home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The World of Computer Software
/
World_Of_Computer_Software-02-387-Vol-3of3.iso
/
t
/
timb8.zip
/
TIMED.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-02-25
|
66KB
|
1,954 lines
===========================================
timEd/beta
A message editor for Squish
(C) 1992,93 Gerard van Essen (2:281/527)
===========================================
! timEd uses the Squish MSGAPI by Scott Dudley.
! Squish is a trademark of Scott J. Dudley
! timEd uses Ralf Brown's swapping 'spawn' replacement (SPAWNO)
! timEd's screen writing routines are partly based on code from
jim nutt and Erik Vanriper.
! timEd uses Mark Potter's DVAWARE routines.
┌─────────┐
│ History │
└─────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(Warning: this part doesn't contain any useful info, 'quick starters'
should skip this.. :-)
TimEd is one of those programs that 'were never meant to be'.
When Scott Dudley released Maximus 2.00 and Squish 1.00, I immediately
switched (from Qmail, *.MSG) to the much more advanced Squish message
base format. However, initially there were no message editors available,
so I had to use Maximus itself to read the mail. Although this went
reasonably well, it wasn't really fast and I missed some features
('netmail reply' being the most important one).
When Scott released the MSGAPI (and I had just bought my Turbo C
compiler :-) I played with it a bit, and decided to make a message
viewer (yes, viewer only!).
I got carried away.
Later several message editors for Squish were released, but I always
found reasons not to switch (too large, too slow, too buggy, ugly,
whatever :-).
I continued working on timEd, other people showed interest, got their
copies and some of them even liked timEd!
So.... I decided I would try to make a stable version, that could be
released 'to the public' to check out the reactions (if any). Of course,
a program is never ready (or without bugs), so I delayed it several
times.
But this is it! This version has all the features I wanted my editor to
have, in order to work comfortably. I am not very fond of programs that
are full of 'bells and whistles', and you won't find many gee-whiz-bang
features in timEd (although it does have some special things, like a
built-in personal mail scanner and a nice 'Find' feature).
┌───────┐
│ Beta! │
└───────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Right! This is beta software (and apart from that: *I* wrote it! :-), so
be careful!
Before you run it, back up anything that is worth saving, make your will
and warn your family and relatives.
There are no guarentees that timEd doesn't do anything terrible to your
setup. Don't say I didn't warn you!
This documentation is also beta :-) I'm sure it lacks lots of info you are
looking for, but will never find.
┌───────────┐
│ Copyright │
└───────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
* It's freeware, you don't have to pay me anything.
* Nobody should pay for timEd (to anyone!)
* Nobody should make money out of it (if you know a nice way to make a
fortune out of it, tell me, 'cause I want my share!)
* People are encouraged to reverse-engineer this program. Send me the
source you come up with :-)
* I would very much appreciate your opinion (either negative or
positive) about timEd. Just send me a message (even a very short
one!), so I will know what 'people' think of it.
┌───────────────┐
│ Setting it up │
└───────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Installing timEd is easy. A working setup consists of three files:
timEd.exe (yes!)
timEd.hlp (the helpfile)
timEd.cfg (the configuration file)
A sample timEd.cfg is included, edit it to suit your needs. The keywords
that can be used in the configuration file are explained below. Apart
from that, the sample .cfg file is heavily commented.
In timEd, you can press F1 in most places to get help ('context
sensitive', as we like to call it :-)
TimEd looks for the configuration and help files in the current
directory (can be changed with the -C command line parameter).
┌───────────┐
│ timEd.cfg │
└───────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The configuration file for timEd should be called timEd.cfg and must
reside in the current directory, so timEd can find it (use the -C
command line paramater otherwise).
It is a plain ASCII file and may contain comments. A comment is a line
that starts with a semi-column, like this:
; this is a comment.
Blank lines are ignored, all others should contain a keyword. Usually,
in this form:
<keyword> <value> [value value]
So first the keyword, followed by the value of that keyword, optionally
followed by more values..
The following keywords can be used in timEd.cfg:
ADDRESS
=======
Use this keyword to let timEd know what your address is. You can enter
up to 10 of them, for your main address and AKA's.
The first one given will be the default address. If you want to use an
AKA for a certain area, you must use the -P switch (see EchoArea
keyword). -P switches found in a Squish configuration file will be
recognized and used.
Example:
address 2:281/527
address 2:500/133.999
NAME
====
Type your name (and optionally aliases, just put in more NAME
keywords) here. The NAME will be used in the FROM: field of every
message you write.
The aliases will be used as extra names to look for in the personal
mail scan (ALT-P from the area selection menu).
While in a message area, you can also pick one of your names to write
messages with. Press CTRL-N to change the username from within timEd.
The default is to use the first NAME found in timEd.cfg.
*Always* put the name between double quotes.
Example:
name "Gerard van.Essen"
alias "Gerard van Essen"
NODELIST
========
This tells timEd where it can find a Version 7 nodelist (used by
BinkleyTerm and Portal of Power, for example).
The nodelist is very useful when entering netmail: timEd can look for
addresses and SysOp names in the nodelist, to find the corresponding
data of that node. (So, when entering a name, timEd will try to find
the address, when entering an address, timEd will try to find the
SysOp's name..).
The Version 7 nodelist can be produced by several programs, like
Xlaxnode, Qnode and Fastlist.
TimEd needs the files called SYSOP.NDX, NODEX.NDX and NODEX.DAT.
When looking up a SysOp-name, timEd will try to locate *all* matches for
the (part of the) name entered. So, if you enter 'Essen', it might find
both 'Gerard van Essen' and 'Martin Essenburg'.
If you use Qnode, and put 'Keep Allusers' in qnode.cfg, you can even get
the same SysOp more than once, and pick one of their addresses (HUBs etc.
often have more than one address).
I do not know if any other nodelist compilers can do the same thing.
Example:
nodelist C:\Binkley\Nodelist
FDNODELIST
==========
This tells timEd where it can find a FrontDoor nodelist (used by....
FrontDoor! Yes!)
TimEd can use the files called USERNAME.FDX, NODELIST.FDX,
NODELIST.xxx, FDNET.PVT and FDPOINT.PVT (the last two only if
applicable, not required).
When looking up a SysOp-name, timEd will try to locate *all*
matches for the (part of the) name entered. So, if you enter 'Essen',
it might find both 'Gerard van Essen' and 'Martin Essenburg'.
With the frontdoor nodelist, you can always get the same SysOp name
more than once, and pick one of their addresses (HUBs etc. often have
more than one address). Unlike the Version 7 nodelist, duplicate SysOp
names are always preserved in the index.
