@DATABASE "NesQWK" @AUTHOR "Doug Roberts" @(c) "Copyright 1995 NoLimits Software Corp." @$VER: NesQWK Offline QWKMail Reader v1.04 (24/09/95) # ------------------------------------------------------------------------- # If there is ONE thing I HATE about writing software, its documentation... # ------------------------------------------------------------------------- @NODE MAIN "Table of Contents" @{b}NesQWK Offline QWKMail Reader V1.04@{ub} (C)Copyright 1995 NoLimits Software Corp. @{fg shine} Table of Contents @{fg text} @{" Introduction " LINK Introduction } @{" Usage " LINK Usage } @{" Registration " LINK Registration } @{" Problems " LINK Problems } @{" System requirements " LINK Requirements } @{" Credits " LINK Credits } @{" Installation " LINK GettingStarted } @{" The future " LINK Future } @{" Configuration " LINK Configuration } @{" Revision history " LINK History } @ENDNODE @NODE Introduction "Introduction" @{b}Introduction@{ub} Welcome to NesQWK, a QWKMail Compatible Offline Reader. @{"Jim and Doug" LINK Credits} hope you find this program easy and simple to install and use. This software is provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The author is not responsible for any damage or loss of data due to use of this program, these are solely the users concern. If you have any problems not sorted out by this documentation, then don't forget to @{"drop us a line" LINK Contact}! Take a look at a the @{"preview" SYSTEM "sys:utilities/multiview NesQWK.iff"} screen grab to see what NesQWK looks like. @{"What is QWKMail?" LINK WhatisQWKMail} @{"Why Should I Use NesQWK?" LINK WhyNesQWK} @ENDNODE @NODE WhyNesQWK "Why Should I Use NesQWK?" @{b}Why Should I Use NesQWK@{ub} NesQWK was written because it was felt that the various other offline readers were not quite as fully featured or easy to use as they could be. They all seemed to have strange qwirks which could leave the user fustrated and annoyed. The idea behind NesQWK was to create a QWKmail reader that was easy to use, and yet had all the features that you could possibly require in an offline reader. We know that there are other OLR's available with more features, but do you really want/need those features? (Let @{"us" LINK Contact} know if you do!) Features : o Easy to @{"install" LINK GettingStarted} and @{"setup" LINK Configuration}, o Fully font sensitive - conforms to the look that @{i}you@{ui} want, o Quick and easy to use - no messing around, o @{"Graphical button bar" LINK Buttons}, o @{"Tag-line" LINK Taglines} and @{"signature" LINK Signatures} support, o Ease of @{"skipping" LINK NextBundle} between sucessive message bundles. o Automatically reformats reply messages to a suitable width, wrapping the text and taking quoted lines into consideration. See : @{"Future features" LINK Future} @ENDNODE @NODE Registration "Registration" @{b}Registration@{ub} NesQWK is @{b}SHAREWARE@{ub}. That means, if you like it and use it regularly, you should really think about registering it! So, how much does it cost to register? Well, that's up to what you think it's worth. If you want, just send us some mail (real or electronic), and we will consider you registered. You will still have the 'Unregistered' text in every message you send, but your conscience will be cleared! Alternatively (and preferrably!), a small cash donation (£10?) to help fund NesQWK and other products that are in the pipeline, would be very gratefully accepted. If you choose this method we can either post you the latest copy (without the 'unregistered' text), or send it to you electronically. Send registration stuff to : James Good, NoLimits (NesQWK Registration), 15 The Meadway, Horley, Surrey, RH6 9AN UK @ENDNODE @NODE Requirements "System Requirements" @{b}System Requirements@{ub} NesQWK will run on any 680x0 processor based Amiga, with at least 1Mb of RAM. A hard disk will certainly be an advantage, but is not necessary. NesQWK requires that your Amiga has an operating system version of 2.04 or higher, and ReqTools. OS version 3.0 features will be taken advantage of, if available, and is the preferred system. An @{"archiver" LINK Archivers} such as Lha or ZIP is also required to extract mail bundles. NesQWK will look at it's best on a 640*512 (or higher) screen, with a 8 or more colours. It will, however, run on anything you ask it to, it just won't bring the much nicer MagicWB style buttons and logo into play until it's running on a 'hi-res interlace' style screen. This documentation was written with an OS3.0+ system in mind; the following differences will be noticed on OS2.04 systems : o The help system, including the InfoHint(tm) box, o NesQWK's list displays will not be as pretty, or as nice to use, o The archiver output window will not be displayed on NesQWK's public screen (see the 'Show output' option in the @{"General" LINK General} settings window. o The button bar images will not be re-mapped to the host screen's palette. @ENDNODE @NODE GettingStarted "Installation" @{b}Installation@{ub} To install NesQWK, simply run the 'Install NesQWK' installer program. This will copy the relevent files to where you want to install NesQWK, as well as asking a question or two about how you would like it configured. If you indicate that you don't have MagicWB installed, NesQWK assumes you are running on a non-interlace screen and installs a suitable font for NesQWK use. If you have MagicWB installed, a sample config file with MagicWB default fonts will be setup. And that's it! No messy assigns or anything. Once you've done that you'll need to @{"configure" LINK Configuration} the rest of the program to your settings, and then you're ready to go... @ENDNODE @NODE Configuration @{b}Configuration@{ub} The following areas have to be configured before using NesQWK : @{" Directories " LINK Directories} @{" General " LINK General} @{" Display " LINK Display} @{" Directories " LINK Directories} @{" Bundle Archivers " LINK Archivers} @{" Save Settings " LINK SaveSettings} All configuration requesters have the following three buttons at the bottom : Save : This saves the options you have changed, and closes the requester. Anything you do from now on will use those settings. This does the same as selecting @{"Save settings" LINK SaveSettings} from the 'Settings' menu. Use : This enables the settings you have changed (but does not save them), then closes the requester. If you exit NesQWK your changes will be lost. This enables you to test your configuration without having to continually save your configuration. If the changes look OK after testing them, they can be saved by selecting @{"Save Settings" LINK SaveSettings} from the menu. Cancel : This returns you to NesQWK, forgetting any changes that you may have made to the requester. Use this if something has gone horribly wrong! Note that whenever the setup is saved, NesQWK will also save the positions of all open windows on the screen. Once you have configured everything, you should be able run NesQWK without any @{"problems" LINK Problems}. Before you can start to read and write mail, you first need to @{"download your first bundle" LINK DownloadingBundles} from your local BBS. A sample bundle is