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1993-09-20
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Fidonet News Reader 1.10ß
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-- TABLE OF CONTENTS --
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
1. INTRODUCTION, WARNINGS AND CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. REGISTER INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1 Register form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1 FNNR.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2 Compiling the nodelist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4. RUNNING FNNR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1 The basics of FNNR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 Changing between windows . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2.1 Main-window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2.2 Message-list-window . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2.3 Message-window . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2.4 Netmail-list-window . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2.5 Netmail-window . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3 Command descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3.1 The Mainwindow commands . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3.2 The Message-list-window commands . . . . 13
4.3.3 The Message-window . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3.4 Netmail-list-window . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3.5 Netmail-window . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5. Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.1 Creating a new echo-message . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.2 Creating a new netmail-message . . . . . . . . . 17
5.3 Replying to an echo-message . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.4 Replying to a netmail-message . . . . . . . . . 18
5.5 Netmail-reply on an echo-message . . . . . . . . 18
6. OTHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.1 Next versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.2 Disclaimer, errors etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page i
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1. INTRODUCTION, WARNINGS AND CREDITS
FNNR stands for Fidonet News Reader and is created because
of two reasons: I became sick using FrontDoor's FM and (and
maybe the most important on that moment) I needed something
to program. It is a very expanded version of my Usenet News
Reader (UNR), but since I haven't released that program
nobody will know what I mean with that.
This program must not be used at a BBS's messagebase di-
rectly because it changes several flags in the messagehea-
der such as the received- and deleted-flag. Everytime you
read a message, the received-flag will be set. If a user of
your BBS has not yet read that message, the search for new
mail for him will fail because the BBS-program will think
the user has already received that message and displays
nothing.
FNNR is distributed as shareware. This means that you are
free to distribute this program to anyone you like, as long
as you don't charge for it, modify the program in any way,
or add files to the original distribution archives.
I can't give you any guarantees that this program will work
at your place. If it does, you're lucky. If it doesn't, too
bad, try another program for reading your mail. If you find
any bugs, typos or things like that please send me a messa-
ge with the problem (addresses here below).
I will hereby thank the beta-testers, Anko Hanse, Joost
Bekkers, Kees Stravers, Michel De Langen and Benno Evers
for taking the risc of blowing up their messagebase while
using my program.
Edwin Groothuis
Johann Strausslaan 1
5583ZA Aalst-Waalre
The Netherlands
Fidonet : 2:284/205.1
Internet: edwing@stack.urc.tue.nl
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 1
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
2. REGISTER INFORMATION
FNNR is distributed as shareware. This means that you are
free to distribute this program to anyone you like, as long
as you don't charge for it, modify the program in any way,
or add files to the original distribution archives.
If you register you'll get a key-file. This file must be
appended to FNNR.CTL. This will remove the shareware-remin-
der at the end of the program and put a + behind the tear-
line. That's all, but... I'm making a lot of usefull (?)
programs to manipulate the messagebase and they will be
sent to you. If there is a new version of FNNR, you'll get
copy of it first. If you want more things to be implemen-
ted, just ask and I'll think about it.
The price for registrering FNNR for users in the Nether-
lands is fl 40,-. For users outside the Netherlands it's
US$ 25,-. If you register, please fill in the registration-
form on the next page. Since changing foreign money is very
expensive in the Netherlands, I ask users outside the
Netherlands not the send checks or moneyorders but a US$
20,- and a US$ 5,- bill. USE REGISTRED MAIL!
If you specify your Fidonet-address or Internet-address in
the registerform you'll get an acknowledgement and THE KEY
as soon as the money has arrived.
All registrations must be sent to:
FNNR registration
p/a Edwin Groothuis
Johann Strausslaan 1
5583ZA Aalst-Waalre
The Netherlands
For dutch users: Je kunt het bedrag ook overmaken op giro
5791620 tnv Edwin Groothuis ovv FNNR registratie. Vergeet
niet ook het registratieformulier op te sturen!
