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                           PCBoard Implementation Notes


     This  chapter  describes  details  about  the implementation of the
     PCBoard messagebase format in GoldED.


     Netmail

     GoldED 2.50 supported FidoPCB-style netmail areas, where the  first
     and second line of the  msg had special meaning as  FidoNet address
     or  attributes.  This  is  no  longer  supported from version 2.51.
     Instead, the official method  used by PCBoard itself  is supported.
     This should be transparent to you.


     Extended Headers

     GoldED is aware  of PCBoard v15.x  extended headers in  the message
     text. The  TO, TO2,  FROM, FROM2  and SUBJECT  extended headers are
     directly  supported  and  "swallowed"  when  reading  a  msg. Other
     extended headers are currently treated like normal message text and
     is therefore not hidden to the  reader. In a later release, I  plan
     to internally convert the extended headers to kludges.


     Long Names

     GoldED 2.51 supports the long names that are possible with PCBoard.
     You can both  enter and edit  them. GoldED 2.50  was limited to  35
     chars.


     Password

     Passwords are not supported in msgs.


     Attributes

     The Private, Received, Crash and Direct attributed are supported.


     Double-Byte Characters (Foreign Systems)

     GoldED reads the PCBOARD.DAT file  to determine whether to use  E3h
     or  0Dh  (CR)  as  the  line/paragraph  termination  character when
     reading and writing message text.


     Message Index

     Only the new  v15.x .IDX files  are suppported. The  old .NDX files
     are not supported in any way.


     Userbase

     By default,  the first  set of  lastreads is  used. But  if you set
     PCBOARDUSERNO to -1, GoldED searches the userbase for your name  to
     find the lastread pointer set. If GoldED does not find you name, it
     will NOT add a  new userbase record for  you, but instead uses  the
     first set of lastreads.


     Mail Waiting Flag

     The mail waiting  flags are updated  when you write  to people that
     are named in the userbase.


     Changing a Message

     When changing a message, the new  edition is saved as if it  were a
     new message, with a new message number, and then the old edition is
     deleted. This behaviour is  consistent with the way  PCBoard itself
     works when changing a message. NOTE: The old edition will still  be
     visible with the DEL attribute until you exit the area.