system can be operated under ESC with primary level support. A traditional mailer is more than one program. Due to the talents and generosity of certain programmers, much of the operation has already been consolidated. Squish is a good example. Scott Dudley has incorporated many functions of mail handling into one neat package. Still, the example configuration files contain more than is needed by the first time user. So those configs initially look intimidating. This is where ESC shines. It creates basic config files which will serve the purpose for a first-time-up system. ESC also can keep any features which you later add to those very same configs. Those simple configs can be built into more complex ones as the user is capable of understanding them. The idea behind ESC is to initially install and operate an echomail setup while allowing a configurable system environment. ESC utilizes the popular freeware packages available throughout the FIDONET community. The required executables are found listed in this document. Included are the terminal interface, message creator / reader, complete mail processor and an assortment of utilities. ESC orchestrates all of these from a menu driven interface. Which, you may have noticed, is the secondary function of ESC. The primary function is to create all the configuration and batch files associated with the software. All this work is accomplished in less than a minute once you've answered the questions. NOTE: ESC will also create a miniature NODELIST on request. By nature, electronic mail networking is difficult to comprehend and uses a lot of abstract terminology, most of which is beyond the scope of this and any one single document. Keep in mind that FIDONET has been built with a hobbyist mentality. Therefore, the best source of information is the group of people who are already involved. ESC attempts to ease the difficulty of getting started by safely putting the novice into active participation right away. * 1.7 SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS As of this version, 430 to 450k of RAM is recommended. ESC was developed on an AMI 386sx bios system, under DOS 5.0, in a 400k DESQview window under QEMM 6.0. It has been tested on several machines ranging from a 4.77 mhz XT monographic setup under DOS 3.3 to a full featured 33mhz 486DX. For practical purposes you should have several megabytes of free disk space. This would indicate that you really should be running your mailer from a fixed disk. Still, it is possible to operate from a high density (or two) floppy drive system. SOFTWARE INCLUDED: The distribution archive should contain a minimum of the files listed below: ESC.EXE ESCUTIL.EXE ESCDO.COM ESC.DOC ESCTEXT.DAT BINKLEY.LNG All the executables are necessary to set up and maintain your integrated mail system interface. SOFTWARE YOU WILL NEED: In addition to the above files, you will need those listed below to operate your FTS mailer using ESC. Any good FIDONET system (there are over 17,000 of them in 42 or more countries) should have them all. USING ESC IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM: For example, if you have a mono single tasking system with Ansi.Sys included in your Config.Sys, and you will be a POINT to a system which uses session level passwording, all you will need are the following: BT.EXE version 2.56 front end mailer MSGED.EXE version 2.2b message reader SQUISH.EXE version 1.01 mail packer (+associated files) BNU.EXE version 1.7 fossil CMB.EXE any version file browser (mouse) LIST.COM any version dir/file multi-utility PAK.EXE version 2.50 multi archiver / extractor PKZIP.EXE version 1.10 file archiver PKUNZIP.EXE version 1.10 file archive extractor Or, you can build a larger, more complex system. ESC may access any of the programs listed below, in addition to the ones above depending on your configuration. One of these fossil drivers X00.EXE version 1.24 BNU.EXE version 1.7 OPUSCOMM version 5.3 (with) OCOM_CFG Only if you'll be using and/or creating a nodelist QNODE.EXE version 1.42 NODELIST compiler QIDX.EXE comes with Qnode XLAXNODE.EXE version 2.56 NODELIST compiler BONK.EXE version 1.74 (v7 NODELIST) & outbnd util YABOM.EXE version 1.10b (v7 NODELIST) & outbnd util -- If you're not loading ANSI.SYS on boot up ANSI.COM version 1.3* * = Ziff Communications / PC Magazine DVANSI.COM (from DESQview) ANSI.SYS, ANSI.COM and DVANSI.COM are the only file names supported during the setup. You can use anything else which works but you will have to modify the MAIL.BAT which Esc creates to call the correct name. -- -- BinkleyTerm requires VFOS_IBM.COM version 1.10 and VFOS_DEL.COM version 1.00 If you're running a color system -- If you want your mail areas searched for personal messages. WIMM.EXE version 1.10 Message search utility Miscellaneous utilities included in the menu system SBC.EXE version 1.0 BinkleyTerm color setting utility A complete compliment of file compression programs is recommended. Such as Phil Katz PK - everything. Haruyasu Yoshizaki LHA - LHARC. NoGate's PAK, Rahul Dhesi's ZOO program and Robert Jung's ARJ... The compression programs: ARCA - Wayne Chin and Vernon Buerg ARCE - Vernon Buerg PAK - (NoGate) will detect and unarchive ARC files. are the de facto standard recognized throughout fidonet for mail compression. All systems should be capable of handling another's mail in this form. However, most systems can process other forms of compressed FTS mail (bundles) as well. Esc defaults to using PKZIP by Phil Katz because of its availability and efficiency. You can specify something else after your setup is complete, from the ESC editor mode. Check with your BOSS (or HOST) system before changing it. * 1.8 OS/2 SUPPORT ESC is not an OS/2 program. If it is run under OS/2, it must be executed in a DOS box. All the necessary verbiage is within the ESC source for OS/2 support. The only thing lacking is for ESC and the support files to be ported over. * 1.9 WIMM SUPPORT ESC builds a WIMM.CFG whenever it creates the message editor configs. WIMM is written by Gerard van Essen. It searches your Squish.Cfg file, then scans each message area listed for your name. If a message is found, it will be copied into the PERSONAL message area which Esc creates for you. This way, you will be unlikely to miss ANY message sent to you via the echoes. YABOM SUPPORT YABOM - Yet Another Binkley Outbound Manager is a multipurpose utility which is of particular interest to NODE systems. POINT mailers can benefit from its many features as well. YABOM will not appear on the (3rd) menu until YABOM.EXE exists in the same directory as the MAIL.BAT. You should have all the associated files for YABOM there as well. If you haven't configured YABOM before calling it from the MAIL menu, you'll be given the choice to do so at that time. You will need to know more than a little about your directories and addressing when you configure YABOM. SBC SUPPORT Like Yabom, this feature will not appear on the menu (2nd one) until SBC.EXE is present in the same directory as the MAIL.BAT. Briefly, it will allow you to precisely customize your Binkley Term screen colors. SBC requires no further explanation as it is simple, clean and easy to use. ESCOLOR Escolor is an Esc QuickMenu color utility. If you don't like the default colors used with the Quick menu interface you can choose the 3rd menu item and locate the Esc Color Utility option. Run it and toggle each menu's color scheme to your liking. * 2.0 Polling with the TIMER You can set up to 20 automatic poll times using the Delayed Poll option from the 1st (of 3) MAIL menus. The function is fairly self explanatory. One thing to remember, polling times must be set using a 24 hour (military) method. The format is HH:MM exactly, the colon must be specified. If you want your system to poll your host at 10:30 in the evening, you must specify 22:30. Polling isn't all the Timer will allow you to do. By editing the ESCTIMER.BAT, you can specify any sequence of operation you wish. * 2.1 Detailed INSTALLATION ESC's purpose is to make installation and operation as simple as possible. The first step is to create a directory for ESC and the other files that are needed. You can name the directory whatever you want, however the recommendation (default) is \BT. All your operations should now be handled from this directory. Simply move into \BT and control everything concerning your mail system from it. ESC and all the files it creates need to reside in this home directory. For now, it is essential to have ESC.EXE in there. If you choose to have ESC create the tiny NODELIST, and you'll need one in most cases, be sure to have the QNODE (with QIDX) or XLAXNODE executable accessible through the DOS path. Now, type in ESC and follow the instructions as they appear on your screen. Please pay attention to the bottom *Information:* window. The best way to initially install and operate your mailer is to be in contact with your mail source (HOST) at the time of serious configuration. Most terms used in the Fido network are ambiguous to the uninitiated. Your BOSSNODE (HOST) sysOp will know what all of them mean. The glossary at the end of this document may be of help as well. BOSSNODE and HOST from your standpoint are terms associated with the system/operator which will be the resource from where echomail destined for your system is obtained. In other words, your HOST is the next step up in the network. You'll receive and send mail from and to this system. The operator of this system must supply you with particular information in order for your mail transactions to be successful. It would be helpful if this sysOp has at least some working knowledge of this software package. The ideal situation is to sit in front of the computer, phone perched on your shoulder, while your HOST answers your questions. There are a number of things you must find out from this person anyway. You will need to enter your assigned POINT or NODE address, phone number, etc. You'll also need to know a working initialization string for your modem. Without it, you'll be all dressed up with no place to go. A word of warning: modem inits can be a bear! Just remember that BINKLEY uses the | (pipe) in