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| | | TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface | | Copyright 1990-1991 by Martin Pollard. All rights reserved. | | | Version 1.50 | | Release Date: 15 Dec 1991 | | ___________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS ___________________ Introduction .................................................... 1 Required Software ............................................... 2 Installing TeleMail ............................................. 3 TeleMail Functions and Options .................................. 4 The TeleMail Setup Utility (TMSETUP) ............................ 9 System Data .................................................. 10 Mail Commands ................................................ 12 Twit Manager ................................................. 13 Using TeleMail .................................................. 15 GroupMail Top Star Conferences .................................. 17 The Message Deletion Feature (aka "Twit Filter") ................ 18 High-Water Marks ................................................ 19 ERRORLEVEL Values ............................................... 21 Recommended Software ............................................ 22 ____________________________________ BORING (BUT NECESSARY) LEGAL STUFF ____________________________________ WARRANTY This program is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, and is only guaranteed to occupy disk space. In no event will the author be liable to you or anyone else for any damages, including (but not limited to) any lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, this program. In short: You're on your own. If it works for you, great; if not, or if it breaks something, c'est la vie. As the saying goes, "Use it at your own risk, but if it breaks, *YOU* have the pieces." COPYRIGHT This program is provided at no cost to you. However, it is NOT public domain; it is copyrighted by the author. You may dis- tribute this program freely, so long as all files in the dis- tribution archive remain intact, without any changes or modifi- cations. The distribution archive is in ZIP format; however, you may convert the archive to any format you choose, so long as the above requirements are met. CREDITS All brand and product names referenced in this document are trademarks, registered trademarks, or copyrighted works of their respective holders. I would also like to thank Donald Broadbent, whose original work and concept provided the basis for TeleMail. His efforts are gratefully acknowledged and appreciated. TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ______________ INTRODUCTION ______________ TeleMail is an interface between the Telegard bulletin board system and FidoNet standard NetMail, EchoMail, and GroupMail messages (hereafter referred to collectively as "network mail"). TeleMail will: * Read incoming network mail messages and store them in Telegard's message bases. * Scan Telegard's message bases for outgoing network mail mes- sages, creating them for further processing and transmission by your front-end mailer. * Other functions, such as purging network mail messages that have already been processed, and packing outgoing GroupMail messages in Top Star bases. The TeleMail package also includes a menu-driven configuration utility, TMSETUP, which allows almost complete configuration of TeleMail's operation, from function switches to DOS commands. Bear in mind that this document is not a tutorial; although it tries to present things in as uncomplicated a manner as possible, it does assume that you are at least familiar with the concepts of FidoNet- style networking and mail processing. It's a lot of fun, but it's NOT for the faint-of-heart. - Page 1 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ___________________ REQUIRED SOFTWARE ___________________ You will need the following software: --- The Telegard BBS software version 2.7. --- A front-end mailer program. Front-end mailers take care of everything that has to do with transmitting and receiving mail and files. --- If you will be receiving EchoMail conferences, you will need an EchoMail processing program (which will pack and unpack message bundles and processing messages). --- If you will be receiving GroupMail conferences, you will need a GroupMail processing program and the ARC archiving program (from System Enhancement Associates). Like its EchoMail cous- in, a GroupMail processor will process incoming and outgoing GroupMail bundles. It also performs other duties specific to GroupMail. Some of the more popular variations on the above programs are listed at the end of this document. However, it is beyond the scope of this document to provide detailed instructions on the configuration and use of these programs. - Page 2 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface _____________________ INSTALLING TELEMAIL _____________________ Installing TeleMail is a relatively simple job (compared to setting up network mail itself!). As this document is more of a reference manual than a "how-to" book, this installation procedure will only attempt to cover the installation of TeleMail itself. If you haven't already done so, unpack the TeleMail distribution archive into your main BBS directory. The only files that