InfiNet - The International Freedom of Information Network.

AreaFix Tutorial for Hubs, Hosts, and Nodes.

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Note: This text file assumes (if for a hub/host) use of GECHO mail
      processor.  The tutorial section of text pertaining to nodes is
      generic, however.

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AreaFix (also called AreaMgr) is an EXCELLENT tool for hubs and hosts.  What
it does, is allow systems polling you to setup/change/add/delete bases and
connections, without ANY intervention from yourself.  Once you've setup a
node, they can add and remove bases at will.

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To setup a node for areafix, go into Gsetup, Node Manager.

Hit Insert, then enter, then type in the system's node number.

Go down one, hit enter, and type in the sysop's handle.

Scroll down to AreaMgr Password, and type in the AreaFix password the sysop
has requested.  Once you've entered it, hit return, and it will be replaced
by Alt-254's () for added security.

Move down one, to Read/Write Groups.  Now, what this does, is notify Gecho
of which areas this system has access to.  At the very minimum, on your end,
you should have each network separated into a different group name.
Ideally, you have your networks separated into subdivisions, like this:

 Read/write groups 
 A  SBCnet                N                       
 B  STATiCNet             O  --InfiNet Regional-- 
 C  StormWatch            P                       
 D  OOFnet                Q                       
 E  FidoNet               R  --InfiNet Required-- 
 F  PODnet                S  $yndicateNet         
 G  TCSnet                T                       
 H                        U                       
 I  CyberCrime            V                       
 J  CyberCrime Advanced   W                       
 K                        X  Inactive Base        
 L                        Y                       
 M  MultiNetworked Bases  Z  --InfiNet General--  
;

As you can see, on my setup, I have InfiNet separated into four categories:
MultiNetworked (FEDZINFO etc), Regional, Required (SUGG, SYS, TEST, and
GEN), and General (everything else).

Anyway, simply type the letters for which areas you wish the new node to
access, then hit escape.

Now, scroll around and toggle "YES" for the following options:  Allow
Rescan, Forward Requests, Send Notify List, and Pack Netmail.  Actually, the
only one that should be set to NO is "Remote Maintenance."

And, finally, move to "Mail Archive Status", and toggle it until you see
only "Hold Direct" toggled on.

Hit F10 to save, and you're done.  To process areafix requests, you can
either run just GECHO MGR, which ONLY processes areafix requests, or GECHO
TOSS, which does areafix plus toss.  In your batch files, if you specify
GECHO TOSS /NOMGR, gecho ignores any current areafix requests, in case you
wish to be onhand to watch them process.

Just so you can see a completed product, here is what a typical Node Manager
entry looks like:

 View 24/67  Node manager 
                                                          
 Node address         69:300/298                          
 SysOp name           Desolation Angel                    
 Route via                                                
 Packet password                                          
 Check password     n/a                                 
 AreaMgr password                                    
 Read/write groups    MRZ                                 
 Read groups          MRZ                                 
 Remote maintenance   No                                  
 Allow rescan         Yes                                 
 Forward requests     Yes                                 
 Send notify list     Yes                                 
 Compression method   D:\PKZIP -ao                        
 Mail archive status  Hold Direct                         
 AreaMgr msg status   Direct                              
 Pack netmail         Yes                                 
                                                          
;

And that's it.  You can, however, play around with some of your gecho
settings for speed, memory, etc:

Gsetup > Miscellaneous > GEcho Limits:

 GEcho limits 
                             
 Maximum area records   500  
 Maximum node records   85   
 Maximum connections    80   
 Maximum outgoing QQQs  200  
 Maximum file handles   25   
 Maximum cache size     0    
 Maximum packet size    0    
 Maximum archive size   0    
                             
;

On this screen, everything is editable...

Area Records - the maximum number of message bases you have setup in your
     Area manager.  If you only have 82 bases setup, only set it to 100 or
     so.  Anything higher is a waste of memory.

Node Records - maximum number of systems you have entered in your Node
     manager.  Again, set the max to only 10 or so more than you currently
     have setup.

