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Monster Media 1996 #14
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Monster Media No. 14 (April 1996) (Monster Media, Inc.).ISO
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┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ▒▒▒▄▄▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ A QWK-compatible mail door for RBBS-PC │ █
│ ▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ Copyright (C) 1991-93 Newark Connections │ █
│ ▒▒█ ▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ Copyright (C) 1993-96 Makai Software │ █
│ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ All rights reserved │ █
│ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ │ █
│ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ Version 4.00, January 26, 1996 │ █
│ │ █
│ ▒▒▒▄▄▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▄▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ │ █
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│ ▒▒█ ▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ │ █
│ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒▄ │ █
│ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ │ █
│ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ │ █
│ │ █
│ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ │ █
│ ▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒▄ │ █
│ Makai Software ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ │ █
│ 870 Golden Drive ▒▒█▀▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀ │ █
│ Newark, OH 43055 ▀▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▀▀ │ █
│ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ │ █
│ │ █
│ http://www.infinet.com/~chip/makai.html │ █
│ │ █
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ █
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
"Go gently among the messages and comments that have been left and
remember what peace there may be in silence."
"...Be proud of those whose company you keep -- all those that are
running or have ever run RBBS-PC."
"...Be careful. Strive to be happy and enjoy......."
Tom Mack
July 28, 1986
MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ TABLE OF CONTENTS - Page i -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL INFORMATION
Introduction......................................................1
Warranty, Distribution, and Disclaimers...........................1
Shareware Registration Form.......................................3
Features and Limitations..........................................4
Checklist of System Requirements..................................6
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+
** Before you begin, READ THIS !! **..............................7
Upgrading from an earlier version.................................7
First time installation..........................................10
Locked comm port rates...........................................12
Command line option switches.....................................13
Planning your user interface.....................................15
Sysop-configurable text files....................................18
Additional text files for FIDO/Netmail areas.....................23
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG utility)
Screen 1 (General configuration # 1).............................26
Screen 2 (General configuration # 2).............................30
Screen 3 (General configuration # 3).............................34
Screen 4 (Conference selection)..................................36
Screen 5 (Conference parameters).................................37
Multiple configuration files.....................................44
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG AREAS
Introduction to FIDO format......................................45
Setting up FIDO conferences......................................46
Netmail areas....................................................48
Netmail messages within reply packets............................51
Additional thoughts on FIDO......................................54
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS
Debugging your setup and running in local mode...................55
Non-standard port addresses (via MMGR.PRO).......................58
DesqVIEW, OS/2, networks, and multiple nodes.....................59
Using a fossil...................................................61
QWK Networking...................................................62
Security features................................................62
Additional features..............................................64
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+
General overview.................................................68
CFG2TXT & TXT2CFG - Binary <-> Text utilities....................69
MAILFIX - RBBS message base maintenance utility..................71
MMINDEX - Indexing utility for *.MSG areas.......................72
MMGRNODE - MMGR Fido nodelist compiler...........................73
MNET - QWK Network Packet Conversion Utility.....................74
MUSER - Editor for Door User Files...............................75
UPDATE & UPDATUSR - Upgrade File Conversion Utilities............76
MENU COMMANDS
Main menu........................................................77
Configuration menu...............................................80
Conference selection..........................................80
Message selection.............................................82
MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ TABLE OF CONTENTS - Page ii -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDICES
A: Common Problems...............................................86
B: Contacting the Authors........................................90
C: Acknowledgements..............................................92
D: File Formats..................................................94
MMGR.CFG - door configuration file............................94
MUSR.MGR - main door user file................................97
xU.MGR - auxiliary conference user file.......................99
E: About this Document..........................................100
INDEX..............................................................101
INTRODUCTION TO MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 1 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
-------------
The 'QWK' format, developed by Mark "Sparky" Herring, has been around
for some time now, and serves as a standardized way to transfer mail,
news, and bulletins between a bulletin board and its users.
Mail Manager was conceived as a way to handle RBBS-PC message bases
offline, via this 'QWK' format used by popular mail readers such as
SLMR, JABBER, OFFLINE, OLX, and many others.
This type of mail transfer is normally a four-step process:
1) The user calls your BBS, opens the QWK-style mail door, and
downloads a *.QWK mail packet.
2) After logging off the BBS, any of the many QWK-compatible offline
mail programs may be used to read and reply to messages in the
downloaded mail packets. The reader packs any replies written by
the user into a reply packet.
3) The user calls your BBS back up, opens the QWK-style mail door, and
uploads the reply packet (*.REP).
4) The QWK-style mail door then processes the reply packet, and
inserts the new messages into the proper message base(s).
Having experienced this marvelous system on other BBS types, we
searched for such a system for RBBS-PC. None seemed to be available
out there at that time, so it looked like we'd just have to write one
ourselves. The result is Mail Manager +Plus+, the latest in our
continuing effort to add additional features to our original basic
Mail Manager package. Mail Manager and Mail Manager +Plus+ have been
in development since January of 1991, and they are by far the largest
projects that either of us have ever tackled, or are ever likely to!
WARRANTY, DISTRIBUTION, AND DISCLAIMERS
--------------------------------------
Mail Manager +Plus+ is NOT guaranteed in any way, shape, or form.
Although we have worked very hard to keep our door compatible with a
wide variety of possible RBBS configurations, we are forced to deal
with two very important aspects of your RBBS-PC: your USER files, and
your MESSAGE files. While it works just fine here, there may be
differences in your setup that can cause problems. THEREFORE:
RUN MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
The Mail Manager +Plus+ package (MPLUS400.ZIP) may be distributed
freely (in unmodified form) to friends, associates, and bulletin
boards. Re-archiving into your favorite format (ARJ, LZH, etc.) is
permitted, provided that the entire package (and all documentation) is
included in the re-archiving process, and no files are modified or
added. If you received this package in some other format than
MPLUS400.ZIP, or the .ZIP file does not have -AV verification from
Chip Morrow or Doug Wilson, then you did not receive an original copy.
INTRODUCTION TO MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 2 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please see Appendix B for information about where you may obtain Mail
Manager +Plus+ in its official release form.
If you are a registered user of our door, do *NOT* distribute the
registration code that you received from us. This is your own
personal registration, and is not for distribution.
If you are a shareware distributor/dealer, you may distribute Mail
Manager +Plus+ provided you make it clear that any fees paid to you do
NOT constitute paying for the use of the program.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Mail Manager +Plus+ is a fully-functional SHAREWARE package.
If you like our door, and continue using it beyond a reasonable
evaluation period, you are obligated to register it with us. Your
registration will be good for future releases of the door as well.
Registration of our door simply removes the "* UNREGISTERED *
Evaluation copy" notice that you and your users see when the door
loads, and replaces it with your registration number and name. Mail
Manager +Plus+ is not otherwise crippled in *ANY* way.
A companion product, MNET QWK-compatible network processing software,
is also available from Makai Software. This product is explained
elsewhere in this document.
The registration fee structure for Mail Manager +Plus+ / MNET is:
Mail Manager +Plus+ alone = $25.00
Mail Manager +Plus+ and MNET at same time = 30.00
MNET - add to existing Mail Manager +Plus+ reg. = 7.50
(incl latest Mail Manager +Plus+ on disk)
MNET by itself = 10.00
If you are already a registered user of Mail Manager +Plus+, and don't
want MNET, you're all set; just download the latest version of the
door from your favorite source.
As you can see, we're not attempting to get rich here, just trying to
cover some of the cost of development and support. As a Sysop
yourself, you already know what it costs for any LD connect time at
all, and the number of hours spent in front of the keyboard.
If you never intend to register Mail Manager +Plus+ with us, and/or
need only a fraction of its features, you may wish to consider our
"free" version of the door instead, which does not require a
registration fee for continued use.
If you do choose to register, your support will be most welcome! The
registration form is on the next page.
INTRODUCTION TO MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 3 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
REGISTRATION FORM FOR MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+
Name:.......................................................
Address:.......................................................
City/State/Zip:.......................................................
Mail Manager +Plus+ version that I am currently using:.....v4.00......
BBS Name (as you'd like it to appear in the registration information).
This can be your organization name, your name, or any other one-liner
that you would like your users to see when the door loads. Should not
exceed 60 characters (for display considerations):
......................................................................
Specify disk size: [ ] 3.5" [ ] 5.25" 360k [ ] 5.25" 1.2m
Comments (optional):..................................................
......................................................................
......................................................................
OPTIONAL: Email address / BBS phone number /Zone:Net/Node ID (for our
use in case we feel it necessary to contact you directly).
................................. Speed: ............
[ ] Mail Manager +Plus+ QWK mail door for RBBS-PC and Fido *.MSG,
with MNET.EXE node QWK network conversion utility: ........ $30.00
[ ] Mail Manager +Plus+ QWK mail door for RBBS-PC and Fido *.MSG:
$25.00
[ ] MNET QWK network node conversion utility alone .......... : $10.00
[ ] MNET - add to existing Mail Manager +Plus+ registration, with
current Mail Manager +Plus+ release on disk...............: $7.50
My MMGR+ registration # is __________ <-- IMPORTANT! ------
Total enclosed: $_______
We will mail you a copy of the current version(s) of Mail Manager
+Plus+ (and/or MNET, if applicable), and registration key files for
the name entered above. One registration covers all nodes of your
BBS.
Send check or money order (PAYABLE TO F. D. WILSON) for total amount
in U.S. Funds to:
Makai Software
870 Golden Drive
Newark, OH 43055
INTRODUCTION TO MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 4 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEATURES AND LIMITATIONS
------------------------
The length of this list got ridiculous a long time ago. So, we'll
only list the MAJOR stuff that you might be interested in:
- Can use a FOSSIL for communications (HIGHLY recommended).
- Supports both DesqVIEW and NetBIOS file & record locking schemes, as
well as file sharing under NetBIOS, and supports Novell networks.
- Support for running as a DOS application under OS/2.
- Can swap itself to disk during shell operations (leaving only 3K
kernel in memory), to free up conventional memory for archivers,
protocols, etc.
- Mail packets can be downloaded in either text or QWK format. Both
types of mail packets can, at the option of the sysop, contain all
sorts of additional stuff such as bulletins, news, new file
listings, etc.
- Supports the optional multiple message headers that were introduced
in RBBS-PC v17.4.
- Supports both types of RBBS-PC message bases, fixed-length and
'elastic'. (Your message bases are 'elastic' if you have
configured them to GROW as messages are added). Can handle a mix
of both 'fixed-length' and 'elastic' message bases.
- Supports FIDO-style *.MSG message bases, as well as RBBS-PC's own
*M.DEF's.
- Supports FIDO-style *.MSG netmail areas. If using a Binkley-
compatible mailer, also provides CRASH capability, file-attaches,
and file requests. Supports "point" addresses.
- Each FIDO-style *.MSG area is configured with its own Zone:Net/Node
address, so you can painlessly be a part of many different mail
zones. Also, AKA addresses are supported for Netmail areas, so
crash mail can be sent to many different zones with a single
netmail area.
- Supports QWK networks, can generate net-status-capable QWK packets
for specific usernames.
- Users can read, reply, and post messages to both RBBS-PC *M.DEF and
Fido *.MSG areas while online within the door, as well as use
offline QWK/REP transfer of mail.
- Multi-node support (up to 999 nodes) via DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF and
separate subdirectories for each node (built by Mail Manager on-
the-fly).
- Up to 25,600 conferences can be configured.
INTRODUCTION TO MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 5 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Support for non-standard communication ports & IRQ's via FOSSIL,
MMGR.PRO, and batch files.
- Sysop-configurable limit of number of messages which can be
extracted and downloaded in any one mail packet (default is 1000).
Subsequent downloads will extract any additional waiting messages.
(1,000 messages means at least a 300K compressed mail packet).
Users can set their own lower limits if desired.
- BPS rates up to 115K, and COM ports 1-4 are supported.
- X, Y, and Zmodem for file transfers via Forsberg's DSZ, or you can
use our implementation of PROTO.DEF (MMGR.PRO) and configure a
number of different protocols.
- "(R)", and "Re:", when found at the beginning of the subject field
of extracted messages, are stripped from the field. This allows
offline readers to group related messages together, rather than
into one group with and one without.
- High/low ASCII can be allowed or stripped in each conference.
- ANSI can be allowed or stripped in each conference.
- Mail reader tearlines in uploaded messages can be altered (for
possible FIDO compatibility) from "--- " to "... ", or left alone
for each conference.
- The popular "alias" merge is supported, and alias names can be
allowed or disallowed by conference.
- Conferences can be joined from within the door, or can be configured
to force the users to join from RBBS-PC.
- User can restore message pointers to the values they had prior to
extracting their previous mail packet.
- Extensive security checks.
INTRODUCTION TO MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 6 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS
-------------------------
[ ] DOS v3.30 or above.
[ ] At least one RBBS-PC message base and user file, or if you are
running a BBS type other than RBBS-PC, a conversion utility to
create one for you.
[ ] If you are running RBBS-PC, separate RBBS-PC users files for each
conference/subboard.
[ ] DINFx.DEF for remote operation (DORINFOx.DEF for pre-v17.5 RBBS).
[ ] A recent version of DSZ.COM (one that supports the "handshake
slow" command) *IN A DOS PATH!*, or the external protocols of
your choice via MMGR.PRO (our implementation of RBBS-PC's
PROTO.DEF).
[ ] The environment variable of your choice set to indicate where Mail
Manager is to look for "XFER-[node].DEF" (where [node] is the
node number). XFER-x.DEF is no longer required to be in the
default directory. (NOTE: for RBBS 17.5+ this is now
XFER[node].DEF, with no hyphen.)
[ ] The file compression/extraction program(s) of your choice in a DOS
path, or wherever you specified them in Mail Manager's list of
archivers (MMGR.ARL).
[ ] Memory:
About 310K free memory for Mail Manager +Plus+ itself, plus a few
more bytes for each conference, due to internal processing. The
full complement of 25,600 conferences would require pretty close
to 590K. If you don't swap to disk, you must add to this figure
whatever you need for your file compression software and external
file transfer protocols to operate.
It doesn't take a lot of math to figure out that if you have a
lot of conferences, or are tight on RAM, the door must be swapped
out of memory before the file compression program or external
file transfer protocol can be expected to load and work.
There are two ways to do this. You can use the door's built-in
capability of swapping itself to disk during external operations,
or you can locate and use a "loader" program such as Davis
Augustine's "SHROOM" that swaps the application to disk whenever
it shells to an external process. The same result is achieved
either way - conventional memory is freed for external
operations.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 7 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLING THE PROGRAM
======================
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
----------------
*********************** PLEASE READ THIS!!!!! ***********************
RBBS-PC has the unique ability to create, read, and manipulate its own
corrupted message bases, without ever telling you that anything's
wrong.
Mail Manager is not as forgiving, and requires that your message bases
be in good condition. It is therefore STRONGLY suggested that you run
some type of checkout/repair utility against your message bases BEFORE
installing Mail Manager +Plus+. We've included a utility named
MAILFIX to repair/purge/renumber your message bases, which you can try
out as an alternative to CONFIG.EXE's repair and purge functions.
MAILFIX can accomodate RBBSMail'ed, MsgToss'ed, and OverMail'ed
message bases (which have differently-formatted message headers), as
well as RBBS-standard message bases, INCLUDING v17.4 and later multi-
headers. This is in contrast to RBBS-PC's CONFIG option #185, which
simply will not properly handle a message base that has been
manipulated by any of these mail processors.
MAILFIX is found in the separate MFIX433.ZIP archive. *PLEASE* take a
few minutes to read the documentation for MAILFIX before you attempt
to utilize this program!
In any event, you really SHOULD check out the integrity of your
message bases before attempting to install Mail Manager.
UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION
---------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are upgrading from a version lower than 1.30, your best bet is
to set up Mail Manager +Plus+ from scratch. The changes are simply
too extensive to be handled as an update. Initial installation is
covered in a page or two.
Version 4.00 is a MAJOR update to Mail Manager +Plus+. The formats of
the configuration and user files have both changed, as well as the
file names of most of the door's other support files. We suggest
following this checklist IN ORDER:
[ ] - Back up your Mail Manager directory! It never hurts to play it
safe in case you need to fall back to your current version for
some reason.
[ ] - We distributed several wide beta versions of the door, on the
road to the very version that you're installing now. The final
wide beta was v3.94b, and if you are upgrading from that
version, you need only replace the executables, install the
*.HL* help files, and the RIP files (MMGRR*.*). The rest of
you, keep reading. :)
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 8 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ ] - If you are currently running a version of the door that contains
an MUSER.EXE utility, we suggest running your current MUSER to
purge inactive users prior to converting to v4.00. This will
speed up the conversion process.
[ ] - Overwrite all executables with the ones contained within
400-EXE.ZIP. (You backed up your old ones, right?)
[ ] - If your current version of the door is between v1.30 and v3.51,
you must do the following next:
A - Unzip the enclosed file UPDT361.ZIP, and run the enclosed
UPDATE.EXE utility.
B - If you are upgrading from the free version of Mail Manager
(v1.30 through v1.36a), run the UPDATUSR.EXE that was
included in the UPDT361.ZIP archive. DO NOT run this
utility if you are upgrading from any version of Mail
Manager +Plus+, v2.00 to v3.61!!
C - Delete UPDATE.EXE and UPDATUSR.EXE. You won't need them
again.
This will update your setup sufficiently so that the files
contained in UPDT400.ZIP can do their job. At this point you
have effectively upgraded your setup to v3.61.
[ ] - Unzip the enclosed file UPDT400.ZIP, which contains the new
UPDATUSR and UPDATE utilities. THESE TWO UTILITIES WILL ONLY
WORK WITH VERSIONS 3.52 THROUGH 3.61 OF THE DOOR!
[ ] - Run UPDATUSR.EXE. This will carry your MAILMGR.USR data forward
into the new MUSR.MGR file format used by v4.00. Some of the
data formerly stored in MAILMGR.USR will be moved out to new
conference auxiliary user files which will be created
automatically. (More on these later.)
[ ] - Run UPDATE.EXE to convert your current MAILMGR.CFG file to the
new format (MMGR.CFG). This will carry your current
configuration settings over into the new file format for
version 4.00. If you wish to convert a node-specific
configuration file (MAILMGRx.CFG instead of MAILMGR.CFG), pass
the full path/filename on the command line (such as UPDATE
C:\MMGR\MAILMGR1.CFG), and repeat for each node-specific file.
UPDATE.EXE will also copy many of your support files over to
the new file name conventions used by v4.00.
UPDATE.EXE should be run *AFTER* UPDATUSR.EXE. UPDATE.EXE
gives you the option of deleting your old configuration and
text files when it is finished running. The UPDATUSR utility
requires that your old door configuration file (MAILMGR.CFG) be
present in the current directory when it runs. We strongly
suggest that you make a backup of your MAILMGR.CFG and
MAILMGR.USR before updating your setup.
After you have run UPDATUSR and UPDATE, you will not need them
again, and you can delete them from your disk.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 9 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ ] - Overwrite the MMGR*.HL1 and MMGR*.HL2 help files that the
conversion process created with the ones included in the 400-
TXT archive. These are the new help files, which have been
revised with this release.
[ ] - If you plan to allow RIP graphics in the door, install the
MMGRR*.* files from the 400-TXT archive. Put these in the same
directory in which you have installed the door.
At this point the basics are in place. Depending on which version of
the door you are upgrading from, some or all of the rest of the text
and configuration files contained in the 400-TXT archive may have
changed. You will want to have a look at them and compare against
your existing setup.
The options in MAILCFG have changed. You will want to run the new
MAILCFG against all of your door configuration files (MMGR*.CFG) to
set the new options accordingly for your system.
Some of the system text files have changed in format, and there may be
new ones that you need to be aware of and modify accordingly. At this
point, skip down to the section of this manual that discusses the text
configuration files that the door uses, and modify yours accordingly.
The door executable is now MMGR.EXE instead of MAILMGR.EXE. Change
the batch file that loads the door accordingly.
*WHEW* That's about it. Keep reading... we're about to go over the
whole magilla from scratch.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 10 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLING THE DOOR FROM SCRATCH
--------------------------------
If for some reason these instructions are not clear to you, or this is
your first attempt at installing a door in your RBBS-PC, there's
really not much that can take the place of RBBS-PC's documentation.
With that said...
Check your environment variables (type "SET" at the DOS prompt). Both
RBBS-PC and Mail Manager +Plus+ look for a file transfer log file, to
determine whether or not a file transfer was succesful. This file is
named "XFERx.DEF" in RBBS v17.5, or "XFER-x.DEF" (with a hyphen) in
earlier versions. In both examples, "x" is the node number.
Mail Manager +Plus+ needs an environment variable to determine this
filename and where it is located on your system. Most of us seem to be
using Forsberg's DSZ for file transfers, so there should be a line
referencing "DSZLOG" in either the batch file you use to load RBBS-PC,
or your system's AUTOEXEC.BAT, which would look something like this
for node 1:
DSZLOG=C:\RBBS\XFER1.DEF
or...
DSZLOG=XFER1.DEF
After a file transfer, if Mail Manager +Plus+ cannot find the file
that this environment variable points to, it will report that all file
transfers have failed.
In any case, make a note of the environment variable name (in this
case DSZLOG), since you'll need it later.
Once you're past this, you can get on to the actual installation.
Create a subdirectory just for Mail Manager +Plus+. Stick it anywhere
you want, and name it anything you want, just be sure that it is a
drive and directory specifically meant for Mail Manager +Plus+. From
here on we'll just refer to it as the "\MMGR" directory.
De-compress the imbedded archives "400-EXE.ZIP" and "400-TXT.ZIP" to
the directory you just created.
Now go through the motions of adding a new door to your system. On a
'normal' RBBS-PC this would entail:
- Editing MENU5* (or whatever you have named your door menu) and
adding the word " MMGR ".
- Creating a MMGR.BAT file, and sticking it where RBBS can find it.
Your batch file that calls Mail Manager +Plus+ is very important,
and as a minimum must logically do the following:
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 11 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Change to the drive and directory where MMGR.EXE is located,
- copy the DINFx.DEF (or DORINFOx.DEF) door information file to
that directory,
- execute the MMGR program, passing the node number on the command
line, and
- return to your RBBS directory when finished.
With that in mind, a minimum batch file would look something like
this:
cd \mmgr
copy \rbbs\dinf%1.def
mmgr %1
cd \rbbs
Note that RBBS-PC 17.5 which is in wide beta testing as this is
written uses the name DINFx.DEF for the door information file it
creates, rather than DORINFOx.DEF used in earlier versions.
Starting with v3.60, Mail Manager +Plus+, is coded to look for
DINFx.DEF if DORINFOx.def is not found. If you are using a version
of RBBS-PC earlier than v17.5, the second line of the batch file
above should be
copy \rbbs\dorinfo%1.def
If you're running the "DOORS.DEF" method that RBBS-PC provides, here's
an example line to implement Mail Manager +Plus+ in RBBS v17.5:
MMGR,5,,D,MMGR.BAT [NODE],N,,,200,Y,D,,
This line tells RBBS-PC the following:
1) The name of the door is MMGR.
2) Security level 5 and above can access the door.
3) No questionnaire is to be invoked.
4) Exit to this door, rather than shell to it. (Mail Manager
requires a lot of RAM)
5) The name of the batch file to invoke is MMGR.BAT and
RBBS-PC is to pass the node number to the batch file.
