Cream of the Crop 12/Cream of the Crop 12 (Part II)/Cream of the Crop 12 (Part II).iso/BBS/MM4A.ZIP/MM.INF

OS/2 Help File | 1996-02-25 | 116.3 KB | 562 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. What is MM/2? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


MM/2 is a PointMailer for OS/2 Presentation Manager. It is compatible with the
following Fidonet Technical Specifications:
 fsc-0056 rev 1
 fsc-0048 rev 2
 fts-0001 rev 15

What do you need to run MM/2?
- Except OS/2 with MultiMedia installed:
- Optional a Version 7 nodelist compiler. I prefer FastList by Alberto
Pasquale.

Related Topics :
Credits
Author


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The installation procedure is splitted in several parts

Disk installation
Dynamic Link Libraries
The nodelist
User dependant settings
Boss settings

The following archives were distributed:

MM4.ZIP: The full version, with both the executables and the DLL's.

MM4RT.ZIP: Everything except the DLL's.

MM4LIB.ZIP: Only the DLL's.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. Disk installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Installation on is easy if you follow the following steps:

1. Create a new directory called MM and enter it.

     md \mm
     cd \mm
     copy a:mm4.zip
     unzip mm4.zip
     md nodelist
     md netmail
     md temp
     md incoming

You now have the following tree structure

    ΓöÇΓöÇ MM ΓöÇΓöÇΓö¼ΓöÇ nodelist
            Γö£ΓöÇ netmail
            Γö£ΓöÇ temp
            ΓööΓöÇ incoming

That was the disk installation. Now the installation of the DLL's.

Dynamic Link Libraries


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. Dynamic Link Libraries ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The following DLL's (Dynamic Link Libraries) are required:
EMX, EMXLIBCM, GIO2, VERS7, CMN32MP, CMN32MV and P.
The EMX*-dll's must have the following revisions:

EMX             : revision = 35
EMXLIBCM        : revision = 34
The revision numbers can be detected by using EMXREV.CMD.

The versionnumbers of the other libraries (VERS7, GIO2 and P) can't be
determined that easy. I believe if you have a file called GIO2.DLL, you
probably have the right one. Checking the last op (P) can only be done by
checking the archive it came with. If it has a version number higher than 204
it will be fine (I think). VERS7.DLL, there is only one version of.

You can keep the DLL's in the MM-directory, but you can also move them to a
directory in your LIBPATH.
The next topic is the nodelist

The nodelist


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. The nodelist ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

I had promised myself this program didn't need a nodelist. I kept this promise,
it doesn't require it. But it can be useful. If you don't know what a nodelist
is, click here A nodelist compiler is only needed when you want to poll at
other nodes than your boss(es).

My favourite nodelistcompiler (FastList) has the following configuration:

V7BugFix

Dial
  31-40-     /           5 0
  31-      0            60 0
  -        00          300 0
End

Version7 c:com\mm\v7 NODEX sysop
  SysOpLst

  NodeList region28.???
  NodeList pointeca.???
  Nodelist fdpoints.lst

 If the compiler has ran, you must have the following files: nodex.dat,
nodex.ndx and sysop.ndx. MM/2 can't use the nodelist if one of them is not available.

 The next settings are the user dependant settings


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3.1. What is a nodelist? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The nodelist is the FidoNet phonebook. When a mailer needs to know the
phonenumber of an other node, it searches in there. If a user wants to send a
message (or request a file) at a node but doesn't know the nodenumber of that
person it can search for the node's name and grabs the nodenumber out of the
nodelist.

Zone
Usually a large geographical area, such as North America, Europe, Australia and
New Zealand, etc. At the time of the release of this package, the following
FidoNet Zone numbers have been allocated:
1  North America (including Canada)
2  Europe
3  Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand
4  Latin America
5  Africa
6  Asia

Region
Usually a somewhat smaller geographical area, such as a country or part of a
(large) country. A collection of regions make up one zone.

