Help Index
Courier Plus™

Thank you for trying Courier Plus for WinCIM.  We think you'll find it easy to understand, very powerful, and very reliable.

   Introduction

   Installation

   Adding SWREG Titles

   Modifying SWREG Titles

   Adding Simple Responders

   Modifying Responders

   Preparing WinCIM

   Settings

   Viewing History

   Customized Response Programming

   Support

   Registration

   Legal Stuff


Introduction

Courier Plus retrieves all e-mail messages from your CompuServe mailbox (either the old ASCII mailboxes, or the new HMI boxes) as frequently as you wish.  It checks for new e-mail in such a manner that, if no mail is waiting, it does not use any of your connect time.

Shareware authors can set it to automatically authenticate and respond to registration notification messages from CompuServe's SWREG service.  Predetemined text messages and attached files can be sent automatically.  Developers who need to send dynamic responses (perhaps based on the customer information in the notification messages) can even write their own routines to create these responses.  Courier Plus does the rest.

Courier Plus can also be set to check the subject lines of incoming e-mail against its database and automatically respond to any matches, thus acting as a generic auto-responder.

Between calls, Courier Plus runs the default screen saver.  If any new mail has been downloaded, a message to that effect flashes over the screen saver, letting you know at a glance.

Incoming messages that result in automatic responses are filed in the WinCIM filing cabinet folder of your choice.  Other incoming mail goes to the inbasket.

Courier Plus maintains its own history of Shareware Registration Notifications.  This history database can be exported into comma-separated ASCII format (.CSV) for import into most spreadsheet and database programs.

Shareware Registration Notifications stored in any WinCIM filing cabinet folder can be automatically imported into the Courier Plus history database.

Continue to Installation...


Installation

1) Create a directory on your hard drive (let's assume it to be C:\COURPLUS) and move all the files from COURPLUS.ZIP into it.

2) Run the program SETUP.EXE (now found in C:\COURPLUS).  SETUP will automatically:

- create a new Courier Plus™ program group (or folder)

- create icons for Courier Plus and the Help and Read-me files

Continue to Adding SWREG Titles...


Adding SWREG Titles

Click the pull-down option SWREG, then click New Title.

Enter the Program Title.  This name will be visible on various pull-down menus.  You may place an ampersand ("&") just before any of the letters in the name to make that letter the title's hotkey.

The Registration ID will be used to check all incoming registration notifications to see it they match this title.

The Registrations to Date field is used for authentication.  Incoming registration notifications include the number of registrations to date, and Courier Plus™ will not automatically answer any notifications that do not agree with the local database's expected number of registrations.

If you have stored all previous notications in a WinCIM Filing Cabinet folder, you can leave this field at 0 and later use the Import function to add the registrations to Courier's history database and automatically update the Registrations to Date field.

The Price field is not currently used by Courier Plus.  You may use it as a reminder if you wish.

The Response Message File Path field must contain the complete path and file name of a simple ASCII text file.  This file must contain the body of the message you want sent to your customers.  Courier Plus uses WinCIM's "Send As Shown" e-mail option to ensure consistent alignment of ASCII text in the message.

The Response Attached File Path field is the only optional field.  If used, it must contain the complete path and file name of any binary file.  This file will be attached to messages sent to your customers.

Response's Subject Line field must contain the text that you want to appear in the subject line of the messages sent to your customers.

The Filing Cabinet Folder Name field must contain the the name of a valid WinCIM filing cabinet folder.  Courier Plus will store both the incoming notiication e-mail and the automatic response in the folder.

The Active check box is provided in case you want to stop automatic responses from occuring without deleting the entire title record.

Continue to Modifying SWREG Titles...


Modifying SWREG Titles

Click the pull-down option SWREG.  All titles that you have added to the database will be listed as options.  Simply click one to edit it.

The program will not allow changes to the Registration ID field.  All other fields may be changed, but remember that the number in the Registrations to Date.field must match the actual number of registrations for that title.

The Active check box is provided in case you want to stop automatic responses from occuring without deleting the entire title record.

Continue to Adding Simple Responders...


Adding Simple Responders

Click the pull-down option Responders then click New Responder.

Enter the Requested Subject Line.  This is the text against which the program tries to match the subject lines of incoming e-mail.  If the e-mail subject line contains this text string, this responder is actuated, and an automatic response is sent.

