The program described herein is a work copyrighted by Erik Sea and Tuffet AntiGravity Incorporated. Portions are copyrighted by Think Technologies. This software is not public domain. It may be used by any Sysop without payment of any kind on an “as is” basis. It may be copied, transferred, or otherwise distributed provided that this document accompanies it, and it remains otherwise unaltered.
Of course, if you want to drop me a note, card, or whatever you like, you should feel free to NetMail me on WonderLand @ 1:221/109 (519) 672-7661, or via Canada Post (when not on strike) at the address above.
BBS Plug--WonderLand, a small board in a small city, where people yawn all day. Also, the first Tabby-based Fido host in the world (as far as I can determine).
II - How does it work?
Basically, NodeAlias, when run in a Tabby event (launch.next queue), scans through the Generic Export files which Tabby uses to receive messages outbound from your BBS. It checks every destination node against a prepared table, and if that destination node is in the table, it copies the old message, substituting the node address specified in the table; it then deletes the old message.
As a consequence of this, it becomes possible to not only map from one legal address to another, such as from Alternet to Fidonet, but also allows you to map from non-addresses to addresses--these non-addresses can be anything you like, from sysop’s last name, to location, to board name.
III - SetUp:
This is very simple to setup. All you need to do is throw NodeAlias in the folder containing your Host application and the Tabby programs. Place NodeAlias in all events between your export program and SendMail for it to properly pre-process aliased mail. Remember to update the STR# resource in the Tabby Robot as well.
Also, you will need to create a file called “NodeAliases” and place it in the Tabby folder. A starting NodeAliases file accompanies this package, derived from Ed Edell’s RRH list, and from origin lines I’ve seen in various Mac echoes. You might want to check it before using, since it could be quite old by the time you use it! The format is:
ALIAS <tab> net/node
I have adopted a convention that all alpha characters in an Alias will be UPPER CASE only, in order to retain compatibility with some software which apparently forces UPPER CASE. At least, such has been my experience with RRH 2.1b3 and Pete Johnson’s TExport 1.0.
Blank lines are ignored, as are lines beginning with an asterisk. Here, then, are some sample entries:
WONDERLAND <tab> 221/109 ; first Tabby Fido Host!
520/412 <tab> 107/412 ; use Mike Connick's Fido address
WONDERLAND <tab> 221/0 ; multi-occurences are problems
* This is a comment ; ignored (*)
<tab> 221/109 ; ignored (no alias)
TREES <tab> ; ignored (no node)
; ignored (blank)
Particular attention should be called to the re-mapping of something already mapped. Suppose, using the above as our NodeAliases file, we send a message to WONDERLAND. Line 1 will send it to 221/109, no problem, but because of the presence of line 5 it’ll go to 221/0 instead--multiple occurences of an alias always default to the last one. With line 5 gone, you might expect that lines 1 and 4 have a peculiar relationship. It might appear that if you sent something to WONDERLAND, line 1 would change the address to 221/109, then line 4 would change it to 221/0. It doesn't work this way. Basically, the program doesn't scan beyond the end of the Generic Export file at the time it starts running--thus, line 1 changes WONDERLAND to 221/109, copying it to the end of Generic Export, a point in the file where the program scans--thus, it never gets to make the change to 221/0. It was thought that this was the best way to avoid the possibility of a circular reference sending the program into an infinite loop until the Generic Export file filled the entire hard drive!
Limits: In addition to any limits imposed by your BBS program, Export program, and Tabby itself, Aliases can be no longer than 32 characters and node addresses can be no longer than 12 characters. The maximum number of mappings in the NodeAliases file is 500, although I recommend a much lower number.
Possible confusion: “NodeAlias” is the application which goes in the BBS folder; “NodeAliases” is the formatted textfile which goes in the Tabby folder. I apologize for making the names so similar—it won’t happen in any more of my programs!
IV - Remarks (the inside back cover)
This program, as are all my programs, is used on my board on a daily basis--it has become an indispensible part of WonderLand!
Other programs I’ve written include AutoUserStats 3.1, which allows RRH sysops to generate a nice brief “Top 10” list of uploaders and posters, suitable for use as a system message. Also, LDFix has saved many sysops hours of time patching the nodelist so that Tabby will dial long-distance numbers within the same area code (eg., 1-744-1234). I know it’s saved me more time than it took to write it! So what if Tabby 2.1 will make it obsolete! LDFix works with all Tabby-compatible BBS software.
Thanks to everyone for their moral support. It’s people like you who make people like me want to write more software. Be sure to let me know if you encounter any apparent bugs or have suggestions...
