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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.120 hostname.domain hostname 2. What should I do with my headers? Nothing unless you know what you're doing. In general, you want your 'netmail' and 'netnews' parameters in static to result in valid headers, so that people can reply to you. If you can do so, get into a domain and domainize all your headers. It'll make your life easier and will do the same for people who exchange mail with you. The important thing to remember is that if you put a domain-style address out without being domainized, people will probably not be able to reply to your mail. Just because an address looks good doesn't make it valid... 3. I'm not in a domain. What should my headers look like ? In general, you want to have an address that is a known-good route from a known site. Some possibilities are: All bang-path ===> some_known_host!your_site!you mixed format ===> you%your_site.uucp@some_internet_site your_site!you@some_internet_site The actual format that works best for you depends on who you're connected to and what their mailer can handle. Note that the all bang-path format is not reccomended for news; sites running B News will mangle your article in such a way that downstream sites running newer software will drop it on the floor. 4. I'm a single site. Should I register in the UUCP maps? Yes, or get a domain name. The bottom line is that if people try to mail to you, you want your address to be reachable. From Internet, you want to get domainized and get a MX record if you can. From UUCP-only sites that don't touch Internet, you probably need a map entry (or a header that routes you through somebody with a map entry you can trust). 5. Can I display something other than the sender in mail ? Yes, at 1.65 you can specify the header you want to see when you do a list of messages via the 'listmail' item in static. Unfortunately, this is not configurable per-user, only per-site. 6. Does Waffle support mail folders ? Yes, at 1.65. If you have no new mail in your mailbox, you can say 'mail *' to get a list of mailboxes to read. 7. Can I use (my favorite mail program) ? Some people have had luck with 'readmail' for reading only, and at 1.65 either mush or pc-elm should work for read/write. Version 1.65 has MMDF-style mailboxes with messages separated by four control-A's, so mush and pc-elm should be able to read/write these messages, though you'll have to reindex your mailbox with 'makebox' or the like if you write to it. 8. Can I keep a record of all mail that comes into the system ? Yes, create a file called 'inbox' in \waffle\admin and all incoming mail will be copied there. You can stash this file elsewhere via the rr.inbox variable in the static file. See rmail.doc for more information... FILES SECTION 1. How can I set the prompt in the files section ? Use the undocumented (before 1.65) 'fileprom' static file parameter. Try 'fileprom : [$f] :' as an example. 2. I use a Fossil driver and a 16550 UART with FIFOs enabled. After someone transfers a file, why does it seem as if characters are not being transmitted? If you use DSZ, it directly accesses the UART, and uses the FIFOs. By default, it turns them OFF when it finishes. Since Waffle (at least 1.64) doesn't appear to reset the Fossil driver, it tries stuffing characters into a buffer that's turned off. The fix is to use the 'F' flag on DSZ's command line in \waffle\extern\_send and _receive: Z /command="C:\waffle\bin\dsz F port %d est 0 %b sz -m %i", or to use the new (as of 1.65) /reset flag on the extern to make Waffle reset the FOSSIL: Z /command="C:\waffle\bin\dsz port %d est 0 %b sz -m %i" /reset This can also affect file transfers using the built-in editor. 3. Those @access files are sure a pain... 1.65 eliminates the @access files and replaces them with one consolidated 'dirs' file that controls access to the files section. Read \waffle\docs\files.doc for more info. EXTERNALS 1. How do they all work ? Simple. There's \waffle\extern\_system for the normal commands, and you can add any command you want with any access you want by adding a corresponding file to the \waffle\extern directory. Be careful regarding security, though... 