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1994-04-19
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Preliminary documentation:
-------------------------
HeadEdit Point
copyright (c) 1994 by Mark Kimes and Mike Berry
All rights reserved
Overview:
========
HeadEdit Point is an OS/2 2.x PM 32-bit Fidonet Technology Network (FTN)
point package. The HeadEdit Point (HP) system is standalone, not an
adjunct to an existing BBS; no other software is required to be an FTN
point.
HP's objective is to make FTN pointing as simple as possible so that you
can spend your time reading and writing mail instead of wrangling with
integrating complicated software packages just to get to your mail.
NOTE: HPFS is required.
Installation:
============
Move HEADEDIT.EXE to a directory of its own on an HPFS partition (HPFS
is _required_; don't bother trying on a FAT drive). There should be
plenty of room available; everything HP needs it will create here,
including message bases, which can grow rather large.
Run HEADEDIT.EXE to unpack the files contained therein (HEADEDIT.EXE is
a self-extracting LZH archive). You can then erase HEADEDIT.EXE.
While HP should be simple enough for you to just start up and use
intuitively, people's intuitions vary and this document may serve as a
preliminary look at the program without the bother of setting it up, so
we'll continue in some detail to get you comfortable with the concepts
behind using HP.
Starting:
========
To start HP, type HEAD4 at a command line or set up a program object for
HEAD4.EXE and double-click it. You should assure that the directory
into which you unpacked the HEADEDIT.EXE archive is the default
directory. Here's what the first page of a Settings notebook for an
HP program object might look like:
╔══╤══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╤══╤══╗
║--│ HEAD4.EXE - Settings │ │ ║
╟──┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──┴──╢
║┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║
║│ ├┐ ║
║│ │├┐ ║
║│ │Program ║
║│ ││││ ║
║│ ││Session ║
║│ Required ││││ ║
║│ Path and file name: │││Assocation ║
║│ ┌───────────────────────┐ ┌───────╖ ││││ ║
║│ │C:\HEADEDIT\HEAD4.EXE │ │Find...║ ││││General ║
║│ └───────────────────────┘ ╘═══════╝ ││││ ║
║│ ││││ ║
║│ Optional ││││ ║
║│ Parameters: ││││ ║
║│ ┌───────────────────────────────────┐ ││││ ║
║│ │ │ ││││ ║
║│ └───────────────────────────────────┘ ││││ ║
║│ Working directory: ││││ ║
║│ ┌───────────────────────────────────┐ ││││ ║
║│ │ │ ││││ ║
║│ └───────────────────────────────────┘ ││││ ║
║│ ││││ ║
║│ ┌───────╖ ┌───────╖ ││││ ║
║│ │ Undo ║ │ Help ║ ││││ ║
║│ ╘═══════╝ ╘═══════╝ ││││ ║
║│ < >││││ ║
║└┬───────────────────────────────────────────────┘│││ ║
║ └┬───────────────────────────────────────────────┘││ ║
║ └┬───────────────────────────────────────────────┘│ ║
║ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
The first time:
--------------
(Note: Setting up a point address with a Boss should be done _before_
deluging the poor fellow with requests for files and echos. Call his
or her BBS and ask for an address, session and "Areafix" passwords.)
The first time you run HP you'll get a setup dialog asking for
information on your address and your Boss. Fill in the fields
completely, then click the Add button (repeat as required for additional
addresses). Then select an address and click the Okay button. You'll
then be presented with a dialog asking for your name. Enter it and
click the Add button (repeat as desired for additional names). Then
select a name and click the Okay button.
Next you'll want to get some messages. Select Area->Pick Area from the
pulldown menu, or click the button on the main window that reads
NETMAIL. Add the areas you'd like to receive. HP generates special
messages to your Boss to add the areas. Select Msgs->Export Msgs from
the pulldown menu, then select Mailer->Call Boss. You'll get a mailer
setup dialog. Fill in the fields completely, then click Okay. The
mailer screen will appear, and HP will call your Boss to deliver your
requests.
Now the hard part -- wait several hours so your Boss can get some new
mail.
The next time you run HP you'll notice the setup dialogs don't appear;
HP starts assuming the first address and first name you entered into the
original setup dialogs (assuming you entered more than one, of course).
Call your Boss and pick up your mail. Then select Msgs->Import Msgs to
import the new mail into a form you can read (this may take a couple of
minutes). When HP is finished importing, you're ready to roll.
There's more information on the various steps below, if you're a novice
and need more help.
Before you shut HP down, use the Font and Color Palette objects to
customize its appearance to taste. HP will remember your changes.
Using:
=====
Reading messages:
----------------
To read mail, simply use the <-Msg and Msg-> buttons to step through the
messages in an area. Use the Area-> and <-Area to change areas. You
can also pick messages directly using the Msgs->Pick Msg dialog, or by
clicking the "# of #" button on the main window, and pick areas directly
by selecting Areas->Pick Area or by clicking the "Areaname" button on
the main window (say, that dialog looks familiar!). Also look for
context menus on many fields (accessed by clicking mouse button two on
the field).
