B1,R199401210434,T#1"Readme first",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
681Readme first:

The Help messages are loaded into the In Tray just as if they had been received as incoming mail. They are individual messages that can be printed if you wish. After you read them you can Erase them all and recall them again by pressing Ctrl-F1 from the Root Screen. Every time you press Ctrl-F1 the entire set of Help messages are added to the In Tray messages.

In order to gain experience using Personal-E you can test its functionality with the Help messages without risk of losing any "real" messages. Go ahead and Read, Edit or Erase them to familiarize yourself with the program interface.

Welcome to the world of Personal Connectivity - Personal-E Mailbox.
;
B1,R199312291220,T#1"Getting Started",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
4358Getting Started:

Personal-E V2.6 is an intuitive electronic mail program which allows anyone with a modem and an IBM PC or compatible, running DOS 3.0 or higher, to send, receive and pickup e-mail directly (point-to-point), with another PC running Personal-E. You are now free from store-and-forward subscription services!  It also allows reading and responding to interactive forms created using Personal-E V2.6W.

Your Modem:

Personal-E requires a "Hayes compatible" modem for proper voice compatible operation. One essential Hayes command is "Originate Only." It is what is termed an "AT Command." You can find the listing of the "AT Commands" in your modem manual. The "Originate Only Command" will be listed under "Dial Modifiers" and the specific Command is the letter "r." If your modem does not support this Command then you can only Send messages to a Personal-E set to answer in Normal. You will, however, be able to receive messages in all answer modes.

Help Messages:

You can load Help messages into the In Tray for reading by pressing Ctrl-F1 anytime you are at the opening Root Screen. These messages explain the operation of Personal-E in detail. The files show up as (New) In Tray messages. Help messages can be erased from the In Tray and always recalled again and again with Ctrl-F1 from the Root Screen.

How it Works:

The screen is partitioned into five sections: Two LIST buttons at the top, a large MESSAGE window in the center, seven MODE function buttons, three CHECK boxes and an INFORMATION window, all at the bottom of the screen.

The two LIST buttons at the top are the In Tray and Out Tray. Incoming messages are stored in the In Tray and messages ready for mailing are stored in the Out Tray. Choosing one of the Trays displays the contents of that Tray. The In and Out Trays can be selected with the mouse or the Alt-I and Alt-O keys. Pressing F10 switches between the two.

The MODE buttons at the bottom of the screen represent the actions you wish to take. Choosing a MODE button switches Personal-E into the appropriate screen and Tray for taking the action. The MODEs are selected with the mouse or the corresponding function key.

The three CHECK boxes are Home, Away and Hub. These represent the way Personal-E will answer the telephone. Home and Away can be set from the Main Screen by using the mouse or Alt-H and Alt-A keys. Hub is only selectable from within the MODE Setup.

The INFORMATION window displays the state Personal-E is in. When your modem is setup properly and ready for sending and receiving calls, the window displays Ready...

Technical Support:

If you are a registered user you can get technical Help from AmerCom by sending questions to the AmerCom Hub. Please use the entry in the Phone Book "Questions" when contacting us. If you are experiencing problems, provide as much information as possible about your computer, modem, com ports, IRQ's and other serial devices as you can, along with a complete description of the problem. Include your name, address and telephone number. We will respond with answers for you as quickly as possible, usually within a few hours.

Automatic Setup:

When you first started Personal-E it set the correct modem COM port and the modem default baud rate to 2400. Changes to these are made in Setup. Read the Help message about Setup before altering these settings.

What You Can Do With Personal-E:

With Personal-E you will be able to send PE-Mail to anyone else running Personal-E software. Personal-E allows you to set up your PE-Mail station on the same telephone line as your telephone and answering machine. You do not require a dedicated line.

Personal-E is also an electronic envelope in which you can include unlimited sized ASCII or binary files for mailing. Text files created in word processors can be inserted into PE messages for sending.

You will also be able to use Personal-E as a Hub. Messages sent to Personal-E can be picked up from remote locations. Personal-E becomes your personal store-and-forward electronic post box.

Personal-E is used as a Bulletin Board. You can allow many others to remotely pick up copies of posted Bulletins making it an ideal solution for clubs, associations and businesses.

