Getting Started With MCI Mail
                    -----------------------------

                                  by

                             David Brown


This document deals with two important aspects of using MCI Mail.  If 
you've had a couple of coffees this morning and are feeling mighty 
winning, you may have guessed those two procedures are "Sending" and 
"Receiving."  If you guessed otherwise, perhaps you should do something
more along your line -- like sweeping out the machine room.


                              RECEIVING

Without getting too technical, the ONLY way to capture data from MCI Mail 
is to open a Buffer (portion of memory set aside for this purpose), then 
periodically write this to a disk file.  This is often called the "ASCII 
Trap" capture method.  Although it varies according to software, in Modem7 
it is done in the following way:  

At the Command level, enter something like this:

               B>>COMMAND: T MCI.LET   <- Press Return >
                         ^        
                         |     ^  
                         |     |___ Disk File Name 
                         | 
                         |___ Puts you into 'Terminal Mode'


This is best done BEFORE you sign on to MCI Mail... although it CAN be done 
on the fly.  Once you're online, Use CONTROL-Y to Open the Buffer.  This 
will be indicated by semicolons in the first column of each line...
; like this
; and this.
; In some versions of Modem7, colons are used.  See your 
; software documentation. 

Before signing off, be sure to WRITE your Buffer to disk.  Do this with the 
WRT command.  Use CONTROL-E to get back to Command level, then:

               B>>COMMAND WRT  <- Press It >

and Presto, you've got ALL the information that came across your screen 
saved to disk.  Most software allows you to toggle your ASCII Trap on and 
off; saving only what you want.  I like to play it safe and save EVERYTHING, 
then edit it later.  

That's about all you need to know about RECEIVING MCI Mail.  Remember, 
after reading it once, all correspondence will be placed in your DESK area  
where it will remain for the next 24 hours ONLY before being automatically 
purged.

                                  SENDING

Although the actual "Sending" part is no more difficult than receiving 
(fewer steps in fact), the preparation of the file to be sent presents a 
slight problem.  Actually, the type of file compatible with MCI Mail is a 
standard ASCII Text File.  This is the kind of file Most operating systems 
such as CP/M or MS-DOS will make at a system level.  

However, Most word processing programs use a lot of extra "Non Printing" 
characters to control such things as Underline, Boldface, etc.  Some stray 
from the standard ASCII set.  If you find this confusing, apply these tests 
to your word processor files:  1) Do the files appear normal when you 
'TYPE' them to the screen?  2)If the file were a Basic program, would it 
run under MBASIC?  The manufacturers of your word processing program should 
be able to instruct you on how to obtain a Standard ASCII Text File.

Also, be sure to turn off any default top, bottom and side margins -- as 
well as automatic pagination if your word processor provides such features.

As always, however, there's one more hurdle:  Most word processing 
programs -- as well as conversion programs -- do NOT insert Carriage 
Returns after every line.  You need these "Hard Returns" to tell the 
receiving program that you have completed sending a line of text.

You can make sure each line ends with a carriage return by forcing one 
with your word processor (once you've finished writing the document) 
or by using such public domain programs as HARDSOFT, FILTW or PURETEXT.  
HardSoft is included in this library.

The two enclosed formats: MCIMAIL.FOR and MCIPAPR.FOR can be used with 
WordStar to produce electronic and paper mail, respectively.

When you've got your document file in order, you upload it using 
Modem7 by merely entering CONTROL-T.  Modem7 will prompt you for the 
file name, then ask you if you would like "Delays" added to the 
transmission.  Answer "Yes" and the Default Delays will be added 
between characters and at the end of the line.  The Defaults should do 
fine to start with.  

You also should make sure you disable any Line Feed after Carriage 
Return features.  Use the M option in Modem7 to see what these are and 
the "?" option to see how they are currently set.

If your computer is a Morrow, you may use the enclosed overlay to make 
up a new Modem7.  If you own another type of computer, you may use the 
enclosed overlay as a guide in modifying your own.  

So, that's about it.  In short, MCI Mail will accept any ASCII text 
file, with up to 80 characters per line, ending in Carriage Returns.  
And that's just about everything short of runable binary object code 
files.  This, of course, includes source code in any language.  

Cheers
 
David Brown
3/24/85