Copyright: ALTAIR Setup Help Vesrion 1.01


Configuring Archivers using Setup

Archivers

This section is used to configure your archivers.  ALTAIR supports seven of the most popular archivers used in the BBS community. There are two options to configure for each archiver you intend to use.

Compression command line

Please specify the full path to your archiver and any command line options that are required.  The following substitutions may be made on the command line.

%a 	Placing this on the command line will cause ALTAIR to substitute the

archive name in its place.

%f	Placing this on the command line will cause ALTAIR to substitute the

names of the files to be archived in its place.

Decompression command line

Please specify the full path to your archiver and any command line options that are required.  The following substitutions may be made on the command line.

%a	Placing this on the command line will cause ALTAIR to substitute the

archive name in its place.

%f	Placing this on the command line will cause ALTAIR to substitute the

directory to unarchive into in its place.

Set as Default Archiver

You should check this box for the archiver that you wish to use as your default.  This will also be the archiver used to compress Bluewave bundles.


Configuring Nodes using Setup

Node Manager

The node manager is used to define any links to other systems that you have.

Change Primary Address	This will change the address that you will use when interacting with this node.
Add/Delete Nodes	These buttons will allow you to add and delete nodes.
Routing	This will allow you to define the routing information for this node.  Note:  This is only required for BinkleyTerm compatible systems.  FrontDoor compatible systems handle their own routing.
Groups	This will allow you to select the Area Manager groups that this node has access to.

The following items may be configured from this screen for each node

Sysop	The name of the sysop of this BBS.
Description	A short description of this BBS.
Archiver	The default archiver to use for this BBS.
Flavor	How to mark the mail for this BBS.
Area Manager Password	This is the password your node will have to provide on each Area Manager request sent to your system.


A link can be either a BBS system that you receive fidonet compatible mail from, or one that you send mail to.  Each address that you send or receive mail to or from must be configured as a separate node.  This is done to keep better track of multiple addresses from a single system.


Configuring Areas using Setup

Area Configuration

This section is used to configure your echomail, netmail, and bad echos areas.

Netmail

ALTAIR uses a single default area for netmail.  You may not explicitly define downlinks (addresses) for this area.  You must define a primary address.  You should not change the echomail tag for this area.  All your netmail will be processed through this area.  You cannot delete this area.

Bad Echos

ALTAIR also creates an area for bad echomail.  You cannot define downlinks or a primary address for this area as none are needed.  You should not change the echomail tag for this area.

Echomail / Local Bases

The following settings may be changed for each echomail area.

Address	These are the addresses of your downlinks.
Primary	This is the primary address you will use for this area.
Directory	This is the directory that the area is located in.
Description	This is a description for this area.
Echo Tag	This is the echomail tag for this area.
Max Messages	This is the maximum number of messages to keep in this area.
Area Type	This will select the type of area this is.  An echomail area will be scanned of outbound mail to downlinks while a local area will only be scanned for a BlueWave packet.
Area Format	This is the message base format to use for this area.
Filename	This is the file name used to store the message base in.


How to register ALTAIR

Registration

To register ALTAIR, simply fill out the REGISTER.TXT form included with your archive.

When your registration has been processed, you will receive your key file.  This key file should be placed in your ALTAIR directory and named ALTAIR.KEY

Once that has been completed, you will have a registered copy of ALTAIR.


Configuring options using Setup

Network Options

This screen allows you to configure a collection of items pertaining to network operation and the location of certain files.

Mailer Type	Which type of mailer you will be using.
Packet Name	The 1-8 character name for your BlueWave packets.
Logging, Suppress, Strip	Whether you want logging, suppression of archivers, and certain stripping options enabled or disabled.
Main Address	Your primary address.
AKA	A list of other addresses you use.  You must use a point designator on each address and separate each address with a space.
Origin Line	The origin line you wish placed on every message.
Inbound Directory	The directory where your inbound archives are placed.
Outbound Directory	The directory where your outbound packets should be placed.
Temporary Directory	The directory where ALTAIR should place its temporary files.
Upload Directory	The directory where your Bluewave upload packets are created.
Download Directory	The directory where your Bluewave download packets should be placed.
Your Name	Your name as it appears in your Bluewave editor.