are ABSOLUTELY required are TELEMAIL.EXE (the TeleMail program itself) and TMSETUP.EXE (the TeleMail setup utility); all other files may be deleted. Also note that the .EXE files can be placed in any direc- tory specified in your PATH statement, but TeleMail *MUST* be exe- cuted from the main BBS directory (this is because it needs to find Telegard's STATUS.DAT file in order to obtain necessary information). TeleMail requires a configuration file, TELEMAIL.DAT, in order to run; thus, you should run TMSETUP from the main BBS directory. Don't worry about using the program for now; since the default options will serve for now, just press ESC and answer "Y" to the "Save configuration?" question. TMSETUP will be covered in detail in the next section. That's it for installation! (That wasn't so hard, was it?) - Page 3 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ________________________________ TELEMAIL FUNCTIONS AND OPTIONS ________________________________ If you are already familiar with network mail processing, using TeleMail will not be difficult at all. Its command line parameters are patterned after most mail processing utilities, for ease of use and understanding. The command line syntax is: TELEMAIL functions [options] Functions tell TeleMail what operations to perform. AT LEAST ONE function must be specified in order for TeleMail to work. TOSS Takes messages stored in the message directories and inserts them into Telegard's message base files (BRD and MIX). This function must be done AFTER EchoMail and/or GroupMail has been processed. While tossing, TeleMail follows these criteria: --- 1.MSG files, which are used to store the high-water mark (explained later), are skipped, if they exist. (This is necessary only for EchoMail bases, as 1.MSG is a valid message with NetMail and GroupMail.) --- As per FidoNet specifications, all linefeeds (ASCII 10 decimal, 0A hexadecimal) and soft carriage returns (ASCII 141 decimal, 8D hexadecimal) are removed. Hard carriage returns (ASCII 13 decimal, 0D hexadecimal) and all other characters are preserved. --- ANSI and 8-bit ASCII characters are converted to "*" if the message base is flagged to strip them. (Technically, network mail messages should not have ANY such characters, but in practice, it's an all-too-common occurrence, particularly in countries which use non-standard ASCII characters in their alphabets.) -- All control lines, tear lines, and origin lines are preserved. --- To prevent the MCI system from inadvertently showing the user's personal information, all "@" characters in the FROM, TO, and SUBJECT fields are replaced with "*" charac- ters. --- Messages in GroupMail bases defined as Top Star confer- ences are not tossed unless TeleMail is told to do so. This feature is explained in the "GroupMail Top Star Conferences" section. - Page 4 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface --- Inbound NetMail messages are not deleted after they have been tossed, unless the "-P" command line option is speci- fied (or the "Delete Inbound NetMail" option is enabled in the configuration file). --- TeleMail will ONLY toss non-local NetMail messages (i.e. ones which have been received by remote systems). Messages that are tossed by this function are marked as "sent," so that the SCAN function doesn't pick them up (which would create duplicate messages). SCAN Scans the Telegard message files for outgoing messages, creat- ing *.MSG files in the message directories. This function must be done BEFORE any outbound mail processing. --- Outgoing EchoMail messages are numbered starting from 2.MSG, as 1.MSG is used to store the high-water mark (explained later). NetMail and GroupMail messages don't have this restriction; therefore, they are numbered start- ing from 1.MSG. --- Messages that are marked as "deleted," "not validated," or "sent" by Telegard are skipped. The former are skipped because, obviously, the message was deleted or not vali- dated for a reason; the latter are skipped to avoid creat- ing duplicate messages. --- The conversion of the "center line" and "box line" codes is handled according to the options specified for each message base. --- MCI color codes are removed from all outgoing messages. --- If a message doesn't contain a tear and/or origin line, TeleMail will add them (depending on the status of the "add tear/origin lines" flag for the message base). --- If a base is flagged "real names only," real names are used in the FROM and TO fields. --- If a base has an address defined that is different from the default address, the defined address is used in the message header and the origin line. Otherwise, the de- fault address is used. --- GroupMail bases defined as Top Star conferences are not scanned unless TeleMail is told to do so. This feature is explained in the "GroupMail Top Star Conferences" section. - Page 5 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface Messages that are scanned by this function are marked as "sent," so that they will not be re-scanned (which would create duplicate messages). PACK Performs all the functions of the SCAN command, but includes bases defined as GroupMail Top Star conferences, in addition to all other bases. This function is discussed in more detail in the "GroupMail Top Star Conferences" section. PURGE Removes all messages stored in the