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ATP(1) |
ATP QWK Mail/News Reader |
ATP(1) |
atp - read, reply, and archive QWK format mail packets.
atp bbsname[.qwX]
where bbsname is the name of the QWK packet with extension
omitted. The long form uses bbsname.qwX where X is any valid
filename character, typically the letter `k' or a digit in the range `0' to
`9'.
ATP is used for reading and replying to messages contained in QWK mail packets
which are available through public access bulletin boards. ATP evolved from an
earlier reader written by Rene Cougnenc which he called `AzerTyuioP' (the name
`AzerTyuioP' is the top row of keys on a French typewriter). ATP has greatly
enhanced and expanded upon the functionality of its predecessor. But like its
predecessor, ATP still may be compiled for the French language. German is now
also supported. ATP includes the Rich Salz and Simmule Turner Emacs-style
command line editor with command history. Note that this is covered by a
separate copyright.
A BBS will typically carry topical news conferences. A user may
dial up a BBS, start a program know as a mail door, and quickly gather the
current news into a file called a ``QWK packet.'' Once this file is
downloaded, an offline mail reader such as ATP processes it for reading and
replying at one's leisure. There are several formats for offline mail
packets but QWK is the most common. Some of the more popular QWK mail doors
which produce these packets are Qmail, Markmail, Jimmer, and TQM. ATP can
handle QWK packets produced by any of these doors so there is no need to
worry which one to use.
When started, ATP will present you with a command prompt. This
prompt will show the current active BBS and the conference. At any time you
may type `help' at the command prompt to receive a summary of commands. ATP
also functions as a mini-shell allowing you to enter many common Unix
commands at the prompt.
In addition to reading and replying to mail, ATP maintains archives of past
messages. These can be reviewed at any time. As new QWK packets are loaded,
they are immediately added to the archives. Pointers to the last read messages
are maintained. Loading a new mail packet will not reset these pointers.
Reading will resume with the last read message in each conference. By entering
a number at the command line, ATP will move to that message number and display
it. In this way you can move backward and forward among the messages at will.
Typing `reset' resets the the message pointer, marking the current message as
the last message read. The `clean' command provides a means of maintaining and
pruning message bases.
ATP will support 8192 conferences per BBS. The limit is set for
backward compatibility with some older mail doors. You may change this limit
by recompiling ATP should the need arise. Your tagline file can hold many
thousands of taglines, essentially no limit for most purposes. Taglines are
stored in a the plain text file taglines.atp.
Other features include the ability to scan message headers, a
tagline management system, support for FIDO or regular style taglines,
personal mail notification and personal mail conference, the ability to
search messages for strings, a separate conference for replies, kill and
change security on replies, tagline selection by random, automatic, or
direct means, hooks for a spelling checker, powerful command line editing
with history recall.
ATP looks for three environment variables: SHELL,
HOME, and ATP. The
SHELL
environment variable must reflect the path to your command shell (under MSDOS
and OS/2 this path would be called COMSPEC
instead). The HOME
environment variable points to your home directory. Some command processors will
automatically set SHELL and
HOME for you. The ATP
environment variable should be the full path to a subdirectory where ATP will
store its configuration files, normally a subdirectory under your home
directory. Use a descriptive name such as `atpmail' or `qwkmail' for this
directory. As you probably know, environment variables most often are set by
adding entries to your command shell's startup file (.e.g. .profile or
autoexec.bat).
Before using ATP for the first time, you will have to edit its configuration
file which you may call either .atprc or atprc. This file
contains a list of information which tells ATP where to find your mail
packets, what editor to invoke for entering messages, how many lines your
screen has. Below is a typical configuration file. IMPORTANT! A space
must reside on either side of the `=' sign for correct parsing to take
place. After you have edited your atprc configuration file, don't
forget to put it in the same directory as pointed to by the
ATP
environment variable, or your home directory. If you have a Perl
interpreter installed on your system, you can use the script atpdiag to
check your installation and configuration. See atpdiag(1) for details.