There is no simpler method to electronically communicate than using Personal-E Mailbox. Welcome to the world of Personal-E Mail.
;
B1,R199401200937,T#1"Quick Reference Guide",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
3011Quick Reference Guide:

This table provides a reference for all the functions and settings. You can print it using F4 Print and then choose the message "Quick Reference Guide" and press Enter.

FRONT PANEL:

F1 Write - To start a new message
         - Edit message in Out Tray
         - Forward message
         - Reply to message
         - Change or add to Phone Book

F2 Read  - Read In Tray or Out Tray messages

F3 Mail  - Mail message in Out Tray
         - Broadcast Out Tray message
         - Pick up mail from another mailbox
         - Initiate a Chat call

F4 Print - Print In Tray or Out Tray messages

F5 Erase - Erase In Tray and Out Tray messages and Phone Book entries

F6 Done  - Completes an action or backs up to previous screen

F7 Setup - Opens setup table

Home     - Sets Answer mode to work with voice callers

Away     - Sets Answer mode to work with answering machine

Hub      - Displays Answer mode set to "server" operation

Normal   - Displays Answer mode set to "Normal server" operation

IN:      - Opens In Tray message LIST

OUT:     - Opens Out Tray message LIST

Alt-I    - Selects In Tray
Alt-O    - Selects Out Tray
Alt-H    - Sets Home answer mode
Alt-A    - Sets Away answer mode

EDITOR KEYS:

R/L Arrows - Move one character Left or Right
U/D Arrows - Move one line Up or Down
Ctrl-R Arrow - Moves one word to Right
Ctrl-L Arrow - Moves one word to Left
Home      - Moves to beginning of line
End       - Moves to end of line
Ctrl-End  - Moves to end of document
Page Up   - Shifts one page up
          - Moves cursor into the address header from top of text
Page Down - Shifts one page down
          - Moves cursor to top text from within address header
Backspace - Deletes one character left of cursor
Delete    - Deletes one character right of cursor

SCROLL BAR:

Total length of bar represents length of document.
White segment represents viewing window relative to total document.
Clicking on bar with mouse moves window.
Dragging white segment with mouse moves window.

SETUP:

Set printer port number or file name to print to
Set COM port number
Set modem baud rate
Turn speaker during Send/Answer ON or OFF
Set answering machine rings to use in Away mode
Set answering mode to Home, Away, Hub or Normal
Turn Chat Mode communications On/Off
Turn Auto entries into Phone Book ON/OFF
Turn Auto mail of Broadcast messages ON/OFF
Enter mailbox password to allow remote mail pick up
Enter default From:Name to use in correspondence

U/D Arrow keys move to line
R/L Arrow keys scroll through choices on line
COM port must be set with Mouse Click or Number Input

FILE ATTACH:

From within open message:

 F8 - Allows a file selection for attachment to Current Message
    - F9 flips between file ATTACH and file INSERT

HELP:

From Root Screen -
 Ctrl-F1 - Loads Help messages into In Tray

DATABASE CONVERT:

From Root Screen -
 Ctrl-F2 - Opens In Tray messages-to-database converter

From Root Screen -
 Ctrl-F3 - Opens In Tray messages-to-text file converter
;
B1,R199312171515,T#1"Setup",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
4147Setup:

Setup is a configuration file to enable the setting of a variety parameters:

 Printer port (LPT):          1  2  3  4  Mailbox.lst
 Serial port (COM):           1  2  3  4
 Default baud rate:             1200  2400  9600  14400  28800
 Speaker:                     Off   Send On   Answer On   Both On
 Answering machine rings:     2  3  4
 Answer configuration:          Home   Away   Hub   Normal 
 Allow incoming Chat calls:      No   Home/Normal  Hub   
 Auto Phone Book:              off   on
 Auto Mail:                    off   on
 Password for mail pickup:   __________________________
 Correspondence name:        __________________________

The Up and Down arrow keys will select the parameter line and the Left and Right arrow keys will scroll through the choices for that parameter. Done exits Setup.

-- Printer port - sets the port that Personal-E will use for printing.  The choice Mailbox.lst prints the message to a file named mailbox.lst. If this file already exists, then the new print request is appended to that file. You can change the name of the file simply by entering another name after selecting Mailbox.lst.

-- Serial port - sets the COM port number the modem is on. If the correct choice is made then the INFORMATION window will display "Ready..." If the serial port the mouse uses is selected, the mouse will cease to operate. A new choice must be made using the arrow keys.

