The Datafile PD-CD 5/DATAFILE_PDCD5.iso/utilities/m/messenger/!Messenger/!Help

Text File | 1997-01-19 | 8.5 KB | 239 lines

Messenger - A Mailer/Newsreader for Newsbase                    V0.30
============================================                    =====

Welcome
=======

Welcome to Messenger, a mailer/newsreader for use with Newsbase.  Please
read through the notes below before using Messenger for the first time.

Requirements
============

Messenger requires RISC OS 3.10 or later and Newsbase 0.55 or later. It also
uses Acorn's Toolbox modules and will require the OLESupport module if you do
not have an OLE compliant text editor such as StrongED or Zap with the ZapOLE
mode.

The toolbox modules can be downloaded from the Messenger Web site at
http://www.locutus.demon.co.uk/messenger/toolbox.spk.  OLESupport can be
found on Hensa or one of its mirrors, package b129.

Newsbase can be downloaded (amongst other places) from the Newsbase Web pages
at http://www.hep.umn.edu/~allan/newsbase/

Installation
============

Messenger needs no special installation but it is essential that you have
Newsbase's 'Maintain overview files' option switched on.  Messenger will not
work properly if you don't do this.

If you wish to set a default user then you need to log on as a user with
system administrator privileges (set through Newsbase) in order to access the
global choices (in the choices window), from where you can set one.

Use
===

I have not yet prepared a user manual for Messenger although one is under
development.  Hopefully you'll find Messenger to be quite intuitive, it
supports interactive help so try that if you get stuck.  The following notes
may be helpful.

Whereas TTFN (and Newsbase) present mailboxes and folders as newsgroups
(Email.* and Folder.*), Messenger treats them differently.  Messenger has
a mailer which will display the currently selected user's mailbox, and
a newsreader which will display only newsgroups.  A folder viewer can be
displayed from within the mailer and newsreader, and from the icon bar menu.
A mailbox viewer can also be displayed.

Messenger supports Newsbase's password facility so if you have set a password
then Messenger will prompt you for it.

Messenger uses TTFN's NewsRC file to keep track of which articles have
been read.  This allows you to easily switch between using Messenger and
TTFN although you shouldn't use them at the same time for the same user.

Messenger processes the Xref header line so crossposted articles are
marked as read in all newsgroups they appear in.

Messenger allows more than one message edit to take place at once using the
OLE protocol.  Messenger's implementation of the OLE protocol doesn't seem
to be correct at the moment though.

If you are not using StrongEd or Zap with the ZapOLE mode, then you will need
a copy of the OLESupport module.  Messenger expects to find this in
!System.Modules.

Only a few of the planned keyboard shortcuts are currently implemented.
The most glaring omission is the spacebar to advance through articles.

Folders can be private or public.  Private folders are created in the
Email.username hierarchy whilst public folders are created in the
Folder hierarchy.

Messenger allows you to add taglines to outgoing messages.  To enable this
feature, save the tagline file as !NewsDir.UserHome.username.Taglines
where username is your user name.  If this file is not present then
taglines won't be added.  In a future release you'll be able to turn this
feature on and off more easily.

You can save and uudecode multipart messages.  The order used will be the
order displayed in the message list which should be adequate since the
list is sorted alphabetically.

Article details are destroyed when you close a group window.  If you have
a message displayed when you do this then you will not be allowed to do
anything further with that message.

You can use the 'all newsgroups' mode to read news in newsgroups you're
not subscribed to.  If you do this then your NewsRC will NOT be updated.

Although Messenger does perform article threading, this only alters
the order the articles are displayed in, i.e. no special thread display
has been implemented yet.

To access Messenger's global choices you must be logged in as user with
system administrator privileges.

Address Book
============

Messenger allows you to use TTFN's address book in a similar way to TTFN. To
make use of this facility, copy your address book from !TTFN.Resources.
AddrBook to !NewsDir.UserHome.<user>.AddrBook where <user> is your user name.
Note that Messenger supports one address book per user unlike TTFN. Note also
that distribution lists are *not* supported.  The format of the address book
is one address per line of the form:

   Name,Address

For example:

   Mark Sawle,[e-mail]
   Graham Allan,[e-mail]

There is one known bug in the address book.  To bring up the address book
menus in the send mail/post news dialogues you need to click twice the first
time you open it as the first click constructs the menu and the second
actually displays it.

Mailing List Support
====================

Messenger has special support for mailing lists which enables them to be
presented in the newsreader with separate reply and followup options.  To
make use of this feature, you need to create a file called MailLists in the
directory !NewsDir.Messenger which lists the mailing lists you want Messenger
to be aware of, each line having the format:

    Name,Folder,Address

Name is the name that Messenger will use to refer to the list, Folder is the
name of the folder you have the list's postings filtered to by Newsbase and
Address is the submission address for the list where all postings are sent.

For example:

messenger-l,Folder.maillist.messenger,[e-mail]
newsbase-l,Folder.maillist.newsbase,[e-mail]

This file will only be read once when Messenger starts up.

Future versions will enable you to perform this configuration from within
Messenger and will allow the details to be changed without having to quit and
restart.

Messenger Mailing Lists
=======================

It is recommended that you subscribe to the Messenger mailing list intended
for announcements and general discussion about Messenger.

To subscribe send an empty message to [e-mail] with a
subject of 'SIGNON messenger-l'.

There is another mailing list with the sole purpose of the distribution of
Messenger upgrades.  To subscribe send an empty message with a subject of
'SIGNON msgrbinary'.

Messenger Web Site
==================

There is now a Messenger Web site containing information about Messenger.
Its URL is http://www.locutus.demon.co.uk/messenger/

Recent Changes
==============

V0.28 - V0.30
-------------

All trace removed of (currently) unimplemented features (e.g. buttons, menu
options for printing, create/delete folders, catchup, etc.).

Distribution restrictions relaxed.

Support added for user defined Organization fields in Newsbase.

Global choices now restricted to system administrators, rather than just user
root.

Now allows the cancellation of articles posted using the user masquerading
facility.

Ctrl-U keyboard shortcut added to mark an article as unread.

Pop up menu for 'Mail copy to' field in post news dialogue now works.

Fixed bug where dragging a file to one of the window tools would give an
'Invalid component ID' error.

Fixed bug where opening address book gave an 'Invalid object ID' error.

Licence
=======

Messenger is © Copyright 1995-7 Mark Sawle and is released as freeware.
Permission is granted to use Messenger on the understanding that this use is
entirely at your own risk.  I accept no liability whatsoever for any loss or
damage arising from the use of Messenger nor do I make any guarantee that
Messenger is fit for any purpose.  You may freely distribute Messenger
provided that you do not make a profit from this directly, or indirectly by
supplying it with other goods or services for which a profit is made.  Where
a profit is made, permission must first be sought from me.

Acknowledgements
================

MD5
---

Messenger's password encryption code is derived from the RSA Data Security,
Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm and is Copyright © 1996 Thomas Hawtin.

UUExplode
---------

Messenger contains the uuexplode code written by Kevin Yang and Michael
Bergman as kiss, ported to RISC OS by Martin Glanvill and modified for
use with Messenger by myself.

Contact
=======

Please send any bug reports or suggestions for improvement by e-mail to:

    [e-mail]

or to the Messenger mailing list, if you're subscribed to it, at:

    [e-mail]

I can be contacted by e-mail as:

    [e-mail]

© 1995-7 Mark Sawle