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╓───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ SmartFA v3.00ß15 by Bob Butcher GTPN 050/059 ║ ╙───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ SmartFA is Copyright (c) Bob Butcher 1992, 1993 GT Power Copyright of P & M Software Company, 3104 E. Camelback Rd. #503 Phoenix, AZ 85016 U.S.A ARJ is Copyright Robert K. Jung. PKZIP and PKUNZIP are Copyright of PKWare Inc. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Disclaimer │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SmartFA is guaranteed to take up some disk space when not in use and to take up some memory and disk space when in use. it may or may not release the memory it uses depending on how it feels at the time it finished operating. Other than that you are on your own, I will not accept any responsibility for anything it may do to your hardware, software, financial or mental well being. It works here, most of the time <grin>. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Money │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Strictly speaking it's FREE, OK calm down I know that's the sort of price we all like paying for software <grin>. I don't ask for money for SmartFA neither does it send any messages to anyone (except when it is working normally) but if you like it and wish to make some contribution then either send a few pounds/dollars/yen (or whatever your local currency is) to your local mail hub or, if you prefer, send a donation to the following address. MAKE A KID SMILE c/o Ernest Debakey The Bechtel Tower, Suite 1480 3000 Post Oak Boulevard Houston, TX 77056-6582 U.S.A. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Purpose │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SmartFA is designed to remove the need for the GT Power Sysop to watch for incoming files and manually forward them to other nodes and also to cut out some of the manual tasks of moving incoming files into various areas on your GT Power BBS. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ How it Works │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SmartFA works by matching the names of incoming files with entries in a control file created by the Sysop. When it finds a match it reads the instructions for that file and processes it as instructed. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Basic Setup │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SmartFA should be copied into a directory on you hard disk where it can access certain GT Power control files. You must then run SmartFA with the command line parameter "setup". i.e. SmartFA Setup You will then be asked to answer certain questions, you may either press enter to accept the default or type in a new entry. On what drive do you have your mailout directory? Default = C This is used so SmartFA can locate incoming files, only the drive letter is necessary. Please enter the full path for where you want SmartFA to put the files when it moves them? Default = C:\MAILOUT\FILEOUT This is the directory where SmartFA will put any incoming files that it finds. This is a default directory, it may be changed for each file area. See the Advanced Options section for more details. The directory that SmartFA moves files to is known as the "Flip directory". What Netmail area do you want SmartFA to use for outgoing messages? Default = C:\MSG\NETMAIL This is the Netmail area where SmartFA will post File Attach messages to other nodes. What Netmail area do you want SmartFA to check for auto-update messages? Default = C:\MSG\NETMAIL One of SmartFA 's functions is to allow systems connecting with you to add or remove themselves from file echos. To do this the remote node sends your system a netmail message so SmartFA needs to know where to look for these messages. Full details of this function are given later. What message area do you want SmartFA to use for messages to Sysop? Default = C:\MSG\SYSOP When SmartFA processes a file it informs the Sysop of what it has done in a message posted in this area. What do you want for the default auto-update password ? This is the default password used to validate requests from other nodes. Please Enter file path and filename for SmartFA Bulletin. Enter a SPACE if you don't want SmartFA to create a Bulletin. Default = C:\GT\BBS\SMARTFA.BBS : SmartFA will optionally create a bulletin listing what files have arrived and where they have been put. Once you have answered these questions SmartFA will create a directory off of your GTPATH called SMART in here it will create a file called SMART.INI. The SMART.INI will contain entries that look something like this: [SMARTFA] MAILDRIVE=C NETMAILMSG=C:\MSG\NETMAIL INNETMAIL=C:\MSG\NETMAIL FLIPDIR=C:\MAILOUT\FILEOUT SFAPASSWORD=PASSWORD SYSOPMSG=D:\MSG\SYSOP BULLETINPATH=C:\GT\BBS\SMARTFA.BBS If you want to manually edit this file, the entries for SmartFA may be in any order, so long as they are all there. Once the SMART.INI file has been created you have to create the control file that tells SmartFA what files it should process. This file is called SMARTFA.CTL. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ SMARTFA.CTL, purpose and format │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The SMARTFA.CTL is the file that controls most of SmartFA 's functions, this section describes it's format and some basic control entries. SMARTFA.CTL is a plain ASCII text file, located in the SMART directory, with the following format: SECTION TITLE Control Instructions END The Section Title may be up to 8 characters long and must start in the first column of the line. The control instructions are indented by one or more spaces. The END is a keyword that must appear after the last of the control instructions. Like the Section title it must start in the first column of the line. The easiest way to show the basic control instructions is with an example. So this is how I would distribute the GT Echolist file. First I would set up a section title for the GT Echolist distribution i.e. GTEL Now I want to set up the people I am going to send the file to, GTEL 013/000 Oliver Bell 013/100 John Whitney 050/039 Dave Liquorice END This would send any incoming file that matched the file specification GTEL*.* to the people at the nodes listed. With the entry set up as shown SmartFA will use the words "Auto Distribute File" as a message title, I would really rather have the title a little bit more descriptive. To do this I would modify the entry like this: GTEL MT=GT Echolist Files 013/000 Oliver Bell 013/100 John Whitney 050/039 Dave Liquorice END The MT= line gives the Message Title. The message title may be up to 30 characters long. If you want SmartFA to put files into a directory other than the one you specified during the setup you can add a line to the SmartFA.CTL to do just that. Using the previous example I now want to put the GTEL files into a directory called C:\GTLISTS rather than the default "flip directory" I would add a line starting with "FD=". GTEL FD=C:\GTLISTS MT=GT Echolist Files 013/000 Oliver Bell 013/100 John Whitney 050/039 Dave Liquorice END The FD= is used to identify the alternative Flip Directory. A full list of options for the SmartFA.CTL file can be found in Appendix A. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Message Text │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ You have probably seen files that have been sent out by SmartFA appear with "banner screens". These screens are held in files in the SMART directory and have the extension MSG. The name of the message file must match the distribution entry in the SmartFA.CTL. For example: The message file for the GTEL distribution would be called GTEL.MSG for SFA it would be SFA.MSG. The other way to provide custom messages is for the originating system to send out two files, one being the archive the second being the message file. This option is a bit complicated to explain so this is how it works: If I sent out a file called SFA0101.ARJ and with it a file called SFA0101.MES, when the files reach the next system SmartFA will find the MES file first it will then set an internal flag and copy the MES file to the SMART directory. SmartFA will then find and process the ARJ and MES files as normal. If there are any systems to send the file to SmartFA will use the text from the MES file for the message. After the last file has been sent out the MES file in the SMART directory will be deleted. Well I hope that explains it. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ FILES.BBS entries. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ After moving the files to the "flip directory" SmartFA will open the FILES.BBS and add an entry containing the following information: File Name File Size System Date File Date File Description. The file description used can come from a number of places: 1. The coded default of Auto Distribute File. 2. The MT= line from the SmartFA.CTL file. 3. The DE= line from the SmartFA.CTL file (for a description of the DE= line see Appendix A). ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ File Descriptions │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ This has taken a bit of work and there may be some changes yet. This type of work only happens if SmartFA is set to unpack the distribution archive. The idea is to allow software authors to provide a file description when they distribute a file. SmartFA attempts a number of methods to get a file description, first there is the SmartFA naming format for the DIZ file this is how it works: The Utility writer has a file echo set up, when they send out a new utility they make a "Distribution Archive". This File is contains whatever program archives they are sending out with corresponding DIZ files. A DIZ file is a plain ASCII file containing a the file description for the file that is being sent out. The DIZ file should have the same name as the file it accompanies but an extension of DIZ. The file can be any length but try and keep it to about 72 characters per line. Here's an example: I send out a file called SFA0101.ARJ inside that file I have the latest versions of SmartFA and SmartMSG for this example we'll call them SFA301.ARJ and SMSG101.ARJ. Also in the distribution archive I have files called SFA301.DIZ and SMSG101.DIZ. When the SFA0101.ARJ is received on a system that has SmartFA's unpack option set the following will happen: 1. The distribution archive will be unpacked into the destination directory specified in the SmartFA.CTL file. 2. SmartFA will then check the destination