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1992-04-13
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Post Master Version 1.0
-= For Wildcat! 3.XX systems only =-
Copyright (c) 1992 Boardwalk Software - All Rights Reserved.
Technical Support and the latest versions!
The Boardwalk! (206) 941-3124 (DATA)
Post Master - An automatic message sending program for Wildcat! BBS systems.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Disclaimer
Boardwalk Software hereby disclaims all warranties relating to this product,
whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Boardwalk
Software cannot and will not be liable for any special, incidental,
consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other
reason, even if Boardwalk Software or an authorized Boardwalk Software agent
has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall the
liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the license to use
software, regardless of the form and/or extent of the claim. The user of
this program bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.
Copyright
Regardless of the method of marketing used, Post Master is NOT in the
"Public Domain". It is copyrighted by Dave Cody and Boardwalk Software.
License
Post Master is a Shareware product. As such, it is made available to the
general computing public for evaluation. Users are licensed to operate Post
Master on their personal computers for the purpose of test and evaluation on
a trial basis for a limited trial period. It is not possible to reasonably
define any definitive limits of a fair and equitable time period for
evaluation, therefore, it is left to the user's decision as to its
usefulness. If the user decides the program is not of sufficient merit to
warrant purchase through registration with Boardwalk Software, the program
should be removed from their personal computer. Otherwise, if the program
is deemed useful and is in regular use on the user's personal computer
system, registration with Boardwalk Software is required.
Registration
You may register Post Master by sending the enclosed REGISTER.FRM along with
a check in the amount of $20.00 to Dave Cody at the address listed below:
Dave Cody
P.O. Box 99948
Tacoma, WA 98499
Technical Support
Comments and suggestions about Post Master are welcome as well as any
comments or suggestions that you may have in terms of additional utilities
you would like to see written. Please call The Boardwalk! at (206) 941-3124.
I can also be reached via Fidonet at 343/47 and Mustang Software Support BBS.
Post Master - An automatic message sending program for Wildcat! BBS systems.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Operation
Post Master is fairly straight forward and most of the information you need
to run the program is in the help screen you can view by running the program
with no parameters or with /?. The point of the program is the ability to
send one message to one or more callers from the DOS command line. You
start by creating a text file or use one created for you by another program.
Using any of the available command line parameters you can send this message
to callers by name, security level, or using a merge file created by a
program like WCPRO. Post Master will add the message(s) to the database
very quickly. I have included some examples and suggested uses towards the
end of this documentation. Post Master MUST be run from the same directory
as Makewild and Wildcat!, i.e. the Wildcat! HOME directory.
Multi-Node
If you run a multi-node system you can safely use Post Master while other
nodes are running since Post Master uses the same file locking routines as
used by Wildcat!. However, Post Master requires the %wcnodeid% environment
variable to be set.
Feature List
■ Send one message to one or more callers
■ Will use a merge list or allow you to specify a security level
■ Automatically maintain the high message setting in the conference
■ Checks and uses the conference settings for allow private, force private,
allow return receipt, allow attachments.
■ Allows messages to flagged for private, return receipt, and attachments
■ Purges message of all control characters below #32
■ Sets the mail waiting flag for callers to whom the message is sent
■ Truncates message lines at 79 characters - does not word wrap.
■ Import a text file directly or an IMP file in the message database dir
Post Master - An automatic message sending program for Wildcat! BBS systems.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Command line switches
Case is not important but each option must be separated by a space.
/I:<text file>
This is the only required switch. All of the others have defaults or are
not necessary to the functionality of the program. The import file must be
an ASCii text file and can be in the current directory or you may specify
the name and path to it on the command line. Post Master will read the file
and extract control characters like the page feed and bell characters. If
this filename has an extension of "IMP" Post Master will simply add the line
<<filename.imp to the message. It will not test for the existance of this
import file, it is your responsibility to place the file in the proper
message subdirectory. If you use the IMP feature do not specify a path.
/C:<conference number> DEFAULT = 0
Post Master will send messages to any established conference. It defaults
to conference 0 as does Wildcat! itself, but it will NOT create a conference
database if one does not already exist.