-- Default baud rate - sets the beginning baud rate the modem will attempt. If the other mailbox operates at a lower baud rate then the modem will "step down" to match the other mailbox modem rate. Set this to the baud rate listed for your modem.

-- Speaker - turns the speaker either on or off during dialing out or answering. If the speaker is off during send, then busy signals will not be audible. The message displayed will be "connection lost."

-- Answering machine rings - coordinates Personal-E to be synchronized with an answering machine on the same line. Set this to the same number of rings your answering machine is set to.

-- Answer configuration - sets how you wish Personal-E to answer your telephone. Home is for use when normal voice calls are expected. Away is for using when you are away and an answering machine will take the voice calls. Hub and Normal are for use when you wish to dedicate a line for PE-Mail.  Using Normal is the preferred setting for server operation but will completely disable voice calls.  Hub will allow voice calls to be taken and PE-Mail must be sent from a modem supporting 'originate only'.  The preference for Normal is to enable modems which do not support 'originate only' mode to send messages.

-- Allow incoming Chat calls - switches Personal-E's ability to receive Chat calls. When no one is around to take Chat calls, turning Chat off prevents others from remotely tying up your system. The other options allow Chat calls when Personal-E is set to answer in Home/Normal or Hub. 

-- Auto Phone Book - turns auto entries into the Phone Book on or off. The names and telephone numbers on received mail are added to the Phone Book automatically when Auto Phone Book is turned on.

-- Auto mail - turns automatic mailing of Broadcast mail on or off. Three attempts to mail each message occur when Auto mail is turned on. If unsuccessful after three attempts the mail remains in the Out Tray.

-- Password for mail pickup - is entered on the line provided. If no password is set your mailbox is locked and cannot be accessed remotely for picking up mail. If you wish to pick up mail remotely or wish others to have access to picking up mail, then a password must be entered. A mailbox can receive mail with no password set but will not allow pick up of mail.

 -- Correspondence name - is the name which is automatically imported into the From: name field when Writing a new message, imported into the Name to pick up: field when polling, and imported into the Your name: field when beginning a Chat call. The Correspondence name is the name most frequently used for correspondence from the mailbox. Leaving this entry blank results in importing a blank to the above fields. 
;
B1,R199401081001,T#1"Mode Buttons",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
4685Mode Buttons:

F1 Write:

Choosing Write displays the choices:
          ---------------------------
          Start new message
          Edit message in Out Tray
          Forward message in In Tray
          Reply to message in In Tray
          Change Phone Book entry
          ---------------------------
-- Start new message - opens the Phone Book for choosing an entry to be used as the address of a new message. If the first entry "Start message to unlisted number" is chosen the To: address information must be entered manually. If another choice is selected then the To: address information from that Phone Book entry is imported to the new message. A message created from "Start message to unlisted number" will default to the Send mode: Home. Messages started from any other entry import the Send mode: set in that Phone Book entry.

-- Edit message in Out Tray - opens the Out Tray message LIST and allows a chosen message from the Out Tray LIST to be edited.

-- Forward message in In Tray - opens the In Tray message LIST and allows a chosen message from the In Tray LIST to be edited and moved to the Out Tray for mailing.

-- Reply to message in In Tray - opens the In Tray message LIST and allows a chosen message from the In Tray LIST to be edited and also interchanges the To: and From: address information and then places the message in the Out Tray for mailing.

-- Change Phone Book entry - opens the Phone Book for adding new Phone Book entries, editing existing Phone Book entries or Erasing entries.


F2 Read:

Choosing Read allows messages to be read from either the In Tray or Out Tray. The message LIST of the Tray button selected is displayed. An individual message chosen from either LIST is opened for reading.

F3 Mail:

Choosing Mail displays the choices:
          -----------------------------------
          Mail letter in Out Tray
          Broadcast selected Out Tray message
          Check for mail at other mailbox
          Start outgoing Chat
          -----------------------------------
-- Mail letter in Out Tray - opens the Out Tray message LIST for selecting a message to mail. When a highlighted message is selected from the Out Tray LIST it is mailed to the To: address in the message header.

-- Broadcast selected Out Tray message - allows a highlighted Out Tray message to be sent to any number of other mailboxes.

