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1990-12-17
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19KB
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487 lines
----------------
MX v0.01a.OS/2
----------------
Mail eXpress for Maximus CBCS
(C) David Luong, 1990.
All rights reserved.
FIDOnet address: 3:712/631.0
Distribution Rights
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You are hereby granted a limited licence to use MX in any way you see
fit, and to distribute it in any way you wish, so long as you don't
charge any money for it. If I catch you selling my software for
profit, I'll sue you for every penny of it. So there!
License fee & Support
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Please send me a post card if you decide to use MX on your BBS. I
enjoy collecting postcards from _anywhere_ around the world and I mean
ANYWHERE, doesn't matter even if it's from Sydney Australia!
My postal address is included at the end of this document.
If you have any problems with the installation of MX, or if you'd like
to see more features then don't hesitate to contact me via netmail.
Warranty
^^^^^^^^
I grant no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. This
includes, but is not limited to, implied warranties of
merchantability, and fitness for any particular purpose with respect
to both the software and the documentation included in this package.
In NO event shall I or any of EDEN BBS's principals be liable for any
direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising out of
the use or inability to use MX even if I have been advised of the
possibility of such damages or claim.
The warranties set forth above are in lieu of all other express and
implied warranties, whether oral, written, or implied, and the
remedies set forth above are your sole and exclusive remedies.
This document constitutes the entire agreement and understanding
between the parties and supersedes any prior agreement or
understanding whether oral or written, relating to the use of this
package.
Absolute Requirements!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
* OS/2 v1.1 or higher is essential.
* A communications library(COMM.DLL) must be present to handle the
high level comm port communications. This 'COMM.DLL' library is
distributed as part of the OS/2 Maximus CBCS package.
* At least one stand-alone file compression program. Eg, ARC2.EXE by
System Enhancement & Associates.
* At least one stand-alone file transfer program. Eg, M2ZMODEM.EXE by
Mikael Wahlgren.
Highlights
^^^^^^^^^^
* MX is a fast and efficient express-mail door for your BBS. Callers
of your BBS can now download messages from your message base and then
read them off-line at their own leisure.
* MX will export ONE plain text file containing all new messages from
the chosen areas. Callers don't need an IBM PC or compatible to
benefit from MX.
* To further reduce the time in transferring the exported mail bundle,
MX will compress the mail bundle using an external file compression
program.
* Upto 5 file compression and 10 external file transfer programs can
be installed for the use by MX.
* Support for multi-line sites.
* MX will keep track of upto 100 message areas(out of the possible
1296 areas) for each caller.
* Two packing methods supported in each individual message area:
ALL new messages.
PERSONAL messages.
* Sysop configurable upper limits on the number of messages to be
exported per scanning session for each class of callers.
* Access to each area is based on privilege levels and locks.
Contents of this archive
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
MXP.EXE The main MX executable file.
MXP.DOC This document.
MXP.HST An MX history file outlining the changes made between
versions of MX.OS/2
MX.CTL Sample MX control file.
MX_AREAP.EXE MX areas info file construction program.
MX_UDELP.EXE The MX Users Database Maintenance Utility.
DLOAD.CMD Mail download batch file for use with MX.
PACK.CMD Mail packing batch file for use with MX.
Overview
^^^^^^^^
MX is merely a mail export door program; MX would update the caller's
last-read pointers accordingly after messages are exported.
MX relies on standalone external programs for the compression of the
exported message bundle as well as the downloading of the compressed
mail bundle.
After messages are exported, MX would spawn a batch file 'PACK.CMD' to
call upon other standalone file compression utilities to compress the
exported message bundle.
When the message bundle is successfully compressed, MX would inspect
the file size of the compressed mail bundle to see if the caller has
enough time to download the compressed message bundle.
If the caller has enough time to download the compressed message
bundle, MX would then spawn a batch file 'DLOAD.CMD' to call upon
other standalone file transfer programs to send the compressed message
bundle to the caller.
MX - Mail eXpress for Maximus CBCS
----------------------------------
Command line syntax of MX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
MXp -Pn -B -K -Tn
Command line options of MX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-p ,specifies which comm port handle.
No default.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
---------------
* On a zero based comm port assignment, '-p0' does NOT
necessarily mean COM1.
* This comm port handle should be the one passed on by
Maximus's '%L' or '%p' translation sequence for
external door programs.
-b ,caller's baud rate.
MX does NOT need to change the current comm port's
operating parameters. However, this parameter is used
to calculate the time needed to transfer the mail
bundles.
-k ,forces local mode. No communication libraries required
in this mode.
-t ,where n is the task number for this node.
LEAVE THIS OPTION OUT COMPLETELY if the 'TASK' token is
NOT in effect in your MAX.CTL.
NOTE:
* Command line options may be presented in any order.
Installation
^^^^^^^^^^^^
1. Create a separate directory for MX(will use d:\MX for this
example).
2. Copy all the files in this archive to d:\MX
3. Modify the control file 'MX.CTL'. Please consult the 'MX Control
File' section for more information on the syntax of MX.CTL.
4. Create the directory indicated as your MX Export path in MX.CTL.
5. Run MX_AREAP.EXE to construct the MX specific areas data file.
6. Modify the mail packing batch file(pack.cmd) as appropriate.
7. Modify the mail downloading batch file(dload.cmd) as appropriate.
See my comments in dload.cmd about non-locked ports.
'Dload.cmd' supplied with this package is designed to work with
M2Zmodem by Mikael Wahlgren.
8. Modify your BBS's menus to call up MX and pass all necessary
command line options to MX. For Example,
* I have it set up on my Messages menu in the Maximus MENUS.CTL as:
Xtern_Run d:\MX\MXP.exe_%L_-t%k Normal "Xpress Mail"
Maximus will translate:
%L into either '-K' or '-Pn -bxxxx'
depending on whether the caller is remote or not.
