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1991-07-15
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RRR RRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRR RRRR tm
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RRRR RRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRR eeeeee ccccc oooooo nn nnnn
RRRRRRRRRRR eeeeeeee ccccccc oooooooo nnnnnnnnnn
RRRR RRRR eee eee ccc ccc ooo ooo nnnn nnn
RRRR RRRR eeeeeeeeeee ccc ooo ooo nnn nnn
RRRR RRRR eee ccc ooo ooo nnn nnn
RRRR RRRR eee ccc ooo ooo nnn nnn
RRRR RRRR eeeeeee cccccc ooooooo nnn nnn
RRRR RRRR eeee ccc oooo nnn nnn
Recon (tm) version 2.01
June 1991 release
Shareware, Copyright 1989-1990, Orest W. Skrypuch
┌─────────┐
┌─────┴───┐ │ (R)
──│ │o │──────────────────
│ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of
│ │ │─┘ Shareware
└───│ o │ Professionals
──────│ ║ │────────────────────
└────╨────┘ MEMBER
***************** WARRANTY DISCLAIMER ****************
Recon (tm) v2.01
PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION CAREFULLY
======================================
Users of Recon must accept the following disclaimer of
warranty:
TRIAL USE (SHAREWARE EVALUATION VERSION) WARRANTY DISCLAIMER
------------------------------------------------------------
THIS COPYRIGHTED SOFTWARE AND ITS DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED
ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. AMDOX CO. LTD. AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE USER ASSUMES ALL RISKS OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
AMDOX CO. LTD. AND THE AUTHOR ASSUME NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES,
DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OR
MISUSE OF RECON.
As it cannot be guaranteed that loss of data will not occur,
Recon should be tested with non-critical data. As always,
judicious backups are a wise and necessary continuing precaution.
***************** WARRANTY DISCLAIMER ****************
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page i
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Why Recon instead of BRAND X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Example CompuServe "sweep" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Summary of features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 What's new ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 What is Shareware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.6 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.7 Distribution Policies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.8 Association of Shareware Professionals Ombudsman . . . . . 8
2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.1 Documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 Starting it up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.4 Help!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.5 Where to from here?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.6 Support & Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1 Pulldown menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 Entering a filespec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.3 Text Entry Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.4 Loading a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5 Browsing a File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.6 Mouse HOT ZONES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.7 Searching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.8 Other Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.8.1 Jumping and Tagging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.8.2 Editing messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.8.3 Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.8.4 Full Screen Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.8.5 Resorting the file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.9 Fancy stuff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.9.1 MARKing messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.9.2 Splitting off messages, "archiving" . . . . . . . . . 34
3.9.3 DELETE messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.9.4 MOVE messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.9.5 All those shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.9.6 Invert it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.9.7 MARK by AGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.10 Filespec pick list. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.11 The Recon REPLY EDITOR and related options. . . . . . . . 41
3.12 INTERACTIVE mode AGE/Save&Exit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.13 Primer on "BATCH" mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.14 .MSG file annotation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.15 Customizable Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.16 the MENU Shell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.17 alternate PARAMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.18 That's All. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page ii
-------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Start up Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.1 Message files to process, the <filespec> parameter . . . 50
4.2 PARAMS.CIS location: the /P parameter. . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.3 Quiet operation, the /Q parameter. . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.4 Disable File Backup, the /NOBAK parameter. . . . . . . . . 52
4.5 Disable disk space checking, the /NODCHECK parameter . . . 52
4.6 specify startup PARAMS file, the /EXT parameter. . . . . . 52
4.7 settings main color, the /COLOR parameter. . . . . . . . . 53
4.8 Monochrome displays with Color cards, the /MONO parameter. 53
4.9 Use EMS for overlays, /EMSOVR parameter. . . . . . . . . . 53
4.10 force Navigate Panel, the /NPH parameter. . . . . . . . . 54
4.11 Adjusting OUTBOX times, the /TZADJ parameter. . . . . . . 54
4.12 BATCH mode command line parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.13 TAPPATH DOS Environment variable. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.14 TMKPATH DOS Environment variable. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.15 RTEMP DOS Environment variable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.16 NOMOUSE DOS Environment variable. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5 INTERACTIVE mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.1 File panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.1.1 Load. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.1.2 Pick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.1.3 Save&Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.1.4 AGE/Save&Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.1.5 Exit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.1.6 Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.1.7 Edit Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.1.7.1 global: General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.1.7.2 global/forum: View/Send. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.1.7.3 global/forum: Sort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.1.8 Save Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.1.9 PARAMS file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.1.10 shell MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.1.11 Quit Recon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.2 Navigate panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.2.1 scroll UP, scroll DOWN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.2.2 msg UP {flt}, msg DOWN {flt}. . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.2.3 message UP, message DOWN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2.4 prev THREAD/CORRES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2.5 STARTofTHD, FINISHofTHD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2.6 neXt THREAD/CORRES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2.7 BEGofFILE, ENDofFILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.3 Action panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.3.1 MARK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.3.2 UnMARK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.3.3 Mark by AGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.3.4 Invert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.3.5 Copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.3.6 Delete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.3.7 Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.3.8 HOLD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page iii
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4 View panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.4.1 Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.4.1.1 Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.4.1.2 Next HIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.4.1.3 Previous HIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.4.1.4 Searching: header and/or message text . . . . . 79
5.4.1.5 Searching: case sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.4.2 Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.4.2.1 Filters: MARKed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.4.2.2 Filters: NEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.4.2.3 Filters: UserID group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.4.2.4 Filters: Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.4.2.5 Filters: DELETED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.5 Connect panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.5.1 send MESSAGE/FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.5.1.1 send FILE/CMail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.5.2 send REPLY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5.5.3 Recon editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5.5.4 shell to external editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.5.5 DOWnload from LIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5.5.6 Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.5.6.1 DELETE message on CIS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.5.6.2 REAd thread from ROOT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.5.6.3 REAd message NUMber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.5.6.4 REAd THRead from NUMber. . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.5.6.5 REAd SUBject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.5.7 DEselect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.5.7.1 Advanced thread marks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.5.8 UserID list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.5.8.1 LOOKUP UserID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.6 Other panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.6.1 Jump. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.6.2 Jump ROOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.6.3 Tag message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5.6.4 Goto Subject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5.6.5 Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5.6.5.1 Edit: THREAD/message/MARKed subject(s). . . . . 91
5.6.5.2 Edit: message number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.6.5.3 Edit: message "in reply to" number. . . . . . . 92
5.6.6 Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.6.7 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
5.6.8 Sort file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.6.8.1 Sort: CIS Thread sort/date time sort. . . . . . 94
5.6.8.2 Sort: MAIL correspondent sort ON/OFF. . . . . . 95
5.6.8.3 Sort: threads by DATE/SUBJECT . . . . . . . . . 95
5.6.8.4 Sort: GROUP/IGNORE sections . . . . . . . . . . 96
6 BATCH mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.1 BATCH mode: <filespec> and /B parameter . . . . . . . . . 97
6.2 BATCH mode THREAD AGEing: /TAGE:### . . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.3 BATCH mode message AGEing: /MAGE:###. . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.4 BATCH mode: the /DEL parameter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.5 BATCH mode: the /A parameter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.6 BATCH mode: the /ALLFOR parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.7 .MSG file annotation, the /ANN parameter . . . . . . . . . 101 Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page iv
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.1 Memory considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.2 Updating from 1.80/1.80a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.3 Example Recon2.SET file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
7.4 DESQview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.5 Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.6 Hardware requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
7.7 Appendix x: Program notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
7.8 Sysop functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.8.1 Forward on Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.8.2 Forward by MAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.8.3 Change Section/Subject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.8.4 Hold functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.8.5 Sysop Delete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
8 Document Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Introduction
===============
You will find Recon useful for two overlapping purposes:
1) As a tool to review TAPCIS downloaded messages from
within .MSG files that are kept trim and sorted into
context, and to then generate replies and other ONLINE
activity.
2) As a general CompuServe format message file manager
allowing you to sort, browse, prune, and organize &
archive CompuServe message files.
Recon can also help organize TAPCIS and the hodge-podge of
TAPCIS add-on programs with its use of an intelligent memory
swapping MENU Shell.
1.1 Why Recon instead of BRAND X
---------------------------------
Recon is BOTH an interactive pulldown menu driven message
file manager AND it can be run in batch mode.
While viewing messages in INTERACTIVE mode you can generate
message replies with Recon, create file download scripts, and
other ONLINE activities for TAPCIS to carry out. No other message
file utility provides this ability.
When batch processing a TAPCIS .MSG file Recon can embed
"navigation" text to direct and greatly enhance your ability to
view a .MSG file WITHIN TAPCIS. No other message file "viewer"
utility provides this feature.
Recon has both INTERACTIVE and BATCH mode, date and file size
driven, extraction & deletion/archiving facilities, this makes it
easy to keep your message files trimmed, sorted and more
manageable.
TAPCIS' OUTBOX messages are incomplete, in terms of
CompuServe message numbers, TO/FROM lines, and most importantly
the "message number thread links". Recon has the UNIQUE ability
to first reconstruct these, then sort into proper thread order and
eliminate duplicates, even when these OUTBOX messages are mixed
with messages downloaded from CompuServe. (Recon lets you put the
OUTBOX copies in your .MSG files) No other message file utility
is able to do this.
Recon handles both INTERNET and CompuServe MAIL message
sorting transparently.
Although specifically designed for the management of TAPCIS
.SAV/.MSG files, Recon handles any CompuServe format message file. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In fact you will likely use Recon to reorganize your .SAV/.MSG
OUTBOX messages are incomplete, in terms of CompuServe mefiles
into ones that perhaps contain messages keyed to specific topics,
or threads, or grouped by given correspondents, or by the age of
the messages.
Hopefully Recon will meet your needs, if it does not tell me
why! Recon continues to evolve, and its current form has been
very much driven by user suggestions.
1.2 Example CompuServe "sweep"
-------------------------------
If you are new to TAPCIS and/or CompuServe (or even if you
are not) you may find the following information useful.
Sequence A is a typical sequence for sweeps of the forums on
CompuServe, this outlines how Recon fits in.
You can generate such a sequence by just running things at
the command line, by using a batch file, or by creating these
entries in the Recon shell MENU. (section 5.1.10)
SEQUENCE A:
1) run TAPCIS, choose N from main menu. To read new
message headers, use the "Q" rather than the "R" setting
for forums, if you do a full read ("R" setting) then
skip steps 2 & 3.
2) in TAPCIS, choose M from the main menu, to mark the
threads you wish to download
3) in TAPCIS, choose O to download the marked threads
(leave "<A>ppend/overwrite msg files" set to Append, and
"<K>eep outbox file" set to Always)
4) run Recon in INTERACTIVE mode, view new messages sorted
into context, generate any replies or other ONLINE
activity, (section 6.5) then age & resave (section
6.1.4) each changed file
Messages you wish to keep indefinitely you might save to
.SAV files (or for example .THD files, or whatever)
So the .MSG files contain ALL RECENT messages, the .SAV
files contain miscellaneous "interesting" messages, and
the .THD files contain messages you wish to keep that
all relate to a specific subject.
The Recon generated .OLD files contain AGEd messages,
these you may eventually discard, or perhaps copy to
diskettes for storage.
5) run TAPCIS, choose O to carry out all the pending ONLINE
activity created by Recon. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6) Of course you can also run Recon interactively to look
up older messages/threads, and to periodically clean
house.
If you would initially prefer to still use TAPCIS both for
viewing messages, and for generating replies, but wish to make use
of Recon BATCH mode sorting and .MSG file annotation use:
SEQUENCE B:
1) as above
2) as above
3) as above
4) run Recon in batch (eg. RECON *.MSG /B /TAGE:7 /MAGE:14;
section 6) to trim, age and annotate all of the
changed/active forum .MSG files
5) run TAPCIS, to view the trimmed and annotated .MSG
files, reply, etc., then go ONLINE
6) as above
Using Recon you can carry out either of the above SEQUENCES.
It would seem likely that most users of the current version
of Recon would gravitate to SEQUENCE A in order to make use of
Recon's rich array of navigation and other thread management
features, while being able to use Recon to generate new messages,
replies, download requests and sysop thread management commands.
1.3 Summary of features
------------------------
Recon can be used interactively using its pull down menus, or
it can be run in a BATCH file driven completely by command line
parameters. As a summary, Recon:
o loads specified TAPCIS message files
o removes end of message blank lines and other dead text
o cleans up line noise, and CR/LF mismatches
o reconstruct message numbers of OUTBOX messages
o reconstruct message number thread links
o sorts messages into user specified order, including
CompuServe thread order
o handles CMail and INTERNET messages transparently
o marks duplicates for deletion
o optional date or file size, driven extraction/archiving
o can embed navigation information for the TAPCIS viewer
o saves the cleaned/sorted file to disk, backing up the
original Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
o handles up to 2000 messages/file and 1000 lines/message
When used interactively the user interface includes:
o context sensitive hypertext HELP
o user definable SHELL to co-ordinate TAPCIS and add-ons
o pulldown menus (with optional mouse support)
o Sysop thread management commands
o filespec pick list/directory boxes to choose files
o global/forum specific settings, can be set interactively
o ability to sort by thread, chronologically,
alphabetically, by section
o full screen message viewing with a local index
o a full screen scrolling index
o extensive and very flexible navigation commands
o a MESSAGE REPLY EDITOR, and related features
o can direct OUTBOX copies to your .MSG files
o BINARY/ASCII file forwarding by CMail
o a search facility, displays messages containing a phrase
o New, MARKed, Branch, & UserID message display filters
o message MARKing: single, branch or thread, or section
o date driven message MARKing
o automatic AGEing
o MARKed message/thread/branch/section copy, delete and move
o editing of: message number, in reply to number, subject
o message printing
1.4 What's new ?
-----------------
My goal is to provide in Recon a one-stop-shopping
environment for message file viewing and processing.
Now in addition, with the introduction of the configurable
shell MENU, Recon can co-ordinate all of your CompuServe/TAPCIS
activities. (section 5.1.10)
Recon can also assist sysops, with the addition of a number
of sysop commands. (appendix 7.8)
Recon now uses EMS for data overflow, this at least doubles
its message file capacity. (appendix 7.1)
This version greatly extends the MESSAGE EDITOR facility, to
allow you to generate NEW messages, even without a message file
loaded, and with popup selection of UserID's and sections. Also
included is message forwarding, as well as BINARY/ASCII file CMail
capability. (section 5.5)
Your OUTBOX copy messages are now placed in your .MSG file,
where they are immediately available for reference. This is the
only way of keeping track of you CMail replies. These duplicate
copies are of course automatically deleted when you download the
matching CompuServe copy of that message. (section 5.1.7.2) Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
There are now forum specific settings for AGEing, as well as
other parameters, and all of these can be edited and set
interactively. (section 5.1.6, 5.1.7)
There is a unique new kind of AGEing command, that lets you
keep a more even message file size, even in forums of varying
activity. (section 5.1.7.2)
Recon now accesses and supports TAPCIS' multiple PARAMS
files. (sections 4.6, 5.1.9)
In addition to Copying and Deleting, you can one-step Move
groups of messages. (section 5.3.7) Groups now also include
sections, and true thread branches. (section 5.3)
A new HOLD setting, will keep a message or group of messages
from being aged, deleted, or moved. (section 5.3.8)
Two new filters, UserID & Branch. These allow you to get a
better handle on threads, and lets you follow exchanges much
easier. (sections 5.4.2.3, 5.4.2.4)
INTERNET/BITNET (or other long) addresses are handled without
truncation. Also Recon now recognizes several INTERNET address
formats, and makes proper sorting sense of these.
New automatic scripts include the ability to download a
single message, a thread, a complete thread, or messages on a
given subject. (section 5.5.6)
And to get you up and running more quickly there is context
sensitive hypertext type HELP.
For the first time a printed/bound manual is available by
mail, on registration or upgrade. (section 1.6)
1.5 What is Shareware
----------------------
Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software
before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue to
use it, you are expected to register.
Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial
software, and the copyright holder retains all rights. Shareware
authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial
authors, and the programs are of comparable quality -- in both
cases, there are good programs and bad ones! The main difference
between the two is in the method of distribution.
So Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of
software. You should find software that suits your needs and
pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware
system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before
you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't
use the product, you don't pay for it.
1.6 Registration
-----------------
Recon is copyrighted Shareware, it is NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN, it
is NOT FREE. If you find Recon of value and continue to use it
after a twenty-one day evaluation period you MUST register your
copy of Recon.
When you register you receive:
o a serial number and license for one copy of Recon
o any technical updates of Recon 2.0 available at that time
o a printed and bound manual
o free bonus standalone utilities (as available)
o a greater voice in suggesting future enhancements
o the satisfaction of supporting the shareware concept
If you have not previously registered, and after an
evaluation of Recon you wish to register, or if you would just
like a pre-registered copy to be shipped out to you, the cost is:
$36.00
s/h 6.00
-----
$42.00 US ($49.00 Cdn)
If you are registered for version 1.80/1.80a, or have
registered any other version of Recon BEFORE September 1990 you
remain registered for version 2.01. As such you can request a
printed manual for version 2.01 and bonus utilities as an upgrade
by forwarding:
$10.00
s/h 6.00
-----
$16.00 US ($19.00 Cdn)
You have three options for registering, or ordering a printed
manual & bonus disk:
1) By regular mail: forward your name, CompuServe UserID,
(and serial number if upgrading) and check or money
order made payable to Orest Skrypuch to:
Orest Skrypuch
217 Terrace Hill Street
Brantford, Ontario
Canada N3R 1G8 Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have the evaluation copy of Recon then you can
use the included handy (optional) fold up registration
form/envelope, (print it by typing COPY MAILER.DOC PRN)
then all you need is a stamp and a check.
US POSTAGE to Canada is a NICKEL MORE than US domestic.
Don't forget to send YOUR CompuServe UserID!
2) By telephone: Visa, American Express:
call (519) 752-5453 (Amdox Co. Ltd.)
ORDERS ONLY! SUPPORT IS NOT AVAILABLE AT THAT NUMBER.
Don't forget to have YOUR CompuServe UserID (and serial
number if upgrading) handy!
3) By Compuserve MAIL: This is by VISA or American Express
card, you can forward the information directly to me by
CMail at 76672,1273.
Alternatively, if you have an evaluation copy of
Recon 2.01, just answer YES when Recon asks if you
would like to register. Recon will ask for credit card
and mailing information, and then automatically direct
TAPCIS to send a CompuServe MAIL message direct to me
at 76672,1273.
Your credit card will be charged in Canadian funds. You
will receive a confirmation by CMail when your order is
processed.
Currency exchange will vary, but at the time of this
version's release $49.00 Canadian was approximately:
$42.00 US (36+6s/h) £24.54 SFR 61,95 DM 72,95 5863¥
The registration fee licenses one copy of Recon for use on
any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software
just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by
any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer
location to another, as long as there is no possibility of it
being used at one location while it's being used at another.
Consider it like a book, a book cannot be read by two different
people at the same time.
For commercial users of Recon, site-license or multiple
license discount arrangements may be made by contacting the author
at the above address.
If there is an unavoidable delay in registering, note that
Recon will continue to work unchanged after the evaluation period. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Under no circumstances will Recon do any mischief to those
who dishonestly continue to use Recon without registering.
1.7 Distribution Policies
--------------------------
Recon (tm) and its documentation are COPYRIGHTED, and are NOT
PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Anyone distributing Recon for any kind of direct fee must
first contact me at the address above for authorization. Although
authorization will generally be automatically granted to
distributors recognized by ASP as adhering to its guidelines for
shareware distributors, notification is still required.
The above restriction does not apply to the case of normal &
usual connect charges on a BBS, where no other specific charge is
made for obtaining a copy of Recon.
Individual users are encouraged to pass a copy of Recon along
to their friends for evaluation.
When secondarily distributed, Recon must be in its original
compressed form and accompanied by its full on-disk documentation
and other information files. The distributed software and
documentation may not have been modified in any way.
No secondary distributor is authorized to "register" a copy
of Recon. Registration fees may only be sent directly to the
author as outlined above in section 1.6. Note that the
registration fee is exclusive of, and over and above any fees that
may be charged by a secondary distributor.
1.8 Association of Shareware Professionals Ombudsman
-----------------------------------------------------
The author is a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware
principle works for you.
If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with
an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able
to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or
problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support
for members' products. Please write to:
ASP Ombudsman
P.O. Box 5786
Bellevue, WA 98006
U.S.A.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
or send a Compuserve message via CompuServe MAIL to:
ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Installation
===============
Recon consists of at least:
PACKING.LST a list of all files in package
WARRANTY.DOC IMPORTANT WARRANTY INFORMATION
!README!. PLEASE READ THIS!
RECON.EXE |
RECON.OVR | the actual software
RECON.HLP |
RECON201.DOC this document
MAILER.DOC an optional fold up registration form
2.1 Documentation
------------------
MAILER.DOC is an optional quick and handy all-in-one fold up
registration form and envelope, print it by typing:
COPY MAILER.DOC PRN
To register, or to order a printed manual just fill it in,
staple your check INSIDE it, TAPE it closed as shown, (DO NOT USE
STAPLES ON THE EXTERIOR) and stamp and mail it.
RECON201.DOC is the installation, tutorial and reference
documentation. It contains no special formatting commands, can be
viewed with any DOS text file viewer or editor, and it should be
printable on most any printer.
The maximum line width in the document is 68 characters and
it requires no more than 60 lines per page to print. Though not
strictly necessary, setting your printer to 12 cpi with a 1.5 inch
left margin (on 8.5 inch width paper) should result in a nicely
centered printout. If you load this document into a word
processor, be careful to allow at least 60 lines/page.
You should have available at least 118 pages of paper. For a
formfeed paper printer insert the paper and set your printer to
start printing towards the top of the page, ready to print on
approximately the fourth line. Note that most page printers Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 11
-------------------------------------------------------------------
(laser, inkjet, or impact with a cut sheet feeder) will by default
begin printing on line 4. Then type at the DOS command line:
COPY RECON201.DOC PRN
The documentation file includes "box drawings", these use
certain characters which may not be available on some printers.
Generally such printers replace these special characters with
italicised letters. If you are able to, choose the "IBM mode" on
such a printer.
2.2 Software
-------------
If you ordered a pre-registered copy of Recon on disk, then
the included on-disk RINSTALL utility, after asking a few
questions, will have already automatically installed Recon for
you.
If you downloaded Recon from CompuServe, a BBS, or just got
an evaluation copy from a friend, installing the software is still
quite straightforward. Just copy RECON.EXE, RECON.OVR and
RECON.HLP into the same directory that contains your TAPCIS.EXE
file and you are ready to go.
You DO NOT need to, and SHOULD NOT erase any information
files (Recon*.DAT, Recon*.SET and Recon*.PCK) that a previous
version may have created. These contain file time stamp data,
your previous pick lists, and other information useful to Recon.
RECON.OVR contains Recon's overlay files, this reduces the
amount of working memory that Recon requires. The overlays can
take advantage of EMS memory if you have it available.
(section 4.9)
Even without the RINSTALL utility, you may also optionally
install Recon in any subdirectory, the procedure is described in
the reference section. (section 4.2, 4.13)
To run the program just type RECON at the DOS command line,
just like any other program that you run, you must be in the same
directory that RECON.EXE and RECON.OVR were copied into, or that
directory must be on the DOS PATH, or you must use the file's path
in the command line you specify.
2.3 Starting it up
-------------------
Recon should already be installed as outlined above. Change
(using "CD") into the same directory as you copied Recon into
(RECON.EXE, RECON.OVR and RECON.HLP) and then type RECON at the
DOS command line. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 12
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The possible error messages include:
1) "Bad command or file name"
This message is from DOS indicating that RECON.EXE is
not found in the current directory nor on the DOS PATH,
see the above paragraph.
2) "runtime UNCATEGORIZED ERROR"
(402) Overlay Error"
This message is from Recon, it means that Recon cannot
find the RECON.OVR overlay file, see the above
paragraph.
3) "TAPCIS' PARAMS.CIS not found"
This message is from Recon, it would suggest that either
you have not copied RECON.EXE and RECON.OVR into the
same subdirectory as TAPCIS.EXE, or that TAPCIS'
PARAMS.CIS file has been previously erased, moved or
never created.
