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Text File | 1992-01-30 | 62.1 KB | 1,565 lines

Areafix Revision 1.30 Originally Written by Greg Dawson (C) Copyright 1988-92 by Greg Dawson and George Peace (1:270/101). All Rights Reserved. January, 1992 Areafix v1.30 Page 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents INTRODUCTION.........................................................4 WHAT'S NEW SINCE 1.20?...............................................4 WHAT'S NEW SINCE 1.10?...............................................6 COMMAND LINE OPTIONS.................................................7 EC.................................................................7 FIND...............................................................7 ADD................................................................7 DELETE.............................................................7 DROP...............................................................8 REMOTEDELETEAREA...................................................8 NOTIFY.............................................................8 QUERY..............................................................8 <node>.............................................................9 <echo(s)>..........................................................9 -c<Areafix.Ctl>....................................................9 -a<Areas.Bbs>......................................................9 -e.................................................................9 -h<1|2>...........................................................10 -k................................................................10 -l................................................................10 -m................................................................11 -n<filename.ext>..................................................11 -r................................................................11 CONFIGURATION FILE..................................................12 Address...........................................................12 Assume............................................................12 PointNet..........................................................12 NetMail...........................................................13 ScanPath..........................................................13 AreasFile.........................................................13 SystemType........................................................13 Sysop.............................................................13 LogFile...........................................................14 LogAllChanges.....................................................14 SortNodes.........................................................14 Format............................................................14 Alias.............................................................15 FileShare.........................................................15 NewAreasProcess...................................................15 NewAreasPath......................................................16 NewAreasNoDir.....................................................16 NewAreasNoPassthru................................................16 NewAreaNumber.....................................................16 NewAreasNodes.....................................................17 NewAreasCreate....................................................17 PurgeAreas........................................................17 PurgeFile.........................................................18 Areafix v1.30 Page 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PurgeRemove.......................................................18 KeyDefault........................................................18 Password (Address Access).........................................19 ProtectDefault....................................................20 LockDefault.......................................................20 Protect (Area Access).............................................20 Echo_List.........................................................21 NoRescan..........................................................21 NoQuery...........................................................21 QuickBBSRescanList................................................21 RescanList........................................................22 RescanListAddress.................................................23 ShowFeeds.........................................................23 SaveProcessedMsgs.................................................23 KillSent..........................................................23 ForceIntl.........................................................23 AlertNode.........................................................23 No_Response_List..................................................24 NotifyHeader......................................................24 NotifyExclude.....................................................24 NotifyWithEchoList................................................24 No_Notify_List....................................................24 RemoteDeletion....................................................25 RemoteDeletionNotify..............................................25 RemoteDeletionForward.............................................25 RemoteDeletionRemove..............................................25 Forward_List......................................................26 Forward_Que.......................................................26 DOS ERRORLEVEL EXIT CODES...........................................28 CONFIGURATION MAXIMUMS..............................................28 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE................................................28 PACKAGING