The Silver Xpress Mail System Getting the Most Out of the Silver Xpress Mail Door by: Gary N. Petersen Midwest Xpress BBS (913) 894-8835 FidoNet 1:280/389 RIME 5482 June 5, 1994 (c) copyright 1994 Gary N. Petersen Portions of this document are the copyrighted property of Santronics Software and are used in this Guide with permission. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 1 Contents ======== 1.0 Introduction.............................................. 4 1.1 What is the Silver Xpress Mail System?.................. 4 1.2 Purpose of This Manual.................................. 4 1.3 About this Guide........................................ 5 1.4 Organization of This Manual............................. 5 2.0 Quick Start: Using the Xpress Assistant................... 7 2.1 Introduction to the Xpress Assistant.................... 7 2.2 Using the Xpress Assistant.............................. 7 3.0 Basic Mail Door Configuration............................. 14 3.1 General................................................. 14 3.2 The Xpress Assistant.................................... 16 3.3 The Configuration Menu.................................. 16 3.3.1 Selecting Mail Areas................................ 17 3.3.2 Selecting a File Transfer Protocol.................. 17 3.3.3 Selecting an Archiving Utility...................... 18 3.3.4 The Mail Options Menu............................... 18 3.3.4.1 Keyword Searching............................... 18 3.3.4.2 Search Message Text for Keywords................ 19 3.3.4.3 Receive Your Own Mail........................... 20 3.3.4.4 Receive Group Mail.............................. 20 3.3.4.5 Choose Mail Packet Format....................... 20 3.3.4.6 Use Packet Extension Counter.................... 20 3.3.4.7 Send Selected Areas Only........................ 20 3.3.4.8 Use Flex Assistant at Mail Scan................. 21 3.3.4.9 Show Areas with Mail Only....................... 21 3.3.4.10 Changing Mail Pointers.......................... 21 3.3.5 The Xpress Services Menu............................ 21 3.3.5.1 Xpress Vacation Saver........................... 22 3.3.5.2 New File Lists.................................. 22 3.3.5.3 Receive Bulletins............................... 23 3.3.5.4 Reply Receipts.................................. 23 3.3.5.5 Passwords....................................... 23 3.3.6 The Terminal Options Menu........................... 23 3.3.6.1 Screen Graphics.................................. 24 3.3.6.2 Menu Modes...................................... 24 3.3.6.3 Hot Keys........................................ 25 3.3.7 Save Current Configuration.......................... 25 3.4 Downloading a Mail Packet............................... 25 3.5 Uploading a Reply Packet................................ 25 4.0 Advanced Mail Door Configuration.......................... 26 4.1 Flex Select Commands.................................... 26 4.2 Flex Assistant.......................................... 28 4.3 Vacation Saving......................................... 28 Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 2 5.0 Mail Door Maintenance..................................... 30 5.1 Changing Mail Lastread Pointers......................... 30 5.2 Personal Logfiles....................................... 32 6.0 Using the Mail Door with the Silver Xpress Reader......... 34 6.1 Current Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader Files......... 34 6.2 Advantages of the OPX Mail Format....................... 34 6.3 Offline Configuration Using the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader............................................. 35 7.0 Using the Mail Door with Another Reader................... 37 7.1 QWK Mail Options........................................ 37 8.0 Where to Go for More Information.......................... 39 8.1 How Can I Contact Santronics Software?.................. 39 8.2 Where Can I Get Support For the Silver Xpress Mail System?................................................. 39 Copyright Information ===================== This is a copyrighted document. You are, however, given permission to reproduce and retransmit it as follows: - Make it available for online viewing on your remote host service or BBS. - Make it available for downloading from you remote host service or BBS. - Print, reproduce, and distribute it without charge to users of the Silver Xpress Mail System on your remote host service or BBS. The document may not be modified in any way, and must be distributed complete, including this copyright notice. Please contact the author, Gary N. Petersen, at the addresses listed in the document for more information, or with corrections and suggestions for future versions of the Guide. Portions of this document are the copyrighted property of Santronics Software and are used in this Guide with permission. Specific and unlimited permission is given for this document to be distributed in the Silver Xpress Mail System utilities and any other products of Santronics Software. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 3 1.0 Introduction ================= 1.1 What is the Silver Xpress Mail System? Silver Xpress is an Offline Mail System which makes the gathering, reading, and writing of mail messages via computer bulletin board services (BBS) much faster and more convenient than reading and replying to mail online. It consists of two parts, the Mail Door and Offline Mail Reader. The Mail Door is part of the BBS. You enter the Mail Door through the BBS when you want to collect new mail or send new messages you've created. This manual deals primarily with using the Silver Xpress Mail Door. The Offline Mail Reader is the second part of a mail system. It is a program you install on your computer. The Offline Mail Reader understands the special formats that the Mail Door uses to bundle many messages into a single file, or mail packet, and can convert the mail packet into a format which is easy for you to read. The Silver Xpress Mail System works with mail packets in two formats: QWK and OPX. The OPX mail format was developed specifically for Silver Xpress and offers many performance and capability advantages over the QWK mail format. These are discussed in Chapter 6. The Mail Door does work quite well with QWK format mail readers. Some features are limited, however, to the OPX mail format because the QWK format was simply not designed with the flexibility and capability to support them. For these and other reasons, you will get the most out of the Mail Door if you use the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. The current version is 4.01 and is available as SXR401.ZIP. Additional information on the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader is given in Chapter 6. 1.2 Purpose of This Manual This manual is a User's Guide for the Silver Xpress Mail Door. It provides much the same information that is available through the online help in the Mail Door along with examples and typical commands required to configure and optimize the Mail Door for your use. You do not need the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader to use the Mail Door. Silver Xpress supports the popular QWK mail format and can be used with any Offline Mail Reader that can read and write QWK packets. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 4 There are significant advantages to using the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader with the Mail Door, however. These are a result of the OPX mail format that is unique to Silver Xpress. Many of these advantages are discussed later in this manual. 