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ARCMAIL 3.0 Revision Information
Rel 3.01
(01/29/92) Due to a completely stupid error on my part, certain
net/node combinations were causing improper attach
messages to be built. The error may have appeared at
several points in the attach message. I promise to
remember to open binary files in binary mode from now on!
Rel 3.02
(02/19/92) ARCMAIL was ignoring the /0 or -0 on the command line,
and only using a DEFAULT with DAY or specifying DAY
in a TARGET would generate a "Version 0" (instead of
base 36) archive name extension.
This software is offered free of charge for non-commercial use. The original
ARCMAIL program and this extension to it remain the property of System
Enhancement Associates. SEA, however, has not offered formal support for
previous versions, and cannot offer *any* support for this revision of the
software since I am in no way affiliated with SEA. I will offer assistance
where possible. All suggestions, problems and questions should be referred
to me at 1:104/114@FidoNet by NetMail, or by accessing the ARCMAIL support
section of my BBS at (303)652-3595, 24 hrs, HST/V.32. First time callers are
granted read and upload/download access, and write access on logoff message
to the sysop and in the ARCMAIL area.
No guarantees are made by myself nor SEA that this software will function in
your particular application. Reasonable care has been taken in its development
to assure that it will function per this documentation, but the user of this
software assumes all risks for its use.
ARCMAIL 3.0 Docs (REALLY!)
10/20/91 C. Anderson
The ARCMAIL 3.0 program is an extension of the previous 2.07 version.
It allows for configuration of the use/non-use of attach messages, the
subject line of the attach message, the archiver and unarchiver used,
and the extension type. Also included are configurable paths for mail,
arcmail and files. However, in absence of any special, new configuration
information for any or all of these items, ARCMAIL 3.0 will operate in
exactly the same manner as did 2.07.
As there was no formal documentation for version 2.07, no knowledge of
this software will be assumed in this documentation.
If you are already familiar with ARCMAIL 2.07, you can "cut to the chase"
and pages 10 to 13 will cover the new ARCMAIL.CFG file. Any information
in this file will override information found in any other files and on the
ARCMAIL command line.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is ARCMAIL3, and why use it?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The transfer of mail in *.MSG (or *.PKT, if you prefer) form is costly.
ASCII data can be substantially compressed, but neither the *.MSG nor the
resulting *.PKT packet data formats use any compression at all. No
compression means larger file storage requirements, and more important,
longer connects via phone to transfer the data.
ARCMAIL looks into the *.MSG directory area and selectively creates
archives from *.MSG files. In the past, ARCMAIL has been bound to the
use of ARC and ARCA/ARCE for its archiving and unarchiving utilities.
This has recently caused a few problems since the advent of ARC version
7.X and the increasing use of other archivers. The old ARC 5.x revision
is STILL the defacto archiving technique between any two FidoNet nodes.
Unless you have prearranged the use of any other format, it is considered
bad form to spring a file on someone using any other archiving technique.
Many systems' utilities can't readily recognize or automatically extract
version 7 ARC format files, and ARCMAIL made no provision to include the
-5 switch when using ARC versions 6 or 7 to create mail archives. In fact,
there has been no new version of ARCMAIL since version 6 of ARC.EXE.
In addition, some systems prefer to use one of the many other archivers
and there was no straightforward way to convince prior versions of ARCMAIL
to accomodate these requirements.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -2-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - WHAT IT DOES.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is a brief "map" to demonstrate the TO and FROM functions
of ARCMAIL:
ARCMAIL FROM
________________ ________________ ________________
| | | | | |
| Received | | Current | | Netmail |
| Files | | Working | | (MAIL) |
| Area | | Directory | | Directory |
| | | | | |
|--------------| |--------------| |--------------|
| 001F010A.MO1 | -----> | 02303447.PKT | -----> | 1.MSG 2.MSG |
| | | 02306825.PKT | | 3.MSG 4.MSG |
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Archive Packet Message
ARCMAIL TO
________________ ________________ ________________
| | | | | |
| Outbound | | Current | | Netmail |
| Files | | Working | | (MAIL) |
| Area | | Directory | | Directory |
| | | | | |
|--------------| |--------------| |--------------|
| 000000C6.MO2 | <----- | 04306888.PKT | <----- | 1.MSG 2.MSG |
| | | | | 3.MSG |
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
As noted above, ARCMAIL packs and unpacks messages to and from
message archives. The messages must conform to FTS (FidoNet
Technical Standards). The packet files it creates are Type 2
FTS standard packets. Packets found in inbound archives must
also be of Type 2, also a FidoNet standard.
