NR asked (Message 11 in the joint inbox) for a way to round-trip
TSquishMessage.Replies[1..MAX_REPLY] through the attribute bag so
nr.linker can retire its nr.msgbase.squish.pas and write reply-
chain metadata via mb.api like it already does for JAM and SDM.
Mirror JAM's naming for uniformity across formats:
squish.replyto -- parent (scalar; existed already)
squish.reply1st -- first child (scalar, = Replies[1])
squish.replynext -- remaining chain (list, = Replies[2..MAX_REPLY])
JAM's `replynext` is a single longint because JAM walks a linked
list sibling-to-sibling. Squish stores all direct children on the
parent, so `replynext` here is a LIST attribute (via TMsgAttributes
GetList/SetList). Same key names, shape reflects the on-disk
truth -- consumers that only care about the primary reply hit the
scalar on both formats; consumers that need the full chain
(nr.linker) call GetList on Squish and walk sibling records on JAM.
SquishFromUni now rebuilds Replies[] from these keys instead of
unconditionally zeroing the array, closing the write-side drop
that blocked NR's migration.
ClassSupportedAttributes advertises the new keys alongside the
existing `squish.umsgid`.
Test: test_consumer_round1.TestSquishReplyChain -- writes a
message with reply1st=101 and replynext=[102,103,104], closes,
reopens, reads, and asserts the full chain survives.
New tests/adversarial/ suite covers each driver plus mb.kludge with
crafted-input scenarios: empty files, truncated headers, garbage
payloads, oversized length fields, infinite-loop bait. The
invariant under test is graceful degradation: no crash, no hang,
no OOM. Every allocation caps, every loop terminates, every
unreadable record returns False cleanly.
Coverage:
test_fuzz_jam 7 cases (.JHR/.JDT/.JDX/.JLR corruption)
test_fuzz_squish 5 cases (clen underflow, 2 GB clen, garbage idx)
test_fuzz_hudson 3 cases (bundle-file corruption)
test_fuzz_goldbase 2 cases
test_fuzz_pcboard 2 cases
test_fuzz_msg 4 cases (50 MB no-NUL body, strange names)
test_fuzz_kludge 3 cases (100 K CRs, 1 M CRs, legit round-trip)
run_tests.sh builds and runs them after the happy-path suite.
All 26 fuzz cases pass; all 47 existing tests still pass.
NR caught a real durability gap during migration prep: the
sequence
base.WriteMessage(msg);
source.MarkSent(srcMsg);
looks atomic, but the OS write buffer hasn't necessarily reached
the platter when MarkSent runs. Crash in that window = silent
message drop.
Add `Sync` virtual on TMessageBase (default no-op for read-only
and in-memory backends). Six writable backends override and
flush every open stream they own via SysUtils.FileFlush
(fpfsync on Unix, FlushFileBuffers on Windows):
JAM .JHR / .JDT / .JDX / .JLR
Squish .SQD / .SQI / .SQL
Hudson msginfo / msgidx / msghdr / msgtxt / msgtoidx / LASTREAD.BBS
PCBoard MSGS file + index
EzyCom header + text
GoldBase msginfo / msgidx / msghdr / msgtxt / msgtoidx / LASTREAD.DAT
MSG inherits no-op (per-write open/close — buffer flushes on
close, but dir entry isn't fsynced; future enhancement).
Wildcat inherits no-op (legacy `file` IO, not TFileStream).
Helper for backend authors: TMessageBase.FlushStream(S: TStream)
class method that handles the TFileStream cast + nil-safety.
`Sync` raises after Close (data is finalized; nothing to flush).
Test: TestSyncWriteable in test_consumer_round1 -- writes a
message via JAM and Squish, calls Sync (no raise), Close, calls
Sync again (raise expected).
docs/API.md: new "Sync (durability)" section explaining the
commit-after-fsync pattern with the canonical example.
Symmetric to fpc-ftn-transport TPktWriter.Sync (commit ee8c6ad)
that NR's review prompted on the transport side.