Example:
FDnodelist C:\Binkley\Nodelist
ZoneGate
========
Format: ZoneGate <Yes | No | Ask>
It works as one would expect: when this is set to 'No' timEd won't do any
zonegating, if it is set to 'Yes' it will zonegate all inter-zone messages,
and if it is set to 'Ask', timEd will ask whether it should zonegate or
not..
If you use Binkley with Squish, you can also let Squish handle it (that's
what I do).
Whether or not you need zone-gating depends on the software used by the node
that actually sends the messages from one zone to another. Check with your
Boss, HUB, Host or who-ever knows.
Kill_Original.
==============
Format: Kill_Original < Yes | No | Ask >
This controls whether you want timEd to delete a message, after you wrote a
reply to it. (This is only functional in the netmail area). You can use
this to keep your netmail area clean.
AKAmatching.
============
Format: AKAmatching < Yes | No >
This option is interesting if you have more than 1 address. If you set this
to 'Yes', timEd will try to find the most appropriate address to use when
writing a message.
Say, for example, that you have two addresses: 2:281/527 and 60:100/112.
If you write a message to 2:500/133, you probably want to use your
2:281/527 address.
If you write a message to 60:100/1, you probably want to use your
60:100/112 address.
In this case, timEd would try to find the address (AKA) that 'matches' the
destination address best.
It first looks for a matching zone, and if more than one match is found,
it'll try to find an address where both 'zone' and 'net' match. If there is
still more than one match after that, it will just take the first match.
See the section about writing netmail for more info.
ArcMailAttach.
==============
Format: ArcMailAttach < Yes | No >
This keyword is needed to support the 'Direct' message attribute for people
that are running FrontDoor (and maybe D'Bridge too..).
For Binkley-users (where Squish packs the netmail) one must set both
'Crash' and 'Hold' to get the desired effect (that is: a message with the
'direct' flavour).
But when I tested that with FrontDoor, it didn't seem to like that at all
(put it on hold, I think). So... for FD users timEd will add a 'FLAGS DIR'
kludge, that should work (with FD, that is, Squish/Bink won't work well if
you do it like that).
How does timEd know what system you run? It looks in your Squish.cfg, if it
finds 'Arcmailattach', you are running FD, otherwise Binkley.
If, for some reason, timEd doesn't read a Squish.cfg, you can force
'Arcmailattach' by specifying:
ArcMailAttach Yes
Default is *not* ArcMailAttach.
So, in most situations, you do *not* need this. And if this is set wrong,
it will only affect messages that have the 'direct' attribute set.
FrontDoor will probably not send it..
ORIGIN
======
This tells timEd what the default origin is. This line will appear at
the bottom of every echomail message you write.
You can override this default on a per area basis (by pressing ALT-H
in timEd, while you are in a message area).
*Always* put the origin between double quotes.
origin " Contrast BBS, 070-3234903 [V22..32bis] "
EDITOR
======
This tells timEd what editor you want to use to edit your messages.
Whenever it is time to edit a message, timEd will execute this program.
Entering a full path is not required (because timEd will look for the
editor in your PATH), but speeds up things.
You can also use a batchfile here. You could use this to start up your
editor with extra options, or to call other programs before or after the
editor (a spell-checker maybe?).
Example:
Editor c:\misc\q.exe
HELLO, REPHELLO
===============
HELLO : This defines the string to start a new message with. You
usually say 'hello' before you start a message, so this is
called 'hello' and will be referred to as 'hellostring'
throughout the documentation.
REPHELLO : This defines the string to start a reply with. This is usually
something like: 'In a message xxx wrote to yyy'. This will be
referred to as the 'rephello string'.
*Always* put the 'hello' and 'rephello' strings between double quotes.
There are four 'variables' that can be used in this string (and in the
'rephello' string as well):
%to : The full name of the person that the message IS addressed to
(for a new message) or that the original WAS addressed to (for
a reply, the REPHELLO keyword).
%fto : As %to, but only the first name of that person.
%from : The full name of the person who wrote the original message (in
the case of a reply, so the REPHELLO keyword). In the case of
a new message this would be the name of the person who wrote
(writes) this new message (but that, of course, is you
yourself :-)
%ffrom : As %from, but only the first name of that person.
An example to clear up things:
Let's say I'm writing a message to Scott Dudley, so that's a new
message, and the 'HELLO' keyword would be of significance here. The
header would look like this:
-=-
From: Gerard van.Essen
To : Scott Dudley
Subj: Your MSGAPI
-=-
In this case, %to == 'Scott Dudley' and %fto == 'Scott'.
If my timEd.cfg has:
hello "Hello %to!"
My message would be started with:
Hello Scott Dudley!
Of course, because we treat everyone like our best friend in Fidonet, I
have:
hello "Hello %fto!"
As a result, my message will start with:
Hello Scott!
Right, that's the 'hellostring'. Now, let's say Scott receives my message,
and decides to write something back. This will be a reply, so the
'rephello string' will be used.
Looking at our message again (the same one, as this is the message Scott
is answering..):
-=-
From: Gerard van.Essen
To : Scott Dudley
Subj: Your MSGAPI
-=-
In this case, %to == 'Scott Dudley' and %fto == 'Scott'
%from == 'Gerard van.Essen" and %ffrom == 'Gerard'
Now if Scott uses timEd, *and* he has this in his timed.cfg:
rephello "%from wrote in a message to %to:"
His reply would start with:
Gerard van.Essen wrote in a message to Scott Dudley:
And he can start typing..
SIGNOFF
=======
This tells timEd what should be placed at the end of every message. Most
people always use the same 'signoff', so why not let timEd do it for
you..
*Always* put the 'signoff' message between double quotes.
Signoff "Groetjes, ....... === Art ==="
In addition, you can also use \n in a string, to indicate a newline. So:
signoff "Greetings,\n Gerard"
expands to something like:
-=-
Greetings,
Gerard
-=-
Note, however, that strings longer than +/- 70 characters cannot be
edited from within timEd (with ALT-H).
ECHOLOG
=======
Where to put the echotoss.log file (name + path). If this is specified,
an echotoss.log file will be written when you exit timEd.
An echotoss.log file is a file containing a list with the areatags of
areas that contain newly entered messages. You can pass this file to
your tosser/scanner to scan out and pack these new messages. (For
Squish, this is done by using the '-f' command line parameter).
Example:
EchoLog C:\timEd\echotoss.log
WRITENAME
=========
Here you can give the default filename the ALT-W (write message to
file) function will write to. When actually writing to a file, you can
of course edit this to be anything you want (this is just the
default). You can also put PRN (or similar) in here, to write to a
printer.
Example:
WriteName c:\timed\timout.txt
PRINTER
=======
Here you can tell timEd what port your printer is attached to. When using
ALT-P from the message reading or list screen, timEd will send the message
to what is listed here. The default (if you don't put this in timEd.cfg) is
LPT1.
