Dec 102017
Front Door 2.11 for BBS’s. Fido mail front door. Handles all E-Mail. | |||
---|---|---|---|
File Name | File Size | Zip Size | Zip Type |
-FILES.LST | 1992 | 833 | deflated |
-README.1ST | 5508 | 2261 | deflated |
FD.DOC | 346366 | 83565 | deflated |
FD.EXE | 50492 | 49758 | deflated |
FD.OVR | 423762 | 186798 | deflated |
FDNC.EXE | 28455 | 28076 | deflated |
FDNC.OVR | 38696 | 16279 | deflated |
FDSETUP.EXE | 68839 | 68179 | deflated |
FM.EXE | 30205 | 29771 | deflated |
FM.OVR | 253520 | 111062 | deflated |
NAMES.FD | 440 | 247 | deflated |
PCP.ARJ | 19573 | 19495 | deflated |
PHONECVT.EXE | 8098 | 7973 | deflated |
REGFORM.ARJ | 4498 | 4495 | deflated |
ROUTE.FD | 842 | 390 | deflated |
SAMPLE.ARJ | 4376 | 4349 | deflated |
Download File FD211.ZIP Here
Contents of the FD.DOC file
FrontDoor 2.11 Shareware
User guide
For noncommercial use and distribution
To the memories of Catharina Frodin and Alva Gardlund.
And to Christian, Katja, and Igor Homrighausen.
Party on Fred, we miss you.
Table of contents
1 SHAREWARE VERSION LICENCE AGREEMENT - "FFHA184k" . . . . . . . 1
2 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1 Hardware requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Software requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Additional equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4 BBS software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1 CONFIG.SYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2 AUTOEXEC.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3 Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.4 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1 FD environment variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.2 FD.SYS <> SETUP.FD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.3 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.4 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.4.1 File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.4.2 Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.4.4 Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.4.5 Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.6 Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.4.7 Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.4.8 Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Event Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Folder Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Notes regarding protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Request Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5 The nodelist and the nodelist compiler . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.1 Hosts and hubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.2 Compiling a nodelist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.2.1 FDNODE.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
POINTLIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
PVTLIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
SWEPULSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
USE ZONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
DIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
COST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3 Nodelist flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.4 Command line switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.5 Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.5.1 Pointlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.5.2 FDNODE.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.5.3 Treatment of points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.5.4 Remapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.5.5 POINTNET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.6 Sharing the nodelist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6 Modems and FOSSIL drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.1 Basic configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Serial port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Locked port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Maximum baudrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Reset modem to connect speed . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Lower DTR when busy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Lower DTR to terminate call . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Toggle DTR before dialing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Carrier detect mask (CDMASK) . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Connect messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Status messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Custom message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Command strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Escape code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Return on-line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Onhook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Offhook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Dial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Suffix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Init-1..Init-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Answer control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Manual answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.2 Advanced configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.3 The Modem Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
An example, the HST/DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.4 FOSSIL drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
BNU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
X00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
OS/2 2.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
7 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
7.1 The Event Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
7.1.1 External event behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7.1.2 Mail event behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7.1.3 The @ event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
7.1.4 Overlapping events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8 Mailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.1 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.1.1 Programs
8.1.2 Utilities
8.1.3 Mail
8.1.4 Your profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.2 Mail queue
8.3 Call progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.4 Semaphore indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.5 Undialable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
9 Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
9.1 Main
9.2 Edit
9.2.1 Edit mode
9.2.2 Toggle
9.3 Utilities
9.4 Purge
9.6 Entering new messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
9.7 Message survey
9.7.1 Main menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
9.7.2 Continuous tagging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
9.7.3 Range select
9.8 Keyboard macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
9.9 Carbon copies (CC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
9.9.1 Hidden CCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
9.9.2 Using files as input to CCs . . . . . . . . . . . 67
9.9.3 Address expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
9.10 Blind Carbon Copies (BCC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
9.11 Crossposting (XC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
10 Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
10.1 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
10.1.1 File
10.1.2 Line settings
10.1.3 Session
10.1.4 Options
10.2 Keyboard macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
10.3 Raw mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
10.4 Keypad modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
10.5 PC keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
10.6 Phone directory
10.6.1 Queue status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
10.6.2 Adding/changing entries . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
10.7 Inactivity timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
10.8 File transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
10.9 On-line timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
11 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
11.1 Destination of messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
11.1.1 Name lookups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
11.1.2 Address browsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
11.1.3 Address macros (NAMES.FD) . . . . . . . . . . . 77
12 File Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
12.1 Outbound Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
12.2 Requesting files with a password . . . . . . . . . . . 79
12.3 Update Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
12.4 Inbound Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
12.4.1 Request modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Anyone can request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Systems in nodelist can request . . . . . . . . . . 79
No requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
12.4.2 Directory listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
12.4.3 Alias listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
12.4.4 Response message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
12.4.5 Limiting Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Maximum match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Maximum time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Maximum size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Minimum speed (BPS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
12.4.6 Limited hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
12.4.7 Event restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
12.4.8 Protecting files and directories . . . . . . . . 82
12.4.9 Request processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
13 Swapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
13.1 Complete path specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
13.2 Loading programs in a DOS shell . . . . . . . . . . . 84
14 CRT environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
15 Message Status Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Private . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Crash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
File request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Update request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Kill/sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Trunc/sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Delete/sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Immediate mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
No status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
16 Mail routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
16.1 Default routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
16.2 Message status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
16.3 Host/Hub/Boss routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
16.4 Qualifying systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
16.5 Route commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
16.6 LIST specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
16.7 Using nodelist flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
16.8 File routing/forwarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
16.9 Message forwarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
16.10 Multiple zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
16.11 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
16.12 Dynamic packing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
16.13 Regarding points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
16.14 Order of evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
16.15 TARGET vs. qualification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
16.16 Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
16.17 Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
MYZONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
MYNET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
MYPOINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
16.18 Supported nodelist flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
17 EMSI and IEMSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.1 Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.2 Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.3 IEMSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
18 Script language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
18.1 What can I do with it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
18.2 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
18.3 Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
18.4 Node block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
18.5 PC Pursuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
18.6 How do I update PCP.DAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
18.7 MNEMONICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
19 FDSERVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
19.1 What is a FDSERVER request? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
19.2 Request message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
19.2.1 Internal commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
19.3 Using it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
19.4 Keeping calls to a minimum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
19.5 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
20 Service requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
20.1 Service requests vs FDSERVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
20.2 Setting up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
20.3 ^ - + ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
20.4 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
20.5 A word of wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
21 Global command-line switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
21.1 A word of wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
22 Environment variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
22.1 FDOPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
22.2 FDSWAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
22.3 POINTNET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
22.4 FMOVR and FDOVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
22.5 TZUTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
23 Semaphore files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
24 Batch files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
24.1 Errorlevels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
24.2 Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
24.3 Loading BBS software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
24.4 Different labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
24.5 Same label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
24.6 DOBBS.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
24.7 EXEBBS.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
24.8 Flow (batch files) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
25 Multi-tasking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
25.1 NS16550 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
25.2 DESQview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
25.3 DoubleDOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
25.4 Multilink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
26 Converting from other mail systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
27 Help systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
28 Sample (PCP) script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
29 Commercial inquiries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
30 Developer notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
31 Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
32 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
1 SHAREWARE VERSION LICENCE AGREEMENT - "FFHA184k"
1. This is a licence agreement between you, the end user, and
Joaquim Homrighausen. The FrontDoor 2.11 Shareware software
and information attached hereto, hereafter "FD", is the
property of Joaquim Homrighausen. Read the terms and
conditions of this licence agreement carefully before using
the software. If you for any reason, whatsoever, cannot
accept the conditions in this agreement, you are not
permitted to use FD.
2. You acknowledge and agree that FD is a proprietary product of
Joaquim Homrighausen, protected by applicable copyright laws
and international treaty provisions. You further acknowledge
and agree that all rights, title, and interest in and to FD
are and shall remain with Joaquim Homrighausen.
3. FD may be used for a period of thirty (30) days on a trial
basis to allow you to determine its suitability for your
particular application. After this period you MUST register
each copy of FD that you run simultaneously. Site and Group
registrations are available, and are dealt with on a case by
case basis.
4. Registration entitles you to use FD and any future versions
of FD for as long as you wish, subject to any special
licensing conditions and/or applicable upgrade fees attached
to future versions.
5. In the event that you are in violation of this licence
agreement, you agree and accept that Joaquim Homrighausen may
cancel your registration and any rights to use FD that you
may have. In the case of a dispute over the licence
agreement, you further agree and accept to fully reimburse
Joaquim Homrighausen for legal and other expenses resulting
from the dispute.
6. FD is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind or
fitness for a particular purpose, either expressed or
implied, all of are hereby explicitly disclaimed. Joaquim
Homrighausen only guarantees that FrontDoor will occupy disk
space.
Joaquim Homrighausen's liability resulting from your use or
inability to use FD is limited to the amount that the
affected party has paid for it, or in the event that FD was
registered with a third party for payment to Joaquim
Homrighausen, liability is limited to the amount that was
received by Joaquim Homrighausen from that third party.
7. Neither Joaquim Homrighausen nor any of his employees,
agents, or other representatives are in any way obligated to
provide future versions of, or support for, FD.
1
8. You may freely distribute and copy FD provided that no fee is
charged and the FD distribution archive contains unmodified
copies of the original files as produced by Joaquim
Homrighausen. Pay Bulletin Board Systems may, however, charge
their normal fee provided that no additional charge for FD is
levied. No part of FD may be modified, altered, reverse
engineered, sold, or distributed in any form whatsoever which
would involve some sort of trade without prior written
permission from Joaquim Homrighausen.
9. FD may not be used in any unlawful or illegal manner.
10. FD may only be used and registered by physical persons for
use on equipment, including but not limited to telephone
lines, electricity, hardware, and software, maintained and
operated 100% by means of taxed personal income. FD may not
be used to provide commercial services.
All Joaquim Homrighausen products are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Joaquim Homrighausen. Other brand
and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective holders.
Copyright 1986-1993 Joaquim Homrighausen; All rights reserved.
September 25, 1993
2
2 Preface
in the commercial version; <+> indicates that the feature is only
available in the registered shareware version.
Welcome to FrontDoor, the complete e-mail package. It is probably
safe to say that an e-mail package, such as FrontDoor, is one of the
most complex types of applications around. This manual is very
straight forward and may seem hard to understand at first glance. If
you get lost, or cannot understand something, go back and read the
section you are having problems with, carefully.
FrontDoor has been tested on more than four thousand systems for over
six years. It will run under MS or PC DOS versions 3.1 and above;
including OS/2 1.3, 2.0, and 2.1 DOS Mode. It runs under most LAN
software; including Novell and LANtastic. It also runs under
PC-MOS/386, VM/386, Windows, Windows NT, and in other multi-tasking
environments such as DESQview.
For technical specifications, see "Technical specifications".
Although FrontDoor will run on most machines, there are a few
restrictions and requirements.
2.1 Hardware requirements
o An IBM PC, AT, i386, i486, PS/2 or 100% BIOS compatible.
o A hard disk with at least 1 MB available diskspace.
o An asynchronous modem capable of sending alphanumeric
messages such as CONNECT 2400.
o A DTE interface (computer <> modem) that supports CTS/RTS
handshaking (most cables/internal modems do).
o A monochrome or color monitor.
o 384 KB of system memory.
2.2 Software requirements
o MS or PC DOS 3.10 or above.
o A FOSSIL driver such as X00 or BNU.
2.3 Additional equipment
FrontDoor can take advantage of, but does not require, the
following:
o EMS memory for overlays and EMS/XMS memory for program
image swapping.
o EGA/VGA extended screen modes such as 80x43/50 and
132x28.
o AT-style (extended) keyboard.
