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1994-08-05
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*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
_________________________ __________________________________________
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /___ ____ ____ _ ___________________
/ / / / / / / / \ / /
/ \ / / /___/ / / / \ / /
/____\___/ / \__/___/__/ / /
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FidoNet mailer for the PCBoard v14.5a - v15.2 bulletin board system
Version 1.10b
Documentation revision 01
COPYRIGHT (c) 1994 BY ROCO SOFTWARE, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFront and all its accompanying programs is copyright (c) 1994 by RoCo
Software, Inc., and Rob Kittredge. All rights reserved.
This document is copyright (c) 1994 by RoCo Software, Inc.
No parts of QFront or this document may be copied, in part or in whole,
except as provided in the license in the following pages.
LICENSE
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
You are granted a personal non-exclusive, non-transferable license to
use the enclosed program and documentation solely for your own internal
needs on one central processing unit or network of physically connected
computers. You assume the entire responsibility for the selection of
the program to achieve your intended results, and for the installation,
use and results obtained from the program.
YOU MAY
───────
A. Use the QFront program, documentation, and related materials on a
single computer system or on a network of physically connected computers
of your belonging. If you wish to run the program on more than one
computer not connected to a network, you must request a multi-user
license.
B. Copy the program for back-up and archive purposes only, or copy the
program to other computers of your belonging for use on a network of
physically connected computers.
C. Use QFront without the presence of a keyfile (ie., demo mode) for up
to 7 days.
D. Upload copies of QFront to any BBS provided that you upload the
*COMPLETE* demonstration package. By "complete", we mean that all
programs, including documentation, must be included in the package. By
"demonstration package", we mean that you may *NOT* include any type of
registration key file that you may have obtained.
YOU MAY NOT
───────────
A. Sub-license, assign, or transfer your rights under this agreement.
You agree not to transfer the QFront program, or the materials sup-
plied, in any form to any person without the prior written consent of
the author, Rob Kittredge.
B. Reproduce, transmit, transcribe, store in any information retrieval
system, or translate into any foreign language or computer language, in
any form, the QFront program or the QFront documentation.
C. Use the QFront program without the presence a keyfile (ie., demo
QFront v1.10b
Page 1
mode) for more than 7 days.
D. Use a keyfile that is not given to you by an official support site.
The only official support site at this time is on the 7th Heaven support
BBS.
E. Modify any part of the QFront executable programs and documentation.
YOU MAY NOT USE, COPY, MODIFY, OR TRANSFER ANY RIGHTS IN THE PROGRAM
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS LICENSE.
THE QFRONT PROGRAM AND SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IS WITH YOU.
SHOULD THE QFRONT PROGRAM OR SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU (NOT ROCO
SOFTWARE, INC. OR ROB KITTREDGE) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF SERVICING OR
CORRECTION. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR, ROCO SOFTWARE, INC. AND ROB
KITTREDGE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE, OR
INABILITY TO USE, THE QFRONT PROGRAM AND SOFTWARE.
QFront v1.10b
Page 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Introduction & features ..................................... 6
Before you start
Keyfiles and registration ................................. 8
Support ................................................... 9
Bug reports ............................................... 9
System requirements ....................................... 9
Thank-you's ................................................. 10
Beta software announcement .................................. 11
Installation ................................................ 12
Uninstalling ................................................ 13
Starting your BBS ........................................... 14
Getting started
FidoNet tutorial
Introduction to FidoNet ................................ 15
Nodelists and nodediffs explained ...................... 15
FidoNet addressses explained ........................... 15
How does the mail move? ................................ 16
Who runs the show? ..................................... 17
How to join FidoNet .................................... 19
If you operate as a host or hub .......................... 20
Event management ......................................... 21
QFConfig configuration program
How to use ............................................... 22
Loading .................................................. 23
Program configuration
Program setup .......................................... 24
General setup .......................................... 28
Modem/dialout setup .................................... 32
Translation/cost setup ................................. 35
Archiver setup ......................................... 38
External mail strings .................................. 39
Semaphore files ........................................ 40
Usernames to ignore .................................... 41
Function keys .......................................... 42
UserNet messages ....................................... 43
Event setup .............................................. 44
FidoMail configuration
FidoMail setup ......................................... 51
Alias addresses ........................................ 52
Nodelist setup ......................................... 54
Automatic polls ........................................ 57
NetMail setup .......................................... 58
Mail scanner setup ..................................... 63
QFront v1.10b
Page 3
Origin lines ........................................... 66
Groups setup ........................................... 67
Area manager ........................................... 68
Node manager ........................................... 71
Dialout fixups ......................................... 75
Quick lookup names ..................................... 76
Import/export .......................................... 77
Areafix configuration .................................... 79
Areafix setup .......................................... 79
Areafix uplinks ........................................ 81
File request/file forward configuration .................. 84
File req/forw setup .................................... 84
Magic files setup ...................................... 85
File request paths ..................................... 86
Display setup ............................................ 88
NetMail entry ............................................... 89
How to use Areafix .......................................... 91
Mail routing ................................................ 95
Pointlists .................................................. 97
Adding downlinks ............................................ 99
FAX and CallerID ............................................ 102
Call-waiting screen ......................................... 103
FidoMail options ............................................ 108
Dial queue ................................................ 108
Outbound queue ............................................ 108
Undialable addresses ...................................... 111
Force queue rescan......................................... 111
Poll a node ............................................... 111
Inbound history ........................................... 111
Outbound history .......................................... 111
Command line switches ....................................... 112
Companion programs .......................................... 115
Nodelist compiler ........................................ 115
Mail scanner/tosser ...................................... 116
Utility program .......................................... 118
Batch files
Descriptions and usage .................................... 122
Events and ................................................ 124
Errorlevels returned by QFront .............................. 125
Questions and answers ....................................... 127
QFront v1.10b
Page 4
Credits ..................................................... 128
QFront v1.10b
Page 5
INTRODUCTION TO QFRONT
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFront can be classified at an all-in-one FidoNet front-end mailer and
tosser/scanner. This means that it can make and receive phone calls
from other systems to move FidoNet style mail, and also scan/toss those
messages into your message bases. However, it is much more than that.
It is SPECIFICALLY designed for PCBoard. Like most other programs that
act as a front-end mailer, they must be the ones that answer the call
(that is, PCBoard is not waiting for callers, it is just activated by
the front-end when a human caller shows up - this is discussed more in
the next section). Unlike most other front-end packages, you don't lose
the flexibility of having PCBoard maintaining control. You can still
logon locally, adjust print control, page bells, monitor other node
activity, all with easy to use hot-keyed menu bar items, with a mouse
that can be used throughout.
Not only does the front-end mailer interface DIRECTLY with PCBoard, the
configuration program does also. It is also fully mouse aware, and
adding conferences is as easy as entering a few pieces of data and
selecting from a picklist the conferences on your system. The message
tosser/scanner (which does the grunt work of moving the messages into
and out of the message conferences) interfaces directly, with no need
for any conversion programs or any other things to get in the way.
To also help you get more familiar with what QFront actually can do,
here is a brief outline of some of its major features:
* Number one, and most important, QFront is designed to be user
friendly with people who are unfamiliar with Fido technology. On
the same token, QFront is powerful enough to meet your needs as
you get more and more familiar with Fido technology.
* Full support for hubbing/hosting operations such as NetMail
forwarding.
* The FidoNet support of QFront is designed not to interfere with
the use of as many other utilities as possible. For example, the
operation of programs such as Allfix and GoldED will not be ham-
pered with.
* A mail scanner/tosser is included for processing FidoMail
packets to/from your PCBoard conferences. The mail scanner works
hand-in-hand with QFront and PCBoard, and is PCBoard v15.0 message
indexing compliant. Areafix support is built-in, including area-
fix forwarding. Any number of downlinks are supported, as well as
any number of alias addresses.
* The ability to do fully automatic file requests and file for-
wards to other Fido compatible mailers.
* Full support for the FidoNet NODEDIFF nodelist update files.
QFront v1.10b
Page 6
* Full support for point addresses, including pointlist nodelists.
* A high degree of security is maintained for all features. You
have complete control over which features are protected by securi-
ty and which ones aren't.
* Up to 100 events. The events can be configured to perform
several checks that make sure that they get executed when you
want them to. Events can even be flagged so as on a multi-node
system, the event manager will bring down (force them to take
their modems off-hook) your other QFront nodes, in an effort to
ensure that such things as user and message packing occur with
no other users on the system.
* The keys F1-F12 and ALT F1-F12 can be used on the call-waiting
screen to cause an exit based on configurable errorlevels or shell
to a program. For instance, you can set the F1 key to automati-
cally shell out to Telix or PCBSETUP.
* Today's activity can be reviewed at the push of a button!
Number of callers, mail runs, amount of mail moved statistics, and
more!
* A last caller window is displayed on the QFront call-waiting
screen at all times.
* A last 5 callers window pops up when the "R" key is pressed on
the call-waiting screen.
* Full outbound and inbound histories are at your fingertips -
QFront will keep detailed information in an easy to view form for
as many days as it configured to store them for.
* A shell-to-DOS function is available with one keypress, with
swap-to-EMS or swap-to-disk capabilities.
* View your system log file with one keypress, either in a
forward or backward direction.
* Automatic local log-on to the BBS when the "L" key is pressed.
* Fully supports USRobotics, Hayes and other high speed modems
with communications ports locked all the way up to 115,200 baud.
* NS16550AFN UART support is automatic; if such a UART is detect-
ed, the FIFO mode of the 16550 is enabled and utilized.
* Supports the multi-port version of PCBoard (when used in con-
junction with COMMDRV).
* Supports FAX modems by exiting to a FAX receiving software
package such as BGFAX.
QFront v1.10b
Page 7
KEYFILES AND REGISTRATION
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFront requires a key file before it will operate to its full potential.
The keyfile contains pertinent information about your system such as
your system name, sysop name, expiration date (if any) and serial num-
ber, and is placed in the QFront subdirectory.
The QFront package comes without a keyfile. Without a key file, the
software will be running in demo mode, which means that it will not
accept calls. Demo mode is provided so that you can take a quick look
at the program and decide whether or not it meets your needs before
being required to call the support board and get an evaluation keyfile.
If you decide that QFront meets your needs, you must get an evaluation
key file by calling the support board. The evaluation key you receive
will expire after 45 days. After that period of time, you must either
cease running QFront or register it.
By registering, you'll be given a serialized, non-expiring key file that
will work with your present version of QFront and any future updates as
they are released.
You can register either by personal check, money order, or credit card.
If you will be using personal check or money order, fill out the
ORDER.FRM file that is in your QFront directory and send in the appro-
priate payment. Note that personal checks must clear before you'll be
given your key file. To use credit card, call the support board and use
the REG command to place your order. Your card will be verified and
you'll have access to your key file within 24 hours in most cases. You
must call the support board to pick up your new key file.
Feel free to upload QFront to any BBS that you want to, provided you
upload the *ENTIRE* package and do *NOT* include any key files that you
may have received.
QFront v1.10b
Page 8
SUPPORT
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Realizing that the fate of a program can lie in its support policies or
lack thereof, support has always been one of my greatest priorities with
QFront.
Therefore, if you have ANY questions, comments, problems, or just want
to say "hi", please feel free to call or write. All comments will be
addressed immediately, if possible.
I can be contacted either on the QFront support board:
7th Heaven: 616-844-0713 (USRobotics HST Dual Standard 21.6k).
By U.S. mail (snail mail):
Rob Kittredge
13580 Leonard Rd.
Nunica, MI 49448 USA
Or on Salt Air in the QFront support conference (conference 28) or the
QFront support conference on the RIME network.
BUG REPORTS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
If you encounter a "bug" in QFront, please let us know as soon as possi-
ble. The faster you notify us of the problem, the faster it can be
fixed!
When reporting a problem, please have handy the log file that QFront
creates when an error occurs. The log file is named "QFRONT.ERR".
Using the information in that log file, we can quickly track down the
problem.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Generally, for QFront to run properly on your system, you will need:
1) IBM personal computer, or 100% compatible.
2) MS-DOS v3.1 or higher, or 100% compatible environment.
3) PCBoard v14.5a or higher.
4) Approximately 500k of RAM.
5) Approximately 3 megabytes of disk space.
QFront v1.10b
Page 9
THANK-YOU'S
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
There are several people who have helped in the development and testing
of QFront through the years. Without these people, QFront would not be
what it is today.
I am deeply thankful to the following people (in no particular order):
Mark (Sparky) Herring
Gary Hedberg
Ed Lucas
Carl Evans
Gordon Malone
Joe Siegler
Michael Bull
Richard Driggers
Mark Seiden
David Terry
QFront v1.10b
Page 10
BETA SOFTWARE ANNOUNCEMENT
──────────────────────────
This version of QFront is not a "release version". It is a "wide-beta"
version. As such, there may be bugs in the code. Although we have done
our best to remove the bugs, the only way to find them all is to get the
program out to the public. Therefore, if you find a bug, please contact
us immediately. There is information on how to do this above (see "bug
reports").
QFront v1.10b
Page 11
INSTALLATION
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFront is perhaps one of the easiest programs to install considering its
power and complexity. The installation program that is bundled with the
program will take care of most of the grunt work.
More than likely, you have already run the install program. If so,
batch files were created specially for your setup. If you have not yet
run the installation program, we suggest you do so now by unpacking the
QFront archive in a temporary directory and typing "INSTALL". The
installation program will go through the procedures for installation and
will ask you questions about your setup along the way.
One important note is that no matter how many nodes you are running,
QFront will always install itself in only one directory (say "C:\QFRONT"
for the sake of argument) across a network. The batch files that the
install program writes will be written to each individual PCB directory
that you specify, and will be set up so as to change directories to the
common QFront directory, load QFront, and then return back to the re-
spective PCB directory automatically when necessary. In this way, there
is only one copy of QFront on your hard drive and your other nodes will
share the use of it. In this type of setup, we are assuming that all of
your nodes have access to one common directory across the network. If
this is impossible, the only alternative is to install QFront in EACH
PCBoard directory on your system manually.
Once the installation program is complete, you'll be returned to the DOS
prompt. To bring up QFront, switch to one of the PCBoard directories
you installed QFront in and type "STARTER". The STARTER.BAT batch file
will replace your old BOARD.BAT file that you are used to running to
start the BBS.
Note: Additional setup will be required for your systems (using the
QFConfig program). The install program simply installs the software on
your system and configures PCBoard properly. It does NOT configure your
events or configure FidoMail for you, for example.
QFront v1.10b
Page 12
UNINSTALLING QFRONT
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
If for some reason you wish to uninstall QFront from your system, there
are a few simple steps involved:
Step 1
──────
Delete the following files from your PCB directories that QFront
is installed in: STARTER.BAT, SPAWNBBS.BAT, BOARD.BAT.
Step 2
──────
Rename the following file: BOARD.OLD to BOARD.BAT.
Step 3
──────
Change to the common QFront directory and erase everything in it.
Then remove the directory after you're done.
Step 4
──────
For each node that QFront is installed in, load PCBSETUP and go to
the menu option labeled "Configuration Options->Configuration
Switches" (for PCBoard 15.0) or "Options 1" (for PCBoard 14.5a)
and turn off the option that says "Exit to DOS after each call".
Step 5
──────
Call and let us know why you decided not to run QFront!
QFront v1.10b
Page 13
STARTING YOUR BBS
─────────────────
Once you have installed QFront using the install program, your BBS can
be started and will be ready to accept callers. To do this, change to
your PCB directory and enter the command "STARTER". This "starts" your
BBS the same way your BOARD.BAT did.
Note: Additional setup will be required for most systems (using the
QFConfig program). The install program simply installs the software on
your system and configures PCBoard properly. It does NOT configure your
events or configure FidoMail for you, for example.
QFront v1.10b
Page 14
GETTING STARTED
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Before we actually begin the installation and configuration documenta-
tion, we should give you an overview of what FidoNet is, and how QFront
works with it. With this information in mind, you'll find the myriad of
options in the configuration program much easier to understand.
INTRODUCTION TO FIDONET
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Although a small section in a manual such as this is hardly enough to do
this beast we call FidoNet justice, it should be enough to get you on
the right track. Before we start in, especially for those of you that
have years of QWK networks under your belt, I have one little piece of
advice - don't try and compare FidoNet to any of those. It is much more
complex. Thankfully, the software takes much of the work away from you,
so all that is really needed is a bit of time to learn, and you'll be on
your way to understanding FidoNet in no time.
FidoNet, to start off, has nothing to do with a bunch of dogs. Well,
not exactly - it's name comes from the BBS software that was first used
while things began, FidoBBS. FidoNet began in the early 80s by a fellow
named Tom Jennings. It began in the San Francisco area as a way for
private messages (netmail) to be sent between systems. Later on, it
grew, and they worked out how to send entire message bases around be-
tween the systems. At that point, FidoNet as we know it started to take
its first breath. As it became bigger, the need for a good system to
organize and keep track of the nodes was needed, so along came FidoNet
Addresses - Node Numbers.
FIDONET NODELISTS AND NODEDIFFS
───────────────────────────────
The master listing of all FidoNet systems is contained in what is called
a nodelist. The nodelist is updated weekly, and is over 2mb in size,
containing over 32,000 node addresses. You do not need the master
FidoNet nodelist in order to operate QFront, but more than likely you
will want to obtain one. The latest nodelist is always available from
the QFront support BBS, 7th Heaven.
Because the nodelist is updated weekly, a method was devised in FidoNet
that allows just the CHANGES in the previous week's nodelist to be
distributed. Since there are relatively few changes from week to week
in the nodelist, these "nodelist change files" are MUCH smaller than the
master nodelist, and therefore, is cheaper to distribute. These node-
list change files are called NODEDIFF's, or Nodelist Difference files.
QNList, QFront's nodelist compiler, fully supports NODEDIFF updating.
The new NODEDIFF files are used to update your old master nodelist,
therefore creating a new master nodelist for the week. The old master
nodelist is then deleted since it is obsolete.
FIDONET ADDRESSES EXPLAINED
───────────────────────────
There is a fair bit to fidonet, to keep it organized. In order to keep
track of everyone, each node is assigned a node number - for instance,
QFront v1.10b
Page 15
7th Heaven (the QFront support BBS) has one of 1:228/12. This isn't just
a random grouping of numbers, each place has a special purpose.
1:228/12
Zone --| | |--Node
Net--|
The first is the zone number - this is based on the geographical loca-
tion of the node, on a large scale. The zones are defined primarily by
continent. There are 6 zones. They are:
Zone 1 North America Zone 2 Europe
Zone 3 Australia, New Zealand Zone 4 Latin America
Zone 5 Africa Zone 6 Asia
The second is the net number. Although individual nets do occupy a small
geographic area (ie., a city), their number does not denote their loca-
tion. A net is a grouping of nodes in a given area, which often share
the costs of echomail, and also manage the administration of those nodes
(administration to be dealt with further on).
The last number is specific to individual BBS, and the number is the
choice of the administrator that adds the node to the net. This last
number is what makes the address unique - there is only one 1:228/12 in
the entire nodelist.
Some systems use another number that comes after the node number, which
is called a point number. For example, 1:228/12.1 would be a point
address. Point addresses are normally used for downlinks picking up
mail from you that don't have or don't want a real FidoNet address.
Point addresses are not contained in the master FidoNet nodelist.
Instead, point addresses are defined in a "private" nodelist (ie., a
secondary nodelist) called a pointlist, that you can configure into
QFront. This allows downlinks to pick up mail from your system without
them having to obtain a FidoNet address. There is a section, later in
the manual, describing how to write your own pointlist nodelist.
HOW DOES THE MAIL MOVE?
───────────────────────
In order for this system of mail moving to work, there are two classes
of software that is needed (note that QFront is both).
The first is the front-end mailer which takes care of receiving and
sending of mail packets to and from your system, as well as passing
inbound calls to the BBS when a user calls. This is why FidoNet mail
can move as fast as it does - mail between systems can be configured to
be sent out immediately, with the only real limiting factor being busy
signals.
However, in order to do this, you need the mail! A tosser/scanner takes
care of the nitty-gritty - moving mail written on your system into an
outbound mail packet to be sent to your hub by QFront, and taking those
message bundles received from your hub by QFront and adding them to your
QFront v1.10b
Page 16
message bases.
The whole reason such a system can work is FidoNet can be pictured as
gigantic tree. All the individual nodes, which can be compared to
leaves, send messages written on their end to their net, which can be
pictured as a small branch. That small branch sends the mail to the
large branch, the Region. That large branch then sends the mail off to
the trunk - the Zone. Note that FidoNet mail doesn't have to be this
large scale - many nets have their own local echoes. It's the same
principle, though, just a smaller tree.
Now that explains how your messages get out, but how do you get those
messages of that show up on your doorstep every morning? How does it
know who gets what, this great big tree? It uses something know as SEEN-
BY'S the whole way along. It tells what nodes have seen this message,
and is integral to the way tosser-scanners work. All they do is go
through a message's seen-by's, and the nodes you are configured to send
to, and all the nodes that aren't in the seen-by get the message. This
happens all the way along that tree, with messages that haven't reach a
group of nodes getting bounced off all those branches down to them.
Because of the way this is moved - getting bounced from HUB to HUB, this
form of mail is know as EchoMail.
It is also worth distinguishing the two main types of mail that is moved
in FidoNet. The first is what was just described - EchoMail. The next
is similar but slightly different - NetMail. NetMail messages are
private messages from one system to another - they can be sent directly
to their destination, or they can be routed. "Routed" means that the
message is passed along by the HUB nodes (often along with EchoMail
packets) until the message gets to its destination.
More on routing is explained on the section on setting up your routing
controls, as well as the section on mail routing, later in the manual.
Basically all you need to know at this point is that NetMail is how you
send private messages in FidoNet.
You really don't need to know all of this in order to run QFront, but
having a bit of a background in FidoNet is always helpful, and as the
getting started introduction stated, it can make many of the QFront
configuration options much easier to understand.
WHO RUNS THE SHOW?
──────────────────
This manual is not meant to be the FidoNet bible, so obviously every-
thing about FidoNet can't be covered. However, there is still a bit
more of the overview to give you. The next thing on the list is the
administration of the network.
FidoNet is run by volunteers. They all hold positions, and all are
important, right from the top level down to the bottom. There are two
main types of administrative personnel - those known as *Cs and those
known as *ECs.
