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No part of this document may be used or redistributed in other documents without the written consent of the author. Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The First Step; Disk Drives; Hard Disk Creation of the Needed Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Segregation of Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Customization of the Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . 3 AREAS.BBS; CE.Cfg; Import.Sh; Export.Cmd; HiMarks.Cmd; Renum.Cmd Program Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CONFIGURATION FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Command Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Archive; Colours; Date; EditFile; Editor; External; Flash; Font; Hold; Kludge; LowMsg; ReadMode; Node; Origin; ROT; ScreenSize; Sound; Sysop; UserList MENUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 About; Help; Quit Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Previous Message; Next Message; Thread Down; Thread Up; Jump To Message; Delete; Archive; Mark Message; Write Message; Edit Message; Reply To Message; Matrix Reply Misc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Next Area; Rescan Area; Bell; Visibility; Read Mode External . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS & WORKBENCH SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CLI Arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Workbench Tool Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 MISCELLANEOUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 REVISION HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 DISTRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 i Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 Table of Contents GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 ARCmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Boss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Echo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 FidoNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Nodelist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Node Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ii Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 1. INTRODUCTION CE is a FidoNet compatible mail editor, designed to make the reading of mail as easy and comfortable as possible. It is usable for both points and nodes, points with multiple bosses are supported. Together with ConfMail, BinkleyTerm and various freely available programs you can set up a working point system. Being a point is much more comfortable than being a user of a BBS like Opus or QuickBBS, and in addition to this you save costs due to minimized online times. To become a point, you must ask your sysop for a personal point number in his private point net. If your sysop does not support points (e.g. because he has no disk space left), ask him for the node number of the next sysop who services points. Do not use this program before you get your point number, and under no circumstance call a FidoNet node with an unapproved node/point number. 2. INSTALLATION 2.1. Requirements 2.1.1. Hardware To work with CE, you need an Amiga with at least 512 kbytes of memory and one disk drive (two drives are recommended). 2.1.2. Software (Utilities) CE is designed for the workbench release 1.2, but should work under release 1.3 without problems. Beside the OS, you need several utilities and libraries to set up a working system, the following list shows the name, latest revision and the source [1] for these utilities. The programs must be located in the C: directory or somewhere else in your path, and the ARP.library must be installed in the LIBS: directory. 1 If you can't get the named utilities on disk then you can request them at Megamania CBCS (2:507/613) or at one of the distribution nodes. -1- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 Program Revision Source ARP.library 1.1 ARP v1.1 Disk Csh 2.07 Fish #107 Find 1.0 Fish #134 ZOO 2.00 Fish #136 (1.71) ARC 0.23 Fish #70 CP 1.08 Various BBS 2.2. Preparation 2.2.1. The First Step Print out a hardcopy of this manual and read it entirely! A printed document is the best reference to all the features (supported by the index chapter at the end of this document), and is certainly necessary to get all functions under full control. 2.2.2. Disk Drives Create an empty disk named "MAIL", either by choosing the "Initialize" item from the Workbench's "Disk" menu or by entering the command "Format Drive DF1: Name MAIL NOICONS" at the CLI prompt. 2.2.3. Hard Disk Create a directory on any non-FFS partition, this directory will later hold the configuration files and the message base. Choose a partition with enough store left on it to hold a rather large message base (the exact amount depends on the number of areas you want to poll). Then add the command "Assign MAIL: <full pathname of your directory>" to your startup-sequence and enter the same command at the CLI prompt (or simply reboot). 2.3. Creation of the Needed Directories Now enter "CD Mail:" into the CLI Window, after that create the four directories "Outbound", "Inbound", "Text" and "Bak". These directories are needed by the example configuration files, if you edit them they're maybe not required. -2- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 2.4. Segregation of Files After you're already reading this document, you have obviously unpacked the distribution archive. So you should now segregate the files: copy the file "CE" to the C: directory, "CE.Doc" to any place that suits you (I have assigned a directory named DOC:), copy all other files to MAIL: (which is either a disk volume or an assigned directory). You may automate this task by executing the supplied install script "Inst". 