2. I use 4DOS, yet Waffle shells out to DOS, not 4DOS... You need to change the command interpreter in \waffle\extern\_system to use 4DOS rather than command.com 3. If I implement Waffle as a door from another BBS, how can users exit from Waffle without dropping carrier? First, disable the 'exit' command in Waffle by adding the following line to your static file. disable: exit Then provide an external implementation of the exit command by creating extern\exit with the following contents. /access=0 /logout=exit /log /exit=81 This causes Waffle to drop, without dropping the modem connection, with errorlevel 81 (or whatever level you want to specify). The /access=0 ensures that all Waffle users can get back out once they get in. EDITORS 1. What editors can I use ? Locally, any editor your little 'ol heart desires that works in pure ASCII (ie, you could use WordPerfectOffice, but not WordPerfect itself since that saves in a non-ASCII format normally). Remotely, you have to be careful to use an editor that is ANSI oriented and that doesn't do direct DOS screen I/O. Some editors that are frequently used (and are available on SIMTEL20 and other fine archive sites) include: MEANSI.ZIP - MicroEmacs compiled to use ANSI mode. BBStevie - vi clone FSED - a very configurable editor that can be made to look like just about any editor you want Be aware that if you set up external editors for your remote users, you might have a security risk on your hands. Be sure that you know whether your editor will let a remote user shell out to the operating system or not, and that you're giving exactly the privileges you mean to give out. BBStevie in particular is designed to be configurable so that you can prevent folks from getting to the shell (if you want) and you can use the same binary to ALLOW some other folks shell access if you want to do that, based on their Waffle access level. 2. How can I use different local and remote editors ? At 1.65, you can define different local and remote editors from within Waffle, so it's simple. The STATUS command does not let you edit your local editor, however; you have to ADMIN T <you>. Prior to 1.65, you should modify /waffle/extern/_editors to run a batch file which gets passed the baud rate, and decides based on that whether to run a local or remote editor. 3. Why does (insert editor here) work locally, but not remotely? If you try BBStevie locally and it's fine, yet you get a blank screen when you use it remotely, make sure that you do not have an ansi driver loaded. Some people have luck using PC Magazine's ansi.com, which can be loaded and unloaded as part of a batch file around your 'waffle local username' command, so that there's no ansi driver loaded by default for remote users. Version 3.0 of BBStevie can use a FOSSIL driver to do its own modem i/o, so that you can use a local ANSI driver to handle local use and remote use will take care of itself. NEWS 1. Can I keep a copy of all posts ? Yes, look in static.doc and the USENET file distributed with Waffle for /spy=monitor. 2. Can I gateway mail to news ? Absolutely. You need to set up an alias in 'aliases' that looks something like the following: newsgroup-name | post newsgroup.name 3. Does Waffle provided threaded newsreading ? Not at this time. If you grab a copy of 'snews' from an archive site (ie, SIMTEL in the msdos.uucp directory) and hook it into Waffle, you have something that's somewhat close. 4. Does Waffle support kill files ? Not at this time, and most of us would kill for that :-) This is planned for v1.66 if Tom responds to all the pleading. 5. Why do I see multiple copies of the same article ? Because Waffle has no 'real-news'-like history mechanism at this time. Waffle considers an article to be a duplicate only if the local site is already in the path. If you get a newsfeed of the same newsgroup from several Waffle sites into your DOS Waffle, expect to see lots of duplicates :-( History mechanism is currently planned (rumored) for v1.66 6. Why do my local postings not make it to USENET ? Probably because you forgot to run the 'batch' command to take the list of articles to go out, assemble them, compress them, and queue them up for transmission. You should call 'batch' from your poll.bat or from cron via the schedule file. 7. Can I edit the newsgroups line when making a post ? Not directly, but you can 'followup groupA groupB' and get the same functionality. Same goes for mailing a reply to somebody and also kicking your reply to somebody else. 8. Can I effectively read and followup to saved news messages ? Not really at this time. If you're at the console, you could use 'readmail' to read them reasonably efficiently, though you couldn't respond via mail or followup. There are also a myriad of relatively ugly workarounds available in 1.65 making creative use of makebox.exe, perl, etc. to make the saved messages into a mail folder. Being able to have saved news articles as a mail 'folder' and use the mail program to read/follow/reply to saved news has been suggested to Tom for a future release. 