Volume 4, Number 20 24 May 1987
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| _ |
| / \ |
| /|oo \ |
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
| International | | \ \\ |
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
node 1/1.
Copyright (C) 1987, by the International FidoNet Association.
All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted
for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
please contact IFNA.
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
Time Flies When You're Having Fun ........................ 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2
FILELIST.EXE...One Sysop's Solution To File Requests ..... 2
International Nodes, "The Zones Are Coming" .............. 3
TELEBIT Trailblazer Test and Evaluation Report ........... 6
3. COLUMNS .................................................. 10
Multilink and Fido ....................................... 10
The Regular Irregular Column ............................. 21
4. NOTICES .................................................. 26
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 26
Latest Software Versions ................................. 26
IFNA Board of Directors Ballot ........................... 27
FidoNews 5-01 Page 1 24 May 1987
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
Time Flies When You're Having Fun
I've been editing this newsletter for over two years now. Why do
I keep doing it? At least partly because it isn't that much
bother. As long as everyone goes along with the simple
guidelines given in ARTSPEC.DOC, which almost everyone does, it
pretty much takes care of itself. Meanwhile, every now and then
I get to sound off in one of these editorials. By and large it's
been fun, and when it hasn't been fun at least it hasn't been a
bother.
I have a long history of running newsletters. I was the editor
of my high school newspaper (a real fishwrapper if there ever was
one), and I was a shoo-in for the job. Way back in sixth grade I
started the first newsletter in the whole school. [The school was
in its first year when I was in sixth grade. It covered first
through twelfth, and had about 300 people when I graduated. I
graduated in a class of eighteen. Growing up in a small town
does have its advantages.]
Writing these editorials seems to give me a different slant on
things that I normally have. I feel as if I'm taking something
of a longer view. I have this conception of FidoNet as some
great and glorious mechanism to allow ordinary people (well, as
ordinary as BBS users ever get) to reach out to each other. When
I sit down to write an editorial I remember that view, and I try
to talk about it. And who knows? Maybe I even make a difference
in some small way. If so, then it's certainly worth it.
Do you share ny vision? I hope so. Yes, we have our little
squabbles. But take any three people and sit them down, and they
will have their differences of opinion. We have much the same
situation, only on a larger scale and vastly amplified.
Sometimes it can seem almost too much to bear. But remember
this: Nobody ever guaranteed you that everyone would always agree
with you. There will always be those (not always the same ones)
who disagree with your viewpoint. That is the price we pay for
such unparalleled freedom of expression. In return for having so
many people hear your viewpoint, you must pay the price of
hearing viewpoints from those who disagree with you. You can
refuse to pay that price, but then your own voice will be
silenced.
We really do want to hear from you. So some people may disagree
with you. Maybe some of them will even descend to personal
invective. Just remember, the same is true of any personal
contact. That is a price you must pay to make your voice heard.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-20 Page 2 24 May 1987
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Jean Coppola Opus 107/201
FILELIST.EXE...One Sysop's Solution To File Requests
With the advent of file requests I have devised a new utility
that helps the Sysop cope with file requests.
FILELIST.EXE is a utility that reads all the available files on a
system into one file, sorts them and produces a file named
REQUEST.TXT and then arc's it into a file called REQUEST.ARC.
Unlike other utilities along this line FILELIST.EXE will run with
either Fido or Opus and should remain compatible with new
versions of both software packages.
This utility DOES NOT read the system files instead it runs from
a batch file and as long as there are files named FILES.BBS and
as long as they contain available software this utility will not
need updating.
FILELIST can be run as an eXternal event from either Fido, Opus
or SEAdog and will compile a list of available files and then
return control to the software that called it.
Here is a small sample of the output from FILELIST.EXE:
Files Available From Opus 107/201 - 516-775-5811
Updated On 05-10-1987 At 11:35:03
ansianim.arc Produces Ansi Graphic Screens
arc.exe Arc 5.20 Utility
arce.com Fast Arc Extractor
arcmail.arc Arc's/UnArc's Net Mail
arcmsg12.arc Save Those Message For Posterity
arcpeek.arc Allows Reading of *.Arc Files
autodate.arc Sets Time Without Clock Card
There Are A Total Of 7 Files Listed.
As you can see the files are sorted by name and then placed into
the file with the identity of the system and the phone number
placed in the file for ease in locating the Net/Node number and
phone number.
FILELIST.ARC may be requested from 107/201 and contains all files
needed to implement this on your system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-20 Page 3 24 May 1987
International Nodes, "The Zones Are Coming"
)))) The Problem ((((
We are TOO successful. The nodelist is getting to be 1700 nodes.
The nodediff files are getting big. The zones are coming. The
zones are coming. This will have a large effect on our nodelist.
The nodelist is THE most important thing we have! It is more
important than FidoNews, more important than echos. We do not
use routed mail very much, but it is the tie that binds.
The nodediff takes too long to send. It takes too long to run
Xlatlist or Listgen. It consumes disk space. The text version
is too long for most users to download and use.
Long nodelists encourage outdated nodelists. An outdated
nodelist is VERY dangerous with outbound mail, especially direct
mail. If I change numbers, the phone company may reissue that
number. What if someone sends files attached? Every night at 4
am, some LOL (Little 'Ol Lady) will have her phone ring with no
one on the other end. If that sounds funny, let me know your
home VOICE number, and let me try it on YOU.
What if the net / node number changes? There are boards that I
like to contact when I need them. I do not need them very often,
but when I do, it is VERY useful. With multi-line BBS coming up,
phone numbers will change more often.
<<< Present Solution >>>
ZONE: level of hierarchy that is higher than net. It implies
that nodes with a zone will have limited nodelist information
outside their zone. Each zone will have own nodelist and
nodediff. Zones will have their own coordinator who will
supervise his portion of the nodelist. They may have different
policy. (Policy 7 Zone 3??).
The International FidoNet Coordinator will install these changes
in stages. IC will define zones as continents. Later, the IC
could split zones by countries. Someday, the USA could be
several zones!
How does this affect the average sysop? How to send mail to a
node in another zone?
---Routed Mail---
A sysop could send mail "de-coupled." "De-coupled" means that the
sending software sends mail to another place without verifying
that the net/node exist. Fido allows that. (TJ hates that
option.) That is similar to "shooting an arrow into the air," or
USENET revisited. Sending mail to 2:107/6 would be routed to
2:/0 and that node would route (if possible). (By the way,
points are always de-coupled. That is another discussion.)
