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Text File | 1992-09-30 | 96KB | 1,853 lines

Welcome to ESC version 1.54 10/1/92 EchoMail SetUp Configurator - EchoMail System Controller * 1.1 ESC IS DESIGNED TO DO THREE THINGS 1st: ESC simplifies the installation process of a FIDONET POINT or NODE compatible mailer. In testing, users have a working mailer system in about ten minutes with little intervention from a second party. 3d, 4d and 5d systems are fully supported. 2nd: ESC manages an entire EchoMail system by utilizing existing software. ESC functions as an electronic mailer interface (shell) where all functions are controlled from batch file menus. ESC creates the batch, config and menu files and the user orchestrates them from a consolidated menu structure. 3rd: ESC provides a concise example of a working electronic mailer system. In other words, consider it an instructional frame work where a user can observe a free form, basic and streamlined setup. With a little scrutiny and tinkering, a user can understand the obscure structure of an electronic mail system. ESC places them in an environment to experiment where eventually they will have a customized setup, suited to all their own specific desires. * 1.2 CONTENTS ESC design and purpose . . . . . . . . 1.1 Table of Contents . . . . . . . . 1.2 What's needed . . . . . . . . 1.3 Installing ESC . . . . . . . . 1.4 Primary Operation . . . . . . . . 1.5 General Overview . . . . . . . . 1.6 System and Software . . . . . . . . 1.7 a. Executables . . . . . . . . b. Fossils . . . . . . . . c. Utilities . . . . . . . . OS/2 support . . . . . . . . 1.8 WIMM personal msg search . . . . . . . . 1.9 YABOM - O/B manager + SBC - Binkley Colours Utility Polling with the timer . . . . . . . . 2.0 Detailed Installation . . . . . . . . 2.1 a. 4d Points . . . . . . . . Detailed Operation . . . . . . . . 2.2 a. Menu Options . . . . . . . . 1. Adding new areas . . . . . . . . 2. Setting msg limits . . . . . . . . 3. Removing old areas . . . . . . . . Bonk & the ESC nodelist . . . . . . . . 2.3 Msged or Golded !!! . . . . . . . . 2.4 Changing addresses . . . . . . . . 2.5 Nodelist Processors . . . . . . . . 2.6 Node Operation . . . . . . . . 2.7 Hosting 4d points Domain Support Caveats . . . . . . . . 3.1 Problems . . . . . . . . 3.2 3d/4d . . . . . . . . Msgedsq Automatic registration . . . . . . . . 4.0 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . 4.1 Disclaimer . . . . . . . . 4.2 Bugs and Problems . . . . . . . . 4.3 Upgrading . . . . . . . . 4.4 Customizing (colours) . . . . . . . . 4.5 Modem Initialization . . . . . . . . 4.6 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . 5.0 Circumventing problems Using 4dos Ansi Console device EscTimer EGA users Routing and you Miscellaneous menu items Flo files Call Waiting Auto Answer (unattended) Dial translations Binkley Status Flags Zones and Domains UUCP <InterNet Gate> Glossary . . . . . . . . 5.1 Commercial use . . . . . . . . 6.0 * 1.3 OTHER PROGRAMS NEEDED FOR THIS ECHOMAIL SETUP In its simplest form, here is what's needed: BT.EXE (EMSI) version 2.56 front end mailer MSGED.EXE version 2.1 message reader SQUISH.EXE version 1.01 mail packer BNU.EXE version 1.7 fossil (or X00 or Opuscom) All are available from most FIDONET systems. Also, some form of Ansi driver is required. It is likely your system is already running one (Ansi.sys). * 1.4 INSTALLING AN ECHOMAIL SYSTEM USING ESC (1) From the ROOT directory of your hard drive, type md \bt (2) Copy ESC and the files listed above into this directory. (3) You will need to know, and perhaps experiment with your modem's initialization string. You'll need information from the HOST, who will supply your echomail. Having this person on the phone or present at installation is ideal. (4) Run ESC.EXE, answering the questions with information from the above source, and filling in your preferences. ┌───────────────────── !! VERY IMPORTANT !! ─────────────────────┐ │ Answer each question in the same format as shown in each │ │ example!. If you become creative or unreasonable, the data │ │ written out will not make sense and your mailer will not work! │ └────────────────── !! FOLLOW THE EXAMPLES !! ───────────────────┘ The Installation is complete. These are the essentials. What's left is the fine tuning. The remainder of this document will try to supply answers, warnings, and general information. * 1.5 Operating ESC as an Echomail system If you chose the default directories which ESC offered, the next two steps should have your system in operation. (1) cd \bt ... at the prompt: MAIL <ENTER> (2) Choose from the menu: ESC - to edit parameters CALL - dial BOSSNODE (HOST system) UNATTND - dial any system listed in your nodelist DELAYED - poll scheduler PACK - process OUT mail for sending TOSS - process IN mail for reading EDITOR - read mail / write messages (Msged or Golded) AREAS - to add new mail areas SQUISH - maintenance (submenu) for message areas HELP - list feature information QUIT - back to dos This is only a portion of your options. Should you choose the SQUISH feature, you'll be moved to the next of two more submenus which contain all the functions this setup offers to maintain your message areas (from a menu). The next menu down offers nodelist, outbound and message search utilities. Each menu is accessed by referring to it by number or letter options. * 1.6 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ESC ESC is capable of more than what this intentionally brief document reveals. As you work with the files which ESC has created and the other software and documentation that are a part of your total system, you will find ESC to be a complete application program. ESC consolidates and manages all the features and functions needed to support a FIDONET compatible POINT mailer. Even a NODE system can be operated under ESC with primary level support. A traditional mailer is more than one program. Due to the talents and generosity of certain programmers, much of the operation has already been consolidated. Squish is a good example. Scott Dudley has incorporated many functions of mail handling into one neat package. Still, the example configuration files contain more than is needed by the first time user. So those configs initially look intimidating. This is where ESC shines. It creates basic config files which will serve the purpose for a first-time-up system. ESC also can keep any features which you later add to those very same configs. Those simple configs can be built into more complex ones as the user is capable of understanding them. The idea behind ESC is to initially install and operate an echomail setup while allowing a configurable system environment. ESC utilizes the popular freeware packages available throughout the FIDONET community. The required executables are found listed in this document. Included are the terminal interface, message creator / reader, complete mail processor and an assortment of utilities. ESC orchestrates all of these from a menu driven interface. Which, you may have noticed, is the secondary function of ESC. The primary function is to create all the configuration and batch files associated with the software. All this work is accomplished in less than a minute, once you've answered the questions. NOTE: ESC will also create a miniature NODELIST on request. By nature, electronic mail networking is difficult to comprehend and uses a lot of abstract terminology, most of which is beyond the scope of this and any one single document. Keep in mind that FIDONET has been built with a hobbyist mentality. Therefore, the best source of information is the group of people who are already involved. ESC attempts to ease the difficulty of getting started by safely putting the novice into active participation right away. * 1.7 SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS As of this version, 430 to 450k of RAM is recommended. ESC was developed on an AMI 386sx bios system, under DOS 5.0, in a 400k DESQview window under QEMM 6.0. It has been tested on several machines ranging from a 4.77 mhz XT monographic setup under DOS 3.3 to a full featured 33mhz 486DX. For practical purposes you should have several megabytes of free disk space. This would indicate that you really should be running your mailer from a fixed disk. Still, it is possible to operate from a high density (or two) floppy drive system. SOFTWARE INCLUDED: The distribution archive should contain a minimum of the files listed below: ESC.EXE ESCUTIL.EXE ESCDO.COM ESC.DOC All the executables are necessary to set up and maintain your integrated mail system interface. SOFTWARE YOU WILL NEED: In addition to the above files, you will need those listed below to operate your FTS mailer using ESC. Any good FIDONET system (there are over 17,000 of them in 42 or more countries) should have them all. USING ESC IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM: For example, if you have a mono single tasking system with Ansi.Sys included in your Config.Sys, and you will be a POINT to a system which uses session level passwording, all you will need are the following: BT.EXE version 2.56 front end mailer MSGED.EXE version 2.1 message reader SQUISH.EXE version 1.01 mail packer (+associated files) BNU.EXE version 1.7 fossil LIST.COM any version dir/file multi-utility PKZIP.EXE version 1.10 file archiver PKUNZIP.EXE version 1.10 file archive extractor Or, you can build a larger, more complex system. ESC may access any of the programs listed below, in addition to the ones above depending on your