2.5. Customization of the Configuration Files 2.5.1. AREAS.BBS The format of this file is described in the ConfMail documentation, a sample comes together with ConfMail. CE gets the area names and the associated directories from it. 2.5.2. CE.Cfg This is the configuration file of CE, all parameters besides the area definitions can be set here. Refer to the chapter "CONFIGURATION FILE" for a description of available commands, the comments in the provided example may help you also. You MUST at least edit the first three lines (Node, Sysop, Origin), and it's likely that you have to change the editor call. Finally, you should alter the external calls according to your needs and predilections. 2.5.3. Import.Sh You don't have to change this file, but if you do it, then you must keep the "-N" and "-A" options in the CM IMPORT command. The last read marks will not work unless you're using revision 1.10 of ConfMail with the "-N" option selected. If you want to use ARC instead of PKXARC to unpack your mail then add "ARC X" after the "-A" option. -3- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 2.5.4. Export.Cmd You should not change this file, it works with all installations (as long as you have assigned the T: directory, usually to RAM:). You must keep at least the "-I", "-K" and "-RB" options, the "-D" option must be followed by the path of your outbound directory. The "-NF" option should not be activated, otherwise mail generated with the mail editor won't get exported! 2.5.5. HiMarks.Cmd This is a ConfMail command script used by the "Himarks" external command. Change this file to contain only those areas you're actually polling. 2.5.6. Renum.Cmd This file is used by the "Renumber All" external command and renumbers and maintains all areas. Again, you should change the file to include only your areas. 2.6. Program Startup Now you can start the program. If there is an error in the config file, you get a detailed error message. Remove all errors and restart CE. If all goes well, CE opens its screen and then displays the first message of the matrix mail directory. Please note that it is not necessary to create the area directories, CE does this for you when you enter an area for the first time. -4- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 3. CONFIGURATION FILE 3.1. General The configuration file is read at startup and has to be located in the current or the MAIL: directory, the current directory takes precedence as usual. The AREAS.BBS file is scanned also, refer to the ConfMail documentation for information on this file. The mail editor uses a parser with enhanced error handling to make debugging easier. Comments begin with a semicolon (";") and may appear at the end of any line, even at the end of command lines. A possible error output might look like this (the first line changes its colour at the error position): Sysop Juergen Hermann ; Your name Line 5: '"' expected 1 error(s) found in config file 'CE.CFG' If a line of your config file gets too long (more than 200 characters), you may split it into two lines, the first line must then end with a backslash ("\"). The maximum length of such concatenated lines is 500 characters. 3.2. Command Description 3.2.1. Archive <archivename> "Archive" designates the archive filename for the corresponding menu item. The string is fed to the date formatting routine before it is used to open the file, so you're free to generate either daily or monthly archives. For an explanation of the generic date formats refer to the "Date" command. There are two additional formats with the "Archive" command: %a Area name %la Area directory Example: Archive "Mail:Text/%n-%a" -5- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 3.2.2. Colours <col1> <col2> <col3> <col4> "Colour" sets the colours used for the custom screen. The command expects four hexadecimal numbers, the three digits of each number stand for Red-Green-Blue. Example: Colours 000 FFF 07F FE0 3.2.3. Date <date format> "Date" defines the format of the date as it is shown in the status line. Please note that the program is liable to guru if the resulting status line gets too long (more than 130 characters). Date formats are used by other commands as well (e.g. by "Archive"), the character sequences listed in the following table are recognized by all this commands and replaced by their actual values. Unrecognized characters are simply copied, to insert a percent sign into the resulting string you must double it ("%%"). GENERIC DATE FORMATS %w Weekday ("Mo" - "Su") %lw Weekday ("Monday" - "Sunday") %d Day ("01" - "31") %o Month ("01" - "12") %n Month name ("Jan" - "Dec") %ln Month name ("January" - "December") %y Year ("00" - "99") %ly Year ("1900" - "1999") %h Hour ("00" - "23") %m Minute ("00" - "59") %s Second ("00" - "59") %t Tick ("00" - "49") Example: Date "%w %d.%o.