* NOTE - Type the word "[NODE]" as shown above enclosed in
brackets, and RBBS-PC will replace it with the true node
number when it calls the batch file. If you are running a
single-node system, and find this confusing, you can instead
pass the node number directly, but it isn't necessary to do
it this way. This would make your DOORS.DEF line look
something like this:
MMGR,5,,D,MMGR.BAT 1,N,,,200,Y,D,,
6) Don't ask for a password when returning back to RBBS-PC.
7) Don't display a text file when the door closes.
8) Use the time limit from RBBS-PC as the time allowed in the
door.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 12 -
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NOTE: RBBS versions prior to v17.5 only support the first 8
of these parameters.
9) Security Level (max to use door) is 200
10) Drop Carrier ok? Yes.
11) Drop file type (S,R,D) D=DINFx.DEF
12) Registration date change (default = no)
13) Look for door name in current directory? (default = yes)
LOCKED COMM PORT RATES
----------------------
If you have your communications port locked higher than what the
user's actual connect speed is going to be, you may find that Mail
Manager +Plus+ will not report the correct BPS rate, nor will it
estimate the amount of time required for file transfers properly.
This is due to RBBS-PC passing the locked BPS rate to the door in
DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF, instead of true connect speed.
RBBS-PC versions 17.3C and lower had no provision for passing the true
connect rate to doors. The locked rate is always passed to
DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF. The only way around this is to run RBBS-PC
v17.4 or later, and modify the command line used to call Mail Manager
+Plus+. The following will work *ONLY* with RBBS-PC v17.4 and up! (or
with copies of RBBS-PC compiled with the CBAUD merge):
Change the DOORS.DEF example mentioned earlier to read:
MMGR,5,,D,MMGR.BAT [NODE] [CBAUD],N,,,200,Y,D,,
Then, in your batch file that loads the door:
mmgr %1 /CBAUD%2
If the door is called on node 4 of your system, and the user's connect
rate is 2400 BPS, the above line will look like this to Mail Manager
+Plus+:
mmgr 4 /CBAUD2400
With this done, your basic door installation is finished, and the time
has come to plan your interface for the users, and to configure the
door for your system.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 13 -
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COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
--------------------
Mail Manager +Plus+ has several different available command line
options. You will never use all of them at once, but variations of
these can be useful for the various operations that the door is
capable of performing.
MMGR [Node] [/I] [/O] [/A] [/CBAUDxxxxx] [/WX:\PATH] [/Vxx] [/TS]
Node = The node number currently in use. (1, 2, 3, etc.)
/I = "Import mode". Most useful when operating in local mode, this
option causes the door to immediately process a REP packet
that is waiting in the proper work directory.
/O = "Output mode". Most useful when operating in local mode, this
option causes the door to immediately extract mail from your
selected conferences, creating a new mail packet.
/A = "Automatic mode". Again, most useful in local mode. This
option causes the door to go straight into E)xpedite mode,
which will process any waiting .REP, and also extract any new
waiting mail.
/CBAUD = An option that became available with the advent of RBBS-PC's
template variable "[CBAUD]", to pass the true connect rate of
the user. This option can be used in your DOORS.DEF as
follows, but ONLY IF YOU ARE RUNNING A VERSION OF RBBS-PC THAT
SUPPORTS THE [CBAUD] VARIABLE!:
/CBAUD[CBAUD]
Then, if the user were connected at 2400 bps on your system,
Mail Manager +Plus+ would see it like so:
/CBAUD2400
This makes the door capable of accurately determining transfer
times for your users.
/W = Drive/path to use for work directories. Mail Manager +Plus+
normally creates and manipulates files in separate directories
below the directory in which you installed the door. If you
are tight on disk space on this drive, or would rather use a
ram disk for a work drive, you can specify this option. NOTE
- If you implement this option, and intend to use a RAM disk
for a work drive, it had best be a BIG one indeed! Don't
forget that a single MESSAGES.DAT can be over 1 meg in size,
plus you'll need additional space for the archived mail
packet. And if you have multiple nodes all trying to use this
ram disk, you'll need a big one. If you run out of room, you
will not be able to pack/unpack the QWK or REP packet.
To use drive "X" as your work drive, this command would look
like this:
/WX:
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 14 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The door *will* create separate work subdirectories (such as
\LOCAL, \NODE1, etc.) off of what you specify here. In the
above example, X:\LOCAL, X:\NODE1, etc. would be used as your
work directories. You can specify a specific path to use as
the base for these directories, if you do not want them off
the root of your work drive.
If you do not use this option, Mail Manager +Plus+ will create
the work directories off the directory in which you installed
the door.
/Vnn = Conference which should receive any security violation messages
generated by Mail Manager +Plus+. By default violation
messages are placed in conference #1, but you can change this
to any conference you wish. To change to conference 2, you
would use the switch as /V2.
/TS = A "trouble-shoot" option. This will cause a file by the name
of TSHTx.LOG to be written in the path to log files (as-
specified in MAILCFG), which will contain quite a bit of debug
information that may be useful in helping to trace down
problems. Use this option only temporarily if you're having
trouble getting the door to function, as these TSHTx.LOG files
get big in a hurry.
Sample command lines, based on the above:
MMGR - No command line options always assumes local operation.
Door will come up in local mode, using the sysop name as
listed in the configuration file. Any mail packets
created during the session will be placed in the \LOCAL
work directory, as mentioned above.
MMGR /A - Local mode, automatic operation. Goes straight into
expedite mode, then returns to DOS. Processes any waiting
.REP in the \LOCAL work directory, and will also create a
mail packet there if there was any new unread mail waiting
to be picked up.
MMGR 1 /o - Read DINF1.DEF/DORINFO1.DEF for operating parameters,
create a new mail packet in the \NODE1 work directory, and
return to DOS.
MMGR 1 /i - Read DINF1.DEF/DORINFO1.DEF for operating parameters,
process any waiting .REP packet in the \NODE1 work
directory, and return to DOS.
MMGR 5 /CBAUD14400 /wD:\WORK - Read DINF5.DEF/DORINFO5.DEF for
operating parameters, tell the door that the connect rate
is 14400 bps, and use D:\WORK as the base drive\dir for
the door's work directories. The program will use
D:\WORK\NODE5 as its work directory.
MMGR 3 /CBAUD2400 /V5 - Read DINF3.DEF/DORINFO3.DEF for operating
parameters, tell the door that the connect rate is 2400
BPS, and have conference #5 receive any violation notices.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 15 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By careful, planned use of these options, and "dummy" DINFx.DEF or
DORINFOx.DEF files with the communications port configured as COM0,
you can do some mighty advanced stuff via batch files. Some thoughts
that come immediately to mind are "prescanned" mail packets for
specific users, and automatic operation of QWK networking. As you
become more familiar with the door, and begin using it yourself in
local mode as the sysop, more and more of these options are likely to
become useful to you.
PLANNING YOUR USER INTERFACE
----------------------------
As with most aspects of your RBBS-PC, you will get the best results
from Mail Manager +Plus+ with a little advance planning. To your
users, the single most important aspect of Mail Manager +Plus+ will be
the ability to locate which conferences they want to follow. This
sounds simple enough, but think about that for a second, especially if
you're running a system with more than a handful of conferences.
Here are some serious points to consider BEFORE diving into the
configuration program:
1 - Your RBBS-PC MAIN message base must ALWAYS be configured as
conference #1. This is VERY IMPORTANT - Mail Manager +Plus+
simply will not function properly if your MAIN area is not #1 on
the list. The door uses the information found in the MAIN area
for some of its default functions for each user. If you are not
running RBBS-PC, your conversion utility that loads the door must
be capable of creating RBBS-PC users and messages files, which
you would configure as area #1. The user file created in this
operation MUST (as a minimum) contain information for the user
that is loading the door.
2 - Once MailCFG creates your configuration file, and your users start
using the door, you cannot easily re-sort your conferences.
3 - If you have several different TYPES of conferences (such as local,
RBBS-NET, FIDONET, etc.), you'll want to consider how to group
the conferences together for the user's purposes.
4 - Will you be adding more conferences at some point? Will you want
those conference names to be inserted in the middle of your list
of conference numbers? It is easy to tack conferences onto the
end, but to insert them in the middle requires a little
forethought to reserve empty conference numbers *NOW*.
5 - After Mail Manager +Plus+ has been running for a while, and you
decide to delete a conference, delete it, but RESERVE THE SPACE
FOR THAT CONFERENCE NUMBER!!! If you don't, your conferences
will be re-numbered, and the unsuspecting users might
inadvertently upload a reply to the wrong conference number.
If all this is too much to think about for the moment, consider this
relatively simple example... Say you have a total of 3 conferences:
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 16 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 MAIN message base, 1 RBBS-NET area, and 1 FIDONET area.
Now, if you think at some point that you might add two more
conferences to your list of RBBS-NET conferences, and maybe five more
local areas, here's how you might want the conference numbers to look
from Mail Manager's standpoint:
1 - MAIN - My main message base
2 - ---
3 - ---
4 - ---
5 - ---
6 - ---
7 - RBBSNET - An RBBSNet conference
8 - ---
9 - ---
10 - FIDONET - A FidoNet conference
When you do add an extra local conference, you can insert it in
position #2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.
Otherwise, your conferences will be ordered as:
1 - MAIN
2 - RBBSNET
3 - FIDONET
... and you would have to tack that new local conference on at
position #4. If you insert the new conference between positions 1 and
2, RBBSNET becomes conferences 3, and FIDONET becomes conference 4,
making any user's exiting REP packet that they may be waiting to
upload suddenly invalid. Starting to make sense now?
OK... with that in mind, if you have a CONFMAIL.DEF file (RBBS-PC's
list of conferences), copy it to your Mail Manager directory, and take
a look at it. If you don't have a CONFMAIL.DEF, go ahead and skip
this section.
Are your conference types grouped together? Do you want to leave
spaces between any of them? Is the FULL PATH TO THE CONFERENCE
listed, or does it just read something like:
C:MAINU.DEF, C:MAINM.DEF ?
The above WON'T WORK. Mail Manager +Plus+ does not operate out of
your RBBS directory, and therefore won't know where to find your
conferences. You will need to change each line to reflect the FULL
PATH to the conference, something like:
C:\RBBS\MAINU.DEF, C:\RBBS\MAINM.DEF
That's why we suggested you make a copy of your CONFMAIL.DEF, and then
use the EDITED COPY for importing into MAILCFG. With that done, now's
the time to sort it however you see fit, making sure that your MAIN
area is the very first one listed, at the top of the file.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 17 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to add empty conference numbers between any of them, add
the following line:"
{EMPTY}U.DEF,
MailCFG will reserve that spot for future use. Using a real quick
example, say you have two conferences, and your copy of CONFMAIL.DEF
looks like this:
C:\RBBS\MAINU.DEF,C:\RBBS\MAINM.DEF
C:\RBBS\BBSADSU.DEF,C:\RBBS\BBSADSM.DEF
If you wanted to reserve a space between these two, you would edit the
copy of CONFMAIL.DEF that you copied to Mail Manager's directory
(don't edit your RBBS original) to look like this:
C:\RBBS\MAINU.DEF,C:\RBBS\MAINM.DEF
{EMPTY}U.DEF,
C:\RBBS\BBSADSU.DEF,C:\RBBS\BBSADSM.DEF
Mail Manager +Plus+ will see conference #2 as empty, and you'll be
able to go back into MailCFG to add it in later. DON'T FORGET THE
COMMA AFTER {EMPTY}U.DEF !!
One last thing to note here is that you can configure Mail Manager
+Plus+ to display the empty conference spaces to your users, or to
condense the listing to just those conferences available to them
(we'll cover that in the section on the MAILCFG configuration
utility). If you choose to display the empty conferences, Mail
Manager +Plus+ displays conferences to the users in either columns of
10, like so:
1 11 21
2 12 22
3 13 etc..
4 14
5 15
6 16
7 17
8 18
9 19
10 20
...or in groups of 15 if they are viewing conference descriptions:
1 MAIN - My main message base
2 CONF2 - My second conference
3 - (etc. etc. etc.)
...
14 -
15 -
If you have a large number of conferences, you may want to take this
into consideration as well.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 18 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Once you have prepared CONFMAIL.DEF for Mail Manager +Plus+ as
mentioned above, it is ready for importing into the MAILCFG.EXE
configuration program.
One last thing to mention here is that CONFMAIL.DEF is not used by
Mail Manager +Plus+ itself at all. Once you have imported your
conferences into the MAILCFG.EXE program, Mail Manager +Plus+ will
never look at your CONFMAIL.DEF again.
Now that your temporary copy of CONFMAIL.DEF is ready for the MAILCFG
program, it is time to set up your text files that Mail Manager +Plus+
is to use.
SYSOP-CONFIGURABLE TEXT FILES
-----------------------------
The last step before getting into the configuration program is to set
up your text files, and Mail Manager +Plus+ uses quite a few. Here
goes:
These are all located in the directory specified in MAILCFG for "Path
to text files". The UPDATE utility (for upgrading from a version
lower than v4.00) will create these files in the Mail Manager +Plus+
directory itself.
Conventions:
(n) = node-specific versions supported (1, 2, 3, etc.). Optional.
(g) = graphics versions supported (R, C, G). Optional.
The door looks first for the correct graphic and node-specific
version. If not found, steps down and looks for the next-likely
candidate, and eventually looks for non-node-specific, non-graphic
version of the file before it gives up.
Example: MMGRR1.MNU would be the RIP graphic
menu for node 1. MMGRR.MNU could be used as a RIP menu for all nodes.
FILENAME DESCRIPTION
--------------- ------------------------------------------------
MMGR(g)(n).HL1 \ The online help files that will be displayed to your
MMGR(g)(n).HL2 / users when "H" and "?" are selected from the main
menu. You can customize if need be, but they
should be pretty much OK as-is.
MMGR(g)(n).PRE - The initial screen displayed when Mail Manager
loads. Again, you might want to customize it for
your own individual system, but it is generic
enough as distributed that you may not need to. If
this file (and the corresponding graphic versions)
do not exist, Mail Manager +Plus+ will take the
user directly to the main menu after it loads.
Otherwise, this screen will be displayed, and the
prompt "Press any key to continue..." will be shown
to new users and to returning users who have not
set themselves up in Xpert mode; Xpert users will
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 19 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
not see the "Press any key to continue..." prompt
but will go straight to the command line.
MMGR(n).OPT - This file is optional. You can use it to define the
default options Mail Manager will use for new
users, if you don't care for our choice of
defaults. A sample MMGR.OPT file is included in
the distribution archive. Only the first character
of each line in this file is significant; the
balance of each line is used to describe to you
what each option is for.
MMGR(g)(n).MNU - Mail Manager's main menu, displayed to the users
just before the command prompt.
MMGR(g)(n).HEL - The welcome message that your users will see when
they first fire up their mail reader against one of
Mail Manager's QWK's. Probably the most common
thing that you'd want to put here would be a copy
of your RBBS-PC prelog or welcome screen, but this
is entirely up to you!
MMGR(g)(n).BYE - The signoff message that the users will see just as
they exit your QWK packet from their mail reader.
You might want to put an adaptation of RBBS-PC's
EPILOG.DEF here.
MMGR(n).FMS - The list of FMS directories that will be searched
for new files. Each line in this file consists of
five separate arguments, as follows:
Arg #1 = MMGR conference number for this FMS dir.
Unless this file list is associated with a
specific conference or subboard, you would
generally use "1" here.
Arg #2 = Full path\filename to this FMS dir.
Arg #3 = Header text for first line of new file
listing.
Arg #4 = Minimum security level required to receive
new file listings from this FMS dir.
Arg #5 = Where to acquire user's security level for
checking against argument #4. Valid
options are the following single
characters:
A = Use the security level that was
A)ctive for the user in RBBS when the
door was loaded.
M = Use user's sec level from M)ain conf.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 20 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
S = Use user's sec level for the
S)ubboard/conference indicated in
argument #1
Here is a sample 2-line implementation of MMGR.FMS:
1, E:\RBBS\DIR\FMS.DIR, "New files on LINE NOISE BBS:", 5, M
25, E:\RBBS\DIR\PRIVFMS.DIR, "New files in PRIVATE subboard:", 50, S
Line 1 says:
E:\RBBS\DIR\FMS.DIR is conference #1's FMS
directory file. "New files on LINE NOISE BBS:"
will be the header in the listing. The user must
have a security level of at least 5 in the "M"ain
conference to receive new file listings from this
FMS.
Line 2 says:
E:\RBBS\DIR\PRIVFMS.DIR is conference #25's FMS
directory file. "New files in PRIVATE subboard:"
will be the header. The user must have a security
level of at least 50 in this conference (#25) to
receive new listings from this FMS.
MMGR(n).SWP - This file lists the options that the door needs in
order to swap itself to disk during external
(shell) operations, thus freeing up conventional
memory for archivers, file transfer protocols, etc.
If you do not want to use this capability (or are
having trouble with it) just delete MMGR*.SWP from
the directory for text files, and Mail Manager
+Plus+ will not attempt to swap itself to disk.
Line 1 = Path/filename of your command processor.
There must be NO leading or trailing blank spaces.
Line 2 = Argument which must be passed to the
command processor specified in Line 1 which
instructs it to begin a "child" process. If
leading and/or trailing spaces are required, you
must include them.
Line 3 = Drive:\Pathname in which to store the swap
file. This must be a full path, with a trailing
backslash (\). We recommand a subdirectory on your
hard disk or a LARGE ram disk.
An example implementation for a DOS system,
swapping to path D:\ would look like this:
C:\COMMAND.COM
/C
D:\
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 21 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish other nodes to swap to a different
drive, create other MMGRx.SWP files, where 'x' is
the node number.
If using this option, MMGR will first check to make
sure there is enough free disk space on your
designated swap drive to hold the full swap file.
If the swap drive doesn't have enough free space,
the door will attempt to swap itself to the current
dos drive instead.
MMGR(n).BUL - The list of *NON-GRAPHIC* versions of any bulletins
(with full path/filenames) that you'll want to
include in your users' QWKs. Mail Manager +Plus+
will look for the correct graphic versions of the
bulletins according to the graphic preference of
the callers.
Edit this file to pertain to your system bulletins
(and/or any other text files that you'll want to
include in your users' QWK packets), and if any of
them are newer than the user's last call to RBBS-
PC, the user will get them included in his/her QWK
packet.
Bulletins preceded with a double-asterisk are
considered mandatory for inclusion in the user's
mail packets, and if new, they will be included
regardless of whether the user has configured Mail
Manager to send new bulletins.
Example:
c:\bulletin\bulet1
c:\bulletin\bulet2
**c:\bulletin\bulet3
bulet1 and bulet2 are optional, bulet3 will always
be included if it has been updated.
MMGR(n).PRO - A copy of the RBBS-PC PROTO.DEF that you intend to
have Mail Manager +Plus+ use. Mail Manager +Plus+
can use all of RBBS-PC's "template" variables in
here, such as [NODE], [PORT#], [BAUD], [CBAUD],
etc. Refer to the RBBS-PC documentation for
information on these "template" variables.
For the purposes of Mail Manager +Plus+, it is
important that you configure "N)one" as the last
protocol in this file! You will also need to
configure an external X)modem and Y)modem, since
Mail Manager obviously cannot use RBBS-PC's
internal X and Y that are probably listed in your
existing RBBS-PC PROTO.DEF. See the sample
MMGR.PRO for an example of how to configure these
protocols externally using DSZ.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 22 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE - If one of the protocols that you configure
here happens to be bi-directional (like Samuel
Smith's HSLINK), you don't need to do anything
special to implement it. When the user downloads a
QWK packet, any REP packet that was received during
that transfer will be immediately processed when
the transfer is complete. Easy!
MMGR(n).ARL - The list of archivers that are available to your
users through Mail Manager +Plus+. MMGR.ARL is a
"template" file, similar in structure to MMGR.PRO.
The supplied copy of MMGR.ARL allows the use of
ARC, ARJ, LZH, and ZIP compression methods, which
the users can pick and choose from to suit their
own preference. You can configure fewer or
additional archivers as you see fit. Format of
each line:
Name, EXT, Compress, Extract
Name = The name of the archiver, as shown to
the user.
EXT = The three-letter extension that this
archiver creates by default for
compressed files.
Compress = The line to send to DOS to compress the
mail packets.
Extract = The line to send to DOS to extract the
uploaded reply packets that the user
uploads.
"Template" variables that can be included in the
Compress and Extract lines (Mail Manager will
convert these to their true values):
[FILE] - Compressed file to create, or extract
from.
[INC] - All files that Mail Manager normally
includes in the downloadable archive.
[REPLY] - Reply file that Mail Manager expects to
be contained within the compressed
upload.
[NODE] - Current RBBS-PC node number.
See the supplied MMGR.ARL for an example
implementation of this file.
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 23 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TEXT FILES RELATING TO FIDO AND NETMAIL
--------------------------------------------------
Mail Manager +Plus+ has two system text files that pertain only to
FIDO-style netmail areas. If you are not running any of these types
of areas, these two files need not exist. Otherwise, Mail Manager
+Plus+ will look for both of these in your Mail Manager directory
whenever someone uploads a "crash" (Binkley-style) netmail message.
MMGR(n).AKA - List of "AKA" addresses that your system uses. If
you are a member of more than one network, you may
wish to make use of this file for your netmail
areas. This is a simple text file, listing all of
the Zone:Net/Node numbers that pertain to your
system. It's format is as follows (flush left in
the file):
1:226/730
8:965/9
10:10/1
This would inform Mail Manager that you are a member
of three different networks, zones 1, 8, and 10.
Any netmail message addressed to zone 8 would cause
Mail Manager +Plus+ to temporarily change your ID to
"8:965/9" for that particular message, regardless of
the zone:net/node ID that you configured that
netmail area in the MAILCFG program.
Only one address per mail zone can be listed here,
since Mail Manager +Plus+ will use the first one it
finds. For instance, if you set this file to read:
1:226/730
1:226/1420
8:965/9
10:10/1
... Mail Manager +Plus+ will always use the "AKA" of
1:226/730 for netmail messages addressed in zone 1,
since that is the first zone 1 address listed. See
the example MMGR.AKA included in this package for a
sample implementation of this file. If MMGR.AKA is
not found in your Mail Manager directory, the
Zone:Net/Node address listed in the configuration
file for that conference will be used at all times.
MMGR(n).OB - The list of outbound directories that your system
uses. This file informs Mail Manager +Plus+ where
to place CRASH messages, and file attach/request
packets. If this file is not found (or not
configured properly), you will be unable to send
CRASH netmail.
The format of MMGR.OB is as follows (again, flush
left):
INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 24 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone, X:\PATH\OUTBOUND.DIR
So, if you are in three separate mail zones, your
MMGR.OB file might look like this:
1, C:\BINKLEY\OUTBOUND
8, C:\BINKLEY\OUTBOUND.008
10, C:\BINKLEY\OUTBOUND.010
A trailing backslash on the directory name is
optional.