# -------------------------------------------------------
# sample atprc ATP configuration file
#
user = PAUL DRAKE
editor = vile
reply = /usr/spool
mail = /usr/spool
archiver = zip -jk
unarchiver = unzip -Lxjo
speller = ispell
ansi = on
bell = on
color = on
graphics = on
charset = latin1
screenlen = 25
screencol = 80
qlist = ls -lt *.qw? | cut -c 34- | less
blist = ls -lt blt* | cut -c 34- | less
tagstyle = fido
tagline = Why buy a cow when the milk is free?
autotag = on
workpath = /tmp
truncate = 50
pcb = on
header = off
# end of sample atprc ATP configuration file
# ------------------------------------------------------
- user
-
Your name goes here. It must be spelled exactly as it appears on the
bulletin boards where you are registered.
- editor
- The name of the editor which you will use to edit your replies.
- reply
- This is the path to your directory where you keep reply packets for
uploading.
- mail
-
This is the path to your directory where downloaded message packets are
kept.
- archiver
- This is the name of the program used to prepare your reply packet for
uploading. Normally this is zip. When using the Info-Zip version,
the switches `-jk' tell zip to create archives without pathnames
and to emulate PKzip. These switches aren't absolutely needed put could be
helpful in certain situations. Please acquire the most recent versions of
zip and unzip for your system which are compatible with the
BBSs which you frequent. The Info-Zip package is highly recommended.
- unarchiver
- This is the name of the program used to extract the data files from your
QWK mail packets. Normally this would be unzip. The sample
atprc assumes the freeware Info-Zip version of unzip. The
switches `-Lxjo' tell it to extract files while junking path names,
convert MSDOS file names to lower case, and to overwrite existing files
without prompting. These switches may not always be necessary but may be
helpful in certain situations. Use appropriate switches for the brand of
unarchiver you are using.
- speller
- This line defines the name of the spelling checker you wish to use to
check the spelling of your replies. The program ispell is
recommended because of its interactive design. It is available in source
code form via anonymous ftp from
prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu.
- ansi
-
This configuration switch can be set to either `on' or `off'. It defaults to
`off' but most users should set this to `on'. This controls the placing of
the cursor on the screen and other screen attributes. Note that if `ansi'
is set `on' you must have a terminal capable of handling ANSI sequences.
MSDOS users will want to add the line
DEVICE=ANSI.SYS
to their config.sys file in order to use this feature. Many common
terminals support ANSI such as the popular VT102 and VT220 terminals. The
Linux console also supports ANSI, as do many other PC unixes, and OS/2. So
if you fall into any of these categories, please set `ansi' to `on'.
- bell
-
This configuration switch can be set to either `on' or `off'. It determines
if ATP will use the terminal bell. If you desire silent operation, set
bell to `off'.
- color
- ATP will support color on ANSI terminals. Setting color `on' will enable
ANSI color. You must have the ATP `ansi' variable set to `on' also. If you
have a monochrome terminal you may find that setting color to `off' gives
a more readable screen. Experiment and see.
- graphics
- When graphics is set to `on' ATP will use VT102 line graphics characters
to emulate the MSDOS line graphic character set. Linux users will want to
set this `on'. If your terminal or system console is unable to display the
VT102 line graphics set then set this `off'.
If you want to see if your terminal is capable of displaying
VT102 graphics, type the command `graphics' at the ATP command line. It
will toggle this mode on and off, displaying a boxed message. If you
toggle graphics `on' and instead of a pretty graphics box on a reverse
field you view an ugly box composed of q's and a's then you may safely
assume that your terminal will not support VT102 line graphics.
Note: not all VT102 class terminals have the line graphics
option. Note too that line graphics is independent of which character
set you choose. If your terminal uses the MSDOS character set and
displays it correctly, there is little point in choosing this option.
However, just because your operating system is running on a PC, do
not assume that is uses the MSDOS character set.
