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The Xpress Communicator <tm> (c) copyright 1995-1996, Santronics Software Volume 2, March 96 Filename - XCNL02.ZIP Table of Contents 1. Editorial 2. Platinum Xpress V1.1 3. PROJECT: Terminator. The Industry's first, commercial, 32bit WIN95/NT Frontend Server for Wildcat! 5.0 BBS 4. PX 3rd party utilities - WSInet, WildBill, Trimlist 5. Silver Xpress 5a. Sweetheart of a Deal! 6. SX 3rd party utilities - TAG-X PRO 7. Spotlight - Minerva Online, The NEW Silver Xpress registration site 8. Arsenal Computer gets down to business with Silver Xpress 8a."Get it Before the Tax Man Commeth Sale," from Arsenal Computer 9. Support Policy Change Notice 10.Tips on Using Platinum Xpress - Netmail Flags and Routing Setup 11.Tips on Using Silver Xpress - Tagline Cabinet Files 12.WaterGate FTSC/UUCP tosser/gateway 13.CD Review - Nightowls, V19 14.How to Submit Articles, Letters and Advertisements 15.Information on Santronics Software 1. Editorial ============ This is our second edition of the Xpress Communicator and it's loaded with useful information. Our first newsletter was successful with so many people that we knew we have a good thing here to help keep our customers informed. People like to read :-) I guess that is what the Telecommunications world is all about. So kick back and enjoy! This edition should keep you in your chair for awhile! In the last edition, I talked about the up and coming Wildcat! 5.0 BBS package from Mustang Software. Wow! All you Wildcat! sysops have something to be excited about. As I use it in its beta and gamma phase and see it develop thru the months, the more I am impressed with its potential. Mustang has gone all out with this incredible package. I must admit it has helped me learn more about the Internet and how the internet works. There are alot of vendors developing BBS systems for the Internet such as RemoteAccess, PCBOARD, SearchLight and others. I have not seen them, but the rumor is they are working hard at it. This is exciting news because it means the BBS world is still alive and well. The new Wildcat! 5.0 is all about the Internet and Networking. You don't have to use it for the Internet. You can use it for single modem or two under Win95 and be like you were before with Wildcat! 4.0. You can use it in its more basic BBS mode without missing a beat. But the true power of it comes from its programmability and the things you can do with it in the Internet client/server world. You must check out the new Wildcat! Navigator which is their free client frontend Wildcat and WEB browser! This thing is INCREDIBLE! It is a perfect example of what the BBS and INTERNET world will look like in the future client/server world and how they blend together. This is just another reason why the BBS world is not dying. Its just changing. For Santronics, client/server paradigm calls for learning new concepts called OOPS and multi-tasking because so many things can be going on at the same time. OOPS or Object Oriented Programming is a big step for Santronics. We are changing all of our products to be based on Object Oriented Programming. For many years we used the old principles called procedural or functional programming. These hit at the heart of the system and gave you faster and more compact executables but it took alot of work to maintain and grow as the world got more complex. OOPS benefits software development from the reuseability concept where you develop one basic "Model" and then write derivatives of the model to reflect different situations. That is exactly what we are doing with the Silver Xpress Off-line Mail System. We are developing a system called "OOMS" or Object Oriented Mail System which will allow us to write a BASIC mail engine and then write different systems that work off the same engine. This will give us the ability to design one single off-line mail reader and make it work for all the major mail formats out in the world, including email and newsgroups straight from the Internet. So stay tuned this summer when we hope to demonstrate this technology. Clinton passes the Telcom Bill..... Well, now that our government has given the green light for a free-for- all market fight, I am wondering what is going to happen to the current status of Internet systems. More specifically, what is going to happen to ISPs (Internet Service Providers) when your Local Bell and other big telecommuication corporations, including the cable companies, begin to offer you cheaper services? I just found out that our local Bell South will begin waiving the installation fee and charge $60 per month for a high speed ISDN service. Now thats incredible! Other questions I have include what kind of software will come about in the Internet world? Is it all going to be WEB? Well, I am betting that isn't! I believe we will see more and more people learning how to do "Daemons" like I did, and we will see alot of new software being written for the Internet. For example, take a look at DOOR programs as we know them today. They all work as a HOOK to the BBS. Well I predict that many new "Doors" will be developed that don't necessarily "need" a BBS but act as an independent service on the Internet. When you look at the direction of BBS vendors today, and how they are making their software work on the Internet, you will see that many doors will not have to be changed for the Internet. You will be able to telnet into them. The developments demonstrate that, far from dying, the BBS world is just evolving. Nothing wrong with that, and it's expected. RIP......The name fits it! Hey, what ever happened to RIP? Well, finally, after 2 years of development, Telegraphics Inc., headed by Pat Clawson, released version 2.0 of RIP. But what about developers!? We have nothing! Santronics was the first off-line mail system to add RIP (version 1.x). We coined the phrased "RIP Ready!" that you see alot of people use now. I talked many times with Mark Hayton, one of the chief developers