Amiga Format CD 46/Amiga Format CD46 (1999-10-20)(Future Publishing)(GB)[!][issue 1999-12].iso/-serious-/comms/other/q-blue2.4/q-blue.doc

Text File | 1999-09-06 | 469.5 KB | 8,725 lines

                                 User Manual for

                               Q-Blue, release 2.4

              an offline electronic mail reader for Amiga computers

                                 by Paul Kienitz






       Freeware distribution license:

       The computer program "Q-Blue, release 2.4" is copyright (c) 1992-
       1999 by Paul Kienitz, with all rights reserved except as stated
       here.  The archive containing the executable program file
       "Q-Blue", the manual "Q-Blue.doc", and the various fonts and other
       incidental files included in this distribution, may be freely
       copied, distributed, and used so long as none of the contents of
       the distribution package are modified or removed.  Additional
       material may be added, but it should be labeled in some manner to
       indicate that it is not part of the original Q-Blue distribution.

       Previous versions of Q-Blue existed in two forms, an "evaluation"
       version and a "registered" version.  The former was licensed to be
       used only for a limited time by any one person; the latter was
       licensed only to be used by a single person who was not permitted
       to distribute copies.  With the release of Q-Blue 2.4 under this
       license, permission is granted for copies of all such past
       versions to be freely distributed on the same terms as this
       version, so long as they are not represented as being this version
       or a newer version.  Such distribution should be accompanied by
       some notification stating that Q-Blue is now "freeware" and no
       money should be sent to the author.  The restriction on modifying
       contents of the distribution is lifted in two specific ways: it is
       permitted to remove the file "How-to-order" which specified how to
       buy a registered copy, and it is permitted to modify the section
       of the manual labeled "How to contact the author" to include
       up-to-date information from the equivalent section of the Q-Blue
       2.4 manual.

       Q-Blue, like most software, is provided "as is", with no warranty
       of any kind.  The author cannot assume liability for any damage
       caused by the software.







                             Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual

                                Table Of Contents




                              PART 1: INTRODUCTION

       1) BACKGROUND
           1.1) So, what is an offline mail reader anyway? . . . . . .  5
           1.2) What are "QWK" and "Blue Wave"?  . . . . . . . . . . .  6
           1.3) General information about Q-Blue's interface . . . . .  8
           1.4) Special properties of Q-Blue's string gadgets  . . . .  9
           1.5) Q-Blue's question and error requesters . . . . . . . . 11
           1.6) A brief description of Q-Blue's "list windows" . . . . 12

       2) AN OVERVIEW OF HOW TO USE Q-BLUE
           2.1) Installation and configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
           2.2) Downloading a mail packet to read  . . . . . . . . . . 15
           2.3) Starting Q-Blue and opening a packet . . . . . . . . . 16
           2.4) Reading the messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
           2.5) Writing messages and replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
           2.6) Packing and uploading your replies . . . . . . . . . . 20


                              PART 2: CONFIGURATION

       3) STARTING Q-BLUE, AND BASIC CONFIGURATION
           3.1) Configuration files and startup options  . . . . . . . 21
           3.2) The Setup menu; loading and saving configurations  . . 23
           3.3) Message sorting order  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
           3.4) The Directories setup window . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
           3.5) The two most crucial directories . . . . . . . . . . . 29
           3.6) Non-directory pathnames in the Directories window  . . 31

       4) SETTING UP A TEXT EDITOR FOR WRITING REPLIES
           4.1) The Editor setup window  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
           4.2) Specifying commands for running an editor  . . . . . . 34
           4.3) Why use two separate editor commands?  . . . . . . . . 36
           4.4) Using an editor with ARexx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
           4.5) ARexx scripts using two files  . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
           4.6) Using CygnusEd to edit replies . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
           4.7) Using CygnusEd through the "Ed" activator  . . . . . . 44
           4.8) Using TurboText to edit replies  . . . . . . . . . . . 46
           4.9) A few editor tricks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49






                                     - 2 -






                             Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual

                          Table Of Contents, continued




       5) SETTING UP ARCHIVE COMPRESSORS
           5.1) The Compressors setup window . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
           5.2) Teaching Q-Blue about other compression programs . . . 52
           5.3) Special codes in compression commands  . . . . . . . . 54
           5.4) Compressor "patterns" for automatic recognition  . . . 56

       6) OTHER CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
           6.1) Selecting the font for Q-Blue's screen . . . . . . . . 57
           6.2) Selecting the screen type  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
           6.3) The Options setup window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
           6.4) Specifying how messages are quoted for replying  . . . 64
           6.5) Header and signature strings for replies . . . . . . . 66
           6.6) Special codes used in header and signature strings . . 68
           6.7) Other gadgets in the Replying setup window . . . . . . 69
           6.8) Local setup options for individual BBSes . . . . . . . 71
           6.9) Configuring QWK packet netmail . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
           6.10) Configuring Internet email  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77


                                PART 3: OPERATION

       7) SCROLLING LIST WINDOW OPERATION
           7.1) Basic list window control  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
           7.2) Special features of message and area list windows  . . 82
           7.3) Special features of other list windows . . . . . . . . 83
           7.4) What is shown in windows listing message areas . . . . 84
           7.5) What is shown in other list windows  . . . . . . . . . 86

       8) OPENING MESSAGE PACKETS
           8.1) Options available when no packet is open . . . . . . . 88
           8.2) Initial steps in opening a mail packet . . . . . . . . 90
           8.3) Decompression and loading of mail  . . . . . . . . . . 92
           8.4) "Opening" with no mail packet  . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
           8.5) Reloading unfinished replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
           8.6) The "twit list" file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
           8.7) Twit list options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
           8.8) Twit list examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100








                                     - 3 -






                             Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual

                          Table Of Contents, continued




       9) READING MESSAGES
           9.1) What you see when reading a message  . . . . . . . . .102
           9.2) Basic reading options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
           9.3) Special features available when reading  . . . . . . .106
           9.4) Saving and printing messages . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
           9.5) The word search feature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
           9.6) Additional aspects of the search feature . . . . . . .113

       10) WRITING REPLIES AND NEW MESSAGES
           10.1) The message creation window: From, To, Subject  . . .116
           10.2) Other message creation gadgets  . . . . . . . . . . .118
           10.3) Editing and saving messages . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
           10.4) Selecting an area for the message . . . . . . . . . .121
           10.5) Adding missing areas to the list  . . . . . . . . . .123
           10.6) Writing netmail messages  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
           10.7) Netmail attribute flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
           10.8) Writing Internet messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
           10.9) Taglines  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
           10.10) Tagline window options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
           10.11) Attached files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

       11) COMPLETING THE UPLOAD PACKET
           11.1) File download requests  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
           11.2) Blue Wave mail door option flags  . . . . . . . . . .136
           11.3) More Blue Wave mail door configuration choices  . . .138
           11.4) Mail door message area selection  . . . . . . . . . .140
           11.5) Extra options available when selecting mail areas . .142
           11.6) Packing your replies for uploading  . . . . . . . . .143
           11.7) Closing the mail packet; exiting the program  . . . .144


                               PART 4: CONCLUSION

       12) AUTHOR SUPPORT
           12.1) How to contact the author . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
           12.2) Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147









                                     - 4 -



                              PART 1: INTRODUCTION


       1) BACKGROUND

           1.1) So, what is an offline mail reader anyway?

       If you have used offline mail readers in the past, or are familiar
       with the concept in some other way, you probably don't need to
       read this section.  For those who are not familiar with them, here
       is an explanation of what Q-Blue is for:

       Its purpose is for reading electronic mail from computer bulletin
       board systems, or BBSes as they are commonly called, without tying
       up your telephone line while doing so.  If you don't have an Amiga
       computer with a modem, or don't use it to call BBSes or other
       online data services, you don't have any use for Q-Blue.  If the
       BBSes you call do not support offline readers, you're still out of
       luck.  But quite a few BBSes have the ability to package mail in
       QWK format, and an increasing number are supporting the more
       sophisticated Blue Wave format.  If a BBS has a lot of message
       traffic and has no means of allowing callers to read mail offline,
       then it's time to pester the person in charge (the sysop) until
       she or he adds that ability.

       Typically, offline mail packets are created by means of something
       called a "door": a piece of software that callers to the BBS can
       use by giving a command to some BBS menu.  In some cases, the BBS
       itself has a built-in feature for creating them, without using a
       separate program.  The details are different for each individual
       BBS.  We will refer to the software that bundles offline mail
       packets as the "mail door", in either case.  Once the mail door is
       running, it will provide a menu of commands which allow you to
       select which mail you want to read, and how to package it.  Again,
       the details vary from one setup to another -- the various mail
       doors all differ in their command interfaces.  Once the mail is
       bundled up, the door lets you download it all as a single
       compressed file.  Then you can log off from the BBS, hang up the
       phone, and read the mail at your leisure with an offline reader.
       The reader allows you to write new electronic mail messages,
       including replies to the ones you have downloaded.  When your
       replies (if any) are ready, you can call the BBS again and upload
       them to the mail door, which will then "post" the messages in the
       correct places.

       Why bother with these extra steps to read your mail?  Because if
       you don't, then your phone line is busy the whole time you read
       and reply to messages.  If the call is not local, the costs can
       add up rapidly.  The BBS's phone line is also busy, preventing
       other people from using it if it does not have other lines
       available.  Also, when reading online you have to create your
       replies using whatever excuse for a text editor the BBS provides;
       not only are you deprived of the features of your preferred


                                     - 5 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.1


       editor, but different BBS systems are not consistent with each
       other in how their editors work.  And when reading messages, you
       have to put up with the slowness of text sent through modems, and
       possibly line noise as well.  When reading mail offline, there is
       no line noise, no speed bottleneck, and you can use your favorite
       text editor to write replies and new messages.  It also saves
       quite a bit of money if you call BBSes long distance.  This is
       what Q-Blue is for: it unpacks the mail packet you downloaded,
       displays the messages, and lets you write replies.

       Q-Blue 2.4 has the following arbitrary limitations:  no message
       may be longer than 8000 lines or the remainder will be discarded.
       Up to 200 replies may be created in one upload packet.  The
       personal messages area can contain at most 400 messages.  There
       will be at most 50 bulletins and other extra text files shown.
       The downloads and uploads directories can have at most 400 files
       between them or the file list window may leave some out.  Up to
       32000 messages per area can be handled, in up to 32000 areas.  The
       maximum number of taglines that can be listed is also 32000.
       Attachment of more than one file to a message is not supported.


           1.2) What are "QWK" and "Blue Wave"?

       Whenever a BBS creates a bundle of information to be used by an
       offline reader, it stores the data in a particular format which
       the offline reader understands.  The data is contained in a
       "packet", which is a compressed archive containing several files.
       The software that creates the offline mail packets (commonly
       called the "door") and the software that lets you read the packets
       (the "reader") must agree on all the details of what these files
       contain.  Unfortunately, there are different kinds of doors which
       have their own incompatible standards in this area, each with its
       own set of readers which can understand its format but not others.
       Q-Blue is a reader that understands two mail formats.

       "QWK" (which is pronounced "quack" by those who prefer other
       formats) is the common name for the format of files that are
       produced by an offline mail door called QMail, and a great many
       others that are compatible with it, such as RoseMail, TomCat,
       DLGQWK, and so on.  The format was created by Mark "Sparky"
       Herring of Sparkware, the author of QMail and several related
       products.  The name comes from the fact that the files it creates
       are typically given a name that ends with ".QWK".  The majority of
       mail doors are compatible with QMail and produce message bundles
       of this type.  The format of QWK files is public knowledge, and
       new mail processing software using this format is being created
       all the time.  It is obsolete, but still very popular because,
       until recently, there were few alternatives.

       "Blue Wave" is a different format for offline mail, which the
       doors and readers based on QWK format are not compatible with.  It
       has several advantages: for instance, it is designed to be able to


                                     - 6 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.2


       send private "Netmail" messages between different BBSes linked by
       networks such as FidoNet, and it allows one to specify, while
       offline, things like the criteria by which the door should select
       mail for future downloads.  Blue Wave also avoids the shortcomings
       of the QWK format which cause the subject lines of messages to be
       shortened to 25 characters and, in many cases, cause peoples'
       names to appear in all uppercase letters.

       There are two main subtypes of Blue Wave mail packets, known as
       "version 2" and "version 3".  The latter has improved features,
       such as direct support for Internet mail and newsgroup posts.
       There are several circumstances in which Q-Blue will behave
       differently depending on whether a Blue Wave mail packet is
       version 2 or version 3, documented throughout this manual.

       The main disadvantage of Blue Wave is that originally, software
       using it was available from only one source -- George Hatchew of
       Cutting Edge Computing, formerly known as Blue Wave Software --
       and because of this, it is not nearly as widespread or broadly
       supported as the older QWK format is, though it has gained ground
       rapidly.  The version 2 Blue Wave format was designed by George
       Hatchew and Fred Rappuhn.  The first Blue Wave compatible software
       from another source (Q-Blue 0.7) did not appear until mid-1992,
       and the Blue Wave format specification was not made public until
       the end of 1993.  By this time Fred Rappuhn was out of the
       picture, and version 3 Blue Wave is George Hatchew's creation.

       The one other widespread format for offline mail is called "Silver
       Xpress" -- it's as old a format as QWK, and yet over the years it
       has grown possibly more sophisticated than Blue Wave.  Q-Blue does
       not support Silver Xpress, because the format is proprietary and
       its creator, Hector Santos of Santronics Software, has chosen to
       support another program for reading Silver Xpress mail on the
       Amiga.  Instead of making the Silver Xpress format available to
       the public, Santronics instead set out to develop a new format
       called "XNet".  Unfortunately, XNet never came into real use.

       Other completely unrelated formats are being used to read mail
       from the other big online services and from the Internet, which at
       this time are still largely a separate world from BBS mail --
       though less so than previously.  "SOUP" is probably the most
       popular such format at this time.  It is used principally for
       Usenet newsgroups.  And there are other readers which understand
       messages in the forms used by FidoNet compatible mailers to
       transmit mail between networked BBSes, or store BBS message bases.
       Q-Blue does not understand any of these other formats yet.  It
       does understand QWK and Blue Wave.  It can read messages produced
       by any door compatible with either of these, and create replies
       that they can understand.






                                     - 7 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.3


           1.3) General information about Q-Blue's interface

       Q-Blue's user interface mostly similar to what you would expect in
       any modern Amiga program, but not entirely.  When you use an eight
       color screen (section 6.2 describes how you can choose between
       four and eight colors), all areas of the screen that are meant to
       be clicked on with the left mouse button, except scroller gadgets,
       are given a distinctive color -- green in the default palette.
       Rectangular green areas with a "raised" border and a word inside
       are command buttons.  Clicking while the pointer is over that area
       instructs Q-Blue to carry out some action.  A somewhat larger
       rectangle with a curled arrow at the left end is a "cycle gadget".
       This lets you select one of several options.  Every time you click
       on this gadget, a different option is selected and a different
       word is displayed inside.  If you click it enough times you will
       get back to the option you started with and the cycle will repeat.
       Clicking it with the shift key held down causes the options to
       appear in reverse order.  In a very few cases, Q-Blue will instead
       use "radio buttons": a set of several small oval buttons of which
       just one appears recessed and has a bright dot in the middle.
       Selecting the one labeled with the desired option "pops out" any
       other that is selected.

       Another kind of gadget is a small green rectangle with a "raised"
       border containing either a checkmark or a blank space.  This
       represents an option that can be turned either on or off.  If the
       checkmark is present, the option is turned on.  Clicking on such a
       gadget removes the checkmark if it is present, and makes it appear
       if it is absent.

       Command button gadgets have a word inside with an underline under
       one letter of the word, usually the first.  This means that if you
       type that letter on the keyboard, the effect will be as if you had
       clicked on the gadget -- the same command will be carried out.  In
       the case of cycle gadgets and checkmark gadgets, there is a label
       written next to the gadget, and the first letter of that label is
       underlined.  Typing that letter on the keyboard is the same as
       clicking on the gadget.  A checkmark gadget will switch from off
       to on or vice versa, and a cycle gadget will switch to its next
       setting.  Or if you hold down a shift key while typing the letter,
       it will switch to its previous setting.  Sometimes a command
       button will have a bent arrow next to it shaped like the one on
       your return key, pointing down and then to the left.  This
       indicates that pressing the return key, or the Enter key on the
       numeric keypad, is equivalent to clicking that gadget.

       String gadgets are long green strips with a "ridge" border.
       Q-Blue's string gadgets have some unusual added properties not
       shared with most other Amiga software.  They are discussed in the
       next section (1.4).

       Commands can also be given with pull-down menus by using the right
       mouse button.  Each menu item that causes a dialog window to open


                                     - 8 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.3


       has a name with "..." shown on the end.  Each item's corresponding
       keyboard command is displayed along the right edge of the menu.
       For instance, the item that reads "Open packet...   O" can be
       executed by typing the letter "O" on the keyboard as well as by
       selecting the menu item, and it will open a window.  All menu
       choices are visible, even when they are not usable.  The unusable
       ones are "ghosted" -- that is, they are written in gray-looking
       speckled letters instead of in clear dark text.  Selecting a
       ghosted item has no effect.  Gadgets can be ghosted too, when they
       are not usable.  A ghosted gadget is speckled with background
       color so that it looks blurred and dimmed.

       Sometimes the mouse pointer gets turned into an image of a pocket
       watch -- or under AmigaDOS 3.x, the system "busy pointer" you
       specify.  This indicates that Q-Blue is busy on something that
       can't be interrupted, and you have to wait a moment.  When the
       mouse pointer is shown this way, anything you do with the mouse or
       keyboard will be ignored.  The exception is when a requester with
       option gadgets is visible in the middle of the screen.  If you
       activate the backdrop behind the requester, the watch image will
       show, but any input you give will be heard by the requester.

       Any window can, of course, be closed by clicking the left mouse
       button on the little box in the upper left corner -- the "close
       gadget".  Pressing the Esc key has the same effect.  It is a
       keyboard synonym for the close gadget, for all of Q-Blue's
       windows.  But in a few cases, the window might not close when you
       tell it to.  Sometimes, if you enter invalid information, you will
       get an error message when you try to close the window, and you
       have to correct the indicated problem to be able to close the
       window.  The number of windows that act this way has been kept to
       a minimum.

       Sometimes Q-Blue needs you to specify the name and location of a
       file.  In these cases it will display the standard "ASL" file
       requester.  A description of how to use this requester is covered
       in the basic manuals that come with every Amiga, and most users
       are familiar with its usage.  The file "asl.library" must be
       present in your system's LIBS: directory for this to work.  If the
       library cannot be opened, Q-Blue opens a small window with one
       string gadget into which you can type the name of the file you
       want to specify.  Pressing return closes the window, telling
       Q-Blue to go ahead and use the file you've named.  Clicking the
       close gadget or pressing Esc tells Q-Blue not to use what you've
       entered.


           1.4) Special properties of Q-Blue's string gadgets

       Q-Blue's string gadgets are like any Amiga string gadget in that
       each contains a line of text (which may be empty) that you can
       edit by clicking in the gadget to "activate" it, and typing new
       text or erasing old text with the backspace and Del keys.  Holding


                                     - 9 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.4


       down the right Amiga key (just to the right of the spacebar) and
       typing the letter X erases everything in the string gadget, if it
       is active.  (A string gadget becomes "active" when you click the
       mouse in it.  A cursor appears in it to mark where the stuff you
       type will be entered.)  Pressing backspace with the shift key held
       down erases everything from the cursor to the beginning of the
       string, and the Del key, with shift down, erases everything from
       the cursor to the end.  Holding down the right Amiga key and
       typing Q restores the string to whatever it showed when you first
       activated it, undoing any changes you made.

       When Q-Blue is using an eight color screen, string gadgets are
       colored green inside like all the other gadgets.  When the gadget
       is activated, the inside changes to black.  On a four color
       screen, the inside is blue when it's not activated, like the
       background of the window the gadget appears in.  If another
       program, or an ASL requester, creates a string gadget on Q-Blue's
       screen, it is typically black inside even when not active.  Of
       course, these colors refer to the default palette settings.  The
       special properties discussed here apply to those windows -- they
       only apply to windows created by Q-Blue itself.  The keystrokes
       described above, however, are standard for all.

       Q-Blue does not supply special keyboard shortcuts for activating
       each string gadget, as it does for each gadget of the other kinds.
       Instead, the tab key is used as a universal string gadget
       activator.  Whenever any string gadgets are visible, pressing the
       tab key will activate one of them.  Pressing tab again will
       deactivate that one and activate the next one below it.  Pressing
       tab with a shift key held down activates the next one above.
       Pressing either enough times will bring you back to the gadget
       that was originally active.  And this is not the only way to
       activate other string gadgets.

       Normally, when you are finished editing a string gadget, you press
       return.  If there is another string gadget below the one you
       pressed return in, it will be activated -- unless, that is, you
       turn off this feature in the Options setup window.  This does not
       "wrap around"; that is, the first gadget will not activate when
       you press return in the last one.  If you do not want the next
       gadget to be activated, hold down an Alt key while pressing
       return.  If you want the gadget above to be activated, hold down a
       shift key while pressing return.  The last gadget is activated if
       you use shift-return in the first one.  But if the "Next string
       gad activates" option is turned off (see section 6.3), no other
       gadget is activated.  Of course, none of this applies to windows
       that contain only one string gadget.

       As mentioned in the previous section, the Esc key acts as a
       synonym for the "close gadget" in the upper left corner of each
       window.  This even works while a string gadget is active; if you
       press Esc while typing into a string gadget, the window containing
       the gadget will be closed.


                                     - 10 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.4


       Q-Blue's string gadgets have one other unusual property (which is
       standard in some other graphical operating systems): you can paste
       from the system clipboard into any string gadget in Q-Blue's
       windows.  This is done by typing the letter V with the right Amiga
       key held down -- the standard "paste" keystroke used in most
       programs that use the clipboard.  When this keystroke is used in
       an active string gadget, and the system clipboard (unit 0)
       contains text, the contents of the string gadget are replaced with
       that text, or as much of it as will fit.  The gadget is briefly
       deactivated but normally becomes active again an instant later.
       Except when that reactivation fails, using right-Amiga-Q to "undo"
       its contents will restore what was there before the clipboard
       paste.  This feature has many uses when combined with the feature
       for drag-selecting text from messages into the clipboard: you can
       copy a user name or network address into the message writing
       window, copy a filename into the download requests window, steal
       taglines, and so on.  This can sometimes also be used to enter
       strange characters that can't be typed in from the keyboard.

       If the clipboard contains more than one line of text, then
       normally newlines are converted to spaces, and any spaces after
       the newline are removed.  But in certain string gadgets that use
       "@"-codes, newlines are replaced with the code sequence "@N",
       which is translated back into a newline when the string is used.
       The gadgets that use "@N" are the editor command strings (see
       section 5.3), the compressor command strings (section 4.2), and
       the quote header, carbon copy header, and signature strings
       (section 6.5), and their "BBS Local" equivalents (section 6.8).


           1.5) Q-Blue's question and error requesters

       Q-Blue uses simple requesters whenever it needs to ask the user a
       question, or report an important message.  These requesters are
       red in the default eight color palette, centered in the middle of
       the screen, and have mouse gadgets along the bottom for you to
       respond with.  These are used instead of the standard "system
       requesters" because they have clearer keyboard shortcuts.  For
       giving error messages or other information that does not ask you
       to make a choice, there will be one gadget in the lower right
       corner under the text of the message, labeled "Okay".  For cases
       when you have to make a choice, there will be two or three
       gadgets, each labeled with a different word.  The first letter of
       each label word is underlined to indicate a keyboard shortcut you
       can use.

       One of the gadgets has a bent arrow showing next to it, to
       indicate that pressing return is equivalent to selecting that
       gadget.  The gadget with the arrow next to it is considered the
       default choice.  The spacebar, as well as the return key and the
       Enter key on the numeric keypad, will select this default choice.
       If the requester has a "Cancel" option in the rightmost gadget,
       pressing the Esc key will make that choice.  Esc is used to mean


                                     - 11 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.5


       "cancel" or "close window" throughout Q-Blue.  If there is no
       "Cancel" gadget, then pressing Esc makes the default choice, like
       the return key.  The text above the gadgets explains the choice
       you have to make.

       While one of these requesters is open, the rest of Q-Blue cannot
       do anything.  If you activate some other Q-Blue window, the mouse
       pointer will show as a "busy" clock face.  You must choose one of
       the gadgets before the program can resume operation, either with
       the mouse or with a keyboard equivalent.

       If a requester cannot be opened, for instance because all chip
       memory has been used up, Q-Blue's screen title bar will turn
       bright red and display the message "*** ERROR ***   NO MEMORY!!
       Other errors likely.  PRESS ANY KEY".  If this happens, you should
       probably assume that there have been other errors which it could
       not report to you in detail.  You should probably do something to
       increase the available memory in your Amiga, like quitting some
       other program that you have running, or there may be a risk of a
       system crash (hopefully not from Q-Blue itself).  Like the message
       says, you then need to press a key to allow Q-Blue to continue.


           1.6) A brief description of Q-Blue's "list windows"

       Q-Blue uses something called a "list window" in many different
       ways.  These windows are used much like standard "listview
       gadgets", such as the scrollable lists seen in a file or font
       requester.  They show a sequence of lines, which can be scrolled
       up and down using a proportional gadget at the right edge.  One
       line is "highlighted" -- the text is written on a different
       background color than the one used in the rest of the window.  In
       the default palette, most lines have a blue background but the
       highlighted one (the current selection) has a green background, so
       you see a green stripe across the window.  Various keystrokes, or
       a mouse click, can be used to select any line in the list as the
       highlighted one.

       A scrolling list window appears whenever you choose a mail file to
       unpack, or choose a message area to read or post a message in, or
       choose a message to read within an area, or choose a tagline.
       This list window works the same in all cases... mostly.

       Everything can be done with either the keyboard or the mouse.
       With the mouse, you can highlight a line by clicking on it with
       the left button, and if you double-click on a line, the window is
       closed and that line is taken as your final selection.  If there
       are more lines than the window has room for, you can use the
       scroll gadget at the right edge to move more lines into the
       visible area.  If you don't want to make any selection, click the
       close gadget in the upper left corner, and it will close the
       window and behave as if you had never opened it -- anything you
       did to move the highlighted line will be ignored.


                                     - 12 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 1.6


       Keyboard control is mostly done with arrow keys.  Pressing the up
       or down arrow key moves the highlighted bar up or down by one
       line, and you can also move the highlight line up or down by a
       "page" (as many lines as show in the window, minus one) by
       pressing an up or down arrow key with an Alt key held down, or by
       pressing the "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys on the numeric keypad.  You
       can jump to the first or last line with the "Home" and "End"
       numeric pad keys, or pressing an up or down arrow key with the
       Ctrl key held down.

       Pressing return or the spacebar closes the window, selecting the
       line that is highlighted at the time as your final choice.  The
       Enter key on the numeric pad also works.  To close the window and
       have Q-Blue behave as if it had not been opened, press the Esc
       key.  In other words, pressing the return key can be thought of as
       "okay", and pressing Esc can be thought of as "cancel".  The same
       distinction applies to double-clicking a line vs. clicking the
       close gadget.  A common mistake, perhaps most often made with the
       window for selecting what area to post a message in, is to select
       a different line and then click the close gadget instead of
       pressing return or double-clicking.  This causes your selection to
       be ignored.

       The list window need not be the active window -- if any window on
       Q-Blue's screen is active (except the "Packer command output"
       console window, an ASL requester, or something opened by another
       program), these keys will work.




       2) AN OVERVIEW OF HOW TO USE Q-BLUE

           2.1) Installation and configuration

       Q-Blue 2.4 should be usable on just about any Amiga computer with
       at least one megabyte of memory and AmigaDOS version 2.04 or
       newer.  Anyone still running AmigaDOS 1.3 or 1.2 can use Q-Blue
       1.0, which is the last version that still works on those systems.
       Q-Blue is even usable on systems without a hard disk.

       Before it is possible to use Q-Blue, you have to configure various
       settings.  Most importantly, you have to set aside a couple of
       disk directories for use by the program, which are not used by
       anything else (see section 3.5).  If you want to write replies,
       rather than just reading, you have to tell it how to use your text
       editor (it is set up to use C:Ed by default).  There are other
       things to set up as well, but these are the most essential.  The
       configuration steps are the least intuitive part of using the
       program, and are covered in detail in sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 of
       this manual.




                                     - 13 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 2.1


       You may also wish to install some IBM style fonts for Q-Blue to
       use, since the IBM character set, rather than the 8 bit ISO set
       normally used by the Amiga, is standard in most of the BBS world.
       Four such fonts are included with the Q-Blue package, along with
       three non-IBM fonts.  The script called "Install" will unpack and
       install whichever fonts you select.  If you double-click on this
       icon, it will put up a series of requesters that ask you which
       fonts you want to use, and where to put them.  It first asks you
       whether you want to select a special place to install them,
       instead of the normal FONTS: directory.  If you select "Yes", it
       presents you with an ASL file requester to allow you to pick
       another directory.

       The script describes each font in turn, mentioning what screen
       types it's intended for, asking you whether you want to install
       it.  The available fonts are in two groups: some using the IBM
       character set that is commonly used with BBS mail, and some using
       the ISO character set that is used by normal Amiga fonts.  Each
       set has a selection of fonts suitable for different screen
       resolutions.  It goes through the IBM fonts first and the ISO
       fonts last.

       The four IBM fonts are: newcleanibm size 8, which is 8 pixels wide
       and suitable for a basic noninterlaced NTSC or PAL screen; tallibm
       size 11, 12, and 14, which is also 8 pixels wide and suitable for
       interlaced or productivity screens 400 or more pixels tall;
       wideibm size 9, 12, and 14, which is 10 pixels wide and useful
       only with screen modes 800 pixels wide, which older Amigas cannot
       display; and stretchibm size 12, which is 9 pixels wide and useful
       only for NTSC or PAL screens which use extreme horizontal overscan
       to achieve a width of 720 pixels.

       The ISO fonts are exact equivalents in size and appearance to the
       IBM fonts, and include talliso 11, 12, and 14, wideiso 12 and 14,
       and stretchiso 12.  There is no newcleaniso 8 or wideiso 9 because
       the Amiga's built-in fonts topaz 8 and topaz 9 fill these roles.
       Either font type can be used if the mail you read is all basic
       7-bit ASCII.  These fonts are generally all similar in appearance,
       with a look much like that of an old version of topaz 11 that was
       included with AmigaDOS 1.3.  They are not sans-serif like the
       modern topaz fonts, except for the 8 point newcleanibm font.

       The "Install" icon runs a script using IconX, so various standard
       commands such as Copy must be available in your C: directory.  You
       can, if desired, install the fonts manually with a suitable
       command in a CLI (AmigaShell) window, or by using a directory
       utility program.  To do it with a CLI command, CD to the directory
       the Q-Blue archive was unpacked into, and give a command such as
       "Copy fonts/#? ALL FONTS:".

       If you have already installed the newcleanibm and tallibm fonts
       from a version of Q-Blue earlier than 2.3, you should go ahead and
       install the new versions, replacing them.  Numerous small


                                     - 14 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 2.1


       improvements have been made in the fonts.  The wideibm and
       stretchibm fonts may be useful to you if you intend to use Q-Blue
       with higher than normal horizontal resolution, but if not, you may
       have little reason to unpack them.  These fonts can also be of use
       in terminal programs when calling BBSes.

       In the downloadable version currently distributed, the "Install"
       script does not do much more than install the fonts.  It can also
       install a text file called "Taglines" which can be used with
       Q-Blue's tagline function, to a directory you select.  To install
       the program itself, you would simply drag its icon to whatever
       directory you want to keep it in.  The same goes for this manual,
       "Q-Blue.doc".

       Once the installation and internal setup is complete, you can use
       Q-Blue to read mail.  A broad outline of how to do this is given
       in sections 2.2 through 2.6.


           2.2) Downloading a mail packet to read

       To use Q-Blue, you first need some mail to read.  To get it, log
       on to a BBS that has messages you want to read, using your modem
       and telecommunications software as you normally would.  Then, use
       whatever command the BBS provides to create QWK or Blue Wave mail
       packets.  Often, this is a command for starting up a separate
       "door" program within the BBS system.  (This manual will use the
       term "door" generically to refer to offline mail packing systems,
       even when they are a built-in feature of the BBS.)  Optionally,
       give commands to the door program to select what mail you want to
       read.  Usually you would just give a simple command that means,
       "Send me all new messages that I have not read yet, in the areas
       I've been reading." The door will pack the mail into a file using
       some archiving program such as Zip or LHA, and then let you
       download that file by some protocol such as ZModem.

       QWK compatible doors vary greatly, and this manual can't begin to
       describe how to operate all of the different ones that exist.  But
       Blue Wave doors are quite consistent between different BBSes.

       One note about QWK doors: some offer an option to send packets
       that do not include ".NDX" files.  You may use this option with
       Q-Blue, as those files are usually redundant and Q-Blue can
       therefore ignore them.  Many other QWK readers require them.

       If you find that you need to re-download some mail that the mail
       door thinks you have already read, such as if a packet is
       accidentally deleted, see the discussion of "pointer files" in
       section 8.3.  Q-Blue saves copies of these files from the packets
       you read, when a BBS provides them.





                                     - 15 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 2.3


           2.3) Starting Q-Blue and opening a packet

       After the mail packet has been downloaded into your Amiga, log off
       of the BBS and start up Q-Blue.  Either double-click its Workbench
       icon, or just type "Q-Blue" to a command prompt in a CLI window.
       When started with a CLI command, it automatically detaches itself
       to run in the background, so that you get your command prompt back
       right away.  If the program is not located in a directory included
       in your command path, you may have to type the program name with a
       directory path in front of it.

       When starting Q-Blue, you can specify a mail packet to open,
       either on the command line, by shift-double-clicking the packet
       when starting from Workbench, or with a "tool type" line in the
       Workbench icon.  Details on this are in section 3.1, which also
       describes how to specify an alternate configuration file to change
       Q-Blue's option settings.

       If you do not use this option, Q-Blue will present you with a
       mostly blank custom screen, with seven gadgets at the bottom, the
       leftmost one of which is labeled "Open".  (Unless, that is, you
       use a setup option to remove these gadgets.)  To open a mail
       packet, you can either click on this gadget with the left mouse
       button, or press the letter O on the keyboard, or use the right
       mouse button to select the "Open packet" option from the "Packet"
       menu.  These are all equivalent ways of giving the "Open" command.
       This is the leftmost of four menus, the other three being
       "Messages", "Replies", and "Setup".  The gadgets at the bottom are
       mostly just shortcuts for menu items.

       The result of selecting "Open" will be that Q-Blue will display a
       window labeled "Select file to unpack -- enter or double-click",
       showing a list of files in the directory that your downloads are
       kept in.  This is a list window of the type described in section
       1.6.  Telling Q-Blue which directory your packets are downloaded
       into is part of the setup process, and is covered in section 3.4.

       The mail packet you just downloaded will typically be the first
       file listed in this window; others are listed in order of
       increasing age.  The first file shown is highlighted.  You can
       select this (or another) file as described in section 1.6, for
       instance by pressing return.  Q-Blue will then attempt to unpack
       the file for reading.  In most cases it will automatically figure
       out which of several possible decompression programs to use.

       Alternatively, you can use the gadget labeled "No Pkt." or the
       N key, which correspond to the "Open (no packet)" menu item.  This
       option allows you to write messages for uploading to a BBS you
       have called in the past, without having any downloaded mail packet
       on hand to read.  It works like reading a normal mail packet,
       except that instead of being able to read a set of messages from
       the BBS, there is only one blank "placeholder" message.  Instead
       of displaying a list of mail packets, the selection window


                                     - 16 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 2.3


       displays a list of special files, each of which describes one BBS
       that you have read mail packets from previously.  Section 8.4
       describes this fully.


           2.4) Reading the messages

       After showing you the operation of the decompression program in a
       text window labeled "Packer command output", and assuming that the
       unpacking is successful, Q-Blue will show you a window which lists
       the different message areas in which messages exist.  BBSes
       typically separate messages on different topics into distinct
       areas; for instance, one for messages about programming, another
       one for talking about movies, another for bondage fantasies, still
       another for sharing adventures in stamp collecting, and so on.
       These different areas, or "conferences" or "subs" as they are
       sometimes called, are listed in a window labeled "Select message
       area -- Enter or double-click".  It works just like the file
       selection window.  If you want to start at the beginning, just
       press return.

       If you want to read your own personal mail first, a special area
       near the top of the list, just above the first "real" area,
       contains copies of all messages in the packet that were addressed
       to you (if any).  Above that there may be another special area
       where you can read extra text files included with the packet, such
       as news about the BBS, welcome and goodbye messages, updated
       bulletins, and perhaps a list of new files available to download.
       The highlight bar normally starts out on the first regular message
       area, which comes after the personal messages area if any.  To
       read the personal messages or the bulletins first, use the up
       arrow key or double-click with the mouse on the desired line.

       If you have already opened this same packet once before, the
       highlighted line is the area in which you were last reading when
       you closed the packet.  This allows you to close a mail packet,
       reopen it later, and resume right where you left off.

       After you have selected an area and this window has closed, it
       might, depending on the preference options you have chosen in
       setting up Q-Blue, show you another window listing all the
       messages in the selected area, showing who they are from, who they
       are addressed to, and the subject header of the message.  The
       title bar of the window will show the name of the message area.
       Normally the highlighted line is the first one -- the first
       message in the area.  But again, if you have already opened this
       packet once before, then the highlighted line will be the last
       message that you had read in this area before closing the packet.

       Now you are reading the mail.  The author, addressee, subject,
       area, and date are shown in the box at the top of the screen (blue
       with a red border in the default eight color palette), and the
       text is shown in the large blank area in the middle.  If the


                                     - 17 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 2.4


       message is too big to fit on the screen, you can display the next
       screenful by pressing the spacebar.  You can move the message text
       up or down one line at a time with the arrow keys, or show the
       next or previous screenful with the "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys (9 and
       3) on the numeric pad of your keyboard.  Pressing the up and down
       arrow keys while holding down one of the Alt keys also does this.
       You can also scroll text up and down with the mouse: click it near
       the bottom edge of the screen and text scrolls up until you
       release the mouse button; click it in the box above the text and
       it scrolls down.  By clicking and dragging the mouse in the middle
       you can select a section of text which is copied into the system
       clipboard.  And if your overscan preferences allow some extra
       horizontal room, there will be a scroll gadget along the right
       edge of the screen, which can be used as another way to scroll the
       message text up and down.  The less obvious mouse scrolling method
       can be used if the scroll bar does not fit into the display.

       To see the next message, you can press the right arrow key, or
       click the gadget labeled "Next" at the bottom of the screen, or
       press the spacebar when the bottom of the message text is visible
       on the screen.  The left arrow key and the "Prev." gadget make it
       go back to earlier messages.

       When you reach the last message in the area you are reading,
       pressing the spacebar or right arrow, or clicking the "Next"
       gadget, normally causes the "Select message area" window to
       reappear.  (There is a setup option that can make it simply enter
       the next area, if desired.)  The highlight bar is now on the next
       line.  If you want to keep reading the messages in order, just
       press return or the spacebar as before.  You can read through all
       the messages in the packet just by pressing the spacebar.


           2.5) Writing messages and replies

       At some point you may see a message you want to reply to.  To
       do this, click the gadget at the bottom of the screen labeled
       "Reply", or select "Reply to this msg" from the "Replies" menu,
       which is the third of the four menus, or press the R key.  Up will
       pop a window labeled "Writing a reply" which shows who the message
       is from (you), who it is to (the author of the message you are
       replying to), and the subject line of the message (which by
       default is the same as the subject of the message being replied
       to, with "Re:" added in front).  These are regular Amiga string
       gadgets which you can edit in the usual way, except that the
       "From:" gadget may be ghosted so you can't edit it, if the message
       area is marked as not allowing you to use a different name.  (If
       you are reading QWK mail, it will let you put any name in there,
       but the mail door may ignore it... or in some cases even discard
       the message!)  It will try to activate the "Subj.:" gadget for
       editing when the window is opened, unless the "To:" gadget is
       blank; if you don't like the message title that's there you can



                                     - 18 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 2.5


       clear it by pressing right-Amiga-X when it's active, and then
       typing in a new title.

       At the bottom of this window is a gadget labeled "Edit", with a
       bent arrow next to it, shaped like the one on your return key.
       This arrow indicates that pressing the return key is the same as
       clicking the "Edit" button.  Click it, or press the E key, or
       press return, and your text editing program should appear, ready
       to edit the text of your reply.  If it doesn't, you probably need
       to change something in your editor setup.  See section 4 for
       information on getting editors to work with Q-Blue.

       If you have used the "Quoting" feature, the message you are
       replying to will be shown in the editor, with (depending on your
       setup) ">" characters all down the left margin.  You should now
       select the parts of the message that you want to mention in your
       reply, and write what you want to say in response.  If you are
       creating the reply in a second file (this is an option you can
       choose during setup), then move only the parts you need to the
       second file; if using just one file, then erase the parts you
       don't need.  Then type in your response.  When you're done, tell
       the editor to save and close the file.

       The Q-Blue display should reappear on the screen.  If not, you may
       have to move screens around to find it.  The bent arrow should now
       be next to the gadget marked "Save" instead of "Edit".  If not,
       and the gadgets in the window are ghosted, then Q-Blue is still
       waiting for your editor to finish.  You may have to tell the
       editor to exit completely, to get Q-Blue to come back to life.  If
       your editor supports ARexx or has a separate "activator" program,
       you should be able to leave it running continuously instead of
       exiting every time you finish writing a message -- for details,
       see section 4 below on setting up the editor.

       At any time during this process, you can click the "Tagline"
       gadget, and select a little one-line addendum to be tacked onto
       the end of the message, if you have set up a text file containing
       suitable lines.  Or you can optionally cause this to be done
       automatically, without the gadget being used.

       You can still adjust the various gadgets in the window, or choose
       "Edit" again if you want to make further changes to the text.
       When you're satisfied, click "Save" or press the S or return key,
       and your reply will be stored and the window will close.  Use the
       "Cancel" button or the letter C if you want to throw your reply
       away.  The window's close gadget also works.

       You can also write messages that are not replies to another
       message.  Give the "Write" command instead of "Reply", with the
       gadget or the W key or the "Write new message" menu item, and the
       same window comes up, except that the subject and the name of the
       person it's addressed to are blank.  The process of writing the
       message works the same way, except you don't start out with a


                                     - 19 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 2.5


       quoted copy of a message you are replying to -- you just write a
       message from scratch.


           2.6) Packing and uploading your replies

       When you've read all the messages, you need to create an upload
       packet containing your replies.  If you wrote any replies, the
       gadget in the lower left corner of the screen is labeled "Pack",
       which corresponds to the "Pack replies" menu item.  Q-Blue will
       then compress all your replies into a single file you can upload,
       using the same archiving method that it used to unpack the
       messages you read.  The gadget in the lower left corner will now
       read "Close", as it does when no replies have yet been written; it
       and the C key are equivalent to the "Close packet" menu item.
       This command tells Q-Blue to clear this message packet from its
       memory when you're done reading it, so you can read another.