configuration. One of these fossil drivers X00.EXE version 1.24 BNU.EXE version 1.7 OPUSCOMM version 5.3 (with) OCOM_CFG Only if you'll be using and/or creating a nodelist QNODE.EXE version 1.42 NODELIST compiler QIDX.EXE comes with Qnode XLAXNODE.EXE version 2.56 NODELIST compiler BONK.EXE version 1.74 (v7 NODELIST) & outbnd util YABOM.EXE version 1.10b (v7 NODELIST) & outbnd util -- If you're not loading ANSI.SYS on boot up ANSI.COM version 1.3* * = Ziff Communications / PC Magazine You can use anything else which works but you will have to modify the MAIL.BAT which Esc creates to call the correct name. Or DVANSI if you're using DESQview -- -- If you're running a color system VFOS_IBM.COM version 1.10 VFOS_DEL.COM version 1.00 BinkleyTerm requires this. -- If you want your mail areas searched for personal messages. WIMM.EXE version 1.10 Message search utility Miscellaneous utilities included in the menu system SBC.EXE version 1.0 BinkleyTerm color setting utility A complete compliment of file compression programs is recommended. Such as Phil Katz PK - everything. Haruyasu Yoshizaki LHA - LHARC. NoGate's PAK, Rahul Dhesi's ZOO program and Robert Jung's ARJ... The compression programs: ARCA - Wayne Chin and Vernon Buerg ARCE - Vernon Buerg are the defacto standard recognized throughout fidonet for mail compression. All systems should be capable of handling another's mail in this form. However, most systems can process other forms of compressed FTS mail (bundles) as well. Esc defaults to using PKZIP by Phil Katz because of its availability and efficiency. You can specify something else after your setup is complete, from the ESC editor mode. Check with your BOSS (or HOST) system before changing it. * 1.8 OS/2 SUPPORT ESC is not an OS/2 program. If it is run under OS/2, it must be executed in a DOS box. All the necessary verbiage is within the ESC source for OS/2 support. The only thing lacking is for ESC and the support files to be ported over. * 1.9 WIMM SUPPORT ESC builds a WIMM.CFG whenever it creates the message editor configs. WIMM is written by Gerard van Essen. It searches your Squish.Cfg file, then scans each message area listed for your name. If a message is found, it will be copied into the PERSONAL message area which Esc creates for you. This way, you will be unlikely to miss any messages sent to you via the echoes. YABOM SUPPORT YABOM - Yet Another Binkley Outbound Manager is a multipurpose utility which is of particular interest to NODE systems. POINT mailers can benefit from its many features as well. YABOM will not appear on the (3rd) menu until YABOM.EXE exists in the same directory as the MAIL.BAT. You should have all the associated files for YABOM there as well. If you haven't configured YABOM before calling it from the MAIL menu, you'll be given the choice to do so at that time. You will need to know more than a little about your directories and addressing when you configure YABOM. SBC SUPPORT Like Yabom, this feature will not appear on the menu (2nd one) until SBC.EXE is present in the same directory as the MAIL.BAT. Briefly, it will allow you to precisely customize your Binkley Term screen colors. SBC requires no further explanation as it is simple, clean and easy to use. * 2.0 Polling with the TIMER You can set up to 20 automatic poll times using the [D]elay Poll option from the 1st (of 3) MAIL menus. Not much has to be explained as the function is fairly self explanatory. One thing to remember is polling times must be set using a 24 hour method and the format entered must be HH:MM exactly. If you want your system to poll the host at 10:30 in the evening, you must specify 22:30. Polling isn't all the Timer will allow you to do. By editing the ESCTIMER.BAT, you can specify anything you wish. * 2.1 Detailed INSTALLATION ESC's purpose is to make installation and operation as simple as possible. The first step is to create a directory for ESC and the other files that are needed. You can name the directory whatever you want, however the recommendation (default) is \BT. All your operations should now be handled from this directory. Simply move into this home directory and control everything concerning your mail system from it. ESC and all the files it creates need to reside in this home directory. For now, it is essential to have ESC.EXE in there. If you choose to have ESC create the tiny NODELIST, and you'll need one in most cases, be sure to have the QNODE (with QIDX) or XLAXNODE executable accessible through the DOS path. Now, type in ESC and follow the instructions as they appear on your screen. Please pay attention to the bottom Information: window. The best way to initially install and operate your mailer is to be in contact with your mail source (HOST) at the time of serious configuration. Most terms used in the Fido network are ambiguous to the uninitiated. Your BOSSNODE (HOST) sysOp will know what all of them mean. The glossary at the end of this document may be of help as well. BOSSNODE and HOST from your standpoint are terms associated with the system/operator which will be the resource from where echomail destined for your system is obtained. In other words, your HOST is the next step up in the network. You'll receive and send mail from and to this system. The operator of this system must supply you with particular information in order for your mail transactions to be successful. It would be helpful if this sysOp has at least some working knowledge of this software package. The ideal situation is to sit in front of the computer, phone perched on your shoulder, while your HOST answers your questions. There are a number of things you must find out from this person anyway. You will need to enter your assigned POINT or NODE address, phone number, etc. You'll also need to know a working initialization string for your modem. Without it, you'll be all dressed up with no place to go. A word of warning: modem inits can be a bear! Just remember that BINKLEY uses the | (pipe) in lieu of the common ^M as an initialization string carriage return. For modem init examples, see the section on modem initialization. NOW, run ESC.EXE and answer all the questions carefully, reading the information window completely as you progress through the questions. If you do make an entry mistake, you will be given the opportunity to make corrections at the end of the questionnaire. This can be taken care of from the CHANGE menu item.. Don't hurry! COMMAND LINE SYNTAX: ESC EXAMPLE: C:\>ESC ESC runs in two modes: CONFIGURATION and EDIT. EDIT mode isn't available until your setup has been configured. In other words, CONFIGURATION mode is the only mode you will have until ESC has done its initial setup work and has written the configuration and batch files. ESC will prompt you for information which allows the program to write the configuration files for BINKLEY, QNODE, XLAXNODE, BONK, SQUISH, MSGED, GOLDED and WIMM. ESC will optionally provide a "bare bones" NODELIST (NODELIST.001). You can forego ANSI.COM if you already have a comparable device handler loaded at runtime of the batch file named MAIL (Your ESC menu operation master batch file). Another batch file (MAKEDIR) is also created to quickly create the subdirectories needed for your mailer and editor to work. Why does ESC create batch files to control the mailer? DOS batch files have two advantages. The main one being, batch files can be edited easily to suit custom applications. You will be able to change things to suit your particular preferences simply by editing these files should the desire strike you. Secondly, the processing of a batch file requires only 96 bytes of RAM. MS-Dos batch processing speed (the lack of it) is the disadvantage. When ESC.EXE is initially run, (CONFIGURATION MODE), its job is to create control files. Here is the list. All of them are applicable except perhaps the AREAS.BBS. However, it has such widespread use that it is considered a standard application file. Therefore, ESC provides a very basic one. At the present time ESC doesn't update or maintain it as it does the other control files because currently there is no need. Files Created by ESC AREAS.BBS - Universal message area control (unused) BINKLEY.CFG - BinkleyTerm control file BINKLEY.EVT - BinkleyTerm event control file BINKLEY.LNG - BinkleyTerm information file BONK.CFG - nodelist utility configuration file COMPRESS.CFG - Squish archiving information control ESC.CFG - ESC configuration information MAIL.BAT - ESC menu interface batch file MAKEDIR.BAT - ESC subdirectory creation file DOMSGED.BAT - MSGED editor process batch file GOTMAIL.BAT - AFTERMAIL Binkley mail processing MSGED.CFG - MSGED information control file GOLDED.CFG - GOLDED information control file NODELIST.001 - Node address lookup (optional) QNODE.CFG - Nodelist compilation control file XLAXNODE.CTL - Nodelist compilation control file POLL.BAT - Simple automatic Polling batch file ROUTE.CFG - Squish routing information control SQUISH.CFG - Squish mail handling control file WIMM.CFG - Personal mail search control file MSGEDIT.BAT - Binkley Alt-E editor call up batch ESCTIMER.BAT - Delayed Polling batch file ESCTIMER.LST - Sample list for delayed poll times OKFILE.LST - Sample f/req ok list for node operation + M_AREA.DAT - Msged message area definition (upgrade) + S_AREA.DAT - Squish message area definition (upgrade) * MAIL.BAT serves as a menu to the other files and functions. * POLL.BAT serves to fully automate the POLLing process. + Only created if upgrading and requesting to save the old message area configuration. After