Unless you are a registered user, when Recon first executes
you will be shown a screen which reminds you of the SHAREWARE
nature of Recon. There is a twenty-one day free evaluation
period. At the bottom of that screen you will see the following:
Would you like to register, through CompuServe MAIL?
A cursor will be blinking, the message is self-explanatory,
if you wish to send off a registration just press Y or [Enter],
otherwise press any other key and you will continue.
At other times you may see a cursor blinking under a double
sided arrow, it indicates that the program has paused, generally
for the purpose of letting you read the screen, or see the results
of a multiple stage action.
Sometimes Recon will "timeout", and automatically continue
after a set period of time. At other times the program will wait
indefinitely until [SPACE] is pushed. Alternatively you can
press the [Esc] key in place of [SPACE].
For mouse users you can also click and release the RIGHT
button, Recon considers this equivalent to pressing [Esc].
Next comes the main opening screen. Along the top you will
see the pulldown menu bar, with the File panel pulled down and the
light bar sitting on the Pick option. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 13
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.4 Help!
----------
Context sensitive Help is accessible throughout the program
by accessing the Help option. You can access Help by using the
local hot key H while in the top line of menu choices, the
global hot key of AltH or [F1].
Mouse users can click and release both buttons, to access
Help.
While in Help if you press [F1] again, or click both mouse
buttons, a Help Index of topics will be displayed. You can then
pick a topic from that index.
2.5 Where to from here?
------------------------
IF YOU HAVE NEVER USED RECON BEFORE -- I would suggest that
you either read through the tutorial section, or if do not like a
walkthrough approach to learning a program, then study the
reference sections.
Section 3 is the walkthrough tutorial.
Section 4 explains optional command line and DOS environment
variable options, you can probably save this section for
later.
Section 5 is the reference section for INTERACTIVE mode
Recon, this is how you will likely be using Recon most
of time.
Section 6 is the reference section for BATCH mode. Batch is
useful for sorting and cleaning up message files that
you don't need to view.
Section 7 contains appendices with useful ancillary
information on Recon
Though I would not suggest it, if you must go off exploring
on your own, then as long as you do not SAVE or WRITE OUT a file,
DO NOT run Recon in BATCH mode, and DO NOT "compose" a reply you
will not cause any changes to any of the message files that RECON
"looks" at.
There is context sensitive help available throughout, and
this should assist you in getting to know the program. However you
will not get the full value out the Recon unless you at some time
read through the documentation.
IF YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED USER -- of version 1.80 you should
have little trouble intuitively adjusting to most of the new Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 14
-------------------------------------------------------------------
features.
HOWEVER BEFORE YOU START, *PLEASE* quickly glance at:
Appendix 7.2 Updating from 1.80/1.80a. This contains some
quick and VERY important notes.
I would still suggest that you at some time at least skim
through the reference sections and in particular read the sections
referenced in What's NEW (section 1.4) in order to formally
review and understand any changes.
2.6 Support & Thanks
---------------------
Questions, comments, thanks, or jeers are all welcome. I am
supporting this software on CompuServe, address messages to my
UserID 76672,1273 through CompuServe MAIL or leave a message for
me in the TAPCIS forum (preferably in the Scripts and Tools
section).
My sincere thanks go out to all of those who have helped me
to improve Recon by offering up their wish lists, suggestions and
criticisms.
Also a very special thanks to all the brave and tireless
BETA/GAMMA testers.
Enjoy!
Orest Skrypuch
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 15
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Tutorial
===========
This section is intended for those who learn best by a
program walkthrough. Although some of the more entry level
information may not be duplicated elsewhere, all of the important
Recon specific feature information contained in this section is
also found in the reference sections.
If you find that you instead learn best by just running it,
and exploring, then at least quickly review the reference
sections. Recon's context sensitive hypertext will help a great
deal, as it largely duplicates the complete reference section.
None of the actions in this tutorial will need to result in
permanent changes to any of your TAPCIS data files. Of course
once you understand Recon's operation you will be altering TAPCIS
message files all the time, that's what Recon is all about. We
will create a small new file, which if you wish you may erase
after the exercise.
To start the tutorial you should have Recon already
installed, (section 2.2) ready to run (section 2.3) and with its
opening screen displayed.
3.1 Pulldown menus
-------------------
Before we go any further I would like to explain Pulldown
Menus a bit.
A PULLDOWN menu panel is pulled down by either selecting it
with the [Enter] key, or by typing the BOLDed letter. (eg. F
for File) Once pulled down the [DArr] and [UArr] keys can be
used to choose among the options.
Options on the File panel are Load, Pick, Save&Exit,
AGE/Save&Exit, Exit, Status, Edit Settings, Save Settings,
PARAMS file, shell MENU, Quit Recon. Valid options are displayed
in bold, inactive options are dim. (color only)
When you first run Recon, Load, Pick, Status, Edit Settings,
Save Settings, shell MENU and Quit Recon will be the valid
options in this panel. You can choose the desired option by
highlighting (selecting) it with the light bar, then pressing
[Enter]. (choosing it)
Alternatively, when available in the panel, you can type the
highlighted letter (here L for Load or P for Pick) to choose
the desired option. These are local shortcut or hot keys.
Note that at the end of the File|Save&Exit line there is an
[F10], for File|Exit there is an [F7], and so on. This is a Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 16
-------------------------------------------------------------------
reminder of the global hot key for choosing these options. In
other words, most of the time (including while you are in the
panel) pressing [F10] (the function key, along the left or top
of your keyboard) will execute the File|Save&Exit function. Of
course it must be a valid option at that time. Similarly [F7]
will execute File|Exit, and Ctl[F3] (push and hold down the
Control key, then press the [F3] function key) will execute
File|Edit Settings and so on.
All of the menu options have either a local, or a global hot
key shortcut.
Using the [RArr] and [LArr] keys at this point will move
you to the next active pulldown menu panel (on the same level) to
the right or left respectively of the one currently displayed. If
there is not such a panel, then you will be moved one level
higher.
Pressing [Esc] will remove the currently displayed panel
and move you one level up, here this would be to the top group of
choices. (File, Navigate, Action, View, Connect, Other and Help)
On this top tier of choices use [RArr] and [LArr] to move the
light bar. When you first run Recon, File, Connect and Help
will be the only valid top level options.
Alternatively while along the top level options just type the
highlighted letter (F for File, N for Navigate, A for Action, V
for View, C for Connect, O for Other and H for Help) to choose the
desired option, these are the local hot keys.
In addition all of the top level options have global hot keys
corresponding to the Alt-letter combination of the highlighted
letters in that option. (AltF for File, AltN for Navigate, etc.)
These will access these options from anywhere in the menu system.
If a mouse is detected, a block-sized reverse video mouse
cursor will be displayed in the top left corner. You can choose
any visible option by moving the mouse cursor to the desired
option and clicking the left mouse button. (a click means to push
AND release the mouse button) This will move the light bar to
that option (select it) if it is currently valid. To then execute
this option, (choose it) click the left mouse button again. The
right mouse button is equivalent to the [Esc] key, it will also
remove the currently displayed panel and move one level up.
3.2 Entering a filespec
------------------------
Ok, lets go ahead and load a file. Move the light bar to the
Load choice in the File panel, and choose the File|Load
option. You will see something like the following screen: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 17
-------------------------------------------------------------------
▒File▒
──╒═════════════════════════╕──
│▒Load▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═ enter filespec ═════════════════════════╕
│ │ C:\TAP\STOR\*.MSG │
│ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════╛
│ Exit [F7]│
│ ─────────────────────── │
│ Status [F3] │
│ Edit Settings Ctl[F3] │
│ Save Settings Alt[F3] │
│ ─────────────────────── │
│ PARAMS file AltP │
│ shell MENU Ctl[F1] │
│ Quit Recon AltQ │
╘═════════════════════════╛
The first time you use this option Recon provides as the
default a filespec that would include your regular TAPCIS .MSG
files.
For the purposes of our discussion a filespec may include a
drive, a directory, the filename root and the file extension. The
path can include the drive and the directory, here the path is
"C:\TAP\STOR". Of course Recon will instead provide your own
personal TAPCIS storage directory. (The storage directory is
specified and displayed within TAPCIS on the Parameters screen)
Anywhere a message file filespec is requested, if you do not
specify a path then Recon will assume that you mean the TAPCIS
storage directory - it saves some typing. In other words the
TAPCIS storage directory is considered the "default" directory.
3.3 Text Entry Boxes
---------------------
Before I go any further I would like to point out some of the
basics involved in entering requested text.
As required, a box will appear requesting input, usually with
a default entry displayed, and with a blinking text cursor.
INSERT mode is indicated by a thin underline cursor, OVERWRITE
mode by a block cursor. The following editor keys are active in
text entry boxes: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 18
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[LArr] : moves the cursor one space left
[RArr] : moves the cursor one space right
[Home] : moves to the beginning of the line
[End] : moves to the end of the line
[Del] : erases the character at the cursor
[Bksp] : erase the character before the cursor
[Ins] : toggles INSERT and OVERWRITE mode
Ctl[End] : erase from cursor to the end of the line
Ctl[LArr] : moves one word left
Ctl[RArr] : moves one word right
[F10] : insert the default text phrase, if any
Ctl[F10] or CtlR : restore the originally displayed text
[Enter] or [LEFTmouseBUTTON] : text entry complete
[Esc] or [RIGHTmouseBUTTON] : try to abort text entry
If you press a non-editor key (A to Z, a to z, 0 to 9, or
punctuation marks) as the first key, the initially displayed entry
will disappear, the assumption is that you wish to enter a
completely different phrase. If you press an editor key (see
the list above) as the first key then you can edit/add to the
entry. Pressing [Enter] (or clicking the left mouse button)
will choose the displayed text, pressing [Esc] (or clicking the
right mouse button) will return to the next higher menu.
In a text entry box [F10] offers an alternate default
entry, when there is one. In some text entry boxes, [F10] will
provide for a list of possible choices that you can "point and
shoot" pick. If you are not sure what that means, try it. In the
context of use it will make sense.
3.4 Loading a File
-------------------
Ok lets go ahead and load a file, if you have tried out the
editor keys on the default entry then press Ctl[F10] or CtlR,
it will restore the originally displayed entry. With the entry
restored choose it, that is press the [Enter] key, or click the
LEFT mouse button.
Though probably most of your viewing/replying and so on will
be in Recon, when you later have Recon resave the file, the file
remains in a normal TAPCIS format and is completely compatible
with the TAPCIS viewer. In fact you can optionally annotate .MSG
files which actually augments your abilities within, and use of
the TAPCIS viewer, should you ever need it. (sections 3.14, 6.7)
Once you choose a filespec, a directory box will appear with
any matching files. The files are listed chronologically, with
the more recently changed files at the top. Note: the Filespec
that generated this picklist is displayed along the top of the
box. What you will actually see listed is of course dependent on
what forums you have messages SAVed in and will be different,
although similar, to the below. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 19
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The box below is called a pick list, and it lists possible
files to load. Pick lists are also used to display lists of
recent filespecs, message subjects, and the full screen scrolling
index is a special kind of pick list.
(The general comments below apply to all pick lists.)
▒File▒
─╒═════════════════════════╕──
│▒Load▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒════════════ C:\TAP\STOR\*.MSG ════════════ |
│ │ IBMHW.MSG !CA 296k 17-JUL-1991 12:23a ▓
│ │▒TAPCIS.MSG▒▒▒!CA▒▒149k▒▒17-JUL-1991▒12:22a▒│
│ │ MAIL.MSG CA 233k 16-JUL-1991 5:49p │
│ │ WPSG.MSG !CA 14k 16-JUL-1991 5:12p │
│ │ PCVENB.MSG C- 1k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
│ │ BPROGB.MSG C- 5k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
│ │ PCVENA.MSG C- 14k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
│ │ IBMAPP.MSG C- 17k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
│ │ NOVA.MSG C- 2k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
│ │ IBMPRO.MSG C- 64k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
╘═│ AVSIG.MSG C- 3k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
│ EPSON.MSG C- 1k 16-JUL-1991 4:52p │
│ LOTUS123.MSG s- 1k 10-JUL-1991 3:12p │
│ MSAPP.MSG s- 27k 10-JUL-1991 3:12p │
│ IBMCOM.MSG s- 82k 10-JUL-1991 3:11p │
│ BPROGA.MSG s- 206k 10-JUL-1991 2:49p │
╘ TA ═══════════════════════════════════════ |
─╥─ ─╥─ ─╥── ──╥───────────────
║ ║ ║ ║
letters appear ║ ║ ╚═══[ DOS Date/Time last changed ]
as you type ║ ║
║ ╚══[ rounded File Size in k bytes ]
[ Change Flags ]═══╝
If characters are preceded by an "!", this indicates that
there are messages "unread", this is only present for
TAPCIS' .MSG files, and corresponds exactly to TAPCIS'
use of the exclamation mark
If 1st character is:
"C" = file has changed since Recon last processed it
"s" = file has remained the same
"." = file is not a regular TAPCIS .SAV or .MSG file
If 2nd character is:
"A" = DOS Archive file attribute has been SET.
"-" = DOS Archive file attribute is NOT set.
If a mouse is not active then "|| for more" will appear along
the bottom line, the || representing an up arrow and/or a
down arrow. (not shown)
The hatched box on the right border gives a visual indication
of the relative position of the light bar within the entire
file list. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 20
-------------------------------------------------------------------
There are several ways to select a file (move the highlight bar):
[UArr] & [DArr], [PgUp] & [PgDn], and [Home] & [End] keys.
Start typing the name of a file, the letters will appear
along the bottom LEFT of the box and the highlight bar
will move as the number of letters typed more uniquely
identifies a file.
(Note above: "TA" and the light bar moved to "TAPCIS.MSG".)
For mouse users:
[LEFTmouseBUTTON] click on a file's line selects it
[LEFTmouseBUTTON] click on arrow in the TOP right corner
of the box moves the highlight bar UP one entry
[LEFTmouseBUTTON] click on arrow in the BOTTOM right
corner of the box moves the highlight bar DOWN one
entry
[LEFTmouseBUTTON] click anywhere along the right BORDER
of the box moves the highlight bar to the
proportionate relative position in the entire list
(Note that this may require scrolling of the
contents of the box.)
To choose a file:
Pressing [Enter] chooses the highlighted file.
IF A MOUSE IS ACTIVE:
A second [LEFTmouseBUTTON] click on a file's line
chooses it.
The diagram above outlines the content of the columns of
information to the right of the filename, I will discuss these
from left to right.
If these are TAPCIS .MSG files, then an exclamation mark will
be shown just before the change flags corresponding to the forum
file which has an exclamation flag set in TAPCIS. On exit Recon
will reset these marks for TAPCIS, if necessary.
The Change Flags' first character can be either a "C" which
indicates that the file has changed since Recon last processed
that file, or an "s" indicating that the file has remained the
same. This information is only provided for regular TAPCIS .SAV
and .MSG files, for other files a "." is displayed.
The Change Flags' second character reflects the status of the
DOS ARCHIVE file attribute. The ARCHIVE attribute is set by DOS Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 21
-------------------------------------------------------------------
when a file is changed, most backup programs will reset this flag.
Though not as useful as the Recon C/s flag, the DOS ARCHIVE file
attribute may be useful in deciding which files have changed, and
which have not.
The File Size column shows the rounded size of the file in
"k", k stands for just over one thousand bytes. (actually 1024) A
file of size of ZERO will still be listed as 1 kbytes long.
The last two columns contain the date and time that the file
was last changed, this is the same date and time that you will see
listed beside the file in a DOS DIR command listing. As already
noted the files are listed chronologically with the more recently
changed files listed first.
So after all that, let's actually load a file. With the
light bar select a small Forum (not the MAIL.MSG) file of say 50k
to 100k, although any one you pick will probably do fine for our
purposes. Then choose it by pressing [Enter] or clicking
[LEFTmouseBUTTON].
3.5 Browsing a File
--------------------
Each time Recon loads a file it will (as necessary)
reconstruct each individual message header, prune non-message dead
text lines, clean up line noise and rematch CR/LF's, sort the
messages as directed, then reconstruct message numbers and the
"in reply to" message number links.
After the sorting and fixups, if a message is judged to have
duplicates, then all but one of the message copies will be
automatically marked for deletion.
It is always the more recent message of a duplicate pair (or
triple etc.) that is retained.
For example let's say that you uploaded a reply to a message
on the TAPCIS forum, your OUTBOX reply copy is also saved to your
TAPCIS .MSG file, and marked with the current time, for example
10:30:23.
When you go online and actually upload this message,
CompuServe assigns a message time, it would have to be a later
time than the SAVed copy in your SAV file for example 10:43:12.
Eventually you download the entire thread containing your message
reply.
When you load the .MSG file in Recon again the 10:30:23
message, that is the OUTBOX copy of your message, is the one
marked for deletion.
A problem may occur if you access CompuServe through a data
packet service, and the point at which you enter the CompuServe
network is not in the same time zone as yourself. See section Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 22
-------------------------------------------------------------------
4.11 for a discussion of and a fix for this.
Once the file is loaded, then in the top right corner of the
screen appears a local index of the messages, for example:
│Recon fixes *.sav│ <self> │Fred Jack│
│Recon fixes *.sav│Fred Jack│ <self> │
░WP 5.1 ? ░ <self> ░John A. K░
░WP 5.1 ? ░Sysop Joa░John A. K░
│Truncated Message│Joel Hitt│ <self> │
The middle entry of the five lines is highlighted and
represents the current message, that message is displayed in full
on the screen. The local index also details the two immediately
preceding and following messages. (if any) The first column
contains the message subject. The second and third columns show
the contents of the Fm: and To: lines. Each line is truncated
to fit into the columns. Note that your name/UserID is recognized
and <self> is substituted for it. The hatched boxes on the
third and fourth lines of the example local index indicate that
these messages are currently MARKed. More on marking in a moment.
If filters are active, then messages that are included by the
filter conditions will be bolded in the mini-index box, more on
that later as well.
If the file you chose is sourced as a CompuServe MAIL file
then the local index will appear a little differently. The last
two columns will be replaced by a single one showing who your
correspondent was, and whether the message was "from them" to you
(fm:), or "to them" from you (t:). Obviously in CompuServe MAIL
you will always be one of the correspondents.
│You might like to│ t: Mark Horvatich │
│RECON.EXE │fm: Dick Nixon │
│RECON.EXE │ t: Dick Nixon │
│RECON.EXE │fm: Dick Nixon │
│RECON.EXE │ t: Dick Nixon │
Along the bottom line you'll find a status line showing
general information about the current message, for example: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 23
-------------------------------------------------------------------
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
IBMSYS δ 21 of 90 ( 6) fM fN fU fB MRK NEW BOX ANN HLD ?DUP? DEL
───╥── ╥ ─╥ ─╥ ─╥ ──╥──────── ─╥─ ─╥─ ─╥─ ─╥─ ─╥─ ─╥───────
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╔═╝ ║
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ [deletions &
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ duplicates]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═╗
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ [HELD message]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═[announcement]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═[OUTBOX message]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═[message is NEW]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═[message is MARKed]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═[filters: Marked, New, UserID, Branch]
║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═[# of messages marked for deletion]
║ ║ ║ ╚═[total # of loaded messages]
║ ║ ╚═[current message sequence #]
║ ╚═[file has been changed and needs saving]
╚═[FORUM of Origin]
Here IBMSYS is indicated as the forum of origin for these
messages. The Greek lower case letter delta (here shown as an
"δ") after the forum name indicates that the file has changed and
needs saving. If you try to exit without saving, you will be
reminded of this.
The sequence number of the current message is 21, the total
number of loaded messages is 90. The 6 in parentheses is the
number of messages currently slated for deletion. If the NEW
filter is on, the sequence number and total will refer to NEW
messages, see below.
If one of the NEW, MARKed, UserID or Branch filters is
active, then the corresponding fN, fM, fU or fB will be displayed.
If the currently displayed message is a MARKed message MRK is
displayed. Similarly if this is a NEW message (to Recon) then NEW
will be displayed. If this is a message that was originally saved
as an OUTBOX message, BOX is displayed. If this message is an
"announcement" then ANN is displayed. Lastly, if the current
message is held, then HLD will be displayed.
If the HIDE: DELETED filter is turned OFF, and the current
message is judged to be a duplicate then ? DUP ? will be
displayed. If the message has already been marked for deletion
then DEL is present. If the HIDE: DELETED filter if turned ON
(the default) then deleted messages will be hidden from view.
If Recon encounters a message in your MAIL.MSG file
indicating that you have received a BINARY or ASCII file by CMail,
it will ask if you would like to rename the received file. If a
filename is included in the message subject, then Recon will offer
it as the default filename to use. This avoids the non-specific
MAIL1.BIN type filenames in your download directory. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 24
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that we have the file loaded let's look around. If you
have not skipped around the menu since the file loaded then the
light bar will be on the File option along the top row, instead
move to and choose the Navigate option to pulldown the Navigate
panel of choices.
▒Navigate▒
──╒═════════════════════════╕──
│ MSG scroll UP [-] │
│ MSG scroll DOWN [+] │
│▒message▒UP▒▒▒▒▒▒▒[PgUp]▒│
│ msg UP {flt} [UArr] │
│ msg DOWN {flt} [DArr] │
│ message DOWN [PgDn] │
│ prev THREAD AltX │
│ STARTofTHD [Home] │
│ FINISHofTHD [End] │
│ next THREAD X │
│ BEGofFILE Ctl[PgUp] │
│ ENDofFILE Ctl[Pgdn] │
╘═════════════════════════╛
If this were a CompuServe MAIL sourced file then the
prev THREAD and next THREAD options would be replaced by
prev CORRES(pondent) and next CORRES(pondent). By default all
CompuServe MAIL sourced files are sorted into message groups by
correspondent (section 5.6.8.1) in addition to thread, it makes
more sense to skip through the file in that way.
All the simple direct ways of moving around the file are in
this panel. For instance to move to the last message in the file
move the light bar to ENDofFILE and choose it.
Notice that each of these options has a hot key (shortcut)
method for executing it. For example, most anywhere in the
program assuming that it is a valid option at the time, you can
skip to the last message in the file by pressing Ctl[PgDn].
NOTE THAT if the displayed message is LONGER THAN ONE SCREEN
in length you can move through it using the [-] and [+] keys,
you will be prompted on the bottom line of the message text
display with - continued - when the message is longer than one
screen. The MSG scroll UP and MSG scroll DOWN functions can
be set to scroll the message one line at a time, (default) by full
screens, or by full screens with one line of overlap
(section 5.17)
For the convenience of laptop users, you can also use the
unshifted minus key (ie. the equals key) just to the left of the
number row, as an equivalent to the minus key.
The [SPACE] can be used as an alternative no thinking
necessary key. (Isn't that peaceful?) If the displayed message is
only one screen long, then [SPACE] acts as the [DArr] key, if Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 25
-------------------------------------------------------------------
the displayed message is longer than one screen, then [SPACE]
acts as the [+] key until it gets to the end of the message,
then it does the equivalent of [DArr].
But wait a minute, the [UArr] and [Darr] keys move the
highlight bar. That's correct, but if there is NO menu panel
pulled down, then they will act to page through the messages.
The pair of [PgUp] & [UArr] and [PgDn] & [DArr] keys act
the same, unless filters are enabled. If any filters are active,
then to get to the next message that respects the filter use
[UArr] or [DArr], to temporarily ignore the filters use the
[PgUp] or [PgDn] keys.
The above is very useful when you load a file and want to
skip through only the NEW messages, (you set the NEW filter) BUT
then occasionally you need to look at other OLD messages in the
same thread for context. For the first you would use the Arrow
keys, for the second the Page keys.
The Branch and UserID filters are special in their behaviour.
They will temporarily override any other set filters, so that you
will only see that given filter active. In addition if the Branch
filter is active, and you execute an Other|JUMP root command
(AltJ) then the Branch filter is extended backwards to include
the new root message, and all of its replies too. (sections
5.4.2.3, 5.4.2.4)
Go ahead and get the feel of this group of options now.
3.6 Mouse HOT ZONES
--------------------
Mouse users should note that if there are NO MENU PANELS
PULLED DOWN, then there are a number of clickable mouse HOT ZONES,
you use a single [LEFTmouseBUTTON].
