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Text File | 1991-06-11 | 19.5 KB | 407 lines

BETA DOC RAMail DOOR 2.3 beta Copyright 1990, 1991 by Randy Blackmond All Rights Reserved SETUP CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS VERSION ----------------------------------- Beta-2 New "Toggle" fields added to allow toggling of certain menu functions. See new RAMCONF.EXE. Beta-3 The compression method and transfer protocols are now defined in RAMCONF.EXE. Beta-4 Added new toggle field for offline reader tagline removal. To avoid having to re-enter most of your configuration information, use a text editor and insert a blank line at line 23 in your RAMAIL.CFG before running RAMCONF. Then run RAMCONF and open the toggle subwindow to set the tagline toggle to your choice. Beta-6 This beta has a major change (internally) in RAMCONF.EXE. The CFG file has grown to such a size that I thought it was time to make it a random, binary file. It should speed up the reading of the information and make future additions to the configuration easier. I have also concentrated on "bullet-proofing" the configuration proc- ess. 9 times out of 10 (or close to it), problems that sysops have in getting the door to operate are caused by configuration errors. I have added error checking wherever possible to help avoid these problems. You'll notice things such things as existance checks for the compr- ession/decompression programs and the protocol programs. A program to convert 2.3 beta 5 configuration files to the new binary format is also included and is named RAMCNVRT.EXE. Simply run this program with the parameter as name of the CFG file you wish to convert, e.g. RAMCNVRT RAMAIL.CFG If you are running a pre-2.3 beta 5 version of RAMail, you will have to delete your current CFG file and recreate it with RAMCONF.EXE. This should be the LAST time that complete reconfiguration will be necessary. Beta-9 New field added in RAMCONF. Unless you are running a pre-Beta 6 version you should be able to run RAMCONF and simply fill in the new field without having to reconfigure everything. The new field is '*-Empty-* Replacement', i.e. the string used for inaccessible conferences in CONTROL.DAT is now Sysop definable. Beta-10 Some serious changes have taken place in RAMCONF since Beta 9. If you are currently running Beta 9, you won't have to completely reconfigure but you will if you're running any prior version. In any case, you will need to run RAMCONF to add the new information. See Beta-10 info below and RAMCONF.DOC for details. NEW ITEMS IN THIS VERSION ------------------------- Beta-1 Improved RACONFS.LST support. Conferences that the user does not have access to are written to CONTROL.DAT as *-Empty-*. Beta-1 Added [L]ist New Mail option to menu. This option shows the number of messages above the last one the user has read. The figure may not match the number that would actually be included in the user's mail packet since the [L]ist option counts ALL messages, whereas the user may not be configured for or have access to all messages. Beta-1 RAMail is now swapped to disk or EMS (whichever is available) when shelling for the calls to DSZ, PKZIP, PKUNZIP and the Drop to DOS. These are not the same swapping routines used in early 2.2 betas so hopefully the problems those swaps caused will not occur here. Beta-1 Output from DSZ, PKZIP, PKUNZIP and the Drop to DOS are now contained in a window. Beta-1 The RAMail menu is now read from a file rather than being hard-coded in the program. The file names it looks for are RAMMENU.ANS for the ANSI version and RAMMENU.ASC for the ASCII version. These 2 files should be placed in the same directory as your RAMail CFG file(s). Beta-1 The command characters for the Bulletins Toggle and Include New Files Toggle have been changed to (1) and (2), respectively. Beta-1 More work done on excess space on imported messages. Watch this closely! Beta-2 Implemented a few more toggles for menu selections. The sysop can now disable List New Mail, New Files List, Page Sysop and System Info in addition to the File Areas function. Beta-3 The compression method and transfer protocols are now defined in RAMCONF.EXE. After installing this beta, your users will have to reselect their transfer protocol since this beta uses a numeric protocol selector instead of an alpha character. Beta-4 The QWK index creation has been combined into the export procedure. The indexes are generated at the same time the messages are exported. This will result in what may seem to be a slower export process, but keep in mind that the two previously separate processes are combined. Beta-4 NetMail capabilities have been implemented. To send a net message, you must place the string NET> on the first line and column of your message immediately followed by the zone:net/node address of the receiver, e.g. NET>1:380/10 Any net mail messages entered without this information will be imported and the address will be set to 0:0/0. Beta-4 Upon loss of carrier, an errorlevel of 15 will be returned by RAMail when it exits. Beta-4 Offline reader taglines can now be removed from imported messages by setting a toggle in RAMCONF (see SETUP CHANGES above). The taglines are only removed from EchoMail and NetMail boards. Beta-4 Drop to DOS keys have been changed to ALT-J. Beta-5 NDX files were not being erased in some situations. This should be fixed now. Beta-5 When exiting from CHAT, the screen is redrawn the way it was before CHAT was entered. It is redrawn in mono due to speed and memory considerations. Beta-5 File-locking during message import is now automatically supported. Beta-5 External welcome screens are supported in registered copies. They should be named