message directories and resets the high-water marks for each base. (High-water marks are explained later.) Unless you are using a program that manipulates EchoMail and GroupMail messages (such as an offline message system), the message directories should be purged ONLY AFTER THE BASES HAVE BEEN SCANNED FOR OUTGOING MESSAGES WITH YOUR ECHOMAIL AND/OR GROUPMAIL PROCESSORS! (If you purge the directories before this is done, you will lose ALL of your outgoing messages.) There is NO WAY that TeleMail can safe- guard against this, so use the PURGE function with care! RESET Resets the high-water marks of each base to the highest exist- ing message in the message directories. As updating of the high-water marks is done automatically by TOSS, SCAN, and PURGE, this option is not normally needed. It is provided for use in very rare cases, and should not be used unless you know *EXACTLY* what you are doing! ALL Performs the TOSS, SCAN, and PURGE operations in one shot. ALL provides an alternative to having to specify those three com- mands on the command line. (This function does NOT include PACK.) Note that this function should be used ONLY if EchoMail and/or GroupMail processing commands are defined in the config- uration file (explained later). Options tell TeleMail how to perform its functions. As the name suggests, they are optional. The current available options are: -B Normally, TeleMail's video output will be sent directly to video memory (except when displaying the help screen). This is done to provide fast screen output. If your computer doesn't work properly with direct screen writes, use "-B" to force TeleMail to use the BIOS video output functions (they provide better compatibility, but they are much slower). - Page 6 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface -D Enables the "message deletion" feature (also known as a "twit filter") when performing the TOSS function. This feature will prevent messages from selected individuals from being tossed. (Note that this function DOES NOT remove the actual messages themselves; it merely prevents the messages from showing up in Telegard's message bases.) Refer to the "The Message Deletion Feature" section for more details. -E Prevents TeleMail from operating on EchoMail bases, useful in situations where you do NOT want EchoMail to be processed. -F Forces the EchoMail and GroupMail scanning commands (defined in the configuration file, discussed later) to be executed, even if TeleMail could not detect any messages that need to be exported. Note that this command does NOT override the "-S" option. -G Prevents TeleMail from operating on GroupMail bases, useful in situations where you do NOT want GroupMail to be processed. -K During a PURGE operation, TeleMail will attempt to use low- level DOS functions in order to quickly purge a message direc- tory. This is known as the "fast" method. If your system does not respond well to the "fast" method, you can use this option to force the "slow" method (used in previous versions of TeleMail, and which should work in ALL circumstances). -L During processing, TeleMail will keep a constantly updated log file (defined in the configuration file) detailing every activ- ity performed (the log file is essentially a reproduction of what is normally displayed on the screen). This option will suppress the creation and/or updating of the log file. -N Prevents TeleMail from operating on NetMail bases, useful in situations where you do NOT want NetMail to be processed. -P Normally, TeleMail will simply mark inbound NetMail messages as "received" after they have been tossed. This option will force TeleMail to delete these messages instead. -Q TeleMail normally displays very detailed information about what it is doing. The disadvantage to this is that it slows down the processing of messages somewhat. This option will suppress all but essential messages (it does NOT affect log file output), resulting in faster processing. -S Prevents TeleMail from executing the DOS commands defined in the configuration file (discussed later). Useful for perform- ing tests of the message system without disturbing already existing EchoMail and GroupMail bundles. (If mail processing commands have not been defined in the configuration file, this option is ignored.) - Page 7 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface -T Normally, TeleMail will not touch message bases designated as GroupMail Top Star conferences. (This allows the SysOp to take advantage of the full moderation facilities of GroupMail.) This option tells TeleMail that it's okay to work on Top Star bases. (Refer to the "GroupMail Top Star Conferences" section for more details.) -V# This option controls how detailed TeleMail's log file will be. "#" can be 0 (minimal), 1 (normal), or 2 (maximum). Level 1 (normal detail) is the default, and is the best choice for everyday use. Note that this option has no effect if the log file is disabled (via the "-L" option). -X Instructs TeleMail to ignore the high-water mark when tossing messages. Note that this option is rarely used, as it may cause duplicate messages in your Telegard message bases. If no functions are specified, or an incorrect function and/or option is specified, TeleMail will display a help screen, showing abbreviated descriptions of all available functions and