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Text File | 1988-12-06 | 63.6 KB | 1,381 lines

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ built and tested in the NORD><LINK - Net ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SYSOP Manual for Version 1.5 Due to rather limited time, only a brief description of the software for The Box is currently available and thus users are advised to experiment where necessary. If anyone is interested in writing a more thorough instruction manual, please feel free to do so, as I would also be interested in that. The Box can be entirely configured by external files. In essence there are four separate areas administered by The Box: The BOOT area The SYSTEM area The USER area The INFO area Each area corresponds to a subdirectory of a MS-DOS disk (either diskette or hard disk), whereby the BOOT and SYSTEM areas can be combined, but the USER and INFO areas must remain separate. 1. The BOOT Area As a minimum, the following files must be available in this subdirectory: BOX.EXE.......mailbox program itself BOX.MSK.......screen display at program start BOXINIT.TXT...configuration file for the individual TNCs BOX.MSG.......configuration file for the texts in the box SF-LISTE.SFW..Store & Forward file PWLIST.TXT....password table QRT.*.........disconnection sign-off text START.*.......connection startup text CONFIG.BOX....configuration file All of these files are expected to be in the subdirectory in which The Box is started. This subdirectory is not accessed again during execution of the pro- gram, except when the Ctrl-U key is pressed. 1.1 BOX.EXE This is the program file for the mailbox. Prior to calling up the program, all TNCs must be turned on. The Box then empties all serial port buffers and commands the TNCs into the host mode. The program is terminated by pressing Alt-X. The program should only be ex- ited this way so that the TNCs are switched back into the terminal mode with monitor off and any incoming connects are disabled with Y0. The monitor re- mains off when The Box is started again. If The Box is exited properly, it can be restarted without having to reset the TNCs, otherwise reset the TNCs first. If this isn't done, The Box has to resynchronize the TNCs at the next startup before it will run normally. The screen display is split into three sections: Upper: commands and system output Middle: receive and box operation Lower: channel monitor The topmost line shows the count of the frames sent to the TNC (SF), the count of the frames waiting in the TNC buffer (TF) and the retry count for the frames waiting in the TNC buffer (TR). All TNCs can be used for monitoring a channel, although it is questionable whether this is sensible. Each monitored header is preceded by a number in square brackets indicating which port received the frame. The individual channels are selectable with the function keys F1-F9 as well as F10 for the monitor channel. The channel activity can be captured on the printer with Shift-F9 or with Ctrl-F9 into the file 'PROTO.TXT' in the SYSTEM area. The same key switches this function off (toggle). The current medium is indicated in the top line by the letter F for file or P for printer. All output is captured from the middle screen area and for the monitor channel from the lower screen area. Only the activity in the currently visible screen is logged. Warning: Be certain that the capture medium is actually present (printer) or has adequate capacity (file). Alt-F9 shuts off the screen. It can be reactivated by pressing one of the function keys F1-F10. Ctrl-Y generates a CR without sending a frame. Ctrl-'_' switches the mailbox function on and off for the currently visible channel. The actual status is shown in the top line by 'Mailbox' or 'Terminal'. When switching from Mailbox to Terminal, all current mailbox op- erations are interrupted. Files still open for the SEND command are closed and saved. Ctrl-U causes the Store & Forward list file 'SF-LISTE.SFW' to be loaded from the BOOT area as well as the user information from the SYSTEM area. Further- more the file 'BOX.MSG' is loaded from the BOOT area. Ctrl-R removes unneeded entries from the files 'LOG.SFW' and 'SHOW.LST' in the SYSTEM area. The old files are saved under the same file names with the 'BAK' extension. Pressing Ctrl-T while on the monitor channel (F10) switches into the system mode, which is indicated in the first line with the word 'System'. The system mode is only possible on the monitor channel! Text entries in system mode are limited to a length of 254 characters, approximately one frame. In this mode the sysop is quasi logged into the mailbox as a privileged user and can do everything that a privileged user can do from the outside. There is no log entry however. In the system mode, all monitor output is sup- pressed, so that the entire monitor screen is available for text display. This mode is terminated by pressing Ctrl-T again. Text output in the system mode can be suspended and resumed by pressing the space bar. Ctrl-X closes files opened for READ or SEND, thus terminating the read or write operation on the channel. The file is still saved. This makes it easy to cancel interminable output. Ctrl-X is usable on all channels. Following a disconnect on a channel, the mailbox function is automatically enabled again. This only occurs however, when a LOGOFF also takes place, not when a link failure occurs during a connect attempt. Furthermore the callsign of each channel is reprogrammed every minute, except when the channel in question is connected or the mailbox function is disabled. The up and down cursor keys can reposition the lower status line, so that hidden text becomes visible again. ESC precedes a command to the TNC and must be at the start of the input buffer. If it is erased, the input is then regarded as a text entry. If the ESC key is pressed on the monitor channel (F10) in system mode (Ctrl-T), the previous command is redisplayed. Pressing it once again recalls the preceding command. The last six commands are always saved. Input can be made on channels 1-9 only when the mailbox is disabled. Commands to a TNC are only possible in the terminal mode on that channel. The Box expects to find the user information in the two files 'USER3.IDX' and 'USER3.DAT' in the SYSTEM area. The Box presumes that these files are avail- able and will cancel the program startup if it cannot find them. The number of users is virtually unlimited in this version. 1.2 BOX.MSK This is the screen display shown when the program starts up. It has no fur- ther importance. 