RAMWELC.ASC and RAMWELC.ANS. They are optional. Beta-6 As stated in SETUP CHANGES above, the CFG file is now a random, binary file instead of a text file. If you are running Beta-4 or Beta-5, you can run the included CFGTRANS to convert your current configuration to the new format. Otherwise, you should DELETE your current CFG file and recreate the CFG file with the new RAMCONF.EXE. Beta-6 Export process should be faster (a little faster than in v2.2). Beta-6 The "improved RACONFS.LST support" announced back in Beta-1 should be working 100% now. Only the user flags were being checked instead of both the flags and the security level during CONTROL.DAT creation. Both are checked now. In addition, RACONFS.LST is checked when RAMail is loaded to ensure that the number of boards listed in RACONFS.LST matches the actual number of message boards on the BBS. If it does not match, a message is displayed and the program will halt. Beta-6 Added an optional "New User" display screen and "News" screen. Like the menus, these files are external ANS and ASC files that can be created by the sysop. The file names are RANEWUSR.A* and RAMNEWS.A*. If they are found in the current directory, they will be displayed where appropriate. Beta-6 If a user attempts to import a message to a message board to which he does not have access, a message is displayed notifying him that the import was denied. Beta-7 NetMail Entered flag was not being set in Beta 6 when a netmail message was imported. Should work now. Beta-8 Fixed Run-time error 103 that occurred when a user had no mail. Beta-8 Discovered and fixed problem involving Sec Lvl for PRVT Msgs. The checks being made with this field were using an old variable that was made obsolete with the new CFG format introduced in Beta 6. As a result, the contents of this field were garbage. This would account for the sporadic reception of private messages by non-authorized users as well as the non-reception of private messages my authorized users (the Sysop). All should work fine now. Beta-8 Messages imported to a Private mail only board will be forced to be private, even if original message was entered offline as public. Beta-9 I have had reports of messages being included in a packet that had already been received in a previous packet. This seemed to occur when a user reached the maximum limit on the previous packet. This beta should fix this. Beta-9 Required Conferences were not being recognized. I think this was related to the problem of conference selection that was also reported and should be fixed as well. Beta-9 The MsgsPosted field in the users' records is now updated upon receipt of "normal" messages (non-configuration messages). Beta-9 String used for inaccessible board names is now definable in RAMCONF. Beta-10 Infamous <MISSING> display when a trailing backslash in the file path was not supplied has now been fixed. FILES.BBS will display correctly with or without a trailing backslash. Beta-10 Board names longer than 29 characters caused RAMail to refuse to run when using RACONFS.LST. This is fixed. Beta-10 Sysop Level field in RAMCONF has been removed and the Sysop Level on each message board is now used to determine the Sysop Level. Sysop Flags are checked as well. Beta-10 RAMCONF aborted with a runtime error 103 when attempting to save the configuration if the CFG did not previously exist. This is fixed. Beta-10 New Configuration toggle options added - Check # of Messages toggle added and Lo-Bit, Hi-Bit and Tagline Stripper toggles are now definable for EACH message board! Beta-10 Keyboard was timing out on slow systems when creating large message packets. This has been fixed. Beta-10 The Message Base locking technique used in RA 1.01 is fully supported in Beta-10, and in fact, was supported in several previous betas. Beta-11 The Error 2 that occurred immediately after an upload or download on systems that had a path specified in the "System Log File Name" field of CONFIG.RA has been fixed. You can put your log anywhere you please. Beta-11 Hot-key malfunction during file list display has been fixed. Hot keys are disabled during list display. Beta-11 The logic used to find the system files other than CONFIG.RA and EXITINFO.BBS, e.g. MESSAGES.RA and FILES.RA, has been changed. RAMail will first look in the current directory, then the directory specified by your RA environment variable and then in the directory where CONFIG.RA resides. These files MUST reside in one of these locations. Beta-12 The packet date was not being interpreted correctly by some readers. This has been corrected. Beta-12 I've had reports of messages longer than 100 lines being truncated. The actual limit set by RAMail is around 765 lines so I think the limitation is being set by the reader. The PCBoard standard calls for a line limit of 99 lines so this must be the case. Beta-12 I've had a few reports of the File Area display not displaying all of the available areas. I have not been able to duplicate this problem and the only probable cause that I can find is the compilation method I am using. Let me know if the problem persists with Beta 12 and I will dig deeper. Beta-12 RAMail was not updating NETMAIL.BBS when net messages were imported. This has been fixed and may fix a couple of reported problems with netmail. Beta-13 This beta is compiled with the release version of JPDoor 3.0 SE. The REP message processing code has been completely redone to accomodate JPDoor's new message posting routine. The reader tagline stripping function should work much better. In addition, when reader taglines are found and stripped, the tearline "--- RAMail 2.3" is added to the imported messages. Imported messages are limited in length to 99 