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ref:fidonet_glossary [2018/03/01 12:11] – Links to util:binkit changed to module:binkit digital man | ref:fidonet_glossary [2020/04/22 18:18] – [AreaFix/Area Manager] mortifis | ||
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This is our glossary of technical terms specific to FidoNet. | This is our glossary of technical terms specific to FidoNet. | ||
- | ==== FTN ==== | + | ===== AKA ===== |
- | FidoNet Technology Network: Any network using FidoNet standards | + | AKAs are additional/ |
- | mail packets, mail sessions, node lists, etc. | + | |
- | ==== Zones, Nets, Nodes, | + | If a node belongs to multiple FTN networks (e.g. FidoNet |
- | FTN node addresses are like phone numbers, they are made up of multiple | + | |
- | components | + | |
- | The main four components are: zone, net, node, and point. | + | ===== Area ===== |
- | Each component is specified by a decimal (base-10) number, separated by symbols | + | |
- | (no spaces): | + | |
- | Zone:Net/Node.Point | + | A FidoNet //Area// may refer to a networked message area (a.k.a. " |
- | The zone represents the continent (if FidoNet) or the network number (if other | + | ===== AreaFix/ |
- | FTN network). All FidoNet nodes in North America have a zone 1 address. When | + | |
- | the zone is specified in an address, it is the first component and must be | + | |
- | followed by a colon. If the zone is not present in an address, the local | + | |
- | system' | + | |
- | The net represents the network number of the FTN node. Duplicate net numbers | + | AreaFix is a synonym for area manager (the very first FTN area manager |
- | may exist between zones. If the net number is not present, the local system' | + | program was called " |
- | net is assumed. | + | of areas, changing compression type, etc) are built into SBBSecho, so therefore |
+ | no external area manager program is required. If you are not an FTN hub, then | ||
+ | the area manager portion of SBBSecho will probably not get much use on your | ||
+ | system. The Area Manager process has also been called a " | ||
- | The node number specifies an exact FTN node within a network. The node number | + | ===== AreaTag ===== |
- | is the only required element of an FTN node address. | + | |
- | The point is an optional component which specifies a sub-node that does not | + | |
- | directly receive mail and is also not listed in the main FTN node list, but | + | |
- | instead gets all its mail from its boss-node (zone: | + | |
- | is not specified, 0 (zero) is assumed (i.e. '' | + | |
- | which indicates the system with that address is **not** a point node. | + | |
- | Zones can be grouped into named domains | + | A FidoNet //AreaTag// is a unique area identifier made of up to 35 US-ASCII (traditionally, |
- | are pretty rarely used in the twenty-first century. | + | ===== Attach or FLO Mailer? ===== |
- | A 2D (2 dimensional) address refers | + | If you are using FrontDoor, InterMail, D' |
- | net and node numbers (e.g. '' | + | ArcMail *.MSG attach-style mailer, you are using what we will refer to as an |
+ | " | ||
- | A 3D (3 dimensional) address refers to an FTN address containing the zone, | + | If you are using BinkD (Binkley daemon), Argus/ |
- | net, and node numbers | + | |
- | if it exists. | + | |
- | A 4D (4 dimensional) address refers to an FTN address containing | + | It is very important that you select the correct " |
- | net, node, and optional point numbers (e.g. '' | + | |
- | A 5D (5 dimensional) address refers to an FTN address consisting of a standard | + | ===== Bad Packet ===== |
- | 3D or 4D address with an appended " | + | If SBBSecho cannot process |
- | ==== Node ==== | + | ==== Identifying Bad Packets |
- | All FidoNet node-listed systems are //nodes// of the network. | + | |
- | **Normal Nodes** do not have a //point// value, so a '' | + | - File length is shorter than a packet header (58 bytes) |
+ | - Packet terminator ('' | ||
+ | - File read failure (e.g. permissions or file locking issue) | ||
+ | - Source | ||
+ | - Packet header cannot be parsed (e.g. is not a '' | ||
+ | - Packet header contains incorrect packet password | ||
+ | - Packet contains one or more " | ||
- | **Point Nodes** (nodes with non-zero point value) may only directly connect and communicate with their //boss node//. The boss node of a point node with the address '' | + | ===== BinkP ===== |
- | A **Boss Node** | + | [[wp> |
- | A **Linked Node** is a node which is linked with your system in some pre-arranged way and is reflected in your SBBSecho configuration (e.g. packet password, AreaFix password, packet type, archive type, etc.). | + | ===== Bundle ===== |
- | ==== AKA ==== | + | An FTN bundle is a single file archive of one or more (usually compressed) |
- | AKAs are additional/ | + | packets. Bundles will have file extensions where the first two characters |
