F I D O N E W S -- Volume 14, Number 24 16 June 1997 +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet community | "FidoNews" | | _ | 1-904-409-7040 [1:1/23] | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | | | (_| /_) | | | _`@/_ \ _ | | | | | \ \\ | Editor: | | | (*) | \ )) | Christopher Baker 1:18/14 | | |__U__| / \// | | | _//|| _\ / | | | (_/(_|(____/ | | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MORE addresses: | | | | submissions=> cbaker84@digital.net | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | For information, copyrights, article submissions, | | obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ | | please refer to the end of this file. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS? Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 How hard IS it to format a text file to 70 columns? ...... 1 2. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 2 What to do for more articles ............................. 2 3. ARTICLES ................................................. 3 SHARING-the FidoNet World Class, Global Communication E .. 3 4. GETTING TECHNICAL ........................................ 7 FSC-0082 - Proposed New Packet Type ...................... 7 FSC-0083 - Proposed standard for message IDs ............. 18 5. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 37 Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 164 ...... 37 6. NET HUMOR ................................................ 38 Java the Hutt? ........................................... 38 7. NOTICES .................................................. 40 A_THEIST Echo is on the Backbone! ........................ 40 Future History ........................................... 40 8. FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY ...................................... 42 FidoNews PGP public-key listing .......................... 42 9. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 43 10. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 45 FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 1 16 Jun 1997 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Even the most primitive word processing [EDLIN anyone?] programs can count the columns live and in color as one is typing an article or notice. Netmail and email is harder to control but text files are difficult to make conform to ARTSPEC.DOC? Nah. If anyone is being held back by the formatting constraints of the ARTSPECs, please be assured that I will reformat [and even spell check if desired] your submission for you. ARTSPEC exists to provide directions to make a file that an automated MAKENEWS operation will not choke on during a weekly run to produce FidoNews. Since I don't run FidoNews as an automatic function, the poorly formatted stuff doesn't get stuck in the dead letter file. A couple promised articles never arrived [and i still have the email link open behind me as i type this, JIC] so here's what we have for this week. BTW, what ever happened to the ASCII_ART Echo? It still isn't in the BACKBONE.NA list and I would have sworn it got the REC requests. And anybody heard any news on the resumption of ops at 1:13/10? My Father's Day ran a little late and so is this Issue. [grin] C.B. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 2 16 Jun 1997 ================================================================= LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ================================================================= From: steve@gen.lcrnet.org Date: 13 Jun 97 22:11:07 -0700 Subject: Fidonews - what to do for more articles To: cbaker84@digital.net Organization: Don't Mistake Lack Of Talent For Genius >From steve steffler, 1:342/1022 Hi Chris, feel free to publish this in Fidonews if you wish.. I see in the newest Fnews that you ask what could be done to make readers write articles for Fidonews. I know that for me, the one thing that has kept me from contributing is that I don't like having to carefully follow ARTSPEC.DOC when writing. If you eliminated that document and formatted everything yourself before feeding it into that MKNEWS program (or whatever it's called) then I am confident that more people would contribute to the publication. I'm also a firm believer that there is too much filler content in it - if a 10k Fidonews was released without all the stuff like the PGP key and the FSC documents, perhaps people would open their eyes and see that an important link between individuals in the Fidonet community is on the brink of extinction. Plus, the stuff that never changes from issue to issue is really a deterrent to reading it, but I'll save that for another rant, as I'm sure you've already all heard it all before. ;-) <= (Suggestion: Put the copyright notice, etc, etc, stuff that never changes or rarely changes, into a separate file in the Fidonews archive?) steve@gen.lcrnet.org * http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/3755 * team os/2 -30- ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 3 16 Jun 1997 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Christopher Baker Rights On!, 1:18/14 Edgewater_FL_USA There's a new Echo in town dedicated to the REAL spirit of FidoNet