Example: Printer LPT2
SHOWKLUDGES
===========
This tells timEd if you want to see the control information in the
messages by default (or not..).
For this purpose, 'kludges' includes real kludges (like MSGID, REPLY,
PID, PATH etc.) but also SEEN-BY lines.
This is the setting at startup, you can toggle this setting from within
timEd by pressing ALT-K or ALT-V when reading a message.
Example:
Showkludges Yes
STARTUP_SCAN
============
This determines whether the message areas will be scanned for new mail at
startup (value: Yes or No) or even for personal mail (value: Personal).
So, use either 'Yes', 'No' or 'Personal'.
Example:
Startup_Scan Yes
SWAP_ON_EDIT, SWAP_ON_SHELL
===========================
These two statements determine timEd's behaviour when it calls other
programs.
There are two options:
Yes : Swap timEd out of main memory when calling the other program. This
will only leave about 250 bytes of timEd in main memory, thus
making available a lot of memory for the other program to run in.
No : Don't swap timEd out, load the other program in the memory
remaining, with timEd still in memory.
The second option takes up more memory, but is faster (no swapping has to
take place). TimEd will be swapped to XMS, EMS or to Disk if no XMS/EMS
is available. Swapping to disk is quite slow, of course..
Swap_on_Edit: Determines whether timEd is swapped out when the editor is
called to edit a message. This is done often, of course
(especially if you write a lot of mail :-), so if you
have enough memory to hold both timEd and the editor in
memory (and this is usually the case), I would set this
to 'No'.
Swap_on_Shell: Determines whether timEd is swapped out when shelling to
DOS, and when executing an external program by using the
ALT-U feature (message base maintenance). Usually speed is
not really important here, while lots of available memory
can be very useful, so it might be a nice idea to set this
to 'Yes'.
Ask_Confirmation
================
This controls whether timEd asks for confirmation before performing a
certain action.
This is used at two places right now: 1) when deleting a message and 2)
when exiting timEd, it'll ask for a confirmation when this is set to Yes.
LASTREAD
========
TimEd supports multiple lastread pointers. This is necessary if you
are not the only one using timEd on 1 machine (as the lastread
pointers would have to be shared by 2 (or more) users then).
If you are the only one using the message base, or if you are the
SysOp (and are consequently occupying the first position in the
leastread file) you do not need this keyword.
This is usually the case, so most people don't need this keyword at
all.
With this keyword, you can give the name of the lastread file for
*.MSG areas. The default is "lastread".
Example:
LastRead lastrea1
Squish_Offset
=============
This is the equivalent of 'LastRead', but for Squish style areas.
You must give a number, that is the position of the lastread pointer
in the *.SQL file (for Squish areas). For the first user this is 0
(which is the default). If you are the second user you should set this
to 1, if you're the third user you should set it to 2, etc.
Again: most people do *not* need this.
Example:
Squish_Offset 1
This would let timEd use the second lastread pointer in the .SQL files
(Squish_Offset 0 would be the first, which is the default).
MACRO
=====
It works like this: in a netmail message, you enter a (short) name, that
was also listed in timed.cfg using a 'macro' statement. TimEd will
recognize this statement and expand it for you, saving you a lot of
typing. This may include the 'to:' field, the address the message is
sent to, and the subject.
Examples:
macro am,areamgr,2:281/520,my_pass
When you enter 'am' in the 'to:' field, timEd will replace it with
'areamgr', and fill in the address (2:281/520) and subject (my_pass)
lines for you. So, a total of 3 items were listed after the macro name.
macro et,Erik Troost,2:281/527.2
This will expand to 'Erik Troost' with the address filled in. That's 2
items after the macro name.
macro rvdn,ROn van der Nagel
This will only expand the macro (rvdn) to ROn van der Nagel. Only 1
item listed behind the macro name.
Note that spaces are allowed in a macro statement. They are never
stripped, so don't put them were you don't want them!
COLOURS
=======
Lots of colours can be specified by the user. The numbers specify the
colour to be used.
Note: by default, timEd uses a monochrome setup. So if you don't have a
colour monitor, you can initially leave all color_... statements out (in
fact, you can do that with a colour monitor as well, it just looks very
boring :-).
The numbers are as follows:
Foreground Background
BLACK 0 0
BLUE 1 16
GREEN 2 32
CYAN 3 48
RED 4 64
MAGENTA 5 80
BROWN 6 96
LIGHTGRAY 7 112
DARKGRAY 8 n.a.
LIGHTBLUE 9 n.a.
LIGHTGREEN 10 n.a.
LIGHTCYAN 11 n.a.
LIGHTRED 12 n.a.
LIGHTMAGENTA 13 n.a.
YELLOW 14 n.a.
WHITE 15 n.a.
BLINK 128 n.a.
Now take the preferred colours of the foreground and the background of a
certain item, and add them.
So, blue (foreground) on black (background) would be 1 + 0 = 1
lightgray on black is 7 + 0 = 7
white on blue is 15 + 16 = 31 etc.
Here are the colours you can define, and the keywords to use + my
personal setting of these colours.
There are three main categories:
* color_as...
For the area selection screen, where you can select a message area to
read. These colours will also be used for the message header list
(ALT-L) and the file selection box that will appear when you use a
'wildcard' in the subject when doing a file attach.
* color_msg...
For the part where you will spend most time: the message reading screen.
* color_pop...
For popup-screens, like help screens and errors.
Area selection screen settings
------------------------------
Area selection 'Title' Bar, at the top of the screen:
color_asbar 112
Area Selection Frame, the single line around the total screen:
color_asframe 4
Area Selection Normal Text, like the names of the areas:
color_astext 7
Area Selection Highlighted bar, the message area that is currently
selected:
color_ashigh 31
Special colour, currently only used in a msg header list for personal
messages:
color_asspecial 14
Message reading screen settings
-------------------------------
Message reader Header, like the From: and To: fields:
color_msgheader 7
Message reader horiz. line, between header and text:
color_msgline 9
Message reader quotes, quoted text (starting like GvE> ):
color_msgquote 14
Message reader normal text, the body of the message:
color_msgtext 7
Message reader 'Status' bar at bottom, with current msg area etc:
color_msgbar 31
Message reader origin, the origin of a message:
color_msgorigin 15
Message reader kludges (controlinfo like MSGID and SEEN-BY):
color_msgkludge 3
Message reader, the TO: field in the header for personal messages. Also used
for 'highlights' in the message body when using the F)ind feature.
color_msgspecial 12
Popup boxes settings
--------------------
Popup boxes frame, the box around a popup text:
color_popframe 121
Popup boxes text, the text inside the box:
color_poptext 112
SQUISHCFG
=========
TimEd can read the Squish.cfg for you, and get all EchoArea lines from
that configuration. Note that Netmail, bad_msgs and dupes are not read;
you will have to define those manually, because you might not want them
(dupes, bad_msgs) or usually want to specify special attributes for that
area (netmail).