To Broadcast a message, first open the Out Tray message LIST and highlight the message you wish to Broadcast. Then choose "Broadcast selected Out Tray message" from F3 Mail choices. The Phone Book is then displayed and entries in the Phone Book are chosen as recipients of the previously selected Out Tray message. When chosen, a "B" will appear next to the recipient's name in the Phone Book.

As many recipients as desired can be chosen from the Phone Book Listing. When finished selecting recipients, pressing F6 Done makes copies of the previously selected Out Tray message for each recipient selected. These are placed it the Out Tray for mailing.

If "Auto mail" in Setup is turned ON then messages for Broadcast are mailed automatically. Three attempts are made to Auto mail and if unsuccessful after that the message is left in the Out Tray. A message for Broadcast will have a "B" next to it followed by the number of attempts remaining that Auto mail will make.

-- Check for mail at other mailbox - opens the Phone Book to choose an entry for a mailbox from which you wish to pick up mail. Once the mailbox is chosen, any mail to the NAME you enter on the line "Enter Name to pick up:" is collected from the In Tray of the remote mailbox.

-- Start outgoing Chat - opens the Phone Book for choosing an entry to call in Chat mode. Chat mode is on-line real time, and allows direct communication through a split screen display with the called mailbox. In order to Chat with another mailbox, that mailbox must have "Allow Incoming Chat calls" in F7 Setup enabled.

F4 Print:

Choosing a message with F4 Print selected will print the message to the printer port set in F7 Setup. If Mailbox.lst is set in F7 Setup then the message is printed to the file named "Mailbox.lst." The Mailbox.lst field in F7 Setup can be changed to any file name, allowing printing to file names of your choice. Messages printed to an existing file name are appended to that file.

F5 Erase:

Choosing a message while F5 Erase is selected deletes that message. Deleted messages can not be recovered.

F6 Done:

Completes the current action and/or moves to the previous LIST or option screen. Selecting F6 Done several times consecutively will exit Personal-E.

F7 Setup:

This function is described in the Help message "Setup."
;
B1,R199401081103,T#1"Phone Book",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
1018Phone Book:

The Phone Book contains entries of Names, Phone Numbers, Passwords and dialing Modes. Entries can be Added, Edited or Erased.

From F1 Write choosing "Change Phone Book entry" opens the Phone Book for editing. Selecting the first entry "Add a new entry to Phone Book" allows the insertion of a new entry in alphabetical order. Any other entry selected allows editing of the fields in that entry. To erase an entry select F5 Erase then highlight and choose an entry and it will be erased.

When finished editing the Phone Book select F6 Done.

*** CAUTION - When in Erase MODE each entry selected will be deleted.

Mode: is set to tell Personal-E how to dial the Phone Book entry. The space bar switches the Mode: between Home, Hub and Normal. Home is the default dialing Mode and will call properly to a mailbox set to answer in Home, Away or Hub. The dialing Mode: Hub is only for calling a mailbox set to answer as a Hub.  The dialing mode: Normal is only for calling a mailbox set to answer in Normal.
;
B1,R199312151003,T#1"Home, Away, Hub and Normal",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
2116Answer Mode:

Personal-E Mailbox is compatible with telephones and voice answering machines. All three can operate on the same telephone line.

-- Home - sets Personal-E to quietly listen to a call for incoming PE-Mail. If Personal-E does not hear the correct mail notification then it silently backs out. With this option when a person calls the telephone is answered normally and a normal conversation is carried on. If it is PE-Mail then Personal-E will collect the mail. A person answering the telephone will hear silence if it is PE-Mail. The telephone is then simply hung back up and Personal-E takes over and collects the incoming mail. Home is used when a person is at home and will be answering telephone calls.

-- Away - sets Personal-E to allow an answering machine to collect a voice call first. Personal-E gives priority to the answering machine, allowing it to answer and announce it's outgoing message. If the call is PE-Mail then Personal-E will correctly "soft switch" to collect the mail. Away is used when people are not at home and want a voice answering machine to answer the telephone along with Personal-E.

(For proper operation, it is important not to leave a lengthy outgoing message. It is recommended that the outgoing message be kept to under 10 seconds). 

-- Hub - is used when Personal-E will be on a "semi" dedicated telephone line. Hub answers the telephone on the first ring and begins listening for incoming PE-Mail immediately. This mode is used for server applications where it is not important to be answering machine compatible but you may want to receive voice calls on the same line. Hub can be answered just like Home and will accept PE-Mail from both.

