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Text File | 1997-06-11 | 21KB | 511 lines

MR/2 ICE v1.29 - An Internet EMail Client for OS/2 PM. Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 Knightware Software Company. All rights reserved. See UPGRADE.TXT for information on how to update an existing install. ================== Table of Contents ================== 1. Release Information. 2. Shareware Notice and Ordering Instructions. 3. Credits 4. List of major features. 5. Quick start instructions. 6. Known bugs/problems/missing features. 7. Contacting the Author. Release History has been moved to the file "history.txt" See README.1ST for an overview of readable text files included. See INSTALL.TXT for installation issues. ================================= 1-RELEASE INFORMATION - 01/23/97 ================================= Thank you for trying the latest addition to the MR/2 family of electronic messaging software for OS/2 ... the MR/2 Internet Cruiser Edition. MR/2 ICE is an Internet EMail client. It can read mail via a POP3 mail server and/or has direct SMTP hooks available. For those of you who know my work already, you know that I like to have lots of options, including optional pieces of the user interface. I have attempted to continue this theme with MR/2 ICE. You'll find things like toolbars and status bars configurable, even to the point of hiding them. There are no limits to the "shareware" version. I don't like crippleware, but I will no doubt offer some incentive to register, or add a minor anoyance or two if you don't. Right now there is none of this. MAILING LIST: Send email with SUBSCRIBE in the subject to mr2ice.list@secant.com SEE MY WEB PAGE at http://nick.secant.com for late-breaking news. THE OFFICIAL MR/2 ICE FAQ page is available as link from my WWW home page, listed above. ============================================= 2-Shareware Notice and Ordering Instructions ============================================= N O T I C E ----------- This IS a shareware package, and does require a registration fee if you choose to continue using it after 30 days. The registration fee for this product is currently $30 US. A later version may include a newsreader, and price will increase slightly ($40?). Register by filling out and mailing (or faxing, if paying by credit card) REGISTER.DOC to me. NOTE: Registration letters are sent out via email within a week of arriving to me; often sooner. If you don't get a letter, write. They sometimes get lost in email-limbo, and I will happily resend. NEW WAY TO REGISTER - OS/2 SHAREWARE BBS ---------------------------------------- You can now register MR/2 ICE via the OS/2 Shareware BBS, online. The system accepts most major credit cards (Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover card). Use your modem to call the OS/2 Shareware BBS at (703) 385-4325 or telnet into os2bbs.com. ORDER THROUGH BMT MICRO!!! -------------------------- Credit card orders can be placed with BMT Micro at 1-800-414-4268 or visit their WEB page at http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro, or email to orders@bmt.wilmington.net. You can also fax an order to them TOLL FREE at 800-346-1OS2 (1672). BMT's "order" page can be web'd directly at: http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/info/placeorder.html NOTE: BMT Micro also has an arrangment with a bank in GERMANY for European users who might find this useful. Check the end of this web page for details, please: http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/info/payment.html NEW WAY FOR SCANDINAVIAN USERS TO REGISTER MR/2 ICE --------------------------------------------------- You can now register MR/2 ICE via Berggreen Service, Denmark with payment in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Kroner. Berggreen Service accepts checks or payment to Giro-accounts in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. Write to berggreen@cybernet.dk or order online at: http://www.cybernet.dk/users/berggreen/os2/ Register via COMPUSERVE - GO SWREG ---------------------------------- MR/2 ICE can now be registered through Compuserve's SWREG service. Simply type GO SWREG at any Compuserve command prompt and register package #11797. Here's my registration policy: ------------------------------ Register MR/2 ICE for $30 now. It will possibly go a tad higher if/when news is completed. You will get emailed a registration key that will prevent the 60-day nag screen and will possibly (later) enable some control over other features Registration by an individual includes the capability of using this registered copy at home and/or at work. YOU are registered, not a particular machine or system. I reserve the right to charge a nominal upgrade fee for future version, if enough functionality is added to warrant this. I have yet to do this with my QWK-based products, the text mode reader now at v2.25. I have devised a site license pricing tier. You can always write me for a discussion. These are for licenses of MR/2 ICE running at a single location (usually a company or other organization). 