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NoSnail - Netmail for RBBS-PC
│ Release 0.57
│ September 11, 1992
(c) Copyright Eddie Rowe (Work in Progress)
All Rights Reserved
Eddie Rowe
P.O. Box 434
Ruston, LA 71273
HOTLine RBBS
(318)-254-0019 (v.32bis)
│ Fidonet 1:19/124 (Changing in Winter of 1992)
│ Revisions to this document are annontated in this
│ fashion.
Table of Contents
Copyright and License 1
Warranty 1
What is NoSnail? 1
│ Software Requirements 2
Hardware Requirements 4
Acknowledgments 4
│ Installation 4
Addressing Kludge 9
Operation 9
Maintenance 11
│ Multitasking Environments 11
Software References 12
NoSnail Development 12
Newbees to Fidonet 12
Author's Commitment 13
Bug Reports 13
│ Future Enhancements 14
Fidonet Technical Standards Committee 15
│ History of NoSnail 15
NoSnail 0.57 Page 1
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
NoSnail - Netmail for RBBS-PC is (c) by Eddie Rowe
You are hereby granted a limited license to use, copy and
distribute NoSnail - Netmail for RBBS-PC on the following
conditions:
1. You may use this program for any non-commercial or
commercial purpose.
2. You may copy and distribute as many copies of this
program, provided you do not charge money for the
program. A small fee (for copying, handling,
mailing, and the disk containing the copy) is
allowed, but this amount shall NOT exceed your real
costs.
3. The program and documentation shall NOT be modified
in any way. While permission is granted for the
conversion of the distribution archive to one's
favorite archiving format, files shall NOT be added
or deleted from said archive.
WARRANTY
No warranty of any kind is offered on NoSnail - Netmail
for RBBS-PC. Furthermore, you use this program AT YOUR
OWN RISK. Under no circumstances shall the author be
liable for damage this software may inflict upon your or
your property - either by itself or with your help.
WHAT IS NOSNAIL - NETMAIL FOR RBBS-PC
NoSnail - Netmail for RBBS-PC allows sysops to give their
users access to routed outbound netmail (or
indiscriminate access to continuous outbound netmail
which is NOT recommended.) Routed netmail is netmail
which is moved along existing echomail paths instead of
being sent directly to the destination system by placing
a special phone call.
Fidonet, as well as other progressive Fidonet technology
based networks, seems to be moving more towards routed
netmail as a means to reducing cost to the network as a
whole. The end goal of routed netmail is to encourage
participants in echos to reduce non-topical conversations
and thereby reduce the costs of moving echomail.
Think about this: One routed netmail message will pass
through a half-dozen nodes, whereas an off-topic echomail
message will pass through perhaps hundreds of nodes!
NoSnail 0.57 Page 2
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
RBBS-PC
│ NoSnail has been tested with RBBS-PC 17.4 & the Maple
│ Merges. (Most recent version is 08-31) NoSnail was
│ originally written for RBBS-PC 17.3C so it should work
│ well alongside it as I've not moved to support the carbon
│ copy features offered in 17.4. I do NOT advocate the
usage of outdated versions of RBBS-PC, but if you find
yourself in this situation I would be happy to attempt to
create a custom version of NoSnail for you -provided you
supply the necessary specifications for your version (in
the documentation).
MAILER
NoSnail should work alongside ANY FTS-0001 compatable
mailer which is capable of handling messages written to
FTS-0001 standards, and does NOT rely on those written in
the *.MSG BBS format. BinkleyTerm and Milquetoast both
operate in this fashion, while others such as Frontdoor,
Intermail and SEAdog operate differently unfortunately.
If you operate a mailer which breaks from the ranks of
BinkleyTerm in regards to treatment of mail, I would
sincerely appreciate hearing from you the details that
are involved for this to work properly.
FRONTDOOR IMPLICATIONS (AND INTERMAIL, & SEADOG?)
The authors of these packages choose to rely upon storing
messages destined to other systems in a format that is
normally reserved for a BBS - I have not the foggiest
idea why they do this....go figure....8-)
While the *.MSG format of messages is documented in the
same document that defines the basic Fidonet standard, it
is only meant as an example to how the overall picture
COULD look like. The *.MSG format is NOT part of the
basic Fidonet Standard and as such is subject to the
whims of anyone who writes a program to make, mangle,
manipulate, modify, etc. *.MSG messages.
