The Business Master (4th Edition)

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ The Business Master (4th Edition) / The Business Master - 4th Edition.iso / files / commadio / tapcis / taptry.exe / TAPDOC.5 < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-12-16 | 33.4 KB | 855 lines

=========================================================================== 5 - CompuServe Mail =========================================================================== CompuServe Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 Activating CompuServe Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 Write A CompuServe Mail Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 Finish the Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 Send Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2 Transmit the Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2 <O>nline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2 Getting New Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 Reading CompuServe Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 Saving the Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 Reply to a Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 Address Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 Address Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 Other Methods of Adding to the List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 Writing Using Address Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 CompuServe Mail Multiple Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 Address Book Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 Return Receipt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 Mailing Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 CompuServe Mail File Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8 Sending Binary Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9 Receiving Binary Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 Using the Binary File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 Binary File Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 Receiving ASCII Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 CompuServe Mail Delivery Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 FAX Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11 Postal Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11 Telex/MCI Mail/Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 B+ Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 Feedback to CompuServe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 90-Day Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 Congressgrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 Executive News Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 TAPCIS(tm) Documentation Copyright (c) 1991, Support Group, Inc. 800-USA-GROUP, 301-387-4500 =========================================================================== CompuServe Mail =========================================================================== CompuServe Mail is an electronic mail service. It is not really a "forum" since it is used exclusively for private communication between individual users. For convenience TAPCIS makes Mail look like a forum so that you'll only need to learn one set of commands. Reading and writing messages in both Mail and the forums is very similar. CompuServe Mail does have a few features that the forums do not such as Return Receipts (that tell you when the recipient read your message), multiple addresses (in a forum you can address a message to All or to one user ID; Mail allows multiple addresses) and the ability to send and receive binary files. Your CompuServe mailbox can handle up to 100 messages at a time. The average delivery time for a mail message is 1.5 minutes although it can be up to 20 minutes if the system is heavily loaded. [Figure 5-1: CompuServe Mail Forum Screen] ------------------------------------ Activating CompuServe Mail The <F>orums menu allows us to activate Mail. Press <F> from the main TAPCIS menu and the forums menu will appear. In the left hand box the name appears next to the letter A. Press <A> and an asterisk <*> will appear next to the A (Mail should always be A. Do not move it to a different letter or delete it). If you press <A> again, the asterisk will toggle off. Make sure the asterisk is next to the A and press <F7-Exit> to leave the forum screen. ------------------------------------ Write A CompuServe Mail Message When you returned to the main menu, you may have noticed that Mail is listed in the <F>orums box as #1. The command to write a message is <W>rite, so press the letter <W> then press the number <1> for Mail at the Forum: prompt. The next TAPCIS prompt is To:. Enter your name followed by your CompuServe user ID. CompuServe cannot deliver your message unless the user ID is included. You can omit the name; the user ID is required. Press return after entering your user ID and then enter the subject "1st TAPCIS Mail Msg". Your screen should look similar to Figure 5-2. [Figure 5-2: CompuServe Mail Address Screen] ------------------------------------ Finish the Message For this test message, type in a paragraph or two of text. Press <F7-Send> when you're finished composing. The Send menu will appear on the bottom line. Figure 5-3 is an example message after the <F7-Send> key