FidoNews 4-20 Page 4 24 May 1987
You cannot send a piece of mail to a specific address if you do
not have that address.
What is the effect? Easy, orphans! Orphans are messages that
cannot leave that node. What does a node do with Orphans? Once
again with another patch we can fix. I guess the orphan receiver
would send net message that "Addressee no long there." The point
is that "Orphans" are the net equivalent of "Dupes." (GASP!)
--- Non-Routed Mail ---
The sending sysop must generate and maintain a private nodelist!
If 107/6 changes phone number, how will I know? If I change my
personal phone number or node number, who will I notify and how?
My guess is that if I notify others they will not update their
lists. The "bottom line" is that zones will inhibit net mail
traffic across zone lines.
We are encouraging outdated private nodelist with no nodes in the
nodelist on the other side of the zone.
>>> My Proposal <<<
--- Description ---
Super nodelist with skeleton entries: all zones, all regions and
all network hosts. That nodelist can include nodes from other
zones that "register" as an International Node.
Definition- International Node (IN)- a Node that sends / RECEIVES
direct mail across zone (regional) boundaries. IN is not a more
important node just one that RECEIVES DIRECT MAIL. (No one
should register for vanity).
Registration- International FidoNet Coordinator (IC) will control
the super nodelist with updates from Regional Coordinators
(RC's). The RC will give nodelist with host and IN net / node.
The RC will be responsible to see that all IN are properly
registered.
The IC MAY require that International Nodes pay a fee. He may
give discount to IFNA members. Suggested $10 charter members.
$25 new IFNA members. $40 to non members. Is that reasonable?
IFNA was formed to help pay for nodelist generation, of course!
It is voluntary. You do not have to pay anything to be in the
nodelist and send and receive mail. Just extra to receive DIRECT
(crash) mail or files or file requests.
Conversion will be painful. It does require that all regional
and network coordinators cooperate and convert semi-
simultaneously. I cannot imagine an uncooperative RC or NC. (A
little irony here.) Zones were going to be painful anyway.
Software to merge nodelist and generate local nodediff will have
FidoNews 4-20 Page 5 24 May 1987
to be written, debugged, and published. That is not trivial, but
not impossible either.
--- Pro ---
You are in the nodelist for free. People contribute money
because they want to contribute.
You can still send routed mail easily. It is possible without a
complete nodelist. It is going to have to be possible because
the nodelist will be split unless we change our direction. You
can send no-route mail to "registered" nodes at no "extra" fees.
We remain a INTERNATIONAL and NATIONAL organization. We will
remain more unified.
--- Con ---
The program to have multiple updates of the nodelist may not
exist. It may cost money to be International Node. It may
require zone and point support software.
NIH (not invented here).
======== Conclusion =======
We have too much of a good thing. The process will take time.
To do nothing will invite chaos. Let us discuss it. I want to
avoid the divisiveness that zones can cause.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-20 Page 6 24 May 1987
Jim Kay
Opus 109/612-617
A Truly Elegant Piece of Engineering
On March 23, 1987, A representative of Telebit Corporation
delivered two Trailblazer modems to me for testing and
evaluation. On May 11, 1987, I called that same representative
and asked that the modems be picked up as my testing was
complete. Here is what happened in-between and my conclusions.
I was informed by a fellow sysop, Bob Catt, that Telebit was
going to hold a demonstration of their Trailblazer modems at a
location very close to my office. Bob invited me to attend. The
demonstration consisted of connecting two PC's together via
Trailblazers and two via conventional modems. The connections
were direct cable connections. Some files were sent back and
forth and the cables were pulled out and plugged back during
transmission. All in all, it was a very impressive demonstration
of the high speed capability of the Trailblazer.
In part due to my position as a sysop and in part due to my
position with Boeing Computer Services, I was offered a pair of
modems for evaluation. I was anticipating an extended (a month)
trip to our offices in Seattle so I thought that would provide a
nice cross-country demonstration. The two modems arrived at my
office the afternoon before my flight.
The Telebit reps and I experimented for about two hours, trying
to get one of the modems to work with SEAdog or with one of three
or four terminal emulator packages that I had in my office. We
did not succeed. We installed a specially updated version of
CROSSTALK for testing and found that package did work. The reps
left me with the two modems and the special version of CROSSTALK.
I took all of this home with me and tried again to get the
Trailblazer to work with my other bbs (also SEAdog 4.0) at home.
After three hours, I gave up, put one of the Trailblazers on the
shelf and began to pack for my trip. I took one Trailblazer with
me along with a Toshiba 1100 lap top that a friend had loaned me
for the trip.
I must confess that I knew very little about PC's connect with
and use serial communications facilities. My experience was
almost totally with mainframe communications. As a result, I
spent about 20-30 hours experimenting with the Toshiba and the
Trailblazer and CROSSTALK before I came to any real
understanding.
Here is what I learned. Modems have two communications
functions. One is to communicate with another modem over some
sort of path, usually the dialup phone network. The other is to
communicate with the terminal, which in our case is normally a PC
of some sort. The speed of EACH of these communications MUST
match what the other device is expecting. The usual set of
"Hayes compatible" modems force these two communications to occur
FidoNews 4-20 Page 7 24 May 1987
at the same speed. The Trailblazer controls these separately.
With the exception of the updated version of CROSSTALK, none of
the software I experimented with was prepared to deal with this.
Up to this point in my experiences with PCs, I had heard of the
MODE command but had never seen it used and did not know of any
reason to use it. Now I discovered that nearly all of my
software was issuing a MODE command internally to set the speed
of the serial interface card to match either the designated dial
out speed, or the reported connect speed, when in answer mode.
CROSSTALK was telling the Trailblazer to set its PC
communications speed first and then changing the serial interface
speed. All the other packages were simply changing the interface
speed and assuming the modem was changing its speed
automatically. The Trailblazer was not. When the modem and the
serial port "talk" at different speeds, there is no
communication.
The Trailblazer is equipped with a very impressive array of
internal registers that control all functions and parameters.
There are no dip switches. After a rather time consuming study
of the manual, I discovered that the Trailblazer can be set up to
automatically detect the rate at which the PC is talking to it.
I set up that mode and tried to go on. Next I discovered that
once a speed was set, the automatic rate detect became disabled.
