This is the README for "sfax", a simple terminal-based interface to Sam
Leffler's FlexFAX package.


USE

When run by a user, it pops up a form inside the editor defined by the
EDITOR environment variable (defaulting to 'vi) with various fields for the
user to fill in.  For example:

FaxTo:
FaxNumber:
FaxSubject:

You get the idea.  The sample form provided is the one we use at my workplace.
It contains a bunch of information on what the various fields mean.  The user
is allowed to place cover page comments between the "FaxCommentBegin" and
"FaxCommentEnd" fields.  Any text appended after the "FaxCommentEnd" field
will be sent as part of the fax, immediately following the cover page.  This
text message can also be e-mailed to someone by filling in the "Cc" entry on
the form.

After saving the form and exiting the editor, the user will be prompted for
the names of the files that they wish to append to the fax (if any).  Once
that is done, all of the information about the fax is displayed, and the
user is prompted for confirmation before the fax is actually sent.

If at any time the fax is aborted, the user's form file will be saved in a
file called "dead.fax" in the user's home directory.


INSTALLATION

Sfax requires Perl.  To install, all you should need to do is to modify the
first line of the script to reflect the location of your Perl binary,
copy the sfax program and FAXform template to some appropriate place on your
system, and modify the "sendfax", "sendmail" and "faxform" variables at the
beginning of the program to reflect how things are set up at your site.

This program has only been tested on Suns running SunOS 4, but I don't think
there will be many problems with portability (assuming you compiled Perl
successfully).

CAVEATS

Sfax doesn't handle multiple recipients.  There's currently no way to change the
order or remove files once you've entered them.  Also, if you abort the list
of files to send is not saved.  Maybe this information should be encoded into
the template as well.


I'd appreciate any reports of problems, suggestions, or success.

Ken Hornstein
kenh@wrl.epi.com

8/11/94