PS. If you don't like to register, but would let me know
you use this program, send a postcard of your town or a
local attraction to me. That gives me the feeling I've not
only programmed for myself :)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 2
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
2.1 Register form
*** FNNR 1.10 Register form ***
General information:
Name : _____________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________
Zipcode: _____________________________________________
City : _____________________________________________
State : _____________________________________________
Country: _____________________________________________
Phone : _____________________________________________
Fidonetaddress: _:___/___.___
Options:
Diskformat: o 3.5" DD o 5.25" HD
Do you want
to register FNNR 1.10 o
to register the last version (if available) o
Things I would like to know of you:
Where did you get your copy of FNNR?
______________________________________________________
Things you would like to see in next versions:
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
(continue on next page if necessary)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 3
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3. INSTALLATION
FNNR should run on any IBM AT or compatible computer. Since
FNNR uses an external editor, you have to get one of your
own. I prefer QEdit from SemWare, it's fast and has a lot
of options. If you prefer the standard DOS-Editor (yuch!)
you may choose that one.
Copy the files FNNR.EXE, FNNR.DOC and FNNR.CTL to a direc-
tory of your harddisk (like E:\FNNR)
3.1 FNNR.CTL
FNNR.CTL is the external configurationfile of FNNR. It's
completly ASCII, so you can edit it with an ASCII-editor.
It looks like this:
; fill in here you name. Must be one line<=35 chars
John A. Doe
;
; your nodenumbers:
.nodenumbers
1:2/3.4
.
;
; the correct-directory where your messagebase is. May
; not end with a \.
e:\fd\msgbase
;
; your editor used for inserting new messages or replying
; to a message
c:\tools\qedit\q.exe
;
; The directory where the tosser/scanner is located
e:\fd
;
; the command for tossing the messagebase
gecho.exe toss
;
; the command for scanning the messagebase
gecho.exe scan
;
; the command for packing the messagebase
mbutil.exe pack
;
; the command for linking the messagebase
mbutil.exe link
;
; put here your favorite origins
.myorigins
Also John A. Doe uses FNNR 1.10!
MavEtJu rules!
.
;
; the boards in your messagebase. Must be
; <boardnumber> <originnumber> <AKA> <boardname>
.myboards
1 1 1 Very local
47 1 1 Nuts.Sysops
48 1 1 Freenet lives!
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 4
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FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
.
;
; whos message you don't want to see (up to 10)
.killfrom
.
;
; what subjects you're not interested in (up to 10)
.killsubject
basic
.
;
; where can I find the netmail?
e:\fd\netmail
;
; Standard "Hello" (3 lines)
.Hello
Hallo,
.
;
; Standard Reply-"Hello" (3 lines)
.ReplyHello
Hallo %FirstFrom,
%Date %Time, %From wrote to %To:
.
;
; Standard signature (3 lines)
.sig
--=={{(( John A. Doe ))}}==--
.
;
; Do you want quoted lines with initials? ' JAD> ' instead
; of ' > '
Yes
;
; Quote hidden lines?
Yes
;
; See info at every new echoarea?
Yes
;
; The KEY!
IAodopBcHmfDEOBePbODEMBfFEodkKBbIfcHOkLOEfDhEllPO-
beHKkLdFIdCKKjJEjoEAIJKPbACoKCpEihdkJBI
--- END OF FNNR.CTL
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
That is confusing... But let me explain part for part to
you:
1st field:
Your name. It's the name that will be used in the From-
field of messages you're going to write.
Example: John A. Doe.
2nd field:
Your nodenumbers, may also be pointnumbers. It won't be
checked if they're correct, so you better check it. May
be up to ten different numbers.
Example: .nodenumbers
1:2/3.4
.
3rd field:
Where is your messagebase located? The messagebase
exists of the files MSGHDR.BBS, MSGTXT.BBS, MSGIDX.BBS,
MSGTOIDX.BBS and MSGINFO.BBS.
Example: e:\fd\msgbase
4th field:
What is the path and name of your ASCII-editor.
Example: c:\tools\qedit\q.exe
5th field:
What is the directory of your tosser/scanner?
Example: e:\fd\gecho
6th field:
What is the exact command to toss the incoming mailfiles
cq. mailpackets.