of RIP. In my opinion, RIP is a day late and dollar short. They made it extremenly difficult for developers to support RIP. In the mean time, the market was changing to WEB and HTML. I remember asking Mark to fix up the little things in RIP v1.0 like making it easier to design Data Entry forms and Windows-like dialogs. No, instead they were concentrating on adding support for 10 trillion colors, 1 million by 1 million resolution, this image format and that image format, etc. Essentially, alot of stuff the majority of the BBS world did not need. We will continue to keep RIP v1.0 in our Silver Xpress mail doors, but I don't believe I will look at RIP 2.0 unless the market demands it and frankly, we have not seen that demand at all. Finally, I would like to ask our Silver and Platinum Xpress Sysops using the Silver Xpress Mail system to help us promote the Silver Xpress Mail Reader. Those of you who use the Reader already know that this program is a tremendously powerful OLM tool, and we encourage you to recommend it, particularly to new users, those using other OLMRs which are no longer in development, those discontent with the current level of support provided with the OLMR they use now, and your active messagers who are serious about their mail and would truly benefit from the many extended features found only in Silver Xpress. No, we are not going to give it away because it is tremendous reader, but we are offering a great incentive in this edition of The Xpress Communicator and you all can assist by showing users how powerful Silver Xpress is and the many benefits they will derive in using it. We have big plans for Silver Xpress this year, and we want your input, so pass along any comments, suggestions, improvements you'd like to see in Silver Xpress to our email address. Hector Santos, President Santronics Software 2. Platinum Xpress V1.1 ======================= Platinum Xpress, Version 1.1, shipped the beginning of November, and subsequent updates have been made available through our Early Experience Program (EEP) to registered sysops. 1.1 Documentation updates are also available on our BBS, so please get any or all of the 3 files if you haven't done so already. EEP will continue through the release of PX 2.0, slated for 2nd quarter 96. This version will include the PXUUCP module which is now in beta test and many other enhancements. Platinum Xpress has just entered its second year of availability and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the many sysops worldwide for making it one of the most successful and talked about product introductions in 1995. And there is good reason for that! When you compare the price of EVERY OTHER commercially available Frontend Mailer, add in the additional costs for third party utilities they ALL require, Platinum Xpress is the undisputed, best value in the market today! Its ease of use and direct integration with Wildcat! simply can't be beat! Platinum Xpress for DOS Price Schedule 10/20/95 - 4/1/96 Retail 7-Day Key Upgrade Discount to PX/WIN ======= ========= ========= PX/DOS 1.1 (single line) $149.00 $120.00 $50.00 PX/DOS 1.1 (unlimited line) $299.00 $225.00 $99.00 3. PROJECT: Terminator ====================== On the latest front, we are working triple overtime to complete the Platimum Xpress for Windows frontend mailer. I must admit, it is a great piece of work...complex work! I admit to intense struggles to design the perfect multi-tasking, multi-threading frontend system. I could have simply ported the DOS version of Platinum Xpress but that would have been inefficient. Instead, PX/Windows will be a very fast multi-tasking frontend system which can handle multiple nodes very effectively. We are still not completed and there is still alot of major debugging and cleanup to be done but I believe we will have a preliminary GAMMA version about the end February. This GAMMA version will be an EEP (Early Experience Program) and will be made available for download from our BBS. Only advance orders will have access to it. The integration of PX/Windows with Wildcat 5.0 is superb. I must hand out my thanks and appreciation to Mustang and Greg Hewgill, Chief Developer of Wildcat! 5.0, for their design and development of the Frontend framework for Wildcat! 5.0. In addition, in a future version of PX/Windows, not the initial release, we will have TelNet capabilities with the Frontend. I am working with various Internet/Fido Hubs such as George Peace and Bob Juge to make this happen. I can't devuldge too much at this early time, but I have already learned how to design a Telnet server (Daemons as unix wienies call it) and have successfully tested it over the internet. Platinum Xpress for Windows Price Structure Early Purchase PX Customer Retail until release Upgrade ======================================= PX/WIN 2.0 (1 line) $245.00 $199.00 $50.00 PX/WIN 2.0 (Unlimited) $395.00 $345.00 $99.00 ALL PX/DOS Customers can upgrade to PX/WIN at a WHOPPING discount of over 70%! Advance orders are being taken NOW, so don't miss this opportunity to save BIG $$$ with the FIRST, 32bit Windows Frontend Mailer, that will bring Fidonet *specifically* for Wildcat! 5.0! Shipping will occur on a first come first served basis. 4. PX 3rd Party Utilities ========================= WSInet v1.2 - The WildStuff Internet Address Book by Blake Software, File name - WSINET12.ZIP The easiest way for your callers to send Internet mail from your BBS! Creates an address book for each caller that most certainly "deTROGS" (T.R.O.G. - Technically Retarded & Obviously Genetically Substandard individual) sending mail for even your most computer illiterate callers! Even a GORT (really BACKWARD TROG) can use this! <grin> Works _ONLY_ with Platinum XPress and compiled w/wcCODE 4.11. It's Free! Help yourself and enjoy! WildBill v1.0 - Automated Billing/Reminder generator for Wildcat and Platinum Xpress by Blake Software Filename - WBILL10.ZIP Need to send out billing notices, reminders, or ANY message text on a certain day each month? WildBill will do it for you! Unlimited number of customers supported. Developed for a Planet Connect hub to send out the monthly billing for downstream nodes via FIDONet, but can be used for meeting notices, statements, or just about anything else you can send via FIDONet! Trimlist v1.0 - By Bill Gowan File name - TRIM10.ZIP Sysop utility used to trim unwanted entries from a list. Can take your inbound TIC list and remove the entries that you don't want your scanner software to scan or add BBS info to. Automatically removes duplicate entries. 