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VPKTPEEK version 2
("Virtual Packet Peek")
Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 by Brian Dessent
All Rights Reserved
Overview
VPKTPEEK is a tool for viewing pending (waiting to be sent)
packets for any system (client or server) you connect to for
VirtualNET or compatible nets running VBBS. Individual messages can
be deleted without affecting the others.
Features
* Allows navigation of packet in various ways:
o Jump forward or backward 1 or 10 messages at a time.
o Jump to the first or last message.
o Jump to a specific message number.
o Search for a string in the message header either from the
current message or the first message, based on:
- to name - from name - title
- to node - from node - date/time
* Simultaneous display of message text and message header. Text
can be scrolled up or down in line or page increments.
* Shows the following information for each message: to/from
name/number/node/network, date, time, title, subtype,
distribution systems, length in lines and bytes, age in days,
percentage of packet, message text (body).
* Has a menued user interface for easy packet selection. This also
serves to display information about each system you connect to,
such as: node, bytes pending, number of pending packets, last
connect in days and mm/dd/yy, total sent, and total received.
(however, you can still specify a filename if there's a specific
packet you want to view that may not be accessible through the
menus.)
* Built-in .ZIP file viewing, with an automatic shell to PKZIP for
extracting/updating.
* Swaps to extended/EMS/XMS/disk, leaving only 250 bytes resident
when running PKZIP/PKUNZIP. (*)
* Easy-to-use menued configuration program included (VPPCFG).
* Message lister mode for seeing many messages at once.
(*) The swapping routines used in VPKTPEEK are from Ralf Brown's
SPAWNO library.
page 1 VPKTPEEK v2.0 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
Configuration
Before using VPKTPEEK, you must configure it by executing the
included VPPCFG.EXE. With it, you must set the following options:
Where to swap Sets swapping options. The following choices
are presented in a sub-menu:
Use EMS Tells VPKTPEEK whether or not
to use expanded (EMS) memory,
if available.
Use XMS Tells VPKTPEEK whether or not
to use managed (eg, from
EMM386) extended memory.
Use Extended This tells VPKTPEEK whether or
not to use raw extended
memory. This should be
disabled for all multitasking
systems.
Disk swap path This tells VPKTPEEK where to
swap if nothing else is
available or allowed. You can
enter multiple paths,
separated by semicolons.
Read buffer size Controls how much memory is set aside for the
display of the message text. This controls
how many lines of space should be allocated.
Any message longer then this length will be
truncated when viewed by VPKTPEEK. Please
note this does not change VPKTPEEK's ability
to read, write, or extract to a file a long
message, only to display it. The only place
where this normally comes into play is with
BBSLISTS, which can be lengthy. Each line
occupies the width of the screen (usually 80)
times 2 bytes. The maximum is 400 lines.
Registration If you have registered VPKTPEEK, you should
enter your registration code here.
Registration is discussed later.
Quit Exits VPPCFG, optionally saving changes.
Usage
VPKTPEEK can be kept anywhere you your hard drive. If it is not
run from the main VBBS directory, however, the VBBS environment
variable must be set to tell VPKTPEEK what your VBBS main directory
is, eg SET VBBS=C:\VBBS
VPKTPEEK can be run in two different ways. One mode tells
VPKTPEEK to make a list of your server and all your clients, then look
for all their pending packets and let you chose one. The other tells
VPKTPEEK to skip this function and just display a specified filename.
VPKTPEEK NETWORKID=n
page 2 VPKTPEEK v2.0 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
This command line form tells VPKTPEEK to look for all pending
packets for network n. For example, to run VPKTPEEK on all VirtualNET
pending files, run VPKTPEEK NETWORKID=1
VPKTPEEK A000009.999
This command line form tells VPKTPEEK to skip all the searching
and just display the packet named A0000009.999 in the current
directory. This was meant to really only be used in case you save a
packet and it's not really destined for any system, you're just
holding it for whatever reason.
Choosing a Packet
When using the first mode of VPKTPEEK, a simple two level
hierarchy menu system is in effect. That is, you have the main menu
where you chose a node, and for every node presented there is a second
sub-menu where individual packets for the corresponding node can be
selected. Pressing escape backs up one level. That is, if you are at
the Choose a Node menu and you hit escape, VPKTPEEK quits to DOS and
if you are at the Choose a Packet menu you are sent back to the Choose
a Node menu.
The Choose a Node menu has 6 columns. They are explained below:
Node The system's node number
Pending The amount of pending data, in kilobytes
(1024 bytes.) This is for the data in
*uncompressed* form
# Packets The number of packets, including those
contained in a ZIP file, that are pending for
this node
Last The last connect in both mm/dd/yy and days
elapsed since today forms
Sent The total number of kilobytes you have sent
to this system
Received The total number of kilobytes you have
received from this system
The Choose a Packet sub-menus have 5 columns. They are explained
below:
Zip? If the packet is in a ZIP file (Z???????.???)
then an asterisk appears in this column,
otherwise it is blank
Filename The filename of the packet
Date The date stamp of the file, obtained either
from the data in the .ZIP file or the DOS
time stamp
Time Same as Date except this is the time stamp of
the file
Note: If you delete a message from a packet, the time, date, and size
shown in the above two menus are not updated, even though the packet
itself has been updated.
page 3 VPKTPEEK v2.0 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
Selecting Data
Whenever you are prompted with a list of things to choose from
with a highlighted bar, the following keys are active:
Up Arrow key Move to the next entry (moves the bar down)
Down Arrow Key Move to the previous entry (moves the bar up)
Home Move to the first entry
End Move to the last entry
Page up/down Move up or down a screenfull of entries
Esc Abort this selection menu (go back)
Enter Select the currently highlighted entry
Additionally, when in the message lister, the left and right
arrow keys scroll the list left and right. The lister is explained in
detail later.