- charset
- Most QWK packets use the MSDOS character set to represent foreign language
and line graphics characters. If your system does then you should set
charset equal `msdos' and `graphics' to `off'. However most Unix systems
do not recognize the MSDOS character set mappings. If your terminal or
console uses ISO standard LATIN1 character set (e.g. Linux) then you will
want to set charset equal to `latin1'. If your system is unable to display
any 8 bit characters you will want to set this to `7-bit' (8 bit
characters will then be mapped to their closest 7-bit counterpart). Please
see the file atprc for more details. Here is a table of some
suggested settings:
TABLE 1
CHARACTER SET OPTIONS FOR ATPRC VARIABLES
system |
charset |
graphics |
Linux |
latin1 |
on |
VT102 |
7-bit |
on |
generic |
7-bit |
off |
OS/2 |
msdos |
off |
386bsd |
msdos |
off |
MS-DOS |
msdos |
off |
- screenlen
- This configuration setting tells ATP how many lines your screen uses. This
depends on the type of video card which you are using and also on the type
of terminal emulation which you have selected. Valid entries are in the
range of 3 to 300. If ATP is unable to automatically detect your screen
size, it will fallback to these values.
- screencol
- This configuration setting tells ATP how many columns your screen uses.
This depends on the type of video card which you are using and also on the
type of terminal emulation which you have selected. Typical entries are 80
columns. Some terminals will support 132 columns too. If ATP is unable to
automatically detect your screen size, it will fallback to the value you
specify here.
- qlist
- Used for listing QWK packets. This configuration entry is a command line
which will be executed anytime you type `qlist' at the ATP prompt. ATP
will change to your mail path directory and execute this command line. The
example here when invoked will list all the QWK packets in your mail
directory sorted by time and only displaying the size, date, and name of
the packets. It is piped into `less' which is the GNU version of `more'.
You may delete this entry or modify it if it doesn't do what you want. A
simple default entry is already set internal to ATP.
- blist
- ATP can display bulletins delivered with the mail packet. The `blt'
command uses the string specified here, passing it to the shell to list
your bulletins. You will want to modify this entry depending on your
operating system. After you have viewed the list of available bulletins,
view a bulletin by typing its name at the command line.
- tagstyle
- This switch sets the default style used in your message taglines. It
defaults to normal. By setting this to `tagstyle =
fido', atp will start up using FIDOnet style taglines. See later
section on taglines for more information.
- tagline
- This is used to set your persistent tagline which can always be called
back immediately from the command line. See section on taglines for
details.
- autotag
- By default, ATP will randomly select taglines for your replies. The
taglines are stored in the text file taglines.atp located in the
same directory as your atprc. Automatic selection of taglines may be
turned off from the command line or by setting autotag to `off'.
- workpath
- This option is not usually needed. However, if you need the ATP work
directory to be on some particular path or drive specify it here. OS/2 and
MSDOS users can specify a disk drive by specifying the drive letter. See
example in atprc.
- truncate
- Under ATP there is a `clean' command that will put you into maintenance
mode for your message bases. One of the options is to truncate a message
base to the most recent messages. This option sets the default truncation
length. This truncate option can be changed during the maintenance process
if the need should arise.
- pcb
-
The BBS known as PCBoard supports long subject lines as of PCB version 15.
If you would like to have long subject lines then set this option on. Note
that not all QWK readers will be able to read your entire subject line
because most readers are limited to 25 characters. But generally there
should be no problem. Note that if you use the RIME network that you
should not use a long subject line when entering a routed message, i.e. a
message where the first line must read something like
->156<-. If this option is enabled and you
enter a reply subject line less than 25 characters in length, behavior
defaults to normal QWK conventions.
- header
- When replying to a message, ATP generates a reply header which mentions
the author of the message being responded to. If you wish to have no
headers then set the header option off in your atprc.
When at the ATP command prompt, you will be able to execute many common Unix
commands directly: cat, cd, cp, echo, df, du, less, ln, lpr, ls, man, mkdir,
more, mv, pwd, cwd, rm, rmdir, set, sort, sync.
Under the MSDOS version the following commands are available: cd,
chkdsk, copy, del, dir, md, mem, more, mkdir, print, rd, rmdir, set, sort,
type, xcopy.
What follows is a summary of the commands available inside ATP. The most
important are: `load', `review', `j',`n',`r', `e', and `qscan'. These will be
presented first. Remember that you may always type `help' for a brief summary
of commands.
