The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader, version 2.12
Copyright (C) 1992 by Cutting Edge Computing
All Rights Reserved.

Operations Manual
Written by George Hatchew

Cutting Edge Computing
PO Box 90476
Burton, Michigan USA 48509

BBS Support Number: 313-743-8464
Voice Tech Support: 313-743-9283 (for registered users)



TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
LICENSE AGREEMENT 3
INTRODUCTION 4
What is Offline Mail? 4
Why Bother to Read Mail? 5
What Will The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader Do For Me? 5
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 6
Software Requirements 6
Hardware Requirements 6

Required External Programs 7
Optional External Programs 8
COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS 9
INSTALLATION AND SETUP 10
THE PRIMARY MENUS 12
The SETUP Menu 12
The Miscellaneous Sub-Menu 12
Global Reader Toggles 13
Message Reading Options 15
Enter/Reply Options 18
Tagline Configuration 20
Memory Swapping Options 22
Printer Configuration 24
Color Configuration 25
Video Configuration 26
National Language Support 28
The Directories Sub-Menu 30
The Archivers Sub-Menu 37
The Strings Sub-Menu 39
The Registration Sub-Menu 40
GLOBAL COMMAND KEYS 41
THE MAIN MENU 44
Open Mail Packet 44
Closed Packet Menu 45
Packet Management 46
Setup Parameters 46
Quit The Blue Wave 46
THE OPEN PACKET MENU 47
Read Mail Packet 47
Enter New Mail in Any Area 49
View, Edit or Kill Replies 50
Welcome Messages and Bulletins 50
Offline Configuration 50
File Request/View New Files 50
Quit and Close Packet 51
THE CLOSED PACKET MENU 52
Enter New Mail in Any Area 52
View, Edit, or Kill Replies 52
Offline Configuration 52
File Request 53
Quit to Main Menu 53
OFFLINE CONFIGURATIONS 54
FILE REQUESTING 57
READING MESSAGES 59
Message Movement 60
Message Command Keys 62
THE REPLIES MANAGER 70
ENTERING MESSAGES 73
Entering Local, Echomail, and QWK-style Messages 73




Echomail versus Netmail 75
Entering Netmail 76
KEYWORD SEARCHING 80
USING THE MOUSE 82
TAGLINES 85
Installing John Hancock 86
The "Prompt" Tagline Selection Type 86
Tagline File Format 88
TAGFILES.BW 89
USING THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR 90
The Configuration Menu 90
The Blue Wave Bundling Commands 94
Lastread Pointers and Bundling Commands 96
Bundling Command Macros 97
Example Bundling Commands 97
APPENDIX A
Files Created, Maintained, and Used by the Reader 98
APPENDIX B
Running the Reader Under DESQview 99
PRODUCT SUPPORT 100
INDEX OF KEY WORDS 101






LICENSE AGREEMENT
-----------------

Cutting Edge Computing has taken every precaution to ensure that no harm
or damage will occur on systems running The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader. However, we cannot be responsible for any damages or other
losses suffered as a result of running The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader
on your system. The user assumes full responsibility for the proper use
of this mail system, whether damage occurs as a fault of operator error

or software error. NO WARRANTIES ARE IMPLIED OR EXPRESSLY STATED.

The Blue Wave Offline Mail System and this documentation are copyrighted
materials of Cutting Edge Computing. Cutting Edge Computing reserves all
rights to these materials, and is protected under United States and
International Copyright Laws. No part of these materials may be
reproduced or modified in any way without the prior express written
permission of Cutting Edge Computing.

Use of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader constitutes acceptance of the
stated terms and conditions. Cutting Edge Computing reserves all rights
which are not expressly granted.

The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader is fully copyrighted, and said
copyright is registered in Washington D.C. with the United States
Copyright Office. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader is NOT FREEWARE. It
is distributed under the concept of ShareWare. Users are allowed to try
this program in its unregistered state for 30 days before paying for and
registering the mail system with Cutting Edge Computing. If, after 30
days, you decide that The Blue Wave Offline Reader performs to your
expectations, you are required by law to pay for and register your copy
with Cutting Edge Computing. If the software does not meet your needs,
and you do not plan on registering with Cutting Edge Computing after your
30 day trial period, you are to cease usage of the mail system.
Continued use beyond the authorized evaluation period requires payment of
the registration fee in full.

Cutting Edge Computing grants an unlimited license to make and distribute
unregistered copies of this software. Absolutely no modifications to the
files contained in the software package, including this documentation
file, may be made before distribution. No fee may be charged by anyone
other than Cutting Edge Computing beyond the actual cost of providing
these copies without the prior written consent of Cutting Edge Computing.












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INTRODUCTION
------------

Welcome to the world of offline E-Mail! You are about to evaluate one of
the easiest to use, most powerful, most configurable, and one of the most
popular offline mail systems available today. The Blue Wave Mail System
is for novices and experts alike. After over two years of development,
refinement, and never ending user input, The Blue Wave Mail System has
become a favorite offline mail system all over the world. Several
thousand people, from all over the world and from all 50 States have
found the enjoyment and informative world of E-Mail come to life through
the use of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System. But, no matter what OTHER
people think, you're about to see and use the mail reader for yourself.

Because Cutting Edge Computing believes in the concept of ShareWare, and
several thousand registered users from across the globe also believe in
the concept, this offline reader is here for you to evaluate today, and
pay for it tomorrow. ShareWare works because authors and users alike
believe in the system. Please do your part if you use the mail system
for more than your thirty day evaluation period; register your copy!

Complete registration details are found in two separate files contained
within the Blue Wave reader's distribution archive. REGISTER.BW contains
registration information for ordering your registration key in the United
States, Canada, and where a local registration site is not available.
REGISTER.EUR contains registration information for ordering your
registration key from anywhere in Europe.


What is Offline Mail?
---------------------
Before we begin the details of The Blue Wave Offline Reader Operations,
let's take a moment to look at the history of offline mail readers.

Back in the early to mid 1980's, many people were beginning to get home
computers, modems, and began communicating in several ways through
Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's). BBS systems began offering message
bases, where people of similar interests could communicate with each
other through electronic means. In many ways Electronic mail (E-Mail)
was faster than the traditional first-class mail through the postal
service. You could leave a message to a friend, and sign off of the BBS
system. As soon as the recipient signed on, they would see a copy of
their message, and could respond immediately, on line. As time went on,
commercial services began offering E-Mail which could be transmitted to
the message recipient several thousands of miles away in a matter of
hours, minutes, or even seconds. Eventually, many people had become
dependant on e-mail.

While the commercial companies were developing new and better ways to
transmit e-mail across the world, so were the amateur BBS operators.
Several amateur e-mail networks and technologies were formed. One of the
largest amateur e-mail networks still popular today is FidoNet. (Don't
let the term 'amateur' fool you. Many of the people that are responsible
for keeping FidoNet up and running may be classified as amateurs, but


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several years of experience and knowledge, and sometimes thousands of
dollars of equipment, have earned them a respectable very title.)

Today, FidoNet is over 10,000 nodes strong, and still growing! As the
networks and the number of home computer users has grown, the need for
reading and replying to e-mail offline has become more and more
essential. When BBSing was young, there was plenty of time to read and
reply to messages on-line. Today, with more users than ever and more e-
mail flowing than ever, there just is not enough time for every user to
spend a half hour, an hour, or even two hours on-line to their local BBS.
Long distance phone rates can also get to be outrageously expensive after
just a few of these sessions per month.

This is where offline mail reading comes into play. With today's
innovations in offline mail processing, you can spend just a very few
minutes per day on-line to your favorite BBS system and do all of your
work offline, where there is no time limit to run up against, and where
the phone company's meter is not running.

Best of all, you can read your mail at any time you like. Today's
communications software allows you to build script files, which in turn
allows you to retrieve your mail automatically at even the oddest times
of the day or night (especially when long distance phone rates are low).
When you're ready to read your mail, all you need to do is fire up your
favorite offline mail system, and you are on your way!


Why Bother to Read Mail?
------------------------
At this point you may be asking yourself; "Why even bother with it all?".
Some people unfamiliar with mail networks and e-mail sometimes cannot
understand the enjoyment and knowledge that can come out of being an
active participant on an e-mail network. Not only can you communicate
with people from all corners of the world, but you can learn more about
your favorite computer software, share recipes with others, learn how to
repair your leaking roof, get advice from others on product quality
ratings, or just join in a chat between long distance friends.

As a matter of fact, FidoNet offers well over 300 e-mail topics ranging
from Aardvarks to Zymurgy.


What Will The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader Do For Me?
------------------------------------------------------
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader will allow you to actively participate
in this fun and fascinating hobby to any extent you like. You can
retrieve mail from your favorite BBS system to your own computer, where
you are free to take your time and enjoy yourself. You aren't forced
against the BBS system's time limits or the long distance charges. You
are also doing your part to allow more people on your favorite BBS system
so there are less busy signals, and more productive on-line sessions. It
is a complete mail manager, which allows you to reply to messages, save
messages to disk in a text file, print messages to your printer, and help
you search out only the messages that you are interested in through the
use of keyword searching. But most of all, to enjoy yourself!

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-------------------

In order for The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader to be useful to you, your
favorite BBS system must support offline mail reading through the use of
an on-line message bundler, which is sometimes called an Offline Mail
Door. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader supports approximately 9 out of
10 BBS message bundle types in use today on BBS systems. If your host
system (the BBS) has The Blue Wave Mail Door available, you can read
packets that it creates with this mail reader.

Another common offline mail bundle type is called the "QWK" mail packet.
The QWK mail packet is in very wide use among several BBS systems. If
the mail packets that the sysop's on-line door creates has a file
extension of "QWK", "QW1", "QW2", etc., the mail packet will most likely
be readable with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader. If you are unsure of
the type of offline mail that your host BBS system supports, ask your
sysop. He or she will probably be glad to help get you started in your
offline mail experience.


Software Requirements
---------------------
To get the most productive use out of The Blue Wave Mail System, it is
suggested that you be running MS-DOS or PC-DOS version 3.0 or higher.
The reader has been thoroughly tested with all of these versions and
works with no problem.

If you are running IBM Operating System/2 (OS/2) version 2.0, the reader
will operate to full capacity in a "DOS Compatibility Box". The reader
will NOT operate in OS/2 native mode.

If you are multi-tasking your PC with software such as QuarterDeck's
DESQview or MicroSoft Windows, some special settings may need to be set.
The reader is fully DESQview aware and compatible. Please see the
appropriate Appendix for more information about operating the reader in
one of these environments.


Hardware Requirements
---------------------
For optimum performance, the following minimum hardware configuration
should be present:

* An IBM PC, AT, 80386, 80486, or fully compatible personal computer.
* A minimum of 256K of free memory, but 350K is suggested.
* A hard disk with at least 500,000 bytes free.

See the next page for more information about the hardware requirements.






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Although a hard disk is recommended, a floppy drive only system can still
be used. However, you may find operation with a floppy-based system to
be less than optimal, due to the memory paging and overlay system built
into the reader. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader is designed to use as
little memory as possible, which means the reader works very well in
tight memory situations. The reader has been tested continuously under
DESQview with only 255K of available memory with little or no memory
constraints.

Due to the constraints of the MS-DOS and PC-DOS operating system, the
memory available to the reader at any one time is limited to 640K, minus
any TSR (memory resident) programs you may have running, and the memory
that DOS itself uses. However, for efficient execution of external
programs from within the reader, a memory swapping system has been built
in. The memory swapping system can free all but 4K of the memory used by
the reader when shelling to DOS, executing an external editor or
communications program, and when shelling to the archive compression
programs.

The memory swapping system is able to utilize EMS memory, XMS memory, and
Extended memory above the 1 megabyte DOS barrier. If you have any of
these types of memory available, it would be to your advantage to
configure the reader to use this extra memory for quick memory swapping.

If you do not have any of the above mentioned types of memory,
approximately 250K of free disk space can be used to emulate the
existence of this type of memory. (You may have heard the term 'disk
swapping' used before.)

Additionally, systems equipped with an EGA or VGA video card and monitor
can make use of reader's support for extended line modes, allowing either
43 (EGA systems) or 50 (VGA systems) lines to be displayed on one screen.
The extended number of lines allows you to view more of a message on the
monitor at once.


Required External Programs
--------------------------
Nearly every offline mail system in existence requires the use of an
external compression program; sometimes referred to as 'archivers' or
'data compression utilities'. There are several popular archive formats
in use on public and private BBS systems today. Some of these programs
are FreeWare, and others are ShareWare.

PKZIP and PKUNZIP by PKWare, and ARJ by Robert K. Jung are two of the
most popular archive formats available. Each of these programs is
ShareWare, and is almost definitely available from the same source you
received The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader. Most people who are active
in BBSing already have these utilities on their system, so you may be all
ready to begin.






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LHA by Yoshi is another popular archive program that is FreeWare. If you
cannot find any of these data compression programs locally, you are
welcome to log into The Blue Wave Support BBS (Wild! Blue) in Flint,
Michigan and download them at no cost. The phone number for the Wild!
Blue BBS is 313-743-8464, and the BBS is running a USRobotics 14400
HST/v32/v32bis compatible high speed modem.

The only other required program for full operation of The Blue Wave
Offline Mail System is an ASCII file or text file editor. A very simple
editor is supplied with your copy of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader.
You should have TED3.COM and TED3.DOC in your distribution archive. At
this time, an external text editor is required for editing new messages
and replying to messages with your reader. TED3 is supplied because of
the small size and because it has been released to the Public Domain (no
fee is required for use). TED3 is not a product of Cutting Edge
Computing.

If you already have a favorite text editor, and you would like to use it
to enter messages with the reader, you can do so by modifying the Editor
Command Line in the reader's setup menu (this will be discussed later).
Some excellent text editors that come highly recommended by other users
include BOXER by David Hamel, QEDIT by SemWare, and SLED by Sam Wilmott.
All of these files are available on The Blue Wave Support BBS, and are
probably also available on a BBS near you.


Optional External Programs
--------------------------
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader provides an internal means of loading
and executing several optional external programs.

John Hancock, an external tagline selection and beautification utility by
Dan Moore is supported, as well as a quick and convenient shell to
external utilities such as your communications program and ASCII file
viewer/editor.

The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader sports a simple interface to an
external spell checker, which allows you to spell check your messages and
replies quickly and easily.

These external utilities will be discussed in more detail in the
appropriate sections of the documentation.














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COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS
-----------------------

Before jumping into the installation procedures, you should take a moment
to quickly read over the command line parameters described here. When
first executing the reader, you may need to add one or two command line
switches to your command line.

If the reader freezes when first loaded, it may be because of an
incompatibility in the video system. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader,
under normal circumstances, will detect the type of monitor that you are
using, and adjust its video writes accordingly. However, some situations
may arise where you will need to override the reader's auto-detection,
and set the video mode yourself.

To execute the program normally, simply type BWAVE from the DOS command
line. To override the default auto-detection, add the following
switch(es) to the command line:

-m Forces the reader into MONOCHROME Mode.

-c Forces the reader to modify its screen writes to help eliminate
"CGA Snow", which early CGA monitors sometimes have a problem
with.

-b Forces the reader to use BIOS screen writes. If know your computer
does not support IBM Direct Video Writes, or if the reader
'freezes' when you first load it, you will probably need to add
this command line parameter. It is highly recommended that you
NOT use this switch, if at all possible. BIOS screen writes are
extremely S-L-O-W.

-lcd Forces the reader to map colors compatible with LCD displays.

-s Forces the reader to execute in a mode which is very helpful and
compatible with speech hardware boards and speech software for the
blind and visually challenged. Many hours of work has been put
into the reader to make working with speech software an enjoyable
experience.

Once the reader is successfully loaded, you can configure all of these
command line switches to your liking in the reader's setup menu. After
they are saved to the reader's configuration file, it will no longer be
necessary to use the command line switches.

There are two more command line parameters that offer more advanced users
great power and flexibility in automating their offline mail sessions:

-t Forces the reader to execute the defined TERMINAL program command
line (defined in the reader's setup) automatically upon reaching
the main menu.

-l Automatically loads the NEWEST mail packet in your reader's
'download', or mail packet storage directory upon reaching the
reader's main menu.

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INSTALLATION AND SETUP
----------------------

Before attempting to run the reader, there are two items that you should
double check in your system configuration. Your CONFIG.SYS file, found
in the root directory of your boot drive, should contain a line similar
to the following:

FILES=25

This line tells DOS at boot-time to allocate 25 file handles for use by
programs that you will be running on your system. If you already have a
'FILES=' line in your CONFIG.SYS file, and the number after it is 25 or
higher, there will be no problems. At some points of execution in the
reader, there can be up to eight files open at one time. Setting FILES
to 25 or higher will help to insure that there are enough file handles
available to The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader.

The last item to check in your CONFIG.SYS file is the number of buffers
that you are allowing DOS to allocate for faster disk accesses. In your
CONFIG.SYS file, you should have a line that contains the following:

BUFFERS=30

This line tells DOS to allocate enough system memory to hold 30 disk
buffers. This in turn allows DOS to perform disk intensive activities
much more quickly than normal. If the number of buffers in your
CONFIG.SYS file is already set higher than 30, that is all right. If you
are running a disk cache program, you can ignore this advice. However,
you should follow the advice of your caching software. In many cases the
cache documentation will tell you to set BUFFERS=3, or to a very low
number. This enables the disk caching software to do the disk buffering,
rather than DOS's slower buffering.

Your next step is to create a new directory on your drive. Throughout
the documentation, the reader's directory will be assumed to be
'C:\BWAVE'. Of course, if you want to place the reader on a different
drive and directory, that is your option. It is highly suggested that
you follow the manual's directory setup until you become familiar with
the operation of the reader. At that point in time, you will be
comfortable enough with the system to be able to modify your setup to
suit your likings or needs.

All of the files from the reader's distribution archive should be copied
into the C:\BWAVE directory. This includes:

BWAVE.EXE
BWSETUP.HLP
TAGFILES.BW
TAGLINES.BW
KEYWORDS.BW
NAMES.BW
TED3.COM

At this point in time, you're ready to begin running the reader!

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The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader is, for the most part, self
configuring. When you execute BWAVE.EXE from the DOS prompt, the reader
first checks to see if the reader's configuration file (BWAVE200.CFG) is
present. If this is a first time installation, or it cannot find
BWAVE200.CFG, you will be asked if you wish to continue building a new
configuration file. If you have made a mistake, and do not wish to build
a new configuration file, press 'N'. Otherwise, press 'Y', and the
reader will begin to perform its initial installation.

On floppy drive systems, or systems with slow hard drives, the reader may
take up to 30 seconds to bring you to the main Blue Wave Menu. During
this time, the reader is searching your DOS Path statement for several
external programs that may be needed to run the reader. If these
programs are found, they will automatically be placed into your
BWAVE200.CFG file with the proper command lines to execute them.

The following programs are automatically inserted into your configuration
file when found: PKZIP/PKUNZIP, PKARC/PKXARC, PKPAK/PKUNPAK, PAK,
LHARC/LHA, ARJ, Q.EXE (Qedit, an external text file editor), and TED3.COM
(when Qedit cannot be found).

If you have these programs somewhere on your system, but they are not
included within your DOS 'path' statement, it will be necessary to
manually insert them into the SETUP menu, which will be described in the
next section.

When the reader is finished building its configuration file, you will be
taken to the Main Menu. From here, you should select option 'S' to be
taken to the SETUP menu. Full, detailed descriptions of every item on
the SETUP menu follows.


























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THE PRIMARY MENUS
-----------------

The Blue Wave Offline Reader is divided into four 'primary' menus, which
include the MAIN menu, the SETUP menu, the OPEN PACKET menu, and the
CLOSED PACKET menu. The first menu that you encounter as you enter the
program is the MAIN menu. The main menu has items that take you to the
various functions of the reader.

Navigating the menu system is very easy. You will notice that the menu
selections have their first letters highlighted. You can choose a menu
item by simply typing the highlighted letter on the menu, by pointing the
mouse cursor (if you have a mouse and a mouse driver installed) at the
desired menu item and clicking the left mouse button, or by moving the
highlighted menu bar to the desired item with your cursor (arrow) keys
and pressing ENTER.

Since you are probably eager to get started, we will begin by discussing
the SETUP menu.


The SETUP Menu
--------------
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader was designed to be extremely easy to
use, yet very configurable. A first glance at the setup menu may seem
overwhelming, but don't let the appearance scare you. It is really quite
easy to navigate and configure to your liking.

When first selecting 'S' from the MAIN menu, you will be taken directly
to the SETUP menu. The setup menu is a pull-down menu structure that is
grouped into several subdivisions: Miscellaneous, Directories,
Archivers, Strings, Registration, and Quit. The Miscellaneous pull-down
menu is further divided into categories to allow you to find options
quickly and easily.

