Greetings All!

According to the SemPoint help:

---------- 8< ----------
SemPoint can read the configuration of the areas from these configuration files:

File: Program:
SQUISH.CFG Squish v1.xx
FASTECHO.CFG Fastecho from v1.30 up to v1.45
IMAIL.AR IMail 1.4x
DBRIDGE.ADF D'Bridge 1.5x
AREAS.BBS various programs
GOLD*.CFG Golded 2.4x (Aka are not imported)
AREADESC.* various programs
---------- 8< ----------

I have one single JAM area at the moment which contains lots of mail, so I created an AREAS.BBS file for that one area and placed it in SemPoint's directory and then went through the configuration steps. End result of that was that SemPoint segfaulted!

I then created a GOLDED.CFG file for that one area and placed that in SemPoint's directory and went through the configuration steps. End result of that was that there are still no areas shown in the area list.

Ideas anyone?

Regards,
Martin

--- APoint 1.25
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello Martin!

** 25.05.19 - 14:45, Martin Foster wrote to All:

I have one single JAM area at the moment which contains lots of mail, so I
created an AREAS.BBS file for that one area and placed it in SemPoint's
directory and then went through the configuration steps. End result of
that was that SemPoint segfaulted!

I really wish I could help. I had a very nice Jam-based Sempoint
operation many years ago.

Is that AREAS.BBS file in plain text, example:

SBBS SYNCHRONET 1:3615/50
SYNCDATA SYNCDATA 1:3615/50
SYNC_SYS SYNC_SYSOPS 1:3615/50

I then created a GOLDED.CFG file for that one area and placed that in
SemPoint's directory and went through the configuration steps. End result
of that was that there are still no areas shown in the area list.

Ideas anyone?

Here's one.

If you are only needing one area (for test and evaluation purposes), why
not Configure the area manually.

Copy the set of your Jam files (to preserve your originals) to the SEM subfolder of your choice, then proceed to:

C)onfiguration, A)reas, A)dd.. and proceed with the details.

When it comes to the "Path or Filename", you can navigate the config to
where the jam files are. It is primarily looking for the .JHR file.

And NOTE that you need to manually select "Jam" in the Configuration
Areas" panel, even *after* you seleted the .JHR file.

Hope this helps.

PS..

I have never been successful in creating messages from scratch (that is,
from ones that don't have any messages in there already). I've use
Apoint's version with modest success. But I don't remember how I did it
many years ago when my messages were tossed with Fastecho.

[BTW.. I still haven't received my Fastecho reg key :( ]


../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hello Martin!

** 25.05.19 - 14:45, Martin Foster wrote to All:

AREAS.BBS various programs
GOLD*.CFG Golded 2.4x (Aka are not imported)

I have one single JAM area at the moment which contains lots of mail, so I
created an AREAS.BBS file..

I then created a GOLDED.CFG file for that one area..

Ideas anyone?

Apparently sysop Paul Quinn (Australia) has recently used SemPoint and
placed a couple of "test" messages in FIDOTEST.

----------8<----------

@MSGID: 3:640/1384 005436f4
@REPLY: 2:221/360 9227b191
@CHRS: LATIN-1 2
@PID: SemPoint 2.26
Hi! Tommi,

I'm just testing a hacked version of my old SemPoint. I detest
picking wings off of butterflies but I thought to give it a go at
least. Let's see what sparks & smoke despoil the horizon now...

I give up. That one's still unsent, because... it's too hard, basically because of OS pathnames and
'case' problems with those names. No harm as I have a number of other options. still. :)

Cheers,
Paul.

----------8<----------

It might be worth a try to drag him in here and pick his brain.

I wonder what "area.bbs" method he use (if any) and what he used for
tossing.


../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hello August!

## 25.05.19 at 23:18, August Abolins wrote to Martin Foster:

[snip]

Apparently sysop Paul Quinn (Australia) has recently used SemPoint and placed a couple of "test" messages in FIDOTEST.

Yeah, already seen 'em thanks :)

[snip]

It might be worth a try to drag him in here and pick his brain.

I've dropped a gentle hint ;-))

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello August!

## 25.05.19 at 19:14, August Abolins wrote to Martin Foster:

I have one single JAM area at the moment which contains lots of mail, so
I created an AREAS.BBS file for that one area and placed it in
SemPoint's directory and then went through the configuration steps. End
result of that was that SemPoint segfaulted!

I really wish I could help. I had a very nice Jam-based Sempoint operation many years ago.

