Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/BBS_UTIL/BFE3100P.ZIP/BFE3100P.EXE/DOCS/SETUP.DOC

Text File | 1994-03-12 | 34KB | 813 lines

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                           What is BFE/Setup?

As mentioned earlier in this document, BFE/Setup was designed to provide an
intuitive, easy-to-use method of configuring and customizing BFE to suit your
needs.  A lot of time has been spent on ensuring that BFE/Setup provides you
with the tools necessary to allow you to maximize your use of the BFE
package.

In earlier releases of BFE, all of the options and functionality of the
package was configured via the manual editing of numerous control and
configuration files.  This was often very tedious work for the aspiring
sysop, and many begged for something easier.  Once again, we have listened to
our users and have provided an easy-to-use, menu-driven setup facility
entitled BFE/Setup. Through the use of this revolutionary new setup system,
sysops can now configure and customize their BFE system with little or no
effort at all.

                          NAVIGATIONAL CONTROLS

BFE/Setup will automatically make use of a mouse if one is detected.  By
default, it runs in standard 16 color mode, but can be forced into monochrome
mode by passing a "-m" on the command line (i.e. BFESETUP -m).

To start BFE/Setup, simply type BFESETUP while in the BFE directory.

Left mouse button used as "select" button, while right mouse button is used
as the "ESC" button.

                          THE .CTL FILE SCHEME

Before you begin your first session with BFE/Setup, a brief overview on
the .CTL file scheme utilized by BFE is in order.  The contents of each of the
menus you will create with BFE/Setup are stored in a CONTROL file (files with
a .CTL extension).  When BFE is started, you will pass the name of your
"main" .CTL file on the command line.  This is the menu that BFE will first
prompt your users with.  From there, however, based on user selections, you
can jump to other menus (up to 10 levels of nesting).

All global system settings (Sysop information, global color settings, etc)
are stored in your Global Configuration file, which defaults to GLOBALS.CFG.
If, for some reason, you wish to use a different name, you may pass this
filename on the command line of BFE/Setup by using the "-g" option.

        Example: BFESETUP.EXE -gMYBBS.CFG

This would be useful if you run BFE as a front end, as well as a door from
your BBS, and have different settings for each.

That's it!  No voodoo involved in this concept at all.  In fact, this is not
a new concept, as this is the way that most BBS systems function anyway!


                     OPENING AND CREATING .CTL FILES

To create new .CTL files or open existing ones for maintenance, simply select
"Open .CTL File" from the main menu.  A popup box will soon appear, prompting
you for the type of .CTL to open (i.e. new or existing).

If you choose to create a new .CTL file, you will then be prompted for the
name of the control file.  You need not enter an extension, as .CTL will be
appended to the name you enter.  We recommend you name your .CTL files in
some sensible manner, perhaps using the name MAIN as your first menu.

If you choose to open an existing .CTL file, a file selector box will appear,
and you may then traverse the directory structure of your system in order to
find the appropriate .CTL file to open.

After providing a new .CTL file name, or choosing an existing one, the name
of this file will appear at the top of the main menu window, to help you keep
track of which file is in memory at any given time.


                          SAVING .CTL FILES

After making any changes to your .CTL files, you will need to select this
option to save them permanently.  Simply select this option, and your menu
will be updated for you in the blink of an eye!


                             NODE MACRO

A special macro is available for use in most fields.  This macro will be
substituted at runtime for the appropriate value.  Simply place a "%n" or
"%N" to force BFE to provide the node number of the current node.  By using
this macro, it makes it easier to implement different menus, screens, etc
for larger multiline BBS systems.


                            GLOBAL OPTIONS

Your first stop in BFE/Setup should be here, as this is where you will
configure BFE with all of its internal default options.  All global options
are stored in a file called GLOBALS.CFG.  After selecting this option from
the main menu, you will be presented with the Global Options Menu:


                      PATH/SWAPPING CONFIGURATION

DROPFILE PATH

This field, when filled in, enables BFE's internal BBS dropfile routines.
If you are running BFE as a front-end from a mailer such as FrontDoor or
BinkleyTerm, you should leave this field blank!  Only fill this field in when
you wish BFE to operate by reading a BBS dropfile (DORINFO1.DEF, DOOR.SYS,
etc).  See the section on using BFE with BBS dropfiles for more information
on the automatic dropfile recognition system used in BFE.