Each menu item on the setup menu contains a short, one-line description
of the menu command at the bottom of the screen to be meant as a quick
reference guide. The help text that is displayed at the bottom of the
screen is loaded from an external file called BWSETUP.HLP. The reader
expects to find BWSETUP.HLP in the current directory. If the file is not
available to the reader, it will display a red warning message informing
you of the fact, and the help messages will not be available. Although
the help text serves as a quick memory jogging tool, for the most
complete description of each option you should refer to this Operations
Manual.


The Miscellaneous Sub-Menu
--------------------------
As described above, the miscellaneous sub-menu is divided
further into sub categories to make locating certain options,
toggles, and settings easy. This menu is grouped into Global
Reader Toggles, Reading Options, Enter/Reply Options, Tagline
Configuration, Memory Swapping Options, Printer Configuration,
Color Configuration, and Video Configuration.

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Global Reader Toggles
---------------------

On-Screen Clock:
If this option is toggled ON, the reader will display
the current date and time on-screen throughout the
entire mail-reading session. Whenever there is
keyboard inactivity, the clock will be updated. If
you are running under a MULTITASKER, such as
DESQview, it may be a good idea to turn the clock
OFF. Turning the clock off in this situation will
most likely improve the performance of any background
tasks that may be running.

Mouse Support Enabled:
If you have a mouse installed on your system, the
reader can utilize the capabilities of your mouse to
make your offline mail session nearly keyboard-free.
If a mouse is detected (you must have a mouse driver
installed), the reader normally activates it and
makes it available for use. If you do not want the
mouse support enabled in the reader, set this option
to "No". For full details of using your mouse to
full capacity in the reader, please see the section
in the documentation titled "Using the Mouse".

FidoNet-QWK Compatible:
Due to differences in message formatting between
various message networks, this option is available in
the setup menu. If you use The Blue Wave Mail System
in a FidoNet message environment, you will need to
set this option to "Yes", which is the default mode.
If you use the reader in other networks, such as
RIME, Itelec Net, or almost any other network, you
should set this option to "No". It will cause the
reader to format messages to be uploaded to the BBS
in the appropriate manner.

NOTE OF CAUTION: If you have this option set to "No"
while using the reader in a FidoNet area, you may get
warnings from moderators asking you to fix your
reader! This is the appropriate place to do it.

Beep on Error Messages:
When the reader wants your attention (an error
message, for example), it normally sounds a short
beep. If you wish to turn off this beep, set this
option to "No".

Exploding Window Frames:
Exploding windows are used throughout the reader to
create a dramatic and eye pleasing effect. If these
exploding windows are too slow on your system, or
they just plain drive you crazy, you can disable them
by setting this option to "No".

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Display Archiver Output:
This option is set to "Yes" by default so that you
are able to see the display of the external mail
archivers when they are in action. This is mainly
provided as a debugging tool so that you can find
problems during your first few uses of the reader.
For a cleaner and faster display, you should set this
to "No" when you are comfortable that your archivers
are working properly.

The reader hides the output of the archivers by
directing their screen writes to the NUL DOS device.
Some archiving programs (LHA/LHARC for example) do
not allow their output to be redirected to a NUL
device, so their screen writes will 'bleed through'

unless you add a /n2 command line parameter to LHA.

Packet List 2nd Sort Field:
When displaying mail packets for selection (The "Open
Mail Packet" command and the "Packet Management"
command on the MAIN menu), the packets are displayed
from NEWEST to OLDEST in the selection window.

If you would like the reader to sort the packets on a
secondary field before displaying them, you can
instruct it to do so here.

There are three settings for this menu item: None,
Root Name, and Extension. When set to None, the
reader does not do any further sorting on the list of
mail packets. They are simply displayed from NEWEST
to OLDEST.

If this option is set to 'Root Name', the packets
will be sorted in alphabetical order, and then by
date and time.

When set to 'Extension', the packets will be sorted
by packet extension, and then by date and time.

Screen Saver Activation:
The Blue Wave Offline Reader has a built in Screen
Saver option. After the defined number of seconds
have elapsed with no keyboard or mouse input, the
reader will clear the screen and display a moving
window informing you that the screen saver is active.

If you do not want to enable this feature, set the
number of seconds to 0. If you feel this feature
will come in handy, define the number of seconds to
wait for keyboard inactivity before activating the
screen saver (120 seconds is 2 minutes, etc.). The
maximum value is 9999 seconds, and the minimum value
is 60 seconds. 0 is accepted only to disable the
screen saver activation.

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Message Reading Options
-----------------------

Automatic Title Scan:
The reader defaults to showing a "Title Scan" each
time you enter a new message area from the "Choose
Area to Read" menu. The title scan makes it fast and
easy to scan through the message headers in the
message area. On the title scan screen, you can see
information about each message in the area including
the FROM: field, the TO: field, the SUBJECT: field,
and whether you have read or replied to the message.
If you decide to disable the automatic title scan, it
can still be called up by pressing "T" in read mode.

Automatic Personal Mail Scan:
When you first open a mail packet for reading, The
Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader will automatically scan
for personal messages (messages addressed to you).
To disable the automatic personal mail scan, simply
set this option to "No". A global personal mail scan
can be performed at any time during your mail session
by pressing at the "Choose Area to Read"
selection window.

Noise on Personal Messages:
When this option is set to "Yes", the reader will
sound a two-tone beep in message reading mode
whenever you encounter a message that is addressed to
you. To disable this noise and allow the family
members to continue sleeping, turn this option off.

Read Messages Sorted on Which Field:
Before reading messages in a message area, the reader
will sort them by their SUBJECT: lines, FROM: fields,
or TO: fields if this option is enabled. The fields
are sorted into alphabetical order. In order to
maintain message threads, the reader ignores any
leading "RE:" characters during the message sort of
subjects.

Save Message Read/Mark/Reply Tags:
This menu item has three different settings: Ask,
Yes, and No.

During a mail session, the reader keeps track of
which messages you have read, which messages you have
replied to, and which messages you have "marked" for
later operations. In order for these marks to be
saved between mail sessions, the reader must place
the 'bookmark' file back into the mail packet that
you are reading. Because this process involves
invoking the external archivers and partially
repacking the mail bundle, it may take a few seconds
on some machines.

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If this option is set to ASK, the reader will prompt
you just before closing a packet as to whether or not
you would like to perform the process of repacking
the mail archive, skip the packing, or simply delete
the mail packet.

If this option is set to YES, it will be performed
automatically by the reader.

Begin Reading with First Unread Message:
If you would like the reader to place you at the
first message that you have not read when first
entering a message area, set this option to "Yes".
If set to "No", the reader begins with the first msg.

Begin Reading with Last Unread Message:
This function performs similarly to the previously
described option, but it will begin reading messages
after your LAST read message. This option is most
useful when you often skip reading certain messages
by using the automatic title scan. If you later re-
enter the message area, you will be placed at the
point where you quit reading messages. If you have
read the very last message in an area, you will be
placed at the last message when starting to read.
You cannot combine this option with the above option.

Jump to Next Area with Unread Messages:
When you are finished reading a message area, the
reader will automatically return to the "Choose Area
to Read" selection window. If you would like the
reader to automatically advance to the NEXT message
area with UNREAD messages, set this option to "Yes".
If set to "No", the reader's highlight bar will stay
on the current selection area and you can advance to
another area manually.

Only Display Areas with Messages:
When loading a mail packet, the reader normally
displays ALL message areas that you have turned on in
your offline mail door configuration, even if they
have 0 messages in them. If you would like the
reader to only display message areas that actually
contain messages at the "Choose Area to Read"
selection window, simply toggle this option to "Yes".

Inform when All Messages have been Read:
After choosing a message area to read through the
"Choose Area to Read" selection window, the reader
normally processes the message area and begins
reading immediately. However, if this menu item is
set to "Yes", the reader will display a dialogue box
with the question: "All messages have been read.


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Read Again? (Y/N)" if you have already read all of
the messages in the area you have just selected.

Delete Mail Packet After Reading:
This menu option comes into play when you have
finished reading a mail packet and are ready to quit
back to the reader's main menu. If this option is
set to "Ask", the reader will ask you if you want to
delete the mail packet you are about to close. If
you select "No" to this menu item, the packet will
always be preserved (you can later delete the mail
packet through the PACKET MANAGEMENT function
available on the main menu).

Please be aware that once you delete a mail packet,
none of the message in that packet can be read again!
For this reason, there is no "Yes" default to this
menu item.






































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Enter/Reply Options
-------------------

Add To Existing Reply Packets:
When the reader unpacks a mail bundle to read, it
checks your reply storage directory to see if a reply
packet already exists for the BBS that you are about
to read mail for. If one does exist, you are
normally asked whether you would like to continue
adding to the reply packet or if you want to delete
it. (This is the default "Ask" mode for this option)

Some users of the mail system have developed script
files and batch files for their communications
programs that automatically delete the reply packet
after it has been uploaded to the BBS. Therefore,
they assume that if a reply packet exists in the
reader's upload directory that it has NOT yet been
uploaded, and it should be added to.

When this option is set to "Yes", the reader skips
the "Add to this mail reply bundle" prompt, and
automatically assumes that the packet should be added
to.

When to Quote Message Replies:
When replying to a message, it is often a good idea
to quote a small portion of the message you are
replying to so that the context of your message is
understood. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader has
three options for quoting messages.

You can tell the reader to NEVER quote a message
("No"). In this case, the reader will load your
editor with an "empty" file, just as if you were
entering a brand new message.

If you select "Yes" for this option, the reader will
always quote the message you are replying to, and
load your editor with the quoted message intact.

If you would like to select whether or not to quote
the message for each one that you reply to, set this
option to "Ask". Each time your press or
to reply to a message, the reader will first ask you
whether or not to quote the current message.

Insert Quote Header in Replies:
When quoting a message reply, the reader will insert
the "Quote Header" you have defined under the
'Strings' setup menu item (to be discussed later).
If you want the quote header to appear in your
messages you must enable this option and also define
a Quote Header String to be used.

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Prefix Reply Subjects with "Re:":
When replying to a message, the reader normally takes
the subject line of your reply, and prefixes it with
the "Re:" string. This enables other people to see
that this is indeed a reply to a message, NOT the
original message.

For example, if you were to reply to a message with
the subject of "Blue Wave", the message subject would
become "Re: Blue Wave".

Some people like this procedure, and many others do
not. Therefore, you can configure the reader to
behave as you like in this regard.

Automatically Save Messages and Replies:
After entering a message through the reader, a small
menu normally appears with the following options:
Save, Edit, Kill, Check Spelling, or Make Carbons.
You have the option of bypassing this menu and
forcing a SAVE of the message by setting this menu
item to "Yes". Please be aware, however, that if you
need to edit or delete a message that you have
entered, it will be necessary to do so through the
reader's VIEW/EDIT/KILL Replies menu item.

Quote-O-Meter Warning Threshold:
The Blue Wave Mail Reader has an internal quote
percentage calculator that can help you to keep the
amount of quoted material in your message replies
under control. When quoting messages, it is always
best to keep the amount of quoted material to only
the essential clips of text that you need by deleting
lines that are unnecessary.

The reader defaults to a quote-warning ratio of 80%
on first time installations. This means that after
editing your message, the reader will scan your reply
and warn you if over 80% of your message is quoted
material. If you exceed the threshold designated
here, you'll immediately be given the option of
reediting your message or continuing.

Although you can disable this option by setting the
percentage to 0, it is highly recommended that you
keep the warning level near the 90% mark. If your
message text exceeds 90% of quoted material, you
should seriously consider trimming your message down.

Set Default Netmail Bits:
When entering FidoNet Netmail through the reader, you
are asked for the message attributes that you want to
place on the message. This allows you to define the
DEFAULT bits used. See "Entering FidoNet Netmail".

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Tagline Configuration
---------------------

Taglines (or signature lines, as previous versions of the
reader referred to them) have fast become a 'second pastime' of
many people. In fact, some networks even have tagline sharing
echos and conferences where people swap their funny, witty, and
sometimes cynical creations.

Taglines have been dedicated a complete section in the
documentation due to their popularity and the very powerful way
in which The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader allows you to manage
taglines.

Tagline Selection Type:
This menu item allows you to define the DEFAULT
tagline selection type to be used for placing
taglines on your messages. There are five possible
choices here.

If taglines do not interest you, and you do not want
to be bothered with them at all, simply set this item
to "None". You will never have to bother with the
pesky things.

If you are a creative person, and you want to
customize a tagline for every message you write, set
this option to "Manual". After entering a message
through the reader, you'll be given an editing field
which allows you to type your own.

If you are adventurous, you can opt to have the
reader select taglines randomly from a text file.
(The reader comes with a sample tagline file called
TAGLINES.BW). Taglines will then be selected at
random from the tagline file that you can define in
the 'Directories' portion of the setup menu.

If you are finicky or want the most power out of the
tagline selection process, set your tagline selection
type to 'Prompt'. After each message you save in the
reader, you'll be given a 'pop-up' list of all the
taglines from your tagline selection file
(TAGLINES.BW). Through this pop-up list, you can
perform ALL of the above described tagline entry
types, or simply select a tagline that suits your
fancy.








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If you are plain crazy, or love to have more fun with
taglines than the average bear, hunt down a program
called JOHN HANCOCK, written by Dan Moore. At the
time of this writing, version 3.0 is the latest. If
you cannot find this file locally, you are welcome to
download it free from the Blue Wave Support BBS
(information at the tail end of the documentation).
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader features internal
support for this external tagline selection utility.
Set the menu option to read 'J.Hancock' if you would
always like to invoke John Hancock for your tagline
selections.

Whichever your preference, if you like taglines, it
is highly recommended that you read the section of
the documentation called 'TAGLINES' for complete
information. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader
boasts one of the most powerful tagline selection
systems available in an offline mail reader!

Check for Dupes Before Adopting:
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader has the ability to
adopt taglines directly out of messages that you are
reading. When you adopt a tagline, not only do you
give it a good home, but you can add it to your own
personal collection of taglines. Adopting a tagline
in the reader will place a tagline that is on the
screen into your TAGLINES.BW file.

When this option is turned on, the reader will scan
your tagline file to make sure that the one you are
adopting isn't already a part of your collection.
























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Memory Swapping Options
-----------------------

As mentioned previously in the documentation, the reader is
capable of executing several types of external programs for
your convenience and offline messaging productivity. In order
to execute these programs, though, there must be enough free
memory in the 640K DOS region of memory to execute them.

It is possible that at certain points in an offline mail
session, the reader will use nearly 300K of that available
memory. If you factor in any memory resident programs that you
may be running, and the memory required by DOS itself, it is
very possible that some of your external programs will NOT have
enough memory to run.

The reader has the ability to swap all of its used memory to
disk, EMS memory, or XMS memory. This leaves only 4K of the
reader active, making plenty of room for your larger
applications.

Because both memory and disk swapping take some time, this part
of the setup menu allows you to define when and where the
reader should attempt to swap.

Allow swapping to XMS Memory:
When set to "Yes", you are giving the reader
permission to attempt swapping to XMS memory. XMS
memory is available on your system only if you are
running an XMS compatible memory driver such as QRam,
QEMM, 386^Max, the HIMEM.SYS driver supplied by DOS
v5.0, or any number of other available drivers. If
swapping to XMS memory fails, other swap options will
be tried (if they are allowed), and as a last resort,
a disk swap will be performed.

Allow swapping to EMS Memory:
In order for the reader to perform a successful EMS
memory swap, you must be running a LIM 4.0 compatible
EMS driver such as QEMM or 386^Max. The same
provisions apply here as with the previous two menu
items; if the swap to EMS memory fails, other
allowable options will be tried. Only if all of the
other (faster) options have failed will the reader
attempt to swap to disk.

Swap on Shell to Message Editor:
When the reader is ready to load your text editor for
editing messages, it will check to see if you have
told it to swap first. If so, the reader will
attempt a memory swap before loading the editor. If
you have enough memory to run your editor without
swapping, it is highly recommended that you do so.
Swapping takes a bit of time, especially on floppy
drives and slow hard drives.

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Swap on Shell to Archivers:
Swap on Shell to Alt-Fkey Batch Files:
Swap on Shell to Terminal Program:
Swap on Shell to Spell Checker:
Swap on Shell to John Hancock:
Swap on Shell to External File Viewer:
Swap on Shell to DOS:

All of these work the same as the 'Swap on Shell to
Message Editor' described on the previous page. They
are provided to add more flexibility to your reader
setup, rather than just having a single 'Use Memory
Swapping' option.










































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Printer Configuration
---------------------

Default Printer Port:
The reader is able to talk directly to your printer
for the purpose of printing hard copies of messages
in a download packet and copies of your replies.
Here you need to define the port that your printer is
connected to.

If you constantly get an error message indicating
'Printer is not responding', or 'Error writing to
Printer', make sure that you have the correct port
defined here. Supported printer ports are LPT1,
LPT2, and LPT3.

Printer Init String:
Some printers require an initialization string to be
sent to produce the desired output quality or font.
The reader sends the printer initialization string
EACH time you begin a print job. You can enter any
characters here from the IBM character set. Many
printers use 'escape sequences' for printer commands.
In order to enter an ESCape character into the
string, press .

Printer Reset String:
This field functions very similar to the Printer Init
String, but the reader sends the reset string to the
printer AFTER each print job. Use this command if
necessary to restore the state of the printer before
the init string was sent.

Send Form Feed After Printing Each Msg:
When this option is turned on, the reader will send a
form feed to your printer after printing each message
in message reading mode or view replies mode.

Send Form Feed After Printing Each Msg in Batch Mode:
The reader prints in batch mode only when you have
'marked' messages for later printing. Batch printing
mode is invoked from the "Choose Area to Read"
selection window with the F5 key (Msg Utilities).

It is highly recommended that this option be kept
OFF, and is provided for those who really need the
capability.









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Color Configuration
-------------------

Custom Color Configuration:
The custom color configuration option allows you to
customize your screen colors while using the reader
in 'message reading mode'. When you select this
option from the menu, you will have the chance to
change the color of several display items while you
are reading messages.

You'll be taken to a new screen. The top half looks
very similar to the message reading screen. As you
change your color configuration, the sample screen
will be updated so you can immediately see what your
color configuration will look like.

After you change your color configuration, you will
be asked if you would like to permanently save it.
To make the color configuration active for the
current session only, press 'N'. If you would like
to permanently save your color configuration to disk,
answer 'Y'.

Version 1.00 Color Scheme:
Selecting this menu item will set the color
configuration to the Blue Wave version 1.00 default
colors. The version 1.00 color scheme is a black
background with bright colored highlights.

Version 2.00 Color Scheme:
Selecting this menu item will set the color scheme to
the Blue Wave version 2.00 default colors. The Blue
Wave version 2.00 color scheme is a blue message
reading background, with easy-to-read pastel colors
used for highlighting.

Version 2.10 Color Scheme:
Selecting this menu item will set the color scheme to
the Blue Wave version 2.10 default colors. Version
2.10 of the reader allows more color configurability,
primarily to the message header region of the screen.
This color scheme exploits the new color
configuration options; there is a cyan header
background combined with a grey message reading
background for a very dramatic message display.


Those users with monochrome monitors may find that selecting
the version 1.00 default color scheme will produce the best
results. Of course, if you have a monochrome system, you are
free to customize your color configuration so as to produce the
best results for your system. For added convenience, the
currently active color is displayed in words at the bottom of
the split custom color configuration section.

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Video Configuration
-------------------

Write Method:
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader initially installs
itself with DIRECT video screen writes turned on.
Direct video writes are compatible with most systems
today. However, if direct video writes do not work
for you, set this option to BIOS.

BIOS writes should not be used, if at all possible,
due to the extremely slow screen updates that BIOS
mode provides.

CGA Snow Checking:
Turn this option on ONLY if you have an older CGA
video system that displays video 'snow' when the
screen is updated too quickly. Enabling this option
with other video systems will only display
degradation of the video system updates.

LCD Color Mapping:
You should enable this option ONLY if you are running
an LCD screen display that has trouble displaying the
option settings on the SETUP menu. You can
temporarily enable this option through the use of the
-LCD command line parameter.

Monochrome Color Mapping:
You should enable this option ONLY if you are running
a Monochrome video system. This menu item will cause
the reader to 'map' all colors throughout the mail
reader to a 'black and white' color scheme that is
easy to view on monochrome monitors.

Unpredictable results will occur if you are running a
color system and toggle this menu item. Some screens
in the reader will be black and white, while others
will be in color. This is normal behavior. If you
are running a color system, and desire the monochrome
color mapping mode, set the option to ON, save your
configuration, quit the reader, and restart again.