Is that AREAS.BBS file in plain text, example:

SBBS SYNCHRONET 1:3615/50
SYNCDATA SYNCDATA 1:3615/50
SYNC_SYS SYNC_SYSOPS 1:3615/50

I generated a new one with 'crashexport' this morning:

---------- 8< ----------
; Generated by CrashExport 1.0
; Sun May 26 09:17:29 2019

Default origin ! Martin Foster
!c:\users\martin\mailer\msgbase\badmail Badmail !c:\users\martin\mailer\msgbase\points POINTS 2:310/31
---------- 8< ----------

However, by pure chance, I noticed that the file had UNIX line
endings. Huh!?

I changed the line endings to DOS, popped the file in my SemPoint
directory and configured SemPoint to use the AREAS.BBS file but it
GPF'd on me again. I then removed everything from the file apart from
the last two lines and this time, SemPoint didn't GPF on me. However,
I still don't have an area list but I know something's changed because AREE.CFG is a bit bigger than it was before and the date/time stamps
have changed.

Ideas anyone?

Here's one.

If you are only needing one area (for test and evaluation purposes), why not Configure the area manually.

Copy the set of your Jam files (to preserve your originals) to the SEM subfolder of your choice, then proceed to:

C)onfiguration, A)reas, A)dd.. and proceed with the details.

When it comes to the "Path or Filename", you can navigate the config to where the jam files are. It is primarily looking for the .JHR file.

And NOTE that you need to manually select "Jam" in the Configuration Areas" panel, even *after* you seleted the .JHR file.

Hope this helps.

Yes it does thanks because I now have an area list containing the one
area and I can read the messages.

PS..

I have never been successful in creating messages from scratch (that is, from ones that don't have any messages in there already). I've use Apoint's version with modest success. But I don't remember how I did it many years ago when my messages were tossed with Fastecho.

[BTW.. I still haven't received my Fastecho reg key :( ]

Can't imagine why, perhaps you should give Tobias a gentle nudge?

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello Martin!

** 26.05.19 - 13:44, Martin Foster wrote to August Abolins:

I generated a new one with 'crashexport' this morning:

---------- 8< ----------
; Generated by CrashExport 1.0
; Sun May 26 09:17:29 2019
---------- 8< ----------

However, by pure chance, I noticed that the file had UNIX line
endings. Huh!?

That should be a big clue. You have to think "DOS" for this, especially
the text files that you can edit manually.

I changed the line endings to DOS, popped the file in my SemPoint
directory and configured SemPoint to use the AREAS.BBS file but it
GPF'd on me again. I then removed everything from the file apart from
the last two lines and this time, SemPoint didn't GPF on me. However,
I still don't have an area list but I know something's changed because
AREE.CFG is a bit bigger than it was before and the date/time stamps
have changed.

You can also take a look inside and see if the text strings that you
expect are there. There will be a lot of control chars inbetween the pure text, but if you look at the file with WordPad for example, the control
chars with be little blocks or spaces that don't interfere with reading
the text.

If you are only needing one area (for test and evaluation purposes), why
not Configure the area manually.

-------- [Snip] ---------

Hope this helps.

Yes it does thanks because I now have an area list containing the one
area and I can read the messages.

Another thing to watch out for when configuring SEM, stick to max 8 chars
for directory names and 8.3 max for file names. SEM predates WinXP a
little bit.

I ran into this problem when I was pointing SEM to my Apoint-created JAM areas directly, not realizing that some of the path/dir names in Apoint
were long.

I now have a JAM base for FIDOTEST that I can read and write to without
the system crashing on me. (Now I just need to add the tosser and binkd
to take it to the next level).

[BTW.. I still haven't received my Fastecho reg key :( ]

Can't imagine why, perhaps you should give Tobias a gentle nudge?

I think it still "works" without the key, right? Meanwhile, I'll see what CrashMail can do. I've received a lot of encouragement to use CrashMail
over FE or FM.


../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hello Martin,

On 26.05.19, you wrote..

Apparently sysop Paul Quinn (Australia) has recently used SemPoint and
placed a couple of "test" messages in FIDOTEST.

It might be worth a try to drag him in here and pick his brain.

I've dropped a gentle hint ;-))

No having much luck with my JAM message base:

I was able to list and read and even post my own messages to my sample FIDOTEST area, but today when I decided I'd like to delete a bunch of the old messages, Sempoint crashed and produced this:

05/25/2019 07:19 PM 162,203 FIDOTEST.JDT
05/26/2019 05:07 PM 1,520 FIDOTEST.JDX
05/26/2019 05:13 PM 4,294,967,371 FIDOTEST.JHR
05/26/2019 05:13 PM 32 FIDOTEST.JLR

I originally created the set of jam files with Apoint. Copied them over to a place where Sempoint would use them. I configured the FIDOTEST area manually with Sempoint.. and voila, the messages listed fine. I even added a few of my own messages as test posts.