Net
Usually a collection of systems local to each other. Typically a city and in
some cases including its suburbs. A collection of nets make up one region.

Node
A single system within a net.

Point
A single system belonging to a node.

It is constructed this way:

        Zone
         Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Net
         Γöé       Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Node
         Γöé       Γöé       Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         Γöé       Γöé       ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         Γöé       ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Node
         Γöé               Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         Γöé               ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Net
                 Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Node
                 Γöé       Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
                 Γöé       ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
                 ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Node
                         Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
                         ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point

Due to some administrativia, you have some extra layers.

Region
A collection of nets, most of the time all belonging to one country.

Host
A host is the one who adds and removes entries from the nodelist for his net.

Hubs
If there are too much nodes in a net and the host's systems would be busy all
night, he might add a few hubs to decrease the pressure on his system.

This is the technical implementation.

        Zone
         Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Region
         Γöé       Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Net
         Γöé       Γöé      Host
         Γöé       Γöé       Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Hub
         Γöé       Γöé       Γöé       Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Node
         Γöé       Γöé       Γöé       Γöé       Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         Γöé       Γöé       Γöé       Γöé       ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         Γöé       Γöé       Γöé       ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Node
         Γöé       Γöé       Γöé               Γö£ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         Γöé       Γöé       Γöé               ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Point
         Γöé       Γöé       ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Hub
         Γöé       ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Net
         Γöé              Host
         ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ Region


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4. User dependant settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This is the time you're going to start the program. Go to the directory where
you've placed the MM.EXE-executable and startup MM. The only thing you now see
it a small title- and menubar at the upperleft of the screen.

Press `Global' and `Setup', you'll then see the following screen:

Well, you don't see the field values.

Commport: At which serial port have you connected your modem?

Baudrate: What is the maximum speed of your modem (DCE to DTE of course). If
you have locked your modem or your Serial Communications Drivers to a value,
use this one.

Initstrings: How to initialize the modem for outgoing calls? Normally ATZ would
be sufficient. Check the manual of your modem if you're not sure.

Dialprefix: The command you give to let your modem dial. Normally (for Hayes
compatible modems) this would be ATD or ATDT. Check the manual of your modem if
you're not sure.

Retry delay: If a node was called but it was busy, after how many seconds do
you want the mailer to retry?

Max tries: How often does MM/2 has to try to contact a node?

Ok: This is the string your modem returns if it was given a valid command. This
is only used for checking if the initializing of the modem was successfull.
Normally the string is OK, but check the manual of your modem if you're not
sure.

No Carrier: This is the string your modem returns if it was dials but there
wasn't a response from the remote site. Normally the string is NO CARRIER, but
check the manual of your modem if you're not sure.

Busy: This is the string your modem returns if the remote was busy. Normally
the string is BUSY, but check the manual of your modem if you're not sure.

No Dialtone: This is the string your modem returns if it tries to dial but
there was no dialtone. Normally the string is NO DIALTONE, but check the manual
of your modem if you're not sure.

Connect: This is the string your modem returns if a connection with the remote
was successfull. Normally the string is CONNECT, but check the manual of your
modem if you're not sure.


Site name: Your systems name.

Your name: Your name.

Location: Geographical location of your system.

Phonenumber: Your systems phonenumber.

Netmail: Where is your netmail located? MM/2 searches in that directory for
outgoing mail to be sent.

Incoming: Where must the files the remote is sending to you be put? (This is
also for the tosser/scanner to find it's incoming mailbundles.

Nodelist: Where are the version 7 nodelists stored?

Temp: A temporarely directory. At the beginning everything in this directory
will be erased. MM/2 uses this directory for temporary files.

Toss command: This option starts a windowed dos- or OS/2-session. Enter a
filename and the commandline arguments here just as you do to toss your mail.
Don't forget the .EXE-extenties. .CMD can be started by entering \OS2\CMD.EXE
/c foo.cmd, .BAT can be started by entering \OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM /c foo.bat

Visual log: MM/2 uses a logfile (for debugging and accounting). If you want to
display this logfile during important sections (ie. during startup, during
calling etc) while running MM/2, mark this button.