       Or instead, you can exit Q-Blue with the "Quit" gadget or the
       "Quit Q-Blue" menu item.  If you do this while a mail packet is
       still open, it will put up a requester giving you the option of
       leaving the packet's files still in your work directory after
       quitting, so you can resume reading later without needing to
       unpack it again (see the end of section 9.3).

       If you wrote any replies, it's time now to call the BBS back.
       Log on again, start the mail door again, and tell it to receive a
       reply upload.  On some BBSes, there may be a single command
       telling it to receive a reply packet, without using a door
       program.  Send the file when it tells you to, wait for it to post
       the messages it got, and log off again.  You're all done.  If you
       want to save phone calls, you can wait until the next time you
       want to download, and do your uploading in the same call.






















                                     - 20 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.1


                              PART 2: CONFIGURATION


       3) STARTING Q-BLUE, AND BASIC CONFIGURATION

           3.1) Configuration files and startup options

       Q-Blue stores its configuration settings in files.  When starting
       Q-Blue, you can optionally specify what file Q-Blue will load its
       configuration from.  You can do this either on the command line or
       in the Workbench icon.  The file "S:Q-Blue.config" is used by
       default, if you do not specify a different one.  These files are
       created with the "Save setup" command inside Q-Blue, which is
       described in the next section.  If the standard configuration file
       does not exist, Q-Blue will use default values, which will not let
       you read mail without filling in some paths that are left blank in
       the Directories setup window (see section 3.4 and especially 3.5).

       To specify a configuration file in a CLI command, type the full
       pathname of the file after the word "CONFIG" on the Q-Blue command
       line: for instance, "Q-Blue config S:Other.config".  (As mentioned
       above, there is no need to type "Run", because Q-Blue detaches
       itself to run in the background.)  With an icon, select the icon
       and use the Workbench "Information" menu item to edit the icon's
       "Tool Type" lines.  A Tool Type line that begins with "CONFIG="
       specifies the configuration file to use; you enter the file's full
       name after the equal sign.  The icon comes with a sample "CONFIG="
       line with parentheses around it; remove the parentheses to use it
       with a real filename.

       You can create project icons which have Q-Blue as their "default
       tool" and different configuration files specified with the Tool
       Type line; each icon, when double-clicked, will run Q-Blue with a
       different setup.  This can also be used for variations in other
       Tool Type options such as "PACKET", of course.  Note that such
       project icons should not be attached to real files; they must be
       bare icons or, due to the internal design of the Workbench, Q-Blue
       will mistake the file for a mail packet to open.  In other words,
       if your project icon is saved under the name "Alternate-Blue"
       (from IconEdit, for instance), make sure there is no actual file
       named "Alternate-Blue" in the same drawer.  If there are no Tool
       Types in the project icon, those of the Q-Blue tool icon itself
       will apply.  If it can't find or can't read the specified file, it
       will attempt to use the standard file "S:Q-Blue.config".

       You can also specify a packet to be opened, just by putting the
       filename of the mail packet on the command line.  A command such
       as "Q-Blue Work:Mail/whatever.qwk", tells it to immediately try to
       open the named file as a mail packet and display the messages in
       it, as if you had started up Q-Blue, given the "Open" command, and
       then selected this file as the one to open.  The same thing
       happens if you click on the Q-Blue icon and then shift-double-
       click on the icon of a mail packet.  (Of course, the packet does


                                     - 21 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.1


       not need an actual icon if the Workbench "Show >> All Files"
       option is used.)  With icon Tool Types, the equivalent is a line
       starting with "PACKET=", such as "PACKET=Work:Mail/whatever.qwk".
       The word "OPEN" can be substituted for "PACKET" in the Tool Type
       line, for compatibility with older versions of Q-Blue.  On the
       command line, the word "PACKET" may optionally be used before the
       packet filename.  You need not specify an absolute pathname; you
       can give a filename relative to the downloads directory specified
       in Q-Blue's setup (see section 3.4).  For instance, the example
       above could be just "Q-Blue whatever.qwk" if you have selected
       "Work:Mail" as your downloads directory.  Section 8 of this manual
       has full detail on the process of opening mail packets for reading.

       You can also specify a wildcard pattern after the word PACKET.  In
       this case, it searches through all files matching the pattern, to
       decide what file to open as a mail packet.  If more than one file
       matches, it selects the newest one which does not have a name
       ending in ".NEW" or ".REP" -- those names indicate reply packets.
       So if you call a BBS that uses Blue Wave, and download packets
       with names like "WHATEVER.MO1" or "WHATEVER.TU1", you can create a
       project icon which will open whichever of those packets is newest
       by giving it a tool type that reads "PACKET=whatever.???".  You
       may also use a path before the pattern, but Q-Blue does not handle
       wildcards in the directory path part of the name; something like
       "work:mail/#?/whatever.#?"  will not work.  Note that if the only
       filenames fitting the wildcard pattern are reply packets, it will
       attempt to open one of these as a mail packet.  This will, of
       course, produce an error message when it tries to read the mail.

       You can add the word "NOPACKET".  If this is specified along with
       a filename for the PACKET option, the file you name is treated as
       a BBS file, of the kind that you would select with the "Open (no
       packet)" menu option.  As a tooltype, enter "NOPACKET=Yes" or just
       "NOPACKET"; the filename goes after "PACKET=" as above.  This
       option allows you to write messages for a BBS without opening a
       real mail packet to reply to.  If you name such a file without the
       word NOPACKET, you'll get an error message, and the same applies
       if you name a real mail packet when using this option.  When
       NOPACKET is used, the default directory in which it looks for the
       file you name is your BBS context directory, instead of your
       downloads directory.  The BBS context directory is where Q-Blue
       saves the BBS files for the various BBSes you read mail from.
       Section 3.4 explains how to select this directory.

       You may also use the keyword "POPKEY" in the command or in a tool
       type.  If this word is followed by a key description such as is
       used by commodity programs, for instance "control lcommand q" to
       indicate a press of the letter Q with the Ctrl and left Amiga keys
       held down, then Q-Blue will pop its screen to the front whenever
       that key combination is pressed, no matter what window or program
       is active, or reopen its screen if it is iconified.  By default,
       there is no special key and this feature is unused.  When used on
       the command line, a key description with spaces in it must have


                                     - 22 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.1


       quotes around it.  And note that due to peculiarities of the Amiga
       commodities system, if you specify a letter key (such as Q in the
       example), you must type the letter in lowercase or the result may
       not work properly.

       The final option that can be used in the command line or in a Tool
       Type is "LIST" (or "OPENLIST", for compatibility with older
       versions).  If you type "Q-Blue list" at a command prompt, or use
       a Tool Type line reading "LIST=Yes" or just "LIST", then Q-Blue
       will not try to open a particular mail packet file when it starts
       up, but will immediately display a list of the files available to
       open in your downloads directory, in the same way it does if you
       use the "Open" gadget or menu command within Q-Blue.  If
       "NOPACKET" is also specified, it will display a list of BBS files
       as if you had used the "Open (no packet)" command.  "LIST" is
       ignored if a mail packet filename is also specified, unless the
       packet cannot be opened.

       If you give the command "Q-Blue ?" it will prompt you with its
       command template, giving you another chance to enter arguments.
       The template it will prompt you with is "PACKET,CONFIG/K,POPKEY/K,
       NOPACKET/S,LIST=OPENLIST/S".  It will detach from the CLI after
       you enter the arguments.  Or you can press Ctrl-C at this point to
       stop the program from running.

       The keywords such as "CONFIG" on the command line can be upper or
       lower case, but Tool Type keywords are generally all uppercase --
       lowercase won't work at all under AmigaDOS 2.04, though they will
       under DOS 2.1.  The four options may appear in any order.  For
       example, "Q-Blue config S:OtherConfig whatever.qwk" specifies that
       "whatever.qwk" should be opened after loading the setup from
       "S:OtherConfig".

       Note that the supplied Workbench icon contains a stack setting of
       8000.  Do not use an icon without this stack setting -- Q-Blue
       will refuse to run, showing an error message in a system requester
       on the Workbench screen.  When run from a CLI prompt it sets its
       own stack automatically as it detaches itself to run in the
       background, so the CLI's stack setting does not matter.


           3.2) The Setup menu; loading and saving configurations

       All of the commands for setting up Q-Blue are found in the
       rightmost of the four pull-down menus, which is labeled "Setup".
       The top item, "Sort messages", is a submenu that lets you choose
       in what order to read the messages in a mail packet.  The setting
       currently selected has a checkmark next to it.  You can pick a
       different setting either by selecting the appropriate menu item,
       or with a keyboard shortcut.  The shortcuts in these submenus are
       shown in each menu subitem with "Ctrl-" in front of the key you
       need to press, meaning that you have to hold down the Ctrl key
       while pressing the letter.  The Ctrl key is not used for any menu


                                     - 23 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.2


       commands except setting the message sorting order.  The various
       settings are explained in the next section.

       In the middle of the "Setup" menu are seven menu items which allow
       you to configure different parts of the setup: "Directories",
       "Editor", "Replying", "Compressors", "Font & Screen", "Options",
       and "BBS Local".  Each of these opens a window with gadgets for
       telling Q-Blue the necessary information -- we will refer to them
       as the Directories setup window, the Editor setup window, and so
       on.  They can be opened with the keyboard as well as by using the
       menu; the key shortcuts are Alt-D, Alt-E, Alt-Y, Alt-C, Alt-F,
       Alt-O, and Alt-B.  The Directories window is covered in sections
       3.4 and 3.5; the Editor and Compressors windows are explained at
       length in sections 4 and 5 respectively; the other three windows
       are covered in section 6.

       If either the Directories or the Editor window is not set up at
       least minimally, Q-Blue will put up a requester when the program
       starts, reminding you to finish the setup before reading mail.
       The other five setup windows have default settings that may not
       need to be changed.  The Directories window starts out empty, so
       you must set some paths there before the program can be used.  The
       editor window has a default configuration using the "Ed" editor.

       At the bottom of the "Setup" menu are items labeled "Load setup"
       and "Save setup" -- their shortcuts are Alt-L and Alt-S.  "Save
       setup" is used for creating configuration files that can be either
       loaded with "Load setup" or specified at startup time, for
       instance with a "CONFIG=" icon tool type (see section 3.1).  It
       stores in this small file every option setting that you can change
       with the Setup menu, except those in the BBS Local window, which
       are stored in their own separate files.  It also stores the
       current setting of the "Compression type" submenu of the "Packet"
       menu, which is covered in section 8.1.

       The "Load setup" and "Save setup" commands each open a file
       requester for selecting where the data should be read from or
       written to.  The default filename is whatever configuration file
       was last loaded or saved, or the one the program loaded when it
       started up.  If you load in a different file with "Load setup",
       every setting in the Setup menu could be changed.  All changes
       take immediate effect except for: (1) the font and screen
       settings, which take effect when you close and reopen the screen
       (see sections 6.2 and 8.1), and (2) if a packet is currently open,
       the work and reply directory settings, which take effect the next
       time a packet is opened (see section 3.5).  If the message writing
       window is open, "Load setup" will refuse to change the sort order
       or anything in the Editor setup window (see section 4.1).  To take
       full effect, it should not be used while writing a message.

       Q-Blue 2.4 can load old configuration files written by any past
       version of Q-Blue, and in fact, the original Q-Blue 0.7 can read
       configuration files written by any later version.  This makes


                                     - 24 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.2


       replacing an old version of Q-Blue with a new one quite painless,
       because you don't have to redo any of the installation or setup
       procedures.  All you have to do is copy the new version of the
       program over the old one (you can just drop the new one's icon on
       top of the old one), and next time you use it, pick settings for
       any new options that weren't present in the old version.  The
       options added between versions 2.1 and 2.3 are in the "Options"
       and "BBS Local" setup windows, with one new item in the "Editor"
       window.  Q-Blue 2.4 adds only one further "Options" item.

       Also stored in the configuration file are the current positions
       and sizes of the various windows that Q-Blue opens.  If you open a
       setup window or a list window or a search window or a message
       writing window, and move or resize them, Q-Blue will remember
       where on the screen you last left them, and if you then use "Save
       setup", from then on it will reopen those windows in the same
       places.  The three ASL requesters do not always follow this rule:
       they only remember their new positions if you actually select
       something, not if you cancel them. Also, the font requester won't
       remember a new position at all if you are using version 37 of
       asl.library (the one that came with AmigaDOS 2.04).  If you are
       using that old version, you should get a more up-to-date copy from
       someone who has AmigaDOS 2.1 or newer, because there is no screen
       mode requester in that version, and the file requester is very
       slow.  The newer asl.library from 2.1 will work fine even if the
       rest of the system is not updated.

       If you change the screen to a different display mode, so that the
       screen is not the same height as it was the last time a given
       window was open, any window you reopen will reset to its default
       position.  Changing the width of the screen does not affect this,
       because all of the windows automatically stretch and shrink
       horizontally in proportion to the screen.  The only window which
       never remembers a new position is the console window that the
       output of compression commands is displayed in.


           3.3) Message sorting order

       The order in which messages are sorted is set with a submenu at
       the top of the "Setup" menu, labeled "Sort messages".  It can be
       used both to select in what order messages will appear when a
       packet is opened, and to re-order the messages you are reading.
       Note: your replies are not resorted, but left in the order they
       were written.  Bulletins and other special files are also not
       resorted.  The sorting does not affect the ordering of message
       areas, only the sequence of messages within each area.  There are
       six choices of sorting order:

        - "by number"; shortcut Ctrl-N.  This is the default setting.  It
            shows the messages in their "natural" order -- usually the
            same order that they would appear if you read them online,



                                     - 25 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.3


            according to the numbers that the BBS assigns them as they
            are added to the message areas.

        - "by age"; shortcut Ctrl-A.  This sorts messages by the date and
            time each message was first written, from oldest to newest.
            Numeric order is often not very different from chronological
            order, but when offline readers and networks are involved,
            the time a message appears on the BBS may be different from
            when it was created.  Also note that the times on messages
            are local and do not include time zone information, so a
            message from New York written at noon is actually older than
            one from California written at 11:00 AM, but Q-Blue will
            think it's newer.

        - "by subject"; shortcut Ctrl-S.  This sorts messages according
            to the alphabetical order of their title or subject lines.
            This tends to put messages on a given topic together in one
            place.  If "Re:" is present at the beginning of the subject
            line, it only pays attention to the remaining text after
            that.  Messages with the same subject are sorted by age.  It
            attempts to recognize cases where a subject line has been
            truncated, and consider the short version "equal" to the
            longer one.

        - "by thread"; shortcut Ctrl-D.  Any message that is a reply to
            an earlier one, or which has been replied to later, often
            stores the identifying numbers of those messages in its
            header information.  Sorting by thread causes all sets of
            messages connected to each other in this manner to be
            collected into groups.  Each group is sorted internally by
            age, and the groups themselves are sequenced alphabetically
            by the subject line of the oldest message in each, at least
            roughly.  This method lets you read each "conversation" as
            one group of adjacent messages.

        - "by who from"; shortcut Ctrl-F.  This sorts alphabetically by
            the names of the messages' authors, so that all messages from
            one person are together in one place.  Messages by one author
            are put in numeric order, which should be the same as chrono-
            logical order unless they post from two different BBSes.

        - "by who to"; shortcut Ctrl-T.  This sorts by the names that the
            messages are addressed to.  This can let you, in a way, put
            yourself in someone else's shoes, seeing the mail addressed
            to a particular person all together.

       There is another checked option below these, marked "Last name
       first?", with the shortcut Ctrl-L.  When this is checked, sorting
       by authors' or addressees' names ("by who from" and "by who to")
       is done alphabetically by last name.  When it's not checked names
       are sorted by first name first, which is especially suitable if
       the messages are written using "handles" instead of real names.
       It is not checked by default.  Q-Blue knows that words such as


                                     - 26 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.3


       "Ph.D" or "Sr." or "III" are not last names; a name like "Ludwig
       van Beethoven Jr." will be sorted under "Beethoven" if this option
       is checked.

       When you change the sort order of a packet you are reading, it's
       not possible to "keep your place" in an area you have already read
       some messages in.  Whatever message is "current" in each area will
       remain current; in particular, the message displayed onscreen will
       not change.  But messages you have read before it may now be after
       it, and unread messages may now be before it.  You can use the
       "List messages" command to see which ones have been read (section
       7.5 describes how the list window indicates which messages have
       been read).  This is a change in behavior from Q-Blue 1.0: in that
       version, it would select as current the message just before the
       first unread message found in the area.

       Caution: sorting Blue Wave packets by date is not always reliable.
       The dates are in text form only, and may be stored in a variety of
       different formats, like "8 Jun 94" or "06-08-94" or "6/8/1994".
       It can't always be certain which number is the day and which is
       the month.  That second example could mean either June 8 or August
       6 depending on what country the message came from or what software
       was used to write it.  Q-Blue will assume June 8 in this case.

       Sorting by thread often does not work as well as it should.  Many
       messages do not store the information on which other messages are
       connected to them, so there may be many "gaps" between messages
       that ought to be associated.  How well the grouping will work
       depends greatly on what BBS you download the messages from.  In
       some cases this information on which messages were replies to
       which is entirely absent, and in others it is very spotty.  This
       is why connected groups are sorted in order of subject: so that
       messages that should be connected, but aren't, will still tend to
       end up near each other.


           3.4) The Directories setup window

       The most important single part of setting up Q-Blue is telling it
       what directories it will use.  The window for this purpose is
       opened by the "Directories" command in the "Setup" menu.  The
       keyboard shortcut for this window is Alt-D.  This window, which is
       labeled "Pathnames of essential directories" in its title bar, has
       seven string gadgets.  In the first five are the pathnames of the
       directories which Q-Blue uses.  If any of these directories are
       not specified, then Q-Blue cannot function fully.  This window
       will open automatically if you try to open a packet, or create
       replies, with necessary directories unspecified.  The five
       directories are:

        - the downloads directory: enter the complete pathname of the
            directory into which you will download mail packets from the
            BBSes you call.


                                     - 27 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.4


        - the uploads directory: enter the complete pathname of the
            directory from which replies will be uploaded to the BBSes
            you call.  This may be the same as the downloads directory.
            Typically, you would set these to be whatever directories
            your telecommunications program is already using for this
            purpose.

        - the BBS context directory: this is where Q-Blue stores certain
            files related to the different BBSes that you call.  It keeps
            files needed for several special features here, including the
            "Open (no packet)" command and the BBS Local setup window.

        - the work directory: this is where all of the contents of the
            download packet will be unpacked.  This MUST be a directory
            that is not used for any other files, because when you unpack
            mail, Q-Blue will DELETE EVERY FILE in this directory.  It is
            explained further in the next section.  The default setting
            is "T:" -- this must be changed if your computer does not
            have much spare memory.

        - the replies directory: this is where Q-Blue stores the messages
            you write, before they are compressed for uploading.  As with
            the work directory, this one MUST NOT be used for anything
            else, because Q-Blue will DELETE EVERY FILE in it when you
            open a mail packet or BBS file.  It may also delete them when
            the packet is closed, if you set the "Flush replies at close"
            option.  This one is also covered further in the next section.

       Make sure that you specify each directory as a complete pathname,
       so that it will always point to the same place regardless of what
       the program's current directory is.  Q-Blue will object if you
       enter a non-absolute pathname -- that is, a path not containing a
       colon after the first word.  All leading and trailing blanks will
       be removed from whatever you enter in the directory gadgets.

       The downloads directory is where Q-Blue looks for mail packets
       when you give the "Open packet" command.  That command normally
       opens a list window displaying the mail packets found in that
       directory, in order of age.  If there is no downloads directory or
       if it is empty, the ASL file requester can be used to open a mail
       packet in any directory.

       The uploads directory is where Q-Blue creates reply packets for
       uploading.  It is also where it checks to see whether a given mail
       packet has an existing reply packet that goes with it.  The
       downloads and uploads directories are used by Q-Blue only for
       storing compressed archive files, downloaded from the BBS or
       intended for uploading to it, but other unrelated files can be
       stored there if desired.  The various files that go inside these
       archives, which Q-Blue accesses when reading or writing messages,
       are kept in the work and replies directories while they are in use.




                                     - 28 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.4


       The BBS context directory is used to store four types of files:
       "BBS files" which are used in the "Open (no packet)" command
       described in section 8.4; "local setup files" which store the
       settings used for a particular BBS, and are created with the BBS
       Local setup window (see section 6.8); "marks" files, which store
       information on which messages have and have not been read in a
       given packet, and what the last message read in each area was, so
       that if you close a packet and then reopen it later, you will
       resume just where you left off; and "pointer" files, which are
       extracted from mail packets and, with some mail doors, will allow
       you to "undo" your last download if you need to reread the last
       batch of messages (see section 8.3).  If this directory is not
       specified, Q-Blue will work normally except for these features.
       You should specify some place where files will remain intact
       between different uses of Q-Blue.  In other words, do not use a
       ram disk directory.

       The Work and Replies directories are covered in the next section.
       The section after that (3.6) covers the last two gadgets, which
       are separated by a line from the five directory path gadgets.  The
       default work directory, "T:", should be changed if your computer
       doesn't have much spare memory.

       Pressing the tab key will activate the uppermost empty directory
       gadget, or if none are empty, it will activate the downloads
       directory gadget.  When you are done putting information into this
       window, just close it either by clicking the close gadget or
       pressing the Esc key.  It may refuse to close the window if there
       is something wrong with your selections -- for instance, if one of
       the directory paths you named actually specifies a file.  If this
       happens you must correct the problem before closing the window.


           3.5) The two most crucial directories

       Q-Blue can, if necessary, function more or less normally with most
       of the gadgets in the Directories setup window left unset.  But
       two of the directories are crucial to its operation.  They are the
       Work directory and the Replies directory.  The former is used to
       store the files that constitute a mail packet, while you are
       reading it.  The latter is used to store the replies you are
       writing in response.  In both cases, NO OTHER FILES should be kept
       in these directories.  Anything that does not belong there may be
       ERASED.

       A directory in ram disk is a good choice for the work directory,
       if you can spare the room, because the files it puts here are
       strictly temporary, and if they are put on a slow device, such as
       a floppy disk, it will create annoying delays.  However, if you
       don't have plenty of spare memory after starting Q-Blue, ram disk
       is not a good choice.  And I do mean plenty of spare memory,
       because not only can the temporary files placed here take up
       hundreds of kilobytes in some cases, but many modern compression


                                     - 29 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.5


       programs require another 200 or 300 Kb free in order to pack your
       replies for uploading.  You may also use a ram disk subdirectory
       for your replies, but since these usually do not take up much
       space or much time to write to disk (unless you are an exceedingly
       verbose message writer), it's safer not to use a ram disk.  The
       work directory's contents can always be replaced by just reopening
       the mail packet, but your replies may not be so easy to replace if
       there is a crash or other failure.

       Since the work and replies directories must each be used for only
       that purpose and nothing else, it is safest to specify directories
       that do not yet exist.  Q-Blue will create them when they are
       needed, as long as the parent directory exists.  If you specify a
       name ending in a colon -- that is, if you give a device or volume
       name, or an assigned name -- then Q-Blue will append the
       subdirectory name "Q-work" onto it.  The same rules hold for the
       replies directory, except that if it appends a subdirectory name
       it uses "Q-rep".  This behavior is new as of Q-Blue v2.0, and
       allows one to simply specify "RAM:" or some other disk name for
       both directories, whereas in old versions this would not work.  If
       you give a pathname not ending in a colon, then it uses the
       directory just as you specified it.  If you select a work or
       replies directory that already has some files in it, Q-Blue will
       display a warning message.

       It will display an error message if either the work or the replies
       directory (including any appended subdirectory name) has the same
       path as any other directory in the Directories setup window.  You
       will have to fix the error before it will let you close the window.

       If you run more than one copy of Q-Blue at a time, the different
       copies must all use different work and replies directory names.
       But this is handled automatically; it appends numbers onto the
       specified names to give each process a unique name to use.  Only
       the un-numbered name is shown in the setup window or saved in the
       configuration file.  A similar stratagem is used for the temporary
       filenames used in the Editor setup window.  If you ever run two
       copies of Q-Blue at once, don't be surprised if you find that
       you've got an "extra" replies directory on your disk.  If the
       original replies directory is named "Work:Mail/replies", for
       instance, the extra one would be named "Work:Mail/replies1".  And
       if your work directory is given as "RAM:" and you open packets in
       two processes at once, they will use the directories "RAM:Q-work"
       and "RAM:Q-work1".

       If more than one Q-Blue process is running, and you manually set
       one of them to use different directories than the others, then it
       will not append numbers onto those names.  Q-Blue 1.9 would add a
       number unnecessarily in this case, in processes other than the
       first one started.

       If you change the work or replies directory setting while a mail
       packet is open, the change will not affect the mail you are


                                     - 30 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 3.5


       reading.  It will continue to use the old work and replies
       directories until you close the packet and open another one.  This
       also applies when "Load setup" is used.  The replies directory
       setting will take immediate effect if the previous setting was
       blank or a nonexistent directory.

       When you open a BBS file with the "Open (no packet)" command
       described in section 8.4, only the replies directory is used.  The
       work directory setting only matters when opening an actual mail
       packet.


           3.6) Non-directory pathnames in the Directories window

       Under the five directory gadgets in the Directories setup window,
       separated from them by a line, are two other string gadgets.  The
       upper one is labeled "Printer output filename".  The default
       string in it is "PRT:".  It specifies where the output should be
       sent when you tell Q-Blue to print a message.  If this gadget is
       blank, the "Print message" command will give an error message.
       You can specify a disk file here, or something like "PAR:" to send
       text out the parallel port without being translated by the Amiga
       printer driver.

       Use of "PAR:" or something similar to access a port directly is
       often necessary if you are trying to print a message using the IBM
       character set.  Many printers understand IBM special characters,
       but the printer.device driver does not, and will assume the
       message is using the Amiga's usual 8 bit ISO character set and try
       to print it accordingly.  If your printer is built to use IBM
       characters, the driver will translate ISO characters into their
       nearest IBM equivalents, unaware that the text being printed is in
       IBM form already.  There is no good way to tell the Amiga to use a
       different character set when printing, so usually the best you can
       do is just hope that your printer can do the right thing if you
       send the message to it unfiltered.  However, one disadvantage of
       using PAR: or an equivalent instead of PRT: is that there is no
       good way to abort a failed attempt at printing.

       Last is a string labeled "Path for saving messages".  This is used
       with the "Save msg as file" command (section 9.4).  It specifies a
       default path to be used when it opens a file requester to ask you
       where the message should be saved.  You can specify the name of a
       file here, so that the save command will, by default, append the
       text of messages you save onto that file.  Or you can specify a
       directory name here, so that the requester knows what directory to
       look in but you can pick any filename within that directory.  If
       you put a slash ("/") on the end of the path, or use a name ending
       in a colon (":"), Q-Blue will know that the path is a directory
       and not a filename.  This is not necessary if the directory exists
       and can be found when the ASL requester is opened, but may be
       useful if it specifies, for example, a directory on a disk that's
       not always mounted.


                                     - 31 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.1


       4) SETTING UP A TEXT EDITOR FOR WRITING REPLIES

           4.1) The Editor setup window

       The "Editor" menu item in the "Setup" menu, or the keyboard
       shortcut Alt-E, opens the window titled "Configuration of text
       editor for writing messages".  It will be opened automatically if
       you try to write a message with no editor configured.  There are
       four string gadgets to set here, but two of them are optional.
       Below them are three checkmark gadgets, for controlling whether
       Q-Blue's screen will be moved behind other screens before starting
       the editor, or moved up front when the editor command finishes,
       and for specifying whether the editor can handle upper-ascii
       characters.

       Q-Blue can edit messages in two different ways.  The first, which
       is used for writing or re-editing messages that are not replies,
       just edits one text file.  The second method uses two files, with
       your reply in one and a copy of the message you are replying to in
       the other.  The second method need not, and in some cases must not
       be specified; if it is not, the first method is used for all reply
       editing.

       The four string gadgets let you specify two temporary filenames
       and two editor commands -- one pair for each type of editing.  The
       four strings are:

        - the temporary filename used for editing messages.  The default
            is "RAM:Reply".  You should almost certainly use a file in
            ram disk.  When it's time to edit a message, Q-Blue will
            write whatever text is to be edited into this file, call the
            editor, and then read the text back in from this file when
            the editing is done.

        - an optional second filename which, if specified, gives the
            name of a temporary file (typically in ram disk) into which
            Q-Blue will write the contents of whatever message you are
            replying to, modified according to your current quote style
            setting.  You can specify this if your editor can hold two
            files at once and allow you to conveniently move pieces from
            one to the other.  See section 4.3 below for a more complete
            description of how this can be used.

        - the command used to edit the first temporary file.  Typically
            this would just be the name of the editor followed by the
            name of the file, or the special sequence "@F".  For instance,
            if your regular editor is MEmacs (supplied on the AmigaDOS
            Extras disk), your command would be "MEmacs RAM:Reply", or
            "MEmacs @F".  The "@F" sequence is replaced with the name of
            the file in the first string gadget.  If your editor has an
            ARexx port, you could create an ARexx script to feed the file
            to the editor, and use a command such as "RX MyScript @F".
            In this case you could leave the editor running all the time


                                     - 32 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.1


            instead of exiting after each use.  The default command is
            "Ed @F", which uses the simple editor "Ed" that is included
            in the C: directory of standard Workbench disks.

        - an optional command to edit a reply using both of the temporary
            filenames, with the quoted original in one and your reply in
            the other.  Note that many editors only allow you to specify
            one file in the command used to start them up -- in this case
            it may not be possible to create a useful command here.  The
            sequence "@O" (that's the letter O for "Original", not a
            zero) is replaced with the second filename wherever it
            appears; "@F" with the first filename as in the first
            command.  "@O" has no meaning in the first command, only in
            the second.

       If you run more than one copy of Q-Blue, the temporary filenames
       actually used for editing messages may not match the names you
       specify exactly; they will have digits added to their names to
       make them unique.  This is one reason why "@F" and "@O" are
       available as shorthand designations for the two files.  But if you
       simply write out the filenames fully in the commands, as was done
       in older versions of Q-Blue, it will recognize them and replace
       them when needed with the modified filenames.

       Note that it is possible to edit the settings in this window while
       in the middle of writing a message.  This should be done only with
       care.  For instance, if you change the first filename, Q-Blue may
       be unable to load the reply you're writing until you somehow
       rename the temporary file you've created to match.

       As with the Directories setup window, pressing the tab key will
       activate a string gadget.  Which one it activates depends on which
       ones do and do not have some text in them -- it tries to guess
       which one most "needs" editing.  Leading and trailing blanks will
       be removed from whatever you put in the gadgets.

       At the bottom of the window are three checkmark gadgets.  The
       first two gadgets are labeled "Before edit, screen to back" and
       "After edit, screen to front".  The first one, when checked, tells
       Q-Blue to move its custom screen behind other screens before
       running the editor.  This may help make the editor's screen, or
       the Workbench screen if it uses that, be visible if the editor
       does not pop to the front by itself.  By default it is turned on,
       which is suitable for use with the default editor C:Ed, which
       normally opens its window on the Workbench screen.

       The "After edit, screen to front" checkmark tells Q-Blue to move
       its own screen to the front after the editor command finishes.
       This may reduce the need to shuffle through screens to find
       Q-Blue.  But this is only useful if the editor command waits until
       you are done editing before returning.  If your command merely
       sends an ARexx message or two to the editor and doesn't wait, or
       if your editor is a self-detaching program, the command will


                                     - 33 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.1


       finish almost immediately and this option would cause Q-Blue's
       screen to pop up and cover the screen you're trying to edit on,
       before you can write anything.  It is also checked by default, as
       is suitable for the default editing command.

       The final checkmark gadget is labeled "Remove upper ascii and
       control characters".  Certain editors will not correctly handle
       characters that are outside the basic ASCII character set, such as
       accented or umlauted letters, or ANSI control codes.  Particularly,
       the basic Ed editor that comes with AmigaDOS, which is the default
       editor in Q-Blue's initial setup, will reject any file that
       contains such characters, complaining that the file is "binary".
       When this gadget is checked, any such offending characters in the
       text being edited are replaced with asterisks.  With almost every
       other editor, this gadget should be unchecked.


           4.2) Specifying commands for running an editor

       Mostly, the commands that go into the second and fourth string
       gadgets in the Editor setup window can be just simple copies of
       commands you would type at a CLI prompt, but not always.  There
       are special codes you can include in them, which are marked by the
       use of an "@" character.  The "@F" and "@O" codes have already
       been mentioned.  They are optional; you can always just type out a
       filename given in the other string gadgets.  But those two are not
       the only special codes available.

       You can put two or more commands in each editor command gadget, by
       separating them with the characters "@N".  This gets translated
       into a line break.  When the command is run, it behaves as if you
       had typed the first part, pressed return, and then typed the next
       one.  You can have any number of consecutive commands, as long as
       they all fit in the string gadget, which holds 255 characters.
       The letter N after the at-sign can be upper or lower case.  For
       example, if some editor called MyEd requires a large stack
       setting, you could put a "Stack" command in front of the editor
       command, like this:

           Stack 16000 @N MyEd RAM:Reply

       Any auxiliary commands which you wish to apply to the message,
       such as a stand-alone spell checker or fancy tagline utility, can
       be included before or after the editor command, separated by "@N"
       sequences.

       There are a few other codes you can use in editor commands.  The
       sequence "@S" is replaced with an eight digit hexadecimal number
       that gives the address of Q-Blue's custom screen.  This is
       provided for any software that wants to open windows on Q-Blue's
       screen and uses a direct screen address rather than the name of a
       public screen.  This feature may not be supported in future Q-Blue
       releases; it is useful mainly for use with ConMan (see below).


                                     - 34 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.2


       Most modern programs that can open on different screens take a
       public screen name rather than a raw hex address, and Q-Blue's
       screen is public.  Its screen name is "Q-BLUE" unless that name
       is already taken, in which case a number will be added to the end,
       for example "Q-BLUE1", to make it unique.  Usually the number
       added to the public screen name is the same one that is added to
       the names of the work and replies directories, and the temporary
       editing filenames, when you run more than one copy of Q-Blue at
       once.  The sequence "@P" is replaced with the correct public
       screen name.  By giving a window specification such as
       "CON:0/0/640/200/My Window Name/CLOSE/SCREEN @P", you can open
       console windows on Q-Blue's screen.  This can be used, for
       instance, with the Ed editor, using its "WINDOW" argument, with
       an editor command such as this:

           Ed @F WINDOW "CON:0/12/640/188/Edit reply/CLOSE/SCREEN @P"

       With this command, the Ed editing window will appear on Q-Blue's
       screen instead of the Workbench screen.  In this case the "Screen
       to back before" and "Screen to front after" gadgets should be
       turned off.  But Ed has one small problem when run this way: any
       requesters it opens appear on the Workbench screen instead of on
       Q-Blue's screen.  If you are still using ConMan, use the window
       specification "CON:S@S/0/12/640/188/Edit reply/C" instead of the
       example given above.  In either case, the numbers giving the size
       of the window should be adjusted to match the size of screen you
       are using with Q-Blue.

       The codes "@B" and "@Q" are also available, and they work the same
       way in editor commands that they do in compressor commands (see
       section 5.3): whatever follows a "@B" sequence is ignored up until
       another "@B" is found, if the currently open packet is not in Blue
       Wave format, and likewise material between "@Q" sequences is
       ignored if the current packet is not in QWK format.  So if you
       want an editor command that works one way for QWK and another way
       for Blue Wave, put the Blue Wave part between two "@B" codes and
       the QWK part between two "@Q" codes.  Any other character after an
       at-sign is included in the command as is, with the "@" itself
       discarded.  So if you want to put an actual at-sign in the
       command, use "@@".

       When Q-Blue runs these commands, it uses your command path setting
       to find the programs to run.  To be specific: if Q-Blue was
       started from a CLI prompt, it uses the path known to the parent
       CLI process (if any), otherwise it uses the path known to the
       Workbench.  The Workbench process learns the path from what was
       set in the original CLI when the "LoadWB" command was executed to
       start it.  If no path is found in these places, it will look for
       some other CLI window that has a path, and use that.  The same
       rule applies when it runs compressor commands.

       Q-Blue is "deaf" to all input while the editor command is running.
       It cannot do anything at all until the editor command finishes.


                                     - 35 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.2


       It shows this by changing your mouse pointer to a stopwatch image
       and also by ghosting the gadgets in the message writing window.

       It's a good idea to keep your right margin in the editor set no
       higher than 77, because some BBS systems do not correctly handle
       uploaded messages with lines 78 or more characters long.  And
       usually, it's more convenient for others if your text is narrower
       than that, with a right margin of about 74 or 72.  This makes it
       easier, for instance, for people to quote what you say with some
       marker in the left margin without having to break long lines.


           4.3) Why use two separate editor commands?

       Some people find the meanings of the two different pairs of editor
       commands and filenames confusing.  A few examples may help to
       illustrate how they work.  Assume you're reading a message from
       some hypothetical person we'll call John Smith, which says:

           Do the right thing.
           Vote Republican.

       Since you are a rabid Anarcho-Syndicalist and have a low opinion
       of Republicans, you decide to give that ignorant Mr. Smith a piece
       of your mind.  You select "Reply" and then "Edit".  Let's assume
       that your quote style setting is "Add XX>" (see section 6.4 for
       information on quote style choices).

       First let's look at what happens if you have a simple editor setup
       using one filename and one command.  Q-Blue will write out a file,
       which with the default setup will be named "RAM:Reply", containing
       these lines:

           JS> Do the right thing.
           JS> Vote Republican.

       and then run your editor to edit that file.  The "JS>" markers are
       a commonly used way of reminding readers that these words are not
       yours, but quoted from what John Smith said.  If you specify a
       "Quote header" (see section 6.5) then that introductory text will
       be written above the two "JS>" lines.  You decide to use the line
       "Vote Republican" to remind people of what John Smith's message
       said.  So you delete the line saying "Do the right thing", put a
       blank line after "Vote Republican" and start typing, and save the
       file when you're done.  The result will be a message from you to
       John Smith with the line "JS> Vote Republican" at the top.

       If you later decide to re-edit this reply, because you've thought
       of even more reasons why Republicanism is wrong and only Anarcho-
       Syndicalism can save the world, Q-Blue will fill up the file
       RAM:Reply with a copy of the message you wrote before, still with
       "JS> Vote Republican" at the top, and give that to the editor.



                                     - 36 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.3


       If you use an editor setup with two commands, then when you select
       "Edit" the first time to write the message, the file RAM:Reply
       will be empty, except for your "signature" if you have specified
       one.  The two lines starting with "JS>" will be in a different
       file -- the second one named in the Editor setup window.  Let's
       say it's named "RAM:Quotee".  Both of the files RAM:Quotee and
       RAM:Reply will be loaded separately into your editor.  Instead of
       deleting the "Do the right thing" line, in this case you would
       copy the "Vote Republican" line from RAM:Quotee to RAM:Reply,
       using the clipboard or whatever other method your editor provides
       for moving chunks between two separate files loaded at once.  Then
       you would type your response into RAM:Reply below the copied line,
       and save that file when finished.

       If you re-edit the message later, your editor will be loaded with
       your existing reply text in RAM:Reply (including the copied
       lines) and the two "JS>" lines in RAM:Quotee as before.  So if you
       decide to use the "Do the right thing" line which you left out
       earlier, you can copy it across now.  This is one big advantage of
       using two files: if you left out some part of the quoted text and
       then change your mind and want to use it, it's still available in
       the other file.  Also, if you only want to use a small part of the
       quote, you don't have to take the time to delete all the other
       parts -- you just lift the one small part you want out of that
       file and paste it into the other.  (This should help eliminate the
       annoying faux pas of writing a reply which quotes the entire text
       of a long message and only adds a one line response at the end, or
       worse yet accidentally posting the quoted text with no reply.)

       If you specify a signature string (see section 6.5), then if you
       have one editing command, the signature text will be written out
       after the quoted lines.  You should write your reply after the
       quoted lines and before the signature lines, for the resulting
       message to have the most easily understandable form.  If you use
       two editing commands, then the signature will be written into the
       reply file, not into the quote file.  The editor will be started
       with quoted text in one window and the signature in the other.
       You would write your reply above the signature.  So using a
       signature is easier with two files, because you just start writing
       at the beginning, which is probably where the editor leaves the
       cursor when the file is loaded.

       This all, of course, requires that you be using a text editor
       which is capable of being loaded with two different files at once
       and moving blocks of text from one to the other.  If you don't use
       such an editor, then you should make sure that the two gadgets
       gadgets labeled "Optional" in the Editor setup window have nothing
       in them.  The default editor C:Ed is one editor that cannot load
       two files at once, so the second filename and the second command
       should not be used with it.

       If you do put something in the lower command string, it would
       typically be the name of your editor, or perhaps something like


                                     - 37 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.3


       "RX SomeScript", followed by both of the two filenames specified
       in the string gadgets above, or the equivalent codes @O and @F.
       For instance, if you use MEmacs, you would enter the string
       "SYS:Tools/MEmacs @O @F" or something similar.  When MEmacs is run
       with a command like this, it will display a split screen with one
       file in the top half and the other in the bottom half.  It might
       be appropriate in some cases to put the two names in the opposite
       order, depending on how you want the editor to behave.  Try it
       both ways if you're not sure.

       If you are writing an original message instead of replying, or
       replying with the quote style set to "None", it will not use the
       second command and filename -- it will just use the first command
       to edit the message in one file.  If you are carbon-copying a
       message, it will use just the one file, except when you are
       carbon-copying one of your replies, in which case it will create
       the second file containing the quoted original that the other
       message was a reply to.  In other words, when carbon-copying a
       reply, it acts as if you were re-editing that reply, except that
       it creates a new message from it.  When carbon-copying anything
       else, it acts as if you were creating a new message, except that
       the text is filled in ahead of time.  See section 10 for complete
       information on creating replies, new messages, and carbon copies.

       If you do use quoted text in your reply, please remember that many
       of your readers have already seen the message, and don't need to
       read it all again.  Keep only the essential points, or just enough
       for readers to keep their place in the discussion, in your reply.
       Excessive quoting of older messages, as well as being tedious for
       readers, can cost money for the people who provide us with BBS
       services.


           4.4) Using an editor with ARexx

       As mentioned above, the command you specify does not need to wait
       for the editor to finish with the file before returning; Q-Blue
       doesn't read the file produced by the editor until you tell it to
       save the message.  It assumes that the editor could still be
       changing the file, right up until you tell it to save the finished
       reply.  This state of affairs is routine when ARexx is used.  If
       you are sending ARexx commands to an editor, you should if
       possible tell it to move its own screen to the front.  And such a
       script should check whether the editor's port exists, and if not,
       start the editor and wait for the port to appear.

