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SHUT UP AND RUN THE MAIL A QWK Network Tosser for Remote Access 2.01+ And compatible systems By Pab Sungenis and Michael Nelson Copyright 1994 EMPIRE! Software, All Rights Reserved Version 1.02 Released: 1 Aug 1994 INTRODUCTION SHUT UP AND RUN THE MAIL was written to fill a need: to get a QWK network tosser for RA 2.01+ that could do one thing the current software couldn't: run under OS/2 2.1. We had recently upgraded our system to OS/2, and suddenly found we could no longer use MKNet, leaving us stranded. Out of desperation, we took to our keyboards to find an answer. It started out as a "quick and dirty" solution to the problem, and eventually evolved into the product you see before you. SHUT UP AND RUN THE MAIL (or SUARM, pronounced 'swarm' as it eventually became known) is one of a new generation of QWK tossers for Remote Access, able to take advantage of recent changes in the QWK standards and formatting in recent years. SUARM supports the various "kludge" lines added recently to the QWK format to support TO, FROM, and SUBJECT fields up to 60 characters long. It will also strip out "extra" tear lines added by some readers/mail doors, convert non-standard tear lines, can automatically create JAM message bases for new areas as they arrive at your board, can generate status reports so you can track your message traffic after each mail run, and supports "multiple file" mail runs. Yet, despite its power, SUARM is simple to use. A full configuration editor is included, and the configuration files are designed to be easy to understand and customize for each BBS you use. In short, SUARM enables you to do more with less effort. INSTALLING SUARM To install SUARM, simply Unzip or copy the files in this archive to your RA directory, or to a directory of their own. You might want to add this directory to your search path and include the line SET SUARM={pathname} (where {pathname} is the pathname for the SUARM files) to your AUTOEXEC.BAT. When it is run, SUARM automatically changes to the directory specified in the SUARM environment variable (if any), so this is a good way to keep your configuration and program files handy, and make sure that SUARM knows where everything is. Once all the files are copied over, type SUARMCFG to run the configuration editor and set up the basic configuration for the tosser. If you pull down the "Edit" window, you'll see four selections: ┌────────────────────────┐ │ Sys{O}p F2 │ │ {P}ath Definitions F3 │ │ {A}rchivers F9 │ ├────────────────────────┤ │ {L}oad F5 │ │ {S}ave F6 │ └────────────────────────┘ Select the "SysOp" menu. This menu controls options related to you and mail to/from you. Fill in the relevant information for each item: SysOp Name: This should be your name as it appears in your user file. This is the name all status reports will be sent to, and will be used in the conversion options below. Status Msg ID: This is the base to save status reports (if any) to. It is the standard "MK" style message base ID, to make things easy for users of MKNet and MKQwk. The ID is a base type (H, J, F, or S) and the path to the message base. Examples: H003C:\RA\MSGS\ Hudson message base #3 JC:\RA\JAM\GNADMIN JAMBase "GNADMIN" in the \RA\JAM\ FC:\FD\MSGS Fido *.MSG style base in \FD\MSGS\ SC:\PRO\MSG\TREK Squish base "TREK" in \PRO\MSG\ These will be discussed more in depth in the next chapter. If status reports are turned off, this field is ignored. Convert Incoming/Outgoing: SUARM offers you the option of converting the name "SYSOP" to your name on messages that are imported and exported. Messages TO "SYSOP" will be converted when imported, and messages TO and FROM "SYSOP" will be converted when exported. If either of these options is on, SUARM will replace the name "SYSOP" with the name in the "SysOp Name" field above. Generate Status Reports: If this option is turned on, SUARM will create a message in the specified base addressed to you after each mail run. Status reports will include a rundown of each conference processed, the number of messages imported or exported to/from each conference, any JAM bases created by the AUTOJAM option (see next section), and other important information. You will want to keep this option turned on for at least the first few runs, to make sure everything is working OK and to catch any errors you might have made in the configuration of a BBS. The "Path Definitions" menu options tell SUARM where to find your mail packets, where to put your reply packets, and where to put its temporary work. QWK Path: Where SUARM will find your mail packets. This is usually the same as your download directory. REP Path: Where SUARM will put your reply packets. This is usually the same as your upload directory. Work Path: This is a path SUARM will use as temporary work space. Do NOT make this a path anything else is stored in, since SUARM will wipe this directory when it is done with it. NOTE: Make sure all path definitions include a trailing backslash. 