1.3 BOXINIT.TXT This file informs the program at startup how many TNCs are attached and how they are configured. Sample files for one, two, three and four TNCs are pro- vided. It is important that in multi-TNC operation the monitor channels of all attached TNCs always be initialized first. All channels of an attached TNC do not need to be used, however always the monitor channel at least. If the channel number of a TNC channel is initialized with -1, this channel is excluded. In any case 9 channels must be initialized. If a TNC with only 4 channels is available, the remaining channels must be initialized with -1, so that The Box recognizes them as invalid. (Example: see 'BOXINIT1.TXT') In all, only 9 channels for all TNCs plus the associated monitor channels can be initialized. The specified MAXFRAME parameters can be changed as desired, but should agree with the O parameters of the corresponding TNCs. When using a TNC1 be certain that the callsign on channel 0 of the TNC agrees exactly with the callsign including SSID of all other channels. In the case of a TNC2, any callsign may be used, but an unused callsign (ex. TE0ST) should be used on channel 0. If a channel is designated as a Store & Forward channel, only privileged sta- tions and mailboxes which receive forwarding have access. The file format of 'BOXINIT.TXT' should be preserved as provided, so that er- rors will not occur. 1.4 BOX.MSG All texts sent by the mailbox are contained in this file. Thus The Box can easily be converted to other languages. For each implemented language exactly one block of information must be pre- sent. Each block starts with any eligible language designator, which should match the normal prefix of the associated country as much as possible. The desired language is then selected with the command SPEAK <designator>. In all, six equally long blocks of messages must be present in BOX.MSG. Lan- guages having the same designator are output only once when using the SPEAK command without parameters, so that it is sufficient to assign a previously allocated designator to the remaining blocks if only one or two languages are to be supported. The line length in the file including the CR/LF at the end of each line is 78 characters maximum. There are no guarantees if this is exceeded. This line length should not be exceeded by extra spaces at the end of the lines. 1.5 SF-LISTE.SFW This file contains the data about the Store & Forward times. An entry consists of 70 characters, including the CR/LF at the end. In the first field from left to right is the callsign of the mailbox to receive for- warded traffic. This call is always without SSID. The following field con- tains the hours when Store & Forward should be initiated to this mailbox, and in the next field the associated minutes. Per mailbox, a maximum of 24 hour entries and 10 minute entries are possible. The designated format of the line must not be changed under any circum- stances. Times when forwarding should not occur are excluded with 'XX'. The first 22 lines (hence the first 1540 characters) in the file 'SF- LIST.SFW' are loaded into memory at program begin. Changes in this file thus only become effective either following a new program start or after pressing Ctrl-U. Mailboxes listed in this file have access to the privileged channel and are also supported for S&F. All other callsigns are not supported for S&F, in- cluding any unauthorized mailboxes. Store & Forward may also be performed on the normal channels. If the word WASHUP in capital letters is entered in place of a valid mailbox callsign and supplied with a time, the function of the Ctrl-R key will be performed at this time. 1.6 PWLISTE.TXT This file contains a table of 1620 random characters which serve to select a password. These characters should be generated with a random number generator where possible. If this file is not found, the password check will always end negative. The password is always four characters long and is based on the date and time at login in conjunction with the table in 'PWLIST.TXT' according to the fol- lowing scheme: the minute portion of the login date is added to the day. If the total exceeds 59, 60 is subtracted. This result is multiplied by 27 and the hour portion of the login date is added. The resulting number provides the offset from the start of the file 'PWLIST.TXT' and the subsequent 4 char- acters become the password. A station is only privileged after it has successfully executed the PRIV com- mand with the correctly determined password. PRIV may be used at any time. If PRIV was successful, the user sees an abbreviated command line, otherwise nothing changes. Privileged stations are able to erase entries which were not written by them or directed to them. Furthermore there are extended commands for privileged users. SETLIFETIME The lifetime of a general message can be altered. Syntax: SETL Filename Startnumber - Endnumber # Lifetime. Example: 'SETL ALL 1-23 # 33' This sets the lifetime to 33 days for the messages 1-23 under the topic ALL. EXPORT Output of messages. It functions in essence just like Ctrl-F9 except that a filename must be provided. Ex. 'EXPORT FILE.TXT'. EXPORT is ended by using the command without argument. IMPORT This command was created to assist in integrating text files written with a text editor into the mailbox. Ex. 'IMPORT FILE.TXT'. Since IMPORT causes a redirection of the input from the keyboard to the file, the first line of the text file must be a valid mailbox command. In or- der to save messages, the SEND command must therefore be used. An example for such a text file: S DF3AV TEST Test text for demonstrating IMPORT ***end If this file is imported, it saves the test text for DF3AV. The import is active until an error occurs or the end of imported file is reached. READFILE Read a file directly from the disk. All files may be read that are located on a valid drive and the characters '\', '.' and ':' may likewise occur in the filenames. The length of the file names is limited to 50 characters how- ever. Syntax: READFILE d:\filename.ext SENDFILE As above, but for writing files. Syntax: SENDFILE d:\filename.ext Contrary to the prompt from The Box, the file is termi- nated only with Ctrl-Z. It is therefore possible to in- clude the sequence ***END without closing the file. COPYFILE Copies any file in the computer to any other. Exercise care with the supervisory files for The Box! Caution also in remote operation: if a file is copied to A:, there must be a formatted diskette in the drive, otherwise the message "Abort, Retry, Ignore" appears on the console screen and everything comes to a halt. ERASEFILE Erases any file in the computer. Exercise care with the supervisory files for The Box! RESTART Has the same effect as Ctrl-U from the keyboard. Syn- tax: RESTART SENDTNC Sends a TNC command on the current channel. Allowable channels are 0 to 9. The response from the TNC is NOT re- transmitted. All TNC commands are possible, therefore: CAUTION: THINK FIRST! The monitor channels for up to four TNCs have the numbers 10, 20, 30 and 40, where 10 is assigned to the TNC on COM1, 20 to COM2, etc. Syntax: SENDTNC CHANNEL#(0-9,10,20,30,40) TNC-COMMAND PRIV This command is used by authorized users to become privi- leged. Syntax: PRIV PASSWORD SF Initiate store & forward to a station. Syntax: SF MAILBOX where MAILBOX must be one of the mailboxes entered in the file 'SF-LISTE.SFW'. SETUSR Individual users of the mailbox may be assigned a new status with this command. Users may be locked out or also become privileged. Users who have not yet logged in are added with the SETUSR command. Syntax: SETUSR Call MBCall Status Call......Call of the station, whose status is to be changed. MBCall....Call of the user's home mailbox (MYBBS). If the callsign from channel 0 of the identical TNC is entered, the messages to Call will not be for- warded. Status....A number from 0 to 2 can be given, where: 0 : Normal user 1 : Privileged user 2 : Disallowed user (locked out) READFILE and SENDFILE are primarily intended for processing of the system files of The Box (ex. 