The lines in the local index box are "clickable" for
navigation, clicking the current message mini-index line will
bring up the full screen index.
Mouse users can click on the top half of the message text to
scroll UP, and the bottom half to scroll DOWN. Clicking on the
- continued - line, or on the bottom rule (second line from the
bottom) simulates the [SPACE] key.
Clicking on the first header line of the message,
(contains #:) executes a GOTO to the LAST displayed message,
equivalent to [TAB] or AltJ/[Enter]. Clicking on the subject
line, jumps to the root of the current message, if there is one.
You can toggle the settings of the four filters by clicking
on the fN, fM, fU or fB along the status line. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 26
-------------------------------------------------------------------
You can also toggle the MARKed, HoLD and the DELeted status
of the message by clicking on the MRK, HLD and DEL marks
respectively on the status line.
3.7 Searching
--------------
You can quickly find any messages in the file containing
specific text by using the search facility, let's move to that
now. Although there are many ways to get to it, if you still have
the Navigate panel pulled down then press the [RArr] twice. You
should see the following:
▒View▒
──╒═════════════════════════╕──
│ Previous HIT < │
│▒Search▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒[F2]▒│
│ Next HIT > │
│ Header+text │
│ case insensitive │
│ ─────────────────────── │
│ {MARKed off} AltM │
│ {NEW off} AltW │
│ {UserID group off} AltU │
│ {Branch off} AltB │
│ ─────────────────────── │
│ HIDE: DELETED AltD │
╘═════════════════════════╛
Choose the Search option, you will then see a text entry
box asking for a target phrase. Pick some text that is bound to
be in the file, for example the word the or your first name. By
default the search treats upper case and lower case letters as
equivalent and searches both the header and the message text. You
can change this by using the case insensitive / Case SENSITIVE
option, (section 5.4.1.5) and you can restrict the search to the
header only by using the Header+Text / Header ONLY option.
(section 5.4.1.4) Once you have entered the target text press
[Enter].
A quickly changing number will appear to the right of the
text you entered indicating that Recon is looking. You can abort
the search by pressing [Esc].
If any filters are active (none should be at present) then
the search will ONLY look at messages that are included by the
current settings of the filters.
The View|Search option always starts the search at the
first message in the file. In the event that a message with the
target text is not found Recon will leave the current message
displayed. If a message is found, then it is displayed with the
target text highlighted. The target text may not be on the first Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 27
-------------------------------------------------------------------
display page of the message and hence may not be visible unless
you press the [+] key one or more times.
Executing Previous HIT or Next HIT will start a search
for a preceding or succeeding message which contains the target
text. The search starts at the current message, and searches in
either of the respective directions. Both of these options use
the same target phrase already specified in the View|Search
option and the search is subject to the same restrictions (or lack
of them) for case, text location and filters.
Notice the hot key (shortcut) methods for each of the do a
search commands, [F2] will execute the View|Search command,
the < and > keys will execute View|Previous HIT and
View|Next HIT. As a convenience the unshifted < key (the comma)
and the unshifted > key (the period) are considered equivalent
to their shifted states as to executing a search.
We will get back to the View panel, and the filter
commands, later in the tutorial.
3.8 Other Options
-------------------
This panel contains the more powerful navigation options, the
message header editing facility, the printing options, and the
sorting options. Try these options out as we go through them.
3.8.1 Jumping and Tagging
---------------------------
Use this to move to a specific message, as referenced by its
Recon sequence number (the message number displayed on the bottom
information line) the global hot key is J. When asked, enter the
Recon sequence number of the message you wish to move to in the
provided text entry box. Notice that the sequence number of the
message you had immediately previously displayed is the default,
making it easy to jump quickly back to the last message.
A search or a simple message DOWN, or message UP movement
does not change the last message you were at setting, the other
navigation commands do reset this setting.
The [TAB] key will do an immediate JUMP to the last
message you were at, this allows you to quickly compare two
messages -- toggling them back and forth by pressing [TAB].
Mouse users can click on the first line of the message header
(line containing #:) as an equivalent of the [TAB] key, if there
are no menu panels pulled down.
If this message is a reply to another message as witnessed by
for example a #74232- "in reply to" number at the beginning of
the displayed Sb: line then you can quickly jump to that message Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 28
-------------------------------------------------------------------
by choosing the Other|Jump ROOT option in this panel. (global
hot key is AltJ)
Once at the ROOT message you can then jump back by using the
Other|Jump command, the previous message number will be the
default to jump to. To do the latter in a single keystroke, just
press the [TAB] key.
Mouse users can click on the subject line (third line) of the
message header as an equivalent of the Other|Jump ROOT command,
if there are no menu panels pulled down.
Don't confuse the numbers that CompuServe assigns to messages
(usually big) with the sequence number that Recon associates with
each message. (usually smaller) The Other|Jump command needs
the (smaller) Recon sequence numbers. The Other|Jump ROOT
command automatically looks for the message with the CompuServe
message number as indicated by the "in reply to" number of the
current message.
However you can go to a specific Compuserve message number by
doing a search for that number using the Search command. This
will execute very quickly if you also restrict the search to
Header ONLY.
One other note, if the NEW filter is on then the sequence
number on the bottom status line will refer to NEW messages, not
the sequence within the complete file. However the Other|Jump
command always refers to the "base" Recon sequence number, and NOT
the NEW message sequence number.
This brings us to TAGging. When navigating through a message
file you may wish to go back to the start of a thread, or perhaps
to another distant thread. Rather than having to remember what
message you were at just TAG the message. Choosing
Other|Tag message (global shortcut AltT) does exactly that, think
of it as a bookmark. To return to the tagged message use the
Other|Go Tagged option. (hot key AltG)
Now, to the subject of Other|Goto Subject. This is a very
handy navigation command allowing you to jump to the start of a
thread with a specific subject. Try it now by using either the
global shortcut G or choosing it with the light bar. This will
bring up a pick list of all the thread subjects in this file. If
this is a large file, it may take a few moments to sort them.
After you choose a subject to jump to, Recon will immediately jump
to the first message in that thread. If you press [Esc] you
will abort the process.
3.8.2 Editing messages
------------------------
Occasionally you will need to clean house, and perhaps
consolidate old threads into a single one - by giving them a
common subject title. Or perhaps you need to change the message Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 29
-------------------------------------------------------------------
number or an in reply to number to rearrange thread ordering.
This is what these options are for.
You should be advised that doing this type of editing is
better left until the threads themselves are no longer actively
scrolling (on CompuServe) and being added to, otherwise you may
compromise Recon's ability to properly sort out any new messages
that you are still adding to the same thread.
Choosing the Other|Edit option gives the following submenu.
│▒Edit▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒E▒▒│
│ ╒═════════ Edit ══════════╕
│ │▒message▒subject▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ │ THREAD subject │
╘═│ all MARKED msg subjects │
│ message # │
│ in reply to # │
╘═════════════════════════╛
If you choose THREAD subject (go ahead and do it, as long
as you don't resave the file you won't actually change it on disk)
then this will bring up a pick list of all current file thread
subjects for you to pick. You could pick one that is close, as
you can still edit it. If you press [Esc] to ignore the pick
list altogether this will give you the current thread subject in
the text entry box, ready to be edited.
As in any Text Entry Box, remember that if you press an
editor key first you can edit the entry, typing a letter first
will erase the entry, the assumption being that you want to enter
a totally different phrase.
At this point if you press the [Esc] key again you will
abort the process, and you will be back at the Edit submenu.
If you press [Enter] then you will be asked to confirm the
change in the subject name, and then if so directed the change
will be made.
Other|Edit|THREAD subject will change the subject of each of
the messages in the thread, Other|Edit|message subject will
change only the subject of the current message.
Other|Edit|all MARKED is useful for grouping together related
messages within a file. This option in particular should ONLY be
used after the thread is no longer scrolling and being added to.
(more on marking shortly, note that this option is disabled unless
there are messages marked) Otherwise the Edit subchoices have
the same syntax and procedure as for Other|Edit|THREAD subject.
The last two options allow you to edit the message number and
the in reply to message number, the latter (if present) is on
the Sb: line. Recon will not allow you to edit message numbers
of non-OUTBOX messages, however you can edit the in reply to Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 30
-------------------------------------------------------------------
number of any message. To make the in reply to number disappear
change it to 0 (zero).
If you edit a message, then the file will likely require a
resort, (Other|Sort) sorting will be mentioned in a moment.
3.8.3 Printing
----------------
Choosing the Print option gives the following submenu.
│▒Print▒...▒▒▒▒▒Shf[F7]▒│
│ ╒═══════ Print ════════╕
│ │ FORM FEED │
╘═│▒this▒message▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ this THREAD │
│ ONLY NEW messages │
│ all MARKed messages │
│ file INDEX │
╘══════════════════════╛
The first three suboptions are self-explanatory. You can try
printing the current message if you have paper inserted and ready.
If Recon suspects that the printer is NOT ready then it will
give you a reminder to double check the printer. If you go ahead
anyway without having the printer online and paper loaded, Recon
should handle the DOS critical error, and after a thirty second
timeout allow you to retry.
Unless you have gone ahead and marked some messages (to be
covered below) then the all MARKed option will be disabled. Its
use will soon be obvious.
Both the ONLY NEW and all MARKed suboptions give you the
option of inserting a form feed at the end of each thread, to
separate them out, as the messages are printed.
The file INDEX option will print the index for the current
file, this is essentially the complete full screen scrolling
index. (next section)
3.8.4 Full Screen Index
------------------------
To find out what the full screen index looks like just press
I as the global hot key command and have a look.
If you have a mouse active then you can also call up the
index by clicking on the line in the mini-index that corresponds
to the current message. (usually the center one) Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 31
-------------------------------------------------------------------
If this is a regular forum file then a screenful of lines
like the ones below will appear:
14│------│15788│ 6│18-Sep-91│PCWORLD:ARCvZ│Mark A Young│Greg Saddl
15░------░15792░ 6░19-Sep-91░PCWORLD:ARCvZ░ <self> ░Greg Saddl
─╥ ──╥─── ──╥── ─╥ ──╥────── ───╥───────── ───╥──────── ─╥────────
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╔══╝
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚[recipient]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═══[sender]
║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚════[message subject]
║ ║ ║ ║ ╚══════[message date/time]
║ ║ ║ ╚═══[message section, blank if an OUTBOX message]
║ ║ ╚═[CompuServe assigned message number]
║ ║
║ ╚══════════[Recon flags]
║ N is NEW to Recon
║ X is an OUTBOX message
║ A is actually an ANNOUNCEMENT
║ ? judged as a duplicate by Recon
║ D is marked for deletion on resaving file
║ H message has a Recon HOLD
║
╚═══[Recon assigned message sequence number]
The first number is the Recon message sequence number. The
six space column field (here filled with dashes) show the flags
for that message. (N for New, X for outboX, A for Announcement, ?
for a possible duplicate, D for marked for Deletion, and H for
HOLD)
Just like in the small five line local index, note the hash
marks on the Recon message sequence number 15 line (CompuServe
number 15792) indicating that the message is currently marked.
The next two columns show the CompuServe assigned number and
the forum section number. (outbox messages may not be assigned a
section and may only be shown as section "..") The last four
columns show the message date, the message subject, and the
message "Fm:" and the message "To:" fields. The last three are
cut to fit, and UserID's are stripped leaving only names.
Note that your UserID is recognized and your name is replaced
with <self>.
If this is a CompuServe MAIL sourced file then the lines will
appear a little differently:
198│------│14-Oct-91 15:32│NG QEMM/LOADHI │from: Alex Boge
199│-X----│14-Oct-91 18:22│NG QEMM/LOADHI │ to: Alex Boge
You'll recognize the Recon sequence number and the flags. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 32
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Both the date and time of the CompuServe MAIL message is shown.
Then there is the message subject (in full) and the last column
indicates whether this message is from you to someone, or vice
versa.
The full screen index is like a pick list, you scroll through
the list by using similar keys or mouse actions as already
described above in section 3.4.
However there are quite a number of other commands available
when the full screen index is displayed, to see a HELP screen
which lists all of them press [F1] (or click both mouse buttons
again). These are a subset of the Navigate, Action and Other
panels.
Finally to jump to a message of interest just highlight and
choose that specific message, you will return to the regular
viewing screen. To return to the same message you started out
with (before the index display) press [Esc].
3.8.5 Resorting the file
--------------------------
Recon provides a number of sort options, you'll find details
on these in reference section 5.6.8. However they are largely
self-explanatory and if you wish you can try them out now.
Review the file with the full screen index to get an idea of
the changes made by resorting.
3.9 Fancy stuff
-----------------
So far what we have essentially been doing is browsing a
fully reconstructed and thread sorted .MSG file.
Now on to bigger and better things, now is the time for
Action!
You should still have the same file loaded in memory.
3.9.1 MARKing messages
------------------------
Navigate through the loaded file until you come across a
thread of approximately 3 to 10 messages, you can use the full
screen Index option to help you. Now with one of these messages
displayed, pulldown the Action panel.
Notice that Action|UnMark is not active - since there are
no messages marked yet. Now choose the Action|MARK option. You
will be shown a submenu. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 33
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│▒MARK▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═════════ MARK messages ══════════╕
│ │▒this▒message▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒[F4]▒│
│ │ THREAD, START to Here │
│ │ THREAD, ENTIRE Ctl[F4] │
│ │ Section Shf[F4] │
│ │ THREAD, {Branch} Alt[F4] │
│ │ ONLY NEW messages │
╘═│ ALL messages │
╘══════════════════════════════════╛
From this submenu highlight and choose THREAD, ENTIRE. You
will see the local index display the hash marks on the lines
corresponding to the messages you just MARKed. (this also occurs
on the full screen index) You should also notice that the MARK
indicator on the bottom information line has come on, indicating
that the current message is now MARKed. Also the previously
inactive option in the Mark panel is now in bold and indicated as
active. This has all occurred because now there is at least one
MARKed message.
Notice that you can also MARK the first part of the thread, a
thread branch, the current section, just the NEW messages or ALL
the messages in this file. For more on threads, and thread sorts
see section 5.6.8.1.
Just to do it a little differently, now call up the full
screen Index with the shortcut I. Find another THREAD with at
least a few messages in it, and then WHILE STILL IN the full
screen Index, MARK the THREAD. You'll need to use the global hot
key Ctl[F4].
Make sure the light bar is still on one of the now marked
messages, and then press [Enter]. Then slip over to the View
panel again by using the [RArr] once, and select and choose the
{MARKed off} option.
│ ─────────────────────── │
│▒▒▒{MARKed▒off}▒▒▒▒▒AltM▒│
│ {NEW off} AltW │
│ {UserID group off} AltU │
│ {Branch off} AltB │
│ ─────────────────────── │
│ HIDE: DELETED AltD │
╘═════════════════════════╛
The {MARKed off} option will change to SHOW MARKed. Not
much else seems to happen except that fM is now displayed in
bold along the bottom information line.
But wait, remove the View panel by pressing [Esc] once,
and try moving through the file using the [UArr] and [DArr] Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 34
-------------------------------------------------------------------
commands. You will notice that because of the filter Recon will
let you get to and display only messages that are MARKed.
Be sure you notice the shortcuts for setting and removing the
filters, namely AltM, AltW, AltU and AltB. You will surely be
using the global hot keys most of the time for these options.
Mouse users should note that if there are NO MENU PANELS
PULLED DOWN, you can use a single [LEFTmouseBUTTON] click on the
fM, fN, fU or fB indicators on the bottom line to toggle the
filters, when the filters are OFF a ghost of the text is shown
on color monitors.
Now once again try searching for a common word, your first
name or the word the for example. Use the [F2] global hot key
and specify the desired target phrase in the text entry box. Then
use the shortcut > for Next HIT and < for Previous HIT a few
times. You will notice that the search, just like the [UArr]
and [DArr] movement is restricted by the filter only to messages
that are currently marked.
All other file navigation commands are unrestricted by
filters, but if they result in a message that does not meet the
criteria of the filter, a blank screen may result. But there are
exceptions to this as well, the [PgUp], [PgDn], [Home], [End], X,
AltX, J, AltJ and [TAB] commands will force the display of what
would otherwise be a filtered out message. To let you know that
the current message is actually filtered out, the #### of ####
on the bottom status line will BLINK.
The local index and menu is of course constantly displayed.
Try moving to a message that does not meet the filter condition of
being currently MARKed, for instance move to say the first message
in the file with Ctl[PgUp] or to the last message with
Ctl[PgDn], you will get a blank screen if it is not MARKed and
hence excluded by the filter that you set.
Also note that when a filter is on, the local index box will
show filtered out messages in regular display, and messages
included by the filter in bold display. (color display only)
Now turn the MARKed filter OFF by pressing AltM.
Immediately the previously filtered out message reappears.
Notice the difference between setting a filter, and MARKing a
message.
3.9.2 Splitting off messages, "archiving"
------------------------------------------
You should still have the same file loaded, with perhaps a
dozen messages MARKed. Let's say that you would like to split
these off and save them to another file. (Don't worry we won't
actually delete any messages in this file) Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 35
-------------------------------------------------------------------
▒Action▒
──╒═══════════════════╕──
│ MARK ... │
│ UnMARK ... │
│ Mark by AGE ... │
│ InverT ... │
│▒Copy▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒════════════════════════════════╕
│ │ Copy this message [F5] │
│ │ Copy this THREAD Ctl[F5] │
╘═│ Copy this SECTION Shf[F5] │
│▒Copy▒▒all▒MARKed▒▒▒▒▒▒▒Alt[F5]▒│
│ this message -> .SAV AltS │
╘════════════════════════════════╛
Choose Action|Copy. Notice the shortcuts centered on the
[F5] key, these will likely be used often. On choosing the
Copy all MARKed option a text entry box will appear requesting a
filespec to save to.
The default offered filename will always be the last filename
you entered (initially it will be forum_name.SAV). If you type
[F10] in answer to a filename query then you will get a pick list
of possible choices, including the last filespec (with DOS wild
cards) and the last specific filename you specified. You can
select and choose one of these listed filespec, as you can still
edit them further.
If you choose a filespec which includes any DOS wildcard
(? or *) you are shown a directory of EXISTING filenames that
match the filespec. You can then select and choose one of the
displayed filenames - you will still have the option of editing
the name you choose. If you pick one of the directories in the
box (identified by <dir> next to the entry) then you will be
shown another directory box that lists the files that match the
filespec you entered, but in that new directory.
Go ahead and look at the directory box feature, to have a
look try the filespec *.SAV. Notice that Recon assumes a default
directory of the TAPCIS storage directory.
Once you have had a look at all that, press [Esc] and exit
the directory box, then just type in ASSORTED in answer to the
filename request and press [Enter].
You will then be shown that the marked messages are about to
be saved to the file ASSORTED.THD, in the TAPCIS storage
directory. THD is the default extension, and if not otherwise
specified then your split off messages will always be placed in
the TAPCIS storage directory.
In the unlikely event that you already have a file by that
name you would be warned of this, and given the option of
APPENDING the MARKed messages to the file. This option WILL NEVER
OVERWRITE a file. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 36
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer NO to the confirmation if the file write would
result in an append to an already existing file, then choose the
same Action|Copy|Copy all MARKed option but this time give it a
different unique name, still use "THD" as the file extension. (eg.
DIFNAME.THD)
Answer YES to the confirmation reply, if the file write
will result in a new file. The file will then be quickly written
out.
If you wish to get a hard copy of the messages that you have
just archived use the shortcut to the printing submenu Shf[F7].
Then choose the now active submenu option Other|Print|all MARKed.
Follow it with a FORM FEED (top print option) if you wish. Now
slip back to the Action panel by pressing [Esc] twice, and
then the letter A.
The this message->.SAV command mirrors the TAPCIS SAVe
message "S" command, it saves the current message to the .SAV
file for this FORUM. Of course you can also do the same thing by
using Action|Copy|Copy this message and specifying the .SAV file
at the filespec question etc., but this provides a quick "one
keystroke" for doing something you may need to do often. If the
currently loaded file is a .SAV file then this option is disabled.
3.9.3 DELETE messages
-----------------------
DON'T DO THE FOLLOWING NOW, but at this point you might
normally mark for deletion all the messages that you have just
saved to ASSORTED.THD by choosing Action|Delete|Delete MARKed.
This would mark for deletion the messages in the current file that
you just wrote to the ASSORTED.THD file. The net effect would be
a move of those messages from the current file to your
ASSORTED.THD file.
Then you could Action|UnMARK|ALL messages and find some
more messages to move around or process. Of course removing the
MARKs doesn't remove the DELETED status of messages that you may
have already set using those MARKs.
Notice that in the Delete messages panel there is an option
to remove all of the DELETED marks in the current file.
Choosing this option will let you start afresh.
3.9.4 MOVE messages
---------------------
Now wouldn't it be easier to be able to copy and delete
groups of messages all in one move.
Well it sure would, and that is what the Action|Move
command is for. This lets you do a combined copy+delete
operation on any of the groups of messages displayed in this Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 37
-------------------------------------------------------------------
panel, the same groups that Action|Copy, and Action|Delete
operate on.
The global hot keys for these are all centered on [F8].
3.9.5 All those shortcuts
---------------------------
It might be helpful to make a mental note of the following
chart of the Action panel shortcut keys:
[F4] Mark [F5] Copy [F6] Delete [F8] Move
unshifted message message message message
Ctl THREAD THREAD THREAD THREAD
Shf Section Section Section Section
Alt Branch all MARKed all MARKED all MARKed
I do believe that that should make it a lot easier to
remember!
3.9.6 Invert it
-----------------
Invert allows for very flexible marking/deleting. It will
let you toggle either the MARK marks, or the DELETED marks.
You can act on the entire file, or just on the current message,
the submenu is shown below:
│▒InverT▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒══════════════════════════════╕
│ │▒invert▒▒ALL▒▒MARKS▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ │ invert ALL DELETIONS │
│ │ ──────────────────────────── │
╘═│ invert MESSAGE MARK * │
│ invert MESSAGE DELETE [Del] │
╘══════════════════════════════╛
The invert ALL MARKS and invert ALL DELETIONS toggle the
MARKed, or DELeted status of every message in the file.
The invert MESSAGE MARK and invert MESSAGE DELETE options
work only on the current message. Note the global hot keys for
these two options, the * and [Del] keys.
Unlike the commands you have used above, these options toggle
the setting back and forth, ie from MARKed to UnMARKed and
back, or from DELETED to not DELETED and back.
Go ahead and get the feeling of these commands now. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 38
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3.9.7 MARK by AGE
-------------------
Most of your AGEing will be done "automatically" by either
specifying AGE/Save&Exit (section 3.12, 5.1.4) in interactive
Recon, or by running a BATCH mode sort&age, (sections 3.13, 6.2,
6.3)
But, you don't necessarily have to delete the messages that
you are MARKing by AGE. You could for instance after MARKing
them, print them all out by using Other|Print|all MARKed. As
such MARK by AGE can be a very handy option.
You can also isolate the newer messages with MARKs by first
using Action|MARK by AGE, and then Action|InverT|ALL marks. This
of course presumes that you are starting with no MARKed messages
in the file.
If you do AGE using this command, consider this a manual
equivalent, it of course allows for much more fine tuning.
Let's for the moment assume that you are using this option to
manually age your file.
Choose the Action|MARK by AGE option, you will see a
submenu where you have the choice of MARKing THREADS or messages
by AGE.
│▒Mark▒by▒AGE▒...▒▒▒│
│ ╒═══════════════════════════╕
│ │▒MARK▒▒THREAD(S)▒by▒AGE▒▒▒▒│
│ │ MARK message(s) by AGE │
│ ╘═══════════════════════════╛
What's the difference? Well lets say that there was a "mega"
thread with some 300 messages, over a period of four weeks, the
most recent message of the thread is today's. Now you will be
more interested in the activity at the more recent end of the
thread, especially if you have already read the first ROOT
messages.
But when you mark threads by age (potentially for deletion)
this means to mark threads that have their most recent message
older than a given date. If you specify one week as the cutoff
for threads, then you will obviously keep the entire long thread.