BFE SYSTEM DIR

This should point to your BFE directory.  Plain and simple.

LOGFILE

If this field is filled in, BFE will maintain a log of events in the path and
filename specified by its contents.  To disable BFE's internal logging,
simply leave this field blank.  The logfile is in the same format used by
Joho's FrontDoor Netmailer.  A special macro (%N) is available to specify the
node number for multinode systems.  For instance "BFE%N.LOG", would create a
logfile called BFExxx.LOG, where "xxx" is the node number.

WELCOME SCREEN

BFE has the ability to display an ANSI, ASCII, AVATAR, or RIP screen to your
users upon startup.  Simply specify the path and filename of this file.  BFE
has a few unique features when displaying external files to your users!  See
the section on the DISPLAY FILE type for more information.

SWAP PATH

BFE has the ability to make use of memory and disk swapping when calling
external processes.  By default, BFE will attempt to swap itself to EMS, but
will resort to disk swapping should not enough memory be available.

This field should contain a list of valid swap paths, separated by commas
(i.e. C:\TEMP;D:\TEMP;E:\SWAP ).

SWAP WITH EMS?

To prevent BFE from swapping to EMS, place a "N" in this field.

EXTERNAL EDITOR

Currently, two of the selections from BFE/Setup are configured through the
use of an external editor (the Custom Dropfile Editor and the BFE Language
Editor).  These will eventually be permanent residents of
BFE/Setup, but for now, simply place the path and name of your favorite
external text editor.

LOGON SCREEN

If you are using the internal BFE user system, this field should point to the
full path/base filename of a screen to be shown at login.  In the typical BFE
system, this should describe your system.

NEWUSER SCREEN

If you are using the internal BFE user system, this field should point to the
full path/base filename of a screen to be shown to new users who have logged
in to BFE for the first time.  This screen is shown after
they enter their name and location, but right before they enter their
password.

                           PAGER/PASSWORDS

One of the things that BFE allows your users to do is "page" the sysop for a
chat session.  This menu selection allows you to specify the hours and days
that chatting is available.

CONFIGURING PAGING HOURS

Once you enter this selection, you will be presented with a small entry form
which has two entries per day-of-the-week.  Simply fill in the hours in which
paging will be available (in 24 hour military format).  To disable paging for
a given day, enter 00:00 for the starting time, and 00:01 for the stopping
time.

NUMBER OF BEEPS

Whenever the sysop is paged, BFE will present a series of beeps on the PC
speaker, to attempt to gain the attention of the sysop.  This setting
controls the number of beeps that BFE will perform during a page attempt.

PASSWORD ATTEMPTS

When faced with a BFE password prompt, the number of attempts they are given
to supply a valid password is governed by the value of this field.

HANG UP ON USER?

If a user fails to enter a valid password within the specified number of
attempts (above), should BFE hang up on the user ("Y"), or simply return
him/her to the BFE menu system ("N").


                        CUSTOM DROPFILE EDITOR

Custom door information file support. BFE automatically recognizes most door
information file (drop file) formats, including DORINFO?.DEF, EXITINFO.BBS,
DOOR.SYS, SFDOORS.DAT, CALLINFO.BBS and CHAIN.TXT. However, to permit BFE to
operate on BBS systems that produce a different format file, you may define a
custom door information file format. A custom door information file format
can be defined in a file called CUSTOM.BFE.  When BFE starts, this file is
read in and a dynamic dropfile type is created and looked for by BFE.  BFE
will enable dropfile mode if it finds a valid custom dropfile.

The "CustomFileName" option specifies the filename used to distinguish this
file format from other file formats. This filename should not include a path.
To specify the path where the door information file is located, use the
BBSDir setting, near the beginning of this file. If the filename of the
custom format is the same as that of one of the built-in formats, the custom
format will override the built-in format.