-P switches found in Squish.cfg will be recognized and used when
creating a message.
Give full path and name of the file. If it contains an AreasBBS
statement, the areas.bbs file will be read as well.
Squishcfg c:\squish\squish.cfg
ECHOAREA, NETAREA
=================
Area definition, Squish alike. You can specify areas in timEd.cfg as
well, in addition to the areas found in Squish.cfg.
The squish.cfg file is read *after* these are read, however, so you can
'overrule' areas here (areas already defined in timEd.cfg will be
skipped in squish.cfg and/or areas.bbs).
This is the only place where you can give a 'long' description of an
area (can't do that in squish.cfg, of course) and where you can specify
'default message attributes' for newly created messages in that area.
It looks quite a bit like definitions in squish.cfg. There are 3
keywords:
■ EchoArea - for echomail areas
■ NetArea - for netmail areas (define as many as you want)
■ LocalArea - for local areas
The format for all of these:
<keyword> <description> <areatag> <location> [-Pxxx -Axx -$]
<keyword> is NetArea, EchoArea or LocalArea.
<description> is a description of the area, between double quotes
<areatag> is the offical areatag of the area (like: TUB)
<location> is the directory/basename where the area resides.
And where:
-$ is for squish areas
-A gives default attributes. (p = private, c = crash, k = killsent).
-Pz:nnn/nnn.p is the AKA to use for this area (also active for NetArea).
Examples:
NetArea "Netmail Area" netmail c:\fd\netmail -Apk
My primary netmail area, with a nonsense areatag, is in *.MSG format and
all messages get the 'private' and 'kill/sent' bits by default. The
'local' bit is always added to all messages as well.
NetArea "Wlink netmail" wlnk_net c:\fd\wlink -Ap -$ -P60:100/112
A second netmail area, in Squish format. Messages get the 'private' bit
by default and I use my AKA 60:100/112 in this netmail area.
LocalArea "Bad_Msgs" BAD_MSGS C:\Squish\Msgs\Bad -$
LocalArea "Dupes" DUPES C:\Squish\Msgs\Dupes -$
Here I add my bad_msgs and dupe areas. I like to see what's happening.
LocalArea "SysOp" Sysop d:\local\sysop -$ -Ap
I define my SysOp area, default private messages.
EchoArea "Contrast" CONTRAST d:\echo\CONTRAST -$
An echomail area (my local points area, defined here as well as in
squish.cfg, but I define it here, because I want it at the top of my
area selection screen..)
EchoArea "Points Delmare" POINTS.133 c:\squish\delmare -$ -P2:500/133.999
Another echomail area, where I use my AKA 2:500/133.999
┌────────────────────┐
│ Working with timEd │
└────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────
Well, if you changed timed.cfg to suit your needs, you can fire timEd
up to see if it'll work.
At startup, timEd shows an intro-screen where you can see what config
files it is currently reading (timed.cfg, squish.cfg and areas.bbs).
When the configuration files are parsed, timEd will take you to the area
selection screen. You should see a list of all areas you defined. The
first area will be 'highlighted'.
If you want to check the intro-screen, you can specify the -p command
line parameter. TimEd will then wait for you to press a key, before
going to the Area Selection Screen (like: "timed.exe -p".)
The Area Selection Screen.
==========================
Use the cursor keys (up and down), <page up>, <page down>, <home> and
<end> to move around.
A quick way to find an area is 'speedsearch'. If you know the official
areatag of the area you want to read, start typing that tag. TimEd will
try to find the first areatag matching the characters you typed. The
characters will also appear at the top of the screen. The 'speedsearch
string' will disappear (and be cleared) when you press a 'movement key'
(like 'cursor up').
If you press CTRL-L, timEd will try to find a next match for the
speedsearch string (this may come in handy if you have an area called OS2,
but also one called OS2.028, and they are not close to each other in the
arealist).
To start reading messages in an area, press <ENTER> or the right arrow
key. TimEd will then enter that area and display the last read message.
On the area selection screen, the following keys are also active:
ALT-S : scan areas for new mail. This will determine the number of
messages present in every area, and the number of new (unread)
messages.
ALT-P : personal mail scan. This will scan all areas for mail addressed
TO: you or your alias (as defined in timed.cfg).
While viewing a found message, nearly all 'normal' functions are
available to you (like R)eply, T)urbo reply, P)rint, W)rite to file
etc).
Some keys (like cursor right and left) continue the search. You can
interrupt the search at any time by pressing <ESC>.
ALT-X : Exit timEd. If specified in timed.cfg, an 'echotoss.log' file
will be written at this point.
ALT-L : Enter the area, and go directly into the 'List mode', showing
a list of message headers.
ALT-J : Jump to DOS.
F1 : Show a helpscreen with available functions.
The Message Reading Screen.
===========================
When you enter an area, the lastread message will be shown.
You can scroll the message body (if it doesn't fit on one screen
entirely) using cursor keys (up and down) and <page up>, <page down>,
<home> and <end>.
<ESC> or ALT-A will take you back to the area selection screen.
Moving around in a message area.
--------------------------------
Press the right arrow key to go to the next message, the left arrow key
to go to the previous message.
Ctrl-<END> will take you to the last message in the area.
Ctrl-<HOME> will take you to the first message in the area.
Type a number to go to a specific message. A small box will pop up,
where you can edit the number of the message to jump to.
Ctrl <left> will go to the 'original' message, i.e. the message that the
current message is a reply to. If you are reading a reply and don't know
anymore what the original message was about, use this.
Ctrl <right> will go to the reply to this message (if there are any
replies already). If there is more than one reply, a list will be shown
(with the name of the sender of the reply) so you can choose one.
The availability of replies and 'the original' is shown at the top of
the message screen. An example:
-=-
Date : 20-10-'92, 21:38 1744
From : Jan Terpstra 2:280/216.0
To : Hans Boelens
Subj : Negeer dit!
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-=-
Here you can see, that this message is a reply to message 17, and that
there is a reply to this message, number 44. If there would have been
more replies (and you used a reply linker that is capable of specifying
'multiple uplinks', a feature that is only available for Squish style
message bases) there would have been more numbers after the '44'.
Entering Messages.
------------------
In order to generate a message, you must use an external editor. TimEd
will use the text generated by this editor to create a message.
Using an external editor has one big problem: most editors put a 'hard
return' at the end of *every* line, not just on the lines where the user
actually pressed <ENTER>.
In Fidonet, 'hard returns' should only be present at the end of a
*paragraph*. The actual formatting (word wrapping) of the paragraph
should be done by the message reader, according to the current screen
size (usually, the screen has lines of 80 characters, but that is
certainly not always the case!).
