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Text File | 1995-08-13 | 27KB | 625 lines

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Silver Xpress Off-Line Mail/Fax/Forms System │ │ Version 4.3 │ │ (c) copyright 1988-1995 by Santronics Software │ │ All Rights Reserved │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Welcome! You have taken the first step to using the most powerful and flexible off-line mail system in the world! Thousands of people worldwide are using the Silver Xpress Mail System. Now, you will see why! If you are a veteran user of Silver Xpress, we have provided a Summary Section in the WHATSNEW.DOC file. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Full documentation and a bound manual are provided with the normal │ │ registration price of $51.00+S/H. $36.00 just for the registration │ │ code without the manual. (Upgrade $30.00 and $15.00 respectively). │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Read REGISTER.DOC and REGISTER.USR for registration information. Read SUPPORT.DOC for the Santronics Support Policy. ┌─────┐ │FILES│ └─────┘ This is the list of files you should expect in this package: README.NOW - This file FILE_ID.DIZ - Standard description of the archived file BETATEAM.DOC - List of beta testers for Silver Xpress FEATURES.DOC - List of features supported in Silver Xpress INSTALL.EXE - Automatic installation program LICENSE.DOC - License and copyright information PRICES.DOC - Current Pricing Schedule and Discounts SUPPORT.DOC - Santronics Software Support Policy REGISTER.DOC - Registration Information REGISTER.USR - Purchase Order Form SILVER.ZIP - Archive of main executable files SYSFILES.ZIP - Archive of program data files WHATSNEW.DOC - Listing of what's new in this release The archive, SILVER.ZIP, decompresses into the following files: Real Mode Version Only: XPREAD.EXE - New Silver Xpress Version 4.00 XPREAD.OVR - Real Mode Overlay file DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.1 Protected Mode Version Only XPREADP.EXE - Protected Mode Version of XPREAD.EXE SXZIP.DLL - Silver Xpress ZIP Dynamic Link Library RTM.EXE - Protected Mode Run Time Manager The archive, SYSFILES.ZIP, decompresses into the following files: 228MENU.LIB - Example customized menu for XPREAD.EXE ALIAS.LIS - Pick list of alias names ARCHIVER.DEF - File compression utility definitions *.CLR - Various pre-defined color files for reader. CABINET.LIS - Pick list of file cabinet names FAXCOVER.LIS - Pick list of fax cover files FAXFILES.LIS - Pick list of common fax files FAXPHONE.LIS - Pick list of common fax phone numbers IMPORT.LIS - Pick list of files to import into messages INTERNET.LIS - Pick list of Internet addresses KWFILE.KW - Sample keyword list file MAILPROC.LIS - Pick list for mail processor MATRIX.LIS - Pick list for netmail matrix numbers NETFLAGS.LIS - Pick list of netmail attributes PICKLIST.LIS - Pick List of all the list files in the system PRINT.LIS - Print device pick list PROPKT.BAT - Sample mail packet processor REPLYHDR.LIS - Reply Header list file RULE1.MSR - Sample Search rule file RULE2.MSR - Sample Search rule file RULE3.MSR - Sample Search rule file KILLMAIL.MSR - Kill Selected Mail rule file SAMPLE.SIG - Sample signature file SEARCH.LIS - Pick list file for the search system SIGN.LIS - Pick list of signatures STOLEN.LIS - Pick list template of stolen taglines SUBJECT.LIS - Pick list of subject lines SXMENU.LIB - Default pull down menu for XPREAD.EXE TAGS.LIS - Pick list of taglines USER.LIS - Pick list of addresses WELCOME.OPX - Sample OPX Mail Packet XPERT.DAT - Xpress Expert data file XPLANG.DEF - Language file XPREAD.HLP - Hypertext help file XPREAD.SFI - Speech Friendly Interface configurable strings SFI.DOC - Speech Friendly Interface documentation SYSFILES.DOC - Discussion of environment strings If you have anything different or missing, please contact us and inform us of any discrepancy. We want to ensure that your copy of Silver Xpress is not maliciously manipulated in any way. Silver Xpress was checked for viruses before and after the packaging process. Silver Xpress is packaged using PKZIP Version 2.04g with an Authenticity Verification called of Santronics Software. ┌───────────────┐ │BONUS PROGRAMS │ └───────────────┘ If you are registering Silver Xpress for the first time, you will receive an official Silver Xpress Diskette. The diskette will have a BONUS directory. In the BONUS directory, you should find: SXCLR43.ZIP - Xpress Reader Color Customization