~ubuntu-branches/ubuntu/precise/topal/precise : revision 1

1

<HTML>

2

<HEAD>

3

<TITLE>

4

`Topal': GPG/Pine integration

5

</TITLE>

6

</HEAD>

7

<BODY>

8

9

<HR>

10

11

<H1>`Topal': GPG/Pine integration</H1>

12

13

14

15

<HR>

16

17

<H2>Contents</H2>

18

19

<UL>

20

<LI> <A HREF="#introduction">Introduction</A>

21

<LI> <A HREF="#features">Features</A>

22

<LI> <A HREF="#important-changes">Important Changes from Previous Stable Versions</A>

23

<LI> <A HREF="#inst-and-config">Installation and Configuration</A>

24

<UL>

25

<LI> <A HREF="#comp-and-inst">Compilation and Installation</A>

26

<LI> <A HREF="#pine-config">Pine Configuration</A>

27

<LI> <A HREF="#mailcap-config">Mailcap Configuration</A>

28

<LI> <A HREF="#topal-config">Topal Configuration</A>

29

</UL>

30

<LI> <A HREF="#topal-usage">Topal Usage</A>

31

<UL>

32

33

<LI> <A HREF="#interactive-config">Interactive Configuration</A>

34

<LI> <A HREF="#decrypt-verify">Decryption/Verification</A>

35

<LI> <A HREF="#sending">Sending</A>

36

<LI> <A HREF="#nonpine">Command-line usage</A>

37

</UL>

38

<LI> <A HREF="#additional-programs">Additional Programs</A>

39

<LI> <A HREF="#notes">Notes</A>

40

<UL>

41

<LI> <A HREF="#pinehack">The Pine hack, and sending other attachments</A>

42

43

<LI> <A HREF="#errors">Errors</A>

44

<LI> <A HREF="#decrypt-attachments">Decrypting attachments</A>

45

<LI> <A HREF="#cleaning-cache">Cleaning up the cache</A>

46

<LI> <A HREF="#new-releases">New releases</A>

47

</UL>

48

<LI> <A HREF="#author">Author</A>

49

<LI> <A HREF="#license">License</A>

50

51

<LI> <A HREF="#changes">Version History</A>

52

<UL>

53

<LI> <A HREF="#last-changes">Most recent changes</A>

54

</UL>

55

</UL>

56

57

<HR>

58

59

<H2><A NAME="introduction">Introduction</A></H2>

60

61

Topal is a `glue' program that links

62

<A HREF="http://www.gnupg.org">GnuPG</A>

63

and

64

<A HREF="http://www.washington.edu/pine/">Pine</A>. It offers

65

facilities to encrypt, decrypt, sign and verify emails. See the list

66

of <A HREF="#features">features</A> below.

67

68

<HR>

69

70

<H2><A NAME="features">Features</A></H2>

71

72

73

74

75

<UL>

76

<LI> In-place decryption/verification, dealing with multiple blocks

77

embedded in text.

78

<LI> Caching of output to reduce need for passphrase (at expense of

79

storing decrypts and verification output).

80

<LI> Receiving of MIME RFC2015 multipart/signed and

81

multipart/encrypted messages. (Top-level multipart items need some help from a script,

82

topal-fix-email, invoked by procmail.) These features are available

83

to any program that uses .mailcap files.

84

<LI> Sending of MIME RFC2015 multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted

85

messages. (Needs a patch to Pine.)

86

<LI> Sending and receiving of the old application/pgp content-type

87

(sending requires the same patch as the previous item).

88

<LI> Offers user the opportunity to check output before sending it.

89

<LI> Rich configuration options.

90

<LI> Shortcuts for selecting keys, as well as general key selection

91

routines when sending email.

92

<LI> Few arbitrary limits.

93

</UL>

94

95

96

97

<HR>

98

99

<H2><A NAME="important-changes">Important Changes from Previous Stable Versions</A></H2>

100

101

The previous stable releases were 0.7.2, 0.7.8 and 0.7.9.

102

103

<H3>Important Changes in Version 0.7.10</H3>

104

105

The recommended procmail recipe has been changed.

106

107

<H3>Important Changes in Version 0.7.8</H3>

108

109

topal-fix-email and topal-fix-folder have been replaced by the

110

main topal binary. Change <TT>topal-fix-email</TT> in your .procmailrc to be

111

<TT>topal --fix-email</TT>. (Or add symlinks: the binary checks what it has been called as.)