Placing a 'hard return' at the end of every line (at postion 80), would
only use the first 80 characters of a line, even on a 132 character
display! Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of programs that leave a hard
return at the end of every line anyway. Especially QWK readers are notorious
for that. It's quite a lot easier for the programmer though.
So, timEd has to strip 'hard returns'. It tries it's very best, but sometimes
fails miserably.
One of the 'rules' is, that timEd will strip the 'hard return', if it is
found at a postion *after* <length of line> - 20 (so on a 80 character
display, it would be 60). 'Hard returns' found after that position are
supposed to be the result of the 'word wrapping' feature of an editor
and are stripped.
There is an exception to this: if the *next* line is starting with a
<space> or one of the following characters: *-,. the 'hard return' will not
be stripped. Usually there is some formatted text (in the case of '*' and
'-' probably a list, in the case of a space it could also be a 'listing' of
some code for a programming language), so that will be left untouched.
There is a way to prevent timEd from 'intelligently' stripping 'hard
returns'. Usually it does what you want, but formatted text can be
awfully screwed up, when the individual lines exceed 60 characters in
length (for example Binkley logfiles :-). TimEd will then strip 'hard
returns' making a mess of your nicely formatted logfile or C-listing.
There are 2 methods to prevent timEd from stripping 'hard returns':
- Forcing a 'hard return' for one line:
Put a ~ at the end of a line. The ~ will be replaced with a 'hard
return'.
- Forcing 'hard returns' for a sequence of lines:
Put ~~ at the beginning of a line (rest of line should be empty!) to
start, and another one at the end.
All of the text between those two lines will get a 'hard return' at the end
of the line. The lines with the ~~ at the beginning will be stripped
from the text.
Examples:
This line will certainly have a 'hard return' added to it.~
Now look at my nicely formatted logfile:
-=-
~~
+ 23 Sep 03:23:35 MAX CPS: 231 (52751 bytes) Efficiency: 96%
= 23 Sep 03:23:35 MAX DL-Z C:\Files\Tekst\Contrast.Lzh
= 23 Sep 03:23:35 MAX Free DL: reimbursed 227 seconds
= 23 Sep 03:23:35 MAX Free DL: reimbursed 51 Kb
+ 23 Sep 03:23:59 MAX Jack Van Leeuwen off-line. Calls=16, Len=6, Today=6
: 23 Sep 03:24:00 MAX End, v2.01 (5)
~~
-=-
Keep this in mind, and experiment a bit. Just type some messages and check
the results after timEd read it back in.
With this knowledge, we can look at the commands that will let you enter
a message, but before that we'll look at the string editing functions.
String editing in timEd
=======================
In timEd, there are a few functions that let you edit strings. Some
examples inlcude generating a message header (TO: field, address,
subject) and the 'write message to file', where you have to enter a
filename.
All string editing functions use the same routine, where the following
keys are active:
Right arrow, lef arrow : move left and right in string.
<end>, <home> : go to the beginning or the end of the string.
<ctrl-left>, <ctrl-right> : jump to previous or next word.
<ctrl-end> : delete string from cursor position to end.
Delete and backspace work as expected.
Press <INS> to toggle 'insert mode'.
And, very useful:
CTRL-Y : Delete entire string.
Selecting user name and address.
================================
While you are in an area, there are two functions that you might want
to use:
CTRL-N : Pick one of the usernames defined (by the NAME keywords) in
timEd.cfg. The name you pick will be used to enter new
messages. It will be the default to use until you leave the
message area.
CTRL-A : A fuction similar to CTRL-N, but to pick one of the defined
ADRESSes.
You can also change name and or address while editing a header. By
default, timEd will put you in the TO: field when entering a message.
When you press 'cursor up', you will go to the TO: fields (the TO:
name and (if applicable) the TO: address).
You can now freely edit these fields, or press TAB to get a list of
the names/addresses (defined in timEd.cfg) to select from.
Now the other functions to use while you are reading a message:
ALT-E, E, <ins> : Enter message
This will let you create a new message in the current area. TimEd will
first let you edit the header, and will then spawn the editor, where you
can type in the message text. Save the text and exit the editor. You
will then come back in timEd, that will read your message and save it.
See also the section 'Creating netmail and file attaches'.
ALT-R, R, ALT-Q, Q : Reply to message
This will let you write a reply to the message that is currently shown
on the screen. TimEd will let you edit the header (press <ENTER> to
accept the defaults) and quote the entire message. Then the editor will
be spawned..
ALT-N, N : Reply other area
Create a reply, but select another area to put the reply in. This will
first take you to the Area Selection Screen, where you can choose the
area.
ALT-O, O : Reply 'followup'
This will let you quote the message text and add your comments, but will
not address the message to the writer of that message, but to the person
to whom the current message is addressed to.
So, when someone writes a message to John, and you use ALT-O on that
message, it will be quoted and also addressed to John. You can then add
"I want that too!", or something similar :-)
ALT-T, T : Reply, accept defaults
This is the equivalent of ALT-R, but you will go directly to the editor,
accepting the defaults for the TO: and Subj: fields.
This is a fast way to reply, for lazy people with little time :-)
ALT-C, C : Change message
This will let you change the message (header + body).
CTRL-H : Change header
This will you change the header of a message only.
CTRL-U : Unreceive message.
This turns *off* the 'received' bit. Be sure *not* to fool around with
message anymore, but move to the next message (or out of the area, or
whatever) immediately, or the 'received' bit will be set again before you
know it :)
ALT-D, D, <del> : Delete message
Delete the current message. TimEd will first ask a confirmation.
ALT-W, W : Write to file
Write the current message to a file. TimEd will ask for a filename to
write to. You can also put (for example) LPT1, PRN as the 'filename' to
send output to the printer.
ALT-P, P : Print message (hardcopy).
This will send the current message to your printer, as defined by the
'Printer' keyword in timEd.cfg. If no 'Printer' statement was found in
timEd.cfg, it will default to LPT1.
ALT-M, M : Move, copy, forward
This will let you move, copy or forward the current message to another
area.
It will first show you the Area Selection Screen, where you can pick the
destination area of your choice.
The 'forward' option will let you edit the header (TO: and Subj:
fields) before saving the message.
ALT-V, V, ALT-K, K : Toggle kludges
This will let you toggle the display of kludges (for this purpose, that
also includes SEEN-BY lines). The default (at startup) can be set in
timEd.cfg, using the 'showkludges' keyword.
ALT-J, J : Jump to DOS.
This will let you 'shell' to DOS. Type 'exit' to return to timEd.
ALT-I, I : Message & Area info
This will show a pop-up box with some info about the current message and
the current area.
This will also show the 'setting' for a Squish style area: the maximum
number of messages to keep in this area, the number of messages to skip when
purging and the number of days to keep messages.