Program SXDM100.ZIP - Xpress Reader Menu Customization Program DTREE421.ZIP - Simple Directory Display Program SPOT213.ZIP - Super Fast Seek and Act File Search System SXM105.ZIP - New Silver Xpress Hard Disk Menu System XPRNAMER.ZIP - Xpress Packet Rename Utility by Fred Merrick These programs are valued at over $100.00. They are yours free of charge with your registration of the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS │ │ │ │ o IBM PC or compatible │ │ o DUAL FLOPPY with minimum of 720K Each │ │ o IBM DOS or MS DOS 3.1 or better │ │ o 512K Ram Memory │ │ o Monochrome/Color Monitor │ │ │ │ IDEAL SETUP │ │ │ │ o IBM DOS or MS DOS 3.1 or better │ │ o CGA Monitor or better │ │ o Hard disk with 2-5 megs of Free space │ │ o 512K Ram Memory with 2K or more of Expanded/Extended memory │ │ o Silver Xpress located on the DOS PATH statement │ │ o INTEL Model 400 FAX/Modem for Faxing and V32 communications │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌────────────┐ │INSTALLATION│ └────────────┘ BBS SHAREWARE VERSION: TYPE PKUNZIP SXR43, THEN INSTALL (You did this already if you are reading this) DISKETTE VERSION : TYPE A:INSTALL.EXE. (You did this already if you are reading this) 2.28 XPRESS USERS: If you are already using Silver Xpress version 2.28 or below, backup your copy, DELETE THE OLD XPREAD.EXE, and then install the new system. 3.0X & 4.xx XPRESS USERS: If you are already using Silver Xpress version 3.0x, you can simply install this version on top of the previous version. However as a precaution, we suggest you make a backup first. This is the best way to get the most out of Silver Xpress. NEW USERS: To make Silver Xpress work the FIRST TIME, there is ONLY one thing you need to know: Xpress uses 3rd party programs to compress and decompress information (mail). It must be able to find them. You can put them in the same directory as Silver Xpress or in a directory in your PATH. The Silver Xpress installation program will check to see if the archive utilities can be found. Check the ARCHIVER.DEF file and modify to list specific names of the utilities on your system, particularly the two versions of PKZIP. HARD DISK USERS: As an example, we will use "C:\SX" as your Silver Xpress directory. Make the proper substitution for your setup. 1) Create a directory called C:\SX 2) Expand the Silver Xpress files into this directory 3) Edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and add the following to your PATH statement: PATH C:\SX;....plus what was here before..... 4) Reboot your computer To start Silver Xpress, change directory to C:\SX and type XPREAD FLOPPY DISK USERS: We apologize, but after 6 years of revolution, Silver Xpress has evolved beyond low density 5.25 360K floppy disk usage. Silver Xpress can work on a floppy disk with 720K at a minimum, but you will be pushing it. After installing Silver Xpress on a high density floppy disk, the next step is to make sure the COMSPEC for DOS is located on the same drive as Silver Xpress. This means Silver Xpress should be on a bootable diskette. See your DOS manual to make a BOOT diskette. The second requirement is that you must have a second drive which can be another floppy or a ram drive. The following is the minimum list of files required to run Silver Xpress: XPREAD.EXE XPREAD.OVR SXMENU.LIB XPERT.DAT XPREAD.HLP These files add up to approximately 400K. All other files found in the package are not required, but you will not have certain features avail- able to you such as picklist files. Put these files on the BOOT diskette. Create a CONFIG.SYS file for the BOOT diskette which includes the following: FILES=20 BUFFERS=8 Create an AUTOEXEC.BAT file for BOOT diskette which includes the following lines: @ECHO OFF PATH A:\ SET COMSPEC=A:\ SET XOL=A:\ A:\XPREAD.EXE -MB:\ -RB:\ -WB:\ Format a second diskette on drive B, and label it as your MAIL DISKETTE. At this point, you should be all set up. If you have any problems, call Silver Xpress Technical support at 305-248-3204, 9am-7pm EST, Monday thru Friday. ┌─────────────────────────────────┐ │SPECIAL FEATURES IN SILVER XPRESS│ └─────────────────────────────────┘ Santronics offers an optional 140 page professional bound manual with your purchase of Silver Xpress. Since it has graphical illustrations it is not possible to have a complete "TEXT" based version of the documentation. We feel the Interactive Hypertext Help system is sufficient for get you by most of what Silver Xpress has to offers. The manaul goes into in many