Example: gecho.exe toss
7th field:
What is the exact command to scan the messagebase for
outgoing messages?
Example: gecho.exe scan
8th field:
What is the exact command to pack the messagebase? (and
deleted all messages marked as deleted). Note: It must
be in the same directory as where your tosser/scanner is
located!
Example: mbutils.exe pack
9th field:
What is the exact command to link the messagebase? (make
replychains for messages with the same subject)
Example: mbutils.exe link
10th field:
The notes you're using as originlines. Every message has
as the last line a so called 'Origin-line'. It contains
the strings ' * Origin: ', the note and your nodenumber
for this echo. Like ' * Origin: use FNNR (2:284/205.1)'.
Example: .myorigins
I also use FNNR! Who follows me?
.
11th field:
Boarddescriptions. Be carefull here, if you make a typo
you can let FNNR work incorrectly!. You must enter here
the following items:
1. The boardnumber of the messagebase in which you
let your tosser/scanner toss the messages for this
echo.
2. The number of the origin you want to use in this
echo.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 6
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3. The number of the nodenumber is the list you're
using in this echo. If you make a mistake here, it
can occur that you're getting problems with the
moderator, specially in private echos!
4. A small description of the echo (eg. the name of
the echo).
1111111111222222...
1234567890123456789012345...
Example: .myboards
1 1 1 Very local
47 1 1 Nuts.Sysops
48 1 1 Freenet lives!
.
You see that the boardnumbers are right-justified at the
3 column? Please keep it that way ;-) The fourth field
does not have to be the name on which the echo is dis-
tributed, it can be a different one.
12th field:
Twit-filters: Persons whose messages you don't want to
read. These messages are marked as deleted right after
the board is read.
Example: .killfrom
Jeff A. Doe
.
13th field:
Another twit-filter: Subjects you don't want to read.
These are also marked as deleted when the board is read.
Example: .killsubject
Basic
.
14th field:
What is the directory where the netmail is located.
Netmail-messages are messages like 1.MSG, 2.MSG and so
on.
Example: e:\fd\netmail
15th field:
What to say when you start a new message. Can be up to
three lines.
Example: .Hello
Hello everybody,
.
16th field:
What to say when you reply to a message. Can also be up
to three lines. You have some meta-strings to play with,
like:
%From Will be replaced by the name of the person
who wrote the message you're replying at.
%FirstFrom The first name of that person
%LastFrom The last name of that person
%To The name of the person whose message was
replied to before you replied.
%FirstTo The first name of that person
%LastTo The last name of that person
%Date The date the message was written (like 22-
03-1993)
%Time The time the message was written (like
13:32)
Example: .ReplyHello
Hello %FirstFrom,
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 7
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──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
%Date %Time, %From wrote to %To:
.
17th field:
Your signature. Try to make something nice of it. Maxi-
mum of three lines.
Example: .sig
--==(({{[[ John A. Doe ]]}}))==--
.
18th field:
What's the way you want the messages to be quoted? Must
it be just a simple ' > ' or a advanced ' JAD> '? Type
no for the first option and yes for the second.
Example: Yes
19th field:
You want hidden lines to be quoted? Hidden lines are
lines that start with a ^A, such as the MSGID, REPLYID
and PID. Only usefull for debugging I believe.
Example: No
20th field:
FNNR can show you some 'technical' information on every
echoarea when you enter it. If you don't want it put a
'No' in here, otherwise a 'Yes'.
21th field:
The key you get from me when you register FNNR. Place it
there, don't make any typos or try to hack it!
Note: if there is a field explained here but it's not in
the FNNR.CTL you have, just ignore that field.
3.2 Compiling the nodelist
I'm sorry, but you'll have to create YANF (Yet Another
Nodelist File). From this file FNNR can get information on
the address of the person who you're going to netmail. It's
not a very smart program, just type "FNNRNC <nodelistna-
me(s)>", like "FNNRNC nodelist.193 points.003". It reads
the nodelist, converts it, sorts it and writes it back to
disk to a file called FNNRNAME.NL and FNNRADDR.NL. When
you're going to send a netmail message and you don't speci-
fy the address of the person FNNR can find it.