Speech Software Compatible:
Many hours have been spent on the speech software
compatibilities in the reader. This option is
provided for blind and visually challenged users who
have voice synthesis hardware and software installed
on their system. Please see the file SPEECH.DOC.

This speech software compatibility is achieved by the
use of Direct video writes where spoken words are
either unnecessary or undesirable, and BIOS video
writes where the words need to be spoken.


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If you do NOT have a voice synthesis system
installed, you should NOT enable this option.
Certain screen updates, particularly while reading
messages, will be extremely slow, and the words will
not be spoken anyway. Many thanks to Doug Langley
for his help in getting speech software compatibility
into The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader!

Video Mode:
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader has the ability to
use the extended line modes on VGA and EGA equipped
computers.

If the reader detects an EGA video system, it will
allow you to set the number of lines displayed on the
screen to 43.

If the reader detects a VGA video system, it will
allow you to set the number of lines displayed on the
screen to 50.

The extended line modes enable you to view more of a
message on the screen at one time, and see more of
the various selection windows.

Set 25 Lines for Message Editor:
If you are running in one of the extended line modes
(43 or 50 lines per screen), it may be necessary for
the reader to restore the video system to 25 line
mode before shelling to your message editor.

Some message editors cannot detect extended line
modes, or will not restore the video system correctly
before returning to the reader.

If you experience problems when shelling to your
message editor with extended line mode enabled, try
turning this option on. The reader will set 25 line
mode for your editor, and upon returning, will return
the reader's video system to its original state.

Set 25 Lines for Spell Checker:
Set 25 Lines for DOS Shell:
Set 25 Lines for Terminal:
Set 25 Lines for External File Lister:
All of these options work the same as the 'Set 25
Lines for Message Editor' option described above.
The only difference is that they work with their
respectively identified external programs.







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National Language Support
-------------------------

The National Language Support provided in The Blue Wave Offline
Mail Reader is for the convenience of those who use the readers
in countries that do not use the United States' time, date, and
character conventions.

On-Screen Time Format:
If you have enabled the "On-Screen Clock" in the
reader's SETUP menu, you can change the format of the
time displayed in the upper right hand corner of the
screen. There are 5 different options available, and
you can cycle through the options by pressing ENTER.

The first is "12:mm PM". This will display the time
in a 12-hour format with either the designation AM or
PM appended. This is the common format used in the
US.

The second available time format is "24:mm:ss". This
will display the time in a 24-hour format with a
moving seconds display. In this mode, the time is
updated approximately once per second.

"12:mm:ss" displays the time in a 12-hour format with
a counting seconds display, much the same as
described above.

The final option is "24:mm". If this format is
chosen, the reader will display the time in a
strictly 24-hour format, with no moving seconds
display.

On-Screen Date Format:
If you have enabled the "On-Screen Clock" in the
reader, you can change the date format displayed in
the upper left hand corner of the screen. There are
5 available options for the display of the current
date.

"Month D, YYYY" will display the full name of the
month, the day of the month, and the current year.
This is the most popular US date format.


"DD Mmm YY" will display the current date in a more
international format. The date is displayed with the
day number first, the first 3 letters of the current
month, followed by the last 2 numbers of the current
year.

"MM-DD-YY", "MM/DD/YY", and "DD/MM/YY" all function
similarly. The only difference between them is the
order of the month, day, and year and the number
separator used.

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Double-Byte Language Support:
Some languages, such as Chinese, represent a "letter"
by using 2 bytes, or characters on the screen. These
languages also use the full range of characters
available in the IBM 8-bit character set.

This poses a problem when messaging on FidoNet,
because the ASCII 141 character () is used in the
network as a "soft carriage return". In order to
present messages properly, the reader must ignore
this character completely. Because this is also a
valid "letter" in double-byte languages, messages are
often-times not shown properly for these users.

Enabling this option only has one function; it
prevents the reader from ignoring this character, and
it will display it as any other character in the
message.

Because users of double-byte languages often must
change this setting between messages or message
areas, a special key has been assigned in Message
Reading Mode to quickly toggle this function.
Pressing the tilde key (ASCII 126 or ~) will switch
quickly and easily between display modes.

Enable Inbound Translations:
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader allows you to
define a custom inbound translation table for every
IBM 8-bit ASCII character from ASCII 33 to ASCII 255.
When reading messages from disk, the reader will use
the Inbound Character Translation Table defined to
translate FROM: fields, TO: fields, SUBJECT: fields,
and the message text if this option is turned ON.

These translation tables are mainly for use by people
whose languages require translations of certain
characters to be read properly.

Enable Outbound Translations:
This option works in much the same way as "Enable
Inbound Translations". However, when this option is
enabled, it will perform the character translations
on OUTBOUND messages. After entering a new message
or reply, the reader will translate the FROM:, TO:,
SUBJECT:, and message text according to the user
defined Outbound Character Translation Table.

Inbound Character Translation:
Outbound Character Translation:
These options will allow you to define the respective
translation tables. Instructions for defining the
character translations are given on-screen. The
procedure is very self-explanatory, so a detailed
expanation need not be given here.

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The Directories Sub-Menu
------------------------

The directories sub-menu allows you to define several
directories that the reader will use throughout its execution.
This is also where you will give the reader the name of your
message editor (an editor that will save straight-ASCII text
files), default file names used in the reader, and all of the
command lines to call any optional external utilities you may
want to set up.

Download Directory:
The download directory is where the reader will look
for mail packets that you have downloaded from your
host BBS system. Each BBS Sysop selects a "Packet
Name" that identifies his or her BBS. When you
download mail through The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Door, or one of the generic QWK offline mail doors,
you should either download it to the directory you
specify here, or copy the mail bundle into this
directory. If you enter a directory name that does
not exist, The Blue Wave Offline Reader will ask you
if you would like to create it. If you answer "y",
the reader will attempt to create the directory. If
the creation of the directory failed for one reason
or another, you will be informed of this fact, and
you should create it yourself from the DOS command
line.

Please note that the reader *needs* these directories
in order to operate properly. If the reader was
unable to create the directory, or if you wish to do
it manually, it is absolutely necessary that you do
so before opening a mail packet for reading. The
expansion of your mail packet will probably fail if
the download and work directory do not exist.

Upload Directory:
The upload directory is where The Blue Wave Offline
Mail Reader will create your reply packets to be
uploaded to the BBS. Reply packets are named
according to the BBS's packet name that the sysop has
chosen for his or her BBS. After you have completed
reading a mail packet, and wish to return to the Main
reader menu, your reply directory is checked to see
if any files have been created that need to be
uploaded to the BBS.

When the reader detects that a packet should be made,
the appropriate archiver is used to Mash your reply
packet for transfer to the BBS. If you downloaded a
mail packet called WILDBLUE.TU1, and have performed
an Offline Configuration, a File Request, or have
replies or entered new mail, a file called
WILDBLUE.NEW will be created in the UPLOAD directory.

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If you have generated replies during a QWK mail
packet session, the reply file created by the reader
will end with a ".REP" file extension, and be placed
into the reader's UPLOAD directory.

The next time you sign onto the BBS that you
downloaded the mail packet from, you need to upload
the resulting .NEW file (for Blue Wave doors) or .REP
file (for QWK doors) so that the mail door can
process your reply packet. After the mail packet has
been successfully uploaded, you can delete the mail
packet from your system.

Please note that the upload directory must be
present. Each time the reader is loaded, it attempts
to make the appropriate directories, if they are
missing. If you are having trouble with the reader
and/or external archivers NOT Mashing your reply
packet(s) properly, please be sure that the UPLOAD
directory does indeed exist.

Work Directory:
The WORK directory is where the reader will tell the
external archivers to unMash your mail packet. This
directory should point to a drive and directory that
has plenty of space to hold the completely unarchived
mail packet. While you are reading a mail bundle,
the complete archived packet is still left in your
DOWNLOAD directory. If you are running on a floppy
drive-based system, you should be sure that you
download a small enough mail packet so that the
completely unarchived packet will still have enough
room to decompress onto one of your floppy drives.

As with the DOWNLOAD and UPLOAD directories, the WORK
directory *must* exist. When the reader is loaded,
it does a check to be sure that the directory you
have defined does indeed exist. If not, it attempts
to create it. However, the reader will *not* abort
if the directory cannot be made so that you have the
opportunity to go to the SETUP menu and redefine your
directories.

When The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader is exited
properly (through the Q)uit Option on the main menu),
this directory should be removed automatically by the
reader.

You should NEVER place files in the WORK directory
that you do not want to loose! The reader DELETES
THIS ENTIRE DIRECTORY after closing a mail packet as
part of the normal 'cleanup' process. If you define
your work directory as a directory that already
contains files, the reader will warn you.

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Swap Directory:
If you have enabled any of the memory swapping
options on the reader's SETUP->Miscellaneous menu,
you need to define a SWAP directory.

The reader's overlay swap file consumes approximately
250K of disk space. The reader allows you to specify
the drive and directory where you would like this
swap file to be written. This would be particularly
handy for a person running a floppy-based system.
Because it takes some time to write this swap file,
and read it back in again, it should probably be
written to a hard disk. If your memory is tight
because of running a RAMdisk, you could point the
swap directory to your RAMdisk to make it lightning
fast.

In any case, you should enter your SWAP directory
here. If this directory does not exist, the reader
will attempt to create it.

Editor File Path:
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader requires the use of
an external editor for the purpose of editing replies
and new messages. The reader comes packaged with a
very simple, small, public domain editor called
TED3.COM. (Tiny Editor) If you are not comfortable
using this editor, or you prefer to use a different
editor than TED3.COM, you should give the name of the
editor you would like to use here.

By default, upon initialization of the reader,
TED3.COM is inserted in this field. Two other
excellent editors that perform well with The Blue
Wave Offline Mail Reader are BOXER by David Hamel,
and QEDIT by SemWare.

Although you do not need to enter the full drive,
path, and file name of your editor here, it is highly
suggested. TED3.COM will work just as well as
C:\BWAVE\TED3.COM, but each time the reader tries to
load the editor, a full search of your DOS path must
be done in order to locate it. By supplying the
reader with the full path specification, it will
significantly decrease the amount of time it takes to
load the editor. In other words, if your editor is
NOT on your DOS path statement, you *must* specify
the full drive, directory, and file name. The same
should be done with ALL of the external programs that
you define in the reader's setup menu.

If the reader encounters an @F in the editor command
line, it will replace it with the file name of the
message text to be worked on. If @F is not found the
file name will be passed LAST on the command line.

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Spell Checker Command Line:
The Blue Wave Offline Reader is capable of
interfacing with an external spell checking program.
Many people use a spell checker to spell check their
messages and replies for obvious spelling errors. A
spell checker that comes highly recommended by many
users is ShareSpell; a ShareWare spell checking
program which can be found on many BBSes, including
the Blue Wave Support BBS. At the time of this
writing, the latest version of ShareSpell available
was 2.30. ShareSpell is written by Acropolis
Software.

The same rules for defining the spell checker command
line apply as for defining the editor command line
described above.

Most spell checkers require you to pass the file name
on the command line of the file that you want to
check. A simple command line for ShareSpell would be

C:\SSPELL\SS.EXE @F

The '@F' in the command line causes the reader to
REPLACE the '@F' with the name of the file that
contains your message text. As long as you have the
'@F' in the command line, the reader will worry about
passing the file name to spell check.

Terminal Command Line:
The reader has a quick and convenient way to access a
user defined terminal (or communications) program.
From anywhere within the reader, you can press the
keys , and the Terminal Command Line will be
executed.

The rules for defining the Editor Command Line also
apply to the Terminal Command Line; you must include
the full path and file name of the batch file or
program to run if it is NOT on your DOS Path.

The terminal command line does not pass any command
line parameters to your program or DOS.

To help in automating your offline mail sessions, a
command line parameter added to the reader will
automatically load and execute your terminal program
as soon as it reaches the main menu.

Running "BWAVE -t" from the DOS command line will
cause the reader to execute the Terminal Command Line
as soon as it reaches the main menu. This command
line parameter will work on both unregistered and
registered versions of the reader, however,
unlicensed copies must wait for the ShareWare notice.

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External LIST Command Line:
The reader has a very simple built in ASCII File
Viewer, or LIST program which is available by
pressing from anywhere within the program.

This command line definition is supplied for those
who would like a more powerful file lister, such as
Vernon D. Buerg's LIST.COM to be accessible while
using the reader.

If *no* command line is defined here, the reader will
prompt you for a file name to view when pressing
. It will then use the internal file lister
to display the file to your screen, allowing you to
scroll through the file.

However, if you do define a command line here, the
reader will prompt you for a file name, and then pass
control to the external list command line that you
set up. In order to get the file name that you enter
in the reader to be passed to the external list
program, you must use the '@F' token, just like the
Spell Checker Command Line. A sample command line
for the external LIST command might be:

C:\UTIL\LIST.COM @F

Of course, you will need to replace 'C:\UTIL\' with
the actual drive, path, and file name of the program
that you would like to call.

John Hancock Command Line:
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader sports a very
simple interface to the external John Hancock tagline
selection and beautification utility. John Hancock
is a ShareWare program by Dan Moore which allows you
to select taglines, modify defined taglines, and
much, much more. Full details on installing the John
Hancock program are given in the section of the
documentation about Taglines.

If you have John Hancock installed on your system,
and it is located in the directory C:\BWAVE\JHANCOCK,
the command line:

C:\BWAVE\JHANCOCK\JH3.EXE

Is all you need to place here. The reader does not
pass any command line parameters to the John Hancock
program.

All ShareWare programs that are discussed in the preceding
pages are available on BBS systems everywhere. If you have
trouble locating any of these files, you are welcome to
download them free of charge from The Blue Wave Support BBS.

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Tagline File Name:
When entering or replying to messages, The Blue Wave
Offline Mail Reader allows you to select a Tagline in
4 different ways, or none at all. If the Tagline
Selection Type is set to PROMPT or RANDOM, the file
defined here will be used to pull taglines from. If
this file does not exist, the reader will show an
error message, and allow you to enter a tagline
manually.

This default Tagline File Name can be overridden for
each BBS, and even for each message area on different
BBSs, allowing you the most flexibility of any
offline mail system. Please see the section of the
documentation on 'Taglines' for more information.
Specifically, you can scan the documentation for
"TAGFILES.BW". A sample override file, TAGFILES.BW,
should have been enclosed with your copy of the
reader.

Default Message Save File:
When reading messages with the reader, you may happen
upon a message which you would like to save to disk
as an ASCII file. The reader provides the "S"
command while reading messages that does just that.

Here you can define the default ASCII save file name
that you would like to use. This simply saves you
the trouble of typing the file name each and every
time that you want to save a message to disk.

The reader uses a special macro that gets expanded
before you save the file to disk: @AT@.

@AT@ is replaced by the area's AREA TAG before
committing the message to disk. The Area Tag is
supplied by the host BBS system, and often reflects
the name of the message area that you are reading.

For instance, the International Blue Wave Support
Echo on FidoNet has the area tag of "BLUEWAVE". The
default save file name of "C:\BWAVE\SAVE\@[email protected]"
would be expanded to "C:\BWAVE\SAVE\BLUEWAVE.TXT"
automatically for you.

Default Replies Save File:
The default Replies Save File is very similar to the
default message save file, except it is used while
viewing your replies through the reader's Reply
View/Edit/Kill mode. The replies manager allows you
to save messages to disk with the "S" - save reply to
disk command.

The reader also allows the use of the macro "@AT@" in
the default replies save file, as described above.

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Default Keyword List File:
When reading messages, it is often necessary to
perform a 'keyword search' to limit the reader to
only displaying messages that contain key words or
phrases. The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader sports a
VERY powerful keyword search system which allows you
to type keywords manually during a message reading
session (the command), or using a 'keyword
list file' (the command).

A sample keyword list file should have been supplied
in your distribution archive of the reader. The file
KEYWORDS.BW contains information on building and
customizing your own keyword list search file.

For complete information on keyword searching, see
the section titled "Keyword Searching", later in the
documentation.






































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The Archivers Sub-Menu
----------------------

The Archivers sub-menu allows you to define the paths and
command lines that will be used by the reader when Mashing and
unMashing your mail and reply packets. There are 6 entries on
this sub-menu. You can define compression and decompression
command lines for ZIP, ARC, PAK, LZH, and ARJ. There is also
an entry called "External". You can use this "External" Slot
for any archivers/unarchivers that may come along that the
reader will not recognize.

When the reader does not recognize the archive format of a mail
packet, the command line entered in the "External" slot will be
used. If that command line fails, the reader will abort that
mail packet, and take you back to the Main Blue Wave Menu.

Two "macro" characters may be used in the command line
definitions for automatic insertion of the file names and
directories by The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader.

Where the archiver command line needs the name of the file to
be worked on, you should use the "macro" @F. The other
"macro", @I, is usually used as the second command line
parameter to the archiver or unarchiver. For example, suppose
your download directory is "C:\BWAVE\DOWN", and the packet that
you are about to open is WILDBLUE.TU1. You also have your work
directory defined as "C:\BWAVE\WORK". In order for The Blue
Wave Reader to successfully decompress your mail packet (ZIP
compression is assumed), it would need to execute the following
command:

PKUNZIP C:\BWAVE\DOWN\WILDBLUE.TU1 C:\BWAVE\WORK

If you have this defined as your ZIP decompression command
line:

PKUNZIP.EXE @F @I

the reader would do all of the work for you. For each
compression type that the reader supports, a sample command
line will be given. Please remember that if the archiver or
unarchiver you are trying to use is NOT located on your DOS
path or in your reader directory, you will need to insert the
FULL drive:\path\filename.ext in these fields. Otherwise, you
may just specify the name of the .EXE or .COM file.

ZIP:
These are the suggested command lines for ZIP
compression and decompression:

PKZIP.EXE @F @I
PKUNZIP.EXE @F @I



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ARC:
These are the suggested command lines for ARC
compression and decompression. (Please remember that
you may substitute PKPAK and PKUNPAK for PKARC and
PKXARC below).

PKARC.COM -a @F @I
PKXARC.EXE @F @I

PAK:
These are the suggested command lines for PAK
compression and decompression:

PAK.EXE a @F @I
PAK.EXE e @F @I

LZH:
These are the suggested command lines for LZH
compression and decompression. (Please note that you
may substitute LHARC.EXE for LHA.EXE below).

If you have "Display Archiver Output" set to YES:
LHA a /m @F @I
LHA e /m @F @I

If you have "Display Archiver Output" set to NO:
LHA a /m /n2 @F @I
LHA e /m /n2 @F @I

The purpose of the /n2 switch when using LHA is to
prevent 'bleed through' of the archiver output when
"Display archiver output" is set to NO.

ARJ:
These are the suggested command lines for ARJ
compression and decompression:

ARJ.EXE a -e @F @I
ARJ.EXE e @F @I

















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The Strings Sub-Menu
--------------------

"Any Name" Default:
This field is provided as a convenience to you. It
could possibly serve several purposes, such as to
monitor mail to other people, or look for mail
addressed to a different alias than the one(s) you
use on BBS systems. When the reader encounters a
message addressed TO or FROM the "Any Name" Default,
it will act as if it has encountered a PERSONAL
Message. If you have "Beep On Personal Messages"
enabled, the reader will sound a beep when this name
is encountered.

Some BBS host systems have message areas that allow
you to post under ANY alias you like; that is to
say, you can modify the FROM: field of a when
replying or entering a message. The name in the "Any
Name" Default field will be used to fill in the FROM:
field automatically. Of course, you may change the
field if you like. It is only provided as a default
response.

QWK Alias Name:
One of the weaknesses of the QWK formatted mail
packet is the fact that only ONE name is passed from
the host BBS system to the reader. This presents a
problem when you are scanning for personal messages,
especially if you use both your real name and an
alias for posting messages.

The QWK Alias Name is used to scan for personal
messages while you are using the reader in "QWK
mode". You may place any name here you like.

Quote Header String:
The Quote Header string can be used to add some
'color' to your messages. If you have enabled the
option "Attach Quote Header to Replies" in the setup
menu's Enter/Reply Options menu, this is the string
that will be placed at the beginning of all of your
replies. Several MACRO characters are available,
which are replaced by actual text when quoting:

@F - This is replaced with the name in the FROM:
field of the message you are replying to.
@FF - This is the First name ONLY in the FROM: field.
@FL - This is the Last name ONLY in the FROM: field.
@T - This is replaced with the entire TO: field.
@TF - This is the First name ONLY in the TO: field.
@TL - This is the Last name ONLY in the TO: field.
@S - This is replaced with the SUBJECT Field.
@D - This is replaced with the DATE of the message.
@N - Create a New Line, or carriage return.

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The Registration Sub-Menu
-------------------------

When you register your copy of the reader with Cutting Edge
Computing, you will be issued a registration code. The
registration code you receive will tell the reader that you
have indeed paid for your copy, and will unlock the registered
user only features in the mail system. Additionally, the
ShareWare notice screen will disappear, and there will not be a
delay when loading the reader.