Alfred Roth of 1:387/493@fidonet.org (8:931/493@rbbsnet)
is using MAKEARC in order to compress the netmail packets
created by NoSnail and to create the necessary file
attach so Frontdoor can send the message. If you have
further questions surrounding this setup feel free to
contact Alfred via netmail.
Previously I mentioned a program called NOFLO, but after
taking a look at it myself I have found that it does NOT
do what I originally thought. NOFLO will take .?LO files
NoSnail 0.57 Page 3
(BinkleyTerm uses these for file attaches) and create a
*.MSG file attatch for one of these other mailers to use.
NOFLO will NOT take a netmail message written in the
*.?UT form (FTSC-0001 compliant - i.e NoSnail's work) and
create a *.MSG!
In order to use NOFLO, one would have to have a mail
packing program, such as OMMM, take the .?UT files and
create a bundle for the destination. When OMMM does this
it creates the .?LO file which BinkleyTerm uses as a file
attach. So one could use NOFLO to create a *.MSG file
attach for the above mentioned mailers to send the mail
bundle made by OMMM. In this way the NOFLO software is
similar to the MAKEARC package, except with MAKEARC you
would ONLY have to have setup and run MAKEARC instead of
OMMM AND NOFLO. (Anyone confused here? <grin>)
ECHOMAIL/NETMAIL TOSSER
NoSnail ONLY handles OUTGOING netmail messages. In order
to process incoming netmail you will need additional
software. There are a number pieces of software which
may be used to accomplish this. One that I value quite
highly is RBBSMail by Jan Terpstra. RBBSMail will place
incoming echomail messages into RBBS-PC's *M.DEF format
or the widely familar *.MSG form. RBBSMail 18.1 will NOT
place incoming netmail messages into RBBS-PC's *M.DEF
formated message bases, but only as *.MSG messages.
│ Jan Terpstra is developing RBBSMail 18.2 currently and
│ I am VERY IMPRESSED with the Beta code that I am running.
│ Jan has just released a Wide Beta of RBBSMail 18.2 so the
│ anticipated release of RBBSMail 18.2 is not far away!
│ RBBSMail 18.2 will be placing inbound netmail into the
│ *M.DEF of your choice.
I feel it only fair to mention the existence of other
known software which are currently well supported in the
RBBS-PC community from conversations in the RBBS-PC echo.
MSGTOSS will process echomail, and will also toss
inbound netmail into the *M.DEF of your choice. OVERMAIL
will process echomail, place incoming netmail into the
*M.DEF of your choice, and has been rumored recently of
allowing some type of outbound netmail access. Beyond
this information I do not have first hand experience with
either package.
IMPLICATIONS OF MSGTOSS
Jim Wargula of 1:121/1@fidonet.org uses MSGTOSS happily
alongside NoSnail on his system. From my conversations
with Jim, it seems to only be a matter of configuring
MSGTOSS to place inbound netmail messages into the *M.DEF
message base of your choice, but to someone new to all of
NoSnail 0.57 Page 4
this it may be a bit more difficult to implement. If you
would like further information on his setup feel free to
contact Jim via netmail.
PREFERENCES
I personally find both BinkleyTerm and RBBSMail to have
the same spirit about them as RBBS-PC. In addition to
this, both of these authors are BIG supporters of the
Standards set forth by the Fidonet Technical Standards
Committee. Authors such as these make it easier to write
programs to supplement their work, while others make life
difficult because they want to do it their way. Some of
you know the very persons I am referring to and I don't
understand for the life of me WHY you use their products
- but I'll let you pick your own poison. 8-)
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
There should be no hardware requirements in excess of
those you are currently operating under with RBBS-PC. To
quote Jan Terpstra, "think about that for a while....".
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Tom Jennings - creator of Fidonet
The BinkleyTerm Trio
The RBBS-PC community.
Bruce Gingery for his aid in my grasping the concept of
Big Indian - Little Indian when it comes to programming.
Randy Bush for putting on "paper" exactly what authors of
Fidonet technology software have implemented and his
netmail from around the world in answer to my questions.
Participants of NET_DEV echo for their insights.