directory for the existence of any DIZ files. If it finds one it will mach the name of the DIZ file with the name of the archive and build a FILES.BBS entry as follows. File Name File Size System Date File Date | Text | Text | Text The "Text" will come from the DIZ file. The second method is to check the contents of the FILES.BBS in the unpack directory against the contents of the directory. Each ARJ or ZIP file that is not listed in the FILES.BBS is checked to see if it contains a text file called FILE_ID.DIZ. If this file exists SmartFA uses it's contents to build a FILES.BBS entry. If a FILE_ID.DIZ is not found SmartFA checks for a DIZ file that uses the SmartFA naming convention as explained above. If no DIZ files are found SmartFA will just add a line containing the files name, size, date and the system date with no description. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Batch Files │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ To allow a little flexibility for the Sysop SmartFA will look for a DOS BATCH file in the SMART directory that corresponds to the name of the section it has processed. If one is found SmartFA will run it after it has finished it's other functions. Two parameters are passed to each batch file run. %1 = Name of the flip directory. %2 = Name of the file that just got flipped. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Bulletin File │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you chose a Bulletin Path during the setup SmartFA will have created a file with a header like this: ┌──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Arrival Date │ File Name │ File Area │ ├──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┤ When a file is processed by SmartFA it will add lines to the bulletin file. The File Area name is read from the GTDIR.BBS file. The entries look something like this: │ 01/05/1993 │ WIN19506.ARJ │ Windows Utilities File Echo. │ The date shown is in USA Month/Day/Year format, this will change as soon as I figure out how to use the DOS country information. If you don't want SmartFA to update the bulletin for a particular run you can use the command line parameter "NB" (No Bulletin). If you don't want a particular file distribution listed in the bulletin you can add the entry NB=TRUE to that particular distribution section in the SmartFA.CTL. If at any time you want to stop the bulletin from being created by SmartFA simply edit the SMART.INI and remove the path to the bulletin file. Your SMART.INI entry would then look like this: BULLETINPATH= ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Auto Updates (SmartFA's GM, GQ and GL Functions). │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SmartFA will allow authorised Sysops that connect with your system to add or remove themselves from the file echos you carry. To perform this sort of operation the remote sysop has to send a message to your system in much the same way as they would normally GM and GQ normal echos. The message must be addressed to SmartFA, and the password should be in the subject field. The text of the message then consists of the add and remove commands, here's an example of the message text: + GTEL <-- Add me to GTEL DST + VSHLD <-- Add me to VSHLD DST - TEST <-- Remove me from TEST DST - GTNL <-- Remove me from GTNL DST GL <-- Request a GL report from SmartFA ╒════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ PLEASE NOTE │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ 1. All entries must start in column 1. │ │ 2. There is no "." before the GL. │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════╛ After any add or remove function SmartFA will automatically send a GL report so the last line is not really necessary. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Auto Update Security │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ There are three levels of security for SmartFA's auto update functions. The first level is the default password stored in the SMART.INI. The second level is provided by an optional file that resides in the SMART directory called SMARTFA.PWD, this is a plain ASCII file with each line in the following format: nnn/nnn password Using this file you would set a password for each node that you want to give auto-update rights. Here's the file I set up for a test: 099/999 gobble 001/007 Houston 001/078 telepathy The first section is the net/node, the second is the password for that node. Each line starts in the first column. If a node is listed in this file then it can not use the default password. You can also use this file to stop a system that does not connect with you from requesting files by adding their net/node number and a password to this file. The third level involves a password for individual sections within the SMARTFA.CTL file, this is know as "Section Passwords". If the Section Password is used by your hub to add yourself to the distribution you must use the following format on the update line:- + DST_NAME PASSWORD so if my hub had a DST called XXBETA with a password of authorize I would use the line: + XXBETA authorize to add myself to the distribution. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Duplicate File Checking │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ By default SmartFa will try and stop duplicate files being sent out from your system. It does this by keeping a log file (called SMARTFA.LOG) in the SMART subdirectory. This file is a plain ascii file and keeps a record of the name size and date of each file that goes through your system. If you want you can disable the duplicate checking completely by using a command line option as shown below. SMARTFA NDD My advise it to use this option with care, or else you could become very unpopular <grin>. If the NDD parameter is not used duplicate files will be moved to the \MAILIN\PROBLEMS directory and a message will be sent to let you know one has arrived. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Alternate Source Directory │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ By default SmartFA looks for files in the GT MAILIN\FILEIN directory but you can specify an alternate directory by using the command line parameter "SD=". For Example: SmartFA SD=C:\NEW_SMART This would tell Smartfa to look for files in the C:\NEW_SMART directory instead of \MAILIN\FILEIN. If any files are found they will be processed as normal. I use this option to save myself from having to copy the files I want to send out to the FILEIN directory. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ SMARTFA.CTL Maintenance │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you start SmartFA with the command line parameter SORT it will sort your SMARTFA.CTL file in the following order. Section Headers in alphabetical order. SmartFA Controls entries (MT=, DE= etc) in alphabetical order. Subscribing nodes in ascending order. Comment lines. For Example: If you current SmartFA.CTL contained the entries: GTNL MT=GT Network Nodelist FD=C:\LISTS 050/059 Bob Butcher 013/000 Oliver Bell END GTEL MT=GT Network Echolist FD=C:\LISTS 050/059 Bob Butcher 013/000 Oliver Bell END after running SmartFA sort the result would be: GTEL FD=C:\LISTS MT=GT Network Echolist 013/000 Oliver Bell 050/059 Bob Butcher END GTNL FD=C:\LISTS MT=GT Network Nodelist 013/000 Oliver Bell 050/059 Bob Butcher END N.B. SmartFA doesn't mind what order the SmartFA.CTL file is in, this option is to ease any manual maintenance that needs to be done. Before SmartFA begins the sort it will save the old SmartFA.CTL file as SmartFA.BAK. Due to the way the sort routines I'm using work comment lines will be put at the end of each section. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Global Send │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you use the word GLOBAL on SmartFa's command line it will process the incoming file area normally and then send EVERY FILE in the incoming directory to the people listed under the GLOBAL section of the SMARTFA.CTL file. Be careful how you use this option <grin>. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Environment Variable │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SmartFA will check for an environment variable called SMART. If found SmartFA will use the directory specified instead of the GTPATH to look for the SMART directory. An example, if I set the following: set smart=c:\work Smartfa would look for c:\work\smart and check there for the SMART.INI, SMARTFA.CTL and it's other files. This is intended for those people who use multi-node systems. Appendix A. SmartFA.CTL control line options. ┌────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Option │ Description │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ ; │ is used to tell the program that anything following the │ │ │ semi-colon is a comment and deserves no processing. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ DE= │ if you want a longer FILES.BBS description than allowed for │ │ │ the message title use this option. (150 characters is about │ │ │ the maximum for this line). │ │ │ │ │ │ Please note this entry will go into the FILES.BBS as one long │ │ │ line you will need to use another utility to format it. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ DF= │ This is the delete flag. If set to TRUE any old files matching │ │ │ the section title that are currently in the flip directory │ │ │ will be deleted. │ │ │ │ │ │ SmartFA will only delete old files once for each section each │ │ │ time it is run so if you receive multiple files they will be │ │ │ processed correctly. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ DX= │ This is a TRUE/FALSE flag. If it is set to true SmartFA will │ │ │ add a .DX to the end of the netmail message. The DX will mean │ │ │ that any node that is getting files from you must be a direct │ │ │ connect. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ FD= │ is used to specify an alternative flip directory (where │ │ │ SmartFa will put the incoming file). By default SmartFA will │ │ │ use the directory specified in the SMART.INI file. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ FR= │ This option allows SmartFA to send a .FR message to a certain │ │ │ node on a certain day. This option will only work when SmartFA │ │ │ is run with the command line parameter FR. │ │ │ │ │ │ Example: │ │ │ │ │ │ GTEL │ │ │ FR=Mon,032/001 │ │ │ END │ │ │ │ │ │ If today is Monday and I have started SmartFA with the command │ │ │ line parameter FR SmartFa will send a message to 032/001 with │ │ │ the following line: │ │ │ │ │ │ .FR GTEL*.