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The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door for PCBoard, Version 4.00 Copyright (C) 1992-1996 by Cutting Edge Computing All Rights Reserved Configuration and Reference Manual Written by George Hatchew and Martin Pollard Cutting Edge Computing P.O. Box 90476 Burton, Michigan 49509-0476 USA BBS Support Number: +1-810-743-8464 FAX Support Number: +1-810-743-5910 (REGISTERED users only) Internet E-Mail : bluewave@concentric.net World Wide Web : http://www.concentric.net/~bluewave TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- Chapter 1 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENTATION 3 Section 1.1 Purpose of this Documentation 3 Section 1.2 Printing this Documentation 4 Chapter 2 LICENSING AND DISTRIBUTION 5 Section 2.1 Software License Agreement 5 Section 2.2 Purchasing a License 6 Section 2.3 Corporate and Governmental Purchase Orders 8 Section 2.4 What You Receive When You Order 8 Section 2.5 Registered User License 9 Section 2.6 Trademarks and Credits 9 Chapter 3 ABOUT THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR 11 Section 3.1 History of Offline Mail Systems 11 Section 3.2 What Are E-Mail Networks For? 12 Section 3.3 What Features are in Blue Wave? 12 Chapter 4 HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS 14 Section 4.1 Different Blue Wave Mail Door Versions 14 Section 4.1.1 Requirements for The Blue Wave Mail Door 14 Section 4.2 Different Blue Wave Reader Versions 15 Section 4.2.1 Requirements for Blue Wave/DOS 15 Section 4.2.2 Requirements for Blue Wave/386 16 Section 4.2.3 Requirements for Blue Wave/OS2 17 Section 4.3 Locating Other Blue Wave Versions 17 Section 4.4 Required External Programs 18 Section 4.5 MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS Settings 18 Chapter 5 INSTALLING THE MAIL DOOR INTO PCBOARD 20 Section 5.1 Mail Door Installation 20 Section 5.2 PCBoard Menu and Conference Setup 22 Section 5.3 BWMAIL Command Line Parameters 24 Section 5.4 Multi-Node Installation Considerations 29 Section 5.5 Supported PCBoard Features 30 Chapter 6 INSTALLING EXTERNAL PROGRAMS 32 Section 6.1 Installing External Support Programs 32 Section 6.2 The PATH Environment Variable 32 Section 6.3 Configuring External Archiver Programs 33 Section 6.3.1 Macros Used for Archiver Definitions 34 Section 6.3.2 Sample Archiver Command Lines 35 Section 6.3.3 Notes About Archiver Command Lines 36 Chapter 7 OPERATING THE MAIL DOOR 37 Section 7.1 General Mail Door Operation 37 Section 7.2 Functions Available While a User is Online 37 Section 7.3 Maintaining The Blue Wave Mail Door 39 Section 7.3.1 Message Area Overrides 39 Section 7.3.2 Removing Old User Records 40 Section 7.4 Creating and Using Reader Bulletin Files 40 Section 7.5 Using the Mail Door in Local Mode 41 Section 7.6 The FidoNet->Internet Gateway 43 Chapter 8 SOFTWARE SUPPORT INFORMATION 44 ------------------------------------ Chapter 1: ABOUT THIS DOCUMENTATION ------------------------------------ Section 1.1 Purpose of this Documentation The documentation presented in this file is designed to: * Provide an overview of the operation of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door from the SysOp or System Adminstrator's point of view, and the concept of offline mail systems in general. * Provide information about the minimal system hardware configuration that is required to use the mail door. * Provide details about the external programs which are required for proper usage of the mail door, including the configuration of these external programs. * Describe the features available in the mail door, and how to use them effectively. The documentation in this file is not meant as a reference for end- users of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door. A separate documentation file describing the use of the mail door for end-users has been included in a file called BWDOOR.DOC. The information in BWDOOR.DOC applies to all Blue Wave Mail Doors -- it is not specific to the mail door for any single BBS software package. The mail door's configuration program (BWSETUP.EXE) provides an online help system which describes each configuration field in detail. At any point while using BWSETUP you can press the <F1> key for immediate on-screen context sensitive help. If at any time you need help while using the mail door's configuration utility, always remember that documentation is only an <F1> key press away. The online help system provides 'hot links' to related help topics, and a help topic index to allow you to find items of interest. In addition, each error message and condition that is generated by the configuration utility is covered by an online help category. If you receive an error message or condition while using BWSETUP, and you do not know the cause of the problem, the help system will most likely be able to give you specific information about the cause and how you can go about fixing it. This documentation provides a Table of Contents; use this to help you locate items of interest in this file, or use a file viewer/editor to search for items you may be looking for. Instructions for printing this documentation file can be found in the following section. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 3 Section 1.2 Printing this Documentation This documentation is formatted with Form Feeds for printing on all Personal Computer printers. This documentation file contains no IBM Extended ASCII characters, so it should print fine on all printer models - even non IBM ProPrinter compatibles. To print this documentation in hard copy, simply execute the following command from the DOS (or OS/2) command line: COPY BWMAIL.DOC PRN If you would like to print this documentation using the PRINT.COM print spooler provided with most versions of DOS (and all versions of OS/2), simply execute this command at the DOS or OS/2 prompt: PRINT BWMAIL.DOC The documentation is formatted to 60 lines per page so that printing on laser printers should also work with no problems. If, when you attempt to print this documentation, your printer begins ejecting pages which are not complete (the page number is not at the bottom of the page), you should cancel the print job and configure your printer to accept at least 60 lines per page. You will need to consult your printer's user manual for information on how this can be done. The documentation was written by George Hatchew and is Copyright (C) 1992-1996 by Cutting Edge Computing. It may be distributed freely, so long as it is kept together with the entire set of mail door files. Please read the section titled "Software License Agreement" for more information. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 4 -------------------------------------- Chapter 2: LICENSING AND DISTRIBUTION -------------------------------------- Section 2.1 Software License Agreement Cutting Edge Computing has taken every precaution to ensure that no harm or damage will occur to systems running The Blue Wave Offline Mail System. However, we cannot be responsible for any damages or other losses sustained as a result of running this software on your system. The user assumes full responsibility for the proper use of this mail system, whether damage occurs as a fault of operator error or software error. NO WARRANTIES ARE IMPLIED OR EXPRESSLY STATED. The Blue Wave Mail System and this documentation are copyrighted materials of Cutting Edge Computing and George Hatchew. Cutting Edge Computing reserves all rights to these materials, and is protected under United States and International Copyright laws. No part of these materials may be reproduced or modified in any way without the prior express written permission of Cutting Edge Computing. Use of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System constitutes acceptance of the stated terms and conditions. Cutting Edge Computing reserves all rights which are not expressly granted. The Blue Wave Offline Mail System is fully copyrighted, and is not, nor will it ever be, in the Public Domain. The Blue Wave Offline Mail System is NOT FreeWare. It is distributed and marketed under the concept of ShareWare. Users are allowed to try this program for 30 days before paying for and registering the mail system with Cutting Edge Computing. In this 30 days, you may use the program to its full capacity. If the software does not meet your needs, and you do not plan on purchasing and registering this software with Cutting Edge Computing after your 30 day trial period, you are to cease usage of the mail system. Continued use beyond the authorized evaluation period is a violation of copyright law unless you have payed the registration fee in full. Cutting Edge Computing grants an unlimited license to make and distribute UNREGISTERED copies of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System which have been released to the public by Cutting Edge Computing. Absolutely no modifications to the files contained in the software package, including this documentation file, may be made before distribution. No fee may be charged by anyone other than Cutting Edge Computing beyond the actual cost of providing these copies without the prior written consent of Cutting Edge Computing. Distribution on CD-ROM, BBS systems, and other media is encouraged, so long as the purchaser of the CD-ROM (and other media) or downloader of the software is aware that they must also purchase a LICENSE to use this software. The purchase price of the media or any subscription costs to an online service do not pay for this license. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 5 Section 2.2 Purchasing a License There are several ways in which you can purchase a license (or register) to use this software. Methods for registration include surface mail, FAX registrations by credit card, and online credit card registrations through our support BBS. When you unpacked the mail door and this documentation file from the distribution archive, four registration forms should have also been unpacked. The main registration form is called REGISTER.BW. This is a text file which can be printed in the same manner as described above for printing this documentation. Three other forms are also included. REGISTER.AUS can be used to register the software if you live in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, or any other nearby country. Our registration agent in Australia is Craig Gibson (Fidonet address 3:620/252). REGISTER.EUR can be used to register the software if you live anywhere in Europe. Our registration agent in Europe is Steve Stacher (2:443/888). REGISTER.RSA may be used to register the software if you live anywhere in Africa. Our registration agent in Africa is Graeme Slogrove (5:7107/4). To register by surface mail, simply print the appropriate form (REGISTER.AUS for Australia and nearby countries, REGISTER.EUR in Europe, REGISTER.RSA in Africa, and REGISTER.BW elsewhere in the world). Complete all of the necessary information and mail the form to the address shown on the form. To register by FAX, you must use a credit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diner's Club, Optima, and JCB. Complete the form REGISTER.BW and FAX the form to +1-810-743-5910. Sorry, FAX orders cannot be accepted at the Australian registration agent. To register through our support BBS, use a communications program and your modem to dial +1-810-743-8464. You must be using one of our accepted credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diner's Club, Optima, or JCB). When you log into the support BBS and reach the Main Menu, simply type 'R' to load the Registration System. If your credit card authorization request is accepted by the bank, you will immediately be provided a 'temporary' 30-day registration number. After final approval of your credit card order, you will receive a permanent registration number via surface mail (approximately 1-2 weeks). We perform address verification on all credit card orders by phone or through our online registration system. If the address information you provide is not accurate, our bank will decline the authorization on your credit card. To register by check or money order, simply fill out the appropriate registration form and mail it to the address shown. All checks and money orders MUST be payable in United States currency, and they MUST be drawn on a US bank. EuroCheques and GiroCheques cannot be accepted. Due to the fees our bank charges for cashing checks drawn on a Canadian bank, we must require that you enclose an additional -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 6 $15.00 US if you pay with a check from a Canadian bank. We suggest a Postal Money Order, available from your local post office, instead. This is a much cheaper alternative. