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Spoint Version 1.20 A Simple Pointmail Processor for Hudson Messagebases Written by Conrad Thompson and Chris Visard. Copyright (C) 1991 by Conrad Thompson. All rights reserved. USER GUIDE 1 Licensing Information Spoint is free, absolutely free. If you find Spoint useful, pass it along to somebody who might also benefit from it. Spoint may be distributed freely, provided no fees are made in any form, other than the cost of media on which it was distributed. Also, Spoint should only be distributed in this original archive. Modifications this the archive are considered a violation of this license. 1.1 Warranty Spoint is provided "as is," totally devoid of any kind of warranty or guarantee, expressed or implied. Spoint is guaranteed to do nothing whatsoever, nothing other than occupy diskspace. If Spoint will not work for you, I'm sorry, but as I said before, it doesn't have to if it decides not to. In no event will Conrad Thompson or Chris Visard be liable to any user of Spoint for any damages or any untoward effects caused by this program, including any lost profits or monies or damaged equipment, or any other incidental or consequential arising out of the use or misuse or inability to use this program. Use Spoint at your own risk. 2 System Requirements * An IBM PC, XT, AT or PS/2, or a 100% compatible. * MS-DOS or PC-DOS 3.00 or higher. * A hard drive. * A mailer or "front-end," preferably FrontDoor. * A message editor. FrontDoor's FM works fine. * A bundle unarchiver like SPAZ or POLYXARC. * An archiver like System Enhancement Associates' ARC. 3 Introduction Spoint is a fully point-aware echomail handler for points or leafnodes (systems that don't have any children) that use Hudson messagebases. Although there are many products capable of handling points in this environment, they can be extremely difficult to configure and use if you're not well-versed in the rudiments of echomail. With Spoint you really only need to know two commands, TOSS, to import mail, and SCAN, to export. Spoint doesn't sacrifice flexibility at the expense of simplicity, though. There are functions available that allow you to accomplish just about anything you would want to do with a point, but they are entirely optional. In short: Pointing with full-featured juggernauts is hard. Spointing with Spoint is easy. (See section 9 for Quick Installation.) 4 The Control File Spoint's control file, by default named SPOINT.CTL, should be a regular text file with no special format codes or anything annoying like that. Spoint will look for its control file in the current directory. If the control file is not there, Spoint will look for it in the path specified in the SPOINT environment variable. This file is free-form. That is to say, what you assign to a keyword does not necessarily have to be one space away from it. Also, keywords and their assignments are not case- sensitive. Semicolons (;) are used to indicate that the text on that line is a comment, and, accordingly, Spoint will ignore that line. The previous versions of Spoint did not allow trailing backslashes in path specifications. This one won't complain either way, so do it however you like, trailing backslashes or not. A sample control file, named SPOINT.CTL, is included with this archive. You should edit it to reflect your system's setup. 4.1 Control File Keywords 4.1.1 ADDRESS <zone>:<net>/<node>.<point> This is your network address, which should be the same as your bossnode's plus a pointnumber he has assigned. For instance, if your bossnode's address is 1:3603/20, and he has assigned you pointnumber 112, this keyword should read 1:3603/20.112 Spoint uses this to know how to stamp your mail. This keyword is required. 4.1.2 BOSSNODE <zone>:<net>/<node>[.point] This is your bossnode's full network address, the same as your address minus the point. Spoint uses this to know where to send your mail. This keyword is required. 4.1.3 FAKENET <zone>:<net>/<node>[.point] If you or your bossnode is not using point-aware mailer like FrontDoor, this should indicate your full fakenet address. However, if both of you are using point-aware mailers, you should omit this keyword. This keyword is optional. 