IMAIL 1.21 -- Questions and Answers
Version 1.06 (04.11.91)
written by Andreas Klein
(2:241/8002 @ FidoNet)
(57:49/0 @ IntlNet )
0. Introduction
This text should help all people to install IMAIL, the
best mailprocessor I ever seen. Although IMAIL is a well
documented and supported product I noticed that some
problems occur very often. I try to describe possible
situations and solutions which could help you if you use
IMAIL on your system.
If you have a problem not described in this text and you
cannot solve, use the IMAIL-support-echos (IMAIL_HELP).
I try to maintain this text as actual as possible, if you
have problems which should described here, please send me a
netmail with your problem and your solution. Moreover known
bugs (are there any? :-) will be described here, too.
I'd like to thank Felix Kasza, Cliff Jones, Stefan Kaspar,
Klaus Michael Ruebsam and all the others for their help
and answers.
Munich (Germany), 04.11.1991
Andreas Klein
2:241/8002 @ FidoNet
57:49/0 @ IntlNet
1. IMAIL in general
Q: I have a path to IMAIL, but IMAIL doesn't find his
configuration.
A: Set the IMAIL-environmentvariable to the path, where
IMAIL can find its configuration, like
SET IMAIL=E:\FRODO\IMAIL
Now, you can run IMAIL from everywhere without switching
to the IMAIL-homedirectory, first.
Q: IMAIL reports the following error if I try to call TOSS
or PACK:
*** ERROR *** Error in configuration file ->
does not exist
A: Check whether the filename for the reply-text is correct
and whether this files resides in the IMAIL-hom-directory.
Q: I am actually using TosScan and want to try IMAIL. Is
it possible to transfer the TosScan setup into an IMAIL
setup?
A: Indeed, it is. Klaus Michael Ruebsam (2:247/816) wrote
a program, which can transfer the whole TosScan setup
into an IMAIL-setup.
You only have to setup the additional features of IMAIL.
Look for
TS2IM120.*
which should be at least available at the IMAIL-support-
systems.
Q: IMAIL TOSS/SCAN and ALNK always pack the temporary packets
(created by FrontDoor and Intermail) into the arcmail
packets (netmails, file-attaches, ...).
A: Make sure, that IMAIL's outbound directory and FrontDoors
and Intermails Packet-Directory are different. According
to the FrontDoor-documentation, the packet directory
should only be used for FrontDoor and nothing else.
Q: What about Security?
A: Security is a very important topic today, so IMAIL offers
you several possibilities to prevent unauthorized people
to originate echomail through your system.
If you set the "secure" switch in the echo area manager
of an echo to Yes, IMAIL checks before tossing a message
into this echo whether the originating system (according
to the information in the packet header) is mentioned
in the export list of this echo. So, only people getting
this echo from you can distribute their mail again via
your system, mails from other systems were tossed into the
badecho.
Therefore you should normally set "secure" to Yes, except
you use programs like RAID which cannot write a system
adress in the messagehaeder which is in your export-list.
In this case, set only the security of the echos used by
RAID or other programs to No.
Systems can only request echos at your system if they
are defined in the nodemanager and if they present their
password in the subject-line of their request. If you set
no password, they will never be able to invoke AreaLink.
Moreover, they can only request echos of the groups
you set in the nodemanager. This is the main reason for
using groups of echos. You can specify which node will
get which group of echos.
Q: What's the Capability Word?
A: The Capability Word (CW) is a part of each PKT-header. It
is used to determine whether a packet is a Type 2+ or a
Stone Age-packet.
This is very important, the Type 2+ is newer and contains
much more information than Stone Age. Only Type 2+ packets
are use 4d-addresses, together with a Stone Age mailpro-
cessor, you have to use a fakenet. Type 2+ is an extension
of the Stone Age-packets, using free space in the header.
The CW itself is a bitfield where each of the 16 bits is
used as flag which show the capabilities of the program
which created the PKT. It indicates whether the extended
data in the header is valid. Moreover, it makes it possible
to support several other, non Type 2+ packets.
From FSC-0038:
Actually, only the first six bits of the CW are used:
Node Supports ---FTSC Type Supported --
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2+
2+,3, and 7 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
2+,3, and 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
2+ (this Doc) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Stone Age 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
If the only the first bit of the CW is set, the packet was
created by a Type 2+ mailprocessor and the extended data
(for example zone and point-information) is valid.