1.3 About this Guide This User's Guide will be periodically updated as changes or additions become necessary. Suggestions, corrections, or questions not addressed in this Guide can be addressed to: Gary Petersen Midwest Xpress BBS FidoNet 1:280/389 RIME 5482 CompuServe 70651,2240 Contact me via FidoNet NetMail, RIME routed mail in the Common Conference, or in any of the Silver Xpress support conferences: FidoNet: XPRESS_SUPPORT XPRESS_SYSOP RIME: Silver Xpress CompuServe: Santronics Software Forum (GO PCVENJ) 1.4 Organization of This Manual This User's Guide is divided into several sections, generally by topic or area of interest. The sections are as follows: 1.0 Introduction: The section you are reading. 2.0 Quick Start: An introduction to the Xpress Assistant, which provides the fastest way to get started with the Mail Door. 3.0 Basic Configuration: Discussion of the basic configuration options which must be defined to use the Mail Door. 4.0 Advanced Configuration: Discussion of many of the more powerful options in the Mail Door which make Silver Xpress even more useful for you. 5.0 Maintenance: Discussion of additional services which the Mail Door can provide. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 5 6.0 Using the Mail Door with the Silver Xpress Reader: Discussion of the options which can be used only through the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. 7.0 Using the Mail Door with Another Reader: Setting up the Mail Door to work best with QWK-only mail readers. 8.0 Where to Go for More Information: A list of resources where you can turn to for additional information. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 6 2.0 Quick Start: Using the Xpress Assistant ============================================ 2.1 Introduction to the Xpress Assistant The Xpress Assistant is a powerful, easy to use automated online introduction to the Silver Xpress Mail Door. The Xpress Assistant will walk you through the main features of Silver Xpress and prompt you with configuration questions to select mail conferences to scan, set an archive utility and file transfer protocol, and download your first mail packet. The Xpress Assistant is particularly useful for callers who are not very familiar with Silver Xpress or offline mail messaging. More experienced callers may wish to skip the Xpress Assistant and configure the Mail Door directly. Detailed configuration of the Mail Door is discussed elsewhere in this Guide. 2.2 Using the Xpress Assistant When you select the Xpress Assistant (using option X from the Main Menu), the following menu will pop up. ------------------- Xpress Assistant ---------------- [E]....Explain what a BBS is? [A]....Explain Xpress with Example [N]....New User Information [Q]....Return to Previous Menu ----------------------------------------------------- The six steps that the Xpress Assistant walks through to configure the Mail Door to your preferences and download a mail packet are as follows: - Select message conferences. - Define a file compression utility. - Define a file transfer protocol. - Scan the selected conferences for new mail. - Combine the new mail found into a mail packet and download the packet from the BBS to your computer. - Download the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader, if you wish. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 7 Select Message Conferences ========================== The Silver Xpress Mail Door will present a list of the message conferences available on the BBS and allow you to choose which conferences you want to scan. The Mail Door will display an asterisk (*) next to the conferences you have selected. If you do not see any asterisks, you have not yet selected any conferences. The list of available mail conferences in the Mail Door will generally look like the following: Available Mail Conferences (* means selected mail area) *[ 1] - General Discussion *[ 2] - Private Sysop *[ 3] - Xpress *[ 4] - FidoNet: NetMail *[ 21] - F:Xpress_Support *[ 22] - F:Xpress_Sysop *[ 23] - F:AllFix Help *[ 24] - F:RA Multi-Node *[ 25] - F:RA Sysop Support *[ 26] - F:RA Utilities *[ 29] - F:BBS Standards *[ 30] - F:BinkleyTerm *[ 33] - F:Maximus *[ 34] - F:Meadow *[ 35] - F:Moderator *[ 36] - F:Muffin *[ 39] - F:Offline *[ 40] - F:PCBoard Sysops *[ 41] - F:ProBoard Sysops *[ 42] - F:QuickBBS Support *[ 43] - F:QuickBBS Pro *[ 44] - F:RBBS-PC Support *[ 45] - F:SuperBBS Support *[ 46] - F:Sysop *[ 47] - F:TAG BBS Support *[ 48] - F:TAG Multi-Node *[ 49] - F:Wildcat! Support *[ 50] - F:RADIST_SYS [ 57] - F:Fantasy Sports *[ 58] - F:OS/2 *[ 59] - F:OS/2 BBS *[ 60] - F:OS/2 DOS-Windows [ 61] - F:OS/2 Hardware [ 62] - F:OS/2 Programming *[ 63] - F:Team OS/2 *[ 64] - F:Shareware *[ 65] - F:UWSA *[ 66] - F:White House *[ 69] - F:Lora BBS Support *[ 70] - F:FastEcho Support *[ 71] - F:OS/2 DOS BBS *[ 101] - R:RIME News [ 102] - R:Uplink *[ 103] - R:Silver Xpress *[ 104] - R:PostLink Support *[ 105] - R:Sysops *[ 110] - R:Shareware *[ 111] - R:Common *[ 114] - R:Engineering *[ 115] - R:ProComm *[ 116] - R:BBS Software *[ 117] - R:Wildcat Sysops *[ 120] - R:Mail Doors *[ 121] - R:OS/2 *[ 124] - R:Remote Access *[ 125] - R:Offline Mail *[ 128] - R:TQM *[ 129] - R:PCBoard *[ 134] - R:Desqview *[ 201] - K:KC Sysop *[ 202] - K:GKCSA *[ 203] - K:IBM Discussion *[ 204] - K:KC 4 Sale *[ 205] - K:KC Area_Net *[ 206] - K:KC FidoNet Help *[ 207] - K:KC Events Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 8 *[ 210] - K:KC Other *[ 211] - K:KC OS/2 Select/Deselect mail areas by typing the number or name in brackets. [L]ist Areas [D]etail Listing [S]elected Areas [M]ail Pointers [F]ind [R]eset [Q]uit [?] for Help You can select mail conferences by either typing the conference name, as it is listed in the table, or conference number. You can select more than one conference at a time by typing in the conference numbers with a space between each number, and pressing ENTER when complete. You can type L and press ENTER to redisplay the table of available conferences. When you have finished, press Q and ENTER to continue with the Xpress Assistant. Select a File Compression Utility ================================= The Xpress Assistant then prompts you to select a File Compression Utility. PKZip Version 2.04 is generally pre-selected by default. Silver Xpress will display a list of file compression utilities which your sysop has installed. A sample list follows as an example. The compression method noted with an asterisk (*) is the current selected compression utility. Mail Compression Method * [Z]....Phil Katz's PKZip 2.04G [N]....Phil Katz's PKZip V1.xx [L]....LhArc V2.10 [J]....Robert Jung's ARJ program [A]....Phil Katz's PKPak (SEA compatibility mode) [P]....NoGate's PAK program [O]....Rahul Dhesi's ZOO program Select Method : Each compression method has its benefits. The PKZip utilities are perhaps the most common, at least in the IBM compatible BBS world. Select a File Transfer Protocol =============================== The final step in collecting mail from the Silver Xpress Mail Door is actually downloading the mail packet file from the BBS to your computer. As is the case with any other file transfer, you will need to define a file transfer protocol so that Silver Xpress and your Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 9 communications program (ProComm Plus, Telix, QModem, etc.) can negotiate the file transfer over the telephone connection. Many different file transfer protocols are available. The list below is a sample of some which your sysop may have installed on the BBS. Relatively current protocols, such as ZModem, are among the more common and reliable methods of transferring files. ZModem is pre- selected for you by default. Using ZModem is recommended if your communications program supports it. As with the list of file compression utilities, the file transfer protocol indicated with an asterisk (*) is the method currently selected. File Transfer Method * [Z]....Z-Modem (Batch) Recommended! [Y]....Y-Modem (Batch) [G]....Y-Modem G (Batch) [X]....X-Modem/CheckSum [K]....X-Modem 1K [1]....XModem-1K-G Select Method : Scan for New Mail ================= After defining a file compression method and file transfer protocol, the Xpress Assistant will scan the conferences you selected for new mail. A typical mail scan screen that will be displayed during the mail scan is as follows: <<< Mail Scan >>> Last Usage/Download Date : May 31, 1994 8:06:36pm Mail Packet Format : OPX Highest Message Read : 78 Scan Area Description Total High Last New Direct Keyword 1 Ä General Discussion 3 28 28 0 0 0 2 Ä Private Sysop 32 81 77 3 1 0 4 Ä FidoNet: NetMail 32 78 78 0 0 0 21 Ä F:Xpress_Support 226 226 223 3 0 0 22 Ä F:Xpress_Sysop 173 173 167 6 2 2 23 Ä F:AllFix Help 299 299 289 10 0 2 24 Ä F:RA Multi-Node 164 164 156 8 0 1 25 Ä F:RA Sysop Support 1092 1092 1040 52 0 7 26 Ä F:RA Utilities 963 963 919 44 0 11 29 Ä F:BBS Standards 135 135 134 1 0 0 Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 10 30 Ä F:BinkleyTerm 605 605 591 14 0 1 33 Ä F:Maximus 23 23 22 1 0 0 34 Ä F:Meadow 166 166 157 9 0 2 35 Ä F:Moderator 89 89 85 4 0 0 36 Ä F:Muffin 1047 1047 1010 37 0 6 39 Ä F:Offline 135 135 132 3 1 1 40 Ä F:PCBoard Sysops 217 217 212 5 0 1 41 Ä F:ProBoard Sysops 488 488 414 74 0 3 42 Ä F:QuickBBS Support 402 402 397 5 0 2 43 Ä F:QuickBBS Pro 28 28 27 1 0 0 44 Ä F:RBBS-PC Support 241 241 236 5 0 1 45 Ä F:SuperBBS Support 118 118 115 3 0 0 46 Ä F:Sysop 276 276 271 5 0 2 47 Ä F:TAG BBS Support 407 407 401 6 0 0 48 Ä F:TAG Multi-Node 8 8 8 0 0 0 49 Ä F:Wildcat! Support 1245 1245 1211 34 0 5 50 Ä F:RADIST_SYS 82 82 82 0 0 0 58 Ä F:OS/2 3186 3186 3109 77 0 13 59 Ä F:OS/2 BBS 533 533 523 10 0 3 60 Ä F:OS/2 DOS-Windows 305 305 300 5 0 2 63 Ä F:Team OS/2 276 276 269 7 0 2 64 Ä F:Shareware 585 585 556 29 0 8 65 Ä F:UWSA 451 451 443 8 0 1 66 Ä F:White House 96 96 93 3 0 2 69 Ä F:Lora BBS Support 326 326 315 11 0 3 70 Ä F:FastEcho Support 161 161 157 4 0 0 71 Ä F:OS/2 DOS BBS 194 194 188 6 0 0 101 Ä R:RIME News 21 21 21 0 0 0 103 Ä R:Silver Xpress 57 57 56 1 0 0 104 Ä R:PostLink Support 88 88 67 21 0 3 105 Ä R:Sysops 325 325 266 59 0 6 110 Ä R:Shareware 289 289 245 44 0 11 111 Ä R:Common 346 346 251 95 0 24 114 Ä R:Engineering 80 80 74 6 0 1 115 Ä R:ProComm 61 61 47 14 0 2 116 Ä R:BBS Software 55 55 44 11 0 6 117 Ä R:Wildcat Sysops 17 17 12 5 0 4 120 Ä R:Mail Doors 15 15 13 2 0 0 121 Ä R:OS/2 844 844 673 171 0 13 124 Ä R:Remote Access 10 10 10 0 0 0 125 Ä R:Offline Mail 181 181 158 23 0 13 128 Ä R:TQM 4 4 4 0 0 0 129 Ä R:PCBoard 12 12 10 2 0 2 134 Ä R:Desqview 27 27 20 7 0 2 201 Ä K:KC Sysop 590 590 572 18 0 3 202 Ä K:GKCSA 0 1 0 0 0 0 203 Ä K:IBM Discussion 0 1 0 0 0 0 204 Ä K:KC 4 Sale 36 36 35 1 0 0 205 Ä K:KC Area_Net 17 17 11 6 0 0 206 Ä K:KC FidoNet Help 8 8 8 0 0 0 Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 11 207 Ä K:KC Events 1 1 1 0 0 0 210 Ä K:KC Other 0 1 0 0 0 0 211 Ä K:KC OS/2 49 49 49 0 0 0 Total 979 4 170 Approximate Compressed Mail Packet Size : 447590 (05:25) [GO] Packup Mail [A] Pack All [P] Pack Personal [Q] Abort [?]Flex Help FLEX: At this point, the Mail Door is waiting for direction from you on what mail to pack and download. The most basic instruction you can give is for the Mail Door to pack all mail. This is done using either the GO or A commands. A [ENTER] tells the Mail Door to pack all mail. GO [ENTER] also tells the Mail Door to pack all mail, because you have not given it any other instruction. The other instructions you can use are described in the FLEX COMMAND section of this document. You can also instruct the Mail Door to automatically quit back to the BBS or log off when it finished downloading the mail packet. This is done as follows: GO G [ENTER] will initiate the mail packing and log you off of the BBS when the file transfer is complete. NOTE: This feature is definable by the sysop, so it may not be supported on every BBS you call. GO Q [ENTER] will initiate the mail packing and return your online session back to the BBS when done. Download the Mail Packet ======================== Once the file compression is completed, the Mail Packet Download Menu will be displayed. File Name(s) : MWXPRESS.OPX Total Size : 450852 Transfer Time : 05:30 mins Protocol : ZModem Press [ENTER] Begin Download, [C] Change File Transfer Protocol, [G] Download file and Hangup when finished, [ESC] Abort Download DOWNLOAD: Enter Download Command : Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 12 If you wait at this prompt, the on-screen timer will run down to zero and the file transfer will automatically begin (if the file transfer protocol supports that). You can press ENTER to begin the file transfer automatically, or press G to start the file transfer immediately and disconnect from the BBS when the transfer is completed. For this example, press ENTER or wait until the timer runs to zero. Download the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader ============================================== Once you have downloaded a mail packet, you can log off of the BBS and read the packet with your offline mail reader. The Silver Xpress Mail Door supports two mail formats, QWK and OPX. These were the first two mail formats developed for FidoNet style BBS messaging systems. The QWK mail format is the more common of the two formats. The OPX mail format offers many more features and much greater power and flexibility, however. These features are discussed in Chapter 6. Mail packets using the QWK format can be read by any offline mail reader which fully supports the published QWK standards. If you use the OPX mail format, however, you must have the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader on your computer. There are many advantages to this, though. These are also discussed in Chapter 6. The Xpress Assistant assumes that you prefer to use the OPX mail format. If you prefer the QWK format, that can be changed in the Configuration Menu. Instructions for doing this are presented in Chapter 4. If you wish to try the OPX mail format and the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader, the Xpress Assistant makes it easy for you to download the current version of the reader. Immediately after the file transfer is completed, the Xpress Assistant will ask if you want to download the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. Answer yes to the prompt, select the proper version of the reader for your system, and the Xpress Assistant will transfer the file to you! Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 13 3.0 Basic Mail Door Configuration ================================== 3.1 General Configuration of the Mail Door can be performed three ways: The Xpress Assistant, Online Configuration, and Offline Configuration. The Xpress Assistant was discussed in the previous chapter. It is mentioned briefly in this chapter only for reference. Online configuration is performed using the Configuration Menu and the options available in and below it. The balance of this chapter discussed online configuration. The third, and perhaps most convenient, way is through offline configuration. Offline configuration can be performed only with the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. It is discussed in Chapter 6. The Main Menu is where all of your Silver Xpress activities will start. The Main Menu looks like this: |----------------------------------------------------------------| | Silver Xpress Main Menu | |----------------------------------------------------------------| [#]..System Information [A]..Download Door User Guide [L]..Personal Log [R]..Download Xpress Reader [?]..Show Help [X]..Xpress Assistant [C]..Configuration [S]..Change Selected Areas [D]..Scan & Download OPX Packet [K]..Scan & Download QWK Packet [U]..Upload Your Mail [V]..Check Vacation Mail [Q]..Return to Main System [G]..GoodBye (Logoff) ------------------------------------------------------------------ [1159 mins] Gary, Enter Command : The options available from the Main Menu are as follows: [#] System Information This option presents some basic information about the Mail Door and BBS. [A] Download Door User Guide You can download this User Guide in ZIP or plain ASCII text format. [L] Personal Log If enabled by the sysop, a record of your activities in the Mail Door. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 14 [R] Download Xpress Reader You can download the latest Silver Xpress Offline Mail Readers and utilities with this option. [?] Show Help Display online user help for the Mail Door. [X] Xpress Assistant Start the Xpress Assistant as described in Chapter 2 of this User's Guide. [C] Configuration Access the Configuration Menu. [S] Change Selected Areas Quick access to the available mail conferences on the BBS. This option is identical to the option in the Configuration Menu, but is repeated here for quick and easy access. [D] Scan and Download OPX Packet Start a mail scan for new messages and prepare an OPX mail format packet. NOTE: If you have selected QWK mail format packets in the Configuration Menu and use this option, that selection will be overridden and you will get an OPX mail packet. [K] Scan and Download QWK Packet Start a mail scan for new messages and prepare a QWK mail format packet. NOTE: If you have selected OPX mail format packets in the Configuration Menu and use this option, that selection will be overridden and you will get an QWK mail packet. [U] Upload Your Mail Instruct the Mail Door to receive your Reply Mail Packet. NOTE: You use this option regardless of whether you're using OPX or QWK mail packets. [V] Check Vacation Mail If your sysop has enabled the Silver Xpress Vacation Mail feature and you have turned it on, this command will give you access to your mail packets and allow you to download them. [Q] Return to Main System Quit back to the BBS. [G] GoodBye Logoff of the BBS without exiting the Mail Door. NOTE: This option is available only if your sysop enables it. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 15 Most of these commands are discussed in greater detail elsewhere in this Guide. 3.2 The Xpress Assistant The Xpress Assistant is a powerful, easy to use automated online introduction to the Silver Xpress Mail Door. The Xpress Assistant will walk you through the main features of Silver Xpress and prompt you with configuration questions to select mail conferences to scan, set an archive utility and file transfer protocol, and download your first mail packet. Use of the Xpress Assistant is discussed in the previous chapter. The Xpress Assistant is particularly useful for callers who are not very familiar with Silver Xpress or offline mail messaging. More experienced callers may wish to skip the Xpress Assistant and configure the Mail Door directly. Online configuration of the Mail Door is discussed in the balance of this chapter. 3.3 The Configuration Menu Almost all of the items you can customize in the Silver Xpress Mail Door are definable through the Configuration Menu. It looks like this: ------------------ Configuration Menu ---------------- [S]....Select Mail Areas, - 120 selected [F]....File Transfer Method - ZModem [A]....Archiver Method - Phil Katz's PKZip 2.04G [M]....Mail Options [X]....Xpress Services [T]....Terminal Options [C]....Save Current Configuration [?]....Show help [Q]....Return to Main Menu ------------------------------------------------------- [1158 mins] Gary, Enter Command : The menu lists some basic information about your setup: the number of mail areas selected, the file transfer protocol, and the archive utility. It also is your gateway to the other configuration options. These are discussed in more detail below. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 16 3.3.1 Selecting Mail Areas Selecting mail conferences to scan is an easy process in Silver Xpress. The basic procedure is described in the previous chapter. One additional option not discussed earlier is the Find command. The Mail Door will search through the conference titles for you to find the conferences that match a keyword you define. This feature is accessed through the Select Mail Areas command, S from the Configuration Menu. When you select this option, a list of the available message conferences is displayed followed by this menu: Select/Deselect mail areas by typing the number or name in brackets. [L]ist Areas [D]etail Listing [S]elected Areas [M]ail Pointers [F]ind [R]eset [Q]uit [?] for Help At this menu, select option F, for Find Areas. The command syntax is: F where is the word you want to scan for. For example, the command F Xpress on my system brings up the following list: Enter Number/Name or Command : f xpress Mail Conferences having the keyword XPRESS .... *[ 3] - ( Xpress ) Local Xpress *[ 21] - ( F:Xpress_Support ) F:Xpress_Support *[ 22] - ( F:Xpress_Sysop ) F:Xpress_Sysop *[ 103] - ( R:Silver Xpress ) R:Silver Xpress Select/Deselect mail areas by typing the number or name in brackets. [L]ist Areas [D]etail Listing [S]elected Areas [M]ail Pointers [F]ind [R]eset [Q]uit [?] for Help Enter Number/Name or Command : You can then select conferences (by typing in the conference numbers, separated by spaces or one per line, and pressing ENTER) from this menu. When you are finished selecting conferences, press Q ENTER to return to the Configuration Menu. 3.3.2 Selecting a File Transfer Protocol This process was described earlier in the previous chapter. You select a file transfer protocol using the F command at the Configuration Menu. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 17 3.3.3 Selecting an Archiving Utility This process was also described earlier in the previous chapter. You select an archive utility using the A command at the Configuration Menu. 3.3.4 The Mail Options Menu The Mail Options Menu is where you define much of how the Mail Door acts upon your mail. It is accessed using the M command from the Configuration Menu. The Mail Options Menu is as follows: --------------------- Mail Options -------------------- [K]....Define Search Rules (Keywords) [B]....Search Message Body w/ Keywords - NO [Y]....Receive Your Own Mail - YES [G]....Receive Group Mail - YES [P]....Choose Mail Packet Format - OPX format [C]....Use Packet Extension Counter - YES [S]....Send Selected Areas Only - NO [F]....Use Flex Assistant at Mail Scan - NO [O]....Show Areas with Mail Only - NO [D]....Change Mail Pointers By Date [N]....Change Mail Pointers By Number [R]....Restore Entry Mail Pointers [?]....Show help [/]....Main Menu [Q]....Return to Previous Menu ------------------------------------------------------- [1157 mins] Gary, Enter Command : 3.3.4.1 Keyword Searching The Silver Xpress Mail Door will allow you to search through all new mail for messages which contain keywords that you define. You can then direct the Mail Door to download only keyword mail in certain areas. Silver Xpress supports an unlimited number of keywords. They are defined using the K command from the Mail Options Menu. Selection of Key Words [ 1] ALL [ 2] XPRESS Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 18 [ 3] SILVER [ 4] SX [ 5] CLINTON [ 6] GORE [ 7] BUDGET [ 8] MAIL [ 9] QWK [10] OFFLINE [Type Keyword, or D to delete, L to list, ? for Help, Q to exit] All of your keywords are listed in this menu. You simply type in new keywords, one at a time, to add to the list, or type D # to delete existing keywords. For example, D 5 would delete "CLINTON" as a keyword. Negative keywords, popularly known as "twit filters" are also supported by the Mail Door. Simply add a minus sign in front of keywords and all mail matching that keyword will be excluded from the scan table and your mail packets. This feature is most often used with names, but also works with words, as found in Subject Headers. For example, a keyword of -Jurassic Park would exclude all messages with "Jurassic Park" in the header or message text, depending on how you have the following option set. 3.3.4.2 Search Message Text for Keywords Unlike other mail doors, Silver Xpress allows you the option of searching just the message header information (TO and FROM fields and the SUBJECT line) for keywords or searching both the header information and the actual message text! This option slows down mail processing, but is very useful to limit the number of messages you download in a conference to those you are specifically interested in. If you want to search only the message header information for keywords, set this option to NO using the B command in the Mail Options Menu. Otherwise, if you want to search the entire message text for your defined keywords, set this option to YES. NOTE: This feature, developed and introduced in Silver Xpress, is particularly useful for genealogy enthusiasts! Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 19 3.3.4.3 Receive Your Own Mail The Y command from the Mail Options Menu lets you define whether you want mail that you wrote included in your mail packets. If you would like to see the mail you have written (the recommended option), set this option to YES. 3.3.4.4 Receive Group Mail Group Mail is a special type of message that is written once but appears to everyone who reads it as if it were addressed specifically to that person. If you want to receive Group Mail (the recommended option), set this option to YES using the G command in the Mail Options Menu. 3.3.4.5 Choose Mail Packet Format The Silver Xpress Mail System supports two mail formats: QWK and the more powerful OPX format. This option, accessible through the P command in the Mail Options Menu, allows you to define which format you wish to use. If you choose the QWK format, you can also define a few QWK mail options using this command. QWK mail options are discussed in Chapter 7. 3.3.4.6 Use Packet Extension Counter Silver Xpress allows you the option of using the standard extensions of QWK and OPX for all of your mail packets using a counter to avoid possible duplicate file name problems. If you choose to use the Packet Extension Counters, set this option to YES using command C from the Mail Options Menu. Packet Extension Counters revise the mail packet extension from QWK to Q01, Q02, etc., all the way to Q99. The counter is increased by one each time you download a mail packet, and resets to 01 after you download the Q99 or O99 packet. This is particularly useful for communications programs that do not automatically adjust the file name if a file by that name already exists in the download directory. 3.3.4.7 Send Selected Areas Only For larger BBS's with many hundreds of mail conferences, you may want to set this option to YES to improve the speed of your offline mail reader. If you enable this option, your mail packets will include Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 20 conference definitions of only the mail areas you select. All others will be excluded. The effects of this are twofold: Your offline mail reader will operate quicker, since it doesn't have to sort through all of the unused conferences, and you will not be able to write messages to conferences you have not selected, since they will not be listed in the mail packet. This option is definable through the S command in the Mail Options Menu. It should be set to YES if you notice performance problems in your mail reader and the BBS you call has many hundreds of mail conferences. 3.3.4.8 Use Flex Assistant at Mail Scan This option, when set to YES via the F command in the Mail Options Menu, instructs the Mail Door to ask you about each mail conference as it is scanned. It gives you the option of selecting all mail, keyword mail, mail addressed to you, or skipping the mail altogether. A small menu pops up with these commands after each mail conference is scanned for new mail. 3.3.4.9 Show Areas with Mail Only This option, set with command O in the Mail Options Menu, tells the Mail Door whether or not to skip over mail conferences which do not have new mail available. If set to YES, only the conferences with new mail will be listed during mail scans. 3.3.4.10 Changing Mail Pointers The final three options; D, N, and R, in the Mail Options Menu (other than the help and quit menu commands) are one way to adjust your lastread mail pointers. These features are discussed in Chapter 5. 3.3.5 The Xpress Services Menu The Xpress Services Menu, available using the X command from the Configuration Menu, is where you define some default actions of the Mail Door. The menu is as follows: Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 21 -------------- Xpress Service Options --------------- [V]....Xpress Vacation Saver - OFF [F]....Scan for New Files - ON [C]....Change File Scan Date - 05/31/94 8:06pm [L]....Ansi New Files List - NO [B]....Receive Bulletins - ON [A]....Auto Start Xpress - NO [S]....Send REPLY Receipt - NO [E]....Erase Mail Recording [R]....Reader Password [D]....Door Password [?]....Show help [/]....Main Menu [Q]....Return to Previous Menu ------------------------------------------------------- [1157 mins] Gary, Enter Command : 3.3.5.1 Xpress Vacation Saver The Silver Xpress Vacation Saver feature allows you to have the Mail Door automatically scan for new mail, create a mail packet, and hold it for you each day. This can be used either while you area away from the BBS for any length of time or as an everyday mail event to automatically prepare a mail packet for you. The Vacation Saver feature is discussed in Chapter 4. 3.3.5.2 New File Lists The Silver Xpress Mail Door is aware of the file areas installed on a BBS and can generally scan them for files which are new since the last time you downloaded mail through the Mail Door. This option allows you to view those lists with your offline mail reader, if it is equipped to deal with the list format. Set this option, command F in the Xpress Services Menu, to YES if you would like to receive new file lists. This option works only with the standard file directory system format built into the BBS. If a BBS uses customized file area software, a new file list may not be available. Command C on the Xpress Services Menu allows you to adjust the effective date of the new file scan. Command L defines whether the new file list will be in ANSI or ASCII format. Set it to YES for ANSI file lists or NO for ASCII lists. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 22 3.3.5.3 Receive Bulletins The BBS you call may generate online bulletins which can be included in your mail packets so you can read them offline. The B command in the Xpress Services Menu controls whether these bulletins are included in your mail packets, if available. Set it to YES to receive bulletins. 3.3.5.4 Reply Receipts Reply receipts are a feature that works only with the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. If you turn this option on by setting command S in the Xpress Services Menu to YES, the Mail Door will prepare and download a small file, XRECEIPT.DAT, when you upload a reply packet. The Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader loads this file and will put a notice on the reply packet stating that it has been successfully uploaded. 3.3.5.5 Passwords The Silver Xpress Mail System has, among its many built-in security systems, the capability to assign passwords to your mail sessions. You can assign a password that must be entered whenever you enter the Mail Door (command D in the Xpress Services Menu) or a separate password that must be entered to open a mail packet downloaded from the Mail Door (command R in the Xpress Services Menu). Reader passwords work only with the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. 