When you receive your registration information from Cutting
Edge Computing, you will need to enter the information that is
on this menu:

Registration Name:
Here you should enter your name, EXACTLY as it
appears on the registration form you received from
Cutting Edge Computing. If you do not enter it
EXACTLY as shown on your form, the reader will not
acknowledge your registration properly. If you used
a middle initial or other punctuation, and this is
displayed on your registration form, you must enter
it here. Example: "Jonathan Q. Public".

Registration Number:
Upon receiving your registration papers, you will
receive a unique registration code. Enter the code
here EXACTLY as it appears on your registration form.


Secondary Registration
----------------------
The secondary registration fields are provided so that two
separate users can enter registration information into the
reader. The secondary registration name and number serve the
same purpose as the primary registration; they tell the reader
that the person reading the mail packet is a registered user.

















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GLOBAL COMMAND KEYS
-------------------

Before we begin discussing the operation of the reader, it seems
appropriate to discuss the keys that are available throughout the ENTIRE
reader. At *any* point in the execution of the reader, the following key
presses will activate the described function.


-------
Pressing from anywhere within the reader will activate
the Global Command Key help window. This help window briefly
describes all of the keys that are available to be called
globally.



-------
Perhaps the most useful of the global command keys is .
The hotkey will cause the reader to shell to DOS. To
exit the DOS shell and return to your mail reading session,
simply type "EXIT" at the DOS command line, and press ENTER.
The reader will resume execution at the exact point in which
the shell to DOS was activated.



-------
Another useful function of the reader is the hotkey.
This hotkey causes the reader to jump to the SETUP, or
Configuration menu. Unlike the other global hotkeys, the C> hotkey is DISABLED when you are at the reader's main menu.
To enter the setup while you are at the main menu, simply
select the "SETUP" menu item.

When you enter the SETUP menu through the hotkey, a few
menu items will be disabled. Changing the WORK directory, the
DOWNLOAD directory, or the UPLOAD directory is not allowed when
jumping to the setup menu with this hotkey. Additionally, you
cannot change video modes (25/43/50 line modes) when you do not
enter the SETUP menu through the main menu.

This function is provided to make quick changes to your
configuration while you are currently processing a mail packet.



-------
The hotkey is provided for mail addicts world-wide.
The users of Blue Wave affectionately call this the "Boss Key".
If you are hard at work reading messages and your boss happens
to walk in, a quick press of the key will take care of
any prying eyes. The screen is cleared, and a fake "C:\DOS"
prompt is displayed. You MUST press the ESCape key to exit.

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-------
The hotkey will pop up an information window which
contains information about the version of the reader you are
using. The version number, the copyright holder, and the
registered status appear at the top of the window.

The bottom half of the window provides you with useful
information about the operating environment of the reader. The
amount of free memory available to the reader is displayed,
along with the free disk space on your WORK drive.

If the reader's auto-DESQview detection finds that DESQview is
running on your system, the version of DESQview will also be
displayed.



-------
Pressing the key combination (the "1" key must be the
one above the lettered keys on the keyboard. Pressing
along with the "1" on the keypad will NOT work correctly) will
bring up a Reminder Timer.

The reminder timer serves as a very useful tool. You can
define the number of minutes you would like the reader to wait
before reminding you that your dinner is burning (or any other
life-threatening event).

When the alarm timer has expired, you will be given a screen
show, complete with alarm noise and a snooze button!



-------
Pressing will pop up a dialogue box which asks you for
a file name to view. The purpose of the hotkey is to
allow you to view text files on your drive(s) while using the
reader.

If you have an "EXTERNAL LIST COMMAND LINE" defined in the
reader's setup menu, the reader will execute that command line
with the file name you type in the window as the command line
parameter.

The reader also has a built-in file viewer. If you prefer to
use The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader's internal file lister,
simply delete any command line defined in this slot. The
reader will automatically use the internal file lister if no
command line is defined.

If you are using the reader's internal file lister,
instructions for moving within the lister will appear on the
bottom line of the screen. To return to the normal operations
of the reader, simply press ESCape.

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-------
The command is provided as a quick and easy way to
enter your favorite terminal (or communications) program. When
you press from anywhere within the reader, the
"TERMINAL COMMAND LINE", defined in the reader's setup menu, is
executed.

Registered users of The Blue Wave Offline Mail System also have
the option of using the "-t" command line parameter. If you
execute the reader with the command line "BWAVE -t", the reader
will automatically execute the terminal command line upon
reaching the main menu. For advanced users, it is possible to
set up batch and script files to completely automate your
offline mail sessions!


through
--------------------------
Pressing , , , and so on will cause the
reader to execute a BATCH file called "ALTF1.BAT", "ALTF2.BAT",
"ALTF3.BAT", and so on.

The Alt-FKey batch files are provided as a further convenience
to you, since you can define your own programs to run through
the reader.

As an example, you can create a batch file called ALTF7.BAT in
your reader's directory that calls up your favorite word
processor. When you press , this batch file will
automatically be called by the reader.

























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THE MAIN MENU
-------------

After your initial configuration is complete, you will be returned to The
Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader's MAIN Menu. The main menu will also
appear as the first menu each time you load BWAVE.EXE from the DOS
command line.

From the Main Menu, you can select from five options: Open Mail Packet,
Closed Packet Menu, Packet Management, Setup Parameters, and Quit.


Open Mail Packet
----------------
When you select "O"pen Mail Packet from the main menu, the
reader will do a quick scan of the directory you have defined
as your "Download Directory" in the SETUP Menu. The reader
will attempt to find all packets that it believes to be Blue
Wave Mail Packets, or QWK Mail Packets.

Any file whose file extension falls into one of the categories
below will be displayed in a selection window:


.Sa1 - .Sa9 ---|
.Su1 - .Su9 | Mail packets with these extensions normally
.Mo1 - .Mo9 | are Blue Wave Mail Door-generated mail packets
.Tu1 - .Tu9 |
.We1 - .We9 | The file extension indicates the day of the
.Th1 - .Th9 | week the file was downloaded.
.Fr1 - .Fr9 ---|


.QWK The .QWK file extension normally indicates
.QW1 - .QW9 that the file was downloaded from a generic
QWK-style mail system.

.1 - .9 ---| The reader allows you to rename mail packets
.01 - .99 | to have purely numerical extensions so that
.001 - .999 ---| many mail packets can be saved for later use.

You are allowed to rename mail packet extensions however you
like. The reader does not care if you rename a .QWK packet to
have a .971 file extension, nor does it care if you rename it
to have a .Su7 file extension. The reader will auto-detect the
type of mail packet it is after decompression.

All mail packets are sorted in the packet selection window from
NEWEST to OLDEST. Therefore, you should be able to find your
newest mail packets at the top of the list. You can scroll
through the list of mail packets with your cursor keys or your
mouse to highlight the packet you would like to read. When you
have highlighted the correct packet, press ENTER.



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After the packet has been selected, the reader will decompress
the mail bundle to your defined WORK directory, process the
mail packet, and then look for any reply files you may have
waiting in your UPLOAD directory. If a reply packet is found
for the BBS you are about to read mail for, you will be asked:

A Reply Packet Exists for this BBS. Do you want to ADD to it?

If you answer "Y", the reader will then begin to decompress
your reply packet to the WORK\REPLY directory so that it can be
added to during your mail session. If you answer "N", the
reader will DELETE the reply packet for you, and continue with
the mail reading process.

If the unpacking of the mail packets was successful, you will
be taken to the OPEN PACKET MENU (described later).

If the unpacking of the mail packets was NOT successful, the
reader will give you some type of error message, and then
return you to the main menu. In order to read the troublesome
mail packet, it will be necessary to correct the error
condition (it is usually a wrong DECOMPRESSION COMMAND LINE)
and attempt to reload the mail packet.


Closed Packet Menu
------------------
In order to enter the Closed Packet Menu, you must have
downloaded at least one Blue Wave Mail Packet or QWK mail
packet from a BBS, and have opened the mail packet with the
"Open Mail Packet" menu command. Each time a mail packet is
opened, the reader compares the INFormation file (*.INF)
contained in the mail packet with any that may be located in
the main Blue Wave directory. If you do not have an
INFormation file from that BBS, or if the INFormation file you
have is older than the one contained in the mail packet that
you are opening, the reader will make a copy of it in the
current directory.

The Closed Packet Menu allows you to enter new messages,
perform offline configurations, enter file requests, and edit
or kill replies without having to have a current packet for the
BBS you would like to work with. This is a feature not
available in most offline mail readers.

When you select "C"losed Packet Menu from the Blue Wave MAIN
menu, you will be shown a list of all BBSs that you have
previously downloaded and read mail from. Highlight the BBS
that you would like to work with, and press ENTER. (If only
one INFormation file is available, it will automatically be
loaded by the reader.)

As with the Open Packet Menu, the reader will scan your reader
UPLOAD directory for any mail packet that may be waiting to be
uploaded back to the host BBS system and ask to ADD to the pkt.

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Packet Management
-----------------
The Packet Management system allows you to manage the mail
packets that are sitting in the reader's DOWNLOAD directory.
When selecting this menu item, a list of all mail packets in
your download directory is generated and displayed in the same
fashion as when selecting "Open Mail Packet".

When using the Packet Management system, you can mass delete
packets, delete single packets, and rename packets in your
DOWNLOAD directory.

To purge mail packets one at a time, move the highlight bar to
the packet you would like to delete and press ENTER. The
reader will then ask for confirmation. Type "Y" if you wish to
delete the packet. Type "N" or ESC if you do not want to
delete the file.

To delete several mail packets at a time, move the highlight
bar to the first packet you would like deleted and press the
SPACEBAR. Continue this process until you have selected all
packets that you would like purged. When done tagging packets,
press ESC. The reader will then ask for confirmation before
deleting the mail packets. To abort the deletion, press "N" or
ESC. To delete the mail packets, type "Y".

The packet management system also allows you to rename mail
packets. To rename a mail packet, highlight the packet you
want to rename. Then press F10, or click the left mouse button
on the letters "F10" at the bottom of the screen. A popup
window will appear in the center of the screen, and ask you for
the new file extension you would like to place on the packet.

When renaming mail packets from the DOS command line, it is
very important that you NOT modify the root name of the file.
The reader will not load the mail packet properly if the root
name of the mail bundle is different from the names of the
files inside of it. (This does NOT apply to QWK mail packets.
QWK mail packets may be renamed any way you like).


Setup Parameters
----------------
Selecting "S" from the Main Menu will take you to the
SETUP/Installation Menu. For full details on the SETUP menu,
please see the previous section in the documentation.


Quit The Blue Wave
------------------
Pressing ESC or "Q" from the Main Menu will allow you to exit
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader normally. Whenever you use
the reader, you should be sure to properly exit the program so
that anything that needs to be done with your reply and/or mail
packets may be processed. You may loose your replies otherwise!

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THE OPEN PACKET MENU
--------------------

After selecting "Open Mail Packet" from the main menu and your mail
packet has been successfully opened, you will be shown a new screen with
a new menu.

This screen is referred to as the OPEN PACKET MENU. At the bottom of
this screen, you will notice some information about the current packet.
The file name of the packet that you have open is displayed on the top
border of the information window. Inside the window, you will find the
name of the BBS that the mail packet came from, along with the Sysop's
name.

At this point, your mail packet is open and ready for use. There are
several choices on the Open Packet Menu, and each one will be described
in detail below.

Read Mail Packet
----------------
Selecting "R"ead Mail Packet from the Open Packet Menu will
allow you to read the mail that you have downloaded through The
Blue Wave Mail Door or one of the generic QWK mail doors. You
will be shown a list of all message areas that you are
currently downloading, along with the total messages in each
area, the number of messages in the area that you have NOT
read, and the total number of personal messages in each area.

Select the message area that you would like to read from this
list, and press ENTER. The reader will then begin the message
reading process for that message area. For the commands
available while reading messages, please see the section titled
"READING MESSAGES".

The screen that is displayed after selecting "Read Mail Packet"
is known as the "Choose Area to Read" selection window. Much
of the power of the mail system is accessible through this
selection window. Below are the descriptions of the functions
available while at the "Choose Area to Read" selection window:


-----
Position the highlight bar on a message area that you would
like more information on, then press the key. A popup
window will appear on the screen with more information about
the area that is highlighted.


-------
The key combination performs a global scan and read of
all messages that are addressed TO you (personal messages).
After pressing , you have the choice of reading all
personal messages, or only the UNREAD personal messages, if
there are any in the mail packet.


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-------
The key combination performs a packet purge function.
While reading messages, you can 'mark' certain ones for
deletion from a mail bundle. The command is used to
actually pack these deleted messages out of the mail bundle.

The command will also allow you to delete messages
which have already been read in addition to messages that have
been marked for deletion.


----
As you read messages through the reader, it keeps several bits
of information as to the 'status' of the message. These status
bits include whether you have read the message, whether you
have replied to the message, or whether you have marked the
message for later replying, printing, deletion, or saving to an
ASCII file.

Pressing F1 will allow you to clear, set, or toggle the status
of any or ALL of these bits in either the currently highlighted
message area or all areas in the current mail packet.


----
The F5 key is a very powerful tool when you want to save entire
groups of messages to either your printer or disk file.

As you read messages in the reader, you can 'mark' messages for
later Saving, Printing, or Replying. When you are ready to
either save or print these groups of messages, all that is
necessary is to press F5.

You will be first asked whether you would like to save messages
to an ASCII file, or write them to the printer. Press 'S' to
save messages to an ASCII file, or 'P' to print messages to
your printer.

The next screen will prompt you for which messages you would
like to operate on. You can choose to operate on ALL messages,
UNREAD messages, only your PERSONAL messages, or messages that
are marked for Saving, Printing, or Replying.

And finally, you will be asked if you would like to operate on
ALL areas in your download packet, or only the currently
highlighted message area.

The reader will then proceed to perform the desired operation
on the messages that you have indicated. If, at any time, you
wish to abort the procedure, simply press your ESCape key or
click the right mouse button. If you have indicated that you
want to save messages to an ASCII file, the reader will then
ask you for the file name to save the messages to.


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----
Pressing F7 will allow you to enter a message to the currently
highlighted message area. The reader will perform the same
steps as if you were entering messages elsewhere in the reader.
For more information on entering messages, please see the
section titled "ENTERING MESSAGES", later in the documentation.


----
Pressing F9 while at the "Choose Area to Read" selection window
will allow you to dynamically change the sorting parameter for
the currently highlighted message area.

After highlighting the message area that you would like to
read, press F9. You will be given a small menu that asks you
for your choice as to how you would like the messages sorted.
You can choose to sort on the FROM: field, the TO: field, the
SUBJECT: field, or to load the messages with no sorting done on
them.


-----
The F10 key is another very powerful feature of The Blue Wave
Offline Mail Reader. Pressing F10 at the selection window will
allow you to read certain messages across different message
areas.

A secondary selection window will pop up on the screen asking
you if you would like to read messages marked for Saving,
Printing, Replying, all personal messages, or only unread
personal messages.

After pressing F10, the reader will gather all messages that
you have selected from ALL message areas, and begin the message
reading process.

Enter New Mail in Any Area
--------------------------
The "E"nter New Mail In Any Area command will allow you to post
messages in bases that you are not currently downloading. If
you need to enter mail in a base that you are not downloading,
or a base that currently has no messages in your download
packet, you will want to enter this command.

The reader will then display several message areas, including
ones that you ARE currently downloading. Highlight the message
area that you would like to enter the new message in, and press
ENTER. The reader will go through the same process just as if
you were entering mail through the message reading mode.

When you are done entering mail, simply press ESCape, and you
will be taken back to the Open or Closed Packet Menu. NOTE THAT
SOME QWK DOOR IMPLEMENTATIONS DO NOT ALLOW THIS ITEM TO WORK!


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View, Edit or Kill Replies
--------------------------
Selecting "V"iew, Edit, or Kill Replies from the Open Packet
Menu will allow you to see inside of your current reply packet
(*.NEW files for Blue Wave Packets, or *.REP files for QWK
packets).

The replies manager is a very powerful system, and is described
in full detail in its own section. Please see "THE REPLIES
MANAGER" for full instructions on using the View, Edit, or Kill
replies mode.


Welcome Messages and Bulletins
------------------------------
The Blue Wave Mail Doors and many of the QWK mail system doors
provide the capability for the Sysop of the host BBS system to
include Welcome Messages and Bulletins with your download
packet. Many times these announcements contain listings of new
message areas available and other important information.

Selecting this menu item will present you with a list of all
available bulletins and welcome screens enclosed in your mail
packet. You can scroll through the listing of bulletins and
select the one(s) you would like to view.

Offline Configuration
---------------------
Selecting "O"ffline Configuration from the Open Packet Menu
will take you to the Offline Configuration Menu.

The Offline Configuration Menu allows you to configure The Blue
Wave Mail Door while you are using the reader and not connected
to the host BBS system.

This feature is DISABLED when reading a .QWK mail bundle, since
the various QWK mail packaging systems simply do not provide a
consistent, usable interface between the different systems.
For full details, please see "OFFLINE CONFIGURATIONS".

File Request/View New Files
---------------------------
If a file called NEWFILES.??? exists in your mail packet, the
reader will display a scrollable listing of the file on the
screen. As you are viewing the new files listing, you can
simply type to pop up the file requesting window.

If NEWFILES.??? does not exist in your mail packet, you will
get an informational message, and the File Request window will
become active.

For more information on file requesting, please see "FILE
REQUESTING", later in the documentation.


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Quit and Close Packet
---------------------
Selecting "Q"uit and Close Packet from the Open Packet Menu
will close the mail bundle you are currently working with, and
return you to the Blue Wave Main Menu.

If you have enabled the option to ALWAYS or PROMPT save of your
message read pointers and marks, the *.XTI file built by the
reader will be compressed into your mail bundle with the
appropriate archiver.

Before completely closing the packet, however, the reader will
ask you if you would like to DELETE the mail packet (if you
have enabled that option within the reader's setup menu). If
you delete the mail bundle, please remember that there will be
no way to read it again!

The reader will then erase all of the files in your WORK
directory (the uncompressed mail bundle), and archive any
replies, offline configurations, or file requests that you have
made during the current session. If the packet you are reading
is a QWK style mail bundle, the upload file will end with a
.REP file extension, and be placed in your reader's UPLOAD
directory. If you are reading a mail packet from a Blue Wave
Mail Door, your reply packet will end with a .NEW extension and
will also be placed into your reader's defined UPLOAD
directory.

If a reply file is made, you should upload the resulting reply
file the next time you sign onto the BBS that the mail packet
came from. This will complete the mail download/upload cycle.

If you do not upload your reply packet, your replies will never
make it to the BBS, and any offline configurations you may have
made will not become active.

After the reader returns to the Main Menu, you are free to quit
the reader, or load another packet to read!

















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THE CLOSED PACKET MENU
----------------------

The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader allows you to perform some of the same
functions that are normally available on the Open Packet Menu EVEN WHEN
YOU DO NOT HAVE A MAIL PACKET AVAILABLE FOR THE BBS YOU WOULD LIKE TO
WORK WITH!

In order to perform a "Closed Packet" function from The Blue Wave Offline
Mail Reader, it is necessary to have downloaded and opened at least ONE
mail packet from the BBS you would like to work with. Each time you open
a mail packet for reading, the reader checks to see whether the current
BBS information is newer than that which the reader has stored for use in
the Closed Packet Menu. If so, the reader updates its information, and
stores it in your main reader directory in a file known as the INF, or
INFormation, file. The file's ROOT name will be the same as the packet
name that the sysop has selected for his or her system. (If you download
a packet called WILDBLUE.FR2, the reader will store a file called
WILDBLUE.INF in your main reader directory.)

When you select the Closed Packet Menu from The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader's MAIN menu, the reader will initialize itself with the
information stored in one of these files. If only one INFormation file
is found, it will automatically be loaded, and the BBS information will
appear on the lower four lines of your screen. If more than one
INFormation file is available, you will be prompted as to which BBS you
would like to select. Move the highlight bar to the appropriate BBS, and
press ENTER.


Enter New Mail in Any Area
--------------------------
Selecting this option from the Closed Packet Menu will allow
you to enter mail in any area on the BBS that is available to
you. The reader will go through the normal Message Entry
screen, and then load your editor for you to enter the message.


View, Edit, or Kill Replies
---------------------------
View, Edit, or Kill Replies will allow you to edit any messages
that may be in your current reply file (.NEW file for Blue Wave
bundles, and .REP file for QWK bundles). For more information
on using the replies manager, please see "REPLIES MANAGER"
elsewhere in the documentation.