       If you are using an editor that responds to ARexx commands, then
       you can put a command in Q-Blue's editor setup window which
       executes an ARexx script instead of running the actual editor
       program.  This script would be stored in your REXX: directory,
       with a name such as "Q-Blue-edit.rexx".  Your editor command would
       then be "RX Q-Blue-edit @F", or something similar.  The following



                                     - 38 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.4


       is an example of such an ARexx script, using the AmigaDOS 2.04
       version of Ed as a stand-in for whatever real editor you prefer:

           /* Q-Blue-edit.rexx: load a file into Ed 2.00 */
           parse arg filename .

           if ~show('l','rexxsupport.library') then
               if ~addlib('rexxsupport.library',0,-30) then
                   exit 20

           portname = 'Ed'
           i = 0
           if ~show('Ports', portname) then do
               address command 'Run <nil: >nil: Ed nil:'
               do while ~show('Ports', portname)
                   call delay 15                      /* 0.3 seconds */
                   i = i + 1
                   if i > 33 then exit 10        /* allow 10 seconds */
               end
           end
           address value portname

           'OP "' || filename || '"'
           'SR 74'                      /* adjust to suit your taste */

       This script will automatically start Ed if it is not already
       running, and then send it an "OP" command which tells it what file
       to edit.  The last line has the effect of setting Ed's line length
       to 74 characters, so that the text you type in will be word-
       wrapped to that width.  This helps keep your text readable if
       somebody else quotes it.  You might wish to use a higher or lower
       number.  Scripts for other editors with ARexx ports are, for the
       most part, similar.  You typically need to change only: (1) the
       name of the ARexx command port given in the "portname =" line,
       (2) the command for starting the editor after the words "address
       command", and (3) the actual commands to the editor at the very
       end.  These are all different for each editor.  If the editor has
       a command for bringing its screen to the front, that should be
       added at the end.

       With a script like this, you can take advantage of multitasking
       and leave the editor running continuously.  (Not that this is
       worth doing if Ed is all you've got for an editor.  Especially
       since at least one version of Ed apparently has a bug which, when
       it's used this way, causes it to erase the top line of the file it
       edits!)  Hopefully it should not be too difficult to create
       scripts for more powerful ARexx-equipped editors based on these
       examples.  I use Uedit, which is now in the public domain
       following the untimely death of its author, Rick Stiles.  It will
       serve as a typical example of how to write a script that can
       handle editing two files.




                                     - 39 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.5


           4.5) ARexx scripts using two files

       For use with a second editor command, using two filenames, the
       ARexx script would be nearly the same as the example given in the
       previous section, except that the "parse arg" at the beginning
       would have two filenames after it, and there would be two file
       loading commands instead of one, with one of them checking first
       to make sure the second file was actually included in the command.
       The beginning of the script would look like this:

           /* Q-Blue-edit.rexx: load one or two files into editor */
           parse arg replyfile quotefile .

       If Ed could load two files, its single "OP" command would become:

           if quotefile ~= '' then 'OP "' || quotefile || '"'
           'OP "' || replyfile || '"'

       This part could be more complicated with some editors; they may
       require you, for each file, to first use some sort of "Open New"
       command to create an empty editing space, and then load the file
       there with another command.

       I will use the public domain editor Uedit here as an example of
       how to write a working script using two files, and a general
       example of how to modify the basic script to suit a different
       editor.  With Uedit, the port name is "URexx", the command to
       start it running would typically be "Run <nil: >nil: UE", and the
       command for loading a new file is "LoadFile", which unlike Ed's
       "OP" command requires no quote marks around the following
       filename.  So, the complete script would be:

           /* Q-Blue-edit.rexx: load one or two files into Uedit */
           parse arg replyfile quotefile .

           if ~show('l','rexxsupport.library') then
               if ~addlib('rexxsupport.library',0,-30) then
                   exit 20

           portname = 'URexx'
           i = 0
           if ~show('Ports', portname) then do
               address command 'Run <nil: >nil: UE'
               do while ~show('Ports', portname)
                   call delay 15                        /* 0.3 seconds */
                   i = i + 1
                   if i > 33 then exit 10          /* allow 10 seconds */
               end
           end
           address value portname

           if quotefile ~= '' then 'LoadFile' quotefile
           'LoadFile' replyfile


                                     - 40 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.5


           'LineLength 74'
           'FrontScreen'

       Uedit has no standard ARexx command for setting the right margin
       or moving its screen to the front, but it's not difficult to add
       them.  To do so, add two lines reading "linelength 1111+0 |" and
       "frontscreen 1112+0 |" to Uedit's "REXXCOMM" file (which should
       already contain a "loadfile" line), and add the command
       definitions below to the "Config!R" file, compile them, and save
       the configuration.  These command definitions assume that the
       buffer and number variable usages have not been rearranged from
       the defaults used in most Uedit releases:

           Set local line length via ARexx.  Example: "LINELENGTH 80"
           <1111: if (!toNumber(n0, buf61)
                                | gtNum(8, n0) | gtNum(n0, 999)) {
                      equateNum(n96, 1)
                      rexxOut(" ", all, 10, 1, n99)              .. error
                  } else
                      setLocal(curFile, lineLength, n0) >      .. success

           Pop up Uedit's screen via ARexx.  Example: "FRONTSCREEN"
           <1112: screenToFront >       .. for version 2.6d or newer only

       Note: Uedit may not necessarily be prepared to act on ARexx
       commands.  For this to work, you must make sure that the ARexx
       "autotraffic" mode is turned on.  In Uedit 4.0, the global flag
       setting command (Ctrl-G) includes a "rexxTraffic (UGB)" option.
       Make sure this is turned on, and save your config that way so it
       will stay on next time you use the program.  It is also necessary
       that Uedit be able to find the "REXXCOMM" text file, which should
       be included with it and which you are adding extra lines to.

       An ARexx script for using Uedit with Q-Blue can be quite a bit
       more sophisticated than this, if desired.  If you use Uedit and
       are interested in some of the fancier tricks that are possible,
       contact me and ask for the files "Q-Blue.UE" and "qblue.rexx".

       With a script like this, the second editor command should name the
       reply file before the quote file, not after.  The commands in the
       third and fourth Editor setup window string gadgets could be:

           RX Q-Blue-edit @F

           RX Q-Blue-edit @F @O

       All three of the checkmarks should be unchecked.  Again, if you do
       not wish to load the quoted message and your reply in separate
       files, just leave the bottom string gadget of each type empty.  If
       you use some other editor not mentioned in this manual, with a
       little luck you should be able to similarly adapt one of the
       examples above to work with it.



                                     - 41 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.6


           4.6) Using CygnusEd to edit replies

       Some editors, including the popular commercial products CygnusEd
       Professional sold by ASDG Inc., and TurboText from Oxxi Inc.,
       include a small "activator" program which performs the function of
       loading a file into the editor, starting it if necessary, without
       using ARexx.  This program is called "TTX" in the case of
       TurboText, and "Ed" in the case of CygnusEd (more or less
       replacing the Ed program on your Workbench disk).  With these
       editors you probably won't need an ARexx script -- you can simply
       put a command using the activator, such as "Ed RAM:Reply", in
       Q-Blue's Editor setup window.

       This section and the one after it (4.7) describe various ways to
       configure Q-Blue to use CygnusEd.  If that's not your editor, you
       can skip these two sections.  Section 4.8 covers TurboText.

       With CygnusEd, you have a choice between starting a new editor
       process, and editing the files with an existing one.  Each
       approach has advantages and drawbacks.  If you use the "CED"
       command to create a new editor process, you avoid the troublesome
       question of dealing with old copies of the file(s) to be edited
       being left in the editor, and you don't have to deal with lots of
       files (the ones used by Q-Blue and whatever else you have also
       been editing) all crowded together on the same screen.  And with
       newer versions of CygnusEd, you can open the editing window on
       Q-Blue's screen.  But there are disadvantages too: it uses more
       memory, and you won't be able to use the "hot-start" feature
       because if it's turned on, then every time you try to edit
       something in Q-Blue, a requester will pop up on the Workbench
       screen asking if you really want to start a new process, and
       you'll have to find the requester and click "OK" there before
       anything can be edited.  Using the "Ed" activator program is more
       suitable for many users, especially those without lots of extra
       memory.

       Whichever approach you use to starting CygnusEd, there is a neat
       feature you should use, which avoids the necessity of sending
       ARexx commands to adjust the settings.  The feature is this: if
       you edit a file with a name ending in ".blue", it will load its
       "environment" settings from a file called "S:ceddefaults.blue".
       I recommend that you set "Icon creation" off, "Word wrap" on,
       "Tabs = spaces" on, and "Set right border" to about 74, then use
       "Save environment" to store these settings in a file named
       "S:ceddefaults.blue".  If you do this while CygnusEd is running on
       Q-Blue's screen, it will also save the size and position of the
       editing window.  Then, in your Q-Blue editor setup, make sure that
       the two filenames both end in ".blue" so this environment file
       will be automatically used.  For example, the top gadget in the
       Editor setup window would contain the filename "RAM:Reply.blue".
       Unfortunately, this feature may not always work reliably in older
       versions of CygnusEd.  The Q-Blue feature which automatically adds
       a number to the end of the temporary filename when two processes


                                     - 42 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.6


       are running at once is aware of this, and will put the added
       number before the period in the name so that it won't interfere.

       If you don't plan to use the "Ed" activator program, you should
       make sure the "Hot-start enabled" option is off before saving the
       environment file, and for that matter leave it turned off in any
       other environment files too.  In this case, your four editor setup
       strings should look something like this:

                   RAM:Reply.blue

                   RAM:Quotee.blue

           CED -pubscreen=@P @F

           CED -pubscreen=@P @O @F

       If CED is not in your command path, you will of course need to use
       a complete pathname instead of just "CED" at the beginning.  The
       "-pubscreen=@P" part makes it open its editing window on Q-Blue's
       screen.  This option is not available with version 2 of CygnusEd,
       and should be left out in that case.  When the editing window is
       not on CygnusEd's screen, Q-Blue's "After edit, screen to front"
       feature is not very usable (and unfortunately, CygnusEd 2 is not
       able to push its own screen to the back either) but if you're
       determined, it is possible to use it: add the "-keepio" option to
       the end of each command, make certain that "Hot-start enabled" is
       always turned off, and quit CygnusEd completely every time you
       finish editing a message.  (If Q-Blue does not wake up when you
       finish editing, try pressing the return key while holding down the
       Ctrl, right Alt, and right shift keys.)  Another possible approach
       would be to use the technique described in section 4.8, involving
       an ARexx script that waits for a message sent by a macro executed
       inside CygnusEd.

       Editing a reply with this setup will cause a new CygnusEd window
       or screen to pop up containing either one view if writing an
       original message, or two if writing a reply.  In the latter case,
       the message you are replying to will be in the upper view, with
       ">" or "XX>" markers added depending on your quote style setting.
       To use pieces of the original as quotes in the reply you are
       writing, select a marked block (by double-clicking and dragging
       the mouse, or with keyboard methods), copy it to the clipboard
       (Amiga-c), click on the spot in your reply where you want it to
       go, and paste (Amiga-v in new CygnusEd versions, Amiga-i in old
       ones).  When you are done writing the reply, use the "Save & quit"
       command (shift-Amiga-Q) either once or twice, depending on how
       many views were opened.

       If you use the "CED" command instead of the "Ed" activator, you
       might also want to set the environment in "S:ceddefaults.blue" to
       specify the same font that Q-Blue is using, especially if that is



                                     - 43 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.6


       an IBM font and you read messages that sometimes contain IBM
       characters.


           4.7) Using CygnusEd through the "Ed" activator

       If you use the activator program instead, the effect is somewhat
       different.  Whatever screen CygnusEd is using will pop to the
       front, and one or two new views will be created there.  If any
       other files are already being edited there, the views created for
       Q-Blue's files may be rather small and cramped.  I recommend that
       the "hot-start" feature be turned on in this case.  Also, the "-f"
       command option, or the "-o" option in older versions that don't
       have "-f", should be used.  This takes care of cases where you
       edit your reply but don't quit its view.  The Ed command will
       replace the old, obsolete file still in the view with fresh
       information.  The "-s" or "-sticky" option can also be helpful,
       but the only way that works is to combine it with "-f" into a
       single "-fs" option.  The full commands would be:

                   RAM:Reply.blue

                   RAM:Quotee.blue

           Ed @F -fs

           Ed @O -f @F -fs

       Q-Blue's "After edit, screen to front" option can be set if "-fs"
       or "-sticky" is used.  (But note that it is not fully reliable, at
       least in older versions; the "sticky" option may fail to work if
       CygnusEd is not already running or dormant.)  Without this option,
       you may have to manually find Q-Blue's screen when you're done
       writing the reply.  With older versions of CygnusEd (before v3.5),
       "-sticky" and "-o" cannot both be used, nor can -o be used on two
       filenames at once.  This means that to edit two files with this
       option, you use two separate "Ed" commands separated by "@N", and
       neither is able to use "-sticky".  With CygnusEd 2, the two editor
       commands (in the third and fourth editor setup string gadgets)
       that I would recommend are:

           Ed @F -o

           Ed @O -o @N Ed @F -o

       Also, the "Before edit, screen to back" option may need to be
       used with CygnusEd 2, though it's never needed with CygnusEd 3.5.

       When you have finished writing your reply, you then need to save
       the result and ought to "quit" the view or views created by
       Q-Blue.  This may be a bit cumbersome to do by hand if there are
       other views open, but it can be automated with the ARexx script
       below.  But this script depends on certain global variables being


                                     - 44 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.7


       set to contain the names of the two files being edited, which may
       not be exactly what you entered in Q-Blue, if you run more than
       one Q-Blue process.  To set up these variables, you need to add
       "RxSet" commands to the two editor commands in the setup window:

           RxSet QBlueReply @F @N RxSet QBlueOrig "" @N Ed @F -o

           RxSet QBlueReply @F @N RxSet QBlueOrig @O @N Ed @O -f @F -fs

       With those "RxSet" commands in place, this script will work:

           /* Q-Blue-finish.ced: save and close Q-Blue file(s) */
           options results
           signal on error

           'Jump to file' getclip('QBlueReply')
           if RESULT == 0 then exit
           Save
           Quit
           'Jump to file' getclip('QBlueOrig')
           if RESULT ~= 0 then do
               Save
               Quit
           end
           CedToBack      /* REMOVE THIS LINE if "-pubscreen" is used! */
           ERROR: exit

       If you never run more than one copy of Q-Blue at once, you could
       simplify this.  You could leave the "RxSet" commands out of the
       editor setup window, and just replace the two "getclip()" function
       calls in the script with the pathnames of the files, like this:

           'Jump to file RAM:Reply.blue'

       That script would be stored in the file "REXX:Q-Blue-finish.ced",
       and you would probably use the "Install DOS/ARexx command" menu
       option to attach it to one of the ten function keys.  If you don't
       want the complexity of using two views to write replies, and just
       want to create your reply in the same view that the quoted
       original appears in, then fill in only the first gadget of each
       type in the Editor setup window, and leave the other two empty.
       Then the "Q-Blue-finish.ced" ARexx script given above will not be
       needed.  The "CedToBack" command near the end is not necessary if
       the "After edit, screen to front" feature is working, and should
       definitely be removed if you're using the "-pubscreen" option to
       edit on Q-Blue's screen.  It should also be removed for CygnusEd
       version 2, which does not support that command.

       Note that the above script may possibly close the wrong views if
       you are also editing some other files with the same filename but a
       different directory path -- CygnusEd does not distinguish them
       properly.  One unfortunate side effect may be that a CON: window
       gets opened on the Workbench screen for no reason, which you can't


                                     - 45 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.7


       close!  For this and several other reasons mentioned above, an up-
       to-date copy of CygnusEd will definitely work much more smoothly
       with Q-Blue.  This leftover window happens even with version 3.5,
       actually, but since the window is "/AUTO" you don't see it.  This
       seems to happen when you use the above ARexx script after CygnusEd
       is started with "CED" instead of with "Ed".  The script should
       probably not be used in that case, at least not with old versions.

       The "Remove upper ascii and control characters" gadget should be
       unchecked with CygnusEd.


           4.8) Using TurboText to edit replies

       If you don't use the TurboText editor published by Oxxi, you can
       skip this section, which describes how to set up Q-Blue to use it.

       With TurboText, unlike CygnusEd, you don't have to make a choice
       between starting a new process and making use of an existing one;
       only the latter is possible.  And although the "TTX" activator
       command has a "SCREEN" option which allows it to open an editing
       window on Q-Blue's screen with a command such as "TTX RAM:Reply
       SCREEN @P", this will not work if any TurboText window is open
       anywhere else -- it can only use one screen.  Because you would
       then have to manually dig through various screens under
       circumstances beyond Q-Blue's control, I recommend against using
       the "SCREEN" option.  (Anyway, TurboText windows tend to look
       a little funny when they open on Q-Blue's screen, due to Q-Blue's
       nonstandard assignment of Intuition window drawing pens.)  For
       similar reasons, it may be impractical to tell TurboText to use a
       different font (e.g. an IBM font) with Q-Blue messages.

       To cause the editing window(s) to have the right option settings,
       you should create a short ARexx script called "Q-Blue-prefs.ttx"
       in your REXX: directory, consisting only of TurboText commands to
       set various options.  For example:

           /* Q-Blue-prefs.ttx: set options for Q-Blue reply editing */
           SetPrefs WordWrap ON
           SetPrefs TabsGiveSpaces ON
           SetPrefs SaveIcons OFF
           SetPrefs RightMargin 74

       And then refer to that file in the TTX command with the "MACRO"
       option, with a command such as "TTX @F MACRO Q-Blue-prefs".
       Depending on what your normal settings are in TurboText, some of
       those option lines may be unnecessary.  If only one or two options
       are needed, you can include them right in the command instead of
       putting them in a separate script, by enclosing the ARexx
       statements in both double and single quotes and separating them
       with semicolons, in place of the filename after the word "MACRO",




                                     - 46 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.8


       like this:

           TTX @F MACRO "'SetPrefs RightMargin 74; SetPrefs WordWrap ON'"

       I recommend using the "WAIT" option as well, which will prevent
       the TTX command from finishing (and Q-Blue from coming back to
       life) until all file(s) loaded by it have been closed again.  This
       allows Q-Blue's "After edit, screen to front" feature to work, and
       avoids the problem of old reply files being left in the editor,
       which TurboText can't resolve as easily as CygnusEd can, with its
       "-f" option for the Ed activator.  So, the complete commands you
       would set up for TurboText would be:

                   RAM:Reply

                   RAM:Quotee

           TTX @F WAIT MACRO Q-Blue-prefs

           TTX @O @F WAIT MACRO Q-Blue-prefs

       "After edit, screen to front" should be turned on, unless you do
       not use the "WAIT" option.  "Before edit, screen to back" should
       be turned off.  "Remove upper ascii and control characters" should
       also be turned off.  Unless you are pinched for memory, I
       recommend that TurboText be left resident in memory between uses.
       This can be accomplished by including the word "BACKGROUND" or
       "BG" in the TTX commands, or adding a line to Q-Blue-prefs.ttx
       (the script named after "MACRO" in the commands) that says
       "SetBackground ON", or by running TurboText that way before Q-Blue
       ever uses it.

       When you write a new message, whatever screen TurboText's windows
       are on will pop to the front, with a new window open to write your
       reply in.  If you write a reply, two windows will open, with the
       window for your reply in front.  The window containing the quoted
       text of the message you are replying to will be right behind it.
       By bringing that other window to the front, you can copy sections
       of it into your reply using the clipboard: double-click the mouse
       and drag it over the region you want to include (or use keyboard
       methods to mark a block), use the "Copy" command (right-Amiga-C),
       bring back the reply window (you can use right-Amiga-0 to switch
       quickly between the two), click where the stuff should go, and use
       "Paste" (right-Amiga-V).  If you do not want to hassle with two
       windows, and just want to create your reply in the same window
       that starts out containing the quoted original message, then just
       fill in the top gadgets of each type in the Editor setup window as
       given above, and leave the bottom string in each pair empty.

       When you finish writing the reply, use the "Save" (right-Amiga-S)
       and "Close Window" (right-Amiga-Q, or the close gadget) commands
       in each window that Q-Blue opened.  If there are two windows, this
       may be somewhat inconvenient, and as with CygnusEd, an ARexx macro


                                     - 47 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.8


       can automate this.  But as with CygnusEd, the script won't work
       properly unless you modify the second command in the Editor setup
       window to include a "RxSet" command, like this:

           RxSet QBlueOrig @O @N TTX @O @F WAIT MACRO Q-Blue-prefs

       You would invoke this script while the window containing your
       reply is the active one:

           /* Q-Blue-finish.ttx: save and close Q-Blue file(s) */
           options results
           signal on error

           SaveFile NoIcon
           CloseDoc
           address TURBOTEXT GetPort getclip('QBlueOrig')
           if RC == 0 then do
               address value RESULT
               SaveFile NoIcon
               CloseDoc
           end
           Screen2Back    /* REMOVE this line if "SCREEN" option used! */
           ERROR: exit

       The "Screen2Back" command is not needed if Q-Blue's "After edit,
       screen to front" feature is working, but may be needed if you
       don't use the "WAIT" option in the TTX commands.  That line must
       be removed if you run TurboText on Q-Blue's screen.  You would
       presumably attach this script to some key with a line in the
       "KEYBOARD:" section of the definition file "TTX_Startup.dfn".
       For example, to execute this script by pressing the F10 key, you
       could add the following lines to the definition file:

           KEYBOARD: APPEND
           F10 ExecARexxMacro Q-Blue-finish
           #

       Note that this script may fail to work if there is any other
       window open with the same name, not counting the directory path,
       as the second file in your Editor setup window.  For instance,
       editing a file named "Work:stuff/Quotee" in another window might
       cause this script to close that window instead of the one
       containing "RAM:Quotee", just because TurboText doesn't bother to
       tell the difference.  If this becomes a problem, just pick a more
       unusual filename to use in Q-Blue's setup.

       One trick that may help make editing with two windows more
       convenient is to make use of the ARexx script "WindowOrg.ttx" that
       is supplied with TurboText.  To do this, add the following lines
       to the end of the script "Q-Blue-prefs.ttx", after the various
       "SetPrefs" lines:




                                     - 48 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.8


           options results
           GetFileInfo
           origname = '"' || upper(getclip('QBlueOrig')) || '"'
           if upper(word(RESULT, 3)) == origname then call 'WindowOrg'

       As with the "Q-Blue-finish.ttx" script, this depends on the
       presence of the "RxSet" command in the Editor setup window's
       second command string.  The effect will be that when Q-Blue loads
       two files into TurboText, the windows will arrange themselves so
       they each cover half of the screen, not overlapping.  But it
       probably won't work if other files are also loaded.


           4.9) A few editor tricks

       One slightly tricky point with some editors, such as Uedit, is
       that since it saves files as a background operation, you may end
       up telling Q-Blue to save the reply before the editor has finished
       writing it out.  This will cause Q-Blue to display an error
       message saying that it could not find the file.  If this happens,
       just close the error requester and tell it to save again.  If that
       was the problem, the second attempt will succeed.

       An odd trick, probably useless: you can use two editor commands
       even if you specify only one filename.  This might be of use if
       you want the editor to treat that file in two different ways
       depending on whether it contains quoted text to be replied to or
       not.  The second command will be used when loading the editor with
       quoted material, and the first will be used when re-editing text
       you have written yourself, or when starting with an empty file.

       You can, if necessary, cause an ARexx script to wait for the
       editor to finish with the file before returning, so that Q-Blue's
       "After edit, to front" screen pop-up feature can work at the right
       time.  This requires creating a named port in your script, and
       then, as part of the command you use when finishing a message in
       the editor (presumably a macro), sending a message to that port.
       Here is an example of a partial script that does this, which can
       be added to the end of an ordinary editor script that is called by
       a RX command in the Editor setup window:

           /* rexxsupport.library must be already opened here: */
           pname = 'Q-Blue-wait'                /* use any unique name */
           if ~openport(pname) then exit 20

           call waitpkt pname
           pak = getpkt(pname)
           if pak ~== '00000000'x then call reply(pak, 0)

       In this case, you would set up an editor macro to be used when you
       finish editing a message, which would save the file and close its
       editing window or view or buffer, and finally, execute this ARexx



                                     - 49 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 4.9


       command:

           address 'Q-Blue-wait' 'x'

       You can use anything in place of "x".  As soon as the "x" message
       is received, Q-Blue's screen will pop to the front.  If something
       goes wrong and the message doesn't get sent, you can cause the
       ARexx script to exit, and allow Q-Blue to wake up, by entering the
       "HI" (Halt Interpreter) command supplied with ARexx at a CLI
       prompt.




       5) SETTING UP COMPRESSOR COMMANDS

           5.1) The Compressors setup window

       The Compressors window is one of the most complex of the setup
       windows to work with, but with any luck you may not have to mess
       with it at all.  By default, Q-Blue is set up to handle five types
       of compression: Zip, LHA, LZX, Zoo, and Arc.  Zip compression is
       further divided into "Zip 2.x" and "Zip 1.x" types, the latter
       being used for BBSes that have outdated unzipping software.  If
       you have the necessary programs for these, you should be able to
       use the default settings.  They assume that you have the following
       programs: LhA by Stefan Boberg for LZH and LHA compression (note
       that the old Lharc program cannot handle LHA, which is what many
       mail doors will give you if you ask for LZH); UnZip 5.0 or higher
       from the Info-Zip group (of which I am a member); Zip from the
       same group, preferably version 2.0 or higher; Zoo by Rahul Dhesi,
       preferably version 2.1 or higher; Arc 0.23 by Raymond S. Brand;
       and LZX by Jonathan Forbes and Tomi Poutanen.  If these programs
       are in your command path (they would typically be in your C:
       directory), your compressor configuration won't need any changes
       for these compression types.  If any are not present, that only
       means you cannot use that particular type of archive compression.

       Zoo and Arc are not used much any more, so you may never need
       these at all.  Conversely, LZX is a recent product that never came
       into very wide use.  Zip and UnZip are by far the most commonly
       used, and may be your only choice with some BBSes, so you'd better
       have these.  If you need to add another type (such as perhaps
       ARJ), or use a different program for one of these types (such as
       LZ by Johnathan Forbes in place of LhA), then read the following.
       You should also read section 5.2 if you are using a configuration
       left over from an older version of Q-Blue.

       The window titled "Compression methods for packing and unpacking
       files" can be opened by pressing Alt-C or selecting "Compressors"
       from the "Setup" menu.  There are eight buttons in the top part of
       the window.  Each represents a different compression method.
       Normally there are fewer than eight compression methods installed,


                                     - 50 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 5.1


       and the rest of the gadgets are blank and ghosted.  Below these
       are a bunch of string gadgets which are blank and ghosted until
       you select a particular method.  At the right edge, midway down
       the window, is a gadget labeled "Add".  If you want to put in a
       new method, click this gadget or press the A key.  If you want to
       edit the definition of an existing method, or delete it, click on
       the button that is labeled with the name of the method you want to
       edit, or press the digit key that is shown next to the gadget (1
       to 8).  If you select an existing method, its gadget will stay
       selected and the remaining gadgets in the lower part of the window
       will become active, showing the existing definition.  If you use
       the Add command, the first unused gadget in the top group of eight
       will un-ghost and become selected, and the bottom gadgets will
       become active with nothing in them.  You can't add a new method if
       all eight gadgets are already defined.

       The definition consists of four parts: First, in a small string
       gadget midway down the left side of the window, is the name of the
       method.  This is the name that shows in the appropriate gadget in
       the upper part, and is shown in the checkmarked submenu that is
       used to pick which method you actually want to use.  It tries to
       activate this gadget for typing when you select a method to edit.
       It holds a maximum of seven characters; one would normally put a
       simple, easily recognized name here, such as "ARJ" or "Stuffit".
       (I have not yet seen Amiga compression programs for either of
       these methods, though decompressors exist.)  The two large string
       gadgets below are used for specifying the commands used for
       compression and decompression.  The string gadget labeled
       "Pattern", to the right of the name, is used for recognizing
       whether a given packet has been compressed with this method.

       If you want to delete a compression method from the available set,
       select the appropriate gadget and then erase the contents of all
       four string gadgets.  When you un-select it or close the window,
       it will be removed and you will have one fewer compressor to
       choose from.  Never remove the last one -- there must always be
       one valid compressor.  It won't let you close the window if any
       definition is incomplete, or if there is not at least one valid
       definition.  A complete definition must have a name, a compression
       command, and a decompression command -- the pattern may be blank.
       It also will not let you close the window if one of the pattern
       strings (explained in section 5.4) has invalid characters in it.
       If you fill in one or two parts of a compression method, and
       another part is still blank, it will demand that you either finish
       the partial definition or erase it, before you close the window.
       It will put up a requester telling you which one is incomplete.
       If a pattern is invalid, it will first put up a requester, and
       then when the error requester is closed it will select the
       offending archiver and attempt to activate the pattern gadget with
       the cursor at the point where the invalid character was detected.

       Note: if you want to specify a method that has a decompression
       command but no compression command (for instance if you have


                                     - 51 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 5.1


       downloaded a packet in .ARJ form or something, and have only a
       decompressor on hand), then just put "Quit 10" in the compression
       command gadget.  This will cause an error message if you try to
       compress replies with this method.


           5.2) Teaching Q-Blue about other compression programs

       In the two large string gadgets at the bottom of the Compressors
       setup window, you enter the actual commands as you would type them
       at a CLI prompt, except that you do not enter the literal name of
       the archive file to be created or unpacked -- instead, type "@A"
       where the archive name would go.  For example, the default Zip
       decompression command is "UnZip -o @A".  Likewise, if you need to
       include the name of the directory the uncompressed files go in,
       you enter "@D" in its place.  ("@D" is no longer used in any of
       the default commands.)  Q-Blue will replace "@A" and "@D" with the
       appropriate pathnames when executing the command.  Q-Blue uses
       your command path setting when executing these commands, just as
       it does with editor commands (section 4.2 has details on how it
       determines the path to use).  To use compression programs that are
       not in your command path, you'll have to use an explicit pathname
       for the compression program.  The command for packing replies goes
       into the bottommost gadget, which is labeled "Compression
       command", and the one above it, labeled "Decompression command",
       contains the command for unpacking mail.

       In general, when specifying a compression command, give one that
       will archive all files in the current directory, or the directory
       named with "@D".  The directory that "@D" specified to is always
       the current directory when the command runs, so it is usually not
       necessary to include the "@D" code explicitly.  Although QWK
       replies typically use only one file, Blue Wave replies require
       many files, and Q-Blue uses the same command for both cases
       (though you can create variations with "@B" and "@Q").  If the
       archiver allows wildcards, you can use the all-files wildcard, as
       in the default LHA compression command, "LhA -0 a @A #?".

       If your archiving program does not let you use wildcards to tell
       it what files to compress, you can use the "@F" code instead.
       This code is replaced with a list of all the filenames in the
       current directory (the "@D" directory).  The default Zip command
       used this code in Q-Blue 2.1, because old versions of Zip do not
       support wildcards.  The command "Zip -k @A @F" would give Zip an
       explicit list of every file to be compressed.  For example, if
       your replies directory contains the files "somebbs.upl", "23.001",
       and "14.002", which are to be compressed into "up:somebbs.new",
       then "Zip -k up:somebbs.new 23.001 14.002 somebbs.upl" would be
       the actual command executed by Q-Blue after the codes are replaced.

       In Q-Blue 2.3 the default Zip command was changed back to use the
       wildcard "*" instead of "@F", because some users reported that a
       command using "@F" was not able to compress more than 28 Blue Wave


                                     - 52 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 5.2


       replies.  (On most systems this problem hopefully should not
       occur.)  If you have a very old version of Zip that does not
       understand the "*" wildcard, you may have to replace it with "@F".

       It is also possible to use some command that tells it to gather
       all files within a named directory: for example, the default Zip
       command in very old versions of Q-Blue, "Zip -jkr @A @D", used
       this approach.  Note that in this case, it will not only include
       all of the files in the replies directory, but all those within
       any subdirectories as well.  This can be a problem if any
       subdirectories exist in your replies directory.  It is best not to
       create any such.

       Here is a table of the current default commands, listing first the
       decompression and then the compression command for each.  In most
       circumstances, the different ones used in old Q-Blue versions will
       still work and do not really need to be modified if you don't want
       to take the trouble.

           1)  Zip 2.x:                      4)  LZX:
                    UnZip -jo @A                      LZX -m -X0 x @A
                    Zip -k @A *                       LZX -X0 a @A #?

           2)  Zip 1.x:                      5)  Zoo:
                    UnZip -jo @A                      Zoo xSO @A
                    Zip -0k @A *                      Zoo a @A *

           3)  LHA:                          6)  Arc:
                    LhA -m -x0 x @A                   Arc xw @A
                    LhA -0 a @A #?                    Arc a @A #?

       When specifying a decompression command, you should generally use
       whatever option is provided to make it do the decompression
       without ever stopping to ask the user for input.  It is usually
       best to also tell the decompression command to restore everything
       to the current directory instead of preserving any subdirectory
       paths.  One change between the default commands of Q-Blue 2.2 and
       those of older versions is that previously, the Zip and LHA
       decompression commands did not suppress subdirectories.  An option
       to strip subdirectory paths is especially important in compression
       commands if "@D" is used.  You should make sure that the files are
       stored as plain filenames with no directory paths.  All of the
       default commands meet these criteria, except that LZX extraction
       preserves paths, because the no-path option did not work on the
       early copy I have.

       If you wish to use the program LZ by Johnathan Forbes instead of
       LhA by Stefan Boberg, simply edit the two commands for compression
       type LHA so that the command name is "LZ" instead of "LhA" -- the
       rest of each command after the name can be left unchanged.  You
       may wish to add the "-n" option to your LhA or LZ commands, which
       turns off the feature that tells you from moment to moment how far
       it has progressed in compressing or decompressing each file,


                                     - 53 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 5.2


       because on some systems this option can slow down the program
       noticeably.  The "-x" option should not be used for compression.
       Early versions of Q-Blue used LZ by default.

       Sometimes the "-0" option has to be used with Zip compression, if
       you have Zip version 1.9 or newer.  This is necessary if the BBS
       is unpacking archives with an old unzipper, or with some software
       such as the QSO mail packer incorporated into TBBS, or the similar
       QWK packer used in MajorBBS, which as of this writing can unpack
       old-style Zip archives but not those compatible with Zip 2.0.
       With Zip, "-0" causes files to be stored with no compression at
       all.  It makes for a bigger reply packet, but since reply uploads
       are generally much smaller than mail downloads, the penalty is not
       very large, and the compression features of modern modems may make
       the upload just as quick.  Q-Blue 2.4 has a separate "Zip 1.x"
       compression type which uses the "-0" option automatically, if the
       download packet appears to have been made with an obsolete type of
       Zip compression.  If you have a very old version of Zip, such as
       v0.93, you can use it without "-0" and delete the extra "Zip 1.x"
       compression method... but note that those old versions have bugs.

       If a reply packet already exists with the same name as the one
       that the compression command is trying to create, Q-Blue may
       rename it so that you have a backup copy of your previous reply
       packet -- the details are in section 11.6.  After the command
       runs, Q-Blue will check whether the expected new archive now
       exists, and put up an error message to let you know if it is empty
       or nonexistent.


           5.3) Special codes in compression commands

       This section covers the complete set of special codes available in
       compressor commands.  As mentioned above, wherever "@A" is found
       in a compression command, Q-Blue substitutes the name of the
       archive file that is being created (in the case of compression) or
       unpacked (in the case of decompression).  Archives being created
       are always located in your uploads directory, and Q-Blue appends
       the correct filename onto the uploads path you give in the
       Directories setup window to produce the pathname used for "@A".
       Archives being unpacked may be in either the uploads or the
       downloads directory, or anywhere at all if the ASL requester is
       used to select a file to open.

       Q-Blue replaces "@D" with either the name of the directory that
       files are to be unpacked into, or the directory that files to be
       packed are in.  In the case of decompression, this may be either
       your work directory or your replies directory.  When compressing,
       it is always the replies directory.

       As described in the previous section, "@F" is replaced with a
       complete list of the names of all files in the current directory,
       which is the same directory that "@D" specifies.  This is useful


                                     - 54 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 5.3


       with compressors that expect a list of files to be compressed.  In
       Q-Blue 1.0 and older, the @F code was useful only for QWK replies
       consisting of just one file.  It can still be used for this
       purpose.  The files are listed as simple names with no path
       information, with spaces in between.  @F produces an error message
       if used in a decompression command.  Also note that the same code
       is used for a different purpose in editor commands.

       The directory name inserted in place of "@D" will always have a
       colon or slash on the end, so that a decompression command can
       know it is a directory and not the name of a file within the
       archive being decompressed, and a compression command can use
       forms like "@D#?" without worrying about whether or not a slash
       needs to go between the directory name and the wildcards.  Any
       file or directory pathname inserted with any of these codes will
       have quote marks around it if it contains space characters, so you
       should not include explicit quote marks in the commands you enter.

       As with the commands in the Editor setup window (see section 4.2),
       if there is a part of the command that you wish to be included
       only when dealing with a QWK format packet, you can put that part
       between a pair of "@Q" sequences, and likewise any part between
       two "@B" sequences will be ignored except when dealing with a Blue
       Wave packet.  Note that this is not entirely reliable with
       decompression commands, because when it is unpacking a mail
       archive, it doesn't know yet what the packet contains, so it can't
       be sure whether it's a QWK packet, a Blue Wave packet, or neither.
       It can only judge by the name of the file being unpacked, and if
       it doesn't look like either type, it will assume it is QWK until
       after the unpacking is finished and it reads the contents in the
       work directory.  Files with extensions consisting of three digits,
       like "SOMENAME.001", are assumed to be Blue Wave, though some QWK
       doors might also be able to produce such names.

       The "@N" code can be used, just as in editor commands, to separate
       two commands to be executed in sequence.  It becomes a newline in
       the command that is executed.  The "@P" and "@S" codes can be used
       also, but they are generally of value only in editor commands;
       section 4.2 explains their use.  The special sequences recognized
       in both editor and compressor commands are "@B", "@Q", "@P", "@S",
       and "@N".  The sequence "@F" is usable in both editor and
       compressor commands, but has a different meaning in the two
       situations. The sequences that work only in compression commands
       are "@A", "@D", and "@U".  Any other character after an "@" is
       included as is, after discarding the at-sign.  Thus, "@@" becomes
       one at-sign in the command that is executed.  The letters can be
       upper or lower case.

       "@U" is rarely useful.  It is replaced with the pathname of the
       directory where the compressed packet belongs -- your uploads
       directory when compressing, or it may be your downloads directory
       if used in a decompression command.  In other words, "@U" is the
       parent directory of "@A".  One case where it can be used is with


                                     - 55 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 5.3


       the public domain StorMail command.  For those who do not have a
       proper Zip compressor, StorMail will create a Zip archive with no
       compression.  It is very limited -- it will only store a file
       named somename.MSG into an archive named somename.REP.  This means
       that it can only be used for QWK replies and is useless for Blue
       Wave.  To use StorMail, the correct compression command is
       "StorMail @F to @U".  But StorMail will fail if there is more than
       one file in your replies directory, or even if the one file there
       does not have a name ending in ".MSG".


           5.4) Compressor "patterns" for automatic recognition

       The "compressor pattern" feature is something has been imitated
       in other mail readers because it allows adoption of future
       compression methods without any loss of convenience.  (They were
       called "signatures" in previous Q-Blue versions, but the name was
       change to avoid confusion when the "Signature" feature was added
       to the Replying setup window.)  In order to recognize what
       compressor to use for unpacking a given packet, Q-Blue needs to
       know something about what it can expect to find in a file produced
       by that compressor.  The text in the "Pattern" gadget fills that
       purpose.  That text consists only of pairs of hexadecimal digits,
       or question marks, separated optionally by spaces.  Each question
       mark or pair of digits represents one byte in the file being
       checked, starting with the very first byte.  If each pair of hex
       digits specifies the same byte value that actually appears at that
       place in the file, then the file matches the pattern and Q-Blue
       figures that this must be the right compressor to use.  Where a
       question mark is given, the corresponding byte in the file may
       have any value.

       If two patterns both match, Q-Blue selects the longer one.  This
       is often the case with the two default compression types labeled
       "Zip 2.x" and "Zip 1.x" -- the pattern used by the latter is the
       same as that of the former, with one byte added at the end.  Any
       archive that fits the longer signature will also fit the shorter
       one, but Zip 2.x will be selected only if the archive fails to
       match the extra byte of Zip 1.x's longer pattern.  In past
       releases, v2.1 and older, Q-Blue had only one Zip compression
       entry and would not recognize packets that required 1.x-compatible
       compression.

       This method of recognizing compression types is not completely
       reliable for some types.  Zip and Zoo archives are always
       recognizable, LHA should be dependable, but Arc may sometimes fail
       to be recognized.  Also, Zip 2.x archives may be mistaken for Zip
       1.x, if the first entry is a directory name or a non-compressed
       file.  But accidentally using 1.x in place of 2.x causes no great
       trouble, whereas to accidentally use 2.x in place of 1.x may
       produce an upload packet that the BBS cannot unpack.  Q-Blue's
       default pattern settings for Zip are based on a policy of "better
       safe than sorry".


                                     - 56 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 5.4


       Any compressor may have a blank pattern.  In this case, whenever
       you want to open a packet with this compression type, you'll have
       to select it manually.  If a pattern is defined and this tells it
       that the compressor it should use is not the one currently
       selected, it gives you a choice of whether to switch or not.  See
       section 8 on opening packets for details.

       Figuring out a pattern for a new compression type is sometimes a
       matter of guesswork.  You have to make a hexadecimal dump of
       several archives compressed with that method with "Type Hex" or a
       similar command, and look for bytes near the beginnings of the
       files that always have the same values in the same locations.  If
       you're unlucky, there just may not be any such bytes.  But usually
       some of the first few bytes have consistent values.  When you find
       those bytes, copy down their hexadecimal values, and fill in
       question marks in place of any bytes before them which have
       differing values, and put the result in the pattern gadget for
       that compression type.  With a little luck, Q-Blue will then
       automatically recognize any packet compressed that way.  You're
       limited to about the first 150 bytes in the file for finding a
       pattern.  Usually if it isn't in the first dozen bytes it's not to
       be found.

       The patterns for the default compression methods are as follows:

           for Zip 2.x:  50 4B 03 04
           for Zip 1.x:  50 4B 03 04 0A
           for LHA:      ? ? 2D 6C 68 ? 2D
           for LZX:      4C 5A 58
           for Zoo:      5A 4F 4F 20
           for Arc:      1A

       In some older releases, "1A 08" was used for Arc, but this did not
       always work.  A pattern of "60 EA" ought to work for ARJ.




       6) OTHER CONFIGURATION OPTIONS

           6.1) Selecting the font for Q-Blue's screen

       At the top of the setup window titled "Font and screen
       specifications" are a row of three gadgets which are used for
       telling Q-Blue what font to use to display messages.  Below that
       are two gadgets for selecting the type of custom screen to open,
       and a command button for reopening the screen using those new
       settings.  Below those are gadgets for adjusting the screen's
       colors, similar to those found in various palette requesters or
       the "Palette" preferences editor.

       A font can by selected by either of two methods: with the ASL font
       requester, or by editing string gadgets.  The command gadget


                                     - 57 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.1


       labeled "Font:" in the upper left corner of the Font & Screen
       setup window will pop up the ASL font requester.  You can also
       select a font by editing the two string gadgets to the right of
       this command button, labeled "Name" and "Height".  If the
       requester is used, it will insert the name and point size of the
       font you select into the two string gadgets.