Suite: 48/48 (added TestSyncWriteable to test_consumer_round1).
Across-the-board rename so the unit prefix matches the repo
name (mb = msgbase). Brings naming into line with
fpc-ftn-transport's tt.* prefix and avoids the historical
"ma" abbreviation that meant nothing to new readers.
Files renamed via git mv:
src/ma.{api,events,kludge,lock,paths,types}.pas
-> src/mb.{...}.pas
src/formats/ma.fmt.{jam,squish,hudson,msg,pcboard,ezycom,
goldbase,wildcat,wcutil}{,.uni}.pas
-> src/formats/mb.fmt.*.pas
All `unit ma.X` declarations and `uses ma.X` clauses rewritten
to `mb.X` across src/, examples/, tests/.
Suite: 47/47 (read 7, hwm 11, lock 4, pack 4, write 5,
wildcat 5, consumer_round1 5, batch's gone w/ PKT relocation,
plus testutil).
Consumer impact: anyone with `uses ma.api;` etc. needs to
update to `uses mb.api;`. No semantic changes; a search/replace
on the consumer's source tree is the only migration step.
NR's notes (~/.MSGAPI_MSGS.md round 3) align this against
their already-pinned 8130b40; the next NR pin bump rolls in
both this rename and any further work in one step.
Removes all PKT code from fpc-msgbase. The wire format and its
container concerns now live in the sibling fpc-ftn-transport
library (units tt.pkt.format, tt.pkt.reader, tt.pkt.writer,
tt.pkt.batch). Pair this commit with fpc-ftn-transport's
0.2.0 (commit 6bb71a6).
Why: the previous "reader here, writer there" split (briefly
landed in 0.3.5) baked in a coupling that didn't survive a
fresh look. The writer reached into fpc-msgbase for types,
the wire format lived in the wrong house, and consumers reading
fpc-msgbase saw "PKT support" that was actually only half-
support. Cleanest split: PKT is a wire format, both directions
belong with the wire-format-aware library; fpc-msgbase becomes
purely real message bases (Hudson / JAM / Squish / MSG /
PCBoard / EzyCom / GoldBase / Wildcat).
Also a cleaner separation-of-concerns story: a BBS that just
reads JAM/Squish never needs fpc-ftn-transport. A pure store-
and-forward node doing only ArcMail unbundle never depends on
storage formats. Each library = one concern.
Removed:
src/formats/ma.fmt.pkt.pas -> tt.pkt.format
src/formats/ma.fmt.pkt.uni.pas -> tt.pkt.reader
(TPktMessageBase -> TPktReader)
src/ma.batch.pas -> tt.pkt.batch
(TPacketBatch class name unchanged)
tests/test_batch.pas -> tests/test_pkt_writer.pas
(consolidated PKT tests)
examples/example_tosser.pas -> moves with the batch helper
Reduced in src/ma.types.pas:
- PacketRecord
- FlavourType / FlavourTypeSet / DateTimeArray
- FlagsToFido / FidoToFlags
- VersionNum (PKT-product-code stamping)
All moved to tt.pkt.format.
Kept in src/ma.types.pas:
- mbfPkt enum value (so tt.pkt.reader can register the backend
with the unified-API factory; consumers still use the
standard MessageBaseOpen(mbfPkt, ...) shape)
Migration for vendoring consumers:
before: after:
uses ma.fmt.pkt; uses tt.pkt.format;
uses ma.fmt.pkt.uni; uses tt.pkt.reader;
uses ma.batch; uses tt.pkt.batch;
(no writer surface) uses tt.pkt.writer;
TPktMessageBase TPktReader
TPktFile, TPktMessage, (unchanged class names)
TPktHeaderInfo, etc.
TPacketBatch (unchanged)
Docs sweep:
- README: PKT row called out as "moved to fpc-ftn-transport";
TPacketBatch removed from features.