'C:\RA\MSGS\' is okay. 'C:\RA\MSGS' is not. The "Archivers" option allows you to change the command lines for the three compression formats (ZIP, PAK/ARC, and ARJ) supported by SUARM. Odds are you won't need to change these from their defaults. Once you have edited the SysOp and Path options, press F6 to save this configuration. The program will write this data to the file SUARM.CFG, and reload it every time you re-run the configuration program. BBS CONFIGURATION To set up configuration for a BBS, SUARM will need a mail packet from that BBS. Grab a mail packet (an empty one is okay) from each BBS you will be tossing mail from. Once you have the packet(s), you are ready to go. Load up the configuration program. Under the BBS menu, select the "New" option. A dialog box will pop up, prompting you for the name of the packet you are going to be configuring for. The configuration program will scan the CONTROL.DAT file in the packet, saving the names of the individual conferences to a file called {bbsid].CNF. SUARM will use this file later, so be sure not to delete it. Next, select "Conferences" or press F4. The Conference selection screen will appear. Since no conferences are configured yet, the window will be blank. Type 'N' or select the 'New' button to add a conference to your configuration. A new dialog box will appear, allowing you to configure the conference. First, select the conference you wish to import by highlighting it in the selection window. Then provide the Base ID to toss messages from that conference into. * BASE ID's To provide consistency with the MKNet tosser and other utilities for RA, SUARM uses Mark May's "Abstract Base ID" format for message bases. A Base ID includes an identifier (specifying the type, and sometimes number of the base) and the path for that base's files. Message base types supported by SUARM currently are: HUDSON: 'H' plus a three-digit conference number plus the path for your Hudson message base. Examples: H001C:\RA\MSGS\ H198E:\HUDSON\ H104C:\MESSAGE\ JAM: 'J' plus the path and JAMBase name for the conference. Examples: JC:\JAM\USENET\OS2APPS JD:\RA\MSGS\JAM\GNCHAT JC:\MESSAGE\NXKITCHN SQUISH: 'S' plus the path and base name for the conference Examples: SC:\PRO\MSG\TRADEWAR SF:\SQUISH\ALTFLAME SC:\MESSAGE\NXUSERS Squish support was added to version 1.01 for users of Proboard BBS. It has not been extensively tested on our own BBS; please report any problems immediately. FIDO: 'F' plus the path for the Fido *.MSG files. Examples: FC:\FD\MSGS\ FD:\BRIDGE\NETMAIL\ FC:\FIDO\ Support for Fido was mainly included for users of FrontDoor, BinkleyTerm, and other Fido front-ends who would prefer getting status reports and special 'Admin' bases in their mailer's NetMail folder instead of importing them to the BBS. Since *.MSG bases are not supported by Remote Access, their use is limited. NOTE: Again, be sure to end all ID definitions with a trailing backslash, except for JAM and SQUISH bases! Finally, select the origin line to use for this conference. The default is origin #1. See below for further discussion on origin lines. When the base is configured to your liking, press OK or hit RETURN. The conference window will be updated, showing the newly configured base. You can correct any errors through the "Edit" and "Delete" buttons as needed. When you have configured all of the conferences you wish to import into your board, press OK. Next, you'll want to set up the origin lines for messages to/from that BBS. Select the "Origin Lines" option under the BBS menu. Enter YOUR BBS's origin lines in the "Origin" field, and the origin line to add to local messages FROM YOUR HUB in the "Hub Origin" field. You may have up to five different origin lines for your BBS. Please note that many networks have guidelines for the layout of origin lines; be sure to check network policy before you define these two lines. SUARM adds its own tosser ID to the beginning of both origin lines, so if you enter: Connections! * Vineland NJ * (609)794-8907 as an origin line, SUARM will attach the following to each message in bases using that origin line: ■ SUARM 1.0 ■ Connections! * Vineland NJ * (609)794-8907 The final option in the BBS Configuration is the one that may seem strange to many QWK network SysOps: "Bad Messages." To put it simply, "Bad Messages" are messages in a mail packet that SUARM has no idea how to handle. "Bad Messages" have been around in FIDO based networks for a long time, but are new to the QWK world. Usually, a message is considered "bad" because of one of two things: * It is from an area not configured in the tosser, or * The conference is improperly configured. This is usually due to a bad base ID. The "Bad Messages" menu selection lets you tell SUARM what to do if it comes across a bad message. There are three alternatives: (1) IGNORE them. All bad messages will simply be discarded. This is the method used by other QWK tossers. Messages in bad conferences