       The "Name" string gadget just to the right of the "Font" gadget
       shows the name of a font in your system FONTS: directory, which
       can be specified with or without the ".font" ending on the name.
       Pressing the tab key will activate this gadget.  It can be edited
       manually, as well as being set by the ASL font requester.  For
       example, you might enter "newcleanibm.font" here.  The default
       if this gadget is blank is to use the "System Default Text" font
       you have selected in the "Font" Preferences program, or topaz 8 if
       that does not fit Q-Blue's screen.  The "Height:" numeric gadget
       to its right specifies the point size of the font -- the height of
       each character in pixels.  The font you select here will be used
       for almost everything in Q-Blue, except menus and window titles,
       which use the system default font.

       The font you choose must meet specific requirements.  It must be
       non-proportional -- that is, all characters the same width; it
       can be no less than 8 and no more than 32 pixels tall; the width
       must be no less than 5 and no more than 16 pixels; and it must
       specify all normal ASCII characters (hex values 20 through 7E).
       Q-Blue rejects "scaled" fonts that the system makes by stretching
       other bitmap fonts larger or smaller (they usually look awful),
       but a outline font like LetterGothic 18 is okay.  The majority of
       users would probably get best results with a font which shows the
       IBM character set, instead of the 8 bit ISO character set normally
       used by the Amiga.  This character set is the de facto standard in
       most BBS mail.  Many fonts using the IBM character set are
       available.  The Q-Blue distribution includes several.  Section 2.1
       describes them and gives information on installing these fonts for
       Q-Blue to use -- basically, all you have to do is double-click the
       "Install" icon and answer the requesters.

       In general, I recommend using the included newcleanibm font (size
       8) if you use a basic noninterlaced NTSC or PAL screen, tallibm
       (size 11, 12, or 14) with an interlaced or other double-height
       screen, and wideibm (size 9, 12, or 14) for 800 by 600 pixel
       screen modes which are not available on older Amigas.  It is
       entirely a matter of taste which height you choose; the width is
       the crucial measurement needed to fit the font to Q-Blue's screen.
       The stretchibm font (size 12) is intended for those who use NTSC
       or PAL screens with extreme horizontal overscan, making them 720
       pixels wide.  If you don't want to use the IBM character set, I
       recommend topaz 8 for noninterlace, topaz 11 or talliso for
       interlace, topaz 9 or wideiso for 800 by 600, and stretchiso for
       720 pixel overscan.




                                     - 58 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.1


       If you enter an invalid height number (under 8 or over 32), the
       gadget will be reactivated with the previous value in it.  If you
       select a font which Q-Blue cannot use, a requester will appear
       warning you of the problem, but it will not forbid you from
       leaving the invalid selection in your setup, because it can always
       fall back on using topaz 8.

       The font you select will not be used immediately.  In order to see
       your new font, you have to reopen Q-Blue's screen.  This can be
       done by using the "Iconify screen" command in the "Packet" menu,
       described fully in section 8.1, or by using the "Open!" gadget
       below the font height gadget, which is described in the next
       section.  If the specified font cannot be used, an error requester
       will appear on the Workbench screen (or default public screen) and
       when that is closed, Q-Blue will open its screen using your system
       default font, or topaz 8.

       Below the font gadgets is a line of text that tells you the width
       of the currently specified font, and how wide a screen you will
       need to see everything when using it.  Because BBS messages are
       almost always formatted to fit within a display 80 text characters
       wide, Q-Blue always opens an Intuition screen with a width equal
       to 80 times the width of the font it's using.  This may be
       narrower or wider than the visible width of the display, which is
       controlled by your preferences overscan settings.  This line might
       read, for example:

           Font width = 8 pixels; screen width needed = 640

       This lets you know what size of screen you should open so that the
       physical display and the Intuition screen width will fit each
       other.  In this case, you would avoid using a screen size such as
       800 by 600 or 1280 by 512, because a large portion of the display
       area would be unused.  Similarly, if you use a font 10 pixels
       wide, such as topaz 9 or wideibm 12, so that it says "screen width
       needed = 800", you would not want to use a basic NTSC or PAL
       screen, because not everything would be visible at once.  In a
       case like this, Q-Blue will turn on the screen's autoscroll
       feature, so that if you slide the mouse pointer into the area that
       doesn't show, it will scroll to show it.  If you use the screen
       mode requester as described in the next section, you can manually
       select whether autoscroll is used.


           6.2) Selecting the screen type

       Below the font selection gadgets in the Font & Screen setup window
       is a cycle gadget labeled "Screen colors and type".  This gadget
       has five options: "4 NoLace", "4 Lace", "8 NoLace", "8 Lace", and
       "Custom".  Each time you click on it, it changes to a different
       one of the five settings.  Its keyboard equivalent is the letter
       S.  The default setting is "8 NoLace".  The first four settings
       let you select basic screen types using your system's default


                                     - 59 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.2


       monitor type (usually NTSC or PAL).  The "Custom" setting lets you
       use an arbitrary display type chosen with the ASL screen mode
       requester.  The other options are provided for simplicity, and for
       systems that do not have a working screen mode requester, such as
       systems using AmigaDOS 2.04, in which asl.library does not include
       this requester.

       The number 4 or 8 is the number of colors that Q-Blue's screen
       will use.  An eight color screen is generally nicer to look at,
       but the four color screen, though drabber in appearance, has the
       advantage of using less chip ram and updating more quickly.  On
       Amigas with pre-AGA display hardware, using a four color screen
       can double the speed of many display operations.  On Amigas
       without true fast memory, everything will speed up.  The "Lace"
       vs. "NoLace" choice chooses whether the screen will be interlaced
       for double the default vertical resolution, allowing you to read
       twice as much text on the screen at any one time, or use a larger
       and more readable font such as tallibm 14.  But if you have pre-
       AGA display hardware and no deinterlacer, it will cause the image
       to flicker.  It will also use more chip ram if interlace is used,
       and slow down text scrolling.  The default is no interlace.

       Below the cycle gadget is a command button labeled "Mode:", which
       is ghosted except when the cycle gadget is set to "Custom".  To
       the right of that gadget is displayed the name of the currently
       selected custom screen mode.  If you click the "Mode:" button or
       press the M key, the ASL screen mode requester will pop up, if it
       is available in your system.  It will let you select any other
       Workbench-compatible custom display mode from a scrolling list,
       and also give you a slider gadget for selecting how many colors
       the screen should use (4 and 8 are the only choices) and a
       checkbox for turning on the autoscroll feature.  When you close
       the requester by selecting "OK", the new name will be displayed to
       the right of the button, along with some information about the
       size of the screen this mode will create, for example:

           MULTISCAN:Productivity Lace    (640 x 960 x 4)

       The first two numbers in the parentheses are the nominal width and
       height of the screen in this display mode, in this case 640 pixels
       wide and 960 pixels tall.  The actual width and height may be
       slightly larger, depending on your overscan settings, but it will
       never be smaller.  The third number is the number of colors it
       will use, either 4 or 8.  You should generally select a screen
       mode for which the first number matches the "necessary screen
       width" number displayed below the font gadgets.  With basic
       NTSC or PAL video modes, however, it is possible to stretch the
       screen to 720 pixels wide if you use extreme overscan; in this
       case a font 9 pixels wide instead of 8 (such as courier 15 or
       stretchibm 12) can be used.  This text will be ghosted, like the
       "Mode:" button, when the screen type setting is not "Custom".




                                     - 60 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.2


       As with the font setting, a change of the screen settings does not
       take effect until you close and reopen Q-Blue's screen, or save
       the configuration and restart Q-Blue.  Most other option choices,
       including palette changes done with the gadgets in the bottom part
       of this window, take immediate effect.  Closing and reopening the
       screen can be done using the "Iconify screen" command described in
       section 8.1, but there's a shortcut provided here.  To the right
       of the screen type cycle gadget is a command button labeled
       "Open!".  When you click this or press the O key, Q-Blue will put
       the new font and screen settings to immediate use.  It will close
       the window and then close the screen, and reopen the screen with
       the new settings.  If the screen fails to open, for instance
       because there is not enough chip ram available, Q-Blue will be
       iconified (see section 8.1).  You can un-iconify it when it's
       again possible for the screen to open, for example when you have
       freed up some memory.  If the selected screen mode doesn't work,
       it will use the default NTSC or PAL display mode.

       If your overscan preferences for the selected screen mode allow an
       extra 16 or more horizontal pixels beyond the nominal size, Q-Blue
       will open a slightly wider screen in order to include a scroll
       gadget along the right edge.

       The remainder of the window is occupied by palette control
       gadgets.  There is a color selection gadget on the left, which
       lets you pick one of the four or eight colors so you can modify
       it.  It has a swatch of each color in it, and you can either click
       on the color you want to change, or move the current selection
       from one color to another with the arrow keys.  To the right of
       that is a "recessed" swatch showing a sample of the currently
       selected color.  Below that is a command button labeled "Undo".
       On the right are three slider gadgets labeled "Red", "Green", and
       "Blue".  With them you can adjust the color values that make up
       the currently selected color.  They can be adjusted by keyboard:
       press R, G, or B to increase the value of the corresponding
       slider, or press it with the shift key held down to decrease the
       value.  The current numeric values are shown to the right of each
       slider.  Clicking "Undo", or pressing U, undoes all color changes
       made since the window was opened.

       Color changes, unlike font or screen mode changes, take immediate
       effect.  However, you cannot adjust the colors used on four color
       screens while an eight color screen is open, or vice versa.  The
       two palettes are separate, and both are remembered in the
       configuration file when you use "Save setup".


           6.3) The Options setup window

       The "Miscellaneous preference options" setup window can be opened
       with the "Options" item in the "Setup" menu, or with the keystroke
       Alt-O.  It contains nothing but checkmark gadgets, in two columns.
       Each has a descriptive label to its right, with the first letter


                                     - 61 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.3


       of that label underlined.  Click on the gadget to switch the
       checkmark on or off, or type the underlined letter to the right of
       the gadget for the same effect.  When the checkmark is present,
       the option described in the label is turned on.

       The top gadget on the left is labeled "Page break after printing",
       with the letter P as its keyboard shortcut.  When this is checked
       (the default), any message sent to the printer will be followed by
       a formfeed character to send the printer to the start of a new
       page.  Otherwise it puts three blank lines after the text.  (Older
       versions of Q-Blue only put two blank lines.)

       To the right of the page break gadget is one labeled "Waste memory
       for speed", with keyboard shortcut W.  When this is checked, it
       causes the text of some messages to be cached in memory instead of
       loaded from disk each time they come up onscreen.  Specifically,
       Q-Blue attempts to preload the text of the next 20 messages after
       the one you are currently reading, so that you can quickly move
       through them all without waiting for disk access.  It will
       "forget" the cached messages if you do something that needs memory
       to be conserved, such as packing replies or iconifying the screen.
       If your work directory is in ram disk, there will be no
       significant benefit in using this.  By default it is turned off.

       The second gadget on the left side, under the "Page break" gadget,
       is labeled "Msgs: list before reading", shortcut M.  It is turned
       off (unchecked) by default.  It causes the window listing messages
       in the current area to be automatically opened whenever you choose
       a new area.  If you consider this to be an unnecessary extra step,
       you can leave this gadget unchecked and when you choose an area it
       will simply display that area's first message, or the last one you
       read if you have already been in this area before.  This option
       also causes the message list window to be opened when you do a
       word search in the current area (see section 9.5).

       To the right of that, under the "Waste memory" gadget, is one
       labeled "Your msgs flash screen", shortcut Y, which is unchecked
       by default.  It determines whether the screen will flash when a
       message addressed to you is displayed.  This is commonly called a
       display "beep", and may produce a sound if you use a program or
       preferences setting which translate such flashes into actual beeps.

       The third gadget on the left side is "Areas: list before reading",
       shortcut A, which is turned on by default.  It is analogous to the
       "Msgs: list before reading" gadget immediately above it.  It
       causes the window listing areas with messages in them to be opened
       whenever you try to read the next message in an area where you are
       at the last message, or the previous message when you are at the
       first.  The default area highlighted in the window will be the one
       after (or before, if you asked for the previous message) the one
       you were in.  If this option is unchecked, it will simply display
       the first, or last-shown, message in the next (or previous) area
       without opening the areas window.  It will still open the window


                                     - 62 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.3


       when you reach the end (or beginning) of all available messages.
       This setting also causes the window to be opened after doing a
       word search of all areas.

       To the right of that is "Update behind list window", shortcut U,
       which is on by default.  Q-Blue has a feature that some people
       might consider annoyingly flashy: when the window which lists the
       messages in the current area is open, moving the highlight bar up
       and down causes the indicated message to be immediately displayed
       on the main screen behind the window.  If you hold down the arrow
       key so it repeats, or press it rapidly, the background display
       will get rather noisy as it repeatedly starts displaying a new
       message, and then abandons the effort part way through to start on
       another one.  None of the messages displayed this way are counted
       as having actually been read.  If you turn off the checkmark here,
       the background will remain static until you close the list window.

       The fourth gadget on the left side is "Buttons at screen bottom",
       shortcut B.  This is checked by default, and when it's turned off,
       the row of seven command buttons at the bottom of the screen
       disappears.  This allows more of the text in the message body to
       be seen at once.  The amount of increase may be two text lines or
       just one line, depending on the font size and screen height.  The
       first five of those gadgets are all just shortcuts for equivalent
       menu items, and so are really just a small convenience.  The last
       two, labeled "Prev." and "Next", have no menu equivalents; with
       the gadgets turned off, there is no mouse equivalent to pressing
       the left arrow or right arrow key.

       To the right of that is one labeled "`Re:' before reply subject".
       Its shortcut is R and it is checked by default.  When it is turned
       off, then when you reply to a message the subject, or title, of
       your reply is by default the same as that of the message you are
       replying to.  When it's checked, the reply's subject is the
       original's with "Re:" stuck in front, to indicate that it is a
       reply to someone else's statement.  For instance, if the original
       subject was "Amigas are neato", the reply would be titled
       "Re: Amigas are neato" by default.

       The fifth one on the left is labeled "Next string gad activates",
       key shortcut N.  It controls the behavior of string gadgets, which
       was described in section 1.3: if this is on (it is, by default),
       then whenever a window contains several string gadgets, pressing
       return in one string gadget will automatically activate the next
       one below it.  Pressing shift-return will activate the one above,
       and pressing Alt-return will not activate either.  When this
       gadget is off, pressing return or shift-return never activates
       another string gadget.

       The fifth gadget on the right is "Option to delete packet",
       shortcut O.  When this is checked, Q-Blue will ask you with a
       requester, when you close the packet, whether the mail packet file
       that you opened should be deleted.  The requester will mention how


                                     - 63 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.3


       many, if any, of the messages in the packet have not been read.
       It is off by default.

       The sixth gadget on the left is "Sizes in message list", shortcut
       S.  When this is checked, the window listing messages in the
       current area will show the approximate length of the message in
       bytes instead of the message's index number.  (With QWK mail the
       number is rounded up to a multiple of 128.)  It is off by default.

       The sixth gadget on the right is "Flush reply dir at close",
       shortcut F.  If this is checked, Q-Blue will delete the files in
       the reply directory when you close the packet, if they have been
       packed with no problems.  This may help reduce confusion in cases
       where you have a choice between unpacking a reply archive and
       reloading replies left in that directory.  It is off by default.

       The last gadget, across the bottom of both columns, is "Hidden
       scroll bar pops up when mouse at right edge of screen".  This
       option has no effect if Q-Blue's screen is overscanned by at least
       16 pixels above standard width.  With this extra width available,
       Q-Blue always shows a vertical scrollbar along the right hand edge
       of the message text area.  But if the screen is exactly 640 pixels
       wide (or 80 times the width of the font you select), no scrollbar
       is visible.  But if this option is checked, a scrollbar will
       appear whenever you move the mouse to the right edge of the
       screen, slightly reducing the area available to display text.  You
       can move the mouse to the right to use the scrollbar, then move it
       back to the left to uncover any text that was hidden by it.


           6.4) Specifying how messages are quoted for replying

       The Replying setup window is opened by selecting "Replying" in the
       "Setup" menu, or pressing Alt-Y.  It is titled "Options for
       writing messages and replies", and it contains gadgets which are
       mostly concerned with two aspects of writing replies: quoting from
       the original message you are replying to, and adding taglines.

       At the top left is a cycle gadget labeled "Quote style default",
       with five values and the keyboard shortcut Q.  It is used to set
       the default style for quoting lines from a message that you are
       replying to.  You can change the style for any one message, if
       desired, with an identical gadget in the window that is open when
       you are writing a reply -- this gadget in the Replying setup
       window only selects the default.  The concept of reply quoting is
       explained more fully in section 4.2.  The five settings are:

        - "Add >" puts a greater-than character in the left margin of
            all quoted text.  This is a common style used to indicate
            that the text is a quotation from somebody else's message.

        - "Add XX>" is similar, but puts the initials of the person who
            wrote the quoted text before the greater-than sign.  This is


                                     - 64 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.4


            also a commonly used style.  It will use up to three initials
            from the name, or use the entire name if it's no more than
            three letters long.  If the name is one word but longer than
            three letters, it will use the first two letters with the
            second letter in lowercase.  It does not add anything to any
            lines that have already got something similar at the left
            edge, and blank lines are left blank.

        - "Wrap XX>" is like "Add XX>" except that it attempts to
            reformat paragraphs before adding the XX> part at the left
            margin.  This helps prevent situations where long lines get
            broken into a slightly shorter line followed by a line
            containing only a word or two, but can occasionally mess up
            text that is organized as a list or table of separate lines
            not meant to be run together.  Q-Blue 2.4 does not attempt
            to reformat any text that already has ">" marks.  This is the
            initial default setting.

        - "Verbatim" makes no changes to the text being quoted.  It
            preserves the text as close as possible to its original form
            -- which may sometimes mean that some lines are wider than
            the screen.  It is up to you to indicate in your reply that
            the text you use is a quote of someone else's words.

        - "None" lets you start with a clean slate.  No text from the
            message you are replying to is supplied when you use this
            choice.

       To the right of this cycle gadget is a numeric string gadget
       labeled "Quote right margin", which sets the right margin used for
       preparing quoted text.  This only affects text that ">" or "XX>"
       is put in front of -- the right margin for text that you type
       yourself is controlled by your editor program, not by Q-Blue.  It
       controls how many characters are allowed on a quoted line,
       including the stuff added at the left margin, before the last few
       words are wrapped onto the next line.  The default value is 76,
       and the maximum value allowed is 80.  On some BBSes, values higher
       than 78 may not work properly.  The minimum value allowed is 30,
       unless you set it to zero.

       It is sometimes wise to set this number to a lower value, such as
       72; the reason for this is that someone else may re-quote the
       text you quote, and add additional ">" or "XX>" or other markers
       to the left margin, and unless their right margin is several
       characters wider than yours, the prose may get mangled by their
       quoting software.  Few programs know how to reformat such
       paragraphs when quoting them; more often they break long lines by
       putting one or two words on a line by themselves, or even truncate
       the end of each line.  On the other hand, if you use too narrow a
       margin and don't use "Wrap XX>" you may mangle stuff pretty badly
       yourself.  "Wrap XX>" style quoting is recommended if you are
       quoting with margins narrower than the original text.  The margin
       setting is ignored with "Verbatim" quoting, unless it is zero.


                                     - 65 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.4


       A value of zero in the "Quote right margin" gadget can be thought
       of as "infinity"; it allows lines to be of unlimited length.  When
       that gadget is set to 0, Q-Blue will merge each quoted paragraph
       into a single long line.  This is intended for those who wish to
       use a true word processor as their message editor -- one which
       deals naturally with text that has line breaks only between
       paragraphs, and wraps text within a paragraph to suit itself.
       When the quote margin is set to 0, you won't get a ">" or "XX>"
       mark at the start of each line, but only one at the start of each
       paragraph.  The effect applies regardless of quoting style; even
       in "Verbatim" mode paragraphs will have their internal line breaks
       removed, and there is no difference between the "Add XX>" and
       "Wrap XX>" styles.


           6.5) Header and signature strings for replies

       Below the gadgets related to reply quoting is a string gadget
       labeled "Quote header".  This string specifies a block of text
       that gets put at the top of a quoted message, if any quoting style
       but "None" is used.  The string can contain codes which stand for
       things like the name of the author of the message being quoted,
       the name it was addressed to, the date it was written, or the
       original subject line it had.  For instance, let us assume that
       John Smith wrote a message to Mary Jones, and you are writing a
       reply to that message.  John Smith's words will be included
       (quoted) in your reply.  The quote header string will produce an
       introductory statement at the top of the quoted text, such as:

           At 9:31 PM on 1 Apr 97, John Smith said to Mary Jones:

       That is the default style.  But the header can be as complex as:

            * From: John Smith                  To: Mary Jones
            * Area: Radio and TV              Date: 1 Apr 97, 9:31 PM
            * Subj: Rush Limbaugh is a divine prophet

       or as simple as:

           Dear John,

       The flexibility of these texts is accomplished by using "@" codes,
       along the same general principles as the codes used in editor and
       compressor commands (see sections 4.2 and 5.3).  But the actual
       codes used are very different, except for "@N" which is universal.
       The full list of codes that can be used is explained in the next
       section.  Some basic ones are: "@N" is a line break, "@A" is the
       name of the author of the message you are replying to, "@R" is the
       name that their message was addressed to, "@S" is the subject line
       of that message, "@C" is the name of the area it was posted in,
       and "@D" and "@T" are the date and time that it was written.  More
       advanced sequences like "@FY" and "@Z" and "@36" are covered in
       the next section.


                                     - 66 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.5


       The first example would be produced with this string in the quote
       header gadget: "At @T on @D, @A said to @R:@N".  This is the
       gadget's default setting.  The second example would be produced by
       " * From: @A@38To: @R@N * Area: @C@36Date: @D, @T@N * Subj: @S@N".
       The third would just require "Dear @FY,@N".  In each case, the
       final "@N" puts a blank line between the header and the quoted
       text following it.

       Below the "Quote header" is a similar string labeled "C.C. header".
       It specifies what announcing banner is put at the head of someone
       else's message when you use the "Carbon copy" command (see section
       10, particularly 10.3).  It uses the same "@" codes that the quote
       header does.  The default string is:

            ** Message forwarded by Q-Blue @V@N ** Posted @T on @D in
                     area "@Z@C"@N ** From @A to @R@N ** Subject "@Z@S"@N

       except that it's all on one line.  There is a space character at
       the beginning.  With its four @N codes, it produces four lines of
       information at the top of the forwarded message, followed by a
       blank line.  The two @Z codes cause the area name and subject to
       be shortened if they're too long to fit on the same line with the
       other stuff around them.  When you carbon-copy your own replies,
       this header is not added.  Section 10.3 contains an example of a
       header produced by this string.

       Below that is a string labeled "Signature".  This specifies text
       that is appended to the end of each message you write, and is
       often used to list important data about yourself such as various
       email addresses or your company affiliation.  This string uses a
       subset of the "@" codes used in the two header strings.  Most of
       the codes are ignored; the ones that work are @N, @D, @T, @V, and
       @<number>.  The @D and @T codes give the date and time of the
       moment the signature is written, not the time of some other
       message.  Usually @N is the only code used here.  Note that any
       signature you specify will always have a blank line put in front
       of it to separate it from the message it follows, so you don't
       need to put an "@N" at the start of it.  The signature text will
       be loaded into your editor as part of the message text file when
       you write a reply.  It is not kept separate, as taglines are.

       Perhaps the easiest way to put a multiline signature in here is to
       write it out somewhere else such as in a text editor, and then
       copy it to the clipboard and paste it into the Signature gadget by
       pressing right-Amiga-V while it's active.  The line breaks will be
       automatically replaced with "@N" codes, as with any string gadget
       where those codes are used.  But note that the gadget holds at
       most 400 characters.  Many people like to create signatures more
       than a thousand characters long, but Q-Blue will not participate
       in such excess.  With a little discipline, 400 is plenty.  Also
       remember, when writing your signature, that any "@" character, for
       instance in an Internet address, has to be written as "@@" to
       translate correctly.


                                     - 67 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.6


           6.6) Special codes used in header and signature strings

       The codes that are used in the "Quote header" and "C.C. header"
       strings each consist of a "@" character followed by one or two
       letters or digits.  The code sequences are:

           @A:  the full name of the quoted message's author.
           @R:  the full name of the person that message was addressed to.
           @Y:  the full name of the person your reply is addressed to.
           @FA: the first name of the quoted message's author.
           @FR: the first name of the person that message was addressed to.
           @FY: the first name of the person your reply is addressed to.
           @LA: the last name of the quoted message's author.
           @LR: the last name of the person that message was addressed to.
           @LY: the last name of the person your reply is addressed to.
           @S:  the original subject line (or title) of the message.
           @J:  the original subject line with any initial "Re:" removed.
           @D:  the date the message was written, in "DD Mmm YY" format.
           @T:  the time of day that it was written, in AM/PM format.
           @C:  the BBS's name for the message area it was in.
           @V:  Q-Blue's version number (currently 2.4).
           @N:  a break between two lines of text.
           @Z:  truncate the next @C or @S to avoid breaking the line.
           @@:  an "@" character.
           @<number>: (e.g. "@36") insert spaces up to column <number>.

       Putting a letter "F" in the middle of @A, @R, or @Y reduces it to
       just the first name; putting an "L" in the middle gives the last
       name.  The first name it selects usually consists of everything
       before the first blank space in the name, and the last name is
       everything after the last blank space, but if the name is all one
       word then the whole thing is used as both first and last name, and
       if the name starts with the word "The" (for instance, if someone
       is using "The Mad Bomber" as an alias), then everything after the
       "The" is used as both the first and last name.  Also, if the last
       word is something like "Jr." or "Ph.D" or "III", then it uses the
       previous word as the last name.

       In a typical reply, @Y would be the same as @A (and @FY and @LY
       would be the same as @FA and @LA): both being the author of the
       message you are replying to.  But if you change the name in the
       "To" gadget when replying, @Y will refer to that newly chosen
       name, while @A would still refer to the person who wrote the
       message being replied to.  Naturally, this only applies if you
       change the "To" name before editing your reply, which is when this
       format string is used.  And if you used the "Reply to addressee"
       command, then @Y is by default the same as @R, not @A.  If a name
       is all uppercase, Q-Blue tries to capitalize it reasonably.

       The @Z code needs some explanation.  Normally, if a subject or
       area name is so long that it causes a line to be longer than 80
       characters, the line is word-wrapped -- broken into two lines.
       But if @Z is present before @C or @S or @J, then that area name or


                                     - 68 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.6


       subject string will be truncated to fit, so that the line it's on
       won't go past 80 characters.  Since area names can be up to 49
       characters long and subjects can be up to 71 characters, but both
       are much shorter in the great majority of cases, it makes sense to
       use @Z rather than trying to make sure there is always enough room
       for the longest possible cases.

       The use of a number after the @, for instance "@20", causes the
       next text to appear that many columns from the left edge of the
       screen.  It is used to put something in a fixed horizontal
       position when the text before it is variable in length.  It will
       insert no spaces if already past the specified position.  This
       code can be used in the "Signature" gadget as well as in header
       strings, unlike most of the fancier codes.  It can help you fit a
       "bigger" signature into the available 400 character space...
       though it should be kept in mind that giant signatures are often
       viewed as a mark of cluelessness.


           6.7) Other gadgets in the Replying setup window

       Below the "Signature" string in this window are two cycle gadgets
       for controlling the tagline feature, and a string gadget for
       specifying the file to load taglines from.  The left hand cycle
       gadget is labeled "Default tagline", with keyboard shortcut D and
       four settings: "None", "Random", "Sequence", and "Manual".  On the
       right is one labeled "Tagline after", with shortcut T and two
       cryptic-looking settings: "..." and "* Q-Blue".  Taglines are
       explained more fully in sections 10.9 and 10.10.

       The first gadget tells Q-Blue when and how it should add a tagline
       to a reply automatically.  When set to "None", no taglines are
       added automatically, though you can add them when you choose with
       the "Tagline" button in the message writing window.  When it's set
       to "Random", then every time you write a new message or reply,
       Q-Blue will randomly select a tagline from the currently loaded
       tagline file, and add it to the end of the message.  "Sequence" is
       like "Random" except that it causes taglines to be used in the
       order they appear in the tagline file, instead of randomly.  If
       it's set to "Manual", then whenever you edit a new message or
       reply, the tagline selection window will be automatically opened
       when you first edit a message, with a random line selected,
       allowing you to select a different line or tell it not to use any
       tagline.  When you re-edit an existing message, none of these
       things are done.  The tagline can, however, still be changed
       manually with the "Tagline" button.

       The "Tagline after" cycle gadget controls what characters are used
       to mark the beginning of a tagline.  Normally, each tagline is
       preceded by three periods and a space -- this is the de facto
       standard way of telling taglines apart from other lines.  When
       reading Blue Wave packets, this method is always used.  But when
       reading QWK packets, there is another tagline style you can use.


                                     - 69 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.7


       This cycle gadget shows either "..." or "* Q-Blue" to indicate
       which to use, the latter being the default.

       With QWK messages, Q-Blue normally adds a line at the end of each
       nonprivate message you write saying "* Q-Blue 2.4 *" (with a space
       at the beginning of the line).  This is known as a "brag line" --
       most offline readers add one.  Section 6.8 tells how you can turn
       off braglines.  If the "Tagline after" cycle gadget is set to
       "...", the tagline is put just above the brag line, preceded with
       three dots, just as with Blue Wave mail.  But if the gadget is set
       to "* Q-Blue", the tagline will be put on the same line as the
       brag, just after the second asterisk, so only one line is added to
       your message instead of two.  Naturally, this means that the
       tagline can't be as long as it can be the other way, but if you
       select a tagline too long to fit after the brag line, it will put
       it on a separate line just as if the "..." option were selected.
       With private messages, no brag is normally added (as of Q-Blue
       2.3), but if the tagline style is "* Q-Blue" and you are adding a
       tagline which is short enough to fit after the brag, the brag will
       be used in front of it instead of "...".

       The reason this style choice is not available with Blue Wave is
       that the brag line is added by the mail door after you upload your
       replies, so Q-Blue has no control over it.  The QWK brag line, by
       the way, is not added to the message if the last line of the
       regular message text (not counting the tagline) contains the word
       "Q-Blue".  This allows you to substitute your own brag line for
       the standard one, with the caveat that it will be placed before
       the tagline (if present) instead of after.  Normally there is a
       blank line between the end of the message and the brag line, but
       if a "..."  style tagline is added, the brag line comes right
       after it with no space, whether it's the QWK brag line added by
       Q-Blue or the Blue Wave brag line added by the mail door.  This
       means you can add this kind of tagline by simply typing it at the
       end of your message, rather than by using the tagline window, if
       you wish.

       Beneath these two cycle gadgets is a string gadget labeled "File
       containing taglines".  To use taglines conveniently, you need to
       put the full pathname of a text file containing your taglines into
       this gadget, or its equivalent in the BBS Local setup window.  If
       you specify no file here and try to use taglines, you will get an
       ASL requester asking you to select a tagline file.

       At the bottom of the Replying setup window is a string gadget
       labeled "Default alias name".  Its use is strictly optional.  When
       reading Blue Wave mail, certain message areas may allow you to
       enter a message that is "from" any name you want to use, instead
       of making you use your real name or logon handle.  When you write
       a message in such an area, Q-Blue will normally set the message's
       author name to be the name or handle you log onto the BBS with,
       but if you enter a different name in this gadget, Q-Blue will use
       that instead.  You can, of course, change the name at the time you


                                     - 70 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.7


       are writing the message; this name is only a default.  Any
       messages addressed to the name in this gadget will be counted as
       being addressed to you.  When reading QWK mail, it will put this
       name in place of your real name when writing messages, when you
       use the gadget labeled "Handle" in the message writing window (see
       section 10.2).

       Most of the gadgets described in this section have a duplicate in
       the BBS Local setup window, allowing its global setting to be
       overridden for a single BBS.  The next section covers this.


           6.8) Local setup options for individual BBSes

       The BBS Local setup window, which can be opened with the key
       shortcut Alt-B, differs from the other setup windows.  It cannot
       be used when no packet is open, and its settings are not saved in
       the regular configuration file.  It allows you to change some of
       Q-Blue's setup options depending on where the mail you are reading
       came from.  Most of its gadgets are duplicates of ones that exist
       in the Replying setup window.  The gadgets from that window that
       are duplicated are the "File containing taglines" string gadget,
       the "Default tagline" and "Tagline after" cycle gadgets, the
       "Quote header" and "Signature" string gadgets (but not the
       "C.C. header" string), the "Default alias name" string, and the
       "Quote right margin" numeric string gadget.

       An important note about the "File containing taglines" string
       gadget: if you use the tagline window's "Load" or "saVe" buttons
       to select or create a new tagline file (see section 10.9), the
       newly selected filename will be copied into this gadget.  The
       change becomes permanent if you reopen the BBS Local setup window
       and select "Save".  The global tagline file string gadget is not
       affected.

       There is also a "Compressor" cycle gadget which is a sort of
       duplicate, in different form, of the "Compression type" submenu.
       There are two checkmarks which (for no particular reason) are not
       present in the Replying setup window: they are labeled "Permit
       blank To & Subject" and "Indent XX> quotes".

       There is a button labeled "Mail..." which, if enabled, opens a
       second window.  This is documented in the next two sections.
       Finally, there are "Load" and "Save" buttons.

       The "Indent XX> quotes" checkmark affects whether text quoted in
       the "Add XX>" or "Wrap XX>" styles has a space character at the
       beginning of each line.  This is necessary with some BBS software
       that doesn't pay close attention to such quote marks, in order to
       prevent these paragraphs from being word-wrapped so that the XX>
       markers appear in the middle of a line.  It defaults off except
       with Searchlight BBS.  Quoting with XX> markers is explained fully
       in sections 4.3 and 6.4.


                                     - 71 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.8


       The "Permit blank To & Subject" checkmark makes it legal to upload
       a message which has no name in the "To" field and/or no title in
       the "Subject" field.  Normally Q-Blue will not permit a message to
       be saved without these.  Even with this gadget checked, Q-Blue will
       warn you if they are blank; when you tell it to save the message,
       it will flash the screen and activate the empty To or Subject
       string gadget.  If you then click "Save" again, it will save the
       message.  Messages with blank To or Subject fields should not be
       used carelessly.

       In each case, except for the two checkmarks, the gadget overrides
       an equivalent global setting.  For instance, if the "File
       containing taglines" string is blank, then the pathname in the
       Replying setup window is used, but if it contains a pathname, then
       that is used instead of the one in the Replying window.  The same
       rule applies to the "Quote header" and "Signature" strings.  The
       three cycle gadgets each have an extra option that reads
       "(global)".  When set to that option, then the equivalent gadget
       in the Replying window, or the "Compression type" submenu
       selection in the case of the "Compressor" gadget, takes effect.
       But when any other option is selected in the cycle gadget, it
       takes effect and the global one is ignored.  The blank or global
       option is the default in all cases.

       The "Tagline after" gadget is a special case.  Besides the "..."
       and "* Q-Blue" options available in the equivalent gadget in the
       Replying setup window, and the "(global)" option, there is a
       fourth option labeled "Stealth".  This works the same as "...",
       with one difference: it causes your replies to contain no Q-Blue
       bragline.  (When Q-Blue was shareware, this option was available
       only to users who had registered.)  The "* Q-Blue 2.4 *" line
       normally appended to QWK replies is left out, and in Blue Wave
       replies it pretends that the message was written by BWAVE for
       MS-DOS.  When a Blue Wave packet is open, the "..." and "Stealth"
       options are the only ones available in this cycle gadget because
       the "* Q-Blue" option only works with QWK packets.

       The "Compressor" cycle gadget (key shortcut C) is also a little
       bit of a special case.  It does not completely override the global
       setting for which compressor is selected.  It tells Q-Blue what
       compression type to expect for packets that have the right name
       for this BBS.  But if the globally selected packer type matches
       the file, it will use that without even checking what the local
       one is.  If it doesn't fit but the local one does, then the global
       one will be set to match the local one, so that the right packer
       is used for archiving replies.  The cycle gadget's options simply
       consist of the same packer type names listed in the "Compression
       type" submenu, and the "(global)" option.  If the mail packet you
       are reading came from a BBS that uses a different compression type
       than most of the other mail you read, then click this cycle gadget
       until the right compressor is showing, and then click the "Save"
       button.  From now on, Q-Blue will open the packet without asking
       each time whether you want to change compression type.  But then


                                     - 72 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.8


       when you open another packet that uses your normal type, after
       opening one of these different ones, it will think you still want
       to use the special type that the local window specified for the
       other BBS.  The cure for this is to set a local compression type
       for each different BBS that you call regularly.

       Note that since this setting is looked up before the packet is
       opened, Q-Blue is not always guaranteed to find the right local
       compression type for a given mail packet.  Each BBS has a short
       name, known as the "BBS ID" or "packet name", inside its mail
       packets.  Usually, the mail packet itself is a file with that same
       name and some extension.  For instance, a QWK packet from a BBS
       that uses the packet name "SOMEBBS" will typically be named
       "SOMEBBS.QWK".  When a packet is open, this ID is shown in the
       screen's title bar, which will read (for example):

            Q-Blue 2.4:  reading "SOMEBBS"

       But sometimes the filenames don't match the BBS ID, and in that
       case the local compressor selection gadget won't be very useful.

       When you use the "Save" gadget (key shortcut S), it writes a file
       in the BBS context directory that you specified in the Directories
       setup window.  The filename is chosen automatically, so no file
       requester appears.  It writes a simple textfile that lists all the
       non-default option settings in the window, and has the chosen
       compressor name in its filenote.  The filenote is used in order to
       avoid reading the whole file twice, once at decompression time and
       once after the packet is open.

       The "Load" gadget (key shortcut L) lets you load in options from
       such a file using the ASL file requester.  The requester has a
       pattern in it to find only files with names ending in ".local-QWK"
       or ".local-BW".  The "Save" option writes out files with those
       names, with the part before the period being the BBS's packet
       name, and the "QWK" or "BW" part depending on which type of packet
       is open.  The "Load" option lets you undo the changes you've made
       since the last time you saved, or copy local settings from one BBS
       to another by selecting a file with the other BBS's packet name.

       When a mail packet (or BBS file) is opened, the corresponding
       local setup file is automatically loaded.  Of course, for this to
       work depends on no two BBSes you call having the same packet name.
       Non-unique packet names cause trouble for everybody, though, so
       sysops do avoid them.  Of course, since Q-Blue looks for this file
       in the BBS context directory, the local setup window will not work
       at all if no such directory is defined.  If none is yet specified,
       the "Save" button will produce an error message.







                                     - 73 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.9


           6.9) Configuring QWK packet netmail

       "Netmail" is a term used for messages which are sent to a single
       person, usually privately, who is not on the same BBS as the one
       you're calling, via FidoNet or any other network that uses the
       same type of mail software.  To send such a message, you must not
       only supply the recipient's name, but a Fido-style address for the
       BBS that the recipient would read it on.  The Blue Wave packet
       format includes built-in support for sending netmail messages, but
       the QWK format does not.  Because of this lack, many QWK mail
       packing systems ("doors") have added features which make it
       possible, by various methods, to send netmail messages in an
       ordinary QWK upload.  Unfortunately, different QWK doors use
       different methods, not compatible with each other.  Many offer no
       method at all.

       To deal with this, Q-Blue's BBS Local setup window has a button
       labeled "Mail..." which opens another window which is labeled
       "Email/Netmail on this BBS".  It has two gadgets along its top
       edge that let you describe the method a particular BBS's door
       uses for netmail.  These gadgets are ghosted for Blue Wave
       packets.  The approach used does not cover every variation used by
       different QWK doors, but it handles the majority of them.

       The first gadget is a string labeled "QWK netmail kluge line".
       This describes the format of a special extra line of text that is
       added to the top of a netmail message, specifying the address of
       the destination BBS.  Most QWK doors with netmail features use
       some kind of special line at the top of the text.  The format of
       this line depends on the particular mail door you're using, and
       you should consult that door's documentation if in doubt about
       what it uses.  For those that use some other method of specifying
       the destination address, such as SFMail for Spitfire BBS, which
       expects the destination address at the beginning of the subject
       line, Q-Blue will not help you.  But there are two exceptions:
       the subject line method used by MKQWK, JC-QWK, and OLMS for Remote
       Access BBS is supported, and so is the awkward system used by
       PCBoard 15.0 and newer.

       The string that you put into this gadget is a copy of what the
       first line of the message should be, with a "/" (a slash
       character) substituted for the actual address.  When you write a
       netmail message, Q-Blue looks for the slash and replaces it with
       the full Fido-style address, which you have entered in the
       "Netmail address" string gadget in the message writing window (see
       section 10.6).  The format of this string depends on what QWK door
       the BBS uses to pack your mail, or in some cases, on the software
       that the sysop uses to connect the BBS to the network.

       The two most popular format strings are "To: /" and "->/".  Use
       the first string, "To: /", if the BBS uses Maximus or EzyCom
       software with built-in QWK packing, or if it is RBBS with either
       NoSnail or MailManager +Plus+ network software.  The other string,


                                     - 74 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.9


       "->/", can be used with the TomCat, wcMAIL, or wcQWK door on BBSes
       running WildCat!, and also be used for the QSO mail packer on TBBS
       systems, and the TriMail door for TriBBS.  In some cases the form
       "->/@fidonet" may be necessary.  Silver Xpress mail doors, used in
       QWK mode, generally support both of the above strings, regardless
       of BBS software.

       If you are using a SearchLight BBS with Valence QWK door, you can
       use "@/" or "Netmail: /".  The "@/" format supposedly also works
       for QSO according to its docs, but it is widely reported that it
       actually does not work.  (In fact, I'm not sure if the "->/" form
       works in QSO versions before 2.0.)

       If the software is PCBoard, the correct string depends on what
       Fido mailer software is in use.  If the Fido networking is built-
       in, as is the case with recent versions of PCBoard, then make sure
       the "Use PCBoard extensions" checkmark is checked, and leave the
       netmail kluge string empty.  Q-Blue will then use PCBoard's
       extended "@TO" kluge line to include the address.  The "Direct"
       and "Crash" netmail flags (see section 10.7) can be used in this
       case, though of course the BBS may disregard them.  If the Fido
       mail software is InterPCB, the string "@>/" should be used.  In
       some cases "@>/@fidonet" needs to be used instead.  With FidoPCB
       or QFront software, the string is "(/)".

       The MKQWK and JC-QWK doors for Remote Access BBS use a method
       where the address is put into the subject line, the subject goes
       into the kluge line at the top of the message text.  Q-Blue
       detects MKQWK and JC-QWK packets and will correctly handle netmail
       addressing if you select the proper netmail area.  With these mail
       doors, leave the kluge line string gadget empty.  With MKQWK, but
       generally not with other QWK mail doors, the netmail flags
       "Direct", "Immediate", and "Crash" can be used.  The BBS may
       disregard them, of course.  MKQWK and JC-QWK also allow the
       subject line on netmail to be longer than the normal 25 character
       limit.  All of this also applies to the OLMS door, but with that
       door it makes more sense to just download your mail in Blue Wave
       format, rendering this setup process unnecessary.