included with NesQWK so that you can explore NesQWK's features. @{"Using NesQWK" LINK Usage} @ENDNODE @NODE Usage "Usage" @{b}Usage@{ub} The following sections describe how NesQWK can be used. @{" Windows " LINK Windows} @{" Menus " LINK Menus} @{" Tool-bar buttons " LINK Buttons} @{" Downloading mail bundles " LINK DownloadingBundles} @{" Storing mail bundles " LINK StoringBundles} @{" Reading your mail " LINK ReadingMail} @{" Posting a new message/reply " LINK PostingReplies} @{" Editing/deleting a reply " LINK EditingReplies} @{" Finishing a session " LINK SavingReplies} @ENDNODE @NODE DownloadingBundles "Downloading Mail Bundles" @{b}Downloading Mail Bundles@{ub} The way that you download QWKMail bundles will vary from BBS to BBS. For specific help on downloading a QWKMail bundle, ask your Sysop. He/she should be able to guide you through the use of the specific BBS QWKMail facility. As a rough guide, however, the following should suffice : o Turn on your amiga, and boot to the Workbench. (!) o Start your comms package (Termite, Term, NComm etc) o Logon to your local BBS, and enter the QWK door. o Make sure you are configured to receive the correct conferences. o Use the QWK door to export a mail bundle (alternatively named a mail packet). o Download the exported mail bundle. o Logoff from the BBS. o Start NesQWK. o Select the @{"grab" LINK GrabBundle} option. You are then free to @{"read" LINK ReadingMail}/@{"reply" LINK PostingReplies} to your mail. @ENDNODE @NODE StoringBundles "Storing Mail Bundles" @{b}Storing Mail Bundles@{ub} When starting out using NesQWK, it may be a sensible time to decide how you want to store your mail bundles. Some people simply store one bundle at a time, and delete it once they have read it and generated their replies from it. This method is useful if disk space is at a premium, or you are simply not interested in the mail for later reference. Another way, is to let all the bundles that you receive build up in NesQWK's bundle directory. This way, they are always available to refer back to them at a later date. To assist you in maintaining a directory of mail bundles, NesQWK offers facilities to automatically copy the bundles from your terminals download directory and @{"rename" LINK BundleNaming} them with sensible, unique filenames that let you know where the bundle came from, and the date it was downloaded. This process is activated by performing a @{"grab" LINK GrabBundle}. @ENDNODE @NODE ReadingMail "Reading Mail" @{b}Reading Mail@{ub} Once a mail bundle has been successfully opened, the first message contained within it will displayed in the @{"message viewer" LINK MainWindow}. The message that is displayed in the viewer will be referred to as the 'current' message. If the message text does not fit on screen in its entirety, you may use the up and down cursor keys, or the scroll bar to the right of the window, to scroll through it. Shift + the up and down cursor keys moves a page at a time. Once you have read the current message, the next message in the bundle can be displayed by pressing the cursor right key, or pressing the @{"next message" LINK Q100} button on the button bar. Similarly, the previous message can be accessed with either the cursor left key, or the @{"previous message" LINK Q101} button. Another convienient way to read through messages is to use the 'space bar' and 'backspace' keys. 'Space' will move forwards through messages a page at a time, automatically moving to the next message at the end of the current one. 'Backspace' does the opposite of 'space'. There are several ways that you can change to a different message conference. Firstly, you may click on the @{"conference list window" LINK ConfListWindow} button, and select a new conference from the list of those available. Secondly, the cursor right and left keys, when used with the 'alt' key, will move to the next and previous conference. See also : @{"Searching your messages" LINK SearchWindow}. @ENDNODE @NODE PostingReplies "Posting New Messages and Replies" @{b}Posting New Messages and Replies@{ub} First, a quick introduction to how NesQWK manages your replies and new messages... When you post (or add) a reply or new message, NesQWK will store it in a special conference named 'Replies'. This conference can be read just like any other in your message bundle, and you can keep on adding as many messages into it as you wish. When you come to close down the bundle, however, all the messages in this conference will be taken out and placed into a special 'reply' file. This reply file (also known as the reply bundle) is then automatically compressed by NesQWK, using your specified archive utility (see @{"Bundle archiver settings" LINK Archivers}). It is then in the correct form for uploading onto your local BBS, allowing other Fidonet and QWK Mail users around the world to read your messages. If you want to know more about uploading the reply bundle onto the BBS, chat to the BBS sysop. Sysops are normally very helpful in this area... Back to NesQWK... Replies and new messages are treated very much in the same way. The only differences are that replies are automatically addressed back to the person you are replying to, and a few options are only applicable to replies. To send a reply, make sure that the main screen is showing the message that you wish to reply to, and then click on the 'reply' button on the toolbar, or select 'Post reply...' from the message menu. To send a new message, simply click on the 'new message' button on the toolbar, or select 'Post new...' from the message menu. From here on, we will only describe the reply operation - new messages (as said before) are treated very similarly. The top left of the reply window contains the addressing information : Who the message is to, your name and the subject matter. Also shown in the name of the conference that the message is to be placed into. This can be changed by clicking on the 'Set...' button, but defaults to the name of the conference that the current message is in. The send option check-boxes are located at the top right of the window. The first tells NesQWK to make the message private or not. If you choose to make it private, nobody but the person that you are sending the message to will be able to read it. The next option ('Keep original') applies only to reply messages, and indicates whether NesQWK should include the senders message in your reply. 