Copyright: Copyright ® 1994, by Todd Henschell
Citation: All material in this file is the property of Todd Henschell, Scrazner Graphics, and Dangerous Cybernetics, and may not be copied or otherwise used except as it was intended, in support of or in promotional material for, CMPQwk 1.42. How else could you use it anyway?


 table of contents


 basic information

This section contains information that will be fundamental to your understanding of how our program works. Please read through these sections carefully. The program is intuitive, sure, but it's always nice to go into combat with software armed with some knowledge of what the developers intended the program to do.


basic info index

 First steps

  Welcome to CMPQwk

  Fast setup instructions

  How to read mail and create replies

  What the program is supposed to do

  What the program isn't supposed to do

 Feature set

  Important features

  Coming attractions

 The interface

  Keyboard shortcuts

  Magic mouse shortcuts

 Conventions

  General information and conventions


 welcome to CMPQwk

Welcome to CMPQwk 1.42. The on-line help for 1.42 is a major overhaul from 1.40's help, and you'll find several new tools here (as well as new windows). There is a floating table of contents available, just click the button in the main button bar mark marked "Float toc". You can close that window by clicking "Close TOC."

Sub-sections also have their own TOC that you can float if you choose not to use the "full" floating TOC. You will not see the section indexes if you use the large floating TOC, however, unless you "back up" into the first "intro" section on a topic. That will destroy the floating TOC, because Windows help can't display more than one floating window at a time.

There is a word index accessible by clicking the button marked "Word index."

Plain VGA users will not find the large floating TOC very useful, they don't have the screen real estate to really take advantage of it, but the sub-section chapter indexes should be helpful, they are smaller than the big floating TOC.

 What's this program for, anyway?

Off-line mail was invented because a BBS has limited resources. Users don't like busy signals, and that's what you get when everybody reads and writes mail while connected to the system. With off-line mail, the BBS uses a program (usually called a door) to "package" the mail for you in a format you can read on your own system, using a program called an "off-line mail reader."

There are several different formats used to package mail for consumption off the BBS. One of the most popular---if not the most popular---is the QWK format. Once you've had the BBS prepare a QWK packet for you and you've downloaded it, you can read, reply, browse new files (if the system offers that feature) and examine news or bulletins without tying up the BBS phone line. When you're through with your mail, you can quickly upload your replies, and the mail door will process them and put them in the appropriate conference.

All of this will take much less time than if you did it on-line (few on-line editors are as good as those built in to even the most feeble off-line mail readers), and the whole process will tie up the sysop's board for only a short while.

Off-line mail helps the sysop keep his system available, and it improves the quality of the mail you send.  You can take the time to compose a clear, concise message, and you also have the chance---while off-line---to take back any snippy messages you've written, but (after you thought it over) decided you don't want to send.

CMPQwk was designed to be your tool for helping the sysop keep his system free so it can serve the maximum amount of users. Its most important purpose, though, is to make you look good by having nicely-formatted and well-thought-out mail coming from your end.

 Who made this thing?

This software was conceived and created by Derek Backus, a self-taught programmer who writes largely in Turbo Pascal.  Derek and his dedicated and hard-working beta testing team slaved away, squashing bugs, thinking up features, and otherwise doing everything possible to insure that CMPQwk was full-featured and ready to go out into the world.

The documentation, program graphics (the pictures you see in the dialogues and on the buttons), certain user interface layouts, and all accompanying text files were designed and created by Todd Henschell, a nationally-published author, technical writer, and screenwriter who has written columns for Computer World, crafted scripts for Paramount Pictures and Universal, and has co-authored the Prentiss-Hall book At Home with Terminal Illness.

CMPQwk, and all its support files and documentation are made in the good old U.S.A. If you've gotten CMPQwk from SCS in the U.K., your printed documentation is a licensed reprint made wherever SCS wanted to print it. It could be anywhere at all, I have no idea. Contact SCS for more information about that.


 fast setup instructions

If you've used CMPQwk before, jump to the section below called "upgrade installations," it contains important notes you need to read. Most of the problems people encounter during upgrades are caused by the user not following the simple instructions in the documentation. Hey, nobody reads the docs, we know that.

  Important note! Make sure you back up important system data before proceeding with any upgrade or new installation! Do not install any new software (including ours) before backing up your system. You court disaster if you do. Also turn off all screen savers, background file transfers, and so on to give the decompression engine full access to the CPU, that will speed installation.

 New installations

If you've obtained the program via Internet ftp or from a BBS, you may have several files or one large file (they are distributed in different ways so users running slower modems can get "pieces" of the program). If you have one large file with a single SETUP.EXE inside, follow the directions below.

  Unpack the file into a temporary directory.

  Run SETUP.EXE by double-clicking it from File Manager.

  Tell SETUP exactly where you would like to install CMPQwk 1.42.

  If this is an upgrade, SETUP will know where it should go.

  SETUP will install the program for you and offer to create a program group.

  The first time you run CMPQwk, it will open a sample QWK file, please read through it.

There are some other details you must take care of when installing, and failing to do these correctly (particularly with new installations) is a cause of much woe later on. You must set the paths for CMPQwk to look for your QWK files (use the one you are using with your current reader, it is probably linked to your communications program).

You must also tell CMPQwk where you want it to put its temporary files, or work directory. Accept the default, which is under the \CMPQWK directory.

Avoid the temptation to use a RAM disk, this can cause problems later on. CMPQwk has a feature called "Quick exit," and if you use a RAM disk for your work directory, pick Quick exit from the menu, and crash your system, you will lose all of your replies that you have not saved into a REP file during the session. Hit F9 regularly if you use a RAM disk for the work directory, you at least will not lose any replies prior to the last time you hit F9.

Sure, RAM disks are faster than regular disks, but they also have some nasty drawbacks, so we'd like to suggest that you not use one for your work directory.

 Note: Be sure a directory of the destination target \work directory name doesn't already exist on that drive. Be sure that other programs will not try to use the same work directory. (Such as they do with the common "temp" directory other Windows programs access cooperatively.)

Important!  CMPQwk will indiscriminately delete the contents of its work directory when it exits!

Don't let any other program access the CMPQwk work directory (or don't you store stuff there if you'll expect to find it later).

Under most circumstances, SETUP will take care of everything for you. In those rare cases where it fails, or you have some other problem, it is usually due to a corrupt zip or a problem with the system onto which you are installing the program.

Do not unpack the zip file (or multiple zip files) into the target (this means the CMPQwk home) directory, this is the number one cause of installation errors. You must use a temporary directory for the installation. (Floppy-based versions are an exception to this, because you install directly from the floppy).

 Have you got multiple Zips?

Generally, unless we say otherwise, you can probably unpack everything but the Sound upgrade files into a temporary directory and run setup. The Sound upgrade will always require an individual install (and clean work directory) because it's an "optional" part of the program. If in doubt, contact us for support, but read those README.TXT files first, this may change after the release of this help file.

CompuServe and Internet users who got the program from those sources will almost always find it is all contained in a single Zip file.

 Upgrade installations

A rule before any installation or upgrade: back up your data! We're not responsible if you have 7,000 messages in a folder and you toast your folder during a system crash while installing. So back up your important data before proceeding. You should be backing that up nightly (or weekly at worst) anyway.

Upgrade installations install exactly the same as new installations, except they will sometimes run a special program to process data files the program uses into a new format. This will vary from version to version. To maintain your configuration you must install the program into the same directory as the older version. If you do not do so, your new installation will not be registered (if your old one was) and your screen color settings, font settings, folder contents, and so forth will not be preserved.

You will not see the program open the sample packet on load because your installation isn't a "new" installation. If you want to open this packet, you may do so by loading it as you would a normal packet. It will be located in your \CMPQWK directory and it will be called CMPQWK.QWK. It will not show up in the File open dialogue unless you navigate to the home directory.

If you have a problem with an upgrade contact us for assistance. Read the section on Upgrading from a earlier version before you contact us, though.

 Beta installations

If you have decided to test a public beta, you should remember a few things:

  It will crash or otherwise malfunction, the reason we call it a beta is because we're not completely sure everything works. If we were, we'd be shipping it as a full version. We think it all works, but who can say with all the bogus packets, buggy video drivers, and so on out in the "real" world.

  When it does crash, if you lose data, that's your problem (not ours). Report the crash, but please do not complain if it ate your replies, okay? It's probably eating ours, too!

  By agreeing to beta test (which means you elect to run a public beta) you hereby indemnify us against any and all claims that might arise as a result of your trying the beta program.

  Beta means just that: BETA. Translated: it means "not finished," or, "might freak out and eat your fifteen megabyte folder files and leave not a trace for you to recover and it's terrible you didn't have a backup newer than a year old, but that's the way it goes." So be careful! Back up before trying the newest build, okay?

  If it eats your hard disk and kills every other program on it, we're sorry (please report it, of course). But we're not liable. We don't expect it to do this, but if it does, oh, well...

  Only registered users can run a beta build. If you try to do so and you are not registered, you will render your original copy of CMPQwk unusable, and you will have to delete the program and re-install. This is by design, not by mistake. In other words, trying to run the beta will corrupt your existing CMPQwk installation, so we don't suggest you try it unless you have a registered, official copy.

  If you beta test for us, we expect you to file an understandable report if you encounter a problem. Yelling at us will cause you to be ignored and put on the ka-ka user list.. Please do collect usable information and if you find a pattern in the error, bring this to our attention. We want to fix it more than you do, I bet.

  Finally (but not least important) DON'T MAKE FEATURE SUGGESTIONS during the beta cycle. When we release it to the public as a beta, that means we're "done" with the features for the moment. If something new appears, it will be because we had to do it to get around a problem we encountered with the build. Please, please, don't make feature suggestions during a beta cycle! Adjustments to an existing feature (box layout, button placement, etc.) are okay, we want the application to look and feel good. But we want to avoid "new" features when possible.


In most cases, anyway...

Most of the time SETUP will detect a previous installation and upgrade it accordingly. If you're not using a CMPQWK.INI file in your \WINDOWS directory, it will not know, you will have to tell it. Either do that or copy the CMPQWK.INI file to the \WINDOWS directory prior to running SETUP. Most folks leave the INI file there, so most folks will not have a problem with this.


Ka-Ka users

Do we really keep this list? When I was a little kid, if my Mom didn't like something, she'd say, "Oh, that's ka-ka." First time I heard it, I didn't know what she meant (I mean, w'ere talking two or three years old). But back to the original question, do we keep this list? We've bumped into users who are so obnoxious and so venomous in their mail to us (and for Pete's sake, we're here to provide support) that we decide that this person is just too horrible to deal with.

You'd be amazed at some of the mail we get from people who begin with, "I used your program for four months [without registering] but when I tried to open this packet a friend gave me the other day, the unpacker GPF'd...what a piece of sh*t your program is! Turned out the Zip was corrupt, and inside really a GIF file, but that's no excuse."

That's taken word-for-word from an actual message.

Who sent it? Is he on the ka-ka list? We don't have one, but if we did, he'd go on it, close to the top. Maybe we should start one?


Please!

Normally we are eager to hear about the feature ideas our users have. However, if we are trying to debug what we already have done to a build, adding yet another feature is just one more fly in the soup. It complicates matters, and being that we like to keep our users happy, we may even try to put the feature in there, possibly messing up fourteen other things. We've done this in the past and we're totally unreformed with respect to this: what our users thinks matters to us (unlike some software companies).

So save the suggestions for later, after we've released a "public" version and we know the new release is at lease usable and stable. It's hard when you have limited resources like we do to really keep up with the market, and it's even harder if the feature set gets "out of control" during testing. So please do tell us how the build works, please do not ask for another gizmo just yet... We'd really appreciate that.


  how to read mail and create replies

 Bring back fast tips for reading & writing messages.

 Bring back floating index, it went away!

 The real basic stuff - (you can skip this part if you're an advanced user)

First off, you have to know what QWK mail is and how you get it to use our program. Version 1.4x does not contain any communications components. We assume two things to be "true."

  Our first assumption: is that if you're reading this on-line help file you have a modem and some type of communications program with which to operate that modem. We're also assuming you call BBS systems of some type, because that's the only way (right now) you can get CMPQwk.

  Our second assumption: is that you know what QWK mail is, know what a mail door is, and how to get to one. We can't possibly instruct everybody on the procedures for getting QWK mail on all the different types of BBS software.

We suggest that if you don't know how to get QWK mail, you should call your favorite BBS and leave a comment to the sysop, asking him which bulletin explains it (if they have bulletins) or if he'd please tell you how you get, use, and reply to QWK mail. He won't mind the message at all, in fact he'll probably be excited that you want to participate in the ongoing discussions and not just leech files.

Since 99% of our sales have been upgrades from people using other readers like OLX and WinQWK, we decided it was better to spend our time improving our program than writing a manual on how to get mail on every BBS system in the U.S.A.

Once the program is installed, you'll want to look through all the options. Open the various dialogues (without a packet open) and see what options you have. You can set colors, sounds, fonts, and so on. Play with those items for a bit, and get familiar with how things work. You'll find we organized the program not with one huge and complicated configuration dialogue, but with tabs that generally apply to the various windows the program uses or functions required to make it operate.

I'll say this again: CMPQwk is like any toolbox, and there are hammers, saws, and screwdrivers. Just like you don't use a screwdriver to pound in a nail, you don't use the Read window to add or drop conferences---you use the Conference list for that.

With CMPQwk you use the different windows to do different things.  Think of windows as you do a toolbar, it's the same idea. See the Windows section for more details about each one.

You'll find that each window has attributes or settings that apply only to what you're doing when you're in that window. Some menu items (and toolbar functions) are available when you're in one type of window, but not in another.

This is by design. It's how we like to work.

You'll find you can set just about anything you'd want to set, including fonts, colors, quoting, signature, and so on. Don't worry about the advanced settings until you feel at home with the program. But do poke around and see what's available to you. We think CMPQwk has one of the deepest feature sets of any Windows off-line mail reader, and we're proud of that.

We also think it's the easiest to set up, because other than telling the program where you want to keep your QWK and REP files, you just don't have to do anything else to get it to work. (Unlike some of our competitors who make you enter horrific command lines or worse, hack INI files to set basic program parameters.)

Anyway, look through the program's configuration dialogues, see what they do, and come back to this file when you have things the way you want them.

  Our third assumption is that you've got the program feeling how you'd like it to feel. You can change settings at any time, in most cases the changes will take effect right away. So settle in with things smoothed out the way you like them. You'll want to get a packet open. It doesn't need to be a big packet, any packet will do.

 The basic stuff - first steps to reading and writing mail

Click on the File menu, then Open (or press ALT,F,O) to see a list of QWK packets in the directory you designated as your QWK storage area.  Once you've found a QWK file you want to open, if you double-click on it, the archive program you selected will open the packet, the Conference list window will present itself in the default position, and if you have personal mail, a Read window will appear in the default position.

The Conference list is CMPQwk's "home" window.  If you have a packet open, the Conference list should always be open. You can't really navigate through a packet without it, so don't close it. If you do, you'll be closing the QWK packet, too.

To read mail, just double-click on the conference you'd like to open, or press Enter while the cursor bar is over that conference name. A Read window will appear in the default position (the first Read window may have already done so if you have personal mail in the packet). Grab the borders of the Read window and size it how you'd like to see it.

CMPQwk remembers window positions (unlike other products, we put you in control of the MDI). Place all the windows that appear where you'd like to see further instances of them to appear and that's where they'll go.  This setting (set in General options) is remembered from session to session. This setting is "off" by default, so you'll have to enable it to enjoy it. You can also set all of the windows to load "maximized," which is what plain VGA users might want to do.

 Navigation - fast ways to get around a packet

If you want to go the next message in a conference, with the Read window as the front window, you need only press the right arrow key.  You can quickly flip through a small conference in this manner (although you'll find the Quick message list or QML better for this when you're doing heavy net mail, and I'll get to it in a moment).

If you want to reply to a message, just press R while a Read window (or a Quick Message List) is the "active" window, and the message header dialogue box will appear. Pick a subject, a tagline (or change tagline files), flag the message private if you want, and click on "OK" to begin editing your reply.

If you're replying to a message on RIME that's been routed to you, CMPQwk will automatically pick up the sender's RIME address and put the correct routing string on the first line of the message. If you're looking at an Internet packet, it will pick up the sender's Internet address and put it on the first line, as is custom with QWK-to-UUCP doors (more on that in later sections).

Like we said, we wanted to make it easy for you. That was our main goal: ease of use.

If you've got a really big conference, press I when a Read Window is active to bring up the Quick message list. In fact, it probably has already come up. If you position the QML in a comfortable place below a Read window, you'll find it's a better tool for navigating. You can scroll up and down without moving the Read window's contents (use the elevator bar). Look for something that might interest you, and simply click once on the line with that message.

If you de-link the QML and Read window (see Read configuration), you can use the cursor to scroll up and down inside the QML and the Read window will not change unless you press ENTER or click the left button once on the QML message line.

The Read window will change to reflect the contents of that message. Find one you want to reply to, press R and jump into the Write window. We'll be covering more of these windows in detail later, but you should glance at them now. The Write window is the editor in CMPQwk.

Type in what you'd like to say, editing as you see fit. You'll notice a small button bar on the editor that gives you quick access to the clipboard and several other features. The underlined key in each button also responds to ALT+[underlined key] keystrokes.

Once you've finished entering your text, ALT+S, F10, or clicking the Save button will save the message (spell-checking it if you've enabled that feature and have the corresponding files from the second CMPQwk archive) and it will then put you back at the same Read window. If you want to send multiple copies of the same message to different users, just click on the Save CC button, and you'll be prompted for a list of users to whom you'd like to send a message. Type in their names, and when you're finished, click on OK to continue.

 Pressing the Spacebar, in 1.42 now acts like the page down key until you reach the end of the message, and then it takes you to the next message. This key, or the right arrow, or selecting Message/Next will take you to the next message, or into the next conference, if the current Read window message is the last one in the selected conference.

The QML in 1.4 can navigate between conferences. You can also Reply, and Enter a new message right from the QML window in version 1.4x. There is a right mouse button there for you rodent lovers, take a look at it.

When you're through reading or creating replies, you can click on File, Close (or ALT, F, C) and CMPQwk will prepare your REP packet for uploading. If you're through with your mail for the day, you can select File, eXit (or ALT+X) and CMPQwk will create the REP packet automatically before it exits.

This was just a simple walk-through, you'll read more about advanced features (like spell-checking and the rubber stamp tool) later.


tips for reading & writing mail

 Spacebar to page down & then read next message.

 Right arrow to go forward, left to go back.

 A to view ANSI messages.

 When you open the bulletins, the left/right arrow keys move to the next bulletin.

 S to save to a folder.

 I to load the QML (if it's not auto-loading in your configuration).

 F10 to save a message.

 Smack F9 after you've done more than ten replies.

 P to cancel spell-checking and save an ongoing reply.

 DEL key to delete an outgoing reply when it's Read window is the current window.

 R to edit a reply when its window is the current window.

 X to export the current Read window to a text file.

 T to steal the tagline in the current Read window and add it to one of your tagline database files.

 Click on a Read window to turn it to plain text, then you can mark it and copy from it into the Windows clipboard. It's normal for the color to "vanish" when you click on the window, relax.

 If the message is too large to display in the Read window, export it to text and use CMPView to read it. (CMPView can read nearly any size file.)

 Don't use a big, piggish signature, the network folks have to pay to modem that around.

 Quote only what you need to quote to remind the original author what you were talking about.

 CTRL+B in the Write window to wrap a badly-wrapped paragraph: highlight the paragraph first. This will fix imported text files that had returns at odd places (or beyond the margins in the editor).

 Try the right mouse button menus in the Read, Write, QML, and Conference list windows.

 Be kind to your sysop who may be paying to ship your mail around: don't import (and post) large text files if you don't need the entire contents. Clip out only what you need.

 If a message makes you angry, skip to the next message, don't reply to it. Flame wars are boring for everybody and they make the network moderator lose his or her hair from stress.


 what the program is supposed to do

It's pretty simple, really: CMPQwk lets you open QWK packets, read the messages and other information in the packet, write and edit replies to your mail, and do it all without leaving the warm nest of Microsoft Windows (of any flavor after 3.1). For most users, it won't require that you use clunky DOS shells or DOS archivers and de-archivers like PKZip and PKUnzip. For users running in Standard Mode, that means you can continue to use your Windows communications program while you do mail.

CMPQwk is full-featured and quite powerful. You can read and reply to as many messages as memory will allow, browse through a complete index of every conference, check out the "new files" listings and messages in their native ANSI colors, and even store important messages in a powerful, yet simply-organized folder system.


 what the program isn't supposed to do

Oh, well, it's not supposed to pay off the national debt, repair your car, keep your life simple or anything like that. We wish it could, though, we think the country is quickly going into debt from which it will never recover, everybody's car can use a tweak now and then, and life is always too complex, isn't it? But there's not much we can do about those problems.

CMPQwk won't read mail that's not in QWK format (yet). It won't call out and get your mail for you (yet). It won't edit your SYSTEM.INI or WIN.INI or do anything else but let you read and reply to BBS mail. CMPQwk won't balance your checkbook or keep a record of all the people you've called this year to discuss the national budget, or track your recipe database, or anything like that (unless you want to put that data into our Folder Tools, which I guess you could do).

It's just a QWK mail reader with some spiffy features, but we like to think that being a QWK mail reader is a good enough aspiration for the time being. We may get bolder later on as we get good at this.


 important features

There hasn't been a gusher of good mail readers created for the Microsoft Windows® environment.  Most of them have had ugly interfaces, lousy setups, horrible documentation, and they load stupid DOS shells or crash-prone hard-to-configure kludges to unpack your mail, or in some cases, advertise that they do something, but when you try it, the feature doesn't work, or says, "Coming Soon." That's a "gyp," as my mother used to say. Either you have a feature or you do not. Or as Yoda might say (apologies to the little green rubber fellow), "There is no coming soon there is only got it now."

That's the state of Windows-based mail readers at this writing.

And that's sad, because Windows is perfect for mail reading: you don't have to tie your system up while you do mail, you have superb control over how things look to you, the mouse is supported by the nature of the beast, and it's fairly easy to stuff the program with slick features because the environment allows them.

Well, maybe not easy... it's actually quite a bit of work. But that's another story.

 CMPQwk is different from most other Windows mail readers. Its internal packer/unpacker is fully PKZip and PKUnzip 2.x compatible. (It can create zips using the -e0 option that the real PKUnzip 1.1 can unpack.)

 CMPQwk can be driven just about 100% of the time from the keyboard. We don't make you grab the mouse (except in a few rare cases where it's very logical to do so such as using the toolbar and configuration tabs, both of which require a mouse). That doesn't mean our program doesn't use the mouse, we just don't thrust it down your throat at every corner like some applications seem to do.

 CMPQwk is powerful enough to read the largest netmail packets. It can read packets that would kill most any other reader, and DOS readers usually cannot compare when it comes to ease of use. We've opened large packets that locked up OLX tight, for example. Derek has opened 8MB QWK packets on his machine.

 CMPQwk is a full-featured (MDI) multiple-document-interface application. That means you're not stuck in a single message or conference. If you want to jump back and grab some text you saw a few messages ago and paste it into your current reply, no sweat: hop to the Quick message list, find the other message, snag the material, and whip it into the clipboard. Paste it into your message and continue.

Note: You can't copy from the Read window until you click the left-button on it. It then changes to a "text" window, from which you can copy simply by highlighting the text you want and selecting Copy from the Edit menu. See the Read window section for details.

 CMPQwk has plenty of user-configurable options. There are many features you can set to your taste inside the program, like quote text colors (so you can quickly see what material has been quoted) and display fonts (in case you don't like terminal font for some reason), to name two. CMPQwk supports user-selected sounds for the many internal events, and the program will even announce (if you download and install the optional Sound upgrade) how much personal mail you've got when you open a packet.

 CMPQwk 1.42 will let you assign any fixed font you have to the QML, Write, ANSI, and Conference list windows, and any font at all you have to the Read window.

 Unlike a typical out-of-control MDI application, CMPQwk lets you define positions for the Read, Write, Quick message list, and Conference list windows. You tell the program how you'd like it to look---it doesn't tell you. Want to run all windows maximized? No problem. Check that option in the General options tab and that's how they'll come up.

 CMPQwk should work right out of the box. The defaults that come up when you first install it should be acceptable for just about everybody. But---if you're a tinkerer---you can play with the settings and optimize them to your taste.

 CMPQwk automatically understands the command lines for most major file archivers (Zip, Arj, Lharc) so you don't have to type in silly and complicated command strings to get at your mail. We think forcing the user to hack an INI file to read mail is idiotic. If you'd like to use the internal packer/unpacker, we'd be delighted. If you want to use something else, that's okay, too. It's your mail reader, after all. Click on the name of the archiver you'd like to use and you're finished.

 Product support? We've got just about everybody beat. We have multi-line official support sites in Ohio, California, a free ftp site on the Internet, and we've got direct support overseas in the European Common Market through SCS, too. There are so many ways to get in touch with us to ask questions that even we are amazed by it.


Notice I said "most..."

No, not all of them are bad, but most of them are severely limited in one way or another. Many are designed and created by "part-time" programmers who have other things to do, can't really support you, don't have the time to improve the product because they're working 90 hours a week for Microsoft, or delivering pizzas or whatnot. Just for the record, Derek is programming this and our other products full-time now---this program (and the others) will either support him with registrations or he'll be on the way to bankruptcy court with me hot on his heels.

This makes him take it very seriously! Software isn't a hobby for us, folks, this is our job. So we want to do it better than anybody else, because neither Derek or myself is fond of the idea of pushing a shopping cart full of soft drink cans to get our grocery money.

Although we do encourage recycling...


 coming attractions

First off, keep in mind that good software is always improving. Our incentive for you to register (which means you send us money) is to convince you that you're not buying into a blind alley. Many times with shareware a year down the road it's still the same, with no improvements, no bug fixes, and so on.  We have big plans for CMPQwk! Ask our long-time users how much the program has improved since 1.0, they'll tell you.

 User suggestions?

Here's just a few of the user suggestions that made it into this release:

 You can now mark multiple messages in the QML for printing, storing in folders (into a single folder) and for text export. This vastly simplifies things like handling UUEncoded files.

 There is now a status bar on each Write window that gives you line number, column number, the time, private status of the message, and the name of the file attached to the message, if you've included one.

 Sound panel for user-defined sounds for just about everything the program does.

 The address book now stores routing information for Internet, FIDO, and RIME.

 You can now use --==Speed Search on the Conference list and the QML. This makes navigating large packets a breeze. Press CTRL+F in either window to bring up a search box.

 Enhanced tagline management (a complete tagline database, actually).

 Ability to change tagline files on the fly and use a virtually unlimited number of practically unlimited-size taglines in the program.

 Search through tagline files.

 Improved Folder Tools now let you move messages between folders, rename folders, reply to stored messages, and so on.

 Split Internet messages now get routed automatically.

 The Read window can now display larger messages, up to 1,000 lines (and beyond).

  File size limitation of message text export (about 32K before) now gone!

 Tabbed configuration panels for speedy setup.

 Font selections for all program windows (and even parts of windows).

 Font and special formatting settings displayed "on the fly" in the options panel.

 Any change you make in color or font configuration takes place immediately, no required "re-starting" of the program.

 Replace All in the spell-checker.

 Carbon Copy to Internet addresses puts the To: username@hostname on all of the messages (you had to do it manually before).

 CMPQwk 1.42 now handles larger Internet-type messages. For more information about these improvements, click on Long Internet messages.

 More to come

Here are some of the things on the drawing board for consideration to be included in future releases:

  In/Out boxes. They are already in early development, and will appear in the next full-number release. Former OLX users, rejoice! Complete user control over what to read, what to keep, and what to delete. Think "power" if you want to know what it's going to be like. Status: design phase. It will appear in 1.5.

  Object-oriented mail. In other words, outside of doing "replies" you can do mail to a "person" and it doesn't matter where that person is---or on what system you reach him or her. If you're doing some mail on the Patchbay BBS and you get the urge to send a note to Derek Backus on ASACompucom BBS, then you just tell the program to do that, and when you're done with the Patchbay mail, you'll have a single-message REP for ASA, too. It will get packed up on exit just like Patchbay's. Status: design phase.

  "Libraries" of old messages, with full database and index functions. You'll be able to store and search through "canned messages" such as those sysops use, with long descriptions for each message, and a fully-featured search function that will find exactly the message you need. The Folder Tools™ are already in the process of being enhanced, and improved folders have appeared in 1.42, and will be enhanced further in version 1.5 and 2.0.

  Old QWK packet database. If you want to archive QWK files, you'll be able to do so and store them with a long description, date you received it, and so forth. Status: early interface design phase, it might be an add-on program for CMPQwk and other readers, too, we haven't decided.

  Free-floating Toolbar and configurable Toolbar positions. Along with this a "build-able toolbar" so you could put buttons on it to call your communications program, or do other useful things. This feature is already in the early stages of development, and should show up in version 2.0. See our Gator Edit project for the second generation toolbar. Status: ready to go into the next major release.

  Ability to read mail other than QWK. For example, Blue Wave. It will be tough to work this in, and Blue Wave is a dinky part of the market (less than 10%), but it's something to shoot for. Should we get the demand for it, we'll also consider reading MCI and CompuServe mail, as well as formats like SOUP.

  The ability of the program to call host systems and directly upload mail for you while you're writing other mail. We'd like to be able to have our users click a button and the program will look in the REP directory for "new" replies, check which systems they are from, and in the background dial those systems and upload mail while you work. This is something already in very early Alpha testing, and a limited version of this option should appear in 1.5.

  User suggestions. Users often come up with the best ideas. When they come in, there's a solid chance they'll make it into a future version. Many of the program's current features were first suggested by the beta team or users of 1.40. We don't want to discount the opinions of those using the software. If you have a good suggestion, please make it! (But not during beta cycles.)


 keyboard shortcuts

You'll want to peruse this list in order to learn the various keyboard shortcuts you can use. It's usually faster to use the keyboard during message reading and editing than it is to keep grabbing for that rodent.

OLX users should pay special attention to the keypad controls, because you can do (more or less) everything you can do in OLX's keypad and perhaps a bit more, including replying to a message and bringing up the Conference list window.

 Load keyboard table into a stay-on-top window.

 Bring back floating index.

You can use the stay-on-top window inside CMPQwk by minimizing this window and switching back to CMPQwk. If you leave the floating window open, you'll be able to read through the keyboard shortcuts while CMPQwk is your active application (while you're using it, in fact). Although the keyboard table will be the "top" window, CMPQwk will be the "active" window. This should help you quickly learn the keystrokes. It beats Post-it notes, anyway...

 Note: if you're running in 640 x 480 mode and you click the up button on the floating table in order to roll up the window to make more room, you may roll it up so the buttons are not visible (and you cannot then roll it back down). Simply drag the window border down enough so you can see the buttons. This is a limitation of the help engine's ability to place windows, there's nothing I can do about it. Users running at 800 x 600 and above will not have this problem.

 Program-wide

CTRL+S - Search for text

F9 - Save replies (if you've created any it will quickly pack up a REP)

ALT+X - Exit program (packing replies, if you've created any)

CTRL+O - Open a QWK (packs replies if you've got a QWK open and have created messages)

 Read Window

- - Back one message

g - Go back one message

+ - Forward one message

a - View an ANSI message in color

left arrow - Back one message

right arrow - Forward one message

down Arrow - Scroll down one line

up Arrow - Scroll up one line

PgDn - Scroll down one page

CTRL+PgDn - Skip to next thread

PgUp - Scroll up one page

Space - Page down, when at end of current message go to next message

r - Reply to current message

e - Enter a new message

f - Forward the current message to another user

i - Quick message list, QML (message index)

j - Join a conference (Make Conference list active)

s - Adds current message to a folder (you pick which folder)

p - Prints current message to the default printer

t - Steal tag line

x - Export to a text file

z - Zip to reply---takes you to the a reply for the Read window

CTRL+S - Search for text

CTRL+ - Next conference

CTRL- - Previous conference

CTRL+right arrow - Next conference

CTRL+left arrow - Previous conference

DEL	- Delete a reply if it's the current window

 Read Window keypad controls (numlock off)

* - Reply to current message

Ins - Quick message list, QML (message index)

Enter - Go to next message

- - Go to prior message

+ - Go to next message

5 - Conference list

[arrow keys] - Same as Read window keys

 Conference Window

CTRL+A - Add a conference to your scanned conferences list

CTRL+D - Delete a conference (stop scanning it for future mail)

CTRL+F - Search through the conference list

F3 - Resume the last search

up arrow - Move up one conference

dn arrow - Move down one conference

Enter - Open the highlighted conference

 Quick Message List Window

up arrow - Move up one message

dn arrow - Move down one message

Enter - Make the Read window the "focus"

CTRL+right arrow - Next conference

CTRL+pagedown - Next conference

CTRL+left arrow - Previous conference

CTRL+pageup - Previous conference

HOME - Go to the top of the QML

END - Go to the end of the QML

CTRL+f - Search through the QML (like in Conference list)

e - Enter a new message

r - Reply to the message highlighted in the QML window

x - Export message to a text file

 Write Window

F10 - Save the current reply

CTRL+B - Wraps or cleans up any selected text

CTRL+Q - Wraps the selected text and attributes it to recipient

CTRL+S - Save the current reply

CTRL+Y - Delete Current Line

CTRL+Z - Undo last operation

Shift+Del - Cut marked text into the clipboard

CTRL+Ins - Copy marked text from current reply to the clipboard

Shift+Ins - Paste text from clipboard to current cursor position

Del - Delete marked text (doesn't cut into the clipboard, it's lost)

CTRL+Del - Clear all

up arrow - Move cursor up one line

dn arrow - Move cursor down one line

left arrow - Move cursor left one space

Shift+arrows - Highlight text to cut, copy, or delete

 Note: You may use all of the standard Windows editing controls in 1.42. These include CTRL+C for copy, etc. following Windows 3.1 conventions. The Windows 3.0 keys (Shift+INS and so on) work, too, we like them better than the non-intuitive and clunky 3.1 Mac-like keys.

 ANSI View Window

up arrow - Move graphic up one line

dn arrow - Move graphic down one line

PgDn - Move one "screen" down

PgUp - Move one "screen" up

ESC - Close ANSI window

right arrow - Next bulletin (will cycle back through first)

left arrow - Prior bulletin (will cycle back through last)

 Note: these keys apply only to the internal color ANSI screen viewer. If you use CMPView or another program, refer to the help file for that program for applicable keystrokes.


 Program-wide

CTRL+S  Search for text

F9  Save replies (if you've created any it will quickly pack up a REP)

ALT+X  Exit program (packing replies, if you've created any)

CTRL+O  Open a QWK (packs replies if you've got a QWK open and have created messages)

 Read Window

-  Back one message

g  Go back one message

+  Forward one message

a  View an ANSI message in color

left arrow  Back one message

right arrow  Forward one message

down Arrow  Scroll down one line

up Arrow  Scroll up one line

PgDn  Scroll down one page

CTRL+PgDn  Skip to next thread

PgUp  Scroll up one page

Space  Page down, when at end of current message go to next message

r  Reply to current message

e  Enter a new message

f  Forward the current message to another user

i  Quick message list, QML (message index)

j  Join a conference (Make Conference list active)

s  Adds current message to a folder (you pick which folder)

p  Prints current message to the default printer

t  Steal tag line (or marked text as tagline)

x  Export to a text file

z  Zip to reply---takes you to the a reply for the Read window

CTRL+S  Search for text

CTRL+  Next conference

CTRL-  Previous conference

CTRL+right arrow  Next conference

CTRL+left arrow  Previous conference

DEL  Delete a reply if it's the current window

 Read Window keypad (numlock off)

*  Reply to current message

Ins  Quick message list, QML (message index)

Enter  Go to next message

-  Go to prior message

+  Go to next message

5  Conference list

[arrow keys]  Same as Read window keys

 Conference Window

CTRL+A  Add a conference to your scanned conferences list

CTRL+D  Delete a conference (stop scanning it for future mail)

CTRL+F  Search through the Conference list

F3  Search again

up arrow  Move up one conference

dn arrow  Move down one conference

Enter  Open the highlighted conference

 Quick Message List Window

up arrow  Move up one message

dn arrow  Move down one message

Enter  Make the Read window the "focus"

CTRL+right arrow  Next conference

CTRL+pagedown  Next conference

CTRL+left arrow  Previous conference

CTRL+pageup  Previous conference

r  Reply to the message highlighted in the QML window

e  Enter a new message

x  Export to a text file

CTRL+F  Search through the QML for text

F3  Search again

 Write Window

F10  Save the current reply

CTRL+B  Wraps or cleans up any selected text

CTRL+Q  Wraps the selected text and attributes it to recipient

CTRL+S  Save the current reply

CTRL+Y  Delete Current Line

CTRL+Z  Undo last change

Shift+Del  Cut marked text into the clipboard

CTRL+Ins  Copy marked text from current reply to the clipboard

Shift+Ins  Paste text from clipboard to current cursor position

Del  Delete marked text (doesn't cut into the clipboard, it's lost)

CTRL+Del  Clear all

up arrow  Move cursor up one line

dn arrow  Move cursor down one line

left arrow  Move cursor left one space

Shift+arrows  Highlight text to cut, copy, or delete

 ANSI View Window

up arrow  Move graphic up one line

dn arrow  Move graphic down one line

PgDn  Move one "screen" down

PgUp  Move one "screen" up

ESC  Close ANSI window

right arrow - Next bulletin (will cycle through list)

left arrow - Prior bulletin (will cycle back through list)


 Program-wide

CTRL+S  Search for text

F9  Save replies (if you've created any it will quickly pack up a REP)

ALT+X  Exit program (packing replies, if you've created any)

CTRL+O  Open a QWK (packs replies if you've got a QWK open and have created messages)


 Read Window

-  Back one message

g  Go back one message

+  Forward one message

a  View an ANSI message in color

left arrow  Back one message

right arrow  Forward one message

down Arrow  Scroll down one line

up Arrow  Scroll up one line

PgDn  Scroll down one page

CTRL+PgDn  Skip to next thread

PgUp  Scroll up one page

Space  Page down, when at end of current message go to next message

r  Reply to current message

e  Enter a new message

f  Forward the current message to another user

i  Quick message list, QML (message index)

j  Join a conference (Make Conference list active)

s  Adds current message to a folder (you pick which folder)

p  Prints current message to the default printer

t  Steal tag line (or marked text as tagline)

x  Export to a text file

z  Zip to reply---takes you to the a reply for the Read window

CTRL+S  Search for text

CTRL+  Next conference

CTRL-  Previous conference

CTRL+right arrow  Next conference

CTRL+left arrow  Previous conference

DEL  Delete a reply if it's the current window


 Read Window keypad (numlock off)

*  Reply to current message

Ins  Quick message list, QML (message index)

Enter  Go to next message

-  Go to prior message

+  Go to next message

5  Conference list

[arrow keys]  Same as Read window keys


 Conference Window

CTRL+A  Add a conference to your scanned conferences list

CTRL+D  Delete a conference (stop scanning it for future mail)

CTRL+F  Search through the Conference list

F3  Search again

up arrow  Move up one conference

dn arrow  Move down one conference

Enter  Open the highlighted conference


 Quick Message List Window

up arrow  Move up one message

dn arrow  Move down one message

Enter  Make the Read window the "focus"

CTRL+right arrow  Next conference

CTRL+pagedown  Next conference

CTRL+left arrow  Previous conference

CTRL+pageup  Previous conference

r  Reply to the message highlighted in the QML window

e  Enter a new message

x  Export to a text file

CTRL+F  Search through the QML for text

F3  Search again


 Write Window

F10  Save the current reply

CTRL+B  Wraps or cleans up any selected text

CTRL+Q  Wraps the selected text and attributes it to recipient

CTRL+S  Save the current reply

CTRL+Y  Delete Current Line

CTRL+Z  Undo last change

Shift+Del  Cut marked text into the clipboard

CTRL+Ins  Copy marked text from current reply to the clipboard

Shift+Ins  Paste text from clipboard to current cursor position

Del  Delete marked text (doesn't cut into the clipboard, it's lost)

CTRL+Del  Clear all

up arrow  Move cursor up one line

dn arrow  Move cursor down one line

left arrow  Move cursor left one space

Shift+arrows  Highlight text to cut, copy, or delete


 ANSI View Window

up arrow  Move graphic up one line

dn arrow  Move graphic down one line

PgDn  Move one "screen" down

PgUp  Move one "screen" up

ESC  Close ANSI window

right arrow - Next bulletin (will cycle through list)

left arrow - Prior bulletin (will cycle back through list)


 magic mouse shortcuts

There are some nice tricks you can do with the rodent in several of CMPQwk's windows. Most programs sorely neglect the mouse's right button. We figured it was there for a purpose, so we gave it some things to do. Let's start with the Read Window.

 Read window right mouse shortcuts

Next message - moves to next message

Previous message - backs up one message

First message - jumps to first message in conference

Last message - jumps to last message in conference

Index - bring up that conference's message index

Search - bring up the search function dialogue

Copy - (only if text is marked) copies to the marked text to the Windows clipboard

Previous conference - backs up one conference

Next conference - goes forward to next conference

Reply - opens the reply dialogue

Forward - forwards the current Read window to another user

Jump to rep/original - jumps to the original message that is the source of your reply.

Print - print the current message

Export - export the current message to ASCII

Copy attachment - this only appears if there is an attachment to the current Read window.

Export and edit - one stop shopping, will export (you define file name) and edit the message.

 Note: you must have defined an external editor in the General Configuration tab. The program will only export and edit if you have an editor defined there. We suggest you use CMPEdit (the free editor that ships with CMPQwk 1.4) or Gator Edit for this purpose.

 Write window right mouse shortcuts

Save - saves the message (same as F10 or the save button on button bar)

Cancel - cancels the reply or message

Cut - cuts highlighted text into the clipboard

Copy - copies highlighted text into clipboard

Paste - pastes highlighted text into clipboard

Wrap paragraph no quotes - cleans up a badly-wrapped section of selected text

Wrap paragraph with quotes - wraps paragraph as above, but quotes it as from recipient

Spell check... - starts spell-checking the message

Import text - brings up the dialogue for importing a plain ASCII file into the message

 Note: there is a hard-coded limit to your text file of 65,000 characters. If it's larger than that, it will get truncated on import into the program.

 QML right mouse shortcuts

Items with (selected) in them operate on multiple selections. The Read selected function only works with multiple selections, as you might suspect. Note that the menu changes slightly depending on whether or not one or multiple messages are selected. Use the CTRL key and left-mouse clicks to select non-sequential messages in the QML for batch operations.

Previous conference - skip backwards and open the previous conference

Next conference - skip forward and open the next conference

Reply... - reply to the currently marked Read window

Forward - forward the currently marked Read window to another user

Print (selected)  - send the contents of the marked message to the printer

Export (selected) - send the contents of the marked message(s) to a text file

Add (selected) to folder - add the marked message to one of your folders

Read selected - allows you to create a new "conference" that contains only the marked messages

Sort by thread - change the sorting option so it takes into account subject, date, time

Sort by number - show messages from lowest to highest message number

Sort by who to - sort by the recipient names in the message headers

Sort by who from - sort by the sender names in the message headers

Skip to next thread - jump past the current thread to a new one

 ANSI screens right mouse shortcuts

If you click the right mouse button on any ANSI view window, you'll be presented with a list of available ANSI screens in the packet. As this changes from packet to packet, we can't tell you every one that will be available, but you can pick the one you want from the list and it will be loaded into the current view window, replacing the original ANSI screen you selected to view from the main menu.

