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Text File | 1994-12-06 | 18KB | 351 lines

Omega Software Presents The Internet Connection! Version 1.2 Easy Fido to Internet interface for ANY BBS! Copyright (c) 1994 Mark Williamson ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ WARRANTY AND REGISTRATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Although I'd really like to, I can not guarantee this program will function on your system. If you encounter problems or wish to make suggestions, please feel free to netmail me at my Fido net address below. This program is being developed under a new shareware concept. I call this 'Buy it if you want to' software. If you really like Inet, and would like to help me develop more software like it that makes your BBS stand out from the tens of thousands out there, please send $5 to the address below. You don't have to, and I'm not requiring you to, but your money goes to my purchases of new programming tools, libraries, books, and phone bills. Plus, you'll have my undying gratitude for helping out! Mark Williamson Omega Software PO Box 131 Imperial Beach, CA 91932-0131 1:202/750 (Fidonet) ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ CHANGES ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Inet Version 1.2 has a few corrected bugs. The first and foremost being that the temporary message files were not definable. It was wrongly assumed that all QuickBBS clones used the same filename for the temporary messages. This is incorrect. Inet now affords the Sysop the opportunity to specify where the files are, and their names. Also, Inet was not deleting the temporary files. This resulted in the next user seeing the previous user's message info. Fixed. The address book as been expanded. The reply feature is in full swing. Not fully implemented in 1.1. This program is now becoming a long-term project. It was first viewed as a one-time utility, but many sysops have responded so positively, that I couldn't let it die. So, I'm continuing improvements as long as it seems prudent to do so. ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ INTRODUCTION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ This program is a variation of several programs that also transform Fidonet netmail into UUCP style messages to be sent to a Fido/Internet gateway. My thanks goes out to Bob Lopinski for giving me the idea for this program and pestering the hell out of me until I got it to work! Thanks Bob! Until now, sending Internet e-mail through Fidonet systems has been tricky. The host bbs must have some method of getting around the 35 character TO: line limitation that is inherent in almost all BBS systems, mailers and the Fidonet specification. With the Internet Connection, your TO: line is now a maximum of 70 characters, plenty of room for even the longest Internet address. Plus, you don't have to fuss with having to tell the user to write 'To: <Internet address>' in the first line of the message that is destined for your UUCP gateway. Internet Connection takes care of all this for you, and at the same time giving the impression that the program is an integral part of your BBS system! The Internet Connection runs from any BBS menu command line, uses an external editor of your choice, and will write a Fido style .msg addressed to UUCP, to the destination address you specify in INET.CFG. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Make room for the Internet Connection! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ INSTALLATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ To install, create a directory called INET in your RemoteAccess system directory. (You don't have to use RemoteAccess, any BBS will do.) Our example below is from RemoteAccess 2.02. Follow along even if you don't use RemoteAccess, and you may see what you need to do for your particular BBS: 1 2 3 4 5 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 Post (I)nternet message << Message display line C:\RA\INET\INET.EXE /POST C:\RA\ICE\ICEEDIT.EXE /D:C:\RA *M << Command Line Action Execute sub-program (Type 7) Display OptData HotKey I AutoExec No Colour Colour example MinSec 0 TimeUsed 0 MaxSec 0 TimeLeft 0 A flags -------- Age 0 B flags -------- MinSpeed 0 C flags -------- MaxSpeed 0 D flags -------- Credit 0 Notice the command line. First is the full path and filename of INET.EXE. The command line switch /POST tells Inet that it is posting a new message. The full path and filename of your external editor should follow, specifying any options that your editor requires. The INET.CFG file must reside in the same path as INET.EXE. NOTE: Some BBS' and editors work differently. Some require the command line be proceeded by calling command.com first. In RemoteAccess, this is done by *c /c d:\path\program.exe (see menu type 7 for more info). Be sure your editor is set to read the drop files of your BBS type. This has been tested with many popular external BBS editors, you MUST test this on- line as well as local to be sure that it's type is set properly. ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ OPERATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Using this setup, when the user wants to write an Internet message, they will press 'I' from your message menu. This program will then load and ask them for the Internet address and the subject (just like the BBS does). Then, the external editor will be loaded. If the user saves their message (i.e. does not abort it), Inet will reformat the message and write the Fido style netmail message in your outbound netmail directory. Notice we didn't mention your tosser? Your tosser will never come in contact with these message because Inet posts them directly to your netmail directory, in the form of a *.MSG file. When preparing a new message, the user can type '?' on the To: line to get a help screen, which explains what the Internet is, and what an Internet address looks like. If you have enabled the address book feature, they may also type '/' to list their personal addresses, and select one from the list. They may also type in '/' followed by a portion of the address, Inet will then try to find a match and fill in the rest of the address for them! ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ REPLYING TO AN INTERNET MSG ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ You may also wish to place Inet in your External Editor command line (using the same commandline used above, replacing /POST with /REPLY, in your menu command). This method allows Inet to handle Internet e-mail replies as well as regular Internet messages originating from your system. If you have configured Inet correctly, when your BBS performs a message reply, it should write the contents of the original message to a temporary file. This file is usually MSGTMP or MSG.TMP, depending on which BBS software you are using (the actual file name and path must be defined in INET.CFG). If Inet detects /REPLY on the commandline, it will attempt to verify if the message is a reply to an Internet message. If it is not an Internet message, Inet will load the message editor, and do nothing more with the message. It will be processed normally by your BBS. If the message is determined to be an Internet reply, Inet will retrieve the reply address from the message and format the resulting message accordingly. This is all without the user's intervention or knowledge that it is even happening. They simply hit Reply, and your system (Inet) does the rest. The key to this process is Inet's ability to determine if a message is an Internet reply. This is done by looking for a specific text keyword in the message body. Through several tests and actual blunders on the author's part, it has been determined that most UUCP gateway software use a kludge line (an 'invisible' line of text within the message) which contains the keyword 'REPLYADDR' followed by the Internet address of the person who originated the message. This way, when you Reply to the message, this is the destination address. As an added check, Inet will verify the address format of the text that follows the keyword. This has proven effective so far. If your host uses different topology, please send me a message detailing what software they are using, and what keyword Inet should look for. Inet will return to the BBS with an errorlevel of 1 for a reply message, telling the BBS not to write the message to the message base. This is ok since it has already written the *.MSG and your tosser can be configured to IMPORT the outgoing netmails, so your users can see their message did in fact go out. ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ USING THE ADDRESS BOOK ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Inet's Address Book has found great appreciation from Sysops and the users. If defined in INET.CFG, Inet will maintain the Internet addresses the user decides to store away for future retreival. To select an address from the list, all that is needed is to type a forward slash '/' on the 'To:' line when preparing an Internet message. If the user has any addresses in the file, they will be listed, 10 at a time, up to the maximum defined in INET.CFG. You may wish to PACK the address book occasionally, to make searching quicker, as Inet does not permanently remove an address from the file until it is packed. ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ COMMAND LINE SWITCHES ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Inet will uses the following parameters to control its operation: /POST Tells Inet that it should post the message, asking for a To: and Subj: field. If Inet detects a MSGTMP file is an Internet reply, it will not ask for the To: and Subj: fields, but will use the information from the MSGINF file, which the BBS will create. You must remember to specify your desired message editor on the command line with Inet when using the /POST command. /REPLY Explained above. /PACK This command will pack the address file, removing records that were 'removed' by the users. A user can only remove their own addresses from the address book. They cannot remove anyone elses. You may remove all the addresses for a specific user by typing their full name in quotes after the /PACK command line option. For example, /PACK "MARK WILLIAMSON" will remove all addresses owned by Mark Williamson from the address book. Each record in the address book takes 100 bytes, or characters. You can set a maximum address limit in Inet.cfg. /SCAN Tells Inet that it should scan existing netmail messages for an Internet style address, (i.e. those with an '@' symbol in the To: line) and reformat them into a UUCP style message. INET can be run after your net mail is exported from your BBS message base after a caller posted a message. If an "@" symbol is found in the TO: field, it is assumed to be an Internet message, and is then reformatted to the UUCP format with the address (to the gateway), and the flags in the INET.CFG file. /LOCAL Specifies that no comm output will take place, and that no door files are available. Inet has been successfully tested with the following editors: IceEdit TopEd RAEdit * Gedit * * Although Inet has been tested with RAedit/Gedit, there are some problems which Chris Patterson will have to fix. It seems that during the testing phases, we could not get Gedit to load in remote mode (comm output) unless the environment variable GEDIT=BBS:DORINFO was set. It also appears that RAedit cannot use this environment variable. Given that each system is different, you will have to play around with the different options and editors to find one that you like and one that will work correctly from Inet. ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ CONFIGURATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Configuration is easy. Below is a copy of the Inet.cfg file, which is read upon startup. The INET.CFG file must reside in the same directory as the INET.EXE program. ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ CUSTOMIZATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Included in your INET archive, you will find an INETHELP.ANS and INETHELP.ASC file. These are the help screens that are displayed when the user types in 'HELP' or '?' on the To: field of the message. These files will explain the proper format of an Internet address. You can customize these files to suite your taste. They must reside in the same directory as INET.EXE. ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ LEGAL JARGON (LICENSE STUFF ) ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ 1. This is a license agreement between you, the end user, and Mark Williamson, hereafter "the author". The INET version 1.1 software and information attached hereto, hereafter "INET", is the property of the author. Read the terms and conditions of this license agreement carefully before using the software. If you for any reason, whatsoever, cannot accept the conditions in this agreement, you are not permitted to use INET. 2. You acknowledge and agree that INET is a proprietary product of the author, protected by applicable copyright laws and international treaty provisions. You further acknowledge and agree that all rights, title, and interest in and to INET are and shall remain with the author. 3. INET may be used for a period of thirty (30) days on a trial basis to allow you to determine its suitability for your particular application. After this period you MUST register each copy of INET that you run simultaneously. 4. Registration entitles you to a non-transferable license to use INET and any future versions of INET for as long as you wish, subject to any special licensing conditions and/or applicable upgrade fees attached to future versions. 5. In the event that you are in violation of this license agreement, you agree and accept that the author may cancel your registration and any rights to use INET that you may have. In the case of a dispute over the license agreement, you further agree and accept to fully reimburse the author for legal and other expenses resulting from the dispute, should the dispute be decided in favor of the author. 6. INET is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind or fitness for a particular purpose, either expressed or implied, all of which are hereby explicitly disclaimed. The author only guarantees that INET will occupy disk space. The author's liability resulting from your use or inability to use INET is limited to the amount that the affected party has paid for it, or in the event that INET was registered with a third party for payment to the author, liability is limited to the amount that was received by the author from that third party. 7. Neither the author nor any of his employees, agents, or other representatives are in any way obligated to provide future versions of, or support for, INET. 8. You may freely distribute and copy INET provided that no fee is charged and the INET distribution archive contains unmodified copies of the original files as produced by the author. Pay Bulletin Board Systems may, however, charge their normal fee provided that no additional charge for INET is levied. No part of INET may be modified, altered, reverse engineered, sold, or distributed in any form whatsoever which would involve some sort of trade without prior written permission from the author.