NOTE: Mail Manager only knows how to send "crash"
mail and file attach/requests on systems running
BinkleyTerm or compatible front ends. Other front
end systems do things differently, and do not need
the MMGR.OB file. Users of non-Binkley front ends
can still send/receive regular routed netmail via
this door.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 25 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFIGURING THE DOOR VIA THE MAILCFG UTILITY
============================================
Mail Manager +Plus+'s configuration file (MMGR.CFG) is binary in
nature for FAST loading, but that can make it difficult for the sysop
to modify, so we have provided two ways for you to setup and/or edit
your configuration:
MAILCFG.EXE - Our door configuration utility allows you to edit
the configuration file directly, or you can use the
following pair of executables:
CFG2TXT.EXE - Convert MMGR.CFG to a text file.
TXT2CFG.EXE - Convert a text configuration file to MMGR.CFG.
MAILCFG.EXE is the recommended way to go, so the following
instructions pertain to the use of this program. The other pair of
programs are covered in the section of this document entitled:
"UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+".
Change to your Mail Manager directory, and run MAILCFG.EXE.
The first time you fire up MAILCFG, it isn't going to find the
configuration file, MMGR.CFG. MAILCFG will report to you as such, and
ask you if this is a first-time setup. Answer "Y" at this point. If
you tell it "N", (this is not a first-time setup), MAILCFG will figure
that you started it from the wrong directory, and will ask you for the
correct path/name to MAILMGR.CFG.
After you press "Y", MAILCFG will prompt you whether to A)uto-config,
or M)anually configure your conferences.
A)uto - If you're not familiar with RBBS' CONFMAIL.DEF, ignore
this option, and choose M)anual instead.
This option will let you choose the path\filename of
your CONFMAIL.DEF, and then ask you for default values
to auto-create for EVERY conference. This can save you
LOTS of time if you have many conferences to configure
into Mail Manager.
SUGGESTION: At this point, you should key in the
path/name to the EDITED COPY of CONFMAIL.DEF that you
created a few pages back.
MailCFG will then step through your CONFMAIL.DEF and set
things up for Mail Manager +Plus+'s use. The TWO
REQUIREMENTS for using CONFMAIL.DEF are that your MAIN
message base absolutely *MUST* be the first conference
listed, and each line in your CONFMAIL.DEF must list the
FULL path\filename to the conference!
M)anual - Will create a default configuration file, and require you
to manually add all of your conference information.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 26 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have FIDO *.MSG conferences to add to your Mail
Manager +Plus+ configuration, and would like to auto-
import them in the same manner as above, you should first
set up all of your RBBS-PC *M.DEF areas via CONFMAIL.DEF
as above, read through this section so that you will know
what each option is for, and then read up on the section
of this document specific to FIDO *.MSG message areas.
Now let's talk about MAILCFG.EXE itself.
There are four main screens. Use the cursor keys to move around in
each one. [Esc] always takes you back to the previous level. [PgUp]
and [PgDn] usually lets you switch screens.
-----------------------------------------
SCREEN 1 - GENERAL CONFIGURATION (1 of 3)
-----------------------------------------
Unless you're configuring Mail Manager +Plus+ for the first time, this
is the screen that pops up when you load MAILCFG. It looks something
like this:
Name of your BBS................ : RBBS-PC
Remote Sysop Name............... : SECRET LOGONNAME
Sysop First Name................ : SYSTEM
Sysop Last Name................. : OPERATOR
Security to read ALL messages... : 10
Security to use in local mode... : 10
Use ANSI graphics in local mode? : Y
Tagline : Your friendly neighborhood RBBS-PC - (123) 555-1212
Network type (local mode only).. : DOS
Filename to use for extracts.... : RBBS-PC
Default file compression........ : ZIP
Path/Name of your NEWS file .... : C:\RBBS\MAIN.NWS
Path for log files (NO FILENAME) : C:\LOGS\
Handshake method (F, R, X, N)... : XON/XOFF
Next Screen Edit Conference selections Exit
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now to take these one at a time:
- Name of your BBS................ :
This should be the name of your board as set in RBBS CONFIG.
You can stick anything in here, however. This name will be
shown to the user several times, and will be shown in the
offline mail reader as the board name.
- Remote Sysop Name............... :
This is the username that RBBS-PC stores for you (the SYSOP)
in the various user files, and is the name that you use to log
on remotely. Mail Manager +Plus+ will not operate properly
for your own sessions in the door if it cannot find you in the
various users files.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 27 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Sysop First Name................ :
Your first name as you are known to your users.
- Sysop Last Name................. :
Your last name as you are known to your users.
- Security to read ALL messages... :
* A VERY IMPORTANT SECURITY LEVEL! *
This should be set to SYSOP or CO-SYSOP level only! Anyone
with this security level or higher can read any message
addressed to any user, regardless of whether or not it's
marked as private!
Mail Manager +Plus+ also uses this security level for most of
its SYSOP-only functions, such as the ability to use the I)nfo
option from Mail Manager +Plus+'s main menu.
- Security to use in local mode... :
Should be set to SYSOP level. Whenever Mail Manager +Plus+ is
brought up locally, it will use this security level, and the
SYSOP name(s) as listed above.
- Use ANSI graphics in local mode? :
Either "Y" or "N", and pretty self-explanatory.
- Tagline :
This can be anything that you'd like to stick on the bottom of
all messages (usually a very brief BBS advertisement). If
this is left blank (or "NONE"), Mail Manager will not append a
tagline to the bottom of each message that the user downloads.
Please note that taglines can be different in each conference.
This is simply what you use as a default.
- Network type (local mode only).. :
This setting affects local operation only. Valid settings
are:
D = DOS - No file/record locking in place.
Q = DESQview - Use DESQview resource locking.
N = NetBIOS - Use NetBIOS file/record locking, and
implement file sharing. Unless you're running
in a Novell network, this option requires that
DOS SHARE be installed.
Type of network is fully explained elsewhere in this document.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 28 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Filename to use for extracts.... :
Specify up to 8 characters here. All downloaded files will
begin with this filename. You might want to abbreviate your
board name here to make it clearer to the users once they've
downloaded their file(s).
Using "MYBBS" for an example, QWK downloads would be named
MYBBS.QWK, and text extracts would be named MYBBS.ZIP, ARJ,
etc.
Also, all uploaded replies will be expected to have this
filename, with the extension ".REP". Any uploads that don't
have an exact match on filename are ignored.
- Default file compression........ :
Must be three characters, and one of the following:
ARC - Use Katz's PKARC.
ARJ - Use Jung's ARJ.
LZH - Use Yoshi's LHARC.
ZIP - Use Katz's PKZIP/PKUNZIP.
Unless you use Mail Manager +Plus+'s list of archivers, all
downloads will be compressed using this format, and all
uploads will be expected to be in this format. The archiver
of your choice absolutely *MUST* be in a DOS path if you are
not using the list of archivers! Just sticking it in the Mail
Manager directory won't do. If you are using the list of
archivers, Mail Manager will use the archiver list to
determine how to call the archiver.
- Path/Name of your NEWS file.... :
Type in the full path to the *NON-GRAPHIC VERSION* of your
RBBS-PC news file (usually MAIN.NWS in your RBBS-PC bulletin
directory). If the user is using ASCII or ANSI graphics, Mail
Manager +Plus+ will automatically attempt to pick up the
appropriate graphic version of this file for them. If this
file is newer than the user's last logon, it will be included
in their QWK packets. Otherwise it will be skipped when their
QWK packet is created.
- Path for log files (NO FILENAME):
Type in the full DOS path where you would like to store the
log files that Mail Manager +Plus+ creates. Activity logs
named MMGRx.LOG (where "x" is the node number) will be placed
in the directory you specify here. Be sure to end this entry
with a backslash (\). If MAILCFG finds no backslash, it
assumes this is a filename leftover from an earlier (pre 3.60)
configuration format and will default to the drive\directory
in which MAILCFG is currently operating.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 29 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Handshake method (F, R, X, N)... :
Allows you to specify the type of flow control that you'd like
Mail Manager +Plus+ to use. The four possible settings are as
follows:
F = FOSSIL Mail Manager will always try to use a FOSSIL
with this setting. If Mail Manager +Plus+ is unable
(for whatever reason) to initialize your FOSSIL driver,
it will default to XON/XOFF. Use of a FOSSIL with Mail
Manager +Plus+ is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
R = RTS/CTS (Use request to send/clear to send)
X = XON/XOFF (Use XON/XOFF)
N = NONE (No handshaking)
If set to R, X, or N:
The FOSSIL argument is passed to Mail Manager from RBBS-PC
in the DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF file. If Mail Manager finds
that a FOSSIL is active in RBBS-PC, it will automatically
attempt to utilize the FOSSIL, regardless of this setting.
Mail Manager will default back to this setting if it is
unable to use your FOSSIL driver.
Use of a FOSSIL with Mail Manager is further explained
elsewhere in this document.
- Next Screen
Position the cursor over this option, press [ENTER], and you
will be taken to the second general configuration screen.
- Edit Conference selections
Position the cursor over this option, press [ENTER], and you
will be taken to the conference selection screen.
- Exit
Position the cursor over this option and press [ENTER] (or
press [Esc] from anywhere on this screen), and you'll be asked
to save your configuration before MAILCFG exits to DOS.
Thus endeth screen #1.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 30 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
SCREEN 2 - GENERAL CONFIGURATION (2 of 3)
-----------------------------------------
This screen should look something like this:
Allow old msg pointer restore?...: Yes
Allow auto-detect of RIP graphics: Yes
Path to MMGR+ text files.........: C:\MMGR\
Environment variable to check....: DSZLOG
Modify uploaded msgs date/time? .: No
Location of your BBS.............: Anytown, USA
BBS Phone number (xxx-xxx-xxxx)..: 123-456-7890
Smart text character (1-255).....: 123
Default path to RBBS-PC msg bases: C:\RBBS\
Log file for FIDO conferences....: NONE
Door is timelocked from (xx:xx)..: 00:00
to (xx:xx)..: 00:00
Allow G)oodbye to drop DTR? .....: No
Show empty conferences? .........: Yes
Previous Screen Next Screen Edit Conference selections Exit
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now to take these one at a time:
- Allow old msg pointer restore? :
Mail Manager +Plus+ can allow your users to reset their
message pointers to what they were before they were last
changed as a result of a download or manual update. While
this can be a handy feature, it does require information which
is stored in the door's own auxiliary user files (*U.MGR in
your message file directory).
**** We need to throw a CAUTION FLAG here ****
Any time your message base gets renumbered, the pertinent
information in the door's auxiliary user file must be updated
also in order for the message pointer restoration feature to
work properly. Our MAILFIX utility (v4.33 included in this
package) has been updated to automatically update the
auxiliary user file when it is used to renumber an RBBS
message base. At this writing, MAILFIX is the only
renumbering utility which will do this. (We provide the
format of the auxiliary user file in this document, and other
authors are welcome to add support for this feature.)
Therefore, if you are not using MAILFIX to renumber your RBBS
message bases, unless your utility has been revised to also
update the *U.MGR files used by MMGR, set this option to "N",
to prevent your users from restoring values that no longer
match what is actually on your system.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 31 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Allow auto-detect of RIP graphics :
As of this writing, no release version of RBBS-PC supports
graphic type 3 in DINFx/DORINFOx.DEF to designate that the
caller is using RIP graphics, although several versions of
RBBS-PC support RIP.
If you would like Mail Manager +Plus+ to auto-detect whether
or not the caller is using RIP graphics, and make use of the
"R" graphic versions of the door's files, set this option to
"Y" for yes, otherwise set to "N" for no.
If set to "Y", and the caller is using at least ANSI graphics
in RBBS-PC, the door will attempt to auto-detect RIP. If set
to "N", the door will use the graphic type as it was passed
to the door in DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF.
If the graphic type is set to 3 in DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF,
the door will attempt to display RIP versions of files,
regardless of the setting you choose here.
- Path to MMGR+ text files.........:
Type in the full DOS pathname to where all of your Mail
Manager +Plus+'s text files are stored. By default, this is
the directory in which the door itself is installed. If you
would like to move all of those text files to a separate
directory, here is where you tell the door where to look for
them.
See the section of this document entitled "SYSOP-CONFIGURABLE
TEXT FILES" for further details.
- Environment variable to check....:
Key in the name of the environment variable that Mail Manager
+Plus+ is to check to determine where to look for "XFERx.DEF".
Most of us seem to be using Forsberg's DSZ for transfers, so
in this case you would key in the default name of "DSZLOG".
When you're finished configuring Mail Manager +Plus+, check
your environment variable to insure that it points to XFER-
x.DEF. Without XFER-x.DEF to tell it otherwise, Mail Manager
+Plus+ will assume that all file transfers have failed.
- Modify uploaded msgs date/time?
Either "Y" or "N". Setting to "Y" tells Mail Manager +Plus+
to use your computer's current system date and time for all
uploaded replies. Setting to "N" tells Mail Manager +Plus+ to
use the date and time stamp as it was received in the uploaded
reply packet.
Advantage: Having Mail Manager +Plus+ modify this field
assures that all uploaded messages will have the correct
date and time stamp applied before inserting into your
message base(s).
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 32 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disadvantage: If a user uploads several replies in the same
mail packet (many do), some mail networks (like Fidonet)
will have trouble with several messages containing the
exact same date & time stamp, and will likely refuse
everything but the first msg of the "offending" group. If
you're a member of one of these networks, you'll probably
want to take the date/time stamp as-received from the
user.
- Location of your BBS
The City, State in which your system is located. This is
added to the CONTROL.DAT file that is included in all QWK
packets, is part of the QWK standard, and is not used anywhere
else by Mail Manager +Plus+.
- BBS Phone number (xxx-xxx-xxxx)
The phone number to your system. This is also added to the
CONTROL.DAT file that is included in all QWK packets, is part
of the QWK standard, and is not used anywhere else by Mail
Manager +Plus+.
- Smart text character (1-255)
The ASCII value of the "lead-in" character for RBBS-PC smart
text. RBBS-PC default for this value is "123", which is the
"{" character. This value must match what you are using with
RBBS-PC, or smart text in bulletins and news files will not be
converted properly.
Mail Manager +Plus+ will attempt to replace all possible
"smart text" variables with their true values in bulletins and
news files.
- Default path to RBBS-PC msg bases
This should be set to the path where your *M.DEF message bases
are located. MAILCFG.EXE will then attempt to save you some
keyboard entry time by "guessing" the true path/filename of
all conferences entered manually.
For instance, if this value is set to "C:\RBBS\", and you
configure a conference named BBSADS, MAILCFG.EXE will "guess"
the path/name of the users file as:
C:\RBBS\BBSADSU.DEF
- Log file for FIDO conferences
This is an optional argument, and pertains only to sysops who
have configured FIDO-style "*.MSG" areas into Mail Manager
+Plus+. If this path/filename is set to anything other than
"NONE", Mail Manager +Plus+ will append this text file with
the FIDO-style area names of all "*.MSG" conferences that the
user uploaded messages to.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 33 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For instance... if the user uploaded 3 messages to area name
"RBBS-PC", two messages to "HS_MODEMS", and 1 message to "FOR-
SALE", the resulting log file would be appended with:
RBBS-PC
HS_MODEMS
FOR-SALE
Your system's batch files can then take care of any necessary
external mail processing based on the contents of this file.
- Door is timelocked from (xx:xx)
to (xx:xx)
If you run an echomail system, there may be certain times of
the day that you do not want your users into your message
bases. These two arguments tell Mail Manager +Plus+ when to
disallow access to the door. To disable, set the "from" and
"to" times identically. For example: 00:00 to 00:00 would
let users into the door 24 hours a day.
Users with sufficient security to read ALL messages are
allowed into the door during the time lock, after receiving a
brief warning message. All other users attempting to access
the door during the timelock will be informed that you are
processing mail, and will be asked to try again later.
- Allow G)oodbye to drop DTR?
Either "Y" or "N". If set to "Y", the door will drop DTR when
the user selects G)oodbye from the menu, and also after an
E)xpedite! mail session.
If set to "N", the G)oodbye command will not be supported, and
"G" will not show on the command line. E)xpedite! will return
the user to the BBS after the user's packet is downloaded.
If you chose "N" to disable the G)oodbye command, you should
edit the menu and help text files to remove the "G)oodbye"
option.
***************************************************************
* WARNING! - If you have elected to allow the door to drop *
* DTR, do *NOT* have your modem in autoanswer *
* mode! If you do, it will be possible (although unlikely) *
* for a 2nd user to call and connect in the "window" between *
* the door dropping carrier, and when RBBS recovers. In *
* this case, it is conceivable that this 2nd user could *
* receive a "Welcome back!" message from RBBS, and your *
* board would think that the PREVIOUS user just returned *
* from the door. As you can see, this could be dangerous. *
* You have been warned! *
***************************************************************
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 34 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Previous Screen
Position the cursor over this option, press [ENTER], and you
will be taken to the first general configuration screen.
- Next Screen
Position the cursor over this option, press [ENTER], and you
will be taken to the third general configuration screen.
- Edit Conference selections
Position the cursor over this option, press [ENTER], and you
will be taken to the conference selection screen.
- Exit
Position the cursor over this option and press [ENTER] (or
press [Esc] from anywhere on this screen), and you'll be asked
to save your configuration before MAILCFG exits to DOS.
Thus endeth screen #2.
-----------------------------------------
SCREEN 3 - GENERAL CONFIGURATION (3 of 3)
-----------------------------------------
At this stage of development, there are five configuration options on
this screen, other than the ones that control where to go next from
this screen:
- Max number of msgs per packet
When extracting messages, if this number is reached,
extraction will stop and the packet will be archived and sent.
If additional new messages still remain, the user can extract
an additional packet to get them.
Note that the number set here will have an effect on the
amount of memory necessary to run the door, and the amount of
disk space needed to create the working files when extracting.
Larger numbers means more space required. If you do not set
this, a default of 1000 will be assumed.
- Max number of new files
This option allows you to limit the searching of FMS dirs to
the number of files you specify here. Setting this to a lower
nubmer means faster search time when creating mail packets,
and will prevent new users from receiving your entire FMS
directory in their first mail packet. If you do not set this,
a default of 100 files will be assumed.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 35 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Make 'violation' conference active
If set to "Y", all users will receive messages in this
conference in their packets. They will not be able to
"deselect" this conference. A number of sysops have requested
that we make the MAIN conference mandatory, and this is the
way you can do it.
NOTE: If you wish a conference other than conference #1 to
receive security violation notices and become a mandatory
conference, you may set this via the /Vn command line switch.
- Allow online R)ead and P)ost
Either "Y" or "N". If set to "N", the "R" and "P" options
will be removed from the main command prompt, and the user who
chooses one of those two options will receive the familiar
"Command not recognized" message.
If set to "Y", online read and post are allowed, and those two
options will be available.
Sysops who disallow online R)ead and P)ost should edit the
MMGR*.MNU menus as well as the online help files (MMGR*.HLP)
to remove all mention of these two options.
- Using TIMES DOWNLOADED mod
If you are using the Cellar Door modified version of RBBS-PC,
or any version of RBBS-PC with the 'times downloaded' mod, and
you have that option ENABLED, your FMS directory is in a
slightly different format, and new file listings need to be
handled accordingly.
Y = Yes, I am using the TIMES DOWNLOADED mod,
N = No, I am not using the TIMES DOWNLOADED mod.
- Previous Screen
Position the cursor over this option, press [ENTER], and you
will be taken to the second general configuration screen.
- Edit Conference selections
Position the cursor over this option, press [ENTER], and you
will be taken to the conference selection screen.
- Exit
Position the cursor over this option and press [ENTER] (or
press [Esc] from anywhere on this screen), and you'll be asked
to save your configuration before MAILCFG exits to DOS.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 36 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
SCREEN 4 - CONFERENCE SELECTION
-------------------------------
This screen should look something like this:
1 MAIN 11 21 31 41
2 12 22 32 42
3 13 23 33 43
4 14 24 34 44
5 15 25 35 45
6 16 26 36 46
7 17 27 37 47
8 18 28 38 48
9 19 29 39 49
10 20 30 40 50
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFERENCE SELECTION SCREEN
[ENTER] = Edit this conference. [Ins] = Insert a conference.
[PgUp] = Move to previous screen. [Del] = Purge this conference.
[PgDn] = Move to next screen.
[Esc] = Finished editing.
[Home] = Move to conf #1.
[End] = Move to conf #25600.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can use the cursor keys, [PgUp], and [PgDn] to switch between all
of the different conferences possible. You can configure as many as
25,600 conferences. Position the cursor over the conference that you
wish to edit, press [ENTER], and you will be taken to the conference
edit screen.
**********************************************************************
* It is VERY IMPORTANT to have your MAIN message area as the first *
* conference listed, and that ALL MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ USERS have *
* sufficient security to at least READ in this area! Mail Manager *
* +Plus+ uses this internally for some of its functions. *
**********************************************************************
Press [Esc] (or [PgUp]) when you're finished editing your conferences,
and you'll be taken back to general configuration screen #3. You can
press the [Ins] key to insert a conference at the current cursor
position, or [Del] to remove the highlighted conference from your
configuration file.
**********************************************************************
* Using the [Ins] and [Del] keys will CHANGE YOUR CONFERENCE *
* NUMBERING SCHEME. After using one of these options, it would be *
* possible for your users to upload a REP packet based on your OLD *
* numbering scheme... meaning that their replies could end up in the *
* wrong conference! It is important that you take this into *
* consideration before utilizing these two options. *
**********************************************************************
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 37 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
SCREEN 5 - EDIT CONFERENCE PARAMETERS
-------------------------------------
Once you've pressed [ENTER] at the conference selection screen, up
will pop something that looks like this:
Editing Conference #1
Conference name .............................: MAIN
Conference description ......................: Main message base
FIDO area name ..............................: N/A
Message base type: Y=Fixed, N=Elastic, F=Fido: N
Path/Name of conference USERS file:
C:\RBBS\MAINU.DEF
Path/Name of conference MESSAGES file: Fakenet: N/A
C:\RBBS\MAINM.DEF
Allow ANSI graphics in uploaded messages? ...: Y
Allow high & low ASCII in uploaded messages? : Y
Security level to READ this conference ......: 5
Security level to POST in this conference ...: 5
Tagline for this conference: Add tag: N/A
NONE
Use Fido-style tearlines? ...................: N Zone: N/A
Allow users to join within Mail Manager? ....: N Net: N/A
Maximum # of lines per message ..............: 99 Node: N/A
Path/Name of conference ALIAS file: Point: N/A
NONE Netmail: N/A
Press [Esc] or [F10] when finished with the conference, [F1] for help.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Several of these options pertain only to FIDO *.MSG areas, and some
have different meaning to FIDO *.MSG areas. We will attempt to cover
each one individually as completely as possible:
- Conference Name
Up to 7 characters that you will use to describe this conference to
the users. Normally set as the first 7 characters of the name of
the MESSAGES and USERS file, although you can put anything in here.
For FIDO *.MSG areas, you will want to match this as closely as
possible to the true FIDO-style area name of the conference, since
this is what will be displayed to the users.
The important thing is to describe the conference as fully as
possible (for the users) in the 7 characters that you have
available. The 60-character conference description will describe
it for them a lot better.
If the conference name is left blank, or it is set to "{EMPTY}",
pressing [F10] will cause MAILCFG to ask you whether or not to
reserve a space for this conference number. If you do NOT reserve
the space, this conference number will be skipped when you save
your settings.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 38 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Conference description
Up to 60 characters that you will use to more fully describe the
conference to the users. This field will be (optionally) shown to
the users when they are configuring which conferences to follow
within the door, and also when selecting conferences in which to
R)ead or P)ost a message.