-- Normal - is also intended for dedicated server applications.  One of it's primary uses is receiving Forms that have been pre-addressed to be returned to a "Normal server."  Normal is NOT voice line compatible but is the most efficient mode for a server.  If you are going to operate a dedicated server, use Normal!  Normal is also useful for communications between modems not supporting "originate only" operation.
;
B1,R199401111348,T#1"Posting Bulletins",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
1553Bulletins:

You can leave bulletins for others to pick up from your computer while it is running Personal-E. When someone picks up a Bulletin they receive a copy of the Bulletin and the original remains for others to also pick up. This way the same information can be picked up by many.

To create a Bulletin simply place an asterisk in front of the name used as the To: name. Then enter a 1 in place of both to and from telephone numbers.

For example the address header information would look like:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
To:    *Sales Team                    At: 1
From:  Home Office                    At: 1
About: Meeting


This is to inform you folks in the field that the annual sales team meeting will be held in Bermuda this year.

                    --------------------------------------------------------------------
Once the Bulletin is written it is mailed. Mailing a message with 1's in place of both phone numbers causes the message to move to the In Tray where it is accessible for pick up.

Messages can only be polled from the In Tray so you can leave the Bulletin in the Out Tray until you are ready to post it.

After mailing your Bulletin to the In Tray go ahead and Read it. This will remove the NEW tag from the message and display instead the number of times the Bulletin has been picked up.

Bulletins remain in the In Tray until they are Erased.

When others are picking up Bulletins they must know the Password you have entered into F7 Setup under "Password for mail pickup:".
 ;
B1,R199401111348,T#1"Posting Messages",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
378Messages:

Messages can be written and left in the In Tray for another person to pick up. Simply enter 1's for both to an from telephone numbers and then Mail the message. It will move to the In Tray and be available for pick up. When the message disappears it has been picked up.

When others are picking up messages from your Hub they must know the Password you have entered.
;
B1,R199312171147,T#1"File Attach",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
927File Attach:

ASCII or binary files, of any size, can be attached to a message during creation or during editing. With the message open, pressing F8 displays an input line where any valid path and file name are entered. The file is attached to the open message when the Enter key is pressed.

Files can also be inserted into messages. After pressing F8 for file attach, pressing the F9 key allows you to switch to File Insert mode. The F9 key will flip between attach and insert modes. An inserted text file is placed in the message text field at the point of the cursor. The total size of the message plus the insert cannot exceed 15K bytes.

To detach a file from a message being read, press F8 and an input line is displayed where any valid path and file name are entered. The file is copied to the path, directory and file name listed. The message, including the attached file, remains intact until the message is deleted.
;
B1,R199401191522,T#1"Database",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
1116Database:

A standard comma/quote delimited database file can be created from the In Tray messages. The messages for conversion are selected by the To: names and then written to a path and file name of choice.

To convert In Tray messages press Ctrl-F2 from the Root Screen. You will be asked to type a name to match to the To:Name of the messages you wish to be included in the converted file. Several names can be strung together with plus (+) signs. For example AmerCom+AmerCom,Inc. will place all of the messages To:AmerCom and To:AmerCom,Inc. in the converted file. After choosing the messages to include you choose a path and file name to write the database file to. Any valid DOS path and file name are acceptable.

Converted files can then be read directly into any standard database program for further processing.

Choosing Ctrl-F3 from the Root Screen will convert In Tray messages to a text file instead of a database file. The process is identical to database conversion except the file created retains the format of the messages. This way messages can be selectively archived in groups by the To:Name.
;
B1,R199401261004,T#1"In Tray",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
926In Tray:

The In Tray is a LIST of incoming mail. If the tray contains mail the number of messages appears on the IN button. If the tray is empty a zero is displayed on the IN button.

With the In Tray button depressed, a LIST of the incoming mail is displayed. Items in the In Tray can be read, replied to, forwarded to others, printed and erased.

To take action on an In Tray message first select the IN button. Then select the MODE button at the bottom of the screen representing the action desired. Then select the message you wish to take the action on by HIGHLIGHTING it. To HIGHLIGHT the message either scroll to the message using the arrow keys or click on the message using the mouse. Once the message is HIGHLIGHTED, pressing the Enter key or clicking on the message with the mouse again causes the action to be taken.