Thus if I dialed out at one speed, all well and good but if I
tried to dial out again at a different speed, I lost
communication with the modem. I will note in passing that the
factory default speed in fixed at 9600 in the modem and all the
machines I tested power up their serial cards at 2400.
More studying of the book and I decided I could reset the modem
to automatic detect by forcing it to run its internal diagnostics
after every outbound call. I also found I could delete (thank
you Peter Norton) the code in my terminal emulator package that
resets the serial port speed. Very painful, but at least I now
understood what was going on and where the problems were.
I used the Trailblazer from Seattle to call my bbs's (one with a
USRobotics 2400 and one with a Rixon 1200) and perform remote
maintenance. I also used it to call from the Toshiba to the PC I
was using at work to transmit files from the Toshiba 3 1/2"
format to the PC 5 1/4" format. Nothing very exciting, but it
did a job for me that I needed.
When I got home (a little early) I began in ernest to try and get
the Trailblazers to work. I was referred to Ray Gwinn who, I was
told, had done some extensive work with the Trailblazers. Ray
was wonderfully helpful. He sent me a beta test version of his
serial driver to replace OPUSCOMM and explained that indeed, the
Trailblazer worked as I had been guessing. He further explained
that I could get the Trailblazer to work with SEAdog better if I
forced the communications to the PC to hold at 9600 and his
serial driver would take care of ignoring SEAdog's attempts to
match the serial card to the dialout speed. I tried this but got
a continuous message about Modem Failure from SEAdog.
FidoNews 4-20 Page 8 24 May 1987
I thought I was smart by then so I looked for some code in SEAdog
to delete, I didn't find any. I then tried stepping through the
startup code of SEAdog using the Codeview debugger that I bought
with my Microsoft C compiler. Much to my surprise, the Trail-
blazer worked. Some more phone calls later, I learned that the
firmware in my modems was not the version needed for dialout use.
Telebit kindly offered to send me a new set of PROMS which I
accepted. After installing them, still no success. A call to
Thom Henderson revealed that SEAdog was waiting for an "OK" from
the modem and didn't think it was getting it. Telebit had no
idea what I should do next. In a flash of desperation, I deleted
the modem setup and modem reset (and even the modem type) cards
from my SEAdog control file. Wonderful! The modem seemed to be
working.
Imagine my disappointment over the next two days as I discovered
that no caller at 1200 baud was getting successful communication.
The connect appeared to be OK but on the Opus end I just say a
continuous stream of garbage while the caller saw nothing.
Another call to Telebit told me only that "maybe it's your phone
line". In desperation, I tried removing the filtered phone cable
that came with the Trailblazer. Sure enough, success. In the
process of that latest conversation, I learned that the Trail-
blazer was designed first to communicate only with other Trail-
blazers. The emulation of other modems was added later. I also
learned that a caller at 300 baud must allow 5 seconds of total
silence on the line for the connect to be successful. This,
after the caller's modem reports successful connect. What do you
suppose is the chance of that happening? Oh well, I suppose I
would be willing to effectively exclude all 300 baud callers.
Too bad, I also noticed some other problems. When the
Trailblazer answers the phone, it first tries to connect to
another Trailblazer. I suppose that is reasonable. The odd
sound it makes scares off some callers however. After two tries,
the Trailblazer tries some emulation modes. Too bad, some
callers hang up before the Trailblazer gets to the right version
for them. Even worse, SEAdog 3.82 is one that hangs up. I know
how to tell people to change their terminal packages to wait a
little longer. I have no idea how to tell SEAdog to wait longer.
Rather than give up, I called Telebit yet again. I learned about
a register that turns off Trailblazer mode entirely and makes the
modem act just like a normal 2400 that we are used to. I tried
that too. Yes, my callers can get it. No one was hanging up too
soon. Of course, this $675 modem was doing nothing more than my
$375 USR could do but... Well, the Trailblazer is SO technologi-
cally WONDERFUL, I just liked having it there. Besides, perhaps
some day they would get the problems fixed and then only a change
of PROMS would get me the latest version. I have no doubt that
Telebit would happily supply them. I am VERY impressed with
their willingness to help and their commitment to providing
support.
But the fates were not to be on my side. All of my users who
have Everex modems began complaining that they could not complete
FidoNews 4-20 Page 9 24 May 1987
even short downloads successfully. All of them terminate with
"too many errors". With a heavy heart, I finally gave up. Just
for completeness, I did try several calls to Telebit to see what
a connect to another Trailblazer was like. To my surprise, I was
not especially impressed. From the panel lights on the modem, I
judged there to be a lot of line idle time that defeats most of
the high speed.
So what do we have at this point. The Trailblazer is designed to
talk primarily to other Trailblazers. The error correcting
capability in that mode presents only good data blocks. To get
good performance under those circumstances requires that the
software do no protocol type error checking, except, perhaps,
after an entire file has been transmitted. The Trailblazer
answers calls and looks for another Trailblazer first. When used
in dial out mode, the caller must not be allowed to change the
speed of the serial interface. SEAdog will not do file transfer
correctly if the interface speed is higher than 9600. This
latter limits the overall speed to 9600 even though the modem can
burst to 18,000.
As an aside, at the service bureau where I work, we could not
dare to install modems that take so long to establish connection
and will not communicate correctly with all of the large
assortment of modems that currently call in here. As a bbs
operator, I feel I have the same obligation to my callers. So,
with a heavy heart, I called Telebit and asked them to pick up
the modems.
Personally, I admire elegant engineering and love to have
examples of such in my possession. The Trailblazer is one of the
best examples of elegant engineering I have seen. The idea of a
microprocessor based device that will behave like almost anything
you want with just a change of PROM is clearly the way of the
future. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to just stick one of
these on the shelf and wait. And, I cannot, in good conscience,
put it on my system and exclude a segment of my users. My
decision is that I WANT a Trailblazer, but not quite yet.
I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Ted Brown and Telebit
for their generous assistance and support, to Ray Gwinn for his
also very generous help, and to Longshot Xi (one of my users) who
spent several hours with his Everex modem running tests at my
bidding.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-20 Page 10 24 May 1987
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
Host net 508, Node:508/4 Tel. int+55 421284
Ignaat Simons
Chopinlaan 3
7333GA Apeldoorn Netherlands
Multi FIDO application.
