





        Version 2.20 Technical Reference


        This document contains complementary technical reference regarding
        configuration options and functions of FrontDoor version 2.20. 
        Update information for users of FrontDoor version 2.20 is found in
        the file README.FD.

        =====================================================================

        Table of Contents:


             FDSetup and System Configuration
                  System Macros
                  Monochrome Mode
                  MailExit Semaphore
                  Extended Range of Baudrates
                  BBS name
                  Secure Inbound File Transfers
                  File Requests
                  External Request Processor
                  Modem configuration
                  Modem Messages
                  Caller*ID
                  Limited Answer Hours
                  Hold File Attaches
                  Requests Manager
                  Modem Manager

             Nodelist
                  Maximum Baudrates
                  "Server" Keyword
                  Flags in ROUTEn.FD

             DOBBSn.BAT

             Script Language
                  LOG
                  LINESPEED
                  @systemnum

             Command-line Parameters
                  Operational Characteristics
                       AUTOVIDEO
                       FOLDER
                       FOLDERSCAN
                       MSGSURVEY
                       NODUPBCK
                       SESSONDCD
                       NORAWEXTD
                       NOCANSES
                  Software Environments
                       FORCECOMMIT
                       FORCEDPMI
                       FORCEINT28
                       NOFCB



                  Hardware Environments
                       NOICA

                  Communications Protocols
                       EMSIDEBUG
                       EMSIPKT
                       FTS6PKT
                       LOGINTRO
                       NODOMAIN
                       NORESYNC

             DOS Environment Variables
                  FMUSERNAME
                  FMUSERNUM
                  FMUSEROFS
                  FMUSERPOS
                  TZUTC

             Semaphore Files
                  FDALIVE.n
                  FDFREEZE.ALL
                  FDINTERM.n
                  FDSCAN.n
                  FDCANSES.n
                  FMALIVE.n
                  FMFREEZE.n and FMFREEZE.ALL
                  FMNEWNET.n, FMNEWCNF.n, and FMNEWLOC.n

             Keyboard Macro Commands
                  Inserting Characters
                  Terminal
                  Editor Commands
                  Cursor Positioning
                  Files
                  Original Data
                  Edit, Delete Text, and Save

             IBM OS/2 2.x

             Microsoft Windows

             Novell NetWare

             Avoid the use of NORES!

             EMSI
                  System Names
                  Domain Names
                  SEAlink

             Replying to Gated Messages

             Notes for Developers of External Utilities
                  FDDEV
                  INFOREC
                  Force PickUp

        =====================================================================



        FDSetup and System Configuration

             Many additions and changes have gone into the FDSetup system
             configuration utility. The use of most options, and all of the
             new ones, are guided by context-sensitive help displayed at the
             bottom row of the screen. Outlined below is the most essential
             update information.

             Three new System Macros have been added. These macros can be
             placed in certain fields in FDSetup to simplify the use and
             configuration of the Mailer. The three macros are: $LOGFILE$,
             $TASK$, and $ROUTEFD$. They expand to the fully qualified name
             of the log file, the current TASK= environment setting (or zero
             if none), and the fully qualified name of the route file used by
             the Mailer. The fields supporting these new macros are:

                  $TASK$
                       Global.Filenames.No BBS
                       Global.Filenames.Log file
                       Global.Filenames.Banner
                       Global.Filenames.Packets
                       Global.Filenames.MailExit
                       Global.Address.SiteInfo.Name
                       Global.Address.SiteInfo.Flags
                       Mailer.Function keys.Action
                       Mailer.Fax.RcvdFiles
                       Editor.Keyboard macros

                  $LOGFILE$ and $ROUTEFD$
                       Mailer.Function keys.Action

             In addition, the $TASK$ macro can be used when specifying data
             to the export function in the Mailer Mail History function, as
             well as in the export and import functions in FDNC.

             The Global.General.Monochrome mode setting was added to allow
             you to force FDSetup to behave as if you had specified the -M
             (Mono) parameter on the command-line.

             Global.Filenames.MailExit defines a file that the Mailer should
             create when it receives mail and would have triggered an exit if
             the "Exit when mail is received" was enabled. In a multi-line or
             multi-tasking environment, this allows you to configure all
             Mailers not to exit, but simply create the MailExit semaphore
             instead. An alternate process, scanning for the existence of the
             MailExit semaphore, could be started in another task or on
             another workstation; when the semaphore is created, the program
             looking for it would proceed to process the received mail/files.