ARCMAIL has two modes of operation:
ARCMAIL FROM and
ARCMAIL TO
When talking about archives we have received FROM someone, we
use the ARCMAIL FROM format with an assortment of other command
line options. When talking about archive we are sending TO
someone, we use the ARCMAIL TO forms.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -3-
First, ARCMAIL 3.0 will attempt to locate the configuration
information that it requires in several sources. These include
a) CONFIG.DOG. This file is used with both new and old SEAdog
software, and the recently introduced SEAmail software. At
this time, however, version 1.00 of SEAmail does not support
all of the necessary information required by ARCMAIL (the
ARCMAIL configuration line is not supported).
The useful information found in CONFIG.DOG will include:
1) Our net and node number <NODE or ADDRESS>.
2) Our *.MSG directory path <MAIL>.
3) Our received files directory <FILES>, including the name
of any secure (session password verified) inbound area.
Note: SEAmail 1.00 does not support the verified files area,
although it may be returned in a future release.
4) Our outbound file area <ARCMAIL>.
Note: SEAmail 1.00 does not support the ARCMAIL verb at all.
This is handled differently in that any files created
by SEAMail's own archiver are placed in the PACKET
directory area.
This is the minimum information necessary for a message archiving
program to operate. Effectively, it has to know who we are, and
where to find and put things.
b) MAIL.SYS. This file originated with the FIDO bulletin board and
mailer system. This file is searched ONLY if CONFIG.DOG is not
found in the current directory or the SDCONFIG environment path.
(See your SEAdog documentation regarding SDCONFIG.)
The useful information found in MAIL.SYS will include:
1) Our net and node number.
2) Our *.MSG directory path.
3) Our files area.
c) ARCMAIL.CFG. This file comes into use with version 3.0 of
ARCMAIL. It is read whether or not either of CONFIG.DOG or MAIL.SYS
have been successfully read. If one of these files _has_ been read,
and corresponding information is also found in ARCMAIL.CFG, the
final configuration will that of the contents of ARCMAIL.CFG. In
short, ARCMAIL.CFG will override data found anywhere else, and it
may be used by itself to supply all needed information.
The information that can be provided in ARCMAIL.CFG is
1) Our net and node number <NODE>.
2) Our *.MSG directory path <MAIL>.
3) Our received files directory <FILES>. This is assumed to be
the name of any secure (session password verified) inbound area
if one is used.
4) Our outbound file area <ARCMAIL>.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -4-
As you can see, this doesn't deviate from the old CONFIG.DOG
information thus far. The following directives are all new with
ARCMAIL 3.0:
5) Our mailer type (old SEAdog, more recent SEAdog, or SEAmail)
<MAILER>. This will determine the type of attach message, if
any, that will be built for an archive file.
6) The nickname and full command line definition for up to 10
different archiver techniques and/or archivers <ARCHIVE>.
7) The nickname and full command line definition for up to 10
different unarchiving techniques and/or unarchivers <UNARCHIVE>.
8) The default archiver and unarchiver from items 6 and 7, above,
and the default extension type (base 36 or day - see below for
an explanation of these) where no specific information exists
for a given node.
9) The archiver, unarchiver and extension type to be used to create
an archive for any particular node <TARGET>. (Maximum of
100 nodes).