=======================
At the time I had only a IBMPC compatible, the Philips P3101
with 10 mbytes harddisk, I had take provisions on hardware
and software level, such, my FIDO did run for weeks without
a hangup. Remotely, I did my daily sysop work, which was
mainly the maintenance of the USER.BBS, looking to the MAIL
and SHUFFLE. I mostly did do this from a remote point, so at
home I did find it terrible to put down my FIDO for local
SYSOP work. Especially, why it sometimes takes some houres
to rearrange with SHUFFLE etc. the good looking of my BBS.
So stronghly I did need a multi-user application above or
instead MSDOS.
At this moment my FIDO is working for weeks without going
down for a single moment, except for the MAIL. This is
reached with MULTILINK with a high priority FORGROUND
partitioning and 2 BACKGROUND FIDO partitionings, from which
the 2e can be put down for my own MSDOS work. Why MULTILINK.
Well, I had the possibility between DOUBLEDOS, CONC-DOS, MS-
WINDOWS and MULTILINK. As I only got a formal copy of the
last three, I did not observe DOUBLEDOS. Perhaps it is
better.
MSWINDOWS was very nice, but only one program can be actual
running at the time and the rest is hanging on the wall as
an ICON. Moreover, it did eat my DISK and memory space more
than I did like.
CONC-DOS did run very well, but was also a big eater of
space. But I found it much easier than MSDOS. Finally I got
MLINK and as this was specific written for a Multi- terminal
environment I did select him for my work. Above that, realy
it is a wait-watcher. Only 35 kbytes it consumes. So I
selected MULTILINK.
MULTILINK.
==========
I had a lot of problems to understand the real working of
multilink, but after a lot of tests, I learned how to cope
with it. With multilink the tuning of the priority and time
setting was the most crittical. Also I did need another
version of ANSI.SYS, which I got from the Support
departement. The commandline params NODIS, DIS and NVDIS
were the ones which cost me 3 weeks to find out how to use.
In appendix I give my BAT-files as it runs now perfect. See
also the NVDIS and NODIS statements arround the :OUTSIDE and
:DOSEXIT part of RUNFIDOx.BAT. They are extremely important.
Here I will only give some tips to deal which if another
FidoNews 4-20 Page 11 24 May 1987
program has to be added in the BAT file. Also some specific
FIDO aspects I measured are written down and maybe will of
some help to you.
FIDO1 and FIDO2 and mailing.
===============
With fido, 2 params can be set to make a distinqtion between
the 2 FIDO's. That are the commandline 1 and 2 and the 1/I
and 2/I switches. The first 2 defining the COM-port and the
second the <file>.LOG handling. These only works for the
SYSOPx.LOG and the MAILERx.LOG files, where x=1 or 2
depending the x/I command line switch. The SCHED.BBS,
USER.BBS etc. are used commenly by the 2 FIDO's. The
USER.BBS is of course logical, as long as you have one fido
with 2 telephone lines in one hardware engine. The SCHED.BBS
however, I believe there is a problem. I found out that at
mailing time, both FIDO's did exactly the same within 20
sec. difference. So at mailtime, both are defining the to be
mailed files and try to send them. Of cource the *.IN and
*.OUT files are created in the same area, the fidonet-
subdirectory. I didn't believe this could work correct, so
to be sure I did search for a solution. And well, I found
out that at the moment FIDO starts up (FIDO_IBM), it copies
the SCHED.BBS into memory and never needs the file if fido
stays running. Exept with the sysop 6 and 7 commands, fido
update the present SCHED.BBS. So One fido is doing now all
the houskeeping and mailing tasks and one is running
continouesly. This was made available with a SCHEDN.BBS and
a SCHEDE.BBS, which are loaded as SCHED.BBS just before
FIDO_IBM is started. In my case SCHEDE.BBS is real empty,
but you can change it as long as the tasks are different. I
need at this moment the second fido as sysop fido, with
which I can do sysopwork at any time. The COM2 port is
connected to an internal cable, with which I downstairs in a
corner of the livingroom can do the sysop work. Also I
prepare there on a CPM own build engine my textfiles like
this and upload them on 2400 baud in the fido. If I have to
much, I go outside, load kermit and transmit with 19 kbaud
the stuff direct in the FIDO engine. If you have a 2-
line/one number telephone connection, you can go to a event,
where the second modem is put offline, so that all incomming
mailcalls are forwarded to FIDO-1, to be handled for mail.
This depends strongly on your local telephone company
arrangements and possibilities. In that case if you like a
third FIDO for SYSOP work, create a third partition. The
minimum statement in MLINK for FIDO (Version 11W) is /0,140,
But if you have things like FIDOINTR or OUTSIDE working 200
kbyte looks fine.
MULTILINK NVDIS, DIS and NODIS commands.
========================================
I did start with MLUTIL DIS, as the books told me, that was
the most optimal, because the keyboard requests were
reduced.
It runs, only the programs FILELIST and SYSREPT did do about
3 hours to come to an end. (should be less then 5 minuts).
FidoNews 4-20 Page 12 24 May 1987
So first I did put MLUTIL NODIS before these commands and
again a MLUTIL DIS after. It was running. On a Job outside
holland (remote sysop), I did an 0 (nul) command and only
everey 5 sec. I got a character. Terrible of course. So
again trying out. As fido has slow reacting users even on
2400 baud, it was better to put the main part of the
programs into MLUTIL NODIS (normal) and only the OUTSIDE and
DOSEXIT (0-command) in NVDIS mode. This was finally the
best. If I have a new program to be put into the BAT-file I
do try out its reaction first in a single command mode,
playing with DIS and NVDIS mainly.
With a third COM-port, I did try out the terminal emulation.
So if you change in the AUTOEXEC.BAT the MLINK into:
MLINK /0,200 /0,200 /3,32,<n>,9600
you have a nice MSDOS on a remote terminal, which can be of
any type. For <n> you have to fill in a digit (1 to 12)
1=tty,2=ADDS viewpoint,3=LSI ADM3A,4=televideo 910,5=DEC VT-
52,6=fortune,7=televideo 912C/920C/925,8=ANSI-standard,
9=User defined,10=PC shadow,11=hazeltine,12=telepathy.
Run MLCUSTOM.COM to define the 9.
Noted: The MLINK you can only start once, but with a command
line MLUTIL TERM <n> you can redefine the emulation on the
third port. In AUTOEXE3.BAT you have to put MLUTIL ENQ -7,
as I used the 2e PRN as COM3.