lieu of the common ^M as an initialization string carriage return. NOW, run ESC.EXE and answer all the questions carefully, reading the information window completely as you progress through the questions. If you do make an entry mistake, you will be given the opportunity to make corrections at the end of the questionnaire. This can be taken care of from the CHANGE menu item.. Don't hurry! COMMAND LINE SYNTAX: ESC EXAMPLE: C:\BT>ESC ESC runs in two modes: CONFIGURATION and EDIT. EDIT mode isn't available until your setup has been configured. In other words, CONFIGURATION mode is the only mode you will have until ESC has done its initial setup work and has written the configuration and batch files. ESC will prompt you for information which allows the program to write the configuration files for BINKLEY, QNODE, XLAXNODE, BONK, SQUISH, TimEd, MSGED, GOLDED and WIMM. ESC will optionally provide a "bare bones" NODELIST (NODELIST.001). You can forego ANSI.COM if you already have a comparable device handler loaded at runtime of the batch file named MAIL (Your ESC menu operation master batch file). Another batch file (MAKEDIR) is also created to quickly create the subdirectories needed for your mailer and editor to work. Why does ESC create batch files to control the mailer? DOS batch files have two advantages. The main one being, a batch file can be edited easily to suit custom applications. You will be able to customize them to your particular preferences simply by editing these files should the desire strike you. Secondly, the processing of a batch file requires only 96 bytes of RAM. The speed at which Dos processes a batch file is the disadvantage. When ESC.EXE is initially run, (CONFIGURATION MODE), its job is to create control files. Here is the list. Files Created by ESC BINKLEY.CFG - BinkleyTerm control file BINKLEY.EVT - BinkleyTerm event control file BONK.CFG - nodelist utility configuration file ESC.CFG - ESC configuration information MAIL.BAT - ESC menu interface batch file MAKEDIR.BAT - ESC subdirectory creation file DOMSGED.BAT - MSGED editor process batch file GOTMAIL.BAT - AFTERMAIL Binkley mail processing TIMED.CFG - TimEd information control file MSGED.CFG - MSGED information control file TEMPLATE.MSQ - MSGED template file MSQ.COL - MSGED color file GOLDED.CFG - GOLDED information control file NODELIST.001 - Node address lookup (optional) QNODE.CFG - Nodelist compilation control file XLAXNODE.CTL - Nodelist compilation control file ROUTE.CFG - Squish routing information control SQUISH.CFG - Squish mail handling control file WIMM.CFG - Personal mail search control file MSGEDIT.BAT - Binkley Alt-E editor call up batch ESCTIMER.BAT - Delayed Polling batch file ESCTIMER.LST - Sample list for delayed poll times OKFILE.LST - Sample f/req ok list for node operation + M_AREA.DAT - Msged message area definition (upgrade) + S_AREA.DAT - Squish message area definition (upgrade) * MAIL.BAT serves as an interface to the other functions. + Only created if upgrading and requesting to save the old message area configuration. After ESC has created all your configuration files, it will then function as an EDITOR to them. ESC also can recreate your setup from scratch if you so desire. A few precautions need to be made clear at this time. ESC preserves edits made outside of its own editor on several files such as the Binkley, Squish and Msged configurations files. It also will create a .BAK if instructed to overwrite, on nearly all files. However, keep in mind that if you make an alteration to the MAIL.BAT, and then have ESC write a new one, your edits will not be included. They will now exist in the MAIL.BAK. If you write the file out twice, the edits will be moved into the bit bucket and are gone for good. A warning is issued before you can globally rewrite your entire configuration. You should gain an understanding of your configuration files as soon as possible. Don't be intimidated by the terminology. Simply follow each step. The process can take less that twenty minutes. Keep in mind that parameters can be readjusted later. When you have finished all your entries, tag all configurables from the menu presented. On a scratch creation all files are automatically tagged. Either press S or page down to SAVE SETUP and hit ENTER. ESC will notify you that it is writing the necessary configurables, batch and support files. You will hear a chirp if any of the files already exist. this is telling you that ESC is backing them up before overwriting them. You may press any key to exit this portion of ESC when the process has finished. ALL the files referred to in this document are available in each complete archive format from 1:157/534 You may request the list in order to obtain the proper names as "ESCLIST.LST". Complete information concerning file names, dates and sizes are within this text file. You might want to request FILES to see exactly what is available from this system. FOR 4d (or 5d) POINT CONFIGURATION Creating a 4d setup is straight forward. Respond appropriately when prompted whether this is to be a node or POINT setup and then whether it is to be for a 3d or 4D configuration. You should be certain which type of addressing your HOST supports. * 2.2 OPERATING THE ECHO MAIL SYSTEM After you have answered all the questions from the configuration mode and have written out all the files, you're ready to make your first call to the HOST system. Just type MAIL at the dos prompt while in your mailer's directory. MAIL.BAT is a somewhat autonomous function menu which gives the user the most control over what the mail system is doing. Using this menu requires some understanding of terms like TOSSing and PACKing of mail. There is a help screen provided from the MAIL menu. Also, the ESC_HELP.DOC has a step by step procedure for primary operation using Msged. The commands are nearly the same for both TimEd and Golded. Once ESC has created the MAIL.BAT, you'll be faced with a list of options. Most of them are self explanatory. Below is a list which will give you a preview. For further help, check the definitions in the GLOSSARY at the end of this document. ESC accesses MSGED, the Squish-compatible version developed by John Dennis, TimEd by Gerard van Essen or Golded created by Odinn Sorensen. The original MSGED format was created by Jim Nutt and released into the public domain. As of the 2.0.5 version, two help menus are accessible, if you have the two files associated with the help function. These being EHELP.HLP and RHELP.HLP should be in the same directory with Msged.exe to keep things simple. Pressing Alt H in either EDIT or READER mode will bring up the appropriate help screen. Just make certain that these files are in the same directory with MSGED.EXE. While on this subject, I've taken the liberty to reassign a few keys in a way that I feel is beneficial for someone unaccustomed to MSGED. First of all, I changed the ESCAPE key to move you out of the current message area and into the AREA selection list. This replaces the default of exiting MSGED, something which plagued me until I changed it. Also, you may view the list of message headers in an area simply by pressing the L key while in the reader mode. You can use the FIND function by just pressing the letter F as well as Alt-F. Finally, I reassigned the comma and period to be read-thread direction keys. TimEd occupies relatively little disk space and loads quickly. it looks and feels powerful, intuitive and is learned quickly. Golded is fairly straight forward in its installation. It is also feature heavy, laden with bells and whistles. The appropriate files are included in its own archive. These files should be located in the same directory as Esc. Esc will create a very basic but functional configuration file for use with Golded. Because Golded must use its own nodelist, you will need to create that and place it in the directory with it. One of the advantages of using Golded is the direct support for spell checking. Take a look at the Golded.Cfg which ESC creates and you will see a line commented out which makes reference to SS.EXE. Read the documentation for Golded and determine how you need to edit the Golded.Cfg to implement a spell checker. ESC will honor your change and keep your modification on subsequent re-writes of the Golded.Cfg. Spell checking can be accomplished on all the editors supported by ESC. See the section on Spell Checking in this document. When you select any of these editors during setup or later in an editing session, the batch files will be written to access your choice. MAIL MENU CHOICES EXPLAINED - ESC - This brings up ESC in edit mode. Here, you may change quite a few parameters concerning your mailer in three modes: (1) Your SYSTEM configuration, (2) the BOSSNODE specifications, and (3) NODELIST items. The editor is a quick method for changing things like your fossil, system name, BOSSNODE, phone numbers, etc. The list is fairly extensive. This provides an alternative to re-configuring from scratch. Remember, you must WRITE the new files once you've re-configured them! Some changes require you to recompile your NODELIST if you are using one. - CALL - or - POLL - If your modem is connected, and you have configured your setup correctly, your system will dial out to the HOST system which you have previously established to be your echomail resource. If you have mail waiting, it should be delivered. If you have mail to be sent out, it should be sent. - DELAYED - This is the EscTimer mentioned previously. You are prompted to enter as many as 20 specific times in which your system will begin polling your Host system. This works well for someone who wants to pick up (or send) mail at a time when they are asleep, away or just in the mood to have their mailer do something all by itself. This is no match for Binkley's event schedule but it is a quick and easy way to accomplish scheduled polling. - UNATTND - Bring Binkley up in a waiting mode. Here it will sit and attempt to send any pending outbound mail on intervals. It will also "watch" the keyboard for your commands. Press ALT-F10 for a display of what Binkley can do, you'll be impressed! - PACK - Is the process which must be done