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         Û                 D'Bridge EMAIL System                Û
                    Copyright (c) by Nick J. Andre, Ltd.
                            www.dbridgemailer.com 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
BEFORE INSTALLING PLEASE REFER TO THE APPROPRIATE TXT FILE FOR A LIST 
OF CHANGES OR NEW FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE. NICK ANDRE WILL NOT BE 
HELD LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA FROM NOT FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS 
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Hello,

D'Bridge is an "all-in-one" software product for Fidonet and Fidonet
Technology Networks (FTN's). It is one of the oldest developed, and one
of the first to handle all popular aspects of Fidonet operation in
one package. It was originally designed and programmed by Chris Irwin,
while later further developed by Nick Andre.

It features a mailer, message tosser/processor and scanner, message editor,
TIC processor, and a nodelist compiler in one easy to use system. It
supports both data modems and Internet sessions via. the BinkP protocol. It
also includes support for gating Internet EMAIL and Usenet groups to and
from Fidonet *.PKT formatted files.

A computer running D'Bridge can function as a Point system, or as a
full server system capable of "Hubbing" mail and processing hundreds if
not thousands of connections. Its menu-driven interface eliminates the
need for cumbersome batch files or scripts; yet remains flexible
enough to be used with existing Fidonet software or deployments.

During the Gulf War, the CNN television network featured a report on
how D'Bridge was used to power "Saudi-Net", a Fidonet Technology Network
designed to let soldiers stationed overseas to communicate with their
families back home. D'Bridge and compatible software such as FrontDoor,
Binkleyterm, TBBS/Tims and other products used in the early 1990's moved
many thousands of messages and formed the backbone of many networks.

D'Bridge was originally sold as commercial software, with a 30-day
trial period to evaluate the software. After the trial period was over,
a license "key" required purchase. Many D'Bridge systems were sold
and installed worldwide including hospitals, retail stores and others
requiring automated "syncing" of data between systems.

D'Bridge is now Freeware and does not require registration, activation
or license keys.

The software also does not phone-home; nor is it bundled with adware
or spyware. Several freeware/shareware command-line utilities are
included with D'Bridge to facilitate its operation. A full description
of these are mentioned throughout the D'Bridge user manual. Installing
this product implies that you accept the End User License Agreement as
detailed in the file EULA.TXT

Please feel free to write me anytime on Fidonet... NETmail to 1:1/130
or post a message in the Fidonet DBRIDGE echo.

Nick Andre


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-------------------

D'Bridge is primarily a 16-bit MS-DOS application, with additional support
for certain Windows and OS/2 environments. The possibilities may be near
endless for computers but the following is a general guideline.

NOTE: References to Fidonet in these sections also apply to "Other Nets"
      such as Micronet, FSX, Agoranet, etc.

CPU / MEMORY / HARD DRIVE:

The minimum requirement is DOS 3.3 and an "XT-class" PC or PC-compatible
such as an XT, AT, PS/2 or Tandy 1000 system. D'Bridge can run in 512k of
memory but 640k is recommended. As of this writing there is somewhat of an
interest by tech-enthusiasts for older or "retro" computers... judging from
the high prices for old hardware on a certain Internet auction site!

D'Bridge can run in 512k memory but performance may not be desirable. The
environment variable DBOVRBUFSIZ=80 should be set when running with only
512k otherwise Echomail processing may be disabled.

Certain Tandy 1000 computers without VGA graphics can be upgraded to support
768k of base memory owing to their unique memory-addressing layout. D'Bridge
will detect and use this extra Tandy memory if its available.

IBM XT's and first-model Tandy 1000's, Tandy TX/SX and EX/HX, or any such
class of older computer should have a Dallas SmartWatch or appropriate
"time chip" and fresh battery. Some add-on boards also install DMA services
for slightly better performance.

NOTE: The ClockSync functionality of D'Bridge is only recommended for these
      older systems. On modern operating systems, please use Internet-
      based time services, usually built-in and not necessary to set up.

If an EMS memory board and appropriate driver or EMM386 is installed, you
can obtain slightly better performance by setting the environment
variable DBOVREMS=Y. It is not necessary to set EMS settings on Windows
or OS/2.

The requirements for hard drive space is vague because this all depends on
the volume of mail being processed. It is impossible for me to guess how
much disk space you will need for storing Fidonet nodelists, packets,
messages or log files. A minimum installation should have at least 10 to 15
megabytes free. Busy Hub systems and large amounts of saved messages can
require gigabytes of storage.

OPERATING SYSTEMS: MS-DOS, TANDY DOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS:

If a BBS or LAN network is to be used on MS-DOS, it is recommended to
load the Microsoft SHARE utility to enable proper file/record locking
services. Windows and OS/2 already have this capability.

A disk-cache utility such as Microsoft SmartDrive or Norton DiskCache may
help speed up operation on traditional hard drives when running on MS-DOS
operating systems. Care must be taken not to set the cache size too high
otherwise there may not be enough memory for D'Bridge to run correctly.

