Carrier Detect

I prefer to type messages and answer mail while off-line because it saves my on-line time for other things, and I find I'm more relaxed when I know I'm doing something that will save me money. I also have the advantage of using "template" messages for such things as for sale ads and Internet E-Mail requests. I don't need to type a long list of items or complicated commands while on-line, I can use a pre-typed message and use the same message on more than one service.

Almost every on-line service offers Internet E-mail. Over the last year or so, many of the extra features of the Internet have become available via E-Mail, including the ability to subscribe to mailing lists, which allow you to participate and follow in discussions on hundreds of topics. Plus, as I said before, you can also request text or program files and have them sent directly to your E-Mail address.

By using E-Mail this way, you can take advantage of some of the best of the Internet without having to do much in the way of learning, and most of the "work" can be done while off-line. Template messages, created off-line and saved to disk for future use, are invaluable for touring the Internet via E-Mail. I'll explain more about the goodies available to you through Internet E-Mail, but first lets cover the basics of writing messages and replying to mail off-line using readily available common programs.

Off-line Messages for On-line Services
What do you need? The first essential is a term program with a buffer that allows you to capture messages you read on-line. It should also have the ability to send what's in the buffer through the modem to the on-line service, but any term that allows you to send text files from disk with an ASCII protocol will also work.

What you use to type your replies with is up to you and what you are most comfortable and familiar with using. The major requirement is that it allow you to save your message to disk in either PETASCII or ASCII format. Most word processors are capable of this, and there are hundreds of text editors (sometimes called sequential file editors) readily available on bulletin boards or on-line services. Many term programs also let you to edit text, and save it, whether via its buffer, or in the case of Novaterm, by using its external text editor. If you use either QWKie or QWKRR128, you can also use these programs, but of course messages for the on-line services are saved to disk as a text file rather than as a "reply". It really is a matter of what you are comfortable with using.

If you already have someone in mind to type a message to, there's no need to call the on-line service and buffer any mail first, but if you are replying to forum-type messages, you will first want to get on-line, and capture the messages with the term program's buffer. Even if I'm using a term which allows me to edit text in the buffer, I generally save the entire buffer first so if I make a mistake I can reload it and try again. Once I've saved the buffered mail, I go off-line and either use the facilities in my term program to create a reply, or I save what I've buffered to disk, and load my text editor.

Keep in mind that all lines of your message should be limited to about 72 characters or less. This depends on the service you're accessing, but 72 characters seems to keep the text within the bounds of the majority of on-line services message editors. Lines longer than this can cause your text to "wrap" to the next line and appear jumbled. Each line of your message should have a carriage return after it, as otherwise when you send your message, the on-line service will wrap text for you. This can bring some unexpected and unwanted results. Some text editors will place a carriage return at the end of each line of text automatically, and some don't.

Quoting
Quoting a small amount from the original message allows the person reading your message to know what you're talking about, and keeps the flow of messages a little closer to seeming more like a conversation. There's no "rule" that says you have to use quotes in your replies, either. Often, a simple "RE: " can do the job of letting others know where your thoughts are coming from.

If you decide to quote text, it's easier if the program you use to edit replies has an insert mode so you can add a ">" before each line of text you are quoting. Try to quote just enough so the recipient can recall what he or she said in their original message, as especially with the on-line services, the time you spend sending your message, as well as the recipients time is at a premium. It makes no sense to quote more than what is necessary.

When you are finished replying, save it to disk. If you have several people you are sending different replies to, you will need to edit, reply and save each message to disk separately. I try to give these messages meaningful names like "to john.930", so later when I look at the disk, I'll know what I'm looking at. The numerals in this example represent the month and date. I do this to keep track of mail I've sent (or received), and it's especially useful when messaging with the same person over a period of time. You can name your replies anyway you want, just be sure it's easy to remember, and easy to type.

Sending Replies On-line
How you send your finished replies back to the on-line service depends on your term program, and the abilities of the service you're using. Some term programs allow you to "upload" sequential text files from disk using an ASCII protocol, while others let you send the text directly from its buffer.

Once on-line, either start a new message to the person you are mailing to, such as when sending private mail, or find the message area where your reply belongs, and begin to reply as if you were going to type the message while on-line. When you get to the stage where you would normally type your message, send the already prepared message via your term program instead. Save the message as you normally would.

Because each on-line service has different commands to begin and save messages, I'll not explain this step. Nor will I explain how to send text from your term program, because each program uses different commands to do this. Read the documentation for the program that you use.

If sending text from the term's buffer, save yourself some time and money by loading the buffer with your text before you actually get on-line. If sending multiple messages, it may pay to be ultra frugal and jump to a "free" area of the on-line service when you load the buffer with your text to send, then return to the message area when you're fully prepared. I say "may" because if it's a hassle to do this, then it's not worth the few pennies saved.