- docs/architecture.md: layer diagram drops PKT + ma.batch;
new sibling-library box added for fpc-ftn-transport.
- docs/attributes-registry.md: PKT column dropped from per-
format support matrix; pointer to fpc-ftn-transport.
- docs/API.md: PKT cheat-sheet entry redirects to
fpc-ftn-transport; TPacketBatch section reduced to a
"moved" pointer with the new uses-clause shape.
- docs/ftsc-compliance.md: Type-2 / 2+ / 2.2 / AuxNet rows
annotated as living in tt.pkt.format.
Suite: 47/47 across 9 programs (was 9 with test_batch; now 9
with the PKT bits dropped from test_consumer_round1 and
test_hwm). All other tests untouched.
Five consumer-feedback items, one milestone:
(1) Shared FTSC kludge plumbing in src/ma.kludge.pas
ParseKludgeLine, SplitKludgeBlob, BuildKludgePrefix,
BuildKludgeSuffix. Single source of truth for kludge naming,
INTL/FMPT/TOPT recognition, and the kludge.<lowername>
forward-compat passthrough. Eliminates the four near-identical
parsers MSG/PKT/Squish were carrying; JAM's FTSKLUDGE subfield
walking also routes through ParseKludgeLine so its unknown
kludges land in the same `kludge.<name>` slot as the others.
Bug fix folded in: the parser previously split kludge name from
value at the first ':' it found, which broke INTL (the value
contains an FTN address with ':' in it). Now picks the earlier
of space and colon, which handles both colon-form ("MSGID: foo")
and space-form ("INTL <to> <from>") kludges correctly.
(2) INTL / FMPT / TOPT slots in attributes registry
FSC-4008 cross-zone routing kludges every netmail tosser carries.
Added to JAM/Squish/MSG/PKT capability lists, parsed natively,
emitted on Write. Round-trip covered by tests.
(3) Unified `kludge.*` namespace for unknown FTSC kludges
Squish's `squish.kludge.<name>`, MSG's `msg.kludge.<name>`, and
PKT's `pkt.kludge.<name>` all collapse to plain `kludge.<name>`.
Consumers find passthrough kludges without switching on format.
JAM's numeric `jam.subfield.<id>` stays — those are JAM-specific
binary subfields, not FTSC-form kludges.
(4) `area` auto-populated from base.AreaTag on Read
When the caller passes AAreaTag to MessageBaseOpen (or sets
the AreaTag property post-construction), every successful
ReadMessage fills msg.Attributes['area'] unless the adapter
already populated it from on-disk data (e.g. PKT AREA kludge).
Saves echomail consumers from copying AreaTag into every
message attribute manually.
(5) TMsgAttributes multi-line helpers
GetList / SetList / AppendListItem on TMsgAttributes for the
multi-instance attributes (seen-by, path, via, trace) that
store with #13 between entries. Consumers don't have to roll
their own split/join.
Plus two PKT polish items from the same feedback round:
(6) ma.fmt.pkt.uni.DoWriteMessage now raises EMessageBase
explicitly with a pointer to the Native API instead of
silently returning False.
(7) TPktFile.CreateFromStream / CreateNewToStream constructors
accept any TStream (with optional ownership), so unit tests
that round-trip via TMemoryStream don't have to tempfile-dance.
FStream is now TStream; FOwnsStream gates Free in destructor.
TStringDynArray moved from ma.api.pas to ma.types.pas so both
the capabilities API and the new attribute helpers can share it.
Docs sweep:
- docs/attributes-registry.md: intl/fmpt/topt added; unknown-kludge
convention documented; multi-line helper section added.
- docs/architecture.md: ma.kludge layer surfaced; .uni adapter
registration gotcha called out loudly with the recommended
uses clause; area auto-pop documented.
- docs/API.md: TUniMessage section rewritten for Body+Attributes
model (was still pre-0.2); HWM API documented; PKT cheat-sheet
notes Native + CreateFromStream; tests/programs list updated.