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 7 Section 2.3 Corporate and Governmental Purchase Orders Purchase orders from large corporations and governmental agencies are accepted with "NET 30" terms. Both site licenses and per-copy licenses are available. Please write to Cutting Edge Computing with your requirements and we will submit a bid. Site license and per-copy discounts apply when 25 or more copies of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader and/or Blue Wave Offline Mail Door are purchased at one time. Our mailing address is: Cutting Edge Computing P.O. Box 90476 Burton, MI 48509-0476 USA Section 2.4 What You Receive When You Order When you purchase a copy of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door, you will receive a registration letter which contains details on converting your evaluation copy of the mail door into a registered version. The registration letter will assign you a unique user registration number based upon the SysOp name, and mail packet name you supplied when you submitted your registration form. To convert your copy of the mail door into a fully licensed version, you simply need to enter the registration name, mail packet name, and registration number supplied into the "General Information" section of the BWSETUP program. The next time you load the mail door, it will recognize you as a registered owner of the software. In order to keep registration costs low, we do not automatically ship a disk containing a copy of the software. Since you already HAVE a copy of the software, we can simply provide you with a registration number to activate the software license. If you would like to insure that you have the latest version of the mail door, we do offer a disk mailing service for an additional $5.00US. Sorry, we currently do not offer a printed manual for the mail door. With the online documentation/help system built into the mail door configuration utility, we have found that most users do not need or do not want to pay the extra cost of providing a printed manual. Please be sure to keep the registration letter you receive from us. You may need your registration number handy in the case of a disk failure or other system crash. This registration letter also serves as your official software license. If you lose or otherwise misplace your software registration certificate, we can provide you with a replacement copy. You must send your request to our mailing address along with a self-addressed, STAMPED envelope. (Users outside of the United States must enclose an International Reply Coupon, available at your post office). Replacement registration codes will NOT be given by any other means (FAX, e-mail, or voice technical support). -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 8 Section 2.5 Registered User License Registered users of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System are granted an unlimited license to use the product, provided the following: * Registration fees are NOT refundable. * Registration codes are not transferable to other parties. * Unofficial software patches must not be applied, and all copyright notices in the documentation and supporting files are not to be altered. * Backup copies may be kept of all registered versions of this software for archive purposes only. * Use of a registered copy is limited to one machine at a time. Use of multiple registered copies on multiple machines AT THE SAME TIME requires additional payment to Cutting Edge Computing. Section 2.6 Trademarks and Credits Cutting Edge Computing would like to thank all users of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System for their outstanding contributions in the form of new feature requests, advice, and word-of-mouth recommendations. It is users of the mail system that have made it what it is today. Cutting Edge Computing extends credit to Scott J. Dudley for his work in creating the Squish Message Base Format and the Squish MSGAPI, which is used in the code of The Blue Wave Mail Door in versions which support the Squish Message Base Format. Cutting Edge Computing extends credit to Joaquim Homrighausen, Andrew Milner, Mats Birch, and Mats Wallin for their work in creating the JAM message base and the JAM(mbp) API, which is used in the code of The Blue Wave Mail Door in versions which support the JAM Message Base Format. The use of these APIs (Application Programmer's Interfaces) ensures maximum compatibility with the supported message base formats. Cutting Edge Computing would also like the thank all past and current software testers for their tireless and extensive work in providing problem reports and suggestions during the testing process. The following products are mentioned throughout this documentation. They are products or trademarks of the companies or individuals indicated: AMD Advanced Micro Devices ARJ Robert Jung Cyrix Cyrix Corporation DESQview Quarterdeck Office Systems -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 9 FidoNet Tom Jennings, Fido Software IBM OS/2, PC-DOS International Business Machines Corporation Intel Intel Corporation Maximus Scott Dudley, Lanius Corporation MS-DOS, Windows Microsoft Corporation Opus-CBCS Wynn Wagner, III PCBoard Clark Development PKZIP/PKUNZIP PKWARE, Incorporated ProBoard Philippe Leybaert QuickBBS Pegasus Software RemoteAccess Wantree Development SuperBBS Risto Virkkala and Aki Antman T.A.G. The T.A.G. Team Telegard Tim Strike WildCat! Mustang Development Corporation -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 10 ----------------------------------------- Chapter 3: ABOUT THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR ----------------------------------------- Section 3.1 History of Offline Mail Systems Back in the early to mid 1980's, many people were beginning to get home computers and modems. People began communicating in several ways through Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's). BBS systems began offering message bases where people of similar interests could communicate with each other through electronic means. As the technology grew, people started sharing message bases between different BBS systems across the city, then across the country, and eventually across the world. Mail conferencing was born, and nothing was going to stop it. At about the same time, commercial online services began offering E- Mail services which could transmit a message to a recipient several thousands of miles away in a matter of hours, minutes, or even seconds. In the early stages, however, these commercial online services were very expensive. E-Mail on commercial services normally could only be afforded by businesses and a handful of individuals. Many people became hooked, many others dependant, on E-Mail. While the commercial companies were developing newer, faster, and less expensive ways to transmit E-Mail across the world, so were the amateur BBS operators. Several amateur E-Mail networks and technologies were formed. One of the largest amateur E-Mail networks still popular today is FidoNet. Don't let the term 'amateur' fool you. Many of the people that are responsible for keeping FidoNet up and running may be classified as amateurs, but years of experience and knowledge, and usually thousands of dollars in equipment, have earned them a very respectable name. Today, FidoNet is nearly 35,000 nodes strong and still growing! As the networks and the number of home computer users has grown, the use of technology for reading and replying to E-Mail offline has become more and more essential. When BBSing was young, there was plenty of time to read and reply to messages online. Today, with more users than ever and more E-Mail flowing than ever, there just is not enough time for every user to spend a half-hour, an hour, or even two hours online to their local BBS. Long distance phone rates can also get to be outrageously expensive after just a few of these sessions per month. This is where offline mail reading comes into play. With today's innovations in offline mail processing, your users can spend just a very few minutes per day online to your BBS system and do all of their work OFFLINE, where there is no system time limit to run up against, and where the phone company's meter is not running. This also frees up your system phone line(s) for access by more users and help alleviate the dreaded 'busy signals'. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 11 Best of all, users can read their mail at any time of the day or night -- whenever they have free time. Today's communications software allows users to build "smart" script files, which in turn allows them to retrieve their mail automatically at even the oddest times of the day or night (especially when long distance phone rates are low). Section 3.2 What Are E-Mail Networks For? At this point, you may be asking yourself, "What exactly are E-Mail Networks for?". Some people unfamiliar with mail networks and E-Mail sometimes cannot understand the enjoyment and knowledge that can come out of being an active participant on an E-Mail network. Not only can you communicate with people from all corners of the world, but you can learn more about your favorite computer software, share recipes with others, learn how to repair your leaking roof, get advice from others on product quality ratings, or just join in a chat between long distance friends. As a matter of fact, FidoNet alone offers well over 500 E-Mail topics (sometimes called 'echos' or 'conferences') ranging from Aardvarks to Zymurgy. Many businesses now use internal E-Mail networks for communications between employees just down the hall, across town, or even half-way around the globe. Many software and computer hardware companies now have a support BBS which allows users to dial in and exchange messages and files between users. Technical support is nearly always offered through these types of support systems. If your system is not currently part of an E-Mail network, don't worry. The Blue Wave Offline Mail System will still provide you with all of the features described. And, if you later decide to join an E- Mail network, you will already have The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door up and running. Very few, if any, changes will be necessary to integrate the offline mail system into your E-Mail network. Section 3.3 What Features are in Blue Wave? The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door is unlike many offline mail systems available today. The Blue Wave Mail Door is tightly integrated with your BBS software. This allows the mail door to have the same security features as your BBS and interface directly with your BBS's data files. This means that The Blue Wave Mail Door requires very little to no maintenance by the SysOp; just "plug it in and forget about it!" The mail door allows you to set default message areas for new users, and force message areas on for all users or individual users. Message areas can be blocked on a user-by-user basis, allowing you greater control and flexibility in managing access to specific message areas on your system. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 12 Full compatibility with FidoNet EchoMail and NetMail message areas is one of the greatest features of the mail system. If you are a member of a FidoNet-style network, the mail door offers full plug and play compliance with FidoNet standards. Those BBS systems that support a direct interface for Internet E-Mail and Usenet Newsgroups are also supported directly by The Blue Wave Mail Door. The Blue Wave Mail System offers a unique user Offline Configuration system. While the user is using a Blue Wave-compatible mail reader, they can configure all aspects of the mail door's behavior while offline. When the user uploads the offline configuration information to the mail door, the door automatically adjusts itself to the user's new configuration settings. There is absolutely no setup required to enable this feature. File Requesting is another option available to a user. While offline, a user may input a list of files that they would like to download from your system. The next time they use the mail door to upload their mail packet, the door automatically senses the request for specific files and will send them to the user as part of their next mail packet. Full record checking is performed during file request sessions, including file access security, time limits, download:upload ratios, and any other BBS-specific file download options. You can control the number of files that may be requested during one session, or you may disable the file requesting feature entirely. As a complement to the file requesting feature, the mail door will also perform "new file scanning." If you enable the new file scan feature, users will be able to choose the option of including a new file listing since their last mail download, or skipping the new file scan altogether. One of the more powerful features available to users is the Blue Wave Bundling Commands. Bundling commands allow users to selectively include, exclude, and manipulate the messages that are packed before they actually perform a mail download. Please see the mail door user documentation (BWDOOR.DOC) for more information about this and many other features available to users. The Blue Wave Mail Door is one of the most exciting and useful utilities that you can add to your BBS. It provides many benefits for both SysOps and users alike. After a while, you will wonder how you ever managed without it! -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 13 ---------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ---------------------------------------------- Section 4.1 Different Blue Wave Mail Door Versions The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door is available in several different versions. You should select the version that corresponds with the BBS software that you are running. Because each Blue Wave Mail Door is more like an extension to your BBS software, rather than just an external message processing facility, it is vital that you select the correct mail door to run on your system. It is unlikely that you will be able to use a Blue Wave Mail Door intended for one specific BBS software with another similar BBS software. For example, if you are running SuperBBS, it is not possible to run the QuickBBS mail door with your software -- even though the two BBS software packages are extremely similar in both operation and data file formats. At the time this documentation was written, Blue Wave Mail Doors were available for the following BBS software packages: * Maximus (DOS and OS/2) * Opus * PCBoard * ProBoard * QuickBBS * RemoteAccess * SuperBBS * T.A.G. * Telegard In addition, a Blue Wave Mail Door for the WildCat! BBS software was scheduled to begin development in mid-1996. If you would like to obtain any of these mail door versions, please see Section 4.3 (Locating Other Blue Wave Versions) for additional information. Section 4.1.1 Requirements for The Blue Wave Mail Door The Blue Wave Mail Door is one of the most versatile mail doors available. The mail door will run on any IBM-PC Compatible computer-- whether it be an XT or the latest Intel Compatible Processor. At the time of this writing, the Pentium Pro was the latest Intel system available. Of course, the mail door will also run on Intel Compatible chips such as the Cyrix and AMD offerings. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 14 The mail door will require approximately 200-300K of available memory. The actual amount of memory required varies with the number of message areas that are configured on your system. You will also need some hard disk space available. The amount of hard disk space varies greatly from system to system and from user to user. While the mail door packs messages into a mail packet for a user, there will need to be enough drive space available to hold the temporary files. It is unlikely that you will ever need over 10 megabytes of free disk space available for temporary files. An estimate in the 2-3 megabyte range would not be far off target. With the mail door's built-in session limits (see BWSETUP's "Limits for Mail Sessions" menu option), you can control how many messages a user may pack in any single mail session. This will allow you to fine-tune or limit the drive space that may be necessary at any one time. If you are running the OS/2 version of one of our mail doors, the same requirements for memory and disk space apply. However, you will need a system capable of running IBM OS/2 v2.0 or higher. This implies that you need at least an 80386SX processor with at least 4 megabytes of memory. Section 4.2 Different Blue Wave Reader Versions The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader v2.30 is available in three different versions. There is Blue Wave/DOS, Blue Wave/386, and Blue Wave/OS2. Each mail reader has the same set of features and operations available. They differ only in the operating system they require, and the amount of data they can handle. (The amount of data they can handle is related to the operating system they are being run under). The hardware and software requirements of each version will be explained in the following three sections. You should read the requirements for each of the three different versions of the mail reader to be sure that you use the one that is most appropriate for your system and your needs. Section 4.2.1 Requirements for Blue Wave/DOS The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader for DOS is by far the most popular version of the mail reader. It can be run on any 100% IBM-PC compatible computer that runs PC-DOS, MS-DOS, or Novell DOS version 3.0 or higher. This includes DOS emulation in both IBM OS/2 and Microsoft Windows. A minimum 1MB of free disk space is also needed. This software will run efficiently on any Intel 8088 compatible processor, which includes the IBM PC/XT, IBM PC/AT, any Intel 80286 compatible processor, and processors compatible with the 80386, 80486, and the Intel Pentium (such as an AMD or Cyrix processor). This version of the mail reader requires at least 300K of free memory, and does not require the use of Expanded or Extended memory. However, -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 15 due to the limitation of the DOS operating system, this mail reader cannot make use of any more than 640K of memory. This limitation is apparent in all DOS-based programs that operate in 'real' mode. (Real mode is a technical term that you probably do not have to worry about. It is a term that, if you know what it means, you wish you didn't!). Because of the limitations of DOS (the operating system), the mail reader is constrained to the limit of 640K of base memory. This means that, even though you may have 8 megabytes of memory in your computer, DOS programs will only 'see' the first 640K. This puts a limit on the number of message areas and the number of messages per area that the reader can handle. If you are running an 80386 processor or higher along with DOS or Windows, you may want to try the version of the mail reader called "Blue Wave/386". Blue Wave/386 can 'see' all of the memory in your computer and use it for loading large numbers of messages and message areas, in addition to very large messages (commonly encountered on the global Internet and USENET networks). Section 4.2.2 Requirements for Blue Wave/386 Blue Wave/386 is an extended, or protected mode DOS program. In very simple terms, this means that it is capable of utilizing all memory that is installed on your system. (Please read the previous section for more information). In addition to the ability to use all memory in your computer, Blue Wave/386 can also 'simulate' memory through the use of a disk file. This is sometimes called a 'swap file' or Virtual Memory. In order to run Blue Wave/386 on your system, you must be running DOS 4.0 or higher, OS/2 v2.0 or higher, or Windows v3.0 or higher. In addition, your computer processor must be at least an Intel compatible 80386, 80486, or Pentium. This version of the mail reader also requires more disk space than the rest. A minimum of 2MB of free disk space (more if a swap file is used) is needed. You must also have at least 1MB of free memory available on your system. 2MB of free memory is recommended for the fastest operation. Through the use of both RAM and swap space (Virtual Memory), Blue Wave/386 can load thousands of message areas, thousands of messages in an area, and messages that are several megabytes long without batting an eye. Again, the only limit to Blue Wave/386 is the amount of real memory plus the amount of disk space you can give it. It will handle any mail packets you give it now and well into the future. For the technical wizards; Blue Wave/386 will use a DPMI server, XMS, EMS, or VCPI interface to upper memory. A DPMI server is recommended (OS/2, Windows, and QEMM provide DPMI services). This version is NOT recommended if you are running OS/2. Protected mode switching in this mail reader will consume an undesirable amount of processor time. OS/2 users should choose Blue Wave/OS2 as their mail reader. This version is also NOT recommended for users who rely on the speech hardware/software interface in Blue Wave/DOS. Although this version of the mail reader does provide a speech-friendly video -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 16 mode, it is extremely slow. This is due to the fact that writing to the PC-BIOS requires a switch from protected mode to real mode. Since PC-BIOS compatible video writes can only be done one character at a time, this causes a severe performance penalty. Blue Wave/386 utilizes the DOS4GW protected mode runtime loader. This DOS extender may exhibit some incompatibilities on some hardware. The author has one such machine. It is highly recommended that you install and use this version before blindly purchasing a copy as there is a slight chance that it may not work for you. Sorry, no refunds can be given once you receive a registration number. Section 4.2.3 Requirements for Blue Wave/OS2 Blue Wave/OS2 has no special hardware requirements, other than those required to run OS/2 itself. If you are running OS/2 v2.0 or higher, this mail reader will most likely work for you. Blue Wave/OS2 has all of the features and options available in Blue Wave/DOS and Blue Wave/386. It is a 32-bit text mode program which can either be run full-screen or on the OS/2 desktop. (It is *not* a Presentation Manager application.) As with Blue Wave/386, Blue Wave/OS2 can handle any number of message areas, any number of messages in an area, and messages of nearly any length. The only limit is the amount of memory that OS/2 can supply to the mail reader. (The available memory is limited to the amount of actual RAM installed on your computer, plus the amount of free disk space available to the OS/2 swap file). As with the other two versions of the mail reader, Blue Wave/OS2 is very efficient with its memory usage. Considering this fact, and assuming available swap file space of approximately 3 megabytes, there is nothing this reader *won't* load! An average sized mail packet probably would cause the mail reader to not use any more than 300K of system memory resources. Although Blue Wave/DOS runs extremely well in an OS/2 DOS session, it is recommended that you use the native OS/2 mail reader if possible. There is much less of a performance hit on other running applications when using native OS/2 software. Section 4.3 Locating Other Blue Wave Versions All Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader and Door versions are distributed as ShareWare. If you would like to try a version of the mail door or reader but cannot find a copy locally, or you would like to make sure you obtain an unaltered distribution file, here are some alternative methods for getting an evaluation copy: * The latest versions of our software are always available for first time callers to download through our support BBS. Our support BBS phone number is +1-810-743-8464. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 17 * You can receive a disk directly from Cutting Edge Computing by sending $5.00 (US Dollars) to our mailing address given on the title page of this documentation. Please specify 3.5" or 5.25" disk size and the version(s) of the mail door and/or reader you would like. You can use the file REGISTER.BW, which should have been included in the mail door distribution archive, to a request a disk. * If you have Internet access, the latest version of the mail doors and mail readers are always available through our World Wide Web Site. Simply point your web browser to: http://www.concentric.net/~bluewave. * We try to keep the latest versions of the mail reader on America Online. Use the file finder to search for "Blue Wave". Section 4.4 Required External Programs When a user downloads message packets from your BBS system, they will always be compressed with some type of compression program. The program used to compress these mail packets is sometimes called an archiver, or compression utility. We would be willing to hazard a guess that 95% or more of the mail systems online today support the use of a ZIP-format compatible archiver. It is suggested that you obtain a ZIP compression and decompression program. Without these, your mail door probably will be unable to communicate with many of the mail readers available today. The most popular ZIP compression and decompression programs come from the author and creator of the ZIP archive format; Phil Katz, founder of PKWARE, Inc. PKZIP and PKUNZIP are distributed in the same file, normally called PKZ204G.EXE. (At the time this documentation was written, v2.04g of PKZIP/PKUNZIP was the latest version available). PKZIP and PKUNZIP are ShareWare programs, and are almost definitely available from the same source you received The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door. Blue Wave is distributed through BBS systems and online services in the ZIP compression format, so it is likely that you already have a copy. InfoZip is another PKZIP compatible archive program. InfoZip is released with source code, and is available for download from many BBS systems. These programs are usually named ZIP.EXE and UNZIP.EXE. The InfoZip utilities are available for several different operating systems including DOS and OS/2. (OS/2 users should get a copy of the OS/2 flavor of InfoZip for use with Blue Wave/OS2). If you cannot find a copy locally, you are welcome to download the above utilities from the Blue Wave Support BBS from the "Blue Wave Reader" file directory (Area #1). Section 4.5 MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS Settings -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 18 If you are using the mail door under the MS-DOS (or compatible) operating system -- either alone or with Microsoft Windows -- you should make sure that the following items are set properly in your CONFIG.SYS file. CONFIG.SYS is a system startup configuration file that is always located in the root directory of the DOS boot drive (usually C:\CONFIG.SYS). If you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file, it will be necessary to create one. Load CONFIG.SYS into a text editor and make sure there is a line somewhere which reads: FILES=25 This line tells DOS at boot time to allocate 25 file handles for use by programs that you will be running on your system. If you already have a "FILES=" line in your CONFIG.SYS, and the number after it is 25 or higher, there will be no problems. A value higher than 25 will work just fine, but a lower value can cause problems. If the mail door attempts to open a file for reading or writing, and there are not enough DOS file handles available, the open will fail. The last item to check in your CONFIG.SYS file is the number of buffers that you are allowing DOS to allocate for faster disk accesses. In your CONFIG.SYS file, you should have a line that contains the following: BUFFERS=30 This tells DOS to allocate enough system memory to hold 30 disk buffers. This in turn allows DOS to perform disk intensive activities much more quickly than normal. If the number of buffers in your CONFIG.SYS file is already set higher than 30, that is perfectly fine. If you are running a disk caching program, you can ignore this advice, and follow the instructions that were given in the documentation for your disk caching program. Most disk caching programs will instruct you to use a very low value for the "BUFFERS=" statement in CONFIG.SYS because the cache program can use the memory in a much more efficient manner than DOS does. If you have made changes to your CONFIG.SYS file, please remember to reboot your system so that the new settings will take effect. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 19 ------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: INSTALLING THE MAIL DOOR INTO PCBOARD ------------------------------------------------- Section 5.1 Mail Door Installation The mail door is distributed in an archive called BWnnnPCB.ZIP, where "nnn" is the version number of the mail door. In BWnnnPCB.ZIP you will find this documentation file, any necessary conversion programs, and a README.1ST file. Please -- always be sure to view the README.1ST file before attempting to install the mail door! If you are upgrading from a previously-installed version of the mail door, installation/upgrade instructions will always be found in the README.1ST file. The installation instructions in this section of the documentation apply to new installations only. All of the base mail door files (on-line help files, introductory screens, BWSETUP.EXE, BWMAIL.EXE, and BWMAIL.OVR) are contained in another archive called BW_DOS.ZIP (DOS version) or BW_OS2.ZIP (OS/2 version). Create a new directory specifically for the mail door; we recommend a directory under your PCBoard BBS installation directory, such as C:\PCB\BWMAIL. 1) Unpack BW_DOS.ZIP (if you are installing the DOS version) or BW_OS2.ZIP (if you are installing the OS/2 version) into the mail door directory. 2) Change to the mail door directory and run BWSETUP (DOS) or BWSETUP2 (OS/2). (This file should have been unpacked in step 1 above.) This will load the door's installation module and guide you through the initial setup procedures. You will first be prompted to enter the path and file name of (one of) your PCBoard system configuration files. This is normally called PCBOARD.DAT, and is normally located in the C:\PCB directory. If the installation module can open the PCBOARD.DAT file you specify, it will load as much information as possible from your existing PCBoard configuration. 3) Each conference that you have defined in PCBoard will be used by the mail door EXACTLY as it is defined with PCBSetup. The mail door reads all conference definitions directly from PCBoard's CNAMES.@@@ and CNAMES.ADD configuration files. This includes security levels, conference types, and message file locations. (Please note that the terms "conference" and "message area" are used throughout this documentation. Both refer to "conferences" as they are defined within the PCBoard documentation.) 4) After a few moments, BWSETUP will ask you for the name of the mail packets that you would like the mail door to create. The name you give here should be unique, and should help identify -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 20 your BBS to your users. For example, if your BBS is called "The Wild! Blue BBS", you might use the mail packet name of "WILDBLUE". If your BBS is named "The I/O Bus", you might want to use the mail packet name of "IOBUS". The mail door will generate mail packet file names such as WILDBLUE.001, IOBUS.QWK, or WILDBLUE.TU2. (Sorry, but you cannot use the mail packet identifier of "BLUEWAVE"!) Because the mail packet name is used as a basis for your registration number (when you register the mail door with Cutting Edge Computing), you should make sure that it is a close match to your BBS or system name. 5) After you have selected a mail packet name, BWSETUP will ask you whether or not you would like to automatically add an entry for the mail door to your PCBoard DOORS.LST file. We recommend that you allow BWSETUP to create a DOORS.LST entry for you; however, if you do not want BWSETUP to edit your DOORS.LST file, you will need to do so manually at a later time (please see Section 5.2, "PCBoard Menu and Conference Setup", for complete details). If you choose to allow BWSETUP to edit your DOORS.LST file, you need to confirm the Door File Name, Security Required, and the exact name of your DOORS.LST file. a) The "Door File Name" field is the name that PCBoard will use to identify this particular door. The default name is "BLUEWAVE", but you may wish to name it something similar, such as "BW" or "BWAVE". A user may then type "OPEN;BLUEWAVE" or "OPEN;BW" while at the PCBoard main menu to go directly into the mail door. b) The "Security Required" field is simply the security level needed to access the mail door from PCBoard's menu system. Any PCBoard security level between 0 (all users) and 255 (SysOp) may be entered here. c) The "DOORS.LST Name" field is retrieved from your PCBoard Main Board Configuration information. This file contains a list of doors on your system and allows you to define such things as security levels and the type of door you are installing. After you have verified and/or edited each field, simply press <F10> to continue -- BWSETUP will add this entry to your DOORS.LST file. PLEASE NOTE: You will still need to edit your PCBoard DOORS display menu to include an entry for Blue Wave. Because this is an ANSI-type display file, BWSETUP cannot automatically do this for you. 6) BWSETUP will display a screen informing you that it has gathered as much data as possible from your PCBoard installation. The installation program also installed several sample archiver and protocol configurations into your the mail door. At this time it will be necessary to "walk" through *each* menu item of the installation and maintenance utility in order to enter information that cannot be found through your PCBoard setup. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 21 Each menu item in the BWSETUP program is described in detail through online help. If you need help at any time while using BWSETUP, please press <F1>. The help system is context sensitive and provides links to other related help topics. 7) At this point your new mail door has been installed. Now it will be necessary to edit your PCBoard DOORS display menu in order to add an entry for The Blue Wave Mail Door. If you are running a multi-node system, other setup procedures may also be necessary. Please read this entire chapter to determine what changes to the default mail door configuration may be required. Section 5.2 PCBoard Menu and Conference Setup If you have installed other external programs into your PCBoard setup, you should have absolutely no problem installing The Blue Wave Mail Door. If you have never installed external programs into your BBS, don't worry. This section will guide you through the process and have you back up and running in no time at all. 1) Create a file called "BLUEWAVE" in your mail door directory. This is a batch file that PCBoard uses to execute the mail door when a user is online; it is also the command the user will type when they execute the PCBoard "DOOR" command. The file should normally contain the following lines: @ECHO OFF C: CD \PCB\BWMAIL BWMAIL.EXE /PCBDAT=%PCBDAT% /PCBUSER=%PCBDRIVE%%PCBDIR% IF "%INPCB%"=="Y" EXIT %PCBDRIVE% CD %PCBDIR% BOARD The batch file uses the various environment variables set up by PCBoard (PCBDAT, PCBDRIVE, etc.), thus no changes should need to be made to most of this file. The only changes that may be needed are to lines two and three, which must specify the drive and path of your mail door directory. Also note that "BWMAIL.EXE" should be changed to "BWMAIL2.EXE" if you are using the OS/2 version of the mail door. Note that this file can actually be called anything you wish, but should (for the sake of simplicity) reflect the purpose of the program being executed -- "BWAVE" and "MAIL" are good alternatives. IF YOU USE A NAME OTHER THAN "BLUEWAVE", make sure you substitute "BLUEWAVE" with the name you are using throughout the rest of this procedure. (If you're wondering why the batch file doesn't end with a .BAT or .CMD extension, it's because PCBoard actually copies the contents of this file into a larger "master" batch file it creates during the process of executing an external program. As -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 22 such, the file doesn't need an extension, and in fact, it MUST NOT have an extension.) 