after you create a message. This is a bundling process which prepares and addresses your message(s) to be sent out of your system via the modem. Normally this is done immediately after you create mail. The setup asks you if you wish to process (PACK) your new mail immediately after exiting your editor. For one reason or another you may wish to say no. You can then choose the PACK feature from the main menu and process your outbound mail some other time. - TOSS - Is the process which must be done after you RECEIVE messages. This is the unpacking of the mail bundle which has arrived on your system. This mail needs to be placed (TOSSed) into the individual mail AREAs before you can read it. - EDITOR - This is referred to as your message reader, although it also creates, quotes and edits messages. You need to KNOW these few key presses, otherwise you may get stuck in the reader: ALT X gets you out. The ESCAPE key offers you options. ALT E allows you to create new messages. ALT Q allows you to quote and reply to an already existing one. ALT S or the F1 key will save your new message. ALT C gives you the opportunity to change a message that has already been saved. ALT A allows you to select a new mail area. ALT L (or just L) lists the messages header info contained in the area. ALT O shells you out of the editor. Typing EXIT will bring you back in. - AREAS - Is a special feature which should be used only after you have learned how to request new echomail areas and have received mail from them into your system. AREAS updates your config files to KNOW that you have new mail areas. Once run, and the new areas have been created, the messages which have been received and are waiting in the BAD MESSAGE area should be automatically TOSSed into the newly configured areas. - SQUISH - Is the mail handling submenu which includes the many functions provided by its author. This submenu can access five SQUISH type message base utilities associated with the SQUISH mailer: SQPACK - message maintenance (clean up) utility. SQINFO - message information utility. SQFIX - message area repair utility. SQREIDX - message area index repair utility. SQSET - individual message area size/date maintenance. SQSET is added only as a convenience. SQSet is a "manual" squish area maintenance utility. However, ESC supports it in a limited fashion. If you wish, you can edit the batch files which ESC creates to perform customized maintenance from the menu system provided. For practical purposes you may not need to bother with SQSet. Read the documentation which comes with the Squish mail processor for more details about using SQSet, your messages areas and the care and feeding of them. Additionally, there are a few more options from this menu. One of these being XAREAS which allows you to remove echomail areas from your configs, and another option named DIRWORK which access Vernon Buerg's LIST or Chris Mann's CMB to place you in your MSG directory. There you may view and perform DOS directory operations on the files such as to delete defunct areas. You can also purge (SQPack) your BAD MESSAGE area to free up space on your drive. However this will be done automatically after you use AREAS from the main menu. Finally an option exists to globally delete the backup message files which SQFix creates while repairing damaged message files. These will have an extension which has a format something like <filename>.XX?. In most cases these files are useless and need to be removed. - HELP - Menu features defined. - QUIT - Speaks for itself. (a) ADDING MESSAGE AREAS to your SQUISH.CFG and MSGED.CFG There are TWO ways: 1. Request new echoes from your HOST. After they arrive, they will be TOSSed into your BAD MESSAGE area. Take a look to be sure they are there. From the ESC MAIL Menu: Choose [A] - AREAS add new areas. If all went well, you should see that the new areas have been created and the messages which were in your BAD MESSAGE area have been TOSSed into the newly created ones. 2. Choose the AREAMAN option from the SQUISH submenu, which is chosen from the MAIL menu. Follow the prompts, you then can request the specified echo(es) from your echomail feed. (b) SETTING AREA MESSAGE LIMITS There is an option from the 2nd menu presented when you type MAIL at your Dos prompt. The SETSIZE option allows you to define exactly how many messages are allowed for an individual area. Initially, ESC offers a global static value which limits all areas to 200 messages. However, you may alter individual limits after ESC has created its MAIL menu system. To explain a little more in detail, some areas do not need to take up much room on your drive because of light traffic through them. Therefore allowing a limit of 200 messages in those areas would be a waste of space. On the other hand, some echoes may require a high limit due to the amount of messages which can be received in a short period of time. Because you don't want your oldest messages to be dropped off the end before you have had a chance to read them, you may wish to set a high message limit for such an area. With SETSIZE you simply choose the option and follow the prompts. You may set your message area size up to 9999. (c) REMOVING MESSAGES AREAS from MAIL.BAT, SQUISH,and MSGED.CFG. When you no longer receive messages into a particular echomail area you need to tell your system that this is the case. There is a feature of the SQUISH submenu, accessed from the MAIL menu, called XAREAS. This option removes the area names from your control files so they won't be processed any longer. Here's how to operate this function. XAREAS will display your message areas and number them. You can then tell XAREAS which message areas you wish to delete from your control files (by number). You should then go into the MSG directory and delete the mail files associated with the areas which you have removed in order to free the space they are taking. You can use DIRWORK to do this if you have LIST or CMB on your system. * 2.3 BONK AND THE ESC NODELIST Don't be intimidated by this next paragraph. The nodelist which ESC creates will function adequately with your bossnode. However some folks may wish to alter it to add in other systems. This is primarily who the following paragraph is addressed to. Bonk is a nodelist (fidonet system address lookup list) utility created by Tom Kashuba. As a dual faceted program, it allows you to somewhat visually manipulate the contents of your outbound directory as well as permit you to view and make changes to your nodelist. Bonk version 1.74 is restricted to accessing a version 7 nodelist. This is what ESC creates. Bonk does not only read the little nodelist which ESC creates but it can alter, add to and/or amend it. Bonk will also allow you to manipulate pending outbound mail files in your outbound mail area. You should read the BONK documentation to get a better idea of what it is. If you have BONK on your system, it can be accessed via the last (3rd) ESC menu. You may prefer to edit your little nodelist simply with a good text editor. With a little understanding of the structure of a nodelist, you will be able to edit it to suit your needs. Be certain to retain the control Z at the end of NODELIST.001! Also be sure to compile it afterwards using Qnode or another version 7 nodelist processor. * 2.4 MSGED, GOLDED or TimEd Both the ESC setup and editor support configurations for the Golded, Msged and TimEd message reader/editors. Of course you must have one or all of these programs with supporting files available to your system in order to appropriate their use. If possible, run Golded from the same directory that Esc is in. This solves numerous problems. NOTE: !!! IMPORTANT !!! Be certain to REMOVE or DELETE the GOLDED.CFG which comes from the GOLDED ARCHIVE. ESC needs to write its own from scratch rather than edit the one which comes with the GOLDED package! As of ESC 1.54 a check is made to determine if the Golded.Cfg is one which ESC has created and handled accordingly. *2.4a EDITOR SPELL CHECKING INTEGRATING TimEd, Qedit AND ShareSpell (author unknown) First, QEdit and ShareSpell must reside on the DOS path within the same directory. MODIFYING QEDIT You need to write a macro to invoke the spell checker from within QEdit. In addition, because QEdit works on files in RAM, we need to tell QEdit to replace the file in RAM with the file on disk we just ran through the spell checker. We can do that by following these steps: 1. Load the file QCONFIG.DAT into a text editor (how about QEdit?) This file comes with the QEDIT archive. Go back and get it from the archive if you don't have it in your directory. 2. Page down until you get to the "function key set" area. 3. I have put the spell check macro on the <F10> key (because that key is undefined in QCONFIG.DAT), but you can redefine it to another key if you wish. 4. Type the following EXACTLY after the <F10> key space, lining up the beginning of the macro with the definitions above it: MacroBegin SaveFile Dos 'SS ' CurrentFilename Return Return "M" EditFile CurrentFilename Return NewFile "N" Return The macro must all be on one line (I have to split it here to fit the format of the text file) so remember to join the lines together before you try to use it. The space after 'SS and before the second ' is important. 