If you're sending text from your buffer, it will generally be in the proper ASCII format, but if you are sending text from a disk file, you may find that you need to send your text as "True ASCII" instead of Commodore's PETASCII. You can do this in either of two ways, you can save it as True ASCII from your text editor, or if your term program has an option to translate the text to True ASCII as it sends it, toggle it on. Do not use both methods, as it will defeat your purpose. View the message on-line, and if it looks correct, you'll know it worked just fine for you. If the text appears in jumbled case, as in something like this: "cARRIER dETECT", you will have to change the ASCII translation of your messages.

The Internet via E-Mail
As I mentioned earlier, using Internet E-Mail, you can subscribe to mailing lists and have discussions on just about any topic imaginable brought to your electronic mail box. Subscribe is an appropriate word, as it is very similar to the world of magazines. You can subscribe to half a dozen and suddenly discover yourself overwhelmed by too much E-Mail. Luckily, in the Internet world, it's much easier to get them to stop arriving in your mail box than in the real world. All it takes is sending a message with a single command in it.

You subscribe to a mailing list by sending a message to something called a "list server". Some list servers are actual people that process your request, and some are automated--in other words, some are computers that do the job for you. The easiest way to describe a "list server" is that it's a computer on the other end that acts on the commands (messages) you send it via E-Mail.

Subscribing to a mailing list involves knowing two things; the Internet address for the list server, and the command (what you type in your message) needed to subscribe. Some add your name and E-Mail address to the list immediately and send back a confirmation message. Others return a message with instructions on how to confirm that you really want to subscribe. If you don't return confirmation within 48 hours, you are not added to it. After you've subscribed, you can receive a message which gives the commands available to you by sending a message to the list server with the word "help" as the body of the message. There are more than one kind of list server, and each use similar, but not necessarily the same commands, but "help" seems to be universal.

Mailing lists always have TWO Internet addresses, one for the administration of the list, such as subscribing, and another address which is used to reply or send messages to all the subscribers on the list. Messages sent to the administration address are the commands used to control how you receive messages from it. Messages sent to the list address get mailed to each and every subscriber. If you screw up and send a command to the second address, each subscriber will receive the cyberspace equivalent of junk mail. When you receive mail from a mailing list, it comes addressed to you, as this is how the list server sends mail out to subscribers. You need to treat it as mail addressed to "ALL". It takes some getting used to, as it can be a real surprise to receive mail from a complete stranger addressed directly to you. Just remember that everyone else on the mailing list also received the exact same message.

The "COMMODOR" mailing list is said to mirror the comp.sys.cbm newsgroup (an area on the Internet with messages concerning Commodore users), but the list isn't quite as active as the newsgroup. News items concerning things of interest to Commodore users are posted several times a week. To subscribe to this list, the administration address is:

     listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu

     subscribe commodor firstname lastname

     review commodor - sends you a list of who the subscribers are
     help - sends a message that explains how to send other commands.

     commodor@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu

     listserv@vm1.nodak.edu

     SIGNOFF NEW-LIST.

Since the Internet is big, it seems fitting that some of the files available can be gargantuan in size. If you are concerned about the size of files you receive via E-Mail, you can specify the maximum number of characters each individual message contains by using the size command. Before the file is sent to your E-Mail address, it is split into several messages of the number of characters specified. The size command must be placed before the path and name of the file(s) requested. There's one problem with using this command--the order you receive the messages with the file in it are not always in the same order as the original file. This takes care of any problems we as Commodore users may have with buffer size, but it takes some editing to put the text file back into its original order.

The quit command is used to tell the mailserver that your message is over. This is useful when using an off-line mail reader that adds text after the actual message.

Here are two "templates" for requesting files via E-Mail. For those who have access to Internet E-Mail and use an Off-line Mail Reader, the first line of the message should contain the word "To:" followed by the address as shown below. Those who are sending mail via an on-line service can omit the "To:" and send E-Mail to the address which follows it. The size command is optional.

To receive the current comp.sys.cbm faq files, posted around the 5th and the 20th of each month:

     To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu 
     size 20000 
     send /usenet/comp.sys.cbm/main-faq/part1
     send /usenet/comp.sys.cbm/main-faq/part2
     send /usenet/comp.sys.cbm/main-faq/part3
     send /usenet/comp.sys.cbm/main-faq/part4
     quit

     To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu 
     size 20000 
     send /pub/usenet/news.answers/mail/mailing-lists/part1 
     quit

The above examples are from personal template files that I have on disk and added to this article by appending them to my text file. I did this because I've used these templates for file requests, so I know the address path and file names are correct. This is one of the more compelling reasons I know of to keep and use template files for sending mail. Plus, I have the advantage of making only minor changes should I decide to request other files from the same address, without the need to retype the entire message.

In future issues, I'll cover requesting binary files through E-Mail, as well as other commands you can use when requesting files or subscribing to mailing lists. If you've never explored the Internet, E-Mail is a great place to start. As you can see, you can have the Internet come directly to your mail box without much work at all. Knowing how to prepare text off-line to send E-Mail messages makes it even easier. It can save you time and as you know, especially with on-line services, "time is money".