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                                TransNet 2.11

                   "The Ultimate Internet/Fidonet Gateway"


                    Copyright (C) 1996-98 by Marc S. Ressl
                             All Rights Reserved.



                              - USER'S MANUAL -

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                                  * INDEX *


  Contents                                                     Section
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  General

        Introduction..........................................    1
        Setting up TransNet...................................    2

  Internet features

        The Mailing list host.................................    3
        The Filebot...........................................    4

  Fidonet features

        The Netmail/email gateway.............................    5
        Linking echomail and mailing lists....................    6
        Linking hosted mailing lists to echomail..............    7
        Fidonet link-through-Internet system..................    8
        TransNet and BBS's....................................    9
        Single user mode......................................   10

  Other features

        The Security system...................................   11
        Message templates.....................................   12
        Keyword aliases.......................................   13

  More information

        Glossary..............................................   14
        Technical's...........................................   15
        Contact me............................................   16
        Legal stuff...........................................   17
        Register TransNet!....................................   18



 Introduction                                                     Section 1
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Welcome to TransNet!
 ====================

 TransNet is a versatile mail program that has features for Internet and
 Fidonet users. In order to keep this doc readable to both, you should read
 this introduction, "Setting Up TransNet", and the sections with the
 features you are interested in.


 This is what TransNet can do:

  - For Internet & Fidonet users:
        * Hosts mailing lists
        * Filebot server
        * Strong security system
        * Template support
        * Alias support

  - For Fidonet users:
        * Links email to Fidonet netmail
        * Links mailing lists to Fidonet echomail
        * Links local hosted mailing lists to echomail areas
        * Links Fidonet systems through Internet
        * Fidonet BBS support
        * Fidonet FrontDoor and Binkley-style compatible
        * Supports Fidonet domains


 Requirements
 ============

 TransNet only needs an email account. In order to interface with the
 Internet you'll need the TransNet Mail Utilities, or any mail program
 supporting the .TXT/.WRK UNIX standard. If you use TransNet under UNIX in a
 DOS Window, you can use the UNIX mail directory directly.

 This email account should be dedicated, because other mail programs could
 pick up messages intended for TransNet.


 How it works
 ============

 Internet email: Since TransNet is designed to work with one email account,
 subject line keywords are used to distinguish which service is being
 requested. Regular subjects can be put after the keyword.

 TransNet includes these standard subject line keywords:

      HELP          Replies with a help message.
      SYSOP         Redirects the message to the system operator.
      MAILMAN       Accesses the mailing list manager.

      SYSTEM        Used internally for mail routing.
      USER          Used for Fidonet BBS Support.


 Fidonet mail: The Fidonet part of TransNet works similarly, with these
 keywords being scanned in the destinatary and subject lines:

      HELP          Replies with a help message.
      SYSOP         Redirects the message to the system operator.


 Notes for Fidonet users
 =======================

 It is advisable to configure TransNet as a dedicated node or point, since
 mail sent to you will be processed and probably error-replied by TransNet.

 However, if you plan to use only the following TransNet services, you can
 use single user mode and use your same node/point for TransNet:

        * Email/netmail gateway
        * Fidonet link-though-Internet system


 Regarding echomail areas, TransNet scans for message packets for the
 gateway and creates packets on the Mailer Inbound directory to the Packet
 destination address.

 To link echomail areas to TransNet, you must change the following
 settings in your mail tosser: Add the gateway's node to your links,
 and link the areas you wish to link to the gateway's node. Define an
 empty packet password (if the tosser supports it), and tell your tosser
 to create straight .PKT files. Don't use packet compression (i.e. ARC,
 ZIP, etc.), because TransNet won't recognize these files.



 Setting up TransNet                                              Section 2
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 This is a brief explanation of how to get TransNet work:

 1) First you should configure the email account.

 If you use the TransNet Mail Utilities, read the document for setting
 up an email account for TransNet.

 From now on it's assumed that you have created inbound and outbound
 directories for email.

 2) Run TNSETUP. Setup your organization/time zone, the TransNet Internet
 address, and the mail directories you have created.

 Sysop address is the system operator's address. It should be your personal
 email or Fidonet address.

 3) Go to point 4) if you don't have Fidonet.

 Configure the TransNet Fidonet address, and choose your mailer type. Now
 press Setup and press F1 to get help on the settings.

 4) Read the sections with the features you are going to use.

 5) Once fully configured, you can run TransNet with these parameters:

    /internet   Processes Internet messages.
    /fidonet    Processes Fidonet messages.