3.3.6 The Terminal Options Menu Several online characteristics of your Silver Xpress sessions are defined in the Terminal Options Menu. This menu is as follows: Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 23 ----------------- Terminal Options ----------------- [C]....Ansi Color - ON [T]....TTY (No Color) - OFF [A]....Avatar Graphics - OFF [H]....Menu Hot Keys - ON [I]....IBM Characters - ON [N]....Novice Menu Mode - ON [V]....Veteran Menu Mode - OFF [X]....Gold Xpress Menu Mode - OFF [G]....Skip RIP Graphics - NO [?]....Show help [/]....Main Menu [Q]....Return Previous Menu ------------------------------------------------------- [1157 mins] Gary, Enter Command : 3.3.6.1 Screen Graphics The first three options define what type of screen graphics you will see while logged into the Mail Door. To see ANSI graphics, set option C to YES. Setting option T to YES turns off ANSI graphics for an ASCII text mode display. Option A enables Avatar graphics, which are similar to ANSI, but faster. Option I enables the use of IBM characters to draw on-screen boxes. Option G in the Terminal Options Menu controls whether RIP graphics are used. The Silver Xpress Mail Door ships fully equipped with RIP graphics screens, but your sysop may have chosen to not install them. Setting option G to NO will allow RIP graphics to be displayed, if your sysop uses them and your communications program (RIPTerm, for example) supports them. 3.3.6.2 Menu Modes Options N, V, and X control the menu mode which the Mail Door will use whenever you login. Setting option N to YES (the recommended setting) enables the Novice Menu Mode. Fully descriptive commands and information is presented to you when this menu mode is enabled. Setting option V to YES turns on the Veteran Menu Mode, which displays only the valid keys, time, and prompt. The third option, X, is for the future use of Gold Xpress. Gold Xpress is an advanced communications utility which will interact very closely with the Silver Xpress Mail Door. It is not yet available, but is scheduled for release late in 1994. In the mean time, this option should be set to NO. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 24 3.3.6.3 Hot Keys Option H in the Terminal Options Menu defines whether hot keys will be used. Hot keys cause the Mail Door to act on which ever key you press without waiting for a ENTER or RETURN keypress. The advantage of setting this option to YES is that the door reacts very quickly to your commands. The disadvantage is that you cannot stack commands. 3.3.7 Save Current Configuration The C option from the Configuration Menu saves all configuration information you have set up in the other menu selections. You should save your configuration whenever you change it, preferably before returning to the Main Menu to download mail. 3.4 Downloading a Mail Packet Downloading a mail packet in Silver Xpress is easy. From the Main Menu, simply press D if you are using the OPX mail format or K is you are using the QWK format. The Mail Door will begin scanning mail and will present you with the options discussed earlier in the previous chapter. 3.5 Uploading a Reply Packet Uploading a reply packet is even simpler than downloading. Regardless of the mail format you have chosen, press U at the Main Menu to upload a reply packet. The Mail Door will prompt you to begin the upload and will list the expected file name which your communications program may automatically use. Once the reply packet has been uploaded, the Mail Door will decompress it and toss the messages to the areas you selected. The Mail Door will prompt you with a successful upload message when the process is completed. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 25 4.0 Advanced Mail Door Configuration ===================================== 4.1 Flex Select Commands Flex Select Commands are perhaps the most advanced feature in the Silver Xpress Mail System. They allow you to very accurately and specifically define which mail you want to pack and download, not only by conference (which all mail doors do), but also by topic, whether or not the messages were written to you, when they were posted, and other means. You can use Flex Select Commands immediately after the Mail Door finishes scanning for new mail. The menu at this point looks like this: [GO] Packup Mail [A] Pack All [P] Pack Personal [Q] Abort [?]Flex Help FLEX: Pressing ? at this point will bring up a Flex Select Command Help Menu. The most basic Flex Select Command is A, which selects all new messages. Typing A [ENTER] at this point would instruct the Mail Door to include all new mail in your packet. Almost all other Flex Select Commands are based on the conference numbers. The Flex Select Commands are as follows (substitute the conference number for the # symbol in the following table): Commands That Apply to All Selected Conferences ----------------------------------------------- A Pack all new messages D Pack only direct messages (mail that is addressed to you) K Pack only keyword messages (mail that matches the keywords you have defined) P Pack only personal messages (direct and keyword mail) Commands That Apply Only to Specified Conferences ------------------------------------------------- # Pack all new messages in area # (same as A) -# Skip new mail in area # (last read pointers ARE updated) #A Pack all messages in area # #D Pack only direct messages in area # #H Skip new mail in area # but do NOT update last read pointers #K Pack only keyword messages in area # Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 26 #P Pack only personal messages in area # #Fn Pack only the first n messages in area # #Ln Pack only the last n messages in area # Commands That Apply to Areas not Otherwise Specified ---------------------------------------------------- * Pack all messages in the remaining areas *D Pack only direct messages in the remaining areas *K Pack only keyword messages in the remaining areas *P Pack only personal messages in the remaining areas Other Flex Select Commands -------------------------- GO Accept the Flex Select Commands Entered and Begin Packing the Mail FLEX Enable the Flex Assistant LIST Display the Scan Table MAIL Display the Mail Table as Modified by Flex Select Commands TABLE Display the Scan Table (same as LIST) DFILE Display Any Files Which Are Attached to Your Mail EFILE Erase Any Files Which Are Attached to Your Mail CLEAR Clear the Flex Selections DFLEX Display the Current Flex Select Command Line EFLEX Erase the Stored Flex Select Command Line GFLEX Get the Stored Flex Select Command Line and Apply It SFLEX Save the Current Flex Select Command for Later Use In addition, two modifiers may be stacked with the GO command. GO G instructs the Mail Door to use the current Flex Select Command, download the mail packet, and logoff (GoodBye) after the file transfer is complete. This option needs to be enabled by the sysop. GO Q starts the mail packing and quits out of the Mail Door back to the BBS when the file transfer is complete. Several examples of Flex Select Command usage follow: Flex Select Command Description ---------------------------------- D Pack only direct mail and GO. *D 1 21 22 GO G Pack direct mail in all areas, get all new mail in areas 1, 21, and 22, GO, and logoff of the BBS when complete. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 27 GO Q Accept the Flex Select Commands entered (if any), GO, and quit the Mail Door back to the BBS when done. *A 16K 21P 22D Select all messages in all areas, but limit mail downloaded to keyword mail in area 16, personal mail in area 21, and direct mail in area 22. SFLEX [Flex Command] Store the specified Flex Select command in the Mail Door for future use. -41 *K Get keyword mail in all areas except 41, which is limited to keyword mail. 110L30 Get only the 30 most recent messages in area 110. 