- README.md: Building section flags the .uni gotcha first
thing; ma.kludge added to features.
tests/test_consumer_round1.pas: 7 new tests covering INTL/FMPT/
TOPT round-trip on JAM/Squish/MSG, area auto-pop, GetList/SetList/
AppendListItem, PKT raise, and TPktFile in-memory stream
round-trip.
Suite: 47/47 across 10 programs (test_consumer_round1 adds 7).
Adds per-(user, board) HWM for the QuickBBS-family multi-board
formats. The same physical Hudson/GoldBase base file set holds
ALL boards (1..200 for Hudson, 1..500 for GoldBase) in one
LASTREAD.BBS / LASTREAD.DAT file, indexed by user number with
one word slot per board. Caller has to provide both pieces of
context before HWM operations make sense:
- base.MapUser('NetReader', 60001) - pick a numeric user ID
- base.Board := 5 - which board this scan is for
src/ma.api.pas:
- New TMessageBase.Board property (longint, default 0).
- Single-area formats (JAM, Squish) ignore it.
- Multi-board formats return -1 from GetHWM when Board <= 0.
src/formats/ma.fmt.hudson.pas:
- New HudsonLastRead record matching QuickBBS LASTREAD.BBS layout.
- TJamBase pattern: FLrStream lazy + EnsureLrStream +
GetLastRead(user, board) + SetLastRead(user, board, msgnum).
- SetLastRead extends file with zeros to reach the user slot,
matching QuickBBS convention.
- Uses fpOpen on Unix (same FPC auto-flock workaround as Squish).
src/formats/ma.fmt.goldbase.pas:
- Same shape, GoldBaseLastRead with GOLDBASE_MAX_BOARDS (500)
slots, file is LASTREAD.DAT.
Both .uni adapters wire DoSupportsHWM/DoGetHWMById/DoSetHWMById
to the new native methods, gating on Board > 0.
tests/test_hwm.pas: 3 new tests covering Hudson + GoldBase:
- TestHudsonRequiresMapUserAndBoard verifies -1 returns when
MapUser missing, Board missing, or both.
- TestHudsonSetGetPersistence covers two users on two boards
with cross-session persistence.
- TestGoldBaseSetGet covers a high board number (250) to
exercise the wider GOLDBASE_MAX_BOARDS range.
Updated docs/architecture.md HWM coverage map: Hudson and
GoldBase moved from deferred to native. EzyCom still deferred
(per-area layout differs); Wildcat/PCBoard still -1.
Suite: 40/40 across 9 programs (test_hwm now 11/11).
NetReader and similar consumers can now register tossers as
high-numbered users (60000+) and walk per-board HWM the way
Allfix has historically done. Tossers coexist with human BBS
users in the same LASTREAD file (different user slots).
Adds Squish HWM via the .SQL lastread file (CRC32-keyed by
lowercased username, identical layout to JAM's .JLR per
Squish.doc).
src/formats/ma.fmt.squish.pas:
- New SqLastRead record type matching the Squish.doc spec.
- TSquishBase gains FSqlStream (lazy) + EnsureSqlStream +
GetLastRead/GetHighRead/SetLastRead methods, mirroring JAM's
.JLR pattern.
- Close releases the lastread stream alongside .SQD/.SQI.
src/formats/ma.fmt.squish.uni.pas:
- TSquishMessageBase wires DoGetHWMByName / DoSetHWMByName,
reusing TJamBase.CalcUserCRC for the (shared) CRC32 algorithm.
- DoSetHWMByName preserves HighReadMsg monotonicity.
src/ma.lock.pas:
- TMessageLock gains optional APreserveSentinel constructor flag.
- Release no longer unlinks the sentinel when the flag is set.
