





















                            Fidocat! Version 1.10






         A tutorial for setting up your Wildcat 3.55M BBS to receive
         FidoNet Echomail using BinkleyTerm v2.50, Wildmail v2.04 and
                               QM v1.30 *gamma*






         Copyright (C) 1992 by Rudolf Rothemund, all rights reserved





















          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 2




          WHY THIS DOCUMENTATION
          ======================

          Just before my vacation in July, 1992 I decided that I wanted to
          become a member of FidoNet.  The reason for this was because I
          became interested in the Star Trek Echos that I had seen on other
          BBS's.  I had recently joined a chapter of Star Fleet Command, the
          USS Columbia (NCC-621), and I wanted to offer the members with
          computers the opportunity to communicate with their counterparts
          at a national level.

          I did some research and found that FidoNet had at least two Star
          Trek echos available on their backbone.  I also found out that I
          had to apply to Star Fleet Command's TrekNet in order to receive
          their Echos, which were different than the ones offered on the
          Fido backbone.  So I set out to find the "right" software to
          accomplish my goal of becoming a FidoNet member.

          I have been running a local BBS for about three years (Wildcat!
          3.55M) and I wanted to run my BBS as well as send and receive
          messages from my echo conferences.  Wildcat! 3.55M does not come
          packaged with a mail system (something I hope will change with
          future releases, Rick Hemming!), so I had to look for a software
          package that would pass normal calls to Wildcat and handle mail
          sessions to send and receive Net and Echo mail.

          I found out the hard way that it would take many many hours of
          configuring many software programs to accomplish my goal.  Worse,
          I became obsessed with it, and it took me away from my family.  It
          took so much time because all the programs were not available for
          download from one place.  Also it took a while for me understand
          the FidoNet concept of Net and Echomail and how each is handled.

          There really isn't one documentation file that ties in all these
          programs together unless you are a FidoNet Hub.  And being a hub
          for these systems requires a lot of programs and configurations
          that I simply did not need.  So I decided to write some documen-
          tation on what I did on my system, the Red Phoenix BBS, so that
          the "average person" could become a member of the FidoNet mail
          network.

          I also wanted to become a FidoNet node at a minimum cost so where
          I could I used public domain software.  This is not to say that
          this kind of software is "cheap," or ineffective.  Binkleyterm
          from Bit Bucket Software is one of the most versatile front-end
          mailers written and it is offered free of charge.  But when I
          found a software package that I tried and liked, I registered it,
          and I expect that you will do the same.  The shareware concept
          won't work unless we all help it along.

          This version of my documentation deals with how to set up your
          system and software packages for Fidonet echos ONLY.  I had to
          learn to do this before I could branch out and learn how to get
          both FidoNet echos and TrekNet echos.  Another version of this

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 3




          documentation (version 2.10) will deal with how to set up your
          system for more than one zone address.

          KUDOS
          =====

          I want to thank Rick Nash (1:226/1250) for all the help he gave me
          through this.  Rick and I went through this trial together, and
          I'll bet we racked up at least $300 apiece in calls.  I want to
          thank my family for putting up with my obsession.  And lastly I
          want to thank all the shareware software authors for their fine
          programs.


          FIRST DISCLAIMER
          ================

          I want you to know up front that I don't consider the way that I
          get FidoNet mail as the ONLY WAY.  There are lots of other pro-
          grams written that will accomplish the same goal.  I'm only going
          to tell you how I use the programs that I have chosen to receive
          FidoNet mail.  Please feel free to modify what I do to suit your
          needs, and choose other programs if you feel that they are better
          suited for your system.

          I also am not claiming that my configurations and these programs
          will be absolutely safe and that your systems will not crash.  I
          didn't write the programs, and you use them and my suggested con-
          figuration files AT YOUR OWN RISK.  I'm only trying to help here;
          I don't want to end up in court.

          SECOND DISCLAIMER
          =================

          Now I'm going to tell you something you might not want to hear.
          Setting up your system to accept FidoNet mail is definitely going
          to take some time and effort on your part.  Hopefully this docu-
          ment will smooth a lot of things over for you, but YOU have to put
          in your dues.  As with all things, your effort WILL pay off.  One
          of life's greatest feelings is watching your first successful mail
          run.

          SHOPPING LIST
          =============

          OK, so you're ready to procure all the programs that you need to
          get started.  Here's the list.  You can get all these programs on
          my board in the FIDO files section, The Red Phoenix BBS, 216-345-
          5807, (1:226/1260):






          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 4




          Name of Program                    File Name
          ---------------                    ---------

          BinkleyTerm v.2.50                 BEXE_250.LZH
                                             BDOC_250.LZH
          QM v.1.30 *gamma*                  QM_130GM.LZH
          VFOS v.1.10 (optional)             VIBM_110.ARJ
          Wildmail! v.2.04                   WMAIL204.ZIP
          Wildnode v.1.10                    WNODE110.ZIP
          X00 v.1.24                         X00124.LZH
          Xlaxnode v.2.56                    XLAX_256.LZH

          One real quick lesson in extracting LZH, ARJ files and ZIP files.
          First, make sure that LHA.EXE, ARJ.EXE, and PKUNZIP.EXE are in
          your PATH statement.  I put them in my C:\DOS directory.  For LZH
          files, type "lha e BEXE_250.LZH" (without the quotes).  This will
          extract your LZH file.  To extract the ARJ file, type "arj e
          VIBM_110.ARJ" (without the quotes).  This will extract your ARJ
          file.  For ZIP files, type "pkunzip WMAIL204.ZIP" without the
          quotes and your ZIP file will be extracted.

          The documentation files for BinkleyTerm v. 2.50 are in a separate
          file, BDOC_250.LZH.

          I suggest that as you read a section of any of the documentation
          files, make a copy of my working configuration file as documen-
          ted in this article.  You should make the necessary changes such
          as drive and path statements that reflect actual conditions on
          your system.

          Along with the previous programs you will need ALL these compres-
          sion programs, also available at the Red Phoenix BBS in the COM-
          PRESSION PROGRAMS file section.  Take the compression and decom-
          pression executable files and put them somewhere in your PATH
          statement.  I put them in my c:\dos directory.

          Name of program                    File Name
          ---------------                    ---------

          PKZIP.EXE                          PKZ110.EXE
          PKUNZIP.EXE                        PKZ110.EXE
          ARCE.COM                           ARC602.ZIP
          ARJ.EXE                            ARJ230.EXE
          LHA.EXE                            LHA213.EXE
          LHARC.EXE                          LHARC.ZIP
          PAK.EXE                            PAK251.ZIP
          PKARC.COM                          PKARC.COM
          PKXARC.COM                         PKXARC.COM
          ZOO.EXE                            ZOO210.ZIP

          One of my greatest problems was trying to find ALL the programs
          on my shopping list in ONE PLACE.  I hope that I have solved that
          problem for you.


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 5




          SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
          ===================

          Computer
          --------

          I run a 386DX clone with 4 megs of onboard RAM.  At this writing I
          have an 85 meg IDE hard drive.  I intend to get another bigger
          drive, as I found out that these Star Trek echos get a large
          volume of calls per day.  You should have at least 20 megs of free
          space for your system files and echo conferences.  I use Micro-
          soft's DOS 5.0 and Desqview's QEMM to manage my memory (sorry,
          Microsoft).  I have Desqview 386, but I am not running it with
          BinkleyTerm.  I intend to do so in the future, then I may write
          another version of this document.

          My autoexec.bat and config.sys files are also included with this
          documentation.  Please compare them with your own.  You will see
          that I use some of my 386 extended memory to make a RAM disk and
          about a meg of memory for a disk cache.  I also use X00.SYS as my
          FOSSIL driver (more on that later) and it is loaded as a device
          driver in my config.sys file.

          Autoexec.bat file
          -----------------

          C:\QEMM\LOADHI /R:1 C:\QEMM\BUFFERS=40
          PATH=C:\QEMM;C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WC30;C:\WC30\DATA;C:\WC30\WCWORK;
          C:\WC30\WCWORK\NODE1;C:\ME;C:\DV;C:\BINK;C:\BINK\NODELIST;

          PROMPT $p$g

          VERIFY=ON

          SET BINK=C:\BINK

          D:

          MD SWAP

          MD WORK

          C:

          CD\wc30

          CAT.BAT

          Config.sys
          ----------

          DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ROM SORT:Y MA=10 X=E000-E7FF TA=30

          FILES=40

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 6




          BUFFERS=1

          STACKS=0,0

          DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 /RES=8192 /SQT=F600-F7FF
          C:\X00.SYS E 1 B,0,19200 T=512 R=1024

          DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 /RES=416 /SQT=F600-F8FF
          C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE

          DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 /RES=1152 /SQT=F600-F6FF
          C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 1024 512 1024 /e

          DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:4 C:\DOS\TANSI.SYS

          DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:2 C:\SMARTDRV.SYS 1024 256

          I put blank spaces between the actual lines so that the lines
          would be in a more readable form.  The spaces do not appear in my
          actual autoexec.bat and config.sys files.

          Modem
          -----

          I have a US Robotics 14400 Courier external modem locked at 19200.
          If you're going to have a lot of conferences, I suggest you get a
          high speed modem.  Here are my settings:

                                    DIP switches

          1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9      10

          U      U      D      D      D      U      U      D      D      U

          I leave the QUAD switch alone in the UP position.  Please note
          that #2 is UP (verbal results), #5 is DOWN (auto answer sur-
          pressed), and, importantly, that #10 is UP (load from NRAM at
          power-up).

          Here are my NRAM settings for my US Robotics 14,400 Courier
          modem.  I obtained these setting by typing ATI5 in my comm pro-
          gram:

          USRobotics Courier 14400 HST NRAM Settings...

          Dial=PULSE  B1  F1  M1  X7
          BAUD=19200  PARITY=N  WORDLEN=8

          &A1  &B1  &G0  &H1  &I0  &J0  &K0  &L0
          &M4  &N0  &P0  &R2  &S0  &X0  &Y1

          S02=255   S03=013   S04=010   S05=008
          S06=002   S07=050   S08=002   S09=006
          S10=007   S11=O50   S12=050   S13=000

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 7




          S15=008   S19=000   S21=010   S22=017
          S23=019   S24=150   S26=000   S27=000
          S28=008   S38=000

          I have no stored phone numbers in my NRAM.

          PERTINENT WILDCAT MAKEWILD SETTINGS
          ===================================

          There are a few MAKEWILD settings that must be in place for you to
          send and receive FidoNet mail.

          In the GENERAL INFORMATION screen, part one:

          12.  Path for node information file:   c:\bink\nodelist

               This is where I keep my nodelist.

          In the GENERAL INFORMATION screen, part two:

          2.   Database File Safety Mode:  None

               This speeds up the tossing of mail to your databases.

          3.   Terminate on Doors and Menu Hooks: N

               You should Shell to DOS for these functions and not use
               errorlevel checking.

          4.   Swap out during DOS shell: Y

               You should Shell to DOS and not use errorlevel checking.

          Other than these settings, you should make sure that your Comments
          to the SYSOPS conference is conference zero, and I have my Netmail
          conference as conference 1.

          MINI-GLOSSARY
          =============

          Now you will need some explanation of words and terms:

          Address:  The zone/net/node number assigned to you by FidoNet by
          your host system.  In many configurations, the zone is assumed to
          be zone 1, or North America.

          Front-end mailer:  The program (in this case, BinkleyTerm) used to
          send and receive electronic mail in the FidoNet mail network.  It
          is called a front-end program because your new CAT.BAT file will
          run it before it starts Wildcat.  A front-end mailer passes normal
          calls to the BBS software.  If the call is a mail call the front-
          end mailer, along with other software, handles the mail session.

          Netmail:  A system of sending "private" messages to people by

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 8




          using their Fido net/node address and the name that they use on
          that system.  Your netmail conference is separate from your echo
          conferences and is treated differently.

          Echo:  An ECHO is essentially a national or international message
          base.  This is almost always a public conference.

          Echomail:  The actual messages in an ECHO collected and processed
          by hubs and host systems.

          Hub:  A Bulletin Board or other system that acts as a way station.
          You will probably use it to send and receive Echomail, and Netmail
          if allowed.  Think of it as being the county seat of a county.

          Host:  A Bulletin Board or other system that collects mail from a
          number of hubs.  Think of it as being the state capital of a
          state. (Not quite a perfect analogy, but it will do).

          Node:  A system within a hub.  This will be your system.  Think of
          it as being a city within the county.

          Poll your hub:  To place a call to your hub, usually to initiate a
          mail session.

          Mail session:  The time period during which your system connects
          to your hub for sending and receiving Net and Echo mail.

          Session password:  A unique password assigned to your system that
          allows you and you alone to start your mail session.

          FREQ:  FREQ stands for File Request.  A remote system may request
          a file on your system, and BINK may be set up to send a requested
          file to the remote system.

          Nodelist:  A list of systems within the FidoNet mail system.  The
          list contains the names and locations of the systems, their FIDO
          address, the name of the SYSOPS, and other important information.

          MINI-EXPLANATION
          ================

          Let me explain what happens during a mail session.  I have a lot
          of echos: Binkley, Wildcat, many FidoNet Star Trek echos and a few
          others.  BinkleyTerm (my front-end mailer) polls my HUB every
          night around 5AM for new mail.  When BinkleyTerm makes the connec-
          tion, it identifies my system to my HUB.  My HUB then asks for the
          session password and BinkleyTerm (from now on I'll use the term
          BINK) supplies it.  After my HUB decided it's me, his system lets
          BINK upload my mail to him.  My mail consists of all the responses
          that my users have entered into the various ECHOS on my BBS.
          After I send my mail, my HUB sends to BINK mail destined for my
          system.