A complete explanation of the syntax of the ARCMAIL.CFG entries
follows at the end of this document.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - HOW TO USE IT - "FROM", THE LIST OF NODES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Each time ARCMAIL is run, you will supply a list of nodes, a file
containing such a list, or the word ALL or WHO, and any of a possible
assortment of switches.
When ARCMAIL is requested to unpack received mail archives, it is
used with the FROM verb. An example follows:
ARCMAIL3 FROM 104/115
This will unpack any mail found in our inbound file area from 104/115.
It is the difference between your net/node and the other fellow's
net/node that causes specific filenames to be created. By inspecting
the filename on any inbound files, ARCMAIL can determine their source,
or on outbound files, their destination. A quick tutorial, and we'll
get back to our FROM possibilities.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -5-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - ARCHIVE NAMES, A QUICK TUTORIAL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
AAAABBBB.CCC
^^^^
|___________ Net field. This is a hexidecimal result
of subtracting the sender's net number
from the receiver's net number. For
example, a file sent by 104/114 going
to 104/118 would contain 0000 here, or
a file sent by 107/115 to 104/118 would
contain a 0003 here.
AAAABBBB.CCC
^^^^
|_______ Node field. This is a hexidecimal result
of subtracting the sender's node number
from the receiver's node number. For
example, a file sent by 104/114 going
to 104/118 would contain FFFC here, or
a file sent by 104/115 to 104/118 would
contain a 0003 here. Note that in four
characters, a -1 is represented in hex
as FFFF.
AAAABBBB.CCC
^^^
|_______ File extension. This comes in several
different flavors, depending on the
program that created the file and how
the program may be configured.
ARCMAIL TO will create either a "Base 36" format extension, or a
"day-of-week" style extension depending on how you configure things.
The Base 36 extension is literally that - the extension can contain
any number from 0-9 or letter from A-Z in any of the three positions.
ARCMAIL3 (and 2.x versions) uses the time of day and date to determine
the actual extension name. That gives us 36x36x36 possible
extensions, or about 1 for every minute in a month! Base 36
extensions were and are the default mode of operation for ARCMAIL.
There are some other programs that cannot recognize files as archived
mail files if they contain this random collection of charcters in
the extension, which is why we also have the other type of extension
available - sometimes called the "version 0" naming convention after
the original ARCMAIL 0.xx version "day-of-week" archiver method.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -6-
The Version 0 method always begins the extension with the day of the
week (SU MO TU WE TH FR SA) and is followed by one alphanumeric
character to round out the three characters. Programs differ in the
means by which they select this last character. Previous versions
of ARCMAIL used the time of day, providing 1 unique extension about
every 40 minutes with the 36 possible characters. Version 3.0 will
use this method for creation of Version 0 extensions if they are
requested via the /0 switch on the command line UNLESS one of our
TARGET nodes is found to be using Version 0 extensions in
ARCMAIL.CFG.
Another method for arriving at the last character of the Version 0
extension is used by other programs. These will create a NEW
extension whenever a new archive file is created. The first file
created on Sunday would be *.SU0, and if a new file is created, it
will always be *.SU1, regardless of the time of day. This option
will be added to a future version of ARCMAIL.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - HOW TO USE IT - "FROM", THE LIST OF NODES, CONTINUED
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is also possible to extract files from an entire list of nodes by
using either of the following formats:
ARCMAIL3 FROM 104/114 104/115 104/116
or
ARCMAIL3 FROM filename ("filename" could be AREAS.BBS)
where the AREAS.BBS file contains a list of nodes from whose received
files we wish to extract messages. ARCMAIL "reads past" the names
of echo areas and the like, looking only for net/node numbers in the
file. Be careful to avoid using slashes "/" in anything but a true
net/node number to avoid confusing ARCMAIL. The file can be anything
you like, with any name you prefer. It can be a simple list of
net/node numbers if you like.
A twist on this theme is to do a complete unpacking from absolutely
anyone whose mail is hanging around. This is accomplished by
simply using the word ALL. This will also cause any leftover *.PKT
files in your *current* directory to be unpacked. This condition
should not normally exist, however.