LIST......................................................29 BUG REPORTS.........................................................29 DISCLAIMER..........................................................29 BEGWARE.............................................................30 Areafix v1.30 Page 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTRODUCTION Areafix is a maintenance utility for EchoMail distribution lists (Areas.Bbs). It accepts input from command line or NetMail. This document covers installation parameters and command line operation. The file Areafix.Use covers NetMail access. Please look over the documentation carefully. Though most of the commands have not changed, you might rediscover some old tricks that have faded from memory with time. If you are upgrading from v1.10 to this version you will need to add your zone number to the "address" definition in Areafix.Ctl. All other Areafix.Ctl directives can remain as they were with v1.10. No changes are required to plug in this version if you are upgrading from v1.20 though you might receive a benign Areafix.Ctl warning message. WHAT'S NEW SINCE 1.20? * AreaFix.Ctl accepts as many Password and Protect lines as available memory will permit. * Remote area deletion requests can be forwarded to your up-/down- links. * A default security profile can be assigned to areas with no Protect entry in Areafix.Ctl. * Lock/key security is available to supplement Password and Protect security levels. * Privilege masks are available to tailor Password entries. * Dead-end passthru EchoMail areas can be purged from Areas.Bbs automatically. * Purge and remote deletion operations can be configured to remove affected message subdirectories. * Find and Query output (manual or remote) includes queued forward request information. * 4-D addressing (zone:net/node.point) is supported throughout Areafix.Ctl and Areas.Bbs. * Notify messages can be generated for individual addresses. * Remote requests that fail security checks are always saved. * INTL kludge lines can be forced on all Areafix output messages. Areafix v1.30 Page 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Areafix can assume alternate Zone: or Zone:Net identities for multi-address environments. * Areafix no longer reads the entire message body until processing is actually required. * ShortForm and LongForm directives for Areas.Bbs format control have been replaced by the Format directive. Format accepts one of three choices: Short, Long, or Zone. Absence of a Format directive implies "normal" Areas.Bbs format with zone information provided where necessary and net number provided on all entries. Format Short all entries are abbreviated to their shortest form Format Long all entries are expanded to include full notation Format Zone the first entry for each area always includes zone * Netmail replies to areafix requests can be shortened to omit the list of active areas. Areafix v1.30 Page 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHAT'S NEW SINCE 1.10? * AreaFix is now "zone aware" using INTL or MSGID addressing extensions. All addresses in AreaFix.Ctl and on the command line now accept a zone number. Except for the "address" definition in Areafix.Ctl zones are optional. * AreaFix recognizes add/delete requests from "your" points using MSGID or FMPT addressing extensions. AreaFix translates the point format to/from pointnet/point. * Configuration maximums have been expanded to more closely reflect current processing needs. * Command line switch -R is available to force a rescan when doing a manual add. * Forward requests are now limited to one per day for each area/address combination to help limit uplink netmail area flooding. * Actual area names are now used for request processing in addition to the original CRC16 method. This eliminates 'dupe CRC' problems while retaining most of the speed advantage of CRC checking. * NetMail responses with =many= add/delete requests no longer overrun the 16k message buffer. Large responses are split into multiple messages. * A delete request for a non-existent echo no longer generates an auto-request to your feed. * A NetMail query (-Q) is no longer honored if the password is incorrect. * A netmail add request for a protected area returns an already active response if the area is already active. The previous version returned a misleading protected area rejection response. * Forward list processing now recognizes the specified list format if different from areas.bbs format. Areafix v1.30 Page 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COMMAND LINE OPTIONS Areafix [<[EC] [FIND] [ADD] [DELETE] [NOTIFY] [QUERY] [DROP] [REMOTEAREADELETE]>] [<node>] [<echo(s)>] [-c<Areafix.Ctl>] [-a<Areas.Bbs>] [-e] [-h<1|2>] [-k] [-l] [-m] [-n<notify.Txt>] [-r] EC Automatic Echo Change. This tells Areafix to process any net/node changes and/or new echomail areas. This is what you would call normal Areafix operation. Example: Areafix EC FIND Command line mode. Find the echos a specific node is listed for. Example: Areafix FIND 106/111 ADD Command line mode. This instructs Areafix to add a specific node to one or more echos. Example: Areafix ADD 1:106/111 Tech C_Echo Comm Areafix ADD 106/111 all DELETE Command line mode. This instructs Areafix to delete a specific node from one or more echos. Example: Areafix DELETE 106/111 Tech C_Echo Comm Areafix DELETE 1:106/111 all Areafix v1.30 Page 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DROP Command line mode. Areafix will perform a single level deletion of all links for the requested areas. Links with Areafix.Ctl Password entries will receive delete requests addressed to Areafix (-areaname). Links without Password entries will receive text requests. The Areafix.Ctl PurgeRemove directive controls deletion of messages and directories orphaned by this operation. Areafix DROP Sysop Flame