          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 9




          OBJECTIVE
          =========

          I use BinkleyTerm v2.50 as my front-end mailer.  To use BINK, you
          first need to install a FOSSIL driver.  BINK also needs to have
          a processed nodelist.  I use XLAXNODE v.2.56 to process my FidoNet
          nodelist for BINK.  To collect and pack your mail to send to your
          hub, and to toss your incoming mail into the proper echos, you
          need Wildmail v2.04 and QM v.1.30 *gamma*.  To be able to use your
          Netmail function in Wildcat, you need another nodelist pro-
          cessor, Wildnode v.1.10.

          There are other utilities that make life easier for you, but I
          will not get into them as they are not necessary to get a FidoNet
          Net/node number.  You will run across them soon enough and will
          want to make your own choices for FidoNet utilities.

          X00 v.1.24 Fossil Driver
          ========================

          A FOSSIL driver must be installed in your system prior to running
          BINK in order for BINK to work properly.  I place X00.SYS in my
          root directory and have a line in my config.sys which installs
          X00.SYS as a device driver whenever my system is booted.  I use
          QEMM manage my memory, and it handles my X00.SYS installation to
          maximize memory.  For those of you who don't use QEMM, place
          X00.SYS in your root directory and add this line to your
          config.sys:

                  DEVICE=C:\X00.SYS E 1 B,0,19200 T=512 R=1024

          This configuration works well with my system.  If you have
          problems with your FOSSIL driver, please consult the X00124
          documentation file X00USER.DOC.

          BinkleyTerm v2.50
          =================

          Let's get to the nitty gritty.  Create a directory off your root
          directory named BINK.  Place in your BINK directory all the files
          that come with BEXE_250.LZH, (BinkleyTerm 2.50) and BDOC_250.LZH.
          PRINT OUT THE DOC FILES.  You should have four of them. Two of
          them are user and reference guides for BinkleyTerm 2.30. The other
          two are the update docs for versions 2.40 and 2.50. Put them all
          in a suitable notebook.  I suggest that you use space tabs for the
          different sections so that you can get to them without too much
          trouble.  Please read the documentation.  Page 54 of the USERS
          GUIDE has a nice glossary of terms that you should be familiar
          with before proceeding further.

          You will see from the TREE.TXT in the appendix that I have all my
          mail-related files in either my BINK directory or in subdirec-
          tories under it.  I keep them separate from my Wildcat system
          files where possible.  If you choose to use my configurations,

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 10




          then you will not have to change drive and path statements.

          The heart of BINK is the BINKLEY.CFG file.  It is a straight ASCII
          file that should be placed in your newly created BINK directory.
          This file tells BINK how to do certain things and where to find
          the files to do them.  The BinkleyTerm 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 docs tell
          you what the different parameters mean, and your BinkleyTerm pack-
          age gives you a sample BINKLEY.CFG file.  I suggest that you make
          a copy of my sample configuration in this documentation, then copy
          it to another directory and delete the one in your BINK directory.
          Then substitute my sample BINKLEY.CFG file.  Edit it with your own
          drive and path statements to reflect your system.

          My BINKLEY.CFG file has no comment lines in it.  I don't like
          cluttered configuration files, and I only use comments when
          absolutely necessary.  I will now describe my BINKLEY.CFG file.

          BINKLEY.CFG file
          ----------------

          Port            1
          Baud            19200
          Carrier         80
          Init            ATZ|
          Prefix          |ATDT~
          Busy            |ATM0H1|
          Answer          ATA|
          StatusLog       c:\bink\bink.log
          Serial          071755
          LogLevel        1
          NoSLo
          SwapDir         d:\swap
          Unattended
          BoxType         4
          Banner          The Red Phoenix BBS
          BBSNote         Loading Wildcat! 3.5M. Give me a few seconds...
          DoingMail       The BBS is currently processing mail.  Please try
                          again later.
          EnterBBS        Press <ESC> to Enter BBS
          BBS             BATCH
          Colors          113 30 30 30 31 31 78 15
          ScreenBlank     call
          BlankWait       60
          System          The Red Phoenix BBS
          Sysop           Rudolf Rothemund
          Address         1:226/1260
          NetMail         c:\bink\netmail
          NetFile         c:\bink\netfile
          Hold            c:\bink\outbound
          Nodelist        c:\bink\nodelist
          Version7
          Okfile          c:\wc30\okfile.txt
          Avail           c:\wc30\allfiles.zip
          About           c:\bink\phoenix.txt

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 11




          MaxReq          8
          MaxBytes        2000000
          MaxTime         60

          Port 1 -  I use comm port 1.  If you use com port 2, change it to
          2 and so forth.

          Baud 19200 -  My maximum baud is 19200 (I only have a 16450 UART
          chip).  One of these days I will install a 16550.

          Carrier 80 -  This has to do with FOSSIL status bits and the BINK
          documentation files say that this value is nearly always correct
          with modems that support carrier detects.

          Init ATZ| -  (Note - the | is a carriage return). The initial-
          ization string.  I am a whole-hearted supporter of NRAM (non-
          volatile RAM) on the HST.  When ATZ is sent to the modem, the
          modem defaults to the settings programmed in by the NRAM.  I use
          these setting for my BBS as well as for the front-end mailer
          (nice, huh?)

          Prefix |ATDT~ -  This tells my modem to use tone dial.

          Busy |ATM0H1| - Takes the modem off hook.

          Answer ATA| - For modems that are not set to automatically answer
          the phone (such as my system).  This keeps the modem from
          answering the phone if BINK is off.

          StatusLog c:\bink\bink.log - This is where BINK puts it's log
          file.

          Serial 071755 - Binkley is free.  I like to think that this is my
          serial number.  You can put anything that you want here.  This
          happens to be my birthday.

          LogLevel 1 - I like minimal log levels.  If you are having a
          problem with BINK and you want to have a more detailed log
          change this to LogLevel 5 (the most verbose level).

          NoSLo - For No SeaLink overdrive protocol.

          SwapDir d:\swap - Enables memory swapping, and this is the path
          for BINK to swap to.  On my system, this is a RAM disk.

          Unattended - This statement is necessary, and it is used to tell
          BINK that it is to be used as a front-end mailer.

          BoxType 4 - The kind of box that I like to see the BINK screen
          use.

          Banner The Red Phoenix BBS - This is what callers see before they
          press the ESC key to enter the BBS.


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 12




          BBSNote Loading Wildcat! 3.5M. Give me a few seconds...  -  This
          is what is displayed after the BBS caller types the ESC key to
          enter the BBS.

          DoingMail The BBS is currently processing mail.  Please try again
          later. - (note - this is all on one line in the real config file).
          This statement is sent to the caller when the BINK is processing
          mail and non-mail calls are not allowed.  This occurs when the B
          flag is not placed during an event (more on this later).

          EnterBBS Press <ESC> to Enter BBS - This statement is sent when
          the B flag is present during an event (more on this later) and
          callers are allowed into the BBS.

          BBS BATCH - This is an important statement.  This tells BINK how
          it will interface to the BBS.  This subject is discussed more in
          depth in the BBS INTERFACE section.

          Colors  113 30 30 30 31 31 78 15 - I use a modified Mark Kromm.
          Mark Kromm was the guy who originally made up these colors and
          a lot of FidoNet nodes use them.  The only modification that I
          made is that when an outgoing call is made, the line that contains
          the Fido address of the remote system is backlighted in red and
          the number is yellow.

          ScreenBlank call - Tells BINK that I want the opening screen to
          become blank after a certain period of time to be designated
          later. The screen will unblank when a call is placed, comes in, or
          a key is depressed.  Note - this only works if you have a video
          fossil (VFOS) installed.  I have one installed and will deal with
          it in the CAT.BAT section.

          BlankWait 60 - Tells BINK that I only want 60 seconds to pass
          before blanking the opening screen.  Note - This only works if you
          have a video fossil (VFOS) installed.  I have one installed and
          deal with it in the CAT.BAT section.

          System The Red Phoenix BBS - The name of my BBS.  This information
          is needed during a mail session.

          Sysop Rudolf Rothemund - The name of the SYSOP, which is also
          needed during a mail session.  Please don't use my name.

          Address 1:226/1260 - This is my FIDO address. (Note - how does one
          send for a FIDO address?  You NEED a FIDO address to send for one.
          A "catch 22" that will be answered in the section HOW TO GET A
          ZONE/NET/NODE NUMBER).

          NetMail c:\bink\netmail - This is the area where Wildmail places
          newly extracted netmail from my Wildcat netmail conference.  BINK
          also uses this area to build a mail.sys file using the compiler
          BTCTL (more on that in the BTCTL section).

          NetFile c:\bink\netfile - This pathway points to the directory

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 13




          where incoming mail and files are stored before being processed by
          Wildmail.

          Hold c:\bink\outbound - This is where outbound mail is kept until
          a BINK mail session is initiated.

          Nodelist c:\bink\nodelist - This is where the nodelist and related
          files are kept.

          Version7 - I use the latest version of nodelist compilation,
          version 7.

          Okfile c:\wc30\okfile.txt - This file lists the drive and path-
          ways to the files that I allow people to FREQ (file request).
          When someone FREQ's a file from The Red Phoenix BBS, OKFILE.TXT
          tells BINK where the file resides on my hard drive.  Since FREQ's
          are generated from calls coming in, cost is not a problem and any
          file that is available on The Red Phoenix BBS may be FREQ'ed.  A
          sample OKFILE.TXT is located in the appendix of this documen-
          tation.

          (Note:  I don't have this set up yet, but files may also be
          FREQ'ed from other systems via MAGIC NAMES, which are defined in
          this text file.  Page 46 of the BinkleyTerm 2.30 user's guide has
          an elegant explanation on how to set up MAGIC NAMES and their
          paths on your system).

          Avail c:\wc30\allfiles.zip - This is a list of files available
          to be FREQ'ed.  When anyone FREQ's my system with the MAGIC NAME
          of FILES, this is the file that is sent.  This file happens to be
          the same allfiles.zip generated by WCPRO during my nightly main-
          tenance run.  This keeps the file current (neat, huh?).

          About c:\bink\phoenix.txt - This file is sent if a FREQ is not
          possible.  It is a little blurb file describing my system and
          letting the other person know as nicely as possible that the file
          doesn't exist on my system.  I have an example included in the
          appendix of this documentation.

          MaxReq 8 - I only allow 8 files to be sent during one FREQ
          session.  I don't want my board tied up for too long.

          MaxBytes 2000000 - I allow a total of 2.0 Megs of files to be sent
          during one mail session.  It is this big because sometimes I get
          requests for nodelists and nodediffs (more on these files later).

          MaxTime 60 - I only allow FREQ'ers 60 minutes per FREQ session.

          BINKLEY.EVT file
          ----------------

          The BINKLEY.EVT file lets BINK know when to do certain things and
          for how long.  It is an ASCII file that is placed with the other
          BINK system files in the BINK directory.  My BINKLEY.EVT file

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 14




          looks like this:

          EVENT ALL 00:00 00:03       N L=0 E1=80             ;MAINTENANCE
          EVENT ALL 00:04 03:59 B H M   L=0 E1=50 E2=60  A=30 ;RUN BBS
          EVENT ALL 04:00 04:59   H M   L=0 E1=50 E2=60  A=30 ;NMH
          EVENT ALL 05:00 06:59 D H M N L>0 E1=10 E2=60  A=30 ;MAIL RUN
          EVENT WEEK  05:00 23:59 B H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60  A=30 ;RUN BBS
          EVENT WKEND 05:00 15:59 B H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60  A=30 ;RUN BBS WKEND
          EVENT WKEND 16:00 18:59 D H M N L>0 E1=10 E2=60 A=30 ;WKEND MAIL
          EVENT WKEND 16:00 23:59 B H M L=0 E1=50 E2=60 A=30  ;RUN BBS WKEND

          Here's the syntax for the BINKLEY.EVT file, taken from page 26 of
          the BinkleyTerm version 2.30 Reference guide:

              EVENT <day> <start> [<stop>] [<string>] <flags/options>

          I don't have any use for the "string" parameter, and fortunately
          this parameter is optional.  I will now describe my BINKLEY.EVT
          file in human language.

          The first event that I have is a maintenance event.  I run WCPRO
          to create my statistics bulletin and my ALLFILEST.  I also
          renumber my local conferences.  I want to do this every day of
          the week so after the word EVENT I have the word ALL.  I want this
          event to start at midnight.  The batch file takes about three
          minutes run so I have the start time at 00.00 and the finish time
          at 00:03 (from midnight until three minutes past midnight).  The
          first flag, N, means that the mailer will not accept FREQ's (file
          requests) during this time.  The second flag, L=0, means that mail
          with a cost of zero (local mail) will be sent.  Since I normally
          don't send any mail to anyone except to my long distance HUB and
          one other long distance node, no mail will be sent during this
          time period.

          BINK always starts an event by exiting to the errorlevel desig-
          nated by the E1 flag.  In my first event, I have my E1 flag set to
          E1=80, which causes BINK to exit with an errorlevel of 80.  I have
          a statement in my CAT.BAT file (which is used to start BINK, the
          mail processing software, and my BBS) that starts my maintenance
          program when BINK exits at this errorlevel.

          My second event allows normal callers access to the BBS.  It
          starts at 00.04 (four minutes after midnight) and runs until
          3:59AM.  It is active every day of the week (ALL).  The event
          contains seven flags.  The first flag (B) allow BBS callers during
          the event.  The second flag (H) allows callers (including the
          SYSOP) to send crash mail.  This is mail that is sent immediately
          to another FidoNet node.  The third flag (M) tells BINK that it is
          a mail event; that is, mail can be sent and accepted.  I allow
          mail to be sent to me anytime except during my maintenance period.
          The fourth flag means that only local mail will be sent.