- help
-
The `help' command will display a brief summary of available commands.
- load bbsname
-
This command is used to get a QWK packet from your spool directory and load
it into the reader for viewing. It takes one argument, the name of the BBS
or the explicit name of the mail packet. If you just give the name of the
BBS, ATP will search for the packet named bbsname.qwk. You may also
name the packet explicitly (e.g. bbsdeguy.qwk,
joesbbs.qw5, etc.).
Example: load zer0g.qw4
- review bbsname
- The review command is used for reviewing the BBS archives previously
loaded into the reader. It takes one argument, the name of the BBS without
any extension. DO NOT add the `qwk' file extension with this command. The
short form of this command is `rev'.
Example: rev hobbits
- <cr>
-
A carriage return alone will read the next message.
- j
- [ conference_name | conference_number ]
The `j' command stands for `join' and it is used for changing conferences.
It must be followed by either the conference name or the conference
number.
- n
- The `n' command will join the next active conference.
- a
- The `a' command will display the current message again.
- +
- The `+' command will go forward one message.
- -
- The `-' command will go backward one message.
- r
- The `r' command is used to enter a reply to the current message. You may
redirect a reply to a different message area by following `r' with the
name of the new area where the reply should be posted. When entering a
reply, you are always prompted to allow changing of the subject, address,
and security information. When prompted for security you may answer `n' or
`r' which respectively stand for `none' and `receiver only' (private
message) security.
- x
- The `x' command is used to crosspost a reply to another area. To use this
command, go to the reply conference and select the reply you wish to
crosspost. Type `x' followed by the conference number or conference name
where you wish to post a new copy of the reply.
- c
- The `c' command is used to enter changes to a previous reply. This command
Is valid only in the replies conference. It will re-invoke the editor for
the current message. The old message is killed along with its tagline. The
tagline active at the time this command was invoked will be the new
tagline for the edited reply. Note that that in the context of the reply
conference, the `e' command has the same effect as the `c'
command—change a reply.
- p
- The `p' command is used to toggle message security between `private' and
`public' for your reply messages. When a message is private, a warning to
this affect will be highlighted in the bottom right of the message header.
- e
- [ conference_name | conference_number ]
The `e' command with no arguments will enter a message in the current
conference. Again, choose your tagline before entering your message. The
`e' command may be followed optionally by the name or number of the
conference where you would like to enter your message. Upon invoking `e'
you will be presented some choice as to subject, addressee, and message
security.
Note that this command behaves differently if the current
conference is either the REPLY or PERSONAL conference. If you are in the
PERSONAL message conference, this command is completely disabled because
it makes no sense to enter a message in the personal conference (you CAN
reply to messages though--use the `r' command). If you are in the REPLY
conference, this command will re-edit the current message. It does not
enter a new message.
- head
-
The `head' command will toggle the automatic reply header on and off. The
reply header is a sentence at the top of a quoted reply message which will
mention the name of the author of the quoted message, who it was written
to, and on what date it was written. If you don't want this style in your
replies then you may turn it off with the head command or just edit it out
when composing your reply.
- reset
- The `reset' command is used to set the conference message pointer to the
highest message which you have read. It looks at the value of the current
message and resets the highest read pointer to that value. This is useful
if you wish to quit in the middle of re-reading a conference but would
like to save your place marker.
- scan
-
Will scan forward from the current message displaying message headers. You
will be prompted after each screen whether you wish to continue scanning.
- qscan
- Quick scan is the same as scan except it will only display a single line
abbreviated header.
- conf
- The conf command will display a list of all available conferences on a
particular BBS.
- ts
- The `ts' is text search command, an alias for `find', see below.
- find
- The `find' command will search the current conference for any text that
follows it. Wildcards are not supported, and it is not case sensitive. For
example:
find paul drake
will display messages containing the text ``Paul Drake'' or ``PaUl dRakE''
and so on. After finding some text, use the `next' command to repeat the
search. Note that any spaces after the first one following `find' are
significant. Thus,
find paul drake
is NOT the same as
find paul drake
- next
-
The `next' command is used to repeat the search initiated by the `find'
command. If your version of ATP supports function keys, pressing F10 is
equivalent to typing this command. To abort search, type control-C.
