                    USING BINKLEYTERM AS A FRONT END MAILER

                                 By Tony Young
FidoNnet 1:109/688
Usenet:  ...uunet!hadron!blkcat!109!688!ty
Direct:  703/425-4506

This document is intended to assist you in using BinkleyTerm as a network mail
handling program to interface RBBS-PC with the FidoNet International Amateur
Communications Network.  

================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
================

I want to thank those who's previous work has made this document possible:  Kim
Wells, for the original SD-APDX [SEAdog appendix], as well as MU-PURGE & MU-
EDIT; Bill Andrus for most of the sample *.CTL  & *.CFG files from his
OPUS/BinkleyTerm system; and Marty Bouillon and John DeCarlo, who gave me the
idea for switchable replacable batch file parameters in the code for
SPAWNBBS.BAT.


=================
SOFTWARE REQUIRED
=================

The files listed here should be available from a local Opus or Fido BBS near
you.  If not, call me and pick them up here.  It is the SysOps responsibility to
read the docs thoroughly on each of the programs listed below.  It will be
difficult to understand all of their functions by a quick perusal of their
examples.

1.  RBBS-PC 15.1B or later.

2. MU-PURGE.ARC.  The RBBS-PC maintenance utilities MU-PURGE.EXE and MU-EDIT.EXE
by Kim Wells.  MU-PURGE automates the conference maintenance function.  MU-EDIT
is an vastly expanded function RBBS-PC message editor.  These utilities are
INVALUABLE and ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY if you want to run Echomail AND remain sane.

3.  ECHOMAIL.ARC or RBBSMAIL.ARC.  The RBBS-PC message format conversion utility
ECHOSCAN or RBBSMAIL which converts RBBS-PC message format to FidoNet compatible
format.  NOTE:  ECHOSCAN WILL NOT BE SUPPORTED IN THE FUTURE.  RBBSMAIL IS
RECOMMENDED.

4.  X00.ARC.  A FOSSIL driver.  A FOSSIL is a Fido/Opus/SEAdog Standard
Interface Layer.  It provides efficient management of comm ports and serves as a
standard interface for developers to write comm software for various machines. 
IBM & most compatibles will use X00 (V. 1.08a), and there are others available
for DEC Rainbow, Tandys, and other machines.

5.  BEXE_130.ARC.  BinkleyTerm 1.30 to use as a front-end to RBBS.

6.  XLATRGEN.ARC.  XLATLIST to prepare your mail routing files.
NOTE:  This is scheduled to be replaced very soon.   Watch the BINKLEY Echo for
details.

7.  ONODE.ARC which creates FidoNet mail lists BT requires.

8.  CONFMAIL.ARC.  CONFerence MAIL 3.31 which packs outgoing mail and unpacks
incoming mail.

9.  OMMM.ARC.  oMMM 1.07 which schedules the mail packets.

10.  REQUEST.ARC which generates Wazoo file requests.

=================
OVERVIEW OF MAIL:
=================

1.  Users call your RBBS-PC and leave mail.

2.  ECHOSCAN or RBBSMAIL converts RBBS format messages into FidoNet format msgs.

3.  CONFMAIL packs the msgs up and gets them ready for mailing.

4.  OMMM prepares mail packets for mailing.

5.  BinkleyTerm (BT)  mails them out and receives mail from others.

5.  CONFMAIL unpacks inbound mail.

6.  ECHOSCAN or RBBSMAIL converts msgs into RBBS format.

7.  Your users get real excited and answer and leave many msgs.

8.  Loop to 2.

=================================
OVERVIEW OF MAIL LIST MANAGEMENT:
=================================

1.  Obtain a starting copy of a St.Louis nodelist from any FidoNet SysOp [you
only need do this ONCE].

2.  You will recieve a NODEDIFF.AXX every week from your network coordinator.

3.  Put your NODELIST, NODEDIFF, PKXARC [RENAMED PKX], XLATLIST, XLATLIST.CTL,
ROUTEGEN, ROUTEGEN.CTL, AND ONODE in a subdirectory [C:\MAIL, or M: in the
example] and run the batch file segement :NODEROUTE.  It will automatically
update your routing system.

