535 lines
20 KiB
HTML
Executable File
535 lines
20 KiB
HTML
Executable File
<HTML>
|
|
<!-- $Id$ -->
|
|
<HEAD>
|
|
<TITLE>Conference Managaers - Specifications for Requests.</TITLE>
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
|
|
<!-- Background white, links blue (unvisited), navy (visited), red (active) -->
|
|
<BODY
|
|
BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
|
|
TEXT="#000000"
|
|
LINK="#0000FF"
|
|
VLINK="#000080"
|
|
ALINK="#FF0000"
|
|
>
|
|
<PRE>
|
|
Document: FSC-0057
|
|
Version: 003
|
|
Date: 07-Dec-92
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Conference Managers - Specifications for Requests
|
|
|
|
December 7, 1992
|
|
|
|
Fabiano Fabris Joaquim H. Homrighausen
|
|
2:285/304.100@fidonet 2:270/17@fidonet
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Status of this document:
|
|
|
|
This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r) community, and
|
|
requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Revision 3
|
|
presents several additions and enhancements over the previous revision.
|
|
|
|
Distribution of this document is unlimited.
|
|
|
|
Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
|
|
Software.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 Purpose
|
|
|
|
This document will explore the methods implemented by various
|
|
conference managers which process requests (in net mail form)
|
|
for changes to the conference mail links on the system on which
|
|
they are in use.
|
|
|
|
Until now, it would appear that no real standard exists, so most
|
|
software authors have either tried to emulate another program, or
|
|
to create a new method of their own, or both.
|
|
|
|
Here, an attempt will be made to define a standard, one which tries
|
|
to maintain compatibility with methods already in use, while also
|
|
extending them to provide new functions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 Conventions
|
|
|
|
The names of the commands described in the following paragraphs are
|
|
given in upper case, for legibility. However, a conference manager
|
|
should be able to interpret them even if they are given in lower
|
|
or mixed case.
|
|
|
|
Similarly, conference names, or tags, are given in upper case, but
|
|
the conference manager should be able to handle them even if typed
|
|
in lower or mixed case.
|
|
|
|
Optional information is enclosed with square brackets, while
|
|
variable information is enclosed with angle brackets. For example:
|
|
|
|
+CONF [,R=<n>]
|
|
|
|
indicates that the section within square brackets is optional, and
|
|
if supplied, requires a parameter after the equals sign.
|
|
|
|
Some conference managers may allow commands to be abbreviated to the
|
|
shortest non-ambiguous string. For example, %LIST might be reduced
|
|
to %L.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 Format of the request
|
|
|
|
A request to a conference manager is generally made in a net mail
|
|
message containing specific information in some of the fields. In
|
|
particular, the addressee is the name of the conference manager
|
|
itself, and the subject of the message is a password assigned by
|
|
the sysop of the system running the program.
|
|
|
|
For example:
|
|
|
|
From: John Doe, on 2:123/56
|
|
To: Program, on 2:234/0
|
|
Subject: password
|
|
|
|
Here the first problem is encountered. Each of the existing programs
|
|
recognizes a different addressee. For this reason it is proposed
|
|
that all such programs recognize requests made to a single,
|
|
"standard" addressee, besides any other they may wish to implement.
|
|
The term "ConfMgr" has been arbitrarily chosen, and should be used
|
|
by those programs which adhere fully to all the standards proposed
|
|
in this document.
|
|
|
|
The text of the message itself contains the request proper, and is
|
|
the subject of the following paragraphs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 Linking and Unlinking of conferences.
|
|
|
|
The current methods for requesting that a conference be linked are
|
|
basically two:
|
|
|
|
+CONFNAME
|
|
CONFNAME
|
|
|
|
For reasons of uniformity, it is proposed that all conference
|
|
manager programs recognize the first method.
|
|
|
|
Requests that a conference be unlinked are given by:
|
|
|
|
-CONFNAME
|
|
|
|
It might be interesting to implement some form of pattern matching,
|
|
similar to the unix shell. The following basic wildcards should be
|
|
considered:
|
|
|
|
* matches zero or more characters
|
|
? matches any one (not zero) character
|
|
|
|
Since the requests are processed top-down, a request of the form
|
|
|
|
+CONFNAME
|
|
-*
|
|
|
|
would be redundant, since the ConfMgr would link CONFNAME from the
|
|
first line, and then immediately unlink it again because of the
|
|
second line, which requests that all linked conferenecs be unlinked.