%y %h:%m:%s" -6- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 3.2.4. EditFile <filename> "EditFile" designates the name of the temporary text file used while editing new messages. This file is deleted directly after editing, so you can place it in the RAM: disk without permanently loosing memory. Example: EditFile "T:CE.TMP" 3.2.5. Editor [CustomScreen|WBenchScreen] <commandline> "Editor" determines the command line that executes your favourite text editor to edit the file specified with the "EditFile" command. For a description of the "CustomScreen" and "WBenchScreen" flags refer to the "External" command. Example: Editor WBenchScreen "PE T:CE.TMP" 3.2.6. External [CustomScreen|WBenchScreen] [BackGround] <menustring> <commandline> With this command you're able to define external commands at your will. The difference between "CustomScreen" and "WBenchScreen" is that with "WBenchScreen" the workbench screen is brought to the front before executing the command (the default is "WBenchScreen"). With "BackGround" the program's own screen is NOT brought to the front after executing the command (after running a program in the background the Execute function returns immediate, so it not very sensible to bring the screen back). <menustring> is the mnemonic of the command that appears in the "External" menu, <commandline> is the string that is passed - after formatting - to the Execute function. You're able to provide key shortcuts for the commands by preceding the menu name with the character "@" and the desired key. The command string is fed to the date formatting routine before executing it, the following formats are recognized in addition to the generic date formats: %a Area name %la Area directory %q Query string %# Number of the actual message -7- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 The formatted command string should not be more than 150 characters longer than the original string, if not the systems usually gurus. The query format "%q" can be followed by a string that will appear in the title of the query requester, this string must be embedded in square brackets (e.g. "%q[Example]"). Example: External "PE" "PE %Q[File Name]" 3.2.7. Flash On|Off "Flash" switches the flashing of the screen (to inform you of errors or after reaching some boundary) on and off. Example: Flash Off 3.2.8. Font <fontname> [Size <size>] "Font" designates the font that is used to show the message text, the default is topaz-8. Please note that CE supports only 8x8 fonts to speed up the display, you get a very weird display with any other type of font. The menus and the status line are always rendered with the topaz-8 font, even if you have changed the default system font with "SetFont" or comparable programs. Example: Font "Topaz" Size 8 3.2.9. Hold <directory> "Hold" determines the name of the outbound hold directory which is used by the "File Attach" function of the "Edit" requester. Please remember that the directory name must end with a slash or a colon. Example: Hold "Mail:Outbound/" -8- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 3.2.10. Kludge Hide|Seen-By|Show "Kludge" sets the visibility of the IFNA kludge lines. "Hide" hides all kludge lines, "Seen-By" shows only the SEEN-BY lines, "Show" shows all kludge lines. The default is "Show". Example: Kludge Show 3.2.11. LowMsg <number> "LowMsg" must be followed by the lower limit for message numbers, all messages below this limit are ignored. Set this to two in combination with ConfMail. Example: LowMsg 2 3.2.12. ReadMode Normal|Threaded "ReadMode" switches between the two possible read modes (refer to the "Read Mode" item of the "Misc" menu). Example: ReadMode Threaded 3.2.13. Node [<zone>:]<net>/<node>[.<point>] [PointNet <net number>] [Area <areaname> [<areaname> ...]] The first argument of the "Node" command is your node number as it appears in the origin line. The default for the zone is 1 (North America). Please check the accuracy of this setting, using a wrong node number causes confusion on the net. The "PointNet" argument is necessary for point installations (if your node number includes a point number greater than 0), it's the number of the private point net (ask your boss if you don't know it). If you have more than one boss, then you're able to give certain areas a node number different from the default node number. To do this, you must add the keyword "Area" followed by the names of the areas you get from your second boss. Example: Node 2:507/613.2 PointNet 6130 -9- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 3.2.14. Origin <originline> [Area <areaname> [<areaname> ...]] "Origin" defines the default origin for all areas or a special origin for one or more areas designated by their names. The "boardname ! sysop_name" line in the AREAS.BBS file is ignored by CE. The origin line should contain (at least in international echoes) the name you have chosen for your point, the city you live in and your country. The length should not exceed 60 characters. Example: Origin "Megamania Point #2, Karlsruhe, FRG" 3.2.15. ROT On|Off With "ROT" you may choose whether you want to get ROTated messages decoded by default or not. The default is "ROT Off". Example: ROT On 3.2.16. ScreenSize <width> <height> "ScreenSize" sets the width and the height of the screen. The default is "0 0" (make the screen as big as possible), the lower limits for width and height are 640 and 200, respectively. Example: ScreenSize 0 0 3.2.17. Sound On|Off "Sound" switches the audio error/attention beeper on and off. Example: Sound On 3.2.18. Sysop <name> "Sysop" defines the name used as default in the "From" field, or in other words your name. Example: Sysop "Juergen Hermann" -10- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 3.2.19. UserList <filename> "UserList" loads a userlist from a plain text file named <filename>. To allow several userlists (e.g. one manually and one automatically created list), the configuration file may contain more than one "UserList" command. The format of the userlist must be "<name>[, <first name>] <node> [<nickname>]", blank lines are ignored. Here's an example: AreaFix 2:507/613 Laubach, Martin 2:310/003.14 mjl Mueller, Steffen 2:507/613 Boss Schlagnitweit, Werner 2:310/003 Schlagi Soltau, Dieter 2:507/001 Host Vohmann, Piet 2:507/613.7 Piet Wallner), =MW= (Martin 2:310/003.15 MW Willadt, Peter 2:507/613.4 The userlist is scanned when you enter a name into the "To" field of the edit requester. If an entry is found, then the "To" field is replaced with the name from the userlist and the "Destn" field is filled with the node address. The list of nicknames is searched first, followed by the list of names, the case is ignored totally. If the "To" field ends with a question mark, the list is searched for fragments rather than exact equality. If the fragmentary search fails you'll be informed with an error message. Examples for the search mechanism, using the above userlist: Unknown -> Unknown Frag? -> <error message> mjl -> Martin Laubach pet? -> Peter Willadt mart? -> Martin Laubach mann? -> Piet Vohmann Command Example: UserList "Mail:Fidouser.Lst" -11- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 4. MENUS 4.1. Project 4.1.1. About (RightAmiga + "!") Show a requester with the program version, copyright message, free memory, etc. Click on the "OK" gadget to return to normal operation. 4.1.2. Help (Help) Show a requester with help for the keys. Click on the "OK" gadget to return to normal operation. 4.1.3. Quit (RightAmiga + "Q") Quit the program immediately. 4.2. Areas This menu is variable and shows all the area names read from the AREAS.BBS file. By selecting one of these names you're able to switch to the corresponding area. If you leave an area, the actual position is remembered. If you later reenter this area, the program jumps to this position. If several people are using CE to read the message base, simply use one CE.CFG for each person with different sysop names (the sysop name is taken as the name of the file that holds the read mark). The last read marks will only work if you're using revision 1.10 of ConfMail with the "-N" option of the IMPORT function activated. If you enter an area for the first time, the associated directory is created for you. Therefore, on a newly installed system, you should browse through all the areas before importing messages. 4.3. Messages 4.3.1. Previous Message (Left) Go to the previous message. 4.3.2. Next Message (Right) Go to the next message. -12- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 4.3.3. Thread Down (Alt + Left) Follow the reply thread down. 4.3.4. Thread Up -- Reply (Alt + Right) Follow the reply thread up. 4.3.5. Jump To Message (RightAmiga + "J") Jump to a certain message number. If the requested message doesn't exist, then the next message with a higher number is selected. So, enter "1" to jump to the first message and "9999" to jump to the last message. "0" has a special meaning, jumping to message 0 means jumping to the actual last read mark. 4.3.6. Delete 4.3.6.1. Mark for Deletion (Del) Mark the actual message for deletion and advance to the next message. If the number of the actual message is greater than the highwater mark (i.e. if it's a new message), you must confirm the action. If the message is already marked, then this mark is removed and the read pointer is not moved (i.e. the actual message stays active). Please do not mix up DEL marks with normal marks. 4.3.6.2. Delete Messages (RightAmiga + "D") Delete all the messages you have marked with the "Mark for Deletion" subitem or the DEL key. You must confirm the deletion by clicking on the OK gadget of a requester which appears when you select this item. The reply threads are all corrected, so the deleting process can take a while depending on the number of messages to delete. 4.3.7. Archive 4.3.7.1. Archive Message (RightAmiga + "A") Archive the actual message to a text file. The message is appended to a plain text file, before this it is reformatted to a line length of 77 characters. The name of the file is set with the "Archive" configuration command. -13- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 4.3.7.2. Archive as ... Archive the actual message to any text file. A requester appears where you can enter the name of the file. 4.3.7.3. Archive To Clipboard Archive the actual message to the clipboard. Before the message is written into the clipboard, it is reformatted to an (almost) infinite line length. 4.3.7.4. Print Message (RightAmiga + "P") Print the actual message, a form feed is issued after the message text. Before printing, the message is reformatted to the printer width as it is defined in Preferences (the actual width is "RightMargin" - "LeftMargin" + 1). 