============================
SAMPLE BT CONFIGURATION FILE
============================

; Binkley.CFG -- config file for BinkleyTerm 1.16 and above. 
; 
; The following should be in the file for all applications of BT: ; 
; Port  Your Port (1=COM1, 2=COM2) 
; Baud  Your Baud (300,1200,2400,4800,9600,19200) 
; Carrier Your carrier mask in hex (usually 80) 
; Init  Initialization string for your modem 
; Prefix Your modem's dial prefix (ATDT or ATDP) 
; Suffix Your modem's dial suffix (if you need one) 
; SlowModem     If your modem needs to be spoonfed 
; Autobaud      Always dial out at "baud", count on fallbacks. 
; 
Port      1 
Baud      2400 
Carrier   80 
; Note: BT's dialer ignores '-', substitutes CR for '|',  
; substitutes  a comma ',' for a period '.', raises DTR for '^', 
; drops DTR or 'v', delays 1/20 sec for '`' and one second for 
; '~'. All other characters are passed to the modem. 
Init      |ATM0H0V1F1Q0X4S0=1S7=90| 
Prefix    |ATDT, 
;Suffix 
;SlowModem 
;Autobaud 
; 
; In addition to the entries above, to use BT as a simple point   
; polling system and file request program you should have the following here: 
; 
; Busy  String to send to your modem to make it "busy". 
; Zone  Zone your Point (and Boss) is located in 
; Boss  Net and Node of your "Boss" node (if BT is a "Point") 
; Bossphone If entered, overrides phone number for boss in        ; nodelist 
; Point  Net and Node of your "Point" 
; Nodelist Where your system stores its Opus-format nodelist      ; files 
; Hold  Location of your outbound hold area 
; Netmail Location of your "Matrix Message" area 
; Netfile Location of your inbound file area 
; System Name of your "Point" 
; Sysop  Your name 
; Nofullscreen  If you don't want full-screen logging 
; 
Busy      |ATM0H1| 
Zone      1 
Boss      109/688 
Bossphone 1-703-425-4506 
Point     109/688 
Nodelist  C:\MAIL\ 
Hold      C:\BINKLEY\HOLD\ 
Netmail   C:\Mail\Msg\ 
Netfile   C:\Mail\Files\ 
System    DynamicDuoRBBS - Disability Info 
Sysop     Tony Young 
;Nofullscreen 
; 
; In addition to the previous entries, you should have the  
; following fields filled in here if BT is running as a mailer or frontend 
; 
; AKA   If your system has aliases, fill them in here (<10) 
; Statuslog     Fully-qualified path name of your log file 
; LogLevel      Verbosity of BT logging (1 is least, 5 most) 
; Unattended    Forces BT into "unattended" mode automatically. 
; Overwrite     Allows incoming files to overwrite existing files 
; NoSLO   If you experience problems in SEAlink Overdrive... 
; SmallWindow  If the 24-block window at 9600 seems problematic
; Reader Line to pass to COMMAND.COM for your mail reader 
; Okfile Your system's "candidates for file request" list 
; Avail  Your system's file list 
; About  Your system's little file-requestable advert 
; MaxReq Maximum number of files requested in one session 
; Banner The advert you pop out when receiving a call 
; BBS  How to call BBS when enabled 
; Timeout How long to wait oN mail before assuming a human caller
; Event  For BT's internal scheduler. 
; 
;AKA 169/0 
Statuslog C:\Binkley\Binkley.Log 
LogLevel 5 
Unattended 
;Overwrite 
;NoSLO 
;SmallWindow 
Reader   Dutched
Okfile    C:\BBS\okfile.lst 
Avail     C:\BBS\filelist.arc 
About     C:\BBS\aboutME.doc 
MaxReq    4 
Banner    DynamicDuoRBBS - Disability Advocacy
BBS       SPAWN 
Timeout   15 
Event All   00:00 02:30 C B   E1=54 E2=70 E3=70 ; Always cheap 
Event Sun   02:15 02:15 F N   E1=40             ; Weekly cleanup 
Event All   02:30 03:00 C N   E1=30             ; Daily Maint 
Event All   03:00 04:00   N   E1=60             ; Local pickup 
Event All   04:00 05:00   N   E1=55             ; NMH 
Event All   05:00 06:00 R N   E1=55             ; Local dist 
Event All   06:00 08:00 C B   E1=50 E2=70 E3=70 ; Daytime BBS & CM 
Event Week  08:00 11:00 C B L E1=57 E2=70 E3=70 ; Daytime BBS & CM 
Event Week  11:00 14:45 C B L E1=59 E2=70 E3=70 ; Latemail Maint 
Event Week  14:45 23:59 C B L E1=95 E2=70 E3=70 ; Daymail prep 
Event WkEnd 08:00 11:00 C B   E1=50 E2=70 E3=70 ; Cheap rates 
Event WkEnd 11:00 14:45 C B   E1=59 E2=70 E3=70 ; Latemail Maint 
Event WkEnd 14:45 17:00 C B   E1=95 E2=70 E3=70 ; Daymail prep 
Event Sat   17:00 23:59 C B         E2=70 E3=70 ; Cheap on Sat 
Event Sun   17:00 23:59 C B L       E2=70 E3=70 ; Expensive on Sun 
 


