QWacK version 0.96 Beta
A QWK Mail Packet Interface for The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader
Copyright (C) 1992 by Cutting Edge Computing
All Rights Reserved.
LICENSE AGREEMENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This program and its documentation are FREE for use in a non-commercial
environment. If this software is used in a commercial environment, you
must register this program with Cutting Edge Computing for a fee of $20,
or you must have a license for The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader.
Registered commercial owners of The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader may use
this program with no additional charge.
Cutting Edge Computing is not responsible for any loss of data or system
down time resulting from the use of this program. The user must agree to
use this program at their own risk.
Users of this program must not alter this documentation nor the enclosed
executable file without the express written permission of Cutting Edge
Computing. You are encouraged to share this program with others, so long
as ALL of the above conditions have been met.
PURPOSE
~~~~~~~
The purpose of this software is to enable The Blue Wave Offline Mail
Reader to read mail packets created by QWK-compatible mail offline mail
doors. After entering messages or replying to messages from the
QWK-compatible mail bundle, you can then use QWacK to convert your Blue
Wave Reader generated *.NEW reply file into a QWK-style *.REP bundle.
You can then upload the *.REP bundle to the originating QWK-compatible
mail door for processing.
This program does *not* convert Blue Wave Mail Door-generated mail
packets into QWK readable files.
WARNING
~~~~~~~
This software is a beta test copy. This means that it is not guaranteed
to work in all situations, if indeed it works at all. There may be some
incompatibilites with .REP files generated from Blue Wave mail bundles.
However, I have tried to cover all the bases and have personally tested
.REP files generated with QWacK on the following QWK-host systems:
1) Maximus-CBCS v2.01wb internal QWK system
2) TomCat!
3) QMail
4) SuperBBS v1.16 internal QWK system
5) MarkMail
If you run into any inconsistencies, problems, incompatibilities, or
quirks, please let me know so that they can be taken care of. Full
details for contacting me are at the very end of this document.
I can be of more help if you can let me know the following in your bug
report:
1) The exact problem that occurs.
2) Which mail door and version your QWK mail host is running.
3) The BBS phone number that runs this mail door (so I can test it
myself if necessary).
REQUIREMENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~
QWacK itself uses less than 100K of memory. However, depending on the
compression and decompression program that you are using, a considerable
bit more memory will be necessary.
For example, ARJ in its "default" mode will need at least 300K of free
memory available. In most cases, you will be able to get by in as little
as 250K.
INSTALLATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is recommended that QWACK.EXE and QWACK.CFG be placed in your Blue
Wave Reader's home directory (the same directory where BWAVE.EXE is
located), although this is not a requirement.
Before attempting to run QWacK for the first time, it will be necessary
to edit the program's configuration file; QWACK.CFG. A sample
configuration file should have been enclosed within QWacK's distribution
archive. A description of all configuration items and their intended
purpose is described in detail in the sample configuration file.
In order to execute properly, QWacK requires that QWACK.CFG be located in
the *same* directory as QWACK.EXE resides.
OPERATION
~~~~~~~~~
After QWACK.CFG has been configured to your liking, you should be ready
to convert your QWK bundle(s) into a form readable by Blue Wave.
In order to execute properly, you must give QWACK.EXE two command line
parameters. The first command line parameter must be the mode to operate
in; either "IN" or "OUT". The second command line parameter must be the
name of the mail archive to process. If the mail archive you want to
convert is not in the current subdirectory, you must specify the full
path and filename of the file to convert.
Examples:
QWACK IN C:\BWAVE\DOWNLOAD\WILDBLUE.QWK
QWACK IN C:\BWAVE\DOWNLOAD\WILDBLUE.QW2
QWACK IN C:\BWAVE\DOWNLOAD\WILDBLUE (QWacK will add the .QWK extension)
QWACK OUT C:\BWAVE\UPLOAD\WILDBLUE.NEW
QWACK OUT C:\BWAVE\UPLOAD\WILDBLUE (QWacK will add the .NEW extension)
During the processing of the mail packets, in both "OUT" and "IN" mode,
QWacK will create two working directories. The working directories will
be used to store temporary files during the decompression and conversion
of your mail packets. The names of the directories created are:
\$QWKTEMP - Stores the temporary QWK files during conversion
\$BWTEMP - Stores the temporary Blue Wave files during conversion
Under normal conditions, these temporary directories will be erased and
removed upon termination of the program. However, if processing was
interrupted for one reason or another, you can safely delete any files in
these directories, and remove the directories yourself.
