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FORBREAD.ME
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1992-09-17
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INTRODUCTION
____________
ForBrows is an offline computer conferencing tool, designed to work with
IBM's OS/2 Bulletin Board System (OS2BBS). ForBrows can assist you in down-
loading, reading, and posting your own conference items.
ABOUT ELECTRONIC CONFERENCING ON IBM'S OS2BBS
_____________________________________________
IBM's OS2BBS conference consists of a number of files called "forums". Each
forum file consists of a "header", which explains the topic of the forum,
followed by a varying number of entries called "appends". An "append" is
simply a note that has been appended to the forum file. Each append will
contain a subject line, and perhaps a reference to an earlier append.
The discussion in a forum generally centers around a specific topic. The
name of a forum usually provides a good hint about the topic being discussed.
For example, the forum file called OS2GAMES.CFO contains a number of appends
from different contributors, discussing various computer games that run under
OS/2.
USING FORBROWS FOR THE FIRST TIME
The first time you run FORBROWS.EXE, it will prompt you for information about
where to save downloaded forums, where to create append files, etc. In
general, you will probably want to accept the suggested defaults. The
on-line help can be used for for more details about the initial ForBrows
prompts.
TECHNICAL NOTE - It's important that the subdirectory name for downloaded
OS2BBS forum files end in "\OS2BBS". The final subdirectory name is used by
ForBrows to figure out where any uploaded appends are to be sent. If
"\OS2BBS" is not used as the forum directory, then there is a table entry in
FORBROWS.CTL which must be changed. (See the HOSTSERVER= statements in
FORBROWS.CTL for further details, if needed).
After ForBrows has finished prompting for default information, you will see
the main ForBrows window. Since you have not yet downloaded any forums for
off-line viewing, the main window will be empty. To download forum files for
off-line viewing, begin by using PMHPO or the OS/2 communications manager to
log-on to the IBM OS2BBS host system. Then follow the instructions in the
next section.
DOWNLOADING FORUM FILES FOR THE FIRST TIME
1. Log-on to the IBM OS2BBS system using PMHPO or the OS/2 Communications
Manager.
2. Make sure you are on the IBMLink Main Menu screen within the PMHPO or
CommMgr window.
3. After you have logged-on successfully, switch back to the ForBrows
window, click on the "Conference" menu, and then select "Download fora or
files from host". This will cause ForBrows to start the FORADOWN.EXE
program for you.
4. In the ForaDown window, click on the "List" button. This will start a
sequence of interactions between ForaDown and the host OS2BBS system.
The end result will be that a list of available "forum" files will be
downloaded and displayed in the ForaDown list-box. This step (because of
the download time) may take a couple of minutes, depending on the line
speed of your host connection.
5. After the download completes, you will see a list of available "forum"
files, each with the comment "Not yet Downloaded..." beside it. The
names of the forum suggest the topics that are discussed within them.
You may select items to download by clicking mouse button 1 on an item.
One or more items may be selected.
6. After selecting items, click on the "Download" button. This will start
another sequence of interactions between ForaDown and the OS2BBS system.
As part of this step, each of the selected files will be downloaded to
your disk. Because of the size of the forum files (some are quite large)
each download may take from a few minutes up to about 30 minutes. The
time will vary depending on the size of the forum file, and the line
speed of your host connection.
7. Each time you log-on to the VM host system, you may want to perform
another "List". This will provide ForaDown with new information about
which forum files have changed. ForaBrows keeps some information about
each of the files you have downloaded. The next time you download a
forum that you had downloaded earlier, ForaDown will attempt to download
only the updates to the forum, rather than the entire file. The updates
are then merged with your existing copy.
VIEWING DOWNLOADED FORUM FILES
After ForaDown has completed downloading the first forum, you may view it as
follows:
o Switch to the ForBrows window.
o Under the "Conference" menu, select "List available fora...".
o A file-list dialog will be displayed. If your defaults were set up cor-
rectly, it should list the contents of the \OS2BBS subdirectory.
o Click mouse button 1 over the name of the forum you wish to view.
o Click on the "View" button.
o The forum will be loaded into the ForBrows window for viewing.
ForBrows contains a row of buttons at the bottom of the window to assist in
following subjects or references forward and backward, as well as going to
the next or previous append. For more information about ForBrows capabili-
ties, please see the on-line help.