9. In 'rn', how can I mail an article to somebody other than the author? Hit ":m username" Same idea for saving a message to a specified filename. In that case you want to hit ":s filename". Think of it like hitting ':' to get to command mode in vi. Be careful, though, if you're at a "More" prompt - at the "More" prompt, a ':' just gets you to the "What next?" prompt, so you have to hit two colons. ADMINISTERING A USENET SITE 1. What books should I buy ? There are several that no USENET admin should be without. From O-Reilly+Associates: Administering UUCP and USENET A Directory of Electronic Mail Addressing and Networks From 'The Waite Group' Unix Communications 2. What other stuff should I read ? Read USENET news, particularly some or all of the following groups: comp.bbs.waffle comp.mail.uucp news.admin.misc news.answers news.newusers.questions COMMUNICATIONS 1. What settings do I use for my Telebit modem ? That's far too complicated a question to answer here. In general, turn compression off, and turn uucp 'spoofing' on. This can all be done on the fly by sending register settings as part of your send-expect sequence when you call out, or you can do so as part of your modem initialization string in static. Some Telebit modems don't save the register settings. You might have to set the registers in both the init string and in the calling sequence. Also, grab a FOSSIL driver to control the port if you are running a 9600 baud modem or above. BNU and X00 seem to be the most popularly used fossils according to the folks in c.b.w. Don't forget to set the driver to 'fossil' in the static file. 2. What's the best throughput I can expect ? Throughput is a function of a variety of things, including (but not limited to): - the speed and load of both systems - the speed of both modems - line noise on the phone line - the size of the batches being transferred - whether or not you are using a FOSSIL driver With a 2400 baud modem, you should get anywhere between 200 and 220 cps unless you're transferring very small batches. V.32 (9600 bps) should get anywhere between 700 and 1020 cps. With a Telebit Trailblazer Plus, you should expect something on the order of 800 to 1400+ characters/second to a similar modem. Watch your \waffle\admin\net file for details regarding your average characters per second. A drop off from what's "normal" could indicate hardware problems or line problems. [ shameless plug mode on ] To summarize your DOS net file easily, grab a copy of 'netsum' from the Waffle directory on one of the archive sites.. It can generate a variety of reports that can answer things like "based on 11 cents/minute, how much DID I spend to uunet so far ?" 3. What are the special characters recognized by the chat script ? See \waffle\docs\network.doc or 'Managing UUCP and USENET' for details. 4. How can I stop my connection from timing out while switching speeds ? Use uu.delay in static to set a default delay or use the -t parameter in your uucico command to override the default. See network.doc for more details. Also, make sure your modem will wait for a carrier at least as long as the uu.delay you specify. If your modem uses the AT command set this is probably the S7 register setting. Lastly, if you talk to a Telebit modem and you have a non-Telebit modem (that talks just file to anything else), you might want to ask your feed to put PEP tones last. Initial PEP tones can confuse non-Telebit modems quite a bit. 5. What does this error mean? See \waffle\docs\network.doc or 'Managing UUCP and USENET' for details. AFTERMARKET ADD-ONS 1. What add-on products are available for Waffle ? lots...and I mean lots. When in doubt poke around the Waffle directory on SIMTEL20 or a mirror site for the list of stuff that's purely Waffle related. Also, keep your eyes open in the Waffle newsgroup for information related to utilities that might not have been uploaded to Simtel. Lastly, look in \waffle\docs\third.doc