Using Area Management

Area Management

Area Management is used to allow your downlinks to add and subtract areas automatically without any human intervention.

To configure area management, simply do the following

1.	Create a group.  All related areas should be placed in the same group.  Each node will have access to different groups.

2.	Select the areas that belong in this group.

3.	Change to Node Manager and select the node you wish you configure.

4.	Press the Groups button and select the group you just created from the list.

Now your node is configured to have access to all the areas in that group.  You should then define a password for that node.


ALTAIR v1.01

The first 32 bit mail tosser/scanner

for Windows 95 and Windows NT

Written by

Kevin Kuphal

*** LEGAL NOTICE ***

You are given license to install this version of ALTAIR on a single computer.  You may not, under any circumstances, redistribute this software in any form.  This license is revoked upon the release of the final version of ALTAIR v1.01 to the general public.  At that time, you must delete this product from your computer and acquire an official release version.

ALTAIR is a shareware product.

Use beyond the 30 day trial period is strictly prohibited.

The shareware version is full featured except for a delay upon startup.  During the first 30 days, this is a minor 5 second delay.  For the next 15 days, ALTAIR will remind you that you are not allowed to use this product and will delay for 5 seconds. After that 15 day grace period,

ALTAIR will institute a increasing delay for each day that you continue to use ALTAIR.


Table of Contents

1	Title Page

2	Legal Notice

3	Table of Contents

4	Pricing, Availability

5	Support

6	Feature List

7	System Requirements

8	Benchmarks

9	Installation

10	Using ALTAIR

11	ALTAIR conventions


Pricing and Availability

Pricing, Availability, and Support

Pricing

The pricing for ALTAIR is as follows

Non-commercial use ..............................................................................	$25 US

Commercial use .....................................................................................	$50 US

Commercial use includes any setting in which ALTAIR is used in conjunction with or on a system which provides and charges for services of any kind.  This also includes use by any business entity or software creator in the support of their products or on a system used for such support.  Government use is also considered commercial use.  Examples include, subscription bulletin board systems, pay bulletin board systems, commercial support bulletin board systems, and others.  All other usage would be considered non-commercial.  The author reserves the right to final decisions on all determinations of commercial and non-commercial use.

Registration of ALTAIR entitles you to the registered version of ALTAIR which removes the unregistered delay and technical support provided by the support options outlined below.  A registered version of ALTAIR is defined as any release of ALTAIR within a single major version number.  A major version is defined as all 1.xx releases, all 2.xx release, etc.  Registration entitles you only to registered versions within the same major version of the unregistered version that you registered.

Registered users will be given reduced upgrade pricing for transferring registrations between major versions.  If necessary, registered users may be offered free upgrades depending on the time frame in which they registered.

Availability

The unregistered evaluation version of ALTAIR is always available from PCsource BBS, the official support site for ALTAIR.  It is also available via FTP by clicking on the icons below.

NOTE : PCsource is not owned and operated by the author of ALTAIR. It is operated by Intuitive Vision Computer Services which is handling some of the support and distribution of the ALTAIR product.


Support options for ALTAIR

Support

Support for ALTAIR is provided in a number of ways.

PCsource BBS - The official support site for ALTAIR

You may click on the two icons below to dial the PCsource BBS or contact them via Internet Email.  PCsource is node 1:115/583 on Fidonet.

    Node 1 (14.4)	                Node 2 (14.4)

ALTAIR support echo - The official support echo for ALTAIR

You can connect to the ALTAIR support echo through the PCsource BBS. FREQ IVNET with your front end mailer for information on connecting to this echo.

The Author - That's me!

I will try to make myself available as often as possible to users of ALTAIR. I frequent the following Fidonet echos where I can easily be reached.

WIN.SYSOP, WIN32, WIN95, and BBS_CARNIVAL

I can be contacted via Fidonet netmail at 1:115/583.1


Feature List

ALTAIR is the first native 32-bit Fidonet mail tosser for Windows NT and Windows 95

New features in this release -

•	PCBoard 14.5 message base format support for support of PowerBBS.