             You are provided with an Extended Range of Baudrates. This is
             evident in places like Site info, Minimum file request speed,
             Errorlevels and Connect messages. The range of Maximum baudrates
             under the Modem.Hardware menu is bound by technical
             specifications of the FOSSIL. See Appendix B in the
             Administrator Guide for a description of the FOSSIL.

             The "BBS name" entry (used when telling callers to press Esc
             twice for...) has been moved to the Global.Site info menu. The
             Editor options for NetMail has been moved to a separate sub-
             menu.



             The Mailer can be enabled for Secure Inbound File Transfers in
             the Global.Filenames menu of FDSetup, where a new option called
             SecFiles is introduced. It allows you to specify a directory
             where inbound files will be stored if they have been received
             during a secure (password protected) mail session.

             An option for handling file requests is to force the Mailer to
             stop searching for requested files after a first Alias or match
             is found. If an Alias expands to more than one file, it is not
             affected by the setting of this option. It is called Stop after
             first match, and you will find it under the Mailer.File
             Requests.Request limits menu.

             The Mailer can invoke an External Request Processor (supplied
             separately by us or third party) to handle incoming file
             requests by searching in an indexed database for quick access to
             files in multiple directories, over LANs and on CD-ROMs. It
             works similar to a Service Request; a list of requested files is
             passed on to the External Request Processor, which is to be
             returning with a list of actual filenames for FD to send. More
             information is available from your dealer, publishers of
             FrontDoor utility programs, and the FDDEV package of information
             files.

             The Modem configuration screen has been slightly modified to
             improve the Mailer's operation in multi-line environments.
             Before you can modify any of the modem settings, you must choose
             whether you want to modify the default settings, or a specific
             task's settings. Alternate task's settings are stored in a file
             called MDCFG<TaskNum>.FD in the System directory. This, in
             conjunction with the added $TASK$ macro, allows you to run
             several Mailers using the same configuration; even if the
             hardware configuration differ. If the Mailer cannot locate
             MDCFG<TaskNum>.FD in the System directory or the TASK
             environment variable has been omitted (or set to zero), it uses
             the settings in SETUP.FD.

             Three sub-menus under the Modem section deal with messages given
             by your modem. Modem Messages for established carrier speeds are
             in a range from 300 to 115200 bits per second, in addition to a
             separate "CONNECT FAX" message. If your modem supports a data
             transfer rate which is not listed in the range, and provided X00
             has been instructed (with the parameter B) to run at a locked
             rate, you can specify the modem message and the associated DCE-
             rate under the Custom option.

             The Answer sub-menu has been changed. A new toggle is the LDFRS
             to Log Data Following the first RING Signal, which is
             interesting if your PTT and modem provide so called Caller*ID
             service. You may have to increase the Answer delay setting for
             this to work. See also the section on DOBBSn.BAT below.

             Limited Answer Hours were previously settings in the
             Modem.Answer menu, and has been changed to an Event Behavior
             setting. This gives you event driven control over whether the
             Mailer is going to answer an incoming call or not, which
             provides for several periods of answering calls on a day-of-week
             basis.



             Another new Event behavior option is that of Hold File Attaches;
             messages with the File attribute will not be sent.

             It must be observed, when listing specifications for files and
             paths in the Requests Manager, that the order as listed is
             significant. When the Mailer receives a file request for
             internal processing (not using any External Request Processor),
             it will scan this list for the first match or partial match.

             If you need to use different passwords for files stored under
             the same tree of sub-directories, you must list the most
             specific entries above the more generic entries. In the
             following examples, we have a file located in the
             \FILES\SEC\SUPER directory; the file TO.ABS is protected by one
             password, all other files in/under the SUPER directory by
             another, and all other files in/under the SEC directory by a
             third:

                  1    \files\sec\super\to.abs       password_1
                  2    \files\sec\super\             password_2
                  3    \files\sec\                   password_3

             Provided no other requestable paths and file names exist which
             would have partly the same name, the above can be simplified to:

                  1    to.abs                        password_1
                  2    super                         password_2
                  3    sec                           password_3


             The Modem Manager supports all (current and future) nodelist
             flags, as well as the extended range of baudrates.