If the user is in expert mode, the default is to NOT show the
conference descriptions. If in novice mode (display the menus),
the default is to show conference descriptions. The user is given
a choice at all times.
When displaying conference descriptions, the user will see 15
conferences on each screen. When NOT displaying descriptions, the
user will see 50 conferences per screen.
- FIDO area name
Pertains only to FIDO *.MSG areas, and optional. If not a FIDO
*.MSG area, this field will be skipped.
This should be set to the exact FIDO-style area name of the
conference, as your external mail processor knows it. This name is
used ONLY when appending the optional log file, as set in the
general configuration.
- Type of msg base: Y=Fixed, N=Elastic, F=Fido?
VERY IMPORTANT, and either "Y", "N", or "F". RBBS-PC and Mail
Manager +Plus+ handle fixed-length conferences differently from
those that are configured to "grow" as messages are added.
If set to "F", you are telling Mail Manager +Plus+ that this is a
FIDO *.MSG area, and all of the "N/A"'s that you see on this screen
will be replaced by the current settings. You will also be allowed
to edit the options specific to FIDO *.MSG areas.
Setting this option to "Y" or "N" turns "off" all of the FIDO-
specific options, and replaces their values with "N/A". None of
the FIDO-specific options will be available for edit.
- Path/Name of conference USERS file
Full path to your RBBS-PC users file for this conference.
A quick note here: You really should have a unique USERS file for
each conference/subboard. RBBS-PC does not absolutely require
this, but it is necessary to keep the last message read in each
conference updated, and for Mail Manager to know exactly which
messages to extract and prepare to download for the users.
If this is a FIDO *.MSG area, this setting has no meaning to Mail
Manager +Plus+, and you can literally put whatever you want in here
in this case.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 39 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Path/Name of conference MESSAGES file
Full path to your RBBS-PC messages file for this conference.
If this is a FIDO *.MSG area, this must be set to the full pathname
to this area's *.MSG's. The trailing backslash is optional. For
example, if set to:
C:\MAIL\4SALE
Mail Manager +Plus+ will manipulate files named:
C:\MAIL\4SALE\*.*
- Allow ANSI graphics in uploaded messages?
"Y" or "N". If set to "N", Mail Manager will strip all escape
characters out of uploaded messages, effectively disabling ANSI.
- Allow high & low ASCII in uploaded messages?
"Y" or "N". If set to "N", Mail Manager will strip all high and
low ascii characters out of uploaded messages, replacing them by
either blank spaces, or an equivalent "normal" character.
The most common reason for disabling both ANSI and ASCII is to
conform to FIDO-NET rules & regs, although there are several
reasons why you might want to disable ANSI.
- Security level to JOIN/READ this conference
If the user is not ALREADY in the conference's user file, this is
the minimum security level which MAILMGR will permit to join the
conference from within the door. Unjoined users with security
below this level will not see the conference's name listed. Once a
member of the conference, this functions as the minimum security
level necessary to read/download messages from the conference.
- Security level to POST in this conference
Minimum security level required to leave a message in this
conference. If the user's is a member of the conference, but has a
security level lower than this, any messages uploaded to this
conference will not be posted, but will be returned in a private
message in the conference designated by the sysop to receive
violation notices.
- Tagline for this conference
If you wish to add a conference-specific tagline, enter it here.
If set to "NONE", Mail Manager will use the default tagline. If
the default tagline is also "NONE", no tagline will be appended to
the end of the message.
If this is a FIDO *.MSG area, this is the origin line that will be
appended to the message if the "Add tag" option is turned on.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 40 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Use FIDO-style tearlines?
During our development of Mail Manager and Mail Manager +Plus+,
there was much discussion to and fro in the various echos regarding
the allowability of mail reader tearlines ("---"). At this
writing, it STILL is not clear as to whether or not these
additional tearlines on echo messages will be permissible. In any
case, we gave you an out. Set this to "Y", and any mail reader
tearlines on uploaded messages will be replaced by three periods
("..."). Set to "N", and tearlines will be passed into the message
untouched.
- Allow users to join within Mail Manager?
Either "Y" or "N". (Has no meaning to FIDO *.MSG areas)
If set to "Y", Mail Manager +Plus+ will allow your users to
automatically "join" this conference when they attempt to flag it
as active, and will add them to the RBBS conference user file if
they have not joined it from the BBS.
If set to "N", the user will have to use the J)oin command in RBBS-
PC to become a member of the conference.
FIDO *.MSG areas cannot be joined from within RBBS-PC, and can
therefore always be "auto-joined" from within Mail Manager +Plus+,
regardless of this setting.
- Maximum # of lines per message
Mail Manager itself can handle any length message for uploading or
extracting. Note that the version of RBBS you are using may be
limited to 99 lines (stock RBBS 17.4 and lower) or some larger
number in some of the popular modification packages.
Mail Manager has the capability of splitting long uploaded messages
into several smaller ones when placing them into your RBBS-style
message bases. The default length is 99 lines per message, but you
can select any number of lines per message that you desire for this
conference, from 9 to 99. If you don't want Mail Manager to split
long messages, set this to 0 (zero).
**************************************************************
* Note that messages from normal users will be limited to 8 *
* lines less than this setting, while network packets from *
* "net-status" user names will be able to utilize the full *
* line limit prior to being split. *
**************************************************************
The door will also use this number when the user attempts to R)ead,
reply, or P)ost a message online, and will not allow the number of
lines to exceed what you specify here. If "0", 99 lines per
message are allowed in R)ead/P)ost online.
- Path/Name of conference ALIAS file
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 41 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a popular merge available for RBBS-PC that allows the use
of alias names. If you are not using the ALIAS merge, you can
still make use of this option, if you would like a few users to be
able to post messages via Mail Manager under a different name than
the one they use on the BBS. Set this option to "NONE" if you are
not using alias names.
Mail Manager will support alias files in Fido *.MSG message areas
also, but the sysop should consider this carefully, as most Fidonet
conferences consider aliases taboo.
The filename that this option points to is a text file, with each
line formatted as follows:
"REAL NAME", "ALIAS NAME"
So, to have all messages uploaded by "JOE DOE" posted as being from
"MAIL ADDICT", and to have the SysOp's own messages posted as being
from "TEST SYSOPNAME", this file would look like this:
"JOE DOE", "MAIL ADDICT"
"REMOTE NAME", "TEST SYSOPNAME"
"REMOTE NAME" would of course be replaced by the name that you use
to sign onto your system remotely.
Mail Manager +Plus+ is smart enough to take care of updating the
mail waiting flag in RBBS-PC for the REAL NAME of the recipient,
and to add messages addressed to the user's alias to the personal
index of the recipient's mail packets.
When a user joins a conference for which there is a defined alias
file, Mail Manager will give the user an opportunity to select an
alias to use. Mail Manager will not let a user select an alias
already in use in that conference, nor will it allow selection of
any name currently in use in your MAIN user file, but it makes no
other checks. We recommend that you review the alias files
frequently to make sure objectionable names are not being used.
- Fakenet
Applies to FIDO *.MSG areas only.
If you run a point system that utilizes a "Fakenet" network
address, then you may want to make use of this argument for your
netmail area(s). This option will cause the door to set the Fido
message header properly for your fakenet, and your mail processor
will take care of the rest. MMGR+ creates type 2 mail packets and
messages, meaning that it puts both the Zone and Point numbers into
the message header where your mail processor can deal with it.
This option is therefore NOT NEEDED if your mail processing
software can handle 4D points. Here is exactly what this option
does (by example):
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 42 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Add Tag: Yes
Fakenet: 31226
Zone: 1
Net: 226
Node: 1420
Point: 1
At the bottom of the message, your tear and origin line would look
something like:
--- MMGR +Plus+ v4.00
* Origin: Makai support node (1:226/1420.1)
But, your address in the message header itself would read:
1:31226/1
| | |
Zone | |
| |
Fakenet |
|
Point
That's really all there is to it. If your mail processor doesn't
need things this way, don't worry about it. Just set the "Fakenet"
to zero. Mail Manager +Plus+ can handle fakenet numbers up to
32767.
- Add tag
Applies to FIDO *.MSG areas only.
If set to "Y", Mail Manager +Plus+ will append a tear and origin
line to messages uploaded to this conference, such as:
--- MMGR+ v4.00
* Origin: [Tagline for this conference] (Zone:Net/Node.Point)
If set to "N", the tear/tag is *NOT* appended to the uploaded
messages. (Normally, this is a function of your mail processor,
but you may want Mail Manager +Plus+ to append these lines in your
NETMAIL areas).
- Zone
- Net
- Node
These three options apply to FIDO *.MSG areas only.
Set them according to the appropriate Zone/Net/Node address for
each of your conferences. In North America, FIDO-NET is normally
zone "1", RBBS-NET is normally zone "8". Each conference can be
set to different Zone:Net/Node arguments, so Mail Manager +Plus+
allows you to be in MANY different mail zones!
For these three options, settings of:
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 43 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Zone: 1
Net: 226
Node: 730
...would mean a FIDO-style address of "1:226/730".
- Point
The point setting also only applies to FIDO *.MSG.
If you are using MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ as a standalone point system,
set this to the point number that you are using for this
conference. If you are not operating as a point, set this option
to 0 (zero).
For these last four options, settings of:
Zone: 1
Net: 226
Node: 1420
Point: 1
...would mean a FIDO-style address of "1:226/1420.1"
- Netmail
Applies to FIDO *.MSG areas only.
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT SETTING. If this is a netmail area, set
it to "Y", otherwise DEFINITELY set it to "N"! Mail Manager +Plus+
handles netmail areas quite differently than standard *.MSG echo
areas, and messages will *NOT* be posted properly if this setting
is incorrect.
Please see the section of this document regarding FIDO *.MSG areas
for all the info on Mail Manager +Plus+'s handling of netmail
areas.
CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ (MAILCFG.EXE) - Page 44 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MULTIPLE CONFIGURATION FILES
----------------------------
When Mail Manager +Plus+ loads, it will first look for a node-specific
configuration file MMGRx.CFG (where x would be the node number). If
no node-specific configuration file is found, Mail Manager then
defaults back to MMGR.CFG. This permits you to have a separate
configuration file for any node that requires one.
To edit a configuration file other than the default MMGR.CFG, enter
the filename on the MAILCFG command line. For instance, to edit
MMGR2.CFG, your command might be:
MAILCFG C:\MMGR\MMGR2.CFG
MAILCFG will look for and edit the filename MMGR.CFG (in the current
directory) if nothing is passed on the command line.
Please be aware that Mail Manager +Plus+ can use the same
configuration file between the various nodes of your RBBS-PC, and file
sharing/locking is fully implemented. Therefore it is not necessary
to create multiple configuration files unless you have unique
requirements between nodes that the door's node-specific text and menu
files can't cover.
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 45 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG AREAS
======================
An Introduction to FIDO format
------------------------------
If you do not wish to use FIDO-style *.MSG formatted conferences with
Mail Manager +PLUS+, you can save yourself some eyestrain by skipping
this section.
Mail Manager +PLUS+ allows you to access FIDO-style message bases via
an offline mail door. It does NOT handle the actual net transmission
or reception of these messages. For that you need a separate frontend
mailer such as BinkleyTerm or Front Door.
Mail Manager's handling of FIDO conferences is MUCH slower than its
handling of RBBS conferences. On a fast system you may not notice
much difference, but on a slow one you sure will! You may seriously
wish to consider tossing FIDO conferences into standard RBBS message
bases in order to speed up Mail Manager operation. Utilities from
other authors for doing this include RBBSMail, MsgToss, and OverMail.
The time spent doing this ONCE for each Fido mail packet received may
amount to considerable time savings EACH time a caller uses this door.
Before we talk about the intricacies of setting up Mail Manager +Plus+
with your FIDO-style system, we should talk about this particular
format for a bit.
RBBS-PC is capable of running under a frontend mailer such as Binkley-
Term, Frontdoor, Seadog, etc. etc. Depending on what type of mail
processor the Sysop is using, mail can normally be "tossed" into
either RBBS-PC message bases, or into the native FIDO-NET format,
which is termed here as "*.MSG". Some Sysops prefer to keep their
echo mail in FIDO format, rather than converting all incoming and
outgoing messages to and from RBBS-PC *M.DEF's.
FIDO "message bases" consist of a unique DOS subdirectory for every
conference, with each message in a separate file. A DOS directory
structure for this type of message format will typically look
something like this:
C:\FIDO (Base mail directory)
C:\FIDO\4SALE (First conference)
C:\FIDO\RBBS (Second conference)
... ...so on and so forth.
Within each directory (or "conference") will be filenames like 1.MSG,
2.MSG, 3.MSG, etc. etc. The first message in each conference (1.MSG)
is normally some type of "checkpoint" file for mail processors (such
as QM, et al), and is therefore not usually available for reading by
the user. An exception to this is any "NETMAIL" area that the sysop
has set up. Netmail conferences do not go through quite the same
process as regular echo conferences do, and in this types of area,
1.MSG is usually permissible reading material.
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 46 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But let's not get ahead of ourselves, here. We'll come back to
handling netmail later.
Setting up FIDO conferences in Mail Manager is a fairly
straightforward process, but there are several things that you will
need to keep in mind:
- FIDO conferences don't have a user file for Mail Manager +Plus+
to rely on. Therefore, Mail Manager +Plus+ creates one for
itself in each FIDO area, named xU.MGR, where `x' can represents
the conference name and can occupy up to 7 characters.
- FIDO conferences don't have any built-in indexing available,
short of reading each and every message every time the
conference is accessed. Therefore, Mail Manager +Plus+ creates
one for itself in each FIDO area, named "MMGR.NDX".
- FIDO conferences cannot be joined from within RBBS-PC.
Therefore, every user with sufficient security to read the
conference will be allowed to "join" transparently from within
the door.
- Messages in FIDO conferences are usually renumbered every night.
This means that what was message number 175 on one day might
become message number 37 on the next. Mail Manager therefore
determines a unique CRC for each message, based on selected
unchanging portions of each message header. This information is
stored in the "MMGR.NDX" file within each conference.
- This index should be updated right after your
renumbering/maintenance event, to save the first hapless user a
*LOT* of time while Mail Manager +Plus+ re-creates it. That's
what the supplied MMINDEX.EXE program is for (we'll get into the
usage of this program shortly).
- Mail Manager must know your Zone:Net/Node ID for each FIDO
conference, so that it can properly create the message headers
of all uploaded replies to these areas.
SETTING UP FIDO *.MSG AREAS
---------------------------
With all that in mind, try setting up your first FIDO conference in
Mail Manager +Plus+. Make sure that it is working properly before you
add the entire slew of conferences! At MAILCFG's conference edit
screen, there are several options unique to FIDO conferences that are
worthy of note:
Path/Name of conference USERS file ..: Ignored by Mail Manager
for FIDO conferences. You can literally put whatever you want
in this field.
Path/Name of conference MESSAGES file: This is the DOS PATH to
the conference, rather than the name of the *M.DEF file. For
instance, if you enter "C:\MAIL\4SALE", Mail Manager will
manipulate files named
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 47 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"C:\MAIL\4SALE\*.*".
A trailing backslash is optional.
Allow ANSI graphics in uploaded messages? : FIDO-based networks
typically don't like doesn't like ANSI, so you normally would
set this to "NO".
Allow high & low ASCII .................. : Moderators of FIDO
conferences will typically be all over you if they find messages
containing high ASCII that originated on your system, so you
normally would set this to NO.
Use FIDO-STYLE tearlines? ............... : YES. This strips out
the "---" tearlines that offline readers like to stick on
uploaded messages. Your FIDO-NET mail processor will add a
tearline and tag of its own, and duplicate tearlines are frowned
upon in the FIDO kingdom.
Message base type: Y=Fixed, N=Elastic, F=FIDO: Set this to F.
Allow users to join within Mail Manager? ....: Ignored by Mail
Manager +Plus+ for FIDO areas. Any user with sufficient
security to READ the conference can "join" from within the door.
Path/Name of conference ALIAS file? .........: You may specify an
alias file here, but be aware that most Fidonet conferences do
not permit alias use. (See the section regarding "CONFIGURING
MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+" for more information regarding alias
names).
Zone: Set to your mail zone (Fidonet North America would be 1).
Net: Set to your net ID (the Buckeye Net is 226).
Node: Set to your node ID (the Buckeye Net's host would be 0).
Point: Set to your point ID (if applicable). Point 1 would be 1,
otherwise, set to zero (0).
(These examples would mean an address of 1:226/0.1).
Netmail: VERY IMPORTANT. If you are configuring a netmail
conference, set this option to "Y". Otherwise, DEFINITELY set
it to "N"!
Now save your configuration, and as far as Mail Manager +Plus+ is
concerned, you just added a FIDO conference.
BEFORE YOU EXTRACT MAIL FROM THE CONFERENCE, be sure that there is a
file named "1.MSG" in that directory. Results can be unpredictable if
Mail Manager +Plus+ sees only "2.MSG" and up. Also, remember that
there is no Mail Manager +Plus+ index created as of yet. You'll want
to run the MMINDEX.EXE program to initialize the conference for Mail
Manager +Plus+'s use. Although this last is not TRULY necessary, it
will speed up initial operation for that conference considerably,
especially if it contains a few hundred messages or so. Syntax for
MMINDEX:
MMINDEX D:\PATH\MMGR.CFG [/x] [/Lfilename.log]
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 48 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If no filename is passed on the command line, MMINDEX will look for
MMGR.CFG in the current directory.
To process just one conference, use /x (where x is the conference
number to process).
To process only the conferences listed in an echotoss.log-type of
file, use "/Lfilename.log", and replace "filename.log" with the full
path\filename of the pre-existing log file to process.
MMINDEX reads your Mail Manager +Plus+ configuration file, and creates
an index file in all of your FIDO conferences (or just the ones you
specify with the optional command line arguments).
At this point, you're ready to test out the conference from within
Mail Manager +Plus+ itself. When satisfied, you can do one of two
things:
1) Go back to MailCFG and repeat all but the MMINDEX.EXE step for
the rest of your FIDO confs. Or,
2) Run the supplied CFG2TXT utility against your MMGR.CFG. This
will create a text file that you can use your favorite text
editor against, and add the balance of your FIDO conferences.
When finished, run the companion program, TXT2CFG to convert the
text file back into Mail Manager +Plus+'s binary configuration
format. If you have MANY Fido conferences to configure, this
might be the way to go.
See the section of this document regarding "UTILITY PROGRAMS" for
more information on these two utilities.
After doing one of these two things, run MMINDEX.EXE as the very last
item BEFORE firing Mail Manager +Plus+ back up for more testing.
Remember to add it to your nightly event, as the very LAST thing run
before your BBS comes back up.
NETMAIL CONFERENCES
-------------------
Guess what! Netmail areas require a little more work. "Regular"
echomail *.MSG areas are scanned out by your mail processor for
sending to your host. NETMAIL, on the other hand, can be sent
anywhere, either directly from your system to destination, or routed
through your HOST.
The most courteous way to do this is generally thought to be via
"Crash" or "Direct" netmail, which bypasses the network and puts you
in immediate contact with the individual system. By going direct,
there are other fun things that are considered almost automatic for
Sysops of frontend mailer systems, such as "File Attach", and "File
Request" (commonly referred to as "FREQ"), not to mention that non-
involved parties shouldn't have to front the long distance bill for
personal messages between two individuals in the net.
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 49 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On the other hand, if you're sending mail to your host, you might want
to send the message normally, which means that it would be sent out
when your mail packer picks it up during your regular mail event.
This way, you don't have to make two separate (and possibly long-
distance) calls to your host if you want to send them netmail.
* VERY IMPORTANT NOTE * - In its current state of development, MMGR+
can handle outbound crashmail, file attaches, and file requests *ONLY*
when used in conjunction with the BinkleyTerm frontend mailer. Other
front end programs such as FrontDoor, Seadog, D'Bridge, Intermail,
etc. etc. use DIFFERENT METHODS of sending off outbound mail packets.
For this reason you will be unable to send CRASH netmail with this
door unless you are running some variant of BinkleyTerm. You will be
able to send normal (routed) netmail with this door just fine, no
matter what frontend you are using. Regular netmail is picked up by
your mail processor, and that is handled the same way for all *.MSG
systems.
In any case... if you are running BinkleyTerm, you need to inform Mail
Manager of your outbound directories for NETMAIL zones, so that you
can use the CRASH, file attach and file request options. This is done
via the MMGR.OB text file in your Mail Manager +Plus+ directory. This
is a simple text file, and does nothing more than inform the door
where to put File requests, File attaches, and outbound netmail when
creating a CRASH message. The format for each line is:
Zone, X:\PATH\OUTBOUND.DIR
So, if you are in 3 different mail zones, your MMGR.OB file would look
something like this:
1, C:\BINKLEY\OUTBOUND
8, C:\BINKLEY\OUTBOUND.008
10, C:\BINKLEY\OUTBOUND.010
...and that's all that's needed for your MMGR.OB text file.
If you are in more than one mail network, you may be using what are
termed as "AKA" addresses. In this case, the Zone:Net/Node address
that you configured for this netmail area may not always be what you
want Mail Manager +Plus+ to use. For instance, if you are a member of
both Rbbsnet and FidoNet, you may wish to send a message to someone
that is reachable only through RBBSNet in zone 8. In this case, you
may want the recipient of the message to see your RBBSNet address on
the message, rather than your Fido address.
Our solution to this is a file named MMGR.AKA, which Mail Manager
+Plus+ will look for in your Mail Manager +Plus+ directory. This text
file is formatted as such for each line: Zone:Net/Node So, to copy
the above-mentioned example, your MMGR.AKA file might look like:
1:226/730
8:965/9
10:10/1
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 50 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
See the section of this document entitled "Text files for FIDO netmail
areas" for the full scoop on MMGR.OB and MMGR.AKA. Both of these
files can be node-specific, if needed.
NOW, we have to get into something that we're probably going to catch
flak about, and that's our implementation of how to handle searching
the nodelist to find the system to which you're sending netmail
messages.
Mail Manager +Plus+ uses a proprietary nodelist format. It just is
not feasible at this stage of the game for us to attempt to support
Version 6 and/or Version 7 nodelists, so we deemed it best to use a
format of our own, optimized for FAST searches and small file size.
You need not use our implementation of the nodelist, but if you don't,
you will lose convenience, and will then need to be able to enter in
the exact Zone, Net, and Node ID of the recipient on every netmail
message, with no search options.
MMGRNODE.EXE is Mail Manager +Plus+'s proprietary nodelist compiler.
This executable should be placed in your Mail Manager +Plus+
directory, and should be run whenever you update your nodelists. Its
usage is:
MMGRNODE [/A] [/Zx] X:\PATH\NODELIST[.FIL]
/A - Tells MMGRNODE to append to the existing compiled
nodelist. If omitted, MMGRNODE will create the
compiled nodelist from scratch, overwriting any pre-
existing one. (By "Compiled nodelist", we are referring
to Mail Manager +Plus+'s proprietary one,
MMGRNODE.DAT).
/Zx - Tells MMGRNODE to compile only zone #'x' from this
nodelist. If no /Z on the command line, all nodes are
compiled.