2) Run PCBSetup and select Main Board Configuration. Move the cursor to the Doors Path/Name List File and press <F2>. This is where you will add the item to the PCBoard DOORS listing that will execute the mail door. Press <Alt-I> to insert a new item, and configure the fields as follows: Filename: BLUEWAVE Password: (none - leave blank) Sec: 0 Login: N USERS.SYS: Y DOOR.SYS: N Shell: N (if running DOS version) F (if running OS/2 version) OS/2: (**) N (if running DOS version) Y (if running OS/2 version) Charges Per Minute: 0 Charges Per Use: 0 Path to DOOR Files: C:\PCB\BWMAIL Afterwards, press <ESC> to save the changes. The "Shell" field tells PCBoard how to exit itself in order to execute an external program. This field should be set to "N" under the DOS version, and "F" under the OS/2 version. (Specifying "F" tells PCBoard to leave the communications port "hot" so that the mail door can "grab" the port for its own use.) The "OS/2" field tells PCBoard that the program being executed is a native OS/2 program. This field should be set to "N" under the DOS version, and "Y" under the OS/2 version. Note that the DOS version of PCBoard ignores any entry with this field set to "Y", so make sure the field is properly set! (This option is only available under PCBoard version 15.22 and later.) The "Path to DOOR Files" tells PCBoard where the program being executed is stored -- specifically, it informs PCBoard where the batch file created in Step 1 is located -- and should be set to point to the mail door directory. NONE OF THE OTHER FIELDS SHOULD BE ALTERED EXCEPT BY EXPERIENCED PCBOARD SYSOPS! MAKING CHANGES WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR EFFECT CAN CAUSE THE MAIL DOOR TO CEASE OPERATING PROPERLY! 3) At the Main Board configuration screen, move the cursor to the Doors Menu Listing field and press <F2>. This is the text file that is displayed by PCBoard when a user types the "DOOR" menu command, and should be updated to add the command needed to execute the mail door ("BLUEWAVE") and a description of the door itself. Consult the PCBoard documentation for information on how to modify this file, as a description of this procedure is beyond the scope of this documentation. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 23 4) Press <ESC> to return to the PCBSetup main menu, and press <ESC> again to save the changes to your PCBoard configuration. If you followed these instructions exactly, the mail door should now be ready for use. To test your setup, simply log into your BBS and select the new menu item you placed into the system. If the mail door fails to execute properly, check the PCBoard log file and the BW.LOG file for clues as to what went wrong. You may want to carefully go over the installation instructions once again to make sure you didn't miss anything. If you are running a multi-node PCBoard system, please continue on to the section titled "Multi-Node Installation Considerations". If you are interested in using The Blue Wave Mail Door for local downloads and uploads, please see Chapter 7. Section 5.3 BWMAIL Command Line Parameters The Blue Wave Mail Door accepts several command line parameters in order for you to override certain settings and defaults within your BWMAIL.PRM configuration file. Command line parameters take precedence over all settings, including environment variables. The following is a description of all available command line parameters. Although all command line parameters described here are shown with a dash ("-") preceding them, a forward slash ("/") may also be used. Also, parameters may be entered in either upper or lower case. Location of USERS.SYS File (-PCBUSER=) -------------------------------------- When the door is executed from within PCBoard, a USERS.SYS file is generated. This file contains information about the user, and is required by the door. The -PCBUSER= parameter is used to specify the directory where the USERS.SYS file is stored. Normally, this information can be obtained by using the PCBDRIVE and PCBDIR environment variables; as such, specifying: -PCBUSER=%PCBDRIVE%%PCBDIR% in your batch file will usually take care of the matter. Note that this parameter is usually not needed when using the -K parameter (described below) to execute the door in local mode, as the door will already know where the USERS.SYS file is located in local mode. USAGE : -PCBUSER=<path to USERS.SYS file> DEFAULT: Required unless in local mode. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 24 Location of PCBOARD.DAT File (-PCBDAT=) --------------------------------------- The PCBOARD.DAT file contains information about your PCBoard system, and must be loaded by the door. If your PCBoard system is set up to share a single PCBOARD.DAT file between nodes, this parameter is not needed, as the door can obtain this information from the BWMAIL.PRM file. If your system is set up to use a separate PCBOARD.DAT file for each node, however, then the -PCBDAT= parameter is required in order for the door to load the correct PCBOARD.DAT file for each node. Normally, this information is stored in the PCBDAT environment variable; as such, specifying: -PCBDAT=%PCBDAT% in your batch file will usually take care of the matter. Note that the requirement for the door to know the location of PCBOARD.DAT applies to both remote users and to local mode (the -K parameter, described below). Keep this in mind when creating batch files to execute the door in local mode. USAGE : -PCBDAT=<path to PCBOARD.DAT file> DEFAULT: Path defined within BWMAIL.PRM. BWMAIL.PRM Override (-C) ------------------------ Multi-line users may wish to maintain separate Blue Wave PRM files, one for each node. By default, the door will load BWMAIL.PRM. If you use the -C parameter, you can override this default. The command line: BWMAIL -cLINE2.PRM would load the door's parameter file called LINE2.PRM. If you wish to maintain separate PRM files between nodes, you can edit others with BWSETUP by specifying the name of the configuration file on the command line. For example, "BWSETUP LINE2.PRM" would allow you to edit the parameters in "LINE2.PRM". USAGE : BWMAIL -C<name of PRM file> DEFAULT: BWMAIL.PRM. Port Override (-P) ------------------ By default, the door uses the port number (comm port handle under OS/2) contained within the USERS.SYS file that is loaded during initialization. If, for some reason, you need to override this value, use the -P parameter. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 25 DOS VERSION ONLY: If you are using a FOSSIL driver, you should specify the FOSSIL port number (by default, Port 0=COM1, Port 1=COM2, and so on). The door will support any port that you would like to use, as long as it can communicate with your FOSSIL driver. If you are using direct async or "OS/2 under DOS" comm port access, you should specify the COM port number (Port 1=COM1, Port 2=COM2, and so on). OS/2 VERSION ONLY: The value specified with -P should be the comm port handle. PCBoard stores this value in the PCBHANDLE environment variable. Most OS/2 users will have no use for this option, as the comm port handle is not normally available to users. USAGE : BWMAIL -P<port number or handle> DEFAULT: Value in USERS.SYS file loaded by the door. Task/Node Number Override (-T) ------------------------------ By default, the door uses the task number contained within the PCBOARD.SYS file loaded during initialization. If, for some reason, you need to override this value, use the -T parameter. (The door uses this information in the translation of the "%N" and "%T" macros in the Directories and File Paths editor of BWSETUP.) The task number *must* correspond to the user's task number within the BBS, or the door will load the wrong information about the current user or cause SHARE violations. Note that the -T parameter is ignored if the door is run in local mode (the task number is forced to "0"). USAGE : BWMAIL -T<task/node number> DEFAULT: Value in PCBOARD.SYS file loaded by the door. Local User Logon (-K) --------------------- The -K parameter is used to automatically load a selected user out of PCBoard's user file and log them in locally. This method allows the use of the mail door without having to first log into the BBS. The best use for this is to bundle mail for the SysOp or other users that may want to use The Blue Wave Offline Mail System. The -K parameter is described in greater detail in Chapter 7, "Local Mail Door Usage". USAGE : BWMAIL -K<user logon information> DEFAULT: None. Local Color Output Override (-MONO) -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 26 ----------------------------------- The door will always output color to the local screen, even if the remote user has graphics and color disabled. Sometimes this is not desirable, especially on systems that use a monochrome video display adapter (blue text appears underlined on a monochrome display, and since the door uses a LOT of blue...). To disable color output to the local console, use the -mono command line parameter. This switch has no effect on the remote user. USAGE : BWMAIL -MONO DEFAULT: Color output on local display. Carrier Detect Override (-NOCD) ------------------------------- Normally, the door requires that a carrier detect signal be present in order for the door to send data through the comm port. This poses a problem when trying to run the door through a NULL modem cable, or something similar. If the command line parameter -NOCD is used, carrier detection will be disabled, and data will be sent through the comm port regardless of whether a carrier is present or not. This switch should NOT be used with a remote user online, since the caller may drop carrier and tie up your system until there is an input timeout (default of 4 minutes). USAGE : BWMAIL -NOCD DEFAULT: Carrier detect active (unless in local mode). Override Stamping Downloaded Messages "Rec'd" (-NORECV) ------------------------------------------------------- When door gathers messages for a user, it stamps all messages addressed to that user as "Received", to give an indication to the sender that the message may have been read. The -NORECV parameter causes the door to skip the process of marking such messages as "Received", leaving no indication that they have been read. This parameter probably should not be used for normal BBS usage, however, it may come in handy if the SysOp wishes to download his/her mail, but not leave any indication that the messages have been read (the SysOp may not have time to reply to the messages downloaded at that particular time, for example). USAGE : BWMAIL -NORECV DEFAULT: Personal messages marked "Received" when bundled. Work Directory Override (-WORK=) -------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 27 If you would like to override the default WORK directory defined within BWMAIL.PRM, use the -WORK parameter. USAGE : BWMAIL -WORK=<path to WORK directory> DEFAULT: Drive and path defined within BWMAIL.PRM. Download Directory Override (-DOWN=) ------------------------------------ If you would like to override the default DOWNLOAD directory defined within BWMAIL.PRM, use the -DOWN parameter. USAGE : BWMAIL -DOWN=<path to DOWNLOAD directory> DEFAULT: Directory defined within BWMAIL.PRM. Upload Directory Override (-UPLOAD=) ------------------------------------ If you would like to override the default UPLOAD directory defined within BWMAIL.PRM, use the -UPLOAD parameter. USAGE : BWMAIL -UPLOAD=<path to UPLOAD directory> DEFAULT: Drive and path defined within BWMAIL.PRM. Log File Override (-LOG=) ------------------------- Each copy of the door that is running requires a separate log file. Log files cannot be shared between two or more different tasks. This parameter is used to override the log file name that is defined within BWMAIL.PRM. In most cases, it would be more convenient to use the "%T" or "%N" replacement macro in declaring the name of the log file within the BWSETUP Directories and File Name Editor. However, this alternate way of overriding the log file name is provided for special situations. This parameter can also be convenient when you do not want to keep a log file for a certain task (usually a local node). If "-LOG=" is specified WITHOUT a filename, a log file will not be generated for that session. USAGE : BWMAIL -LOG=<name of log file> DEFAULT: Filename defined within BWMAIL.PRM. Auto-Download Mode (-D) ----------------------- Specifying -D on the command line will cause the door to immediately go into Auto-Download mode. In Auto-Download mode, the door immediately begins scanning the message areas and bundles a mail packet. If there is a remote user, the door will immediately fire up the appropriate download protocol, and then exit back to the BBS. If there is no remote user, the door skips executing the protocol, and -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 28 drops back to the calling batch file. This is extremely handy for local use in batch files to possibly build a mail bundle during a maintenance "event". The door will NOT prompt for user input during the entire session. USAGE : BWMAIL -D DEFAULT: "Interactive Menu" mode. Auto-Upload Mode (-U) --------------------- Specifying -U on the command line will