          The fifth flag (E1=50) means that the event will start with BINK
          exiting at an errorlevel of 50.  I have BINK start in unattended

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 15




          mode at an errorlevel 50.  The sixth flag, E2=60, tells BINK that
          whenever mail comes in from an outside system (usually my HUB), it
          is to exit at an errorlevel of 60.  At an errorlevel of 60, my in-
          coming mail gets processed.  The last flag, A=30, tells BINK that
          I want an interval of 30 seconds between outgoing calls.

          The third event is the national mail hour event.  FidoNet has a
          rule that the BBS MUST be down and able to accept mail during
          National Mail Hour.  This is keyed to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
          and the time in zone 1 on the East Coast (North America) is
          between 4AM and 5AM Daylight Savings Time.  The event is struc-
          tured like the previous one except that the B flag is removed.
          Without the B flag, the BBS cannot accept callers, but everything
          else is the same.

          My fourth event starts after National Mail Hour.  It is during
          this event that my mail processing software scans, tosses, and
          packs outgoing mail and polls my hub.  This is a dynamic event,
          and the first flag, D, reflects this.  BINK will call my HUB until
          it reaches him, and then it will send and receive mail.  It will
          not stop until this is accomplished.  I do not have a B flag in
          this event, which means that BBS callers are not allowed. The H
          flag means that I can send crash mail, the M flag means that it is
          a mail event, and the N flag tells BINK not to allow file
          requests.

          The fifth flag, L>0, means that any mail with a cost greater than
          0 cents per minute will be sent.  This essentially means that all
          mail will be sent during this event.  The next flag, E1=10, causes
          BINK to exit with an errorlevel of 10 at the start of the event.
          At an errorlevel of 10, my mail processing software tosses, scans
          and packs the mail and directs BINK to call my hub.  The next
          flag, E2=60, tells BINK to scan and toss (but not pack) any in-
          coming mail.  And the last flag, A=30, tells BINK that I want an
          interval of 30 seconds between outgoing calls.

          The fifth event occurs only on weekdays (Monday through Friday),
          so instead of using ALL I use WEEK.  Please also note that the
          starting time of this event is exactly the same as the starting
          time of the previous event.  When the previous event (the mail
          event) is completely finished, then it ends and this one takes
          over.  For this to occur, the starting times of the two events
          must be exactly the same.  Except for the use of WEEK and the
          starting and ending times, this event is like the second event.

          The sixth event occurs only on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), so
          instead of ALL or WEEK I use the term WKEND.  Other than that and
          the start and end times, it is like the previous event.

          The seventh event also is a weekend event.  This is my extra mail
          event.  There is usually more mail to pick up on Saturday and
          Sunday, so I call my hub twice a day.  Other than the WKEND term
          and the start and end times, this event is like the fourth event.


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 16




          The last event is also a weekend event, and other than the start
          and finish times is like the second event.

          Caveat Emptor
          -------------

          One quick note about the BINKLEY.EVT file.  If you make changes to
          your BINKLEY.EVT file and then plan to restart BINK with the new
          file in place, you have to do several things.  First, make sure
          that you are outside of BINK's code before replacing the file.
          You can't be in BINK's DOS shell.  Next, replace your old BINK-
          LEY.EVT with your new one in your BINK directory.  Then delete
          these two files: BINKLEY.SCD and BINKLEY.DAY.  If you don't delete
          these two files, BINK will "remember" the old BINKLEY.EVT file and
          use those parameters instead of your new one.  This caused me some
          distress and I thank RICK NASH (226/1250) for the solution to the
          problem.

          An unfortunate side effect of deleting those files will be that
          you will lose the information in your "TODAY AT A GLANCE" screen.
          This screen is located at the upper middle part of the BinkleyTerm
          opening screen.  This information includes how many BBS/MAIL calls
          were made and how much you spent making those calls, so if you
          need this information write it down before deleting the two files.

          BTCTL
          -----

          BTCTL.EXE is a small compilation program packed with BinkleyTerm
          2.50.  The purpose of this file is to create MAIL.SYS, which is
          necessary for some mail processing programs to work properly.
          BTCTL.EXE should be placed in your C:\BINK directory.  After your
          BINKLEY.CFG file is properly configured, type BTCTL at your DOS
          prompt.  Do not start BTCTL while in BINK's DOS shell. The pro-
          gram will create the necessary files and display your address,
          netfile and netmail path statements.

          I suggest that every time you change your BINKLEY.CFG file, you
          should run BTCTL.  The docs say that you don't have to unless you
          make changes in address and/or path statements, but in my exper-
          ience with BINK I have found that the BTCTL program needs to be
          run with additional BINKLEY.CFG changes.  Better to be safe than
          sorry.

          MINI-GLOSSARY
          =============

          Here are some more words and terms for you to digest before pro-
          ceeding further.

          Nodelist:  A list of systems within the FidoNet mail system.  The
          list contains the names and locations of the systems, their FIDO
          address, the name of the SYSOPS, and other important information.


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 17




          Nodediff:  A list of systems to be added, deleted, or otherwise
          modified to the nodelist.  The NODEDIFF is produced weekly.

          Merge:  The process of adding the NODEDIFF to the NODELIST.

          Compilation:  Processing the NODELIST to a form usable by Wildcat
          and BinkleyTerm v.2.50.

          MINI-EXPLANATION
          ================

          In order for BINK to call your hub (or any other system) for your
          mail session, you need to have several files that pass infor-
          mation to BINK such as the phone number, FIDO address,  and baud
          rate of the remote system.  The NODELIST contains such information
          but it needs to be processed by a compiler to a form that BINK
          understands.

          XLAXNODE II V.2.56
          ==================

          XlaxNode II v.2.56 contains a series of programs used to process
          the FidoNet nodelist.  We will need two of them in order to
          process the FIdoNet Nodelist to a usable form.

          The first program is called XLAXDIFF.  This program merges the
          current NODEDIFF into the NODELIST.  In order for XLAXDIFF to
          work, the file compression program ARCE must be somewhere in your
          PATH statement.  I keep all my compression programs in my C:\DOS
          directory, which is in my PATH statement.

          I keep my NODELIST and all my nodelist processor files in a
          directory with the path C:\BINK\NODELIST.  All I have to do is
          go to this directory and type at the DOS prompt XLAXDIFF and the
          program merges the NODEDIFF into the NODELIST.  You should reserve
          about four megs of disk space to ensure proper operation.

          I keep an earlier NODELIST and all subsequent NODEDIFF's in case
          my current NODELIST becomes corrupted.

          The second program is called XLAXNODE.  I use this program to
          produce two nodelist files used by BINK.  There are other options
          with this program such as making human readable files but I don't
          use these options as the files take up too much space in my hard
          drive.

          The heart of XLAXNODE is the XLAXNODE.CTL file.  It is a straight
          ASCII file which is kept in my nodelist directory.  Here is the
          file with my explanations:

          NODE 1:226/1260
          SORTWORK D:\SWAP
          MAXBAUD 19200
          ZONE 1

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 18




          PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX
          PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX
          PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX
          PASSWORD 1:104/330 XXX
          PASSWORD 1:226/1250 XXX
          VERSION7
          COUNTRY 1-
          DIAL / 011-/#
          1-216-262    262
          1-216-263    263
          1-216-264    264
          1-216-287    287
          1-216-345    345
          1-216-435    436
          1-216-567    567
          1-216-624    624
          1-216-669    669
          1-216-682    682
          1-216-683    683
          1-216-684    684
          1-216-698    698
          1-216-       1-
          END
          COST 15 250
          1-800        0
          1-216-262    0
          1-216-263    0
          1-216-264    0
          1-216-287    0
          1-216-345    0
          1-216-435    0
          1-216-567    0
          1-216-624    0
          1-216-669    0
          1-216-682    0
          1-216-683    0
          1-216-684    0
          1-216-698    0
          1-216       11
          1-419       11
          1-513       11
          1-614       11
          END

          NODE 1:226/1260 - This is my zone/net/node address.  Make sure
          that you DO include the zone address here.

          SORTWORK D:\SWAP - This is the path to the directory where files
          are sorted if they can't be sorted in memory.  This is a RAM disk.

          MAXBAUD 19200 - This tells XLAXNODE that the speed of the modem is
          19200.

          ZONE 1 - This is my zone.

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 19




          PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX - This is the way that XLAXNODE enters
          passwords into the nodelist.  The zone/net/node of the remote
          system is entered along with the password.  The password doesn't
          have to be three letters; I have just X'd out my passwords.

          PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX  This is another example of the password
          feature with another remote system.

          PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX - And still another remote system.

          PASSWORD 1:104/330 XXX - And still another remote system.

          PASSWORD 1:226/1250 XXX - Last one.

          VERSION7 - This is the latest nodelist version compilation.  This
          version produces two files, the nodex.xxx and the nodex.ndx files.

          COUNTRY 1- (The dash needs to be included) - This is the entry for
          the US and Canada.

          DIAL / 011-/# - This tells XLAXNODE how to treat North American
          telephone numbers (it leaves them alone), and what to do with
          international numbers (it adds the prefix 011 and the suffix #).

          1-216-262    262    This list of numbers are all local to my
          1-216-263    263    exchange.  You will have to go to the front of
          1-216-264    264    your phone book and look up all the exchanges
          1-216-287    287    that are local to your exchange and place
          1-216-345    345    them here exactly like the ones in this
          1-216-435    436    example.  When the nodelist is compiled by
          1-216-567    567    XLAXNODE, the numbers, for example, that start
          1-216-624    624    with 1-216-345 will be truncated to 345.  That
          1-216-669    669    way, my modem will be able to dial a local
          1-216-682    682    call.  At this writing, there are no other
          1-216-683    683    FIDO nodes in my local dialing area, but you
          1-216-684    684    never know.
          1-216-698    698
          1-216-       1-     This needs to be here in order for calls in
                              your area code that are not local calls to be
                              dialed properly.

          END                 This statement ends the DIAL parameter

          COST 15 250         The 15 is the cost of a local call in cents
                              per minute and the 250 is the cost of an
                              international call in cents per minute.

          1-800        0      These are all exchanges that are local to me,
          1-216-262    0      and all these costs are 0.
          1-216-263    0
          1-216-264    0
          1-216-287    0
          1-216-345    0
          1-216-435    0

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 20




          1-216-567    0
          1-216-624    0
          1-216-669    0
          1-216-682    0
          1-216-683    0
          1-216-684    0
          1-216-698    0
          1-216       11      All these costs are night time call costs in
          1-419       11      cents per minute.  I have REACH OUT OHIO from
          1-513       11      AT&T, and this is what it costs in all the
          1-614       11      area codes in OHIO at night.

          END                 This ends the COST parameter and the
                              XLAXNODE.CTL file.

          MINI-GLOSSARY
          =============

          Now I get to throw more terms at you.

          AREAS.BBS file:  This is a straight ASCII file which tells
          Wildmail where WILDCAT keeps your echo conferences.  It includes
          the conference number in WILDCAT, the name of the echo, and the
          place where all mail from the conference is to be forwarded. It
          does NOT include any information about your Netmail conference.

          Netmail conference:  This is the conference in my Wildcat BBS
          where Wildmail tosses your "private" netmail.  In version Wildcat
          3.0 and later, you may specifically create a Netmail conference
          (as opposed to a Normal conference).

          Badecho directory:  Mail that comes to your system that does not
          have a conference that is defined in your AREAS.BBS is routed to
          this directory.  The reason for routing of echomail to this area
          is usually a spelling error in the AREAS.BBS file.

          Netfile directory:  This is the place where your incoming mail
          is kept until they are processed by WILDMAIL.  All your incoming
          files are also stored here.  If you make an arrangement with your
          hub for you to pick up the weekly NODEDIFFS during a mail session,
          they will be stored here.

          Scan:  When Wildmail processes mail, it searches the netmail
          conference and the conferences defined in your AREAS.BBS for new
          messages.  Then it searches the BADECHO directory messages and
          tries to match them with conferences in AREAS.BBS.  It then
          extracts all these new messages and packs them in an archival
          format.

          Toss:  The term used when WILDMAIL takes incoming mail from your
          hub and places them in the proper directories according to your
          AREAS.BBS file.  Wildmail also places netmail in the netmail
          conference, but it gets that information from BINK.  An analogy
          would be when your mail person tosses your mail in your mailbox.

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 21




          MINI-EXPLANATION
          ----------------

          Just before my mail session, the new messages that my BBS users
          leave in their favorite conferences need to be collected and
          packaged for delivery to my hub.  During the mail session my hub
          deposits my echo mail in my C:\BINK\NETFILES subdirectory.  After
          my mail has been delivered, it needs to be unarchived, and the
          messages deposited (tossed) into the proper conferences.  I use
          Wildmail v.2.04 to process my mail.  This is available on my BBS
          as WMAIL204.ZIP.

          WILDMAIL
          ========

          I suggest that you create a subdirectory under your BINK directory
          named WILDMAIL and place Wildmail v.2.04 in it.  Unzip it and
          PRINT OUT THE DOCUMENTATION FILES.  Place them in a suitable
          notebook.  You will then have to call the wildmail support board
          at either 1-510-687-0236 (USR/DS) or 1-510-687-2134 (V.32bis) and
          log on with your real name.  Be sure that you have your Wildcat
          registration number handy.  The reason that you have to do this is
          because this program needs an ID file for it to work, and the ONLY
          place that you can get it is the WIldmail support board.  You can
          download it with the first call, and the key is good for one only
          month, and then it pukes.  You can't get another temporary file;
          you have to register the program after the month is up to get the
          permanent ID file.  Then everything works fine again.

          Wildmail has a voice number for support and they will help you
          with all your stupid or otherwise questions.  That number is
          1-510-687-1122.  The company is on the west coast so don't call
          before 12 noon or after 9PM EDT on weekdays or you'll get a
          recording.