5. Silver Xpress ================ Wide Beta door files are now available to registered Silver Xpress sysops as follows: 54P1A.ZIP SX update for PCBoard 15.2x (update for SX54P1.ZIP) 54W1B.ZIP SX update for Wildcat! 4.x (update for SX54W1.ZIP) A wide beta version of the new Silver Xpress Door for Maximus 3.x will be made available as soon as possible within our development schedule, at which time, the updated Opus and RBBS versions of SX will also be distributed. SX54H1.ZIP is already compatible with RA 2.50, so sysops are all set to upgrade to the new RA version, with their Xpress Door ready to go! An Official Release of the Silver Xpress Mail Reader will be coming soon. This is a minor update, but incorporates several LONG, sought after capabilities requested by users, including "on-the-fly" editing when stealing taglines, perfect for customization and editing of QWK style tags, and the *brand new* FILTERS.LIS picklist option for permanently filtering an unlimited number of subjects and twits! <g> Totally configurable at your request and reverseable if you should change your mind! (Clear Mail Tags/Flags). Mail importation has never been easier, and more on that with the Official Release. Stay tuned ....! The powerful Silver Xpress Mail Door and Reader combo provides *direct* Internet support, complete with customizeable address book which is available with a simple F2 key hit, seamless crossposting/forwarding from usegroups to email, Internet tokens, etc., so if you are on that Super Highway, Xpress's automated addressing will move you right into the Fast Lane! Internet mail FIDO/UUCP gating is supported too! And more to come in the May issue, including details on WIN development for the Silver Xpress programs, scheduled to begin 2nd quarter. 5a. Sweetheart of a Deal! ------------------------- ┌─************ Redeem this Coupon ***************┐ │ Mention The Xpress Communicator or clip and │ │ send this coupon with your registration for a │ │ $10.00 discount off the Silver Xpress Offline │ │ Mail Reader or the 1-3 node version of the │ │ Silver Xpress Mail Door! $20.00 off the Pro, │ │ 4-10 and unlimited node Doors! │ │ │ │ *** Valid through 4/15/95 *** │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 6. SX 3rd Party Utilities ========================= TAGX140.ZIP - By Ron Janorkar TAG-X PROFESSIONAL v1.40 EVALUATION release NEW enhanced tagline manager for offline mail readers. UNLIMITED taglines, installs automatically into most readers, built in quote enhancer and signature manager, QWK, FIDO, Internet compliant, even suggests taglines based on the subject and message message contents. Minor update which supports SXR43.ZIP. 7. *SPOTLIGHT* MINERVA ONLINE SIGNS ON AS NEW SILVER XPRESS REGISTRATION/SUPPORT SITE ====================================================== Santronics Software is pleased to announce that Minerva Online, the UK's leading Online Service, running RA/Pro with 30 lines, and registration/ support site for such popular products as RAR, ICE Technologies, T-Mail, CyberCom, YAAG, Act of Impulse, etc., has signed on as the European Registration/Support Headquarters for the Silver Xpress Mail programs. "Minerva Online and our associate systems offer top notch registration and support services for many leading programs, and sysops and users throughout Europe can expect the same level of commitment with the excellent range of Silver Xpress products" said Dave Carter, manager of the support and registration facility at Minerva. Some of the many, diversified services offered by Minerva Online include: - Silver Xpress registration services (major payment methods accepted). - Silver Xpress file areas and echomail conference availability - Free download facilities - Internet automatic Info-server for distribution of Silver Xpress news, updates, registrations, etc., via the Internet with keyword requests. - The *NEW* Silver Xpress World Wide Web page with ALL Silver Xpress Door/Reader/Utility/Doc files! Stop by and visit at: http:/ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/davec Minerva Online will greatly assist our efforts to provide convenient support and registration access to those in the UK and throughout Europe who are evaluating and/or registered with the Silver Xpress programs. You can contact Silver Xpress Europe as follows: Minerva Online: TRAK-ONE at Minerva: -------------- ------------------- BBS/Data : +44-181-402-3350 [Mail Only - no BBS] FidoNet : 2:254/33 2:25/60 WorldNet : 64:7000/2 64:7000/3 RA-Net : 73:7440/33 73:7441/60 OS/2-Net : 81:445/59 81:445/55 PascalNet : 115:4401/410 MercuryNet: 240:100/33 240:102/1 Please address netmail to "Xpress Support" or "Xpress Sales" at any of the above addresses, to ensure prompt attention. Internet : davec@zetnet.co.uk CompuServe: 101332,205 WWW Pages : http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/davec Facsimile : +44-181-289-7761 8. Arsenal Computer Gets Down to Business with Silver Xpress ============================================================ The Arsenal BBS, running PCBoard/2 M10, is the support board for Arsenal Computer CD-ROM Publishers. As such, the Arsenal has a lot of work put upon it. Not only does it support a large caller base looking through the 105 Gigabytes of online files, the full FidoNet backbone and ThrobNet adult mail, but it also has to deal with the questions and needs of the SysOps coming to us for information, tech