Dennis Dodd for his aid in helping me to understand how
to properly use DOS interrupts. (still in amazement)
INSTALLATION
Step 1 - RBBS-PC SETUP
First you need to create an area for users to enter their
netmail messages. I HIGHLY recommend the use of NETMAIL
as your conference/subboard name for this area for the
sake of simplicity. While this area should be configured
NoSnail 0.57 Page 5
like your other conferences/subboards, it should NOT
necessarily be in your AREAS.BBS control file used by
│ your echomail scanner/tosser - I can say for sure that
│ this area should be declared as your XNETMAIL area in the
│ RBBSMail 18.2wb AREAS.BBS.
WARNING: Do NOT use CONFIG on the message base used by
NoSnail under ANY circumstances! NoSnail is presently
following Jan Terpstra's (RBBSMail) lead in the method in
which it marks messages as already exported. (The ":"
field between the minutes and seconds is modified to a
"." after exportation.)
If you are attempting to use NoSnail with ANY version of
RBBS-PC greater than 17.3C, DO NOT ALLOW MULTIPLE MESSAGE
HEADERS (i.e. Carbon Copies) in the area you setup for
NoSnail!!! If you choose to allow these in your MAIN
area, then you MUST setup the NETMAIL area as a Subboard
with these DISABLED!!!
Step 2 - NOSNAIL.CFG
│ NoSnail's configuration file format is much like that of
│ other Fidonet utilities in that it operates on the
│ keyword format. Lines beginning with a semi-colon are
│ ignored as well as blank lines. You may also have a
│ comment after a configuration option provided there is a
│ semi-colon between the phrase and your comment. The
│ sample configuration included in the archive demonstrates
│ all the variations on comments which are possible.
│
│ Valid NOSNAIL.CFG phrases:
│ SYSOP
This is the name you wish to have swapped for messages
sent by "SYSOP". Obviously this should be your PUBLIC
NAME, but could be an assumed name - whatever floats your
boat. DO NOT PUT YOUR SECRET NAME THAT YOU USE TO LOGON
REMOTELY FOR THIS PARAMETER!!!
A word of warning here for those with CoSysops. Make
sure that none of them have "SYSOP" status in the NETMAIL
area or they might be sending message out with YOUR name
on them. I don't think this very likely (in fact I deem
it almost impossible), but I don't do cosysops myself.
│ Note: This parameter is required.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 6
│ MSGBASE
This is the RBBS-PC *M.DEF message base which contains
your netmail messages. This is the messages file that
you created in Step 1 above. (If you followed my
suggestion to K.I.S.S. this would be NETMAILM.DEF...)
│ Note: This parameter is required.
│ ELVISMODE
If there are problems with the exportation of a netmail
message (ie the user used some ungodly syntax for the
address) you can have NoSnail return a copy of the failed
message to the sender. NoSnail will attempt to shell out
and run MSGFORM to bounce the message back to its sender.
(There are few things as humorous as users getting canned
mail! <grin> )
│ Note: This parameter is optional.
│ EXPLETIVE
Since you will eventually tuck NoSnail away in some
obscure batch file and not be around when it runs, I've
included the Error Explitive. NoSnail will place
this in front of any error messages - providing colorful
feedback even while you are not around! I suggest you
don't get too carried away here, or your log file will
look very weird.
│ Note: This parameter is required.
│ ADDRESS
This is your default Fidonet address. It MUST be in the
form of "Zone:Network/Node". Additionally if you are
operating as a point, NoSnail will accept a 4D address of
"Zone:Network/Node.Point".
│ Note: This parameter is required.
│ FLAVOR
This controls what extension NoSnail uses for the netmail
packet. BinkleyTerm uses this to determine what "kind"
of message it is. The PREFERRED extension is "OUT".
These are documented in the BinkleyTerm and OMMM
documentation if you wonder where the heck I found out
what they are.
OUT - Normal ; This means that the netmail has not
been processed by any of the mail archiving/routing
software. It is my understanding that if you do not
NoSnail 0.57 Page 7
run any software on this file that it will be treated
as a DUT (described below). I have BinkleyTerm
configured on my system to NOT dial out for Normal
packets - I HIGHLY recommend you do the same.
HUT - Hold ; This means that the netmail will not be
sent to the destination system, but instead will hang
around until that system calls you.
CUT - Continuous Mail ; This means that the netmail
will be sent directly to the destination system.
WARNING: THIS WILL COST YOU THE EXPENSE OF A PHONE
CALL!!!
DUT - Direct ; This means that the netmail will be
sent directly to the destination system. This
extension is used for those systems who do NOT
operate a mailer except during Zone Mail Hour.