Where to get a nodelist? Ask a local Fidonet- or othernet-
node for it, he'll be glad to give you a copy of the last
nodelist.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 8
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
4. RUNNING FNNR
4.1 The basics of FNNR
FNNR is completly developed with Borlands TurboVision. That
means: A lot of windows and dialogboxes, mouse-support and
a nice userinterface.
A FNNR-screen is designed like this:
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ≡ Search Maintenance Options │
│ │
│ [here is the rest of your screen] │
│ │
│ @X Exit @D Delete Msg @F Msg to file │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Awfull, isn't it? You'll get a better look at it when
you've started FNNR: Then you'll see nice colors.
Well, the thing at the top is the menubar: Clicking here
with the mouse will give you a popdownmenu with several
options. Options that are available at the screen are black
with sometimes a red colored letter in it. Options not
available at the screen are gray. If you don't have a
mouse, type ALT-Space (Press the ALT-button and the space-
bar simultanisly).
That menubar down at the screen is not a menubar but a
statusline: That are often used commands so you don't have
to go to the top of the screen, pop down a menu and select
the right command but just click once on the command.
You can move up and down using the keys on the numeric
keypad: the cursorkeys are for moving up, right, down and
left. PageUp and PageDown move 20 lines up or down. If
you're in a messagewindow, you can also use the Enter key
for moving 20 lines down.
Moving to the previous screen can be done by the escape-
key.
When you've selected an option that takes some time (due to
disk-access or sorting) you get a waitbox. It displays the
reason of the waiting period and a small scroller which
indicates how much of the work already has been done.
On the screen you see sometimes a horizontal bar. This bar
has two meanings: In the Mainwindow it indicates which
echoarea you want to read and in the Echowindow it indica-
tes which message you are going to read or mark.
4.2 Changing between windows
There are 5 windows:
o Main-window whit the available echoareas.
o Message-list-window with a list of available messages
for this area.
o Message-window with the text of the message.
o Netmail-list-window with all the netmail messages.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 9
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──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
o Netmail-window with the text of a netmail message.
4.2.1 Main-window
This is the window you get when you start. It will display
something like this:
ECA │ 3│ 0│ 1│ 4│
Int. Pascal │ 218│ 0│ 0│ 218│
Loc. Pascal │ 45│ 32│ 0│ 77│
Gossip │ 2│ 0│ 0│ 2│
GEcho │ 10│ 192│ 0│ 202│
Bad │ 0│ 0│ 0│ 0│
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^
Name of the echo | | | |
Number of messages unread ---+ | | |
Number of messages read --------+ | |
Number of messages deleted -------------+ |
Total number of messages ------------------+
You also see a vertical bar, which can be moved with the
arrow up/arrow down button. With this you select which echo
you want to read.
4.2.2 Message-list-window
When you've selected an echo FNNR will show you the Messa-
ge-list-window and displays a lot of information like this:
17│Edwin Groothuis │92-12-31│ │ A happy new year
102│Anko Hanse │93-01-01│ │Re: A happy new year
105│Jan Evert van Groot│93-01-01│ │ A happy new year
│ │ │ │ └─ Subject
│ │ │ └─Next or previous replies
│ │ └─ Date the message was posted
│ └─ Who has sent the message
└─ The number of the message in the messagebase
Messages can be sorted on:
- Number: The smallest number first, the largest number at
last
- From: Sorted at the name of the sender. In the case
above it would be sorted like: Anko Hanse, Edwin Groot-
huis and Jan Evert van Grootheest. No difference will be
made between lower- and uppercase names. After the sort
the messages from the same person are sorted on number.
- Date: The oldest number first. After the sort the messa-
ges from the same date are sorted on number.
- Subject: (default) The messages with the same subject
(subjects with a "Re: " in front of it are the same as
subjects without the "Re :") are sorted on number.
Messages have three different colors:
- Lightblue: unread or new messages.
- Darkblue: messages you've already read, but not yet
deleted.
- Darkgray: messages you've deleted or with a subject or
sender in the killfile.
When the horizontal bar is on a unread message, it is red.