X:\PATH\NODELIST[.FIL] - The path/filename to the raw
nodelist that you are compiling. If the file extension
is not specified, MMGRNODE will compile the highest
numbered nodelist found in the specified directory.
MMGRNODE will create two files in the current DOS subdirectory:
MMGRNODE.DAT - The main data file containing Sysop names,
Zone, Net, and node numbers, and phone numbers. All
other information in the raw nodelist is ignored, to
save on file size as much as possible.
MMGRNODE.DIX - The data file's index. This file will be MUCH
smaller, and contains information to quickly jump to an
individual system's info based on Zone, Net, and Node.
Mail Manager +Plus+ will look for these two files in your Mail Manager
directory whenever a netmail message is found within a reply packet.
For those using multiple nodelists, consider which one you'll use the
most, and compile that one FIRST, to improve on search speed. For
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 51 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
example, say you're compiling the RBBS-NET nodelist (zone 8) and the
entire FIDO-NET nodelist. RBBSLIST is so small that the search time
to go through it to get to FIDO addresses is minimal. On the other
hand, it would take considerably longer to have to go through the
entire FIDONET nodelist when you're looking for someone in RBBS-NET.
You get the idea. To compile using this scenario, here's the command
lines you'd use (we'll just use dummy nodelist filenames for the
moment). Make sure you're in your Mail Manager +Plus+ directory!:
MMGRNODE C:\BINKLEY\RBBSLIST.178
MMGRNODE /A C:\BINKLEY\NODELIST.094
This would create MMGRNODE.DAT and MMGRNODE.DIX from scratch, starting
with the RBBS-NET nodelist. The FIDO nodelist would be appended to
it. You can append as many nodelists as you'd like in this way. (We
tried five, for testing purposes, and had no trouble).
At this point, you should be all setup and ready to roll with your
FIDO areas, as well as your NETMAIL areas.
NETMAIL MESSAGES WITHIN REPLY PACKETS
-------------------------------------
Uploaded *.REP's will work just like they always have within Mail
Manager and Mail Manager +Plus+, until you run into a NETMAIL message.
When Mail Manager +Plus+ encounters a message for a conference you
have configured as netmail in your REP packet, it stops to ask you a
few questions, so DON'T RUN MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ FROM A SCRIPT, IF
YOU'RE UPLOADING NETMAIL! There *is* one exception to this rule:
read on to find out what it is.
You'll be informed that this is a *NETMAIL MESSAGE*, then will be
asked a series of questions:
Users that have sufficient security to read ALL messages (or higher)
will get the option of posting the message as C)rash, and will also
get the file request and attach options. Users with security LOWER
than this will not get these options, and their netmail will be posted
"normally" (as an *.MSG in your netmail directory, waiting to be
tossed out by your mail processor). REMINDER - Mail Manager +Plus+
can only handle outbound crashmail if you are running BinkleyTerm!
If the user has sufficient security, the first question will be:
"Send message [N]ormally, or C)rash?"
(Defaults to normal). A crash message goes directly to your
outbound area, and is also posted (and marked as sent) in your
netmail area. A normal message is posted in your netmail area, and
is not sent to anyone until your mail packer finds and moves it.
If a C)rash message, you'll be asked: "File attach Y/[N]?"
(Defaults to No). If you tell it yes, you'll be prompted for the
path/filename to send out. If Mail Manager cannot find the file
you specified, it will post a warning reminder, but will continue
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 52 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
on, giving you a chance to place the file where specified before
sending out the message .
If a C)rash message, you'll also be asked: "File request Y/[N]?"
(Defaults to No). If you tell it yes, you'll be prompted for the
name to request.
NOTE - In our current state of development, you can do one or the
other (attach or request), but not both! If you really need to
both attach and request to the same system at the same time, you'll
have to upload two separate netmail messages: 1 for the request,
and 1 for the attach.
"Private Message Y/N?"
Defaults to whatever it was set to in the REP packet.
"Search by I)D, or S)ysop name ([ENTER] = bypass the search)?"
This is where Mail Manager +Plus+ will look at the MMGRNODE.DAT and
MMGRNODE.DIX files created by the MMGRNODE.EXE nodelist compiler.
Here are what the 3 options mean to you:
I)D - You'll be asked for an exact Zone:Net/Node[.Point] number to
look up (Point is optional). If Mail Manager +Plus+ finds a
hit, it will first ask you whether or not to [A]ccept what
it found, then either search again, or ask you whether or
not to post the message. The ID search uses the data index
file, and is VERY fast. Please note that if you are sending
your message to a POINT address, the search will pull up the
HOST system for that point. This is perfectly normal.
S)ysop name - You'll be asked for a partial sysop name to look
for. The search is NOT case sensitive. Mail Manager will
scan for the specified string and will present a list of all
the matches it finds, from which the user can make a
selection. Please note that you can't search by sysop name
if you are sending mail to a point, unless you have compiled
a separate "point nodelist" with MMGRNODE.EXE.
[ENTER] - Bypass the search. You'll key in the
Zone:Net/Node[.Point] ID's, and *NO* error checking will be
performed. Mail Manager +Plus+ will take whatever you give
it, and attempt to post the message. This is the only
option available to you if you did not utilize the
MMGRNODE.EXE program.
Post Message Y)es, N)o, M)odify ([ENTER] = Y)?
We do give you one last chance to abort the message <grin>. If you
made a mistake, you can choose "M" to start over and re-enter the
information.
There is a quick and easy way to bypass all of this, for routed
netmail messages. If the very first line of the message body contains
nothing but "TO: address", then the door will attempt to use that
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 53 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
address as a normal message (to be scanned out later by your mail
processor). For example, if the first line of the message body reads:
TO: 1:226/730
...here is what will happen:
- MMGRNODE.DIX is searched for Zone 1, and Net 226.
- If found, MMGRNODE.DAT is searched for 1:226/730.
- If found, the message will be posted normally in your netmail
area, without requiring further intervention.
If any of the above are NOT found, the "TO:" line is ignored, and
you will be prompted as always for the full information about the
netmail message.
This works for netmail messages found within REP packets, as well as
netmail messages that are entered online within the door. You can
also specify a point address on this line, if the need ever arises.
(Example: To: 1:226/1420.1).
You cannot send a CRASH message or a file attach/request in this way,
but you might find this option handy for posting a quickie routed
message now and then.
---------------------------------------
NOTE - We haven't forgotten about conferences which get routed to the
InterNet. The door will only look at the first line of the message
for the "To:" directive. Any FOLLOWING "To:" line will be passed
through as-is. So, to send off a message to the International Fido
Internet gateway, destined to a specific Internet user, the first two
lines of the message body might read:
To: 1:1/31
To: chip@makaisoft.com
The first line of this netmail message directs it to 1:1/31 (the
current Internet gate as of this writing, which is unfortunately
slated to close as of 1 March 1996), and the 2nd line tells the UUCP
software on the other end that it is to be sent to
"chip@makaisoft.com". (That's Chip Morrow's Internet address, by the
way). The first "To:" line will be stripped from the message body
itself when posted.
FIDO-STYLE *.MSG MESSAGE AREAS - Page 54 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON FIDO
---------------------------
That's about it for the FIDO *.MSG and NETMAIL implementations. A
couple of things that should probably be mentioned: Eddie Rowe has
written a program by the name of NoSnail. NoSnail has the capability
of sending netmail from an RBBS-PC message base (*M.DEF). If you are
using this utility, you can ignore all of the above for netmail areas,
and use Eddie's instructions instead. Aren't you glad you read this
far? <g>
Message extracting, and manually setting last message read markers are
noticeably slower in *.MSG conferences. There are several reasons for
this, most of which probably don't need a lot of explanation, but here
are a few anyway:
Each message is in a separate file. Therefore, there's an awful lot
of file opening and closing going on.
A user might be posting (or have just posted) a FIDO message via Mail
Manager (or some other utility) on another node of your BBS. We
perform checks to guard against this (and allow for it), which slows
things down a bit.
Fido messages don't have a whole lot of "standardization". A
perfectly valid message could have any number of different things
determining end of printable line, or *NO* end of line markers at all.
So, there's a lot of checking and conversion to be done in order to
get the message into QWK format.
Beyond that... it is acceptably fast on a non-networked system (even a
fairly slow one), but the extraction process really bogs down when run
through a network with fairly slow transfer rates.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 55 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS
============================
DEBUGGING YOUR SETUP AND RUNNING IN LOCAL MODE
-----------------------------------------------
Assuming (again) that your Mail Manager +Plus+ directory is named
\MMGR:
Change to the \MMGR directory, and run MMGR.EXE with no command line
parameters to bring the door up in local mode. When run this way, the
door assumes you to be the person identified in MAILCFG as the sysop.
To log on in local mode as someone other than the sysop, see the
paragraph at then end of this section.
If this is a first-time installation, Mail Manager +Plus+ should say
that you're a new user and walk you through the user setup.
We think it is necessary to mention Mail Manager +Plus+'s own running
scenario, since it is important for you as the SysOp to understand
this for any debugging purposes on your end.
You created +-- Work directories created & maintained by the door.
| |
\MMGR |
|
\MMGR\LOCAL
\NODE1
\NODE2
...etc.
Note that you can specify these work directories be created elsewhere
than below your MMGR directory via the /W command line switch when you
load MMGR.
Mail Manager +Plus+ changes to these work directories as it runs, and
changes back to MMGR's own directory just as it exits.
If you are not using Mail Manager's list of archivers (MMGR.ARL), one
file that absolutely MUST be in the directory that you created is
RBBSQWK.BAT. If you are running the list of archivers, this file is
not needed -- in fact, you can save some precious execution time by
deleting this file completely... it will save an unneeded SHELL to
this batch file (and, if swapping to disk via MMGR's internal swap or
an external utility like SHROOM, can eliminate one whole swapping
cycle).
But if you are NOT running MMGR.ARL: DON'T DELETE OR RENAME
RBBSQWK.BAT!!! You can edit RBBSQWK.BAT if you are familiar with the
format of the CONTROL.DAT file that is included in all .QWK packets,
and/or want to modify what the users will receive in their QWK's.
This is not for the faint of heart, requires some knowledge of how
things work in QWK land, and simply isn't necessary. If it exists,
RBBSQWK.BAT is run each time that Mail Manager +Plus+ creates a QWK
packet for the user to download, and doesn't do anything at all if you
are using the list of archivers, MMGR.ARL.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 56 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
An important consideration is what to do with your own personal QWK's
and REP's created locally. You may find it convenient to configure
your offline reader to use the \MMGR\LOCAL directory for all .REP's
and .QWK's, since that's where Mail Manager will manipulate your mail
in local mode.
To stick a .REP packet into your message bases, just U)pload while in
local mode, and select any protocol other than N)one. If your .REP
packet is in the \MMGR\LOCAL directory, it will be processed as if
you'd uploaded the file remotely.
It is important to make you aware that there is a sysop I)nformation
screen option available only to those with sufficient security to read
ALL messages. Eligible users will see "I" as one of the options on
their Mail Manager command line. For ineligible users, "I" will not
be accepted as a valid command.
If you have set yourself up with sufficient security to use this
option, pressing "I" at the Mail Manager +Plus+ main menu will greet
you with something like this:
SYSOP INFORMATION:
Mail Manager version ............: v4.00
Mail Manager path ...............: C:\MMGR
MMGR's operating environment ....: NetBIOS
Operating system ................: DOS version 7.00
Caller's graphics ...............: ANSI
SHARE detected? .................: Yes
Flow control method .............: Local mode
Free string space ...............: 19772
Free DOS memory .................: 211856
Available stack space ...........: 1850
MAIN message base ...............: E:\RBBS\MAINM.DEF
MAIN users file .................: E:\RBBS\MAINU.DEF
Highest message # in MAIN .......: 6132
Last msg # YOU read in MAIN .....: 6131
Filename of protocol definitions : C:\MMGR\TEXT\MMGR.PRO
Filename of list of archivers ...: C:\MMGR\TEXT\MMGR.ARL
Filename of log file ............: C:\LOGS\MMGR.LOG
Filename of list of FMS dirs ....: C:\MMGR\TEXT\MMGR.FMS
Swap-to-disk information file ...: C:\MMGR\TEXT\MMGR.SWP
Disk space needed for swap ......: 327920
Some of the more important information in here:
Mail Manager path should reflect the drive and directory that
you have installed the program in. If it doesn't, your batch
file is probably not changing to the proper directory prior to
running MMGR.EXE.
Mail Manager's operating environment should reflect what you've
told Mail Manager to use. If it doesn't, there's definitely a
problem!
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 57 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating system must be DOS 3.30 or above in order for Mail
Manager +Plus+ to operate properly.
Callers graphics will be NONE, ASCII, ANSI, or RIP.
SHARE must be detected if you are operating in a NetBIOS
environment. The only exception is if you are running under a
NOVELL network, in which case SHARE checking is bypassed.
Flow control method can report one of five things: Local mode,
FOSSIL, RTS/CTS, XON/XOFF, or NONE.
Free string space is pretty darned important, too. This should
really be up around 10,000 or higher at all times when you
display this screen. If it is less than that, we want to hear
about it!
Free DOS memory available is approximately the amount of free
memory that is available for DSZ and your file compression/
extraction programs. If this number is less than 200K, you are
likely to run into trouble, and should check to make sure that
you are EXITING, (NOT SHELLING!) from RBBS-PC to Mail Manager
+Plus+. The only other way that we can think of that would
cause you to have less than 200K available on today's 640K+ PC's
would be if you have an EXTREMELY large number of conferences,
or you are running in a too-small window in a multitasking
environment. If you have less than 300K here, you will probably
need to use the swap-to-disk capabilities of the door, or use a
utility like SHROOM (mentioned in the memory requirements
section of this document) in order to use Mail Manager +Plus+.
MAIN message base and user file names must match what is true
for your MAIN area. If not, you don't have MAIN as your first
conference listed, and Mail Manager +Plus+ will NOT operate
properly.
Highest message number in MAIN, and highest message # that you
read in main should be accurate. If they're not, then Mail
Manager +Plus+ didn't properly find you in the MAIN users file,
and/or it wasn't able to correctly access the MAIN message file.
Filename of list of protocol definitions should match what you
told MAILCFG to use for MMGR.PRO.
Filename of list of archivers should be MMGR[x].ARL, in the path
to text files. (If this file does not exist, Mail Manager will
use the default type of compression that you chose, and will
require said archiver to be in a DOS path!)
Filename of log file is where Mail Manager +Plus+ is storing the
current activity log. If the path is wrong, check your setting
on the first screen of MAILCFG.
Filename of list of FMS dirs should be MMGR[x].FMS, in the path
to text files. This is the file that the door is currently
checking for FMS directory information.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 58 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Swap-to-disk information file should be MMGR[x].SWP, in the path
to text files. This is where the door is currently checking for
swap-to-disk information.
Disk space needed to receive the temporary swap file created by
MMGR's internal swap-to-disk function.
If, after following these instructions, you continue to have
trouble, take a look at the "COMMON PROBLEMS" section of this
manual.
For most local mode usage, you will probably just wish to log on as
sysop. It is possible to use the door in local mode under a different
user name, however. To do this, first create/edit a DINFx.DEF/DOR-
INFOx.DEF file for a fictitious unused node on your system. If you
have 5 nodes, you might create DINF6.DEF, for instance. Specify the
user name, security level, etc., you wish to use in this file, and
specify the comm port as COM0. Place this file in the same directory
with MMGR.EXE. Now, just pass this fictitious node number on the MMGR
command line (MMGR 6 in our example) and the door will log on in local
mode under the name specified in the DINF file.
HANDLING NON-STANDARD PORT ADDRESSES VIA MMGR.PRO
-------------------------------------------------
The easiest way to handle nonstandard port addresses in Mail Manager
+Plus+ is to create a separate MMGRx.PRO protocol definition file for
each node. It IS possible to achieve the same results with a single
MMGR.PRO, however.
In order to support a nonstandard port address in a single MMGR.PRO
protocol definition file, have your MMGR.PRO specify a custom batch
file, rather than a direct call to the protocol executable itself.
Your custom batch file can then send the correct commands to the
protocol, depending on which port is involved.
Here's what an entry in the MMGR.PRO file might look like. (This
should all be on one line, of course, but is split here for clarity):
"Z)modem (Batch)",0,S,8,,B,1024,,0.95,,1=E,
"X:\ZMODEM.BAT S [PORT#] [BAUD] [FILE]",
"X:\ZMODEM.BAT R [PORT#] [BAUD] [FILE]"
With drive X: of course being whatever drive\directory you want.
Then the ZMODEM.BAT file could look something like (assuming that you
have ports 1 and 2 at standard addresses, and port 3 at non-standard
address 3e8, irq 5):
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 59 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO OFF
: --------------------------------------
: 1st arg is either S or R,
: 2rd arg is comm port number
: 3rd arg is bps rate, and
: 4th arg is filename being transferred.
: --------------------------------------
IF (%1)==(S) GOTO SEND
IF (%1)==(R) GOTO RECEIVE
GOTO END
:SEND
IF NOT (%2)==(3) dsz port %2 speed %3 sz -m %4
IF (%2)==(3) dsz portx 3e8,5 speed %3 -m sz %4
GOTO END
:RECEIVE
IF NOT (%2)==(3) dsz port %2 speed %3 rz %4
IF (%2)==(3) dsz portx 3e8,5 speed %3 rz %4
:END
This could, of course, be refined into a single batch file that
handles all protocols, not just Zmodem, but it should serve to
illustrate the principle. Or a separate batch file could be set up
for each protocol.
We leave it to you to adapt for protocol drivers other than DSZ.
DESQVIEW, OS/2, NETWORKS, AND MULTIPLE NODES
--------------------------------------------
Operating in a multitasking environment or on a network is a special
case, worthy of further explanation!
First off, Mail Manager +Plus+ can automatically detect the following
conditions:
- Is Mail Manager running in an OS/2 Dos box?
- Is SHARE installed under DOS?
- Is DESQview present?
- Is Novell present?
What Mail Manager +Plus+ detects will be used as the basis for
initially determining the operating environment, which will be:
- DESQview, if it is present.
- NetBIOS, if DESQview is not present and SHARE is installed, or
OS/2 or Novell is detected.
- Good ole' normal DOS if neither of the above is true.
Mail Manager +Plus+ will initially use the above file locking
technique for the type of environment that was detected. At this
point, the only file being accessed is Mail Manager's own
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 60 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
configuration file, so your RBBS files are quite safe even if this is
not the same environment that you have specified for RBBS to use.
Once the program has progressed far enough to have read what network
type you specified (i.e. your RBBS network setting from DINFx.DEF if
operating remotely, or MMGR.CFG if operating in local mode), Mail
Manager +Plus+ will, if necessary, switch to your specified type of
network.
With that out of the way, let's talk about the supported environment
types, and what they mean from the standpoint of Mail Manager +Plus+:
DESQview - Mail Manager +Plus+ will use the same file and record
locking scheme that RBBS-PC itself uses. In fact, it uses the
very same assembler source, which was written by Jon Martin in
1988. Therefore, the DESQview semaphore locking routines used by
Mail Manager +Plus+ are copyrighted by Jon Martin, and are
available to anyone who has a copy of RBBS-PC's source code.
Look for RBBSDV.ASM in RBBS-PC's assembler source. Mail Manager
+Plus+ also gives back unused time slices under DESQView,
resulting in a speedup of your other nodes.
NetBIOS - This is a special case, and requires that physical file
and record locking take place (this is also what is used under
Novell). RBBS-PC uses what is termed as a "semaphore" file, to
control access to what Mail Manager +Plus+ is concerned with:
Your USERS file(s), your MESSAGES file(s), and your FMS file (if
any).
This is done with the hard-coded filename "IBMFLAGS", which will
exist in the same directory as your MAIN message base. If you're
already running RBBS-PC under NetBIOS, look for it - it should
already be there. IBMFLAGS is 6 bytes in length, and contains
nothing but three empty 2-byte records, which are controlled by
RBBS-PC and Mail Manager +Plus+ to limit access to USERS,
MESSAGES, and FMS directory files.
Under NetBIOS, in addition to IBMFLAGS, Mail Manager +Plus+ will
create and maintain its own "semaphore" locking file to control
access to its own files, using the same principle as IBMFLAGS.
The Mail Manager +Plus+ semaphore file is named MMFLAGS, and will
be created in your Mail Manager +Plus+ directory. MMFLAGS will
be 3 bytes in length, and manipulated by all nodes of Mail
Manager +Plus+.
It is also noteworthy that all files will be opened in SHARED
mode when operating in NetBIOS mode.
If you are running under Novell Netware, Mail Manager +Plus+ will
detect it, and will not check for the installation of DOS SHARE.
If Novell is not detected, yet NetBIOS is specified as the
environment, Mail Manager will check for SHARE before allowing
itself to continue.
OS/2 - Unless DESQView is specified in your setup, and then
detected, Mail Manager +Plus+ will operate in NetBios mode (see
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 61 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
above) when OS/2 is detected. Mail Manager +Plus+ gives back
unused time slices under OS/2, thus speeding up your system
(there is no need to use OS2SPEED or similar utilities to "fool"
Mail Manager into giving back DESQView time slices).
DOS - Gee, isn't it nice when you don't have to worry about all
this? Under good 'ole DOS, none of the above is meaningful, and
all files will be opened normally, with no sharing or locking
mechanisms in place. This should only be used for single node
systems.
If you happen to be running in an environment that does NOT match any
of the above situations, AND you are sharing the same set of RBBS
message bases and users files between nodes, you will want to consider
having DOS SHARE loaded, and configuring both RBBS-PC and Mail Manager
+Plus+ to use NetBIOS as the operating environment.
Or, if file sharing is not a concern, just configure Mail Manager
+Plus+ to use DOS as its environment.
For most installations, you can run up to 999 nodes (we get a headache
just THINKING about 999 nodes!) from a single configuration file,
utilizing a unique work directory for each node. Unusual
installations (non-standard comm ports have already been discussed)
can be accommodated via separate configuration files for one or more
nodes. One such case might be a networked setup in which the network
drive letters are not the same for each node (C:\MAINM.DEF on one,
D:\MAINM.DEF on another). Why you'd set your network up that way we
don't know, but it isn't our place to, is it?
WORKING WITH A FOSSIL DRIVER
----------------------------
Mail Manager +Plus+ does support a FOSSIL driver, and if you are
running a modem capable of 9600 bps or better, we recommend that you
use one with Mail Manager +Plus+. If you told RBBS-PC to use a
FOSSIL, Mail Manager +Plus+ will also. The door has been tested
extensively with both BNU v1.70 and X00 v1.2x FOSSILs.
PLEASE NOTE that some door converters and programs that 'launch' doors
for you may not correctly set the FOSSIL argument in
DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF!!!!
The very last line of your DINFx.DEF (line #13) should be either a
zero or minus one (0 or -1). -1 indicates that the FOSSIL is active
in RBBS-PC, and tells the door that it too should use a FOSSIL.