ARCMAIL3 FROM ALL
The last example of the FROM form is
ARCMAIL3 FROM WHO
This asks ARCMAIL to display the names, sizes and sources of any
archive files in your inbound file area that have yet to be unpacked.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -7-
ARCMAIL will always look in your specified inbound files directory
for archives. These archives will be unarchived to reveal the
contents, *.PKT (packet) files that contain one or more messages.
These *.PKT files are created in the directory from which ARCMAIL3
is called, what we'll call your "current" directory.
When all of the *.PKT files have been successfully extracted from
the archive, the archive is deleted. The *.PKT files are broken
down in to individual message (*.MSG) files and these are stored
in the path you have specified for your MAIL area and the *.PKTs
are deleted if unpacking is successful.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - HOW TO USE IT - "FROM", COMMAND LINE SWITCHES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL supports several command line switches to modify the method
of its FROM operation. These switches may be entered in either
upper or lower case. They are
/S =
If you have the SQDIR program available in your PATH or
current directory, it will be used to clean up the MAIL
directory structure and delete any unused directory
extensions. For additional details, see the documentation
for SQDIR. This process will take place at the end of
any unpacking you have called.
/G<pwd> =
"unGarble" message contents. This, when used with a version
of ARC that supports the -G or /G option for encryption,
will encrypt message contents. It operates ONLY with
ARC.EXE when ARC.EXE is allowed to function as the
normal operating archiver for ARCMAIL. Use of a DEFAULT
verb in ARCMAIL.CFG or when processing a node that
is found in a TARGET line in ARCMAIL.CFG causes the /G
switch to become ineffective. However, it can be included
included with ARC in an UNARCHIVE line of ARCMAIL.CFG.
/Ocount command = (NOTE! This is the LETTER "O" !)
This causes the *.BAT, *.EXE, or *.COM file specified by
command to be executed whenever <count> messages exist in
your MAIL directory. This can be useful for periodic
clearing out and packing or tossing of messages so that
you don't exceed the "slowdown limit" of DOS by accidently
exceeding about 300 messages in a single directory, causing
the dreaded "Directory Extension". See info on SQDIR for
fixing the problem if you ever allow this to happen!
ARCMAIL 3.0 -8-
The exact number you should use for <count> varies from
system to system. The objective is always to keep your
current count to a safe 250 messages or so, and never more!
An example might be -O200 FORWARD.BAT
In summary, the ARCMAIL FROM command line may contain these options:
ARCMAIL3 FROM <list> [/s] [/g<pwd>] [/o<msgs> <cmd>]
where: <list> is a list of one or more nodes, or the name of
a file which contains a list of one or more nodes.
/S squeezes directories (SQDIR program required).
/G<pwd> uses ARC archive encryption with the given password.
/O<msgs> <cmd>
number of messages in netmail area when <cmd>
will be done.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - HOW TO USE IT - "TO", THE LIST OF NODES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
When ARCMAIL is requested to pack outbound mail archives, it is
used with the TO verb. An example follows:
ARCMAIL3 TO 104/115
This will pack any mail found in our *.MSG (MAIL) file area for
104/115. Again, it is the difference between your net/node and the
other fellow's net/node that causes specific filenames to be created.
As with the FROM examples, a list of nodes or a filename may be used
to indicate a collection of net/node numbers
ARCMAIL3 TO 104/115 104/118 104/11 or
ARCMAIL3 TO filename
and you can again request the operation occur for everyone by using
ARCMAIL3 TO ALL.
When invoked with TO, ARCMAIL3 locates the appropriate messages in
your MAIL directory, creates *.PKT files in your current directory,
and archives them into an archive file in your ARCMAIL directory.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -9-
Last there is the ARCMAIL3 TO WHO option which will provide you with
a display of all of the outbound archives you have that have yet to
be transmitted or picked up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - HOW TO USE IT - "TO", COMMAND LINE SWITCHES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, as with FROM, TO has a variety of command line switches that
may be employed.