        =====================================================================

        Nodelist

             The Mailer and the Editor are enabled for an extended range of
             Maximum Baudrates, as specified in the raw nodelist data (see
             page 5-3 in the Administrator Guide) and in FDSetup (see above).
             The range includes 300, 1200, 75/1200 (split speed, shown as
             1275), 2400, 4800, 7200, 9600, 12000, 14400, 16800, 19200,
             38400, 57600, 64000, 76800, and 115200 bps. The full-screen Node
             Editor (in FDNC) also supports the extended range.

             FDNC supports the "Server" Keyword in raw nodelist data, with
             identical treatment to the "Boss" keyword (see the section on
             POINTLIST, page 5-9 in the Administrator Guide).

             All nodelist flags found in the raw nodelist data can be used in
             the Modem Manager (see above) as well as in the route file
             command language. Flags in ROUTEn.FD are used to specify lists
             of systems to be subjected to a particular command. Each flag
             used MUST be preceded by a per cent (%) sign! In this example:

                  UNHOLD    %!CM
                  EXCEPT    %ZYX

             the UNHOLD command will affect all mail bundles for systems
             listed without CM-flag EXCEPT those listed with ZYX-flag.



        =====================================================================

        DOBBSn.BAT

             If you, in FDSetup, set Mailer.Errorlevels.Create BAT.file to
             "Yes", a file is created whenever an inbound interactive caller
             (BBS-user) or fax transmission (in case you don't use the
             internal fax receiver, see also README.FD) is received.

             This file is named DOBBSn.BAT, where n is replaced by the value
             of the current TASK setting (the default being zero;
             DOBBS0.BAT). In case of an interactive caller, the file will
             contain the following:

                  EXEBBS <DCE> <COMx> <time> <TASK> <extra> <DFRS>

             In case of a fax transmission, it will contain this:

                  EXEFAX <DTE> <COMx> <COMz> <TASK> <msg> <DFRS>

             The variables (in <angle> brackets above) are:

                  DCE       The modem-to-modem speed, as defined by the
                            connect message from your modem

                  COMx      One-based number for serial port (1=COM1)

                  time      Minutes left until next "No User"-event

                  TASK      Value of the current TASK-setting

                  extra     Extra modem messages; usually indication for
                            reliable connection such as REL, ARQ, and LAPM.
                            If the no extra data followed the connect
                            message, this string will contain /NONE.

                  DFRS      Data Following RING Signal (Caller*ID), all data
                            received is passed as one string, with
                            suppression of CR/LF and spaces replaced by
                            underscores (_); if DFRS is not available or
                            enabled, this variable will contain "N/A"

                  DTE       The modem-to-PC speed

                  COMz      Zero-based number for serial port (0=COM1)

                  msg       The connect message from the modem

             To execute a program to handle the different calls, two batch
             files are required. EXEBBS.BAT may contain something like the
             following, to start RemoteAccess:

                  CD \FD\RA
                  RA -B%1%5 -C%2 -T%3
                  CD \FD

             During run-time, the %1%5, %2 and %3 will take the values of
             DCE, extra, COMx, and time respectively, written by FD in
             DOBBSn.BAT. Likewise, this is an example of EXEFAX.BAT:



                  CD \FD\RCVFAX
                  RCVFAX 2 /P:%3
                  CD \FD

             To complete the chain of batch files and programs, you need to
             trap the ERRORLEVEL returned by FD for one of these calls, GOTO
             a label and then issue CALL DOBBSn.BAT (or CALL DOBBS%TASK%.BAT
             if you wish).

             After a completed call, EXEBBS.BAT or EXEFAX.BAT terminates,
             which also terminates the one-line DOBBSn.BAT, and control is
             returned to FD's main batch file. See the Administrator Guide
             pages 4-9 through 4-14 for an in-depth explanation of RUNFD.BAT.


        Script Language

             A command to write text to the log file has the syntax of:

                  LOG i text

             where i is a single character (any printable character with
             higher value than space is allowed) which will be placed to the
             left of logged time, and text is what you wish to insert in the
             log.

             LINESPEED <Baudrate> is used to set the actual baudrate of the
             call since this information is usually not known to the Mailer
             when using scripts to establish a connection. <Baudrate> can be
             any number higher or equal to 75.