       I have heard reports that these three Remote Access doors can also
       use the Valence method, "@/".  I have not confirmed this.  But
       leaving the string gadget empty works better, because it enables
       you to use a longer subject heading.

       There are probably other styles as well, but this probably covers
       the majority of cases.  To summarize:

           "To: /"              Maximus, EzyCom, RBBS, Silver Xpress
           "->/"                TomCat, wcMAIL, wcQWK, QSO, TriMail,
                                    Silver Xpress
           "@/"                 Valence, possibly several others
           "(/)"                PCBoard/FidoPCB, PCBoard/QFront
           "@>/"                PCBoard/InterPCB


                                     - 75 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 6.9


           empty                MKQWK, JC-QWK, OLMS
           empty                PCBoard/built-in; "Use PCBoard extensions"
                                    gadget must be checked

       Just enter the appropriate string (without quote marks) in the
       "QWK netmail kluge line" string in the BBS Local setup window.  If
       you're not sure what string a given BBS's mail door uses, check
       the BBS's help files or bulletins, or ask the sysop.  In some
       cases, the mail door itself has a "Help" command that gives the
       necessary information, or a "Download the user manual" command.

       There is one other piece of information that is needed for
       creating QWK netmail messages: which area they should be put in.
       In most cases, one message area is set aside for all netmail
       traffic.  If there is more than one such area, Q-Blue's local
       configuration can only support one.  Specifying the netmail area
       is done with the "Area:" button to the right of the "QWK netmail
       kluge line" gadget.  If you click it or press the A key, a list
       window opens showing all of the possible message areas.  You just
       have to find the correct area in the list, and select it.  Usually
       the right area has the word "netmail" in its name.  Again, if in
       doubt, consult the BBS's help texts or bulletins, or ask the
       sysop.  When the window opens, if no area is currently selected,
       it tries to set the current selection to an area with the word
       "netmail" or "net" or "mail" or "matrix" in its name.  This guess
       may help, or may not.

       When you select an area, that area's number is displayed to the
       right of the "Area:" button.  If the kluge line string is
       specified and the area is selected, the netmail gadgets in the
       message writing window will work.  If one or the other is not set,
       they will be ghosted.  If an area is selected but the kluge line
       string is not (except in the cases mentioned above where it can
       work when empty), the number next to the "Area:" button will be
       ghosted to show that it is not in use.

       The list of areas in that window is exactly the same as the list
       used for selecting a message area for writing a message.  There is
       one additional option, however, represented by the gadget at the
       bottom of the screen labeled "None".  If you click this or press
       N, you are specifying that there is no area designated for
       netmail.  The window closes, and any number written after the
       "Area:" gadget is erased.  This list window can be word-searched
       like any other list window (see sections 9.5 and 9.6), and it is
       possible to add a missing area to the list when reading QWK mail,
       as with other areas lists (see section 10.5).

       When this is all set up, don't forget to use the "Save" button so
       that the options will be remembered next time you open a packet
       from the same BBS.  Remember that the "Save setup" menu item only
       saves global options, not those in the BBS Local setup window.




                                     - 76 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 6.10


           6.10) Configuring Internet email

       As with Fido-type netmail, there is no one agreed-upon method for
       handling Internet email in an offline mail packet, at least not
       with mail formats older than Blue Wave version 3.  (With version 3
       of Blue Wave, the "Mail..." gadget is disabled and this window is
       not used at all.)  But there is less disagreement than with
       netmail, so instead of giving you an awkward method of specifying
       an arbitrary format in a string gadget, Q-Blue gives you a cycle
       gadget that selects one of three common methods.  At this writing
       all BBSes I know of use one of these three, and most of those use
       just one, which Q-Blue calls the "Generic" style.  It consists of
       putting a line beginning with the word "To:" and followed by the
       internet address that the mail is being sent to at the top of the
       message body.  Searchlight BBS uses a different line, starting
       with the word "Internet:" instead.  And PCBoard, when email is
       handled internally instead of by add-on programs, uses its own
       special "@TO" and "@TO2" header lines.  The cycle gadget for
       selecting this in the "Email/Netmail on this BBS" window is
       labeled "email Kluge style", and its options are labeled
       "Generic", "PCBoard", and "SearchLt".  Its keyboard shortcut is K.
       In most cases, if "PCBoard" or "SearchLt" is the correct choice,
       Q-Blue will manage to set them automatically, but this cannot be
       guaranteed.

       Just below the "Area:" button which is used for selecting where
       netmail goes, is a similar button for selecting what area Internet
       email belongs in.  It is labeled "arEa:" and uses E (for Email) as
       its keyboard shortcut, while the button for netmail uses A.  It
       works the same way the netmail "Area:" button works: it opens a
       list window showing available areas, allowing you to select the
       right one where email belongs, or select "None".  The selected
       area number, if any, is shown to the right of the button.

       If your email kluge style is "SearchLt" or "PCBoard", then the
       area is the only other thing you need to select.  All of the other
       gadgets in the window are ghosted.  But in the "Generic" case,
       there may be several other things you need to set.  There are two
       more string gadgets and two checkmarks that are enabled in this
       case.

       One question that has to be settled is this: if the email address
       you are sending is short enough that it can fit into the regular
       "To" field of the message without needing an extra kluge line to
       contain it, can the message be sent without using the kluge?  The
       answer is, sometimes yes and sometimes no.  Many BBSes allow
       Internet addresses to be put into the normal "To" field and will
       correctly send such mail.  But others cannot send mail unless the
       kluge line is used.  The string gadget labeled "Internet email
       dummy recipient" is used for answering this question.  If left
       blank -- and nowadays, this should work with most BBSes -- then
       Q-Blue will use the regular "To" field instead of the kluge line
       whenever the address you are mailing to is short enough to fit,


                                     - 77 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 6.10


       and if the kluge line is used, will put the word "ALL" into the
       "To" field, which is ignored.  None of this is visible to the
       Q-Blue user once this is configured; it's done automatically
       behind the scenes.

       In those cases where the kluge line must always be used, it is
       sometimes necessary that the regular "To" field contain a
       particular special word to inform the system that the message is
       email.  "UUCP" is probably the most common special word used this
       way.  The "Internet email dummy recipient" string gadget is used
       to specify this special word.  Whatever you put into this gadget
       is always used in the "To" field of email uploaded to this BBS.
       If you do not know of any requirement for using a special word
       such as "UUCP" but a kluge line is required, I recommend putting
       the word "ALL" into this gadget.  Again, when you are writing a
       message, this process is hidden: you simply type the email address
       into the "To:" string gadget, and Q-Blue will arrange the data as
       needed in the message that is uploaded.

       Many BBSes that participate in Fidonet do not have any direct
       ability to send email, but can send it indirectly by transmitting
       your message as netmail to a Fido node which will translate it
       into email.  This system that translates email is known as a
       "gateway".  Q-Blue can automate even this two-stage process,
       adding both the netmail and email kluge lines necessary.  To use
       this type of email, you must enter the Fido address of the
       gateway system into the string gadget labeled "Fidonet address of
       gateway".  There are many gateways in use; the idea is that each
       one should serve only a small region instead of offering a service
       to Fidonet as a whole.  Consult the bulletins or help files on
       your BBS to find the right address, or ask your sysop.  The
       information should also include a description of what your own
       email address would be, which other people can use to email you
       via the gateway.

       With older Fido gateway software, it was necessary to put the word
       "UUCP" into the "Internet email dummy recipient" string gadget,
       but nowadays that can usually be left blank.  Fido-gated email, as
       far as I know, always uses the "Generic" kluge style.  The gateway
       address gadget is ghosted when the kluge style cycle gadget is not
       set to "Generic".  In most cases, the area for sending this email
       should be set the same as for sending Fido netmail -- that is,
       when using QWK mail, the "Area:" and "arEa:" buttons should show
       the same number after them.  (With version 2 Blue Wave mail, the
       top two netmail gadgets are ghosted.)  But there are some BBSes
       which separate netmail into more than one area, and may use a
       different one for gated email than for normal netmail.  In some
       cases, email and netmail -- and even local mail -- coexist in the
       same area even though email is not gated.  Q-Blue will not send
       QWK email as gated unless an address is specified in the "Fidonet
       address of gateway" gadget.  With QWK packets, the method of
       sending netmail must also be configured, as described in the
       previous section, for gating to work.


                                     - 78 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 6.10


       Occasionally there are BBSes which support both direct email and
       gated email.  Unfortunately, Q-Blue can only support one email
       method at a time.  Particularly in the case of a version 3 Blue
       Wave door, using the alternate method of gated email has to be
       done "by hand", since Q-Blue already knows of one email method.

       Some BBSes have kluges that allow a subject line longer than 25
       characters to be used with QWK mail.  Q-Blue will detect such
       cases automatically when they are available, except in the case of
       PCBoard, because some PCBoard mail doors produce QWK packets which
       do not identify which kind of BBS they came from.  If you are
       reading mail from a BBS using PCBoard version 15.0 or higher, and
       you want to have subject lines up to 60 characters long instead of
       just 25, you can check the checkmark gadget labeled "Use PCBoard
       extensions", keyboard shortcut U.  This also must be checked if
       you want to use PCBoard's internal handling of Fido netmail --
       that is, if you are leaving the "QWK netmail kluge line" gadget
       empty.  This checkmark is always checked (though it is ghosted)
       when the email kluge type is "PCBoard".

       For PCBoard BBSes that still use the "Generic" email kluge type
       (and there are many at this writing), and also for some Remote
       Access mail doors, there is one further question.  These systems
       may have a kluge line that allows the subject field to be longer
       than 25 characters, and a different kluge line that allows email
       to be addressed, but cannot use both at once!  Each will only work
       if it is the first line in the message.  To handle these cases,
       the last gadget in the "Email/Netmail on this BBS" window is a
       checkmark labeled "long subject kluge does NOT work with internet
       email".  The key shortcut is N.  When not ghosted, Q-Blue will
       often cause this gadget to be checked by default, just to be safe.
       If you uncheck it, this tells Q-Blue that it is okay to use a long
       subject line on an email message.  On a PCBoard system that still
       uses "Generic" email addressing, it should probably be checked.
       With the MKQWK door for remote access, it should stay checked, as
       of the most recent information I have.  With the JC-QWK door, it
       can be unchecked according to the documentation I have.


















                                     - 79 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.1


                                PART 3: OPERATION


       7) SCROLLING LIST WINDOW OPERATION

           7.1) Basic list window control

       A scrolling list window appears whenever you need to make one
       choice from a list of choices.  The most common case is to choose
       a message area from the list known to the BBS.  Section 1.6 gave a
       brief introduction to these list windows, which in essence are
       similar to scrolling lists seen in many programs and requesters.
       This section thoroughly covers all details of using these list
       windows, including options that differ from one to another.

       Almost everything can be done with either the keyboard or the
       mouse.  Menus are not available while such a list window is open.
       With the mouse, there are three things you can do: click a
       special-purpose gadget at the bottom of the screen, click on a
       line listed in the window, or use the scroll gadget at the
       window's right edge.  If you click in the window, the line the
       pointer is on becomes the current selection (the highlighted
       line), and if you double-click on a line, the window is closed and
       that line is taken as your final selection.  There are two cases
       where double-clicking is ignored: when adding or dropping message
       areas via the "Mail door" command, and when viewing taglines with
       the "Maintain taglines" command.  In these two cases, it does not
       matter which line is highlighted when the window is closed.

       If there are more lines than the window has room for, you can
       slide the scroll gadget at the right edge to move more lines into
       the visible area.  Clicking and dragging the bright part (the
       "knob") causes lines to move up and down in response to the
       vertical movements of the mouse.  Clicking in the darkened areas
       of the scroll gadget outside the sliding part causes the next or
       previous windowful of lines to show (with one line overlapping),
       when you click below or above the knob, respectively.  Clicking
       the little arrow gadgets next to the slider cause the display to
       scroll up or down by one line.  Holding down the button on one of
       those gadgets for more than half a second makes it scroll
       continuously.

       The window can be resized to show more or fewer lines.  If you
       move or resize the window, then the next time you open it, it will
       remember where you left it and what size it was.  The zoom gadget
       will toggle the window between two different sizes -- initially
       the alternate size is slightly smaller than the whole screen.  If
       you don't want to make any selection, click the close gadget in
       the upper left corner, and it will close the window and behave as
       if you had never opened it -- anything you did to move the
       highlighted line will be ignored.  Double-clicking a line means
       "okay" and using the close gadget means "cancel".



                                     - 80 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.1


       As already described, pressing the up or down arrow key moves the
       highlighted bar up or down by one line, and pressing return or the
       spacebar closes the window, selecting the line that is highlighted
       at the time as your final choice.  If the selection is moved above
       or below the range of lines shown, the window will scroll to keep
       the highlight line visible.  To close the window and have Q-Blue
       behave as if it had not been opened, press the Esc key.  The
       return key or spacebar or numeric pad Enter key means "okay", the
       Esc key means "cancel".  (A common mistake is to accidentally use
       a "cancel" option, such as clicking the closebox, when you meant
       to tell it "okay", and then wonder why it didn't do anything.)

       There are also keys for moving the highlighted line by a windowful
       at a time, and for moving the highlight bar to the first or last
       line.  The complete list of keystroke commands for changing the
       currently selected line is:

        - to move the highlight bar down one line, press the down arrow
            or right arrow key, or 2 or 6 on the numeric pad (the IBM
            equivalents of down arrow and right arrow).  For windows
            listing message areas, the "]" (next area) key also works.

        - to move the highlight bar up one line, press the up arrow or
            left arrow key, or the numeric pad IBM equivalents: 8 or 4.
            The "[" key also works for windows listing areas.

        - to move the highlight bar down one page (as many lines as show
            in the window, minus one), press PgDn (3 on the numeric pad),
            or hold down a shift or Alt key and press down arrow or right
            arrow (either the regular one or the numeric pad equivalent).

        - to move the highlight bar up one page, press PgUp (9 on the
            numeric pad), or hold down a shift or Alt key and press up
            arrow or left arrow (regular or numeric pad).

        - to move the highlight bar to the last line, press End (1 on
            the numeric pad), or hold down the Ctrl key and press down
            arrow or right arrow.

        - to move the highlight bar to the first line, press Home (7 on
            the numeric pad), or hold down the Ctrl key and press up
            arrow or left arrow.

        - to scroll the window so that the highlight bar is in the
            center, without changing the current selection, press the 5
            key on the numeric pad, or the "`" (grave accent or reverse
            single quote) key just above the tab key.

       To summarize the use of shift keys with arrow keys: no shift key
       means move by one line, shift or Alt means move by one windowful,
       and Ctrl means move to the first or last line.  This allows even
       an Amiga 600 with no numeric pad access to every option.



                                     - 81 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.2


           7.2) Special features of message and area list windows

       There are several special key commands that depend on which
       particular list window is open.  Generally, but not in every case,
       there is also an equivalent gadget at the bottom of the screen,
       which you can click if it's visible.

       Pressing the letter S, or clicking the gadget at the bottom of the
       screen labeled "Search", lets you do a word search on the contents
       of the list window.  Pressing U or Alt-U undoes the effects of the
       last search.  When displaying messages or areas with readable
       messages, Alt-U affects all areas while U only affects the current
       area.  See sections 9.5 and 9.6 for details on how searching works.

       If the window showing readable message areas is open, pressing the
       L key or clicking the "List" gadget closes it and opens the window
       showing the messages in the selected area.  Conversely, pressing A
       or clicking "Areas" while viewing the list of one area's messages
       closes that window and opens the window showing the areas with
       readable messages.  This version is not able to have both of these
       windows open at once, though each is accessible when the other is
       open in exactly the same way it is when you are simply reading
       messages.

       When the window listing messages in an area is open, you can move
       to the next area by pressing the "]" key or the previous area by
       pressing the "[" key, just as is the case when no list window is
       open.  Doing this causes the list window to recreate the list of
       messages that is displayed to suit the new area.  With windows
       listing areas, the "]" and "[" keys just move the selection up or
       down one line.  These keys always mean "next area" and "previous
       area".

       Note that the currently selected line in the messages list window
       does not "count" until the window is closed.  If you switch to
       another area while the window is open, either with the "[" or "]"
       key, or by activating the areas list window, the current message
       in the previous area will be what it was before the list window
       was opened.  Only the final area you're in when the window is
       closed gets a new current message selected by the line you've
       highlighted in the list window.  However, if you jump around from
       area to area, each area will remember what line the list window
       was last on.  This current line value is temporary, and is
       meaningless after the window is closed, except for the area you
       end in, but is convenient if you are jumping from area to area.
       If you cancel the list window, everything is left exactly as it
       was before the list window was opened.  Except when you use a word
       search, that is -- the effect of the search remains, just as if
       you had done a search of the messages when the window was not open.

       The list window showing areas in which you can post new messages
       and replies (accessible from the message writing window) does not
       respond to the letter L or give you a "List" gadget.  But when a


                                     - 82 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.2


       QWK packet is open, pressing C or clicking the gadget labeled
       "Create" opens a small window which allows you to enter the number
       and name of a new message area which is not shown.  This is
       covered in section 10.5.  This feature is also available in the
       list window used for adding and dropping message areas from the
       mail door's list of which ones you are reading (see section 11.4),
       and in the windows for selecting a QWK netmail or email area in
       the BBS Local setup window (section 6.8).  It is included so you
       can cope with QWK mail packers that give you an incomplete list of
       available areas.

       When selecting an area for a message you are writing, another
       gadget is labeled "Active" or "All"; clicking this or pressing A
       toggles the list between showing every known area and showing only
       those you are reading messages in.  See section 10.4 for details
       on this feature.

       The window you can use to select which message areas the mail door
       should include in future downloads is similar, but instead of a
       gadget labeled "Active" or "All", it has gadgets labeled "Add",
       "Drop", and "Reset".  These are explained in section 11.4.  The
       window for selecting a QWK netmail area, available from the BBS
       Local setup window, has no "Active"/"All" gadget.  Its special
       feature is a gadget labeled "None" for telling it to use no area
       at all.  Section 6.8 explains this window.


           7.3) Special features of other list windows

       When the window listing mail packets in your downloads directory
       or BBS files in your context directory is open, there is a gadget
       labeled "ASL req".  Clicking it or pressing A closes the list
       window and brings up a standard file requester.  Initially this
       starts out displaying the files in the same directory that the
       list window was showing, except that it doesn't leave out files
       with names that don't look like mail packets.  If you select a
       different directory in it, it will remember that and display that
       new directory the next time you open it.  In the case of opening a
       BBS file with the "Open (no packet)" command, the requester has a
       "Pattern" gadget set to show only files with names likely to be
       BBS files.  You can erase this pattern string if you want to see
       all possible files.

       With this file list window, you can press A or click the "ASL req"
       gadget while it is scanning the disk, before the window actually
       opens.  You can also press Esc at that time to abort the window
       before it opens.  In either case Q-Blue will immediately stop
       searching the disk for files to list.

       The reason you may want to use a real file requester is because
       the file list window, when listing mail packets, is only capable
       of showing files in the downloads directory you have specified in
       the Directories setup window, and it only shows the files there


                                     - 83 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.3


       that have names in the form expected of download packets --
       generally, names in the IBM form of no more than eight characters
       followed by a dot and three more characters, with the part after a
       dot fitting one of a few specific patterns.  It will include files
       that have more than three characters after the dot if the first
       three are "QWK".  If you wish to select a file that doesn't show
       up in the file list window, you can use the file requester to
       select any file your system knows about.  Unfortunately the file
       requester does not know how to sort files from newest to oldest.
       This, plus the information it displays about associated reply
       packets and how much of each packet has been read, is why a list
       window is used instead of always using the ASL requester.

       There is also a gadget labeled "Delete", key shortcut D or Del.
       Using this tells Q-Blue to delete the file that is currently
       highlighted in the list.  A requester appears, giving the full
       pathname of the file, its size in bytes, and its creation date,
       asking whether you are sure you want to delete it.  If you answer
       "Yes", the file is deleted from disk and removed from the list
       window.  If the file has an icon, that is deleted also.  If you
       delete the last file in the list, the window closes.

       The taglines list window has special gadgets labeled "Delete",
       "Random", "None", "Load", and "saVe".  The "saVe" gadget is one of
       very few gadgets in the program with a key shortcut that is not
       its first letter.  The letter V, instead of S, is underlined,
       because S is used for "Search" in this list window just as it is
       in every other.  And since the taglines window has a string gadget
       at the bottom, it responds to the tab key, which activates the
       gadget.  It also responds to right-Amiga-V to paste from the
       clipboard into the string gadget, even when the gadget is not
       active.  The taglines window is explained fully in section 10.9.


           7.4) What is shown in windows listing message areas

       The window listing areas with messages in them, which is opened by
       the "Areas" command, is titled "Select message area -- Enter or
       double-click".  This window shows five items of information on
       each line.

       The "long name" which describes each area's purpose is listed in
       the right hand column, which is labeled "Area name".  Such names
       might be, for example, "Technical questions" or "What's your
       favorite band?" or "Political conspiracy theories" or "Amiga vs.
       IBM flame wars".  Near the left margin, in the column labeled
       "Area#", is the number assigned to this area, usually in ascending
       order.  Occasionally the "number" might have letters instead of
       digits in it, when reading Blue Wave mail.  In between are numbers
       giving the total count of messages found in the area, and how many
       of those messages are addressed to you, in the columns labeled
       "Msgs" and "You".  At the extreme left there may be a "*" or ">"
       character.  A "*" indicates that you have read all of the messages


                                     - 84 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.4


       in this area, and a ">" indicates that you have read some but not
       all.  If you haven't read any of them yet, neither is present.  Or
       the letter "S" in contrasting colors might be there instead --
       this indicates that a word search (see section 9.5) has been used
       on this area, and only those messages which fit the search
       criteria are currently visible.

       There may be a couple of extra areas listed in this window.  If
       there are any extra information files in the mail packet, such as
       welcome and goodbye messages, bulletins, or a list of new files,
       the first area listed in the window will be a special fake area
       labeled "(news, bulletins, other special files)".  By selecting
       this area, you can read these news files as if they were messages,
       except that you cannot reply to them.  Q-Blue will display up to
       8000 lines in any one message, cutting off anything beyond that.
       If one of these files is longer than that, you will have to use
       some other method to read the whole file.  The filename to look
       for in your work directory is shown at the top of the screen when
       the file's contents are displayed.  Another limitation is that
       Q-Blue will not display more than 50 such files in this area.

       If there are any messages addressed to you, the first area listed
       after the special files (if any) is a collection of those
       messages, labeled "(messages addressed to you)".  Any message
       addressed to your name can be read either in this special area or
       in the area where it was posted; the ones here are duplicates of
       messages that also appear in normal areas.  The real message areas
       are listed after the news and personal areas.  If you have written
       any messages to upload, they are shown in a special area at the
       end, after the regular areas, labeled "(your replies and new
       messages)".  You can select and read these three special areas
       just like the regular ones.  When this window first opens, the
       first regular area, after the news and personal areas, is the one
       initially highlighted.  Except, that is, if you reopen a packet
       you have already partially read; in that case it will try to
       remember where you left off and restart at the same place.

       A different variation of this list window, also labeled "Select
       message area -- Enter or double-click", will appear when you are
       writing a message and you want to select what area to put it in.
       In this case, all known message areas are listed instead of just
       those that have messages in them, and the pseudo-areas for
       bulletins, replies, and personal messages are left out.  And
       instead of listing the counts of messages in the middle, it shows
       the area's "short name" or "tag".  This is usually a descriptive
       name for the area given as a single word in uppercase letters, for
       example "TECHNICAL" or "BANDS" or "CONSPIRE" or "CPU_WARS".  The
       short and long names are listed in columns labeled "Area-tag" and
       "Full name".  This only applies to Blue Wave packets, since QWK
       packets do not have separate long and short area names.  In the
       latter case there is just one column labeled "Name".  With some
       BBS systems, the short name is just a number.  If it's the same as
       the number on the left, then Q-Blue leaves the space blank.  At


                                     - 85 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.4


       the left edge may be a letter indicating what type of message area
       this is.  "E" means the area is "echoed" (connected by a FidoNet-
       type network) between multiple BBSes which all receive every
       message posted here; "R" means it's read only (you can't post
       messages here); "N" indicates a netmail area; "@" indicates an
       Internet email area; and "U" indicates a Usenet newsgroup (Blue
       Wave version 3 only).  With QWK you can't tell one kind of area
       from another, except that "N" and "@" appear if you have selected
       such areas in the BBS Local setup window.  If netmail and email
       are in the same area, "N" shows.

       Speaking of the BBS Local setup window, a different version of
       this same list window is used to select which area QWK netmail and
       email messages go in.  It is identical in appearance -- the only
       difference is in the commands available.  The "Active"/"All"
       gadget is absent, and a gadget labeled "None" is present so you
       can specify that there is no netmail or no email area.

       The window for selecting message areas to be downloaded is also
       very similar to the one used in the message writing window, but
       with an extra item of information shown at the beginning of each
       line, in a column labeled "Read?".  It shows words such as "Add"
       or "Drop" or "Rset" or "Pers" in contrasting colors if you have
       given some command to change how or whether mail in this area is
       to be downloaded.  Otherwise, it shows "Yes" or "no", or in the
       case of Blue Wave version 3 "Pers" or "PAll" to indicate whether
       the mail door is currently downloading this area, or ignoring it,
       or downloading it selectively.  Or it shows "?" if Q-Blue doesn't
       know one way or the other, which with QWK mail is the case for any
       area that does not actually have messages in it.  The use of this
       window, which is significantly different from the other area
       windows, is explained fully in section 11.4.


           7.5) What is shown in other list windows

       The file list window appears when the "Open" or "No pkt." command
       is given.  Its title is "Select file to unpack -- Enter or double-
       click", and it shows four or five items of information on each
       line, in columns labeled "Rep?", "Size", "Date", "Filename", and
       "Note".  This window is exactly the same for opening a mail packet
       and for opening a stored BBS file with the "Open (no packet)"
       command, except there is no "Note" column in the latter case.  The
       files are listed in order of age, newest first.  The names of the
       files you can open are listed in the right half of the window.
       Before each name is the date and time when each file was written.
       To the left of that is the size of the file in bytes.

       At the left margin, in the "Rep?" column, there may be the word
       "old" or "NEW".  One of these words will be present if Q-Blue
       finds a file in your uploads directory which seems to be a reply
       packet matching the mail packet listed on that line.  If no such
       reply packet exists, the space will be blank.  If this mail packet


                                     - 86 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.5


       is newer than the reply packet, meaning that the replies probably
       belong to an earlier mail packet from the same BBS, then the word
       "NEW" appears.  If the mail packet is older than the reply packet,
       meaning that the replies were probably made to messages in this
       packet (or an even newer one), then the word "old" appears.  It
       means that the mail packet itself is probably an "old" one.

       A question mark appears after the word "NEW" or "old", if the name
       of the reply packet does not match exactly and Q-Blue is just
       guessing that they go together.  This might happen if, for
       instance, it finds files named PACKET2.QWK and PACKET.REP -- it
       would guess that they are probably related.  The rule for such
       guesses is that the mail packet name can differ from the reply
       packet name in having one or two digits appended to the name
       before the period, or substituted for the last couple of
       characters if adding them would put the name over eight characters
       long before the period.  For instance, it would figure that
       WHATEV17.QWK probably goes with WHATEVER.REP.  In a case like this
       it would say "NEW?" or "old?" depending on whether the .QWK file
       is newer or older than the .REP file.  Fortunately, it's more
       common to put such differentiating numbers after the period, with
       a name such as WHATEVER.Q03, so that such confusion doesn't
       happen.

       When you give the "Open packet" command, but not when you give the
       "Open (no packet)" command, the rightmost column of the window
       displays any filenote that the packet file has.  If the note is
       long, of course, only the beginning of it is visible.  The main
       use of this is for displaying brief notes that Q-Blue itself
       attaches to packets it has opened.  These notes tell how many of
       the messages you have read, as a percentage of the total.  Such a
       note might read, for example, "57% read."  When this is displayed
       in the file list window, it can be a very useful reminder of which
       packets still need to be read.

       The window for listing messages within an area, which is opened
       with the "List" command, has the name of the listed area in its
       title bar.  It shows five items on each line.  At the left there
       may be a ">" character, or a letter "R".  A ">" means you have
       read this message.  An "R" means you have written a reply to it.
       Next comes the number that this message has on the BBS you got it
       from, in a column labeled "Num", or if you have turned on the
       "Sizes in message list" option (section 6.3), the length of each
       message in bytes in a column labeled "Size".  The rest of each
       line shows the name of the message's author, the name that it was
       addressed to, and the message's title or subject line, in columns
       labeled "From", "To", and "Subject".  If a name or subject is very
       long, only the first part of it will show.  If the author or
       addressee is you and you are using an eight color screen, your
       name is shown in a contrasting color.

       In the replies area, it shows the name of the area the message is
       in, instead of the name of who it's from (you).  The left column


                                     - 87 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 7.5


       will contain an "R" if this message is a reply to a message in
       this packet, rather than being an original message or a reloaded
       reply to a message in a different packet.  It will show a "D" in
       contrasting colors here if the reply is marked as deleted (see
       section 9.3).

       In the bulletins and special files area, the list shows the name
       of the file, and for certain recognized filenames, a short
       description of its expected contents.

       The simplest list window (in terms of contents) is the one for
       selecting taglines.  It shows only the taglines themselves, one on
       each line.  This list window, unlike any of the others, has a
       string gadget along its bottom edge for entering new taglines.




       8) OPENING MESSAGE PACKETS

           8.1) Options available when no packet is open

       To read mail or create messages for uploading, you must either
       open a downloaded mail packet, or use the "Open (no packet)"
       command to open a stored "BBS file" that tells Q-Blue about the
       BBS the messages will be uploaded to.  Until you do one of these
       two things, your actions are limited.  All of your choices are
       available in the "Packet" and "Setup" menus -- the "Messages" and
       "Replies" menus in the middle are inactive until a packet or BBS
       file is open.

       The "Setup" menu on the right (or the equivalent keyboard
       shortcuts) allows you to set up Q-Blue to suit your system and
       your preferences, as described above in sections 3 through 6.
       These options are available whether anything is open or not,
       except for the BBS Local setup window described in sections 6.8
       through 6.10.  Your other choices, in the "Packet" menu on the
       left, are: you can open a mail packet, open a BBS file, change the
       setting for packet compression type, "iconify" the screen, display
       the "About Q-Blue" requester, or exit the program.  There are
       gadgets at the bottom of the screen labeled "Open", "No pkt.",
       "Iconify", and "Quit" to make those four actions more convenient.
       Their keyboard shortcuts are O to open a packet, N to open a BBS
       file, I to iconify, and Q to quit.

       The current archiving method can be set manually with a submenu in
       the middle of the "Packet" menu, labeled "Compression type".  You
       can select an archiver from the keyboard by holding down an Alt
       key and pressing a digit from 1 to 8, using the numbers along the
       top of the keyboard, not the numeric pad.  The submenu shows which
       number corresponds to which method; 1 for the first archiver
       listed, 2 for the second, and so on.  In the default setup, Alt-1
       selects Zip, Alt-2 is "Zip 1.x" (for compatibility with BBSes that


                                     - 88 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.1


       have outdated unzipping software), Alt-3 is LHA, Alt-4 is Zoo, and
       Alt-5 selects Arc.  The selected compression type has a checkmark
       next to it in the menu.  Normally, when a packet is opened, the
       right compression method will be determined automatically, either
       according to the setting in the BBS Local setup window (see
       section 6.8) or by examining the archive itself, so there is
       little need to use this submenu before opening a packet.  Using it
       after the packet is open determines how the reply packet, if any,
       is compressed.

       The "About Q-Blue" option's key shortcut is Alt-? (but it also
       works to type Alt-/, you don't have to hold down the shift key
       when pressing the question mark key). It opens a requester which
       shows information about the version of Q-Blue you are using.  It
       displays at the top the program's name, version number, author,
       and creation date.  The "Okay" gadget closes the requester.

       The "Iconify screen" command, keyboard shortcut I, closes Q-Blue's
       screen and creates an AppIcon on the Workbench screen, resembling
       Q-Blue's normal icon but with an exclamation point in the upper
       left corner.  Like the Q-Blue program icon itself, it's an 8 color
       image, if your Workbench is using 8 colors.  The icon is labeled
       "Q-Blue" if no packet is open, or labeled with the packet's ID
       name (the same name that is shown in quotes in the screen title
       bar) if one is open.  If no packet is open, you can open one by
       clicking the mouse on an icon representing a mail packet file,
       dragging it over the AppIcon, and "dropping" it by releasing the
       mouse button.  This will cause Q-Blue to reopen its screen and
       open that file as a mail packet.  If you are using the "Show >>
       All Files" option for the Workbench window the file is in, of
       course, then the file does not need a true icon.

       What is perhaps most convenient is to set the drawer's Workbench
       window to "Show >> All Files" and "View By >> Date".  That way the
       most recently downloaded packets are shown at the top of the
       window, similarly to Q-Blue's own files list window.  You can open
       one of these packets by "dragging" the filename with the mouse and
       dropping it on Q-Blue's AppIcon when the screen is iconified, or
       if Q-Blue is not running yet, by shift-double-clicking the
       filename after clicking Q-Blue's program icon.  If you iconify the
       screen with a packet open, then dropping another packet onto the
       icon will reopen the screen and show an error message.

       It is not possible to iconify the screen if any other program has
       a window open on Q-Blue's screen, and an error message results in
       that case.  If you move the icon, reopen the screen, and then
       iconify again, it unfortunately will not remember to put the icon
       where you last left it -- that information is not saved for Q-Blue
       by the Workbench.

       To reopen the screen without attempting to open a packet, simply
       double-click on the AppIcon.  Or you can press the special key
       combination, if any, specified with the "POPKEY" startup argument


                                     - 89 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.1


       described in section 3.1.  If Q-Blue's screen cannot be opened, it
       will put up a system requester with an error message.  When the
       screen is reopened, it will use your current setting for the font,
       screen type, and number of colors (see sections 6.1 and 6.2).
       This may mean that the screen is not the same as the one you
       iconified -- the font or resolution or number of colors may be
       changed.  When you specify such changes to the display, they do
       not immediately take effect; Q-Blue keeps using the old settings
       until you iconify and then reopen the screen.  The reopened screen
       will have the same public screen name that it had before closing,
       unless some other program steals the name.

       Technical note: if a Q-Blue process receives a Ctrl-F break signal
       while iconified, the screen will reopen.  If it receives that
       signal at any other time, the screen will pop to the front.  This
       information might possibly be useful to someone who wants to
       control a Q-Blue screen with another program.


           8.2) Initial steps in opening a mail packet

       The process of opening a mail packet can be initiated several
       ways.  You can give the "Open packet" menu command, or use the
       "Open" gadget or the O key, or specify the "LIST" startup argument
       when launching the program, as explained in section 3.1.  These
       all have the same effect: to open a list window which lets you
       select a mail packet file to open.  Similarly, you can select a
       BBS file to open by using the "Open (no packet)" command, the
       "No pkt." gadget, or the N key, or by combining the "LIST" and
       "NOPACKET" startup arguments.  And using the "PACKET" startup
       argument with a filename after it (or just giving a filename on
       the command line with no keywords), or starting Q-Blue from the
       Workbench with a shift-double-click on a packet icon, or dropping
       such an icon on Q-Blue's AppIcon while the screen is closed,
       causes a named packet file to be opened without any list window
       selection needed.  A BBS file can be opened from the command line
       by combining the "PACKET" and "NOPACKET" arguments (or just a
       filename and "NOPACKET"), but opening a BBS file by shift-double-
       clicking it from the Workbench is not supported.

       All of these are different variations of the process of "opening",
       and the next few sections describe that process in general.  There
       are a lot of details, but don't be intimidated -- it's usually
       very simple in practice and takes just a few seconds.  Much of the
       material that follows can be regarded as background, mainly useful
       in case an error or other unexpected result occurs.  There are a
       number of points where something can go wrong.  This section and
       the following one will focus on the process as it applies to real
       mail packets, leaving the somewhat different handling of BBS files
       for section 8.4.

       When you give it an open command by any method mentioned above,
       the first thing it does is check your work directory to see if a


                                     - 90 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.2


       mail packet has already been unpacked there.  If it finds files
       that look like they belong to a mail packet, it will use a
       requester to ask you whether you want to try to load what is
       there, or select a compressed packet to unpack.  There are two
       gadgets labeled "Load" and "Select" -- click one, or press the L
       or S key.  This feature allows you, if you wish, to manually
       unpack mail into the work directory instead of having Q-Blue
       unpack it for you, or to reload a packet you had been reading
       before, if you had quit Q-Blue without closing (see section 9.3).
       The default choice is to try to load the files that are already
       there.  Such files are ignored if you directly specify a packet to
       open, either with the "PACKET" startup argument or by feeding it a
       packet's icon with the Workbench.

       If it finds files which do not look like a mail packet, it puts up
       a warning message alerting you that these files will be deleted if
       you go ahead and open something.  This, unlike the case of files
       that do look legitimate, applies even when the "PACKET" startup
       option, or equivalent, is used.  It gives you a chance to change
       your choice of work directory instead, if you don't want to lose
       those files -- the choices are labeled "Use" and "Change".
       "Change" is the default choice: if you select it, it cancels the
       packet opening operation and opens the Directories setup window
       (see section 3.4).  "Use" causes the unrecognized files to be
       deleted.  It will then check your replies directory the same way
       to see if it has files in it that do not look valid, and if any
       are found there, put up a similar warning requester allowing you
       to change your directories setup.

       If you opt for loading files already present in the work directory,
       all the steps having to do with decompression will be skipped.
       Otherwise, if you have not specified a particular packet to open
       through the Workbench or the startup arguments, it will search
       your downloads directory and open a scrolling list window labeled
       "Select file to unpack", showing all of the mail packets in it.
       Your uploads directory is also searched, so that the list can show
       which files have reply packets that go with them.  (See section 7
       for complete details on how to use list windows like this one to
       make selections.)  If the file you want to open is not shown in
       the list window, you can use the standard file requester to select
       any file in the system, by pressing the letter A or clicking the
       gadget at the bottom of the screen labeled "ASL req".  Section 7.3
       gives complete details on that option.  The file requester will be
       used automatically if there are no files to show in the list
       window.  Cancelling the list window or ASL requester causes the
       open command to be cancelled too.

       Once the packet to open is selected, the next thing it does it
       attempt to figure out which compressor the packet was made with.
       If the one you currently have selected looks like the right one,
       it goes ahead and attempts the unpacking.  If there is a "BBS
       Local" setup file in your BBS context directory that matches the
       name of the mail packet, it will check whether you specified a


                                     - 91 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.2


       different compressor in the BBS Local setup window, and if so, see
       if that one matches instead.  (The compressor name is stored in
       the local setup file's comment field, not inside the file itself.)
       If a different compressor entirely seems to match, it puts up a
       requester asking you if you want to switch to that one, naming
       your current (global) choice and the one it guesses is correct so
       you can decide whether to switch.  The gadgets are labeled "Yes",
       "No", and "Cancel", and the default is "Yes", to switch to the
       other compression method that it thinks is correct.  "Cancel",
       naturally, tells it not to open the packet at all.  If the packet
       does not match any known packer, it gives you a choice between
       trying the compressor you've specified, and canceling the
       operation.  The default is to give it a try.

       Note that before trying to uncompress a mail packet, it will first
       delete all files in the work directory.  This directory must not
       be used to store any permanent files.  Also note that if you start
       Q-Blue twice, so that there are two copies of the program running
       at the same time, only the first one will use the work directory
       specified in your setup.  The others will use directories
       consisting of the same name with a number added on the end.  For
       instance, if the Directories setup window specifies "RAM:QBWork"
       as the work directory, the second Q-Blue process will use
       "RAM:QBWork1" as a work directory.  This second copy will show the
       number 1 in parentheses at the left end of its screen title bar,
       as shown in the example in section 9.1.  When running a second
       Q-Blue process, the process of checking the work and replies
       directories for different files may not produce the results you
       expect, because it's using different directory names.  For
       instance, it may check the second replies directory and find files
       there that are many days out of date.


           8.3) Decompression and loading of mail

       Q-Blue will next attempt to decompress the mail packet.  A console
       window labeled "Packer command output" will be opened, and the
       decompression command will be executed.  The window will open on
       Q-Blue's screen.  The command is written at the top of the console
       window before executing it, so you can see exactly what it was.
       This can be useful if the command fails to work correctly.
       Section 5 describes how to configure the decompression commands.
       If the command runs okay and returns zero, Q-Blue will close the
       window as soon as it's done and try to read the unpacked files,
       loading the message information into memory.  If the command
       produces a nonzero return code, indicating a possible error,
       Q-Blue will write a message in the window saying, "Error detected?
       Press return to close window:" and wait for you to type a return
       with that window active.  This is so that you can study any error
       messages shown in the window before it disappears.

       Note that there is no way for Q-Blue to be certain about whether a
       genuine error has occurred.  In fact, there may be some cases in


                                     - 92 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.3


       which a drastic error can go unnoticed.  Because of these
       possibilities and the unpredictable behavior of unknown
       compression programs, when it detects an apparent error in the
       unpacking, it tries to go ahead as if it were successful, just to
       see whether it works or not.  If the unpacking really failed, it
       will probably report some other error a moment later, such as an
       incomplete or missing file in the work directory.  Only a very
       obvious failure, such as being unable to open the console window,
       makes it give up.

       Q-Blue is completely "deaf" to any input as long as this console
       window is open.  It is unable to do anything else until the window
       is closed.  This is indicated by the mouse pointer showing as a
       clock face whenever the backdrop window is active.

       Once the packet's files are in the work directory, either by
       decompression of a mail packet or because Q-Blue found the files
       already there, it begins reading the contents of the packet.  At
       this point, if it came from a Blue Wave mail door it may require a
       password before you can read it, depending on what options you
       chose in the mail door.  A small window containing a string gadget
       will appear, prompting you for the password.  This string gadget
       is unusual in that you can't see the word you are typing into it.
       The cursor moves normally but the text is invisible -- it's
       displayed in letters the same color as the background.  You get
       three chances to type in the right password.  If you fail, the
       packet is closed.  Letter case is ignored in the password.

       If all of this happens without error, Q-Blue will then scan the
       files and create lists in memory of all the readable messages.
       The mail is now ready to be read, and will remain so until you
       give a "Close" command.  But there are still more steps before the
       opening process is complete.

       The first extra step is that Q-Blue checks the BBS Context
       directory for a "marks" file.  If one exists that matches the
       packet you have just opened, then all the messages that you had
       read when the packet was previously opened will be marked as
       having been read, and your "current message" will be set to the
       last one you were reading instead of to the first message in the
       packet.  This allows you to close a packet and reopen it later,
       picking up just where you left off.  The marks files are saved
       when you close a packet or quit Q-Blue, and also whenever you
       write a reply or pack replies.  If you have to reboot the machine
       while a packet is open, the marks file information may be out of
       date when you reopen the packet, but hopefully not too badly if
       you've been writing replies.  If something goes wrong with the
       process of checking for a marks file, you can still read the mail
       normally.

