Rod and I both receive a lot of mail concerning QWKRR and seem to answer the same questions many times. I've gathered as many questions and answers as I could find. I hope you find this informative and useful.

I recently found a message that had 2 uuencoded files in it.... upon trying to decode them it seemed I could only to decode the first one.

You can't. At least not with QWKRR. You can export the file and use ACE, as I believe this will decode multiple uuencodes, OR you can do what I usually do.. export the message, then either "reply" to it, or enter a new message. Import the message just exported, then export again.. At the prompt, select <D>ecode. After the first file is decoded, cursor down to the "begin" at the start of the uuencode, then simply change one of the letters (change it to whatever you like, the idea is to make sure it is anything BUT "begin". When you've done this, export the message again, and this time, all being well you will get a prompt to decode the second file. Repeat this for any other uuencodes in the message. When done, simply abort your reply/message.

It is FAR quicker and easier to do than it is to explain.

The version I downloaded was 2.2 and I could not get it to work with Blue Wave.

You won't find any version of QWKRR, or pretty well any other QWK mail reader (no matter what the platform) that will read Bluewave packets (excepting the BlueWave OLR itself). They are two entirely different mail formats.

All the messages I've seen lately show QWKRR versions 5.10.

What's the difference? Is there a new version of QWKRR out?

Yes! Version 5.10 was released on 6 July, 1997. You can learn more about it on the QWKRR128 Home Page

How long are you away from releasing a higher version?

I am no longer working on QWKRR, but as it was released under the GNU license you (or someone else) can work on it and release different versions. However, your release must also be under the GNU license with the source code available for others.

I was un-aware that I needed rego codes for each name that is used...

Yes. I know this can be seen as a disadvantage, but it does make for an almost foolproof method of "protection", and it is this name dependency that makes it possible for me to make all releases suitable for registered and unregistered users, thus allowing a totally free upgrade path.

*** Note: QWKRR is now free. ***

[From a user on GEnie] I have a copy of QWKRR128 and saw that you use this for your mail. I read your info on how it's used, and was wondering how to receive my mail in the "packets" that you mentioned?

You can't do this on Genie, unless Genie has a full Unix set up that allows you to compile UNIX programs. I kinda doubt that it does.

Most users get their QWK mail packets from BBS's that have something called mail doors (or a mail utility) that takes the mail and puts it into a format called QWK. This creates two files (messages.dat and control.dat) which are then compressed with either ARC or ZIP. There are Commodore programs to unarc or unzip the files. The QWK reader (in this case QWKRR128), is then used to read the mail.

If you would like to really see QWKRR working, d/l the QWKRR5-5.SFX file and make sure you have NZP12819.SFX (UNZIP128). There's a tutorial in there on how to go about reading the enclosed mail packet. The mail packet that's included is a real QWK packet and is archived (it's ZIPped) so new users can follow all the steps of unarchiving and such and read the documentation in that format. It's kinda cool and was heaps of hard work.

Another method of getting mail this way is by using a BBS. Have you ever checked out the Commodore Fidonet echos? There's a lot of great people in there, and you can find those echos on many Bulletin Boards around the world.

How do you use QWKRR with a UNIX system to read your Email and the Newsgroups offline?

I get my mail in this format by using a Unix utility called UQWK. I had to go find it on the Internet, (ftp.gte.com:/pub/uqwk), dissolve it on my home directory and then compile it so it would run on my Internet provider. I lost a heap of Email at first but I finally did get everything working ok. It wasn't very easy at all and I tried to help someone set it up on their system, but they weren't very good at either reading or following directions, so it took them awhile to get it working too. It really isn't for the faint of heart or new UNIX users - in terms of installing it, but many systems already have it available or you can ask your System administrator to install it for you.

C= Hacking Issue #13 has an article about using QWKRR and UQWK to read Email and Newsgroups.

I have problems uploading a reply file. I "Z"ipped it and I can not to save my soul, Upload it to my BBS.

Since you are (apparently) downloading your mail in ARC format, I suggest you set up and use QPA to ARC your replies, rather than ZIP. (Once set up, it is no more difficult to use than the inbuilt ZIP, and has other advantages). Some BBS's don't automatically detect the archive type when uploading, but most do.

Having said that, the ZIP routines built into QWKRR is the same as the ZIP routines for QWKie (we both obtained the information from the same source), so if you've had no problems with QWKie's replies then you should have no problem with QWKRR's... except for ONE difference.. QWKie (as far as I know), will always save the reply filename in lower case.. QWKRR on the other hand, saves it in the same casing as the original text.. this could be either upper or lower case. There have been several Desterm users that didn't realise this, and they forget to use the shift key when typing in the filename at the upload prompt... I suspect this MAY be your problem.

I used to use my REU for de-arcing the messages.dat file [when using QWKie]. Can you give me some instructions on using the REU to dissolve mail for QWKRR?

QWKRR is very RAMDOS unfriendly. Unlike QWKie, QWKRR currently doesn't use the REU in any way at all. Although there is no reason why you can't continue to use your REU for dissolving the mail packets, you will need to copy them to a regular drive for QWKRR to use.

I would love to use the REU 'because it is fast.

But of limited capacity, compared to say a RAMlink (which is just as fast), or a 1581.

Why would I need to use the Maximus Kludge option found in QPX and QPE?

The Kludge is only really required for Desterm users, using Ymodem transfers from a maximus BBS. Under *some* conditions, generally only with Ramlink users, the file gets prematurely ended, with only two null bytes at the end of the file, rather than the usual three.. This tends to confuse the Ramlinks version of JiffyDos, that *may* cause a corruption. The kludge merely adds the missing null byte to the end of the file.

Unless you have a Ramlink, then I very much doubt the problem will affect you - Even before I isolated the problem, the bug only struck every 100 or so packets, and this was using it with all conditions fulfilled.

How do I send Email?

First, ensure your system allows you to send Email. Next, determine the conference that's used to send Email, and any special text YOUR particular system requires. This varies depending on the BBS. Most systems allow you to type the required text on the FIRST line of of the message.

Known BBS formats include:

Qmail, Maximus, QSO/TBBS: To:<address>
EZQ and UQWK: To: <address>
Cam mail: @><address>
Tomcat: -><address>
Rosemail: (<address>)

When setting up the Email conference in the Options menu, add the text required for your BBS, replacing <address> with an asterisk (*). The text will auto-magically be placed on the FIRST line of the message.