- Required for Squish because the .SQL file is BOTH the lock
sentinel and the lastread store; deleting it on lock release
would wipe HWM data on every Open/Close cycle.
src/ma.api.pas:
- TMessageBase.Create passes APreserveSentinel = (Format = mbfSquish).
src/formats/ma.fmt.squish.pas (low-level open):
- EnsureSqlStream uses fpOpen directly on Unix instead of FPC's
FileOpen wrapper. FileOpen defaults to a fpflock that conflicts
with ma.lock's existing advisory lock on the same file (EAGAIN
on every attempt). fpOpen bypasses the auto-flock; cross-process
safety lives in ma.lock and doesn't need duplicating here.
tests/test_hwm.pas:
- New SeedSquish helper.
- TestSquishCapability + TestSquishSetGetPersistence verify
capability flag, set/get round-trip, multi-user independence,
and persistence across Open/Close.
Hudson, GoldBase and EzyCom were originally scoped for this
milestone but their per-(user, board) lastread layout needs more
design work (the LASTREAD.BBS format is shared across all 200
boards in a single per-user record, and TMessageBase doesn't
carry a "board" context). Deferred to a follow-up milestone.
Wildcat (SDK call) coming in 0.3.2.
Suite: 38/38 across 9 programs (test_hwm now 9/9 with Squish
coverage).
Adds the per-user High-Water Mark API to TMessageBase:
function SupportsHWM: boolean;
function GetHWM(const UserName: AnsiString): longint;
procedure SetHWM(const UserName: AnsiString; MsgNum: longint);
procedure MapUser(const UserName: AnsiString; UserId: longint);
property ActiveUser: AnsiString;
GetHWM returns -1 when the format has no HWM mechanism, the user
isn't registered (number-keyed formats), or no HWM has been set
for that user yet.
Two-flavour native dispatch:
- Name-keyed backends (JAM, later Squish/Wildcat) override
DoGetHWMByName / DoSetHWMByName.
- Number-keyed backends (later Hudson/GoldBase/EzyCom) override
DoGetHWMById / DoSetHWMById; caller must register name->id via
MapUser first.
Auto-bump: when ActiveUser is non-empty, ReadMessage compares the
just-read msg.num to GetHWM(ActiveUser); if higher, calls SetHWM.
Never decrements -- reading a lower-numbered message is a no-op.
Default off (ActiveUser = '').
JAM implementation:
- Adds .JLR (lastread) handling to TJamBase: lazy open via
EnsureLrStream, GetLastRead/GetHighRead/SetLastRead methods,
proper Close cleanup.
- TJamMessageBase wires DoGetHWMByName / DoSetHWMByName to
CalcUserCRC + GetLastRead / SetLastRead. SetHWM also keeps
HighReadMsg monotonic.
Coverage map (this milestone):
- JAM: native ✓
- Squish, Hudson, GoldBase, EzyCom, Wildcat: -1 (planned 0.3.1/2)
- PCBoard, MSG, PKT: -1 (no HWM in spec)
Tests: tests/test_hwm.pas covers SupportsHWM, set/get round-trip,
persistence across Open/Close, auto-bump via ActiveUser (advances),
auto-bump never decrements, MSG/PKT correctly return -1, Hudson
returns -1 even after MapUser (until 0.3.1 lands the impl). 7/7
new tests pass; full suite 38/38 across 9 programs.
Recommended caller pattern:
base.ActiveUser := 'NetReader';
for i := 0 to base.MessageCount - 1 do begin
base.ReadMessage(i, msg);
{ process msg ... HWM auto-tracks the high-water for NetReader }
end;
Adds tests/test_roundtrip_attrs.pas covering:
1. Capabilities API smoke test — confirms SupportsAttribute('msgid')
returns true on JAM/Squish/MSG/PKT, false on Hudson/GoldBase/
EzyCom/Wildcat/PCBoard. Confirms backend-private keys are gated
correctly (Squish.SupportsAttribute('jam.msgidcrc') = false).
2. Per-format kludge round-trip across all 5 storage formats —
builds a synthetic message with universal headers + FTSC kludges
(msgid, replyid, pid, flags, multi-line seen-by + path), writes,
reopens, reads back, asserts every key the backend's capability
list advertises survives byte-for-byte. Backends that don't
support a given key are silently skipped via SupportsAttribute
gating so the test exercises each format's actual contract.