/C =
Pack messages that have the crash bit set. Normally, these
are not packed since the archive file itself will not be
sent in crash mode.
/F =
Packs file attach messages. This really isn't often very
useful, since the files themselves are not included! It
can serve, however, as a way of sending notification of the
presence of a file in some circumstances.
/S =
If you have the SQDIR program available in your PATH or
current directory, it will be used to clean up the MAIL
directory structure and delete any unused directory
extensions. For additional details, see the documentation
for SQDIR. This process will take place at the end of
any packing for which you have called.
/0 =
The 0 (zero) switch asks ARCMAIL3 to use the old Version 0
extension convention (as opposed to Base 36 convention)
for all archives created. Note that if a node whose mail
is being archives is in a TARGET line, or you are using a
DEFAULT line in ARCMAIL.CFG, you must specify either BASE36
or DAY there, and this switch is rendered ineffective.
/Dsize =
This will create a new archive if the current one becomes
larger than <size>K bytes to a particular node. The
default is 1024K (one megabyte).
/G<pwd> =
"Garble" message contents. This, when used with a version
of ARC that supports the -G or /G option for encryption,
will encrypt message contents. It operates ONLY with
ARC.EXE when ARC.EXE is allowed to function as the
normal operating archiver for ARCMAIL. Use of a DEFAULT
verb in ARCMAIL.CFG or when processing a node that
is found in a TARGET line in ARCMAIL.CFG causes the /G
switch to become ineffective. However, it can be included
included with ARC in an ARCHIVE line of ARCMAIL.CFG.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -10-
In summary, the ARCMAIL TO command line may contain these options:
ARCMAIL3 TO <list> [/cfs0] [/d<size>] [/g<pwd>]
where: <list> is a list of one or more nodes, or the name of
a file which contains a list of one or more nodes.
/G<pwd> uses ARC archive encryption with the given password.
/C packs crash mail
/F packs file attach messages (attached files are not
sent).
/S squeezes directories (SQDIR program required).
/0 version zero naming convention.
/D<size> creates discrete archives if existing ones are
larger than <size> K bytes (default=1024K).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCMAIL 3.0 - HOW TO USE IT - ARCMAIL.CFG COMMANDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last, here is a summary of all of the ARCMAIL.CFG possibilities.
Remember that any information found in this file will *override*
any command lines in CONFIG.DOG or MAIL.SYS that contain the same
information. ARCMAIL.CFG *must* reside in the directory from which
ARCMAIL3 is executed in order to be found by ARCMAIL3.EXE.
Template Example
----------------------------------------- -------------------------
MAILER <OLDDOG | NEWDOG | SEAMAIL> MAILER SEAMAIL
If your version of SEAdog (4.1 or other mailer) requires that
an attach message be created in order to send an archived mail
file, use OLDDOG. If no attach message is necessary, use the
NEWDOG option. If using SEAmail, use the SEAMAIL option so
that an attach message will be created with a "!" in front of
the path name in the attach message so that the file will be
deleted after successful transmission. This command is optional,
and SEADOG is the default operating mode.
NODE <net/node> NODE 104/114
Note! Do NOT use a zone or domain - just net/node. If this
command is not included, the information must be located in
CONFIG.DOG or MAIL.SYS.
MAIL <path> MAIL C:\MAIL\MESSAGES
This must point to the directory where *.MSG files will be
exist when doing pack and unpack operations. If this command
is not included, the information must be located in CONFIG.DOG
or MAIL.SYS.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -11-
FILES <path> FILES C:\MAIL\INBOUND
This must point to your inbound files area - a secured one if
it is available. If this command is not included, the
information must be located in CONFIG.DOG or MAIL.SYS.
ARCMAIL <path> ARCMAIL C:\MAIL\ARCMAIL
This must point to the directory where you wish to have your
outbound archives placed after they are created. If this
command is not included, the information must be located in
CONFIG.DOG or MAIL.SYS.