help and support. These questions may be coming to us via BBS logons, Fido netmail and Internet E-mail. What was our solution to handling all of this? Silver Xpress! Silver Xpress, along with the Silver Xpress Mail readers, give the staff at the Arsenal the power necessary to not only keep our callers happy, but to keep the SysOps that come to us for CD-ROM help up-to-date and online. Both the sales and the tech-support departments were outfitted with Silver Xpress mail readers, and they use this daily with the Silver Xpress mail door to keep our customers informed. We had used other mail doors in the past, but nothing smoothed out our mail operations like Silver Xpress. Once we got it online and operational, we here at the Arsenal have been very impressed with it's power. I am constantly hearing from our sales department just how much easier Silver Xpress has made their work. Overall, I must say that I'm very happy with what Silver Xpress has allowed my company to do. I can heartily recommend it for any SysOp looking to put a powerful mail system on their BBS. Dave Clark Arsenal Computer CD-ROM Publishers. 8a. Arsenal's "Get it Before the Tax Man Commeth" Sale ------------------------------------------------------ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │If you are looking for high-quality CD-ROMs at low prices, backed up by a│ │30-day no-hassles guarantee, then look no further! │ │ │ │From now until the end of February, Arsenal Computer is holding a special│ │"get it out before the taxman cometh" sale. We have several titles at │ │reduced priced (some as low as 95 Cents Each!), and when you buy any │ │regularly priced CD-ROM title, you can get an Arsenal series Shareware │ │for 1/2 of the regular price! When you purchase an adult CD-ROM from us,│ │you can get an Ero-Tek series adult CD-ROM for 1/2 of the regular price, │ │as well. No matter how you look at it, this is a deal that you have to │ │give a second look! │ │ │ │Want to see what we have for sale? There are several ways to do it. │ │If you have Internet e-mail capacity, just e-mail us a catalog request, │ │and you will receive your catalog back by return e-mail. If you do not │ │have e-mail capacity, just call us voice, fax us, or logon to our BBS │ │and request a catalog. Newly updated catalogs are going out every week, │ │so you won't have long to wait. │ │ │ │ Arsenal Computer CD-ROM Publishers │ │ 3721 SW Plaza Drive Topeka KS 66609-2002 │ │ (913) 267-7667 Tech Support (800) 9CD-SALE Order Hotline │ │ (913) 267-6050 24 Hour FAX (913) 234-9395 8 Line BBS │ │ │ │ e-mail to the following address for our SHAREWARE/GENERAL catalog: │ │ catalog@arsenalcdrom.com │ │ e-mail to the following address for our ADULT catalog: │ │ adult.catalog@arsenalcdrom.com │ │ e-mail to the following for a paper catalog: │ │ list.update@arsenalcdrom.com │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 9. Support Policy Change Notice - Effective 1/1/96 =========================================================== Because of extreme overhead, our 800 number is now reserved for ORDERS/Sales Info ONLY! ALL TECH SUPPORT and PRODUCT AVAILABILITY INQUIRIES is handled via 305-248-3204, Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm EST. Problems of a critical nature should be dealt with via voice, however, customers are STRONGLY encouraged to utilize the following methods of Network support for the bulk of technical assistance: Silver Xpress Mail Reader Fidonet XPRESS_SUPPORT Internet support@santronics.com CIS PCVENJ - type GO XPRESS to access our forum Silver Xpress Mail Door FidoNet XPRESS_SYSOP Internet support@santronics.com CIS PCVENJ - type GO XPRESS to access our forum Platinum Xpress Remote Host XpressNET PX_SUPPORT Fidonet XPRESS_SYSOP Internet support@santronics.com CIS PCVENJ - type GO XPRESS to access our forum 10. TIPS ON USING PLATINUM XPRESS - Netmail Flags and Routing Setup =================================================================== Gary Petersen Team Xpress XpressNet 99:1/3 FidoNet 1:290/111 garyp@netins.net Basically, there are five flags that can be set to control netmail messages. There are others for file attaches, but that's another topic. The five flags are: - Crash - Immediate - Hold - Direct - Kill Message When Sent They are functionally split into three groups: 1) HOW is the message sent. 2) WHEN is the message sent. 3) WHAT happens to the message after it is sent. PX interprets these flags, which are applied to individual messages, along with your Netmail Routing Options and Cost tables, which are generic rules applied to all messages. This gets a bit sticky, in that you can override the generic rules as defined in the Netmail Routing Options and Cost tables with specific flags on messages, but we'll get to that in a bit. First, the Netmail Routing Options table. Here's mine, abridged a bit for the sake of brevity: TARGET ROUTE METHOD TO EVENT ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1:*/* │Route to different node │1:290/627 │Default Event 1:14/611 │Hold for target │ │Default Event 1:135/382 │Direct to target │ │Default Event 1:290/112 │Hold for target │ │Default Event 1:3615/50 │Direct to target │ │Default Event 2:*/* │Route to different node │1:290/627 │Default Event 3:*/* │Route to different node │1:290/627 │Default Event 4:*/* │Route to different node │1:290/627 │Default Event 5:*/* │Route to different node │1:290/627 │Default Event 6:*/* │Route to different node │1:290/627 │Default Event 92:*/* │Route to different node │92:105/0 │Default Event 99:*/* │Route to different node │99:1/1 │Default Event 99:1/37 │Hold for target │ │Default Event 99:1/38 │Hold for target │ │Default Event There are several things to note in the layout of this table. First and of greatest importance, the table is laid out so that the general statements are at the top of the table and more specific statements are below. This is VERY important, as PX essentially "looks up" from the last entry until it finds a rule that