You will also find an option showing the available bulletins in the packet, and you can choose one from the menu, or use the arrow keys to cycle through them once the first bulletin is loaded. What you see on this menu varies depending on what the contents of the packet are, the type of system, and so forth.


 general information & conventions

If you're an experienced off-line mail user or a Windows guru, you can probably skip this section. If you're not, I want to take a minute to familiarize you with some of the conventions used in this help file. Knowing about these few small points may accelerate your ability to get full use from the program.

  There is context-sensitive help available from all of the program's windows, just press F1. All major dialogues also have context-sensitive help, too, so you can investigate what a dialogue does right from that dialogue. You should also download the optional DIALOG.HLP file from one of our support sites, it contains captures of every major dialogue with explanations of each feature or option in nifty pop-ups.

 Conventions

 When you see something in the help file or documentation like this: ALT+dn arrow it means you need to press both of the keys at the same time, not ALT,+, and then an arrow key. It sounds silly, but sometimes people think it's the + key. When the + key is involved, it will usually be as a singular key press, and if not, it will be explained in plain text.

 During the description of a menu function such as File, Open, the letters in bold represent the keys you may hit if you prefer using the keyboard. So if you see ALT, File, Close it's probably a safe bet to assume you can type ALT,F,C and save your file. In the case of buttons, usually either a Tab to the buttons and then the boldfaced key, or ALT+the boldfaced key will do the job.

 Any time you see something like ALT, O, S that means to press those keys in the order displayed, not all at once.

 Mouse buttons? When I refer to double-click, I mean double-click the left mouse button. There are no functions in CMPQwk that I know of that call for a double-click using the right mouse button. When I say "click" I mean left click unless I say otherwise.

 The keys CTRL, ALT, spacebar, dn arrow, up arrow, and so on are always spelled out rather than illustrated. That's because not everybody has a font that will display a keyboard key graphically, and a bitmap for every key of this type would make the help file enormous (and it is already too large).

 If you see Important! it means just that, and failure to pay attention may result in the program behaving in a fashion you won't like. If it's in red, like: Important! It means if you don't pay attention you may lose data or, by setting something wrong, cause the program to seriously malfunction. Don't skip the Important! sections!

 Note: followed by some text simply means that you'll find an interesting fact there that may affect the way you use a certain feature, or represent a limitation of that feature. You'll want to read these sections carefully.

  Followed by some text means that's the answer to a frequently asked question.

  Followed by some text means that I think this is a choice tip for using the program.

 Don't get lost...

  When I refer to the \CMPQWK directory, I mean the directory where you've installed CMPQwk, whether it's D:\CMPQWK or D:\LOST\SOUL\BEATS\ME\CMPQWK. So if there are instructions that refer to \CMPQWK, fill in the rest of your path as might be required.

  Sometimes I'll refer to "D:\CMPQWK" or "D:\DIRECTORYNAME." If you don't have a D: drive, that does not mean this doesn't apply to you, it does. A D: symbol means "drive, any letter that might be applicable to your system." I also call this the "home" directory, it's where CMPQwk lives---whatever the name might be on your system.

  If I refer to \WINDOWS and you've got Windows installed in \WIN3, of course substitute \WIN3. Putting something in a directory you don't have probably will not help matters much...even if DOS would let you do it. The same goes for \WINDOWS\SYSTEM and so forth.


 CMPQwk's tools

CMPQwk has several powerful tools for controlling how the program works and managing information. Novice users may not wish to delve deeply into all of them, but we suggest you familiarize yourself with them in a general way so you know what's available to you.

The deep feature set is one of CMPQwk's most valuable assets, and the features in 1.42 have gained more power beyond those in prior releases.

  The Folder Tools™ have been enhanced so you can now:

  Move messages between folders

  Rename folders

  Preview messages (and copy from them) without loading a large viewing window

  Print directly from the preview window

  Copy directly from the folders to the clipboard

  Reply directly to stored messages.

To read about these and other tools, click on the topic that appears in the floating index and information about that utility will appear in this window.


CMPQwk's tools index

 Interface

  The toolbar

  The status lines

 Folders

  Folder Tools

  Advanced Folder tips

 File management

  Qwk management tips

 Lists & stamps

  Rubber stamps

  Address book

  Subject list

  Personal spelling dictionary


 the toolbar

You mouse-happy folks will love the toolbar. The functions of the toolbar duplicate, to some degree, the keyboard functions. Users with Super VGA will get larger buttons with somewhat different graphics. There are two new toolbars (not shown). One toolbar is black & white for laptop users, the other contains some different buttons for printing and bringing up the conference Quick message list. Some of the arrow buttons were changed on this toolbar, which is known as "Derek's" toolbar.

If you're not sure what a toolbar button does, click on it with the right mouse button and look at the main status line. The program will list out the button's function in plain English. Generally the different toolbars will show buttons in the same relative order for each function, with the exception of Derek's which contains functions not found in the other three.

See the General configuration tab for setting toolbar sizes and types.

 VGA Toolbar - 640 x 480 or less resolution

Just click on the button illustrated to see what its function is. The position on the toolbar may not be exactly what you see here, but the button's graphic will be the same.

 SVGA Toolbar - resolutions above standard VGA

The same principle applies here: click on what you want to know about. The SVGA toolbar is cut into three sections so it will display all the buttons when shown on non-SVGA systems.


Open folders

This button opens the Folder Tools™ for use. From here you can view and maintain your folders, reply to stored messages, print stored messages, or otherwise diddle with all of the stuff you've squirrled away there.


File open

This button opens the File Management dialogue. From here you can open QWK files, delete and rename them, and specify sort order (by date or name).


Close QWK

This button closes the current QWK file (saving your replies) but does not exit the program.


Cut text

This button cuts any highlighted text into the clipboard, deleting it from the source Write window.


Copy text

This button copies any highlighted text into the clipboard. It will work on a Read window if you click it first with the left mouse button, and works instantly with marked text inside any Write window. Remember, if you copy to the clipboard multiple times, you will destroy the previous contents of the Windows clipboard each time you use it.


Paste text

This button pastes any text from the clipboard, into the current Write window. It does not function in a Read window.


Back a conference

This button jumps the Read window back one conference number.


Back a message

This button jumps the Read window back one message (same as left arrow).


Up a page

This button is the same as Page Up on the keyboard.


Down a page

This button is the same as Page Down on the keyboard.


Forward one conference

This button jumps the Read window forward one conference.


Forward one message

This button jumps the Read window forward one message, or goes to the first message in the next conference if you're at the last message in the current conference.


Kill a reply

This button toggles the delete status of a Reply window (it works only in the Replies conference). It doesn't delete the reply, it only toggles whether or not the message will get packed into the outgoing REP file.


Create a new message

This button loads the message header dialogue to begin a new message (not a reply).


Create a reply to a message

This button loads the message header dialogue to start a reply to the message in the front Read window.


Paste clipboard with quotes

This button will paste the text contents of the clipboard into the current Write window with a quote string (the initials of the recipient of the message and another character you have specified) appended to it. It will appear as if the material was quoted from the message as written by the recipient, to you, in a prior message.


Run Character Map

This button starts the Windows character map utility, if it's installed (in the Windows directory or your DOS path), so you can have access to extended characters in a Write window. Note: CMPQwk will automatically load the same font you're using in your CMPQwk Write window into Character Map for you.


Tagline thief

This button will steal the tagline (if one exists) from the current message Read window. It will append the tagline text to your tagline file. It does NOT check for duplicate taglines, although you can sort the tagline file from the Tagline manager tab and this will strip duplicates. You may edit the tagline text before pressing OK by clicking with the mouse in the text window and changing it as you'd like. It may have trouble stealing non-standard taglines, and if this is the case, you can highlight the tagline and press T to steal it.


Store message in folder

This button will copy the contents of the current Read window into one of your folders. If you have not created any folders to store messages, or you want to create a new one, you can do so in the same process. Folders can have long descriptions and can hold many messages. You cannot store parts of a message into a folder, only the entire message. Future releases will allow you to edit the stored message, annotate it, and store only portions. This version doesn't allow that.


Use rubber stamps

This button will paste any text you have placed into the Rubber Stamp text box into the current Write window at the cursor's location. Note : you must have already put text into the rubber stamp text box before selecting this tool.


Bill Gates, he's a nice guy...right?

Microsoft Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Since we all know that Uncle Bill hires more attorneys than the Justice Department, we wanted to make this perfectly clear. They are in no way affiliated with us. Notice I didn't say we are in no way affiliated with them. Wishful thinking, I suppose. In any event, if you don't know about Windows, how are you reading this?


 the status lines

CMPQwk provides two status lines (with some minimal replication of information, some people disable the program-wide status). One status is on the bottom of the MDI workspace, and it shows the name of the packet you have open and some other information.

The other status line is on the Write window, and contains information pertaining to the particular message you're doing. To see explanations of each status bar item, click on the item below and an explanation will pop up.

 Main program status bar

 Write window status bar


BBS name

This pane provides the name of the QWK packet that you currently have open.


Insert status

This pane shows you the status of the insert key (insert or over type) in the current Write window.


Information

This pane shows you help on the menu items you select (and gives other messages). If you watch this pane you scroll the cursor down any of the menus, you will see on-line help descriptions appear for each item in this pane.


Private status

This pane shows you the status of the message security, whether it will be marked private (for the recipient only) or public, for all to see.


Line number

This pane shows you the current line number at the cursor's location.


Column number

This pane shows you the column number (from the left to the right) of the cursor's position.


Attach indicator

This pane shows you the name of any file you have attached to the current message. It's a good way to "remember" if you remembered to attach that file you were going to send.


Time

It's easy to get lost doing mail, so we put a clock here. It displays the time as a.m. or p.m., depending on whether you're a night owl or early-riser.


folder tools
 folder tools™

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the folder dialogue.

 The Folder Tools™ in CMPQwk 1.42 are somewhat different from prior versions. You can now move messages from one folder to another, print, and copy to the clipboard directly from the preview window. You access the folders from the folder menu item View and maintain folders.

If you have not created any folders, you can do so from the CMPQwk folders dialogue. For graphical help on the layout on the dialog, we suggest you obtain the DIALOG.HLP file from one of our support sites. If you've got that file, click on the button at the top of this section to load it into this window. I'll explain the folders (and some folder theory) here so you'll know how to use them without getting that file. The optional help file just shows you an illustration with pop-up explanations. Some people find that an easier way to learn about the program's features.

 Basic information

If you're an old pro and know all about folders, skip this section and jump to the more advanced information in Advanced folder tips.

If you're just starting to do mail, and are not sure what folders are for, or how to use them, or what they can do for you, read on. I'll explain what I can, but as with all things, using the feature is the best way to understand. You can't hurt anything unless you hit the DELETE button on the CMPQwk folder dialogue, and even people who have turned off confirmations (usually only advanced users do this) will still have to confirm toasting a folder that could have 5,000 messages inside.

Have you ever gotten some instructions from a technical support person, or directions to a person's house, or their mailing address, and scribbled it down on a piece of paper? Then, like I do all the time, did you lose the bit of paper? Our folders are basically rabbit holes into which you can stuff those bits of paper, only you don't need to write it down, you just need to "grab" the message and put it into the correct folder.

Say I send you a message with our support board telephone numbers. You read your mail, get the message, then you want to keep it handy (if you're a Post-It nut like me your office looks like it's been done in yellow shingles). The best way to do just that is to put it into a folder. So while you're reading that message, hit S (S stands for Save into folder). The next thing you'll see is the folder selector box, which will ask that you pick a folder into which to put the message you just told the program you wanted to save.

You can create a new folder from here (without loading the CMPQwk folder main dialogue). So we'll imagine that we click on Create a folder, then type in, "CMPQwk support messages." Then click on OK to store the message into that folder for safekeeping.

Well, nifty, you say, but what can I do with it now that I have it? The logical answer is, "anything you want." If you want to view that message again, click on the View and maintain folders menu item on the Folder menu, and that will load the main Folder Tools™ dialogue. Since you only have the default folder and the one we "created" just now (Einstein called these thought experiments), click once on the CMPQwk support messages folder. You'll see a couple of things happen.

First you'll see a message appear in the window that's in the middle of the dialogue, and it lists available messages in the "current" or "open" folder. You should see exactly one, our mythical support message giving you our BBS numbers.

Below that, you'll see another pane, and it should show a "sliver" of the message. This window is called the "Preview window," and it's new to 1.42. It opens up some interesting possibilities. Read on and I'll explain how to manage this stored message, what you can do with it once you've got it, and more about how folders work.

 Creating a new folder

If you want to create a new folder into which to put messages you will capture during later sessions, or into which to move messages from other folders, click on the Add button that's next to the Folder list pane. You'll be asked for a long description of your folder. Type in what you want to call it, then click on OK.

The folder will be created, ready for use at once.

 Deleting a folder

You can delete a folder any time you like. The folder need not be empty, however you should note that once you delete a folder you cannot recover the messages that were inside. If you do this by mistake (and the program will confirm this action no matter what setting you have established for displaying confirmations) you will lose everything inside that folder. If you have current backups, of course, you can simply restore the FOLDERS.* files inside the \CMPQWK directory.

If you don't...well, Mother told you to back up your hard disk, didn't she?

To delete a folder, highlight the folder name you want to delete and click on the DELETE button that's on the bottom right beside the Folders list pane. You'll be asked to confirm this request. Once you confirm it, the folder (and all contents) will be destroyed.

 If you frequently add and delete folders, be sure to pack your folder database regularly. That option is on the folders menu, below View and maintain. It can save you significant disk space if you have large folders and "alter" them often.

 Reading stored messages

You can read a stored message in one of two ways. The fastest way to read it is to click once on the message in the Message pane and scroll through it in the Preview pane. If you want to read a short message, this is the fastest method.

If you want to read a longer message, this will not be practical. Click once on the message (scroll up and down as you need to do to locate the message if your folders are large and contain many messages), then click on the View button. The folder viewer (either internal or external as you've specified in the General Options setting) will load with a copy of this message.

From the internal viewer you can read the entire message in a full-screen window if you'd like to do so. If you've assigned a third-party program as your folder viewer (such as Gator Edit) you'll be able to do with the copy of the stored message whatever that program will do. Gator Edit can print, search, sort, and so forth. Your particular external program will likely have similar features.

 Deleting stored messages

Deleting a message that you have stored is very simple. Open the folder that contains the message you want to delete. Highlight the message you want to delete (scroll through the message list as you need to do to find it), and click on the DELETE button that is at the bottom right of the Message pane. This action is not reversible and your copy of this message will be lost forever. Use with caution.

 If you are frequently adding and deleting messages, be sure to pack your folder database regularly. That option is on the Folders menu, below View and maintain.

 Printing stored messages

If you want to print a stored message (you can only print one at a time), open the folder that contains the message you want to print. Highlight that message so that its contents appear in the Preview pane. Click on the PRINT button that's below and to the left of the Message pane. The contents of this message will be sent to your printer as plain text.

To print another message, repeat the procedure. It's actually pretty simple, just click and click. If you're using the Windows Print Manager, you'll be able to quickly click a dozen or so to batch print (the spooler will bundle them all off to the printer for you).

 Moving stored messages

If you've placed a message into a folder and later on decide it would be better to put it into another folder, you can transfer the message to whatever other folder you like.

To accomplish this, open the folder that contains the message, locate the message you want to copy or move (scroll through list as you need to do to find it), click on it so the contents appear in the Preview pane, and then click on MOVE. A dialogue will appear that will display a list of available folders in a drop down box. Drop down the list and locate the destination folder, using the scroll bar there as required.

Click on OK once you've selected the destination folder, and the message will be relocated.

 Copying stored messages to the clipboard

You can copy the contents (either what you select or the entire message) of a stored message into the Windows clipboard. This is handy if you're writing a message and want to quote part of it.

To accomplish this, open the folder that contains the message, locate the message you want to copy or move (scroll through the list of messages as you need to do to find it), click on it so its contents appear in the Preview pane, and then click on the COPY TO CLIPBOARD button that appears at the top right of the Preview pane. That will copy the entire message to the clipboard.

If you only want to copy part of the stored message, repeat the procedure, but before you click on the clipboard button, click once on the Preview pane, and then use the cursor keys or the mouse to highlight the portion you want to copy into the clipboard. Once you've selected the text you'd like to copy, click on the COPY TO CLIPBOARD button. Only the selected text will be copied to the clipboard.

  Replying to stored messages

You can reply to a stored message with CMPQwk 1.42. If you stored the message using a prior build, you will need to manually select the destination system for the reply. If you stored the message after installing 1.42, CMPQwk knows from what system it came, and will act accordingly.

When you view a message in the Preview window, and decide you want to reply to it, several things will happen.

  CMPQwk checks to see if you've got a QWK open. If the QWK is from the same system that this message was from, it will begin the reply process by bringing up a message header for you with the name, conference, and subject already filled in. When you OK out of the header, it will quote the message text for you as defined in your options settings, ready to reply to.

  CMPQwk will add this reply to those you may have already created in your outgoing REPLIES conference. When you pack up the REP, it will get stored with the rest of them, as if the original message was not in a folder, but in the open QWK.

If a QWK is open and it is not from the same system (keep in mind CMPQwk will not know where the stored message came from if you stored it with a previous version of the program), the request is handled differently.

  CMPQwk will ask you to close out the open QWK, saving any replies you may have in process.

  CMPQwk will begin the "create a new REP" for the destination system (either the one it knows or the one you had to specify). If a REP for this system already exists, CMPQwk will re-open it in order to insert this new reply.

  CMPQwk will open a message header for you with the name, conference, and subject already filled in. When you OK out of the header, it will quote the message text for you as defined in your options settings, ready to reply to. When you finish this message and close the REP, it will be packed into either the "new" REP or added to the existing REP, if one was re-opened in order to add the message.

 Some things to remember

  If you stored the message prior to 1.42, you can "trick" CMPQwk and send it to a different BBS system but it will go into the "wrong" conference, possibly creating all kinds of havoc.

  If you stored the message after installing 1.42, you can't trick the program, it "knows" from what QWK the message came, and will act accordingly.

  You cannot send it to a different system than the one from which it came unless you copy the message to the clipboard and use another method (not Reply from the Folder dialogue) to create the message. CMPQwk will force you to send it to the correct system.


 advanced folder tips

The way in which people will use the Folder Tools™ will vary at least as much as the way in which people use their computers and Windows itself. However to maximize the use of the folders, there is some advanced information you might want to know about. I'll explain that now, to keep you from running up against problems in the future.

 Limitations in the folders

Yes, there are a few. You are limited to having no more than two billion total folders over the life of the folder database. Each time you create a folder, no matter how many you've had (and then deleted), a new number gets assigned to that folder for internal purposes. You can go through no more than two billion folders (added and then deleted).

So if you're a folder Tasmanian Devil, and did nothing all day but build and destroy folders, at the rate of one per second added and then destroyed, you'll run out of unique folders (and crash the program) in two billion seconds. Anybody want to do the math for me there? What is that, something like 63 years?

Too big for me to deal with.

Another significant limitation in the folders is that the total amount of information the CMPQwk folders dialogue can display is 64K. If you have a message in your folder database that's larger than that (and you might, stranger things happen all the time) you will not be able to view all of it in the Preview window.

Period, end of story. You'll have to feed it to the external viewer. CMPEdit---which ships for free with the main program---will do the job nicely.

 Folder tips

Some advanced tips for smoother operation of the folders, and greater reliability for long-term use.

  Pack the folder database monthly at least. If you add/delete pack more often.

  Use more folders with better organization rather than bigger folders.

  Delete a folder only if you have to do so, it will fragment your database.

  Create a folder specifically for product support messages from us, if possible.

  If your folder files get much larger than 4MB, think about paring them down or backing them up to a floppy (using your regular system backup program) and deleting "cold" or "older" messages. If the file gets much beyond 10MB you are likely to encounter slow loading, and horrifically-slow packing. The database format we use is plain old QWK.

  Backing up your Folder database

CMPQwk 1.42 has a menu item for backing up your folder database. You can safely Zip up your precious data and put it on another drive, or you can back it up to a floppy if certain conditions are met:

  The compressed folder file will fit on a single floppy disk (either drive).

  You have a program that will split Zip files for you. In this case, back up to another DOS path or drive and use this utility to split the zip.

CMPQwk doesn't span floppy disks with this function, most folks will not need to do so. This function is not meant to be a substitute for using a good backup program like Central Point Backup, it's meant to be a quick-and-dirty way of keeping a safe copy of important information you may have in your folders.

  To back up your folder database to a DOS drive letter (and path) or to a floppy (if the database will fit on  a single floppy disk), select the Back up folders item from the folder menu.

  Navigate with the directory picker until you've located the directory where you'd like to place the FOLDERS.ZIP file the program will create.

  Once you've found the location you want to use, click on OK and the program will pack all of your folder database files into a single Zip file.

 Restoring your Folder database

If you later want to restore your folders:

  Select Restore folder backup from the menu

  Navigate with the directory picker until you've found the file you want, click on OK, and the program will unpack the stored database into the \CMPQWK directory.

 Note: doing this will erase any changes you've made since your last backup. It will not ask for permission to overwrite the existing folder files.

 If you give this feature some thought, you'll see that two people on the same computer could easily share the Folder Tools™ yet have "discrete" folders. Each person backs up to a DOS path or drive before quitting the program. When the next person uses the program, he or she can then restore their last "backup" from another DOS path or drive.

For example, if Sally and Bob want to use CMPQwk on the same system, they can create directories called \CMPQWK\SALLY and \CMPQWK\BOB. Then when Bob uses the program, he restores from (and backs up to) the \CMPQWK\BOB directory. When he's done for the day, he backs up his folders and leaves the program to Sally.

When she begins work, her first operation will be to restore the folders from \CMPQWK\SALLY to the home directory. She can add to them as she wishes, and before she quits, she simply updates her backup in \CMPQWK\SALLY.

And so on. Very easy, very fast. In fact, a single user could expand the power of the Folder Tools™ with these two tools (backup and restore) by keeping multiple folders in varying directories and restoring/backing up as required to use those folder groups.


For now, yeah...

For now we're using QWK. CMPQwk Versions 1.5 and 2.0 will have completely new folders and we'll have to use another format (probably) due to the limitations in the QWK format. What you're building when you make folders is a gigantic QWK packet. That's logical, really, because QWK format was designed for doing just that: storing messages. There's that, and the fact that we already know how to read QWK natively, which means we do it more quickly than DBASE or other formats for databases we would have to license (and which would bloat the program by 400K or more).


 QWK management tips

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the QWK management dialogue.

Like any good mail reader, CMPQwk has some features to control your QWK archive files. The dialogue where you set these values is called the QWK management dialogue, and you get at that from a small button on the File open dialogue.

This simple dialogue that will let you set some options relating to how long you keep packets, and whether or not you rename them. These options are explained briefly below.

Days to keep packets - enter a number here telling CMPQwk how long you'd like it to wait before automatically deleting your old QWK packets. If you enter "0" it will never delete them. You may keep them up to 365 days. This setting is acted-upon each time you load the File open dialogue, so if you have the program open for days at a time but do not load a QWK file (unlikely) and you look into the QWK directory, you may see QWK files older than the preset "kill" age. Simply opening that dialogue (which the program does on load) will clean up the QWK directory.

Default 0, or never delete a packet.

Auto rename packets - enable the feature where the program will increment your packet's suffix with a letter of the alphabet (skipping K) going through Z. If you auto-rename and don't also auto-delete (enable packet management) then eventually you will run out of letters if you keep packets long enough. We'd like to suggest if you auto-rename you set Days to keep (above) at less than 26.

Default is disabled.

Disable packet management - temporarily disable your settings in the event you want to work for several days with a packet but don't want to go through and "re-set" the other options.

Default is unchecked, or packet management "enabled" but set to "0" so it doesn't delete.


 rubber stamps

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the rubber stamp dialogue.

CMPQwk's rubber stamp feature is unique and powerful.

 Creating rubber stamps

If you're a support professional, or are just sending a lot of the same text to folks (such as your address) you'll find the rubber stamps pretty handy. The edit rubber stamps dialogue contains the following features and options.

Edit rubber stamps - CMPQwk allows you to have virtually an unlimited number of rubber stamps, or "user texts" that you can---with a key press and a mouse-click---quickly insert into a message.

You can enter a new item by clicking the ADD button on the dialogue. Enter a long description, or what you'd like to call this stamp item. Then you may import a text file into the stamp or type text in the edit box, as you desire.

From this dialogue you can delete the highlighted rubber stamp item if you no longer need it. Simply emptying the contents of the stamp edit window will not delete it from the stamp database, you must delete the long name, as well.

When you're through, click on OK and go back to the Edit rubber stamp box. If you're finished, you just click on OK (you can have just one if you want). If you want to add more, repeat the process until you're satisfied. It's perfect for phone numbers, directions to your house or business, or whatever small text item you might need to quickly insert into a message. I use it for our support BBS numbers, our mailing address, and instructions for common operations users always ask me about.

 Using rubber stamps

From within the Write window if you click the rubber stamp tool, or press CTRL+U, you'll be presented with a list box of all of your stamps. Pick the one you want, (scroll up and down in the list the program presents to you if you need to do so) double-click it (or press Enter) and it will be inserted at the cursor's position. You'll be left ready to continue in the Write window.

There is a limit of 2,400 characters for each rubber stamp text tool (no overall limit on the number of 2,400 character tools). That includes spaces, commas, etc. That's also a real big rubber stamp!

Default setting: blank.


 address book

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the address book.

 CMPQwk's address book lets you store user names and Internet or RIME addresses. A drop-down box on the message header To: field shows the names you've entered into this pick list. The to list is very basic and easy to use, and use of routing information is totally automatic.

Edit address book - Allows you to enter, edit, or delete users who will appear on your quick-pick "to list" when sending messages. Add the names you want to add, delete those you do not want, and select OK when you're finished.

  To edit a name, highlight an existing entry and click on the Edit button.

  To add a name, click on the Add button.

  To delete an entry, click on the Delete button (this cannot be undone, so be sure you've got the right name highlighted).

  When the edit box appears, you will see two fields.

Name / Description - this contains the user's name (if that person is "local" to you, this is all you need enter here) or a description if this entry is for mail that will be routed. If this is an entry that also has a RIME, FIDO, or Internet address (such as dbackus@patchbay.com for Derek), then you could put in: Derek's Internet address (if it's an Internet routing). If it's a RIME or FIDO routing you must put the correct user name in the Name Description box. You put the routing information in the second box.

Routing - should this user have an address for Internet or RIME routing, you put that information in here. (See the example above.) If this box has anything in it, it takes priority over the top box. This allows automatic routing handling.

If you want to have an entry for a user that is routed to an Internet host, and another that is not, you must make a different entry (using the person's real name in the first box) and put nothing in the second box. In that case, messages sent to that user will not be routed.

  If you're updating your old 1.42 address book and moving cryptic Internet addresses into the second field (it's sure better to pick it by Bob's Internet address than alpha.beta@mzure.megadisk.longpath.com) you can use CTRL+INS (copy) and SHIFT+INS (paste) to copy the top entry from the old address book to the clipboard and paste it into the bottom box. This is much easier than re-typing, and not immediately obvious to many folks. Once you've got the text you want in the bottom box you can blow away the top entry and type in a nice plain English description. (Or whatever language you'd like to use.)

 Note: the routing information text will not be inserted into the message until it is saved, this it to prevent the user from deleting it accidentally, and it also simplifies the functions of sending carbon copies and other items to Internet or RIME addresses (think about CC for a moment and you'll see why this is better, we had to strip the first routing string out, then put in the next, and so forth). Stamping the routing on save is much more logical.

To illustrate how auto-routing works, an entry that has:

Derek Backus - first box

dbackus@patchbay.com - second box

Will always be routed to the Internet address.

An address that has:

Derek Backus - first box

second box empty

Will not be routed when you create an original message to this user, because no routing information is provided. Addresses with Internet routing will be processed just like replies to an Internet message, the To: username@hostname is put on the first line.

RIME routing is done exactly as a reply is done, too, the RIME node identifier number is placed on the first line of the message in the format ->[node number]. However for a RIME or FIDO message you must put the user's name in the name/description box, not a description. Only Internet addresses use the description as a "description," since they do not use the user's name to send the message, they use the to: username@hostname string.

If you're confused by this, and you might be, here are the rules again:

  RIME, FIDO, other: put the real name in the name/description box. Put the routing information in the routing box, or leave it blank if the person is "local" to you. Do not add the -> characters in your RIME addresses, CMPQwk will automatically detect a RIME address (just a number with no colon) and add this for you. Enter just the number in this box, for example, my RIME routing address is 487. You wouldn't put ->487 in the address book, just enter 487.

  Internet: put anything you want in the name/description box. You must put the correct username@hostname string (do not add the to:) in the routing box. If your host rejects a message, put the routing information in both boxes and try it again. That door may be badly programmed.

  There is a side effect to this intelligent handling of names and routing, and it is that you must have multiple entries if you want to send routed mail to the same person on both RIME and FIDO. Just create duplicate entries in your address book and then add the correct network-specific routing information in the second box. When you use your drop-down picklist, in the message header, you'll be able to see the routing information next to the user's name, so you'll know which is which.

 You may also add a user's name to this list when you are replying to mail from them by pressing the > button next to the "to" field in the message header. You will need to add the routing information manually, however.

Default setting: blank or imported from prior reader.


 subject list

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the subject list.

The subject list is a plain ASCII file that stores descriptive text you can use as the subjects of the messages you write. It is very simple to operate, you just add, edit, or delete text from the list by highlighting the item you wish to edit (or delete) and clicking the appropriate button. To add you click the Add button.

Edit subject pick list - Allows you to enter, edit, or delete subjects that will appear on your "subject list" when sending messages. The dialogue is more or less self-explanatory. QWK files are limited to 25 characters or less for the subject field.

Default setting: blank or imported from prior reader.


 personal spelling dictionary

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about editing the personal dictionary.

The personal or "private" dictionary is a list of words created when you tell the spelling engine to "add" a word it finds when it is checking your outgoing message. It doesn't add the word to the "main" dictionary, CMPQWK.DIC, it adds it to your private dictionary. You may also edit this list (and add many words in a single sitting rather than waiting for them to be flagged during regular use).

Edit private dictionary - when you pick this item, the words in your user dictionary are loaded into an editor and you may delete items from the dictionary (or add words to it).

The dictionary is automatically sorted for you when you save it (close the dialogue). If you need to add words manually, don't worry about their alphabetical order, just add them as you want and the reader will alphabetize them on the fly.

 Note: If you add words they will not get used until you close the program and re-open it if you've spell-checked during that session. The dictionaries are loaded into memory when you begin spell-checking and aren't re-loaded except during spell-checking if you select Add (to add a word to the user dictionary). The manual editor edits the saved copy on disk, not the copy stored in memory. We suggest you edit the dictionary before doing any mail in that session, to insure that your changes are used right away.

 Unless you have plenty of memory, try to keep your personal dictionary smaller than 500 to a several thousand words. You may add words with a simple text editor like Notepad, by the way. Don't worry about sorting it, the program will do that for you the next time you open the internal editor.

Default setting: blank.


 CMPQwk window index

Look at CMPQwk like you would any good toolbox: it has different tools for different purposes. Not all of the windows that CMPQwk creates can do the same things. Some are for entering text, some are only for reading text, and others are for controlling what the program does (rather than using dialogues, we chose to use windows since they're more powerful).

Because CMPQwk uses the Multiple Document Interface, it creates several different window types in the course of operations. Each window has special characteristics, and to some degree, special keystrokes for getting things done. That's the beauty of an MDI program, the windows can be tailored to do the task "just right."

You'll want to read the windows section and the keyboard shortcuts section closely if you're at all confused as to how to use the program. You shouldn't be, but perhaps you're new to Windows, new to reading mail, or both. Relax and have fun with CMPQwk. If you open a packet and fool around, how the program operates will become clear to you.

In an hour or so you'll find the way the program works is a lot like the way you work, and a few QWK packets later you'll be buzzing through mail so quickly and smoothly, you'll never know how you got along without CMPQwk.

Or at least we hope that's the case.


window index

 Display windows

  The conference list

  The read window

  The quick message list (QML)

 Text entry windows

  The write window & message header


 the conference list

Once you've opened the sample packet (or any packet), the first window that will appear is the Conference List window (followed very quickly by the first Read window, but more about that in a moment). The main option you have here in the Conference window is the choice to show all conferences the current BBS packet lists, or just those with mail. Since it conserves screen real estate, checking the box for showing only those conferences with mail makes plenty of sense, but set it how you'd like to see it.

You can navigate through the conferences with either the mouse or arrow keys. Moving the arrow keys to the conference you'd like to browse (personal mail is always the first listed) and pressing Enter will bring up a Read window displaying the first message in that conference.

With the mouse, double-click on the conference you want. This will pop up a Read window, also.  If you've already been reading mail, a new Read window will appear in the default position (or in custom positions if you've specified any) with the first message in that conference as its contents.

The Conference window is also where you'll be able to send a message to the mail door to CTRL+Add or CTRL+Drop a conference. Put the highlight bar on the conference you want to change (in either fashion) and press CTRL plus A or D to add or drop the conference. CMPQwk will politely confirm that adding or dropping is, in fact, what you want to do. It will then silently prepare the outgoing a/d message for the mail door.

Mouse-addicts will find that this option is on the menu, as well, under the appropriate section: Conference.

There are a few caveats here.

 One, the mail door must produce a DOOR.ID file that tells CMPQwk what it wants to be called in the message header.

 Two, if it wants some kind of non-standard message format for an add/drop message, it probably won't work.

This feature has been tested on most popular doors (Rosemail, Tomcat, and so on). However, there are dozens of QWK doors by Mom 'n Pop programming outfits, and this appears to be one of the areas where they foul up a lot.

Also the authors of reliable doors like Qmail4 feel the need to change their API without hesitation, thus breaking our program and the other mail readers that are dependent on them. So if it doesn't work, look in the work directory when you have a packet open and see if there's a DOOR.ID file. (We've modified 1.42 so that we can, once again, add or drop from this door.)

No DOOR.ID file, no Add or Drop. If there is a DOOR.ID file, then consider sending us the packet for analysis, there may be something we can do to adjust to that door's fancies. We issue updates when needed to get along with changing doors and programmers who create an API and then thoughtfully break it later on for no real solid reasons.

 There is a new feature in CMPQwk 1.42 that makes navigating the Conference List window on a very large BBS a dream. If you want to open a conference that might be buried inside of a large number of conferences, you can quickly locate the conference by using --==Speed Search.

 Click on the Conference list, and begin typing. A small text entry window will appear, allowing you to search for full or partial matches to conference names or numbers.

 Type in what you think might generate a match and press Enter. CMPQwk will jump to the first match, if it finds one, and put the cursor there.

 To open the found conference, press Enter.

You can jump to a specific conference number in the same way.

 Make the Conference List the current window, then begin typing numbers. If you want to jump to conference 6458 just type that number and that's where you'll end up.

There are a couple of limitations to this feature that you will need to note. The first is that the program only jumps to the first match it finds as it does "top-down" searching.

So if you have several conferences with like names, try to pick an element of the name that is unique, it only needs to be a part of it. For example, if conference 145 is DogLovers and conference 5000 is alt.lifestyle.dog.lovers and you are in conference 14 and want to jump to 5000 (but you don't know the number), if you type dog and press Enter, you'll end up in 145 every time.

If you type dog.lovers, you'll end up in 5000 every time.

Another limitation is that even a partial match of your text string will generate a hit, so use a small enough string to make it fast, but not so small that anything will make it generate a match.

Play with the feature, we think it's intuitive enough that you'll get used to it (and spoiled by it) rather quickly.

If you want to continue the search after a hit, press F3. That will "search again" using the same word you typed last time. You can bring up the small search box by hitting CTRL+F, too.


API

API means Application Programming Interface. It's the "how" in how you talk to another program with your program. So when a programmer changes this, all the other programs (like mail readers) that expect a program to work one way will be broken when the API is changed to work another way. Generally you want to keep your API rather than change it all the time, which creates chaos for everybody servicing your software.


 the read window

The Read window works in concert with the Quick message list window. They're a team, and you can really buzz through a mail packet efficiently once you've gotten used to the idea of switching back and forth between them. You have several options once you're in the Read window. You can press R to begin a reply, you can export the current message to a text file (see the Message menu section), or you can paste the current message into a folder using the folder tools (see the Folder menu section).

 Try clicking the right mouse button on the Read window, also, to see what that does. There are almost always multiple methods to get at a function in CMPQwk. Some people like the mouse, others hate to take their hands off the keyboard.

 Copying from a Read window

You can copy text from a Read window into the Windows clipboard as long as you click that window once with the left mouse button. That changes the color-highlighted window to "text" mode, allowing you to highlight and copy at will. After you're finished copying text, when you move to the next window it will appear in color window until (or if) you click on it.

The right mouse button menu for the Read window isn't affected by this, clicking the right mouse button simply brings up the correct menu for that window.

 You may also quickly copy text from a Read window (color or not) by picking Select all from the Edit menu, then picking Copy from it. It will turn the color window into plain text and highlight the entire thing for you in one step.

 You may put a user's name mentioned in a Read window into the to: picklist (temporarilty) simply by highlighting that name and pressing R. The third name down on the drop-down picklist will be that highlighted text. It must be on one line for this to work, however. Say I tell you to write a note to Bob Whyishisnamesolong, just highlight that name and press R. His name will be appended to the picklist (although not put into your address book permanently).

 Note: when you click on a Read window, CMPQwk displays the Read window in the font you've set your Write window to use. We suggest you use the same font for both to avoid "strange" effects like having the text jump about when you click it. If you've selected a variable-pitch font for the Read window (nearly always a terrible mistake), you will find it very disconcerting when you click to turn the window in its "native" plain text format. Also, when you click, you will strip all the italics and color codes from the message. This is not a bug, it is the way the program works: the plain text window is just that---plain text! See the Fonts tab section for how to set fonts.

 Stealing taglines

In addition to copying message text, if you try to steal a tagline (press T) but the Tagline thief doesn't snag the tagline because the user's reader inserted strange or non-standard formatting characters before it, you can highlight the tagline text you want and press T to steal it.

If the text you highlight (it needn't be the user's tagline, by the way, it can be any Read window text) is too long, the Tagline copier will tell you. If it is an acceptable length (about 72 characters) the program will bring up the Tagline thief dialogue and give you a chance to edit the captured text before appending it to the tagline file.  Press OK when you're finished.

Highlighted capture was designed for coping with systems or readers that use non-standard formatting. You may also highlight and then click on the Tagline thief toolbar icon, instead of pressing T.

 Note: because CMPQwk allows you to format the taglines in just about any way at all, you may find you cannot use the Tagline Thief to steal taglines from a message created in CMPQwk. All this configurability comes at a price, and there's a few cents worth. You'll need to manually mark (and steal) the tagline in those cases.

 Automatic file attachment icon

The Read window is also where you might see an icon appear in the message header. This means that a file has been sent to you (attached to your message) by the author of the message. If you do mail on a system where the sysop allows attachments, and you see an icon appear in one of your message's headers, that means there's a file waiting for you to look at.

The icon may be one from an application on your system (which means you and the person who sent it might use the same program), or it may be an exclamation point on a piece of paper (which means CMPQwk can't find the associated program because your WIN.INI isn't correctly configured, or it conflicts with the REG.DAT file).  It might also be a ? on a piece of paper, which means there is no association on your system for this file type.

 Click the Notepad icon to the left to see what happens when you double-click on a message header file attachment icon.

 One much-requested method of packet-navigation was the use of the SPACEBAR to act as both page down and then "go to next message." This feature is now in CMPQwk, a new feature as of 1.42. Former OLX users used to whapping that space bar will be elated to find they can now go back to their old wanton key-slamming ways.

 Some Read window tips

  You can export a message that's too large to read (and this shouldn't happen very often with 1.42), use the right mouse button "export" or Export and Edit menu items. Most of the time you won't run into this. If you do, try those tricks first before contacting us.

  The path you select when you export from the Read window is configured in the Paths options tab.

  If you get a message that's too large to read (see long Internet messages) you can export it to your export directory and then open it up in CMPView, the free file viewer we give you with CMPQwk. Select Export and Edit from the right mouse button menu on the Read window to do it in one step (if you've set CMPView or CMPEdit as your external folder viewer.

  To copy from a Read window, you must click it once with the left mouse button, or you can select Copy all from the edit menu (that will mark the text for you in one step, and it doesn't require a mouse click).

  If the Read window contains ANSI, press "A" to animate the message. Unless it has the [ANSIART] text block on the first line, CMPQwk won't detect the ANSI. See Read window options for more information about auto ANSI.

  Try to avoid setting your Read windows to be automatically "maximized," that more or less kills the functionality of an MDI application. Select a smaller font instead. See Font options.

  There are several ways to navigate a packet in CMPQwk. If the packet or conference is small, just pressing the right arrow key while you're looking at a Read window will suffice. If it's huge, you'll find this method too slow---and you'll find yourself looking at a lot of boring mail. You'll want to use the Quick message list, or QML for that.

Before we cover anything else, let's get into the Quick message list window. You press I to bring it up. If you haven't set a position for it, it will appear in the default position. Once it has appeared, though, you have a powerful tool for navigating through the packet and quickly reading the mail you'd like to read---and ignoring mail with which you don't want to bother.


Tagline length

In version 1.42 you can use the tagline manager to modify how the taglines are formatted, and put the tagline on its own line. Given that the margin in QWK mail on most BB systems is 72 columns, you could have a tagline this long. See the taglines configuration panel for further details.


 the quick message list

As I mentioned, this window works in concert with the Read window. If you move the right and left arrow keys you'll see that the highlight bar in the Quick message list window moves---and the Read window itself changes to reflect the contents of the highlighted message.

 In CMPQwk 1.42 you can now "unlink" the QML and Read window. This allows you to quickly scan through conferences that may have huge messages (avoiding the delay in displaying and coloring these messages). This feature is disabled by default, and this is a major change from 1.40. If you want the program to work in this "unlinked" way, see the Read window options tab and un-check the box marked Read window follows Quick message list.

Because most people will want to leave them linked, the following information assumes they are linked. The only difference in functionality will be that you must press Enter from the QML to display the message in the Read window when the two are unlinked.

Using the Quick message list, you can quickly peruse the first pages of all the messages in the current conference. The windows are linked, the QML is used to control the Read window, although you can drag the QML to completely cover the Read window if you need the space for it.

 There is now a right mouse button menu on the QML, if you haven't tried it, minimize this file and take a look. You'll also find some powerful sorting options there, and you can change those "on the fly." The sorting will always return to the default value you've set in CMPQwk's Read window configuration tab when you change to another conference, so feel free to alter the sorting for the "current" conference as much as you like. You will also find that 1.42 sorts much more quickly than 1.40, and with greater reliability.

 In CMPQwk 1.42 you can now mark multiple messages in the QML for folder storage, printing, or export. There are some limitations to this, however, due to the way the messages are processed. I'll list them now.

