INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING TMSEAL           ---August 1996---

This document explains how to use TMSEAL with SLICS.
Please read it carefully.

TMSEAL is the Windows version of FICS's timeseal program.  It runs under
Windows 3.1 using Winsock SLIP/PPP.  You must be running SLIP/PPP to use
TMSEAL --- you cannot use TMSEAL over a straight modem connection.
(If you cannot use SLIP/PPP, your only option is to use one of the
UNIX versions of timeseal.  See "help timeseal" and related helpfiles
on FICS.)  You cannot use TMSEAL thru a firewall.  If you must go thru
a firewall, your only option is to connect from the firewall to a
friendly UNIX machine and run one of the UNIX versions of timeseal.

Some users have also reported success using TMSEAL under OS/2 and Win95. 
Your mileage may vary.

TMSEAL does not work with all FICS servers.  It does work with
A-FICS E-FICS, and D-FICS, and maybe others.

TMSEAL INSTALLATION.
First you must install TMSEAL.  Put the TMSEAL executable in the same
directory as SLICS.  If you are not using SLICS, you should create a
program manager icon for TMSEAL and follow the "manual launch" procedure.
The rest applies only if you are not using SLICS, or if you wish to
use the manual launch procedure with SLICS.

Create a program manager icon for it with File|New under the program
manager.  (Under Win95, set the "shortcut properties".)  Set the "Command
line" property to "tmseal fics.onenet.net 5002".  (Or substitute another
server hostname; you can also specify another portno instead of 5002,
but be sure that you specify the -same- as you specify to the client
program when you connect.)  Set the "Starting directory" to the name
of the directory where you put the TMSEAL executable.  Check the
"Run minimized" checkbox.

STARTING TMSEAL - MANUAL LAUNCH.
There are 2 ways to launch TMSEAL: manual or automatic.  The manual
launch method will work with any client program; the automatic method
works with SLICS, and may work with other client programs.  To launch
TMSEAL manually, simply double-click on its icon.

Now TMSEAL has been started and is waiting for SLICS to connect to it.
Start SLICS and select ICS|ManualLogin.  This brings up the IcsInfo
dialog.  Fill in the ICS host field with "127.0.0.1" (this is the
address for "loopback" or "localhost") instead of the chess server
"fics.onenet.net".  DO NOT click the tmstamp box, since that would start
TMSEAL automatically, and you already started it manually.  Fill in the
ICS port field with 5002 (or whatever number you specified in the
TMSEAL command line property).

The reason for this is that TMSEAL works by posing as the chess server.
SLICS talks the "normal" ICS protocol to TMSEAL; but under the covers,
TMSEAL is talking to the "real" chess server using the timeseal protocol.

The usual communication pattern without TMSEAL is:

    SLICS           <-->          FICS
  on your PC               at fics.onenet.net

The communication pattern with UNIX timestamp is:

         SLICS        <-->      timeseal          <-->       FICS
       on your PC           on your UNIX machine      at fics.onenet.net

The communication pattern with TMSEAL is:

         SLICS        <-->      TMSEAL            <-->       ICC
      on your PC            also on your PC            at fics.onenet.net
                             aka "localhost"

STARTING TMSEAL - AUTOMATIC LAUNCH WITH SLICS.
If you are using SLICS version 2.1e or higher, you can login to FICS and
launch TMSEAL in one step by selecting the A-FICS-TMSEAL profile entry
from the ICS menu.

That's all there is to it.  If you are using an older version of SLICS,
then either upgrade or use the "MANUAL LAUNCH" method.

WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT.
If all goes well, you should not have to do anything more.  SLICS
should now be connected to the FICS server via TMSEAL.  You should
see a login prompt from the server.

After SLICS has connected to TMSEAL, then TMSEAL will try to connect to
fics.onenet.net (or other timeseal-enabled server).  This may fail for the
same reasons that ordinary connections to the server might fail, if the
server is unavailable or unreachable for whatever reason.  In any case,
TMSEAL will send status messages to the SLICS telnet window.

If the login fails with a message such as "Handles may contain only
uppercase and lowercase characters", it means the server in question does
not support the timeseal protocol, and you cannot use TMSEAL there.

If you didn't even see the login prompt or other data from the server,
but a message indicating that the connection to TMSEAL failed, then
your winsock probably does not support "localhost" connections.
Try using the ***new*** "localsock" feature.  So far this is
only implemented in SLICS.  Edit your "icsprofs.dat" file and change
all FICS entries that say "icstmstampflag=1" to "icstmstampflag=2".

IS IT WORKING?
As you login, watch the server greeting messages.  If TMSEAL is working,
you should see a message "--> Timeseal on."  You can also finger yourself,
in which case you should see a message stating that timeseal is on.

ERRORS.
If for some reason TMSEAL generates an error, an error message will
usually show up in the SLICS telnet window.  In rare cases, there may
be errors that will only show up in the TMSEAL logfile, tmseal.log .
If you have an inexplicable problem, you can turn turn on TMSEAL logging
by clicking on the TMSEAL icon to bring up its system menu, and selecting
"Logging".  This will cause more detailed status messages to be printed
in the logfile.

