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WHATSNEW.B8
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1993-02-25
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New in beta 8:
--------------
■ Zonegating. There's a keyword for that:
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 any inter-zone
messages, and if it is set to 'Ask', timEd will ask if it should
zonegate or not..
If you use Binkley with Squish, you can also let Squish handle it
(that's what I do).
■ You can now press <right arrow> when in L)ist mode to go to a message
(same effect as <enter>).
■ Fidouser.lst will be searched first now, before V7/FD. This way, you
could use it as a 'shortlist' with only a few important names in it (if
V7/FD lookups aren't fast on your machine).
■ New keyword: Kill_Original. This controls if 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.
The value can (again) be 'Yes', 'No' or 'Ask'.
■ When writing a CC: message, timEd will now mark all CC:'s as
kill/sent (it will not do that to the original, of course).
■ TimEd will now put new kludges on a message that is C)hanged, to
(possibly) reflect changes made to the message (like selecting a new
origination address, the MSGID needs to be updated then).
■ If you try to C)hange a message that is already 'sent' or 'scanned',
timEd will give a warning.
■ Turbo-charged some screen writing routines with inline assembler.
■ Tried to fix a bug with zero-length *.MSG messages (again..)
■ Support for FSC-35 'Replyto' and 'ReplyAddr' kludges. 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.
■ Support for the 'Direct' message attribute. Very 'kludgey', 'cause
Squish nor the MSGAPI directly support it.
For Binkley-users (where Squish packs the netmail) one must set both
'Crash' and 'Hold' to get the desired effect.
But when I tested it, FrontDoor 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 putting:
ArcMailAttach Yes
in timEd.cfg. (Default is *not* ArcMailAttach).
Yuck!
■ For Use/Internet areas (or better: newsgroups :) the L)ist display
was far from optimal: every message there has 'All' in the TO: field
(put there by the UUCP <-> Fido gate).
TimEd now has two L)ist modes, a 'normal' one, and a 'broad subject
line' one (you get it with Alt-B). 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 bettween the two style with
ALT-S (from S)witch..)
■ Added a direct way to print a message (hard copy to the printer). Key
to use is ALT-P or P. It works from both the Message reading screen
and the L)ist mode.
The message(s) will be written to the device that was configured in
timEd.cfg using the (new) PRINTER keyword. Examples:
Printer PRN
Printer LPT2
If no Printer keyword was found in timEd.cfg, timEd will default to
PRN.
■ When entering a file-request message, timEd will now ask you if you
want to edit a body. If you answer with N)o a blank message will be
generated. For file-requests, this is often the best thing to do (as
blank messages are usually immediately killed on the destination
system).
The SysOps of the system(s) you are file requesting from will love
you for it (I *hate* one line messages that only say 'thanks!' or
'automatic file request').
■ TimEd will not show '** Empty Message **' anymore. Some people seemed
to have strong feelings about it :)
■ When generating a reply to a message in another area (usually a
'netmail reply'), timEd will add a note on top of the message
indicating the area the message came from (Note: this is a reply to a
message in XXXX).
■ Slightly changed MSGID parsing, to allow MSGID fidonet#2:281/527 123456
style kludges (hmmm..) to be interpreted correctly.
■ When using ALT-M (message reading screen) or ALT-C / ALT-M (List
mode) you can now abort this action from the area selection screen by
pressing <ESC>. (So <ESC> doesn't clear the 'speedsearch' string
anymore, but you can just as easily press a cursor key...).
■ Changed header editing, the 'triggering' of a nodelist lookup to be
exact. TimEd would *always* do a nodelist lookup (in the netmail
area) when you pressed <ENTER> in the TO: name field, also on replies
and such, when an address was already present.
It is now somewhat complicated :-) When pressing <ENTER> on the TO:
name field, timEd will do a nodelist lookup on the name entered in
the TO: field, when...
- no address is already present in the TO: address field (on a new
message for example).
- you changed the TO: name field just before (when changing a
message, for example).
- you pressed F2 on this TO: field (remember, if you just changed
the TO: field, just press <ENTER> and timEd will do a lookup. So
only use F2 to lookup a *not* changed TO: field).
When an address is already present, and no changes were made to the
TO: name field, timEd will only look up the address already present.
If it isn't present in the nodelist, it'll display the 'unknown
address' message.
Confused? Well, then forget all about it. I think (hope) it just works
like most people want it to. And to force a lookup, press F2. Simple,
eh?
■ Support for Orphan and Update Request attributes.
■ Changed the routines that read the configuration. Parsing large
areas.bbs and/or Squish.cfg files should be somewhat faster now.
■ Added 'AKA matching'. This is useful if you have more than one
address. Up till now, you had to select the most appropriate address
manually.