From within timEd, you can set these parameters by pressing 'C' and editing
the values to whatever you like.
'+' : Go to next area with new mail.
Pressing '+' will move you to the next area that has new mail. Using this you
can quickly go from area to area, without going through the 'Area selection
screen'.
If timEd cannot find a 'next area with new mail', it will drop you on the
'Area selection screen'.
'-' : Go to previous area with new mail.
This function is similar to '+', but moves to the previous area with new
mail.
F1 : Help
This shows a short help-screen.
ALT-X : Exit timEd
This will return you to the DOS prompt. If defined in timEd.cfg, an
echotoss.log file will be generated at this time.
ALT-H, H : Edit 'Hello' strings
This will show a pop-up box, where you can edit the 'hellostring', the
'rephello' string, your 'signoff' and 'origin line' FOR THE CURRENT AREA
ONLY.
With this you can customize your setup on a per-area basis!
The edited strings will be saved in the message area, so timEd can
continue using them at a later time as well. Whenever timEd detects a
'custom setup' file *in a message area*, it will use the strings
contained in that file (*only* in *that* message area), instead of the
defaults defined in timEd.cfg.
TimEd saves the info in:
<areaname>.SQT for Squish areas, and
timed.dat for *.MSG areas.
The origin in saved in:
<areaname>.SQO for Squish areas, and
origin for *.MSG areas.
ALT-U, U: Utils (Message base maintenance).
-------------------------------------------
For *.MSG areas, the only option is to renumber. TimEd will start a
batchfile called renum.bat, with one parameter: the message dir for this
area (like: renum.bat c:\binkley\netmail). In this batchfile you can
call your favorite renumber program (maybe Bob Hartman's renum, I think the
batch should then be "renum -R %1"), and maybe run other programs (like
scanbld.exe for Max sysops) or touch semaphores or whatever.
For Squish areas, there are four choices: Pack, Re-Index, Fix and Inspect.
This will call SQpack, SQreidx, SQfix and SQinfo respectively (with the
message area as parameter). See to it that these programs are in your
path. The programs are *not* called with the extension .EXE, so you
*could* place a file called (for example) sqpack.bat in your path instead,
and call SQpack/386/DPMI instead :)
Some considerations:
If you have an area stuffed away in a directory that has a dot in it (like
c:\msgs\sysop.028\sqdfile), SQpack will get confused (only SQpack, not the
other utils) and think you specified an area.dat file on the commandline.
This will happen if you would do this:
SQpack c:\msgs\sysop.028\sqdfile
.. which is exactly what timEd does :) So it won't work for such areas.
Apart from that, if you run OS/2 and the OS/2 version of SQpack etc, you
can't use this, as it is/seems to be impossible to execute OS/2 programs
from a DOS box.
CTRL-F : File request generation.
---------------------------------
When you press CTRL-F, timEd will try to find filenames in a message
(usually seen in 'file announcement' messages for SDS etc).
Unlike other message editors, timEd does not (even try to) support specific
'announcement programs' by recognizing their 'formats'. There are many
programs out there, and modern ones even allow you to design your own
format. I think it's a waste of (programming) effort and code (size/speed)
to try and support them.
It just looks for strings that look like filenames. This search is
'extension driven': timEd simply looks for file extensions :) Currently
recognized:
char *exts[] = {"arj", "zip", "arc", "pak", "lzh", "sqz", "com", "exe",
"lha", "zoo", "txt", "sdn", "sda", "ans", "jpg", "gif",
"tar", "" };
When you press ctrl-f, timEd will try to find those extensions in the
message, and a list with all filenames will pop up on the right hand side
of your screen. You can scroll through the list, select files with <enter>
or <space>, select all with '+', unselect all with '-', accept the current
selection with <ctrl-enter>. Just as with a file attach.
Limited message scrolling is still available: press <ctrl-pgup> and
<ctrl-pgdn> to move the message (in case you don't even recognize the
filenames, and the descriptions are somewhere else in the message).
In case timEd missed a filename, or if you simply want to add one not
listed in the message (like FILES), press <INS> and type the name of the
file. It will be added to the list, already selected.
If timEd can't find any files, it'll show a list with only "FILES" on it.
You can also abuse this to just request FILES from someone that seems to
have an interesting BBS (but is not announcing files in that message).
When you press <ctrl-enter> to accept, timEd will take you to the area
selection screen, where you can pick an appropriate (netmail) area. It'll
then let you edit the message attributes (maybe add crash or something), and
after you press <enter> it'll write the file request message(s) for you
(empty, we don't want to write senseless "automatic file request"
messages).
Watch your phone bill! :-)
The List Mode.
--------------
ALT-L, L : List headers, normal format.
ALT-B, B : List headers, no TO: field, broad subject field.
This will show you a list of message headers in the current area.
Use <cursor up>, <cursor down>, <page up>, <page down>, <home> and <end>
to move around through the list.
Press <ENTER> or <cursor right> to read the highlighted message.
<ESC> will take you back to the current message before you pressed ALT-L.
Other keys that are active in 'list mode':
<Space> : mark highlighted message
+ : mark range of msgs
- : unmark range of msgs
This will show a pop-up box, where you can enter the range of messages
to be marked.
ALT-D, D, <del> : kill all marked msgs.
ALT-M, M : move all marked msgs to another area.
ALT-C, C : copy marked msgs to another area.
ALT-W, W : write marked msgs to file.
ALT-P, P : print marked messages.
F1 : Show a short help screen.
ALT-J, J : Jump to DOS.
ALT-S, S : Switch between 'broad' and normal subject width (for
Usenet messages).
TimEd's Find feature.
=====================
ALT-F, F : Find message
This will show a small pop-up screen, where you can set the criteria for
the search. It looks like this:
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ ┌─ Areas: ───────────────┐┌─ Search for: ──────── in: ─┐ ║
║ │ () Current Area only ││ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ ║
║ │ ( ) All Areas ││ │ ║
║ └────────────────────────┘│ │ ║
║ ┌─ Messages: ────────────┐│ │ ║
║ │ () From Lastread ││ │ ║
║ │ ( ) All Messages ││ │ ║
║ └────────────────────────┘│ │ ║
║ │ │ ║
║ │ │ ║
║ │ │ ║
║ └────────────────────────────┘ ║
║ ║
║ Press F1 for help ║
║ ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Give up to 10 strings to search for. This will be an 'OR' search, so if
*any* of the strings is found in the indicated location(s) [ F)rom field,
T)o field, S)ubject, B)ody ] the message will be shown. You can give more
than one location, so for example..
intel SB
.. is legal (search for 'intel' in Subject and Body).
The search is _not_ case-sensitive.
Searching will start when CTRL-ENTER is pressed. ALT-R clears
all strings entered.
Use the <ENTER> and TAB keys to move around.