options (as well as the proper command line syntax). - Page 8 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ______________________________________ THE TELEMAIL SETUP UTILITY (TMSETUP) ______________________________________ The TeleMail setup utility (TMSETUP) configures most of TeleMail's operating parameters (DOS commands, program options, etc.). It is completely menu-driven for ease of use. Simply type "TMSETUP" at the DOS prompt to start the program. Note that you must be in the main BBS directory, as TeleMail requires that the TELEMAIL.DAT file created by TMSETUP be in the main BBS directory (along with the Telegard STATUS.DAT file). Several command line switches may be specified with TMSETUP to alter how the program operates: /BIOS Forces the use of BIOS video routines instead of direct screen writes, useful for computers that aren't 100% IBM PC compatible. (Do not use this switch otherwise, as it slows down display output.) /SNOW Enables elimination of "snow" that some CGA video cards produce. If you see snow on the screen when using TMSETUP, this switch will usually eliminate it. (Do not use this switch if your display is unaffect- ed, as it slows down display output.) /MONO If you are using a monochrome video monitor with a CGA video card, this switch will map all display codes to black and white so that the output produced by TMSETUP is more readable. More than one switch may be used by separating them with spaces, i.e. "TMSETUP /BIOS /MONO". Once the program is started, the screen will show a copyright notice at the top, a line of text at the bottom, and a menu window in the middle. This is the Main Menu, as evidenced by the word "Main" at the top of the window (all menu windows are similarly titled). The options available at the Main Menu are: System Data Mail Commands Twit Manager Save and Exit Exit Use the arrow keys to move the cursor bar to the desired option, and press ENTER to select that option. To exit the program, you can select "Save and Exit" (which will save all configuration options), or "Exit" (you will be prompted to save any changes if necessary). Also, pressing ESC is the same as selecting "Exit". - Page 9 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface SYSTEM DATA This is where most of TeleMail's options are configured. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor bar to the desired option, and press ENTER to select that option. To return to the Main Menu, press ESC. On almost all options, pressing ENTER will instantly change that option to the next available value. Others will require keyboard input. Name of Log File Defines the name of the file to which TeleMail will write its logging information. The format is identical to the FrontDoor version 2.x log file; thus, if you like, you can specify the name of FrontDoor's log file instead of a separate file. This way, all of TeleMail's logging infor- mation will be appended to the FrontDoor log to consoli- date the information. If you want to disable the generation of a log file, simply erase (blank out) this field completely. (The default filename is "TELEMAIL.LOG", prefixed by the path of your main BBS directory.) Log Detail Level Selects the amount of detail written to the log file: minimal, normal, or maximum. Minimal will only write cumulative totals for inbound, outbound, and other opera- tions; normal includes status lines only for affected areas (the default mode); maximum includes status lines for EVERYTHING. Note that this field cannot be changed if the log file name is blank. Also note that this value can be overrid- den by the "-Vx" command line option. Video Output Type Tells TeleMail how to write video output: via direct writes to video memory (the default mode), or via BIOS video display routines. The use of BIOS routines is not recommended unless your system is not 100% IBM PC compati- ble, as video output will be noticably slower. Note that this setting can be overriden by the "-B" command line option. - Page 10 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface Video Output Level Selects how much information is written to the video display. Two modes are available: normal (the default mode) and minimal. In normal mode, the status of each message area being processed is shown; in minimal mode, only totals are displayed. The advantage of minimal mode is faster processing, since TeleMail will not spend time writing information to the video display. Note that this setting can be overridden by the "-Q" command line option. Twit Deletion Enables or disables the message deletion function (the "twit filter"), used to filter out messages from and/or to certain individuals. This option is disabled by default. Note that this setting can be overridden by the "-D" command line option. Process Top Star Bases Enables or disables processing of GroupMail Top Star bases. If you are the Top Star of one or more GroupMail conferences but operate them in purely automatic mode, enabling this option will save you a considerable amount of work, as TeleMail will take care of processing automat- ically. (This option is disabled by default.) Note that this option can be overridden by the "-T" command line option. Delete Inbound NetMail Selects whether or not to delete inbound NetMail after it has been tossed into your Telegard NetMail message base. If you