REMOTEDELETEAREA Command line mode. Areafix will remove specified areas as if remote area delete requests (AutoDelete or ~areaname) had arrived. Actions are determined by the RemoteDeletion series of Areafix.Ctl directives. Be careful with this one! Example: Areafix REMOTEDELETEAREA Sysop Flame NOTIFY Notify will send a list of connected areas to all your the uplinks and downlinks. Areafix.Ctl directive NotifyHeader defines a file to import into each notification message sent. NotifyWithList will file-attach the Echo_List filename to all notify messages. Example: Areafix NOTIFY If you'd like to exclude certain nodes, see the control file command 'NotifyExclude'. If you want to generate notification messages for only certain addresses list those addresses on the command line: Areafix NOTIFY 270/1 101 211 273/715 6:62/2 QUERY This is functionally the same as the subject line switch '-q'. It will return a list of echos that are available to a given node. Areafix v1.30 Page 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ <node> The Zone:Net/Node.Point for command line mode. If you leave out the zone or zone and network number, the program will default to your own zone or zone and net. Point defaults to 0. Example: Areafix FIND 1:106/111 Areafix FIND 106/111 Areafix FIND 111 Areafix FIND 270/101.8 <echo(s)> The list of echos for ADD and DELETE modes. "All" is a wildcard areaname that performs the operation on all areanames. -c<Areafix.Ctl> By default, Areafix will look for the configuration file by the name 'Areafix.Ctl' in the default directory. If you'd like to use a different name or path, here's the place. Example: Areafix EC -cC:\Config\Areafix.Ctl Note: This will override the environment variable. For information on that, see the section entitled "Environment variable". -a<Areas.Bbs> Areafix will use the EchoMail control file as specified in the configuration file 'Areafix.Ctl'. This option can be used to override that. Example: Areafix EC -aC:\Config\Areas.Bbs -e This switch will reverse the effect of specifying or not specifying the "NewAreasProcess" option in the Areafix configuration file. In other words, if you specify "NewAreasProcess" =and= the -e switch, no new areas will be processed. On the other hand, if you don't specify "NewAreasProcess" and =do= specify the -e switch, the new areas will be processed. Example: Areafix v1.30 Page 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ % < NewAreasProcess < Under this configuration, new % < areas WILL NOT be processed. < Areafix EC -e < % < % NewAreasProcess < Under this configuration, the new % < areas WILL be processed. < Areafix EC -e < -h<1|2> A previous version of Areafix would delete 1.msg from each area if the user specified a '-r' for "rescan" on the message subject line. If you're running with two high water marks, this can become a problem. By default, Areafix will reset high water mark #1 to do a rescan. Use this option if you'd like to specify high water mark #2 instead. Example: Areafix EC -h2 -k This tells Areafix to always flag any messages created as kill after sending. Example: Areafix QUERY 1:106/111 -m -k -l Temporarily reverses the action of the Areafix.Ctl directives No_Response_List and No_Notify_List. For example, if you normally operate with notify generating the list of active areas (No_Notify_List commented out) this switch can be used together with the -n switch to generate a special text-only mailing to all active echomail connections: Areafix NOTIFY -l -nC:\MYFILES\I_QUIT.TXT Areafix v1.30 Page 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -m This switch will cause Areafix to create a message to the listed node when doing a FIND, ADD, DELETE, or QUERY. The letter 'k' can be added to this switch (as in -mk) to flag any messages creates as kill after sending. This has the same effect as -m -k. Example: Areafix FIND 106/111 -m This will create a message to 106/111 informing him of which areas he's active for. This switch will do nothing when used in conjunction with the EC and NOTIFY functions. -n<filename.ext> Overrides the Areafix.Ctl NotifyHeader parameter. This switch is used as a temporary override of the standard Areafix notify header text. If the file named on the parameter is found its entire contents will be transferred to the body of all Notify messages. The file must be standard ANSI text suitable for NetMail exchange. See -l for an example. -r This switch forces a rescan of all areas added via a command line manual add request. The areafix.ctl norescan parameter is ignored. Areafix v1.30 Page 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONFIGURATION FILE Address (Limit 1) Aka Defines your primary zone:net/node number and optionally up to 255 additional addresses. All three primary address components (zone, net, node) =must= be provided. Point number is not required unless non- zero: Address <Zone:Net/Node.Point> Aka <Zone:Net/Node.Point> The first Address or Aka defined is the default or primary address Areafix will use thruout its processing. Additional addresses are interpreted as "aka" addresses. All addresses should be defined via the Address parameter. Aka is maintained only for compatibility with previous Areafix versions. The zone from the first directive will be used as the default zone for all following control file processing and request processing. Assume Zone (Limit: 1) Assume Net This activates either ZONE or ZONE:NET address assumption. This feature tries to be smart about multi-zone operations. When either type of address assumption is active areafix uses the netmail "to" address only until the request is validated against your configured addresses. At that point your system identity is changed to match the caller's. If ZONE assumption is active Areafix locates the first address/aka defined for a matching ZONE and assumes that Zone:Net/Node