ARCHIVE <nickname> <command line> ARCHIVE ARC5 ARC -M -5 %A %P
ARCHIVE LZH LHARC M %A %P
This is an abitrary nickname of your choosing and the full command
line for the matching archive program associated with your
nickname. Note! You must use %A where the archive name would
appear, and a %P where the packet name would appear in the
archiver's command line. The packet is to be added to the archive
and deleted (or simply Moved when possible). The %A and %P are
automatically replaced by ARCMAIL with appropriate file names when
it creates the packets and archives. If you wish to use any other
than ARC.EXE for archiving and unarchiving, this command must be
included. Up to 10 ARCHIVE lines may be included. The case of any
command line switch is preserved.
UNARCHIVE <nickname> <command line> UNARCHIVE ARC ARC -E %A
UNARCHIVE LHARC LHARC E %A
This is an abitrary nickname of your choosing and the full command
line for the matching unarchiving program associated with your
nickname. Note! You must use %A where the archive to be unpacked
would normally appear on the command line. When ARCMAIL finds the
appropriate archive in your inbound files area, it will substitute
that name in the %A position. If you wish to use any other than
ARC.EXE for archiving and unarchiving, this command must be
included. Up to 10 UNARCHIVE lines may be included. Note that
the ARCHIVE and UNARCHIVE nicknames can be the same and will not
be confused by ARCMAIL. For example, you may call both the
archive and unarchive nicknames for ARC.EXE ARC without causing
any problems. Again, switch cases are preserved.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -12-
DEFAULT <archive nickname> <unarchive nickname> <BASE36 | DAY>
DEFAULT ARC5 ARC DAY
This overrides the normal use of ARC.EXE as the default archiver
for ARCMAIL. Use the nicknames you desire from those you have
created in your ARCHIVE and UNARCHIVE commands. The programs
and their command lines will then become the defaults for
ARCMAIL. Use of this command is optional. ARC.EXE may be left
as the normal default archiver. To use this command, you must
have defined both an ARCHIVE and UNARCHIVE utility with
nicknames to match to those in your DEFAULT command. Obviously,
only one DEFAULT may be included. Individual nodes can use any
other archiver by using the TARGET command, below.
TARGET <net/node> <archive nickname>
<unarchive nickname> <BASE36 | DAY>
TARGET 104/115 ARC5 ARC BASE36
TARGET 104/118 LHARC LHARC DAY
This command allows you to select the archiving, unarchiving and
archive file extension types on a node-by-node basis. Up to 100
of these TARGET lines may be defined.
Use nicknames that match those from your UNARCHIVE and ARCHIVE
definitions to tell ARCMAIL which ones you wish to use for the
selected node.
Use BASE36 if you want file extensions for the selected node to
be created in BASE36 format, or DAY to have version 0 extensions
created for this node's archives. Note that use of TARGET will
override any DEFAULT you have selected, and will override any
use (or non-use) of a -0 on the command line for this node.
ARCMAIL 3.0 -13-
An example of a complete ARCMAIL.CFG file might then look like this:
MAILER SEAMAIL
NODE 104/114
MAIL C:\MAIL\MESSAGES
FILES C:\MAIL\INBOUND
ARCMAIL C:\MAIL\ARCMAIL
ARCHIVE ARC5 ARC -M -5 %A %P
ARCHIVE ARC7 ARC -M %A %P
ARCHIVE LZH LHARC M %A %P
ARCHIVE ZIP PKZIP -M %A %P
UNARCHIVE ARC ARC -E %A
UNARCHIVE LZH LHARC E %A
UNARCHIVE UNZIP PKUNZIP -E %A
DEFAULT ARC5 ARC DAY
TARGET 104/115 ZIP UNZIP BASE36
TARGET 104/118 LZH LZH DAY
TARGET 104/18 ARC5 ARC DAY
TARGET 104/1 ARC7 ARC DAY