The CW also a solution for the TosScan-problem. The CW was
introduced after TosScan 1.0 was released, so Joaquim
Homrighausen had to find another solution to determine
whether a packet was Type 2+ or not. He did it by checking
the productcode and implemented only the programs which
were type 2+ capable at this time, TosScan and D'Bridge.
IMAIL was programmed later, so TosScan isn't able to
recognize the 4d-structure of the packetheader.
TosScan 1.0 was released, the CW
Q: I want to convert my IMAIL-configuration into FOLDER.FD,
MESSAGES.RA, CONFIG.BBS or an AREAS.BBS.
A: Look for IMCONV from me. It is capable to convert your
IMAIL-config into all these config-types. Moreover
it can creates configurable AREAS.BBS-like files.
It was hatched into IMAIL-fileecho and you can request
it here under magic IMCONV.
2. IMAIL on a point
Q: My bossnode sends all my echomail back to my system.
A: You are configured as a 3d-point at your bossnode or send
your echomail with your fakenet-adress, although you are
configured as a 4d-point.
Q: TosScan tosses all my echomail into the badmail-echo.
A: This is a TosScan problem.
IMAIL is fully 4d-capable (according to FSC-0039 and
FSC-0048). All mailpocessors use a unique product-code
(according to the FTSC-productcode-list).
TosScan was developped before these definitions were
published and it accepts only packets with the product-
code of D'Bridge or with its own productcode as 4d-packets.
If you use IMAIL (without such programs like TWIST),
TosScan uses only the net/node-information of the packets
and thinks, that these packets were coming from itself.
Therefore, they were tossed into badmail.
Until a new TosScan-release is available, you have to
switch back to fakenet or use one of the TWIST-programs.
These programs change the productcode of the packets
(which is not a very good solution).
3. IMAIL on a node
Q: I want to have points, how must IMAIL be configured.
A: There is nothing special, you enter each point in the
nodemanager (with password and groups). You can either
setup them as 3d- or 4d-points whereby 4d-points should
be taken whenever possible. But there is some software
which requires fakenet-adresses. The most point-software
(including IMAIL) is 4d-capable, so there is normally no
need for a fakenet.
Q: I must use a fakenet and IMAIL should strip the fakenet
from the PATH-line.
A: Set the POINTNET-environmentvariable, like
SET POINTNET=18002
in your autoexec.bat (or at that place, where you set
all your other things). IMAIL will now strip your
fakenet-adresses.
Q: I use IMTHINGS IMPORT to import the netmail for my
BBS-users. But I can't find an export-function.
A: IMTHINGS needs no special export-function, this will be
done by the usual IMAIL SCAN call. IMAIL SCAN exports the
netmail from all boards which are defined in the setup.
Note, that you can setup one netmail-board for each aka.
Q: All messages of a new echo were tossed to the badmail-echo,
moreover the board cannot be requested by anyone.
A: This is correct, if IMAIL creates a new echo in his config-
files, it hasn't all information which are necessary for
a complete definition of an echo. Therefore, the echo
cannot be accessed by your downlinks.
The mails must be tossed into the badmail-echo, because
there is no boardnumber defined. IMAIL gives you the
chance to see all these new mails instead of deleting
them immediatly.
Q: I set up the new echo, but the mails which reached me
before were only moved into the new board, my downlinks
didn't get them.
A: IMAIl cannot export these mails again, because it cannot
determine from which system they came. If IMAIL would
export these mails to your downlinks, this would probably
cause a great number of dupes.
Q: Mail-packets from my points and from nodes of other zones
are not recognized as 4d-packets and tossed into badmail.
A: Your downlinks use software which does not handle the CW
according to FSC-0048 (like TosScan 1.0, D'Bridge 1.30 or
ScanToss <1.34). They produce 4d-packets but the CW-word
is not set to 1, so IMAIL cannot determine whether this
is a 4d-packet or not.
Look at the IMAIL logfile, you will find something like
28F25666.PKT from 57:31/1.0 to 57:49/0.0 (004B [2+])
^^^^^^^^^
4B is the product-code of IMAIL (and the [2+] indicates
that IMAIL creates type 2+-packets).
If your up/downlink has a mailprocessor which creates
2+-packets without setting the cw-word, you can setup
the product-code and IMAIL treats all packets with this
product-code as type 2+-packets.
4. IMPACK
Q: My netmail is not packed.