3
2.4 BBS software
FrontDoor can be used as a front-end to many popular bulletin
boards including TUBBS, PC Board, RemoteAccess, Maximus-CBCS,
TCL, TPBoard, QuickBBS, SuperBBS, Phoenix RCS, Fido, Opus-CBCS,
and WildCat!.
3 Installation
Several files are included in the distribution archive. This manual
will walk you through the installation and configuration of the
system. All path names and directories suggested here are not
required. You can change them as you wish, but it is suggested that
you use the examples shown for a start and then move on to change
things as you become more familiar with the software. In the example,
it is assumed that you are about to install FrontDoor on your C
drive.
3.1 CONFIG.SYS
FrontDoor needs to have a few extra file handles allocated to
keep some files open. Your CONFIG.SYS file should contain
FILES=25 (or higher). If you do not know what handles means, that
is okay, as long as you have the FILES=25 statement in your
CONFIG.SYS file. If you are using multi-tasking software, your
FILES= setting must usually be set to something higher than 25.
You should also have BUFFERS=30 (or higher) in your CONFIG.SYS
file to improve DOS' buffer performance. If you are using a disk
cache, you should have BUFFERS=3 or something close to that.
3.2 AUTOEXEC.BAT
Add SET FD=C:\FD to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This will make sure
FrontDoor can find all its system files. You may NOT have spaces
between FD and =.
3.3 Directories
From your root directory (C:\) create a directory called FD. This
is the main (ROOT) directory for FrontDoor. Change the active
directory to FD. Create the following directories:
NODELIST
PACKETS
FILES
3.4 Files
Copy FD.EXE, FD.OVR, FM.EXE, FM.OVR, FDNC.EXE and FDSETUP.EXE to
C:\FD. The program files are now installed.
4
3.5 FidoNet
If you are joining (or already an active in) FidoNet, you should
obtain a copy of a recent FidoNet nodelist. The FidoNet nodelist
can be found on many FidoNet systems under the name NODELIST
followed by an extension.
Place the uncompressed nodelist ASCII file in the C:\FD\NODELIST
directory. The uncompressed nodelist is usually called
NODELIST.nnn where nnn is three digits.
4 Setup
The Setup program, FDSETUP hereafter, is used to configure FrontDoor.
Most functions and behavior of the Editor (FM), Mailer (FD), and
Terminal are controlled from FDSETUP. When you start FDSETUP, it
searches for the system file, SETUP.FD, in the directory pointed to
by the FD environment variable.
If the FD variable has not been set, FDSETUP searches the current
directory for SETUP.FD. If it cannot open SETUP.FD, it will ask you
if you want to create a new file or abort.
4.1 FD environment variable
The FD environment variable specifies where FDSETUP should search
for SETUP.FD. If the FD environment variable is not set, FDSETUP
will search the current directory for SETUP.FD. It is recommended
that you add SET FD=
file. This allows FDSETUP, and the other FrontDoor programs, to
locate SETUP.FD without having to be in the same directory.
E.g. SET FD=C:\FD
4.2 FD.SYS <> SETUP.FD
The system file used by some earlier (1.99c and 2.00) versions of
FrontDoor is called FD.SYS. Some FrontDoor specific utilities
(TosScan 1.00 for example) and other programs may therefore
require that you maintain a copy of FD.SYS. If you are using such
software, make sure you copy SETUP.FD to FD.SYS in the FrontDoor
root directory.
4.3 Getting started
To create a new SETUP.FD file, make the FrontDoor root directory
the active directory by using the DOS command CD; type FDSETUP
and press Enter. If you have set the FD variable, you do not have
to change the active directory before invoking FDSETUP.
FDSETUP will display a message saying something like "SETUP.FD,
path or file not found". Press
5
4.4 Menus
There are eight top-level (pull-down) menus. Each function and
menu of FDSETUP will now be described.
4.4.1 File
Write SETUP.FD
Forces FDSETUP to write the configuration file, SETUP.FD, to
disk. This allows you to commit any changes you have made to
your configuration without leaving FDSETUP.
Shell to DOS
Invokes a temporary DOS shell. Type EXIT and press
return to FDSETUP. You can invoke a temporary DOS shell in
FDSETUP by pressing
pull-down menus, selection fields, etc.
Exit
Returns you to DOS or the Mailer, depending on how FDSETUP
was invoked. If you made any changes to your configuration,
you will be asked if you want to make your changes permanent
or abandon them. You can also exit FDSETUP by pressing
at any of the top-level menus.
Enter your code
Allows you to enter the registration code required to
activate some registered-only features. Once you have
succesfully entered your registration code, FDSETUP will not
allow you to enter it again.
4.4.2 Global
Address
Address
Defines your network address and alternate network
addresses, or "also-known-as" (AKA). You must define at
least one network address (the first slot).
Site info
Defines your system's name, geographical location,
telephone number, maximum speed, nodelist flags, and the
name of your BBS software (if any).
The telephone number should be specified in international
format, eg. +352 316702 or "-Unpublished-" if you do not
wish to reveal this information to other systems.
6
Domains
Specifies the name of a network zone. This should be
"fidonet" for all FidoNet Zones (currently 1 through 6).
At the moment, this is only used for the generation of
the ^AMSGID: kludge line and for inserting "^aVia"
information in messages forwarded by the Mailer (FD).
AKA..
Allows you to specify which AKA to use when corresponding
with certain zones and nets within zones.
I.e. if you are writing a message to someone in zone 2
and you have specified that you wish to use your 2:270/17
AKA for this, the Editor will automatically use 2:270/17
regardless of your current AKA setting.
This allows you to easily participate in multiple
networks.
Filenames
System
Where the FrontDoor system files are stored. This should
NOT be a RAM disk. If you have followed the installation
instructions above, this should be C:\FD.
NetMail
Where NetMail messages are stored, i.e. the NetMail
folder. The Mailer unpacks received messages to this
directory. This should NOT be a RAM disk. If you have
followed the installation instructions above, this should
be C:\FD\MAIL.
Files
Where inbound (received) files are stored. This should
NOT be a RAM disk. If you have followed the installation
instructions above, this should be C:\FD\FILES.
SecFiles
Identical to Files above except that it is only used to
store files received during a secure (password protected)
mail session. If SecFiles isn't specified, the Mailer
will use the path specified for Files.
Packets
Where the Mailer stores its temporary mail packets. They
are created every time the Mailer runs a mail event and
are removed when the event ends.
7
By putting the Packet directory on a RAM disk, you can
greatly improve the speed of packing and scanning
outbound mail.
It is recommended that you use a sub-directory on your
RAM disk since the number of directory entries in the
root directory of a drive is usually limited to a fairly
low number.
If you have followed the installation instructions above,
this should be C:\FD\PACKETS.
Log file
The log file. This is a complete filename, e.g.
C:\FD\FD.LOG. This is used by the Mailer (and can be used
by the Terminal in the registered version) to log its
activies such as received and sent files, call progress,
etc. You should NOT use a RAM disk for the log file as it
will disappear if the system reboots.
Banner
The contents of this file is displayed to human
(interactive) callers before the Mailer passes control to
your batch file to invoke the BBS software. This file is
not used if you are running in mail-only mode. You should
NOT use a RAM disk for the banner file.
Nodelist
Where the nodelist database is stored. The Nodelist
Compiler (FDNC) expects to find its control file(s) here.
The Mailer and Editor expects to find the compiled
nodelist database here. If this directory is not
specified, FrontDoor will use the SYSTEM directory
instead. The nodelist directory should NOT be located on
a RAM disk.
If you have followed the installation instructions above,
this should be C:\FD\NODELIST.
No BBS
This file is displayed to human callers if the Mailer
rejects their call. I.e. if you are running in mail-only
mode or if a mail event prevents interactive access to
your BBS.
MSG Base
Where the Editor expects to find the Hudson Message Base
files (MSGHDR.BBS, MSGTXT.BBS, MSGINFO.BBS, MSGIDX.BBS,
MSGTOIDX.BBS and LASTREAD.BBS). If you do not have any
folders with MsgBase status, you do not have to specify
this.
8
Swapping
If you enable swapping to disk or there is not sufficient
XMS/EMS memory available. The Mailer and the Editor will
use this directory to store its swap file.
This setting can be overridden by the FDSWAP environment
variable (see "Environment variables").
Where the Mailer and Editor creates and looks for the
various semaphore files (see "Semaphore files"). This
allows you to configure a multi-line and/or multi-user
system with different configurations to use the same
semaphore directory.
If specified, this file is created by the Mailer when it
has received mail and would normally have terminated with
an errorlevel indicating that mail has been received.
In a multi-line and/or multi-tasking environment, this
could be used to automatically invoke mail processing
software and run it in the background while the Mailer
continues its operation.
General
Your country code
Your country code. Eg. USA=1, Sweden=46, Luxembourg=352.
This is used for telephone number translations. This is
related to the COUNTRY= command used in CONFIG.SYS. It
does not, however, have to be the same as your COUNTRY=
setting. FDSETUP's country code setting should always be
your real country code.
Screen flickers
FrontDoor attempts to detect if you have a CGA card that
causes flicker if software performs direct memory access
(DMA). The default for this setting is NO and you should
leave it alone unless you are seeing flicker on your
screen when you use the Mailer, Editor, and/or the
Terminal.
Use "fastkey"
Forces the Mailer, Editor, and the Terminal to speed up
the typematic rate of your keyboard. This is only valid
for machines with an AT- or compatible BIOS installed.
If you are using other keyboard speed-up utilities, leave
this to NO; otherwise, FrontDoor will restore the
typematic rate to the default (slow) when they terminate.
9
Screen blanking
Prevents screen images from "burning in". If you are
using a monochrome monitor, data that is displayed often
in the same location on your screen can "burn in" and
leave ugly marks. Color monitors usually do not have this
problem.
Since the Mailer is active more than 80% of the day on
most systems, it may be wise to enable this option to
avoid "burn ins" of the Mailer's main display.
Blackout timer
Specifies how many seconds of inactivity should pass
before the screen is blanked. This option is only used if
screen blanking (previous page) has been enabled. You can
"light up" a blanked screen by pressing a key. The screen
will also be lit when the Mailer places outgoing calls
and when incoming calls are answered.
Extended keyboard
Specifies which type of keyboard you have (101/102 or
83/84). FDSETUP will attempt to "guess" which type of
keyboard you have, but some BIOS flavors does not
properly indicate the type. This allows you to override
what FDSETUP detects.
Force 24-hour fmt
Allows you to force the Mailer and the Editor to display
the time in 24-hour format even if you are located in a
country that uses the 12-hour format, such as the USA.
Monochrome mode
Forces FDSETUP to assume monochrome color mode (as if you
would have specified FDSETUP -m on the DOS command-line).
Users
Allows you to specify user names and access levels. The
default name of the first user is System Operator. You should
change this to your own name.
<+> There are three different access levels. Supervisor,
Administrator and User.
A user with Supervisor access can override any restrictions
on folders and messages. He/she can also change all settings
regardless of passwords. You should only have one user with
Supervisor access, but FDSETUP will allow you to define more
than one. At least one user with Supervisor access MUST exist
and is required to add any additional users.
10
A user with Administrator access cannot override any
restrictions on folders and messages. He/she has to enter
passwords for protected items before they can be changed.
A user with User access cannot override any restrictions on
folders and messages. The only setting he/she can change in
FDSETUP is his/her own password.
>>> The unregistered shareware version only allows you to
define one user and forces the access level to that of
Supervisor.
4.4.3 Mailer
Miscellaneous
<+> Mail from unlisted systems
Defines whether or not the Mailer should accept incoming
calls from systems not listed in your nodelist database.
If this option is disabled (set to NO) and an unlisted
system calls in, the Mailer will terminate the call
immediately.
Defines whether or not the Mailer should accept incoming
calls from systems for which you do not have a session
level password defined. If this option is disabled (set
to NO) and an unprotected system calls in, the Mailer
will terminate the call immediately.