Sysoping. It's called SHARING. Here's the blurb from the EListing: What Sysops will see and learn in SHARING will make it "the place to be." What they will see will be up to them but there will be laughter and wonders and mysteries of FidoNet technology will be explained. SHARE the wonderful experience of our hobby. This Echo will be Awesome. It's the Swiss Army knife of information! There's plenty to learn. Sysops can SHARE everything! Every Sysop in the FidoNet phonebook [Nodelist] is invited to participate but we will have a few simple rules. POLITENESS to each other is EXPECTED! It is REQUIRED! The few off-topic topics are contained in the accompanying SHARING.RUL file. The Moderators reserve the right to declare off-topic any subject getting out of the bounds of politeness and cooperation. The Backbone or any backbone is off-topic automatically except as noted in the rules. mod Christopher Baker, 1:18/14 mod jim barchuk, 1:141/355 mod Debra Milner, 1:112/285 mod Emeritus-Don Dawson, 1:150/730 Backbone status has been in effect for months so Areafix a link from your local Backbone feed or contact any of the Moderators for a direct link via Netmail. Here's the SHARING Echo Guidelines for those without a copy of the current ELRUL file: --- Following message extracted from SHARING @ 1:18/14 --- By Christopher Baker on Sat Apr 20 23:38:03 1997 From: Christopher Baker To: All Date: 15 Apr 97 00:52:32 Subj: SHARING Echo Guidelines - regular repost From: [by Don Dawson] To: Y'all Date: 4 Aug 95 22:27:48 Subj: Da Rulz Sorry, it's dirty work but someone has to do it. :-) What is this echo? ------------------ FidoNet is a World Class, Global, Communications Network of, by and FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 4 16 Jun 1997 for FidoNet Sysops around the Globe. There are other FTN networks but none are of the size of FidoNet. What Sysops will see and learn in SHARING will make it "the place to be". What might they see? We don't have an agenda, hidden or otherwise, but I'm sure we'll laugh at ourselves, cry for each other and everyone will be "just themselves". The wonders and mysteries of FidoNet Technology will be explained!. Learn how and where files fall into dishes. Learn how and where files pop out of the InterNet tunnel. Learn how to eat the Echomail Elephant rather than have it eat you! Learn how to send e-mail to anywhere on the Globe often with a local phone call, including to AOL, Prodigy, C$erve, and perhaps that office down the street. Learn there's no such thing as FREE! SHARE the wonderful experience of our hobby. This echo is Awesome, it's the Swiss Army knife of information! There's plenty to learn, learn, learn and it doesn't matter what hardware, operating system, mailer or BBS Software a sysop uses. Sysops can share those funny experiences we all have. One of mine is a brief story about NERF.BAT. We can laugh with each other and cry with each other. Yes, tragedy, sometimes simple, sometimes bizarre, hits us all. Why not share it? There's good news too: someone is a new parent for the first time, a new grandparent even. Sysops find good deals on all sorts of goods and services. Why not SHARE where, how much and how good so we can all get the most out of our hobby budget? Please! -------- What won't you see? No anger. No threats. No intimidation. No inappropriate language. And none of that politistrivial junk so common in other Sysop Echos. No Zeroes. No Binary addresses allowed. If you're a 0 or a 1, stay away! No a.k.a.'s allowed! Use your real, primary address or stay out, especially those 0's and 1's! Simple enough? Every Sysop in any FTN phonebook is invited to participate, invited to just be themselves and SHARE the FidoNet Technology Experience. FidoNet Technology Sysops are *very* special people, this echo is by, for and about them. Politeness to each other is EXPECTED! It IS REQUIRED. Almost no topic is "off topic" except as noted below. The Moderators reserve the right to BAN any topic. I reserve the right to "suspend discussion" of a topic for a time certain. Be CERTAIN of your FACTS, NAME names, don't take the cowards way out by using "They said, He said". Be SPECIFIC. There are three Moderators. They are: Christopher Baker; jim barchuk; and FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 5 16 Jun 1997 Debra Milner. They are the only ones who will make Moderatorial pronouncements to anyone else. Leave any Moderating to them. We don't expect to have to do much in the way of moderating in a friendly and cooperative Echo. Definitions: ------------ Phonebook: The Nodelist FidoGawd: (or its variations) are prohibited from this Echo. Fight-o-Net: (or its variations) are also prohibited. Policy: Policy4 as indicated in the nodelist. The ONLY policy. If your zone/region/net also has a local policy, be specific. If you use Policy by itself, POLICY4 is assumed. EchoPol: It does not exist, never did. Maybe never will. CRP: Cost Recovery Plan/Program. I prefer Cost Sharing but you call it what you wish. CRaP: Something that sometimes accompanies participation in a CRP. It is and is intended to be an unflattering term. Grunt Sysop: All 30,000+ PEOPLE in the FidoNet phonebook and or any FTN