are simply thrown away. (2) KEEP them. Bad messages are saved to a specified Base ID. This will allow you to look them over, and (if need be) configure a new conference for them. A future version of the program will allow you to "re-toss" messages from the bad message area, moving them to newly configured areas. (3) AUTO-JAM them. With this option, SUARM does most of the work itself. SUARM will create a new JAM base in the specified path, using the name the conference has on your hub as the basis for its JAM name. (If the conference does not have a name in the *.CNF file, SUARM will use the number of the conference on your hub for the JAM name.) You will be informed of any new JAM bases created in your status report messages from the tosser, allowing you to add them to your BBS as you see fit. Auto-JAM makes it easy to add new conferences offered by your BBS. When you grab a QWK packet from your hub, simply add the new conferences to your mail runs, and use the "Refresh Conference List" menu selection to rescan the CONTROL.DAT file, adding the names of any new areas and changing the names of any old ones that may have been replaced. On your next mail run, SUARM will detect the newly-added areas and create a JAM base for them. Support for bad messages is one of the new features brought to the QWK world for the first time by SUARM. If you seem baffled by the concept, experiment with the options until you find the one that works best for you. Once you have finished configuring the BBS you will be tossing from, press F8 or select "Save" under the "BBS" menu. The setup for that BBS will be written to the file {bbsid}.CFG. You can then edit another BBS's configuration, or exit the program. Congratulations! Your copy of SUARM is all set to begin importing and exporting your messages. RUNNING SUARM The command-line format for SUARM is: SUARM {bbsid} [/I] {bbsid} is the name of the BBS to process. Basically, it's the name of the mail packet to be scanned/created without the .QWK or .REP extension. The /I switch tells SUARM to IMPORT from that BBS. Leaving off the switch tells SUARM to EXPORT to that BBS. NOTE: BEFORE USING SUARM, use the command SUARM {bbsid} to go through your message bases and set each message as having been exported. If you don't, SUARM will start by tossing your entire message bases back into the network. This is an unfortunate sideaffect to the fact that earlier RA tossers did not use a standard method of marking exported messages. Delete the .REP packet created by this command. If you are importing, SUARM scans the specified QWK path for filenames matching {bbsid}.Q*. This allows SUARM to be used with large mail runs that are done over a number of scans/downloads. It is also designed to work with mail doors that use the "packet numbering" method of naming packets. SUARM will unzip each packet and process it. The screen will display the progress of each packet. NOTE: The program may seem to 'slow down' as it gets further into a packet. This is normal. SUARM uses a very aggressive method of checking for duplicate messages, and the larger the base it is tossing into, the longer it will take to make sure that each message is not a duplicate. Since most SysOps only keep between 200-500 messages in each conference, this should not be a problem. If you are relatively certain that your hub will not throw duplicate messages to you and you want to speed up the process, you can add the line CHECKDUPES=OFF to your SUARM.CFG file. This deactivates the routine that checks for duplicate messages. WARNING: TO PLANET CONNECT USERS! Be sure to DELETE any .QIF files that accompany your mail packets in your daily feed. SUARM will consider them to be mail packets and may try (unsuccessfully) to toss them! When exporting, SUARM will scan each conference you have configured for new messages waiting to be delivered. As each message is exported, SUARM will remove any Fido-style kludge lines, convert non-standard tear lines, delete 'extra' tearlines that may be added by some doors and readers, and add an origin line (if needed). Origin lines added by RA itself (' * Origin:') will also be stripped out. This is for those SysOps who forget to turn the "Echo Info" option off, or for those still using older versions of RA which didn't always leave out the Echo Info when it should have! If a message has a TO, FROM, or SUBJECT field longer than the old QWK standard of 25 characters, SUARM will create the appropriate kludge line to keep the data intact. Likewise, any messages from your hub(s) using QWK kludge lines will have the data from those lines used when the message is imported. NOTE: SUARM uses the flags built into RA to determine which messages are waiting to be exported. Since SUARM doesn't rely on databases or highwater marks, you are less likely to have problems if you pack and renumber your bases than you were with older tossers. If any messages are to be exported, SUARM will create the appropriate *.REP file for the