TMSEAL COMMAND LINE SYNTAX
You do not need to mess with the command line syntax unless you
are using the "manual launch" method.

By default, TMSEAL connects to the main north american FICS server
at caissa.onenet.net, port 5000.  You can specify a different server
and portno on the command line.
	tmseal [-h] [-p CLIENTPORT] [FICSHOST [HOSTPORTNO]]
for example,
	tmseal eics.daimi.aau.dk 5003
connects to the european FICS.
By default, TMSEAL listens on localhost port 5000 for a connection
from your client program.  If you want, you can change this using the
"-p CLIENTPORT" option.  Then (of course) tell your client program
to connect to the CLIENTPORT port number.  This feature lets you run
multiple tmseal connections to different servers, as long as you choose
a different CLIENTPORT for each instance of tmseal.

The -h argument is used by SLICS to enable the optional "localsock"
protocol for the SLICS-to-TMSEAL connection instead of winsock.
TMSEAL will still use winsock for the TMSEAL-to-FICS connection.

TMSEAL EXPIRATION DATE
The current state of TMSEAL is experimental.  Accordingly, the TMSEAL
binary has an expiration date after which you must download a new version. 
The purpose of this restriction is only to force buggy versions out of
circulation.  If you need a new version, then ftp to the caissa.onenet.net
server, and look in the directory /pub/chess/Win3/ or
/pub/chess/uploads/Win3/ , for a file named tmsl20?.zip , where ? is a
character a-z.

NOTE FOR NETCOM AND AOL USERS.
The offical winsock implementations provided with NETCOM and AOL do not
support "localhost" connections.  Your options are:
1. Use Trumpet winsock as your dialler, instead of NETCOM or AOL winsock.
   Or if you have Win95, use Win95's DUN winsock.
2. Use SLICS "localsock" feature.
3. Dial to a friendly UNIX machine and use one of the UNIX timeseal's.

USING NETCOM WITH TRUMPET
Obtain Trumpet Winsock (or some other *real* Winsock implementation) and
use it to dial in to your service.  You can use Trumpet to call up the
NETCOM dialin number and login just like any other service provider.  The
main non-obvious trick is that at the login prompt, you need to type a "#"
character (pound sign) before your NETCOM account name.  The other trick is
that despite appearance, NETCOM provides PPP service - not SLIP.  If you
need assistance with logging in to NETCOM, ask netcom technical support.
They can give you a sample Trumpet login script to use with NETCOM.
If you need assistance with Trumpet, ask Trumpet technical support.

NOTE FOR OS/2 USERS.
If you can't connect to "localhost" or "127.0.0.1", it may help to add
the following line to your OS/2 config.sys file.
	RUN=d:\tcpip\bin\ifconfig.exe lo 127.0.0.1

NOTE FOR WIN95 USERS.
If you get errors using the Win95 sockets, try using Trumpet instead.
Trumpet will probably work better.  Yes, you *can* use Trumpet under Win95.
The new "localsock" feature will probably NOT work.

NOTE FOR NOVELL USERS.
Some users of Novell Winsock have reported problems.  If you are using
Novell Winsock and can get TMSEAL working, please let me know.  Localsock
may work; let me know.

NOTE FOR FTP WINSOCK USERS.
A user of FTP Winsock reported sometimes FTP Winsock fails unexpectedly
during name lookup.  If this happens to you, try using the numeric
IP address instead.  (See "TMSEAL COMMAND LINE SYNTAX" above.)
argument to TMSEAL.

REGISTRATION.
You do not need to register TMSEAL.  It is freeware --- not shareware.  Do
not send or offer money for TMSEAL.  On the other hand, SLICS is
shareware.  That means if you are using SLICS you are honor bound to
make a contribution.  The same thing goes for any other shareware program.

MORE HELP.
If after reading this document, you still have problems getting started
with TMSEAL, then please ask channel 1 on A-FICS (tell 1 "i need help").
But before asking for help, please try to verify where the problem lies.
First try connecting with just SLICS, without TMSEAL.  If that doesn't
work, then neither will TMSEAL.  If that doesn't work, try using
your regular "telnet" application.
	telnet fics.onenet.net 5000
-If- telnet works, then so should TMSEAL.  -Or- if telnet doesn't work,
then you are having a Winsock or SLIP/PPP problem that has nothing to do
with TMSEAL; you must resolve that problem before you can expect TMSEAL
to work.  Ask your s/w vendor for help with Winsock problems.  Ask your
service provider for help with SLIP/PPP problems.

REPORTING BUGS.
If you find a bug in TMSEAL, send email to dfong@igc.apc.org .
Please use the bug reporting form included in the distribution.
Please send email, not FICS messages.  Please do not waste my time
with questions unless you have read all the documentation.

--- Don Fong (dfong@igc.apc.org)