/M:<merge file>
The merge file is a list of names you want the message sent to. This list
can be created with a number of programs, but must be an ASCii text file and
must have one name only on each line of the file. ie:
DONALD DUCK
BUGS BUNNY
PORKY PIG
Post Master will read the merge file one line at a time and send a duplicate
message to each of the callers listed.
/L:<security level>
This parameter can be used to send a message to all callers matching
security level.
/T:<message to> DEFAULT = ALL
Use this parameter to send a message to one caller, for instance, yourself.
This persons name does not need to be in the Wildcat! User database so you
can use Post Master to send messages via ECHOmail conferences, but be
careful to follow the Networks rules in this area.
/F:<message from> DEFAULT = SYSOP'S NAME
Use this parameter to specify the sender of the message. This caller does
not need to exist in your Wildcat! User database so that you can use it to
send message from "Post Master" for instance.
Post Master - An automatic message sending program for Wildcat! BBS systems.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
/S:<message subject> DEFAULT = Message from Post Master
Use this parameter to change the default message subject.
/P
Use this parameter to change the message to a private message. This will be
overridden by any conference specific parameter you might have set.
/R
Use this parameter to toggle the return receipt flag. This will be
overridden by any conference specific parameter you might have set.
/O
This toggle will cause Post Master to ignore the conference settings for
allowing private messages, return receipts, and file attachments.
/A:<attached file>
Place a file in the appropriate attachment directory and specify the file
name here and all callers that receive this message will be told there is a
file attached. Post Master will NOT verify the existance of the file.
/X [Registered version only]
Disable's the Post Master tag line to allow messages to keep that personal
touch.
/Z:<program name>
If for any reason you wish to change the name of the executable file to
something else you will need to run Post Master with this parameter once
after the name change. You might want to change the name to PM.EXE, so you
would use the DOS rename command to do this and then run: PM /Z:PM.EXE
Post Master - An automatic message sending program for Wildcat! BBS systems.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Suggested uses
Some of the uses I have discovered or have been told of for Post Master are:
■ Send a message to yourself from your new user questionnaire
POSTMSTR /i:c:\wc30\ques\quesnew.001 /t:your name /f:post master /p
■ Send the output of your nightly mail run to yourself
POSTMSTR /i:c:\robo\robocomm.log /t:your name /f:post master /p
■ Send a mass mailing to all "MEMBERS" about new features of you BBS
POSTMSTR /i:member.msg /f:your name /m:member.lst /p (by list)
or
POSTMSTR /i:member.msg /f:your name /l:member /p (by security level)
■ Send a newuser letter to all new users with a membership letter and
registration file attached and a receipt back to you that they read it.
POSTMSTR /i:welcome.imp /a:member.zip /p /r /s:Welcome the The Boardwalk!
■ Update registered users of a companys software of an update
POSTMSTR /i:update.txt /m:register.lst /p /s:Release of version 2.0!
There are many more possibilities for you to discover. Have fun!
Post Master - An automatic message sending program for Wildcat! BBS systems.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Acknowledgements
Post Master was written in Turbo Pascal v6.0 from Borland International with
additional help from Turbo Power Software in the use of their outstanding
Btree Filer and Object Professional libraries for Turbo Pascal. I would
also like to thank MSI since none of this would have been possible without
them and their excellent bulletin board program, Wildcat!. And lastly, Gwen
Barnes who came up with the original idea for the program.
Thanks!
Other programs by Boardwalk Software
Purge - Purge your activity log of local and Sysop logons.
Lopper - "Lop" off your activity log based on a number of days.
WCToday - Bulletin/Hello maker listing all of todays callers.
MWExport - Export your Makewild settings to a text file for printing
SLS - Sort your Wildcat! 3.0 security levels after adding one
Addfiles - Add files to Wildcat! 3.0 from a RoboComm files.bbs list
Authenticity Verification
This archive has been zipped using Boardwalk Software's authenticity
verification number from PKWare. If there are any files in the archive that
do not have the verification tag beside them it indicates that the archive
has been tampered with and is not in it's original form. If this is the
case, please call the support bbs - The Boardwalk! - and get a clean copy.