Connections - this is the maximum number of systems you will be exporting to
     in ANY SINGLE BASE.  Ie, on my system, INF-SYS has the highest number
     of connections, 72, since everyone picks that base up, so I set mine to
     80.  If your INF-SYS base only has 10 systems listed under connections,
     set this no higher than 25 or so.

Outgoing QQQs - This is basically related to the previous two setups.  QQQs
     are the temporary files Gecho uses while tossing/packing messages.  I
     found highest performance by adding Node Records plus Connections, and
     adding a few.  No higher than that, however.

The next four are pretty much self-explanatory.  I've found that setting
file handles anything higher than 25, unless you've got MAJOR memory to
spare, really starts causing problems.  I also set my cache to zero, because
it's a memory hog and really doesn't significantly affect speed.


GSetup > Miscellaneous > Mgr Options:

 Mgr options 
                                               
 Keep requests      No                         
 Keep receipts      No                         
 Allow +*           Yes                        
 Allow %COMPRESS    Yes                        
 Allow %FROM        Yes                        
 Allow %NOTIFY OFF  Yes                        
 Allow %PAUSE       Yes                        
 Allow %PWD         Yes                        
 Allow %PKTPWD      Yes                        
 Allow %RESCAN      Yes                        
 Auto-disconnect    No                         
 Auto-add nodes     No                         
 Public groups                                 
                                               
;

Keep all these areas set this way, and everything will work perfectly.


And finally, here's a sample of what a typical areafix request would look
like...  My password "DEATH", on the Re: line.  Notice the extra options,
which are processed AFTER the current areafix session:

-L - lists all available areas, designating which are connected, which are
     NOT connected.
-U - lists only those areas which are NOT currently connected.
-R - rescans your bbs\msg directories, packing up any messages for bases
     which were just added.  (I only run Revmail purge once a day, this way,
     any system that adds new bases and processes them with Rescan, will get
     any inbound messages for the last 24 hours).

(219)   Sat 16 Apr 94 10:05a
By: Midnight Sorrow
To: Areafix,  InfiNet  Texas           (2713/0)
Re: DEATH -L -U -R
St: Pvt  Crash  Kill  Direct
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---*
+INF-SYS
+INF-TEST
+INF-GEN



In the text of the message, there are several options...

-* disconnects ALL currently connected areas, EXCEPT areas marked as
   "REQUIRED" in your area manager - I have the InfiNet "REQUIRED" bases
   marked as required, so once a system has connected to them, they cannot
   be disconnected.

+* will connect EVERY single available area to the calling system.

Then, to add a single base, you can type either +{basename} or just type the
basename by itself, and areafix will add it.  To remove a base, only
-{basename} will work.

And that's it.  Kinda involved, but once you've set it up, it's incredibly
easy.

lateron

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Easy AreaFix'ing for nodes:

Assuming your hub has already set you up (hopefully using the above
procedure :), then you're free to send in your first areafix request.  It's
REALLY simple, as long as you follow a few simple rules.

This section assumes you're using InterMail with InterEdit, but it will also
work with FrontDoor, and most likely any other Front End Mailer or program
that sends netmail.  Just be sure to follow the basic rules outlined here,
and you'll be fine.

From IM/FD, hit Alt-E from the WFC screen to enter the editor.

Cardinal Rule Number One: Before you begin entering the message, your AKA
(node address) MUST equal the same address which your host set you up for!
(If you were just assigned node number 69:300/298, and your main address is
1:372/801, if you enter the message using that address, IT WILL FAIL.
Additionally, once a message is saved with an incorrect address, there is NO
way to change it, short of erasing the message and starting over correctly.)

To change your current AKA, hit ALT-W, and a list will be shown.  Scroll
down to your InfiNet address, highlight it, and select it (hit enter).  Now,
at the top of the screen, you will see your InfiNet address, instead of
whatever was shown before.  Now, you are ready to enter your areafix
request.

Simply hit Insert, to enter a new message.  Type in AreaFix, then hit enter.
The system will then be waiting for a node number; enter the node # of your
host (ie, 69:300/100).  You will then be moved to the Re: line.