ESC has created all your configuration files, it will then function as an EDITOR to them. ESC also can recreate your setup from scratch if you so desire. A few precautions need to be made clear at this time. ESC preserves edits made outside of its own editor on several files such as the Binkley, Squish and Msged configurations files. It also will create a .BAK if instructed to overwrite, on nearly all files. However, keep in mind that if you make an alteration to the MAIL.BAT, for instance, and then have ESC write a new one, your edits will not be included. They will now exist in the MAIL.BAK. If you write the file out twice, the edits will be moved into the bit bucket and are gone for good. A warning is issued before you can globally rewrite your entire configuration. You should gain an understanding of your configs as soon as possible. Don't be intimidated by the terminology. Simply follow each step. The process will take less that 15 minutes. Keep in mind that parameters can be readjusted later. When you have finished all your entries, tag all configurables from the menu presented. On a scratch creation all files are automatically tagged. Either press S or page down to SAVE SETUP and hit ENTER. ESC will notify you that it is writing the necessary configurables, batch and support files. You will hear a chirp if any of the files already exist; this is telling you that ESC is backing them up before overwriting them. You may press any key to exit this portion of ESC when the process has finished. ALL the files referred to in this document are available in complete archive format from 1:157/534 You may request the list in order to obtain the proper names as "ESCLIST.LST". Complete information concerning file names, dates and sizes are within this text file. You might want to request FILES to see exactly what is available from this system. FOR 4d (or 5d) POINT CONFIGURATION Creating a 4d setup is straight forward. Respond appropriately when prompted whether this is to be a node or POINT setup and then whether it is to be for a 3d or 4D configuration. You should be certain which type of addressing your HOST supports. * 2.2 OPERATING THE ECHO MAIL SYSTEM After you have answered all the questions from the configuration mode and have written out all the files, you're ready to make your first call to the HOST system. As displayed on the screen, type MAIL at the Dos prompt. MAIL.BAT is a somewhat autonomous function menu which gives the user the most control over what the mail system is doing. Using this menu requires some understanding of terms like TOSSing and PACKing of mail. There is a help screen provided from the MAIL menu. Also, the ESC_HELP.DOC has a step by step procedure for primary operation if you are using Msged. Many of the MAIL options are self explanatory. Below is a list which will give you a preview. For further help, check the definitions in the GLOSSARY at the end of this document. ESC accesses MSGED, the Squish-compatible version developed by John Dennis, or Golded created by Odinn Sorensen. The original MSGED format was created by Jim Nutt and released into the public domain. As of the 2.0.5 version, two help menus are accessible, if you have the two files associated with the help function. These being EHELP.HLP and RHELP.HLP. Pressing Alt H in either EDIT or READER mode will bring up the appropriate help screen. Just make certain that these files are in the same directory with MSGED.EXE. While on this subject, I've taken the liberty to reassign a few keys in a way that I feel is beneficial for someone unaccustomed to MSGED. First of all, I changed the ESCAPE key to move you out of the current message area and into the AREA selection list. This replaces the default of exiting MSGED, something which plagued me until I changed it. Also, you may view the list of message headers in an area simply by pressing the L key while in the reader mode. You can use the FIND function by just pressing the letter F as well as Alt-F. Finally, I reassigned the comma and period to be read-thread direction keys. Golded is fairly straight forward in its installation. The appropriate files are included in its own archive. These files should be located in the same directory as Esc. Esc will create a very basic but functional configuration file for use with Golded. Because Golded must use its own nodelist, you will need to create that and place it in the directory with Golded. One of the advantages of using Golded is the direct support for spell checking. Take a look at the Golded.Cfg which ESC creates and you will see a line commented out which makes reference to SS.EXE. Read the documentation for Golded and determine how you need to edit the Golded.Cfg to implement a spell checker. ESC will honor your change and keep your modification on subsequent re-writes of the Golded.Cfg. When you select either of these editors during setup or later in an editing session, the batch files will be written to access your choice. MAIL MENU CHOICES EXPLAINED - ESC - This brings up ESC in edit mode. Here, you may change quite a few parameters concerning your mailer in three modes: (1) Your SYSTEM configuration, (2) the BOSSNODE / MISCELLANEOUS specifications, and (3) NODELIST items. The editor is a quick method for changing things like your fossil, system name, BOSSNODE, phone numbers, etc. The list is fairly extensive. This provides an alternative to re- configuring from scratch. Remember, you must WRITE the new files once you've re-configured them! Some changes require you to recompile your NODELIST if you are using one. - CALL - or - POLL - If your modem is connected, and you have configured your setup correctly, your system will dial out to the HOST system which you have previously established to be your echomail resource. If you have mail waiting, it should be delivered. If you have mail to be sent out, it should be sent. - UNATTND - Bring Binkley up in a waiting mode. Here it will sit and attempt to send any pending outbound mail on intervals. If you have told ESC to write your configuration so that Binkley is to answer the phone when it rings, it will do so. It will also "watch" the keyboard for your commands. Press ALT-F10 for a display of what Binkley can do, you'll be impressed! - DELAYED - This is the EscTimer mentioned previously. You are prompted to enter as many as 20 specific times in which your system will begin polling your Host system. This works well for someone who wants to pick up (or send) mail at a time when they are asleep, away or just in the mood to have their mailer do something all by itself. This is no match for Binkley's event schedule but it is a quick and easy way to accomplish scheduled polling. - PACK - Is the process which must be done after you create a message. This is a bundling process which prepares and addresses your message(s) to be sent out of your system via the modem. Normally this is done immediately after you create mail. The setup asks you if you wish to process (PACK) your new mail immediately after exiting your editor. For one reason or another you may wish to say no. You can then choose the PACK feature from the main menu and process your outbound mail at that time. - TOSS - Is the process which must be done after you RECEIVE messages. This is the unpacking of the mail bundle which has arrived on your system. This mail needs to be placed (TOSSed) into the individual mail AREAs before you can read it. - EDITOR - This is referred to as your message reader, although it also creates, quotes and edits messages. You need to KNOW these few key presses, otherwise you may get stuck in the reader: ALT X gets you out. The ESCAPE key offers you options. ALT E allows you to create new messages. ALT Q allows you to quote and reply to an already existing one. ALT S or the F1 key will save your new message. ALT C gives you the opportunity to change a message that has already been saved. ALT A allows you to select a new mail area. ALT L, or just the L key lists the messages that are contained in the area. ALT O shells you out of the editor, and typing EXIT will bring you back in. - AREAS - Is a special feature which should be used only after you have learned how to request new echomail areas and have received mail from them into your system. AREAS updates your config files to KNOW that you have new mail areas. Once run, and the new areas have been created, the messages which have been received and are waiting in the BAD MESSAGE area should be automatically TOSSed into the newly configured areas. See the section below: (a) ADDING MESSAGE AREAS to your SQUISH.CFG and MSGED.CFG - SQUISH - Is the mail handling submenu which includes the many functions provided by its author. This submenu can access five SQUISH type message base utilities associated with the SQUISH mailer: SQPACK - message maintenance (clean up) utility. SQINFO - message information utility. SQFIX - message area repair utility. SQREIDX - message area index repair utility. SQSET - individual message area size/date maintenance. SQSET is added only as a convenience. SQSet is a "manual" squish area maintenance utility. However, ESC supports its usage in a rather limited fashion. If you wish, you can edit the batch files which ESC creates to perform customized maintenance from the menu system provided. For practical purposes you may not need to bother with SQSet. Read the documentation which comes with the Squish mail processor for more details about using SQSet, your messages areas and the care and feeding of them. Additionally, there are a few more