binkpoint 0.9 user manual

This manual describes binkpoint 0.9 for Windows x64. More technical detail is in README.en.md in the download.

Overview

binkpoint is one executable binkpoint.exe for Windows x64 with everything a FidoNet/fsxNet point needs:

Mailer: calls the boss via binkp (CRAM-MD5 or plain-text password), receives mail and sends yours from the outbound.
Tosser: sorts received packets and ZIP bundles into JAM message bases (netmail, echo areas, bad, dupes).
Export (scanner/packer): packs your own unsent messages into packets for the boss.
Reader and editor (window): read, reply, write and delete messages; AreaFix; settings.

Several networks with their own boss each (e.g. FidoNet and fsxNet) live side by side in one configuration. The user interface is available in German and English.

Installation

Download binkpoint-0.9-win64.zip and compare the SHA-256 checksum.
Create a folder, e.g. C:\binkpoint, and extract the ZIP into it: binkpoint.exe, binkpoint.cfg.example, README.md, README.en.md, AENDERUNGEN.txt, CHANGES.txt.
Create subfolders for mail and message bases, e.g. C:\binkpoint\in\fsx, C:\binkpoint\out\fsx and C:\binkpoint\jam.
Copy binkpoint.cfg.example to binkpoint.cfg and edit it (see First setup; the comments in the example are in German, the keys are the same).
Create a shortcut to binkpoint.exe with C:\binkpoint as the working folder, because without -c binkpoint reads binkpoint.cfg from the current directory.

There is no installer and no registry entries. To update, just replace binkpoint.exe; binkpoint.cfg, binkpoint.ini and the message bases stay. Making a backup first never hurts.

First setup

The configuration lives in the text file binkpoint.cfg (format key=value). Values before the first section are global defaults; each [boss NAME] section describes one network with its boss and overrides the defaults. Comments start with # or ; and only count as whole lines. A minimal example for an fsxNet point (addresses, host and password are placeholders – you get the real values from your boss):

# binkpoint.cfg – example (comments only as whole lines with # or ;)
# Global defaults before the first [boss ...] section
sysop=First Last
system=My Point
language=auto
badarea=C:\binkpoint\jam\bad
dupearea=C:\binkpoint\jam\dupes
dupedb=C:\binkpoint\bptoss.dup

[boss fsx]
netname=fsxNet
address=21:1/177.NNN@fsxnet
boss_host=bbs.example.net
boss_port=24554
boss_address=21:1/177@fsxnet
password=SESSIONPASSWORD
cram=required
inbound=C:\binkpoint\in\fsx
outbound=C:\binkpoint\out\fsx
netmail=C:\binkpoint\jam\net_fsx
echoarea=FSX_GEN  C:\binkpoint\jam\fsx_gen
autopoll=off 30m

For another network (e.g. FidoNet) add a second section [boss fido] with its own address, boss and directories. Limits: at most 16 sections, values up to 255 characters, file up to 16 KB.

Then start binkpoint.exe. The networks and their areas appear on the left. From now on boss, host, port, password, paths, auto-poll, name and origin can be changed conveniently in the settings dialog.

Settings dialog (F9)

Mail → Settings … (F9) or the Settings button opens "Settings – boss/server & auto-poll". Choose the boss (section) at the top. Per boss:

own address (AKA), boss address, boss host and port (empty = 24554)
login: CRAM-MD5 if offered / CRAM-MD5 only (cram=required) / plain text (cram=no)
auto-poll on/off and interval in minutes or hours
inbound, outbound and netmail path, network name
AreaFix name and AreaFix password, "create new echo areas automatically" and "take over bad messages"
new session password: the stored password is never shown (only "stored (never displayed)" or "no password stored"). The field is empty and masked; leaving it empty keeps the password.
Sprache / Language: Automatic, Deutsch, English (takes effect after a restart)

New boss … adds a section, Delete boss removes it after confirmation (the last boss stays). Input is validated: FidoNet addresses zone:net/node[.point][@domain], port 1–65535, host without spaces or special characters.

When saving, binkpoint rewrites only the changed lines of binkpoint.cfg; comments, blank lines and all other lines are kept. Host, port and password apply from the next poll, name and origin immediately. New or deleted bosses appear in the tree after a restart.

Not in the dialog but in a text editor: echo areas (echoarea=), pkt_password, outmode/pack and the other global values (e.g. badarea, dupearea). Such changes take effect after restarting binkpoint.

Sysop name and origin per boss

The right-hand column of the settings dialog, "Sysop – defaults for all bosses", holds Name (sysop=) and Origin text (system=). They apply to every boss without its own values.

Below, per boss: with the check box Use own name/origin the selected boss gets its own values (sysop=/system= in its section). Unchecked, the defaults apply. That way you can, for example, write with your full name in FidoNet and with a different origin in fsxNet.