lines including all taglines and origin lines. If you have any verbose users, you may want to point this out to them to avoid message truncation. Beta-13 The status lines have been redone using another new JPDoor feature; programmer configurable status lines. The problem of status line bleed-through when running under Desqview on a 286 machine should be fixed. Beta-13 Conference configuration via offline messages was reportedly not working with the new SLMR 2.0. This has been fixed. Beta-13 I believe I've found the source of the problem of the File Area display and it should be fixed. I'm sure I'll hear about it if I haven't! Beta-14 Beta 13 was a miserable flop! Fortunately, I don't think too many people got their hands on it. The problems were that it would only import the last message in a reply packet, the Node portion of the netmail address was trashed on net messages and the external welcome screens were not being displayed. Good news! It's all fixed in B14! NEW FEATURES PLANNED FOR THIS VERSION ------------------------------------- None - Beta cycle is gearing down for release. SOME NEW FEATURES PLANNED FOR THE NEXT VERSION ---------------------------------------------- 1) Work Directory configuration. This will allow RAM disk usage to speed up packet processing. 2) Multiple conference selection when configuring conferences online. NOTES ----- I have joined FIDONet! My address is 1:381/70. I am now also running RemoteAccess on my first line (and RAMail too!). Beginning with RAMail 2.3, all approved beta versions will be available to the general public. What I mean by "approved" is that the version will undergo some alpha testing before releasing for public beta testing. This is to ensure that the beta won't suck your computer into a black hole... All registered RAMail users and beta testers should have access to all three nodes on my BBS. This is assuming that you have an account on my BBS at all. You must call Node 1 to set up an account. The numbers are: Node 1 = 505-589-0319 - 1200-38400 USR Dual Standard - RA 1.01 Node 2 = 505-589-0555 - 1200-38400 USR 14.4 HST - PCBoard 14.5/E9 Node 3 = 505-589-0632 - 1200-19200 USR 19.2 HST - PCBoard 14.5/E9 RAMail is Freqable from Node 1 using the magic name of RAMAILB. The latest beta is always available on my board for download. It will be listed in the New Uploads directory. If you do submit bug reports, PLEASE provide as much detail as possible in your description of the problem. Saying "this doesn't work" doesn't cut it. Describe what happens when you try to perform the function that doesn't work in precise detail. Finally, PLEASE read the RAMAILB.DOC file before you do install a new beta. I've found that many problems could have been avoided if people would just RTFM (grin). COMMON ERROR CODES: 2 File Not Found Check all paths in your RAMail configuration. 3 Path Not Found Check all paths in your RAMail configuration. 100 Disk Read Error This can result if you have an invalid RAUSER.DAT or invalid RAMAIL.CFG file. Delete one or both and start over. 101 Disk Write Error Results from a full disk. Free some disk space. COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS ----------------------------- Problem: RAMail does not run on my system AT ALL! Solution: You do not have enough memory for RAMail to run in. Add the *M on your Optional Data line if you are using a type 7 setup. If you are using a type 15 setup and still have this problem, you either have too many TSRs loaded or you are running in too small of a multitasking window. Problem: RAMail keeps telling me that my RACONFS.LST does not contain the correct number of entries for my BBS configuration. Solution: EVERY message board you have defined on your BBS MUST be included in RACONFS.LST, regardless of user accessibility. Problem: My users are complaining of an an invalid CONTROL.DAT file. Solution: This should not occur with 2.3 beta 6 and later. The problem is caused by an invalid RACONFS.LST. Problem: The mail packets are created fine, but when the transfer procedure begins, it always aborts. Solution: You probably have an error in your protocol definition in your RAMail configuration. Unless you REALLY know what you are doing, you should use the DSZ defaults provided by RAMCONF. Problem: A user who uses Session Manager complains of messages being listed in the wrong conference. Solution: Session Manager has some problem with RAMail packets. To resolve it, when loading SM, do it in this manner: SM /FI /TC If you have some other problem you can't figure out, please feel free to call my BBS and leave a comment or call me voice at 505-589-0317. ALL voice calls I have received have resulted in successful operation of RAMail! REGISTRATION ------------ RAMail is a shareware product. If you use RAMail for longer than a two week evaluation period, you must register the program or discontinue its use. Registration is $25.00 US or $30.00 CANADA. Send a check or money order made payable to Randy Blackmond. You can also call Node 1 and use your Visa or MasterCard to register online in the MC-Visa door or send me a net message (1:381/70) with the following information: Registrant Name (Sysop) Name on Card Type of Card (Visa or MasterCard only) Card Number Card Expiration Date Randy Blackmond RAMail 2.3 Registration Form RR #1 Box 634 Anthony, NM 88021 NAME ___________________________ VOICE PHONE _____________________ BBS NAME _______________________ BBS PHONE _______________________ BAUD RATES SUPPORTED _____________________ ARE YOU IN FIDO? IF SO, YOUR NET/NODE ADDRESS _____________________ COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS ______________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________