==================================
SAMPLE BINKLEY.BAT FILE (BINK.BAT)
==================================

Echo Off 

REM IF NOT MULTITASKING THIS GOES IN AUTOEXEC.BAT
REM SET YOUR ENVIRONMENT
SET BINKLEY=C:\BINKLEY 
SET MU-EDIT=C:\RBBS
SET DUTCHIE=C:\MAIL 
REM SUBSTitute Drive letters for full paths [optional]
SUBST K: C:\BINKLEY 
SUBST R: C:\RBBS 
SUBST M: C:\MAIL 
REM DESQview's ANSI.SYS driver 
D:\DV\DVANSI.COM 
  
:RUNSYSTEM 
 
:LOOP 
  C: 
  chdir \binkley 
  BT 
    If Errorlevel 100 Goto FREQ 
    If Errorlevel  95 Goto DAYMAIL 
    If Errorlevel  90 Goto USEREDIT 
    If Errorlevel  80 Goto DOCM 
    If Errorlevel  70 Goto CM_IMPORT 
    If Errorlevel  60 Goto PREMAIL 
    If Errorlevel  59 Goto DAYMAINT 
    If Errorlevel  57 Goto MAILTD 
    IF ERRORLEVEL  55 GOTO MAILTA 
    If Errorlevel  54 Goto MAILTE 
    If Errorlevel  50 Goto POSTMAIL 
    If Errorlevel  40 Goto CLEANUP 
    If Errorlevel  30 Goto DAILYMAINT 
    If Errorlevel  20 Goto MAILEDIT 
    If Errorlevel  10 Goto DAILYEDIT 
    If Errorlevel   5 Goto RUNSYSTEM 
    IF ERRORLEVEL   1 GOTO END 
    Goto EXIT 
 
:FREQ 
     k: 
     REQUEST 
     CLS 
     GOTO LOOP 
 
:DAYMAIL 
RBBSMAIL SCAN 
:EXPORT 
Confmail Export M:\AREASOUT.BBS -a 
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO SEVERE 
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO EXPORT 
GOTO ENDEXPORT 
:SEVERE 
ECHO Severe Error in Export! 
:ENDEXPORT 
OMMM -IK:\BINKLEY.PRM -HK:\HOLD\ -MM:\MSGS\ -PK:\PRE.CTL -CK:\OMMM.CTL -SD 
Goto LOOP 
 
:USEREDIT 
R: 
USEREDIT 
GOTO LOOP 
 
:CM_IMPORT 
    M: 
    Confmail Import M:\AREASIN.BBS  -k -f Killdup.ctl -a 
    RBBSMAIL TOSS NO-SEEN 
    Goto LOOP 
 
:MAILTA 
OMMM -IK:\BINKLEY.PRM -HK:\HOLD\ -MM:\MSGS\ -PK:\PRE.CTL -CK:\OMMM.CTL -SA 
 GOTO LOOP 
 
:MAILTD 
OMMM -IK:\BINKLEY.PRM -HK:\HOLD\ -MM:\MSGS\ -PK:\PRE.CTL -CK:\OMMM.CTL -SD 
 GOTO LOOP 
 
:MAILTE 
OMMM -IK:\BINKLEY.PRM -HK:\HOLD\ -MM:\MSGS\ -PK:\PRE.CTL -CK:\OMMM.CTL -SE 
 GOTO LOOP 
 
:DOCM 
OMMM -IK:\BINKLEY.PRM -HK:\HOLD\ -MM:\MSGS\ -PK:\PRE.CTL -CK:\OMMM.CTL -SE 
 GOTO LOOP 
 
:PREMAIL 
     RBBSMAIL SCAN 
     :EXPORT 
     Confmail Export M:\AREASOUT.BBS -a  
     IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO SEVERE 
     IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO EXPORT 
     GOTO ENDEXPORT 
     :SEVERE 
     ECHO Severe Error in Export! 
     :ENDEXPORT 
REM OMMM -IK:\BINKLEY.PRM -HK:\HOLD\ -MM:\MSGS\ -PK:\PRE.CTL -CK:\OMMM.CTL -SB 
 