+ | represent the day of the week the bundle was created (MO, TU, WE, TH, FR, SA, | ||
+ | and SU) and the third character of the extension is a number or letter. The | ||
+ | first eight characters of the filename may be anything, but are usually | ||
+ | hexadecimal digits representing the FTN node address | ||
+ | the system | ||
+ | inbound bundles to '' | ||
- | If a node belongs to multiple FTN networks (e.g. FidoNet and one or more " | + | ===== Downlink ===== |
- | ==== Uplink ==== | + | A // |
- | An //Uplink// is a Linked Node which is your system' | + | ===== EchoMail ===== |
- | ==== Downlink ==== | + | Group or conference messages of a particular subject matter (a.k.a. Message Area). Usually |
+ | distributed on a regional or continental scale (e.g. FidoNet Zone 1 backbone). | ||
+ | FTN style echomail areas have a unique name associated with them to | ||
+ | distinguish each area from the others. These agreed upon area names are called //Area Tags// or //Echo Tags//. | ||
- | A // | ||
- | ==== Attach or FLO Mailer? | + | ===== FTN ===== |
+ | FidoNet Technology Network: Any network using FidoNet standards for addressing, | ||
+ | mail packets, mail sessions, node lists, etc. | ||
- | If you are using FrontDoor, InterMail, D' | + | ===== Kludge Line ===== |
- | ArcMail *.MSG attach-style mailer, you are using what we will refer to as an | + | Due to historic FTN message and packet header limitations, some message metadata was defined in the body text of each message in the form of "control lines" (often called //kludge lines//). Each control line begins with a Ctrl-A (ASCII 1) character followed by a keyword, a space, some optional data, and terminated with a carriage return (ASCII 13) character. Different control line keywords are used to define different metadata values. |
- | "ArcMail/Attach-style Mailer" | + | |
- | If you are using BinkD (Binkley daemon), Argus/ | + | Kludge/ |
- | It is very important that you select the correct " | + | Synchronet stores FTN control lines in its message headers, so you must use the Terminal Server operator-> |
- | ==== NetMail ==== | + | Some control lines are only expected in EchoMail messages, some only in NetMail, and some may appear in either. |
+ | |||
+ | ===== Mailer ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | A [[resource: | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the dial-up BBS days, it was common for a FidoNet mailer to answer the phone modem to determine if the incoming " | ||
+ | Press the ESC key twice to access the BBS. | ||
+ | These types of mailers (e.g. FrontDoor, D' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== NetMail | ||
Point-to-point (usually person-to-person) directly-delivered or routed messages (now more commonly referred to as " | Point-to-point (usually person-to-person) directly-delivered or routed messages (now more commonly referred to as " | ||
- | ==== EchoMail | + | ===== Node ===== |
+ | All FidoNet node-listed systems are //nodes// of the network. | ||
- | Group or conference messages of a particular subject matter (a.k.a. Message Area). Usually | + | **Normal Nodes** do not have a //point// value, so a '' |
- | distributed | + | |
- | FTN style echomail areas have a unique name associated with them to | + | |
- | distinguish each area from the others. These agreed upon area names are called //Area Tags// or //Echo Tags//. | + | |
- | ==== Toss ==== | + | **Point Nodes** (nodes with non-zero point value) may only directly connect and communicate with their //boss node//. The boss node of a point node with the address '' |
- | To //toss// EchoMail packets or messages means to //import// the packed | + | A **Boss Node** is just a normal node that has one or more //point nodes// for which they are responsible |
- | ==== Scan ==== | + | A **Linked Node** is a node which is linked with your system in some pre-arranged way and is reflected in your SBBSecho configuration (e.g. packet password, AreaFix password, packet type, archive type, etc.). |
- | To //scan// message bases means to //export// locally-posted messages from your BBS's local message bases into EchoMail packets to be sent to your upstream link (hub) and any downstream linked nodes you may have. | + | ===== Nodelist ===== |
- | ==== Packet ==== | + | A text file, in a standardized structured format that is both human and computer-readable, |
- | An FTN packet is a group of one or more messages contained in a single | + | ===== Packet ===== |
+ | |||
+ | An [[ref: | ||
uncompressed file. Packets may contain echomail and/or netmail messages. | uncompressed file. Packets may contain echomail and/or netmail messages. | ||
Packets files usually have a '' | Packets files usually have a '' | ||
Line 115: | Line 125: | ||
You can use the [[person: | You can use the [[person: | ||
- | === Bad Packet === | + | It is generally **not** |