QFront v1.10b
Page 17
*Cs are the true administration people - the C stands for Co-ordinator -
they deal with the managing of the nodes, the adding and removal of, and
helping to mediate conflicts between members. *ECs are the ones that
work with the mail directly - the EC stands for EchoMail Co-ordinator -
and are responsible for the flow of mail along all those branches of
that great FidoNet tree, to continue the analogy started in the previous
section.
Now, the reason that asterisk is at the beginning of *C and *EC is that
there are a goodly number of them, but they essential all do the same
thing, just to a differing magnitude. The *Cs are:
ZC - Zone Co-Ordinator. All the other *Cs report to this person, and
he/she is responsible for the managing of the nodelist, and enforcing
and making rules and regulations for FidoNet.
ZEC - Zone EchoMail Co-ordinator. This person is the focal point for
all the EchoMail traffic in the zone - in the case of Zone 1, all the
echomail traffic in North America. Thanks to the tree structure,
only RECs (defined further down) transfer mail directly with the ZEC
(often known as the Zone Backbone). This person also manages the
actual echoes themselves - such as additions and removals from the
Backbone.
RC - Regional Co-ordinator. Yes, a Region is a new word, but one you
don't need to worry about too much. The only place regions come into
play (as they do not show up in a node number, but are still recorded
in the nodelist) is breaking down into groups the hordes of Nets that
are in a zone, both for administration and NetMail moving. Regions
are often large areas, such as a entire state or group of states
(using a Zone 1 example, again). Specifically, the RC is the one
who handles the segment of the nodelist that is gathered from all the
nets part of s/he's region to be forwarded off to the ZC, as well as
other administrative matters, acting as the supervisor of the NCs.
REC - Regional EchoMail Co-ordinator. This is the person all the
NECs (explained further below) call to deliver to, and pickup from,
their EchoMail. This person is responsible for keeping a reliable
flow of EchoMail into the region.
NC - Net Co-ordinator. NCs run the numerous nets that make up Fido-
Net. If you remember from the previous sections, Nets are groups of
nodes usually in the same general geographic area, such as a city.
He/she is the person who you would send your application to (for more
information on joining FidoNet, see the next section).
NEC - Net EchoMail Co-ordinator. NECs are the ones who take on the
often very frustrating task of making sure everything is set right on
all ends to make sure all the many members of a net get what EchoMail
areas they are interested in.
HEC - Hub EchoMail Co-ordinator. These may or may not be used,
depending on how large a net is. When used, HECs are the helpers of
QFront v1.10b
Page 18
the NEC. They pickup and deliver mail to and from a group of nodes
they are responsible for, off to the NEC. This is needed as some
nets get can rather large, and if you have large numbers of people
all trying to get their (sometimes fairly substantial) mail packets
from the NEC, the NECs system can become busy-signal heaven in sort
order. The HECs are just used to spread out the load to make sure
problems like that are minimal.
As a little end-note to this, it is worth mentioning that these posi-
tions are mostly elected positions, and are usually held for a term of 1
year on average.
HOW TO JOIN FIDONET
───────────────────
The easiest way to go about joining FidoNet is to find members of the
Net that is in your area. If there is one and you can get in touch with
them as easily as that, all that is needed is to ask for information on
joining. They will likely refer you the NC. Individual nets have their
own application procedure and forms, but FidoNet is not an exclusive
organization. Despite the forms you may have to fill out, very few
people are turned away (and in those cases, only for a very good
reason).
If you don't know anyone in the Net in your area, or if there is no Net
in your area, it gets a little more involved. The easiest way to go
about it is to first make sure you have a copy of the FidoNet nodelist -
you will need one sooner or later. One is available for download from
the QFront Support BBS, 7th Heaven (if you are wondering why it is not
included with the QFront package itself, it is because it is updated
weekly and uncompressed is over 2Mb is size).
Once you have the nodelist, unarchive it, and load up your favorite text
viewer. Your mission is to find a FidoNet node nearby to you - the
first thing to try is a search for your city name. Note that all spaces
in the nodelist are replaced with underscores - for example New York
city would be represented as "New_York" in the nodelist. Try the names
of towns and cities nearby, especially the larger one. If that fails,
move on the area codes - all numbers in the nodelist are in expanded
long-distance format. Ie., the number for 7th Heaven, 1:228/12, would
be stored as 1-616-844-0713. To only have the area code part get de-
tected, your best bet is to do a search using the 1- in front, ie., "1-
616". It is unlikely that there is not a FidoNet node at least in the
same area code as you, but if not, try neighboring ones. Once you find
the closest node, contact that node and ask for information. Ideally,
you'll want to follow on up the lines in the section of the nodelist you
found that node in and look for the one that has "Host," at the begin-
ning of its line. That denotes the NC, and is your best bet.
Don't let this scare you - I'm covering the worst case scenario. You
likely will have little trouble finding the FidoNet Net in your area.
QFront v1.10b
Page 19
IF YOU OPERATE AS A HOST OR A HUB
─────────────────────────────────
If you operate as a host or a hub (ie., supply mail to downlinks) in
FidoNet or any other network using the Fido mailer technology, this
release of QFront has functions added that will give you the functional-
ity you require. It now supports the EMSI FidoNet protocol, as well as
full NetMail routing to and from downlinks (including point addresses).
It also has a much revised built-in Areafix manager that allows for
Areafix forwarding.
See the section about mail routing, Areafix, and adding downlinks, later
in the manual, for more information.
QFront v1.10b
Page 20
EVENT MANAGEMENT
────────────────
The event manager is one of most powerful features in the whole QFront
package. Everything in QFront is controlled by an event. With the
event manager, you can have up to 100 events (per node).
QFront's event manager is much different from that of PCBoard. Unlike
PCBoard, each event in QFront is given an "event type". QFront knows
what action to take when it's time to execute the event based on this
event type. One of the event types is special purpose for use with the
FidoMail functions. The other two event types will produce results
similar to what you're currently familiar with in PCBoard. One will
cause QFront to exit to your batch file with a certain errorlevel that
you can trap and process. The other will cause QFront exit and execute
a batch file (similar to PCBoard's event processing). The batch file
that is run can be edited with a normal text editor OR you can edit the
batch file directly from within the QFront configuration program.
QFront will always attempt to execute an event (a non-FidoMail event) if
it appears that the event was skipped. For example, if an event was set
to run on a Monday, and your system was down all day Monday causing the
event to be skipped, when QFront is started on Tuesday it will run the
event that was skipped.
We'll explain all the event types, event flags and how to process events
in much greater detail later in the manual.
QFront v1.10b
Page 21
THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The QFront configuration program, QFConfig, is the heart of the entire
QFront system. It is here where you will specify how you want the pro-
gram to run or behave on your system. Because of the importance this
program plays in the overall package, we'll go through and explain in
detail each and every option.
Let's start off with the "how-to's" of operating QFConfig overall.
Pulldown menus can be accessed with the Enter key or with the highlight-
ed hotkey. Use the arrow keys to move around within menus.
All entry fields will clear their current contents if you move to one
and start typing. This is so that you don't have to manually "clear"
the field if you want to change it. If this behavior is not wanted,
simply turn insert mode off by tapping the insert key. This will place
you in overwrite mode. A larger cursor will appear when you are in
overwrite mode.
Several of the entry screens in QFConfig are multi-screen and scrolla-
ble. You will know whenever an entry screen is scrollable by the
scrollbar that appears on the right side of the window frame. If an
entry screen is not scrollable, a scrollbar will not appear. As you
move from field to field, the entry screen will scroll automatically.
At any point within QFConfig, you can get context-sensitive help by
pressing the F1 key. Pressing F1 once again will bring up the master
topic index, which is a list of all the topics in the entire help sys-
tem. The first few options available in this topic index are useful for
getting help on how to actually use the context-sensitive help system.
You can exit all entry screens and all menus by pressing the Esc key.
Mouse support is available throughout QFConfig.
QFront v1.10b
Page 22
STARTING THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFConfig accepts several command line options on startup. Most of the
time you won't need to use any of them - typing QFConfig will work just
fine. But in any case, here they are:
"/MONO" and "/COLOR"
────────────────────
These will force QFConfig to use monochrome attributes or color
attributes, respectively. QFConfig will try to determine automat-
ically which one to use, but you can override this with these
parameters.
"/NOMOUSE"
──────────
Will turn off mouse support.
"/C<config name>"
─────────────────
Will tell QFConfig to use the specified configuration file only.
Normally, QFConfig will bring up a list of configuration files
that you can pick from.
After QFConfig loads (and if you didn't specify the "/C" parameter), a
pick list will pop up where you can select which configuration file you
want to use. Normally, you will have a separate configuration file for
each node on your system. Note that the install program will create
setup files for the QFront Nodes you tell it about at the time. The
"NEW FILE" startup option should only be used if you either want to
reconfigure a node from scratch, or add a node that was not installed
the first time. If that is the case, just select the option "NEW
FILE" . When you do select this parameter, a window will pop up and ask
for the name of the configuration file. Simply type a new configuration
filename and you'll be all set - the recommended, for the sake of clari-
ty is NODE<nodenumber>.CFG, but any choice will work.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE! If you select this option and give a filename that already exists,
QFConfig will overwrite it without warning.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The INSTALL program will create the necessary node configuration files
and call them "NODExxx.CFG" where the "xxx" represents the node number
for that configuration file (for example, NODE1.CFG, NODE100.CFG, etc).
To exit the pick list and quit QFConfig, press Esc.
QFront v1.10b
Page 23
THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM - PROGRAM CONFIGURATION
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
For the most part, the program configuration menu option is used to
configure the various settings essential to basic QFront operation,
things such as file paths and names.
MENU OPTION - PROGRAM SETUP
───────────────────────────
In the program setup menu option, you define the first things QFront is
going to need to know - the location of directions and files.
System directories
──────────────────
PCBOARD.DAT file
────────────────
This is the LOCATION of the PCBOARD.DAT file for this node. For a
one node system, this will be C:\PCB (default). Note that a trail-
ing backslash is not needed. Do not specify a filename, only a
location. In other words, do not type C:\PCB\PCBOARD.DAT.
Event control file
──────────────────
This option need only be used by multi-node PCBoard systems. It
specifies the name and location of a control file that QFront uses
to monitor the status of your other nodes. This is used in con-
junction with one of the special event flags, and causes QFront to
write information to this file periodically. The other nodes on
your system running QFront will see this information and will be
able to determine if it is necessary to take the modem off-hook or
not. See the section on critical events in the event setup sec-
tion for more information.
Note that this location should be the same for every configuration
file you set-up, so that all nodes on the network know where to
find it.
The INSTALL program will fill in a default control file location
when it is run, so normally you won't need to modify this field.
Semaphore files
───────────────
Semaphore files are temporary files that either QFront or another
program will create that are used to cause QFront to do various
things such as exit to DOS, rescan the mail queue, etc. The files
are called temporary because all QFront does is looks for the
existence of the semaphore file. Once it finds the file, the file
is deleted and QFront performs the appropriate action. For exam-
ple, some Fido-compatible programs add NetMail messages to your
system. QFront will not see these new messages until the next time
the outbound queue is scanned. You can usually tell the other
program to create a semaphore file that causes the mailer to imme-
diately rescan the outbound queue.
QFront v1.10b
Page 24
This field points to the directory where these semaphore files will
be found, and it is fine to leave it in C:\QFRONT (default). Note
that a trailing backslash is not needed.
Busy files
──────────
Busy files are files that QFront creates to tell other QFront nodes
in a multi-node setup which node is being dialed on a certain node.
Other QFront nodes use this information so that two nodes don't try
to dial the same system at the same time.
This field points to the directory where the busy files are stored.
The default, C:\QFRONT will work well. Note that a trailing back-
slash is not needed.
System filenames
────────────────
QFront log file
───────────────
The QFront log file is the main logging file for QFront, where it
logs such things as inbound and outbound mail sessions, inbound
calls, events, and other things done by the mail QFRONT.EXE pro-
gram. This defaults to C:\QFRONT\QF-x.LOG (where "x" is the node
number). You may wish to setup a separate directory for the log
files, depending on your preferences. A full path and file name is
needed. You must make sure that each node running QFront uses a
DIFFERENT system log filename.
QScan log file
──────────────
The file specified in this field is the location that QScan will
write all its log entries to. The QScan log details the operation
of the QSCAN.EXE program - more on this program later. Messages
imported, messages exported to be sent to other nodes, Areafix
messages, etc, are all logged to this file. Note that a full path
and file named is needed. C:\QFRONT\QS-x.LOG (where "x" is the
node number) is the default. You must make sure that each node
running QFront uses a DIFFERENT log filename.
Welcome file
────────────
QFront's welcome file is similar to that of PCBoard - it is some-
thing that is displayed to the user as QFront passes the caller to
PCBoard. A generic message is included in the file WELCOME.TXT,
which is the default. This file can be edited with any text editor
and changed to whatever suits your system the best. If you do not
want anything to be displayed, leave this field blank.
Critical event file
───────────────────
Enter a path and filename that you want QFront to display to a
caller when the system is processing a critical event. (See event
QFront v1.10b
Page 25
setup for information on critical events). A sample file, CRITI
CAL.TXT is included and is the default.
Insufficient baud file
─────────────────────
An insufficient baud rate is one that is lower that the minimum
configured in your copy of PCBoard (see your PCBoard manual for
further information on configuring this option). The file is show
to those that do not have the needed speed set in order to access
your system, as QFront drops carrier on them. A sample file,
LOWBAUD.TXT is included and is the default.
No callers accepted file
────────────────────────
It is possible with QFront to configure time slots in which users
are not allowed to access the BBS. The most common use for the is
Zone Mail Hour (ZMH) which is 4am-5am EST. This is a time set
aside for FidoNet mailers to send netmail to other nodes, and in
order to accomplish that users are not to be allowed for that hour
so as to help ensure they are able to connect. When a caller does
call during an event that is set to disallow callers, this file is
shown to this. A sample file, NOCALLER.TXT, is included and is the
default.
FidoMail/QScan directories
──────────────────────────
Nodelist/nodediff directory
───────────────────────────
This directory specifies the location where inbound ARCHIVED node-
lists can be found. The nodelist compiler, QNList, uses this
directory when it tries to find new nodelists and nodediffs. The
default is C:\QFRONT\REQUESTS.
.MSG NetMail directory
──────────────────────
.MSG refers to NetMail messages. NetMail messages have a file
extension of .MSG. Many programs that make use of FidoNet technol-
ogy use *.MSG messages because they are a standard in FidoNet.
QFront fully supports this standard by looking for new *.MSG mes-
sages to send out, and to convert received NetMail into *.MSG
format. This directory tells QFront where to find these messages,
and where QScan should place them. The default is C:\QFRONT\NET-
MAIL.
Outbound packet directory
─────────────────────────
Outbound packets are bundles of EchoMail that is to be sent from
your system to another, such as from you to your hub, or if you are
a hub, to your downlinks. This directory tells QScan where to
store these messages while they wait for QFront to successfully
send them off, at which point they are deleted. C:\QFRONT\OUTBOUND
is the default.
QFront v1.10b
Page 26
Inbound packet directory
────────────────────────
Inbound packets are bundles of EchoMail that have been sent to your
system by another, usually your hub. This is the directory that
QFront will place them as they are received, and it is the directo-
ry QScan will look for them, when it is run to insert messages into
your message bases. The default is C:\QFRONT\INBOUND.
Bad packet directory
────────────────────
Bad packets are packets in which QScan runs into an error while
dealing with them. The most common is a corrupted compressed mail
bundle that give an error unarchiving. Unless a bad packet direc-
tory is set, QScan will keep trying to process the erroneous pack-
et. The default is C:\QFRONT\BAD.
Work directory
──────────────
This directory should be an EMPTY directory that will be used for
the SOLE PURPOSE of a work directory for QScan to use as it organ-
izes itself and works on creating packets. You should store NOTH-
ING in this directory. C:\QFRONT\WORK is the default.
QFront v1.10b
Page 27
File request directories
────────────────────────
Normal received files
─────────────────────
This directory is where files that are requested or sent to you on
a non-secure mail session (non-secure mail sessions are not pro-
tected by a session password) should be placed. This does not
effect echomail packets. Default is C:\QFRONT\REQUESTS. No trail-
ing backslash is needed.
Secured received files
──────────────────────
This is where files that are received from a node that you have a
password establish with (hence, it is fairly secure) should be
placed. C:\QFRONT\REQUESTS is the default.
MENU OPTION - GENERAL
─────────────────────
Here configuration options are placed that really don't have a special
heading to go under. Certain lines of text, and some other miscellane-
ous options, are located here.
System login controls
─────────────────────
User logon control string
─────────────────────────
This option is used to specify what information gets passed to
your SPAWNBBS.BAT file (via the BBSBATCH.BAT file - see the sec-
tion on batch file setup for more information). Every character
you type will be sent directly to the SPAWNBBS.BAT file in the
order in which you type them. For example, if you type "ROB
KITTREDGE" in this field, in the SPAWNBBS.BAT file %1 would
equal "ROB" and %2 would equal "KITTREDGE". Special characters
apply, however, and these are:
@B
──
The callers' actual baud rate.
@E
──
Either YES or NO depending on whether the connection is
error-correcting.
@CSTR
───────
The connect string received by the modem.
@CID
────
This will contain the Caller-ID string, if any, returned by
QFront v1.10b
Page 28
the modem. Your modem will need to be special designed in
order to receive Caller-ID information - check your modem
manual for more information.
QFront v1.10b
Page 29
Most of the time, the default string of "@B @E @CSTR" will be
sufficient. Note that the supplied batch files reflect this
default string.
User logon prompt string
────────────────────────
Here you enter the line you want the user to be given when QFront
asks for them to press Esc or Tab twice (or wait a moment) for the
BBS. This is shown to the caller immediately when they connect.
It defaults to: "Press [ESCape] or [Tab] twice for PCBoard:". A
common customization is to add your BBS name in place of the word
PCBoard, but it's perfectly fine to leave as-is.
Local logon control string
──────────────────────────
This option is identical to the user logon control string, but is
used when you do a local logon.
Most of the time, the default string of "LOCAL" will be suffi-
cient. Note that the supplied batch files reflect this default
string.
Local logon "graphics?"
───────────────────────
What is entered here will be sent to PCBoard at the "graphics?"
prompt that is asked just before your welcome screen is displayed.
This default value for this is Y;Q, which will enable graphics but
abort the welcome screen. Many of you may wish to leave this
setting stay as it is, but you can change it to anything you can
normally type at that prompt in PCBoard to suit you preferences.
The only real reason you might change this option is if you use an
auto-ANSI detection PPE program. These programs automatically
fill in the answer to the "graphics?" question, so leaving this
set to Y;Q will cause conflicts. To fix the problem, just blank
out this field.
Call waiting screen settings
────────────────────────────
Modem off-hook flags
────────────────────
Press Enter on this field and a picklist will appear where you can
individually select during which times you want QFront to take the
modem off-hook. For example, if "Local logon" was selected,
QFront would take the modem off-hook whenever you do a local
logon. To select or deselect an option, move the highlight bar
over the selection and press the spacebar. When you're finished
selecting, press Enter.
Direction to view logs
──────────────────────
QFront allows you to view its own, and PCBoard's, log files, from
the convenience of the QFront call waiting screen. This toggle
QFront v1.10b
Page 30
selects if you want to read the logs in forward or backward order.
For example, forward would show listings from July 10th to July
15th, while backward would display those same listings going from
July 15th to the 10th. Default is forward.
Miscellaneous flags
───────────────────
Allow low bauds into PCBoard
────────────────────────────
If this flag is set to Y, QFront will allow baud rates lower than
the minimum set in the PCBSetup configuration for PCBoard to be
passed to PCBoard. Special circumstances, such as perhaps a PPE
that deals with slow callers on a security level or specific user
basis, may warrant that QFront let PCBoard worry about the baud
rates. For most systems, this flag should be left at the default,
N.
Swap to disk or EMS for shelling
────────────────────────────────
Whenever QFront does a DOS shell (either from the call waiting
menu or during a function key shell), QFront can swap itself out
to EMS or disk automatically, leaving only about 15k of QFront in
conventional memory. This is usually necessary because leaving
all of QFront resident would significantly reduce the available
memory during DOS shells. It is recommended that this be kept at
the default, Y.
Using an enhanced keyboard
──────────────────────────
If you are using an enhanced (101 key) keyboard, set this to Y.
If you are running a 286+, chances are you are using an enhanced
keyboard.
Using a mouse
──────────────
QFront has complete mouse support on its call-waiting menu. You
can turn this feature on and off with this option.
Use 24 hour time clock
──────────────────────
If you want all time displays (on-screen and logged in a file) to
be shown in a 24 hour format (military time), answer Y to this
field, otherwise answer N (default).
Semaphore check frequency
─────────────────────────
This field is used to configure a "check frequency" for when
QFront checks for the semaphore files (see the description of
semaphore files, below). Entering a value of 10, for example,
causes QFront to check for the semaphore files every 10 seconds.
Entering a value of 0 disables semaphore file checking entirely.
QFront v1.10b
Page 31
MENU OPTION - MODEM/DIALOUT SETUP
─────────────────────────────────
The modem/dialout setup option is used to tell QFront how to dial out
when it needs to for mail runs, as well as information for basic
handling of the modem.
Note that QFront pulls as much information out of your PCBSetup
configuration as possible. Primary initialization strings, communi-
cations port, port speed, etc., are all configured in PCBSetup.
Modem initialization/dialout strings
────────────────────────────────────
Secondary modem init string
───────────────────────────
The primary initialization string (the first to get sent to the
modem) is taken DIRECTLY from the one defined in PCBoard. If there
is a need for a specialized initialization string to be sent by
QFront following it, enter it here. For most systems, such a setup
is not needed and this field should be left to the default, blank.
Modem answer string
───────────────────
The modem answer string is what QFront should send to the modem to
make it answer the phone and connect with the incoming call. For
Hayes compatible modems, that is ATA (default). Almost all of the
major modems on the market today are Hayes Compatible, so ATA will
likely work fine. If your modem forces you to use another command,
consult your users manual for your modem.
Modem dialout prefix
────────────────────
Enter here the command string that you want QFront to send to your
modem when doing a modem dialout (calling another system, ie., a
FidoNet HUB). What you enter here will be sent immediately before
QFront sends the phone number to your modem. Each character you
type will be sent as-is except for the following exceptions (ex-
cluding quotation marks):
"~" Causes a 1/4 (.25) second pause.
"^M" or "|" Causes a carriage return to be sent.
The default dialout prefix is "ATS0=0M0DT". This will, for most
modems, set the dialout speed to slow, and tell the modem to dial
out using touch-tone. If you do not have touch-tone on your phone
line, change the DT to DP to tell the modem to use pulse dial.