<+> Mail from unlisted points
The Mailer will by default accept calls from points of
other systems whether or not they are present in your
nodelist database; provided the point system's boss
passes the required criteria.
You can, however specify that you do not want the Mailer
to accept calls from points that cannot be found in the
nodelist database. If this option is disabled (set to NO)
and a point for which you have no entry in your nodelist
database calls in, the Mailer will terminate the call
immediately.
Kill empty received messages
Specifies that you want the Mailer to kill empty messages
(messages with no text in its body) when they are
unpacked from received mail packets.
11
Terminal only (no mail)
If enabled, the Mailer will invoke the Terminal as soon
as it is loaded. This setting can be overridden with the
-M command line switch.
Mail only (no BBS)
If enabled, the Mailer will not accept human callers
under any circumstances. Use this option if you do not
have a BBS or similar software running "below" the
Mailer.
Present all AKAs to remote system
If you have more than one AKA address, the Mailer will by
default attempt to pickup mail destined for all your
addresses during a mail session.
This can be disabled so that only one address is
presented to the remote system. Which address is actually
presented is determined by the AKA matching table
(described above).
Trigger exit upon receipt of netmail
The Mailer will by default only trigger (set) the exit
flag when compressed (following the ARCmail 0.60
standard) mail is received. If this option is enabled,
the exit flag will be triggered (set) when NetMail
packets (files ending with the extension .PKT) have been
received. Whether or not the Mailer will actually exit is
controlled by event behaviors (see "Events") and the mail
exit errorlevels.
Trigger exit upon receipt of ANY file
Similar to the above option, but will trigger exit as
long as any (file) data has been received.
Print received messages
received mail packets.
Busy retries
Defines the maximum number of times the Mailer will
attempt to call a system during an event (see "Events")
if the system is busy or does not answer on the first
call. See the section about the Mailer for further
details regarding call progress.
12
Resend retries
Defines the maximum number of times the Mailer will
attempt to transfer mail to a system during an event if
the first attempt fails. See the section about the Mailer
for further details regarding call progress.
Retry delay
Defines the minimum number of seconds the Mailer will
wait between outgoing calls. This is used in conjunction
with a random timer to avoid two Mailers calling each
other at the same time (and thus causing both telephone
lines to be engaged).
Delay before first call
The Mailer will by default attempt to place the first
outgoing call as soon as possible. If this option is
enabled, it will delay the first call.
Days to keep mail history
Number of days to retain entries in the inbound/outbound
history files. The Mailer removes all entries older than
this value from the history files every morning (at first
opportunity after midnight).
Seconds before passing to BBS
Defines the number of seconds the Mailer will wait before
assuming a human caller. Unless the Mailer receives two
consecutive escape (ASCII 27) characters, it will attempt
to establish a mail session for the amount specified
here. The minimum and default value is 11 seconds. The
maximum value is 60 seconds.
Minimum undialable cost
The minimum cost of a call for a system to be processed
by the undialable handler. The undialable handler is
discussed in a separate section.
Specifies whether or not the Mailer should generate a
Return Receipt for received messages with the RRQ flag
set. The RRQ flag is discussed in the Editor section.
Log
Defines the various level of logging. All messages will
appear on the screen, the log options defines which of them
ends up in the log file.
13
File requests
Controls how the Mailer treats inbound File and Update
Requests. A separate section explains File and Update
Requests in detail.
<+> FDServer
If no password is specified in FDSETUP, the FDSERVER function
is inactive (disabled). The FDSERVER function is described in
a separate section.
External mail
When the Mailer processes an incoming call, all received
characters are processed for a possible match with any of the
external mail "wake-up" sequences (strings), and if a match
is made, the Mailer exits with the specified errorlevel of
the matching string.
This allows you to run alternate mail handlers behind the
Mailer, such as UFGATE and Waffle to process INTERNET/UUCP
mail. Note that the call is not terminated when using the
external mail interface, the Mailer simply exits with the
specified errorlevel. This option is NOT intended for
EchoMail processors, etc.
To enter characters with an ASCII code below 32 (Space), hold
down the
keypad and release the
Display
Mail waiting flashing
When there is new mail waiting, the text "Mail" will
flash on the Mailer screen. The flashing can be disabled
with this option.
Display clock
Specifies whether or not you want the current date and
time displayed in the top right corner of the Mailer
screen.
Display timestamp
Specifies whether or not you want the Mailer to display
the time to the left of each line displayed in the main
activity window. This setting does not affect what is
being written to the log file.
Screen size
25
25 line mode.
14
43/50
43/50 line mode. Only available for systems with EGA
and VGA cards.
Auto
Specifies that the Mailer should attempt to
automatically adapt to whatever the current screen
size is when it is started.
This also means that the Mailer will not attempt to
reset the screen mode when it is terminated.
<+> Custom
Allows you to specify computer register values to
send to the INT 10h (Video BIOS) to set and reset the
screen.
Colors
Allows you to choose between the default monochrome (black
and white) and the default color sets. You can also choose to
customize the colors to your own taste.
Hidden dial info
Allows you to hide portions of telephone numbers that
otherwise would be displayed when the Mailer places an
outgoing call. E.g. The Mailer calls 352-316702, if you had
one of the hidden dial info strings set to 352- the displayed
number would be 316702.
Function keys
Allows you to define up to 20 (24) programs, etc. to invoke
from the Mailer when any of the functions keys are pressed.
The first 10 (12) function keys are accessed through
through
Title
The title to appear on the screen when you press
from the Mailer's main screen. This is also written to
the log file when a function key is pressed.
Action
The program to invoke or errorlevel to exit with. To
specify more than one program, separate them by
semicolons (;). To exit with an errorlevel, specify
?
E.g. LIST C:\FD\FD.LOG;DEL C:\FD\FD.LOG
15
would load the program LIST and pass C:\FD\FD.LOG as the
parameter. When the LIST program terminates, the Mailer
would proceed to the next command, which in this case
removes C:\FD\FD.LOG.
?255
Would force the Mailer to terminate with an errorlevel of
255.
Pause
Specifies whether or not you want the Mailer to pause
when the invoked program(s) terminates.
Check
Specifies whether or not the Mailer should rescan the
NetMail folder when the invoked program(s) terminates.
Swap
Specifies whether or not the Mailer should swap itself
out of memory prior to invoking the specified commands.
>>> To create a DOS shell that does not force a re-scan of
the NetMail folder, specify C:\COMMAND.COM (or wherever
you have your copy of COMMAND.COM stored) as ACTION and
set CHECK to NO.
Errorlevels
This section allows you to invoke BBS software, or other
similar software, when an incoming call is established and
the Mailer has determined that it is not a mail call. It also
allows you to define an errorlevel to exit with when mail has
been received.
If a baudrate related errorlevel is zero, the Mailer will
display a message to human callers saying that your system
does not support non-mail calls at that speed and then
terminate the call. If you are running in mail-only mode, the
Mailer will never accept non-mail (human) calls.
If the RECEIVED MAIL errorlevel is zero, the Mailer will
never exit when mail has been received. Whether or not the
Mailer will actually exit when it has received mail is
determined by the current event behavior and whether or not
the received file(s) indicated mail.
The CREATE .BAT FILE option allows you to simplify BBS
operation. If it is enabled, the Mailer will create a batch
file containing the current baudrate, the COM port used, the
number of minutes left to the next system event, etc. This is
described in a separate section.
16
Audio control
The Mailer can sound alarms and make other noises when
certain events occur, such as received mail, incoming human
callers, fatal errors, etc. This section allows you to
control which sounds should be active and when audio should
be active.
Swapping
Determines whether or not you want the Mailer to use swapping
when executing external programs. You can disable the use of
EMS/XMS memory for the swap function. The swap function is
explained in the Miscellaneous section.
Allows you to protect certain functions of the Mailer, such
as access to the DOS shell, Editor, Nodelist compiler,
Terminal, etc. with a password.
Allows you to control how the Mailer should handle incoming
fax calls.
4.4.4 Editor
Miscellaneous
Determines if the Editor should ask "Delete original
message" when replying to messages in EchoMail
(Conference), Local, and NetMail-type folders.
Show hard CRs
If enabled, the Editor will show hard CRs in messages.
The display of hard CRs is disabled by default and can be
toggled from within the Editor.
Margin
Specifies the margin at which the Editor should
automatically wrap text when you enter and quote (reply)
messages. The default value, 60, should not be changed in
most cases.
When you read messages in the Editor, it will use all
available columns (80, 132, etc.) as the wrap margin.
17
Specifies whether or not the Editor should generate a
Return Receipt for received messages with the CFM
(Confirmation Receipt Request) flag set. The CFM flag is
discussed later in the Editor section.
Specifies whether or not the Editor should create the new
mail semaphores FMNEWNET, FMNEWCNF, and FMNEWLOC upon
exit when you have entered one or more messages.
NetMail folder
<+> Restricted
Specifies if the NetMail folder should be restricted. If
you enable this, users with User or Administrator access
can only read private messages addressed to their
usernames.
<+> Read-only
Prevents users with User or Administrator access from
writing messages in the NetMail folder. The definition of
writing includes forwarding and moving of messages to the
NetMail folder.
<+> Export OK
Defines whether or not users with User or Administrator
access can export messages from the NetMail folder. The
definition of export includes moving, copying, and export
to disk.
Use tables
Defines whether or not the translation tables should be
active by default in the NetMail folder. This can be
toggled from within the Editor.
Crash
If the Crash status bit should be set by default on
locally created messages.
Direct
If the Direct status bit should be set by default on
locally created messages.
Hold
If the Hold status bit should be set by default on
locally created messages.
18
Private
If the Private status bit should be set by default on
locally created messages.
Kill/Sent
If the Kill/sent status bit should be set by default on
locally created messages.
<+> Use Zonegates
Determines if the Editor should ask you whether or not
you want to send inter-zone messages via the zonegate,
never send messages via the zonegate, or always send
inter-zone messages via the zonegate.
Keyboard macros
Allows you to define up to 20 (24) strings. These can be used
to insert common text, such as name signatures, etc. while
editing messages. The first 10 (12) function keys are
accessed through F1-F10 (F12), the second 10 (12) function
keys are accessed through Shift F1-F10 (F12).
The Editor macro language is discussed in the section about
how to operate the Editor.
Origin lines
Appended to messages you create in Conference-type folders to
show the origin of a message. These should include the name
and location of your system if possible.
You can choose default origin lines for all Conference-type
folders. You can also choose a different origin line from
within the Editor.
Whether or not the origin line is appended to messages you
enter in Conference-type folders is controlled by the Echo
info status bit for each folder.
Display
Screen size
25
25 line mode.
43/50
43/50 line mode. Only available for systems with EGA
and VGA cards.
19
Auto
Specifies that the Editor should attempt to
automatically adapt to whatever the current screen
size is when it is are started. This also means that
the Editor will not attempt to reset the screen mode
when it is terminated.
<+> Custom
Allows you to specify computer register values to
send to the INT 10h (Video BIOS) to set and reset the
screen.
Colors
Allows you to choose between the default monochrome (black
and white) and the default color sets. You can also choose to
customize the colors to suit your own needs.
Xlat.In and Xlat.Out
Defines the translation tables to use wherever the
translation table status bit is active. This is used to
translate language specific 8-bit ASCII characters to 7-bit
ASCII when writing messages to disk and vice versa when
reading messages from disk.
The In table is used when reading messages from disk and the
Out table is used when writing messages to disk.
FDSETUP automatically creates reasonable defaults for most
countries when it creates a new SETUP.FD file. If you are
located in an English speaking country, you do normally not
have to worry about translation tables.
Swapping
Determines whether or not you want the Editor to use swapping
for its DOS shell. You can disable the use of EMS/XMS memory
for the swap function. The swap function is explained in a
separate section.
Settings related to internal fax support.
4.4.5 Terminal
Miscellaneous
Init
An additional modem initialization string, sent to the
modem as soon as the Terminal is started.
20
If you start the Terminal directly from DOS (FD -TERM) or
have set the Terminal-only option in FDSETUP, the
Mailer's initialization strings are first sent to the
modem.