phone book. backbone: or Backbone, whichever you prefer is OFF Topic [except we will share how to get an Echo on the Backbone if asked.] As Mr. Bartles and Mr. James are known to say: Thank you for your support! Short and sweet (?) Moderator Emeritus, former 1:150/730 B-) Don QOFM. Chris Christopher Baker jim barchuk Debra Milner Moderators, SHARING -30- We invite you to join us in a friendly and cooperative Echo for FidoNet Sysops who don't need someone standing over them with a club to behave like adults and who would prefer a Sysop Echo with less tar. FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 6 16 Jun 1997 [grin] QOFM. Chris ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 7 16 Jun 1997 ================================================================= GETTING TECHNICAL ================================================================= [This is part of the continuing FidoNet History series of FTSC Standards and Proposals. These docs have been reformatted to 70 columns where required. Tables may be askew. Node numbers and phone numbers may be out of date.] Ed. | Document: FSC-0082 | Version: 001 | Date: 14 May 1995 | | Stephan Slabihoud, 2:2446/110.6@fidonet.org A Proposed New Packet Type Stephan Slabihoud 2:2446/110.6@fidonet.org 90:400/410@nest.ftn slabih00@marvin.informatik.uni-dortmund.de 1.Rev: Sep 20, 1994 Status of this document ======================= This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r) community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited. Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido Software. Purpose ======= This document should introduce a widely used standardised extension to FTS-0001, like FTS-0006, 0007 and 0008 are, and provides a new way to switch to a new more confortable bundling method. I call this method XType-1. This is also more convenient than FSC-0014 (an earlier binary-style msg proposal) and allows multimedia extensions for further support (e.g. samples and pictures like World-Wide-Webb). An example how to implement MM extensions can be found at the end of this document. Note: This proposal does not suggest how to implement MM extensions, it should only demonstrate the flexibility of XType-1. Prologue ======== The new bundling method (XType-1) that document is introducing is NOT backward compatible. So only new software packages may offer this bundling method. Why introducing a new bundle format? ==================================== FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 8 16 Jun 1997 Well, FSC-0001, 0039, 0048 and 0045 are not very comfortable to handle. Software must be very complex to process a Type-2 packet and looking for control lines like SEEN-BYs, MSGIDs, REPLYs and so on slows down the importing, processing and exporting of every mail. How can I recognize a new XType-1 bundle? ========================================= XType-1 bundles are using a new extension "*.PKX" and not longer "*.PKT". So software can recognize a reveived XType-1 packet in a very easy way. Older software that do not know the XType-1 bundling method will not touch the file. But it is highly recommended to send the XType-1 bundles only to nodes you know about that they can process this new bundling method. Filename naming is the same as in FTSC-0001 explained. Only the extension has been changed from "PKT" to "PKX". For older software it is possible to convert the XType-1 format in one of the older formats like FSC-0001, 0039, 0048 and 0045. Packet Header ============= Offset dec hex .-----------------------------------------------------. 0 0 | HeaderVersion ($01) | I/M-Format [1] | [2] +--------------------------+------------------------ --+ 2 2 | ProductCode (*) | ProductCode (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 4 4 | Revision (major) | Revision (minor) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 6 6 | origZone (*) | origZone (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 8 8 | origNet (*) | origNet (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 10 A | origNode (*) | origNode (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 12 C | origPoint (*) | origPoint (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 14 E | destZone (*) | destZone (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 16 10 | destNet (*) | destNet (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 18 12 | destNode (*) | destNode (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 20 14 | destPoint (*) | destPoint (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 22 16 | password | | 8 bytes, null padded | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 30 1E | Date/Time in POSIX 1003.1 format (*) | | (4 bytes) | [5] +--------------------------+------------------------ --+ FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 9 16 Jun 1997 34 22 | CapabilWord (*) | CapabilWord (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 36 24 | length of origNetwork (in bytes) (*) | [3] +-----------------------------------------------------+ 38 26 | origNetwork, zero when "length of origNetwork"=0 | [4] | null padded to an even length | +-----------------------------------------------------+ ~~ ~~ | length