in 1.65 MISCELLANEOUS 1. How can I set my mail and news signatures to be different ? It's built-in already. The mailsig file is for mail, the sig file is for news. The \waffle\system\sig file gets inserted if it's there and you don't have a personal sig or mailsig file. There are also a number of utilities around to give random or user-definable signatures rather than just one signature each time. 2. Can I use 16-bit compression ? Sure, if you have enough memory and can find a 16-bit compression program. One is provided with 1.65 and there are a variety of add-in 16-bit compress programs for 1.64 and earlier available on SIMTEL. If you use 16-bit compress, be sure you have the 'compress' flag in the static file set correctly for the compress you're using. See \waffle\docs\comp16.doc . 3. What are all those files in \waffle\* anyway ? At 1.65, Look in \waffle\docs\roadmap.doc for descriptions of almost every file that comes with the software. 4. What document in \waffle\docs contains what ? In 1.65, see 'index.doc' for a description of the docs. If you have 'grep', you don't need to ask this anyway :-) 5. Can I alter my headers after composing a message ? Some of them are editable in 1.65 via the 'alter' static parameter. Don't put "To:", "CC:" or "Newsgroups:" in 'alter'; it won't work. 6. Does DOS Waffle support control messages ? Other than cancelling a message you posted that hasn't been batched up yet, no. You might want to look at the contents of the control newsgroup once in a while to see what control messages you received that Waffle didn't process. WAFFLE BUGS As with any large system, Waffle has bugs. Since the source is available, some users have fixed some of the bugs that have cropped up. In this section, the notation "Patch: <user>" means that the mentioned user has a patch to the source code available that will fix the problem. You need to already have the source code for this to be useful to you. "BPatch: <user>" means that the mentioned user has a binary patch available, which anyone should be able to use. "Fixed: 1.xx" means that the bug is fixed as of the mentioned version. "Workaround:" means that there is a way to avoid the bug in normal operation. 1. When I mail to a | post alias from within Waffle, it only posts the headers. This is a bug having to do with external editors. Workaround: use the internal editor when mailing to such an alias. Patch: fenner@cs.psu.edu Fixed: 1.66 2. When I mail to a | post alias from within Waffle, it only works the first time, the second time it doesn't do *anything*. Workaround: none known. Patch: fenner@cs.psu.edu Fixed: 1.66 3. I configured my modem to work with FAX, but Waffle keeps saying [Hayes code -2] and hangs up. This occurs if you have Auto-ATA: in your static file. Workaround: make your modem answer the phone (no Auto-ATA: in the static file and ATS0=1 in the initialize string). Patch: fenner@cs.psu.edu Fixed: 1.66 4. I have personal aliases for "mom" and "dad", and when I type "mail mom dad" Waffle complains "No such user", even though I can type "mail mom" or "mail dad" and it works fine. Waffle's implementation of personal aliases isn't complete. Workaround: put the aliases in /waffle/system/aliases WARNING: This makes your aliases available to all users, so *be* *careful* with what you put there. TRANSITION TO 1.65 1. I updated my config files, but they didn't work. Some of the config files, notably 'paths', moved in 1.65 to the new \waffle\uucp directory. Make sure you aren't editing the file in the old 1.64 location. 2. I'm going to run makebox. Anything I should know ? Yes. Makebox deletes the old mail files after it assembles the new mailbox. If you're paranoid, you might want to zip up your 1.64 mail messages before running makebox if you're not sure you'll stay at 1.65. Taking a few dozen 1.65 messages in a mailbox and going backward to 1.64 is a major pain unless you're a perl or awk whiz. 3. 1.65 sure seems scary, why should I bother? Lots of reasons. See history.doc and release.165 for details. Of course, if you're happy with the version you run, there's not a lot of rush to get updated, though most of the c.b.w. readers keep at the current version and you'll get better help from c.b.w. by staying current. There are still some Waffle sites at v1.61 (!!!). Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu sci.geo.meteorology:4553 news.answers:4739 Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology,news.answers Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!stanford.edu!agate!spool.mu.edu!yale.edu!yale!gumby!destroyer!ncar!kiowa.scd.ucar.edu!ilana From: ilana@kiowa.scd.ucar.edu (Ilana Stern) Subject: Sources of Meteorological Data FAQ Message-ID: <1992Dec21.162657.2827@ncar.ucar.edu> Followup-To: sci.geo.meteorology Summary: Weather and research data available via Internet, CD-ROM, and tape. Sender: news@ncar.ucar.edu (USENET Maintenance) Supersedes: <1992Dec7.164655.9716@ncar.ucar.edu> Reply-To: ilana@ncar.ucar.edu Organization: NCAR/UCAR Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 16:26:57 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Expires: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 07:00:00 GMT Lines: 701 Archive-name: weather-data Last-modified: 14 December 1992 Recent changes: Change to CLIMLIST listing --- Archive copy on pit-manager.mit.edu is now compressed Addition of UNEP/GRID to section III This is a guide to various sources of meteorological, oceanographic, and geophysical data. Some of these data types are intended for enjoyment or hobbyist use; other data are more research-oriented. Much of the research data is not free. More information on geological/geographical data can be found in the FAQ for sci.geo.geology, or see the file available via FTP from csn.org. This guide is posted every two weeks; a copy can be obtained by anonymous FTP to pit-manager.mit.edu, from the file weather-data.Z (it's a compressed file) in the directory /pub/usenet/news.answers. A copy is also maintained in vmd.cso.uiuc.edu in the file SOURCES.DOC. If you can't use FTP, you can get a copy by sending email to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu with send usenet/news.answers/weather-data as the only text in the message (leave the subject blank). Corrections, additions, and comments should be sent to Ilana Stern at ilana@ncar.ucar.edu. Please include in your message where you read this document. **If you plan to redistribute this file to a mailing list, in another newsgroup, or in a newsletter, PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST!** ######################################################################## C O N T E N T S I. Data available over the Internet II. CD-ROM source list III. Research data on tape and other media IV. Weather-related mailing lists ######################################################################## Subject: Data available over the Internet C O N T E N T S 1. How to use anonymous FTP 2. How to use telnet 3. Index of FTP and Telnet sites by topic A. Current weather images via FTP B. Current weather data via telnet C. Meteorological, oceanographic, and geophysical research data D. Other satellite images E. Map data F. Other stuff G. Special images (may be transient) 4. Alphabetical list of FTP and Telnet sites, with information 1. How to use anonymous FTP FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows transfer of files between two computers which are on the Internet. To access the FTP areas listed here, at your system prompt type "ftp" followed by the name or IP number (the number in brackets next to the system name in the listing below) of the desired system. For example, to access vmd.cso.uiuc.edu you'd type ftp vmd.cso.uiuc.edu or ftp 128.174.5.98 Use "anonymous" as your login and your email address as the password (if requested). [Note: quotes ("like this") are used to set off names of directories and files, or commands you'd type, and are not part of these names.] Not all FTP systems accept the same commands, but here's a list of the most useful: ls list files in the current directory. cd change directory, e.g. "cd wx" changes to the wx directory. binary sets binary mode; USE THIS FOR RETRIEVING IMAGES! ascii sets ascii mode (the default). Use for retrieving text. get retrieves a file, e.g. "get readme" gets a file called readme. bye exits FTP. 2. How to use telnet Type "telnet" followed by the name or IP number (the number in brackets next to the system name in the listing below) of the desired system. These publicly accessible systems generally allow you to log in but put you in a restricted shell, from which only a certain menu of commands is available. 