Download
Default download path. Files that you receive (download)
during a Terminal session will by default end up here.
Upload
Default upload path.
Editor
Allows you to install an Editor or file listing program
and invoke it from the Terminal. The Terminal will prompt
your for optional parameters, such as filenames, etc.
This can also be used to invoke external protocols or
external protocol menu programs.
Protocol
Zmodem, SEAlink, Telink, or Xmodem. Defines the default
transfer protocol to use for file transfers in the
Terminal.
Emulation
ANSI, TTY, VT100 or VT52. Defines the default Terminal
emulation protocol to use in the Terminal. Note that the
Terminal's ANSI protocol supports the AVATAR/0+ (AVT/0+)
emulation protocol.
AVATAR/0+
Allows you to disable the support for AVATAR/0+ sequences
in ANSI emulation. This can be toggled from within the
Terminal.
Buffer
The size, in KB, of the scroll-back buffer. The scroll-
back buffer stores information that has "rolled off" the
top of the screen during Terminal sessions.
Connect noise
Whether or not the Terminal should make noise when a
connection has been established.
Transfer noise
Whether or not the Terminal should make a noise after
file transfers.
21
Use tables
Whether or not the Terminal translation tables should be
active by default. See Editor > Xlat.In for a detailed
explanation of translation tables.
Auto Zmodem
Whether or not the automatic Zmodem download (receive)
function should be enabled by default.
Local echo
Whether or not the Terminal should echo typed characters
to your screen by default.
Wrap around
Whether or not the Terminal should move the cursor to the
beginning of a new line when it reaches the end of the
previous line.
Delay
Number of seconds to wait between outgoing calls if the
number you dialed was busy or did not answer. If there is
more than one entry in the dial queue, the delay is
ignored and the Terminal proceeds to the next number in
the queue.
<+> Logging
Allows you to enable logging of file transfers, dialed
numbers, time spent on-line to systems, etc. Similar to
the Mailer's log output.
Display
Screen size
25
25 line mode.
43/50
43/50 line mode. Only available for systems with EGA
and VGA cards.
Auto
Specifies that the Terminal should attempt to
automatically adapt to whatever the current screen
size is when it is are started. This also means that
the Terminal will not attempt to reset the screen
mode when it is terminated.
22
<+> Custom
Allows you to specify computer register values to
send to the INT 10h (Video BIOS) to set and reset the
screen.
Keyboard macros
Allows you to define up to 20 (24) macro strings. These can
be used to transmit common text, such as names and passwords,
etc. The first 10 (12) function keys are accessed through
keys are accessed through
is referred to as the default macro set.
To enter characters with an ASCII code below 32 (space), hold
down the
keypad and release the
Xlat.In and Xlat.Out
See Editor > Xlat.In for a detailed explanation of
translation tables. The Xlat.In table is used for characters
received from the modem (remote). The Xlat.Out table is used
for characters typed on the keyboard.
IEMSI Profile
Defines the default IEMSI (Interactive Electronic Mail
Standard Information) profile used to negotiate interactive
EMSI sessions with BBS software supporting it.
Active
Determines whether or not IEMSI support should be active
by default.
Name
The username you wish to use. If this field is empty, the
ACTIVE field (above) is automatically toggled to "NO".
Handle
The handle you wish to use, or empty if none.
Password
The password you wish to use.
23
Hot-keys
Quiet
Pausing
Editor
News
New mail
New files
Screen Clr
Specifies default user profile options, allowing you to
customize the BBS or on-line service's behavior.
The Terminal allows you to configure separate profiles
for each individual telephone number in the Terminal
Phone Directory.
4.4.6 Modem
This option is used to configure your modem for use with
FrontDoor. Modems are discussed in a separate section.
4.4.7 Printer
commercial version. The shareware version defaults to using
LPT1.
4.4.8 Manager
The managers are used to define events, session level
security, file protection (for file requests), your message
folders, and strings to be sent to the modem when calling
specific systems.
All managers require that the SYSTEM path has been defined
since they store their data files (EVENT.FD, PASSWORD.FD,
REQUEST.FD and FOLDER.FD) in that directory.
Event Manager
Events are discussed in a separate section.
Folder Manager
Folders are used to define different areas (directories, or
boards for the Hudson Message Base) so that you can use the
Editor to read and write messages in those areas. The Editor
only knows about one folder by default. It is defined in the
Filenames section of FDSETUP (described above) and is
referred to as the NetMail folder.
24
The folder manager has two modes. The first is the view mode,
which is self explanatory. The second mode is the edit/create
mode and is accessed by pressing the Ins key. It will now be
described.
Status
The status and type of the folder.
Origin
The default origin line to use. This is only used for
Conference-type folders with the Echo info status
enabled. Origin lines are used to identify the origin of
a message in Conference conferences. This is required
because conference mail is not a point to point
environment, like a telephone conversation or NetMail
exchange.
Mail conferences are usually widespread and can have an
unlimited number of participating systems.
Title
The title appearing in the folder list when you select a
new active folder in the Editor.
Board/Path
Depending on the type of the folder, this is either the
Hudson Message Base board number or the DOS path
(directory) where the messages for this folder should be
stored.
<+> Users
Defines which users should have access to this folder. If
a user does not have access to a folder, it will not show
up on his/her list of available folders.
Password
Defines whether or not access to the folder is protected
by a password. You can allow users to access a folder,
and the password protect it.
Use AKA
Defines which address (AKA) the Editor should use for the
folder. This is only important for Conference-type
folders with the Echo info status enabled. The address is
a part of the origin line.
25
Folder status
Restricted
If enabled, users can only read Private messages
addressed to their username. Public messages are not
affected by this.
Echo info
Whether or not an origin line should be appended to
newly created messages. See Origin (above) for more
information.
Export OK
See NetMail folder > Export OK described above.
MsgBase
Specifies that the folder is of the Hudson Message
Base type, rather than a directory with .MSG message
files. The Hudson Message Base (HMB) is used by
several BBS packages, such as RemoteAccess.
Translate
Enables the translation tables for the folder. They
can be toggled on/off from within the Editor.
Private
Specifies that the Private status should be allowed
(and the default) for messages created in the folder.
This should NOT be used in Conference-type folders
unless the conference explicitly allows this.
Read-only
See Netmail folder > Read-only described above.
Determines if the Editor should access the specified
path when check for unread mail. This allows you to
create folders that holds messages on removable
media, e.g. floppy disks, that is not always
accessible to the Editor.
Forces the Editor to append a hard CR to all lines
instead of letting paragraphs flow. Some INTERNET
mail environments require that the line length does
not exceed a certain limit.
26
Conference
Defines the folder as a Conference folder (as opposed
to a Local or NetMail-type folder).
Defines the folder as NetMail-type folder (as opposed
to an Conference or Local-type folder). This enabled
nodelist lookups, carbon copies, etc.
Local
Defines the folder as a Local folder (as opposed to
an Conference or NetMail-type folder). This is
usually used to access local BBS message areas.
Security
The security manager is used to define session level
passwords for other systems. It can also be used to
explicitly refuse File/Update Requests and Mail from a
system, and to disable/enable specific protocol and
handshake options to fine tune your outbound mail
sessions.
Session level passwords are used to protect the receiving
(called) system in a mail session, and calling system
during an outbound EMSI session, to ensure that the
calling system really is what it appears to be. Anyone
can setup a Mailer, like FrontDoor, and send you mail. If
there is mail waiting for the address they are using,
your system will by default attempt to send it.
You should setup session level passwords for all your
common mail links, such as conference mail distribution
systems, etc.
System
The system address of the remote system. Eg.
2:270/17.
Password
Defines the session level password that your system
will present when calling the specified system and
the password that your system requires to establish a
mail session with the specified system.
Note that some mailer software treat passwords case
sensitive, ie. ALLAN is not treated like AlLaN. The
FrontDoor Mailer will treat passwords case
insensitive on incoming (inbound) calls. They will,
however, be sent EXACTLY as you have defined them
here.
27
You do not have to specify a password to use any of
the other options.
FREQs
Whether or not the specified system is allowed to
make File/Update Requests (see "File Requests").
Whether or not your system will allow the specified
system to call your system.
>>> Note that by disabling (setting it to "NO") this
option, you may be in violation of network
policy.
EMSI
Whether or not you want the Mailer to attempt to
negotiate an EMSI session when it calls the specified
system.
FTS-1
Whether or not you want the Mailer to attempt to
negotiate an FTS-1 session when it calls the
specified system.
Zap
Whether or not you want the Mailer to use the
ZedZap/Zmodem protocol when negotiating an FTS-6
(YooHoo) session. If this is set to "NO", the
DietIFNA protocol (Telink/SEAlink) will be used
during YooHoo sessions with the specified system.
YooHoo
Whether or not you want the Mailer to attempt to
negotiate an FTS-6 session when it calls the
specified system.
Notes regarding protocols
The Mailer will by default attempt to negotiate a
mail session in the following order:
1. EMSI
2. FTS-6 (YooHoo), ZedZap/Zmodem
3. FTS-6 (YooHoo), DietIFNA
4. FTS-1
The Mailer will ignore any entries in the security
manager with inactive status.
28
Request Manager
The request manager is used to protect file requests.
File and Update Requests are discussed in a separate
section.
5 The nodelist and the nodelist compiler
The nodelist is FrontDoor's telephone directory and is used for
several purposes. Among these are to allow you to perform name
lookups of other SysOps, to retrieve information about remote
systems, such as the maximum supported baudrate, modem flags, and
system capability flags, to check if a remote system is known to your
system or should be treated as an unlisted system.
The Mailer requires that a nodelist be present whereas the Editor and
the Terminal can both be used without one, if so required. The
typical FidoNet nodelist contains over 20.000 systems and has a
fairly straight forward structure as follows.
Zone
Usually a large geographical area, such as North America, Europe,
Australia and New Zealand, etc. At the time of the release of
this package, the following FidoNet Zone numbers have been
allocated:
1 North America (including Canada)
2 Europe
3 Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand
4 Latin America
5 Africa
6 Asia
Region
Usually a somewhat smaller geographical area, such as a country
or part of a (large) country. A collection of regions make up one
zone.
Net
Usually a collection of systems local to each other. Typically a
city and in some cases including its suburbs. A collection of
nets make up one region.
Node
A single system within a net.
29
Point
A single system belonging to a node. Typically, a point is
similar to a user logging on to a BBS system using his/her
terminal program, with the main difference being that a point
performs most of his/her activities offline and use smart
software to collect and transit his/her mail.
5.1 Hosts and hubs
The coordinator of a net is called the host or NC for Network
Coordinator. The host is responsible for maintaining the nodelist
segment for his/her net and to act as an inbound NetMail gateway
for the systems in his/her net ("host routed mail").
In a large net, it is quite common that "sub-hosts", called hubs,
are set-up to aid in mail distribution within the net. In other
words, a hub has the same function for systems in a network that
a host has for (remote) systems outside the same network.
5.2 Compiling a nodelist
Before FrontDoor can use the information in a nodelist, it must
be compiled with the FrontDoor Nodelist Compiler (FDNC). FDNC
will process the specified nodelist file(s) and generate database
information and index files.
The nodelist that FDNC needs to process is often referred to as
the raw nodelist. It should not have been processed by Xlatlist,
Parselst or a similar utility; but only be the nodelist you
receive each week (if you are a FidoNet node) from your host.
Grab a somewhat recent version of a nodelist and decompress it.
Place the resulting file (such as NODELIST.228) in the NODELIST
directory. Create a file called FDNODE.CTL with your a text
Editor and place it in the same directory. You can also use the
sample file included in the FrontDoor distribution package and
modify it to suit your needs.
5.2.1 FDNODE.CTL
FDNODE.CTL is FDNC's control file. It is used to control how
FDNC processes the nodelist files, for dial translation and
cost calculation. The order of commands does not matter. All
commands are case insensitive.