options from this menu. One of these being XAREAS which allows you to remove echomail areas from your configs, and another option named DIRWORK which access Vernon Buerg's LIST program and places you in your MSG directory. There you may view and perform DOS directory operations on the files. Such as to delete defunct areas. You can also purge (SQPack) your BAD MESSAGE area to free up space on your drive. However this should have been done automatically after you use AREAS from the main menu. Finally an option exists to globally delete the backup message files which SQFix creates while repairing damaged message files. These can be seen to have an extension which has a format something like <filename>.XX?. In most cases these files are useless and need to be deleted. - HELP - Menu features defined. - QUIT - Speaks for itself. (a) ADDING MESSAGE AREAS to your SQUISH.CFG and MSGED.CFG There are TWO ways: 1. Choose the AREAMAN option from the SQUISH submenu, which is chosen from the MAIL menu. Follow the prompts, you then can request the specified echo(es) from your echomail feed. 2. Request new echoes from your HOST. After they arrive, they will be TOSSed into your BAD MESSAGE area. Take a look to be sure they are there. From the ESC MAIL Menu: Choose [A] - AREAS add new areas. If all went well, you should see that the new areas have been created and the messages which were in your BAD MESSAGE area have been TOSSed into the newly created ones. (b) SETTING AREA MESSAGE LIMITS There is an option from the 2nd menu presented when you type MAIL at your Dos prompt. The SETSIZE option allows you to define exactly how many messages are allowed for an individual area. Initially, ESC offers a global static value which limits all areas to 200 messages. However, you may alter individual limits after ESC has created its MAIL menu system. To explain a little more in detail, some areas do not need to take up much room on your drive because of light traffic through them. Therefore allowing a limit of 200 messages in those areas would be a waste of space. On the other hand, some echoes may require a high limit due to the amount of messages which can be received in a short period of time. Because you don't want your oldest messages to be dropped off the end before you have had a chance to read them, you may wish to set a high message limit for such an area. With SETSIZE you simply choose the option and follow the prompts. (c) REMOVING MESSAGES AREAS from MAIL.BAT, SQUISH,and MSGED.CFG. When you no longer receive messages into a particular echomail area you need to tell your system that this is the case. There is a feature of the SQUISH submenu, accessed from the MAIL menu, called XAREAS. This option removes the area names from your control files so they won't be processed any longer. Here's how to operate this function. XAREAS will display your message areas and number them. You can then tell XAREAS which message areas you wish to delete from your control files. You should then go into the MSG directory and delete the mail files associated with the areas which you have removed in order to free the space they are taking. You can use DIRWORK to do this if you have LIST on your system. * 2.3 BONK AND THE ESC NODELIST Don't be intimidated by this next paragraph. The nodelist which ESC creates will function adequately with your bossnode. However some folks may wish to alter it to add in other systems. This is primarily who the following paragraph is addressed to. Bonk is a nodelist (fidonet system address lookup list) utility created by Tom Kashuba. As a dual faceted program, it allows you to somewhat visually manipulate the contents of your outbound directory as well as permit you to view and make changes to your nodelist. Bonk version 1.74 is restricted to accessing a version 7 nodelist. This is what ESC creates. Bonk does not only read the little nodelist which ESC creates but it can alter, add to and/or amend it. Bonk will also allow you to manipulate pending outbound mail files in your outbound mail area. You should read the BONK documentation to get a better idea of what it is. If you have BONK on your system, it can be accessed via the last (3rd) ESC menu. You may prefer to edit your little nodelist simply with a good text editor. With a little understanding of the structure of a nodelist, you will be able to edit it to suit your needs. Be certain to retain the control Z at the end of NODELIST.001! Also be sure to compile it afterwards using Qnode or another version 7 nodelist processor. * 2.4 MSGED OR GOLDED Both the ESC setup and editor support configurations for the Golded and Msged message reader/editors. Of course you must have either or both of these programs and any supporting files available to your system in order to appropriate their use. If possible, run Golded from the same directory that Esc is in. This solves numerous problems. NOTE: !!! IMPORTANT !!! For ESC versions prior to 1.54 Be certain to REMOVE or DELETE the GOLDED.CFG which comes from the GOLDED ARCHIVE. ESC needs to write its own from scratch rather than edit the one which comes with the GOLDED package! * 2.5 CHANGING ADDRESSES The ESC editor permits you to change your address type... By choosing option F) Mailer type, you can switch from a 3d point to a 4d point and back. You can also switch points of either type to a node. You can change from a <HOST> system to a non host. You can even change from a node back to either type of point. ALWAYS write out the pertinent files associated with the change. Changing mailer types will cause ESC to want to recompile its nodelist. You may handle that in regard to your situation. Although changing mailer types does work from the editor, you might consider a new installation in a clean directory. This way you can be certain that nothing telltale will be left behind. One situation is the ROUTE.CFG for Squish. ESC parses and alters only that which it thinks is appropriate for the mailer type being setup. Changing from a NODE to a POINT system will remove the SEND verb from the ROUTE.CFG. Changing back to a NODE from a POINT cannot re-insert it. In other words, mail will not be sent directly to a point off of a node system which has been altered this way. This is more a matter of logic than of limitation. * 2.6 NODELIST PROCESSORS As mentioned before, ESC will create its own mini nodelist on demand. This still has to be compiled for use with Binkleyterm, Bonk, Yabom and Msged. If you chose to allow ESC to create the nodelist, you will be asked if you want to compile it. If you answer yes, you will then be given a choice of which compiler to use. You must have available, the one chosen. The choices are, Qnode (freeware by Jim West) and Xlaxnode (shareware by Scott Samet). Both work perfectly, however using Xlaxnode versions prior to 2.56 will warn you that there is a CRC error at runtime, you can ignore this warning. Your Nodelist will still work just fine. Note: Qnode must be accompanied with QIDX.EXE in order to create the nodex.idx and sysop.idx. QIDX.EXE is a part of the entire Qnode package. Both Qnode and Xlaxnode also create the FidoUser.Lst which is called upon by Golded and Msged. * 2.7 NODE OPERATION A NODE system setup is just as easily created and maintained as a point mailer. The major difference is the potential of a Node operation. HOSTING 4d POINTS Either 3d or 4d Points are supported from the Node operation. 3d is more straight forward but 4d works perfectly well. It has been tested here and is running fine. A word of advice is in order. Please read the BINKLEY 2.40 document release on 4d point directory and domain support. This document may be a little difficult to find but it tells everything you need to know about the subject. DOMAIN SUPPORT Domain is almost entirely supported from the setup module. However, the Domain line in the Binkley.Cfg which ESC writes, is commented out and left for you to edit according to your own situation. Under the default circumstances a POINT mailer which has a domain designated in its address will properly pass mail to and from its host system. However, you will have to work with your configuration when attempting to pass mail to other systems, IF you designate a domain on your address. You must tell ESC that you want your mail to be ROUTED DIRECT in the System Option menu and have ESC (re)write your ROUTE.CFG.. * 3.1 CAVEATS If you should choose to alter any batch or configuration files which ESC generates, beware that changing your configuration and then having ESC rewrite files from the edit mode may overwrite your changes. ESC is semi-smart in that it scans several files and changes only the pertinent information, leaving a .BAK file of the original and your edits in the new one. However, count on nothing. Simply backing up or copying the files involved to a safe place is good insurance against disappointments. A warning and brief explanation appear before you are in the position to possibly lose custom edits. If you let ESC do all your editing, you have nothing to worry about even if you tag all files to be overwritten. It is only when you change your files with a text editor that you "may" be in danger of losing those changes. An explanation of the workings of ESC when parsing and editing control files would extend this document beyond reasonable length. Therefore, tagging files to be rewritten is something you should investigate when you get to the point where you begin customizing your setup beyond the scope of ESC's simple echomailer concept. On the other hand, ESC makes