4.1.4 ARCCOMMAND <archiver> [switches] <%a> <%f> This is the program that compresses your ARCmail packets. If this program lives in one of the directories specified in your PATH environment variable, there is no need to add path info. If the program requires a command-line arguments in order to either create or add to an archive, you should indicate that. Examples: arca %a %f arc a %a %f pak a /C %a %f pkarc a %a %f (Check the reference manual of whatever archiver you plan to use.) %a Specifies where Spoint should expand the name of the archive to be added to or created. %f Specifies where Spoint should expand the file(s) to incorporate into the archive. NOTE: ARC 5 is the current Fidonet standard for compressed mail. Unless you and your bossnode have settled on an alternative, always make sure you're sending out ARC-type archives. This keyword is required. 4.1.5 NETMAIL <path> This is the directory where your system keeps netmail (*.MSG) files. This keyword is required. 4.1.6 HUDSON <path> This is the directory where your system keeps its Hudson-style messagebase files (MSG*.BBS). This keyword is required. 4.1.7 INBOUND <path> This is the directory where your system will put inbound mail packets (*.PKT). Please note: Spoint WILL NOT unpack ARCmail bundles. Utilities like SPAZ and POLYXARC can handle this much more efficiently. You should set up your batch file to call one of these programs before passing to Spoint. (See section 11 for an sample batch file.) This keyword is required. 4.1.8 OUTBOUND <path> This is the directory where you want Spoint to put outbound ARCmail bundles (E.G., "dcd8ffb3.mo1"). This keyword is required. 4.1.9 LOGFILE <[path]filename> This is the file to which you want Spoint to write its log information. On my system, I have this set with the same name as FrontDoor's log, so that I can look at both of them at once. The log format looks somewhat similar to FD's, too. If this keyword is omitted, no log will be kept. This keyword is optional. 4.1.10 PASSWORD <password> If either you or your bossnode is paranoid, you can use this keyword to indicate the password you'd like to use for your packets. If a packet's password doesn't match the one you've specified, the packet will be renamed to dcd8ffb3.bad, for example. If you're going to be using passwords, make sure that yours is identical to your bossnode's. Note: With passwords, only the first seven (7) characters are significant. They are also non-case- sensitive. This keyword is optional. 4.1.11 TEARLINE <string> Specifies an alternative tearline. If you don't use this keyword, Spoint will never use a tearline unless you use the -T switch. Then it will use the default tearline, I.E., "--- Spoint 1.20". (See section 7) This keyword is optional. 4.1.12 HISTORY The presence of the keyword in the control file lets Spoint know that you'd like it to keep a comprehensive history of what comes in and goes out of your echomail conferences. This file, named SPOINT.HIS, is written in the directory pointed to by Spoint's environment variable, or, if it's not set, the current directory. To read it, you'll need a program called SPSTAT.EXE, which we'll go into more detail about in section 10. This keyword is optional. 4.1.13 PACKET <Stoneage|Type-2+> This tells Spoint what kind of packets to create for outbound messages. Type-2+ packets have extra infor- mation that can be useful. If your bossnode's software supports Type-2+, you really should use this. If this keyword is missing, Spoint always creates Stoneage packets. This keyword is optional. 5 Commands and Switches For simplicity's sake, Spoint has only three commands, TOSS, SCAN, and POLL. All of Spoint's switches are optional and the POLL command is just an extra, so you really only need to know SCAN and TOSS. The switches--not the commands--can be set with either a hyphen (-) or a slash (/). 5.1 Syntax SPOINT <TOSS|SCAN|POLL> [-cshtie] [-d<KB>] [-f<areas>] [-a<control>] [-l<tosslog>] The commands and switches can be given in any order, and they are not case-sensitive. For example . . . SPOINT TOSS -s -c -lEcho.log SPOINT /C /LECHO.LOG /S TOSS . . . both mean the same thing. 