With this teminal emulation, a 2e DOS-user is possible (Your
Wife/Husband) mutch better than a redirection with CTTY =
COM3
Some short explanation of the used command lines.
=================================================
MLSLICE activates the time slicing. (portions of 18.1818 ms
MLINK /<port>,<mem.size>,|<term. type>|,|<speed>|
Port 0 is dummy.
MLUTIL ENQ -IRQ where IRQ is the interupt level. 4=COM1,
3=COM2, 10=COM3, 11=COM4 (10 and 11 only for AT)
MLUTIL TIME n where n is the number of slice portions,
the partitioning will get.
MLUTIL PRI n where n is 0 (low) till 7 (high) priority.
Never put the forground in the lowest, because
nearly your forground is useless. Even it took me 30 minuts
to type a new command line.
The MLSPOOL and MLPRINT works fine too. All the other ones I
didn't use in the FIDO environment.
I work with MSDOS 3.10 and Multilink 4.00. It works now for
month with no single hangup.
Succes with MULTILINK!
APPENDICES.
===========
| The CONFIG.SYS
**********************************************************
BREAK = ON
COUNTRY = 031 (if you like)
BUFFERS = 75
FILES = 25
DEVICE = QUICKVID.SYS (not absolute necessary)
FidoNews 4-20 Page 13 24 May 1987
DEVICE = ANSI.SYS (dammed important)
DEVICE = VDISK.SYS 384 /E (not absolute necessary)
**********************************************************
|
| THE BAT-FILES
**********************************************************
|
| The start BAT file, after the MLINK statement the
| AUTOEXE1.BAT and AUTOEXE2.BAT are started for background 1
| and 2 resp.
|
| The AUTOEXEC.BAT
|
***********************
prompt Forground$_$p$g
echo off
cls
rem ******************************************
rem * The DISK area will be preset for FIDO. *
rem ******************************************
c:
mlslice
mlink /0,200 /0,200
mlutil pri 2
cd \fido
ver
echo multilink versie 4.00
====================================================
| At this point the FORGROUND is waiting for an |
| operator command. |
====================================================
*************************
| The AUTOEXE1.BAT file |
*************************
prompt background 1$_$p$g
echo off
cls
mlutil pri 1
mlutil enq -4
c:
realtime
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo system reset >> \fido\system1.log
cd \fido
fidointr
runfido1
=================================
| Here FIDO-1 will be started. |
=================================
**************************
| The AUTOEXE2.BAT file |
**************************
prompt background 2$_$p$g
echo off
cls
mlutil pri 1
FidoNews 4-20 Page 14 24 May 1987
mlutil enq -3
c:
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
echo system reset >> \fido\system2.log
cd fido
path \
fidointr
runfido2
===============================
| Heer FIDO-2 will be started |
===============================
*******************************
| The RUNFIDO1.BAT file. |
| Will startup the main fido. |
*******************************
:start
cls
rem **************************
rem * FIDO will start-up *
rem **************************
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
path c:\;c:\fido
break off
rem clock/s
realtime
cd \fido
copy schedn.bbs sched.bbs
watchdg1 off
fido_ibm 128/v 5/s 30/l /1 9/w /y 60/d /p 11/a 3/g 1/j 1/i/u
if errorlevel 11 goto outside
if errorlevel 10 goto dayprt
if errorlevel 9 goto dosexit
if errorlevel 8 goto scanmail
if errorlevel 6 goto sysrept
if errorlevel 5 goto printw
if errorlevel 4 goto printd
if errorlevel 3 goto fatal3
if errorlevel 2 goto fatal2
if errorlevel 1 goto exit
goto start
rem Started every evening at 23:59 before mailling.
:scanmail
scanmail -delay -stats -short -noforward -maxmsgs 20
goto start
rem Started avery morning 5 minits after mailing.
:dayprt
tossmail -delay -stats
echo save MAIL received.>>system1.log
twix mail.rec/o
copy maillog.rpt + mail.rec
renum -d 30 1 -d 30 2 -d 30 3 -d 30 4 -r 1 -r 2 -r 3 -r 4
messwait -pni >temp
FidoNews 4-20 Page 15 24 May 1987
copy temp edtorial.bbs/v
copy welcom2.txt + temp welcome2.bbs
del temp
rem ***************************
rem * save variables of today *
rem ***************************
copy c:\fido\*.tlg a:\fido /v
arc a totallog c:\fido\*.log
copy totallog.arc a:\fido /v
copy c:\fido\answer.bbs a:\fido /v
copy c:\fido\anopwd.bbs a:\fido /v
copy c:\fido\anewuser.bbs a:\fido /v
copy c:\fido\user.bbs a:\fido /v
copy c:\fido\user.old a:\fido /v
copy c:\fido\mail.sys a:\fido /v
copy c:\fido\nodelist\nodelist.a* a:\fido /v
rem **************************
rem * End save LOG and USER *
rem **************************
copy filelspe.ctl filelist.ctl
filelist
copy filelnor.ctl filelist.ctl
filelist
rem And sort also USER.bbs
usersort
goto nodelist
rem Started avery sunday at 23:59.
:sysrept
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo weekly review >> system1.log
del sysop.bak
copy sysop1.log + sysop2.log sysop.bak
del sysop1.log
del sysop2.log
sysrept
copy downlog.lwk \fido\fidouse /v
copy uplog.lwk \fido\fidouse /v
copy utillog.lwk \fido\fidouse /v
daynbr /d5 ren sysop.bak sysop.@###
daynbr /d5 ren downlog.lwk *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren utillog.lwk *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren uplog.lwk *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren dailylog.lwk *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren *.tlg *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren mailer1.log *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren system1.log *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren echomsgs.log *.@###
daynbr /d5 ren maillog.rpt *.@###
daynbr /d5 arc m totallog *.@###
copy zero.rpt maillog.rpt
FidoNews 4-20 Page 16 24 May 1987
rem Rework nodelist if he is there!