- qlist
- The qlist command will display a list of all QWK packets in your mail
directory. See the configuration section for details.
- clean
- The clean command will allow you to do maintenance on your message bases.
You will be able to delete, truncate, or purge messages marked as killed.
Use the `k' command while reading messages to mark a message as killed.
Set the default truncation length for maintenance in your atprc.
This number is changeable from inside the clean command should you need
that flexibility.
- rot
- The rot command will filter the current message through a Usenet standard
rot-13 text filter. Invoking the rot command twice will restore the
original message. Rot-13 encoding is sometimes used to shield offensive
material from being accidentally read. It is not a secure cypher, and it
is not intended to be.
- !
- [ shell_command ]
Without arguments, this command will shell you out of the program into the
system. Type `exit' to return. You may also follow this command with any
valid command line which your operating system's command processor will
recognize.
- cls
- Will clear the screen display.
- pcb
- Will toggle support for PCBoard long subject lines.
- time
- Will display the current date and time.
- date
- Will display the current date and time
- fido
- The `fido' command will toggle the current tagline style. See section on
taglines for more information.
- last
- The `last' command will display the end message in a conference.
- news
- The `news' command will display the current news file from the BBS.
- welcome
- The `welcome' command will display the current board's welcome message.
- files
- The `files' command will display the new files list from the current BBS.
- blt
- The `blt' command will display a list of available bulletins from the
current BBS. To display a particular bulletin just enter its file name.
- hello
- The `hello' command will display the BBS Welcome message.
- goodbye
- The `goodbye' command will display the BBS goodbye message.
- door
- The `door' command will display the BBS door id and version (if it was
included in the mail packet).
- m
- The `m' command will toggle the ansi mode on and off.
- g
- The `g' command will quit ATP.
- q
- The `q' command will quit ATP. It is the same as the `g' command.
- s filename
-
The `s' command will save the current message to a specified text file. If
the file exists, the message will be appended to the end.
- tag
- The `tag' command is used to set tagline options. See the section below on
taglines for details.
ATP supports either FIDO or regular style taglines. In addition ATP uses three
types of taglines: persistent, run-time, list. You have 1 persistent and 1
run-time tagline. Your list taglines must be kept in the file
taglines.atp which should be in the same directory as your
atprc. The purpose of the persistent tagline is that it is always there
for you to recall and use. You may choose to use other taglines but the
persistent tagline will still be there when you want it. The run-time tagline
is one you yourself enter at the command line. Should a bit of whimsy strike
you, you can use it right away without editing the tagline file. At any one
time there is only one active tagline which may be viewed by typing the
command `tag ?'. Before entering your message choose your active tagline. You
may pick from the list, use your persistent tagline, or type a run-time
defined tagline at the prompt. You also have the choice of toggling FIDO or
regular style tagline by typing the command `fido' at the command line. Here
is a summary:
- persistent
- Defined after the `tagline =
' statement in the configuration file. This tagline is stored in a stack
with the run-time tagline. Typing `tag swap' will copy the stack into the
current active tagline. Typing `tag swap' twice in a row will roll the
stack. The persistent tagline is good for a tagline which you regularly
use such as one containing place of message origin.
- run-time
- Defined at the ATP command line. If you feel like adding an impromptu
tagline just type `tag' followed by your text.
Example: tag Laurel and Hardy fan
club
This above example command will change the active tagline
to:
...
* ATP/Linux 1.50 * Laurel and Hardy fan
club.
- list
-
A list type tagline is just a tagline stored in the plain text file
taglines.atp. If you have selected the auto tagline feature, ATP
will choose a tagline at random from your taglines.atp file every
time you enter a reply. You may also type `tag random' at the command
prompt to re-select at any time. Taglines may also be selected directly.
Type `tag list' to view your list of taglines, and then type `tag
n' to choose a numbered tagline directly (where `n' would be
the number of the tagline in the list as it is viewed). If you wish to add
or delete taglines from taglines.atp you should use your favorite
text editor.