3. Cross-format JAM → Squish copy — seeds JAM with the kludge
message, copies to a fresh Squish base via the unified API,
reopens both, asserts:
- intersection of capabilities lists is preserved verbatim
(msgid, seen-by, path, etc. all survive JAM → Squish)
- jam.* keys not in Squish's capability list are dropped
(no silent corruption of Squish's data with foreign keys)
Result: 7/7 new tests pass. Total suite now 31/31 across 8 programs.
This is the regression suite that locks the Body+Attributes contract
and proves the showstopper fix holds across every backend.
Hooked into run_tests.sh so CI catches future drift.
Replaces TUniMessage's 13-field flat record with a strict two-area
model: Body holds only the message text; Attributes holds everything
else (from/to/subject/dates/addresses/MSGID/SEEN-BY/PATH/format-
specific fields) as namespaced key/value pairs.
Why this fix is required NOW: the previous JAM adapter dropped
MSGID, ReplyID, PID, Flags, SEEN-BY and PATH on every Read/Write
through the unified API. A NetReader parity test surfaced it (17/21
pass with 4 kludge failures). All 9 adapters had the same bug. For
tossers and scanners the impact is silent corruption: dropped MSGID
→ dupe storms, dropped PATH → mail loops, dropped SEEN-BY → broken
routing. Three downstream consumers (Fimail's codex-transport branch,
NetReader, future Allfix) had halted integration work pending this
fix. Without it, anyone vendoring fpc-msgbase 0.1 ships with a
known-corrupting adapter.
Design choice: per Ken's call, "message is just the message text;
everything else is an attribute, including from/to/subject/dates."
Same architecture as RFC 822 email (headers + body). Each backend
fills attributes it knows on Read; reads attributes it understands
on Write; ignores unknown attributes silently (RFC 822 X-header
semantics). Forward-compatible -- a new backend (e.g. a planned SQL
message store) just adds its own attribute keys; old backends ignore
them.
Composition is the consumer's job. The library never reassembles
Body + Attributes into kludge-laden display text. A BBS that wants
inline kludges walks Attributes and prepends ^aMSGID etc. to its
own display. A tosser that needs MSGID for dupe detection reads
Attributes.Get('msgid') directly -- no body parsing required.
src/ma.types.pas:
- New TMsgAttribute / TMsgAttributes records with Get/SetValue,
typed accessors (GetInt/GetBool/GetDate/GetAddr), Has/Remove,
iteration. Linear-search lookup, fine for the ~30-50 keys per
message. Switch to hash later if profiling shows need.
- Replaced TUniMessage with the minimal Body + Attributes record.
- New UniAttrBitsToAttributes / UniAttrBitsFromAttributes helpers
to bridge the canonical MSG_ATTR_* cardinal bitset to/from
individual `attr.*` boolean keys.
- {$modeswitch advancedrecords} added so records have methods.
src/ma.api.pas:
- New capabilities API: TStringDynArray return type,
ClassSupportedAttributes (virtual class fn, default empty),
SupportedAttributes (instance sugar), SupportsAttribute (per-key
query). Each backend overrides ClassSupportedAttributes with the
static list of keys it knows. Callers query before setting so a
BBS UI can hide controls the underlying backend has no slot for.
src/formats/ma.fmt.*.uni.pas (all 9):
- Rewrote each XxxToUni and XxxFromUni for the new model. Read
populates Attributes with universal/FTSC/format-specific keys per
the attribute registry (to be published in phase 5). Write reads
attributes back and writes native form.
- JAM walks SubFields[] for SEEN-BY/PATH/TZUTC/TRACE plus passthrough
of unknown subfield IDs as `jam.subfield.<id>` for round-trip
safety. Squish parses CtrlInfo (NUL-separated ^A lines) into
individual attributes, rebuilds on Write. MSG and PKT (which keep
kludges inline in body per FTS-1) parse leading ^A lines and
trailing SEEN-BY/PATH out of the body so TUniMessage.Body is
always plain user text; on Write they reassemble the on-disk form.
