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                  <                                          >
                  < MTNet -- Version 1.1                     >
                  < Copyright 1993 by Tom Johnson            >
                  < Sep 06, 1993                             >
                  <__________________________________________>




     Introduction
     ------------
          MTNet is a program designed to allow Mutant BBS  sysops to become
     "nodes" of a QWK network.  It exports messages from Mutant into a .REP
     mail packet.   You  then  call your  "host"  with a  terminal  program
     (preferably running a script)  in order to upload your .REP packet and
     download a .QWK packet.  Then, MTNet will import the  .QWK packet into
     Mutant.

     Legal Stuff
     -----------
          MTNet is  provided AS IS  and no  express warranties apply.   You
     (not  the author)  assume responsibility for  any problems  or damages
     that  you may encounter while running  this software.  However, if you
     do  find problems,  please let  the author  know so  that they  can be
     corrected.   This program  is  not guaranteed  to be  bug  free, so  I
     recommend backing up often.

          MTNet  can be distributed  freely.  You may  not modify any files
     found within the MTNet archive (you may modify the archive format).

     Setup
     -----

          You will  need to contact a  BBS which carries a  QWK network and
     obtain their id,  rules, and area listing before  you can even attempt
     to use MTNET.

     After  you  have  obtained  those  items, you  will  need  to  do  the
     following:

     1.   Create a user whose name is "bbsid MTNET" where "bbsid" is the 8-
          character id of the BBS with which you will be exchanging mail.
     2.   Create a configuration  file named  "bbsid.CFG" and  place it  in
          your MTNET directory.
     3.   Create  some  sort of  batch file  which  calls MTNTET  which the
          "bbsid"  to  export  "bbsid.REP",   calls  your  host  to  upload
          "bbsid.REP" and download "bbsid.QWK" and then re-calls MTNET with
          "bbsid" to import "bbsid.QWK".

               MTNET bbsid
               send bbsid.REP
               recv bbsid.QWK

     Configuration File
     ------------------
          The configuration file format is modelled after TNET (which comes
     with Wildcat! by Mustang Software).  Here is an example:

     WORK      = c:\mtnet\work
     REPDIR    = c:\upload




     QWKDIR    = c:\download
     PACKER    = PKZIP -ex ! , PKUNZIP -o !
     ATTLIMIT  = 300
     IMPORTTAG = A, MutantNet: Mutant Support BBS * Burke, VA
     EXPORTTAG = A, MutantNet: Your BBS name
     LOGFILE   = c:\mtnet\log
     CONF      = 5
     HUBNUM    = 1
     TAG       = A

     WORK           This is a  temporary path where MTNet  will store files
                    until it  is done  with them.   It  can be  your Mutant
                    temporary  directory  as  long as  you  aren't  running
                    Multinodes.   Otherwise, make  something  else.   MTNet
                    will delete all normal (not hidden, etc.) files in this
                    directory.

     REPDIR         This is where you will upload packets from.

     QWKDIR         This is where your  Terminal program downloads the .QWK
                    packets to.

     PACKER         This defines the program to use to pack the archive and
                    the  program to unpack an archive for the host with the
                    items separated by a  comma.  MTNET will pass  the name
                    of  the archive  wherever  you specify  an  exclamation
                    point.  Your archiver must be able to archive all files
                    in   the  current   directory  without  given   a  file
                    specification (ZIP, LHA and ARJ do this).

     ATTLIMIT       The limit of  file attaches (in  kilobytes) to send  to
                    the host.

     IMPORTTAG      This specifies the tagline  to add to a message  if the
                    incoming message  does not have  one.   You specifiy  a
                    character to represent  the tag, a comma, and  then the
                    actual tagline text (excluding "  ").

     EXPORTTAG      When MTNET  exports messages from Mutant,  it will look
                    for lines beginning with "  Origin:" and will  replace
                    any lines found with this tagline.

     LOGFILE        This is an optional name of a logfile to create.  

     CONF           This is  the  area number  (within  your board)  for  a
                    specific conference.

     HUBNUM         This  specifies   the  host's   area  number   for  the
                    conference specified above.  This is only valid after a
                    "CONF" line has been processed.




     TAG            This specifies the  import/export taglines  to use  the
                    conference.  This is only valid after a "CONF" line has
                    been processed.

     Other items may appear and will be ignored.  You may also add comments
     to the config file by using a semi-colon to start the comment.

     Interfacing with Mutant
     -----------------------
     MTNET needs to know the configuration of your board.  It will look for
     the configuration in the following way:

     1.   The MTNTRUN environment variable set to "config_name node".  This
          is set by Mutant when it shells.  I highly recommend you use this
          method for specifying the configuration file.
     2.   A search of your path for "CONFIG.DAT".
     3.   Assume "CONFIG.DAT" is in the current directory.

     If none of these conditions is met, MTNET will not run.

     Running MTNet
     -------------
     MTNet hostid

               If  MTNet finds a .QWK packet  and a .REP packet, it assumes
          you've uploaded  the .REP packet and  deletes it.  If  it finds a
          .REP packet without a .QWK  packet, it will unpack it and  try to
          add  more messages  to it.   MTNet  will try  to  export messages
          before  it imports  them to  prevent possible  duplications being
          sent to the host.

     MTNet hostid /R

               MTNet will reset the  "hosts" lastread pointers to  the last
          message in the message base.

     NTNet /Dx

               MTNet removes duplication information older than 'x' days.

     Final Notes
     -----------
     1.   I recommend that you make sure users are off all  nodes in Mutant
          before running this.   Nothing should happen,  but as it  has not
          been tested extensively nor has Mutant's  multinode capabilities,
          you  might have problems exporting  messages if a  user posts one
          while you are trying to export them.

     2.   When exporting Messages, MTNet uses the strip bits defined in the
          message area.  Therefore, all hosts will receive the same type of
          message, i.e. no hi-bits, etc.




     3.   MTNet  will  copy file  attaches  sent  from  the  host  computer
          provided  it  follows the  file  attach  format as  developed  by
          Mustang Software.

     4.   MTNet  will export  file attaches  to the  host in  the following
          manner:

               1.  If there is  only one file  attached to  the message, it
               will be tossed into the .REP packet.
               2. If  there is more than  one file,  MTNet  packs them into
               one file using the specified host packer.

          Bob Hogg, the only Beta Tester of Mutant BBS plans  on carrying a
          USANet Wildcat support feed which he stated that the developer of
          the  file  attaches for  QWK  reads.   He  and  I  may propose  a
          different  attach format for .REP packets in order to work better
          with Mutant.