The `tag' command is the basic command for setting and changing taglines. ATP
echoes any changes in tagline to the screen so you may be certain as to what
the current tagline is. If in doubt, just type `tag ?'. Here are the possible
variations on `tag':
- tag help
- The `tag help' command will display the special help menu for taglines.
- tag swap
- The `tag swap' command will swap move either the persistent or the
run-time defined tagline into the current tagline buffer. Any list defined
tagline will be removed from the buffer. Alternately typing `tag swap'
will toggle the current tagline between persistent and run-time defined.
- tag steal
- The `tag steal' command will append the tagline in the current message to
your taglines.atp file. This feature only works on messages which follow
the PCBoard BBS style of taglines. For Fido taglines use the `tag add'
command.
- tag add
- The `tag add' command allows you to type in a tagline which will then be
appended to your taglines.atp file. This feature is useful for Fido
style taglines which are not so easily captured by the `tag steal'
command.
- tag list
- The `tag list' command will display a list of all available taglines.
- tag n
- The `tag n' command will set the current tagline to the tagline in
the list designated by the number `n'.
- tag ?
- The `tag ?' command will display the current tagline.
- tag auto
- The `tag auto' command will toggle automatic tagline selection ON or OFF.
- tag random
- The `tag random' will choose a random tagline for you. It may be used with
either automatic selection disabled or enabled. The auto tagline mode
itself uses this command after every reply to regenerate a new tagline.
Try it out a few times to familiarize yourself with it.
- tag off
- The `tag off' command will disable taglines.
- tag on
- The `tag on' command will re-enable taglines.
- fido
- This is a command which toggles the tagline style between FIDO style
taglines and regular style. This is provided because FIDOnet has specific
rules about tear lines and high ascii characters. Here is an example of a
regular tagline followed by an example of a FIDO style tagline:
---
□ ATP/Linux 1.50 □ This is
a regular style tagline.
...
* ATP/Linux 1.50 * This is a FIDO style
tagline.
With release 1.4 some support for special keys have been added. This is still
being developed and may change. If you would like to try the special keys here
are the mappings. Note: support now is only for VT102, Linux, OS/2, and MSDOS
consoles.
key command
-------------------------------------------------------------
<f1> help
<f2> tagline help
<f3> view taglines
<f4> list available QWK packets
<f5> show terms of license
<f10> `next' for text search.
<home> goto first message in conference [keypad upper left]
<end> goto last message in conference [keypad lower left]
<page up> view messages in reverse order [keypad upper right]
<page dn> view messages in forward order [keypad lower right]
<keypad `5'> `N' either `next' or `no' (depends on context)
<up arrow> recall previous command in history
<down arrow> recall next command in history
ATP uses the Rich Salz and Simmule Turner command-line editor. This provides a
simple but powerful emacs-like command-line editing interface to its users.
Previous commands may be recalled by scrolling through the command history
with the arrow keys. A line may be edited before it is sent by typing either
control characters or escape sequences. A control character, shown as a caret
followed by a letter, is typed by holding down the ``control'' key while the
letter is typed. For example, ``^A'' is a control-A. An escape sequence is
entered by typing the ``escape'' key followed by one or more characters. The
escape key is abbreviated as ``ESC.'' Note that unlike control keys, case
matters in escape sequences; ``ESC F'' is not the same as
``ESC f''. Auto command completion is invoked by pressing the ``TAB''
key. If there is more than one possible completion, ``ESC ?'' will
display the available alternatives.
An editing command may be typed anywhere on the line, not just at
the beginning. In addition, a return may also be typed anywhere on the line,
not just at the end.
Most editing commands may be given a repeat count, n, where
n is a number. To enter a repeat count, type the escape key, the
number, and then the command to execute. For example,
``ESC 4 ^f'' moves forward four characters. If a command may
be given a repeat count then the text ``[n]'' is given at the end of its
description.
