1. Forum
  2. FSXNet
  3. FSX BBS

  • The Blue Wave offline format

    From Al@21:4/106 to apam on Wed May 8 12:05:02 2019
    Hello apam,

    I am writting this message to apam because I know he has implemeted BW support in Magicka but I'd like input from All Y'All!

    I wonder if you can answer a question for me about the BW offline format.

    A user has uploaded a BW packet created by SemPoint. When the messages in there
    are uploaded to BBBS they lose their formatting. Although a message may contain a number of paragraphs when entered the message saved on the BBS and sent out to the net is all globbed together into one ugly and hard to read mess.

    This doesn't happen to me when I upload reply packets created by MultiMail. He sent me one of his reply packets to inspect and when I compare it to my own I can see there is a difference. In his reply packets lines are terminated with a
    CR only and mine are terminated with a CR/LF pair.

    I wonder if this is a bug in BBBS or SemPoint? Does the BW spec require a CR/LF
    pair to terminate lines or even care if they are there or not? How does Magicka deal with a situation like that? The user has given me permission to share his reply packet if you would like to see it.

    SemPoint is a windows program that I haven't used, in fact I have no capacity here to run any .exe so I can't try it out myself but I have heard good things about it.

    Anyway, I need direction here.. :)

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106)
  • From apam@21:1/125 to Al on Thu May 9 10:34:55 2019
    Hi Al

    The blue wave spec is here:

    http://help-site.com/local/BWSTRUCT.TXT

    As far as I can tell, it doesn't mention line endings at all.

    Magicka stores messages with carraige return only, so all linefeeds are stripped out, so essentially magicka supports both.

    I can't say if it's a BBBS bug or a SemPoint bug, I'd lean towards BBBS
    as it should IMO deal with various clients.

    Andrew

    --- MagickaBBS v0.12alpha (Linux/x86_64)
    * Origin: The Fat Sandwich - sandwich.magickabbs.com:2023 (21:1/125)
  • From Al@21:4/106 to apam on Thu May 9 01:38:10 2019
    As far as I can tell, it doesn't mention line endings at all.

    Magicka stores messages with carraige return only, so all linefeeds are stripped out, so essentially magicka supports both.

    Ahh.. good stuff. He's been looking for BBSs that support his sempoint setup. He's had success with Concord and I'll let him know about Magicka as well.

    I can't say if it's a BBBS bug or a SemPoint bug, I'd lean towards BBBS
    as it should IMO deal with various clients.

    I agree. Since the structs don't mention line endings I'll ask Kim Heino if BBBS can be changed to support both as well.

    I don't know what kind of response I'll get but it doesn't hurt to ask.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Al on Thu May 9 19:11:00 2019
    On 05-08-19 12:05, Al wrote to apam <=-

    I wonder if this is a bug in BBBS or SemPoint? Does the BW spec require
    a CR/LF
    pair to terminate lines or even care if they are there or not? How
    does Magicka deal with a situation like that? The user has given me permission to share his reply packet if you would like to see it.

    SemPoint is a windows program that I haven't used, in fact I have no capacity here to run any .exe so I can't try it out myself but I have heard good things about it.

    Anyway, I need direction here.. :)

    Bluewave specs are readily available. The Multimail download site, for example, has a link to them. :)

    http://wmcbrine.com/mmail/specs/bwdev300.tar.gz


    ... You cannot be too careful in the choice of your enemies.
    === MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    --- SBBSecho 3.03-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Al@21:4/106 to Vk3jed on Thu May 9 02:56:12 2019
    Anyway, I need direction here.. :)

    Bluewave specs are readily available. The Multimail download site, for example, has a link to them. :)

    http://wmcbrine.com/mmail/specs/bwdev300.tar.gz

    Yep, I had a look in there but couldn't find what I was looking for. It may be in there but it escaped my non-developer eyes.. :)

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Al on Thu May 9 20:18:00 2019
    On 05-09-19 02:56, Al wrote to Vk3jed <=-

    Anyway, I need direction here.. :)

    Bluewave specs are readily available. The Multimail download site, for example, has a link to them. :)

    http://wmcbrine.com/mmail/specs/bwdev300.tar.gz

    Yep, I had a look in there but couldn't find what I was looking for. It may be in there but it escaped my non-developer eyes.. :)

    Maybe it's not specified (weird). Seems apam's way of dealing with it in Magicka is the most robust. Looks like a case of being tolerant in what you accept and precise about what you send. :)


    ... There is always hope when people are forced to listen to both sides.
    === MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    --- SBBSecho 3.03-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)