Offline Configuration
---------------------
When working with a BBS that uses a Blue Wave Mail Door, the
reader will allow you to perform an Offline Configuration for
the current BBS while at the Closed Packet Menu. Please see
the section titled "OFFLINE CONFIGURATIONS" for detailed
information on performing an Offline Configuration.

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File Request
------------
The reader will allow you to perform a File Request from the
Closed Packet Menu, also. This function works the same as the
"Open Packet Menu". For more information on File Requesting,
please see the section in the documentation regarding "FILE
REQUESTING".


Quit to Main Menu
-----------------
After you have finished working at the Closed Packet Menu, you
should select this option, and return to the Main Menu.
Selecting "Q"uit will cause the reader to compress any reply
packets that may need to be processed for uploading to the host
BBS system.








































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OFFLINE CONFIGURATIONS
----------------------

The Blue Wave Offline Mail System will allow you to perform Offline
Configurations in a very simple, easy to use manner. The entire offline
configuration process is menu driven, and does not require kludgy
"messages" to operate, as is required when using other offline mail
systems.

First, a word about offline configurations. Offline Configuration is a
way for you to communicate to The Blue Wave Mail Door any changes that
you may want to make in your DOOR configuration. You can change your
HotKeys mode, Xpert Mode, the message areas that you are downloading, and
keywords/filters. In fact, the only thing that you cannot change through
the Offline Configuration process is the selection of your Archiver and
Protocol.

Offline configurations can save you precious time and money, because you
can take your time setting up The Blue Wave Mail Door the way you would
like it without tying up the BBS and watching the phone company get rich.

Offline configuration is a feature that is totally enabled upon
registration of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader. Since the reader and
door are ShareWare products, you are given a fair chance to try them out
before paying for the software. After 5 offline configurations, this
feature is disabled for unregistered users. When you register your
reader with Cutting Edge Computing, the door will allow you to perform as
many offline configurations as you please.

The reader communicates your offline configuration to the door through
your UPLOAD, or reply packet. When you perform an offline configuration,
a special file is placed into your .NEW packet. In order for the door to
recognize that you have made an offline configuration, you will need to
upload your .NEW packet through The Blue Wave Mail Door. After
processing any messages that you have uploaded, you will see a message
from the door indicating that it is processing your offline configuration
request. Your new configuration is in effect immediately after your
packet is uploaded. If you want your configuration to become active
AFTER your current download session, you should upload the configuration
after downloading your mail packet.

When you first select "Offline Configuration" from either the reader's
Open Packet or Closed Packet Menus, the reader will do a quick scan of
your reply directory to see if any offline configurations are pending
(waiting to be uploaded to the BBS.) If an offline configuration file is
found, you will be asked if you would like to load the NEW information
(that which is waiting to be uploaded to the BBS). To load the ORIGINAL
information, select "N". To load the changes that are waiting to be
uploaded, press "Y". The reader will then take you to the Offline
Configuration Menu.

The Offline Configuration Menu is only available while reading a mail
packet from a Blue Wave Mail Door. QWK mail systems do not have a
standard interface for offline configuration, so you will need to check
with the sysop of the QWK system for instructions with his/her mail door.

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Password
--------
Press ENTER on the Password option to choose the type of
passwording (if any) you would like to use within The Blue Wave
Mail System. You will then be asked to fill in two fields.

The first field is the password that you would like to use to
protect your access to either The Blue Wave Mail Door, The Blue
Wave Offline Mail Reader, or both. Type your password here.

The second field asks you which type of passwording you would
like. You can selected between "None", which disables the
passwording feature, "Door Only", "Reader Only", or "Both
Reader and Door". Select the option you would like using the
cursor keys, and press ENTER.


Keywords
--------
The Blue Wave Mail Door will scan and bundle messages based
upon Keywords that you may define. To learn how to use
Keywords in The Blue Wave Mail Door, please see "Using The Blue
Wave Mail Door", later in the documentation.

Press ENTER on the Keywords option to edit the Keywords that
you would like the door to use. You can use the cursor keys to
move between the fields, and press F10 when done.


Filters
-------
As with Keywords, The Blue Wave Mail Door will FILTER mail
based upon strings that you may define as Filters. To learn
how to use filters in The Blue Wave Mail Door, please see
"Using The Blue Wave Mail Door" later in the documentation.

Press ENTER on the Filters option to edit the Filters that you
would like the door to use. You can use the cursor keys to
move between the fields, and press F10 when done.


Macros
------
The Blue Wave Mail Door allows you to define up to 3 Bundling
Command Macros. These macros allow you to enter a bundling
command that you use frequently in just 2 keypresses while
online. Again, this option can save you both online time and
money.

Pressing ENTER on the Macro Menu option will allow you to edit
your 3 Blue Wave Bundling Command Macros. As with the previous
fields, you can use the cursor keys to scroll through the
fields. Press F10 or ENTER on the last field when you are
finished editing your Bundling Command Macros.


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BBS
---
Pressing ENTER on the BBS menu item will allow you to define
whether or not HotKeys, Xpert Mode, and ANSI graphics in the
door are ON or OFF.

Additionally, the "D/L Msgs From You" toggle will tell the door
whether or not you would like to receive messages in your mail
packet that have your name in the "FROM:" field of the message.
(Messages that you have entered on the BBS or through the
offline mail system.)


Areas
-----
Selecting the Areas menu item will allow you to toggle on/off
the message areas on the BBS that you are currently scanning
and downloading.

You will be shown a list of all message areas available to you
on the BBS that is currently active. The message areas that
are currently ACTIVE (those which you are scanning through the
door) will be indicated by an asterisk (*) in the left-most
column. Inactive areas will not be highlighted.

If an area is currently ACTIVE, and you wish to tell the door
to stop scanning the area, highlight it and press the SPACE
BAR. The (*) will disappear, indicating that it will no longer
be active.

If an area is currently INACTIVE, and you wish to begin
scanning that area for mail, simply move the highlight bar to
the desired message area and press the SPACE BAR.

When you are done selecting or deselecting areas for scanning,
press ENTER or ESCape. If the reader thinks that you have
changed your area configuration, you will be prompted whether
or not you wish to upload (send the Blue Wave Mail Door) your
area configuration. Press ENTER or "Y" to save your area
configuration to your .NEW packet. If you wish to discard the
area infomration and keep it the same, press "N".

The next time you log into The Blue Wave Mail Door and upload
your .NEW packet, the door will activate and/or deactivate the
areas that you wish. It will then give you a list of all
active areas.

Quit
----
Selecting the Quit option will return you to the Open or Closed
Packet Menu, depending on where you were when you entered the
Offline Configuration Menu. If you have made changes to your
door configuration, the reader will ask if you want to save the
changes. If you want to save your changes, press "Y". You
should then upload your resulting .NEW file to the mail door.

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FILE REQUESTING
---------------

The Blue Wave Offline Mail System incorporates a powerful File Request
system to save you even more online time and money.

File request sessions are controlled by the Sysop of each individual BBS
system. Therefore, the BBS that you call may not support The Blue Wave
Mail System's file request procedure. File Requesting is also limited in
UNREGISTERED versions of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader. You will be
given 5 opportunities to try the system's file request sessions if you
are an unregistered user. After you have exceeded this limit, you must
either discontinue file requesting, or register your copy of The Blue
Wave offline Mail Reader with Cutting Edge Computing. Registered users
may file request any number of times, provided they do not exceed the
Sysop's limit of files or any possible upload/download ratios.

Entering your file request through the reader is simple; just choose
"File Request" from either the Open or Closed Mail Packet Menu. You will
then be able to enter up to 10 file names that you would like to download
from the current BBS during your next upload/download session through The
Blue Wave Mail Door. (The sysop may configure the door to allow less
than 10 file requests. If less than 10 file requests are allowed, you
will only be allowed to enter the number of file requests that your sysop
allows). Wildcards in file names (the DOS '*' and '?' characters) are
NOT supported.

Whne you have entered a file request, the reader will include a special
file in your upload (reply) packet indicating to the door which file(s)
you would like to download. When you upload your packet through the
door, it will search the BBS's file directories for the file(s) you have
requested. If they are found, you will be given the chance to download
them.

When installing The Blue Wave Mail Door, the Sysop can indicate which
protocols are BATCH, and which are SINGLE file protocols. The door will
respond differently according to the protocol that you have chosen.



Single-File Protocols
---------------------
If you are using a protocol that has been installed as a SINGLE
FILE protocol, you will be asked, one by one, whether or not
you wish to download the file that you have requested while you
are ONLINE with The Blue Wave Mail Door. Pressing "N" will
skip the currently displayed file, and continue to the next
file in your request packet. If you wish to download the file
being displayed, press "Y". The door will then begin sending
you the file with the protocol that you normally download mail
packets with.

Xmodem, Xmodem-1k, and Jmodem are examples of single-file
protocols.

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Batch Protocols
---------------
If you are using a protocol that has been installed as a BATCH
protocol, the door will always send you your requested files in
a BATCH. Using a batch protocol gives you not only increased
speed, but also greater flexibility.

The door will build a "batch download queue" of the file(s)
that you have selected. After the door as processed your last
file request, the door will ask you whether or not you wish to
continue with the file request session NOW.

Pressing "Y" will immediately begin your download session. At
this time you should tell your communications program to begin
receiving a BATCH download.

Pressing "Q" will abort the file request session, and continue
just as if no file requests had been received.

Pressing "N" will allow you to download the file requests at
the same time you download your regular mail packet. The door
will return you to the main menu, where you should select
"D)ownload New Mail". After the door has gathered and bundled
your mail packet, it will display the "normal" screen
indicating the file name and size/time of your mail packet.
You will also notice that it says "Req. Size:". The total size
of your file request will be shown here. Begin your mail
download as usual, indicating to your communications program
that you will be receiving a BATCH download.

The door will then begin sending all of the files in the
"download queue", beginning with the files that you have
requested. Your mail packet will be sent LAST.

Examples of batch protocols include Zmodem, Ymodem, Ymodem-G,
and HSLink.



















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READING MESSAGES
----------------

It is highly probable that the great majority of the time you spend using
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader will be spent actually reading
messages. When it comes right down to it, the entire purpose of the
reader is to allow you to read your mail OFFLINE, while saving you money
in phone connect charges and allowing others to access the host BBS
system.

The reader allows you to enter new messages and reply to current messages
offline too. Besides the obvious savings in online time in replying, you
are not pushed against time limits when creating messages offline. You
have time to think your messages through and create useful replies. In
fact, the advent of offline mail systems has not only increased the
popularity of messaging on BBSs, but has made networking (with amateur
networks such as FidoNet) expand into a huge pool of useful information.

As you are probably aware, BBS message bases are usually divided into
sub-topics somtimes called Conferences, Message Areas, Echos, and Special
Interest Groups (SIGS). When you download your mail through The Blue
Wave Mail System, these message area distinctions are preserved.
Selecting "Read Mail Packet" from the reader's OPEN PACKET MENU will take
the reader into "message reading mode".

You will be shown a list of all of the areas that you have instructed the
door to bundle messages in, along with the total number of messages in
the area, the total number of UNREAD messages in the area, and the total
number of PERSONAL messages in the area. To actually begin reading your
mail packet, you need to highlight the message area that you would like
to read, and press ENTER.

If you have enabled the Automatic Title Scan option in the reader's SETUP
menu, you will be shown a list of all messages in the current message
area. The title scan allows you to "page" through the messages and begin
reading with the message that you have highlighted. To begin reading
your mail on the first message, simply press ENTER again when the title
scan is shown.

If you press ESCape while reading messages, the reader will take you back
to the Title Scan screen, and position the highlight bar on the last
message that you have read. You can then page through the messages some
more, and press ENTER on the message to read, or press ESCape again to
return to the "Choose Area to Read" selection window.

There are various keys that are active while reading mail. Each one will
now be explained below in detail. At any time while reading mail,
pressing F1 will give you an abbreviated HELP screen, with short
descriptions of each of these keys.

Additionally, pressing , clicking the MIDDLE mouse button, or
clicking the LEFT mouse button while the mouse cursor is on the word
"Menu" (on the 6th line of the screen), will cause the reader to display
a pull-down menu system. All functions can be accessed through the menu.

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Message Movement
----------------

The following section will describe the keys available to you while
reading messages in a message area. For full information on using the
mouse to navigate the reader, please see the section titled "USING THE
MOUSE", later in the documentation.

ESCape
------
Pressing ESCape while reading a message in an area will drop
the reader backwards by one screen. If "Automatic Title Scan"
is enabled in the reader's SETUP menu, you will be shown the
Title Scan screen. If the Automatic Title Scan is OFF, the
reader will drop to the "Choose Area to Read" selection screen.


RightArrow
Grey ENTER
ENTER Key
----------
Each of these 3 keys will advance you to the next message in
the area. If you are currently reading the LAST message in an
area, the reader will sound a short beep. Pressing any one of
these keys again will automatically drop you back one screen.
(The reader will act as if ESCape was pressed).


LeftArrow
Grey MINUS
----------
These two keys will move you BACK one message in the current
area. As with the "forward direction" keys, if you are reading
the FIRST message in an area, the reader will beep once.
Pressing these either of these two keys a second time will make
the reader act as if an ESCape was pressed.


UpArrow
-------
The UpArrow (cursor key) will scroll the current message UP one
line. If you are at the top of the message, this key becomes
inactive.


DownArrow
---------
The DownArrow (cursor key) will scroll the current message DOWN
one line. If you are at the BOTTOM of the message, this key
becomes inactive.





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PageDown
--------
The PageDown key (labeled PgDn or PgDwn on some keywords) will
scroll the current message down one complete screen.


PageUp
------
The PageUp key (labeled PgUp on some keyboards) will scroll the
current message down one complete screen, or page.


SpaceBar
Grey PLUS Key
-------------
The SpaceBar and Grey PLUS keys serve a dual-purpose in the
reader. When a message contains more than one screen of text,
pressing one of these keys will act as if PAGE DOWN was
pressed. It will continue performing the PAGE DOWN function
until the last page of the message is on the screen.

When the last page of the message is on the screen, pressing
the SpaceBar or Grey Plus key advances to the NEXT message in
the message area.


Home
----
The HOME key will take you to the first "page" of the current
message. If the top of the message is already on the screen,
this key becomes inactive.


End
---
The END key will take you to the last "page" of the current
message. If the last line of the current message is already on
the screen, this key becomes inactive.



---
Pressing the "F" key will take you to the very FIRST message in
the current message area. If you are already at the first
message in the area, this key becomes inactive.



---
Pressing the "L" key will take you to the very LAST message in
the current message area. if you are already at the last
message in the area, this key becomes inactive.




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---
Pressing "J" while reading messages will allow you to JUMP to a
specified message number in the current area. You will be
prompted to enter a message number. If the message is
available, the reader will immediately JUMP to that message.
If the message is unavailable, you will be given an error
message, and the reader will stay on the current message.


0-9
---
Pressing the 0 through 9 'number' keys will immediately bring
up the "Jump to message number:" entry window.


Control-RightArrow
------------------
This key is only useful when reading a mail packet on BBSs that
support Reply Chaining, or Reply Linking. If the current
message has a line on the message header that reads "Reply at
#nn", you can press the Control-RightArrow key combination to
go directly to the reply of the current message. (Hold down
the CTRL key, and press the right cursor key). If the reply is
not available, the reader will give you an informative message,
and stay on the current message.


Control-LeftArrow
-----------------
This key combination is similar to the Control-RightArrow
combination, but instead of moving to the reply of the current
message, the reader will jump to the ORIGINAL message, if
available. If the message header displays the line "Reply to
#nn", this key will take you to the proper message number.



Message Command Keys
--------------------

The following keys allow you to perform various, useful functions while
reading messages in a mail packet:


---
Pressing "R" while reading messages will allow you to REPLY to
the current mesage. If enabled, you will be asked if you would
like to Quote the current message. You will then be given the
message entry "from" to fill out, containing the PRIVATE status
of your message, who the message is FROM, who the message is
TO, and the message SUBJECT. After the "form" has been
completely filled out, the reader will load your text editor
and allow you to enter the text of your message.


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-------
This function is very similar to the eply function described
above, however when you press , you can reply to the
current message in a DIFFERENT message area.

After pressing , you will be presented with a list of
all message areas that are available to you on the BBS. Choose
the area you want the reply to go to with the highlight bar,
then press ENTER.

After the message area selection process is finished, you will
be given the message entry form to complete, and the reader
performs the same steps as for the key.



---
The "E" key is similar in operation to the "R" key, except that
you are not asked if you would like to Quote the current
message. Use the "E" key when you would like to enter a NEW
message in the message area. The reader will prompt you for
the appropriate information, and then load your text editor.
Enter the body of your mesage, and quit the editor. You can
then choose to save your message, edit your message again, kill
the message, spell check the message, and even cross-post or
carbon-copy your message.



-------
The key combination is very similar to the key
combination. Pressing while reading messages in an
area will allow you to post a NEW message in any message area
on the BBS.

The reader will display a selection list of all messages on the
BBS. Simply move the highlight bar to the message area you
would like to post the new message in, and press ENTER. The
message entry procedure (described in the section "ENTERING
MESSAGES") is followed.



---
The key allows a reply to the ORIGINAL sender of the
message. On a normal reply, the reader places the name in the
"FROM:" field of the message you are reading into the "TO:"
field of your reply.

Using the key reverses this function. It places the name
in the "TO:" field of the message you are reading into the
"TO:" field of your message reply.

The normal message entry procedures follow when using .

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-------
Pressing while reading a message will allow you to
reply to the current message via NETMAIL. This key is only
functional when using a Blue Wave Mail Packet, as QWK packets
do not provide the interface necessary for addressing FidoNet-
style netmail properly.

After pressing , the reader will scan the BBS
information file for a message area defined as NETMAIL. If the
reader cannot locate a netmail base on the BBS that you are
reading messages from, an informational message will be
displayed, and the message entry procedure will be aborted.

If the reader was successful in locating a netmail base, it
will begin the netmail message entry procedure (See "ENTERING
MESSAGES", later in the documentation). If possible, the
reader will scan the network address out of the Origin line of
the original message, and place it into the netmail message
entry form for you.



-------
Pressing while reading mail will allow you to perform a
'manual' keyword search of the current message area. A popup
window will appear with five keyword entry slots. After
entering the keywords that you would like to search for, the
reader will begin scanning the message area for matches to your
input, and then begin displaying messages that contain your
keyword(s).

To exit "Keyword Search/Read Mode", simply press ESCape. The
reader will resume normal reading.

For full information on keyword searching, please see "KEYWORD
SEARCHING", later in the documentation.



---
Pressing while reading messages will allow you to search
for keywords from a prepared TEXT file. Many genealogists use
this function to scan for several names at one time.

The reader will prompt you for the name of a keyword-list file,
and then begin the keyword search. Keyword-list searching is
intended for REGISTERED users only. However, the reader will
allow UNregistered users to search for only 5 keywords at a
time. Registered copies of the reader allow for ANY number of
keywords to be searched at any one time. After the reader has
entered search mode simply press ESCape to resume reading mail.

For full information on keyword searching, please see "KEYWORD
SEARCHING", later in the documentation.

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-------
Pressing while reading messages will activate the
reader's HEADER SEARCH feature. You will be given a "form"
similar to the message entry form. Fill out the search
criteria, and press F10 or ENTER on the last field of the
window when finished.

You can instruct the reader to perform a header search for ANY
matches that it finds by answering "N" to he "Must match all
search criteria" question. If you want the message to match
ALL of the criteria, answer "Y" to this question.

Press ESCape when you have completed your header search.

---
Pressing

while reading messages will make the reader search
for PERSONAL mail in the current message area ONLY. (To
perform a global search for personal messages, use the
key combination from the 'Choose Area to Read' selection
window). The reader will act the same as if it were performing
a user-defined search of the current message area headers.



---
Pressing the key while reading a message will allow you to
save it to an ASCII Disk file. The reader will prompt you for
the file name to save the message to. Press ESCape to abort
the save function.

If the file you specify already exists, it will automatically
be APPENDED to, unless you press F10 after entering the file
name. If the file does not exist, it will be created by the
reader.



-------
The key combination performs the same function as the
ave to ASCII file function, but instead writes the current
message to your PRINTER. If you have toggled "Send Form Feed
after Printing Msgs" ON, the reader will send a form-feed to
the printer after printing each message.



---
Pressing the key will immediately take you to the replies
manager, or View/Edit/Kill Replies mode. If you do not have
any replies that belong to the currently open message bundle,
an informational message will be displayed, and you will be
returned to message reading mode. See "REPLIES MANAGER".

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-------
The key combination will allow you to View the current
message on-screen, as is. This command is useful for BBSs that
support the uploading or entering of ANSI messages (those which
contain the ANSI Escape Color Codes). The reader will simply
output the current message to the screen through DOS (just as
if you executed a "TYPE FILENAME.EXT" at the DOS prompt).