BBS in the "REP path" you specified in the configuration editor. SUARM deletes any and all mail packets when it is done processing them, to make sure no packet is tossed twice by accident. If you want to keep a packet around for any reason, be sure to copy it to another directory before processing it with SUARM. This is all you need to know to use SUARM on a regular basis. For the more daring, the next section includes information on customizing and "tweaking" SUARM to get it to do exactly what you want it to do. Don't be afraid to read on. It's actually easier than you might think. CUSTOMIZING SUARM The SUARMCFG program takes care of most of the dirty work of setting up the program and configuring mail runs. But it's possible to use SUARM's flexibility to your advantage with a little bit of work. SUARM relies on two separate configuration files when it processes a BBS: {bbsid}.CFG and SUARM.CFG. But both files are closely related, and it is possible to use commands normally seen in one configuration file in another. These processes are called "globalization" and "overriding." WARNING: The SUARMCFG program cannot know when you have customized a .CFG file by using commands for the other config file. (i.e.: using global commands in a BBS configuration, or BBS commands in the SUARM.CFG file.) As a result, loading and saving customized configuration files with SUARMCFG will remove all globalized commands, and replace the normal value for some global fields with the value you overrode them with in a BBS configuration. If you customize your files, I recommend NOT using SUARMCFG often. Let's look at an average SUARM.CFG file: NAME=Michael Nelson QWKPATH=C:\ROBO\DOWN\ REPPATH=C:\ROBO\UP\ WORKPATH=C:\!HOLD\ STATUS=YES,FC:\FD\MSGS\ CNV=IN,YES CNV=OUT,YES ZIP=PKZIP -a,PKUNZIP -e -o PAK=PKPAK -a,PKUNZIP -e ARJ=ARJ a -e -y,ARJ e -y Taking the commands one by one: NAME: This is the "SysOp name" field entered in SUARMCFG. All status reports are sent to this user name, and conversions of the "SYSOP" name use this name. QWKPATH: The path to search for incoming mail packets. REPPATH: The pat to save outgoing reply packets to. WORKPATH: The scratch directory for SUARM's temporary use. STATUS: This controls the creation of status report messages. YES ENABLES status reports, and NO DISABLES them. The second argument is the base ID to save status reports to. This MUST be given whether reports are enabled or not, but will be ignored when reports are disabled. CNV: This command controls the conversion of the name "SYSOP" to the name given in the "NAME" field. CNV=IN controls incoming conversion. A YES argument will ENABLE conversion. A NO will DISABLE it. Likewise, CNV=OUT controls outgoing conversion. ZIP, PAK, ARJ: These are the command lines to use for the three different archive styles supported by SUARM And now, let's look at a typical BBS configuration file. ORIGIN=1,ILink: Connections! BBS ■ Vineland NJ ■ 609-794-8907 ORIGIN=2,GeniusNet: Connections! BBS ■ Vineland, New Jersey HUBORIGIN=Compu-Data ■ Turnersville, NJ ■ 609-232-1245 BAD=AUTO,C:\RA\AUTOJAM\ KEEPBAD=H198C:\RA\MSGS\ 12=JC:\RA\POLITICS,1 15=JC:\RA\QMODEM,1 36=JC:\RA\OPINION,1 48=JC:\RA\ILINK,1 90=JC:\RA\STARTREK,1 225=JC:\RA\MOD&USER,1 229=JC:\RA\DRWHO,1 231=JC:\RA\MODS,1 260=JC:\RA\GNETMODS,2 261=JC:\RA\GNADMIN,2 266=JC:\RA\GN_TREK,2 ORIGIN: These are the origin lines to attach to outgoing messages. You may have up to five origin lines, specified by the numbers 1-5 and followed by the text to use in the origin line. HUBORIGIN: Origin line to add to local messages from your hub. Only one Hub origin is supported, so there is no need to specify a number. BAD: This is for bad message control. The first argument must be one of the following: IGNORE : Ignore bad messages KEEP : Keep bad messages (see below) AUTO : Auto-JAM new conferences. The second argument is the path to create Auto-JAM bases in. Like the STATUS command in SUARM.CFG, this MUST be included, but will be ignored unless AUTO mode is used. KEEPBAD: This is the base ID to keep bad messages in. It is only used when BAD mode is set to KEEP. The remaining entries are conference definitions. Each line represents one conference. The left argument is the number of the conference on your hub (and, thus, in your mail packets). The right argument is the Base ID to assign to that conference, and the origin line number to use for that conference. If there is nothing on the right of the equal sign, messages from that conference will be ignored. Every effore has been made to keep the SUARM configuration files easy to understand and modify. You might want to look at the configuration files generated by SUARMCFG when you first set up the program to get a better look at how things are set up. * GLOBALIZING It is possible to use commands normally seen in a BBS config file in SUARM.CFG. Doing this will use that command for EVERY BBS that SUARM tosses to/from. For example, most BBS's (RA being a MAJOR exception!) use