Display EMSI-values: Mark this button if you want to see the information the
remote sent to you during the EMSI-handshake session.

Check EMSI CRC value: When using a highspeed modem, I often got a crc mismatch
while exchanging EMSI fields. This option did hide this mismatch.

When a certain part of MM/2 is finished (polling for example), it can notify
the user by playing a certain .wav-file.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.5. Boss installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This is the information you have to supply to MM/2 for a proper
handshake-session and netmail-routing. Up to ten bosses can be defined.

His name: The name of the boss. This is just for you to make an easy selection
where this is needed.

Location: What is the boss geographicly location?

PhoneNumber: The number the modem has to dial for that boss. Enter it exactly
as you have in other terminal-programs.

Sessionpassword: The password you've told your boss for using in a
handshakesession. MM/2 only sends it, it doesn't check the password which is
returned by the remote.

Packetpassword: The password you've told your boss for using in a mailpacket.

AreaManager password: The password you've to connect or disconnect echo's.

FileManager password: The password you've to connect or disconnect fileecho's

Route-to:Which mail has to be routed to this boss. It is a kind of finite
statemachine. It is parsed from left to right.
For example: I have two bosses, one for zone 1 and 2 and net 3:123, the other
for zone 3 except net 3:123, zone 4 and 5. The Route-To of the first boss would
be:

1:* 2:* !3:* 3:123/*
This says: Every message for zone 1 and 2 and net 3:123 must go to this boss.
(not to zone 3, except net 3:123)
The Route-To of the second boss would be:

3:* !3:123/* 4:* 5:*
This says: Every message for zone 3 must go to this boss, except for net 3:123.
Every message for zone 4 and 5 must also go to this boss.

His address: The address of the boss.

Your address: The address you have at this boss.

There are several important buttons on the screen:

Remove/Add: Removes this boss / Adds a boss (at the end)

</>: Go to the previous / next boss.

If you've filled in everything, press OK to close the dialogbox. MM/2 saves the
information in the OS/2 systemfile OS2.INI. Now even if you move the MM/2 files
and directories, MM/2 still can find it's information.

That was everything on the settings. Close the program and restart it.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. The menus ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

There are three main menus: Global, Mailer and Control


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.1. Global menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The global menu is splitted in 4 sections:

Settings

You already have seen these menus during the installation, for more information
look at them.

Queues

Show mailqueue
Displays the mail to send and it's destination. The mailqueue is the queue
where the unsend mail is stored

Rescan mailqueue
If you have added messages into you netmaildirectory, choose this option. The
netmaildirectory will be rescanned (just as if you had restarted the mailer)

Show pollqueue
This shows the systems which have to be polled. Between brackets is showed how
many times it's polled yet.

Each line presents a system. The first item is the nodeaddress, the rest is the
status. The status can be Calling (that system is now being called), Called
(the sytem has been called) or Pending (the system has not been called or has
been called but there went something wrong).

Toggle logwindow
Shows or hides the logwindow.

Search in nodelist

Here you can search in the nodelist for the nodenumber of other people. Just
enter a (part of the) last name of the person you're looking for, click on the
Name button and the mailer will show all the people who's name starts with that
name. Click on the name you want to use and the correct address is placed into
the upperright window.

 If you press on the Info button, you will get the information about this
person stated as in the nodelist.  Misc

 Reset window preferences
Whenever you move a window, the location will be saved. The next time the
window is popped up, it will automatic redisplay at the same location. But, if
you have changed the resolution, these values will become obsolete. With this
option all the preferences will be erased and they will popup at their default
locations.

About
Shows the about box.

Quit
Quits the mailer.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2. Mailer menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The mailer menu is seperated in two parts:

Control over the pollqueue
These two menus let you start or continue the pollprocess.

