Just Call Me Internet/Just Call Me Internet.iso/com/othernet/fidonet/aval_377/_english.txt/avalonbg.eng

Text File | 1994-06-15 | 22KB | 451 lines

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AVALON V3.6x                                      Last Change: 21 Mar 1994
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                     Beginner's Installation Guide
                      by Florian Diete, 21 Mar 94
==========================================================================

Hello!

You've  asked  for  it  -  here it is! The Beginner's Guide in English. As
English  isn't  my  native  tongue, I apologize for any mistakes and wrong
expressions or false word placement - corrections are very welcome!

After  having  criticized  Stephan's  manual for not being easy to use for
novices  to  FidoNet  (or  Fido-technology nets), Stephan immediately sug-
gested  that  I write a beginner's guide. (You're the one who will have to
suffer from this. ;-)

This  guide  will only describe the steps that are necessary to get things
going with Avalon. The more "advanced" features of Avalon are explained in
detail  in  Stephan's manual, they are not the main topic of this text. If
you're  a  node  trying  to  install  Avalon  for your sysop-point, you'll
probably  be  better  off  reading Stephan's manual, as you should already
have the basic knowledge.
This  guide  will  help you set up a test installation of Avalon, although
when  you  want to use Avalon permanently, you'll soon wish to expand that
installation. This guide does _not_ replace Stephan's manual, but offers a
comprehensive introduction for the uninitiated.

In  giving examples, I can obviously only mention programs I've used in my
own  point  installation.  This  should  not be a problem, however, as the
programs  are  usually quite similar and serve basically the same purpose.
As you are about to test Avalon, I'll assume you don't have a key. ;-)

Enough of the introductory words...


What is Avalon anyway?
======================

Avalon  is  a GEM-shell for points in FidoNet or compatible nets. To start
off with Avalon replaces (and simplifies) actions that you would otherwise
have  to  initiate  "by  hand" or via a shellscript on the desktop or in a
multi-purpose  shell.  Later  it  allows  more  complex applications to be
added, which are difficult or impossible to realize with shellscripts (see
Stephan's manual for details).

In  my  installation,  Avalon allows me to have an automized, i.e. (almost
[because  of  Semper,  see  below]) completely unattended poll session. In
addition,  it  provides the ability to start many Fido-related (and other)
programs  without having to return to the desktop. With the internal batch
interpreter  you can easily write useful applications, as this interpreter
was developed specifically for an email environment.


What do I need from the Avalon archive?
=======================================

Only  AVALON.PRG.  The  other  programs are useful utilities in connection
with Avalon and email, but they are not necessary for using this shell. Of
course,  you  should  have  the manual and the texts in the SPECIAL folder
handy, in case a problem arises.


What do I need apart from Avalon?
=================================

For  a point installation you will need a mailer (e.g. Binkley or Semper),
an  exporter (e.g. ECU or JetMail), an importer (e.g. Llegada or - again -
JetMail) and a message editor (e.g. LED).

If  you  haven't  done  it yet, you should first install that software and
make  sure  it  runs  safely. It's no use trying to automize a poll if you
don't know what's happening!

If  you  happen to use "The Box": I have never seen this program and as it
is  no longer supported by Avalon anyway, I will only refer to Binkley and
Semper.


Where does Avalon belong?
=========================

I  copied  Avalon  to  the  same folder that my other Fido software is in,
namely  Binkley  respectively  Semper.  On  my  hard  disk, this is called
"E:\BIN\POINT\".  This  will  minimize  problems,  e.g.  if  some software
expects some configuration files etc. in the same folder.