5 User - $105 10 User - $190 25 User - $375 50 User - $500 ($3 per additional user) For each user above 50 add $3 (e.g., 200 user = $500+(150*3) = $950) All pricing is subject to change without notice. We can interpolate for in-between counts (e.g., 30 users at $415). I'm basing these prices on a product I once purchased in this manner. I want to be reasonable, but still make a profit. Email me for more detailed discussion. INCREMENTAL SITE LICENSES. Those purchasing a site license may increase the license count at some later date in time by submitting the difference between the two licenses (based on what was originally paid vs. what the current total site license would cost), plus a flat modification fee of $10. For example, a company purchases a 50 user site license at $425 under old pricing. A year later they wish to increase the license count to 100 users. They would sumbit a check or purchase order for 50 incremental licenses at a cost of $235. With the price increase to $500 for 50 users (where 100 users would be $650), the amount due would be $235. It's an easy calculation: What you'd have to pay today for the total licenses desired - What you've already paid + $10. Since this is a "try before you buy" opportunity, I would expect there to be no need to ever issue a refund. Please consider all sales final. Registration keys/licenses are NON TRANSFERABLE. ========== 3-Credits ========== A massive THANK YOU to Andrew McElroy <andrewm@mcs.net> who authored the HELP text and continues to improve it. It is a monumental job, and without him, I would have either no HELP text at all, or would have delayed the release for quite some time. Also, a big thanks to Cathy Quinones <quinones@mindspring.com> for starting the HELP text off. She documented much of the MENU hierarchy. Although this is unavailable in the first release (a menu help-hook is not in place yet), I expect to make full use her contribution soon. And, I can't forgot all of my beta testers and mailing list participants, many who have donated conversion routines, REXX scripts and all-around expert feedback throughout the beta cycle. I'll also give much credit to Secant Technologies' wonderful programming tools, and the staff as a whole who provided a wonderful, ready-made resource. =================== 4-LIST OF FEATURES =================== o POP3 or SMTP reads. o POP3 or SMTP sends. o Auto configures to existing IAK setup, when available. o Use of pop-up or "context" menus abound. Try the right mouse button in index lists, on toolbar buttons and in address fields. o Filters ... supports "simple" search criteria OR more powerful free-form criteria allowing the testing of various message areas (including specific header lines) with full boolean and/or/not. Includes soundex capabilities and case sensitivity options. o Persistently sizable windows almost everwhere. Multiple message windows can each have different positions. o Toolbars w/bubble hints ("tooltips"), status bars, progression indicators. Optional whenever possible. Hint bubble display and/or delay configurable. A RMB click will always display hints, if they are turned on. o Font and color selection dialogs, as well as drag/drop support from OS/2 pallets for message viewer windows. o Powerful message viewer and editor. Things like a split screen editor. Spelling checker and thesaurus available (as separate files, get the MR/2 QWK-reader files via www/ftp). Simple things like Rot13 support and case conversions supported. Mono/PS font toggle (you can configure the font for each mode). o Formatted *and* draft printing. o Selectable reply "templates" allow you to boiler-plate needed replies. Powerful set of reply-time variables available. o Auto-checking for new messages via configurable time period. Beeping when mail arrives, and (optional) periodic beeping when new mail has arrived and MR/2 has not acquired focus. Minimized icon and task list show new mail count. o Links to external utilities like WebExplorer and Ftp ... simply click, RMB, click to load or ftp any URL embedded within a message. o MIME support with many configurable options. o UUEncoding/decoding. Multiple files-per-message supported. o Address book with description, email address, notes and "tags". Group addresses to with unlimitted address listings, including nested groups/address book entries and lists from external files. o Pop up calendar (will be enhanced to provide to-do list/appointments). o Pop up calculator. o Multiple account support. o Sort message indexes to 3 levels (lots of options :). Find text in the message list o Dynamic window index ... easily find any open window and/or messages index. o Many configurable options. For example, turn on/off various warnings and prompts. o Auto-backup feature. MR/2 ICE will recover most/all of any open editor sessions if an application *or FULL SYSTEM* crash occur. This includes lock-ups where a manual reboot has to be performed. o Clipboard access enhanced to include APPENDING to clipboard and pasting *with* quote string. o Bcc's work the way they're *supposed* to :) ============== 5-Quick Start ============== Let's get to some simple instructions. MR/2 ICE quick start: o Make a directory and unzip MR/2 ICE into it. You may set up a desktop icon to invoke MR/2 ICE or simply run it from the command line. When running MR/2 ICE for the first time, it will jump right to the Network configuration screen. Fill this out carefully. Press OK. o Once the network settings have been filled in, please select the User Preferences tab and make any desired changes. Close the window by clicking in the corner. o You're ready to start. MR/2 ICE will, by default, poll the POP3 server every 2 minutes. Adjust accordingly. Mail is kept in a MAIL subdirectory of your MR/2 ICE software directory. o Command line switches: /Iinifile Specifies a file where user interface settings (e.g., toolbar visibility and position, window positions) are kept. The default is mr2i.ini. /Mmailcfg Specifies the file in which to keep and access your EMail configuration. /n where n = 1, 2 or 3. Starts MR/2 ICE on a specified notebook page where 1 os the inbox (the default), 2 is the outbox and 3 is the folder page. /S Suppresses the polling and delivery of email. No network access is attempted. /T Toolbar-less operation. Bypasses the crash caused by some bug in Soft & GUI's CmdLine.exe. /L Logs activity to mr2i.log - debugging information. /H Causes MR/2 to change the default path to that of the mr2i.exe file just invoked. In otherwords, the default path is changed to match the location of the file mr2i.exe being run. /Fn Select a default font for