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1993-03-23
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-= IMLFA =-
InterMail Log file Analyzer/Reporter
Copyright(c) 1993
Gordon E. Rasnick, Arctic Computer Services
2530 Sebring Circle
Anchorage, AK 99516
All rights reserved.
FIDONET (1:355/559)
CompuServe ID: 72007,417
*******************
InterMail is Copyright 1988-1993 Scandinavian PC Systems AB
& InterZone Software, Inc.
All rights reserved.
*******************
IMLFA is a complete log file analyzer/reporter for version 2.21 of
the InterMail email package. IMLFA has only been tested with this
release, but may work with previous versions. No testing was done
with earlier versions, and no compatibility is assumed or implied.
Care has been taken to attempt to eliminate any conflicts with
future versions of InterMail log files, should formats change or
additional information appear.
Please read the documentation carefully. It is important that both
IMLFA and InterMail be set up correctly for this system to work
properly.
This version of IMLFA is not crippled in any way. All the features
are enabled in this release. When you first start it up, you will be
asked to type in a number to continue. It will then perform without
any further intervention. This random number step will occur each
time you run IMLFA until you register your copy and receive a
registration key code. See REGISTER.DOC for more information. Your
registration will disable the random number step, permitting you to
run it from your batch file during regular nightly maintainance events.
SysOps/IM users.... You may distribute this software via any means
you desire so long as it is distributed in the original self-extracting
archive format it was released in, with all files intact and unmodified.
You may not charge for this distribution with the exception of the cost
of a distribution disk, if required, plus a minor shipping and
duplication fee.
Distribution by commercial corporations, companies, governmental
agencies, or educational institutions is prohibited without the
expressed written consent of the copyright holder. This is usually
not a problem, but solely for informational purposes.
*******************
IMLFA requires at least 356k of free memory to run, and will use
any free EMS it finds. The more free conventional memory (0 - 640k)
it has, the faster it will run. During beta testing, IMLFA processed
InterMail log files of over 1 meg in about 2 minutes on a 386/40mhz
machine with no EMS.
The 1 meg log file contained transfer information on over 1000 file
transfers with a busy HUB. Since IM's log file contains so much extra
information, finding info about transfers between this HUB and a
particular node would be a hair pulling experience. IMLFA transformed
this 1 meg log file into a data file 10% of that size, still retaining
all the transfer information such as, date, file name, file size,
start time, stop time, average CPS thruput, and connecting node.
IMLFA will even flag you in its reports if a file transfer failure
occured.
Once this data is imported into IMLFA, reports can be produced to
provide you with information on your systems connects. The comments
in the IMLFA.CFG file explain the types of reports available in detail.
NOTES: IMLFA must be run from its own directory. It does not
search paths for the IMLFA.* files. Change to the IMLFA
directory before running this program.
IMLFA does not modify InterMails log file in any way. It
does however, expect the InterMail log file to contain
certain information. This may mean that you will have to
modify your setup in IMSETUP to accomodate this program.
This is explained in detail in the IMLFA.CFG file.
If you find that you aren't getting what you'd expect out
of this program, look in the IMLFA directory for a file
called IMLFA.ERR. It will be created if trouble arises and
provide you with information as to what the problem was.
*******************
GETTING STARTED.
1. Create a directory on your hard disk called IMLFA.
MD\IMLFA
2. Copy all the files from this archive to that directory.
COPY *.* \IMLFA
3. Edit the IMLFA.CFG file to set up the system for the
type of reports you wish to produce, and path and filenames.
IMLFA.CFG is heavily commented and also serves as additional
documentation for the program. Read it carefully and verify
that all the paths you specify actually exist and are spelled
correctly.
4. At the DOS prompt type in IMLFA -I and press return. IMLFA will
read in your InterMail log file and store the data it will need
for your reports in a file called IMLFA.DBF. The IMLFA.DBF file
is not included in the archive, but will be created during the
initial run. Other misc files may be created from time to time.
Altering or removing any of them will bring unpredictable results.
5. You may now run IMLFA by passing any of the following command
line parameters.
NOTE: Stacking command line parameters is not permitted.
o IMLFA -? produces a short screen of information on all
available switches.
o IMLFA -I processes all the data from the current IM log file.