So.. this is a BAD idea.

Meanwhile, I found out the SAME thing happens with an jam area created with SEM! I can enter/post a message fine. But as soon as I go back to C)hange the message (to adjust the subject, for example) ..the program goes ballistic and produces a 4GB+ .jhr file!

The above problem does NOT happen with a Squish base.

If anyone can duplicate or verify this, that would be great.

Since Crashmail only supports jam or msg, this is not looking good for SEM w/Jam + Crashmail combo.


../|ug

--- WinPoint Beta 5 (359.1)
* Origin: Please write your complaint in this box [ ] - Legibly (2:221/1.59)

Meanwhile, I found out the SAME thing happens with an jam area created with
SEM! I can enter/post a message fine. But as soon as I go back to C)hange th
message (to adjust the subject, for example) ..the program goes ballistic and
produces a 4GB+ .jhr file!

That is one BIG .jhr file that I don't think is going to work.

Since Crashmail only supports jam or msg, this is not looking good for SEM w/Jam + Crashmail combo.

Another option for a tosser with SEM might be the husky tools. Still maintained and updated when needed. HPT (the husky tosser) supports JAM, Squish and *.MSG message areas.

The configuration is all text and can be daunting but there is support for husky in the FIDOSOFT.HUSKY message area.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Hello Martin!

** 26.05.19 - 13:44, you wrote..

I have one single JAM area at the moment which contains lots of mail,

-------- [Snip] ---------

Yes it does thanks because I now have an area list containing the one
area and I can read the messages.

SEM is not cooperating very well for me with jam messagebases. There are problems even with jam messagebases created directly with SEM too.

You will find that creating a post will go well. But the "problem" starts when you attempt to go back and C)hange (or re-edit) the same post. It doesn't matter what you change, the subject, or body, SEM just spins out
of control and begins to produce an insanely large .JHR file.

I fear that you may discover the same issue.

But similar usage "tests" with squish format are OK.


../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hello August!

## 26.05.19 at 11:52, August Abolins wrote to Martin Foster:

I generated a new one with 'crashexport' this morning:

---------- 8< ----------
; Generated by CrashExport 1.0
; Sun May 26 09:17:29 2019
---------- 8< ----------

However, by pure chance, I noticed that the file had UNIX line
endings. Huh!?

That should be a big clue. You have to think "DOS" for this, especially the text files that you can edit manually.

Yes but I was thinking more along the lines of why is a Win32
application creating text files with UNIX line endings.

[snip]

[BTW.. I still haven't received my Fastecho reg key :( ]

Can't imagine why, perhaps you should give Tobias a gentle nudge?

I think it still "works" without the key, right?

Right but it displays a nag screen at startup :(

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello August!

## 26.05.19 at 17:48, August Abolins wrote to Martin Foster:

[snip]

No having much luck with my JAM message base:

I was able to list and read and even post my own messages to my sample FIDOTEST area, but today when I decided I'd like to delete a bunch of the old messages, Sempoint crashed and produced this:

05/25/2019 07:19 PM 162,203 FIDOTEST.JDT
05/26/2019 05:07 PM 1,520 FIDOTEST.JDX
05/26/2019 05:13 PM 4,294,967,371 FIDOTEST.JHR
05/26/2019 05:13 PM 32 FIDOTEST.JLR

Yep, same thing happened with me after deleting a bunch of messages.
Here's what I now see when I look in my "msgbase" directory .....

---------- 8< ----------
25/05/2019 14:28 681,746 points.jdt
27/05/2019 09:50 5,984 points.jdx
27/05/2019 09:52 4,294,967,371 points.jhr
27/05/2019 09:52 16 points.jlr
---------- 8< ----------

Oh Joy! :-(

[snip]

The above problem does NOT happen with a Squish base.

If anyone can duplicate or verify this, that would be great.

I've seen enough with the huge .jhr file, thanks.

Since Crashmail only supports jam or msg, this is not looking good for
SEM w/Jam + Crashmail combo.

Further to what Alan said in another post .....

If you still have Fido Package Deluxe installed, all the husky stuff
is in there. There's everything you want(and more) in \Binkley\hpt
including an already configured and working hpt config file. Just copy
it all over to your SemPoint setup and then change the paths in the
hpt config file accordingly. There may be other bits 'n bobs that need editing too.

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello Alan!

## 26.05.19 at 15:08, Alan Ianson wrote to August Abolins:

[snip]

Another option for a tosser with SEM might be the husky tools. Still maintained and updated when needed. HPT (the husky tosser) supports JAM, Squish and *.MSG message areas.

