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D'Bridge EMAIL System
Upgrade guide for version 1.21 or earlier
Version 1.30 - 15 December 1989
Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
------------------------------------------------------------
D'Bridge Software 800-762-4197 Credit card orders
Suite 208 305-232-5245 Technical Support
15321 South Dixie Highway 305-232-9365 Data (EMAIL/BBS)
Miami, Florida 33176 305-255-6460 FAX
1:1050/0 D'BridgeNet
1:18/68 Fidonet
7:48/2010 Alternet
------------------------------------------------------------
"This manual may be freely copied and distributed in its original
form only. Distribution of modified copies shall be considered
copyright infringement. This document is the complete User's Guide
and Technical Reference for D'Bridge EMAIL system. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
We distribute this material on an "as-is" basis only. The current
releases of this manual and/or software may be obtained free-of-charge
anytime from any of the D'Bridge Support Systems located world-wide.
"This is a strictly COMMERCIAL product, but a 30-day demonstration
period is granted to all who request it. Copying and/or distribution
of license-keys is strictly prohibited. (Except, of course for backup
or archival purposes.)"
D'Bridge Electronic Mail System UPGRADE DOCUMENT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for upgrading to version 1.30 of D'Bridge. Let me first assure
you that you'll be quite pleased once you gain a complete understanding
of the changes that we have made. There's a big difference in the way
that mail and the queue are handled in this version. IT IS STRONGLY
SUGGESTED THAT YOU READ THIS UPGRADE DOCUMENT PRIOR TO USING THE NEW
VERSION.
We'll start by assuming that you have at least a fair working knowledge
of version 1.21. There are some things lacking from 1.30 that you might
have expected to be there. (This is the bad-news-first theory...)
SEAlink
Yes, there's been a lot of rumors about SEAlink and which mailers
will continue to support it. I want to make our point-of-view clear
now. D'Bridge 1.30 does not support SEAlink. The reason is that we
are now dedicated to not use any standard that lacks clear specifi-
cation or is proprietary. As we understand it, such documentation as
we require is being approved by the creator of the standard. Once
this is approved by all applicable parties, we will re-code support
for SEAlink using the new specification. Please understand that it
will take several months for adequate testing, etc.
"BARK" Requests
As well as SEAlink, "bark-style" file and update requests have been
removed for the sake of reliability and published standards. Again,
they will be re-coded when such a specification becomes available.
TBBS support
Due to lack of market, we have decided to discontinue direct support
of eSoft's TBBS package. D'Bridge is still compatible with TBBS as
a front-end, but ECHOmail and NETmail processing has been removed
from that format. QuickBBS and Fido are still available.
We also hoped to have renumbering and AREAFIX forwarding in this
version, but we're sorry to say we couldn't finish that in time.
I thought that I'd share this version with the rest of the world
since it seems to be working so well.
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1D'Bridge Electronic Mail System UPGRADE DOCUMENT
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Now for the good-news-last theory... There's MUCH more good news
than bad; 1.30 is a stable release that introduces a completely
new way to handle mail! Before you install 1.30, I'd suggest that
you READ THIS PAGE, IF NOTHING ELSE!
Discard your old concepts about D'Bridge. In fact, what I'm going
to ask you to do is to delete all your mail events and completely
re-think the structure of your schedule. The new D'Bridge uses a
cost-based-control concept, allowing the mailer to make priority-
based cost decisions about each queue entry. With 1.30, you can
actually run your system without any mail events and always place
outbound calls at the most economical times.
For those of you that have had lots of experience with Fidonet mail,
it's fairly likely that you're "set in your ways" about the way you
think a mailer should work. I'd like to break through those thought
patterns and show you a better way to run your continuous mail
system. Of course, if you don't run a "CM" system, you probably will
want to run things the way you have all along. (using mail events
during a small part of the night.)
Let me explain how D'Bridge can control telecommunications costs
without using scheduled events. 1.30 introduces a database screen
for your phone translations and costing control. This screen is
a database of phone dialing prefixes. We have supplied you with a
default costing file. This file differs in name depending on where
you got your copy of D'Bridge, but we ship USA-EAST.COS with the
software. The .COS files are "exported costing file" and may be
used to merge with your database or replace it completely.