To keep you from having to dig up the RBBS-PC documentation, here's
what Mail Manager +Plus+ expects from DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF:
INFO OVERLOAD <- BBS name (ignored by Mail Manager +Plus+)
CHIP <- Sysop's first name
MORROW <- Sysop's last name
COM1 <- Communications port
2400 BAUDD,N,8,1 <- Communications parameters
6 <- Network type (4=DV, 6=NetBIOS)
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 62 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
JOE <- User's first name
USERNAME <- User's last name
NEWARK, OH <- User's city/state
2 <- User's graphics preference (2=ANSI)
10 <- User's security level
30 <- Number of minutes remaining
-1 <- FOSSIL in use (0=no, -1=yes)
* NOTE - The second "D" in "BAUDD" is a bug in RBBS-PC 17.3C, and
may or may not be present in your own DINFx.DEF files. Either
way, it does not affect the operation of the door.
It is possible to configure Mail Manager to ALWAYS check for a FOSSIL
driver, regardless of the setting in DINFx.DEF. This is done in the
MAILCFG program, by setting the flow control method to "F". In this
case, Mail Manager +Plus+ will ALWAYS try to use a FOSSIL for
communications.
QWK NETWORKING
--------------
In addition to handling mail for individual callers, Mail Manager
+Plus+ can also process QWK-formatted network mail packets for sharing
conferences between bulletin boards.
If your board is serving as the net HOST, Mail Manager +Plus+ can
create the "net status" packets needed to interface with existing QWK-
based network software such as TNET and RNET in use by node boards.
If your board is serving as a net NODE, we provide a utility called
MNET (see the MNET210.ZIP archive included in the Mail Manager +Plus+
4.00 distribution archive) which converts a "net status" QWK packet
from a host into a REP which can then be uploaded into the node BBS's
QWK door. MNET also does the reverse conversion, taking messages
exported from the node system via a QWK and converting them to a REP
that can then be uploaded to the host system. This eliminates the
need for a separate network interface such as RNET. Although MNET is
ideal for use with a Mail Manager +Plus+ system (and MMGR+ has several
enhancements that allow them to work well together) MNET may be used
with any system capable of exporting QWK packets and receiving REP
packets.
Since this subject is a fairly complex one, details are handled in a
separate file called NETINFO.DOC.
SECURITY FEATURES
-----------------
Mail Manager +Plus+ has extensive built-in security functions. We
hope you agree that it does make for a pretty secure mail door.
We want to emphasize the importance of the security level that you
configured in the MAILCFG program for the ability to read ALL
messages. This security level is checked for all of the SysOp
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 63 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
functions that Mail Manager +Plus+ performs and should be set to
either SysOp or Co-SysOp level only! Some of the more important
things that users with this security level or higher can do:
- Use the SysOp-only function I)nfo from the main menu (which shows
where everything that pertains to your Mail Manager +Plus+ setup is
located).
- Upload a message under a name other than the one that they use on
the BBS, regardless of the setting of the "Alias file" argument in
the MAILCFG program for that conference.
- Read everybody's mail, regardless of whether it's marked as private
or password-protected.
- Use the C)rash option when uploading netmail messages, and also the
file attach and request options.
You get the idea.
Contrary to some of the concerns we have received on this subject over
the last few years, a user CANNOT inadvertently download a mail packet
that was extracted by a previous user of the door. Mail Manager
+Plus+ temporarily keeps the mail packet on disk so that the SysOp can
check it out for appearance, in case there were any problems in the
transfer, etc. Mail Manager +Plus+ deletes any existing mail packet
whenever a user attempts to D)ownload, E)xpedite, or U)pload.
Conferences are configured with two minimum security levels: One for
the ability to join and read, and the other for the ability to post.
Users can only extract mail from conferences that they have joined,
either from the BBS itself or via Mail Manager +Plus+ (if you have
turned "on" this ability in the MAILCFG program).
Mail Manager +Plus+ will add a user to an RBBS conference only if you
have specified that it is OK to do so in the MAILCFG program.
Mail Manager +Plus+ bypasses all killed messages.
Password-protected messages are only extracted and downloaded to users
with an exact name match in the "TO" or "FROM" fields, or to those
with sufficient security to read ALL messages.
With two exceptions, only users with sufficient security to read ALL
messages are permitted to upload messages under a name other than the
one they use on the BBS. The exceptions are:
- If you have configured Mail Manager +Plus+ to look for an ALIAS file
for a given conference, it will accept messages from the user's pre-
defined alias, and will change the user's real name to his alias
before posting.
- If you have configured a specific username for "net status" QWK
network capability, that username will be able to upload messages
with any name in the "FROM" field.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 64 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Users cannot upload messages to conferences that they have not joined.
Mail Manager +Plus+ posts a private message to the sender's true name
whenever a security violation regarding an uploaded reply occurs. The
user's message which triggered the violation will be returned to the
user at the end of the violation notice. By default this will be
placed in Conference #1, but the sysop can designate a different
conference to receive violation notices via the /V command line option
when loading the door. Violation notices can be triggered by:
- Uploading a message with the "FROM" name not matching the user's
name on the BBS or his pre-defined alias.
- Uploading a message to a conference that the user has not joined.
- Uploading a message to a conference in which the user does not have
sufficient security to post a message.
- Uploading a message to a conference number that does not exist.
Files listed in your FMS directory that were uploaded as "SYSOP-ONLY"
will be listed only in the SysOp's own mail packets. They will be
bypassed for everyone else.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
-------------------
CHAT MODE: While Mail Manager +Plus+ is waiting for a keystroke
(preferably at the MAIN MENU), the Sysop can press [F10]
to jump into a no-frills chat mode with the user that's
currently online.
Sysop terminates the chat by pressing [Esc] or [F10].
(Typing "/QUIT" by either party is no longer supported.)
DOS SHELL: While Mail Manager +Plus+ is waiting for a keystroke
(again, preferably at the MAIN MENU), the Sysop can press
[F2] to jump to DOS. When finished, type EXIT to return
to Mail Manager +Plus+. Naturally, this works only from
the local keyboard. Mail Manager +Plus+ will
automatically return to the proper drive and directory, no
matter where you are when you type "exit" to return from
the DOS shell.
TIME LIMIT: This is passed to Mail Manager +Plus+ from RBBS-PC in
DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF. It will be either the amount of
time remaining on your RBBS-PC, or whatever time limit
that you specified in DOORS.DEF, otherwise. In local
mode, the time limit is always 120 minutes.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 65 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
KYBD IDLE: If Mail Manager +Plus+ has to wait more than 180 seconds
for the user to press a key, it will exit back to the BBS.
The user will get a beep and a warning message after 90
seconds, and every 30 seconds thereafter, until keyboard
time expires.
CARRIER DETECT: If the user drops carrier, Mail Manager +Plus+ will
report to you as such, write this info to the appropriate
log file, and return to the BBS. RBBS-PC will see that no
carrier detect is present, re-cycle itself, and wait for
the next caller.
DOWNLOAD & EXIT: Although the E)xpedite! option is documented
elsewhere in this manual, we didn't make it clear as to
the best way to automate this from RBBS-PC's standpoint.
RBBS-PC 17.3C and above allow you to specify "/G" after
the name of the door, which allows the user to be logged
off immediately after returning to RBBS-PC. Therefore,
the user could type: "d mmgr /g".
Then, from within Mail Manager +Plus+, select E)xpedite!,
and the user will be logged completely off the BBS after
downloading their mail.
As an alternative, you can choose to have the door drop
DTR whenever G)oodbye and E)xpedite! are chosen. Please
read the warning message about this option elsewhere in
this documentation!
INTERNET CONFERENCES: The RBBS-PC v17.5 beta allows you to create
conferences that you designate as "Internet" conferences,
via a file named *I.DEF in the same directory as the
message file for that area. (You'll have to see the 17.5b
"features.txt" on this one). Mail Manager +Plus+
functions equivalently to RBBS 17.5b when attempting to
P)ost or R)eply to a message in one of these types of
areas online in the door, by reading the *I.DEF file
directly, and acting accordingly. All five options in
*I.DEF are supported.
NEW FILES: If you are running one or more standard RBBS-PC FMS
directories, you should be able to use this built-in
capability. If you are not running a standard FMS, and
the door cannot find the node-specific MMGRx.FMS or
default MMGR.FMS file in your Mail Manager directory, the
door will not attempt to include a new file listing in the
user's mail packets.
Users do have the ability to turn this feature "off", if
they do not desire a file listing in their mail packets.
If the user has ANSI turned on, the NEWFILES.DAT will be
in ANSI color.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 66 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's what is required of your FMS directories:
- No 'special' lines contained within it (semi-private
filenames preceded with an asterisk (*) before the
filename, special comment lines, etc).
- Oldest files listed at the top of the FMS, and most
recent files listed at the bottom.
If yours fits all of the above, NEWFILES should work fine.
Here's the way NEWFILES works:
1) Finds the date that the user last checked the file
listing (from the RBBS-PC main users file). If user
never listed your file directories, the user's last
date into the Mail Manager +Plus+ door is used,
instead.
2) Grabs the very first line of your FMS, to determine the
line length, since this can vary depending on how you
set things up via RBBS-PC's CONFIG. HOWEVER, all lines
in your FMS are expected to be the same length as the
first line listed!
3) After determining line length, moves to end of file,
grabs the very last line of your FMS, and checks the
date stamp against the user's "last check" date.
4) If the last file's date is the same as, or newer than,
the user's date that they last listed your files,
NEWFILES steps through your FMS in reverse order,
pulling out filenames & extended descriptions until the
date stamp is earlier than the user's last check. The
file created (NEWFILES.DAT) is then included in the
user's QWK mail packet, and can be viewed easily with
the user's mail reader.
If the last file's date is older than the user's last
check, NEWFILES figures no new files, and doesn't
include a NEWFILES.DAT in the QWK packet.
PRIVATE UPLOADS TO THE SYSOP are listed ONLY in the
sysop's own mail packets. These files (and their extended
descriptions) are skipped for everyone else.
If you use chained FMS directories, or any of the "\FMS"
directives, NEWFILES will stop searching when it reaches
that line of your FMS. Why? The line won't be an
extended description (" ." as the last three characters
on the line), and won't have a file date in the proper
positions on the line. In this case, NEWFILES will
consider the file date to be 00-00-00, and will quit
searching your FMS directory. To list more than one FMS
directory in your new file listing, add the additional FMS
directories to your MMGR.FMS file.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS - Page 67 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you use the FMS directive "\FMS TOP", you may still be
able to use this capability, but you'll have to jump
through some hoops to do it. You could set the RBBS-PC
CONFIG option "Copy all upload descriptions to file
named..." and tell the door to use THAT file in your
MMGR.FMS.
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 68 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+
=================================================
We supply several utility programs to aid in your setup and operation
of Mail Manager +Plus+. A quick overview:
MAILCFG, the configuration program:
We recommend using MAILCFG to configure Mail Manager +Plus+.
MAILCFG directly edits the binary configuration file, and is easy
to use. MAILCFG is covered in the separate section of this manual
entitled: "CONFIGURING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+".
CFG2TXT & TXT2CFG - the binary <--> text utilities:
Throughout Mail Manager's relatively short life, we have heard from
several SysOps who simply do not care for the configuration program
MailCFG. These two utilities are provided as an alternative, and
also to ease the installation of FIDO *.MSG message areas.
MAILFIX, the purge/repair/renumber utility for RBBS message files:
A handy utility intended as an alternative (or replacement) for
RBBS CONFIG's "repair" facility, MU-EDIT, and similar utilities.
MAILFIX has the ability to keep a physical number of messages in a
given message base (handy for echo areas), purge killed messages,
and repair damaged messages. MAILFIX can also renumber message
bases and reset user message pointers according to the new message
numbers. When renumbering message bases, MAILFIX will also update
the "previous pointer" stored in the user's record in the Mail
Manager auxiliary user file for the conference. MAILFIX and its
documentation are included in the MFIX433.ZIP archive.
MMINDEX, the indexing program for *.MSG areas:
Optional (but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!) utility for SysOps running Fido
*.MSG message areas. This program has no meaning if you are
running only RBBS-PC *M.DEF message bases.
MMGRNODE, the nodelist compiler:
Optional (but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!) utility to compile raw nodelists
into a shortened binary format readable by Mail Manager +Plus+.
Useful only if you are running an *.MSG netmail area or two.
MNET, the QWK network conversion utility:
This utility is used only on the "node" end of a QWK network, and
can be used with ANY BBS type that has a QWK mail door capable of
handling MarkMail-compatible network mail packets. MNET and its
documentation are included in the MNET210.ZIP archive.
MUSER, the Mail Manager +Plus+ user file editor:
A utility to edit/purge/manipulate Mail Manager's internal users
file, MMGR.USR, and the Mail Manager +Plus+ auxiliary xxxxxxxU.MGR
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 69 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
user files for each conference. This utility was created to handle
QWK network usernames, but has other obvious uses as well.
Now we'll describe these programs in greater detail.
CFG2TXT & TXT2CFG - Binary <-> Text utilities
-----------------
Mail Manager +Plus+ uses a binary configuration file, which can be
directly edited by the configuration program, MAILCFG.EXE. However,
there are some situations where MAILCFG becomes repetitive, and there
are many SysOps who have expressed the desire for a text
configuration.
So... to address the above, these two utilities are provided.
The two programs are companions: CFG2TXT converts the standard
MAILMGR.CFG binary configuration file into text format, and TXT2CFG
converts a text file to Mail Manager +Plus+ binary configuration
format.
Usage of these programs:
CFG2TXT [INPUT.FIL] [OUTPUT.FIL]
Where INPUT.FIL is the name of the Mail Manager +Plus+ binary
configuration file to convert, and
OUTPUT.FIL is the name of the text file to create.
If nothing is passed on the command line, CFG2TXT will default
to:
INPUT.FIL = MAILMGR.CFG
OUTPUT.FIL = MAILMGR.TXT
TXT2CFG [INPUT.FIL] [OUTPUT.FIL]
The reverse of the above. INPUT.FIL is the name of the text
file to convert, and OUTPUT.FIL is the name of the binary
configuration file to create. If nothing is passed on the
command line, TXT2CFG will default to:
INPUT.FIL = MAILMGR.TXT
OUTPUT.FIL = MAILMGR.CFG
Each line in the text configuration file must be flush left.
The supplied MAILMGR.TXT file should be pretty self-explanatory,
but here is the run-down:
Lines beginning with a semi-colon ";" are ignored as comments.
ANY BLANK LINES WILL BE CONSIDERED PART OF THE CONFIGURATION!
Lines without semicolons (the order in which TXT2CFG will read
them) are as follows:
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 70 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MAX = Maximum number of characters,
INT = Integer (cannot exceed 32767)
Line # Meaning MAX
------ ------------------------------------------------ ---
1 Name of your RBBS-PC. 35
2 Name you use to log onto your BBS remotely. 31
3 Your first name as you are known to your users. 15
4 Your last name as you are known to your users. 15
5 Security level to read *ALL* messages everywhere INT
6 Security level to use when operating locally. INT
7 Graphics to use locally (0=no, 1=ascii, 2=ansi) 1
8 Default tagline to use for ALL conferences. 61
9 First eight characters for packet filenames. 8
10 Default file compression (ARC,ARJ,LZH,ZIP only) 3
11 Path/Name of news file - *NON-GRAPHIC* version. 40
12 Path/Name of list of system bulletins. 40
13 Type of network to use in local mode. (D,N,Q) 1
14 Type of handshaking to use remotely (F,R,X,N) 1
15 Allow auto-detect of RIP graphics? (Y,N) 1
16 Path to log files (end with a backslash!) 40
17 Path\filename of list of archivers 40
18 Environment variable pointing to XFER-x.DEF 15
19 Modify REP time stamp to system date/time? (Y,N) 1
20 City/State where your BBS is located. 31
21 Your BBS phone number. 12
22 Character to use for smart text (default=123) 3
23 Default path to *M.DEF conferences. 40
24 Path\filename of echo toss log. 40
25 Start of timelock. Use 24-hour clock (HH:MM) 5
26 End of timelock. Use 24-hour clock (HH:MM) 5
27 Allow door to drop DTR at G)oodbye, E)xpedite! 1
28 Show empty/unjoinable conferences? 1
29 Max msgs users may extract per packet (9999 max) 4
30 Force "violation notice" conference active? (Y, N) 1
31 Allow MMGR online R)ead and P)ost options? (Y, N) 1
32 Using TIMES DOWNLOADED mod? (Y, N) 1
33 Max number of new files from any one FMS dir INT
34 and up = Conference configuration section. Each conference
is configured as follows (23 arguments = 22 commas on each
line):
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,"11",12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,"23"
MAX = Maximum number of characters,
INT = Integer (cannot exceed 32767)
Arg # Meaning MAX
------ ------------------------------------------------ ---
1 Conference name. 7
2 Max lines per message in this conference (0-99) 2
3 Point # for this conference (Fido *.MSG only) INT
4 Fakenet for this conference (Fido *.MSG only) INT
5 Path/Name to this conference's USERS file. 40
6 Path/Name to this conference's MESSAGES file. 40
7 Allow or dis-allow ANSI (Y or N). 1
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 71 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Allow or dis-allow high/low ASCII (Y or N). 1
9 Security level needed to join/read this conf. INT
10 Security level needed to post in this conference. INT
11 Tagline for this conf (NONE = use default tag). 61
12 Type of network in local mode (D,N,Q). 1
13 Type of handshaking in remote mode (F,R,X). 1
14 Allow auto-detect of RIP graphics? (Y, N). 1
15 Path for log files. 40
16 Path to the door's text files. 40
17 Environment variable pointing to XFERx.DEF. 15
18 Modify REP time stamp to system date/time? (Y,N) 1
19 City/State where your BBS is located. 31
20 Your BBS phone number. 12
21 Character to use for smart text (default=123). 3
22 Default path to *M.DEF conference files. 40
23 Long conference description. 60
Your MAIN RBBS-PC MESSAGE BASE must be the first conference
listed! From there on, you can mix/match as you see fit. Your
MAIN conference might look something like this:
MAIN,0,0,0,\RBBS\MESSAGES\MAINU.DEF,\RBBS\MESSAGES\MAINM.DEF,
Y,Y,5,5,"NONE",N,N,Y,NONE,0,0,0,N,N,,Y,
"(Local) IO main msg base - the only local message area here."
NOTE that it should all be on one line! It is split here for
the purposes of this documentation.
----------------------------------------------------------------
...and that's the way it works. Conferences MUST be listed in
the order you'd like them to appear in the door. If you need
"gaps" between conference numbers, insert a place-holder line
like this:
{EMPTY},99,0,0,,,N,Y,0,0,"NONE",N,N,N,NONE,0,0,0,N,N,,Y,""
Yes, that's 22 commas.
If you intend to leave gaps in conference numbers, you will have to
add one of these lines for every empty conference number you wish to
reserve.
MAILFIX - RBBS message base maintenance utility
-------
MAILFIX is a purge/repair/renumber utility for RBBS-PC message bases.
Because of its obvious utility for all RBBS sysops, we have released
it as a separate stand-alone utility with full documentation. Please
see the MFIX433.ZIP archive for this program and instructions on using
it.
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 72 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MMINDEX - Indexing utility for *.MSG areas
-------
MMINDEX is the Mail Manager Plus indexing utility for Fido-style *.MSG
message areas. If you are not running any of these types of message
areas, you do not need MMINDEX, and can skip this section.
Usage: MMINDEX [FILENAME.CFG] [/n] [/LFILENAME.LOG]
FILENAME.CFG is the Mail Manager configuration file to process.
Default is MAILMGR.CFG in the current DOS subdirectory.
/n = An individual conference number to process. (I.E. - /5). If
omitted, processes all Fido *.MSG conferences. You can only
specify ONE individual conference on the command line, such as:
MMINDEX E:\MMGR\MMGR.CFG /5
This would cause MMINDEX to read the E:\MMGR\MMGR.CFG
configuration file, and process only conference #5.
/LFILENAME.LOG = Read a text "ECHOTOSS.LOG" type of file, and
process only the Fido areanames listed within. If omitted,
processes all Fido *.MSG conferences. This lends itself to
"smarter" automatic operation after tossing new messages into
your *.MSG areas. There can be no space between /L and the name
of the log file. Sample usage:
MMINDEX E:\MMGR\MMGR.CFG /LC:\FIDO\ECHOTOSS.LOG
An ECHOTOSS.LOG file contains a list of Fido area names.
Therefore, if you are going to use the "/L" option, it is very
important to properly configure the "Fido area name" for all of
your *.MSG areas in the MAILCFG program, which is the 3rd option
on the conference configuration screen.
* NOTE - /n and /L cannot be used together.
If nothing is supplied on the command line, MMINDEX will look for a
file named MMGR.CFG in the current directory, and process all Fido
conferences.
MMINDEX reads the Mail Manager +Plus+ binary configuration file, and
looks for all conferences configured as F)ido (*.MSG). It then
creates a file named MMGR.NDX in each FIDO *.MSG subdirectory, which
is what Mail Manager +Plus+ uses to move as quickly as possible
through the messages within. The index is 4 bytes per message, so if
you have 100 messages in a FIDO conference, MMGR.NDX should be 400
bytes in length.
Mail Manager +Plus+ creates/updates these index files itself, but you
will save yourself (and your users) a lot of time by putting MMINDEX
in your nightly event AFTER your toss/scan/renumber processes. If the
door finds that the indexes in each area are invalid, it will have to
re-create them from scratch.
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 73 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MMGRNODE - Mail Manager +Plus+ Nodelist compiler
--------
MMGRNODE.EXE is meaningful only if you are running one or more FIDO
*.MSG netmail areas. If you are not configuring any such areas into
Mail Manager +Plus+, you have no need for this utility.
Mail Manager +Plus+ uses a proprietary compiled nodelist format for
all Zone:Net/Node searches in your netmail areas. Although it is not
absolutely necessary to use our implementation, you will lose the
convenience of being able to confirm that you are sending netmail to
the correct Zone:Net/Node, and will have to blindly enter in your
Zone:Net/Node arguments for netmail messages that you upload into Mail
Manager +Plus+.
MMGRNODE reads a "raw" nodelist, and compiles it into a format that is
optimized for small file size and fast searches. MMGRNODE can use a
single nodelist, or can combine several different ones together.
Usage: MMGRNODE [/A] [/Zx] X:\PATH\NODELIST[.FIL]
/A = Instructs MMGRNODE to append to any pre-existing compiled
nodelist that it created previously. If no "/A" on command
line, MMGRNODE will create the compiled nodelist and index from
scratch, overwriting any pre-existing ones.
/Zx = Instructs MMGRNODE to compile only zone #x from the nodelist.
If "/Zx" not specified, all zones in the nodelist will be
compiled. Only one zone may be specified this way. If you
want more than one zone, but less than the entire nodelist, run
MMGRNODE again with the /A option to append the additional
nodes to the previously-compiled node information.
X:\PATH\NODELIST[.FIL] = The path/filename of the raw nodelist that
you wish to compile. If the nodelist file extension is not
specified, MMGRNODE will compile the highest-numbered nodelist
found in the specified directory.
MMGRNODE should always be run from your Mail Manager +Plus+ directory.
It creates the following two files whenever it is run:
MMGRNODE.DAT - The main data file containing Zone, Net, and
node numbers, as well as SysOp name, and BBS phone number.
MMGRNODE.DIX - The main data file's index (MUCH smaller in
size).