5. Save the file QCONFIG.DAT 6. Run QCONFIG.EXE to reconfigure QEdit 7. Select KEYS from the Configure Menu 8. You will be asked to enter the keyboard definition file, press <ENTER> for QCONFIG.DAT 9. Press <S> to save your settings MAKING IT ALL WORK If you followed the above directions, everything should work. The next time you enter or reply to a message using timEd, press <F10> while you are in QEdit. The current file in memory will be saved to disk, you will enter the spell checker, and when the spell checker is done, the perfectly spelled file on disk will be loaded into memory and you'll be back in QEdit. Save the file, quit QEdit, and you'll be back in timEd with a perfectly spelled message. MSGED SPELL CHECKER * Original From: Lester Garrett @ 914/213, 8:914/213 * Original Date: Jun 14 04:59 [Area: MSGED_ECHO] The following uses @F10 to write the current message to a directory called "test" under the filename "junk" on the current drive (i.e., \test\junk). Then it calls a batch file (qemsged.bat) which runs QEdit. The two returns (^m^m) at the end bypasses the pause when you return to ME. function 40 \0x11^x\\test\\junk,t^m!qemsged.bat^m^m After you've returned to MsgED, begin your reply (@R), and when you're in the blank body hit ^F10 to import "junk". function 30 \0x17^xd:\\test\\junk^m\0x84 The first macro is deliberatley set up to overwrite. So bear in mind that each time you hit @F10 you overwrite the previous "junk" file in \test. * 2.5 CHANGING ADDRESSES The ESC editor permits you to change your address type... By choosing option F) Mailer type, you can switch from a 3d point to a 4d point and back. You can also switch points of either type to a node. You can change from a <HOST> system to a non host. You can even change from a node back to either type of point. ALWAYS write out the pertinent files associated with the change. Guessing which item(s) to tag in order to just write the ones that are affected by your changes can be hard. Basically you will be safe to tag them all with the exception of the MAIL.BAT. However changes to things like your editor, modem init and fossil will be controlled within the MAIL.BAT so you will need to tag it in these cases or manually edit it otherwise. Changing mailer types will cause ESC to want to recompile its nodelist. You may handle that in regard to your situation. If you do not want to write out all your configuration and batch files, there is a text file included in the archive called ESCFILES.TXT which gives a graph of which files are affected by changes by the ESC editor. Although changing mailer types does work from the editor, you might consider a new installation in a clean directory. This way you can be certain that nothing telltale will be left behind. One situation is the ROUTE.CFG for Squish. ESC parses and alters only that which it thinks is appropriate for the mailer type being setup. Changing from a NODE to a POINT system will remove the SEND verb from the ROUTE.CFG. Changing back to a NODE from a POINT cannot re-insert it. In other words, mail will not be sent directly to a point off of a node system which has been altered this way. This is more a matter of logic than limitation. * 2.6 NODELIST PROCESSORS As mentioned before, ESC will create its own mini nodelist on demand. This still has to be compiled for use with Binkleyterm, Bonk, Yabom, Msged and TimEd. If you chose to allow ESC to create the nodelist, you will be asked if you want to compile it. If you answer yes, you will then be given a choice of which compiler to use. You must have available, the one chosen. The choices are, Qnode (freeware by Jim West) and Xlaxnode (shareware by Scott Samet). Both work perfectly, however using earlier versions of Xlaxnode will warn you that there is a CRC error at runtime, you can ignore this warning. Your Nodelist will still work just fine. Note: Qnode must be accompanied with QIDX.EXE in order to index (and create) the nodex.idx and sysop.idx. QIDX.EXE is a part of the entire Qnode package. Both Qnode and Xlaxnode also create the FidoUser.Lst which is called upon by Golded and Msged. * 2.7 NODE OPERATION A live NODE system is just as easily setup and maintained as a point mailer. The major difference is the potential of a Node operation is further expanded. HOSTING 4d POINTS Either 3d or 4d Points are supported from the Node operation. 3d is more straight forward but 4d works perfectly well. It has been tested here and is running fine. A word of advice is in order. Please read the BINKLEY 2.40 document release on 4d point directory and domain support. This document may be a little difficult to find but it tells everything you need to know about the subject. DOMAIN SUPPORT Domain is almost entirely supported from the setup module. However, the Domain line in the Binkley.Cfg which ESC writes, is commented out and left for you to edit according to your own situation. Under the default circumstances a POINT mailer which has a domain designated in its address will properly pass mail to and from its host system. However, you will have to work with your configuration when attempting to pass mail to other systems, IF you designate a domain on your address. You must tell ESC that you want your mail to be ROUTED DIRECT in the System Option menu and have ESC (re)write your ROUTE.CFG.. * 3.0 BBS SUPPORT It is possible to operate a BBS from ESC's integrated framework. Please see the text file ESC_BBS.TXT (ESC156) which details the necessary modifications. Be forewarned that if you make changes to your MAIL.BAT and then have ESC rewrite it. The changes will be moved to a .bak file and a subsequent rewrite will lose the changes altogether. * 3.1 CAVEATS Because ESC is merely a shell which has some utilities. It often takes the blame for the misbehavior of programs which it calls. For example, if you are running in a DV window of 400k and you use the [D]elay timer to invoke Binkley, you may see your system lock up. This isn't ESC. It is the fossil running out of memory and overlaying itself upon something in memory which causes your system to sieze. When optimizing window size provide plenty of memory and whittle it down from there. If you should choose to alter any batch or configuration file which ESC generates, beware that changing your configuration and then having ESC rewrite files from the edit mode may overwrite your changes. ESC is semi-smart in that it scans many files, especially the configuration files and changes only the pertinent information, leaving a .BAK file of the original and your edits in the new one. However, count on nothing. Simply backing up or copying the files involved to a safe place is good insurance against disappointments. CAUTION: Removing or altering the line near the top of a file which contains "created by ESC" will certainly eliminate this custom edit incorporation function. Do not alter or remove this line if you want ESC to keep your changes in the event that you have ESC rewrite those files. A warning and brief explanation appear before you are in the position to possibly lose custom edits. If you let ESC do all your editing, you have nothing to worry about even if you tag all files to be overwritten. It is only when you change your files with a text editor that you "may" be in danger of losing those changes. An explanation of the workings of ESC when parsing and editing control files would extend this document beyond reasonable length. Therefore, tagging files to be rewritten is something you should investigate when you get to the point where you begin customizing your setup beyond the scope of ESC's simple echomailer concept. On the other hand, ESC makes such an attempt at keeping certain information intact that NEW versions of ESC will have features that cannot be accessed until the old file(s) have been removed. For instance, let us assume that a later version of ESC includes a new verb in the Msged.Cfg. Simply running the new version of ESC and telling it to write out a new Msged.Cfg will not place the addition into the old Msged.Cfg. The reason is that as long as ESC detects a Msged.Cfg it will not overwrite it unless the line which contains "created by ESC" is changed or removed. It will merely copy the file to a .BAK then create a new one by editing the one which exists. This procedure is consistent with several other files as well. More simply put: ALLOW ESC TO DELETE THE OLD CONFIG(S), THEN TELL ESC TO WRITE THEM AGAIN WHEN UPGRADING TO A NEWER VERSION OF ESC! Doing this forces ESC to place newly added features into the file(s). The draw back is that you will lose any edits you have added previously. You will then have to re-enter those edits with whatever form you choose. EDITING : The files which ESC writes are for the most part the basics. BinkleyTerm's "BINKLEY.CFG" is one instance of a file which really can be expanded upon. Some optional items have been included and commented out in the .CFG to help in the case of problems initializing the modem. There are a number of others. Also, the BINKLEY.EVT is stark but is there to give you a base to work with and to allow Binkley to function in the Unattended mode (NODE installation). The POINT setup doesn't require the BINKLEY.EVT because it is built on the assumption that it is to operate in the ATTENDED (MAIL) mode. It is still written out in either case with one small modification for the different mailer types. If you decide to edit the config files outside of ESC you need to be cautious. The configs are white space sensitive concerning how ESC sees them. Pay close attention to how ESC has created the files. Some lines must remain where they are. The EchoArea and Squish Area lists must remain in a contiguous order for ESC to effectively edit them. If at all possible, you should let ESC edit the configs from the menu mode. ESC's PERSONAL NODELIST: ESC needs to know if there have been any changes effecting the NODELIST that it has built. Under most circumstances ESC will detect them on its own. However, if you have another reason to have ESC rewrite and recompile the NODELIST, you may force it to do so with the <J> toggle from the <Nodelist> menu option. Flip it from NODELIST.001 to NO and then back again, and an internal signal is generated telling ESC that it is necessary to rewrite and recompile its NODELIST. After telling ESC to <Write> the pertinent files, it will then seek your permission to recompile NODELIST.001. Editing the MAIL.BAT is permissible except in one area. DO NOT ADD ANYTHING BELOW THE :sqp LABEL! AREAS reads from this file when adding areas. A foreign entry in this section of the batch file will interfere with the work of ESCUTILS.EXE. Plus, anything added just above the :dos label will be lost. If you're running DESQview and Ansi.com no longer provides the escape code translation, you'll have to exit DESQview and start it back up again. The logical alternative is to use DVansi. ESCTEXT.DAT has been added to remove a lot of code from inside the ESC.EXE. This file is very sensitive. You can fiddle with it if you wish but just about anything which changes it from