Support For AX25MAIL Protocol Type
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If you use Netscape as your viewer for HTML files, WinPack now supports
a special protocol type which is designed to make it easy to reply to
the sender of the document.

If the sender puts in a link of the form:-

<A HREF="ax25mail:g8mzx@gb7skg.#15.gbr.eu">Mail To Roger</A>

you can click on the link and WinPack will behave as if you have clicked
the "Reply To Sender" button. A message header form will be filled in
with the address as specified in the link and with a message title based
on the title of the sender's message.

It is also possible to use the AX25MAIL protocol type to automatically
submit a reply to a form included in an HTML document. If the sender
makes the FORM tag something like:-

<FORM Name="A Test" Action="ax25mail:g8mzx@gb7skg.!15.gbr.eu">

then clicking the Submit button on the form causes a message to be
generated containing the information you have put in the form. It will
be addressed as per the Action field of the FORM tag. Don't worry, you
can look at the message, so there's no way it is going to disclose your
darkest secrets!

Please Note
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1. The AX25MAIL protocol only works with Netscape used as an automatic
viewer for messages read in WinPack. It doesn't work with pages
downloaded using WinpScape.

2. The text submitted from a form is in raw Netscape format, it is not
encoded and is perfectly readable, but hardly "user friendly". There is
little point sending out a form unless you are able to process the
replies. The use of forms should definitely be regarded as experimental.

3. Netscape does not seem to like '#' characters in a form Action field.
You will see that in the above example I have used a '!', WinPack will
translate this. The alternative would be to omit the full hierarchical
address and simply put "g8mzx@gb7skg".



Roger Barker, G4IDE
roger@peaksys.demon.co.uk

July 1997