If you intend to compile several different nodelists together, it is
important to consider which list contains the addresses that you will
want to access frequently, and also the physical size of the nodelist
itself. For instance, if you ever need to send something to someone
in RBBS-NET, and you intend to compile both the RBBS-NET and FIDO-NET
nodelists, you may want to compile the RBBS-NET list first, since the
file size is so small. The search time to get through RBBSLIST is
minimal in comparison to having to scan the entire FIDO nodelist just
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 74 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
to find someone in RBBS-NET. To compile using this scenario, your
command lines might be:
MMGRNODE X:\PATH\RBBSLIST
MMGRNODE /A X:\PATH\NODELIST
This would create the two files MMGRNODE.DAT and MMGRNODE.DIX from
scratch, starting with the highest-numbered RBBS-NET nodelist. The
highest-numbered FIDO-NET nodelist would then be appended to them.
MNET - QWK Networking Packet Conversion Utility
----
MNET.EXE is a QWK->REP file conversion utility for QWK networks. See
the full program documentation included in MNET210.ZIP.
This program is available separately, and can be used with BBS types
other than RBBS-PC.
Specific instructions on using MNET in conjunction with Mail Manager
+Plus+ are given in the separate NETINFO.DOC file
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 75 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MUSER - Editor for Door User Files
-----
MUSER.EXE is the Mail Manager +Plus+ editor for the door's internal
users file, MUSR.MGR. The utility is meant to be run from within your
Mail Manager +Plus+ directory, and will look for MUSR.MGR when it
loads. Optionally, you can specify the path/name of the users file on
the command line.
When loaded, it looks like this:
MUSER - Utility to edit MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ User Files.
Version 4.00 Copyright (C) 1994, Makai Software. All rights reserved.
======================================================================
A) USER: JOE MODEM RECORD: 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Packet type: QWK M) Updt pointer (read) No
C) Msg to ALL as pers: No N) Max Msgs pkt/conf: 0/0
D) Default msg select: All msgs O) Short CONTROL.DAT: Yes
E) Send own msgs: No P) Turbokey: On
F) Abort if no msgs: No Q) Display Menu: Yes
G) Send bulletins: Yes R) Last-on (YYMMDD): 960215
H) Send new file info: Yes S) Net status: None
I) Ask before send: No T) Ned identification:
J) Archive choice: ZIP U) .MSG Date (YYMMDD): 960214
K) Send new file info: No V) .MSG Time (HHMMSS): 223015
L) Updt pointer (d/l): Yes W) .MSG Length: 746
======================================================================
TO SELECT USER: Press |,|, PgUp, PgDn. (<ESC> to QUIT)
OPTIONS: EDIT USER SHOWN:
1) Find User Name A-T) Edit data above
2) Add new user 4) Edit conf data
3) Purge User Records 5) Delete user
======================================================================
Use the up, down, PgUp, PgDn keys to move forward and backward through
the user file, or you can search for a particular user by name.
The above screen shows all of the user's settings. Sysops familiar
with MUSER versions before 4.00 will note that the user settings have
been reordered to agree with the user configuration options when in
the door. Each user option can be changed as needed by pressing the
letter corresponding to it (A-W). Press "5" to delete the user, or "4"
to edit his/her conference selection settings.
Additional numeric options (1-3) work as indicated:
1 - Find a user. You'll be asked for a search string.
2 - Add new user. Inserts a blank user record to the end of the
file then takes you to it so you can fill in the data.
3 - Purge. You will be asked to purge by date, or elapsed days.
Options "A" through "Q" pertain to the user's settings as they
configured themselves from within Mail Manager +Plus+. The user has
no control over options "R" through "W" from within the door.
UTILITY PROGRAMS BUNDLED WITH MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ - Page 76 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Options "S" and "T" pertain to QWK network users. Usage of this
utility for network operation is described in NETINFO.DOC.
Options "U" through "W" pertain to Mail Manager +Plus+ duplicate
packet upload checking, and normally should not need to be modified.
If for some reason you wish to "fool" Mail Manager into letting a user
upload the identical QWK packet a second time in succession, change
the information in one of these fields so Mail Manager will not
recognize the packet as a duplicate.
The purge capability bears further discussion. It provides an easy
way to remove inactive users from the user file. This may be done
manually from within MUSER via option "3".
The records of users which you purge or delete from within MUSER
remain in the MUSR.MGR file, but are marked as inactive. MUSER keeps
track during your session, and if you have purged or deleted any users
it gives you the opportunity to rebuild the file and remove these
inactive records. This can speed up operation, since the door then
will not have to scan through as many records in the file in order to
find everyone when the door loads. When you rebuild, purged and
deleted users will also be removed from Mail Manager +Plus+'s
auxiliary conference user files.
The purge operation may also be done automatically by specifying /Pnn
on the command line when you load MUSER. This will remove users who
have been inactive for nn days. For instance,
MUSER /P90
would purge the file of all users who had not used the door for 90
days or more. This can be run from a batch file for unattended
operation.
Please note that MUSER does not implement file locking, so it is best
used when the bbs is down or when you have inactivated the door.
UPDATE and UPDATUSR - Upgrade File Conversion Utilities
-------------------
The pair of utilities UPDATE.EXE and UPDATUSR.EXE are "one-shot"
programs for SysOps who are upgrading to v4.00 from v1.30 through
v3.61 of Mail Manager. See INSTALLING MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ for
information on their use.
MENU COMMANDS - Page 77 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MENU COMMANDS
=============
MAIN MENU
---------
Although we hope that you'll find Mail Manager to be pretty self-
explanatory, a complete run-down on everything that you can do with
this door follows.
A shorter version of this is available to the user, in the online help
files MMGR.HL1 and MMGR.HL2.
The menu itself looks something like this:
---------------------------------------------
/ MAIL MANAGER +PLUS+ MAIN MENU / \
/ / \
l C)onfigure MAIL MANAGER l l
l D)ownload mail l l
l E)xpedite! (Download then exit to bbs) l l
l G)oodbye l l
l Q)uit (return to bbs) l l
l H)elp! l l
l P)ost a message l l
l R)ead messages by conference l l
l U)pload your replies. l l
l W)ho's online to RBBS-PC? l l
l X)pert toggle (this menu on/off) l l
-------------------------------------------------------------------.
HHHHHH "--------------------------"
HHIIII
HHIIII
Your choice, Username <C,D,E,G,Q,H,P,R,U,W,X,?>?
PLEASE NOTE: Users of versions earlier than 3.10 will notice the
option to select which messages to extract (i.e. set message pointers)
has been moved from the main menu to the configuration menu. If you
have installed a customized menu, you should revise it to reflect
this.
MAIN MENU commands are as follows:
C - Configure Mail Manager.
Brings up a separate configuration menu for the user's personal
options. These options are discussed separately immediately
after Main Menu Commands.
D - Download new mail.
Will find and extract all new mail from your selected
conferences, in the format that you told Mail Manager to use
(Text or QWK). Mail Manager will then compress the file(s) in
your selected file compression format.
MENU COMMANDS - Page 78 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Unless your file protocol is set to N)one, Mail Manager will
then send you the mail packet. If your default protocol is set
to N)one, you'll be asked for the transfer protocol of your
choice. If you choose "N", the file will not be sent to you,
and you'll be returned to the main menu. Otherwise Mail Manager
will do its best to send a compressed version of the mail to you
via your selected choice.
Upon completion of the download operation in QWK mode, Mail
Manager will then check for the existence of a REP file and
process it if found. This provides compatibility with bi-
directional transfer protocols which can upload a REP while
downloading a QWK.
E - Expedite!
Same as Download (above), except automatically exits Mail
Manager when finished.
If you have configured the door to drop DTR when G)oodbye is
chosen, this option will drop DTR after the download to
disconnect the caller upon exit, otherwise it will return the
caller to the BBS.
G - Goodbye
Drops DTR (disconnects most modems) to allow user to terminate
the call from within the door. This option will not be shown on
the command line if you have not configured the door to drop
DTR.
Q - Quit (return to BBS)
What can we say? This takes the user back to your bbs.
H (or '?') - Display help file
Displays an abbreviated version of these command descriptions.
I - Sysop Information
Only those with sufficient security to read ALL messages will
see this command on their command lines or be able to activate
it. Everyone else will get the familiar "Command not
recognized". It is not discussed in the online help files.
The purpose of this command is to assist you in debugging your
setup, and it is covered in detail elsewhere in this manual
under "DEBUGGING YOUR SETUP".
R - Read messages.
Allows users to read messages while online within the door.
This can be useful for checking out a message or two before
downloading a packet. User will be asked for which conference
to read whenever this option is chosen.
MENU COMMANDS - Page 79 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If the user has sufficient security to post a message in the
conference they select here, they will have the option to reply
to messages that they read, and choose to quote or not quote the
message that they are replying to.
Mail Manager +Plus+'s read function itself is somewhat
rudimentary; we did not try to duplicate RBBS-PC itself in this
regard. The user can choose to read all messages, or personal
messages only, reading "forward" starting with a particular
message number, or S)ince last read.
P - Post a message
A complement to the R)ead option, allows user to post a message
while online within the door, and will allow them to select only
the conferences in which they have sufficient security to post.
Mail Manager +Plus+ is equipped with a line editor, similar in
function to RBBS-PC's. Message length will be limited to 8 less
than the lines per message allowed in that area (as configured
for Mail Manager) for normal "non-net-status" users. The same
line editor used in the P)ost function is used when R)eplying to
a message while reading online.
The R)ead and P)ost options can be enabled or disabled via
MAILCFG.
U - Upload your replies
Works with QWK-compatible mail reader/repliers only. Your
uploaded file is expected to be compatible with the .REP format
used by popular mail readers such as SLMR. Mail Manager will
look for the REP packet after the upload and attempt to place
your replies into the proper message bases.
If your default protocol is set to N)one, you'll be asked for
the protocol that you wish to use. If you select N)one, you'll
be returned to the main menu.
If you're in local mode as the Sysop, place the .REP file in the
\MMGR\LOCAL directory, and choose this option. This is covered
further in the section regarding "DEBUGGING YOUR SETUP".
W - Who's online?
Displays a list of who's online to all nodes of this RBBS-PC.
(Much like RBBS's command of the same name).
Those with sufficient security to read ALL messages will have
the following displayed:
- User's name,
- City/State, and
- BPS rate.
If a node is inactive, the last user's information is
displayed, and will be reported as "Last call".
MENU COMMANDS - Page 80 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
All other users will have the following displayed:
- User's name, and
- baud rate.
If a node is inactive, "Waiting for next caller" is displayed.
X - Expert toggle
Turns the main menu on or off. (Much like RBBS's command of the
same name). This setting is saved for the user's next time into
the door.
CONFIGURATION MENU
------------------
The configuration menu allows the user to select personal options, and
select or change conferences from which to extract new mail.
You'll be presented with a screen that looks something like this:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Configuration options:
A - Choose active conferences.
X - Message selection menu.
B - Download messages in Q)WK or T)ext format .........: Q
C - Msgs addressed to ALL marked as personal (QWK only): No
D - Extract ONLY your personal mail as default ........: No
E - Extract messages written by YOU ...................: Yes
F - Abort packet if no messages .......................: No
G - Send updated bulletins ............................: Yes
H - Send new file listings ............................: Yes
I - Ask before sending packet .........................: No
J - Type of file compression to use ...................: ZIP
K - Default file transfer protocol ....................: N
L - Update high message numbers after downloading .....: Yes
M - Update high message numbers after R)eading ........: No
N - Max messages desired per packet/conference ........: 1000/1000
O - Only active conferences in CONTROL.DAT ............: Yes
T - Use 'TurboKeys' (act on 1 char commands) ..........: Yes
-----------------------------
? - Display help file.
Q - Quit. (Finished configuring)
Enter your choice(s), User <A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,O,Q,T,X,?> ->
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now let's see what these various commands do:
A - Select conferences to extract and download.
You'll be presented with a list of conferences that you are able
to access, which will look something like this:
MENU COMMANDS - Page 81 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
You may select any conference which is shown in UPPER CASE.
Conferences shown in lower case must first be joined from the bbs.
Conferences you've marked as active are surrounded in brackets '[]'.
Conferences marked as --- are not available.
1 - [MAIN ] 11 - TEEN 21 - [RSYS ]
2 - [4SALE ] 12 - [PRIVATE] 22 - [BITS ]
3 - [MS-DOS ] 13 - [SYSOP ] 23 - [POL ]
4 - BBS 14 - [USER ] 24 - [CRES ]
5 - --- 15 - grafx 25 - [WINB ]
6 - [CODE ] 16 - arj 26 - [MMGR ]
7 - [DEBATE ] 17 - ---
8 - [HAM ] 18 - [QB ]
9 - HUMOR 19 - [RBBS ]
10 - [IBM ] 20 - [DEV ]
Enter conf. number(s) to toggle on/off, [ENTER] for next page, F to
find, T to toggle all on/off, or Q to quit ->
----------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: If you have configured your board NOT to show
empty/unjoinable conferences, the line "Conferences
marked as --- are not available" will not be shown.
In this example, all conferences that you have joined (or which
you have configured to be joinable via the Mail Manager +Plus+
door, are flagged as active, except BBS (conference 4), HUMOR
(conference 9), and TEEN (conference 11).
If you wanted to mark those three as active, you'd enter:
4 9 11
at the above prompt.
Conferences #5 and 17 are shown as unavailable, meaning that the
user either has insufficient security to access them, or you
(the Sysop) have "reserved" these conference numbers in the
MAILCFG program, for future use. (If you have configured your
board not to show empty/unjoinable conferences, these
conferences would not be displayed at all.)
Conferences #15 and 16 are valid conferences, which the user has
not joined, and which the sysop has not configured to allow
joining from within the door, as indicated by being shown in
lower case. To access these conferences the user must first
join them from RBBS.
Use the F)ind option to locate a conference via text search.
When you press F, you will be prompted for search text. You can
enter up to a 15 character string which Mail Manager will search
for in the conference names and descriptions. If found, you
will then be able to toggle the conference on/off, keep looking
for the next match, or abort the search. On boards with several
screens of conference listings, this can be the fastest way to
find the conference you want.
MENU COMMANDS - Page 82 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Use T)oggle to make all pre-joined conferences active or
inactive.
X - Message selection menu (for active conferences).
Mail Manager will normally download mail based on the last
message that you've read in each conference. Since you can read
mail both online AND offline, and have the option of telling
Mail Manager NOT to update your last message read pointers, you
might want to use this option to reset them to what you want.
The ability to change pointer settings can also come to the
rescue if an extracted packet becomes defective and you want to
re-extract the same messages.
The message selection command line permits you to set individual
conferences one at a time, or all at once:
Change which conf(s) (1 to 435), C)hange ALL, R)estore previous,
[ENTER] = finished ->
With "C)hange ALL", you can choose how many messages to extract
from ALL active conferences. By setting to zero, you can change
your message pointer to the end of each conference.
With "R)estore previous", you can reset the pointers for all
active conferences to what they were before their last change,
according to the value stored in Mail Manager's auxiliary
xxxxU.MGR file. This is a convenient way to reset all pointers
back to what they were prior to extracting your previous mail
packet, if you haven't changed them in the meantime. Note that
the "R)estore previous" option is not displayed if the sysop has
not enabled it via MAILCFG. See the discussion of this feature
in the MAILCFG section for discussion about when you might not
wish to enable this feature.
When setting individual conferences, you will be prompted for
input in three sections:
First choose your desired mail pointer value for this
conference. You may enter as a message number, as an increment
from the current pointer value (+50 or -25), as L for last
message, or as an increment from last message (L-25). If the
sysop has enabled the Restore option, you can also enter R to
restore the previous value.
Next, select the type of mail you wish to extract. Each
conference can be configured in one of three different ways:
A)ll mail - Extract all mail from this conference
P)ersonal only- Extract only your personal mail
U)se default - Accept default setting from option D on the
configuration menu (see below).
Finally you will be prompted for your choice of whether to
extract messages written by you. Each conference can be
configured one of three ways in this regard, too:
MENU COMMANDS - Page 83 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
S)end own - Extract messages written by you
D)on't send own - Don't extract messages written by you
U)se default - Accept default setting from option E on the
configuration menu (see below).
B - Download messages in Q)WK or T)ext format
Set to text if you want to use Mail Manager as a simple "extract
and download" system (all messages in a single continuous ascii
file).
Set to QWK if you want to read and reply offline using a QWK-
compatible mail reader.
<<< QWK NETWORK USERS >>>
** NOTE ** QWK network users will, by definition, be
receiving QWK packets, so this setting has a different
meaning for them. Users given "net status" via MUSER, have
the option of creating a "full QWK" (with all accompanying
files normally present within), or a minimized QWK packet
that contains only what is necessary for network mail
transfer. The latter would save them archiving and transfer
time by creating a smaller packet. A "full QWK" might be
preferred if they wish to review the packet via an offline
reader program, and can be useful when setting up conference
numbers appropriately on their end of the line.
At any rate, they will have the option one way or the other,
and can change it whenever they wish.
C - Msgs addressed to ALL marked as personal (QWK only)
If set to "Y", Mail Manager will add messages addressed to "ALL"
to the user's personal index in the QWK packet.
D - Extract ONLY your personal mail as default
If set to "Y", Mail Manager will not extract a message unless it
is addressed to you. (Will also extract msgs addressed to "ALL"
if you have option C set to "Y".) This is the default setting
for the user, but it can be overridden for individual
conferences when setting the conference message pointers (see
configuration option X).
E - Extract messages written by you as default
If set to "NO", Mail Manager will not include messages from you
in your packet. This is the default setting for the user, but
it can be overridden for individual conferences when setting
conference message pointers (see configuration option X).
MENU COMMANDS - Page 84 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
F - Abort packet if no new messages
You might not want to do this if you would still like to receive
new file listings or updated system news or bulletins.
G - Send updated bulletins
If set to "No", any updated bulletins which the sysop has
designated as mandatory will still be included.
H - Send new file listings
If you select this option, a listing of newly-uploaded files
will be included in your mail packet.
This option is only operational on systems with standard RBBS
FMS style file listings.
I - Ask before sending packet
If set to "Yes", will cause Mail Manager to prompt you whether
or not you want to receive the mail packet that it just created
for you. Will otherwise go right into the download when
finished extracting.
J - Type of file compression to use
If the Sysop has activated this option, you can choose from the
file compression utilities offered on this system (ZIP, ARC,
etc.).
K - Default file transfer protocol
Choose from the protocols offered by your sysop (Xmodem, Zmodem,
etc.). If set to N)one, Mail Manager will prompt you for which
protocol to use at each file transfer.
L - Update high message numbers after downloading
If this is set to NO, both RBBS and Mail Manager will think that
you haven't read the messages that you've downloaded. (Mail
Manager will extract them again your next time in).
M - Update high message numbers after R)eading
This option will not be displayed if you have disabled the R)ead
and P)ost options in MAILCFG.
If set to NO, any messages that you read in the door will still
be downloaded in your next mail packet. This can be handy for
checking a message or two before downloading your mail.
If set to YES, the highest message number you read sets your
high message marker, and only higher message numbers will be
included in your next mail packet.
MENU COMMANDS - Page 85 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N - Max messages desired per packet/conference
If set to "0", will use sysop-selected maximum for both limits.
If user sets either beyond sysop-selected system limit, system
limit will be used when extracting.
O - Only active conferences in CONTROL.DAT
Including only the users' active conferences in the CONTROL.DAT
file in their QWK packets can speed up packet creation time
considerably if you have a lot of conferences on your board.
The downside is that, depending on the offline reader being
used, the user may not be able to add a conference via REP
packet unless all conferences are listed in CONTROL.DAT.
T - Use 'TurboKeys' (act on 1-character commands)
Works like RBBS-PC's toggle of the same name. If set to Yes,
Mail Manager will not wait for [ENTER] when asking you for input
where one character responses are expected.
? - Display help file
Display help file which explains the configuration options.
Q - Quit (finished configuring)
(Or just press [ENTER] to accomplish the same thing).
APPENDIX A - COMMON PROBLEMS - Page 86 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDICES
==========
Appendix A: Common Problems
---------------------------
Problem : Not finding any new files, or appears to "lock up" while
scanning for new files.
Solution: You probably forgot to configure the text file MMGRx.FMS to
your system. MMGRx.FMS contains your list of all FMS
directories, and how to use them. The format of this file
is covered in the "text files" section of this document.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Log files are not being created.
Solution: You may have forgotten to set the "Path to log files"
option in MAILCFG. (New in v3.60 - that space on the
MAILCFG screen was for FMS directory information in earlier
versions.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Not finding the Sysop in any conferences.
Solution: Double-check your setting of "Remote Sysop Name" on the
first screen of the MAILCFG program. This setting must be
the name that you use to log onto your system remotely, NOT
your name as you are known to your users.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Shows "Error finding new message" when trying to extract
your first mail packet.
Solution: Run MAILFIX.EXE against the message base in question (using
the proper command line switches). Re-read the section of
this document entitled "Before you begin".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Always showing Sysop name when operating remotely.
Solution: Probably not copying the correct DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF
file to the Mail Manager directory prior to loading the
door. Drop to DOS, and take a look at the
DINFx.DEF/DORINFOx.DEF that was in use at the time.
Also possible that the door is coming up in local mode.
Check your DOORS.DEF and MMGR.BAT files to be sure they are
set correctly. Mail Manager should be called (as a
minimum) like so:
MMGR %1
APPENDIX A - COMMON PROBLEMS - Page 87 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Where %1 is the node number). If you suspect that the
node number is NOT being passed correctly, turn ECHO ON at
the top of your batch file and watch what it actually
passes to the door.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Always using locked BPS rate for download estimates,
instead of true connect rate.
Solution: No fix if you are running stock RBBS-PC v17.3C and lower.
You must upgrade to RBBS-PC v17.4 or later to get this
figure reported correctly, or recompile RBBS-PC with the
CBAUD merge.
If you are running RBBS-PC v17.4 and above, change your
DOORS.DEF line to read something like:
MMGR,5,,D,"C:\MMGR.BAT [NODE] [CBAUD]",N,,
Then, in MMGR.BAT, change the line that calls Mail Manager
to read: MMGR %1 /CBAUD%2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Not allowing REP uploads to a particular conference, with
the error message "Message base full".
Solution: Make 100% sure that both RBBS-PC and Mail Manager +Plus+
are configured to the exact same type of message base. For
instance, if RBBS-PC is configured to have the message base
"grow" as messages are added, yet that conference is
configured in Mail Manager +Plus+ as fixed length, this
type of error will appear EVERY time a message is uploaded
for that conference.
If all appears to be sound, and that error message still
appears, try running MAILFIX.EXE against the offending
message base.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Program gives error message "Unable to pack...", after
trying to compress a mail packet.
Solution: Three possibilities:
- Your file compression program was not where the list of
archivers (MMGR.ARL) said it was.
- There was insufficient memory to run the archiver. Fix
by using swap-to-disk capabilities of the door, or load
via Davis Augustine's shareware SHROOM utility.
- There was insufficient disk space to archive the mail
packet for the user. (A 1,000-message packet can be
over 1 meg in size before compression).
APPENDIX A - COMMON PROBLEMS - Page 88 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Program gives errors while extracting mail from a FIDO
*.MSG area, and/or has problems when updating last message
read in a FIDO area after a download.
Solution: More than likely, Mail Manager +Plus+ experienced an error
with the index file for that FIDO area that it wasn't able
to recover from. Try running the MMINDEX.EXE program, and
insure that MMINDEX is in your nightly event as the LAST
thing before your BBS comes back up.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Local screen looks fine, but the caller on the remote end
of the line has incomplete and partially garbled screens.