'Quote type' is the next option, and only applies to reply messages that have the 'Keep original' option turned on. When set to 'xx>', the message that you are replying to will be @{"quoted" LINK Quoting} with the senders initials : JG> This was the original senders message. It's JG> not a very long message, is it? Setting it to 'x>' will only quote with the senders first initial, and 'None' will not change the original at all. The bottom half of the window contains the @{"header-text" LINK HeaderText} and @{"tag-line" LINK Taglines} selector. The header-text can be changed by one of two ways. Firstly, clicking on the set button to the right of the header-text string gadget will produce a list-box which can be used to select a predefined header line from the list. Secondly, you can type free-form text into the string gadget, and that will be used as the header. Leaving the header-text empty will dis- able the header-text feature. The tag-line list shows all the tag-lines contained in the NesQWK.tagline file, with the selected tag-line being shown in the input line below the list. It is this selected tag-line that is appended to the bottom of the message. When the window is first displayed, a tag-line will be randomly selected for you, but you may select another by either clicking on a different one in the list, or pressing the 'Random' button. This button will randomly select a tag-line for you. Once all the above has been filled in, click on the 'OK' button at the bottom of the window, and the message will be posted into NesQWK's reply conference ('NQ-Replies'), ready for archiving and uploading onto your local BBS. Cancel will abort the message. @ENDNODE @NODE EditingReplies "Editing/Deleting Replies" @{b}Editing/Deleting Replies@{ub} To edit a reply message, select the message that you want to change (i.e. make sure it is displayed in the main window), and select '@{"Post reply" LINK Q110}' from the message menu, or click on 'reply' on the @{"button bar" LINK Buttons}. From here on, the procedure for editing a reply is the same as creating it in the first place, except that all the details entered when the reply was first generated are already filled in. See : @{"Posting replies" LINK PostingReplies}. To delete a reply, so that it will not be included in the reply bundle, select the message that you want to delete, and select '@{"Delete reply" LINK Deletereply} from the message menu. To prevent the reply message being accidentally deleted, NesQWK will ask if you are sure first. @ENDNODE @NODE SavingReplies "Finishing a session" @{b}Finishing a Session@{ub} When you have finished your NesQWK session, and are ready to quit the program, simply click on the close gadget, or select 'quit' from the menus. NesQWK will then close down all it's open windows, and unload from your Amiga's memory. Don't forget to save any settings changes before doing this! If you have created or edited any replies or new messages, they will automatically be saved away into a reply bundle. @ENDNODE @REM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Bits+Bobs --- @NODE BundleNaming "NesQWK Bundle Naming Convention" @{b}NesQWK Bundle Naming Convention@{ub} When a bundle is @{"grabbed" LINK GrabBundle}, it is placed into the bundle directory, and and renamed. This renaming process will give the bundle a file name that consists of the following information : A two character ID designating the source BBS, A minus sign, The date in the form DDMMMYY, and the extension of '.QWK'. For example, a bundle from a BBS called @{"'Little Green Men'" LINK LGM} on 24th December 1994 will become 'LG-24Dec94.QWK'. This means each packet for each BBS on each day (phew!), will have a unique file name. However, if you receive @{i}more@{ui} than one bundle on each day, an incrementing ASCII character (beginning with 'a') will be added after the date. So, the second bundle in the above situation will become 'LG-24Dec94a.QWK'. See : @{"Storing bundles" LINK StoringBundles} @ENDNODE @NODE LGM "Little Green Men BBS" @{b}Little Green Men BBS@{ub} This BBS operates from a base in Smallfield, Surrey, near Gatwick airport in the UK. It provides the main support base for NesQWK. Upgrades and patches may be obtained from here, as well as a chance to talk to the authors. It is run by Doug Roberts, with a little help from Jim Good. These names may be familiar to you ;-). @ENDNODE @REM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @NODE Windows "Windows" @{b}Windows@{ub} The following windows are central to NesQWK's user interface : @{" Main window " LINK MainWindow} @{" Message list window " LINK MsgListWindow} @{" Conference list window " LINK ConfListWindow} @{" Search window " LINK SearchWindow} @ENDNODE @NODE MainWindow "Main Window" @{b}Main Window@{ub} The main window is where most of NesQWK's features are used from. It consists of three main areas : @{fg shine}The message viewer.@{fg text} The message viewer is the largest element of the window, and it is in this area that the messages are displayed. @{fg shine}The message header panels.@{fg text} The message header panels are located about the message viewer. These panels contain information pertaining to the current message. Each item is explained below : From : The name of the person who sent this message. To : Whom the message is addressed to. Subj : The subject matter of the message. Conf : The name and number of the conference that the message belongs to. Date : Date and time that the message was sent. Msg : The number of this message, and the number in this conference. Also shown next to the 'Msg' item, is the private message indicator. If the current message is marked as private for you, then the word 'private' will appear here. @{fg shine}The button bar.@{fg text} The button bar is located underneath the message viewer. It consists of a number of buttons with graphical images in them, and they provide a quick way of accessing NesQWK's more common functions. See : @{"Button bar" LINK Buttons}. There is another area that optionally appears below the message viewer, above the button bar. This is known as the InfoHint(tm) bar, and provides help on what the various parts of the main window do. As you move the mouse cursor over the buttons, and header area, a single line of text will be displayed here describing the function of the area. The InfoHint(tm) feature is enabled in the @{"general" LINK General} config window. @ENDNODE @NODE MsgListWindow "Message List Window" @{b}Message List Window@{ub} This window displays a list of all the messages in the current conference. The list has three headings that show the message subject, who the message is from, and who it is to. The current message (the message currently being displayed in the main window) is indicated by the highlighted bar. Any message in the list may be made the current message by double clicking. The window can be resized, and the three columns will grow and shrink as the size is changed. If the 'Auto msg list close' option is checked in the @{"General" LINK General} setup window, the window will automatically close when a message is selected from the list. @ENDNODE @NODE ConfListWindow "Conference List Window" @{b}Conference List Window@{ub} This window displays a list of all the conference areas present in the current mail bundle. Two 'special', NesQWK internal conferences also exist, both of which are prefixed with the letters 'NQ'. The first (named 'NQ-Personal') is only present if you have messages addressed to you, and contains all of your that are present in the other conferences. It is useful when you need to quickly scan through a bundle to check your personal mail. The other, named 'NQ-Replies', is present when your have replies (or new messages) waiting to be packed into a reply bundle. When a conference is double clicked in this window, the first message of that conference will be made the current message, and displayed in the