'SF-LISTE.SFW', 'SHOW.LST', etc). For SENDFILE only the ASCII character set below 127 may be used, and none below SPACE except for CR. IMPORT and EXPORT are only usable from the console. Privileged users are always subject to the mailbox timeout. Those stations are privileged whose status has been set to 1 with the SETUSR command. The privilege is only activated after the PRIV command has been successfully exe- cuted. If a link reset occurs on the channel during operation with a privileged sta- tion, the privilege is immediately deactivated. 1.7 QRT.* A sign-off text with a maximum length of one frame is stored in this file. The asterisk must be replaced by the corresponding language code. (last-minute-note: these files haven't to be in the BOOT.Area but in the SYSTEM.Area) 1.8 START.* A greeting text with a maximum length of 255 characters is stored in this file. The asterisk must be replaced by the corresponding language code. (last-minute-note: these files haven't to be in the BOOT.Area but in the SYSTEM.Area) 1.9 CONFIG.BOX This file has the following structure: 1 Standard language for channel 1 1 Standard language for channel 2 1 Standard language for channel 3 1 Standard language for channel 4 1 Standard language for channel 5 5 Standard language for channel 6 1 Standard language for channel 7 1 Standard language for channel 8 2 Standard language for channel 9 C:\MB\USER\ C:\MB\INFO\ C:\MB\MBSYS\ ALL 4 20 9600 UTC 014 Standard attribute 120 Display attribute for the two status lines 003 Attribute for the header in the monitor 000 not used 000 not used 000 not used 000 not used 000 not used The first 9 lines of the file must have a number followed by at least one space at the start of a line. This number determines the greeting language for a new user who has not previously logged into the mailbox. Each line cor- responds to one channel of the mailbox (1-9). Example: The sixth channel in the above list has a 5, which means that someone who logs in for the first time on the sixth channel will be greeted in the fifth language stored in 'BOX.MSG'. The user will continue to communicate in this language until he changes it with the SPEAK command. Even when logging in later on another channel, the user will retain the same language setting. After the first 9 lines, the next 8 lines have the following meanings: Line 1: Subdirectory of the USER area Line 2: " " INFO " Line 3: " " SYSTEM " Line 4: Store & Forward destination Line 5: User timeout in minutes Line 6: Mailbox timeout in minutes (for Store & Forward) Line 7: Baud rate of the TNCs in Baud (4800 or 9600) Line 8: Time designator (e.g. UTC). Only the first three letters are valid. If no '@' designator is entered with the SEND command, the Store & Forward destination (line 4) will be used as default. Only whole numbers are valid for the timeout times. The mailbox timeout for Store & Forward is in effect when a mailbox is logged in (as listed in 'SF-LISTE.SFW') or a normal user is sending a message with the SEND command. No commentary may be added to these eight lines. The last eight lines contain color attributes which are explained by the cor- responding commentary. 2. The SYSTEM Area The SYSTEM area is an MS-DOS subdirectory which merely serves the internal management of the mailbox. The following files must be present in this subdi- rectory: *.DL All HELP texts in the mailbox HELP.PR - removed - (see below) SHOW.LST File displayed by the CHECK command LOG.SFW File containing entries to be forwarded PACK.LOG Logbook USER3.IDX Index file for user management USER3.DAT Data file for user management BULLID.TXT File of bulletin IDs *.SFW Files for Store & Forward *.FOR Files for Store & Forward 2.1 *.DL (or *.F, etc) Due to the multilingual capability of The Box, there must be a HELP message for each language. This is a simple text file whose name consists of the com- mand name, in place of the '*', plus the language code as extension, in place of the 'DL'. These files contain the texts which the user receives after en- tering 'HELP <command>'. These files must be present! The filename extension MUST correspond to the language code in the SPEAK command, e.g. a French HELP text would have the form '*.F'. Should one of these files be missing when the associated HELP command is entered, the console bell will ring. 2.2 HELP.PR This file is no longer present after version 1.3 and is replaced by HELP.*, where the '*' is replaced by the language code. 2.3 SHOW.LST This file is sent to the user when the CHECK command is entered. Each entry is exactly 83 characters long, including '!' and CR/LF. Deleted entries are marked with a '*' in the first column. This file may be altered with a text processing program, but the line length of 83 characters must be maintained for each entry. This file is output in reverse order, i.e. the last entry ap- pears first. 'SHOW.LST' must be present and if missing must be created with a text editor. 2.4 LOG.SFW This file contains the entries which are to be forwarded or already have been forwarded. An entry consists of 115 characters, including '!' and CR/LF, and contains: - Callsign of destination mailbox - Callsign of file to be forwarded - Entry number in this file - Sender of the message - Title of the message - Bulletin ID of this message (if applicable) - Addressee for Store & Forward The format of the individual lines must be maintained! USER files are auto- matically deleted after forwarding. The characters in the first column have the following meanings: '*' Entry was forwarded '#' Entry was already present in destination mailbox '$' Entry was deleted prior to forwarding '@' Entry was deleted after forwarding (only USER files) '!' Entry could not be deleted after forwarding ' ' Entry still must be forwarded '-' Entry to be forwarded could no longer be found If a particular entry is to be especially forwarded, an appropriate line cor- responding to the above format may be inserted with a text editor. WARNING: This entry must really coincide with a file and this file must also be pre- sent! 2.5 PACK.LOG This is the system logbook and is automatically maintained. It may be viewed and edited with a text editor. Caution: do not delete entries when stations are still logged on! (Only applicable for multi-tasking operation.) The file must be present and is created with SENDFILE in the SYSTEM area. 2.6 USER3.IDX/USER3.DAT These files are for user management and must be present. An empty set of user files is supplied and will be installed by the INSTALL program. After version 1.3 these files are called 'USER3.IDX' and 'USER3.DAT' and have a different format from earlier versions. CAUTION: Do not use old user files in versions beginning with 1.3! If an update from version 1.2c or earlier is being performed by calling UPDATE on the distribution diskette, the program 'USERCONV.EXE' will be executed. This program performs the conversion from the old to the new format and the files 'USER.IDX' and 'USER.DAT' can then be deleted. These are the only files in the mailbox which cannot be viewed or edited with a text editor. They are automatically loaded at program begin or after Ctrl-U is pressed. 