OS/2 Shareware BBS: 8 Other/08-Other.zip/pktdem.zip/README.DOC

Text File | 1993-07-09 | 16KB | 390 lines

This file contains basic information on the installation and use
of the PocketMail (tm) demonstration version.  The demonstration
version is identical to the standard version, the sole exception
being that the demonstration version has been restricted to
sending messages of 20 characters or less.  An order form has
been included in the file ORDERFRM.DOC so you can order the
standard version.

A plain text version of the installation manual is included in this
document to get you installed, and to guide you through the process of
sending your first message.  A complete explanation of PocketMail
features is contained in the Help files.

The only known problems with this version of PocketMail are in
the area of Help file support.  These known problems are:

1) Popup menus (menus raised by clicking the right hand mouse
button in a pane) may generate an error when help is requested by
pressing the F1 key.

2) The Font and Find/Replace dialog boxes do not respond to F1
help requests.

If you should have any questions or problems with this
demonstration version of PocketMail, please feel free to contact
me.

Kenneth Baumann
Cogent Business Systems, Inc.
2215 Bannister Lane
Aurora, IL 60504
[phone] Voice & Fax

CompuServe: 72401,3335
CompuServe via Internet: 72401,[e-mail]
America Online: 'Chantz'
FidoNet/NetMail: ken baumann 1:115/895

If you are within the Ameritech service region and would like to order
alphanumeric pagers, call 1 (800) 765-PAGE.

1 INTRODUCTION


PocketMail is a software product designed to facilitate the use
of alphanumeric pagers for those who are also using OS/2.  In its
present form PocketMail is probably best suited for use by
companies that have personnel who are routinely out of the
office, such as salespersons or delivery people.  It can also be
useful to companies with large physical plants that have people
on the move, such as managers in a large factory floor.

Current features

PocketMail currently has the following features :

Lists - PocketMail maintains lists of recipients (pagers) which
are likely to receive messages as a group.  An example of a list
would be your company's salesmen, since they might all receive a
reminder of the time and place for the weekly sales meeting.

Recipient (pager) maintenance - Each person carrying a pager can
be entered into PocketMail's database and saved for repeated use.
Each recipient can be included in any number of Lists.  A
recipient's paging location is stored, so that if your company
has people in different states, they can participate in lists
without regard to their physical location.

Messages - Repeated messages can be stored for re-use, saving you
the bother of having to re-type them every time you want to use
them.  Messages can also be easily entered for single use.  All
of the basic features found in text editors are available for use
while you are entering messages.

Queueing - Messages can be added quickly to a "stack" of other
messages waiting to be sent.  In other words, there is no reason
to wait for a message to complete the sending process before
beginning another one.

Background processing - PocketMail uses a facility of OS/2 to
perform more than one task at the same time.  This allows you to
send messages while simultaneously composing other messages,
adding/changing recipients, viewing the log, or performing any
other activity within PocketMail or other applications you are
running at the time.

Page log - A daily log is created by PocketMail to record all
messages you send.  The log displays the date and time of the
message, what paging terminal was used to send the message, which
recipients were sent the message, and whether or not the message
was successfully transmitted to each recipient.

Message completion feedback - You may choose audio, visual, both
or neither as feedback when a message has completed the sending
process.  In addition, if any errors occurred during the sending
process, a distinctive alarm sounds, telling you to check the log
to determine what went wrong.

Areas currently served

PocketMail has been thoroughly tested within the Ameritech
service region.  Ameritech services Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.  PocketMail
has been tested in a few other states, and in general should work
well with any paging terminal using the TAP/IXO protocol.

What to expect in future releases

In future releases, PocketMail will contain the enhancements
noted below.

Better disk utilization - The current file organization will be
improved to use disk space more efficiently.

Longer names - The current limit on names is 8 characters.  This
limit will be expanded to allow for larger and more descriptive
names.

DDE support - DDE is a powerful feature within OS/2 which allows
applications to communicate with each other.  DDE support means
that messages can be sent automatically when certain conditions
arise.  For instance, if a stockbroker has a buy order for a
particular stock at a particular price, he could receive
notification of the stock's having reached that price, without
any need for human involvement.