The configuration is all text and can be daunting but there is support
for husky in the FIDOSOFT.HUSKY message area.

Yes, it's an absolute pain to configure from scratch but as I remarked
in another post, he just might still have a configured and working hpt
setup ;)

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

On 27/05/2019 5:56 a.m., Martin Foster : August Abolins wrote:

 MF>> ---------- 8< ----------
 MF>> ; Generated by CrashExport 1.0
 MF>> ; Sun May 26 09:17:29 2019
 MF>> ---------- 8< ----------

...why is a Win32 application creating text files with UNIX line endings.

I guess the term "porting to Win32" means just a compile, and no consideration to adjust for CR+LF in the output files that the program itself would produce.
:( Even the help-text files in cm071win32 are pure unix style. A better package build should have included a run through unix2dos or similar.

What happened to quality control in fidonet! Sheesh <LOL>

--- Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/60.
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

Hello Martin!

** 27.05.19 - 13:10, Martin Foster wrote to August Abolins:

05/26/2019 05:13 PM 4,294,967,371 FIDOTEST.JHR
05/26/2019 05:13 PM 32 FIDOTEST.JLR

Yep, same thing happened with me after deleting a bunch of messages.
---------- 8< ----------
27/05/2019 09:52 4,294,967,371 points.jhr
---------- 8< ----------

Oh Joy! :-(

Looks like JAM is not doeable with SEM. Thank's for confirming the same problem.

The above problem does NOT happen with a Squish base.

I've seen enough with the huge .jhr file, thanks.

You're giving up because of broken of JAM support in SEM? Why not try Squish?

Meanwhile I found this little gem, but sadly it fails:

C:\SEM\MESSAGES\test>fmacopy

FMA Message base copy utility built Mar 21 2003, 21:38:18
Written by Pete Kvitek of JV Dialogue 1st BBS, 2:5020/6@fidonet

Usage: FmaCopy <source base> <target base> [options]

/A[areatag] - add ^aAREA: kludge
/N[z:n/n.p] - default network address (from Fts, Pkt)
/O[z:n/n.p] - origination network address (to Pkt)
/D[z:n/n.p] - destination network address (to Pkt)
/C - clear target base before copy
/V - verbose mode
/G[file|*|#] - log to file, * to debugger, # to console

Message base type is specified using the base path extension.
Supported bases: *.msg (add backslash), Squish, JAM and Pkt.


C:\SEM\MESSAGES\test>fmacopy fidotest.jdt fidotest.sqd

Copying 192 msgs in fidotest (JAM) to fidotest (Squish)...
Copying msg 1 of 192
Can't save target message 0, error=7
Done... 0 msgs in fidotest (Squish)

C:\SEM\MESSAGES\test>

----------8<----------

Do you know of any other messagebase converters out there?

If you still have Fido Package Deluxe installed..

I do.

...all the husky stuff
is in there. There's everything you want(and more) in \Binkley\hpt
including an already configured and working hpt config file. Just copy
it all over to your SemPoint setup and then change the paths in the
hpt config file accordingly. There may be other bits 'n bobs that need
editing too.

I don't think I have the stamina to patch SEM with husky stuff.

I looks like FPD creates the "config" based on the settings in the main program. I don't think I would want to re-edit that file each time there
is a change to the echo list. :(

Fastecho seems more practical at this juncture.

../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hello August!

## 27.05.19 at 19:23, August Abolins wrote to Martin Foster:

05/26/2019 05:13 PM 4,294,967,371 FIDOTEST.JHR
05/26/2019 05:13 PM 32 FIDOTEST.JLR

Yep, same thing happened with me after deleting a bunch of messages.
---------- 8< ----------
27/05/2019 09:52 4,294,967,371 points.jhr
---------- 8< ----------

Oh Joy! :-(

Looks like JAM is not doeable with SEM. Thank's for confirming the same problem.

No bother.

The above problem does NOT happen with a Squish base.

I've seen enough with the huge .jhr file, thanks.

You're giving up because of broken of JAM support in SEM? Why not try Squish?

Although I may have implied that I was giving up, that's not the case
at all. As soon as time permits, I'll be investigating the possibilty
of bolting on the husky stuff.

Meanwhile I found this little gem, but sadly it fails:

Ah well, it was worth a try.

[snip]

Do you know of any other messagebase converters out there?

Sorry but no I don't, as I've never needed one.

If you still have Fido Package Deluxe installed..

I do.

Great! :-)

...all the husky stuff
is in there. There's everything you want(and more) in \Binkley\hpt
including an already configured and working hpt config file. Just copy
it all over to your SemPoint setup and then change the paths in the
hpt config file accordingly. There may be other bits 'n bobs that need
editing too.