its original state can cause ESC to malfunction somewhere down the line. It is HIGHLY recommended to leave it alone. Even the white space within the file is critical. However if you are intent on altering your displayed information, format or internal data a cryptic structural guide is located at the bottom of the file. For ESC version 1.56 (1.55b) Now that the BINKLEY.LNG is no longer created by ESC (a memory saving measure) it is important to include the one supplied with the ESC archive into the directory. Altered versions will work as long as they are current for the Binkley version number in use. * 3.2 POSSIBLE PROBLEMS Most setup problems stem from modem initialization. ESC gives you four choices when configuring. They are: for the USRobotics HST and HST DUAL STANDARD, a GENERIC, simple straight forward string and the option to enter your own string. Please keep in mind that Binkley wants to see the | rather than ^M. So, beware! Also, X00 version 1.24 works superbly with the HST and the D S. It seems to have a problem with some of the 2400 bps modems. BNU is a good choice for 2400 bps or below. -=* Binkley starts and gives some error code. The NODELIST is missing, grundged, improperly processed or not in the specified path. The file BINKLEY.LNG is not in the same directory as BINKLEY.CFG or it hasn't been processed properly. Directories are incorrect in the BINKLEY.CFG. The NODELIST is missing or wasn't compiled properly (if at all). -=* Binkley reports that it is dialing out but nothing is really happening. Try removing the semicolon (;) from in front of the "NoCollide" verb in the BINKLEY.CFG. This disables a feature but is necessary for the success of some modems (i.e. Smart One). -=* Binkley reports that "Remote didn't respond" immediately after it initializes. Try removing the semicolon (;) from in front of the SameRing verb in the BINKLEY.CFG. -=* Binkley displays Intro: in the Transfer Status window but you haven't dialed out yet. Try adding &f (proper case) immediately after the AT portion of the init string. A word of caution though. &f will FETCH your modem's factory default settings negating any nram changes you have made. Entering all modem commands you can think of to insure your modem is initialized properly may be of some help even if you feel they are defaulted on start up. If all else fails, look to your initialization string. Here is where many people experience problems. -=* Binkley never really starts and the system drops through to process mail. The communication fossil may not be loading. Try another one, or check your config.sys to see that one isn't already loaded and a conflict is occurring. One user found that he had to move the call to the fossil in the MAIL.BAT to the top of the file. This should not be, but it worked for him. -=* You have changed the name of your system or that of your BOSSNODE but Binkley shows the old name when you poll out. You MUST run XLAXNODE -- or -- You MUST run QNODE (with QIDX) on the NODELIST.001 every time you make a change to the "SYSTEM", "BOSSNODE" or "NODELIST" fields. REMEMBER, Binkley recognizes the | (not the :), as a carriage return. Many modem initialization strings use the ^M convention. Binkley should do the translation when it sends the string to your modem. You may have to experiment with the initialization string and/or modem settings via dip switches or software control (NRAM). The best advice is to read the Binkley manuals as well as all the documentation which comes with your software, especially your modem manual. As simple as it sounds, one problem which seems to occur is that after making changes to the configs, users do not write out the files. After making edits through ESC, be certain to write out the altered file(s), from the Pick List. When in doubt of which files to tag, TAG them ALL. Two files are skipped over if ESC detects that they exist when it begins writing files. They are the COMPRESS.CFG and BINKLEY.LNG. The only way to get ESC to rewrite these two is to delete or move them from the home directory. Also, most files are read from and then recreated with edits. If you want a "from scratch" file, you should delete it and then have ESC rewrite it. Some report strange addresses after setting up. It seems the biggest problem comes from not knowing whether a 3d (privatenet) or 4d address is appropriate. To compound the confusion, some utilities show a 4d address even though the system is configured as 3d. Msged will show the 4d address regardless of point types. Never the less, it is important to understand which type you are. If your boss assigns you a number different from his own, then you are 3d. Here's an example below; 1:157/534 BOSS ADDRESS 1:3534/109 3d POINT ADDRESS 1:157/534.109 4d POINT ADDRESS 1:157/534.109@fidonet.org 5d POINT ADDRESS If the number which you have been assigned, after the colon is different than the BOSS address as above, then you have a 3d address. If it is the same, then you have a 4d address. Also, 3d addresses will not have a period delimiting them. -=* Your netmail area shows that you have -1 messages in it. Somehow a zero byte length message has been created. As of Msgedsq 2.1, this situation causes a *.msg message area to be inaccessibly. The zero length message(s) will have to be deleted in the message area. -=* Your squish message area(s) are acting funky. Something has gotten grundged in one of the squish files and SQFix must be run on the afflicted message area files. This can be done from the 3rd (mail) menu in a global sense or you can operate on individual areas from your dos command line. Secure an understanding of the SQFix syntax from the Squish Prn or take a look in the Mail.Bat to see how it is done from there. -=* You see a SQUISH SWAP error message when Squish attempts to toss new messages. Some systems refuse to accept the Swap option from Squish. Go into your Squish.Cfg with a text editor and comment out the line appearing as Swap F:\$$SQUISH.SWP by putting a semicolon at the beginning of the line. If you feel like experimenting, you can optionally try another drive path designation. * 4.0 AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION ESC is absolutely free for non commercial use. All that is required of you, is to let the automatic netmail message which is generated upon installation, to be channeled out through your host and hopefully routed back to the author of ESC. The netmail message is created in several steps. The final one happening the first time the MAIL menu is invoked. Please allow this message to be processed and sent by ESC. You don't have to do anything but use ESC to be registered. If for some reason, the registration message doesn't make its way out of your system. You can send it again by holding the Alt key and pressing 2 from the ESC Editor Menu. This is all that is asked of you as the end user. The AutoMessenger message is a fido style (file per *.msg) message which resides in your NETMAIL subdirectory. You can delete it after being processed by Squish. If you're leery of what that message may contain, here is a sample form: 029/030 Sat Aug 29 1992 00:02:18 From: Chris Mann of 1:157/100.30 To: Glen Gilbert of 1:157/534 Subj: Esc Automatic Messenger Attr: privileged recvd Zone 1 netmail area _____________________________________ AutoResponse from Chris's mailer! Esc 1.52 installed as a 3d POINT setup! System: "Lost in the cartoon, Chris's point." (Akron_OH) Configuration took 2 minutes, 17 seconds. --- Esc 1.52 Automatic Messenger * Origin: Esc 1.52 - Integrated Mail System (1:157/100.30) * 4.1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Todd Smith of 157/100@fidonet aka 157/533: Many of the features in ESC are a result of his suggestions. He stands unique as the primary and original beta tester as well as the one who promoted the insurgence of many FIDONET members in this locale. This prompted the beginning efforts on such a project as ESC. Jim Ball of 157/603.66 provided great assistance and scrutiny. Many features were conceived and implemented because of his thoughtful recommendation and painstaking bug detection. Ed Marsh of 157/534.12 as beta tester and documentation editor, who also quite thoroughly tested the programs from a perspective of one newly entered into telecommunications. Kevin Benton of 157/516@fidonet answered questions and provided snippets of code. This is my first programming effort for IBM class machines and his help was essential. Don Benson of 157/603@fidonet who enjoyed making me angry by rolling his forehead back and forth over the keyboard to see what kind of errors he could get the programs to generate. Don is also responsible for the "Color2" scheme which most seem to prefer. He made other recommendations but five lines is all he's getting. Others who need mentioning are Mike Christian, Bret Johnson, Pat Reilly, Chris Mann and Ted Sarah for their consistent helpful input and support. Glen Gilbert 1:157/534@fidonet is the author. Now that you have this package, please send a netmail message his way containing comments, bug reports and suggestions. If you chose to use the NODELIST creation feature, then his name and address are included there, as well as that of Todd Smith (support system). In other words, just type in either name while in Msged and the correct fidonet address should pop up. Both will be watching the POINTS echo for any interest in ESC. The intention is to support, and develop it further, respective to the amount of interest. SQUISH - is the creation of Scott Dudley. BINKLEY - is the creation of Vince Perriello and Bob Hartman. MSGED - is the creation of Jim Nutt and John Dennis is the - developer of the Squish-compatible version. TimEd - is the creation of Gerard van Essen QNODE - is the creation of James West XLAXNODE - is the creation of Scott Samet BONK - is the creation of Tom Kashuba and Ulf Nilsson YABOM - is the creation of Berin Lautenbach WIMM - is the creation of Gerard van Essen SBC - is the creation of John Giesbrecht CMMenu - is the creation of Chris Mann * 4.2 DISCLAIMER ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ There is no warrantee and the author takes │ │ zero responsibility for whatever happens │ │ when using this software. Accepting or │ │ running any of the files included with this │ │ package acknowledges your acceptance of │ │ these terms. If in doubt, simply delete them. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ * 4.3 BUG and PROBLEM REPORTS Please send your questions, problems and bug reports about Esc to -- Glen Gilbert of 1:157/534@fidonet It is very important that you give the Esc version number! Send the ESC.CFG and other pertinent configuration or batch files if possible. "The quality of the help you receive, is directly proportional to the information you provide." * 4.4 UPGRADING When upgrading from a previous ESC setup BACK UP first! As of version 1.46, ESC will save your message area declarations in two files. They are M_AREA.DAT and S_AREA.DAT. ESC will find and read the content of these files, placing the entries found in them, into the newly created MSGED.CFG and SQUISH.CFG. The MSGED.CFG is not relevant to GOLDED users. If you have chosen to save old message area data while doing an upgrade, and abort ESC during the configuration, your old message area data will not be included once you re-start the new configuration. The area information is still present in the .DAT files, but ESC will not know that you want that information in the configuration. You will have to place those message areas in your setup AFTER it has been configured. The alternative is to be very careful NOT to abort the upgrade installation. Caution should be exercised when reinstalling. Edits to the MAIL.BAT (other than squish maintenance functions) will be lost. PLEASE don't upgrade ESC by calling it from the current MAIL.BAT. In other words, place the files from the new ESC???.LZH in your mailer directory and then type ESC at the dos prompt. Otherwise, the batch file will be out of sync when you exit ESC and you'll experience temporary bizarre results. * 4.5 CUSTOMIZING You may have already figured out that you can fully customize nearly every function of the ESC shell with a text editor. The place to change the order of operation or options is in the MAIL.BAT. If you want to keep the ESC batch file menu system and find the colors a bit too much to deal with. You may change the ansi escape codes. A file was distributed with the earlier ESC releases called KEYCHART.TXT. This file has several screens explaining and listing Ansi screen and keyboard scan codes. It would be worth your while to look this file over if have it. Most Dos manuals have much of the information found in the KEYCHART.TXT. For now, here's something to tide you over if the MAIL MENU colors become to much to bare. Find the appropriate menu in the MAIL.BAT and replace the corresponding values from the chart below with what suits you. 0 all off 1 high intensity 4 underscore (no color) 5 video blink 7 inverse video 8 concealed (no display) 30 black foreground 40 black background 31 red " 41 red " 32 green " 42 green " 33 yellow " 43 yellow " 34 blue " 44 blue " 35 magenta " 45 magenta " 36 cyan " 46 cyan " 37 white " 47 white " * 4.6 QUICK MENUS As of 1.56 ESC will use a Quick (semi hard coded) OR batch file menu system (where the menus are contained in the Mail.bat). This feature is toggled from the BOSSNODE/MISCELLANEOUS editor. You can change it any time. The disadvantage to the Quick Menu system is the limited ability to customize the selection of the menus. The advantage is faster display and reaction time. Plus, things could be accomplished by writing the menus in code rather than being limited to the disk operating system's command processor. Please try all methods and perhaps make recommendations to the authors. NOTE: Always have ESC re-write the MAIL.BAT after changing to or from the Quick Menu option. Also with the use of Quick Menus all options are hotkey (no ENTER required). * 4.7 CMMenu / CMMcust interface The CMMenu interface is a complete mousified, pull down menu system created by Chris Mann of 1:157/100.30. The companion file called CMMcust is the utility which allows the end user to fully customize the menu's appearance and function. I can't say enough about CMMenu. Originally named something else, I ask Chris to allow me to name the program. CMMenu can be used with any system under many different circumstances. In this case we're using it for ESC. Please see the CMMenu documentation for more details on this excellent utility. * 4.8 FUNCTION KEYS The Mail Menu now sports an option to shell to dos and call external applications which you define in the edit mode. You must have some understanding of Dos before the latter option will make sense. The only restriction is memory. When shelling to another application, ESC will consume the first 64k of memory. In most cases, this shouldn't be a problem. You may define function keys F2 through F9 to operate from any of the menu modes. You create these functions from the BOSSNODE/MISCELLANEOUS menu (ESC editor). * 5.0 MISCELLANEOUS The batch files which ESC writes assume you are using MS-DOS 3.3 or higher. Some commands like @echo off and echo. (note trailing period) are not supported in earlier DOS versions. If you are using a different version of Dos or a different brand for that matter, you will have to change these batch files to suit the situation on your machine. Also, if you are experiencing strange results when entering any of the commands to the Esc Mail Menu, it is likely there is a peculiarity about your setup such as a TSR or something in your DOS path which is getting confused when ESC issues a command. This is why it is safest to have all your utilities and issue all your commands from the same directory in which ESC resides. It is also a good idea not to have anything that isn't related to your ESC mailer setup in the same directory as ESC. A lot can go wrong from a personal system standpoint because a PC setup is such an individual thing. But Dos has mechanisms which provide a level of control such as searching the current directory before the rest of the Dos path. If you don't over- ride these sort of things, keep backups of original settings and carefully record any changes you make while experimenting and debugging. You'll experience a greater level of success and find less occasion to suspect something is wrong with the software. Also, your frustration level will be kept to a minimum. 4DOS USERS You're situation may get a little stickier, especially if you have reassigned the things which ESC has considered standard naming conventions. In which case, you may have to do some close scrutiny to find out where a conflict may exist within the batch files. ANSI CONTROL ESC's main batch file menu requires an ansi device for display if you have chosen the Dos Batch menu setup. If you're installing ANSI.SYS in your config.sys when you boot your computer and you aren't using a multitasker such as DESQ- view then nothing is required when you run the MAIL menu system. Things change a bit under a multitasker because in the case of DESQview, an ansi driver must be installed for each window. As ESC writes the batch file, it will react according to the configuration. As of version 1.52, an ansi driver is called from the MAIL.BAT only if told to do so. One thing should be noted; Quitting the menu and restarting in a DESQview window will consume a file handle if the choice is to use Ansi.Com instead of DVansi. Once the window is closed, the file handles are released. The remedy is to use DVansi for DESQview or to close the window and reopen it when exiting the mail.bat. The batch file is written to NOT reinstall the device driver when calling ESC and coming back to the mail.bat ESCTIMER The [D]ELAYED feature from the MAIL MENU allows scheduled polls in the BT MAIL mode. Running it explains more than is possible in this paragraph. Something which can be clarified is the ability to edit the ESCTIMER.LST once it has been created. It is a simple text file that maintains the format 'hh:mm\n' with the '\n' being a linefeed/carriage return. No white space should be left on the end. In other words, an edit should resemble the other entries which EscTimer creates. If you place additional characters in the list, you'll notice the error as soon as you run the schedule. EGA USERS Ega presents a special case concerning the video display. The cursor is of particular interest in that the start and stop bits are different than Mono or Vga. If you are using Msged 2.1a or above, you can uncomment the Curstart and Curend statements to provide you with a "visible" cursor. Also, EGA users who are running under DESQview's might do well to try these settings for the memory segment which holds Esc. 1: Set -> Writes text directly to screen.......: [Y] 2: Set -> Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [N] 3: In the setup program: Does your display adaptor require synchronized access? (Y/N): Y 1 and 2 correct the screen attributes. 3 corrects the cursor in MSGED's editor. "On my EGA card"... ROUTING (getting technical) Routing mail can be one of the most confusing things to manipulate concerning the Squish mail handler. Here is a little digression which may help. Keep in mind that ESC sets things up for you properly in most cases and there is no need to edit the Route.Cfg unless you wish to do something unusual. Admittedly, attempting to simplify routing technique still doesn't come across as simple. If you don't feel like smoking your mind a little, you might consider skipping over this section. Routing rules 1. CRASH mail is never archived. 