Name and origin are used as the sender of new echomail, netmail and AreaFix requests, in the origin line and in the binkp login – immediately after Save, no restart. Rules: ASCII only, name at most 35 characters. The origin line * Origin: text (AKA) must not exceed 79 characters, so the text may be at most 79 − 14 − length of the AKA (52 characters for 21:1/177.101). The dialog shows the limit and refuses to save longer texts.

Polling and auto-poll

A mail cycle is always export → poll → toss: pack your messages, call the boss (send and receive), toss the received mail into the areas. Afterwards counters and list are reloaded, so new mail shows up immediately.

Mail → Poll now (F6): the boss of the network of the selected area
Mail → Poll all bosses (Shift+F6)
Mail → Toss (F7) and Mail → Export (scan) (F8) separately

At most one cycle runs at a time; another command is refused with a note. A running cycle cannot be cancelled.

Auto-poll is switched on per boss in the settings dialog (1 minute to 7 days). The first automatic poll happens one interval after program start, then one interval after the end of the previous cycle. A due auto-poll waits until a running cycle has finished. The poll line above the log shows for each boss on/off, interval, next time and the last result (OK, network error, rejected (password/M_ERR), busy, JAM locked …).

The main window

Left, the tree: networks (name and AKA) with netmail and echo areas, below "Local" with Bad (unknown areas) and Dupes. In brackets (unread/total); areas with unread mail are bold.
Top right, the list No./From/To/Subject/Date. Clicking a column header sorts by it (again = descending); an arrow shows column and direction. Unread is white, read grey, your own unsent messages yellow.
Bottom right, the reader with its header (From with address, To, Subject, Date, notes such as [local, not sent]).
The splitters can be moved with the mouse. Menus File, Message, Mail, View, Help, toolbar and status bar (AKA, area with counters, messages).
Help → About binkpoint shows version, contact and the JAM notice.

Window position and size, splitters, column widths, sorting, reader font and log visibility are saved on exit in binkpoint.ini (next to the cfg) and restored on start. If the window is no longer on any screen (e.g. second monitor unplugged), binkpoint uses the default position.

Reading messages, ANSI

The reader shows the message in an 80-column grid with a fixed-width font in the CP437 character set (umlauts, box and block characters) and interprets ANSI colours and cursor commands – ANSI art and BBS ads look the way they do in a terminal. Quotes are yellow, tearline and origin green.

Kludges (MSGID, REPLY, PID, SEEN-BY, PATH …) are hidden by default; View → Show kludges (Ctrl+K) shows them in grey.
Scrolling: mouse wheel, scroll bar, arrow, Page Up/Down, Home/End keys. Space pages through the message and jumps to the next unread one at the end. Ctrl+U goes straight to the next unread message, Ctrl+G marks the whole area as read.
Font size: the font adapts automatically so that 80 columns fill the reader width. Ctrl+mouse wheel or Ctrl+Plus/Ctrl+Minus set it by hand, Ctrl+0 returns to automatic fitting.
Long text lines are wrapped at the last space before column 80; lines with ANSI or block graphics stay unchanged.
binkpoint remembers what you have read in the .jlr files of the JAM bases.

Writing netmail and echomail

Ctrl+N – new echomail in the selected area.
Ctrl+M – new netmail: enter the recipient's name and address. The zone of the destination address picks network, netmail area and sender AKA (e.g. zone 21 → fsxNet, zone 2 → FidoNet).
Ctrl+R – reply: the recipient is the sender, "Re:" is added once, the text is quoted with initials ( AB> ); kludges, SEEN-BY, tearline and origin are not quoted. A reply to netmail goes to the sender's address.
Ctrl+S saves, Esc discards (with confirmation).

Saved messages are local, not sent at first (yellow in the list). They go out with the next export – Export (F8), Poll now (F6) or auto-poll. Echomail automatically gets a tearline and origin line.

Echo areas / AreaFix

Echo areas are ordered from the boss by AreaFix netmail. Mail → Areas / AreaFix … (Ctrl+E, Areas button) opens the "Echo areas / AreaFix" window:

Choose the boss; the list shows tag, description, status at the boss and whether the area is configured locally.
Buttons append commands to the freely editable request field: List (%LIST), Linked (%LINKED), Help (%HELP), Rescan (%RESCAN, optionally R=n), Subscribe (+TAG, with the "with rescan" box +TAG,R=n), Unsubscribe (-TAG).
Create netmail writes the request as a private netmail to AreaFix at the boss (subject = AreaFix password, syntax as used by Mystic BBS). Create & poll then runs export → poll → toss right away.
The boss's replies are evaluated after every poll/toss and the list is updated (cached in areas_<boss>.lst).
When echomail for a new area then arrives from the boss, binkpoint creates the area itself (an echoarea= line in the boss's section and a new JAM base) and tosses into it; messages of that area already tossed to Bad are taken over. The tree is updated without a restart. Switch off with autocreate=no or movebad=no.
When you unsubscribe a locally configured area, binkpoint asks whether to remove its echoarea= line; the JAM base itself is kept.
The AreaFix password never appears: subjects of AreaFix netmails are shown as ********.