applies to the message being written. I've organized all of my Zone 1 statements at the top, just to have the table laid out well. You could put any zone at the top, this just made sense to me. The top statement is to route all mail to a Zone 1 address (via 1:*/*) to another node, my hub at 1:290/627. Below that are specific statements to hold mail for nodes that poll me or to make messages direct for nodes I poll (1:135/382 and 1:3615/50). Below all of the Zone 1 rules are the rest of FidoNet, Zones 2-6, which I also route to my hub. Below FidoNet comes Wildcat! Sysop's Net in Zone 92. No one polls me in that zone, so all Zone 92 mail gets routed to my hub. Below WSNet comes XpressNet in Zone 99. Same kind of thing, one general statement to route all Zone 99 mail to my hub, the Xpress Support Center at 99:1/1, and specific statements to hold netmails for those systems that poll me. Note that I've listed the Default Event in all of my entries. This is by design, as I want these rules to apply ALL of the time. I'm not sure why you'd want to do this differently, but the option is there. Next on the list is the Cost Table. This is used to define when PX is allowed to make outbound calls to poll other systems. You use the Cost Table to set up times of the day when specific calls can be made. Generally, this follows your billing schedule with your long distance telephone carrier, but you can use it for other, similar purposes, as I do. Here's my Cost Table: PHONE COST LOCATION ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1- │ 15 │Default Domestic Long Distance 011- │ 100 │Default International 1-319- │ 25 │Eastern Iowa 1-515- │ 25 │Central Iowa 1-712- │ 25 │Western Iowa 1-515-791- │ 5 │Newton, Iowa 1-515-792- │ 5 │Newton, Iowa 1-305-248-7815 │ 35 │Santronics 1-916-344-8146 │ 10 │WSNet Hub This table, like the Netmail Routing Options table, must be arranged with general statements at the top and specific statements at the bottom. At the very top, I define domestic (in the United States, in my case) long distance with a cost of 15 and international long distance with a cost of 100. This is a per minute charge, by the way. On other important point here, in the Cost Setup table for each entry, shown below, you should define a User Fee of 0 if you want to allow free use of netmail on your system. Otherwise, you need to set up a netmail account balance for your users who need to be able to access netmail. Remember that my netmail is routed, so I don't make any polls for my users that I wouldn't be making for myself any way. That's why I choose to set my User Fees for all entries at 0. ╔═══════════════════[ Cost Setup ]════════════════════╗ ║ Phone : 1- ║ ║ Actual Cost : 15 ║ ║ User Fee : 0 ║ ║ Comment : Default Domestic Long Distance ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Any way, after the two default entries, I have three for in-state calls, which cost me more than out of state calls. I don't use this in my event setup yet, but I went ahead and listed them, just to be sure. Following the three Iowa entries are two local (Newton) entries which set local calls to a cost of 5. I do this because every system in town polls me for mail and I'd prefer to not tie my system up making 0 cost calls to their systems at all times of the day. Setting a cost lets me control that behavior better. After the Newton entries are two specific entries for systems I poll. Each sets the cost for that particular phone number to a value other than any other entries I've defined. I do this to control how frequently I poll certain systems. I have an event that allows long distance calls every night, but I only want to poll for WSNet mail three times a week. The nightly event has Minimum and Maximum costs for long distance calls, but NOT for the WSNet poll, nor for that matter the Xpress Support Center poll. So I can control when the WSNet polls occur. Enough on the Netmail Routing Options and Cost tables. Now we get back to the message by message part, or flags. Here is a more detailed definition of each of the netmail flags I listed above: Crash Netmail messages with the Crash flag are sent according to the rules you defined in the Netmail Routing Options and Cost tables, described above. Crash messages can be either direct or routed through other nodes, depending on your Netmail Routing Options configuration and whether or not the Direct flag is set on that message. Crash is primarily a WHEN flag. Immediate Immediate messages force a poll to happen immediately, without regard to your Cost Table. Immediate messages can be either routed or direct, so the poll will either be made to the node to whom the message is addresses (if it is a Direct message) or to the hub you've defined in your Netmail Routing Options table. Immediate is a WHEN flag. Hold The hold flag tells PX to keep the message on your system until the system to whom the message is addressed polls you. If you know another node is going to be polling you, you may wish to set the Direct flag as well. Hold is a HOW flag. Direct The direct flag tells PX to NOT route the message, even if your Netmail Routing Options table is defined otherwise, and send the message directly from your system to the addressee's system. Direct messages can also be immediate, but they do not need to be. If, however, you've defined a message cost that is never allowed in an event on your system, the message will NOT get sent. Direct is a HOW flag. Kill Message When Sent The kill message when sent flag tells PX to delete the message from your system after it is successfully sent, without regard to how it was sent (routed or direct). Kill Message When Sent is a WHAT HAPPENS flag. There are three places where you need to define default netmail flags. The first two are in PXSETUP, in the Netmail Options screen, shown below: ╔═══════════════════════════[ Netmail Options ]═══════════════════════════╗ ║ Convert Inbound Netmail to *.MSG : NO ║ ║ Force All Netmail as Private : YES ║ ║ Kill Empty