










                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     ĿĿ
                      Ŀ  Ŀ ĿĿĿĿ
                          Ŀ      Ŀ 
                      ٳ ٳ          
                               
                     
                            Professional Point System
                     

                       Copyright (c) 1994 Harvey Parisien
                  Box 8375, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada  K1G 3H8

                                FidoNet 1:249/114



                              U S E R S   G U I D E





















                                   P P o i n t

                         An FTS compatible e-mail system


                              U S E R S   G U I D E


                        Copyright (c) 1994 Harvey Parisien
                  Box 8375, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada  K1G 3H8

                                FidoNet: 1:249/114
                           Internet: parisien@alcuf.ca

                            PPoint - Copyright (C) 1994, Harvey Parisien



                                 OPERATING PPOINT

         To run PPoint, enter PPOINT at a DOS prompt, or select it from
         a system menu.  You will first see a title screen, (or password
         prompt if that feature is implemented) and then the main
         pulldown menu interface.

         If your system is just being installed, it will prompt you for
         setup information like your name, email address, etc.  Details
         on setup are provided at the end of this document under SETUP
         INSTRUCTIONS.

         The use of pulldown menus has been implemented to organize your
         access to various functions at different times, and to organize
         them into separate related areas.

         The first pulldown menu is the set of functions that relate to
         HOST connections, and management.  The next pulldown menu
         contains functions related to MAIL management.  This is the
         menu you first arrive on when you run PPoint, since it's the
         area most commonly used.  The other two menus are OPTIONS,
         where some not so common functions are made available.  The
         Setup menu contains all of the various user definable options,
         and settings required to operate and maintain PPoint.


                             A TYPICAL PPOINT SESSION

         A typical PPoint session might start where you would choose
         HOST TRANSFER on the HOST pulldown menu.  This will transfer
         any outstanding mail created by your system to your Host, and
         process any incoming mail or files from your Host.  Your system
         automatically dials your Host, connects, and transfers
         information.  It is not necessary to have mail to send in order
         to connect to your host.  You can Poll for mail when ever you
         wish to see if there is any new mail or files waiting for you
         on the host system.

         At this point, you have the option to set a timer to Poll at a
         future time.  You can just press enter to continue to Poll now.

             If you choose to use the timer, the screen will display the
             Poll time, and current time.  Pressing Esc aborts the Poll,
             any other key starts immediately.  After 60 seconds (or
             pressing the space bar) of waiting, the screen will blank,
             all except for the timer display.  If you use the Timer,
             then after the Poll is completed the screen will go blank
             again after 60 seconds, to preserve your hardware.


                                      - 1 -

                            PPoint - Copyright (C) 1994, Harvey Parisien




         When a Host transfer is complete, and if you have received
         mail, you will find yourself on the MAIL pulldown menu, on the
         selection READ NEW MAIL.  This is the next logical choice you
         would make when mail is received.  If there was no mail, you
         will remain on the HOST transfer selection.  In addition, if
         you received files, there will be a blinking message at the
         bottom left of your screen informing you.

         By selecting READ YOUR NEW MAIL, the system checks all message
         areas for mail addressed to you.  You can check your whole
         message database, or just UNREAD mail.  When you are finished
         reading and/or replying to your mail, you will return to the
         pulldown menus.

         The READ YOUR NEW MAIL system works the same as The FIND & READ
         MESSAGES function.  This allows you to search one or all
         message areas for a match to any search text in the message
         header (the To, From, and Subject fields), or complete message.
         Once a FIND/SEARCH has been requested, just use the normal keys
         to review all finds ie: Right Arrow Key or ENTER causes a FIND
         AGAIN.

         When you run PPoint you will normally be sitting on the SELECT
         MESSAGE AREA menu prompt.  This displays a list of all the
         current message areas, or sometimes called conferences, on the
         system.  PPoint will bring you to the area selected, where you
         can use the following keys to READ, REPLY TO, or ENTER mail.
         From this point you will be able to list and/or change areas at
         any time by pressing A.  You can list all messages in this area
         by pressing M, as well as export or print messages, etc.  This
         chart shows all active command keys and their functions...

         Online help has been implemented throughout the system.  You
         can press F1 for help any time.  To create an up-to-date User
         Reference Guide, press F1 for a help screen.  Select  Help
         Index  and select the last choice which is Print User Reference
         Guide.  This will print a complete function by function guide
         to running PPoint.  This guide contains the complete contents
         of your online Help System.










