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WINBIFF.TXT
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1993-07-22
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WinBiff 1.6a - (C) Copyright 1992-93, Paul A. Steckler
------------------------------------------------------
WinBiff is a Windows 3.x version of the well-known Un*x biff
program, designed for use in conjunction with mail delivery
programs such as UUPC/extended, Waffle, Pegasus, FSUUCP, and sendmail.
INSTALLING WINBIFF
------------------
Copy the file WINBIFF.EXE to any convenient directory.
Typically, users keep WINBIFF.EXE in a directory along with other
small Windows utilities.
To configure WinBiff for your system, start the program, and
select "Setup" from the system menu in the upper left window. In
the dialog box which pops up, enter a suitable polling interval
(how often WinBiff checks your mail file), a caption for the WinBiff
title bar, the full pathname of the file your mail delivery program
creates, the command to invoke your mail reader (including any
command-line arguments), and optionally, the name of a ".WAV" file to
play when mail is received.
The minimum polling interval is 5 seconds. If no caption is specified,
the mail file will be used. You may use DOS wildcard characters ("*"
and "?") in the mail file specification. Pegasus users should use
"*.CNM" in the mail file specification. (Note for Waffle users: Waffle
creates two mailbox files, a text file with a ".F" extension, and an
index file with a ".I" extension. Specify the ".F" file for WinBiff.)
By clicking with the left mouse button in the appropriate
boxes, you may choose the additional options:
o start the program minimized
o "autosize" the program window
o show mail headers
o reverse sort headers by order of arrival
o whether on startup to display kept mail
The "autosize" option tells WinBiff to display an icon when there
is no mail, and to display a window (with or without headers)
when mail is present. The reverse sort option is inapplicable,
and its checkbox disabled, unless the show headers option is
selected. If the "show kept mail" option is de-selected,
and your mail file(s) have not been modified since WinBiff was
closed, mail will not be displayed.
You can choose what sound WinBiff will make when new mail is
received, by clicking on the appropriate radio button in the
dialog box. Choosing "Beep" uses the Windows "Default Beep"
sound. Choosing "Custom" plays the .WAV file given in the Sound file
field. The "Test" button allows you to play the sound file
during setup. (You must have appropriate hardware and/or drivers
installed for this choice to work. A speaker driver SPEAKER.DRV which
provides adequate results without special hardware is available at many
shareware sites, and is available from the author on request.)
For the mail file, mail reader, and sound file fields, clicking on an
adjacent Browse button allows you to pick files from a Windows Common
Dialog box. The Browse buttons require the Windows 3.1 COMMDLG.DLL.
If you are running Windows 3.0, and do not already have COMMDLG.DLL,
you may obtain a copy at many shareware sites, from Microsoft,
or from the author.
If you press the "Save" button, a WINBIFF.INI file is created,
and the values you have given will be recalled when the program
is started subsequently. The WINBIFF.INI file will be placed in
the current directory.
You may run multiple copies of WinBiff to monitor multiple mailboxes.
For each mailbox to be monitored, using mkdir, create a directory where
a WINBIFF.INI will be stored. Then, for each each mailbox, add an item
to a folder in the Windows Program Manager, and specify one of the
configuration directories just created as the "Working Directory".
When you save your configuration information, it will be saved in
the "home" directory for that mailbox.
USING WINBIFF
-------------
When WinBiff runs minimized, it displays either of two icons.
One icon shows a mailbox with its flag down; the other shows
the same mailbox with its flag raised, and the word "MAIL".
WinBiff switches between these two icons depending on whether
there is mail in the specified mail file. The arrival of new
mail causes the program to beep.
When WinBiff runs in a window, unless the show headers option has
been selected, it displays bitmaps equivalent to the icons. That
is, there are two bitmaps, one for when there is no mail, and
another for when there is. If the show headers option has been
selected, and there is mail, the "From:" and "Subject:" lines for
up to 150 messages are displayed in the window. Scrollbars are
provided, allowing scrolling through the headers. Choosing the
reverse sort option displays the headers so that the
latest-arriving message is at the top.
The user may force the appearance of the original, no-mail icon
(or bitmap) by selecting "Clear" from the system menu.
If "Clear" is chosen, the menu item changes to "Show".
Choosing "Show" will re-display the mail bitmap or mail headers.
If mail is pending, but not displayed on startup (because
the "show kept mail" option is not selected), choosing
"Show" will display the pending mail.
To invoke the mail reader, double-click with the
right mouse button on the icon or window. If the window is
displayed, you may also double-click with the left mouse button
or hit <RETURN>. The reader is invoked whether or not you
actually have mail pending.
When WinBiff is iconized or the "show headers" option is set, the
caption reads "WinBiff (caption)"; it reads just "caption" if
headers are disabled and running as a window -- this is so the
title bar is of reasonable size. WinBiff's window is resizable;
the bitmaps remain reasonably proportioned regardless of size.
BUGS/PROBLEMS
-------------
If you play a .WAV file on the receipt of mail, use SPEAKER.DRV as your
sound driver, and disable interrupts during playback, a serial-port
communications program (such as UUPC's UUIO) may lose characters.
Normal operation of a single UUIO process should not be a problem, since
mail delivery occurs after all files have been transferred.
REGISTRATION
------------
WinBiff is a shareware program. If you use the program in a commercial
setting, or non-commercially on a regular basis, please submit
contributions ($10 suggested) to:
Paul A. Steckler
48 Hawthorne Street
Somerville, MA 02144-2907
Users who submit $10 or more will receive updates as a uuencoded
.ZIP file by e-mail.
You may freely distribute the WinBiff executable file as long as the
executable file is not modified in any way, and as long as this document
accompanies the executable.
Disclaimer: You use WinBiff at your own risk. All warranties expressed
and implied are disclaimed. Any damages resulting from the use
of WinBiff shall not result in any liability.
E-mail correspondence concerning this program may be submitted to:
winbiff@blimpy.ci.net
Users without ftp access may request a uuencoded .ZIP file of
the latest version of WinBiff by sending a message to:
winbiff-request@blimpy.ci.net
Paul A. Steckler
July 19, 1993