•	Improved tossing using the Win32 API's memory mapped files.

•	A number of minor bug fixes improving compatibility, ease of use, and reliability.

•	Importing of AREAS.BBS configuration information during initial setup.

•	Windows 95 compliant setup and uninstall utility for easy removal of ALTAIR if necessary.

•	Configurable filenames on message areas as well as directories.

•	Built in message base packer to keep your bases at manageable sizes.

•	Basic Area Management functions for downlinks.

Major features include -

•	Completely written as a Windows NT and Windows 95 32 bit application.  This is not a port of an older DOS application.  This allows for maximum compatibility with both platforms and the best position to implement specific features designed for these platforms.

•	BinkleyTerm and FrontDoor style front end mailer support.

•	Supports FTSC spec .PKTs for importing messages.

•	Supports JAM, PCBoard 14.5, and *.MSG formats for BBS and Local message bases.  Squish support will be included in a future release.

•	Includes support to create a Bluewave mail packet on an area by area basis for message reading by a Sysop or ideally as a point site.

•	Full downlink support for hubs.

•	Average processing speed of 20-25 messages/second.

•	Full GUI setup application for configuration.


System Requirements

ALTAIR requires that you be running under Windows NT 3.51 or Windows 95.

ALTAIR has no known memory requirements beyond those required for the above operating systems.

If you will be using the BlueWave compatible portion of ALTAIR, you will need to have a BlueWave reader compatible with either version 2.11, 2.12, or 2.2x of the BlueWave Mail Reader.

On a technical level, ALTAIR was compiled using Version 3 and of the Bluewave structures.


Comparing ALTAIR to other mail tossers

Benchmarks

ALTAIR does not promise to be the fastest or best mail processor for all users.  We believe that ALTAIR is the first step in the development of fast, 32 bit, Fidonet compatible applications.  We hope to lead that change with continued improvements and features that other products, intent on keeping compatibility with DOS versions of their applications, cannot offer.

The following chart compares four popular mail processors with ALTAIR on tossing messages into a *.MSG message base.

You will notice that ALTAIR consistently performs better than Squish in all cases but does fall behind GEcho (which I believe was written primarily in assembler) and InterEcho.  We believe that this performance will be acceptable for most users especially considering the advantage of using a native application on Windows NT and Windows 95.  Being able to exploit new features of both operating systems in future versions is a prime example of ALTAIRs advantage over DOS based applications.

Using the performance monitor, ALTAIR was found to significantly reduce the amount of CPU time required to process mail over DOS based products like GEcho.  This translates into higher system performance during mail processing and increased multitasking performance as well.

We will continue to make improvements to ALTAIR not only in the number of formats that it supports, and there are currently eight under consideration, but also in the speed of operation.


Installing ALTAIR

Installation

To install ALTAIR, unpack the official ZIP archive of ALTAIR into the directory in which ALTAIR will reside.  Read the README.1ST file included in the package for information on files that may be deleted if necessary.

Running the setup application (SETUP.EXE) for the first time will start the installation wizard which will walk you through the initial setup.  This wizard will allow you to configure default settings that the setup application will use during this initial setup to configure the number of areas you request immediately.  This should reduce the amount of time necessary to set up ALTAIR for the first time.

In addition to being able to set up areas with the installation wizard, you can also set up additional echos at the same time using the built in AREAS.BBS importer.  During the set up, you can opt to import areas from an AREAS.BBS file which will drastically ease and speed up conversion to ALTAIR.  These two methods of adding areas are not mutually exclusive and can be done at the same time.

Once the installation wizard as completed, you will be presented with the setup application which you should immediately use to finish your configuration.  The following sections will need to be completed manually at this time :

Network Options

Archivers

Node Manager

You should also double check each and every area for accurate information.  The following areas are automatically created during installation and will need further configuration :

BADECHO

NETMAIL

Please be sure to configure these areas as ALTAIR will not run correctly unless this is completed.

You can use the online help for ALTAIR to get more information about the individual settings for each section.


Using ALTAIR

Once ALTAIR has been properly configured, the use of ALTAIR is relatively simple.  There are four available command line switches for running ALTAIR.