112

113

<P>

114

115

You <EM>must</EM> clear your cache otherwise the changes made for

116

inline-separate-output (added in version 0.7.8) will break (this occurs regardless of whether

117

the option is on or off). This new feature shows the GnuPG/Topal

118

output separately, then hands back the decrypted or verified output

119

without any wrappers. This makes it more suitable for dealing with

120

attachments (but you need to set it manually via <TT>topal

121

-config</TT>).

122

123

<P>

124

125

Finally, the send menu has a new option: `Pass through unchanged'.

126

This does nothing to the message (except for forcing the content-type

127

to be text/plain when invoked with -sendmime; this is useful for

128

dealing with an obscure bug in Pine 4.44). Moreover, you can

129

always have Topal invoked for sending.

130

131

132

<HR>

133

134

<H2><A NAME="inst-and-config">Installation and Configuration</A></H2>

135

136

<H3><A NAME="comp-and-inst">Compilation and Installation</A></H3>

137

138

You need a working C compiler and the GNU Ada Compiler (GNAT). There

139

is a makefile: simply type `make'. Type `make install' to see what

140

files need copying (it doesn't actually do the copy).

141

142

143

<H3><A NAME="pine-config">Pine Configuration</A></H3>

144

145

Assuming that the topal binary is installed in /usr/local/bin, set up

146

the Pine sending & display filters as follows:

147

<PRE>

148

display-filters=_BEGINNING("-----BEGIN PGP ")_ /usr/local/bin/topal -display _TMPFILE_ _RESULTFILE_

149

150

sending-filters=/usr/local/bin/topal -send _TMPFILE_ _RESULTFILE_ _RECIPIENTS_,

151

/usr/local/bin/topal -sendmime _TMPFILE_ _RESULTFILE_ _MIMETYPE_ _RECIPIENTS_

152

</PRE>

153

You can choose either or both of the sending filters. The <TT>-sendmime</TT>

154

option allows the user to choose the MIME type of the outbound

155

email. (Legacy fixes are in place that make <TT>-decrypt</TT> and <TT>-verify</TT>

156

behave the same as <TT>-display</TT>.)

157

<P>

158

For -sendmime to work, you will need to patch Pine. There are patches

159

for versions

160

<A HREF="pine-4.44-patch">4.44</A>,

161

162

and

163

164

of Pine. (They're all more-or-less the same patch. It's pretty easy

165

to apply them against Pine versions 4.51 and 4.52 if you feel so

166

inclined.)

167

168

`<TT>cd</TT>' into the pine4.<I>xx</I> directory and use the command

169

`<TT>patch -p1 < wherever/the/patch/is</TT>'.

170

171

<P>

172

173

It doesn't seem to have broken anything else.... It seems to work for

174

sending via an SMTP server - it might break for sending via

175

/usr/lib/sendmail (if it does, please send me a debug trace by

176

invoking pine with `<TT>-d 9</TT>').

177

178

<H3><A NAME="mailcap-config">Mailcap Configuration</A></H3>

179

180

To decode MIME RFC2015 multipart/signed and /encrypted messages

181

requires the assistance of metamail. Add in either the user mailcap

182

configuration (<TT>.mailcap</TT>) or the system configuration

183

(<TT>/etc/mailcap</TT>) the lines

184

<PRE>

185

multipart/signed; /usr/local/bin/topal -mime '%s' '%t'; needsterminal

186

multipart/encrypted; /usr/local/bin/topal -mime '%s' '%t'; needsterminal

187

application/pgp; /usr/local/bin/topal -mimeapgp '%s' '%t'; needsterminal

188

</PRE>

189

190

<H3><A NAME="procmail-config">Procmail Configuration</A></H3>

191

192

In your procmailrc, add the recipe:

193

<PRE>

194

:0fw

195

| /usr/local/bin/topal --fix-email

196

</PRE>

197

I <EM>strongly</EM> advise that you also use one of the backup

198

recipes from the procmail manual. See also the notes in

199

<A HREF="#additional-programs">additional programs</A>.

200

201

<H3><A NAME="topal-config">Topal Configuration</A></H3>

202

203

Create a directory called `${HOME}/.topal'. This is currently

204

hard-coded into Topal. Create the basic configuration file by running

205

topal with the -dump or -default option. This file should be named `<TT>config</TT>'.

206

<P>

207

All .topal files are silently ignored if they cannot be found.

208

Parsing errors cause an exception.

209

<P>

210

If you want to include strings with spaces, you'll need to quote them

211

with double-quotes (<TT>"</TT>). Double-quotes themselves can be

212

included by `stuffing' (<TT>""</TT>).