If you have two addresses (say 2:281/537 and 60:100/112) and you
write a message to 2:281/5, you would probably want to use your
2:281/527 address.
When writing a message to 60:100/1, however, you'd want to use your
60:100/112 address.
TimEd will now try to match it for you. It'll first match zones, and
if more than one match is found, it'll try to match nets as well. If
it still comes up with more than one match, it'll just take the first
one.
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.
Again, 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, so cursor up to the from: address field) to what you want it
to be, and timEd will leave it with that (timEd is actually quite
shy, if it sees that you don't agree, he'll leave it to you).
All this is activated if you put 'AKAmatching Yes' in timed.cfg.
Confused? Well, then forget all about it. I think (hope) it just works
like most people want it to. And to force a match, press F2. Simple,
eh?
■ Added 'search highlight'. When using the F)ind feature, timEd will
display the lines that contain any of the search keywords in a
different colour. The colour used is color_msgspecial (yep, the one
that is also used for the to: field in personal msgs).
■ It is now possible to set the Squish style Max/Keep/Days parameters
from within timEd. This is comparable to what you can do with
SQset.exe (that comes with the Squish package). From the message info
screen (ALT-I) press C to change to your heart's content.
This doesn't work for *.MSG areas (of course..).
■ Optimised the scanning speed for the '+' function (go to next area
with new mail). It also shows (on the 'statusbar' on the bottom of
the screen) what area it is currently scanning.
I also added '-' in the process (find previous area with new mail).
■ Changed the way <page down> works in the message reading screen. At
the end of the message, timEd would not 'scroll down' an entire
'page' if there weren't that many unseen lines left, but only a few
lines, so that the screen would still be entirely filled (last line
of the message == last line on the screen.) Ugh, bad explanation.
Anyway, people would loose track of where they were reading. It's
changed now, and those who didn't like it will know what I'm talking
about. (This is just a trick to make the whatnew file long, so you
guys think I did an enormous effort again :)
■ Changed the locking in the MSGAPI a bit. With this new code I managed
to write several messages to a message area that Squish was
constantly tossing messages to. After this exercize the message area
was still not corrupt. I'll let you guys do the real world testing.
Maximus corrupted the area in this exercize, BTW. GoldED did just
fine, and msged crashed my machine or locked up. Be sure to use a
message area with a -$m limit set, sliding messages are lots of fun :)
Locking is now only active if 1) share is detected (int 2F, sub
1000h) , *and* 2) timEd sucessfully locked a file in the timEd
directory (either current or the one specified by the -c command-line
switch). WIN seems to always return 'True' for a share installation
check (even without share loaded), but without share 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).
Anyone who knows more about this stuff is encouraged to share his
wisdom with me :)
■ Added message base maintenance 'hooks'. You can get to them from the
message reading screen by pressing U or ALT-U (Utils).
For *.MSG 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 the 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 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 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 :)
■ Added 'unreceive' feature. CTRL-U now turns off the 'received' bit. Be
sure *not* to fool around with message anymore, but move the the next
message (or out of the area, or whatever) immediately, or the
'received' bit will be set again before you know it :)
■ The personal mailscan now doesn't skip received messages anymore (it
still scans from the lastread pointer though). This way you can scan
for mail in the morning (while you're practically still asleep), after
breakfast (more or less awake, you already forgot who sent you mail)
and when you get home from work (to finally reply to all those personal
messages).
■ You can now enter a '@' in a header (for Usenet addresses).
■ When reading a message that was just found in a personal mailscan
(ALT-P from the area selection screen) or using the F)ind feature, you
now have practically all functions available to you.
Apart from the functions that don't make sense at that time (like
'enter a message', 'list' or 'Utils (ALT-U)), you can now do everything
you can normally do (like R)eply, T)urbo Reply, W)rite to file, D)elete
etc).
■ Added a 'file request' feature. 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 like 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 that
isn't 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
anything), 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).
■ <ESC> now works correctly when editing the 'hello strings' (<ESC> exits
immediately, without saving the strings).
In previous versions it would jump to the last entry after <ESC>, and
would write out the strings anyway :)
■ Changed the 'reformatting' of messages when read back in from disk
(after the user edited it).
Lines starting with a space or one of the following: - * , .
wille *never* be 'appended' to the preceding line.
This way lists (like the one you are reading right now :) will probably
stay formatted, even if you don't put the ~~ tokens around it.
I found that most people don't really understand the problems with
formatting, resulting in messages that look terrible :-) This should
help quite a bit.
Using this method, some some hard returns may stay in, even some that
should actually be stripped (I guess), but that's better than those
awfully looking messages :-)
Let's wait and see.
■ The temporary file timEd generates (to feed to the external editor) is
now called timed.msg. Some editors didn't seem to like timed.$$$.