    If you don't have Fidonet, just use the /internet parameter.

    It is advisable to create a batch file that queries mail, runs TransNet
    and sends mail afterwards.

    Hint: You can find sample batch files in the TransNet Mail Utilities.



 The Mailing list host                                            Section 3
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The mailing list host redistributes incoming messages to subscribed users
 of a mailing list.

 TransNet comes with a bot called MAILMAN that is used for the subscription
 process. To use it, users send a message to the gateway's address, and put
 in the subject MAILMAN. Commands are put in the message body.

 Valid commands are:

        lists
                Gets a list of active mailing lists.

        subscribe <list> [<address>]
                Subscribes yourself (or <address>) to a <list>.

        unsubscribe <list> [address]
                Unsubscribes yourself (or <address>) from a <list>.

        which [<address>]
                Finds out which lists you (or <address>) are on.

        who <list>
                Finds out who is on a <list>.

        info <list>
                Retrieves the introductory information for <list>.

        end
                Stop processing commands.
                (Useful if your mailer adds a signature)

 To write to a list, users send a message to the gateway's address, and
 put in the subject line the list's name, followed by the real subject of
 the message.


 To create a mailing list edit the TNROUTE.CFG file in your TransNet
 directory.

 Add a HOST line for every list you want to host. You'll find a complete
 description of the HOST command at the end of TNROUTE.CFG .

 Hint: To manually administrate subscriptions, you can edit the list's
 configuration file; each line corresponds to a subscribed user.



 The Filebot                                                      Section 4
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The Filebot listens to a keyword on the subject line of incoming email
 messages, and replies the request with file-attaches.


 It is set up by editing the TNROUTE.CFG file, and adding a FILE line for
 every filebot service. You'll find a complete description of the FILE
 command at the end of TNROUTE.CFG .



 The Netmail/email gateway                                        Section 5
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The Netmail/email gateway listens to valid Fidonet addresses on the subject
 line of incoming email messages, and resends the message to Fidonet. Users
 can put a regular subject after the Fidonet address.

 To send emails, Fidonet users have to send messages to the gateway's
 Fidonet address and can specify the email address

 1) in the "To:" field, or
 2) they put "To:" as the first line of the message, followed by the
    address/alias.

 This second method is provided, since Fidonet limits the "To:" field
 to 35 characters.


 No special setup is needed to enable the netmail/email gateway.

 To disable the netmail/email gateway, read the security section.



 Linking echomail and mailing lists                               Section 6
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The mailing list/echomail gateway scans incoming email messages for some
 condition(s), checking the "From:", "To:" or "Subject:" lines of an email,
 and imports them to echomail.

 It also exports echomail to the mailing list.


 To setup, just configure your mail tosser as explained in the introduction.

 To create a link edit the TNROUTE.CFG file in your TransNet directory.

 Add a LIST line for every list you want to link. You'll find a complete
 description of the LIST command at the end of TNROUTE.CFG .



 Linking hosted mailing lists to echomail                         Section 7
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Find the mailing list's HOST line in TNROUTE.CFG, and add an AREA parameter
 to link it to echomail.

 Remember to prepare your mail tosser as explained in the introduction.



 Fidonet link-through-Internet system                             Section 8
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The link-system links two Fidonet systems through email.


 It is set up by editing the TNROUTE.CFG file, and adding a LINK line for
 every link. You'll find a complete description of the LINK command at the
 end of TNROUTE.CFG .


 The shareware version limits the number of links to three.



 TransNet and BBS's                                               Section 9
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 TransNet is prepared to work with BBS's.

 Just configure the email/netmail and/or mailing list/echomail gateway as
 explained in the previous sections.

 TransNet has the special USER keyword so BBS users can receive netmail.
 Internet users have to put this keyword in the subject line, followed by
 the username of the destinatary on the BBS, so that the netmail will
 have the correct To: identifier.

 In order to work, TransNet's packet destination address should be the
 same as the BBS's address.



 Single user mode                                                 Section 10
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Single user mode is intended for the Fidonet user who wants to receive/send
 emails with his Fidonet message writer, and be able to link to other
 Fidonet systems through Internet.


 It can be enabled in the Fidonet gateway setup section of TNSETUP.

 The Sysop address should be your main Fidonet address. The TransNet Gateway
 address is ignored in Single user mode.

 To write emails send a mail to your main Fidonet address, and put in the
 To: field the destinatary. The "To:" method explained in the introduction
 works too. Note: Messages must have the LOCAL flag enabled.

 Hint: If you define the File attach Inbound directory, incoming file
 attaches will be automatically stored there.