213

214

215

<HR>

216

217

<H2><A NAME="topal-usage">Topal Usage</A></H2>

218

219

220

221

<TT>-help</TT> as the first argument dumps a help message.

222

<P>

223

The help message is derived from the help.txt file (included at

224

compile time).

225

<P>

226

See help.txt for information on <A HREF="#nonpine">non-Pine use of Topal</A>.

227

<P>

228

Send <A HREF="#author">email to me</A> if you're really stuck.

229

230

<H3><A NAME="interactive-config">Interactive Configuration</A></H3>

231

232

<TT>-config</TT> as the first argument brings up the configuration menu.

233

<P>

234

This menu is also available when sending (so that the signing key can

235

be changed).

236

237

238

<H3><A NAME="decrypt-verify">Decryption/Verification</A></H3>

239

240

Depending on configuration, Topal will either ignore the file

241

altogether, ask you what you want to do with it, or proceed to

242

process the file automatically.

243

<P>

244

GPG will ask you for your passphrase when it needs it.

245

<P>

246

Caching is in place; the results of decryption and verification are

247

(subject to configuration) saved in ~/.topal/cache. The results of

248

caching mean that you won't be repeatedly asked for your passphrase,

249

at the expense of storing decrypts in the clear.

250

<P>

251

Be warned: Topal often invokes `less' to view something. So you'll

252

need to use `q' to get out of it. `Metamail' is called for anything

253

after MIME processing.

254

<P>

255

A new option (for version 0.7.8) called `inline-separate-output'

256

concerns inlined (i.e., not MIME) messages. If the option is on, then

257

the Topal/GnuPG output will be shown to you by less. Then the

258

decrypted or verified output will be handed back to Pine. This is the

259

way to approach attachments. However, you will normally want to keep

260

this option off, because if you're reading (for example) BugTraq

261

mailings, then it will want you to hit `q' an awful lot....

262

263

<H3><A NAME="sending">Sending</A></H3>

264

265

If you choose the `Topal' filter when sending, you will be offered a

266

menu

267

<PRE>

268

(lkr) List/edit current recipient keys (@) Add own key

269

(n) Pass through unchanged (o) Configuration (q) Abort

270

Execute GPG: (e) Encrypt (s) Sign-encrypt (c) Clearsign

271

</PRE>

272

Above that, it will indicate picking up keys for each recipient email

273

address. It will also add a key `for self'.

274

<P>

275

`Abort' tells Pine you don't want Topal to process the email anymore.

276

<P>

277

`Pass through unchanged' does nothing to the message (except for forcing the

278

content-type to be text/plain when invoked with -sendmime; this is useful for dealing with an

279

obscure bug in Pine 4.44). This means that you can always have Topal

280

invoked for sending.

281

<P>

282

`Add own key' adds an `encrypt to self' key. (It is added by default,

283

but if you remove it, this is a quick way to restore it.)

284

<P>

285

The three `execute GPG' options use the current settings and execute

286

GPG. You will be asked to confirm the command-line, and after

287

processing, less is invoked to visually check that the desired result

288

has been achieved. Again, a confirmation is asked for.

289

<P>

290

If -sendmime was used, then a menu will ask

291

<PRE>

292

(p) Inline plain text (a) application/pgp (m) multipart/*

293

(q) Abort

294

</PRE>

295

offer a choice of three MIME types. Don't use (a) unless you really

296

know what you're doing. If you are signing and encrypting, a further

297

choice, <PRE>(e) multipart/* encapsulated</PRE> will be offered.

298

This encapsulates a MIME signed message inside an encrypted message.

299

Otherwise, we do both operations at once. (If you choose `clearsign'

300

and `multipart/*', then all trailing blank lines will be deleted.

301

Note also that Pine appears to delete trailing whitespace in trailing

302

blank lines.)

303

<P>

304

`Configuration' offers the same menu that is available from the

305

-config option.

306

<P>

307

`List current recipient keys' offers a list of recipients:

308

<PRE>

309

Select key, or (dq) to quit and return to main send menu

310

or (s) to select a key after searching in the main keyring

311

or (ak) to add keys from the main keyring (not recommended, use `s')

312

Displaying choices 1 to 2 of 1 to 2 (<,) page up (>.) page down

313

1 - Details: pub 1024D/50973B91 2000-12-19 Dr Phil Brooke (at home) <P.J.Broo

314

2 - Details: pub 1024D/16BE903A 2001-02-25 Malcolm Gray <malcolm.gray@jobstre

315

</PRE>

316

`Quit and return to main send menu' sends you back to the first menu.