This obviously should only be done once per day, and care should
be taken to insure that the log file is deleted or moved out of
the way so that the data in it will not be imported again. See
the -B switch below.
o IMLFA -1:355/559=JOHN Will produce a detailed report of the
traffic between you and John at node 1:355/559. Two reports
will be produced. JOHN.IN and JOHN.OUT. You may use any legal
file and path name you wish after the "=" sign, but use no
extension. IMLFA -1:355/559=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\JOHN would create
the report in the directory where you keep your bbs displayable
text files. (C:\BBS\TXTFILES\)
o IMLFA -R will produce a single report of all the traffic between
you and all other nodes you have had contact with. You specify
the filename of this report in the IMLFA.CFG file at the MAIL FILE
statement. The filename will always be the same and paths are
supported here also. Note that the report is cumulative and shows
all transfer information with your system since the IMLFA data
files were created.
o IMLFA -B will back up the IM log file to the path specified in the
BACKFILE statement in the IMLFA.CFG file. This option is very
handy in several ways. First, after calling IMLFA -I to process
your IM log file, you need to make sure that the log file is no
longer available to be processed again. Using the -B switch will
take care of that for you. Secondly, it will give you a means
to recover your log file should you need to.
IMLFA uses a date nameing convention you can understand. Assume
todays date is 01/02/93, it is just after midnight and you drop
out of the mailer to process the log file. After running with the
-I switch, you run again with -B, and the IM.LOG file is renamed
to 01-01-93.LOG and is moved to the directory you specified in
IMLFA.CFG. Once all your processing is complete and your batch
file restarts IM, a new log file is created.
o IMLFA -N creates all new index files for the stored data. If you
see data that doesn't look quite right, you could have a corrupt
index. Run IMLFA with this switch and then try running for reports
again, to see if the problem has been corrected.
o IMLFA -Z may be useful for HUB's wishing to use the reports for
assisting in spreading out echo mail distribution costs. Since
IMLFA stores data on all files transfered thru your system, the
data regarding files other than echo mail, FREQ'ed files, is
included in all reports. Calling the -Z switch will remove all
files, containing the following extensions, from the stored data.
ZIP, PAK, ARC, LZH, ARJ, EXE, TXT, ZOO, TIC
Use the -Z switch prior to running your reports and you will
receive a truer picture of just how much echo mail distribution
your system is producing with each of your nodes.
o IMLFA -W will wipe out ALL stored data in the system, in effect,
giving you a clean slate. CAREFULL! There is no escape from this
switch. Since you want to be able to run it from your batch file,
NO prompt will be given before the data is removed from the file,
and that data is gone forever.
Summary:
You will probably want to call IMLFA several times in a session,
first to process and back up the latest InterMail log, then to
create the reports.
A typical session in your batch file might look something like:
:IM_RUN
REM Change to the IMLFA directory. Remember....It doesn't search
REM your paths for its files.
CD\IMLFA
REM Read in the latest IM log info.
IMLFA -I
REM Backup the log file you just processed.
IMLFA -B
REM I'm a HUB so I want to Zap out all files not related to
REM Echo Mail traffic.
IMLFA -Z
REM Produce a detailed report of traffic to and from 1:355/1
IMLFA -1:355/1=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\PETE
REM Produce a detailed report of traffic to and from 1:3611/1
IMLFA -1:3611/1=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\JERRY
REM DITTO
IMLFA -1:355/559=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\GORDON
REM Produce a summary report for all mail traffic with all nodes.
REM This file is named and stored according to the information
REM you provided in the IMLFA.CFG file.
IMLFA -R
REM Wipe out all data being stored by IMLFA.
REM Use with caution as this is irreversable!
REM Recommended that you do this in manual mode after you are
REM certain that you have all the reports you wish from the
REM stored data.
IMLFA -W
REM Start up BBS/IM again.
GOTO RECYCLE
The entire run above on a months worth of IM log data would only take
a few mins on a slow machine, but you'll probably want to run this
on a weekly basis, or more often if you have a busy system. Mine runs
every night, but without the call to IMLFA -W. I have that set up as
a seperate event occuring once a week, and I have sysop only menus to
read them all from a bbs logon.
REGISTERED USERS:
It is recommended that you create an external event to exit at just
after midnight to run the program, especially if you intend to use
the log file backup option.(-B switch.) This would create a more
realistic backup based on the date used as the file name.
*******************
IMLFA SUPPORT
Support is provided via Net Mail or written request only. Responses
via Net Mail are the fastest, usually within 48 hours of receipt here.
I will also try to answer questions via my CompuServe address (listed
above) if you so choose, but responses may not be as timely.
Please DO NOT use the FIDONET INTERMAIL echo for this purpose.
I will not respond to questions or bug reports in that forum.
I will provide any help I can at FIDONET 1:355/559 for as long as I
remain in the FIDO organization. I anticipate that being quite a
while. :-)
Comments and or suggestions for new features are welcome at any time.
See REGISTER.DOC, included in this archive, for information on
fixes and or upgrades.
Enjoy.....
Gordon