             The @systemnum macro can be used in place of a string with any
             command for sending a string to the modem (e.g. SEND and DIAL).
             The macro will yield the telephone number of the called system,
             just as if the Mailer would have dialled it (i.e. with all the
             translations of international access code, area code, and such
             applied).

        =====================================================================

        Command-line Parameters

             Several new parameters have been added to FrontDoor. Unless
             otherwise stated, each one can be used either on the command-
             line of the affected program, or specified in the FDOPT
             environment variable (in DOS by using the SET FDOPT= command).
             When using them on the command-line, each parameter must be
             preceded by either a forward slash (/) or a dash (-).

             Parameters for the Editor can be used on the command-line for
             the Mailer, and will be carried over to the Editor when it is
             invoked by <Alt-E> (unless otherwise noted).

        The following parameters are supported by FrontDoor program(s) as
        indicated, to alter their Operational Characteristics:

             AUTOVIDEO is used with the Mailer and the Editor to override the
             current video mode setting in FDSetup, and replace it with the
             Auto setting. This switch is not carried over to the Editor if
             you execute FD /AUTOVIDEO and press <Alt-E>.



             FOLDER will emulate the key press of <Alt-F> at the time when
             the Editor is loaded, causing the folder selection screen to be
             displayed initially.

             FOLDERSCAN works like FOLDER, but emulates the <Ctrl-F> key
             press. This causes the Editor to scan and show any presence of
             unread messages in the folder selection screen.

             MSGSURVEY will cause the Editor to begin in Survey mode, as if
             you press <Alt-F9> once the it has been loaded.

             NODUPBCK can only be used on the command-line of FDSetup. It
             will disable the duplicate board detection feature when
             configuring Folders (under the Manager menu). This is intended
             to be used when you are doing extensive re-organization of
             folders. NODUPBCK is not supported when specified in FDOPT.

             SESSONDCD causes the Mailer to assume an inbound call as soon as
             the CD (carrier detect) signal is present on the serial port.
             The speed for the connection is assumed to be the same speed the
             port is locked at. If the port is not locked, this option is
             ignored.

             NORAWEXTD forces the Terminal to send the normal (white) cursor
             key sequences when the gray cursor keys are used in raw keyboard
             mode (Scroll Lock is enabled). This may be required by some
             "doorway" programs that do not support extended keyboard codes.

             NOCANSES prevents the Mailer from honoring the FDCANSES.n
             semaphore described later in this document.


        The following parameters are implemented to give the FrontDoor
        program(s) better compatibility in special Software Environments:

             FORCECOMMIT is used if you want to have the DOS disk buffers
             flushed every time FD writes data to disk while receiving a
             file. The use for this is to increase the integrity of received
             data, in case of a power failure. You can use it independent of
             the NOCOMMIT parameter, because the two are not related.

             FORCEDPMI can be useful when running a FrontDoor-system with
             "DV-aware" third-party utilities under a multitasker other than
             DESQview. In such situations, it is often beneficiary to load a
             TSR to trick the third-party utility into slicing time as if
             DESQview was present. However, such a TSR will also fool the
             FrontDoor programs.

             The FORCEDPMI parameter will disable FrontDoor's autodetection
             of type of multitasker, and force time-slicing according to the
             DPMI-specification. OS/2 and Windows support DPMI.

             FORCEINT28 is used to force the FrontDoor programs to issue INT
             28h calls when they are idle. This is useful in such
             multitasking environments which support this method for
             applications to give up time slices (most notably older TSR
             programs written to run in the background).



             NOFCB disables the use of the File Control Block (FCB) delete
             function when the Mailer shall remove files in the Packet
             directory. Its intended use is for dealing with special
             incompatibilities, such as with the "DELDIR" setting of OS/2
             2.0. It is likely to impose a decrease in speed when the Mailer
             is processing NetMail packets.


        The following is a parameter for dealing with special Hardware
        Environments:

             NOICA disables both FD and FM from using the ICA
             (intra-application communications BIOS area). Some combinations
             of hardware and software (notably in the Gateway brand of PCs)
             have problems with the support of ICA-enabled applications.


        To give you specific control over the Mailer's Communications
        Protocols, the following parameters are included:

             EMSIDEBUG is used to give detailed information about EMSI-
             handshakes.