main window. This window contains two columns in the list, the right hand column showing the name of the conference, and the left hand one switching between showing the conference number, and the message count within the conference. To switch between the two values in the left column, click on the little '*' button in the top right hand corner of the window. The window can be resized, and the three columns will grow and shrink as the size is changed. If the 'Auto conference list close' option is checked in the @{"General" LINK General} setup window, the window will automatically close when a conference is selected from the list. @ENDNODE @NODE SearchWindow "Search Window" @{b}Search Window@{ub} Searching lets you scan through all the messages within the current bundle (or through a smaller range) for given pieces of text. If a match is found, that message is made current, and displayed. This window will multi-task with NesQWK whilst you are reading your messages. The four areas of the message that you can search in are shown and the top of the window, along side four input lines into which you can enter the text you wish to search for : @{fg shine}Sender@{fg text} Enter the name of the person that you want to look for. Putting 'GRAM PARSONS' in here will find messages sent by Gram Parsons. @{fg shine}Recipient@{fg text} Place the user name of the person that you want to look for. Entering 'MATTHEW SWEET' will find messages sent to Matthew Sweet. @{fg shine}Subject@{fg text} Placing 'Who drank my beer?' here will search for messages with that subject title. @{fg shine}Message@{fg text} Text entered here will be searched for within the message body text, i.e. the message contents. The search options are located under the above input lines. The first option ('Search range') is a cycle gadget that determines which messages will be searched. 'All conferences', 'Current conference' and 'Current message' are the self-explanatary choices you have. Next option is a check-box labelled 'From start'. Checking this means that the search will start at the very first message in the bundle, as opposed to the current message. 'Exact match', the next check-box, tells NesQWK to make sure that the text it finds exactly matches what you asked for. If this is not checked, partial matching will be enabled. This can be useful, for instance, if you are searching for a message from someone, but you are not sure of their full-name, only their first name. Entering 'RICHARD' in the 'Sender' input line will find all the messages from people with 'RICHARD' in their names. i.e. RICHARD GOOD, RICHARD JAMES or even KEEF RICHARDS. The control buttons are located below the options. 'Search forwards' will start the search process searching forwards towards the end of the bundle, whilst 'Search backwards' will start the search process searching towards the first message in the bundle. Close will close the window. Bear in mind that searching a large mail bundle for text in the message-body of messages in 'All conferences' can take some time... @ENDNODE @REM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @NODE Menus "Menus" @{b}Menus@{ub} The following list details the options avaliable from NesQWK's menu bar : @{b}Project@{ub} @{"Open bundle... " LINK Q111} @{"Open last bundle... " LINK OpenLastBundle} @{"Close bundle... " LINK Q112} @{"Next bundle... " LINK NextBundle} @{"Previous bundle... " LINK NextBundle} @{"Grab bundle " LINK GrabBundle} @{"Information... " LINK Information} @{"Erase bundle... " LINK EraseBundle} @{"Print " LINK Print} @{"Print as... " LINK PrintAs} @{"About... " LINK About} @{"Quit " LINK Quit} @{b}Message@{ub} @{"Post new... " LINK Q117} @{"Post reply... " LINK Q110} @{"Delete reply " LINK DeleteReply} @{"Search... " LINK Q119} @{"UUDecode file... " LINK UUDecodeFile} @{"Steal tag-line... " LINK StealTagline} @{"Save text... " LINK SaveText} @{b}Window@{ub} @{"Message list open " LINK Q109} @{"Conference list open " LINK Q118} @{b}Settings@{ub} @{"General... " LINK General } @{"Display... " LINK Display } @{"Directories... " LINK Directories } @{"Bundle archivers... " LINK Archivers } @{"Edit tag-lines... " LINK EditTagLines } @{"Edit header-text... " LINK EditHeaders } @{"Save Settings " LINK SaveSettings } @ENDNODE @NODE Buttons "Tool-Bar Buttons" @{b}Tool-Bar Buttons@{ub} To make NesQWK quicker and easier to use, it has a graphical tool-bar located at the bottom of the main window. This consists of a number of buttons, which, when clicked upon, provide easy access to common menu or keyboard operations. If the NesQWK window is resized small enough, some of the buttons will not physically fit into the window. When this happens, the buttons will disappear from the left hand side. The most used buttons are to the right, so this should cause as little inconvenience as possible. From right to left the buttons are : @{"Next message " LINK Q100} @{"Previous message " LINK Q101} @{"Next conference area " LINK Q113} @{"Previous conference area " LINK Q114} @{"Message list window toggle " LINK Q109} @{"Conference list window toggle" LINK Q118} @{"Post reply message " LINK Q110} @{"Post new message " LINK Q117} @{"Close bundle " LINK Q112} @{"Open bundle " LINK Q111} @{"Font toggle " LINK Q116} @{"Show search window " LINK Q119} @ENDNODE @This is all the individual options including the autohelp stuff! @NODE Q111 "Open Bundle" @{b}Open Bundle@{ub} Selecting this will display a file requester showing the contents of the bundle directory. After selecting a mail bundle file, and clicking on 'OK', the bundle will be opened, and ready for use. Any bundle open will automatically be closed. Note : NesQWK can be made to automatically perform this operation on startup. See the 'Startup operation' in the @{"General" LINK General} settings window. @ENDNODE @NODE OpenLastBundle "Open Last Bundle" @{b}Open Last Bundle@{ub} This menu option will automatically re-open the mail bundle previously in use. This can be useful when NesQWK has to be closed down in the middle of a large mail reading session - simply re-start NesQWK, select this option, and continue reading from the same bundle. Note : NesQWK can be made to automatically perform this operation on startup. See the 'Startup operation' in the @{"General" LINK General} settings window. @ENDNODE @NODE Q112 "Close Bundle" @{b}Close Bundle@{ub} Selecting this will close a mail bundle. This involves packing any reply messages and releasing the memory used to store the open mail bundle. This will probably not be used that much due to the fact that all of the 'open bundle' operations automatically close any open bundles, as does the 'Quit' option. @ENDNODE @NODE NextBundle "Open Next/Previous Bundle" @{b}Open Next/Previous Bundle@{ub} If mail bundles are @{"stored" LINK StoringBundles} in the 'bundle directory' (see @{"directory settings" LINK Directories}) with the correct NesQWK @{"bundle naming" LINK BundleNaming} convention, then this option can be used to open the next/previous bundle in chronological order. The current bundle will be automatically @{"closed" LINK Q112} first. This can be useful when steping through several bundles in date order, for