If D'Bridge is to be handling large volumes of mail or forwarding for a lot
of downlinks, a Solid State Drive (SSD) or a "retrofitted" CF-flash adapter
board is recommended over traditional hard drives. These adapters for DOS
computers are worth the price!

OPERATING SYSTEMS - WINDOWS:

D'Bridge supports Windows 95, 98, ME, Windows 2000, 32-bit Windows XP, Vista,
7, 8, 8.1 and 10. D'Bridge can run on Windows 2.x and 3.x however the BinkD
subsystem may not function and overall performance may be poor; it is
recommend to exit Windows 2.x / 3.x and run in DOS mode.

On Windows 10 32-bit, it may be necessary to enable DOS support via Control
Panel, Programs and Features, Windows Components, Legacy Components,
NTVDM. It also may be necessary afterwards to run a command prompt, click
Properties, and under Options click "Enable Legacy Console".

Windows 11, or any 64-bit Windows, and any Linux system will require an
"emulator" since MS-DOS applications do not run at all on those systems. On
Linux it may be necessary to acquire, install and/or compile BinkD sources.

Some time after Windows XP and leading up to updates in Windows 10 32-
bit, Microsoft had changed the core foundation of DOS support and NTVDM,
most likely to address many legacy security problems. If you must run
D'Bridge on Windows it is recommended to use Windows XP or Windows 7 if
at all possible.

OPERATING SYSTEMS - LINUX:

No binaries are included for BinkD on Linux, Solaris or BSD systems but as
of this writing they can be easily installed via the appropriate package-
manager on those systems. Technical support is NOT provided for obtaining
the binaries or "repository" for your operating system.

OPERATING SYSTEMS - OS/2:

D'Bridge also runs on and supports IBM OS/2 Warp 3 and newer, but has not
been fully tested on EComStation or ArcaOS. It may be necessary to install
the EMX runtime library on certain OS/2 systems. Ray Gwinn's SIO FOSSIL
driver is recommended for the best modem performance on OS/2 systems and
as of this writing, version 1.60 appears to be the best to use.

OPERATING SYSTEMS - VIRTUAL MACHINES, HYPERVISORS, DOS EMULATORS:

A lot of the D'Bridge code was designed to get the most out of the computers
of the time and written specifically for MS-DOS. Emulated or virtual DOS
machines may or may not account for every nuance, quirk and oddity of DOS.

Technical support may not be offered for running D'Bridge on emulated DOS
environments, virtual-machines, hypervisors etc since this is not the
"real" hardware or environment the software was ever designed to run on.

MODEMS:

A FOSSIL driver is required for modem operation. FOSSIL stands for Fido/
Opus/Standard/Serial/Interface/Library. It is somewhat of an abstraction
layer or "driver" between the COM ports on your computer and how they will
be used by Fido software. Ray Gwinn's X00 driver is automatically installed
by default for MS-DOS and Windows but other FOSSIL drivers can be used.
On OS/2, Ray Gwinn's SIO driver version 1.60 is highly recommended.

If you plan to use a modem with D'Bridge, you should be using a Hardware
modem, not a "softmodem" or "Winmodem" as those modems often rely on the
operating system to perform data processing while on a call; adding CPU/OS
overhead ontop of high-speed connections. Unfortunately a great amount of
PCI and USB modems are softmodems. External serial modems and ISA modems
are the recommended Hardware modems to use with D'Bridge, especially
good brandnames such as Hayes, Rockwell and US Robotics. External serial
modems should always be used with a good quality shielded RS-232 cable.

TELEPHONE LINES:

The use of modems over VOIP telephone service is not recommended; your
modem phone line should be a landline or "copper line". Also the use of
virtual COM ports or serial redirection over TCP/IP is not supported. Do
NOT use programs such as NetFoss or NetSerial, those are designed for DOS-
based BBS software. It is not necessary to use either of those programs
with D'Bridge.

INTERNET:

In addition to modem support, D'Bridge has excellent integration with the
BinkD protocol, which is a very popular method of exchanging Fidonet
packets over the Internet. The BinkD subsystem-program is included for
Windows and OS/2 operating systems. It is not included for MS-DOS or Linux
or other systems.

Some users have managed to get BinkD for MS-DOS running; however this
involves a level of complexity with a TCP/IP network stack and packet
drivers on MS-DOS I did not wish to get into... not to mention that these
services take away from precious available DOS memory that D'Bridge requires
for operation explained earlier. Technical support is NOT provided for BinkD
running on MS-DOS.

NETFOSS/NETSERIAL... OR, LETS IGNORE WHAT WORKS AND HAVE FUN WITH COM PORTS:

As explained above, BinkD is the most popular method for exchanging Fidonet
packets today. Mailer-to-mailer or virtual modem sessions are rare and it
is NOT recommended to use programs such as NetFoss or Netserial. These
programs are designed for DOS-based BBS software, not Fidonet mailers.