What do I need to know before configuring Avalon?
=================================================

Make a note of the parameters for the programs mentioned above. Naturally,
you  should  also  be  able  to  find  those  programs  and  the  paths to
BINKLEY.CFG  resp.  Semper's  CONFIG.DAT and AREAS.BBS with the aid of the
file selector box. ;-)


Can Avalon destroy anything?
=============================

Yes  and no. If you're using Binkley, Avalon will copy one of max. six own
Binkley  configuration  files  onto BINKLEY.CFG when starting, overwriting
any  alterations  made in BINKLEY.CFG. Just to be on the safe side, _copy_
BINKLEY.CFG  to  BINKLEY.OLD  (Avalon  still  needs  BINKLEY.CFG!).  After
starting  to use Avalon, any changes should me made to BINKLEY.0 (or later
on  to .1 to .5). However, if Avalon does not find any of it's own Binkley
CFG's, it will copy BINKLEY.CFG to BINKLEY.0 in the AVALON folder.

When  using Semper, none of these measures are necessary, as Semper cannot
yet  read  ASCII  configuration  files.  However, you should make the file
CONFIG.DAT, an ASCII copy of CONFIG.SYS, available to Avalon. (This can be
achieved  by  ticking "Write ASCII config" in Semper's "Config/Options..."
menu and saving your Semper config via "Config/Save" afterwards.)


What does Avalon do on startup?
===============================

Avalon  creates  (after  informing  you  about it) a folder AVALON for all
Avalon's system files.

It  then  tries to read BINKLEY.CFG or CONFIG.DAT. If it can't find any of
these  files,  a  dialog box appears asking you which mailer you intend to
use  (at  this  time, only Semper and Binkley are supported). After making
your  choice,  you  can  then  select  your appropriate configuration file
(BINKLEY.CFG  for  Binkley,  CONFIG.DAT for Semper) with the file selector
box.

When  it  finds  BINKLEY.CFG,  a  copy of this file will be written to the
Avalon folder under the name of BINKLEY.0. This action will be reversed at
any future start of Avalon.

Avalon  also  searches  for it's own configuration file AVALON.CFG. Avalon
doesn't  mind  not  finding this (but after a while you might, as you will
have to set all the paths again... ;-).


How can I configure Avalon?
===========================

There's really only one way, which is also the simplest: start Avalon, set
it  up  and  save  that  setup. AVALON.CFG is in ASCII format, but undocu-
mented.  Stephan  warns  you  explicitely  in  his  manual not to make any
changes to that file.

Now that you've got some idea of what you are letting yourself in for, and
Avalon  and  Binkley (especially BINKLEY.CFG) resp. Semper are in the same
folder, it is time to start Avalon...

You  will  find  many  of the switches and some additional features in the
menus,  but  this  you  can  find  out  for yourself, so let's get down to
business:


Firstly,  a  paragraph  only  for Semper users: you can save yourself some
work,  if  you've  already set Semper up with regard to Importer, Exporter
etc.  Click  on  "Special"  and  enter  the  path  to  Semper's CONFIG.DAT
(double-click  on  the appropriate line to call up the file selector box).
The  other settings will be explained later in this document. Now click on
"OK" to leave this window and save your settings by selecting "Save".


Below  the  "Programs"  headline,  there are three blocks of switches: the
left  one  is reserved for the Fido programs you'll be using for the poll,
the  middle  one for different utility programs of your own choice (e.g. a
statistics program like JetStat) and the right one to start a program with
the  corresponding extension. The two blocks on the left are still in gray
writing  (except  with  some Semper users ;-), as Avalon does not yet know
about these programs. Let's start with the left block:


By  clicking  on the "Find 1" button or choosing "Config/Find 1 (Program)"
in the menus or by using the key combination Alt-F (I will not mention all
such  alternatives  from  now  on!)  a  window "Install programs" appears.
General  handling  tips:  by double-clicking on e.g. "Import:" or the line
behind  it,  the  file  selector  box  appears and you can now choose your
program.  You can type in the necessary parameters for this program on the
"Cmd:"  line underneath. The "Redirect" boxes allow you to redirect output
from  TOS  or  TTP programs into a window rather than onto the TOS screen.
Some information on the individual programs:

"Import:"  is the program responsible for having the mail bundles from the
inbound  directory   unpacked  and tossing the messages into the different
areas.  I  used to use Llegada for this (with ECU.CFG [incl. full path for
safety]  as  parameter)  but  now  use  JetMail  (with parameter "import")
instead. Redirecting the output to a window seemed sensible to me.