317

<P>

318

`Add key from main keyring' prompts you for a search pattern. It will

319

do a general search on your GPG keyring. Beware of just pressing

320

enter - it will select <EM>all</EM> keys on your keyring.

321

<P>

322

A better alternative is to use the `select after search' option. This

323

also does a search on your GPG keyring, but then you must select

324

one key to be added to your list of recipients.

325

<P>

326

Selecting a key will offer a third menu (a similar menu is offered

327

when selecting a single key):

328

<PRE>

329

Key: Details: pub 1024D/50973B91 2000-12-19 Dr Phil Brooke (at home) <P.J.Broo

330

(d) Display details of key with less, (v) Verbosely

331

(r) Remove key from list (kql) Return to key list

332

</PRE>

333

`Return to key list' takes you back to the second menu.

334

<P>

335

`Display details of key (less)' simply uses GPG to list the

336

key details via less. You'll need to use `q' to get out of less.

337

<P>

338

`Verbose details of key (less)' pipes verbose output from GPG for this

339

key into gpg. You'll need to use `q' to get out of less.

340

<P>

341

`Remove key from list' removes the key from this recipient list.

342

343

344

<H2><A NAME="nonpine">Command-line usage</A></H2>

345

346

If you invoke Topal on the command-line with a filename as an

347

argument, it will offer the sending functions on that file. It

348

doesn't actually send anything: instead it allows you to encrypt,

349

sign, etc. the message. You have a choice of overwriting or

350

preserving the original file (this bit is case-sensitive).

351

<P>

352

The main purpose of this mode is for encrypting or signing attachments

353

before they are attached to the message in Pine. Beware that Pine

354

does not feed the attachments to a sending filter.

355

<P>

356

MIME functions are not available in this mode: it makes no sense.

357

358

<HR>

359

360

<H2><A NAME="additional-programs">Additional Modes</A></H2>

361

362

Two scripts used to be included with topal: topal-fix-email and

363

topal-fix-folder. They have been replaced by the <TT>--fix-email</TT>

364

and <TT>--fix-folder</TT> command-line options to the main binary.

365

<P>

366

<TT>topal --fix-email</TT> modifies any email that is (at the top level) a

367

multipart/signed or multipart/encrypted message. It creates a

368

multipart/alternative message. The revised message contains the first

369

part of the original message as one alternative, then the entire

370

original message as an alternative part. Pine can cope with invoking

371

Topal on the (original) subpart. Confused? (It probably isn't clever

372

for /encrypted mail, but at least Topal can get at it.)

373

<P>

374

Usage:

375

<DL>

376

<DT><TT>topal --fix-folder</TT> <folder> ...</DT> <DD>This fixes the old

377

email folders you may have.</DD>

378

<DT><TT>topal --fix-email</TT></DT> <DD>Takes no arguments; it accepts a single

379

email on stdin. Ideally, it should be invoked by procmail (see the

380

<A HREF="#procmail-config">configuration section</A> above).

381

</DL>

382

<P>

383

<TT>topal --fix-email</TT> has a simpler mode (<TT>--simple</TT>) where it

384

pretends that there are two MIME content types:

385

`application/x-topal-encrypted' and `application/x-topal-signed'. You

386

might prefer using this.

387

388

<HR>

389

390

<H2><A NAME="notes">Notes</A></H2>

391

392

<H3><A NAME="pinehack">The Pine patch, and sending other attachments</A></H3>

393

394

What does the patch to Pine do? It removes some of the safety

395

checking when changing the content-type (_MIMETYPE_) in a filter.

396

Normally, if the returned content-type is not text/*, then the entire

397

content-type is dropped.

398

<P>

399

The patch instead adds a flag, `topal_hack', and sets this if the

400

returned content-type is not text. From time-to-time, we

401

pretend that the body is normal text. We take a little care to check

402

if this message is already a multipart message, so hopefully, the normal

403

sending of attachments still works.

404

405

406

407

Topal internally lists keys by their fingerprint. It uses GPG to look

408

up key fingerprints by using whatever GPG can cope with.

409

<P>

410

Duplicate keys are silently suppressed. Removing a key only removes

411

one instance, if somehow you've coerced Topal to list duplicates

412

(which is quite easy, since adding a key with its short key ID, and

413

the same key with its fingerprint will add two identical keys).