- Each backend ships ClassSupportedAttributes with its key list.
src/ma.batch.pas: PktToUni signature updated to (in,out var) form.
tests/* + examples/*: migrated all callers from Msg.WhoFrom (etc.)
to Msg.Attributes.Get('from'). MakeMsg helpers now use SetValue/
SetBool/SetAddr.
Verified: 24/24 tests pass across all 7 test programs (read,
roundtrip, lock, batch, wildcat, write_existing, pack). Wildcat
walks all 7 vendored conferences clean.
Out of scope (next phases):
- docs/attributes-registry.md publishing the full key list with
per-format support matrix
- cross-format round-trip + capabilities-driven copy test
- update architecture.md / PROPOSAL.md to reflect the new model
Copies the working WildCat 4 conference set (7 conferences,
MAKEWILD.DAT, CONFDESC.*, MSG/MSG0..MSG6.DAT/IX, DATA/ALLUSERS.*,
etc., 228KB total) into the repo so the Wildcat backend test runs
without an external path dependency. Mirrors how the other format
tests carry their own sample data.
test_wildcat.pas SRC constant updated to point at tests/data/wildcat
instead of ~/allfix_dev/...; the test still copies to /tmp/ma_wildcat
before running so the vendored fixture stays untouched.
Project renamed from message_api → fpc-msgbase. Folder, README title,
docs, build.sh, fpc.cfg, and test banners all updated for consistency
with the planned remote at kjgr.io:2222/kenjreno/fpc-msgbase.git.
Also scrubbed claims that backends were "ported from Allfix" or
"match Allfix's msgutil/domsg" — none of this code was ported from
Allfix; it was implemented from FTSC documents and the original
format authors' published specs (jam.txt, squish.doc, pcboard.doc,
EzyCom reference, WildCat 4 SDK headers). Author credits live in
docs/ftsc-compliance.md.
Real interop facts that mention Allfix-the-product stay documented:
the PCB Extra2 sent-bit ($40) Allfix sets when tossing, and the
FTSC-registered product code $EB. These describe external software
behavior we interoperate with, not provenance.
docs/format-notes/hudson.md removed — stale planning doc that
predates the working ma.fmt.hudson backend.
- TUniMessage.Board: conference/board number preserved across
the adapter layer for Hudson/GoldBase/EzyCom/Wildcat/PCBoard
- ma.api.Open: momCreate now ensures the parent directory exists
before the sentinel lock tries to create itself
- tests/tools/make_hudson_sample: builds a 20-conference / 7793-
message Hudson base at /tmp/ma_hudson_sample from real JAM
source areas. Respects Hudson's 32767 MsgNum ceiling. Emits
CONFERENCES.TXT manifest mapping board numbers to area names.
- tests/tools/verify_hudson_sample: per-board count verifier
that cross-checks against the manifest.
- test_write_existing: append to 291-msg JAM base, 27-msg netmail
dir, and a Hudson base seeded on-demand by copying 50 messages
from the JAM source (no binary samples committed).
- test_pack: no-op Pack preserves JAM count + fields; purge-Pack
drops 5 deleted JAM messages; Hudson seed+mark-deleted+Pack
drops 7 of 50 and survivors stay readable.
- Source trees at ~/fidonet/msg/jam + ~/fidonet/msg/netmail are
never touched; all writes go to /tmp scratch copies.
The TWildcatBase.OpenConference was creating a TMsgDatabase without
populating the SDK globals, causing access violations on MwConfig.
Now calls the full Register sequence: InitWCglobal, LoadMakeWild,
BTInitIsam before opening; BTExitIsam + DisposeWCglobal on close.
test_wildcat reads conferences 0..6 from vendored testdata (copied
to /tmp/ma_wildcat so the source tree stays read-only).
