DOCUMENT:Q140245  11-NOV-1999  [pcmail]
TITLE   :PC Ext: Running Externals with the -bt Option in a Batch File
PRODUCT :Microsoft Mail For PC Networks
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:3.0,3.2,3.2a,3.5
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Mail for PC Networks, versions 3.0, 3.2, 3.2a, 3.5 
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SUMMARY
=======

When you want to suspend external mailers running with the -bt option within a
batch file, you can not expect the mailer to restart and run twice on the same
day. External mailers that can use the -bt option include:

   EXTERNAL.EXE
   SMTPGATE.EXE
   X400GATE.EXE
   FAXGATE.EXE
   VMGATE.EXE
   ATTGATE.EXE

MORE INFORMATION
================

When the external mailer is restarted a second time on the same day, it will
exit immediately because the absolute break time has already passed. When you
want to stop the external mailers to run other processes, you will need to know
how much time the other processes will need and adjust the time assigned to the
-bt option so that the external mailer restarts on the following day.

For example, the following batch file will run EXTERNAL.EXE, close it, remove the
previous days sent and receive log files, copy the current log files to .OLD,
clear the current log files, and restart the external process:

   loop
   external -ms -mr -bt:23:59
   del m:\maildata\log\sent.old
   del m:\maildata\log\recv.old
   copy m:\maildata\log\sent.log m:\maildata\log\sent.old
   copy m:\maildata\log\recv.log m:\maildata\log\recv.old
   type nul > m:\maildata\log\sent.log
   type nul > m:\maildata\log\recv.log
   goto loop

It should not take long to process the .LOG files. Therefore, the absolute break
time value should be pushed as close as possible to midnight. If the processes
require more time, you need to set the absolute time value to an earlier time.


Additional query words: 3.x -bt switch batch

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMailSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbMailPCN320 kbMailPCN320a kbMailPCN300 kbMailPCN350
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.2,3.2a,3.5

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