POINTLIST
This option allows you to add points to your nodelist
database. The optional BOSS address is required if
FILENAME does not contain a BOSS entry and should not be
specified if FILENAME contains a BOSS entry.
30
If you only have one file with point entries, you can
name it FDPOINT.PVT. FDNC will automatically use this
file if it is found in the NODELIST directory. If you use
one or more POINTLIST statements, FDNC will merge all
specified files into FDPOINT.PVT, overwriting its
contents. A separate chapter discusses the point concept.
PVTLIST
Similar to the POINTLIST command, but FILENAME contains
one or more regular nodes. The optional ZONE number is
required if FILENAME does not contain a ZONE entry and
should not be specified if FILENAME contains a ZONE
entry. The optional ZONE number is only supported for the
first PVTLIST statement. FDNC accepts the POINT keyword
in private nodelists.
31
If you only have one file with additional node entries,
you can name it FDNET.PVT. FDNC will automatically use it
if it is found in the NODELIST directory. Note that if
you use one or more PVTLIST statements, FDNC will merge
all specified files into FDNET.PVT, overwriting its
contents.
Note that FILENAME for POINTLIST and PVTLIST may contain
wildcard characters (* and ?). FDNC will use the most
recent (by comparing the timestamp of the matching files)
file.
SWEPULSE
This command was added to handle the somewhat screwed up
method Swedish pulse exchanges handles dialing. Most
modem manufacturers uses the British standard for pulse
dialing, which is not compatible with Swedish pulse
dialing. If you use SWEPULSE in FDNODE.CTL, telephone
numbers will be properly translated. Do NOT use this
command unless you live in Sweden and have to use pulse
dialing.
PHONE
Some systems are listed as PVT (private) in the nodelist,
in which case there is no telephone number available (the
text -Unpublished- is used in place). This, of course,
means that the Mailer cannot call a system listed as PVT.
If you have the phone number of a PVT listed system, or
wish to override the telephone number listed in the
nodelist, you can use the PHONE command.
ADDRESS is a fully qualified address (e.g. 2:270/17).
NUMBER is an untranslated (raw) telephone number (e.g.
352-355-936). If the PHONE command is used, FDNC will
remove possible DOWN, HOLD and PVT flags for the
specified system.
USE ZONE
This command controls which zones FDNC should include in
the nodelist and username index files. The default is to
include all encountered zones. This does not affect the
contents of raw nodelist files, only what information
ends up in the nodelist and username index files.
DIAL
Indicates the start of the dial translation table. All
four parameters are optional and are only used if no
other translation applies for a telephone number.
32
If you only want to use a national (NATL) prefix/suffix,
you must specify the / character for the international
(INTL) prefix/suffix to indicate no special treatment.
The same applies if you only want to use an INTL
prefix/suffix.
; prefix
; prefix/suffix
; /suffix
;
DIAL / 00 ; Add INTL prefix to all INTL
; numbers.
352- ; Strip country code
61- 0061-/X2 ; Send X2 to modem for
; Australia
46-8 /391 ; Append (suffix) 391 to all
; numbers in Stockholm
; Sweden.
END
END is required to terminate the dial translation table.
If you need to strip the search value from a number, you
do not have to put anything after it. In other words, if
you need to strip 1-305-596 from all number, you enter
that string with no translation. Comments are ignored and
must be preceded by a semicolon.
DIAL 12345-1- 00
..
..
END
Would add (prefix) 12345-1- to all NATL numbers not
otherwise translated. It would add (prefix) 00 to all
INTL numbers not otherwise translated.
DIAL /2222 00/1111
..
..
END
Would append (suffix) 2222 to all NATL numbers not
otherwise translated. It would add (prefix) 00 and append
(suffix) 1111 to all INTL numbers not otherwise
translated.
The translation values (strings) does not have to contain
number characters (0-9,.-). They can include commands
such as "S25=100" etc. as long as your modem supports it.
33
COST
Indicates the start of the cost table. The two (default)
parameters are NOT optional. The default cost only
applies to numbers with no matching entry in the cost
table.
COST 5 125 ; NATL default=5, INTL=175
1- 75 ; Canada and the US
1-808- 125 ; Hawaii
46- 27 ; Sweden
END
An additional parameter can be added after the cost for a
number entry indicating the maximum baud rate used. This
is useful when calling locations with a lot of line noise
etc. Please note that this does not work with several
high-speed modems such as the US Robotics Courier HST.
You cannot force a HST modem to connect at 2400 with
another HST modem by changing the baud rate.
To compile your nodelist, type FDNC and press
the nodelist compiler from FD's main menu,
When FDNC is started, it will compare the date of the raw
nodelist and its index files. If the dates match, and no update
has been made to FDNODE.CTL, no compilation will be made and the
program will ask "Nodelist files are up-to-date, compile
anyway?".
If you want to force compilation, run FDNC with the -F command
line switch.
5.3 Nodelist flags
Most of the system entries in the nodelist contain one or more
capability flags to indicate the system's capability. The Editor
is capable of displaying, and the Mailer and Terminal are capable
of using, any nodelist flag present in a system's nodelist entry.
5.4 Command line switches
/C
Compile the nodelist if it (or FDNODE.CTL) has been updated since
the last time it was compiled, otherwise exit directly. This is
useful for compiling the nodelist in batch files since it avoids
the "Nodelist files are up-to-date, compile anyway?" prompt.
/F
Forces FDNC to compile the nodelist regardless of whether or not
it has been updated.
34
5.5 Points
As mentioned before, a point is similar to a user logging on to a
BBS system using his/her terminal program, with the main
difference being that a point performs most of his/her activities
offline and use smart software to collect and transit his/her
mail.
A point system is addressed by specifying the BOSS system's
address followed by the point number. E.g. 2:270/17.1 is point
one of 2:270/17. The BOSS system is called point zero
(2:270/17.0), but the .0 is normally left out.
FrontDoor is a point smart software package and fully supports
the "four-dimensional" (zone, net, node, point) addressing
method. FrontDoor also supports the "two-dimensional" point
approach used by some software. This is often called the
"fakenet" or "pointnet" method. "Fake" because the software uses
a non-existent network number to identify its "pointnet" and uses
the node field for the point number.
The maximum number of points any system can have is 65,535, not
counting the BOSS, or point zero.
5.5.1 Pointlist
A pointlist is similar to a normal nodelist, with the
exception that all entries are considered point systems.
FrontDoor, by default, uses the file FDPOINT.PVT to store its
pointlist. It is possible to add points of other systems to
your pointlist. This will allow you to enter messages to
other systems' points just like you would to any other
system.
Here is a sample FDPOINT.PVT:
,1,FrontDoor_Development,Strassen,JoHo,-Unpublished-,9600
,2,APX_Development,Strassen,JoHo_Too,-Unpublished-,9600
As you can see, a point list looks very much like a raw
nodelist. The last field contains nodelist flags (HST, MO,
CM, etc.) and if more than one flag is present, they are
separated by commas.
Points can also be added to systems in the master nodelist by
using the POINT keyword:
,7,SuperMail_HQ,Strassen_L,Jon_Doe,352-123-456,9600,CM,XA,ZYX
Point,1,Marketing,Strassen,Jon's_Uncle,-Unpublished-,9600
,17,UseMail_HQ,Strassen_L,Jill_Doe,352-234-567,9600,CM,XA,HST
Point,1,The_Lab,Strassen_L,Jill's_Uncle,-Unpublished-,9600
Assuming this was listed under the Net-270 host in zone two,
we have created 2:270/7, 2:270/7.1, 2:270/17, and 2:270/17.1.
35
The second example works well if your nodelist is not updated
frequently (weekly, daily, etc). But if you have to add the
"Point,#" every time you get a new nodelist, this task
becomes rather tedious.
FrontDoor therefore supports an additional pointlist format:
Boss,2:270/7
,1,Marketing,Strassen,Jon's_Uncle,-Unpublished-,9600
Boss,2:270/17
,1,The_Lab,Strassen_L,Jill's_Uncle,-Unpublished-,9600
This does away with the need to constantly update the BOSS
system's data in the raw nodelist and allows you to put your
pointlist in a separate file. FDNC will then take the BOSS
system's data from the master nodelist.
5.5.2 FDNODE.CTL
If you only have one file with point definitions, you can put
them in FDPOINT.PVT and use the third example (above) to add
points for other systems, or your own system. If you have
more than one file with point definitions, however, you
should NOT name any of them FDPOINT.PVT.
Assume we have two files with pointlists:
FDHQ.PTS:
;
; Pointlist for 2:270/17
;
Boss,2:270/17
,1,The_Lab,Strassen_L,Jill's_Uncle,-Unpublished-,9600
,2,The_Office,Strassen_L,Jill's_Sister,-Unpublished-,9600
and
WIZOZ.PTS:
;
; Pointlist for 1:135/990
;
Boss,1:135/990
,1,OZ_Point,Miami_FL,Dorothy,-Unpublished-,9600
We would tell FDNC to merge these two files into FDPOINT.PVT
before it compiles the nodelist, by specifying the following
in FDNODE.CTL:
pointlist C:\FD\NODELIST\WIZOZ.PTS
pointlist C:\FD\NODELIST\FDHQ.PTS
36
The BOSS statement in FDHQ.PTS and WIZOZ.PTS can be removed
if you instead specify:
pointlist C:\FD\NODELIST\WIZOZ.PTS 1:135/990
pointlist C:\FD\NODELIST\FDHQ.PTS 2:270/17
You must ALWAYS specify the address of the BOSS system (as
shown above) if it is not listed in the actual pointlist
file.
5.5.3 Treatment of points
A point system is treated just like any other system with one
exception. A point system of another system than your own is
always treated as its BOSS (or point zero) system. When the
Mailer creates mail packets for 1:135/990, it includes mail
for any points under it by default.
5.5.4 Remapping
If you have points that uses "point dumb" software, ie. which
does not support the "four dimensional" (zone, net, node,
point) concept fully, you must tell FrontDoor about this.
Since FrontDoor supports the "four dimensional" concept, it
has to remap mail from and to "point dumb" software.
5.5.5 POINTNET
If the POINTNET environment variable is set, mail from and to
systems with the same net number as the value of POINTNET is
remapped.
E.g. in AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET POINTNET=1004
Would force FrontDoor to remap mail from and to 1004/1,
1004/2, 1004/3, and 1004/4 to 2:270/17.1, 2:270/17.2,
2:270/17.3, and 2:270/17.4 respectively; assuming your
network address is 2:270/17.
FrontDoor automatically remaps messages that it extracts from
mail packets. If you use the POINTNET variable, FrontDoor
will treat 1004/1 identical to 2:270/17.1; assuming your
network address is 2:270/17.
37
5.6 Sharing the nodelist
FrontDoor is capable of using the nodelist together with another
program that supports sharing of the nodelist. If you are running
FrontDoor under DESQview or LANtastic, for example, it is
possible to run the Mailer at the same time as the Editor,
sharing the same nodelist.
When FDNC compiles the nodelist, you must, however, make sure
that no other program (including text editors) is using any of
the nodelist files (FDPOINT.PVT, FDNET.PVT, and/or the raw
nodelist).
6 Modems and FOSSIL drivers
FrontDoor works with most "Hayes-compatible" modems, including US
Robotics HST and HST/DS, Telebit's Trailblazer, ANC, Everex, ZyXEL
and Hayes. The general rule is that the modem must be able to send
alphanumeric result strings. For most low-speed modems, the basic
configuration is all that is required. For high-speed modems such as
the US Robotics HST, a few extra settings are necessary.
To utilize high-speed modems in the most efficient way, it must be
properly configured for use with FrontDoor. Some high-speed modems
are incorrectly configured for use with FrontDoor when they leave
their factory.
FrontDoor require that your modem can return verbal result codes,
such as "CONNECT 2400" and "NO CARRIER". In addition, if you want
FrontDoor to answer the telephone on inbound calls, the modem must be
able to return a verbal code indicating a ring signal, such as
"RING". The modem must not have DCD (carrier detect) forced. It
should support disconnecting by lowering DTR (data terminal ready),
but it is not necessary. DTR must, however, not be forced.
