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Text File | 1993-07-23 | 33.5 KB | 977 lines

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─┐ ┌─┐┌───┬─┐┌─────┐ │ ┌─┐ ││ ───┤│ ───┤│ │ │ ││ │ ││ ───┤ │ └─┘ ││ ┌───┘│ ┌───┘│ └───┐│ ││ │ ││ ───┤ └─────┘└─┘ └─┘ └─────┘└─┘└─┴───┘└─────┘ QWK Mail Manager Copyright (c) 1993 Harvey Parisien FidoNet 1:249/114 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ U S E R S G U I D E OFFLINE a QWK mail manager With OFFLINE you can read and reply to your favorite BBS mail at your own leisure. OFFLINE saves you from the pressures of on- line time limits, and if you are not local to your HOST / BBS System, you save long distance calls. With OFFLINE you can manage larger volumes of mail with relative ease. OFFLINE is fully compatible with any QWK generating utilities and provides unique NETMAIL abilities when used with MAXIMUS v2.00 systems. OFFLINE has many features including Mouse support, tag lines, printing, exporting, and On-line HELP. The latest version of OFFLINE is available from the following nodes, or on your favorite SDS site. OFFLINE Support Sites use F/req name of: OFFLINE US Colorado Springs, Colorado 1:128/77 2400, HST/DS CANADA Kingston, Ontario (NEC) 1:249/1 HST/DS 16.8 CANADA Kingston, Ontario 1:249/114 ZyXEL 16.8 UK Lowestoft, Suffolk, England 2:254/71 9600/HST UK Lowestoft, Suffolk, England 2:254/44 2400 CCITT GERMANY Essen, Germany 2:245/100 HST GERMANY Essen, Germany 2:245/8 V32Bis HOLLAND Veldhoven, Holland 2:500/136 ITALY Milano, Italy (NEC) 2:331/300 HST DS/PEP ITALY Milano, Italy 2:331/301 HST THAILAND Bangkok, Thailand 6:608/10 2400 AUSTRALIA Brisbane, Queensland 3:640/306 2400 CCITT Page 1 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager C O N T E N T S PAGE 1. GETTING STARTED ................................... 3 a. FILES WITH OFFLINE ........................... 3 b. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .......................... 3 c. MAIL PACKETS & ARCHIVERS...................... 4 d. INSTALLING OFFLINE ........................... 4 2. A SAMPLE OFFLINE SESSION .......................... 4 a. STARTING OFFLINE ............................. 4 b. OBTAINING MAIL ............................... 4 3. A BIT ABOUT NETMAIL ............................... 8 a. DESTINATION ADDRESS .......................... 8 b. ADDRESSING NETMAIL ........................... 8 c. FINDING ADDRESSES ............................ 8 4. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ............................. 9 5. REGISTRATION & USER SUPPORT ....................... 10 REGISTRATION FORM ................................. 11 SUPPORT SITES ..................................... 12 BRIEF SPECS ....................................... 13 DEVELOPMENT HISTORY ............................... 14 Page 2 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager 1. Getting Started. a, FILES CONTAINED IN THE DISTRIBUTION PACKAGE OFFLINE EXE main program OFFLINE CFG (automatically created by OFFLINE) OFFLINE HLP (online help files) OFFLINE HLX (online help files) OFFLINE HLT (online help files) OFFLINE DOC (Documentation - Users Manual) LIST COM simple file browser accessed by OFFLINE.exe ED EXE simple file editor accessed by OFFLINE.exe ED HLP (online help files) ETERM EXE simple file terminal accessed by OFFLINE.exe ETERMZ EXE transfer protocol used by eterm.exe README (misc information) WHATSNEW TXT (information only) SAMPLE QWK (sample qwk packet for local testing only) SAMPLE TAG (sample/optional tagline file - rename to OFFLINE.tag if you want to use it) b, SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MS-DOS 2.11 or newer (do yourself a favor and upgrade to MS-DOS 6.0 or better) Hard Disk (optional) Printer (Laser or Dot matrix) (optional) Mouse (optional) LHA.EXE or other ARCHIVING systems OFFLINE comes with a simple text editor suitable for messaging. It is called ED, and OFFLINE will set itself up for use with ED. The text editor can be any standard text editor such as QEDIT or your dos editor. To change this go to your setup menu. OFFLINE will require that you have ANSI installed. This is done by adding a line in your computer's configuration file CONFIG.SYS. Using any text editor, add the following if it is not already there. DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS Check your DOS manual for more details on the use of ANSI.SYS and other devices. Page 3 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager c, MAIL PACKETS & ARCHIVERS Mail packets are sent and received in archived (compressed) form. To be able to unarchive these packets, you will require at least one archiving program. OFFLINE supports the following archive utilities for archiving and unarchiving mail packets: PKZIP/PKUNZIP, LHA, ARJ, ZOO & PKPAK. OFFLINE will automatically detect the type of unarchiving system to use for incoming *.QWK packets. Commonly, Bulletin Boards will use PKZIP and PKUNZIP or LHA. You may have to contact the SysOp of the board you receive your mail from to find out what archive software you will require. Mail packets usually have a root name defined by the bbs or host system operator (sysop) and a filename extension of QWK. d, INSTALLING OFFLINE If you received OFFLINE on a distribution disk, enter the following to INSTALL on your hard drive. A: <press enter> SETUP <press enter> If you received OFFLINE in an archive, unarchive the system into a subdirectory dedicated to OFFLINE. 2. A SAMPLE OFFLINE SESSION a, STARTING OFFLINE To begin your session, simply type OFFLINE at the DOS prompt. b, OBTAINING MAIL The QWK concept The concept is really quite simple. You just download a QWK packet usually called BBSNAME.QWK. OFFLINE unarchives this packet and lets you read, reply, and/or write messages. It creates a reply packet called BBSNAME.REP. You upload that to your host BBS, and presto, it get's transferred into the BBS message base automatically. Page 4 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager Returning Mail After you upload your *.REP file to your host (QWK source BBS), delete it. OFFLINE will automatically append your *.REP each time you select it's corresponding *.QWK packet file, until you're ready to upload it. Once you upload the *.REP file, you should delete it from your upload path (otherwise it will continually get appended). This function was left as a manual function, in order to provide you with the most flexibility. You will be prompted to delete it every time you open a corresponding QWK packet for the same host (this will make more sense later). Downloading a Packet To obtain a mail packet, you must connect to a Bulletin Board that supports .QWK off-line mail through the use of any regular terminal program such as ETERM, HTERM, or TELIX. Using ETERM or HTERM press F4 and then enter to get a dialing directory. Using your arrows select an entry, and press enter. (ETERM can be configured to dial any entry in your dialing directory immediately on entry). Once connected to such a Board, You must go to the off-line mail menu. On this menu, you can select TAG AREAS where you tag message areas of interest. All of the messages that would normally be available to you online, based on your security clearance, will be available to you through this service. The unread mail in the selected topic areas will be bundled up into a mail packet. You then download the newly created mail packet using your terminal. Most terminals will automatically start a ZMODEM (this is a transfer protocol) transfer for you once you select D to download on the host system. OFFLINE comes complete with a sample mail bundle named SAMPLE.QWK but why not download a real QWK packet now from your host BBS which has some interesting mail. Loading a Packet After you exit your terminal, you will then be prompted to load a .QWK packet. Press ENTER. A list of available mail packets will be presented. We will use the sample packet called SAMPLE.QWK in our examples, but you can use any QWK packet you wish. Highlight this packet and press ENTER. You will then see the packet being de-compressed. After the de-compression is completed, you will be prompted to view notices and bulletins, if they were included in your packet. The sysop Page 5 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager of your host bbs decides whether to include these or not. d, After reviewing notice boards and/or bulletins, go to the mail menu and choose Select Message Areas. Once selected, you will be prompted to select a message area. The area number as well as the total messages contained in that area are presented. The first area, REPLY MAIL is the area where all of your replies and newly entered messages will be placed. Highlight USER_TO_USER (or any other area you wish) and select it by pressing ENTER. Now OFFLINE puts you in the reading area. This is where you can READ, REPLY or ENTER new messages. Your screen will now look something like the example in Fig. 1. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Area: USER_TO_USER Msg:1 10-25-91 2:21a Date: 10-31-91 19:02 (Public, Read) Active [ R ][ A ] From: Harvey Parisien [ E ][ M ] To: ALL [ 4][ < ] Subject: OFFLINE [ 6][ > ] ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Hi. Welcome to OFFLINE the easy to use QWK Mail Manager. I hope you take the time to read the documentation, and fill out the registration. Please pass the original archive containing your OFFLINE system to your friends. Regards... --- * OFFLINE 1.55 * I like my QWK OFFLINE reader!... --- Maximus 2.00 * Origin: OFFLINE Systems (1:249/114) - Figure 1 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- e, The AREA NAME and message number now appear in the top left corner of your screen. In the top right you will find the current date and time as well as a box indicating the HOT KEYS as in Fig. 2. You may press any of these keys to perform different options directly from this area. If using a mouse, you simply place the cursor over the hot key in the box and select it. If at any time you press ESC, or the right mouse button, you will be placed back on the pull down menus. Page 6 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager ------------------------------------------------------------ [ R ][ A ] [ E ][ M ] (current message)---> [ 1][ < ] (total messages)----> [ 3][ > ] R = REPLY to a message A = AREA LIST (or 1 or DEL) E = ENTER a message M = MESSAGE LIST (or 2 or INS) < = Move backwards > = Move forwards F1 = HELP F = FIND a message MOUSE LEFT BUTTON = ENTER or SELECT MOUSE RIGHT BUTTON = ESC HOME = Goto first message END = Goto last message REPLY AREA HOT KEYS INCLUDE K = KILL a message P = TOGGLE PRIVATE / PUBLIC - Figure 2 - ------------------------------------------------------------ f, Let us now reply to the first message available. This is accomplished by pressing R. The subject line will now become HIGHLIGHTED. If you wish to change the subject, you may do so now. If not, simply press enter at this point. g, Now you will find yourself in the editor. This is where you can edit the message body. When you have completed editing, exit the editor saving your message. h, If you have a tag line file, you are presented a series of TAG LINES to choose from. You may select any of the TAG LINES available or select NO TAG LINE if you do not wish one in your message. (You may add to your library of TAG LINES by editing the OFFLINE.TAG file provided, or using the ALT-S command to steel taglines found in other messages - see on-line help for details.) Taglines can be fun. i, And finally you have the option to send your message as PRIVATE or PUBLIC. Private messages are only visible to the you and person to whom the message is addressed. Page 7 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager 3. A BIT ABOUT NETMAIL a, NETMAIL is a message sent from you directly from your Host's BBS to a user at another BBS as indicated in the DESTINATION ADDRESS. NETMAIL is usually a private message between 2 people, and does not show up in public conferences, also called echo areas, or just echos. Echos can be setup for a select user group where they can confer privately and concurrently. This is usually the most efficient way to communicate, but NETMAIL (direct mail) may still be required at times. b, ADDRESSING NETMAIL. This form of message handling is slightly different. You will be required to place a destination address on each message. OFFLINE handles this quite transparently for you. The address is in the form of #:###/###.#. A good example would be the address to the author of OFFLINE. 