do not use an external message editor, enabling this option will clean up your NetMail message area by not leaving any inbound mail there. If you prefer to use an external editor, or do not have a NetMail message base defined in Telegard, you should disable this option (the default mode). Note that this option can be overridden by the "-P" command line option. - Page 11 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface Force Slow Purge Method Selects whether or not to force TeleMail to use the "slow" method of purging inbound network mail messages. If the default "fast" method is causing problems on your system (or if it simply doesn't work), enabling this option will usually solve the problem, at a cost of substantially increased processing time. This option is disabled by default, as the "fast" method will usually work on most systems. Note that this option can be overridden by the "-K" command line option. MAIL COMMANDS To run TeleMail in a totally automated fashion, you can define here the DOS commands used to process inbound and outbound EchoMail and GroupMail messages, as well as a command to execute after mail processing is complete and a command to pack GroupMail Top Star base messages for distribution. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor bar to the desired option and press ENTER. Type the appropriate command line (full pathnames are recommended), then press ENTER to save it. Press ESC to return to the Main Menu. EchoMail Toss This is the command used to process inbound EchoMail (and, in some cases, inbound NetMail) message packets. It is executed during the TOSS function, just before inbound messages are imported into the Telegard message bases. This command is always executed, regardless of whether or not any inbound mail packets are present (as TeleMail has no way of determining such a condition). EchoMail Scan This is the command used to process outbound EchoMail (and, in some cases, outbound NetMail) message packets. It is executed during the SCAN function, just after mes- sages are exported from the Telegard message bases. This command is executed ONLY if TeleMail detects pending messages in the EchoMail message directories and/or if TeleMail exports messages from the Telegard message bases. GroupMail Toss Same as EchoMail Toss, but applies to GroupMail message packets. - Page 12 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface GroupMail Scan Same as EchoMail Scan, but applies to GroupMail message packets. GroupMail Pack This is the command used to pack messages in GroupMail Top Star bases into packets for distribution. It is executed during the PACK function, just after messages are exported from the Telegard message bases (as PACK forces the SCAN function). As with the SCAN function, this command is executed ONLY if TeleMail detects pending messages in the GroupMail message directories and/or if TeleMail exports messages from the Telegard message bases. Post Processing This command is executed after all mail processing is complete, just before TeleMail exits to DOS. It can be used for just about anything you require, from creating GroupMail update requests to packing outbound NetMail messages. This command is always executed. Note that all of these commands can be suppressed by the "-S" command line option. Also, the EchoMail and GroupMail scan commands can be forced (i.e. executed whether or not any pending or exported messages are present) with the "-F" command line option. TWIT MANAGER TeleMail's message deletion facility (or "twit remover") is used to prevent messages addressed to and/or from specified individuals from being imported into Telegard's message bases. This feature is quite helpful in preventing messages to/from obnoxious individuals from ever reaching your system. TMSETUP's Twit Manager is used to add, change, or delete entries in TeleMail's "twit list". Up to 50 entries can be stored in the list in this release. Once this option is selected, you will be shown a window with the first entry's information. (If there are no entries, the window will be blank.) The following keys may be used: LEFT ARROW Display the previous entry in the list. If you are currently at the first entry, pressing this key will move to the last entry. RIGHT ARROW Display the next entry in the list. If you are currently at the last entry, pressing this key will move to the first entry. - Page 13 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface HOME Display the first entry in the list. END Display the last entry in the list. INSERT Insert a new entry in the list. This facility is presented in more detail later. DELETE Delete the current entry. F1 Modify the current entry. This facility is presented in more detail later. ESC Return to the Main Menu. Inserting a new entry and modifying an existing entry are virtually identical in operation; the only difference is that inserting a new entry is like modifying a blank entry. (Think about it for a minute and it will become less confusing...) Thus, both will be discussed simultaneously. Once you choose to insert or modify an entry, a cursor bar will be shown at the first field in the window. Use the arrow keys to move between fields; press ENTER to modify a field. Once finished, you can press F10 to save the updated information, or ESC to abandon the changes you