2. CRASH mail to other systems cannot be ROUTED unless it is changed to NORMAL (or DIRECT) before the ROUTE command line in the Route.Cfg. 3. Direct NetMail (non routed and non CRASH mail) is never called to be archived by Squish. All Normal mail addressed to, or routed through the BOSS is archived unless the NoArc modifier is used in the ROUTE or SEND command line within the Route.Cfg. Squish has a thing about DIRECT mail. In the Squish.Prn, page 26 under Elementary Routing a statement is made which deserves a little further explanation. from the squish.prn "However, the routing commands can be used to change this flavour to "crash" (send this mail immediately), "direct" (a synonym for crash), or "hold" (do not call out; hold mail for pick-up). The flavour of messages can also be changed" As far as the packer is concerned, DIRECT and CRASH are handled the same. Especially if you consider the 3 rules stated above. However, the anomaly is that Binkley doesn't consider them equal when dealing with the issue of event flags and passing mail. In which case, NORMAL and DIRECT become synonyms due to the way the bundles are processed for dialing out to the systems they are destined for. In other words, CRASH mail is generally immediate and NORMAL or DIRECT mail is quite configurable as to when they are to be sent. Although, Binkley does use the C flag to control the timely passing of CRASH mail as well, phew!. All this has been said to relay one thing. If you want Squish to treat a DIRECT (not crash or normal) netmail message just as the name implies (not routed) you must flag the message as both, (now get this) HOLD and CRASH in Msged. I can't say how or if it can be done via other message editors but I know it works with Msged. It should be noted that this is an undocumented and quite obscure "trick" which circumvents manipulation of both the Squish Route.Cfg and the Binkley.Evt. MISCELLANEOUS MENU ITEMS There are several menu items which are not presented from the setup mode. Esc uses default parameters which can be changed at the conclusion of the setup (before the files are written) or anytime later. As of version 1.54, here is the list, the default settings and the options. settings default options -------- ------- ----------- HOTKEY OFF ON LOGS ALL ON BINK/SQSH <MSGTRK> OFF ARCHIVER ZIP ARC NODELIST DIR ESC MAILER definable AUTOTOSS OFF ON POLLTRIES 25 ANY up to 9999 WIMM TOGGLE ASK AUTO - NO NETAREA TYPE SQUISH for POINTS FIDO *.Msg FIDO *.Msg for NODES SQUISH Type 2+ ROUTING ROUTED DIRECT These items all appear from one of the three ESC editor sub menus. Please browse through these and remember that your configuration files must be written out in order for any change to take effect. FLO FILES The 3rd menu contains an option call POLLMKR which permits you to create a zero length flag file for Binkley to use. For Binkley to see and process a mail bundle, a hexadecimal representation of the destination address must be present in the outbound directory. The content or size of this file is not important to Binkley. This hex address filename must have an extension which Binkley understands. Flo and Dlo are two extensions which tell Binkley how to handle the file(s) found. Flo is a normal extension which tells Binkley to find the phone number associated with the hex address represented by the filename from the nodelist. Assuming success on this part, Binkley determines by its event file, when to dial this number. When the phone number was looked up, certain flags were scanned for allowable times to dial this number. If a CM flag was found in the nodelist, then Binkley will dial that number continually at adjustable intervals (via the binkley.evt or by default settings within Binkley). If a CM flag was not found in the nodelist, Binkley will wait until the zone mail hour to dial out to this system. Zone mail hour is different for each zone in relationship to your own zone. You should have it set in your autoexec.bat (or at the time you are going to use your mailer) so your computer can find a reference in its environment. This is accomplished through an example such as this: set TZ=EST05 MS-DOS computers understand the TZ and the EST05 refers to Eastern Standard Time. The 05 is the number of hours from the world standard time setting (Greenwich meantime) at geographical zero longitude. While mentioning Eastern Standard Time and the Zone Mail Hour, a small problem exists. Once during the Spring and Fall of each year the clocks are set forward and backward respectively. The Zone Mail Hour (4am to 5am - Standard) time is to be reserved for mail transfers only. This means a system which supports anything other than MO (mail only) should restrict their system for this purpose for that hour. Please acquire and read the POLICY4.TXT document found on many FidoNet systems for more detail. A problem arises as the Daylight Savings Time change occurs in the Spring. In which case ZMH becomes 5am to 6am for those geographical areas supporting DST. A .Clo extension on a mail file will tell Binkley to ignore any flags found in the nodelist concerning times to dial and simply poll that system. Once again, at set intervals until the file has been delivered or some other problem has occurred such as a maximum (#) of attempts or connections where handshaking (X) wasn't successful. CALL WAITING If you have call waiting, you might want to edit your Binkley configuration in order to activate it before Binkley makes each call. This can be accomplished on a tone system by alter ing your configuration to contain this: Prefix ATDT *70, If you have a pulse dialing system you would use: Prefix ATDT 1170, Understand that your local phone system must support these commands. AUTO ANSWER in the unattended mode The correct way to have Binkley answer your telephone is to do it through software and NOT setting the S0 register from your modem. Binkley will watch for the word RING coming from your modem. If instructed to do so, Binkley will then issue the ATA command to your modem and begin the connect sequence. The reason this is a better way is in the event that your software should crash, you won't have your system answering the phone where the caller will get no sign of activity from your end. This can become costly to a long distance caller set up to poll you automatically. I saved a message from someone who went away for a weekend, their system had called across a national border several hundred times. Each call resulted in a two minute LD charge. The phone bill could have purchased another computer system. ESC will allow you to toggle the autoAnswer feature of Binkley. See the BOSSNODE and MISCELLANEOUS option menu. Binkley will then answer the phone in the UNATTENDED mode. POINT systems must invoke UNATTND from the first menu. Nodes can only come up in the UNATTENDED mode. DIAL TRANSLATION When Binkley looks in the nodelist for a telephone number associated with a fidonet address, it finds the 1 and area code as well as the exchange and number. Left to its own devices, Binkley will simply dial the whole shooting match. Of course, on local calls the '1' and area code isn't required. Binkley, Qnode and Xlaxnode provide a way to strip the unnecessary digits and hyphens from the phone number before being processed. In this text, we will only explore the method used by Binkley. You may find it preferable because a simple change to the binkley.cfg is all that is required. Doing dial translation from the nodelist compiler configs requires recompiling the nodelist. ESC will create one dial translation. That is to your host system's phone number IF it is local. By examining the Binkley.Cfg which ESC creates, you will see a line near the bottom of the config file which looks like this. DIAL 1-216-928- 928-/ This is telling Binkley to translate a phone number which matches the 9 characters after the DIAL keyword and convert them to the 4 characters which follow. The trailing slash means to append anything which comes after the first 9 characters to the 4 characters which are to the right. It may seem like a difficult concept to grasp but the principle is rather simple. What you may wish to do is look in your phone book and determine which exchanges are local. You can copy the format above, replacing the appropriate numbers. You can even add modem commands to phone numbers by using the DIAL translation. Simply add one DIAL translation line after another until you have a list within the Binkley.cfg file. DIAL 1-216-928-8565 928-8565&N3 Once you have added all the local exchanges, you will want to instruct Binkley not to dial the area code to any system which may be long distance but within your area code. This translation would look like this. DIAL 1-216- 1-/ BINKLEY STATUS FLAGS (UNATTENDED MODE) The upper right quadrant of the Binkley screen has a window which by default is entitled "Pending Outbound Mail". The farthest right segment of that window reads "Status". There are 4 important symbols which tell you what is going to, or will be happening to the mail which is sitting in your outbound directory. Also, there are reasons which the out going mail isn't displayed in the window. We'll get to that after explaining the symbols. x Too Many Bad Connects (Undialable) # Already Called, But Mail Still Pending - Cannot Call During This Event ! Node Not Found in Nodelist ------------------------------------------- ! This mail bundle cannot be sent. No address was found in the nodelist lookup. - The hyphen indicates that the bundle's address was found, but either an event is set to not allow the passing of this mail at this time. Or the bundle is "flavored" as hold and will not be dialed out but must be picked up by the addressee instead. * This mail bundle is ready to be dial out and Binkley will do so on intervals until it is delivered. # If you had two flo file attaches, one designated as hold and the other as normal. Your system would dial the addressed system because of the .flo (normal) attach. the other .hlo (or .hut) will be held for pickup even though your system has dialed and connected. that remaining mail file will now be designated with the # flag to let you know that a connection has been made but there is still mail "waiting" for that system. x Too many dial attempts or too many bad connects. Binkley will no longer attempt to poll this address. There will be a file in the outbound directory with the hex address and an extension with two ($$) signs. This is Binkley's signal file. Once it is removed, Binkley will once again attempt to dial the system. You need to understand that Binkley scans the outbound(s) periodically (UNATTENDED MODE). This means that a change may take place but Binkley isn't acting upon it. You may force Binkley to scan its outbound(s) by pressing Alt R - (restart event). Status changes will be refreshed at this time. ZONES AND DOMAINS Certain