That is why there is in addition an option to mark single
messages by age. A typical setting may be a week for threads, and
two weeks for messages. That means that any thread that has had
no activity for a week will be MARKed. In addition, even within
threads that are not MARKed as a whole, messages older than two
weeks will be MARKed.
As I have already mentioned, realize that when you MARK by Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 39
-------------------------------------------------------------------
AGE in interactive mode all that you are doing is just MARKing
messages. You can then extract/save them, delete them, print them
etc. In INTERACTIVE AGE/Save&Exit, and BATCH mode AGEing,
deletion of the messages and saving them to the .OLD file is done
automatically and summarily for you.
Go ahead and try either MARK by AGE option now. Remember
you are only MARKing messages, hence you will not affect the
message file unless you do something to the MARKed messages, and
then resave the file.
When you choose either of these options you will be asked for
the number of days of THREADs/messages you wish to keep. For
safety's sake the default is 30 days for THREADs and 60 days for
messages.
You can also setup a new "number of days for AGEing" as a
global or forum default by using File|Edit Settings,
(section 5.1.7)and also have it remembered for future sessions by
using File|Save Settings. (section 5.1.8)
Once you have specified an interval, you will be asked to
confirm that you wish to do this, the confirmation restates the
"age" interval by using an explicit date. Once confirmed the
messages are marked, now you will need to do something with these
marked messages - extract them, delete them etc. You can quickly
review what messages have been marked by using the full screen
index: Other|Index.
3.10 Filespec pick list
------------------------
Now go back to the File panel, and carefully choose the Exit
option.
DO NOT CHOOSE THE Save&Exit or AGE/Save&Exit options.
You could also press [F7] to accomplish the same task.
At this point you will probably be warned "file NOT saved",
and you will be asked if you really want to "Quit & LOSE any
changes". Indeed you do, type Y. Answering YES to "Quit & LOSE
any changes" will prevent you from changing the original .MSG file
that have loaded for this tutorial.
That will get you back to the same directory box that you
were in to pick the original .MSG file to load, at this point
press [Esc] to get to the next higher level. That will get you
to the File panel, choose File|Load.
We will now have a look at the short file you just created.
To replace the default load filespec just type *.THD the whole
of the default entry will be erased as soon as you type the "*".
You could also have edited that default entry instead by pressing
an editor key first (for example [RArr]), this would prevent the Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 40
-------------------------------------------------------------------
offered entry from being erased.
After typing *.THD press [Enter], if you have followed the
tutorial all the way through then you should see the small file
you created previously now listed in the directory box. It may be
the only file listed, choose that file for loading.
A text entry box will appear requesting the FORUM of origin
for this file. Don't worry, you don't have to remember what it
was, Recon invisibly imbeds this information in any files it
creates. You will notice that the correct forum is in fact
already filled in, just press [Enter] and the file will be
loaded.
You can have a quick peek at it, but all we need to do is
exit! Choose the Exit option from the File panel, or press
[F7] as the global hot key. You will be back to the same
directory box you used to specify this file for loading, press
[Esc] to go to the next higher level. Now you are back to the
File panel again.
Let's say that you now wanted to have another look at the
original .MSG file that occupied most of the rest of this
exercise. Choose that mysterious File|Pick option, you should
see something similar to the following:
▒File▒
──╒═════════════════════════╕──
│ Load │
│▒Pick▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═══ filespecs ═══╕F10] │
│ │ *.THD │F10] │
│ │▒*.MSG▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│[F7] │
│ │ *.SAV │──── │
│ │ < FILE LOAD > │[F3] │
│ ╘═════════════════╛[F3] │
There will probably be no pathnames listed - if pathnames are
not specified then like elsewhere in the program for message files
the pathname is assumed to be the TAPCIS storage directory.
You should have the *.THD, *.MSG and *.SAV filespecs listed.
The light bar will be on the second entry in this list. The
second entry will always represent the second to the last filespec
you had specified for loading.
When you type in filespecs with the Load option, all new and
unique filespecs will be added to the PICK LIST, the most recent
filespecs that you specify will always be at the top.
If you get any filespecs into this box that you do not wish
to keep (a typographical error for example) then press [Del]
while highlighting that filespec and you will be given the option Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 41
-------------------------------------------------------------------
of deleting it.
The bottom line is < FILE LOAD >, this is just a shortcut
way to get to the File|Load text entry box. (in other words,
just press [End] then [Enter])
So now choose that highlighted *.MSG filespec, you will get
the original *.MSG filespec directory box. Then go ahead and
choose and load the same file that you loaded previously, you'll
need a file loaded to do the next section in any case.
Alternatively at this point you can choose Quit Recon with
AltQ to end the session.
3.11 The Recon REPLY EDITOR and related options
------------------------------------------------
Ok that was all very interesting, but getting down to basics,
how do I reply to the message I'm reading, it would not seem
practical to have to go back to TAPCIS, find the message, reply
and then return to Recon. Also I would like to add the sender's
UserID to my TAPCIS UserID file.
Also I see mentioned an interesting file in this message, I
would like to download it.
Or perhaps the current thread doesn't seem very interesting,
and I use TappeT (or TapMark) to mark headers. It would be nice
to deselect this thread in the .TMK file.
Then sometimes a message is private, once I read it I would
like to delete it on CompuServe in order to help "reduce the
scroll rate".
Well Recon will let you do all these THINGS, and more! Recon
of course relies on TAPCIS to actually do all the scut work, but
you can quickly instruct TAPCIS to do all these things when it
goes ONLINE from WITHIN Recon.
You need to have a file loaded to try the following exercise,
make sure that you have a .MSG file loaded before you continue.
Navigate to any NON-announcement message, then choose the Connect
panel. You should see the following: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 42
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Connect
──╒══════════════════════════╕──
│ send MESSAGE/FILE ... W │
│▒send▒REPLY▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒R▒│
│ DOWnload from LIB ... │
│ Scripts ... │
│ DEselect ... AltR │
│ UserID list ... │
╘══════════════════════════╛
You can generate a reply to any message from any file, not
just from .MSG and .SAV files. You can also start a new message
with no file loaded. Once you have a message you wish to reply
to, choose the write REPLY option, and then the Recon editor
option. Do that now.
An editing screen will open up in the bottom half of the
screen, the "root" message that you are replying to will be
displayed at the top. There is a full range of editing commands,
you can also scroll the root message. A help screen is accessed
by pressing [F1], this lists all the available commands.
You can "pause" the reply composing and review the currently
loaded file by pressing [Esc]. Once you are finished the "pause"
just choose Connect|continue REPLY.
To actually send the reply press [F7]. You will be taken
through the possible options, including the possibility of
discarding the reply.
To now get rid of your reply (if you tried out entering one)
press [F7], then choose Discard in the send ACTION menu that
appears.
Recon also allows you to use your own text editor to compose
messages. For further details on message replying see the
reference sections. (sections 5.5.1 to 5.5.4)
The other options in this panel nicely complement the message
reply editing facilities. See sections 5.5.5 to 5.5.8 for the
details.
3.12 INTERACTIVE mode AGE/Save&Exit
------------------------------------
Although you would normally exit from viewing your .MSG files
with this option, DON'T CHOOSE THIS OPTION NOW.
This option is identical to the Save&Exit command (section
5.1.3), but it will first AGE the file.
What does that mean? Well your .MSG files collect an ever
increasing number of messages. Most of your interest lies with
the more recent messages, but you need the older messages to keep Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 43
-------------------------------------------------------------------
the new ones in context. "AGEing" keeps your .MSG file trim by
selectively removing old messages and threads, and saving them to
the appropriate .OLD file.
As mentioned above, this is the quick automatic INTERACTIVE
mode AGEing facility.
Also note that ANY file can be AGEd, not just .MSG files.
The file that aged messages are appended to always takes the form
of forum_name.OLD, where forum_name is the name of the forum of
origin of that message. The .OLD files are placed in the TAPCIS
storage directory.
You control which messages to age by specifying the thread
age, message age, and file size age parameters, on either a global
or forum basis. (section 5.1.7.2) However with automatic AGEing,
under no circumstances will a NEW message or announcement be aged.
See also reference section 5.1.4.
To exit from Recon now, you can choose File|Exit then
File|Quit Recon.
3.13 Primer on "BATCH" mode
----------------------------
So what is this BATCH mode all about? The parameters used
are completely described in the reference section, (sections 4, 6)
but here are some uses for BATCH mode.
Think of BATCH mode as an unattended INTERACTIVE session.
Use it when you wish to sort and trim files, that you don't need
to view as well.
There is no reason to ever BATCH process a file before you
load it with INTERACTIVE Recon, there is no harm done, but you
will be duplicating Recon's work. All of the normal sorting,
fixing up, etc. is done whether a file is loaded in BATCH or in
INTERACTIVE.
In BATCH mode you can have Recon operate on any group of
files. (eg. all your .SAV files, or the .MSG files, or your .OLD
files) Recon will load, sort, remove duplicates, reconstruct
messages, then optionally AGE the file, (that is remove older
messages) then resave the new sorted and trimmed file.
For example the simple following line would resort and clean
up all of your changed .SAV files:
RECON *.SAV /B
You could include it in a batch file you use to put your
computer to bed, or perhaps have the computer do this unattended
while you are otherwise occupied. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 44
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that Recon will NOT BATCH AGE any messages unless you
explicitly include either or both of the /TAGE and /MAGE
parameters.
Another use for BATCH mode is the processing of .MSG files
after you have completed a TAPCIS READ pass, as preparatory to
looking at these messages with the TAPCIS viewer. It is
anticipated that most users of Recon (since 1.8) are using Recon's
viewer almost exclusively, hence this use of BATCH mode might be
considered archaic.
When used in this fashion, you should include the /ANN:NEW
or /ANN:ALL command line parameters (/ANN:OFF is the default) in
order to annotate each message with navigation information.
TAPCIS then passively displays this. This will somewhat enhance
the TAPCIS viewer facility by allowing you to go to the root
message, or the next new message by searching for certain text
strings. The next section outlines this further.
3.14 .MSG file annotation
--------------------------
You should note that the INTERACTIVE Reply Editor and related
features largely make this facility unnecessary. Because you will
likely be able to generate all of your online activities
completely from Recon, you won't need to use the TAPCIS
viewer/reply editor. See section 1.2 for an outline of how Recon
INTERACTIVE and Recon BATCH fit in with TAPCIS.
You may wish to look at BATCH annotation anyway, if so then
do the following exercise.
Now this exercise would necessarily change one of your .MSG
files, you have four choices:
(1) So what, all it will do is sort the file and erase any
duplicates - I'll go ahead and do it.
(2) I'd rather be safe, then after the exercise you can
erase the new resulting .MSG file and replace it by the
original by renaming the .$RK file which is generated as
a backup.
(3) I'd rather be really safe - copy an existing MSG file to
a differently named file, and operate on that one
instead. (example copy TAPCIS.MSG to TAPCISX.MSG - you
CANNOT change the MSG extension and you CANNOT move the
file out of your TAPCIS storage directory, or else the
exercise will not work)
(4) I'll just read through it. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 45
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pick a small .MSG file that is say 50k to 100k long. I am
assuming that you have Recon already installed, and in the current
directory, or on the DOS path. All of the below parameters are
fully explained in the reference sections, but for now at the DOS
prompt just carefully type exactly the line below, and check it
twice before pressing [Enter]. You should replace
"forum_name.MSG" with the name of the actual message file you wish
to process:
RECON forum_name.MSG /B /A /ALLFOR /ANN:ALL
There will be some swirling Recon activity, when it is
finished enter into TAPCIS and look at that same file with the
.MSG viewer. You may have to set up a temporary false new forum
if you used option (3) above.
You will see that every message has an annotation in the top
right hand corner along the format of the three examples below.
NOTE THAT ONLY the NEW messages have the second line of the
annotation. Remember that by NEW I mean that the message has NOT
been seen by Recon before, if you have already loaded AND resaved
that same file (for example in INTERACTIVE mode) then to Recon
there will be NO NEW messages.
Announcements are sorted to the beginning of the file.
example 1 | LNew= .. SThd=92 Root=94
|
| * >>| {{N}} 9 of 20
example 2 | LNew=100 SThd=105 Root= ..
|
| >>>> {{N}} 32 of 140
example 3 | LNew=PgUp SThd=CUR Root= ..
|
| >>|| {{N}} 11 of 11
LNew: Last New Message, followed by:
number: use the TAPCIS Jump ### command to get to LNew
"PgUp": Last NEW Message is the immediately preceding
one
"..": There are no previous NEW messages,
SThd: Start of this Thread within this file, followed by:
number: use the TAPCIS Jump ### command to get to SThd
"PgUp": SThd Message is the immediately preceding one
"CUR": CURrent message is the start of the thread, at
least within this message file
[Note that this may not be a NEW message] Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 46
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Root: message (if any) that the current message replies to:
number: use the TAPCIS Jump ### command to get to ROOT
"PgUp": the ROOT is the immediately preceding message
"..": There is no ROOT to this message
[Note that this may not be a NEW message]
Symbols at Bottom Left
* Current message is the oldest NEW message in this
thread.
>>| Current message is the most recent (and last) new
message in this thread, the next new message is in
a different thread.
>>>> Still NEW messages left in this thread ("the thread
continues")
>>|| Current message is the last message in this thread
AND it is the last NEW message in this file.
{{N}} A search target for the TAPCIS viewer to find new
messages
( 9 of 20 ) is the current position and count of NEW messages
within this file.
The LNew refers to the Last New message, if a number
follows then use the TAPCIS Jump command to get to that message,
when the last new message is the immediately preceding one then
PgUp will be present. When there are no previous "new" messages
then ".." will be shown.
The SThd points you to the Start of this Thread, within the
message file. Note that this may not be a NEW message. When CUR
is listed, it means that the CURrent message is the start of the
thread, at least within this message file.
Root indicates what message (if any) is the one that the
current message is in answer to, it also may not be a NEW message.
This brings us to the symbols at the bottom left of each of
the three examples.
An asterisk indicates that the current message is the oldest
NEW message in this thread.
A double right angle followed by a single vertical line
means that the current message is the most recent (and last) new
message in this thread, the next new message is in a different
thread.
A quadruple right angle, means that there are still NEW
messages left in this thread to look at, think of it as "the Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 47
-------------------------------------------------------------------
thread continues".
A double vertical line means that the current message is the
last message in this thread AND it is the last NEW message in this
file.
The {{N}} gives you something to search for within TAPCIS.
In other words to find the next new message when you are viewing a
MSG file, just search for the next occurrence of {{N}}. The
counter ( 9 of 20 ) just indicates the count of NEW messages
within this file.
3.15 Customizable Settings
---------------------------
Recon will let you save a number of configurable settings, so
that you do not have to reset them every time you run Recon. It
keeps these settings in an editable text file. You can specify
both GLOBAL settings, and FORUM specific settings.
You can view and change the current settings while in
INTERACTIVE mode by using File|Edit Settings (global hot key
Ctl[F3]).
│▒Edit▒Settings▒▒▒Ctl[F3]▒│
│ ╒═════════════════════════╕
│ │▒global:▒General▒...▒▒▒▒▒│
│ │ global: View/Send ... │
│ │ global: Sort ... │
│ │ forum: View/Send ... │
╘═│ forum: Sort ... │
╘═════════════════════════╛
If you make changes to any of these the changes will apply
only to the current session.
To have the changes remembered for future sessions then you
need to save the settings to the .SET file. To do use
File|Save Settings. (global hot key Alt[F3])
│▒Save▒Settings▒▒▒Alt[F3]▒│
│ ╒═══════════════════════════╕
│ │▒Save▒as▒GLOBAL▒Settings▒▒▒│
│ │ Save as FORUM Settings │
│ ╘═══════════════════════════╛
After a confirmation all the settings will be saved as either
the GLOBAL or FORUM defaults. They will then be reloaded and
"remembered" each time Recon runs, and when a file is loaded.
The Recon2.SET file is stored in the TAPCIS storage Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 48
-------------------------------------------------------------------
directory, along with the other Recon information files. See
appendix 7.3 for an example .SET file. See the reference section
5.1.7 for details on each of the settings.
The contents of the Recon2.SET file is straight ASCII text,
that means you can freely edit it with any text editor, or a word
processor in ASCII text mode. You may find on occasion that this
is more convenient than saving the settings with the
File|Save Settings. If you make any syntax errors, Recon brings
these to your attention when it starts up, they are then flagged
as such within the file and are ignored.
WARNING: The information in Recon2.PCK and Recon2.DAT IS
NOT TEXT, and if you try to edit either of these files you will
almost certainly corrupt them.
3.16 the MENU Shell
--------------------
There are many ways of handling TAPCIS and its many add-ons.
I hope that you will find Recon's shell MENU a convenient way to
tie all these together.
When Recon 2.01 first executes it looks for TAPCIS, and a few
major add-ons. If it finds any add-ons on the DOS PATH, then it
will insert these (as well as TAPCIS) into the Recon shell MENU.
Go ahead and try it now, select File|shell MENU. (shortcut
Ctl[F1]) You will see as a minimum:
│▒shell▒MENU▒▒▒▒▒▒Ctl[F1]▒│
│ ╒═════════════════════════════════╕
╘═│0 DOS Shell │
│1▒▒TAPCIS▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
╘═════════════════════════════════╛
Any add-ons that Recon looks for, will be inserted into the
menu as well.
The beauty of the shell MENU is that it will swap Recon out
to EMS (or disk) and leave almost a full DOS memory space to run
another program. Go ahead and shell to TAPCIS right now.
Quick eh? Even better the shell MENU is completely
configurable by editing the Recon2.SHL file, see the details in
the reference section 5.1.10
3.17 alternate PARAMS files
----------------------------
Starting with TAPCIS 5.3, you are able to maintain separate
PARAMS files for the purpose of either including more that 20 Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 49
-------------------------------------------------------------------
different forum setups, or perhaps maintaining separate
UserID/identity setups.
Recon allows you to interactively switch between different
PARAMS files with the File|PARAMS file command. (section 5.1.9)
As well the /EXT:xxx command line parameter lets you
specify a given PARAMS file to be active at startup. (section 4.6)
Further Recon will pass the name of the current PARAMS file
to TAPCIS or to an add-on in its shell MENU, allowing for
seamless PARAMS file use. (section 5.1.10)
3.18 That's All
----------------
That is the end of the tutorial. If you followed the
instructions carefully, you will not have changed any of your
TAPCIS message files, except in the optional section 3.14. You
created a single small file named ASSORTED.THD in your TAPCIS
STORAGE directory, and you can now delete it with the DOS ERASE
command if you wish.
The sections that follow are reference sections that explain
every option and command line parameter in a more rigorous
fashion. The reference sections can help you get the most out of
Recon.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 50
-------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Start up Options
===================
You will usually start Recon by simply executing a plain:
RECON
at the command line, or in a batch file. Typing:
RECON ?
will list all of the possible command line parameters.
The following is a list of all of the command line parameters
that can be used to modify Recon's initial mode on startup. A
detailed discussion of each follows.
<filespec> /EXT /B
/COLOR:### /A
/P:<TAPCISpath> /MONO /ALLFOR
/Q /EMSOVR /TAGE:###
/NOBAK /NPH /MAGE:###
/NODCHECK /TZADJ:### /DEL
/ANN:xxx
If included on the command line, <filespec> MUST be listed
first on the line, otherwise order is not important. Embedded
spaces between the parameters are optional and are ignored, and
upper/lower case characters are considered equivalent.
The batch mode parameters (B, A, ALLFOR, TAGE, MAGE, DEL and
ANN) are discussed in the BATCH mode section 6.
Following this is a discussion of the four DOS environment
variables that Recon recognizes. These are namely:
TAPPATH=<path>
TMKPATH=<path>
RTEMP=<path>
NOMOUSE=ON|OFF
4.1 Message files to process, the <filespec> parameter
---------------------------------------------------------
The optional <filespec> parameter is valid in INTERACTIVE
and BATCH mode, it specifies the file(s) Recon is to load/process.
You can specify ONLY ONE filespec at a time, but wildcards in the
filespec are supported. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 51
-------------------------------------------------------------------
If you specify a filespec in INTERACTIVE mode, then on
startup Recon will immediately show you a picklist defined by that
filespec. If the filespec you specify defines ONLY one file, that
file will be immediately loaded on startup. For example the
following will result in Recon starting up in INTERACTIVE mode and
immediately displaying a picklist of your .MSG files:
RECON *.MSG
Specifying a filespec when starting up in INTERACTIVE would
be well suited to "launching" Recon as a viewer from some kind of
shell program, or perhaps in a special purpose batch file.
If you do not specify a filespec in INTERACTIVE mode, then
you will start up at File|Pick, ready to choose a picklist, or to
specify a filename with the Load option.
In BATCH mode, if no filespec is specified then Recon will
process the .SAV files stored in your TAPCIS "STORAGE" directory.
4.2 PARAMS.CIS location: the /P parameter
------------------------------------------
Recon must be able to locate TAPCIS' PARAMS.CIS file, Recon
needs to access the information in that file. The PARAMS.CIS file
is in the same directory where your TAPCIS.EXE file is located,
you may specify its location to Recon in one of three ways.
The first method is to indicate the path to PARAMS.CIS with
the TAPPATH DOS environment variable, see section 4.13 for a
discussion of this.
If you specify the /P parameter on the command line that
starts up Recon, this will override a TAPPATH specified path. If
your PARAMS.CIS file is in the "c:\tap" directory you can use the
following command line to run Recon:
RECON /P:c:\tap
If you do neither of the above then as a third option you
MUST locate Recon in the same directory that TAPCIS.EXE resides
in, otherwise Recon will refuse to run as it will not be able to
find TAPCIS' PARAMS.CIS file.
4.3 Quiet operation, the /Q parameter
--------------------------------------
To alert the user, Recon uses a variety of auditory prompts
for critical or error situations. The default setting of whether
to do so is saved in the Recon2.SET file.
If you wish to override the default for the current session
only then use the /Q parameter, this will eliminate all auditory
prompts for the current session only. Example use is: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 52
-------------------------------------------------------------------
RECON /Q
You may also override sounds in INTERACTIVE mode by accessing
the File|Edit Settings menu.
4.4 Disable File Backup, the /NOBAK parameter
----------------------------------------------
When Recon rewrites a file it will automatically backup the
old file in the same directory using an "$RK" extension. If you
are operating on floppies, or are particularly cramped for disk
space then you may wish to use this option to suppress backup file
generation. The default setting of whether to do so is saved in
the Recon2.SET file.
If you wish to override the default for the current session
only then use the /NOBAK parameter, this will eliminate all
backup files for the current session only. Example use is:
RECON /NOBAK
You may also override this in INTERACTIVE mode by accessing
the File|Edit Settings menu.
Use this option WITH CAUTION.
4.5 Disable disk space checking, the /NODCHECK parameter
---------------------------------------------------------
When Recon saves a file it requires free disk space of at
least as much as the file itself. Recon's initial default is to
check for this available space before saving. The default of
whether to do so is saved in the Recon2.SET file.
If you have oodles of free space, or if you have a slow disk
(the check may take a few moments) then you may wish to disable
this check. If you wish to do this only on a current session
basis then use this parameter. Example use is:
RECON /NODCHECK
You may also override this in INTERACTIVE mode by accessing
the Edit Settings menu.
Use this option WITH CAUTION.
4.6 specify startup PARAMS file, the /EXT parameter
----------------------------------------------------
The /EXT:xxx command line parameter lets you specify a
given TAPCIS PARAMS file to be active at startup. For example if
you wished to have Recon consider the PARAMS.NOW file as the
active PARAMS file, then use the following startup: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 53
-------------------------------------------------------------------
RECON /EXT:NOW
Recon also allows you to interactively switch between
different PARAMS files with the File|PARAMS file command.
(section 5.1.9)
4.7 settings main color, the /COLOR parameter
----------------------------------------------
If not specified, Recon will use the base color set in the
TAPCIS PARAMS.CIS file at startup as the color for the message
text display. If you specify COLOR and a value, Recon will use
the color that this corresponds to instead.
The color numbering is the same as the TAPCIS color numbering
scheme, and valid values are from 0 to 127. For example to set
the message text color to light gray on blue use:
RECON /COLOR:23
4.8 Monochrome displays with Color cards, the /MONO parameter
--------------------------------------------------------------
Recon checks through system calls for the identity of the
display card to determine whether to run in color or monochrome
mode, hence Recon will be misdirected if you are driving a
monochrome monitor with a color capable card.