To read only personal mail, use the Filter option -- HP builds a custom
filter for you called Personal for this purpose. The Filter option can
be very powerful, allowing you to pick interesting messages out of large
conferences without manually scanning each message.
HP keeps track of what are (or might be) replies to the message you're
reading. The Msgs->Pick Msg window lists them in its lower container so
that you can follow a message thread in any order you like. "Bookmarks"
are provided so that you can save your current position for instant
return before you wander off exploring.
HP also provides the usual amenities (in spades), like Twit filter,
global new message scanning, spell checker link and
tagging/exporting/archiving messages. Everything is maintained from the
program itself; there's never a need to load a text editor and edit
cryptic control files.
Writing messages:
----------------
Of course, reading is probably only half of what you want to do with a
point system; you may have something to say yourself. To reply to a
message, select Msgs->Reply or hold down the CTRL key and press "r"
(written "^r" -- this is known as an "accelerator key;" you'll see them
listed beside their menu items where available). To post a new message,
select Msgs->New Msg or type ^w. To abandon (abort) a message you're
writing, just move to another message or area and answer "Y"es to the
confirmation popup. You'll notice that when you're entering a message a
couple of buttons at the bottom of the window change to let you easily
save or abort the message.
One thing that's not obvious is how to forward a message. Select
Msgs->Save on a message that you're _not_ in the process of editting;
HP will ask you if you want to forward it, and present the Areas dialog
if so. Select the area to which you want to forward the message and
it's done. You can also reply to a message but have the message you
write go into a different area (usually used to write a netmail reply
to an echomail message) by selecting Msgs->Reply to diff. area and
selecting the area from the Areas dialog.
Hint: Although HP contains its own text editor, optimized for use in
writing messages, you can call an external editor if you prefer by
hooking the Edit->Spell Check command (set with Edit->Set Spell Checker)
to the external editor of your choice. To enter a message, you'd start
the message as above, then press ^c to invoke your editor. When you end
your editor, the message is reimported into HP.
Tear/Origin lines (taglines):
----------------------------
HP allows you to set a default tear and origin line and use those
defaults for all messages (Misc->Origins/Tearlines->Set Default... and
Use Default...). HP also allows "rotating" tear and/or origin lines, on
an address-wide or per-area basis (Misc->Origins/Tearlines->Origin/Tear
Dialog). Lastly, HP allows you to pick a particular origin and/or tear
line for the next message only (Misc->Origins/Tearlines->Pick
Origin/Tearline). That should be enough options to cover all users and
circumstances.
"Stealing" a tagline is as simple as highlighting it in a message (use
the MLE viewer) and selecting Edit->Copy to Clip, then calling up the
Origin/Tear Dialog and pressing CTRL-INS to place it into one of the
multiline edit (MLE) fields.
Importing messages:
------------------
Messages must be in the appropriate "inbound" directory to be imported;
HP puts them there automagically as they are received. When you look
at the Addresses dialog, you're told which areas have importable mail
as you highlight the addresses.
To import, choose Msgs->Import Msgs from the pulldown menu. A dialog
appears that allows you to tailor the import process. You can strip
some control information to decrease the amount of data stored in the
message base. You can Compress message text as it's imported. You can
choose to Append new messages to the existing message base (otherwise
the old message base is wiped prior to importing new messages). You
can elect to export mail (see below) before importing. Finally, you
can request a bell to sound to notify you when the import process is
complete (it doesn't take long, but why stare at the screen?). Click
Okay to begin importing, or Cancel to abort.
When the import process completes, your new mail is ready to be read.
Exporting messages:
------------------
Exporting messages is usually pretty much automagic; when you shut down
HP, you'll be asked if you want to export new messages that you may have
entered (if you did). You can also select Msgs->Export Msgs from the
pulldown menu. The export process is _very_ fast so there's no option
to have a bell ring when completed.
Maintaining the message base:
----------------------------
If you choose to append new messages to the existing message base when
you import mail (see above), you'll need to perform periodic message
base maintenance. Select Misc->Maintenance from the pulldown menu.
There are two options:
Quick-pack Area: Removes references to deleted messages. The
message text is not removed, only the index
records, so this is eye-blink fast.
Full Maintenance: Performs full maintenance, including completely
packing out deleted messages and trimming message
areas to the maximum quantity specified in each
area's setup (you access the Area Setup dialog by
selecting Areas->Pick Area from the pulldown
menu).
Twits:
-----
It never fails; there are people in any message area that irritate you.
Don't be irritated. Twit them so you don't see their messages.
Misc->Twits calls up the Twit Maintenance dialog. You can specify,
along with the twit's name, an area (the user name is only considered a
twit in that area if given), a number of days to keep the user name
twitted (0 means forever, though you can remove them manually) and "No
import" which prevents the twit's messages from ever entering the
message base.
To add a twit, fill in the Name: entry field (and other optional fields
as desired) and click Add. To change a twit, select the user name in
the listbox (which causes all fields to be filled with the current
information for that name), edit the fields, then click Change. To
delete a user name, select it and click Delete. When you're done,
click Exit.