cause the door to immediately go into Auto-Upload mode. This parameter works the same as the -D parameter, in that the user will never be prompted for input during the mail session. USAGE : BWMAIL -U DEFAULT: "Interactive Menu" mode. Auto Logoff Mode (-INSTANT or -COUNT) ------------------------------------- These parameters only have an effect on the operation of the door when the following conditions are met: 1) The door must be in Auto-Upload or Auto-Download mode. 2) There must be a remote user online. The -INSTANT parameter will cause the door to perform an IMMEDIATE LOGOFF of the user (drop carrier) after a successful Auto-Upload or Auto-Download session. The -COUNT parameter will cause the door to perform a COUNTDOWN LOGOFF of the user (drop carrier after a 10 second countdown) after a successful Auto-Upload or Auto-Download session. USAGE : BWMAIL <-D or -U> -INSTANT USAGE : BWMAIL <-D or -U> -COUNT DEFAULT: Return to BBS with remote user still online. Section 5.4 Multi-Node Installation Considerations The Blue Wave Mail Door is fully capable of multi-node operation, and provides facilities for ease of operation and configuration on multi- node systems. There are a few points that you need to be aware of. All nodes on your system can use the same mail door base directory, as full file sharing and file locking is supported. You can even use the same door configuration file (BWMAIL.PRM) on all nodes on your system if you like. It is also possible to use DIFFERENT BWMAIL.PRM files for each node on your system by passing the /C<filename> command line parameter to BWMAIL.EXE. Many (if not all) of the necessary door parameters that can vary between nodes can be passed on the door's -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 29 command line, thereby overriding any information in the door's configuration file. It is recommended that you read Section 5.3, "BWMAIL Command Line Parameters", for full information on these command line overrides. It is also important to note that all nodes must have their own WORK, DOWNLOAD, and UPLOAD directories. Failure to do so will result in file name clashes between nodes if two users are using the door at the same time. The solution for this problem is to either use the /DOWN=, /UPLOAD=, and /WORK= command line parameters, or the "%T" and/or "%N" replacement macros in the BWSETUP Directories and File Paths editor. When the door begins execution, it will replace all occurrences of "%T" and "%N" with the task number passed to the door through the /T<task#> command line parameter, or the node number found from PCBOARD.SYS. (Press <F1> while in the BWSETUP Directories and File Paths editor for more information on these task number replacement macros.) To recap, the following problems must be avoided when running The Blue Wave Mail Door on a multi-node system: 1) Each task must have its own WORK directory. 2) Each task must have its own DOWNLOAD directory. 3) Each task must have its own UPLOAD directory. 4) Each task must have its own LOG file name. If the above four conditions are not met, your door will not perform as expected, and you may receive SHARE violations when two or more users are in the mail door at the same time. NOTE: It is HIGHLY recommended that you set the standard PCBoard environment variables (PCBDRIVE, PCBDIR, and PCBDAT) to point to the proper drives, directories, and file names. The standard mail door installation uses these environment variables to create the BLUEWAVE.BAT batch file. Section 5.5 Supported PCBoard Features The Blue Wave Mail Door makes every attempt to be compatible with PCBoard, with all PCBoard conference configuration and security settings. Below are important items to consider when determining whether or not a particular PCBoard feature is also supported in The Blue Wave Mail Door. If reference to a particular feature of PCBoard is unfamiliar to you, please see the PCBoard documentation for implementation details. * The Blue Wave Mail Door will honor all security levels in both conferences and file areas. This includes new files scanning, file requesting, and conference read/posting access. * When a user uploads FidoNet NetMail messages through the mail door, Blue Wave will use the nodelist path defined in PCBoard. If a destination system cannot be -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 30 found in the PCBoard nodelist, the message will be treated as if it were to an "Unlisted Node". The cost accounting will be done according to the Unlisted Node security and cost settings in BWSETUP's Security Manager. * When performing file request sessions, all upload/ download ratio and daily byte limit checks are performed. When the mail door exits, it will write the new user file statistics to USERS.SYS. When PCBoard reloads, it will detect the changes made to this file and update its internal statistics accordingly. * The mail door fully supports the extended message fields (FROM, TO, FROM2, TO2, SUBJ, etc.) that PCBoard uses to overcome its limit of 25 characters per field in message headers. When a user downloads messages, these fields are used to build a proper message header in the mail packet; during upload, the mail door will insert these fields into messages as needed. Thus, extended From:, To:, and Subject: fields will be preserved across the board, without any user intervention at all. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 31 ---------------------------------------- Chapter 6: INSTALLING EXTERNAL PROGRAMS ---------------------------------------- Section 6.1 Installing External Support Programs Configuring external programs for use with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door is perhaps the single most important aspect of getting the mail system to work properly. Close to 100% of the problems that you may encounter while using the mail door are due to incorrectly configured or missing program command lines. This section of the documentation - - along with the following sub-sections -- attempt to explain, in great detail, the proper way to configure external programs for use with the mail system. It is important to remember that you must have at least one compression program and the corresponding decompression program command line defined in order to operate the mail door successfully. ZIP-formatted mail packets are so common that it is almost imperative that you have a ZIP compression and ZIP decompression program. Most users will have some type of ZIP compression program already installed on their system. (Please see Chapter 4 for more information regarding required external programs). For this reason, you should read this chapter very carefully if you are having trouble getting the mail door to create a mail packet for download. Section 6.2 The PATH Environment Variable Throughout this documentation, and in many other program manuals you may read, you will see references to what is called "the system PATH", "the PATH environment variable", and "DOS (or OS/2) PATH". In order to understand the configuration of external programs in this or any other program, it is essential that you understand what this terminology is referring to. Each time you boot your computer, MS-DOS reads two configuration files from the root directory of your boot drive (usually C:\). These two files are called CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. The PATH environment variable is configured in the file AUTOEXEC.BAT under MS-DOS. (Note that OS/2 uses the CONFIG.SYS file for setting the system PATH.) If you load the file AUTOEXEC.BAT into a text file editor, you will probably see a line that reads: PATH c:\;c:\dos;c:\windows The names of the directories listed in this line may be different from above. Each directory name is separated by a semi-colon (;). If a program is "located on the system PATH", it simply means that the file(s) needed to run this program are in one of the directories -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 32 listed on this line. You can add new directories to your PATH statement by simply editing this line to include the new directory (make sure that if there are any directories listed before or after the new directory entry, that you separate them with a semi-colon!). Under DOS, the maximum length of this line is 127 characters, and under OS/2 the maximum length of this line is 1024 characters. Please note that any changes you make to your CONFIG.SYS file and your AUTOEXEC.BAT file will not become effective until you REBOOT your system. They are only read by DOS and OS/2 once; at system startup. When DOS, OS/2, or any program running under these two operating systems tries to run a program, it first searches the current directory to see if the program is there. If it is there, the program is run from the current directory. If it is NOT there, DOS and OS/2 begin searching the directories listed in this line. The directories are searched in the order they appear. If, after searching the entire list of directories contained in this line, the program cannot be found, DOS will issue this error message: Bad command or file name. The behavior and use of the PATH environment variable is described here because DOS and OS/2 will behave in the same manner as the mail door when it cannot find a program you have told it to run -- although the mail door's error messages are a bit more friendly. Any program that you try to run through the mail door must be located on the system PATH. The purpose of the system PATH environment variable is one of convenience. If a program is located in a directory located on the system path, that program can be run from ANY directory you happen to be in. For example, when you install Windows, it installs the C:\WINDOWS directory on the system path. No matter where you are on your computer, typing "WIN" will start the Windows Program Manager. If you were to remove "C:\WINDOWS" from the system path and reboot your machine, you would be required to be in the C:\WINDOWS subdirectory before Windows could load. While the mail door is running, it changes directories at several different points in time. It is therefore not possible to place the external programs in the door's base directory and expect them to run properly (unless the mail door directory is in your system PATH). Most people find it convenient to have one or two directories that hold important system utility files (such as PKZIP and PKUNZIP). Section 6.3 Configuring External Archiver Programs In order to pack and unpack messages that are downloaded and uploaded from your system, it is necessary for the mail door to spawn (call, execute, run) external compression and decompression utilities. Configuring an archiver with BWSETUP is fairly straight-forward. Simply load BWSETUP, highlight the "Archiver Definitions" menu item, -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 33 and press [Enter]. You will be presented a list of up to eight archivers -- highlight the archiver you would like to work with and press [Enter] again. To add a new archiver definition, highlight one of the lines that are filled with dots and press [Enter]. You will be presented with a 'blank' entry screen in which to define your archiver. If you would like to remove an archiver from the list, highlight the archiver to work with in the selection list, press [Enter], then set the archiver hotkey to a [Space] character. Once you have begun editing an archiver definition, you will find several fields available to you. For questions about any of the fields, press <F1> while that field is highlighted. The two fields that deserve deeper explanation here are the Compression and Decompression command lines. The compression command line is used when the mail door is ready to send a mail packet to the user. Several files are created in the mail door's temporary working directory that need to be compressed into a single file for transmission to the user. Here you need to enter the command line that should be executed in order to accomplish this task. Two macros should be used when defining archiver compression command lines. Please see Sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 for more information. The decompression command line is used when the mail door receives a reply packet from the user (the user has uploaded messages to the mail door). The mail door calls the decompression command line to unpack the reply messages to its temporary working directory for processing. Here you need to enter the command line that should be executed in order to accomplish this task. Two macros should be used when defining archiver decompression command lines. Please see Sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 for more information. Section 6.3.1 Macros Used for Archiver Definitions Two macros should be used when defining your archiver compression and decompression command lines in order to work properly with the mail door configuration (especially with multi-node systems). In the descriptions below, we will assume that your mail door Download Directory is configured as "C:\BBS\DOWN", that your mail door Upload Directory is configured as "C:\BBS\UP", that your mail door Work Directory is configured as "C:\BBS\WORK", and that your mail door is configured to use a Mail Packet ID of "MYBBS". @F Use the @F macro in a compression command line to represent the name of the file that will be created by the compression program. For example, to create a .ZIP file with PKZIP, PKZIP needs to know the name of the .ZIP file to create. If your mail door was configured as described above, "PKZIP @F" would expand to: PKZIP C:\BBS\DOWN\MYBBS.SU1 -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 34 Use the @F macro in a decompression command line to represent the name of the file that needs to be decompressed by the archiver. For example, to unpack a file with PKUNZIP, PKUNZIP needs to know the name of the file to decompress. If your mail door was configured as described above, "PKUNZIP @F" would expand to: PKUNZIP C:\BBS\UP\MYBBS.NEW @I Use the @I macro in a compression command line to represent the path and file name(s) that will be packed into the destination archive. For example, to create an archive called C:\BBS\DOWN\MYBBS.SU1 with all of the files found in the C:\BBS\WORK directory, you would issue the following command line for PKZIP: PKZIP C:\BBS\DOWN\MYBBS.SU1 C:\BBS\WORK\*.