If you know that this is the case (true of most laptop
computers, or a monochrome VGA setup) use this parameter.
In general if a single color (monochrome) Recon display looks
odd, the mouse cursor seems to disappear, or some menu options are
not visible, then you probably need this parameter. Example use:
RECON /MONO
4.9 Use EMS for overlays, /EMSOVR parameter
--------------------------------------------
You can gain a slight execution speed advantage by allowing
Recon to use EMS for its overlays, example use:
RECON /EMSOVR
If you have less than 500K of available EMS do not use it, as
EMS is better used for other Recon functions. If you have more
than 1000K of available EMS you should use. See also memory
considerations, appendix 7.1. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 54
-------------------------------------------------------------------
4.10 force Navigate Panel, the /NPH parameter
----------------------------------------------
Like other menu panels the Navigate panel offers a vertical
list of options. These options partially cover the message screen
and hence may not be convenient for clicking on when navigating
with a mouse.
Using this parameter instead specifies a special horizontal
Navigate strip to be used instead. This doesn't cover any of the
message text, and allows clicking on the Navigate panel options
and navigation while still being able to view all of the
information on the screen. Example use:
RECON /NPH
However, note that having this menu strip continuously
displayed still will disable all other mouse HOT ZONES, just like
pulling down a regular vertical menu panel.
4.11 Adjusting OUTBOX times, the /TZADJ parameter
--------------------------------------------------
Most users do not need to use this parameter, as usually
CompuServe is able to adjust message date/times to your local
time.
Generally, you only need to use this parameter if you do not
use a direct CompuServe node that is in your own time zone, and
your local time is not North American Eastern time.
This parameter will adjust the message date/time of the
OUTBOX messages that Recon writes to your .MSG (or .SAV) file so
that they can match the apparent CompuServe local time. To use
the parameter set it to:
(*your* local time)-(apparent CIS network time)
Recon & CompuServe do the rest.
The effect will be to correct your OUTBOX message date/times
to correspond to the CompuServe current date/time of where you
enter the CIS network. This will allow for better sorting and
duplicate message management.
This will likely be of primary use for European, East Asian,
Australian and other overseas (from a North American perspective)
users that have to use a communication network to reach
Compuserve.
The following examples all assume that CompuServe displays
your message date/times as in North American Eastern time zone.
(GMT-5)
As an example to correct Recon's OUTBOX messages created with Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 55
-------------------------------------------------------------------
German local time (GMT+1), if your messages on CompuServe are
shown with a North American Eastern time (GMT-5) then specify
(GMT+1)-(GMT-5) = 6:
RECON /TZADJ:+6
To correct for Hong Kong local time (GMT+8) then specify:
RECON /TZADJ:+13
And for Tahiti local time (GMT-10) specify:
RECON /TZADJ:-5
4.12 BATCH mode command line parameters
----------------------------------------
BATCH mode is activated by the inclusion of the /B
parameter. The batch mode parameters are /A, /ALLFOR, /TAGE:###,
/MAGE:###, /DEL and /ANN:xxx.
For a discussion of these, and BATCH mode in general see
section 6.
4.13 TAPPATH DOS Environment variable
--------------------------------------
Recon must be able to locate TAPCIS' PARAMS.CIS file, Recon
needs to access the information in that file. The PARAMS.CIS file
is in the same directory where your TAPCIS.EXE file is located,
you may specify its location to Recon in one of three ways.
The first method is to indicate the path to PARAMS.CIS with
the TAPPATH DOS environment variable.
For example if your PARAMS.CIS file is in the "c:\tap"
directory, type at the DOS prompt the following DOS SET command
before running Recon:
SET TAPPATH=c:\tap
You may also include the above statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. Some other TAPCIS tools/utility programs already use this
DOS environment variable for the same purpose, this will not
interfere with Recon or vice versa.
Alternatively you may use the /P parameter. If specified
on the command line, this will override a TAPPATH specified path.
(section 4.2)
If you do neither of the above then as a third option you
MUST locate Recon in the same directory that TAPCIS.EXE resides
in, otherwise Recon will refuse to run as it will not be able to
find TAPCIS' PARAMS.CIS file. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 56
-------------------------------------------------------------------
4.14 TMKPATH DOS Environment variable
--------------------------------------
By default, thread marking utilities such as TappeT, or
TapMark and its add-ons, put their data files (.TMK or .TMD) in
the TAPCIS storage directory.
You can optionally place these files in any directory by
setting the TMKPATH DOS Environment variable. See your thread
marking utility's manual for further information.
Recon also recognizes this environment variable. Recon uses
this to locate .TMK/.TMD files, when they are not in the TAPCIS
storage directory, when you ask Recon to DEselect threads.
(section 5.5.7)
This environment variable is not otherwise used by Recon.
4.15 RTEMP DOS Environment variable
------------------------------------
You can direct Recon to use a specific location for swap
space, ie. a RAM DISK or a given hard disk directory, this is
especially useful if you use floppies. This will indicate to
Recon what disk space to use as swap space when it shells.
Note that this space would be used to swap to, only if not
enough EMS memory is available to swap to instead. In either case
about 568k of space is required.
To set RTEMP, type at the DOS prompt a DOS SET command before
running Recon, the following would indicate to Recon to use the
E: drive for swap space, presumably this might be a RAM DISK or
other fast disk.
SET RTEMP=E:\
You may also include the above statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file.
4.16 NOMOUSE DOS Environment variable
--------------------------------------
If set, Recon will entirely ignore the mouse, even if you
have a driver installed and enabled. It won't even display a
mouse cursor.
Activate this by setting it equal to ON before starting
Recon by typing at the DOS command line, or by including it in
your autoexec.bat file: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 57
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SET NOMOUSE=ON
Useful for those that never use a mouse with Recon, however
still have a mouse installed and do not wish to see a roving mouse
cursor.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 58
-------------------------------------------------------------------
T INTERACTIVE mode
===================
This is the usual way that you would run Recon. Whenever you
load a file interactively, Recon does all of the sorting,
duplicate detection, OUTBOX fixing, optional AGEing etc.
You only need to use BATCH mode to process files that you
don't need to view as well. So consider INTERACTIVE mode a file
fixups + viewing mode, and BATCH mode as fixups only with no
viewing.
You never need to run both BATCH and then INTERACTIVE mode on
a given file sequentially, no harm will come of it, but you are
duplicating Recon's work.
To run Recon in INTERACTIVE mode you can use the following
command line:
RECON [<filespec>] [/P:<TAPCISpath>] [/Q] [/NOBAK] [/NODCHECK]
[/EXT:x] [/COLOR:###] [/MONO] [/EMSOVR] [/NPH] [/TZADJ:###]
Note that the eleven parameters are optional, are not usually
necessary. Each is fully discussed in section 4., a brief mention
of each follows.
If you specify <filespec> on the command line startup, then
Recon will immediately load the file specified, or show a picklist
if there is more than one file found for the filespec.
The /P parameter is one of the ways to point to TAPCIS'
PARAMS file location, the /Q, /NOBAK, /NODCHECK parameters
override the defaults for these Recon2.SET file settings for this
session only.
The /EXT parameter specifies the TAPCIS PARAMS file that
should be active when Recon starts up, the /COLOR and /MONO
settings will fine tune the color and override to mono on laptops
and mono CGA setups, /EMSOVR will allow Recon to use EMS for its
overlays. The /NPH will designate an optional horizontal Navigate
panel, which may be useful for mouse users.
The /TZADJ parameter is intended for anyone that does not
have CompuServe message date/times correctly reflecting their own
local time.
Once Recon executes you are presented with a pulldown menu
interface, the details on each of the command options in these
panels follows. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 59
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1 File panel
---------------
5.1.1 Load
-----------
When you choose Load, you will be queried as to the filespec
of the file(s) you wish to Load. DOS filespec wildcards (eg.
*.MSG) are accepted and usual. In fact, in order to maintain the
greatest flexibility you should only rarely if ever use an exact
filename here. (eg. IBMHW.MSG)
The default is either the last filespec chosen or if none,
then the regular .MSG files in the TAPCIS storage directory.
Once you choose a filespec a directory window will appear
with a list of any matching files sorted chronologically, the more
recently changed files are listed first.
You may choose a file by use of the cursor keys or an
alphabetic search.
If a mouse is active you may choose a file directly, or by
use of the scroll bar along the right hand border of the box.
In the file pick list that appears, there are a number of
columns of information, I'll discuss these from left to right.
The first column immediately to the left of the filename
consists of one or two characters. The first character can be
either a "C" which indicates that the file has changed since Recon
last processed that file, an "s" indicating that the file has
remained unchanged, or a "." if Recon doesn't know. This
information is known only for regular TAPCIS .SAV and .MSG files.
The second character is either an "A" which indicates that
the DOS ARCHIVE file attribute is set, or a "-" which indicates
that it is reset. Though not as useful as the Recon C/s flag, the
DOS ARCHIVE file attribute may be of some use in deciding which
files have changed, and which have not.
If the characters are preceded by an "!", this indicates that
there are "unread" messages in this file. This is only present
for TAPCIS' .MSG files, and corresponds exactly to TAPCIS' use of
the exclamation mark in its own main menu display.
The next column contains the size of the file in Kbytes.
The last two columns contain the DOS file date and time. As
already noted the files are listed chronologically with the more
recently changed files listed first.
Once you select a file to load, if the file is not a TAPCIS
.SAV or .MSG file then a text entry box will appear requesting the
FORUM of origin of the messages in the file chosen for
processing/viewing. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 60
-------------------------------------------------------------------
When you wish to process message files other than your
regular .SAV or .MSG files, which have not been created by Recon,
Recon may not be able to correctly determine the FORUM of origin
of the messages. This text entry box is provided so that you can
supply this information.
If Recon has generated these files then the forum of origin
is imbedded invisibly in the file and will always be available to
Recon. However the text entry box is still shown, with that FORUM
name listed, to allow for your final approval.
If Recon has already processed these messages at least once,
then it is not mandatory that the FORUM the messages originated in
be explicitly known to Recon. In fact, once the messages have
been processed, you can mix messages from different forums
together, although this is not recommended as the thread structure
may be confused.
Each time Recon loads a file it will (as necessary)
reconstruct each individual message header, prune non-message
lines, remove line noise and fix up CR/LF pairs, sort the messages
into threads, then reconstruct message numbers and the "in reply
to" message number links. Announcements are always sorted to the
beginning of the file.
The so called OUTBOX messages (retained copies of messages
sent by Recon or TAPCIS) are transparently converted to standard
CompuServe format.
After the sorting and fixups, if a message is judged to have
duplicates, then one of the message pair will be automatically
marked for deletion. It is always the more recent message of a
duplicate pair that is retained.
After the file is loaded, in the top right corner of the
screen appears a local index of the messages, the columns contain
the message subject, and the sender and the recipient,
respectively. Each is truncated to fit. The middle line
(usually) corresponds to the currently displayed message. The
local index also details the two immediately preceding and
following messages. Hatched boxes appear on lines corresponding
to messages that are currently MARKed. Lines that correspond to
messages that match any currently set filters are in bold.
Along the bottom is a status line indicating the forum of
origin, the current message sequence number, the total number of
loaded messages, (or the sequence and number of NEW messages, if
the NEW filter is on) and in parentheses the number of messages
currently slated for deletion. If a bold lowercase Greek delta is
present beside the forum name, then the file has changed and
probably requires a resave. If this is a new message NEW is
displayed. Similarly if this is a MARKed message then MRK will be
displayed. The status of the display filters is noted. (fM, fN,
fU, fB) If this is a message that was originally saved as an
OUTBOX message, BOX is displayed. If this message is an
"announcement" then ANN is displayed. With the HIDE: DELETED Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 61
-------------------------------------------------------------------
filter ON, deleted messages are not displayed. With this filter
OFF, if the current message has been judged by Recon to be a
duplicate then ?DUP? will be displayed, if the message has been
marked for deletion then DEL is present.
Mouse users should note that if NO MENU PANELS are PULLED
DOWN, then the lines in the local index box are "clickable" for
navigation. If you click the current message's mini-index line
then you will get a full screen index. Also clicking on the MRK
or DEL indicators on the bottom line will toggle the message's
MARKed of for DELetion status. Clicking on the filter status
indicators (fM, fN, fU, fB) will toggle the status of the filter.
When the filters are "OFF" a ghost of the text is shown on color
monitors. The first header line of the message, (goes to the last
message displayed) the subject line, (goes to the root message if
any) and areas of the message text itself (for scrolling the
message) can also be clicked on for navigation, these are covered
in the appropriate sections below.
5.1.2 Pick
-----------
To get the maximum benefit from the PICK LIST you should
always specify filespecs at the Load option text entry box using
DOS wildcards (eg. *.MSG) rather than an exact filename.
(eg. IBMHW.MSG)
When you choose File|Pick a PICK LIST of recent filespecs
appears. If no path is listed, then the TAPCIS storage path is
assumed. By default the light bar is placed on the second entry
in this list. This second entry will always represent the second
to the last filespec you specified for loading. (all this is
assuming that there are at least two entries) If you wish to load
a file with the very last filespec used, then you could simply
choose File|Load instead.
When you specify unique filespecs (whether containing
wildcards or otherwise) in the Load option, these will be added to
the PICK LIST, the most recent filespecs that you specified will
always be listed first.
If you are a typical user, you will probably need no more
than five or six filespecs to specify all the various groups of
files that you may wish to load into Recon. After these are
entered you will never have to type them in again.
The last entry ( <FILE LOAD> ) is a shortcut to the File Load
text entry box.
If you have an unwanted filespec, then highlight it and press
the [Del] key, this will allow you to delete that entry after a
confirmation. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 62
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1.3 Save&Exit
----------------
This option is active only if a message file is currently
loaded. It will force a save of the currently loaded file whether
there have been any changes or not. If there was not enough
memory to load the entire file, this option is disabled as
otherwise it would result in corruption of the file.
This also normally results in the original file being
backed'up to a file with an extension of $RK, in the same
directory. For example if the processed file was TAPCIS.MSG,
then this file is backed'up to TAPCIS.$RK, the Recon processed
file is saved and forms the new TAPCIS.MSG file. If you load a
file with an $RK extension then backup file generation is
suppressed. Backup file generation can be disabled, see section
5.1.7.1
When saved, the file remains in normal TAPCIS format and is
completely compatible with the TAPCIS viewer.
If you are using CONFIRM mode (the default), then after the
save, you will be presented with the option of NOT EXITING and
returning to viewing/editing the same, currently loaded, file.
5.1.4 AGE/Save&Exit
--------------------
This option extends on the File|Save&Exit command (section
5.1.3), by also AGEing the file before it resaves it.
AGEing consists of first deleting threads and messages from
the current file, based on the AGEing criteria you specify, and
then optionally appending these to an .OLD file. Appending them
is disabled if you are AGEing an .OLD file.
The initial default age for AGEing threads is 30 days, 60
days for messages, and 2000 messages for the size of the file.
These are not intended to be effective defaults, but are set to
this initially so you don't inadvertently age out messages before
you fully understand the process.
You can quickly change the default settings by using the
Edit|Settings command, (sections 5.1.7) or by editing the
Recon2.SET file directly with a text editor. Typical values for
these might be:
threadAGEdays=8
messageAGEdays=15
fileAGEsize=1000
These parameters can be set differently for different forums,
and are probably the most likely parameters to be set on a forum
specific basis. However, if you ignore the thread and message
AGEing setting, (eg. leave them at defaults) and only use file Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 63
-------------------------------------------------------------------
size AGEing, then Recon to a large extent will auto-adjust its
AGEing to the activity of the forum.
In other words, the goal of AGEing is to keep the file sizes
trim and workable, and forum specific settings for AGEing threads
and messages will do that with some tinkering, but the use of file
size AGEing will let Recon do the tinkering for you.
AGEing threads means to age threads that have their most
recent message older than a given date.
AGEing messages further trims the file, by AGEing individual
older messages within threads that would otherwise be kept.
Then the result of thread & message AGEing may be further
adjusted by file size AGEing. This further trims a message file
down by setting an absolute limit to the number of messages in the
file. If thread and message AGEing already results in a file less
than this maximum, then no file size AGEing takes place. The
corollary is that if you set the thread and message AGEing
parameters to large values (eg. 60 days or higher) then the file
will be aged principally by the file size AGEing setting alone.
As an example, let's say you had a setting of threadage=8 &
messageage=15, and further let's say that that would result in a
message file of 1236 messages after AGEing.
If you set fileAGEsize=1000 then Recon would further reduce
the size of the file by dynamically and sequentially shortening
the threadage & messageage settings for that AGEing session,
until the file ends up with less than 1000 messages total. So the
file size AGEing process in this instance would remove at least
another 236 messages. However, this process is limited to never
reducing the AGEing to less than 1 day.
As the default setting is 2000 messages, this setting will
have no effect until you adjust the setting.
The typical use of file size AGEing is to set the thread &
message age parameters to something high, (say the default of 30 &
60 days) and then limiting the message file to a certain maximum
size using this new age parameter. It takes the guess work out of
judging how busy forums are, and allows for much more consistent
message file sizes.
Also note that ANY file can be AGEd, not just .MSG files.
The file that aged messages are appended to always takes the form
of forum_name.OLD, where forum_name is the name of the forum of
origin of that message. The .OLD files are placed in the TAPCIS
storage directory.
Announcements within .MSG files are treated a little
differently. All of the not NEW (old) announcements are deleted
if AGEing is specified, regardless of their age. If you wish to
keep a given announcement then place a HOLD on it with
Action|Hold|Toggle HOLD. (section 5.3.8) Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 64
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Under no circumstances will a NEW message or announcement be
aged.
Pseudo "announcement messages" as captured by a FRONTEND
TAPCIS script and stored in the MAIL.MSG file are aged as a
normal message, not as an announcement.
5.1.5 Exit
-----------
This option is active only if a message file is currently
loaded. It will start an exit from editing the current file
without saving it.
It there have been changes to the file, then you will be
warned that this would result in their loss. If you then decide
to not EXIT then you will be returned to editing/viewing the
currently loaded file. You will still have the option of
eventually saving the file.
5.1.6 Status
-------------
This option will display information about the current Recon
environment.
The status panel shows the currently active TAPCIS PARAMS
file, reflects the current EMS usage, and lists the MAXIMUM number
of messages possible for the given memory configuration. See
appendix 7.1 for a discussion of EMS memory considerations.
It also lists the currently loaded file, if any, and
information about it.
The global hot key is [F3], pressing [F3] again will
remove the Status box. Pressing any other key will also remove
the box, but that key will also be passed on to, and acted upon by
Recon.
5.1.7 Edit Settings
--------------------
│▒Edit▒Settings▒▒▒Ctl[F3]▒│
│ ╒═════════════════════════╕
│ │▒global:▒General▒...▒▒▒▒▒│
│ │ global: View/Send ... │
│ │ global: Sort ... │
│ │ forum: View/Send ... │
╘═│ forum: Sort ... │
╘═════════════════════════╛
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 65
-------------------------------------------------------------------
You can view and change all of the current GLOBAL, and FORUM
(local) settings while in INTERACTIVE mode by using the Edit
Settings option in the File panel (shortcut Ctl[F3]).
The discussion below covers each parameter in detail. Each
parameter is shown with its default setting if it is not blank.
For the settings that accept text (such as ReconEDIT1) choose
that option and a text entry box will appear.
For the settings that toggle, to change each setting just
choose it, it will toggle to the next valid setting. All of the
valid setting options are listed in brackets following these
settings.
To make the settings permanent use the File|Save Settings
option. (next section) If you prefer you can also edit these
directly in your Recon2.SET file with any text editor.
For an example Recon2.SET file, see appendix 7.3.
5.1.7.1 global: General
------------------------
This group includes the following global settings, all are in
identical syntax to the content of the Recon2.SET file, and are
shown with their initial defaults.
CatScanPATH= (takes a <path>)
Directs Recon where to find the CatScan.LOG file so that it
may append to it when creating download scripts. If you do not
use CatScan, then leave this blank.
ReconEDIT1= (takes a <path>)
ReconEDIT2= (takes a <path>)
These are the dos commands that will be issued when you
choose either of External Editor 1, or External Editor 2 in the
Connect|Send Menu panel. Recon 2.01 will still recognize the
RECONEDIT DOS environment variable which served this purpose in
previous versions.
scroll=LINE (LINE, OVERLAP or PAGE)
When Single LINE scrolling is active any multi-display page
message is scrolled only one line at a time when either the MSG
scroll UP or MSG scroll DOWN commands are issued. With PAGE
scrolling the displayed message is scrolled by a full display
page, with OVERLAP there is one line of overlap in the PAGE
scrolls. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 66
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SNAPOFF=ON (ON or OFF)
With SNAPOFF panels most menu panels disappear when an
action is carried out. For example if you execute
Action|MARK|Section then after the current section is marked the
panels all disappear. This will clear the display to let you see
the entire message. Which mode you choose will be guided by
simple personal preference. Some options (eg. in the Edit
Settings panel) will always work as STICKY regardless of the
current setting.
DCHECK=ON (ON or OFF)
When Recon saves a file it requires free disk space of at
least as much as the file itself. With Disk CHECK on save
active, Recon checks for this available space before saving. If
you have oodles of free space, or if you have a really slow disk
(the check may take a few moments) then you may wish to disable
this check, but do so with caution.
QUIET=OFF (ON or OFF)
To alert the user, Recon uses a variety of auditory prompts
for critical or error situations. You can disable this by setting
QUIET to ON.
BACKUP=ON (ON or OFF)
When Recon rewrites a file it will automatically backup the
old file in the same directory using an "$RK" extension. If you
are operating on floppies, or are particularly cramped for disk
space then you may wish to disable this by setting BACKUP to OFF.
CONFIRMmode=ON (EXPERTmode=ON)
Once you are familiar with the operation of Recon you will
likely wish to remove most of the precautionary confirmations and
warnings that Recon uses. If so then toggle CONFIRMmode=ON to
EXPERTmode=ON.
Note that this does not change the way that Recon runs, all
the normal DOS and file related safety features are still there!
All this does is to remove confirmations for commands that you
indicate you wish to carry out. Even in EXPERT mode you will
still be asked to confirm AGEing and an EXIT (without a save)
from a file that has been changed and presumably needs resaving.
If you are new to Recon, use EXPERTmode=ON WITH CAUTION.
NEWfilter=OFF (ON or OFF)
This sets the initial default for the NEW filter. Every Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 67
-------------------------------------------------------------------
time a new file is loaded, the status of the NEW filter is set
according to this value.
5.1.7.2 global/forum: View/Send
--------------------------------
This group includes the following settings, the settings
noted with {F} are also available as FORUM settings. All are in
identical syntax to the content in the Recon2.SET file, and are
shown with their initial defaults.
CMailReceipt=OFF (ON or OFF)
By default no CompuServe receipt of message is requested when
you send a CMail message, you can change this by toggling this
parameter. You can still override this either way on a message by
message basis.
allowREformatting=ON (ON or OFF)
When you send a message on a FORUM, then with the default
setting CompuServe will be allowed to reformat your message to fit
some else's needs. This is especially important for international
users who use expensive packet services.
You can always override this on a message by message basis.
Also, Recon will check your message to see whether it might
benefit from having CompuServe reformatting disabled, and warn you
if so.
{F} HIDEBOX=OFF (ON or OFF)
This will hide all OUTBOX messages in a file, you can still
see them by moving to them with the [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys of
course.
This setting is most useful if you send many messages
yourself, and don't really wish to explicitly see these as a NEW
message the next time you load the .MSG file. In particular
useful for sysops, and typically used as a FORUM setting.
{F} cleanANN=OFF (ON or OFF)
When set to ON removes all but the latest, newest forum
announcement that TAPCIS captures when it enters a forum.
Otherwise announcements will accumulate in the file until you AGE
it. AGEing a file will delete all announcements, regardless of
the announcements' ages.
{F} deleteAGED=OFF (ON or OFF) Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 68
-------------------------------------------------------------------
When you age a file, Recon will by default save all of the
old, aged messages to the .OLD file. This file will have the root
name of the forum, and will reside in the TAPCIS storage
directory. If you are limited in disk space, or just don't wish
to accumulate .OLD files, then you can toggle this setting to ON.