A: Did you changed your batch-files when installing
IMAIL 1.20.
The former IMAIL PACK call is now done by an own program,
called IMPACK.
Did you define the packrouting in IMSETUP before you
called IMPACK. Otherwise you have to define the pack-
routing via commandline (according to the docs).
Q: How can I route all my netmail to one system except the
mails for another system. Does IMAIL know an EXCEPT
statement.
A: Actually not, but you can use another construction to
manage this situation. You want for example route all
your netmail via 2:241/8000 except the mails for
2:246/18. Your setup should look like
A 2:246/18 for 2:246/18
B 2:241/8000 for ALL
With this method, you can exclude single nodes or whole
networks or zones from a default pack-routing.
Q: My netmail is packed into the wrong packets, if I use
IMPACK.
A: IMPACK packs your netmail according to the following
rules. The definitions in IMSETUP, Pack routing are
processed top-down.
Therefore, it might be, that you already qualified
another node for netmail.
Example:
A 2:241/8000 for 2:241/ALL
B 2:241/8005 for 2:241/8005
This will never work. IMPACK reaches "A" and packs all
netmail for net 241 into a packet for 2:241/8000. After
that, it looks at "B", but there is no more mail for
2:241/8005 because it was already packed while processing
"A".
The correct order would be:
A 2:241/8005 for 2:241/8005
B 2:241/8000 for 2:241/ALL
You should define first the exceptions and later the
general rules.
5. IMAIL Arealink
Q: IMAIL does not process local entered Arealink-requests.
A: IMAIL Arealink does not process requests if the local bit
is set, therefore you have to use an editor like GoldED
to clean this bit.
Some Editors (like FrontDoor 1.99c) never show the existence
of the local bit, but it is always set if a message is entered
local.
The registered version allows you to execute arealink functions
locally from the commandline.
6. IMAIL in a network
Q: Since I updated my NOVELL from 286 to 386-rel 3.11 I get
the following Novell-error-message while tossing:
"You have reached your outstanding NCP directory search
limit".
A: by Felix Kasza, 2:310/11@fidonet.eur:
The above error message has a rather simple background:
Every time a station starts a dir search with "findfirst",
an NCP dir status record is allocated. It contains information
about the current state of the search. Whenever Novell returns
error 2 (?), "no more files match", the NCP is deallocated. If
the application finds the file it needs and then FAILS to
issue the remaining findnext calls until the file-not-found
error pops up, the NCP is not deallocated.
Result: you use up your quota. After the "You have reached ..."
message appears, all NCPs are freed, in the hope that the app
does not try to come back to a previously started search
(nested recursive dir searches are a problem case), since any
access to a deallocated NCP will erroneously return "no more
matching files".
As a quick fix use "CASTOFF ALL" in your batch file. It
suppresses those nasty one-liners which require you to press
Enter.
7. IMAIL (registered version)
Q: I registered IMAIL and got my key, but IMAIL still says
"Unregistered Evaluation Copy".
A: You must rename the keyfile to IMAIL.KEY, your name and
your system-adress (you gave as you registered IMAIL) must
be set up correctly.
The name (IMSETUP, Other Parameters, Sysop Name) must be
spelled the same way than you spelled it when you registered.
The system-adress must be one of your akas.
If you don't call IMAIL from its homedirectory, you should
set the IMAIL-environmentvariable to this directory,
otherwise IMAIL can't find his config and key.
8. How to check if a problem is caused by IMAIL.
It is not easy to determine exactly the reason of problems which
can occur when you use computers. But it is helpfull, more
neccessary to get as much information as possible. Before you
ask your question in the IMAIL-support-echos, try to determine
whether it is really a bug of IMAIL or whether it is a configu-
rationproblem or a problem of another program.
First of all, check the docs (and this text) which describe
possible problems and their solutions. Second, try to ask
one of the support sites mentioned in the docs.
There are several programs which can examine the packets
produced by mailprocessors (like my PKTVIEW). If you can't find
a solution, try collect all the information (PKT-header, logs
or setup) and send them to the support sites which would try to
help you.
If you use the support echo, your mail should contain all
neccessary information so other people can help you. Normally
it is usefull to check older mails of the echo, perhaps your
problems was already discussed.
I would try to publish such problems and solutions in updates
of this text, so look for the newest version (which is always
available at my system under the magic IMAILQA).
9. Known bugs or problems
Actually none.