as its primary address. NET assumption locates the first entry with a matching ZONE:NET. From this point on all mail Areafix generates will ASSUME the full ZONE:NET/NODE identity of the matching address/aka. If no matching address is located Areafix uses the first Address/Aka configured. Example: Assume Net PointNet (Limit: 1) This parameter is provided for compatibility with Areafix version 1.20 control files and mail handlers that do not use 4-D addressing in Areas.Bbs handling. Areafix v1.30 Page 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Defines your private net number for limited point support. NetMail requests arriving from one of your points (FMPT # or MSGID z:n/n.point) will be changed to pointnet/point for processing. Example: PointNet 30500 If your address is defined as 1:270/101 and your pointnet as 30500, a request from 1:270/101.13 will be 'remapped' to address 1:30500/13 for request processing. NetMail <path> (Limit: 1) The full path to your where your net messages are kept. This is where Areafix searches for incoming requests and places its responses: C:\Msg\NetMail ScanPath <path> (Limit: 6) You can specify up to 3 additional paths to scan from. One example might be your bad message directory (for creation of new areas): C:\Msg\Bad_Msgs AreasFile <file> (Limit: 10 files totaling 2048 areas) This is the name of your EchoMail control file(s). It's important to know that Areafix searches them sequentially when looking for a matching area. It will only add and delete nodes from the first match. New areas will always be added to the last control file listed. SystemType <type> (Limit: 1) Defines the format for all defined AreasFile lists. This controls how Areafix interprets directory and passthru information as well as creation of new areas. Valid system types are ConfMail, QM, Opus, PM, QuickBBS, and Squish. It is important to specify the proper control file type. If you don't, you run the risk of scrambling the format of the file. Be sure it's set properly. Example: SystemType QM Sysop <your name> (Limit: 1) This is your name. It'll default to "SysOp" if not present. All response and notification messages generated by AreaFix will be addressed "from" this name. The string can be up to 35 characters. Areafix v1.30 Page 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LogFile <file> (Limit: 1) If you specify a file here, Areafix will keep a log of what it has done. If you comment this out, there will be no log file. LogAllChanges This instructs Areafix to log any activities done in manual mode as well as auto mode. The default is only do logging in auto mode. SortNodes When Areafix creates or changes an area, all but the first node listed (the feed) will be sorted if this option is enabled. Format Short By default, Areafix will use the net/node form of nodes when updating an area entry. The form is as such: 106/111 106/112 106/113 106/113.2 106/113.4 22/4 22/5 Optionally, you can tell Areafix to use the short from: 106/111 112 113 .2 .4 22/4 5 Keep in mind, though, that some programs might not support the short form and thus might not work properly with this setting. Format Short and Format Zone can be combined. It should be noted that areafix can always READ the short form. This option just tells the program whether or not to WRITE it that way. One quick way to convert your control to and from the short form is the following... To make all nodes the 'short' form (net/node 999/999 can be any node you don't list): % Format Short % Areafix ADD 999/999 all Areafix DEL 999/999 all And, to convert it back to the normal form: % % Format Short % Areafix v1.30 Page 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Areafix ADD 999/999 all Areafix DEL 999/999 all Format Long This command directs areafix to use the full zone:net/node format when updating an area entry. The format is: 1:106/111 1:106/112 1:106/113 1:106/113.2 1:106/113.4 This format wastes space in your EchoMail control files and may not be fully compatible with some toss/scan/edit programs. Format Zone This command directs areafix to always use the full zone:net/node format on the first entry for each area when updating an area entry. The format is: 1:106/111 106/112 106/113 106/113.2 106/113.4 This format wastes space in your EchoMail control files and may not be fully compatible with some toss/scan/edit programs. Format Short and Format Zone can be combined. Alias <name> (Limit: 10) When looking for messages to process, Areafix will always look for the message subject line addressed to "Areafix". You can specify additional names here. Example: Alias Autoecho Alias Areamanager FileShare Activates support for MS-DOS (v3 and above) and OS/2 file sharing on all control and message files except Areafix.Ctl. All opens will use the Deny None attribute. Example: FileShare NewAreasProcess This command tells Areafix to automatically create new areas, subdirectories (see NewAreasNoDir), and control file entries upon encountering unknown areas. Under QuickBBS, the subdirectory is not created. Areafix v1.30 Page 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For more information, see the '-e' command line switch and the config file option "QuickBBSRescanList". NewAreasPath <path> (Limit: 1) This is the subdirectory off which the new areas are created. Areafix will add a backslash if you do not provide one. Both of the following are the same as far as Areafix is concerned: NewAreasPath C:\Msg NewAreasPath C:\Msg\ Areafix will try to create area TEST as C:\Msg\TEST. If the subdirectory cannot be created Areafix will try creating the subdirectory by removing the last character as in C:\Msg\TES and then C:\Msg\TE and finally C:\Msg\T. Areafix will report failure only when it has run through all the (shortened) possibilities. NewAreasNoDir If enabled (not commented out) this will turn