Typically this would be used as a FORUM setting.
{F} OUTBOX=MSGfile (OFF, MSGfile or SAVfile)
Directs where you would like your OUTBOX messages placed,
TAPCIS 5.3 as well as previous versions of Recon always placed
these in your .SAV file.
By default Recon now adds OUTBOX copies of messages to the
.MSG file, rather than the .SAV file. This is a much handier
place to have them, as you keep your thread filled out in your
.MSG file until you actually download the CompuServe copy of your
reply. This is the only way of keeping track of your MAIL file
replies.
You should almost certainly use the default setting.
{F} threadAGEdays=30
{F} messageAGEdays=60
{F} fileAGEsize=2000
Use these to set your file AGEing parameters. AGEing is not
actually done, unless you exit a file with File|AGE/Save&Exit,
(section 5.1.4) or if you use /TAGE or /MAGE in BATCH mode.
(section 6.2, 6.3) These parameters are the most likely to be set
on a FORUM specific basis.
5.1.7.3 global/forum: Sort
---------------------------
This group includes the following settings, the settings
noted with {F} are also available as FORUM settings. All are in
identical syntax to the content in the Recon2.SET file, and are
shown with their initial defaults.
{F} THREADsort=ON (ON or OFF)
MCsort=ON (ON or OFF)
{F} THREADSbyDATE=ON (THREADSbySUBJ=ON)
{F} GROUPsect=ON (ON or OFF)
These are the basic sort parameters, see Other|Sort (section
5.6.8) for a description of each setting.
{F} STRICTsectSORT=OFF (ON or OFF) Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 69
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is of main concern to sysops, after reading it if you
are not sure what this all means, then you don't need this
feature, and just go with the Recon default, ie. OFF.
TAPCIS style, or prior to this version Recon style OUTBOX
messages, will result in some instances of confused sorts because
in these types of OUTBOX messages the actual section can only be
inferred by Recon. This resulted in some messages and threads
being sorted into sections other than where they actually reside
on CompuServe.
Recon now puts the correct message section number into its
own outbox messages. As you will likely be using Recon for most
messaging, then the old style TAPCIS outboxes will disappear and
no longer be a problem.
If Recon 2.01 detects a TAPCIS style outbox, it will sort the
file the way that it did in previous versions for compatibility,
however if there are no TAPCIS outboxes then you will now get a
true, strict, section sort.
But even if Recon detects a TAPCIS outbox message (without a
proper section number) you can still FORCE this new strict
section sort by setting this to ON. However note that then, any
old format outboxes can NOT be sorted in properly, and will be
instead be put into a group at the very beginning of the file.
5.1.8 Save Settings
--------------------
This allows for saving of the current set of settings as the
GLOBAL or the current FORUM local settings, these will be written
out to the Recon2.SET file.
│▒Save▒Settings▒▒▒Alt[F3]▒│
│ ╒═══════════════════════════╕
│ │▒Save▒as▒GLOBAL▒Settings▒▒▒│
│ │ Save as FORUM Settings │
│ ╘═══════════════════════════╛
Each time Recon starts up it looks for the Recon2.SET file
and loads in the specified defaults, if a Recon2.SET file does not
exist then Recon will create it with its initial default settings.
Note that if you specify command line parameters (/Q, /NOBAK,
/NODCHECK) these will override the Recon2.SET settings for that
session.
If Recon finds a syntax error in the Recon2.SET file, it will
mark it as in the example below, and ignore it:
syntax ERROR "GROUsect=ON"
Executing File|Save Settings will save all the current Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 70
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Settings that are set in the File|Edit Settings section. To the
Recon2.SET file. This will result in a rewrite of the Recon2.SET
file, and the previous contents of the GLOBAL, or that FORUM's
section will be overwritten.
You do not need to save the settings to activate them, they
are in place as soon as you change them with File|Edit Settings,
saving them just makes the settings remembered for future
sessions.
In addition to saving the current settings with the
File|Save Settings option you can freely edit the Recon2.SET file
with a text editor. DO NOT try to edit the Recon2.PCK and
Recon2.DAT files, they are not text files, and you will almost
certainly corrupt them.
See appendix 7.3 for an example Recon2.SET file.
5.1.9 PARAMS file
------------------
Recon loads and acts on any Params file that you specify.
This is also a quick way to refresh Recon's ! marks if need be,
by just choosing the same PARAMS file.
Recon also refreshes its Params file read when returning from
its own MENU Shell.
Note that you can have Recon start up with any PARAMS file
active by using the /EXT:xxx parameter, see section 4.6.
5.1.10 shell MENU
------------------
This provides an almost instant ability to access another
program such as TAPCIS or a TAPCIS add-on, or the DOS command
line, while Recon is running.
This option is compatible with the WordPerfect Shell program.
The File|shell MENU command will save your precious
conventional memory by freeing up all but about 10k of memory by
swapping Recon's code and data to either EMS, or to disk. (you
will need some 550k bytes available) You can optionally specify
the disk/directory to use for swapping with the DOS environment
variable RTEMP. (section 4.15)
This facility should greatly streamline CompuServe use
especially for those that don't have access to a multitasking
environment.
You should also note, that if you use this SHELL facility
to get to TAPCIS and back, you are GUARANTEED that TAPCIS' !
marks will be set/reset correctly. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 71
-------------------------------------------------------------------
If a Recon2.SHL file does not yet exist (on startup for
example) Recon will look for any major TAPCIS add-ons on the DOS
Path and insert them in the menu along with TAPCIS.
Recon2.SHL holds all the menu options, and is stored in the
TAPCIS storage directory. The first thirty characters of each
line are displayed in the menu panel, the command line that
executes that option is the last 50 characters. The file is a
simple text file and freely editable, you may of course need to
insert command line parameters etc. to customize it.
Here is a example Recon2.SHL file:
│<- menu option name ->││<- path/filename/parameters ...
TAPCIS (get headers) C:\TAP\TAPCIS.EXE ($REXT$) NX
TappeT C:\TAPUTIL\TAPPET.EXE ($REXT$)
TAPCIS (get/send messages) C:\TAP\TAPCIS.EXE ($REXT$) OX
CatScan C:\TAPUTIL\CATSCAN.EXE
The above Recon2.SHL file would display as:
│▒shell▒MENU▒▒▒▒▒▒Ctl[F1]▒│
│ ╒═════════════════════════════════╕
╘═│0 DOS Shell │
│1▒▒TAPCIS▒(get headers)▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│2 TappeT │
│3 TAPCIS (get/send messages) │
│4 CatScan │
╘═════════════════════════════════╛
$REXT$ is a special variable, that Recon will substitute the
current PARAMS file extension for, just before Recon's shell
executes the command. For example if PARAMS.NOW was the currently
selected PARAMS file, and the following Recon2.SHL line was about
to be executed:
C:\TAP\TAPCIS ($REXT$)
Then the actual command line executed would be:
C:\TAP\TAPCIS (NOW)
Recon also does an automatic select disk & ChDir before
running the command, batch files are allowed as well, just end
them with EXIT so that the shell will close.
While shelled, be very careful NOT to alter any message files
that Recon may have loaded, AND not to alter any files with a
.$$$ extension, these may be Recon temporary files. If you do
then you may not only corrupt your message files, but even crash
Recon and your system. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 72
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1.11 Quit Recon
------------------
Use this to exit Recon. The global hot key is AltQ.
5.2 Navigate panel
-------------------
5.2.1 scroll UP, scroll DOWN
-----------------------------
You can page through a long message (longer than one screen)
using the [-] and [+] keys, you will be prompted in the Navigate
panel (or Navigate strip) as well as in the bottom right hand
corner of the message text display when these keys are active
options.
For the convenience of laptop users who may not have
dedicated grey [-] and [+] keys, you can also use the [-] and [=]
(unshifted [+]) adjacent to the number row.
The scrolling will be one line at a time, scrolling can also
be set to proceed one display screen at a time, or with one line
of overlap. This setting is saved in the Recon2.SET file, and can
be accessed and changed using File|Edit Settings. (section 5.1.7)
Mouse users can click on the top half of the message text to
scroll UP, and the bottom half to scroll DOWN. (mouse hot zones
are active only when there are no menu panels pulled down)
5.2.2 msg UP {flt}, msg DOWN {flt}
-----------------------------------
These options will page to the preceding message, or to the
next message. If filters are active, then messages which do not
satisfy the current filter criteria will be skipped. The [PgUp]
and [PgDn] (next section) and some "major" scrolling options
override the filter settings.
The shortcut keys are the [UArr] and [DArr] keys on the
cursor/number keypad. These keys as short cuts are not accessible
if a menu panel is pulled down, as then the arrow keys move the
lightbar among the choices in the pulled down menu panel.
Note that if the displayed message is longer that one screen
in length this option will not page within the message, it will
always move by whole messages.
The [SPACE] can be used as an alternative "no thinking
necessary" key. If the displayed message is only one screen long,
then the [SPACE] acts as the [DArr] key, if the displayed
message is longer than one screen, then the [SPACE] acts as the
[+] key until it gets to the end of the message, then it "does" a
[PgDn]. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 73
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mouse users can click on the -- continued -- line, or on
the bottom rule (second line from the bottom) to simulate the
[SPACE] key. (mouse hot zones are active only when there are no
menu panels pulled down)
5.2.3 message UP, message DOWN
-------------------------------
These options will page to the preceding message, or to the
next message, similar to the msg UP {flt}, msg DOWN {flt}
options, HOWEVER all filters will be IGNORED.
The global hot keys are [PgUp] and [PgDn] on the
cursor/number keypad.
Note that if the displayed message is longer that one screen
in length this option will not page within the message, it will
always move by whole messages.
Mouse users can click on the local index box lines, to
navigate up or down one or two messages. (mouse hot zones are
active only when there are no menu panels pulled down)
5.2.4 prev THREAD/CORRES
-------------------------
This option will move the display to the first message of the
PREVious thread. If a message that does not match the current
filter settings is moved to, a display of the message will be
forced regardless, and the #### of #### on the status line
blinks. The global hot key is AltX.
If this is a CompuServe MAIL sourced file sorted with a Mail
Correspondent Sort, (MCS is the default, see section 5.6.8.2) then
this option will move to the last correspondent group rather than
the last thread as would be determined by the message subject.
5.2.5 STARTofTHD, FINISHofTHD
------------------------------
STARTofTHD and FINISHofTHD will display the first or last
message of a thread, note that they override the filter settings.
If a message that does not match the current filter settings
is moved to, a display of the message will be forced regardless,
and the #### of #### on the status line blinks. The global hot
keys are [Home] for STARTofTHD, and [End] for FINISHofTHD.
5.2.6 neXt THREAD/CORRES
-------------------------
This option will move the display to the first message of the Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 74
-------------------------------------------------------------------
NEXT thread, note the difference between this and FINISHofTHD. If
a message that does not match the current filter settings is moved
to, a display of the message will be forced regardless, and the
#### of #### on the status line blinks. The shortcut key is X.
If this is a CompuServe MAIL sourced file sorted with a Mail
Correspondent Sort, (MCS is the default, see section 5.6.8.2) then
this option will move to the next correspondent group rather than
the next thread as would be determined by the message subject.
5.2.7 BEGofFILE, ENDofFILE
---------------------------
BEGofFILE and ENDofFILE will display the first or last
message, note that they override the filter settings. If you move
to a message that does not match the current filter settings, a
blank message text screen will result.
The global hot key is Ctl[PgUp] for BEGofFILE, and
Ctl[PgDn] for ENDofFILE.
5.3 Action panel
-----------------
5.3.1 MARK
-----------
This option will MARK the group of messages that you specify
in its submenu. Note that THIS IS NOT A TOGGLE for each
individual message, messages that may already be marked will
remain marked.
To toggle a single or all message marks see the
Action|Invert command. (section 5.3.4)
The groups as outlined in the submenu are largely self-
explanatory:
│▒MARK▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═════════ MARK messages ══════════╕
│ │▒this▒message▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒[F4]▒│
│ │ THREAD, START to Here │
│ │ THREAD, ENTIRE Ctl[F4] │
│ │ Section Shf[F4] │
│ │ THREAD, {Branch} Alt[F4] │
│ │ ONLY NEW messages │
╘═│ ALL messages │
╘══════════════════════════════════╛
THREAD, START to here would mark all the messages from the
beginning of this thread up to and including this message. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 75
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Section marking seems simple enough, but this may be
complicated if there are OUTBOX messages. If section sorting is
enabled (section 5.6.8.4) and an OUTBOX message cannot be sorted
into a thread, and hence cannot be assigned a section by
inference, then it is placed at the beginning of the file. If you
select Action|MARK|Section when viewing such "section-
unassigned" messages then you will mark ONLY that current message.
If sorting is set to IGNORE sections then this option is disabled.
THREAD, {Branch} refers to CompuServe thread structure. The
current message would be considered the root message, and it as
well as any replies to itself or other replies would all be
MARKed. See also section 5.6.8.1.
ONLY NEW messages, marks the messages currently noted as NEW
in the file, and of course All messages would MARK all the
messages in the currently loaded file.
5.3.2 UnMARK
-------------
This option will UnMARK the group of messages that you
specify in its submenu. Note that THIS IS NOT A TOGGLE for each
individual message, messages that may already be unmarked will
remain unmarked.
You select from the same submenu as with the MARK option.
(section 5.3.1)
5.3.3 Mark by AGE
------------------
This option has a submenu allowing you to mark either aged
THREADs or aged messages.
The THREAD age is determined by its most recent message,
message age is simply determined from that message's date.
You specify the number of days old that a THREAD or a message
must be in order to be MARKed, then the marking will be done after
a confirmation.
The default number of days for AGEing this forum will be
taken as the default.
This is a very powerful MARKing option. Note that this
option only MARKS messages, it will not age them, copy them,
delete them etc., unless you then do that yourself. Used with the
Action|Invert|Invert ALL MARKS you can quickly change the marks
to delimit the new messages instead.
This command is NOT what is typically used to age a file, see
instead the INTERACTIVE mode "automatic" AGEing, (section 5.1.4)
as well as BATCH mode AGEing. (sections 6.2, 6.3) Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 76
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3.4 Invert
-------------
│▒InVert▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒══════════════════════════════╕
│ │▒invert▒▒ALL▒▒MARKS▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ │ invert ALL DELETIONS │
│ │ ──────────────────────────── │
╘═│ invert MESSAGE MARK * │
│ invert MESSAGE DELETE [Del] │
╘══════════════════════════════╛
This option will invert (toggle or flip) either the MARK
status or the DELETED status of the specified group of message(s).
ALL MARKS and MESSAGE MARK toggle the MARK status of ALL
messages, or only the currently displayed message, respectively.
If a message is MARKed, it will become unMARKed, and vice versa.
The MRK indicator along the bottom status line as well as the
mark indicator(s) in the local index display will light or
disappear. The * key is the shortcut key for the latter option.
ALL DELETIONS and MESSAGE DELETE toggle the DELETED
status of ALL messages, or only the currently displayed message,
respectively. The DEL indicator along the bottom status line
will light or disappear as appropriate. The number of messages to
be deleted is displayed on the bottom line in parentheses. None
of the messages are actually deleted until a SAVE is done. The
[Del] key is the shortcut for the latter option.
Note the difference between this command and the
Action|Delete|message command. (section 5.3.6)
5.3.5 Copy
-----------
The last command this message->.SAV mirrors the TAPCIS
SAVe message (TAPCIS hot key: S) command, it saves the current
message to the .SAV file for this FORUM.
Of course you can also do the same thing by specifying the
.SAV file at the filespec question when copying a message (see
below), but this provides a quick "one keystroke" for doing
something you may need to do often. If the current file is a .SAV
file then this option is disabled.
Otherwise this option will copy the group of messages that
you then go on to select in its submenu. The groups as outlined
in the submenu are self-explanatory: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 77
-------------------------------------------------------------------
│▒Copy▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒════════════════════════════════╕
│ │▒Copy▒▒this message▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒[F5]▒│
│ │ Copy this THREAD Ctl[F5] │
╘═│ Copy this SECTION Shf[F5] │
│ Copy all MARKed Alt[F5] │
│ this message -> .SAV AltS │
╘════════════════════════════════╛
Once you choose the group of messages you wish to copy you
will be asked for a destination filespec in a text entry box. If
you do not specify a path, then the TAPCIS storage directory will
be used. If you do not specify an extension, then ".THD" will be
assigned. For example if you specify DISKS when asked for the
filename, and if the TAPCIS storage directory is "C:\TAP\STOR"
then the MARKed messages will be saved/appended to the file
"C:\TAP\STOR\DISKS.THD".
If you include a DOS filespec wildcard (eg. *.THD, IBM???.*)
you will next be shown a directory box which includes all the
possible files to append to. If you select a directory from the
directory box (identified with <dir>) then you will be shown a new
directory box of the same filespec, but as applied to that new
directory.
If you press [F10] instead of typing a filespec you get a
pick list of possible filespecs that you can choose and then
further edit.
If the chosen filename does not already exist, you will be
asked if you wish to create it. If the specified file already
exists you will be warned of this, and asked if you wish to APPEND
to it. Note that this option will NEVER OVERWRITE a file.
With the exception of the TAPCIS-like SAVe to .SAV file
command, the shortcut keys are all centered on the [F5] key,
these options will likely be chosen most of time with their global
hot keys.
5.3.6 Delete
-------------
With the exception of the last option (UNdelete ALL
messages), this option will delete the group of messages that you
then go on to select in its submenu.
You select from a similar submenu as with Action|Copy.
(section 5.3.5)
Note that THIS IS NOT A TOGGLE for each individual message,
messages that may already be marked DELeted will remain marked
DELeted. You will be asked to confirm the action.
To toggle DELeted marks see the Action|Invert command. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 78
-------------------------------------------------------------------
(section 5.3.4)
The global hot keys are all centered on the [F6] key, these
options will likely be chosen most of time with these keys.
5.3.7 Move
-----------
A Move command is a combination of copy+delete command.
You select from a similar submenu as with the Copy or
Delete option. (sections 5.3.5, 5.3.6)
The shortcut keys are all centered on the [F8] key, these
options will likely be chosen most of time with these keys.
5.3.8 HOLD
-----------
This command tells Recon to place a HOLD on a message, or a
group of messages within the current file. (this is not a sysop
hold)
│▒HOLD▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
╘═╒═════════════════════════╕
│▒TOGGLE▒▒Hold▒▒▒▒▒▒▒AltL▒│
│ ─────────────────────── │
│ hold NEW to FINISH │
│ hold ALL NEW │
│ hold this THREAD │
│ CLEAR ALL holds │
╘═════════════════════════╛
This means that the message WILL NOT be deleted, even if the
DELeted flag is turned on, or if it would normally be aged, or if
you MOVE it, etc. In general useful for keeping messages around
indefinitely.
In addition when you have the NEW filter ON, a HELD message
will shine through.
This is very useful for the situation where you have checked
half of the new messages, but want to complete reading/replying
later. Just put a hold on the rest of the new messages.
(Action|HOLD|NEW to FINISH)
5.4 View panel
---------------
The View panel contains two complementary groups of commands.
Those that allow you to search for text, and those that set Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 79
-------------------------------------------------------------------
filters to only display certain messages.
NOTE, that any search that you specify will only look within
messages that would normally be displayed by the currently set
filters.
5.4.1 Searching
----------------
By default a search looks at the entire message text, the
message number, the message date/time and the text of the Subject,
To and From fields for a matching pattern. By default the search
is also case insensitive (ie. Recon = RECON). Note that the
"section name" on the top line of the message header is ignored.
When a message containing the target text is found it will be
displayed, with the contained target phrases highlighted. Note
that you may have to page to the second or following display
pages, (using the [+] key) in a message that occupies more than
one display page to see the target phrases.
5.4.1.1 Search
---------------
When executed this command will ask for a target phrase to
search for. The last target phrase (if any) is the default. Note
that this command always begins searching at the first message.
The global hot key is the function key [F2].
5.4.1.2 Next HIT
-----------------
When executed this command will search for the next
occurrence of the last specified target phrase, starting with the
message following the current one. The global hot key for this
command is the > key, you can also use the unshifted > key.
(the period key)
5.4.1.3 Previous HIT
---------------------
When executed this command will search for the previous
occurrence of the last specified target phrase, starting with the
message preceding the current one. The global hot key for this
command is the < key, you can also use the unshifted < key.
(the comma key)
5.4.1.4 Searching: header and/or message text
-----------------------------------------------
By default the search looks at both the header information Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 80
-------------------------------------------------------------------
and the message text.
You can restrict the search to only the header text by using
the Header+text/Header ONLY toggle. If such a search will meet
your needs then the advantage is that it will be an order of
magnitude faster because the header information is always more
quickly accessible.
5.4.1.5 Searching: case sensitivity
-------------------------------------
By default the search is case insensitive, that is "Recon"
and "RECON" are considered equivalent.
This can be toggled with the Case SENSITIVE/case insensitive
command in this panel.
5.4.2 Filters
--------------
"Filters" hide messages that do not meet specified criteria.
If both the NEW and MARKed filters are set, then for a match a
message must meet BOTH of the criteria. (logical AND)
The DELETED filter hides rather than displays messages.
The msg UP {flt} and msg DOWN {flt} commands as well as
the search facility respect any active filters. Note that when
you first set a filter condition, you may get a "blank screen" and
may need to do one msg UP {flt} or msg DOWN {flt} to get to a
message that meets the filter criteria.
5.4.2.1 Filters: MARKed
-------------------------
When set this filter only allows display of messages that are
currently MARKed. If this filter is already set, then this
command will turn the filter off.
The global hot key is AltM.
Mouse users can click on the status line fM to toggle the
filter. (mouse hot zones are active only when there are no menu
panels pulled down)
5.4.2.2 Filters: NEW
----------------------
When set this filter only allows display of messages that
have not been previously processed by Recon, that is messages that
are NEW to Recon. If this filter is already set, then this
command will turn the filter off. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 81
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The global hot key is AltW.
Mouse users can click on the status line fN to toggle the
filter. (mouse hot zones are active only when there are no menu
panels pulled down)
5.4.2.3 Filters: UserID group
-------------------------------
When set, this filter directs Recon to take the To and Fm
UserID's (excepting your own) in the current message as the filter
criteria.
It will then let you peruse all the messages that contain
either of these UserID's in the To or Fm fields. This is very
handy for following a two respondent conversation within a large
thread, but the filter is not limited to a specific thread.
The UserID filter will temporarily override any other filters
set, hence it will always show you all of the messages in the file
that meet this single criteria. To remind you of this, any other
filter indicators set will flash.
You are of course free to move around the file, when you
click the UserID filter off, the [Tab] key will take you back to
where you started just before you clicked the UserID filter on.
The global hot key is AltU.
Mouse users can click on the status line fU to toggle the
filter. (mouse hot zones are active only when there are no menu
panels pulled down)
5.4.2.4 Filters: Branch
-------------------------
When executed, this filter lets you view the current message
(the root) and all the messages that are replies to the current
message, and then their replies, etc.. As such this shows you one
branch of a CompuServe thread tree. (see also section 5.6.8.1)
The BRANCH filter will temporarily override any other filters
set, hence it will always show you the complete branch with the
current message as the root. To remind you of this, any other
filter indicators set will flash. Sysops in particular will find
this very helpful for thread management.
Further, if you have the BRANCH filter on, and you execute
the Other|Jump ROOT command, (AltJ) then the BRANCH filter will
expand backwards to include the newly jumped to message as the
root, and all its replies. This sounds a bit confusing, but the
effect will be immediately obvious if you try this with the FULL
SCREEN INDEX (Other|display Index) displayed. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 82
-------------------------------------------------------------------
You are of course free to move around the file, when you
click the Branch filter off, the [Tab] key will take you back to
where you started just before you clicked the Branch filter on.
The global hot key is AltB.
Mouse users can click on the status line fM to toggle the
filter. (mouse hot zones are active only when there are no menu
panels pulled down)
5.4.2.5 Filters: DELETED
--------------------------
This filter is a little different from the other filters. It
should normally be left in the default ON setting.