of destNetwork (in bytes) (*) | [3] +-----------------------------------------------------+ ~~ ~~ | destNetwork, zero when "length of destNetwork"=0 | [4] | null padded to an even length | +-----------------------------------------------------+ ~~ ~~ | zero or more | ~ packed ~ | messages | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ ~~ ~~ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | '-----------------------------------------------------' (*) high-low-byte or low-high-byte according to I/M-Format-Flag (see [1]). [1] This flag defines Intel ($00) or Motorola ($01) format. Intel-Format stores low-byte first, Motorola-Format stores high-byte first. (2) HeaderVersion $01 means XType-1 ($02 means XType-2 and so on). (3) Length of network domain (max. 64k characters). Zero, when no network name is used, not known or your software does not allow a 5D address. When this field is $0000 the next field (the domain itself) will not be stored. (4) Domain names are not case sensitive. (5) POSIX 1003.1 format: Long integer containing the number of seconds since the 1st of January 1970 (00:00:00). Packet = PacketHeader { PakdMessage } $00 $00 PacketHeader = $01 /* $01 means XType-1 header */ I/M-Format /* $00=Intel format, $01=Motorola format*/ productCode /* 0 for Fido, write to FTSC for others */ revision /* revision or 0 */ origZone /* zone of pkt sender (otherwise null) */ origNet /* of packet, not of messages in packet */ origNode /* zone of pkt sender (otherwise null) */ origPoint /* zone of pkt sender (otherwise null) */ FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 10 16 Jun 1997 destZone /* zone of pkt receiver (otherwise null)*/ destNet /* of packet, not of messages in packet */ destNode /* of packet, not of messages in packet */ destPoint /* of packet, not of messages in packet */ password /* session pasword (otherwise null) */ date /* of packet creation, binary coded */ time /* of packet creation, binary coded */ CapabilWord /* bitvector of XType versions known by */ /* orig. software */ origLength /* length of orig domain */ origNetwork /* network of pkt sender */ destLength /* length of dest domain */ destNetwork /* network of pkt receiver */ msb Capability Word lsb Node Supports ------------FTSC Type Supported **)------------ U S 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Type-N,XType-1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ^ ^ | +-- "S" Indicates nodes able to process type 2, | type 2+ or stone age style packets +----- "U" Indicates nodes able to process RFC- 822 bundles. ** - In the example bit definitions only XType-1 is defined now. The rest are to be concidered "reserved by FTSC". Generating XType-1 bundles ========================== Do we have a CW Does CW indicate stored for dest? YES ----> higher packets YES ---> Generate higher NO we support? packet | NO \|/ | +-----<----------------------+ FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 11 16 Jun 1997 | Fill header with all info | Add Messages | Terminate packet | Send packet Receiving bundles ================= Receiving a PKX? NO -------------> Old style (PKT) format YES | HeaderVersion = $01 NO -------------> Process XType-Other YES | Store CW | Process Packed Messages in the XType-1 bundle ===================================== To conserve space and eliminate fields which would be meaningless if sent, messages are packed for transmission in a binary style. XType-1 uses two different styles, a netmail style and an echomail style. Packed Netmail Message Offset dec hex .-----------------------------------------------------. 0 0 | 0 | 1 | I/M-Format [1] | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 2 2 | origZone (*) | origZone (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 4 4 | origNet (*) | origNet (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 6 6 | origNode (*) | origNode (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 8 8 | origPoint (*) | origPoint (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 10 A | destZone (*) | destZone (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 12 C | destNet (*) | destNet (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 14 E | destNode (*) | destNode (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 16 10 | destPoint (*) | destPoint (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 12 16 Jun 1997 18 12 | Attribute (*) | Attribute (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 20 14 | cost (*) | cost (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 22 16 | Time/Date string (20 characters) | [2] +-----------------------------------------------------+ 42 2A | length of origNetwork (in bytes) (*) | [3] +-----------------------------------------------------+ 44 2C | origNetwork, zero when "length of origNetwork"=0 | | null padded to an even length | +-----------------------------------------------------+ ~~ ~~ | length of destNetwork (in bytes) (*) | [3] +-----------------------------------------------------+ ~~ ~~ | destNetwork, zero when "length of destNetwork"=0 | | null padded to an even length | +-----------------------------------------------------+ ~~ ~~ | variable fields | ~ ~ | | `-----------------------------------------------------' Packed Echomail Message Offset dec hex .