I don't think I have the stamina to patch SEM with husky stuff.

Oh? :)

I looks like FPD creates the "config" based on the settings in the main program. I don't think I would want to re-edit that file each time there is a change to the echo list. :(

If you copy all that stuff from your FPD setup into your SEM setup and
change all the paths etc. to suit your SEM setup, you may not need to
re-edit the file every time a new area arrives. There's a utility in there(fconf2golded.exe) which will create a golded areas file from the
husky config file:

---------- 8< ----------
c:\Users\martin\Fido\Binkley\hpt>fconf2golded
fconf2golded/w32-wc 1.3.0-cur 05-02-03

Usage:
fconf2golded [-a][-sn][-se][-sl][-sb][-sd] <goldedConfigFileName>
[<default.cfg>]

--^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
--This should be on the end of the line above.

(you may read config defaults from default.cfg)
(-a exports areas only)
(-sn skip netmail areas)
(-se skip echomail areas)
(-sl skip local areas, and so on...)

Example:
fconf2golded ~/golded/golded.cfg
---------- 8< ----------

SEM is supposed to be capable of using a golded areas file but we all
know what happened when I tried this with crashmail's similar utility. However, I used that on a JAM message base, perhaps better results
would be achieved on a squish message base with fconf2golded.

Fastecho seems more practical at this juncture.

OK, fine.

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello Martin!

** 28.05.19 - 11:35, Martin Foster wrote to August Abolins:

Although I may have implied that I was giving up, that's not the case
at all. As soon as time permits, I'll be investigating the possibilty
of bolting on the husky stuff.

I'm impressed with your confidence to bolt on hpt.

Do you know of any other messagebase converters out there?

Sorry but no I don't, as I've never needed one.

I don't really need one per se. I just wanted a ready core of messages to plop into SEM and play around. But now that you and another couple of
people mentioned husky/hpt, I *do* still have the Squish files of a
handful of echos that Fido Packet Deluxe created!

---------- 8< ----------
c:\Users\martin\Fido\Binkley\hpt>fconf2golded
fconf2golded/w32-wc 1.3.0-cur 05-02-03

-------- [Snip] ---------

SEM is supposed to be capable of using a golded areas file but we all
know what happened when I tried this with crashmail's similar utility.
However, I used that on a JAM message base, perhaps better results
would be achieved on a squish message base with fconf2golded.

Thanks for the details and pointing out fconf2golded. I hadn't explored
the various directories that FPD was relying on. I'll definitely keep
your post as a reference, and.. depending on your success, I might
consider hpt.

Fastecho seems more practical at this juncture.

OK, fine.

Well.. it just seems simpler (you know, GUI, click here, click there).


../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hello August!

On <Tue, 28 May 19>, you wrote me:

Although I may have implied that I was giving up, that's not the
case at all. As soon as time permits, I'll be investigating the
possibilty of bolting on the husky stuff.

I'm impressed with your confidence to bolt on hpt.

There are times in life when one has to "grasp the nettle" ;-)

OK, so it's working but(there always has to be a but, doesn't there?) something weird is going on which is difficult to explain. Every message has a short string of HI-ASCII characters at the beginning of the line underneath the origin line. As SemPoint is a 16-Bit application, I'm wondering if it's case sensitive and if so, perhaps this could be causing the problem. Here's a directory listing of my "msgbase" directory:

=== begin DIR.TXT ===

Directory of c:\Users\martin\mailer\msgbase

29/05/2019 11:47 <DIR> .
29/05/2019 11:47 <DIR> ..
28/05/2019 15:29 256 BAD.SQD
28/05/2019 15:29 0 BAD.SQI
28/05/2019 15:29 0 BAD.SQL
28/05/2019 15:29 256 DUPES.SQD
28/05/2019 15:29 0 DUPES.SQI
28/05/2019 15:29 0 DUPES.SQL
29/05/2019 11:47 2,320 jamnntpd.sqd
29/05/2019 11:46 24 jamnntpd.sqi
29/05/2019 11:47 4 JAMNNTPD.SQL
29/05/2019 11:22 5,167 netmail.sqd
29/05/2019 11:22 36 netmail.sqi
29/05/2019 11:22 4 NETMAIL.SQL
29/05/2019 11:32 1,106,834 points.sqd
29/05/2019 11:32 8,832 points.sqi
29/05/2019 11:54 4 POINTS.SQL

=== end DIR.TXT ===

Notice the mixture of UPPER and lower case filenames.

BTW ..... my mouse scroll wheel doesn't work in SemPoint :(

Regards,
Martin

--- SemPoint 2.26+
* Origin: Modem not found: (A)bort, (R)etry, (G)oto bed? (2:310/31.3)

Hello Martin!