When you upgrade from 1.21 to 1.30, D'Bridge will add all your
PHONE NUMBER TRANSLATION entries to the database, then merge in
the first .COS file found in the directory. At this point, there
is probably only one, but make sure it is the correct one before
installing D'Bridge. If you have rushed things and installed the
software before reading this document, you may have to manually
import the cost data using the ACCOUNTING/TRANSLATION screen.
The main differences in D'Bridge 1.21 and 1.30 can be seen by using
the UN-EVENT and understanding the behavior of the queue entries.
You now have to option of allowing any or all of NORMAL, CRASH and
IMMEDIATE to be sent during an event (including the UN-EVENT.) This
means that event NORMAL priority mail can now be sent without the
requirement of a scheduled mail event.
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2D'Bridge Electronic Mail System UPGRADE DOCUMENT
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If used properly, priorities can take on a new meaning. NORMAL can
mean "budget, low-cost mail," while CRASH and IMMEDIATE still mean
"transmit now, regardless of cost." This is the way that we have
pre-configured the default cost files that come with D'Bridge. When
you want mail to be sent at the lowest cost, simply use NORMAL
priority; if you need something sent NOW, use CRASH or IMMEDIATE.
The whole point of EMAIL (in my opinion) is to save money on tele-
communications plus allow the flexibility of instant communications.
D'Bridge now allows you to send a crashmail message while still
holding mail of NORMAL and HOLD priorities. The NORMAL priority mail
won't be sent until the economical time.
More understanding will be gained by reading the manual excerpts
that follow this the upgrade instructions.
FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE STEPS TO EASILY UPGRADE TO 1.30...
1. Make a complete backup of your configuration by using the
EXPORT CONFIGURATION command on the advanced menu of 1.21.
Keep a copy in a safe place, just in case. (If you can't
find how to "Export a configuration," make a backup copy of
the DBRIDGE.AUT file found in the D'Bridge directory.
2. Using the install program (INSTALL.EXE) that is contained in
the archive DB130INS.ZIP, install the D'Bridge software. Make
sure that you select option F3 to upgrade your existing software.
3. Version 1.30 should install just like any other; it should load
the configuration from your existing files and upgrade smoothly.
It will search the directory for a default "exported costing
file." This file is named something like USA-EAST.COS and
contains costing data for every country in the world that we
can direct-dial. This file (along with your present PHONE
NUMBER TRANSLATION data) will be merged into the cost-control
database.
4. Using the ACCOUNTING/TRANSLATION screen, verify that all the
cost-figures and phone number translations are correct for your
calling area. You will notice that the old accounting screen
has been completely replaced with this new method. I think you
will agree that it is better and more flexible.
5. Contact your NETWORK COORDINATOR (host) and tell him/here that
your nodelist flag should be changed from "XA" to "XX." This
means that your system supports WaZOO-style file- and update-
requests.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3D'Bridge Electronic Mail System UPGRADE DOCUMENT
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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 1.21 AND 1.30...
There are too many differences between 1.21 and 1.30 to list them
all here; most of the changes have been internal, for reliability
and speed.
1. The EMSI handshaking protocol has been added. EMSI is a sync-
ronization protocol that allows you to pickup mail for all of
your alias addresses during the same call. Since its own scope
is expandable, many new features will arise out of this new
protocol. It has been agreed upon by the authors of D'Bridge,
FrontDoor and BinkleyTerm; we expect it to become a new standard.
2. The queue logic has been completely re-written and is now disk-
based within a database file. This means that it can now be of
any size and it isn't necessary to rescan the NETmail area every
time D'Bridge is started. Only when the queue is updated or a
new mail event begins is a scan done.
3. Cost-based-control has been added so that the ACCOUNTING/
TRANSLATION screen can control what time each system is called
based on its dialing prefix. D'Bridge is pre-programmed to make
all NORMAL-priority calls at the most economical time. A table
is included with costs for every country in the world that we
may direct-dial.