is pressed. TAPCIS CompuServe Mail 5-1 [Figure 5-3: Message Screen after <F7-Send>] Send Options The menu at the bottom of the screen in Figure 5-3 offers four choices. Notice that the 1 repeated at the end of the line is the default choice. If you press return or 1, the message will be sent via Mail normal delivery. Option 2 requests a return receipt. A surcharge of $0.15 is charged for a return receipt. In return you get a message providing the date and time the message was received. If after you press <F7-Send> you want to resume editing the message, press zero <0>. To cancel and discard the message altogether, press the letter <X>. For this example, press <1> to send the message normally through Mail. The main menu will reappear. ------------------------------------ Transmit the Message You wrote a message using the offline editor. You stored the completed message on disk. The next step is to transmit the message to CompuServe. The message cannot be delivered until TAPCIS calls CompuServe and sends the message. You must command TAPCIS to do this; the program will not connect with CompuServe on its own. [Figure 5-4: Main Menu with CompuServe Mail to Send ( )] Looking at the main menu in Figure 5-4, did you notice the indicator above the MAIL entry? Look for the double headed arrow next to the 1. It indicates an action in the outbox waiting to be performed online. ------------------------------------ <O>nline The command to send the message is <O>nline. Press <O> from the main menu. TAPCIS will call CompuServe, log in, GO MAIL, and send the message. When it is done, TAPCIS sends the command OFF to end the call. The last commands on your screen should look similar to that shown below. The "OFF" is sent by TAPCIS to CompuServe to logoff; if you are online interactive you should also use "OFF" to end the session. The other items in bold are provided by TAPCIS for your information. Mail! OFF Actual time = 00:19 1059 characters transmitted -- 55 cps Pausing 30 seconds -- press any key to continue The actual time is the time tracked by TAPCIS. In this example at 2400 bps, it took TAPCIS 19 seconds to logon, go to Mail, send the message, and 5-2 CompuServe Mail TAPCIS logoff. The total characters transmitted is listed at 1059 which, divided by 19 seconds, gives 55 characters per second (cps). This cps value will range between just a few cps up to the maximum of 240 cps at 2400 bps. Its value depends on many different factors, and it's difficult to say what is a "good" or "bad" figure. CIS will round up to the next whole minute. In the example above, you would be charged for 1 min of time. ------------------------------------ Getting New Mail Checking CompuServe for new mail is as easy as going online to send mail. The command is <N>ew, and it logs in and gets new messages if any are in your Mail box. You should have a message waiting if you have gone through the steps above and have waited a few minutes for delivery; you sent one to your own user ID. (CompuServe will also send you a welcome message via Mail a few days after you sign-on the first time). Press <N> to go online to receive new messages. After TAPCIS logs off, press the space bar to return to the main menu. The exclamation mark indicator shown in Figure 5-5 tells you that Mail has new messages for you to read. [Figure 5-5: Main Menu with New CompuServe Mail Message(s) to Read] ------------------------------------ Reading CompuServe Mail To read the Mail message that TAPCIS retrieved for you, press <1>. The first message (and only message this time) will appear on your screen in a format similar to the example in Figure 5-6. The header shows the TAPCIS generated message number, the date and time of the message, the subject of the message, and the sender of the message. In our example the message is from this account. When reading messages, TAPCIS highlights the From: or To: field whenever it matches the user ID set in the parameters screen. The header is followed by a blank line and then the message itself. If the message is more than one screen full, a "More " prompt appears in the status area (upper right of screen). You can then use the arrow keys, or <PgDn> to see the next page of the message. A Mail message can be up to 64K in size. (Mail can send messages or files of 50,000 characters. However, you will need to read such messages outside of TAPCIS. This is very rare, as messages of over 64K are usually sent as binary files to insure integrity). The highlighted status line tells you which message you are reading and the total number of messages. In this example we are reading message one of one (1/1) in the Mail forum. A brief summary of the message reading commands follows the message number on the status line. <F3-Help> explains the commands in more detail. We'll also cover these in the section on reading forum messages. TAPCIS CompuServe Mail 5-3 [Figure 5-6: Reading a CompuServe Mail Message] ------------------------------------ Saving the Message Your first message using TAPCIS is worth saving. Press <F10-Save> and this prompt appears: File name for this message: C:\TAP\MAIL.SAV You can save this message to the general .SAV file where it can be <V>iewed from within TAPCIS, or a different filename can be used. A message saved in a file is in ASCII format with returns at the end of each line. TAPCIS tells you the