WARNING: Packets with this extension have the
potential to COST YOU THE EXPENSE OF A PHONE CALL!!!
│ Note: This parameter is required.
│ OUTBOUND
This is your default outbound area which should
correspond to the Zone of your default Fidonet address.
NOTE: THIS LINE MUST _NOT_ END WITH A "\" CHARACTER!
NoSnail will take care of adding that character on its
own.
│ Note: This parameter is required.
│ AKA1, AKA2, AKA3, ... AKA9
Since some people have brain seizures when they receive
mail from a different network than the one they are a
member of, I've implemented AKA matching. NoSnail
│ supports up to NINE AKAs. Place your additional
addresses in the proper "Zone:Net/Node.Point" format.
AKAs are matched in order of appearance in NOSNAIL.CFG.
NoSnail will automatically use an AKA for a message to
a Zone which you have an AKA defined. The NOSNAIL.LOG
displays what address (or AKA) was used on each message
exported for additional error checking.
│ Note: These parameters are optional.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 8
│ INTL
│
│ The ^aINTL kludge is documented for INTERZone mail in
│ FTS-0001, but some authors may rely on the line to route
│ all their mail. QMail is the only package I know of to
│ require this control line. If your software does NOT
│ require this please do _NOT_ use it!!!
│
│ Note: This parameter is optional.
Step 3 - OUTBOUND DIRECTORIES
You must have an outbound directory for EVERY Zone you
will intend to send netmail. In our example here, Zone 1
mail would be placed in the OUTBOUND directory, Zone 2
mail would be placed in the OUTBOUND.002 directory, Zone
8 mail would be placed in the OUTBOUND.008 directory,
etc. Undoubtedly you already have the proper directories
defined for the Zones you send mail to on a regular
basis, but remember that some networks such as Fidonet
are so large that there are various additional zones
within the network.
Note: The OUTBOUND directories for multiple zone support
are numbered in HEXIDECIMAL, NOT just plain jane decimal!
Step 4 - NOSNAIL PLACEMENT
While personally I like to place NoSnail & its config
file in the RBBS subdirectory, many are placing NoSnail
elsewhere and supplying a full path to the NETMAIL
message base (NETMAILM.DEF is you followed my lead).
Step 5 - MSGTOSS PLACEMENT (optional)
If you enabled ElvisMode you need to place a copy of
MSGFORM in the directory with NoSnail or the DOS path.
Step 6 - HELP FILES
Take a look at the included help files that I have
created to help my users properly send netmail to
destinations unknown. These belong with your other help
files. If you are operating in Fidonet, then EDIT the
help file to reflect the gateway you must use for sending
netmail to Internet domains.(i.e. Compuserve, MCIMail)
To my knowledge Fidonet is the ONLY Fidonet technology
network which is part of Internet, but this may be
incorrect. Persons outside of Fidonet may NOT be able to
give their users the okay to send mail to people on
Internet, Compuserve, MCIMail, etc. Contact your network
coordinator (or Boss Node) for aid in determining this,
and feel free to enlighten me if I am wrong.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 9
Step 7 - MAIL DOOR SUPPORT (optional)
Just about everyone and their brother has jumped on the
mail door bandwagon. Be sure to configure your mail door
to allow access to this area so that your offline users
can enter netmail messages. Actually this is the main
reason for this product. It is SO EASY to reply to
echomail posts via netmail if the reply is not
appropriate for the echo! If you have no idea what a
mail door can do for you, I need to talk to you!
ADDRESSING KLUDGE
RBBS-PC currently does not support a method for entering
netmail addresses. NoSnail makes use of a special kludge
to allow netmail to be sent. NoSnail uses the Subject
line of messages in the NETMAIL area as the address field
of the message. The address should be in the form of
"Zone:Network/Node.Point". I have purposely not tampered
with the text of the message like the gateway software
presently does (such as UFGATE). I think it best for me
to leave well enough alone at this point in time.
I STRONGLY wish to move the addressing information out of
the subject field. I hesitate to make things more
difficult and would like to hear your opinion. The main
reason for desiring to move it is so I can implement
DOMAIN support in the future - there is NOT enough room
in the subject field. One alternative would be to use
the first line of the message text as the addressing
field. The other alternative (the preferred) would be to
modify RBBS to properly support echomail/netmail.
I've recently been in contact with Jan Terpstra via
echomail and it seems he has sat down to think out new
message/user base structures which would allow for the
proper echomail/netmail support that RBBS needs so badly.