example, when searching for a particular message. @ENDNODE @NODE GrabBundle "Grab Bundle" @{b}Grab Bundle@{ub} This will look in your specified download directory for a mail bundle. If one is present it will move it to the bundle directory, interrogate it to find out the download date etc, and name the file accordingly. The bundle is renamed using the @{"NesQWK bundle naming convention" LINK BundleNaming}. This facility provides a way to store and manage large collections of mail. See : @{"Storing bundles" LINK StoringBundles}. @ENDNODE @NODE EraseBundle "Erase Bundle" @{b}Erase Bundle@{ub} Selecting this option will produce a file requester, allowing you to choose the bundle that you wish to remove from your disk. Once selected, click on OK, and confirm that you wish to proceed. NesQWK will now remove the bundle file permanently. Use this facility with care! @ENDNODE @NODE Q100 "Next Message" @{b}Next Message@{ub} Display the next message in the current conference. If there are no more messages in the current conference, the first message in the next conference will display. @ENDNODE @NODE Q101 "Previous Message" @{b}Previous Message@{ub} Display the previous message in the current bundle. If there are no more messages in the current conference, the last message in the previous conference will display. @ENDNODE @NODE Q109 "Toggle Message List" @{b}Toggle Message List@{ub} If the @{"message list window" LINK MsgListWindow} is open, this option will close it. If it's closed, this will open it. @ENDNODE @NODE Q110 "Post Reply Message" @{b}Post Reply Message@{ub} Post a reply to the current message. See : @{"Posting a new message/reply" LINK PostingReplies} @ENDNODE @NODE DeleteReply "Delete Reply Message" @{b} Delete Reply Message@{ub} Delete the current reply (or new) message. See : @{"Editing/Deleting Replies" LINK EditingReplies} @ENDNODE @NODE Q113 "Next Conference" @{b}Next Conference@{ub} Moves to the first message in the next conference. @ENDNODE @NODE Q114 "Previous Conference" @{b}Previous Conference@{ub} Moves to the previous conference in the bundle. If the current message is not the first message in the conference then this will move to the first one, and not change the conference. @ENDNODE @NODE Q116 "Toggle Message Font" @{b}Toggle Message Font@{ub} Toggles between the two message fonts, specified in the 'Display Config' window. Typically, this will be a proportional (i.e. XHelvetica) and a non-proportional (i.e. Topaz) font. @ENDNODE @NODE Q117 "Post New Message" @{b}Post New Message@{ub} Post a new message into the current conference. Once done, the new message will appear in the 'Replies' conference, where it can be further edited or deleted. See : @{"Posting a new message/reply" LINK PostingReplies} @ENDNODE @NODE Q118 "Toggle Conference List Window" @{b}Toggle Conference List Window@{ub} If the message conference list window is open, this option will close it. If it is not open, this will make it so. @ENDNODE @NODE Q119 "Search" @{b}Search@{ub} Open the search window. See : @{"Search window" LINK SearchWindow} @ENDNODE @NODE UUDecodeFile "UUDecode File" @{b}UUDecode File@{ub} This option will extract files that have been attached to the message using the UUEncode protocol. UUEncoded files can generally be identified as looking something like the following : begin 644 Close.iff M1D]230```>!)3$)-0DU(1````!0`(``@``````,"`````!86`H`"`$--05``^ M```8JJJJ````____:)*[F9F9N[N[NZJ9_[NJ1U)!0@````0`$``00T%-1P``^ M``0`"I`$0D]$60```8``````_____@````!U4``!@````'50``!J```!@```" M`&H```!?___Y@````%____@__#_Y@`/``#_^?_A.Z4[ID1:Q$%_]?_@_\*_Y_ M@`]0`#_XO_A*I_*IE5@-4%_T'_@7`F!QB/W?B!\`0/A*!O*IE?G-4%\`PO@5^ M/_V1BOON:!\#X7A*`^"IE?W?4%\%T'@`?<6!G[ZZ>!]`A7@"(J*AG=U=6!\BK M*G@`OW4!GW^Z^!T`1+@`0`(AG[_]V!R`B1@`,!0AG\_KV!Q54A@`&`@AC^_WZ MR!PBI!@`#_`AG_`/V!P0"!@````AB___R!P@!!H````AE___T!Q``A@````A- MB___R!R``1H````AD___T!P``!@````AB___R!P``!H`___A@````!\``!P`` M```!@B(B(!____H````!@````!____P````!@````!____H````!@````!__/ F__P````!@`````````H````!@````````59_____```````````!; `` end size 488 If you see something like this, selecting this option will decode the file. The UUDecode utility must be setup correctly for this to work, however. See : @{"General Settings" LINK General}. @ENDNODE @NODE StealTagLine "Steal Tag Line" @{b}Steal Tag Line@{ub} This option will attempt to locate a @{"tag-line" LINK Taglines} within the current message. If one is found, NesQWK will ask for confirmation for putting the line into the tag-line file. If you ask i.t to do this, the tag-line will be available for use when replying or creating new messages. Tag-lines are identified by one of the following pre-fixes to the line : ... Tag-lines aren't funny... | AnyText | Taglines are funny... This should allow to take tag-lines from most popular messaging programs. @ENDNODE @NODE SaveText "Save Text" @{b}Save Text@{ub} This option will save the current message text out to a file. A file requester will pop up before doing so, and ask you to supply the file name of the file to place the message into. If the file specified already exists, NesQWK will add the message onto the end of the file that is already there. @ENDNODE @NODE Information "Information" @{b}Information@{ub} This option displays a window containing information about the currently open mail bundle, and the BBS that it came from. Simply click on the OK button to close this window. @ENDNODE @NODE Print "Print" @{b}Print@{ub} Print the current message to your chosen print device. For more information, see the @{"print as" LINK PrintAs} page. @ENDNODE @NODE PrintAs "Print As..." @{b}Print As@{ub} Allows the printing options to be configured. The following settings are available : @{fg shine}Printer device@{fg text} : This is the path to which messages will be printed. This can be a true device name such as 'PRT:', or a fully qualified path and file name, allowing messages to be printed to disk files. @{fg shine}Print message information@{fg text} : With this option selected, an information banner will be printed at the top of each message. This banner shows useful reference information, such as the name of the sender and recipient, what conference the message came from, and what BBS the message came from. There are also a series of buttons at the bottom of the window. Those to the right hand side are identical in operation to the save, use and cancel buttons in the standard @{"configuration" LINK configuration} requesters. The 'print' button on the left, however, will perform the same operation as the @{"Print" LINK Print} menu option - namely print the current message with the current settings. @ENDNODE @NODE About "About" @{b}About@{ub} This gives you a bit of general info about your copy of NesQWK. @ENDNODE @NODE Quit "Quit" @{b}Quit@{ub} This will exit the program. If reply messages have been edited / created, the reply bundle will be updated / generated automatically. @ENDNODE @REM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @NODE General "General Settings" @{b}General Settings@{ub} @{fg shine}Message editor@{fg text} : This is the path to your selected message editor. Use the SET gadget to bring up a file requester. Find and select