414

<P>

415

The way that Topal chooses the keys is as follows:

416

<P>

417

<UL>

418

<LI> For each recipient email address (supplied by Pine)

419

<OL>

420

<LI> For each matching line in keylist, use the key ID to get a fingerprint, and add the key to the list.

421

<LI> In there are no matching lines in keylist, try to get a

422

fingerprint via just that email address (but exclude `xk'

423

configuration entries).

424

</OL>

425

</UL>

426

<P>

427

The keylist is a way to say, `for this particular email address, use

428

this particular key'.

429

430

431

<H3><A NAME="errors">Errors</A></H3>

432

433

Bad things happening should result in Topal setting its exit status to

434

`failed', so Pine should detect this and not send your email.

435

<P>

436

Bug reports are welcome: send them by email to me (contact details below).

437

438

<H3><A NAME="decrypt-attachments">Decrypting attachments</A></H3>

439

440

If an attachment is a plaintext PGP ASCII-armoured message, then Topal

441

will be invoked by Pine. You probably want to say `no' when asked

442

here (beware of the configuration options here). Otherwise, you'll

443

get a decrypted file with the original attachment filename, plus the

444

various Topal headers.

445

446

<H3><A NAME="cleaning-cache">Cleaning up the cache</A></H3>

447

448

You might want to run something like

449

<PRE>

450

find ${HOME}/.topal/cache -mtime +7 | xargs rm

451

</PRE>

452

to remove all the cache files that are a bit old (in this example, 7

453

days old or older).

454

455

<H3><A NAME="new-releases">New releases</A></H3>

456

457

To be notified of new releases of Topal, send an email to me....

458

459

<HR>

460

461

<H2><A NAME="author">Author</A></H2>

462

463

Phil Brooke wrote this, partially out of boredom, but mostly because

464

he wanted a GPG/Pine add-on to do exactly what he wants. There are

465

many similar programs.

466

<P>

467

If you like this program, please tell me. If you'd like it better

468

with changes, please tell me what changes you want. If particular

469

items on the <A HREF="#todo">`To do' list</A> are important to you, let me know. In

470

particular, if you find bugs, feel free to tell me the details by

471

email.

472

<P>

473

This package is released under the GPL: see the file <A HREF="COPYING">COPYING</A>.

474

<P>

475

I can be emailed on

476

<A HREF="mailto:pjb@lothlann.freeserve.co.uk"><TT>pjb@lothlann.freeserve.co.uk</TT></A>

477

<P>

478

My key ID is 0x50973B91; the key is available from web pages and public key

479

servers.

480

<P>

481

If you want to send snailmail to me, email me for my (physical) address.

482

483

<HR>

484

485

<H2><A NAME="license">License</A></H2>

486

487

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify

488

it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

489

the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or

490

(at your option) any later version.

491

<P>

492

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

493

but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

494

MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the

495

GNU General Public License for more details.

496

<P>

497

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

498

along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software

499

Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

500

501

<HR>

502

503

504

505

<UL>

506

<LI> Fix these known/reported bugs:

507

<UL>

508

<LI> `Pine indicating both text elements as shown' problem -

509

no obvious reason for it, though.

510

<LI> Very rarely, some Topal-munged multipart/signed messages aren't

511

handed off to Pine. Not obvious why, yet.

512

</UL>

513

<LI> Add signal handlers.

514

<LI> Catch GPG keyboard interrupt.

515

<LI> Should we check that the infile matches the cache file even if

516

the MD5 hash matches? (We'd need to store the infile in the cache as well.)

517

<LI> Check through code: all external calls should check return

518

values. General clean-up.

519

<LI> Add pkcs7 signatures via SSL?

520

<LI> Use mimeconstruct to attach attachments that are then signed/encrypted/whatever?

521

<LI> Add interrupt option at very beginning of execution? (which

522

would bring up the configuration menu?)

523

<LI> Associate extra options with particular keys?

524

<LI> Configuration routine for managing keys/config/keylist?

525

<LI> Implement rest of configuration menu.

526

<LI> Make a much nicer interface all round....

527

<LI> Separate out all the constant strings -- so that we can have internationalization.

528

<LI> Context-sensitive help throughout (modify mkhelp to create multiple

529

procedures, or do it by number?); add COPYING option?

530

<LI> More receiving/decrypt options: include both plaintext and

531

ciphertext.

532

<LI> Add periodic cache cleanup when Topal is invoked?

533

<LI> Add logging for workaround mode (report time of email processing (include PID); indicate if the file was changed or not)?

534

</UL>

535

536

<HR>

537

538

<H2><A NAME="changes">Version History</A></H2>

539

540

Look in <A HREF="release">release</A> for the current release number.