See the BFE Reference Section on "Custom Dropfiles" for more information on
the format used.


                       FILE LIST/CHAT COLOR DEFAULTS

Select this option to setup the default color scheme to be used when in a
chat session with a user.  There are also options to configure the various
colors used to display a BFE style FILES.BBS file listing.

                          BFE MENU COLOR DEFAULTS

If using the built-in BFE menu style, you may want to change the default
color scheme used to display the menus.  Unless a specific override has been
enabled in either MENU OPTIONS or a COLOR OVERRIDE on a particular menu
option, the colors defined here will be used to display all menus.  It is
suggested to go ahead and set these colors to the colors which will be used
in most of your menus.  This makes maintenance a bit easier!

                           MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS

SYSOP NAME

The contents of this field should match *exactly* with the name that you
have/are planning to register BFE with!  This field is case-sensitive!


SYSTEM NAME

This field is purely an informational field, and should contain the name of
your BBS system or communications site.

NODE #

Enter the node number of your BBS (i.e. 1, 2, 3), or leave blank if running
on a multinode BBS system.

REGISTRATION #

Upon registering BFE, you will receive a key number which should be entered
into this field.

BFE/PERSONALITY

There are several options available to the Sysop while the user is in the BFE
Door.  These options and hotkeys differ from BBS "personality" to
"personality".  BFE currently supports three BBS personalities (WildCat!,
RemoteAccess 2.0x, and the default style).  For more information on the RA
and WildCat! hotkeys, consult the documentation which accompanied the BBS
software.  The sysop keys for the default personality are outlined later in
this manual.  Valid values are (RA, WC, or DF).

TIMELIMIT

This is the default BFE time limit given to all callers.  If you are not
running BFE via a bbs dropfile, BFE has no way of knowing how much time the
user has online!  Specify the amount in minutes.

INACTIVITY TIMEOUT

This value specifies the amount (in seconds) that BFE will allow a user to
sit idle at the keyboard before hanging up.

FREEZETIME

When BFE calls protocols and other external tasks, you can have the user's
remaining time temporarily "frozen", which means no time will be taken away
while in an external task of any kind.

LOCKED BPS

If running with a locked serial port, specify the locked baud rate of your
system here.

FOSSIL PORT

Enter the port number (0, 1, 2, etc) that your fossil driver is active on.

USER SYSTEM?

If you wish to make use of the internal BFE user system, this field should be
set to "Y".  See the section entitled "BFE User System" for more information
on implementing the user system.

SCROLLER DELAY

This setting is used to adjust the speed of the scrolling message at the top
of the BFE/Setup display area.  Setting this to a value of 0 will effectively
disable the scroller.

HIDE PASSWORDS IN MENU EDITOR?

If enabled ("Y"), BFE/Setup will "mask" all passwords as they are being
entered into the menu builder.  This is great if you do not wish for someone
to look over your shoulder while you are entering the password!


                              STARTUP OPTIONS

AUTO DETECT ANSI?

To have BFE attempt to automatically detect whether or not the user is
running an ANSI capable terminal, enter a "Y" in the field, or a "N" to
disable this feature.  If this option is disabled, the default graphics
mode will be ASCII/TTY.

AUTO DETECT RIP?

To have BFE attempt to automatically detect whether or not the user is
running a terminal capable of emulating the RIP graphics protocol, enter a
"Y" in this field, or a "N" to disable this feature.  If you do not plan on
supporting RIP on your system, you should disable this feature, as it takes a
second or two up front.

STARTUP SCRIPT

BFE has the ability to execute a "startup script" when the user connects. The
startup script will be shown after the user logs on (if you are using the BFE
user system), and after the welcome screen is displayed, but before they hit
the first .CTL file menu.  Simply enter the path and/or filename of the
script in this field.  Leave the field blank to disable this feature.


