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Text File
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1992-06-17
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7KB
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137 lines
NAME:
forward - packet radio mail forwarding program.
AUTHOR:
Eric Williams WD6CMU, 71336,1424
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION:
OS9/68K, MW C v2.0
SYNTAX:
forward [options] <port> <callsign> <callsign>...
DESCRIPTION:
forward allows for mail forwarding to other W0RLI-compatible packet
radio mailboxes. It integrates both with the mailbox mail database and
the host mode translator program.
The first argument to forward specifies the port through which the
target mailbox(s) can be connected to. It is the device name (minus the
'/') of the SCF device which is connected to the TNC. This device must
also have associated with it a background task which is running the host
mode translator (host). The port name is used to build the names of pipes
through which forward communicates with host.
The remainder of the arguments specify the callsigns of the
mailboxes to which mail might be forwarded. These callsigns are
translated into file names and these forwarding files are assumed to
exist in the directory FWDIR directory as defined in mailbox.h.
Translation involves appending ".fwd" to the callsign and translating
the hyphen for the ssid (if any) to underline. For example, "w6cus-1"
would become "w6cus_1.fwd". If the forwarding file does not exist,
forwarding to that mailbox is aborted.
Forwarding files are text files which contain information about the
path or paths to that mailbox and callsigns of stations whose mail should
be sent to the mailbox. If a line in the forward file begins with "VIA",
the remainder of the line is used as a path for connection to the mailbox.
If more than one such lines are in the forward file, connection will be
attempted using the first such path. Should that fail, the second path
will be tried, and so on until the last path. If no "VIA" lines are
present in the forwarding file, the path is assumed to be a direct connect.
Callsigns in a VIA line that have a leading "*" specify NET/ROM nodes.
An "*" all by itself as the last call indicates that the station is a G3RUH
node, and that the "BBS" command is needed to access the mailbox port.
Lines which begin with "@" contain a filename path to another
forward file which will be inserted into the current file at that point.
Such inserted files may contain other insertion lines. (Note that
relative paths are relative to /dd/MAILBOX.)
Lines that begin with a ";" are comments and are ignored by the
program.
Other lines in the forward file are assumed to contain a single
callsign. Wildcard characters are allowed in these callsign lines: a '?'
will match any single character, while a '*' will match any number of any
characters
The sequence of events during execution of forward is as follows: The
first forward file is opened and its contents read. Then the mail database
is searched for any messages destined for this mailbox. If there are any,
then communication with the host translator is established. Using the
first of the paths specified in the forward file, a connection with the
mailbox is attempted. If the link fails, then the next path in the file is
attempted. Once connection is established with the mailbox, the messages
for it are sent and then deleted from the mail system (except for type B
messages or those to a distribution designator). The next mailbox in the
command line is then processed.
Distribution designators are special BBS addresses that indicate
that messages to these addresses should be copied to more than one BBS.
Distribution designators are specified by placing a file with a name
consisting of the designator followed by ".dis" in the directory
specified by the DISDIR definition in mailbox.h. These files contain a
list of bbs callsigns (one per line, no SSID) to which bulletins
carrying the designator are to be distributed. IMPORTANT NOTE: The
designator address must also appear in each of the forward files
corresponding to the BBSs listed in the distribution file.
As the bulletins is forwarded to each BBS in the distribution list,
that BBS is checked off in a bit field in the mail directory record for the
bulletin. This 16-bit field can be examined by using the 'E' option to
the list command of the mailbox program and is displayed as a 4-digit hex
number, the LSB of which corresponds to the first BBS in the
distribution list, etc. Examining the value of this field and comparing
it to the distribution list file corresponding to the message's address
can help the sysop to diagnose forwarding hangups.
The following options are currently available:
-r Inhibit reverse forward prompt.
-s Don't do any forwarding, but only prompt for reverse forward.
-m<num> Set the maximum connect time to <num> minutes. (Note that
reverse-forwarding is under control of the other system,
and that the connect time cannot be limted by this option.)
-b<num> Set the maximum forwarded message size to <num> kilobytes.
-p<str> Set the message type priority. <str> is one or more
characters, each one specifying a type of message that
will be forwarded before other types. The message types are:
* any message
p any non-bulletin message
x any message of type 'x'
For example, the option "-pt*" means to forward NTS
messages (type 'T'), and then any other messages. Note
that this option may have to be quoted to prevent wild-
card expansion by shell.
Periodic execution of forward can be accomplished with the cron
daemon. Messages that have been successfully forwarded will create an
entry in /dd/MAILBOX/logfile with the callsign "AUTOFW". The entry will
use the code 'f' and be followed by the message number and the callsign of
the mailbox forwarded to. Mail which has been refused forward by the other
BBS will be entered with the code 'r' in the log file, followed by the text
of the message sent by the refusing BBS.
Verbose debugging output is created by forward during operation if
it was compiled with the DEBUG flag defined. This can be used to track
its progress and any problems in its execution. If such output is not
desired, it can be redirected to the /nul device.
BUGS:
forward has been known to hang during the forwarding process for
unknown reasons. The sysop should check regularly to make sure his
system is operating properly.