BTW ..... my mouse scroll wheel doesn't work in SemPoint :(

True. I did not notice that until now. Despite being a Windows prog, I primarily treated SEM as a keyboard prog: since the hands would be close
to the keyboard most of the time, the fingers were never far away from the arrow keys for "scrolling" around. Many of the speedbar icons have
keyboard shortcuts. Only a few of those need an actual mouse click.

I see that OXP is mouse-scrollable in many of the views/lists. That is probably what you are used to enjoying.

Myself, using a laptop with both programs, I rarely feel the need to plug
in a mouse. I can move the Windows arrow using my thumb in the touchpad located just below the keyboard to any part of the screen quite rapidly
and "tap" - if I want to. But I just use the keys.

Humans are generally adaptable beings.


../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hi! Martin,

On 05/29/2019 08:00 PM, you wrote to August Abolins:

Notice the mixture of UPPER and lower case filenames.

Normal for a DOS-based OS.

BTW ..... my mouse scroll wheel doesn't work in SemPoint :(

Does a right-click scroll down/up? If so, I think depends on whatever part of a blank SemPoint window is poked at, roughly north or south of an imaginary equator. Or, was it a right-click... I forget.

Cheers,
Paul.

--- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.4.0
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

Hello August!

On <Wed, 29 May 19>, you wrote me:

BTW ..... my mouse scroll wheel doesn't work in SemPoint :(

[snip]

I see that OXP is mouse-scrollable in many of the views/lists. That
is probably what you are used to enjoying.

Yes it is but I never use a mouse with OpenXP. In fact, I don't even have mouse support enabled.

Regards,
Martin

--- SemPoint 2.26+
* Origin: Well! I'm impressed. (2:310/31.3)

Hello Paul!

On <Thu, 30 May 19>, you wrote me:

BTW ..... my mouse scroll wheel doesn't work in SemPoint :(

Does a right-click scroll down/up? If so, I think depends on
whatever part of a blank SemPoint window is poked at, roughly north
or south of an imaginary equator. Or, was it a right-click... I
forget.

Nope, scroll wheel doesn't work at all but it's no big deal as I much prefer using a keyboard. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Regards,
Martin

--- SemPoint 2.26+
* Origin: System price error. Inadequate money spent. (2:310/31.3)

Hi! Martin,

On 05/31/2019 06:57 PM, you wrote:

Nope, scroll wheel doesn't work at all but it's no big deal as I much
prefer using a keyboard. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

It's the left-click. (No real need for a scroll wheel.) I fired-up my old node's vBox yesterday, and had a short play. SemPoint still respected the GoldEd lastreads. It all still surprises me, since the ..msg/JAM messagebase is on my Linux server (remote PC).

--- SemPoint 2.26+

Nice. :)

My theory on the garbage chars is maybe some sort of side-effect of, or reaction to your OS.[shrug]

Cheers,
Paul.

--- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.4.0
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

Hello Paul!

** 01.06.19 - 02:05, Paul Quinn wrote to Martin Foster:

--- SemPoint 2.26+

Nice. :)

My theory on the garbage chars is maybe some sort of side-effect of, or
reaction to your OS.[shrug]

I originally used SEM in OS/2 with its builtin Windows support. Very
smooth, no problems. So I wonder - SEM may not be the best choice in today's standalone 32/64bit Win OSes. But I'll see if the garbage chars duplicate in an XP w/Fastecho combination.


../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.39
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hi! August,

On 06/01/2019 03:31 AM, you wrote:

I originally used SEM in OS/2 with its builtin Windows support. Very
smooth, no problems. So I wonder - SEM may not be the best choice in today's standalone 32/64bit Win OSes. But I'll see if the garbage chars duplicate in an XP w/Fastecho combination.

Yes. You say it way better than I. My configuration has been running as a node on & off for a very long time (late noughties), in Win98SE. It was originally a real PC but I copied everything into a VirtualBox (vBox) setup in early 2012. It only broke in Aug 2018 due to a cause not of its own making. I just don't run it as a node any longer.

Have fun with your FastEcho config & XP! I never trusted XP much with my Fido stuff. Just a couple of utils (two!). I was always looking over my shoulder since it has two command processors. I.e. double the chance of screwing up. ;)

Cheers,
Paul.

--- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.4.0
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

Hello Paul!

## 01.06.19 at 02:05, Paul Quinn wrote to Martin Foster:

Nope, scroll wheel doesn't work at all but it's no big deal as I much
prefer using a keyboard. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

It's the left-click.