  Goto LOOP 
 
   :DAYMAINT 
   Confmail Maint  -f M:MAINT.ctl +M:AREASIN.BBS 
   Goto LOOP 
 
:POSTMAIL 
    M: 
    Confmail Import M:AREASIN.BBS  -k -f Killdup.ctl -a 
    Confmail Maint  -f M:MAINT.ctl +M:AREASIN.BBS 
    RBBSMAIL TOSS NO-SEEN 
    Goto LOOP 
 
:DAILYEDIT 
CHDIR \RBBS 
  R:\MU-EDIT R:mu-edit.ctl 
  chdir \mail 
 
 Goto LOOP 
 
:MAILEDIT 
CHDIR \MAIL 
DUTCHED 
k: 
GOTO LOOP 
 
:DAILYMAINT 
 
  If Not Exist \MAIL\FILES\KLORE*.* Goto FNEWS 
  Chdir \MAIL\FILES 
  Ren KLORE*.ARC KLORE.ARC 
  PKX KLORE 
  Del KLORE.ARC 
  Cd .. 
 
:FNEWS 
  If Not Exist \MAIL\FILES\FNEWS*.* Goto NODEROUTE 
  Chdir \MAIL\FILES 
  Ren FNEWS*.ARC FNEWS.ARC 
  PKX FNEWS 
  Del FNEWS.ARC 
  Cd .. 
 
:NODEROUTE 
  M: 
  If Not Exist M:\FILES\NODEDIFF.* Goto ENDNODEROUTE 
  Copy M:\FILES\NODEDIFF.* 
  Ren NODEDIFF.* NODEDIFF.ARC 
  PKX NODEDIFF 
  XLATLIST 
  OPUSNODE -F 
  ROUTEGEN 
  Del  M:\FILES\NODEDIFF.* 
  DEL  M:\NODEDIFF.* 
:ENDNODEROUTE 
 
 R:\MU-PURGE R:\DAILY.CTL 
 
 CONFMAIL FILE M:\RENUM.CTL 
 
 GoTo LOOP 
 
:CLEANUP 
  IF EXIST M:*.LOG DEL M:*.LOG 
  IF EXIST R:\CALLERS DEL R:\CALLERS 
  IF EXIST R:\*.LOG DEL R:*.LOG 
  IF EXIST K:\*.LOG DEL K:\*.LOG 
 
 GOTO LOOP 
 
 
:LOADRAMDSK 
  E: 
  Copy R:\BUL* 
  Copy R:\CONFENCE 
  Copy R:\MENU* 
  Copy R:\NEWUSER 
  Copy R:\PRELOG 
  Copy R:\PASSWRDS 
  Copy R:\FILESEC 
  Copy R:\TRASHCAN 
  Copy R:\WATCHDG1.COM 
  C: 
  Goto RUNSYSTEM 
 
:END 
EXIT 
 
===================
SAMPLE SPAWNBBS.BAT
===================

:LOOP 
  Echo Off 
  C: 
  chdir \rbbs 
  If Not Exist C:\RBBS\RCTTY.BAT Goto LOCAL 
  C:\RBBS\WATCHDG1 OFF 
  Del C:\RBBS\RCTTY.BAT 
  C:\RBBS\RBBS-pc /%3 /%1 
  Goto REMOTE 
 
:LOCAL 
  C:\RBBS\RBBS-pc /%3 /%1 
:REMOTE 
  If Not Exist C:\RBBS\RCTTY.BAT GOTO EXIT 
  C:\RBBS\WATCHDG1 ON 
  C:\RBBS\RCTTY.BAT 
 
:EXIT 
 cls 

=====================================
A FEW CHOICE WORDS ABOUT BTCTL & OMMM
=====================================

OMMM requires the configuration file BINKLEY.PRM which is created by BTCTL.  The
original BTCTL in version 1.2 and 1.3 is a VERY temperamental beast.  Try to
find the new version of of 1.3 or 1.4 [after 2/22/88].  If you can't find one,
let me warn you that most users have needed to boot their machines with nothing
at all set by CONFIG.SYS; no EMMs, VDISKs, SET BINKLEY=C:\BINKLEY, and nothing
else.  I recommend that you boot your machine with a system disk in A:, no
CONFIG.SYS, no AUTOEXEC.BAT.  Change to C:, make sure BTCTL and BINKLEY.CFG are
in C:\BINKLEY, and then run this .bat from the ROOT directory:

C: 
ChDir C:\binkley 
C:\binkley\BTCTL C:\binkley\BINKLEY.CFG\ 
cd\ 
 
And hope for the best.  If it doesn't work the first time, don't be surprised. 
Check that everything is where it belongs, and try it again.  If it still
doesn't work, reboot, and try it again.