Consult your modem's manual for further AT command information.
Modem dialout suffix
────────────────────
Enter here the command string that you want QFront to send to your
modem when doing a modem dialout. Your entry will be sent immedi-
ately after QFront sends the phone number to your modem. Each
QFront v1.10b
Page 32
character you type will be sent as-is except for the following
exceptions (excluding quotation marks):
"~" Causes a 1/4 (.25) second pause.
"^M" or "|" Causes a carriage return to be sent.
The default dialout suffix is blank, as for most system configura-
tions it is not needed.
Automatic modem init timeout
────────────────────────────
You can set QFront to automatically re-initialize your modem after
a certain number of minutes. This is useful to ensure that your
modem is always ready for a call. This field is used to tell
QFront how many minutes to wait before re-initializing your modem.
If you have problems with your modem "snoozing off" after being
online for awhile, you may want to shorten this value (default 20
minutes).
Delay before first dialout
──────────────────────────
This is the value, in seconds, for QFront to wait before its first
dialout attempt after it reloads (ie, after it is loaded for the
first time, or is returning from exiting to toss mail or pass a
caller to the BBS).
Dialout attempts
────────────────
The setting entered here will determine how many attempted dials
to make for a given system. Once this number is reached by
QFront, it will be skipped in the dial queue, until the queue is
re-scanned (ie., a forced rescan, QFront restarted after a mail
toss, event, human caller, etc).
Connection timeout
──────────────────
This is the maximum amount of time, in seconds, to wait for a
connection string to be returned by the modem. The default is 45
seconds. QFront will abort when a busy signal is received, but in
the case of ringing through especially, this tells it how long to
wait.
Delay between dialouts
──────────────────────
The value given here is the amount of time is seconds that QFront
is to wait between dialout attempts. The default is 20 seconds.
This usually works well as the dialouts happen with enough fre-
quently to connect to another system within a reasonable amount of
time, and also gives your users a chance to logon.
Resend retries
──────────────
Here you state the number of times that an attempt to send a file
QFront v1.10b
Page 33
to a node fails before QFront gives up and considers the node
undialable. Note that this does not apply to the actual dialing
attempts, but rather the number of failed sessions - ie, session
passwords failures, dropped carrier, etc. 3 is a reasonable
number, and is the default.
Note that in this version, QFront does not support the "resend
retries" feature.
QFront v1.10b
Page 34
MENU OPTION - TRANSLATION/COSTING SETUP
───────────────────────────────────────
The options set here in the Translation/Costing Setup menu option allow
QFront to do two main things. The first of which is to tell QFront how
to convert the raw phone numbers in the nodelist to a format that you
can use in your geographic location. The second is to define costs for
the calls QFront would make to non-local numbers (called "toll" calls),
so they can be done at off-peak hours of the day.
The translation part of the setup here is telling QFront what parts of
the phone numbers that are in your FidoNet nodelist it is to change.
"Why do you need to change the phone numbers?" you ask? Because since
FidoNet covers such a large area, producing nodelists individually for
all the different dialing areas would be ridiculous. Instead, what is
done is all the phone numbers are entered in their expanded form (ie, 1-
234-567-8888). What you as a FidoNet node are required to do is filter
out the unnecessary prefixes. To continue our example, if you are in
area code 234, you won't need to dial the area code (in most places).
If you also happened to be a local call to the 567 exchange, you would
not want to have the 1-234 part in there at all.
QFront scans the phone number it is about to dial at every dialout
against the set translations, and makes the appropriate changes.
The costing part is set in two main places. The first is the default,
which will be used if you don't have a cost defined for a given area.
The second is where you define the cost for specific areas. How this is
done is explained where it is entered, further down. This allows you to
QFront to, for example, not call a given node unless there is at least
$1.20 of mail waiting to go. Or likewise, tell QFront not to call if
there is more than $4.00 worth of mail to go. As a practical example,
you could tell QFront to send only the mail that has a cost of 32 cents
or less between 6pm and 11pm, on weekends, while saving the more expen-
sive calls (like those overseas) to the cheap-rate hours. Exactly how
to do this is discussed in the section on "Events". Note that the cost
values are nothing more than numbers, they do not represent money values
(although they CAN if you want them to).
Country specific setup
──────────────────────
Country code
────────────
Before QFront can dial out to any system properly, you must enter
your country code. The country code is the same that is defined
in your DOS configuration. For example, the country code for the
United States and Canada is 1, while the country code for Egypt is
20.
International dial prefix
─────────────────────────
The international prefix is what QFront should add to numbers that
it dials that are outside of your domestic calling area (note that
QFront v1.10b
Page 35
the U.S. and Canada are both domestic calls for each other). For
the U.S. and Canada, this is "011-", the default. If you are
outside these two areas, consult the dialing requirements of your
local phone company.
International dial suffix
─────────────────────────
What is entered here QFront will add to the end of any interna-
tional numbers dialed. This is not needed if you are in the U.S.
or Canada (default is therefore blank). If you are not sure if
you require a suffix, consult your local phone company.
Default cost values
───────────────────
It is important to point out that cost values are not accumulated by
QFront based on the number of minutes a mail session will take. If
you specify a cost of 32 for example, the cost will ALWAYS be 32 no
matter if there is 1 mail bundle or 100 to go to a system.
Domestic calls
──────────────
Here you enter the default cost for domestic calls that do not
have a cost set in your translation setup (discussed further
down). This is in cost units - in the U.S. and Canada, this would
be cents, while in Great Britain it would be pence.
International calls
───────────────────
This setting is parallel to the "Domestic calls" setting as de-
scribed above, except it applies to international calls.
Custom dial translations/cost values
────────────────────────────────────
Translations
────────────
When this menu option is selected, a picklist will appear, allow-
ing you to add, edit or delete records from the database. To add
a record, simply select the first picklist item, "add a new trans-
lation". To edit an existing record, move the hilight bar to your
selection and press Enter. To delete a record, move the hilight
bar to your selection and press Alt-D. The picklist may or may
not scroll vertically, depending on the number of records in the
database. The actual fields you have to fill it at that point will
be discussed individually. First, some general info and tips.
When QFront tries to find a match in the picklist, it will apply
the translation that has the LONGEST "prefix to translate" field
match. So if, for example, you have "1-234-" in the first entry
in the picklist for the "prefix to translate", and have "1-" in
the second entry in the picklist, and the phone number QFront is
trying to match is "1-234-567-8901", QFront will use the first
entry since it contains the longest matching prefix.
QFront v1.10b
Page 36
The following are the prompts you are presented with when entering
a new translation, explained.
Prefix to translate
───────────────────
Enter the phone number prefix that you want to modify. The
phone number prefix you enter here will be searched for every
time QFront dials a number. If it is found, this prefix is
deleted from the phone number and replaced with the translation
prefix.
For example, if you wanted to tell QFront that 1-616-123-4567
is a toll call, here's what you'd set for the prefix to change:
"1-616-123-". And then you'd set the translation prefix to "1-
123-" (see next field). The phone number that would actually
be dialed would then be "1-123-4567". Or, if 1-616-123-4567 is
a free call, the prefix to change would be "1-616-123-" and the
translation prefix would be "123-".
Translate prefix to
───────────────────
Once a prefix has been found in a phone number that QFront is
dialing out to, you must set what you want the prefix replaced
with.
As in the example above, if you want to tell QFront that the
number 1-616-123-4567 is a free local call for you, you would
set the prefix to "1-616-123-" and the translation prefix to
"123-".
Cost
────
This is the cost, in units (such as cents - see the information
on default cost settings described earlier) that any number
that this translation applies to should have associated with
it. In the case of local calls this should be 0, while in the
cast of calls that you have a translation set up for, but are
still long distance, 32 ($0.32) is often used.
It is important to point out that cost values are not accumu-
lated by QFront based on the number of minutes a mail session
will take. If you specify a cost of 32 for example, the cost
will ALWAYS be 32 no matter if there is 1 mail bundle or 100 to
go to a system.
Description
───────────
Enter here a note to yourself describing this translation, such
as "Hometown, USA". It can be whatever you want, and is for
your convenience when referencing these translations that it is
included.
QFront v1.10b
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MENU OPTION - ARCHIVER SETUP
────────────────────────────
QFront allows you to configure which archiver(s) you want to have avail-
able for archives that QScan processes. Specifically, inbound and
outbound FidoMail packets.
Once you select this option, one of two things will happen. If this is
the first time you've selected the option, QFConfig will search your
system path for any archivers it can find and will automatically add
them to the archiver database. If you've selected this option before,
no path searching will occur and you'll be immediately be put into the
picklist.
Command for archiving
─────────────────────
Enter the filename (including extension but NOT including path) of
the file that is used when archiving files (for example,
"PKZIP.EXE"). You may also add any special switches required for
the archiver. Whenever possible, you should ALWAYS use the ar-
chiver's "MOVE" switch so that after putting files into the ar-
chive, they are deleted. QFront always assumes this behavior.
Command for unarchiving
───────────────────────
Enter the filename (including extension but NOT including path) of
the file that is used when unarchiving files. You may also add
any special switches required for the unarchiver. Whenever possi-
ble, you should ALWAYS have the unarchiver "OVERWRITE" files it
takes out of the archive. This means that if a file is extracted
from the archive that already exists, to always overwrite it.
QFront always assumes this behavior.
Archived file extension
───────────────────────
Enter the file extension that this archiver uses when creating
archives. For example, for PKZIP, the file extension would be set
to "ZIP".
Description
───────────
Enter a description for this archiver. The description is used
for your reference only. A picklist of descriptions will appear
when QFConfig needs you to select an archiver for a function.
QFront v1.10b
Page 38
MENU OPTION - EXTERNAL MAIL STRINGS
───────────────────────────────────
This menu allows you to define errorlevels for QFront to exit with when
a certain string is received at the "Press [ESCape] or [Tab] twice..."
line that displayed to the caller. This is primarily meant for allowing
a UUCP (Internet) mail handler to be called when a certain string is
received from the modem. There can be up to 10 of them.
If you will be using this capability, consult the instructions for use
of the external mail handler software you will be user to find out what
string will be sent to QFront when an incoming call is received. Fol-
lowing those instructions, write the commands in a batch file that will
be activated when QFront exits with a given errorlevels. Then, you just
have to define that string and the errorlevel you chose in this menu.
Valid errorlevels are between 20 and 255.
QFront v1.10b
Page 39
MENU OPTION - SEMAPHORE FILES
─────────────────────────────
If you are not multitasking, or running some sort of network, this
option will be of little use to you. Semaphore files are is a method
for programs running at the same time on a network or in a multitasking
environment to easily communicate with each other.
With this implementation, when you define a semaphore file, QFront will
scan for that file while at the call waiting screen. If that file
should be found to exist, QFront will immediately exit with the error-
level you specified.
Uses for this are endless, but a common one would be to take a specific
node down at a non-constant time (so an event would not work). You
could set a semaphore file to be "QFDOWN.NOW", and set an errorlevel of
your choosing that would exit your batch file.
QFront v1.10b
Page 40
MENU OPTION - USERNAMES TO IGNORE
─────────────────────────────────
QFront automatically keeps a list of the 5 most recent callers to your
system. There may be times when you want a certain username to not be
added to the last 5 caller list. This option will let you do that.
Pressing Enter on this field will bring up a picklist where you can add
or edit usernames. Move the highlight bar to your selection and press
Enter. A window will pop up and ask you for the username. Simply type
the user's name and hit Enter.
If you want to delete a username from the list, move the highlight bar
over your choice and press Alt-D.
QFront v1.10b
Page 41
MENU OPTION - FUNCTION KEYS
───────────────────────────
The F1-F12 and ALT F1-F12 keys have a special use on the call-waiting
menu. With them, you can have QFront exit to your batch file with a
certain errorlevel, or shell to a program. Examples could be that you
could load Telix or PCBSetup, when you press F1. You can define actions
when the F1-F12 keys are pressed, as well as actions for if one of these
keys is pressed along with ALT key. This gives you up to 24 definable
function keys.
Action
──────
Select the action you want QFront to take when you press the
function key. The action can be either to exit with an errorlevel
or shell to a program.
Errorlevel
──────────
If you selected the "exit with errorlevel" action, enter the
errorlevel you want QFront to exit with when the function key is
pressed. You must trap for this errorlevel in your STARTER.BAT
file.
Shell command
─────────────
If you selected the "shell to a program" action, enter the program
to shell to (including command line parameters if necessary) when
the function key is pressed.
Pause on return
───────────────
If you selected the "shell to a program", you can tell QFront
whether to wait for a keypress after returning from the program
but before redisplaying the call-waiting menu.
Rescan on return
────────────────
If you selected the "shell to a program", you can tell
QFront to rescan the outbound queue after returning from the
program. For example, if you shell out to a NetMail editor like
GoldED, you would want to answer Y to this question so that QFront
finds any newly written NetMail immediately after returning from
the shell.
Description
───────────
Enter a short description for the function key. QFront will
display the descriptions on the call-waiting menu if you press
ALT-F to get help on function keys.
QFront v1.10b
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MENU OPTION - USERNET MESSAGES
──────────────────────────────
The strings that are set in this menu will be what QFront writes to
PCBoard's USERNET.XXX file. The UserNet file is what PCBoard uses so
that the nodes are able to tell what is happening on another node - this
is where the information displayed when you do a "WHO" command from the
main menu of PCBoard comes from.
This is primarily of use to multinode systems, where users can be online
while QFront is operation on another node. These strings all have their
defaults, but they can be set to whatever text you would like to be
used.
Waiting for a call
──────────────────
Enter here what you want to be shown in the UserNet file when
QFront is at the call waiting screen. It is initially set to
"Waiting for a call".
Transferring mail
─────────────────
What is set here will be written to the UserNet file when QFront
is connected to another system, doing a FidoMail transfer. It is
initially set to "Transferring FidoMail".
Scan/toss mail
──────────────
This string is used whenever QScan is active, either tossing mail
(adding it to your message base) or scanning it (taking messages
from your message base and preparing them to be sent out). The
initial setting for this is "Scanning/Tossing FidoMail".
Compiling nodelist
──────────────────
This is what you want the UserNet file to display whenever
QFront's nodelist is being compiled (that is, processing the raw
text nodelist that is used in FidoNet into the indexed record-
formatted one QFront uses). The initial setting for this string
is "Compiling FidoNet Nodelist".
QFront v1.10b
Page 43
THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM - EVENT SETUP
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
You can use this configuration option to setup up to 100 events (not
including the default FidoMail event) you want QFront to manage for you.
The main event screen consists of an event graph and a picklist.
The event graph will graphically show you when events are set to go off
on your system. The numbers across the top of the graph represent the
time of day (in 24hr format) and the letters on the left side of the
graph represent the weekdays.
Whenever an event is set to go off on a certain day and a certain time,
a graphic character ("█") will appear. The graphic characters will be a
bright yellow color to indicate the currently highlighted event in the
event picklist. The other graphic characters for the rest of the events
will be a dim gray color.
To edit an event, move the highlight bar to the event you wish to edit
and press Enter. Note that the picklist will scroll up or down as
necessary.
The default FidoMail event
──────────────────────────
If you will be using the FidoMail module in QFront, you will want to
configure the default FidoMail event. This event runs whenever another
FidoMail event is NOT running. It allows you to control the default
FidoMail flags and min/max cost values, and therefore, you can only edit
a few fields in the setup screen.
Editing an event
────────────────
When you select an event from the picklist, a window will pop up that
actually contains the information for the event. There are several
options available:
Active
──────
Enter Y or N to indicate whether the event will be active or not.
QFront will execute only those events flagged as active. Note
that if you answer N here, the event's information will not be
cleared, it just tells QFront to never execute the event.
Type
────
Pressing Enter here brings up a picklist of the available types
that this event can be set to. There are several different event
types that QFront has. Each event type tells QFront what to do
when the event executes.
Exit with errorlevel
────────────────────
This event type tells QFront to exit with an errorlevel when
the event executes. Given the errorlevel, (specified later
QFront v1.10b
Page 44
in the event setup screen), you can trap for it in your
STARTER.BAT batch file and do whatever you need to do from
there. Note that QFront will *EXIT* to the batch file - it
will completely remove itself from memory, so when you're
done doing whatever you need to do in the batch file, you
must restart QFront.
See the section on batch files later in the manual for more
information.
FidoMail
────────
This event type tells QFront to process an outbound FidoMail
mail run. QFront will search for outbound FidoMail when the
event starts up and will apply any cost accounting restric-
tions before dialing out.
Batch file
──────────
This event type allows you to configure a batch file that
you want run when the event executes. The batch file file-
name is configured later in the event setup screen. You can
actually edit the batch file from within the event setup
screen instead of having to edit it via an external editor
(see the "edit batch file" field later in the event setup
screen).
Note that when QFront executes the batch file, QFront will
be completely removed from memory. It is up to your event
batch file to return control to QFront via the STARTER.BAT
batch file. To do this, add the line "STARTER" at the end
of the batch file. See the section on batch files, later in
the documentation, for more information.
Start time
──────────
Enter the time that you would like this event to start, in 24hr
format. For example, an event for 3:40pm would be entered as
"15:40". Note that, if the "slide event time" event flag is set,
you may not be assured that the event will actually execute at the
exact time you specify here.
Note that it is not a good idea to set an event start time at
exactly midnight (00:00), due to the date rollover that occurs.
Instead, set an event start time of 00:01.
Stop time
─────────
The stop time takes on different meanings depending on the event
type for the event.
For FidoMail events, enter the time in 24hr format when you want
the event to stop running. The FidoMail event will run continu-
QFront v1.10b
Page 45
ously from the start time to the stop time.
For all other event types, the stop time (in 24hr format) is used
to set the last possible time that you want the event to be able
to run. Usually, the event will start immediately at the start
time. However, under some circumstances, the event may not be
able to run at the start time (for example, if you have the "slide
event time" flag turned on and a user stays on past the event's
start time).
Put simply, the start and stop times give the event a range of
times that the event can run. The event will never run after the
stop time.
Day(s)
──────
Pressing Enter on this line will bring up a pop-up. Using the
cursor keys to scroll through the list of days, and using the
space bar to toggle them on and off, select the days you wish this
event to run on. If you want an event to run every day, select
all the days on the list.
Date(s)
───────
This field allows you to set a range of allowable dates for this
event to run. Enter a date, in the format of month-day-year, that
it must be for this event to run.
Note that entering a "00" activates a wildcard. Therefore, for
events that the date does not matter, this field should be left at
the default of "00-00-00". If, for example, you wish to set an
event to run on the 1st of each month, you would enter "00-01-00"
here. One thing to remember is that for an event on that day,
whichever day of the week it falls it MUST be selected in the
"Day(s)" field, directly above this one. So, in the case of an
event to be run on a specific day of the month, you will need to
select all the days in the above field for it to function proper-
ly.
Flags
─────
Events can have "flags" that you can set that affect the behavior
of the event. To select or deselect a flag, move the highlight
bar to your selection and press the spacebar. Press Enter when
you're done selecting flags.
The event flags are:
Slide event times
─────────────────
Select this flag if you want the event time to slide. This
means that an event may be postponed until the caller logs
off the system. Select this flag if it is not critical that
QFront v1.10b
Page 46
the event execute exactly on time. If this flag is not
selected, the callers time limit may be affected so that the
event can execute on time.
Node-critical
─────────────
This flag pertains to multi-node systems only. Select this
flag if you want the other nodes on your network (that are
running QFront) to take the modem off-hook when this event
executes. You would want to select this flag, for example,
if you are planning to pack the users file or messages file
during the event, and it is imperative that there are no
other users on the network. The other nodes on the network
will modify users' time limits as necessary so that you are
assured there are no other users on the network. For this
flag to work properly, you must have already set-up a proper
location for the event control file. See the "program
configuration" documentation mentioned earlier for informa-
tion on the event control file.
Note: It is recommended that if you have this flag ON, you
should make sure to turn the "slide event time" flag OFF.
FidoMail flags
──────────────
For FidoMail events, you can specify a number of special Fido
flags to be applied during the event.
The flags are:
Scan for new mail before event
──────────────────────────────
If you want QFront to run QScan to look for any new mail to
be scanned before it begins the event, select this flag.
Default is for this flag to be set on.
Toss mail immediately when received
───────────────────────────────────
When this flag is set, QFront will immediately run QScan and
toss any mail received into your message bases. This should
usually be set on, as it defaults to. An exception to this
may be if you have a limited time space to connect to many
systems to get mail, and don't want to loose time while the
system tosses mail (depending on the size of the mail pack-
et, this can be anywhere from a short to a long process).
End event when no more outbound mail
────────────────────────────────────
Selecting this flag will cause this event to stop execution
when there is no more outbound FidoMail found in the out-
bound queue. Most of the time, you will not want to set
this flag.
QFront v1.10b
Page 47
Disallow human callers
──────────────────────
Select this flag if you don't want to allow human callers
into the BBS during the event. This is useful for the
FidoNet national mail hour where only mail should be allowed
into the system.
Send-only
─────────
Select this flag if you want QFront to ONLY dial out to
systems during the event. If this flag is selected, under
no circumstances will QFront allow an incoming FidoMail run.
If you set this flag, DO NOT set the "receive-only" flag
too!
Receive-only
────────────
Select this flag if you want QFront to ONLY receive mail
during the event. Note that if an incoming mail run is
received, QFront will still send the remote system their
mail - it just will never dial out to send mail during the
event. If you set this flag, DO NOT set the "send-only"
flag too!
Allow file requests
───────────────────
Select this flag if you want to allow systems to request
files from you during the event. If this flag is not se-
lected, QFront will ignore any file requests. Note that
there are restrictions you can enforce when systems request
files from you. See the "File req/forw" menu option for
more information.
Allow file request pickups
──────────────────────────
Normally, systems that want to request files from you will
dial you up and request the files, and the remote system
will pay for the phone call. However, if your system should
happen to dial the remote system first, that system could
request files from you, with YOU paying for the call.
Normally this behavior is not wanted since YOU'RE paying for
THEIR file requests. If this flag is selected, it means you
will allow file requests if you are the one dialing the
system. If the flag in unselected, QFront will ignore any
file requests that might occur when dialing the system.
Most of the time you will not want this flag set.
Send NetMail only
─────────────────
When this flag is turn on, QFront will not send any EchoMail
for the duration of the event. Normally, this should be set
off. The time when this could be sent is during FidoNet's
ZMH, so that your system will not be busy sending out Echo-
QFront v1.10b
Page 48
Mail packets when people are trying to get their NetMail to
you.