Deleting messages

Select one or more messages in the list (Shift/Ctrl + click or arrow keys), then press Del, use Message → Delete … or the context menu Delete. After the confirmation ("Delete 3 messages?", Yes/No) the messages are marked deleted the same way smapi/GoldED do it and are hidden; deleted messages are never exported. They are removed for good only when the base is packed with an external tool (e.g. husky sqpack). There is no undo.

Selecting and copying text, links

Select: drag with the mouse button held down; dragging past the edge of the reader scrolls along. Double-click selects a word, Shift+click extends the selection, a click without dragging clears it.
Copy: Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert, select all with Ctrl+A (the reader needs the focus – click into the text once). Unicode text is copied: umlauts, ß and box characters stay correct, ANSI control codes are not copied. Lines wrapped by the reader are joined back into one line.
Context menu (right mouse button, Shift+F10, menu key): Copy, Select all; over a link also Open link and Copy link.
Links: http://, https://, ftp://, telnet://, mailto: and www. in the message text are shown underlined (not in kludges). A single click opens the link with the Windows default program; www. is opened as https://www.. Other schemes such as file:// or program names are never opened. If no program is registered for a scheme (e.g. telnet:), a message box shows the URL.

Log and status line

The log pane is hidden on first start. View → Show log (Ctrl+L) shows it; it lists the messages of poll, toss and export. The poll line above shows the auto-poll state of each boss, and "» running: …" during a cycle. binkpoint does not write a log file of its own; on the command line the output can be redirected to a file.

Keyboard shortcuts

Key	Function
`F5`	Reload
`Ctrl`+`Q`	Exit
`Ctrl`+`N`	New message (echomail) in the selected area
`Ctrl`+`M`	New netmail
`Ctrl`+`R`	Reply
`Ctrl`+`G`	Mark area as read
`Ctrl`+`U`	Next unread message
`Del`	Delete the selected message(s) (with confirmation)
`Space`	Page through the reader; at the end go to the next unread
`Ctrl`+`K`	Show/hide kludges
`Ctrl`+`L`	Show/hide the log pane
`F6`	Poll now (boss of the network of the selected area)
`Shift`+`F6`	Poll all bosses
`F7`	Toss
`F8`	Export (scan)
`F9`	Settings
`Ctrl`+`E`	Echo areas / AreaFix
`Ctrl`+`A`	Reader: select all
`Ctrl`+`C`	Reader: copy selection (also Ctrl+Insert)
`Shift`+`F10`	Context menu (also right mouse button or menu key)
`Ctrl`+`Plus`	Larger reader font (also Ctrl+mouse wheel)
`Ctrl`+`Minus`	Smaller reader font
`Ctrl`+`0`	Fit the reader font to the window width again
`Ctrl`+`S`	Compose window: save
`Esc`	Compose window: discard (with confirmation)

Command line

binkpoint.exe [-c config]                      window (reader, mail menu, auto-poll)
binkpoint.exe [-c config] [-a AREA] [-m NO]    window, preselect area/message
binkpoint.exe [-c config] poll [boss|all]      call the boss(es)
binkpoint.exe [-c config] toss                 toss the inbounds
binkpoint.exe [-c config] scan [boss]          export your own messages
binkpoint.exe [-c config] all  [boss]          export, poll, toss in sequence
binkpoint.exe [-c config] areafix boss "%LIST;+TAG;-TAG"   write an AreaFix request
binkpoint.exe [-c config] areas boss           evaluate AreaFix replies
binkpoint.exe -lang de|en ...                  language of this call

-a takes an echo tag, NETMAIL.<section>, BAD or DUPES. Without -c, binkpoint.cfg in the current directory is used. For scheduled tasks or scripts: cmd.exe does not wait for window programs – use start /wait binkpoint.exe … or redirect the output so that %ERRORLEVEL% is right.

Exit codes: 0 ok · 1 configuration/unknown command · 2 network/timeout · 3 M_ERR (e.g. wrong password) · 4 boss busy (M_BSY or .bsy) · 5 protocol/file/packet · 6 JAM locked.