  You can only mark and operate up 500 messages at a time. Hey, that's a lot of messages, and we've tested it at that many, too. Takes awhile, but it works fine.

  If you have file export set to overwrite and export a batch, this setting will be used for the first export file, but multiple exports will be apppended to one another starting with the first logical message number marked to the last marked message. You also have the option to strip the header from the exported messages, this is handy for UUEncoded files.

  To mark non-sequential messages (such as message 10, 11, 14, 22) hold down the CTRL key and click the messages you want to process.

  The right mouse button functions that apply to the QML apply to multiple tagged messages except reply: reply will always be to the last place you marked, which is the "current" cursor position.

  All processing is done through the Read window, so you must wait for each tagged message to be displayed and then exported, printed, or captured to the folder you choose. The Read window contains the logic for all of these functions and so it's used to process multiple tags as If you were just a very fast reader.

  There is a "Read selected" option on the QML right mouse button now. This will create a conference similar to the way the "Search" conference is created, and that conference will contain only the messages you've marked.

  If you mark messages and then change sorting, you will lose your marks.

With the QML you can scroll (using the scroll bar and the mouse) through a huge conference without changing the contents of the Read window. If you want to de-link them even further, you can un-check the Read window option Read window follows QML.

 QML batch operations

All QML batch operations work in essentially the same fashion (they take the collected marked messages and "act" on them. The only one that really requires some detailed explanation is the batch export function, because you can control how it works at the time you elect to use it.

When you select a batch export to text file option, you will be asked to supply some information in the common dialogue that will appear.

  A destination file name. It can be either an existing file or a new file. Now what you select here determines a few things in the operations that follow. If in the Paths configuration tab you have checked Append to export and you pick a pre-existing file, the batch export will append to that already-existing file. If you have this option un-checked and pick a pre-existing file, it will overwrite that file and then append the successive outgoing messages to this same file. If you pick a new filename, CMPQwk will create the file and then append the successive outgoing messages to this new file.

  You can set the program to append or overwrite directly from this dialogue, and that setting is "sticky," it's the same as changing the option in the Paths tab. Use this with caution, make sure you do not need a file if you set this to overwrite and then pick a pre-existing file. If you have confirmations disabled on the General options tab, CMPQwk will silently do what you tell it, possibly smoking a file you need. If in doubt, leave the warnings turned on.

  You can tell the program to include the message headers in the outgoing text file or omit it. If you are collecting for export a multi-message UUEncoded file, check this box (the setting is "sticky," it will be the default from then on, so watch it next time you do an export). It will save you some editing later on, because you'll want to clean the header out before you decode the file later.

  When you're finished setting these options, you click on OK and the program will display and process the messages you've selected, putting them into the outgoing text export file in the order they appear in the QML (not necessarily in the order you marked them). You can use sorting to control how they appear in the export if you think about this.

 Note: text effects, the characters used to create them, and other formatting codes such as PCBoard ANSI will not appear in the exported text file. CMPQwk strips them.

 Last-read pointers

I need to mention a few points about last-read pointers. First off, if you have both the Read and QML window visible, and use the QML to scroll through a packet, you will not be marking messages as having been read. (This is how OLX works.) The logic behind it is simple.

 In 1.42 the QML is by default "linked" to the Read window. If you're using the QML in "unlinked" mode you must press ENTER if you want to display the message in the Read window. If you want them linked (like prior versions were) leave the Read configuration tab item Read window follows QML checked.

Because you can have the QML maximized (filling the application workspace), and de-linked, if it were set to that size (or de-linked) there's no way you could have read a message with the QML focused. Since we can't track whether or not you're using the QML maximized (it would make pointer logic very slow and sheer hell to debug), we (like OLX) use the Read window to write that pointer. To mark a message as read, you must bring a Read window to the front (or make it focused). If you do not, no matter if you can see the window, the message will not be marked as read.

We're not going to change this, either, so please don't ask. This is the only logical method for reading mail using a QML to navigate. Just remember: the QML steers the boat, the Read window is the guy on the forecastle with the spyglass looking out at the water. You need both to operate, only one really sees anything, the other is just a rudder handle.

To tell if you've read a message (say your short term memory is failing because the 60's were good to you) just look in the QML, it will put a little * character to the right of the message's number. If you don't see a *, the program does not think you've read that message.

This fact may also explain some of the confusion with respect to coming back to a packet and expecting the program to continue reading at a certain place. You will---you'll continue according to what's marked "read" in the QML index. If nothing is marked read (which means you never had a Read window focused) then you'll go back to the beginning of the packet.

I think this little fact is the source of much of the "last-read" confusion. The pointers will only work if you actually "touch" the Read window. Users with plain VGA rarely have this problem, but power users with 1024 x 768 (and better) resolution video drivers are able to spread the windows out and use the QML by itself. When they exit the packet and come back, they're not at the place they remember.

Of course not...they haven't marked any messages as "read."

 Navigation

If you see a message you think might be interesting, you need only click on it with the mouse and the Read window will grab focus and display the contents of that message. Try this and you'll see it's much faster for large conferences.

You may also use the QML to navigate through the entire packet. The CTRL+right arrow and CTRL+left arrow keys will take you to the next or previous conferences. If you reach the end of a conference and press the right arrow key, it will take you to the next conference. If you back up to the first message and press the left arrow key, you'll go to the prior conference.

For small conferences, using the Read window to get around is okay. If you've got a 5,000 message conference, though, you'll go bonkers trying to right-arrow through it.

The fastest way to use the QML with a huge conference is to drag it open so it fills the application workspace, slap your fingers down on the keypad or T-shaped arrow keys and just go to work. Right arrow moves to the next, left moves back. If you see a message you want to read, all you have to do is press Enter (the numerical keypad Enter works fine). The Read window (which can be obscured behind the QML if you like) will pop up.

The arrow keys will work (up and down and page down page up) in the Read window. Browse what you want, then press either I, or the numpad 0 to pop the QML back to the front. You'll find the two windows work together very smoothly like this. You can zip through a conference with the QML in front, using the arrow keys, and pressing Enter, R, I or 0 to get back to the other window. In fact, if you use the numerical keypad, you'll find the only time you need lift a finger is to hit R. And that's the other hand, which will be bored anyway.

We've also put -==Speed Search into the QML. Press CTRL+F to bring up the small entry box. Type something you want to look for, press Enter. The QML will stop on the first message that has a "hit" for the text you typed. If that's not what you wanted to find, press F3 again to look for another match. The cursor will stop on each match it finds, until you run through the conference to the end.

While grazing, if you see a message to which you'd like to reply, you can do one of two things: press R from the QML window and it will start a reply. Or press Enter when the highlight bar is over that message, (or click it with the mouse) and the Read window will become the "front" or "focus" window. Then you can press R to start a reply. If you're not sure you want to reply, press Enter to view the Read window first and fully read the message.

When the Read window appears, press R to start a reply, which takes you to the message header dialogue and then the Write window, which is our next stop.


 the write window & message header

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the message header and how it works.

The heart of any mail reader is its editor. The editor in CMPQwk is the Write window. It's where you'll spend a lot of your time, and it's where we spent a lot of time and thought trying to make things simple. Version 1.4x has a completely new (and more powerful) editor under the hood. There are keystrokes to do many things more quickly than a mouse can do. Visit the Keyboard shortcuts section to see them all. I'll just cover the few you need to know to get up and running now, but there are many more with which you'll want to become familiar. The best way to learn them is to look at the list of shortcuts and then try them to see how they feel.

 The message header

Before you'll see the Write window, though, you'll see the message header dialogue. It's here that you'll be able to pick your subject, taglines (including picking another tagline file to use for this session), and select if you'd like the message to be flagged "private" or not. You may also disable taglines through a check box in this dialogue.

Note: You cannot disable taglines on unregistered copies of CMPQwk, nor can you select the contents of the tagline. Unregistered copies will declare that they are unregistered in the tagline. This is so we can track users and see if they are illegally using our product beyond the 30-day evaluation limit.

Note: If you're replying to a message and you want to add either the subject or the recipient's name to your pick lists, just click the small button with > on it beside the "To" and "Subject" text entry boxes. The text or name in the box will get appended to your pick list. This does not check for duplicates, though, so you could add the same person multiple times if you're not paying attention.

 Note: CMPQwk 1.42 has the ability to search through the active tagline file right from the header. There is a button there that says Search taglines, and beside it, a button that says, Search again. You can use them to locate a specific bit of text. If you click Search taglines it will bring up the Tagline manager search box right from the header. See the Tagline configuration tab for more details.

 File attachments

The message header dialogue is also where you'll set outbound file attachments if you want to send one to a BBS that supports them. Look for the box at the bottom of the dialogue, and at the right-hand side of it is a button with ... on it. If you press that button you'll get a pick box that will let you pick a file to attach.

 CMPQwk now supports PCBoard style file attachments. You should be able to do attachments on Qmail and other PCBoard doors that support the PCBoard format. Do not delete the extra information the reader will insert on the top line of your message, however, or your attachment will fail.

Navigate through your directories to the location of the file you'd like to attach, then pick it, click on OK, and continue with the header or begin writing. When you exit from the message and pack your REP file, the file you chose to be attached will be packed into the message with a standard QWK data file telling the mail door there's a file included and to what message it is attached.

Before you try to attach a file, make sure the sysop allows attachments in the conference you want to send that message to, and that in general he doesn't frown on them. Many sysops find them annoying, and until the message is deleted, the attachments file stays on the sysop's disk.

All of the navigation boxes (including this one) are "sticky" and they remember where you've been, so (assuming all is well) they'll come up in the last place you used them. By default they come up in the home directory.

 Flexibility

You may bring up this dialogue any time during the writing of a message to alter the information contained in it. There is a button on the Write window that says, "Header." Clicking that will cause the message header dialogue to re-appear, where you can alter the tagline (or disable it for this message only), set the "to," "subject", "conference," and then go back into the message to continue.

In other words, unlike the limitation in some readers (such as Mustang's fine Off-line Express) that ask if you want to edit this material before or after, we let you do it whenever you want, even in the middle of a message.

Ever been writing a note and noticed it migrating off the listed topic and wanted to change it (but you'd had the mail reader set to edit the header on the way in)? Not a problem here. Click on Header and fix it any time you want---and this includes changing to whom the message is addressed, the tagline, the tagline file in use at the moment (change Tagline Manager default for this session) conference, and subject. The changes will be reflected in the message header shown at the top of the Write window.

 Note: there is an annoying quirk in the Windows drop-down list box we use in the message header dialogue. If you enter an ampersand character [&] in the header subject field, it will get turned into an underline and placed under the next character. Darned if we can figure out a way around this one, either. So if you want an ampersand, you need to put two of them together like [&&] for them to stay that way.

 Auto RIME

Version 1.4 has a feature called "auto RIME." If you are doing mail on the RIME network, and you receive a private message to which you'd like to reply, CMPQwk will snag the sender's Postlink code on the way into the Write window, and place the correct routing string on the first line of the message. It will append this string to all portions of the message if it needs to be split because it's too long to fit into one (usually 150-line) message.

This requires nothing on your part unless you don't want to route.  If that's the case, just uncheck the "route" box in the message header on the way into the reply. You must turn off the private flag, too, or Postlink will bounce your message back to you as undeliverable. With version 1.4, turning off the route flag or "disabling" it will automatically turn off the private flag. But turning off the private flag will not turn off the routed flag.  Why, you ask?

Because contrary to common belief, a message can be public and routed. It will appear on the destination system as a public message, but it won't get posted on other systems. This is the method we prefer to use for bug reports and other messages not of general interest to all users. It saves sysops from spending money shipping our dirty laundry around the world, and the local users still get to read the gossip.

The flip side of all of this is that to be private on RIME on any system other than your local system, you must route the message. Since it's easy to clip out the routing string if you don't want it, we felt it was best to include it by default when the program detected a RIME packet and a private, routed message to you.

If you are responding to mail from a RIME system, CMPQwk will put the routing string into the message header for you when you click on the private check box. It will not do this if you are creating a new REP without a packet, of course, since it doesn't know the destination's RIME Postlink address. This feature only works for replies to existing messages. (This will change in 1.5, which is scheduled to have an address book that tracks a user's network addresses and "home" BBS names.)

 Note: the routing information text will not be inserted into the message until it is saved, this it to prevent the user from deleting it accidentally, and it also simplifies the functions of sending carbon copies and other items to Internet or RIME addresses (think about CC for a moment and you'll see why this is better, we had to strip the first routing string out, then put in the next, and so forth). Stamping the routing on save is much more logical. This applies to all routing that is supported (including Internet, RIME, and FIDO).

 Internet mail

If you're doing mail on a system that has an Internet gateway program (like Mustang's UUCP Gateway for Wildcat!) the "to" string will be very different from local QWK mail. It may be longer than the QWK-standard 25 characters, and because of this, the systems supporting this type of mail have a few special features that require some explanation.

If the "to" string contains the @ character (as Internet mail does) CMPQwk detects this when you enter this information in an original message, and the program will automatically take that string and put it on the first line of the message, as: To: name@address. What you enter in the "to" string isn't used by the doorway, and if it detects on the first line of the message a To: text string, it uses that and not the "to" message header field. At this writing, mainstream QWK-to-UUCP gateways work in this fashion. See the section on Replies configuration tab for more information regarding this feature.

The other thing to remember is that most of these gateways require messages to be sent to "All" and not to the sender of the message to which you're replying when you're creating a post in a public conference. Some doors will strip the "to" field data automatically, some may not.

For maximum compatibility, if you press R while reading a public message on an Internet conference on a system using a gateway, you should delete the original user's Internet name and address from the "to" field and replace it with "all." Be sure the To: name@address does not appear on the first line, or your mail might get bounced back to you unless you upload it to an Internet "personal" conference. Be on the lookout for Internet hosts that put the user's address in brackets, the message header capture logic will not strip them out, and you'll have to do it or your mail will bounce.

Ask your sysop for detailed information, each doorway---like all non-standards in the PC world---may vary. Version 1.42 will correctly route split Internet messages (1.40 would not).

 The 1.42 message header has a very nice feature useful when you're doing mail on extremely large systems. If you drop down the Conference selection list in the message header and begin typing something, you'll discover our -==Speed Search function. It's simple enough (and the Conference List and QML each have a similar feature).

If the system on which you are doing mail is very large, with thousands of conferences, you'll find this feature indispensable. Click on the Conference list drop-down, and begin typing. A small text entry window will appear, allowing you to search for full or partial matches to conference names or numbers. Enter what you think might generate a match and press Enter. CMPQwk will jump to the first match, if it finds one, and put the cursor there. To enter a message in that conference, simply press Enter.

You can jump to a specific conference number in the same way: open the Conference list drop down, then begin typing numbers. If you want to jump to conference 6458 just type that number and that's where you'll end up, ready to enter your message.

There are a couple of limitations to this feature you will need to note. The first is that the program only jumps to the first match using "top-down" searching. So if you have several conferences with like names, try to pick an element of the name that is unique, it only needs to be a part of it. For example, if conference 145 is DogLovers and conference 5000 is alt.lifestyle.dog.lovers and you are in conference 14 and want to jump to 5000 (but you don't know the number), if you type dog and press Enter, you'll end up in 145 every time.

If you type dog.lovers, you'll end up in 5000 every time.

Another limitation is that even a partial match of your text string will generate a hit, so use a small enough string to make it fast, but not so small that anything will make it generate a match.

 If you want to reply to the recipient of the original message, if you bring down the "to" pick list on the message header you'll see that the first name listed is the sender, and the second is the recipient. It's an easy way to jump into a running thread and reply to the original person who posted the message rather than one of the respondents.

Once you've finished with the message header dialogue, (hit Enter or click OK), the Write window appears.

 The Write window now has its own status bar. See the status bars section for further information.

 The Write window

If you've enabled Quote Original (see Replies configuration tab) the Write window will appear with the original text of the message to which you are replying. It will be set off from the margin with the initials of the person who sent it, and a quote character separating that from the body of the text on each line. (Usually this character is the > sign, but it can be anything you'd like that's supported by the network on which you're doing mail.

The cursor will start at the top of the page, allowing you to easily edit out the portions of the original message you don't want to quote. You can highlight the text with the mouse, or use the other shortcut keys to muck about and format things how you'd like them. For more information about that (see Keyboard shortcuts).

If you want to insert material into or paste from the Windows clipboard, select the text (using either the keyboard or mouse) and click on the COPY button to copy into the clipboard. To paste in text, put the cursor where you'd like the new text to appear then click on PASTE.

Note: remember that if you copy text to the clipboard multiple times, the previous contents of the clipboard will be erased! You can put as much text as you want into a Write window (up to available free memory). We suggest for maximum speed when displaying the message, you split your messages (if they are that long) into segments of 32 or even 16K. That's a pretty large message, by the way.

 Editing functions

Edit the material you are quoting as you see fit, however remember to quote as little as possible to conserve net "bandwidth."

If you find a paragraph that, when you paste it in, gets garbled or wraps at strange points, highlight the text after it's in place and then press CTRL+B to "clean it up." Marking text and doing this will remove any carriage returns, extra spaces, and other bad formatting. It makes your mail look quite nice. You can use this feature to fix badly-wrapped Waverider 1.0 messages or messages sent from a Macintosh (they often wrap at the wrong place) or a UNIX machine.

Should you want to clean up the quoted material (say its right margin is too far out, or it has badly-wrapped lines) and quote it in the process, delete the original quote characters (if any), select the text you wish to format and press CTRL+Q. The extra carriage returns will be deleted, and the text will be re-formatted and attributed to the recipient (the person in the to: field of the message header).

These two functions, CTRL+B and CTRL+Q are also affected by a CMPQWK.INI file setting called ManualWrapMargin=. Please see the Editor configuration tab, or the section regarding editing CMPQWK.INI for further information regarding that and other INI file parameters.

The usual Windows keys for editing apply here (highlighting by holding down SHIFT and moving arrow keys, etc.). You can use the menu, the button bar on the top of the Write window, or SHIFT+INSERT to paste text from the clipboard into your message.

There is also another special tool on the Edit menu you may find helpful, Select all. If you're in a Write window and click on this, it will grab the entire contents of the window ready for manipulation. Let's say you want to kill the whole thing: pick Select all and then hit DELETE. It will remove the quoted text and leave you back at the first line of a blank Write window.

 Italics and underline

If you have enabled text effects (see the Font tab) and the person to whom you are writing also is using CMPQwk 1.4 (or later) you can edit parts of your message so they appear either as underlined text or italicized text. The method of doing this is the same for each type of special effect, however you cannot have a single word exhibit both effects.

To set text so that it shows up in italics in the Read window of CMPQwk 1.4, simply put an asterisk on either side of the word. You must do so for each word, and you cannot italicize an entire sentence by bounding it with the asterisk. For example:

I'm *really* mad about this! - will show up with "really" in italics.

*I'm really mad about this!* - will show up just like you see it here, and people will think you've lost your mind or forgotten the rules of punctuation. If you want the entire line to be italicized, you must do each word by itself:

*I'm* *really* *mad* *about* *this!* - this will all be in italics.

The reason for this is simple enough: sometimes people put charts and graphics in mail, and they use the asterisk as a border character or for another purpose. If we triggered this code on a single asterisk and looked for a "closing" asterisk, we might end up with unpredictable results. To prevent this from happening, we set the rules as above.

You cannot italicize certain characters with some fonts, and some fonts react strangely to being italicized if they weren't designed for it. Your mileage here may vary, and as with all fancy stuff, use it sparingly.  There's nothing more annoying than somebody dumping italics and underlines all over the page.

To underline a word you put the _ character (above the dash) on either side of the word. To underline the previous example, you'd put:

I'm _really_ mad about this! - "really" will appear underlined. (We can't show underlining in help due to a limitation in the help engine.)

That's all there is to it. Enjoy this special feature, it's one only CMPQwk has.

 Re-editing messages

A few notes about re-editing a message. Say you goofed up, or found the factino you were looking for when you wrote the message (but couldn't find) and you want to add it in. This is simple. Open the REPLIES conference and look for that message. When it occupies the front Read window, simply press "R" to reply to your own message.

CMPQwk knows you don't actually want to do that (if you're in the habit of sending mail to yourself, please don't tell us about it) and it realizes you want to re-edit. It deletes the original message (flags it for deletion, you can recover it later if you want) and re-opens the contents in a new Write window. Save it as usual. (A tip: if the changes were small, you'll want to select Cancel and Save Rep when the spell-checker comes up, or it will check the entire message again).

  Note: if you want to delete a reply rather than edit it, you open the REPLIES conference, find the message you would like to delete, and press the DEL key.  You can also select Message/Reply/Delete from the menu, but I think that's a little bit slower than hitting DEL. You'll see a memo on at the top of that window that says, "This message deleted," to remind you that you've killed the outgoing message. Press DEL to un-delete the message (and remove the message) to view the actual contents.

 Note: when you re-edit a message, be sure not to delete the RIME, Internet, or FIDO routing string, if one exists. When you edit a reply the original routing information is left in the message and a new string WILL NOT be inserted into the message (this is to prevent double-strings and other problems). We suggest that you do not CC from a reply you are editing for the second time, you may find yourself with multiple routing strings in the message. If you think about this for a moment, you'll see how complicated it is for us to try to keep track of what is in and not in the message. For reliability, send the CC's on the first pass. You will have to manually edit each CC, however, if you want to change them all.

 Important Note: when you re-edit a reply, the original Read window will NOT be refreshed with your changes until you re-open the replies conference. If you have confirmations turned off (the program will tell you that the original message will be marked as deleted and a new one created) you will not see the notification message and you might get confused about whether or not your changes took effect. This is because we altered the way the REPLIES conference works (you no longer have to re-open it after every change). So you get one benefit, you can stay in the conference and continue editing messages, but you lose another (instant refresh). Since more people wanted the conference to stay open (with copies of the old replies, unrefreshed until you re-open it), this is how we left it.

When you're through with the message, press ALT+S to save it, or click either the Save or Save CC button.  The program will begin spell-checking the reply if you've enabled spell-checking in the Replies configuration tab. Carbon copies are covered in a special section.

For more on the Write window, see Advanced Write window functions.


 creating mail

Creating replies is easy, all you do is press "R" when you see a message to which you'd like to respond. From there the program will walk you through most of the steps. If you remember R to reply, use the Shift and arrow keys to mark text (don't quote too much of the original message) DEL to toast what you've marked and do not need, the F10 key to save your reply (spell-checking it on the way out if you've enabled that feature) you'll do fine.

Use the right arrow key to jump to the next message, or the CTRL+ARROW key to skip to the next conference. Those few keys can take you all the way through a packet.


creating mail index

 Some notes

  Mail tips - be a good net citizen

 Creating & editing mail

  Spell-checking your replies

  Carbon copies

  Forwarding messages

  Advanced write window functions


mail tips -- being a good net citizen
 mail tips -- be a good net citizen

If you're a novice at doing mail, you should read this section. If you're a mail pro, you should already know these rules.

If more people followed them, netmail would be a whole lot more fun.

 Some rules to follow

  There will always be people on the net who disagree with you, get used to that. Ignore them if they make you angry, arguing wastes everybody's time.

  There will always be people on the net who think it's fun to argue with other people rather than share information and spread goodwill. Ignore them. That's the nice thing about mail, you can just go to the next message. See the Filters section if somebody really gets your goat.

  There will always be people on the net who are self-appointed experts. These folks are vary rarely correct about anything and are usually the ones who scream the loudest when somebody disagrees. If somebody screams when you disagree, ignore them. Click on Filters, above, and put 'em into the twit filter. A truly knowledgeable person doesn't care who agrees or disagrees. A person who derives his or her self-worth from adulation does care, because their currency is getting "looked up to" by net surfers. Bah, don't waste your time on such nonsense.

  Not everybody uses (or likes) the same operating system. Variety is the spice of life. You're not going to convince Joe Blow to use Windows, and he's not going to convince you to use OS/2. Don't waste net bandwidth proselytizing for your OS, neither Bill Gates nor IBM is paying you a commission, are they? Derek and I use DOS 6.x, Windows 3.11, Windows NT, and we have testers running Windows 4 and sometimes OS/2. We don't waste time arguing which is better, you shouldn't, either. Life is too short.

  Don't quote the entire message when you reply, leave the smallest parts of it that can be used to remind the sender what the heck he was talking about.

  Don't use a big piggish four-line signature, some poor sysop somewhere is using his hard-earned cash to ship it around. Small two-line signatures are acceptable pretty much everywhere (ask your net moderator or read the rules regarding your specific net). Help the moderators and sysops keep net bandwidth down.

  Don't send UUEncoded files around on non-Internet networks. It drives the moderators crazy and wastes net bandwidth. Most networks prohibit it anyway.

  Do jump into public conversations. A good net will die without interested people exchanging ideas. Jump in and share your .02.

  Do start threads about interesting subjects. If you read something in PC Week or a trade that's interesting, ask if anybody else read about it and what they think about it. The best threads are always about what's in the news, the worst threads are always about who is right or wrong. Who cares who is right or wrong? Boring stuff!

  Don't assume you're always right. You may not be. Right depends on what you know, and it's a pretty flexible state these days. Truth depends on information in the PC world, and good information is often in short supply. There is always an excess of PR bilge from which to suckle. Avoid babbling on about FUD-type press releases, they are rarely "true" in even the lightest sense of the word. Anything IBM says about Windows and Microsoft says about OS/2 should be ignored as FUD, for example.

  If in doubt, skip to the next message and suppress the urge to fire off a nasty reply. The next day you will almost always regret having sent the flame. I know I sure have.

  Do ask the conference moderator if you're in doubt about a posting. Don't figure it's "okay" to start a doubtful thread---once started they're like multi-headed hydras, and nearly impossible to kill as they cascade all over the net. If you have the slightest confusion as to whether something is off topic, find out first. Ask if you're in doubt, and follow the moderator's directions. Thank them for their help, too, it's a pretty thankless and nasty job, and you get to see a lot of the underbelly of computerized humanity when your job is to police the nets and wrangle FUD-spreaders and flame-war instigators.


Zen and the art of mail

Yeah, that's what I wanted to call this section. I figure everybody has ripped-off Robert Pirsig enough, so I didn't call it that. Having been inspired, to some degree, to become a writer because of Robert Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I wanted to show him some respect.

So here's to you, Robert. I hope Phaedrus is not lurking in your shadow.

If you don't know about Phaedrus, get the book and read it, most folks I know who did enjoyed the experience.


F.U.D.

What the heck is FUD?  Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. It's how IBM gets users to avoid trying the next version of Windows and it's how Microsoft keeps Windows users from bailing on Windows until Windows 4 comes out, which they tell us will be "better" than IBM's offering. The fact is, if you need total compatibility with Windows, you should use Windows. If you need total compatibility with OS/2, you should use OS/2. Anything else said about how they get along is only true to "a degree." Who spreads FUD? Anybody with something to gain from having you buying their product...which means everybody. FUD is a universal constant in the PC software world.


 spell-checking your replies

  Click this button to load the optional  dialogue help file and learn more about the spell-checker dialogue.

 CMPQwk's spell-checker is significantly improved over earlier versions. It now will check the word you type in to replace the flagged word (flagging it, too, if you make a mistake), and it has improved character transposition detection. It also has a new Replace all function. Replace all is remembered for the entire session, and is re-used for each outgoing message until you close or re-start the program.

CMPQwk has a multi-thousand word dictionary, and for version 1.4 and above, an improved spell-checker. The speller loads the main dictionary and private user dictionary into memory the first time you spell-check. It keeps both of them there so that it is referencing data from memory, not disk, when it is looking up a word. The speed improvement because of this is large.

After the first message spell-checking is---we modestly feel---blazing fast.

If you've enabled the spell checking feature (see Reply Options) when you press ALT+S or click the Save button, Save CC button, or pick Message, Reply, Spell check from the main menu, the spell-checker will load and begin examining your reply for spelling errors.

Note: if you didn't get the second archive file with the dictionary in it from the BBS or service where you got the main program, you cannot enable spell-checking. Internet and CompuServe users don't have to worry about this, their versions are usually posted in one file only. But BBS users must make sure they have downloaded both the program and spell-checker files (and correctly installed them). Just copying in the files from one zip will not a program make in version 1.4x. Get both of them and run SETUP.EXE to insure a correct install.

If the spell-checker finds a word not in either the main or user dictionary (more about that in a moment) it will pop up a dialogue box with the word it thinks is misspelled, and a suggestion for a replacement (if one is available) will be at the top of a list of other, less-likely suggestions. When you click on the first or any of the rest of the suggested words, that word will get put into the "replace with" box. The default word in the "replace with" box is always the misspelled word, giving you a chance to edit it if the speller doesn't make a suggestion you can use.

The spell-checker skips words in all caps, and skips words combined with numbers. It is designed to skip DOS filenames, however under certain conditions (depending on the surrounding words) it may think the filename is a "mistake" and flag it just in case. Your mileage may vary. It will also skip words in single quotes like 'word' due to a complication in handling that ['] character that cropped up during testing.

You'll also have the options to Replace, Replace All, Skip, Skip All, Add to Dictionary, or Cancel the spell-checking process or Cancel and Save Rep (which means the spelling is discontinued and you save the reply without checking the rest of it).

If you know the word is spelled correctly (be sure) you can elect to Add it to the dictionary so it won't be flagged later on, or you can tell the spell-checker to Skip it. If this word is likely to be repeated in this message, click on Skip All so it ignores it throughout the text.

If you know the word is misspelled and the spell-checker highlights the correct replacement, click on the highlighted word to put it into the replacement box and select Replace. The error will be fixed and the spell-checker will continue.

If the spell-checker doesn't show a replacement (or shows one you know is wrong) you can click on the text box where the flagged text is displayed (above the suggested replacement list box) and type in your correction. If you then click on Replace, your typed text will replace the flagged text in the message.

Double-clicking one of the words in the suggestion list is the same as picking that word and then selecting Replace. It's also a lot faster.

If you decide you want to jump back into the message and edit something, selecting Cancel or pressing ESC will allow you to do this, but you'll have to spell-check the entire message again when you save it.

If you use many specialized or technical words and they're getting flagged by the spell-checker, there's an easy way to get them into the user dictionary. Send yourself a "nonsense" message that's nothing but all of the special words you use (many technical words aren't in the dictionary). Keep your mouse pointer poised where the "Add to Dictionary" button appears, and just click away until it's finished.

You may also manually add words by using the Options, Edit private dictionary dialogue, although you'll have to enter them one word at a time using that method. Try to keep your personal dictionary below five hundred to a thousand words, the speller will search through it much more quickly if you keep it tidy. If you need more than five thousand words, you're probably using a language other than English!

The first few times you use the spell-checker, if you tell it to add the words you use (such as slang) you'll find it will only mark "real" spelling errors by the second or third packet. Of course, if you don't add them, unusual words will always get flagged as a spelling mistake.

The dictionary is as large as we could practically make it, but by no means does it contain the entire Webster's Unabridged ®!


 carbon copies

 Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the carbon copy dialogue.

Carbon copies are very useful for sending mail to workgroup partners. The same message is sent out to each person on the "CC" list that you will create when making Carbon copies. And the nicest thing about it is that your hands won't get dirty and your messages won't get all smudged-up.

The Write window Save CC button will bring up a special dialogue box where you can select from any user in your "To List" or type in other names and add them to the list of recipients of your message. To send a CC you:

  Click on the Save CC button.

  The message will be spell-checked if you've enabled that option.

  The list of names in your address book will appear. Choose a user or users to send this message to. The original recipient will appear at the top of the list on the right, since this person was the original target of the message.

To CC to a large list quickly:

You can import a plain ASCII file as a list of users to whom you'd like to send a message. When you create the file (use Notepad or any other editor that creates plain, unformatted text), put one user's name (first name, last name) on each line.

  After you've selected Save CC, when the list box appears, click on the Import button or press ALT+I .

  Pick the name of the ASCII user list file you'd like to use. Click on OK or press Enter and all the names in that file will appear in the box.

This feature is handy if you need to send specific messages to different groups (say marketing in one group and research in another). Rather than picking names one by one from a list, you can get them all into the routing box (the box on the right) in two easy steps.

To prepare a list for import into the CC function, create a text file with one user name (or Internet address) per line. It can be up to 16,000 names. And if you want to CC more than that many users, well, I'm worried about you...I really am...

Note: Currently Carbon Copies can only be sent to one conference. This will change in future versions of CMPQwk.

Some things to remember about Carbon Copies:

  If you send a Carbon while re-editing a routed reply, you may have problems with double routing strings being inserted into the message.

  If you decide you want to delete an outgoing message that has carbons, you must delete every CC you specified if you want them all deleted, they are not "linked" in any way.

  If you decide you want to edit an outgoing message that has carbons, you must edit every carbon, they are not "linked" in any special way.


 forwarding messages

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the forward message dialogue.

You may notice a message you think might interest a friend. You could reply to it and change the "To:" field in the header, but why not just forward it? It's fast and very simple to do.

You'll want to keep some things in mind when you forward a message.

 Does the person to whom you are sending it have access to the conference?

 Is the forwarded message "on-topic" if you're forwarding it publicly?

 Is the message worthy of adding to the network traffic load, or just a useless addition?

Keep in mind that if you forward a message with an attached file, the attachment will be forwarded, too. If you forward this message to more than one person, your REP packet will get huge (there is a copy of the attachment for each message). If the file is posted on the BBS, better to advise the other user where to get the file rather than send yet another copy up to litter the poor sysop's hard disk.


 advanced write window functions

There are a number of useful functions in the Write window that novice uses may not know about. These include text import, paragraph wrapping, file attachments, and ROT-13 encoding. I'll explain the purposes of each, and how to execute them in this section (and why you'd want to do so). Expert mail hounds will already know about most of them, so this part of the help may not be very useful to them.

 Text import

This function can be extremely useful to just about anybody who has some prepared text (or a system configuration file) that they want to share with another user. If, for example, you've got a technical support professional who wants to look at your CONFIG.SYS file (or WIN.INI, or anything else that's plain text), you could open it in Notepad, copy it to the clipboard, and then paste it into your message.

Or you could do it in a single step by quickly importing it into the message directly. It will be inserted into the Write window at the cursor's position, and wrapped so it fits into your margin until it is completely put into the message. Note that if your original file has no margins, or has wider margins, it may require some cleaning up to make it look "pretty," but that's easily done in most cases with the paragraph wrap feature, below.

Here's how to import a text file:

  Put a blank line where you want the text to begin.

  Click the Write window anywhere with the right mouse button, a menu will appear.

  On that menu will be Import text. Click that with the mouse.

  A dialogue will appear. It will default to being inside the directory specified in your path configuration, Import path. Use this box to navigate to the directory where the file you want to import is located. For our example of CONFIG.SYS, that would be c:\.

  When you've located the file, click on it once to put its name into the topmost box on the left. That's the "selected file." Confirm that this is, in fact, the file you want to import. Remember it can't be larger than 64K in size (the message size limit on most BBS systems).

   Click on OK to import this file.

You may also skip the right mouse button menu, and use the Message Menu item: Message, Reply, Import text. Either will work the same way once you've started the process.

Now let's assume you imported a text file, and it was spaced at 80 columns. Mail is normally set at 72 columns, and if that text file had "hard" carriage returns, you've got an ugly mess of jumbled text there. You can either block it up all into one paragraph (if that's what you want) by manually deleting all the incorrect returns, or block it up into the "original" paragraphs (it's usually pretty easy to tell where they are) by also manually deleting the returns, or you can use the Paragraph wrap function to do this automatically and very quickly.

 Paragraph wrap

To correct badly-formatted text, follow the procedure below.

  Highlight either the entire block or the first block you want to make into a "clean" paragraph. Be careful not to highlight the blank line below the first paragraph, or you will strip it out of the message, blocking it next to the paragraph below. You only need to put the highlight to the end of the last sentence on the last line, not beyond.

  Once the correct text is highlighted, press CTRL+B to re-format the text. This function will do several things: it will strip out all hard returns, it will strip out all double spaces after periods, and it will block the text up as tightly as the monospaced format will allow within a single paragraph.

  To continue, highlight the next block of text (being careful not to highlight the space above or below this section) and hit CTRL+B again. Repeat as required.

  If you've inserted a block of text and it appeared badly-wrapped and you wish to format the entire import into a single, large paragraph, put the cursor on the beginning of the first line of the import, press CTRL+SHIFT+END to highlight the entire block to the end of the message, then hit CTRL+B to block up that section.

 File attachments

Not all BBS systems support or encourage the use of file attachments. However for those who do, and for those systems who follow the Wildcat! or PCBoard protocol of attachments, this feature can come in very handy, especially when you're involved in a project with workgroup partners.

You can pass around a spreadsheet, image file, whatever you need. CMPQwk's intelligent handling of file attachments allows the user on the other end of the message to double-click an icon that will appear in the message header of the Read window and load the file directly into the program on his system that "reads" that type of file. (Of course, if it's a file type for which he has no association, he'll have to create one. See the Trouble shooting section on this.)

To attach a file to your message on systems that support this feature:

  Create a reply or new message to which you would like to attach a file on your system.

  In the message header, there is a box at the bottom left that is labeled File attachment. You can type in the path and filename to your file attachment, if you know it, or at the right of this box you'll see a button that has three dots on it. Click this button.

  A dialogue will appear that will allow you to navigate about your system's available disks. Locate the file you want to attach, click the name once to make it appear in the box in the upper left of this dialogue, confirm that this is, in fact, the file you want to attach, and click on OK.

  This file will now be copied to the \CMPQWK\WORK directory (or the path you have set for this directory in Path options.

  Note: you must have sufficient free space on your work disk to accommodate a copy of this file. If you do not, the attachment will fail. For protection of your data, CMPQwk makes a copy of your file and renames it in a fashion that the BBS door requires for attachments. It does not rename your original file or do anything other than copy it to the work directory. Check available disk space before making a very large attachment, or when using a RAM disk.

Finish the message and save it. It now has the file you specified as an attachment.

The directory from which you picked your attachment is "sticky," so the next time you do one, that is the directory to which the "picker" box will default. If you always keep your attachment files in C:\UPLOAD, for example, the program will open the file picker dialogue in that directory the next time you select this option.

If you are attaching files quite a bit, and especially when attaching Zip format files, we suggest you disable compression in the packer options part of the Paths configuration tab.

To remove an attached file (you changed your mind):

  Open the REPLIES conference.

  Locate the message that has the attachment.

  Press R to edit that message.

  Click the button on the Write window marked "Header."

  Click in the box labeled "Attachments."

  Delete the text in that box. You don't need to open the picker, just delete the path and filename in the box.

The attached file will remain in your work directory until you close the packet, whereupon it will be deleted with the rest of the "working" files CMPQwk makes. If you're short of disk space and need to recover the space a large attachment is using, select Close from the File menu, close the packet, then re-open it. The work directory will be "purged" of the obsolete attachment file.

To change an attached file (pick a different file):

  Repeat the procedure above only click on the button with three dots on it and locate a new file.

  Click on OK to insert this new file into the message header.

  If you want to close the message without spell-checking it again (if you're re-editing the message to change the attachment), press F10 to save and then P to Cancel and save rep when the speller comes up (if you've enabled spell-checking).

If you delete a message with a file attachment, the attachment will not be deleted from the work directory until you close the packet.

If you edit a message with a file attachment, only one copy of that message has the attachment.

If you CC a message with an attachment, individual copies of the file must be created for each message, so make sure you have sufficient space for them on your work directory disk.

 Using the clipboard in the header

You can use the clipboard to provide a "third" name in the drop down "to:" field in the message header. Let's say I send a message to you and tell you that you should get in touch with Bill Whyishisnamesolong. Now you don't want to re-type that, do you? Of course not. So, while you're reading that message, copy his name to the clipboard.

When you begin your next reply (which should be to Bill Whyishisnamesolong), drop down the to: field picklist. The text you highlight (probably Bill's name) will be the third item on that list. So if the message you're replying to was mine, you'd see My name, your name, and Bill's name. If you click on Bill's name you'll find you can quickly fire off a reply to him as I suggested you do.

This function will also use pre-existing clipboard text if: it's a single line, less than 128 characters (and Internet addresses will be handled as they always are), and plain text. If it's in the clipboard and fits this bill, it will show up (even if it's not applicable to this use).

The way it works is like this:

  If you highlight some text in the Read window, that item becomes the third to: name in the message header drop down. Highlight some text and press R, you'll see what I mean. You can reply to the person you're highlighting, quoting the message as from the original author.

  Highlighted text in this way takes priority over pre-existing clipboard text.

  The clipboard text needs to be on one line. If there's a hard return in it, it's not going to work.

  You can simplify storing a name in the clipboard by using the new right mouse button "copy" function. Highlight what you want, right-click on it, then pick "copy."

 ROT-13

When you mention ROT-13 to most people, they don't have the foggiest idea what the heck it is. It's something that originated (we think) in Internet or UseNet mail, and it's used mainly to post a public message with some possibly offensive text (such as a dirty joke). The person to whom you are sending the message with ROT-13 text must also have a reader (like CMPQwk) that can decode ROT-13, or he or she must be real patient in order to manually decode the message.

 Note: some networks do not allow ROT-13 encoded messages. Check with your moderator or host before sending an ROT-13 encoded message!

To encode all of a message (make sure any RIME or Internet routing doesn't get garbled!):

  Put the cursor into the Write window that contains the text you want to encode.

  From the Edit menu select ROT-13.

  The entire outgoing message (except your signature and tagline) will be ROT-13 encoded.

  Press F10 to save the message if you're through, and of course, tell the spell-checker (it will be hopelessly confused) to Cancel and save rep by pressing P when it comes up.

To encode part of a message:

  Highlight only the portion you want to encode. You can highlight up to several pages.

  From the Edit menu, select ROT-13.

  The text you highlighted is encoded, the other text surrounding it is left as it was.

If you've ROT-13 encoded the wrong text, it's easy enough to repair:

  Highlight only the portion you want to decode. You can highlight up to several pages.

  From the Edit menu, select ROT-13.

  The text you highlighted is decoded, the other text surrounding it is left as it was.

This procedure will also work for "entire messages" ROT-13 encoded by mistake, simply select ROT-13 from the Edit menu with nothing highlighted and the current window the Write window you wish to "fix."

As you might suspect, this functions works pretty much the same in a Read window, where you will need to "decode" any ROT-13 encoded text you receive. Follow the procedures outlined above (either highlight to pick the text or decode it all at once).

 What is ROT-13?

ROT-13 is the most simple of encoding techniques. It takes the alphabet and rotates (hence the ROT) 13 letters toward Z, and when it reaches the end, it continues back through A and beyond. If you think of it as text printed on a hula-hoop, you can see why encoding will also decode and vice versa.

If you marked A through Z on a hoop, so A and Z met in the middle and had all the other letters between them, you can use this as a simple ROT encoder/decoder. Using this method, you'd find the original letter (let's say it's A). Skip thirteen letters toward Z. So...B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, J, L, M, and the next letter is N. A becomes N.

To decode, skip thirteen letters toward (or past) Z from the encoded letter. So if you skipped those letters using our example, you'd go all the way just to the right of Z and you'd end up at A.

If you give it a moment of thought, you'll see why: halfway through 26 letters is 13, and halfway back is where you started. Circular logic, in a way.

