• areas.bbs question

    From Michiel van der Vlist@2:280/5555 to All on Thursday, April 04, 2019 23:09:25
    Hello All!

    There is a new UTF-8 capable FTN editor around and I run into a mismatch between the areas.bbs file produced by Fmail and this new goAtEd thing.

    Fmail creates an areas.bbs that that starts like this:

    2:280/5555 ! Michiel van der Vlist
    ; Created by FConfig-W32-2.0.1.2 - Thu Apr 04 22:44:12 2019
    !\FIDO\JAM\ALLFIX ALLFIX_HELP 2:203/0 280/464 55 !\FIDO\JAM\BBACHCONINFO BBACH.CON.INFO 2:280/5003 5555.1 !\FIDO\JAM\BINKD BINKD 2:203/0 221/6 280/

    Note the first line. Goated interpretes it as an area definition and creates an
    area with a tag of "!". Obviously not what was meant. If I put a ';' in front of that first line, all is well.

    So who's got it right? Should Goated ignore that first line, or should Fmail put a ';' in front of it?


    Michiel


    --- goAtEd-windows/386 1.0.5-154-a1826692
    * Origin: (2:280/5555)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Michiel van der Vlist on Thursday, April 04, 2019 19:57:08

    On 2019 Apr 04 23:09:24, you wrote to All:

    So who's got it right? Should Goated ignore that first line, or should Fmail put a ';' in front of it?

    the semicolon solution...

    FWIW: fastecho created its areas.bbs with three lines at the top... all three with a semicolon in the first column...

    eg:
    ;
    ; Created by FastEcho-Setup 1.46
    ;
    X:\FD\MAIL\LOOP @_LOOP-OT
    X:\FD\MAIL\SUSPECT @_SUSPECT-OT
    !X:\JAM\FIDO\NETMAIL FIDONETMAIL
    !X:\JAM\LOCAL\NEWFILES NEWFILES
    !X:\JAM\LOCAL\POSTOFFI POSTOFFICE


    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... One good turn gets all the blankets!
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Fred Riccio@1:132/174 to Michiel van der Vlist on Thursday, April 04, 2019 22:12:52

    04 Apr 19 23:09, Michiel van der Vlist wrote to All:

    MvdV> Fmail creates an areas.bbs that that starts like this:

    MvdV> 2:280/5555 ! Michiel van der Vlist
    MvdV> ; Created by FConfig-W32-2.0.1.2 - Thu Apr 04 22:44:12 2019
    MvdV> !\FIDO\JAM\ALLFIX ALLFIX_HELP 2:203/0 280/464

    [ ... ]

    MvdV> Note the first line. Goated interpretes it as an area definition
    MvdV> and creates an area with a tag of "!". Obviously not what was
    MvdV> meant. If I put a ';' in front of that first line, all is well.

    MvdV> So who's got it right? Should Goated ignore that first line, or
    MvdV> should Fmail put a ';' in front of it?


    Maybe the first few lines of my Areas.Bbs will give you a clue...

    ________


    ; Like all standard AREAS.BBS files, the first NON-COMMENT line should
    ; be the name of your system, followed by an exclamation point, and then
    ; your name. This name will be used when adding origin lines to messages
    ; which were created on your system.

    Somewhere in New Hampshire's White Mountains ! Fred Riccio

    _________



    MvdV> --- goAtEd-windows/386 1.0.5-154-a1826692
    MvdV> * Origin: (2:280/5555)

    That's why your origin line line looks like it does

    --- Msged/NT 6.0.1
    * Origin: Somewhere in New Hampshire's White Mountains (1:132/174)
  • From Jeff Smith@1:282/1031 to Michiel Van Der Vlist on Friday, April 05, 2019 00:43:12
    Hello Michiel,


    So who's got it right? Should Goated ignore that first line, or should Fmail put a ';' in front of it?

    Well... If the majority of software that might read/import the areas.bbs file that Fmail generates would read that first line inappropriately. Then I would say that Fmail should comment out that first line. Additionally, I would see a problem if Goated would mistakenly ignore a first line that was actually a valid area listing.

    Jeff

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: Fidoneet: The Ouija Board - Anoka, MN -bbs.ouijabrd.net (1:282/1031)
  • From Andrew Leary@1:320/219 to Michiel van der Vlist on Friday, April 05, 2019 02:05:01
    Hello Michiel!

    04 Apr 19 23:09, you wrote to all:

    There is a new UTF-8 capable FTN editor around and I run into a
    mismatch between the areas.bbs file produced by Fmail and this new
    goAtEd thing.

    Fmail creates an areas.bbs that that starts like this:

    2:280/5555 ! Michiel van der Vlist
    ; Created by FConfig-W32-2.0.1.2 - Thu Apr 04 22:44:12 2019 !\FIDO\JAM\ALLFIX ALLFIX_HELP 2:203/0 280/464 55 !\FIDO\JAM\BBACHCONINFO BBACH.CON.INFO 2:280/5003 5555.1 !\FIDO\JAM\BINKD BINKD 2:203/0 221/6 280/

    Note the first line. Goated interpretes it as an area definition and creates an area with a tag of "!". Obviously not what was meant. If I
    put a ';' in front of that first line, all is well.