The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader has an INTERNAL ANSI display
driver, allowing you to view ANSI messages on the screen very
quickly and easily. The loading of ANSI.SYS to view ANSI
screens and messages is not necessary.



---
The key will give you a Title Scan of the current message
area. The Title Scan can be very handy to use if you have
disabled the Automatic Title Scan. The Title Scan allows you
to page through the message "headers", as a type of 'preview'
of the message text. It displays the messages "read" and
"reply" status (whether or not you have already read or replied
to the message), who the message is FROM, who the message is
TO, and the SUBJECT of the message.

It is also a quick way to jump between messages. You can move
the highlight bar to the message that you would like to read,
and press ENTER. The reader will immediately move you to the
message that you have selected, and begin reading from there.



---
Pressing while reading a message area will give you more
information about that area. This display shows you the
"AreaTag" of the message area, the number of personal messages,
the number of unread messages, the total number of messages,
and whether the current base is Echomail, Netmail, or a Local
conference.




-------
Pressing while reading a message will allow you to
FORWARD the current message to another user in another message
base.

When reading a mail packet that has come from a Blue Wave Mail
Door, you MAY NOT HAVE THIS OPTION AVAILABLE TO YOU.
Forwarding messages is usually a reserved sysop-only function.

The sysop of your host system has the ability to control access
to this function in the reader.

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---
Pressing while reading messages will bring up a window
which contains an editing field. The purpose of this function
is to allow you to edit and/or create a TAGLINE while reading
messages. After editing or entering a tagline in the editing
window, the reader will append the tagline to your defined tag
file.

If a tagline is currently on the message reading screen (the
line begins with "... "), the current tagline will
automatically be brought into the editing window.

The key also allows you to cut and paste a tagline from the
message reading screen. When the editing window is on the
screen, simply press F9. You will then be able to mark a block
of text for editing and later appending to your tagline file.

When adopting a tagline with the key, the new tagline
automatically is placed in the file defined as your DEFAULT
TAGLINE FILE in the reader's setup menu. If you would like to
adopt the tagline to an alternate file, use the
adoption process.



-------
Pressing when there is a tagline on the screen (a line
beginning with the characters "... ") will cause the reader to
adopt the current tagline to the default tagline file with NO
questions asked. It is a very quick way to adopt a tagline.

When adopting a tagline with the key, the new tagline
automatically is placed in the file defined as your DEFAULT
TAGLINE FILE in the reader's setup menu. If you would like to
adopt the tagline to an alternate file, use the
adoption process.



--------
Pressing while reading messages will allow you to
adopt a tagline in much the same manner as the key process,
with one exception.

The function will allow you to enter the name of an
alternate tagline file. If you would like to adopt, enter, or
edit a tagline to a file that is not defined as your DEFAULT
TAGLINE FILE, you must do so with this function.

will also allow you to cut and paste a line from the
text of a message. Simply press F9 while the dialogue
box is on the screen, mark the block of text you would like to
edit or adopt, and the reader will take care of the rest for
you! For more information, please see the section "TAGLINES".

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---
Pressing while reading a message will allow you to MARK
that message for later operations.

A sub-menu will appear asking if you would like to mark the
current message for later Saving to ASCII file, Printing,
Deletion, or Replying. Select the appropriate item from the
menu, and the reader will continue where it left off.

Five short cut keys are provided so that you may bypass the pop
up menu if desired:


--------
Pressing will mark the current message for later
Saving to an ASCII file.


--------
Pressing will mark the current message for later
Printing.


--------
Pressing will mark the current message for later
replying.


--------
Pressing will mark the current message for later
Deletion from the mail packet.


-----
Pressing the Key will mark the current message for later
deletion, just as the key does. However, the
key adds a different twist; the reader automatically advances
to the NEXT message in the message area.


These various markings come in handy when you wish to dump
entire blocks of messages to a text file at one time, print
messages in a batch mode, reply to messages all at one time, or
delete messages from your mail packet.

All operations that can be performed on Marked messages are
accessible through the 'Select Area to Read' selection window
(the F5 through F10 Keys).

If a message currently has a mark SET, and you wish to remove
that mark, simply perform the same step(s) you made to place
the mark on the message. This will cause the reader to REMOVE
the mark from the current message.

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<*>
---
Pressing the '*', or asterisk key, will toggle the "read"
status of the message. If you are reading a message, but would
like to mark it as UNREAD so that you can come back to it
later, simply press this key. If you are using a mouse, you
can accomplish the same thing quickly by moving the mouse
cursor to the words "Read: Yes/No" in the message header
display and clicking the LEFT mouse button.

<~>
---
The tilde key will allow you to quickly toggle the current
setting of the "Double-Byte Language Support". For more
information about who and when you should enable this option,
please see "Double-Byte Language Support" in the section
regarding the SETUP menu.


-------
Pressing the keys in message reading mode will activate
the reader's PULL DOWN MENU SYSTEM. This menu is extremely
useful when you need to browse through all of the commands
available to you.

The pull down menu system is also the main navigation tool when
using a mouse with the reader. The pull down menu system is
activated by placing the mouse cursor on the words " Menu " on
the message header border, and pressing the LEFT mouse button.

If you have a 3-button mouse, the MIDDLE mouse button also
activates the pull down menu system.

For full details on using the mouse with the reader, please see
the section "USING THE MOUSE".





















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THE REPLIES MANAGER
-------------------

The replies manager, or "View, Edit, or Kill Mode", allows you to perform
operations and manage your currently active replies and new messages.

Viewing your replies is strikingly similar to message reading mode, which
was described in the previous section. When entering the replies
manager, you are automatically presented with a title scan of your reply
packet. You can move the highlight bar to the desired reply and press
ENTER. This will take you directly to the reply that was highlighted.

After you are in the replies manager, you are presented with the replies
in your reply packet, one by one. You can scroll through your replies
and move from one reply to the next through the use of your cursor keys.
The cursor keys (and all of the other "MESSAGE MOVEMENT" keys work as
described for message reading mode).

When you are finished editing, deleting (killing), and performing the
various other functions with your replies, simply press the ESCape key
(or the RIGHT mouse button, if you are using the mouse). You will be
returned to the point in the reader at which you entered the replies
manager.

The following keys perform the described functions while in View, Edit,
Kill mode (the replies manager).



---
Pressing the key allows you to EDIT the reply that is
currently being displayed on the screen. You will first be
given the standard message entry "form", with all of the fields
pre-filled with the information contained in the current
message. After accepting the information on this screen, you
will be asked "Edit the message text?". If you would like to
edit the text of your message, press "Y", or the LEFT mouse
button. Your text editor will then be loaded with the current
message for you to edit.

After the editing is complete, the reader will re-display your
message with the changes you have made.



---
Pressing the key will allow you to move the reply that is
currently displayed on the screen to ANOTHER message area on
the BBS. After typing , you will be presented with a
selection list window of all message areas on the BBS. Simply
highlight the message area that you would like the reply moved
to and press ENTER. You have now moved your message to the new
area.

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or
------------
Pressing the key, or the key will cause the reader to
mark the current reply for DELETION from your reply packet.

The reader does NOT delete the reply immediately. Instead, the
message is tagged, and the word "DELETED" appears on the bottom
of the message header border. If you accidentally delete a
message, simply press or again, and the DELETED
status will be removed.

When you leave the replies manager, the reader will present a
red dialogue box with the question:

There are replies marked for deletion!
Are you SURE you want to delete these replies?

If you are sure that you would like to delete the messages that
are marked, answer "Y". If you have mistakenly deleted
messages, simply press "N", and the reader will not pack the
replies out of your reply packet.



---
Pressing while in the replies manager will cause the reader
to execute the "SPELL CHECKER COMMAND LINE", which is defined
in the SETUP menu. The current message text file name will be
sent to the command line (the @F parameter will be replaced by
the file name). Use this command if you would like to spell
check the current reply.



---
Pressing while in the replies manager will allow you to
save your current reply to an ASCII disk file. You will be
asked for the file name to save the message to. Type the name
of the file, and press ENTER to append to or create the file.
Press F10 to overwrite an existing file.

Pressing F5 while the "Save Message to ASCII file" window is
active will present you with a directory list, allowing you to
select the file you would like.



-------
Pressing will write the currently displayed reply to
your defined printer. This function operates identically to
the option while in reading messages mode.





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---
Pressing the key will cause the reader to redisplay the
TITLE SCAN of your current reply packet.

<~>
---
Pressing the tilde key will toggle the current status of the
"Double-Byte Language Support" option, which is explained in
detail in the SETUP menu section.



-------
The key combination will activate the View/Edit/Kill
Mode menu system. This will allow you to browse through the
options available to you in the replies manager and choose the
function you would like to perform, without having to memorize
the command keys available.

If you have a 3-button mouse, pressing the MIDDLE mouse button
while in the reply manager will also activate the menu system.
If you do not have a 3-button mouse connected to your system,
you can simply move the mouse cursor to the word "MENU" on the
bottom line of the message header window, and click the LEFT
mouse button.






























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ENTERING MESSAGES
-----------------

One of the "other" main functions of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader is
the process of entering messages offline. Not only does entering
messages offline save you connect time to the host BBS system, but it
also allows you to reply to your messages quickly and easily. It allows
you to format your replies intelligently, research your facts, and
present your ideas in a clear and concise way.

There are two types of message entry in The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader. QWK mail packets, local message bases (bases that are not echoed
to other systems through a mail network), and Echomail bases all use one
form of message entry. FidoNet style netmail bases use another similar,
but extended format for message entry.

FidoNet style netmail entry is ONLY available when reading mail packets
from a Blue Wave Mail Door compatible host system. The basic reason is
that the QWK mail packet format does not provide a consistent interface
for entering FidoNet netmail. Not only that, but the QWK packet format
is not capable of passing information to the reader which communicates
the TYPE of message base each area is defined as on the host BBS system.

To enter messages with The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader, it is required
that you have an EXTERNAL ASCII-capable TEXT EDITOR defined in your
reader's SETUP menu, as was described at the beginning of this
documentation. A very simple text editor (TED3.COM) was supplied in the
reader's distribution archive. If you do not have another ASCII-capable
text editor available, TED3.COM will get the job done.


Entering Local, Echomail, and QWK-style Messages
------------------------------------------------
When you begin entering a message to a message area that is
defined as a local base or an echomail base (with Blue Wave
Packets), or when you begin entering a message when utilizing a
QWK-style mail packet, you will presented with the 'standard'
message entry form.

The standard message entry form consists of four entry
"fields". The first field is the PRIVATE status of the
message. (If you are using a Blue Wave Mail Packet, this field
may be DISABLED. If the host BBS system indicates that private
messages are either not allowed, or are forced to private
status, then the reader will automatically place the correct
value in this field, and not allow you to toggle the status).
If you would like to make your message PRIVATE, enter a "Y" in
this field. If you want to make the message PUBLIC, enter a
"N" in this field.

This field is always enabled with QWK message replies, due to
limitations of the QWK format. Even though you can set the PVT
status, the mail door *MAY* change the status of the message.

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The second field displayed is the FROM: field. More often than
not, this field will be DISABLED. Most message areas on the
BBS host systems allow only one type of name to be entered in
the FROM: field; either your alias or your real name (if
aliases are allowed on the host system). If you are using a
Blue Wave Mail Packet, and the sysop of the host BBS system
allows ANY alias to be entered in the FROM: field of the
current message area, the reader will allow you to edit this
field.

The third field used to enter the name of the person to whom
you are addressing your message. When entering NEW messages,
this field will default to "All". If you would like to address
a new message to a specific person, simply type their name over
the word "All". If you are REPLYING to a message, the person's
name to whom you are replying will automatically appear in the
TO: field. If you would like to change the addressee of the
message, simply begin typing the new name. The reader will
erase the default name as soon as you type a letter. To accept
the default, simply press ENTER.

You will notice that when the highlighted field is the TO:
field, a message will appear on the right hand side of the
dialogue box which reads: "? for Name Lookup List". If you
type ?[ENTER] in the TO: field, a window will appear directly
beneath the message entry dialogue box which lists all of the
names you have defined in your NAMES.BW file. You can then
highlight the name of the person to whom you would like to
address your message and press ENTER. The reader will fill in
the fields for you. For more information on using NAMES.BW,
please see the sample NAMES.BW file enclosed with your reader.

The fourth and final field in the message entry dialogue box is
the SUBJECT of the message. Here you should enter an
appropriate subject for your message so that other users, when
they scan the messages in a message area, will read your
message if the subject line piques their interest.

To finish your message header entry, simply press ENTER on the
SUBJECT field, press F10, or click the LEFT mouse button the
the words "F10 - Accept" at the bottom of the message entry
window. The reader will then load your text editor and you can
begin entering the text of your message.

At any time during the message entry procedure, you can type
or to make carbon copies or cross-post your
message. Details of these operations are described near the
end of this section.

At any time during the message header entry procedure, you can
press ESCape or click the LEFT mouse button on the words "ESC -
Abort" to abort the message entry function. Clicking the RIGHT
mouse button will also act as if an ESCape was pressed during
the message entry process.

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Echomail versus Netmail
-----------------------
Before the process of entering netmail is described, it may be
appropriate to discuss the concept of netmail in general. If
you are active on FidoNet message bases, you may see the term
"NETMAIL" used daily. Netmail is similar to Echomail in some
ways. Both echomail and netmail are entered on one BBS system,
and travel to at least one other BBS system on the network.

There are, however, several big differences between Echomail
and Netmail. Echomail is never addressed to only one BBS
system. Echomail travels to ALL SYSTEMS that carry that
particular echomail base. Sometimes echomail bases are carried
by only a very few systems, and sometimes they are carried by
several hundred or several thousand systems around the country
(and even the world!). The FidoNet International BLUEWAVE
Support echo is an example of an echomail base that is carried
throughout the world. When you enter a message into the
BLUEWAVE echo, and you address the message to me (George
Hatchew), not only does the message travel to my system, but
also to ALL systems that carry the BLUEWAVE echo.

Netmail has a specific destination. It is addressed to a
person or several persons on ONE BBS SYSTEM. Netmail gets to
the final destination by way of an addressing scheme that is
used by FidoNet and other FidoNet Technology Networks (FTNs).
Netmail addressed to me will be destined for my system, and my
system only. Other BBS participants that carry other echos
will not see the message.

Netmail is normally used for PRIVATE correspondence between two
people. When a message has no value to other participants of a
particular echomail base, it is always best to send it via
Netmail so that other people are not paying for the cost of
your message.

Netmail is a somewhat complex concept, and one which much too
involved for a complete discussion here. A complete document
the size of this manual could probably be written about the
details of netmail and how it can be routed and handled by
different mailers. If you are seriously interested about
getting access to or getting involved with netmail
transmissions, it is probably best to ask the Sysop of your
host BBS system. He or she will be able to provide specific
details about how netmail is handled on his or her system.
(All BBS systems handle netmail a bit differently).

Many times netmail is sent DIRECTLY from the host BBS system to
the destination system. For instance, if a netmail message was
entered on my BBS system in Flint, Michigan, and was destined
for Phoenix, Arizona, the message would be delivered DIRECTLY

to Arizona. The phone connect charge from Michigan to Arizona
would be billed to my phone bill as any other call.


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Because of the cost involved in handling direct netmail, many
sysops do not allow access to netmail bases unless prior
arrangements have been made. If there is not a netmail base
accessible in your mail packet, ask your sysop if one is
available.


Entering Netmail
----------------
When entering messages to a base that has been defined as
NETMAIL by the sysop of the host BBS, the reader will present
you with an entry form that is very similar to the standard
message entry form. There are two more fields to take into
consideration when entering netmail.

The ADDR: field is where you will enter the destination address
of your message. All FidoNet nodes and networks that use the
FidoNet Technology (FTNs) are assigned network addresses.
These addresses usually consist of three numbers (or four
numbers, if the destination address is a point system). The
addresses take the form of ZONE:NET/NODE.POINT. In order to
enter a netmail message, you will need to know the destination
address of your message. The Blue Wave Support BBS has the
address 1:2240/176.0, or Zone 1, Net 2240, Node 176, Point 0.
Enter the destination address of the netmail message in this
field.

The last field is the ATTR: field, or the Attributes to place
on the message (sometimes called BITS or NETMAIL BITS). You
cannot actually move the highlight bar to the ATTR: field.
Instead, the reader provides a quick and easy way to toggle the
attributes of a netmail message.

At any time during the message entry procedure, you can press
one of the "Control Keys" displayed under the netmail header
entry box to toggle the status of the message. The Blue Wave
Offline Mail Reader allows the setting of 7 netmail status
bits. All, some, or none of these bits may be available to
you. Because of the cost that is involved of transferring
netmail, sysops control which bits are accessible. All of the
bits will be described here for completeness. If you are not
the sysop or an assistant of the host BBS system, it is VERY
LIKELY that some or all will be unavailable.


Crash
--------------
If the Crash option is available, pressing
during netmail message entry will toggle the CRASH
status of the message. Various FidoNet mailers treat
the crash bit differently, but all of them treat the
message as going DIRECTLY to the remote system. When
the CRASH bit is set on a message, the message will
not be routed through other systems, and it usually
means the message will be transmitted ASAP.

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Direct
---------------
If the Direct option is available, pressing
during netmail message entry will toggle the DIRECT
status of the message. This bit is usually used when
CRASH mail is not desireable, yet the message should
go directly to the destination system. (Crash mail
usually means send ASAP, and to not wait until the
phone rates are cheap.)

Attach File
--------------------
If the File Attach option is available, pressing
during netmail message entry will toggle the
w/FILE status of the message. THIS OPTION IS
NORMALLY NOT AVAILABLE. Attaching a file to a
netmail message does not mean that the reader will
send a file with your mail packet upload. This
option allows the sysop of the host system to use the
reader on his or her local system to attach a file to
a remote node.

Hold for Pickup
------------------------
If the Hold option is available, pressing
will toggle the HOLD status of the netmail message.
Hold status is interpreted by nearly all mailers as
meaning one thing: The mailer will NOT dial out to
deliver the message. The message will be packed and
placed on hold for pickup by the remote system.
Unless the destination system calls the host system
to pick up the message, it will never be delivered.

Immediate
------------------
If the Immediate option is available, pressing I> will toggle the IMMediate status of the netmail
message. Some mailers and mail processors do not use
this message status at all. This capability is
mainly provided for those sysops running FrontDoor,
InterMail, or D'Bridge as the mailer. IMMediate
message status forces the mailer to pack the message
for immediate, DIRECT delivery barring all costs and
calling restrictions. NOTHING is going to stop an
IMMediate message from being delivered.


Kill/Sent
------------------
If a message is marked as K/Sent, it will normally be
deleted by the mailer after successful delivery to
the remote system. This option is especially useful
when you do not wish to keep a copy of the original,
as it helps to maintain a 'clean' message base.

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Request a File
-----------------------
If this option is available to you, pressing
will toggle the FREQ status of the netmail message.
File Requesting is, more often than not, limited to
the sysop and his assistant(s). Setting the File
Request bit is a little different than the rest.

Instead of entering a subject in the SUBJ: field of
the message, the name of a file to request is entered
there. For example, if you had the capability to
file request, you could possibly enter a message to
my system (1:2240/176), set the FILE REQUEST toggle
to ON, and in the subject field type "BWAVE210.ZIP".
This would cause the mailer to call my system to file
request the file BWAVE210.ZIP.

Because of the obvious cost involved in requesting
files from other nodes in a network, this option
should be used very prudently, if you do have access
to file request files from other nodes.


As with the standard message entry procedure, the netmail
process also allows the - Make carbon copy function.
Full details of carbon copying and cross posting follow.



Make Carbon Copies
---------------------------
At all message input forms, you can type the key
combination to inform the reader that you would like to make
'carbon' copies of the message you are about to enter.

The reader's Carbon Copy feature allows you to write one
message, and send that SAME message to several people in the
same message base. Carbon Copying is allowed in both Local and
Netmail message bases. However, carbon copying is NOT allowed
in Echomail bases. Carbon copying in echomail bases is
considered annoying behavior by many people. By definition,
all people receiving an echomail area will also receive a copy
of your message. Sending several copies of the same message to
different people in an echomail area only serves to waste the
money of those people paying to transmit the messages to other
systems.

When the reader has been told to enter Carbon Copy mode, a
message will flash on the right hand side of the message header
entry form. You should complete the entry of your message as
normal.




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After your message has been saved, the reader will enter Carbon
Copy mode. It will begin presenting message entry forms, one
by one, for you to fill out. After you have completed the
entry of the LAST message header, simply press ESCape. This
will exit carbon copy mode, and the reader will resume where
you began entering the message.


Cross Post Message
---------------------------
Cross posting messages is very similar to the procedure of
making Carbon Copies of messages.