2.7 BULLID.TXT This file contains the bulletin identifier. Each entry is 19 characters long, including CR/LF. Deleted entries are marked with a '*' and may be removed with a text editor. However, deleted entries should be left in the file for 2 to 3 months. 2.8 *.SFW Replace the '*' with the callsign of the destination mailbox for forwarding, e.g. 'DB0GV.SFW'. If this file is not present, nothing will be forwarded to this mailbox despite an entry in the file 'SF-LISTE.SFW'. Each entry in '*.SFW' consists of nine characters. In order to prevent the line from becoming too long, a line break can be inserted with the 9 charac- ter sequence '*!!!!!!(CR/LF)', which does not occur in normal operation. The entries are callsigns of mailboxes which cannot be reached directly, but rather only via other mailboxes. For example, the file 'DB0GV.SFW' could con- tain: DL0FFM *H33 DG5NAX HB9F DB0CZ *TEST *!!!!!! HB? OE? *!!!!!! This indicates that the entries actually destined for DG5NAX, HB9F, DL0FFM or DB0CZ should be forwarded to DB0GV. The entries starting with '*' indicate which files are NOT to be forwarded to DB0GV, in this example H33 and TEST. Therefore all entries under H33 and TEST will not be forwarded to DB0GV. Entries with question marks mean that the comparison whether to forward or not ends with the character prior to the question mark. In the above example, all messages to HB or OE mailboxes will be sent to DB0GV. Characters after the question mark are ignored, i.e. HB??DX has the same effect as HB? The length of the '*.SFW' files is limited to 900 characters, corresponding to 100 entries. Entries beyond that are ignored. Forwarding to individual stations can be blocked with the '#' character. For example, forwarding is being done with LA6CU and LA9OK and the designator 'LA?' is in the file 'LA6CU.SFW' as well as 'LA9OK.SFW'. If a file addressed to ALL comes from LA6CU, it will also be entered into 'LOG.SFW' for LA9OK. After LA6CU sends the 'F>', an attempt will be made to send the file just re- ceived from LA6CU back to LA6CU on account of the specific entry for LA9OK in 'LOG.SFW', since LA6CU forwards to all LA?. Therefore LA9OK, with which S&F is also performed, must be blocked for LA6CU. This is achieved by placing '#LA9OK' in the file 'LA6CU.SFW' (always 9 characters). When a file for LA9OK is then found during a S&F transfer to LA6CU, it will not be sent to LA6CU, but rather held until communication with LA9OK is established. 2.9 *.FOR A valid mailbox callsign replaces the '*', e.g. 'DB0GV.FOR'. The type and manner in which a connection is established for S&F is contained in this file. Each entry consists of 70 characters, including CR/LF, whereby the last character of the line prior to the CR/LF must be a '!'. The first line only contains a number from 1 to 9 to identify the channel on which Store & Forward to this station is to be initiated. The channel numbers refer to the channels used by the mailbox, not to those in the TNCs. The second line contains the count of the logical steps required to establish connection. If no NET/ROM is used for the connection, a 1 must be entered here. The following lines contain the exact steps to establish connection. The first line of this sequence is always a command to the local TNC, all others are commands to intermediate NET/ROM nodes. For each logical step, except for the first, there is a response line. If five logical steps are required, there must therefore be four response lines. The block of response lines directly follows the block of command lines. The response expected at each step in establishing S&F connection is entered in each response line. The Box scans the incoming string from the net node for the appearance of the first character of the expected reply. If this charac- ter is found, the rest of the expected reply is compared with the actual re- sponse for the length of the expected reply. If there is no match or the first character is not even found, the process is terminated. For connections via NET/ROM or The Net nodes, the response string ' Connected to' is sufficient. This response string should always be used for NET/ROM paths since the character before the first space is sometimes differ- ent. Support for routes via KAM nodes is also provided. In this case the re- sponse is '###LINK MADE'. Unfortunately the KAM nodes have the undesirable characteristic of sending out their own greeting text, whereas NET/ROM does not. The Box knows to skip this due to a number (1-9) in place of the '!' as string delimiter in the file 'mailbox.FOR'. The number must always appear at the end of the response line after which the skip is to be made and corre- sponds to the count of frames to skip before continuing the routing. Care should be exercised that as many lines actually follow as number of steps given in the second line, plus the count of the 'steps-1' response lines. No commentary may be present after line 2. The following example is the forwarding file 'DB0GV.FOR' at DK0MAV, in which DB8AS-4 is a KAM node and the greeting text arrives in a single frame: 5 Logical TNC channel for the Box ! 7 Number of logical steps for S&F ! C BS77-5 ! C DL0RI ! C DB8AS-4 ! X DB0EAM ! C DB0EAM-1 ! C DB0MW-1 ! C DB0GV DB0MW DB0DA ! Connected to ! Connected to 1 ###LINK MADE ! Connected to ! Connected to ! Connected to ! Be certain that the case of the letters in the response lines is correct. 3. The USER Area This subdirectory contains all messages written to the users of the mailbox. All message files begin with the callsign of the recipient and have the ex- tension 'AMT', e.g. 'DF3AV.AMT'. If several messages are present for the one user, they are gathered together into the one file. Each message is supplied with a header according to the following structure: ^YPACKET-ACCESS FROM CALL 21.11.87 19:27 UTC 415 Bytes TITLE SENDER NOTE BULLETIN ID BLANK LINE The lines TITLE, SENDER NOTE and BULLETIN ID can also be blank, but the first line with the Ctrl-Y always has the same length and is preceded by a CR/LF in all cases. The actual text may only start in the line following BLANK LINE. The texts can also be edited as desired, but the byte count must agree exactly with the length, otherwise nothing is guaranteed. 