When this filter in ON (HIDE: DELETED) then it EXCLUDES
messages, rather than INCLUDING messages as the NEW, MARKed,
UserID and Branch filters do. The global hot key is AltD.
5.5 Connect panel
------------------
No, this panel does not really Connect Recon to anything, but
it does let you make connections to CompuServe by writing messages
and replies, sending files and generating download scripts for
files and messages, and lets you connect with thread marker
utilities to deselect marked threads.
▒Connect▒
──╒══════════════════════════╕──
│▒send▒MESSAGE/FILE▒...▒▒W▒│
│ send REPLY ... R │
│ DOWnload from LIB ... │
│ Scripts ... │
│ DEselect ... AltR │
│ UserID list ... │
╘══════════════════════════╛
5.5.1 send MESSAGE/FILE
------------------------
You can write a new message to anyone, anywhere, whether a
file is loaded or not. (allows you to completely specify the
section, subject, and recipient) When asked for the recipient you
can search your UserID file, or any file, by specifying an
incomplete UserId (see section 5.5.8.1)
The global hot key is W. A submenu will appear giving you a
number of choices. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 83
-------------------------------------------------------------------
│▒send▒MESSAGE/FILE▒...▒▒W▒│
│ send REPLY ... R │
│╒═════════ send MENU ═════════╕
││▒Recon▒Editor▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
││ External Editor 1 │
││ External Editor 2 │
││ FORWARD message │
╘│ send FILE/Binary CMail │
│ send FILE/ASCII CMail │
╘═════════════════════════════╛
In order to compose a new message choose one of the first
three options for a text editor, details on writing a message are
in sections 5.5.3, 5.5.4.
You can also FORWARD a message. This just takes the
currently viewed message and inserts it into your prospective
reply as indented and delimited text. Then you complete writing
the message, and send the message as detailed in section 5.5.3.
FORWARDing is only available with the Recon internal editor.
ON201.T send FILE/CMail
------------------------
This facility allows you to forward a file by BINARY CMail or
ASCII CMail. Except in the instance where your intended receiver
does not have the ability to accept BINARY CMail, (eg. INTERNET)
you should use BINARY CMail.
With BINARY CMail there is a greater assurance that the file
is received intact and uncorrupted by line noise. Also CompuServe
allows up to 250K size for BINARY CMail, but imposes a limit of
50K for ASCII CMail.
DO NOT use these options for sending ordinary messages, use
the message composing options instead.
When you choose either of these options you will be queried
as to the recipient, the subject, and then the filename of the
file you wish to send.
If you include a valid DOS file name as the subject (eg.
MYFILE.ZIP) and the recipient is also a Recon user, then Recon
will automatically rename the received file to the filename you
supply when it happens in the MAIL.MSG file on the notice of a
file being received. This is most convenient for the receiver.
If you include a wildcard in the filespec when asked for the
path/name of the file to be uploaded then Recon will let you use a
live file directory picklist. If you select a directory then you
will be shown that directory with the wildcard filespec applied to
it. The filename that you supply must be valid, and the file must
already exist. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 84
-------------------------------------------------------------------
After a confirmation Recon writes a script for TAPCIS to act
on.
5.5.2 send REPLY
-----------------
To start writing a reply you need to be viewing any
NON-ANNOUNCEMENT message in any message file, (the ROOT message)
then choose write REPLY (global hot key R). A submenu will
open up giving you the choice of using the internal Recon editor,
or shelling to one of two text editors of your choice. See
sections 5.5.3, 5.5.4 for information on writing a message.
│▒send▒REPLY▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒R▒│
│╒═════════ send MENU ═════════╕
││▒Recon▒Editor▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
││ External Editor 1 │
││ External Editor 2 │
5.5.3 Recon editor
-------------------
If you elect to use Recon's own internal editor, a text
editor window will open up allowing you to enter text. The top
eight lines will be occupied by the ROOT message, to which you are
replying. (can be scrolled) There is a status line at the bottom
giving the current cursor position, the percentage of the maximum
allowed length your message is, the current "typing" mode (Insert
is default), and whether word wrap is ON or OFF. (if active, word
wrap will occur at position 77)
When the message is 90% (about 1900 characters on a forum,
and 45000 characters in CompuServe Mail) of maximum possible
length, the percentage on the status line will blink in yellow
(bold in mono). You will not be permitted to enter more text when
the message is 100% length. The maximum length possible may on
occasion be affected by the amount of available memory.
You can "split" a message if it is too long. Just include:
/split
on the last line of the first part of the message, (part 1) and
"send it". Then immediately compose and send another message to
the same individual. This second message will form "part 2" of
the split message. This is essentially the same procedure as in
TAPCIS.
In the editor most of the keyboard cursor keys work as
expected, also WordStar editor keys are accepted. Four SPECIAL
KEYS: [F5]/[F6] scroll the ROOT message up and down one line,
[F3] reformats the current paragraph, [F4] reformats the entire
message. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 85
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A help screen listing all the possible commands is accessed
by [F1] or clicking both mouse buttons.
You can "pause" the reply by pressing the [Esc] key, you
will then be temporarily exited back into Recon and you can review
other messages or whatever - however you cannot EXIT from or
resort the currently loaded FILE during a PAUSE. As applicable
choose Connect|continue REPLY or Connect|continue MESSAGE to
continue composing.
Once the reply is ready to send, or if you have decided to
discard it, press [F7]. You will then be given the choice of:
╒════════ send ACTION ════════╕
│ Continue editing │
│ REPLY to Fm (as usual) │
│ REPLY to Fm │
│ send NEW message (as usual) │
│ send NEW message │
│ Discard composed message │
╘═════════════════════════════╛
You have already decided whether this is to be a reply, or a
new message, only one of the pair of REPLY to or send NEW
options will be available.
Sending a reply or new message as usual immediately sends
the message taking the default settings. Otherwise you will be
asked about routing, formatting, and if applicable a CompuServe
Mail receipt.
After a final confirmation the message is placed into the
appropriate .SND file with instructions to send it on the next
ONLINE session. An OUTBOX copy will also be stored in the .MSG
file, (default) the .SAV file, or not at all depending on your
Settings. (section 5.1.7.2)
5.5.4 shell to external editor
-------------------------------
If you wish to use YOUR OWN text editor you'll choose one of
the shell to external editor options. Recon will swap itself
out to EMS or disk, freeing up all but about 10k of memory.
To do so, you need to define a ReconEDIT1 (or ReconEDIT2)
setting with File|Edit Settings|global: General. This parameter
gives the filename and path of the text editor and any required
startup command line parameters, or the name of the batch file you
use to invoke the text editor.
For example, lets say you are using a program called
EDITOR.COM, and that you can specify EDITOR.COM startup macros
using an "/editormacro" parameter: Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 86
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ReconEDIT1=C:\UTILS\EDITOR.COM /editormacro=LOADFILES
Note that the parameters here are your text editor program's
parameters, they have nothing to do with Recon.
Recon will create two files in the TAPCIS.EXE directory.
ROOT$.$$$ is a copy of the message you are replying to, and
REPLY$.$$$ is a blank file that you need to edit in ONLY THE REPLY
TEXT. You will be responsible for loading these into your text
editor, setting up any desired windows, etc. and then eventually
resaving the REPLY$.$$$ file to disk on completion. The arbitrary
LOADFILES macro above could be a startup macro for EDITOR.COM to
do this.
On exiting your text editor from the Recon shell, Recon will
ask for further instructions on what to do with the reply in
identical fashion to when using the Recon internal editor. (see
above, 5.5.3) Note that you CANNOT use the PAUSE feature with an
external editor, PAUSE is feature of the internal Recon reply
editor only.
5.5.5 DOWnload from LIB
------------------------
│▒DOWnload▒from▒LIB▒...▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═════════════════════════╕
│ │▒download▒▒▒DES▒only▒▒▒▒▒│
│ │ download FILE only │
│ │ download des AND file │
╘═│ BROWSE for KEYWORD │
╘═════════════════════════╛
This option directs Recon to instruct TAPCIS to download the
specified file or file descriptions during the next ONLINE
session. (it inserts commands into the .DOW file) Recon will ask
for the forum, library number, and file name. It will make a
guess as to what these might be, based on the current message
header.
If found the specified description, file, or both (as
specified) will be downloaded by TAPCIS.
All downloads are recorded to a CatScan.LOG file. If the
CatScanPATH Recon2.set file parameter is not blank, (section
5.1.7.1) then Recon appends directly to your regular CatScan.LOG
file. (CatScan is a .CAT file utility) Otherwise a CatScan.LOG
file is written out to the TAPCIS download directory.
BROWSE for KEYWORD will download all file descriptions that
contain the text you specify in their keyword list. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 87
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5.6 Scripts
--------------
│▒Scripts▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═════════════════════════╕
│ │▒DELETE▒message▒on▒CIS▒▒▒│
│ │ read thread from ROOT │
╘═│ REAd message NUMber │
│ REAd THRead from NUMber │
│ REAd SUBject │
╘═════════════════════════╛
5.5.6.1 DELETE message on CIS
------------------------------
This Recon command directs TAPCIS to delete the current
message ON CompuServe during the next ONLINE session. Recon will
allow this only from a .SAV or .MSG file, and of course this is
also subject to CompuServe restrictions.
Be selective about deleting messages, as this may break
threads. However you should delete any messages that are sent to
you as private to reduce forum congestion.
5.5.6.2 REAd thread from ROOT
------------------------------
This command creates a script that will have TAPCIS capture
all of the messages in the current CompuServe thread. Of course
you can only download those messages that have not already
scrolled.
This may fail to capture all of the messages if the thread
has been broken by a message being deleted, or if it has been
continued and hence segmented, by participants that don't use
replies to continue it. In such instances use the
Connect|Scripts|REAd SUBject command.
See section 5.6.8.1 for more information on threads.
5.5.6.3 REAd message NUMber
-----------------------------
Recon will create a simple script to read a single message,
corresponding to the message number that you specify.
5.5.6.4 REAd THRead from NUMber
--------------------------------
This command creates a script that will have TAPCIS capture
the thread starting at a message number you specify. Of course
you can only download those messages that have not already Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 88
-------------------------------------------------------------------
scrolled.
5.5.6.5 REAd SUBject
----------------------
Recon will create a script to read all messages that contain
the specified text in their subjects. You do not have to specify
the entire subject for a message to be downloaded.
Useful for capturing all messages/threads on a given subject.
This can also be used for capturing all of the messages, from a
thread that has been fragmented.
See section 5.6.8.1 for more information on threads.
5.5.7 DEselect
---------------
This option only serves a purpose if you are using an add-on
thread marking program that enhances TAPCIS' Mark Headers command.
Two such programs are Tappet and TapMark.
Recon supports both .TMK and .TMD thread mark files, as well
as respecting the TMKPATH DOS environment variable. Recon also
supports TappeT's advanced thread marks. See your thread marker
program's documentation for details.
│▒DEselect▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒AltR▒│
│ ╒═══════ DEselect thread ═══════╕
│ │ DEselect ONLY │
╘═│▒DEselect▒&▒Delete▒Thread▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ reSELECT │
│ ───────────────────────────── │
│ Advanced thread marks ... │
╘═══════════════════════════════╛
The DEselect ONLY command will deselect the current thread in
the appropriate .TMK/.TMD file, and place that thread into the
"bypassed" group. You will be warned if the thread cannot be
found in the .TMK/.TMD file, or the .TMK/.TMD file itself cannot
be found.
By choosing the reSELECT option you can reverse that to reselect
the thread again.
If you wish to deselect the thread, and as well delete the
thread in your message file then choose DEselect & Delete Thread,
this is the default.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 89
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5.7.1 Advanced thread marks
------------------------------
TappeT, an enhanced thread marking program, also provides a
number of advanced marks, that let you further tailor your
download sessions.
In order to mark a thread with these marks choose this
option, and then type in the special mark in the text entry box
that appears.
See your TappeT documentation for further information.
5.5.8 UserID list
------------------
│▒UserID▒list▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═════════════════════╕ │
╘═│▒add▒▒Fm:▒▒UserID▒▒▒▒│══╛
│ add To: UserID │
│ add Other UserID │
│ LOOKUP UserID │
╘═════════════════════╛
This will add the current To: or Fm: user name and
UserID, or one that you type in, (Other) into the TAPCIS
USERID.CIS file.
You can follow the UserID with an optional text comment.
5.5.8.1 LOOKUP UserID
-----------------------
You can on the spot look up a UserID in your regular
UserID.CIS file, or in any file. Also in various parts of the
program you may be asked to fill in a UserID, such as when sending
a new message. The information below applies to both situations.
When you are asked for a UserID and supply one complete with
a valid CIS number:
Fred Jackson 75757,443
then Recon will accept it. If Recon does not note a valid number,
then it will do a search of the TAPCIS Userid.CIS file, using what
you specify as a search target, for example you may specify:
Fred
This would locate all the lines in the file that contained
Fred, the search is not context sensitive. There is a maximum of Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 90
-------------------------------------------------------------------
twenty hits. You can then choose the Name/UserId you wish to
use.
If you specify a file name prefaced by an @ and then a
search string like so:
@foobar.msg Fred
then Recon will search the specified file for lines containing the
text Fred, the default directory is the tapcis *storage*
directory, but you can specify any directory you wish.
The UserID Lookup routine is error protected, it will give an
indication of whether it didn't find the phrase fragment, or
didn't find the file (including the default USERID.CIS). It
handles INTERNET, FAX and SYSOP, ALL type recipients cleanly.
5.6 Other panel
----------------
5.6.1 Jump
-----------
This command will jump to a requested message sequence
number.
The default message to jump to is the message that was just
previously displayed. The message UP, message DOWN and search
facility do not affect what the "just previously displayed"
message is considered to be.
If a message that does not match the current filter settings
is moved to, a display of the message will be forced regardless,
and the #### of #### on the status line blinks.
The global hot key for this command is the J key.
The [TAB] key is an alternate global hot that will do a
"J", using the default "last message number", useful for comparing
two messages quickly. In other words [TAB] = J + [Enter]
Mouse users can click on the first line of the message
header (eg. #: 33523 S2/Scripts and Tools) to execute the
equivalent of a [TAB] command. (mouse hot zones are active only
when there are no menu panels pulled down)
5.6.2 Jump ROOT
----------------
The root of a message is the message that the current one is
in answer to. The root message number, if present, is displayed
at the beginning of the Sb: line. This number is assigned by
CompuServe, NOT Recon. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 91
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Choosing this option will let you immediately jump to the
ROOT of the current message, the global hot key is AltJ.
If a message that does not match the current filter settings
is moved to, a display of the message will be forced regardless,
and the #### of #### on the status line blinks.
Mouse users can click on the third line of the message
header (eg. Sb: #33523-Recon is Hot) to execute the equivalent of
a Jump ROOT command. (mouse hot zones are active only when
there are no menu panels pulled down)
5.6.3 Tag message
------------------
A message Tag is a temporary bookmark in the file. You can
Tag a message with Other|Tag message, the global hot key is AltT.
You can then quickly jump back to such a Tagged message by
using the Other|GO Tagged option, the global hot key is AltG.
5.6.4 Goto Subject
-------------------
Choosing this option will generate an alphabetically sorted
popup pick list of all of this message file's subjects. You can
then jump to the beginning of any thread by choosing its message
subject.
The global hot key is G.
5.6.5 Edit
-----------
This option with a global hot key of E has a submenu
allowing you to edit the current THREAD's or current message's
subject, all of the MARKed messages' subjects, the current
message's number (if it is an OUTBOX message), or the current
message's "in reply to" number.
If your editing causes enough change to the file that a
resort is potentially required, you should eventually resort.
(section 5.6.8) If you try to resave the file before Resorting
it, then in CONFIRMmode you will be warned that a Resort is
probably required.
5.6.5.1 Edit: THREAD/message/MARKed subject(s)
------------------------------------------------
The procedure for editing a THREAD subject, an individual
message subject, or ALL MARKED message subjects is similar, except
for its effect. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 92
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The option for editing the subject allows you to pick a
subject already present in the file, to further edit such a
subject or the current subject, or to enter a completely new
subject.
You are first presented with a popup pick list of all of the
message file subjects. You may choose one of these as the
starting point, or for THREAD/message subject editing just press
[Esc], this will get you the current THREAD/message subject.
You are then given a chance to further edit this tentative
new subject. If you then press [Esc] the whole procedure will
be aborted, if you press [Enter] then after a confirmation the
change will be implemented.
5.6.5.2 Edit: message number
------------------------------
Choosing this option will pop up a text entry box giving you
the current message number, and allowing you to edit in a new
message number.
Pressing [Esc] will abort the procedure, [Enter] will
implement the change after a confirmation. Only OUTBOX message
numbers can be edited.
5.6.5.3 Edit: message "in reply to" number
--------------------------------------------
Choosing this option will pop up a text entry box giving you
the current "in reply to" number, and allowing you to edit it.
You can remove the "in reply to" number by changing it to 0
(zero).
Pressing [Esc] will abort the procedure, [Enter] will
implement the change after a confirmation.
5.6.6 Print
------------
This command has a submenu allowing you to print the current
message, the current THREAD, ONLY NEW messages, ALL MARKed
messages, or the file INDEX. In addition you can generate a form
feed.
If Recon suspects that the printer is NOT ready then it will
first give you a reminder to double check the printer. If you in
error go ahead anyway, Recon should handle the DOS critical error
if it occurs, and allow you to retry.
With the ONLY NEW and ALL MARKED choices you may also
specify an optional form feed to separate threads. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 93
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A header line is printed at the top of the printout
indicating the FORUM and the file that the message group
originated in. The global hot key for this command is Shf[F7].
5.6.7 Index
------------
The global hot key for this option is I.
Mouse users can click on the middle line of the local index
box, the one that corresponds to the current message, as a special
mouse shortcut.
In the resulting display, the first number is the Recon
message sequence number. The six space column field shows the
flags for that message. (N for New, X for outboX, A for
Announcement, ? for a possible duplicate, D for marked for
Deletion and H for a message HOLD)
Just like in the small five line local index, hash marks are
used to indicate that a message is currently marked.
The full screen index reflects the filter settings, the filter
included message lines will be in bold.
You can toggle the FILTERs ON and OFF while viewing the
full screen index. This is especially useful when using the
BRANCH filter - that will also give you a good idea of what the
BRANCH filter actually does.
For regular forum files, the next two columns show the
CompuServe assigned message number and the forum section number.
(OUTBOX messages may not be assigned a section)
The rest of the columns show the message date, the message
subject, and the message "Fm:" and the message "To:" fields.
UserID's are stripped leaving only names.
Note that your UserID is recognized and your name is replaced
with <self>.
A number of the Navigate and Action panel options are
available in the full screen index, press the [F1] key for a
help screen.
Mouse users can navigate through these messages, much like
any other picklist.
To jump to a message of interest just highlight and choose
that specific message, you will then return to the regular viewing
screen. To return to the same message you started out with
(before the index display) press [Esc]. Any marking or deleting
you have done WILL NOT be removed by using the [Esc] key.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 94
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6.8 Sort file
----------------
You may wish to resort the loaded file into an order
different from the current default order. Also when you edit the
message file headers (section 5.6.5) then a resort may become
necessary to fully sort out the message file again.
Choosing this option brings up the submenu:
│▒Sort▒file▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
╘═╒═══ ReSort file ════╕╛
│▒▒do▒it▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ────────────────── │
│ CIS Thread sort │
│ MCS ON │
│ threads by DATE │
│ GROUP sections │
╘════════════════════╛
After a confirmation "do it" executes a resort of the current
file with the specified parameters. These parameters can be
toggled in this menu panel by selecting them.
The default values are all stored in the Recon Settings file
Recon2.SET, and the session sorting defaults can be changed
interactively in this panel, or with File|Edit Settings (section
5.1.7). Use File|Save Settings to make the settings permanent.
(section 5.1.8)
5.6.8.1 Sort: CIS Thread sort/date time sort
----------------------------------------------
CompuServe "keeps" messages in Thread order, it should be
stressed that this is NOT a simple chronological sort.
CompuServe thread order is a rather complex order, that sorts
all replies to a given message (the root) together, ONLY if they
don't have replies themselves otherwise these replies are listed
first, and so on for each "level" of replies. This will result in
a simple chronological sort only under a minority of
circumstances, unless there are only two participants in the
thread.
As an example consider the following group of six messages,
message #1 was the start of this thread, (the root) then message
#2 was a reply to #1, and then #3 was reply to #1, #4 a reply to
#3, and #5 and #6 were replies to #2.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 95
-------------------------------------------------------------------
msg#1 (root)
│
├── msg#2 ── msg#5
│ │
│ └─ msg#6
│
└── msg#3 ── msg#4
thread sort gives: 1 2 5 6 3 4
date/time sort gives: 1 2 3 4 5 6
This well demonstrates that a simple date/time sort fails to
really give you an idea as to who is responding to who, as a
result it wouldn't give you the context of the message
interchange.
The initial default for Recon is to sort into an order (CIS
Thread sort) which mirrors the order that CompuServe "keeps"
messages within a thread.
You can instead have Recon sort into simple date/time order
by toggling this option. HOWEVER you probably should not leave
this as the default (date/time sort) as this will DISABLE some of
Recon's ability to fix up OUTBOX messages, as part of this ability
keys on finding messages in true CompuServe thread order.
5.6.8.2 Sort: MAIL correspondent sort ON/OFF
------------------------------------------------
Your CompuServe MAIL files will always contain only messages
FROM you or TO you, unlike in Forums there cannot be any messages
between two other users.
Recon's initial default is to sort the messages in CompuServe
MAIL sourced files by the correspondent rather than by subject.
Within each correspondent group, that is all messages TO or FROM a
given UserID, the messages are sorted chronologically.
You can disable this special (CompuServe MAIL correspondent)
sort by toggling to MCS OFF. This will result in your CompuServe
MAIL sourced files being sorted in the same manner as general
forum messages.
This setting is ignored when the file is not a CompuServe
MAIL sourced file.
5.6.8.3 Sort: threads by DATE/SUBJECT
---------------------------------------
This setting affects the order that a whole group of messages
sharing the same subject (a thread) is sorted into with respect to Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 96
-------------------------------------------------------------------
other whole groups of messages having other subjects. (other
threads) This has NO EFFECT on how individual messages are sorted
within a thread.
Selecting threads by DATE (the initial default) will sort
the thread groups into oldest first, newest last, by the date and
time of the newest message in each thread. Toggling to threads
by SUBJECT will sort the thread groups into alphabetical order by
each thread subject.
5.6.8.4 Sort: GROUP/IGNORE sections
-------------------------------------
This setting affects whether groups of threads sharing the
same section are sorted together. This has NO EFFECT on how
individual messages are sorted within a thread, nor on the order
that threads (in the same section) are sorted with respect to each
other.
Selecting GROUP sections (the initial default) will sort
threads with a common section together. Toggling to
IGNORE sections disables this grouping, and sections are totally
ignored as a sort criteria.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 97
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6 BATCH mode
=============
A potential major use of Recon is to periodically (daily or
weekly) and summarily sort, prune and age your message files. For
this common use, one might use BATCH mode. After the command line
is typed, no further user interaction is required.
However you should also note that when Recon loads files in
INTERACTIVE it does essentially the same processing. As such you
may wish to reserve Recon BATCH for cleaning up files that you
seldom load with Recon in INTERACTIVE mode.
To run Recon in BATCH mode use the following command line:
RECON [<filespec>] /B [/TAGE:###] [/MAGE:###] [/DEL]
[/A] [/ALLFOR] [/ANN:x]
Any of the other non-BATCH specific command line parameters
(section 4) can also be used in BATCH mode to modify Recon's
actions. A description of the BATCH mode specific parameters
follows.