:nodelist
if not exist \fido\fidnetf\nodediff.a* goto nonode
copy \fido\fidnetf\nodediff.a* \fido\tussenin /v
editnl /o=nodelist /e=fidnetf /n=tussenin /a /k /x=pkxarc
if errorlevel 1 goto nonode
if not errorlevel 0 goto errornod
daynbr /d5 copy \fido\tussenin\nodelist.@### /v
daynbr /d5 del \fido\nodelist\nodelist.*
del \fido\fidnetf\nodediff.*
daynbr /d5 copy \fido\tussenin\nodelist.@a## \fido\nodelist /v
listgen nodelist
if errorlevel 1 goto errorlis
copy fidolist.80 \fido\fidouse /v
arc m fidolist fidolist.80
copy fidolist.arc \fido\fidouse /v
del fidolist.arc
daynbr /d5 del nodelist.@###
:nonode
goto start
:errornod
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo EDITNL error >>system1.log
goto start
:errorlis
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo LISTGEN error >>system1.log
goto start
rem Started by O(utside) command in FIDO.
:outside
watchdg1 on
mlutil nvdis
echo off
ctty \com1
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo "outside"-service started >> system1.log
type lastuser.bbs >> system1.log
outside
if errorlevel 1 goto dosexit
ctty \con
mlutil nodis
echo on
goto start
rem Started by SYSOP-"0" command.
:dosexit
watchdg1 on
rem ***********************************
rem * MSDOS active remote via COM1 *
rem ***********************************
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo Remote MS-DOS started >>system1.log
FidoNews 4-20 Page 17 24 May 1987
mlutil nvdis
ctty \com1
rem Do your job and return with EXIT to fido.
command
ctty \con
mlutil nodis
c:
cd \fido
prompt
rem ***********************
rem * end remote MSDOS *
rem ***********************
echo End remote MS-DOS >>system1.log
goto start
:printd
print mailer.log
print anewuser.bbs
print anopwd.bbs
print answers.bbs
goto start
:printw
print \fido\fidouse\utillog.lwk
print \fido\fidouse\downlog.lwk
print \fido\fidouse\uplog.lwk
print dailylog.lwk
goto start
:fatal3
prompt
rem *****************
rem * Fatal error 3 *
rem *****************
echo FATAL I/O-ERROR > com1
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo Fatal error 3 >>system1.log
goto start
:fatal2
prompt
rem ********************
rem * Fatal disk error *
rem ********************
echo FATAL DISK-ERROR > com1
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo Fatal disk error >>system1.log
goto start
:exit
prompt
rem ****************
rem * Fido stopped *
rem ****************
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
echo Fido stopped! >>system1.log
FidoNews 4-20 Page 18 24 May 1987
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
rem READY!!!!!!
*************************************************
| The RUNFIDO2.BAT file. |
| Will startup the 2e FIDO with empty SCHED.BBS |
*************************************************
waste 1
:start
cls
rem **************************
rem * FIDO will start-up *
rem **************************
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
path c:\;c:\fido
break off
cd \fido
copy schede.bbs sched.bbs /v
watchdg2 off
fido_ibm 128/v 5/s 30/l /2 9/w /y 60/d /p 11/a 3/g 1/j 2/i /u
if errorlevel 11 goto outside
if errorlevel 10 goto dayprt
if errorlevel 9 goto dosexit
if errorlevel 8 goto scanmail
if errorlevel 6 goto sysrept
if errorlevel 5 goto printw
if errorlevel 4 goto printd
if errorlevel 3 goto fatal3
if errorlevel 2 goto fatal2
if errorlevel 1 goto exit
goto start
rem Started every evening at 23:59 before mailling.
waste 10
goto start
rem Started avery morning 5 minits after mailing.
:dayprt
waste 15
goto start
rem Started avery sunday at 23:59.
:sysrept
waste 15
goto start
rem Started by O(utside) command in FIDO.
:outside
watchdg2 on
mlutil nvdis
ctty \com2
FidoNews 4-20 Page 19 24 May 1987
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
echo "outside"-service started >> system2.log
type lastuser.bbs >> system2.log
outside
if errorlevel 1 goto dosexit
ctty \con
mlutil nodis
goto start
rem Started by SYSOP-"0" command.
:dosexit
rem ***********************************
rem * MSDOS active remote via COM1 *
rem ***********************************
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
echo Remote MS-DOS started >>system2.log
watchdg2 on
mlutil nvdis
ctty \com2
rem Do your job and return with EXIT to fido.
command
ctty \con
mlutil nodis
c:
cd \fido
prompt
rem ***********************
rem * end remote MSDOS *
rem ***********************
echo End remote MS-DOS >>system2.log
goto start
:printd
print mailer.log
print anewuser.bbs
print anopwd.bbs
print answers.bbs
goto start
:printw
print \fido\fidouse\utillog.lwk
print \fido\fidouse\downlog.lwk
print \fido\fidouse\uplog.lwk
print dailylog.lwk
goto start
:fatal3
prompt
rem *****************
rem * Fatal error 3 *
rem *****************
echo FATAL I/O-ERROR > com2
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
echo Fatal error 3 >>system2.log
goto start
FidoNews 4-20 Page 20 24 May 1987
:fatal2
prompt
rem ********************
rem * Fatal disk error *
rem ********************
echo FATAL DISK-ERROR > com2
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
echo Fatal disk error >>system2.log
goto start
:exit
prompt
rem ****************
rem * Fido stopped *
rem ****************
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
echo Fido stopped! >>system2.log
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
rem READY!!!!!!
************************ END ******************
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-20 Page 21 24 May 1987
-- The Regular Irregular Column --
Dale Lovell
157/504
This has been an eye-opening week. Boris Osadciw (the sysop
of 157/46) sent out a message to the local net about a new
program called DUTCHIE which he claimed was a sort of public
domain SEAdog. While that isn't actually the truth, the program
is interesting. In addition to checking out DUTCHIE, I also ended
up looking at a new (to me) FOSSIL driver. This all led to a busy
week, but I've already noticed that there never seems to be a
week that isn't busy. First off the FOSSIL driver.
-- X.00 (or X00.SYS) --
X00.SYS is a low level communications driver that adheres to
the FOSSIL standards set by Vince Perriello (141/491) and is
written by Ray Gwinn (109/639). While that sounds like a lot it
isn't that hard to understand. FOSSIL stands for Fido/Opus/SEAdog
Standard Interface Layer, and is basically a standard developed
for use with communications (or BBS) programs. It was originally
developed to allow the DEC Rainbow to run SEAdog. At about the
same time Wynn Wagner was having problems with Opus and the
Greenleaf(tm) Communications Libraries. It was suggested that the
extended driver for SEAdog could be used with Opus and the FOSSIL
driver was born. FOSSILs take over all of the low level work
associated with communications ports (and the screen and keyboard
in some cases) such as setting the baud rate, and doing the hard
work of actually sending and receiving characters. If a program
is capable of using a FOSSIL, it should run on any MS-DOS machine
(not necessarily an IBM compatible machine) that has a FOSSIL
driver written for it (currently the IBM PCs and compatibles,
Tandy 2000, and Sanyo 555 to name a few).