off efforts to create subdirectories for new areas. NewAreasNoDir is assumed for SystemType QuickBBS and Squish operations. Note that when directories are not created Areafix treats the directory name as a comment field and does not assure that all directory names placed in Areas.Bbs are unique. NewAreasNoPassthru If enabled (not commented out) this tells Areafix to create new areas as non-passthru local areas by omitting the passthru indicator character (#). This affects all SystemTypes except ConfMail and QuickBBS. ConfMail defaults to non-passthru and QuickBBS format uses NewAreaNumber to control passthru area creation. NewAreaNumber <tag> (Limit: 1) If you have "NewAreasProcess" enabled, and an Opus or QuickBBS style control file, then you can tell areafix which area number (or tag) it should use for the new areas. Keep in mind that under Opus, Areafix will, by default, mark the area pass-through with the '#' sign between the area name and node numbers. If you don't specify a <tag>, then it defaults to "99" under Opus, and "P" under QuickBBS. Here's an example of a newly created area: Opus: <tag> <Subdirectory> <Area name> # <nodes> Areafix v1.30 Page 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ QuickBBS: <tag> <Area name> <nodes> NewAreasNodes <nodes> (Limit: 255 on only 1 line) These are the nodes to add when a new area is created. Areafix will add the originating node as the first address if it is not one of your configured addresses: NewAreasNodes 1:106/111 1:270/211 NewAreasCreate <nodes> (Limit: 255 on only 1 line) Normally, when everything is set correctly, Areafix will create a new area no matter where the message originated from. Here you can instruct Areafix to only create the new area if the message originated from one of '<nodes>'. Looky here... NewAreasCreate 106/386 889 In the above example, Areafix will only create the new area if the message came from either 106/386 or 106/889. If no NewAreasCreate addresses were defined any address could create a new area. PurgeAreas Enables automatic EchoMail area Purge operations. A Purge occurs when an incoming area delete request leaves only one connection to a passthru area. The Purge operation sends a delete request to the remaining feed address, deletes the area from Areas.Bbs, and records the purge data. The data is stored in the filename identified by the PurgeFile directive. This stored information is used to determine action if additional traffic arrives in a purged area. Unsolicited traffic arriving from a purged address will be recognized and deleted. Add / Delete requests from any address as well as new traffic from a non-purged address will clear purged status for an area and allow normal operations [request forward and new area create] to resume. A global Purge operation can be forced by adding a nonexistent address to all areas (AreaFix Add 9999/9999 All) and immediately removing that address (AreaFix Del 9999/9999 All). This effectively "touches" all areas defined in all defined area definition files. Areafix v1.30 Page 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PurgeFile <filename> (Limit: 1) Identifies the location and name (as a full filespec) of the Purge data file. Information pertaining to automatic passthru area purge operations is stored in this file. Information includes the area tag, purge date, and last feed address. This information is used to intercept additional traffic arriving from the purged feed address and to recognize any valid new "feeds" for affected echos.. The default filespec is AreaFix.Del. You can make manual entries in the file. The format of entries in the file is: P <purged (feed) node> <area name> <purge date as mm/dd/yyyy> Example: Purge_File O:\Areafix\Areafix.Del PurgeRemove Triggers removal of message subdirectories for all purged message areas. All files are deleted from the subdirectory and the subdirectory itself is removed. File protection and subdirectories within a message subdirectory will prevent the operation from being completed. The Areafix program will not abort if this operation fails. Example: PurgeRemove KeyDefault Defines the default password Key string. This key string is assigned to all addresses (Password entries) without key values or with the "." default substitution key value. This value can be used to reduce Areafix.Ctl maintenance requirements. If no KeyDefault string is found AreaFix will default to "KeyDefault ?*" to allow request forwarding and idle passthru area purge. The KeyDefault can contain any combination of: + List privilege settings in response messages to this address ~ Allow remote deletion requests from this address @ Allow remote deletion request forwarding to this address ? Allow requests from this address to be forwarded to uplinks * Allow dead-end areas to be purged if this address is the feed & Allow new areas to be created by this address # Add this address to new areas created. Areafix v1.30 Page 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ $ Always include the active area list with reply/notify messages. This should be set to allow overrides of the global No_Response_List and No_Notify_List parameters. NOTE: Area request forwarding WILL NOT WORK unless the node making the request is configured to forward either via the KeyDefault ? or the Password key ? setting. Example: KeyDefault PAY@? Password <net/node> <password> <accesslevel> [key [sysop]] (Limit: none) In order for a node to have access to Areafix, it must have a password set here. The password is then entered on the message subject line of the change request message. The access level may be from 0 to 32767, with 32767 being the highest, most privileged level. The length of passwords should be limited to 8 characters, and is NOT case sensitive. An optional security "key" can be defined for a node. Once access level is validated