4.2 Flex Assistant The Flex Assistant is "decide while you go" method of using Flex Select Commands in the Mail Door. When you enable the Flex Assistant, either by setting the F command in the Mail Options Menu to YES or typing ASSIST or FLEX at the Flex Select prompt, the Mail Door will scan each selected mail conference one at a time and prompt you with the following options: A) Get all new messages in the area D) Get only direct mail in the area K) Get only keyword mail in the area P) Get only personal mail (direct and keyword) in the area S) Skip all mail in the area and update its lastread pointers H) Skip all mail in the area but do not update its lastread pointers F) Get the first X amount of mail L) Get the last X amount of mail Flex Assistant allows you to select mail "on the fly" while scanning it in an easy to remember format. 4.3 Vacation Saving The Vacation Saver is another Mail System feature developed for Silver Xpress. It is a utility that allows you to have the Mail Door automatically gather your mail and create mail packets once each day and hold them until you call in to download them. This is useful for Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 28 (as the name suggests) vacations where you will be unable to call the BBS for several days and do not want to miss any mail. It also works quite well to automatically gather your mail each day into a mail packet that is ready for you to immediately download when you log in, saving the time to scan for new mail and create the mail packet. Vacation Saver is enabled by turning the V option in the Xpress Services Menu to YES. Your sysop must turn this feature on, however, so you may not necessarily be able to use it. When you call for mail, you can check for saved Vacation Saver mail packets using the V option from the Main Menu. The Mail Door will list your packets and prompt you to download them. A list of Vacation Saver packets will also pop up if you get into the Mail Door and try to scan for new mail before downloading the packets. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 29 5.0 Mail Door Maintenance ========================== 5.1 Changing Mail Lastread Pointers Even though Flex Select Commands can be used to limit the mail you download, there are occasions when you might prefer to manually reset lastread pointers. One such time is the first time you download mail from a conference or the first time you download mail from a BBS. The Silver Xpress Mail Door offers you three ways to do this. The "brute force" method is to manually change the lastread pointers for each conference you wish in the Configuration Menu. To do this, get into the Mail Door Configuration Menu and select S for Select Mail Areas. After the list of available mail areas is displayed, you will see the following menu: Select/Deselect mail areas by typing the number or name in brackets. [L]ist Areas [D]etail Listing [S]elected Areas [M]ail Pointers [F]ind [R]eset [Q]uit [?] for Help Enter Number/Name or Command : The M option in this menu presents a table of current lastread pointers similar to the following: Available Mail Conferences (* means selected mail area) *[ 1] - General Discussion 28 *[ 2] - Private Sysop 77 *[ 3] - Xpress 0 *[ 4] - FidoNet: NetMail 78 *[ 21] - F:Xpress_Support 223 *[ 22] - F:Xpress_Sysop 167 *[ 23] - F:AllFix Help 289 *[ 24] - F:RA Multi-Node 156 *[ 25] - F:RA Sysop Support 1040 *[ 26] - F:RA Utilities 919 *[ 29] - F:BBS Standards 134 *[ 30] - F:BinkleyTerm 591 *[ 33] - F:Maximus 22 The number on the right is the current lastread pointer for each message area. Selecting the R option from the menu allows you to manually reset each area. The format for this command is R #, where # is the conference number you want to adjust. The Mail Door will list the high message number for the area and the current lastread pointer then prompt you for the new lastread pointer. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 30 The other two ways to reset lastread pointers are both in the Mail Options Menu. Option D allows you to globally change lastread pointers by the date each message was posted. Using this, you could reset all conferences to messages posted in the last 7 days, for example. Option N allows you to change lastread pointers by number. This is the command you will see when you select that option: Enter Reset Command or ? for help : The Reset Command needs to be in one of the following formats: R * ====================================================================== This command will display each mail area you have selected and prompt you to change the lastread pointers, conference by conference. R * value ====================================================================== This command will automatically set the lastread pointer in each selected mail area to the value defined. See the definition below of acceptable values. Examples: R * 20 Set lastread pointers in selected conferences to 20. R * HIGH-30 Set the lastread pointers in selected conferences to 30 below the highest. This allows you to download the last 30 messages in each selected conference. R [area# or name] [area# or name].....[area# or name] ====================================================================== This will display the areas provided, one by one, and allow you to change the lastread pointer for each one. Example: R 20 32 2 4 5 In this example, you are asking Xpress to display areas 2, 4, 5, 20, and 32, and to allow you to change the lastread pointer for each one. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 31 R [area# or name] [area# or name].....[area# or name] = value ====================================================================== This will display the areas provided, but automatically change the lastread pointer to the specified value. Example: R 1 4 7 23 = HIGH-20 This example will set the lastread pointer to 20 messages below the highest for areas 1, 4, 7, and 23 automatically. This means you will only get the last 20 messages in those particular areas. The value parameter in this command can be any of the following: number - Set the lastread pointer to the number. LAST-amount - Set the lastread pointer to the amount BELOW the current lastread pointer. LAST+amount - Set the lastread pointer to the amount ABOVE the current lastread pointer. HIGH-amount - Set the lastread pointer to the amount BELOW the current lastread pointer. 5.2 Personal Logfiles The Silver Xpress Mail Door includes a built-in user logfile generator that tracks your activities in the Mail Door, if the sysop has enabled the feature. One use of the Logfiles is for troubleshooting, if you are having difficulty with uploading or downloading messages. It will help your sysop to help you get going better in Silver Xpress. You can view your logfile, if enabled, using the L option from the Main Menu. Your logfile may look something like this: Searching.... 01 Jun 07:11:38 USER BEGIN TRUE GARY PETERSEN @ 14400 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER LAST MSG READ : 78 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER Area 2 ( Private Sysop ) - 3 A 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER Area 21 ( F:Xpress_Support ) - 3 A 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER Area 22 ( F:Xpress_Sysop ) - 6 A 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER Area 23 ( F:AllFix Help ) - 10 A 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER Area 24 ( F:RA Multi-Node ) - 8 A 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER Area 25 (F:RA Sysop Support) - 52 A Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 32 01 Jun 07:15:02 USER Area 26 ( F:RA Utilities ) - 44 A 01 Jun 07:15:06 USER Area 103 ( R:Silver Xpress ) - 1 A 01 Jun 07:15:06 USER Area 110 ( R:Shareware ) - 44 A 01 Jun 07:15:06 USER Area 111 ( R:Common ) - 24 P 01 Jun 07:15:06 USER Area 120 ( R:Mail Doors ) - 2 A 01 Jun 07:15:06 USER Area 121 ( R:OS/2 ) - 171 A 01 Jun 07:15:08 USER Area 125 ( R:Offline Mail ) - 23 A 01 Jun 07:16:18 USER Pack MWXPRESS.O23 w/ Phil Katz's PKZip 2.04G 01 Jun 07:22:30 USER DNLD MWXPRESS.O23 w/ ZModem 06/01/94 7:16am 01 Jun 07:23:04 USER END---------------------------------------- If your sysop has enabled personal logfiles, you should examine yours every now and again, and delete it to conserve hard disk space. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 33 6.0 Using the Mail Door with the Silver Xpress Reader ====================================================== 6.1 Current Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader Files The current version of the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader is 4.01. Separate versions for real and protected mode configurations are available, though you can run either version with the same configuration files and registration. Current file names are as follows: File Name Description --------- ----------- SXR401.ZIP Basic Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader archived file for real mode applications. SXR401P.ZIP Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader archived file for protected mode applications. SXR401PU.ZIP Replacement executable files to "upgrade" from the real mode reader to the protected mode version. DPMI110.ZIP DOS Protected Mode Interface: This, or another DPMI, is required to run the Protected Mode version of the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. SXCLR202.ZIP Screen color customization utility. 6.2 Advantages of the OPX Mail Format The OPX mail format is superior to QWK in many ways. Here are but a few: o Powerful Silver Xpress OPX mail format allows for longer TO, FROM, and SUBJECT fields and large mail creation among other powerful not possible in QWK. o 100% Fido Network Capability allows for Direct Electronic Mail Communications and a whole slew of FidoNet Services such as FidoNet File Requesting and File Attachment. o Support for FidoNet based UUCP Internet addressing. o Direct Support for Pure Internet Addressing with systems using the Silver Xpress Mail Door! An industry first! o Tremendous Xpress Forms Processing System for many types of new offline applications such as Store and Forward Order Entry, Offline questionnaires, Scheduling, Database Inquiries, etc. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 34 o The world's fastest mail search system with Boolean rules and "Search and Act" logic. o Powerful embedded mail language called Xpress Windows and Xpress to create fancy messages with windows and color! o Support for PCBoard and Wildcat! Mail Color Codes. o Interactive off-line configuration system. o File Upload and Attachment System. (When used with the Silver Xpress Mail Door). o Xpress Remote Services System for customized applications. o Unlimited message length support. o Speech Friendly Interface with intelligent Mail System for the Blind. o Receipt File System tells Packet Manager which REPLY packets were uploaded. 6.3 Offline Configuration Using the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader Many of the options and configuration settings in the Mail Door can be defined remotely with the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader. These options include: o Selected Mail Areas. o Keywords for Scanning Mail. o File Transfer Protocol. o Archive Utility. o Use ANSI Graphics in the Mail Door. o Download Mail You Created o Use Mail Door Menu Hot Keys o Include New File Scans o Accept Group Mail o Enable Vacation Saver Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 35 and many others. All can be set up when reading an OPX mail packet with the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader and uploaded in a reply packet to the Mail Door! Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 36 7.0 Using the Mail Door with Another Reader ============================================ 7.1 QWK Mail Options If you are using another offline mail reader with Silver Xpress Mail Door, you're using the QWK mail format. There are a few options which can (and sometimes must) be set in the Mail Door to overcome problems with certain offline mail readers. These are defined in the QWK Mail Options Menu, which is accessible using the M option from the Mail Packet Type Menu. The QWK Mail Options Menu is as follows: ------------------- QWK Mail Options ---------------- [K]....Strip Kludges Lines - YES [C]....Message Header Case - AS IS [N]....Send NDX Index Files - YES [W]....Perform Word Wrapping - NO [?]....Show help [/]....Main Menu [Q]....Return to Previous Menu -------------------------------------------------------- [1157 mins] Gary, Enter Command : Certain QWK offline mail readers cannot deal with kludge lines, which are used to include routing information in some QWK mail messages. The K option in the QWK Mail Options Menu allows you to define whether these kludge lines are stripped from mail messages before they are combined into a QWK mail packet. If your offline mail reader cannot deal with kludge lines, set this option to YES. QWK format mail messages generally allow only capital letters in the header information (TO and FROM names and the SUBJECT field). Some more recently released QWK mail readers allow upper and lower case letters. Some expect only capital letters, though. The C option in the QWK Mail Options Menu defines whether this information is modified at all. NDX Index Files are required by some QWK offline mail readers to function properly. Not all mail doors generate them, and not all QWK readers need them. The N option in the QWK Mail Options Menu gives you control over whether this file is generated by the Mail Door and included in your QWK mail packet. If your reader cannot work properly without this file, set this option to YES. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 37 Some QWK mail doors send the main text of each message in a single line that must be word-wrapped by the offline mail readers. A few QWK readers cannot do this, however. If your offline mail reader is not displaying messages from the Mail Door properly, you may need to set this command to YES via the W option in the QWK Mail Options Menu. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 38 8.0 Where to Go for More Information ===================================== 8.1 How Can I Contact Santronics Software? Santronics Software can be reached at: Santronics Software 30034 SW 153 Ct. Leisure City, FL 33033 Orders: 800-845-6944 Voice: 305-248-3204 BBS: 305-248-7815 (The Xpress Support Center BBS) FAX: 305-242-1482 Internet: santronics@aisbbs.com 8.2 Where Can I Get Support For the Silver Xpress Mail System? Support for Silver Xpress is available through the following avenues. FidoNet ======= XPRESS_SUPPORT Moderator: Scott Nikont Primarily for the Silver Xpress Offline Mail Reader, but questions about other Santronics Software products will be answered also. XPRESS_SYSOP Moderator: George Fliger Primarily for the Silver Xpress Mail Doors. OFFLINE Moderator: Paul Knupke Jr. Support for and discussion of all offline mail products. Many Team Xpress people are active in this conference, including Hector Santos. SHAREWRE Moderator: MaryJane Choate Support for and discussion of all shareware products. Many Team Xpress people are active here as well. RIME/RelayNet ============= SILVER XPRESS: Channel 459 Host: Gary Petersen Support for all Silver Xpress products. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 39 CompuServe ========== Santronics Software Library and Forum Host: Hector Santos Support for all Silver Xpress products. The Santronics Software areas are located in the PC Vendor J Forum (GO PCVENJ). Voice Support ============= Contact Santronics Software directly for voice support between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 305-248-3204. Registered users are entitled to one hour of voice support on the toll free line, 800-845-6944. Those who purchase the Priority Service Plan are entitled to unlimited voice support on the toll free line. Silver Xpress Mail Door User's Guide Page 40