Please see the man page editline(3) for more details. The
following are a list of the basic control characters and commands:
^A Move to the beginning of the line
^B Move left (backwards) [n]
^D Delete character [n]
^E Move to end of line
^F Move right (forwards) [n]
^G Ring the bell
^H Delete character before cursor (backspace key) [n]
^I Complete filename (tab key); see below
^J Done with line (return key)
^K Kill to end of line (or column [n])
^L Redisplay line
^M Done with line (alternate return key)
^N Get next line from history [n]
^P Get previous line from history [n]
^R Search backward (forward if [n]) through history for text
must start line if text begins with an uparrow
^T Transpose characters
^V Insert next character, even if it is an edit command
^W Wipe to the mark
^X^X Exchange current location and mark
^Y Yank back last killed text
^]c Move forward to next character ``c''
^? Delete character before cursor (delete key) [n]
ESC start an escape sequence (escape key)
TAB auto command completion
ESC ? suggest alternative completions
Note: use the up/down arrow keys to recall previous commands.
- Version 1.50 January 1997 -- fourth release of ATP
-
Full termcap support for non-ansi terminals. No limits on
message size for any version. Replies can now be directed to any message
area with `r' command. New `x' command for cross posting. Improved `r'
and `c' commands for re-directing replies to different message areas.
Use ^C to cancel `find' search. Add perl script `atpdiag' to help
diagnose proper configuration. Rot-13 message shroud/unshroud added. GNU
autoconf support provides configure script for building ATP on Unix
systems. Tom Glaab contributes tagline steal/add (thanks!). Tagline `tag
on/off' commands added. MSDOS 16 bit version can swap itself out when
spawning sub-shell if linked with Ralph Brown's spawno libraries. MSDOS
versions now DESQview aware. Stefan Reinauer contributes German language
support. Code re-organized with greater modularity and strong type
checking in mind. Source includes ansi2knr to allow building with
non-ANSI C compiler. Can now be compiled with C++. Various bug fixes and
improvements.
- Version 1.42 September 4, 1993 -- third release of ATP
-
This release sports improved `find' and `clean' commands. The
`clean' command now allows selective purging of messages that have been
marked killed with the `k' key. It also allows truncation of message
bases to the last `n' messages. All in all a much nicer way to maintain
message bases. Derric Scott (dtscott@access.digex.net) provided the
patches for the improved `find' command which highlights found text in
reverse video. ATP supports messages up to 180,000 bytes in size (more
than 3000 lines). The ATP command line is now 8 bit clean and will
accept the so called "high ascii" and foreign language
characters.
PCBoard long subject lines are now supported but this is still
experimental. Users may toggle this feature with the `pcb' command from
the command line. The `blt' command displays a list of available
bulletins, then type the bulletin name that you wish to view. Alan
Barclay provided patches for SCO which also added the `qscan' command
for a quick scan of abbreviated message headers. Many bugs have been
fixed and efforts to greater portability have continued. OS/2 is now
supported. Jim Gomes provided Windows and MSC support. It has been
reported that ATP runs under the AMIGA but no patches were submitted for
inclusion in this release. Thanks to David Fox for his bug reports and
ideas.
- Version 1.41 Spring 1993 -- beta testing release of ATP
-
Closed beta testing with interested individuals.
- Version 1.4 November 1992 -- second release of ATP
-
Now ATP includes a separate conference for replies. Replies
may be killed with the `k' command or security toggled with the `p'
command. The `find' command and `next' command were added for text
search. The Rich Salz and Simmule Turner line editing library is now
included. This gives powerful Emacs style command line editing and
history recall. Please check the separate copyright notice regarding
this library. Three character sets are now supported: ISO Latin1, 7bit,
and MSDOS. On terminals which support VT102 line graphics, MSDOS line
graphics are translated appropriately. In addition, for some terminals,
special function keys are now supported.
Limits on number of conferences per BBS is now set at 8192
with dynamic memory allocation for supporting data structures. Message
size limit has been increased from 32K bytes to 150K bytes, roughly 3000
lines of typical message text. Limits on the number of taglines have
been removed. Taglines are now stored in a separate tagline file
"taglines.atp". Taglines may now be selected randomly
(automatically or manually) as well as directly. Bug fixes and general
code cleanup also were done. Code has been brought into stricter
compliance with ANSI and POSIX standards. Sorry K&R. No matter what
your system GNU GCC is recommended for compiling ATP.