-----------------------------------------------------. 0 0 | 0 | 2 | I/M-Format [1] | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 2 2 | Attribute (*) | Attribute (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 4 4 | cost (*) | cost (*) | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 6 6 | Time/Date string (20 characters) | [2] +--------------------------+------------------------ --+ 26 1A | variable fields | ~ ~ | | `-----------------------------------------------------' (*) high-low-byte or low-high-byte according to I/M-Format-Flag (see [1]). [1] This flag defines Intel ($00) or Motorola ($01) format. Intel-Format stores low-byte first, Motorola-Format stores high-byte first. Date/Time always stored in the format above! [2] Time/Date string (ascii format) Format (see FTS): DAY [ ] MONTH [ ] JEAR [ ][ ] HOUR [:] MINUTE [:] SECOND [0] DAY: [00] ... [31] MONTH: [Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec] JEAR: [00] ... [99] HOUR: [00] ... [23] MINUTE: [00] ... [59] SECOND: [00] ... [59] FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 13 16 Jun 1997 (3) Length of network domain (max. 64k characters). Zero, when no network name is used, not known or your software does not allow a 5D address. When this field is $0000 the next field (the domain itself) will not be stored. Due to routing, the origin and destination net and node of a packet are often quite different from those of the messages within it, nor need the origin and destination nets and nodes of the messages within a packet be homogenous. PakdMessage = $01 /* $01 indicates packed netmail message*/ I/M-Format /* $00=Intel, $01=Motorola-Format */ origZone /* of message */ origNet /* of message */ origNode /* of message */ origPoint /* of message */ destZone /* of message */ destNet /* of message */ destNode /* of message */ destPoint /* of message */ AttributeWord /* as described in FTS-0001 */ cost /* in lowest unit of originator's */ /* currency */ Date/Time /* message body was last edited */ origLength /* length of orig domain */ origNetwork /* network of pkt sender */ destLength /* length of dest domain */ destNetwork /* network of pkt receiver */ PakdMessage = $02 /* $02 indicates packed echomail message*/ I/M-Format /* $00=Intel, $01=Motorola-Format */ AttributeWord /* as described in FTS-0001 */ cost /* in lowest unit of originator's */ /* currency */ Date/Time /* message body was last edited */ AttributeWord bit meaning FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 14 16 Jun 1997 --- -------------------- 0 + Private 1 + s Crash 2 Recd 3 Sent 4 + FileAttached 5 InTransit 6 Orphan 7 KillSent 8 Local 9 s HoldForPickup 10 + unused 11 s FileRequest 12 + s ReturnReceiptRequest 13 + s IsReturnReceipt 14 + s AuditRequest 15 s FileUpdateReq s - need not be recognized, but it's ok + - not zeroed before packeting Bits numbers ascend with arithmetic significance of bit position. What is a variable field: ========================= A variable field consists of a header of four bytes length: .-----------------------------------------------------. 0 | DATA LENGTH (*) | DATA LENGTH (*) | | $0000 when last field | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 2 | FIELD-ID | | "ND" (end data) when last field | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ 4 | FIELD-DATA | ~ ~ | zero padded to an even length | `-----------------------------------------------------' Defined FIELD-ID's: =================== FIELD-ID - synonym to -------------------------------------------------------------- FR "From" user TO "To" user SJ "Subject" AR AREA (only used in echomails) PD ^PID TD ^TID ED ^EID MD ^MSGID RP ^REPLY RT ^REPLYTO (used by uucp gateways) FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 15 16 Jun 1997 RA ^REPLYADDR (used by uucp gateways) SN ^SEEN-BY (only used in echomails) VA ^VIA (only used in netmails) RN ^REALNAME SP ^SPLIT CS ^CHARSET or ^CHRS OR Origin (only used in echomails) TL Tearline ML Mailtext follows ND End of data fields -------------------------------------------------------------- multimedia extensions (explanation follows): VO audio data VOC format WA audio data WAV format MI MIDI data GF bitmap data GIF TI bitmap data TIFF JP bitmap data JPEG AV video data AVI -------------------------------------------------------------- write to St.Slabihoud for more... All fields must have an even length. An odd field length must be aligned to an even one with a padded 0. Field = dataLength /* of field data (incl. 0) */ fieldID /* see table */ fieldData /* Field data */ Example (NetMail): ================== From: Stephan Slabihoud on 2:2446/110.6 To : Guenther Paczia on 2:2446/110 Subj: This is a testmail ----------------------------------------- ^PID: AVALON 3.72 ^MSGID: 2:2446/110.6@fidonet.org a3dbcfe5 ^MYCTRL nothing interest This is the message body .