       Another extra step that Q-Blue may take is to save a "pointer"
       file from the packet in the context directory.  Typically this
       file is named SOMENAME.PTR or SOMENAME.PNT, where SOMENAME is the


                                     - 93 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.3


       BBS's packet ID.  With some BBSes the name may be SOMENAME.LMR,
       SOMENAME.SFP, or SOMENAME.PTN -- the latter being the case for the
       Valence door on Searchlight BBSes, which actually includes two
       pointer files in its packets, the other being named SOMENAME.PTN.
       Q-Blue only saves the .PTO file.  The mail doors that include
       these files have a feature that allows you to rewind the current
       high-message pointers for the areas you are reading by uploading
       this file.  If a packet gets lost before you can read it,
       uploading this file will rewind the pointers to where they were at
       the time you downloaded the packet that the pointer file came
       from.  In the case of Valence you may have to rename the .PTO file
       to SOMENAME.PTR before uploading it.

       Q-Blue then has to deal with the question of whether there are
       replies to be reloaded.  The section after next covers this.


           8.4) "Opening" with no mail packet

       If instead of giving some version of the "Open packet" command you
       use the "Open (no packet)" menu option or the "No pkt." gadget
       (key shortcut N), then what happens is similar to the above but
       simpler.  A list window opens which is similar to the one used by
       "Open packet", titled "Select BBS file to open -- enter or double-
       click".  It lists files in much the same way that the "Open
       packet" list window shows mail packets, except that the files
       shown are "BBS files" stored in Q-Blue's BBS context directory.
       These files are created whenever you open a downloaded packet.
       Information from the packet is copied to a BBS file, unless the
       packet is older than an already existing BBS file.  These files
       consist of copies of files found in the mail packet: the
       "CONTROL.DAT" file in the case of a QWK packet, or in a Blue Wave
       packet, the "WHATEVER.INF" file (where WHATEVER is the packet name
       used by the BBS).  As with the other file list window, the ASL
       file requester can be used to augment this list window, so you can
       select BBS files in any directory.  The BBS file is a legible text
       file in the case of QWK packets, but the Blue Wave BBS file is
       illegible binary data.  Some of these files have some extra
       information stored in their filenotes. For everything to work as
       well as it should, do not change the filenotes on any of the files
       in your BBS context directory.

       The files shown in the list window have names that end either in
       ".BBS-QWK" or ".BBS-BW", with the part before the period being the
       packet ID name for the BBS, which is usually the same as the name
       used by the download packet.  The part after the dash tells you
       whether this BBS file came from a QWK or Blue Wave mail packet.
       It is usually obvious which file came from which BBS that you have
       called.  Each one will be marked "old" or "NEW" along the left
       edge if there appears to be a corresponding reply packet in your
       uploads directory -- usually "old", meaning that the BBS file
       predates the reply packet -- as described in section 7.5.  Each
       file's size and creation date is also listed.  Filenotes, which in


                                     - 94 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.4


       the case of real mail packets are used to note what percentage of
       a mail packet you have read so far, are not listed for BBS files.

       If you select a file that has been given some name other than the
       standard names shown in the files list window, Q-Blue will
       correctly figure out whether it is QWK or Blue Wave, and if it is
       QWK, will learn the correct packet name for creating replies with.
       But if it is Blue Wave, it usually has to take the packet ID from
       the name of the file you open.  For instance, if you open a file
       named "FLARP.FOO" it will assume that the packet name is FLARP.
       If the file was originally named "GLOOT.INF" and you renamed it,
       then it will create replies that the BBS can't read, because it
       does not know that the correct packet name is GLOOT.  This problem
       is corrected in version 3 Blue Wave doors, but in most cases you
       should avoid renaming Blue Wave BBS files.

       Once you select a valid BBS file to open, Q-Blue will essentially
       pretend to open a mail packet from the same source.  But there is
       no decompression step, it does not make any use your work
       directory, and no mail is made available to read.  Instead, after
       opening, it will display a single empty "placeholder" message, in
       the area for bulletins and other special files.

       Once the messages have been scanned or the placeholder message is
       created, the handling of replies proceeds identically for both
       BBS files and real mail packets.


           8.5) Reloading unfinished replies

       What happens next depends on whether Q-Blue saw any other file
       that appeared to be a reply packet for the selected download
       packet or BBS file, and whether the replies directory contains
       unpacked files that appear to be replies matching the packet just
       loaded.  It looks for reply packets only in the uploads directory
       you specified in your setup, and looks only at the names of such
       files to pick out apparent matches, not at their contents.  For
       instance, if you select a file named "WHATEVER.QWK" to be opened,
       it will assume that "WHATEVER.REP" contains replies to it.
       Similarly, for Blue Wave packets, if you pick "SOMENAME.WE1", it
       will look for a reply packet named "SOMENAME.NEW".  If you select
       a file from the list window without using the ASL file requester,
       each file listed will be labeled, as noted below in section 7.5,
       to indicate whether an apparent reply packet exists and whether
       the mail packet is older or newer than the reply packet
       corresponding to it.

       Once the mail packet or BBS file is open, it will recheck the
       uploads directory again to make sure whether or not a file with
       the right name for a reply packet is there.  It checks twice
       because it may discover, after the packet is open, that the
       correct name for the reply packet is not what it seemed to be from
       just looking at the name of the message packet.  This feature


                                     - 95 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.5


       allows message packets to be renamed without losing the ability to
       find the right reply packet -- though the files list window may
       fail to tell you about it in that case.  But this version of
       Q-Blue has no method of opening a reply packet that is named
       differently from the name it was created with, or not in the
       uploads directory.  In other words, you can safely rename message
       packets but not reply packets.

       If replies are found already present in the replies directory (in
       uncompressed form), it will open a requester asking you whether
       you want to reload those replies or start fresh.  If a compressed
       upload packet is found, it asks you whether to unpack it.  If an
       upload packet and files in the replies directory are both present,
       it gives you a three way choice of whether to try to load the
       existing files, delete them and uncompress the upload packet, or
       ignore them both so that you start with a clean slate; the three
       choices are labeled "Reload", "Unpack", and "Ignore".

       Note that except in the case of reloading existing reply files
       found in the replies directory, Q-Blue will delete all files in
       the replies directory before continuing.  Like the work directory,
       the replies directory must not be used to store any permanent
       files.  If you have no replies directory defined at all, it will
       still let you open the packet, and if a reply packet exists, it
       will put up an error message saying there's no place to unpack it.

       When it asks you whether to unpack or reload replies, the default
       selection depends on the ages of the different files.  If the
       replies are in files with a datestamp newer than the packet that
       was just opened, Q-Blue assumes that this set of replies belongs
       to the current mail packet and is unfinished, and the default is
       to reload or unpack them.  If the mail packet is newer than the
       replies, it assumes that these replies are for a previous mail
       packet from the same BBS, which have probably already been
       uploaded, and the default is to ignore them and start fresh.  If
       a compressed reply packet and replies already in your replies
       directory both exist, the default is to reload the ones in the
       replies directory if either of the two sets of replies is newer
       than the download packet, so long the upload packet is newer than
       the files in the replies directory by no more than 12 hours.  In
       this case it assumes that the upload packet was probably made by
       packing these same reply files.  But if the upload packet is more
       than 12 hours newer than the uncompressed replies, the default
       action is to decompress it.  The same defaults apply when opening
       BBS files instead of mail packets.  You may prefer to set the
       "Flush reply dir at close" option (see section 6.3) to avoid the
       confusion of such cases, and keep replies only in compressed form.

       There is one "gotcha" about deciding which files are newer or
       older: sometimes if you download a mail packet from a time zone
       east of the one you live in, you may end up writing replies to a
       mail packet in which the files have datestamps that are still in
       the future by a couple of hours.  If you write replies promptly,


                                     - 96 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.5


       you may end up with a reply packet that is dated at an earlier
       time than the mail it was written in reply to.  Especially if you
       are loading already unpacked mail in the work directory, this can
       cause the requester to be fooled and make "Ignore" the default, as
       if the replies were outdated.

       If you run more than one Q-Blue process at one time, then as
       explained in section 3.5, the work and replies in use will not be
       the ones named in your Directories setup window, but will be
       "sibling" directories with digits added to the ends of their
       names.  In the case of the replies directory, if you only run two
       Q-Blues at once on rare occasions, it may happen that the second
       replies directory contains old replies that are days or weeks out
       of date, which you do not want to reload.  This is the reason for
       the 12 hour rule.  Whenever you are running more than one Q-Blue
       process at a time, you have to take extra care when making
       decisions involving pre-existing files in the work or replies
       directories.

       If you have written a set of replies for a previous mail packet
       for the same BBS but not uploaded them, you can reload them and
       add more to them while replying to the current mail packet, so
       that all replies get uploaded together.  In this case you would
       tell it to reload replies though the default is not to.  And if
       you know that you are not going to upload these replies until
       after another download, you can "leave a note to yourself",
       reminding you to reload them instead of discarding them, by
       setting the newly created upload packet's datestamp a few days in
       the future.  This way, the next time you open another packet from
       that BBS, if the future date has not passed yet, Q-Blue will make
       reopening the packet the default selection.

       This can be done with the AmigaDOS "SetDate" command, or with a
       small residentable command called "Future" that is included in the
       "c" drawer of the Q-Blue distribution (which has no icon).  This
       command's template is "FILE/A,DAYS/N": you give it a filename and
       the number of days into the future (or the past, with a negative
       number) to set its datestamp, relative to today's date.  The
       number is optional and defaults to 7: one week in the future.  The
       time of day of the datestamp is not affected -- only the day.  It
       requires AmigaDOS 2.04 or newer.

       If you tell it to unpack compressed replies, it will repeat the
       same unpacking operation it went through for the main packet:
       checking for compression type, opening the console window, and so
       on.  If the reply packet was made in response to this same
       download packet, it should usually manage to sort out which
       replies were in response to which original messages within the
       packet.  This process is not 100% reliable, especially not with
       QWK mail, but if it makes a mistake it will not cause any problems
       with the replies you upload.  It only makes the "Flip to reply"
       command (see section 9.3) work incorrectly.



                                     - 97 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.6


           8.6) The "twit list" file

       Every once in a while, you encounter a situation where somebody's
       contribution to the mail you're reading is just not worth seeing.
       It might be a trivial waste of time to read, or more often, it
       might be somebody who is deliberately obnoxious and tries to get
       others to respond equally obnoxiously.  Now you can, of course,
       just decide not to read that person's messages, but sometimes life
       is just more pleasant if you dispense with the temptation, and
       avoid seeing reminders of things that you have to make an effort
       to avoid.  This is the purpose of the "twit list" feature.  With
       it, you can select certain messages to be discarded from the mail
       packet before you ever see them.

       If you are reading Blue Wave mail, it is often better to use the
       mail door's "Filters" feature instead of Q-Blue's twit list,
       because this removes unwanted mail before it is downloaded, so you
       don't have to wait for your modem to download mail you aren't
       going to read anyway.  However, Q-Blue's twit list may still be
       useful, because it can reject messages according to more precise
       criteria than the Blue Wave door can.

       The most common way to reject mail is by specifying the name of
       the person who writes it.  This is commonly known as "twitting"
       that person.  Some offline readers allow you to discard all mail
       from a certain person; others discard mail both from and to that
       person, so you also don't see people's replies to the stuff you're
       trying to avoid.  Q-Blue allows either option, and several others
       that bring quite a bit of sophistication to this odd little
       feature which ideally shouldn't need to exist at all.

       The "twit list" is a text file called "S:Q-Blue.twits".  Q-Blue
       does not have a window full of fancy gadgets to control its
       contents -- you have to create the file with a text editor, such
       as the one you use to write your replies with.  Each line in this
       text file describes some group of messages to be rejected.  In the
       simplest case, each line is simply someone's name.  Q-Blue
       examines each message at loading time, and if the name of the
       author matches one of the names in the twit list, that message is
       rejected.  If you specify a name with no options, Q-Blue will
       reject messages from that person but not messages addressed to
       him.  A line starting with a semicolon is ignored; you can add
       comment lines to the twit list file that way.

       To control the more sophisticated options in the twit list, you
       add something extra to the beginning of the line: a few letters
       and possibly an exclamation point, followed by a colon, before the
       name.  To reject messages both from and to a given name, put "FT:"
       before the name.  To reject all messages with a given word or
       phrase in the subject line, put "S:" before the word or phrase.
       There are several other letters with special meanings.  For even
       fancier uses, you can put a BBS ID and/or a message area name
       before the comma as well, each preceded by a comma.  All of these


                                     - 98 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.6


       options are explained in the next section.  Space characters are
       ignored around the colon and commas.

       At present, there is no facility for "twitting" messages in a
       packet that is already open.  Q-Blue reads S:Q-Blue.twits each
       time you open a mail packet, so any changes you make to the file
       will take effect the next time you use the "Open" command.


           8.7) Twit list options

       The following is a list of all the letters you can put before the
       colon in a line in the twit list file, and how they affect the
       meaning of what comes after it:

        - "F": reject all messages where the author's name matches the
            rest of the line after the colon.  This is the default if
            there is no colon before the name.

        - "T": reject all messages where the addressee's name matches.

        - "S": reject messages in which the subject line, or any part of
            the subject line, matches.

        - "O": reject all messages from a given FidoNet style origin
            address.  (This is a drastic measure.)

       The next several options do not select messages to be rejected;
       instead, they modify the selection made by one of the methods
       listed above.  They are generally combined with one or more of the
       above; if not, "F" is assumed:

        - "Y": reject only messages addressed personally to you.

        - "E": reject only messages not addressed personally to you.

        - "P": reject only public messages, not private mail.

        - "M": reject only private mail, not public messages.

        - "!": do not reject these messages.  This specifies exceptions
            to other sets of messages that are rejected.

       Several letters can be combined in one line.  For instance, the
       line "FSPY: John Smith" would reject all messages that are written
       by John Smith, or mention John Smith in the subject, but only if
       they are public messages addressed to you personally.  The line
       "!T: Mary Jones" would prevent any messages addressed to Mary
       Jones from being rejected, even if they were written by John
       Smith.  "Y" and "E" are opposites, and if both are specified, then
       neither will take effect.  The same is true of "P" and "M".




                                     - 99 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.7


       To specify that a line in the twit list file should apply to only
       one BBS, place the BBS ID before the colon, after a comma.  For
       example, if the BBS ID is "SOMENAME", such a line might read
       "FT, SOMENAME: Mary Jones".  The BBS ID, which is also known as
       the packet name, is the short name that is shown in quotes in the
       screen title bar when you are reading a packet from that BBS.  It
       is also shown in the heading of the "BBS Information" requester
       (see section 9.3).  In this case, messages from and to Mary Jones
       will only be removed when you read mail packets from that BBS --
       packets with names like "SOMENAME.QWK" or "SOMENAME.SU1".

       To further restrict a line so it applies to only one message area,
       put the area's number or full name after a second comma, before
       the colon.  For instance, to affect only the area named "RADIO" on
       this BBS, you could use "FT, SOMENAME, RADIO: John Smith".  In the
       case of Blue Wave packets, the name to use for the area is the
       short "area-tag", not the full name.  The area-tags are visible in
       the list window that you use for selecting an area for writing a
       message, or for adding or dropping areas to read when using the
       "Mail door" option (section 11.4).  The full area name shown in
       the list window showing areas with messages to read (the one the
       "Areas" button brings up) is not the name to use, with Blue Wave
       packets.  With QWK packets, this is the only name an area has --
       there is no separate area-tag.  You can use the area's number
       instead.  You can, if desired, leave out the BBS ID by putting the
       two commas together; this should not be done carelessly, and
       should only be done if you specify the area with a name instead of
       a number.

       The "O" option is a special case.  It is useful only in fairly
       extreme circumstances, and somewhat costly to use, since it
       significantly slows down the whole process of loading a message
       packet.  In this case, what you put after the colon is a FidoNet-
       style network address in Zone:Net/Node.Point form, for example
       "O: 1:2345/678.9".  As usual, the decimal point and the number
       after it can be left out if it's zero.  Any message which has an
       "Origin line" showing this address will be rejected.  You would
       use this in a situation where a BBS's entire population of users
       is not worth reading.  If there are a few people in the group you
       still want to read, you can make exceptions for them with "!F:".

       Q-Blue 1.0 allowed BBS ID names to be specified only in "O:"
       lines, and expected them after the colon instead of before,
       followed by a comma.  A line like "O: SOMENAME, 1:2345/678.9"
       would make sense to Q-Blue 1.0.  Version 2.4 still accepts this
       syntax, for compatibility.


           8.8) Twit list examples

       Some examples will clarify the uses of these options.  First,
       say that you simply don't want to hear another word from John
       Smith, because he does nothing but expound Republicanism.  You


                                    - 100 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.8


       would put a line in the file S:Q-Blue.twits that simply says
       "John Smith", or "F: John Smith" if you want to be fancy.  Let's
       say that someone who calls himself "k0deZ KinG" is so offensive
       that you don't want to hear from him, or see what anyone says back
       to him either.  You would add a line that reads "FT: k0dez king".
       (Note that the twit list never distinguishes between uppercase and
       lowercase letters.)  If you don't even want to read messages
       about him, try "FTS: k0dez king".

       Suppose there's a long tiresome debate going on about one of those
       perennial controversies that nobody changes anyone's mind about,
       for instance gun control.  There are lots of long, argumentative
       messages with titles like "Re: Traitorous gun control fascists"
       and "Beer guzzling pinhead gun fondlers", and you finally want to
       just skip over any message that has the word "gun" in the subject.
       You would put the line "S: gun" in the twit list.  Or if the bad
       messages are mostly confined to an area called "POLITICS" of a BBS
       called "MYBBS", you could use "S, MYBBS, POLITICS: gun".

       Suppose this John Smith person that you normally don't want to
       hear from occasionally sends you a private message, and you do
       want to see those.  In this case you would use "FP: John Smith",
       which would reject only public messages.  Another possibility is
       to use two lines: the first being simply "John Smith" (or anything
       else that removes his stuff) and the second being "!M: John
       Smith".  The "!" says that this is an exception to the normal
       rule.  Any private message from John Smith (the "M" means private
       mail only is affected) gets left in place even if some other line
       would reject it.

       Suppose someone named Mary Jones has taken to addressing many
       unpleasant messages to you, but there's no need to reject what she
       says to others.  You would use "FY: Mary Jones", or simply
       "Y: Mary Jones".  On the other hand, suppose you want the opposite
       effect: ignoring Mary Jones most of the time, but paying attention
       if she's speaking directly to you.  In this case you would use
       "E: Mary Jones".

       Suppose that you're reading mail from some network that includes a
       BBS dedicated to one particular cause or fad, and everyone on it
       is a tiresome fanatic on some subject you don't care about.  Or
       suppose that someone who deserves twitting has his own BBS, or
       perhaps a point system, and sends out messages under many
       different names.  (This was the situation that drove me to create
       the feature.)  You get mail from that place only when you download
       mail packets from "Joe's BBS", which is your local member of the
       same network.  If the BBS ID of the mail you download is
       "JOES_BBS", and the address within that network of the BBS to be
       rejected is 57:69/42, then you would add the line "O, JOES_BBS:
       57:69/42" to the twit list file.  If John Smith and Mary Jones are
       users on that BBS who are exceptions to the general rule, you
       could let them through with two lines reading "!: John Smith" and
       "!: Mary Jones".  Replies addressed to that BBS are not filtered;


                                    - 101 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 8.8


       if they become a problem, you'll have to reject them by the names
       of the recipients.

       Or suppose that you are reading an echo devoted to some particular
       religion, and somebody connects a BBS full of hostile nonbelievers
       to that echo.  You want to reject all their messages, but not in
       other message areas, because some of them are sensible on other
       topics.  Furthermore, you read this echo on more than one BBS
       sometimes, but the name of the echo is, in all cases (let us say)
       "MYRELIGION".  If the offending BBS has the origin address of
       42:57/69, the line to use would be "O,, MYRELIGION: 42:57/69".
       Normally you should specify a BBS ID with the "O" option whenever
       possible, to avoid slowing down the loading of other packets.  If
       there are two BBSes you read the MYRELIGION echo in, you can use
       one line for each of their BBS IDs, and avoid impeding the reading
       of other mail.  This is also necessary if the two BBSes do not use
       the same name for the message area.

       Most people's twit lists are very short, usually only one or two
       lines.  In fact, users who have a twit list at all are in the
       minority.  If you start feeling a need to filter ten or twelve
       categories of messages out of your mail, maybe it's time to take
       up a different hobby instead of BBSing.




       9) READING MESSAGES

           9.1) What you see when reading a message

       After opening a packet, once you pick an area and, if necessary,
       close the list window showing messages in that area, you are
       finally reading the messages.  This is the state that Q-Blue will
       be in during most of the time you spend using it.  The screen's
       title bar now shows the packet name, or BBS ID, of the mail packet
       you are reading.  If you are reading a special message area, such
       as bulletin files, personal messages, or your replies, that is
       also indicated in the title bar, in a form like this (where
       WHATEVER stands for the current packet name):

            Q-Blue 2.4:  reading "WHATEVER" -- YOUR REPLIES

       The current time will also be shown at the far right end of the
       screen title bar.  Due to awkward features of Amiga Intuition, the
       time is not shown if Q-Blue's screen is not active, or if no mail
       packet is open.  If you are running more than one Q-Blue process,
       there will be a number at the beginning of the title bar for all
       except the first one you started, like this:

           (1) Q-Blue 2.4:  reading "WHATEVER" -- YOUR REPLIES




                                    - 102 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.1


       When this number is showing, it means that this instance of Q-Blue
       is using different work and replies directories than usual -- the
       number that shows is added to the end of the directory names, as
       described in section 3.5.  It is also using a different public
       screen name, as described in section 4.2.

       Just below the title bar is a box, which in the default palette is
       blue with a red border, which contains information about the
       message you are currently reading.  To be specific, along the left
       side are items labeled "From:", "To:", "Subj.:", and "Area:".
       After these are listed, respectively, the name (or alias) of the
       message's author, the name of the intended recipient, a line
       indicating the message's topic, and the name (in long form) of the
       message area it was posted in.

       On the right side, you'll see "Date:" and "Msg#:".  The former
       tells the date and time at which the message was written.  After
       "Msg#:", up to three numbers may be shown.  The one shown in
       yellow in the default palette, which is always present, is the
       sequential number that this message has been assigned by the BBS.
       The other numbers, which may be absent, are cyan in the default
       palette.  If this is a reply to an earlier message, then the
       number of that earlier message is shown before the current
       message's number, with "<-" in between.  If some later message is
       a reply to this one, then that one's number is shown after, with
       "->" in between.  For example, if it says "419 <- 425 -> 428", it
       means that this is message 425, which is a reply to number 419,
       and that number 428 is a reply to this one.  If the message shown
       is one of your replies to be uploaded, it says "reply to" followed
       by the number of the message you wrote this in answer to, or "new
       message" if this is a newly written message which is not a reply
       to anything.

       If the message is an Internet email reply with a very long name in
       the "To:" field, the "Msg#:" part will be left out to make room.
       This also happens if it is an outgoing newsgroup post with a long
       list of other groups that the message is crossposted to (see
       section 10.8).

       At the lower right of the box at the top of the screen, after the
       area name, are two other numbers showing how many messages in this
       area were found in this mail packet, and which one this is.  For
       example, "#2 of 5" means that this is the second of five messages
       found in this area.  Along the right edge there may be three other
       special words shown against a contrasting background color.  If
       the word "Priv" is present, this message is marked as private, to
       be read only by the recipient named in the "To:" line.  If "Rcvd"
       is shown, it means that the addressee has read (or at least
       downloaded) this message.  "Repl" means that you have written a
       reply to this message yourself, which is now in the replies area.
       "Repl" is also shown when such a reply is itself on the screen.




                                    - 103 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.1


       The content of the message is shown in the large area below the
       bordered box.  Normal text is shown in white in the default
       palette, and lines that have a quote indicator at the beginning
       such as ">" or "XX>" are shown in yellow, so that (with luck) you
       can see at a glance which words are new and which are repeated
       from past messages.  Sometimes quotes are indicated by lines that
       begin with ":" or "|"; Q-Blue will show such lines in yellow if
       there are ten or more in the message, or three or more that are
       consecutive. The clutter of origin lines, tear lines, seen-by
       lines, advertising lines for various mail processing software, and
       supposedly funny taglines at the bottom of the message is all dull
       magenta, which makes it easy for the eye to skip over them without
       having to read any of it.  Note that its decisions about which
       lines should be colored magenta are guesswork, and far from
       infallible.  Occasionally some "kluge lines" used by FidoNet are
       shown in magenta at the top of the message text.  If the message
       has "RFC" control lines at the top, as is usually the case with
       Internet messages, these lines are shown in cyan.  Again, the
       detection of these lines may involve guesswork.  The end of the
       text is marked with a horizontal stripe which is red in the
       default palette, so you can tell when there is no more text below
       the bottom of the screen.

       If the message has an attached file, the first line of the text
       area gives the name of the file, highlighted with a red
       background.  The message looks like this:

            * Attached file: WHATEVER.ZIP  (use Alt-T to save)

       Section 9.4 covers the Alt-T command for saving attached files.
       Section 10.11 discusses attached files fully, describing how to
       add them to your uploaded messages.


           9.2) Basic reading options

       You can move around among the messages, and scroll long messages
       up and down, either entirely with the mouse or entirely with the
       keyboard, whichever you prefer at any moment.  If the message is
       too long to all fit on the screen, you can scroll it up and down
       by holding down the left mouse button at the top or bottom edge
       of the text.  When the mouse is within one line of the bottom edge
       of the text display area, or in amongst the gadgets at the bottom,
       the text will scroll upwards, adding new lines at the bottom.  The
       text will scroll downwards if you click in the box at the top
       where the author's name, subject, and so forth are displayed.
       If the screen is interlaced, or using any display mode which is
       400 or more pixels tall, it will scroll two lines at a time, for
       quickness.  You can change the direction of scrolling by sliding
       the mouse to the other end of the screen while the button is held
       down.




                                    - 104 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.2


       Clicking and dragging the mouse in the middle of the text causes
       the text dragged over to be copied to the system clipboard.  To
       copy a chunk larger than what is visible, drag the mouse to the
       top or bottom edge of the text area with the left button held
       down, and it will scroll as described above.  The area being
       clipped is displayed in inverse color until you release the mouse
       button, at which time it is copied to the clipboard.  If you have
       a three button mouse, you can scroll the text without clipping by
       holding down the middle mouse button.  It scrolls the same way the
       left mouse button does, but cannot select text for the clipboard
       or activate the gadgets at the bottom of the screen.  There is no
       keyboard method for copying text to the clipboard.

       If you prefer to use the keyboard, you can scroll a long message
       up one line with the down arrow key, or down one line with the up
       arrow key.  Either the regular arrow keys or the IBM equivalents
       on the numeric pad (2 and 8) work.  The PgDn key (numeric pad 3)
       moves the message down to show the next screenful of lines, with
       one line of overlap; that is, the line that was previously at the
       bottom is now at the top.  PgUp (numeric pad 9) displays the
       previous screenful of lines.  Pressing an up arrow or down arrow
       key while holding down a shift or Alt key is equivalent to
       pressing PgUp or PgDn.  Pressing Home (numeric pad 7) shows the
       first line of the message, and pressing End (numeric pad 1) shows
       the last line.  Pressing the up arrow or down arrow keys while
       holding down the Ctrl key are equivalent to Home and End,
       respectively.  This way, Amiga 600 owners with no numeric pad
       aren't missing any options.  The keys for scrolling long messages
       are identical to those used for scrolling list windows.

       If the message currently shown has more text beyond what shows at
       the bottom of the screen, pressing the spacebar will display the
       next screenful just like the PgDn key.  If the end of the message
       is visible (this is indicated by a red stripe below the last line
       of text), the spacebar will show the start of the next message
       like the right arrow key.  If the current message is the last one
       in the area, the spacebar will open the window listing areas with
       messages, with the next area highlighted so that pressing the
       spacebar selects it -- or, if you have "Areas: list before
       reading" turned off in the Options setup window (see section 6.3),
       then it will display the first message in the next area.  If the
       "Msgs: list before reading" is on, the list of messages in the new
       area will open when you enter it.  If you have already read some
       of the messages in the new area, it will display the last one you
       read there, instead of the first.

       What this means is that you can read every message consecutively
       just by pressing the spacebar.  The return key and the numeric pad
       Enter key do the same thing.  The backspace key does this in
       reverse, more or less: it shows the previous screenful, or the
       previous message, or opening the list window of readable areas
       with the previous area highlighted.  Alt-spacebar works the same
       as backspace.


                                    - 105 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.2


       To view the next message, you can click the gadget labeled "Next"
       at the lower right corner of the screen.  The gadget just to the
       left of that, labeled "Prev.", will show you the message before
       this one.  If you click "Next" when viewing the last message in
       the area, or "Prev." when viewing the first, the list window
       showing the message areas will open, if you have "Areas: list
       before reading" checked in the Options setup window.  This works
       just as described above for the spacebar.  The window will open
       with the area just after (or, in the case of "Prev.", just before)
       the one you were reading highlighted.  The keyboard equivalent is
       to press the right arrow key to view the next message, or the left
       arrow key to see the previous one, as shown by the arrow signs on
       the two gadgets.  The IBM numeric pad equivalents are 6 for right
       arrow and 4 for left arrow.

       You can open the window to select another area any time by
       clicking the gadget labeled "Areas" at the center of the screen's
       bottom edge, or using the equivalent "Areas with msgs" item in the
       "Messages" menu.  The key shortcut is the letter A.  You can open
       the window listing messages within the area with the "List" gadget
       just to the right of that (keyboard shortcut L), or the equivalent
       "List area's msgs" menu item.  And when either of these windows is
       open you can select the other.

       To write a reply to the message you are reading, you can click the
       "Reply" gadget.  To write a new message that is not a reply, click
       on "Write".  The keyboard shortcuts are R and W. If you are
       viewing one of your own replies, the "Reply" gadget is replaced
       with "Re-edit".  This is used if you want to change the contents
       of a reply you have already created.  The equivalent menu items
       are labeled "Reply to this msg" (or "Re-edit reply") and "Write
       new message", in the "Replies" menu.  The "Reply to addressee",
       "Write new email", and "Carbon copy" commands are variations of
       these.  "Reply to addressee" is just like "Reply to this msg"
       except that it addresses the reply to the recipient, rather than
       the author, of the message you are replying to.  Its key shortcut
       is E.  The second is a shortcut for selecting "Write new message"
       followed by clicking the "@-email" button -- it puts the message
       you write into the Internet email area.  If there is no such area,
       it is ghosted.  Its key shortcut is the @ sign.  "Carbon copy"
       lets you create a new message with text copied from an existing
       one, either a message you are reading or one of your own replies.
       Its key shortcut is Alt-W.  The details of writing messages are
       covered in section 10.


           9.3) Special features available when reading

       The "Messages" and "Replies" menus, besides containing items
       equivalent to the various buttons, also have several commands not
       available as gadgets.  The "Next area" option at the top of the
       "Messages" menu shows messages in the message area immediately
       after the one you have been reading, without opening any list


                                    - 106 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.3


       windows.  It shows the first message in the area, or the last
       message you read in the area if you have been in it before.  The
       keyboard shortcut is the right square bracket: "]".  And the
       "Previous area" selection goes back to the area before the one you
       are now reading -- the shortcut is "[".

       The next items are "Search for words" and "Undo search".  The
       latter has two subitems.  These are described in sections 9.5 and
       9.6, which cover the search feature.  Fifth and sixth are "Print
       message" and "Save msg / attachment", which has four subitems.
       These are covered in the next section, 9.4.

       The next two items are called "Next unread (wraps)" and "Mark as
       unread".  The key shortcut for the first is N.  (This is the same
       key used for "Open (no packet)", but that item is not available
       when a packet is open, so they don't conflict.)  "Next unread"
       searches forward and puts on screen the first message after the
       current one which you have not looked at yet.  If there are none
       after the current message, it starts from the beginning of the
       packet.  If every single message in the packet has been read, it
       tells you so with a little error requester.  If you have skipped
       over some messages, this command is a good way to go back and
       review them.

       But note that if you read the first couple of lines of a message
       and then skip the rest, Q-Blue will count the message as having
       been read.  This command will show this message only if it has
       never been onscreen... unless you use the "Mark as unread"
       command, or its key shortcut, X.  This causes Q-Blue to forget
       that the current message was ever onscreen.  If you are reading a
       message and don't finish it, but want to look at it again later,
       use "Mark as unread".  You will see the message indicated as
       unread in the list windows, and "Next unread (wraps)" can find it.

       Last in this menu are "Areas with msgs" and "List area's msgs",
       which are, as stated in the previous section, equivalent to the
       "Areas" and "List" gadgets at the bottom of the screen.  They open
       the list windows showing areas with readable messages, or messages
       within one area, respectively.

       The first item in the "Replies" menu is "Flip to reply"; the F key
       is equivalent.  If you have not replied to the message that is
       currently on screen, this item is ghosted and the F key does
       nothing.  If there is a reply, then this will put that reply on
       screen, replacing the message you were reading before.  (The word
       "Repl" near the right edge of the bordered box at the top of the
       screen indicates whether there is a reply for F to flip to.)  When
       reading replies, the menu item becomes "Flip to original", and it
       sends you back to the message that the one you are reading was
       written in reply to.  If the message you replied to was addressed
       to you, it will flip to either the copy in the personal area or
       the copy in the regular message areas, depending on which was on



                                    - 107 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.3


       screen most recently, so pressing F twice will put you back where
       you started.

       The second "Replies" item is always ghosted except when you are
       reading one of your own replies.  This item is "Delete reply".
       The keyboard shortcut is the Del key, or the letter D (as used in
       older versions of Q-Blue).  When you select this, the reply that
       you are reading will be marked as deleted, and will be erased from
       your replies directory.  But it will still be retained in Q-Blue's
       memory.  The word "DELETED" will appear on a contrasting
       background in the message's header, after the "Msg#:" label.  When
       you are reading a deleted message, this menu item is changed to
       "Un-delete reply", with the shortcut still being Del or D.  By
       selecting it, the deleted reply will be un-marked as deleted and
       rewritten into the replies directory.  You can un-delete a deleted
       message any time before you close the mail packet; at that time,
       deleted messages are forgotten.

       If a file in your replies directory gets damaged somehow, deleting
       and then un-deleting the corresponding message -- or in the case
       of QWK replies, any message -- will rewrite a fresh copy of the
       file.  In the case of Blue Wave, the header files such as the .UPL
       file get rewritten when any message is changed.

       Next come the five message writing commands: "Reply to this msg"
       (or "Re-edit reply" when a reply is displayed onscreen), "Reply to
       addressee", "Write new message", "Write new email", and "Carbon
       copy", as mentioned in the previous section.  Section 10 covers
       their use in detail.  The last three items are "Request D/L" and
       "Mail door", which are covered in section 11, and "Maintain
       taglines".

       "Maintain taglines", key shortcut T, opens the same tagline window
       that opens when you use the "Tagline" gadget in the message
       writing window.  It allows you to add or delete taglines, and load
       or save tagline files.  Use of this window is covered in section
       10.9.  The main reason it is made available in the menu is for
       convenience in "stealing" taglines by clipping them with the mouse
       and then pasting them into the window's string gadget, as
       explained at the end of section 10.9.  When using this window via
       the "Maintain taglines" command, it does not matter which line is
       selected when you close the window, and double-clicking is ignored.

       The remaining options while reading messages, besides the "Setup"
       menu items covered in sections 3 through 6, are found in the
       "Packet" menu.  The "Compression type" submenu, "Iconify screen",
       and "About Q-Blue", were described in section 8.1, since they are
       available whether or not any packet is open.  "Close packet",
       "Pack replies", and "Quit Q-Blue" are covered in sections 11.6 and
       11.7.  All of these are available while reading messages, but
       "Open packet" and "Open (no packet)" are not.




                                    - 108 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.3


       The "BBS Information" item in the "Packet" menu, shortcut B, opens
       a requester that lists some information about the BBS that created
       the mail packet you are reading.  It gives the full pathname of
       the mail file or BBS file you opened -- or "(unknown)" if you
       loaded mail files that were already in the work directory --
       followed by its creation date, the name of the BBS, the sysop's
       name, and your logon name.  In the case of Blue Wave mail it lists
       your alternate name, the BBS's network address if any, and the
       netmail "credit" you have, if relevant.  In the case of QWK mail,
       it lists the BBS's city and phone number, and the control name
       used by the mail door for offline configuration, if any (see
       sections 11.4 and 11.5 for an explanation of this).  Select "Okay"
       to close it.  This item is disabled when no packet is open.


           9.4) Saving and printing messages

       The sixth item in the "Messages" menu is "Save msg / attachment",
       which has four subitems: "ask filename" with key shortcut V (sorry
       about that, S is used for Search), "append previous" with key
       shortcut Alt-V, "whole area", with key shortcut Alt-Ctrl-V (hold
       down both the Alt and Ctrl keys while pressing V), and "Attached
       file" with shortcut Alt-T.  You can use either of the first two to
       make a copy, in a text file, of whatever message is presently on
       the screen.  When you tell it to save a message to disk with the
       "ask filename" subitem or the V key, it opens a file requester
       which you use to specify where to save it.  Unless you cancel the
       requester, the message will be written out to the specified file,
       with the header information (author, addressee, date, etc.) at the
       top, similarly to how it appears in the box at the top of the
       screen.  The "whole area" subitem works the same way, except that
       instead of saving the current message on screen, it writes out all
       messages in the area that you're currently reading, into one big
       text file.

       After you select the file to save it in, another requester may
       appear, if the file is one that already exists.  It gives you
       three choices: to append the current message onto the end of the
       existing file, to erase the previous contents of the file and
       replace them with this message, or don't save the message after
       all.  The gadgets are labeled "Append", "Replace", and "Cancel".
       The default is to append.  The file requester, after the first
       time it's used, defaults to selecting the same file that you
       selected last time.  It puts three blank lines in front of the
       message, when appending it onto an existing file.  Note that if
       the file you select is not a text file, appending to it can make
       it unusable.  For instance, if it is a program, it will not run
       any more.  Be careful to only append to text files.

       Bulletin files are handled a bit differently from messages.  If
       you save a bulletin by itself, without appending it onto an
       existing file, then Q-Blue makes a binary copy of it rather than a
       "printout" type of listing of its text.  If a binary file such as


                                    - 109 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.4


       an LHA archive is included as an extra item in your mail packet,
       you can save it to disk in usable form with the V key, as long as
       you avoid appending it to an existing file.  Such binary files
       will generally appear as gibberish when viewed onscreen.  Using
       the "whole area" subitem counts as appending, so it does not make
       binary copies.

       When you use Alt-V, or the "append previous" subitem, no
       requesters appear.  The text is automatically appended to the file
       that was last selected with the "ask filename" or "whole area"
       subitem.  A message appears in the screen title bar for four
       seconds, telling the name of the file appended to.  Alt-V is a
       convenient way to write many messages into one text file.  This
       option is not enabled unless you have used "ask filename" once.
       If "ask filename" is cancelled or encounters any errors in writing
       out the file, "append prev." is again disabled until "ask
       filename" is used successfully.  This requirement for using "ask
       filename" once is maintained even if a default filename is
       specified in the "Path for saving messages" string in the
       Directories setup window (see section 3.4).

       The "Attached file" item is ghosted unless the current message has
       a file attached to it.  Selecting this command or pressing Alt-T
       opens a file requester.  The name of the file defaults to being
       the one it was given when it was attached (which is displayed at
       the top of the message); you have to pick the appropriate
       directory to put it in.  The file is copied there when you okay
       the requester.  With QWK packets, the file is generally present in
       your work directory under a temporary name different from the
       official name.  With Blue Wave packets, there is currently no
       support for downloading attached files; only for uploading them.
       If an attached file is present, you would have to manually find it
       in the Bulletins area and save it from there.  This is a feature
       of the Blue Wave format that was never really finished properly or
       supported in the original Blue Wave software; it's one of the few
       areas where QWK is better.

       The fifth "Messages" menu item is "Print message", shortcut Alt-P.
       This sends a copy of the current message to your printer.  Or
       actually, it sends it to whatever filename is specified in the
       "Printer output" gadget in the Directories setup window, which
       defaults to "PRT:" (see section 3.4).  If the message contains IBM
       high-ASCII characters, the Amiga printer driver will probably not
       show them correctly.  If your printer is made for use with IBM
       compatible computers, as most are, you may get better results by
       sending your printer output to the printer's port in raw form
       rather than through the printer driver, and making sure that your
       printer is correctly set up to print such characters rather than,
       for instance, interpreting them as italics.  Setting the string
       gadget to "PAR:" will do this for printers connected to the built-
       in parallel port.  Or you can specify a disk file name, if you
       wish to "print" to a file.  If the file already exists, it will
       append to it.  The effect is much like the "append prev." subitem


                                    - 110 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.4


       of "Save msg as file", except that the filename is specified in
       the Directories setup window's "Printer output filename" gadget.

       When not appending to a file, printing is done by a background CLI
       process, and can continue after Q-Blue is exited.  If you need to
       abort the print, you can't do so from within Q-Blue.  Go to a CLI
       window and give the command "Status".  Among the processes listed
       should be one that says "Loaded as command: COPY".  If the name
       "copy" is not in uppercase, then it is not the one started by
       Q-Blue.  The COPY command launched by Q-Blue is the process that
       is actually feeding data to your printer.  Just before those words
       will be the word "Process" and a number.  For example, it might
       say "Process  5: Loaded as command: COPY".  Enter a "Break"
       command followed by that number and the letter C.  In this
       example, the command would be "Break 5 C".  The process should
       disappear and printing should stop.  But your printer might keep
       going for a while if it has already received a lot of text that it
       hasn't printed yet.  Note that if you specify PAR: or some other
       raw port handler instead of PRT:, the Copy command may wait around
       forever, in spite of "Break" commands, if the port is not ready to
       use -- for instance, if your printer is turned off.  This makes it
       more difficult to abort cleanly than it is when PRT: is used.  The
       background process requires the "Failat" and "Delete" commands to
       be available, as well as "Copy".

       As with the "append previous" save command, a message appears in
       the screen title bar for four seconds.  If you give a disk
       filename, it will display the same message: "Appended to" followed
       by the filename.  But when copying in the background to a device
       such as "PRT:", the message says "Copying to" followed by the name.


           9.5) The word search feature

       Q-Blue has a rather sophisticated feature for finding messages
       according to whether they contain a given word or sequence of
       words.  Unlike many search functions, it will find a sequence of
       words even if they are separated by line breaks or by spacing
       different from what you enter in the search window, or even XX>
       style quote marks.  It also allows you to control exactly where
       it looks to find the given words: you can separately check the
       authors or addressees or subject lines or the main text of
       messages, and include or exclude the network gibberish at the
       bottom.  Q-Blue 2.4 allows you to search for four different
       phrases at once.  The effect is that messages which do not match
       the search temporarily disappear, until you undo the search.

       Searching is controlled through a window which can be opened by
       pressing S or by the "Search for words" item of the "Messages"
       menu.  The window has four string gadgets, where you can enter the
       phrases to search for.  Consecutive searches leave these gadgets
       unchanged, so you may have to erase one of them if you no longer
       want to search for a second phrase.