541

542

<DL>

543

<DT>06/2001, 0.1</DT> <DD>First alpha release.</DD>

544

545

<DT>06/2001, 0.2</DT> <DD>Minor changes.</DD>

546

547

<DT>06/2001, 0.3</DT> <DD>Major changes to how keys are identified and

548

looked up.</DD>

549

550

<DT>06/2001, 0.4</DT> <DD>Adding more customization features.</DD>

551

552

<DT>11/2001, 0.4.4</DT> <DD>Cleaned up some error messages; added -nps

553

mode.</DD>

554

555

<DT>11/2001, 0.4.5</DT> <DD>Added `gpg-options' config item with

556

default `--no-options'. (Forgot to add this note as well....)</DD>

557

558

<DT>11/2001, 0.5.0</DT> <DD>Dumped -verify and -decrypt modes in

559

favour of the multiple-block `-display' mode. Added -help. Added

560

caching. Added more switches relating to caching. Better output

561

formatting.</DD>

562

563

<DT>11/2001, 0.5.1</DT> <DD>Improved menus. Tidied up some of the

564

interface. Added -s, which does the same as -nps.</DD>

565

566

<DT>12/2001, 0.5.2</DT> <DD>Tidied disclaimer. Added synonyms for

567

-help (-h, -?, --help, --h) Cleaned up menus; keypresses aren't echoed

568

any longer.</DD>

569

570

<DT>12/2001, 0.5.3</DT> <DD>Altered packaging to include version in

571

directory name. Changed names of some -clear options to be a bit more

572

sensible. Changing config settings method (big change). Making -s

573

the default operation. Some rearrangement of code, constants. Some

574

configuration editing possible via Topal. Send has access to

575

configuration menu. </DD>

576

577

<DT>12/2001, 0.5.4</DT> <DD>Bug fix; one-off error in the sending

578

menus.</DD>

579

580

<DT>12/2001, 0.5.5</DT> <DD>Removed redundant examples directory.

581

Changed over to HTML documentation. Tweaked the RELEASE stuff. Use

582

space instead of enter when waiting to continue: this looks forward to

583

offering a help option at every prompt. The receive/blocks

584

stuff now uses an expanding array. The GPG return value is checked

585

when receiving: if it's bad, then some bits of the output are omitted;

586

the cache file is not written. The date bit of Topal output moved

587

onto the previous line (echo -n blah blah).</DD>

588

589

<DT>12/2001, 0.5.6</DT> <DD>Adding installation instructions. Using

590

tee and PIPESTATUS to get stderr on screen during receiving while also

591

saving that output and recording gpg's exit status. Changed RELEASE

592

filename to release. Tidied up the Makefile. Invalid passphrase

593

messages are grep'd out of the output. Added `fast continue' options.

594

Key lists in the configuration section now use expanding arrays.

595

Changed key details selection message. Secret key selection now

596

offers a menu of secret keys on the secret keyring. Initial recipient

597

search excludes keys in XK list. Added key search/selection menu

598

choice - much nicer to use than the add menu. More configuration

599

stuff added (still more to do, although the config file can always be

600

used). Partial documentation update.</DD>

601

602

<DT>2/2002, 0.5.7</DT> <DD>Adding limited RFC2015/MIME decoding of

603

multipart email.</DD>

604

605

<DT>2/2002, 0.5.8</DT> <DD>Adding mime-construct to configuration in

606

expectation of more RFC2015 features. Put test for the config file

607

existing before actually attempting to read it (oops). Added -O2

608

-Wall and the TOPALDEBUG variable for compiling. Put up WWW page via

609

own Freeserve site. Announcing via Freshmeat. Automating output WWW

610

site generation (all the grunge in the Makefile).

611

612

<DT>3/2002, 0.6.0</DT> <DD>Distribution uses a gzip'd binary now....

613

Added a pre-built binary that is statically linked against the GNAT

614

stuff so that people don't need to acquire GNAT first (this, I

615

believe, complies with the GNAT licence). <P> Added the scripts

616

topal-fix-email and topal-fix-folder. This makes it a lot easier to

617

work with other people's multipart/signed or /encrypted email.

