Atari Mega Archive 1/Atari Mega Archive - Volume 1.iso/telecomm/m_qwk118.lzh/MANUAL.TXT

Text File | 1993-09-09 | 34KB | 671 lines

1 - Introduction

   Mountain QWK is Copyright 1993 by Anthony Watson. Any unauthorized
duplication of the program(s) or documentation is a violation of federal
copyright laws!

1.1 - Making a Backup Copy

   The Mountain QWK disk is not copy protected as we believe you have the
right to make backup copies to guard against disk failures or accidents. So
please take the time now to make a backup copy of the Mountain QWK disk and
place the original in a safe place. We also suggest that you flip the
write-protect tab on the original disk to guard against accidental erasure and
computer viruses. (Please consult your ST owners manual for further
information on these basic operations!)

1.2 - Disclaimer

   Mountain QWK has been tested extensively and to the best of our knowledge
will not cause problems of any kind. However, neither Mountain Software nor
the author (Anthony Watson), will be held responsible for any damage occurring
to your system or other software. We also make no guarantees as to
compatibility with other software or hardware configurations.

1.3 - System Requirements

   Mountain QWK will run on any Atari ST, STe, TT, or Falcon computer. It will
function in ST medium, ST High, or any graphics resolution having a resolution
of 640 x 200 or greater.

   This program makes extensive use of RAM, and requires a minimum of 1 Meg to
run properly. However, we recommend 2 Meg as a minimum as this will allow you
to load larger QWK packets and reduce memory conflicts. If you find that
Mountain QWK fails to operate on your system, try temporarily disabling all
AUTO-Folder programs and Desk Accessories before running Mountain QWK. This
will maximize your memory and rule out program conflicts.

   Mountain QWK will run successfully from a floppy disk and has been designed
to minimize disk accesses. However, a hard drive is highly recommended for
both speed and storage capacity!

   You'll also need to obtain the latest ARC, LZH, and ZIP compression
utilities if you do not already have them. These utilities are usually
available on any BBS carrying ATARI software.

1.4- Registration

   When you first run Mountain QWK you will be asked to enter your name and
address. Please enter this information carefully, as once it is entered it
cannot be changed!

   Once entered, Mountain QWK will spend a few minutes updating the program
code with your name and address. When this process is completed, you will be
returned to the main menu. In the lower right corner of the main menu is the
program serial number. Please make a note of it.

   Next, run the MAKEFORM program, and send us the printout. Be sure to
include the Mountain QWK serial number in the comments section! This program
will provide us with vital information about you and your system and will
allow us to inform you of program updates, upcoming products, etc.

2 - Getting Started

2.1 - Off-line Message Reading

  In the early days of computing, you could simply call up a BBS and read
messages while logged on to the system. There were generally few messages to
read as transfer speeds were slow and you could easily exceed your daily time
limits reading what few messages there were.

  But, as more people got involved in online communications and transfer
speeds improved the quantity of messages has steadily increased. In addition,
many systems have linked up with others around the world forming amateur
networks. The sheer quantity of messages now available makes it practically
impossible to read them all online.

  In 1987, Mark "Sparky" Herring developed a format known as QWK which was
based on Clark Development Corporations PCBoard version 12.0 message base
format. In just a few short years the format has grown to be the predominant
off-line reader format and is now available for virtually every computer
platform and BBS program.

  The QWK format allows messages to be compressed using most any compression
method with ARJ, LZH and ZIP being the most popular. This compression reduces
both transfer times and storage space for the messages. At the time of
Mountain QWK's release, the ARJ format was not fully supported on the Atari
ST. ARJ utilities are available for decompression but not compression and are
therefore incompatible with Mountain QWK. Therefore, Mountain QWK supports the
three most common archivers for the ST. (ARC, LZH, and ZIP) Still, even with
these limitations you'll find that LZH and/or ZIP are available on most any
system that uses QWK!

2.2 - Getting Your First QWK Packet

  Before you can get any use from Mountain QWK you'll need to obtain a QWK
packet. To do this you must have a modem, a terminal program, and a BBS that
features QWK mail facilities. The process generally involves calling a local
BBS with your terminal program, accessing the QWK mail door, and downloading a
QWK packet. Usually, you will have to go through a one-time 'configuration'
process on the BBS where you select conferences, archiving methods, transfer
protocols, etc.  Access to the QWK mail facilities varies greatly from one BBS
to another, so if you are having difficulties obtaining a QWK packet we
recommend that you contact the System Operator (SYSOP) of the BBS you are
calling and request assistance. Also, depending on the BBS, QWK packets can
get rather large. Therefore, we suggest that you only select one or two
conferences to start with. You can later configure your preferred conferences
while off-line using Mountain QWK (On systems that support off-line
configuration!).

3 - Configuring Mountain QWK

  Before you can load the QWK packet into Mountain QWK you must take a few
minutes to configure the program to your system and preferences.

3.1 - Configuring The Archivers

  The archiver configuration menu is activated by clicking on the ARCHIVER
button from the main menu. You may configure up to three archiving utilities
for use with Mountain QWK. It is suggested that you configure an ARC, LZH, and
ZIP archiver for each slot, and that you configure them in the order of most
common use. For example, if the majority of BBS's you call use ZIP as the QWK
compression method, you should configure the top archiver slot with a ZIP
archiver. Configuring the archivers in order of use will reduce the time
required to decompress the QWK packets. It is not necessary to configure all
three archivers. If you always obtain QWK packets in one compression format,
you may wish to configure only one archiver.

  On the left side of the menu are three buttons corresponding to the three
archiver slots. Each time these buttons are clicked they will cycle to the
next command structure (ARC, LZH or ZIP).

  In the middle of the menu are three blank lines. These will display the
archiver filename and path when configured.

  On the right side of the menu are three buttons labeled FIND. These buttons
are used to locate the corresponding archivers.

  As an example, let's run through the configuration of a ZIP archiver. Click
the top command structure button until ZIP appears on the button. Next click
on the top FIND button which will bring up the file selector. Locate your ZIP
archiver and click on OK. The archiver menu will reappear with the archiver
path and filename displayed in the top slot.

  You may now repeat this procedure with the other two slots, remembering to
set the command structures to match the proper archiving utilities. (The
utilities may be reconfigured at any time if your preferences change!) When
you've completed the configuration, click on the OK button. Your setup will be
saved and you will be returned to the main menu.

3.2 - Setting The Work Directories

  The work directory is where the QWK packet will be decompressed to, but is
not necessarily where the QWK packet is located. It does not matter whether or
not there are already files in the work directory. The REP directory is where
your .REP packet will be placed.

  It is usually most convenient to set the work directory to the same
directory that you have your terminal program send i