topics in much more detail. INTERACTIVE HYPERTEXT HELP: You will find the Silver Xpress hypertext help system to be very useful. Everything in Silver Xpress is explained, except in a few places where more detailed information is required. Some of the details are explained here, but to get the most from Silver Xpress, you will need the full documentation. Whenever you need help, simply Press F1. Use the ALT-F1 key to browse backwards in the help system. Full, printed documentation is available from Santronics Software for $15.00. QWK SUPPORT: Silver Xpress supports QWK mail files. This allows you to benefit from the power of the Silver Xpress Mail Reader for non-Xpress QWK mail systems. If you want Silver Xpress to understand QWK, make sure your defined packet specification includes the *.Q?? file specification. The default specification is *.Q?? *.O??. This option is under MAIL LOCATION in the configuration section. EXEC SWAPPING (REAL MODE ONLY. NOT REQUIRED IN PROTECTED MODE) Silver Xpress will utilize as much memory as required to successfully negotiate a mail session. In REAL Mode, whenever a DOS operation is performed from Silver Xpress, it is quite possible to RUN OUT OF MEMORY, thus causing the DOS operation to fail. When this situation occurs, you can use the built-in EXEC SWAPPING feature of Silver Xpress to free up memory prior to calling the DOS operation. If you insert certain prefixes to the command, it will enable certain exec swapping or other operations. Prefix Command none Xpress will use COMMAND.COM. Program must be on the path. ! Direct call to Program. Program must be Fully Qualified. $ Exec Swap. Program must be fully qualified. # Exec Swap. Xpress will call COMMAND.COM. Program on must be on the path. W Pop up a window and run program using COMMAND.COM. No swapping will be performed so make sure the program has enough memory. Here is the format: W <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2> [command] [parameters] where x1,y1,x2,y2 are window dimensions. see archiver.def for window example with pkzip. (Fully qualified means the complete drive:\path\filename.ext must be included, such as C:\WP60\WP.EXE). ARCHIVER DETECTION: Silver Xpress has the ability to detect the most common type of mail packets compressed with 3rd party archivers, such as PKZIP, LHA, ARJ. You can define up to 20 different archiver detectors. The ARCHIVER.DEF file defines all of the major archivers currently available. They are pre-defined and should work in all cases. However, the archiver utilities must be located in a PATHed directory. You can optimize the archiver detection system. The OPTIMIZING SILVER XPRESS section of this file describes how. CRASH CALL OPTION: The new Silver Xpress has an option where you can create a file called XPRESS.CLO, which is designed to interface with telecommunications programs such as Gold Xpress or Telix. The XPRESS.CLO file has the following format: field1 field2 field3 field4 field5 where field1 telephone number of host to call field2 board id field3 OPX or QWK file name field4 REP file name field5 BIF file name To create this file, use the CALL option in the packet loader screen. There are several methods to interface the Silver Xpress CRASH CALL option with your telecommunications program. One way is to configure your telecommunications program to call XPREAD.EXE directly. This is the Gold Xpress method. However, if your telecommunications program is large, and does not have its own exec swapping logic, you will probably run out of memory when you try this. Another way is to use a batch file like the one below: -- SX.BAT -- @echo off xpread %1 %2 %3 %4 if not exist c:\telix\xpress.clo goto quit cd \telix telix callxp :quit This batch file assumes TELIX is the telecommunications program, and a TELIX script file callxp is available. SILVER XPRESS FORMS SYSTEM: The Silver Xpress Mail System implements a powerful forms processing utility. If you are a SYSOP or a system integrator, you will find the Silver Xpress Forms System to be a powerful and flexible method to allow for most offline data entry applications. Since this is usually a defined option, it is documented with the door package. An example of Silver Xpress Forms is the Order Entry Form off your Xpress Services menu. Your Sysop may have turned it off. If it is available, this is one way to order the reader program electronically. If you are a professional developer or systems integrator and wish to explore the possibilities Silver Xpress Forms