Otherwise it colored lightgray.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 10
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──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
You can move the bar with the arrow up/arrow down and page
up/page down buttons. If a subject is too long it won't be
displayed completly; Use the arrow right/arrow left here to
scroll the screen.
4.2.3 Message-window
When you've find a message you want to read, move the red
bar to the message and press enter. Now you get the message
on your screen. It will look like this:
From : Edwin Groothuis (2:284/205.1) Status: None
To : All 12 sep 1993 12:32
Subject: Will it be Freenet or the DFF?
────────────────────────────────────────────────<213>─────
Hello everybody,
:
The part with the From, Subject etc. is called the header.
It will be displayed all the time with this message. The <
and > at the last line of the header are parts of the
reply-chain: It indicates if this message is a reply to
another message with the same subject. If there is no
previous reply, the < will no be shown. Same goes for the
next reply and the >. If you want to jump fast to the next
reply, just type the arrow right or the +-key at the nume-
rical keypad.
You can use the arrow up/arrow down/page up and pagedown to
scroll through the message. Or press escape to return to
the message-list-window.
4.2.4 Netmail-list-window
This can be compared with the message-list-window.
4.2.5 Netmail-window
This can be compared with the message-window.
4.3 Command descriptions
Some keys do the same at every window, so they will be
described first. The rest will be described later.
Cursor up:
Move the horizontal bar one position up (if possible).
In the message- or netmail-window the text will scrolled
one line up.
Cursor down:
Move the horizontal bar one position down (if possible).
In the message- or netmail-window the text will scroll
one line down.
Pageup:
Move the screen 20 lines up (if possible).
Pagedown:
Move the screen 20 lines down (if possible).
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
(c) 1993 by Edwin Groothuis Page 11
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FNNR - Fidonet News Reader - version 1.00ß
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4.3.1 The Mainwindow commands
Statusline:
Quit:
(ALT-X) Leave FNNR, go back to msdos
Netmail:
(ALT-N) Go to the netmail-list-window
Menubar:
≡/About:
Gives a small description about FNNR, with version-
number etc.
≡/Systeminfo:
Gives some systeminformation, such as the size of the
available memory, disk-space and OS-version.
≡/Colors:
Let you change the current color-configuration and/or
save and/or load it from disk.
≡/Dos-shell:
Jumps to DOS, where you can run other programs. Type
EXIT at the dos-prompt to return to FNNR. WARNING: Do
not start any TSR-programs while in a dosshell, this
will hang FNNR and your system. When you're in dos,
FNNR will only take 320 bytes of memory.
≡/Quit:
Leaves FNNR, go back to dos.
Maintenance/Toss:
Starts the mail-tosser/scanner to toss. Mostly it
searches in the incoming-directory of your mailer for
new mailpackets and put the messages in the right
area.
Maintenance/Scan:
Starts the mail-tosser/scanner to scan for messages
you've entered, compress them and put the mailpacket
in the outgoing-directory of your mailer.
Maintenance/Pack:
Starts the mail-tosser/scanner to pack the messageba-
se. This means delete all the message older than a
certain date and all messages which are marked as
deleted. This will make your messagebase smaller and
faster to access for FNNR.
Maintenance/Link:
Starts the mail-tosser/scanner to link all messages
with the same subject so you can use the gray + and -
on your numeric keypad to read all messages that
replies on this message. This command is optional
because some tossers can link while tossing or pac-
king.
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Options/Sortby:
Let you choose how to sort the messages in the Echo-
window. Default is sorted on subject.
Message/Show hidden info
Let you toggle the option of showing kludgelines in
the text.
4.3.2 The Message-list-window commands
Statusline:
Quit:
(ALT-X) Update the messagebase, leave FNNR and go
back to msdos.
Unmark message:
(ALT-U) Remove the delete- and read-bits from the
message.
Mark message as read:
(ALT-M) Mark this message as read.
Mark message as deleted:
(ALT-D/DELETE) Mark this message as deleted.
Insert a message
(Insert) Start a new message in this echo.