Long messages - PocketMail currently limits you to a maximum
message of 240 characters.  The Long message feature will allow
you to send messages of much greater size, irregardless of the
limitations of the paging terminal(s) you are using.  This will
be done by sending a series of messages until the full text has
been transmitted.  The sending of a 1000 character message to a
paging terminal that limits messages to 240 characters would
result in 5 messages being sent in succession.  The first four
would be 240 characters in length, and the final message would be
40 characters in length.

Named Pipe support - Named pipes are functionally equivalent to
DDE, except that they can provide communication between programs
running on different computers.

Wider regional support - Verified support for sending messages
throughout the United States.

Multiple ports - Support for using multiple ports simultaneously.
This will allow for better message throughput for those who are
sending a large volume of messages.

Hardware requirements

A 80286,80386, or 80486 computer capable of running OS/2.  A 386
or better is needed to run OS/2 2.x.

The minimum RAM required to run OS/2.  It is highly recommended
that you have at least 4MB of RAM or more if possible.  OS/2 may
run in less than 4MB of RAM, but performance will probably
suffer.

2.1 MB of hard disk space available, preferably in an HPFS
partition.

An available serial port which can be configured as COM1-4.

A modem using a full implementation of the Hayes AT command set.
The modem should be capable of running at speeds of both 300 and
1200 baud.

Software requirements

OS/2 2.0 or higher.  PocketMail may work on version 1.3, but has
not been extensively tested in that environment.

Serial device support must be installed.  In most systems, if a
DEVICE statement referring to COM.SYS is not found in your
CONFIG.SYS file, then you must install serial device support.  A
different driver than COM.SYS may be in use on your system, if
you are unsure, contact someone who knows.

The installation procedure requires that REXX be installed, and
that PKUNZIP2.EXE be in your PATH statement, or else contained
within the directory that holds the PKTDEMO.ZIP file.
PKUNZIP2.EXE is included with OS/2 and is usually already in your
PATH statement in the CONFIG.SYS.

2 INSTALLATION

PocketMail for OS/2 Release 1.0 is provided in compressed file
(.ZIP) format.  Since the files are compressed, you cannot run
PocketMail directly; you must run the installation program
provided, and perform any subsequent steps necessary for your
particular situation.

The following sections explain how to install PocketMail on your
system, determine and establish the proper PocketMail settings
prior to sending your first message, and how to send your first
message.

Installation

To install the PocketMail demo on your system, take the following
steps:

Open either an OS/2 Full Screen or an OS/2 Window session.  You
cannot install PocketMail from a DOS window session.

Make the drive and directory holding the PocketMail files the
current drive and directory.  You should have the following files
in this directory:

   INSTALL.CMD
   README.DOC
   ORDERFRM.DOC
   PKTDEMO.ZIP

Type INSTALL C:\PKTMAIL and press Enter.  You may want to change
the drive letter (C) or the directory name (PKTMAIL) to some
other value.  It is recommended that you install PocketMail in an
HPFS partition if you have one.  This will result in more
efficient use of your available hard disk space.  Make sure you
have at least 2.1 MB of hard disk space available on the drive
you are installing to.

The installation procedure unpacks and copies files from the
PKTDEMO.ZIP file to your destination directory.  This should take
only a minute or so.

Once the files are unpacked, the installation procedure creates a
program icon on the OS/2 desktop.

The OS/2 window you opened for installation will close
automatically when the installation is complete.

In order to run, PocketMail needs to be able to access the .DLL files that
are created as part of the installation.  Your CONFIG.SYS file must be
changed according to the following rules:

   1) If you are leaving the DLL files in the installation directory, then
either insert a '.;' after the LIBPATH= , or add the installation directory
to the LIBPATH, if they are not already there.

   2) If you move the DLL files to another directory, add that directory to
the LIBPATH statement.

After changing your CONFIG.SYS you must of course reboot your system so
that the changes will be in effect.

Starting PocketMail

Using the prescribed procedure for installing PocketMail on the
desktop puts a PocketMail icon on the OS/2 desktop.  Unless you
have moved it to another location, then open PocketMail from the
desktop by double clicking on its icon.

Port setup

In order to send messages with PocketMail, you must first specify
which port you are going to be using, along with any needed modem
settings.  You need to use the Port dialog to do this.  The Port
Settings dialog can be raised by choosing the Port Settings
option of the Settings menu.