Some of you may already be familiar with a FOSSIL driver
since Opus requires one. Bob Hartman's Opus!Comm was one of the
first FOSSIL drivers, and was originally distributed with Opus.
Opus!Comm is installed as a TSR or memory resident program. It is
usually run in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file just like hundreds of other
TSRs (Sidekick, Prokey, etc). X00.SYS uses a different approach.
It is installed as a device drive in your CONFIG.SYS file. It
doesn't really make any difference how a FOSSIL is installed, but
there are different ways (make sure you read the documentation
for your FOSSIL).
The part of X00.SYS that caught my eye is the support for up
to eight different communications ports. It was written to allow
MultiLink to get along with Opus (and SEAdog), and should work
with most of the multitaskers currently available (DoubleDos for
example). As many of us "know," SEAdog and Opus will only work
on COM1 and COM2. So what's the advantage of having a FOSSIL
supports all these ports? X00.SYS will allow you to "fake out" a
program and make it think it's using COM1 or COM2, while it is
actually using a formerly unsupported port. I think this could
be very useful because it's been my experience that serial ports
are always in short supply (Mouse, laser printer,
FidoNews 4-20 Page 22 24 May 1987
modem...hmmm...one port short). Since most commercial programs
won't take advantage of a FOSSIL, you could run a
SEAdog/Opus/whatever on COM3 while running a serial mouse on COM1
and a serial laser printer (like an Apple LaserWriter) on COM2.
This greatly expands the usefulness of SEAdog and Opus,
especially since X00.SYS can support up to 8 different serial
ports at once.
I'm going into all this detail on FOSSIL drivers because the
program I'm about to cover requires one. I think the program
shows great promise, and is going to expand the net into the
point extensions very quickly.
-- DUTCHIE by Henk Wevers (500/1) --
When I first heard about DUTCHIE, it was "billed" as a
public domain SEAdog. This is not the full truth, as a better
description is the first operational point software.
Points are part of the extended FidoNet addressing that has
been settled by the standards committee. What points boil to, as
far as I'm concerned, is instead of being user number 72, I'd be
known as 157/504.72. Instead of calling up a board and trying to
keep up in several echomail conferences online, I could poll my
boss node and pickup all the echomail conferences I was
interested in reading. Read the conferences at my own leisure
(no worrying about how much time I've got left), reply to the
messages in a full-screen editor, and then send off my replies.
Total connect time should only be a few minutes.
Until DUTCHIE this has been an empty dream because few users
were willing to set up a complete BBS system or buy a copy of
SEAdog. While DUTCHIE is far from a full SEAdog, it is free to
private individuals and will do what is necessary for a point
with a minimum of overhead (disk space, installation time, etc.).
The requirements for DUTCHIE aren't that hard to meet. All
you need is an IBM PC or compatible with 512K of RAM and at least
2 floppy drives (a hard drive with at least one floppy is even
better). The BBS that will serve you (your boss node in the
DUTCHIE terminology) needs to be running SEAdog, Opus, Fido or a
combination of these programs. Best service is currently
available through a BBS that is running SEAdog in front of the
bulletin board all day, although Opus version 1.0 is rumored to
work just as well. You'll also need a FOSSIL driver, the two
currently supported are Bob Hartman's Opus!Comm and Ray Gwinn's
X00.SYS (version 1.02 or higher). Henk recommends X00.SYS because
of the multiple COM port support and baud rates up to 9600 baud.
The boss node will have to run a program called BRINKERS at least
once a day. BRINKERS is the program that makes it possible for
the bulletin board to support points. If you want any of the
echomail conferences sent to you, the echomail programs are also
required. At the end of this column I'll give everyone a complete
list of the files I have and where they can be obtained.
Describing DUTCHIE is going to be very easy. After
FidoNews 4-20 Page 23 24 May 1987
installing it on your system (we'll assume that you've worked
everything out with your boss node) you tell DUTCHIE to poll the
boss. DUTCHIE will take over for awhile as it attempts to get
through to the boss. If your boss isn't running SEAdog 4.0 with a
BBS mail event all day, you will probably have to leave your
system on all night to call the boss during National Mail Hour
(09:00 GMT for the US, currently 5:00 for me). If the boss is
running OPUS version 0 you can always drop off your messages, but
will only be able to pick up messages when he is running FIDO
(during NMH). Hopefully Opus version 1.0 will allow the same
thing and make things easier for you and your boss node.
Once DUTCHIE has gotten your messages (and you've processed
any echomail conferences that are being sent to you) you can
spend all the time you need OFF-LINE to read and reply to the
messages. Once you're done you can send off your replies to the
boss (if he's running SEAdog or Opus). Things are a lot easier
for you because you finally have a full screen editor, no more
messing around with Fido's line oriented editor. You also can
reply to a message using the ">" form easier, this means copying
parts of the old message into your reply with the ">" symbol in
front of each line from the old message. I first ran into this
form of a reply on Usenet, and it does make a series of messages
a lot easier to read. That's all there is to using DUTCHIE as a
point.
You have no need for the nodelist (unless you want it to
send netmail to nodes other than the boss) which is getting very
large. Since your boss is the only one who needs to know your
phone number (in some cases he may even call you regularly!), you
DO NOT have to be running a bulletin board. Other points can send
mail to you merely by knowing your point address (it will be sent
through your boss node), and your sysop can probably make a list
of his points available. You are not listed in the international
nodelist, and the only arrangements to make are between you and
the boss node (although you'll probably want anyone who you
converse with regularly to know your point address). You can
bring all of this up slowly. First only a few local messages with
everyone having to know your point address. Once you get
comfortable with that, maybe a few echomail conferences.
Hopefully, one day you'll decide that you want the whole nodelist
and become involved with people all over the world through the
network.
This is somewhat shortened, as I had originally written over
five pages on DUTCHIE and could easily write a small book on it.