Cross posting a message results in the reader posting a copy of
your message in SEVERAL DIFFERENT message areas, whereas carbon
copying posts copies of your message in the SAME message area.

Cross posting is available in Local and Echomail Bases (and all
QWK bases). When you have instructed the reader that you would
like to cross post your message, the normal message entry
procedure is followed. When you have saved your message, a
selection window will appear on your screen, listing all
message areas available on the BBS.

If you want to cross post your message to only ONE echo/local
area, simply highlight the area you would like to cross post
the message to and press ENTER. You will then be given another
message entry form to fill out, and the process is complete.

If you would like to cross post your message to more than one
message area, you will need to TAG the desired areas. Simply
find the first cross post base, highlight it, and press the
SPACE bar (or the MIDDLE mouse button, if you have a 3-button
mouse). Then move to the next base to post the message to, and
press the space bar. Repeat this process until all areas you
want the message posted to are tagged, then press ENTER.



















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KEYWORD SEARCHING
-----------------

One of the most requested and one of the most powerful features of The
Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader is the very flexible KEYWORD SEARCHING
system. Keyword searching will help you to quickly and easily locate
messages in your download packet that contain topics of interest to you.

There are two ways to perform a keyword search of a message area when you
are in message reading mode. The first is a "manual keyword search"
function. The manual keyword search function is called up by pressing
while in message reading mode. The second way of performing a
keyword search is through a keyword list file. The keyword list file
search is VERY powerful and easy to use; especially if you consistently
search for the same keywords on a regular basis.

Keyword List File Searching
---------------------------
Keyword list file searching is best described by using an
actual application. Many genealogists use The Blue Wave
Offline Mail Reader for reading the national and international
FidoNet echos relating to genealogy. Some of these echos
generate very large amounts of traffic, sometimes 300 to 400
messages per day. A serious genealogist with limited time will
most likely not have time to read through this many messages
every day. Additionally, only a small percentage of these
messages may actually be useful and informative.

Through keyword list file searching, you can build a "keyword
list" (a simple ASCII text file) which contains all of the
names that you are currently researching. A sample keyword
list file, KEYWORDS.BW, was supplied in the reader's
distribution archive. This sample file describes the format to
use.

Basically, the keyword list file should contain a list of
keywords that you want the reader to search for, one per line.
The reader ignores the CASE of keywords when searching for a
match (CAPITAL and lower case letters will both be treated
equally).

The default mode of the reader is to find matches to any string
that is a direct match or contains a superset of the keyword.
For instance, a keyword of "the" will find "the", "them",
"parthenon", and "breathe". The following keyword search
parameters can be forced for any keyword that you define in
your keyword list file:

!keyword - Searches for a match to in the TEXT of
messages ONLY.
@keyword - Searches for a match to in the HEADERS
of messages ONLY.
#keyword - Matches only if is a WHOLE word.

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After you press in message reading mode, the reader will

open up a dialogue box, asking for the name of your keyword
list search file. Simply enter the correct file name (or
simply press ENTER if the default file name is correct), and
the reader will begin scanning the current message area for
your defined keywords.

After the scan is complete, the reader will begin presenting
the messages which contain your defined keywords, with the
keywords HIGHLIGHTED. You can move from message to message
just as in normal message reading mode. To exit keyword
search/read mode, press ESCape.

For further details on keyword list searching, please see the
sample keyword list file, KEYWORDS.BW, which should have been
enclosed with your copy of the reader.


Manual Keyword Searching
------------------------
It is often desireable to search a message area for a specific
keyword or keywords on a whim. Pressing in message
reading mode will allow you to perform the same function as a
keyword list file search, but it allows you to type the
keywords directly into 5 editing fields.

Full instructions for using this option are displayed on the
dialogue box.




























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USING THE MOUSE
---------------

The Blue Wave Mail System fully supports the use of a MOUSE for moving
through the menu system, selecting items from lists, providing input in
dialogue boxes, and entering one-key input through the keyboard. In
order to take advantage of the mouse support, you must have "Mouse
Support" in the reader's SETUP menu activated. You must also have a
Microsoft or compatible mouse driver loaded either as a TSR or a Device
Driver through CONFIG.SYS. For more information on installing your mouse
driver, please see either your Mouse reference manual, or the DOS
reference manual.

There are five types of input required through The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader; Yes/No responses, Menu Input, List Selection, Dialogue Box
Input, and Multiple Choice Mini-Menus. Mouse functions while reading
mail will be discussed also.

Mouse Yes/No Responses
----------------------
Most of the input required at prompts in the reader require
either a "Yes" or "No" response, Instead of pressing "Y" or
"N", you can use the mouse as the "keyboard". Pressing the
LEFT mouse button at a Yes/No prompt will translate into a
"Y". The RIGHT mouse button translates to a "N".


Menu Input
----------
You can select a menu item by simply moving the mouse cursor to
the desired menu option and pressing the LEFT mouse button.
Pressing the RIGHT mouse button while the reader is processing
a menu will have the same effect as pressing the ESCape key.


List Selection
--------------
The reader has several screens where you must highlight an item
from a selection "list", and press ENTER to select the item
(such as when choosing a message area to read). Mouse input on
these lists is very simple and straight forward.

To select an item on the current screen, move the mouse cursor
to the desired line and press the LEFT mouse button.

If there is more than one "page" of choices, the reader will
place a "[PgDn]" or a "[PgUp]" icon at the bottom of the
selection list. To move down one page, move the mouse cursor
to the "[PgDn]" symbol and press the LEFT mouse button. To
move up one page, move the mouse cursor to the "[PgUp]" symbol
and press the LEFT mouse button.



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Pressing the RIGHT mouse button while the reader is processing
a "list" will make the reader behave as if you pressed the
ESCape key.

If you have a 3-button mouse, the MIDDLE mouse button will
always act as a keypress. Some list selection
windows allow you to 'tag' items by pressing the space bar.
Pressing the MIDDLE mouse button will tag the currently
highlighted item and advance the highlight bar down one item.

If a list selection window does not allow item tagging, the
MIDDLE mouse button serves as an ENTER key.

Some list selection windows provide even more capabilities than
a simple highlight/press ENTER selection. For example, the
"Select Area to Read" selection window will allow you to press
F10 on the keyboard for global message reading. To activate
this function with the mouse, move the mouse cursor so it is
resting on the words "F10 - Global Msg Reading", and press the
LEFT mouse button. The reader will then act just as if you had
pressed F10 from the keyboard.


Dialogue Box Input
------------------
Many Dialogue Boxes in the reader require keyboard input to
perform various functions. Sometimes messages appear in a pop
up window indicating "Press F10 to Accept", etc. You can
perform these various functions very easily with the mouse.

Simply move the mouse highlight cursor to the words or action
that you would like to perform, then press the LEFT mouse
button. The highlighted action will then be performed.

Pressing the RIGHT mouse button while a dialogue box is active
in the reader has the same effect as pressing the ESCape key
(normally it closes the dialogue box and the reader resumes
execution).


Multiple Choice Mini-Menus
--------------------------
Sometimes the reader will allow you to enter more than just a
"Yes/No" response. Some prompts in the reader allow for 3 or
more choices from a mini-menu.

The default action will always appear on the screen. To accept
the default response, simply click the LEFT mouse button on the
default response shown.

To accept any of the responses that are displayed on the
screen, position the mouse highlight cursor on top of the
response that you would like and press the LEFT mouse button.
Pressing the RIGHT mouse button during mini-menu processing
will act as if an ESCape key was pressed.

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Reading Messages with the Mouse
-------------------------------
Reading messages with the mouse in The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader is very easy. When mouse support is enabled in the
reader's SETUP menu, the reader will format the message header
box with a few mouse ICONS. Clicking the LEFT mouse on these
icons results in the action being performed.

At any time in message reading mode, clicking the MIDDLE mouse
button (if you have a 3-button mouse) will activate the
reader's pull down menu system. Through the pull down menu
system, you can access ALL of the functions of the keyboard in
message reading mode.

Along the right hand side of the message reading screen you
will see an UP arrow and a DOWN arrow. The UP arrow icon
serves as a PageUp key. When you click on this icon, the
current message will scroll up one full page.

The DOWN arrow icon serves a dual purpose. If the bottom of
the message is on the screen (there are no more pages to view
of the current message), clicking on the DOWN arrow icon will
cause the reader to move to the next message in the area. If
there is more of a message that is not displayed on the screen,
the DOWN arrow icon will serve as a PageDown function, and
display the next page of the current message.

Along the bottom border of the message reading mode header box
you will find four more icons. The farthest icon to the right
is the "NEXT" icon. Clicking the LEFT mouse button on this
icon will advance the reader to the next message in the current
message area. The next icon to the left is the "PREV" icon.
Clicking the LEFT mouse button on the "PREV" icon will cause
the reader to move to the previous message in the current
message area.

The icon farthest to the left of the screen is the "MENU" icon.
If you do not have a 3-button mouse, clicking the LEFT mouse
button on this icon will bring up the reader's pull down menu
system. (Remember, if you have a 3-button mouse, the MIDDLE
mouse button will also bring up the menu system).

Next to the "MENU" icon is the "MARK" icon. Clicking the LEFT
mouse button the the "MARK" icon will bring up the reader's
mark-message menu. (The function from the keyboard).

And finally, you can scroll the text of the currently displayed
message. To do this, you will need to position the mouse
cursor anywhere within the TEXT window of the screen. Holding
down the LEFT mouse button while the cursor is on the bottom
half of the screen will scroll the text UP.

Holding down the LEFT mouse button while the cursor is on the
top half of the text window will scroll the message text DOWN.

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TAGLINES
--------

Although The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader supports the use of an
external tagline selection utility (John Hancock v3.0), the reader has a
very sophisticated tagline manager built into it. (Previous versions of
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader and documentation referred to taglines
as "Signature Lines".)

"What are taglines?", you might ask. Taglines are usually used to add
spice, humor, and/or satire to messages. Many people find the sharing
and collection of unique taglines turns into a fun hobby all by itself.
There are several sources of picking up taglines (The reader allows you
to quickly and easily adopt taglines right out of a message that you are
reading. See "READING MESSAGES" for a description of the , ,
and functions.) One of these sources is the FidoNet TAGLINES
echo. Other networks also have similar conferences. However, the best
taglines are probably the ones you can create using your own imagination
and wit!

The reader automatically appends taglines to messages, if configured to
do so. At the end of many messages, you will find something similar to
the following:

... A programmer's work is never done!
--- Blue Wave v2.12
* Origin: The Blue Wave Support BBS -=* Flint, MI *=- (1:2240/176.0)

The line "... A programmer's work is never done!" is considered the
tagline of the message.

There are several ways to configure the reader to add taglines to
messages. If you do not care to add taglines to your messages, simply
configure the reader tagline selection type to "NONE" in the reader's
SETUP menu. A "Manual" tagline entry is also provided for those who wish
to create taglines on the fly, but it is often tedious. I suspect that
very few people use this as the default setting.

Three other ways of selecting taglines are provided in the reader:
Random, Prompt, and the external tagline selection utility John Hancock.
(Simply calling John Hancock a tagline selection utility is grossly
understating its power. You can beautify taglines, mutilate taglines,
and much more.)

When the reader is configured to use the "Prompt" and "Random" tagline
selections, an ASCII text file is used to select taglines from. A sample
tagline file, TAGLINES.BW, should have been supplied with your copy of
the reader.

When the reader selects taglines randomly, it scans the tagline file and
automatically picks one for you. There is no prompting or other pop up
windows to deal with.



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The most fun is probably had by using the "Prompt" setting. This setting
is the most flexible to use, and is probably the hardest to document
(although once you understand how it works, it becomes very simple).


Installing John Hancock
-----------------------
Configuring John Hancock to work with the reader is fairly
straight-forward. Because John Hancock is a fairly complicated
program in its own right, full information about configuring
and the initial installation of John Hancock itself is well
beyond the scope of this documentation. Please see the JH
documentation for full details.

Once John Hancock is configured to work on your system, all you
need to do is edit the "John Hancock Command Line" in the
reader's SETUP menu. If John Hancock is installed in a
directory called "C:\JHANCOCK", the command line you should put
in this field is "C:\JHANCOCK\JH3.EXE". If you want to use
John Hancock as your primary tagline selector, set "Tagline
Selection Type" to "J.Hancock" in the reader's SETUP menu.

The reader will take care of all the rest!

Upon return from John Hancock, the reader expects to find a
file called "JH?.REP" in the reader's home directory (the
current directory while the reader is executing). The tagline
found in JH?.REP will be appended to your message upon return
to the reader. If the JH?.REP file is *not* found upon return,
you will be given a message to that effect so that you can
check your John Hancock configuration, if necessary.


The "Prompt" Tagline Selection Type
-----------------------------------
As mentioned earlier, the "Prompt" tagline selection type is by
far the most flexible tagline selection option. After entering
and saving a new message or reply, the reader will scan your
defined tagline file and present you with a windowed tagline
selection list. Highlight the tagline that you would like to
append to your message and press ENTER. To skip adding a
tagline to your message, press ESCape.

The tagline selection window also has six function keys
available:


-----
Expands the currently highlighted tagline and displays it for
you to view. The tagline expansion replaces any "@" macros
with information from your current message. The use of "@"
macros are discussed in the sample tagline file distributed
with the reader (TAGLINES.BW).



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----
Pressing will search the tagline file FROM THE CURRENTLY
HIGHLIGHTED tagline to the end of your tagline file. After
pressing , you will be given a window in which to type the
search string. Press ENTER, and the reader will begin
searching your file. The search function also searches
[COMMENTS] and [ALTLISTS] for text.

After performing your initial search, the key becomes
active. You can then repeat the last search that you made by
pressing a single key.



----
Pressing will allow you to load an alternate tagline file.
If you are currently viewing "TAGLINES.BW", but the tagline you
want is in a file called "MYTAGS.TXT", simply press , type
"MYTAGS.TXT", and press ENTER. The reader will load the
alternate tagline file.



----
When you press at the tagline selection window, the reader
will randomly highlight a tagline from your tagline list. To
accept the newly highlighted tagline, simply press ENTER. You
can press the key as many times as you like, until an
appropriate tagline is found.



----
Pressing is very similar to the function, except that
the reader automatically selects a tagline and appends it to
the message. No further prompting is done.



-----
Pressing at the tagline selection window will allow you
to manually enter a tagline. Simply type the tagline you would
like to place on the message in the editing window. If you
would like the reader to add the newly created tagline to your
tagline file, simply press F9. Otherwise, press ENTER.










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Tagline File Format
-------------------
The sample tagline selection file supplied with the reader
(TAGLINES.BW) contains much of the information for building
your tagline selection list.


Each line in the tagline selection file that does not begin
with a comment line (a line beginning with a ';' character) and
that does not begin with [COMMENT], [ALTLIST], or [HANCOCK]
will be considered a valid tagline.

The reader ignores all characters past column 76 in the tagline
selection file. You should keep all lines shorter than this,
or they will be truncated by the reader.


The [COMMENT] Token
-------------------
The [COMMENT] token can be used to place comments in the
tagline selection window. Any line beginning with [COMMENT]
will be displayed as-is in the tagline selection window. It
will be non-selectable as a tagline, but the reader will search
for text in a comment line when using an search. This can
be useful if you want to divide your tagline file into groups
or sections of related taglines.



The [HANCOCK] Token
-------------------
Any line beginning with [HANCOCK], when highlighted and
selected from the tagline selection window, will cause the
reader to execute the John Hancock Command Line, defined in the
reader's SETUP menu. A sample tagline file entry might look
like this:

[HANCOCK]Press ENTER here to load John Hancock.


The [ALTLIST] Token
-------------------
The [ALTLIST] token gives the tagline selection process its
greatest power and flexibility. The following tagline file
entry:

[ALTLIST]C:\Bwave\StarTrek.Tag

when highlighted and selected from the tagline selection
window, will cause the reader to load an alternate tagline file
called STARTREK.SIG in your C:\BWAVE directory. Using these
command tokens appropriately will give you the power to build
your own tagline selection "menu tree".


For full details and samples, it is highly recommended that you read
through the sample TAGLINES.BW file supplied with the reader.

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TAGFILES.BW
-----------
TAGFILES.BW is a 'hardcoded' file name in the reader. Whenever
the tagline selection process is about to take place, the
reader opens the file TAGFILES.BW and scans it for parameters
relating to the BBS and message area that you are entering the
message to.

The purpose of this file is to round out the extremely
customizable tagline selection system. For each BBS that you
call, you can define separate tagline files and tagline
selection types. To go even further, for every message area on
every BBS that you call, you can define tagline selection
parameters!

THE USE OF THIS FILE IS COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. If this file is
not found, the reader will not complain nor will it care. When
a BBS entry or echo entry is not found, the default reader
tagline configuration defined in the SETUP menu will be used.

This file is a flat ASCII (text) file that you can edit with
any text editor. Here is a sample entry:

BBS_ID WildBlue C:\BWave\WildBlue.Tag Prompt
BLUEWAVE C:\BWave\Bluewave.Tag Random
COMM None Hancock

The BBS_ID line tells the reader that when reading packets with
the root name of "WILDBLUE" (such as WILDBLUE.MO1,
WILDBLUE.QWK, etc), it should use the tagline file
"C:\BWAVE\WILDBLUE.TAG", and the default tagline selection type
is "Prompt".

When replying or entering messages in the message area with the
area tag of "BLUEWAVE", the reader should randomly select
taglines from the file "C:\BWAVE\BLUEWAVE.TAG".

When replying or entering messages in the message area with the
area tag of COMM, no tagline file is to be used. Instead, the
John Hancock Command Line will be executed each time a tagline
selection is necessary.

Other parameters for the tagline selection type in this file
are "None" (used when you do not wish to add taglines to
messages entered in certain areas) and "Manual".

Remember, the BBS_ID line gives an override to the entire
message packet. If there are parameters listed under the
BBS_ID line, they will override the BBS_ID line in the area
tags defined.

The correct value for the Area Tag can be found by highlighting
the message area in question at the 'Choose Area to Read'
selection window and pressing the key, or by pressing
while reading messages in that particular message area.

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USING THE BLUE WAVE MAIL DOOR
-----------------------------

Although most of the time you spend using The Blue Wave Mail System will
be spent in the Offline Reader environment, much of the power and
potential for online savings of time and money will come through using
The Blue Wave Mail Door to its full potential. In order to get the
fullest out of The Blue Wave Mail Door, it is necessary to become
familiar with the operating procedures in the door.

The Configuration Menu
----------------------
This section will describe all of the commands available to you
through The Blue Wave Mail Door's Configuration Menu. At first
glance, the Configuration Menu may seem overwhelming. Please
do not let this scare you off. The mail system was carefully
designed to provide each individual user with options not
available in other mail systems. Each menu item will be
described below, along with a short description of where, how
and/or why the command would be useful in any given situation,
if the command description is not obvious.

Choose Message Areas:
When selecting "C", you will be displayed a list of
all LOCAL, ECHOMAIL, and GROUPMAIL bases available to
you. Here you will be able to select and deselect
message areas for download through The Blue Wave Mail
Door. To toggle the status of a message base, enter
the base number or number/letter combination
associated with the message area. You may enter more
than one message base number at a time; simply
separate them by spaces. Some mail doors allow the
sysop to FORCE message areas on so that you must
download them. In this case, the area will be
flagged with a '!' symbol, and the mail door will not
allow you to turn the message area off. If
downloading forced message areas becomes a burden,
you should kindly ask your sysop if downloading the
forced message areas is absolutely necessary.

Reset Lastread Pointers:
Selecting "R" from the Configuration Menu will allow
you to reset the pointers indicating which messages
have been read and which have not been read. The
door will ask you how many DAYS you would like to "go
back". Entering a 0 here will set your pointers to
the current date and time (no mail will be found for
download during a subsequent scan until more mail has
been imported into the bases.)






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Entering any number other than 0 will reset your
pointers to the specified number of days. (Entering
a '1' would set your pointers back 24 hours.
Entering a '2' would set your pointers back 48 hours,
and so on.)


Archiver Selection:
Selecting "A" from the door's Configuration Menu will
allow you to select the archiver of your choice, from
those defined by the Sysop. The archiver will be
used to compress (Mash) the mail packet before you
download it.

Protocol Selection:
Selecting "P" from the Configuration Menu will allow
you to select the transfer protocol of your choice,
from those defined by the Sysop. The protocol will
be used during a download of a mail packet, the
upload of a mail packet, and any File Request
sessions that you may make.

HotKeys:
The Blue Wave Mail Door defaults to using "HotKeys"
for a new user. The HotKey option allows you to
select menu commands without having to press ENTER
after each selection. Obviously, however, it will be
necessary to press ENTER after some commands that
require input of more than one character. With
extremely noisy phone line conditions, hotkeys may
not be desireable.

