Faximum ELS/PLUS Reference Manual

for SCO OpenServer 5 - Release 2.1 - HTML Edition - Draft 1

Introduction

The ~fax Directory

All files and directories ought to be owned by the user fax and in the group fax.

Overview

The following is a list of the directories immediately under ~fax.

bin help

convert images

coversheet install

database lib

dev ps

driver release

fax terminfo

font

The contents of these directories will be described in more detail below.

The following is a list of the files in ~fax.

config

dirlist

(Note that the file dirlist need not be present.)

The following sections explain in detail the contents of the files and directories.

~fax/config

The config file is a file that specifies the system-wide configuration. See the manual page entry on config(F) in Appendix A. Although this file can be edited directly it is more usually managed using the Configuration option under the System Databases menu in the Administration menu.

~fax/dirlist

The dirlist file is only required when the system manager is running more than one fax system on the computer. The file contains a list of the alternate `home directories' that are in use by the system.

The fax software normally uses /usr/fax as the home directory. This may be overridden in one of two ways. Firstly, the home directory for the account fax may specify an alternate home directory (and the directory /usr/fax must not exist) or the environment variable FAXDIR may be set to refer to the alternate home directory.

In the case where the environment variable is used to specify an alternate home directory the system manager must place the name of the alternate directory (or directories) in the file ~fax/dirlist. This is done to prevent users from `spoofing' the fax software into using a directory that has not been authorised by the system manager.

An example of the contents of this file:

/u/test-FAX

/usr/fax2

~fax/bin

This directory contains the executable files that are frequently used by users of the fax software. This directory ought to be in the search path of anyone wishing to use the fax software.

The programs in this directory are described in more detail in Appendix A.

~fax/convert

This directory contains the executable files that are used by sendfax to convert files from one format to another. These are shell files that reference programs in the bin directory.

~fax/coversheet

This directory contains the files that define the various cover sheets that are referred to in the style database.

More information on creating cover sheets may be found in Appendix D and in the manual page for asciitiff in Appendix A.

~fax/database

This directory contains the database files that apply to the entire fax system. Note that each database actually consists of two files, one with the suffix .dat and the other with the suffix .idx. Detailed descriptions of each database may be found in chapter 2.

Utilities exist to convert these databases to and from flat ASCII files. See the manual pages for the new... and dump... commands in Appendix A.

~fax/dev

This directory contains the files that describe the different fax devices that are available. The file names are arbitrary symbolic names that are referenced when faxes are sent or faxlisten is started. Refer to the device(F) manual page in Appendix A.

~fax/driver

This directory contains the files used to install the device driver for the Complete FAX/96xx board(s).

~fax/fax

This directory contains the files and directories used by the user fax when running Faximum. When first installed, this directory contains only the subdirectory ~fax/fax/inbox. The rest of the files and directories will be created the first time fax is run by the user fax.

~fax/fax/inbox

When the system is first installed, the action database is initialised to copy all incoming faxes to this directory.

~fax/font/*

These directories contain the font tables used by asciitiff. A complete list of the available fonts may be found in Appendix B.

~fax/help

This directory contains the help files used by various programs. The name of the help file is the same as the program that uses it.

~fax/images

This directory contains some TIFF images that can be used to test or demonstrate the software. Note that the selection of image files provided here may vary from release to release depending on the amount of free space that is left on the diskettes after the rest of the Faximum software has been loaded.

~fax/install

This directory contains the files that are used during the installation, re-installation, or removal of Faximum.

~fax/lib

This directory contains the executables that are required for Faximum's internal operation. With the exception of the database programs (new... and dump...), most of these programs are intended to be called by other components of the fax system and not by the user directly. This directory ought not to be in the search path of any user.

Some of the programs in this directory are described in more detail in Appendix A. Those that are not are described briefly below.

~fax/lib/cleanspool

This shell program is usually called once a day from the crontab for the fax account to clean up old directories and status files in /usr/spool/fax/....