Menubar:
Maintenance/Purge messages deleted:
This command will purge all messages in this echoarea
which are marked as deleted. This means that the
messages will be marked as removed in the messagebase
and they will not be available for FNNR anymore. When
you've purged messages you should run the Maintenan-
ce/Pack command in the Mainwindow to really remove
them out of your messagebase.
Maintenance/Purge messages read or deleted:
This command will purge all messages in this echoarea
which are marked as read or deleted. This means that
the messages will be marked as removed in the messa-
gebase and not anymore available for FNNR. When you'-
ve purged message you should run the Maintenance/Pack
command in the Mainwindow to really remove them out
of your messagebase.
Maintenance/Unmark messages:
This will mark all messages in this echoarea as unre-
ad.
Options/Sort by:
Let you choose how to sort the messages in the Echo-
window. Default is sorted on subject.
Options/Search text:
Searches for a specified string in the headers.
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Options/Search next:
Searches for the next occurance of this string.
4.3.3 The Message-window
Statusline:
Quit:
(ALT-X) Update the messagebase, leave FNNR and go
back to msdos.
Message to file:
(ALT-F) Save this message to a file. You can specify
the filename. If the file already exist you can ap-
pend or overwrite the file. Behind the file a form-
feed is placed. The text written is the same as the
text in the message-window.
Reply
(ALT-R) Make a reply on this message.
Menubar:
Options/Search in message:
(ALT-M) Searchs in the message for a string. When the
string is found, a vertical bar will be moved to that
line.
Options/Search next:
(ALT-N) Searches from the place where the last time
the string was found. If there was no string speci-
fied, an errormessage will be displayed.
Message/Show notes:
The body of the message not only contains text, it
also has some information in it like the sender, the
mailprocessor and, in case of a reply, the sender of
the message which is replied. These can be made visi-
ble by choosing Show Notes. However they can be edi-
ted in the dialogbox, the changes will not be saved.
Message/Netmail-reply
Reply to this message by netmail.
Message/Edit message
Change the text or header of this message.
Message/Forward
Make a copy of this text in another echo. This can be
handy if you see a message in an local echo but want
it to be answered in an (inter)national echo.
Keys:
Delete:
Mark this message as deleted and go to the next re-
ply. If there is no next reply, return to the messa-
ge-list-window.
Arrow-right or + on the numerical keypad:
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Go to the next reply. If there is no next reply, go
back to the message-list-window
Arrow-left or - on the numerical keypad:
Go to the previous reply. If there is no previous
reply, go back to the message-list-window.
4.3.4 Netmail-list-window
Same as Message-list-window
4.3.5 Netmail-window
Same as Message-window.
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5. Messages
Now for a important part: writing a new message, replying
to other messages and editing messages.
5.1 Creating a new echo-message
How to create a new message? Just move to the correct echo
[for example: ECA] and press the insert-key. You'll get a
dialogbox like this:
╔═[■]═════════════ New Message ══════════════════╗
║ ║
║ From: Edwin Groothuis ║
║ To: All ║
║ Subject: ║
║ ║
║ Ok ▄ Cancel ▄ ║
║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║
║ Crossposted in: ║
║ ECA ║
║ ║
║ ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
From:
That's your name, you can't change it, it's taken from
the configurationfile.
To:
The name of the person you're writing to. If you don't
write to someone particular (because you have a question
or it is for everybody important) it's common you use
'All'.
Subject:
A small (70 characters) description of your message.
Crossposting:
Crossposting is posting the same message in several
echo's. This can be done for messages which have so-
mething to do with 2 different topics.
Example: If your have troubles using TurboPascal with
Desqview, you crosspost the message in the Pascal-echo
and the Desqview-echo.
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5.2 Creating a new netmail-message
Move to the netmail-area (go back to the mainscreen and
press ALT-N) and press insert.
╔═[■]═════════ New netmail message ══════════════╗
║ ║
║ From: Edwin Groothuis ║
║ To: ║
║ Address: ║
║ Subject: ║
║ CC: ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ Options: [ ] Crash ║
║ [ ] Hold Ok ▄ ║
║ [ ] File Attached ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║
║ [ ] File Request ║
║ [X] Kill/Sent Cancel ▄ ║
║ [ ] Confirmation ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║
║ ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
From:
That's your name, you can't change it, it's taken from
the configurationfile.