made. Name of Twit Specifies the text to compare against the specified field(s) of inbound messages. Case is not important, as TeleMail ignores case during comparisons. Area Tag Specifies the Telegard message area to which this entry applies. This allows you to remove messages based on individual message bases. (If you want messages deleted in ALL bases, specify "*ALL*" for the area tag.) Field to Compare Specifies which field(s) to which TeleMail will compare the text: From, To, or From/To (i.e. both). Pressing ENTER at this option will cycle between all three values. Partial Comparison Specifies whether or not a partial comparison is to be performed with the specified text. For instance, if partial comparison is enabled, "MORAVSIK" is specified for the text, and From/To is specified as the comparison fields, all messages to and from persons whose names include the text "MORAVSIK" will be deleted. - Page 14 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ________________ USING TELEMAIL ________________ As stated above, TeleMail is designed to be used in conjunction with other EchoMail and GroupMail processing software. This is because TeleMail is only a translator; other software must be used to proc- ess incoming and outgoing mail bundles (also called "packets"). The best way to accomplish this is with batch files. For the exam- ples that are about to be shown, it is assumed that an EchoMail processor is set up to process messages in your BBS directory. The software used is ConfMail, whose manual contains excellent discus- sions on the topics of EchoMail (any other EchoMail processing program can be used; ConfMail is used as an example because it's the simplest). Please consult the documentation for your EchoMail processor for information on how to properly configure it for Echo- Mail processing. Our first example is for incoming mail: ECHO OFF { turn off command echoing } CD C:\BBS { change to BBS directory } CONFMAIL IMPORT -A PKUNPAK { process incoming messages } TELEMAIL TOSS { put messages into Telegard } Pretty simple, wasn't it? ConfMail takes care of placing incoming messages into their proper spots, and TeleMail takes care of putting them into Telegard's message bases. (The "-A PKUNPAK" in the Conf- Mail command line tells the program to use PKWARE's program to unpack any incoming ARCmail bundles. Refer to the ConfMail documen- tation for more details on ARCmail.) This batch file should be executed every time a bundle of mail is received; consult the docu- mentation for your front-end mailer on how to do this. Now, let's see how to process outgoing messages: ECHO OFF { turn off command echoing } CD C:\BBS { change to BBS directory } TELEMAIL SCAN { scan Telegard for outgoing } CONFMAIL EXPORT { process outgoing messages } TELEMAIL PURGE { purge remaining messages } This one's a little more involved. As you can see, TeleMail is used FIRST this time, because Telegard's message bases need to be scanned for outgoing messages before ConfMail takes over. (Otherwise, they will be missed entirely by ConfMail.) After ConfMail processes the outgoing messages, they are purged from the message directories by TeleMail. This is done mainly to save disk space; you can leave them alone, if you wish, since both TeleMail and ConfMail will not touch them in future processing. (This feat is accomplished through the use of high-water marks, explained later.) This batch file - Page 15 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface should be executed before your front-end mailer's "mail events" are performed; consult the documentation for your front-end mailer on how to do this. Note that the ConfMail command line in the above example doesn't create ARCmail bundles. This feature can be added quite easily using the "-D" and "-A" command line options (discussed in detail in the ConfMail documentation). Note that if you use PKWARE's PKPAK program for creating ARCmail, you should use the "compatibility mode" option "-OCT" so that other archive processors -- such as SEA's ARC -- can handle the ARCmail you create. (Consult the docu- mentation for PKPAK/PKUNPAK for more details.) Adding GroupMail processing to the above batch files is easy. Just place the command lines required for GroupMail processing after the commands for EchoMail processing (or before them; it doesn't matter). You don't need separate TeleMail commands for each; Tele- Mail handles both at the same time. Note that these are the simplest of examples; more complicated message processing can be accomplished, if needed, and other Echo- Mail processing programs can be used besides ConfMail. Also, as stated earlier, you can define the external EchoMail and GroupMail processing commands in the configuration file (to simplify your batch files, and to simplify your message processing in general). To help you along, two sample batch files -- MAIL1.BAT and MAIL2.BAT -- are included in the distribution archive. MAIL1.BAT is an exam- ple of mail processing without commands defined in the configuration file, while MAIL2.BAT is an example of mail processing with commands defined. (You will notice that MAIL2.BAT is *MUCH* sim- pler!) You should examine these batch files and make any necessary modifications before using them with your setup. - Page 16 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ________________________________ GROUPMAIL TOP STAR CONFERENCES ________________________________ One of GroupMail's biggest advantages is its ability to allow the moderator of a conference (the "Top Star") to fully moderate the messages passing through the conference (i.e. messages can be delet- ed if they are deemed offensive or a violation of conference policy; thus, since these messages are deleted before they are packed, the downstream nodes will never see them). However, since Telegard doesn't use FidoNet standard messages, this capability is severely curtailed... or is it? TeleMail solves this problem in the following manner. If a Group- Mail Top Star conference is detected, TeleMail will skip over it during the TOSS, SCAN, PURGE, or RESET functions. Thus, both in- bound and outbound messages can be examined and acted upon, if necessary, before they are processed. But, how do we do that, if TeleMail won't touch them? That is where the "-T" option comes in. When "-T" is specified on the command line (or the Process Top Star Bases option is enabled in the configuration file), TeleMail will be allowed to process Top Star bases, allowing both import and export of messages. There is one other aspect of Top Star conferences that we haven't touched, that of packing them up for pickup. If the messages aren't packed, systems requesting the conference(s) can't pick them up. That is where the PACK function comes in. PACK -- which implies the SCAN function and the "-T" option -- will scan the message bases for outbound messages, including Top Star bases, and execute the Group- Mail Pack command (if defined in the configuration file) to pack up the messages. Note that SCAN and "-T" need not be specified on the command line when the PACK function is used, since they are implied by PACK. As those of you who are familiar with GroupMail Top Star conferences can see, PACK and "-T" allow complete control over moderation of these types of conferences. - Page 17 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface __________________________________________________ THE MESSAGE DELETION FEATURE (AKA "TWIT FILTER") __________________________________________________ When dealing with network mail conferences, you're inevitably going to come across this situation. In one of your favorite conferences (TREK, for example), there is someone who is so rude, offensive, or obnoxious, you don't even want his messages on your system. (This person is generally referred to as a "twit.") Unfortunately, since he's on a system halfway across the country, there is no way to prevent the twit from posting in the conference. How do you handle such a situation? The answer is the message deletion feature (also known as a "twit filter", as it keeps messages from "twits" out of the system). When this feature is used, TeleMail will compare a list of names defined in the configuration file to inbound messages encountered during the TOSS function. If any entry matches the criteria you set up (con- ference name, from and/or to), that message will not be placed in the Telegard message base. In effect, you've just prevented the person from posting on your system! Note that this feature does *NOT* delete the original message, as deletion of messages (other than by the conference moderator of GroupMail conferences) is against FidoNet policy, and presumably against the policies of other FidoNet-style networks. The messages are still intact; they've just been prevented from being imported into Telegard's message bases. They will still be packed up and sent to other systems, if the conferences are being fed to other nodes. To use this feature, you must first use the Twit Manager in TMSETUP to enter the name(s) you wish to filter from inbound messages. (See "The TeleMail Setup Utility" section for more details on how to use the Twit Manager.) After you define the desired names, you can either enable the Twit Deletion option in the configuration file (under System Data in TMSETUP), or use the "-D" option on the com- mand line. From now on, whenever the TOSS function is used, Tele- Mail will examine every incoming message and check the criteria of the deletion file; names that match the criteria will not be placed in Telegard's message bases. - Page 18 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface __________________ HIGH-WATER MARKS __________________ A high-water mark is simply a file that stores the number of the last message that was processed. This is done to prevent the toss- ing and scanning operations from processing duplicate messages (which are not looked upon favorably by SysOps OR conference modera- tors). TeleMail stores its own high-water mark file, HI-WATER.MRK, in each message directory, and uses it to base its own conclusions about tossing and scanning messages. Thus, it doesn't conflict with the EchoMail and GroupMail high-water marks. (High-water marks are not necessary with NetMail, as TeleMail uses different criteria when processing NetMail.) EchoMail high-water marks take the form of a file called 1.MSG, which is a FidoNet standard message. The only portion of the file that matters is the REPLY TO field, which contains the high-water message number; the rest of the file is ignored. (GroupMail handles messages in a slightly different manner than EchoMail, and thus uses a