Send EchoMail only
──────────────────
If this flag is set on, QFront will not send any NetMail for
the duration of the event. Normally, this should be set
off.
Minimum cost
────────────
When this is set, in order for a FidoMail run to occur (that is,
QFront dialing out to connect to another system to transfer mail)
the cost assigned to that call (see the section
"Translation/Costing") must be greater than or equal to this
value. Set to "0" to disable.
Maximum cost
────────────
The value set in this field is the absolute most that a call can
cost and QFront still does the dialout (for information on setting
the costs for calls, see the section on "Translation/Costing").
Set this value to -1 to disable (the default).
Errorlevel
──────────
This field only pertains to the "exit with errorlevel" event type.
Enter the errorlevel that you want QFront to exit with when this
event executes. The errorlevel can have a range of 20-255, as 0-
19 are reserved for internal use by QFront.
Batch file to run
─────────────────
This setting only applies to the "Run batch file" event type.
Enter the filename of the batch file you want to run for this
event.
Note that when QFront executes the batch file, it will be com-
pletely removed from memory. It is up to your event batch file to
return control to QFront via the STARTER.BAT batch file. To do
this, add the line "STARTER" at the end of the batch file (if you
are loading BOARD at the end of the batch file, replace BOARD with
STARTER). See the section on batch files, later in the documenta-
tion, for more information.
Edit batch file
───────────────
For "Run batch file" event types, you can edit the batch file to
run using this entry field. The filename that will be edited is
configured in the field described above ("batch file to run").
To bring up the editor, press Enter on this field. A window will
pop up and the batch file will appear. Here is a list of keyboard
QFront v1.10b
Page 49
commands that the text editor recognizes:
F1
──
Brings up a context-sensitive help window on using the
editor.
INS
───
Toggles insert mode. The editor by default starts up in
insert mode.
DEL
───
Deletes the character immediately under the cursor.
ESC
───
Exits the editor and saves your batch file.
Description
───────────
Optionally, you can enter a description for the event. This is
for your reference only, and the description you type here will
appear on the call-waiting menu.
Last run date
─────────────
The event stored in here is the last date that this event was run.
Be very careful before editing this field, QFront uses this field
to keep track of the last date an event was run so that if the
event is missed for some reason, QFront can make sure to execute
the event at the next possible moment.
QFront v1.10b
Page 50
THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM - FIDOMAIL SETUP
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
If you have not done so already, please read the section in this docu-
mentation, "how to set up FidoMail in QFront". It will explain what to
do to prepare your system for FidoMail with QFront.
MENU OPTION - FIDOMAIL SETUP
────────────────────────────
Here some general information for FidoMail operation is gathered.
Is FidoMail active
──────────────────
Answer Y if you want the FidoMail module active. Answering N
simply turns off all FidoMail options in QFront.
Disallow FidoMail dialouts
──────────────────────────
When this option is set to Y, QFront will not attempt to dialout
to deliver mail or files. For most systems, this is not practical
or needed, so the default of N should be left as is. The main use
for this toggle would be if your line setup prevented outgoing
calls from a certain node.
Accept mail from unlisted nodes
───────────────────────────────
When an incoming FidoMail run is received, QFront will look in
your nodelist for the node that is calling you. There are two
actions that QFront can take - if you have this option set to Y
and QFront does not find that node in the nodelist, the mail run
will be allowed to continue normally. However, if this is set to
N" then your system will hang-up on the other. For most systems,
using the default of Y is a good choice.
Accept non-secure mail sessions
───────────────────────────────
If this toggle is set to "N", then any node you have not defined a
password for in your Node Manager (discussed further on), will be
refused. The default is set for "Y", as the average user will have
no need to operate in such a manner.
Present all aliases
───────────────────
Present all aliases, when set to Y, will send any alias addresses
you have defined (known as "AKAs") to all systems that call you,
and all systems that you call. For more information on alias,
read the documentation on the next menu option, "Addresses". The
default for this is Y, and is the recommended setting.
Days to keep history
────────────────────
Enter here the number of days you want QFront to keep information
for in its inbound and outbound activity log, available from the
call waiting screen (see the section on the call waiting screen
QFront v1.10b
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for more information). The default setting is 30, which would
keep this information around for 1 month.
MENU OPTION - ADDRESSES
───────────────────────
Here all information regarding to your FidoMail addresses is gathered.
Primary address
───────────────
Your primary address is your main address in a Fido technology
network (most commonly FidoNet). If you have only one address
(such would be the case if you were just a node, and not a host or
hub), then enter that address here.
To avoid confusion, there are other networks that use the same
software as FidoNet does, but are not FidoNet. They run with
different node numbers, using zones not used by FidoNet (zones
greater than 7), and are often referred to collectively as "Other-
nets". If belong to one of these and not FidoNet, your address is
that network should be entered as your primary address.
If you are in an "Othernet" as well as FidoNet, your FidoNet
address should be your primary address. Your "Othernet" address
should be defined as an "alias" (sometimes known as an "AKA").
For more information on defining alias addresses, see the section
about alias addresses.
Lastly, if you have not been issued a FidoNet node number (ie.,
you are setting up QFront and entering FidoNet for the first time
right now), set your primary address to "1:999/9999". This is
just a dummy address, and can be used to send the application (see
the table of contents to find the section on "Joining FidoNet").
NOTE: BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE ZONE. For example, a complete Fido-
Net address would be "1:228/12" (the address for the 7th Heaven
QFront Support BBS).
Primary domain
──────────────
What is entered here is the domain of the address entered above
for the primary address. Because of the prolific numbers of
"Othernets" domains where created. At present it is more of a
description thing that is for your reference, and will also be
added to the end of outbound NetMail from that address.
If your primary address is for FidoNet (even if it is the
1:999/9999 temporary address) you should leave the domain as the
default, "fidonet.org".
If your primary address is for an "othernet" (as stated above, a
network that is not FidoNet but uses the same software to operate)
than the standard form is the name of the network, plus the exten-
sion "ftn", standing for Fido Technology Network. To use our
catch-all "othernet" as an example, it should have a domain of
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"othernet.ftn".
Alias addresses
───────────────
Pressing Enter here will bring up a window in which you will enter
any alias addresses you will be using. You can scroll through
this window, as with the others in QFront, using the cursor keys.
Pressing Enter on an existing entry will allow you to edit it.
Alt-D will delete an entry. To add a new entry, select the "(add
a new address)" found at the top of the list. The fields that are
involved when you add/edit an alias address are described directly
below.
Alias address
─────────────
This address is what QFront will use to identify to the
target addresses. Therefore, it will not identify itself as
your FidoNet address, but as the address you give here.
Apply alias to
──────────────
This field is used to tell QFront in which order to present
your addresses when it connects to another Fido mailer.
Some Fido mailers require the FIRST address presented to be
the "primary address". QFront does not require this, but
some others do. Using this field, you can tell QFront which
system(s) should this alias be listed FIRST. For example,
if you connect with address 1:2/3 and 1:2/3 requires this
alias address to be listed first, you would enter 1:2/3 in
this field.
Domain name
───────────
Enter the domain that you would like QScan to use when it
packs mail for the destination address(es). For a proper
explanation of domains, see the explanation given in the
documentation for the "Primary domain", which you can find
further above, in this same section. If you leave this
field blank, QScan will use your default domain.
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MENU OPTION - NODELISTS
───────────────────────
In order for QFront to be able to call other systems, it must have a
nodelist. Here is where you give it the information that it needs to
find the nodelists when it needs to (for compiling into its working
nodelist), and any compiler instructions that need to be set. See the
section about nodelists later in the manual for more information.
Nodelist setup
──────────────
Primary nodelist
────────────────
Here you give the location and root name of the main nodelist that
QFront is to find and use. This must be a "St. Louis" style
nodelist - in a nutshell, the raw text nodelist that is updated
weekly in FidoNet. You should give it the root name - that is,
the name, without the extension. For example, if you choose to
keep your nodelist in a directory called NODELIST off of your
QFront directory, and you nodelist that you had was called NODE-
LIST.150, you would set this line to be "C:\QFRONT\NODELIST\NODE-
LIST". You don't need the extension as QFront will look for the
most current nodelist Any name for the nodelist could be used, but
as the official FidoNet nodelist is called just that, NODELIST,
that is what it should be set to.
Private nodelists
─────────────────
Private nodelists are used if you belong to more than one network
(for example if you belong to a network that uses Fido technology
other than FidoNet).
Pressing Enter on this field will bring up a picklist of config-
ured nodelists. You can add a new nodelist by selecting the first
item in the picklist. To delete a nodelist entry, press Alt-D.
To edit an existing nodelist entry, select the item in the pick-
list and press Enter.
Nodelist location and name
──────────────────────────
Here you give the location and root name of the private
nodelist that QFront is to find and use. This must be a
"St. Louis" style nodelist (the same format as the raw text
nodelist distributed by FidoNet). You should give it the
root name - that is, the name, without the extension. For
example, if you choose to keep your nodelist in a directory
called PRIVLIST off of your QFront directory, and you node-
list that you had was called PRIVLIST.150, you would set
this line to be "C:\QFRONT\NODELIST\PRIVLIST". You don't
need the extension as QFront will look for the most current
nodelist.
Is this a pointlist
QFront v1.10b
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───────────────────
If this nodelist is just a pointlist (a list of point sys-
tems, still in raw text FidoNet-style format), answer Y.
See the section later in the manual about how to create a
pointlist.
Point boss
──────────
If the nodelist is a pointlist, enter the address of the
point boss. If you enter 1:2/3 here for example, all en-
tries in the pointlist will have an address of 1:2/3.x where
"x" is the point number given in the nodelist.
Default zone
────────────
Some private nodelists do not contain an explicit zone
statement. If this is the case, enter the default zone
number to apply to the nodelist. If a zone statement is
given in the nodelist, that zone number is always used
regardless of what you have set in this field.
Zones to exclude
────────────────
Enter a list of zones separated by a space, to exclude from the
compile of the nodelist. Most of the time you will leave this
field blank. If, for example you are in zone 1 and will not be
communicating at all with any other zone, you could enter "2 3 4 5
6" in this field and QNList (the nodelist compiler) would not
compile any node in these zones (which will save some disk space).
After processing
────────────────
After a nodelist archive is found, QNList will unarchive it and
compile it. With this option, you can tell QNList what to do with
the ARCHIVED nodelist after it is unarchived. You can 1) delete
it, 2) move it to another directory, or 3) leave it alone.
Move to directory
─────────────────
If you selected "move to another directory" in the previous field,
enter the location that you want the archived nodelist moved to
after it is unarchived and compiled.
Nodediff setup
──────────────
After processing
────────────────
After a nodediff archive is found, QNList will unarchive it and
compile it. With this option, you can tell QNList what to do with
the ARCHIVED nodediff after it is unarchived. You can 1) delete
it, 2) move it to another directory, or 3) leave it alone.
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Move to directory
─────────────────
If you selected "move to another directory" in the previous field,
enter the location that you want the archived nodediff moved to
after it is unarchived and compiled.
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MENU OPTION - AUTOMATIC POLLS
─────────────────────────────
This configuration allows you to setup polls (an outbound call) to an
node at a specific time. The main use for this would be to pick up mail
from a node that you have to call yourself (such as a hub for a network
that is long distance to you). An automatic poll forces QFront to dial
a system even if there is no outbound mail on your system for the node.
You can move your selection bar over any selected polls - pressing Enter
will allow you to edit them, pressing Alt-D will delete them. To add a
new poll, select the first item in the picklist.
Target address
──────────────
This is the node number of the node to poll. For instance, if you
poll was set up for 7th Heaven (the QFront Support BBS), you would
have 1:228/12 set here.
Poll during event
─────────────────
When you press enter on this option, a picklist of all the config-
ured FidoMail events (for more information on events, see the
section entitled "Events"). Select the event in which you want
this poll to be active. What this means is that every time is
event runs, this poll will be activated and QFront will continue
to poll the system in question until it connects, or until the
event ends.
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MENU OPTION - NETMAIL
─────────────────────
NetMail configurations are all grouped here. Here you configure how
QFront handles both incoming and outgoing NetMail. See the section
about NetMail later in the manual for more information.
PCBoard NetMail conference setup
────────────────────────────────
Use a PCBoard NetMail conference
────────────────────────────────
Answer Y or N as to whether you want QFront to maintain a PCBoard
NetMail conference in addition to the normal NetMail message base
it maintains (*.MSG). If you plan on being able to read NetMail
sent to you by others from within PCBoard, or allowing your users
NetMail access, this will have to be set to Y. If you do answer
Y, you will need to configure a NetMail conference in PCBSETUP,
and will also need to tell QFront what conference to use (see
below).
PCBoard NetMail conference
──────────────────────────
If you want QFront to maintain a PCBoard NetMail conference,
select the PCBoard conference that you want QFront to scan and
toss NetMail to.
PCBoard NetMail high message pointer
────────────────────────────────────
Enter the highest message number that was last scanned by the mail
scanner in your PCBoard NetMail conference. Normally you will not
need to modify this field as the mail scanner does so automatical-
ly.
Add origin line to outbound NetMail
───────────────────────────────────
If this is set to Y, an origin line will be added to outbound
NetMail from your system. The origin line added will be the first
origin line defined in the origin line setup (see the section
entitled "Origin Lines" for more info). This is recommended, as
it easily identifies your system. The default is Y.
Force inbound netmail to private
────────────────────────────────
When this is set to Y, all NetMail received by QFront will be
saved to PCBoard as a "receiver-only" message. The reason for this
is that by nature, NetMail is meant to be private mail from one
person to another, not a public message. Occasionally errors do
happen, both computer and human, and this is a way of ensuring the
messages stay private, as they were likely intended. The default
is Y.
Allowable PCBoard NetMail message flags
───────────────────────────────────────
QFront v1.10b
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If you have your PCBoard NetMail conference open to all users, you
have to be very careful because if the user is familiar with how
to enter a NetMail message, he/she can cause your system to call
all over the world to send their message. The next few options in
the configuration screen allow you to force QScan to restrict
which message flags certain users can set on a message. Note that
the message is still saved in PCBoard exactly as the user entered
it, but QScan will strip the flags off the message if the user is
not allowed to use a flag. QScan will not inform you or the user
that it has stripped a flag off.
Default for flags to allow
──────────────────────────
When you select this line, a box with toggles will appear. Here
you tell QFront what flags the mail tosser should allow the aver-
age user (see the next feature "Flag overrides for certain
users"). This is to prevent users from writing messages in the
conference you defined as your PCBoard NetMail base, and toggling
it CRASH, for example, which would send the message direct to the
target at your expense, as well as other message flags. It is
recommended that you set the default to no flags. To allow cer-
tain users, such as yourself, access to the various flags, see the
next option.
Flag overrides for certain users
────────────────────────────────
When you select this line, it bring up a window. As with all
menus in QFront, you can move the highlight through the items
using the cursor keys, with Enter allowing you to edit the cur-
rently highlighted item, and Alt-D deleting it. To add an item,
press Enter with the selection bar on "(Add a new user)", located
at the top of the list. The options that you are presented with
when editing or adding, follow below.
Username
────────
This is the name of the user (as it will appear in FROM
lines on messages) that you want to set override flags for.
It MUST exactly match the name of the user.
Flags to allow
──────────────
Here you simply toggle the flags you want the user in ques-
tion to be able to set on a message.
NetMail routing
───────────────
NetMail routing control
───────────────────────
First off, a little explanation. NetMail routing allows a way of
bouncing messages around in a network so they get sent along to a
SPECIFIC node along with their EchoMail packet - the reason for
QFront v1.10b
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this is cost. It costs a lot less to move even a large NetMail
message that is compressed and is being sent along with a packet
of NetMail at high speeds, rather than making a special call that
may only last for seconds but you still get charged the minimum.
NetMail routing is a big part of FidoNet.
The routing control option is used to tell QFront various routing
"rules" (configurations).
QFront has default rules that it uses if you do not have appropri-
ate rules configured in this part of QFConfig. See the section on
mail routing, later in the manual, for more information.
The addresses that appear in the routing picklist are "order
specific". This means that the order in which entries are listed
are significant, and changing the order of the entries can cause
different results. QFront will always go through the entire route
list and will use the LAST MATCHING target address that it can
find. You can easily move an entry up or down the list by press-
ing Shift-Tab (to move an item up the list) or Tab (to move an
item down the list).
Target addresses
────────────────
Enter the FidoNet address or range of addresses that you want your
route setup to be applied to. That is, any messages addressed to
a node number listed here will be given the routing control speci-
fied. You can use the wildcard character in the address, for
example:
"1:*" will match all nodes in zone 1.
"1:228/*" will match all nodes in zone 1, net 228.
Route type
──────────
There are several route types:
Default
───────
This route type forces the default mail routing rules to be
used for the target system(s). Please see the section on
mail routing, later in the manual, for a description of what
the default mail routing rules are.
Hold for target
───────────────
This route type causes any NetMail to the target system to
be held on your system until the target calls to pick up
mail, or poll the target.
Direct to target
────────────────
This route type causes any NetMail to the target system to
QFront v1.10b
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be sent directly (ie not routed).
Route through another node
──────────────────────────
Use this route type to cause NetMail destined to the target
address to be instead sent to the "route to address" (see
next field).
Route through target's host
───────────────────────────
Use this route type to force NetMail to always be sent to
the target's host (if the target does not have a host, the
NetMail will be sent directly).
Route through target's hub
──────────────────────────
Use this route type to force NetMail to always be sent to
the target's hub (if the target does not have a hub, the
NetMail will be sent directly).
Absolute hold
─────────────
This routing type is similar to the "Hold for target" type,
except that it will, under no circumstances, allow the mail
to be sent to the target node, until that node picks it up
themselves. This differs from "Hold for target" as with
this one you system will not send the mail, even if you poll
the target system.
Forward-for
───────────
This setting is of interest to those that serve as a hub in
any capacity. In order for QFront to forward NetMail that
was not written on your system - that is, mail that is being
routed *through* your system (technically called IN-TRANSIT)
- the originating address must be set in a forward-for
entry. What forward-for does is set the allowable ORIGIN
ADDRESSES from which people can route mail through your
system. If the origin address of the message is not associ-
ated with a forward-for statement, then the default routing
(as described at the beginning of the section) will apply.
If you are a hub, then you would likely want to have your
downlinks (and any of their downlinks, if applicable) de-
fined here so they can route NetMail out.
Forward-to
──────────
This is another setting of interest to those that act in any
degree as a hub. In addition to "forward-for", QFront will
also forward mail if the DESTINATION ADDRESS of the message
is listed in a "forward-to" entry. If the destination
address of the message is not associated with a forward-to
QFront v1.10b
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statement, then the default routing (as described in the
beginning of the section) will apply.
If you are a hub, then you would likely want to have your
downlinks (and any of their downlinks, if applicable) de-
fined here so they can receive incoming routed mail.
Route address
─────────────
If you used the "route to another node" route type (explained
above), enter the complete address that NetMail with the target
address should be sent to.
General NetMail settings
────────────────────────
Unpack NetMail into FidoNet *.MSG format
────────────────────────────────────────
If this is set to Y (the default), all received NetMail messages
will have a corresponding *.MSG file written in your defined
NetMail path (defined in "Program Setup"). Many utilities look
for incoming *.MSG messages, such an Allfix and others. For
maximum compatibility, this is recommended to be left toggled Y.
Save empty NetMail messages
───────────────────────────
When set to N, any NetMail message that has no text in the body of
the message will be deleted immediately. It is recommended it be
set as Y (the default), as in some instances, especially with
external utilities, blank messages do actually serve a purpose.
Sound alarm on receipt of new NetMail
─────────────────────────────────────
A brief "alarm" sound will be made when new NetMail is received by
QFront. This defaults to N as some would find such noise annoy-
ing, so change it at your preference.
QFront v1.10b
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MENU OPTION - MAIL SCANNER
──────────────────────────
The general settings for the mail scanner (QScan, which works hand in
hand with QFront doing the actual insertion and removal of messages to
and from your conferences) are located here.
Lost mail setup
───────────────
Use a lost mail conference
──────────────────────────
"Lost mail" refers to EchoMail that arrives at your system that
QFront is not configured for, and therefore does not know where to
put it. If this option is set to Y, then all lost mail will be
inserted to the conference defined as the "lost mail conference"
(see next field). If this option is set to N, lost mail is just
that - lost. It will not be added to your system's conferences in
any way. It is recommended this is set to Y, so you are able to
see if there are any problems with your echomail settings (such as
a typo in the defined area tag - see the section on the "Area
Manager" for more information).
Lost mail conference
────────────────────
If the above field, "Use a lost mail conference" is set to Y, then
you will be able to specify the PCBoard message base to put those
lost messages into, here. Common practice is to set up a sysop-
only conference named "LOST" or "LOSTMAIL" and have this field
point to that.
Miscellaneous settings
──────────────────────
Respect "echo message" flag
───────────────────────────
In PCBoard, there is a message flag known as the "echo message"
flag, which is intended to tell mail scanners if a message should
be sent out to other systems. By in large, this is not used in
most cases, and if the mail tosser is set to respect that, meaning
only scan it out of it has that flag, messages that have not had
that flag set accidentally would not be sent. Therefore, the
default setting for this is N, meaning that all messages entered
in an EchoMail conference will be sent out, regardless of the
"echo message" flag.
Convert high ASCII on scan
──────────────────────────
The term "high ASCII" refers to those ASCII characters in the
range 127 - 255. Some networks do not want high-ASCII to be used
in messages. When this is set to "Y", a character such as "═"
would be converted into a "*". When set to N, it leaves these
characters alone when messages are scanned out.
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Strip kludge lines on toss
──────────────────────────
Kludge lines are lines that begin with a ^A ("smiley face") char-
acter. These are added by the mail tossers. When messages are
inserted into PCBoard, these are inserted as well. PCBoard 15.1
is aware of these lines and will not normally show them to users,
keeping them hidden (as they should be, for the sake of clarity).
Therefore, it is usual that these lines not be stripped on a toss
(insertion of messages to the message base). The default is N,
which leaves the lines in the messages.
Update outbound bundles
───────────────────────
When enabled, this will tell QScan to add addition messages being
sent to a give node into an already existing message bundle in the
outbound queue. This could lead to a rather huge outbound bundle
for a node, so is normally left as N. It can save time on calls,
but especially at high speeds it is not as useful as it could be
at lower speeds.
