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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 and scanner, message editor, TIC
processor, and a nodelist compiler in one easy to use system. It supports
both PSTN dialup 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 found
at http://www.dbridgemailer.com/EULA.TXT

I hope you enjoy D'Bridge, you will find that it has a very loyal
following of users and a strong community base. I personally provide
technical support and help for every step of the way. For newcomers,
within minutes you should be able to have a fully functioning Fidonet
system on-line. For experienced operators, you will find the setup
screens and overall layout to be very simple and clutter-free. Every
effort was made to ensure that you focus more on participating in the
hobby rather than focusing on technical issues.

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


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

This archive should contain the following files: 
 
README!.TXT  - This file. 
DB4.EXE      - The D'Bridge Setup Wizard. 
DB4.TXT      - Notes for this release. Important info for upgrading! 
HISTORY.TXT  - History of changes to D'Bridge. 
TECHSPEC.TXT - Technical information for 3rd-party developers. 
FILE_ID.DIZ  - Description of this release for uploading to BBS's. 
 
D'Bridge is primarily a DOS application, with additional support for 
32-bit Windows and OS/2 environments. It may not function correctly 
on newer computer systems. The minimum requirement is DOS 3.3 or 
higher and 512k (half a megabyte) of memory. In addition, only 
certain types of modems are supported. 
 
D'Bridge currently supports 32-bit Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. 
64-bit editions will require an "emulator" since DOS applications do 
not function correctly on those operating systems. 
 
If you are running D'Bridge under Windows Vista or higher, you must 
start the program with Administrator priviledges otherwise installation 
may fail. So please be sure your Windows Vista system is set accordingly. 
 
To install or upgrade D'Bridge simply run the Setup Wizard. Installing 
the software implies that you accept the End User License Agreement 
found on http://www.net229.org/EULA.TXT 
  

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

The complete user's manual is found in DBRIDGE.TXT, the website and
also 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. 


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

D'Bridge 4 currently supports Fido *.MSG and Hudson/GoldBase formats
for storing messages on your system. There are two editions - STANDARD
and GOLDBASE. Please select Standard edition if you have a Fido *.MSG
or Hudson (QBBS) system. However, you need to select the GoldBase
edition if you specifically run that setup.

Please note that D'Bridge does not support transfer of Fido 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 client for exchanging Email. 


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.
 
(eof) 