Aha, yes it is, thanks :)

[snip]

My theory on the garbage chars is maybe some sort of side-effect of, or reaction to your OS.[shrug]

You may well be right, as I'm running it on Win7(32-Bit) in a VM.

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.39
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello August!

## 31.05.19 at 20:31, August Abolins wrote to Paul Quinn:

[snip]

My theory on the garbage chars is maybe some sort of side-effect of, or
reaction to your OS.[shrug]

I originally used SEM in OS/2 with its builtin Windows support. Very smooth, no problems.

Ah yes, good old OS/2 :)

So I wonder - SEM may not be the best choice in today's
standalone 32/64bit Win OSes. But I'll see if the garbage chars
duplicate in an XP w/Fastecho combination.

I look forward to the results of your tests ;)

Regards,
Martin

--- OpenXP 5.0.39
* Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)

Hello Paul,

On 01.06.19, you wrote to August Abolins:

Have fun with your FastEcho config & XP! I never trusted XP much with my Fido stuff. Just a couple of utils (two!). I was always looking over my shoulder since it has two command processors. I.e. double the chance of screwing up. ;)

Heheh... This XP pc has two cores. It's interesting to watch dbPoweramp processing batch FLAC files. One file or music track will be depicted on one progress bar and another will be on another progress bar.

So far, XP has been performing quite well on this Thinkpad T60 (some specs in origin line) since acquiring it as a used machine in 2009 (by then, already about 3 years old).

Sadly, I will likely have to let go of Sempoint if/when I replace this aging T60 and XP in favor of a different PC with Win7/32.


../|ug

--- WinPoint Beta 5 (359.1)
* Origin: Thinkpad T60/T2400@1.83GHz/1400x1050/WinXP (2:221/1.59)

Hi! August,

On 06/02/2019 04:20 AM, you wrote:

Sadly, I will likely have to let go of Sempoint if/when I replace this
aging T60 and XP in favor of a different PC with Win7/32.

It hurts a little but it is progress. (My configurations are way too convoluted to make SemPoint a worthwhile object of desire again.) SemPoint should have had a bigger representation in Fidonet; it's a shame. In the longer run NNTP or GoldEd (FPD) are the goto apps.

Cheers,
Paul.

--- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.4.0
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

In a post between "Paul Quinn : August Abolins", on 6/1/2019 11:21 PM

Sadly, I will likely have to let go of Sempoint if/when I replace this
aging T60 and XP in favor of a different PC with Win7/32.

It hurts a little but it is progress. (My configurations are way too convoluted to make SemPoint a worthwhile object of desire again.)
SemPoint should have had a bigger representation in Fidonet; it's a
shame. In the longer run NNTP or GoldEd (FPD) are the goto apps.

NNTP is my "Go To" or "fallback" option. In the resent few days when I started to experience lockups and a couple of other issues with OXP when it would not toss the .PKTs, firing up Thunderbird and using NNTP allows me to catch up with missing echomail.

NNTP is a very fine solution for accessing echomail, but it does not add any so called BBS-experience.

I must have used Sempoint only briefly in Win-DOS mode on my OS/2. Because, I eventually discovered Fleetstreet reader for offline reading and stuck with that. FleetStreet was very fine.

--- Thunderbird 2.0.0.24 (Windows/20100228)
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

In a post between "Martin Foster : August Abolins", on 6/1/2019 6:28 AM

I originally used SEM in OS/2 with its builtin Windows support.
Very smooth, no problems.

Ah yes, good old OS/2 :)

I still have the "failed" hdd. But I think I still have a chance to fire it up long enough to copy key files and documents that I can still use to another drive. I bought a 2-drive "toaster" a couple of years ago just for that. I just haven't had the uninterrupted time I need to do it right the first time (and probably the only ONE time it might spin right.)

So I wonder - SEM may not be the best choice in today's
standalone 32/64bit Win OSes. But I'll see if the garbage chars duplicate in an XP w/Fastecho combination.

I look forward to the results of your tests ;)

Don't hold your breath. I have a couple of other fido projects on the go! LOL

--- Thunderbird 2.0.0.24 (Windows/20100228)
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

In a post between "Paul Quinn : Martin Foster", on 5/31/2019 7:05 PM

...I fired-up my
old node's vBox yesterday, and had a short play. SemPoint still
respected the GoldEd lastreads. It all still surprises me, since the ..msg/JAM messagebase is on my Linux server (remote PC).

SemPoint was/is performing in point mode (that is using tossed pkts) OK on your setup? What OS? and what did you use for tossing?

--- Thunderbird 2.0.0.24 (Windows/20100228)
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

Hi! August,

On 06/03/2019 10:03 AM, you wrote:

...I fired-up my
old node's vBox yesterday, and had a short play. SemPoint still
respected the GoldEd lastreads. It all still surprises me, since the
..msg/JAM messagebase is on my Linux server (remote PC).