 The Security system                                              Section 11
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 This feature permits to ban email/Fidonet addresses from TransNet services.


 To setup the security system, edit the TNSECURE.CFG file in your TransNet
 directory. You'll find a complete description of the structure of this
 file at the end of it.


 Notes: If you run the netmail/email gateway, you must deny access to
 mailing list servers or robots, because messages created by these systems
 won't have the correct subject line keyword. But if you use the gateway for
 sending emails from Fidonet, you won't be able to subscribe to mailing
 lists for TransNet.

 To solve this problem, TransNet has a special sysop mode: Set one AKA of
 your message writer to your gateway's address, and write from there;
 the security file will be ignored in this case and no message templates
 will be used. Note: Messages must have the LOCAL flag enabled.



 Message templates                                                Section 12
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Templates define the formatting of handled messages by the gateway
 (redistributed messages by the mailing list host have no formatting).


 The file responsible for this is called TRANSNET.TPL and must be
 in the TransNet directory.

 Each entry of this file should start with one of these mail-type tokens:

                    #importmail                 #importlist
                    #exportmail                 #exportlist

                    #importhelp                 #importerror
                    #exporthelp                 #exporterror

 The prefix "import" is the template used when going from Internet to
 Fidonet, "export" is the opposite.

 The suffix "mail" stands for private mail, "list" for mailing lists,
 "help" for requested help, and "error" for error responses.


 These keywords are used for customizing error messages:

  #errorkeyword -> I couldn't recognize a valid keyword on the subject line.
  #errorinvdest -> I couldn't recognize a valid destinatary.
  #errorsecfrom -> You are banned on this system.
  #errorsecdest -> The destinatary is banned from this system.
  #errornosysop -> The sysop has disabled message reception.
  #errornotsubs -> You are not subscribed to this mailing list.


 And these tokens can be used after mail-type tokens:

                #organization           Your organization.
                #fidogate               The gateway's Fidonet address.
                #emailgate              The gateway's email address.

                #error                  The error occured.
                                        (only in "error" templates)

                #fromuser               The sender of the message.
                                        (Address + username)
                #fromaddress            The sender's address.
                #fromname               The sender's name.

                #touser                 The destinatary.
                                        (Address + username)
                #toaddress              The destinatary's address.
                #toname                 The destinatary's name.

                #date                   Date/time.
                #subject                The message's subject.

 The "#message" token refers to the message itself. This special token must
 be put immediately after a mail-type token.

 To put a normal # sign, use ##.



 Alias configuration                                              Section 13
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Aliases define subject-line keywords that mirror other keywords.


 To define alias keywords, edit the file TNALIAS.CFG in the TransNet
 directory, and read the instructions at the end of the file.


 Hints:

 - You can define mailing list aliases. The alias definition should be the
 real mailing list name.
 - You can temporarily down a TransNet service, by defining an empty alias
 definition.
 - You can alias the SYSOP and HELP standard keywords.



 Glossary                                                         Section 14
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 AKA:           Also Known As: This is a Fidonet term that stands for an
                alternate Fidonet address, not counting the main address.
                One can have several AKA's.

 BBS:           Bulletin Board System. A public computer system that serves
                as a message/file exchange.

 Bot:           A roBot program. It automatizes tasks.

 Echomail:      Discussion groups of Fidonet where people with same
                interests can share messages.

 Email:         An Internet private message.

 Email
 addresses:     They have this form: USERNAME@DOMAIN

                USERNAME is the ... username :). DOMAIN is the system on
                which you have an account.

 Fidonet:       One of the biggest amateur networks in the world.

 Fidonet
 addresses:     They have this form: ZONE:NET/NODE.POINT@DOMAIN

                ZONE establishes the continent, NET the region (made up of
                country, state, and city), and NODE the local ID.
                The .POINT is optional, and specifies terminal nodes.

                The DOMAIN specifies the network to which the address
                refers to. (i.e. Fidonet has the fidonet.org domain)

 Mailer:        A program that transfers mail.

 Mailing lists: Email based discussion groups.

 Netmail:       These are Fidonet private messages (like Internet emails).

 Node:          A Fidonet inter-connected system.

 Packet:        A file that contains a collection of messages.

 Point:         A Fidonet terminal system.

 POP3:          An Internet protocol for receiving email.

 SMTP:          An Internet protocol for sending email.

 Tosser:        A program that redistributes Fidonet mail.



 Technical's                                                      Section 15
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Messages and routing
 ====================

 - Emails sent from Fidonet get the sender's address automatically added
 to the subject line, so replies will be correctly sent. The exception
 is special sysop mode.