6.1 BATCH mode: <filespec> and /B parameter
---------------------------------------------
By default Recon runs in INTERACTIVE mode, to run it in BATCH
mode include the parameter /B in the command line. Example:
RECON /B
If you wish to BATCH process, for instance a group of
messages that have been split off and archived to a different
file, then you will need to use the filespec parameter. For
example if you have some old messages from the IBMHW forum stored
in a file named IBMDISK.THD, and IBMDISK.THD is in your regular
TAPCIS STORAGE directory, use the following command line:
RECON ibmdisk.thd /B
DOS wildcard filespec characters are supported, if you have a
number of such files, all with a "THD" extension in the TAPCIS
STORAGE directory, you could use the following command line:
RECON *.thd /B
If the files are not in the TAPCIS STORAGE directory then you
must use the full pathname with the filename, for example if you
have renamed your old .SAV files to .VLD, and they have been moved
to the "c:\tap\arch" directory, use the following command line:
RECON c:\tap\arch\*.vld /B Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 98
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In Recon BATCH the default filename extension is "SAV" hence
the following command line:
RECON c:\tap\arch\ibmhw /B
is equivalent to:
RECON c:\tap\arch\ibmhw.sav /B
6.2 BATCH mode THREAD AGEing: /TAGE:###
-----------------------------------------
There is an INTERACTIVE mode equivalent to BATCH AGEing, see
sections 3.12 and 5.1.4.
Including this parameter in the command line in BATCH mode
directs Recon to age threads. If you do not include this
parameter, then no thread AGEing will take place at all. The
/TAGE parameter is invalid if used in the absence of the /B
parameter, ie in INTERACTIVE mode.
The argument for the parameter must be numeric. (or blank)
If not specified then for all files other than .MSG files, the
default GLOBAL value as stored in Recon2.SET is used. If the file
to be processed is a .MSG file then the default FORUM value for
that file is taken if specified, otherwise the GLOBAL value is
used. See sections 5.1.7 and 5.1.8 for editing and setting Recon
Settings.
The initial default value is 30 days, a typical value might
be 8 days. To use the default set value use the parameter:
RECON /TAGE
To override the default setting for only this session use the
following line:
RECON /TAGE:4
The age of a thread is determined from the date of its most
recent message. AGEing consists of first deleting threads from
the current file that are older than the number of days chosen,
then optionally appending these to an .OLD file. Appending them
is the default. (see also section 6.4)
The file that aged messages are appended to always takes the
form of forum_name.OLD, where forum_name is the name of the forum
of origin of that message. The .OLD files are placed in the
TAPCIS storage directory.
Announcements within .MSG files are treated a little
differently. All of the not NEW (old) announcements are aged if
AGEing is specified, regardless of their age.
Under no circumstances will a NEW message or announcement be Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 99
-------------------------------------------------------------------
aged.
Pseudo "announcement messages" as captured and generated by a
FRONTEND TAPCIS script and stored in the MAIL.MSG file are aged
as a normal message, not as an announcement.
6.3 BATCH mode message AGEing: /MAGE:###
------------------------------------------
There is an INTERACTIVE mode equivalent to BATCH AGEing, see
sections 3.12 and 5.1.4.
Including this parameter in the command line in BATCH mode
directs Recon to age single messages. If you do not include this
parameter, then no message AGEing will take place at all. The
/MAGE parameter is invalid if used in the absence of the /B
parameter, ie in INTERACTIVE mode.
The argument for the parameter must be numeric. (or blank)
If not specified then for all files other than .MSG files, the
default GLOBAL value as stored in Recon2.SET is used. If the file
to be processed is a .MSG file then the default FORUM value for
that file is taken if specified, otherwise the GLOBAL value is
taken. See sections 5.1.7 and 5.1.8 for information on how to
Edit and Save Recon Settings.
The initial default value is 60 days, a typical value might
be 15 days. To use the default set value use the parameter:
RECON /MAGE
To override the default setting for only this session use the
following line:
RECON /MAGE:10
The age of a message is simply determined by its date.
AGEing consists of deleting messages from the current file that
are older than the number of days chosen, then optionally
appending these to an .OLD file. Appending them is the default.
(see also section 6.4)
The file that aged messages are appended to always takes the
form of forum_name.OLD, where forum_name is the name of the forum
of origin of that message. The .OLD files are placed in the
TAPCIS storage directory.
Announcements within .MSG files are treated a little
differently. All of the old announcements are aged if AGEing is
specified, regardless of the MAGE "days" parameter.
Under no circumstances will a NEW message or announcement be
aged.
Pseudo "announcement messages" as captured and generated by a Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 100
-------------------------------------------------------------------
FRONTEND TAPCIS script and stored in the MAIL.MSG file are aged
as a normal message, not as an announcement.
6.4 BATCH mode: the /DEL parameter
------------------------------------
The /DEL parameter directs Recon NOT to append aged messages
and/or threads to the corresponding .OLD file. Hence under such
circumstances all aged messages will be "completely" removed and
DELeted.
The /DEL parameter is invalid if used in the absence of the
/B parameter, ie in INTERACTIVE mode, or in the absence of either
the /MAGE of /TAGE parameters. Example use:
RECON *.JNK /B /TAGE:45 /MAGE:60 /DEL
Be CAUTIOUS with the use of this parameter.
6.5 BATCH mode: the /A parameter
----------------------------------
In the unusual instance where you need to force reprocessing
of all of a group of your message files, even if they have not
APPARENTLY changed since the last Recon processing, include the /A
parameter:
RECON *.SAV /B /A
Such a circumstance might arise if you have had trouble with
your DOS clock setting or perhaps when first running a new version
of Recon. (this is not required for versions so far) The /A
parameter is invalid if used in the absence of the /B parameter,
ie in INTERACTIVE mode.
6.6 BATCH mode: the /ALLFOR parameter
---------------------------------------
When you direct Recon to process your .MSG files by including
an appropriate filespec parameter then Recon will limit its
processing to only those .MSG files that correspond to previously
selected (active) forums in the current TAPCIS PARAMS file.
You can indicate to Recon to ignore this restriction, by
including the /ALLFOR parameter in the command line. For
example:
RECON *.MSG /B /ALLFOR Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 101
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6.7 .MSG file annotation, the /ANN parameter
---------------------------------------------
This parameter is needed only for the SEQUENCE B type
procedure for processing message files, (section 1.2) that is if
you BATCH process/age your message files with Recon and then
choose to view the file with the TAPCIS viewer. This would
represent a minority of Recon 2.01 users, but this feature is
still included for upward compatibility.
The ANN parameter has three arguments: OFF, NEW, and ALL.
This determines whether your .MSG files will be annotated. If you
use NEW then only messages new to Recon will be annotated, if
you use ALL then all messages in the .MSG file will annotated.
The default is /ANN:OFF.
.MSG file annotation somewhat augments your abilities within,
and use of the TAPCIS viewer. See section 3.14 in the tutorial
for details.
This annotation is for the benefit of the TAPCIS .MSG file
viewer. As this "annotation" information would be redundant it is
NOT shown in the Recon display.
If you are using Recon for all your message file needs, and
hence not using the message file viewer facility in TAPCIS there
is a slight gain in file save time and file space by using the
default /ANN:OFF parameter setting.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 102
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7 Appendices
=============
7.1 Memory considerations
--------------------------
Recon uses EMS 3.2 calls only, hence any EMS memory or board
that you have will likely be just fine for Recon.
Note that this is eXPANded memory, *NOT* eXTENded
memory, or XMS memory.
This generally means addon boards for AT or XT class
computers with the major exception of the AST REMM driver and a
few others, and QEMM or other EMM driver for 386SX/386/486's.
If you are not sure, just try it, Recon will tell you during
startup if it can use what you have.
As an approximate summary, Recon uses the following amounts
of EMS in the noted precedence order:
For overlays 160k (first, if /EMSOVR specified)
For EMS load space 544k (second)
For DOS Shelling 576k (third)
Total 1280k (approx.)
In order to use EMS for loading, there must be at least about
272k available. If you wish to use EMS for overlays, you will
need a minimum of about 432k. (ie. 272k+160k) If you have less
than this then EMS loading would just slow you down without giving
extra capacity, hence it is not used.
If you have a lot of EMS available, and are using DV or Win3,
set the Recon window maximum available EMS to at least 1328k.
7.2 Updating from 1.80/1.80a
------------------------------
For the most part your update should be smooth and
effortless. The interface for 2.01 is similar, and the context
sensitive help should provide enough hints for you to get up to
speed quickly.
You can install Recon 2.01 directly on top of Recon
1.80/1.80a, (or older version) or if you prefer, you install it to
a new directory. Be very careful not to mix up or mismatch the
Recon.EXE & Recon.OVR files.
When Recon 2.01 starts up, it will look for version 2 format
data files, and not finding any will then look for previous
versions' data files. If it finds these then it will load all Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 103
-------------------------------------------------------------------
your previous settings data, modify it as necessary, and create
new version 2 data files. If you were previously registered, your
serial number will automatically carry over to version 2 as well.
Here are a few notes, and some warnings to alert you to
important ways in which 2.01 differs. The list is by no means
complete, and highlights only those points that you might
otherwise find confusing.
1) Most INTERACTIVE mode related command line parameters
have been *eliminated*, the control of these settings is
now in the Recon2.SET file.
You will be directed by Recon as to which are no longer
supported on startup.
2) A number of the Recon2.SET file (previously Recon.SET)
parameters' syntax have changed. These should be
converted uneventfully when Recon 2.01 first starts up.
DO NOT try to just substitute your Recon.SET file for
Recon2.SET by renaming the file.
3) Recon will create new .SET/.PCK/.DAT files, these will
all be named RECON2.*, your old files will not be
disturbed. So if you need to edit a setting in the .SET
file, be sure to edit the RECON2.SET file, else you will
not effect a change in Recon 2.01.
Because Recon 2.01 uses completely new data files, and
does not disturb Recon 1.80 data files, you can run both
versions concurrently - this may make it a little easier
during switch over.
4) Throughout Recon, wherever a Y[Enter] or a N[Enter]
was required, just the Y or N now suffices. Be
careful that you don't insert an unneeded [Enter] and
go somewhere you had not intended.
5) The [Esc] key is now equivalent to N in all dialogue
boxes.
6) A mouse hot zone has been created for accepting YES
and NO replies as well.
7) The hot keys for Copy/Move/Delete/Mark have been
slightly altered, so as to accommodate Section
operations. Be VERY CAREFUL if you are used to using
the hot keys, review the slight changes first, else you
might get unexpected results.
8) The Mark & UnMARK THREAD to FINISH command (global hot
key Shf[F4]) has been changed, to THREAD {Branch}. See
Action|MARK 5.3.1 and Action|UnMARK 5.3.2. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 104
-------------------------------------------------------------------
9) The global hot key for the NEW filter toggle is changed
to AltW.
10) The filters in Recon 2.01 are now combined as AND
filters, the filters in 1.80 were OR-ed together.
11) By default Recon 2.01 adds OUTBOX copies of messages to
the .MSG file, rather than the .SAV file. This is a
much handier place to have them, as you keep your thread
filled out *in your .MSG file* until you actually
download the CIS copy of your reply. This is the only
way of keeping track of your MAIL file replies.
12) Recon is no longer troubled by imbedded ^Z's or other
line noise, it will clean these up and substitute a
space. You don't need the Filther.EXE program any more,
and SHOULD NOT USE it, as it will on occasion strip new
version 2 markings in the files.
In particular the Filther.EXE program will remove all
Recon 2.01 set HOLDs on messages. (see Action|Hold
5.3.8) If you never used FILTHER don't worry about
this.
7.3 Example Recon2.SET file
----------------------------
* Recon v2.0 SETTINGS file
* This is a straight text file that you can
* freely edit to change the settings' defaults
* Blank lines and lines beginning with a * are ignored,
* leading/trailing spaces and case are not significant
$forum=GLOBAL
CatScanPATH=c:\com\cat\
ReconEDIT1=REDIT.BAT
ReconEDIT2=REDIT2.BAT
scroll=LINE
SNAPOFF=ON
DCHECK=ON
QUIET=ON
BACKUP=ON
EXPERTmode=ON
NEWfilter=ON
CMailReceipt=OFF
allowREformatting=ON
HIDEBOX=ON
cleanANN=ON
deleteAGED=ON
OUTBOX=MSGfile Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 105
-------------------------------------------------------------------
threadAGEdays=10
messageAGEdays=16
fileAGEsize=2000
THREADsort=ON
MCsort=ON
THREADSbyDATE=ON
GROUPsect=ON
STRICTsectSORT=OFF
* Forum-specific settings should be listed below, start each
* section with a $forum=forum_name parameter.
* Most of the View/Send and Sort parameters are supported for
* forum specific use.
$forum=TAPCIS
HIDEBOX=ON
cleanANN=ON
deleteAGED=ON
OUTBOX=MSGfile
threadAGEdays=4
messageAGEdays=9
fileAGEsize=500
THREADsort=ON
THREADSbyDATE=ON
GROUPsect=ON
STRICTsectSORT=OFF
$forum=MAIL
OUTBOX=MSGfile
threadAGEdays=30
messageAGEdays=40
fileAGEsize=1000
deleteaged=OFF
7.4 DESQview
-------------
Recon is DESQview aware, it will handshake with DESQview and
should run perfectly behaved in a nonvirtualized window on a 8088,
286 or 386 machine. In other words you can set "writes directly
to screen" to NO.
7.5 Windows
------------
Recon is not a Windows application but will run full screen
under Win3 enhanced, standard or real mode as a DOS application. Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 106
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7.6 Hardware requirements
--------------------------
You MUST HAVE AT LEAST 350k of free memory available in order
to run Recon. If you try to run Recon with insufficient memory,
it will exit with a error message.
Recon will run under DOS 2.0 or later. With an MDA (IBM
monochrome), Hercules or CGA display card it will run in
monochrome, with an EGA or VGA/superVGA it will run in color.
Recon has been specifically tested and is compatible with
MSDOS 5.0, and DRDOS 5.0.
If you are running a color display card with a monochrome
monitor, for example most laptop computers or a monochrome VGA
setup, then you will likely need the /MONO parameter. (section
4.8)
7.7 Appendix x: Program notes
------------------------------
Maximum number of messages in a file: 2000 (with EMS)
Maximum number of messages in a file: 1000 (NO EMS)
Maximum number of lines in a message: 1000
Maximum number of forums (current & old): 80
Maximum length of paths (characters): 80
Recon adds a character ("" ascii 21) to the top line of a
message header to mark it as already processed, two such
characters if this message's header, message numbers or TO/FROM
lines have been reconstructed. If a message is HELD then it adds
another character to indicate this. ( ascii 127) Although Recon
will not display these characters, other message file viewers
likely will. These should not interfere in any other processing
of the file.
As necessary Recon imbeds "FORUM of origin" information in
new files that it creates. This information is otherwise ignored
and is not displayed by either Recon or TAPCIS. Other message
file utilities that do not strictly follow TAPCIS message file
structure may end up harmlessly displaying this embedded text as
part of the message text of the first message in the file.
Recon creates four small information files, Recon2.DAT,
Recon2.PCK, Recon2.SET, and Recon2.SHL in your TAPCIS STORAGE
directory. These should not occupy much more space than about
4096 bytes each.
Recon2.SHL and Recon2.SET are ASCII text files, and may be
freely edited, see sections 5.1.10 and 5.1.7.
Recon2.PCK and Recon2.DAT are NOT text files, and if you try Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 107
-------------------------------------------------------------------
to view/edit them you will likely corrupt them.
Recon may also create a temporary swap file, RECONSWP.$$$.
You will never see this file unless you crash your computer while
you are in Recon's shell, even so this file will be erased the
next time you shell.
7.8 Sysop functions
--------------------
Recon now has SYSOP features.
To activate the Sysop commands you need a software key, these
features are hidden mainly because if you are not a Sysop and try
to use the Sysop features, especially accidentally, you'll HANG
TAPCIS while it is online.
If you are a Sysop please send me a CMail note with a request
for the Sysop KEY. Please identify the Forum or Forums that you
sysop, and please also supply the name/userid of the PRIMARY Sysop
in your forum.
When unlocked, the Sysop commands are included in the Connect
panel, the global hot key to access the panel is CtlS:
│▒SysOp▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒CtlS▒│
╘═╒════════════════════╕═══╛
│▒Forward▒on▒Board▒▒▒│
│ Forward by mAil │
│ CHAnge sect/subj │
│ Hold ... │
│ sysop DELETE CtlD │
╘════════════════════╛
7.8.1 Forward on Board
-----------------------
A CompuServe sysop command used to forward an existing
message to another recipient within the same forum.
You have the option of leaving the message in the same slot,
or placing it into a new message slot with an optional deletion of
the old message, and you may also send the new message as private.
The dialogue box for these prompts hops onto the mini-index
to allow you to view most of the message.
7.8.2 Forward by MAIL
----------------------
A CompuServe sysop command used to forward an existing Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 108
-------------------------------------------------------------------
message to another recipient through CompuServe MAIL.
You have the option of deleting the old board message.
The dialogue box for these prompts hops onto the mini-index
to allow you to view most of the message.
7.8.3 Change Section/Subject
-----------------------------
A CompuServe sysop command used to move a message, together
with any following message replies, to another section within the
same forum, and/or to optionally change the message subject.
As a very helpful feature, Recon will also immediately
implement that change within your current message file.
You choose the new message subject and section from a popup
picklist.
7.8.4 Hold functions
---------------------
│▒Hold▒...▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│
│ ╒═════════════════╕│
╘═│▒set▒Hold▒ON▒▒▒▒▒│╛
│ set Hold OFF │
│ READ Held │
╘═════════════════╛
A CompuServe sysop command used to HOLD messages from
scrolling. When applied to a given message, it also applies to
all following replies.
You can set a HOLD to ON, or to OFF.
As a very helpful feature, Recon will also immediately
implement that change within your current message file.
You can also request a script to be generated to download all
of the currently HELD messages on the forum.
7.8.5 Sysop Delete
-------------------
This is a special delete message script, it is put into the
sysop panel, and a hot key of CtlD has been added.
You will always be asked for a confirmation, even with
EXPERTmode=ON.
Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 109
-------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Document Index
=================
.$$$. . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 DeleteAGED . . . . . . . . . .67
.$RK. . . . . . . . . 52, 62, 66 DESQview . . . . . . . .102, 105
.OLD. . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Disk space . . . . . . . .52, 66
.TMD. . . . . . . . . . . 56, 88 Distribution policies. . . . . 8
.TMK. . . . . . . . . . . 56, 88 DOS environment variables. . .50
! . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 70 DOWnload . . . . . . . . . . .86
$REXT$. . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Duplicates . . . . . . . . . .21
/A. . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Edit message header. . . . . .91
/ALLFOR . . . . . . . . . . .100 Editor
/ANN. . . . . . . . . . . . .101 external. . . . . . . . .85
/B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Recon . . . . . . . . . .84
/COLOR. . . . . . . . . . . . 53 EMM. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
/DEL. . . . . . . . . . . . .100 EMS. . . . . . . . . . . 64, 102
/EMSOVR . . . . . . . . . . . 53 eXPANded memory. . . . . . . 102
/MAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 EXPERTmode . . . . . . . . . .66
/MONO . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 eXTENded memory. . . . . . . 102
/NOBAK. . . . . . . . . . . . 52 FAX. . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
/NODCHECK . . . . . . . . . . 52 File
/NPH. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 exit. . . . . . . . .62, 64
/P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 load. . . . . . . . . . .59
/Q. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 pick. . . . . . . . . . .61
/TAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 File attribute . . . . . . . .59
/TZADJ. . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Filters
^Z. . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Branch. . . . . . . . . .81
<self>. . . . . . . . . . . . 93 DELETED . . . . . . . . .82
Action panel MARKed. . . . . . . . . .80
hot keys . . . . . . . . 37 NEW . . . . . . . . . . .80
Add-ons . . . . . . . . . 48, 70 UserID group. . . . . . .81
AGEing. . . . . . 38, 42, 62, 98 Filther.EXE. . . . . . . . . 104
allowREformatting . . . . . . 67 FORUM of origin. . . 40, 60, 106
Annotation. . . . . . . .44, 101 FRONTEND script. . . . . .64, 99
Announcements . . . . . . 67, 98 GMT. . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Archiving . . . . . . . . . . 34 Goto Subject . . . . . . . . .91
BACKUP. . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
BATCH Recon . . . . . . . . . 97 HIDEBOX. . . . . . . . . . . .67
BINARY CMail. . . . . . . . . 23 HOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
CatScan . . . . . . . 65, 71, 86 Hot key. . . . . . . . . . . .24
CatScan.LOG . . . . . . . 65, 86 Index
CatScanPATH . . . . . . . . . 65 full screen . . . . .30, 93
cleanANN. . . . . . . . . . . 67 local . . . . . . . .22, 60
CMail Installation . . . . . . . . .10
ASCII. . . . . . . . . . 83 INTERACTIVE Recon. . . . . . .58
BINARY . . . . . . . . . 83 INTERNET . . . . . . . . . . .90
CMailReceipt. . . . . . . . . 67 Jump . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Command line parameters . . . 50 Jump ROOT. . . . . . . . . . .90
CONFIRMmode . . . . . . . . . 66 Laptop . . . . . . . .24, 53, 72
Copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Mail correspondent sort. .73, 95
Correspondent . . . . . . . . 24 MARK . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
DCHECK. . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Mark by AGE. . . . . . . . . .75
Delete. . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Recon (tm) v2.01 (C) 1989-1991 Orest W. Skrypuch page 110
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Message Save. . . . . . . . . . .69
forward. . . . . . . . . 83 Shareware. . . . . . . . . . . 5
PAUSE. . . . . . . . 85, 86 shell MENU . . . . . . . .48, 70
send . . . . . . . . . . 85 SNAPOFF. . . . . . . . . . . .66
write. . . . . . . . . . 82 Sort . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
Monochrome. . . . . . . . . . 53 date/time . . . . . . . .95
Mouse sections. . . . . . . . .96
hot zones. . . . 25, 54, 61 thread. . . . . . . . . .95
scroll bar . . . . . . . 59 split. . . . . . . . . . . . .84
turn off . . . . . . . . 56 Status . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Status line. . . . . . . .22, 60
Navigate. . . . . . . . . . . 72 STICKY . . . . . . . . . . . .66
NEWfilter . . . . . . . . . . 66 STRICTsectSORT . . . . . . . .68
NOMOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Support. . . . . . . . . . . .14
outbox. . .1, 60, 67-69, 95, 104 Swap space . . . . . 56, 70, 102
Overlays. . . . . . . . .53, 102 Syntax error . . . . . . . . .69
PARAMS file . . .48, 51, 52, 55, Sysop. . . . . . 67, 69, 81, 107
64, 70 Tag. . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
PARAMS.NOW. . . . . . . . 52, 71 TapMark. . . . . . . . . .41, 56
Pick list . . . . . . 19, 39, 59 TAPPATH. . . . . . . . . . . .55
Print . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 TappeT . . . . . .41, 56, 71, 88
Printed manual. . . . . . . . .6 advanced marks. . . . . .89
Pulldown menus. . . . . . . . 15 Text entry box . . . . . .17, 29
QEMM. . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Thread marking utility . . . .56
Quiet . . . . . . . . . . 51, 66 Time zone. . . . . . . . . . .54
Quit. . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 TMKPATH. . . . . . . . . .56, 88
RAM disk. . . . . . . . . . . 56 Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . .15
Recon.SET . . . . . . . . . .103 UnMARK . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Recon2.DAT. . . . . . . .48, 106 Updating from 1.80 . . . . . 102
Recon2.PCK. . . . . . . .48, 106 UserID
Recon2.SET. . . .47, 69, 70, 106 add . . . . . . . . . . .89
example. . . . . . . . .104 lookup. . . . . . . . . .89
Recon2.SHL. . . . . .48, 71, 106 What's new . . . . . . . . . . 4
ReconEDIT . . . . . . . . . . 65 Windows 3. . . . . . . .102, 105
ReconEDIT1. . . . . . . . . . 85 WordStar . . . . . . . . . . .84
ReconEDIT2. . . . . . . . . . 85 XMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
RECONSWP.$$$. . . . . . . . .107
Reformat message. . . . . . . 67
Registration. . . . . . . . . .6
Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
REPLY$.$$$. . . . . . . . . . 86
ROOT$.$$$ . . . . . . . . . . 86
RTEMP . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Scripts
DELETE . . . . . . . . . 87
DEselect thread. . . . . 88
read message . . . . . . 87
read subject . . . . . . 88
read thread. . . . . . . 87
Scroll. . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Search. . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Sequence A. . . . . . . . . . .2
Sequence B. . . . . . . . . . .3
Sequence number . . . 23, 28, 31
Settings
edit . . . . . . . . . . 64