             EMSIPKT forces the Mailer to dump the whole handshake from the
             remote to disk, in a file named -EMSIPKT.n and placed in the
             System directory.

             FTS6PKT works just like EMSIPKT, but for FTS-6 (YooHoo)
             handshakes, and the file is named -FTS6PKT.n.

             LOGINTRO is a parameter used to give more information about the
             progress of an inbound call to the Mailer. It is to be used with
             caution, because your log will grow rapidly in size (especially
             in case of high level of line-noise).

             NODOMAIN prevents the Mailer from presenting domain names in the
             EMSI-handshake. This was implemented to allow FrontDoor 2.20
             systems to be backwards compatible, because some software (e.g.
             FrontDoor 2.00) does not properly handle a domain name in an
             address passed in the EMSI-handshake.

             NORESYNC is a session protocol parameter, which inhibits FD from
             use of the RESYNC feature in SEAlink. Use it only when
             experiencing problems with FD recovering from CRC-errors while
             receiving files using the SEAlink Overdrive (SLO) protocol.

        =====================================================================

        DOS Environment Variables

             FMUSERNAME can be used to set an FM-user's name without making
             any changes in FDSetup. Provided you have a password configured
             for (at least) the first user, and a name with "User" status is
             selected when loading FM, the actual name used by FM can be
             specified in the FMUSERNAME-variable. The access rights are
             either those of the selected name, or overriden by the use of
             FMUSERNUM (see next paragraph). Spaces in the name must be
             replaced by under-scores (_).



             FMUSERNUM contains a value of 1 through 10. The value is used
             when FM gives access to folders, and corresponds to the access
             rights as defined in FDSetup for the user's number. This
             variable is used to override the access rights defined to the
             selected (when loading FM) user's number.

             FMUSEROFS specifies a value to offset (from the default of zero)
             the user number. This variable can be used to allow the Editor
             to support more than ten users' lastread pointers in the Hudson
             Message Base. The value of FMUSEROFS is added to the current
             user's number to yield the "lastread slot" to be used. Par
             example: SET FMUSEROFS=10, and you're running as the first user,
             then your "lastread slot" is number eleven.

             FMUSERPOS specifies a user's number to be used by FM when
             selecting "lastread slot". The presence of this variable will
             override FMUSEROFS (see previous paragraph). Allowed values for
             FMUSERPOS are 1 through 65535.

             TZUTC is an environment variable used like this:

                  SET TZUTC=[-|+]hhmm

             The plus-sign (+) is optional, meaning that the use of SET
             TZUTC=0100 and SET TZUTC=+0100 would both indicate that your
             time zone is Paris (Central European Time), which is one hour
             east of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). FM will insert the TZUTC
             "message-kludge" if the environment variable is present. FD will
             present the TZUTC-setting during EMSI-handshakes, and as a
             "message-kludge" when creating return receipts.

             If you periodically change your system clock according to
             "summer/winter time", you will need to adjust the setting of
             TZUTC as well. Here follows a list of some of the world's time
             zones:

                  Zone      Offset    Name 
                  ----      ------    ---------------------------
                  AHST      -1000     Alaska-Hawaii Standard Time
                  HDT       -0900     Hawaii Daylight Time
                  PST       -0800     Pacific Standard Time
                  PDT       -0700     Pacific Daylight Time
                  MST       -0700     Mountain Standard Time
                  MDT       -0600     Mountain Daylight Time
                  CST       -0600     Central Standard Time
                  CDT       -0500     Central Daylight Time
                  EST       -0500     Eastern Standard Time
                  EDT       -0400     Eastern Daylight Time
                  WAT       -0100     West Africa Time
                  GMT       +0000     Greenwich Mean Time
                  UTC       +0000     Universal Time
                  CET       +0100     Central Europe Time
                  BST       +0100     British Summer Time
                  CEST      +0200     Central Europe Summer Time
                  EET       +0200     Eastern European Time
                  WAST      +0700     West Australian Time
                  WADT      +0800     West Australian Daylight Time
                  CCT       +0800     China Coast Time
                  JST       +0900     Japan Standard Time
                  CAST      +0930     Central Australian Standard Time
                  EAST      +1000     East Australian Standard Time



                  CADT      +1030     Central Australian Daylight Time
                  EADT      +1100     East Australian Daylight Time
                  NZST      +1200     New Zealand Standard Time
                  NZDT      +1300     New Zealand Daylight Time