          WM.CFG
          ------

          Wildmail can be said to have two hearts.  The first one is the
          WM.CFG file, and the other one is the AREAS.BBS file. Let's
          examine the WM.CFG file first.

          ZONE        1
          ADDRESS     226/1260
          MAILER      BINKLEY
          INBOUND     c:\bink\netfile
          WILDCAT     c:\wc30
          NETMAIL     1
          MATRIXMAIL  c:\bink\netmail
          OUTBOUND    c:\bink\outbound
          LOG         c:\bink\wildmail\wm.log
          BADECHO     c:\bink\badecho
          DUPLICATES  7500
          NULLMESSAGE

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 22




          NONETMAILMESSAGE
          NOTIFY
          PURGE
          STANDARDARCHIVE

          ; Keyword       Constant      Command/Arguments
          ; --------      ---------     ------------------
            UNPACKER      ARCPACKER     pkxarc.com -x @a
            UNPACKER      ARJPACKER     arj.exe e -n @a
            UNPACKER      LZHPACKER     lha.exe e @a
            UNPACKER      PAKPACKER     pak.exe e @a
            UNPACKER      ZIPPACKER     pkunzip.exe -x @a
            UNPACKER      ZOOPACKER     zoo.exe xO @a

          ; Keyword  Constant   Command/Arguments
          ; ------   ---------  -----------------
          ; DO NOT COMMENT OUT ARCPACKER!!!!  THIS IS YOUR DEFAULT PACKER.
            PACKER   ARCPACKER  pkarc.com -a
            PACKER   ARJPACKER  arj.exe a -e
            PACKER   LZHPACKER  lha.exe a /m
            PACKER   PAKPACKER  pak.exe a
            PACKER   ZOOPACKER  zoo.exe -add
            PACKER   ZIPPACKER  pkzip.exe -a

          ; Keyword    Constant     Node Address Definition
          ; -------    ---------    -----------------------
            TYPEPACK   ZIPPACKER    226/0 10 1210 1250 104/330
            SWAPEMS
            DELETESEENBYLINES
            FORWARDPACKETS
            LOCKCOUNT 0
            QUIETARC


          ZONE 1 - This is my zone.

          ADDRESS 226/1260 - This is my Fido address.  Do NOT include the
          zone of 1 here.

          MAILER BINKLEY - This is the front-end mailer that I run.

          INBOUND c:\bink\netfile - This is where all my incoming mail is
          placed.  This includes files either requested by my system or
          files offered to my system.

          WILDCAT c:\wc30 - This tells WILDMAIL where my WILDCAT system
          files are located.

          NETMAIL 1 - This tells WILDMAIL the conference number of my
          netmail message conference.  I use conference 1 as my Netmail
          conference.

          MATRIXMAIL c:\bink\netmail - This is the path to the outbound
          netmail message directory.  When WILDMAIL scans my conference 1,

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 23




          which is my netmail conference, it places the outbound netmail
          in this directory.  This is the same directory as defined in the
          BINKLEY.CFG file.

          OUTBOUND c:\bink\outbound -  This is the path where all mail
          archives will be placed.  This is the same directory as defined in
          the BINKLEY.CFG file.

          LOG c:\bink\wildmail\wm.log - This is the path to where WILDMAIL
          keeps it's log file.

          BADECHO c:\bink\badecho - This is where WILDMAIL puts echo mail
          that does not have an AREAS.BBS entry.

          DUPLICATES 7500 - This number reflects the number of messages
          that WILDMAIL will keep information about to check for duplicate
          messages.  If an incoming message has already been scanned by
          Wildmail, it is not allowed in the echo conference.  I get about
          1500 messages per day, and the WILDMAIL manual suggests keeping
          about 5 days worth of data, so this number is 7500 on my system.
          WILDMAIL will tell you how many messages it tosses per day.

          NULLMESSAGE - This parameter allows deletion of messages that have
          no text in the message body.

          NONETMAILMESSAGE - This option will permit only one incoming
          netmail message which is created in the Wildcat netmail
          conference.

          NOTIFY - This option scans my WILDCAT user file and notifies the
          user if he/she has netmail waiting for them.

          PURGE - This allows WILDMAIl to maintain the size of the echo
          conference as specified makewild.  I generally allow 500 messages
          in my echo conferences, and when the number of messages exceeds
          500, WILDMAIL will purge the oldest messages to make room for the
          new ones.

          STANDARDARCHIVE - This causes WILDMAIL to use the standard
          archiving name used by FidoNet of MO, TU, etc. for all outbound
          mail archives.  Mu hub uses this method so I use this method
          also.

          ; Keyword  Constant  Command/Arguments  (Header Lines) I use these
          ; -------  --------- -----------------  two lines as headers for
                                                  the lines below.

          UNPACKER ARCPACKER pkxarc.com -x @a   In plain English using
          UNPACKER ARJPACKER arj.exe e -n @a    the first line as an ex-
          UNPACKER LZHPACKER lha.exe e @a       ample, the decompression
          UNPACKER PAKPACKER pak.exe e @a       (UNPACKER) method is ARC
          UNPACKER ZIPPACKER pkunzip.exe -x @a  PACKER (a name that I
          UNPACKER ZOOPACKER zoo.exe xO @a      supply) and the full file
                                                name is pkxarc.com, the

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 24




                                                extension MUST be specified)
                                                which uses a parameter flag,
                                                -x.  The @a is used by WILD-
                                                MAIL to provide the path to
                                                insert pkarc.com when it de-
                                                compresses mail.

          ; Keyword  Constant  Command/Arguments   (Header Lines)
          ; ------   ---------  ----------------   (Header Lines)
          ; DO NOT COMMENT OUT ARCPACKER!!!!  THIS IS YOUR DEFAULT PACKER.

          PACKER ARCPACKER pkarc.com -a         In plain English, this is
          PACKER ARJPACKER arj.exe a -e         the compression method.
          PACKER LZHPACKER lha.exe a /m         Using the first line, the
          PACKER PAKPACKER pak.exe a            compression (PACKER)
          PACKER ZOOPACKER zoo.exe -add         method is ARCPACKER (the
          PACKER ZIPPACKER pkzip.exe -a         same name as the de-com-
                                                pression method and in the
                                                same order) and the full
                                                file name is pkarc.com,
                                                (which uses a parameter
                                                flag, -a).  Note that the
                                                @a is not present.  It is
                                                not needed.

          ; Keyword  Constant    Node Address Definition     (Header Lines)
          ; -------- --------- --------------------------    (Header Lines)
          TYPEPACK ZIPPACKER   226/0 10 1210 1250 5200 104/330
                The line just above this one tells Wild-
                mail what kind of compression to use when
                dealing with specific nodes.  In plain
                English this line says that the kind of
                compression (TYPEPACK) to use is ZIPPACKER,
                (which was defined in the two earlier
                PACKER and UNPACKER lines), and to use ZIP
                to pack mail to the nodes listed.

                The node address definitions may seem strange
                so I will explain. A complete node address
                looks like this: 1:226/1260.  Wildmail
                assumes that you are dealing with Zone 1, so
                it allows you not to include it in your address
                definition.  Also, if numbers are listed such
                as 226/0 10 (the 226 is part of a net and 0
                and 10 are nodes) that the 0 and the 10 are
                part of the same node.  So the line 226/0 10
                1210 1250 5200 104/330 is "shorthand" for
                1:226/0, 1:226/10, 1:226/1210, 1:226/1250,
                1:226/5200 and 1:104/330. Each program has it's
                own "shorthand" syntax, although they are usually
                similar.

          SWAPEMS - This allows Wildmail to be swapped to EMS memory as
          opposed to being swapped to disk.

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 25




          DELETESEENBYLINES - This option deletes SEENBY lines (lines which
          show the caller which systems have seen the messages) in my
          messages.  These lines take up a lot of space and the caller
          really doesn't need to see them, so I let Wildmail delete them.

          FORWARDPACKETS - If mail comes to my system and it is not to
          addressed to me (1:226/1260) this option will forward it back to
          my HUB.  You should only use this option if your HUB agrees to
          this.

          LOCKCOUNT 0 - This means that the message base will lock after
          Wildmail tosses 30 messages into it (the 0 means 30).  The default
          value is 1, which means Wildmail will lock the base after each
          tossed message.  Since I have a fast computer, I can use a value
          of 30.  Slower computers need to use a lower value.

          QUIETARC - This option redirects the screen output of the
          compression programs to NULL.  They still work, but the screen
          doesn't display it.  This option doesn't work with LZHPACKER, but
          I don't care becuase I don't send or receive any mail packed with
          LZH.

          AREAS.BBS
          ---------

          AREAS.BBS is another straight ASCII file that tells Wildmail
          where to place the Echo mail delivered to my system.  I will now
          describe my AREAS.BBS file.

          The Red Phoenix BBS (216) 345-5807 #
          2          REGION11           1:226/1210
          3          SYSOP226           1:226/1210
          10         TREK               1:226/1210
          11         STDSN              1:226/1210
          12         STTNG              1:226/1210
          13         R11STTNG           1:226/1210
          14         WILDCAT            1:226/1210
          15         BINKLEY            1:226/1210
          16         NFL                1:226/1210
          17         COMICS             1:226/1210
          18         CMX4SALE           1:104/330
          19         BB-CARDS           1:226/1210
          20         HST-SALE           1:226/1210
          21         TVRO               1:226/1210
          22         FANTASY_SPORTS     1:226/1210
          23         STARWARS           1:226/1210
          24         DIABETES           1:226/1210
          25         STOCK_MARKET       1:226/1210
          26         STARTREK           1:226/1210
          27         WRITING            1:226/1210
          28         DISNEY             1:226/1210
          29         JOBS               1:226/1210

          The first line shows the name of my BBS along with the phone

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 26




          number.  The # sign is used by Wildmail to place my zone/net/node
          FIDO address.  This information is added to every message that is
          extracted from my system.  PLEASE be sure to change this line
          before you fire up your mailer and send mail.  I don't want tons
          of mail out in the universe with my tagline on it that's not from
          my system.  Thank you.

          The next set of information is organized in columns.  The first
          column of numbers indicates to Wildmail the number of a Wildcat
          conference.  The second column tells Wildmail the official name of
          the Echo.  The two columns together tell Wildmail for example,
          that the mail for the Echo REGION11 will be tossed into my Wildcat
          conference number two.

          The third column tells Wildmail where to forward any new messages
          that my users will enter in the conference.  Using the above
          example, the mail that a user enters into the REGION11 conference
          (2) will be forwarded to the Fido address 1:226/1210, which
          happens to be the address of my HUB.

          Note that a list of all Echos available from FidoNet is available
          from 1:1/201.  The file that should be FREQ'ed has a "magic name:
          of ECHOLIST.  Once you get BINK set up to send and receive mail,
          FREQ the file so that you have a current ECHOLIST.  The file
          changes at the beginning of every month so try to wait for a few
          days in the month to be sure that you get a current list.

          HOW TO SPEED UP WILDMAIL
          ------------------------

          In my opinion, Wildmail tends to be a slow tosser and scanner.
          There are ways, however, to speed up the process.  In the section
          PERTINENT MAKEWILD SETTINGS for Wildcat, I have this comment:

          2.   Database File Safety Mode:  None

               This speeds up the tossing of mail to your databases.

          This turns off integrity check of the databases, including the
          message databases that Wildmail tosses the mail.  Setting this to
          NONE will speed up the tossing process.  The Wildcat docs say that
          there is little danger of message base corruption if this is set
          to NONE, and whatever is corrupted is easily repaired by the
          Wildcat repair utility WCREPAIR.

          Another way to speed Wildmail's performance is to use some of your
          extended memory to make a disk cache.  I have a 386DX clone with
          4 megs of memory.  I use about a meg of memory for a RAM disk and
          about a meg for a disk cache.  The disk cache is very important;
          let me give you some actual numbers.

          Before I installed a disk cache, Wildmail took 31 minutes to toss
          about 500K of messages.  That works out to be about 16K of
          messages tossed per minute.  I left a message in the WILDCAT echo,

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 27




          and I got an answer from Joe Martin, who works at Wildmail.  He
          suggested things that I had already implemented, with the excep-
          tion of creating a disk cache, so I created a one meg disk cache
          with SMARTDRV.SYS from Microsoft.

          The next time I tossed and scanned mail, I was astounded.  Wild-
          mail took ten and a half minutes to toss about 380K of messages.
          That works out to be about 36K of messages per minute.  The im-
          provement is about 125 percent!  So I would greatly suggest that
          you install a disk cache if you can.

          CAVEAT EMPTOR I
          ---------------

          One quick note about Wildmail and the netmail conference in Wild-
          cat.  I purge my old messages in all my local message bases
          periodically using WIldcat's purge option on the SYSOP's menu, and
          then run a maintenance program to renumber my conferences every
          night.  The renumbering also used to also include my netmail con-
          ference.  I found out the hard way that if you delete and purge
          old messages and renumber the netmail conference every night,
          WILDMAIL will not scan and toss new messages UNTIL you run Wild-
          mail from the DOS prompt in the c:\bink\wildmail directory using
          this set of parameters:

                                  WM -T1,XX

          where 1 is the number of my wildcat netmail conference and xx is
          number of my last message in the netmail conference.

          What this does is to reset WIldmail's high water mark for this
          conference, and new messages above xx will be scanned/tossed.  Not
          knowing this little trick took a week out of my life, and I had no
          idea why Wildmail wouldn't scan my new messages.  I thought I'd
          configured Wildmail wrong, and it took a call to my friendly Wild-
          mail support person (Eric) to clue me in on the solution to the
          problem.  I hope I have just saved you lots of grief.  Needless to
          say, I DON'T renumber my netmail conference nightly anymore.