4. NORMAL priority mail may now be sent during the UN-EVENT. The
need for scheduled mail events is greatly reduced if not elim-
inated.
5. We've added a new way to configure D'Bridge for your modem.
Select the INSTALL NEW MODEM option and you will be able to
choose from our list of pre-configured modems. If your modem
is not in the list, we would be happy to add it to a future
release. Just contact us with all the information needed!
This option can show you the correct switch settings and even
pre-program the NV-RAM inside your modem.
6. Automatic reply-linking for ECHOmail messages stored in the
Fido format has been added. We would have done the same for
QuickBBS, but the structure of the message base makes it not
practical for D'Bridge to do it while unpacking mail.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4D'Bridge Electronic Mail System UPGRADE DOCUMENT
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7. We've given your computer something to do while it's sitting
idle with the screen blank. It's called BLANKOUT GRAPHICS and
you can enable or disable it on the BASIC CONFIG screen. Your
computer is most-likely tired of sitting around half the night
with nothing to do; D'Bridge gives your computer a new outlook
on life by keeping it busy when it seems there's nothing better
to do... (You'll see!)
8. We've eliminated some fields like "NOFILES file" and "BADPWD
file." D'Bridge now automatically creates NETmail messages for
all file-requests listing the status (and description if one can
be found inside a FILES.BBS file.) In fact, multiple-line
descriptions are possible... Also, if a system calls with an
invalid session password, they will be notified with a message
rather than a file.
9. If you have an EGA or VGA card and monitor, press ALT-4 or ALT-5
and watch what happens. You screen is switched to EGA 43-line
mode or VGA 50-line mode.
10. There are new fields in the schedule maintenance section:
MAX TRYS
The MAX TRYS parameter indicates the maximum number of times
D'Bridge should attempt to dial a specific system during the
current MAIL EVENT.
MAX SESSIONS
The MAX SESSIONS parameter specifies the maximum number of
actual connects that are allowed during the given mail event.
This is handy for limiting ECHOmail turnaround for long-
distance systems.
MAX FAILURES
The MAX FAILURES parameter specifies the maximum number of
aborted or bad sessions are allowed with each system during
the specified mail event. This parameter can help control
costs when the answering system has crashed or is not func-
tioning properly.
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 5D'Bridge Electronic Mail System UPGRADE DOCUMENT
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CM/NON-CM SYSTEMS ONLY?
In this case, CM stands for "continuous mail" as designated in
the nodelist flags. (See SECTION 6.1 for specific discussion
of the flags.) This parameter controls whether your system will
call "CM" systems, Non-CM systems or Both during this mail event.
(CM systems are the ones designated as being able to receive
EMAIL 24-hours per day.)
PRIORITIES ALLOWED
This parameter may contain any or all of the letters (NCI)
meaning NORMAL, CRASH and IMMEDIATE. This acts as a filter
that allows D'Bridge to only send mail of the desired priority
during the given event (or UN-EVENT.) For most systems, all
events should contain all three letters, NCI in this field.
This would allow the cost/accounting sub-system to control when
D'Bridge may call "where."
11. There is now two new fields on the PACKET/MAIL CONTROL screen:
IN-TRANSIT RESCAN?
If your system acts as a hub or boss-node, you might want to
provide immediate turnaround when "routed" mail is received.
If you answer YES to IN-TRANSIT RESCAN, the NETmail area will
be rescanned after each in-transit message is received. This
will cause the message to be made available to the destination
system immediately rather than waiting for the next event.
LIMIT NO-COST CALLS?
D'Bridge has the ability to limit the number of outbound
sessions that are allowed during an event (See section 3.10
for information...) If you answer NO to LIMIT NO-COST CALLS,
there will be no limit for how many times you can call a local
system. This is handy for allowing unlimited turnaround for
local (NO-COST) ECHOmail while still limiting long-distance
connections.
12. Again, the main difference is the queue and cost-based-control
features. Understanding the ACCOUNTING/CONTROL system will
give you great insight into the inner-workings of D'Bridge.