4.3.8. Mark Message (RightAmiga + "M") Toggle the mark of the actual message on and off. With this item you're able to mark messages for later retrieval, e.g. those messages you want to reply to after reading all messages of an area. The marks are lost if you switch to another area. 4.3.9. Write Message (RightAmiga + "W") Generate a new message in the actual area. First, the editor specified in the configuration file is loaded. Now enter the text of the message body and select your editor's "Save & Quit" menu item or command. To ROTate parts of a message, just begin the section to be coded with a "[ROT <offset>]" line. The offset can be any number between 0 and 95, this offset is added on each character of the following lines. End the section with a "[ROT]" or "[ROT 0]" line. "[Soapbox On]" and "[Soapbox Off]" are equivalent to "[ROT 48]" and "[ROT]", respectively. Don't forget that this is a feature unique to CE, so it is annoying to fill an echo area with ROTated messages. If you use characters unique to some languages, they are converted to their ASCII equivalents. The subsequent table shows the currently supported conversions. -14- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 Conversion of Special Characters Germany Σ ae ÷ oe ⁿ ue ▀ ss ─ Ae ╓ Oe ▄ Ue Sweden σ aa ┼ Aa After leaving the editor, the CE screen is brought back to the front and a requester for the header information appears. Fill out all fields of the requester and finally select the "SAVE" gadget. "EDIT" loads the editor a second time, and of course "CANCEL" cancels the operation. Please refer to the "UserList" command for a description of the special treatment of the "To" field. Please remember that if you're writing a message to a point you must use its normal address (e.g. "2:507/613.2"), NEVER its private address ("6130/2"). Breaking this rule has two effects: your message seldom reaches its addressee and you'll likely get in trouble with your sysop or host. The ^aTOPT (TO PoinT) and ^aFMPT (FroM PoinT) kludges are inserted into the message body if it's suitable. Interzone messages get a special treatment, they are not sent directly to their addressee but to the zone gate. Because of this the destination address is changed to "<orig zone>/<dest zone>", which happens to be the address of the appropriate zone gate. Furthermore "on <orig zone>/<dest zone>" is appended to the addressee's name and an ^aINTL kludge is added to the message. The flags have the following meaning: Kill - kill this msg after mailing Crash - send msg directly to addressee Hold - hold msg for polling by addressee Private - private msg File Attach - file attached to msg -15- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 "Receipt" and "Audit Trail" currently have no practical use within FidoNet, they're future expansions. With the "File Attach" flag set, the subject field must contain a valid full pathname (you can choose that name by playing with an ARP file requester) and one of the flags "Crash" or "Hold" must be set. 4.3.10. Edit Message (RightAmiga + "E") "Edit Message" is similar to "Write Message", but the text of the actual message is stored to the temporary editing file before loading the editor. It is only possible to edit the message text, the message header and the origin line stay unchanged. The message is marked as edited with the line "[Changed: <date> by <sysop>]". 4.3.11. Reply To Message (RightAmiga + "Y") This is a combination between "Write Message" and "Edit Message". A new message is generated, but the quoted text of the actual message is stored to the temporary editing file before loading the editor. Also, the reply threads are updated to include the new message into the thread. 4.3.12. Matrix Reply (RightAmiga + "R") The same as "Reply To Message", but the reply is saved to the matrix mail area. This item will work only if the matrix mail area is defined as the first one in the AREAS.BBS file, otherwise it will be ghosted. 4.4. Misc 4.4.1. Next Area (RightAmiga + "N") Switch to the next area. 4.4.2. Rescan Area (RightAmiga + "S") Rescan the actual area. Use this for example after Export or Import, in general after all commands that change the message base. -16- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 4.4.3. Bell 4.4.3.1. Sound Switches the error/attention beeper on and off. 4.4.3.2. Flash Switches the flashing of the screen on and off. 4.4.4. Visibility With this item you're able to change the visibility of IFNA kludge and ROTated lines manually. The latter three mutually exclude each other. 4.4.4.1. ROT "ROT" switches ROTate decoding on and off. ROTating is not thought as a means of data encryption, it's for protecting parts of a message against "easy" reading (to hide flames or gossip). 4.4.4.2. Kludge Hide "Kludge Hide" hides all kludge lines. 4.4.4.3. SEEN-BYs "SEEN-BYs" shows only the SEEN-BY lines. 4.4.4.4. Kludge Show "Kludge Show" shows all kludge lines. 4.4.5. Read Mode If you switch to another area, the mode flags are set to the default given by the "ReadMode" configuration command. Within an area, you can change them according to your actual needs. 4.4.5.1. Marked Only (RightAmiga + "1") With "Marked Only" all unmarked messages are skipped by the "Previous Message" and "Next Message" functions and only by this functions, so it's possible to jump to an unmarked message or to follow threads. -17- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 4.4.5.2. Threaded (RightAmiga + "2") "Threaded" enables a very special reading mode. In this mode, if there is a thread, "Previous Message" follows this thread down, otherwise it works as usual. "Next message" follows the thread up. If you reach the end of the thread, it jumps to the first unread message. 4.5. External This menu is variable as the "Areas" menu and contains the items you have defined with the "External" command. If the items do not fit in one column, then a second column is automatically created. 