Calling a bossnode:
------------------
Click on the Mailer option on HP's menu bar. Click on "Call Boss" entry
of dropdown menu. The mailer will attempt to call the boss system that
was entered during HP setup. Call progress will be provided in the
"Mailer - Status" window and also in HP's status area.
Calling other nodes:
-------------------
To call someone besides a bossnode, click Mailer->Call Others. The
resultant dialog contains a listbox that displays addresses for which
files exist in your outbound directory for convenience. Fill in the
address to call, together with the phone number and password to use.
If you've called the address before, or if you have a version 7 nodelist
available, HP will fill in the phone number and password fields for you
if you leave them blank. If not, you must do so manually. If you
forget, HP will remind you by placing the cursor in the phone number
field and refusing to call.
Although not required, a version 7 nodelist will be used if found in
a directory named NODELIST off of HP's main directory.
Toolbar:
-------
The toolbar gives you mouse shortcuts to some of HP's commands. To
get help on what a particular toolbar button does, click mouse button
2 while the pointer is over the button of interest. The toolbar can
be turned off (Misc->Toggle toolbar) to conserve window space.
HeadUtil.EXE:
============
HeadUtil is provided to allow experienced users to automate some HP
functions in a command (batch) file. Run it without arguments for
command line syntax. Note that you don't _have_ to run this; it's only
for automation purposes. Everything that HeadUtil does, HP will do.
Import samples:
==============
This section is just to let you know something about the import
capabilities of the HeadEdit Point system. No one likes to wait
a long time for their mail to be made "readable," and HP won't
make you wait long, as you'll see.
Timings were made using 20 real mail bundles (archived with PKZIP 1.x
and ARC 5.12) totalling 615725 bytes compressed, 1567015 bytes
uncompressed, containing a total of 26 packets. Decompression is
included in these timings. Normal (for my system) background activity
was present (BBS running, mail activities). Garden-variety 486/33 ISA
clone with a 14ms IDE drive (16-bit controller) running OS/2 2.1GA.
1389 messages in 0 min 56 sec with no compression (command line
"headutil <addr> -l") for an average of 24.8 messages/sec.
Resultant message area files:
7-08-93 6:11p 116 0 380_ADULT.PDX
7-08-93 6:11p 78 0 380_CHAT.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 6956 0 C_ECHO.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 2358 0 DR_DEBUG.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 116 0 FEMALE_SYSOP.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 5702 0 HOLYSMOKE.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 1396450 0 MASTER.MSG
7-08-93 6:11p 230 0 NETMAIL.PDX
7-08-93 6:11p 344 0 NET_DEV.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 30858 0 OS2.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 496 0 OS2BBS_DEV.PDX
7-08-93 6:12p 4714 0 OS2PROG.PDX
7-08-93 6:11p 116 0 R19COORD.PDX
7-08-93 6:11p 1180 0 R19SYSOP.PDX
7-08-93 6:11p 78 0 WANT-ADS.PDX
15 file(s) 1449792 bytes used
Messages average about 1043 bytes each (pretty much average for Fidonet
traffic).
1389 messages in 4 min 29 sec with compression (command line "headutil
<addr> -l -c") for an average of 5.1 messages/sec.
Resultant message area files:
3-21-93 2:09a <DIR> 0 .
3-21-93 2:09a <DIR> 0 ..
7-08-93 6:02p 116 0 380_ADULT.PDX
7-08-93 6:03p 78 0 380_CHAT.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 6956 0 C_ECHO.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 2358 0 DR_DEBUG.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 116 0 FEMALE_SYSOP.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 5702 0 HOLYSMOKE.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 935072 0 MASTER.MSG
7-08-93 6:05p 230 0 NETMAIL.PDX
7-08-93 6:06p 344 0 NET_DEV.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 30858 0 OS2.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 496 0 OS2BBS_DEV.PDX
7-08-93 6:07p 4714 0 OS2PROG.PDX
7-08-93 6:05p 116 0 R19COORD.PDX
7-08-93 6:05p 1180 0 R19SYSOP.PDX
7-08-93 6:03p 78 0 WANT-ADS.PDX
15 file(s) 988414 bytes used
Messages average about 711 bytes each.
From this we see that compression saved 461378 bytes of disk space (apx.
32% less disk space) but required 3 min 27 sec longer to import (apx.
77% longer). Which method you choose will depend on the speed of your
machine, quantity of messages normally received, amount of storage
available, whether disk compression is used and, of course, personal
preference. Hopefully this section will help you reach a decision with
a minimal amount of trial-and-error.
Registering HeadEdit Point:
==========================
This beta version of HeadEdit Point may be registered by sending $25.00
US to the mailing address below. Future (release) versions will cost
somewhat more (about $35-$50). Registrations are good for new versions
for at least one year at no additional charge. You are granted a 30-day
evaluation period in which to try out HP. If you don't register (buy)
HP after that period, you should stop using it.
Contacting the authors:
----------------------
Mark Kimes
542 Merrick
Shreveport, LA 71104 USA
(318)222-3455 data
Fidonet#1:380/16.0
(Messaging)
Mike Berry
(318)688-7078 data
Fidonet#1:380/100.0
(Mailer/comms)