the key will be used in conjunction with an area LOCK to further qualify access for an EchoMail area. The key string can include any or all of A-Z and 0-5. In addition to the 32 optional key characters, the following privilege option mask characters can be added to the field: . KeyDefault key and privilege values will be assigned to this address. Other key values can be used with this flag. - No key or privilege values are assigned to this address. + List privilege settings in response messages to this address ~ Allow remote deletion requests from this address @ Allow remote deletion request forwarding to this address ? Allow requests from this address to be forwarded to uplinks * Allow dead-end areas to be purged if this address is the feed & Allow new areas to be created by this address # Add this address to new areas created. $ Always include the active area list with reply/notify messages. This should be set to allow individual overrides of the global No_Response_List and No_Notify_List parameters. Areafix v1.30 Page 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An optional sysop name can follow the key/privilege field. Sysop name is a positional parameter -- it must be the fifth field on the Password line. As such the key/privilege field must be specified if sysop name is specified. The Sysop name can be any number of words up to 35 characters. Underlines will be converted to blanks. The '.' and '-' privilege option masks can be used in cases where no explicit list is wanted or needed. Example: Password 106/111 Teddy 100 ABCDEF4@* Password 270/211 Friend 101 ~@*? Gary Rux Password 13/13 Bug 24 . No Name Node 106/111 can add any EchoMail area with a security level of 100 or below and with a Lock string consisting of ABCDEF4 or ABC or ADF or 4. Access to an area with a lock string of ABCDEFG4 would be denied because the node does not have 'G' in the key string. Option mask values @ and * are also active to indicate RemoteDeletionForward is enabled and Purge is disabled for the node. ProtectDefault Defines the default protect security level. This security level is assigned to all EchoMail areas not named on Protect lines. This might be useful in a situation where most areas are a single level. In that case ProtectDefault can be used for global security level assignment and Protect can be used for exceptions. Example: ProtectDefault 10 LockDefault Defines the default protect Lock string. This lock string is assigned to all EchoMail areas not named on Protect lines as well as all EchoMail areas with no lock/privilege values assigned. It can be used in the same way as ProtectDefault and KeyDefault to reduce Areafix.Ctl maintenance requirements. Example: LockDefault PAY* Protect <area> <minimum access level> [lock] (Limit: none) The minimum access level can be from 0 to 32767. A user must have at least that access level or higher (listed with the 'password' command) to add the area. He can always delete himself from the area, no matter what the access level is. Areafix v1.30 Page 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An optional security "lock" can be defined for an area. Once access level is validated access to an area with a Lock string defined will be limited to nodes with a matching Key. An area with a lock string of ABC can be accessed by keys ABC, ABC123, and ABCDEF4. Nodes with key strings AC and AB will not be able to access the area. Example: Protect qm_echo 10 Protect qm_beta 0 GREG If LockDefault is set to PAY* the first Protect line will be treated internally as if entered as: Protect qm_echo 10 PAY* Echo_List <path> (Limit: 1) When the user specifies a '-l' subject line switch, Areafix will send back the first matching file (if one is specified) listed here. You may use wildcards, the program will only send the first match, though. NoRescan This switch will cause Areafix to ignore the message subject line switch '-r'. NoQuery This switch will cause Areafix to ignore the message subject line switch '-q'. QuickBBSRescanList <file> (Limit: 1) Areafix can do =kludge= rescans with QuickBBS when operated in conjunction with Fastfwd.Exe (available from a number of BBSs). With this option enabled, Areafix will create a batch file named as '<file>'. The format being... FASTFWD A 1 <area number> <area name> <net/node> Each area the user wants to rescan will have an entry here. It is your responsibility to delete the file after running it, otherwise it will be appended to by Areafix. If you need further information, please read the docs that are included in Fastfwd or an equivalent program. RescanList <filename command...> (Limit: 1) Areafix v1.30 Page 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Directs Areafix to generate lines in a text file for each request for an area rescan. The first parameter following RescanList is the filename that will receive the rescan text lines. Anything else on the line will be copied to each rescan text line as the command string and will be followed by 5 fields. The filename is the required name of the file that will receive rescan list entries. Command is optional and defines the command that will precede area / address information in rescan list entries. If the command parameter is not used the word "Rescan" is inserted. Five 'arguments' will be written to rescan list entries: The format of lines in the file are ... <command...