4. The INFO Area Messages, whose filename is not a valid callsign, are stored in this subdi- rectory. The comments under point 2.0 apply here as well. General Comments When using diskette drives under MS-DOS, a maximum of only 112 entries fit in the directory. (This does not apply to hard disks and subdirectories.) Since temporary files are created when using the SEND and ERASE commands, be cer- tain that there is always enough room in the directory for at least eight ad- ditional files. Subsequent versions will incorporate routines to protect against problems in this regard. Before exiting from The Box, be certain that no stations are still logged in. Otherwise the log entries for these stations will be tagged with a question mark. The stations will not be recognized when restarting the program how- ever, even though they may still be connected. The critical nature of the ERASE command must be kept in mind. When entering a command from the console after pressing Ctrl-T, the user is always privi- leged, even when someone else is logged in. If for example the command 'E ALL <enter>' is entered, the file ALL is irreversibly deleted. Since the file is written over, it is not therefore possible to recover it from the di- rectory. Store & Forward The concept of regions is supported for store & forward operation. A region is defined when it has a name of up to six characters in length and this name is entered into all '*.SFW' lists belonging to the corresponding region. If for example the region NORD refers to the two mailboxes DK0MAV and DB0KG, NORD must then be entered into the files 'DK0MAV.SFW' and 'DB0KG.SFW'. The following is a brief description of the store & forward connection se- quence: Every minute the mailbox scans the 'SF-LISTE.SFW' file loaded into memory at startup to check whether one of the S&F times matches the current time. If this is the case, the mailbox notes the callsign of the station to which the process is to be initiated. The file 'LOG.SFW' is searched for entries for this station. If an entry is found, The Box creates a filename from the call of the destination mailbox plus 'FOR' as extension. The SYSTEM area is then searched for this file. If this file is not present, the process is terminated. Otherwise this file is opened for reading and the mailbox channel determined over which the connec- tion is to take place. This could be any channel except 0, the monitor chan- nel. An internal flag is then set for this channel to indicate that S&F is to oc- cur here. The Box waits until this channel is free and then combs the file ending with 'FOR' to ascertain the number of logical steps required to estab- lish connection. At the same time the first step is retrieved from the file and sent as a command to the TNC attached to the logical mailbox channel, as stored in the 'BOXINIT.TXT' file. There will be some sort of response to this command from the TNC. If this re- sponse also contains the text 'Connected to', the next command from the 'FOR' file will be performed, otherwise the process will be discontinued by sending a disconnect command to the TNC. If more commands are stored in the 'FOR' file, these will be sent to the TNC as text, thus becoming commands to the NET/ROM or KAM nodes. After the last command, The Box assumes that it is connected to the destination mailbox and waits for a '>' followed by a CR. If a '[' (left square bracket) is received during this waiting period, it an- swers with a [MBL-$] after the '>', in order to indicate to the destination box that this mode is also supported. It then waits for another '>' and CR. Thereafter the entry of the first command to the destination mailbox begins. If no further messages are to be forwarded, a 'F>' is sent to the destination mailbox as the last command in order to exchange the forwarding direction. If the destination mailbox does not have any messages, it will respond with a disconnect. Otherwise the destination mailbox transfers its messages accord- ing to the same scheme and sends the 'F>' when finished. This procedure is repeated until both mailboxes have no further messages for each other. A dis- connect then breaks the communication. The WA7MBL software does not recognize the second direction change, as it was not needed, since WA7MBL had not programmed the mailbox for multiconnect op- eration. In the case of The Box however, it is certainly conceivable that ad- ditional messages for the connected mailbox could have arrived, since other users can be active in the mailbox simultaneously, or Store & Forward may also be occurring with other mailboxes. Following each receipt of the '>' with CR and the preceding SEND command, The Box flags the corresponding entry in the 'LOG.SFW' file in the SYSTEM area. If the entry concerns a USER file, that file will additionally be deleted. The flags in the 'LOG.SFW' file have already been described. All entries in the INFO area are automatically forwarded to the regional in- dicator in the 13th line of the file 'CONFIG.MSG', except when they are ad- dressed '@' local mailbox. Lifetime Management It has proved to be necessary to introduce a limit to the topics in the mail- box, since the unrestrained growth in the number of different topics has lead to increasing complexity in coping with the contents of the mailbox. The possibility of only allowing the SYSOP set up topics was quickly dis- carded since considerable flexibility and user friendliness would have been lost. Consider the problems involving worldwide S&F. Therefore the approach of setting a lifetime for the generally addressed mes- saged was selected. This method is easily understood, requires no adaptation in using The Box and was quite simple to incorporate into the existing de- sign. The Lifetime management functions as follows: Each message, which is not addressed to a callsign, is assigned a lifetime in days. This occurs in the customary manner with the SEND command, for example: SEND ALL # 12 The title is then entered interactively. This means that this message to ALL will be automatically deleted in 12 days by The Box. For a maximum of 200 topics, the sysop may additionally assign a standard lifetime which will be used in the SEND command when no duration is speci- fied. Every topic, such as the example ALL, can have a different lifetime. For topics that are not contained in this list, an extra standard lifetime is available, which is also determined by the sysop. The standard lifetime values are displayed by the DIR command, as follows: DF3AV de DK0MAV>DIR Info-Files: ALLE.......10 ALL.......10 TNC2.....200 The numbers after each topic name indicate the standard lifetime in days for that topic. Lifetime 0 means that the message will not be automatically deleted. Example: A sysop has set the lifetime for the topic ALL to 10 days. A user sends: S ALLE # 122 This message gets a lifetime of 122 days S ALLE This message gets a lifetime of 10 days S ALLE # 0 This message is not automatically deleted Only the sysop can subsequently alter the lifetime of messages already en- tered. As of version 1.5, lifetime numbers are not yet forwarded. By means of the lifetime management, it may even be possible to convince the users of The Box not to always create a new topic or to repeatedly address everything to ALL. A maximum of 200 topics are allowed, not all of which need to be used, so that it certainly should be possible to find a suitable topic for the one subject or the other. If a user does start a new topic however, he automatically agrees that his message will be handled with the typically very short lifetime for new topics. Arrangements for setting up new topics with longer lifetimes should be made with the sysop, and also between the sysops. In any case the lifetime for transient topics should be at least long enough that the message can be forwarded reliably. On the distribution diskette for The Box, a sample of established topics is included, which is essentially based on the topic names used in the past. The actual lifetime values are stored in the file 'LIFETIME.BOX' in the BOOT area and the existing format must be retained. If lifetimes are changed, they will only become effective after starting The Box again or by using the RESTART command remotely. The standard lifetime of a topic will not be changed by use of the command SETLIFETIME. The point in time, when The Box should be requested to look for files to be deleted according to the lifetime value, is also set in the file 'SF- LISTE.SFW'. The word KILL (in capitals) is inserted instead of a mailbox callsign. If The Box encounters a KILL time, the file 'SHOW.LST' is combed for exactly one entry that fulfills the lifetime criterion. If such an entry is located, the corresponding entry will be deleted. Only ONE entry is deleted per KILL command. Messages directed to a callsign still have no lifetime setting and are deleted by the sysop manually. Conclusion Andree, DC3AV, the sysop at DB0KG, is in the process of thoroughly revising this guide. I expect his version to be much more thorough than what I was able to prepare in the short time available. This new version will be dis- tributed through the S&F net as soon as available. I wish to emphasize at this point that The Box may be freely copied at any time. A commercial usage of The Box or even portions of its source code is totally disallowed! Every known violation will be pursued. Within Germany operation of a mailbox requires special authorization! Please comply when operating The Box. I wish all 73's, lots of fun and only a few gray hairs. DF3AV, Reinhard in Peine (West Germany) (translated into English by Don Moe, DJ0HC/KE6MN) *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Appendix A Updates between version 1.0 and 1.1 The differences between version 1.0 and 1.1 lie mainly in the sysop inter- face. This became rather Spartan, since a multitasking computer was available for development. Many sysop tasks could thereby be performed under another job while the mailbox operation continued undisturbed. The changes are essen- tially as follows: - switching on the journal medium, i.e. printer or disk file - quicker screen display - adjustable status line on the channels other than monitor - improvement of the sysop interface. Ctrl-T on the monitor channel - disabling the monitor and connects on all TNCs when exiting the pro- gram - exit the program with Alt-X instead of Alt-177 - new command for privileged stations: SETUSR Differences between version 1.1 and 1.1a - an error in handling of Ctrl-Z was corrected. If more than one Ctrl-Z was entered at the end of a file, format errors occurred when saving the file, sometimes causing the entire system to hang. If such a file were then deleted, the system would most certainly hang. - In the bulletin ID only the characters between space (#32) and delete (#127) can be used. If a character outside this range is encountered, the Bulletin ID is terminated at this point. - The file 'SEMAPHOR.TXT' is no longer required and can be deleted. - Screen display processing using direct video RAM access can be dis- abled with F9. This is wise when The Box is running in the background under a multitasking environment such as DesqView and should not write directly into the video RAM of the foreground task. The screen can be switched back on by pressing a function key, F1-F10. - The command Y4 or Y8 during program startup is no longer sent to the TNC. The channels must be configured by the sysop according to his own situation. - A hostmode resynchronization was incorporated and is activated when an error occurs in the hostmode protocol. Warning: characters may be lost when this happens. - The number of characters sent to the user is now stored in the log- book. - A new logbook analysis program is now included. - The S&F mailbox is now displayed with the CHECK command. - In the case of the SEND command the destination mailbox for a message should be supplied, if required. Differences between version 1.1a and 1.2 - Several new commands were added in version 1.2: FORWARD, TRANSFER, IMPORT and EXPORT The description of the individual commands can be found in the corre- sponding HELP files. The access limitations for FORWARD and TRANSFER correspond to ERASE and the privileged access conforms to the privi- leged access for ERASE. - The Y parameter of each TNC is set automatically. The prerequisite is a linear progression of the TNC channel numbers in 'BOXINIT.TXT', as also shown in the example files. - Resynchronization was improved. - A minor change was made in the structure of the messages. If a message is entered by a station that is not a mailbox, a CR/LF is inserted at the start of the message. This change is compatible to all other ver- sions. - Structure of the files 'LOG.SFW', 'SHOW.LST' and 'BULLID.TXT' has been changed. Since these files all have a fixed structure, i.e. 80 for 'SHOW.LST', 115 for 'LOG.SFW' and 19 for 'BULLID.TXT', and the indi- vidual data records were often filled out with spaces, difficulties arose with several text editors, such as in Turbo-Pascal, which remove trailing spaces in a line. From now on, the last character in each data record is a '!' to mark the end of the record. - Version 1.2 is now more resistant to structure errors in the data files as well as in the control files for The Box. In the meanwhile, all files may have up to 128 Ctrl-Z characters at the end of a file. Although The Box does not terminate any of its files with Ctrl-Z, it finds the end of file correctly. In the case of a data file structure error for the files ending with 'AMT' in the INFO and USER areas, the error message 'Integrity Error File: (filename)' appears on the second line of the screen. If