It's simple, not at all "secure" and shouldn't be used for private business transactions on a public network, since anybody can easily decode it. But if you want to tell a friend a racy joke on a public echo that allows ROT, it's a nice way to keep from offending anybody.

Be sure to mark in un-encoded text at the beginning of the message that the message contains racy material and may offend. That way, anyone who reads it knows what's in store if they decode it.


 menu index

We think you'll find CMPQwk's menus are laid-out in a logical fashion. This section covers everything except the Options menu, and because that contains critical program configuration settings, it gets its own section. See the Options index for more details on setting program options.


menu index

 CMPQwk's menus

  File menu

  Edit menu

  Conference menu

  Packet menu

  Message menu

  Folder menu

  Window menu

  Help menu


 file menu

Open - Opens a new packet. It shows you a list of the packets in your designated QWK directory.  You also can pick how you'd like the QWK file listings sorted, by file date or alphabetic order. From the Open window you can delete old QWK packets, and using the Directory box, rename packets, and navigate through your directories and drives in the event you've stashed QWK files in a directory or on a drive other than the one you told CMPQwk to use.

If you've enabled QWK Management, every time you open the File Open dialogue, the program compares the dates of stored QWK files against the delete date you've targeted for "aging them." If it finds any packets older than the target, it will delete them without prompting you for permission. It doesn't matter if you've opened the packet and read it or not, if it's old enough to qualify for auto-delete, it will be deleted.

The second time you open a packet, you'll see the name of the BBS that created it adjacent to the packet's DOS filename. This information is automatically extracted by CMPQwk, and requires no work on your part. You must open at least one packet from the corresponding BBS for this feature to be present. CMPQwk will also attempt to calculate the percentage of the packet you've read, too. This information will appear on the right side of the dialogue only if you have turned off "use filenames" in the General options tab.

  Click this button to load the optional  dialogue help file and read more about the File open dialogue.

There are several options you can set (and later ignore) right from the File/Open dialogue:

 Sort options: You may specify that you want the QWK file display to be sorted by alphabetic (name) order or date order (ascending or descending). If you select ascending order, the newest QWK files are displayed at the top of the list. If you select descending order, the oldest QWK files are displayed at the top of the list.

 QWK management: You may elect to ignore your QWK Management settings (say you get a packet you want to keep for a couple of days but don't want to bother copying it or resetting your "kill date"). If you click this check box, the program will not delete your QWK packets according to the settings in QWK Management until you un-check it. You may also bring up the dialogue for setting permanent QWK Management options by clicking on "Edit Settings." Keep in mind if you change the settings and have "Ignore" checked, nothing will happen until you un-check Ignore.

Close - Closes the packet being read, saves messages into a REP packet if you're created any new ones. Your pointers are saved, and you can pick up where you left off if you'd like to do so at a later time. Pointers inside the personal conference are saved as being in the conference in which the message you were reading originated. So if you were reading your tenth personal message and it came from the CMPQwk support conference, when you re-open the packet you'll be left inside that conference (not the personal conference).

Save replies - Will save any replies you've created.

Create a new packet - This feature lets you build a new REP file without having a QWK open. If you've opened QWK files from different BB systems, CMPQwk has stored information from each regarding the conferences available. Selecting this menu items brings up a dialogue that allows you to pick from a list of "known" systems to which you want the REP directed, or you can type in the name of a system's QWK (don't add the suffix, just the prefix) and build a single-Conference list that will allow you to upload a message to conference 0 on that system. This allows you to direct mail via pre-built packet even to systems you have never gotten mail from before.

Once the packet has been created, if it's from a known system you can enter a new message (or messages) in any supported conference and save the REP file just like you usually do. Caution: the typed-in name (if you add one) takes precedence over a highlighted QWK file. So if you type something in the box and then select a QWK file with the mouse, the mouse selection will be ignored.

You can highlight a system name and click on delete to remove the record for that system. If you get mail from a system one time, and decide not to call back, you can save a bit of space in your database by deleting the information for that system. However, after doing so, you won't be able to create a new packet for it until you get another packet.

 You can also use this feature to edit an existing packet. Just make sure that "re-open existing replies" is checked in Options, Replies tab. Then tell the program to Create a new packet for the system whose REP you'd like to re-open. It will open it up and take you right into it without missing a beat.

 Note: if you've enabled the mail door's "small QWK option" or "small CONTROLDAT" option, you may find that not all conferences are available when you try to perform this action. You must get the entire CONTROL.DAT file (not "small QWK") when you get QWK files in order to have all conferences (not just the ones you audit) available for entering new messages by this method. CMPQwk relies on the stored copy of CONTROL.DAT to know what conferences are available. If it's "small" (not all conferences in there) then it will not know the name and number of every conference.

  Click this button to load the optional  dialogue help file and read more about the Create a new REP dialogue.

Re-open existing replies - If you have some REP files in the specified directory and you'd like to open one of them back up (but the QWK for it has been deleted) you can do that by selecting this menu item, then picking the reply file you'd like to open from the list. It will show you the available REP files by the long BBS name (since you can only have one REP in a directory) rather than the short DOS file name. Pick the REP you'd like to work with again and the program will re-open it for you and put you in the replies conference.

 Note: for this item to work, you must have the re-open existing replies option checked in the Read window options tab.

  Click this button to load the optional  dialogue help file and read more about the Re-open existing replies dialogue.

Copy PTR file (last-read pointers) - if you encounter a problem with a corrupt packet, you can call the BB system from which you got the packet and upload a PTR file to the mail door. It will reset your pointers back to where they were before you go the packet. You can then re-download the QWK file that was corrupt or lost during transfer, or with which you had some other problem. If you click this item CMPQwk will open a dialogue showing you available PTR files, and you can pick one and then navigate using the directory picker until you've told it where to copy the file. This selection is "sticky," which means that if you copy a PTR file to C:\UPLOAD one time, the next time you select this function, the default directory the program will use as the destination directory will be C:\UPLOAD.

  Click this button to load the optional  dialogue help file and read more about the copy pointer file dialogue.

Print - Prints the current message to the default Windows printer.

Printer setup - Calls a dialogue box for selecting (and if desired) changing the printer setup. Pick the printer you'd like to use or change its settings.

Quick exit - bails out of the program, but doesn't build a REP packet or close the QWK that's open. Your messages are saved, but no REP packet will be built. When you re-enter the program, CMPQwk will re-open the same QWK packet you were working on when you chose Quick Exit, and any replies you created will re-appear in the REPLIES conference.

 Important!  If you use a RAM disk for the work directory, don't crash or re-boot your system between mail sessions and expect to come back to your packet: it will be gone, as will be all of your outgoing messages.

Exit - Leave CMPQwk, saving any messages you've created into a REP packet.


 edit menu

Undo - will reverse the last block action (or text entry) you've just completed. The undo buffer isn't unlimited, but it should undo most block operations (or single entrys) you've done.

Redo - this item will Undo the Undo. In otherwords, if you selected Undo by mistake, or changed your mind, this will put the changes back into the message.

Cut - cuts selected text to the clipboard, deleting it from the message in the process.

Copy - copies (without deleting) selected text to the clipboard.

Paste - pastes the clipboard contents (if it's text) at the cursor's position.

Delete - deletes without copying to the clipboard.

Clear all - clears current reply window and the clipboard.

Select all - selects the contents of the current Read or Write window.

Wrap Paragraph - if you highlight some badly-formatted text (say something you pasted in from the clipboard and it came out looking poorly because of carriage returns placed longer than the margins) and press CTRL+B, that text will be "cleaned up." The program will remove any returns in the highlighted text, and bump the text back into a solid, block-like paragraph. For example:

For example, a     paragraph that looks        like

this and has badly-placed

returns or spaces in

it

(for whatever reason), will get turned into:

For example, a paragraph that looks like this and has badly-placed returns or spaces in it (for whatever reason), will get turned into this.

This feature is handy when you're replying to Internet mail, which is often produced by folks using crude line editors running under UNIX or other non-DOS platforms, often set to very wide margins.

 Be careful when selecting the text not to select beyond the last paragraph you want to wrap, if you do, you will join the first paragraph to the next line or paragraph!

Wrap para & quote - wraps the selected paragraph (as above) and attributes it to the recipient.

ROT13 encode/decode - messages on services such as the Internet (which may be released internationally, thus prohibiting "true" encryption) are commonly "encoded" using the ROT13 method. Using this method you may send a message that contains potentially offensive text and you can be assured that only those people who want to read it will be able to do so. The text is shifted 13 characters to the right, so A becomes N and so forth, continuing back through the beginning of the alphabet. Imagine all the letters on a hula-hoop so that Z and A touch in the middle.

To encode/decode just highlight text you want to alter in the Write window and select this menu item, or select it  with no text highlighted to encode the entire Write window. This can easily be "un-done" by selecting it again.

To decode a message that has been encoded in this manner, either highlight the encoded portion in the Read window and select this menu item, or select it with no text highlighted to change the entire Read window (including portions possibly not encoded, thus encoding them).

Note that color highlighting in the current Read window will be "disabled" during the process of decoding and viewing an ROT13 message, but the next message in the conference will appear in color if you have color enabled. This is to insure maximum speed, as doing both processes (decoding then coloring) would take too much time to be convenient on slower machines.

See the Advanced Write window section for more on ROT-13.


 conference menu

Add a conference - Add a conference to your "scanned for mail" list in the BBS. Doors follow many standards, and there is no "one" way that they've all agreed to do it. Also some of the people making doors keep changing their API, so when we set up the format of the add or drop message one way, and they change is, then our message no longer works.

Drop a conference - Delete a conference, stop scanning it for mail in the future. Requires a packet with a DOOR.ID file. If you cannot add or drop, ask your sysop about turned off the "small QWK" option if his door has this option. Some doors are rather erratic in how they handle this function.

Select - pick a conference from which to read mail (makes the Conference window the active window).

Next - jump to next conference from your current position.

Previous - jump back to previous conference.

Find - search for a conference name. You can type into the little box that will appear, then press Enter. CMPQwk will jump to the first match or partial match. Press F3 to use the next menu item automatically, Find again, if the first search didn't find what you wanted. You can load Find by pressing CTRL+F, too.

Find again - search again (continue the search down the list) for the same item you just typed. If you have a packet that contains names with partial matches at conference 50 and 100, the first hit will be 50. To jump to the next match (conference 100) press F3 to use Find again, or pick it from this menu item.

See the keyboard shortcuts section for keystrokes for these and other items, you'll find that's usually a much faster way to navigate.


 packet menu

New files - displays the "new files" listing if the BBS supplies one. If it's a colorized ANSI screen, and you have a color monitor, CMPQwk will display the ANSI graphics as if you were on-line, in full color. You can scroll through the list by using the arrow keys or hitting page down and page up, but you can't copy text from the colorized viewer as it is a graphics window.

If you use the external viewer, you can copy text from the new files listing. ESC will close any of the ANSI view windows except for the external ANSI viewer, CMPView. You need to press ALT+F4 or click on File, Close to close it.

Note: If you want to jump out of this help file and view CMPView's help, click on CMPView. Navigate through that file with the browse buttons in this window, and when you want to come back to this file, choose "back" above (you might have to click it several times), or if you've got the "sidebar" table of contents open, click on any topic there to re-load CMPQwk's help file into this window.

Once the New files list (or any other ANSI window) is open, you can press the right arrow key to view the next ANSI screen packed into the QWK file. That way, you can quickly cycle through the bulletins and other listings in the QWK.

You will also find a right mouse button menu item on the packet screen if you simply click anywhere on it with the right mouse button. It will allow you to cycle through the ANSI screens much more quickly than going back up to the menu and picking the next one from the list.

The ANSI graphics windows do not display the "non-standard" PCBoard "ANSI" codes. If your BBS uses those, ask the sysop if he can arrange an option to pack standard ANSI listings. The windows will also not display "moving" ANSI. But color attributes are accurately portrayed.

Bulletins - displays any bulletins supplied in the QWK packet, again, in color if that's how they were created.  (Also a graphics window.) The same keys are used here, as well. You can jump from one bulletin to another using the right arrow key (forward) or the left arrow key (backward). There is a right mouse button item for this function, and it will list the bulletins in the packet on the mouse button menu.

News - displays news screens, if available. Ditto with respect to ANSI, keyboard, etc.

View session - displays the session screens (quote of the day, etc.) if any are contained in the QWK file.

Welcome - displays the BBS welcoming screen, including ANSI graphics and colors.

Closing - displays the "good-bye" screen from the BBS.

With all of the ANSI screens (except the external viewer), you can click the right mouse button on the window and you'll find a menu there that gives you the option of loading any of the other available ANSI screens into the viewer.  This is a faster method than opening multiple windows (and uses less memory).

Board stats - statistics about the BBS or your account with it, as available in the packet. PCBoard systems usually provide more information here than Wildcat! BB systems seem to do. If a field is blank, it's because the system didn't provide any information with which to fill it.


 message menu

Sort order - change the way the QML presents the contents of the conference. This setting is only for the current conference, and it will change back to the default sort method specified in the Read configuration tab when you go to the next conference, or close and re-open this one. Sorting options from this menu change "on the fly" when you click on them.

Message number - show the messages from the lowest logical message number to the highest. This setting will split up threads that happen across varying days and times, because they will not always have consecutive numbers. This is a very fast way to sort, however, because (really) it's more or less "unsorted."

Subject (thread) - this is the preferred method of sorting. It keeps messages about the same subject sorted together based on subject text, then date, then time. So you can see the natural progression of messages about this subject over the time the packet covers. It is slightly slower than the other methods because it sorts on three fields.

Message from - this sorts by the author's names, in descending order. Obviously Internet messages with authors like dbackus@patchbay.com or messages coming from CompuServe via the Internet won't be sorted in any meaningful method using this (or the next) method.

Message to - sorts on the recipient names in the To: field of the message header.

List - displays an index of all messages in the current conference, which we call the QML or "Quick message list."

Next - go to the next message in the current conference, or jump to the first message in the next conference if you're at the last one in the current conference. The right arrow key will be easier than the menu for this.

Previous - jump back one message. Also the left arrow key.

First - go to the first message in the current conference. The HOME key does this.

Last - go to the last message in the current conference. The END key, here.

Enter new - Enter a new message - select recipient and conference when the header appears.

Reply - sub menu...

Enter - begin a new message (you'll pick to whom and subject, etc.).

Quote - Quote material from a previous message.

Edit - Edit a message. Deletes the original and creates a new outgoing message for you to edit.

Delete - toggle the "delete" status of an outgoing reply. Note, you can "un-delete" before you build a packet by selecting this again when the same reply is the current window. Allows you to toggle on and off whether or not a message gets sent. (We all change our minds from time to time.)

 Note: The message will still appear in the reply conference, although if you look at the deleted status indicator on the message header, you can see if the delete flag has been activated. "Deleted" messages will not get sent out in the outgoing REP packet. A message is added to the top of that window to reflect the deleted status (it says THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN DELETED, PRESS DEL TO UNDELETE IT). If you want to un-delete the message, simply hit the DEL key again.

Import text - Paste in a text file, it will appear at the cursor's position. If it has hard returns, you'll probably have to fool around to format it correctly once it's inside the message. Select this item, then navigate with the file picker box to select a text file. Click on OK and the file will be imported into the message at the cursor's position.

 Note: there is a hard-coded limit to your text file of 65,000 characters. If it's larger than that, it will get truncated on import into the program. Since this is also the limit for the number of characters in the Read window, this should not be a problem.

Spell check - loads the spell-checker and begins examining the current reply for errors.  (Independently of "saving" the message.)

Steal tag line - Grabs the tag line from the message you're reading and appends it to your tagline file. If the Tagline Thief can't find a tagline, it will tell you. Some tagline managers add special characters to the beginning of the tagline that may interfere with the Tagline Thief's ability to grab the line. If this is the case, you'll have to manually mark the text you want by clicking once on the Read window to turn it to plain text, then mark it normally with the mouse or keyboard). Press T to copy the highlighted text into the tagline file. You'll have a chance in the Tagline Thief dialogue to edit the text if you want, and you can then pick into which tagline file you'd like to insert the tagline, if you've created more than one tagline database file.

 To make it easier for others to steal your taglines, make sure the --- or "tearline" is on the line immediately before your %t variable in the tagline style box. For more details, jump to the Taglines tab.

Search - Searches through the packet for specific text. It builds a new conference called "Search" that contains any "hits" for what you searched on. Open that conference to browse through the messages containing the word (or words) you searched for. Searches may be directed to either the current conference or the entire packet.

 Search limits

You can select through which text components of the packet you want to search. You may check any and all of these to have them acted upon.

Message to - search the To: fields in the packet or conference you specify.

Message from - search the From: fields in the packet or conference you specify.

Subject - search the Subject: fields in the packet or conference you specify.

Message body - search through the main bodies of the messages in the conference or packet.

Search item - enter an item you want to find. It can be a single word or a text string or a logical expression.

Use simple text strings. You can use the & and | symbols (and & sign and the pipe). The & sign means "and" and the | means "or." You can't use combinations of those two symbols, but you can use multiple expressions using the same symbol. So you could search for:

Bob & Harry

Bob & Harry & Fred

but not... Bob & Harry | Fred

The same rule applies to the pipe, or | character (SHIFT+backslash). The search drop-down stores the last 20 search strings and "ages" them out as you create new ones.

Don't use the English words "or" or "and" in your searches, those make the searches look for those words and it will not use them as logical operators.

Click on OK to start the search, or Cancel to abort. If you make at least one search, your preferences for what components of the packet to search are remembered and will become the "default" settings. So if you check only Message body, do a search, and complete it, the next time you open this dialogue it will have only Message body checked.

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about how the message search dialogue is laid out.

Find text - use this to search through the current or "front" QML for a text string. You'll be presented with a small text box. Type in an item you want to find, then press Enter. CMPQwk will jump to the first match or partial match. If you think there is another match farther down the QML, hit F3 to use the next menu item, Find text again.

Find text again - this repeats the last item searched for in Find text. Hit F3 to use this menu item over and over, until you've found what you wanted ot exhausted the search.

Export - Save the current message to a plain text file. You can either append to an existing export file, or create a new one each time by typing in a unique file name when the export dialogue opens. If you have set APPEND EXPORT on in General Options, you will append to the filename you pick from the list box. Otherwise, it will OVERWRITE the file if you pick one that already exists from those displayed in the list box.

You can also mark and export multiple messages from the QML. You mark multiple messages with the use of the CTRL key and the left mouse button, then either use this menu item or use the right mouse button menu on the QML itself.

Once this process is underway (you've picked Export Selected), you'll have several options you must define:

  A destination file name. It can be either an existing file or a new file. Now what you select here determines a few things in the operations that follow. If in the Paths configuration tab you have checked Append to export and you pick a pre-existing file, the batch export will append to that already-existing file. If you have this option un-checked and pick a pre-existing file, it will overwrite that file and then append the successive outgoing messages to this same file. If you pick a new filename, CMPQwk will create the file and then append the successive outgoing messages to this new file.

  You can set the program to append or overwrite directly from this dialogue, and that setting is "sticky," it's the same as changing the option in the Paths tab. Use this with caution, make sure you do not need a file if you set this to overwrite and then pick a pre-existing file. If you have Display confirmations disabled on the General options tab, CMPQwk will silently do what you tell it, possibly smoking a file you need. If in doubt, leave the warnings turned on.

  You can tell the program to include the message headers in the outgoing text file or omit it. If you are collecting for export a multi-message UUEncoded file, check this box (the setting is "sticky," it will be the default from then on, so watch it next time you do an export). It will save you some editing later, because you'll want to clean the header out before you decode the file with most UUDecoding programs.

  When you're finished setting these options, you click on OK and the program will display and process the messages you've selected, putting them into the outgoing text export file in the order they appear in the QML (not necessarily in the order you marked them).

 You can use sorting to control in what order they appear in the export file if you think about this for a moment...

 Note: text effects, the characters used to create them, and other formatting codes such as PCBoard ANSI will not appear in the exported text file. CMPQwk strips them.

 Important! Be sure you know which way append/overwrite is set, because you can't recover the file once you've overwritten it!

File attachments - brings up a dialogue letting you manage (copy) any files that are attached to your downloaded messages. You can select a destination for the attached file and CMPQwk will copy the file to your selected drive and directory.

 Note: Version 1.4 has a feature that automatically scans your WIN.INI [extensions] section for associations to an attached file. If it finds one, it will put the icon for the associated program in the message header. This feature will only work if your [extensions] section correctly specifies a program that both exists (you have) and the line for that program defines the full path to the message.

For maximum speed CMPQwk will not scan your DOS path looking for the program to find the icon. You'll know you have a file attachment, however, because the mail door will often put a note to that effect in the body of the message, and CMPQwk will put up an icon with an explanation point, or question mark, which means it knows there's a file, but can't find what might load it on your system, or the association is incorrectly established.

 Note: For CMPQwk to correctly launch the associated application, your REG.DAT file (the OLE database) must agree with your WIN.INI. There is no way around this. If you don't get the correct icon, or a different program loads with the file open, it's caused by a disagreement between these two. Windows always follows REG.DAT over WIN.INI.

 To clean up both of them, launch File Manager, highlight a file that's the type you're trying to view, click on File/Associate, and navigate using the directory and file box in that function until you locate the correct program .EXE file. Click on OK when you've found it and selected it. This step will repair both WIN.INI and REG.DAT, making them "agree" so that double-clicks and the CMPQwk association functions will perform predictably. Note: If you don't have File Manager (or are running Windows 4.x) the highlighted words above will not launch File Manager, they will generate an error message. Harmless, but annoying.

View ANSI - lets you view a message with special ANSI codes so it appears in color, and with the graphics allowable when using ANSI. Press ESC to close the ANSI viewer.

Forward - brings up a dialogue that allows you to forward a message to another user. With a Read window as the "focus" window, if you press F or select this menu item, the program will insert some text into the message telling the recipient that the message was originally to somebody else and forwarded to them by you. You may forward to any conference in your current packet.

Please make sure what you forward isn't "off-topic" if you select a different conference for the forwarded message. Forward will make a copy of the message and place it into your Replies conference for packing into the REP file. You may alter the stamped message that's put on the forwarded mail, it appears in an editable text entry box in the dialogue.

 If you want to add a comment to the forwarded message, click in the box that shows the automatically-generated forward message (at the bottom of the forward dialogue) and scroll down to put the cursor below the text CMPQwk generates. Type in what you want to add to the forwarded message (about 250 characters), and then click on OK when you're finished to forward the message. Keep the comment as brief as possible, of course.


  folder menu

 View and Maintain Folders Dialogue

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about how the folder dialogue is laid out.

 Folder management buttons

Add - adds a new folder item (where you can store messages). You can use long names and have as many folders as you'd like (see Advanced folder tips for details). Folders may contains up to 16,000 messages.

Edit - lets you change the name of the currently marked folder.

Delete selected folder - deletes the selected folder (and all the messages you may have stored there, so be careful!).  Important!  You cannot undo this!

 Message management buttons

View - reads the selected message in the current folder.

Print - prints the currently-selected message to the default Windows printer.

Copy / Move - lets you copy or move the selected message to another folder.

Note: from the folder Read window you may copy the selected message to the clipboard for pasting into your current mail packet---great for sysops who have dozens of "canned messages" and for sharing important messages with others (see Add Current Message, below).

Delete selected message - deletes the selected message in the current folder.  Important!  You cannot undo this.

 Preview window buttons

Copy to clipboard - this function works one of two ways. If you click it without highlighting text in the preview window, it will mark the entire message for you and then copy it to the Windows clipboard. If you highlight some text first, it will only copy to the clipboard the parts you marked.

Close - exit when you're through.

Add current message - brings up a dialogue box for adding the contents of the current Read window into a folder.  It won't copy a Write window, only an "original message."  Pick the folder into which you'd like to put the message and select OK.  If you haven't created a folder already, you can do so from this dialogue and then put the current message directly into the new folder.

 Database operations

Pack folder database - use this every now and then to reclaim space in your folder database.  As you add and delete messages, the database will grow quite large unless you periodically compress and re-organize it. This function may take from one-half second to several minutes, depending on the size of your folder database file.

 Pack your folder database more often and it will not take so long. The longer you wait, the more fragmented it becomes, and the longer it takes to pack!

Back up folders - use this every now and then to pack up a copy of your folder database into a DOS directory or path. Note that you can back up to a single floppy, however you cannot span floppy disks. So if your compressed folder files will fit on a single floppy (most will) you can specify A:\ or B:\ as the destination and CMPQwk will pack up the folders into a single FOLDERS.ZIP file on the specified drive.

Restore folders - use this if you want to restore (overwriting) the folder database with a backup you have previously compressed with the program's Back up folder database menu item. Navigate with the file picker and locate the FOLDERS.ZIP file you previously stored, select it, and pick OK to overwrite your existing folder files. You will lose any changes you've made to your folders between the backup and the restore.

 Folder management tips

A few notes to avoid confusion are in order here.

 When inside the folders, pressing Enter while you've got a message highlighted will not "view" that message. It will close the folders. To view a message, highlight it and then click on the View selected message button. Enter in this dialogue always maps to the OK button (which closes it).

 The second thing is to look carefully at the buttons you click. Since delete can't be un-done (and you may have turned off confirmations) you can quickly---and mistakenly---smoke a message you want to keep if you're careless.

 If you use the keyboard hot keys (the underlined letter on each button) you will not find yourself accidentally deleting messages or folders you want to keep, so we suggest you do just that.


 window menu

Cascade - overrides any selections you've set up in the "define window positions" menu and cascades all the open windows down the screen, from left to right.

Tile - tiles all open windows with no regard for the text contained within them, they're simply packed onto the screen however they fit.

Arrange icons - lines up all the icon-sized windows along the bottom of the screen, from left to right.

(Active windows) - Once multiple windows have been opened, allows you to quickly select between them with the keyboard or mouse.


 help menu

Index - brings up this file at the table of contents page - from here you may pick the subject with which you require assistance.

Keyboard - a list of all keyboard shortcuts you can use.

Using help - how to use the Windows Help engine.

About - shows your registration information and the version of the program you're using. Will take you to a section of this file from which you may read registration information or print a registration form if you haven't registered your copy.

 If you've registered, it also shows your free system resources and a spiffy 3D bitmap. And there's an Easter egg here if you want to look for it. It's on the About box, and is one single keystroke to bring up the egg. I'll never tell what it is.


 options index

This section is the most critical part of CMPQwk. If you foul up some of the settings here, you can cause the program to fail to operate normally, or worse, perhaps crash catastrophically. We attempt to trap common mistakes, but like any options section, we also want to let the user have some power.

Use care when changing the file and packer settings from the default settings. Most of the problems people encounter are created when a setting is changed in a way that prevents the program from accessing the drive it needs for its work directory, or when a value is set to one that does not exist (such as a non-existing work directory) or to a drive that cannot hold the files the program will send to it (such as a work directory set to a small RAM drive).

Failing to heed these warnings can cause the program to behave unpredictably. If in doubt, leave it at the default, it should work that way.

These warnings don't apply to things like screen colors or fonts, of course, although if you set the Read window to some non-terminal-style font you won't see your mail presented in a fashion you can easily read.


configuration index

 Configuration tips

  Basic configuration tips

 Program configuration

  General configuration tab

  Paths configuration tab

  Read configuration tab

  Filters configuration tab

  Replies configuration tab

  Taglines configuration tab

  Editor configuration tab

 Visual & sound options

  Fonts configuration tab

  Sound configuration tab


  basic configuration tips

There are a few things you should remember when setting CMPQwk's options. I'll list off the most important items here.

  Don't set the work directory to a RAM disk unless the amount of memory in your system is sufficient to create a RAM disk large enough to hold three times the size of your largest packet. If you download one megabyte packets, you'll need a three megabyte RAM disk. Remember if you use a RAM disk and pick Quick exit, then crash (or re-start) your system, you'll lose all of your replies.

  Choose short, sweet sound samples for the "personal mail" and "new conference" sound events. You'll get mighty sick of the Star Wars title theme after twenty messages or so if you assign that to your "personal mail" sound. If you pick a long sound and flip through mail you'll clip off the sound as the next message appears. This will create a "staccato" effect that is quite unpleasant unless you're a rap musician. The sound panel will let you set "conflicting" sounds (for maximum flexibility) so use good judgement overall to avoid having your sounds cut off.

  Don't set up a RAM disk if you have less than eight megabytes of memory. Your system will actually get slower (not faster). CMPQwk has a healthy appetite for memory, it has to track lots of information, so the more you free up for it, the faster it runs.

  If you use a laptop with an LCD screen, choose the black and white toolbar.

  Remember if you set all of the program's windows to be "maximized" you'll effectively defeat the MDI nature of the program. You'll also get confused as to what's open and what's not open, so if this happens, use the Window menu to locate what you want to find.

  Don't set QWK management to both rename and keep packets longer than 25 days. Why not? How many letters in the alphabet?

  If you have a very slow system, turn off text effects in the Read window, it will speed the program up. Disable the toolbar and status line, too, both of those use extra CPU cycles to run.

  If in doubt, leave it set at the default. This includes the work directory, which is best set to be directly under the \CMPQWK directory.


  general configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional  dialogue help file and read more about the General configuration tab.

 Miscellaneous options

File open dialogue on load - if you'd like to have the program automatically present you with the File open dialogue when it starts (you're going to have to get at it unless you double-clicked a QWK anyway) check this box. When enabled, after the program has loaded, if you didn't Quick Exit from a packet or experience an abnormal program termination, it will pull up a list of the QWK files for you in the File Open dialogue. Pick one and click on "Open" to read your mail.

Default setting: disabled.

Display confirmation messages - if you check this, the program will display dialogues like, "Spell check finished," and it will confirm QWK file deletes or other file operations. Unchecked, the program performs the function silently. Un-check with caution, the program will immediately perform the action you select (including deleting QWKs and closing packets). A "power user" feature. Use the program for a few weeks before trying this unchecked. Even our seasoned beta testers find themselves with an occasional surprise with this disabled.

Default setting: enabled.

Use filenames - you can tell the program by un-checking this that you want to see your mail presented in long-description format only. Un-checking this (it's checked by default) will force the program to show you your QWK and REP files by the name of the source BBS. It's a nice way to shield yourself from the ugly 8.3 DOS file naming convention.

The long name won't appear unless you've opened a packet, but if you have a packet from a system you've never called before, you'll still see the DOS name (until you open it, from then on CMPQwk knows its long name and will use that if Use filenames is unchecked).

Most folks do mail from the same systems repeatedly, and we think it's nicer to open mail from The Patchbay BBS by picking its name rather than selecting PATCHBAY.QWK. It has no other effect on the program's functions (like exporting text files, etc.). You disable this item if you want to see only the long description.

Default setting: enabled, or show DOS filenames as well as descriptions..

Display splash bitmap - disables the display of the bitmap when the program loads (the nifty little 3-D box I spent lots of time on, but go ahead and turn it off if you get tired of it).

Default setting: enabled.

Display status bar - enables the display of the status bar at the bottom of the display. If you want to reclaim some screen real estate (and we suggest VGA users do this) remove the bar and you'll get two or so lines for more text.

  Note: turning this off doesn't affect the Write window status bar, that bar is hard-coded into the Write window (due to the fact it shows important header information) and you cannot disable it.

Default setting: enabled.

Rebuild indexes on load - tells the program to rebuild QWK file NDX components before reading in the QWK's contents. This will add a heartbeat to the amount of time it takes to open a packet, however it will usually fix badly-prepared packets from defective mail doors.

We suggest, if you have ever gotten a runtime error from a system's QWK where the packet caused the program to crash immediately after the Conference List appeared (or after the unpacker finished and you did not get a NO CONTROL DAT message), that you enable this feature and leave it enabled.

Default setting: disabled.

BBS welcome on packet open - if you leave this enabled, when you open a packet CMPQwk will automatically load the ANSI welcome screen provided by the BBS into the ANSI viewer. You can then use the right hand mouse button menu on the viewer to look through the other ANSI files in the packet. If you do not want to automatically view the ANSI components of the packet, uncheck this. Note that if you have set your ANSI viewer to an external program, you won't be able to view much more than the welcome and session screens. Of course you've got to be downloading these ANSI files from the system, too, if you do not have your door toggled to send them, this function won't do anything at all.

Default setting: enabled.

Use long conference names - if you leave this checked, on those QWK files created by a door that provides a long conference name, CMPQwk will display this long name in the message header and Conference list. This will adversely affect the formatting of the Conference list, however, since CMPQwk can't align the varying length names along nice smooth columns. So if this bothers you, uncheck this to use the short names, which are all the same length.

Default setting: enabled.

 ANSI viewer options

Use external ANSI viewer - checking this disables the color, internal ANSI viewer and allows you to load a color-stripped version of the text in the BBS-supplied ANSI screens (such as new files lists) into the program of your choice. If you enable this, you must then fill in a path to the program you want to use as your substitute ANSI viewer.

There are many utilities suitable for this, and if you download QWK packets with very large new files lists, be sure the program you use can handle a large text file. Notepad will be suitable for most folks, but if it doesn't work take a look at Gator Edit, our spiffy text editor for Windows, or use CMPView, listed below, which comes free with CMPQwk 1.4.

Default setting: disabled.

External viewer - type in the path to the program you want to use to view "stripped" or "colorless" ANSI text supplied by the BBS and packed into your packet. You can also pick it using the button to the right of the path text entry box. The program must exist for you to view ANSI screens. If in doubt, try NOTEPAD.EXE, the default. It will work for most new files listings unless they are into the hundreds of files. In that event, pick a more capable editor.

In versions 1.4 and later you may also select the CMPQwk external viewer, a very capable file browser provided with CMPQwk Reader. There's a button marked Select CMPQwk's External Viewer, and if you click that, the program will fill in the path and filename to it. (You may also create an icon for the viewer and use it as a stand-alone program.) Please see the viewer's help file for further information regarding its operation.

 Note: if you use an external viewer you will not be able to use the right hand mouse button "go to next bulletin" menu items, nor will you be able to use the arrow keys (right and left) to cycle through the bulletins. This may or may not be a drawback, it depends on what you're doing with those screens. Anyway, I thought you'd like to know. When I refer to the "ANSI viewer" in this file, I mean the internal color ANSI viewer, not any external program you might elect to use.

Default setting: NOTEPAD.EXE.

 Toolbar options

Toolbar - you may select which toolbar you'd like the program to display, overriding (or accepting) the default which is based on your screen resolution. Your options are: DEFAULT, VGA (smaller buttons), SVGA (large buttons), DEREK'S (large, with some different functions) MONOCHROME, small VGA buttons for laptop users, or NONE to disable the toolbar in the event you want to conserve screen real estate and memory If you run a low-memory machine, consider disabling it. CMPQwk will load much faster and will use less memory, possibly making your use of it more pleasurable. It will also run a bit more quickly, CPU overhead relating to the toolbar isn't incurred when it's disabled..

The default is---surprise!---the default.

 Folder options

Folder Options - external viewer - you can tell the Folder Tools to load the text of your stored messages into an external viewer when you elect to view them. CMPView, the fine file-viewing utility we ship with our reader works nicely, and is the default if you turn this on. (For help using CMPView, load CMPView's help file.)

You can set this option to any program you want, as long as the program accepts filenames passed to it and can read plain ASCII.

Default setting: disabled (use internal viewer).

 Window options

Start CMPQwk maximized - tells CMPQwk to start in full screen mode. It will take over the Windows desktop if you enable this, blocking the view of all other running applications.

Default setting: enabled.

Use default MDI - this tells CMPQwk not to try to track window placements. This is the "default" setting, and the behavior of CMPQwk's windows when this option is enabled is exactly like Sysedit or any other MDI application. No positions are tracked, and the window placement is set by the user for each window in which he or she is working. Subsequent windows will appear in the "default" Windows MDI pattern, maximized if other windows are maximized, and so forth.

Default setting: enabled.

Remember Read, Conf, & QML window positions - tells CMPQwk to set the program's windows to the positions you've used in your most recent session. If you enable this option, every time you close the last instance of a window "flavor" CMPQwk will adjust the stored position setting so it "remembers" it. Therefore, don't exit the program unless you've left the windows how you'd like them to appear. The program blindly remembers what you do, and there's no "going back" to the prior settings if you mangle them.

  if you don't pay attention, move the windows a lot, then close the program, if the last copy of a window type is not where you want it to appear, you will mess up your settings. CMPQwk does not write the "selected" window positions to disk until you exit the program. Therefore, if you change your window positions but somehow manage to crash the program, they will not be updated. This is how other programs perform this function, too, it only makes sense. So remember when you close a window of a certain type, if it's the last window of that type to be closed, and you're going to close the program, that's how the next window of that type will open in the next session. It's easy to forget this and foul things up with a careless (or unintentional) exit from the program.

If you keep things tidy, this will not be an issue for you, but if you're slapping those windows around all day and then close the program, you might be surprised at their position next session. CMPQwk will remember if you "maximize" a window, but if you load a "sized" window of the top of it, you will size all windows beneath it. That's just how MDI works.

Default setting: disabled.

Start all windows maximized - this tells CMPQwk to load every window "full screen," taking over the application workspace. VGA only users will probably want to try this method. You can only pick one type of window control method, and if you do this, the positions of windows you "size" will not be remembered. MDI is an "all or nothing" affair. Either you maximize windows or size them, but you cannot do both (MDI doesn't allow this). If you run at less than 800 x 600, try this option, it will give you maximum real estate for larger fonts, and you can use the Window menu to switch between program windows.

Default setting: disabled.


Power user?

Well, is anybody really sure what a power user is?

It seems to me a power user is somebody that knows more than you do. It also seems that a power user is somebody who is so at home with his or her PC (yep, there are lots of female power users, I know a few) that how it works is just second-nature. You may be a power user with the software you have now, however I bet if I dropped a complicated piece of computer software in your lap with no manual (and it was something you'd never touched before) you'd quickly degenerate---just like the rest of us---into a "regular" user.

So the rule here is to leave confirmations on until you know exactly what will happen when you press a key. If you can roll off---by memory---what every keystroke does in every window, you can feel safe turning confirmations off. Quickly, what does S do in the Read window? How about J, P, or Z? Did you get them all correct? (Check the keyboard shortcut section.) If not, leave the confirmations on.

Or...you could turn them off and lose all your mail by deleting that QWK you just downloaded---because you didn't know DEL in the File Open dialogue smoked files instantly... So help yourself. But don't yammer to us if you turn them off and then close a packet with un-saved replies! We warned you first.


path options tab
  paths configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the Paths configuration tab.

This tab represents some of the most critical settings in the program. If you foul any of these up, the program may not open your QWK files or may not correctly pack your REP files. So please pay close attention to the settings here.

 Set program paths

QWK path - Set the path to the directory where you keep your QWK files (drive and directory name). If you click the button with three periods on it to the right of the box, you may pick from the directories on your hard disk. Selecting OK will then use the "current" path in the program's function. This applies to all program paths where you see that button.

Default setting: CMPQwk home directory.

REP path - Set the path to the directory where you want your REP packets built (drive and directory). Type in a path or select one with the mouse by clicking on the button to the right of the path list box.

Default setting: CMPQwk home directory.

Work path - This is where you want CMPQwk to put its "work" files. A directory called "WORK" will be created here, you don't need to supply the name, just the drive you'd like to use. A RAM disk is best, if you have the extra memory to set one up---but be sure it's large enough to hold the opened QWK packet and all your replies. See the Advanced section if you're not sure how to do this (and how to determine how large it must be).

 Important! DO NOT set this to a floppy disk! A floppy is too slow and may not contain sufficient free space, resulting in who knows what horrible problems. Use a hard disk or (if you're feeling brave and have a very stable system) a RAM disk.

A drive and directory of the target name (if you want CMPQwk to put its work directory under another) MUST exist. Don't put any files you want to keep into the work directory while you're reading mail, because they'll be deleted when you exit the program.

 Important! If you put the work directory on a RAM disk, choose Quick Exit, and then re-boot your system, Quick Exit will not be able to resume your packet, and you will lose ALL of your replies. We strongly suggest that you DO NOT use a RAM disk. Take this advice to heart, for maximum reliability, a hard disk is always better and usually will not run out of space.

You can pick a path with the directory picker, then click on OK to set that as the path where CMPQwk will create the directory [drive:]\[path].\work when it needs it during the course of normal operations. CMPQwk.creates and destroys this directory many times if you open and close packets, so make sure if you're using a network drive (not a good idea if you can avoid it) that you have directory create and directory delete rights on that drive. If you don't the program will fail and you will get "NO CONTROL.DAT" messages.

Default setting: under the CMPQwk home directory.

Import path - This is where you can set a path for imported text files, in the event you'd like to keep them someplace other than the home directory. This is where the program will look first when you pick "import text" from a right mouse button menu in a Write window. Of course, you can navigate anywhere on your system that you'd like. To set a default, though, just pick a directory with the "directory picker" button.

Default setting: CMPQwk home directory.

Export path - This is where you can set a path for exported text files, in the event you'd like to keep them someplace other than the home directory. This is where the program will default to putting any text file you export from a message. You can select an alternate directory, however, at the time of export---but this will be the "first" directory shown in the file list. To set a default export directory, pick a directory with the "directory picker" button.

Default setting: CMPQwk home directory.

Append to export file - when you export a message, do you want to overwrite your default export text file, or append to it (stacking up one message after another)? Select Append here if you want one large export file, or overwrite if you do not want one file or you don't care if the default export process "bashes" prior files. Generally we suggest you leave this off and select a discrete file name each time you export.

Default setting: enabled.

 Packers / unpackers

Here is where you tell the program what the BBS uses to pack the QWK archive. Most systems use PKZip of some type, and that's the default. There are other packers, though, and we support most of the common ones as external programs. See Packer considerations. If you have a Windows program that can unpack your QWK, and it takes command lines, you can enable that here as an external or "other" packer. The possible archiver selections are listed below.

Internal (Zip 2.x comp) - fast and PKZip/PKUnzip 2.x compatible. To get 1.x compatible zipping with CMPQwk 1.4 see internal compression options below.

LHA/LHA - LHARC is a freeware archive utility by Yoshi, and you must already have it on your system and it must be in your path like all external packers.

ARJ/ARJ - a shareware product by Robert K. Jung, same path restrictions apply here, too.

PKUnzip/PKZip - by Phil Katz, this option is provided in the event he changes the Zip standard. If this happens, until we release a replacement unpacker DLL, you could use this method. Otherwise, use Internal. This program, like all external archivers, will require you to load a DOS shell to use.

Other - For any other archiver you want to use (or if you need special options with a standard packer), you must enter the correct commands in a second dialogue that will appear when you click on the ... button. Be sure to type in %1 %2 after you've typed in the parameters your packer needs, or your mail will not be unpacked, and your replies will not be packed (if you manage to open mail at all).

Both lines, unpacker and packer, need the %1 %2 variables. Let's say you're using ZAPPO.EXE to compress and UNZAPPO.EXE to de-compress. Your unpacker line would be: UNZAPPO.EXE %1 %2.  Your packer line (not surprisingly) would be ZAPPO.EXE %1 %2. When packing, the percent variables represent the archive file to create (or pack) including the file name and path, and the file(s) to pack into the file, respectively. When unpacking, %1 represents the source file (QWK) and %2 represents the destination path (your work directory).