EXIT SCRIPT

BFE has the ability to execute an "exit script" when the user logs off
normally (i.e. the Goodbye command).  Simply enter the path and/or filename
of the script in this field.  Leave the field blank to disable this
feature.

RE-ENTRY SCRIPT

If BFE is started up in "re-entry" mode by using the -r switch on the command
line, it will attempt to execute this script in lieu of the normal startup
script listed above.  Simply enter the path and/or filename of the script in
this field.  Leave the field blank to disable this feature.

PRIVATE ENTRY SYSTEM

How many times have you been down at the office, or over at a friend's house,
and needed to connect to your system ASAP?  Once again, we listened to our
users, and voila! The BFE Private Entry System!  Through the use of this
feature, you can configure BFE with a "system entry password", between
certain hours of certain days of the week.  Simply enter the starting time
and ending time for the Private Entry System next to the appropriate day of
the week.  The system entry password can also be configured at this screen.
To disable the Private Entry System for a particular day of the week, simply
enter a value of zero (0) for the starting and ending times.  All times are
in 24 hour military format!

When the BFE Private Entry system is in effect, BFE will attempt to display
a file called PVTENTRY.??? (ASC/ANS/AVT - no RIP!).  This file should be used
to explain to your callers that your system is down temporarily for whatever
reason or another.  It will then ask them for the system entry password.

Please note that if BFE is started with the "-r" (re-entry) switch, this
feature will not appear, as BFE will assume that the user has been down that
path already.


                                MENU EDITOR

BFE/Setup's menu editor provides an intuitive method of constructing your BFE
menus, allowing you to concentrate on the flexibility and functionality of
the front end setup, rather than the semantics of a cryptic text-based
configuration file.

                            MENU ITEM SELECTOR LIST

Upon selecting this option, you will be presented with a list of the menu
items for the currently active menu (i.e. a .CTL file menu which has been
recently created or opened).  Here is where the fun begins!

When the list of menu items appears, simply use the cursor keys (or the
mouse) to select a menu option to edit.  All unused menu items will be marked
as so.  Press ENTER or the LEFT mouse button to confirm your selection.

You will then be presented with the menu option editor screen.  From here,
you tailor this particular menu option for an active role in your front end.
After you have made your changes or additions, pressing ESC will return you
to the menu item selector list, and will automatically retain your changes.
These changes are *not* written to disk, however, until you actually SAVE the
.CTL file from the main menu!

                            REARRANGING MENU ITEMS

There will be times when you need to re-arrange existing menu items to insert
new ones, etc.  To do this simply hit the space bar on one menu item, move to
the menu item you wish to swap positions with, and hit the space bar again.
The screen will flash, letting you know that the switch was made.

DESCRIPTION

Selecting this item will prompt you for a textual description which more or
less describes this option to your users.  The contents of this field will be
presented to your users at show time.  This field also serves the role of
"deleting" menu items, or making them temporarily inactive. By removing the
description, BFE will not activate this option for your users.

   Examples:     Select me to enter Southeastern DataLINK BBS!
                 Download our master file listing
                 Receive subscriber information

For options which make use of BFE's SlashCommand(tm) mode, the slash command
text should be entered in this field, before the description, and separated
from the actual description with a pipe sign (|).

   Examples:    BBS|Select me to enter the BBS!
                FILES|Download master file listing
                SHELL|Remote shell to DOS

SlashCommands can appear in any .CTL file, including the special GLOBAL
control file (more on this guy later).

HOTKEY

The hotkey field is a simple, yet necessary one.  The keystroke you enter in
this field will be displayed next to the textual description entered above in
the DESCRIPTION field.  The "hotkey" field represents the keypress needed to
activate the option.  You may use any character for this, however, if you
chose an alpha character (A through Z), it will use the uppercase form of the
character.  In other words, if you put a lowercase letter in as a hotkey,
BFE/Setup will convert it to uppercase.

This setting does not matter if the menu item is a SlashCommand(tm).