3. Index of FTP and Telnet sites by topic This index lists the names of FTP and Telnet sites of interest, with only a brief blurb as to their contents. Section 4 gives more information about each of these sites. Some sites appear more than once under different subject headings. A. Current weather images ats.orst.edu GOES vis/IR images of North, Central America aurelie.soest.hawaii.edu SST data from AVHRR on NOAA-11, NOAA-12 cumulus.met.ed.ac.uk Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe liasun3.epfl.ch Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe marlin.jcu.edu.au GMS-4 images of Australia, TOGA/COARE area spot.colorado.edu Surface maps, radar summaries, vis/ir US unidata.ucar.edu Surface maps (US, Europe, China), soundings uriacc.uri.edu NOAA-11 images of the northeast US vmd.cso.uiuc.edu GOES-7 vis/IR images, surface analyses over US wilbur.stanford.edu Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe, vis/ir US B. Current weather data ats.orst.edu Some US city and Oregon weather forecasts hermes.merit.edu US weather forecasts, global reports downwind.sprl.umich.edu 3000 US weather forecasts, global reports ncardata.ucar.edu Colorado weather forecasts C. Meteorological, oceanographic, and geophysical research data cdiac.esd.ornl.gov Info on climate change topics ncardata.ucar.edu Info on datasets available from NCAR nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov Info on datasets available from NSSDC storm.mmm.ucar.edu STORM-FEST data pioneer.unm.edu Data and software from various CD-ROMs D. Other satellite images ames.arc.nasa.gov Various earth-from-space images pioneer.unm.edu Various images taken from CD-ROMs sanddunes.scd.ucar.edu AVHRR images of USA via telnet snow.nohrsc.nws.gov Snow cover maps of US from GOES sseop.jsc.nasa.gov Pictures taken from the space shuttle E. Map data csn.org Mapping software and datasets hanauma.stanford.edu CIA World Bank database, 0.5 deg elev dataset ncardata.ucar.edu Elevation data pioneer.unm.edu World atlas, census data, others spectrum.xerox.com Various USGS data F. Other stuff csn.org Information on other Internet resources cumulus.met.ed.ac.uk Software for computer-aided learning (CALMET) delocn.udel.edu Software for oceanographic computations ncardata.ucar.edu Script to retrieve vmd.cso.uiuc.edu GIFs pioneer.unm.edu Image display software vmd.cso.uiuc.edu Documents on weather-related topics G. Special images spot.colorado.edu Hurricane Andrew images unidata.ucar.edu Hurricane Hugo images 4. Alphabetical list of FTP and Telnet sites, with information This section provides expanded listings of the sites in the previous section. Remember to set the transfer type to "binary" when retrieving images! ames.arc.nasa.gov (FTP) Change directory to "SPACE/CDROM". Images from Magellan and Viking missions, other stuff. ats.orst.edu [128.193.120.19] (FTP) GOES IR and VIS images over North and Central America, plus a "floater" image which "could be anything." Also Oregon and US city forecasts. aurelie.soest.hawaii.edu [128.171.151.121] (FTP) Sea-Surface-Temperature data (near-real-time) in the directory "pub/avhrr/images". AVHRR images within the radius of reception of the university's HRPT station, approximately 5 S to 45 N and 125 W to 165 E. The processed images are available usually within 30 min. of NOAA-11 and NOAA-12 passages. Data are compressed binary in netCDF format (get documentation from unidata.ucar.edu FTP site) labelled by satellite name (n11/n12) and time. More info available from hrpt@hokulea.soest.hawaii.edu. cdiac.esd.ornl.gov [128.219.24.36] (FTP) Contains data and information on general and technical aspects of carbon dioxide, methane, and other trace gas emissions; the carbon cycle; and other climate-change topics from CDIAC (the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, address in section 3). The data for CDIAC's "Trends 91: A Compendium of Data on Global Change" is also available here. (Contact CDIAC at cdp@stc10.ctd.ornl.gov to obtain a copy of the book.) csn.org [128.138.213.21] (FTP) Change directory to "COGS". A large, frequently updated file containing detailed information on FTP sites, Bitnet and Usenet discussion groups, and data sources is located in the file "internet.resources.earth.sci". This file contains more information on mapping, GIS, remote sensing, and geology, subjects which are mostly outside the scope of this meteorology- oriented FAQ. Mapping software and datasets are also available in this directory. Contact bthoen@csn.org (Bill Thoen) for more information.