 - TransNet recognizes correctly the special case when a TransNet user
 wants to send an email to another TransNet user; the Fidonet sender
 simply fills in the subject line as any normal email user.

 - TransNet also checks and ignores in the subject "Re:" and "Rv:" added
 by most email readers.

 - TransNet correctly resends error replies from Internet by using a
 special field in emails called "X-TransNet-Errors-To". Support for
 error replies from Fidonet is not available, since there is no standard.

 - The maximum message size processed is 64000 characters. Larger messages
 will be cut.

 - The TransNet Sysop can receive file attaches, which are stored in the
 File attach inbound directory. Other users can't, because of security
 reasons.

 - TransNet is now Fidonet-to-Internet File-attach aware. File attaches are
 sent in MIME/BASE64.


 Miscelaneous
 ============

 - TransNet handles all directories with respect to the TransNet directory
 (where the TRANSNET.EXE file is).


 Compatibility
 =============

 - TransNet is compatible with RFC 822, RFC 1341, RFC 1521, RFC 1522,
 FSC-0001, FSC-0035, FSC-0041. MIME and rich text are fully supported.

 - TransNet supports FrontDoor style tossers (dynamic style: outgoing
 tosser packets are attached as netmails), and Binkley style tossers (static
 style: outgoing tosser packets have a static directory path/name).

 - It has been successfully tested with I-Mail, FastEcho, and other
 Fidonet mail tossers.

 - Supported charsets are standard US-ASCII, international ISO-8859-1,
 and the standard MS-DOS charset. Charsets are automatically translated.
 TransNet-created emails are in quoted-printable form.

 - TransNet uses the .TXT/.WRK UNIX format to store emails.

 Each email is composed of two files with identical name, but with .TXT and
 .WRK extensions.

 The .WRK files are text files with this format:

        First line:   The destination server.
        Second line:  The sender of the message.
        Next lines:   The recipient mail address(es).

 The .TXT files are text files containing the raw message.



 Contact me                                                       Section 16
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 If you feel the necesity to tell me something, do so!

 Find me here:

        ressl@interactive.com.ar
        ressl@geocities.com

 You can also visit the official TransNet Homepage here:

        http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/2382/transnet.html

 Further, you can also join the TransNet News mailing list here:

        transnet@geocities.com

 - To subscribe to the list, set the subject of your message to:

        MAILMAN

 - and put in the message body this command:

        SUBSCRIBE TRANSNET

 - The subscription will probably be routed somewhere else, so please
   DON'T write to transnet@geocities.com to post a message on the list.



 Legal stuff                                                      Section 17
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 TransNet is Shareware which means that you can use it legally for 30 days
 free of charge to evaluate it. If during, or at the end of, that period you
 decide that you would like to continue using it, please register your copy.
 Your single-user registration will license you to use your copy of TransNet,
 will support work on future versions, new features, and bug fixes, and will
 provide you with technical support via email.

 Please see the "Register TransNet!" section to find out how you can
 register.

 TransNet may be freely distributed subject to, but not limited to, the
 following terms: TransNet may not be sold or resold, distributed as a part
 of any commercial package, used in a commercial environment, used or
 distributed in support of a commercial service, or used or distributed to
 support any kind of profit-generating activity, even if it is being
 distributed freely.

 If you would like to distribute TransNet as part of a shareware
 distribution, magazine, internet book, CD-ROM, etc. please contact me for
 permission.

 All commercial use interests in TransNet should be directed to:
 ressl@interactive.com.ar, or ressl@geocities.com

 The integrity of the original TransNet distribution file as distributed by
 Marc S. Ressl is essential. TransNet and all of its related files must
 be distributed together in the original format. The TransNet distribution
 file may not have files added to it or removed from it, and none of its
 contents may be modified, decompiled, or reverse engineered.

 TransNet is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or
 implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of
 merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall
 Marc S. Ressl be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct,
 indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special
 damages, even if Marc S. Ressl has been advised of the possibility of
 such damages.



 Register TransNet!                                               Section 18
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 TransNet is shareware. If you continue using it after a 30-days period,
 you are encouraged to pay a registration fee.

 Registration is 40 US Dollars.

 To register, send an email to:

        ressl@interactive.com.ar
        ressl@geocities.com

 I accept checks and bank account deposits.


                           Thanks for registering!


 Note: Registered users of TransNet 1.x will receive TransNet 2.1 for
 an upgrade fee of 10 US Dollars.

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