FLAVOR

BFE currently supports four option "flavors":

NORMAL and HIDDEN

All items marked as NORMAL will be displayed to your users.  Any items which
are labeled as HIDDEN will remain active, but will not be displayed to your
users.  This field serves no special purpose if you are using custom user-
defined menus!

SLASH/NORMAL and SLASH/HIDDEN

As part of BFE's SlashCommand(tm) technology, options can be marked with a
flavor of either SLASH/NORMAL or SLASH/HIDDEN.  When the user hits the '/'
key, he will be prompted for the SlashCommand to use, as opposed to simply
hitting a hotkey.

OPTION TYPE

This is perhaps the most critical part of configuring your new BFE system.
Each menu option must have a valid TYPE.  This type determines the action
that BFE will take if and when a user selects this menu option from the menu.
This action can range from something as simple as exiting on an errorlevel to
the calling batch files, to more complex actions, such as remote shells to
your operating system!

Keep in mind that the contents of this field determine the meaning and use of
other fields on the menu option editor screen.  See the BFE Reference Section
for a detailed listing of the menu types available for use within the BFE
system.

SECURITY

If a certain security level is needed to access a particular menu item,
specify this level here.

PORTSPEED

The PORTSPEED option was provided to allow Sysops who lock their serial ports
to pass either the TRUE port speed (i.e. 9600), or the LOCKED speed (i.e
38400).  This comes in handy when combined with download types or when
calling another BBS door from a BFE menu option.

 * NOTE:  Be sure to check the additional serial port locking options that
 appear in the global options menu in BFE/Setup! These must be set as well!

PASSPARMS

This option will force BFE to pass pertinent communication information on the
command line in type "R" menu items.  The parameters are passed in the
following order:

         %1 = port (1-4) (0 if local)
         %2 = speed (baud rate) (0 if local)
         %3 = time to next event
         %4 = node number (0 if not known)

PROMPT

The PROMPT keyword will force BFE to stop and get input from the current
user, and will store the results of his data entry into the PROCESS field,
which is described next.  This information is then passed on the command line
in type "R" menu options.  Using this option will override anything that you
have entered into the PROCESS field!

SECONDARY FIELD

The SECONDARY field is used as a catch-all field in BFE.  Its contents and
internal use are based solely on the menu type.  It can contain anything from
a simple errorlevel (for type "E" items), to a filename to be downloaded in a
download type (type "F").  The relevance of this field is described in the
BFE Reference Section, for each menu type that uses it.

PROCESS

The PROCESS field was designed to pass parameters to external tasks (other
than the default communication parameters toggled by PASSPARMS).  This field
is used automatically by the PROMPT feature.  The following macros are
available for use in this field:

         %p = port (1-4) (0 if local)
         %s = speed (baud rate) (0 if local)
         %t = time to next event
         %n = node number

SHOWAFTER

This field is used to display an ANSI/ASCII/AVATAR screen to your users AFTER
they select the menu item, but BEFORE the task is carried out.  See the
description of the type "D" option for more information on how BFE handles
the display of external files.

PASSWORD

Any menu item in BFE can be password protected!  Simply place the desired
password in this field.  When the user selects an option that has an
associated password, BFE will prompt him/her for the password.  After 3
failed attempts, BFE hangs up on the user and returns control to the calling
batch file.

COLOR OVERRIDE

When using BFE's internal menus (i.e. no custom user menus), the menus will
be displayed using the default menu color scheme configured under the Global
Options menu.  Should you wish to override any or all of those colors, simply
select this item!  A color picklist will appear, and will allow you to select
the appropriate color for the current menu item.  While in the picklist,
pressing PGUP/PGDN will toggle between the blinking colors (flashing) and the
constant colors.  Does not apply to internal RIP menus!

CREATE DROPFILE

This option, when enabled, will force BFE to create a bbs dropfile based on
the current user's settings.  This dropfile will be created in the directory
pointed to by the DROPFILE PATH field. This can be particularly handy when
running other doors from your BFE menus.