The following pages contain NEW sections of the D'Bridge user's
manual, reprinted in their entirety. Please don't hesitate to
call for technical support! 305-232-5245, M-F, 9-5 EDT.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 6D'Bridge Electronic Mail System ADVANCED: Accounting/Translation 3.18
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3.18 ADVANCED: ACCOUNTING/TRANSLATION
---------------------------------------
The Accounting/Translation screen is used to control the cost information
as well as specify the "filter" that controls the outbound mail flow. To
completely understand D'Bridge, you must first understand the basics of
cost-based scheduling.
D'Bridge comes with a cost-file as an example. This file is usually
USA-EAST.COS, but this could differ depending on where you acquired your
copy. The files with the extension .COS are "exported cost files" and
contain a complete image of the ACCOUNTING/TRANSLATION screen. They can
be used to store, merge or replace your database. When you first install
or upgrade D'Bridge, it will automatically import DBRIDGE.COS if it
exists; if not, it will use the first file it finds with the .COS exten-
sion.
When you select the Accounting/Translation option, the following screen
will be displayed:
Add, Change, Remove, Import, Export, UP/DOWN/PGUP/PGDN/ESC
/-COST ACCOUNTING/PHONE NUMBER TRANSLATION------------------------------\
|Prefix Dial as Location |
|1 1 United States (avg) |
|1-204 1-204 Manitoba |
|1-305 Local (Miami/Dade) |
|1-305-370 1-370 Davie, FL |
|1-305-437 1-437 Pembroke Pines, FL |
|1-306 1-306 Saskatcewan |
|1-403 1-403 Alberta |
|1-418 1-418 Quebec |
|1-506 1-506 New Brunswick |
|1-604 1-604 British Columbia |
|1-705 1-705 Ontario |
|1-709 1-709 Newfoundland |
|1-807 1-807 Ontario |
|1-808 1-808 Hawaii |
|1-809 1-809 Caribbean |
|1-819 1-819 Quebec |
|1-902 1-902 Nova Scotia |
|20 20 Egypt |
|212 20 Morocco |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------/
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 7D'Bridge Electronic Mail System ADVANCED: Accounting/Translation 3.18
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When the screen first comes up, the first entry will be highlighted.
You may scroll through the cost entries by using the UP, DOWN, PAGEUP
and PAGEDOWN keys. The valid commands are highlighted at the top of the
screen:
ADD
Pressing the A key enters "add" mode. You will be prompted with the
following questions:
/-Add costlist ENTRY------------------------------------------\
| |
| What prefix would you like to add? _____________________ |
| |
| |
\-------------------------------------------------------------/
PREFIX, in this case, means the first part of a phone number, the way
in which it appears in the nodelist. The general format for a phone
number in the nodelist is:
CC-AAA-EEE-NNNN
CC represents the COUNTRY CODE. For example, 20 is Egypt and 1 is the
United States.
AAA represents the AREA or CITY CODE of the system. 305 is the AREA CODE
for Miami, FL.
EEE represents the EXCHANGE (or local calling zone). D'Bridge software
is in the 232 exchange of Miami.
NNNN represents the NUMBER. D'Bridge Software's EMAIL system is 9365.
This is rarely used for translation, but may if applicable.
As an example, let's use the prefix 1-305-370. In our case, this number
is within our area code (305) but not a local call. Because of the entry
1-305, D'Bridge would normally try to dial the 370 exchange as a local
call. For this we need to add this prefix as a toll-call. After we
enter the desired prefix, the following screen will be displayed:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 8D'Bridge Electronic Mail System ADVANCED: Accounting/Translation 3.18
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Add, Change, Remove, Import, Export, UP/DOWN/PGUP/PGDN/ESC
/-COST ACCOUNTING/PHONE NUMBER TRANSLATION------------------------------\
|Prefix Dial as Location |
|1 1 United States (avg) |
|1-204 1-204 Manitoba |
|1-305 Local (Miami/Dade) |
/-ADD COSTLIST ENTRY----------------------------------------------------\
| |
| Prefix: 1-305-370 |
| Dial as: 1-370 |
| Location: Davie, FL |
| |
| /--------------------+-----+-----+---+----+-----------------------\ |
| |All S M T W F T S |Start|End |NCI|Secs|Costs | |
| |--------------------+-----+-----+---+----+-----------------------| |
| | A S M T W T F S |23:00|08:00|NCI|60 | .19 | |
| | M T W T F S |17:00|23:00| CI|60 | .25 | |
| | M T W T F |08:00|17:00| CI|60 | .31 | |
| | S |17:00|23:00| CI|60 | .31 | |
| | S S |00:00|24:00|NCI|60 | .19 | |
| \--------------------+-----+-----+---+----+-----------------------/ |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------/
The above example shows a typical translation for a toll-call within
the same area code. When a phone number is dialed, D'Bridge will first
translate then phone number by looking in this translation database.