such an attempt at keeping certain information intact that NEW versions of ESC will have features that cannot be accessed until the old file(s) have been removed. For instance, let us assume that a later version of ESC includes a new verb in the Msged.Cfg. Simply running the new version of ESC and telling it to write out a new Msged.Cfg will not place the addition into the old Msged.Cfg. The reason is that as long as ESC detects a Msged.Cfg it will not overwrite it. It will merely copy the file to a .BAK then create a new one by editing the one which exists. This procedure is consistent with several other files as well. All that is being said here is this: ALLOW ESC TO DELETE THE OLD CONFIG(S), THEN TELL ESC TO WRITE THEM AGAIN WHEN UPGRADING TO A NEWER VERSION OF ESC! Doing this forces ESC to place newly added features into the file(s). The draw back is that you will lose any edits you have added previously. You will then have to re-enter those edits with a text editor. EDITING : The files which ESC writes are pretty much bare bones examples. BinkleyTerm's "BINKLEY.CFG" is one instance of a file which really can be expanded upon. Some optional items have been included and commented out in the .CFG to help in the case of problems initializing the modem. There are a number of others. Also, the BINKLEY.EVT is stark but is there to give you a base to work with and to allow Binkley to function in the Unattended mode (NODE installation). The POINT setup doesn't require the BINKLEY.EVT because it is built on the assumption that it is to operate in the ATTENDED (MAIL) mode. It is still written out in either case with one small modification for the different mailer types. If you decide to edit the config files outside of ESC you need to be cautious. The configs are white space sensitive concerning how ESC sees them. Pay close attention to how ESC has created the files. Some lines must remain where they are. The EchoArea and Squish Area lists must remain in a contiguous order for ESC to effectively edit them. If at all possible, you should let ESC edit the configs from the menu mode. ESC's PERSONAL NODELIST: ESC needs to know if there have been any changes effecting the NODELIST that it has built. Under most circumstances ESC will detect them on its own. However, if you have another reason to have ESC rewrite and recompile the NODELIST, you may force it to do so with the <J> toggle from the <Nodelist> menu option. Flip it from NODELIST.001 to NO and then back again, and an internal signal is generated telling ESC that it is necessary to rewrite and recompile its NODELIST. After telling ESC to <Write> the pertinent files, it will then seek your permission to recompile NODELIST.001. Editing the MAIL.BAT is permissible except in one area. DO NOT ADD ANYTHING BELOW THE :sqp LABEL! AREAS reads from this file when adding areas. A foreign entry in this section of the batch file will interfere with the work of ESCUTILS.EXE. Plus, anything added just above the :dos label will be lost. If you're running DESQview and Ansi.com no longer provides the escape code translation, you'll have to exit DESQview and start it back up again. The logical alternative is to use DVansi. * 3.2 POSSIBLE PROBLEMS Most setup problems stem from modem initialization. ESC gives you four choices when configuring. They are: for the USRobotics HST and HST DUAL STANDARD, a GENERIC, simple straight forward string and the option to enter your own string. Please keep in mind that Binkley wants to see the | rather than ^M. So, beware! Also, X00 version 1.24 works superbly with the HST and the D S. It seems to have a problem with some of the 2400 bps modems. BNU is a good choice for 2400 bps or below. -=* Binkley starts and gives some error code. The NODELIST is missing, grundged, improperly processed or not in the specified path. The file BINKLEY.LNG is not in the same directory as BINKLEY.CFG or it hasn't been processed properly. Directories are incorrect in the BINKLEY.CFG. The NODELIST is missing or wasn't compiled properly (if at all). -=* Binkley reports that it is dialing out but nothing is really happening. Try removing the semicolon (;) from in front of the "NoCollide" verb in the BINKLEY.CFG. This disables a feature but is necessary for the success of some modems (i.e. Smart One). -=* Binkley reports that "Remote didn't respond" immediately after it initializes. Try removing the semicolon (;) from in front of the SameRing verb in the BINKLEY.CFG. If all else fails, look to your initialization string. Here is where many people experience problems. -=* Binkley never really starts and the system drops through to process mail. The communication fossil may not be loading. Try another one, or check your config.sys to see that one isn't already loaded and a conflict is occurring. One user found that he had to move the call to the fossil in the MAIL.BAT to the top of the file. This should not be, but it worked for him. -=* You have changed the name of your system or that of your BOSSNODE but Binkley shows the old name when you poll out. You MUST run XLAXNODE -- or -- You MUST run QNODE (with QIDX) on the NODELIST.001 every time you make a change to the "SYSTEM", "BOSSNODE" or "NODELIST" fields. REMEMBER, Binkley recognizes the | (not the :), as a carriage return. Many modem initialization strings use the ^M convention. Binkley should do the translation when it sends the string to your modem. You may have to experiment with the initialization string and/or modem settings via dip switches or software control (NRAM). The best advice is to read the Binkley manuals as well as all the documentation which comes with your software, especially your modem manual. As simple as it sounds, one problem which seems to occur is that after making changes to the configs, users do not write out the files. After making edits through ESC, be certain to write out the altered file(s), from the Pick List. When in doubt of which files to tag, TAG them ALL. Two files are skipped over if ESC detects that they exist when it begins writing files. They are the COMPRESS.CFG and BINKLEY.LNG. The only way to get ESC to rewrite these two is to delete or move them from the home directory. Also, most files are read from and then recreated with edits. If you want a "from scratch" file, you should delete it and then have ESC rewrite it. Some report strange addresses after setting up. It seems the biggest problem comes from not knowing whether a 3d (privatenet) or 4d address is appropriate. To compound the confusion, some utilities show a 4d address even though the system is configured as 3d. Msged will show the 4d address regardless of point types. Never the less, it is important to understand which type you are. If your boss assigns you a number different from his own, then you are 3d. Here's an example below; 1:157/534 BOSS ADDRESS 1:3534/109 3d POINT ADDRESS 1:157/534.109 4d POINT ADDRESS 1:157/534.109@fidonet.org 5d POINT ADDRESS If the number which you have been assigned, after the colon is different than the BOSS address as above, then you have a 3d address. If it is the same, then you have a 4d address. Also, 3d addresses will not have a period delimiting them. -=* Your netmail area shows that you have -1 messages in it. Somehow a zero byte length message has been created. As of Msgedsq 2.1, this situation causes a *.msg message area to be inaccessibly. The zero length message(s) will have to be deleted in the message area. -=* Your squish message area(s) are acting funky. Something has gotten grundged in one of the squish files and SQFix must be run on the afflicted message area files. This can be done from the 3rd (mail) menu in a global sense or you can operate on individual areas from your dos command line. Secure an understanding of the SQFix syntax from the Squish Prn or take a look in the Mail.Bat to see how it is done from there. -=* You see a SQUISH SWAP error message when Squish attempts to toss new messages. Some systems refuse to accept the Swap option from Squish. Go into your Squish.Cfg with a text editor and comment out the line appearing as Swap F:\$$SQUISH.SWP by putting a semicolon at the beginning of the line. If you feel like experimenting, you can optionally try another drive path designation. * 4.0 AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION ESC is absolutely free for non commercial use. All that is required of you, is to let the automatic netmail message which is generated upon installation, to be channeled out through your host and hopefully routed back to the author of ESC. The netmail message is created in several steps. The final one happening the first time the MAIL menu is invoked. Please allow this message to be processed and sent by ESC. You don't have to do anything but use ESC to be registered. If for some reason, the registration message doesn't make its way out of your system. You can send it again by holding the Alt key and pressing 2 from the ESC Editor Menu. This is all that is asked of you as the end user. The AutoMessenger message will be deleted as soon as it is packed up. If you're leery of what that message contains, here is a sample form: 029/030 Sat Aug 29 1992 00:02:18 From: Chris Mann of 1:157/100.30 To: Glen Gilbert of 1:157/534 Subj: Esc Automatic Messenger Attr: privileged recvd Zone 1 netmail area _____________________________________ AutoResponse from Chris's mailer! Esc 1.52 installed as a 3d POINT setup! System: "Lost in the cartoon, Chris's point." (Akron_OH) Editor choice = Msged Configuration took 2 minutes, 17 seconds. --- Esc 