SemPoint was/is performing in point mode (that is using tossed pkts) OK
on your setup? What OS? and what did you use for tossing?

Sysop mode. In Win98SE, using SAMBA provided network shares mapped to drive letters (except for its own drive, in its own vBox... for a reason which escapes me... ahh, just remembered: the Fidonet applications drive isn't replicated on the Linux server). SemPoint was used to this already on the old Windows LAN, and could execute in WinXP or Win98 vBoxes. The Linux shares provided the same facilities mapped to the same drives.

SemPoint performed well. The overall configuration is awkward to put it mildly: SemPoint<->Win98SE<->LAN<->Linux<->.msg/JAM messagebase. FMail provides the tosser function on the Linux server, and is a partial Linux port (Beta test - the configuration requires a Win32 util still). I don't intend to continue using SemPoint beyond simple tests.

Cheers,
Paul.

--- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.4.0
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)

Hello Paul!

** 03.06.19 - 09:39, Paul Quinn wrote to August Abolins:

SemPoint was/is performing in point mode (that is using tossed pkts) OK
on your setup? What OS? and what did you use for tossing?

SemPoint performed well. The overall configuration is awkward to put it
mildly: SemPoint<->Win98SE<->LAN<->Linux<->.msg/JAM messagebase. FMail
provides the tosser function on the Linux server, and is a partial Linux
port (Beta test - the configuration requires a Win32 util still). I don't
intend to continue using SemPoint beyond simple tests.

It is normal to network drives to each other and cross OS boundaries. In
an early home system, I ran a network share off an Ubuntu system and made
it available to the couple of WinXX pcs that I had at the time. I also experimented with the share attached to one of the WinXX pcs and made it avaiable for access from the Ubuntu pc. Worked great.

Martin and I concluded that Sempoint's JAM support is broken. Are you absolutely sure your test message bases are JAM? ..or did you just try
MSG for Sempoint testing?

I'm just wondering why JAM messagebases are cooperating for you, but not
for Martin and me.

Also, one of Martin's concerns was that it looks like Sempoint is adding "garbage characters" near the Origin line. You do not notice that in your set up?

But.. if you are using Fmail, that might explain many differences. You're
the only one who reports using Fmail. Maybe *that's* the difference?



../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.38
* Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)

Hi! August,

On 06/04/2019 01:40 AM, you wrote:

experimented with the share attached to one of the WinXX pcs and made it avaiable for access from the Ubuntu pc. Worked great.

Kewl. I did a lot of early work with a coaxial LAN between just two Win95/Win98 PCs, maybe even WFWG3.11.

Martin and I concluded that Sempoint's JAM support is broken. Are you absolutely sure your test message bases are JAM? ..or did you just try
MSG for Sempoint testing?

I'm still thinking it's SemPoint's 16-bitness in your modern Windows OSs, putting the use of any Windows compatibility or visualization aside. There was one .msg netmail area used along with a dozen-to-fifteen JAM areas (one of which might have been netmail, as well).

For simplicity, I went just for the areas SemPoint *already* knew the names of for the JAM files. Newly-created FMail areas and areas with long-ish Linux names were ignored. I stated that kind of wrongly, given your later thoughts.
All of the areas were created and maintained by FMail, with some using the same names as known to my Windows PCs.

My test post was from a JAM base for the FIDOTEST echo. It didn't succeed because I didn't put in enough time to sort out the weirdness with pathnames in the SemPoint config for semaphore files, so that my Linux script on the host could export it.

I'm just wondering why JAM messagebases are cooperating for you, but not
for Martin and me.

Modern OSs. I used to even have problems with my Win98SE vBox. SemPoint was the only program able to send netmail. In the vBox, GoldEd used to always screw up destination addresses... always.

Also, one of Martin's concerns was that it looks like Sempoint is adding "garbage characters" near the Origin line. You do not notice that in your set up?

Nope.

But.. if you are using Fmail, that might explain many differences. You're
the only one who reports using Fmail. Maybe *that's* the difference?

Don't even think about it. It's no good if you intend to run a NNTP server based off of it; it renumbers messages in JAM areas during maint. Besides which, it doesn't know about JAM netmail areas yet. And, it insists on extensively using a Hudson base.

If you were on good speaking terms with FastEcho, then stick with it. Or, if you're into sado-masochism then HPT. Did I say once that CM was the easiest? It's /known to work/ in XP... :)

Cheers,
Paul.

--- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.4.0
* Origin: - nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Lake Ylo - Finland - (2:221/360)