618

Procmail recipe added to this README.<P>Added display of

619

application/pgp messages. Including the text of one of these in a

620

reply might be difficult, but then, it was difficult without topal's

621

mangling. At least they can be verified and read now.<P>-sendmime

622

option added. Hack needed (in topal-pine-patch [now pine-4.44-patch])

623

to allow non-text/blah content-types in Pine. RFC2015 send and

624

received done (including micalg detection when sending clearsigned

625

messages: list used from RFC3156.). Ditto for application/pgp, but

626

I'm not sure of some of the parameters, since I've only ever seen

627

signed emails of this form.<P>Removed some of the waits for execution,

628

since it seems reliable. Added error checking on return value of GPG

629

in sends.</DD>

630

631

<DT>3/2002, 0.6.1</DT> <DD>The Content-Type for MIME sending is

632

displayed on the screen using `cat' rather than `less', which was

633

getting to be annoying.<P>Two changes that are related to how I

634

manage the source code: Slight tweak to makefile for keeping track

635

of RCS files; and using rcs -n<symbolic-name> to tag the

636

released files.</DD>

637

638

<DT>3/2002, 0.6.2</DT> <DD>MIME clear-signed messages: trailing blank

639

lines are now deleted before signing (this would cause BAD signature

640

when verifying on some other MTAs). Added remarks to documentation

641

about the patch to Pine and attachments.</DD>

642

643

<DT>4/2002, 0.6.3</DT> <DD>RFC1847 multipart encapsulation added.

644

(See section 6.1 of RFC3156.) Cleaned up related receiving/caching

645

behaviour.<P>Another MIME clear-signed messages bugfix. This one

646

sorts out line-end conventions correctly. <P>New patch for Pine: this

647

stops a SEGFAULT when using RFC2015 stuff and other attachments at the

648

same time.<P>Updated documentation; added man pages for the two scripts.</DD>

649

650

<DT>4/2002, 0.6.4</DT> <DD>New patch for Pine. Adds a workaround for

651

the problem where some versions of MS Exchange would silently lose

652

inbound MIME clearsigned email. It turns out that a slight formatting

653

change stops the problem.</DD>

654

655

<DT>5/2002, 6/2002; 0.6.5, 0.6.6, 0.6.7, 0.6.8</DT> <DD>Adding more debugging,

656

mostly to the menus code. Used for tracking down a nasty problem

657

causing exceptions. Many thanks to Felix Madlener for pointing this

658

out and testing the revised code.</DD>

659

660

<DT>7/2002, 0.6.9</DT><DD>Renamed the Pine patch for when new versions

661

come out. (It's still the same patch as for Topal 0.6.4.) Added trap

662

for non-existent file when using `-s'. Cache directory as well as

663

.topal directory is also chmod'd to 700. Added README.txt to package

664

file (even though it's generated from the .html) so that those who

665

just want to `less' it (instead of firing up a HTML reader) can do so.</DD>

666

667

<DT>8/2002, 0.7.0</DT><DD>Changed email address in man page. Lots more

668

exception handling for extra info when something goes wrong. Moderate

669

code reorganisation: mostly splitting blocks of code out for future

670

work. Fixed `bug' (feature?) where send fails if a public key is

671

unusable (although this may risk sending plaintext through; we assume

672

that if an output file was generated, then the GPG errors weren't

673

fatal). Now we check instead if the output file exists. Checking all

674

source files for any similar bugs in menus (cf. the 5/2002 entry).

675

Modified MIME RFC2015 receiving function so that it isn't so reliant

676

on shell calls of sed (which can fall over with nasty characters in an

677

incoming emails boundary). Moreover, it can now cope with MIME parts

678

that don't end with a newline. Tweaking MIME/verify cache handling:

679

we shouldn't actually get an output file from GPG (since we're only

680

verifying one part with the other); we put a vague warning if this

681

happens, and trap when reading the cache. Added content-type to

682

plaintext for MIME/encrypted. Documentation update.</DD>

683

684

<DT>8/2002, 0.7.1</DT><DD>Fixed minor bug with inverted return code

685

(`-s' trap). Doc update.</DD>

686

687

<DT>9/2002, 0.7.2</DT><DD>Fixed minor bug in key list handling code

688

(dealing with key selection).</DD>

689

690

<DT>9/2002; 0.7.3, 0.7.4 (BETA)</DT><DD>Disposed of the dependency on a shell by

691

introducing Ada bindings for fork/exec/dup/pipe/glob, etc.. Several

692

external binaries are no longer needed (cat, echo). Most return codes

693

are now properly checked (although still need to do a better audit).