=================================
A FEW CHOICE WORDS ABOUT OMMM.CTL
=================================

This is not intended as a substitute for OMMM.DOC!  But, OMMM.CTL is not a
routing file [if you've used SEAdog].  It is a series of commands which are
executed on after another in sequence.  Using various schedules, you can produce
complex and powerful mail schedules [yeah, I know you've heard this before. 
Trust me].  
 
===============
SAMPLE OMMM.CTL
================
 
;SAMPLE OMMM.CTL, THANKS TO BILL ANDRUS 109/638

;The following statement tells OMMM that this is the commands to ;execute as
schedule E, local all systems routing.

Sched e

   Send ALL
   UnCM ALL
   UnDirect ALL
   UnHold ALL

;   To start with, lets LZ all messages going out.

   OneCM ALL


;----------------------------------------------------------------
;The following statement tells OMMM that this is the commands to 
; execute as schedule d, holding mail for daytime pickup. 
;----------------------------------------------------------------
Sched d

;   To start with, lets LZ any messages going out.
   Send ALL
   UnCM ALL
   UnDirect ALL
   UnHold ALL
   OneHold ALL
;----------------------------------------------------------------
;The following statement tells OMMM that this is the commands to 
; execute as schedule B, local routing.
;----------------------------------------------------------------
Sched B

;   To start with, lets LZ any messages going out.

   Send ALL
   UnCM ALL
   UnDirect ALL
   UnHold ALL
   OneCM ALL

;----------------------------------------------------------------
; The following is defines the initial NMH.
;----------------------------------------------------------------
Sched A


   Send ALL
   UnCM ALL
   UnDirect ALL
   UnHold ALL
   OneCM ALL

;----------------------------------------------------------------
;And more to define Net 109's schedule C.  Just more of the same. 
;   I'll let you figure out whats happening.
;----------------------------------------------------------------
Sched C

   Send ALL
   UnCM ALL
   UnDirect ALL
   UnHold ALL
   OneCM ALL

;END                              ###

================================
NOW HERE'S A SAMPLE ROUTEGEN.CTL
================================
 
NODE 109/688 
OPUS 
 
DEFINE LINKA 109/638                ;Northern link 
DEFINE LINKB 109/606                ;Southern and other link 
DEFINE LONGN 676                    ;Long-dist. north 
DEFINE LONGS 639 646 655            ;Long-dist. south 
DEFINE LOCAL NET-109 EXCEPT LONGS LONGN LINKA LINKB 
 
SCHED D                             ;Daytime mail 
 
ARCHOLD LINKB LONGS 
ARCHOLD LINKA LONGN 
ONEHOLD LOCAL 
 
SCHED B                             ;Send local and netwide 
                                    ;mail before NMH 
UNHOLD LINKA LINKB 
UNHOLD LOCAL 
 
 
SCHED A                             ;Send NMH 
 
UNHOLD LOCAL 
 
SCHED C                             ;LOCAL DELIVERY 
 
ONEHOLD LOCAL 
 
;NOTICE HOW IT RESEMBLES OMMM.CTL?  MAKE OMMM.CTL FIRST, THEN JUST ADD YOUR
;DEFINITIONS AND RUN IT THRU XLATLIST!! 
  
=============================
OTHER THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
=============================

1.  You must request a net/node address BY NETMAIL from your local net 
coordinator, meaning you must demonstrate that you have a functioning mailer
running to qualify [you must be able to observe National Mail Hour, 4-5 AM ET]. 
Get this person's name and number from a Fido or Opus SysOp in your area.

2.  There is an RBBS-PC Echo for manic Echomail SysOps like us,  hosted by Kim
Wells of MAD FACES BBS.  You may pick up this Echo from  him by calling his node
at FidoNet 109/652, direct 301-350-1299 and  making arrangements with him.

3. There is a BinkleyTerm Echo conference with GREAT! BT help available.  You
should be able to access it at any Fido or Opus BBS.  Check with your Net
coordinator or your Echomail coordinator.

4.  I'll help if I can. I'm no system genius, but I've got it working!  You can
call me voice [preferred] at 703/425-8633 between 1000 and  2000 EST most days,
and/or call the DynamicDuoRBBS @ FidoNet 109/688 or direct 703/425-4506 and
leave a message.

5.  Included with this document are my *.CFG, *.CTL, & *.BAT  files.  They are
customized for my system [Compaq 386, RBBS-PC 15.1B, running in a DESQview 2.01
window].  My MAIL & BBS maintenance is FULLY automated.  [Except when something
screws up].

6.  If you have any suggestions for improving this document, please feel free to
contact me with your comments.