                                    - 111 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.5


       Below the four string gadgets, next to the words "Look in:", are
       four checkmark gadgets which tell it where it should look to find
       the given phrases, labeled "From", "To", "Subj.", and "Body text".
       They can be switched between checked and unchecked with the keys
       F, T, S, and B.  When "From" is checked, it will look at the name
       of who the message is from (the author).  When "To" is checked, it
       will check the name the message is addressed to.  "Subj." tells it
       to check the subject or title string.  "Body text" tells it to
       check the actual content of the message.  You can set these four
       gadgets to any combination of checked and unchecked, though if all
       four are unchecked you'll get an error message because it has
       nowhere to look.  In the bulletins area, where the messages have
       no "from" or "to" names but do have a filename, it will check that
       filename for a match if either the "From" or "To" gadget is
       checked.

       The default setting when the window is first opened is for "Body
       text" to be unchecked and the others to be checked.  This is
       because searching the body text is a lot slower than searching any
       of the other parts.  Searching a large number of messages can take
       many seconds, even if your work directory is in ram disk and you
       have a fast CPU.  Searching with the body text option turned off,
       however, takes almost no time.  The "Waste memory for speed" setup
       option (see section 6.3) can help speed up body text searches.
       However, the speedup will be less than it was in earlier Q-Blue
       releases if the area contains many messages, because that option
       is now much more modest in the amount of memory it wastes.  During
       searches that include body text, the title of the search window
       shows how far the search has progressed so far, as a percentage of
       the total count of messages that need to be checked.

       Below those four gadgets are two more checkmarks labeled "Refine
       previous search" and "Ignore end-of-message clutter".  Their
       shortcuts are R and I.  They are explained in the next section.

       At the bottom of the search window, next to the words "Search
       area(s):", are three gadgets labeled "Here", "All", and "Nowhere",
       with key shortcuts H, A, and N.  They tell it which message areas
       it should search.  As indicated by the bent arrow next to it,
       pressing return selects "Here".  That tells it to begin searching
       only the messages in the current area, leaving other areas alone.
       The "All" gadget tells it to check every message in every area,
       except for your replies.

       The "Nowhere" gadget tells it not to search.  It also tells it to
       discard the results of any past search.  It is not the same as
       simply cancelling the window with the close gadget or Esc key --
       if you just cancel the window, any previous search will be left
       unaffected, but if you click "Nowhere", it will bring back the
       complete set of messages as they were before any search was done.
       It acts like the "all areas" command in the "Undo search" submenu.




                                    - 112 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.5


       Once you select "Here" or "All", it will start searching, after
       first discarding previous search results.  If there are no
       messages that contain the phrases in the areas you've told it to
       search, it will put up a requester telling you that nothing was
       found.  A side effect of this, in the current version, is that any
       previous search result is lost, either in the current area only if
       you selected "Here", or in all areas if you selected "All".  A
       failed search has results similar to selecting "Nowhere", except
       that the window stays open for another try.  But if "Refine
       previous search" is used, it restores the previously existing
       search result instead of restoring an un-searched condition.

       If it does find one or more messages that match the phrases you
       specified, the result is that all messages except the ones that
       match will temporarily disappear, in your current area or in all
       areas depending on where you searched.  You can now read messages,
       reply, or do anything else in the normal way, except that the only
       messages you see are the ones that fit the search.  When searching
       all areas, those areas which had no matching messages will also
       entirely disappear, temporarily.  Q-Blue will do its best to keep
       its place in the remaining messages so you can more or less
       continue where you left off.

       If your search included a check of body text, messages that were
       found that way will have the matching words or phrases highlighted
       with contrasting inverse colors when they are viewed.  Q-Blue will
       highlight the first four non-overlapping occurrences of each
       matching phrase.

       To bring back the vanished messages, you can reopen the search
       window and select "Nowhere", or you can use the menu item below
       "Search for words" in the "Messages" menu, labeled "Undo search".
       It has two subitems, "this area" and "all areas".  The first
       brings back the missing messages only in your current message
       area, the second brings all of them back.  The key shortcut for
       "this area" is the letter U; for "all areas" it's Alt-U.


           9.6) Additional aspects of the search feature

       The "Ignore end-of-message clutter" gadget, when checked, causes
       searches of body text to ignore the origin lines, tear lines,
       taglines, and other garbage that commonly ends up added to the
       ends of messages (or the beginnings, in the case of some Fidonet
       "^A" kluge lines).  The lines that are shown in magenta in the
       default 8 color palette are the ones that do not get searched.
       With this checked, you can for instance search for the phrase
       "Blue Wave" and only find messages that actually mention it,
       instead of finding every message that was posted by someone using
       Blue Wave software.  It is ghosted except when "Body text" is
       checked.




                                    - 113 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.6


       The "Refine previous search" gadget is used if you want to search
       according to one criterion, and then search only the messages
       found that way, for some other unrelated phrase.  For instance,
       suppose you want to find messages written by Mary Jones that
       mention President Clinton.  There are dozens of messages by Mary
       Jones, and dozens about Clinton, and you want to find the few in
       both categories.  What you would do is search once for "Mary
       Jones" with the "From" gadget checked.  It will reduce the list of
       messages to be only those written by Mary Jones.  Bring up the
       search window again, and replace "Mary Jones" with "Clinton" in
       the string gadget, and turn on the "Subj." and/or "Body text"
       gadgets.  Since the messages are already narrowed down by the
       previous search, the "Refine previous search" gadget will be
       enabled -- it is ghosted when no previous search is in effect.
       Click it or press R, and then search again.  It will look for
       messages containing "Clinton" among those messages that remain
       after the previous search: those written by Mary Jones.  This
       gadget, unlike the other checkmarks, is always unchecked when the
       window is opened; it does not retain its previous setting.

       The exact relation between the phrases you enter into the string
       gadgets and the text it finds needs some explanation.  As
       mentioned above, it searches not for one string of characters but
       for a sequence of distinct words and punctuation marks.  If it
       finds the given sequence, regardless of spacing or line breaks
       between them, it counts that as a successful find.  It will even
       skip over XX> style quote marks at the beginnings of lines, if
       necessary, between one matching word and the next.  In other
       words, if the message contains these lines:

           JS> > And I thought it was really super-
           JS> > DUPER !!!

       then if you search for "super-duper!", these lines will match.  It
       always ignores the distinction between uppercase and lowercase
       letters -- at least with the normal 26 letter alphabet.  It cannot
       ignore the case of accented, umlauted, or otherwise unusual
       letters, because of the different incompatible character sets that
       different systems use to represent such characters.

       It will find a phrase starting or ending in the middle of a word,
       unless you begin or end the phrase in the string gadget with an
       extra space.  If a word in the string gadget has a space on both
       ends, it will find it only as a whole word in the text, not as a
       part of a larger word.  This works separately for the beginning
       and end of the word -- a space at the beginning makes it avoid
       matches starting in the middle of a word, and a space at the end
       makes it avoid those ending in the middle of a word.

       An example may clarify this.  If you enter "car" into one of the
       string gadgets with no spaces, it will find messages containing
       the words "carpet" and "vicar" and "escargot".  If you put a space
       before the word "car" it will skip "vicar" and "escargot" but


                                    - 114 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.6


       still find "carpet".  Conversely, a space at the end will cause it
       to find "vicar" but not the others.  Spaces at both ends make it
       find only the word "car".  But this does not mean it literally
       searches for the word "car" with space characters before and after
       -- it will also find the word if it is bracketed by newlines or
       punctuation characters.  It will find "(car)" for instance.  When
       there are several words in a search string, the ones in the middle
       must always match as whole words -- these considerations apply
       only to the beginning of the first word and the end of the last
       word.

       You can use the search window while any list window is open.  The
       third gadget from the left at the bottom of the screen is labeled
       "Search" whenever a list window is open, to make it convenient.
       With the list windows for messages in one area, or areas
       containing readable messages, it works exactly the same as when no
       list window is open.  The list window will be updated to show the
       new set of messages available to read.  In the case of the areas
       window, any area which has been searched is marked with a letter S
       along the left margin.  And just as when no list window is open,
       pressing U undoes the search in the current area, and Alt-U undoes
       it in all areas.  When a list window has had its contents screened
       through a search, the word "[Searched]" in brackets appears at the
       beginning of the window's title.  In the case of the areas list
       window, this word appears if you do a search of all areas (which
       removes any area with no matching messages) but not if you search
       individual areas.

       A simplified search function can be used on any other list window
       besides those that list readable messages.  When you are looking
       at the list of mail packet files in your downloads directory, or
       at the list of areas in which replies and new messages can be
       posted (see section 10.4), or the list of taglines or any other
       similar window, you can search the list to find an item by name.
       This is useful with some BBSes which give you a choice of hundreds
       or even thousands of message areas to post in.  You can enter the
       name, or a part of the name, of the area you are trying to find in
       the search window, and the contents of the list will be narrowed
       down to just those that contain the word or phrase you specified,
       so you don't have to hunt back and forth through a long list to
       find the right area.  You can bring back the full list with the
       search window's "Nowhere" gadget, or by pressing U or Alt-U while
       the search window is not open.  With these other windows, U and
       Alt-U have the same meaning.

       When doing this kind of simplified list window search, the "From",
       "To", "Subj.", "Body text", and "Ignore end-of-message clutter"
       checkmark gadgets are ghosted since they are not relevant.  The
       "All" gadget is also ghosted, and the default gadget is labeled
       "Window" instead of "Here", to indicate that it is looking only at
       the text that is visible in the window.  The shortcut is W instead
       of H.  The "Refine previous search" option is available as usual,
       though.  In the case of the downloads directory files window or


                                    - 115 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                       section 9.6


       BBS files window, the search looks at the names of the files, and
       the filenotes -- which usually only contain a notation such as
       "27% read" -- not at anything else in the window such as the date
       and time or the size of the file.  In the window of areas you can
       post in, it will check both the numbers and the names.




       10) WRITING REPLIES AND NEW MESSAGES

           10.1) The message creation window: From, To, Subject

       When you tell Q-Blue that you want to write a reply or a new
       message, or carbon-copy a message, it opens a window with a bunch
       of gadgets for specifying things about the message.  There are
       string gadgets for specifying the message's author (your name or
       alias), addressee, and subject, gadgets for specifying whether it
       is a private message and what area it will be posted in and so on,
       and buttons to edit the text, select a tagline, save the finished
       message, or cancel it.  You can also cancel it with the close
       gadget or the Esc key.

       The string gadget labeled "From:" specifies the message's author.
       When reading a Blue Wave packet, this gadget is usually ghosted
       and you can't change the name in it.  The actual content may
       depend on what area is selected; some areas use your real name (as
       known to the BBS), and others may use an alias or handle, if the
       BBS knows of one.  The exception is when the area the message is
       in is marked as allowing you to use any name you want.  In this
       case you can put anything in there, with the default value being
       the "default alias name" you chose in the Replying setup window,
       or the equivalent gadget in the BBS Local setup window, or if you
       left those blank, your logon name on the BBS.  Note: if you erase
       the gadget and press return in it when it's empty, your logon name
       will be inserted, rather than the "any name" default.  When
       reading a QWK packet, you can put any name into this gadget, but
       it will probably have no effect; the mail door will usually fill
       in your real name or handle as it deems appropriate.  And some
       mail doors, it is said, will reject messages if they don't like
       the name you put here.  The "Handle" gadget (see the next section)
       can be used to conveniently switch between your name and alias(es).

       The "To:" gadget specifies who the message is addressed to.  If it
       is a reply, then the default is normally the author of the message
       you are replying to, unless you used "Reply to addressee", in
       which case the default is the recipient of the message you are
       replying to.  That is, if John Smith wrote a message to Mary Jones
       and you reply to it, then normally your reply would be addressed
       to John Smith, but with "Reply to addressee" your reply would go
       to Mary Jones instead.  When writing an original message, this
       gadget starts out empty.  You must put something into it, or
       Q-Blue will refuse to accept the resulting message -- unless you


                                    - 116 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.1


       have activated the "Permit blank To and Subject" option in the BBS
       Local setup window.  If you just press return in this gadget when
       it's empty, it will be set to "All", unless the cycle gadget
       labeled "Privacy" (see below, in this section) is set to "Private".
       If you are reading QWK mail, the "From:" and "To:" names may both
       get converted to uppercase, if the messages you have downloaded
       use uppercase names.

       The "Subj.:" gadget lets you specify the title or subject line
       that appears at the top of the message.  In a Blue Wave packet,
       this string can be longer than what fits in the visible area of
       the gadget -- up to 71 characters, depending on the BBS.  With
       QWK, this string, like the two name strings above it, is generally
       limited to 25 characters.  If this is a reply, the default is to
       use the subject of the message being replied to, with "Re:" added
       in front if you have the "Add Re:" gadget checked in the Options
       setup window.  If it's an original message, it starts out empty.
       Again, you must put something into it for the message to be
       accepted, unless "Permit blank To and Subject" is used.  When you
       use the "Carbon copy" command, the subject gadget starts out
       containing the same text as the message being copied, and no "Re:"
       is added.  The "To" gadget starts out blank.

       One exception to the rule that QWK subject lines are limited to 25
       characters is when the mail packet contains special "kluge lines"
       compatible with those used by the BBS software PCBoard 15.0 and
       later, which allows subjects up to 60 characters long to be
       specified in a special format at the top of the message text.
       This option is activated by the "Use PCBoard extensions" checkmark
       gadget in the "Mail" subwindow of the BBS Local setup window.  If
       any such kluge line is found in the mail packet without an origin
       line indicating it came from another system, or if the file
       "DOOR.ID" is present in the packet and contains a like saying
       "SYSTEM = PCBoard 15.0" (or any higher version number), or the QWK
       packet was produced by PCBoard's built-in QWK packer, then Q-Blue
       will set this checkmark by guesswork, without changing the
       permanent setting.  If you manually turn it on or off and use the
       BBS Local window's "Save" button, Q-Blue will not try to use
       guesswork any more.  If the option is set, you can use up to 60
       characters in the subject string gadget, and create the "kluge
       line" in the uploaded message if necessary.

       Important note: often other software that deals with the message
       will not correctly understand this, and in these cases it is
       necessary to avoid subjects longer than 25 characters (the same
       length as the From and To names) to avoid causing problems.  This
       especially applies in any situation that requires some special
       information to be in the first line of the message, which is a
       common way for PCBoard systems to deal with problems like
       specifying the destination address for private mail sent over a
       network such as FidoNet or the Internet.  It may be the case that
       if your subject is longer than 25 characters, the other software
       will be unable to figure out where the message is supposed to go.


                                    - 117 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.1


       Hopefully upgrades of these programs will resolve the problem
       eventually.  Because of these problems, Q-Blue is careful not to
       stretch a PCBoard subject over the 25 character limit when it adds
       "Re:" to the beginning, if it is acting by guesswork in using the
       kluge lines.  And when QWK netmail is handled with the "QWK
       netmail kluge line" method described in section 6.9, Q-Blue
       restricts the subject to 25 characters with PCBoard.  In other
       cases, don't be surprised if a long subject gets truncated when
       you reply by netmail.  This applies only if you have specified a
       "QWK netmail kluge line" string, not if you set the "Use PCBoard
       extensions" checkmark and leave the kluge line gadget empty.

       Some other mail doors that allow long subject lines are the
       Valence door for Searchlight, which permits subjects up to 40
       characters long in all cases, and the MKQWK and JC-QWK doors for
       Remote Access, which allow a subject of 71 characters on netmail
       messages, but not on ordinary posts.  JC-QWK, according to its
       manual, supports this with internet email also, though MKQWK does
       not.  In this case, don't be surprised if the subject gets
       truncated when you move a netmail message into a public area.  The
       OLMS door for Remote Access supports 71 character subjects in all
       areas.


           10.2) Other message creation gadgets

       The cycle gadget in the upper right of the window, labeled
       "Quoting", specifies how the message being replied to will be
       quoted when sent to the editor.  The possible values are those
       explained in section 6.4: "Add >" which puts a greater-than sign
       at the beginning of each line, "Add XX>" which adds a greater-than
       sign after the author's initials at the beginning of each line
       that doesn't already have different initials, "Wrap XX>" which
       does the same and also reformats paragraphs, "Verbatim" which puts
       the message being replied to into the editor without any
       modification, and "None" which does not send anything from the
       message being replied to into the editor.  The default setting of
       this gadget is determined by the identical cycle gadget in the
       Replying setup window.  When writing an original message rather
       than a reply, this gadget is ghosted.  A carbon copy is treated as
       a reply if the message being copied is one of your replies.

       The key shortcut is Q.  If you are using an editor setup with only
       one editing command instead of two, then the quote setting only
       affects the first use of the editor, and after using "Edit" the
       first time, the quote style gadget is ghosted.

       Below that is a cycle gadget labeled "Privacy:" which tells
       whether the message is public or private.  In the latter case,
       only the addressee (and probably the sysop) will be able to read
       it, on the BBS you upload it to.  But be warned that if you post
       it in a networked message base, such as a FidoNet echo, the
       private-message flag may not have any effect.  When reading a Blue


                                    - 118 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.2


       Wave packet, some message areas allow only public messages, and
       others allow only private ones.  Except when the area the message
       is being written into allows either one, this gadget is ghosted.
       Otherwise the default is for it to be private if the message you
       are replying to is private.  The key shortcut is P.  And bear in
       mind that no BBS mail is truly private unless you use encryption.

       Below the subject string is a button labeled "Area:".  Clicking
       this, or pressing the A key while no string gadget is active, will
       open up a list window showing all the message areas into which you
       can put this message.  See section 10.4 for details on using this
       window.  Just to the right of this gadget is shown the number (in
       parentheses) and the full name of the area that the message is
       going to go into.

       To the right of the area name is a button labeled "Handle", with
       key shortcut H.  If Q-Blue is aware of more than one name that you
       are using -- a real name and an alias, or two aliases -- then this
       button will change the contents of the "From" gadget (if it's not
       ghosted) from one of your names to another.  With QWK packets, the
       BBS only knows one name for you to use.  With Blue Wave packets,
       the BBS tells Q-Blue about both your logon name and an alternate
       name.  Generally one of these is your real name and the other (if
       different) is a handle, but which is which depends on the BBS.
       With both types of mail, the "default alias" you have selected
       within Q-Blue is another possible name for you, and the "Handle"
       gadget can switch the "From" gadget between all three kinds of
       names.  If a default alias is defined in the BBS Local setup
       window, it overrides the setting in the Replying setup window.

       On the left, under the "Area:" button, is a gadget labeled
       "@-email", which is ghosted if there is no area marked for
       Internet email.  To the right of that are a button labeled
       "Netmail" and a string gadget labeled "Netmail address".  These
       gadgets are ghosted if there is no message area designated for
       netmail.  With Blue Wave packets, one or more areas may be marked
       as netmail areas automatically; with QWK packets you must specify
       which area is for netmail in the BBS Local setup window.  With
       version 3 Blue Wave packets, there may be an area marked as
       Internet email, but with either QWK or version 2 Blue Wave, you
       must use the BBS Local setup window to specify the area, if the
       BBS has one.  See sections 10.6 and 10.7 for details on creating
       netmail messages and section 10.8 on creating email messages.

       To the right of the netmail address gadget, below the "Handle"
       button, is a button labeled "FAttach".  This is used for attaching
       a file to a message you write.  Many BBSes do not support
       attaching files to messages.  Section 10.11 discusses file
       attachment in detail.

       In the bottom row, between the "Edit" button and the "Cancel"
       button, is the "Tagline" button.  Taglines are covered in sections
       10.9 and 10.10.


                                    - 119 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.3


           10.3) Editing and saving messages

       At the bottom of the window are four gadgets.  The one on the
       right is labeled "Cancel" (keyboard shortcut C) and is used to
       discard the message if you decide not to send it.  The close
       gadget has the same effect, as does the Esc key.  If you are re-
       editing an existing message, "Cancel" leaves it unchanged.  On the
       left is "Save" (key shortcut S), which stores the finished message
       and closes the window.  This gadget is ghosted if you have not yet
       used the editor to write anything, except with carbon copies.

       To the right of the "Save" button in the window's bottom row of
       gadgets is "Edit" (keyboard shortcut E), the one which makes the
       whole window worthwhile: it runs your editor to let you type in
       the text of your reply.  (See section 4 for instructions on how to
       set up the editing commands used by this gadget.)  Except when
       making a carbon copy, when the window is first opened there is a
       bent arrow next to this gadget, indicating that pressing return
       will start your editor.  After the first time you edit the text,
       it moves the bent arrow next to the "Save" gadget, which is now no
       longer ghosted, and pressing return will save the message.  When
       making a carbon, the arrow is next to "Save" in the first place.

       If you are writing a new message, the text you are editing starts
       out empty, or empty except for the "Signature" you have specified
       in the Replying or BBS Local setup window (see section 6.5).  If
       you are writing a reply, it starts out either empty or containing
       a quoted version of the message you are replying to, depending on
       your editor setup and quoting options (with signature, if any, in
       either case).  If you are making a carbon copy, it starts out
       containing a copy of the text of the message you were reading when
       you gave the "Carbon copy" command, and no signature is added.  It
       is not necessary to use "Edit" at all in this case, though you can
       if you wish.  If the message you are copying is one of your own
       replies or new messages, the copy is verbatim.  If it is a copy of
       a message that you downloaded, a header is added which tells who
       originally wrote the message, and so on.  It looks something like
       this, by default:

            ** Message forwarded by Q-Blue 2.4
            ** Posted 10:36 AM on 1 Apr 97 in area "Politics"
            ** From John Smith to Mary Jones
            ** Subject "Limbaugh for President"

       The original author's and recipient's name, and the original date,
       area name, and subject, are inserted in the appropriate places.
       To modify the format of this header, change the "C.C. header"
       string in the Replying setup window, as described in section 6.5.

       It is not always the case that the message that Q-Blue uploads is
       exactly what you created in the editor.  For instance, it will
       convert tab characters in your message into spaces.  in Fido-type
       echomail areas -- and note that with QWK mail, Q-Blue has to


                                    - 120 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.3


       assume that any area might be an echo, unless the message you are
       sending is private -- it will modify any line starting with three
       dashes and a space, or consisting of just three dashes, as these
       can confuse some mail sending software, sometimes resulting in a
       truncated message.  And when creating replies for QWK format
       uploads, Q-Blue will add an extra line to the bottom called a
       "brag line", giving the name and version number of Q-Blue that
       created the message.  Brag lines are discussed in section 6.7,
       because of the way they interact with the tagline style options
       documented there.

       With Blue Wave format uploads, the mail door adds the brag line,
       so Q-Blue does not add one of its own.  In this case, what Q-Blue
       does is see whether the message ends with a tagline -- that is, a
       line starting with three periods and a space.  When such a line is
       found at the end of the message, Q-Blue will put no newline at the
       end of the message, so that there is no blank line between the
       tagline and the mail door's brag line.  Although Q-Blue has its
       own facility for adding or changing such taglines at the ends of
       messages (see section 10.9), it will also react this way to a
       tagline that you simply type in at the end of a message.  In QWK
       replies, it will avoid putting a blank line between such a tagline
       and its own brag line.  In general, if you enter a message with a
       couple of blank lines at the end, Q-Blue will remove them.  If
       there are lots of blank lines at the end, Q-Blue will remove a
       couple and leave the rest.

       After you select "Save", the message you just wrote will become
       the currently displayed message on screen if you are in the
       replies area, or if you have opened a BBS file instead of a real
       mail packet.

       Past versions of Q-Blue would warn you if the message you wrote
       was more than 97 lines long, because of a possibility that such
       long messages would cause difficulty for network software and be
       split apart during transmission, or maybe even truncated.  Since
       such length limits are pretty much a thing of the past these days
       in networks such as FidoNet, in Q-Blue 2.4 that feature has been
       removed.  A few individual BBSes, especially those running outdated
       software, may still limit the size of messages in some way.


           10.4) Selecting an area for the message

       When you click the gadget labeled "Area:" in the message writing
       window (or press A), a list window opens up, similar to the one
       that shows all the areas that contain messages you can read.  The
       difference is that this one lists every area known to the BBS (at
       least usually), even ones with no messages in them.  The gadgets
       in the message creation window will be ghosted while the areas
       list is open.  It opens with the highlight bar on the area that
       the message is currently in.  By selecting a different area with
       this list window, you can cause the message you are writing to be


                                    - 121 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.4


       posted in a different area.  This practice is recommended in those
       common circumstances where a given area is devoted to a particular
       topic, and your conversation is wandering onto a different
       subject.  If you and the person you are writing to both read some
       other area where your message fits in better, moving your reply to
       that other area is a good idea.  But note that when the message
       area is a FidoNet echo or similar large-scale networked
       conference, moving the message to another area may cause its
       addressee to fail to ever see it.

       When you use the "Write new message" command and the area you are
       reading is either the bulletins or your own replies, then this
       list window will open automatically as soon as the message writing
       window is open, forcing you to select an area.  If you are reading
       a message in one of the BBS's regular areas, then the message you
       write is placed in that area by default.  Replies and carbon
       copies are placed by default in the same area that the message
       being copied or replied to is in.  If the area it would go in is
       "read only" (meaning that posting messages is not allowed here),
       the window will open automatically to make you select another
       area.  If you use the "Write new email" command, it starts out in
       the Internet email area.

       Each area has a number and a name.  With a Blue Wave packet, each
       one may have a number, a short name sometimes called an "echo
       tag", and a longer name that gives a more complete description.
       These are listed in the window in that order from left to right,
       on each line (see section 7.4).  With Blue Wave, it can be the
       case that the "number" is a short word instead of just digits, but
       this is rare.  At the left edge there may be a letter: "E" means
       that this is an "echoed" area, shared by more than one BBS.  "R"
       means that this area is "read only".  Q-Blue will show an error
       message and make you pick another area if you try to put a message
       in a read only area.  "N" means that this is a netmail area (see
       section 10.6).  "U" means that this area is a Usenet newsgroup --
       a type of area that is only recognized with version 3 Blue Wave
       mail packets.  An "@" sign means that this area is for Internet
       email.  With QWK mail packets, these different types of areas are
       not distinguished, except for any areas you have marked in the BBS
       Local setup window's "Mail" subwindow as being a netmail or
       Internet email area.

       As with any other list window, you can use the word search
       function described in sections 9.5 and 9.6 to find an elusive area
       if there are too many listed to look through.  (Some BBSes may
       have thousands of areas listed here).  Type any part of the
       number, short name, or long name into the search window, and it
       will reduce the list in the window so it shows only those areas
       that include the specified word or phrase.  Typing U or Alt-U, or
       reopening the search window and clicking on "Nowhere", will
       restore the full list.  So will closing and reopening the window.




                                    - 122 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.4


       Another way to cut the list down to size, if it contains dozens or
       hundreds of areas you're not interested in, is to use the gadget
       labeled "Active" at the bottom of the screen.  It eliminates areas
       you are not reading from the list.  In the case of Blue Wave mail,
       it includes only those areas which you have selected for reading
       in the mail door on the BBS, leaving out the ones you never read.
       In the case of QWK mail, this gadget reduces the list to only
       those areas which have messages in them in this packet.  With QWK
       it doesn't know what other areas you might have selected for
       reading, but received no mail in today.  The gadget is ghosted if
       no areas have messages in them.

       When this gadget is used and only active areas are listed, the
       gadget is changed to read "All" instead of "Active".  The keyboard
       shortcut is A in either case.  Clicking "All", or pressing A
       again, restores the full list.  It tries to keep the highlight bar
       on the same area after switching.  Searching can be combined with
       this, and doing a search affects both the complete list and the
       active areas list, except in one case: when you search the
       complete list and none of the areas found are present in the
       active list, selecting "Active" at that point will display all of
       the active areas, while the full list displays only those found by
       the search.

       As with other list windows, you make your selection by either
       double-clicking on the desired line, or moving the highlight bar
       to the desired place and pressing return or the spacebar.
       Pressing Esc or clicking the close gadget leaves your previous
       area selection unchanged.  Once you make a selection, the number
       and long name of the newly chosen area will be displayed in the
       message creation window, to the right of the "Area:" gadget.


           10.5) Adding missing areas to the list

       There is one extra feature which is present only with QWK packets.
       Typically this list window shows every possible area you can write
       a message in, when "Active" is not selected, but sometimes this is
       not true.  Some QWK packets do not bother to describe areas other
       than the ones you have specifically asked to read mail in.  Some
       QWK doors allow this behavior as a configuration choice for each
       user, since many people have no wish to be burdened with a long
       list of areas they have no interest in reading.

       When this is the case, you have a problem if one day you need to
       write a message in some other area on the BBS that is not included
       in the list.  So, Q-Blue lets you add new areas to the list.  In
       order to do this, you must know the correct number that the BBS
       uses for the area you want.  If you pick the wrong number, the
       message may end up in an embarrassingly inappropriate place, or be
       lost entirely.




                                    - 123 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.5


       If you are certain you know the right number, click the gadget
       labeled "Create" at the bottom of the screen while the areas list
       window is open, or press C.  (Note: this gadget was labeled "New"
       instead of "Create" in version 1.0 of Q-Blue.)  It will close the
       window listing the areas and open in its place a small window
       labeled "Describe the message area to add" containing string
       gadgets for the number and name of the area you want.  Type the
       correct number into the first gadget, and a descriptive name in
       the second.  You do not have to use the same name that the BBS
       uses.  "Okay" and "Cancel" gadgets complete the window, with the
       return key being equivalent to "Okay".  "Cancel" has the same
       effect as the close gadget or the Esc key -- the new area window
       will close and the list will window reopen just as it was before.
       The O and C keys are also shortcuts for the gadgets, as usual.

       If you select "Okay", it will check to see if the area number is
       valid.  It must have no more than seven digits (the limit was five
       digits in Q-Blue 2.1 and older), must not be negative, and must
       not already be in use in the existing list of areas.  Q-Blue will
       give you an error message if the number is not valid, or if you
       leave the name empty.  If everything is valid, it will close this
       window and reopen the window listing areas, with the highlight bar
       on your newly created area, at the end of the list.  Pressing
       return will select this as the area the message goes in.  When the
       new area is created, the BBS file in the context directory is
       rewritten to include the newly created area, so that if you use
       the "Open (no packet)" command, you can write messages in that
       area without having to use the "Create" option over again.
       However, this information will be lost again if you download and
       open a fresh packet from the BBS that does not include that area.

       The "Create" option can be used not only when writing a message,
       but when selecting a QWK netmail or email area in the BBS Local
       setup window (see section 6.9), or selecting areas to download
       future mail from with the "Mail door" command (sections 11.4 and
       11.5).


           10.6) Writing netmail messages

       Q-Blue includes a feature which allows you to send messages via
       "Netmail": a method by which you can send a private message to a
       single user on a BBS which is not the one you are uploading your
       replies to, but is connected to that BBS by a Fido-type network.
       In such networks, each connected system has an address consisting
       of up to four numbers in the form "Zone:Net/Node.Point" (example:
       1:2345/678.9).  Because the QWK packet format has no standard
       method of handling netmail, special configuration is required to
       use the netmail feature with QWK packets.  This setup procedure is
       described in section 6.9.

       Netmail is handled with two gadgets in the message writing window:
       a button labeled "Netmail" with key shortcut N, below the space


                                    - 124 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.6


       where the name of the current message area is written, and a
       string gadget to its right labeled "Net address".  The string
       gadget is ghosted except when the current area selected for the
       message is a netmail area.  To put a message into the netmail
       area, you could click the "Area:" button and scroll through the
       list looking for the right one (netmail areas are marked by a
       letter N in contrasting color at the left edge), or you can just
       click the "Netmail" button, which automatically puts the message
       in a netmail area.

       Sometimes there is more than one netmail area, which is often
       necessary if the BBS is connected to more than one separate
       network.  In this case you'll have to figure out which netmail
       area to use to get to the right destination, judging by the names
       given the different netmail areas, or by instructions provided by
       your sysop.  When there is more than one netmail area, clicking
       the "Netmail" gadget repeatedly will cycle through them in turn,
       eventually bringing you back to the original (non-netmail) area
       you started in.  If there is more than one netmail area and you
       are in a non-netmail area when you click the button, the first
       one it jumps to will be the last netmail area you put a message
       in, or the first one in the areas list if you haven't written any
       other netmail yet.  If it can't figure out what non-netmail area
       a message would be associated with, then it will open the areas
       list window.

       When you put the message in a netmail area, either with the
       "Areas" list or the "Netmail" gadget, the "Net address" gadget
       becomes enabled, and if you are writing a reply, Q-Blue tries to
       fill the gadget with the net address that the message you are
       replying to originated from.  It will typically also set the
       "Privacy" cycle gadget to Private, since netmail is usually
       intended only for one recipient.  It will activate this string
       gadget if it hasn't got an address in it yet.

       The process of figuring out the right address to reply to may not
       be 100% reliable, and if the address you see there is not where
       you want to send the message, or if you are writing a message that
       is not a reply, you have to specify an address.  With Blue Wave
       mail, Q-Blue will flash the screen and activate the address gadget
       if you try to save a netmail message with no net address, just as
       if you tried to save a message with no name in the "To" gadget.
       But with QWK mail, there are some BBSes which have you put both
       netmail and local messages in the same area.  Because of this, the
       net address is not mandatory in QWK netmail areas.  If you do not
       enter an address, the message will be posted as local mail instead
       of as netmail.

       The most essential parts of the address are the net number and the
       node number, which specify what BBS to send the message to.  They
       are decimal numbers from 0 to 65535 separated by a slash, for
       example "2240/176".  They are usually preceded by a zone number,
       which may be optional but which, in these days of BBSes often


                                    - 125 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.6


       being connected to more than one network at a time, you'd better
       not leave out.  The zone number precedes the net number and is
       followed by a colon, for example "1:2240/176".  In FidoNet the
       zone number more or less specifies which continent the BBS is on,
       where 1 stands for North America, 2 for Europe, and so on; in
       other cases the number is generally used to indicate which of many
       smaller networks the destination BBS is to be found in.

       The point number is zero when the address is that of a full-
       fledged BBS or "node", and in this case it can be left out.  When
       the addressee is a "point" -- a private mail system hooked to the
       network, which can be thought of as a sort of micro-BBS in which
       the sysop is the only user -- then you must specify the point
       number after the node number with a period in between, for example
       "1:2345/678.9".  To recap: in this example, 1 is the zone number,
       2345 is the net number, 678 is the node number, and 9 is the point
       number.

       In many cases, it is possible to fill in the address in this
       gadget by copying the right address into the system clipboard and
       then pressing right-Amiga-V while the gadget is active.  Like all
       string gadgets in Q-Blue's windows, it uses that keystroke to
       replace its current contents with the text in the system
       clipboard.  Often you can clip an address from the text of a
       message onscreen using the mouse (see section 9.2), and paste it
       into this gadget.  This can also be done, of course, with people's
       names in the "To" gadget.

       If the address you enter into the string gadget is not a valid
       specimen of this syntax, Q-Blue will give you an error message.
       Q-Blue will also reject an address that is the same as that of the
       BBS you downloaded the mail packet from, except with QWK packets,
       which leave Q-Blue with no idea what the BBS's own address is.
       Local mail areas should be used for such cases.

       Once a valid address is there, you can if desired switch the
       message out of the netmail area by clicking the "Netmail" button
       again.  It will go back to whatever area it was in before you
       clicked "Netmail" the first time, and ghost the address gadget.
       Or if there is more than one netmail area, clicking "Netmail"
       enough times will eventually bring you back to that original area.
       If you are replying to a netmail message and it doesn't know of
       any other non-netmail area to go to, it will just cycle between
       the different netmail areas.

       The rest of the process of writing a netmail message proceeds
       exactly as usual... with one further possible complication.


           10.7) Netmail attribute flags

       Each netmail message has certain "attribute" flags, which may give
       it special properties.  Q-Blue may open a small extra window to


                                    - 126 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.7


       allow you to choose attributes for this message.  Each sysop may
       or may not allow users to make use of any particular attribute.
       Quite often, no special attributes at all are allowed; in this
       case no extra window opens.  The window does not open when reading
       QWK mail, except with a very few mail doors for which Q-Blue knows
       the right "kluge" to set them.  Many of these attributes are not
       normally used except by sysops.  If any are permitted, Q-Blue will
       open a window containing seven checkmark gadgets.  All are
       initially unchecked, so that no special attributes are set, and
       those which you cannot alter are ghosted.  You may close this
       window after you have the attribute settings correct, or leave it
       open until done writing the message, in which case it will close
       along with the main message writing window.  The window will also
       close if you move the message to a non-netmail area.

       Each checkmark gadget has a numeral for a keyboard shortcut, from
       1 to 7, which will toggle the attribute on or off.  The seven
       gadgets are:

        - #1 is "Hold".  This attribute causes the netmail message to sit
            and wait on the BBS until the sysop personally clears it to
            be sent out on the network, or the receiving system calls and
            picks it up.  Some sysops force all messages to be held this
            way, to prevent people from sending netmail that ends up
            costing them too much money on their phone bills.

        - #2 is "Kill", short for "kill after sending".  This attribute
            makes the message be automatically deleted after it has been
            sent out to the other system.  If you use this, keep in mind
            that the reliability of netmail arriving at its destination
            may be doubtful in some networks.

        - #3 is "F'Req", which stands for "file request".  With this
            attribute, the subject line of the message has a special
            meaning: it is the name of a file or files on the other
            system.  This message will, if all parties involved
            cooperate, cause the other system to transmit the named
            file(s) through the network back to your BBS.  If you are not
            the sysop, be sure your sysop is prepared to deal with files
            arriving that way, and willing to hand the file over to you
            when it arrives, before using this option.

        - #4 is "F'Att", which stands for "file attached".  This causes a
            file on the local BBS to be sent to the other system along
            with this message.  The file must already be on the BBS and
            ready to send before this option will work, and this option
            is normally usable only by sysops.

        - #5 is "Direct".  Normally (nowadays) netmail messages are sent
            from one system to another similarly to the way public echo
            mail is sent: in hops that may go through half a dozen other
            systems before reaching the destination.  If "Direct" is
            specified, the mail processor will attempt to connect


                                    - 127 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.7


            straight to the receiving system, eliminating the steps in
            between, saving time (possibly days), and often causing much
            higher phone charges.  "Direct" may be useful for making sure
            that a message really does get through to its destination if
            that is normally questionable, and you can afford the cost.

        - #6 is "Crash".  Originally this was like "Direct" except that
            it not only dials directly to the receiving system, it also
            (at least typically) does not wait until the phone rates are
            cheap to do so.  If "Crash" was used during business hours, it
            could be quite a bit more expensive than "Direct".  But
            nowadays the trend is toward treating the "Crash" flag in a
            different way, causing the mail to be sent as soon as it is
            reasonably affordable, e.g. after business hours.  And with
            some mailers, it may not even be sent directly, though the
            number of intermediate hops should still be minimal.

        - #7 is "Immediate", which means that the message should be
            transmitted right away regardless of cost.  Some mail
            software does not recognize this, but when it is recognized,
            it tells the mailer to drop everything to send this one
            message right away.

       Needless to say, most sysops do not allow their callers to freely
       use relatively expensive flags like "Crash" and "Immediate".
       "F'Att" is rarely used except by sysops, or point system users --
       ordinary BBS callers usually would not be able to manage this at
       all except in close cooperation with the sysop.  "F'Req" is also
       usually restricted, since if a large file is transferred this can
       be even more expensive than crash messages.

       If you have closed this window and wish to reopen it, you can do
       so by moving the message to a non-netmail area and then back into
       netmail.  You can do this either by selecting from the areas list
       window or clicking the netmail button.  Two clicks will do it if
       there is only one netmail area.


          10.8) Writing Internet messages

       To write an Internet email message, you use the gadget labeled
       "@-email", just to the left of the "Netmail" button.  Its keyboard
       shortcut is the @ sign (you have to hold the shift key down).  It
       is similar to sending Fido netmail in many ways, but there are
       some significant differences.  One is that you can move a message
       into netmail just by selecting a netmail area in the list window
       by clicking the "Area:" button, but the email features are not
       activated by just putting the message in the right area; you must
       use the "@-email" gadget.  Another difference is that more than
       one Fido-type netmail area may exist, but Q-Blue assumes there is
       only a single Internet email area.  If a BBS does not have an
       email area set up, the "@-email" gadget is ghosted.  The "Write



                                    - 128 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.8


       new email" menu command, as mentioned above, is a shortcut for
       opening the window and then clicking this gadget.

       Version 3 Blue Wave mail has direct support for Internet email,
       allowing destination addresses up to 99 characters long.  But most
       BBSes do not have this direct support set up.  With QWK mail or
       version 2 Blue Wave mail, and possibly even some version 3 Blue
       Wave BBSes, a "kluge" must be used to tell the system what address
       the email is to be sent to.  Q-Blue will automatically use the
       correct kluge if you put the correct settings for the BBS into the
       BBS Local setup window's "Mail" sub-window, which is explained in
       section 6.10.  The most common kluge method allows addresses up to
       75 characters long.  The method used by Searchlight BBS is limited
       to 66 characters, and some PCBoard BBSes may support 120 character
       addresses.  If one of these two proprietary methods needs to be
       used, the BBS Local setup must be configured accordingly.

       When the "@-email" gadget is used, the caption of the message
       composing window has "[Internet]" appended to it.  Unless the
       "To:" string gadget already contains a valid internet address
       (which generally consists of a series of words separated by
       periods with an at-sign somewhere in the middle, and no spaces),
       then the name there is removed.  If you are replying to a message
       that has an originating email address in its header (the lines
       shown in cyan color at the top of the message body), then that
       address will be inserted into the "To:" string.  If there is a
       subject line in the message's header, the contents of the "Subj.:"
       gadget may also be changed.  If you are replying to a message in
       the email area with a valid originating address, your reply is
       email by default without having to click "@-email".

       One way that email is often sent is through a FidoNet "gateway".
       In this case, the message is actually sent as netmail to a machine
       on FidoNet which translates it into email form.  The BBS Local
       setup window allows you to specify the FidoNet address of the
       gateway.  When email is configured this way, using the "@-email"
       gadget causes the netmail address string gadget to be enabled, and
       the gate address specified in the BBS Local setup is copied into
       it.  The netmail attributes window may also open.  Since this is
       both a netmail message and an Internet message, you can set the
       various netmail options, including a different gate address,
       though the "To:" gadget still holds an Internet address.  If the
       gateway address field in the BBS Local setup window is blank, you
       must manually supply the Fido address each time you send email.
       This applies only to Blue Wave mail; with QWK, the BBS Local
       gateway address field must contain an address or Q-Blue will
       assume that email is not gated.

       Clicking on "@-email" again turns the message back into non-email
       form.  The "To:" gadget gets its previous contents restored, and
       so does the netmail address gadget, if it was in use.