If you're interested in what it can do for you, I suggest you
obtain the software from a list of boards at the bottom and make
arrangements with your sysop if you wish to become a point. Any
sysops who have a large number of people reading the echomail
conferences would be well advised to look into the idea of
setting up some of their users as points (I happen to like the
idea of points, okay?). It could really help free up your board
and your time to helping out newcomers to BBSing while providing
better service to your more experienced users.
FidoNews 4-20 Page 24 24 May 1987
--Winding down --
Instead of looking at a game I've found enjoyable, I'm going
to give you the update on my valspeak/LEX project as I promised
last week. Two weeks ago I mentioned a program I'd gotten off
Usenet that would "translate" an ASCII text file into something a
little different. The something a little different being the type
of speech that Hollywood wants us to think is used all over
Southern California's valleys (eg. "Gag me with a spoon"). The
source code needed to be run through a program called LEX, which
generates C source code. I had found a LEX, but it wasn't enough
like the Unix version and I had been having some problems
converting it. I checked with the system administrator on my
local Unix machine on running valspeak.l (the distributed source
code) through the Unix machine's LEX, downloading the generated
code, and compiling it on my PC. He agreed that it was a good
idea, unfortunately it would violate their license agreements.
I've been trying to convert the source code to my LEX with little
luck. If anyone out there knows of a near perfect implementation
of the Unix LEX program for the PC, please let me know where I
can obtain it. A version that has been tested with Microsoft C
version 4.0 would be greatly preferred.
I've also bought what many consider to be THE reference book
on C. It's "The C Programming Language" by Brian W. Kernigham and
Dennis M. Ritchie (Prentice-Hall, list price $26.67). If you hear
people referring to K&R, this is the book they're talking about.
It is a basic introduction and overview to the C language, and
I've been using it as a reference book. It documents the early
standard that the ANSI draft is based on, and covers most of the
topics needed to understand C. There are numerous examples of C
code, and more than enough exercises. I've heard a rumor that
there is a book that gives answers to all the exercises and will
attempt to follow up on the lead. It is not really aimed at the
person new to computers, but should work adequately for anyone
familiar with programming and is willing to spend some time
actually doing the exercises.
Once again I welcome your comments and suggestions on my
column. Below you'll find my FidoNet net/node number, uucp
address, and US mail address. FidoNet people should route mail to
me through 157/0, or 157/1. 157/1 is preferable because I hit it
more often each day. Below the addresses is the list of DUTCHIE
files and where they can be file-requested.
Dale Lovell
3266 Vezber Drive
Seven Hills, OH 44131
uucp: ..!ncoast!lovell
FidoNet: 157/504
DUTCHIE FILES
FidoNews 4-20 Page 25 24 May 1987
DO-FLYER.ARC Quick introduction into DUTCHIE as a point
DO-USERM.ARC User manual, DUTCHIE through the user's eyes
DO-SYSOP.ARC Introduction for sysops supporting DUTCHIE points
DO-EDITR.ARC The full screen message handler/editor
DO-COMMA.ARC The communications/mailer program
DO-PRINT.ARC The automatic mail printer
DO-NOCOM.ARC Nodelist compiler
DO-NOSCN.ARC Nodelist scanner
DO-BRINK.ARC Brinkers program - point readresser program
Needed for sysops supporting DUTCHIE points
All of these files should be available from 157/46 (where I got
them), 2/1 and 3/1. Other places may have them as well (157/1
should also have it). Keep in mind you'll also need a FOSSIL
driver, be it Opus!Comm or X00.SYS.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-20 Page 26 24 May 1987
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Latest Software Versions
BBS Systems Node List Other
& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.51* EDITNL 3.3 ARC 5.20
Fido 11w LISTGEN 05.25.86 ARCmail 0.60
Opus 0.00 Prune 1.40 EchoMail 1.31
SEAdog 4.00 RouteGen 2.70 Renum 3.30
TBBS 2.0S TestList 8.3*
XlatList 2.70
* Recently changed
Utility authors: Please help keep this list as current as
possible by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our
intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on
necessity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-20 Page 27 24 May 1987
Bob Morris 141/333
Chairman, Elections and Nominations Committee
The next two pages are your Official ballot for the Election of
the IFNA Board of Directors. The following are the few rules
which must prevail in this election:
1. You must send a legible copy of this ballot to the address
listed on the ballot. It must be signed and bear your
net/node number.
2. You may vote for any one person in your region for the
position of Regional Director. This vote is to be cast in the
LEFT column of the ballot.
3. You may vote for any eleven people in any regions for the
position of Director at Large. These votes are to be cast in
the RIGHT column of the ballot.
4. Voting will continue until the end of registration at the
Conference in August. The results will be read during the
opening of the business meeting on the first day of the
conference.
5. Write-in Votes will be accepted and are requested during this
election.
FidoNews 4-20 Page 28 24 May 1987
IFNA Board Of Directors
Ballot
Regional At Large
Region 10:
Steve Jordan _________ ________
Region 11:
Ryugen Fisher _________ ________
Theodore Polczynski _________ ________
Region 12:
Region 13:
Don Daniels _________ ________
John Penberthy _________ ________
Thom Henderson _________ ________
Gee Wong _________ ________
Brian Hughes _________ ________
Region 14:
Ben Baker _________ ________
Ken Kaplan _________ ________
Brad Hicks _________ ________
Region 15:
David Dodell _________ ________
Larry Wall _________ ________
Region 16:
Bob Hartman _________ ________
Hal Duprie _________ ________
Region 17:
Rob Barker _________ ________
Randy Bush _________ ________
Bob Swift _________ ________
Region 18:
Wes Cowley _________ ________
FidoNews 4-20 Page 29 24 May 1987
Region 19:
Mark Grennan _________ ________
Wynn Wagner _________ ________
Region 2:
Henk Wevers _________ ________
Write-in candidates:
___________________ _________ ________
___________________ _________ ________
Name ______________________________ Net/Node ___________
Signature______________________________ Date ___________
Please complete this and mail it to:
Robert Morris
IFNA Elections Committee
210 Church Street
West Haven, Ct. 06516
or bring it with you when you come to the conference in August.
These ballots will be counted by myself since with 200 members
the charges for a CPA would be very high. Hard copies will be
made available to anyone wishing to insure that their vote was
included.
Thank You
Bob Morris
Elections and Nominations Committee
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