your chosen text editor and press OK. Once you have selected the editor, command line options may be added onto the end of the path/command line. @{fg shine}UUDecoder@{fg text} : This is the path/command line for your selected UUDecoder. This option is only relevent if you will be receiving encoded binary files within your mail bundles, and may be left alone if this does not apply to you. See : @{"Attached files" LINK UUDecodeFile}. @{fg shine}Signature file@{fg text} : The @{"signature file" LINK Signatures} contains ASCII text, and is appended onto the bottom of all outgoing messages. If this facility is not required, leave this option empty, otherwise supply the path to your signature file using the 'Set...' button. The 'Edit...' button can be used to edit the signature file using the editor detailed above. @{fg shine}Startup operation@{fg text} : When NesQWK is invoked, it will use the setting in this option to determine what action will be taken. The following options can be cycled through. o Nothing - NesQWK will do nothing. o Bundle open requester - Allow you to select a bundle without having to select open from the menu/ tool-bar. o Open last bundle - Re-open the bundle in-use when NesQWK was last exited. @{fg shine}Auto msg list close@{fg text} : With this box checked, the @{"message list window" LINK MsgListWindow} will be automatically closed when a message is selected by double-clicking it's entry in the list. @{fg shine}Auto conference list close@{fg text} : When checked, the @{"conference list window" LINK ConfListWindow} will automatically close itself when double-clicking a conference area. @{b}Note@{ub} : The above two options are useful if you prefer to have large list windows that cover most of the screen, as opposed to small lists that do not overlap the main window. Generally, users of lower- resolution monitors will have these options enabled. @{fg shine}Show output@{fg text} : This toggle button selects and deselects the display when unpacking mail bundles. When the output is turned off, the display is less cluttered, but turning it on can help when trying to sort out problems with unpacking mail bundles, because you can see any errors that the archiver may display. @{fg shine}Show InfoHint(tm) box@{fg text} : The InfoHint(tm) box is located at the bottom of the main window and displays a brief description of each part of the main window when the mouse pointer is moved around. With this option turned off, the box is not displayed. @ENDNODE @NODE Display "Display Settings" @{b}Display Settings@{ub} Display settings determine how NesQWK will appear visually. All the fonts that NesQWK uses can be changed, as can the type of screen that you want it to use. @{fg shine}Main font@{fg text} : This font is the main font used by NesQWK, and is used to render all of the buttons, lists, check boxes etc in the windows, as well as the information boxes in the main window. This can be either a fixed or proportionally spaced typeface. @{fg shine}Proportional scroller font@{fg text} : Used to display the message body text. This does not have to be proportional. @{fg shine}Fixed width scroller font@{fg text} : Similar to the above option, but we suggest setting it to a fixed width typeface. @{fg shine}List font@{fg text} : This font is used by all of the lists. For example, the message and conference lists. This can only be a proportional font. Note : When you change any of the above font settings, NesQWK will perform a quick check to make sure that the font is not too large for the current screen. If it is too large, the previous setting will be re-instated. @{fg shine}Custom screen@{fg text} : When checked, this checkbox will tell NesQWK to open onto it's own (custom) screen, as opposed to the Workbench (or default public) screen. It will display the screen mode name currently selected next to the checkbox. This screen mode can be changed by clicking on the 'Set...' button to the right of the mode name, and selecting a new mode from the list. Once created, the custom NesQWK screen is made public, with a name of 'NesQWK'. Other programs can then open themselves on the NesQWK screen. When the box is not checked, NesQWK will open on the default public screen, which is usually (but not always) the Workbench screen. @ENDNODE @NODE Directories "Directory Settings" @{b}Directory Settings@{ub} NesQWK needs to know where you store your mail, and where you comms package puts its uploads and downloads. To change any of the directories used by NesQWK click on the 'SET...' button next to the relevent directory setting. This will bring up a file requester. Select the directory you want to use for that option (they are all explained below) and click on the OK button. @{fg shine}Work directory@{fg text} : (Default : 'Ram Disk:NesQWKTemp/') This is the directory NesQWK uses for its temporary work files as it opens and closes bundles. There should be enough room on this drive to store the complete uncompressed mail bundle. This may be as small as a 1K, or as large as several megabytes, so make sure there is sufficient space available. @{fg shine}Bundle directory@{fg text} : (Default : NesQWK program directory) This is the directory in which you store all your mail bundles. Some people keep just one bundle and delete it once read, others keep every single bundle they receive for reference. See : @{"Storing bundles" LINK Storingbundles}. @{fg shine}Reply directory@{fg text} : (Default : 'Ram Disk:') This is the directory you want to place your reply files. This will usually be set to the same location as your chosen comms package's upload directory. @{fg shine}Download directory@{fg text} : (Default : 'Ram Disk:') When you download a QWKmail bundle from the BBS your comms software places that file in its download directory. You should set this option to that directory. If downloaded QWKmail bundles are placed in this directory, the @{"grab" LINK GrabBundle} option can be used to automatically copy them into your NesQWK bundle directory, renaming them in the process. See : operating principles. @{fg shine}Saved text directory@{fg text} : (Default : 'Ram Disk:') This is the directory messages will be placed in when you save them as text files. @ENDNODE @NODE Archivers "Bundle Archiver Settings" @{b}Bundle Archiver Settings@{ub} The archiver settings are vital to the operation of NesQWK - without at least one of the archiving types correctly setup, NesQWK will be unable to take any messages out of message bundles. NesQWK does not attempt to handle the archiving itself - it relies on external utilites to do the work for it. It is in this settings window that you tell it what commands to execute to use these external utilities. The first step to take is to find out what archiving type you need to use. Your BBS sysop should be able to help with this matter, but it will most probably be LHA on most Amiga based BBS's, or Zip on PC based systems. To further confuse the issue, most BBS's will let you select other archivers. Each of the three archiving types (LHA, Zip and Arc) that NesQWK supports has a 'Pack' and 'Unpack' string gadget, as shown below : Pack Unpack LHA .............. ............... Zip .............. ............... Arc .............. ............... These gadgets must be filled in with the commands that NesQWK should execute to perform the pack (extracting messages from the bundle) and unpack (adding replies to a reply bundle) operations. As an example, lets say that our BBS requires us to use the LHA method. We know that the LHA utility resides in the 'SYS:Tools/' directory on our hard disk. We also know that to add (pack) files into an archive, we need to give the 'a' parameter to LHA. Similarly, an 'x' parameter is used to remove (unpack) files from an archive. So, knowing these details, we can enter the following into the settings window : Pack Unpack LHA SYS:Tools/LHA a SYS:Tools/LHA x Zip ............... ............... Arc ............... ............... On a more technical note, when packing a bundle, NesQWK will attempt to add the name of the bundle followed by the name of the uncompressed .MSG file to the pack command string. When unpacking, it will just add the name of the bundle. This method of archiving should be compatible with most archivers. @ENDNODE @NODE EditTagLines "Edit Tag-Lines" @{b}Edit Tag-Lines@{ub} This option will invoke your message editor to edit the 'NesQWK.taglines' file (located in the NesQWK program directory), where all the @{"tag-lines" LINK Taglines} are stored. This is a plain ASCII file, so all text-editors will be able to cope with it (with a bit of luck!). Obviously, for this option to function correctly, your message editor must be properly configured in the @{"general settings" LINK General} settings window. @ENDNODE @NODE EditHeaders "Edit Header-Text" @{b}Edit Header-Text@{ub} This option will invoke your message editor to edit the 'NesQWK.headers' file (located in the NesQWK program directory), where all the @{"header-texts" LINK HeaderText} are stored. This is a plain ASCII file. Obviously, for this option to function correctly, your message editor must be properly configured in the @{"general settings" LINK General} settings window. In this file, any lines that are pre-fixed with a ';' character are taken to be comment lines, and are not used at all by NesQWK. Comment lines can be seen at the top of the supplied header-text file, explaining what the various expansion macros do. Expansion macros are used to tell NesQWK where in a header line to insert the various bits of message information. For instance, the macro '%n' is replaced with the full-name of the sender of the original message. The following expansion macros are available : %n - Full name of sender, %r - Full name of recipient, %N - First name of sender, %R - First name of recipient, %s - Subject matter, %d - Date present on original message, %D - Todays date. @ENDNODE @NODE SaveSettings "Save Settings" @{b}Save Settings@{ub} This operation will save the settings that are currently in use to a file named 'NesQWK.config' in the program directory. Once this has been done, NesQWK will use these settings everytime it is started up. @ENDNODE @REM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @NODE WhatisQWKMail "What is QWKMail?" @{b}What is QWKMail@{ub} QWKMail is an offline message format. Using QWKMail allows you to call a BBS, collect all waiting messages, transfer them to your computer, and read them after you have logged off of the BBS. You can then read them with a QWK compatible message reader such as NesQWK. New messages can be edited with your favourite text editor. Some of the advantages of using QWKMail include: * Collecting all waiting messages into a QWKMail bundle usually takes only a fraction of the time it takes to read messages online, resulting in lower phone bills. * Since your replies are edited offline, you can take as much time as you need to enter and reply to messages. You also have the advantage of using tools that may not be available when using BBS editors, such as spelling and grammar checkers. * You can easily save or print messages for future reference. The QWK format was created in 1987 by Mark 'Sparky' Herring. It is based on Clark Development Corp.'s `PC-Board' Version 12.0 BBS message base format. The QWKMail format is now supported by most BBS programs either internally or by an external 'door' program. @ENDNODE @NODE HeaderText "Header-Text" @{b}Header-Text@{ub} 'Header-texts' are usually found in the first line of a reply message. A typical header line would look something like this : On 08 Jul 95, James said the following to me, regarding NesQWK : As can be seen from the above example, it provides a brief resume on the message that this message is a response to. NesQWK provides support for maintaining a selection of Header-texts in a standard ASCII file, called NesQWK.headers. A few sample headers are supplied, but you may easily add your own using the @{"Edit Header-Text" LINK EditHeaders} option from the Settings menu. @ENDNODE @NODE TagLines "Tag-Lines" @{b}Tag-Lines@{ub} Tag-lines are optionally added onto the end of a reply (or new) message. Most people use witty sayings and statements, and they serve no-purpose but to brighten up the message a bit. NesQWK stores all it's tag-lines in a plain ASCII text file, and it allows you to build up a library of them by 'stealing' from other peoples messages. Only single line tag-lines are supported. @ENDNODE @NODE Signatures "Signatures" @{b}Signatures@{ub} You will see that many people have a set signature that appears on all of their mail. This often includes details such as their various mailing addresses, BBSs they run, signatures made up of ASCII characters and even miscellaneous quotes. Large signatures are normally frowned upon, and can lead to some unwelcome mail along the lines of "I'm fed up of continually downloading 50 megs worth of your signatures." Four lines or so seem to have become the acceptable limit. @ENDNODE @NODE Quoting "Quoting" @{b}Quoting@{ub} When following up to an article, many offline readers provide the facility to quote the original article with each line prefixed by `> ', as in In article <1232@foo.bar.com>, sharon@foo.bar.com wrote: > I agree, I think that basketweaving's really catching on, > particularly in Pennsylvania. Here's a list of every person > in PA that currently engages in it publicly: : :e:tc : : : This is a severe example (potentially a horribly long article), but proves a point. When you quote another person, edit out whatever isn't directly applicable to your reply.3 This gives the reader of the new article a better idea of what points you were addressing. By including the entire article, you'll only annoy those reading it. Also, signatures in the original aren't necessary; the readers already know who wrote it (by the attribution). @ENDNODE @NODE Credits "Credits" @{b}Credits@{ub} The NesQWK Offline QWKMail reader was created by NoLimits Software : @{fg shine}James Good@{fg text} Conceptual design and programming, @{fg shine}Doug Roberts@{fg text} Graphics and documentation. See : @{"Contacting us" LINK Contact}. We would also like to thank our team of highly experienced beta testers for their help and support : Graham Rockett (Sorry Graham, couldn't get the brain encoded! May the V8 be with you! ;-)) Iain Guy (For finding more bugs than anyone else! And for actually asking to use NesQWK - we had to press-gang everyone else!) Genom (Wow! 1500cps on IRC to Mexico! Thanks for the enforcer help!) Nick Loman (It was your QWK door that prompted us to write NesQWK!) Philip Vedovatti (For the most excellent NewIcon images... Ta!) Pauli Vauhkonen (The first person outside of NoLimits software to run NesQWK!) Dougs Cat 'Git' (For knocking huge piles of disks off Dougs desk, and walking over our keyboards as we tried to finish NesQWK!) Neil Young (He didn't really have anything to do with NesQWK, but his music was a great help, and it's cool to have his name in these docs!) So, all of you, 'Thanks very much!'