> CP> I decided not to collect Avtech from you, when I discovered how much
> CP> rubbish that I didn't want to read was in there. I was paying long
> distance
> CP> charges to receive messages that contained 18% to 25% garbage.

> That's a fairly low %.

CP> I would not call one quarter a small percentage.

It is compared to 3/4 to 4/5 non-garbage.

>  BTW, how much was it costing you anyway?

CP> I have not checked a phone account yet, but a call every 2 days is always 
CP> less than one minute.

That's less than the cost of a local call anyway, so what't the
problem with LD charges?

> I'm not sure whether that is actually legal, to kill messages
> in-transit like that.

CP> If I understand the FIDO policy correctly, it would be illegal for you to 
CP> do it, but a _user_ is quite free to choose what he does or does not 
CP> download isn't he.  That was why I particularly suggested "user 
CP> configurable".

Good point, but to be precise, I think that it is illegal for me
to stop routing something to another member of fidonet, but
points, like BBS users, are a local issue.

>  I don't have a program that does that.
> Yes, a program could be designed along those lines.  All you
> need to do is find someone willing to write one.

CP> If I were to get someone to investigte the possibility of a program, could 
CP> you please advise me as to where one may be able to procure the 
CP> specifications of the PKT and MSG  format/specifications?

FTS-0001.*, available for FREQ.  That will tell you the format of
the *.PKT files you are receiving from me.  I receive exactly the
same sort of files from you, and all my other feeds (including my
main feed, Dave Hatch).  The mailprocessor I use to take these
PKTs and produce new PKTs for other nodes is called "Tobruk", and
you can FREQ "TOBRUK" from 3:711/934 to get it.  It includes
complete public domain source code.  I would suggest that the 
place to include user-filtering (and I reckon you'd be very hard
up trying to figure out code that can distinguish "rubbish")
would be when it is ready to write a message to your node.  It
would also be possible to do post-processing, whereby you take
a PKT file destined to your address, filter out the stuff you don't
want and then write a new PKT file.  That way you are not dependant
on any mailprocessor, but it has the drawback of having to do extra
work, opening the packet etc, instead of having it handed to you on
a plate.

Perhaps what would be be best is if you wrote a routine that filtered
a message "on a plate", which could be used in both Tobruk and in
an external utility (which can presumably be written at a later date).
There would be a fair bit of stuffing around with thinking about
config files though, or I suppose it could be hardcoded, so long as
there is a #ifdef around it, and I can treat it as "example" code in
Tobruk.  Preferably public domain (explicit notice) code if you want 
it in Tobruk though.  BFN.  Paul.
@EOT:

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