home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- WP SERVICES
-
- The following paragraphs describe the White Pages. Not your local
- telephone directory, but the packet radio directory known as "White
- Pages". You help supply the information for "WP", and you can also
- use it to find the HomeBBS, QTH and ZIP Code of your friends on packet.
-
- "White Pages" is a distributed database of packet users showing their
- Name, HomeBBS, QTH and ZIP Code. It is queried by means of packet
- messages, allowing stations from all over the world to take advantage
- of the data it contains. The MailBox program developed and distributed
- by Hank Oredson, W0RLI, collects this information and forwards it to
- Regional and Global WP servers. As users enter their Name, HomeBBS,
- QTH, and ZIP Code into the MailBox user file, each day, the software
- automatically assembles a message containing all of the new or changed
- user information and sends it to the local Regional WP Server. The Regional
- WP Servers in turn send the information to the Global WP Server (presently
- located at AD8I in Ohio). Use of Regional Servers allows for faster
- responses to local inquiries and minimizes the WP traffic which must
- be forwarded to the Global WP Server. You can easily make use of the
- packet White Pages information, both at the Global WP Server and at
- your local W0RLI Type MailBox.
-
- You may make inquiries of your local server's WP datbase using the
- "I" command. Simply enter I followed by the callsign you'd like
- information about. If you wanted information on WB9LOZ, for example,
- you would enter: I WB9LOZ. You may make this type of inquiry when
- logged on to any W0RLI MailBox system. Note that there are several
- other "I" commands available to make different kinds of queries of
- your local WP database. For example, the "IZ" command allows you to
- obtain the callsigns of all stations withing a zip code or zip code
- range. Use the Help command at your local MailBox for more details
- on the uses of the "I" commands.
-
- Information from the Global WP Server may be obtained remotely
- by sending a message to "WP @ N6IYA".
-
- Since these messages are read and answered by the WP software, rather
- than a person, each line in the message text must have the correct format:
-
- <callsign> ?
-
- The message you send will cause the WP server to return a message to
- you giving the home BBS, QTH and zip code of the person with the
- given callsign. If the information is not available from the WP
- database, the return message will tell you so.
-
- Here is an examples of a message to the Global White Pages Server.
-
- Suppose you are N6CDJ and want to know the HomeBBS's of KF6PU and AA6TN.
- You would send a message to WP like this:
-
- (At the prompt, enter:)
- SP WP @ N6IYA
- Enter title of message:
- Query (Actual content not critical)
- Enter text:
- kf6pu ?
- aa6tn ?
- (Control Z)
-
-
- All W0RLI Type Servers which handle a WP message will respond to the
- sender with any information they have available. As a result, you
- may get more than one response to your WP query.
-
- It is important to note here that when you check into a new MailBox,
- you should always enter the same information that you have at previous
- times. Choose ONE MAILBOX as your HomeBBS, the one where you want all
- of your messages delivered, and enter that callsign every time you're
- asked. If you enter two or more different MailBox calls at various
- times, your mail could end up being sent round and round from station
- to station.
-
-
-