system conditions must exist in order for outbound mail destined for other zones and domains to be display (and found for that matter) by Binkley. The Binkley docs explain how to make Binkley aware of other domains and to permit Binkley to see other zone mail. The Domain statement (which is commented out) in the Binkley.cfg is one of the keys. Understanding how separate nodelists pertain, is another. Finally, mail for zones other than your own must be kept in separate subdirectories. These directories carry an extension. Here is a clip of a directory display which speaks louder than words. OUT OUT .001 OUT .002 OUT .003 OUT .004 OUT .005 OUT .006 OUT .007 OUT .008 -- outbound directories for zones 1 - 8 OUT .032 -- outbound directory for zone 50 (hex) OUT .046 -- outbound directory for zone 70 (hex) Squish can be configured to handle zones and place them in the proper directories without much difficulty. However, there is a simpler method. Let someone else handle these situations. This is accomplished from the ROUTE.CFG. ROUTE flavor bossnode_address World This means every zone gets packaged up and routed to your host system. This will happen up the chain until someone sends your interzone bundle to a zone gate where it will be sent into the zone for which it was originally addressed. UUCP InterNet Gateway There is an item from the BOSS editor section of ESC called Uucp Address. Here you may define the address of an InterNet Gateway. Msged will interpret an internet name and bangpath in the To: field of your message and automatically address it to this Gateway for processing into Internet. The address you supply should be a standard fidonet format of zone:net/node. Example: 1:157/512 As of this time, I do not know how (or if) Golded handles gating into the Internet. I will investigate it and apply this feature to Golded's config if applicable. GT ENHANCEMENT A file called ESC-GT.COM may be present starting with the 1.56 version archive. This is a program which will modify the MAIL.BAT to include an enhancement which produces a more intelligent method for handling strange files which appear in the in and out bound mail areas. Just running the program will define its purpose. MEMORY When using ESC in the SETUP mode your system will need 300 to 450 kilobytes of free ram. 450k is needed if you will be compiling a nodelist from within the setup program. If you already have a nodelist or you are setting up as a point mailer which will use password level sessions and doesn't require a nodelist (see the binkley docs), you can run in a more conservative memory segment. ESC warns you if there isn't enough memory to accomplish the tasks at hand. An exception is when Squish is called upon to pack mail which has been created on your system. If you have not allocated enough memory when using ESC in the MAIL mode, Squish will very quickly display an error message as it attempts to archive normal mail created on your system to be sent to your host. It isn't hard to miss this message. PKZIP is quite conservative on its memory consumption. If your host can handle PKZip'd inbound mail it is recommended that you use it. PKZip'ing is the default set up in the Squish.Cfg by ESC. In which case you should allow at least 350k for Squish to use as it spawns to PKZip. ARCA uses even less memory while ARJ uses more. Giving your mailer as much memory as possible will eliminate one possible problem. OPERATING SYSTEMS Everything seems to work fine under MS-DOS 3.3 - 5.0. As far as is known OS/2 appears to be able to handle everything as well. DESQview and Windows don't appear to have problems with ESC in either the setup, editor or mail modes. Please report back to the author if you are using a different operating system than what is listed above, even if it is an earlier version of MS-DOS. Let him know your results. * 5.1 GLOSSARY NOTE: This listing of terms is presented in a LOGICAL rather than ALPHABETICAL order, so that new terms can be understood from the preceding ones. FIDONET - A conglomeration of people and their computers in agreement to pass electronically produced messages and files to one another. Tom Jennings of Fido Software is accredited as the originator of fidonet. NETWORK - The system of computers connected to each other through telephone lines. In this case, computers owned and/or operated by FIDONET amateur enthusiasts. FTS ... Fido Technical Standard - rules developed and agreed upon by the fathers and experts of this amateur electronic mail network. (FIDONET) BOSSNODE ... HOST SYSTEM - the system from which you receive your mail. BOSS ... THE HOST - The sysOp (system operator) of the system mentioned above. FEED ... The system associated with supplying echomail or files to another. Also referred to as a HOST, BOSSNODE or BOSS system. FREQ ... File Requesting is a quick method of requesting a known filename from another system which supports the feature. MAILER - Terminal software which uses your modem and operates under the Fido Technical Standards for handshaking and protocol concerning the passing of electronic mail bundles. MAIL PROCESSOR - The software which handles mail bundles and individual messages. Examining and TOSSing each message and placing them into the proper directory and/or file. Also, in the case of SQUISH, scanning through these directories and/or files for newly created messages, collecting and placing any found into packets. This operation is referred to as PACKing. These PACKets are optionally collected into larger bundles, and named appropriately with a hexadecimal filename which is understood by the MAILER. "Optionally" means that it is possible for individual packets to be passed without bundling. MESSAGE EDITOR/READER - Software designed to create and read messages of the FTS format. EDITOR - An external text editor such as Qedit by SemWare. You may use one to manually edit your configuration and batch files. Also the TimEd Message editor/reader requires one. POLL or CALL - To have your mailer dial another system to deliver, pickup or check for mail or files to be transferred. MATRIX - The network of systems coordinated to pass electronic mail. NODELIST - A file published from 1:1/0 out of St. Louis Missouri which is an FTS directory containing all necessary information needed for an FTS mailer to pass mail to another FTS compatible system. NODEDIFF - A weekly publication from the same source listed above which adds, subtracts or corrects entries of the NODELIST. NODELIST PROCESSOR - Software which processes the raw files of the NODELIST and/or NODEDIFF into usable and configurable format used by various FTS software. Particularly the MAILER. ZONE - A geographical area (continent) used to determine the origin or destination of electronic mail REGION - A subordinate (smaller) area within a ZONE. NET - A network of FTS compatible systems within a REGION. NODE - A particular system within a NET. POINT - A subsystem which is served from a NODE. POINTs are considered dead end mailers. Meaning, echomail is received from a single source (the BOSSNODE normally). All ECHOMAIL generated on the POINT system is to be passed only to the BOSSNODE for processing. In other words, ECHOMAIL is not to be passed to another system other than the one from which echo mail is being received. Otherwise, the POINT must become a NODE and have their address in the NODELIST. NETMAIL may be ROUTED either through the BOSSNODE or directly to the system addressed. ZMH - Zone Mail Hour. One hour per day is reserved for the transfer of mail on compliant FidoNet systems. There are 6 zones which are assigned an hour offset from Greenwich mean time. Within a zone there are time zones which will offset from the hour assigned to the particular zone. HUB - A system which collects electronic mail and distributes it to other systems. Usually receiving large volumes from a network or regional collection site and then distributing it to the NODES and optionally POINTS associated with it. VERB or TOKEN - Configuration files contain key words which act as signals to the program they exist for. These keywords are often referred to by either of these terms. WHITE SPACE - A blank character (32 decimal) otherwise known as a space. White space is sometimes important to software parsing programs such as Msged and Esc. NETMAIL - is the term used for non echoing electronic mail which is not posted indiscreetly. It can take on one of two forms: Direct or Routed. Both terms define the action taken in order to transfer these types of messages. DIRECT goes from one system directly to another without stopping on any other system. It would be equivalent to personally handing a sealed letter to the person it is addressed to. ROUTED is the equivalent of sending that same letter via one or more trusted friends. Under most circumstances, this semi private mail can be read by the operators of the system through which your mail is passing. ECHOMAIL - is the term used for messages which may have a particular recipient in mind but are posted very publicly. Sending echomail can be compared to putting an add in the classifieds. Where everyone gets to read your message as it is moved along through many systems and is displayed to anyone who has access to a system through which it passes. * 6.0 COMMERCIAL LICENSING If ESC is to be used in a commercial setting it must be licensed from the author at a cost of $50. This entitles an unrestricted use of ESC within the boundaries of the company or organization's name. Each company or organization affiliated with a company or organization which has purchased a license agreement to use ESC, must purchase a separate license agreement. Licensing entitles you to personal support limited by the author's discretion. Make checks or money orders payable to: Glen Gilbert 3686 Prospect St. Mogadore Ohio 44260 Once payment is received, you will be contacted by mail concerning verification. Additional information concerning the use of ESC will be supplied along with a phone number(s) where the author may be contacted for further support. Be sure to include the phone number, address and name of the person to contact concerning license validation. End of ESC documentation.