        =====================================================================

        Semaphore Files

             The following semaphore files (see appendix C in the
             Administrator Guide for further reference) are added in
             FrontDoor as follows, where:

             n         is task number (SET TASK=n)
             touched   means created, or updated in the directory field for
                       time and date of creation (in DOS, files are touched
                       with the REM>file command)

             FDALIVE.n is touched almost immediately upon loading of FD. It
             will be touched every few minutes, even when FD has been frozen
             with FDFREEZE.n or when the Terminal has been invoked. It
             provides a simple means to monitor the activity. When FD
             terminates or invokes a DOS shell, FDALIVE.n is removed.

             FDFREEZE.ALL will freeze any and all tasks running FD, as if an
             FDFREEZE.n was detected for each task.

             FDINTERM.n is created and present for the duration when the
             Terminal is running.

             FDSCAN.n is used to indicate that FD is engaged in processing
             the primary NetMail folder. While this semaphore is present,
             certain functions in the primary NetMail folder (such as
             renumber and change of destination) are disabled in any task
             running the Editor.

             FDCANSES.n is used to force the Mailer to terminate the
             currently active session. The semaphore is checked for between
             files being sent/received. If the Mailer finds the file, it
             removes the file and terminates the session. The Mailer can be
             told to ignore this file by using the NOCANSES option as
             described earlier.

             FMALIVE.n is touched almost immediately upon loading of FM. It
             will be touched every few minutes, even when FM has been frozen
             with FMFREEZE.n. It provides a simple means to monitor the
             activity. When FM terminates or invokes a DOS shell, FMALIVE.n
             is removed.

             FMFREEZE.n and FMFREEZE.ALL is used to freeze task(s) running
             the Editor. The Editor will search for this semaphore once a
             minute, when updating the on-screen clock. When found, the
             keyboard is frozen, the databases for nodelist and messages are
             closed, and the Editor will check every twenty seconds to see if
             the semaphore has disappeared.



             FMNEWNET.n, FMNEWCNF.n, and FMNEWLOC.n are semaphores touched by
             FM to indicate that new messages (including replies) have been
             entered as NetMail, conference mail, and local mail
             respectively. The classification of messages is defined by the
             settings under Manager.Folders in FDSetup, of the corresponding
             folder(s) where one or more new messages have been saved. You
             can control support of these semaphores in FDSetup, under the
             Editor.Miscellaneous menu. Messages saved with the Lock
             attribute are not considered as new.

        =====================================================================

        Keyboard Macro Commands

             The keyboard macro fields in FDSetup's Editor and Terminal menus
             can be used with very capable command sets for providing users
             with simple and effective macro keys. Here follows a complete
             and updated list of macro commands.

        The keyboard macro command set for Inserting Characters and text
        contains the following, valid both for the Editor and the Terminal:

             |         carriage return
             ~~        tilde
             ~|        pipe
             ~B        tab-character

        Only the Terminal supports the following commands:

             ~!        one second pause
             ~P        current password (as found in the currently selected
                       IEMSI-profile or called entry in the Phone Directory)

        The remaining are all Editor Commands, starting with these for
        inserting characters:

             ~L        new line
             ~U        current user's name

        Use these commands for Cursor Positioning:

             ~>        right
             ~<        left
             ~^        up
             ~V        down
             ~G        top of message
             ~H        end of message

        Files are handled by the following:

             ~!        invoke DOS shell
             ~Xfile;   export message to file
             ~Ifile;   import file to message
             ~Rfile;   import file to message and erase file
             ~Efile;   shell to DOS and execute file, including any
                       parameters; parameters may not contain semicolon



        When writing a reply, the following macro commands will insert values
        taken from the message being replied to. When editing an existing
        message, the values are taken from the message being edited. These
        values are undefined when creating a new message, as the Editor is
        then unable to supply any Original Data:

             ~D        original recipient (To:)
             ~O        original sender (From:)
             ~A        original subject (Re:)
             ~C        original date and time
             ~J        original origin address
             ~K        original destination address

        To Edit, Delete Text, and Save the message, use:

             ~F        re-format paragraph
             ~}        delete to end of line
             ~Y        delete current line
             ~T        delete to end of text
             ~S        save message (and keep the original if writing a reply
                       to a message in a folder where FM would ask if the
                       user wants to delete it when saving a new reply)
             ~#        save message (and delete the original if writing a
                       reply to a message in a folder where FM would ask if
                       the user wants to delete it when saving a new reply)

        =====================================================================

        IBM OS/2 2.x

             At the time of this writing, two software solutions exist which
             will enhance the operation of FrontDoor when using OS/2 2.x. The
             software is used to handle the FOSSIL-calls made by FrontDoor to
             a serial device driver (see Appendix B in the Administrator
             Guide).