"Export:" is the program responsible for exporting your newly written msgs
from  the  areas  and  for  having  them packed and placed in the outbound
directory  for  the mailer. Some programs simultaneously delete the oldest
messages in the areas according to specified time or count limits. ECU was
my  first  Exporter  (parameter  ECU.CFG  [with  full  path]), today I use
JetMail  (with parameters "scan bundle pack"). Obviously, I'd redirect the
output here, too.

"Cruncher:"  is  used  for  deleting messages in the areas. With ECU, this
entry  stayed  empty,  as ECU automatically crunched the areas when expor-
ting,  as  mentioned  above.  JetMail gets called up using "crunch" as the
parameter.  (This  feature I could have added to the "Export:" parameters,
but I personally preferred it this way.) Redirect is activated.

"Scanner:"  should  actually  pick your newly written mail from the areas,
but I already achieved this by specifying "scan" for JetMail at "Export:".
Nevertheless,  it didn't hurt to pick JetMail again (with "scan" only). As
far as I remember, it wasn't possible to separate the different actions in
ECU, so this entry was left empty at the time. Redirect is on.

"Msg-Ed:"  is the program for reading and editing your messages. I use LED
without  any  command  line  parameter. As this is a GEM program, Redirect
stays off.

"Txt-Ed:"  is  a  text  editor  of  your  own  choice. This is not usually
necessary  for email purposes, but it is comfortable to have it selectable
with a single click of the mouse for editing configuration files and such.
I use Tempus without parameters or redirecting.

"Mailer:"  is  the  heart  of  your point installation, usually Binkley or
Semper.  If  you're  using  Binkley,  you  may  find  it  useful  to enter
"unattended" as a parameter, so that Binkley is started in mailer mode. As
Binkley is a TOS program, you can activate "Redirect"; you should leave it
switched off for Semper, however.

"Terminal:"  is  not  all  that  interesting any more for a point. Enter a
terminal  program  of your choice, e.g. Binkley, Rufus or CoNnect (without
parameters). Remember "Redirect" has no effect with GEM programs.

Then there are two more entries that are not necessary for email purposes,
but I'll mention them for the sake of completeness...:

"Viewer:"  enter  your  favourite  file  viewer program here, e.g. Guck or
1stView.

"AreaEditor:"  if you don't want to use Avalon's internal area editor, you
can enter an alternative program here.

Now  confirm  your  entries  and  their correctness with "OK" and click on
"Save", just to be on the safe side...


Your "vital" programs in the left "Programs" block should now be displayed
in  black.  I  now  leave  it to you to enter your favourite utilities via
"Find  2",  as they shouldn't be necessary for a poll session. In contrast
to "Find 1" you can change the name of the buttons in Avalon's main dialog
box  (e.g. "JetStat" instead of "Utility 1"). Please do not forget to save
your config again afterwards.


There are just a few more settings to enter:

Please  click  on  "Special".  The  following three (!) paths need only be
entered,  if  the  files are NOT in the same folder as the Avalon program.
(It won't hurt to enter them if they are, though.)

"AREAS.BBS:"  enter  the (relative or absolute) path to this file here. My
entry shows "E:\BIN\POINT\". (Again, a double-click on this line will call
up the file selector box.)

"BINKLEY.CFG:"  ditto  for  this  file.  Obviously, this one's for Binkley
users only.

"CONFIG.DAT:" ditto for Semper users only.

"Netmail:"  this  should  specify  path and filename of your netmail base.
(With  the  file  selector box, if you double-click on one of your netmail
base  files,  Avalon  should  strip  the extension for you.) If this entry
already  appears  to  be  correct, Avalon found BINKLEY.CFG at startup and
copied this path from the corresponding entry.

The "Setups" are the names you'd like to give to the buttons corresponding
to  your BINKLEY.? config files. These buttons appear on the right side in
the  main  Avalon  dialog  box. At first, you'll only need BINKLEY.0, your
main setup, which should have been created automatically by now.
If  you  are  a  Semper user, these entries do not apply to you, as Semper
cannot yet interpret ASCII config files.