694

Followed Eduardo Chappa's advice and changed Pine patch version

695

letter. Miscellaneous cleanups and fixes. Many thanks to Peter

696

Losher for giving me the incentive to sort out the external calls.</DD>

697

698

<DT>9/2002; 0.7.5 (BETA)</DT><DD>Tidying up structure of external calls, and

699

how the various messages are built up and torn down. Changed the lynx

700

switches at the suggestion of Felix Madlener (many thanks!). When

701

receiving MIME encrypted attachments, the output is not included in

702

the Topal output, but only in the metamail invocation.</DD>

703

704

<DT>10/2002; 0.7.6 (BETA)</DT><DD>Explicitly noted which versions are

705

not intended for general use (beta versions). Rearranged command line

706

parsing for more flexibility in future.</DD>

707

708

<DT>10/2002; 0.7.7 (BETA)</DT><DD>Re-implementing topal-fix-email and

709

topal-fix-folder as part of the main topal binary. This removes the

710

(script) dependency on munpack, but adds formail and diff to the main

711

binary. Fixed some missing bits for particular binaries in

712

configuration handling. Adding `important changes from last stable

713

version' documentation. Tweaked the body extraction procedure.

714

Tweaked some output messages. Major changes to menus: they now use

715

enumerated types rather than integers.... Tweaking cl_menu some

716

more. Added `pass-thu' option to send menu (so you can always use the

717

Topal filter. This might also fix the minor problem with text/html

718

occasionally being sent when it shouldn't be....) Fixed bug where

719

MIME decrypt failure would still cause metamail to be invoked, but

720

that's a waste of time.</DD>

721

722

<DT>10/2002; 0.7.8</DT><DD>Clearing out case statements with `when

723

others'. Tidying up sending.adb. Fixed problem in MIME output where

724

a leading blank line was added. Finally implemented `topal

725

--fix-folders' functionality added. No longer need the two old

726

scripts (I hope)! Another documentation tidy-up. Added

727

`inline-separate-output' option: this effectively turns off the GnuPG/Topal

728

wrappers in output. However, the side-effect is that the cache must

729

be cleared when upgrading to this version.

730

</DD>

731

732

<DT>11/2002; 0.7.9</DT><DD>Added some infrastructure for

733

encrypting/signing attachments (but this is nowhere near working yet).

734

Documentation and manpage update (again). Seems stable, will release.

735

</DD>

736

737

<DT>2/2003; 0.7.10, 0.7.11</DT><DD>Tweaking distribution pages (mkdistrib).

738

Including patches against Pine versions 4.50 and 4.53. (They're all

739

more-or-less the same patch. It's pretty

740

easy to apply them against 4.51 and 4.52 if you feel so inclined.)

741

Further doc clean up (particular the stuff about important changes

742

from previous stable versions). Implemented Felix M.'s suggestion for

743

handling non-existant command-line options: things that aren't valid

744

options, but are prefixed with a `-' get a more helpful error

745

message. --fix-email workaround also writes out the original input in

746

the exception handler. Changed recommended procmail recipe so that

747

Topal's exit code is checked.

748

</DD>

749

750

<DT>2/2003; 0.7.12</DT><DD>Adding `workaround-error-log' file to

751

.topal. This accepts output from topal --fix-email when it fails to

752

exit cleanly. Not quite clear if this bit works yet (was tracking

753

down other problem). It appears that when running without a real

754

terminal, the call to set_echo fails. Odd. Nasty workaround

755

implemented.

756

</DD>

757

758

<DT>2/2002; 0.7.13</DT><DD>Added missing includes to ada-echo-c.c.

759

Perhaps related to issue in the previous entry.</DD>

760

761

762

763

764

765

<DT>4/2003; 0.7.13b</DT><DD>Bug fix release only - backported from

766

(not-yet-released 0.8.0). Fixed bug when

767

changing own signing key using the -config option - thanks to Stewart

768

James for the bug report. </DD>

769

770

<DT>10/2003; 0.7.13.2</DT><DD>Bug fix release only - backported from

771

(not-yet-released 0.8.0). Changed bug fix versioning scheme.

772

Makefile now links properly against static GNAT runtime. Fixed

773

problem which manifests as: `relocation error: /lib/libreadline.so.4:

774

undefined symbol: BC' (needed instruction to link against ncurses) -

775

thanks to Marty Hoff for the bug report. Added patch against Pine

776

version 4.58.</DD>

777

778

<DT>10/2003; 0.7.13.3</DT><DD>Now use -gnatwa and -gnato for all Ada

779

compilation. It was omitted from the main binary build command

780

before. Fixed all the resulting warnings.</DD>

781

782

783

784

</A>

785

786

</DL>

787

788

<HR>

789

790

</BODY>

791

</HTML>