Default setting: Internal, 2.x compatible.

 Internal Zip-compatible compression options

You can set the compression used in this section of the dialogue.

High (Zip 2.x) - this format is compatible with any system using PKZip 2.x to accept REP packets. It is the "tightest" format, and if you are uploading long-distance, or exceptionally-large REP files, you may want to enable this option to save a bit on the phone bill.

Medium (Zip 2.x) - this format is PKZip 2.x compatible, and is a good "median" setting because it's both tight and very brisk. You can't use this if you need to upload mail to a system that requires 1.1-compatible Zip format, though.

None (Zip 1.x) - REP files packed with this method will be accepted and processed by any system requiring any version of Zip file from 1.1x and later. It is also the fastest, and if you do very small REP files, or call a local BBS, you might want to enable it. It is the fastest of the options and all reliable unpackers can open this format.

Default setting: Medium, 2.x compatible.


Unpacker note

If you're currently using QWK files packed with any version of Phil Katz's PKZip that's 2.x compatible, pick internal as your packer selection unless you have a good reason not to. This way you won't start a DOS shell to run the packer.

The internal is quite a bit faster than the combination of a DOS shell plus the time the packer takes to work on the files. If you need 1.1 packing, you can set the internal packer to create "zero compression" packets (see Internal unzip options). Every 1.1 unpacker we tested was able to open packets made in this fashion, which is the same as the -e0 option for DOS PKZip.


 read configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the Read configuration tab.

 Default sort

Message number (ascending) - sorts the message by the message number assigned to it by the QWK door. This is the fastest sorting method, but will break up a "thread."

Thread (by subject, date, and time) - the most logical method (and also slightly slower than the others because it sorts on multiple fields in the message header). This one will keep "conversations" or "threads" intact as long as their subject fields in the message header match. It sorts in order of the first message (by date and time) that has a certain subject in the header, then the next one chronologically, and so on.

Message to - sorts only on the name in the To: field in the header. If you're looking for messages to a certain person, this is a quick way to locate them. Alphabetical sorting from A to Z, or say, from Adams to Zifferman.

Message from - the same sorting as in message to only it is applied to the From: field in the header.

Default: Message number.

 Read window options

Default sort - sort messages by various means. You can choose from Message number (ascending order), Thread (sorts by subject, date, and then time), Message to field in the header, and Message from field. Thread is the most practical, because it keeps "conversations" that may be spread across days together in a single stream.

Default setting: message number..

Automatically open the quick message list - the program will automatically open the Message List Window if you enable it here. Most folks navigate large packets using the Quick message list, and rather than making you press "I" every time you loaded a QWK packet, we thought you might like it to just "appear" with the rest of the windows.

Default setting: enabled.

Notify you when you're about to re-read a conference - CMPQwk will notify you if you're about to re-read a conference you've already read. Otherwise it will just load that conference silently.

Default setting: disabled.

Read your replies when you are scanning through a packet - if you check this, CMPQwk will jump from your personal mail into the stored replies, allowing you to scan through them before continuing on to other public mail.

Default setting: disabled.

Auto load viewer for ANSI messages - when this is enabled, CMPQwk will automatically load the ANSI viewer if it comes across a message with [ANSIART] on the first line.

Default setting: enabled.

Switch to/from - swaps the positions on the message header fields from From/To to To/From---a matter of personal preference.

Default setting: disabled.

Read window follows the Quick Message List - by default this is "off." It allows you to quickly scan through messages using the QML without waiting for the Read window to update. To view the message under the cursor in the QML, press Enter. That message will be displayed in the Read window. This unlinking is especially handy when grazing Internet packets that commonly have huge messages that may take a few seconds to draw. It's impossible to "flip through" those packets by reading the QML unless you unlink it here. Try it linked first (the default) and if it seems sluggish, un-link it and see how you like having to press Enter to read the message. If the extra step doesn't bother you, (or bothers you less than the delay displaying long messages) leave it unlinked.

Default setting: enabled.

Skip personal mail outside of personal conference - If you'd like to suppress the display of your personal mail in the conferences outside of your personal conference, enable this option. Most folks read their personal mail in the personal conference, and it's not really necessary to show these messages in their "original" conferences, too.

Default setting: disabled.

Hide Internet header - commonly Internet messages can have reams of information in the header, and most of the time this information is pretty boring. It is usually routing information and other stuff that is not anything you will want to read. If you want to automatically suppress this text and begin the message at the actual beginning of the message, enable this option. It really makes reading Internet mail a lot more pleasurable to graze. Note that when you click on the window to copy,

Default setting: enabled.

Track read windows - this option prevents you from opening too many Read windows (prior versions of the program would let you carelessly double-click on a conference until you've opened so many windows you crashed the program). Leave this option enabled if you navigate using the mouse and double-clicking on the Conference list, it will prevent you from running out of memory and getting a runtime error. If you read mail in an orderly fashion using the arrow keys, you can safely disable this option.

Default setting: enabled.

Enable PCBoard @X codes - this option enables or disables the program's automatic display of special color codes in the Read window display. If a message contains PCBoard @X color codes, CMPQwk will attempt to display them as the author intended. Only color codes are supported, not the special @USERNAME and so on, as they're not usually applicable to messages. The program will set the background of the Read window to black and the font color to whatever is specified by the @X code found. If you find this disconcerting (coming across a black-background window), then you should disable this option.

Default setting: enabled.

Display subject first in QML - if you like to see the subject of the message displayed on the left side of the QML, you must enable that here. This has no other effect on the QML behavior except to set the "format" of the QML.

Default setting: disabled.


 filters configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the Filters configuration tab.

 This feature works differently than 1.40's filters. In 1.40 you would still see the twitted messages in the QML (although you could not read them). Version 1.42 suppresses the display of any twitted mail in the QML and the Read window.

Edit twit lists - you can assign user names and words to three filter lists. That means if a user's name (assuming it's spelled correctly) is in a message header, and you've entered that name in the To and From skip list boxes, you won't see any mail to or from that user. You can put a user in just one box (say you don't like a user but like to see retorts sent to him, you'd skip mail FROM him but not mail TO him).

Enter the user name by clicking on the ADD button below the respective list to which you want to add. If you've made a mistake, highlight the user name and click the DELETE button. You can have as many people in your twit list as you want, there is no hard-coded limit.

There is also a Subject Twit list, "Skip messages about."  If you type in the appropriate key word (like TAXES, for example) you won't see any messages with TAXES in the message header subject field, even if they're sent to you directly. (You will receive these messages from the BBS, but they will not appear when you browse through the conferences in the QWK file.) Partial matches will filter out all incidences of the example.

For example, if you put BOB in the skip from user name, you will not get mail from anybody named BOB, and that includes BOB SMITH, BOB WILSON, and so on. All "Bob" names will be filtered.

Twitted mail will not appear in the Quick Message list. If all mail in a conference contains a twitted user or subject, that conference will appear to be empty, and you'll get a message telling you the conference has been skipped when you try to open it.

Default setting: all fields blank.


 replies configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the Replies configuration tab.

 Options

Re-open REP files - tells CMPQwk to re-open any replies related to the packet you want to open---important if you do mail in multiple sessions you will want to re-open the rep file so you can add to it during the second session with the same QWK file.

Default setting: enabled.

Split msgs - forces the program to split long messages that might be too long for some systems to handle.  If you write unusually large messages, enabling this will prevent problems with your host system.  Wildcat! 3.x (and earlier) have a 150-line limit for messages. Should you upload a message longer than that, it will not get correctly accepted into the system or posted. If in doubt, enable it, it doesn't hurt anything.

Default setting: disabled.

Spell check - enables automatic loading of the built-in spell-checker so it can scan your replies for spelling errors.  Spell-checking will begin when you save the message if you enable this option. You can select that process from the message menu if you don't want it to be automatic.

Default setting: disabled.

Quote original - duplicate the original message and place it into the editor before you begin replying (and insert "quote marks" before the message text). It will appear as the initials of the original author followed by the quoting character or characters you've selected, followed by the quoted text.

Default setting: enabled.

Wrap quotes - enables "wrapping" of incoming quoted text. If you disable this, the program will truncate incoming text after 72 characters, possibly cutting off parts of the quoted material if the quote attribution characters cause the line to be longer than 72 characters. Quote-wrapping---while not always perfect---is usually preferable to truncation. Quote-wrapping is still a work in progress, it does not work perfectly all the time at this writing.

If you do mail with a lot of high ASCII graphics, it will usually get garbled when the program tries to wrap "nonsense" characters." In that event, truncation would preserve the format of the original message, even if a few characters were missing from the right hand side of the window, but for most folks, Quote-wrapping is a better alternative.

Default setting: enabled.

Raw quotes - If you uncheck this, CMPQwk will not strip formatting characters (such as PCBoard @X codes and * italics codes) or Internet headers from the incoming text of the message to which you are replying. There are two effects you want to take into account when changing this setting. The first is that if you do not strip quoting codes (that means leaving Raw quotes checked) the incoming message may force your outgoing message to display in a color or with another text attribute you do not want if the original author of the message to which you are replying used a formatting code.

For example, if the original author set a PCBoard @X code of black background with red text, then you reply (quoting his text) and his code is still there, your reply will appear black with red text to anybody reading this message if they use CMPQwk 1.42. If this is fine with you, then un-check this box and leave all codes in the quoted text.

The second thing to note is that if you do strip quoting codes (that means un-checking this), if you put in color codes and then re-edit your reply, the italics and PCBoard codes will be stripped-out, forcing you to re-do them all. So it's a toss up, here, folks. Decide which is the least bothersome to you (unintentional color and formatting or extra work when re-editing a reply) and either check the box for unintentional formatting or un-check it for extra work.

 Note: if you have this checked and also strip Internet header checked in the Read configuration tab, you will not see the Internet header when reading mail, but you will find it is inserted into the reply. That's because you told the program to do that. Raw means just that: exactly as from the BBS. You can't have one without the other!

Default setting: disabled.

Auto Internet - when you check this, the program will compare the length of the "to" string in the message header dialogue and if it's longer than 25 characters, the program will automatically add the contents of the string to the first line of the message, and begin the rest of the message down one line further, as is the convention with QWK doors able to send Internet mail.

The length of the "to" pick list field has been increased to accept longer, Internet addresses. The program will scan for the @ sign in the "to" field, and when it sees this (in every Internet address we've seen) it will assume that you want the to string placed on the first line and then do so.

If you put dbackus@patchbay.com in your "To" pick list, and then send a message "to" him on a system that's got an Internet gateway, the program will automatically know that you are sending Internet mail and it will act accordingly.

If you disable this feature, you can still respond to Internet gateway mail, however you will have to manually add the To: name@address on the first line of the message, and the program will not detect the @ character.

If you find a QWK gateway system that works differently, please tell us what's different about it and we'll see if we can support it. At this writing we do not support SOUP or other non-QWK formats---only QWK-to-UUCP gateways are supported, and only those that match the Wildcat! method of operation, which seems to be the standard now.

 If you create a message that's longer than the doorway allows, the To: name@address will be appended to all sections of the message. Prior versions required you to manually insert this string, 1.42 does it automatically.

Default setting: enabled.

 Quotes

1ST line quote prefix - sets the quoting style for the Reply window. Pick the characters you'd like to have used on the quoting line.  For example, %f%l> in the 1ST Line Quote Prefix box would result in a quote from a message by Derek Backus looking like: DB>. You can use any high ASCII character in this line, although traditionally the } sign is used on most BBSes. If you want to use a trailing space in this, you must use the %s character.

Default setting: %f%l>.

Other lines quote prefix - establishes the quoting style for every line following the first quoted line in a paragraph. The formatting rules are exactly the same. If you want all the quoted lines to appear the same, just set both boxes identically. If you want to use a trailing space in this, you must use the %s character.

Default setting: %f%l>.

 Message quote

Quote header - will enable a header that appears before any other material in the message. You can put in text, the original sender's name, who it's from, who the message is to, and so on. To have a header on a message originally from Derek Backus and sent to you that would appear like "Derek Backus said to (your name)" you'd put: %f %l said to %i %a in the Quote Header box. Be sure to include spaces where you want them (such as between first and last names). Just about any text can be put here, although on netmail, less is better.

Default setting: blank.

 Auto signature

Auto signature - enables the automatic "end of message" signature if you've placed one into the Signature Text box. You cannot enable this unless you put something into the signature box. This is handy because if you enable it, you won't have to type your name or insert a text file (like a lot of users do) into the tail of every message. CMPQwk will do that for you, correctly spacing it after the last paragraph, then inserting the tagline below.

Default setting: disabled.

Signature text - just like the Rubber Stamp Tool, you can place high ASCII or other text in here (up to 256 characters). If you've enabled Auto Signature, when you save your message CMPQwk will insert the text you've put into this window at the bottom of the message, above the tagline. Use the clipboard to get high ASCII into this box if you have a special "graphical" signature you use in mail. You can also have the time and date you wrote the message inserted into the signature line or lines by using the %d (date) and %t (time) variables.

To bring in a plain ASCII file click on the "Import text" button and navigate to the directory where this file exists. Pick it from the displayed files (sorted by suffix if you'd like) and click on OK. That file will be placed into the signature text box. You do not need to keep the source text file, as the program copies it to its own format.

Default setting: blank.

 Internet style & FIDO style

If you have a finnicky UUCP-to-QWK mail door, or (as is typically the case) a non-standard FIDO host, you can define the text string put on the first line of the message when routing Internet and FIDO mail. Some badly-programmed doors don't like the TO: to be in caps, others don't like them to be in lowercase, still others want one character one way, the other the other way. This feature allows you to baby-sit the door if you encounter problems with it. Change the string to the way the door wants it if you have a problem. UQWK is the biggest offender and makes packets with the most problems, its string must be To: and nothing else will work.

FIDO systems seem to vary from system-to-system, with no real standard in place. We asked five FIDO host systems to tell us how they route, and we got five different formats. So ask your host how it should look, and put the lead character you need in the FIDO box and you'll be all set.

Default setting: TO:  for Internet, @ for FIDO.


taglines configuration tab; managing your taglines
 taglines configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional  dialogue help file and read more about the Taglines configuration tab.

 The tagline tab or Tagline Manager, allows you to fully control practically as many tagline files as you'd like. Tagline files can be as large as you want (although we suggest you break them up into smaller files for speedy sorting and to conserve memory when editing them in CMPEdit). You may search through individual files for a bit of text if you like, too.

You can, if you like, create "new" or "blank" tagline files right from the manager, and use these new files to store future taglines you want to capture for your tagline collection. Just define a tagline file that doesn't already exist, and CMPQwk will know you want to start a new file. It will assign a filename if you do not enter one.

Tagline style - you may view the format of your tagline here. The tagline format editor will let you use several lines (we suggest you keep it to two or less).

Change - this loads the tagline format editor. You can alter the tagline format in this box, including using multiple lines, adding high ASCII (on nets that allow it, FIDO does not, so use the * character there).

Tagline format editor - this dialogue gives you the ability to use the entire line for your tagline, which means you could have a tagline up to 72 characters across on most systems. If you leave off the %t character you'll have no tagline at all. The program requires you to put in the CMPQwk %v %r at minimum, this is to prevent piracy. If you want to have the full line for your tagline, drop the block and the %t character down onto their own line below the product stamp.

You can get creative if you like (and if your net allows) but you cannot put more than 256 characters into the tagline format box including the required CMPQwk %v %r (12 characters total). So you've got 254 left to use, many more than any reasonable person will ever need. The default style will work fine for most folks, so we suggest you let it alone unless you have a pressing need to fiddle with it.

 Note: If you wish to disable taglines, we suggest you do so in the message header and not by leaving off the %t.

 You should also always remember to include, on the line directly above the line that has the %t, the --- or "tearline" character. It's helpful, also, to preface your tagline with the "block" character that is the default, some programs use it to detect the tagline. If you do FIDO mail, you'll need to use an asterisk (shift+8) instead, FIDO doesn't allow the high ASCII character in taglines. If you don't include both items, other programs will have trouble stealing your taglines, most of them use the tearline to "navigate," and others use the block character.

Load Character map - this button will load the Character map utility that ships with Windows. You can use it to put into the clipboard any high ASCII character. Once you've copied the character you want to use into the clipboard, click in the Tagline editor box and press SHIFT+INSERT to put that character (or characters) into the tagline. Do not change the font displayed by Character map when it comes up, the font is the one you should use for proper code page display based on your system. If you change it, you may end up with unpredictable results. (You can change it to anything you want outside of CMPQwk, but don't change it here and then expect the character you select to "match" anything other than the font CMPQwk sets it to when it loads it.

Default tagline file - this box displays the "current" tagline file in use. It shows your long description, not the DOS filename.

Tagline files - this box shows all of the currently-enabled taglines in your database. If you have more than can be seen in the window, you may scroll through the sorted list using the elevator bar. To editor change the descriptions you'll need to highlight a tagline file and use the button to the right of this box.

Database - here are the tools to manage your tagline database

Add - allows you to pick a DOS text file and use it as a tagline. The filename can be anything you'd like (it doesn't have to be *.TXT). If you want to create a new empty tagline file, type in a name here and CMPQwk will create a new file ready for you to insert taglines into.

If you select this option and do not type in a DOS file name, CMPQwk will assign a random number as the name of the tagline file it creates. Since you don't have to concern yourself with the DOS part of it, really, it doesn't matter which way you do it. Type in a name if you want to know the name, if you don't care, type in the long description and click on OK to let CMPQwk decide what to name it.

Edit - opens up the selected tagline description in the database editor. You can type in a long description (or pick another file to be represented by the same long description) here. Click on OK when you're finished editing the information for that tagline entry.

Remove - removes the selected tagline from the database---but it does not delete the DOS file.

Taglines - here are the tools to manage your tagline files directly. They must be pre-existing tagline files consisting of plain DOS ASCII text, one tagline per line in the file. To create a new file, launch CMPEdit or another text editor, then assign the text file you create to a long description here.

Sort - sorts the highlighted tagline file, and in the process removes duplicate taglines. Tagline files are sorted from 1 to (infinity) and from A to Z, or ascending sort.

Edit - opens up the highlighted tagline file in your tagline editor, CMPEdit in most cases.

Set default - sets a highlighted tagline file as your "current" file, or the one from which CMPQwk will pick taglines during a session. You can change this any time you'd like from the message header dialogue (for that session only). The program returns to the default set here when you close the reader.


editor configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the Editor configuration tab.

 Reply editor

Tab size - you can set the size of the TAB character in spaces here. The Write window editor defaults to 8 spaces, some people like more or less, set it how you want. The program will adjust for this when you close the configuration tab.

Default setting: 8 spaces.

Tab type - you can choose from one of several types of TAB types, each with its own advantages.

Fixed tabs - this is a "dumb" TAB that always jumps the same number of spaces (set in the TAB size box, above). It has no "set" place on the page, you can view this more or less as a "jump X spaces" function.

Real tabs - these are the TABs like you see on a typewriter. Visualize a ruler running across your page, with the ruler incremented in spaces (not inches). When you set a TAB size in the box above, you in effect make "marks" every X spaces across the page. The default is 8 spaces, which means if you type out four spaces and then hit the TAB, you will only jump 4 spaces, because you've already move out four spaces toward the TAB mark. Most people who learned to type on a typewriter prefer this type of TAB format.

Smart tabs - this type of TAB is the most powerful, it allows you to define how you'd like the TAB to perform simply by hitting the spacebar. For example, let's say you want to type a column of single words fifteen spaces out from the margin. On the first line, hit the spacebar fifteen times. Type the first word, press RETURN, then hit the TAB---and you'll find yourself already lined up with the left edge of that first word, ready to type the next. This style of TAB has no real "pre-set" size, you can define the position of the next TAB "on the fly," just by hitting the space bar, typing, pressing RETURN, and so forth. Extremely powerful. Power-users will want to leave it at this setting, which is the one we prefer most.

Default setting: fixed.

Editor right margin - If you need a smaller or larger right margin in your Write window you can set that here. Leave it at the default unless the system you call requires less than 72 characters.

Default setting: 72 characters.

Wrap right margin - this is the setting for the "manual wrap" features on the Edit menu. Logically, it should be equal to (or less than) the Editor right margin.

Default setting: 72 characters.

 Text conversions

Text conversions - If you are using a non-U.S. codepage or character set, you can enable the correct display of foreign characters like the umlauted vowel or the accented letters used in French and other languages if you enable the correct conversion protocol. The options are below.

Convert ANSI to OEM - converts Windows-style ANSI sets to OEM (DOS) sets.

Convert OEM to ANSI - converts DOS-style character sets to Windows ANSI character sets.

Do not convert - display the character set using the default process (Windows normal display method). No swapping of the character sets takes place. This replicates the way CMPQwk's earlier versions displayed (sometimes incorrectly) foreign code page sets.

Default setting: do not convert.


  fonts configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the Fonts configuration tab.

 Your options here have expanded quite a bit from previous versions.

You can select from most available Windows fonts as well as chose different fonts for both the Read, Write, QML and Conference List windows. Remember that not all fonts support high ASCII, so if you select one that does not, you won't be able to correctly interpret any such characters that are in the message. There are advantages and disadvantages in using fonts that are not fixed pitch, being that the probable destination of a message will be someone using a DOS-based mail reader using a fixed-pitch ROM font.

The character set a DOS reader will be using might be different from a "non-standard" or Terminal font. So if you pick any font other than Terminal or MS Line Draw (the preferred font for most cases) and then use characters from the new font's high ASCII set, don't expect other folks to get the same characters as you unless they, too, are using the exact same font.

The Write window, Conference list, and QML can only use fixed-pitch fonts, the Read window can use any font on your system.

 Font tips

I need to mention a few things in order to avoid confusion here. People get confused and think because they're using a Windows application, that fancy fonts will somehow be "attached" to the message, or that they're even appropriate for use in the Read window.

Well, they won't and they're not. What we're doing when we do QWK mail is read what was originally designed to be a terminal screen, and a terminal screen is the plainest of ASCII. Arial is not an appropriate font, nor does it even make good sense to use---it will mangle high ASCII drawings and otherwise make a mess of the formatting in the Read window.

Not only that, but because the "underlying" plain text window will always be in whatever font you've set for your Write window (which must use a fixed font), if you pick a silly font like Arial or Times New Roman or something that is variable pitch, when you click on a window to copy it (or even click it accidentally), the window will shift about as it puts in the correct font, which is fixed-pitch.

We suggest you get the MS Line Draw font and use it. It works well as a terminal font, and if you assign it to your Write window and your Read window, you'll not only see all your ASCII pretty much as the author intended, but when you click on a window, it will not jump around on you, which is a disconcerting effect in any case.

This shifting is not a bug, so please don't report it as such. It's the result of having to deal with having to have a silly option (the use of variable pitch fonts) in the Read window in an application that should only allow fixed-pitch fonts. To get around the inappropriate nature of variable fonts, we've had to create two windows for every window (one real, one baloney with Arial or whatever True Type font you might want to show).

By the way, research has proven that not only are fixed pitch fonts faster-scrolling, but they are much easier to read during long episodes of mail grazing. Use what you want, but remember that using anything other than a terminal type font is reading mail in a format that it was not designed to use, and what you see is absolutely not what you'll get!

Want to see an example?

My high ASCII signature is shown in a pop-up bitmap as it appears in Arial and as it appears in a correct font, MS Line Draw. Click here to see it. The next illustration is a sample drawing from a comical message I sent when Bill Gates announced he was going to put Windows, "...everywhere, including in your kitchen!" You'll see why we feel using variable-pitch fonts like Arial is a real mistake when reading QWK mail.

 Other fonts

Set font options for the Quick Message List, Conference List, ANSI window and Write window. Drop down the pick list to choose a font for the window shown in the list. The currently displayed window name is the one to which you will be applying fonts you select. Pick them one-by-one and set each how you would like it to appear.

 Note: if you find your ANSI window shows up with A's with umlauts or other characters over them, change the font used by the ANSI window to your Terminal style font. That should fix the problem. Terminal is always the preferred font for the ANSI window, since ANSI is a protocol meant for terminal screens, and Terminal is---surprise!---a font meant for...that's right, you guessed it...terminal screens!

Sample - shows the currently selected window's font setting.

Set all to match sample - if you like the font and want the QML, Conference, ANSI, and Write window to match, clicking this button will set all of them to the displayed font. A fast way to clean up a mangled font selection in the program, really.

Select font - opens a font selection common dialogue where you can choose a font and see it displayed in the sample window. Generally you'll want to pick fixed-pitch fonts like MS Line Draw as they usually contain the full character set for ANSI graphics.

 Read window

Font options for Read windows.

Header font - select the font used in the message header. You can pick a smaller font to conserve screen real estate, such as the Borland TE font (very small) or the "Small fonts" that some systems have installed. You can select the font color, too, in the drop down on the left of this dialogue.

 Note: if after picking a header font you feel the fonts are too closely spaced on top of one other, or the descending strokes on fonts like y, g, and j are "clipped off" you should see the CMPQWK.INI editing section and change the FontSpacing= variable.

Header background - select a color that contrasts with the color of the main body of the message to clearly separate the two from each other. Inverted (black with white fonts) looks good on most systems, and clearly defines the header from the body of the message. See the Bkgrnd color section below for some warnings about selecting font colors (including a popup showing this problem).

Message font - select the font displayed in the body of the Read window. Again, we suggest MS Line Draw as the best choice for both style and character set.  You set this from the font picker dialogue, too. Select the color you want "normal" text to be shown in by using the drop-down color picker on the bottom left of the dialogue box.

Quote color - select the color you'd like to see quoted material be displayed in. It will probably be different from the color you picked in the Message font selection dialogue.

Bkgrnd color - you can set the color of the Read window background to one different from your default Windows system-wide color. When you select a color make sure you look in the box on the color dialogue marked color/solid, because Windows will use the color marked "solid." Windows can't dither a text edit window. If you don't pay attention to this, you may end up with unexpected color settings. To see a sample of this dialogue (with instructions drawn on it) click on sample.

 Note: to copy text from a Read window into the Windows clipboard click on it once with the left mouse button, that forces the window to change to a " plain text" window. The plain text window will display in whatever colors you have other Windows text windows set to use, it will not appear in the colors you've selected for the "colorized" window.

Enable italics and underline - you can enable our unique function where CMPQwk changes the common BBS conventions of *word* and _word_ to word and (underlined word). Due to the way help files work we can't show you underlines, but a word entered as _word_ will appear in a text-effects-enabled window as an underlined word. It will slow down the window a bit, but it also makes mail more fun to read.

Default font setting: OEM Fixed font specified in SYSTEM.INI (Usually Terminal).

Default colors: black text and white background for all.


 sound configuration tab

  Click this button to load the optional dialogue help file and read more about the Sound configuration tab.

 You can use this tab to send sound events for CMPQwk's internal functions, enable and disable the sound functions in the program (and the help) and enable the use of voice announcements (if you've procured the optional Sound upgrade files).

Enable Sound - enables the program to use sound in internal events, and also enables or disables the use of sound in the on-line help file. If you want the program to shut up---to make no sounds---then leave this unchecked.

Default setting: disabled.

Stop system for sound - if you check this, you will prevent possible conflicts when rapid-fire multiple program events happen too quickly for the sounds you have selected to play through. This will slow the program down so that the sounds you select will be played, and then the next function will be performed, rather than sending the sound command to the system and immediately continuing. This will also take total control of your system, possibly causing problems with background file downloads, and so forth. Enable this only if you are really nuts about sound, like long sound samples, and don't do background file transfers while you write mail.

Default setting: disabled.

Voice announcements - enables the use of voice comments on how many personal messages you have. This option will not be available unless you've downloaded the current sound file Zip for the voice option (or procured the program on floppy disk, the sound files are included in that event), and correctly installed it in the \CMPQWK\SOUND directory. It will not work in any other location, and you can't use any sound files except those named exactly how they are named in the CMPSOUND.ZIP (or other Zip files that will be created by us for this purpose).

 Note: You must not enable any system utility like Wired for Sound, Plug-in for Program Manager, or Whoop it Up! that watches for dialogue boxes, windows, etc. or they will interfere with CMPQwk's use of sound. If you can exclude a program from your sound utility, we suggest you exclude CMPQWK.EXE. On some systems it seems to work fine, on others these utilities cause our program (and others) to perform erratically or not at all.

Default setting: disabled.

Sound configuration panel - use this panel to set the sounds the program will use when performing internal events. You must have enabled sound (above), and you must, of course, have some WAV files handy. CMPQwk ships with a few small WAV files used by the on-line help, those are a nice start. Pretty much everybody with a sound board these days has a WAV library.

Sound actions - the listbox on the left shows all possible events to which you can assign WAV files. When you perform those actions, CMPQwk will play the WAV file you have associated with that function.

Files - the listbox on the right displays a list of WAV files in the current directory. You can navigate using this list box as you would in the Windows Control Panel system sound applet.  You can use sounds for different functions that are located in varying directories.

 How to assign a sound to an event

  To assign a sound, click once on an event. For example, select "Personal message."

  Click the mouse in the Files box on the right, and navigate until you've found a directory where there are WAV files.

  To assocate a file with an action click the left mouse button once on that file.

  To hear the WAV file you're going to associate with that event, double-click the file's name.

  To assign sounds to other events, repeat this process until you're satisfied, then click OK or press Enter to exit from the Sound options tab and close the configuration panel. If you're going to change other settings, choose the appropriate tab and click on OK once you're through with all adjustments.

Your changes (all of them) will be saved and used immediately in the current session.

Default setting: no default sounds, prior sounds in earlier versions need to be re-established.


   advanced information index

These sections will not be required reading unless you want to delve very deeply into how the program works. One of CMPQwk's design goals was that you not have to do this.

However in the real world, we all know you sometimes need to fix things that break, so we provide these sections so you can optimize the program, understand how it works, and better deal with the interactions of software and hardware.


advanced info index

 Functionality

  System requirements

  How to make the most out of the program

  Packer considerations

 Advanced use

  Auto signature

  For VGA users

  Tips for SVGA users

  Tips for high-color & high end video

 Troubleshooting

  Problems with colored fonts

  Inaccurate window placements?

  Big netmail packets

  Long Internet messages

 Upgrades

  Upgrading from an unsupported mail reader

  Upgrading from an earlier version of CMPQwk

 Terms

  Index of terms used


 system requirements

The rule of thumb to remember here is that if Windows runs poorly, so will anything you run under Windows.  That includes, but is not limited to, CMPQwk.

 Windows Version

CMPQwk. will not work correctly with Windows 3.0 or earlier versions. It runs fine under Windows NT 3.x and Windows 4.0 Beta 1, both of which were used during beta testing. We directly support Windows NT and Windows 4.x or "Windows '95" as Uncle Bill calls it now.

  Disk space

The program takes about four megabytes, plus the small files it will put in the directory it creates under itself to track your messages. If you have huge tagline, subject, and to-list files, you'll need more space. If you've downloaded and installed the sound files for the UseVoice= option, you'll need another 600K, and the DIALOG.HLP file (optional) is about one megabyte, so the total will come close to six megabytes, plus the size of your folder files, if you use folders.

 Memory and CPU

Minimum memory requirements will vary, but it's safe to say that if Windows runs slowly on your system because you don't have much memory, CMPQwk will run slowly, too. A 386 25mhz machine with four megabytes of memory is a good start. From there up, things will only get better. From there down, Windows will get intolerably slow for most folks, and CMPQwk will not function optimally. It will not operate at all unless you have about 2MB of free memory, and systems with 4MB can usually muster that much.

CMPQwk uses about 800 Kbytes of memory when a packet isn't opened. When you spell-check your replies you'll load the spelling dictionary, and that takes an additional 600K which it uses until you close the program. With a large packet open (thousands of messages) the program may use more than 2 megabytes of RAM during spell-checking and normal operations. Under extreme circumstances with a huge packet, heavy spell-checking (and the addition of dozens of "skip-alls" to the memory stack) the program's memory requirements may exceed two megabytes.

If you feel the program "slowing down" after heavy use, you probably do not have sufficient memory to use all of the bells and whistles. Remember, a 4MB system is the suggested minimum, which means the program will run, but it is far from "optimum." You could be using half (or more than half) of your system's memory on such a system.

Optimum for the program is 8MB, which we feel is also the sweet spot for Windows in general. CMPQwk (and Windows itself) will really fly on systems with 16MB or more, and you will never see the disk-swapping or "slowdowns" you see with 4MB systems.

We suggest users with 4MB systems disable spell-checking to conserve memory, and they might also want to turn off the toolbar and status bar, that will save a bit of memory as well. If you're curious why the program needs so much memory, remember that it is capable of reading extremely large packets, and has to "prepare" for this situation whether or not you are going to do so. Also, while reading mail, parts of the packet are loaded into RAM for maximum speed when navigating, and this will consume more memory the larger the packet.

 Ram Disk minimums/maximums

Figure twice the size of your QWK packet plus one-half of that for replies to be safe. More if other applications will need temporary space. Remember, if you use a RAM disk for your work directory, pick Quick Exit, and crash your system somehow, you'll lose all of your replies!

 Laptop without a mouse

You'll want to have a mouse. If you're using Windows and you don't have a mouse, for example on a laptop, there are "mouse substitute" programs like NoMouse™ from Abacus. Some of the things you'll want to do (such as setting window positions) are a real pain without a mouse. A mouse (or something like one) is required for version 1.42 for certain functions (such as the configuration tabs). You cannot operate the configuration tabs without a mouse or mouse subsiture. Most folks using Windows have the little rodents, but some don't. Your best bet: get one if you can do so.

 "Other" operating systems

Because we cannot test them, we will not warranty the correct operation of CMPQwk if you run it under anything other than Windows 3.1 or 3.11 running on top of Microsoft DOS 5 or 6, Windows 4.x, or Windows NT 3.x. We do not directly support OS/2 2.x or other non-Microsoft operating environments. This is not because we have anything against them, but because we cannot test them or afford to set up special machines for this purpose.

See the legal disclaimers section for more information on this.


How much the program will take when a packet is opened depends on the size of the packet. A QWK file with thousands of messages in each conference may require several megabytes once you've opened the List window and a batch of Read windows. CMPQwk allocates from the global pool as it needs memory. If you don't have enough contiguous memory to perform a certain function, that function may not operate properly, and the program may terminate abnormally.


  how to make the most out of the program

It should be obvious that if you have a marginal Windows system, you also have a marginal CMPQwk system. That means if you can barely run Windows (let's say you have a 386SX 16mhz with 2 megabytes of RAM and you like to torture yourself by trying to run Windows) then CMPQwk will be no fun at all. I'm not making a personal comment here about such a computer, I'm just stating a fact, and that fact is that Windows is ver slow on such a system. Windows can be slow on a fast 486!

If the slowness doesn't bother you then you'll probably be happy with our program, too. Only standard and enhanced mode are supported (which shouldn't be a problem, because Windows 3.1 only supports them).

You cannot run CMPQwk with Windows 3.0.

To make the most of this---and every Windows program---you should have at least some type of a 386 (so your PKZip windows don't have to go full screen, for example, if you need to use an external packer) and you'd be a lot happier with eight megabytes of RAM. If you're running something less, it just won't be as enjoyable as on a more powerful system, and in some cases you will not even be able to open a moderately-large QWK file.

CMPQwk is compiled with the code optimized for a 386, also, and will not function correctly (if at all) on a 286 system. In the case of systems with only two megabytes of RAM, you just won't have enough memory to make things work.

If you have a "minimalist" system (4MB of RAM), stick with the internal PKZip compatible unpacker and packer. The internal archiver won't cause you to load a DOS session, and that might speed things up.

Since CMPQwk is a multiple-document interface program, the more screen real estate you feed it, the better it looks. It is "optimized" for use on a full SVGA/8514 resolution system. It looks "best" at 1024 x 768 (or higher) but is certainly usable at lesser resolutions.

If you run in VGA try it full screen first, and arrange the windows so that your Read and Write windows appear on top of each other. That way you get the maximum size in which to do the body of your work---reading and writing. Stuff the Quick message list and Conference windows where they fit or ignore them---you can spacebar through mail and thus you won't need them most of the time. If you still feel you don't have enough space, set the General configuration tab option for running all windows maximized.


If you're low on memory, try running CMPQwk by itself, with just Program Manager and no other software running. That will speed up things. CMPQwk needs about 700K of RAM before opening a packet, and another 600K when you spell-check. If you disable spell-checking on low-memory systems, you'll probably speed things up, too.


 packer considerations

If you want to use an external packer, be sure that it can be called from a directory in your path. If you're not sure what your path is, it's the list of directories that DOS has been told to look into when a program is "called" and the program can't be found in the "current" directory.

Open a DOS window, change to the directory where you put CMPQwk, and type the name of the program you want to use. Let's use the fine archiver ARJ as an example. From a DOS window inside the C:\CMPQWK directory type "ARJ" with nothing after it. If DOS gives you the message "bad command or file name" then ARJ isn't in your path.

Either edit the path statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so the directory where ARJ lives is listed, or copy the ARJ.EXE file from where you're keeping it into the CMPQwk directory. Either procedure will work fine.  The first just saves a bit of disk space and makes better sense technically, but will require you to close Windows and re-boot your system before it takes effect.

If all of this confuses you, best to crack that DOS manual for a refresher course.

And of course be sure that you and the BBS to which you're sending mail are using the same packer!

If you're not sure (for example older versions of the Major BBS insist that you use the old 1.1-compatible Zip, and many folks don't know this), make a test REP packet using the internal 2.x packing. If, when you upload it to the door, you get a message such as, "Invalid replies," or "corrupt REP," re-open the reply file (File, Re-open REP), and while it's open, change your packer setting to the old 1.1-compatible format.

Close the packet, and try re-uploading it. If it works, that system requires 1.1-compatible packing. That also means you cannot attach files to messages sent to that system, because the 1.1-compatible packer isn't up to that task.

If you're not sure (or don't want to ask the sysop) try this before you do mail in earnest.


rubber stamps and auto signature
 auto signature

One of the drudgeries associated with heavy mail is, for many users, inserting a signature or other file into every message. Sometimes a corporate ID number must be inserted into mail, other times a "power user" just wants to have a distinctive signature with high ASCII. We've taken such users to heart with the Auto Signature feature.

This feature is similar to the Rubber stamp feature, the main difference is that the signature is used in every message, and the rubber stamp is "selective." You can have as many stamps as you'd like, but only one signature.

 If you have a special ASCII signature file or other text item you want to appear in every message, open the Replies configuration tab and look for the Signature Text box.

 You can type in a signature or import a pre-existing text file by clicking the IMPORT button. Browse with the file picker that will appear (if you chose Import) until you find the text file you want to insert.

 Click on OK when you've highlighted the file.

 Once you've put something in the box, you can enable Auto Signature.

 From then on, the contents of the Signature Text box will be inserted at the end of your message (before the tagline) automatically when you save your message. There is a 256 character limit in the auto signature tool.

 You can modify the Signature text at will and the changes will be reflected the next time you create and save a message. Restarting the program is not necessary.


  for VGA users

VGA (16-color 640 x 480) users should run the program maximized (full-screen) and use the terminal font that ships with Windows. At that resolution, it's just not practical to run in a smaller window. If you try it, you'll have to choose a font size so small you'll need an electron microscope to read your mail.

Try setting the positions of the Read and Write windows so they take up most of CMPQwk's workspace, with one stacked on top of the other. That way you can use a larger font, and generally you don't read mail while you're writing replies. The Conference list will fit, somewhat truncated, to the right of those windows in most cases (depending on the font you use).

Play around a bit and find a font that's comfortable for you and maximizes the screen real estate.

We also suggest that all of our users download and install the updated True Type MS Line Draw font, as it's a fully scaleable fixed-pitch font with a correct set of line-drawing characters. You can get this from any of our support sites, CompuServe, or the Microsoft BBS in the file GC0651.EXE. Expand it into TTF form and use the Control Panel font applett to install it. If you do not know how to install a font in Windows, consult your Windows 3.1, NT, or Windows 4.x documentation.

MS Line Draw works well in all resolutions, and will let you pick a size that can be used in less-than-full-screen even on VGA systems (as long as you can read fine print).

If you find you need even more space, you can disable the status line and the toolbar (see the General configuration tab and CMPQWK.INI editing). That will create a bit more screen space for you, enough for several lines in the QML or a line or two in the Read window, depending on what font you use.

As a last resort, set Start all windows maximized in the General configuration tab (click it above to jump to that section of the help). This more or less defeats the purpose of MDI, but it might make reading your mail a bit easier on low-resolution systems.


  tips for SVGA users

There's sufficient screen real estate at 800 x 600 and above to run the program in a window that's less than full screen. You can also fool around with some other fonts that are available, such as those that come with Procomm Plus for Windows© by Datastorm Technologies Incorporated.

We also suggest that all of our users download and install the updated True Type MS Line Draw font, as it's a fully scaleable fixed-pitch font with a correct set of line-drawing characters. You can get this from our support sites, CompuServe, or the Microsoft BBS in the file GC0651.EXE. Expand it into TTF form and use the Control Panel font applett to install it. It works well in all resolutions, and will let you pick a size that can be used in less-than-full-screen even on VGA systems (as long as you can read fine print).  For SVGA systems it is a bit thin for some folks, but this is outweighed by the scalability.

If you use Procomm Plus for Windows 1.x, you can install the fonts it ships with into your system and use one of them.  These fonts are only available when Procomm is running unless you install them manually. They're the PWKEYMAP.FON and PWTRMNL.FON files located in the Procomm directory. Also the 8514OEM fonts that ship with Windows work nicely (in addition to MS Line Draw).

To use the Procomm fonts (or any of these):

 Start Control Panel, double-click on the FONT applett, then click on ADD, and point it at your Procomm directory (or the directory where you expanded CG0651.EXE), you'll see the fonts listed there.

 Install them both and test them at different point sizes by opening a mail packet, then selecting "Font" from the Options menu.

 Look for "PC Plus" (or MS Line Draw) in the available font names.

Procomm Plus 2.x did not ship with this font, although a replacement font that is similar is available from them via CompuServe and other support sites.

The Read window will reflect whatever font you select once you've clicked OK. The PC Plus SS or MS Line Draw at 9 or 10 points is a good size for 1024 x 768 resolutions. If you don't use Procomm Plus for Windows, or don't want to call one of our support systems (or CIS, etc.) and download the MS Line Draw font, pick the Terminal font that ships with Windows, it's the best choice, and it will display the high ASCII characters correctly on all systems.

If you arrange your window positions so the Read and Write windows appear on top of each other filling about two-thirds of the application workspace, put the Conference List to the right in a narrow column, and the QML window along the bottom in a narrow strip, you'll find the results generally pleasing.

Remember to check remember window positions in the General configuration tab.


 tips for high color & high-end video

Scrolling speed with some high-color drivers and frame-buffer video boards (non-accelerated products) is quite slow. This is a problem with the driver and not with CMPQwk. Products that use a graphics accelerator chip will normally scroll well, in some cases too quickly.

The colors in the highlight color palette may not appear the same in different color-depths on all systems.  This is a function of how the Windows 3.1 palette-manager works, not a bug. Also your colors may not appear the same if you change color palette depth between uses of the program. Some video board drivers will use somewhat different colors in the same palette positions when they operate at varying color depths.

You'll get the best appearance with an Ultra board if you "unlock" the palette and use the standard VGA 256 color setting. See the next section for more on this.