It will search for the longest match of the prefix. In this case, the
leading 1-305-370 would be dialed as 1-370.
Following is a description of each of the fields in the window:
PREFIX
This is the "key" to the database record. You cannot change it. If
you must, you need to remove and add the record again. The PREFIX field
is the first part of a phone number. (Which will be replaced with the
DIAL AS field when a number is dialed.)
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 9D'Bridge Electronic Mail System ADVANCED: Accounting/Translation 3.18
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DIAL AS
When phone number translations are done, the DIAL AS field will be used
to replace the PREFIX for dialing. The DIAL AS field is actually broken
down into two fields: PREFIX and SUFFIX. If you need to dial something
after the number such as a credit card or billing account number, you may
specify a SUFFIX by using a vertical pipe "|" to separate the PREFIX from
the SUFFIX. An example would be: 1-305-370|,,3188. ",,3188" would be
send to the modem after dialing. The two commas are a modem command
meaning "pause a few seconds" before dialing the other digits.
LOCATION
This is just a description field for your information.
COST/PRIORITY FILTER MATRIX
The box at the bottom of the screen contains the cost information.
In order to keep communications costs low, D'Bridge has adopted a
system of "cost-based-control." This means that the system can be
programmed to place all calls during the most economical periods based
on this cost screen entirely. The cost-information for calling a given
country or city can be acquired by calling your long-distance company.
Typically, there are different rates on different days and at different
times. This table allows you to specify up to 5 cost-periods for
accounting and control purposes.
When D'Bridge looks at these cost-tables, it searches from the top of
the list to the bottom, stopping on the first match. For this reason,
"catch-all" entries, like the one shown at the bottom of our example
should be listed last. For flexibility and simplicity, overlapping
periods are allowed to be defined, but D'Bridge will select the first
applicable period for accounting and control. Please note that any
time-ranges left undefined are assumed "free" and D'Bridge will try to
dial out during these times. DON'T LEAVE ANY TIME-RANGE UNSPECIFIED.
DAYS (All S M T W T F S)
In these fields, specify for what day(s) the costing-line is applicable.
Any non-blank character will designate a weekday.
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 10D'Bridge Electronic Mail System ADVANCED: Accounting/Translation 3.18
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START
Here, you specify the starting time of the cost period. Make sure that
you use 24-hour time. (23:00 is 11:00 PM)
END
In this field, you specify the ending time of the cost period.
NCI
Here's the CRITICAL part to understand. During a given cost-period, you
have the option of what priorities of mail you would like to send. In
the NCI field, you may specify any or all of the letters N, C and I that
designate the priorities NORMAL, CRASH and IMMEDIATE. If you list all
three "NCI," then all priorities of mail are allowed to be sent during
this cost-period. If you say "CI," then just CRASH and IMMEDIATE mail
will be sent. This allows you to send NORMAL priority mail during the
low-cost periods and higher priority mail anytime. (That's what this
example shows.)
SECS
Specify the number of seconds that the COSTS field is based on. In the
United States, this is normally "60," but other countries and/or long-
distance carriers may have a different billing increment.
COSTS
The COSTS field allows you to specify the FIRST, SECOND... FIFTH "per-
period" costs. For example, if the SECS field is set for 60, then the
values ".31 .29" means ".31 (cents) for the first minute, .29 (cents)
per minute after that.
