Message Thing is a utility for those who run point systems with Copernicus or COUNTERPoint across a network or on the same machine as the BBS through MultiFinder — it simulates a call to the host board without going through the modem. As far as I know, it is identical in function to SuperSimulator by Mike Lininger (or whoever wrote it — I haven’t seen any authorship credit) and Sim by Bas Schulte. I wrote it for myself because I wanted to be sure that it operated the way I thought it should. Message Thing has been tested with both System 6.0.x and System 7.0. It runs fine everywhere.
Message Thing is free. I apologize for the name and the icon. When I wrote it I had a cold, as someone once said.
In operation, Message Thing gets packets destined for the Host board from the point’s Generic folder (or Gateway, or whatever name your software calls it) and moves them to the Generic folder for the BBS. Then it moves packets destined for the point back to the point’s “received mail” folder. While doing so, it updates appropriate lists and logs so that ArcMail Extract knows what to do at each end.
I’ve built in considerable safety checking (which is why I wrote this) — it should never incorrectly delete or overwrite a packet of mail. If you are working over TOPS and forget to mount the BBS volume, no problem. Message Thing does what it can, then turns matters over to the next event in the Tabby chain. If you are getting messages as part of a PointGroup, no problem — Message Thing knows which packets to delete and which to preserve so that other points won’t lose mail. If you run Message Thing twice or more between importing sessions on the BBS end, no problem — Message Thing creates new packet names to avoid overwriting waiting packets.
Message Thing is designed to run in a Tabby-style event on your point. Install it in your point event chain just after ArcMail Compress (this is in the Edit->Edit System Data->System Information menu in COUNTERPoint). It replaces the Call module.
Configuration
To configure Messsage Thing, launch it while holding down the mouse button and set the following (the “Find” buttons let you select all paths — go *inside* the folder location you want):
Next Launch Name of your Point app — Copernicus or COUNTERPoint
MultiFinder Check this if you are running MultiFinder
Point # Your private network node number — 5050/1 in my case
Host # Your BBS node number — 102/863 in my case
Pt. Mail Folder :Gateway for Copernicus *and* COUNTERPoint, I think
BBS Path: Disk:Path: where the BBS application is installed Glass: in my case
Pt. Mail List Meg IV:CP:Common Folder:Extract Mail in my case
Delay Inserts a small delay before Message Thing renames a file
Pt. Mail List is the location where your point keeps a list of packets which need to be processed by ArcMail Extract. In the case of COUNTERPoint and Copernicus the partial the path is always
:Common Folder:Extract Mail
but the start of the path will vary with your setup. The “Find” button will let you select a folder location. Message Thing automatically adds the name “Extract Mail” to the path you select — change this name if your point software has other requirements.
Delay is the number of seconds Message Thing waits after deleting an old file name before renaming a new file to that name. I found this necessary because the “delete” and “rename” calls stacked up for processing on my networked machine with the result that Message Thing was not properly creating backups. If it’s not creating backups for you, increase the amount of delay. Default setting is 1. This delay does not cause a significant slowdown when Message Thing runs since it affects only four file operations.
In Case of Trouble
Message Thing makes backups of two key files: sendfilesxxx/yyy.bbs and the main message packet, at each end. Each is copied with a .bak extension. If messages disappear between the BBS and your point setup and the packets are no longer available, you can restore everything by renaming these backups. First rename sendfilesxxx/yyy.bak to sendfilesxxx/yyy.bbs (where xxx/yyy is your node number), then look at its contents with a text editor. Any packets with names ending in “MO1” were saved with ‘.bak’ replacing “MO1” in their names. Fix these extensions and run Message Thing again.
Notes
Message Thing keeps track of MultiFinder in its defaults dialog in lieu of grabbing the information from Tabby Setup or another file. Please make sure to keep this setting in sync with your system setup. If you are running System 7 or later, check the MultiFinder box.
Message Thing presumes you are running ArcMail Compress.
Do *not* run Message Thing while the BBS is running TabbyNet — the two applications will fight each other over access to key files with unpredictable and possibly disastrous consequences. Message Thing is pretty quick, so you can probably run it without getting unexpectedly interrupted by a CrashMail event if the BBS is idling when you start (and certainly if a user is on the BBS — Message Thing is immune to BBS user activity).
Message Thing copies only the data fork of files. This should make no difference on message files using currently available compression techniques. If a future compressor uses the resource fork, I’ll update Message Thing.
If you run Message Thing two or more times before importing messages on the BBS end, no problem. Message Thing will create message bundles with sequentially different name so that it doesn’t overwrite waiting bundles.
Version Info
Version 1.0 was the first general release on 6/1/91.
Version 1.0.1 fixed a minor problem creating backup copies of imported packets. It was released 6/8/91.