Use current date on tosses
──────────────────────────
This setting is a matter of preference. When set to Y, QFront
will set the date and time on all messages that are inserted into
the message conferences to the current date. When left at the
default, "N", the date and time on all messages that QFront in-
serts will be left as the actual date and time the message was
written.
Delete NetMail after tossing
────────────────────────────
The normal operation after a netmail message sent to your system
is processed by the mail scanner, is for it to be deleted. This
practice can be overridden by place a N here. Unless you have a
special reason for wanting QFront not to delete this packets, it
is strongly recommended this be left at the default of Y.
Delete EchoMail after tossing
─────────────────────────────
This option is very similar to the above. Actually, it is just
like the above option, except it applies to EchoMail instead of
netmail. Therefore, if you want EchoMail bundles and packets to
be deleted after tossing, leave this as the default Y. If you not
want this behavior, set this option to N. As with the above, it
is highly recommended this is left at Y.
Readdress name to SYSOP
───────────────────────
Messages that are inserted from time to time are addressed to
SYSOP. If you wish these messages to have the SYSOP text changed
to your name, set this to Y and define the SYSOP name in the next
field. Most of the time this behavior is not desired, as those
messages are often directed at the SYSOP of the remote site where
QFront v1.10b
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the message was written. With that in mind, this option defaults
to N, but can be changed to suit your preferences.
SYSOP name
──────────
This field is related to the above option. If the above is set to
Y, you will need to enter the replacement name to be used on all
incoming messages addressed to "SYSOP".
Number of duplicate records
───────────────────────────
QScan has duplicate checking routines to help prevent any dupli-
cate messages that have been sent out by another system from
cluttering up your message bases, and getting sent to your down-
links (if any). The number set here is the number of messages for
duplicate information to be kept track of per conference. The
default setting of 1000 is usually enough - if you find duplicates
are slipping by QScan, you can try increasing this number. Set-
ting a number such as 1000 tells QScan to keep track of the last
1000 messages tossed into each of your conferences. QScan writes
the duplicate datafile QSCAN.DUP in each of your conference's
directories.
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MENU OPTION - ORIGIN LINES
──────────────────────────
Origin lines are lines that are added to the end of EchoMail origi-
nating on your system to easily identify your system, and are often
used for a little bit of advertisement too. What you fill in for
Origin Line 1 will be the default when you add echo areas. You may
only want one origin line anyway - the actual address is added by
QFront onto the end of the text string you enter here, so the same
origin line could be used for different networks.
When this menu option is selected, a menu will appear listing the
defined origin lines. You may have up to 35 different ones, if you
wish. To define an origin line, simply move the selection bar onto
the line you want to set, and press enter. The current origin line,
if any, will be brought into the pop-up that will appear so it can be
edited or added to. Again, QFront will add your network address to
the end of the line automatically - if you add one yourself, you'll
get duplicate addresses on the line.
A sample origin line might be:
"Salt Air * Murray, UT * 801-261-8976"
Since QFront adds your network address onto the end, and the word
"Origin:" to the beginning, what will be seen on messages written on
Salt Air would be:
* Origin: Salt Air * Murray, UT * 801-261-8976 (1:2/3)
QFront v1.10b
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MENU OPTION - AREA GROUPS
─────────────────────────
Grouping EchoMail areas are a way of helping organize the conferences
coming into your system. Especially if you are a hub, and especially if
you are in more that one network, this is very valuable to keep things
in order. Each EchoMail area that you define on your system will need
to have a group associated with it (for more information on defining
EchoMail areas, see the following section, "Area Manager"). The first
group definition is used as the default, so you will want to put the
most common grouping here. For most people this will be "FidoNet" (for
some this may be your only grouping, which is fine).
Most commonly, groups are used to determine whether a certain node can
connect with certain EchoMail areas using QScan's Areafix processor.
For example, you could configure two groups - one for non-paying nodes
and one for paying nodes, and allow only non-paying nodes to connect
with certain EchoMail areas.
To define a group name, simply move through the window that popped up
when you selected this menu option, and press enter on the one that you
wish to edit or replace. Then enter the new group name. You can have
up to 35 area group names defined. The group name you enter will be
displayed in the Area Manager and Node Manager when you have to select a
group.
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MENU OPTION - AREA MANAGER
──────────────────────────
In order for your system to transfer EchoMail, you'll need to do some
configuring here, so QFront knows how it should behave. Here you will
enter an area definition for every EchoMail conference that will be
coming into your system. They tell QFront about your EchoMail areas and
where their respective PCBoard conferences are located.
This option, "Area Manager" is used to install the EchoMail conference
and assign them to their respective PCBoard conferences.
Is this a pass-through area
───────────────────────────
Answer Y or N as to whether this EchoMail area is a pass-through
area. A pass-through area is an area in which messages do not
actually get tossed into any of your PCBoard conferences (they
will only be passed on to downlinks). Pass-through areas are used
so that your downlink(s) can receive EchoMail areas without you
having to have a specific conference in which messages would get
imported.
PCBoard conference
──────────────────
This conference is where QFront will place the mail that arrives
for this EchoMail area, and also the conference where it will find
mail to send out for this EchoMail area. If this area is a pass-
through area (see the pass-through option above), you can not
select a PCBoard conference.
Tip: If you have many conferences configured on your system, you
can have QFConfig quickly jump to a specific conference by enter-
ing its conference number directly into the picklist.
EchoMail area name
──────────────────
Enter the EchoMail area name for this conference. The area name
(sometimes referred to as an "area tag") appears in every EchoMail
message that is transferred by FidoMail. The mail scanner will
look at the area name in each message and will look here for what
PCBoard conference to put the message in.
Since all area tags must be the same on all sites for the mail to
move smoothly, there is a listing of the official area tags dis-
tributed for most networks. For FidoNet, this list is named
"FIDONET.NA" and lists all the current echo areas on the backbone,
and is updated weekly.
Group belonged to
─────────────────
Here you pick from a list of defined groups the area group to
place this EchoMail area definition into. For more information on
groups and defining groups, see the section "Area Groups".
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Area security level
───────────────────
For each EchoMail area you configure, you can set a security
level. The security level is used when a downlink uses Areafix to
request an Echo area. With the area security level, you can
restrict certain nodes from requesting certain Echo areas. For
example, if you set an area security level of 100, and a node with
a security level of 50 (configured in the "Node Manager" menu
option below) requests this area, the mail scanner will report to
them that they are not validated to receive the area.
High message pointer
────────────────────
Enter the high message number for this conference. Normally, you
will not need to modify this field as the mail scanner keeps track
of the high message pointer automatically.
Origin line
───────────
The text displayed here is what is set for the current origin
line. When you select this option, you can pick from the defined
origin line the one you would like to set for this area. For more
information origin lines and how to define them, see the section
"Origin Lines".
Mandatory area
──────────────
A mandatory area is one that once added cannot be dropped by a
downlink with Areafix (see the section on Areafix later in the
manual for more information on QFront's Areafix capabilities).
This behavior is sometimes required for some administration echoes
for some networks. For the most part, however, you will not want
this to come into play - in which case this option should be left
at N.
Import SEEN-BY lines
────────────────────
Answer Y or N as to whether you want QScan to import SEEN-BY lines
into your PCBoard message bases. Most of the time you will want
this set to N. You may want to turn this on if you have a dupli-
cate message problem and want to track which systems have seen
each message.
Import PATH lines
─────────────────
Answer Y or N as to whether you want QScan to import PATH lines
into your PCBoard message bases. Most of the time you will want
this set to N. You can turn this option on if you want to see how
a message traveled from its source to your system (useful for
detecting problems in the network topology).
Scan private mail
─────────────────
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Since EchoMail messages will be sent to every system that carries
that EchoMail area, writing private messages in those bases is a
waste of space and money sending them, when they should have been
written in NetMail. When this option is left at its default, N,
all private mail entered in this area's corresponding PCBoard
conference will be ignored (not sent out). It is recommended this
setting be left as N.
Keep private flag
─────────────────
This option tells QScan whether a PCBoard message that is flagged
private should have its private flag removed when the message is
scanned out (placed into a mail packet). Since most networks do
not permit private EchoMail, you would normally leave this set to
N.
Force private flag
──────────────────
When this option is set to Y, ALL messages received and tossed
into your PCBoard conference for this area will be marked "re-
ceive-only". This is NOT normal operating protocol, so the de-
fault of N should be left as it is.
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MENU OPTION - NODE MANAGER
──────────────────────────
Once you've got the EchoMail conferences configured with the previous
menu option, you have to tell QFront some details about the systems it
will be sending those messages back and forth with. In this menu,
you'll define the node number of the system, the Sysop name, areas to
send, Areafix options, passwords, and so on. Even if you do not have
any downlinks, you will still need to define your hub that you will be
receiving your EchoMail from in this menu option.
*Anybody* who will be receiving EchoMail from your QFront system must be
defined in the node manager.
See the section about adding downlinks/uplinks, later in the manual, for
information on the node manager.
Node address
────────────
Enter the address of the system you are defining here. For exam-
ple, if the system you were receiving your EchoMail from and were
therefore defining here was 7th Heaven, the QFront Support board,
you would enter "1:228/12". Make sure to enter a complete Fido
address - that means it should be in the format
zone:net/node[.point], as per the example.
Sysop name
──────────
Enter the name of the Sysop of this system. This is for your
reference, and also is used in the "to" field whenever QFront
would write an Areafix response to this node. To continue the
example with 7th Heaven, "Rob Kittredge" would go here. Remember,
this is the name of the Sysop at the REMOTE site at the address
set in the above option.
Selected areas
──────────────
This entry field will allow you to select which EchoMail areas you
want to assign to the node. To bring up the picklist of available
areas, press Enter while on this field.
Once the EchoMail area picklist is displayed, use the spacebar to
select or deselect the EchoMail areas for the node. The picklist
shows only the EchoMail areas that you configured in the "Area
Manager" menu option (described above).
Groups belonged to
──────────────────
Pressing Enter on this option brings up a picklist of all the area
groups defined in the menu option "Area Groups" (described above).
Here you select what area groups this node is to have access to.
Simply toggle using the space bar all the groupings in which there
are EchoMail areas you want this node to have access to, via
Areafix. If a node requests an area via Areafix and they do not
QFront v1.10b
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have access to the group in which the area belongs to, QScan will
not let them connect to the area.
Archiver
────────
Select the archiver that you wish to use for EchoMail to/from this
node. The official archiver of FidoNet is "ARC" format, but
commonly the ZIP format compression is used to save time and
space. Consult your hub as to which format they would prefer you
use. The archivers are configured in the "Program" menu option in
QFConfig.
Packet flags
────────────
Use the spacebar to select which packet flags to use when creating
EchoMail packets for this node. Here is a description of the
packet flags:
Crash
─────
The packet will be sent as soon as possible. The only
possible restriction can be imposed by cost accounting
restrictions as well as FidoMail event restrictions (for
example, if you are in a RECEIVE-ONLY event).
Immediate
─────────
The packet will be sent immediately, ignoring all the possi-
ble restrictions imposed by the Crash flag.
Hold
────
The packet will not be sent until the remote system polls
you, or you if you happen to poll the destination. No
active attempt to dial the system specifically for this
packet will occur.
Direct
──────
This flag is similar to Crash and Immediate, except it does
not have as high a priority.
Kill after sending
──────────────────
Select this flag if you want the packet deleted after it is
successfully sent. Nearly all of the time you will want
this turned ON.
Absolute Hold
─────────────
This flag tells QFront that, under no circumstances, should
this packet sent if you were the one that called the system
- the destination system MUST call and pick it up them-
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selves.
Origin alias address
────────────────────
Select here which address you QFront to send and receive messages
in this area as. The default is no alias, which would use your
primary address (defined in the menu option "Addresses", explained
above). This will be fine for most systems. If however you have
an additional Fido address (such as most administrative nodes
have), or are a member of another network, you'll want to select
the appropriate address with that in mind. Alias addresses shown
in this pick list are defined in the menu option "Addresses",
explained above.
Session password
────────────────
Session passwords are used to secure a mail session to and from a
specific node. In a secured environment, you are assured that the
node that may be dialing you really is who it says it is. This
prevents hackers from loading up a mailer and using a phony Fido-
Net address to get mail from your system.
Note that session passwords apply to other systems as well as your
own. This means that if you enter a password for a certain system,
that password will be used when your system dials that system, AND
when that system dials your system. Therefore, you will need to
coordinate setting this password with the system in question - if
you define a password, and the other system is not aware of it,
QFront will treat it as a security breach and drop carrier on them
shortly after connection.
In this field, enter the session password used when communicating
(inbound AND outbound) with the destination.
You can type both upper case and lower case letters into the
session password field. This is because some mailers use case
sensitivity when checking session passwords. Note that QFront
does NOT use case sensitivity when checking session passwords.
Packet password
───────────────
The concept here is the same as the one used in the above, except
the password is actually embedded into the packet. This was the
first form of password protection of EchoMail, and is not used
much except when it is required to talk to old software that
cannot handle session passwords. It is recommended unless you
absolutely have to resort to a packet password, to use a session
password instead.
Areafix password
────────────────
Before a node can use the Areafix processor in the mail scanner,
you can require that they use a password. This field is where you
QFront v1.10b
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assign the Areafix password for this node. When the node enters
the Areafix message, the Sysop must specify the correct password
on the subject line of the message he/she enters. (See the "How
to use Areafix" section later in this documentation for more
information).
Areafix security level
──────────────────────
In conjunction with the EchoMail area security level (see the
above menu option "Area Manager"), you can set a security level
for a node. The security level will be checked against any Echo
areas that the node requests with Areafix, and if they have insuf-
ficient security for a certain area, the mail scanner will not
allow the area to be selected. The security level check is per-
formed in addition to the "groups belonged to" check, which is
explained above.
Passive
───────
When QScan is told that a node is passive, done by toggling this
option Y, it will temporarily stop creating EchoMail packets for
this node. This is useful for if a system is scheduled to, or
unexpectedly, goes down for a period of time, but will be coming
back up. When passive it set, all the settings for that node, all
the selected areas, etc, are preserved. This prevents your out-
bound area from getting filled up with packets that can't be sent.
This should be left at N, unless you *do* want EchoMail to be
temporarily suspended for this node.
Allow Areafix forwards
──────────────────────
QFront's built-in Areafix system has the capability of automati-
cally requesting areas that your downlink wants that you don't
carry, if they are listed in a file showing what is available from
your hub (such as FIDONET.NA, the list of all echoes on the back-
bone). For nodes that you wish to have this capability, set this
flag to Y. It defaults to N. See the section on "How to use
Areafix" for more information.
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MENU OPTION - DIALOUT FIXUPS
────────────────────────────
In this option you can define any special actions that QFront should
take, either by node, or by a "flag" (a string that denotes a trait
about a node, which all nodes in the nodelist have).
For many systems, nothing need be set here. The times when this could
be used would be for a quick fixup if someone's phone number was typoed
in that week's nodelist, or more likely, in the case of Dual Standard
modems. If you specify a flag (such as "HST", "V32", "V32B", etc) you
can set a modem command to be sent to the modem as it dials out to a
node that if finds such a flag attached to. This allows you to set a
dual standard to HST for node that support an HST, or to V32/v32bis mode
for nodes that support either of those protocols. Consult your modem
manual for the needed modem commands to set this modes.
Scroll through the list using the cursor keys, and select an item to
edit using the Enter key. To add a new item, press Enter on the line
"Add a new fixup" located at the top of the list. The ordering of the
picklist is significant. In other words, if you are doing a fixup on a
HST nodelist flag and another fixup on a V32 nodelist flag, and a system
has BOTH flags, the LAST matching flag is used by QFront. To move an
item up the picklist, press Shift-Tab. To move an item down the pick-
list, press Tab.
Target address OR nodelist flag
───────────────────────────────
Enter a target address OR nodelist flag. Do not enter both - one
or the other.
Custom modem dial command
─────────────────────────
Enter the custom modem dial command to use when a matching target
address or nodelist flag is found. The modem dial command is sent
before the modem dial prefix (configured in "Program Setup").
Special characters can be used:
"~" Causes a 1/4 (.25) second pause.
"^M" or "|" Causes a carriage return to be sent.
QFront v1.10b
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MENU OPTION - QUICK LOOKUP NAMES
────────────────────────────────
QFront has the ability to lookup a node number, when given a full name,
or at least the last name. Although QFront is extremely efficient doing
so, it is faster if it can find the name in this quick lookup names
list. You could either type the full name, or an abbreviated name, part
of the system's name itself, or anything you find practical.
You could enter a quick lookup for the QFront Support System, 7th Heaven
with a variety of names. For example, such names could be "Rob Kit-
tredge", "Rob", "RK", "7th", or "QFront". Use your choice as to what is
the best way for your preferences. You may choose not to use any quick
lookups at all - QFront does not rely on these at all.
Whenever QFront asks for an address, you can enter "!" followed by the
quick lookup name. The "!" tells QFront that you are specifying a quick
lookup name. For example, if you had a quick lookup name of "ROB", you
would enter "!ROB".
You can scroll through the list of any defined quick lookups using the
cursor keys, and can select a lookup to edit using the Enter key, and
you can toggle an entry deleted using Alt-D. To add a new lookup,
select the line reading "(Add a new name)" located at the top of the
list.
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MENU OPTION - IMPORT/EXPORT
───────────────────────────
With this menu option, you can import or export EchoMail area defini-
tions in either of two formats - FIDONET.NA format or AREAS.BBS format.
If you need to import a lot of EchoMail areas (for example, if you are
connecting to a large mail feed such as Planet Connect), the import
feature of QFConfig will come in very handy.
First it is very important to point out that QFConfig does *NOT* create
any new conferences in PCBoard. This means that you first need to add
the conferences to PCBoard using PCBSetup. QFConfig does not do this
for you because there are several complicated problems by doing this -
such as where to store the MSGS file, the conference flags, etc. Once
you have the conferences configured, you can give QFConfig a starting
conference number to begin importing at. When QFConfig imports an area,
it will set the PCBoard conference number equal to the starting confer-
ence number. It will then increment the starting conference number and
read the next area. Of course, this method requires that all the areas
that will be imported must be located in consecutively numbered PCBoard
conference numbers. For example, you could not tell QFConfig to use
PCBoard conference 1-10 and 20-30, it would have to be the entire range
of 1-30.
Format of the FIDONET.NA file
─────────────────────────────
Any line that begins with a ";" will be ignored as a comment.
The EchoMail area name must appear as the first word of each line in the
text file. Echo area name must be on a separate line. Any words to the
right of the Echo area name are ignored.
Here would be an example of a FIDONET.NA type text file:
;This is a comment
QFRONT The QFront support conference
WINDOWS The Windows support conference
;This is another comment
CHICAGO Windows 4.0 conference
This file would import into 3 EchoMail areas, QFRONT, WINDOWS and CHICA-
GO. The text to the right of the area name is the area description and
is ignored by QFConfig.
Format of the AREAS.BBS file
────────────────────────────
Any line that begins with a ";" will be ignored as a comment.
The first two lines of the AREAS.BBS file is skipped because usually
these lines contain special information not important to QFConfig.
The EchoMail area name must appear as the second word of each line in
the text file. Echo area name must be on a separate line. Any words to
the right of the Echo area name are ignored.
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Here would be an example of a AREAS.BBS type text file:
<line is ignored by QFConfig>
<line is ignored by QFConfig>
;This is a comment
1 QFRONT The QFront support conference
2 WINDOWS The Windows support conference
;This is another comment
3 CHICAGO Windows 4.0 conference
This would import into 3 areas as well, QFRONT, WINDOWS and CHICAGO.
The number to the left of the area name signifies the "area number" and
is ignore by QFConfig. The text to the right of the area name is the
area description and is ignored by QFConfig.
Importing EchoMail areas
────────────────────────
Upon selecting the desired import file type (FIDONET.NA or AREAS.BBS)
from the QFConfig menu, you will be prompted for the filename to import.
This is the text file that QFConfig will read for the importing. For
example you might type in "C:\FIDONET.NA" if you are importing a FIDO-
NET.NA type text file.
Next you will be asked which PCBoard conference to start with. As each
area is read from the import file, QFConfig sets the PCBoard conference
equal to what you type here, and then increments the conference number
by one. So if you type "1000" in this field and you add 10 EchoMail
conferences, EchoMail area 1 in QFront's setup would be assigned PCBoard
conference #1000, EchoMail area 10 would be assigned PCBoard conference
#1010, etc. If you enter "0" in this field, all imported areas will be
set as pass-through.
Exporting EchoMail areas
────────────────────────
Upon selecting the desired import file type (FIDONET.NA or AREAS.BBS)
from the QFConfig menu, you will be prompted for the filename to export
to. This is the text file that QFConfig will write to during the export.
For example you might type in "C:\FIDONET.NA" if you are exporting a
FIDONET.NA type text file.
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THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM - AREAFIX SETUP
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Areafix is a handy utility for systems operating in a host or hub envi-
ronment. It allows your downlinks to automatically add or drop EchoMail
areas that they would like to receive without intervention on your part.
It can also forward requests that downlinks make for areas off to your
hub, and they will be added as pass-through areas to your system, and
automatically sent to the requesting downlink. This frees you from the
trouble of manually adding or dropping conferences for your downlinks in
QFConfig, or writing Areafix message to your Hub's system yourself
(which can become VERY, VERY time consuming!).
As you have likely figured out by now, Areafix is of interest only to
those nodes that forward mail off to other systems (and are there for a
Hub, to some degree or another).
Note that QScan is the program that responds to the Areafix request.
The QFront mailer itself does not have any knowledge of Areafix mes-
sages, since to the mailer, an Areafix message is just another NetMail
message. For more information on the actual writing of an Areafix
request message, see the section "How to use Areafix", described later.
See the section about Areafix later in the manual for more information.
MENU OPTION - AREAFIX SETUP
───────────────────────────
Here various options and general configurations for QFront's built-in
Areafix system are defined.
Allow Areafix requests
──────────────────────
This setting allow you to essential turn on or off all Areafix
functions in QFront. This isn't normal practice, however, so it
is recommended this be left at the default Y.
Allow Areafix forwarding
────────────────────────
As mentioned earlier, Areafix forwarding is a way of allowing
QFront to request new areas that are wanted by your downlinks from
you hub, and automatically making the connections. This should be
left at Y, as you can still stop certain nodes from making Areafix
forwarding requests individual via a flag in their node configura-
tion (see the menu option "Area Manger" in FidoMail setup for more
information).