|
|
|
|
It should also be possible to specify more than one conference tag
|
|
on the same line. For example:
|
|
|
|
+CONF1 CONF2 CONF3
|
|
|
|
would link the three conferences CONF1, CONF2 and CONF3.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 Rescanning Conference Mail
|
|
|
|
Many conference managers currently allow a system to request that an
|
|
area be "rescanned". In other words, the system receiving the
|
|
request will export all mail in one or more areas to the requesting
|
|
system.
|
|
|
|
This may be accomplished by specifying the %RESCAN command in the
|
|
body of the request. This will force the ConfMgr to generate a scan
|
|
request for those areas which the remote system requested with the
|
|
message containing the %RESCAN command.
|
|
|
|
Rescans of a single area, newly linked, could be requested as
|
|
follows:
|
|
|
|
+CONFNAME, R[=<n>]
|
|
|
|
where 'n' is the number of messages in that area to be rescanned.
|
|
(The space following the comma is optional, but allowed.)
|
|
|
|
Rescanning has one serious drawback: dupes! It is very possible for
|
|
the requesting system to have already set up the area with several
|
|
downlinks. Thus, when the rescanned mail is received, it could be
|
|
exported to other systems. In a tree-based topology, this is
|
|
harmless, but in circular topologies this would create dupes.
|
|
|
|
Thus, it is proposed that system receiving the rescan request add a
|
|
kludge to the messages, so that they can be recognized by the
|
|
requesting system and not re-exported.
|
|
|
|
The proposed kludge is:
|
|
|
|
^ARESCANNED <addr>
|
|
|
|
where <addr> is the network address, including domain, of the
|
|
system from which the mail was rescanned.
|
|
|
|
In alternative to a rescan, a sysop might request a "sample",
|
|
consisting of a series of messages contained in a text file. The
|
|
ConfMgr would export some or all messages from an area to a plain
|
|
ASCII text file, and send it along with the reply, to the requesting
|
|
system. A "sample" request would be made as follows:
|
|
|
|
+CONFNAME, S[=<n>]
|
|
|
|
where 'n' indicates how many messages should be sampled.
|
|
|
|
a) Updating Conferences
|
|
|
|
Update requests allow a sysop to rescan or "sample" an area
|
|
without having to first unlink from it, and then relink with the
|
|
rescan or "sample" parameter.
|
|
|
|
The format of this command is:
|
|
|
|
=CONFNAME, <param>[=<n>]
|
|
|
|
Thus a rescan request for the most recent 50 messages would be
|
|
specified as:
|
|
|
|
=CONFNAME, R=50
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 Information Requests
|
|
|
|
Requests for information have until now taken two forms. In one
|
|
case, they are given as switches after the password on the subject
|
|
line, while in the second they are given as "commands" within the
|
|
body of the message text. It is proposed that the second method be
|
|
chosen as standard, since it is considerably more flexible.
|
|
|
|
Below are listed the proposed commands:
|
|
|
|
%HELP Sends a (pre-defined) help text to the
|
|
requesting system, explaining how the
|
|
ConfMgr is to be used.
|
|
|
|
%LIST[,B] Lists the conferences currently available
|
|
to the requesting system, on the basis
|
|
of a method internal to the conference
|
|
manager itself. This list would flag the
|
|
areas which are already linked. The 'B'
|
|
modifier would generate the list in
|
|
binary format (see section 8e).
|
|
|
|
%BLIST Equivalent to %LIST,B above.
|
|
|
|
%QUERY Lists the conferences currently linked to
|
|
the requesting system.
|
|
|
|
%UNLINKED Lists the conferences which are available
|
|
to the requesting system, but not
|
|
currently linked. This is the logical
|
|
difference between a %LIST and a %QUERY.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 Remote Maintenance
|
|
|
|
Besides these simple functions, it is becoming more and more
|
|
interesting to make handling of the conference mail flow even more
|
|
automatic. For this reason, for example, it might be useful to
|
|
allow another sysop control over your own system, adding and
|
|
removing conferences as need requires. Thus a hub or coordinator
|
|
could automatically have a new area added to their conference
|
|
lists, or discontinued ones removed.
|
|
|
|
Naturally, the ConfMgr must be able to distinguish which system has
|
|
the ability to make such changes, but that is beyond the scope of
|
|
this document.
|
|
|
|
It is proposed that a conference manager be able to automatically
|
|
add a new conference to the system's list if/when it is detected.
|
|
Thus no special commands would be required. The manager should be
|
|
able to determine a default list of down-links for the new area,
|
|
and also the "group" of systems which could then request it.