This name will be visible on a pull-down menuand you may place an ampersand ("&") just before any of the letters in the name to make that letter the title's hotkey.  The ampersand will be ignored when subject lines are compared

The Requests to Date field will be automatically updated as responses are created by this responder.  You may set this value to any you wish.

The Response File Path field must contain the complete path and file name of a simple ASCII text file.  This file must contain the body of the message you want sent in the reply e-mail.  Courier Plus™ uses WinCIM's "Send As Shown" e-mail option to ensure consistent alignment of ASCII text in the message.

Response's Subject Line field must contain the text that you want to appear in the subject line of the messages sent by this responder.

The Filing Cabinet Folder Name field must contain the the name of a valid WinCIM filing cabinet folder.  Courier Plus will store both the incoming request e-mail and the automatic response in the folder.

The Active check box is provided in case you want to stop automatic responses from occuring without deleting the entire responder record.

Continue to Modifying Simple Responders...


Modifying Simple Responders

Click the pull-down option Responders.  All responders that you have added to the database will be listed as options.  Simply click one to edit it.

All fields may be changed.

The Active check box is provided in case you want to stop automatic responses from occuring without deleting the entire responder record.

Continue to Preparing WinCIM...


Preparing WinCIM

Preparing WinCIM for Courier Plus™ is easy:  just make sure that when you use the What's New option under the Services pull-down menu, WinCIM connects to CompuServe and displays the news listings in a windowed dialog box (not maximized to fill the WinCIM client area).

The "What's New" window, the "Get New Mail" window, the "Filing Cabinet" window, and all other windows that are displayed during e-mail functions MUST appear in the center of the screen.  If you've ever used the Window|Tile or Window|Cascade options in WinCIM, you may need to drag these windows to the center.

This is important because Courier Plus actually "watches" the WinCIM program operate, and determines which window is in use by looking for the topmost window that covers the center of the screen.

Likewise, it is important that Windows displays small message-boxes (like "File Already Exists" or "Are You Sure?") in the center of the screen.  If it is not, usually exiting and restarting Windows will get them back to the center.

Finally, make sure to close the WinCIM program - Courier Plus starts WinCIM each time it needs it, and closes it when finished.  Courier Plus can usually find WinCIM if you forget to close it, but standard procedure is to keep it closed when not in use.

While Courier Plus is controlling WinCIM, do not use the keyboard.  If you were to switch to another program or task, Courier Plus would find itself in unfamiliar territory and not perform correctly.

Screen savers can cause a similar problem.  While it is fine to have a default screen saver selected (Courier Plus will start it for you between calls), make sure the timeout is large enough that the saver cannot start during an automatic call.

By default, Courier Plus assumes that WinCIM's program file can be found at:

C:\CSERVE\WINCIM\WINCIM.EXE

To change this, use the option WinCIM Location under the Options pull-down menu.

Continue to Settings...


Settings

The How Often to Call option lets you set the number of minutes Courier Plus should allow to elapse after each call is completed before calling again.

The WinCIM Location option is used to override the default WinCIM program file location.  Use it if your CompuServe software has been installed somewhere other than C:\CSERVE.

The Retry on Error option lets you select whether or not the program continues to attempt to connect to CompuServe if it encounters a problem while calling.  Turning off retries can be helpful, for example, if the telephone line your PC uses is also used for voice calls - this keeps the PC from repeatedly cutting into your conversation if you are using the phone when calling time comes.

Continue to Viewing History...


Viewing History

SWREG REGISTRATIONS

All SWREG registrations answered by Courier Plus™ are stored in a permanent history file.  You can view this history using the History pull-down menu.  Simply click History, then Shareware Registrations, then name of the SWREG title.

If you have been storing registration notifications on a WinCIM Filing Cabinet folder, you can automatically import these registrations into the history file.

First, make sure each title has been carefully added to the Courier Plus SWREG title database, leaving the Registrations to Date field set to 0.

Then, click History, Shareware Registrations, then Import.   Carefully type the exact name of a folder in which registration notifications have been stored.  Courier Plus will start WinCIM, open the folder, and add all registration notifications it finds, in date sequence.

Repeat this for each folder containing registrations.  You can verify this has worked by looking at history, and/or by looking at the titles in the SWREG database.

To Export the history database to a .CSV file, use the Export button found on the SWREG Registrations dialog box.  You can export one title at a time, or all at once.  The supplied file RESPONSE.DBF is a Foxpro/dBase-format file that contains all the fields of data exported.