REGISTERING A FORUM
After viewing a forum for the first time, ForBrows will ask you if you wish
to add the forum to your profile. If you click on "Yes", ForBrows will "reg-
ister" the forum. This means that the each time you view the forum, ForBrows
will remember the last append that you viewed. The next time a registered
forum is browsed, ForBrows will try to display the next un-viewed append.
You may display the list of registered fora by selecting "List registered
fora..." under the "Conference" menu.
CREATING AN APPEND OFF-LINE
ForBrows makes it easy to create your own appends off-line, and to upload and
post them later to the IBM OS2BBS host system. To create a forum append:
o While viewing the forum you wish to append to, click on the "Create
append for current forum..." selection under the "Conference" menu.
o ForBrows will build a "skeleton" append, and then invoke an editor to
allow you to enter append text.
o The skeleton append will contain the same subject line as the append you
were viewing. The Ref: (reference) line will refer to the append you
were viewing. If necessary, you may change the content of the Subject
and Ref lines.
o The third line of the skeleton will be the "Append:" line. Do not change
this line in any way; it contains important information that will be used
later when uploading and posting the append. If altered incorrectly,
your append will be rejected by the OS2BBS host.
o Enter any text you wish to append to the forum, then save the append
file.
POSTING AN APPEND TO THE OS2BBS HOST
To upload the appends that you have created off-line, and post them to OS2BBS
host, you must do the following:
1. Log-on to the IBM OS2BBS system using PMHPO or the OS/2 Communications
Manager.
2. Make sure you are on the IBMLink Main Menu screen within the PMHPO or
CommMgr window.
3. After you have logged-on successfully, switch back to the ForBrows
window, click on the "Conference" menu, and then select "Send appends to
host". This will cause ForBrows to start the FORAUP.EXE program for you.
4. ForaUp will display a dialog window and list the contents of your append
subdirectory. Your append files will have filenames based upon the date
and time they were created.
5. Select any appends you wish to post by clicking mouse button 1 over the
append name.
6. Click on the "Send" button. This will start a series of interactions
with the OS2BBS host system; each selected append will be uploaded to the
host, and a host command will be issued to post the uploaded append to
the OS2BBS copy of the forum.
On-line help is available that explains ForaUp use in greater detail.
A PARTIAL LIST OF FORUM FILES AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOADING
C-SET2.CFO - discusses the IBM C-SET2 compiler
E-EDITOR.CFO - discusses the enhanced editor that comes with OS/2
FORBROWS.CFO - discusses FORBROWS
ISTHERE.CFO - discusses "Is there a product that..."
MINIAPPS.CFO - discusses the mini-applications that come with OS/2
NETWARE.CFO - discusses Novell NetWare for OS/2
NEW2OS2.CFO - a beginner forum for new OS/2 users or programmers
OS2APPS.CFO - for the discussion of application programs and systems
designed for OS/2.
OS2BASE.CFO - discusses the OS/2 base operating system commands and func-
tions
OS2BBS.CFO- discusses the OS/2 Bulletin Board System
OS2CM.CFO - discusses the IBM Extended Services (ES) Communications
Manager
OS2DBM.CFO - discusses the IBM Extended Services (ES) Database Manager
OS2DOS.CFO - discusses OS/2 virtual Dos Machine (VDM) support
OS2INST.CFO - discusses OS/2 installation
OS2LAN.CFO - discusses the IBM LAN Server/Reqester (LS) for OS/2
OS2MISC.CFO - OS/2 general question and answer, miscellaneous topics
OS2PMPGM.CFO - discusses OS/2 Presentation Manager programming
OS2PRG.CFO - discusses OS/2 base programming and system routines
OS2PRINT.CFO - discusses OS/2 printing, print control, drivers, spooling,
etc.
OS2QANDA.CFO - a forum for general OS/2 questions and answers
OS2REXX.CFO - discusses the REXX language for OS/2
OS2TCPIP.CFO - discusses IBM's OS/2 TCP/IP
OS2TLKIT.CFO - discusses the OS/2 developer's toolkit
OS2WIN.CFO - discusses OS/2 Windows support and programming
OS2WPS.CFO - discusses the OS/2 2.0 Workplace Shell
TESTER.CFO - a place for test appends