For high-speed modem users, it is usually recommended that you lock
the DTE (computer<>modem) speed to the highest possible baudrate;
which is usually 19200, 38400, or 57600 BPS.
The current version of FrontDoor does not support manually operated
modems with constant DTE speeds since most of them do not send any
type of messages to the terminal (program). This is expected to be
implemented in future versions.
6.1 Basic configuration
The modem options are located in FDSETUP under the MODEM >
Default settings pull-down menu. There are four sub-menus,
Hardware, Messages, Command strings, and Answer control.
Hardware
The Hardware option screen allows you to configure things like
the highest baudrate supported by your modem, the COM port to
which your modem is connected, etc.
38
Serial port
The COM port your modem is attached to (1-32).
Locked port
Whether or not you have locked the FOSSIL driver's baudrate.
Maximum baudrate
The maximum supported baud rate of your modem (300-38400
BPS). If you have locked your FOSSIL driver (discussed
later), set this to 38400 BPS.
Reset modem to connect speed
>>> This option should ONLY be used if you have a modem that
supports the CCITT V.23 (split speed, 1200/75 and
75/1200) recommendation.
Lower DTR when busy
Determines how the Mailer should handle the modem when it
invokes other programs, exits, and shells to DOS. If enabled,
the Mailer will simply lower DTR. This means that your modem
will not answer the phone, but any calling systems will not
get a busy signal. If you disable this, the Mailer will send
the Offhook string to the modem instead of lowering DTR. This
can be used to take the modem offhook when your system is not
available so that calling systems gets a busy signal instead
of no answer.
>>> It is against the law of some countries to take a modem
offhook unless actual communication is taken place. As
the operator of FrontDoor, it is your responsibility to
be aware of such laws in your own country.
Lower DTR to terminate call
If enabled, the Mailer will drop DTR for a short period of
time to terminate calls. Most modems supports this and you
should only disable it if your modem does not support
lowering of DTR. If disabled, the Mailer will send the Escape
code string followed by the Onhook string to terminate a
call.
Toggle DTR before dialing
Specifies that the Mailer should lower DTR, pause, and then
raise DTR again every time it places an outgoing call. While
this increases the chances of call collision, it may be
required by some modems to reset properly, etc. Do not enable
this option unless it is absolutely necessary.
39
The bitmask the Mailer should use when asking the FOSSIL
driver for the port status to determine if a carrier signal
is still present.
Connect messages
Status messages
These options allows you to define the messages sent by your
modem. If your modem does not send one or more of the strings you
should NOT remove them.
The 300 string is sent as CONNECT followed by a carriage return
by some modems (US Robotics HST for example). You should
therefore set the string to CONNECT| (the pipe character will be
replaced with a CR by the Mailer) if this is the case with your
modem.
The RING string should be set to RING| (the pipe character will
be replaced with a CR by the Mailer) if your modem sends the
RINGING message while waiting for a call to be connected.
<+> Custom message
Allows you to define a custom connect message and its associated
baudrate in the event that your modem returns a connect message
not otherwise covered by FrontDoor; such as "CONNECT FAST".
Command strings
All command strings may contain a pipe (|) character, which
translates into a CR and a tilde (~) character which translates
into a one second pause.
Escape code
Used to place the modem in command mode (as opposed to data
mode). This is only used if you have disabled Hardware >
Lower DTR to terminate call or if you are using the Hardware
> Reset modem to connect speed option.
Return on-line
Used to place the modem in data mode (as opposed to command
mode). This is only used if you are using the Hardware >
Reset modem to connect speed option.
Onhook
Used to place the modem on-hook (as opposed to off-hook) if
you have disabled Hardware > Lower DTR when busy or Hardware
> Lower DTR to terminate call".
40
Offhook
Used to place the modem off-hook (as opposed to on-hook) if
you have disabled Hardware > Lower DTR when busy.
Dial
Used when the Mailer places an outgoing call. The Mailer will
send the dial (this) string, the Prefix, the telephone
number, followed by the Suffix.
I.e.
Prefix
Sent before every number when the Mailer places an outgoing
call (see above).
Suffix
Sent after every number when the Mailer places an outgoing
call (see above). This should be set to the pipe (|)
character to indicate a CR in most cases.
Delay
The delay (in 1/10 second) between every string the Mailer
sends to the modem. If you have a mode that accept commands
rapidly, such as the US Robotics HST, you can set this as low
as one or two, but most modems require that this is set
between four and eight.
Init-1..Init-3
Modem initialization strings. They are sent every time the
Mailer initializes the modem in order (Init-1, Init-2,
Init-3). Unused strings should not be set to anything (leave
field blank).
Down
Sent to the modem when the Mailer terminates. This occurs
when mail has been received or when the Mailer terminates
execution.
Reset
Sent to the modem to force it to respond with an OK message.
This should be set to "AT|" in most cases.
41
Answer control
Manual answer
Specifies that the Mailer should wait for the RING message
from the modem and then send the force answer string (below)
to force the modem to answer.
>>> This is the safest way to control modem answering and
should be used unless your modem does not support it. For
Hayes compatible modems, you should add S0=0 to one of
your init strings to prevent the modem from answering
automatically.
Force answer
The string forcing the modem to answer an incoming call. This
should be "ATA|" in most cases.
Answer delay
When the Mailer receives the RING message from the modem, it
will pause for nn 1/10 seconds before sending the force
answer string. This should be set between four and eight for
most modems.
<+> Enable LDFRS
Enables Logging of Data Following Ring Signal (DFRS). This is
mainly used in areas that offer CALLER*ID as a service to
their subscribers. The CALLER*ID data will be logged between
the first and the second RING in most cases.
Used to enable or disable the internal Fax handling of the
Mailer.
6.2 Advanced configuration
Many modems have several different connection modes and options.
The US Robotics HST/DS, for example, can be configured between
several different connect modes, including CCITT V.32, CCITT
V.32bis, and the proprietary HST protocol.
Since the nodelist normally indicates a system's hardware (modem)
capabilities, the Mailer can automatically reconfigure your modem
depending on what type of hardware the remote system being called
is using. This automatic reconfiguration feature can also be used
to disable or enabled certain options for specific systems (i,e.
not based on nodelist data) because of problems with noisy lines,
long satellite delays, etc.
This is all configured in the MODEM MANAGER under the Manager
pull-down menu in FDSETUP. The actual data is stored in a file
called MODEM.FD in the SYSTEM directory.
42
6.3 The Modem Manager
The entries are processed as defined, i.e. in sequential order,
top to bottom. It may be important in which order these options
are configured and triggered, the modem manager therefore allows
you to re-arrange individual entries by using the Move (F2)
option.
String to match
A nodelist flag, such as HST, a baudrate, such as 2400, or a
complete network address, such as 2:270/17, that the Mailer
should match in order to send the specified string. To
specify a baudrate, place it behind an equal sign, e.g.
=2400.
>>> The Mailer supports any ASCII text to be entered as the
String to match. The data you enter is matched verbatim
with the data in the nodelist. It is for this reason that
the FidoNet user (U) flag must be taken into
consideration. I.e. "ISDN" does not match "UISDN", nor
does "UISDN" match "ISDN".
String to send
The string that will be transmitted to the modem when a match
is made. The pipe (|) character is translated to a CR and
should terminate the string in most cases.
The Mailer will ignore entries with INACTIVE status.
An example, the HST/DS
Most HST/DS owners will have the following three lines at the
beginning of their MODEM MANAGER list:
V32 ATB0|
HST ATB1|
V32B ATB0|
The first line, V32, will transmit "ATB0" followed by CR to the
modem if the system to be dialed has V32 in its nodelist flags.
This is to enable the HST/DS' CCITT V.32 handshake.
The second line, HST, will transmit "ATB1" followed by a CR to
the modem if the system to be dialed has HST in its nodelist
flags. This is to tell the modem that we prefer the HST protocol.
In the case of a system with both the V32 and the HST flag, we
want the HST flag, because that protocol is faster than the CCITT
V.32 protocol.
The third line, V32B, will transmit "ATB0" to the modem if the
system to be dialed has V32B in its nodelist flags. This it to
tell the modem that we prefer the CCITT V.32bis protocol. In the
case of a system with both the V32B and the HST flag, we want the
V32B flag.
43
Let us assume our modem has a problem, with incorrect busy and
voice signal detection, when it encounters a modem that answers
using the PEP protocol handshake (used by Telebit Trailblazers
for example), we would then want to disable our modem's
capability to detect a busy signal and/or a voice signal. We
would then add:
PEP ATX2|
6.4 FOSSIL drivers
A FOSSIL (Fido/Opus/SEAdog Standard Interface Layer) driver is a
memory resident program (TSR) that works as a layer between the
application program and your computer's hardware. The Mailer
requires a FOSSIL driver to function. One of the advantages of
the standard FOSSIL interface is that programs can be ported
easily to other machines and/or operating systems, or to
communicate with devices that do not normally function like a
"Hayes compatible" modem, such as ISDN cards.
There are several FOSSIL drivers available. The Mailer has been
tested with OpusComm, X00, and BNU with good results. X00 and BNU
will be described here.
BNU
BNU, written by David Nugent, comes in two flavors. One is a
device driver, the other is a .COM file, loaded from AUTOEXEC.BAT
or another batch file. The .COM flavor is assumed in the example.
For a detailed description of the BNU driver, please refer to the
documentation included in the BNU distribution archive.
[AUTOEXEC.BAT]
BNU /R=1024 /T=512 /L1:57600
/R=1024
Specifies a receive buffer of 1024 bytes.
/T=512
Specifies a transmit buffer of 512 bytes.
/L1:38400
Locks COM2 at 57600 BPS (for use with a high-speed modem such
as the ZyXEL U1496-E+).
If you are not using a high-speed modem the above example
should most likely be modified to not lock COM2.
44
X00
X00, written by Ray Gwinn, is a device driver (later versions can
also be loaded as an executable from AUTOEXEC.BAT), it is loaded
from your CONFIG.SYS file when your machine is started. For a
detailed description of the X00 driver, read the documentation
included in the X00 distribution archive.
[CONFIG.SYS]
device=X00.SYS E 1 B,1,57600 T=512 R=1024
E
Disable 5 second advertisement when X00 is first loaded.
1
Number of COM ports X00 should allow to be accessed at
one time.
B,1,57600
Locks COM2 at 57600 BPS.
T=512
Specifies a transmit buffer of 512 bytes.
R=1024
Specifies a receive buffer of 1024 bytes.
If you are not using a high-speed modem the above example may
not be what you want. The most common command line for X00
is:
device=X00.SYS E 1
OS/2 2.x
FrontDoor can be used in an OS/2 DOS box with excellent results.
The two drivers described above, BNU and X00, should, however,
not be used for optimum results. Two drivers that have been
tested with good results exist. The first one, VFD for Virtual
FOSSIL Driver, written by Joakim Hernberg is a FOSSIL layer that
interfaces with the native OS/2 2.x COM driver (or compatible
replacements thereof); the other is SIO/VX00 by Ray Gwinn.
A separate FrontDoor Technical Note (FDTN), number two (2), can
be found on many systems that describe the exact details of how
to add these drivers to your OS/2 configuration.
45
7 Events
There are two basic types of events. Mail events and external events.
Mail events are used to control how the Mailer treats mail during a
given time of the day. External events are used to force the Mailer
to terminate with an errorlevel at a specific time. They can be used
to run system maintenance programs, disk optimizers, etc.
The EVENT MANAGER in FDSETUP is used to control mail and external
events. There is a (required) global event, which is active when no
other event is active. The @ character is used for the global event.
7.1 The Event Manager
The event manager has two modes. The first is the view mode,
which is self explanatory. The second mode is the edit/create
mode. It will now be described.