5. KEYS Help ........... Show a requester with help for the keys Up ............. Scroll one page up Down ........... Scroll one page down Alt + Up ....... Scroll one line up Alt + Down ..... Scroll one line down Left ........... Go to the previous message Right .......... Go to the next message Alt + Left ..... Follow thread down Alt + Right .... Follow thread up Del ............ Toggle this message's DEL mark (and advance) -18- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 6. COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS & WORKBENCH SUPPORT 6.1. CLI Arguments CONFIG <configfile> Lets you specify a certain name for the config file. The defaults are "CE.Cfg" and "Mail:CE.Cfg". AREAS <configfile> Lets you specify a certain name for the AREAS.BBS file. The defaults are "AREAS.BBS" and "Mail:AREAS.BBS". PRI <priority> Use this to start CE with a priority different from that of its parent CLI, valid priorities are -4 to 4. 6.2. Workbench Tool Types You may also start CE from the Workbench, an icon file is part of the distribution archive. The tool types that are supported have exactly the same names and meaning as the CLI arguments (refer to 6.1). There is one additional tool type "WINDOW" to define the default output window, the value of this tool type is simply a CON: specification (see the sample icon for further details). If the "WINDOW" tool type is missing or if the CON: specification is invalid, you'll get an error requester and CE refuses to continue the startup process. Please note that due to the fact that the Workbench does not know anything of the CLI's path, you have to provide full pathnames for all commands you use anywhere in the configuration and ConfMail CMD files. -19- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 7. MISCELLANEOUS The screen used by CE is automagically opened with overscan if your system-configuration is changed with MoreRows or similar programs. If a message appears on the screen that is for you, then you will be informed with two short beeps (or flashes or both). This feature is disabled in the matrix mail area. All requesters supply shortcuts where applicable, simply type the first letter of the gadget's name. This doesn't work as long as a string gadget is active, therefore hit the "Enter" key until all string gadgets are deactivated, then press the appropriate shortcut key. The status line shows the following information (from left to right): 1. The actual date (default is "WW DD.MM.YY HH:MM:SS") 2. The name of the active area 3. The number of messages in this area 4. The number of messages already read 5. The lowest message number in this area 6. The highest message number in this area 7. The highwater mark of this area 8. Two flags: "M" = marked only, "T" = threaded reading 9. The length of the current message in bytes 8. REVISION HISTORY If you're updating from an earlier revision, then here you can get a quick overview of the new features. Revision 0.10: Too many changes to list them all, please re-read the docs entirely. -20- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 9. DISTRIBUTION The program is distributed in an archive named "CE010.ZOO". It should contain the following files: Filename Description CE ........... The executable CE.Info ...... Icon for CE with sample tool types CE.DOC ....... This document Inst ......... Batch file for easy installation CE.CFG ....... Sample configuration file Himarks.Cmd .. \ Renum.Cmd .... \ Files used by the external Export.Cmd ... / command definitions Import.Sh .... / Please do not change the name or the contents of the archive. To save costs when you're updating to a new revision there are distribution nodes in several countries which have always the latest revision requestable. The following list shows the current distribution nodes, choose the one that is the nearest to you. Chameleon Distribution Nodes BBS Node Country Phone Megamania 2:507/613 Germany 49-721-45388 Cuckoo's Nest 2:310/2 Austria 43-222-454330 Sorcerer's Cave 2:281/600 Holland 31-15-562053 Ferry Island Lighthouse 2:515/110 Finland 358-0-672773 Ditt & Data BBS 2:501/137 Sweden 46-46-129402 -21- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 10. DISCLAIMER You may use and redistribute this program for free, however there are some rules: You may not redistribute this software for profit, copy costs up to US $7 are ok. You take full responsibility for all damages that may be caused by this program. You are obliged to report all unknown bugs (and new features you desire) to the author, matrix mail is preferred, but you may send snail mail also. NO PHONE CALLS, PLEASE! You MAY send a contribution to the author, if you want to support the development of future releases. All money received will be used for better compilers (Lattice 4.0 strikes me), more memory and the like. However, this is absolutely voluntary. Send all comments, hints, suggestions, etc. to: Jⁿrgen Hermann Karl-Wilhelm-Str. 30 D-7500 Karlsruhe 1 West Germany OR Juergen Hermann FidoNet Node 2:507/613.2 Send all flames to your NIL: device! Send contributions to the above address or to my bank account: Sparkasse Karlsruhe (BLZ 660 501 01) Acc.No. 99 46 757 -22- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 11. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following names are either trademarks or the efforts of the person and/or company named: Amiga, AmigaDOS Commodore-Amiga Inc. ARC Raymond S. Brand, SEA Inc. ARCmail Thom Henderson, SEA Inc. ARP Scott Ballantyne, C. Heath & others BinkleyTerm Vince Perriello, Bob Hartman ConfMail Bob Hartman, Spark Software Inc. CP Jⁿrgen Hermann Csh Matt Dillon Fido, FidoNet Tom Jennings, Fido Software Find Rodney Lewis Opus CBCS Wynn Wagner III QuickBBS Adam Hudson XText Robert J. Mical ZOO Rahul Dhesi, J. Brian Waters 12. GLOSSARY Area An area is a heap of messages related to a special topic. On your disk drive it is a directory containing the messages in files named "<msg number>.MSG" and other files associated with that area. ARCmail ARCmail is => mail that is packed by a program named "ARC" to reduce transmission costs. Boss Your boss in => FidoNet terms is the => node (or its sysop) where you are polling your => mail. He is responsible for all the unpleasant things you may do, so simply don't do them. Echo An echo is an => area that is "echoed" between several BBS. The opposite is a local area that does exist on one BBS only. FidoNet You don't know what FidoNet is? Then you have no need for this software. -23- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 IFNA IFNA is the abbreviation for International FidoNet Association. The IFNA is, among other things, responsible for the maintenance of the => nodelist. IFNA Kludge A kludge serves as a work-around for the limitations caused by the restrictions inherent to the definition of some net structures. Introducing a kludge is much more easier than changing this structures, moreover a kludge may contain information specific to only one program. The second purpose of kludges is to hide information added by mailer programs (e.g. the SEEN-BY and PATH lines) which should not be read by ordinary users. Mail Of course you know what mail is, within => FidoNet is is a bundle of messages stored together in a file, called a mail packet. Net A net is a part of a => region containing several => nodes. Node A node is a single BBS within => FidoNet, identified by its => node number. Nodelist The nodelist is a compilation of information about all => nodes in all => zones. It's distributed as a very long textfile (in the so called St. Louis format), each node in the net gets an update (in the form of a nodediff file) every week. Node Number The node number is the unique address of a => node. It consists of four parts: => zone, => net, => node and => point number. -24- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 Point A point is a sort of private BBS with only one user. A point is not an official part of => FidoNet (i.e. a point is not included in the => nodelist), and its status is that of an user. Region A region is a collection of several => nets, from the geographic view a region normally is one country. Zone A zone is a cluster of various => regions, currently the main zones are: 1 America 2 Europe & Africa 3 Oz(eania) -25- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 13. INDEX Archive Filename . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 AREAS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 5, 10, 12, 16 Clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Configuration CE.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 12, 19 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ConfMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 3, 5, 9, 12, 19, 23 Date Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 6 Directories Area Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 MAIL: Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Outbound Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 14 External Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 FidoNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 16, 23 File Attach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Files Archive File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 AREAS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 5, 10, 12, 16 CE.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 12, 19 CE.info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Temporary Text File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 16 GURU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8 Help Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 18 Highwater Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 IFNA Kludge FMPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 INTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 TOPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 17 Last Read Mark Functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Jump to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Matrix Mail Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Message Meaning of Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ROTated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 14, 17 Node Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 15 Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Point Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Screen Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Flashing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 17 Size of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Status Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 20 Temporary File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 16 -26- Revision 0.10 Chameleon Mail Editor October 17, 1988 User List "To" Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 15 Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Search Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 -27-