may have for your organization, download the file FORMTOOL.ZIP from any Xpress Distribution System (XDS) BBS. SILVER XPRESS FAXXPRESS SYSTEM: Your Sysop may have implemented a FAX Service. If so, you will see options to allow you to send fax messages through his system. Talk to your sysop about the possibilities of Fax Mail. MENUS: Silver Xpress now uses a pulldown menu system. You can even use a mouse if you have one. The menus may be customized with the SXDYMENU.EXE program. This program is available as SXDM100.ZIP and can be found on the Xpress Distribution System (XDS) Bulletin Boards. Silver Xpress will always load the menu SXMENU.LIB. You can explore the alternate menu system with the sample 228MENU.LIB by typing: XPREAD -X228MENU.LIB A BBS can also define the menu you will see. If a BBS operator chooses to provide a customized menu with your mail packet, you cannot override his customization. By customizing your menus, you can create canned mail options such as: "Send Mail to Charlie" "Send Echo Mail Rules for Xpress User Conference" or create menus that read specific areas such as: "Read Netmail Area" "Read Private Conference"" "Read LAN MHS Mail" or create a hard disk menu system such as: "Run Word Perfect" "Call Telix" 43/50 LINE MODE SUPPORT: You can configure Silver Xpress to use 43/50 line mode support. Silver Xpress will adjust its windows dimensions in most places to take advantage of the added screen space. You can temporarily switch to 43/50 line mode by using the -V50 switch when you start Silver Xpress. SPEECH FRIENDLY INTERFACE: If you are visually impaired, you will find Silver Xpress to be the best offline electronic mail system designed to present mail to you in the most friendly and clear spoken manner. Xpress has configurable talking cursors and long strings to control the verbosity of the system. In addition, a talking quoter and talking grammer system are built into Silver Xpress. These are revolutionary electronic mail features. With the Talking Quoter, mail is presented in a paced fashion. You will hear who said what. With Talking Grammer, you can use the reader cursor to place the cursor anywhere on the message and have it speak the next paragraph, sentence or word! Use the -SFI switch the first time you use Silver Xpress to activate the speech friendly interace. CONCEPT QUOTER: Silver Xpress has a new utility which allows you to quote mail on a line by line basis. While you are reading mail, press the Q key to quote the current line. Continue pressing the Q key for each line you wish to quote. Silver Xpress will hold the quoted lines in a temporary buffer. If you want to add your reply to the lines you just quoted, press the ALT-Q key. Silver Xpress will take you to the internal editor and put the cursor at the bottom of the quoted lines. This unique feature gives you the ability to quote mail on a concept basis without the need to quote the entire message first. What you end up with is a CLEAN concept by concept quoting system! ANSI MAIL: Silver Xpress can now display ANSI messages. ANSI messages have ANSI escape sequences to create fancy displays. NOTE: If you create ANSI mail using TDRAW or a similar program, you must set the save width to 80 characters or less. Otherwise, Silver Xpress will truncate your mail. LIST FILES: This version of the Silver Xpress reader has an enhanced list file system. You can press the F2 key at almost any input file to pop up a list of the list files you have created. PICKLIST.LIS - List of all the pick list files REPLYHDR.LIS - Displayed when creating new mail USER.LIS - Displayed at the TO WHOM: ALIAS.LIS - Displayed at the FROM WHOM: IMPORT.LIS - Displayed at IMPORT FILE NAME: SUBJECT.LIS - Displayed at the subject line NETFLAGS.LIS - Displayed at NetMail Attributes MATRIX.LIS - Displayed at NETMAIL ToWhom or Net Address CABINET.LIS - Displayed at SAVE FILE NAME: SIGN.LIS - Displayed when creating new mail TAGS.LIS - Displayed when creating new mail FAXPHONE.LIS - Displayed in the Send Fax File section FAXFILES.LIS - Displayed in the Send Fax File section FAXCOVER.LIS - Displayed in the Send Fax File section PRINT.LIS - Displayed when ready to print MAILPROC.LIS - Displayed when D is hit when reading mail SEARCH.LIS - Displayed at the search mail session STOLEN.LIS - Called from TAGS.LIS INTERNET.LIS - Displayed at the Internet Address Line The last three are called from the default TAGS.LIS file using the new "LIST ON LIST" concept. The LIST FILE system now has the ability to