Tag (T)
The event ID. A letter from A-Z or @. The @ event has special
meaning and is described later. X is used for eXternal
events, all other letters are used for mail events. Which
letter you use is not important. They could correspond with
the time of day, N for Night, E for Evening, D for Day, etc.
The event tag is used to associate an event with a schedule
block in the route file (see "Mail routing").
Days
The days you want the event to be active on. The @ event is
active on all days.
Modifier (M)
You can define a start time for the @ event. It is not used
to control the start of the @ event. It can be added,
subtracted, or ignored, when calculating the actual start
time of other events.
If the modifier for an event is +, the start time of the @
event is added to the start time of the event.
If the modifier for an event is -, the start time of the @
event is subtracted from the start time of the event.
If the modifier for an event is *, the start time of the @
event is ignored and not used to calculate the actual start
time of the event.
This is useful when it is time to switch between winter and
summer time. Instead of having to manually go into each event
and define a new start time, you could change the start time
of the @ event and the start time of all other events will be
changed.
46
Let us assume that you have an event (tag=E) that starts at
08:00 in the morning with a modifier of +. Your @ event has a
start time of 01:00. Since the modifier was + (add), the
start time of @ (01:00) will be added to the start time of
the E event and the result will be that event E starts at
09:00. If you change the modifier to - (subtract), the start
time of event E will be 07:00 (08:00 minus 01:00). If you set
the modifier to * (ignore), the start time of E is not
affected.
Start time
Defines the start time of an event. See Modifier (above) for
an explanation on how this can be affected.
Length
Defines the length of the event. External events (X) always
have a length of 00:01 (one minute).
Errorlevel
For external (X) events, this defines the errorlevel that the
Mailer will terminate with. For mail events, this defines the
errorlevel to exit with if mail is received (and the Mailer
is triggered to exit). If the errorlevel field is set to
zero, the default Mailer > Errorlevels > MAIL RECEIVED
errorlevel will be used.
You may use any value in the range 31-255.
Min.cost
Defines the minimum cost of messages that should be qualified
(see "Mail routing").
Max.cost
Defines the maximum cost of messages that should be qualified
(see Mail Routing). A value of -1 forces the Mailer to ignore
the cost of messages.
Behavior
Defines the behavior of the event. Mail events and eXternal
events have different behavior options, this is described
later.
Retry delay
Defines the delay (in seconds) the Mailer should wait between
placing outgoing calls. A value of zero means that you want
the Mailer to use the default delay (described above).
47
7.1.1 External event behavior
Allow users during event
Defines whether or not non-mail (human) calls are allowed to
interrupt the event.
If a non-mail call comes in at 12:00 and you have an external
(X) event scheduled for 12:30, the Mailer will take the X
event into account when calculating the number of minutes
left until the next event, depending on how this option is
set. If it is disabled, the user would, in this case, only
have 30 minutes until the next event. If it was enabled, the
Mailer would instead scan ahead for the next (if any) event
that does not allow users.
Forced
Defines whether or not the event is forced. The Mailer, by
default, ignores events that it "missed" while doing
something else. If you enable this option, the event will be
executed even if the Mailer have "missed" it.
Assume you have a non-forced external (X) event scheduled for
12:00 and a user calls in at 11:50. The call lasts for 30
minutes (12:20). When the Mailer is brought back up again,
the external event will not be executed. If, however, you had
this option enabled for the external (X) event, it would be
executed as soon as the Mailer was brought up again.
Inactive
Toggles the state of the event. The Mailer will ignore any
inactive events. This allows you to deactivate events without
removing them from the event manager.
7.1.2 Mail event behavior
Allow users during event
This has the same function as for eXternal events. In
addition, if this option is set to "NO" (disabled),
interactive (non-mail) calls will not be accepted during the
duration of the event.
Exit when mail is received
Defines whether or not you want the Mailer to exit when mail
has been received. This allows you to process received
echomail, etc.
High priority (crash) mail only
Forces the Mailer to ignore messages that does not have crash
status. Note that messages with IMM (Immediate) status are
not affected by this.
48
Allow file requests
Defines whether or not you want the Mailer to honor file
requests during an event. If you disable this option, the
Mailer will simply ignore file requests.
Pickup file requests
The Mailer will by default not accept file requests received
during an outgoing (outbound) mail call since you are paying
for the call. This option allows you to pickup waiting file
requests and process them. Whether or not they are actually
honored is defined by the Allow file requests option.
Hold (do not send) file requests
Forces the Mailer to ignore outgoing (your own) file request
messages during the event. This is useful if you do not want
to send out file requests during daytime events for example.
Hold (do not send) file attaches
Forces the Mailer to ignore outgoing (your own) file attach
messages during the event. This is useful if you do not want
to send out files attached to messages during daytime events
for example.
Attempt to pickup waiting mail
Defines whether or not you want the Mailer to pickup any
waiting mail on outgoing calls. The default (YES) should be
used unless you want the Mailer to terminate the mail session
as soon as it has delivered its mail. If this option is
disabled, your file requests (if any) will fail since the
Mailer terminates the call before the remote system has a
chance to process them.
Allow nodes to pickup waiting mail
This option is the same as using the DENY route command (see
"Mail routing"). The only difference is that you cannot be
selective about which systems can pickup waiting mail. If a
system calls in to deliver its mail and this option is
disabled (NO), your system will not release (send) any
waiting mail.
Prioritize outbound calls
Forces the Mailer to make outgoing calls without waiting for
the specified time (retry delay) between calls. The Mailer
will still accept incoming (inbound) mail, but the chances of
another system getting through are very small.
Inbound-Only
Specifies that you do not want the Mailer to make any
outgoing calls during the event.
49
End event when no more mail to send
If you have an event with some restrictions on other systems
or do not allow users, it may be useful to enable this
option, forcing the Mailer to release all restrictions
enforced by the event as soon as there is no more mail to
send.
If new mail is entered that qualifies for mailing and the
event has ended (prematurely), it will be restarted.
Send to CM systems only
Forces the Mailer to only qualify those systems that have the
CM (continuous mail) flag set in their nodelist entry.
Send to non-CM systems only
Forces the Mailer to only qualify those systems that Do not
have the CM (continuous mail) flag set in their nodelist
entry.
Send to systems once only
Forces the Mailer to only deliver mail to a system once
during the event. If the event is interrupted or aborted, the
Mailer will remember which systems it has already delivered
mail to and when the event is restarted, it will not call
those systems again.
Assume you have mail to 1:135/20 and 2:310/11 during event A,
with this behavior enabled. On the first call to 1:135/20,
the Mailer sends its mail successfully. If the event is
restarted for some reason (user break, human caller, mail
received exit), the Mailer will not call 1:135/20 again, even
if there is new mail for that system.
Answer inbound calls
If you have specified that you want the Mailer to force the
modem to answer when it receives a RING message (see Modem >
Answer control), this setting ultimately determines whether
or not the Force answer string is sent to the modem, or if
the Mailer should simply ignore the RING message. This allows
you to control when the Mailer should answer inbound calls.
Inactive
The same as for eXternal events.
7.1.3 The @ event
The @ event is active whenever your system is not in another
mail event. The @ event is required. You do not have to tell
the Mailer to send mail during the @ event, but it must be
defined.
50
You can use it to send local and/or low cost mail whenever
the Mailer is not busy, etc. You can specify a schedule block
(see Mail routing), using the @ tag and define routing rules
for it just like any other mail event. If the Mailer does not
find a schedule block for the @ tag, it will still use any
global rules defined in the route file.
7.1.4 Overlapping events
Overlapping events are fully supported by the Mailer.
Event B starts at 05:00 with a duration of 01:00. Event A
starts at 05:01 with a duration of 00:15. The behavior for
event A includes Only execute event once and End event when
no more mail to send.
Event B will start at 05:00, after one minute, event A will
start and last for fifteen minutes (or end when there is no
more mail to send).
Once event A has ended, B will resume. This is a very
powerful and useful concept. It can be used to start
temporary or dynamic events within events that lasts for
several hours.
8 Mailer
The Mailer is the core program of FrontDoor. It is responsible for
sending and receiving messages and files; and optionally pass human
callers to a BBS or other interactive software. The Terminal function
is also located in the executable file of the Mailer and can be
reached from one of its menus.
Most functions of the Mailer are reached by holding down the
key and pressing a key, A through Z.
8.1 Menus
Each function and menu of the Mailer will now be described.
8.1.1 Programs
Message Editor
Loads the message Editor.
Terminal
Invokes the Terminal (it resides in the Mailer's overlay
file, FD.OVR).
51
Configure
Loads the configuration program, FDSETUP.
Nodelist
Loads the nodelist compiler, FDNC.
User keys
Displays the 20 (24) user definable function keys and allows
you to select one.
DOS shell
Invokes a temporary DOS shell. Type EXIT and press
return to the Mailer. Packets created with any of the
temporary mail services function (File Request, Transmit
file, Send mail) will be discarded when you return and the
Mailer will rescan the contents of the NetMail folder.
Quit
Returns you to DOS or the batch file that first executed the
Mailer. The Mailer will return errorlevel 10 (User Break).
8.1.2 Utilities
Active event
Displays the settings for the currently active event.
Inbound history
Invokes the inbound call (mail) history management function.
Outbound history
Invokes the outbound call (mail) history management function.
Recent activity
Shows you the last two days of general activity, failed
sessions, file requests, number of files/bytes sent and
received, etc.
Disconnect
Allows you to manually terminate a call. This will also
re-initialize the modem.
Lock keyboard
Allows you to lock the keyboard (and the Mailer) against
unauthorized use. The Mailer will still perform its duties
such as sending and receiving mail, etc.
52
You must enter the specified password to unlock the keyboard.
If the Mailer exits (due to mail received or an interactive
call is received), the keyboard lock status is retained and
when the Mailer is restarted, the keyboard will remain
locked.
Restart event
Forces the Mailer to rescan the message base and create new
mail packets. All previous temporary packet information is
discarded.
8.1.3 Mail
Queue manager
Allows you to manipulate the current mail queue. If no mail
event is active, the mail queue is empty. The mail queue is
described in a separate section.
Undialable manager
Allows you to manipulate systems marked as undialable. This
is discussed in a separate section.
Forced poll
Creates a priority entry in the mail queue for the specified
system. If an entry for the specified system already exists
in the queue, its status is set to priority.
>>> If the Mailer has to rescan the message base, the
temporary poll is removed from the mail queue.
Request files
Allows you to create a temporary file request to the
specified system.
>>> If the Mailer has to rescan the message base, the
temporary file request is removed from the mail queue.
Transmit files
Allows you to transmit files to the specified system. As with
the poll and request function (above), this is only a
temporary function.
>>> If the Mailer has to rescan the message base, the entry
is removed from the mail queue.
53
Send mail
Allows you to create a temporary mail packet for the
specified system. You can choose to include all or
high-priority mail.
>>> If the Mailer has to rescan the message base, the entry
is removed from the mail queue.
8.1.4 Your profile
Answer
Allows you to toggle the manual answer status. This
option is only valid if you have enabled the manual
answer option in FDSETUP. Note that if you manually
toggle this option, the Mailer will honor the new setting
until it exits.
Allows you to toggle the printing of new (incoming)
messages.
Human callers
Allows you to toggle whether or not you want the Mailer
to accept human callers. This option is only valid if you
are not running FD in mail-only mode.
Exit on mail
Allows you to toggle whether or not the Mailer should
exit when mail has been received. This option is only
valid if an errorlevel for received mail has been
specified in FDSETUP and the active event (if any)
specifies that the Mailer should exit when mail has been
received.
Which AKA
Allows you to select a different AKA to operate under.
The specified AKA will be active until the Mailer exits
or you select a new AKA to operate under. Note that this
does not effect the AKA matching function of the Mailer.
8.2 Mail queue
The mail queue function allows you to modify the status of one or
more mail packets, temporarily change the destination of mail
packets, and to unpack one or more packets.