an en- try is added or deleted in this file, the error condition is cor- rected. WARNING: If the error occurs at a location other than at the end of the file, the file will end at the error position, after the SEND or ERASE commands are completed. The list files 'SHOW.LST' and 'LOG.SFW' are NOT updated accordingly. It is seldom however that such errors are not found at the end of a file, as they only can occur due to improper handling of the file by a text editor. If a file is writ- ten by a text editor that appends a Ctrl-Z, an integrity error will occur, which is located at the end of the file and therefore elimi- nated after the next ERASE or SEND command. - The VERSION command has been added, but is not documented further or shown in a list. VERSION displays the version number as well as the running time to-date in tenths of seconds. - Files that could not be found at the time for store & forward are marked with a '-'. S&F halts and continues with the next file at the next S&F time. - The automatically created Bulletin ID has been changed and is struc- tured as follows: 01380ADK0MAV ! !!! ! ! !!! +----------- Callsign of local mailbox (max. 6 characters) ! !!+------------- running number in HEX (2 characters) ! !! begins new with 01 every day ! !+-------------- last number of the year, e.g. 8 means 1988 ! ! (1 character) ! +--------------- Month in HEX (1 character) +----------------- Day in decimal (2 character) The bulletin ID is stored in the first position of the file 'BULLID.TXT'. Differences between version 1.2 and 1.2a - The resynchronization was improved once again for version 1.2a. As a reminder, problems with resynchronization are always due to hardware problems. An exception to this is an excessively slow keyboard driver, such as KEYB in DOS 3.3. Differences between version 1.2a and 1.2b - The connection procedure for S&F was completely revised and made much more flexible, thereby allowing connection routes that do not conform to NET/ROM, such as KAM nodes. As a result the format of the files 'mailbox.FOR' has been changed. - The privileged user is assigned the timeout for mailboxes. - Files created with SENDFILE must terminate with Ctrl-Z. This allows the end sequence '***END' to be relayed also. Differences between version 1.2b and 1.2c - Errors in the TRANSFER command were eliminated. - Files sent to a user with an SSID are stored without the SSID and are thus correctly recognized as USER rather than INFO files. - The CHECK command support the entry '< Call' in addition to the previ- ous entry, so that all INFO files can now be checked which were com- posed by 'Call'. Areas can also be specified. The output still con- tains the maximum of 50 lines. - The sequence number for LIST is now three digits long. Differences between version 1.2c and 1.3 - The command VERSION now counts the processor running time as a whole digit portion of the previous hours since the The Box was started. - The Box is now multilingual, supporting up to four languages simulta- neously. This resulted in numerous changes in the management of the HELP files and the 'BOX.MSG' file. Prior to installing or updating The Box, please read the associated directions. - Due to the multilingual capability, changes in the structure of the user files were necessary. The program 'USERCONV.EXE' performs this task. - If messages are waiting for a new user, the LIST command is automati- cally initiated upon logging in. Differences between version 1.3 and 1.3a - Only minor changes were made in version 1.3a relative to 1.3 and a few errors were eliminated. Likewise a few special circumstances during S&F operation were taken into account. Differences between version 1.3a and 1.4 - The sysop command SETUSR can now install callsigns that had not yet logged in. Although this was previously confirmed with OK, the entry did not actually occur. - The lifetime management for general messages has been added. The SEND command was thereby enhanced and the format of the 'SHOW.LST' file was changed. The program 'CHECKUP.EXE' converts the old 'SHOW.LST' to the new format and supplies the entries with lifetime values. If a version prior to 1.4 was in use, it is necessary to transfer the old entries from 'SHOW.LST' before using version 1.4 for the first time. The old entries acquire a random lifetime. The following steps are required: Switch into MB system directory: CD C:\MB\MBSYS Call program CHECKUP.EXE: CHECKUP 14.07.88 365 This means that the new lifetimes for the old entries will only be randomly generated in the range 1-365 for entries after the 14th of July. A message receiving a lifetime of 10 days will thus be deleted 10 days after July 14, 1988 regardless of the creation date of the en- try. Copy the file SHOW.NEW: COPY SHOW.NEW SHOW.LST CHECKUP.EXE creates a file with the name 'SHOW.NEW', which has the new format and the generated lifetimes. This file must be copied over the old file. Delete files: DEL CHECKUP.EXE DEL CHECKUP.NEW This procedure is requested by UPDATE. - When the limit of 50 is exceeded during CHECK or LIST and more entries are selected, a message to this effect is displayed. - The sysop command READFILE now supports files longer than 4 KByte. Caution: before reading, a copy operation is performed; make certain sufficient disk space is available! - Switching to SYSTEM on the F10 channel is now subject to a timeout based on the mailbox timeout value. This timeout counts since the last system input processed by The Box as a command. - The file 'SF-LISTE.SFW' now contains 12 instead of 10 entries. - During store & forward, user messages receive precedence over the gen- eral information entries. Only when no further user messages are to be forwarded to the destination mailbox will the forwarding of general messages begin. The maximum number of entries in the forwarding files '*.SFW', not in- cluding 'LOG.SFW', is limited to 100. Now a kind of wildcard can be implemented, such as LA? for all LA callsigns and individual callsigns may be blocked, e.g. #DK0MAV. (Please be sure to read point 2.8 of this manual!) - Privileged logins were abolished. Any authorized station can now be- come privileged on any channel. - Store & Forward can now be initiated manually by the command SF. Syn- tax: SF <mailbox>, where <mailbox> must be a mailbox with which S&F has already been performed. - WASHUP now functions at any time, regardless whether S&F is currently occurring. - The COMBIOS drivers for COM1 and COM2 are no longer necessary. The Box now has its own drivers for COM1/2 and are activated if no COMBIOS driver is found at startup. It is also possible to use both, i.e. the internal driver for COM1 and COMBIOS for COM2. Users with more than 2 serial ports will still have to use the COMBIOS drivers. - The Box now supports nine instead of only eight channels. This caused the file 'BOXINIT.TXT' to be lengthened by one record, hence change it before installation. The ninth channel is selected with F9. The screen standby function has been relocated to Alt-F9. - The Box is now capable of AMTOR, without multitasking but as normal on any PC or AT. For this operation, a second port as well as an AMT1 AMTOR unit are required. Those interested in further details should contact DF3AV @ DK0MAV. - The use of the READ command has been slightly modified and the output of the S&F header has been shortened. For each header only the time and callsign are displayed. If the longer headers are still desired, append a '+' to the READ command, such as 'READ DF3AV 2-33 +'. - The file 'QRT.TXT', which contained a brief signoff message, has been replaced by 'QRT.