%k into the task number of this node.
9. Make sure you read the section titled 'What you Should Know About
MX' towards the end of this document.
10. Modify the custom header file 'MX.INC' if you wish.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TASK NUMBER?!? │
│ -------------- │
│ │
│ * If you run a single line Maximus BBS and haven't specified a │
│ 'Task' number in your MAX.CTL, then LEAVE OUT the '-t%k' in │
│ the above example. │
│ │
│ MX uses the '-T' command line switch to find out which │
│ 'lastus??.BBS' to use. │
│ │
│ For example: │
│ │
│ * If '-T' is ABSENT from the command line then MX would │
│ look for 'Lastuser.bbs' for more info on the current │
│ caller. │
│ │
│ * If '-T1' is present on the command line then MX would │
│ look for 'Lastus01.bbs' for more info on the current │
│ caller. │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
MX_AREA - MX Areas Info File Construction Utility
-------------------------------------------------
MX makes uses of a simplified data file(mx_area.dat) which holds
information on each message area.
MX_AREAp is used to translate an already compiled Maximus areas
information file (eg. area.dat) into the simplified MX specific area
file.
Command line options of MX_AREAp
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
MX_AREAp -Afilename
-A ,where filename is the full path and file name of the
compiled Maximus Areas information file.
Eg. MX_AREAp -Ad:\max\area.dat
MX_UDEL - The MX Users Database Maintenance Utility
--------------------------------------------------
The MX users information database maintained by MX comes in two parts:
MX_USER.IDX This is the index file for the MX user info file.
MX_USER.DAT This is the actual data file used to hold various
information on each user of MX.
You can run MX_UDELp once in a while to remove old caller-accounts
from the MX users information database.
Command line syntax of MX_UDELp
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
MX_UDELp n
Where n is an integer number.
Callers who hasn't used MX for 'n' days would be removed from the
MX Users Database.
MX Control File Syntax:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Key Words:
----------
Lastuser_Path
This tells MX where to find your 'lastus??.bbs'
files. The 'lastus??.bbs' files are written out
by Maximus each time an external program is
called from within Maximus.
MX make use of these files to find out the
callers' names, time remaining etc.
For example,
LASTUSER_PATH E:\MAX\
Export_Path
This tells MX where to put its exported message
text file.
For example,
EXPORT_PATH E:\MAX\MX\DLOAD\
MSG_Limit priv n
This option defines the MAXIMUM number of
messages that MX is to export for each class of
callers.
For example,
MSG_Limit Twit 100
MSG_Limit Disgrace 100
MSG_Limit Limited 100
MSG_Limit Normal 500
MSG_Limit Worthy 600
MSG_Limit Privil 600
MSG_Limit Favored 600
MSG_Limit Extra 600
MSG_Limit Clerk 600
MSG_Limit AsstSysop 800
MSG_Limit Sysop 1000
PACKER ext cmd : Desc
This option defines the type of file compressor
that you'll be supporting on your MX system.
You may define upto 5 packers for use with MX.
The first one defined would be used as the
default.
ext defines what file name extension to use
for this archiver.
cmd the hotkey used to activate this option.
Desc defines what MX should display on the
archiver preference menu.
For example,
PACKER ARC A : Arc v6.0
PACKER ZIP Z : PKzip v1.01
PACKER LZH L : Lharc
PACKER TXT N : No compression
Note:
-----
Where cmd is 'N', NO compression would be
applied.
PROTOCOL cmd : Desc
This option defines the type of file transfer
protocols that you'll be supporting on your
MX system.
You may define upto 10 external protocols.
The first one defined would be used as the
default.
cmd the hotkey used to activate this option.
Desc defines what MX should display on the
protocol selection menu
For example,
PROTOCOL X : Xmodem
PROTOCOL Y : Ymodem
PROTOCOL G : Ymodem/G
PROTOCOL 1 : Xmodem1K
PROTOCOL Z : Zmodem
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
* The 'Protocol' definition in MX.CTL with the hotkey 'X' is ASSUMED
to be Xmodem. Xmodem has a rather low throughput rate of approximately
73% of the true baud rate. This is accounted for in the calculation of
the time required to transfer the compressed mail bundle.
* The 'Protocol' definition in MX.CTL with the hotkey 'Z' is ASSUMED
to be Zmodem. Zmodem has a good throughput rate of approximately 96%
of the true baud rate. This is accounted for in the calculation of the
time required to transfer the compressed mail bundle.
* All other protocols defined in MX.CTL are assumed to be 90%
efficient. This should serve as a good average for most file transfer
protocols.
* MX_AREAp would ONLY convey the base-level access information to MX.
In other words, ONLY what you defined as 'MessageAccess' in your
Maximus Areas.Ctl are observed. The notion of 'Barricaded' message
areas are NOT supported by MX.
* After ANY restructuring of your message areas, MAKE SURE that you:
1) Delete the MX user database files, AND
2) Run MX_AREAp again AFTER you've recompiled your Maximus
Areas.ctl
Although Step '1' can be skipped for the mere additions of more
message areas AND/OR change of paths.
Hard-coded Error levels of MX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
255: Fatal error. You should take note of the error message on
the screen.
-=[WELL, THAT'LL BE ALL FOLKS]=-
Future enhancement, bug report etc.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Netmail me your wish list and bug reports, and I'll see what I can do
in the next version.
Please send in those post-cards, they serve as an incentive for
further developments in this BBS utility program.
Post cards should be directed to:
Mr. David Luong
308/232 Pitt Street,
Waterloo, N.S.W. 2017
Australia.