          CAVEAT EMPTOR II
          ================

          Another grief-ridden two days was spent needlessly because of
          another undocumented feature of Wildmail.  There is a file in
          Wildmail v.2.04 called WMCRASH.LST.  DO NOT, I repeat DON'T put
          any names in it if you plan to run with multiple addresses.  It is
          just a straight ASCII text file, and I thought I had to put my
          name in it in order to be able to send crash mail to other
          systems.  This is not entirely true.  If you configure your
          QM_ROUTE.CFG (which is your QM mail routing configuration file)
          correctly, you can send crash mail to other systems without the
          WMCRASH.LST file.

          Let me tell you what happened to me.  I use two names on my

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 28




          system:  My sysop name of John Redmund and my real name of Rudolf
          Rothemund.  I was setting up my system for dual addresses (not
          covered in this documentation) and I sent my TrekNet hub a message
          using my real name.  I couldn't get Qmail to route the mail to his
          TrekNet address of 87:6001/0.  It would get routed to 1:6001/0.
          I couldn't figure out why this was happening.  I poured over all
          the docs in BINK, Wildmail and Qmail to no avail.  Then I did
          something quite by accident (don't we all learn the most when this
          happens?).  I sent a message to my TrekNet hub with my SYSOP name,
          and it WORKED.  It was routed correctly to 87:6001/0.  With my
          new-found courage and wisdom, I whipped off a message to my Trek-
          Net hub with my real name, and BAM, my system puked again.  I was
          stymied.  Here I had two different messages, one which was routed
          to the correct address and one with the wrong address.

          I looked at the messages and the outbound areas what they were in
          and found that the correctly routed one was zipped, even though it
          was a one line message.  The incorrectly routed one was NOT
          zipped, even though it was larger.  So I checked Wildmail and
          QM for ANYTHING out of the ordinary and came up with NADA.  Zip.
          Wild goose chase.  Then I went back into the board and saw that I
          used the two different names to write the messages.  I used my
          sysop name and real name for another test and lo and behold, I was
          able to duplicate the results.  I immediately realized that I had
          put my real name in Wildmail's WMCRASH.LST because I wanted to be
          able to send crash mail anytime I wanted to with my real identity.
          So I took my name out of WMCRASH.LST and repeated the experiment
          and guess what?  BOTH messages were zipped together and routed to
          the correct zone 87 address.

          The moral of the story: DON'T use the WMCRASH.LST if you want to
          use multiple addresses.

          QM
          ==

          Wildmail is a good program, however, it does not route outbound
          mail.  This is unfortunate because I paid good money for the pro-
          gram, and I hope that Online Computer Resources (the people that
          wrote Wildmail) will someday support their own internal packing,
          bundling, and routing of their outbound mail.

          Online Computer Resources suggests using a program called QM for
          this function.  I use QM v.1.30 *gamma*. This program is provided
          free of charge by Greg Dawson and George Peace.  It is not pack-
          aged with Wildmail, but it is provided on my BBS as QM_130GM.ZIP.

          Create a directory under your BINK directory named QMAIL and place
          your QM_130GM.LZH file in it.  Decompress it with lha.exe, print
          the documentation file and put it in a notebook.  I have my
          Wildmail and QM documentation files in the same notebook.

          As I only need QM for it's routing capabilities, I don't use QM's
          tossing and scanning routines.  I still had to configure the whole

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 29




          program to get it to work properly.

          There are two files that must be configured with QM.  The first
          one is QM.CFG.  This configuration file is surprisingly similar to
          WM.CFG.  Where possible I have used the same parameters on both
          configuration files.

          The second file is the QM_ROUTE file.  This is the file that tells
          QM and BINK where to route (send) your mail and how to route it.
          This file is tied in with the CAT.BAT file and four other batch
          files.  These other files will be discusses in later sections.

          The QM.CFG file is another straight ASCII file that is placed in
          the Qmail subdirectory.  It directs QM much as WM.CFG directs
          Wildmail.

          QM.CFG
          ------

          Primary_Zone 1
          Address 226/1260
          NetMail C:\BINK\NETMAIL
          NetFile C:\BINK\NETFILE
          Outbound  C:\BINK\OUTBOUND 1
          Status_Log C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM.LOG
          Sysop RUDOLF ROTHEMUND
          Swap 7
          Bad_Msgs C:\BINK\BADECHO
          Dupes 7500
          No_Content
          No_Private_EchoMail
          ARC_Unpack    8      arce.com %s *.PKT /r
          ARC_Unpack    9      pkxarc.com /r %s *.PKT
          ARC_Unpack   10      pak.exe e /wa %s *.PKT
          %ARC_Unpack   20      arc7 e %s *.PKT
          ZOO_Unpack    0      zoo.exe xO %s *.PKT
          ZIP_Unpack    0      pkunzip.exe -o %s *.PKT
          LHARC_Unpack  0      lharc.exe e /m %s *.PKT
          LHA_Unpack    0      lha.exe e /m %s *.PKT
          ARJ_Unpack    0      arj.exe e -y %s *.PKT
          No_Private_EchoMail
          Routing_Config_File  C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM_Route.Cfg
          Define_Packer  ARC             pkarc.com -oct a
          Define_Packer  PAK_W/CRUSH     pak.exe a /wa
          Define_Packer  ZOO             zoo.exe -add
          Define_Packer  ZIP             pkzip.exe -a
          Define_Packer  LHARC           lharc.exe a /m
          Define_Packer  LHA             lha.exe a /m
          Define_Packer  ARJ             arj.exe a -y
          Pack ZIP             1:226/0 10 1210 1250 5200 104/330

          Primary_Zone 1 - This is my zone (North America and Canada)

          Address 226/1260 - This is my FIDO address.

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 30




          NetMail C:\BINK\NETMAIL - This is the path to the NETMAIL
          directory.  As stated in the WM.CFG section, when WILDMAIL scans
          my conference 1, which is my netmail conference, it places the
          outbound netmail in this directory.  QM then takes these messages,
          compresses them and routes them to their destination.

          NetFile C:\BINK\NETFILE - This is the path to the NETFILE
          directory, where I get my incoming mail and files.

          Outbound  C:\BINK\OUTBOUND 1 - This is the path to my OUTBOUND
          directory, where mail is stored and sent.  Note that this
          directory does NOT have an extension (such as outbound.txt).
          QM will supply one if necessary.  The 1 refers to my primary
          zone, 1.

          Status_Log C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM.LOG - This is the name and path of
          QM's information log.

          Sysop RUDOLF ROTHEMUND - My name.

          Swap 7 - This tells QM to swap to EMS, XMS, of file (in that
          order) during the unpacking, tossing, or DOS shell functions.

          Bad_Msgs C:\BINK\BADECHO - This is where my echomail goes that is
          not properly labeled in AREAS.BBS.

          Dupes 7500 - This number reflects the number of messages that
          QM will keep information about to check for duplicate messages.

          No_Content - This parameter allows deletion of messages that have
          no text in the message body.

          No_Private_EchoMail - This option does not allow any private
          messages in the echo mail conferences.

          ARC_Unpack    8      arce.com %s *.PKT /r      These lines tell
          ARC_Unpack    9      pkxarc.com /r %s *.PKT    QM the name of
          ARC_Unpack   10      pak.exe e /wa %s *.PKT    the unpacker, it's
          %ARC_Unpack   20      arc7 e %s *.PKT          compression method
          ZOO_Unpack    0      zoo.exe xO %s *.PKT       number (for ARC's)
          ZIP_Unpack    0      pkunzip.exe -o %s *.PKT   the name of the
          LHARC_Unpack  0      lharc.exe e /m %s *.PKT   decompression file,
          LHA_Unpack    0      lha.exe e /m %s *.PKT     and the path (%s).
          ARJ_Unpack    0      arj.exe e -y %s *.PKT

          (Please note - I have the line ARC_Unpack 20 arc7 e %s *.PKT
          commented out because I can't find the ARC7 archiving program).

          Routing_Config_File  C:\BINK\QMAIL\QM_Route.Cfg - This is the
          name and path of QM's route file.

          Define_Packer  ARC          pkarc.com -oct a   These lines tell
          Define_Packer  PAK_W/CRUSH  pak.exe a /wa      QM the name of
          Define_Packer  ZOO          zoo.exe -add       the compression

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 31




          Define_Packer  ZIP          pkzip.exe -a       utility and gives
          Define_Packer  LHARC        lharc.exe a /m     each method a
          Define_Packer  LHA          lha.exe a /m       designated code
          Define_Packer  ARJ          arj.exe a -y       name (such as ZIP).

          Pack ZIP 1:226/0 10 1210 1250 5200 104/330
            The line above tells QM, for example,
            that it should ZIP all mail going to
            1:226/1210 (my hub).

          QM_ROUTE.CFG
          ------------

          The QM_ROUTE.CFG file is yet another straight ASCII file that is
          located in the QMAIL subdirectory.  After Wildmail scans and
          tosses the mail, QM routes, or sends, the mail on it's way.
          Where and how the mail is sent is determined here.

          SCHED MAIL1 ALL 00:00 23:59
          SEND  NORMAL 1:ALL
          POLL  NORMAL 1:226/1210

          SCHED MAIL2 ALL 00:00 23:59
          SEND  NORMAL 1:ALL

          SCHED MAIL3 ALL 00:00 23:59
          SEND  CRASH 1:ALL

          ;SCHED MAIL4 ALL 00:00 23:59
          ;ROUTE NORMAL 1:226/1210 1:ALL 2:ALL 3:ALL 4:ALL 5:ALL 6:ALL


          Page 28 of the QM documentation file shows the syntax of the
          QM_ROUTE.CFG file.

                  SCHED <tag> <day> [<start_time> <end_time>]

          I have four schedules in my QM_ROUTE.CFG file.  The first three
          schedules are active.  The fourth one is not (commented out by the
          semicolons).  When the schedule is active it will start at the
          first line and then continue to the instructions on the next line.
          It will go from line to line until the schedule is complete.

          SCHED MAIL1 ALL 00:00 23:59
          SEND  NORMAL  1:ALL
          POLL  NORMAL  1:226/1210

          My first schedule has the tag MAIL1 which is defined in my CAT.BAT
          and MAIL1.BAT files.  This schedule operates every day of the week
          (ALL) and starts from midnight until one minute before midnight
          the next day.

          The second line tells QM to send all mail directly to all
          addresses in zone 1.  In other words, if I need a file request

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 32




          from or mail for a Fido system in North America or Canada, and I
          use this schedule to route the mail, QM will tell BINK to call
          this system normally.  In other words, the message will be sent
          directly without routing through a hub.  It will also ONLY send
          the request or mail IF it is allowed to do so according to the
          BINKLEY.EVT file.  Remember, if my L flag is set to zero (L=0),
          then only LOCAL mail will go out directly.  When my L flag is set
          for greater than zero (L>0), then ALL requests and mail will be
          sent.

          I use the third line to  direct BINK to call my hub on a regular
          schedule. The third line in my first schedule directs BINK
          (through QM) to call the net/node address listed, which is
          1:226/1210 (my hub).  BINK will ONLY do this when my L flag is set
          to zero (L=0).  This usually is only at 5AM during the weekdays
          and 5AM and 4PM on weekends.  The reason I have this line in this
          schedule is because BINK will not call my hub if there is no mail
          to send.

          Note: when you determine the zone/net/node of your hub, you should
          replace the FidoNet address of my hub with your hub number.

          SCHED MAIL2 ALL 00:00 23:59
          SEND  NORMAL 1:ALL

          The second schedule is like the first schedule except that the
          POLL line is removed.  I sometimes like to send mail or request
          files without polling my hub.

          SCHED MAIL3 ALL 00:00 23:59
          SEND  CRASH 1:ALL

          I use the third schedule to send crashmail. Crash mail is mail that
          goes out immediately (I can also request files this way, also).
          The tag is called MAIL3, and the starting and ending times are the
          same as the other schedules.  The second line directs BINK through
          QM to send all mail or file requests CRASH (immediately).  The
          1:ALL means that all mail that is destined for zone one (North
          America and Canada) will go CRASH.  Unless used otherwise, the
          verb CRASH will send mail directly (BINK will call the remote
          system, not route the call through a hub).

          ;SCHED MAIL4 ALL 00:00 23:59
          ;ROUTE NORMAL 1:226/1210 1:ALL 2:ALL 3:ALL 4:ALL 5:ALL 6:ALL

          The last schedule is not an active schedule, and is commented out
          by the semicolons.  It is not active because at the present time
          my HUB does not support routing of netmail.  I have to send it
          directly to the system.  I have made this schedule in case the
          policy of my HUB and HOST changes and allows host routing of
          netmail.

          The first line has the tag MAIL4 which is defined in my CAT.BAT
          file.  The times that I want it to route netmail would be all the

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 33




          time, so I use my usual start and end times.

          The second line tells QM that I want to route mail normally.  This
          means that I only want to send mail whenever the BINKLEY.EVT file
          allows mail, which in my case is when the L flag is greater than
          zero (L>0).  The address immediately following ROUTE NORMAL is the
          address that I will want all my netmail to go through.  In this
          case, it would be my hub.  The addresses starting with 1:ALL
          2:ALL, etc. mean that I want netmail generated from my system ad-
          dressed to any of the six FidoNet zones to be routed through my
          hub.

          Wildnode
          ========

          I need Wildnode v.1.10 to gain access into my Wildcat Netmail
          area.  This program is like Xlaxnode v.2.56 in that it is compiles
          the nodelist in a form that the Wildcat Netmail area can use.