|
|
|
|
However, should it be desired to explicitly create a new conference
|
|
via remote, this could be done by including a line such as the
|
|
following in the message text:
|
|
|
|
&CONFNAME
|
|
|
|
In order to remote delete an area, the requesting sysop should
|
|
include a line like this in the body of the message text:
|
|
|
|
~CONFNAME
|
|
|
|
Thus, if the system has remote privileges, the conference would be
|
|
deleted (and optionally, all systems linked to the conference could
|
|
be informed of this fact).
|
|
|
|
Similarly, it would also be possible to allow a system to change the
|
|
tag of a conference. This would be accomplished by a line such as:
|
|
|
|
# OLD_NAME NEW_NAME
|
|
|
|
The ConfMgr should inform all downlinks of the change by sending a
|
|
net mail message.
|
|
|
|
It might also be desirable to allow a sysop to make changes on
|
|
behalf of another system. This could be done by inserting a special
|
|
command at the beginning of the request itself. For example:
|
|
|
|
From: John Doe, on 2:123/1
|
|
To: Program, on 2:987/65
|
|
Subject: password
|
|
Text:
|
|
%FROM: 2:234/56
|
|
+CONFNAME
|
|
|
|
The %FROM command would make the ConfMgr carry out the changes as if
|
|
the system 2:234/56 had requested them. The password should
|
|
nonetheless be the one assigned to 2:123/1.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 Further Automation
|
|
|
|
In order to make the system more powerful, and to reduce the
|
|
necessity for human intervention, several extensions are feasible.
|
|
|
|
a) ARCmail Compression Method
|
|
|
|
One interesting application is the possibility of allowing a
|
|
remote system to change the compression program used to "pack"
|
|
mail bound for his system. This could be done with the following
|
|
command in the message to a ConfMgr:
|
|
|
|
%COMPRESS <method>
|
|
|
|
where <method> is one of the compression programs supported by
|
|
the system. Of course, the remote system should also be able to
|
|
determine which compression methods are available; this could be
|
|
done with
|
|
|
|
%COMPRESS ?
|
|
|
|
Requests for an unsupported compression method should also be
|
|
responded to with a list of those available.
|
|
|
|
From the practical point of view, only systems which pick up
|
|
their mail (as opposed to those to whom mail is sent) should be
|
|
allowed to change the compression method used. How this
|
|
distinction is achieved is beyond the scope of this document.
|
|
|
|
b) Passwords
|
|
|
|
A sysop should be able to change the password used to make
|
|
requests to a ConfMgr without requiring the intervention of the
|
|
other system's sysop. This could easily be done if the
|
|
conference manager implemented the following command:
|
|
|
|
%PWD <new_password>
|
|
|
|
The new password (case insensitive) would replace the current
|
|
one as of the next request.
|
|
|
|
c) Temporary Unlink
|
|
|
|
Should a system's sysop be absent for a prolonged period of time,
|
|
he might want to temporarily cut all conferences from his
|
|
uplink. This could be accomplished with the
|
|
|
|
%PAUSE
|
|
|
|
command. This would tell the ConfMgr to temporarily stop sending
|
|
conferences to that system. On his return, the sysop could
|
|
reactivate them all with the
|
|
|
|
%RESUME
|
|
|
|
command.
|
|
|
|
d) Forwarding Remote Requests
|
|
|
|
If a conference manager receives a remote request to delete an
|
|
area, it could very easily "forward" that request to all its
|
|
downlinks by producing a similar request. In that way, a single
|
|
request originating from, for example, a Region Coordinator,
|
|
would result in the conference being deleted from all systems
|
|
"below" him.
|
|
|
|
Similarly, remote requests for conference name changes could
|
|
also be passed on to downlinks.
|
|
|
|
e) Automatic Requests for Conferences
|
|
|
|
A conference manager should also be able to automatically request
|
|
an area from an uplink. This would become necessary if, for
|
|
example, it processed a request for an area not currently
|
|
available on the system. In this case, it would scan a series of
|
|
conference lists for the requested area, and if found, would
|
|
send a request for that area.
|
|
|
|
In order to be able to do this, the ConfMgr would need to have
|
|
one or more lists of conferences from the uplinks. These lists
|
|
could be produced on request by the ConfMgr itself. In order to
|
|
simplify matters, a binary format is proposed. (Note that these
|
|
are C-style structures, with everything which that implies.)
|
|
This binary file is called a Binary Conference List (BCL).