Keep Areafix requests
─────────────────────
Areafix requests are the messages written to Areafix by your
downlinks, asking it to perform some action for them. You would
usually want this left at Y, which would keep a copy of their
message in your *.MSG netmail base, as well as in your PCBoard
NetMail base (if one is defined). This allows you to keep an eye
on Areafix requests, for your own interest as well as for errors
QFront v1.10b
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in your setup or other unwanted behavior.
Allow %PWD changes
──────────────────
There are various % commands that can be used with Areafix - one
of which is %PWD. This command, when enabled, will change the
Areafix password for that node to the text that follows immediate-
ly after the %PWD verb, on the same line. Usually there should be
no problem in allowing your downlinks to change their Areafix
password, so this option defaults to Y.
Allow %PKTPWD changes
─────────────────────
This is very similar to the %PWD command, except this one changes
the packet password for this node. When set to Y, this allows
nodes to do this. Although they are not used commonly anymore,
there really is no reason to prevent a downlink from changing
their packet password. This setting defaults to Y.
Allow %COMPRESS changes
───────────────────────
This is another of the % commands that QFront's Areafix system
supports. It allows for nodes to change their current method of
EchoMail compression. Again, this option is set to Y as there is
little cause to block its use.
Automatically add nodes
───────────────────────
Answering Y to this question causes QScan to add any nodes who do
an Areafix request to your system that do NOT appear in the Node
Manager. QScan will allow them to connect to any EchoMail area
that is specified as a "public group" (see next field).
Public groups
─────────────
Select which groups of EchoMail conferences are "public". If a
node that is not in your Node Manager requests an area that be-
longs to a public group and you have the "Automatically add nodes"
option set to Y, QScan will add the node to the Node Manager and
allow them to connect to the area.
Response message flags
──────────────────────
These are the flags you wish Areafix to set on messages it sends
back to your downlinks in response to any Areafix requests they
make. Pressing enter on this option brings up a picklist with the
following flags, that you can toggle using the space bar:
Crash
─────
The message will be sent as soon as possible. The only
possible restriction can be imposed by cost accounting
restrictions as well as FidoMail event restrictions (for
QFront v1.10b
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example, if you are in a RECEIVE-ONLY event).
Immediate
─────────
The message will be sent immediately, ignoring all the
possible restrictions imposed by the Crash flag.
Hold
────
The message will not be sent until the remote system polls
you, or you if you happen to poll the destination. No
active attempt to dial the system specifically for this
message will occur.
Direct
──────
This flag is similar to Crash and Immediate, except it does
not have as high priority.
Kill after sending
──────────────────
Select this flag if you want the message deleted after it is
successfully sent. Usually this is left off, so you can
better see Areafix activity and any problems that might
surface.
Forward message flags
─────────────────────
This setting specifies the flags that QFront is to use on Areafix
forward request messages to your Hub. A picklist of flags you can
toggle using the space bar will be brought up when you press enter
on this option. The flags available are the same as the above
option "Response message flags", review it for more information on
them if needed.
Maximum response size
─────────────────────
This setting tells QFront the maximum size to allow an AreaFix
message to reach, in kilobytes, before breaking it off into one or
more messages. It is HIGHLY recommended that this be left at the
default of 16, as messages larger than this have been known to
cause problems for many pieces of software.
Help file
─────────
The name given here is the name of the file to send to the node
when it requests help on using Areafix (see the section on How to
use Areafix for more information). A sample AREAFIX.TXT is in-
cluded with QFront, and you may wish to refer to it for your own
reference for more information on using Areafix.
MENU OPTION - AREAFIX UPLINKS
QFront v1.10b
Page 81
─────────────────────────────
With this option you define information that allows QFront to determine
which uplinks it is to send requests for what areas, and what file, if
any, to look for available areas from that hub, along with other config-
urations. When QFront decides which Hub to sent the Areafix forward
request to, it uses the last hub on the list that it finds a success
match, both on group, security, and if that node carries the area being
requested by your downlink.
Node address
────────────
This is the node number of the uplink you are defining here. It
should be a full address, in the form zone:net/node.
Required groups
───────────────
The groups that you select here a requesting node MUST have access
to, in order for the request to be possibly forwarded to this
uplink.
Required security
─────────────────
This sets to security level that a requesting node must either
meet (or exceed) in order for the request to possibly forwarded to
this node. Note that this is in addition to the required groups -
both conditions must be met, both groups the node has access to,
and the security level of the node.
Areafix program
───────────────
This is the name of the Areafix program being used by this uplink.
In most cases, this will not need to be changed from "AREAFIX".
Areafix password
────────────────
Your Areafix password with this uplink will need to be defined
here, in order for QFront to use it in request messages.
Unconditional add
─────────────────
When this is set to Y, the next field does not apply. This means
that QFront will not check a text file for the area names avail-
able from this node before it forwards a request off to it. In
most cases that is not what you want, so it should be left at N.
Note that the requirements such as group and security are still
active when set to Y.
Areas file
──────────
The file pointed to here is the one that lists the available areas
from this uplink. The format is that the area name is the first
text on the line. For an example of this, obtain a copy of the
FIDONET.NA file. In most cases, this will be the file you will
QFront v1.10b
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want this to point to in the end anyway.
New area group
──────────────
What you set here is the group in which all new areas brought into
your system automatically via an Areafix request forward will be
associated with.
QFront v1.10b
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THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM - FILE REQUEST/FILE FORWARD SETUP
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Use this menu option to configure how your system will handle inbound
file requests.
MENU OPTION - FILE REQ/FORW
───────────────────────────
Maximum files per session
─────────────────────────
Enter the maximum number of files that you want to allow for an
individual file request session. The limit you specify here
applies to all systems calling you. To set unlimited number of
files, enter "0".
Maximum bytes per session
─────────────────────────
Enter the maximum number of bytes that you want to allow for an
individual file request session. The limit you specify here
applies to all systems calling you. To set unlimited bytes, enter
"0".
Enforce limits by day
─────────────────────
When set to Y, the above limits on file numbers and bytes will be
enforced per day, instead of per session. This defaults to N.
Minimum baud
────────────
This sets the lowest baud rate for QFront to honor incoming file
requests from. For instance, if you wanted all of the requests
from your system to require 2400 baud or greater, you would enter
2400 here. The default however is 0, which disables a minimum
baud check.
Request start time
──────────────────
If you wish to limit the time periods that file requests will be
honored, use this and the following field. If you wish such a
limit, enter the starting time at which you want you system to
being to honor file requests. Remember to enter this time in 24h
format. Leave this field and the following at 00:00 to disable
any time restrictions (default).
Request stop time
─────────────────
This field works hand in hand with the previous one. If you wish
to put a limit on the times in which file requests will be honor,
these two fields allow you to do that. Here you will state the
time you want QFront to stop honoring incoming file requests.
Leave this field and the previous field at 00:00 to disable any
time restrictions (default).
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NetMail response messages (text files)
──────────────────────────────────────
Normal message
──────────────
This is the path and filename of the text file that will always be
sent, as a NetMail message, when a system requests a file from
you. QFront will by default look for the file in the QFront
direction, and the sample file that is set as a default,
NORMAL.TXT, is included. Clear this field if you do not wish
anything to be sent when a file request occurs.
Failed requests
───────────────
This is the path and filename of the text file that QFront will
send, as a NetMail message, when one or more attempts at request-
ing a file fail (such as wrong time, wrong file name, wrong pass-
word, etc). Note that this is in addition to the normal message
file that will be sent (see above).
So that is possible for the person doing the request to find out
why it failed, and allow you to still customize things, the @INFO@
command is used. This will print the reason(s) why their attempt
at file request failed. It should be on a line by itself. See
the included file, FAILED.TXT, for the example of @INFO@'s use.
As with the above field, QFront looks for the file here by default
in the QFront directory, unless a path is specified.
Update DOWNLOAD.TXT
───────────────────
QFront can be told to update PCBoard's DOWNLOAD.TXT file when a
system requests a file from you. Answer Y or N as to whether you
want this behavior.
MENU OPTION - MAGIC FILENAME SETUP
──────────────────────────────────
The magic filename feature is a nifty feature of the file request
module in QFront. With magic filenames, you can associate an
easy-to-remember filename to up to 5 "more complicated" filenames.
For example, you can set up a magic filename of "QFRONT" that is
associated with the file "C:\PCB\DL01\QF100.ZIP" and
"C:\PCB\DL01\QF101.ZIP". When a system requests a file with the name
QFRONT, your QFront will actually send C:\PCB\DL01\QF100.ZIP and
C:\PCB\DL01\QF101.ZIP". This feature is also handy if for example
you publish a newsletter in which the filename of the newsletter
changes frequently. You just give a magic filename of NEWSLETTER and
just update the associated actual filename and remote systems won't
have to know the actual filename! FidoNet uses this feature when
distributing the international nodelist. The magic filename of the
nodelist is "NODELIST", and you can request "NODELIST" and always get
the latest version of the nodelist.
QFront v1.10b
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When you select this menu option, a picklist will appear that con-
tains the list of directories or conferences that will be searched.
To edit an item in the picklist, simply move the hilight bar over
your selection and press Enter. To add a new item, select the first
item on the picklist, "Add a new magic filename". To delete an item,
press Alt-D.
Magic filename
──────────────
Enter the magic filename that you will be associating with the
actual filename (see below).
Real filename
─────────────
Enter up to 5 real filenames that you want QFront to send the
remote system when they request the magic filename given above.
Password
────────
If you would like to protect this magic filename with a password,
enter it here. Otherwise, leave this field blank. QFront won't
send the file unless the passwords match.
Secured file
────────────
Answer Y or N as to whether to allow requesting this magic file-
name in a non-secured (ie., non session-password protected) mail
session. If you answer Y and a session password is not being
used, QFront will not allow the system to request the magic file-
name.
MENU OPTION - REQUEST PATH SETUP
────────────────────────────────
When a file request is received, QFront will need to know what direc-
tories in which to search for the requested files. Using this menu
option, you can tell QFront exactly that.
When you select this menu option, a picklist will appear that con-
tains the list of directories or conferences that will be searched.
To edit an item in the picklist, simply move the hilight bar over
your selection and press Enter. To add a new item, select the first
item on the picklist, "Add a new path". To delete an item, press
Alt-D.
Is this a single path or entire conference
──────────────────────────────────────────
QFront allows great flexibility over adding search paths for
incoming file requests. This option lets you tell QFront what
type of a search path you're going to be adding. Selecting
"Single path" will tell QFront that you want to add a single
directory. If you select "Entire conference", you're telling
QFront that you want to add an entire conference's worth of down-
QFront v1.10b
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load paths. With this option, QFront will open the DLPATH file
that is set-up in the conferences' configuration in PCBSETUP and
use that list of paths when searching for files (index files
created with MAKEIDX are supported).
Conference
──────────
If you're adding an entire conference (see the previous input
field), QFront will need to know WHICH conference you want to add.
Press Enter on this field and a list of known conferences will
appear. Select the conference you want and press Enter. Note
that this field does not apply if you're adding a single path.
Request path
────────────
If you're adding a single path, you'll need to specify the path-
name here. This can include a drive designation, if necessary.
This field does not apply if you're adding an entire conference.
Password for this path
──────────────────────
If you want to require a password before QFront will send files
from the path or conference, enter it here.
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THE QFCONFIG CONFIGURATION PROGRAM - DISPLAY SETUP
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFront allows complete control of its visual appearance. You can
change any color and can even select from a wide range of text fonts
if your display supports VGA.
MENU OPTION - DEFAULT COLORS #1,#2,#3
─────────────────────────────────────
QFront has 3 built-in color sets. You can select one of these, or
you can configure your own custom prompts (see next menu option).
MENU OPTION - CUSTOM COLORS
───────────────────────────
With this option you can select customized colors for all of QFront's
display windows.
MENU OPTION - VGA FONTS
───────────────────────
If you have a VGA display, you can select from a wide range of screen
fonts. The screen fonts will be active whenever QFront is activated.
The fonts are removed automatically whenever QFront exits.
QFront v1.10b
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NETMAIL ENTRY
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
A NetMail message is a private message from a user on one system to a
user on another system.
QFront supports 2 methods of entering and reading NetMail. It always
stores NetMail messages in your NetMail directory (configured in "Pro-
gram Setup") as *.MSG files. You can optionally configure a PCBoard
NetMail conference that QScan will maintain for you. In other words,
you can enter a NetMail message either using a special NetMail editor
such as GoldED, or you can enter a NetMail message in a special NetMail
PCBoard conference. QScan will convert any NetMail message entered in
PCBoard to the *.MSG format used by QFront.
Entering a NetMail message using a NetMail editor such as GoldED is
easy. Just follow the directions given by the editor and QFront will
automatically recognize and deliver your messages.
Entering a NetMail message into your PCBoard NetMail conference is
almost just as easy. The only thing you need to remember is that since
PCBoard does not directly support FidoNet NetMail messages, you need to
fill in 1 and possibly 2 lines in the actual message text. These lines
give information to QScan telling it where and how to send the NetMail
message you enter.
Here is a description and format of the two control lines:
Line 1 of the message MUST be a complete FidoNet address of the system
that you want to send the message to, enclosed in parenthesis.
For example, "(1:2/3)" would cause the message to be sent to the system
"1:2/3".
Line 2 of the message can optionally contain special priority flags to
give the message, enclosed in parenthesis. The flags are:
CRASH
─────
The message will be sent as soon as possible. The only possible
restriction can be imposed by cost accounting restrictions as well
as FidoMail event restrictions (for example, if you are in a
RECEIVE-ONLY event).
IMMEDIATE
─────────
The message will be sent immediately, ignoring all the possible
restrictions imposed by the Crash flag.
HOLD
────
The message will not be sent until the remote system polls you.
DIRECT
QFront v1.10b
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──────
The message will be sent directly to the destination address (no
host or hub routing will occur).
Only one of the message flags should be given to avoid confliction.
A sample message text appears (not including dashes):
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(1:2/3)
(CRASH)
Hello this is a test message to 1:2/3!
Bye!
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This message will be sent to node 1:2/3 and will be given crash priori-
ty. (See the description of the CRASH flag for a description of what
CRASH means).
Another example:
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(1:20/30)
This message will be sent to 1:20/30 with no special flags.
Bye!
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This is a message with no special flags. It will be sent out the next
time a FidoMail event is executed.
QFront v1.10b
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HOW TO USE AREAFIX
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Areafix is a very handy utility for any system that intends to run as a
host or hub. With it, downlinks can automatically and without your
intervention, add and drop EchoMail areas. This means that they can
select or deselect EchoMail areas that they would like to receive.
It is important to remember that Areafix messages are "regular" NetMail
messages. Areafix requests are NOT EchoMail in any form. Whether a
downlink is writing YOU an Areafix request, or YOU are writing an Area-
fix request to a hub, you enter normal NetMail messages.
An inbound or outbound Areafix request consists of entering a regular
NetMail message addressed to the name "Areafix", "AreaMgr", or "QScan".
The subject of the message may or may not consist of an Areafix pass-
word.
If you have an Areafix password set up for a downlink (which is config-
ured in the Node Manager), the downlink must specify the password on the
subject line of the NetMail message. If they do not, QScan will send
them a message telling them their password is incorrect.
Each EchoMail area that a user wants to add or drop must be specified on
separate lines in the NetMail message. If the downlink wants to ADD an
EchoMail area, he/she just types the EchoMail area name (a "+" before
the area name is optional). If the downlink wants to DROP and EchoMail
area, he/she types a "-" followed by the EchoMail area name.
For example, here is a sample Areafix request:
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
To: Areafix
From: Rob Kittredge
Subject: <blank>
QFRONT
-OS2
+PASCAL
-WINDOWS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This downlink does not have an Areafix password, and he wants to add the
EchoMail areas "QFRONT" and "PASCAL". He wants to remove the EchoMail
areas "OS2" and "WINDOWS".
Once an Areafix request is processed by QScan, QScan will write a Net-
Mail message back to the downlink telling them exactly what it did.
Here is an example response message generated by QScan to the example
Areafix request given above.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
To: Rob Kittredge
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From: QScan (Areafix)
Subject: Areafix request response
This report was generated automatically by QScan's Areafix processor.
Action Area name
------ ---------------------------
Added QFRONT
Dropped OS2
Added PASCAL
Dropped WINDOWS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
If you have security levels assigned to EchoMail areas, the node that is
doing the Areafix request will be required to have a security level
greater than or equal to the security level required by the EchoMail
area they are trying to add. Also, the node can only request an Echo-
Mail area if they belong to the group in which the EchoMail belongs to.
See the section in QFConfig describing groups and the Node Manager.
When QScan writes the list of available areas to the Areafix response
message, only those areas that are available to the downlink (based on
their security level and the security level of the EchoMail area) will
be displayed.
Areafix commands
────────────────
There are several special Areafix commands that your downlink can use
with QScan. All of these commands cause some type of Areafix response
to be sent. Areafix response messages are messages from QScan to the
downlink, and usually tell the downlink what action(s) were performed by
QScan. All Areafix response messages are sent as NetMail. The Areafix
commands are:
%HELP
─────
This command will cause QScan to send the Areafix help file as a
NetMail message to the downlink. The Areafix help file by default
is called AREAFIX.TXT and is configured in the Areafix setup in
QFConfig.
%LIST
─────
This command will cause QScan to send a list of all available
areas that the downlink can access.
%QUERY
──────
This command will send a list of all areas that the downlink has
selected.
%UNLINKED
─────────
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This command will send a list of all areas that the downlink does
NOT have selected.
%PWD
────
This command will allow the downlink to change his/her Areafix
password. It is used like "%PWD newpassword".
%PKTPWD
───────
This command will allow the downlink to change his/her packet
password. It is used like "%PKTPWD newpassword".
%COMPRESS
─────────
%ACTIVE
───────
This command will cause the PASSIVE flag to be removed from the
downlink. The passive flag (see next command) is used to tell
QScan to temporarily stop creating mail bundles for the downlink.
This is useful, for example, if the downlink goes down for a while
and does not wish to receive any mail during the time.
%PASSIVE
────────
This command is used to set the PASSIVE flag for the downlink. The
passive flag is used to tell QScan to temporarily stop creating
mail bundles for the downlink. This is useful, for example, if
the downlink goes down for a while and does not wish to receive
any mail during the time.
%+ALL
─────
This command will cause QScan to select all available areas for
the downlink. Only areas in which the downlink has access will be
added.
%-ALL
─────
This command will cause QScan to deselect all selected areas for
the downlink.
There are shortcuts for some of these commands. The user can also
specify special commands after their Areafix password (if any) on the
subject line of the message. The shortcuts are:
-H
──
Short for %HELP.
-L
──
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Short for %LIST
-Q
──
Short for %QUERY
-U
──
Short for %UNLINKED
Here is a sample Areafix message using some of these commands:
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
To: Areafix
From: Rob Kittredge
Subject: mypassword -H
QFRONT
-OS2
+PASCAL
-WINDOWS
%LIST
%PWD newpassword
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This downlink is adding the QFRONT and PASCAL areas, and is dropping the
OS2 and WINDOWS areas. In addition, the downlink has requested Areafix
help (-H on the subject line), as requested a list of all areas (%LIST)
and has changed his/her Areafix password to "newpassword". The downlink
will receive 4 Areafix response NetMail messages. 1 for the Areafix
help, 1 for the add/drop actions performed, 1 for the %LIST and one to
confirm the %PWD password change.
Areafix forwarding
──────────────────
A feature of QScan's Areafix processor is called Areafix forwarding.
This feature allows QScan to automatically "forward" an Areafix request
coming from one of your downlinks to your hub (uplink) if the node
requests an area in which you do not have configured in QFront. In
other words, QScan can automatically send an Areafix message to your hub
(uplink) requesting the area. When this occurs, QScan adds the area to
the Area Manager and sets the area as pass-through, and adds the area to
the node's list of selected areas.
Areafix forwarding requires that QScan know which areas are available
from your hub. If a node requests an area that your hub does not carry,
the node will be informed that the area is not available. Otherwise, if
Areafix forwarding is enabled, QScan will forward the area request to
your hub (uplink).
QFront v1.10b
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MAIL ROUTING
────────────
Unless told not to (via a routing configuration in QFConfig or via the
special DIRECT, CRASH or IMMEDIATE NetMail message flags), QFront will
always try to route NetMail messages. Routing simply means that the
NetMail message gets sent "through" a host or hub before finally being
transmitted to its final destination. The primary reason for routing is
to save on phone charges. Note that EchoMail is never routed.
Please refer to the QFConfig section on configuring the routing system.
Default rules
─────────────
The default routing rules are always used by QFront unless you have a
routing setup that overrides the default rules for the address in which
a NetMail message is to be sent.
NetMail outside of your net
───────────────────────────
If the destination of the message is outside of your net, the
message will be sent through the destination's host (the host
always has a node number of 0).
For example, if your primary address was 1:228/12 and you wrote a
NetMail message to 1:106/99, the message would be routed through
1:106/0 on its way to its final destination.
NetMail inside of your net
──────────────────────────
If the destination of the message is inside of your net, the
message will be sent through the destination's hub, if there is
one. If a hub is not found in the nodelist, the message will be
sent directly to its destination.
For example, if your primary address was 1:228/12 and you wrote a
NetMail message to 1:228/3, the message would be routed to net
228's hub (assuming net 228 does indeed have a hub). If net 228
did not have a hub, the message would be sent directly to the
destination system.
NetMail forwarding
──────────────────
If you are operating QFront in a host or hub environment, chances are
you will have to do some sort of NetMail forwarding. NetMail forwarding
is when a node routes mail through your system on its way to its desti-
nation. This mail is technically called IN-TRANSIT mail because the
mail is not destined for your system. QFront automatically recognizes
mail that is not destined for your system when it unpacks NetMail by
checking the destination address of the message to your primary address
and all alias addresses. If the address is not found, it means the
message is in-transit and should be forwarded to your hub.
QFront, by default, will NEVER forward mail to your hub unless you
QFront v1.10b
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explicitly tell it to do so using the routing control setup in QFConfig.
The two route types of interest for NetMail routing are "forward-for"
and "forward-to". Please see the section about routing setup in the
QFConfig part of the manual.
QFront v1.10b
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A pointlist is a simple nodelist that you can create to define any point
addresses that may pick up mail from your system. Each point address
has what is called a "boss". The boss is the "hub" of the point ad-
dresses. The boss is given a regular non-point address such as
1:228/12. Any point addresses would then be given the address
1:228/12.x where "x" is the point address.
QFront and QNList (the nodelist compiler) support various forms of
pointlists and point address definitions.