To:
The name of the person you're writing to.
Address:
The 4D-address from the person you're writing to. An
example is 2:284/205.1 for me. If you don't include the
point-number (.1), FNNR assumes you're going to write to
a boss-system (like 2:284/205).
Have a look at this translation table:
My address is 2:284/205.1. When I enter the following
addresses, it will be sent to the real addresses:
address: real address:
.0 2:284/205.0 (=2:284/205)
2:284/205.2 2:284/205.2
284/205.2 2:284/205.2
283/205.2 2:283/205.2
205.3 2:284/205.3
If you don't know the address, it sometimes can be found
in the nodelist. If it is there, FNNR will ask you to
select the correct address for that person. (see also
Nodelist)
Subject:
A small (70 characters) description of your message.
CC:
Carbon copy, or: To who the message also must go. Just
enter the names, for the addresses will be asked later
when you've entered the message.
Options:
Crash:
Do not route this message, but send it directly to
the boss-system
Hold:
Do not send this message, but wait for the system to
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pickup this message.
File Attached:
There is a file coming with this message. The filena-
me (and directory) is specified in the subject-field.
File Request:
Request a file from that address. The file you want
is specified in the subject-field. It's usefull if
you also mark the crash-field, so your system is
picking up the file directly.
Kill/Sent:
Delete this message when it's sent to your uplink.
Confirmation:
Send a confirmationmessage when this message is read
on the remote system. Note on this: Not every mail-
reader supports this function, and not every user of
reader who support it do use it.
5.3 Replying to an echo-message
Replying to an echo-message is even easier than writing a
new message: There is nothing to fill in anymore (although
you can change the fields)
5.4 Replying to a netmail-message
Just like replying to an echo-message is easier than wri-
ting one, replying to a netmail-message is easier than
writing one. Here also counts: Everything is already filled
in (but it also can be changed if necessary).
5.5 Netmail-reply on an echo-message
Such replies are easy if you don't want to mess up the echo
because this message is completly off-topic or because it's
with private information or something like that. If you use
this option, you'll get the same window as when you reply
to a netmail-message. But sometimes the address is not
filled in: this is because some mail-reader do not insert a
MSGID-kludge in the message. In that case the address in
the origin-line must be entered or, if you know it, entered
from your own memory. Now you can enter the message just
like you've replied to a netmail-message.
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6. OTHERS
6.1 Next versions (maybe)
Next version of FNNR can have the following options:
- Internal editor (had some real problems with the Turbo-
Vision editor)
- Optimized key-options (like swapping from one echo to
the next, the next unread etc)
- More kludge-options like CHARSET (think I'm gonna need
VGA for this)
- Support for JAM and/or Squish
- Improved configuration-procedure
- You know something? Tell me!
6.2 Disclaimer, errors etc.
If you have problems with running FNNR I only can say: It
works fine at my place! But I can give you a few hints:
- Do all the programs specified in FNNR.CTL exist?
- Always .EXE or .COM appended at the programname?
- Is the messagebase-directory correct? (without a \!)
- Do the messagebase-files MSGINFO.BBS, MSGTXT.BBS, MSG-
HDR.BBS, MSGIDX.BBS and MSGTOIDX.BBS exist in the messa-
gebase-directory?
- Does the external editor need more memory than you
think? (Perform a FNNR-dosshell and look for the amount
of free memory (with MEM /c or something). After that
quit FNNR and start the editor. Try to quit to dos and
look the amount of memory the editor uses.)
- Remove the read-only flag from the messagebase-files and
FNNR.CTL
- If you got a runtime-error try to find the error in your
TurboPascal manual. Write down the number and address
and send it with a netmail to me, maybe I can fix it.
- Disk full? (specialy after a reply or new message)
- Repack your messagebase and try again.
If all this above not work, I should say (and I'm sorry
about it) try an other mailreader.
BTW. You find the program awful and messy? Then you ha-
ven't seen the source yet :-)
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