5.2 Commands 5.2.1 TOSS This command causes Spoint to look for packet (*.PKT) files in the directory pointed to by the INBOUND keyword (see 4.1.7). If any are found, Spoint will extract the echomail messages they contain and put them [the messages] into your Hudson messagebase (see 4.1.6). If everything goes okay, Spoint will delete the packet(s) when it has finished tossing. You should run Spoint with this command whenever you receive mail from your bossnode. 5.2.2 SCAN This command causes Spoint to scan your Hudson message base (see 4.1.6) and look for any unsent echomail. If it finds any, it will create an ARCmail bundle and fileattach for your bossnode. If your editor creates a file called ECHOMAIL.BBS, scanning will be almost instantaneous. You should run Spoint with this command after you enter new echomail. 5.2.3 POLL This command causes Spoint to generate a null netmail message for you bossnode, so that your mailer will call and pickup your mail. 5.3 Switches 5.3.1 -A<filename> Specifies and alternate control file other than the default SPOINT.CTL. This is useful if you have more than one bossnode. 5.3.2 -C Marks all bundles generated as priority crashmail. 5.3.3 -D<kb> Specifies the minimum amount of free disk space, in kilobytes, required to continue. Example, -D1000. 5.3.4 -E Tells Spoint NOT to use ECHOMAIL.BBS to look for unscanned mail. Since Spoint will have to search through each and every message in your messagebase, this can be very slow. Spoint looks for ECHOMAIL.BBS in the path pointed to by the HUDSON keyword. 5.3.5 -F<filename> Specifies an alternate areas file other than the default AREAS.BBS. 5.3.6 -H Marks all bundles generated at hold-for-pickup. Be careful. Your mail will never get out unless your bossnode calls you. 5.3.7 -I Causes Spoint to ignore the netmail area for this run. This is useful if you have stray echomail in the netmail area that you do not want imported. 5.3.8 -L<filename> Used in conjunction with the TOSS command, this switch causes Spoint to make a list of all the areas it tossed mail to on this run. This is useful for reply-linking. 5.3.9 -S Causes Spoint to strip SEEN-BYs off the bottom of all inbound messages. Most good message editors will hide these anyway. 5.3.10 -T Causes Spoint to use its tearline instead of PID, which stands for Product IDentification and is hidden from view. This switch is redundant if you already have the TEARLINE keyword (See 4.1.11) set. 6 The Areas File The areas file, like the control file, should just be plain ASCII. Spoint always looks for AREAS.BBS, unless you specify otherwise via the /F switch. The format is pretty simple. <#> <AREATAG> A sample areas, AREAS.SMP, file is included with the archive. --------------------------------------------------------- ; ; Sample areas file ; 1 WRITING 2 SF 3 C_ECHO 4 NET_DEV 5 DORK_SEMINAR 6 ASK_A_DORK 7 POINTS 8 FDECHO ; ; (End of Areasfile) --------------------------------------------------------- 6.1 Areas File Format Breakdown As with the control file, semicolons indicate comments. The file can contain up to 200 area definitions. 6.1.1 # The number of the messagebase where you want messages from the conference referenced by AREATAG placed. 6.1.2 AREATAG The name, non-case-sensitive, of the conference. All incoming echomail messages will have this name in their text, so it's important that the names match. When that name is encountered, that message will be tossed into the area referenced by #. 7 Tearlines and PIDs By default, Spoint will always attempt to put its PID in a message it's packing up. If a PID already exists and/or you have used the -T switch, Spoint will use a tearline instead. It will never use a tearline unless you specify by using this switch or have used the TEARLINE keyword in the control file. If you are going to use the TEARLINE keyword, please be conscientious. Don't make your tearline annoying or goofy. This facility was implemented for people who like to show what kind of mail-processing setup they've got going. You know, like "--- FD 2.02 & Spoint 1.20" for somebody using FrontDoor 2.02 and Spoint 1.20. 