If you're ready to resume the poll-session (in case there went something wrong
while calling a node and the poll process was interrupted, choose continue
polling.

You can add items to the pollqueue by selecting Change poll queue

In the left listbox you have all the nodes for which you have mail on hold. In
the right listbox you have all the nodes which are going to be called. The
buttons are not that difficult: Add one node to the pollqueue, add all nodes to
the pollqueue, remove one node from the pollqueue, remove all nodes from the
pollqueue, add all bosses to the pollqueue, add all bosses with mail to the
pollqueue, select a node to be added to the pollqueue and close the window,
these are the ones to be dialed.

Shortcuts

Send all mail to bosses
With this menu all the bosses with mail on hold will be polled.

Poll all bosses
With this menu all the bosses will be polled.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3. Control ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Control menus are menus which control the mailflow, like file transfer,
manager requests and the distribution of incoming mail.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3.1. File Transfer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

File Transfer is divided in two items:

File Transmits is sending files from you to anybody else.

You have to specify the address of the receiver and the files to transmit. The
files to transmit can be choosen by pressing the filedialog button which gives
an OS/2 filedialogbox. Wildcards are not allowed in here.
If you want to place it in the pollqueue you have to mark the Send it direct
pushbutton.

File Requests is sending files from a remote to you.

Here you also have to specify the node at which you want to request the files
and the names of the files (or the magic names). Wildcards are allowed.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3.2. Manager requests ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Manager requests are request from you to a file- or area manager. These
managers send files or echomail received by your boss to you. These managers
require a password, but you have already filled in that in the boss-settings.

Choose an uplink and enter the commands. Normally the following commands will
work: + (add an echo), - (remove an echo), %help (gives help), %rescan (rescan
the remote messagebase for old messages)


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3.3. Distribution of incoming mail ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When you've received mail you have to toss it. Tossing means decompress the
incoming mailbundle and place all the messages in the proper messagebase.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Credits ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


Credits to the following people:

Jyrki Salmi

for his X-, Y- and ZModem protocol library. It would take me more time if I had
to develop it myself. His solution of feedback to the program which calls the
library is in one word perfect!

He can be contacted via:
 Internet: [e-mail]

John Morris

for his GIO library. After being busy with my own library which was as updated
version of an old BinkleyTerms communication library I choose his. His GIO
worked with nearly no adjustments in the source.

He can be contacted via
 Fidonet: 1:213/760 or 1:213/761
 BBS: The Abandoned Land (702.359.1138 (V32) or 702.359.0629 (HST)).

 1718 Woodhaven Ln.
 Sparks, NV 89434-0731
 702.359.1303

Michael Hohner

for his version 7 nodelist lookup library.

 Version-7 nodelist lookup (VERS7.DLL) - Copyright 1995 Michael Hohner. All
rights reserved.

He can be contacted via
 Fidonet: 2:2490/2520.17
 CompuServe: Michael Hohner 100425,1754
 Internet: [e-mail]

Lawrence W. Salomon, Jr.

for his Common-library.

He can be contacted via
 Internet: [e-mail]

Testers:

Reinout van Schouwen (2:281/545.25)


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


The author of this program is Edwin Groothuis

I can be contacted via:
Internet: [e-mail]
Fidonet: 2:284/205.1
BBS: ECA-BBS ([phone] (V32))
Homepage: http://www.iaehv.nl/users/mansion/edwin.html
Snail-mail:
Johann Strausslaan 1
5583ZA Aalst-Waalre
The Netherlands
tel. [phone] (18:00-22:00 GMT)


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Bussiness Machines.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

'EMSI/IEMSI Protocol Definitions' by Joaquim H. Homrighausen


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

'A Proposed Type-2 Packet Extension' by Jan Vroonhof


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

'A Basic FidoNet(r) Technical Standard' by Randy Bush