-----------------------------------------------------. | MESSAGE-HEADER | ~ ~ | | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | PACKED NETMAIL MESSAGE HEADER | ~ ~ | | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 18 | 0 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'F' | 'R' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'Stephan Slabihoud', $00 | FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 16 16 Jun 1997 +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 16 | 0 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'T' | 'O' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'Guenther Paczia', $00 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 18 | 0 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'S' | 'J' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'This is a testmail' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 12 | 0 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'P' | 'D' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'AVALON 3.72', $00 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 34 | 0 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'M' | 'D' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | '2:2446/110.6@fidonet.org a3dbcfe5\0' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 50 | 0 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'M' | 'L' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | '^MYCTRL nothing interest', $0A | | 'This is the message body', $0A | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 0 | 0 | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 'N' | 'D' | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | more messages or zero | ~ ~ | | +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | '-----------------------------------------------------' Unknown control lines are stores as usual in the message body. So it is possible to receive a XType-1 packet and convert it into an old style Type-2+ packet to send to it to another systems that do not recognize the new Xtype-n bundles. Messages can be longer than 65535 bytes. Just use the 'ML' fields more than once. When importing such a mail the importer can easily split the mail into smaller parts. All 'ML' fields can be added to one big mail, or each 'ML' text can be stored in its own message. According to older software each 'ML' field should not be longer than 8 kbyte (but it is allowed to use longer fields!). All fields are unsigned integer. FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 17 16 Jun 1997 Example: How to implement MultiMedia extensions (draft version): ================================================================ Graphics and sounds are coded in one of the following fields: Audio: VO,WA,MI Bitmap: GF,TI,JP Video: AV Each field-data starts with a multimedia header: .------------------------. 0 0 | Name (Title) | | 16 chars (zero padded) | +------------------------+ 16 10 | ID | | 32bit Random Number | +------------------------+ 20 14 | Flags | | 16bit bitfield | +------------------------+ 22 16 | 42 reserved bytes | | | +------------------------+ 64 40 | start of data | ~ ~ | | '------------------------' Flags: Bit 0/1 - 1 = align left 2 = align right 3 = center 0 = reserved Bit 2-15 - reserved There are some possibilties for a mail editor to show/play the multimedia extensions: 1. It shows the mail in the first window and a list of all available fields in an extra (selection) window. The user selects the picture/sound from the selection window. 2. Pictures will be put together with the mailtext in ONE window (a button will be shown when it is an audio field). To define the place where a picture (or other multimedia extension) is shown put following ^A-control line into the mailbody: ^MMEDIA: [] is the "variable field" shortcut. is the 32bit ID in hex from the multimedia header. can be used as infotext for buttons. Example of ML field (mailbody): ------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to\n ^MMEDIA: GF 5417fde6\n\n FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 18 16 Jun 1997 Please select:\n\n To hear my voice click on the button:\n ^MMEDIA: VO 2f4dca67 Say it\n I am watching you ;-):\n ^MMEDIA: GF 5627320f Click here\n ------------------------------------------------------------ This mail could be shown as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to: +------------------------------+ | GIF-Picture | +------------------------------+ Please select: To hear my voice: +--------+ | Say it | +--------+ I am watching you ;-): +-------------+ | | | GIF-Picture | | | +-------------+ ------------------------------------------------------------ Note: All pictures can be shown as button as well. This should be switchable in the mail editor. Credits ======= Thanx to Jonathan de Boyne Pollard, Peter Dreuw, Daniel Roesen and Rowan Crowe for their good ideas. Epilog ====== That's all, now it's up to you to decide whether or not to implement it. -30- ----------------------------------------------------------------- | Document: FSC-0083 | Version: 001 | Date: 17 June 1995 | | Jonathan de Boyne Pollard, FIDONET#2:440/4.0 A proposed standard for message IDs on FTN systems. FIDONEWS 14-24 Page 19 16 Jun 1997 by Jonathan de Boyne Pollard, FIDONET#2:440/4.0 Version 0.02, Sun 19950507 This document is (c) Copyright 1995 Jonathan de Boyne Pollard, all rights reserved. Originally written on Tuesday 19950131. Permission is hereby granted to copy and use this document