QWack IN Mode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The QWack "IN" mode is used to convert QWK-style mail bags into a form
readable by The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader. When you run QWacK in
this mode, it performs the following steps:
1) Decompresses the QWK bundle into the temporary \$QWKTEMP directory
2) Builds the Blue Wave data files in the \$BWTEMP directory
3) Compresses the resulting Blue Wave Bundle, and places it into the
'DownloadDir' which is defined in QWACK.CFG
4) Erases and removes the two temporary working directories.
If the conversion was successful, you can now read the converted mail
packet with your Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader.
QWacK OUT Mode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use QWack "OUT" mode to convert a Blue Wave Reader generated *.NEW reply
file into a QWK-compatible *.REP file. The following procedures will be
followed when running in this mode:
1) The *.NEW file specified on the command line will be decompressed
into the temporary \$BWTEMP subdirectory.
2) QWacK will determine the name of the .REP file that it is going
to build, and check the `UploadDir' defined in QWACK.CFG to see if a
.REP bundle already exists by that name. If QWacK locates an
existing .REP bundle, you will be prompted as to whether you would
like to overwrite or add to it.
3) If you are adding to an existing .REP file, it will be decompressed
into the temporary \$QWKTEMP directory.
4) The conversion program builds the QWK-compatible files in the
\$QWKTEMP directory.
5) QWacK then compresses the resulting .REP bundle, and places it into
the `UploadDir' that you have defined in QWACK.CFG.
6) The temporary working directories are then erased and removed.
At this point you can upload your *.REP file to the QWK-based host
system, and download another new mail packet!
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The original QWK format does not support FidoNet Netmail, Offline
Configurations, or File Requesting in a manner that is consistent between
mail doors. Therefore, it will probably be necessary to ask your sysop
if these options are available to you though his or her QWK mail door,
and if they are, how you would go about using them. The Blue Wave
Offline Mail Reader is not QWK-specific, and therefore you need to be
aware of the following:
* You should be aware that any Offline Configurations that you
make through The Blue Wave Offline Reader's "Offline Configuration Menu"
will be IGNORED by QWacK. If the host QWK door supports "Add/Drop"
messages, simply enter them as you normally would with a QWK-style mail
reader. It is also suggested that you answer "Y" to the "Private?"
question when entering add/drop messages.
* Any information entered through Blue Wave's "File Request" menu is
ignored.
* If you are attempting to enter Fidonet-style Netmail through The Blue
Wave Offline Mail Reader, it will be necessary to find out if the host
QWK mail door supports these types of messages, and how you should go
about entering them. Your sysop should be able to help you, if you ask
politely :-).
* One of the biggest things to remember is that the QWK limit on message
FROM, TO, and SUBJECT fields is limited to 25 characters. If you enter
more than 25 characters in any of these fields when creating messages and
replies, they will be truncated by QWacK when the mail packet is
converted.
* On systems (such as PCBoard) that allow you to enter messages in a
conference, but also allow you to set the "No Echo" flag (so that the
message does not get sent through a network to other systems), you will
need to begin your message subject with "NE:". By using "NE:" as the
first three characters of your subject line, the message will not be
echoed to other systems. [Note: The host QWK mail door must support
this option!].
SUPPORT INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Blue Wave Offline Mail Reader, The Blue Wave Offline Mail Doors, and
QWacK are written by George Hatchew, owner of Cutting Edge Computing in
Flint, Michigan (USA). If you have trouble with any of these programs,
or you would like more information, you can get a hold of me in the
following ways:
Netmail to 1:2240/176 (FidoNet)
Calling the BBS at (313) 743-8464 anytime except 4am-5am Eastern Time.
Protocols supported include 14400 HST and 14400 v32bis.
Voice phone support is available at 313-743-WAVE.
If you have access to the FidoNet "BLUEWAVE" echo, you can address a
message to me there.
Or, you can send me mail to the following postal address:
Cutting Edge Computing
PO Box 90476
Burton, Michigan 48509 (USA)
Questions, comments, bug reports, and complaints are always welcome.