1.54 Automatic Messenger * Origin: Esc 1.54 - Integrated Mail System (1:157/100.30) * 4.1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Todd Smith of 157/100@fidonet aka 157/533: Many of the features in ESC are a result of his suggestions. He stands unique as the primary and original beta tester as well as the one who promoted the insurgence of many FIDONET members in this locale. This prompted the beginning efforts on such a project as ESC. Jim Ball of 157/534.11 provided great assistance and scrutiny. Many features were conceived and implemented because of his thoughtful recommendation and painstaking bug detection. Ed Marsh of 157/534.12 as beta tester and documentation editor, who also quite thoroughly tested the programs from a perspective of one newly entered into telecommunications. Kevin Benton of 157/516@fidonet answered questions and provided snippets of code. This is my first programming effort for IBM class machines and his help was essential. Don Benson of 157/603@fidonet who enjoyed making me angry by rolling his forehead back and forth over the keyboard to see what kind of errors he could get the programs to generate. Don is also responsible for the "Color2" scheme which most seem to prefer. He made other recommendations but five lines is all he's getting. Others who need mentioning are Mike Christian, Bret Johnson, Pat Reilly, Chris Mann and Ted Sarah for their consistant helpful input and support. Glen Gilbert 1:157/534@fidonet is the author. Now that you have this package, please send a netmail message his way containing comments, bug reports and suggestions. If you chose to use the NODELIST creation feature, then his name and address are included there, as well as that of Todd Smith (support system). In other words, just type in either name while in Msged and the correct fidonet address should pop up. Both will be watching the POINTS echo for any interest in ESC. The intention is to support, and develop it further, respective to the amount of interest. SQUISH - is the creation of Scott Dudley. BINKLEY - is the creation of Vince Perriello and Bob Hartman. MSGED - is the creation of Jim Nutt and John Dennis is the - developer of the Squish-compatible version. QNODE - is the creation of James West XLAXNODE - is the creation of Scott Samet BONK - is the creation of Tom Kashuba and Ulf Nilsson YABOM - is the creation of Berin Lautenbach WIMM - is the creation of Gerard van Essen SBC - is the creation of John Giesbrecht * 4.2 DISCLAIMER ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ There is no warrantee and the author takes │ │ zero responsibility for whatever happens │ │ when using this software. Accepting or │ │ running any of the files included with this │ │ package acknowledges your acceptance of │ │ these terms. If in doubt, simply delete them. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ * 4.3 BUG and PROBLEM REPORTS Please send your questions, problems and bug reports about Esc to -- Glen Gilbert of 1:157/534@fidonet It is very important that you give the Esc version number! Send the ESC.CFG and other pertinent configuration or batch files if possible. "The quality of the help you receive, is directly proportional to the information you provide." * 4.4 UPGRADING When upgrading from a previous ESC setup BACK UP first! As of version 1.46, ESC will save your message area declarations in two files. They are M_AREA.DAT and S_AREA.DAT. ESC will find and read the content of these files, placing the entries found in them, into the newly created MSGED.CFG and SQUISH.CFG. The MSGED.CFG is not relevant to GOLDED users. If you have chosen to save old message area data while doing an upgrade, and abort ESC during the configuration, your old message area data will exist in two files. S_AREA.DAT and M_AREA.DAT. ESC will detect the presence of these files and ask you if you want them to be used for message area data. You should answer yes to this question if the information contained in them is appropriate. You can determine this by viewing their contents with LIST or any suitable file viewer. The alternative is to be very careful NOT to abort the upgrade installation. Caution should be exercised when reinstalling. Edits to the MAIL.BAT (other than squish maintenance functions) will be lost. PLEASE don't upgrade ESC by calling it from the current MAIL.BAT. In otherwords, place the files from the new ESC???.LZH in your mailer directory and then type ESC at the dos prompt. Otherwise, the batch file will be out of sync when you exit ESC and you'll experience bizarre results. * 4.5 CUSTOMIZING You may have already figured out that you can fully customize nearly every function of the ESC shell. The place to change the order of operation or options is in the MAIL.BAT. If you want to keep the ESC batch file menu system and find the colors a bit too much to deal with. You may change the ansi escape codes. A file was distributed with the earlier ESC releases called KEYCHART.TXT. This file had several screens explaining and listing Ansi codes and your keyboard scan codes. It would be worth your while to look this file over if have it. Also ost Dos manuals have much of the information found in this KEYCHART.TXT. For now, here's something to tide you over if the MAIL MENU colors become to much to bare. Find the appropriate menu in the MAIL.BAT and replace the corresponding values from the chart below with what suits you. 0 all off 1 high intensity 4 underscore (no color) 5 video blink 7 inverse video 8 concealed (no display) 30 black foreground 40 black background 31 red " 41 red " 32 green " 42 green " 33 yellow " 43 yellow " 34 blue " 44 blue " 35 magenta " 45 magenta " 36 cyan " 46 cyan " 37 white " 47 white " * 4.6 MODEM INITIALIZATION Your particular modem may require some tweaking when it comes to the initialization string for BinkleyTerm. You may enter one directly while setting up or edit the Binkley configuration file sometime later. Although the list is short, it's a start: For the Forval Init ~~ATM0V1\V2X4N1&C1&D2\Q3\N6%C0-J1%E0H0~~| * 5.0 MISCELLANEOUS The batch files which ESC writes assume you are using MS-DOS 3.3 or higher. Some commands like @echo off and echo. (note trailing period) are not supported in earlier DOS versions. If you are using a different version of Dos or a different brand for that matter, you will have to change these batch files to suit the situation on your machine. Also, if you are experiencing strange results when entering any of the commands to the Esc Mail Menu, it is likely there is a peculiarity about your setup such as a TSR or something in your DOS path which is getting confused when ESC issues a command. This is why it is safest to have all your utilities and issue all your commands from the same directory in which ESC resides. It is also a good idea not to have anything that isn't related to your ESC mailer setup in the same directory as ESC. A lot can go wrong from a personal system standpoint because a PC setup is such an individual thing. But Dos has mechanisms which provide a level of control such as searching the current directory before the rest of the Dos path. If you don't over- ride these sort of things, keep backups of original settings and carefully record any changes you make while experimenting and debugging. You'll experience a greater level of success and find less occasion to suspect something is wrong with the software. Also, your frustration level will be kept to a minimum. 4DOS USERS You're situation may get a little stickier, especially if you have reassigned the things which ESC has considered standard naming conventions. In which case, you may have to do some close scrutiny to find out where a conflict may exist within the batch files. ANSI CONTROL ESC's main batch file menu requires an ansi device for display. If you're installing ANSI.SYS in your config.sys when you boot your computer and you aren't using a multitasker such as DESQ- view then nothing is required when you run the MAIL menu system. Things change a bit under a multitasker because in the case of DESQview, an ansi driver must be installed for each window. As ESC writes the batch file, it will react according to the configuration. As of version 1.52, an ansi driver is called from the MAIL.BAT only if told to do so. One thing should be noted; Quitting the menu and restarting in a DESQview window will consume a file handle if the choice is to use Ansi.Com instead of DVansi. Once the window is closed, the file handles are released. The remedy is to use DVansi for DESQview or to close the window and reopen it when exiting the mail.bat. The batch file is written to NOT reinstall the device driver when calling ESC and coming back to the mail.bat ESCTIMER The [D]ELAYED feature from the MAIL MENU allows scheduled polls in the BT MAIL mode. Running it explains more than is possible in this paragraph. Something which can be clarified is the ability to edit the ESCTIMER.LST once it has been created. It is a simple text file that maintains the format 'hh:mm\n' with the '\n' being a linefeed/carriage return. No white space should be left on the end. In otherwords, an edit should resemble the other entries which EscTimer creates. If you place additional characters in the list, you'll notice the error as soon as you run the schedule. EGA USERS Ega presents a special case concerning the video display. The cursor is of particular interest in that the start and stop bits are different than Mono or Vga. If you are using Msged 2.1a or above, you can uncomment the Curstart and Curend statements to provide you with a "visible" cursor. Also, EGA users who are running under DESQview's might do well to try these settings for the memory segment which holds Esc. 1: Set -> Writes text directly to screen.......: [Y] 2: Set -> Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [N] 3: In the setup program: Does your display adaptor require synchronized access? (Y/N): Y 1 and 2 correct the screen attributes. 