When you are finished editing the cost data, press to save it. D'Bridge
will ask you "Save entry? (Yes/No/Change)." Specify YES to save the
entry, NO to abort it completely or C to make changes before saving it.
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11D'Bridge Electronic Mail System ADVANCED: Accounting/Translation 3.18
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CHANGE
To change an existing cost entry, simply move the highlight bar to the
desired entry and press "C." Change mode works identically to the ADD
command described on the previous pages.
REMOVE
To remove an existing entry, move the highlight bar to the desired
entry and press "R." You will be asked to confirm that you want to
remove the entry permanently.
IMPORT
If you wish to IMPORT costing data from an "exported costing file," you
may use the IMPORT option to MERGE or REPLACE the existing data. Simply
specify the name of the COST FILE and whether to merge or replace the
database. This is typically used to add a standard costing file (such
as USA-EAST.COS) to your database. The MERGE option can also be used
to simply update the existing information with newer cost data.
EXPORT
This option allows you to create an "exported costing file" for backup
or transfer purposes. This is a complete "snapshot" of your costing/
translation database stored in a standard text file. (For the format
of the file, see section 9.3)
NOTE: It is impossible to accurately predict the cost of any phone call
due to timing and billing differences. It is not the intent of
D'Bridge to give you an exact preview of your phone bill, just a
log of what calls were made and how much they are expected to
cost.
WARNING: The cost tables included with D'Bridge are compiled from average
costs noted from actual long-distance connections or taken from
cost-tables. D'BRIDGE SOFTWARE MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEES
AS TO THE ACCURACY OF THESE TABLES. It is up to the users to ensure
that the costs and hours listed in the tables are correct for the
area and long-distance carrier they are using.
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 12D'Bridge Electronic Mail System Understanding the queue 6.0
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6.0 UNDERSTANDING THE QUEUE
----------------------------
Everything D'Bridge does is based on the entries in the outbound queue
window. Once you understand what the "queue" is and how it is organized,
you will have a good overview of the program's structure.
The "QUEUE"
The outbound queue is a database that contains entries for each of the
systems that has currently "outbound" mail. When D'Bridge first starts,
the outbound queue is created by scanning the NETmail area (either in
Fido or QuickBBS format,) then scanning the disk-based queue for polls,
file-requests, etc. This database is then sorted by address and then
displayed in the bottom-left window.
The queue can best be understood by disabling the SCHEDULE window so
the entire QUEUE window will be displayed. (Press ALT-S to toggle the
schedule window on and off.)
/-QUEUE----------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Destination Try/Con/Bad/Online Priorities/Pkt types Status |
|*18/68.1 0 0 0 00:00 C N X M Hold/Unlisted |
| 105/3 0 0 0 00:00 H X Hold |
| 108/0 0 0 0 00:00 N F M Decision at 17:00|
| 135/3 30 0 0 00:00 C X Try limit |
| 135/142 1 1 0 00:32 Sent successfully|
| 143/18 1 0 0 00:00 H X Hold |
| 167/999 0 0 0 00:00 C M Hold/Unlisted |
| 2:243/40 0 0 0 00:00 H X Hold |
|*8:77/7 0 0 0 00:00 N T M Hold/Unlisted |
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
To understand the queue, you simply need to have a good understanding of
the individual fields:
DESTINATION
The destination is simply the Fidonet or FAX address of the system to
contact. The destination is not always the "ultimate" destination due
to possible routing, but is the system to be called. If the destination
system calls in, it can pickup the mail unless you disable that feature.
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 13D'Bridge Electronic Mail System Understanding the queue 6.0
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TRY
The try field simply lists how many times D'Bridge has tried to call
the destination system in the current event. If there is a plus sign
"+" after the number, it has been manually reset this event by the
operator.
CON
This field lists the number of actual connections (carrier detects) that
are made as the result of outbound calls to the system. Inbound
connections do not count in the CON field. Again, if there is a plus
sign "+" after the number, it has been manually reset this event.