             One is called VX00 version 1.xx (the MS-DOS version of X00
             supplied with FrontDoor is version 1.24), and the other is
             called Virtual FOSSIL Driver (VFD). Please, contact your dealer
             for the latest information on this and other enhancement
             specifically for using FrontDoor under OS/2 2.x. A FrontDoor
             Technical Note (FDTN-002) is available; it contains vast amounts
             of information and hints on how to configure and trim your OS/2-
             FD-system.


        Microsoft Windows

             The support for serial communications is improved in Windows 3.1
             as compared to the previous version. To use FrontDoor under
             Windows 3.0, you had to perform some tricks to disable Windows'
             awareness for the serialport(s) being used.

             The following settings need to be made in the [386enh] section
             of SYSTEM.INI, using COM1 in this example:

                  COM1FIFO=true       ;default is true when using a FIFO-
                                      ;buffered port (16550 UART)

                  COMBoostTime=1      ;default is 2



                  MinTimeslice=10     ;default is 20

             As always when running high-speed serial communications in
             multitasking environments, a FIFO-buffered UART is essential
             hardware. Ask your hardware dealer for a 16550-equipped serial
             port if you don't have one. The FIFO-buffer size should be
             decreased, e.g. by using the F=4 parameter when loading X00 or
             running XU FIFO:4. This makes more buffer space available after
             an interrupt has occurred but before it gets serviced.

             You need to write a PIF for the Mailer, and enable 'Lock
             Application Memory' found in the Advanced settings screen.

        =====================================================================

        DESQview

             While the settings and instructions for using FrontDoor under
             DESQview are correct as found in the printed documentation,
             installing a FrontDoor-system including third-party utilities
             may require modifications. You may need to increase the "Memory
             Size (in K)" allocated to the FrontDoor window, if the system
             also runs a BBS and/or a conference mail processor. The "Writes
             text directly to screen" option should be set to No when only
             running FrontDoor programs. Some third-party programs may
             require this option to be set to Yes to prevent bleed-through.

        =====================================================================

        LANtastic

             When loading the FrontDoor programs under LANtastic, it is
             possible that you get a sharing violation error from the system.
             The simple remedy for this is to set a read-only attribute on
             the executable file which returns with the error. If you
             experience this problem when loading FD.EXE, change to the
             directory where FD.EXE is located and run this DOS command:

                  ATTRIB +R FD.EXE

             It is also a good idea to use the above ATTRIB command on other
             FrontDoor executables and overlay files.


        Novell NetWare

             NOTE: It is never a good idea to make any changes to the DOS
             PATH environment variable, once you are logged into a NetWare
             server. The PATH statement in RUNFD.BAT, which the INSTALL
             program may create, MUST be moved to another batch file
             (AUTOEXEC.BAT) such that it is issued BEFORE logging into a
             NetWare server!

             Use of the SHELL.CFG file with the option "SHOW DOTS=ON" in a
             workstation installation is highly recommended. Refer to your
             NetWare documentation for additional information on workstation
             shell installation.



             A drive-mapping is used and maintained internally by the NetWare
             workstation shell, and is not necessarily resolved correctly by
             DOS function calls. For example; If you have something like the
             following, which would be a typical NetWare-mapping:

                  F:\ = SERVER\SYS:

             and FrontDoor's system directory is:

                  F:\COMMS\FD = SERVER\SYS:COMMS\FD\

             you would then be able to use any of the following three
             syntaxes in FrontDoor to access the FrontDoor system directory:

                  1.   F:\COMMS\FD

                  2.   SERVER\SYS:COMMS\FD

                  3.   \\SERVER\SYS\COMMS\FD

             These will work correctly with any of the newer NetWare shells,
             regardless of the use of NORES (see page C-3 in the
             Administrator Guide). Other software, which need to access
             FrontDoor system files and NetMail messages, may only understand
             the first (1.) syntax. Use of NORES and the "F:\FD" (normal DOS)
             syntax is recommended in installations using older NetWare
             shells and/or when FrontDoor is used in conjunction with other
             software which cannot resolve NetWare server path syntax.