SESSION MESSAGES AND HIGHLIGHTS

Courier Plus also stores status messages to a temporary history file.  You can clear this file at any time

Status messages about storing any type of incoming e-mail are flagged as "highlights" and are listed separately under Session Highlights.

Continue to Customized Response Programming...


Customized Response Programming

If you need to send dynamic responses to incoming e-mail (instead of sending the same message to every customer who buys a certain title) you can write your own message-processing program to be used in place of the one supplied with Courier Plus™.

The following description of the interaction between COURPLUS.EXE and MESSPROC.EXE should make it possible to write your own MESSPROC.EXE:

When Courier Plus finds any e-mail waiting for you, it performs these steps:

- Create a new temporary file.  This is a simple ASCII text file.

- Make the first line the e-mail's subject line.

- Add an empty line after it.

- Add the body of the message to the file.

- Close the file

- Execute the program MESSPROC.EXE, using the complete path of the temp file 	   as a command line parameter.....

WinExec('c:\courplus\messproc.exe  c:\windows\temp\~ez7275.tmp',....)

MESSPROC.EXE opens the file found in the command line parameter and examines it.  If it wants to send a reply, it recreates the ASCII temporary file with the same name but a new format (see below).  If it wants COURPLUS.EXE to simply store the new e-mail in the general in-basket;, the temp file is simply erased.  MESSPROC.EXE shuts down when it is finished processing the file.  Then COURPLUS.EXE processing continues....

- Wait until MESSPROC.EXE is no longer processing.

- Check to see if the temp file still exists

- If it does not, the e-mail message is simply stored to the inbasket

- If the temp file still exists, it is opened and examined

- The first line should the name of a filing cabinet folder.

- The second is blank

- The third is the subject line to use in the response message

- The fourth is blank

- The fifth is the complete path of the file to attach to the reply.

- (This may be blank if no file is to be attached)

- The sixth line is blank.

- The remaining lines are the message body of the reply

If anything has been left unclear in this description, please let us know.  Also, check with us for rates on creating a customized MESSPROC.EXE for you that maintains linkage with the built-in SWREG and history databases.

Continue to Support...


Support

Please send any questions to EZ Software™ via CompuServe e-mail at 102732,472  (internet address ezsoft@compuserve.com).  You can expect a prompt reply.

Suggestions are very welcome.  Since this is a version 1.0 release, many improvements are sure to follow.  Suggestions that are useful to a wide audience are very likely to be added to future revisions.

Continue to Registration...


Registration Info
Registration

Registration is $49.  The  CompuServe SWREG registration number is 14235.  Of course, since we use Courier Plus™ to respond to registrations, you should get a reply quite rapidly...

Purchasing Courier Plus with a credit card

You can purchase Courier Plus by dialing a toll-free number (in the U.S.) and using a credit card to make payment!  You will get the necessary registration codes from NorthStar Solutions while you are on the phone!

NorthStar provides ONLY registration services and cannot answer ANY technical questions!  Send all questions about the programs to EZ Software (ezsoft@compuserve.com)

To order with a Visa, MasterCard or Discover card, call 1-800-699-6395 between the hours of 10am and 8pm EST, Monday through Saturday.  Callers outside the U.S. can call 1-803-699-6395 during the same hours.

The product number for Courier Plus is 1230.  The price is $49 (USD).

You can also order online at NorthStar's Web Site:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/starmail/557.htm

You can also send a fax to NorthStar:

1-803-699-5465

If you choose the online or fax order method, NorthStar will notify EZ Software about your order, and EZ Software will then e-mail registration codes to you.

Please provide (or be prepared to provide) the following information when ordering:

* The program you are registering (please include the product number)

* Your mailing address

* Your Visa, MasterCard or Discover # and its expiration date

* Your e-mail address

Continue to Legal Stuff...


Legal Stuff

The shareware distribution file COURPLUS.ZIP may be copied freely and used without restriction by anyone on any number of machines. However, this software remains the intellectual property of EZ Software™, and use of this software in its evaluation version for more than 30 days is prohibited.   All rights reserved - decompiling or reverse engineering of this software is prohibited.

The registration fee grants your use of the software for an unlimited number of users, but you may not re-sell the software unless you are terminating your own use of it entirely, and in that case may do so only one time.  You may not supply the registration codes provided to you by EZ Software unless you are re-selling the software and terminating your own use of it entirely.

Neither EZ Software, nor its officers, shall be responsible for any loss resulting from the use of Courier Plus™.

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