~fax/lib/dispatch

This program is called by faxcico when a fax has been received. Its responsibility is to determine what to do with the fax (by consulting the dispatch and action databases) and do it.

dispatch.sh

This shell script is used only with Faximum ELS and is responsible for handling all received faxes. It may be edited to obtain the desired results.

~fax/lib/fax.cui

This program is the actual executable that provides the full-screen interface. It expects certain environment variables to be set up and therefore ought not to be called directly (rather through ~fax/bin/fax).

~fax/lib/termtype

This program is called by fax to determine the type of terminal being used (colour graphics, monochrome graphics, non-console terminal).

~fax/ps

This directory contains the preamble file(s) that are used by tiffps in preparing the PostScript necessary to print a TIFF file. The directory also contains various files used by the PostScript emulator pstiff.

~fax/release

This directory contains files that are used during the installation of software updates to determine the release of the currently installed software.

The /usr/spool/fax Directory

Note that the default spool directory (/usr/spool/fax) may be changed by altering the appropriate entry in the file ~/fax/config.

/usr/spool/fax/acct

The accounting log contains one entry for every incoming or outgoing phone call. For more information on the format of this file please refer to chapter 7.

/usr/spool/fax/destinations/*

Each destination has its own directory which contains the faxes waiting to be transmitted. Directories that have been empty for several hours are removed automatically by faxsched.

/usr/spool/fax/deststatus/*

Each destination has its own status file which records information regarding the last (or current) attempt to contact that destination.

/usr/spool/fax/devstatus/*

Each fax telephone line has its own status file which records information regarding the last (or current) attempt to use that line.

/usr/spool/fax/inbox

This directory contains incoming faxes before they are passed on to dispatch for final delivery. Note that if dispatch is unable to handle the fax successfully it will remain in this directory (forever or at least until cleaned up by the system administrator).

/usr/spool/fax/log

The system log contains detailed information on the past events that have occurred. Error messages or reports of other problems are also recorded in this file. For more information on the format of this file please refer to chapter 7.

/usr/spool/fax/scheddump

This file is used by faxsched to keep track of queued requests.

/usr/spool/fax/seq

This file is used by the fax software to assign unique serial numbers to fax messages.

/usr/spool/fax/tmp

This directory is used by the fax software as working space. By using a directory within the spool directory the software can be assured that files can be moved to other directories within the spool directory without having to copy them across file systems (as might occur if /tmp were to be used.)

The User's Home Directory

The .faxrc File

The key to the rest of the user's files is the .faxrc file. This file is normally found in the user's home directory ($HOME/.faxrc). It is possible, however, to override this default file name and location by specifying the full path name of the file in the environment variable $FAXRC.

This file contains information on how that user wishes to configure his portion of the fax system. Although the file can be edited directly, it is usually managed using the Preferences option in the Administration menu (see Chapter 8).

The User's Fax Directory

Each user has his own fax directory which is either located by reference to the .faxrc file (see above), or named by default $HOME/fax.

The following lists the files and subdirectories usually found in this directory. For more information on the database files please also see Chapter 2.

...fax/inbox

This directory is the one displayed when the user examines his in-box (see chapter 4 of the Reference Manual). Normally it would also be the directory that the system manager would reference in the action database for faxes destined to this person.

...fax/database

This directory contains all of the database files that are maintained on a per-user basis. Detailed descriptions of each database may be found in Chapter 2 of the Reference Manual. Information on the structure of the database files may be found in Appendix F.

...fax/database/people

The people database contains information about the people the user normally sends faxes to. There may be other people databases created by the user.

...fax/database/company

The company database contains information about the companies referenced in the people database. There may be other company databases created by the user.

...fax/database/database

The list of databases contains information about the various people and company databases the user may access.

...fax/database/srreq, srfile, and srdest

These database files are used to maintain the user's saved request database.

...fax/msgs

This directory contains all of the (ASCII) message files created by the user using the automatic file name generation capability of the user interface.