Solution: If your communications port is locked higher than the
user's true connect speed (typically locked at 19200 or
higher for today's fast modems), Mail Manager +Plus+ is
probably overrunning the communications buffer. You can
get around this problem by installing a FOSSIL driver such
as BNU or X00 (available on bulletin boards all over the
place), and telling Mail Manager +Plus+ to always use the
FOSSIL for flow control. Set the flow control option (in
the MAILCFG program) to "F".
See the section of this document entitled "IF YOU HAVE A
LOCKED BPS RATE" for more information on this subject.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Mail Manager +Plus+ is not finding some of the files as set
in the configuration file, or always seems to be using
defaults instead of the options that you have custom-
configured.
Solution: The most likely cause of this problem is an incomplete (or
incorrect) drive:\path\file designation for a key file or
two in the configuration program. In particular - DO NOT
simply use a "drive:filename.ext" designation to tell Mail
Manager +Plus+ where to look. Mail Manager +Plus+ always
operates out of a work directory, and is never going to be
in the \MMGR directory when it looks for its files.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : After an RBBS message base has been renumbered, Mail
Manager +Plus+ doesn't find new messages until the user
manually resets his last-message-read (LMR) pointer.
Solution: Mail Manager reads the LMR pointer from the same place
RBBS-PC itself does, the user's record in the RBBS user
file for that conference (xxxxU.DEF). The utility you
use to renumber the message base must also update the LMR
pointers in the user file in order for either RBBS-PC or
APPENDIX A - COMMON PROBLEMS - Page 89 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail Manager to find new messages. If the renumbering
utility you are using does not do this, consider using our
MAILFIX utility to renumber your base, or the renumber
facility built into RBBS' CONFIG utility (17.4 or higher)
- both of these will update the user LMR pointers when
they renumber an RBBS message base. (Note that CONFIG
does not update the MMGR auxiliary user files - see next
problem.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem: When using the "R)estore to previous" option in the Message
selection menu, MAILMGR sets the pointers for RBBS message
bases to the wrong value.
Solution: The previous pointer values are stored in the xxxxU.MGR
auxiliary conference user files for each conference. When
you renumber your RBBS message bases, you must use a
utility such as MAILFIX which also updates the xxxxU.MGR
files. If you are NOT using a utility that updates the
xxxxU.MGR files when renumbering, you should disable the
"R)estore" option via MAILCFG.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem : Program gives error message to the effect of "Reply file
not found after upload".
Solution: There are several possibilities:
- The user did not upload a valid REP packet.
- DOS was not able to locate your unpacker utility. It
should be located in a directory in your DOS path.
- You have an invalid unpacker configured. For example,
if you have PKUNZIP v1.10 in your DOS path, yet your
user uploads a REP packet created with PKZIP v2.04g,
this type of error will occur.
- You have insufficient disk space to unpack the REP
packet. If you specify a work disk which is accessed by
more than one node, your problem may be that there is
plenty of room for one node, but not more than one at a
time.
- You have insufficient available conventional DOS memory
to invoke the unpacker. You may need to utilize the
door's swap-to-disk capabilities (implement MMGR.SWP) or
load the door via SHROOM. (See the memory requirements
section of this document.)
APPENDIX B - CONTACTING THE AUTHORS - Page 90 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix B: Contacting the Authors
-----------------------------------
The home bbs for all MAKAI Software products is currently:
Information Overload
Pickerington, OH
(614) 837-0739
Fidonet 1:226/730
Callers may download any MAKAI file on their first call by logging on
with the special username/password shown on the logon screen. Address
messages to Doug Wilson or Chip Morrow (sysop).
Due to the transitory nature of many bulletin boards, and the fact
that you may be reading these instructions a long time after they are
written, it is probably best not to list other bulletin boards where
we may be reached. Inevitably, whichever board we cite will
immediately go out of business, and the phone number will be
reassigned to somebody who does not care to be awakened by the phone
ringing in the middle of the night when we modem junkies place most of
our long distance calls.
The authors, however, CAN be found via the RBBS-PC conferences in both
the Fido and RIME networks. New releases are always announced in
these conferences, and we occasionally post lists of the currently
active distribution sites there. If you wish to contact us via these
conferences, address messages to Doug Wilson or Chip Morrow.
For Internet users, there are two ways to obtain MAKAI releases. We
have a MAKAI Software home page on the WorldWide Web at:
http://www.infinet.com/~chip/makai.html
We have been known to occasionally post a beta version on this web
site, too. All release copies are sent here first.
Releases are also sent to the Simtel Software Repository, where they
are usually available via anonymous FTP from within a few days of
release. So far they have been placed in the SimTel/msdos/rbbs_pc and
SimTel/msdos/bbs directories on ftp.coast.net (but be aware that we
have no control over where Simtel places the files).
The authors may also be reached via Internet. Current addresses:
Doug Wilson: fdw@makaisoft.com
Chip Morrow: chip@makaisoft.com
And if all else fails, there's always good ol' U.S. Mail (see
REGISTER.DOC):
MAKAI Software
870 Golden Drive
Newark, OH 43055
APPENDIX B - CONTACTING THE AUTHORS - Page 91 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We're sorry, but we simply do not have the time or resources to make
individual voice calls to help with debugging your MAIL MANAGER setup.
On the other hand, we'd like to see you in any of the above network
conferences, where you can get help from others as well as ourselves,
and where questions/answers/reports/release notices get a much wider
audience, and can benefit more people.
APPENDIX C - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - Page 92 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix C: Acknowledgements
----------------------------
Microsoft, Crescent Software, DSZ, PKZIP, LHARC, ARJ, LZEXE, PKLITE,
JIMMER, TQM, SILVER EXPRESS, LANtastic, DESQview, BNU, X00, RBBSMAIL,
MSGTOSS, OVERMAIL, PDQ, PDQCOMM, QuickBASIC, RBBS-PC, SLMR, JABBER,
OFFLINE, OLX, RNET, TNET, and SHROOM (did we miss any?) are all
trademarks or tradenames of their respective authors and/or companies,
and are mentioned throughout our documentation for clarity only.
Our Special thanks go to everyone who supported us through development
of the Mail Manager package. Many of the names have faded, some have
gone on to other BBS's and/or other doors, some have grown silent over
the last few years, others continue to provide us with suggestions to
this day. Without your support, the door would never be where it is
today. Some names of special note:
Michael Lurie, who supported the door (and its continued
development) in its critical early days until personal
circumstances pushed him into "absentee sysop" status.
Dave Brodmann, who was severely abused by early beta versions of
Mail Manager +Plus+, and has goodnaturedly put up with our
harebrained schemes ever since. Dave's help was invaluable in
taking "Plus" beyond 250 conference limits and he has been a
primary guinea pig for the complete revamping of the door for
v4.00.
The trio of Rod Bowman, Don Smith, and Joe Tailleur who beta tested
the first versions to support FIDO *.MSG's and helped solve a lot
of early problems before Mail Manager +Plus+ hit the streets.
Kip Gies, who tested a late beta of v2.03 and helped us get the
initial bugs out of the FIDO *.MSG handling.
Eddie Rowe, who tested the last betas of pre-v3.x code, helped us
get some last-minute bugs out of the new code, found the "old
format" problem in outbound mail packets created by v2.x, provided
us with updated Fido format documentation, and has been an all-
around helpful guy.
Marion Royal, who ran our QWK network implementation through the
wringer, picked MNET and MUSER to shreds <g>, and provided us with
sufficient information to implement QWK network capability. There
would be no QWK networking in this door without Marion's efforts.
Paul Di Novo, who verified that the door really could work with
*.MSG bases in a non-RBBS-PC environment, and provided us with
useful information for future compatibility issues.
Rick Moen, who worked through many versions of QWK-networking and
handling of tear- and taglines before we finally hit on the right
combination. Rick's long distance carrier thanks him too.
Richie Molinelli, who provided the modified time slice giveback
routines for implementing this feature under OS/2.
APPENDIX C - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - Page 93 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Holmes and Jeanne Breit for supplying the RIP menus
distributed with v4.00.
Francois Massonneau, who has been an all-around help for quite some
time now.
And the beta testers for release 4.00 who really gave of themselves
to help make this release what it is today: Dave Brodmann and
Francois Massonneau (again!), Brandon Carnahan, Steve Forgey, and
Peter Skorupsky.
And thanks to everyone else who commented and offered suggestions,
help, and beta testing. We honestly cannot remember all of the names,
and do apologize for that!
APPENDIX D - FILE FORMATS - Page 94 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix D: File Formats
------------------------
In case someone out there has an inkling to write a utility program or
two for use with their Mail Manager +Plus+ setup, here are the formats
for Mail Manager +Plus+'s v4.00 system files, MMGR.CFG, MUSR.MGR, and
xU.MGR.
MMGR.CFG
--------
MMGR.CFG and its node-specific cousins MMGRx.CFG contain the door's
configuration information:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MMGR.CFG - File Format |
| |
| Consists of one 640-byte header, followed by a number |
| of 368-byte conference configuration records. |
| |
| HEADER RECORD: |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Start Stop Length Record Type Description |
|====================================================================|
| 1 35 35 STRING Name of the BBS (in proper case). |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 36 66 31 STRING Remote logon name of the sysop (left-|
| justified, in upper case, padded with|
| ASCII 32 blanks). |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 67 81 15 STRING Sysop's public first name. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 82 96 15 STRING Sysop's public last name. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 97 98 2 INTEGER Security level to read ALL messages. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 99 100 2 INTEGER Security level to use in local mode. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 101 102 2 INTEGER Local sysop's graphic preference. |
| 2 = ANSI, 1 = ASCII, 0 = None. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 103 163 61 STRING Default tagline for all conferences. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 164 165 2 INTEGER Number of conference configuration |
| records that follow this header. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 166 173 8 STRING First 8 characters of extract file |
| name to use (this is the "*" of |
| *.QWK, *.REP, *.ZIP, etc.). |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 174 176 3 STRING 3 upper case characters designating |
| the default file compression type |
| (ZIP, ARC, ARJ, or LZH) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 177 216 40 STRING Full path/filename of the NEWS file. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 217 217 1 STRING Network type to use in local mode. |
| D)os, N)etbios, desQ)view. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
APPENDIX D - FILE FORMATS - Page 95 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| 218 218 1 STRING Handshake method to use, upper case. |
| R)ts, X)on, N)one, or F)ossil. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 219 220 2 INTEGER Version number (4.00 = 400). |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 221 222 1 STRING Enable RIP detect Y)es, N)o |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 261 300 40 STRING Path for log files. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 301 340 40 STRING Path for text files. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 341 355 15 STRING Name of environment variable to |
| path/name of XFER-x.DEF log file. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 356 356 1 STRING Modify uploaded messages date & time |
| stamp to the current system time? |
| (Y or N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 357 387 31 STRING City/State where BBS is located. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 388 399 12 STRING Phone number of BBS. "xxx-xxx-xxxx" |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 400 400 1 STRING SmartText ID character |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 401 440 40 STRING Default path to *M.DEF conferences. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 441 480 40 STRING Path/name of echo toss log. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 481 485 5 STRING Start of timelock (HH:MM). |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 486 490 5 STRING End of timelock (HH:MM) - 24 hour |
| format for both of these. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 491 491 1 STRING Allow drop DTR in door? (Y/N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 492 492 1 STRING Show empty/unjoinable confs? (Y/N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 493 494 2 INTEGER Max msgs allowed per packet |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 495 495 1 STRING Make conference receiving violaton |
| notices mandatory? (Y/N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 496 496 1 STRING Allow online R)ead, P)ost (Y/N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 497 497 1 STRING Using TIMES DOWNLOADED mod? (Y/N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 498 499 2 INTEGER Max files from any FMS directory |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 500 500 1 STRING Allow Reset to Prev (Y/N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 501 640 140 STRING Reserved for future use. |
|====================================================================|
APPENDIX D - FILE FORMATS - Page 96 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| CONFERENCE CONFIGURATION RECORD |
| One 368 byte record for each configured conference |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Start Stop Length Record Type Description |
|====================================================================|
| 1 7 7 STRING Name of the conference, upper case. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8 8 1 STRING Lines per msg (CHR$ byte value plus |
| 32). CHR$(131) = 99 lines per msg. |
| CHR(0) = do not split long msgs. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 9 10 2 INTEGER Point ID for Fido *.MSG areas. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 11 12 2 INTEGER "Fakenet" ID for 2D Fido points. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 13 72 60 STRING Path/name to USERS file. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 73 132 60 STRING Path/name to MESSAGES file. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 133 133 1 STRING Allow ANSI in REPs? (Y, N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 134 134 1 STRING Allow high/low ASCII in REPs? (Y, N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 135 136 2 INTEGER Security level needed to join. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 137 138 2 INTEGER Security level needed to post. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 139 199 61 STRING Tagline for this conference. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 200 200 1 STRING Fido-style tearlines? (Y, N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 201 201 1 STRING Type of message base? (Y, N, F) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 202 202 1 STRING Allow join within door? (Y, N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 203 262 60 STRING Path/Name of conf alias file. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 263 264 2 INTEGER Zone ID (for FIDO areas) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 265 266 2 INTEGER Net ID (for FIDO areas) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 267 268 2 INTEGER Node ID (for FIDO areas) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 269 269 1 STRING Netmail area? (Y, N). |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 270 270 1 STRING Add tear/tag to end of FIDO msg?(Y,N)|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 271 295 25 STRING Symbolic area name for this FIDO |
| conference. (Optional) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 296 296 1 STRING Allow uploaded messages to be marked |
| as private in this conf? (Y, N) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 297 356 60 STRING Long Description of the conference. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 357 368 12 STRING Reserved for future use |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
APPENDIX D - FILE FORMATS - Page 97 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MUSR.MGR
--------
MUSR.MGR and its node-specific cousins MUSRx.MGR are the main internal
user files used by the door:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MUSR.MGR - File Format. |
| |
| One 16-byte header, followed by (for each user): |
| |
| One 80-byte door option record, and |
| One or more 128-byte active conference flag records. |
| (all users will have the same number of flag records) |
| |
| HEADER RECORD |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Start Stop Length Record Type Description |
|====================================================================|
| 1 2 2 INTEGER Number of 128-byte flag records for |
| each user. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3 4 2 INTEGER MAIL MANAGER version number (4.00 is |
| stored as 400) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 5 16 12 STRING (Reserved for future use) |
|====================================================================|
| |
| DOOR OPTION RECORD |
| One 80-byte option record followed by one or more active |
| conference flag records for each user. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Start Stop Length Record Type Description |
|====================================================================|
| 1 31 31 STRING The user's name, in upper case, |
| left-justified, padded with ASCII 32s|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 32 32 1 STRING User's QWK preference. Either "Q" |
| or "T". (QWK or TEXT). |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 33 33 1 STRING Letter of the user's default file |
| protocol choice, in upper case. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 34 34 1 STRING Bit flag byte for user options. |
| Bit 0: 1 = Send own msgs |
| 1: 1 = Send bulletins |
| 2: 1 = Send newfiles |
| 3: 1 = Abort if no msgs |
| 4: 1 = Ask before send |
| 5: 1 = Only pers mail |
| 6: 1 = Turbokey on |
| 7: 1 = Short CONTROL.DAT |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
APPENDIX D - FILE FORMATS - Page 98 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| 35 35 1 STRING Bit flag byte for more user options. |
| Bit 0: 1 = Update ptr after d/l |
| 1: 1 = Msg to ALL as pers. |
| 2: 1 = Xpert (no menu) |
| 3: 1 = Update ptr after read|
| 4: (reserved) |
| 5: (reserved) |
| 6: (reserved) |
| 7: (reserved) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 36 38 3 STRING User's choice of archiver (ZIP, ARC, |
| etc.) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 39 44 6 STRING "YYMMDD" that user last used the |
| door. ("911223" = 23 Dec 91) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 45 45 1 STRING Net status CHR$(0=none,1=node,2=host)|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 46 53 8 STRING Packet name for net status user |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 54 57 4 LONG Date/Time of last REP packet |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 58 61 4 LONG FileSize of last REP packet |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 62 63 2 INTEGER User's choice of max msgs / packet. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 64 65 2 INTEGER User's choice of max msgs / conf. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 66 80 15 STRING Reserved for future use. |
|====================================================================|
| |
| MUSR.MGR ACTIVE CONFERENCE FLAG RECORD(S) |
| |
| Each user will have one or more 128-byte flag records. |
| Number of flag records is shown in file header record. |
| Each byte contains the flags for 8 conferences, so the |
| 128 bytes represent 128 x 8 = 1024 conference flags. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Start Stop Length Record Type Description |
|====================================================================|
| 1 1 1 STRING Flags for conferences 1 - 8. |
| Bit 0: 1 = conference 1 active |
| 1: 1 = conference 2 active |
| 2: 1 = conference 3 active |
| etc. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2 2 1 STRING Flags for conferences 9 - 16. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| .. and so on for the first 1024 conferences. |
| Additional 128-byte records are used to add conferences in |
| 1024 conference increments. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
APPENDIX D - FILE FORMATS - Page 99 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
xU.MGR
------
xU.MGR is Mail Manager +Plus+'s auxiliary user file for each
conference. Conference-specific user information is kept here:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| xU.MGR - File Format |
| |
| Filename: Conference base name (up to 7 chars) plus "U.MGR" |
| |
| Location: For RBBS conferences, same directory as conference |
| user file. |
| |
| For Fido conferences, same directory as conference |
| individual *.MSG files. |
| |
| One 48-byte record for each user of the conference. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Start Stop Length Record Type Description |
|====================================================================|
| 1 31 31 STRING User name |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 32 33 2 INTEGER Last msg read. For RBBS conferences |
| this is redundant to the pointer in |
| the RBBS conference user record, and |
| is not used by the door. For Fido |
| conferences, this contains a CRC |
| derived from the last message read. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 34 35 2 INTEGER Previous msg read. Contains previous|
| Last msg read value. Used by the |
| door both for RBBS and Fido confs. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 36 38 3 STRING Last date in conference. Jan 2 '95 |
| would be Chr$(95)+Chr$(01)+Chr$(02) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 39 39 1 STRING Bit-mapped conference-specific flags.|
| Bit 0: (reserved) |
| 1: 1 = Use sys default for all/pers only|
| 2: 1 = If bit 1=0, send personal only |
| 3: 1 = Net status granted for conf. |
| 4-7: (reserved) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 40 48 9 STRING (Reserved for future use) |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
APPENDIX E - ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT - Page 100 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix E: About this document
-------------------------------
Programmers have long been known to be terrible at writing
documentation to cover their own software, and we are probably not
going to disprove this theory with the opus you are reading now.
After the first two years of Mail Manager's existence, we took the
rambling mess which spewed out of a couple of different text editors
(the same ones we used to do the program coding) and shoved it all
into an actual-by-gum word processor <gasp> to try to get more
consistency of formatting, automatic page numbering, etc.
But the basic text is what you have all come to love (?) in previous
releases. This means that there are two constants:
- It SHOULD print out just fine on standard tractor-fed 8 1/2 x 11
paper on your garden-variety dot-matrix printer. We have attempted
to limit page length to 60 lines, to allow it to be printed on 60-
line-per-page laser printers.
- It is practically guaranteed to contain spelling and grammar errors.
This thing is probably too long by half, but every time we try to cut
it down, we end up adding more than we cut (sounds sort of like
Congress trying to trim the Federal Budget...)
Sincere Best Wishes to Each of You,
Doug Wilson and Chip Morrow
Makai Software
INDEX - Page 101 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DOCUMENT INDEX log files;57, 86
-------------- MAILFIX;7, 30, 68, 89
(R) in message subject;5 main conference;57
/A command switch;13 memory;57, 87, 89
/CBAUD command switch;13 memory requirements;6
/I command switch;13 menu, configuration;80
/O command switch;13 menu, main;77
/V command switch;14, 64 message base full;87
/W command switch;13 message bases, renumbering;see
abort, no new msgs;84 renumbering message bases
alias;63 message date/time;31
ANSI;65 message limits;85
archivers;see file compression message selection;82
ask before send;84 messages, all as personal;83
automatic mode;13 messages, personal only;82, 83
bulletins;21, 84 messages, send own;82, 83
C)hange all;82 MMFLAGS;60
C)onfigure;77 MMGR.ARL;6, 22, 57
carrier, dropped;65 MMGR.BAT;86
cbaud;12, 13, 87 MMGR.BUL;21
CFG2TXT;69 MMGR.BYE;19
chat mode;64 MMGR.CFG file format;94
command line options;13 MMGR.FMS;19, 57, 65, 86
conference selection;80 MMGR.HEL;19
CONTROL.DAT, active confs MMGR.HL*;18
only;85 MMGR.MNU;19
D)ownload;77 MMGR.NDX;46, 72
date/time, uploaded message;31 MMGR.OPT;19
deleting a user;75 MMGR.PRE;18
DESQview;59, 60 MMGR.PRO;6, 21, 57
DINFx.DEF;12, 60, 61, 86 MMGR.SWP;20, 58, 89
DINFx.DEF format;61 MMGRNODE.DAT;73
DOORS.DEF;11, 12, 86 MMGRNODE.DIX;73
DORINFOx.DEF;see DINFx.DEF MMINDEX;88
dos shell;64 MNET;62
dos version;57 multiple nodes;59
DTR, dropping;33, 78 multitasking;59
duplicate prevention;76 MUSR.MGR;75
E)xpedite;65, 78 MUSR.MGR file format;97
empty conferences;17, 37, 71 net status;62, 63, 83
F)ind a conference;81 Netbios;60
file and record locking;60 netmail;73
file compression;22, 28, 57, 84 Novell;57, 59, 60
files, new listings;65, 84, 86 OS/2;59, 60
flow control;57, 88 OS2SPEED;61
FOSSIL;61, 88 output mode;13
G)oodbye;78 P)ost;79
graphics, RIP;31 packet format choice;83
H)elp;78 passworded messages;63
I)nfo;see sysop info pointers, changing all;82
IBMFLAGS;60 pointers, last read;82, 88
import mode;13 pointers, restoring;30, 82
keyboard, idle;65 pointers, updating;84
local mode;55, 79 port address, nonstandard;58
local mode, other than sysop;58 problems, common;86
lock, time;33 protocol, file xfer;21, 57, 78,
locked comm ports;12, 87, 88 79, 84
INDEX - Page 102 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
purging inactive users;76 sysop info;56, 63, 78
Q)uit;78 System Requirements;6
QWK network;62, 76, 83 T)oggle all conferences;82
R)ead;78 time limit;64
R)estore previous;82, 89 time lock;33
RBBSQWK.BAT;55 turbokeys;85
Re in message subject;5 TXT2CFG;69
registration fees;2 U)pload;56, 79
Registration Form;3 user interface;15
renumbering message bases;30, utility programs;68
46, 68, 72, 88, 89 violation message;64
RIP graphics;31 violations;14
security;62 W)ho's online;79
SHARE;57, 59, 60 work directory;13, 55
SHROOM;6, 57, 87, 89 X)pert;80
smart text;32 XFER-x.DEF;6
string space;57 xU.MGR file format;99
swap to disk;6, 20, 57, 58, 87,
89