Received Netmail : YES ║ ║ Kill Outbound Netmail when Sent : NO ║ ║ Allow Netmail Forwarding : YES ║ ║ Default Forwarding Flags : CRASH KILLMSG ║ ║ ║ ║ Wildcat! Netmail Conference : (00010) FI:NETMAIL ║ ║ Wildcat! Netmail Flags to Force : CRASH ║ ║ Prompt User for Crash/Immediate : YES ║ ║ Force INTL Kludge Line : YES ║ ║ Minimum Cost to Force Direct : -1 ║ ║ Node to handle Netmail Polls : 0 ║ ╟─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ ESC Abort F2 Pick F10 Done ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The Default Forwarding Flags entry controls what flags your system applies to netmail messages forwarded through your system on their way to someone else. For my $0.02, this should **always** include the CRASH flag, so the messages are sent according to your Cost Table setup. This means that your system won't force an immediate poll for someone else's mail. I also choose to set the KILLMSG flag so the message is deleted once it is forwarded. I have no desire to read anyone else's mail and this flag purges it from my system. The Wildcat! Netmail Flags to Force entry controls the default flags that are applied to netmail messages written online in Wildcat! using the PXFIDO netmail door. Note that you can also allow your users to set the IMMEDIATE flag on netmail messages via PXFIDO if you set the Crash Mail flag in their Wildcat! User Record, shown below. ╒═══════ Flags ═══════╕ │ Sorted lists : N │ │ Chat page : Y │ │ Hot key : Y │ │ Quote on reply : Y │ │ Login bell : N │ │ No private mail: N │ │ No deleted mail: N │ │ Never delete : Y │ │ Locked out : N │ │ Crash mail : Y │ <-- This one, set to YES here. This view, by the │ File attach : Y │ way, is from the User Editor in PXEdit under │ Capture user : N │ the User Flags button. │ Seven bit ASCII: N │ ├─────────────────────┤ │ F10 Done │ ╘═════════════════════╛ The third place is in the configuration for PXEdit. Get into PXEdit and hit ALT-N, then look for Default Netmail Flags. I set the Private and Crash flags by default. When you create a netmail in PXEdit, you can change the flags using the ALT-key combinations shown on the screen or in online help. Platinum Xpress includes powerful capabilities to route netmail messages in a variety of ways, and it is easy to set up and maintain. Customers are welcome to submit excellent tips for others to use with Platinum Xpress, and we'll include a few beginning with the next issue. 11. TIPS ON USING SILVER XPRESS - Tagline Cabinet Files ======================================================== Gary Petersen Team Xpress XpressNet 99:1/3 FidoNet 1:290/111 garyp@netins.net The Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader gives you the ability to create and many files of taglines, all from within the reader. Although you define only one tagline file in the reader configuration, you can create a file cabinet structure with as many layers and interconnections as you wish. This tip defines the structure for linking tagline files. First, a disclaimer. Some echomail conferences do not allow the use of taglines. This is generally a decision made by the conference moderator or host. You should check to make sure that taglines are appropriate for a conference before you use them there. Also, some Offline Mail Doors like Silver Xpress allow the sysop to disable taglines in a conference when the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader is used with the Silver Xpress OPX mail packet format. So you may not be given the chance to select a tagline in some conferences. If you have questions, ask your sysop. Screen displays in this article are taken from the current beta version of the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader, v4.3d. The screens will be almost identical for the current release version, v4.3. The first thing you need to do is define a Tag Line File Name in Silver Xpress. To do this, start Silver Xpress and select the Signatures and Taglines option from the Configuration menu. The screen will look something like this: Silver Xpress Off-Line Mail Reader V4.3dP (c) 1988-96 Santronics Software ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒┌──────────────────────[ Silver Xpress Mail System ]──────────────────────┐▒▒▒ ▒▒│ File Mail Bulletins Services Configuration Quit Help │▒▒▒ ▒▒└──────────────────────────────────┌──────────────────────────┐───────────┘▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ Mail Location & Options │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒┌───────────────────[ Signatures and TagLines ]───────────────────┐▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒│ Signature or @File Name : @SIGN.LIS │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒│ Tag line or @File Name : @MYTAGS.LIS │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒│ Tag line Manager : │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒│ File Name of Stolen Tags: STOLEN.LIS │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒│ │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒│ OK ▄ CANCEL ▄ │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒│ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒└─────────────[ Use F10 to Accept, F3/ESC to Cancel ]─────────────┘▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ Define Hot Keys │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ File and Program Paths │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ Video, Color and Sound │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ Miscellaneous Options │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ Write Config to Disk │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒└──────────────────────────┘▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 4080288 │ │F1 Help│ │02/03/96 3:42:23pm If you wish to use one tagline with all of your messages, enter it no the Tag Line or @File Name line in this menu. If you prefer to select a tagline when you finish each message, select and enter a