 Known bugs

There are known (and nasty) bugs with the (8/94 and 9/94) Trident high color board video drivers that cause GPFs and other erratic behavior with Corel Draw, CMPQwk, and about a dozen other applications. This is the fault of the buggy Trident driver, not with Corel, CMPQwk, or the other applications. They had not issued a stable driver at the time this file was prepared (9/94).

There are known bugs with several early versions of the Diamond Viper video board when running in high-color modes. It may cause the Read window to GPF or may cause other problems such as "vanishing" windows. This is the fault of the video driver and not CMPQwk 1.42. Contact Diamond for an updated driver, perhaps they'll fix some of the bugs that made it into the released version.


  problems with colored fonts

Some graphics boards (such as ATI and Matrox boards) can "fix" or "lock" the Windows palette, display higher-than normal colors, or change the amount of available colors on the fly. If you set your Read window color highlighting a certain way and then change the available color depth---or lock the Windows palette as this and other cards can do---you might find the colors won't appear as you set them. You'll have to re-set them for the current session.

In some cases, high-color drivers will incorrectly report the number of available colors to software, or they'll report a number the software doesn't understand, and so the color palette might not appear correctly.

The only work-around for these problems is to pick your colors for each session if, when you originally set colors, you were using a different color-depth driver.

 Known bugs

Some boards (like the Trident high-color boards and the Viper) have drivers that are so buggy, the Read window or the Font configuration tabGPFs. This is a problem with their driver and not CMPQwk.


 inaccurate window placements?

If you set window places in one resolution, they may or may not appear the same relative to the application workspace in a different resolution. This isn't a bug, it's a function of how your screen driver describes screen sizes to a running application.

In a related problem, some 800 x 600 SVGA drivers do a poor job when set to large DPI fonts (the video driver's install program or its INF file doesn't set DPI correctly). This can cause CMPQwk and other programs that depend on accurate DPI reporting to save window places with poor accuracy or not at all.  It may also cause some programs, including CMPQwk, to display fonts incorrectly.

 If you experience this problem, Ken Smith (a user on RIME) has reported that it will go away (Windows setup will correctly update the DPI setting) if you change video modes and always tell it to use a "new" driver from a floppy.  Setup reads the INF file and corrects the mis-aligned setting.

However...if the INF file was created with a faulty setting (some cheaper boards like the Trident and Oak boards have exhibited this problem) there is no way around it except to manually edit the INF file and try different DPI settings. I don't suggest inexperienced users attempt this.

If you know how to do this, then go ahead and try it. If not, leave it alone and contact your video board's technical support department. Other programs are affected by incorrect DPI as well as CMPQwk.

To set CMPQwk to remember windows places, check the Remember window positions box in the General configuration tab.


 big netmail packets

If you routinely download and read huge netmail packets (thousands of messages) and you want to use a RAM disk to speed up the mail reader's operation, be sure you have sufficient space on the RAM disk to hold the size of the uncompressed packet (probably twice its compressed figure) and at least half as much in addition to contain replies.

If your QWK file is one megabyte, you'll need a 2.5 megabyte RAM disk to be safe, and three would probably be better if you're likely to run other programs that create temp files.

Should you get a huge mail packet that causes CMPQwk to act strangely, we want to hear about it.  It's been tested up to and beyond 12,000 messages and worked flawlessly. The actual limit for messages is 16,000 messages per conference and 64,000 conferences.

And by the way, that's not messages numbered up to 16,000, that's 16,000 messages in each conference. My calculator tells me that's 1,224,000,000 messages.

In English: one billion messages.

Don't plan on trying to read a packet like that unless you have a very fast modem and a few hundred megabytes of RAM to play around in, too. Realistically, of course, there will never be such a packet (and as a 16-bit application, the largest QWK we could read would be 16MB anyway).

If by some fluke you call the largest BBS in the galaxy and get a QWK with more than 64,000 active conferences, the program will fail to read your incoming packet and will probably crash. We feel that 64,000 active conferences is more than adequate.

Note: your ability to open and read through a packet this large will also be affected by how much memory you have on your system. If you're running low, it will be hard to read packets of this magnitude, and it may not be possible at all, depending on packet size and your total free RAM. Setting a permanent Windows swapfile may help if you run out of memory while reading monster QWK mail packets. See your Windows manual about how to do this. In fact, I'd suggest this for Windows in general, it speeds up DOS sessions, too. Click on Control Panel to run it right now and set up a swapfile.

So if you need more than 64,000 conferences, we're sorry, CMPQwk will not work for you. (And where are you getting these packets with more than that? No BBS in the world we could find had much more than 7,000 conferences!)


 long Internet messages

 CMPQwk 1.42 now handles larger Internet-type messages more gracefully than previous version. But there are still some limits to what it can display, and these limits are something we inherited from Windows itself (believe me when I say we would love to get around them in an elegant fashion).

The Read window is limited to about 1,000 lines---however this limit is a flexible one, and it's affected by the font metrics of the Read window. Basically, the limit reflects the 32,000 pixels that can be displayed in the graphical window itself. What this means is that you can perhaps display well over 2,000 lines---if you choose a smaller font.

If you come across a message that is too large to display (at 1024 x 768 using the MS Line Draw font set to 12 points you'll hit this limit at 1,800 lines) you have a couple of options.

  Choose a smaller font (say 10 point) and then see if the message will re-display in its entirety. If it does not, see the next suggestion.

  Export the message to a text file and then view it in CMPEdit or Gator Edit or another utility designed to view extremely large text files.

  Export the message directly to CMPView (or whatever external folder viewer you've set, if you've set one) with the right mouse button item, "Export to CMPView."

Since BBS mail usually is limited to 999 lines (or 64K) or less, you will not run into this problem unless you are doing mail with programs like UQWK that will let you make "illegal" QWK packets. The QWK standard doesn't really care how large the message is, but the BBS database standard (around which CMPQwk is based) limits message length to 150 lines on many systems, and 999 on some of the newer releases of BBS software.

Because the program was not initially designed to read "non-standard" oversize mail, we've had to work around this bloating UseNet message problem. Those UNIX folks are just spoiled by all that disk space, I guess, they seem to quote 100% of the preceding message, and then stack ten more pages more after it. This creates the large messages. (That and UUEncoding, a common practice that is unfortunately invading normal BBS mail, further bloating the message database).


 upgrading from an unsupported mail reader

Two of the most popular mail readers (Rosemail and OLX) are directly supported when it comes to copying certain parts of their configurations. There are others out there, and it may be possible for you, by doing a few things on your own, to get your new mail reader quickly into the shape you'd like to have it.

 Taglines

If your mail reader keeps its taglines in a plain ASCII file, you can just copy it into the CMPQwk directory (renaming it in the process) as TAGLINES.CMP. If your mail reader keeps taglines in some other format, you'll have to manually add them into CMPQwk's tagline data file using the tagline editor built into CMPQwk, or with some other plain ASCII text editor (like Notepad or Qedit).

The taglines should have one tag per line and no other extraneous formatting characters. Other formats may cause unpredictable results, so we don't recommend you experiment if you're not sure what ASCII is. TAGLINES.CMP is the "default" file the Tagline Manager will use when looking for a tagline file. You can use any file you'd like as the default by assigning it to be the default using the Tagline tab.

 To Lists

The same rule as taglines applies: plain ASCII can be copied into the mail reader's directory as WHOTO.CMP. The same as taglines applies except use one name per line.

 Subject Lists

Yep. You guessed it: SUBJECT.CMP.

  Twit Lists

You already know the answer, I bet. SKIPTO.CMP and SKIPFROM.CMP

 Canned Messages

If you've got a huge database of canned messages you send often (like support professionals or sysops) the best way to get them into the CMPQwk Folder tools is to use your old mail reader to e-mail them to yourself (flagged private) on a system where the sysop won't mind, and where you've got the mail door set to send your own mail, then put them into storage via CMPQwk's Add Current Message to folder menu item.

This will be a lot faster than the clipboard, retyping, or anything else I can think of.

After you've done this, you can tell the mail door to stop sending you your own mail.

You can also export them to text files, create a new reply, import each file into an individual message, and then save those messages. Re-open the REPLIES conference, and tag all of the messages to go into folder storage.


 upgrading an earlier CMPQwk version

This is usually a very simple procedure. We designed the program to be "upgrade friendly." In most cases you will do the following:

  Completely back up your system. Yes, that's correct. If for some unknown reason SETUP crashes, you may lose your prior installation. So back it up before continuing, if you haven't already done so.

  Procure either the Zip file or a floppy from a support site or via mail.

  If a floppy install, put the floppy into the applicable drive and run SETUP.EXE.

  If a zip file install, unpack it to a temporary directory---do not unpack it directly into the \CMPQWK directory! You may render your old installation inoperable or cause error messages! Run SETUP.EXE from a temporary directory ONLY.

  You must install the upgrade into the same directory as your prior release if you want to keep your path and other settings. The program will inherit those, and make default settings for new features. If you install into another directory your prior version will no longer work. You can only have one CMPQWK.INI file in your \WINDOWS directory.

  If you install into another directory, your new copy of CMPQwk will NOT be listed as being registered if your old one was. You must re-enter those numbers we sent you. Now where were those...

  Setup will process your existing install, clean up old obsolete files, and install the new ones. It will offer to make a program group and icons for you. Let it do so, there may be changed programs or other changes in the new version that must be set up correctly.

  You will need to manually delete any obsolete icons in the original program group.

  The first time you run any upgrade, immediately enter the Options menu and check to see that all of your settings are correct. They may be altered in the course of the install, or they might have to be altered to insure that the new installation will operate normally initially.

  If you are upgrading but still have your old DOS reader on your system, don't let SETUP copy over the tagline and other files (tell it not to upgrade you from the DOS reader). You will lose your CMPQwk taglines and pick lists if you let it copy the files from the DOS reader.

  Once you've established that the settings are correct, enjoy the new version. If you encounter problems with an upgrade, contact us for technical support.


 index of terms used

If you didn't understand a term used in this help file, it's probably in this list. If it's not, there's always a dictionary...

ANSI: American National Standards Institute. In this case, it refers to the colored graphics that a BBS that supports ANSI can display. Usually there will be ANSI graphics in the BB system's "new files" or "welcome" display under the Packet, New Files and Welcome selections, for example.

ASCII: in this context it refers to a "plain" text file, or a file that has no special formatting characters, and thus can be read by most any software that can open "text" files. The tagline file CMPQwk uses is plain ASCII.

Application Workspace: the space inside a Multiple Document Interface application where it places its various windows. These windows are called Child Windows. Child Windows that CMPQwk uses are the Conference List, Read, Write, and Quick message list.

Button Bar: a row of buttons with function labels on them. CMPQwk has a button bar on the Write window, and it can be used to tell the program what functions (like saving a reply) to perform. Some people think they're faster than menus or simple keyboard combinations. It's a matter of taste.

Dialogue Box: a box containing instructions, pick lists, or buttons that give you the options to set program runtime parameters, pick files to open, or define other variables that affect the way a program runs.  If you select Help and then About, CMPQwk will show you an "About" dialogue box, with an OK button to close that box,  for example.

Frame Buffer Video Board: the basic type of graphics board where there is no hardware acceleration (such as an S3 chip) present and the system's CPU is called on to draw all the elements on the screen. Some of these boards will, with the use of a high-color DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) chip, allow you to set your color depth beyond 256 colors. However, in such high-color modes, text scrolling is often unacceptably slow.

Multiple Document Interface: a standard by which a Windows application can open multiple windows "inside" itself. This means it can edit (or do various functions) while holding different text or information inside other windows, but it needn't load multiple copies of itself to do it.  Windows Notepad and Write are both "Single Document Interface" applications. If you want to edit or cut and paste between two Write files at once, you'll need to open two copies of Write. CMPQwk and Sysedit, for example, are both Multiple Document Interface applications, or MDI apps, for short. We consider messages documents (which they are) and you can have as many of those open as you'd like (memory permitting) using CMPQwk.

Off-line Mail: versus "on-line mail," which is mail you do while you are still connected to a host, or BBS system. Off-line mail you can do on your own system, using an off-line mail reader, and you don't need to be connected to a host system to do anything except upload it when you're through creating messages. See QWK Packet below for more.

QWK Packet: a file created by a BBS "Mail Door" that contains a specially-formatted and compressed collection of messages extracted from the BBS system's mail database. To open and read a QWK packet, you'll need some software called an Off-line Mail Reader. Our preferred choice for you to use is CMPQwk, of course.

RAM Disk or RAMDISK: a virtual "disk" created with software (RAMDRIVE.SYS ships with DOS) that happens to be much faster than a "real" or "physical" hard disk. If you have extra memory (say eight megabytes or more) setting up a RAM-based disk and using it as your work directory will speed CMPQwk's handling of the temporary files it needs when you do mail, and even save some wear and tear on your hard disk. If you crash your system while using a RAM disk, though, you will lose your replies, so be careful!

Shareware: a concept where eternally optimistic (some say naive) and enterprising programmers release their finished software products out into the world in the hopes that users who download and use them will see the justice in paying for them. Sometimes they "cripple" the software so it only works partially as intended, or they put in "pester screens" with pictures of VISA cards to make the users feel bad. The best approach is just to make the product so good that the user feels horrible about not paying for it. Shareware registrations approach four to ten percent of actual use, depending on who's giving the figure and the software package used. Of course we'd like to beat the odds...and only you can help us do that.

  Bring back the floating index!

SVGA: "Super VGA," or Super Video Graphics Adapter. Usually it means a display system (including video board and monitor) capable of displaying at resolutions and colors beyond IBM's old standard of 640 x 480 x 16. If your video subsystem can display resolutions greater than this and at higher colors, you've got SVGA.

Toolbar: usually a strip of buttons with colored or other graphics on them that, when pressed by the mouse, will perform a function that could involve multiple menu selections. Similar to a Button Bar, but a Button Bar only has text on the buttons, not bitmapped graphics.

VGA: Video Graphics Adapter, based on IBM's standard 640 x 480 x 16 and below. Sometimes extended to include that resolution at 256 colors, although technically that's Super VGA.


pester screen! - pester screen! - pester screen!

Gotcha!  This is a pester screen.

Please register the shareware that you use! We can't continue to create products like this unless people actually pay for them. Some folks think that it's "okay" to continue to use this product "forever." Well, here's a little reminder. CMPQwk knows how long you've been running it.

Remember that after 30 days, you're using our program in violation of our wishes (and copyright law) if you do not register it! If you keep using it, after the evaluation period is up it will delay loading for one second the first day, then two seconds the next day, and on and on. Eventually, it will not load at all unless you register it. There...I feel better now.

And don't act surprised, you knew something like this was going to appear before you clicked on pester screens!

Click the button below to return to your regularly-scheduled help file. Click either of the credit cards to get information on registering via plastic on one of our support systems.


 under the hood index

This sections covers some of the program's inner mechanics in detail. Most users will not need to read these sections, but they're here for you if you do want them. If you encounter a difficulty with the program, please read through these sections before contacting us for support, the help you need may already live right on your hard disk.


under the hood index

  CMPQWK INI editing for advanced users

  Troubleshooting tips

  Required files list

  Other considerations


 CMPQWK.INI editing for advanced users

Just like the old saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat," there are multiple ways to get things done in CMPQwk. Before we list off the various sections you can edit (and if we don't mention it here, it's probably a good idea to let that section be) we should mention two truths.

 Truth number one is to do all editing of CMPQWK.INI while the program is closed. Changing the INI file of a running application is hardly a good idea. So close it out, edit, and re-open the program. If you do otherwise, don't expect anything to work correctly later.

 The second truth is that "spelling counts." If the parameter is, let's say, PlayWavFile and you type in PlayWaveFile, not much is going to happen. Please pay attention to spelling. The program will give you a failing grade if you don't.

By the way, you can alter most (if not all) of these via regular dialogues. But some folks like to poke around, so we figured better to help them than let them screw up the program by poking unknowingly.

 Command line parameters

There is something that's related to the INI (and CFG) files that we added in 1.4, and there was no other logical section in which to put it but this one, so I put it in here.

Multiple configurations

CMPQwk 1.4 will allow you to have multiple CMPQWK.INI and CMPQWK.CFG files if you need that in order to effect "custom" configurations for different systems, video configurations, and so forth.

You must share folder files and tagline files. Other items of the configuration can be discrete, including signatures, rubber stamps, paths to  QWK and REP files, and so on. The parameters follow, with explanations on how to use them.

/I:[INI file path and file name]

This can be used to force a different CMPQWK.INI file path and file name for the program to use. You can copy CMPQWK.INI to, say, NEWCMP.INI, then load the program with the switch above and it will force it to use that INI file. If you make changes to the system's basic configuration (such as paths, packers, etc.) and then load it as:

CMPQWK.EXE /I:C:\WINDOWS\NEWCMP.INI

the program will use the configuration settings stored in that .INI file and not CMPQWK.INI. This command line works in tandem with the next one.

/C:[CFG path and file name]

You may use this to isolate the CFG files into discrete file names so that you can protect signatures, window placements, and rubber stamps. This would allow you to copy CMPQWK.CFG to  NEWCMP.CFG and then load the program with a discrete set of rubber stamps, window placements, and signature text.

These commands should be used in pairs for maximum control over the program, so your command line in the shell you use would be:

CMPQWK.EXE /I:C:\WINDOWS\NEWCMP.INI /C:C:\WINDOWS\NEWCMP.CFG

which would allow you to have two different configurations.  This may be handy for calling different systems that prefer you don't use taglines, or for a husband-and-wife team who want to have their own signatures, and so forth. Full path and filename are required if you specify these variables. You do not have to specify these variables, the program will "automatically" look for CMPQWK.CFG in the \CMPQWK directory and CMPQWK.INI in the \WINDOWS directory.

 INI File editing

What follows are sections of the INI file you can safely edit (or you might want to edit) to alter how the program works. Remember you will have to restart the program for any change to take effect (it shouldn't be running when you edit the file anyway). Click on the INI item you want to see a brief explanation of what it does.

AllMaximized=

BackgroundPacker=

CMPDir=d:\directory

CommSettings=, CommPort=, DownloadDir=

CompressionRatio=

Debug=

DisplaySubjectFirstOnQML=

DisplayWelcome=

ExternalEditor=

ExternalFolderViewer=

FIDOStyle=

FileOpenOnLoad=

FontSpacing=

HideInternetHeader=

HidePersonal=

IncludeHeaderOnExport=

InternetStyle=TO:

UseOldPacker=

EditorRightMargin=

ImportFromDir=, ExportToDir=

ManualWrapMargin=

ShowResourceInfo=

SplitLongMessages=

StripAnsi=

DoEffects=

LastDir=

LastExtractPath=

LastSearchString=

ListsMsgsOnOpen=

MsgWindowFollowsQML=

QwkPath=d:\directory

RawQuote=

RebuildIndexesOnLoad=

RemoveDeletedReplies=

RepPath=d:\directory

SearchBody=

SearchFrom=

SearchSubj=

SearchTo=

ShowBBSWelcome=

SortByThread=

SortOrder=0, 1, 2, 3

StartMaximized=

StopSystemForSounds=

StripAnsiViewer=

TabSize=

TrackReadWindows=

UseExternalEditor=

UseExternalFolderViewer=

UseFilenames=

UseLongConferenceNames=

UsePCBoardCodes=

UseSound=

UseStatusBar=

UseVoice=

UseWindowPos=

UsingNT=

WorkDir=d:\directory\

WrapText=

WriteAnsiToOem=

WriteOemToAnsi=

[Sounds]

Soundxxx=


FontSpacing=

If you feel the font in the Read window header is spaced too tightly vertically (for example, the bottoms of lower-case letters like y and j seem "clipped" because of the font you've chosen, close CMPQwk and edit this value. The default is 2, you can choose any number between 2 and 10. This value represents the number of pixels between the font rows. Most any "clipped" font will be fixed with a value of 4, values larger than that may space out the header to the point where it's too large and wastes screen real estate. Try 3 and if that doesn't work, try a slightly larger number. You must close CMPQwk before editing this value and you must not set the value beyond 10 or you may cause other problems with the window. Larger values will "work" but may cause undesired bleeding of the header window into other areas. There is no dialogue for setting this variable, because it is a one-time only fix for debugging purposes, and not designed to be frequently changed..


UsePCBoardCodes=[Yes/No]

If you want to be able to receive messages that contain PCBoard color codes (thus seeing the messages in the colors the authors intended) leave this set to the default, which is Yes. Check with your net moderators before you use these codes. Although only CMPQwk understands them at this writing, some nets frown on the use of any color codes in "regular" mail.


DisplaySubjectFirstOnQML=[Yes/No]

Most people want to graze mail by seeing what the mail is "about" before seeing who sent it. The default is for the QML to show the subject first, not the author. If you want to see the author's name first, then change this to No. This will change the way your folders are viewed, too, they follow this setting.


IncludeHeaderOnExport=[Yes/No]

Do you want to see the header information when you export a message to a plain ASCII file? If not (say you're exporting a UUEncoded file), then change this to No. Better set directly from the export dialogue, I think.


TabSize=[8]

Sets the number of spaces represented by the TAB key. Most folks will leave this at the default of 8 spaces, which is the PC "standard."


RawQuote=[Yes/No]

If you change this to No, CMPQwk will strip out all special formatting information and the Internet header text from the incoming quoted material when you do a reply. So if you want to retain italics and underline codes (as well as PCBoard color codes) set to Yes. If you want this text stripped from the incoming quoted material, set this to No.


FIDOStyle=[@]

This defines the character used in FIDO routing. It changes from system to system, there seems to be no standard at all for it from what I can see... The default is the @ character. Change it to whatever your sysop says is correct for her or her system when you need to do routed FIDO mail there.


ShowBBSWelcome=[Yes/No]

Do you want to browse the ANSI files first thing when you open a packet? If so, then set this to the default, or Yes. If you want to read mail then open the Packet menu, set this to No.


UseLongConferenceNames=[Yes/No]

This allows CMPQwk to display in the Conference menu the "long" conference names provided by some PCBoard doors. Not all systems provide the long names, but you can safely leave this set to Yes with no ill effects If the long name exists, CMPQwk will display it. If not, it will use the usual "short" names. A side effect is that the long names mess up the neat formatting of the Conference list. Nothing we can do about that, though.


AllMaximized=[Yes/No]

If you change this to Yes, CMPQwk will load all application windows "maximized," filling the application workspace. No window positions will be saved when this is set to Yes.


Soundxxx=[filename]

This section contains the names of the WAV files you've used when assigning system sounds for CMPQwk. There will be one listing for every supported event. It is easier to use the Sound configuration tab to set these than directly editing the INI file.


CMPDir=d:\directory

If you need to move the program to another directory you can change this line to the name of the new directory (and make sure any references to it elsewhere in the INI file and in Program Manger are changed, also).


WorkDir=d:\directory\

If you want to change the work directory to another drive or directory, changing this line will do so. The next time you start the program it will use the directory specified, so it must exist. If it does not, you will crash the unpacker (or the program) with an error.


QwkPath=d:\directory

It's easier to do so in the program's setup, but if you wish to select another path for the program to look for QWK files, changing this will have that effect. This directory must exist or you'll have some problems on program loading.


RepPath=d:\directory

Same as QwkPath.  Be sure the directory exists before you load the program, by the way.


StartMaximized=[Yes/No]

Just what you think it is: should the program load full screen or default windows size?


UseWindowPos=[No/Yes]

Should the program save window positions and re-start in the same places?


FileOpenOnLoad=[Yes/No]

Want the program to load the File/Open dialogue on start up? Want it to not load it? Specify that here.


SplitLongMessages=[No/Yes]

This line can be changed to "yes" in order to split messages that may be too long for some BBS systems.  The program defaults to "no" since very few people write messages beyond the limit. However, if you do, or if you paste in tons of text and go well over 100 lines, you may want to change this to "yes."


ListsMsgsOnOpen=[Yes/No]

This tells the program to load the Quick Message List window automatically on opening a packet. If you have personal mail, the list will be opened as well as a Read window. Most folks wanted the QML opened anyway. If you don't want it opened, change this to "no."


StripAnsi=[No/Yes]

This line works in concert with the following line. If you do not want to use the internal, colorized ANSI viewer, make sure this line reads Yes and make sure the following line points to a valid program that can read text.

Important!  If you do not point the program to a substitute viewer, you may experience problems if you try to view ANSI (like the new files listing).


StripAnsiViewer=NOTEPAD.EXE

This line defaults to Notepad, because everybody that gets Windows has Notepad. You can change it to any application that can be passed a file name and load. The program must be able to read ASCII (so a paint program wouldn't make sense, right?).

You can use anything you like here, but if it's not in the path, you must type in the path to it. For example, if you wanted to view your ANSI screens in Qedit, you could type in QEDIT.PIF---with one qualification.  Be sure the PIF file specifies a %1 variable. If you wanted to use another program that's in a directory not in the path, you'd type in: D:\DIRECTORY\PROGRAM.EXE.

Note that the program MUST be able to take filenames passed to it. Not all programs will accept a filename on load. A good programmer's editor will do the job nicely, and there are several Windows items such as our own Gator Edit. Take your pick. Of course Gator Edit is only $15 to register if you own CMPQwk.


ImportFromDir=, ExportToDir=

These two are related. You can now define the default directory where CMPQwk will look for text files to import.  You can also define the directory where it will automatically put exported text files. For those of you working with large volumes of imported and exported ASCII, this will help you manage that a bit better. You can set this through the Paths dialogue, as well.


UseSound=[No/Yes]

The line UseSound=Yes can be changed to "No" for those who do not have a sound card or who don't like things to make unusual noises like blasters or bird chirps or whatnot. This line also affects the help file shipped with CMPQwk, which is sound-enabled as well. If you do not want it to make sound, changing UseSound= to "no" will shut it up. Both the help file and program are affected by this setting.


ShowResourceInfo=[No/Yes]

If you want a running total of your resource use (system-wide) enable this feature and CMPQwk will put a resource meter on the reader's title bar, updating it at fixed intervals. This can be used to track the program's resource requirements if you suspect there may be something amiss, or to keep track of your system if you're concerned because of other programs running. It lists the percent of your system resources free (not used).

As you may or may not know, Windows is still limited by this, you have 128K of resource space and the lowest free heap (usually the GDI heap) is the value most limiting to your ability to load more programs.  If your resources drop much below 10 percent free, expect your software to begin acting strangely. This is different from memory, or "global memory" that Windows uses.

On some systems with some video drivers, it will cause a garbled display on the title bar if you maximize any of the application's child windows at the same time the resource meter is on. This is because Windows doesn't know how to wrap title text (it doesn't expect it to be that long) and so it just overwrites it, continuing on across the title bar with text that really should be wrapped.

If the path to your QWK file directory is long, and you maximize a QML window, for example, those two bits of text in addition to the program name will be much longer than a standard VGA title bar (or even 800 x 600) can handle, so it will get messed-up. If it does this, either "size" the windows or turn off the resource meter. We can't make Windows work any better, unfortunately


ManualWrapMargin=

This setting is used to adjust the right margin, if you do not want the default of 72 used, when you use the CTRL+B and CTRL+Q manual wrapping functions in the Write window. Set this to anything you want, but a value between 60 and 72 is the most logical setting. If you do mail on the Internet, 60 is probably the best.  Quoting strings can quickly build up and send the incoming material into the right margin. This gives the text a little breathing room.


EditorRightMargin=

This is the default right margin the Write window will use. It defaults to 72 characters, but you can bring it in if you like. A value between 60 and 72 is probably the best.


DisplayWelcome=[Yes/No]

You can change this to No if you want to stop the program from displaying the nifty "splash" bitmap it shows over its screen when it loads. The default is Yes.


UseOldPacker=[No/Yes]

Not used in the current release.


UseVoice=[No/Yes]

If you want to enable the voice capability that lets CMPQwk tell you, in a human voice, how many personal messages you have, change this from No to Yes. You must also have the sound files, which do not ship with the program (to save space). You can download those files from the support BBS systems.  They will be posted in the CMPQwk file area and plainly marked.  Both male and female voices are available. To use the sound files, create a directory underneath the CMPQwk home directory called SOUND. Unpack the sound files you wish to use into that directory. The next time you load the program, if you've enabled this option, it will tell you by voice how much mail you have. It's silly, but we think it's also fun.


DoEffects=[Yes/No]

This item enables CMPQwk's ability to translate properly-formatted incoming text into underlined text and italicized text. If you want to improve the scrolling speed of the Read window, disabling this feature, or changing this line to NO (done more easily with the Read window options tab) will significantly speed it up, perhaps by a factor of two.


UseFilenames=[Yes/No]

If you'd like to see files in the File/open dialogue presented to you by long description only (or short description for a packet you've never opened before) changing this from yes to no will tell the program to ignore DOS filenames. It makes file handling more "friendly" we think, and it's a way to get around DOS's ugly filename limits.


UseStatusBar=[Yes/No]

You can disable the gray status bar if you want to reclaim some screen real estate. This is handy on systems running at plain VGA resolution. It will not disable the Write window status bar, only the main program bar. The Write window bar isn't configurable, it is required to show the file attachment and private status of the outgoing message.


Debug=No

This indicates a special mode of the program, you will never need to alter this unless we tell you to do so. It is disabled on the public release, but may be enabled if we ask you to get a special build to look at a problem you're having.


WrapText=No

You will never need to change this, this function is reserved for internal use and testing. It is not used in the release.


UseExternalFolderViewer=[Yes/No]

If you want to define an external program to view your folders (such as Gator Edit or CMPEdit, this line must say YES. If it says no, no matter what you've entered in the path and program name for your external viewer, it will not get loaded (and fed messages to view).


ExternalFolderViewer=

If you've enabled UseExternalFolderViewer, then you must define here the path and program name of the viewer you want to use as your Folder Tools™ browser. This program and path must exist (we suggest you use the General configuration tab to set this), or you will get a DOS error when trying to load a stored message for viewing.


LastDir=

This defines the last dir you were in when using one of the program's directory pickers. Only one LastDir is stored, so any time you use the generic directory of file packer, that path gets stored here. The most common location will be that use for attaching files to a message. This is not affected by the text import/export functions, those are set in the General configuration tab.


BackgroundPacker=

Not used in the release version.


CompressionRatio=0, 5, 9

This is the setting for the packer compression ratio. Zero means no compression, five means medium, and nine means maximum (which is the slowest). Use medium or 0 for most outgoing packets, the speed loss when set to maximum offsets any gain in the size of the packet. If you commonly attach Zip files to messages, always leave it set to 0 or no compression.


WriteOemToAnsi=[Yes/No]

This is the setting for converting foreign character OEM packets to the ANSI character set used by Windows. Change this setting using the Reply configuration tab. Most users will not need to enable this.


WriteAnsiToOem=[Yes/No]

This is the setting for converting ANSI character sets to OEM character sets. Change this setting using the Reply configuration tab. Most users will not need to enable this.


UsingNT=

Not used in the current release. Reserved for diagnostics in later versions.


RemoveDeletedReplies=

Not used in the current release. Reserved for a later versions.


SortByThread=

Not used in the current release.


RebuildIndexesOnLoad=

Enables the automatic corrupt packet repairing logic. Enable this from the Read configuration tab.


UseExternalEditor=

Not used in the current release.


ExternalEditor=

Not used in the current release.


SortOrder=

Defines the QML sorting order. Change this using the Replies configuration tab. The program assigns a numerical value to this function, the user should not edit this.


CommSettings=, CommPort=, DownloadDir=

Not used in the current release, Alpha code variables.


HidePersonal=[Yes/No]

If this is set to Yes, the program will hide any personal mail you receive outside of the personal conference. You'll see the messages in Personal, but you will not see them elsewhere. In effect, this is a "personal twit by-conference" filter.


LastExtractPath=

Used internally by the program to track paths. Do not change this line.


LastSearchString=

This is the last text you entered into the search message dialogue.


SearchTo=

This defines the state of the checkbox for searching the To: field in the message header. If you've checked that box, the line reads Yes. If it is unchecked, the line is No.


SearchFrom=

This defines the state of the checkbox for searching the From: field in the message header. If you've checked that box, the line reads Yes. If it is unchecked, the line is No.


SearchSubj=

This defines the state of the checkbox for searching the Subject: field in the message header. If you've checked that box, the line reads Yes. If it is unchecked, the line is No.


SearchBody=

This defines the state of the checkbox for searching the bodies or "main text" of the messages. If you've checked that box, the line reads Yes. If it is unchecked, the line is No.


HideInternetHeader=[Yes/No]

Internet messages usually contain a page (or pages) of routing information. Sometimes the body of a much-quoted message doesn't start until well beyond the third page. To cut right to the message, you can tell CMPQwk to strip this (usually useless) Internet header information and begin the message right at the message text. QWK mail users need not concern themselves with this text, in most cases.


MsgWindowFollowsQML=[Yes/No]

If you read very large packets you may want to set this to No, it will allow the QML to navigate without updating the Read window. For fast large-packet navigation, we suggest you set this to No. If you do, press Enter to read the currently-highlighted message in the QML.


StopSystemForSounds=[Yes/No]

If you want to make sure that possibly conflicting sounds are all played before the next function (and next sound that might be assigned to that function) occur, check this. It will slow the program down to the pace of whatever sound files you have set for the various functions, and it may also time out background downloads. Use with caution.


InternetStyle=TO:

This defines the text string that your QWK-to-UUCP door wants to see for routed Internet mail. If it wants case set a certain way, you can change that here. The default is all upper case, which is acceptable on all doors we tested except UQWK, which likes the O on lower case.


TrackReadWindows=[Yes/No]

Tells the program to prevent you from opening multiple copies of the same conference. If a Read window exists for the conference you double-click, it will be brought to the front instead of the program opening that conference again. We suggest everybody reading large netmail packets and doing so in a mouse-happy fashion leave this set to Yes. Turn it off at your own risk, you will possibly run the program out of internal memory for window tracking if you do open dozens of copies of the same conference.


I'm not sure, precisely, why anybody would want to skin a cat. I'm a dog enthusiast myself, but even so, skinning cats sounds like a terribly unpleasant job...no matter how many methods one might find available. I move we drop the saying altogether, the final image it produces is reasonably revolting, and has nothing whatsoever to do with using our mail reader. I promise not to use it again.


 troubleshooting tips

Most of the time we've found problems are caused by only a few things. The most common problem we've found is somebody setting one of the important program settings to a value that's incorrect. If in doubt, leave it at the default.

Another common problem is trying to run the program on a machine with almost no memory free. CMPQwk wants generous heaps of memory, it has to track lots of things, and for maximum speed it holds many of them in memory at the same time. In fact, most word processors need to track less data than CMPQwk does. So take to heart that memory number I mentioned earlier: at least 800K for the program, and another half a megabyte or more when you spell-check. Your mileage may vary.

But if you consider the "bottom" to be two megabytes of RAM free before loading, you'll be safe.

We assume you are using PKZip-compatible QWK files. If you are using another packer, you'll have to substitute the applicable commands your packer and unpacker use. Consult their documentation for the correct syntax, commands, etc.

 Tips for the Internal unpacker/packer

The unpacker has to have plenty of free "DOS" memory. If you've got a badly-jammed 640K (even though this is Windows, and this isn't supposed to matter) you may have problems with it. You'll get a message saying the program can't find CONTROL.DAT, or worse, the unpacker may cause a General Protection Fault (GPF) as it tries to allocate more memory.

Many other Windows programs want to make use of the lower 640K. This is poorly-documented, and people seem to think the lower 640K doesn't matter. It does because Windows, despite the pretty face, is still DOS, and for fast file operations you need to talk to DOS. Windows for Workgroups is a big offender here, and most people do not know it performs poorly unless there is plenty of 640K memory free. This is not an issue, of course, if you run Windows NT. If you make some changes to your system and the unpacker fails the next time you try to open a packet, do this:

  Open a DOS window.  Program Manager usually calls this "MS-DOS Prompt."

  Type "MEM" (without the quotes)

  Look at the results beside "Total under 1 MB." If it's less than 500K the packer may not work properly. If it's less than 400K (and this threshold seems to be different on each system) it won't load at all, or may cause a General Protection Fault (GPF).

If the packer loads but immediately causes a GPF, the problem is being caused by a corrupt QWK packet. To see if this is the case, make sure that PKUnzip is in your path and do this:

  Open a DOS window.

  Change to the directory where you keep your QWK packets.

  Type "PKUNZIP -T [NAME.QWK] and watch the results. PKUnzip will perform a CRC check of the packet.  If you see  CRC error then the packet is corrupt.

Other packers have similar switches (like Arj, Lharc, etc.). Consult the documentation for those products.

 No CONTROL.DAT?

If you get a message like this it means one of several things. The most likely is that the packer has failed because there is insufficient memory for it to load. Next most likely is that the packer has failed because the QWK file is corrupt. Perform the test listed in the prior section to establish the QWK's condition.

A common cause of this problem is having the work directory set to a directory that does not exist, or a drive that does not exist. If you leave it at the default setting (under the \CMPQWK directory) you can avoid this problem.

Another common cause of this problem is an external unpacker that's not in the path. Either copy the unpacker's file into a directory that's in the path, or add the packer's directory to your path statement.  Consult your DOS manual on how to do this if you don't know.

A less-likely cause of this problem is a corrupt unpacker DLL (if you are using the internal unpacker) or a system with insufficient memory to run the unpacker. If you are trying to use the program on a system with less than four megabytes of RAM you might encounter a problem unpacking large QWK files or even running the program at all.

Before you do anything rash, check your settings in the Paths options tab, and re-set the packet to medium compression, internal PKZip compatible, and double-check the work path. Set it to the \CMPQWK directory if it's not already set there.

 Runtime Errors

A runtime error is different from a General Protection Fault (GPF). A runtime error means the program has come across some data or a problem it didn't expect. It's the same as jumping out of your seat when somebody's car backfires outside. You didn't expect itand so you leapt out of your chair.

  If you want to see a list of runtime errors in a floating index (with popups for each), click the button.

  Bring back the floating index.

Well, that's what a runtime isexcept the computer program that encounters this error doesn't have a chair. It just leaps out of your system and goes away. There are several things you should do if you get a runtime error.

  Write down the number of the runtime error and the line of code at which it happened. How do you know what line of code caused it? Windows thoughtfully tells you: it's the numbers divided by a colon in the error message. Write down the numbers exactly as they appear here. Also write down what you were trying to do when it happened.

  Exit Windows in an orderly fashion. When a program crashes by runtime, components of it may be left in memory. Restarting a program that has crashed is asking for a bigger and less-benign crash, the dreaded General Protection Fault. So close down all your other applications and then restart Windows. You should not need to reboot your system.

  If your work directory is on a RAM disk, copy the contents of it somewhere else for safety. Any temporary directory with nothing in it will do, this will save any replies you may have created.

  Once the system is back up, have a look in the CMPQwk work directory (or the directory where you copied files to from the RAM disk work directory). Use File Manager or whatever tool you'd like. Do you see any files in there? If yes, then when you reload the program it should pick up where it left off. Don't delete the contents of that directory just yet (copy the contents back into the work directory on the RAM disk if you're using one).

  Restart CMPQwk. Did it recover and open the packet you were reading again like it's supposed to do?  If yes, and you've created replies, from the File menu select Save Replies. That way no matter what happens from here on out in the course of troubleshooting, you won't lose your work.

  Can you select the menu item or perform the function you were trying to do when the program failed? If yes, then odds are it was a conflict with something else on your system. You were low on memory, another program intruded on the work directory, or somehow interfered with CMPQwk's data.

  If you cannot perform the function (you get another runtime error) then delete the contents of the CMPQwk work directory and the \SAV directory under the main program directory.

  Exit and restart Windows.

  Restart the program and reopen that same QWK. Can you perform the function you were trying to do initially? If yes, then the problem was probably corrupted pointers, or you ran out of space to store pointers or some other program functions in memory because your system was low on memory or low on resources, for example.

  If you still cannot perform the function you wish, please contact us for technical support.  We may want to see a copy of your CMPQWK.INI file and a sample packet.

  If all else fails, try reinstalling the program. Delete everything (including the CMPQWK.INI file in the Windows directory) except your folder files. They're kept in three files: FOLDERS.DAT FOLDERS.MSG and FOLDERS.NDX. You do not need to delete them, the program will pick right up and use them again after a fresh install. Delete all the other files, though, on the off chance one of them is corrupted and causing the program to fail.

  If after a fresh install you still can't select the menu item or perform the program function you wish, you either have a defective copy of the program, you've found a nasty bug, or you have a system that in some way is not 100% IBM compatible, a video driver that's hostile to CMPQwk, or something like a hard disk that's failing and corrupting files. There's no way for us to run all those down here. Contact us and give us some detailed information you believe to be relevant and we'll try to work it out for you.

 202, 203, 213 errors in specific

If you get a 202 runtime error (or a -4 error), and just prior to that you opened Read window number 297, you've caused a crash you could have prevented by using the program's ability to open "unlimited" Read windows as you wish. Please use this feature in the way it was designed: to allow you to open multiple copies of the same Read window so you could look at different parts of longer messages.

Some notes to remember:

  CMPQwk will only track windows if you leave the Track Read window option in the Read configuration checked. If you disable this option (it limits you to one Read window per conference), then tell it to open more and more Read windows by clicking the mouse on the Conference list over and over (rather than navigating by using the arrow keys which conserves windows by reusing the current one with the next message's contents) then you will get runtime 202 errors. Especially in long packets.

  The program will let you open windows (of any type) until it runs out of memory. Since how much memory you "might" have varies by system, if you are reading a huge netmail packet, conserve internal memory by closing windows you don't need. If you do this no matter what size packet you get, you will not get a 202 caused by too many MDI windows.

  If you open a conference, then double-click another conference name, you will have left open (and in memory) a copy of the prior conference. Close one before opening another. Eventually, with very large conferences, you will run out of internal memory to store the pointers and window text. This will be unavoidable if you use this feature carelessly.

So don't. Use the multiple-window functionality as we designed it, and you will avoid all of these problems.

 General protection faults (GPF)

General Protection Faults are always caused by the same thing: something has intruded on memory space the program requires for proper operation. It may be another program or it may be the program corrupting (or misinterpreting) its own allocated memory. But the end result is usually a fatal (and sometimes system-wide) crash. If you are beta testing for us, you should expect GPFs, weeding them out is part of what the beta program is for.

  If a GPF occurs, always re-start Windows. The program may have left corrupted parts of itself in memory, or worse, due to Windows' inadequate protection of the system, it may have corrupted the underlying structure of Windows. This doesn't apply to NT users, NT's superior crash protection will require only that you terminate the Windows 16-bit subsystem. NT 3.5 users should, if they're having problems with GPFs, run the program in its own memory space (see the Program properties for that setting or your NT manual).

  After you've restarted, run the program again and see if it will operate normally. If you have an open packet with replies left in your work directory, select Save Replies from the file menu. Run the DRWATSON.EXE crash-tracking utility that ships with Windows. It should be in your Windows directory.

  If there is an existing DRWATSON.LOG file in the Windows directory, delete it before performing this test.

  After re-starting the program, perform the same operation that made it GPF.

  If it GPF's for you, when the Dr. Watson dialogue comes up asking you to enter what action you were doing, write down exactly what program function you were trying to perform. Include the size of the packet, program version number, etc., if possible.