* This same command line would be represented in the door as "PKZIP @F @I". Use the @I macro in a decompression command line to represent the destination path of the files that will be unpacked from the archive. For example, to unpack MYBBS.NEW to the door's Work Directory (C:\BBS\WORK), you would issue the following command to PKUNZIP: PKUNZIP MYBBS.NEW C:\BBS\WORK\ This same command line would be represented in the door as "PKUNZIP @F @I". Section 6.3.2 Sample Archiver Command Lines Sample archiver commands are listed below which illustrate the use of the @F and @I archiver macros. All of these examples assume that the executable file for the archiver is located somewhere on your system PATH (see Section 6.2). All of these command lines have been tested with the mail door and have proven themselves to work. Sample DOS Archiver Command Lines --------------------------------- ZIP Compression : PKZIP -ex @F @I ZIP Decompression: PKUNZIP -o @F @I ARJ Compression : ARJ a -e @F @I ARJ Decompression: ARJ e -y @F @I LZH Compression : LHA a /m @F @I LZH Decompression: LHA e /m @F @I Sample OS/2 Archiver Command Lines ---------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 35 ZIP Compression : ZIP -jk9 @F @I ZIP Decompression: UNZIP -oj @F -d @I ARJ Compression : <no ARJ was available for OS/2> ARJ Decompression: <you need ARJ compress to use ARJ decompress!> LZH Compression : LH a /o @F @I LZH Decompression: LH e /o @F @I Section 6.3.3 Notes About Archiver Command Lines Please note that you must have at least one compression and decompression program configured in the mail door. Some SysOps will find that they never have to install anything but ZIP. However, the mail door gives you the ability to define up to eight individual compression types for users to choose from. PKZIP and its companion program PKUNZIP are, by far, the most popular ZIP compression and decompression utilities available for MS-DOS. If you are installing a DOS version of Blue Wave, you should install PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE in a directory on your system which contains other important system utilities. At the time this documentation was written, version 2.04g was the latest available version of the PKZIP/PKUNZIP utilities. If you are using an OS/2 version of the mail door, you should find and obtain a copy of the InfoZip Project's ZIP.EXE and UNZIP.EXE for OS/2. It is recommended that you use ZIP v2.01 or later, and UNZIP v5.12 or later, due to bugs and compatibility problems with earlier versions. These version numbers of ZIP/UNZIP are known to work properly under OS/2 with the Blue Wave Mail Door. If you cannot find these programs locally, you are welcome to download them from our Support BBS. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 36 ----------------------------------- Chapter 7: OPERATING THE MAIL DOOR ----------------------------------- Section 7.1 General Mail Door Operation Now that we have examined the operation of BWSETUP in detail and you have gone through the initial installation process, it seems appropriate to discuss the operation of the mail door itself. The main bridge between your BBS software and The Blue Wave Mail Door is called the "door drop file." This file is created by all BBS software, but the format and the name of the file varies depending on the software you are using. QuickBBS, RemoteAccess, SuperBBS, and ProBoard all use a file called EXITINFO.BBS. Maximus and Opus use a file called LASTUSxx.BBS or LASTUSxx.DAT, where 'xx' is the node number the user is currently using. PCBoard uses two drop files named PCBOARD.SYS and USERS.SYS. T.A.G. and Telegard use a file called DOOR.SYS. Each time the mail door is loaded, information about the current user is loaded from this door drop file. This includes the user name, the speed at which they are logged on, and other vital information. In fact, if the mail door cannot load this file during initialization, it will refuse to run. (The exception to this is when the /K<user_name> command line parameter is used. Please see the Sections titled "Using the Mail Door in Local Mode" and "Command Line Parameters" for more information.) If all of the mail door's initialization files could be loaded, all three of the door's private working directories are purged of any files they might be holding. These three directories, the Download Directory, Upload Directory, and Work Directory, should never contain files that you plan on keeping. These are intended solely for the mail door's use, and the mail door expects them to be 'clean' in order to operate properly. After the door has initialized itself and prepared for operation, the user will be shown either the file BWINTRO.TXT (if they have ANSI graphics turned off) or BWINTRO.ANS. If the user has never used the mail door before, or if their mail door user record has been deleted, they will be shown the text in the file NEWUSER.HLP, followed by the default mail door configuration settings. Section 7.2 Functions Available While a User is Online The mail door contains several functions that the SysOp can activate while a user is online. The mail door is always in "simultaneous keyboard mode", meaning that whatever you type on the local keyboard will also be echoed to the remote user and processed just as if the key had come from the remote user. However, there are special key -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 37 combinations that do not echo to the remote user, and that cannot be activated by the remote user. In order to perform any of these functions, they *must* be activated from the SysOp's console. Before we discuss the "SysOp Keys", let's explain some things about the status bar on the bottom row of your screen. The status bar is not visible to your remote users, of course. During normal operation, you will only see one visible line, however there are actually two lines that make up the status bar display. When you press your SysOp keys, additional information will fill the second status line. This additional information will be cleared, and the status bar updated, every 15 seconds. Here are the keys available while a user is online: The <Home> Key -------------- Pressing the <Home> key while a user is online will display all of the function keys available to you. Think of the <Home> key as a mini online help guide. The <Alt-C> Key --------------- While a user is online, you can press the <Alt-C> key to "chat" with the user. Entering chat mode allows you to interact directly with the user at the remote end. Each key that you type will be echoed to the remote user, and each key the remote user types will be sent to your screen. To exit chat mode at any time, simply press the <Esc> key. After you exit chat mode with a user, both the remote user's display and the local display will be repainted with the information that was on the screen at the time chat mode was entered. The <Alt-D> Key --------------- Pressing <Alt-D> while a user is online will perform an immediate shell to the operating system (DOS or OS/2, depending on which mail door type you are running). Don't worry, the remote user will not be able to see what you are doing! A message is sent to the user before the shell is performed, and once again when you return from the shell. Please remember that you must type "EXIT" at the DOS or OS/2 command line prompt in order to return control to the mail door. The <Alt-H> Key --------------- Made for those users who are just plain annoying or are abusing your system, the <Alt-H> keypress will perform a disconnect (drop carrier) and then exit the mail door. Control is returned to the BBS system. The BBS software should see that there is no longer a user online and should recycle the BBS system. The <Alt-N> Key --------------- -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 38 The <Alt-N> keypress will cause the mail door to display extended information about the current user, including their alias name and/or their "real" name. This information, as with all of the special function key information, will be cleared in about 15 seconds for a more "tidy" appearance. The <PgDn> and <DownArrow> Keys ------------------------------- Pressing <PgDn> while a user is online will decrease the time the user has remaining in the mail door by ten minutes. To reduce the time remaining by thirty minutes, simply press the <PgDn> key three times. Pressing the <DownArrow> cursor key also lowers the current user's time remaining, but does so in one minute increments. The <PgUp> and <UpArrow> Keys ----------------------------- Pressing <PgUp> while a user is online will increase the time the user has remaining in the mail door by ten minutes. To increase the time remaining by thirty minutes, simply press the <PgUp> key three times. Pressing the <UpArrow> cursor key also increases the current user's time remaining, but does so in one minute increments. Section 7.3 Maintaining The Blue Wave Mail Door One of the most popular features of The Blue Wave Mail Door is the small amount of maintenance that is required. Because the mail door operates directly with your BBS software, no message area maintenance is required. Each time the mail door loads, it reads all message area definitions and security settings directly from your BBS configuration. This means that once you have configured a new message area in your BBS configuration utility, you do not have to add that same message area to the mail door configuration! The same holds true for removing message area definitions. If you decide to remove a message area from your BBS configuration, the mail door will recognize that the area is no longer available and will automatically disable it from a user's mail scan. Section 7.3.1 Message Area Overrides The BWSETUP program allows you to define "Message Area Overrides". Message area overrides allow you to override any settings for any message area available on your BBS. Since the mail door reads all information directly from your BBS system's configuration each time it loads, any changes made to the message area configuration in the BBS automatically get carried over to the mail door. It may be desireable, at times, to override the BBS's message area configuration information. By defining a message area override, you can change many of the settings and security levels needed for access to any particular message area while a user is in the mail door. If you move message areas around (for example, you move area #33 to area -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 39 #47), and you have a message area override configured for that message area, it may be necessary to modify the area override also. If you do not define message area overrides, there will be no