                                      - 2 -

                            PPoint - Copyright (C) 1994, Harvey Parisien



                       OPERATIONAL KEYS IN THE READING AREA


             Basic Navigation:

                 A=Display the AREAS LIST (or Del)
                 M=Display a MESSAGE LIST (or Ins)
                 Right/Left Arrow keys=move to next or previous messages
                 PgDn=page down one screen at a time to the bottom of a
                 message
                 Home=Go to the First message in the current area.
                 End=Go to the Last message in the current area.
                 The Esc key or Mouse Button 2 exits this area.


             Editing:

                 R=Reply to the current message.
                 E=Enter a message.
                 C=Change/Edit a message (only if it was from you).
                 K=Kill the current message, K toggles Delete on/off.
                 P toggles Private on/off.


             Other keys:

                 ENTER=like PgDn but will go to the next message when at
                 the bottom of a message.
                 F=Find messages based on search text match.
                 +=Initiate a Find based on Subject.
                 Space Bar=Mark messages on the message list
                 Space Bar=moves to Marked messages, in the reading area
                 Ctrl and E=Export current message to a text file.
                 Ctrl and P=Print current message.
                 Ctrl and R=Resends a message (only if it was from you).
                 Ctrl and S=Toggle internal network addressing
                 information.
                 Ctrl and F=Forward or Move the current message to any
                 area.
                 Alt and F=Freeze Message (can't be deleted or packed)
                 F10 SHELLS TO DOS (and clears the screen).









                                      - 3 -

                            PPoint - Copyright (C) 1994, Harvey Parisien



                                   Misc Topics

         For details on topics not covered here, create an up-to-date
         User Reference Guide as described earlier in this guide.


                                  Sending Files

         To send a file (sometimes called a file attach), enter a
         netmail message to the User who is to receive the file and
         then, on the subject line of the message, put the following
         information...

                           /SEND c:\trash\oldstuff.lzh

         ... and the file will be sent.  Notice the forward slash and no
         space after it, followed by the send command followed by a
         space, and then the full drive:\path\filename.ext of the file
         as it appears on your system.  The person who receives the file
         will only see the file name on his/her subject line, excluding
         your path information.


                              OPTIONAL ADDRESS BOOK

         If you have an address book in place (the system creates this
         for you) it can be accessed by pressing F4 when you are
         ENTERING a message, and placing text in the TO: field.  Your
         address book is built by the system.  Every time you enter a
         NETMAIL message, it prompts you as to whether or not you would
         like to add the current entry to the address book.  It will
         only prompt you for entries that do not currently exist.  This
         way you build an address book while you use the system, as
         opposed to sitting down and typing in 50 names.  You can
         however add to your address book manually, see online help or
         your reference manual for details.


                          Setup Instructions <from a disk>

         Place disk in drive A: (or B:)
         Type A: (or B:) then press ENTER.
         Type SETUP then press ENTER.

         The setup program will automatically suggest where to install
         ppoint, and prompt you to proceed.  Once the installation is
         finished, it will prompt you to run PPOINT by pressing ENTER.
         Press ENTER, and PPoint will continue it's setup process and


                                      - 4 -

                            PPoint - Copyright (C) 1994, Harvey Parisien



         ask the following questions:

                                Setup Questions

         1) Is this a POINT setup or QWK setup.  Choose POINT unless you
         are connecting to a QWK specific host or network.  If you do
         not know, choose POINT.

         2) Do you want a FAST setup?... Answer YES to this.  A more
         detailed setup is not necessary, and can always be modified
         later using the SETUP menu on your pulldown menus.

         3) Your First and Last name?  This will be your name as
         presented in all your outgoing mail, and the name you expect to
         receive mail to.

         4) Your point address (Zone:Network/Node{.Point}) ie: 1:20/30.1

         Enter this address:  _________________________

         5) Your BOSS ROUTE address (Zone:Network/Node).  Press ENTER to
         accept the suggested address, or enter a route address if this
         was requested by your host.

         6) Your Origin line?  This is your own personal system title
         line which shows in each message.  Press ENTER to accept the
         default, or be creative and enter something else.

         7) Your Serial Com Port?  This is the communications port your
         modem is connected to.

         8) Your Modems Baud Rate?  This should be the fastest speed
         which your modem can support (only enter valid speeds suggested
         at the prompt in this section).

         9) Your Phone line type Tone or Pulse?  Default is T.

         10) Your Host phone number?  This should be exactly the way you
         would have to dial it if it were a manual call.

         Enter this number:  __________________________

         11) Your Host session password: __________________


         Further setup parameters can be modified from your pulldown
         menus under the section called SETUP.  You might want to change
         your text editor, or identify the type of printer you are
         connected to.

         NOTE: Information on blank lines is provided by your HOST.

                                      - 5 -