   Currently, the following dropfile formats are supported:

         - Standard DORINFO?.DEF
         - SFDOORS.DAT (Spitfire BBS)
         - DOOR.SYS (Both WildCat! and GAP/PCBoard flavors)

DROPFILE PATH

This should point to a directory in which BFE-generated dropfiles will be
created (Backslash optional).  One macro is available in this field.  By
placing a "%n" in the this field, you will force BFE to replace it with the
current node number at runtime.  For instance:

        \FD\BFE\WORK%n

on node 1 would essentially be

        \FD\BFE\WORK1


                                MENU OPTIONS

Under the MENU OPTIONS selection from the main menu, you are able to further
tailor the current menu to your liking.

REGISTRATION MESSAGE

By default, BFE displays its own registration message at the top of the
screen (both local and remote).  If BFE is unregistered, it will display "***
Unregistered Evaluation Copy **".  Upon registering BFE, this will be
replaced by "Registered to: <your name>".  However, registration of BFE
allows you to change this default registration message to whatever you like,
and since the message appears at the top of each menu, you could give a
different message for each menu, providing a title line.

CUSTOM USER MENU

By default, BFE will make use of an internal menu scheme.  This scheme is
very attractive to the eye and easy to follow.  However, at some point, you
may wish to create "custom" user menus.  These custom menu screens can be
created using your favorite ASCII editor, ANSI paint program, and/or a RIP
graphics paint package.  Simply place the full path and filename in this
field (path optional).  If you do not specify an extension to the file, BFE
will insert the extension at runtime, based on the user's graphic settings
(i.e. ASCII/ANSI/AVATAR/RIP).  See the section on the type "D" menu option
for more information on how BFE handles the displaying of external files.

CUSTOM MENU PROMPT

By default, BFE will use it's own internal "Selection" prompt at the bottom
of the default internal menus.  To override this for each menu, simply
place your custom menu prompt here!

CUSTOM COLORS

You may select custom colors for each "piece" of the default menu set.  These
settings are initialized to the settings which were configured in the GLOBAL
OPTIONS menu, but can be overriden for each of your menus to provide a custom
look.

** NOTES **

The custom menu prompts and registration messages are not enabled when using
a custom user menu!  These items may be added directly into your custom
screens via your favorite RIP/ANSI editors.

                                 MENU EVENTS

Under the MENU EVENTS selection from the main menu, you are able to further
tailor the current menu to your liking.

Each individual menu option can be configured with an optional event
"schedule", which in turn controls the items accessability to users.  These
schedules are local to each menu item.  In other words, each menu item has
its own set of scheduling times and dates.

By default, each menu item has a starting time and ending time of "00:00",
for each day of the week.  By setting these values to zero, the menu item
will be available at all times under normal BFE operation.  To limit a
particular item, simply place the appropriate starting and stopping times
next to the appropriate days of the week.  All times should be in 24 hour
military format (00:00 - 23:59).

** NOTES **

Keep in mind that the internal event scheduler for menu items is directly
tied to the default internal menus!  Essentially, we had to come up with
a work around for the fact that certain menu items would still be visible
to callers in a custom menu, even though the item may not be available at
the time of the user's call.  In this event, BFE will attempt to display a
file called NOTNOW.(ASC/ANS/AVT/RIP) in the BFE directory.  This file should
essentially explain to the user that the option is not currently available,
etc.  If this file is not found, the menu option will simply not do
anything.

                                  PROTOCOLS

Here is where all external protocols are configured for use within BFE.  This
is a very painless process, as you will soon find out!  You may configure up
to 10 external protocols.  There are three fields for each:

MENU NAME

Textual description which will describe this protocol to your users (i.e.
ZModem, YModem, etc).

BATCH PROCESSOR

The full path and filename of a batch file which will be called when a user
selects to transfer a file with this
protocol.

PROMPT FOR FILE

Some protocols automatically recognize the filename being uploaded (i.e.
ZModem), others do not (XModem).  If BFE needs to ask the user for the
filename, specify a "Y" in this field.