message was saved by displaying "NewFile" in the upper right status area. If the file where the message was saved already exists, the message will say "Filed." If you enter an invalid file name or path, the message will say "ERROR!". The actual error message (in this case "Save failure") will appear on the bottom status line. Pressing <Enter> after <F10> saves the message in the MAIL.SAV file. A shortcut for this is simply to press <S> instead of <F10>. ------------------------------------ Reply to a Message Replying to the message on the screen is as easy as pressing <R>. Do that now. The next screen that appears should be familiar to you; it is the same editor screen you used to write your first message. The message you are replying to appears in the upper window and can be scrolled using the <F5> and <F6> keys. The last number on the upper bar shows the line position in the upper message. Scrolling is a full window at a time, with no overlap. You can also use <F8> to switch between the two windows. Use the block copy (<Ctrl-K><C>) and block move (<Ctrl-K><V>) commands to cut and paste parts of the original message into your reply. Use <F9> to retrieve an ASCII file into your reply, or <Sh-F9> to retrieve the entire original message. Figure 5-7 is an example reply with the message in the top window scrolled once using <F6>. Type in the reply, send it using <F7-Send> <1-Mail> and transmit it to CompuServe using the <O>nline command as we did before. [Figure 5-7: Replying to a CompuServe Mail Message] 5-4 CompuServe Mail TAPCIS =========================================================================== Address Options =========================================================================== TAPCIS allows for several options when addressing a CompuServe Mail message. Address book searching, multiple recipients, return receipt, and distribution lists are all supported. ------------------------------------ Address Book Remembering a long list of names and user ID's is a tedious task without the help of the computer. TAPCIS allows you to build an address book as you read messages. The person's name, user ID, and a brief memo can be stored in the file USERID.CIS. From the TAPCIS main menu press <1> to read the Mail message you wrote to yourself in the previous example. (If you have not been following the examples, start reading messages in any forum). If you want to add a person to the address book press <A> with a message to/from that person on the screen. TAPCIS will show the T>o and F>rom user names and ID's (looking at a Mail message, the To: field will always be blank). Press <F> to add the user ID of the sender (in this example, your name and user ID should be added). You can add a brief memo to remind you about the person. This memo is "searchable" when you are addressing a message. TAPCIS also lets you assign a "user name" in parentheses to each record that will speed the selection of this address during a search. Exact duplicates of name and user ID are spotted by TAPCIS, and you are asked whether you want to add the name again (perhaps with different comments). Example: Address Book: Select the name to add F> First M. Last 74020,10 T> B>oth F Seeking First M. Last 74020,10 Optional comments or <Enter> : Me! (FLAST) ------------------------------------ Other Methods of Adding to the List The USERID.CIS file is where TAPCIS stores your addresses. USERID.CIS comes with the names and user id's of people you might want to contact already entered (such as the Sysops on the TAPCIS forum). This file can be edited through TAPCIS or with an outside editor. Using TAPCIS you select E>dit from the main menu, specify any forum at all, and then press U>serid as the file you want to edit. An address and its comments should be limited to 80 characters. Comments in the address book are separated from the address by a <space> followed by a vertical bar. The record added above would look like: TAPCIS CompuServe Mail 5-5 First M. Last 74020,10 |Me! (FLAST) ------------------------------------ Writing Using Address Book Start your message using the <W>rite command from the main menu. At the To: prompt enter a back slash <\> as the first character followed by the characters to search the address book for. To: \last TAPCIS will search the address book for the characters you enter after the back slash. "Last" has been entered in this example (which happens to be the last name of this user's name). TAPCIS responds with a list matching the characters. Below you see that it found two matches (it found the intended one, and also found the string "last" inside the name "Blaster"). The "Me!" following the user ID is a memo. If you want to scan the whole list, enter a space for the search character. TAPCIS will stop the search as soon as you make your selection by letter or cancel the search by pressing space. A> First M. Last 74010,10 Me! (FLAST) B> Bobby Blaster 74020,11 Professional Wrestler Select A-B or X for none: A You could also have selected the address by typing the user name \flast as the address book search. TAPCIS will pull up this entry without a confirming letter choice. Case is not important but the match must be exact. If you have the user name but need to search for the name anyway, put a space after the name \flast<space> and the user name will be ignored. TAPCIS next prompts you to press <enter> (return), <R>eturn receipt, or a semicolon. Press <enter> unless you want the message to go to multiple addresses, or want it sent with a return receipt. Fill in the subject, then compose and send your message as usual. To use TAPCIS to send to a specific group on a regular basis see Mailing Lists beginning on page 5-7. ------------------------------------ CompuServe Mail Multiple Addresses The same CompuServe Mail message can be sent to multiple recipients. There is a $0.10 surcharge for each additional user ID. Multiple addresses are part of Mail only and not available in other forums. For addresses entered manually at the To: prompt, put a semicolon <;> immediately following the user ID. To: Richard P. Wilkes 76701,23; The cursor will drop to the next line and you'll be prompted for another user ID. Do not put a semicolon after the last address. TAPCIS then asks for the subject of the message. In the editor screen the multiple addresses show next to the To: separated by semicolons. 5-6 CompuServe Mail TAPCIS There is a limit of approximately 120 characters in the address line. TAPCIS will inform you if you exceed this limit. If you reach this limit before you have addressed the message to everyone you want to, you will need to use the Mailing List feature described starting on page 5-7. Address Book Entry You do not enter the semicolon <;> as part of the search text when looking up a name in the address book. The following sequence demonstrates looking up a name in the address book and then sending a copy to a name entered manually. After entering the subject, you will go to the editor. The address window at the top will show "First M. Last 74020,10;Richard P. Wilkes 76701,23" all in the To: field. Entering: To: \FLAST Places the following in the To: field: To: First M. Last 74020,10 <Enter> or R>eceipt or ; You can then press semicolon to enter the next address. Press <Enter> after typing the last address and get to the Subject prompt: To: Richard P. Wilkes 76701,23 Subject: Multiple Addresses ------------------------------------ Return Receipt While addressing a CompuServe Mail message you can selectively choose which recipients you want to receive a return receipt on. Typing "/R" after any address marks that address for return receipt. You can mix /R with multiple recipients (;), just be sure that the /R comes first. For example, to send to two individuals but only have the first return receipt: To: Richard P. Wilkes 76701,23/R; To: First M. Last 74020,10 If you choose "2 Return Receipt" after writing the message and pressing <F7>, the message will be sent return receipt to every recipient, overriding individual /R's. ------------------------------------ Mailing Lists If you regularly send messages to a group of people, you can make addressing those messages easier by using a Mailing List. There is no fixed limit on the number of addresses, although users are reminded that unsolicited junk MAIL is not tolerated by CompuServe. All address types except >POSTAL are supported, so you can use a mailing list to send to a combination of addresses on CIS, Internet, FAX, MCIMAIL, TAPCIS CompuServe Mail 5-7 MHS, TELEX, X.400, etc. TAPCIS uploads the message once and then splits the mailing up into groups to stay within CompuServe limits. The user is responsible for making sure that all addresses on the list can receive the intended type of mail. For example, you must not send a binary file to a fax machine (CIS will reject it). Addresses are stored in a maillist.ML file in the TAPCIS directory. Each address must be on its own line. Comments after each address must be separated by " |" (like in the USERID.CIS file) if included. Mailing list files can be chained but not nested (meaning, as soon as a mailing list address is found in a .ML file, no more addresses from that file will be used; TAPCIS will move to the other .ML file). A mailing list is specified at the To: prompt in TAPCIS by prefixing the name with an equals sign: To: =MYLIST This will use the list of addresses in MYLIST.ML for this message. You can use multiple mailing lists for the same message, or use the list in combination with other addresses entered manually or from the USERID.CIS address book. Return receipts can be requested either for all addressee's (in the usual way by sending the message and choosing 2-Return Receipt rather than 1-CompuServe Mail) or using /R after the individual addresses. In the list below, the second recipient's copy should be sent return receipt: MYLIST.ML Contents: Richard Wilkes 76701,23 Support Group Inc 74020,10/R Sandy Wilkes 76701,22 You can make a Mailing List file several ways. Use <E>dit, <F>ile from the main TAPCIS directory, or use any ASCII editor outside of TAPCIS. You can also build a List by specifying a non-existent list at the To: prompt: To: =NEWLIST TAPCIS will then prompt you with: List NEWLIST.ML does not exist. Create? Answer "Y" and enter the first address you wish to include in the list. Continue to add addresses, one per To: prompt, and press <Enter> on a blank To: prompt when done. TAPCIS will then take you back to the main menu. ------------------------------------ CompuServe Mail File Transfer Mail can be used to transfer ASCII and binary files. The maximum size for a binary file is 512,000 bytes. An ASCII file contains only those characters supported on the CompuServe Information Service such as the alphanumeric characters, punctuation, carriage returns, and line feeds. All other files should be treated as binary files. Sending a binary file like a WordPerfect document using ASCII will make the received file unusable! 