maintenance necessary when moving, adding, or deleting message areas from your BBS configuration. Another feature of the message area override editor is the use of "Forced" and "Default" message areas. To force a message area ON for all users of the mail door, you simply define a message area override. At the bottom of the Message Area Override Editor screen, there will be an option to set this area as "Forced". Turning this on will cause this message area to be forced on for all users who have enough security to access the message area. If a user does NOT have enough security for access to the message area, the area will not be enabled. The same procedure may be used to define "Default" message areas. If a message area is configured as a default area, any new user who accesses the mail door, and who has enough security to read the message area, will find that the message area is automatically turned on for them. The difference between default message areas and forced message areas is that a user CAN disable a default area, but a forced area cannot be disabled by the user. Forced message areas remain on even if a user performs an offline configuration to disable the area, or if the user tries to modify the messages downloaded in the area through the use of the Blue Wave Bundling Commands. Obviously, you should use discretion when defining forced message areas. They are best used for system announcement message areas, and for "private" or EMail message areas, where a user can only download messages that are directly addressed to them. Section 7.3.2 Removing Old User Records The only routine maintenance that should be performed on the mail door is the deletion (removal) of old mail door user records. This maintenance could, and should be added to your nightly or weekly system maintenance schedule. The BWSETUP program will remove all old user records for you. Simply run "BWSETUP PURGE 30" to remove all users that have not used the mail door in 30 days. Run "BWSETUP PURGE 90" to remove all users who have not used the mail door in 90 days. The "PURGE nn" command line parameter for BWSETUP will cause BWSETUP to *not* enter interactive mode. This allows you to run the purge utility in an unattended batch file. Section 7.4 Creating and Using Reader Bulletin Files The Blue Wave Mail Door has the ability to include "Welcome" or reader bulletin files. When a user downloads a mail packet and loads it into The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader (and other Blue Wave-compatible mail readers), these bulletin files are available for viewing either automatically or upon user demand. These reader files may either be -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 40 plain ASCII or ANSI files. They can be used to send an advertisement of new items or echos available on the BBS, or new services that your system offers. In the BWSETUP program, under the "General Information" editor, you will find five "slots", where you can define the bulletin files that will be included in a mail packet download. In each of these slots you may define the file name to be sent, and the minimum security needed in order to be able to view the file. (If a user does not have sufficient security to view one or more bulletin files, they will not be included in the mail packet.) The file names that you place here must reside in the mail door's base directory. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader will behave differently, depending into which "slot" you have placed a reader bulletin file. If a reader bulletin is placed into slot #1, this bulletin will be displayed to the user automatically after opening a mail packet. This behavior cannot be modified by the user -- think of it as a "Forced" bulletin. If you place a file name in slot #2 or slot #3, the bulletin will automatically be displayed if the user has enabled automatic bulletin display in the mail reader. If the user has disabled the automatic bulletin display, these files will only be viewable upon user demand. Slot #4 and slot #5 are always available upon user demand only. You may use two special macros in the reader bulletin files in order control their display to the user: {PAUSE} - Place this macro on a line by itself to force a screen pause. The user will receive a "Press any key to continue" message, and their screen will be cleared after pressing a key to continue. {BEEP} - Sounds a beep in the mail reader, if the user has not turned sound off in the mail reader. Section 7.5 Using the Mail Door in Local Mode The Blue Wave Mail Door has several provisions for making the packaging of local mail downloads easy and hassle-free. Many times SysOps will opt to use The Blue Wave Offline Mail System to read mail locally on their machines at home, or even to pack messages in a nightly event to take to work with them. Using this method will also allow SysOps running DESQview, Windows, or OS/2 to read mail packets with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader while still leaving the BBS online. For this example, we will assume that you already have The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader installed in a directory called C:\BWAVE, and that your DOWNLOAD directory in the mail reader configuration is defined as C:\BWAVE\DOWN, your UPLOAD directory is defined as C:\BWAVE\UPLOAD, and your WORK directory is defined as C:\BWAVE\WORK. This example also assumes that the physical computer on which the reader is installed is the same computer that contains your BBS and mail door -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 41 installation. (They may also be installed on a different physical computer, but with the same drives accessible through a LAN.) To get the best results from the interaction of the reader and mail door, it is highly suggested that you set "Keep Old DL Packets (Don't Erase)" to "YES" in the BWSETUP->Options and Toggles Editor. The next BWSETUP configuration items you will need to edit are located on the "Directories and File Paths" configuration menu. While in the directories editor, move the cursor through the fields to the "Temporary Work Directory" under the "Local Mail Door Usage" section. You can enter any path here you like, as the reader and the door do not need to share (and should not share!) the temporary work directories. You should then define your "Reader Download (In) Directory" to be the same as the "Download Directory" defined in the mail reader (in our example, this would be C:\BWAVE\DOWN). Define your "Reader Upload (Out) Directory" to be the same as the "Upload Directory" defined in the mail reader (in our example, this would be C:\BWAVE\UPLOAD). Press <Esc> to leave the Directories and File Paths editor, choose to exit BWSETUP, and save your current configuration. You are now ready to create two batch files. The first batch file will execute the mail door in auto-download mode (to build your mail bundle), and the other will execute the door in auto-upload mode (to send your replies back through the mail door). Two sample batch files are shown below. BWDOWN.BAT can be executed each time you wish to build a mail packet. BWUP.BAT should be executed each time you have replied to messages in the mail reader and are ready to send them back to the mail door to be processed. In these sample batch files, enter the commands shown on the left side of the page. Comments on the right side of the page are there for explanatory purposes only and should not be entered in the batch file. Sample BWDOWN.BAT ----------------- c: Change to the drive where BWMAIL.EXE is cd \bbs\bluewave Change to the directory where BWMAIL.EXE is bwmail /kjoe;sysop;PWRD:bbspassword /d Sample BWUP.BAT --------------- c: Change to the drive where BWMAIL.EXE is cd \bbs\bluewave Change to the directory where BWMAIL.EXE is bwmail /kjoe;sysop;PWRD:bbspassword /u You should, of course substitute "joe;sysop;PWRD:bbspassword" with the name and password that you use to log into the BBS. In both cases, the mail door will perform the desired function and exit back to the -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 42 batch file. The mail door will not ask for input in local mode when performing an auto-upload or auto-download. Section 7.6 The FidoNet->Internet Gateway The Blue Wave Mail Door supports the option of a transparent user interface to a FidoNet->Internet Gateway. The FidoNet->Internet Gateway menu option in BWSETUP allows you to configure the mail door to provide a method for users to gain easy access to Internet E-mail, without actually requiring the BBS to be connected to the Internet. In order for this feature to work, you must be a member of FidoNet, or a FidoNet-style network. This is due to the fact that the Internet gateway actually uses a FidoNet-style NetMail area to store messages that are entered through a mail reader in the Internet Gateway area. When the Internet gateway is configured and active, an Internet E-mail area is created in the user's mail packet. The user can then use the mail reader to create Internet E-mail messages. When the user uploads the reply packet, the mail door will take these reply messages and convert them to FidoNet NetMail messages addressed to the FidoNet<- >Internet gateway system you defined. Even if your BBS offers 'true' Internet capabilities, the Internet gateway can be offered alongside them, if you wish. It will not interfere with them, as the Internet gatway uses the FidoNet capabilities of your BBS to do its work. ** Internet E-mail capabilities are available only with version 2.20 and later of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader, and with third- party mail readers compatible with Version 3 or later of the Blue Wave mail packet specifications. For further information about each configuration item available in the BWSETUP FidoNet<->Internet Gateway Editor, please press <F1> for help when the field you would like more help with is highlighted. -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 43 ---------------------------------------- Chapter 8: SOFTWARE SUPPORT INFORMATION ---------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail System is a growing and developing software package. Cutting Edge Computing is always interested in hearing your comments and suggestions for ways we can Blue Wave work better for you. We take into consideration every request that we get in order to make The Blue Wave Mail System a first-class offline mail package. If you are having trouble with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader, Blue Wave Offline Mail Door, or have comments and suggestions, please drop us a line. We can be reached through our support BBS by dialing +1- 810-743-8464. Our support BBS is online 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. You can reach other users of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System to discuss problems with the software, discuss time-saving techniques, and other issues related to your use of the mail system through the BLUEWAVE echo on the FidoNet backbone. Limited technical support is provided by surface mail, however it is very difficult to diagnose problems through a letter. Please use the support BBS if at all possible. Unregistered users of the mail reader need to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like a reply. For inquiries outside of the United States, you must enclose an International Reply Coupon (available at your local post office). Sorry, but voice technical support is reserved for registered owners of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System. When calling for voice technical support, please be sure to have your registration numbers available. Technical support must verify your registration number before assisting you. The technical support phone number will be provided to you on your registration confirmation letter. Cutting Edge Computing is owned and operated by George Hatchew in Burton, Michigan, USA. Here are our various addresses: US POSTAL SERVICE Cutting Edge Computing P.O. Box 90476 Burton, Michigan 48509-0476 USA SUPPORT BBS 1:2240/176 (FidoNet) +1-810-743-8464 (Direct Phone Number) INTERNET bluewave@concentric.net (Internet Email) http://www.concentric.net/~bluewave (World Wide Web Site) Thank you for trying The Blue Wave Offline Mail System. We hope that the mail system provides you enjoyment and value for years to come! -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 44 -------------------------------------------------- The Blue Wave Offline Mail Door/PCBoard, v4.00; Page 45