    So who's got it right? Should Goated ignore that first line, or should Fmail put a ';' in front of it?

    My personal inclination is that Fmail should put a ';' in front of it, as that line is not a valid area definition.

    Andrew

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: Phoenix BBS * phoenix.bnbbbs.net (1:320/219)
  • From Andrew Leary@1:320/219 to Fred Riccio on Friday, April 05, 2019 02:08:07
    Hello Fred!

    04 Apr 19 22:12, you wrote to Michiel van der Vlist:

    ________


    ; Like all standard AREAS.BBS files, the first NON-COMMENT line should
    ; be the name of your system, followed by an exclamation point, and
    then ; your name. This name will be used when adding origin lines to messages ; which were created on your system.

    Somewhere in New Hampshire's White Mountains ! Fred Riccio

    _________


    Interesting. This is a leftover from the Opus/Maximus era, I believe. For maximum compatibility, GoaTED should support this method of defining the default origin line, and not interpret this line as an area definition.

    In the meantime, adding a semicolon to comment this line out will allow GoaTED to function correctly.

    Andrew

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: Phoenix BBS * phoenix.bnbbbs.net (1:320/219)
  • From Björn Felten@2:203/2 to Andrew Leary on Friday, April 05, 2019 11:37:52
    Interesting. This is a leftover from the Opus/Maximus era, I believe.
    For
    maximum compatibility, GoaTED should support this method of defining the default origin line, and not interpret this line as an area definition.

    There are some more "definitions" in a true AREAS.BBS, that maybe GoatED doesn't support too? This is what the first lines in my AREAS.BBS (originally from 1989) looks like:

    West Swedish Host * 46-31-944907 ! Bjorn Felten
    ;
    -POINTNET=9300
    ;
    S:\UTMAIL ROUTETHRU
    S:\BAD_MSGS BAD_MSGS
    ;




    ..

    --- Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; sv-SE; rv:1.9.1.16) Gecko/20101125
    * Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)
  • From Fred Riccio@1:132/174 to Andrew Leary on Friday, April 05, 2019 07:51:22

    05 Apr 19 02:08, Andrew Leary wrote to Fred Riccio:


    04 Apr 19 22:12, you wrote to Michiel van der Vlist:

    ________


    ; Like all standard AREAS.BBS files, the first NON-COMMENT line
    should ; be the name of your system, followed by an exclamation point,
    and then ; your name. This name will be used when adding origin lines
    to messages ; which were created on your system.

    Somewhere in New Hampshire's White Mountains ! Fred Riccio

    _________


    Interesting. This is a leftover from the Opus/Maximus era, I
    believe.

    I think it goes back further than that. I remember QMail, the first tosser I used back when I was a point used that line too.




    For
    maximum compatibility, GoaTED should support this method of defining
    the
    default origin line, and not interpret this line as an area
    definition.

    Agreed. It's an undocumented standard from long ago.



    In the meantime, adding a semicolon to comment this line out will
    allow GoaTED to function correctly.

    As long as a proper origin line gets attached to his messages.

    --- Msged/NT 6.0.1
    * Origin: Somewhere in New Hampshire's White Mountains (1:132/174)
  • From Björn Felten@2:203/2 to Fred Riccio on Friday, April 05, 2019 14:45:42
    I think it goes back further than that. I remember QMail, the first tosser I used back when I was a point used that line too.

    ConfMail was probably one of the first mail processors widely spread. From the documentation in my copy, I read this:

    Conference Mail System Revision 4.00 August 23, 1988

    CONFIGURATION (AREAS.BBS) FILE

    The Configuration File for the Conference Mail System is usually
    called AREAS.BBS.


    And further down:

    2. Board name ! Sysop name - this line is the first line of the
    file other than comment lines.


    http://eljaco.se/FILES/BBS/CONF_400.ZIP



    ..

    --- Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; sv-SE; rv:1.9.1.16) Gecko/20101125
    * Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)
  • From Fred Riccio@1:132/174 to Björn Felten on Friday, April 05, 2019 09:05:26

    05 Apr 19 14:45, Björn Felten wrote to Fred Riccio:

    I think it goes back further than that. I remember QMail, the first
    tosser I used back when I was a point used that line too.

    ConfMail was probably one of the first mail processors widely
    spread.

    At one point I used that one too. Written by Bob Hartman, formerly NC132 and NEC132.



    http://eljaco.se/FILES/BBS/CONF_400.ZIP

    Thanks!

    Filed away under "FidoNet programs with historical significance"

    --- Msged/NT 6.0.1
    * Origin: Somewhere in New Hampshire's White Mountains (1:132/174)
  • From Björn Felten@2:203/2 to Fred Riccio on Friday, April 05, 2019 16:01:40
    http://eljaco.se/FILES/BBS/CONF_400.ZIP

    Thanks!

    Filed away under "FidoNet programs with historical significance"

    Nice!

    Here's another gem that revolutionized Fidonet; a program by a Swedish teenager -- the very first version of FrontDoor:

    http://eljaco.se/FILES/BBS/FD100.ZIP



    ..

    --- Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; sv-SE; rv:1.9.1.16) Gecko/20101125
    * Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)