|
|
|
|
The file starts with a header, containing some basic system
|
|
information:
|
|
|
|
struct bcl_header {
|
|
char FingerPrint[4]; /* BCL<NUL> */
|
|
char ConfMgrName[31]; /* Name of "ConfMgr" */
|
|
char Origin[51]; /* Originating network addr */
|
|
long CreationTime; /* UNIX-timestamp when created */
|
|
long flags; /* Options, see below */
|
|
char Reserved[256]; /* Reserved data */
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
The currently defined flags for the header are:
|
|
|
|
BCLH_ISLIST 0x00000001L
|
|
File is complete list
|
|
|
|
BCLH_ISUPDATE 0x00000002L
|
|
File contains update/diff information
|
|
|
|
The BCL would then contain a series of entries having the
|
|
following format:
|
|
|
|
struct bcl {
|
|
int EntryLength; /* Length of entry data */
|
|
long flags1, flags2; /* Conference flags */
|
|
char *AreaTag; /* Area tag [51] */
|
|
char *Description; /* Description [51] */
|
|
char *Administrator; /* Administrator or contact [51] */
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
The flags currently defined are:
|
|
|
|
FLG1_READONLY 0x00000001L
|
|
Read only, software must not allow users to enter mail.
|
|
|
|
FLG1_PRIVATE 0x00000002L
|
|
Private attribute of messages is honored.
|
|
|
|
FLG1_FILECONF 0x00000004L
|
|
File conference.
|
|
|
|
FLG1_MAILCONF 0x00000008L
|
|
Mail conference.
|
|
|
|
FLG1_REMOVE 0x00000010L
|
|
Remove specified conference from list (otherwise add/upd).
|
|
|
|
Thus, instead of scanning an AREAS.BBS style list, the ConfMgr
|
|
would parse and use lists in the above format. Naturally, each
|
|
list would be in some way "attached" to a node number, and a
|
|
corresponding ConfMgr password.
|
|
|
|
Each system may only have one master file, called anything they
|
|
want. But when transmitted to other systems, this file must
|
|
always be named ????????.BCL.
|
|
|
|
The list would be generated in response to a
|
|
|
|
%LIST, B
|
|
|
|
command in the message text.
|
|
|
|
f) Receipts
|
|
|
|
It might be useful to have the ConfMgr generate a receipt to be
|
|
sent to another system, perhaps a co-sysop or a sysop point
|
|
node. This could be done with the command:
|
|
|
|
%RECEIPT <name>,<address>
|
|
|
|
embedded in the request message. For example:
|
|
|
|
%RECEIPT JoHo,2:270/17
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 Comments in the request
|
|
|
|
It should be possible for a sysop to insert a comment in the request
|
|
made to a conference manager. These comments, naturally, would be
|
|
destined to the sysop of the system, and not to the conference
|
|
manager itself. Such comments should be placed at the end of the
|
|
message, following a %NOTE command.
|
|
|
|
In all cases except the above, the request can be deleted by the
|
|
ConfMgr once processed, but messages containing comments should be
|
|
retained.
|
|
|
|
Note: the current method used is to supply comments after a tear-
|
|
line. This practice is somewhat "messy", but it might be wise to
|
|
support it until such time as all conference managers have
|
|
implemented the %NOTE command.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 Summary
|
|
|
|
+CONFNAME[,R|S] Request to link to CONFNAME
|
|
-CONFNAME Request to unlink from CONFNAME
|
|
=CONFNAME,R|S Rescan or "sample" linked conference
|
|
&CONFNAME Request to create CONFNAME
|
|
~CONFNAME Request to delete CONFNAME
|
|
#OLD NEW Name change request
|
|
|
|
%LIST[,B] List available areas, flag linked
|
|
%QUERY Only list linked areas
|
|
%UNLINKED List available but unlinked areas
|
|
%HELP Send help text
|
|
%FROM <addr> Simulate request from another system
|
|
%RESCAN Rescan conferences linked in current request
|
|
%COMPRESS <method> Change compression method
|
|
%PWD <new_pwd> Change ConfMgr password
|
|
%PAUSE Suspend link
|
|
%RESUME Resume link
|
|
%RECEIPT <name>,<addr> Send copy of receipt to another system
|
|
%NOTE Introduces comment to the sysop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 Final Note
|
|
|
|
This document is to be considered as a suggestion for software
|
|
developers to make their programs compatible with one another, so as
|
|
to make life easier for the average sysop when dealing with
|
|
conference managers.
|
|
|
|
Feedback would be appreciated and can be sent to us at the addresses
|
|
specified on the title page. Please send feedback via netmail only.
|
|
|
|
</PRE>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="index.htm"><IMG SRC="../images/b_arrow.gif" ALT="Back" Border="0">Go Back</A>
|
|
|
|
</BODY>
|
|
</HTML>
|
|
|