- | If SBBSecho cannot process an inbound packet file, it will rename the file, giving it a '' | + | |
- | == Identifying Bad Packets | + | ===== Scan ===== |
- | - File length is shorter than a packet header (58 bytes) | + | To //scan// message bases means to //export// locally-posted messages from your BBS's local message bases into EchoMail packets to be sent to your upstream link (hub) and any downstream linked nodes you may have. |
- | - Packet terminator ('' | + | |
- | - File read failure (e.g. permissions or file locking issue) | + | |
- | - Source address does not match expected address (e.g. for packets found in //inboxes//) | + | |
- | - Packet header cannot be parsed (e.g. is not a '' | + | |
- | - Packet header contains incorrect packet password | + | |
- | - Packet contains one or more " | + | |
- | ==== Bundle ==== | + | |
- | An FTN bundle is a single file archive of one or more (usually compressed) | + | ===== Toss ===== |
- | packets. Bundles will have file extensions where the first two characters | + | |
- | represent the day of the week the bundle was created (MO, TU, WE, TH, FR, SA, | + | |
- | and SU) and the third character of the extension is a number or letter. The | + | |
- | first eight characters of the filename may be anything, but are usually | + | |
- | hexadecimal digits representing the FTN node address (or relative address) of | + | |
- | the system that created the bundle. SBBSecho changes the file extension of bad | + | |
- | inbound bundles to '' | + | |
- | ==== AreaFix/Area Manager ==== | + | To //toss// EchoMail packets or messages means to //import// the packed messages into your BBS's local message bases where your users can read and reply to the messages. FidoNet EchoMail programs, like SBBSecho, are often referred to as " |
- | AreaFix is a synonym for area manager (the very first FTN area manager | + | ===== Uplink ===== |
- | program was called " | + | |
- | of areas, changing compression type, etc) are built into SBBSecho, so therefore | + | |
- | no external area manager program is required. If you are not an FTN hub, then | + | |
- | the area manager portion of SBBSecho will probably not get much use on your | + | |
- | system. The Area Manager process has also be called a " | + | |
- | ==== Kludge Line ==== | + | An //Uplink// is a Linked Node which is your system' |
- | Due to historic FTN message and packet header limitations, | + | |
- | Kludge/ | + | ===== Zones, Nets, Nodes, and Points? ===== |
+ | FTN node addresses | ||
+ | components | ||
- | Synchronet stores | + | The main four FTN address components are: Zone, Net, Node, and Point. |
+ | Each component is specified by a decimal | ||
+ | (no spaces): | ||
- | Some control lines are only expected | + | **// |
+ | |||
+ | The Zone represents the continent (if FidoNet) or the network number (if other | ||
+ | FTN network). All FidoNet nodes in North America have a Zone 1 address. When | ||
+ | the zone is specified in an address, it is the first component and must be | ||
+ | followed by a colon. If the Zone is not present in an address, the local | ||
+ | system' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Net represents the network number of the FTN node. Duplicate Net numbers | ||
+ | may exist between Zones (this is no longer true of Zones within FidoNet). If the Net number is not present, the local system' | ||
+ | Net is assumed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Node number specifies an exact FTN node within a network. The Node number | ||
+ | is the only technically-required element of an FTN node address (however, " | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Point is an optional component which specifies a sub-node that does not | ||
+ | directly receive mail and is also not listed | ||
+ | instead gets all its mail from its boss-node (Zone: | ||
+ | is not specified, 0 (zero) is assumed (i.e. '' | ||
+ | which indicates the system with that address is **not** a point node. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Zones can be grouped into named domains (e.g. '' | ||
+ | are pretty rarely used in the twenty-first century. Do not confuse FTN domains with Internet domains (they' | ||
+ | |||
+ | A 2D (2 dimensional) address refers to an FTN address containing just the | ||
+ | Net and Node numbers (e.g. '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | A 3D (3 dimensional) address refers to an FTN address containing the Zone, | ||
+ | Net, and Node numbers (e.g. '' | ||
+ | if it exists. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A 4D (4 dimensional) address refers to an FTN address containing the Zone, | ||
+ | Net, Node, and optional Point numbers (e.g. '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | A 5D (5 dimensional) address refers to an FTN address consisting of a standard | ||
+ | 3D or 4D address with an appended " | ||
===== See Also ===== | ===== See Also ===== |