file name of your main tagline file with an @ character in front of the name. In the above example: @MYTAGS.LIS defines the file name MYTAGS.LIS, which is in the directory where Silver Xpress was installed. One other very related entry from this menu is the File Name of Stolen Tags option. This is the file where taglines you "borrow" using the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader are saved. In the above example, this file is STOLEN.LIS and is also stored in the main Xpress directory. The file MYTAGS.LIS can either be your complete list of taglines, one per line, or can be a file cabinet with references to several files that each contain taglines. There are a few special commands that you may wish to use in your tagline files. %ALTLIST This command enables the feature to jump to another file cabinet list when the file name is preceded by the @ character. %ITEM RANDOM This command causes Silver Xpress to randomly select an entry from the tagline file and present to you as a default tagline. ; Any line in a tagline file that starts with a semi-colon is treated as a remark line and is skipped by Silver Xpress. You should use the %ALTLIST command in every tagline file, unless you know you won't want to jump to another tagline file. The %ITEM RANDOM command should only be used in bottom level tagline files, if at all. If your primary tagline file contains only references to other file cabinets, you may not want this command active. What follows are parts of my tagline file structure for examples. Remember that you can set up Silver Xpress in any way you wish, this is just one way of defining and using multiple tagline files. The main tagline file is MYTAGS.LIS. I've included just a few taglines in this file plus the jump to my primary file, STOLEN.LIS. The cross-reference to STOLEN.LIS is the top line that is highlighted by default, so I can jump to that file simply by pressing ENTER if I don't wish to use any of the taglines in this file. ; MYTAGS.LIS ; %ALTLIST @STOLEN.LIS - Stolen tagline file. HEY!!! I resemble that remark! Brought to you by the Department of the Redundancy Department. Pardon my driving, I'm reloading. Warranty void if this tagline is removed! The file STOLEN.LIS is my primary tagline file cabinet. It contains taglines saved from messages I've read and all of the references to other tagline files, by topic. ; STOLEN.LIS ; %ALTLIST @COMICS.LIS - Comic strip taglines file. @COMPUTER.LIS - Computer taglines file. @ECHOMAIL.LIS - Echo mail taglines file. @MONTYPYT.LIS - Monty Python taglines file. @MUSIC.LIS - Music taglines file. @MYTAGS.LIS - Return to main tagline file. @POLITICL.LIS - Political taglines file. @RAH_TAG.LIS - Taglines from Random Access Humor Online Magazine @SPORTS.LIS - Sports taglines file. @STARTREK.LIS - Star Trek taglines file. @XPRESS.LIS - Silver Xpress taglines file. ; Reality is a product of a deranged imagination! Yes, but what if I am a figment of MY own imagination? All things considered, insanity is the only alternative. No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn't work anyway. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. Just me being my usual unopinionated self A new standard in obfuscation, ambiguity, & equivocation. Doesn't this get silly sometimes? People will act rationally only when all else fails What if there were no hypothetical situations? I'm still a few fries short of a "Happy Meal". I'm still two tacos short of a combination plate. Put some jelly in your pockets, because were fixin' to be toast! If it ain't broke, open it and find out why! I can choose any of the other tagline file cabinets or a tagline that I've stolen from someone else. Notice that the %ALTLIST command is enabled, but the %ITEM RANDOM command is not. I also include a jump to MYTAGS.LIS if I should need to return to that file for some reason. The next level down is the subject header file cabinet files. Each is either a single file with taglines of that subject in it or an additional gateway to lower levels, if the file gets too long and I decide to split it up. Here's one of my subject level file cabinet files, COMICS.LIS. ; COMICS.LIS ; This is list of the stolen comics topic taglines! ; %ALTLIST @STOLEN.LIS - Return to the main stolen tagline file. ; ; Calvin and Hobbes Taglines ; "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.": Calvin "All my real skills are undervalued.": Calvin ; ; Bloom County Taglines ; "Backups are for wussies!": Oliver Wendell Jones "Some of us live in perpetual 20-20 chaos.": Opus "Ack! Thptpth!": Bill the Cat This file cabinet includes a cross-reference back to STOLEN.LIS, the main tagline file, plus several taglines sorted by topic. The comment lines, those that start with a semi-colon, are not displayed. They are useful, however, when arranging the file cabinet with a text editor. Silver Xpress gives you quite a bit of power and flexibility in its file cabinet system. There are third-party tagline manager utilities that do offer additional features, but you get quite a bit built right into Silver Xpress. 12. WaterGate FTSC/UUCP tosser/gateway ====================================== ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ WaterGate - an integrated FTSC/UUCP tosser/gateway │ │ shareware (non-commercial registration, US$27-30) │ │ │ │ Contact: │ │ │ │ Waterline Software Development V.O.F. │ │ http://www.nijenrode.nl/~michel/wsd/wsd.html │ │ watergate-info@wsd.wline.se │ │ │ │ Available in North America from Brazerko Communications 1-860-892-INET │ │ (voice) / 1-860-886-1441 (BBS) szarka@brazerko.com / 1:320/42 (FREQ │ │ WTRGATE) │ │ │ │ WaterGate tosses and gates mail for both UUCP and Fido-type networks; │ │ along with your favorite UUCP and/or FTSC mailer software, it's a │ │ complete message processing system! Although nominally still in beta, │ │ with over two years of development behind it WaterGate is a functional │ │ product with user-friendly configuration program, complete │ │ documentation, and context-sensitive help. │ │ │ │ Advanced functionality includes powerful domain/address remapping, an │ │ automated file response system, a mailing list server, areafix/newsfix │ │ support, messagebase maintenance, and support for the most popular │ │ mailers and message base formats (*.MSG, JAM, and Squish). │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 13. CD Review - Nightowls V19 ======================================================================= ======================================================================= === BBS Ready CD-ROM REVIEW - ARSENAL COMPUTER === === 3721 SW Plaza Drive, Topeka, KS 66609-2002 === === VOICE (913) 267-7667 FAX (913) 267-6050 BBS (913) 234-9395 === === Fido 1:281/60 Internet dave.clark@arsenalcdrom.com === ======================================================================= ======================================================================= (c) Arsenal Computer 1996 Permission is granted to republish this review electronically via any "online" method, including CD-ROM, so long as it is not altered in any way, shape or form. Other permissions, such as newspaper reprints, please contact Dave Clark for written permission. The Following is a CD-ROM "review." The opinions expressed belong solely to Dave Clark, Sysop of Arsenal Computer BBS. ]]] TITLE: Nightowls v19 ]]] PUBLISHER: Night Owl Publisher Inc. ]]] INFO Courtesy of CHKCD from Trantor: Volume ID: NOPV19 Creation date: 01-16-1996 614562370 bytes total disk space 681216 bytes in 64 directories 613881154 bytes in 2670 user files Without a doubt, Nightowls has got to be the most recognizable name in the shareware market. For a long time, they have "set the standards" that other publishers use as a benchmark. While they have long been content with their standard suite of BBS support, I'm happy to report that they have expanded that suite even further with their latest title. BBS support is in several formats. In the file directories themselves, they have a FILES.BBS that, while not one of the formats that I usually notice used, is something that shouldn't be too hard to convert. In separate sub-directories you will find PCBoard listings, and an "Excalibr" directory that, I'm assuming, is for the Excaliber BBS system. Also included are EZRom/SFRom configs, and a Wildcat Drop File. Overall, this is very good support. Interestly, I seem to recall that the last Nowls had TBBS support on it, and I didn't find it here. Hmmm. As far as the file content on it goes, there really isn't much I can say. It's general shareware, and Nightowls has a good knack for picking a good selection. I didn't spot any real problems with it in there. Something that I found of note on this disc is that Nightowls is not only scanning the discs for virii, but they are putting the log files in the root directory of the disc. I guess this is their "CYA" maneuver... if something pops up later, they can honestly point to that with the clean sweep and state that they went to every effort to scan. Overall, it's not a bad idea. Overall opinion? Well, I think that it's pretty obvious... <grin!> Nightowls is not only an industry leader due to name recognition, but because they are actually working to improve their product. That's something that I have to respect from a publisher. This one will make a good selection for online usage. 14. How to Submit Articles, Letters and Advertisements ====================================================== The following topics can be submitted for the next issue: - Xpress customers tips on using Xpress related products. - Tell us how an Xpress product is being used in your commercial/professional environment. - Authors who have BBS related products can submit a classified describing the product, price, contact number, and registration info. Please submit in the suggested format: Product Name - Long one line description Pricing Company Contact info (phone, fido, internet, web, etc.) 1-2 paragraphs - Wildcat WCC authors with shareware, commercial or public WCC products for Wildcat! 4.0 and the upcoming Wildcat! 5.0. Those showing source code will get extra consideration for inclusion. Please submit in the suggested format: Product Name - Long one line description Pricing Company Contract info (phome, fido, internet, web, etc) 3-4 paragraphs or more if source provided. - We will have a new section called "Interesting BBSes of the Month," where we select several BBSs based on their "special interest". So if you have a BBS that you consider "Special" please send us a note about it. - We will also include a new section called "WEB SITES". If you've located a WEB site that knocked your socks off or is chock full of useful information and you'd like to share it with us, send the particulars for inclusion. - Letters to the Editor are welcome. All submissions will be reviewed prior to inclusion. Please send all information to: andrea@santronics.com or 1:135/382 or upload it to our BBS, 305-248-7815, in the PRIVATE message area conference #0. 15. Information on Santronics Software ====================================== Santronics Software is an 8 year old company, specializing in electronic mail and telecommunications development. Our products include the Silver Xpress Offline Mail System, comprised of the Silver Xpress Mail Doors for Wildcat!, PCBoard, RemoteAccess, ProBoard, Maximus, OPUS, TAG, QBBS, Robo/FX, RBBS and SuperBBS, the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Readers, the Gold Xpress Communications program, and the Platinum Xpress Frontend Server for Wildcat! BBS. Contact us for more information on our products as follows: Santronics Software, 30034 SW 153 Ct., Leisure City, FL 33033 Tel: 305-248-3204 BBS: 305-248-7815 FAX: 305-242-1482 Orders ONLY! 800-845-6944 FIDO: 1:135/382 XpressNET 99:1/1 Email: sales@santronics.com or support@santronics.com CIS: Santronics Software forum in PCVENJ...GO XPRESS! <<< (c)opyright 1995-96, Santronics Software, all rights reserved >>>