conference zero for their Main Board, and also force all users (even BBS's doing mail runs) to download that conference. Odds are you aren't going to want to import your hubs' Main Boards into your BBS, and will eventually get tired of seeing them in your bad message base. This is where globalization comes in handy. By adding the line: 0= to your SUARM.CFG file, messages from conference zero on EVERY BBS you toss to/from with SUARM will be ignored and not imported. Likewise, if none of your networks have a specific origin line format, they can all use the same origin line by including a line similar to this one in SUARM.CFG: ORIGIN=1,Connections! BBS * Annex/GNet/USENet * Vineland, NJ and deleting the ORIGIN= lines from your individual BBS configs. * OVERRIDING On the other hand, there may be times when you want to do something all the time EXCEPT under certain circumstances. To do this, you can add commands normally used in SUARM.CFG in a BBS's configuration to override the normal setup. For example, let's say you want to get status reports from each mail run except for one particular board you import 300 conferences from and don't feel like wading through those long reports. In that BBS's configuration, you can add the line: STATUS=NO, (note the empty field for a base ID) to keep SUARM from generating status reports. Other BBS's will still generate reports. Or if you have to download a certain network's packets by hand, and they end up in a different directory from the others, you can specify new QWK and REP paths for that BBS only: QWKPATH=C:\QMPRO\DOWNLOAD\ REPPATH=C:\QMPRO\UPLOAD\ Note that you can also override commands you may have globalized earlier. Using our origin line example in the section on globalization, let's say one of five networks you import wants a specific origin line format. You could then override your previously globalized command: ORIGIN=1,ILink: Connections! * Vineland, NJ * 609-794-8907 Globalization and Overriding help make SUARM the most flexible QWK tosser out for Remote Access today. You might want to take the time to familiarize yourself with the commands used in the configuration files and with the examples given above. I almost guarantee you'll find them handy. IN CONCLUSION SHUT UP AND RUN THE MAIL is a Shareware program. If you use it and find that it fits your needs, you are required to register your copy. SUARM is not crippled in any way; it comes ready to run "out of the box." Registration, however, will stop the program from sending you "nag" messages periodically, and remove the "[UNREG!!]" comment from your origin lines. It will also act as a sign of encouragement to us and other Shareware authors to keep developing, and help to underwrite those efforts. (Hey, even programmers gotta eat!) To register SUARM, fill out the form included in the program archive as REGISTER.TXT, print it out, and send it along with a registration fee of $30.00 (US) to: MICHAEL E. NELSON 1349 ROOSEVELT BLVD. VINELAND, NJ 08360-6590 Registration also entitles you to free upgrades as the program is improved and updated. If you have an Internet account, and want to get on our mailing list for information on the program and updates, please send E-Mail to: suarminfo@cnx.sccsi.com for more information on how to subscribe. Thanks, and enjoy the program! -- Pab and Mike. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANK YOUS Special thanks go out to: Ronnie Motta, Jack Passarella, Andrew Milner, Bryan Irrera, Mark May, Kathy ("Coconuts") Lessa, Patrick Spreng (for the name "Shut Up And Run The Mail"), the rest of the crowd at the Annex, Jim ("Meine Lebenswerbung Mit Alma") Lee, The Knack, Andy Keeves, Boyd and the rest of the gang at Planet Connect ("I have found God, he is on Galaxy Four, and Boyd is his prophet!"), Mark "Sparky" Herring, Darryl Basner (God rest his soul), Gene Roddenberry and Rick Berman, Larry Bibich, Too Much Joy, Evan Dorkan, "Milk And Cheese," "Wings To Go" Authentic Buffalo Style Chicken Wings[tm], whoever invented the Internet, and anybody else we could remember to thank if we weren't typing this at 12:43 AM with a deadline fast approaching.... ABOUT THE AUTHORS MICHAEL NELSON is best known as the founder of EMPIRE! and author of a number of popular door programs for Remote Access and other BBS's, including "The Wall," "The Profile," "Musicom," and "Danger Zone." He is also the SysOp of Connections! BBS in Vineland, NJ, one of the founders of GeniusNET, and generally considered an easy mark when it comes to finding new beta testers for RA products. PAB SUNGENIS suprised the on-line world as the author of PabQwk, the first QWK reader written specifically for an 8-bit system (the Atari XE) in 1992. He was also the author of the award winning AtariLink BBS program and gained notoriety as the host of the Morning Asylum on WSBU-FM for three years. SUARM is his first major contribution to the MSDOS world since winning a 486 laptop on the game show "Jeopardy!" in October of 1993.