SOLAR v0.95.3 <> INSTALL.TXT

Table of Contents

 i. Introduction
 I. Overview of Solar
II. Installing Solar

i. Introduction

  Welcome to the Simple Off-Line Article Reading (SOLAR) system for DOS
  Waffle. Solar is a SOUP V1.2 compliant offline packet processor designed
  to enable off-line reading of Usenet news and Internet e-mail. Solar is
  designed to be tightly integrated with DOS Waffle 1.64 or 1.65 UUCP
  systems, but it is also modular and flexible enough to be used for SOUP
  processing under a variety of situations. This document addresses how to
  install and configure Solar with a DOS Waffle UUCP system. Hopefully,
  enough information is provided to enable custom configurations for Waffle
  and non-Waffle system configurations.

I. Overview of Solar

  Solar is a system of programs which work together as a single 'extern'
  under a Waffle. The programs included are :

    SOLAR.EXE -    serves as an interface which enables the user to make
                   use of the Solar system of programs. From here, a user
                   can manage newsgroup subscriptions and custom SOUP
                   packet options, as well as seamlessly execute the other
                   Solar programs to generate, process, upload, and download
                   SOUP packets.

                   [Upgrade note] Solar.exe no longer performs the function
                   of batching news and mail into SOUP packets. It is not
                   essential to the operation of the core Solar programs,
                   and could easily be replaced by custom front-end
                   software.

                   Detailed information about solar.exe can be found in
                   SOLAR.TXT.

    SLRNEWS.EXE -  processes a user's newsgroup subscription file according
                   to customizable parameters to create message files for
                   inclusion in a SOUP packet. Slrnews.exe is automatically
                   called by solar.exe as needed, but can also be used as a
                   stand-alone program.

                   Detailed information about slrnews.exe can be found in
                   SLRNEWS.TXT.

    SLRMAIL.EXE -  processes a user's electronic mailbox files according to
                   customizable parameters to create message files for
                   inclusion in a SOUP packet. Slrmail.exe is automatically
                   called by solar.exe as needed, but can also be used as a
                   stand-alone program.

                   Detailed information about slrmail.exe can be found in
                   SLRMAIL.TXT.

    SLRREPLY.EXE - processes SOUP reply packets provided by the user and
                   handles posting news and sending email. Slrreply.exe
                   is automatically called by solar.exe as needed, but it
                   can also be used as a stand-alone program.

                   Detailed information about slrreply.exe can be found in
                   SLRREPLY.TXT.

    SLRXFER.EXE -  is a packet transfer engine which uses external file
                   transfer protocols to send and receive SOUP packets.
                   Slrxfer.exe is automatically called by solar.exe in
                   FOSSIL driver mode, and is called as an extern by Waffle
                   in non-FOSSIL mode. It also can be used as a stand-alone
                   program. Slrxfer.exe also could easily be replaced by
                   custom software.

                   Detailed information about slrxfer.exe can be found in
                   SLRXFER.TXT.

    Slrcmd.exe -   handles processing commands from the SOUP V1.2
                   COMMANDS file which can be found in reply packets
                   provided by the user. Slrcmd.exe is automatically
                   called by solar.exe as needed, but is also can be
                   used as a stand-alone program.

                   Detailed information about slrcmd.exe can be found in
                   SLRCMD.TXT.

  In addition to the program files, several operational and configuration
  files are included in the distribution.

    INFO -         This file is optionally included in the SOUP packet
                   generated by Solar. The INFO file is a good place to
                   put system announcements an offline user might not
                   otherwise see. This file should be modified for the
                   local system before using Solar.

    INSTALL.TXT -  Instructions for installing Solar with DOS Waffle.

    LICENSE.TXT -  Licensing terms for Solar.

    MAILHEAD.DNY - Used by slrreply.exe to deny certain headers in email
                   messages in reply packets. This one is key to email
                   forgery security.

    MAILHEAD.ORD - Used by slrreply.exe to determine the order of headers
                   written to email messages.

    NEWSHEAD.DNY - Used by slrreply.exe to deny certain headers in news
                   messages in reply packets. This one is key to news
                   forgery security.

    NEWSHEAD.ORD - Used by slrreply.exe to determine the order of headers
                   written to news articles.

    README.1ST -   Release notes about this version of Solar.

    SOLAR.CFG -    Configuration file used by all Solar programs. The
                   information in this file MUST be modified for the local
                   system before using Solar.

    SOLAR.EXT -    Extern file used to invoke Solar from within Waffle.
                   This file MUST be modified for the local system before
                   using Solar.

    SOLARNEW -     A text file containing a message which is displayed to
                   first-time users of Solar. This file should be modified
                   for the local system before using Solar.

    SOURCE.ZIP -   Complete source code for Solar.



II. Installing Solar

  The Solar distribution should be located in a single directory. For the
  purposes of this document, the installation directory is assumed to be
  C:\WAFFLE\SOLAR95.

  Create the directory to which Solar will be installed.




  The system of programs works together by using Waffle's extern file
  command structure to achieve program chaining. Solar.exe manages the
  program chaining by creating a second extern file, called 'solar2',
  containing the appropriate command structure to carry out the action the
  user has requested. Under non-Waffle systems, or very custom setups,
  the program chaining can be managed by any other piece of software which
  can call Solar's programs in a logical order. Below is a simple flow
  chart of the logic used by solar.exe in calling the other Solar programs.

                             Solar.exe starts
                                     |
      +------------------> Solar menu and prompt
      |                              |
      |       +----------------------+-----------------------+
      |       |                      |                       |
      +-Admin functions         Batch packet            Reply packet
          (solar.exe)                |                       |
              |                 (slrmail.exe)           (slrxfer.exe)
              |                      |                       |
              |                 (slrnews.exe)           (slrreply.exe)
              |                      |                       |
              |                 (slrxfer.exe)           (slrcmd.exe)
              |                      |                       |
              |                      |                  (slrxfer.exe)
              +--------------------->+<----------------------+
                                     v
                                 Exit Solar


