Manual
The program is quite
easy to use. I’ll show you an example how you can get it to work:
Forwarding your mail to an FBB Exportfile.
First of all you need
to forward to a file. Adding these lines to your FBB BBS config-file can do
this:
P @
C C:\FBB\NL3RSD.OUT
For more info, check
your F6FBB-manual.
Install FBB Gate.
Create a DIR on your
Internet PC. e.g. C:\FBBGATE and put all the FBB Gate files in it. Run
FBBGATE.EXE
Then you must set
& save your configuration. I’ve created several TAB-pages.
Status TAB:
Before every action a small message is displayed in
the Status-window. If for some reason something goes wrong check the
status-window first.
GO button: This is the
main button. It will start the send/receive routine
Hide button: will hide
the FBB Gate button. Only a small icon is visible in the Windows taskbar. Click
on the icon to see the FBB Gate window again.
LOG button: will
display the total log-file.
BACKUP button: Will
show the backup-dir. FBB Gate will always make backups of files. For every GO a
new backup-dir is created. Also the backup-dir name contains the date.
Settings TAB:
The settings window
contains the most essential parameters.
SMTP server: Your ISP
server for receiving email
Port: use 25 (default)
POP server: Your ISP server for sending email Port: use 110 (default)
UserID: Your login
name to use the POP-server
Password: Your login
password to use the POP/SMTP server.
Username: Your real
name.
FBB Exportdir:
Directory where FBB puts your exportfile(s)
FBB Importdir:
Directory where FBB expects your MAIL.IN-file.
Export TAB:
This is where you enter
the name of the exportfile and also the email-address where you want to send
the export-file to. If you want to send 1 exportfile to multiple
email-addresses you must use a Group-file.
GROUPFILES & HOW TO USE
THEM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most people send
exportfiles to one email-address, but if you want so send an exportfile
to multiple
email-adresses you can create a GROUPFILE.
CREATING A GROUPFILE
--------------------
Start FBB Gate, Go to
'EXPORT' and click on 'New'
Enter a name for your
groupfile, for example 'group1'
EDITING A GROUPFILE
-------------------
Start FBB Gate, Go to
'EXPORT' and click on 'Edit'
Notepad is now
started.
Now enter an
emailaddress on every line.
For example, if you
want to send a certain exportfile to nl1rsd@worldonline.nl AND to
erwink@usa.net
your groupfile should
look like this:
nl1rsd@worldonline.nl
erwink@usa.net
Now save your
groupfile: 'File' / 'Save'
USING YOU GROUPFILE
-------------------
Start FBB Gate, go to
'EXPORT'
In the field 'Export
Filename' you enter the name of your FBB exportfile.
In the field 'To
Email-Address / Group' you enter the name of your groupfile.
In this example it
should be 'group1'
DELETING
A GROUPFILE
--------------------
Start FBB Gate, Go to
'EXPORT' and click on 'Delete'
Select the groupfile,
in this example 'group1'
Import TAB:
Here you can select
what to download en what to do with it. I recommend using a special POP-account
for sending & receiving exportfiles. There are several places on the
Internet where you can get a free POP-account.
You can avoid problems
by using a separate account for FBB Gate but if you only have one email account
you can use: ‘Download only FBB Gate email from POP server’ by using this, only
FBB Gate mail is downloaded & deleted from your POP-server but the sysop
that sends you the exportfile must use FBB Gate to send them
-OR-
send them manually by
creating a ZIP-file that contains the exportfile and put ‘FBB Gate’ in the
subject-field of the message that contains the attachment.
AutoDial TAB
If you don’t want to
run FBB Gate manually you can use AutoDial. AutoDial will Dial-in to your ISP,
send the exportfile(s), receive exportfiles en finally disconnect the
connection from your ISP.
You must first create
a working Dialup-networking connection config in Windows and place a checkmark
in ‘Save password’
If you have a
permanent Internet connection you can automatically run FBB Gate every X
minutes or use the dialup time settings.
Report TAB
If you want to receive
a status report via packet (mail) you can place checkmarks here for what you
want to receive.
Extra TAB
BACKUP Config: Create
a backup of your config/user files on floppy.
Restore Config: Load
the backup from floppy.
Number of days to
backup: FBB Gate will make backups of several files when you run it. You can
access the backups by pressing the BACKUP-button. Via this parameter you can
set the maximum days to backup. Backups that are older will be deleted after
every ‘GO’.
Connect LOG: Displays
the connection logfile (connect.log) This option only works when you have a
dialup modem connection. It shows connection/disconnection times.
FBB Gate & Scheduling
I've implemented
AutoDial so you can schedule your Internet connections but there are some
people who want to have more control for running FBB Gate. For example:
Downloading mail every day at 18:00 and Sending mail once a week at 21:00 hour.
I've created 3 command
parameters for running FBB GATE (Build #273 or higher) :
1 'FBBGATE.EXE GO'
2 'FBBGATE.EXE SEND'
3 'FBBGATE.EXE
RECEIVE'
Using these parameters
you can use 3rd party Task Schedulers for running FBB Gate.
'FBBGATE.EXE GO'
FBBGate will send
& receive mail. After completion FBB GATE will shut down
Use SEND & RECEIVE
for only sending and receiving mail.
WHAT SCHEDULING
PROGRAMS CAN I USE?
-----------------------------------
If you are running
Windows'98 you can use Microsoft Task Scheduler. Running Windows'95 you can use
Intel InstantON Scheduler Applet. Go to http://www.intel.com/IAL/inston for
more info. InstantOn is also available on
this website. Ofcourse
there are many other scheduling programs (often shareware)
FBB Gate & BATCH-files
Just like FBB software,
FBB Gate supports 2 special batchfiles that are executed before and after
running FBB GATE. They are BEFORE.BAT and AFTER.BAT If a 'BEFORE.BAT' exists it
is executed before running FBB GATE.
If an 'AFTER.BAT'
exists it is executed after running FBB GATE.
Please note: You must
place a checkmark in 'Close on exit' on the batchfile-properties otherwise FBB
GATE won't continue. You can also add 'EXIT' at the end of your batchfile so
the window will close.
Important notice
* UPDATE * : Build
#280 or higher supports MIME/Plain ASCII encoded attachments.
When you receive your
exportfiles from other people and they don't use FBB Gate to send them, it is
important they send it using 'Plain Text' formatting and not 'HTML format'
otherwise the attachment will not be decoded properly.
Settings:
Microsoft Outlook Express
Go to Tools \ Options
\ Send
Choose for 'Mail
sending format' : Plain Text
If the person only
wants to send to YOU 'plain text' format and default HTML-formatting they must
do this:
Go to Tools \ Address
Book, Select YOUR email address, Click on 'File' and then 'Properties'. Place a
checkmark in 'Send E-mail using plain text only'