> area zone net node point The parameters are presented separately for flexibility. Programs can use the individual address components individually or combine them into one or more strings if needed. The 5 arguments are always present and will always be separated by spaces. This allows BATch file parameter substitution with little difficulty. For example, considering the command line: Areafix Add 2:243/47 INTERUSER FN_SYSOP -R If Areafix.Ctl shows: RescanList C:\Files\Rescan.Bat ReScanMe lines will be written to C:\Files\Rescan.Bat as: ReScanMe INTERUSER 2 243 47 0 ReScanMe FN_SYSOP 2 243 47 0 Or if Areafix.Ctl shows: RescanList C:\Files\Rescan.Bat Command /C DoIt lines will be written to C:\Files\Rescan.Bat as: Command /C DoIt INTERUSER 2 243 47 0 Command /C DoIt FN_SYSOP 2 243 47 0 In this second example if DoIt is a BATch file it might look like: MyProg ReScan %1 %2:%3/%4 The resulting lines will resolve to: MyProg ReScan INTERUSER 2:243/47 MyProg ReScan FN_SYSOP 2:243/47 Areafix v1.30 Page 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RescanListAddress (Limit: 1) Controls the format of the address field in RescanList output. The parameter accepts one argument -- either List or String. List is the default. List format presents the address components as space separated fields as in the example above. String format presents the address in the familiar zone:net/node.point format. The point is omitted if zero. ShowFeeds At the end of a return message, Areafix will list which echos the receiving node is currently setup for. If you specify this option and the receiving node is the FIRST node listed for the in the area, Areafix will put a '*' (asterisk) beside the area (on the return message), indicating he's the feed. SaveProcessedMsgs By default, Areafix will delete the inbound messages after they have been processed. If you'd rather save them, specify this option and the program will mark them with the "Received" flag instead. The program will skip any messages marked with that flag. KillSent To mark return messages as Kill after Sending, use this option. See the command line "-k" option to override this. ForceIntl Forces all messages generated by AreaFix to include an ^AINTL line. The line is ordinarily generated only when the destination zone differs from the home zone. This switch forces the INTL line regardless of origin or destination zone. ForecIntl is forced active whenever using an aka address to process requests. This is done to assure that return messages are addressed to the proper zone. AlertNode <net/node> (Limit: 1) This option allows you to forward a copy of return messages to a specific address ( zone:net/node.point ). The copy will be bypassed of the return message is already going to the alert address. Areafix v1.30 Page 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No_Response_List Indicates (when uncommented) that return messages should not include a list of active areas. The default is to include the list. This parameter can save a considerable amount of processing and disk resources on an active system. Examples: include list of active areas: % No_Response_List omit list of active areas: No_Response_List The command line -l switch provides a temporary reversal of this parameter. NotifyHeader <file> (Limit: 1) The default header message for the NOTIFY function is... "Please check the following list against your EchoMail control file." If you'd like to use something different, then specify the file in which your message is located. Although not absolutely necessary, try to keep the size of this file under 4k. The -n command line switch is a temporary override of this parameter. NotifyExclude <nodes> (Limit: 64) If you'd like to exclude certain nodes from the NOTIFY function, specify them here. NotifyWithEchoList This instructs Areafix to enclose what's listed under 'EchoList' with each NOTIFY message. No_Notify_List Indicates (when uncommented) that Notify messages should not include a list of active areas. The default is to include the list. This parameter can save a considerable amount of processing and disk resources on an active system. Examples: include list of active areas: % No_Notify_List omit list of active areas: No_Notify_List The command line -l switch provides a temporary reversal of this parameter. Areafix v1.30 Page 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RemoteDeletion <node> <to> <password (subj)> (Limit: 10) This option should be used with extreme care. It gives certain individuals the power to delete any given area from your control file. The program will not, however, remove any files from the messages' subdirectory. Use this option if you'd like someone (probably your net EC) to be able to manage your control file remotely. It can come in handy for deleting non-distributed areas without sysop intervention. In order for it to work, the message must addressed to the name listed in the message '<to>' field, with the proper password (subject line) entry. The format for the body of the message is simply the area name(s) to be deleted, the same way Areafix works. RemoteDeletionNotify When an area is discontinued, all listed nodes (that are not configured to forward) will be sent a termination notice with this command enabled. RemoteDeletionForward This is both very POWERFUL and very DANGEROUS. It can be a useful tool but must be used carefully and conservatively. When an area is discontinued via a RemoteDeletion request AreaFix will send automated RemoteDeletion requests to all affected addresses rather than notifying them as with RemoteDeletionNotify. If an affected address is listed on a Protect configuration directive and the @ privilege flag value is set for that address the RemoteDeletionNotify message is replaced by a message addressed to AutoDelete using the password listed on the Protect line. If no Protect line exists for an address the standard RemoteDeletionNotify message is generated. The end result is that each system in the distribution chain can configure whether to accept AutoDelete traffic, from whom, and whether and to whom to forward the messages farther along the distribution chain. RemoteDeletionRemove Triggers removal of message subdirectories for all remotely deleted message areas. All files are deleted from the subdirectory and the subdirectory