5-8 CompuServe Mail TAPCIS Sending Binary Files Word processing documents, spreadsheets, database files, programs, and macros are all examples of binary files. When you indicate to TAPCIS that a file is "binary," TAP will transmit the file byte-by-byte without any translation or interpretation. When in doubt, choose the binary format. You send a binary file through Mail in much the same way that you send a message. First you press <W> to write a message. If prompted for the Forum: number, press the <1> (which should be the number for Mail). Address the message as described previously. You can use /R after the userid(s) to send the binary file return receipt. Multiple addresses are also okay. The subject of the message should be the filename with extension (e.g., ALTE.MAC). TAPCIS checks the subject, sees the period, and asks if you want to upload a file. Therefore, if you want to send the file OUTLINE, you must follow it with a period (i.e., Subject: "OUTLINE."). This technique does not work except in Mail, using the <W>rite command from the main menu. Any subject that includes a period causes TAPCIS to give you this prompt: Specify file to upload or press <esc> for editor File: TAPCIS will offer the contents of the subject prompt as the default if that file exists. If not, type in the TAPCISfull path and name of the file you wish to send. This is the file that is sent, and it need not be the same name that you listed in your subject. You could put the subject as "GOODDEAL.YOU" and actually send "C:\F\RIPOFF.HIM". The recipient will only see the filename in the subject-not the name as it was stored on your disk. If you enter a disk filename that does not exist, TAPCIS will prompt you with: File does not exist. Please re-enter or clear filename. You can then retype the filename, or press <Esc> to enter the editor (and perhaps cancel the send). When else would you press <Esc> at this prompt? TAPCIS looks only for a period in the subject. If your subject is "Letter to Mr. President" you'll get this prompt. Press <Esc> if you want to send a normal message using the editor. After entering a valid filename, TAPCIS then asks whether the file is ASCII or binary with this prompt: Press A if ASCII, B if a binary file [B]: Press <B> or <Enter> for a binary file. That's all there is to it. You may consider addressing a message to the recipient of the file explaining the contents. You cannot add a description to the same "message" that sends the file itself. TAPCIS CompuServe Mail 5-9 ------------------------------------ Receiving Binary Files TAPCIS will automatically download any files received in Mail using the CompuServe B+ protocol. A name is created for the file by TAPCIS to keep the received file from accidentally overwriting one of your files of the same name. An example message is shown in the next figure. [Figure 5-8: Received Binary CompuServe Mail Screen] Using the Binary File As you can see from the example, TAPCIS has stored the binary file received in the file C:\TAP\DL\MAIL1.BIN. The file is stored in the download file path as set in the parameters screen. TAPCIS will name the files MAIL1.BIN, MAIL2.BIN, etc., until you erase the previous files from your download file path. You can use the DOS COPY command to move the file to the proper directory or diskette and change its name at the same time. Then delete the file to keep the download directory clean of unneeded files. [C:\] COPY C:\TAP\DL\MAIL1.BIN C:\WP\MACS\ALTE.MAC 1 file(s) copied [C:\] DEL C:\TAP\DL\MAIL1.BIN Binary File Warning Never run a program received via CompuServe Mail from someone you do not know and trust. While the vast majority of CompuServe subscribers are responsible individuals, this is one way that someone could potentially vandalize your system. Just receiving the file cannot hurt. Running an unknown program might. Practice safe computing. ------------------------------------ Receiving ASCII Files ASCII files sent using this protocol upload method are delivered to the recipient just like any other message. When you send an ASCII file using this method, you can be sure that the message will not be corrupted by line noise. Unfortunately, when the message is read by the recipient, a protocol is not used and the message might be corrupted (although this does not happen often). You can, however, use binary transfer even if the file is ASCII, which will force a protocol download by the recipient without altering the file contents. ------------------------------------ CompuServe Mail Delivery Delay CompuServe Mail delivery is not instantaneous. It usually takes at least a few minutes to deliver your message to one of CompuServe's 850,000+ subscribers. If you send a message to yourself, wait a few minutes before 5-10 CompuServe Mail TAPCIS calling back to get it. Messages to other subscribers may take a little longer depending on system load, but should arrive within a few minutes. ------------------------------------ FAX Delivery CompuServe now offers delivery from CompuServe Mail to Group III facsimile machines worldwide. The syntax for the To: field is critical for proper automated sending by TAPCIS. Address the message as "Name >FAX: <country code> <area code> <phone>". Inside the US the <country code> is "1". For example, to send a FAX to the Support Group Fax machine in McHenry, MD, you would use: To: Support Group >FAX: 13013877322 You can place FAX addresses in your address book or inside mailing lists. Make sure you have a <space>| as a delimiter between the address and the comments as in: Support Group >FAX: 13013877322 |(TAPFAX) TAPCIS Publisher Fax Number The name before the ">FAX" is used as the Attn: line on the fax. If you do not include a name before ">FAX:" TAPCIS will address it to "Recipient". The subject you entered in TAPCIS is listed as the subject of the FAX. Also, each page includes your name as recorded in Mail, your CompuServe user ID, Page n of nn, and is printed in about 12 pitch with 1" margins. At this time you can send only ASCII text, up to a maximum of 50,000 characters. And, there is no way for a fax machine to send you CompuServe mail. You will receive a confirmation of delivery (or non-delivery). You can force a new page in the transmission by putting a <Ctrl-L> in the text at the beginning of the line. Sending messages to fax machines is only available to subscribers who have received their permanent (2nd) password from CompuServe by mail. That may be changed in the future. Charges run about $0.75 for the first 1000 character plus $0.25 for each additional 1000 characters for U.S. delivery. Foreign delivery varies with the country, and is much more expensive. Use the command "HELP FAX" in Mail when interactive for more details. ------------------------------------ Postal Delivery Postal offers you the option of sending a letter printed on a laser printer in one of five locations around the country. The charge for the first page is $1.50 for U.S. addresses and $2.50 for international ones. There is a charge of $0.20/page for the rest of the pages. Messages are limited to 60 characters per line and 279 lines (5 pages) per message. Before you can use postal, you must go online <I>nteractive. GO MAIL and at the Mail! prompt type the "ADDRESS NAME" command: Mail! ADDRESS NAME TAPCIS CompuServe Mail 5-11 Enter your name and say Yes to entering your return address. Supply that information (which is needed for the printed letters). Then logoff. In TAPCIS address your message To: >POSTAL and press return. You cannot send postal messages to multiple addresses at this time. TAPCIS will ask you for the full address of the recipient. When prompted for the state, you must enter the 2-letter state abbreviation (i.e., if you enter Calif instead of CA, the message will not be sent). If sending to an overseas address, press <enter> at the state prompt and answer the country and postal code prompts. TAPCIS automatically sets the editor width to 60 columns. If you load any text using <Sh-F10> be sure to reformat the individual paragraphs with <Ctrl-B> before sending or it will not work. ------------------------------------ Telex/MCI Mail/Internet You can send messages to Telex machines and MCI Mail accounts. For MCI Mail, messages are addressed to ">MCIMAIL:123-4567" where 123-4567 is replaced with the correct MCI Mail account. For Telex I/II machines the address is formatted: ">TLX:1234567" where 1234567 is replaced by the proper machine number. An optional answer back can be added after the machine number. For Internet addresses use the full Internet address after ">INTERNET". For more information, type "HELP MCIMAIL", "HELP TELEX", or "HELP INTERNET" after pressing <I>nteractive from the main TAPCIS menu and selecting 1-CompuServe Mail. ------------------------------------ B+ Protocol You can use the start up option /UPLOADMAIL=Y to have TAPCIS upload your mail messages using the error-free B+ protocol. This is somewhat slower than the normal message uploading but guarantees that no line noise will be introduced into your mail messages. There is no need to use this option if you have an error correcting modem. ------------------------------------ Feedback to CompuServe You can send messages directly to CompuServe's FEEDBACK at account 70006,101 through CompuServe Mail. The alternative is to GO FEEDBACK online. If you send the message by CompuServe Mail, you pay the (small) cost to deliver the message. If you use the online FEEDBACK, the connect time is free. I find it worth the small expense to use the TAPCIS editor to compose my message. 5-12 CompuServe Mail TAPCIS ------------------------------------ 90-Day Deletion All Mail messages not accessed within the last 90 days are automatically deleted by CompuServe. ------------------------------------ Congressgrams TAPCIS cannot be used to automate Congressgrams. You will need to send them manually while interactive on CompuServe. You can use the <PgUp> function to upload an ASCII file prepared using an editor for the text part of the Congressgram. ------------------------------------ Executive News Service The Executive News Service (GO ENS for executive option CompuServe subscribers) allows you to send news stories and folders to your Mail box. Many users have found it most cost effective to do this, then pick up the stories using TAPCIS for reading offline. See the ENS instructions for details on sending news stories to Mail. TAPCIS CompuServe Mail 5-13