T H E  -  M A I L !


             An automated mail and file transfer script for TELIX


Disclaimers:

The-Mail! is released to the public domain and you are granted full licence
to distribute this product at no charge to any interrested party, provided
that the Masters Software logo and name remain attached to the product and
it is distributed with all files in an un-modified condition.

The-Mail! is supplied "as-is" and Masters Software offers no Guarantee of
the function or suitability of this product.
 
Masters Software and/or associates will not be held liable or responsible
for any losses either real or anticipated which may result from the use or
abuse of this product.

The-Mail! is not now intended nor will it ever be intended to in any way
compatible with any other communications programs used to communicate
messages or files between Bulletin Board Systems, nor is it guaranteed to
be compatible with any other package which might perform a similar function
to that performed by The-Mail!.

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Revision History:

3/18/90 version 1.11

This is a bug-fix release to correct minor timing problems encountered by
300 baud users and to prevent the modem from answering the phone while
shelled to DOS.

     Added 'Modem Off Hook' during DOS shell and modem reset on return

     Added more time for transfers to begin at 300 baud to correct possible
     time out Disconnects.  (Users should note that 300 baud modems are
     generaly considered to be obsolete and no promises are made as to the
     useability of The-Mail! at 300 Baud)

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3/1/90  version 1.10

Based on user suggestions:

     Changed the windows and screen setup per suggestions.

     Changed modem answer sequence to use the 'auto-answer string' in the
     Telix ALT-O/Modem setup window.  (This sequence should now include the
     'M0' parameter if the modem is to be silenced.)

     Host and Caller mode no longer indicate 'On-line' until a full modem
     connect is actually established.

     Caller Mode during Call will now ask for the Baud Rate when invoked
     from the menu.  This allows setting up for slower Hosts.

General Improvements:

     Timing adjustments to make the whole package a bit faster.

     Added (J) jump to DOS function to allow shelling without aborting
     script.

     Changed the pop-up windows to indicate 'Waiting for Connect' messages
     when using existing call modes.

     Hangup at end of call or on ESCape resets the modem to the settings in
     the ALT-P menu to ensure max baud rate is used on incoming calls.

     The main screen now indicates the name of the last caller as well as
     correctly recording the number of calls received in the current
     session.

     The file ALL.ZIP in the outbound directory is now sent correctly.

     The Manual, Host and Caller modes will now lock out the cyclic dialing
     routines, which must be restarted with the R selection from the menu.
     This prevents the cyclic dial from starting up during attended
     operation.


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2/1/90   Ver 1.0  Initial release version.

After a few weeks of use, a couple of improvements over the BETA test
versions were suggested by my callers and these have been added to the
scripts:

At the suggestion of Sheldon Korentayer:

   The user's manual was updated with more specific information about modem
   settings and compatibility.

   Removed default paths from TCONFIG to prevent confusion with the ones
   stated in the user's manual.

   Forced minimum dial-pause time to 30 seconds so that it didn't have to
   be changed in the ALT-O menu each time and added code to reset it to the
   user's setting at the end of the session.

   Made several minor changes to the screens.


At the suggestion of Terry Wilcox:

    Added second search for a file to send.  The-Mail! will now send the
    file   ALL.ZIP   if there is no file explicitly for the caller.  This
    allows some "public message" ability.  (This file is not erased after
    sending)

    Added "ESC cancels" on-screen messages to appropriate points in the
    sequence.

From my own experience:

     Changed method of watching for certain things to happen in order to
     improve noise immunity and prevent disconnects due to line noise.

     Adjusted delays to allow for time before the dialing or re-dial window
     drops after a "Connected press any key to continue" message.

     Made pickup responce when answering in host mode a bit slower to allow
     for line-junk.

     Cleaned up the source code and hopefully didn't cause any new bugs in
     the process.

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