When a match is found, the message will be shown, and if any matches are
found in the message body, the lines with the match will be 'highlighted',
using the colour specified by 'color_msgspecial' in timEd.cfg.
While viewing a found message, nearly all 'normal' functions are available
to you (like R)eply, T)urbo reply, P)rint, W)rite to file etc).
Some keys (like cursor right and left) continue the search. You can
interrupt the search at any time by pressing <ESC>.
Creating netmail and file attaches.
===================================
This is a special section on the netmail area. Netmail is different from
echomail in many ways, and timEd behaves differently when you enter
netmail.
While in the netmail area, you will also have to enter a fidonet
address, in addition to the name of the recipient.
Timed can help you in several ways, especially if a Version 7 nodelist, a
FrontDoor style nodelist or a fidouser.lst format list is present.
Changing your name and address.
-------------------------------
First of all, when timEd lets you edit a header, it will put you in the To:
name field. The From: name (your name) and address (your address) will
already be entered, using the defaults that are active for that area.
If you used CTRL-A (change address) or CTRL-N (change name) just before
entering a message, timEd will use that name/address.
While editing a header, however, you can still edit that info. Just press
<cursor up> and you will go to the origination address and name fields.
There you can edit them to be whatever you want, or press TAB to pick one
of the names/addresses you entered in timEd.cfg.
Entering a (TO:) name:
----------------------
When you enter a name (or part of the last name) in the TO: field and
press <ENTER>, timEd will try to find that name in the nodelist and when
found it will show a pop-up box with name(s) and address(es) it found.
TimEd will try to find all matches to the string you typed. So typing
'essen' might give you both 'Gerard van Essen' and 'Martin Essenburg'.
If more than one match is found, timEd will show a list with matches
and let you scroll through the list.
TimEd will stop searching when more than 50 matches are found.
If you then press <ENTER>, timEd will fill in the selected address for
you.
This function works for all supported formats: Version 7, FrontDoor
nodelist and fidouser.lst.
TimEd will first look for a fidouser.lst style list. If such a list is not
present, or if no match is found in this list, it will try the FD
nodelist. If still no match is found, or if there is no FD nodelist at
all, it will try the Version 7 nodelist.
The fidouser.lst is searched first. Since you can have more than one
nodelist format present, you could use this to make a short list of people
you regularly send mail to. Looking through this short list can be done
very fast, of course. If nothing is found, timEd will go to one of the
other nodelists (if present).
This is only interesting if your system is very slow, of course. Even on a
10 Mhz 286 (28ms HD) both V7 and FD nodelists are *very* fast. But your
mileage might differ.
The above is valid when entering *new* netmail. When replying to a
message, or when changing a message, timEd will see that an address is
already present, and it will normally only check if that node (the
ADDRESS) exists. If it doesn't, timEd will display "Unknown Address".
Additionally, a 'fresh' name lookup will be done if you change the TO:
name field, or if you press F2 when you're in the TO: name field.
Entering an address:
--------------------
In the TO: field, you can also enter an address (!). Again, timEd will
try to locate that address in the nodelist and try to fill the name in
for you.
There are several shortcuts when entering an address. When you don't
type in a 3D/4D address, timEd will try to fill in the missing parts with
the default from *your* address.
An example:
My address is 2:281/527.
If I now enter: 281/1, so with a missing ZONE number, timEd will fill in
*my* zone number (that's 2, so the address becomes 2:281/1).
In this case, I could even have entered: 1, because then timEd would have
filled in net 281 (my NET) and zone 2 (my ZONE), producing the wanted
address (2:281/1).
I can also enter .1, (so missing zone, net and node info) and timEd will
fill in my zone (2), my net (281) and my node (527), producing
2:281/527.1.
After 'expanding' the address, timEd will try to find it in the
nodelist.
This function only supports the Version 7 and FrontDoor nodelists.
For the fidouser.lst lists, this is not possible.
AKA matching.
=============
This option is interesting if you have more than 1 address. If you set the
'AKAmatching' keyword in timEd.cfg to 'Yes', timEd will try to find the
most appropriate address to use when writing a message.
Say, for example, that you have two addresses: 2:281/527 and 60:100/112.
If you write a messages to 2:500/133, you probably want to use your
2:281/527 address.
If you write a message to 60:100/1, you probably want to use your
60:100/112 address.
In this case, timEd would try to find the address (AKA) that 'matches' the
destination address best.
It first looks for a matching zone, and if more than one match is found,
it'll try to find an address where both 'zone' and 'net' match. If there is
still more than one match after that, it will just take the first match.
This is always active (in the netmail area): when writing a new message, a
reply, or changing a message.
If timEd selects an address different from the address that was currently
used (so if anything changed), it will say so ("AKA matched") just below
the addresses on the screen.
If you want to force it at a certain moment, press F2 when on the TO:
address field.
TimEd will stop matching the AKA's, as soon as you changed your address
manually. So if you don't agree with timEd's AKA matching in a certain
situation, just manually change it (while editing the header, you can
'cursor up' to the from: address field) to what you want it to be, and
timEd will leave it at that.
It will not match AKA's anymore after you did that. (Of course, when you
enter another new message after that, the game will start again :)
Generating a file-request message.
----------------------------------
When you enter a message with the 'file request' attribute, timEd will ask
if you want to include any text in the message. If you send a file request
message with a body that is empty, it will usually be automatically killed
on the destination system.
This way the SysOp of the destination system won't have to wade through
all these useless messages that consists of one line only ('This is an
automatic file request').
Generating a file-attach message.
---------------------------------
TimEd will try to detect whether you entered a path specification in the
'subject' field, and set the file-attach bit automatically if you did.
Of course you can also set the file attach bit manually.
TimEd will then check whether the filename(s) entered on the subject line
exist, and if you entered a wildcard and more than one match is found,
timEd will show a list with matching files. You can then 'tag' the files
you want to attach.
If you tag more files than fit on the subject line, timEd will generate
extra messages.
A file-attach list may look like this:
-=-
Date : 25-10┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐a Kill Loc
From : Gerar│ Current filespec: c:\files\c\t*.* │
To : ROn v└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Subj : c:\files\c\t*.*
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TABX.C 3 K │
│ TADV2DEM.ARJ 53 K │
│ TC1TUTOR.ARJ 105 K │
│ TC2TUTOR.ARJ 83 K │
│ TDT-2.ZIP 268 K │
│ TDT-3.ZIP 249 K │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-=-
You can now 'tag' files with <ENTER> or <SPACE>, move around with
<cursor up> and <cursor down> etc, and accept the currently tagged files
with <CTRL-ENTER>.
You can select all files in one action by pressing '+', and un-select them
all by pressing '-'.
This process will be repeated for all entered file specifications.
TimEd's CC: feature.