3 corrects the cursor in MSGED's editor. "On my EGA card"... ROUTING (getting technical) Routing mail can be one of the most confusing things to manipulate concerning the Squish mail handler. Here is a little digression which may help. Keep in mind that ESC sets things up for you properly in most cases and there is no need to edit the Route.Cfg unless you wish to do something unusual. Admittedly, attempting to simplify routing technique still doesn't come across as simple. If you don't feel like smoking your mind a little, you might consider skipping over this section. Routing rules 1. CRASH mail is never archived. 2. CRASH mail to other systems cannot be ROUTED unless it is changed to NORMAL (or DIRECT) before the ROUTE command line in the Route.Cfg. 3. Direct NetMail (non routed and non CRASH mail) is never called to be archived by Squish. All Normal mail addressed to, or routed through the BOSS is archived unless the NoArc modifier is used in the ROUTE or SEND command line within the Route.Cfg. Squish has a thing about DIRECT mail. In the Squish.Prn, page 26 under Elementary Routing a statement is made which deserves a little further explanation. from the squish.prn "However, the routing commands can be used to change this flavour to "crash" (send this mail immediately), "direct" (a synonym for crash), or "hold" (do not call out; hold mail for pick-up). The flavour of messages can also be changed" As far as the packer is concerned, DIRECT and CRASH are handled the same. Especially if you consider the 3 rules stated above. However, the anomaly is that Binkley doesn't consider them equal when dealing with the issue of event flags and passing mail. In which case, NORMAL and DIRECT become synonyms due to the way the bundles are processed for dialing out to the systems they are destined for. In other words, CRASH mail is generally immediate and NORMAL or DIRECT mail is quite configurable as to when they are to be sent. Although, Binkley does use the C flag to control the timely passing of CRASH mail as well, phew!. All this has been said to relay one thing. If you want Squish to treat a DIRECT (not crash or normal) netmail message just as the name implies (not routed) you must flag the message as both, (now get this) HOLD and CRASH in Msged. I can't say how or if it can be done via other message editors but I know it works with Msged. It should be noted that this is an undocumented and quite obscure "trick" which circumvents manipulation of both the Squish Route.Cfg and the Binkley.Evt. MISCELLANEOUS MENU ITEMS There are several menu items which are not presented from the setup mode. Esc uses default parameters which can be changed at the conclusion of the setup (before the files are written) or anytime later. As of version 1.54, here is the list, the default settings and the options. settings default options -------- ------- ----------- HOTKEY OFF ON LOGS ALL ON BINK/SQSH <MSGTRK> OFF ARCHIVER ZIP ARC NODELIST DIR ESC MAILER definable AUTOTOSS OFF ON POLLTRIES 25 ANY up to 9999 WIMM TOGGLE ASK AUTO - NO NETAREA TYPE SQUISH for POINTS FIDO *.Msg FIDO *.Msg for NODES SQUISH Type 2+ ROUTING ROUTED DIRECT AUTO ANSWER OFF YES *AutoAnswer is only applicable in Binkley's Unattended mode. These items appear from one of the three ESC editor sub menus. Please browse through these and remember that your configuration files must be written out in order for any change to take effect. FLO FILES The 3rd menu contains an option call POLLMKR which permits you to create a zero length flag file for Binkley to use. For Binkley to see and process a mail bundle, a hexadecimal representation of the destination address must be present in the outbound directory. The content or size of this file is not important to Binkley. This hex address filename must have an extension which Binkley understands. Flo and Dlo are two extensions which tell Binkley how to handle the file(s) found. Flo is a normal extension which tells Binkley to find the phone number associated with the hex address represented by the filename from the nodelist. Assuming success on this part, Binkley determines by its event file, when to dial this number. When the phone number was looked up, certain flags were scanned for allowable times to dial this number. If a CM flag was found in the nodelist, then Binkley will dial that number continually at adjustable intervals (via the binkley.evt or by default settings within Binkley). If a CM flag was not found in the nodelist, Binkley will wait until the zone mail hour to dial out to this system. Zone mail hour is different for each zone of course. You should have it set in your autoexec.bat (or at the time you are going to use your mailer) so your computer can find a reference in its environment. This is accomplished through an example such as this: set TZ=EST05 MS-DOS computers understand the TZ and the EST05 refers to Eastern Standard Time. The 05 is the number of hours from the world standard time setting (Greenwich meantime) at geographical zero longitude. A .Clo extension on a mail file will tell Binkley to ignore any flags found in the nodelist concerning times to dial and simply poll that system. Once again, at set intervals until the file has been delivered or some other problem has occurred such as a maximum # of attempts or connections where handshaking wasn't successful. A .Hlo designates that file for pick up only. Even if you should dial the system a .hlo exists for, it will NOT be passed until that system dials and connects with yours. In other words, .hlo is a one way transfer flag. CALL WAITING If you have call waiting, you might want to edit your Binkley configuration in order to activate it before Binkley makes each call. This can be accomplished on a tone system by altering your configuration to contain this: Prefix ATDT *70, If you have a pulse dialing system you would use: Prefix ATDT 1170, Understand that your local phone system must support these commands. AUTO ANSWER in the unattended mode The correct way to have Binkley answer your telephone is to do it through software and NOT setting the S0 register from your modem. Binkley will watch for the word RING coming from your modem. If instructed to do so, Binkley will then issue the ATA command to your modem and begin the connect sequence. The reason this is a better way is in the event that your software should crash, you won't have your system answering the phone where the caller will get no sign of activity from your end. This can become costly to a long distance caller set up to poll you automatically. I saved a message from someone who went away for a weekend, their system had called across a national border several hundred times. Each call resulted in a two minute LD charge. The phone bill could have purchased another computer system. ESC will allow you to toggle the autoAnswer feature of Binkley. See the BOSSNODE and MISCELLANEOUS option menu. Binkley will then answer the phone in the UNATTENDED mode. POINT systems must invoke UNATTND from the first menu. DIAL TRANSLATION When Binkley looks in the nodelist for a telephone number associated with a fidonet address, it finds the 1 and area code as well as the exchange and number. Left to its own devices, Binkley will simply dial the whole shooting match. Of course, on local calls the '1' and area code isn't required. Binkley, Qnode and Xlaxnode provide a way to strip the unecessary digits and hyphens from the phone number before being processed. In this text, we will only explore the method used by Binkley. You may find it preferrable because a simple change to the binkley.cfg is all that is required. Doing dial translation from the nodelist compiler configs requires recompiling the nodelist. ESC will create one dial translation. That is to your host system's phone number IF it is local. By examining the Binkley.Cfg which ESC creates, you will see a line near the bottom of the config file which looks like this. DIAL 1-216-928- 928-/ This is telling Binkley to translate a phone number which matches the 9 characters after the DIAL keyword and convert them to the 4 characters which follow. The trailing slash means to append anything which comes after the first 9 characters to the 4 characters which are to the right. It may seem like a difficult concept to grasp but the principle is rather simple. What you may wish to do is look in your phone book and determine which exchanges are local. You can copy the format above, replacing the appropriate numbers. You can even add modem commands to phone numbers by using the DIAL translation. Simply add one DIAL translation line after another until you have a list within the Binkley.cfg file. DIAL 1-216-928-8565 928-8565&N3 Once you have added all the local exchanges, you will want to instruct Binkley not to dial the area code to any system which may be long distance but within your area code. This translation would look like this. DIAL 1-216- 1-/ BINKLEY STATUS FLAGS (UNNATENDED MODE) The upper right quadrant of the Binkley screen has a window which by default is entitled "Pending Outbound Mail". The farthest right segment of that window reads "Status". There are 4 important