             If you try to map a drive letter to a subdirectory;

                  MAP G:=SERVER\SYS:MYAPPS\FD

             accessing the FrontDoor system directory via G:\ will FAIL in
             most situations. A NetWare MAP statement does not function like
             a DOS SUBST command!  When the NetWare shell resolves a MAPped
             path for an internal DOS or BIOS function, it will invariably
             return the server's root directory, and not the directory as
             specified in the MAP statement. Therefore: make sure that your
             MAP statement points to a physical root directory.

             When starting any FrontDoor executable program in an
             installation on a NetWare LAN, the current drive should be a
             drive that is mapped (with a MAP statement, not MAP ROOT) to the
             same network volume as the FrontDoor System directory.


        Avoid the use of NORES!

             The NORES parameter (see page C-3 in the Administrator Guide) is
             seldom necessary in FrontDoor installations on local area
             networks; do not MAP subdirectories, use the newer NetWare
             shells, and, when a third party utility is required, select one
             that supports server path syntax.

             When the NORES parameter is used, it effectively requires each
             workstation to be configured with identical drive-mapping for
             users to be able to fully utilize the functions of FrontDoor
             (e.g. file attaches and update requests).

        =====================================================================



        EMSI

             Starting with this version of FrontDoor, the Mailer encodes the
             information used in during the EMSI handshake somewhat
             differently. To allow international (often referred to as "high-
             bit ASCII) characters to be translated properly in international
             codepage environments, the Mailer now encodes data such as the
             System Name, etc. using the ISO 8859-1 standard. This means that
             if your system connects to another system running an older
             version of FrontDoor, and it is using international characters
             in its System Profile configuration, it is likely that it will
             appear as garbled data; it is not. The new encoding scheme
             carries no other side-effects.

             Domain Names, as configured in the Global.Address.Domains menu
             of FDSetup, are included in the EMSI handshake. They are not
             used, nor displayed by this version of FrontDoor, and can be
             disabled with the NODOMAIN parameter (see above). Future
             versions of Mailers may use the information, e.g. for routing.

             EMSI sessions can use the SEAlink file transfer protocol.

        =====================================================================

        Replying to Gated Messages

             The Editor has support for FSC-35 (^aREPLYADDR and ^aREPLYTO
             kludge-lines). Provided your e-mail gate to UseNet, INTERNET, or
             UUCP uses FSC-35, replying to a gated message does not require
             the TO: line to be inserted manually.

        =====================================================================

        Notes for Developers of External Utilities

             Make sure you get the latest FDDEV-kit (for FrontDoor 2.20).

             FD supports modem connect messages for rates up to 115200, in
             addition to a custom connect message. The INFOREC written to
             disk by FD, when invoking external programs for Service Requests
             and External Request Processors, now uses a DWORD (32-bit) to
             store the baudrate, as opposed to previous versions' use of a
             WORD (16-bit).

             Support has been added in FD (only) for a new entry in the
             ^aFLAGS-field of outbound NetMail messages. When found there,
             FPU (Force PickUp) tells FD to treat the message as if it has
             the Immediate attribute; all limitations and behavior of the
             active event are ignored and the destination is qualified for
             sending. In addition, such a message will be treated as unsent
             until the session has successfully turned around and FD receives
             a "No more files" signal from the remote; in effect creating a
             sticky POLL-lever. Please note that with an Event's Behavior
             option "Attempt to pickup waiting mail" set to "No", FD will
             ignore any FPU-message.

             Support for FPU-messages was implemented to increase the rate of
             successfully completed polls under those conditions when
             external factors make communications unstable and otherwise
             unreliable.



        =====================================================================

        Thanks to Tomas Bremin and Advanced Engineering sarl for writing the
        major part of this file.

        Copyright 1993 Joaquim Homrighausen; All rights reserved.

        All information herein is provided "as is", and is subject to changes
        without any prior notice. All brand and product names are trademarks
        or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

        Absolute Solutions

        // end of file "techref.fd"