On this line, enter your password, a space, followed by -L -U -R (exactly as
displayed).  Lastly, hit Ctrl-C and Ctrl-K, followed by enter.  So, if your
pw is DEATH, you would see...

Re: DEATH -L -U -R
St: Pvt  Crash  Kill  Direct

...on the two completed lines.  (If you don't see Direct or Pvt there, hit
Alt-S, followed by Ctrl-P, Ctrl-D, and enter).

Now, you're in the main text of the message.  This is where you control
exactly which bases you'll be turning on or off.  Hopefully, you made a text
file earlier, listing all the bases you wish to carry.  If not, shell to dos
from this point (Alt-Z to shell), and edit the current INFINECH file so all
you see is...

INF-XXXX
INF-XXXX
INF-XXXX

...with one base per line, and no descriptions.  To import a text into the
body of the message, hit ALT-F2, followed by the path and filename to
import.

Now, just to be safe, scroll back to the very first line of the message, and
type -*{enter} for the first line.  What this does, is disconnect (remove)
any bases that may already be connected for your node number (in case your
hub was still inadvertantly packing for a system that had previously used
your node number (and was removed)).  This way, ONLY the bases that you have
listed here will be turned on for your system, and you can be sure of that.

Additional commands you may use here:

+*    -  Turns on EVERY message base available to you.  This is much easier
         if you plan on carrying all InfiNet bases.  Also, hubs do NOT
         automatically upgrade your system for new bases that may be added -
         so you'll need to send in a new AreaFix request to accomplish this
         - and the +* option is easier than anything else.

+INF-COM*  - Wildcards ARE usable in MOST areafix systems.  This option
             would automatically turn on any INF-COM.... base available.

-INF-VIDE  - This command disconnects a single base.  You may also use
             wildcards here, if you wish, but is generally advised against.

Once you've finished adding/removing your bases, hit Ctrl-Z to save the
message.  Exit from the editor.  You marked the message as "CrashMail", so
your system should now attempt to poll your hub, and send through your
AreaFix request.  (If you do NOT want this message sent CrashMail, and
instead wish to wait until your normal nightly mail poll, simply go back
into the editor, hit Alt-S, then Ctrl-C.)

Finally, here is the stock Gecho help file, for your information.  This
ends the tutorial, hopefully I covered it well enough.

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Address all requests to 'GEcho', 'AreaMgr', 'AreaFix' or 'ConfMgr' (without
quotes). The subject should start with your AreaMgr password.

In the body of the message to AreaMgr:

[+]<areaname>        Connect an area
-<areaname>          Disconnect an area
%HELP                Request this help text
%LIST                List of all areas available to you
%QUERY               List areas to which you are connected
%UNLINKED            List areas to which you are not connected
%COMPRESS <method>   Change the compression program
%COMPRESS ?          List available compression programs
%PWD <password>      Change your AreaMgr password
%PKTPWD <password>   Change your packet password
%RESCAN              Rescan messages in all added areas
%PAUSE               Temporary suspend all connected areas
%RESUME              Resume all temporary suspended areas
%NOTIFY <ON|OFF>     Enable/disable notify messages
%NOTE [text]         Note for the SysOp, request is not deleted
[---]                Everything below the tear line is ignored

You can also use the -H, -L, -Q, -R and -U switches on the subject line.

Example:
 
By: Desolation Angel (69:300/298)
To: AreaFix, InfiNet Three (69:300/100)
Re: DEATH -L -U -R
St: Pvt  Crash  Kill  Direct
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-*
INF-GEN
INF-SUGG
INF-SYS
INF-TEST
INF-NIN
INF-RAVE
INF-METL
INF-INDU
INF-LYRC

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The above sample disconnects all currently connected areas, then connects
General, Suggestions, Sysops-Only, Text, Nine Inch Nails, Rave, Metal,
Industrial, and the Lyrics base.  It will then show a listing of all available
bases (and which ones you've currently connected to), a listing of all
UNconnected areas, then rescan your hub's message bases and pack up all
current new bases for the bases you've just added.  Nifty, eh?

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Enjoy it, folks.

lateron