          I unzipped Wildnode v.1.10 and placed all my files in the
          C:\BINK\NODELIST directory.  I suggest that you print out the
          documentation files and place them with the Xlaxnode v.2.56
          documentation files.  The program is easy to configure.  The
          configuration file is named WILDNODE.CFG and mine only contains
          five lines:

          NODE 1:226/1260
          ZONES 1
          COUNTRY 1
          COST  20  250
          END

          The first line is my Fidonet zone/net/node address.  The second
          line contains the zones that I want compiled form the nodelist.  I
          only want zone 1, so the ZONES line only contains a 1.  The code
          for the USA is 1, so my COUNTRY is 1.  The fourth line contains my
          cost statement.  The first cost (20) stand for 20 cents per min-
          ute, which is what I charge anyone who uses netmail for a domestic
          call, night or day.  The second cost is the cost of an interna-
          tional call.  This cost is really a moot point since I don't allow
          international calls, but I have it set to $2.50 per minute to keep
          the program happy.  The last line is the obligatory END statement.

          To run the program once the WILDMAIL.CFG is configured, just type
          WILDNODE and away you go.  But be prepared for at least 8-10
          minutes of waiting, and the files that are produced take up around
          one and a half megs of space.

          One note about the Wildcat netmail area.  You won't be able to
          send any messages in this area until you give yourself netmail
          credits.  To do this, go to your SYSOP menu in Wildcat and enter
          the user database.  Find your name and look at the bottom right
          hand section of the screen.  Type number 30 and then the enter
          key.  You will be prompted to enter a number.  Enter a large

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 34




          number there.  If you don't do this, you will get a message every
          time you try to enter a netmail message that states that you don't
          have enough netmail credits.  If you allow your users to have
          access to this area, you must give them appropriate credits here
          under their names also.

          TOSSING SCANNING AND PACKING MAIL: USING WILDMAIL AND QM
          ========================================================

          Now it's time to show you how I use Wildmail and QM to process my
          mail.  I have created four batch files to do this: MAIL1.BAT,
          MAIL2.BAT, MAIL3.BAT AND MAIL4.BAT.  All the these batch files are
          called from the CAT.BAT file.

          MAIL1.BAT
          ---------

          ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING
          C:
          CD\BINK\WILDMAIL
          WM TOSS SCAN

          ECHO ROUTING THE MAIL AND POLL HUB
          C:
          CD\BINK\QMAIL
          QM PACK -sMAIL1
          CD \WC30

          The first line in the first block of lines echos (writes) a
          message to me that tells me that MAIL1.BAT is working.  I was
          having trouble getting it to work when I first developed the
          CAT.BAT and MAILx batch files, and I used this echo to let me know
          where I was.  I decided to keep this line in; you can delete it if
          you wish.

          The second and third lines make sure that I an on hard drive C and
          changes directory to my WILDMAIL directory under my BINK direc-
          tory.  The fourth line starts Wildmail.  The order of TOSS and
          SCAN doesn't matter; Wildmail will toss mail if it exists in the
          NETFILE directory and will scan for new mail in the NETMAIL area
          and in the conferences defined in the AREAS.BBS, as well as the
          BADECHO area.

          The first line in the second block of lines is another echo
          letting me know that the program and batch file works properly.
          The next line is the QM pack command.  The syntax is:

                               QM PACK -s<schedule tag>

          The -s activates the schedule tag option, which overrides the
          normal scheduler (which I don't use) and substitutes a specific
          schedule tag.

          When the PACK option is used in this manner, QM will look for mail

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 35




          in the Netmail area (c:\bink\netmail) and extract it to the out-
          bound area (c:\bink\outbound).  The PACK option will take this
          extracted netmail and any echo mail tossed into the outbound area
          by Wildmail and treat it according to the schedule tag (-sMAIL1).
          I have defined the schedule tag MAIL1 in the QM_ROUTE.CFG file to
          send all mail directly to the Fido address, and also to poll
          (call) my hub.

          In plain English, when I use my MAIL1.BAT file, I am tossing,
          scanning and packing my mail to be sent directly to my hub.  The
          mail will only go when my L flag in my BINKLEY.EVT file is set to
          greater than 0 (L>0), which is at 5AM nightly and twice a day
          during the weekends.  If there is no mail to send, BINK will still
          call my hub to pick up any mail for my system.

          MAIL2.BAT
          ---------

          ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING
          C:
          CD\BINK\WILDMAIL
          WM TOSS SCAN

          ECHO ROUTING THE MAIL WITHOUT CALLING THE HUB
          C:
          CD\BINK\QMAIL
          QM PACK -sMAIL2
          CD \WC30

          The ONLY difference between the MAIL1.BAT and MAIL2.BAT is that
          the MAIL2 schedule tag is NOT defined to poll my hub.  Sometimes I
          want to toss, scan and pack my mail without having to call my hub.


          MAIL3.BAT
          ---------

          ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING
          C:
          CD\BINK\WILDMAIL
          WM TOSS SCAN

          ECHO SENDING MAIL CRASH
          C:
          CD\BINK\QMAIL
          QM PACK -sMAIL3
          CD\WC30

          The first block of lines of this batch file are the same as in
          MAIL1.BAT and MAIL2.BAT.  I want Wildmail to toss and scan my net
          and echo mail.

          I use my MAIL3 schedule tag in this batch file, which is defined
          in the QM_ROUTE.CFG file as my crash mail tag.  I use this batch

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 36




          file to send mail immediately anywhere in zone 1 (North America
          and Canada).

          MAIL4.BAT
          ---------

          ECHO TOSSING AND SCANNING
          C:
          CD\BINK\WILDMAIL
          WM TOSS SCAN

          ECHO ROUTING NETMAIL
          C:
          CD\BINK\QMAIL
          QM PACK -sMAIL4
          CD\WC30

          I use the schedule tag MAIL4 as defined in the QM_ROUTE.CFG file
          to route my netmail through my hub.  This schedule tag is not
          active at this time.

          BBS INTERFACE
          =============

          There are three methods that BINK can use to interface with the
          BBS (allow human callers into the BBS).  I have chosen the BBS
          BATCH method.  When BINK detects a human caller (as opposed to a
          mail call) the BBS BATCH method causes BINK to write to the
          disk a file named BBSBATCH.BAT.  This file always contains the
          same line:

                            SPAWNBBS %1 %2 %3 %4 %5

          Wildcat may be started by using the following line in a batch
          file:

                            Wildcat /b %2%5 %4

          where in both cases %2 = the caller's connect rate as reported by
          the modem, %5 = error control information (such as MNP), and %4 =
          the number of minutes left before a hard event (such as National
          Mail Hour - see the third event in the EVENT section).  Please
          note that the %2 and the %5 are right up to each other.  That is
          how Wildcat likes it; it is not an error (pun not intended).  As
          you can see, Wildcat does not use all the parameters (the %
          numbers) that BATCHBBS.BAT creates.

          SPAWNBBS.BAT
          ------------

          To use the BBS BATCH method SPAWNBBS.BAT needs to be created.
          My SPAWNBBS.BAT is as follows:

          set live=2

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 37




          set baud=%2
          set minleft=%4
          set error=%5
          cat.bat

          These parameters are defined (set) in this file and then passed to
          the CAT.BAT file.

          A word of caution:  The ONLY things that you can change in this
          file and still get it to work are the words LIVE, DTE, BAUD,
          MINLEFT, ERROR, and the equivalent words in your CAT.BAT file.
          The numbers must stay the same and, importantly, the order must
          stay the same, ESPECIALLY if there is an equal or double equal
          sign in the equation.  Remember if you do change a word such as
          MINLEFT, be consistent about changing it everywhere you see it or
          your system WILL puke.

          CAT.BAT
          -------

          This is the central file for my entire mail system.  This file
          controls all the functions of the mailer, BBS operation, mail
          processing software, and maintenance.  The file is named CAT.BAT
          and was originally used to start up my Wildcat BBS.  I have mod-
          ified it and placed it in my Wildcat systems directory, which is
          my C:\wc30 directory.  This path is in my PATH statement in my
          autoexec.bat file.

          echo off
          cls
          SET WCNODEID=1
          SET WCPORTID=1
          :start

          IF 2==%LIVE% GOTO WILDCAT
          set live=
          set baud=
          set minleft=
          set error=

          REM  F1  = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND CALL HUB
          REM  F2  = SCAN TOSS AND PACK MAIL NO HUB CALL
          REM  F3  = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND SEND CRASH
          REM  F4  = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND ROUTE NORMAL
          REM  F5  = CYCLE BBS
          REM  F6  = TOSS AND SCAN ONLY NO PACK
          REM  F8  = MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE
          REM  F9  = ENTER BBS LOCALLY
          REM  F10 = EXIT

          cd\bink
          VFOS_IBM
          bt unattended
          IF ERRORLEVEL 192  goto RUNBBS

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 38




          IF ERRORLEVEL 144  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL 120  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL 100  goto EXIT
          IF ERRORLEVEL  96  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  90  goto LOCALBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  80  goto MAINTAIN
          IF ERRORLEVEL  60  goto SCAN
          IF ERRORLEVEL  50  goto START
          IF ERRORLEVEL  48  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  40  goto MAIL4
          IF ERRORLEVEL  30  goto MAIL3
          IF ERRORLEVEL  24  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  20  goto MAIL2
          IF ERRORLEVEL  12  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  10  goto MAIL1
          IF ERRORLEVEL   3  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL   1  goto EXIT
          IF ERRORLEVEL   0  goto EXIT

          goto exit

          :RUNBBS
           VFOS_DEL
           BBSBATCH.BAT

          :WILDCAT
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\WC30
           if /%error%==/ goto WILD1
           set error=MNP
          :WILD1
           wildcat /b %baud%%error% %minleft%
           set live=
           goto START

          :LOCALBBS
           SET MINLEFT=
           SET BAUD=LOCAL
           goto WILDCAT

          :MAIL1
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\BINK
           CALL MAIL1.BAT
           goto START

          :MAIL2
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\BINK
           CALL MAIL2.BAT
           goto START

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 39




          :MAIL3
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\BINK
           CALL MAIL3.BAT
           goto START

          :MAIL4
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\BINK
           CALL MAIL4.BAT
           goto START

          :SCAN
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\BINK\WILDMAIL
           WM TOSS SCAN
           cd\wc30
           goto START

          :MAINTAIN
           VFOS_DEL
           c:
           cd\wc30
           call maintain.bat
           goto START

          :EXIT
           VFOS_DEL
           goto GOODBYE

          :GOODBYE

          My CAT.BAT file is actually simple to understand.  I have made it
          as straightforward as possible and have included some REM state-
          ments to show what my function (F1, F2, etc) keys do.

          echo off
          cls
          SET WCNODEID=1
          SET WCPORTID=1
          :start

          The first four lines turns off character echos, clears the screen,
          and then sets my node and port to one.  This is a necessary
          statement because BINK and Wildcat both occasionally need to be
          reminded of this information.  The fifth line is a label.  When-
          ever a GOTO START statement is encountered in the CAT.BAT
          file, the file will jump to this point.

          IF 2==%LIVE% GOTO WILDCAT
          set live=

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 40




          set baud=
          set minleft=
          set error=

          The first line is like an IF..THEN statement.  When CAT.BAT is
          first started, the statement 2==%LIVE% is false, so the line will
          be skipped and the batch file will proceed to the next line.  The
          reasoning behind this will become apparent in the next MINI-
          EXPLANATION section.

          The next four lines tie in with my SPAWNBBS.BAT file.  Please
          recall that I have set these parameters in my SPAWNBBS.BAT file.
          When CAT.BAT is first started, the three SET commands cause these
          parameters to be set to nothing.  It clears out these parameters
          so they can be properly set in the SPAWNBBS.BAT file.


          REM  F1  = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND CALL HUB
          REM  F2  = SCAN TOSS AND PACK MAIL NO HUB CALL
          REM  F3  = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND SEND CRASH
          REM  F4  = SCAN TOSS PACK MAIL AND ROUTE NORMAL
          REM  F5  = CYCLE BBS
          REM  F6  = TOSS AND SCAN ONLY NO PACK
          REM  F8  = MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE
          REM  F9  = ENTER BBS LOCALLY
          REM  F10 = EXIT

          BINK uses errorlevel testing in order to start it's functions and
          guide the functions of the other programs.  One characteristic of
          BINK is that whenever an errorlevel is tested, it is tied in with
          a function key on my keyboard.  The relationship is that if BINK
          sets an errorlevel, the function key on your keyboard that will
          start the program is that errorlevel divided by ten.  For example,
          when I want to exit BINK, I type F10.  If you look at my error-
          level settings below, you will see that ERRORLEVEL 100 is set to
          goto an exit marker.  For all you math majors out there, 100
          divided by 10 equals 10.  So my F10 key functions as my exit key.
          BINK allow me to do this from F1 through F10, so my errorlevels
          10,20,30,40,50,60,80,90 and 100 are automatically keyed (pun
          intended) into my function keys by BINK.  I have placed these
          function key reminders (REM's) here so I don't forget what keys
          are for what function.

          cd\bink
          VFOS_IBM
          bt unattended

          The first line changes the directory to where I keep all my BINK
          files.  The second line starts my video fossil.  This is not to be
          confused with my other fossil driver.  The video fossil controls
          the colors on my BINK screen.  I have my VFOS_IBM.EXE file in my
          DOS directory (which is in my PATH statement), and I start my
          video fossil before I start BINK.  The video fossil is an OPTION.
          This is not required, so if you have a monochrome screen, or

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 41




          just care to look at BINK's black and white screen, don't include
          this statement in your CAT.BAT file.

          The third line starts BINK.  BT.EXE is the name of the program,
          and the unattended mode is the way BINK starts up as a front-end
          mailer.  BINK can also start up as a dumb terminal program.  I
          have my own personal communications program and never use the dumb
          terminal option.

