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XXX XXX RRRRRRRR SSSSS <tm> XXX XXX RRR RRR SSS SS XXXXXX RRR RRR SSS XXXX RRRRRRRR SSS XXXXXX RRR RRR SSS XXX XXX RRR RRR SS SSS XXX XXX RRR RRR SSSSS eXpress Response System v4.10 "eXpress Response System" (R) Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 by Michael Y. Ratledge, CDP, CSP SysOp of the "East Bay X-Change" RemoteAccess BBS in Charleston, S.C. 21 hours a day at 803/556-7485 (USR HST/14400/V.42bis) or 803/556-7514 (Hayes v9600 'Ultra' V.32/V.42/V.42bis modem) FREQ Only! FidoNet Addresses: 1:1/112, 372/0, 372/666, 372/777, 372/888, 372/6666 Compuserve Information System ID: 76666,1512 Documentation for XRS 4.10 compiled by Ed Meloan Augusta Forum BBS, FidoNet Address: 1:360/1, North Augusta, SC Based on earlier documentation by Barry Wood, Oklahoma City, OK and even earlier documentation by Miles Hoover of Oakton, VA. ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ──│ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ │─┘ Shareware └───│ o │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ MEMBER XRS is written by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make certain 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 Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write: ASP Ombudsman, 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49942 U S A or send a message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 on Compuserve. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page i Table of Contents Overview of XRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 User Supported Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Registering XRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Warranty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Getting a Mailbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Using XRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Reading Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Miscellaneous Topics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 APPENDIX A - Error Messages & Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 APPENDIX B - XRS Files Used & Created . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 APPENDIX C - XRS under Novell NetWare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 APPENDIX D - XRS under Desqview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 APPENDIX E - Checklist for Setting Up XRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 APPENDIX F - Problem Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 APPENDIX G - Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 1 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Overview of XRS ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Chapter 1 ░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ XRS (eXpress Response System) is an offline reader/editor for messages downloaded from computer bulletin board systems. The BBS user is able to configure the message areas that he most desires to read, and is then able to download all the messages from his chosen areas in one packet. He can then read them at his leisure, on his own machine rather than being dependent upon a sysop decided time limit. Currently, you can download messages from TComm, QuickBBS, Remote Access, SuperBBS, Maximus, Opus, XBBS or TPBoard Bulletin Boards. Support for several other BBS systems is being worked on now! The best part of XRS is that the user can also reply to the messages he reads, or even create original messages. The next time the user logs onto the BBS, he uploads these new messages, and they are automatically placed in the BBS message system. Of course, the user can also download a new batch of messages, and start all over again! XRS is extremely easy to use yet very flexible. It allows you to use YOUR time to YOUR advantage, rather than being limited to when you can access the BBS. It also allows the BBS to be free for more callers more often! For those curious ones, XRS is written in C language, using the C-Worthy Interface Library from Solution Systems. This means that XRS easily takes advantage of windowing, editing, video configuration and more! It is also augmented by assembler functions in critical areas plus a binary (external) overlay for native language support, allowing easy translation to any foreign language without requiring any changes to the program itself. If you are interested in translating XRS to your native language (currently English, Dutch, French, German and Swedish are available), please contact the author at 372/6666 (also HST/14400/V.42bis). XRS is best for those people with little time on their hands, or who call long distance for messages. The packet that you download is archived into a smaller package for ease and speed of handling. XRS takes care of all the unpacking, so all you have to do is read messages. Since you aren't online, you can take as long to read them as you like. You can also go answer the door, diaper a kid, or flip the hamburgers without worrying about the dreaded "carrier lost." It's also great for SysOps that manage their BBS remotely! Not only do you get to read messages at your convenience, but you get quoting ability, can backtrack and read a previous message easily, export messages to printer or disk, and even archive them for later reference. You can also quit, go away, and when you return, start up exactly where you left off! XRS is the user side program of a two-program system - the BBS program will be handled briefly under the GETTING A MAILBAG section in this manual. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 2 ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Notice!! ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░║ ╚═══╦═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╦═══╝ ║ If you want to use XRS, please realize that most of ║ ║ the computer bulletin boards that make it available ║ ║ are members of FIDONET. Members of FIDONET make use ║ ║ of a system called "echomail" to transport a message ║ ║ from the originating computer to systems all over ║ ║ the world. I require that you acknowledge your ║ ║ responsibility for any messages placed into these ║ ║ systems before you use XRS, even to 'test drive' it! ║ ║ ║ ║ Sysops who carry echomail pay long distance phone ║ ║ charges to pickup AND deliver the mail you are ║ ║ reading/writing. Please do not take advantage of ║ ║ them, or cause them headaches by posting nasty or ║ ║ irrelevant messages! You MUST enter messages that ║ ║ pertain to the subject matter of the individual ║ ║ echo - if you are not sure - ask your Sysop about ║ ║ it *before* you try it. ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ User Supported Software ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ XRS is Shareware or "User Supported". It is not crippled in anyway, and all features work perfectly even for unregistered users. "User Supported Software" means that you can use it for a short period of time (up to 30 days) and then - if you like it, AND use it - you should register XRS by sending me $30. Otherwise you should erase it from your disk! If you do not send me $30 dollars, the software will continue to work, but you will always get a little advertising banner, and you will have to continue entering the random password/key each time you use beta versions. These are simple reminders that can easily be avoided by registering your copy and receiving a valid (permanent) "PassKey" code from me in return. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Registering XRS ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ There is a short, two-page form at the end of this documentation to mail in with your $30 registration. This will cause me to grant you a "license in perpetuity" (that means forever!) to have/hold/use/delete your copy (and future enhanced versions...) of the eXpress Response System. You will also receive your personalized password key to place into an XRS.KEY file. This key is an eight-digit hexadecimal code produced by a cyclic redundancy algorithm performed on your name. It is unique for each person. Note that this is also in a separate file named "REGISTER.XRS" for ease of printing. Major updates (new x.00 versions) have a requested $5-10 fee. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 3 ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ License ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ You are granted a limited, 30-day review period to test-drive XRS. After that period expires, you *MUST* either register or discontinue using the XRS program and erase it from your disk. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Warranty ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ This software is guaranteed to take up space on your disk. Beyond that, if it breaks in two, you may keep both pieces. I will, of course, fix any known problems that are reported to me with sufficient examples to allow me to find the problem. If you experience an abnormal error, please document the error-codes and messages that you receive so I can fix it! Use <CTRL_F10> to capture a screen-dump into "$XRS$PRT.SCR" if possible. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Hardware Requirements ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ -Computer: Almost any IBM/PC-compatible computer running DOS 2.1 or higher, including many of the not-so-compatible machines. -Disk Drives: At least 2 360K floppies, 1 720K floppy, or preferably a hard drive are required. It might be possible to run an extremely limited copy of XRS on a single 360k floppy, but this would be frustrating for you. -Memory: Need at LEAST 256K free for the overlay version of XRS. Recent overlayed versions will cache overlays in EMS expanded or XMS 2.0 extended RAM if you have 85k or either type RAM free, requiring less 'base' (640k) RAM, yet still operating at the same speed as non-overlayed versions. If you have more than 300K free, try the non-overlay version. XRS dynamically allocates memory required to display lists and menus, and therefore the more messages in your mailbag, the more memory it will require to operate efficiently. Larger screen sizes (43x80 or 50x80) also slightly increase memory usage. A very large mailbag may need as much as 200K more dynamic memory (RAM) for all functions to work, but a typical one (less than 200 messages) only needs the memory listed above. -Mouse: A Microsoft driver is required if you want to play with a rodent. Logitech mice with Microsoft-compatible drivers work fine. XRS automatically knows that a driver is installed and will allow you to use the little critter. For some more info, see CONFIGURATION. -Monitor: Color is preferable, since XRS makes extensive use of color. Unless you have it set differently, XRS will make the best use it can of the color card (for example, 43-line mode for EGA). Monochrome monitors can, of course, be used. See CONFIGURATION for more on color modes. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 4 ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Credits ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ eXpress Response System (R) is a registered trademark of Mike Ratledge, Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Copyrights (c) registered 1988-91, also protected in any foreign countries recognizing the Bern copyright convention. XRS, QMX, and RAX are all trademarks of Mike Ratledge and D.E.S.C.U., also protected by registered Copyrights (c) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991. C-Worthy Interface Library and "Brief - the programmer's editor" are both registered trademarks, Copyright (c) 1987, 88, 89, 90 by Solution Systems and Custom Design Systems. TComm and TCommNet are trademarks and/or copyrighted by Larry Jordan and The CommSoft Group, written by Jan van der Eyjk. RemoteAccess is a trademark of Continental Software. QuickBBS is a trademark of The QuickBBS Group, Inc. (?) FidoNet is a registered trademark of Tom Jennings of Fido Software. PKZip, PKArc, PKUnZip, and PKXArc are trademarks of Phil Katz and PKWare. Lotus is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corp. NetWare is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc LHARC was created by "Yoshi". XMX (the XBBS mail interface) was written by Bob Butler. XBBS was written by Mark Kimes. Many, many people have contributed ideas, thoughts and direction to the current version of XRS and their contributions are greatly appreciated! Many thanks to my Beta Bashers! eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 5 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Installation ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Chapter 2 ░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ * * * READ THIS * * * You MUST have a mailbag downloaded from a BBS in order to run XRS. You will NOT be able to run XRS without some of the files that the BBS will send you. I am going to tell you everything about setting up XRS before telling you how to run it. HOWEVER, this does not mean that you have to do all of the following setup work to run XRS. You *can* run it right "out of the box." However that will put limits on the extreme flexibility of the program. To actually run XRS doesn't really even require reading this manual since it is extremely intuitive and easy to use. For XRS you will need the following files on your disk (for floppy disks, see CONFIGURATION/FLOPPY DISKS). If using a hard drive, a separate subdirectory is recommended (preferably named "\XRS"). ----The following files come with the XRS program and are required to RUN the XRS program. Beginning with version 3.45, all XRS$*.DAT and the RESPONSE.HLP files are merged into a single file named "XRS$ALL.DTA". The *$XRS.OVL files are also obsolete. (You should delete the old files.) XRS$CORE.RTL - RTLink+ "Run-time Library" XRS$ALL.DTA - C-Worthy messages, help and error message overlay RESPONSE.EXE - "XRS" Response program itself (generic) RESP_286.EXE - (V20/30 - 80286+ processors) RESP_OVL.EXE - Turbo/overlayed generic version *OR* RESP_RTL.EXE - Turbo/overlayed V20/30-80286+ version ----The following files come with the XRS program, are optional, and are not required for it to run (but do help): CONFIG.XRS - "XRS" configuraion file (you may modify the provided CONFIG.DMO file and rename to CONFIG.XRS) USERLIST.DMO - Sample Userlist (rename USERLIST.XRS to use) XRS.KEY - Only sent to registered users - contains passkey SAMPLE.ORG - Example custom origins line file eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 6 ----The following files are included when downloading a MailBag from a bulletin board supporting XRS and are required for the program to run (changing any of these files will cause "XRS" to fail). When you unpack a new mailbag, any of these files that are old will be deleted: MAIL?IDX.XRS - Message information index pointer file BAT?MAIL.XRS - Actual text of the messages selected AREAS?.XRS - Listing of the message areas authorized USER?.XRS - Control file containing name, address, etc. SUMMARY?.XRS - Index, summary and other statistics (<F6> displays it) ----These files are optional, but used by XRS if found: ACCESS?.XRS - Message areas access information ZIP_ONLY.XRS - Type of packer index, deleted by XRS when unpacked. ARC_ONLY.XRS - Type of packer index, deleted by XRS when unpacked. xxxxxxxx.XRS - Special file. Named by the Sysop. Should be different for each BBS. If it is named EZBOARD?.XRS, tell your SysOp to read his RA/QMX documentation better! This will allow you to tell from which board you downloaded the messages! *Note: "?" is always replaced by '1' or the node number you signed onto if a multi-node BBS. ----The following files are created by "XRS" Response when running - *never* change these files!: RESPONSE.XRS - Outgoing message header information ??.MSG - Actual messages you create ('??' = 1 to 99) XRS_PACK.$$? - Indicates the last used MailBag sequence number BAG_ID.XRS - Retains the name of the mailbag (from where it came) ----The following files are created by "XRS" when it is run and may be modified online or manually. Any of these files may be deleted: ORIGIN.XRS - Contains the outgoing message "Brag Line" banner ARCHIVED.XRS - Contains all messages you have marked with "TAG" XRS_PACK.LOG - Log of outgoing messages which have been MailBagged XRSCOLOR.BIN - Maintains your color schemes selected with <SHIFT_F7> eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 7 ----A single outgoing FidoNet-style MailBag is created to send back to the BBS from which the messages were downloaded. The name of this packet is unique. It reflects YOUR system *and* the system you get your mail from. You can write DOS batch files to control this file for uploading. The filename conforms to the following conventions: xxxxxxxx.SU?, .MO?, .TU?, .WE?, .TH?, .FR? or .SA? (depending on the day-of-the-week). *** DO NOT CHANGE THIS FILE ! *** It should be uploaded back to the BBS on your next call and then DELETED! Note: (xxxxxxxx) indicates the Hexadecimal address for the BBS and user number; it will always remain the same, such as 75deff85.* so batch files can be made for automated uploading and downloading. ----Somewhere on your PATH, you must have whichever packer you prefer to use. It should be either PKZip, PKArc, or LHArc. You should have the appropriately named unpacker handy also (PKUnZip, PKXArc, or LHArc). For consistency, use the same type packer and unpacker. You choose your packing protocol when you are logged onto the BBS and choose your desired message areas. See also "PACKER" in the CONFIGURATION section. Since XRS always tries PKZip first, you do *not* need "PACKER PKZIP" in CONFIG.XRS! ----As noted above, you will need to get a mailbag from a BBS that supports XRS. See GETTING MAILBAG for more details. Recent versions of the mailbag extractors use "Named Mailbags" which reflect the name of the BBS from which they were obtained (EBAYXCH1.ZXR, AGFORUM1.ZXR). Older mailbags are named BAT?MAIL.* ("?" being a number designating the node, usually a "1" --- "*" being the extension used by a packer, ie: "ZIP" for a zipped archive). Here's an IMPORTANT CHANGE in version 4.10 Earlier versions of XRS allowed you to change the XRS colors by using an external program. Beginning with version 4.10 you may adjust your colors by pressing <SHIFT_F7>. Setting colors changes or creates a small file (XRSCOLOR.BIN). Do NOT delete this file unless you want your colors to return to the defaults. Your CONFIG.XRS file is also updated with a new XRSCOLOR xxxxxxx statement assuming you confirm you want the new colors saved. If you don't, they are in effect for only that session. The old XRSColor.EXE is now obsolete and can be deleted. ****FLOPPY DISKS As stated previously, you generally need at least 2 360K floppy disk drives or one larger floppy to effectively run XRS. A hard disk is much preferred. The best way is to put all the XRS files on, say A:, and the mail files on B: -- you then log on B: and type "A:RESPONSE" -- you may also set a PATH statement (see your DOS manual for details). Using any command line parameter disables the music on registered AND unregistered copies, plus disables many of the normal beeps. Example: "Response x" (aren't you glad you're still reading?) eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 8 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Configuration ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Chapter 3 ░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ As noted in INSTALLATION, an optional file named CONFIG.XRS can be used by XRS. This file is a plain ASCII text file. The file is actually very important to the functioning of the program. It is this file that allows the maximum flexibility of XRS to be utilized by you. With CONFIG.XRS you can setup XRS to behave exactly as you prefer. It is recommended that you "play around" with the many options available till you get it just right. Each parameter must be on a separate line in this plain ASCII text file! A semicolon (";") at the beginning of a line can be used for commenting, or for turning OFF that option. To turn off the option, you may also merely *not* include it in the file... CONFIG.XRS is *not* case-sensitive, EXCEPT in the external editor parameter "%s". Each option that has an asterisk ("*") to the right of it is also available as an ON/OFF toggle while inside the XRS program from the <F4> hot-keyed configuration (see USING XRS). Note: =RECENT= parameters are indicated with "++++" instead of "----". ----"Preload summary" This forces XRS to dynamically allocate space for, and preload the summary/index detail information into memory. This allows for super-fast access, and saves the program from reading the disk each time. ----"Flip Heading" This is primarily for RemoteAccess/QuickBBS users. It switches lines 1 and 2 (TO: and FROM:) of the screen during message display to make it look more like QuickBBS or RA message displays as viewed on the BBS. ----"Nuke Garbage" * Strips extra origin lines (zone gates, etc.) and other miscellaneous unnecessary stuff from the messages. ----"Quote Header" * The Unix-style quote header defaults to OFF, so if you want a header you must have this parameter in the CONFIG.XRS file. The header has the name of the person quoted, who he was writing to, the date of the original message and some other interesting info. A lot of people like this one... This information goes at the top of a quoted reply. ----"Quote Kludge" * Permits the quoting of both the tear line(s) and origin lines. These are the lines at the bottom of each echomail message that tell you what editor was used to write the message (tear line), and the "address" from which the message originated from. Without this option, these extra lines are stripped from the quoted reply. ----"One Tear" Strips all but one tear line from the messages. Makes things much neater, especially for quoted messages. It will display the first one found in each message. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 9 ----"No Blink" * Turns off blinking of any highlights on the screen. ----"Auto Cycle" * When ON, the "Auto Cycle" option in both CONFIG.XRS and the <F4> configuration window, forces XRS to select the next available message area to be read when finished reading the area last selected (or the last area that was auto-selected). Note: When you run out of new, unread messages the auto-cycle feature is automagically turned off. ----"InDir d:\comm\" Tells XRS to search another disk or subdirectory for its inbound mailbags (instead of the current directory). Parameter =MUST= point to a path and NOT a filename! If you use this, XRS no longer searches the current (default) sub-directory. ----"eXport d:\xrs\savetext.out" This parameter allows overriding the default EXPORT path or device. The default is PRN: (your printer). If you specify something different here, which becomes the new default. You may change it to a different device, or, as in the above example, send it to a text file. You may also change this "on-the-fly" when you are using the eXport option. ----"FirstDo x" This parameter allows you to automatically perform your "normal" first step by basically storing the keystroke you would use from the main menu. Valid settings are "Select", "Read", "Edit" and "All Read Chronological". The routine only looks at the first character... ++++"Editor C:\UTIL\QEdit.exe %s" To setup to use your (optional) external editor, use the following and be sure to include "%s" somewhere in the command-line so XRS knows where to substitute the filename for your editor. Beginning with version 4.10, you may include the pathname with the filename. If not included, XRS will search the DOS path. The examples given are just examples! You may have parameters both before and/or after "%s" on the command-line. Note: You *have* to put "%s" in somewhere (and "%S" won't work!) or the editor will not know which file it's supposed to be editing... ;Editor P-Edit.Exe %s ;Editor m:\bin\sed.com /q /f%s ;Editor QEdit.Exe %s ;Editor B.Exe /d %s /x ----"Swap x" This option is recommended. First it tries to swap all memory to a block of LIM/EMS memory. If "No EMS" or it fails, the program will then swap to the current directory. ----"No EMS" To disable Swap even trying to swap to LIM/EMS memory (forcing swap to use disk instead), use this option. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 10 SWAP should permit XRS to run in approximately 300k of free RAM. If LIM/EMS memory is used, the number of 16k pages allocated is displayed. This routine also automagically removes the swapfile or deallocates the LIM/EMS memory when you exit from the DOS shell or the packer/unpacker. All external program calls use the swapping once enabled. The "hook" I leave in memory for reloading the program is only about 4k total. If you are hard up for memory, then you should use the overlayed version of XRS! If some options don't seem to work, especially if working with large mailbags, then you don't have enough memory (for example, the <F6> index / summary window for large (>200 messages) mailbags might not pop up). Using an overlayed version with 640k RAM you can read a full mailbag of 995 messages and access all special functions. Note: A parameter ('x') to designate the swap file disk may be included if there is no LIM memory but there is a VDISK, or you want to swap to a drive other than the one from which you run XRS. Example: "SWAP G" - A path cannot be specified. The file is always SWAP!XRS.$$$ - please do not mess with that file!! (for your own good!) All files are flushed when shelling to DOS, so nothing will be lost if you forget to exit back and cut the machine off, for instance. Note: The swapping algorithms are highly modified versions of those published in Dr. Dobbs' Journal by Kim Kokkonen of TurboPower Software. Thanks to Greg Dawson for a few tricks in interfacing Kim's "Pascal"-flavored code to "C", and to Joaquim Homrighausen for pointing out how to easily retrieve executed programs' errorlevel. ----"Config Snap" * To make the <F4> Configuration Pop-up window "Snap" away like in previous versions: (it now sticks until you use <ESC>ape to send it away). (since you can access this option from the configuration window, if you have it turned "on", you may select it first to make the window "stick" until you are finished with configuration changes, then select it again to return to "Snap away" usage like older versions.) ----"TimeAdjust 20" In order to somewhat "tame" the onscreen time display, you may want to set this number higher than the default of 8 for non-overlayed versions and 16 for overlayed versions. It defines how many times the background routine skips execution before checking to see if another second has elapsed. ----"No Mouse" * This will disable the mouse cursor even if you have a mouse driver enabled. If XRS still causes problems with the mouse, try using this command "SET CWMOUSE=NO" before running the program. ++++"PIDS" Causes XRS to a PID rather than displaying the XRS information on the tearline. The tearline becomes "---". Without this parameter, the tear line will be the same as earlier versions and no PID will be used. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 11 ----"SetPelWidth 14" and "SetPelHeight 8" IF you are using one of the new 43-, 50-line screen drivers it does not automatically adjust the number of pels per mickey on the mouse for your specific hardware. Activate one or both of these parameters if the mouse cannot reach the right side (SetPelWidth) or bottom (SetPelHeight) of the window normally - that iS its only purpose! (you will notice this immediately, because the menu-bars at the bottom will not allow picking the correct items - they will be skewed to the left slightly.) The reason this parameter is needed is that VGA screens always display EGA mode text in 8x16 pel text boxes instead of 8x14 which is normal for EGA modes. Also note that this has *NO* effect on your video mode - you must be in the proper (i.e. 80x43 or 80x50) text mode when you start XRS! I have not found *any* video controller that requires adjusting Pixel Height, but it is included just in case someone needs it. ; (for 80x25 on non-standard EGA?) SetPelWidth 14 ; (for 80x25 on non-standard VGA?) SetPelWidth 16 ; (should *never* need adjusting!) SetPelHeight 8 ----"Mode 50" First off, recognize what will happen automatically *without* a MODE statement. If you have a monographic monitor, or a CGA monitor, you don't need the statement at all. Your display will be 25x80. If you have a good EGA or VGA card, the program will automatically recognize this, and set you at 43x80 or 50x80 respectively. If you have EGA or VGA and want 25x80 display, then you can do it one of two ways. You can set "Mode 3" in the CONFIG.XRS file, or in your DOS environment you can "SET XRS=X" either through a batch file, or at the command line. The easiest way, of course, is with the Mode statement. If you have a EGA or higher resolution video card that supports changing into the non-standard text modes via either direct "special" mode numbers or loading special parameters into the normal _AX and the extended mode into the _BX register, you can use this parameter to set your video automatically as soon as the configuration file is read. If only the mode needs to be sent in _AX, enter a single *decimal* value to use for the extended mode. If your video card uses the "special" mode setting via the _BX, you must specify what codes go into _AH and _AX after the mode number (i.e. three *decimal* values). NOTE! *ONLY* 80-column modes are supported at this time. Check your monitor manual for details. ; Set many "extended" EGA cards to 50 line mode ;Mode 50 ; Set Video7 VRAM or FastWrite to 60x80 mode ;Mode 43 111 5 Using "Mode 3" will override the extended screensize and use the normal everyday 25x80, but more of each message can be displayed otherwise. You may also use a SET statement before running XRS ("SET XRS=X") which will override automatic setting of EGA or VGA extended screensize modes. XRS can use 28-, 33-, 36-, 40-, 60-line hardware fonts loaded before starting the program (use "SET XRS=X" in this case to disable autosizing display). eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 12 ----"Mono Dim" Some people really prefer milder displays on monochrome screens, so I have added this parameter to tone down the message display colors. Using it will cause all the text attributes to have the "intense" bit stripped before text is displayed. (primarily for Mono, but works to dim bright colors in color modes, too) ----"Packer xxxxx" This particular option allows you to specify a specific packer to be used for archiving outbound messages. If this option is NOT in CONFIG.XRS, then XRS will try PKZip, LHArc, and PKArc in that order. ----"BundlePath C:\XRS\OUTBOUND" If this parameter is missing, then XRS will pack up your replies and leave them in the default directory. You may change this with this parameter, showing what path to use to store your reply bundle. Trailing backslash is optional, but the parameter *must* be a sub-directory name! ----"UserList D:\BINKLEY\FIDOUSER.LST" This is for addressing netmail. Netmail is mail that goes directly to a system, rather than through the links of echomail. It is used mostly by sysops. Some sysops allow users access to netmail, but almost always require money in advance to pay for the long-distance charges. XRS *always* searches for USERLIST.XRS in the current directory first! If you have a list of names and fidonet addresses (in the format: lastname, firstname address ---- Ratledge, Mike 372/666), then XRS can automatically look up the address of the person to which you are sending a message. If you have this enabled, when XRS asks you for the address, you simply hit the <insert> key. XRS will automatically look up the address for you. You need to have the full path AND name of the file in CONFIG.XRS. Also, within the text file, the right edge of the addresses must all be "flush right" in the column, regardless of the length of the address. The addresses need to start at column 31 or higher. The names should be in ascending alphabetical order (starting with A, ending with Z). You may have up to TWO userlists (with paths). If you use NETMAIL, and are replying to some netmail, you will see a couple of strange lines in your reply - it will be something like ^aREPLYID:xxxxx ("xxxxx" being numbers) DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINE! It is important for netmail, so it gets where you want it to go! ----"Internal Editor" To force use of the internal editor BY DEFAULT even if you define an external editor, use this parameter. ++++"Force Redirection" Redirection of STDOUT to CON: can be forced for the hot-keyed shell to DOS or DosCommand functions using <F10> and <ALT F10>. In other words, you can use redirection to maks the beeps go away but still have a normal screen when you shell to DOS. Note that <F10> does NOT swap in this case! A complete command processor must be called in order to force STDOUT to CON: (which takes more memory). XRS4KIT3.ZIP includes two very small TSRs to limit or disable beep tones entirely, in which case you do not need this! eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 13 ----"XRSColor CGBwYMR" In order to select colors other than the defaults used for the actual message display, you must set the following to your desired combination of colors using the following key: c=Cyan, m=Magenta, r=Red, g=Green or b=Blue - making the latter uppercase means "Bright" - and, w=Grey, y=Brown W=White and Y=Yellow. The order is fixed - you may have up to 7 colors for the message heading, extended subject, "in a message", quoted text, message text, tear line and origin line respectively. If you don't need to change more than one or two, you must specify the previous ones anyway or just place a '-' in that position - i.e.: "XRSColor ---YW" will keep the default colors for the first three (and last two) and only change the colors of the quoted text and message text. You may also use <SHIFT_F7> to change colors. The defaults are: XRSColor CGBwYMR ----"Jump Headers" Forces the continual updating of the highlighted message header during <J>ump selection. Note: You can force the header to show anyway with the <TAB> key. Slower systems may find continuous updating too slow, since the disk must be accessed often. ----"Pause 4" To adjust the time paused when "information" messages appear, use this. The default is 3 (seconds) and minimum is 0 seconds. Note that the pause time is double this number after a <F8> search/find routine is run. ----"Buffer 16384" The "Buffer" parameter is back (and works correctly). You may allocate from 512 to 32768 bytes of memory for use as a ring-buffer for I/O to the BAT?MAIL.XRS file(s). You need to experiment with this to get it right - each different combination of CPU speed and disk drive will have its own optimum block-size. Using to large a buffer on a slower machine may have the effect of causing bumpy performance, where making it too small may give sluggish performance. If you have a fast hard drive and a 386, set it on up to 32768 for best performance. Default is 4096 bytes. ----"Old Outbound Delete" The default when you are prompted is NOT to delete existing outbound mailbags. If you want it to default to "yes" like prior versions, then you need to put this parameter in CONFIG.XRS. ----"TagOutFN c:\xrs\MyArc.xrs" Overrides the default archive filename (used for tagged messages). You may use a full disk and pathname if you wish, but must not specify a subdirectory alone! ++++"No Alt Keys" Makes <SHIFT Fx> replace <ALT Fx> except for <ALT F10>. This was done for the UNIX users who were having problems using the <ALT> keys. Note that XRS disables the <ALT Fx> keys entirely if you use this parameter. The <DEL> key is also available on <SHIFT F3> since UNIX still doesn't like the keyboard mapping. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 14 ----"AutoTag xxx" This configuration parameter allows you to TAG any messages with a given word in them (xxx being any string of characters you desire). You can use this to TAG all messages addressed to you, for example (which would all then be archived...). If both AUTOTAG and AUTOMATCH exist, the last "autotag" is always done before the last "automatch" found in CONFIG.XRS. The string searched for must be at least two characters in length. You may do multi-word searchs by placing an underscore between the words. Example: "Autotag Mike_Ratledge" finds the string "Mike Ratledge". The search is NOT case-sensitive. Maximum string length is 30 characters. AUTOTAG and AUTOMATCH only run if a new mailbag was opened this time. ++++"Force Auto" This forces XRS to act like a new mailbag has been unpacked every time to better support XCS users. (XCS is the "eXpress Conversion System" by Rudi Kusters - it creates unpacked mailbags) ----"Twit DR_DEATH" This nifty little option lets you choose those people whose messages you never want to read. If XRS comes upon a message written by someone you have listed as a "twit" then it skips the message (beeping to let you know). Also, if you have turned off the sounds (see MISCELLANEOUS), you will get a most interesting "raspberry" sound instead of a beep when you run over a "twit." Use an underscore where a space should be. Example "Twit Dr_Death" will look for "Dr Death". ----"Macro xxx" Enough people asked for it. Here it is. DON'T ABUSE IT! This feature can be "lost" very easily if it is abused. Keep the macros short and sweet. Use them sparingly. You may have up to 8 macros. They are available from within the internal editor, using the keys <CTRL-F1> through <CTRL-F8>. If you only have 2 macros, only the first two macro keys will work. When you setup a macro, underscores MUST be placed where you need spaces. Place a | symbol where you need a carriage return. There is a limit of 80 characters per macro. An example looks like this: MACRO ||______Mike_Ratledge_-_XRS_Author| This would place two carriage returns, several spaces and "Mike Ratledge - XRS Author" and another carriage return. See CONFIG.DMO for examples. ----"Tab 4" XRS expands <TAB> characters in imported files to 8 spaces. Use this if you want to vary this (anything within the range 1 to 10 spaces). ----"EuroDate" When XRS displays file picklists, it shows both the date and time of creation or last update. Use this if you prefer DD.MM.YY instead ----"No Snow" XRS now does vertical retrace wait (automatically avoids snow on CGA monitors). If you have a CGA that does not get snowy, use this option. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 15 ----"AutoTag Something_Important" and "AutoMatch XRS" To automatically search and mark found messages. Note: searches are *not* case-sensative. Both must be no more than 30 characters - be sure to imbed underlines when you need spaces in the search string! You may now have up to 10 AutoMatch parameters, which are executed in reverse order, leaving the matches found with the *first* AutoMatch parameter with color cascading. AutoTag also tags the messages found for later export. ----"Hide Search" XRS will not display all the matched text detail during AutoTag, AutoMatch or <F8> text searches if you use this parameter. ----"No Clock" Disables the continuous time on the bottom line during editing and message viewing. This interferes with "Screen-Talk" hardware for visually handicapped users by constantly updating that location of the screen. ----"No Seconds" For those of you with slower machines or where the time update gives poor results try "No Seconds", which makes the bottom time display without the seconds field, therefore only once per minute instead of every second. ----"To Name Prompt" You may optionally have XRS prompt you to verify the name of the person to which you are sending the message. ----"<INS> <F9> Reversed" Makes the <F9> and <INS> keys swap functions *Only* inside the internal editor, in other words, <F9> will paste from the "cut" buffer, and <INS> toggles insert/overwrite. ----"List View" or "Page View" * LIST Forces XRS to ALWAYS show messages in a scrolling viewable window instead of one page at a time. PAGE forces XRS to view messages in the old manner (page by page) all the time. NOTE: Default is to OPTIMIZE the list/page modes automatically. ----"No Mark" Disable the "List View" mode marking of quoted portions of messages so they do not blink. ++++"Bundler xxxx.EXE" Calls an external mail bundler instead of the internal FTS-0001 "packet" builder. The external bundler is responsible for setting the error level when it completes the bundle to signify success or failure (success = 0, failure = anything else). The external bundler is also responsible for "house cleaning" if successful, such as deleting the Response.XRS and ??.MSG files. The above 'xxxx' may include a path (up to 64 characters total) but XRS will search the DOS PATH if you don't include one - BE SURE you put ".EXE" or ".COM" on the end! eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 16 The CONFIG.XRS file parameters should be set to fit your particular needs. There is a sample file "CONFIG.DMO" that will help you understand The CONFIG.XRS file parameters should be set to fit your particular how to use this option. Remember that each parameter must be on a separate line in this plain ASCII text file. Also, see the included file "CONFIG.NEW" for more details on each new configuration parameter. NOTE: XRS automatically looks for CONFIG.XRS, but doesn't require it. Be sure there is a blank line at the end of the file if you use it! You may "hide" CONFIG.XRS on your PATH, and XRS will still find it. ++++ Here's a Much requested addition beginning with version 4.10!! XRS =NOW= allows you to have custom braglines for =EACH ECHO= area if you wish. If you have a file named "MAILBAG.ORG" where "mailbag" = the first seven characters of the BBS, XRS will use that, otherwise it will try to open "XRS.ORG" instead. If neither exist, only the normal origin line is used - and if an "XORIGIN.XRS" line is in the mailbag - all of this is disabled by your sysop who wants you to use his origin line! The format for each line in the *.ORG files is: AREA_NAME Custom origin line for a certain echo area Where "AREA_NAME" must =EXACTLY= match the area name used in that echo! These names are stored inside your AREASx.XRS file. Up to 55 characters may be used in the brag (origin) line - as always subject to the the limitation if adding the address information causes the complete line to exceed 79 characters. If you do not include a line for an area, the default one will be used. The last line =MUST= end with a carriage return or it will be ignored! Example: I have "AGFORUM.ORG" here. If it were not found "XRS.ORG" would be looked for instead ("AGFORUMx.?XR" is what all named mailbags downloaded from Augusta Forum are named. See "SAMPLE.ORG" for an example of custom origin lines. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 17 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Getting a Mailbag ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Chapter 4 ░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ To be able to use XRS, you must first have a MailBag from your favorite BBS. Currently, you can get mailbags from TComm, QuickBBS, RemoteAccess, SuperBBS and XBBS Bulletin Board Systems - TPBoard and Opus/Maximus are in beta test, and other people are working on interfaces for different BBS systems. Each type of BBS has a slightly different configuration approach for saving the user's options. Because of this, it is difficult to tell you exactly how to get a mailbag, but these are the general steps needed. First, log onto the bulletin board. I am assuming that the BBS supports XRS. It will probably advertise it's availability for XRS in some way (the BBS programs are named things like "eXpress" - "Zip_Mail" - "QMX" - "RAX" - "OREO" - etc.). You will want to invoke that program, following the directions. You will need to choose the message areas that you habitually want to download as well as configuring your preferred packing protocol (.ZIPped, .ARCed or lharc'd .LZH), and transfer protocol. I recommend Z-modem for transfer protocol if you have it, as this is currently the most efficient and reliable protocol available. If your SysOp is running a recent version of RAQMX, you will also see an additional option labeled "Option Switch Toggles". Here are brief descriptions of those. You are not required to set them at this time but you may if you like. ----<S>earch for messages outside selected areas: Tells RAQMX to give you ANY messages addressed to you even if they are not in SELECTED areas. ----<U>sing XRS 3.21 or later (Named Mailbags): Tells RAQMX is it OK to pack using the Sysop created BBS file name rather than the usual BAT?MAIL name. Do =NOT= select this unless you are using XRS 3.21 or later as earlier versions did not look for other names. ----<D>etail Messages during packing (>2400/Local): Will cause RAQMX to show you more detailed information as it packs =IF= you are calling at more than 2400 baud or logged in locally (sitting at the console). ----<I>nclude Messages From you when packing Mail: Causes RAQMX to include the messages YOU have written in your mailbag. ----<M>aximum messages in each mailbag Prompting: Allows you to tell RAQMX the maximum number of messages to allow in your mailbag. After setting your configuration, you should then be able to download your first MAILBAG. This file should be moved to your \XRS subdirectory. XRS will unpack this automatically. If this is NOT your first time getting a mailbag, the BBS's program should ask if you have a packet to UPLOAD. This is the strangely named file that XRS makes of your replies. XRS will tell you the name of the file (see INSTALLATION) when it builds the packet. Upload it at this time. The filename never changes as long as you use the same BBS, but the file extension will be vary depending upon day-of-the-week and sequence number. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 18 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Using XRS ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Chapter 5 ░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ You MUST have a mailbag from a BBS in order to run XRS. There is no way that the XRS program will run without this mailbag (believe me!). The BBS sends some files within the mailbag that XRS requires. This includes things like your name, etc... At *any* time during the program, the following are "hot-keys": <F1> Help - Full-screen context-sensitive help is available at any time! <F1><F1> Displays the keyboard map. <TAB> toggles the two key help pages on 25x80 display screens. <F2> Program version info, date compiled, various information about your PC and dynamic RAM free at the time. <F4> Pops up the Configuration Window at any time. <F6> Pulls up a summary window of new uploads, default groups selected on the BBS side, mail "To You" and an index of the messages you downloaded. This will also give you a list of newly uploaded files since the last time you logged on for most BBSs. <F8> Calls Find/Search/Mark routine, and enables color cascade high- lighting of messages with matches. You are also given an option at this time of actually TAGGING the messages that are matched (default is *not* to tag). This means that the messages will be "archived" when you finish using XRS. <SHIFT-F7> Calls "COLOR CHANGE" menu. See page 7 for details. <F10> Jumps to DOS at *any* time. Thereafter, issue any normal DOS command(s); *DO NOT* change any files in the XRS sub-directory! When through, be sure to "EXIT". These two keys perform similar but very different functions. Jump to DOS is intended to be only a quick, temporary interrupt for immediate resumption from where you were in XRS when you shelled to DOS. <SHIFT-F10> allows you to run a single DOS command without shelling to DOS. Even if swap is enabled, it won't "swap." If you leave the command blank, you *will* shell to DOS (without swapping). NOTE: using this as a "Shell" is not recommended - XRS does *not* save your progress! The last command is remembered, <INS> blanks the field, so you don't have to backspace over the whole thing. <ALT-F10> Exits from XRS at *any* time. This "hot-exit" feature saves changes in the tag-file, calls the exit routines, and asks "do you want to pack your mail", etc. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 19 ----These hot-keys are available when you are using the internal editor: <F5> Marks blocks for deletion with the <Delete> key in the editor. <F7> Cancel marking or removes all edit changes (restarts quote or message "clean" - just like when you began editing). <F9> Toggles mode between "Insert" and "OverWrite" in the editor. ----Program Conventions Using XRS will quickly become second nature to you. The user interface is a clean menu with "hot-keys". You select from lists by highlighting the desired item and pressing <ENTER>, or just touching the highlighted letter (usually the first letter of the first word of the selection). If you need more help, just press <F1> for context-sensitive help. Once you have the correct option highlighted, press <ENTER> to confirm your choice, or again - use the highlighted letter - it's quicker! The <ESC> key will almost always back you out of what you are doing. If you decide that you really didn't want to reply to a message, back out using <ESC>. You can also select "No" when asked to save the message and your edit session will be discarded. The first thing that XRS does (after entering the password if you have NOT registered) is to unpack your mailbag (assuming you have a new one). This is done optionally by XRS when it detects a mailbag - you will be prompted whether you want to unpack it. The only time you should answer "no" is when you aren't finished reading messages from a previous session. NOTE: XRS *never* unpacks a "new" mailbag if you have any outbound *.MSG files that have not been packed for return to the BBS! When unpacking a new mailbag, XRS overwrites a few files, including the old messages. If you want to keep an old mailbag for some reason, you will need to copy it to another directory or disk. You can also TAG messages that will be appended to a special ARCHIVAL file for later perusal. XRS *always* starts (before executing any "FirstDo" parameter) by popping up the <F6> News/Summary/Index window if a new mailbag has been unpacked (first time only). This gives SysOps the ability to post important news about new or deleted message areas, or other useful information and makes sure the user at least sees it one time. When you first start XRS, it will automatically look FIRST for messages that are TO: you. These will be displayed in order by message area. When you have finished with your personal mail, you can start on the other messages. This can be changed from the configuration menu at any time during an XRS session (see CONFIGURATION MENU at end of this section). If you run out of messages addressed to you, the program automatically turns off the "To You Only" filter. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 20 There are 4 options from the main menu: 1) Select next message area to read 2) Read from selected area only 3) All Areas Read (chronological) 4) Create, Edit, Delete messages With the first option, you get a list of all the message areas that have messages in them. You can choose to read by message area. The second option uses the area selected above - if you are in "Read Only New" mode, the first two options interact automatically. Chronological reading is available with the third option. This method results in a 'jumbled' order. They are not in message area order at all, but rather in the order that the BBS received them. As you can see, XRS allows you a full range of choices! The fourth option allows a full range of creativity. From here, you can start original messages, edit messages you have already written, or delete them if you choose. To create a message, hit the <INS> key. You will be prompted for several bits of information (TO:, SUBJECT: etc.). Make sure that you place the message into the proper message area with the scrolling list (topic) selection window! If you have been reading messages, you will find the TO: field with the name of the last person read already in it, along with the same subject field. To blank these out, again hit the <INS> key, or to keep them just hit <ENTER>. After choosing the correct message area, you will be prompted for input from a separate file. This is great if you have some source code, previously prepared text, etc. that you want to include. XRS will simply pull that file into the new message. <ESC> saves the message. If you want to edit a message, use your up/down arrow keys to scroll through your created messages. Simply hit <ENTER> at the message you wish to edit. Again, hit <ESC> when you are finished. To delete one of the messages that you have created, scroll to the right message, and hit the <DEL> key. <TAB> allows an export of new messages that you have created. This is only active when you have actually created a new message. It exports the message to either a file or device (ie; PRN:) that you select. The default export name is the same as for "eXport" in the message read menu-bar. <F3> is used to modify header information (TO: SUBJECT: etc.). Simply highlight the message you want changed, then hit <F3>. To leave any field unchanged, simply hit the <ENTER> key. *NOTE: For those people with access to NETMAIL (see your sysop about this). When you get to the prompt on "destination" address, you can hit the <INS> key and it will search the USERLIST.XRS file to see if there is a eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 21 known address. If it finds the person, it will automatically place that address in the header information. See also CONFIGURATION. To use netmail, you MUST know the fidonet address of the person, as this is sent directly to their system, rather than through the echomail links. XRS always checks USERLIST.XRS in the current subdirectory if it exists first, then will search any "UserList xxx" file you specified in a CONFIG.XRS parameter next. This way you can have "special" addresses for certain people that are not the "normal" ones your nodelist compiler picks. ----Configuration Menu: Hitting the <F4> key will pop up the configuration menu. This will change the behavior of XRS, and you can do this at ANY time while using the program. Each option is a toggle (ON/OFF). The following options are listed by the "hot-key" used, in the same order as the options appear in the configuration windows. There are actually two windows, with the left showing the toggle ("ON" for on, and "--" for off), and the right window displaying a short description. The toggle key is highlighted in the RIGHT window. D - To You: XRS comes up automatically looking for your personal mail first (this option ON). If it finds that there are no messages to you, or you have read them all, it will automagically turn itself OFF. R - New Only: This is also automatically ON. This will cause you to read only those messages that you haven't already read. If you wish to read some messages that you HAVE read, you will have to turn this option OFF. Q - Quote Heading: If ON, this will insert some fancy header info at the top of each quoted message. Not only does this make your message look slick, but reminds the reader of the original message. K - Quote Kludge: This decides if you will quote the tear lines and origin lines of the messages. N - Garbage Nuking: Gets rid of extra origin lines and a few other usually unnecessary items. E - Edit Brag Line: This is your own ORIGIN line. It allows you to change the line at the bottom of each message, usually advertising a BBS system, or sometimes having a catchy saying. XRS will automatically add a couple of necessary items to this line (your address, for instance). *** IF you don't have this option, don't worry. Sysops have the option of LOCKING the origin line so you can't change it. *** B - Blinking: Many highlighted 'tags' will blink to let you know they are there. You can control whether they blink or not here. A - Auto Cycling: Causes XRS to "cycle" through the message areas automatically, without you having to choose which area to read next. If there is only *ONE* area left, XRS will always autocycle to it! eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 22 S - Switch Editors: If you have the external editor set up, you can choose which editor to use. You get INTERNAL, EXTERNAL w/SWAP, or just EXTERNAL. The swap method is *highly* recommended over just regular external, some editors grab memory and don't want to give it back to XRS. Of course the internal editor is quite nice itself. In the internal editor, you can hit <F1> for help with commands, for example. P - Config Snap-away: This simply toggles the <F4> menu to pop away each time you change an option, or to stay put till you hit the <ESC> key. Different strokes for different folks! ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Reading Messages ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Chapter 6 ░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Aside from your specific and individual configuration there isn't a lot to tell you here. Everything is very straight-forward. It all works like you think it should from the menus. While you are reading messages, if you get one that won't fit all on one screen, simply press any key to continue reading to the end of the message or next full screen if it's even longer. While viewing messages, you will notice the menu bar at the bottom of the screen. Pressing <ENTER> is the default, and will cause you to go to the next message. You may also press "N" which is the first letter of the high-lighted option. Each option has a letter highlighted. This is the "hot-key" that you can use for it if you don't want to move the highlighting bar (using TAB or left/right arrow keys). Q - QUOTE: You have two methods of replying to a message. The first option is the QUOTE method. This will basically give you a copy of the message you are replying to, along with allowing you to add to the message. You delete the lines you don't want, or are irrelevant to what YOU want to say, and add your own reply. Quoting is very nice, because it let's the person know exactly to what you are responding. You can tell which lines are quoted. They have the initials of the person you are responding to, followed by a ">" Example: ' MR> This is a quote.' NOTE: Please delete ALL quoted material you don't really need!!! It is very hard to read through a lot of "quoted" material especially if it is unnecessary. Usually a couple of lines of the original message is all that is really needed. R - REPLY: The second type of replying is strictly a reply, with no quotes. You start off with a blank screen, and go from there. If you wish to bring up any points from the message you are replying to, you will have to do so from memory. NOTE: You can insert text from a text file. You will be prompted for this. If you hit the <INS> key at the filename prompt, you will be asked to provide a sub-directory name to display. A pop-up scrolling list will show you the available filenames. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 23 T - TAG: Continuing along the menu bar, you will see the Tag/unTag selection. This is merely a toggle, works for each message. When a message is tagged, you will see it labeled as such at the top of the screen (where you will also see whether that message has been READ yet or not). A tagged message will be archived to a separate file when you exit XRS. This is one way of saving important messages for later use. X - EXPORT: Next to the TAG toggle, you will see the eXport option. This little gadget lets you send a message to the printer, or to a specific file "right now" instead of waiting till XRS is done (like with the TAG command). The default is the printer, but you may change this, and put in a file name instead if you wish. See also CONFIGURATION. eXport optionally allows you to export the message in quoted format (but *replaces* instead of appending any existing file of the same name!). A - AGAIN: This only appears on the menu bar if the message overfills your screen. This allows you to read the whole message again. B - BACK: A hop of the right arrow key, and you will get to Back. This lets you go *backwards*, so you can read the message before the one you are now reading. You probably won't use it often, but it's there just in case! This option only shows on the menu bar if there IS a message to go back to. J - JUMP#: This is a nice one. It lists the messages by number, subject, and FROM: fields. You can use your up/down arrows to scroll to any that look interesting, and then hit <ENTER> and you go directly to that message. At the top of the display, you will see a list of descriptive tags that tell you more about these messages. Very self-explanatory, they are FOUND: If you did a search for a word, this is one of the messages with that word in it. REPLY: Indicates this is a reply to a previous message ARCHIVE: Has been archived to a special file TAGGED: You have toggled the TAG option for this message READ: You have read this message already TO YOU: This is a message directed to you. Note that you can mark messages read (or unread) from the <J>ump list, unread all messages in the list and optionally either continuously display the full message header of the highlighted message at the top of the screen (put "Jump Headers" in your CONFIG.XRS file) or display the highlighted message header with <TAB>. E - EXIT: Another menu bar selection is Exit. This allows you to go back to the main menu of XRS. This is the way that you quit reading messages. If you want to get out of XRS completely, once you are at the main menu, just hit <ESC>. Remember that XRS always saves your place! You can come back and pick up where you left off. +/- You also have the "+" and the "-" keys available. These work just like the NEXT and BACK keys. If you hit "+" or "-" key while in the middle of a multi-page message in "Page Mode", you skip to next or previous message. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 24 ****** WHILE USING INTERNAL EDITOR ****** MACROS: From inside the internal editor, you may use what is known as "macros." See CONFIGURATION for a complete description of a macro. To play back a macro, you can use <CTRL-F1> through <CTRL-F8>. They must be defined in CONFIG.XRS to be used. Please (please!) do not abuse this feature, or it will be removed from XRS... <ALT-F4> will INSERT an external file into your message at the point where your cursor is positioned. Note that you cannot exceed the text buffer size (12K in overlayed versions, 16K in non-OVL versions). Anything that causes the buffer to overflow will be discarded, but you will hear a LOT of beeping! <ALT-F6> deletes the LINE the cursor is on. <ALT-F8> deletes the WORD the cursor is on. <ALT-F1> toggles the two bottom-line help bars. Let's assume for the moment that you are finished using XRS. You are at the main menu, and have hit <ESC> to leave the program. If you have tagged any messages, you will be prompted as to whether or not you want them sent to the archive file. Default is "YES." You can also change the name of the file if you like. If you have entered any messages, you will also be asked if you are ready to pack up your outbound mail. You may do this more than one time with the same mailbag, but I suggest you wait till you are completely finished reading all your mail (this protects a partially read mailbag!). Once you have finished working with a mailbag, you should upload your replies to the bulletin board from which you downloaded the messages. These new messages contain links to the messages to which you replied, so you should *NEVER* upload a response bundle to the wrong BBS! Upload the mail bundle the same way you downloaded it: through the program on the BBS. Just follow the directions it gives. NOTE: The mail bundle that XRS makes for you has a strange name made up of what is called HEXADECIMAL numbers. *Don't* change it! The name means certain things to the BBS where you will upload it to, and if you change the name at all, it is possible that your messages will never make it to the public to be read. I realize that the name is hard to remember, but don't change it! BE SURE YOU DELETE THE MESSAGE BUNDLE AFTER YOU UPLOAD IT TO THE BBS! You should *never* send "duplicate" messages - this will cause the sysop to have a headache, and he may well list you as banished in the XRS control file if you do this often. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 25 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║░░░░ Miscellaneous Topics ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Chapter 7 ░░░░░║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ > * > * > * > READ THIS SECTION! < * < * < * < There is an international echo available for XRS users. This is a very good place to learn about little "tricks" while using XRS and you can also find out about the new goodies that the author is working on. This is also the place to go when you can't find the answer to your problem in the documentation (but *please* try the documentation FIRST...). If your BBS doesn't carry this echo, ask your sysop to get it. The actual AREA: name is "QMX_XRS". Using any command line parameter disables the music on registered AND unregistered copies. Example: "Response x" You cannot use the <F8> key to do searchs while a long message is on the screen. The menu bar options have to be showing (the end of the message). XRS checks the CRC of the UserName field plus all pointnet, zone, net, node, etc in USERx.XRS. It will bomb out if this has been tampered with. XRS also knows if an XORIGIN.XRS file should be found. It checks the CRC of this file, and if any tampering has been done, will bomb out here too! XORIGIN.XRS is automatically deleted before a new mailbag is unpacked. This allows you to pickup mail from different BBS's and not use a "locked" origin line from the *wrong* system. For batch files, examples of floppy disk setups, modem script files, and many other nifty goodies to make XRS even more fun, you need to get a copy of the XRS "toolkit". It even has the setup for a true point system under BinkleyTerm, and "Dutch" overlays for you guys in the Netherlands. French native-language overlays for Frenchman and French-Canadians, German as well as Swedish overlays are also available. If you can translate XRS into your native language, contact the author for information about doing it! To change the colors of XRS use <SHIFT-F7>. This will also append a new XRSCOLOR parameter to the CONFIG.XRS file (and create/update XRSCOLOR.BIN). You can use the <F4> key from anywhere in XRS to change configuration on the fly - even while viewing or editing a message. Exit XRS at *any* time by hitting ALT-<F10>. It will prompt for packing mail, etc. Upon exit, if any unread mailbags exist, XRS will offer to restart itself so you can read them. There is a demo file CONFIG.DMO that will show and explain some of the CONFIG.XRS options. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 26 If you are using a mouse, you can easily use it for block marking of text. Just click, slide and release. Then hit <DEL> for deletion. If you have deleted text <INS> (or <F9> if you used the option to reverse those two keys) will pop the last deleted text back into the message. You have the ability to store european characters in messages. Those are from 0x80 (decimal 128) to 0xA5 (165) plus 0xe1 (decimal 225). Some printers might have a problem printing the above characters. In the same vein, you can NOT type "0x01" (happy face) or "0x7f" (DEL) characters (used by FIDONET technology for specific actions). There are now versions of the XRS MSG$*.DAT and RESPONSE.HLP files available in Dutch, French, German and Swedish - other languages are coming soon. These are located in XRS??NL.ZIP, XRS??FRN.ZIP, XRS??GER.ZIP or XRS??SWE.ZIP and *replace* the English language ones. Each of these will contain a single file named "XRS$ALL.DTA" which replaces the English text with another native language. If you un-zip all files inside the main file you will overwrite the English with another language. BE SURE YOU DO NOT UNZIP A FOREIGN LANGUAGE "ON TOP" OF THE ENGLISH ONES BY ACCIDENT! If you do, just unpack "XRS$ALL.DTA" from the original (main) zip file. When you start XRS, a file named $$ACTIVE.XRS is created. When this file exists, XRS will not allow you to invoke it again. You must type EXIT to go back into XRS. If for some reason you CAN'T go back into XRS via the "exit" command, simply delete $$ACTIVE.XRS and then you can invoke XRS just like you would normally for a new session. Shelling to DOS (with <F10>) closes all files. You need not worry about damage to files or programs. All messages which have been read are marked and will not be shown next time (unless you turn off "Read Only New"). A "+" sign after the XRS version number in the TEAR line merely reflects a registered version of XRS - it is automatically added when you register. An exclamation point designates a "'286" version. While reading messages, you will notice in the upper righthand corner a box with numbers. This shows you the number of messages read, out of a total of messages (per message area). This is in the form of: "xxx of yyy" (xxx being the message you are reading, yyy = total messages in that area). The origin line (brag line) is checked for junk characters. I don't want to make anyone upset, so here's my simple rules: anything between ' ' (0x20) and '~' (0x7e) is acceptable in origin lines. Some message manglers apparently have major difficulty with "foreign" and graphics characters in this area (which makes sense outside our MS/DOS world). Laptop computers with LCD or non grey-scale displays may look better if you type "MODE BW80" before you start the program. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 27 If you are running EGA or VGA with extended text rows (43- or 50-lines) XRS will exit you to the same mode you were in when you started XRS. That way if you usually run 25x80, but like XRS in the 43x80, it will return the screen to 25x80 when you finish using XRS. Memory allocations: XRS requires a minimum of 230k free RAM and will use up to 580k of memory total for various options that you can enable in the CONFIG.XRS file. The maximum size is only reached if you have 950+ messages in your mailbag, however. Due to the variables involved, a good guesstimate would say, for 250 messages, you would need 400k without SWAPping, and about 300k with Swap enabled (see CONFIGURATION for more detail on SWAP). You can "eat up RAM" in many ways. If you have problems, play with the options. Some of the CONFIG.XRS options use more RAM than others - tThese are BUFFER, and Preload Summary (and also using the screens with more than 25 lines). For rough approximations, if you use the overlayed version of XRS, you will need 230k, and a minimum of 300k for the non-overlayed version. The more memory you have, the more options you can enable through the CONFIG.XRS file! Hint: Almost any "string" input field can be cleared by hitting <INS>. ----Getting XRS onto a BBS that doesn't support it: If you are a BBS author and wish to be assigned an ID code (and you are willing to write or designate someone to write an interface/mail extractor program), contact me at 1:372/6666. Note: The "Revision History" is in a separate file named _NEW_IN_.??? inside the archive. You should refer to this document for exact changes and updates which are included in XRS - please see the file CONFIG.NEW for a complete description of new CONFIG.XRS parameters. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 28 ╔═════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ APPENDIX A - Error Messages & Codes ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════╝ All user caused error messages are self-explanatory, and those that cause fatal errors display the DOS completion code (errorlevel) when they exit. The following is the current list of possible error exit codes: Exit Codes: 1 - Unable to open XRS_PACK.LOG for append 2 - Missing MAIL?IDX.XRS file 3 - Unable to open RESPONSE.XRS for update 5 - Missing USERS?.XRS file 6 - Missing AREAS?.XRS file 8 - Unable to open existing outbound netmail packet 9 - Unable to open new outbound netmail packet 10 - Unable to open echomail outbound .PKT file 127 - Error executing external bundle packer Swap errors: 253 - Error in LIM/EMS usage. 