Per our conversations this not only includes structures,
but necessary documentation of the structures and
conversion programs for updating. Jan first proposed
such structures in 1988 and again in 1990, but this is
the first I've heard of this. I would very much like to
see RBBS become echomail/netmail friendly.
OPERATION
Undoubtedly you will want to enter a message or two and
put NoSnail through a test on your system PRIOR to
putting it in an obscure batch file to ensure it behaves
properly under your setup. I recommend you also botch an
address on purpose to see how MSGFORM performs if you
have enabled ElvisMode.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 10
NoSnail reads its configuration file, looks for new
messages in the NETMAIL message base, and exports them
out as netmail messages. (Obviously NoSnail also marks
the messages as sent to prevent duplicates from being
sent.)
If NoSnail has problems exporting the message due to the
outbound directory not existing or the address being in
the improper format, it will attempt to recover from the
error, mark the message as sent, and move on to any
additional messages which may exist. (If you have
enabled ElvisMode, NoSnail runs MSGTOSS before moving on
to the next message for processing so the sender can be
alerted to the problem.)
I recommend you place NoSnail in your batch file which
processes echomail/netmail PRIOR to your echomail
scanner/tosser. Why? Close scrutiny of RBBSMail
operation reveals that RBBSMail makes its modification to
the time field (remember the ":" to ".") when it tosses
the incoming mail. Since it is expected that RBBSMail
will soon support importation of netmail into the *M.DEF
file, it is saving yourself potential grief by making
sure the mail that needs to be exported is in fact
exported. (An ounce of prevention never hurt anyone.)
Additionally, I have no idea how MSGTOSS and OVERMAIL
deal with the time field, and I don't want mail to become
orphaned on your system!
ELVISMODE
If you configured NoSnail to operate in ElvisMode
NoSnail will send a message to the user when they botch
the netmail address, or when the packet writing process
fails (usually this is when the zone of the message is
NOT a valid zone - i.e. you do not have an outbound
directory for that zone.) NoSnail does this by simply
shelling to DOS and calling MSGFORM with the following
parameters:
MSGFORM /LTR:NOSNAIL.LTR /MSG:%1 /PRI /NET /TO:%2
In place of %1 NoSnail puts the message base name you are
using for your NETMAIL area (NETMAILM.DEF right?) and in
place of %2 it puts the name found in the FROM field of the
message it gagged on.
Immediately after running MSGFORM NoSnail nukes the
NOSNAIL.LTR file which was written by NoSnail.
I only have a copy of MSGFORM 1.1 so I cannot say if it
works with prior versions or future versions. If you run
into problems LET ME KNOW, and DISABLE this feature by
removing "ElvisMode" from your NOSNAIL.CFG.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 11
MAINTENANCE
NoSnail does not require any extra maintenance beyond a
normal echomail area. Since it follows RBBSMail's lead
in the manner of marking messages as exported, virtually
ANY message purge utility may be run on the NETMAIL
message base from time to time to keep it trimmed to a
reasonable size. (Now, say it with me, "DON'T USE
CONFIG UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!")
As far as I know, CONFIG and MU-PURGE are the only two
message base utilities which are guaranteed to cause you
grief if used on a message base processed by RBBSMail.
These WILL also cause you grief if you run them on the
message base maintained by NoSnail!!!
Users of RBBSMail will want to make use of RBBSMNT
because it will be of special value to them when RBBSMail
18.2 is released (plus it is in the same spirit as
RBBSMail). I also have firsthand experience with Chip
Morrow and Doug Wilson's MAILFIX program - included in
the Mail Manager .QWK program archive.
Users of MSGTOSS should not have any problems using
MSGTOSS to purge the NETMAIL message just like they do
any other echomail area.
You might also consider the HUH? and RTMBP packages to
take care of maintanance on your netmail area. Both of
these have been praised in the RBBS-PC echo, but I do NOT
have any first hand experience with either package.