TOSS - This will cause ALTAIR to decompress any inbound archives and toss the resulting packets into the proper areas and create a Bluewave message packet for the sysop if desired.

SCAN - This will cause ALTAIR to scan all message areas for outbound messages including any waiting Bluewave upload packets.  ALTAIR will collect these messages and create an outbound archive for transmission to an uplink.  ALTAIR compresses all outbound mail, including netmail into the archive package.

PACK - This will cause ALTAIR to pack your message areas.  This will delete any messages marked as deleted and keep your message areas at their smallest size and at the maximum number of messages set.

PURGE - This will delete all messages in all echomail areas.  Do not use this command indiscriminately.  Recovery of purged messages would be difficult at best.


ALTAIR conventions

ALTAIR uses certain conventions during its operation that must be adhered to for proper processing.  Be sure to read this section carefully as quite often the information here will be useful in correcting any configuration errors that could be causing problems.

Area Manager Support

ALTAIR includes basic support for what is commonly known in Fidonet networks as Area Management.  Area Management is the means by which your downlinks can add, delete, and otherwise change the areas that they receive through you automatically without human intervention.  You configure Area Management by first creating Area Manager groups in the setup program.  Then mark the areas that belong to each group.  Finally, configure echo node to have access to particular groups.

All Area Manager request from your downlinks must be sent to your system, addressed to ALTAIR, Areamgr, Areafix, Arealink, or Echomgr, contain the node's password on the subject line, and have the body of the message contain one of the following action lines

+AREANAME will add the node to the specified area providing the node has access to the group that the area belongs to.

AREANAME will delete the node from the specified area.

%LIST will send the node a list of all areas that they have access to with descriptions.

%HELP will send a list of commands to that node.

At this time, ALTAIR does not send any kind of notification to the sysop when an area management function is invoked.  An entry is, however, placed in the log file detailing the actions that were taken.

A future version of ALTAIR will expand upon this support.

Long file name support

ALTAIR supports long file names and directory names where they will not interfere with Fidonet standards.  The only place you may not use a long file name is in the name of your Bluewave packet which must be eight or less characters.

All other paths, including area definitions, may be defined using the Windows 95 and Windows NT specifications.  Remember!  When using long file names, DOS based applications will need to be configured using the 8.3 alternate name that is assigned by the operating system.  Under Windows NT, this can be seen using the dir /x command.  Under Windows 95, the DOS based filename is displayed using the standard DIR command.

Message Base Filenames

ALTAIR allows for you to configure the filenames that your message bases are stored under.  As with the directory, this filename can be assigned using Windows 95 long file name support.  If using a DOS BBS, be sure to configure your system properly.

Address definitions

When inputting a Fidonet address into ALTAIR, you must be certain to always include the point designator.  This is especially important on your AKA definitions as ALTAIR does not check for this designator in that field.  It is also important to remember this when inputting routing information.

Archivers

In order to properly configure your archivers, you must specify the full path to the archiver for ALTAIR to function properly.

pkunzip %a %f

is not a proper archiver definition.

Example of proper archiver configuration

Archiver 	c:\apps\pkzip.exe %a %f

Unarchiver	c:\apps\pkunzip.exe %a %f

In the above example, you will notice that the %a is a token representing the archiver name, and %f is a token representing the destination/source path/filename.

Nodes and Downlinks

ALTAIR handles nodes (downlinks and uplinks) in a slightly different way than most echomail processors.

ALTAIR considers each and every AKA of a system as a separate node.  The following example illustrates this.

If you had an uplink that served you multiple networks, you would set this system up as follows.

1.	You would create an entry in the node manager portion of the setup application for each address of this system that you send mail to with the proper addresses for each.

2.	Each area that this system served to you would then be set accordingly with the proper addresses on each area.

3.	Then, if desired, you set the primary address of this system to have all the other addresses routed to it.  Otherwise, you could leave each node separate and all the packets would get processed and delivered by your mailer as required.

While this method of configuration may be different from other processors, it is a relatively minor and inconsequential change.

Thank you for considering ALTAIR for you mail needs.  I hope to hear from you soon.

Kevin Kuphal

Author of ALTAIR