pop up an alternate list. To activate this feature, you need the keyword %ALTLIST in the file. With this option on, each item which begins with a @ symbol will be viewed as a file to pop up if selected. In addition, the %ITEM RANDOM keyword was added to the list system. This keyword will randomly highlight an item when the list first appears. See the TAGS.LIS file for examples on how these new keywords are implemented. As of version 3.02, you can press ALT-P to display the "PICKLIST.LIS" file and edit any of the files in the list. There is no longer a need to exit Silver Xpress to modify these files. COMMAND LINE SWITCHES: -Cxxxx Use XXXX configuration file instead of default XPREAD.CFG -Xxxxx Use XXXX menu file instead of default SXMENU.LIB -DV Force Desqvu Mode -V50 Force 43/50 video line mode -Wxxxx Change the default work directory -Mxxxx Change the inbound mailbox directory -Rxxxx Change the outbound replybox directory -O Do not do any archiving. It was done outside. XXXXXX is required. But xxxxx should be the file name of the OPX file. Xpress will only use this to get the Xpress file name. Note: HLD and BIF files are created in the path speci- fied by XXXXX; otherwise they are created in the work directory. It is your responsibility, if you go this route, to take this into account. -S Go directly to the configuration menu. -SFI Enable the Speech Friendly Interface System. -Lxxxx Directly load the file (xxxx is the file spec). /CHIN Use Normal ASCII characters for drawing boxes. /VI Special switch to make certain items more "wordy". /MOFF Force the mouse support OFF. /E3=XX Switch for people (chinese language) who want to change the default QWK message delimiter. XX is a HEX number". /TC# Change the ticker tape speed ┌────────────────────────┐ │OPTIMIZING SILVER XPRESS│ └────────────────────────┘ There are several things you can do to speed up the operation of Silver Xpress. 1) If you generally use a single archiver such as PKZIP/PKUNZIP or ARJ and anything else, we recommend you edit the Archiver Information and hard code full paths for the archiver. For example: USE ARCHIVER DETECTION: NO USE PACKET DETECTION : NO EXPANSION : $C:\UTILITY\PKUNZIP.EXE -O %1 COMPRESSION : $C:\UTILITY\PKZIP.EXE -M %1 The same holds true for your external editor and any other 3rd party program you define within Silver Xpress. In other words, "Being Specific is Terrific" for faster operations. When you do this, you can also disable "CHECK PROGRAM EXISTENCE" in your miscellaneous variable section. 2) If you have plenty of RAM available, specifically more than 280K after you start Xpress, it is probably not necessary to use the EXEC SWAP symbols $ or #. 3) If you want to use a RAM drive and have plenty of space for it (1MEG recommended), you can put your work directory here. Keep in mind that you are vulnerable to a loss of reply mail if an accidental boot or computer lockup occurs. 4) To reduce memory requirements, you can redesign the pull down menu. An external program called SXDYMENU.EXE is available as a separate package to allow you to customize your menus. A sample menu 228MENU.LIB is provided with reduced menu options. By removing some of the options you don't normally use, you can make significantly more memory available for Silver Xpress. 5) Silver Xpress uses an OVERLAY system defined in the XPREAD.OVR file. If you don't have extended memory but do have a RAM drive, you can do the following to speed up the loading of the overlay system: a) Copy your XPREAD.OVR over to the RAM Drive, say F:\ b) Define the following environment string, SET XOL=F:\ Another way is to copy the XPREAD.EXE file over to the ram drive. Silver Xpress will first look for XOL and if not found, look for the XPREAD.OVR file in the same directory as XPREAD.EXE. 6) If you find Silver Xpress EXEC SWAPPING taking a bit too long, this is probably because it is SWAPPING to DISK rather than EXPANDED memory. If you have a RAM drive, you can tell XPRESS where to SWAP its files by setting the environment string, SET XESP=F:\XPREAD.SW$. You must give it a full file path and name. 7) Single mail system users such as QWK or OPX only can speed up the packet search system by changing the packet specification. The packet specification tells Xpress what files (packets) to look for when displaying the Mail Packet list (Packet Loader). If you only use OPX, change the packet specification to say "*.O??". You can do the same for QWK if you only use QWK packets. Remember, "Being Specific is Terrific".