... And a big hello to Andrew H and Alison G! The following software was used in NesQWK development : HighSpeed Pascal 1.20 from Hisoft, D-House and Christen Fihl (The compiler + editor used to generate NesQWK code), DPaint 4.5 by Electronic Arts (Used to draw the icons and logos), Designer 1.51 by Ian OConner (For converting the IFF graphics into source code, and for pre- development mock-ups). @ENDNODE @NODE Problems "Problems" @{b}Problems and Trouble Shooting@{ub} Problem : @{fg shine}NesQWK won't start up.@{fg text} Solutions : Well, there are quite a few reasons why this could happen. Firstly, check to see how much memory (RAM) is available in your Amiga. NesQWK only requires about 350 Kb to run, but more will be needed once you open a message bundle. If a window pops up saying that 'only one copy of NesQWK may be run at a time', and you definitely don't have another copy lurking away in the background (press left Amiga-M to cycle through all the screens open just to check), please check the following. Using the CLI or a directory mananger such as DirWork or DOpus, check to see if NesQWK's @{"work directory" LINK Directories} already exists. This may happen if another program has locked it (some text editors have a habit of doing this), and the directory will need to be removed before NesQWK will start up. A reboot is a sure-fire way of fixing this! Problem : @{fg shine}NesQWK won't let me read any of my bundles.@{fg text} Solutions : Check your @{"archiver settings" LINK Archivers}... This is probably the most common cause of failure in this area. Also check that you have enough available RAM, especially if your @{"work directory" LINK Directories} is located in a RAM disk. Don't forget that a large message bundle can easily be as large as 1.5 Mb. Try turning on the 'Show output' option in the @{"General" LINK General} settings window. Problem : @{fg shine}I replied that I didn't have MagicWB when installing NesQWK, and thought that I would see NesQWK's font in my font requester. Why do I not see it?@{fg text} Solution : Are you running a font list cache program? If so you will have to re-create the font list be running a utility that re-scans the font directory. See your font list cache programs documentation. Problem : @{fg shine}NesQWK crashes your Amiga, or interferes with other programs.@{fg text} Solutions : Really?! Lets us know about it, or it'll never be fixed! See : @{"Contacting us" LINK Contact}. @ENDNODE @NODE Contact @{b}Contacting NoLimits Software Corp.@{ub} Contact Jim at 'jim@amidev.demon.co.uk' or as JAMES GOOD in the Amiga programming Fidonet echo, or 'Alfy' on IRC. Contact Doug at 'doug@nolimits.demon.co.uk' or on the Little Green Men BBS (he's the sysop). Doug also hangs on as 'Bizzmo' on IRC. For our address, see the @{"registration" LINK Registration} page. @ENDNODE @NODE Future "The Future" @{b}The Future of NesQWK@{ub} Well, this depends on you! Let @{"us" LINK Contact} know what you want in the package, and we will do our best to oblige. Of course, @{"registering" LINK Registration} is a sure way of securing NesQWK's future, but we don't want to keep on about it! Here is a list of possible things for the next release : o Implement a database of messages. When you download a message bundle, it will be added into this database - so that all your messages are in one place, not spread across many individual bundles. o Copying of messages to the clipboard. o Address book of names that are frequently used (complete with aliases). o Twit lists. o Much more comprehensive printing options. Plus much more that we don't want to list incase 'a competitor' steals the ideas before we get to use them! @ENDNODE @NODE History "NesQWK Revision History" @{b}Revision History@{ub} @{fg shine}V1.04 (25/09/95)@{fg text} Small fix to allow messages with lines over 255 chars long to be loaded. Changed the way extracting bundles worked slightly - NesQWK now changes the CD to the temporary directory before extracting replies, and no longer adds the name of the dest dir (temp dir) to the end of the extract cmd line. This allows NesQWK compatability with more archivers (namely Unzip). When creating a new mesage, header text is now initially set to nothing, since its not normally needed on new msgs. Changed the text displayed in the conference field for the private and reply areas - it now displays what area the message is in... Removed confusing 'P' in header text, to the word 'private'. Header text in no longer applied when editing replies. Fixed problem reported by Jacek Trzebunia whereby the message list window tick in the menu got out of sync with the windows state. Added an 'are you sure?' requester when deleteing replies. @{fg shine}V1.03 (02/07/95)@{fg text} Fixed bug where keyboard activated gadgets in reply window would still be active if a new message was being entered. Message scroll bar arrows now sized according to screen aspect ratio. Added header text support. Added message when unable to unarchive a bundle due to not being able to find archiver. When reformatting the quoted reply message, NesQWK no-longer outputs quote symbols on blank lines. Added bundle erase option to file menu. Fixed arrows in open & close button images - you can stop bugging me now, Doug! @{fg shine}V1.02 (28/06/95)@{fg text} Fixed bug reported by Dale Frameli where NesQWK was getting stuck in a loop whilst trying to read the message index from the MESSAGES.DAT file. What was happening was that the 'Number of Blocks' field in the bundle was not left justified - even though my docs said it would be. This caused NesQWK to read the message as 0 blocks long, and get stuck in the loop. I now strip all spaces from both sides of strings in the message headers. Also fixed bug where public, non-read messages where being shown to be private. @{fg shine}V1.01 (24/06/95)@{fg text} Shortend the evaluation text line. Fixed a small bugette where changing fonts caused the scroller to flick to the top, the next time you scrolled. Added suggestion from Iain + Teijo Liiri - space bar to read thru msgs page by page, and go to next msg at end of page. Also added backspace key to do reverse of this. Fixed bug reported by Jure Vrhovnik where mail bundles with spaces on the end of the conference numbers in CONTROL.DAT, and null message records in the MESSAGES.DAT files caused gurus. @{fg shine}V1.00 (17/06/95)@{fg text} Added pattern matching to file requester. First release to Aminet! @ENDNODE