MULTITASKING ENVIRONMENTS
There is NO support in NoSnail for those who multitask or
operate under network environments other than the message
base being opened in SHARED mode. One should always
assume this when it comes to running software, but in
case you assume the reverse, you ARE WRONG and cruising
for a bruising! 8-)
│ I have just finished migrating to DESQview 386 on the
│ BBS. I am running NoSnail in the same window that I
│ run Binkley and RBBS and have not ran into any
│ difficulties. In fact I am running everything under
│ DESQview on the BBS without any problems.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 12
SOFTWARE REFERENCES
Throughout this document I've dropped the names of
various pieces of software. These should be readily
available to you on major BBSs around the United States
and Europe. In the event you cannot find them
locally/easily I've got them online. I have NO idea if
these are the newest versions of these programs (actually
I do know about a few of them). These should all be
FREQable and/or downloadable as personal downloads using
the NOSNAIL LATEST VERSION scheme. (You can manually log
onto my system as the name NOSNAIL LATEST and the
password VERSION to access my personal file directory.)
If you don't operate in Fidonet never fear! I don't turn
down File Requests from anyone - that is about as brain
dead as you can get IMHO.
If I missed listing any, drop me a note and I'll correct
the oversight. No, I don't keep any mailers online.
FTS-0001.A15 25k Basic Fidonet Technology Specification
HUH200.ZIP 35k HUH? - *M.DEF message base utility
MAILFIX.ZIP 12k MAILFIX - *M.DEF message base utility
MAKEARC3.ZIP 44k MAKEARC - Mail masher
MNT-201.ZIP 46k RBBSMNT - *M.DEF message base utility
by Jan Terpstra
MSGFRM11.ZIP 40k MSGFORM - need to use ElvisMode
NOFLO100.ZIP 22k NOFLO - Converts *.?LO to *.MSG file
attaches
OMMM_170.ZIP 91k OMMM - Mail masher of sorts (this is
the one I use to route my .OUT netmail
packets to my echomail host )
RMAIL181.ZIP 82k RBBSMail Echomail processor
by Jan Terpstra
RTMBP200.ZIP 65k RBBS TURBO MESSAGE BASE PACKER -
*M.DEF message base utility
NOSNAIL DEVELOPMENT
NoSnail has been developed under Digital Research's
Superior Disk Operating System (version 6.0) and under
Micro$oft's Professional Development System 7.1 (just
another fancy name for an overpriced version of Basic).
NEWBEES TO FIDONET
If you've made it this far in the documentation and are
totally confused with things, DO NOT GIVE UP! This
document makes a lot of broad assumptions in regards to
the operation of RBBS-PC in a Fidonet technology
environment. If you need help I am here to lend a
helping hand. (not to mention the outstanding group of
NoSnail 0.57 Page 13
people in the RBBS-PC echo) Please refer to the
beginning of this document for addressing information.
If you insist on sending SnailMail, I would appreciate a
S.A.S.E. for a reply.
I'll be revising this document from time to time to
enhance its readability and clarity. The only way I'll
know I botched an explanation will be for you to let me
know.
AUTHOR'S COMMITMENT
I will be honest and make no promises that I cannot
deliver upon. I wish I were a more seasoned programmer,
but alas I am not so I poke along with BIG ideas and a
BIG learning curve. If you use the software I would like
to hear from you, particularly since I consider this a
product under development.
BUG REPORTS
If you experience any difficulty with NoSnail, strip your
system of any software which may be resident and
potentially causing conflicts. If you ARE able to point
the finger at a TSR or device driver, please pass this
information on to me so I can document it and attempt to
remedy. If the item is a shareware product which would
allow you to send me a copy, please do. If not please
supply me with complete information as to the name &
version of the software and the address & phone number of
the author.
If you are unable to point the finger at anything on your
system, then it is time to let me try to duplicate it
here. In order for me to do this I will need the
following as a minimum:
1. DOS manufacturer and version
2. Machine type (microprocessor), manufacturer,
bios manufacturer & date
3. Environment under which you operate.
4. Copy of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
5. NOSNAIL.CFG
(continued on next page....)
6. Messages file (NETMAILM.DEF)
7. Outbound packets (if trashed or improper)
8. *.MSG files (if the message was bounced back to
you for some reason)
9. Complete details as to what is wrong, how
discovered, and attempted futile remedies.
Archive the various files into a unique archive which
NoSnail 0.57 Page 14
includes your node address as part of the name if you
have an address, else dream something up. Be sure to
also include a file with the output redirected to a text
file also. (i.e. run Nosnail with this command line:
"NoSnail > Error.rpt")
FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
For those that are curious, here are my tentative future
plans:
Note: Not in any order really....
1. Continue to squash any buglets which spring up and
a continued optimization of the code for efficiencies
sake - no sense getting sloppy.
