TerQWK1b addendum Configuring TerMail QWK When a new Conference occurs Monday, October 30, 1995 _____________________________________ from the State O' Maine, USA lmckimmy@wa2000.winarea.biddeford.com 1:109/921.2 [The following information is for JAM message base use, and will make a lot more sense if you have a printout of the files TMRUN.CFG and TMRUN.BBS included in the TerQWKxx package.] When tossing one of my QWK packets the other day I noticed that TerMail paused to inquire about how to handle a new Conference. It occurred to me that I had not addressed that issue in TerQWKxx, so what follows is the way I handle new Conferences. When TerMail pauses for input on how to handle a new Conference, I accept the Conference name offered, then assign that new Conference to the appropriate Group. i.e.: Let's say I toss the Runninga.QWK packet, and TerMail stops, informing me that it has come upon a new Conference, named DIDDYBOO, conference number 460 and it prompts me to accept that name for the new Conference, which is what I do. At the TerMail prompting for which Group the new Conference should be assigned too, I assign that new Conference to the RIME Group, because that is the GROUP I have all other Conferences from the RUNNINGA.QW? packets assigned to. (I assigned RIME as a Group name, because the Runninga BBS is one of the home BBSs for the RIME network, and RIME is easier to type than RUNNINGA... ) After TerMail finishes tossing the packet, I _immediately quit_ TerMail, and edit the appropriate .CFG and .BBS files for the QWK packet. In the above example, I would edit (referring to the sample .CFG and .BBS files included in TerQWK1x) the TMRUN.CFG and TMRUN.BBS as follows: [ This may be rather confusing, but if you look at the sample files included, then look at what TerMail writes as a default when it tosses a new Conference, and compare the two instances, it should be clear. (famous last words... ?? ) ] Load TMRUN.CFG and go to the bottom of the file. There you would find the new Conference listed. The format and position of that information will _not_ match the rest of the .CFG file. Move and edit that line to correctly relate it to the rest of the Conferences in the TMRUN.CFG file for the RUNNINGA QWK packet. For example... % EchoId Description Group ... Desc OFFLINE RIME_OffLine RIME ... The above line, from the enclosed TMRUN.CFG file, would be the exact same for our new Conference, but for the actual change in the Conference name itself. As an example, if the new Conference were named DIDDYBOO, then we would edit the line TerMail created and put at the bottom of the TMRUN.BBS file, so that it would read... : Desc DIDDYBOO DIDDYBOO RIME In other words, the Conference-name line that is the focus of our attention should be made to match all the other Conference-name lines in the TMRUN.CFG, but for the actual Conference-name itself. Next... Load TMRUN.BBS and go to the bottom of the file. There you would find the new Conference listed. The format and position of that information will _not_ match the rest of the .BBS file. Move and edit that line to correctly relate it to the rest of the Conferences in the TMRUN.BBS file for the RUNNINGA QWK packet. Note that the path/file.name must be changed to reflect the proper subdirectory and Conference name being used for the Runninga QWK packet. In this sample case, though the actual path is \terminat\termail\run\ all that is needed in the TMRUN.BBS file would be the path RUN\conference.name. For example, from TMRUN.BBS : % Path EchoID Flags ... RUN\OFFLINE OFFLINE JAM QWK RUNNINGA 178 ... The above line, from the enclosed TMRUN.BBS file, would be the exact same for our new Conference, but for the actual change in the Conference name *and number* itself. As an example, if the new Conference were named DIDDYBOO, then we would edit the line TerMail created and put at the bottom of the TMRUN.BBS file, so that it would read... : RUN\DIDDYBOO DIDDYBOO JAM QWK RUNNINGA 460 and place the line where we would want to appear in the main screen listing of Runninga QWK Conferences. [ NOTE: the above files names would of course change to reflect AGAIN: the QWK packet _you_ are using...] !!!! <<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>> Finally, in the set of samples files included in TerQWK1, after tossing a packet with the new Conference, finishing tossing the packet and then exiting TerMail and editing TMRUN.CFG and TMRUN.BBS to configure a new Conference, you would find that the four JAM files for that new Conference would _not_ be properly placed in the appropriate Group subdirectory. !! The files would instead be in the ..\ECHO\ subdirectory. If I use the above fictitious Conference name, the files TerMail creates and places in the \ECHO\ directory would be (using JAM message base) : diddyboo.JHR diddyboo.JLR diddyboo.JDT diddyboo.JDX All you have to do (remembering that I'm referencing _my_ sample configuration and packets... _not_ your actually case...) is to move those four JAM-type files to the appropriate Group subdirectory. In my case (the sample case files in TerQWK1a), the files would be moved to \terminate\termail\run\ which would be the location designated by your earlier editing of TMRUN.CFG and TMRUN.BBS files... (note _AGAIN_ that file names refer to sample files, and _not_ your actual case...) Restart TerMail (in the sample case, with the batch file TMRUN), and the new Conference will show up located in the place where you entered the info when you edited TMRUN.CFG and TMRUN.BBS. A note of caution -- when designating names in *.CFG and *.BBS files, pay close attention that 'spelling' is the same in all instances. 'Spelling,' in this case, includes whether you have used the ^ carrot symbol, or the _ underscore symbol to separate words. Even these must match... *---*---*---* The whole procedure is tedious, of course, but thankfully doesn't often have to be done. Perhaps some "Wild-Bill Coder" will peruse the TerQWK information and come up with a QuickBasic or Pascal program to automate the process for using TerMail with QWK packets. ... (IhopeIhopeIhope...) The information offered may be worth exactly what you paid for it. I _hope_ it's worth somewhat more. If you need help, ask for it and I'm sure some Terminate user will respond. Things can get confusing. This I know, because being confused is one of my specialties. ;-) Take care... Larry October 30, 1995 5:12pm