Do you really need to use textblitz?

Many users away from campus can use the native Mac or Windows95 versions of Blitzmail if they can get access to a suitable machine, and can install the Blitzmail client software. This can be downloaded from the Dartmouth file server at:
ftp://ftp.dartmouth.edu/pub/software/

Using Blitzmail on a remote machine requires that it be already connected to the internet by some mechanism, and that TCP/IP networking be configured and enabled.

Hints on using textblitz

The textblitz program is the only one currently supported for users who have only a terminal connection (telnet or similar). It it not intended to be a complete implementation of Blitzmail, and does not support folders, enclosures, or preferences such as vacation messages or mail forwarding.
Textblitz is available to all users with Coos or Northstar accounts through their regular login, and to all Dartmouth users by logging in to textblitz.dartmouth.edu as user blitz, with no password.

Unless noted, these notes apply to the anonymous blitz login -- behaviour in a regular user account may differ since there are several user-settable parameters. The full manual/tutorial contains much more detail, including some features which cannot (for security reasons) be used from the anonymus blitz account. This document can be consulted within textblitz with the "help" command.

Backspacing

The textblitz program itself is quite stable, but many users have trouble using it remotely. In most cases, the problems lie in the configuration of the local telnet program. In particular, the assignment of the backspace or delete keys. The Backspace key should be locally configured to send DEL rather than ctrl-H, but this may still not display correctly in many cases. This works more reliably on regular accounts.

Message composition editor

When composing a mail message, typing "~e" at the start of a line will place you in the pico editor for message composition. This is highly recommended over typing messages directly into textblitz. In the editor, the headers on the message may be edited. Do not delete them or the message will be rejected. The backspace problems do not normally affect the pico editor. Pico is the same message editor used in the pine mailer.

DND lookups

Typing "!dnd name" at the textblitz prompt will perform a DND lookup on name

Window size

If you use telnet window sizes other than the default 24x80, make sure that wrap mode is OFF, or textblitz may not correctly determine the window size.

Paging through messages

Typing the message number will simply display the message without pausing, scrolling off the screen if the message is long.
Typing the command "more ?" or "page ?" where ? is the message number, will cause it to be displayed through the paging program. This pauses every screen, and allows navigating around in a long message with arrow keys, searching for text, etc.. Press the space bar to advance one screen at a time, press "q" to quit before the end.
Both the editor and the pager are separate programs, so their behaviour can be modified in many ways that aren't directly connected to Blitzmail.

Forwarding all messages

There are two separate forwarding mechanisms:

the DND contains a preferred mail address for each entry, which contains full.name@mac for people who normally use Blitzmail. Any mail sent to Full.Name@dartmouth.edu is forwarded to this preferred mail address.
Blitzmail itself contains a forwarding mechanism so that mail arriving at full.name@mac can then be sent on to some other address.

Both forwarding methods can be modified using the full Mac blitzmail client (the first one is the Edit DND entry menu item).

The first (DND) forwarding mechanism can be modified from the textblitz program, although the interface is a bit clunky. At the textblitz command prompt, type "!chdnd". This runs the chdnd program, which will then prompt for a field name (mailaddr) and then prompt again for your full name and blitzmail password, then it will display the current setting of the preferred email address and prompt for a new one. Type in the new one or ctrl-D to cancel.

To reset mail delivery to your blitzmail account, enter full.name@mac as the preferred address.

Forwarding a message to another address

Textblitz doesn't have an explicit forward command, but it can include a specified message into the text of a message being composed. Unfortunately, this action terminates the message composition and sends the message - you cannot edit it. This may be fixed in a future release.
Example: to forward message 3 to user@host

m user@host Subject: fowarded message ~m 3

The ~m command while in message composition mode interpolates the specified message number, and sends.

Textblitz Hints
source@northstar.dartmouth.edu
revised 971219

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