1:249/114. The (1:) indicates the Zone, the (1) being North America. The (249/) represents network 249 being Kingston Seaway Net. The third number is the Node, (114) indicates the node in that net. When replying to netmail, the destination address will automatically default to that of the original message you are replying to. You will also note that this address is present on the first line while in the editor area. If you wish to change the destination address then you may do so by changing this line. If you do not wish to change the destination, Do not edit this line. c, FINDING ADDRESSES. If you wish to send a message via NETMAIL, you will require an address to place in the DESTINATION ADDRESS line. You can locate a person's address on the last line of an ECHO MAIL message, see the "ORIGIN LINE" in figure 2 above, or the "FROM" line in a NETMAIL MESSAGE. You will see a #:###/###.# format that tells you where this message came from. Your SysOp can assist you in this. If you are a Netmail user, you should become familiar with the address of the Bulletin Board you receive your mail from as it will become the address where you can be reached as well. 10. MOUSE OPERATION. Mouse operation is quite simple. The left button is the same as ENTER on the keyboard or SELECT, and the right button is the same as Esc on the keyboard. You need only point to the menu option or the HOT KEY symbol illustrated in Figure 2. Page 8 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager 11. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q. What is a "Compatible Text Editor"? A. With OFFLINE, you will need an ASCII text editor to edit the messages you enter. This can be any TEXT editor that will allow a command line entry. To test this, simply try several of your favorite text editors in the same way as I have below using Q.EXE (QEDIT). C:\>Q OFFLINE.DOC If the editor executes and loads OFFLINE.DOC automatically, it is COMPATIBLE. Your SysOp should be able to advise, and supply a text editor if you do not have one. Q. I tried to enter TELIX into the TERMINAL path but it could not find any of it's configuration files, What went wrong? A. Most users place OFFLINE in the same directory as their Terminal system. If your Terminal is in a different directory, you could use a batch file to move into that directory during this operation. OFFLINE will move you back to it's originating directory automatically when you exit the terminal. Here is a simple batch file I called TERM.BAT: @ECHO OFF CLS CD\TELIX TELIX Page 9 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager 12. REGISTRATION. OFFLINE is a copyrighted program. It is distributed shareware, and in some cases under special licenses together with other systems. If you are not preregistered, please fill out the enclosed registration form. DISTRIBUTION Please feel free to distribute the original archive (or at least the contents intact) to your friends or clients. This is how shareware is distributed. LEGAL STUFF DISCLAIMER - This program is provided as is. You may use it at your own risk. There is no warranty of any kind or any form covering this program. The author may in no way be held liable for any damage of any form in connection or arising from the quality and/or use of this program and any associated files included with it. PAYMENT - Please send all license fees by mail to the address on the registration form.... Make all checks or International Money Orders payable to: HARVEY PARISIEN All payments to be made out in US Funds. M A I L T O ------------ Harvey Parisien Box 323 Station A Kingston, Ontario Canada K7M 6R2 USER SUPPORT Registered users can access the author Harvey Parisien directly for support at his netmail address of 1:249/114 any time. Thank you for your support of OFFLINE, and we sincerely hope it brings you many hours of enjoyment and productivity. Page 10 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager OFFLINE REGISTRATION APPLICATION TO: Harvey Parisien Box 323 Station A Kingston, Ontario Canada K7M 6R2 Please find enclosed my registration fee of... [ ] COMMERCIAL USE: $45.00 per installation is enclosed. [ ] PRIVATE USE: $5.00 per installation is enclosed. Date: _____/_____/_____ (mm/dd/yy) Organization: ____________________________________________ (if applicable) Users Name: ____________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________ City, State: __________________________________(________) Phone: ____________________________________________ Current Version you are using of OFFLINE: ________________ Fido Address where you can be contacted: ________________ Page 11 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager Distribution The latest version of OFFLINE is available from the following nodes, or on your favorite SDS-BBS site. Supports sites use a file request name of: OFFLINE US OFFLINE Support 1:128/77 Data Phone: 1-719-599-4568 2400 to HST/DS SPEEDS Preston Smith, SysOp Colorado Springs, US Canada OFFLINE Support 1:249/1 Data Phone: 1-613-548-7744 HST/DS SPEEDS Bill Cassidy, SysOp (249 NEC) Kingston, ON UK OFFLINE Support 2:254/71 Data Phone: 044-0502-588505 9600/HST 2:254/44 Data Phone: 044-0502-518274 2400 bps CCITT Cliff Jones, SysOp Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, UK. Germany OFFLINE Support 2:245/100 Data Phone: 49-201-200381 HST 2:245/8 Data Phone: 49-201-232899 HST DS Peter Kaszanics, SysOp Essen, Germany Italy OFFLINE Support 2:331/300 Data Phone: 39-2-76006329 HST DS/PEP 2:331/301 Data Phone: 39-2-76006857 HST Giancarlo Cairella (Vertigo), SysOp (331 NEC) Milano, Italy Australia OFFLINE Support 3:640/306 DATA PHONE: 61-7-3984288 2400 bps CCITT Peter Lane-Collett, Sysop Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Thailand OFFLINE Support 6:608/10 Data Phone: 1-662-552-3837 2400 bps Gerald Williams, SysOp Bangkok, Thailand Page 12 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager Other works by Harvey Parisien, OFFLINE Author RAD, dBASE III file compatible, BBS or REMOTE online database HLIST, HLIST File List Compiler for files.bbs systems OMENU, oMENU the Ultimate disk Menu System POINT, PPoint - Professional Point System - easy and automatic HARVEY, "Harvey the Robot" automated message mailer *.PKT format OFFLINE, The easy to use, QWK OFFLINE reader OFFLINE brief spec and limits... o Maximum Areas = 32000 o Maximum Messages per Areas = 32000 o Maximum Lines per Messages = unlimited (max of 300 displayed) o Messages are not stripped of high characters allowing use on networks where they are allowed. o Automatically detected archivers: PKZIP, LHA, LHARC, ARJ, ZOO, PKPAK o Provides access to a user defined Terminal. o Compatible with 4DOS and DesqView. o Supports HP Laser compatibles for printing. o Supports 43, 50, and 60 line screen modes. o Optional UPPER case To/From for PCBOARD o Supports ANSI animated message displaying o Fixed or Random Tag Lines (or none) o Supports commands ADD, DROP message areas o Supports file REQUESTs from host o Supports Spell Checking o Netmail Address Book o Supports QSO File Transfer System (see development history for more recent features) Development history of OFFLINE... The latest history is contained in a file called WHATSNEW.TXT. v1.00 to 1.14 were development versions. v1.14 Added date/time on QWK directory list (sorted by date/time). v1.15 Added ability to change reply attributes Private/Public after created. v1.15 Added ability to define NETMAIL return destination line format... Standard format is Maximus 2.00 compatible ie: To: z:net/node Any other format is now possible ie: NET>z:net/node Page 13 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager v1.16 Added ability to change subject line for reply mail. Minor UI improvements, prior to first SDS release. v1.17 Fixed internal ARJ extract command to E instead of X (which expands subdirectories if included) v1.18 Fixed Qemm/Dv problem (mouse routine) Added FIND command in the Reading Area. Added On-Line HELP. v1.19 Made FIND command faster. v1.20 Fixed mouse bug when using DOS5 editor. v1.21 Added ability to turn Sound on/off Added new documentation by Softwrite Docs. v1.22 Fixed problems associated with Maxmail v1.23 Improved file access/deletion routines. v1.24 Added ^E and ^P to Export or Print from read screen (rather than from the main menu). Fixed bug when replying to a reply. Added ability to change export file name on the fly. SDS release. v1.25 Minor memory optimization. v1.26 Added lastread pointer file to retain reading position in old QWK files. v1.27 Changed archiver accessing methods, overcoming possible problems associated with 4DOS. v1.28 Changed bulletin and notice board display systems to display ansi as per users requests. v1.29 Increased number of messages per area to 600 from 400. (999 max areas). Now warns of existing REP files and prompts for deletion. v1.30 Fixed problem that the