8 Files that Spoint Uses Spoint's "Must-have" Files : ????????.CTL Control file (default SPOINT.CTL) ????????.??? Areas file (default AREAS.BBS) Spoint's Optional File : ECHOMAIL.BBS Index for unscanned echomail, created by most if not all message editors, including FrontDoor's FM. Files that Spoint creates : ????????.??? Logfile. Name is user-specified via the LOGFILE keyword in control file. BIGMSGTM.$$$ Created when Spoint handles a message bigger than its buffer allows, I.E., 32K. Unlinked when finished. SPOINT.HIS (If HISTORY keyword present in con- trol file.) Hudson Messagebase Files*: MSGHDR.BBS Message header info. MSGIDX.BBS Message header index. MSGINFO.BBS Message info. MSGTOIDX.BBS Username-to index. MSGTXT.BBS Message text. (* Spoint will create these if they don't already exist.) 9 Quick Installation 1) Unpack all the files from the distribution archive, which you've probably already done. 2) Edit SPOINT.CTL and AREAS.BBS to reflect your system's setup. 3) Make sure CONFIG.SYS has FILES set to 25 or higher. And you're ready to roll! 10 The History File and SPSTAT.EXE If you have placed the HISTORY keyword in your control file, Spoint will keep a detailed account of echomail traffic, both inbound and outbound. To read this file, you'll need an external program called SPSTAT.EXE, which is included in the distribution archive. Simply invoke SPSTAT.EXE at DOS's prompt, and it will print out a list of echomail activity, including messages in and out, average messages per day, and total kilobytes in and out for each echomail conference. Spoint will write this file to the directory specified in its environment variable. If one is not specified, Spoint will write it to the current directory. SPSTAT.EXE works the same way, except it never writes to the history file. 10.1 Running SPSTAT.EXE SPSTAT, which stands for SpointStat, can be invoked with any combination of its three commands. There are no switches. Syntax: Spstat <IN|OUT|ALL> [areanumbers...] Examples: "Spstat All" or "Spstat In Out All" This would print a chart with info about all your echomail conferences. "Spstat In All" Info on inbound traffic into all conferences. "Spstat Out 3 2 7" Info on outbound traffic of Hudson board numbers 3, 2, 7. Pretty easy, huh? 11 A Sample Batchfile Used with FrontDoor 2.02 and GoldEd 2.31p. This is really a skeleton of what you'll need, but it should help you to get started if you're don't have any experience making batch files. ------------------------------------------------------------ echo off :start e: cd\fd fd if errorlevel 121 goto golded if errorlevel 120 goto unpackmail if errorlevel 10 goto shutdown goto start :golded e: cd\golded golded if errorlevel 4 goto packmail < GoldEd returns errlvl 4 goto start if new echomail entered. :unpackmail e: cd\fd\file < INBOUND directory spaz -f \fd\file < Spaz unpacks bundles spoint toss goto start :packmail e: cd\fd spoint scan goto start :shutdown echo FrontDoor down. ------------------------------------------------------------ 12 A Note About Housekeeping At times, you may see zero-length ARCmail bundles hanging around in your outbound directory. You shouldn't erase these, because Spoint uses them to determine what the next bundle's extension should be. 13 Snode Snode is a full-featured echomail processor for both Hudson and *.MSG-style formats. It features one-pass scanning and tossing, four-dimensional awareness, interzonal operation, support for both "Stoneage" and 2+ packets, accurate node billing reports, Areafix compatibility, 512 Hudson conference areas, and just about everything you ever wanted or needed in an echomail processor. Snode is in beta testing now, but will be freely available in mid-March of 1992. Look for it on SDS. Contact one of the authors if you're interesting in becoming a Snode beta tester. 14 Closing Matter We would really appreciate hearing about any bugs you may find. We're also open to any comments or suggestions for possible improvements. If Spoint doesn't do something that you need, tell us about it, and we'll see what we can do. Contacting the authors: Conrad Thompson (1:130/29.106@fidonet.org) Chris Visard (1:273/219@fidonet.org) Thanks for using Spoint!