====================
TimEd can also make 'carbon copies' of netmail messages you write. It
can happen that you want to send an exact copy of a message to someone
other than the original recipient of the message.
For example, when I release a new beta version, I should have to write the
same netmail message for every beta tester.
Now say I want to write the same message to Kasper Kwant, ROn van der
Nagel and Frank Troost.
I would enter the message, addressing it to Kasper Kwant, and on the
first line of the message I would write:
cc: ROn van.der.Nagel, Frank Troost
When the message is saved, a copy would be generated for both ROn and
Frank.
Rules for the cc: line(s):
* It must start on the first line of the message.
* If all names do not fit on one line, proceed on the next line, and put
cc: in front of it again.
* You can use a full name (it will be looked up in the nodelist), a
'macro' (it will be expanded) or an address (it will be looked up in
the nodelist). This is exactly the same as you can enter at the TO:
prompt of a 'normal' netmail message.
Nodelist lookup is a bit different, though: timEd will only look for
the first match to a certain name, and use that to generate the
message.
In addition, if you type a full name which is *not* present in the
nodelist (or if you don't want timEd to look in the nodelist, for
whatever reason, like speed), you can also specify *both* name and
address, separated by a '#', like this:
Gerard van Essen#2:281/527
And finally, if you regularly send CC:'s to the same bunch of people,
you can put their names, macro's or addresses in a file, one per line,
and specify that filename in the cc: line, like this:
<c:\timed\names.cc
The '<' is chosen as this looks a bit like 'redirection' in DOS :-)
The contents of such a file could be:
-=-
Kasper Kwant
ROn van.der.Nagel
Frank Troost
pietje#2:281/527.29
-=-
Of course, you can combine all this. A full example (let's say that I
have a macro for my HUB, called 'hub'):
cc: 1, hub, Kasper Kwant, <names.cc
cc: ROn van.der.Nagel, .23
■ '1' will be expanded to myzone:mynet/1 (in this case 2:281/1)
■ 'Kasper Kwant' will be looked up in the nodelist.
■ The file 'names.cc' will be read and all persons listed in that file
will get a copy.
■ ROn van.der.Nagel will be looked up in the nodelist.
■ 2:281/527.23 will get a copy too.
All CC: messages that are generated by timEd will be marked "kill/sent", so
you won't have lots of copies of the same message in your netmail area. The
attributes of the original message will be left untouched, of course.
Please don't abuse this feature by sending junk mail to everyone..
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Reading messages 'gated' from Usenet/Internet │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────
Some consideration was also given to people reading messages that
originally came from Usenet/Internet 'newsgroups'.
FSC-0035
========
TimEd supports the 'Replyto' and 'ReplyAddr' kludges as outlined in
FSC-0035 (Fidonet Technical Specification - a proposal, actually). This is
used for netmail replies. If you read gated Use/Internet messages that have
this kludge (Fredgate can generate them), this will automatically address
the netmail reply to your UUCP gate and put a TO: line at the top of your
message.
'Broad' message L)ist display.
==============================
For Use/Internet newsgroups the standard L)ist display is far from optimal:
there, every message has 'All' in the TO: field (put there by the UUCP <->
Fido gate).
TimEd has two L)ist modes, a 'normal' one, and a 'broad subject line' one
(you get it with Alt-B when reading a message). The latter has (as one
would expect) a much broader Subject displayed, the TO: field is entirely
zapped in that mode.
While in the L)ist mode, one can switch between the two styles with ALT-S
(from S)witch..)
┌───────────────────────────┐
│ Multitasking/File locking │
└───────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────
Screen handling.
----------------
TimEd uses direct screen writes (either to the physical screen, or to the
DESQview virtual screen). There is no special code to prevent 'snow' on
older CGA displays.
Performance.
------------
When timEd is idle, it is (only) waiting for a keypress, it does nothing
else (like maintaining a clock) in the meantime. Since it gets this
keypress through a very standard DOS call, DESQview will give timEd no
processor time at all while timEd is waiting.
OS/2 didn't really like it, strangely enough, so whenever OS/2 is detected
(DOS version > 9), timEd will give up timeslices to OS/2.
File locking/sharing.
---------------------
File locking is only active if 1) share is detected (int 2F, sub 1000h),
*and* 2) timEd successfully locked a file in the timEd directory (either the
current dir or the one specified by the -c command-line switch).
Windows seems to always return 'True' for a share installation check (even
without share loaded), but without share.exe, locking fails anyway. This
made timEd quite confused. (Me too, btw).
I do not know how networks behave, but if share detection or the locking
test fails on your workstation, there will be *no locking* done by timEd
(or the MSGAPI, actually).
So, if you want locking, keep the above in mind.
Anyone who knows more about this stuff is encouraged to share his wisdom
with me :)
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Command line parameters │
└─────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────
TimEd knows 2 command line parameters:
-c
Specify the directory where the config file (and helpfile) can be found,
like:
timed.exe -cC:\Bbs\timed\
And -p, to let timEd pause at the intro screen (so you can check what
config files were parsed by timEd). Like:
timed.exe -p
Of course, you can combine both switches:
timed.exe -p -cC:\Bbs\timed
┌────────────────────────┐
│ TimEd exit errorlevels │
└────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────
TimEd can exit with several useful errorlevels:
No mail entered : 0
Netmail entered : 1
Echomail entered : 2
Local mail entered : 4
If more than one type is entered the numbers are added:
Net + Echo : 3
Net + Local : 5
Echo + Local : 6
Net + Echo + Local : 7
Error: 254
You can trap these errorlevels in a batchfile, and scan echomail or pack
netmail (or both) based on the errorlevel.
┌──────────┐
│ Warnings │
└──────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Some things you should know about timEd:
■ TimEd doesn't really like large messages. Messages larger than 60
Kb may cause very strange behaviour (anything is possible).
┌───────────┐
│ Technical │
└───────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TimEd is written using Turbo C++ (second edition), and makes extensive
use of Scott Dudley's MSGAPI (thanks Scott!).
It was developed on a 10 Mhz 286 (most of the time), and for a while on
a 386-40 running OS/2 (also running my BBS) but even OS/2 couldn't
protect the BBS from my programming skills (...), causing lockups and
even reboots, so I went back to the 286..
If someone is really enthusiastic about this program: I would very much
like to use a Watcom compiler, please buy me one! :-)
┌───────────────────┐
│ TimEd source code │
└───────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────
Not available.
┌───────────────────────┐
│ Contacting the author │
└───────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────
You can reach me in several ways:
FidoNet: 2:281/527
Usenet : art@contrast.wlink.nl
My BBS:
Contrast BBS
31-70-3234903
V32bis/V42bis
Or just send me a letter, or postcard:
Gerard van Essen
Leharstraat 67
2551 LB Den Haag
The Netherlands, Europe
<End of beta documentation>