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mailmsg3.zip
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README.1ST
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1993-01-29
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Mail reminder script (Ver 3.0) & screen saver for ICOM (Ver 1.0)
by John LeaverPower, Jan'93
PURPOSE
*******
Have you ever come back to your PC and wished Icom would let you know
immediately if you have any personal mail in that last downloaded QWK
packet? Or, have you ever missed getting some mail because it was sent
to you from a conference which was NOT on your offline reader's "active"
conference list? Or, do you run several different Icom jobs, and don't
want to do a "mail run" until you know you have some personal mail
waiting?
If so, this program may be of assistance. It captures all your
"mail reminders" at logon and appends them to a file, MAILWARN.TXT in
your capture directory. You can then browse this file at your
convenience and check for Conference titles which are not currently on
your "Joined" list. My thanks to Eric Decker for suggesting this
add-on.
It can also check your default capture file at the end of an Icom
session to see if you have received any personal mail in the QWK
packet(s) you just downloaded.
This zip file comes with an optional screen saver. If either of the
above 2 conditions are met, the program can run a screen saver with
a moving "Personal Mail Waiting" text box. The screen saver can be
configured to a) run until you stop it manually, b) run for a set
period (countdown timer), or c) run until a specific time of the day.
UPDATE (from Ver 2)
*******************
Although the screen saver exe file remains the same as in Ver 2, the
rest of the program has been completely revamped:
1) The Mailwarn.txt file produced by ver 2 often contained
several extra "BBS name" lines, and if multiple BBS's each
contained new mail notices at logon, the conference titles
would sometimes be placed at the end of Mailwarn.txt
instead of beneath the appropriate BBS names. These
problems have been fixed by using a different technique and
an additional utility.
2) The latest version of the utility fgrep.com is included
with this package.
3) The script file now includes explanatory comments.
4) With Ver 3.0, the script now passes the name of the Icom cap
file to the main batch file Mailwarn.bat. This will allow
those with multiple capture file names to easily customize
the script to suit their needs. The default cap file is
ICOM.CAP.
SETUP
*****
If you are upgrading from Mailmsg2.zip (Ver 2.0), please follow the
instructions below. This will ensure the old files are over-written
with the new versions.
To upgrade from Mailmsg2.zip, or for new installations, follow these
steps:
1) Place the files in the following directories on your hard disk:
Default Default
File Location Directory
==== ======== =========
MAILWARN.SCR C:\ICOM\SCR Icom scripts
MAILWARN.BAT C:\ICOM Location of ICOM.EXE
FGREP.COM C:\ICOM\CAP Capture files
CUT.EXE C:\ICOM\CAP Capture files
MAILMSG.EXE C:\ICOM Location of ICOM.EXE
If your directory locations are different from the above, edit the
MAILWARN.BAT file accordingly.
If you have multiple cap files, edit MAILWARN.SCR to suit your
needs. If you only use ICOM.CAP, don't make any changes to
Mailwarn.scr.
2) Next, modify POSTJOB.BAT, in your Icom directory, to include the
following lines:
if not exist C:\ICOM\CAP\MAILFLAG.TMP goto done
del C:\ICOM\CAP\MAILFLAG.TMP
c:\icom\mailmsg [see below for options]
cls
:done
If you don't have a Postjob.bat file in your Icom directory, I have
included in this package a sample file that came with Icom, and which
has the above lines added.
MAILFLAG.TMP is created by Mailwarn.bat if you have received personal
mail in a QWK packet or if personal mail notices were sent by PCBoard
at logon. The screen saver is MAILMSG.EXE, and can be used in one of
these 3 formats:
mailmsg <----- Runs until you stop it manually
using Ctrl-Break
mailmsg hh:mm <----- Starts a countdown timer of hh
hours and mm minutes, and stops
automatically when the timer
reaches 0.
hh must be between 00 and 23
mm must be between 00 and 59
mailmsg hh:mm am <----- Runs until the system time on
mailmsg hh:mm pm <----- your PC reaches this time.
hh must be between 00 and 12
mm must be between 00 and 59
The screen saver can be stopped manually at any time by using the
Ctrl-Break key combination. (Unfortunately, the utility used to
create Mailmsg.exe is limited to this key combination only.)
Although any of the 3 formats are possible, using mailmsg without any
time parameters will cause the screen saver to run indefinitely, thereby
tying up your PC until you manually intervene. (That may not be your
intention if you have a daily mail run and you leave for, say 2 weeks
vacation!).
3) Just a quick note on Icom's "post" bat files. As explained below,
you can set the Mailwarn script to check for logon mail notices,
QWK packet(s), or both. If you wish to check ONLY your QWK packets,
then the instructions in step 2 above can be in either Postmail.bat
or Postjob.bat. If you want to check only your logon notices, or
both logon notices and QWK packets, the instructions should be in
Postjob.bat. The reason is that Icom runs a different "post" bat
file depending on what happens during the online session. However,
regardless of what happens online, Icom will ALWAYS run Postjob.bat.
4) Then, modify your Icom job(s) to add the Mailwarn script. Here are
some examples:
Call Canada Remote Systems <--- Checks logon notices from
CC:@MAILWARN PCBoard. MUST be the first
Send Message Replies instruction after Call
Get All New Mail command to get all notices.
Exit to DOS
Call Canada Remote Systems <--- Checks for personal mail in
Send Message Replies QWK packet.
Get All New Mail
CC:@MAILWARN
Exit to DOS
Call Canada Remote Systems <--- Checks both logon notices
CC:@MAILWARN and QWK packet.
Send Message Replies
Get All New Mail
CC:@MAILWARN
Exit to DOS
Personally, I include the "@MAILWARN" script at the beginning of
every Icom job on all BBS's. This way, any notices sent by the
board at logon will be recorded in Mailwarn.txt. I also have the
script included after the command "Get All New Mail" in all jobs
having a "mail run".
USAGE
*****
If the screen saver is active when you approach your PC, then you have
some personal mail either in your QWK packet, or on the BBS. Use
Ctrl-Break to stop the screen saver. Icom will then take over where it
left off. If you don't have any personal mail in your QWK packet, then
check Mailwarn.txt for personal mail notices missed by your last QWK
download. This may happen if you have mail waiting for you in a
conference you have not yet (S)elected in the online Qmail Configuration
screen. It may also happen if your Icom job didn't include a "mail
run" and if PCBoard sent you a "new mail waiting" message at logon.
That's it. You may wish to clean up the MAILWARN.TXT file from time to
time, for it will continuously grow as new mail reminders are added. If
you delete MAILWARN.TXT, then MAILWARN.BAT will simply create the file
again as needed.
Enjoy,
John.