Some users may claim that DOS-based mailers such as D'Bridge and others may
work correctly over DosBox or virtual COM ports, to which I politely steer
such conversation to the above paragraph. All Fidonet mail-exchange
protocols such as EMSI, Wazoo, Yoohoo etc. were designed for dialup modems.
These protocols were never designed with Internet in mind so DOS mailers
should not be expected to provide "Internet ready" modem services. This has
been debated before and put to rest. Just use BinkD, a protocol that works.

TRANSX:

D'Bridge does not support transfer of Fidonet packets over Internet Email
(SMTP/POP3), or whats known as the "TransX" method. It does, however,
support gating Internet Email including basic UUCP support and includes a
simple SMTP/POP3/NNTP client for exchanging Email and Usenet.

USENET GROUPS:

D'Bridge comes with Soupgate and Vsoup95/NT for Windows to fetch Usenet
groups from an NNTP server or provider. This must be scripted or configured
manually. An example setup is provided in the file SOUPGATE.ZIP. Note that
Usenet is no longer an ISP service; today its mostly offered by independant
providers charging for access or bandwidth.

Note that it is generally frowned upon to gate Usenet groups into existing
Fidonet or Othernet areas unless you have specific permission from
moderators or Network Co-Ordinators to do so.

SOUND CARD SUPPORT:

D'Bridge has many "hooks" in that it can be set up to run other programs,
scripts or tasks when certain events happen; one of them is running an
MP3/WAV player when personal mail is received. A sample player is included
for Windows in the file PLAYMAIL.ZIP. There are many other soundfile-players
you can find for MS-DOS/SoundBlaster, Tandy 1000 SL/RL/TL models and
2500-series, IBM PS/1 and countless options for Windows and OS/2.


INSTALLATION AND UPGRADES
-------------------------

This archive should contain the following files: 
 
README!.TXT  - This file. 
DB4.EXE      - The D'Bridge Setup program.
DB4.TXT      - Notes for this release. Important info for upgrading! 
FILE_ID.DIZ  - Description of this release for uploading to BBS's. 

To install or upgrade D'Bridge simply run the Setup program. Installing 
the software implies that you accept the End User License Agreement 
found on http://www.dbridgemailer.com/EULA.TXT
  

ON-LINE HELP AND DOCUMENTATION
------------------------------

When D'Bridge is installed, the complete user's manual is found in the
text-file DBRIDGE.TXT. It is also on the website and contained within
the D'Bridge HELP system activated by pressing F1.

Printing any section or the entire D'Bridge user's manual may be
accomplished using the PRINT command in the HELP system. Pressing F1 
at any field will display applicable information. 
 
Before printing the manual you should select your Printer Control 
File (PCF) in Config-BASIC. If you have a HP LaserJet, Epson or similar
printer the output can be enhanced by using the bold and italics and
specific features of your printer. 
 
To print the entire manual type the following keystrokes from the 
D'Bridge IDLE screen: 
 
F1 P P P 
 
These four keystrokes get you the entire manual to PRN or any other 
device or filename you specified in Config-Basic. 


DBUTIL PROGRAM
--------------

A command-line utility program called DBUTIL is always installed for you,
to help automate some tasks. D'Bridge should be taken off-line or shut
down completely before running this program. Please refer to section 7.00
of the user manual for a complete list of commands.


MESSAGE STORAGE FORMATS AND LIMITATIONS
---------------------------------------

There are two editions - STANDARD and GOLDBASE. Please select Standard
edition if you have a Fidonet *.MSG or Hudson (QuickBBS) system. Select
the GoldBase Edition only if you specifically run a GoldBase setup.

Fidonet *.MSG storage is "the" storage format which is compatible with the
vast majority of 3rd-party editors, BBS's, door games, etc. It is
recommended to use this storage method whenever possible.

QuickBBS is limited to 200 areas. GoldBase is limited to 500 areas. These
last two limitations are due to the storage method itself; not a limitation
of the mailer. QuickBBS and GoldBase databases cannot exceed 2 gigabytes
in size; there may be other limitations present with this storage format.


TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-----------------

If you need help getting it up-and-running or have any questions 
you may consult www.dbridgemailer.com or on the DBRIDGE echo on Fidonet,
or NETmail to 1:1/130.


INSTALLATION OF 3RD-PARTY SOFTWARE / COPYRIGHT
----------------------------------------------

D'Bridge requires some 3rd-party utility software to function correctly.
When you install for the first time, the following executables are
installed:

   - PKZIP/PKUNZIP archive programs by Phil Katz / PKWARE.
   - ARC archive program by SEA.
   - X00 for MS-DOS by Ray Gwinn (SIO is not auto-installed for OS/2)
   - BinkD for Windows and OS/2 by Pavel Gulchouck.
   - PERL510.DLL runtime library for BinkD to run on Windows XP and newer.
   - Soupgate for DOS, Windows and OS/2 by Tom Torfs.
   - Vsoup95/NT for Windows, GNU General Public License.

By installing D'Bridge, you acknowledge the installation of these programs
located in your \DB directory.

(end of file) 