* │ │ │ │ │ │ Another Example: │ │ │ │ │ │ GTEL │ │ │ FR=10,032/001 │ │ │ END │ │ │ │ │ │ In this case SmartFA would send out the message if today was │ │ │ the 10th. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ MT= │ is used as the message title and the default FILES.BBS entry. │ │ │ This Entry is also used by early versions of SmartGL2 to give │ │ │ the description for the file echo. It is also used by SmartFA │ │ │ for it's GL report. │ │ │ │ │ │ Please note that the GT Message title is limited to 30 │ │ │ characters, if your MT= entry is longer than 30 characters it │ │ │ will be shortened. │ │ │ │ │ │ If the line does not exist SmartFA will use "Auto Distribute │ │ │ File" as a default title. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ NB= │ If set to TRUE SmartFA will not include this file in the │ │ │ incoming files bulletin. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ NG= │ This can be set to TRUE or FALSE, if set to TRUE this file │ │ │ echo will NOT be listed in a SmartGL2 GL report. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ PS= │ This is another TRUE or FALSE flag. If set to anything it will │ │ │ stop SmartFA from sending out files that are associated with │ │ │ the particular DST section unless you also have the command │ │ │ line parameter PS set. │ │ │ │ │ │ This may sound rather perverse for a program that is meant to │ │ │ send out files but if used it will prevent files being sent │ │ │ out accidentally. │ │ │ │ │ │ For instance if a file SFABUG.RPT is sent to me at 50/59 I │ │ │ don't want to distribute it to everyone who gets the │ │ │ SFAmmdd.xxx distribution files from me. │ │ │ │ │ │ So I have this flag set to true, then if a file is found │ │ │ SmartFA will move it to the MAILIN\PROBLEMS directory and send │ │ │ a message to me with the file details. │ │ │ │ │ │ If I wanted to send out a SFAmmdd archive I would run SmartFA │ │ │ manually and use the command line switch PS to override this │ │ │ option. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ RA= │ Another True/False option. If set to TRUE SmartFA will call │ │ │ Robert K. Jung's REARJ.EXE program to convert the incoming │ │ │ file to ARJ format. The REARJ Command line is: │ │ │ │ │ │ REARJ /a* /d <file name> │ │ │ │ │ │ This will convert the incoming archive and any archives it may │ │ │ contain to the ARJ format. For this option to work REARJ.EXE │ │ │ must be somewhere in your path. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ RD= │ Run Day, this can be set to a certain day of the week and │ │ │ SmartFA will only process the incoming if the day it arrives │ │ │ matches the day specified on this line. The day may be │ │ │ shortened to three letter for those of you who have as much │ │ │ trouble with spelling as me <grin>. │ │ │ │ │ │ If the days do not match the file will be ignored. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ RR= │ Add a .RR to the message sent to subscribing systems. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ RZ= │ Another True/False option. If set to TRUE SmartFA will call │ │ │ Robert K. Jung's REARJ.EXE program to convert the incoming │ │ │ file to ZIP format. The REARJ Command line is: │ │ │ │ │ │ REARJ /a* /d /tZIP <file name> │ │ │ │ │ │ This will convert the incoming archive and any archives it may │ │ │ contain to the ZIP format. For this option to work REARJ.EXE │ │ │ must be somewhere in your path. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ SP= │ Section password, this will stop the auto-add feature for a │ │ │ certain section from working unless the correct password is │ │ │ used. │ │ │ │ │ │ The section password may be up to 12 characters long. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ UD= │ is used to specify a directory where you would like the │ │ │ incoming archive unpacked to. Please note only ARJ and ZIP │ │ │ files are automatically unpacked. │ │ │ │ │ │ This option can be used to unpack echolist and nodelist files │ │ │ automatically for use by the system or may be used to unpack │ │ │ distribution archives. │ └────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Appendix B. SmartFA Command Line Parameters. ┌────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Option │ Description │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ DEBUG │ Gives more info on what SmartFA is trying to do. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ FR │ Check and send out any File Requests. See the FR= entry in │ │ │ appendix A for more details. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ GLOBAL │ Send all files in source directory to those sysops │ │ │ listed under the section GLOBAL in the SmartFA.CTL file. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ NDD │ Don't check for duplicate files. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ PS │ Process sponsored echos. See the PS= entry in appendix A for │ │ │ more details. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ SD= │ Used to specify an alternate Source Directory that SmartFA │ │ │ should scan for incoming files. │ ├────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ SETUP │ To create or update SmartFA entries in the SMART.INI file. │ └────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