  If you can't get it to fail a second time, edit the load= line of your WIN.INI file so that DRWATSON.EXE is on it. Restart windows and continue working as you were before. If the program fails, Dr. Watson will catch it.

  Once you've got a Dr. Watson log, please E-mail the first page of it (we don't need anything else, really) to Derek on any of the support systems. Include a note telling us what you were doing, and also how large the packet was, and so on.

  In any case, remember to restart Windows after a GPF. It's risky to do anything substantial after a program has abnormally terminated in a GPF.

Should you receive a GPF while using our program and the EXE file identified by the system is not CMPQWK.EXE it usually means some other program has encroached on CMPQwk's memory. Close the program to prevent the loss of your replies and restart Windows.

If CMPQwk causes a GPF that says anything other than CMPQWK.EXE (such as  MACH.DRV if you use an ATI Ultra board), please send that to us. It means that some routine we are using conflicts in some fashion with your underlying system and drivers, or in the case of some current high-color drivers such as those from Trident and Diamond, your drivers are just plain bug-ridden. Contact the board vendor for updated drivers that don't have the bugs.

If you contact us, please tell us what type of system you own, including video board and driver versions.

 Auto file attachment detector

CMPQwk 1.4 has a feature that detects the extension of any attached files, and looks for an association for that type of file in your WIN.INI [extensions] section. If it finds an association, it will attempt to display the icon of the associated program in the message header. However, the program's success at doing this depends on three things:

  Your [extensions] section can't be a mess. Many folks feel the need to diddle with it and bad programmers often have their software meddle with it without asking the user, and thus the commonly-attached files like TXT and BMP won't get displayed. (Usually those are associated with Notepad and Paint Brush, which ship with Windows 3.1.) If CMPQwk can't find the program, or WIN.INI specifies an incorrect path, you'll get an "error" icon that looks like a sheet of yellow paper with a red ! on it..

  If your WIN.INI [extensions] entry requires a search along the DOS path to find the .EXE, you won't get an icon either. To speed up the display of message, CMPQwk uses the exact entry and it doesn't search your path (which could take a few seconds to a minute on a network). If you have any entries that don't have the complete path to the program in question, and you want to use the automatic attachment logic, you must change the entry to specify the full path.

  Your OLE registration database and your WIN.INI [extensions] section must agree or you'll get unpredictable results. Common offenders who mangle the OLE database but don't correctly change the WIN.INI section are Micrografix Designer and Corel Draw. If they conflict, the icon shown may be the INI file entry, but the program loaded may be what's pointed at in the OLE database. Since we can't clean up your system for you, you'll have to take care of that yourself. Make everything agree (like it's supposed to) and it should work fine.

  A common problem, for example, if you want to see the icon for Ami Pro and your [extensions] section says:

[extensions]

SAM=AMIPRO.EXE ^.SAM

You'll need to change it to:

[extensions]

SAM=D:\PATH\AMIPRO.EXE ^.SAM

Where D:\PATH is your drive and path to the location of AMIPRO.EXE. If you fail to do this, CMPQwk will not be able to find the program and load the icon. There's another benefit from putting the complete path in your WIN.INI: if you put the complete path on the association line, double-clicked files will load much faster, as Windows knows exactly where to find Ami Pro, and it doesn't have to search through directories in the DOS path to find the program.

You can remedy this association confusion problem by starting the Windows File Manager, highlighting a file of the type you want to load, selecting File/Association from the menu, then navigating through your directories until the correct application's EXE file is in the list box. Highlight it to make sure File Manager knows that's the .EXE file you want, and click on OK.  Both the REG.DAT and WIN.INI databases will be "cleaned up" by this.

 Known problems

OS/2 2.1 & other non-MS operating systems

OS/2, 2.1 does not properly run some Windows 3.1 applications. See the disclaimers section for more information about this. We do not officially support running our program under either this system or other non-Microsoft systems at this writing. One OS/2 problem seems to be related to BWCC.DLL, which needs to be in the \OS2\WINOS2 subdirectory. Generally-speaking, OS/2 runs Windows applications much more slowly then regular Windows, and in some cases, less-reliably despite what all the OS/2 gurus say. We've seen this first-hand, by the way, and have dumped OS/2 from "official" testing because of it.

To be useful and run CMPQwk reliably, OS/2 2.x systems must have well-beyond the absurd four megabyte "minimum" amount of RAM that IBM says is acceptable. Figure a 16MB system for fast performance, and eight MB will be "tolerable" if you don't mind the slow Workplace Shell dragging your system to a crawl as it doodles with all its bloated and slowly-drawn icons.

Trident, Diamond, and other PCI video drivers

There seems to be some nasty bugs in Trident, Diamond, and the (8/94) ATI PCI video drivers. Your results may vary, but these buggy drivers cause CMPQwk to GPF when showing a Read window, cause the colors to shift, and in the case of the ATI PCI Mach 64, cause font corruption system-wide. These faults are caused by bugs in the video drivers, not CMPQwk. Our program makes 100% documented API calls and NOTHING else.

If a documented API call to a driver fails, it's the driver's fault, not the fault of the program that made the call.


floating runtime error index

 Click on the error

 Errors 01 - 17

Runtime error 001

Runtime error 002

Runtime error 003

Runtime error 004

Runtime error 005

Runtime error 006

Runtime error 012

Runtime error 015

Runtime error 016

Runtime error 017

 Errors 100 - 106

Runtime error 100

Runtime error 101

Runtime error 102

Runtime error 102

Runtime error 104

Runtime error 105

Runtime error 106

 Errors 200 - 216

Runtime error 200

Runtime error 201

Runtime error 202

Runtime error 204

Runtime error 205

Runtime error 206

Runtime error 207

Runtime error 210

Runtime error 211

Runtime error 212

Runtime error 213

Runtime error 214

Runtime error 215

Runtime error 216


 required files list

 Required Files List

A list of required files for the program and their "correct" locations follows. I won't give dates or sizes, because that changes dynamically, and this list is valid only for the 1.42 release (and may change without notice). Use this list to determine if you're missing a file only if the program malfunctions. In some cases certain versions or internal betas use a file that ends up not being required by the released version---but you might be using a 1.4 beta that does use the file.

 Main program

All of these files go into the \CMPQWK home directory, and should be nowhere else. Earlier releases required some files to be in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, but with 1.4x, that's no longer the case.

BLUECONV.EXE - this is the Blue Wave format conversion utility - Optional

CMPQWK.EXE - just what you think it is, you're not doing anything without this

CMPEDIT.EXE - the large-file tagline (or general) text editor

CMPVIEW.EXE - the external viewer used for ANSI and other functions

CMPQWK.CFG - file created during first loading

CMPSPELL.DLL - spell-checker - required DLL for correct loading

CMPQWK.DIC - dictionary used by spell-checker - optional (as is spell-checking)

CMPQWK.INI - created by the install program in \WINDOWS directory

CMPSC.DLL - used by the unpacker display

CMPTC.DLL - used by the Write window

CMPZIP.DLL - this is what packs your REP files, it's the 2.x-compatible zipper-upper

CMPDLG.DLL - this file contains all of the program dialogs

 Note: there will be foreign language versions of this DLL released independantly from the main program. The first releases are likely to be German and French.

DODAD.DLC - used by the main .EXE program - (select Help, About to hear this)

FOLDERS.DAT - folder database file - user-created

FOLDERS.MSG - folder database file - user-created

FOLDERS.NDX - folder database - user-created

INSTALL.LOG - tracer file for install (can be used to diagnose failed installs)

PRIVATE.DIC - file created by the speller when you select "Add" - user-created

*.CMP - created by user settings & lists

*.TXT - instructions on how to install the program or other information

UNZIP.EXE - required for internal unpacker

WINSYS.DLL - used by the main .EXE program for internal functions

WINSYSH.DLL - used by the main .EXE program for internal functions (not in all versions)

 Help files

142.HLP - main help file - optional - in \CMPQWK directory

CMPVIEW.HLP - help file for external ANSI viewer and editor

DIALOG.HLP - optional help for program dialogues.

OPTION.DLL - help external functions - in \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory

REG_HLP.HLP - information on registering (printable forms included)

SCS_REG.WRI - information on registering in the European Common Market

001-012.WAV - help sounds - in \CMPQWK directory

 Note: OPTION.DLL is only "optional" if you delete or do not use the help file. If you keep it, you must keep OPTION.DLL and all the WAV files to prevent the help engine from issuing "routine not found" error messages.

 Optional Sounds

If you've enabled UseVoice=yes you must create a directory under the CMPQwk home directory called \SOUND and place these files into it. The actual Zip file name that contains the sounds may vary. What the various WAV files will say when played on use is entered to the right of the files. For numbers beyond twenty they are combined on the fly. Numbers beyond 59 personal messages are not reported.

00.WAV - "You have no personal messages."

01.WAV - "...one"

02.WAV - "...two"

03.WAV - "...three"

04.WAV - "...four"

05.WAV - "...five"

06.WAV - "...six"

07.WAV - "...seven"

08.WAV - "...eight"

09.WAV - "...nine"

10.WAV - "...ten"

11.WAV - "...eleven"

12.WAV - "...twelve"

13.WAV - "...thirteen"

14.WAV - "...fourteen"

15.WAV - "...fifteen"

16.WAV - "...sixteen"

17.WAV - "...seventeen"

18.WAV - "...eighteen"

19.WAV - "...nineteen"

20.WAV - "...twenty"

30.WAV - "...thirty"

40.WAV - "...forty"

50.WAV - "...fifty"

PRSNLMSG.WAV -"...personal messages"

TOOMUCH.WAV - "You have way too much mail!" (if you have over 59 messages)

U_HAVE.WAV - "You have..."


 other considerations

 Fun with "QWK" files

CMPQwk has been tested on QWK mail packets assembled by many different QWK doors. If you run across a QWK packet that it will not open correctly or read, please send it to us so we can examine it. At this writing, we have opened and correctly read packets prepared by Tomcat, MarkMail, Rosemail, and several others. The support board telephone numbers where you could upload a sample packet (as a file, not into the mail door) are listed under Product support in this file.

Odds are, however, if it doesn't work with some small obscure mail door, it's probably the door's problem, and not CMPQwk's. Even large systems and developers (like Exec-PC and Mustang Software) have created fouled-up mail doors that cause problems.

 Crash recovery

Because of how troublesome this corrupt QWK problem can be, and because we've detected that some doors are (on occasion) sending out "faulty" packets with bad NDX files that can cause problems, we've changed 1.4x in a few ways to work around this.

The first major change was in the way the program handles the packets and executes some functions internally.  It's too technical to go into here, but we feel fewer packets that contain conflicting information will cause the program to terminate abnormally. Our testing indicates this is the case.

The second change was the addition of some "crash detection" code. If the program (or Windows for that matter) fails for some reason, the program will detect this the next time you try to start it. It will automatically scavenge any replies you created and saved in the prior session (it can't save "un-saved" replies, they were held in memory only). CMPQwk will pack them up into a rep for safe-keeping, and proceed with phase 2 of the recovery process.

Upon detecting that your prior session has failed (no matter the reason), the program will examine the packet, delete what might be faulty IDX files---and just like a mail door---it will build new IDX files for you. I suppose having an author who also wrote a mail door for PCBoard made this easier...

We've kept (and examined) many packets that have caused the program to fail. Since the IDX replacement process can be lengthy on a very large packet, we don't want to force everybody to go through it every time the program opens a packet (most mail doors work fine a high percentage of the time). We decided that in general, folks don't encounter problem packets, so we took this approach to counter the problem if it happens, rather than assuming it always will.

If a packet causes the program to fail, this process should repair the packet and make it possible for you to continue reading it. It fixes most of the problems we've seen in QWK mail prepared by the various doors in widespread use.

Of course if something else caused the program to fail, this won't help anything (but it won't hurt, either, and recovering your replies is a nice touch).

 If you frequently encounter packet-related crashes, we'd like to suggest that you enable the General configuration tab item "rebuild indexes on load." It will add a wait to the time it takes to open a packet, but it will prevent most corrupt packets from causing difficulties.

If Windows itself crashes while CMPQwk has an open packet, or if you have a power failure, you'll see the program will go into the crash recovery procedure the next time it loads. Just tell it to proceed with recovery (it will say recovery failed, don't worry), it can't harm anything and it's always nice to let it clean up after an aborted session---no matter what caused the system to go down.

If for some reason the crash (because of delayed-write disk caches, for example) causes your work directory contents to become corrupt, delete any files in that directory called *.TMP, restart Windows and attempt to load the program again. You will lose any replies you have created, but it will allow the program to operate again. It attempts to recover your replies, where possible, even mildly corrupted ones, but it can't work magic on zero-byte TMP (reply) files or mangled FATs.

 Windows NT

Windows NT is now directly supported. Both Derek and I have tested the program at length under NT 3.5 and it seems to run perfectly well. I'm using NT almost daily due to the superior disk performance and complete crash protection it provides (much better than anything else I've seen, including OS/2's much-touted (and fallible) crash protection. Even Word 6 hasn't taken NT down...yet...

 Sprechen Sie Deutsche?

Users in countries where English isn't the dominant language will find that the keyboard mapping (the special keys used in Germanic and other languages) will be best if they select Microsoft Line Draw as their font. This font is available on the MS BBS and other on-line services as GC0651.EXE.

Non-English users should also investigate the Replies configuration tab item, as you can now implement OEM to ANSI and ANSI to OEM conversion, which should greatly help those folks using a non-U.S. codepage.


I see...

You're one of those types, ehh? I tell you not to click and you click. Okay...I'll remember that!


 Product support

We take product support very carefully, and we believe we have one of the widest bases of support of any shareware product. You can reach us anywhere in the world via Internet (when Netcom isn't losing our mail), you can reach Derek on CompuServe, you can call a BBS in Ohio, two in Pasadena, California, and at this writing we were in the process of establishing a direct support site in England for Common Market countries.

Being software users as well as developers, we know how frustrating it can be when you cannot get in touch with the authors of a program.


support index

 Problems

  How to report a problem

 Solutions

  Frequently-asked questions

  CompuServe support & registration

  Support sites

  Internet ftp site & E-Mail

  Los Angeles area BB systems

  European sales and support


  how to report a problem

If you have encountered a problem with the program and you are a registered user, want to register, or have other non-technical questions, feel free to contact the author. Derek Backus can be reached via multiple methods. The fastest way to reach Derek is to leave him a message on one of the Los Angeles-area BB systems in the list. You can also get E-mail to him on several networks, on the Internet, and via U.S. Mail, of course, if all else fails. See the Los Angeles BBS section, the Net support section, and the Internet ftp and E-Mail section for ways to get in touch with Derek.

European users should contact SCS in the U.K. for product support, they are our exclusive support providers in the Common Market states.

If you have a problem involving what you think is an "atypical" QWK file created by a little-known off-line mail door, please take the time (if you're interested in seeing the problem diagnosed and fixed) to call one the support sites and upload the QWK. We will want to take it apart and see what makes it tick---or not tick, as the case may be.

  Please do not send it via the Internet as a UUEncoded file inserted into your message(s). We cannot take the considerable time it requires to put together 100 pieces of a file to see what's wrong with it.

  If you do send a packet to us, please leave a message on the support system letting Derek know on what system you left the packet, and what it was called. Mail for Derek gets routed to our development network. If you don't tell him where the file is, he's not going to be able to find it, see what might be causing the difficulty, and remedy it.

Keep in mind that no E-mail method is 100% reliable. If you do not get a response, don't assume we're ignoring you. We aren't. Re-send the message again and again if you need to, sometimes things happen that just make it impossible to answer right away. If you haven't gotten a response by the third time or thereabouts, try another method, there is something "broken" between us and you. We may be getting your message, you may not be getting ours.

There's an old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." Take that to heart. Please remember we're just a two people working our tails off, and things can back up on us. We have no secretaries, no assistants, and if we miss a day due to something beyond our control, that day's mail will be there tomorrow---in addition to tomorrow's mail...and the next day after that...and on and on. We are growing beyond our expectations, and there will be growing pains.

We sometimes have problems with our Internet host Netcom, so be patient when sending Internet mail. In some cases, we do not get mail that users have claimed to have sent us. So if you don't hear back, call a support board! We pay good money to keep those BBS systems up and running. Dial up the BBS and leave a message for us there!

The support BBS systems are there for only one reason---support. We pay money for the use of them, so take advantage of that. In fact, those BBS systems cost us hundreds of dollars a month to keep up and they serve no other purpose other than to support our users.

Like we said, support is important to us.

For those of you interested in the runtime error messages we hope you will never see, the table below covers all that might occur during "abnormal program termination." (Otherwise called, "The program freaked-out.") Some of the descriptions are taken directly from Borland's Pascal manual, others are what I've been able absorb during beta testing. Exactly what some of them might mean is beyond my expertise, but the numbers mean something to Derek, so write them down if you see one flash by!

 Click on the error

Errors 01 - 17

Runtime error 001

Runtime error 002

Runtime error 003

Runtime error 004

Runtime error 005

Runtime error 006

Runtime error 012

Runtime error 015

Runtime error 016

Runtime error 017

Errors 100 - 106

Runtime error 100

Runtime error 101

Runtime error 102

Runtime error 102

Runtime error 104

Runtime error 105

Runtime error 106

Errors 200 - 216

Runtime error 200

Runtime error 201

Runtime error 202

Runtime error 204

Runtime error 205

Runtime error 206

Runtime error 207

Runtime error 210

Runtime error 211

Runtime error 212

Runtime error 213

Runtime error 214

Runtime error 215

Runtime error 216


Runtime error 01

Invalid function number - the program tried to perform a function it has not intialized or a function that doesn't exist at all.


Runtime error 02

File not found - the program tried to load a file it was supposed to be able to access, but the file does not exist. This is the same as the DOS "File not found" error.


Runtime error 03

Path not found - this means you've set a program path to one that doesn't exist, or while the program was open something happened to a path it was using---and depending on. For example, a disk crash might cause this error, or if you ran a program that deleted the work directory you could get this.


Runtime error 04

Too many open files. You need to close some programs, or edit your C:\CONFIG.SYS file to allocate more file handles. If you're running large database programs, set your FILES= line to 50 or even 70, that should prevent this error. Compilers may also cause this problem, in my own case I've got files set to 100 because compiling large help files can create fifty files (which need to be open) in and of itself.


Runtime error 05

File access denied - another program has the file open that you were trying to read. Either you've got to close that program or try to read in another file. If you've got DOS's SHARE.EXE loaded, for example, programs can establish file "locks" that prevent other programs from opening those files. So if you had another program using a file (or the contents of a directory such as your work directory) and you tried to use that file (or delete that directory such as you do when you exit) you might get this error. Close all other non-required programs and re-start the Reader, that should eliminate the problem.


Runtime error 06

Invalid file handle - the program has a file handle locked on an invalid file (for some reason this information has gotten corrupt). Close Windows, re-start it, and attempt the same function you were doing before. It will probably be okay.


Runtime error 12

Invalid file access code - I haven't got a clue what this one is, sorry. Probably a difficulty internal to the program where it passed itself some invalid information.


Runtime error 15

Invalid drive number - either you've lost a hard disk, or somebody on your network disconnected you, the program needs to use a drive that was once present on the system, but no longer is. Usually a sign of severe trouble on your system.


Runtime error 16

Cannot remove current directory - this should never happen, the program will not try to remove a directory that is "current" to it. To see this message from DOS, create an empty directory called TEST, then type CD\TEST, then type RD TEST. If DOS did what you told it, you'd be committing suicide---because you can't delete where you "are" at that moment.


Runtime error 17

Cannot rename across drives - this means the program could not rename a file from D:\FILENAME to E:\FILENAME, for example. You'll never see this error, we don't have any functions that could cause this.


Runtime error 100

Disk read error - this means your hard drive has some problems at the DOS level. Better run something like Norton Disk Doctor, or some other utility on it. This error is ALWAYS the fault of your system and NEVER the fault of our program. It indicates disk errors and corruption at the DOS level.


Runtime error 101

Disk write error - the program was unable to write a file to the disk that it needed. The disk was either full, no longer connected (disconnected in the middle of a write operation such as pulling out a floppy) or there was some other DOS-level drive error. Usually indicative of hardware problems or corrupt disks.


Runtime error 102

File not assigned - I have no idea what this one is, I don't believe we use any functions that would cause this one.


Runtime error 103

File not open - the program thinks that a file is open when the file is not open. I've never seen this error, either.


Runtime error 104

File not open for input - the program cannot get data from a file that was not "open." It tried to use a file that it thought was open but turned out it wasn't. Bummer. Never seen this one.


Runtime error 105

File not open for output - the same as 104 except it's trying to write to a file it hasn't opened.


Runtime error 106

Invalid numeric format - an internal error that means the program expected a number for a value and got something else (such as alphanumeric data, or HEX or some other unexpected data).


Runtime error 200

Division by zero - the famous "Divide by Zero" error. The program tried to complete a mathematical error by dividing a value by a null or "0" value, and of course as we all know, that doesn't get you much.


Runtime error 201

Range check error - the program found that the range of data it thought it had indexed wasn't the correct range. Can happen with corrupt packets whose logical message numbers are not the "real" packet message numbers. Caused by the door making an error in the packet when it backs it, creating an invalid database format.


Runtime error 202

Stack overflow error - a very nasty condition where the program ran out of temporary storage space for its internal functions. Can be caused by corrupt packets and the hoops the program tries to jump through to get around them, and can be caused by too many windows open at one time (people who double-click like maniacs rather than smoothly navigating a packet might crash the program this way if they disable Read window tracking).


Runtime error 203

Heap overflow error - the program ran out of temporary storage space. You can also get this from corrupt packets, or on systems that use abnormally-long conference names, things like that. If you find yourself getting this, watch out how many windows you have open, that will conserve the amount of memory needed to track window heap information.


Runtime error 204

Invalid pointer operation - the program made an internal error by sending a bad memory pointer to retrieve or write something in memory but it sent the information to the "wrong" place.


Runtime error 205

Floating point overflow - the mathematical processor couldn't keep up and vomited all over the place, corrupting the program's data.


Runtime error 206

Floating point underflow - similar to 205, you'll probably never see this with CMPQwk.


Runtime error 207

Invalid floating point operation - more problems with the floating point calculations. Since they're not widely used in CMPQwk, don't expect to see this one.


Runtime error 210

Object not initialized - CMPQwk tried to call the function in a program object that it had not declared. This is like you saying to your friend while you're helping him build his house, "Hand me the hammer," only you didn't bring the hammer with you, you forgot it and left it at home. Had you put it into your toolbox ("initialized it") he could hand you the hammer. So next time, don't forget it and you won't get this error!


Runtime error 211

Call to abstract method - beats me, never seen or heard of this one, either.


Runtime error 212

Stream registration error - this is always caused by corrupt last-read message pointers (the program ran out of memory to store them) or a corrupt packet with bad internal pointers. If you receive this message, there is a serious problem with the QWK or the program. See the trouble shooting section.


Runtime error 213

Collection index out of range - always caused by a corrupt QWK file that has problems with the logical message numbers, or by corruption in the last-read pointers. If you open too many windows with older versions of CMPQwk you could get this error simply by trying to go to the next message, or trying to reply to that message. Basically, CMPQwk got a number from a data stream that was not the length it was expecting, and it freaked.


Runtime error 214

Collection overflow error - the amount of data the program expected was larger than the space allotted for it.


Runtime error 215

Arithmetic overflow error - some math the program was doing over ran the space allocated for it. You'll never see this one, either.


Runtime error 216

General protection fault - the program over-wrote some of its critical memory space, or tried to over-write some of the data space used by the system or other programs. You shouldn't see this message (Windows should trap the memory error and close the program with one of those ugly white message boxes). If you receive this message, close Windows and re-start your system, then try to recover the packet. It indicates a serious error with the program that should have been caught in internal or public beta testing.


 frequently asked questions

What this section attempts to do is answer some questions before you write to us with them. There are several very common questions our users always ask. We hope that you'll read this file and find the answer to your questions here. Please read through this section before you call us. The questions are in no particular order, so scroll through the window until you see (or don't see) what it is you're looking for.  If you see it, read it, if not, contact us for support as required.

 Our policies

 When will you be hitting me up again for money?

 Not anytime soon, it's taken a year to go from 1.1 to 1.4. We'll be giving out free upgrades to 1.50 (and every update up to but not including 2.0) for any 1.x registered user, and believe me when I tell you that 1.5 will make 1.3 and 1.4 look weak by comparison. Remember, it will do everything that the current release does and much more. And it will be free. All you'll have to do to get it is call our support systems (or CompuServe or the Internet) and get the update Zip file when we release it.

Generally figure you're covered all the way through a full number release, just like the big boys do. We have not set firm policy yet, but our ball park estimate for an upgrade from 1.x to 2.x will be from $10 to $25. When you consider the thousands of man-hours of work that goes into a new build, we think you'll think it's a bargain when it comes out.

And we plan to have extremely inexpensive fees for upgrades from other products. Registered users of our off-line mail reader will be able to register some of our upcoming products at a discount, too. So when you're in our family---just like the Mafia in the movies---you're in our family. We feel it's important to reward loyalty.

For example, our new text Editor Gator Edit costs $25 to the public, but only $15 to registered CMPQwk users. It will read up to 100 files (of practically any size) and it will also open and read your folders, too.

  Is printed documentation available?

You can order, if you are interested, a ring bound lay-flat copy of this documentation that includes all the sections in this help file, plus several sections not included in it. It's a little over 100 pages, has a complete index, table of contents, and is nicely finished. If you'd like to order it, print the correct registration form (see Where can you register) and check the manual item, adding the amount to the rest of your total. The manual's price includes handling and postage to anywhere in the 48 lower states. If you register via VISA on ASACompuHelp BBS, you can upgrade with a manual for $52.00 and procure a new registration with a manual for $69.00 Allow four weeks for delivery. You must be a registered user to order a manual. A manual by itself, post-paid, is $17.50.

 Note: Manuals will not be ready to be shipped until the "public" release of 1.42 (when features are locked). Manuals ship with 1.44 disks containing the current version at the time the order was placed. We are experiencing a delay in producing the 1.42 manual, because Corel has not yet shipped Corel Ventura, which we want to use to produce it. If you're willing to wait until I get Ventura and produce the manual, that's fine, but expect at least two months of a delay. And thank Corel for it!

  What products make me eligible for an upgrade?

Any of them. That includes OLX, Waverider, RoseReader, you name it. If it's shareware and it's released in the U.S., and you paid the author for it to register, you're eligible for an upgrade to CMPQwk. Send us (with the upgrade form and a check) the registration number to what you use now, and you're halfway there. You can also upgrade on The Labyrinth on the West coast and ASACompucom on the East coast using your VISA/MC card.

  What about VISA and MASTERCARD?

CompuServe is one method of registering using a VISA (and you have to have a CompuServe membership to do that). See the section covering CompuServe for more details.

The registration process outlined below by calling the Labyrinth or ASACompucom is in effect.  You may call either BBS at any time to register via credit card.

 Registering via credit card

Users wishing to register via credit card can call the Labyrinth BBS or ASACompucom BBS. ASACompucom BBS is located in Ohio, U.S.A. The Labyrinth is located in Southern California. The procedure, for those of you interested in registering via VISA/MC.

 Via modem call ASACompucom BBS at (614) 476-4058 or The Labyrinth at (818) 792-2523.

 Log on under your REAL NAME - then join the CMPQwk Support conference. From there you'll see a menu option for registering. Select that option and follow the prompts. It is similar to any on-line registration service, and will request information such as your name, address, etc.

 Fill out all the required information until you are back at the main screen.

Due to increased costs, registering via ASACompucom BBS or on the Labyrinth is slightly more expensive than registering directly with the author. This is not because it is a VISA/MC transaction, it is because of costs passed directly back to us by the BBS or credit card service. We make the same amount of money using either method, we just pass increase costs directly to the user rather than having all users subsidize this service.

 Upgrades are $30 without a manual, $52.00 with one. New registrations without a manual are $47 and $69.00 with a manual. Prices include shipping of the manual (where applicable). Please note that the charges on your VISA/MC will appear as, "ASACompucom, Inc." or "The Labyrinth," and not CMPQwk Reader.

 Note: Prices may change without notice. You'll be informed of the current price at the time you place your order. You will receive your registration numbers on-line in a message to you, please read it. Don't ask the sysop of either BBS for your numbers, they do not know them, that message to you is private!

 I want my money back!

 Tough luck, I'm afraid to say. You had plenty of time to use our program for free, you saw what you were getting into long before you sent in the cash. That's one of the things that's nice about shareware, you don't have a pretty box at Egghead or CompUSA luring you into spending money: you actually get to use the thing. We don't issue refunds, credits, etc. We're sorry if you registered it and then decided you don't like it.

 Can I sell my copy ?  Can I use it on my laptop, too?

 Nope, not at this time, and yes, sure. The license to use CMPQwk is not transferable, but you can use it on as many computers as you own, as long as no more than one copy can run at once. We use the "book" analogy here: if you've got a laptop at home and a machine at work that you want to use CMPQwk on, help yourself. If you've got ten laptops and five PC's in the office only you use (hey, we know they're addictive), go ahead and slap CMPQwk on all of them, no problem.

 I have a large corporation, are site-licenses available?

 Yes, they are, and we are racking up some impressive clients (some with more than 500 copies in use) site licenses. These include:

  CitiBank North America, Corporate Audit division

  U.S. Robotics (their modem tech support staff uses CMPQwk)

  The White House (Office of the President of the United States) - Attaboy, Bill!

  The U.S. Air Force (several bases world-wide)

  Sterling Software (large maker of financial transaction software)

  Symantec (the people who make Norton Utilities, Norton Desktop, and PC Tools)

  The Royal Canadian Government

  E-Design Graphics

  Galacticomm (the Major BBS company, their tech support uses CMPQwk)

  Zoom Telephonics (their modem tech support staff uses CMPQwk)

If you want to talk with us about a site license, you must contact us directly on the support boards or via the Internet. Please leave a telephone number where you can be reached during normal Los Angeles business hours. We'll call you to discuss pricing and policy. In some cases, if you're a maker of PC hardware and software (and make a product useful to us), we will exchange product with you on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

 Gimme gimme gimme!

 How do I get the latest version? Do you mail me a disk when I register?

 Call one of our support sites.  We don't ship out disks except in extreme circumstances (or with manual orders). See the sections on Los Angeles BB systems and Internet ftp for further information. You can always find the latest versions on our support sites.

 How do I find out about upgrades and new releases?

 Call our support sites (both L.A. and Net) and ask us or browse new files. We generally only issue public messages on RIME or elsewhere during beta cycles or major releases, there may be point releases you won't know about unless you dial us up and check for them.

 Can I get your latest versions via FTP? I have an Internet account and I'd like to do that rather than calling long-distance.

 Yep, you can almost always get the latest public versions (and sometimes registered-user betas) by ftp.netcom.com from the directory /pub/markwarn. That's a directory maintained for us by one of our key beta testers, Mark Warnsdorfer, (markwarn@netcom.com) and he kindly lets us use it for this purpose (for which we thank him). For more details on ftp and Internet mail see Internet ftp.

 Hey, when do I get my registration? It's been two weeks since I sent my check in!

 You'll get it no later than two to four weeks after your check CLEARS the bank. People forget that cashing a check from Florida or Maine can cause a ten-day wait to see if it clears. Unless you register by Visa or other credit card, figure three weeks minimum. If you register via VISA, you will have your numbers immediately. CompuServe users will get them within 24 to 48 hours in most cases.

So relax, we're not taking your money and running off to Aruba. If your check has cleared, start counting to three weeks. If you don't have it after then, contact us on the support sites and start complaining, something has happened to the paperwork. We want you to have it quickly, it looks great when people see all those registered user taglines!

But don't nag us about it before then, okay? Please be patient. We are understaffed and overworked.

 When will you have feature X?

 When we will add a new feature during the beta program (and eventually features will be "locked" as we approach release) depends on several things. The first thing is whether or not the current structure of the program can even do the thing you want to do. In some cases it just can't be done.

The second thing is how many people want the feature. Sometimes only one person will request the suggestion, but it's such a good one we put it in right away. Other times, it's not something we feel compelled to add, but if ten or more users ask us for it, we'll try to put it in.

We pride ourselves on our responsiveness to our users, and we think we support them better than just about any other Windows off-line mail reader production team---but there are limits. If you want us to read Bob 'n Ted's Zappo Mail for UNIX or something, and you're the only one who wants it, it would be safe to assume it's not going to make it into the program unless you can give us a very persuasive reason why we should do it (say you know 6,000 users reading Bob 'n Ted's Zappo Mail for UNIX and they've promised to register 6,000 copies immediately after we release the first beta that reads BnTZMfU format).

We are market-driven just like a "real company" and so there's the rub. Niche markets like Blue Wave (for which we've had a total of four requests) will take a back seat to better packing, better sorting, better editors, better folders, and so forth. We're sorry, but that's the way it works for us.

 You told us you'd have feature X in two weeks, how come it's not in there yet?

 There could be several reasons. Perhaps we couldn't figure it out (we're just normal folks, not Lotus or Microsoft with legions of highly-paid programmers), or possibly putting it in caused more problems than it solved, or---and most likely the case---we haven't had the time! Hang on, we've only been around for a short while, we'll get the features in there that you want.

Ask our users on RIME, CIS, and elsewhere. They'll tell you. Compare us to our competitors, we're not afraid of that, either.

 Program operations

  My registrations numbers don't work...help!

Nine-tenths of the time this is caused by the user entering the wrong number in the wrong slot.  Key number is not the same as Registration number. Your registration number is where you stand in the line-up of folks who've actually paid for using the program. If it says 900 then you're user 900 (899 before you have registered). The key number is a different animal---and herein lies the problem.  Users try to enter the key number in the registration number box and vice versa.

That's not going to work---and wait---just like the cheap knife commercial on late-night television, there's more---your NAME exactly as it appeared on your order form and check when Derek registered you, is an integral part of your registration.

So if you sent him a check with Robert Wienersteinski on it and you try to register as Bob Wienersteinski, you'll get a rude error message. And of course, being only human---and every now and then fatigued from 14 hour work days---Derek may mis-type your name when he enters your registration data. If this happens, try entering what Derek thinks your name is...and it will probably work.

The only other place your name is relevant is when you click on Help, About and see your name listed there. If Derek accidentally gets it wrong by a letter or two (or reverses your gender as he did to one poor user) you can delete CMPQWK.CFG after you've gotten a corrected registration.

 Note: if you're using a registered-user-only beta, don't delete that CFG file---you won't be able to load the program to re-register!

The program will become "non-registered" once the CFG file is gone, then you can re-register with your correct name...and our apologies. Having your name misspelled will not affect your ability to get product support or upgrades, don't worry at all about that.

 Note: although it may really bug you to see your name misspelled in your registration when you do Help, About, there is another drawback to deleting the CFG file to re-register: you will lose your signature contents. If you haven't created one, that won't be a problem. If you have, I suggest you copy the text out of the signature list box, paste the contents into Notepad or some other editor, delete the CFG, re-register, and then put your text back into the signature.

We'll try to keep those gender swaps to a minimum, too...sorry about that, Joan.

 Help, I can't get it to run, what do I do?

 First read this help file to see if you've changed anything that might cause it to fail.  Look in the Paths configuration tab and General configuration tab sections for the defaults and set the program back to those. If it still won't operate, or fails immediately on load, delete the contents of the work directory, if any exist. If that doesn't fix it, you either have a corrupt copy, or something in your system is preventing it from loading.

Only under very rare circumstances will you have to re-install, and in those cases you do not have to delete the contents of your home directory. Just delete the CMPQWK.INI file from the Windows directory, and the CMPQWK.CFG file from the home directory (if you're using a registered-user-only beta NEVER delete the CMPQWK.CFG file). Run the install from the prior "full release," telling it to install into the same directory. Then copy over the upgraded EXE and DLL files.

When the program loads the next time you'll find your folders, personal dictionary, and most everything else still in place. Manually copy all the files from the upgrade Zip files into the \CMPQWK directory, as well, just to make sure they're all up-to-date.

But try deleting the \WORK directory before you resort to this. See the Troubleshooting section for more information.

 I get NO CONTROL.DAT messages!

 Then you've got one of several things fouled up. Either the directory where you told CMPQwk to put its work directory (always called WORK when CMPQwk creates it) doesn't exist, you told CMPQwk to put the work directory on a drive that doesn't exist, or you're missing some components of the program if you're set to use internal unpacking. The files you might be missing are ZPDCMP.DLL and UNZIP.EXE.

If you're set to use external unpacking of some type and you get this message, either your packer is not in the path (copy it into the CMPQWK directory and you won't have to re-boot your system like you do when you change the path) or it doesn't exist at all, or it terminated abnormally. We don't trap error messages from external packers (such as a corrupt Zip message). You'll have to watch the screen for error messages if you use an external unpacker.

See the Troubleshooting section for more information.

 I get a GPF right when it's unpacking the QWK file.

 This problem is always caused by a corrupt Zip file. Delete the QWK in question, call the system back from which you got the mail, reset your message pointers, and re-download your mail using a reliable protocol like Zmodem. Ymodem-G used on a bad connection can sometimes cause this, despite what modem makers say. We've seen this happen first-hand.

 I call a Major BBS (Galacticomm) system, and when I upload mail, it says, "Invalid replies!"  What's wrong?

 What's wrong is that older versions (prior to 6.2) of Major BBS---a very powerful program---is a little funky...it can't run PKUnzip 2.x because it can't run DOS programs at all without a "slave" machine that boots from DOS. The mail door on a Major BBS isn't a "door" at all, but a part of the operating-system-like BBS central program. If you call a Major BBS you almost always must use the old PKZip 1.x-compatible packer. In some very rare cases people have worked around this pretty annoying limitation in Major BBS, but for most sysops it's not worth the time (or the hassle).

If you get this message, save your REP, select File/Re-open replies from the menu, pick the system name from the list presented to you, and before you close the REP, change your packer setting from 2.x-compatible to 1.x-compatible. Close your REP and it will convert it for you to 1.x. Then you can upload it to the system.

If Major still rejects your replies, get a copy of PKZip 1.1 for DOS, and create an external packer option for that program, Major accepts this without a problem. And ask your sysop to update his version, we've talked directly with the programmers at Galacticomm and they assure us that the current (and future) versions work fine with 2.x Zip packets.

 I can't find the Conference list.

 If this happens, I'd take odds you've got all your windows (Read, Write, etc.) set to run maximized and you're buried the Conference list  Press the 5 key and see if it appears. You cannot close this window and read mail (it closes the packet). So if you can't find it, it's because you haven't looked hard enough.  It's there. Use the Window menu if all else fails.

 Help, I updated to version X and now it doesn't run or unpack my QWKs!

 Follow the update instructions---and this means reading all of the text files in the release---and then carefully check to make sure you put all the new files in the correct places. Generally, unless we say otherwise, the files will always go into the \CMPQWK home directory. Check your user-created files, too (the *.CMP files) to make sure that none have been damaged or converted to zero byte files. This is especially important with beta versions that change major database functions (such as the new Tagline manager in 1.42).

If you don't confirm that all of the required files are in place, there's no way to diagnose the problem.  See the Required files section for a list of what files are required and where they go. If you still have a problem contact us for Product support.

See the Troubleshooting section and the Upgrading from an earlier version section for more information.

 Where does the file X go?

 Everything except CMPQWK.INI and OPTION.DLL go into the \CMPQWK home directory. If you download the optional CMPSOUND.ZIP file, the contents of that file go into a directory called \SOUND under the CMPQwk home directory. All other WAV files shipped with the program go into the home directory. If you put them elsewhere, the help file will not operate properly. See Required files.

 I want to use my MegaCoolPowerEdit for DOS with CMPQwk! Can I?

 Nope.  Not any time soon. Nor can you use (or will you be able to use) any external Windows editor such as our own Gator Edit. It just puts too many flies into the soup for us to handle. We'll just make the internal editor so powerful you won't want to do this. See Gator Edit for an example of what CMPQwk's editor will be by the time version 1.5 rolls around.

 How come the program runs so slowly on my 386 SX-16

 We don't suggest you run it on anything less than a 386 DX 25Mhz with four megabytes of RAM. In fact, we don't suggest you run it---if you expect it to run "briskly" with all the bells and whistles enabled---on a system less than a 486/33 and 8 megabytes (or more) of RAM. On a system like that, Windows (and our program) is quite enjoyable. Windows itself is just too slow for us on lesser hardware. See System requirements.

 My system crashed with a hardware error and now the program won't load! What happened?  It gets a runtime error or GPF on loading. Help!

 You've probably got corrupted replies. Go into the work directory and delete any files called with the extension *.TMP. You will lose your replies, but we can't take system errors into account, especially when you've got staged-write disk caches. Should this not fix it, delete all of the other files in the \work directory and try it again. If this happens to your computer a lot, get it fixed or turn off staged writes. As they say, "Stuff happens." If you're not over 18 don't you dare click on "Stuff happens."


Bet you thought I was going to say, "Shit happens," but I decided not to say that. I don't want to offend anybody.


If this program really exists, please don't tell me about it, okay?


Crash fun...

Even if a file is corrupt from a disk crash, if you have used a good utility to clean up your disk, you can (in 99% of these cases) just copy the correct files back into the directory. You gain nothing at all by blowing off the entire directory.

I see this as an alarming trend in the way people deal with Windows software: it's so complex, with so many files, that rather than learn what files do what, people just nuke the directory (or even Windows altogether) and start over. I've seen people re-install the entire Windows environment when all they needed was a fix for a typo in SYSTEM.INI.

So calm down, re-set the program to the defaults before you do anything else, and do things like compare the sizes of the files in the home directory with the sizes inside the CMPQwk archive---which you should keep---that you downloaded.

Try copying the files back into the directory (or at worst, deleting the CMPQWK.INI file, it will make a new one if you've botched it up and don't know what you did). That will probably fix it. You could be missing a file, have two versions of a DLL (both in your path) and so on. Approach this problem methodically, not emotionally! See the Troubleshooting section.

Apologies to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but DON'T PANIC!


 CompuServe support & registration

Derek's CompuServe ID is: 72233,3255. Feel free to E-mail him on CIS.

You can register on CIS, too. It's 15% cheaper to register by check or money order mailed directly to the author, but for some folks, CompuServe may be more convenient.

On CompuServe type GO SWREG. You'll find mention of CMPQwk there and instructions on how to register. Derek will leave you a message within 24 to 48 hours with your key and registration number to unlock the CMPQwk Reader program.

The cost of registering via CompuServe is $47. Registering through CompuServe causes us to incur some increased costs, which we pass on to the customer.


world-wide support sites
 support sites

Derek is "reachable" via the Internet at dbackus@patchbay.com

You can generally reach him via the RIME Windows conference.

 Please DO NOT route messages from the Internet to Derek's CompuServe address! If you do this, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits!

On RIME, send the message in our shiny new CMPQwk Support conference. If your BBS doesn't get this conference, please ask the sysop to pick it up. If you must, you may leave a routed message to us in the RIME Windows conference. If you have a question not of general interest to Windows users, we ask that you route mail to the author at the ASACompucom BBS support site. You do this by placing a routing address on the first line of the message.

To route to Derek on ASACompucom put ->5092 on the first line. Don't put anything else after it. You do not need to mark the message private to route it, although you can if you want.

