Getting the Most out of Agent on TIP

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I configure Agent / Free Agent for TIP

Q. Is there an Agent FAQ. How do I get it

Q. How do I set the Time Zone

Q. How do I have my headers show local time, not GMT

Q. How do I get the current time on my machine right

Configuring Agent / Free Agent for TIP

Fields which must be configured for TIP are (using Agent - the Free Agent menu items may be name slightly differently)

Options | General Preferences | User

• Email Address: uid@pcug.org.au where uid is your logon id e.g. amikkels
• Full Name: Your name that you want to be identified by. It is good netiquette to use your real name.
• Organization: May be left blank, but a line identifying TIP is preferred. I suggest that used by Karl Auer: The Internet Project, AUUG and PCUG, Canberra ACT Australia
• Reply to: Should be left blank unless you want replies to a different email address to that used above.
• Server Requires Authorization Login: Should NOT be checked.

Note that these values are used for email and by default newsgroups messages that you send. They can be changed for any individual newsgroup by Group | Properties | Posting | Override default settings, and in the composition window for any individual message.
Hint: Expand "All fields" to see the items you can change.

Options | General Preferences | System

• News Server: newshost.pcug.org.au
• Server creates messages out of order: Unchecked
• Email server: mailhost.pcug.org.au
• Title Bar: Agent (default) or whatever you want to title your window.

The Time Zone boxes appear only in 16 bit versions. Under WIN95, the time zone is handled by the operating system, not Agent.

• Time Zone: [GMT + 10:00] Brisbane,etc when not using daylight saving, [GMT + 11:00] Magadan etc when we are!
• Automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time: Do NOT check. If you check this box, Agent will think that you observe daylight saving during the US summer! To get it right, you must manually change the Time Zone.

Options | General Preferences | Online

Use Offline Defaults. The only default that I change is

• Go offline automatically after 10 seconds of inactivity. This alows me to start another Agent operation without doing a DNS lookup again.

FAQs for Agent / Free Agent

There are currently four sources of FAQ information about Agent and Free Agent (each is a little different from the others, so check them all as needed):

• The Help files in the programs: Help | Search | FAQ
• An expanded and updated FAQ at Forte's web site - be sure to read both "Frequently Asked Questions" and "Bugs and Enhancements
• William Guynes' Unofficial FAQ for alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent [Also available by FTP] and posted monthly in the alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent newsgroup.
• Geoff Merryweather 's Automating Free Agent/Agent

Also of interest may be the PGP Signature FAQ.

Setting the local time zone

Under WIN95, the time zone is handled by the operating system, not Agent. For 16 bit versions, the Time Zone is set using the Options | User and System Profile | System menu item.

• When daylight saving is NOT operating, set Time Zone: to [GMT + 10:00] Brisbane,etc .
• When daylight saving IS operating, set Time Zone: to [GMT + 11:00] Magadan etc

Do NOT check the box to Automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time. If you check this box, Agent will think that you observe daylight saving during the US summer! To get it right, you must manually change the Time Zone as above.

Including the local time zone in headers

By default, Agent converts the time you post to GMT and stores this in the message header. This is quite acceptable as it should be converted back to the readers local time wherever the message is read. You can change this so that Agent stores the local time and time zone in headers by editing AGENT.INI with a text editor. The [message] section should contain a field GMTDates=1. Change this to GMTDates=0 and all your messages will be timestamped with local time.

The main reason for doing this is so that when the date/time of your message is quoted, it is quoted in the time zone that you wrote it, not GMT. Particularly in local groups such as tip.*, this is easier to follow.

Setting the correct time on your machine

You could do this by manually checking current machine time against your watch, and adjusting as required. However, this is boring and tedious, prone to error, and assumes that your watch is right. It is much easier to use one of the time synchronization programs to automatically set your machine time to that of a (known correct) external server. Fortunately, supreme.pcug.org.au is one such server.

A number of time synchronization programs are available - see the list at TUCOWS. I personally use Netdate, available as NDATE104 or NDATE107.

Last Updated: October 25, 1996

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