 BFE passes the following parameters to the configured batch file(s):

               %1 - Node number
               %2 - Port number (1-4)
               %3 - Serial Speed
               %4 - Filename (complete path, if specified in SEC.)
               %5 - U = Upload D = Download

It is up to you to put these batch files together (although the DSZ sample
set should suffice for all but the most giving of sysops!).  Also, since the
file transfer hook is provided in batch, this affords you the opportunity to
do additional processing, such as scanning uploads for viruses, or moving
uploads to another area on your system.  Endless.

                                LOCAL TEST

From this option, you can test out your BFE configuration in local mode, to
test your menu sets.  BFE looks for a batch file called BFELOCAL.BAT in your
BFE directory.  It is up to you to place the necessary call to BFE in this
batch file.  A sample BFELOCAL.BAT file has been included in the
distribution archive.  The only thing you need to change (essentially) is the
name of the .CTL file to start with.

                               MESSAGE BASES

                                 OVERVIEW

BFE has the ability to make use of Fidonet *.MSG or Squish message areas. You
can configure up to 20 message areas by selecting the MESSAGE BASES option
from the BFE/Setup main menu.  After selecting this option, you will be
presented with a picklist of the available areas.  To configure an area,
simply select the area to edit by using the cursor keys (or mouse) and
pressing RETURN.  This pulls up the Message Area Editor.  There are a number
of options which need to be configured for each message area that
you wish to use with BFE.

PATH/FILENAME OF AREA

This setting depends upon the message base format you intend to use.
Currently, the fidonet *.MSG format and the Scott Dudley's Squish format are
supported.  Fidonet style areas should point to the directory to hold the
messages.  Squish areas should point to the path and *base* name of the
squish base.

         Examples:  C:\FD\PVTMAIL
                    C:\BINKLEY\NETMAIL

DESTINATION ADDRESS

This is the fidonet style network address which represents the destination of
the message.  To keep messages locally, simply enter your own address.

ORIGINATING ADDRESS

This is the fidonet style network address which represents YOUR network
address.

NORMAL OR UUCP?

If the message is destined for a UUCP mail gateway, specify a "U" in this
field.  In this scenario, BFE will insert the now-infamous "To:" line in the
first line of the message text.

MESSAGE ATTRIBUTES

The following message attributes may be enabled:

         - PRIVATE
         - CRASH
         - HOLD
         - KILL/SENT
         - FILE ATTACH
         - FILE REQUEST

Additional message attributes may be added in the future.  Simply answer "Y"
or "N" for each attribute.  Any message that BFE generates for this area will
have the configured attributes.

DEFAULT "TO" FIELD

To provide a default "to" field for the message, simply enter this here.  If
you leave this field blank, BFE will prompt the user for a recipient's name
before he/she enters the message.

         Examples: Sysop
                   areafix
                   Scott Burkett

DEFAULT "FROM" FIELD

To provide a default "from" field for the message, simply enter this here.
If you leave this field blank, BFE will prompt the user for their name before
he/she enters the message.  If you are using the BFE user system, or are
running BFE via a BBS dropfile, you can have BFE use the user's logon name
for this field by simply placing a tilde (~) as the contents of this field.

         Examples: ~
                   Sysop
                   areafix
                   Scott Burkett

DEFAULT "SUBJECT" FIELD

To provide a default subject field for the message, simply enter this here.
If you leave this field blank, BFE will prompt the user for a subject before
he/she enters the message.

         Examples: Feedback
                   mypass -R -Q

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

A brief description is required for each of your configured message areas.
This description is the same text used in the message area selector list.

         Examples: Feedback to Sysop Area
                   Areafix Request Area

EXTERNAL EDITOR

If you wish to use an external full screen editor in lieu of the limited
internal BFE line editor, simply place the name of the batch file or the
executable in this field.  BFE will automatically look for an "import"
file in the IPC directory called "MSGTMP.nnn", where nnn is the node number
(i.e. MSGTMP.1, MSGTMP.2, etc).  This file will be imported into the body
of the message.

         Examples: C:\UTILS\EXTEDIT.BAT
                   C:\UTILS\TOPED.EXE