Note: At the request of the RIME Windows conference moderator, we ask CMPQwk users to please preface the subject line of any non-routed message sent to us regarding our program to begin with Z: (subject). The parenthesis isn't required, but the Z: is. This way messages regarding our product can be sorted and will appear at the end of a packet when a RIME user has his reader's "sort by subject" turned on.

Please send bug notices to Derek Backus (not Todd Henschell). Derek is the programmer, I'm the guy who writes the documentation and designs the "look" of certain elements of the program. I haven't created any bugs that I know of, and if you forward a message to me regarding a malfunction or other issue you'll just delay getting a response because I'll just forward it to Derek.

Save time. Cut out the middleman and contact Derek directly. For best results, use our support conferences and not the off-line or Windows conferences if at all possible.

If you have other questions relating to the program or our policies I'll try to help you. On RIME please forward questions to me at the Hottips BBS by putting ->487 on the first line of the message. Put that message in our conference, too, if you have access to it. If you don't, ask your RIME sysop to pick it up.

I answer 100% of all mail from our users asking honest questions. Neither Derek or I will answer netmail that's hateful or sarcastic, we're far too busy improving our software to waste time with that. We also won't get dragged into a pointless discussion of other products in this market and why you like them better.

We wish to spend our time supporting our users, not arguing about software.

If you have a question regarding the documentation (the thing you're looking at now) or something other than bug problems, you can usually reach me there. This isn't a good BBS on which to reach Derek, however, as he doesn't do mail there.

Please understand that if you simply report a problem, you may not get a response. Derek logs all reports and then works on the problem. Given the limited amount of time he has to enhance the software, he gives priority to writing code, not mail. If you require a response (other than, "Yep, there's a problem all right,") be sure to mention that, and ask specifically what it is you need to know. Things like, "Will this be fixed?" don't fall under this banner, and therefore will not get a response.

Of course we want to fix it. Don't be silly. We hate bugs worse than you do, I bet.

There are other support sites that have embraced our product as their "official" mail reader or are areas of active support where we monitor mail and have posted our current releases.

The Ledge at (818) 896-2007 is a fine BBS run by Joseph Sheppard, one of the founders of U'NI Net. If you leave messages for Derek Backus in conference 0, or to Todd Henschell in the U'NI CMPQwk Support conference, we will get them. We don't post betas much on the Ledge, but our current release version is always here. We strongly encourage you to call (and support) this superb BBS. It's a first-class system run by a true professional sysop.

U'NI CMPQwk conference - Ledge sysop Joseph Sheppard has created a conference for us so we can do direct technical support for CMPQwk and our other products. Any board that carries U'NI Net can get this conference. We pick this conference up via The Ledge, so if that system is local to you, you can send questions you may have on conference 0 there, to save a bit on net traffic. If the Ledge is not local to you, please send support message in our conference, not in the Windows or Off-line mail conference.

ASACompucom BBS at (614) 476-4058 - an official support site - Midwest Home of CMPQwk

The absolute best method (guaranteed of success) to reach Derek is a message left on one of the two Los Angeles area BB systems acting as direct support sites. See the Los Angeles BBSsection.


 Internet ftp site & E-Mail

 UUEncoding QWK files?

Please don't send UUEncoded QWK files to us. They are usually split into 30 and sometimes 100 messages that can take hours to put back together and then examine. We do not have the time for this sort of thing. Instead, call a Los Angeles support site and upload the packet as a password-protected file, or on The Labyrinth, upload it with / as the first character of the description, that will "hide" the file from everybody but us. Send a message in the CMPQwk conference on the BBS you've called notifying Derek that you've uploaded a packet, he'll get it and examine it.

We will not reassemble and examine UUENCODED packets, so please do not waste your time creating them. This method of getting files to us is too time-consuming and prevents us from doing the other support work we need to do.

 Internet FTP access

We maintain at our expense an ftp site where you can always get the latest version of CMPQwk and our other products, too. All you need do is ftp.netcom.com from the directory /pub/markwarn.

You'll see a pre-log screen there giving you information about what's available. This directory is managed for us by our core beta tester Mark Warnsdorfer. If you need help here, please contact him at markwarn@netcom.com. He's our ftp expert (I don't know a thing about it myself.) Mark also knows quite a bit about UQWK, the UNIX "QWK" file maker that creates so many problems for us.

Feel free to check (and raid the files in) this directory regularly, we post updates there as they are produced.

When we enter the public beta cycle, the betas are put up and the last public release is taken back down, in most cases, to keep the costs of maintaining the site more reasonable.

 Internet E-Mail

We have had horrible problems with Netcom sending our mail off into the Twilight Zone. Despite this, if you have a comment or problem, please try to reach us via the Internet. Netcom's service seems to have stabilized a bit at this writing (although it still bounces a fair amount of mail). Our E-Mail addresses are:

 dbackus@patchbay.com

 henschel@patchbay.com

We answer all mail that we receive---and the key words there are in bold and italics. Also, given the spotty service, we may send you a message and you may not get it. So don't get angry, try another support avenue (like calling a support BBS, calling a RIME or U'NI board, and so on). It's not our fault if the mail doesn't get through in both directions.


Los Angeles area BBS systems
 Los Angeles area BB systems

Several Los Angeles area BB systems are supporting CMPQwk.

 The Patchbay BBS - (818) 683-0627

This is one site where you can leave a request for support. You may post a message there in Conference 14, CMPQwk Support, to Derek Backus. If you have a question regarding the documentation, post it in the same conference to Todd Henschell. Do not ask the sysop, Daniel Bise, questions about CMPQwk. Post those questions to Derek Backus directly.

If you wish to download the latest updates, you may log on as CMPQWK DOWNLOAD with the password UPDATE. No registration is required to obtain our latest builds. If you leave a message for us, however, be sure you leave your real name in the message.

If you want to get the reply message anywhere except on CompuServe or the Internet, you'll need to call back and register under your real name. If you leave a message to us with a CompuServe or Internet address and request a response there, we will attempt to reach you on the service you request.

The Patchbay has two lines available (automatically rolled over) for CMPQwk users, however if you call under the "free" account and somebody else is using this account on another line, you will not be able to log on. Call back and use your real name, or try again when the other user is off-line. If you log on under your real name, you will have access to either node no matter what the "free" account is doing.

This is a limitation of Wildcat!, it doesn't like same-name users getting on two nodes at once.

 The Labyrinth Shareware Registration System - (818) 792-2523

You can call to leave messages to Derek Backus here, or to register CMPQwk 1.4x using your VISA, Mastercard, or American Express card. When calling this system you must log on using your real name. Join the CMPQwk area to register the product. You'll see a list of available areas by pressing "J" from the main menu. You will receive your registration numbers immediately when you register on this system.


The sysop of The Patchbay, Daniel Bise, does not have time to answer your queries regarding our program. Please do not bother him with them, you will only delay getting a response because Dan will have to forward them to us. Join conference 14 (the CMPQwk support conference). Leave your message to Derek Backus in conference 14, please do not leave mail by using the [C]omments to the Sysop menu item in conference 0. You may not get a reply at all if you do this.


Derek and a business associate are in the process of establishing this new (primarily commercial) BBS system. CMPQwk users have free access to this system for files and for registering by VISA, M/C and American Express.


European sales & support; non-U.S. sales; U.K. sales & support; Common market sales
 European sales & support

European CMPQwk users interested in purchasing CMPQwk 1.4x should contact SC Systems. They are our exclusive Common Market sales and support providor. Please get in touch with SCS on their BBS for sales and support. All European transactions and product support for CMPQwk will be handled by SCS.

SCS

Hall Road

Martham

GT Yarmouth

Norfolk

Telephone: +44 (0) 493-748904

FAX: +44 (0) 493-748876

Support BBS Numbers: +44 (0) 493-748787, +44 (0) 493-748890, +44 (0) 493-748891 - Join the CMPQwk support conference (which is also netted with the U.S. support BBS, giving SCS a direct link with the authors).

SCS is our exclusive sales and support site for the U.K., Eire (Ireland), France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy, and Luxembourg. Users in any of those countries should register CMPQwk through SCS.

Users in other foreign countries outside of the U.S.A. should contact the author in the U.S. for sales and support.

We're very happy to have SCS as a part of our CMPQwk family,.and we strongly urge all non-U.S. users to contact them (and their fine BBS) if they're interested in registering CMPQwk.

If you have a product support question, and you are a European CMPQwk user, please feel free to dial up their BBS.

 For complete and up-to-date information about registering on SCS, click this button.

Users in other "foreign" countries should contact the author in the U.S. for sales and support.

 Note: Pricing and other policies put forth in this help file apply to direct U.S. sales, and our other distributors may have different prices or varying policies with respect to sales and support. Contact the vendor in your area for further information.


 legal disclaimers

CMPQwk isn't warranted to do anything other than fill up disk space. If you use it and it eats your hard disk's FAT and all your data and you lose 5,000 replies in your mail that morning and your entire Windows directory with forty megabytes of WAV files, we're very sorry, but we're not liable for any of it.

 By evaluating this program you assume all liability for its use and operation, or its failure to operate as expected.

 No warranties either expressed or implied are in place during the evaluation period. Finito.

 Registered users will have other rights that will vary from state to state, (and in countries other than the U.S.) regarding fitness of purpose and other features.

Todd Henschell and Dangerous Cybernetics (creators of this documentation) are not liable for any omissions, typographical or other errors that cause program malfunctions, or by omission, neglect to provide the user with information required for correct operation of the software.

 About other operating systems...

Because we cannot thoroughly test them, we can not warranty the correct operation of CMPQwk if you run it under anything other than Windows 3.1 or 3.11 running on top of MS-DOS of some flavor, Windows 4.x beta, or Windows NT 3.x. We have tested the program running under all of these operating systems at this writing.

Although they claim to be "compatible," the fact that sometimes otherwise well-behaved programs fail proves that "other" operating systems are not 100% compatible. We test CMPQwk thoroughly in wide-area beta on machines running  3.1 and 3.11, Windows NT, and we've got two beta testers using it under Windows 4.x Beta 1.

We do not test, develop for, or support the use of CMPQwk with WABI under UNIX of any flavor, or Insignia's Soft Windows under the Mac. We have only done "light" testing under OS/2 2.x and have dropped this product from organized testing due to lack of demand.

If you use one of these, please don't complain to us if things don't work right. You're not using Windows. You're using something that tries to "fool" software into thinking it's running inside Windows and/or DOS. That includes OS/2 2.1 "for" Windows (a clever IBM marketing ploy which runs your copy of Windows 3.1 in an OS/2 2.1 virtual machine but which some people think is an "improved" Windows shell).

These are all fine products, and we're happy you like them, but if you register and then feel the need to run OS/2 2.1, UNIX, or something else, we're very sorry if CMPQwk doesn't work any more---but we warned you in advance. If you're using one from the get-go we should advise you that we cannot properly support alternative operating systems because we cannot test fixes for them.

 CMPQwk may not function as designed under anything but Windows 3.1 or 3.11, NT or 4.0 It might work okay but then again it might not.

 It is one hundred percent your gamble to fiddle with these other systems.

We choose not to gamble.

 Important! User assumes all liability with regard to operation of CMPQwk Reader and by evaluating it, hereby indemnifies the authors from any and all loss---data, time, and otherwise---that may occur as a result of said use or evaluation of software. This includes but is not limited to loss of time, loss of work product, and loss of productivity.


 copyright notices

 CMPQwk Reader is Copyright © 1993, 1994 by Derek Backus, and all rights are reserved by him. You may not use this software beyond the 30-day evaluation period without registering or you will be in violation of the copyright.

 This software is not in the public domain, and may not be distributed by any method where the user is charged (except normal access fees by a public BBS) without prior written permission by the author.

 Shareware vendors MUST notify users that by purchasing or downloading this software for a nominal fee they are NOT registered users of same. Registration fees are above and beyond any costs incurred by the user as a result of obtaining this software.

 Certain program functions, such as the translation of common ASCII characters into specific fonts or font types are protected under the copyright of this product, as are all of the features unique to this product. Infringement of this intellectual property by appropriating features unique to it will be considered a violation of the author's copyright and actionable. Other aspects of the product (such as font translation schemes) are under consideration for patent applications.

 The terms Folder Tools™, Magic Mouse Shortcuts™, Quick Message List™, and QML™ are trademarks of CMPQwk Reader and are protected by law.

 This help file and all printed documentation derived from it is Copyright © 1994 by Todd Henschell and Dangerous Cybernetics, and may not be copied, altered, or in any other fashion used except as it was meant: in support of CMPQwk Reader. What else could you use it for anyway?

 The Scrazner Dog™ logo is a trademark. If you try to steal her, she will bite you on the hiney and rip off a very big chunk of bleeding meat. Despite the goofy expression on her face, she is extremely vicious, so beware.

 Microsoft Windows™ is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation, and is in no way affiliated with CMPQwk Reader or its author.

 CMPQwk Reader is not affiliated with or connected in any way to CMP Publications, the folks who produce Windows magazine although for some absurd reason, our names are similar. We like their magazine, you probably will, too.

 Off Line Express (OLX, mentioned several times in this file) is a product of Mustang Software, Inc. We think it's the best DOS-based QWK reader on the market, and if you need a DOS reader, we suggest you give this one a look-see. You won't be disappointed, it's a truly great product.

 Any other software products mentioned in this help file are the respective properties and/or trademarks of their owners, and as such, have no connection with CMPQwk Reader.


 thank you, thank you...

Thanks to the many people who registered this product, we deeply appreciate your show of support. Because of you folks, CMPQwk will only get better and more powerful. Your comments and suggestions have been helpful.  We're listening...

Kudos to the ßeta Testing Team who plugged away during thick and thin, their only payment being able to see the software come into shape, help it get that way, and to get to use it once it was ready to be used. Without those guys, this piece of software would never have seen the light of day.

Great work!  Roll those credits:

 One and only Programmer

Derek Backus

 Docs & Graphics & Interface Design

Todd Henschell

 Beta Wrangler

Pye Scrazner, (lost forever in the æther and sorely missed).

 Front-line Beta Testers

Mark Whitney, Mark Warnsdorfer, Bob Long, Sam Cornelius, Bill Whaley, Forrest Rayburn, and JP Bicket.

 Program Security Analyst

Ben Chiu, Jensen Gema Volstatic, Inc.

 Thanks to

Daniel Bise, Sysop The Patchbay BBS home of CMPQwk.

 Thanks to

Ron Amick for nifty interface suggestions.

 Special Thanks to

Mike W. Smith and Mark Warnsdorfer, who helped greatly with the 1.40 spelling dictionary. Way to go Mike and Mark!

And Extra Special thanks to Colette and Leslie for unwavering moral support and having that special quality Significant Others possess. And they were nice and let us play with our computers long enough to create this program, instead of making us do things like cleaning the house or washing the laundry.

Saying, "We love you," to them doesn't begin to cover it.


 documentation information

This documentation was prepared using Word for Windows 6.0a and several tools to assist in the preparation of help files, mainly HelpBreeze (see below). The graphics used in this help file were either created by the author, or derived from public domain sources posted on various BBS systems. This file represents the product of several hundred hours of work, numerous six-packs of Pepsi, several medium pizzas with extra cheese, mushrooms, and pepperoni, and a couple of bags of Rold Gold pretzels.

The file is compiled with the protected mode help compiler (HCP.EXE) running in a DOS box inside Windows for Workgroups 3.11 running on my 486/50 EISA machine. It was compiled about a hundred times during the course of development, maybe more, I've lost track.

I created approximately 3.5 MB of graphics to support this help file. I used Windows Paint (yeah, really) for most of those graphics, the Microsoft SHED development tool to create the hotspots, and in some cases Corel Photo Paint 5.0 to create the more complex bitmaps used in this file and inside CMPQwk itself. Borland's terrific Resource Workshop 4.0 was my main tool for creating CMPQwk's bitmaps, such as those in the toolbar.

I also used various Windows shareware and retail image file tools for doing things like color reduction, re-sizing, and so forth. Too many to name here, but shareware helped get the work done.

This help file has well over 82,000 words (both visible and pop-up), about 380,000 characters, and over 3,000 paragraphs. And believe me, I'm happy it's all done now. Until the next version, anyway...

 Click button to see the documentation logo.

 HelpBreeze

The sheer amount of jumps and graphics used in this help file would be impossible to keep track of without this product. I mention it here because many people are developing help files for various reasons (on-line magazines just to mention one) and HelpBreeze is---in my opinion---the best of the help authoring add-ons for Word 6.

Because the product has saved me so much work, was so well-done, and made things possible for me that I would never have attempted without it, I feel the author deserves some credit, and a mention here was in order. No, not a mention, but a strong recommendation to anybody doing help files.

I've tried many of the other products and none of them matched up to this one. It is easy to use, works well, has a smooth interface, allows you to set jumps to topics that do not exist (very handy, believe me), and handles graphics as good or better than anything out there.

Hey, I don't put shameless plugs in our documentation unless I really feel it will benefit the end-user or developer, believe me. This product is worth every penny of the price Solutionsoft charges for it.

If you generate on-line help for Windows 3.1, do yourself a big favor and purchase this product. You will not regret it. To find out more about HelpBreeze, contact:

 Solutionsoft

(408) 736-1431 - voice

(408) 736-4013 - FAX

 Grey Matter Ltd. (U.K.)

0364-654100 - voice

0364-654200 - FAX

 Downsizing Systems GmbH (Germany)

0221-7400986 - voice

0221-747178 - FAX

 Philog AG (Switzerland)

057-343141 - voice

057-343151 - FAX

There is an international version of HelpBreeze, and it's fully compatible with localized versions of Microsoft Word 6.0x. As of this writing it supports French, German, and English. Full support for other languages will appear in the future. These versions contain support for:

  International characters (accents, umlauts, etc.)

  HelpBreeze automatically adjusts to the user's local version of Word. No need for the user to diddle with settings or otherwise waste valuable development time.

  Localized support requires Word 6.x or later. If you're using Word 2.x only English is supported.

  The program's interface and documentation is in English.


 registration index

Here's the section that---like the annual PBS fund drive---is where everybody goes out to get something from the refrigerator. Well, sorry, but we have to talk about it. Without registrations, continuing to support and improve the program will be impossible.

You've got 30 days to try the program for free, after that you must register or stop using it. Technical support is always provided first to registered users---they paid for it! If we have time, we deal with "evaluators" next. If we notice that the evaluators have been using the program longer than 30 days, we may deal with them in another matter altogether by asking them to register or stop using our program.

CMPQwk is not freeware. If you wish to use it for more than 30 days, you must register it.


registration index

 Why should you register?

  What do you get when you register?

  What do you get when you don't register?

  Where can you register?


 why should you register?

You can register CMPQwk by sending a check or money order to the address listed in Where can you register. Once you've registered, your key and registration numbers (they will enable your taglines) will be mailed to you via U.S. Mail. If you prefer, that information can be posted in a message on our support BBS The Patchbay (818) 683-0627.

Due to security problems, we will not post E-mail that includes key information to any other systems unless you're willing to accept the chance that your numbers will (probably) get pilfered. We'd prefer to keep this sort of thing under close control. Up to you, though. Ask Derek to E-mail those numbers to you, at your risk.

 Why register?

Because you're an honest person who recognizes the amount of work, dedication, and general pain it takes to produce a piece of software like CMPQwk. You don't like to hear about penniless programmers dying of starvation, yet it's an awful fact in today's heartless shareware world.

This terrible tragedy hasn't made 20/20 yet, but rumor has it that Geraldo might be interested, so stay tuned and watch out for flying chairs.

If you send a check (or slam the 'ol VISA again), the author can pay his rent, pay for the electricity to continue to power his computer system, and improve CMPQwk even further. Our goal is to make this product the best mail reader---period---not just the best mail reader for Windows. The best is the only place to be.

That's an impossible task without user support.

With the support and suggestions of users like yourself, who appreciate the complexity of the task (you're reading this, that means you liked it enough to peruse this deeply into the help file), something approaching "the best" is within reach.

A reminder: you've got 30 days to try the program for free, after that you must register or stop using it.

If you continue to use it beyond the evaluation period, eventually the program will delay loading. Then it will make you wait longer each day, until finally it will be less trouble to either register it or stop using the program than to wait for the delay. It is obvious that about three out of ten users are registering (the rest are deleting the UNREGISTERED taglines or ignoring them).

We can't make them register, but we can dissuade them of the idea that this is freeware. It's not. We also believe that the folks who scream the loudest about this sort of thing are the ones that want to use it for free. So if you scream about this, we know just exactly into which crowd you fall.

And this will not endear you to us, either.


 what do you get when you register?

I'm not going to say "peace of mind." Nobody gets peace of mind by spending money. Well, nobody except the bureaucrats running the government. You get $40 or thereabouts poorer, of course, but you gain the honest use of a superb piece of software that, if it were marketed through retail stores, would cost well over $100.

You also get free support via the regular channels, and reduced prices for future upgrades.

You get the programmer's ear if there is some feature you just can't live without. Registered users who make suggestions about requests for new features in future versions will always get a nod before folks who say, "I'd buy it if it only did (fill in the blank)." One is a commitment that deserves reward and encourages us to work harder. The other is a annoying half-promise that may or may not come true.

You can guess which is which, I'd wager.

 How to enter your registration numbers

To enter your information into the program, select Help, then About, and there is a button on the About box that says Register on it. Click that and type in your numbers in the next box that appears. Make sure you don't transpose the registration number and the key number.

Your name---exactly as it is printed on your registration form---is part of the registration, so enter it exactly as Derek printed it on the form (even if he misspelled it, which sometimes happens). It doesn't affect your ability to get upgrades or anything else if he made a typo, it's the number that matters when ordering upgrades, not how he spelled your name. If it's even remotely close (phonetic, even) we'll allow you to purchase an upgrade, so don't worry.

Once you've entered your numbers, click on Help, About again. You'll get a new about box that shows you are registered, and has a more interesting appearance overall. And there's a secret credits list in this box, but I'm not going to tell you the key to bring it up.

 Bulk orders?

If you're a BBS sysop (or even a user who is a student or other "organizer" type) and can get ten or more users to register at once, notify us of this and we'll give your users a discount price of $25 a copy if they all submit their payments (through you) in one order and with one check from the BBS sysop (or instigating person or organization). We'll mail you a single card (or post a single message) with all the key information and you can distribute that to your users directly. It helps us, and your users love the convenience of registering locally through their favorite sysop. See the Where can you register section and the order forms accessible from there.

In exchange for helping us, we'll give the sysop (or the instigator of the ten sales) a free registration. That's worth up to $40 in case you weren't paying attention.

If you want to do this via VISA, the price is $30 a copy.

We strongly believe in the old, "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" way of doing business.

The polices on bulk orders made through our European Distributor, SC Systems may be different. If you're interested in a bulk order, we suggest you contact SCS directly. The Bulk Order policy above applies to direct sales made to the author.


 what do you get when you don't register?

Nothing.

You can continue to use the software beyond the 30-day trial, of course, although you'll be in violation of the copyright if you don't register it within the trial period. And no, we're not going to send the Copyright Police out looking for you. We're too busy working on the next version.

If you don't register, and you're confused about something, or have a technical question or other problem, you'll have to be content to get your questions answered after we attend to registered users, if we do it at all. And of course if we know you've been using it longer than 30 days, don't expect us to help you continue to do so. Otherwise, what would the users who do pay for the program be getting for their money?

Fair is fair.

There is one more thing you'll get: after you've used CMPQwk past the duration of the free trial period a delay. The longer you use it, the longer the delay in loading the program will get. After a pre-defined period, the program will make you wait so long you just won't want to bother with it.

We figure if you haven't registered in two months or so, you're not going to do so. We don't see why we should provide you with the fruits of our hard work for free. We're a shareware company, not a charity for computer users doing mail!

 Un-installing CMPQwk Reader

If you try CMPQwk and hate it, we're sorry. We've worked thousands of man-hours on it and we did our very best. If you don't want to use it and despise it, we suggest you delete it from your system and move on.

Here's how you do that:

  First off, look for the file INSTALL.LOG in the \CMPQWK directory. That file will give you the name and destination of every file SETUP.EXE copied to your system. Print it out and you'll have a simple checklist of stuff to scrape off the 'ol hard disk. Next step:

  Delete all the files in the \CMPQWK directory and then delete that directory.

  Delete ZPDCMP.DLL and OPTION.DLL from the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory (they may not be there, depending on your version).

  Delete CMPQWK.INI from the Windows directory.

  Depending on which version you installed, you may have some files called 001-009.* that may have been copied to your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Delete them, also, or rename them *.WAV and enjoy them as system sounds, you have our permission to keep them for personal use only.

  Delete the appropriate icon from whatever Program Manager group it's in.

  Delete anything I've missed here but shows up in INSTALL.LOG.

  You're finished, it's all gone...and we're very sorry we couldn't please you.

Not everybody likes every piece of software. As Ross Perot might say, "It's just that simple." There are other fine mail readers out there produced by very talented programmers. Try one of them, you might like it better. We won't feel bad if you'd prefer to use something else. Of course, there's always OLX, by Mustang Software, still the best DOS off-line mail reader in the world in my opinion.

Trying to be all things to all people is why Look magazine went down the tubes, you know. We have a certain philosophy as to how things should look and work, and we want our program to reflect them and not somebody else's way of doing things.

Not everyone will like the way everything is done in CMPQwk. Judging by its success, though, lots of people do like it. It is now the best-selling off-line mail reader for Windows at this writing. However we are always looking in the rear-view mirror and we're not sitting on our laurels. We want every new version of our program to be more powerful yet still easy-to-use.

We feel there's room for more than one off-line mail reader, but we also like ours the best and we're not one bit ashamed to admit it.


 where can you register?

After your 30-day trial is over, (or before, that's okay, too) send a check or money order (U.S. dollars only, please) to:

Derek Backus

CMPQwk Reader

P.O. Box 1017

Arcadia, CA 91077

 European Common Market registrations

 European users in the Common Market should contact our U.K. support and sales site, SC Systems.

SCS is our exclusive sales and support site for the U.K., Eire (Ireland), France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy, and Luxembourg. Users in any of those countries should register CMPQwk and seek support for the product through SCS.

Users in other countries should contact the author in the U.S.A. for sales and support.

Non-European users can also call the author's BBS and register using your VISA, Mastercard, or American Express. SCS offers registration via plastique, too. Contact them for further information.

 The Labyrinth Shareware Registration System (818) 792-2523

You can call to leave messages to Derek Backus here, or to register CMPQwk using your VISA, Mastercard, or American Express card. When calling this system you must log on using your real name.

 Join the CMPQwk area after you log on. You'll see a list of available areas by pressing "J" from the main menu.

 Follow the prompts in the registration script. Fill in all of the requested information.

 You'll receive your registration numbers immediately when you register on this system.

 Upgrades are $30 without a manual, $52.00 with one.

 New registrations without a manual are $47 and $69.00 with a manual. Prices include shipping of the manual (where applicable).

 Please note that the charges on your VISA/MC will appear as, "The Labyrinth" and not CMPQwk.

By the way, please don't leave messages to me here, I don't do mail on this system. If you wish to contact me, leave those messages via the net support methods outlined in this file, or call The Patchbay BBS (see the section on Los Angeles BB systems).

 Upgrading from another product?

If you're a registered user of OLX, SLIMER, WinQWK, etc. and you register CMPQwk, it will only cost you $25.

If you're a registered user of WaveRider, it will cost you $15 (this price is available only when you pay by check). You must mail in your original WaveRider disk with key file to get this upgrade.

You must take a few extra steps to prove your legal ownership of these other mail readers. Any generally-recognizable off-line mail reader is acceptable for an upgrade. You can not upgrade WaveRider via credit card, you must mail a check for that offer.

 Upgrade Procedure

 Call one of the support BBS systems and send Derek Backus a message in the CMPQwk conference asking him to upgrade you. In the message you must leave the name and serial number of your  original mail reader. You will not receive a reply until after we receive and process your check.  Since your messages are routed to a central hub, please repeat the name of the system you called to place the message if that's the system you'd like to call to get your numbers.

 Mail your check and the completed order form immediately after leaving the message.

 We will mail (or post on the support BBS or other site) your registration numbers. Tell Derek which method you prefer. You will have to call back and check for a post to you if you'd prefer electronic registration. If you have not received a reply to a query about your numbers, remember: allow four to seven days for a reply via support BBS. We will send your upgrade paperwork via mail in about four weeks.

Or, instead of sending the message you can...

 Remove the original title page of your OLX or other manual and mail it (or the original disk 1) with the upgrade form you can print from this section of the help. Your original mail reader's serial number must be written on the title page, along with your full name, phone number, address, etc. (as well as this form). Put this information in both places in case your page and form get separated.

 You must include a check for $25 with the upgrade form in any case, (or $42.50 plus applicable tax if you want us to ship you a manual and disks). Make all checks payable to Derek Backus, not CMPQwk Reader or CMPQwk.

 Important note: You do not need to do both. Either a message with number (followed by the form and a check) OR your title page, etc. (if your reader has a manual). You will get a reply (with registration numbers) about four weeks after your check clears the bank. We will mail an invoice to you in any event. WaveRider upgrades need to ship the disk with their key file on it to the address, with the completed form, and a check for $15.

 Registration Forms

If you want to print registration or upgrade forms, click the appropriate button below to view a form, then select "Print" from the Windows Help button bar above. Select "Back" from the button bar to return to this section and continue reading the help file.

 Click this button for a regular registration form.

 Click this button for an upgrade registration form.

You may register using your VISA/MC card, on ASACompucom BBS listed below.

 Registering on ASACompucom BBS

East coast users wishing to register via credit card can contact ASACompucom BBS. This system is located in Ohio, U.S.A. You may register via VISA by mail, or modem. The procedures, for those of you interested in registering via VISA/MC on ASACompucom follow:

 By mail

 Print the registration forms in this help file (then fill in all the information) and include your VISA/MC card numbers. Mail the completed form to ASACompucom BBS at the address below. You will receive a receipt with your registration numbers via mail once it's been processed.

If you want to print a registration form, click the button below and then click on the "Print" button on the Windows Help button bar. That will create a nicely-formatted form that you can fill in and mail. Select "Back" from the button bar to return to this section when you're through.

 Click this button for a VISA mail-in form.

Print CMPQwk Registration in the lower-left corner of the front of the envelope. Mail it to:

ASACompucom, Inc.

12 Westerville Square Suite 359

Westerville, OH 43081

 Via modem

 Call ASACompucom BBS at (614) 476-4058

 Log on under your REAL NAME and join conference 9, the CMPQwk Support conference. From there you'll see a menu option for registering. Select that option and follow the prompts. It is similar to any on-line registration service, and will request information such as your name, address, etc.

 Fill out all the required information until you are back at the main screen.

 Due to increased costs, registering via ASACompucom BBS is slightly more expensive than registering directly with the author. This is not because it is a VISA/MC transaction, it is because of costs passed directly back to us by the BBS.

 Upgrades are $30 without a manual, $52.00 with one. New registrations without a manual are $47 and $69.00 with a manual. Prices include shipping of the manual (where applicable). Please note that the charges on your VISA/MC will appear as, "ASACompucom, Inc." and not CMPQwk.

 Prices may change without notice. You'll be informed of the current price at the time you place your order.  You will receive your key and registration numbers immediately.

 Please allow four to six weeks for us to ship your manual (if you ordered one) we print them in batches and do not print until there is sufficient demand to do so.

 Note: the manual for 1.42 was not ready at the time this help file was prepared. It could be from four to six weeks after the public release of 1.42 before the manual is ready for printing. This is due to the fact that we intended to use Corel Ventura Publisher to create the manual, and this program was not ready at the time of our program's release. We apologize for this delay, however there isn't much we can do about it. Thank you, Corel!


Regular registration form
CMPQwk Registration Form - U.S.

Don't use this form if you're upgrading. Go back and click the upgrade button! If this is a sysop order, you'll need to print an additional form mentioned at the bottom of this one. Complete all required sections to prevent a delay in processing your order. Allow four to six weeks to receive your numbers.

Name __________________________________________________________

Address 1 ______________________________________________________

Address 2 ____________________________________Country___________

City____________________________ State________ZIP/ Postal__________

Daytime Phone (_____)_______________________

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Reader Regular $         40.00

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Reader w/manual           57.50

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Reader Sysop deal         250.00

If this is a Sysop order of more then 10 copies specify no. at $25 @_______

total number_______ subtotal price $___________

Sales Tax $___________

(California only)

Total Amount Enclosed $ __________

If you're making a Sysop order, click the word Sysop to see an extended list you can print with information regarding that type of order. Print that page, fill it out, and attach it to this page.  If you're ordering more than ten copies, print that page as many times as you need to fill in all of your user names. Click the "Back" button to return to this form, or "Back" again to return to Where can you register?

Mail the completed form(s) to:

Derek Backus

CMPQwk Reader

P.O. Box 1017

Arcadia, CA 91077


Upgrade registration form
CMPQwk Upgrade Only Form - U.S.

Don't use this form if you're registering without an upgrade! Go back and click the regular order form button! Allow four to six weeks to receive your numbers. Complete all required sections to prevent a delay in processing your order. Competing product name and serial number is mandatory!

Name __________________________________________________________

Address 1 ______________________________________________________

Address 2 ____________________________________Country___________

City____________________________ State________ZIP/ Postal__________

Daytime Phone (_____)_______________________

Competing product__________________________serial________________

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Reader upgrade   $ 25.00

Qty: _______upgrade from WaveRider $ 15.00

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Reader upgrade w/manual $ 42.50

total number_______ subtotal price $___________

Sales Tax ___________

(California only)

Total Billing Amount $ ___________

Mail the completed form(s) to:

Derek Backus

CMPQwk Reader

P.O. Box 1017

Arcadia, CA 91077


Visa registration form
Visa/MC Registration form for ASACompucom BBS - U.S.

This form is only for mailing a VISA registration to ASACompucom BBS in the United States. Do not mail this form to Derek Backus. You can make any type of VISA/MC order with this form.

Note that for every upgrade you order, you must fill in a name and product serial number of a competing product from which you want to upgrade. If you don't have sufficient space in which to do this below, attach another piece of paper. Prices may change without notice! If this help file is more than six months old we suggest you call ASACompucom by voice for current pricing and information!

Name __________________________________________________________

Address 1 ______________________________________________________

Address 2 ____________________________________Country___________

City____________________________ State________ZIP/ Postal__________

Daytime Phone (_____)_______________________

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Reader Regular   $ 47.00

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Reader w/manual     69.00

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Upgrade     30.00

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Upgrade w/manual     52.00

Qty:_______ CMPQwk Sysop order (minimum)    300.00

If this is a sysop order of more than ten copies specify no.at $30@

sysop total number_______ subtotal price $___________

Sales Tax ___________

(Ohio only)

Total Billing Amount $ ___________

VISA/MC Number ________________________________EXP _____/_______

Signature___________________________________________

Competing product__________________________serial________________

VISA/MC  credit card numbers should only to be sent to the mailing address for ASACompucom BBS.  DO NOT SEND VISA NUMBERS TO Derek Backus! Mail the completed form(s) to:

ASACompucom BBS, Inc.

12 Westerville Square Suite 359

Westerville, OH 43081

If you're making a sysop order, click the word Sysop to see an extended list you should print so you can provide the information we need for that type of order. Complete that page and attach it to this page. Print as many copies of that page as you require. Click the "Back" button to return to this form, or "Back" again to return to Where can you register?


Sysop order form extension
U.S. Sysop Order Form Extension

Print this form to give us the extended information we need for this type of order. You do not need to print this unless you are ordering a single-check sysop-level order!

Give us the name of the user who gets the "free" registration below.

Sysop order freebie:____________________________________________

Enter your ten user names below. Print additional sheets if you need more space or have ordered more than ten copies. Orders of more than 50 copies should contact us for a site license or retail agreement.

.

Name 1_______________________________________________________

Name 2_______________________________________________________

Name 3_______________________________________________________

Name 4_______________________________________________________

Name 5_______________________________________________________

Name 6_______________________________________________________

Name 7_______________________________________________________

Name 8_______________________________________________________

Name 9_______________________________________________________

Name 10______________________________________________________


elevator bar

The elevator bar is the stripe that runs along the side (and bottom) of any document window shown in Windows when the document is larger than the window size. You can quickly move about a document by clicking on the "car" that rides in the elevator, and dragging it back and forth. You can also click once above the car (if it has room above it) to page up one page, or once below it to page down one page. Those two functions are the same as hitting Page up and Page down on the keyboard.


 Basic information

  Welcome to CMPQwk

  Fast setup instructions

  How to read mail and create replies

  What the program is supposed to do

  What the program isn't supposed to do

  Important features

  Coming attractions

  Keyboard shortcuts

  Magic mouse shortcuts

  General information

 CMPQwk's tools

  The toolbar

  The status lines

  Folder Tools

  Advanced folder tips

  Qwk management tips

  Rubber stamps

  Address book

  Subject list

  Personal spelling dictionary

 CMPQwk's windows

  The conference list

  The read window

  The quick message list (QML)

  The write window & message header

 Creating mail

  Be a good net citizen

  Spell-checking your replies

  Carbon copies

  Forwarding a message

  Advanced write window functions

 CMPQwk's menus

  File menu

  Edit menu

  Conference menu

  Packet menu

  Message menu

  Folder menu

  Window menu

  Help menu

 Program configuration

  Configuration tips

  General configuration tab

  Paths configuration tab

  Read configuration tab

  Filters configuration tab

  Replies configuration tab

  Taglines configuration tab

  Editor configuration tab

  Fonts configuration tab

  Sound configuration tab

 Advanced information

  System requirements

  Making the most from CMPQwk

  Packer considerations

  Auto signature

  For VGA users

  Tips for SVGA users

  Tips for high-color & high end video

  Problems with colored fonts

  Inaccurate window placements?

  Big netmail packets

  Long Internet messages

  Upgrading from an unsupported reader

  Upgrading from an earlier CMPQwk

  Index of terms used

 Under the hood

  CMPQWK INI editing

  Troubleshooting tips

  Required files list

  Other considerations

 Product support

  How to report a problem

 Frequently-asked questions

  CompuServe support & registration

  Support sites

  Internet ftp site & E-Mail

  Los Angeles BB systems

  European sales & support

 Legal information

  Legal disclaimers

  Copyright notices

 Curtain calls

  Thank you, thank you

  Documentation information

 Registration information

  Why should you register?

  What do you get when you register?

  What do you get when you don't register?

  Where can you register?


Lost in the Æther and sorely missed.


A

About the authors

Adding a new tagline file to database

Adding a subject to pick list

Adding a subject to Twit list

Adding a user to picklist

Adding a user to Twit list

Address book

ANSI files, viewing

ANSI files, stripping to plain text

Airedale, our mascot

Attachments, file, step-by-step

Auto file attachment detector, tips

B

Basic information

Bugs, reporting

Bugs, troubleshooting

C

Carbon copies, sending

CMPQWK.INI editing

CMPView & CMPEdit, help for

Colors, configuring

Conference, adding

Conference, dropping

Creating a new message

Creating a reply message

Creating a new (blank) tagline file

D

Deleting a reply

Deleting a QWK packet

Deleting a QWK automatically

Disk space, required

E

Editing a reply

Editor, setting margins

Error messages, handling

Errors, spell-checking

European sales

Exporting a message to text

F

FIDO routing string

File attachments

Files, attaching to message

Files, attaching step-by-step

Files

Files, attachment detector

Files, opening

Files, QWK management

Files, required

Files, text export

Files, text import

Folder messages

Folder messages, copying

Folder messages, copying to clipboard

Folder messages, deleting

Folder messages, printing

Folder messages, reading

Folder messages, replying to

Folders

Folders, advanced considerations

Folders, using

Folders, using an external viewer

Fonts

Fonts, italics and underline

Fonts, configuring

Formatting badly-wrapped text

Forms, registration

FTP, Internet

G

Gator Edit, what is it?

GPF, troubleshooting

Grabbing taglines

H

Header, message

How to read mail and create replies

I

INI file editing

Inserting a text file into a message

Internet, auto

Internet E-mail & ftp

J

Joining a conference

K

Keyboard shortcuts

Keeping a message

Keeping a stiff upper lip

Known problems

L

Last-read pointers file, copying

List, to

Lists, skip

List, subject

Long messages, viewing

Los Angeles support sites

M

Making the most from the program

Managing QWK files

Margins, setting editor

Memory, required

Message, creating

Message, storing in folders

Message, exporting to text

N

New files listing, viewing

No CONTROL.DAT, troubleshooting

Noise, having the program make some

O

Options

Options, editor

Options, filters (skip lists)

Options, fonts

Options, Read window

Options, sound

Options, taglines

Options, Write window

P

Packing folder database

Packers, tips

Packers, troubleshooting

Packet files

ANSI

Last-read pointers, copying

Paragraph wrapping

Problems

Problems, how to report

Problems, known OS and driver

Q

QWK files, defective (fixing)

See General options, rebuild indexes

QML

QWK management

QWK files, problems unpacking

R

RAM requirements

Read window, options

Removing CMPQwk

Required files

Runtime errors

Registration information

ROT-13

S

Saving a message to a folder

Signature, automatic

Spell-checking

Sound, settings

Stamps, rubber

Status lines

Storing message in folders

Subject pick list

Support

Support sites, Los Angeles

Support sites, network

System requirements

T

Taglines

Taglines, database functions

Taglines, stealing

Terms, commonly-used

Text files, exporting from a message

Text files, importing

Text files, importing into a message

Text files, importing step-by-step

Text files, exporting

Text files, exporting

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting, checking CMPQWK.INI

U

Undeleting a deleted reply

Uninstalling CMPQwk

User-defined text (stamps)

V

Viewing ANSI files

Viewing large message

W

WAV files, using

Who?

Who made this program?

Who do I yell at if it crashes?

How do I yell at them?

Work directory, setting

Wrapping

Wrapping paragraphs

Wrapping margins, setting

Write window

Write window

Write window, options

X

Xylophone

Y

You want to register?

Z

Zip

Zip, packer considerations

Zip, packer options


Xylophone

This has nothing to do with anything, but X was empty and I felt terribly sorry for it.


Gator Edit

What is Gator Edit? We think it's one of the best Windows text editors you can buy, and if you register CMPQwk you can get Gator Edit for only $15. Gator Edit is available from any of our Los Angeles area support sites, from CompuServe (in the WinShare forum) and all over the place. In fact, by the time you read this, it should be available at an Egghead or Radio Shack near you, too, because Golden Medallion has agreed to distribute it for us in retail markets as a shareware demo.

So look for it (the 1.0 version's file name is GATOR_01.ZIP), download it, and play with it. It can read your CMPQwk folders, open up to 100 files, and it has a full set of text editing features as well as a drag 'n drop buildable toolbar and sound support.

Is this a shameless plug? Yep, sure is. See the Los Angeles support sites if you want to download it today.


Keeping a stiff upper lip

The British say this is good for you. I suppose it has its merits, and judging by how tough they were in the Battle of Britain, I guess I'd have to say it works for them. Cheerio.


New!

This symbol means that this feature (or some parts of it) are new to this version. If you've used prior versions of CMPQwk you'll want to pay special attention to these sections, because how things work may be changed quite a bit and you might find yourself doing something you didn't want to do or something might happen that you didn't expect.