Xpert Help Menus:
The Blue Wave Mail Door defaults to using FULL help
menus. However, after you become comfortable with
the door, you may wish to turn off the full help
menus. With Xpert Mode enabled, only the menu title,
command keys, and time remaining are displayed.

Bundle Messages FROM You:
If you have this option enabled, the door will pack
and allow you to download messages that you have
entered either through the BBS or through the offline
mail reader. If you upload large volumes of mail,
the downloading of your own messages may not be
desireable. Turn this option off to force the door
to skip the bundling of messages that have your name
in the FROM: field.

Graphics (Color) Enabled:
If your communications program supports ANSI
graphics, and you would like to receive output from
the mail door in living color, turn this option on.
Turning this option off forces the door to mono mode.

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Set Password Option:
The password or Secure option is unique to The Blue
Wave Mail System. Although some may question its
usefulness, there are several situations where you
may wish to enable this feature. There are 4 levels
of security offered:

* Password prompting in the DOOR only.
* Password prompting in the READER only.
* Password prompting in the READER and DOOR.
* No password prompting (Default).

In a situation where you download sensitive areas
from the BBS, and use The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader on a machine that is shared by several other
users, you may wish to add the secure option to the
READER only. Each mail packet will be encrypted with
a password. If a user tries to read a packet
encrypted with a password, they will be prompted to
enter it. If the user does not get the correct
password after three tries, the reader will NOT allow
them to read the mail packet.

Another situation may occur where Father downloads
sensitive mail, and does not wish for Daughter, Son,
or Wife to read it. It may be useful to set the
secure option in both the READER and DOOR, since it
is possible that the family knows Father's BBS
password. By prompting for a password when entering
the door (obviously one that is different from the
BBS password), he has another layer of security.

Limit Download Packet Size:
If you are running with limited drive space, this
option is extremely useful. If you define a maximum
packet size of 100K, the door will stop bundling
messages once the requested maximum packet size has
been reached. The maximum packet size is the size of
the UNCOMPRESSED mail bundle that the door is
building. If you enable this option, you can ensure
that the downloaded mail packet will fit onto the
disk space you have available after the mail packet
has been decompressed.

Macro Definitions:
The Blue Wave Mail Door allows you to define up to 3
macros that can be used in the place of manually
entering your bundling commands during each mail
download session. The Blue Wave Bundling commands
are described in detail a bit later in the
documentation.

Most of the BW doors available also allow you to
automatically execute certain macros after the door
has scanned the message database on the BBS.

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Keyword Definitions:
The Blue Wave Mail Door allows you to specify up to
10 different Keyword definitions. These keywords
will be used during the mail scanning process to
inform you of mail in an area which contains any one
of the keyword definitions. To get the full use out
of keywords, you must use The Blue Wave Bundling
Commands (described later) to instruct the door on
how to handle keywords in certain areas.

The best way to describe the use of keywords is with
an example. Let's suppose that you are looking for
Apple computer equipment to buy in the National
FidoNet FOR-SALE Echo. Sometimes the FOR-SALE echo
generates more than 200 messages per day. Instead of
downloading all 200 messages, of which (possibly) 199
of them are of no interest to you, you may define the
keyword APPLE.

You would then be informed during the SCANNING
process of all messages containing the keyword APPLE.
By using The Blue Wave Bundling Commands, it is
possible to ONLY bundle messages with the Keyword
APPLE in them. This, of course, saves on-line time,
and time you would have to spend paging through the
numerous (UNWANTED) messages offline when using the
reader. Naturally, there are many other uses to the
Keywords option. The idea behind keywords is to let
The Blue Wave Mail Door do the work for you!

Filter Definitions:
Like Keywords, The Blue Wave Mail Door allows you to
specify up to 10 FILTERS. Filters essentially work
just the opposite of Keywords. During the door's
SCANNING process, you are informed of messages that
contain any of the Filters that you have defined.
After the mail scan is complete, you can use The Blue
Wave Bundling Commands to FILTER the messages that
you do not want to receive.

Again, the best way to describe the usefulness of
Filters is with an example. Let's suppose that Joe
Blow in the FidoNet C Programming Echo is
consistently entering messages which contain false
information, is constantly flaming others, and is
being an all around nuisance. Although you really
enjoy reading the C_ECHO, you get tired of seeing
messages entered either from Joe Blow or to Joe Blow.
By defining the Filter of JOE BLOW, you will be
flagged if there are any messages containing the
Filter. By using The Blue Wave Bundling Commands,
you can then instruct The Blue Wave Mail Door NOT to
bundle messages containing the Filter JOE BLOW.



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The Blue Wave Bundling Commands
-------------------------------

Several Bundling Commands are available to you to make The Blue Wave Mail
System one of the most robust mail systems available today. By combining
The Blue Wave Bundling Commands with Keyword Definitions and Filter
Definitions, you can discriminately select messages ON-LINE to download,
rather than wasting time downloading mail, of which only a few messages
are of any interest. The following section will give an in-depth
description of each Bundling Command available to you, and examples on
how to use each one to build a custom mail packet.

The Blue Wave Mail Door prompts you for your Bundling Commands at the end
of each mail SCAN, just beofre the system actually gathers mail for you.
After viewing the SCAN TABLE, you can actually select which areas and/or
messages you wish to download. the Bundling Commands ONLY affect the
current download session, and are not saved for later use. (Unless you
have defined them as a MACRO in the door's configuration menu, or in the
reader's OFFLINE configuration). The default behavior of the door is to
gather ALL NEW MAIL. The Blue Wave Bundling Commands only MODIFY the
result.

You can think of The Blue Wave Bundling Commands as a way to dynamically
change the messages that the door has prepared to download for you. The
commands are actually LETTERS and SYMBOLS, followed by numbers and "key
words" which modify the effect of the command. The keywords "*" and
"all" are recognized by each Bundling Command, and operate on ALL message
areas that you have tagged for downloading. (A "K*" would gather
keywords ONLY in ALL areas).

The Bundling Commands may be "linked" together to form one long string of
characters. To perform multiple commands within the same bundling
command, you simply need to separate them by SPACES. "-2 K9 P14 F22" is
a perfectly valid bundling command. (This example would cause the door
to not bundle messages in area number 2, gather keywords only in message
area number 9, gather only personal mail in area number 14, and filter
out messages in area number 22.)

Deselecting an Area:
To dynamically (and temporarily) deselect an area from the
message bases that you are downloading, you can use the "-"
bundling command. "-*" or "-ALL" would deselect all message
areas, resulting in a total of 0 messages being downloaded. "-
14" would temporarily deselect area #14. "-P1" would deselect
message area "P1" on systems that use letters as area names,
such as Maximus-CBCS.

Format: - or -* or -all







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Adding an Area:
To reselect an area which was previously deselected using the
"-" command, use the "+" command. Please note that it
is NOT possible to add a message area to your download packet
that you are not currently scanning. If you have entered
several bundling commands and realize that you have made a
mistake, use the "+*" or "+ALL" command. This will reselect
ALL message areas that you are scanning, and clear any
designation of keywords/personal/filters in all message areas.
In other words, it is the same as starting new.

Format: + or +* or +all

Bundling Personal Messages Only:
To instruct the door to bundle only your personal messages
(messages addressed either to your login name or real
name/alias name) in a message area, use the "P" command. To
bundle only your personal mail in area #23, use "P23". to
bundle only personal mail in ALL areas, use either "P*" or
"PALL".

Format: P or P* or Pall

Bundling Keywords Only:
To instruct the door to bundle only messages containing your
Keyword definitions, use the "K" bundling command.

WHEN USING THE "K" COMMAND, PERSONAL MAIL IS ALSO BUNDLED, IF
ANY IS FOUND.

To download only keyword messages in area #192, use the
bundling command "K192". If you want to download ONLY keyword
and personal mail in all areas, use "K*" or "KALL".

Format: K or K* or Kall

Filtering Messages in an Area:
If you would like the door to skip packing any messages that
contain your filter definitions, use the "F" bundling command.
To filter all messages in area #57, use the bundling command
"F57". To filter messages in ALL message areas, use the "F*"
or "FALL" commands.

Format: F or F* or Fall

Bundling a Specified NUMBER of Messages:
The Blue Wave Mail Door has the ability to download a specified
number of messages in any message area. This command is
especially useful when downloading a message area for the first
time, as sort of a "test drive". you may only want to bundle
the first or the last 10 messages in the area to see if you
will enjoy reading that particular message base.

The Blue Wave Mail Door has two functions that will do this.

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Bundling the LAST (#) of Messages in an Area:
To perform this function, use the "L" bundling command. The
"L" bundling command is a bit different from the rest, as it
takes two parameters instead of one. To bundle the last 10
messages in area #563, use the command "563L10". To gather the
last 10 messages in ALL areas, use the command "*L10".

The "L" bundling command is also a quick way to override your
lastread message pointers for a particular area. If you choose
to download the last 500 messages in area #3, and your lastread
pointer indicates that only 7 messages are new, the "L" command
will allow you to override the setting and download all 500
messages. (Use "3L500").

Format: L<# of msgs to bundle>

Bundling the FIRST (#) of Messages in an Area:
Bundling the first nn number of messages in an area is done in
much the same way as bundling the last nn number of messages in
an area. To bundle the first 199 messages in area #92, use the
command "92L199". To gather the first 5 messages in all tagged
areas, use "*F5".

Format: F<# of msgs to bundle>



Lastread Pointers and Bundling Commands
---------------------------------------
By default, upon a successful download session through The Blue Wave Mail
Door, the door will update the last read message pointers in ALL areas
that were SCANNED. (Note: If an area was deselected with a "-" command,
it will STILL be updated to reflect the new last read pointer!) In most
cases, this is desireable. However, The Blue Wave Mail Door takes into
consideration that all users' needs are not the same. The following two
Bundling Commands will modify the default setting regarding message
pointers.

No Update of Message Pointers:
If you wish the door to NOT update your message pointers for
one reason or another, use the "N" bundling command. If you
want the door to not save message pointers in area #75, use the
command "N75". To not update message pointers in ALL areas
that you are scanning , use "N*" or "NALL".

Format: N or N* or Nall

Force Update of Message Pointers:
Because the default behavior of the door is to UPDATE message
pointers, this command is only useful to kill the effect ofa
previously entered "N" command. Suppose that you are
downloading 50 areas, and only want one message base updated.
You could use the bundling command "N* U2". This would force
the door to ONLY update the pointers in area #2. After an
accidental "N*", a "U*" will correct the mistake.

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The "!" Command:
Finally, the "!" command. A "!" anywhere on the command line
tells The Blue Wave Mail Door to NOT prompt for any more
bundling commands once the bundling command has been processed.
By default, the door will process a command line, calculate a
new TOTAL MESSAGES, and display it. You may then enter more
bundling commands, or simply press ENTER to accept what was
already processed, and begin bundling.


Bundling Command Macros
-----------------------
As described earlier, the door allows you to define up to 3 bundling
command "macros", to be used at the bundling command prompt. The
bundling command macros should be defined prior to their use as a
bundling command.

Once a bundling command macro has been defined, you can enter all of your
bundling commands with just 3 keystrokes, instead of trying to remember
all of the commands that you normally do.

For example, if you have define a bundling command macro #1 and a
bundling command macro #2, you can force to door to process your #2 macro
by entering "M2" at the bundling command prompt. If you have tagged the
macro as an "automatically executed macro", then the door will execute
the macro immediately after displaying the scan table to you.


Example Bundling Commands
-------------------------
Most of the Blue Wave Bundling Commands described above do very little
good when used alone. By combining the commands, the ultimate in custom
mail bundling is available. Several examples follow, but please
remember, there is virtually no end to what can be accomplished!

-ALL +14 K17 F1
This command deslects all areas, adds area #14 for ALL NEW
messages, area #17 for KEYWORDS ONLY, and FILTERS the messages
in area #1. The door then calculates a new total, and waits
for more input.

-ALL +14 K17 F1 !
This command does the same thing as the previous example,
except it doesn't prompt for more commands. The door begins
bundling immediately (because of the "!" command).

-14 P2 N18 K1 P22 17L60 F928 97F20 M3
This command deselects area #14, gathers personal messages only
in area #2, does not update message pointers for area #18,
selects keywords only in area #1, personal messages only in
area #22, gathers the last 60 messages in area #17, filters
messages in area #928, gathers the first 20 messages in area
#97, and then executes macro #3.


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APPENDIX A: Files Created, Maintained, and Used by the Reader
--------------------------------------------------------------

TAGFILES.BW - This file defines the overrides for certain BBS
systems and message areas in regards to tagline
files to use and the tagline selection type to
use. Please see the section titled "TAGLINES",
and the sample TAGFILES.BW enclosed with the reader.


PKTSTATS.BW - PKTSTATS.BW holds the packet information displayed at
the 'Select Packet to Read' selection window. This
file is automatically maintained by the reader each
time you leave the "PACKET MANAGEMENT" menu item on
the reader's MAIN MENU. If this file does not exist
it will be created by the reader. You may delete this
file at any time. However, you will loose the packet
information which is displayed.


BWAVE200.CFG - This is the default configuration file used by the
reader to load and save your reader configuration items
which have been set from the SETUP menu. You may use
more than one configuration file by executing
"BWAVE " from the DOS command line. For
example, to load a configuration file called
"MYSETUP.CFG", type "BWAVE MYSETUP.CFG" to load the
reader.


BWCOLOR.200 - Your custom color configurations are stored in this
file so that you can easily trade color combinations
with your friends. If BWCOLOR.200 exists in the reader
home directory, it will automatically be loaded.


NAMES.BW - This is a hard coded file name that is used to present
a list of quick lookup names when pressing '?' in the
TO: field while entering a message. The format for
NAMES.BW is described in the sample file enclosed with
your reader.


BWSETUP.HLP - The reader loads the help text for the SETUP menu from
this file each time you enter the SETUP menu. If this
file does not exist, a warning message will be
displayed.







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APPENDIX B: Running the Reader Under DESQview
----------------------------------------------

The reader is fully DESQview compatible and aware. DESQview is
automatically detected by the reader at startup. If the reader detects
DESQview (you can verify this fact by pressing from anywhere
within the reader), it automatically releases time slices to other tasks
while waiting for keyboard input. This in turn allows your background
processing to flow more smoothly and quickly.

Here are the recommended settings for setting up DESQview to execute the
reader:

Memory Size (in K): 350

Writes Text Directly to Screen [Y]
Displays Graphics Information [N]
Virtualize Text/Graphics [Y]
Uses Serial Ports [N]
Requires Floppy Diskette [N]


The option "Writes Text Directly to Screen" is recommended to be set to
"Y" for speed reasons. The reader displays will be updated much more
quickly when set to "Y". However, if you do not care to set this option
to "Y", "N" will also work.

The option "Virtualize Text/Graphics" can also be set to "N" to increase
the speed at which the display is updated. However, by setting this to
"N", you will be unable to confine the reader's output to a window less
than the full size of the screen. Additionally, if you have the On-
Screen Clock turned on in the setup menu, the clock updates will bleed
through to other windows in your DESQview session.






















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PRODUCT SUPPORT
---------------

The Blue Wave Mail System is a growing and developing software
package. Cutting Edge Computing is always interested in
hearing your comments, complaints, suggestions, and of course
kind words. We take into consideration every request that we
get in order to make The Blue Wave Mail System a first class
offline mail package. We would like to hear from you!

If you are having trouble with The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader, or have comments and suggestions, please drop us a
line. We can be reached via direct FidoNet NETMAIL, through
the International BLUEWAVE Echo (available on the FidoNet
Backbone and Distribution Hubs), and of course through the US
Mail.

Voice technical support is provided Monday through Saturday at
313-743-WAVE (that's 313-743-9283, for those of you without
letters on your telephone!).

Cutting Edge Computing is owned and operated by George Hatchew
in Burton, Michigan, USA. Here are the addresses where you may
contact me directly:

US Postal Service
-----------------
Cutting Edge Computing
PO Box 90476
Burton, Michigan 48509
USA


The Cutting Edge Computing Support BBS
--------------------------------------
The Wild! Blue BBS
1-313-743-8464
Flint, Michigan
1200-14400 bps HST/v.32bis Compatible
FidoNet 1:2240/176
Sysop: George Hatchew


Voice Technical Support
-----------------------
1-313-743-9283, Monday through Friday









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INDEX OF KEY WORDS
------------------
-b 9
-c 9
-l 9
-lcd 9
-m 9
-s 9
-t 9, 33
[ALTLIST] 88
[COMMENT] 88
[HANCOCK] 88
Add To Existing Reply Packets 18
Adopting a tagline 67
Alarm 42
Allow swapping to EMS Memory 22
Allow swapping to XMS Memory 22
ALTF1.BAT 43
ARC 38
ARJ 7, 11, 38
Automatic Personal Mail Scan 15
Automatic Title Scan 15
Automatically Save Msgs and Replies 19
BBS_ID 89
Beep on Error Messages 13
Begin Reading w/ First Unread Message 16
Begin Reading w/ Last Unread Message 16
BIOS screen writes 9
Blue Wave Support 8
Boss Key 41
BOXER 8
BUFFERS=30 10
BWAVE200.CFG 98
BWCOLOR.200 98
BWSETUP.HLP 10, 98
Carbon Copy 78
CGA Snow 9, 26
Check for Dupes Before Adopting 21
Closed Packet Menu 45
Command line parameters 9
Compression program 7
CONFIG.SYS 10
Copyright 3
Cross posting messages 79
Custom Color Configuration 25
Cutting Edge Computing 3
Default Keyword List File 36
Default Message Save File 35
Default Printer Port 24
Default Replies Save File 35
Delete Mail Packet After Reading 17
DESQview 6, 7, 42, 99
Direct Video Writes 9

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Display Archiver Output 14
DOS shell 41
Double-Byte Language Support 29
Download Directory 30
Echomail 75
Editor File Path 32
Enable Inbound Translations 29
Enable Outbound Translations 29
Entering a message 73
Entering messages 73
Europe 4
Exploding Window Frames 13
External LIST Command Line 34
External programs 7
FidoNet-QWK Compatible 13
FILES=25 10
Floppy drive 7
Global Command Key 41
Hardware requirements 6
History 4
Inbound Character Translation 29
Inform when All Messages have been Read 16
Insert Quote Header in Replies 18
John Hancock 8, 21, 85, 86
John Hancock Command Line 34
Jump to Next Area with Unread Messages 16
Keyword list file 80
Keyword searching 80
KEYWORDS.BW 10
LCD Color Mapping 26
LHARC/LHA 11
LZH 38
Memory Swapping 23
MONOCHROME 9, 26
MOUSE 82, 83, 84
Mouse Support Enabled 13
NAMES.BW 10, 98
Netmail 75
Netmail entry 73
Noise on Personal Messages 15
On-Screen Clock 13
On-Screen Date Format 28
On-Screen Time Format 28
Only Display Areas with Messages 16
Optional external programs 8
OS/2 6
Outbound Character Translation 29
Packet List 2nd Sort Field 14
Packet management 46
PAK 11, 38
PKARC/PKXARC 11
PKPAK/PKUNPAK 11
PKTSTATS.BW 98
PKZIP 7
PKZIP/PKUNZIP 11

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Prefix Reply Subjects with "Re:" 19
Printer Init String 24
Printer Reset String 24
Q.EXE 11
QEDIT 8
Quote Header String 39
Quote-O-Meter Warning Threshold 19
QWK Alias Name 39
QWK mail 6
Read Messages Sorted on Which Field 15
Reading messages 59
Registration details 4
Registration Name 40
Registration Number 40
Reminder Timer 42
Replies manager 70
Save Message Read/Mark/Reply Tags 15
Screen Saver Activation 14
Secondary Registration 40
Send Form Feed After Printing 24
Set 25 Lines 27
Set Default Netmail Bits 19
SETUP menu 12
ShareWare 4
SLED 8
Speech hardware 9
Speech Software 26
Spell checker 8, 71
Spell Checker Command Line 33
Support 100
Support BBS 100
Swap Directory 32
Swap on Shell to Alt-Fkey Batch Files 23
Swap on Shell to Archivers 23
Swap on Shell to DOS 23
Swap on Shell to External File Viewer 23
Swap on Shell to John Hancock 23
Swap on Shell to Message Editor 22
Swap on Shell to Spell Checker 23
Swap on Shell to Terminal Program 23
TAGFILES.BW 10, 89, 98
Tagline File Name 35
Tagline Selection Type 20
Tagline selection window 86, 87
Taglines 20, 85
TAGLINES.BW 10
TED3.COM 10, 11
Terminal Command Line 33
Upload Directory 30
Video Mode 27
Voice Technical Support 100
WARRANTIES 3
When to Quote Message Replies 18
Work Directory 31

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