Make your own choice for "Infobox:" - the effect in the main dialog box is
quite obvious.

"K/Sent:"  is  of interest once you are using advanced features of Avalon.
Please  refer  to  Stephan's  manual  for  these  features and leave these
switches off for the time being. (Small hint: 'K' stands for "kill" ;-)

"Fontsize:" is for adjusting the fontsize used in the windows.

In my configuration I set the switches according to the following table:

        [x] MsgBaseChecking ("Edit areas")
        [x] Wait for keypress (direct start)
        [x] Redirect output (direct start)
        [x] 4D-Mode (Binkley>=3.0)
        [x] Delay AutoStartPoll
        [ ] Ask for AREAS.BBS/DAREAS.BBS
        [ ] Save dialogpositions
        [x] Big windows (vert.>=672 points)
        [ ] Smart redraw
        [ ] Snap textwindows
        [ ] No Line-A (TOS redirect)
        [ ] Always center textwindows
        [ ] Send 3D-TIC
        [x] Main-Dialogbox

If  you're  using  Semper  or  Binkley  3.xx  (and you've entered "IOS" or
"Hold4D"  in BINKLEY.CFG resp. BINKLEY.0) and you're also using IOSmail or
JetMail, you should activate "4D-Mode" to create the more modern 4D-compa-
tible Files.

With  "Big windows" the areafix manager and the file requester can display
20  additional  entries on the screen. If there is not enough room on your
screen, Avalon will ignore this option.

"Smart redraw" is only needed, if for some reason your windows are redrawn
twice (sometimes happens with TOS 2.06 and MultiTOS).

For  all  non-self-explanatory  switches I recommend you consult Stephan's
manual, although the above settings should normally work fine for you.

Confirm  the  completeness  and  correctness of your entries with "OK" and
click on "Save" again to save your changes.


And now to ... the interesting part:

Please  click  on  "Session  Setup". You can now profit from your previous
entries  by  entering  the  programs in the right order with their correct
parameters for e.g. a poll session.

Before  you start: you can change the label of your poll session button by
double-clicking  on  those  buttons  _in  this window_ (!). A single click
chooses your poll session.

I believe I'd best describe how I configured my poll session to my boss:

First,  I  changed  the  label  of  that poll session to my boss's FidoNet
address.

Before  I  start exporting my messages, I'd like to call up a program that
has nothing to do with email purposes. A click on "Other" presents me with
a  file  selector  box, from which I choose my program. After that another
pop-up  appears, in which I can enter any parameters that I might need for
that  program.  When  I'm  finished  with that box, the name of my program
appears as the first in a list on the screen. Klicking on this entry again
enables  me  to  either delete this entry ("Kill"), insert another program
before  this  one  ("Insert")  or change the parameters (which I'd confirm
with "OK").
Behind  this entry in the box there are two check boxes beneath "Wait" and
"Redirect"  plus  another  "Error  Level" data field. If "Wait" is ticked,
Avalon  will  wait  for a keypress after executing this program. (If you'd
like  Avalon  to  wait after every program of the session, simply click on
the  "Wait"  button at the bottom left of the screen.) With "Redirect" the
output  of  TOS  and  TTP programs will be redirected into a window again.
Here's  a  word  from  Stephan  himself  regarding the "Error Level" field
(hopefully correctly translated by me):
  [
     In order to use the error levels, the "Loop" mode must be activated
     first. You can enter '0' or '1' for the number of loops
     (mathematicians please ignore the following: '0' has the same effect
     as '1').  At the entry BINKLEY.TTP you could e.g. specify "100". When
     the poll session is being worked through and Binkley is being
     terminated by pressing "F10" (meaning Binkley should exit with an
     error level of 100), the whole session will be terminated, i.e. the
     following programs will not be executed at all.
  ]
Personally,  I did not need this feature yet, so I left all the entries in
this column empty.