REP file had with some QWK doors. v1.31 Fixed problem deleting lastread pointer files. SDS release. v1.32 Fixed problem with area numbers in return packets (Didn't affect use with Maximus v2.0) Added busy screen (Calendar). SDS release. v1.33 Added FAST ACCESS mode (put F on command line) which immediately loads *.QWK packets and goes to the reading area. Removed busy screen (Calendar), and replaced it with DOS SHELL command. (This function was in the Reading area. By user request, the DOS SHELL can be accessed from the Reading area as well as from the pull downs) Enhanced the REPLY QUOTE line. v1.34 Added ability to edit TO/FROM/SUBJECT fields while entering or replying to messages. Added automatic *._W? (lastread pointer file) age detection in case QWK packets are deleted manually (and the user forgets to delete the *._W? file). Page 14 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager v1.35 Added ability to edit replies. Added 43, 50, and 60 line screen modes. Added optional packet renaming. For stupid zmodem protocols/terminals. Added optional forced upper case for From and To fields (required by some QWK hosts). v1.36 Added ability to display Hello and Goodbye screens from Areas Pulldown. Improved setup prompt for temp directory, and changed default to OFF.CAP Fixed problem with 43+ line modes where the *.REP file list was not showing on exit. Fixed a spealling rror on the Choose and Area menu... :) Fixed LHA A command to LHA A -m so it doesn't prompt for nonstandard file name extension. Fixed reply quoting for bluewave to qwk conversions (line wrapping). Added date, and flag info to message list. Changed reply packing methods to REMOVE KILLED MESSAGES FROM PACKET. v1.37 Added new display routine. Quotes are now highlighted. Colors are user definable. Spell checking on it's way... Added new Spell Checking option. Increased number of Tag Lines allowed to 300 from 100. Added ANSI animated message displaying Added Random Tag Lines (or fixed or none) Supports commands ADD, DROP message areas Supports file REQUESTs from host v1.38 Added new + read reply key Added ^a pause support in ansi displays Added ADDRESS BOOK (picklist) for netmail addressing. Automatically build your list as you netmail. Improved FIND routines. You can now search in the message header (the To, From, and Subject fields), or complete message (header and body). v1.39 Changed the way OFFLINE accesses your terminal. OFFLINE is now removed from memory while your terminal is run. v1.40 Added auto ucase detect for reply mail to PCboard type systems Changed pkunzip command to pkunzip -o for off spec QWK packets Changed terminal recognition routine for new v1.39 terminal access Fixed new v1.39 terminal access method to recognize command lines v1.41 Fixed mouse bug. v1.42 Improved user interface with hot keys. v1.43 ADDED New improved online HELP. ADDED CLEARBUF before actionbox on REPLY found Fixed mouse background problem ADDED Tag line stealer Page 15 OFFLINE a QWK mail manager ADDED Highlighted Find text in message v1.44 Fixed printer paging bug for DOT MATRIX printers v1.50 ADDED Auto unarchiving detection for QWK packets. Made version number series same as PPoint since both mail management systems are developed parallel to one another. v1.51 BETA RELEASE ADDED User Reference Guide (print or export to text) ADDED Alt-L for access to Vernon Buery's LIST in the READ AREA Parked the mouse in bottom right corner. ADDED browse for large file lists Included simple free editor v1.52 OFFICIAL RELEASE v1.53 Changed message list routine, now allows unlimited messages in an area> NEW tearline format for RIME compatibility Fixed conference area number bug (max is still 999 as per qwk spec) QSO support. IE Send/Request files user to user for TBBS! v1.54 OFFICIAL RELEASE v1.55 Tucked lastread point file and other pointer files into QWK packet. This does away with the *._W? external marker files. Automatically matches REP file archiver with QWK file original archiver. Added message read identifier (this is in addition to the book mark). Added message replied to identifier. Added message marking & read marked messages functions. Added ability to create a blank QWK packet for future use Minor Menu Changes, including selection to print user & reference guide. Page 16