│ 2. Implement support for *.MSG users
3. Implement full support for FSC-0045
4. Gain a better understanding of how the various
Fidonet technology mailers operate.
5. Develop a way to allow users to have some sort of
account balance where they could send Continuous mail
if they have prepaid the sysop. (Jan Terpstra's
proposal for modifying RBBS might do the trick here.)
6. Develop a way to use the compiled nodelist. (Version
7) It seems that there is currently not a lot of
information available to programmers, especially
those who do not program in C and understand it.
There are current efforts in the NET_DEV echo to find
someone who will spill the beans.
7. Interface NoSnail with RBBS via a merge which would
allow users to use the compiled nodelist and give
online verification of exportation. This is a hairy
one!
8. Work with other Fidonet technology software authors
in a common goal of updating the basic Fidonet
technology standard. This is a goal of a number of
people around the world, but with many problems. The
goal is to upgrade the standard without breaking all
of the software that is currently being used.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 15
FIDONET TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS COMMITTEE
NoSnail adheres to FTS-0001 which is the basic Fidonet
standard. If my messages can get past Randy Bush's
system, then they should be well within specs in my
opinion. (Rest easy...I've looked at the files with a
HEX editor until I am blue in the face. The test with
Randy's system was just so I sleep better at night.
Those of you who like me have used Amax to attempt to
send netmail to Europe from North America through the
gateway know what happens.)
Many sysops have no idea what exactly the FTSC does.
I've enclosed a text file (FTSC.DOC) of a message
recently entered in the NET_DEV echo clarifying what
exactly the "job" of FTSC is. Rick Moore is current FTSC
chair. I think all of us who operate in the realm of
Fidonet Technology should become more aware of how things
operate on the techie side of the family.
HISTORY OF NOSNAIL
.57 September 11, 1992
Corrected an error in type two packet as determined by
MsgTrack
.56 September 11, 1992 (pre-released at FidoCon)
Optimized & streamlined code
AKAs increased from THREE to NINE
NOSNAIL.CFG now operates on keywords
Support of FTS-0009's MSGID added for reply linking
INTL kludge for INTRAZone mail
.55 July 3, 1992
NETMAIL Message Base now opened in SHARED Mode
Conversion of ALL CAPS names fields to proper case - no
more getting hatemail about the ALL CAPS headers from
non-RBBS systems! But will I now get it from those with
"nonstandard" names??? 8-)
Stripped out support for FSC-0039 proposal - messages are
now FTSC-0001 by default
Support for up to three AKAs
NoSnail 0.57 Page 16
Improved local display for the red-eyed sysop
Error Explitive Added
Elvis Mode Added (RTS- return to sender with MSGFORM)
NoSnail's Log file now a bit more verbose
Changed from the QuickBasic 4.5 compiler to the PDS 7.1
compiler - including a 286 machine specific version
0.52ß May 6, 1992 - Maintenance Release
Fixed a problem dealing with killed messages which had
not been packed yet. This caused NoSnail to appear to be
locked up, but which was caught in an infinite loop or
caused NoSnail to not be able to export messages after
killed messages. No implications on message bases packed
regularly as far as I know. Hats off to Ken Humrich,
Andrew Hart, Jim Wargula for their aid as this was a
VERY difficult to fix since I could not duplicate at
first...Ken's message base did the trick for me.
Enhanced NoSnail to include its very own logfile so that
output from running could be separated from bare
necessity information for a logfile. (Plus it is kinda
cheasy to redirect output. <grin>)
0.51ß April 27, 1992 - Maintenance release.
Fixed incorrect implementation of multiple zone outbound
subdirectories. These direcories have to be named in
hexidecimal, not decimal as initially implemented.
Fixed flaw in logic for creating hexidecimal net/node
address from a decimal value when the network or node
number get to four digits in length.
Enhanced error checking so that errors resulting from
messages entered with an incorrect address are hopefully
recoverable and processing can continue. (This goes for
messages entered with illegal characters in the subject
field - ie text, and messages for zones for which no
outbound subdirectory exists.)
Added a public sysop name field to configuration file so
that the sysop's public name is used in the exported
netmail message.
0.50ß April 21, 1992 - First public beta released.
NoSnail 0.57 Page 17
0.40ß March 16, 1992 - First in-house beta for users of
HOTLine RBBS.
0.00 November 1991 - Idea conceived for NoSnail