Now  I'd  like  to  export  my  mail.  To  do this I click on "Export" and
JETMAIL.TTP  (ignoring spaces) appears in the list with an arrow in front;
you'll  see  the  name  of  the  program  that you entered in the "Install
programs"  window.  After  clicking on this entry, I can delete it, change
the  parameter  locally  (i.e. for this call-up only) or globally (as if I
were  in  the  "Install programs" window) or stick to the settings as they
are.  As  I've  already  chosen  to  redirect this program in the "Install
programs" window, no check box appears in that column.

Deleting  some  old  messages before new ones come in seems a good idea to
me,  so  I click on "Cruncher". On my system, JETMAIL.TTP appears again in
the  list  of  programs,  but  a  closer  look  reveals that this time the
parameter "crunch" has been set, as one would expect.

The  mailer  is  next on my list, so I click on "Mailer" and BT.TTP (resp.
SEMPER.APP)  appears,  again  with  an arrow in front. I'd like to poll my
boss's system, so I change the parameter locally by clicking on BT.TTP (or
SEMPER.APP),  changing  "unattended"  to  "mail"  (resp. "poll 2:2456/95";
unfortunately, it is not yet possible to tell Semper to exit automatically
after a poll) and clicking on "Local". A warning appears, saying that this
program  and  it's  command  line  cannot  be changed globally any more by
simply  changing  the  entry  in the "Find 1" or "Find 2" windows. This is
o.k.,  so  I  confirm  my  choice.  The  arrow  in  front of BT.TTP (resp.
SEMPER.APP)  disappears.  So  it  seems  I  can globally replace or modify
programs with an arrow in front by changing the corresponding entry in the
"Find  1" ("Install programs") or "Find 2" ("Install utilities") window! I
made full use of this feature when changing from ECU/Llegada to JetMail.

For  the  next entry I wrote myself a clever little Avalon batch file that
unpacks  my  boss's  filelist and unpacks and applies the DIFF files to my
nodelists  and tells me what it's been doing in a message to my SystemInfo
area.  This  can be inserted by clicking on "Batch" and choosing the batch
file  with  the  file selector box. (Note: this refers to Avalons internal
batch  interpreter  only!) A '+' sign appears next to the name of my batch
file.

I  still  need  to  import my new mail. Clicking on "Import" is all that's
needed  to  display  JETMAIL.TTP  once again, the parameter is "import" as
expected.

Finally,  I'd  like  to  read  my new mail right away, so I'll make Avalon
start  my  mail  editor:  clicking  on  "Msg-Ed" has the desired effect of
placing LED.PRG at the end of my list.


I  do  not wish to discuss the "Options:" now, Stephan's manual takes care
of  that. "Del one" deletes one entry from the bottom of the list and "Del
all" deletes all entries.

As  mentioned  above,  the  setups  correspond  to the different BINKLEY.?
configuration  files.  For  now, you should only use the first one, origi-
nally  labeled  "Main Setup", as you only have BINKLEY.0 right now anyway,
haven't you?


I  have  defined  a second session for myself, which doesn't pol anywhere:
_usually_  I  want  to  start my message editor right away, after starting
Avalon.  So I simply choose a convenient session and enter LED as the only
program.  A  click  on  "AutoStart" starts this session automatically when
Avalon has started. Because I also set the switch "Delay AutoStartPoll" in
the  "Special"  window, I have a few seconds after Avalon's start to abort
the auto start of that session, in case I do _not_ wish to run the message
editor.


Now  you  should  be  capable of polling your boss's system for your mail.
File requests are possible via NetMail, although it pays to read Stephan's
manual  for  much  more  convenient  methods. The same applies to the file
hatch  feature.  The various options in "Filemanager" can often be handled
intuitively.  The last entry calls your specified file viewer. Do not edit
your  areas,  unless  you  know  what you're doing! (If you can't restrain
yourself: make a backup of the file first!)


Have fun!

Ciao,

Florian.


[I'd like to say thank you very much to Andrew Middleton, a friend of mine
who  spent some hours of his time eliminating the big mistakes I made, but
leaving some small ones in so you'll believe I wrote this... ;-) F.D.]