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1990-06-26
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HPReader
By Scott M. Baker
What is HPReader?
HPReader is a message reader program that I have written. It is similar
to many other mail reader programs out there (such as Jim Nutt's MSGED or
Front Door's mail reader utility), but it offers a few unique capabilities:
* Dynamic configuration based on your areas.BBS file. HPReader will
automatically use the AREAS.BBS file definitions rather than it's
own configuration table. (one less table of areas to maintain)
* Reads area descriptions from ECHOLIST.*. HPReader will load in an
ECHOLIST file (if present) and get it's area descriptions from that
file. (one less table of area descriptions to maintain)
* Compatible with both FIDO and HP (High Performance) message formats.
(The HP format is a new format that I am developing to replace
the fido standard)
* Supports file requesting and file attaching
* EGA/VGA extended screen length modes
* Full screen editor
Those are most of the features that set HPReader apart form other sysop
mail reader programs. One of the nicest things about HPReader is that HPReader
has very little configuration parameters that need to be set up. (Basically
only a few paths and your net/node address). With other mail ready programs,
you usually have to maintain an additional list of areas/descriptions, but
HPReader automatically loads this information out of the AREAS.BBS and
ECHOLIST.* files.
HPReader DOES NOT support remote users, so therefore, it is only useful
as a sysop message editor.
What is HPReader compatible with?
HPReader is compatible with the FIDO .MSG message standard. It will
run on both monochrome and color systems, and should work in 300k or less
memory. It supports up to 255 areas. So basically, HPReader should work with
FrontDoor, Binkley, Opus, Fido, EchoDoor, MSGED, Echodor, and a number of
other products that also use the FIDO format.
HPReader is also developed to use my new HP message format. The HP
format uses an index file and a body file to store all messages in a message
area. Since I have not released my message tosser or my BBS (both are written
to use the HP format), you will probably not need to bother with any of the
HP format information.
How do I set up HPReader?
Basically, you have to edit HPReader.CTL (which contains all parameters).
You will need to specify the locations of your AREAS.BBS file and optionally
your ECHOLIST.* file. You will also need to specify the location of your
netmail area and you net/node address. The control file is self-explanitory
for it's parameters.
When you log into HPReader for the first time, HPReader will ask you a
few questions and create a .UDF file for you.
How do I run HPReader?
After setting HPReader up, all you have to do is type "HPReader" at the
command line and providing HPReader is configured properly, it should load and
display the last read message in your NETMAIL area.
HPREADER COMMANDS
-----------------
LEFT-ARROW Message Forward
RIGHT-ARROW Message BackWard
UP-ARROW Scroll message 1 line up
DN-ARROW Scroll message 1 line down
PGUP Page message up
Page-Up will scroll the current message one page up (i.e. towards the
beginning of the message). If you are at the top of the message, you can
not scroll any further.
PGDN Page message down
Page-Down will scroll the current message one page down (i.e. towards
the bottom of the message). If you are at the bottom of the message, you
will not be permitted to scroll any further.
ALT-A Change Current Area
The ALT-A command will allow you to change message areas. (To either
one of your echo areas or your netmail area). Selection is made with the
up and down arrows. Press RETURN to select an area.
ALT-D Doctor
ALT-D will allow you to do some low-level editing of the message. You
may change various fields in the header and really screw things up if you
aren't careful.
ALT-E Enter Message
You may enter a message with the ALT-E command. You will be prompted
for who you wish to address the message to and the message's subject. You
will then be teleported over to the full screen editor and permitted to
type your message in.
ALT-F Toggle Flags
You may use ALT-F to toggle the FLAGS of any message. You may set or
reset any flag (i.e. FileAttach, Private, Crash, etc). You may also toggle
flags while you are entering the header for a message (via the ALT-R or
ALT-E commands)
ALT-H Help
ALT-H will pop up a screen showing a list of the commands that you
may use. Pressing any key will erase the list and return you back to what
you were doing.
ALT-I Toggle Hidden Information
The ALT-I command will toggle whether HPReader will show various
information such as SEEN-BY and path lines, EID's, MSGID's, etc. Since
most of this information is quite ugly, HPReader defaults it to be hidden.
ALT-K Kill message
ALT-K will kill (delete) the current message. You will first be
prompted to verify the deletion. Once a message is deleted, there is
no way to recover it (except with an undelete program).
ALT-R Reply
The ALT-R command will enter a reply to the current message. The
subject field will be copied from the original message, and the original
"From" user name will be copied to your "To" user name. You will also
be prompted for if you wish to quote the original message.
ALT-S Change Area/Size Graph
Similar to the ALT-A command, this command will can your message areas
and present you with a sorted listing of the message area sizes. You may
then select a message area as with ALT-A or browse through the listing.
This option is handy to see which areas are eating up the most space on
your drive.
ESC Exit
Pressing Escape at any time will save your lastread pointers, exit
HPReader, and return you to the dos prompt. You may also press ALT-X
or ALT-Q to exit.
<num>
Typing a number will allow you to jump to a specific message number
in the current message area.
LASTREAD FILES:
Currently, there are three ways the HPReader may keep track of your
lastread pointers. You may use the LASTREAD.BBS files which are present in
your fido message subdirectories, you may use a Mach-10 userbase (My bbs
which isn't yet available), or you may rely on HPReader's .LST files to
preserve your lastread pointers. Here is how to select them:
LASTREAD.BBS
The lastread.bbs files may be selected by specifying LASTREAD
as your bbs type in your UDF file. (Complete details are inside
1.UDF)
MACH-10
Since my bbs hasn't been released yet, don't worry about it.
HPREADER *.LST
HPReader will automatically create a .LST file in the current
directory for each .UDF file. These .LST files contain all of your
lastread pointers for all of the areas. The .LST files are useful
in the following situations:
1) You are reading messages in an area that is not supported
by your bbs and therefore, your bbs does not have lastread
data for the area.
2) Your bbs does not support any other format.
For most users, specifying the LASTREAD.BBS format will be the correct
choice.
.UDF FILES:
HPReader uses .UDF files to keep track of various people who can use
HPReader. HPReader will automatically create a .UDF file for you on your first
logon.