Configuration keys

Key	Meaning
`address`	your own point address (AKA), e.g. `21:1/177.NNN@fsxnet`. Without `@domain`: zone 21 → `@fsxnet`, otherwise `@fidonet`
`boss_host`, `boss_port`	host/IP and port of the boss (default 24554)
`boss_address`	FTN address of the boss
`password`	session password (never shown). Empty = unsecured session
`cram`	`no` = plain-text password; `required` = CRAM-MD5 only; otherwise CRAM-MD5 if the boss offers it
`inbound`, `outbound`	inbound/outbound directory (separate directories per network recommended)
`netmail`	JAM base for this network's netmail (path without extension)
`echoarea`	`echoarea=TAG path` – any number; tags must be unique. Inside a section: the area belongs to that network
`sysop`	name (sender). Global = default, inside a section = this boss only. ASCII only, max. 35 characters. Default `Sysop`
`system`	origin text ( `* Origin: <system> (<AKA>)`). Global = default, inside a section = this boss only. Default `binkpoint`
`location`	location sent in the binkp login
`pkt_password`	packet password for packets from the boss (empty = not checked)
`badarea`, `dupearea`	(global) JAM bases for unknown areas and dupes; `dupearea` is required unless `dupemode=drop`
`dupemode`, `dupedb`	`drop` = discard dupes; file of the dupe database (default `bptoss.dup`)
`outmode`	`bso` (default, Binkley Style Outbound) or `plain`
`pack`	`pkt` (default, loose packets) or `zip` (ArcMail bundle)
`bso_zone`	default zone of the BSO (default: zone of your own address)
`echo_path`	`no` (default) or `boss` (PATH line with the boss)
`autopoll`	`30m`, `2h`, `1d`, `off` (default) or `off 30m`; 1 minute to 7 days
`language`	(global) `de`, `en` or `auto` (Windows display language)
`netname`	display name of the network in the tree
`areafix_name`, `areafix_password`	recipient (default `AreaFix`) and password (= subject) of AreaFix requests
`areafix_query`	command for "Linked", default `%LINKED`
`autocreate`, `movebad`	`yes`/`no` (both default `yes`): create new areas from the boss, take over existing bad messages
`areadir`	directory for new JAM bases (default: directory of `netmail`, otherwise of `badarea`)

Almost every key can be global (as a default) or inside a [boss NAME] section. Without sections the whole file counts as a single boss. A commented template is binkpoint.cfg.example in the download.

binkpoint's files

File	Contents
`binkpoint.cfg`	configuration (text editor or settings dialog)
`binkpoint.ini`	window settings, next to the cfg; delete it to get the defaults
`.jhr`, `.jdt`, `.jdx`, `.jlr`	JAM message bases (created on demand); `.jlr` = lastread
`areas_<boss>.lst`	cached AreaFix list per boss
`bptoss.dup`	dupe database (name via `dupedb=`)
`bpjam.lck`	lock file during JAM access; deletes itself
`<inbound>\tossed\`	tossed packets and bundles (never deleted)

Troubleshooting

Poll: "rejected (password/M_ERR)": Session password, own address or boss address do not match. Enter a new password in the settings dialog; with cram=required check that the boss offers CRAM-MD5.
Poll: network error: Wrong host or port, no connection or a firewall. Check host/port in the settings dialog.
Poll: "busy (M_BSY/.bsy)": Another process has locked the boss's outbound (.bsy file). binkpoint removes orphaned .bsy files older than 3 hours itself.
"JAM locked": Another program (or a running toss) is writing to the message bases. Wait a moment and try again.
*.bad file in the inbound: A packet or bundle was broken or unreadable; nothing was tossed from it and nothing was deleted. If a packet only became .bad because of a lock, rename it back by hand and toss again.
Messages end up in "Bad": The area is not configured as echoarea=. New areas coming from the boss are created by binkpoint itself (autocreate=yes); otherwise add the line by hand.
Your own message stays yellow: It has not been exported yet: press F8 or F6.
A new boss or language does not show up: New/deleted bosses and a changed language take effect after a restart.
Clicking a link shows an error: No program is registered in Windows for this scheme (e.g. telnet:). Use Copy link and open it in a suitable program.
The window has vanished or is too large: binkpoint brings it back onto the screen on start. Otherwise delete binkpoint.ini.

Limits of this version

Early test version – please back up your configuration and message bases.
No resume of interrupted transfers, no binkp/1.1 extensions, no encryption, no file requests.
No search, no file attachments, no printing, no moving of messages, no packing of message bases.
No tray icon, no start with Windows, no poll at program start.
Changing the language needs a restart; names and origin ASCII only.
Bundles in ZIP format only; ARJ, LHA, ARC, RAR etc. are left untouched in the inbound.

JAM notice

binkpoint reads and writes message bases in the JAM format. The JAM specification (JAM-001) requires this notice in the documentation (verbatim; also in Help → About binkpoint):

JAM(mbp) - Copyright 1993 Joaquim Homrighausen, Andrew Milner, Mats Birch, Mats Wallin.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Questions and bug reports: Michael Geller, michael@g00r00.com, FidoNet/fsxNet BBS 21:1/177.