BAD
This field lists the number of failures encountered during outbound
sessions this event. In general, a failure means that it was a wasted
phone call for one reason or another. (Generally, the reason or error
is listed in the log file.) Again, the plus sign after the number is
an indication that it has been manually reset (using the ALT-V command.)
ONLINE
The online field keeps track of total connect time as a summation of
all outbound connects. This field is not reset until the end of the
current event.
PRIORITIES
The priorities field lists what priorities of mail are contained within
the queue entry. This field may contain any or all of the following:
I Immediate (Highest priority mail)
C Crash (High priority mail)
N Normal (Normal, budget priority mail)
H Hold (Mail that is never sent; remote must pick-up.)
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Version 1.30, Copyright 1989 by Chris Irwin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 14D'Bridge Electronic Mail System Understanding the queue 6.0
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PACKET TYPES
The packet type field contains what types of mail packets are contained
within the queue entry. The field may contain any or all of the
following:
R Outbound AREAFIX request (ALT-R)
T Transmit file(s) (ALT-T)
F File-request(s) (ALT-F)
P Poll (ALT-P)
X XMAIL (Editor/BBS/ECHOmail)
M NETmail (Editor/BBS)
STATUS
The STATUS field is most-likely the most important one to understand.
If you are having trouble understanding why a mail packet is not being
sent, the STATUS indication should be able to tell you exactly what is
wrong. Please read and understand what the following status indications
mean:
Hold
The mail can't be sent because "HOLD" is the only priority specified
for the mail. (You told it to do this when you entered a message or
set-up an ECHOmail area.)
Hold/Unlisted
This indication means that it is impossible to call this system
because he is either not in your nodelist or his number is listed
as "unpublished." The destination system must call in for his mail
or you need to get a nodelist that contains his phone number.
Max cost hold
The cost of the message you want to send (as indicated in the editor)
exceeds the maximum allowed during the current event. (See maximum
message cost in section 3.10)
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Temporary hold
This means that the operator has used the VIEW/MODIFY QUEUE mode to
set the entry's status told "hold." To send the message, select
ALT-V again and specify "SEND."
Forced hold
This means that the operator has specified a forced priority of hold
at some time in the past. This may be changed by using the ALT-V
command to remove the "forced" status.
Priority hold
This means that the given mail event does not allow the specified
priority of mail to be transmitted. (This is related to the
PRIORITIES field in the advanced routing of the schedule; see section
3.10 for more information.)
Not a CM system
In this event, you have specified that only those systems with a "CM"
(continuous mail) flag may be called. (Again, this is a function of
the advanced routing screen of the scheduler.)
CM not allowed
In this event you have told D'Bridge not to call any "CM" system.
Decision at 17:00
This means that because of the cost-control data, no outbound call
may be placed to this address until at least 17:00. At 17:00, a
decision will be as to whether it may be called or not. This is
the mechanism that allows D'Bridge to call-out only at the economical
times for normal priority mail. If you want the mail to be sent now,
you should use a higher priority or change the cost-control data in
the ACCOUNTING/TRANSLATION screen.
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Try limit
This means that D'Bridge has exceeded the maximum number of times
allowed to try calling the remote system. Typically, you are not
charged for non-connects, but you might want a limit on how many
tries. (Gotta give up sometime...)
Session limit
You have reached the maximum number of sessions allowed within the
given event. In the case of long-distance systems, this has most-
likely saved you a wasted phone call, making too many ECHOmail calls
in the save evening...
Failure limit
This means that you have reached the maximum failures (bad sessions)
allowed for the event. Maybe something is wrong with the remote
system?
Picked up
This means that all mail has been successfully picked-up by the
remote system. This saves D'Bridge the trouble and expense of making
the call itself.
Sent successfully
This means that you called the other system, sent the mail and all
went well. All mail is confirmed as delivered to the "destination"
system; remember that routed mail is now in the hands of another
operator and is not 100% guaranteed to arrive.
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The dashes (-----) mean that the packet is ready to send, now.
Understanding what each of these status codes means should give you
new insight into the operation of D'Bridge. Please feel free to contact
technical support if there are still technical issues unclear to you;
we'd be glad to help clarify them.
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