itself is removed. File protection and subdirectories within a message subdirectory will prevent the operation from being completed. Areafix v1.30 Page 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Example: RemoteDeletionRemove Forward_List <list file> <format> <node> <password> [from] (Limit: 10) In the past, it was necessary for the sysop to manually request areas from his uplink when one of his downlinks wanted something not carried. This feature solves that problem. You can specify up to 10 files that contain a list of what's available from your uplink(s). The files will be searched in sequential order for the first area name match. Then, Areafix will send an Areafix add message to the listed node requesting the area and add an entry to the Forward_Que file (see below). When the area arrives, Areafix will create the new area, add the original requesting node(s), inform them that the area has been activated. Valid system types are ConfMail, Opus, PM, QM, QuickBBS, Squish, and Text. Text format is one area name per line. The area name must be the first field (word) on the line. Additional information can follow the area name but will be ignored: COMM PC Communications TECH PC Technical ^Z The optional FROM field lets you define a network address (as Zone:Net/Node) that Areafix will use in requests it forwards to uplinks. Forward_Que <file> (Limit: 1) This is the file that holds the request forwarding queue. The file is scanned every time you do an "Areafix EC" function. If one or more of the areas listed here are found in the EchoMail control file, the corresponding net/node will be added and notified. Keep in mind, though, that Areafix treats the new addition the same way it would treat an inbound change request (in a message). Thus if the node no longer has a password, or the area is protected higher than his access level, the change request will fail. Both the sysop (via the log file) and the end user (via a message) will be informed. You may make manual additions to this file if you wish. The format is: <requesting (downlink) node> <uplink (feed) node> <area name> <date> Areafix v1.30 Page 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A typical entry might go as follows: 1:104/1 1:13/13 CHATTER 10/1/1991 Areafix v1.30 Page 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DOS ERRORLEVEL EXIT CODES Areafix will terminate with one of the following DOS errorlevels set: 0 No messages were processed, or there were no changes made. 1 Areafix messages were processed and/or NetMail was generated. 2 New areas were created (and possibly Areafix messages were processed). 3 Error during processing. CONFIGURATION MAXIMUMS These are the maximum values configured into Areafix. If a value is not listed the maximum value is determined by available memory and the combination of options and features selected. Max areas in all files.............2048 Max line length in areas.bbs.......4096 Max forward que file slots.........none Max purge log file slots...........none Max nodes in all areas.............1024 Max nodes per area.................1024 Max password defines...............none Max protect defines................none Max new areas per execution........128 Max inbound messages per run.......50 Max aka addresses..................255 Max alias names....................10 Max area control files.............10 Max forward_list entries...........10 Max forward list areas.............none Max purge list entries.............none Max remote delete requests.........10 Max request scan paths.............6 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE If you intend to run Areafix from a path other than where the configuration file is located and would rather not use the '-c' command line option, you can use the environment variable "AREAFIX=<pathname>" to locate the file. Example: C:\> Set AREAFIX=C:\Config\Areafix.Ctl Areafix v1.30 Page 29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PACKAGING LIST Read.Me..................Information file. Areafix.Ctl..............Sample configuration file. Areafix.Exe..............The executable. Areafix.Doc..............Documentation. Areafix.Use..............User Guide (for you and your downlinks) originally by Jeffrey Nonken (1:273/715) BUG REPORTS If you experience a problem with Areafix, please send as much information as possible about it to George Peace at 1:270/101. Your report will be worked on as available time permits. Include (if possible) at least the following in a uniquely named archive: * Your Areafix control file (Areafix.Ctl). * Your EchoMail control files (Areas.Bbs). * The command line you used to invoke Areafix. * The messages (if any) Areafix had problems with. * Both your Config.Sys and Autoexec.Bat files. * A full description of what happened and how to recreate the trouble. DISCLAIMER This program is guaranteed to do absolutely nothing. Use it at your own risk. No warranty is stated or implied. The authors shall not be responsible for any damages resulting from its use, directly or indirectly. This program is copyrighted and is the sole property of the authors. It may not be distributed in modified form or without documentation. Areafix v1.30 Page 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No fee other than the cost of duplication/postage may be charged for distribution of this program. You may use the software only after agreeing upon the above terms. BEGWARE As always, the Areafix program may be used without registration, crippled code, or demands for payment to the author. It's been my pleasure to participate in the Areafix project for all of us. If you enjoy using Areafix and the World's economy has been kind to you I hope you will consider forwarding $10(USD) to George Peace at P.O. Box 6501, Harrisburg, Pa 17112, USA. It would mean alot to me. Thanks for using Areafix!