symbols which tell you what is going to, or will be happening to the mail which is sitting in your outbound directory. Also, there are reasons which the out going mail isn't displayed in the window. We'll get to that after explaining the symbols. x Too Many Bad Connects (Undialable) # Already Called, But Mail Still Pending - Cannot Call During This Event ! Node Not Found in Nodelist ------------------------------------------- ! This mail bundle cannot be sent. No address was found in the nodelist lookup. - The hyphen indicates that the bundle's address was found, but either an event is set to not allow dialing the associated system at this time. Or the bundle is "flavored" as hold and will not be dialed out but must be picked up by the addressee instead. * This mail bundle is ready to be dialed out and Binkley will do so on intervals until it is delivered. # If you had two flo file attaches, one designated as hold and the other as normal. Your system would dial the addressed system because of the .flo (normal) attach. the other .hlo (or .hut) will be held for pickup even though your system has dialed and connected. that remaining mail file will now be designated with the # flag to let you know that a connection has been made but there is still mail "waiting" for that system. x Too many dial attempts or too many bad connects. Binkley will no longer attempt to poll this address. There will be a file in the outbound directory with the hex address and an extension with two $$ signs. This is Binkley's signal file. Once it is removed, Binkley will once again attempt to dial out. You need to understand that Binkley scans the outbound(s) periodically (UNATTENDED MODE). This means that a change may take place but Binkley isn't acting upon it. You may force Binkley to scan its outbound(s) by pressing Alt R - (restart event). Status changes will be refreshed at this time. ZONES AND DOMAINS Certain system conditions must exist in order for outbound mail destined for other zones and domains to be display (and found for that matter) by Binkley. The Binkley docs explain how to make Binkley aware of other domains and to permit Binkley to see other zone mail. The Domain statement (which is commented out) in the Binkley.cfg is one of the keys. Understanding how separate nodelists pertain, is another. Finally, mail for zones other than your own must be kept in separate subdirectories. These directories carry an extension. Here is a clip of a directory display which speaks louder than words. OUT -. OUT .001 . OUT .002 . OUT .003 . OUT .004 . OUT .005 . OUT .006 . OUT .007 . OUT .008 -> outbound directories for zones 1 - 8 OUT .032 -> outbound directory for zone 50 (hex) OUT .046 -> outbound directory for zone 70 (hex) Squish can be configured to handle zones and place them in the proper directories without much difficulty. However, there is a simpler method. Let someone else handle these situations. This is accomplished from the ROUTE.CFG. ROUTE flavor bossnode_address World This means every zone gets packaged up and routed to your host system. This will happen up the chain until someone sends your interzone bundle to a zone gate where it will be sent into the zone for which it was originally addressed. UUCP InterNet Gateway There is an item from the BOSS editor section of ESC called Uucp Address. Here you may define the address of an InterNet Gateway. Msged will interpret an internet name and bangpath in the To: field of your message and automatically address it to this Gateway for processing into Internet. The address you supply should be a standard fidonet format of zone:net/node. Example: 1:157/512 As of this time, I do not know how (or if) Golded handles gating into the Internet. I will investigate it and apply this feature to Golded's config if applicable. * 5.1 GLOSSARY NOTE: This listing of terms is presented in a LOGICAL rather than ALPHABETICAL order, so that new terms can be understood from the preceding ones. FIDONET - A conglomeration of people and their computers in agreement to pass electronically produced messages and files to one another. Tom Jennings of Fido Software is accredited as the originator of fidonet. NETWORK - The system of computers connected to each other through telephone lines. In this case, computers owned and/or operated by FIDONET amateur enthusiasts. FTS ... Fido Technical Standard - rules developed and agreed upon by the fathers and experts of this amateur electronic mail network. (FIDONET) BOSSNODE ... HOST SYSTEM - the system from which you receive your mail. BOSS ... THE HOST - The sysOp (system operator) of the system mentioned above. FEED ... The system associated with supplying echomail or files to another. Also referred to as a HOST, BOSSNODE or BOSS system. FREQ ... File Requesting is a quick method of requesting a known filename from another system which supports the feature. MAILER - Terminal software which uses your modem and operates under the Fido Technical Standards for handshaking and protocol concerning the passing of electronic mail bundles. MAIL PROCESSOR - The software which handles mail bundles and individual messages. Examining and TOSSing each message and placing them into the proper directory and/or file. Also, in the case of SQUISH, scanning through these directories and/or files for newly created messages, collecting and placing any found into packets. This operation is referred to as PACKing. These PACKets are optionally collected into larger bundles, and named appropriately with a hexadecimal filename which is understood by the MAILER. "Optionally" means that it is possible for individual packets to be passed without bundling. MESSAGE EDITOR/READER - Software designed to create and read messages of the FTS format. POLL or CALL - To have your mailer dial another system to deliver, pickup or check for mail or files to be transferred. MATRIX - The network of systems coordinated to pass electronic mail. NODELIST - A file published from 1:1/0 out of St. Louis Missouri which is an FTS directory containing all the inter connected systems and necessary information about them for one FTS mailer to pass mail to another FTS compatible system. NODEDIFF - A weekly publication from the same source listed above which adds, subtracts or corrects entries of the NODELIST. NODELIST PROCESSOR - Software which processes the raw files of the NODELIST and/or NODEDIFF into usable and configurable format used by various FTS software. Particularly the MAILER. ZONE - A geographical area (continent) used to determine the origin or destination of electronic mail REGION - A subordinate (smaller) area within a ZONE. NET - A network of FTS compatible systems within a REGION. NODE - A particular system within a NET. POINT - A subsystem which is served from a NODE. POINTs are considered dead end mailers. Meaning, echomail is received from a single source (the BOSSNODE normally). All ECHOMAIL generated on the POINT system is to be passed only to the BOSSNODE for processing. In other words, ECHOMAIL is not to be passed to another system other than the one from which echo mail is being received. Otherwise, the POINT must become a NODE and have their address in the NODELIST. NETMAIL may be ROUTED either through the BOSSNODE or directly to the system addressed. HUB - A system which collects electronic mail and distributes it to other systems. Usually receiving large volumes from a network or regional collection site and then distributing it to the NODES and optionally POINTS associated with it. VERB or TOKEN - Configuration files contain key words which act as signals to the program they exist for. These keywords are often referred to by either of these terms. NETMAIL - is the term used for non echoing electronic mail which is not posted indiscreetly. It can take on one of two forms: Direct or Routed. Both terms define the action taken in order to transfer these types of messages. DIRECT goes from one system directly to another without stopping on any other system. It would be equivalent to personally handing a sealed letter to the person it is addressed to. ROUTED is the equivalent of sending that same letter via one or more trusted friends. Under most circumstances, this semi private mail can be read by the operators of the system through which your mail is passing. ECHOMAIL - is the term used for messages which may have a particular recipient in mind but are posted very publicly. Sending echomail can be compared to putting an add in the classifieds. Where everyone gets to read your message which gets moved along through many systems and is displayed to anyone who has access to that system. * 6.0 COMMERCIAL LICENSING If ESC is to be used in a commercial setting it must be licensed from the author at a cost of $50. This entitles an unrestricted use of ESC within the boundaries of the company or organization's name. Each company or organization affiliated with another company or organization which has purchased a license agreement to use ESC, must purchase a separate license agreement. Licensing entitles you to personal support limited by the author's discretion. Make checks or money orders payable to: Glen Gilbert 3686 Prospect St. Mogadore Ohio 44260 Once payment is received, you will be contacted by mail concerning verification. Additional information concerning the use of ESC will be supplied along with a phone number(s) where the author may be contacted for further support. Be sure to include the phone number, address and name of the person to contact concerning license validation. End of ESC documentation.