Displaying a Packet
After you have chosen a packet (or you specified one on the
command line) you are at the main screen, with the first message
displayed. The following information is displayed in the header (the
area above the horizontal bar)
Msg number The current and number of messages, and the
percentage of the way through the packet this
message is
Subtype The subtype of the current message
Length The length (size) of the message in bytes and
lines
Title The title of the message. For Pings, this is
always 'PING'. For Updates, this is always
the name of the file, eg 'BBSLIST.7' For
Ping Responses, this holds information about
your system. For files, this is the file
description.
Date/Time The date and time of the message, and its age
in days from today
From The 'from' name, number, node, and network
To (*) The 'to' name, number, node, and network
Distribute (*) A list of systems this message should
additionally go out to (for secured subs.)
Status (*) One or more of the following:
FileAttached A file is attached
Deleted This message is marked
for deletion
Update This is a BBSLIST update
Ping This is a ping (a query
from the network
coordinator as to the
status of your board)
Ping Resp A response to a ping,
generated by the net
software
File (*) The name and length (size) of the attached
page 4 VPKTPEEK v2.0 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
file
A (*) means this will only be present if it is non-blank. For
example, if there is no attached file, there will be no File
field.
VPKTPEEK is now waiting for a command. For a quick summary of
commands, press ?. Following is an explanation of all commands:
Left Arrow key Displays the previous message.
Right Arrow key Displays the next message (the Enter key may
also be used to go to the next message.)
Up Arrow key Scrolls the message text up one line.
Down Arrow key Scrolls the message text down one line.
Control-Left Arrow Jumps back 10 messages.
Control-Right Arrow Jumps forward 10 messages.
Page Up Scrolls the message text up a whole
screenfull.
Page Down Scrolls the message text down a whole
screenfull.
Home Jumps to the first message in the packet.
End Jumps to the last message in the packet.
Esc Quits back to the packet menu (or exits the
program if you specified a filename on the
command line.) If any changes were made (you
deleted a message) you will be asked if you
want to save the changes. Press 'y' if you
wish the changes to be made permanent.
Del Deletes the current message. This works as a
toggle - a deleted message will become
undeleted, and a normal message will become
deleted
G (or g) Jumps to message by number. You are prompted
for a message number to jump to.
L (or l) Invoke the message lister (explained below.)
S (upper case) Searches for a string starting at the first
message. (See below for details about
searching.)
s (lower case) Searches for a string starting at the current
message. (See below for details about
searching.)
X (or x) Extracts the current message to a file. You
are then prompted for a filename. If the
file already exists, you are given the
options of overwriting it, appending to it,
or quitting. If it does not exist it will be
created.
Searching
There are two things to select when doing a search: where to
search, and what to search for. You are first given a menu of 6
options of where to search: to-name, from-name, to-node, from-node,
title, date/time. You are then prompted for a case INsensitive string
to look for. If a search is successful the current message becomes
the message that fit the search, otherwise the message "Not Found!" is
page 5 VPKTPEEK v2.0 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
displayed on the last line of the screen.
The Mesasge Lister
The lister was designed to let you view the number, subtype, to
and from addresses, title, and date of more then one message at a
time. It is invoked with the L command. After reading all the
messages, you are presented with a window occupying most of the
screen. Moving the highlited bar is the same as with all other lists.
However, you can also use the left and right arrow keys to scroll left
in right. This allows you to change what information is displayed for
each message, as it all won't fit on the screen at once.
Pressing the Del key deletes the current message. An asterisk
('*') appears in the deleted column to let you know it has been
deleted. Pressing return exits the lister to the reader with the
message under the highlited bar as the current message. Pressing
escape exits the lister, but the current message does not change, no
matter where the highlited bar was.
Registration/Terms of License
If you use and like VPKTPEEK, you are encouraged to send whatever
monetary amount you feel the program is worth. (expected donation -
$5 to $10, but I won't refuse more!) For any size donation, you
receive a unique key which will disable the reminder displayed at
program termination. More importantly, you get a clear conscience.
Registration keys are valid for the current release and all future
releases. There are no cripples or registered-only features. To
register, print and complete REGISTER.FRM and send it to the address
indicated.
Use VPKTPEEK at your own risk. It comes with no guarantees of
any kind. If your hard drive blows up, it isn't my fault (but it
won't.) By using this product you agree to these terms.
The Author
The author can be reached at the following places:
Brian Dessent
FidoNet: 1:3641/202.0
VirtualNET: 1@9990
WWIVnet: 1@19950
US Mail: 10 MacGregor Court, Durham, NC, 27705
Data line: (919)489-6110 (2400/ARQ) also -
Shark's Bar and Grill - (919)683-1661 - 14.4k
v32bis - Durham, NC
Thanks
Thanks to Roland De Graaf for writing VBBS. Thanks to Pat and Ed
for putting up with all those horrible beta versions. Thanks
especially to Pat for devoting a place on Shark's for my stuff.
page 6 VPKTPEEK v2.0 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
All bug reports/criticisms/gripes/suggestions are welcome.
Thanks for trying VPKTPEEK, and please consider registering.
page 7 VPKTPEEK v2.0 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993