          IF ERRORLEVEL 192  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL 144  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL 120  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL 100  goto EXIT
          IF ERRORLEVEL  96  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  90  goto LOCALBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  80  goto MAINTAIN
          IF ERRORLEVEL  60  goto SCAN
          IF ERRORLEVEL  50  goto START
          IF ERRORLEVEL  48  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  40  goto MAIL4
          IF ERRORLEVEL  30  goto MAIL3
          IF ERRORLEVEL  24  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  20  goto MAIL2
          IF ERRORLEVEL  12  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL  10  goto MAIL1
          IF ERRORLEVEL   3  goto RUNBBS
          IF ERRORLEVEL   1  goto EXIT
          IF ERRORLEVEL   0  goto EXIT

          goto EXIT

          The IF ERRORLEVEL statements all point to markers in the rest of
          my CAT.BAT file.  If BINK exits with an errorlevel that is either
          not hard programmed into it or not designated here, it drops to
          the goto EXIT line, where BINK exits to my DOS prompt.  This has
          not happened to me yet, so I must have things set up OK.

          :RUNBBS
           VFOS_DEL
           BBSBATCH.BAT

          One of the parameters that the Wildcat BBS needs to know in order
          to start it is the baud rate of the caller.  BINK passes that
          information to Wildcat by exiting at an errorlevel determined by
          the baud rate of the caller divided by 100.  For example, if a BBS
          call comes in at 2400, BINK will exit at an errorlevel of 24.  If
          you look at my ERRORLEVEL statements, errorlevel 24 points the
          batch file to go to the :RUNBBS marker.  I have errorlevels
          3,12,24,48,96,120,144,and 192 set up to go to the marker :RUNBBS.

          The second statement deletes my video fossil program.  I keep the
          file VFOS_DEL.EXE in my DOS directory along with the VFOS_IBM
          program.  The only time I want to run the video fossil is when
          BINK is at it's opening screen, so I delete the program whenever I

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 42




          have BINK do anything else.  Again, if you aren't going to run the
          video fossil, don't include this statement in your CAT.BAT file.

          The third statement starts the BBS interface process.  As
          previously stated in the BBS interface section,  I have BINK
          configured to use the file BBSBATCH.BAT to pass parameters to
          WILDCAT.  BBSBATCH.BAT is NOT created by me.  BINK creates it.  It
          starts another file that IS created me.  That file is called
          SPAWNBBS.BAT.  SPAWNBBS.BAT sets the parameters needed by Wildcat
          to a form that can be used in my CAT.BAT file to start WILDCAT.
          It also sets an additional parameter named LIVE equal to 2, and
          then it restarts the CAT.BAT file.

          MINI-EXPLANATION
          ================

          At this point I will digress to explain a little how the batch
          files work.  When BINK is first started with the CAT.BAT file, the
          batch file finds the line if 2==%LIVE% goto WILDCAT (WILDCAT is a
          label in the batch file).  Since the parameter LIVE has not been
          set yet, 2 is not equal to %LIVE% and the batch file continues to
          the next lines, where the next three parameters are set equal to
          nothing.  This is accomplished by not putting anything after the
          equal sign.  This clears these parameters for future setting.
          After clearing these parameters, the batch file goes to the next
          lines, which starts the video fossil and starts BINK in unattended
          mode (the front-end option).

          Then Bink waits for either a mail call or a BBS call.  If a
          BBS call comes in, BINK determines the baud rate of the caller,
          and then exits at the errorlevel determined by the baud rate
          divided by 100.  As previously stated, a 2400 baud caller would
          cause BINK to exit at an errorlevel of 24.  At errorlevel 24, the
          batch file goes to the label :RUNBBS.  The commands at this label
          turns off the video fossil and starts the BBSBATCH file, which was
          automatically written by BINK at the time of the errorlevel exit.
          BBSBATCH.BAT in turn starts the SPAWNBBS.BAT file which, among
          others, sets the parameter LIVE==2.  The last line of SPAWNBBS.BAT
          restarts the CAT.BAT file.  Now when the program gets to the line
          IF 2==%LIVE%, the statement is true (the parameter was set in
          SPAWNBBS.BAT) and the program goes to the :WILDCAT label.

          :WILDCAT
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\WC30
           if /%error%==/ goto WILD1
           set error=MNP
           goto WILD1
          :WILD1
           wildcat /b %baud%%error% %minleft%
           set live=
           goto start


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 43




          At this point, the first lines deletes the video fossil and
          changes to my Wildcat program files directory.  The next set of
          lines, which was written by my good friend Rick Nash (1:226/1250),
          allows callers with MNP error level checking to be able to enter
          the BBS with this feature intact.  This is important because
          Wildcat will not allow Y-MODEM-g downloads without MNP being
          detected.  If a caller has a modem with error checking, the line
          "if /%error%==/" is false, and the call goes to the next line,
          where the parameter "error" is reset to MNP and then the call goes
          to the WILD1 label.  If the "if /%error%== /" is false, as with
          non-MNP calls, the program goes to the WILD1 label without
          resetting the error parameter.

          At the WILD1 label, Wildcat is actually started.  As previously
          stated, Wildcat may be started by using the following line in a
          batch file:

                                Wildcat /b %2%5 %4


          where %2 = the caller's connect rate as reported by the modem,
          %5 = error control information (such as MNP), and %4 = the number
          of minutes left before a hard event.

          These parameters were further defined in SPAWNBBS.BAT:

          set live=2
          set baud=%2
          set minleft=%4
          set error=%5

          The Wildcat software uses the parameters that are defined in this
          file to start and allow a BBS caller access to my bulletin board
          with the proper baud rate, absence or presence of error checking,
          and time left until a hard event.

          After the caller exits my board, the next line in the CAT.BAT is
          followed.  This line (SET LIVE= ) sets the parameter LIVE to
          nothing.  That way my bulletin board doesn't accidentally stay
          resident.

          The next line is GOTO START, which instructs the batch file to
          proceed to the label START which is at the beginning of the
          CAT.BAT file.  Since the previous line defined the parameter LIVE
          to nothing, the equation in the following line IF 2==%LIVE% GOTO
          WILDCAT is false, the file continues on and BINK is restarted.
          The whole cycle is repeated with the next BBS caller.

          :LOCALBBS
           VFOS_DEL
           SET MINLEFT=
           SET BAUD=LOCAL
           goto WILDCAT


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 44




          This label grants me access to my board from my local terminal.
          If you look at my ERRORLEVEL definitions, I have a statement IF
          ERRORLEVEL 90 goto LOCALBBS.  At this label, I again delete the
          video fossil, set MINLEFT equal to nothing (I don't want to worry
          about how much time I have left on my own board). and the baud
          rate is set to LOCAL.  The next line goes to the label WILDCAT,
          and I am treated as if were running Wildcat without a mailer and
          typed ALT-L from my keyboard.

          :MAIL1
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\BINK
           CALL MAIL1.BAT
           goto START

          The next four labels in the batch file are similar, the only
          difference being that the file CALLED is different.  I have four
          mail batch files which are kept in the BINK directory.  Each one
          of them performs a different function.  Each MAIL.BAT file is tied
          to a FUNCTION key by errorlevels.  MAIL1.BAT is started when BINK
          exit at errorlevel 10 (or by pressing function key F1), MAIL2.BAT
          is started when BINK exits at errorlevel 20 (or by pressing the
          function key F2) and so forth.  The batch files are CALLED, so
          when the file has done it's job, it exits back where it started.
          After the batch file exits, it goes to the label :START and BINK
          restarts.

          :SCAN
           VFOS_DEL
           C:
           CD\BINK\WILDMAIL
           WM TOSS SCAN
           cd\wc30
           goto START

          After I receive mail from my hub, BINK exits at an errorlevel
          designated by my E2 flag in my BINKLEY.EVT file.  On my system,
          this is errorlevel 60.  When BINK exits at this errorlevel, it
          goes to the SCAN label.  It first deletes my video fossil, then it
          goes to my wildmail directory and starts Wildmail by the command
          WM TOSS SCAN.  After my mail is processed my Wildmail the program
          goes back to the label :START and BINK is restarted.  Please note
          that I can also cause Wildmail to toss and scan mail manually by
          typing the F6 key.

          :MAINTAIN
           VFOS_DEL
           c:
           cd\wc30
           call maintain.bat
           goto START

          This is my maintenance schedule.  I keep the file in my Wildcat

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 45




          systems directory, and I CALL it much as I call the MAILX.BAT
          files.

          :EXIT
           VFOS_DEL
           goto GOODBYE

          When I type my F10 key, BINK goes to this label, which deletes the
          video fossil FOR ONE LAST TIME (HURRAY!!!!!) and then it goes to
          the GOODBYE label.

          :GOODBYE

          THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!  BINK goes to the DOS prompt.

          HOW TO GET A ZONE/NET/NODE NUMBER
          =================================

          FidoNet requires that in order to get a Zone/Net/Node number you
          must be able to Netmail your request.  But here's the twist:  you
          can't send Netmail until you have a node number.  Nice catch 22,
          huh?  Well, there is a way around this.  We will simply make up
          our own.

          The first thing that you must do is to acquire a nodelist.  Node-
          lists can be but are not always available from a FIDO board such
          as mine.  If you happen to call a FIDO board near your city, then
          try to download it from them.  I have a current nodelist avail-
          able, but the name changes every week.  In order to find out
          the name from my system, you must download my ALLFILEST or ZIP
          file and look in the FIDO section.  Then you can call my board and
          leave a message for me stating that you want the nodelist.

          I allow non-registered users three files a day (maximum 200K a
          file) to be downloaded from The Red Phoenix BBS.  Registered users
          have no download limits and four hours a day of time.  If you
          would like the nodelist from me, please leave a message to me
          stating that you want to become a registered user on my board and
          I will grant you registered status on your next call.  The regis-
          tration fee is only $10 a year; I figure anyone can afford that.
          The name and address to send the bucks to is listed on my GOODBYE
          screen.

          The nodelist that you get from me will NOT be compressed.  The
          name will be NODELIST.### with the ### representing three digits.
          The digits represent the day of the year that the nodelist was
          compiled.  In my allfilest the entry will look similar to this:

                          nodelist.2551,500,500

          The reason it looks like this is because the name of the file
          (nodelist.255) and it's size (1,500,500) are bumped together.
          If you request the file from me, please make sure that you use
          only the first three digits as the file extension.

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 46




          One word of advise before you think about hacking into the node-
          list: DON'TDOITYOUWILLREGRETITDON'TDON'TDON'TEVENTHINK ABOUT IT!!!
          The reason you can't hack into a nodelist is because CRC's are
          checked and if the CRC's don't match, as what will happen in a
          hacked nodelist, XLAXNODE will puke.  And, you will lose a 1.5 MEG
          file that costs bucks to download.  So DON'T hack into a nodelist.

          After you acquire a nodelist, place it in your C:\BINK\NODELIST
          directory.  Take another copy and put it in the same directory as
          your favorite text editor and start up your editor.  Scan the
          nodelist until you find the section near the city where you live.
          This may take some time because the nodelist is, as far as I can
          tell, not in any order.  Once you find entries with your city in
          it, scroll upward line by line until you find the word HOST.  This
          will be your NET.  Take your editor and mark the entire line that
          has the HOST statement and copy that line to another file named
          BLOCK1.NET.

          After you have done this, scroll downward until you see the last
          net/node entry before the next HOST.  Mark the entire last entry
          line and copy it to another file named BLOCK2.NET.  Then restart
          your editor with the BLOCK2.NET file ready to edit.  Your
          BLOCK2.NET file should look like this:

          ,1260,The_Red_Phoenix_BBS,Wooster_OH,Rudolf_Rothemund,1-216-345-
          5807,9600,CM,HST,XA

          This is my node entry.  As you know, my FidoNet zone/net/node
          number is 1:226/1260.  The 1260 comes from this line.  I have to
          split up the entire line in this example because it can't be
          printed as one line on this page.  When you edit this line, make
          sure that it all appears as one line.

          What you need to do now is to replace the number 1260 with the
          number 9999, and replace the name my BBS name with the name of
          your BBS, your real name, the phone number of your BBS, and the
          maximum speed of your modem (no higher than 9600).  If you have a
          US Robotics 14,400 courier or dual standard modem, leave the next
          three flags (CM,HST,XA) alone.  If you don't have a US Robotics
          modem, then take out the HST flag along with ONE of the commas.
          (CM,XA).  The CM flag stands for continuous mail and the XA
          means that you are running a BinkleyTerm V.2.50 mailer.

          Make sure that you follow the example EXACTLY.  All the commas
          underlines, and dashes MUST be in their proper places.  If
          XLAXNODE doesn't process the list, this will probably be the
          reason.

          By the way, I used four 9's because there were four numbers in the
          last node address.  If there are only three or two numbers, then
          you should use only two or three 9's.

          After you edit it, resave it under the same name (BLOCK2.NET) and
          then recall your BLOCK1.NET.  BLOCK1.NET should look like this:

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 47




          Host,226,Buckeye-Net,Columbus_OH,David_Pointer,1-614-457-1701,
          9600,CM,XA,HST,V32b,V42b

          This is my HOST.  As you know, my FidoNet zone/net/node number is
          1:226/1260.  The 226 comes from this line.  What you should do now
          is to copy BLOCK2.NET to the next line immediately under the HOST
          line.  Your new BLOCK1.NET should look something like this:

          Host,226,Buckeye-Net,Columbus_OH,David_Pointer,1-614-457-1701,
          9600,CM,XA,HST,V32b,V42b
          ,9999,The_Red_Phoenix_BBS,Wooster_OH,Rudolf_Rothemund,1-216-345-
          5807,9600,CM,HST,XA

          Please note that the address of my host is 1:226/0.  The 0
          (zero) stands for NODE ZERO.  You will need to know this later.