PocketMail is shipped with the following information already
specified:

   Dialog field         Default value

   Port                 COM1
   Dial Prefix          DT
   Modem Init. String   X4

If you need to change the values in these fields, you may wish to
refer to the Help information for the Port Settings dialog.

Default paging terminal setup

In order to send messages with PocketMail, you should first
establish a default paging terminal setting.  The default values
are used to automatically fill in fields when you subsequently
add Paging Terminals.  You need to use the Paging Terminal dialog
to establish the proper default values for your location (see
Appendix A).  The Paging Terminal dialog can be raised by
choosing the Paging Terminal option of the Settings menu.

PocketMail is shipped with the following DEFAULT setting already
provided:

   Dialog field            Default value
   Name                    DEFAULT
   Paging Terminal         5630024
   Maximum message length  240
   Baud                    1200
   Data bits               7
   Parity                  Even

In most cases, the only value you need to change is the Paging
Terminal number.  The default Paging Terminal number is correct
for sending messages in northern Illinois.  You may occasionally
need to set the baud rate, as not all paging terminals operate at
1200 baud.

If you need to change the values in these fields, be sure to
refer to the help information for the Paging Terminal dialog.

We suggest that you first try sending a message by using DEFAULT
as the Paging Term.  for a Recipient.  Once you are able to send
a message successfully using the DEFAULT setting, then begin
adding Paging Terminals.  We recommend you use the Paging
Terminals you add as the Paging Term.s for Recipients, not the
DEFAULT file.

3 Sending your first message with PocketMail

The first step in sending your first message is to open the
PocketMail window.  If it isn't already open, then follow the
instructions in the section on opening PocketMail.

Now that you have the PocketMail window open, complete the
following steps to send your first message(s).

Review the Port Settings and make any needed changes.

Review the DEFAULT setting of the Paging Terminal dialog box and
make any needed changes.  Unless you are in northern Illinois,
you will want to change the Paging Terminal field at the least.

Choose the Add List option of the Lists menu.  The Add List
dialog box is displayed.  Enter a List name of your choice and
press the OK button.  The list you just entered is displayed in
the list pane.

Choose the Add Recipient option of the Recipients menu.  The Add
Recipient dialog box is displayed.  Enter a Recipient name, and a
Pager number.  Select the DEFAULT Paging Term.  Press the OK
button.  The Recipient you just entered is displayed in the
Recipient pane.

Enter a sample message in the Message Text pane.

Select the Send option from the Send menu.  PocketMail
immediately begins sending your message, which may take 20 to 30
seconds to complete.  If there is an error which causes your
message not to be sent you hear a siren-like alarm, and will
probably also see a dialog box explaining what error has
occurred.  If no dialog box is seen, then select the Log item of
the File menu to determine what went wrong with your call.  If an
error occurs, then you will probably have to make changes to
either the Port setting or the DEFAULT Paging Terminal setting
and try again.

When you have successfully sent your message, you may wish to
check the Log as added verification that the message was sent.

After successfully sending your first message, we suggest that
you create additional Paging Terminal settings.  These additional
settings are the ones you should use when defining Recipients.
The DEFAULT Paging Terminal should be used primarily to allow
PocketMail to fill in the default values when creating a new
Paging Terminal.

If you haven't already done so, we suggest that you read the Help
files to gain a better understanding of how PocketMail operates.
Select the Contents help item in the Help menu in order to review
the PocketMail manual.

Once you have familiarized yourself with the PocketMail
components, then you can proceed with defining the Lists,
Recipients, and Messages you will be using.

Appendix A

The information listed below is provided to assist you in setting
up Paging Terminals in the Ameritech region.  The data is
accurate as of 11/92, but is subject to change by your local
phone company.  If you are not within the Ameritech service
region, contact your local paging services provider for the
details about your local paging terminal.

At time of publication, all of the Paging Terminals known use 7
data bits, Even parity, and have a Maximum Message length of 240.

   Location             Paging Terminal #    Baud

   Northern Illinois    708 563 0024         1200
   Southern Illinois    618 397 6470         300
   Indiana              317 685 8374         300
   Michigan             313 559 2049         1200
   Ohio                 216 696 7243         1200
   Wisconsin            414 821 0297         300