The scroll bar, home, end, page up and page down keys can be used to scan the In Tray listing.
;
B1,R199401261009,T#1"Out Tray",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
824Out Tray:

The Out Tray is a LIST of messages ready for mailing. If the Out Tray contains messages then the number of messages is displyed on the OUT button. If it is empty then zero is displayed.

Messages in the Out Tray can be mailed, read, edited, printed, erased and broadcast.

To take action on an Out Tray message first select the OUT button. Then select the MODE button at the bottom of the screen representing the action desired. Then select the message you wish to take action on by HIGHLIGHTING it. To HIGHLIGHT a message, scroll to it using the arrow keys or click on it using the mouse. Once the message is HIGHLIGHTED, pressing the Enter key or clicking on it again with the mouse causes the action to be taken.

The scroll bar, home, end, page up and page down keys can be used to scan the Out Tray listing.
;
B1,R199402251716,T#1"TSR",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
1380TSR

Personal-E Mailbox can be run as a background program allowing use of your computer for other applications while still answering the telephone and collecting PE-Mail. To turn ON the TSR program simply exit Personal-E choosing "Exit with background ON" from the exiting screen. The TSR will start and run in the same manner that the foreground program ran. The TSR will pick up the F7 Setup configuration settings and use them.

For changes made in the foreground to the F7 Setup table to become active in the TSR, you must first "Exit with background OFF" to unload the TSR. Next, restart the foreground program and "Exit with background ON". This reinitializes the TSR with the new Setup data. The TSR can be unloaded using the command "mailbkg u" from the DOS prompt also.

The TSR has the capacity of the available hard disk. All messages collected are stored in a directory on the hard disk drive. When the foreground program is restarted, it converts the background messages to the foreground format for reading. The foreground will convert as many messages as possible, up to the limit of the available RAM. If there are more messages in the TSR directory than can be read into the foreground RAM, then you must archive or delete, some or all, of the foreground messages before any more of the TSR received messages can be converted and read by the foreground program.
;
B1,R199403020901,T#1"Message Management",F#1"PE V2.6",A"Help",Z0,
2612Message Management

Personal-E foreground and Personal-E background (TSR) store messages differently.  The foreground adds incoming mail to the mailbox.dat file whereas the TSR stores mail in a directory MB-MSGS as individual .rcv files.  The foreground maintains the mailbox.dat file in RAM. The TSR stores the .rcv files on disk.

The size of the mailbox.dat file (foreground operation) is limited to the size of the available RAM.  When the mailbox.dat fills the RAM to within 64K bytes of it's limit, an alert message appears on the screen advising you to delete or archive messages to make room in RAM for more mail.  A recommendation is to rename the mailbox.dat file to a date coded .dat file.  For example 030194.dat is the mail received up to March 1, 1994.  Then when Personal-E is restarted it will create a new mailbox.dat which is empty.  The 030194.dat can always be looked at again by copying it to mailbox.dat and starting Personal-E.  When you copy, however, the existing mailbox.dat will be over written.  It is therfore important to archive mailbox.dat before the copy function is used.

If the limit of RAM is allowed to be reached, Personal-E will back out to the DOS command prompt instead of attempting to overfill.  Callers will then receive the message "No mailbox at other end."

The size of the .rcv files (TSR operation) is limited to the available space on the disk drive.  For a hard disk drive this can be megabytes of space.  The TSR can typically store far more on disk than the foreground can store in RAM.  When the foreground is restarted after running the TSR, the .rcv files are converted to, and apended to, the mailbox.dat file for foreground reading.  If there are more .rcv files than the available RAM then only a portion of the .rcv files are converted.  The number of .rcv files converted are limited to the number which will fit in RAM.  The remainder will reside in the MB-MSGS directory until there is room in RAM to be included in the mailbox.dat file.  If the .rcv files are too many to all fit in RAM, then the mailbox.dat will have to be archived and Personal-E restarted to convert the remaining .rcv files.  This process continues until all the .rcv files have been read into a mailbox.dat file.

Mailbox.dat files can also be merged.  This is done by renaming a mailbox.dat file to a filename with a .rcv extension and then copying the new .rcv file to the MB-MSGS directory.  When Personal-E is restarted the new .rcv is appended to the existing mailbox.dat file.  In this manner, archived mail from different dates can be grouped into a single mail file.
;