ATP has been compiled and tested on a number of systems for
this release including Esix, Linux, SVR4, 386bsd, and MSDOS. For MSDOS
it is recommended that DJ Delorie's port of GNU GCC be used. This is a
very nice compiler and it will compile Unix source code very easily. It
requires a 386 or better computer. ATP will also compile under the large
model of Borland's Turbo C but the limits are smaller.
- Version 1.3 July 1992 -- first release of ATP
-
McWilliams. Character set translation MSDOS/Linux,
Linux/MSDOS. Personal mail alarm. Personal mail conference. Correct
reply headers, correct time and conference numbers. Command line
processing. Improved command parsing. Rewrite fget() to handle
pathological control.dat files. Taglines and tagline management. Ansi
editing of entries. Replies queries: save, abort, edit. Message header
scanning. Bug fixes. Improved message quoting. Correction of conference
Autojoin(); Tested under Linux 0.96c and Esix R.4.0.
- Version 1.2 April 1992 -- first Unix/Linux port of AzerTyuioP.
-
Salazar. Unix-izing for Linux. Conversion of path names.
Writing new string comparison functions. Reworking system.c and system.h
modules for portability. First version to unarc packets and read them
under Linux. Improved handling of control.dat parsing. Introduction of
array to track real conference numbers versus conference ordinal
numbers.
- Version 1.1 November 1990 -- Cougnenc releases AzerTyuioP
code.
-
Cougnenc. Code to experimental QWK reader AzerTyuioP is
released for MSDOS. Primarily useful as tool for studying QWK packets.
Cougnenc had no documentation on the layout so this work was empirical
in nature. Includes both French and English capabilities, set-able at
compile time. Reader creates archives of received messages.
Many thanks to Rene Cougnenc for his AzerTyuioP from which much of ATP is
derived. Also thanks must be given to Mark Salazar who provided the first
quasi-functional Unix version of AzerTyuioP which was able to un-archive
packets and read mail. A big thanks to all who have provided patches
particularly Derric Scott with enhancements to the `find' command. Alan
Barclay provided fixes and added functionality with his SCO patches. Tom Glaab
has provided nice enhancements to the tagline functionality such as the
`steal' command. Stefan Reinauer provided German language support. Also thanks
to Jim Gomes, Dane Beko, Patrick Lee, Ron Smith, and David Fox who have
provided useful suggestions, contributions, and bug-reports.
Copyright © 1992,1993,1997 Thomas McWilliams.
ATP is copyrighted free software provided WITHOUT warranty of any kind, NOT EVEN
the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.
Use at your own risk. ATP may be used in any way you wish so long as you
comply with the provisions of the Free Software Foundation GNU General Public
License; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
version. Essentially this means that you *MUST* provide the source code for
any works derived from ATP when you distribute binaries. You can not withhold
the rights which you yourself have been granted. Please type `show terms' from
ATP's command line for a display of warranty disclaimer and pointers to
pertinent documents. This software should have come with a copy of the GNU
General Public License. You may obtain a copy of this license by writing to:
Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
675 Mass Ave,
Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Bug reports, suggestions, and code contributions are welcome. If you have ported
ATP to another system, your are welcome to submit the patches so that they
might be incorporated into the next release. Bug reports should include a way
for me to reproduce the bug.
Fido netmail may be sent to me at node
1:109/615
and I am sometimes reachable via the Internet at one of the following
locations:
tgm@netcom.com
thomas.mcwilliams@f615.n109.z1.fidonet.org
Snail mail may be sent to:
Thomas McWilliams
P.O. Box 7545
Arlington, VA 22207
Source code for ATP can be found at:
sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/mail/atp-1.50-src.tar.gz
/usr/local/bin/atp
$ATP/taglines.atp
$ATP/atprc
atpdiag(1), editline(3), zip(1),
unzip(1), rot13(1)
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