*', where the '*' stands for the relevant language code, e.g. 'QRT.DL'. - The welcoming text of maximum 80 characters is stored in the file 'START.*', where the '*' stands for the corresponding language code, e.g. 'START.F'. This text supplants line 35 in the message blocks of BOX.MSG. - The Baud rate of the TNCs is now given in BAUD in 'BOX.MSG'. Only the values 9600 and 4800 are allowed. If an invalid Baud rate found, the port will be initialized to 9600 Baud. - Two new privileged commands have been added: ERASEFILE: erases files like the DEL command in DOS. COPYFILE: copies file like the COPY file in DOS. Exercise caution when using the COPYFILE command remotely! If a file is copied to A:, a formatted diskette must be in the drive, otherwise the message 'Abort, Retry, Ignore' appears on the screen and the whole system comes to a halt. Differences between version 1.4 and 1.5 - Version 1.5 supports a color display of the texts. The configuration file was correspondingly modified. - The Box now needs the file 'CONFIG.BOX' to determine the paths, baud rates and colors. - The file 'BOX.MSG' now only contains the languages, no longer any con- figuration information. The eight lines of configuration have been transferred to the file 'CONFIG.BOX'. (Refer to 1.9 in this manual) - The number of different topics supported in 'LIFETIME.BOX' has been doubled from 100 to 200. - The number of users of The Box has been extended from 1500 to unlim- ited. - The number of languages has been increased from 4 to 6. - The setting for the default language on a channel is stored in the new file 'CONFIG.BOX'. (See 1.9 of this manual) - The number of mailbox stations in 'SF-LISTE.SFW' was increased by ten entries, requiring the new 'SF-LISTE.SFW' file to be enlarged. S&F can be initiated to several mailboxes simultaneously (naturally not on the same channel). - If the commands LIST and READ are used for INFO files without argu- ments, all new entries in the desired topic since the last login are output. For LIST however never more than the limit of 50 entries. - The command interpreter now has a FIFO (first-in/first-out) buffer, so that commands can now be entered one after another even during contin- uous output and will be processed sequentially without interrupting the current output. The FIFO can be cancelled with an empty entry, i.e. a frame with only CR at the start. The sysop has a retrieve feature. His last six commands are buffered and can be displayed by pressing the ESC key, modified and then reused. When entering lifetimes, there no longer is a limit associated with the topic name. Indeed each entry in the INFO files can receive any life- time between 0 and 999. As in version 1.4, lifetime 0 means that the message is not automatically deleted. If no lifetime is supplied, the lifetime of the corresponding topic will be used as default. - The TRANSFER command was enhanced so that a destination mailbox as well as a new lifetime may now also be supplied. If the destination mailbox is omitted for USER messages, The Box looks for MyBBS of the user. If nothing is found, the message is not forwarded. If the life- time is not supplied for the destination INFOs, the lifetime of the associated topic is assumed. Examples for the correct syntax are as follows: 'TRANSFER ALLE 23 > ALL # 30' or 'TRANSFER DF3AV 1 > DG3SAJ @ DB0CZ' - Store & Forward mailboxes must terminate the texts to be forwarded with Ctrl-Z as '***END' is now transmitted. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Appendix B What to do if... In the meanwhile many comments have come in regarding errors during execution of The Box. Often these are due to simple installation errors, which I would like to discuss: Error: The Box locks up after a user entered the command ERASE, also oc- curs after other commands when many users are logged in. Solution: The parameter FILES in 'CONFIG.SYS' is possibly set too low. For operation with The Box, set 'FILES=20', at least. Error: The TNC resynchronizes. (Only after version 1.1a, previously it only reported an incorrect channel number.) Solution: Resynchronization always indicates that the RS232 connection be- tween the computer and TNC is not working correctly. The TNCs should also be tried at 4800 Baud. Sometimes the reason was a TNC2C running at 2.45 MHz. After modifying it for 4.9 MHz opera- tion, the problem was solved. Furthermore, the RS232 drivers in the TNCs could be at fault. LM324s were used as RS232 drivers in the EURO-TNCs and original TAPR TNC2s as well as MFJs and should be immediately replaced with TL084s, which are pin compatible and have a much better slew rate. Other possible causes are certain conditions in the ROM BIOS of the computer. For example, in many keyboard drivers for DOS the combination of ' and S causes a bell to sound. This bell is gen- erated by the processor. So that this bell really sounds like a bell, all interrupts are switched off for the duration of the tone, with the consequence that characters on the RS232 line are lost, requiring resynchronization. The keyboard driver KEYB for DOS 3.3 has proved to be excessively slow. Another keyboard driver should be used instead, perhaps the good old KEYBGR. Error: Following ERASE or TRANSFER, the entries displayed by CHECK are no longer current. Solution: In this case a format error in the file 'SHOW.LST' has occurred. The record format in this file is 83 characters (up to version 1.4, 80 characters) and can be corrected using a text editor. In this case an alignment is absolutely necessary, i.e. the entry numbers of the topics should be confirmed to point to the correct entry in the topic. Use the CHECK command and verify the individ- ual topics with the LIST command. The output from LIST corre- sponds to the actual messages since LIST physically scans the file. This error should normally never occur. Error: Messages are being forwarded under the wrong topic name and ti- tle. Solution: This is a similar problem to that just described, although this affects the file 'LOG.SFW'. In this case, use a text editor to verify and correct the entries (115 bytes per record) in conjunc- tion with the output from LIST. This error should also never oc- cur normally. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- END -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*