54
Priority
Sets priority status on all selected packets. Packets with
priority status are always processed before packets with crash or
normal status.
Verbose
Displays more information about the highlighted mail packet such
as attached files, estimated transfer time, etc.
Crash
Sets crash status on all selected packets.
Hold
Sets hold status on all selected packets. Packets with hold
status will never be sent by the Mailer unless the destination
system calls in to pickup mail.
Select all
Toggles the selected status for all packets.
Destination
Changes the destination of all selected packets. When the Mailer
processes the mail queue, it will treat all active (non-sent and
non-held) packets as individual packets, including two or more
different packets destined for the same system. If a connection
is made (whether the destination system calls you or your system
calls it), however, all packets destined for that system will be
sent.
Unpack
Discards all selected packets from the queue. This will not
delete any mail from the NetMail folder.
Clear status
Sets normal status on all selected packets.
Clear busy retries
Sets the dial attempts for all selected packets to zero.
Exit
Returns you to the Mailer's main screen.
Select
Toggles the selected status of the currently highlighted packet.
55
8.3 Call progress
When the Mailer has mail to send, it will step through the mail
queue and call the systems with mail packets waiting. Packets
with sent, failed, and hold status are ignored. These can,
however, always be picked up by the destination system if it
calls in.
After every unsuccessful (BUSY, NO CARRIER, etc.) call, the busy
retry counter is incremented until it reaches the value defined
in FDSETUP. Once the limit has been exceeded, the Mailer puts
hold status on the packet. If a connection is made but the actual
transfer fails, the resend retry counter is updated and once the
limit, defined in FDSETUP, is reached, the packet receives failed
status.
Press
call.
8.4 Semaphore indicators
Every time the Mailer scans the NetMail folder, it looks for
unread messages destined for your system. If any are found, it
will enable the flashing "Mail" text in the bottom right hand
corner. Once the message(s) have been marked received (read), the
flashing mail text will disappear.
8.5 Undialable
When the Mailer reaches the resend (session failure, transmission
failure, etc.) retry limit for a system during an event. That
system is added to the undialable table with a "grade" of one.
When the "grade" reaches three, the system is considered
undialable and will never be called again (until you manually
"upgrade" it).
The undialable manager is accessed by pressing
Mailer's main menu and allows you to "upgrade" a system's status,
add a system manually to the undialable list, and remove one or
more undialable systems.
The undialable system information is kept in NODIAL.FD in
FrontDoor's SYSTEM directory.
9 Editor
The Editor is the program used to write and read messages. It can be
invoked from the command line in DOS by typing FM followed by
The Editor has two "status" lines. The bottom status line is used to
display the current message, number of messages in the current
folder, the lowest and highest message numbers and the number of
messages remaining to the last message (last minus current).
56
The top status line shows the currently active AKA (address), the
current time and the folder you are in.
Most functions of the Editor are reached by holding down either the
key that has no function assigned to it, it will display a message
saying "Press Alt-H for help" on the bottom status line.
Each function and menu of the Editor will now be described.
9.1 Main
Create
Allows you to create a new message in the current folder. You
will be prompted for the destination (user name and possibly a
network address), subject, etc.
Delete
Removes the currently displayed message. The Editor will ask you
to confirm that you really want to remove the message.
Reply
Similar to the Create function. The destination of the newly
created message, however, is taken from the sender of the message
you are replying to. This function also allows you to quote the
original message, in whole, or selected parts.
NetMail reply
Similar to the Reply function. If you are in a Local or
Conference folder, your message (the reply) will be placed into
the NetMail folder. The destination address of the message is
taken from either the origin line (Conference folders) or the
sender's name (Local folders).
Similar to the Reply function. It allows you to create a
follow-up message with additional comments to the same
destination as the original message.
Forward
This function allows you to redirect a message to someone else.
It will also insert some additional information at the top of the
redirected message, indicating who the message was originally
from, etc. You can choose whether or not you want to overwrite
the original message with the forwarded (redirected) message.
The Forward function will also add the default message status to
the message and remove the Rcvd and Sent status bits if they were
set.
57
Invokes the external fax viewer, allowing you to view documents
attached to a fax cover page message.
Folders
Allows you to change the active folder. You cannot change to
another folder while editing a message, but you can view the
folder list. The type of each folder is shown as 'E' for
Conference, 'L' for Local and 'M' for NetMail.
NetMail status, the type will then be displayed as 'N'. The
shareware version only has one NetMail-type folder.
To select a folder, you can use the arrow keys to move the
highlight bar and then press
of the folder followed by pressing
Folder scan
Scans all folders and indicates which folders have any message
number higher than the last read message. Typically, this means
that new messages have arrived in a folder since you last
accessed it.
DOS shell
Invokes a temporary DOS shell. Type EXIT and press
return to the Editor.
Leave editor
Returns you to DOS or to the Mailer, depending on how the Editor
was invoked. If you are editing a message, you will be asked
whether or not you wish to save it before exiting.
9.2 Edit
Status
Allows you to change the status of a message. See the separate
section about Message Status Bits for a detailed description of
this.
Subject
Allows you to change the subject of a message. If you have a
message with file attaches and press
list will be processed again and if you specified wild-cards or
more than one file on the subject line, you will have to select
the files you want to send once again.
58
Text
Allows you to edit the text (body) of a message. If you are
already in editing mode, this will bring up a secondary menu with
text editing related functions.
Destination
Allows you to change the destination of a message. This will add
the default message status bits as well as the Local bit to the
message and remove the Rcvd and Sent status bits if they were
set.
As opposed to the Forward function, using
in any text being added to the message body (forwarding info).
Toggle
Brings up the toggle menu.
9.2.1 Edit mode
Import file
Allows you to import an ASCII file into the text. The
contents of the file will be inserted at the current cursor
position.
Insert line
Inserts a blank line after the current line. The cursor will
remain in the same position.
Line to buffer
Adds the current (where cursor is positioned) line to end of
the temporary buffer and moves the cursor down one line. The
last eighty lines of deleted/marked text is always retained
in a temporary buffer and can be reinserted with
Delete word
Deletes the word to the right of the cursor.
Go to line #
Allows you to specify an absolute line number to place the
cursor on.
Delete to EOF
Deletes all text from cursor to end of message.
59
Find
Searches for the specified string, and if found, places the
cursor on the first character of the found word.
Find & Replace
Allows you to replace a string with another. Note that this
function will restore the cursor position whereas the Find
function will not.
Re-format
Reformats a block of text (from cursor to the next blank
line) and removes any hard CRs from the reformatted lines. It
will add a hard CR to the end of the reformatted block.
Allows you to draw lines and boxes using a variety of line
sets.
Undelete
Inserts the last deleted line at the current cursor position.
The last eighty lines of deleted/marked text is always
retained in a "scratch" buffer.
Save & exit
Save (or discard changes to) the current message.
9.2.2 Toggle
Translation
Toggles the state of the translation tables.
Hard CRs
Toggles whether or not hard CRs in the message text should be
displayed.
Echo info
Toggles the state of the echo info. This function is only
available in Conference folders.
9.3 Utilities
Survey
Invokes the message survey function.
60
Forces the Mailer and other Editors to rescan the NetMail folder.
Move/copy
Allows you to move or copy the current message to another folder.
Message to file
Exports the current message to an ASCII file. If the specified
file already exists, you will be asked if you want to overwrite
its contents or append the message to the end of the file.
Print message
Adds the current message to the print queue. Messages added to
the queue are printed in the order they were added. If you
attempt to leave the Editor while messages are still being
printed, it will ask you to confirm your choice to exit. If you
choose to exit, the Editor will cancel the remaining messages in
the print queue.
>>> The Editor does NOT use any external print spooler, such as
DOS' PRINT program.
Renumber
Renumbers the messages in the current folder so that there are no
gaps in the numbering. This function is not available in Hudson
Message Base-type folders.
Change username
Allows you to change the current user profile.
Change address
Allows you to change the active network AKA (address). This will
also change the address that is inserted in origin lines in
Conference folders.
Change origin
Allows you to change the active origin line. Whether or not an
origin line is appended to messages that you create is determined
by the echo info setting (Conference folders only).
Allows you to drop a marker (0-9) on the current message. You can
later return to these markers by pressing
with the digits 0 through 9.
61
9.4 Purge
The options on the Purge menu allow you to remove one or more
messages in the current folder, based on the various criteria, as
described below.
From user
Purge all messages FROM the specified user.
To user
Purge all messages TO the specified user.
From net address
Purge all messages that originated from the specified address.
To net address
Purge all messages destined for the specified address.
Received
Purge all received (read) messages.
Sent
Purge all sent messages.
Age
Purge all messages older than the specified date.
9.5 Help
Keyboard help
Displays a brief help screen about various keys (cursor keys,
etc).
Macro keys
Displays the contents of the 20 (24) macro keys available in edit
mode.
Program notice
Displays the program version, copyright and registration
information.
Show notes
Displays extended information about the currently displayed
message. The extended information is stored behind Ctrl-A (ASCII
1, SOH) characters in the message text.
62
Displays information about the originating or destination system.
9.6 Entering new messages
Press . The screen will be refreshed and you will be
prompted for the destination. If you are in the NetMail folder,
you can use the name/address look-up function to specify the
destination of the message; if you are in a Conference or Local
folder, you must type the destination manually.
Once you have specified the destination of a message, you will be
prompted for the subject (Re:). If you want to send or request
files to/from another system, select the proper status bits and
specify the file data in the subject line. Note that the default
message status (specified in FDSETUP) is always added, but can be
changed.
Enter the message text and press
the message.
9.7 Message survey
The Survey function is used to perform global operations on a
range of messages such as moving, printing, copying, deleting,
etc.
When you press
Editor will scan all the messages in the folder and build a list
of them. That list is kept in memory until you press
another folder, or when the Editor, for some reason, has to
rebuild its internal message list for the folder. If you remove,
add or renumber messages the list will be updated accordingly, so
no rescan is necessary.
9.7.1 Main menu
Kill
Removes all selected messages.
Print messages
Prints all selected messages.
Range select
Allows you to select a range of messages matching a certain
criteria.
Select all
Allows you to select all messages in the folder.
63
Move
Allows you to move all selected messages to another folder.
Copy
Allows you to copy all selected messages to another folder.
Export to file
Allows you to export all selected messages to an ASCII file.
Go to message
Returns to view mode and makes the highlighted message the
current message.
Select
Toggles the selected status of the highlighted message.
Exit
Returns you to view mode.
9.7.2 Continuous tagging
If you activate Caps Lock, messages can be tagged (selected)
by moving the bar with the arrow keys.
9.7.3 Range select
The range select function allows you to select a range of
messages matching a certain criteria. Most of the functions
only require a partial match with the selected search
criteria.
From user
Selects all messages from the specified user.
To user
Selects all messages to the specified user.
Originating address
Selects all messages originating from the specified address.
Destination address
Selects all messages destined for the specified address.
64
Text
Selects all messages containing the specified search string
in the message body.
Date
Selects all messages between two dates.
Re:
Selects all messages matching the specified subject.
Rcvd
Selects all messages with received (read) status.
Sent
Selects all messages with sent status.
Exit
Returns you to the main menu of the Survey function.
9.8 Keyboard macros
The keyboard macros are located on
will insert its contents at the current cursor position. The
following macros are supported:
Sequence Expands to Key in FM
---------------------------------------------------------------
~~ ~
~| |
| CR
~B TAB
~> Cursor one step to the right
~< Cursor one step to the left
~^ Cursor one line up
~V Cursor one line down
~G Cursor to top of message
~H Cursor to end of message
~F Reformat paragraph
~L Insert line
~Y Delete line
~} Delete from cursor to EOL
~T Delete from cursor to EOF
~S Save message and keep original
~# Save message and delete original
~U Current username
~D Recipient of original message
~O Sender of original message
~A Subject (re:) of original message
~C Date of original message
65
~J Originating address of original msg
~K Destination address of original msg
~! Invoke DOS shell
~E
~X
~I
~R