■ You can now also use a batchfile with the "editor" statement in
timed.cfg. You could use this to startup your editor with extra
options, or to call other programs before or after the editor
(spell-checker maybe?).
■ I think this is enough for one beta. Lots of new opportunities to find
bugs again :)
><-----------------------------------------------------------------><
New in beta 7:
--------------
■ Fixed bug that crashed B6 when doing a CC: (BTW: when I added
support for other nodelists, it broke again..). So I hope it's
fixed twice :-)
■ You can now use CTRL-H to only change the header of a message (so
you won't be put in the editor after editing the header).
■ When you press '+' from the message reading screen, you will now be
taken to the next area with new mail. If there isn't any 'next area
with new mail', you will go to the Area selection screen.
■ Fixed the implementation of the '-c' command line switch.
■ Cleaned up the 'Move/Copy/Forward' function: SEEN-BY's, PATH's and
VIA lines will be stripped.
When using 'forward' a new header, origin and MSGID kludge will be
created using your name and address. These changes should guarantee
that the messages will be properly exported (and routed, if you send
it via netmail).
■ Support for 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 then).
Two keywords in timEd.cfg:
Lastread <filename> : name of the lastread file for *.MSG areas.
The default is "lastread".
Squish_Offset <number> : 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.
If you are the only user on your machine (or you are the SysOp and/or
first user) you don't need these.
■ New keyword: Ask_Confirmation <Yes/No>
Used at two places right now: when deleting a message and when
exiting timEd, it'll ask for a confirmation when this is set to Yes.
■ Added support for fidouser.lst. Keyword: FidoUser <path+name> of
'fidouser.lst format' userfile.
■ Added support for the FrontDoor nodelist. Use the new keyword
FDnodelist in timEd.cfg to give timEd the directory where you
FrontDoor nodelist files are situated.
I didn't have any official info om this nodelist format, so I had to
guess about the internals.
This support is experimental!!
■ TimEd will now keep on scanning the nodelist for more than one match
for a certain key. TimEd will show a list with all matches and let
you select one of them.
This is implemented for all three supported formats.
For Version 7 nodelists, Qnode (nodelist compiler) can leave
duplicate sysop names in the index (this is useful for sysops that
have more than one address, like HUBs, Hosts or multinode systems).
For FrontDoor nodelists, duplicate sysop names are always preserved
(by FDNC).
When doing nodelist lookups for a CC: message, timEd will just take
the first match found, instead of prompting you for every message.
><-----------------------------------------------------------------><
New in beta 6:
--------------
■ The 'speed search' now works a bit better: backspace works, and
pressing a 'movement key' (like 'up' or 'down') now also clears the
string.
In addition, you can now press CTRL-L to find a next match for the
string (this might come in handu if you have a conference called
OS2.028 at the top of the list and one called OS2 at the bottom. At
least if you want to go to OS2 :-)
■ TimEd will now spawn the editor with the full path and filename of
the file to edit (this was only the filename).
■ If you define an origin that is too long, timEd will now chop it off
at the right length.
■ TimEd would reformat the body of a changed message (ALT-C), even if
the body had not been updated. Fixed.
■ Yet another colour keyword: color_msgspecial: the colour of the 'TO:'
field for personal messages (message reading screen). Using this
keyword you can 'highlight' your personal messages.
■ TimEd would leave spaces behind the closing bracket ')' on the origin
line, causing 'grunged message detectors' to reject the messages :-(
TimEd now checks for a valid and clean Origin line, cleaning or
adding origin lines when necessary. It should be OK now...
■ Added better support for 'Aliases'. The 'Alias' keyword is now
obsolete, but you can now put up to 10 NAME keywords in timEd.cfg.
When you are in a message area, you can press CTRL-N to pick one of
the names you defined. This will then be the default until you leave
that area.
■ Added similar support for AKA's, now you can press CTRL-A to pick one
of your Addresses.
■ Added the ability to change both the origination address and name
while editing a header.
When editing a header you will still start at the 'From:' field, but
you can now press 'up' to go edit the origination address, and 'up'
again to edit the orig-name.
From both these fields, you can also press <TAB> to get a list of the
defined NAMEs and AKAs, and pick the one you want. An address or name
that is chosen using this method is valid for that message only (so
it will not change the default like CTRL-A and CTRL-N do).
■ Added the WRITENAME keyword to config. Use this to give a default
filename to write to (using ALT-W). If you don't use this it will
still be timed.prn.
Example: WRITENAME c:\timed\safe.out
■ TimEd now exits with 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
■ Added the Startup_Scan keyword. You can use it to tell timEd if you
want to scan the message areas at startup. It can have three
different values:
Yes - scan all areas at startup
No - do not scan areas at startup (default)
Personal - Do a personal mailscan at startup
Example:
Startup_Scan Personal