254 - Fatal Disk Error 255 - Error in Memory Re-Allocation eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 29 ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ APPENDIX B - XRS Files Used & Created ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ The following files come with your XRS Response program, and are required for it to run: XRS$CORE.RTL - RTLink+ "RunTime Library" for XRS, XREd and XRUserEd XRS$ALL.DTA - The C-Worthy System overlays and help files combined RESPONSE.EXE - The "XRS" Response program itself These files come with your XRS Response program, but are optional: XRS.KEY - Only sent to registered users - contains passkey The following files are included when you download a batch of messages from a bulletin board and are required for the program to run (changing any of these files will cause "XRS" Response to fail): (note - "?" is always replaced by '1' or the node number you signed onto if a multi-node BBS) ACCESS?.XRS - Message areas access information MAIL?IDX.XRS - The message information index pointer file BAT?MAIL.XRS - The actual text of the messages you select AREAS?.XRS - A listing of the messages areas you can use USER?.XRS - Control file containing your name, address, etc. SUMMARY?.XRS - Index of messages and statistics. <F6> displays it xxxxxxxx.XRS - Special file. Named by the Sysop. Should be different for each BBS. If it is named EZBOARD?.XRS, tell your sysop to read his documentation better! This will allow you to tell from which board you downloaded the messages! The following files are created by "XRS" Response when running - you should *never* change these files!: RESPONSE.XRS - The outgoing message header information ??.MSG - The actual messages you create ('xx' = 1 to 99) XRS_PACK.$$? - "?" is a digit indicating the last used mailbag number $T$E$M$P.XRS - holds each messages temporarily as it is written The following files are created by "XRS" Response when you run it and may be modified online or manually. You may delete any of these files: ORIGIN.XRS - Contains your "Brag Line" banner for outgoing messages ARCHIVED.XRS - Contains all messages you have marked with "TAG/untag" XRS_PACK.LOG - A log of outgoing messages which have been mailbagged A single outgoing FidoNet-style mailbag or bundle is created for you to send back to the BBS from which you downloaded the messages: xxxxxxxx.SU?, .MO?, .TU?, .WE?, .TH?, .FR? or .SA? (depending on the day-of-the-week). *** DO NOT CHANGE THIS FILE ! *** It should be uploaded back to the BBS on your next call and then DELETED! eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 30 ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ APPENDIX C - XRS under Novell NetWare ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ "XRS" Response is written using the C-Worthy Interface Library from Custom Design Systems marketed by Solution Systems. The version of the library used with "XRS" Response is a newer version than the one available when NetWare programs (including Menus, FConsole, SysCon, Session, Queue, etc) were written. This version includes mouse support, which is not found in the NetWare utilities (not yet, anyway!). Just follow the instructions for setting up XRS - the overlay file names have all been changed so that there is no longer any conflict with the filenames used by the NetWare versions of C_Worthy. ╔═════════════════════════════════╗ ║ APPENDIX D - XRS under Desqview ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════╝ XRS is Desqview "smart". It knows when Desqview is active, and you should have no problem running XRS in this environment. For more information on running programs under Desqview, see your Desqview manual. XRS automatically releases time slices at appropriate times. eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 31 ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ APPENDIX E - Checklist for Setting Up ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ You only need one of the four RESP*.EXE files! Each pair of executables distributed includes an overlayed (the larger one) and a non-overlayed version. One pair is 'generic' ("XT") and one pair is designed only for NEC V20/30 chips or 80286+ CPUs ("AT"). THERE IS NO REASON TO GET OTHERS UNLESS YOU ARE USING XRS ON TWO MACHINES! T e n e a s y s t e p s f o r u s i n g X . R . S . (____) 1) Get latest version of "XRS" from your local BBS (____) 2) Create a new diskette or sub-directory preferably called \XRS (____) 3) Un-Archive the files into this new sub-directory using PKUnZip (____) 4) Read The Fine Manual - decide which parameters you want in your CONFIG.XRS file. (It will run without it.) (____) 5) Obtain an "Express Batch Mail" mailbag from the BBS (____) 6) Use "XRS" Response to read and reply to the messages (____) 7) Enjoy having much more time to read and reply to messages! (____) 8) Pack up your replies and upload them back to the BBS (____) 9) After uploading replies, delete them on your end! (____) 10) Repeat starting at item #5 eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 32 ╔═════════════════════════════════╗ ║ APPENDIX F - Problem Resolution ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════╝ To date, several "problem" machines have turned up, and out of those, some were solved easily, one was solved with a lobotomy and one is still not workable. GOOD: 1) Make sure you have ANSI.SYS installed - some machines do weird things even so - at least two have turned out to have ANSI.SYS versions for a vendor-specific DOS that was not 100% compatible. 2) Make sure the DOS environment string "PATH" points to the directory where your PKZIP/PKUNZIP or PKARC/PKXARC programs reside, or have them in the same sub-directory you run XRS in. If you run out of memory when doing the MailBag pack, usually, just re-entering the program and immediately exiting will correct the problem. If you cannot correct the problem, you can upload the ddhhmmss.PKT file (where dd = day of month, hh = hour, etc) to the BBS, just like you would send the usual MailBag. 3) Some older 4.77MHz 8088-based computers seem to dislike the recent versions with rodent support. In at least one case, replacing the 8088 with a NEC V20 CPU chip has fixed this strange problem. Both a Leading Edge model "D" and a Compaq Portable Plus have been reported with this problem. This new version should correct all former incompatibilities in this area! PLEASE - let me know if anyone has problems with program locking up! 4) People have asked which method XRS uses to pack and unpack mail. It will automatically call the correct un-packer program for incoming mail, and it will attempt to find a - PKZIP b - LHARC, or c - PKARC (in that order) to pack up the outbound mail. BAD: 1) It has been reported that AT&T 640x400 resolution color displays will not work with XRS. Newer versions work with some, though. To aid in trouble-shooting, an integrated screen dump to a hard-coded file is now available by pressing <CTRL_F10>. This creates $XRS$PRT.SCR which consists of a short header plus a copy of the screen buffer. Please send Mike this file when something unusual happens. Since the XRS screen dumps contain graphics you should send the file and YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO SEND XRS SCREEN DUMPS IN ECHOMAIL MESSAGES! eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 33 Index ??.MSG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,29 $$ACTIVE.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 $RUN.OVL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 <ALT-F4>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 <ALT-F6>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 <ALT-F8>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 <ALT-F10> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 <DEL> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20, 26 <F1>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18, 19, 20 <F1><F1>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 <F10> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18, 25 <F2>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 <F3>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18, 20 <F4>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-10, 18, 21, 25 <F5>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 <F6>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5, 9, 18, 19, 29 <F7>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 <SHIFT-F7>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 <F8>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 18 <F9>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 <INS> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20, 22, 25 <INS> <F9> Reversed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 <TAB> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 80-column modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 ANSI.SYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 32 ARC_ONLY.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ARCHIVED.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 29 AREAS?.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 28, 29 AT&T 640x400. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Auto Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Auto Cycling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 AutoMatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 AutoTag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 BAT?MAIL.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 29 BBS Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 BinkleyTerm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Blinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 20 Brag line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 16, 21, 26, 29 Buffer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Bundler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 BundlePath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 C language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 C-Worthy Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 4, 30 CGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 34 Index continued checklist for setting up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i, 31 color card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 commenting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Config Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10, 21 Config Snap-away. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 CONFIG.DMO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 12, 25 CONFIG.NEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 32 CONFIG.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 7, 9-15, 18, 20, 25-27, 32 configuration . . . . . . . . . . .i, 3, 5, 7-10, 12, 15-20, 22, 23, 25, 26 CONTINUE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Custom Design Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 30 Desqview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i, 26, 30 disk drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 15 Dutch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 eat up RAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 echomail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Edit Brag Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Editor QEdit.exe %s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 EGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 10, 12, 26, 27 error-code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 errorlevel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 EuroDate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 European characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Exit Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 EXIT: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 eXport d:\xrs\savetext.out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 EXPORT: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 external editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8, 9, 12, 21, 25, 26 Fido. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 4 FidoNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 20, 29 file extension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 FirstDo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 18 Flip Heading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 floppy disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Force Redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 FourDog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Garbage Nuking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Guiltware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 hex address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Hide Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 InDir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i, 5, 7, 16 Internal Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 21 Jump Headers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 35 Index continued large mailbags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 LHARC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 6, 11, 14, 32 license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i, 2, 3, 33 LIM/EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 28 Lotus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 10, 18 List View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Macro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 MAIL?IDX.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 28, 29 mailbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . i, 3, 5, 6, 9, 15, 18, 23, 26, 29, 31, 32 memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3, 7, 9, 21, 22, 26-28, 32 Microsoft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Mode 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Mono Dim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 monographic monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 10, 25, 30 Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 NetMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11, 19, 25, 26, 28, 33 NetWare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i, 4, 30, 31 New Only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 No Alt Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 No Blink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 No Clock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 No EMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 No Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 No Seconds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 No Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Nuke Garbage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Old Outbound Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 One Tear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Option Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Opus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 15, 26 origin line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 20, 26 ORIGIN.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 29 OTHER:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 overlayed version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 27 Packer xxxxx. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 packing protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 15 Page View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-12, 18, 20, 25, 26 passkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 5, 29, 33 Pause 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 PIDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 PKArc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 6, 11, 28, 32 PKUnZip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 6, 31, 32 PKXArc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 6, 32 PKZip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 6, 11, 32 eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 36 Index continued Preload summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 26 PREVIOUS: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 problem resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i, 32 Program Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 QMX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 16 QuickBBS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 4, 5, 8, 16, 26, 29 QuickBBS Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Quote Header. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Quote Heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Quote Kludge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 21 QUOTE:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Read Only New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 REGISTER.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i, 2, 38 REPLY:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22, 23 RESPONSE.EXE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 29 RESPONSE.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 28, 29 revision history. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i, 32 semicolon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 separate subdirectory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SetPelHeight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 SetPelWidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 setting up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i, 5, 30, 31 shell to DOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 shelling to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 25 Solution Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 4, 30 sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 SUMMARY?.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 29 Swap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 21, 26 SWAP!XRS.$$$. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 TAG:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 TagOutFN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 TComm/Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 4, 5, 15 tear line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7, 8, 12, 24 TimeAdjust. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 To Name Prompt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 To You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18, 19, 21, 23 To You Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 TWIT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 unpacking a new mailbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 USER?.XRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 29 UserList D:\BINKLEY\FIDOUSER.LST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 37 Index continued USERLIST.DMO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 VDISK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 VGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11, 12, 26, 27 video mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 WildCat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 26 WildCat! 3.0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 XRS32FRN.ZIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 XRS32GER.ZIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 XRS32NL.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 XORIGIN.XRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 XRS.KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 5, 29 XRS_PACK.$$?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 29 XRS32KIT.ZIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 15, 25 XRSColor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 25 Z-Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 ZIP_ONLY.XRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 eXpress Response System 4.10 documentation Page 38 ╔══════════════╗ ║ Registration ║ ╚══════════════╝ ** NOTE ** There *is* an online XRS registration script on my BBS - East Bay X-Change at 803/556-7485 which is the fastest way to get your X.R.S. registration. You can either pickup your passkey (no more than) 48 hours after giving the information, or it can be delivered to any network address for which I have a nodelist (see below) within a few days (usually not more than a week even overseas). This is only useful if you have a Diners Club, Access, Carte Blanche, MasterCard, EuroCard, American eXpress, Optima or Visa. I can take bankcard registrations by phone - see REGISTER.FON! OTHERWISE YOU MUST MAIL THE BOTTOM PAGE OF THIS FORM TO THE GIVEN ADDRESS! I do not mail registrations! You must either provide a valid network node or pickup your key from East Bay X-Change Node 1 (number given above). If you send in a registration without a valid network address (or without one period), your PassKey code will be posted in a private message to you in my "LOCAL" messages section. If you do not have your registration passkey in two weeks (mailed from the US or Canada), one week for online credit card registrations on East Bay X-Change or three to four weeks depending upon where you are located overseas - PLEASE CONTACT ME AT MY FIDONET ADDRESS! Several overseas systems have online credit card registration now, too! Please see the separate file "FOREIGN.REG" for details. Several native-language overlays are available (in addition to the default English) for Dutch, German, French, and Swedish XRS users. Ask your SysOp if he has them available! Each was translated by a native speaker of the language (painstakingly and without pay - if you use one, you should consider sending them $5 for their time and trouble!). This is simply a different binary file to replace the English "XRS$ALL.DTA" language file. ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ──│ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ │─┘ Shareware └───│ o │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ MEMBER XRS is written by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make certain 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 Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write: ASP Ombudsman, 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49942 U S A or send a message via Compuserve Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ X.R.S. version 4.10 registration form ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ Dear Mike: I like it! I am sending you the requested $30 payment for a license in perpetuity to use your eXpress Response System program, better known as "XRS". Please send my registration PassKey code file for future versions. Please verify that you have or will read "ETHICAL.XRS" statement which is included in the documentation, and agree to be bound by the terms therein: [ ] YES - I have read it... / In any case, you agree to abide by rules [ ] NO - but I will read it \ and ethics therein by mailing this form. Date sent: _____/_____/_____ Name to Register for XRS: ____________________________________________ * *IMPORTANT* * Name must be *exactly* as you spell it on the BBS! Address of Registered User: ____________________________________________ City, State, Zip or Country: ____________________________________________ Name of BBS: ___________________ Name of SysOp: ______________________ Type of BBS: __________ (Quick, RA, XBBS, TComm, Super, Opus, TPBoard etc) Network address to send key: ____:_____/_____ * * IMPORTANT * * BE SURE YOU GET THIS ADDRESS RIGHT! (keys are sent via netmail) +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | To charge registration supply the following information: (check one) | | | | o Carte Blanche o Diners Club o Visa o EuroCard | | | | o Mastercard o Optima* o AmericanExpress* o Access | | | | * American Express requires your billing address exactly match that given | | above in order to validate a mailed or electronically transmitted charge! | | | | Name (exactly as printed on the bank card!) _____________________________ | | | | Card Account Number _____________________ Expiration Month/Year: ___/___ | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Foreign registrations please send 30 US$ cheque payable on a bank in the US! (banks charge me $10 to collect a foreign cheque - even Canadian, so if you must send a personal cheque, please add $10, total 40 US$. It may be easier to send a money order made payable for 30 US$ thru your PTT system.) Mail this form properly filled out with your credit card information, or check for $30 (or 40 US$ if you send a foreign personal cheque) to: Mike Ratledge, 995 Buck Hall Landing, McClellanville, S.C. 29458 (U.S.A.) THANK YOU!!! For using and for registering my ShareWare program...