custom control windows. (Necessary only if problems appear in install) /Pnnn Specify an alternate Pop3 port. /- Minimize on start /X Poll for new mail, exit. /XS Poll for new mail, send any queued mail, exit. /Cn Overrides the OS/2 Code page setting to n. /B Advanced option: TCP/IP buffer sizes. Defaults to 24000. /Qfile Will add the names file to the MR/2 ICE outbox and exit. File is assumed to be a properly formed message file. You can force MR/2 to attempt to send the message via use of the /XS flag. /Q file emailto subject will copy file to a temp name (fax-oriented), MIME encode this file and add it to the outbox addressed to the specified user with the specified subject. /Q *file emailto subject will copy file to a temp name (fax-oriented), UUencode this file and add it to the outbox addressed to the specified user with the specified subject. /Q:file emailto subject will MIME encode the named file into a new message, placing this message into the outbox, addressed to the specified user with the specified subject. /Euser@domain Starts MR/2 ICE and immediately invokes a new message to the address specified. For use by a third-party address book program still in the works, but it surely has other applications. /D message [log] where message is a filename containing a valid message with attachments. Log file name is optional. Detaches all attachments found in message, recording create file names in log. Overwriting of existing files is automatic. /W Delete with safety. Normally, MR/2 ICE bypassed any use of the DELDIR feature. With /W specified, the OS/2 DELDIR mechanism is allowed to function. o Command-line control of a running copy of MR/2 ICE. The commands above will actually cause an existing instance of MR/2, if found, to do the desired work. I went the extra step of support this for multiple accounts, so specifying an account should talk to the right copy of MR/2 ICE. So, using the /Q option to queue a file actually puts it in the outbox of a running copy, and proceeds to send it. Using the /E option causes a New Message header screen to pop to the desktop from a running copy of ICE. Also: /Qfile - as described above /Euser@domain - as described above /+ will restore and bring focus to a minimized/burried copy of MR/2 ICE. /- will minimize an existing, running copy of MR/2 ICE. o New message: Click on the first toolbar icon, or select NEW from the File menu. Fill out the header editing screen and press OK. Now, type in the message and press SEND. Depending on the options in your User Preference settings, you may be shown the header editing screen again. Press OK to send it. o Replying: Viewing any message, press on the REPLY button. You will be prompted with the Header Editing screen (optionally), the allowed to edit the reply. The simple editor allows you to toggle back to the original (the "<" button) and then forward to the reply (the ">" button). It also allows you to split the screen and show both windows (the "-" button"). o When incoming messages are first displayed, an empty checkbox icon is next to them ("fresh" incoming mail is colored in red text, too). Once read, a black check mark is attached. If you reply, the message is marked with a RED checkmark. o The Out Box shows all messages sent. o The Right Mouse Button (RMB) is used often. Try it inside message index lists, on toolbar buttons, and inside address fields. o Selecting message(s). Mark the message(s) you want to open with the mouse and use the RMB to call up the popup menu (or use the main menu). Click on OPEN. Alternately, double click on any single message will to open it. o Outbox: Unsent messages have a mailbox icon. Sent message switch to an envelope icon. There is a resend option on the popup menu (RMB) and on the viewer screen. Resending fron the viewer screen provides an optional chance to modify the message first. ======================== 6-CONTACTING THE AUTHOR ======================== You can contact me in a number of ways. Unfortunately, I can't provide a phone number at this time. US Mail: Nick Knight P.O. Box 22366 Beachwood, Ohio 44122 Web: http://nick.secant.com (Includes MR/2 ICE FAQ) Fax: (216) 595-0199 (Secant Technologies' fax) Fido netmail: 1:157/2 to "Nick Knight" Internet: nick@secant.com Fido Echomail: Echomail messages to me in general conferences are discouraged, as keeping them "on topic" and interesting to the masses would be difficult. I do read OS2, OS2PROG, C_PLUSPLUS and DR DEBUG daily, though. OFFLINE echo also (deals with mail readers), this might be THE place to ask public questions, eh? I recently have acquired access to a host of other networks with OS/2 and OFFLINE conferences. These include RIME, SmartNet, Uninet, Intelec, Nanonet, Racenet and some others I can't remember. Direct BBS: Leave a message on the Nerd's Nook BBS (1:157/2) at (216) 356-1772, 356-1872 or 356-1431. I check in here multiple times a day. I will also keep the most recent copy of MR/2 posted here. Other boards (non-local) will get updates at my convenience. Internet FTP: I have an anonymous FTP "site" setup as a directory on my machine. Ftp to nick.secant.com. You can upload bugs, packets, notes, whatever into the incoming directory. Compuserve: I check a couple of times a week or thereabouts. Try mail to my user ID - 76066,1240, although internet mail has proven to be a faster approach. ========================================= 7-KNOWN BUGS/PROBLEMS - MISSING FEATURES ========================================= o Help is still work-in-progress. Part is coding, part is more help text and polish. o Filters: Auto-Forward incomplete at this time. o Still many areas that need optimization and minor rework/threading for performance reasons. For example: formatted printing AND pop purges. o Various bugs with the editor when in split mode and options like show/hide toolbar or pushbuttons are used.