different high-water mark system.) The EchoMail 1.MSG high-water mark is only modified by TeleMail during the PURGE and RESET functions; it is not modified during TOSS. This is because the EchoMail processor requires the high- water marks to remain where they are in order for its scanning to work properly. Here's an example to illustrate what I mean. (This can get confus- ing, so pay CLOSE attention...) Let's say that your system received an EchoMail bundle that contained three messages for an echo that we are also feeding to another system. The message directory already contains three messages: 2.MSG, 3.MSG, and 4.MSG. Thus, both high- water marks (1.MSG for the EchoMail processor, and HI-WATER.MRK for TeleMail) for this echo are already set to 4. Your EchoMail processor stores the incoming messages in the message directory as messages 5.MSG, 6.MSG, and 7.MSG (messages 2.MSG through 4.MSG already exist, as does the 1.MSG high-water mark). The EchoMail high-water mark is left alone. TeleMail then scans the directory and tosses 5.MSG through 7.MSG into the message base. The TeleMail high-water mark is set to 7 (since it's the last one that was processed). All is well. Now, the bases are being scanned for outgoing messages. (Remember, we are also feeding messages in this echo to another system, as well as the system we obtained it from.) First, TeleMail is executed. All bases are scanned, and it finds that our particular echo has two new messages. Obeying the TeleMail high-water mark (which is cur- rently set to 7... remember?), TeleMail stores them as messages 8.MSG and 9.MSG. The TeleMail high-water mark is then set to 9 (as 9.MSG is the last message processed by TeleMail). - Page 19 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface The EchoMail processor is then used to scan the message directories for messages to be transmitted. It finds that our echo has five messages that need to be sent out. This is why the EchoMail high- water mark is NOT touched by TeleMail: Although the first three messages don't need to be sent to the originating system, they DO need to be sent to the system being fed. (The two new ones need to be sent to BOTH systems, since they originated on your system.) Thus, obeying the EchoMail high-water mark (currently set to 4), the EchoMail processor sends 5.MSG, 6.MSG, and 7.MSG to the system being fed, and 8.MSG and 9.MSG to that system and the originating system. The EchoMail high-water mark is then set to 9 (as 9.MSG is the last message scanned by the EchoMail processor). Thus, we are now right back where we started! If it all seems confusing at first, don't worry... you're not alone! Every single FidoNet SysOp went through the same ordeals before they understood the EchoMail system. GroupMail is processed in a similar manner, but overall, it's much simpler than EchoMail. (The TeleMail high-water mark, however, works the same way for both EchoMail and GroupMail.) For a discussion of the fundamental concepts of EchoMail, your best bet is to consult the documentation for the ConfMail EchoMail proc- essor. It contains a lengthy discussion on EchoMail and how it is processed. (Your front-end mailer's documentation may also contain a discussion of EchoMail.) For a discussion of GroupMail, your best bet is to consult the documentation for the GROUP GroupMail proces- sor from System Enhancement Associates. SEA created the GroupMail system (as it applies to FidoNet), and is in the best position to describe its details. - Page 20 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ___________________ ERRORLEVEL VALUES ___________________ TeleMail will return an ERRORLEVEL of 0 to a running batch file if all processing is completed smoothly. An ERRORLEVEL of 1 is re- turned if a fatal error occurs (or if there is a command line syntax error). - Page 21 - TeleMail - The Telegard Network Mail Interface ______________________ RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE ______________________ This list is by no means exhaustive. It is simply a reference to some of the more popular software that is currently available for EchoMail and GroupMail processing, as well as for FidoNet operations in general. Note that this is NOT an endorsement of ANY of these products. Also note that commercial products are not listed; only programs available through BBSes (as Shareware, Freeware, or Public Domain) are included. The filenames shown below indicate the name of the archive file in which the software can usually be found. Since different systems may use different archiving programs (depending on the preference of the SysOp), an "*" is used in place of a specific file extension (i.e., ZIP, ARC, LZH, ARJ, etc., or even EXE for self-extracting archives). FRONT-END MAILERS: BinkleyTerm 2.40 B???_240.LZH D'Bridge 1.30 DB130*.ZIP FrontDoor 2.02 FD202.ARJ NETMAIL/ECHOMAIL PROCESSORS: ConfMail 4.00 CONF_400.ZIP Qmail 1.00 QM_100.ZIP SquishMail 1.00 SQSH_100.LZH Vpurge 4.09c VP409C.ZIP GROUPMAIL PROCESSORS: GROUP 2.23 GROUP222.ARC Gmail 2.07 GMAIL207.ZIP FILE ARCHIVING UTILITIES: ARC 6.02 ARC602.EXE ARCA*Simulator 2.20 ASIM_220.ZIP ARJ 2.22 ARJ222.EXE General Unpack Shell 1.40 GUS_140.ZIP LHA 2.12 LHA212.EXE PAK 2.51 PAK251.EXE PKPAK/PKUNPAK 3.61 PK361.EXE PKZIP/PKUNZIP 1.10 PKZ110.EXE PolyXarc 2.10 PXDOS_21.ZIP ZOO 2.01 ZOO201.EXE - Page 22 -