          Once this is done, save the file as BLOCK1.NET and place it
          in your C:\BINK\NODELIST directory.  PLEASE DON'T use my NET
          number of 226 for your net number unless you live near the
          Columbus, Ohio area.  I don't want David Pointer breathing down my
          neck for thousands of new FidoNet applicants that don't belong in
          his area!

          Once you make BLOCK1.NET, you need to add a line to the
          XLAXNODE.CTL file.  I'll show an excerpt of the file and where the
          new line needs to be added:

          NODE 1:226/1260                           NODE 1:226/1260
          SORTWORK D:\SWAP                          SORTWORK D:\SWAP
          MAXBAUD 19200                             MAXBAUD 19200
          ZONE 1              ADD THIS LINE ======> PVTLIST BLOCK1.NET
          PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX                      ZONE 1
          PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX                   PASSWORD 1:226/0 XXX
          PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX                   PASSWORD 1:226/1210 XXX
                                                    PASSWORD 1:226/5200 XXX

          Using the PVTLIST command with the name of the list is one of the
          methods XLAXNODE uses in order to allows private lists of nodes to
          be inserted into the nodelist files.  Without this private list
          with your name and temporary number, BINK will not see your Fido-
          Net address in the nodelist (because it doesn't exist yet) and
          BINK will loop, trying to start over and over again.  I can't tell
          you the number of times this happened to me until I got this
          right!

          After you have inserted the PVTLIST command into XLAXNODE.CTL, go
          back to ALL the program configuration files that need an address
          statement and make your address 1:XXX/9999, with the XXX the
          number of your host.  I believe they should include BINKLEY.CFG,
          WM.CFG, QM.CFG, WILDNODE.CFG, and XLAXNODE.CTL.  Pay attention to
          my explanations in the configuration files: some files require
          zone statements and some do not.



          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 48




          STARTING IT UP
          ==============

          Now we're ready to go.  Go to your C:\BINK\NODELIST directory and
          type XLAXNODE at the DOS prompt.  The program should take about
          two minutes to compile your nodelist and your private nodelist
          (BLOCK1.NET) for BINK.  After this is compiled, type WILDNODE at
          the DOS prompt.  The files that Wildcat needs for it's Netmail
          directory will be created.  WILDNODE takes about ten minutes to
          compile the nodelist.  After this is done, change over to the BINK
          directory and type BTCTL.  This will compile the BINKLEY.CFG file
          for BINK.  This should take a few seconds.

          We are now ready to fire up BINK.  Type CAT at the DOS prompt in
          any directory  (boy, and I assuming that you are using my direc-
          tory paths and file names!) and you should get your opening
          screen.  If everything is OK, you should see this message in the
          recent activity section of the screen:

             +14:14:11 begin,BinkleyTerm Version 2.50 2.56 -uSoft6.0

          The time on the left of the line will be the time that you first
          started BINK.

          In order to get your zone/net/node number you must send a message
          to node zero (your HOST) with certain information.  To enter your
          BBS, type the function nine key (F9) and you will get Wildcat's
          familiar prompt for your name, etc.  Join your Netmail conference.
          Type E to enter a message.  You should see the following prompt:

                [Z]one         1:     North America
                [R]egion/Net   0:     North America
                [N]ode.Point   0:     North America

          Zone:Net/Node.Point,  [A]ccept, [S]ysop, [Help], [Q]uit ?

          To send a message to node zero of your net, type 1:XXX/0 at the
          prompt where XXX is the number of your net.  The number of my NET
          is 226, and you have to determine the number of your NET by
          searching your nodelist (unless you happen to be lucky and already
          know what it will be).  The name of the person that you need to
          send the message to will be the name after the BBS name in the
          HOST nodelist entry.  For example, if you look at my HOST entry,
          you will see that the name of the Host Coordinator is David
          Pointer.
                                           *************
          Host,226,Buckeye-Net,Columbus_OH,David_Pointer,1-614-457-1701,
          9600,CM,XA,HST,V32b,V42b         *************

          When you find the name, don't use the underline between the
          first and last name to send the message.  The nodelist needs the
          presence of the underline, but if you use it when you send the
          message it won't get to the intended recipient.


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 49




          You will need to send a message to your host coordinator with this
          information:

          1) Your name.
          2) Your voice telephone number
          3) The name of your system.
          4) The city and state where your system is located.
          5) The phone number to be used when calling your system.
          6) Your hours of operation, netmail and BBS.
          7) The maximum baud rate you can support.
          8) The type of mailer software and modem you are using.

          This information comes from the Policy4.txt that FidoNet issues to
          people wanting new Net/Node numbers.  This document is available
          from me for download from the Red Phoenix BBS, and should be
          available on other FIDO boards.  Please read this statement for
          more information concerning the content of your admission letter.

          Once you compose your letter save it and exit the BBS.  You
          should then get back to your opening BINK screen.  Then type the
          function key three (F3).  As you should recall, when you type F3,
          your mail will be tossed and scanned my Wildmail and then routed
          to it's destination crash (immediately).  It's a neat feeling to
          finally watch your mail get processed, and once this letter has
          been sent, you are on your way to getting a zone/net/node number,
          and joining the wonderful world of FidoNet.

          And by the way, when you get your real zone/net/node number, don't
          forget to take out the PVTLIST BLOCK1.NET line in the XLAXNODE.CTL
          file, substitute your real number where it needs to be substituted
          and run Xlaxnode, Wildnode, and BTCTL again.

          If you find any errors in this documentation, or have any sug-
          gestions, or you want to leave me a message, please feel free to
          Netmail me.

          Rudolf Rothemund 1:226/1260

          9/17/92

                                   Appendix I

          SAMPLE TEXT FILES
          =================

          OKFILE.TXT

          C:\BINK\NODEDIFF\*.*          These are the directories that
          C:\FREQ\*.*                   the files that I allow for FREQing
          C:\BBS\*.*                    reside.  The * means that all the
          C:\BBS\CHILDGAM\*.*           files residing in the directory
          C:\BBS\COMM\*.*               are FREQable.
          C:\BBS\COMPRESS\*.*
          C:\BBS\DATABASE\*.*

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 50




          C:\BBS\FINANCE\*.*
          C:\BBS\GAMEA\*.*
          C:\BBS\GRASP\*.*
          C:\BBS\MISC\*.*
          C:\BBS\PROGRAM\*.*
          C:\BBS\SHAREBBS\*.*
          C:\BBS\SOUND\*.*
          C:\BBS\SPRSHEET\*.*
          C:\BBS\TREK\*.*
          C:\BBS\UTILITYA\*.*
          C:\BBS\UTILITYH\*.*
          C:\BBS\UTILITYN\*.*
          C:\BBS\UTILITYT\*.*
          C:\BBS\VIRUS\*.*
          C:\BBS\WINDOWS\*.*
          C:\BBS\WORD\*.*
          C:\WC30\*.*

          PHOENIX.TXT
          ===========

                      The Red Phoenix BBS, Wooster, OH
                  Running Wildcat! 3.5 and BinkleyTerm 2.50
                           Sysop: Rudolf Rothemund
                                P.O. Box 8102
                              Wooster, OH 44691
                  1 Line: (216) 345-5807 - 1200/14.4K [HST]

                            FidoNet 1:226/1260
          ------------------------------------------------------------------

          Your request has failed for some reason or another.

          Requesting the magic name "FILES" will get you a list of files
          which may in turn be requested.  The BBS has many more files than
          those listed, but they are generally not requestable.  Sorry.

          My hard drive configuration:
          ----------------------------

          Directory PATH listing for Volume HARD DISK C
          Volume Serial Number is 1A5C-1DD7
          C:.
           BBS
              BATCH
              CHILDGAM
              COMM
              COMPRESS
              DATABASE
              FIDO
              FINANCE
              GAMEA
              GAMEH
              GAMEN

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 51




              GAMET
              GRASP
              MISC
              MSUPLOAD
                 VIRUS
              PROGRAM
              QUESTION
              SHAREBBS
              SOUND
              SPRSHEET
              TODAY
              TREK
              TREKGIF
              UTILITYA
              UTILITYH
              UTILITYN
              UTILITYT
              VIRUS
              WINDOW
              WINDOWS
              WORD
           BINK
              BADECHO
              NETFILE
              NETMAIL
              NODEDIFF
              NODELIST
              OUTBOUND
              QMAIL
              WILDMAIL
           
           DOS
              DOC
           FREQ
           MB
              MSG000
              MSG001
              MSG002
              MSG003
              MSG004
              MSG005
              MSG006
              MSG007
              MSG008
              MSG009
              MSG010
              MSG011
              MSG012
              MSG013
              MSG014
              MSG015
              MSG016
              MSG017
              MSG018

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 52




              MSG019
              MSG020
              MSG021
              MSG022
              MSG023
              MSG024
              MSG025
              MSG026
              MSG027
              MSG028
              MSG029
              MSG030
              MSG031
              MSG032
              MSG033
              MSG034
              MSG035
              MSG036
              MSG037
              MSG038
              MSG039
              MSG040
              MSG041
           WC30
              ATTACH
              BULL
              DATA
              DISP
              DOOR
                 BATGUY
                 BBSLIST
                 BOGGLE
                 BOWL
                 CASINO
                 DARE
                 DELUXE
                 GAMBLE
                 GUPPY
                 HACK
                 KEY
                 KRAZY
                 MAGIC
                 NOTHING
                 STOOGE
                 STORY
                 SUPER
                 TANK
                 TRIVIA
                 TROUBLE
                 TURBO
                 WHEEL
              HELP
              MENU
              QUES

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 53




              STAR
                 BULL1
                 MENU1
                 QUES1
              TOMCAT
                 DOC
                 WORK.1
              WCWORK
                  NODE1
                      EP
                      TEMP
           
           
                                 Appendix II


          Wildcat! 3.55M
          --------------

          The Professional Bulletin Board System from Mustang Software,
          Inc.

          P.O Box 2264
          Bakersfield, CA 93303

          Tech support: (805) 334-2240
          Office Sales: (805) 395-0223
          Public BBS:   (805) 395-0650
          Private BBS:  (805) 395-0250

          Price - Wildcat! 3.55M: $249


          BinkleyTerm v.2.50
          ------------------

          A Freely Available FidoNet Compatible Electronic Mail Interface
          and Dumb Terminal Package

          Software written by Vince Perriello and Bob Hartman.
          Documentation aritten by Alan D. Applegate.

          Copyright (C) 1988, 1989 Bit Bucket Software, Co.
          P.O. Box 462398
          Aurora, Co 80046

          "BinkleyTerm" and "Freely Available" are trademarks of Bit Bucket
          Software, Co.

          (note - there are no telephone, BBS, FAX, or E-mail numbers).

          QM v.1.30 *gamma*
          --------------------


          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 54




          An echomail processor offered free of charge.  Copyright 1992 by
          Greg Dawson and George Peace.

          Version 1.00 documentation by Bob Davis (1:106/114).
          Version 1.30 documentation by George Peace.

          (note - there are no telephone, BBS, or FAX numbers).

          Wildmail! v2.04 Echomail Processor for Wildcat! v.3.00-3.02 thru
          v.3.5x
          ----------------------------------------------------------------

          Copywright 1991, 1992 by Online Computer Resourses
          4330-J Clayton Road
          Concord, Ca 94521

          Voice tech support/sales: 510-687-1122   (9am-6pm M-F PST)
                                                   (10am-5pm Sat PST)
          BBS (USR HST/V32):        510-687-0236   Fido Address 1:161/503
          BBS (v32bis):             510-687-2134   Fido Address 1:161/504

          Price: $40

          Wildnode! v1.10 Nodelist Processor for Wildcat! v.3.00-3.02 thru
          v3.5x
          -----------------------------------------------------------------

          Copywright 1991, 1992 by Online Computer Resourses
          4330-J Clayton Road
          Concord, Ca 94521

          Phones:

          Voice tech support/sales: 510-687-1122   (9am-6pm M-F PST)
                                                   (10am-5pm Sat PST)
          BBS (USR HST/V32):        510-687-0236   Fido Address 1:161/503
          BBS (v32bis):             510-687-2134   Fido Address 1:161/504

          Price: Released free of charge to the general public; no
          registration fee required.

          Xlaxdiff and Xlaxnode II v2.56
          ------------------------------

          Copyright 1987-1992 by Scott Samet (Friends of Dorothy)
          (1:135/990)

          Address:

          Scott Samet
          PO Box 162082
          Miami, Fla 33116-2082

          Phone:  There are no voice or data phone lines.

          FIDOCAT! v. 1.10 (C) 1992 by RUDOLF ROTHEMUND         Page 55




          Price:  $15 for Xlaxdiff and Xlaxnode v2.56 per node.

          X.00 v1.24
          ----------

          Copyright (C) 1987, 1988,  1989, 1990 by Raymond  L. Gwinn.

          Address:

          Raymond L. Gwinn
          12469 Cavalier Drive
          Woodbridge, Virginia 22192

          FidoNet  1:265/1
          Data phone:  (703) 494-8331

          Price: Free of charge

          VFOS_IBM and VFOS_DEL VFOSSIL Compatible Driver
          -----------------------------------------------

          Revision 1.10

          Copyright 1988 by Bob Hartman and Spark Software, Inc.

          Fido Address: 1:132/101

          Price:  Free of charge

          US Robotics 14400 Courier High Speed Modem
          ------------------------------------------

          Address:

          US Robotics, Inc.
          8100 North McCormick Blvd.
          Skokie, Il 60076

          Phone (voice): 1-800-342-5877
          Phone (BBS)  : 1-708-982-5092
          Tech support : 1-800-982-5151

          Price (Sysop program): $349