                                    - 129 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.8


       With version 3 Blue Wave mail packets, some areas are marked as
       Usenet newsgroups.  As of this writing, many BBSes have newsgroup
       areas, but are not able to distinguish them from other kinds of
       areas.  Q-Blue treats these mostly like Fido-style echo areas,
       except that if you make an Internet email reply, it will scan the
       message for appropriate header lines as if it were an Internet
       message.  True newsgroup areas differ from other areas in two
       ways: messages are not addressed to any individual recipient -- in
       effect, every message is to "All" -- and it is possible for a
       single message to be present in more than one newsgroup at a time.
       Q-Blue has support for posting to multiple newsgroups which is
       rudimentary but usable:  the "To:" string contains a list of the
       newsgroups that the message is to be posted in, separated by
       commas.  The gadget is labeled "NGrps:" instead of "To:" in this
       case.  This list of names can be up to 400 characters long.  If
       the message being replied to specifies a set of newsgroups, Q-Blue
       will copy the list into this gadget, unless it's too long.  In an
       effort to reduce "spamming" (the annoying practice of posting a
       message to far more newsgroups than it belongs in), Q-Blue will
       ignore entirely any newsgroup list over 400 characters.  If the
       gadget is empty, the message will be posted into the single
       newsgroup area that is shown next to the "Area:" gadget.


          10.9) Taglines

       Over the last decade, a custom has grown up among many people who
       post messages on BBS systems.  The custom is to add a little extra
       one-line joke or saying to the end of each message.  These little
       additions are called "taglines".

       Q-Blue's tagline feature is usually accessed from the message
       writing window.  There is a command button labeled "Tagline" at
       the bottom, between the "Edit" and "Cancel" gadgets.  Clicking it
       or pressing T causes the taglines window to open.  It is also
       possible to cause this window to open automatically, with settings
       in the Replying setup window, as described in section 6.7.  The
       first time you open it, Q-Blue will load your taglines file.  The
       window can also be opened with the "Maintain taglines" menu
       command, which also uses T as its key shortcut, when you are not
       writing a message.

       The pathname of the file it automatically loads is specified in a
       string gadget in the Replying setup window, or can be overridden
       for a single BBS with an equivalent string gadget in the BBS Local
       setup window.  If none is specified or it cannot be read, then the
       ASL file requester opens so you can select a file to load.  The
       file you select is a plain text file, with one tagline on each
       line.  It may also contain blank lines, and comment lines which
       begin with a ";" (semicolon) character.  An example file called
       "Taglines" is included with Q-Blue.  It contains several hundred
       taglines.  Some people collect thousands.  The window can list up
       to 32000 taglines, but watch out if your tagline file grows very


                                    - 130 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.9


       large, because Q-Blue holds the entire file in memory.  If you
       have thousands of taglines, it may be best to divide them into
       several files.  The next time you use the window it opens
       instantly.

       The taglines window is simply a scrolling list window with one
       valid tagline on each line.  Blank lines, comment lines (starting
       with a semicolon), and lines that are too long to use, are not
       shown in the list.  The current selection (the highlighted line)
       is set randomly when the window opens, except when the "Default
       tagline" setting is "Sequence", in which case it shows the tagline
       after the one last used.  There is a string gadget at the bottom
       of the window, which holds a copy of the currently selected line.
       It is automatically updated as you select different lines.

       When the default tagline setting is "Sequence", each time a
       tagline is used, Q-Blue will set the filenote of the currently
       loaded tagline file to a number indicating which one was last
       used.  This way, it knows where to resume the sequence when you
       run it again.  If you manually select a different tagline for any
       message, the sequence will then continue from that point.  There
       is an exception: if you write a new tagline in the string gadget,
       or the tagline you pick is any that was added to the end of the
       list after the file was loaded, the sequence position will be left
       unchanged.  The number saved in the filenote may be slightly
       inaccurate if you delete taglines from the list, though often it
       can compensate.  If you load from one file and then save the list
       to a different file, the second gets filenoted from then on.

       You can edit that string gadget to create a new tagline.  When you
       press return on a new or modified line in the string gadget, it is
       added to the list in the window at the end, becoming the new
       current selection.  If the new line is partly the same as the
       original that you edited, a requester asks you if you want to
       delete the old version.  Note that if you have used a search on
       the tagline window, creating a new tagline with the string gadget
       will force the window to be restored to its unsearched condition,
       unless the line you enter matches one already displayed.
       Unfortunately, it is not possible at present to insert new
       taglines into the middle of the list; they always appear at the
       end.  Any major editing of the tagline file is best done with a
       text editor.

       Once you select a tagline for a message you are writing, it will
       be visible at the bottom of that message after it has been saved.
       But when you edit the message, the tagline will not appear in the
       text being edited.  In this it differs from the "Signature" text
       that you can specify in the Replying setup window, which does get
       loaded into the editor as part of your message.

       If you are reading a Blue Wave packet, certain message areas may
       forbid taglines.  When you post a message in such an area, Q-Blue
       will not allow a tagline to be added, and if you move a message


                                    - 131 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.9


       with a tagline into such an area, it will be removed.  As of this
       writing, most BBSes do not have any areas that forbid tagines.

       Any time a tagline file is unloaded, either when it's time to load
       a different one or when you exit Q-Blue, you may be prompted with
       a reminder that any changes to your current tagline list have not
       been saved.  This will happen if you delete any taglines, or add
       any new ones other than lines that you type in just to attach to
       the current reply.  The requester has the options "Save", which
       brings up an ASL requester to select where to save them; "Discard",
       which ignores the changes; and "Cancel", which aborts whatever
       action would have unloaded the old tagline file.  Remember: if you
       add a tagline for use on the current message you are writing,
       Q-Blue will not remind you to save the tagline list (unless there
       are other changes also), so if you want such a tagline to be a
       permanent addition, save it manually (see next section).


           10.10) Tagline window options

       There are six gadget options at the bottom of the screen when
       the tagline list window is open.  Besides the "Search" option that
       is available in every list window, the options are "Delete",
       "Random", "None", "Load", and "saVe".

       "Delete" removes the currently selected tagline from the list,
       after asking you with a requester if you're sure.  Either the Del
       key or the letter D works as a shortcut for it.  "Random" tells it
       to arbitrarily select a different line.  Use this when you don't
       like the one selected but don't have a strong preference for
       another line to use.  The selection is not quite random: it avoids
       reselecting lines you have already seen (except when the list is
       reduced by a word search).  Use "Search" if you want to locate a
       particular line, or lines containing particular words -- this
       makes it easy to find those relevant to a particular topic.
       Sections 9.5 and 9.6 describe how to use the search window.

       "None" tells it that this message should have no tagline.  It
       closes the window, and erases any tagline the message already had.
       This is different from simply canceling the window with the close
       gadget or Esc key, which leaves intact any previously selected
       tagline.  Another way to leave your message with no tagline is to
       activate the string gadget, erase its contents, and then press
       return.

       "Load" brings up the ASL file requester so you can select a new
       tagline file.  Your selection is copied into the "File containing
       taglines" string gadget in the BBS Local setup window (unless you
       just reload the same file already loaded), so if you use that
       window's "Save" gadget, the new choice becomes permanent for this
       BBS.  The global default setting is not changed.  This means that
       when you close the packet and open another one, Q-Blue will revert



                                    - 132 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.9


       to using the original default tagline file (if any); the new
       selection you've made only lasts until the packet is closed.

       The "saVe" gadget differs from most other Q-Blue command buttons
       in that its key shortcut is not its first letter.  The shortcut is
       V, because S is used for search.  It brings up the ASL file
       requester and lets you save a copy of the taglines file.  Any new
       taglines that you have added to the end of it are included, and
       any that you deleted will be left out.  All comments and other
       lines not shown in the taglines window will be preserved when the
       new taglines file is written out.  The default place to save it is
       into the same file it was loaded from.  Just as with the "Load"
       option, if you specify a new filename it will be copied into the
       BBS Local setup window's "File containing taglines" gadget.

       Offline readers with fancy tagline support generally include a
       feature for "stealing" taglines from messages you are reading.
       Q-Blue does not have a function specifically for this purpose, but
       it has something almost as good: you can paste any text from the
       system clipboard into the tagline window.  That window's string
       gadget, like all string gadgets in Q-Blue (see section 1.3)
       responds to the keystroke right-Amiga-V by replacing its contents
       with whatever text is in the clipboard, if there is any.  And when
       the tagline window is open, this works even when the string gadget
       is not active: a press of right-Amiga-V activates the gadget and
       pastes from the clipboard into it.  Combined with the ability to
       clip text from messages with the mouse (described in section 9.2),
       this makes tagline stealing fairly easy.  Just drag the mouse over
       the tagline you want to steal (even if it's a phrase in the middle
       of a message instead of an actual tagline), open the taglines
       window (use the "Maintain taglines" command if you are not
       currently writing a message), and press right-Amiga-V.  You can
       then edit the result in the window's string gadget if desired.


           10.11) Attached files

       On some BBSes, occasionally you may receive a message (usually
       private) with a file "attached" to it.  This is indicated in
       Q-Blue by a highlighted line at the top of the message text that
       gives the name of the file, like this:

            * Attached file: something.zip  (use Alt-T to save)

       When you get a message with such a notation on it, the file named
       in this line is included in your mail packet, and you can save a
       permanent copy of it using the Alt-T command, as described in
       section 9.4.  When you write a reply or a new message, you can
       also add an attached file of your own, which someone who reads
       your message can save a copy of.  This is done with the "FAttach"
       button in the message writing window.




                                    - 133 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.9


       Many BBSes do not support attaching files to messages.  Of those
       that do, many restrict which areas it is allowed in.  Private mail
       is the most common place where file attachment is allowed.  Most
       Blue Wave doors do not include any support for file attachment,
       and in these cases the "FAttach" button will be ghosted and the
       feature will be unavailable.  In the rather unlikely event that
       you find a Blue Wave door that does support it, the "FAttach"
       button will be available whenever you select a message area that
       allows attachments.  With QWK packets, the button is always
       available, but if the BBS does not support attachments or does not
       allow them in the area where your message is posted, whatever file
       you include in your upload will be ignored.

       Using the "FAttach" button (key shortcut F) opens a window with
       several gadgets for specifying the attachment.  First is a button
       labeled "File:" next to a string gadget.  This is where you select
       which file to attach.  You can type the pathname into the string
       gadget, or press the "File:" button to bring up an ASL file
       requester.  If the message has no attachment yet, the ASL
       requester opens automatically when this window opens.

       Below these is a second, shorter, string gadget labeled "Name to
       send as:".  This specifies what name the file should appear to
       have when the recipient sees it.  It may be completely different
       from the original name it has on your computer.  By default, the
       name is taken from the file you select; whenever you change the
       file that is selected in the upper string gadget, the lower one is
       updated with the equivalent name.  You can leave this name in
       place, or modify it.

       In most cases, the name that the file is sent as must adhere to
       MS-DOS filename restrictions: no more than eight characters, a
       dot, and a three character extension.  If you select a file with a
       name that doesn't fit this restriction, Q-Blue will truncate it to
       fit this format when it turns the local pathname above into the
       "equivalent" name below.  It will also reject characters that
       MS-DOS doesn't accept in filenames, such as spaces, quote marks,
       square brackets, and so on.

       At the bottom of the window is a checkmark gadget labeled "Allow
       names exceeding MS-DOS 8.3 limits".  When this is checked, Q-Blue
       will not truncate long names to 8.3 format, or filter out quotes
       and square brackets.  It will still object to characters such as
       spaces or backslashes, which may confuse the receiving system even
       if it is not as limited as most BBSes.  This checkmark is ghosted
       when you are writing Blue Wave replies; MS-DOS restrictions are
       always enforced in this case.  And take note: because Blue Wave
       support is so scanty in this area, the use of attached files in
       Blue Wave is an almost completely untested feature of Q-Blue.

       There are two buttons at the lower right of this window: one
       labeled "Clear", and one labeled "Okay".  "Clear" empties both of
       the string gadgets.  Clicking "Okay" or pressing return closes the


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    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 10.9


       window.  The attachment is added to the reply when you click
       "Save" in the message writing window.  If you clear the string
       gadgets and then press "Okay", any existing attachment the message
       had will be removed.

       There may be an error message when you select "Okay".  This can
       happen if the "Name to send as" gadget is empty or in some way
       invalid, or if the file you selected can't be found.

       If you reload a reply packet that includes attached files, and
       re-edit a message with an attachment, Q-Blue does not know what
       file you got the attachment from.  In this case, the upper string
       gadget and the "File:" button are ghosted.  If you change the
       "Name to send as" gadget, Q-Blue keeps the same file attached but
       changes its name.  To remove it and attach a different file
       instead, use the "Clear" button.  This un-ghosts the upper gadgets
       and lets you select a new file (or leave the message with no
       attachment).

       If you move a message with an attachment to another area, and the
       other area does not support attachments, Q-Blue will put up a
       requester asking whether you want to cancel the move, pick a
       different area, or try leaving the message in the new area even
       though the BBS is expected to reject the attachment.

       If you delete a message with an attachment, the attached file is
       not deleted.  You can undelete the message and the attachment will
       still be there.  However, the attached file will be left out of
       the upload archive when you use the "Pack replies" command.
       (Q-Blue temporarily hides these attachments of deleted messages in
       the parent of the replies directory before running the compressor
       program.)  Like the deleted message itself, it is not lost until
       you close the mail packet.




       11) COMPLETING THE UPLOAD PACKET

           11.1) File download requests

       Replies are not the only thing that Q-Blue lets you create in
       response to a mail packet.  With at least some types of mail
       bundling software, you can also include other material in the
       upload packet.  Q-Blue lets you specify extra information that
       instructs the mail door to, for instance, change the list of areas
       that it should download mail from.

       BBSes don't just offer messages to read, of course.  They also
       offer files you can download.  And many BBSes provide a service of
       including, in your mail packets, a list of all new files that have
       become available for download since the previous packet.  With
       some BBSes, Q-Blue lets you include in your reply upload a list of


                                    - 135 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.1


       which files you want to download, so you don't have to note down
       the names and remember later, while calling the BBS, to go to the
       files section and get them.

       The "Request D/L" option (keyboard shortcut Alt-R) allows you to
       specify up to ten files that you want to download.  This is useful
       if you are reading a list of new files, or if a message you read
       mentions the name of a file you want to have a copy of.  When you
       use this feature, the mail door will prompt you to receive these
       files immediately after you upload your replies, so you don't have
       to go to the BBS's file area and tell it the names of the files
       manually.  At present Q-Blue only supports this for Blue Wave
       mail, because QWK methods for doing this are inconsistent at best,
       and in most cases nonexistent.

       When "Request D/L" is selected, a small window titled "File
       download requests" will open, containing ten short string gadgets.
       Simply type the names of the desired files into these string
       gadgets and close the window.  A small extra file will be written
       into your replies directory, which will be included in the packet
       you upload to the BBS.  In a few cases, some of the ten gadgets
       may be ghosted; this means that the sysop of the BBS has set a
       limit lower than ten on the number of files you can request for
       download.  These filenames are limited to 12 characters, because
       the current Blue Wave format unfortunately assumes that only
       MS-DOS compatible filenames are used.  If the BBS supports longer
       filenames, you'll just have to download such files manually for
       the time being.

       When you are done, just close the window.  There is no "Cancel"
       option -- if you wish to undo something you have to erase or edit
       the string gadget manually.  As with other Q-Blue string gadgets,
       you can paste from the clipboard into a gadget by pressing right-
       Amiga-V while it is active.  This can be useful if a bulletin
       listing newly downloadable files is on the screen; use the mouse
       to drag-select the name of a file, and paste it into a string
       gadget in the "File download requests" window.

       Naturally, the possibility exists that the BBS may fail to send
       you the files.  This might happen if, for instance, the BBS
       insists that you have to upload some files first in order to gain
       downloading privileges.


           11.2) Blue Wave mail door option flags

       The Blue Wave mail format allows you to control most of the
       options of the mail door while you are reading messages in Q-Blue.
       This is done with the "Mail door" option in the "Replies" menu, or
       with the key shortcut Alt-M.  This command opens a window titled
       "Blue Wave mail door configuration", which in turn allows you to
       open two more windows controlling further aspects of the mail



                                    - 136 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.2


       door's behavior, one of which is used for selecting which message
       areas you want to read.

       When the "Mail door" option is used while reading a QWK mail
       packet, it opens that area selection window only, because the only
       mail door configuration option that Q-Blue supports with QWK mail
       is the ability to add and drop message areas.  See the next two
       sections for a description of how to use that window.

       The Blue Wave format's method of adjusting mail door settings
       offline has changed with recent mail door releases.  Some
       configuration options will only be available with version 3 Blue
       Wave packets.  With older version 2 mail packets, there are four
       checkmark gadgets at the top of the window, four string gadgets,
       one cycle gadget, and three command buttons.  With a version 3
       mail packet, there are five additional checkmarks, one numeric
       string gadget, and one additional cycle gadget.

       The checkmark gadgets at the top of the window each control a door
       option that can be turned on or off.  They are:

        - "Hotkey menu commands", keyboard shortcut H.  When this is
            checked, the mail door will respond immediately to any
            command letter you type into it.  When it's not checked, you
            have to press return for a command to be executed.

        - "Expert (brief) menus", keyboard shortcut E.  When checked, the
            command menus displayed by the door consist of a simple one-
            line list of which letters it recognizes.  Otherwise it
            displays a menu screen with a short summary of each command.

        - "Color graphics in menus", keyboard shortcut C.  When checked,
            the door will use ANSI sequences in the text it displays in
            order to create multicolored pictures on your terminal's
            display, if your terminal knows how to display ANSI color.
            Turning this off causes its output to be monochromatic,
            containing no ANSI sequences.  In theory it's also supposed to
            make it use only basic ASCII characters with no special IBM
            characters, but often the doors use these characters anyway.

        - "Include my replies", keyboard shortcut I.  When checked, any
            replies you upload from Q-Blue will be included with the new
            messages next time you download more mail.  Otherwise, your
            replies will be left out.

        - "Filter out Fido control lines", keyboard shortcut F.  This one
            is present with version 3 only.  If unchecked, the door will
            include special kluge lines used by Fido-compatible networks
            in each echomail message.  Each such line is preceded by a
            Ctrl-A character, and shows as purple when displayed by
            Q-Blue.  Some mail doors ignore your preferred setting of
            this option.  And the "MSGID:" kluge line generally will not
            be filtered out even if it is checked.


                                    - 137 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.2


        - "Numeric file extensions", keyboard shortcut N.  This is also
            present with version 3 only.  Normally, Blue Wave mail doors
            create packets with names like WHATEVER.MO1, in which the
            extension is based on the day of the week.  If this is
            checked, the packets will have extensions consisting of
            digits only, such as WHATEVER.047.

       Each of these checkmark options, like all of the other gadgets, is
       originally set to display how the mail door was configured at the
       time of the mail download.  Or, if you had previously changed some
       of the settings, and then reopened the same mail packet and
       reloaded the unfinished replies, the changes you made then will be
       displayed when the window is opened.  With version 3 mail packets,
       the changes are stored in a file with the extension ".OLC" in your
       replies directory, which gets included in your upload packet.
       With version 2 packets, a file with the extension ".PDQ" is used.


           11.3) More Blue Wave mail door configuration choices

       With version 3 packets, immediately below the six checkmarks are
       a numeric string gadget labeled "Max pkt size (K)" and a cycle
       gadget labeled "List of new files".  The former tells the mail
       door that it should not create mail packets larger than a given
       size, for instance 200K bytes if you put "200" into this gadget.
       If the gadget is left blank or contains "0", there is no limit.
       At least some Blue Wave doors will ignore this setting, and may
       even display random incorrect values in it.  If this happens,
       there is nothing to do but ignore it.

       The "List of new files" cycle gadget has three choices: "None",
       "Text", and "ANSI".  The latter two indicate that each mail packet
       should include a list of new files available for download on the
       BBS.  Select "None" if you don't want such a list.  If "ANSI" is
       selected, the list will be written with ANSI color codes in the
       text.  Since these do not show in current versions of Q-Blue, you
       might as well just select "Text".

       Below these two, or below the first four checkmark gadgets with a
       version 2 packet, are a string gadget and a cycle gadget.  They
       are used to control the Blue Wave password security feature.  If
       you desire, the Blue Wave door can demand that you give a password
       before it lets you download mail, or it can make Q-Blue demand the
       password before you can open the packet, or both.  The string
       gadget labeled "Password" contains the word that you will need to
       type in when it asks.  The cycle gadget labeled "When" tells when
       you will be asked.  If it says "Never", the password is ignored.
       If it says "Door", the mail door will require the password before
       letting you download your next batch of mail.  "Reader" means that
       Q-Blue will ask for the password when you open the packet.  "Both"
       means you will be asked at both of those times.  The key shortcut
       for cycling this gadget is W.  Both of these gadgets are set to
       display the password options, if any, that the door is currently


                                    - 138 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.3


       using.  If you change them, then after you upload replies the door
       will use the new settings.

       Below the password string gadget are three string gadgets labeled
       "Macro #1", "Macro #2", and "Macro #3".  These gadgets are used to
       contain sequences of Blue Wave "bundling commands".  These are the
       cryptic commands that you can type into a Blue Wave door after it
       shows you what messages can be downloaded in what areas.  The
       macros can be used to store a complex sequence that you use often.

       With version 3 mail packets, each macro string gadget has a
       checkmark to its right.  They are labeled "#1 auto", "#2 auto",
       and "#3 auto", and their keyboard shortcuts are 1, 2, and 3.  If
       any of these is checked, the macro string to its left will be
       automatically executed whenever a mail packet is prepared for you.

       The uppermost of the three command buttons in the lower right
       corner of the window is labeled "Key/Fil", shortcut K.  It opens a
       second window labeled "Keywords and filters used by Blue Wave mail
       door", which can be used simultaneously with the main mail door
       window.  Using the gadget again, or closing the main window, will
       close that window too.  It contains twenty string gadgets, in two
       groups of ten.  On the left is a group labeled "Keywords to look
       for:" and on the right are ten labeled "Filter words to avoid:".
       When the Blue Wave door searches for new messages to download, it
       checks the From, To, and Subject heading lines of each message to
       see if any of the keywords or filter words can be found in them.
       The "K" bundling command can be used to tell the door that in one
       area, or all areas, only messages that contain keywords (plus
       messages addressed to you) should be downloaded.  The "F" bundling
       command tells it to download only messages that do not contain any
       of the filter words.  You can set any of these gadgets to contain
       the words, names, or short phrases that the door should check for.

       The middle command button is "Areas", shortcut A.  It opens the
       window that lets you select message areas to download, which is
       described in sections 11.4 and 11.5.  The gadgets in the main mail
       door window, and the keywords and filters window if it is open,
       will be ghosted while the area selection window is open.  If you
       click the close gadget of the main mail door window, the area
       selection window will also close, as will the keyword window.

       The final button is "Reset", shortcut R.  This lets you undo any
       changes you have made to the door's option settings, or keywords
       and filters.  It does not affect changes made in the areas
       selection window -- that has its own separate "Reset" option.  If
       any changes have been made, it will put up a requester asking if
       you are sure you want to undo changes, with "Yes" and "Cancel"
       options.  If you select "Yes", then all of the settings in this
       window, and the keywords and filters, will be changed back to the
       settings that the mail door is already using.  If you use "Reset"
       and there are no areas marked ADD or DROP in the area selection



                                    - 139 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.3


       window, the ".OLC" or ".PDQ" file in the replies directory will be
       deleted.  If there are no changes to undo, the gadget is ghosted.


           11.4) Mail door message area selection

       Sometimes, when you are reading mail, you decide that some message
       area is boring and you don't want the mail door to download its
       messages to you any more.  Or you see an area that intrigues you,
       and you want to tell the mail door to send you the messages in it.
       The window for controlling this function in Q-Blue works somewhat
       differently for QWK mail and Blue Wave mail.  When reading a QWK
       mail packet, this window is accessed by using the "Mail door"
       option of the "Replies" menu, shortcut Alt-M.  With Blue Wave
       mail, the "Mail door" option opens a window which contains an
       "Areas" gadget, which in turn opens this window when clicked.  The
       window is titled "Select areas to add or drop from downloads", and
       in form it is very much like the list window used to select what
       area to put a reply you are writing into (see section 10.4), but
       its usage is different, with some unique quirks.

       The areas available are listed in a scrollable window like others
       in Q-Blue, one on each line.  Each area's number and name(s) are
       shown, and there may be characters indicating which areas are read
       only, netmail, or echoed, exactly as in the window for selecting
       an area for a message you write.  The one addition is a column
       along the left edge, labeled "Read?" at the top.  It shows "Yes"
       for each area the door is currently set to download messages from,
       and "no" for each area the door is ignoring... except with QWK
       mail, where any area that does not have messages in it in this
       packet is labeled "?" because Q-Blue does not know whether you are
       downloading it or not.  With version 3 Blue Wave mail, it may also
       say "Pers" or "PAll" if you have set the area to download only
       personal mail, or only personal messages plus those addressed to
       "All".  Any changed settings you specify will be shown in bright
       colors -- white on red in the default eight color palette.  See
       section 7.1 for general instructions on using scrolling list
       windows.

       Any changes you specify take effect once you upload your replies
       to the mail door.  In the case of QWK mail, it works by writing
       empty messages addressed to a special name used by the mail door.
       A file in the download packet named "DOOR.ID" tells it what name
       to use.  If that file is not present, A requester will warn you
       that the feature may not work.  In some cases it works even when
       "DOOR.ID" is not present... and occasionally, it fails even if one
       is present.  For instance, the built-in QWK feature in Maximus
       BBS software makes the mistake of including a "DOOR.ID" even
       though the feature of adding and dropping areas is actually not
       supported at all.  When no "DOOR.ID" file is present, any ADD or
       DROP messages you create will be addressed to "QMAIL", a name many
       (but not all) mail doors will respond to.



                                    - 140 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.4


       With Blue Wave mail, a special file with the BBS's packet name
       followed by the extension ".OLC" or ".PDQ" is created, which
       specifies both the door options (see section 11.2 and 11.3) and,
       if any areas were added or dropped, the complete list of which
       areas should be downloaded.  This means that if you download a
       packet and then change some of the door's settings while still
       online, and then upload replies containing a ".PDQ" file, the
       changes you made online will be forgotten, replaced entirely by
       those specified in Q-Blue.

       To drop a message area, you simply click the gadget labeled "Drop"
       or press D.  This gadget can also be used to cancel any add or
       drop setting you have previously marked an area with.  Adding a
       message area is more complex, because there are further options
       available with many mail doors.  The gadget labeled "Add...", key
       shortcut A, may open a small requester window with further
       options.  With version 2 Blue Wave mail, it simply marks the area
       as added.  With version 3 Blue Wave mail, it opens a small window
       containing three "radio buttons", each representing one possible
       way to read messages in the area.  The three choices are "All
       messages", "Only personal msgs", and "Personal + to All".  The key
       shortcuts are A, O, and P.  The first button, which is activated
       by default, causes all new messages in the area to be downloaded
       with each packet.  The second causes all messages not addressed to
       you personally to be ignored.  The third includes those personal
       messages, plus messages addressed to "All".  The area will then be
       marked "Add" or "Pers" or "PAll" in the list window.  No method is
       provided for specifying how many old messages to download in the
       new area; you have to use "bundling commands" at download time if
       you want to control this.

       With QWK mail, the little requester is completely different.  It
       includes two checkmarks and a string gadget.  The first checkmark
       is labeled "ADD: read this area" and the second, which may be
       disabled with some mail doors, is labeled "RESET: ignore old
       msgs".  Their key shortcuts are A and R.  By default, the first is
       checked.  It indicates that an ADD command should be sent to the
       mail door, telling it to start downloading mail from this area.
       The second indicates that a RESET command should be sent, telling
       it to download new mail only; otherwise the default is usually to
       download every available old message.  Both commands can be sent
       together by checking both.  The string gadget allows extra text to
       be added to these commands.  Different QWK mail doors vary in what
       syntax they support for extra information, if any.  Consult the
       documentation of the QWK door you are using.  In the simplest
       case, when you just want to start reading an area, you probably
       just want to set both checkmarks and leave the string blank, but
       if your door supports fancier commands, you can make use of them.

       Some mail doors support commands to tell it how many old messages
       to download, with a syntax such as "RESET HIGH-20" or "ADD -50".
       By typing the extra information into the string gadget, it can be
       appended to whichever command you issue.  If both ADD and RESET


                                    - 141 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.4


       are checked, the extra text will be appended to the RESET command.
       For example, the first example might be accomplished by checking
       RESET and entering "HIGH-20" in the string gadget.  ADD would be
       checked if this is an area you have not previously been reading;
       if you just want to "rewind" an area you are already reading, it
       should be unchecked.  The second example would be accomplished by
       checking ADD but not RESET, and putting "-50" in the string
       gadget.  Some doors allow you to specify that only personal
       messages should be downloaded; the most common way to do this is
       to check the ADD box and put "YOURS" in the string gadget.  Do not
       check RESET, as a rule; "RESET YOURS" won't work.  Some doors also
       support downloading personal mail plus mail to "All"; putting "YA"
       instead of "YOURS" in the string gadget is the most common form
       that is supported for this purpose.

       If you check neither the ADD nor the RESET gadget, the string
       gadget can be used to specify a command having nothing to do with
       either of these.  For instance, some mail doors use a command such
       as "YOUR" or "ADDY" instead of "ADD YOURS" to specify that
       personal mail only should be downloaded; in this case you should
       put the required word in the string gadget and leave both the ADD
       and RESET gadgets unchecked.  If you leave both unchecked, the
       area will be marked "misc" instead of "Add" in the areas list.  If
       you check the RESET gadget, the area will be market "Rset", or
       "AddR" if ADD is also checked.

       Q-Blue does not support issuing more than one command per message
       area, except in the single case of combining "ADD" and "RESET",
       with extra arguments on the latter.  But it is possible to do QWK
       configuration "by hand", by writing a message that is addressed to
       the name of the mail door.  Consult the documentation of the
       particular mail door you are using for how to do this, and what
       options are accepted.  Q-Blue's "BBS Information" requester
       (section 9.3) displays the mail door name that such control
       messages should be addressed to, if a "DOOR.ID" file was present.
       This name is what you put into the "To" field of your control
       messages.  When you combine handmade control messages with adding
       and dropping done with the list window, the manually created
       messages will be processed by the mail door after the automatic
       ones, so they have the final say.


           11.5) Extra options available when selecting mail areas

       A "Search" gadget, shortcut S, is available as it is with any
       other list window.  It works the same as elsewhere, temporarily
       removing from the list all areas that do not contain a given word
       or phrase somewhere in their descriptions (names or number).  See
       section 9.5 for details on word searches.  Pressing U, or opening
       the search window again and selecting "Nowhere", restores the full
       list as it was before searching.




                                    - 142 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.5


       A gadget labeled "Create", shortcut C, is also present in the case
       of QWK mail.  This works identically to the "Create" gadget
       available when selecting an area for a reply to be placed in: it
       adds a new area to the list.  Complete details are in section
       10.5, but briefly, it opens a small window which lets you enter
       the number of an area not included in the list, and a descriptive
       name for it.  The name can be anything you wish, but the number
       must match an area number used by the mail door, to do any good.
       This is often useful for cases in which the list of areas included
       with the mail packet leaves out those you aren't downloading.  To
       add such an area, you must know the right number for it, and enter
       that number in the small window that opens when you give the
       "Create" command, along with some name.  When you select "Okay",
       the list of areas will reopen, with the new area highlighted at
       the end.  You can then use "Add" to cause the mail door to begin
       downloading that area, if you used the correct number.  The new
       area will also appear in the reply area selection list.

       Another command button at the bottom of the screen is labeled
       "Reset", with R as its keyboard shortcut.  With this, you can undo
       all of the notations such as "Add", "Drop", "Rset", " Pers", and
       so on that you have put on various areas.  It will put up a
       requester asking you if you're sure you want to cancel all changes
       before it does so.  Answer "Yes" to go ahead and remove all of the
       changes, or "Cancel" to leave them as they are.  The gadget is
       ghosted if there are no ADD or DROP settings to undo.  Note that
       this "Reset" option has nothing to do with the option to send a
       "RESET" control message to the mail door; that is controlled from
       the small requester window that is opened with the "Add..." gadget.

       Since this list window is concerned only with changing the status
       of the separate areas listed, and it does not matter what line the
       highlight bar is on when you close the window, and it makes no
       difference whether you close the window with the return key or the
       Esc key or the closebox.  Normally the latter two would cancel any
       selection you made; in this case they simply close the window.
       Also, double-clicking on a line normally closes the window, but in
       this case double-clicks are ignored and have no effect.


           11.6) Packing your replies for uploading

       The "Pack replies" item (shortcut P) tells Q-Blue to compress the
       replies you have written into an upload packet, along with any
       download requests or mail door configuration changes you have
       made.  It is ghosted if you haven't written any replies or other
       upload material, or have made no changes since the last time you
       packed them.  When the "Pack replies" menu item is enabled, the
       gadget at the lower left corner of the screen is labeled "Pack"
       and performs the same function.  It is labeled "Close" otherwise,
       corresponding to the "Close packet" menu item.




                                    - 143 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.6


       Note: if replies were reloaded directly from the replies directory
       without decompressing an upload packet, it assumes that packing is
       needed and the gadget starts out as "Pack" instead of "Close".
       Packing may or may not actually be needed, depending on what your
       actions were when the packet was last open.

       The packing operation is basically similar to the unpacking
       described in section 8.3.  First, any file in the uploads
       directory that has the same name as the archive it is trying to
       produce is moved out of the way (see the next paragraph), then a
       console window is opened and the compression command is executed
       in it.  Q-Blue will keep the window open until you press return,
       if it senses any apparent errors.  If the compression fails, it's
       up to you to correct the problem and try again.  If the expected
       archive file does not exist or is empty after the command is run,
       it will tell you so with an error requester.

       When Q-Blue uses a compression command to make an archive, it
       first checks whether any file already exists with the name of the
       archive to be created.  If so, and it's non-empty, it renames the
       old one before creating the new one.  The new name is formed by
       appending ".old" to the name being created -- e.g. an existing
       file "WHATEVER.REP" will be renamed as "WHATEVER.REP.old" before
       it creates the new file.  If "WHATEVER.REP.old" already exists
       when the renaming is attempted, it will be deleted.  This means
       you will always have a backup copy of your previous reply packet
       when you pack your current replies.  It will do this backup
       operation only once while a given packet is open, so that if you
       use the "Pack" command several times, it will replace the new
       archive without disturbing the backup copy.  This way, a copy of
       whatever upload archive you had before opening this packet is
       preserved, in case (for instance) it turns out that you thought
       those replies had been uploaded, but actually they had not been.
       If the rename operation fails, it reports that and gives you an
       option to just delete the existing packet instead of keeping it
       as a backup.

       Once the replies are packed into an archive in your uploads
       directory, you then have to upload that file to the same mail door
       that you downloaded the original mail from.  The mail door will
       then post your replies into the correct message areas so that the
       people they are addressed to can read them, and process any
       download requests or configuration changes you've included.  You
       may do this the next time you call the BBS to download mail, or
       call it back immediately just to do the upload, if you want people
       to see your replies as soon as possible.


           11.7) Closing the mail packet; exiting the program

       After you have packed your replies and are done reading the mail,
       you may want to close the mail packet, so you can open another
       one.  To do this, use the "Close packet" item in the "Packet"


                                    - 144 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.7


       menu, or you can use the gadget in the lower left corner, which if
       you have no changed reply material needing to be packed, is
       labeled "Close" instead of "Pack".  The keyboard shortcut is C.

       If you close a packet while there are replies not packed yet, it
       will put up a requester asking whether they should be packed or
       not, with gadgets labeled "Pack", "Ignore", and "Cancel".  The
       default is to pack them.  "Ignore" tells it to close the packet
       without packing the replies, and "Cancel" tells it not to close
       the packet after all.  Note that if you pack them this way instead
       of giving a pack command manually, it may not give you a second
       chance if something goes wrong; it will go ahead and close the
       packet and discard all of your replies from its internal memory
       unless some obvious error takes place in the packing -- for
       instance, if the archive file it's trying to create does not
       appear at all.  If Q-Blue fails to notice a problem, it is
       possible to salvage the replies from your replies directory by
       archiving them by hand from a CLI... unless you have the "Empty
       reply dir at close" option activated, in which case there may be
       nothing you can do.

       If the "Option to delete packet" gadget in the Options setup
       window is checked, it will then put up a requester asking whether
       you want to delete the mail packet that you just read.  It will
       give the full pathname of the packet you opened, and tell you how
       many messages in it, out of how many total, have not been read.
       (Messages excluded by a twit list are not counted in the total
       that can be read.)  The default is "No", of course.  The requester
       will not appear if the packet file does not have the same size or
       datestamp that it had when you opened it; this is to protect
       against accidentally deleting a newer packet from the same BBS.
       And of course, the requester does not come up if you opened a BBS
       file with the "Open (no packet)" command, or if you opened mail
       that was already in the work directory, which Q-Blue did not
       unpack.  If you choose "Yes", the packet is deleted, and if it has
       a Workbench icon that is deleted also.

       If the packet is not deleted, then Q-Blue will attach a filenote
       to it indicating how many of the messages have been read, as a
       percentage of the total.  Such a filenote simply reads, for
       example, "23% read."  Under some conditions it will not add such a
       filenote: if the archive file is not the same size it was when you
       opened it (which will be the case if you download a new packet
       from the BBS with the same name), if it already has a filenote
       that was not written by Q-Blue, or if it has a Q-Blue filenote
       which gives a percentage larger than what would be written.  These
       filenotes are displayed in the files list window when you give the
       "Open" command, so you can see which packets have been partially
       or completely read already.

       The actual operation of closing the packet consists of deleting
       the files in the work directory, forgetting all of the messages in
       its memory, and returning the screen and gadgets and menus to the


                                    - 145 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 11.7


       empty state they were in when you first started it up.  Files in
       the replies directory are deleted if you have the "Empty reply dir
       at close" option set (section 6.3), but not if the replies have
       not been successfully packed.

       Q-Blue puts up the "busy" mouse pointer and ignores input for a
       few moments until this whole process is finished.  The gadgets at
       the bottom of the screen become "Open", "No pkt.", "Iconify", and
       "Quit", and the others are ghosted.

       If you use the "Quit" option while a packet is open (keyboard
       shortcut Q), it will put up a requester asking you whether you
       want to keep the packet's files in your work directory after
       quitting.  You can select "Empty" to have it delete the work files
       as is done whenever you close a packet, or "Leave" to have the
       work directory left intact.  If you choose "Leave", then the next
       time you run Q-Blue and select "Open", it will allow you to reload
       the mail in the work directory without having to decompress the
       packet it came from.  (Very few other offline readers let you do
       this.)  The default option in this requester is "Cancel", which
       tells it not to quit at all.  Before asking this, if you have
       replies that have not been packed, it will ask you whether you
       want to pack the replies (the default) or ignore them.  They will
       be left intact in your replies directory, where they can be
       reloaded if the next packet you open is from the same BBS, unless
       you have "Empty reply dir at close" set and you are emptying the
       work directory.  The "Leave" option causes "Empty reply dir at
       close" to be ignored.

       If you choose to empty the work directory rather than leaving
       files intact in it, and the "Option to delete packet" feature is
       activated in the Options setup window, then it will ask whether
       you want to delete the mail packet, just as it does with the
       "Close packet" command.

       If you select "Quit" when no packet is open (for instance, by
       using "Close" and "Quit" in succession), then Q-Blue will exit
       immediately, without any of those requesters.  But there is one
       more thing it checks before quitting.  That is whether you have
       made any modifications to your tagline file that might need to be
       saved.  As explained in section 10.9, a requester may appear at
       the time the tagline file is unloaded, allowing you to save any
       changes, or discard them (quit without saving) or cancel your Quit
       command.











                                    - 146 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 12.1


                               PART 4: CONCLUSION


       12) AUTHOR SUPPORT

           12.1) How to contact the author

       If you find any bugs, any suggestions for improving it, or any
       questions about the program, here are some ways you may be able to
       get ahold of me:

       Paper mail:  I have moved since the last Q-Blue release.  The
       address is now:  Paul Kienitz
                        3333 Harrison St. #2
                        Oakland, CA  94611
                        USA

       Internet:  Send mail to [e-mail].

       Fido netmail:  "Paul Kienitz" at 1:125/5109.

       Previous releases mentioned [e-mail],
       [e-mail], and [e-mail] as Internet
       addresses I could be reached at, and Fido addresses 1:125/28 and
       1:161/16 (formerly 1:125/16).  None of these sites exist any more.
       [e-mail] should still work for now.

       Fido echoes:  the OFFLINE echo is the only one I read any more.


           12.2) Acknowledgments

       I owe thanks to many people who helped make Q-Blue a success.  I
       can't name them all, but I think I can at least cover most of them
       by categories.  So, I express thanks to the following people:

       George Hatchew, who got the project started by giving me the
       chance to support his Blue Wave mail format on the Amiga before it
       was made public, just because I said I thought I could do it.

       Glenn Schworak, who responded to Q-Blue 0.7's worst bug by writing
       Q-Fix, a band-aid which let people use 0.7 with packets from
       Maximus and other slightly nonstandard mail systems which it
       couldn't read otherwise.  He saved many customers for me when I
       fell down on the job of getting a prompt update out.

       All of the people who beta tested various versions of Q-Blue and
       reported bugs, and everyone who sent me weird mail packets that
       made Q-Blue choke, and all those who sent me other problem reports
       or original suggestions for improvement.  I hesitate to name some
       and leave out others, but I should mention Anthony Yee, Robert
       Sudbury, Ed Langkamp, Tomaz Borstnar, Terry Dailey, Liz Driver,



                                    - 147 -
    Q-Blue 2.4 User Manual                                      section 12.2


       Christopher S. Smith, Tony Summerfelt, Marshall Freedland, and
       Petar "Norge" Cuckovic.

       Those who helped me work out the methods in sections 4.6, 4.7 and
       4.8 for supporting CygnusEd and TurboText, neither of which I had
       any documentation for, including Per Jacobsen and Ralph Torchia,
       but especially Jon Peterson who loaned me two user manuals.

       Jonathan Forbes for writing LX, and Mike "C-man" Austin for
       writing clones of the RequestFile and RequestChoice commands, all
       of which are used in the "Install" script.  (The IsADir and XSkip
       commands used in installation are my own, as is the Future command
       in the same directory -- source files are available on request.
       XSkip is simply a clone of the standard Skip command which does
       not become buggy when the script has very long lines in it.)

       Goran Paulin, my registration agent in Eastern Europe, who has
       made it possible for many people who would not otherwise have done
       so to get registered copies.

       And most of all, all those who became registered customers,
       especially those who registered the half-finished mess called
       Q-Blue 0.7.  That money kept my head above water more than once
       during periods when I had no other income, and so gave me the
       chance to finish the newer versions.

       The names Amiga, AmigaDOS, Workbench, ARexx, ConMan, ASDG, Oxxi,
       CygnusEd Professional, TurboText, Blue Wave, Silver Xpress, XNet,
       QMail, RoseMail, TomCat, wcMAIL, wcQWK, QSO, Valence, DLGQWK,
       MKQWK, JC-QWK, OLMS, NoSnail, MailManager +Plus+, TBBS, Maximus,
       SearchLight, WildCat!, EzyCom, RBBS, Remote Access, PCBoard,
       FidoPCB, InterPCB, FidoNet, Internet, MS-DOS, and IBM are
       trademarks of their respective owners.






















                                    - 148 -