Form 1
──────
This form is similar to the format of the master FidoNet nodelist with
the exception of the "Boss" entry:
Boss,1:228/12
Point,1000,Point_1000,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
Point,1001,Point_1001,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
Point,1002,Point_1002,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
Point,1003,Point_1003,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
(Note that because of the page formatting of this manual, the individual
nodelist lines are split up at the phone number. In the real nodelist
file, of course, the lines would not be split up, so there would really
only be 5 lines in this nodelist).
This nodelist defines 4 nodes that are all points under 1:228/12. For
example, the addresses would be 1:228/12.1000, 1:228/12.1001, and so on.
The "Point" keyword (the first word of the lines in the nodelist) is
optional. If you do not use the point keyword, you MUST still keep the
comma in order to keep the nodelist in the correct format.
Form 2
──────
This form is similar to the first form, except the boss address is not
explicitly given in the nodelist. Instead, the boss address is given in
the nodelist configuration in QFConfig (see the section on private
nodelists for more information):
Point,1000,Point_1000,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
Point,1001,Point_1001,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
Point,1002,Point_1002,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
Point,1003,Point_1003,Nunica_MI,Rob_Kittredge,1-616-844-
0713,9600,CM,HST,V32B,XX
QFront v1.10b
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(Note that because of the page formatting of this manual, the individual
nodelist lines are split up at the phone number. In the real nodelist
file, of course, the lines would not be split up, so there would really
only be 4 lines in this nodelist).
Assuming you have defined the boss address to be 1:228/12, for example,
in the QFConfig private nodelist setup, the addresses would once again
be 1:228/12.1000, 1:228/12.1001, and so on.
The "Point" keyword (the first word of the lines in the nodelist) is
optional. If you do not use the point keyword, you MUST still keep the
comma in order to keep the nodelist in the correct format.
QFront v1.10b
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ADDING DOWNLINKS/UPLINKS
────────────────────────
All nodes that you want QScan to pack mail for must be defined in QFCon-
fig. Whether you are configuring a downlink that will be receiving mail
from you, or you are configuring your host/hub (an uplink), you must
always configure the node in QFConfig.
The node manager in QFConfig use used to do this. The node manager
tells QScan and QFront various things about each node that you communi-
cate with. For example, QScan uses the node manager to know *WHO* to
pack EchoMail for, and *WHICH* EchoMail areas to pack. QScan will not
pack mail for any node that is not defined in the node manager.
Adding nodes to the node manager is relatively simple. See the documen-
tation about the node manager in the QFConfig part of the manual.
Just as a quick example, let's assume that you just purchased QFront and
you are interested in obtaining 2 EchoMail areas from your hub, who has
an address of 1:2/3. Let's also assume that the EchoMail area names are
AREA1 and AREA2. What steps would be required to configure this into
QFConfig?
Step 1
──────
First and foremost, make sure you have YOUR system set up proper-
ly. For example, make sure you have your primary address, node-
lists, origin lines, archivers, etc., all configured in QFConfig.
See the QFConfig section of the manual for information on how to
configure these.
Step 2
──────
Configure two conferences into PCBSetup. These two conferences
will be used by QScan - EchoMail that is received will be "tossed"
into these conferences.
Step 3
──────
You need to add two EchoMail areas into QFConfig (AREA1 and
AREA2). So you enter QFConfig and go into the AREA MANAGER. The
area manager is used to configure all of your EchoMail areas, and
stores information about each area such as the associated PCBoard
conference (if any), high message pointer, etc.
Select the item in the picklist that says "Add a new area". You
will be presented with a pop up window. We're now adding the
first area, AREA1, so select which PCBoard conference you want
EchoMail for AREA1 to be placed in (this will be one of the con-
ferences you just configured in step 2). Then, fill in the Echo-
Mail area name (set it to AREA1). There are several other fields
available in the picklist, but you have just configured the two
most important fields, so we won't go into detail about the other
fields. See the area manager section of the QFConfig part of the
QFront v1.10b
Page 99
manual for more information.
Step 4
──────
Repeat step 3, except set the PCBoard conference and EchoMail area
name to AREA2. You now have two EchoMail areas configured in
QFConfig. QScan now knows that when it sees a message with an
EchoMail area name of AREA1 or AREA2 to toss them into the proper
PCBoard conference.
Step 5
──────
Now that you have the areas configured, you need to tell QScan
which address(es) you want to pack any newly entered EchoMail to.
By "newly entered", we mean any EchoMail that originates on your
system. So you go into the node manager configuration in QFCon-
fig. The node manager tells QScan which areas to send to which
nodes.
Step 6
──────
Select the first item in the picklist, "Add a new address". A
window will pop up. Fill in the first field that asks for the
address. In our example, the address is 1:2/3. Fill in the
second field by entering the name of the Sysop for address 1:2/3.
Step 7
──────
Now comes the important part. You need to tell QFConfig and QScan
WHICH conferences to send to node 1:2/3. You do this with the
"selected areas" field. Press Enter on this field and a window
will appear, showing all of your configured EchoMail areas. In
our example, you would see two areas appear (the two you config-
ured in steps 3 and 4).
Using the Spacebar, place a checkmark next to both EchoMail areas,
and then press Enter. If a checkmark is next to an EchoMail area
name, this means that QScan will pack mail for that area.
Step 8
──────
The "groups belonged to" field is not important at this time. The
next field, "archiver", is important however. This tells QScan
what archiver to use when archiving mail bundles for the node.
You will want to talk with the sysop of the node in order to
determine which archiver you want to use.
Step 9
──────
Select which packet flags to use when creating mail bundles for
the node 1:2/3. The packet flags are used to tell QFront the
"priority" of the mail bundle. The priority basically tells
QFront how quickly to send the mail bundle out. There is a lot
QFront v1.10b
Page 100
more to the priority, so please see the section about the node
manager in the QFConfig section of the manual for more informa-
tion.
That's it! You now have 2 EchoMail areas configured and you have told
QScan to exchange these areas with the 1:2/3 node!
Of course, this was a very simple example of how to add downlinks or
uplinks to QFront, so please see the QFConfig section of the manual for
more information about the area manager and node manager.
QFront v1.10b
Page 101
FAX
───
QFront recognizes FAX connect strings returned from your modem. It
recognizes "FAX", "CONNECT FAX", and "+FCON" strings.
Once a FAX string is returned from your modem, QFront will exit with the
FAX errorlevel (errorlevel 9). It is up to your STARTER.BAT batch file
to trap for the errorlevel and process the FAX with your FAX receive
software, such as BGFAX.
Of course, in order to process FAX receives, your modem must support FAX
transmissions, and must be able to support "adaptive answering". Adap-
tive answering allows the modem to tell the communications software (be
it QFront, PCBoard, etc.) whether you are connected to another modem or
to a FAX machine. Your modem will require special commands to be sent
to it to turn on adaptive answering. You add these commands to your
modem initialization string in PCBSetup. Sometimes these commands can
be very long, so you may need to use the "secondary modem initialization
string" setup in QFConfig, because PCBSetup does not allow for a very
long modem initialization string. See the QFConfig section on
modem/dialouts for more information.
CallerID
────────
QFront also recognizes CallerID strings returned by your modem. QFront
will by default not pass any CallerID information to PCBoard since many
modems do not support CallerID. You must explicitly turn on CallerID
support in QFront. To do this, add "@CID" to the end of your user logon
control string, which is configured in QFConfig under "general setup".
Make sure there is a space between each part of the control string, for
example, "@B @CSTR @CID". Now go into a text editor and edit
SPAWNBBS.BAT. There is a line in there that loads PCBoard and it looks
something like this:
PCBOARD /C:%1 /EVENT:%MINUTES% %2 %3
Change it to:
PCBOARD /C:%1 /EVENT:%MINUTES% %2 %3 %4
This should enable QFront to pass CallerID information directly to
PCBoard.
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THE QFRONT CALL-WAITING SCREEN
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The QFront call-waiting screen is what you normally see when you start
QFront. It displays information such as the date & time, last caller
name, pending event information, and the call-waiting menu.
The bottom-most window on the call-waiting screen shows information
about the current event and the next event. The left half of the window
shows the current event (if any), and the right half of the window shows
the next event (if any).
The call-waiting menu is available to you while QFront is waiting for
the next call or event. To select an option, move the highlight bar to
your selection and press Enter. Or, for quicker access, you can press
the highlighted character that appears in each option.
Menu options
────────────
LOGIN AS SYSOP
──────────────
This option will allow you to log onto PCBoard in local mode using
the user name that is in record 0 of the PCBoard USERS file (the
password will be automatically entered for you). QFront will
optionally take the modem off-hook, depending if you have this
flag set (see the Program configuration section earlier in this
documentation), and will load PCBoard.
If you do not wish to login as your name (the name that appears in
record 0 of the PCBoard USERS file), see the "login as user" call-
waiting screen option, described below.
VIEW CALLER LOG
───────────────
This option will allow you to view the caller log for the current
node. The caller log will be displayed in either a forward or
backward direction, depending on what you have configured in
QFConfig.
There are several keyboard commands that can be used while viewing
the log file:
HOME
────
This command will cause the viewer to move to the top of the
file.
END
───
This command will cause the viewer to move to the bottom of
the file.
CTRL-QF
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───────
This command can be used to search the log file for a string
of text. An entry field will appear near the top of the
display window asking you for the text to search for. After
entering the text, another entry field will appear asking
for what search options you want. The available search
options are:
B
─
Search the log file backwards starting from your
current cursor position.
G
─
Search the entire log file. If you do not specify
this option, the search will begin from the current
cursor position.
U
─
Ignore case while searching.
CTRL-KB
───────
Mark the beginning of a block of text. Use the CTRL-KK
command to mark the end of the block.
CTRL-KK
───────
Mark the end of a block of text. Use the CTRL-KB command to
mark the beginning of the block.
CTRL-KH
───────
Hide (unmark) any block of text marked with CTRL-KB and
CTRL-KK.
CTRL-KP
───────
Print the text that has been blocked with CTRL-KB and CTRL-
KK.
CTRL-KW
───────
Save the text that has been blocked with CTRL-KB and CTRL-KK
to a file. An entry field will appear near the top of the
display window asking you for the filename to save to.
RECENT 5 CALLERS
────────────────
This option will display a pop-up window showing the last 5 call-
ers and the date/time that they called. QFront automatically
QFront v1.10b
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maintains this list. Once the pop-up window is displayed you can
press any key to get back to the call-waiting menu.
FIDOMAIL OPTIONS
────────────────
This option will bring up a secondary menu that displays options
for the FidoMail module - "Mail packet manager", "File req/forw
manager", "Poll a node", and "Show outbound queue". See below for
complete documentation on these FidoMail options.
MANUAL EVENT EXECUTION
──────────────────────
This option will allow you to force an event to execute immediate-
ly. A picklist will appear showing you information about all non-
FidoMail events. FidoMail events cannot be manually executed.
To execute an event, move the hilight bar over your selection and
press Enter. The event will execute just as if QFront had execut-
ed it by itself.
CONFIGURE QFRONT
────────────────
Selection of this option will result in QFront shelling out to the
configuration program, QFConfig. Note that because QFConfig is a
very large program, there may not be enough memory available to
shell to QFConfig. If this is the case, turn the "Swap to disk or
EMS for shelling" option to ON in QFConfig and try again.
EXIT QFRONT (LEAVE ONHOOK)
──────────────────────────
This option will drop the DTR and RTS lines on the modem and will
cause QFront to exit to your batch file. If a caller dials in
after you've exited, the phone will ring.
LOGIN AS USER
─────────────
This option is similar to "login as sysop" except that QFront will
not automatically fill in your sysop name when logging into
PCBoard. Instead, PCBoard will come up and ask you for your name
and password. This option is handy if you wish to login as some
other user name than your own.
VIEW/DELETE QFRONT LOG FILES
────────────────────────────
This option will display a secondary menu that has options for
viewing any of the log files that QFront maintains (system log,
QScan log and error log) and also has options for deleting any of
these log files. See the option "view caller log" for a complete
description of the log viewer and how to use it.
TODAY'S ACTIVITY
────────────────
This option will display a window showing statistics about the
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current day's mail sessions, such as bytes transferred, number of
human callers, etc. The activity statistics are cleared at mid-
night each day.
PCBOARD OPTIONS
───────────────
If this option is selected, a secondary menu will appear. Most of
the options (Use console for display, Use printer for logging,
Page bell, and Caller alarm) operate exactly as they do on the
PCBoard call-waiting screen.
The remaining two options (Local statistics, System-wide statis-
tics) will determine how QFront will display the last caller name.
If "Local statistics" is flagged, QFront will display the last
caller that logged on the local node. If you have "System-wide
statistics" flagged, QFront will display the last caller that
logged on across the entire system.
NODE INFORMATION
────────────────
This option will let you monitor the status of your nodes across
the network. It will show who is online and what they are doing,
similar to the PCBMONI utility provided in PCBoard.
When the monitor is displayed, you can move the highlight bar to
any node and press Enter. This will allow you to view the caller
log of that node (see the "view caller log" option described above
for a description of the caller log viewer).
SHELL TO DOS
────────────
As the name implies, this option will cause QFront to shell to
DOS. Depending on whether you have the "Swap to disk or EMS for
shelling" option turned on in QFConfig, QFront will also swap
itself out of memory, leaving as much memory as possible during
the shell. Note that you ***MUST*** type "EXIT" from the DOS
prompt when you want to return to QFront.
EXIT QFRONT (OFFHOOK)
─────────────────────
This option will take the modem off-hook and will exit to your
batch file. If a caller dials in after you've exited, the phone
will be busy.
Shortcut keys
─────────────
There are several shortcut keys that you can use on the call-waiting
screen. They are:
Alt-H
─────
Displays a pop up window showing shortcut key help descriptions.
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Alt-A
─────
Force the modem to answer the phone.
Alt-D
─────
Display the dial queue.
Alt-F
─────
Display function key assignment help.
Alt-I
─────
Show inbound mail history.
Alt-M
─────
Initialize the modem.
Alt-O
─────
Show outbound mail history.
Alt-P
─────
Poll a node.
Alt-Q
─────
Display the outbound queue.
Alt-S
─────
Shell to DOS. This shortcut key works EVERYWHERE in QFront, not
just on the call-waiting screen. You could be viewing a log file
and press Alt-S for example.
Alt-U
─────
Display the undialable address manager.
See the section on FidoMail options below for a complete description of
many of the above shortcut keys.
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FIDOMAIL OPTIONS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The "FidoMail options" item on the call-waiting menu provides several
functions that pertain to the FidoMail module in QFront. Many of the
functions can be accessed via a shortcut key (see above for a descrip-
tion of shortcut keys).
Here is a list and description of each function:
Dial queue
──────────
Selecting this item will display the dial queue. The dial queue
is a list of addresses in which QFront is set to place a call to.
The queue shows the address, queue priority and redial attempts
for each entry in the queue, as well as information about the
address such as sysop name, BBS name, phone number, etc. The
addresses that appear in the dial queue are in no particular
order.
You can select any item in the queue. Doing this will bring you
into the outbound queue editor for the address you selected.
Please see the next function, outbound queue, for information on
the outbound queue.
You can press Alt-D on any item in the queue to delete ALL entries
for the address you selected. BE VERY CAREFUL when you do this
because pressing Alt-D permanently destroys EchoMail bundles, file
request entries, file forward entries, poll entries and all Net-
Mail messages waiting to go to the address. If you do not wish to
delete everything, you should not press Alt-D from within the dial
queue. Instead, press Enter to bring up the outbound queue for
the address. The outbound queue will allow you to delete on a
per-entry basis instead of on a global basis.
Outbound queue
──────────────
The outbound queue is the very heart of QFront's FidoMail func-
tions. The outbound queue shows all EchoMail bundles, file re-
quests, file forwards, polls, and NetMail messages that are wait-
ing to go to each address.
When you view the outbound queue, you will first be placed in an
expanded view showing all addresses that are in the queue. The
addresses are sorted by node number. Each entry in expanded queue
view shows the address and the number of EchoMail packets, the
number of NetMail messages, the number of file request entries,
the number of file update entries, the number of file forwards
entries, and the number of poll entries that are in the queue.
This "expanded view" allows you to see, at a quick glance, what is
waiting to go out of your system.
You can select an entry in the queue by pressing Enter. Pressing
Enter will bring up an exploded view of what is waiting to go out
QFront v1.10b
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to the address you selected. The exploded view shows exactly WHAT
is waiting to go out; unlike the expanded view which only shows
you HOW MANY queue entries there are for each address. You can
edit each queue entry by press Enter. Depending on what type of
queue entry it is that you selected, different things will happen.
If you edit a "EchoMail bundle", "File request", "File update
request" or "Poll" queue entry type, a window will pop up with
specific information about the queue entry, such as filenames,
priority flags, etc. Here is a complete list of all the available
items:
Type
────
Selecting this item will bring up a picklist allowing you to
select the type of the queue entry. The types are EchoMail
bundle, file request, file update request, file forward and
poll. Certain fields will become dim and are unable to be
edited depending on what type you select. If a field is
dimmed out, it is because the field does not apply based on
the queue type you have selected.
Address
───────
Enter the node address for the queue entry. QFront will
verify that the address exists in the nodelist, and if it
does not, will display a warning. If you are not sure of
the address, you can press Alt-L which will bring up a
window where you can search by sysop name or by address. If
you do press Alt-L, you can either enter a partial sysop
name (the sysop's last name) to search for or you can enter
a quick lookup name by preceding the name with a "!". For
example, you could enter "!ROB" if you had a quick lookup
name "ROB" configured. See the QFConfig section of the
manual for more information about quick lookup names.
Flags
─────
Select which priority flag(s) apply to the queue entry. The
flag types are:
Crash
─────
Dial out as soon as possible. The only possible
restriction can be imposed by cost accounting restric-
tions as well as FidoMail event restrictions (for
example, if you are in a RECEIVE-ONLY event).
Immediate
─────────
Dial out immediately, ignoring all the possible re-
strictions imposed by the Crash flag.
Hold
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────
Wait until the remote system polls you, or you if you
happen to poll the destination. No active attempt to
dial the system specifically will occur.
Absolute hold
─────────────
This flag is similar to the Hold flag, except QFront
will NEVER process the queue entry unless the remote
system polls you. Even if you poll the remote system,
QFront will not process the queue entry if the abso-
lute hold flag is set.
Kill after sending
──────────────────
For file forward queue entries, select this flag if
you want the file to be deleted after it is sent.
EchoMail bundles are ALWAYS deleted after QFront sends
them.
Filenames
─────────
Enter the list of filename(s) to send for the queue entry.
Each filename must be separated by a space. For example,
QScan will place multiple bundle filenames in this field
when it archives mail for an address. As another example,
you could request several files from the remote system by
specifying more than one filename.
Password
────────
For file request or file update request queue entries, if a
request password is required, enter it here.
Auto repeat
───────────
For file requests, file update requests, and file forwards,
you can tell QFront to "repeat" the queue entry every "x"
days. The "x" value is specified in the next field, "fre-
quency". This feature is very useful, for example, if you
want to request a nodediff (nodelist update) file from your
hub every week. In this case, the queue entry type would be
file request, the filename would be NODEDIFF, auto repeat
would be Y, and frequency would be 7. This would cause
QFront to request NODEDIFF from your hub every 7 days.
Frequency
─────────
This field is used with the "auto repeat" field to tell
QFront what frequency (in days) to process the queue entry.
For example, entering a value of 7 causes QFront to repeat
the queue entry every 7 days.
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Last date
─────────
This field contains the last date that the queue entry was
processed. This information is used with the "auto repeat"
field so that QFront knows when to process the queue entry.
Undialable addresses
────────────────────
The undialable address manager does not currently work in this
release of QFront.
Force queue rescan
──────────────────
Selecting this item causes QFront to rescan the entire outbound
queue.
Poll a node
───────────
This item allows you to poll a node. A poll is nothing more than
a "forced call". Whether there is mail waiting to go out to the
node or not, if you enter a poll you are forcing QFront to dial
out to the system, probably to try to pick up any waiting mail
that the node may have for you.
A window will pop up asking you for the address to poll. You can
enter the address or you can enter a quick lookup name by preced-
ing the name with a "!". For example, if you have a quick lookup
name of "ROB", you would type "!ROB". See the QFConfig section of
the manual for more information about quick lookup names. You can
also enter a partial sysop name (the sysop's last name) to cause
QFront to search for the name. For example, you could type
"KITTR" to search for all sysop names who have a last name start-
ing with "KITTR".
Inbound history
───────────────
This item will show a list of inbound mail history. The list
shows the date, time, address, bytes received and bytes sent
statistics for every node that calls your system. The list shows
the most recent statistics first. You can configure how many days
in which to keep the inbound history by using the "days to keep
history" field in QFConfig. See the QFConfig section of the
manual for more information.
Outbound history
────────────────
This item will show a list of outbound mail history. The list
shows the date, time, address, bytes received and bytes sent
statistics for every node that your system calls. The list shows
the most recent statistics first. You can configure how many days
in which to keep the outbound history by using the "days to keep
history" field in QFConfig. See the QFConfig section of the
manual for more information.
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COMMAND LINE SWITCHES
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This is a list of the command line switches that QFront accepts.
/H or /?
────────
Will display a help screen for command-line switches for QFront.
/C<config name>
───────────────
Allows you to tell QFront which configuration file you wish to
use. If this parameter is not specified, QFront will look for the
"NODE1.CFG" configuration file by default. An example of using
this switch would be "QFRONT /CNODE2".
/NO16550
────────
QFront will automatically determine if you have a 16550 UART
installed in your system. If found, QFront will enable it by
default. If there is some reason that you don't want the 16550
turned on, specify the "/NO16550" parameter. One reason you might
want to do this is that some early 16550 UART's contained bugs.
/NOANSWER
─────────
Will turn off auto-answering. This means that QFront will *NOT*
answer the phone under ANY circumstances. If the modem answers
the phone by itself, QFront will ignore any connection. This
switch is useful for nodes on a network that you only want to
process events on, for example.
/LOCALONLY
──────────
Will tell QFront that you want to run it in a "local-only" mode,
meaning the communications port will not be opened, and therefore,
no modem input/output will take place. This has the same effect
as specifying a communications port of "0" in PCBSETUP. You can
load QFront using this command line switch from within DOORWAY,
for example since the communications port is not opened.
/NOMOUSE
────────
If you do not wish for QFront to use the mouse, specify this
command line option. You can also turn off mouse support in
QFConfig.
/COLOR
──────
Will force QFront to always use color attributes when writing to
the video screen, regardless of what is set in QFConfig.
/MONO
─────
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Will force QFront to always use monochrome attributes when writing
to the video screen, regardless of what is set in QFConfig.
/SEARCH
───────
This switch is primarily intended for use with special NetMail-
type PPE programs that are written for QFront. Using /SEARCH, you
can allow the user to browse the FidoNet nodelist (and any other
nodelist you have configured). You can specify a partial sysop
name to search for (based on the sysop's last name) or a partial
node address to search for. QFront will write to a file called
QSRCHx.DAT (where "x" is the node number given in the /NODE param-
eter, described below) information on the nodes that match the
search parameter. For example:
"QFRONT /SEARCH:KITTR /NODE:2"
This would cause QFront to search for any node with KITTR in the
sysop's last name and would write to a text file called
QSRCH2.DAT. Another example:
"QFRONT /SEARCH:1:228 /NODE:1"
This would cause QFront to list all nodes in zone 1, net 228.
QFront would write the node information to a text file called
QSRCH1.DAT.
The format of the QSRCHx.DAT file is as follows:
Line 1: Node address.
Line 2: BBS name.
Line 3: BBS location.
Line 4: Sysop name.
Line 5: BBS phone number
The format is repeated for each node that matches the search
string. If no matches are found, no QSRCHx.DAT file is created.
/NODE
─────
This switch is used ONLY with the /SEARCH option and is used to
set the node number that is doing the search. When the /SEARCH
option is used, none of the QFront configuration files are loaded
so there is no way for QFront to know the node number you are
running on without specifying it with /NODE. When QFront does the
search, it writes a file called QSRCHx.DAT, where "x" is the node
number you specify with this option. Here is an example command
line:
"QFRONT /SEARCH:KITTR /NODE:2"
This would cause QFront to write node information to QSRCH2.DAT
for those BBS's who have KITTR in their sysop's last name.
QFront v1.10b
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/DEBUG
──────
Turns on debug mode. The debug mode creates two files, one called
"QF-x.DBG" and another called "QF-x.TRC", where "x" is the node
number. These two files are very helpful to debug problems that
you may have with QFront on your system. The .DBG file is a
fairly extensive list of each action that QFront takes. The .TRC
file is a complete trace of all characters send to and received
from your modem.
You can specify any combination of these switches, separated by spaces,
when loading QFront. For example, "QFRONT /CNODE2 /MONO".
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COMPANION PROGRAMS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
There are several other programs in the QFront package in addition to
the mailer program and configuration program.
NOTE!
─────
ALL companion programs *MUST* be run from inside your QFront directory!
If you run any QFront program from outside the QFront directory you will
most likely have many problems!
Here is a brief description of what each program does:
QNList
──────
QNList is the nodelist compiler. It will take a "St. Louis" style
FidoNet nodelist and any private nodelists you may have configured
and compile them into the database format that QFront uses.
QScan
─────
The QScan program is the foundation of the FidoMail module in
QFront. It has two main functions. First, it takes messages from
your PCBoard conferences and places them in FidoMail packet for-
mat. Secondly, QScan will take packets received by QFront from
other systems and unpack them and place them into your PCBoard
conferences. In addition, QScan is the program that handles
Areafix requests and unpacks received NetMail into *.MSG format.
QFUtil
──────
This program is a program that allows you to add entries to
QFront's outbound queue from the DOS command line. You can place
file requests, polls, and even convert text files into NetMail
messages for sending using the QFUtil program.
Using QNList
────────────
Using QNList is relatively simple. Before running the compiler, howev-
er, you must have FidoMail fully configured in QFConfig.
There are several command line options available:
/COLOR
──────
This parameter will force QNList to use color attributes. Normal-
ly you will not need this as QNList automatically detects whether
you have color available or not.
/MONO
─────
This parameter will force QNList to use monochrome attributes.
QFront v1.10b
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Normally you will not need this as QNList automatically detects
whether you have color available or not.
/COMPILE
────────
This parameter will tell QNList to unarchive any new nodelists,
process any nodediffs, and start compiling the primary FidoNet
nodelist and any private nodelists. Whether new nodelists or
nodediffs are found, QNList will ALWAYS compile the nodelist.
/COMPILENEW
───────────
This parameter tells QNList to compile the nodelist ONLY if there
is a new archived nodelist or nodediff found to be processed.
Since it is relatively pointless to compile your nodelists unless
something has changed in them, most of the time you will want to
use this parameter instead of /COMPILE.
If nothing new is found by QNList, it immediately exits.
/C<config file>
───────────────
Tells QNList which node configuration you want to use. For exam-
ple, on node 3 this parameter might be "/CNODE3" if your configu-
ration file for node 3 is called NODE3.CFG.
To compile the nodelist(s), for example, just type "QNLIST /C<config
name> /COMPILENEW" from the QFront directory. For example, if you're
running on node 3, you'd type "QNLIST /CNODE3 /COMPILENEW".
Using QSCAN
───────────
Using QScan is also relatively simple. However, before running it, be
sure that you have FidoMail fully configured in QFConfig.
There are several command line options available:
/COLOR
──────
This parameter will force QScan to use color attributes. Normally
you will not need this as QScan automatically detects whether you
have color available or not.
/MONO
─────
This parameter will force QScan to use monochrome attributes.
Normally you will not need this as QScan automatically detects
whether you have color available or not.
/SCAN
─────
This parameter will cause QScan to scan (export) any new messages
QFront v1.10b
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in your PCBoard conferences (including your PCBoard NetMail confer-
ence, if you have one configured). Once the messages are scanned
out, they are put into packet form, archived, and put into the
outbound mail queue so QFront will send them out.
/TOSS
─────
This parameter will cause QScan to toss (import) packets that have
been received by QFront into your PCBoard conferences.
/BOTH
─────
This command line parameter is the most important one. You will
almost ALWAYS want to use this switch instead of the /SCAN or
/TOSS switches (or a combination of both switches).
The /BOTH switch performs several functions. First, it tosses
(imports) messages that have been received by QFront into your
PCBoard conferences. At the same time the messages are tossed into
PCBoard conferences, the messages will be forwarded to your down-
links (if you're acting as a host or hub). Then, it scans (ex-
ports) any new messages in your PCBoard conferences.
Note that if you're acting as a host or hub, you *MUST* use this
command line switch over the /SCAN or /TOSS switches in order to
ensure that the messages are properly exported to your
downlinks/uplinks.
I cannot stress enough that /BOTH is *not* the same as specifying
both /TOSS and /SCAN switches!
/NETMAIL
────────
This option is used in conjunction with the /SCAN option. It
causes QScan to scan ONLY your PCBoard NetMail conference (that
is, if you are using such a conference). For example, you could
use this switch after every caller logs off your BBS to search for
any new NetMail they may have entered. An example command line
might be "QSCAN /CNODE1 /SCAN /NETMAIL".
/SETHIGH
────────
This switch will tell QScan to set the "last message pointer" to
the top for the EchoMail conferences which are set with the /AREAS
parameter (see next).
/AREAS:<range>
──────────────
This switch is used in conjunction with the /SETHIGH switch to
tell QScan which conference or range of conferences to update the
high message pointers in.
It is important to point out that the numbers you specify in the
QFront v1.10b
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range are PCBOARD CONFERENCE NUMBERS, *not* EchoMail area numbers
as was used in previous releases of QScan.
The range parameter can consist of "ALL", or values from low[-
high], separated by a semicolon. To signify the PCBoard NetMail
conference (assuming you have one configured), use "NETMAIL" in
the range. For example, the following are valid ranges:
"QSCAN /SETHIGH /AREAS:10-20;100-200;5"
This would set the high message pointers in PCBoard conferences
10-20, 100-200 and 5 to the top.
"QSCAN /SETHIGH /AREAS:100;NETMAIL"
This would set the high message pointers in PCBoard conference 100
and the PCBoard NetMail area to the top.
"QSCAN /SETHIGH /AREAS:ALL"
This would set the high message pointer in all PCBoard conferences
and the PCBoard NetMail conference (assuming you have one) to the
top.
/FORCE
──────
This switch will allow QScan to scan (export) messages out of your
PCBoard conference, even if they were tossed there by QScan.
Normally, you would not want to scan out messages that were put
there by QScan because this would indicate that you would be
sending out duplicate messages into the network.
If you're sure you want to scan these types of messages out of
your PCBoard conferences, use this switch.
/C<config name>
───────────────
Tells QScan which node configuration you want to use. For exam-
ple, on node 3 this parameter would be "/CNODE3" if your configu-
ration filename for node 3 is NODE3.CFG.
Using QFUTIL
────────────
The QFUtil program is a small utility program that you can use to add
entries to QFront's outbound queue directly from the DOS command line.
You can add file requests, file forwards, poll entries, and even convert
text files into NetMail messages that QFront will send out.
Several command line options are available:
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/ADDR
─────
This switch is absolutely necessary and tells QFUtil which address
you will be referring to. It is used like "/ADDR:1:228/12".
/REQUEST
────────
This switch tells QFUtil that you will be adding one or more file
requests to the outbound queue. This switch is used in conjunc-
tion with the /FILE command line switch.
/UREQUEST
─────────
This switch tells QFUtil that you will be adding one or more file
update requests to the outbound queue. This switch is used in
conjunction with the /FILE command line switch.
/FORWARD
────────
This switch tells QFUtil that you will be adding one or more file
forward (file attaches) to the outbound queue. This switch is
used in conjunction with the /FILE command line switch.
/POLL
─────
This switch tells QFUtil that you will be adding a poll entry to
the outbound queue.
/FILE
─────
Used in conjunction with /REQUEST, /UREQUEST and /FORWARD command
line switches, this switch specifies one or more filenames for the
queue entry. Each filename is separated by a comma. It is used
like "/FILE:C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT,C:\CONFIG.SYS". Wildcard characters
may be used.
/FLAGS
──────
This switch specifies which priority queue flags to use. The
meaning for each of the flags is described in the node manager
section of QFConfig, earlier in the manual.
The choices are:
IMM
───
Specifies that you would like the queue entry (or NetMail
message if you use the /NETMAIL switch) to have the immedi-
ate flag set.
HOLD
────
Specifies that you would like the queue entry (or NetMail
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message if you use the /NETMAIL switch) to have the hold flag
set.
ABSHOLD
───────
Specifies that you would like the queue entry to have the
absolute hold flag set. This flag does not apply to NetMail
messages if you use the /NETMAIL switch.
CRASH
─────
Specifies that you would like the queue entry (or NetMail
message if you use the /NETMAIL switch) to have the crash
flag set.
DIR
───
Specifies that you would like the queue entry (or NetMail
message if you use the /NETMAIL switch) to have the direct
flag set.
KFS
───
Specifies that you would like the queue entry to have the
"kill file after sending" flag set. This flag does not
apply to NetMail messages if you use the /NETMAIL switch.
You can specify multiple flags, separated by a comma, such as
"/FLAG:IMM,KFS".
/PWRD
─────
Used with /REQUEST and /UREQUEST, this switch supplies the file
request password for the file(s) you specify using the /FILE
switch. It is used like "/PWRD:MYPASSWORD".
/FREQ
─────
This switch is used to tell the queue manager to repeat the queue
action every "x" days. See the section on the outbound queue,
earlier in the manual for a description of what the "repeat"
action means. /FREQ is used like "/FREQ:7" to cause the queue
action to be repeated every 7 days.
/NETMAIL
────────
This switch allows you to convert a regular text file into NetMail
to send to the address given with the /ADDR switch. The text file
will be converted verbatim to *.MSG format, where QFront will find
and send it. This switch is used like "/NETMAIL:<filename>", for
example, "/NETMAIL:INFO.TXT".
You can combine queue entry options (/REQUEST, /UREQUEST, /FORWARD and
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/POLL) with the /NETMAIL switch to cause QFUtil to add a queue entry as
well as create a NetMail message. For example, I used this capability
myself during the alpha testing of QFront. Each time a new alpha was
released, I automatically forwarded the file to the alpha testers and
sent them a NetMail message telling them that the alpha is now sitting
in their inbound directory. Here is a sample command line:
"QFUTIL /ADDR:1:228/12 /FORWARD /FILE:QF-110.ZIP /NETMAIL:ALPHA.TXT
/FLAG:ABSHOLD"
This caused QFUtil to add a file forward file (QF-110.ZIP) to 1:228/12
and at the same time, convert ALPHA.TXT into NetMail. The file forward
and NetMail message will be held until 1:228/12 polls my system.
Needless to say, this saved a LOT of time for me and the alpha testers!
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BATCH FILES
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFront relies heavily on batch files for its operation. The QFront
install program creates batch files that should work on your system
untouched. However, you may need to modify them for any "errorlevel"
type events that you have set up (in order to trap for their errorlev-
els) or to change system paths, add environment variables, etc.
We'll go through a quick description of what each batch file does. If
after reading this you still don't understand how the batch files work,
the first suggestion we offer is to try to trace through them yourself,
adding PAUSE statements wherever necessary. Most of the time you'll be
able to figure things out fairly quickly. If not, feel free to call for
support.
THE STARTER.BAT FILE
────────────────────
STARTER.BAT is used when you want to start your BBS. This is similar to
your old BOARD.BAT file but with one major exception - the STARTER.BAT
file is for QFront's operation only. It does not interface with PCBoard
at any time, and therefore no door operations are handled in this file.
Instead, you might trap for errorlevels that QFront returns, like when
one of your "errorlevel" type event executes or when an incoming Fido-
Mail mail run is completed. See the section on errorlevels for more
information on what errorlevels are returned by QFront.
THE SPAWNBBS.BAT FILE
─────────────────────
The second batch file, SPAWNBBS.BAT, is used when a human caller wants
to log onto your BBS. This batch file is similar to your old BOARD.BAT
file and handles such things as loading PCBoard for callers and handling
doors. You should never need to call this batch file yourself; the
BBSBATCH.BAT and DOOR.BAT files will do that as necessary automatically.
THE BBSBATCH.BAT FILE
─────────────────────
The BBSBATCH.BAT is a temporary batch file that QFront creates when a
human caller logs onto your BBS. All that this batch file contains is
the following line:
SPAWNBBS.BAT <user logon or local logon control string>
QFront will add the user logon or local logon control string to the
command line to tell PCBoard the baud rate of the caller, whether there
is an error-correcting connection, etc., and let PCBoard take over
normally.
QEVT-XXX.BAT
────────────
The QEVT-x.BAT file (where "x" is the node number) is executed from the
STARTER.BAT file when QFront exits with errorlevel 2. The QEVT batch
file is created on-the-fly when a "batch file" type event is executed.
Its contents consist of a copy of the batch file that you have the event
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set to run.
BOARD.BAT
─────────
The BOARD.BAT file that the install program writes will replace your old
BOARD.BAT (your old BOARD.BAT was renamed to BOARD.OLD when you in-
stalled QFront). The BOARD.BAT is only used when returning from doors.
Recall that at the end of all of your door batch files, the "BOARD"
batch file is run, which reloads PCBoard. The BOARD.BAT file that
QFront creates contains this single line:
SPAWNBBS.BAT RETURN
The "RETURN" on the command line will tell SPAWNBBS.BAT that a door is
returning, and SPAWNBBS.BAT will re-load PCBoard properly.
The reason for the modified BOARD.BAT file that the install program
creates is so that you do not need to modify all of your door batch
files when you install QFront.
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EVENTS AND BATCH FILES
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Unlike most other front-end mailers, QFront makes it easy to manage
events and batch files.
All event processing is done through the STARTER.BAT file. How the
STARTER.BAT file is constructed depends on which type of event you are
running. The installation program writes the proper STARTER batch file
to handle most event situations.
Normally, you will not need to directly modify the STARTER batch file,
unless you have "errorlevel" type events configured. Instead, most of
the time you will use the "batch file" type event, where each event is
given its own separate batch file. The default STARTER.BAT file is
already written to handle all of your "batch file" type events. See the
QFConfig section regarding events for information on configuring events.
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ERRORLEVELS RETURNED BY QFRONT
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QFront exits to your STARTER.BAT file with one of 20 errorlevel set-
tings:
0
─
Normal shutdown.
1
─
An error occurred, check the QFRONT.ERR error log file.
2
─
A "batch file" type event is running, execute the QEVT-x.BAT file
(where "x" is the node number).
3
─
Not currently used.
4
─
Not currently used.
5
─
Not currently used.
6
─
Not currently used.
7
─
Compile the FidoNet nodelist.
8
─
FidoMail has been received, toss the mail with QScan.
9
─
Incoming FAX call received, load FAX software.
10-19
─────
Reserved for future use.
NOTE!
─────
It is imperative that you remember to test errorlevels in descending
QFront v1.10b
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order if you modify the STARTER.BAT batch file. For example:
If errorlevel 50 goto doutils
If errorlevel 20 goto telix
If errorlevel 0 goto end
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
─────────────────────
Q: Why won't QFront answer the phone?
A: More than likely, you have not called the 7th Heaven support BBS for
your evaluation keyfile. Please see the section on keyfiles, earlier in
the documentation for information about the keyfile.
Q: QScan, after receiving a mail bundle from my hub, immediately packs
the same mail up and sends it back to my hub.
A: The reason is because the address your hub identifying itself as is
not the same address you are scanning mail for in the node manager. In
other words, if you hub uses 1:2/3 as an originating address when creat-
ing mail bundles for you, you should have 1:2/3 as an address in the
node manager. Otherwise, QScan doesn't think that any of the messages
have been seen by your hub, when in fact they have.
Q: QScan won't scan out my NetMail messages in my PCBoard NetMail con-
ference.
A: The most likely reason for this is because you formatted the messages
in an invalid way. There are special things that you need to do with a
PCBoard NetMail conference. Please see the section on entering NetMail,
earlier in the documentation, for more information.
Q: QScan won't scan out new mail that I enter on my BBS in my EchoMail
conferences.
A: There are several possibilities here. Most likely, you have the
"respect Echo flag" flag turned on in QFConfig under "mail scanner", but
the messages don't have the ECHO flag. If you have the "respect echo
flag" option set to Y, then every PCBoard message that is entered on
your system MUST have the "ECHO" flag set by PCBoard for the message, or
QScan will skip it. Another possibility is if you have the "scan pri-
vate mail" flag turned off in your EchoMail area setups, and the PCBoard
message is marked PRIVATE. In this case, QScan will skip the message.
Q: I keep getting a message in my QScan log that says "No downlinks for
area XXXXX". What does this mean?
A: This message is nothing more than a warning to tell you that you have
EchoMail areas that are configured but aren't selected by any nodes in
the node manager. You can turn off this option by answering N to the
field in mail scanner setup in QFConfig that says "no downlink warning".
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CREDITS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
All products mentioned in this document are trademarks of their respec-
tive authors and/or companies.
QFront v1.10b
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INDEX
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Adding downlinks, 97
Alias addresses, 50
Archiver setup, 36
Areafix
How to use, 89
Areafix setup, 77
Areafix uplinks, 79
Areas
Setting up, 66
Automatic polls, 55
Batch files
Descriptions and usage, 120
Events and, 122
Beta software announcement, 9
Bug reports, 7
CallerID capabilities, 100
Call-waiting screen, 101
Call-waiting screen
Menu options, 101
Shortcut keys, 104
Command line switches, 110
Companion programs, 113
Companion programs
QFUtil, 116
QNList, 113
QScan, 114
Dial queue, 106
Dial translations/costing, 33
Dial translations/costing
Country specific setup, 33
Custom values, 34
Default costs, 34
Dialout fixups, 73
Display setup, 86
EchoMail conferences
Setting up, 66
Errorlevels, 123
Event setup, 42
Events
Explained, 19
External mail strings, 37
FAX capabilities, 100
FidoMail options, 106
FidoMail options
Dial queue, 106
Force queue rescan, 109
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Inbound history, 109
Outbound history, 109
Outbound queue, 106
Poll a node, 109
Undialable addresses, 109
FidoMail setup, 49
File requests
Path setup, 84
File request/file forward
NetMail responses, 83
Setting up, 82
Force queue rescan, 109
Function keys, 40
General setup, 26
General setup
Call waiting screen settings, 28
Miscelleneous flags, 29
System login controls, 26
Getting started, 13
Getting started
Event management, 19
FidoNet addresses, 13
How mail moves, 14
Introduction to FidoNet, 13
Joining FidoNet, 17
Nodelists and nodediffs, 13
Operating as a host or a hub, 18
Who runs the show, 15
Group setup, 65
Import/export, 75
Inbound history, 109
Installation, 10
Keyfiles, 6
Magic filenames
Setting up, 83
Mail routing, 93
Mail routing
Default rules, 93
NetMail forwarding, 93
Mail scanner setup, 61
Mail scanner setup
Lost mail, 61
Misc settings, 61
Modem/dialout setup, 30
Modem/dialout setup
Modem init/dial strings, 30
NetMail
Entering NetMail, 87
QFront v1.10b
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NetMail forwarding, 93
NetMail setup, 56
NetMail setup
General settings, 60
PCBoard NetMail setup, 56
Routing, 57
Node Manager, 69
Nodelist setup, 52
Nodelist setup
Nodediff setup, 53
Origin line setup, 64
Outbound history, 109
Outbound queue, 106
Pointlists, 95
Poll a node, 109
Program setup, 22
Program setup
FidoMail/QScan directories, 24
File request directories, 26
System directories, 22
System filenames, 23
QFConfig
Alias addresses, 50
Archiver setup, 36
Area manager, 66
Areafix setup, 77
Areafix uplinks, 79
Automatic polls, 55
Dialout fixups, 73
Display setup, 86
Event setup, 42
External mail strings, 37
FidoMail setup, 49
File request paths, 84
File request/file forward setup, 82
Function keys, 40
General setup, 26
Groups, 65
How to use, 20
Import/export, 75
Loading, 21
Magic filename setup, 83
Mail scanner, 61
Modem/dialout setup, 30
NetMail setup, 56
Node Manager, 69
Nodelist setup, 52
Origin lines, 64
Program setup options, 22
Quick lookup names, 74
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Semaphore files, 38
Translation/costing setup, 33
Usernames to ignore, 39
UserNet messages, 41
QFUtil
Using, 116
QNList
Using, 113
QScan
Using, 114
Questions and answers, 125
Quick lookup names, 74
Registration, 6
Requirements, 7
Semaphore files, 38
Starting your BBS, 12
Support, 7
Undialable addresses, 109
Uninstalling, 11
Usernames to ignore, 39
UserNet messages, 41
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