
     _________________________________________________________________

                 Topal: GPG/GnuPG and Alpine/Pine integration

   Copyright (C) 2001--2008 Phillip J. Brooke
     _________________________________________________________________

Contents

     * [1]Introduction
     * [2]Features
     * [3]Important changes from previous stable versions
     * [4]Installation and configuration
          + [5]Compilation and installation
          + [6]Pine/Alpine configuration
          + [7]Mailcap configuration
          + [8]Topal configuration
     * [9]Topal usage
          + [10]Help!
          + [11]Interactive configuration
          + [12]Decryption/verification
          + [13]Sending
          + [14]Command-line usage
          + [15]Remote and server mode
     * [16]Fixing multipart emails
     * [17]Notes
          + [18]The Pine/Alpine hack, and sending other attachments
          + [19]Key IDs and keylists
          + [20]Errors
          + [21]Decrypting attachments
          + [22]Locale problems
          + [23]Cleaning up the cache
          + [24]Remote and server mode
          + [25]New releases
          + [26]Release numbering
     * [27]Author
     * [28]Licence
     * [29]To do
     * [30]Version history
          + [31]Most recent changes
     _________________________________________________________________

Introduction

   Topal is a `glue' program that links [32]GnuPG and
   [33]Pine/[34]Alpine. It offers facilities to encrypt, decrypt, sign
   and verify emails. See the list of [35]features below.
     _________________________________________________________________

Features

     * In-place decryption/verification, dealing with multiple blocks
       embedded in text.
     * Caching of output to reduce need for passphrase (at expense of
       storing decrypts and verification output).
     * Receiving of MIME RFC2015/3156 multipart/signed and
       multipart/encrypted messages. Top-level multipart items need some
       modification: see the README section `fixing multipart emails'.
       These features are available to any program that uses .mailcap
       files.
     * Sending of MIME RFC2015/3156 multipart/signed and
       multipart/encrypted messages. (Needs a patch to Pine/Alpine.)
     * Sending and receiving of the old application/pgp content-type
       (sending requires the same patch as the previous item).
     * Basic support for verifying S/MIME multipart/signed messages.
     * Offers user the opportunity to check output before sending it.
     * Remote sending mode for when reading email on a distant computer
       via ssh with secret keys on the local computer.
     * Rich configuration options.
     * Shortcuts for selecting keys, as well as general key selection
       routines when sending email.
     * Few arbitrary limits.
     _________________________________________________________________

Important changes from previous stable versions

   The previous stable releases were 0.7.2, 0.7.8, 0.7.9 and 0.7.13.6.
   Release numbering has changed since then. The subsequent stable
   releases were 55, 56, ....

  Important changes in release 60

     * MIME sending now requires MIME-tool; mime-construct is no longer
       used. See [36]compilation and installation.

  Important changes in release 58

     * The default configuration no longer uses absolute paths.

  Important changes in release 55

     * If you use a non-English locale, please check that Topal still
       works as expected (replaced code that fixed some locale problems).
     * The Alpine patch is based off my old Pine patches, but does a
       little more. You will need to set the Enable Topal hack for
       OpenPGP/MIME messages option in the hidden configuration list. Bug
       reports welcome.
     * The --fix-email wrapper no longer creates a multipart/alternative:
       it creates a multipart/misc wrapper instead. Please check that
       your procmail recipe includes a suitable backup in case this
       doesn't work for you.

  Important changes in version 0.7.10

   The recommended procmail recipe has been changed.

  Important changes in version 0.7.8

   topal-fix-email and topal-fix-folder have been replaced by the main
   topal binary. Change topal-fix-email in your .procmailrc to be topal
   --fix-email. (Or add symlinks: the binary checks what it has been
   called as.)

   You must clear your cache otherwise the changes made for
   inline-separate-output (added in version 0.7.8) will break (this
   occurs regardless of whether the option is on or off). This new
   feature shows the GnuPG/Topal output separately, then hands back the
   decrypted or verified output without any wrappers. This makes it more
   suitable for dealing with attachments (but you need to set it manually
   via topal -config).

   Finally, the send menu has a new option: `Pass through unchanged'.
   This does nothing to the message so, you can always have Topal invoked
   as a filter for sending.
     _________________________________________________________________

Installation and configuration

  Compilation and installation

   To compile Topal, you need a working C compiler and the GNU Ada
   Compiler (GNAT). There is a makefile: simply type make. Type make
   install to actually install. The default location is /usr, so you'll
   need to be root to install. Alternatively, use make install
   INSTALLPATH=/usr/local to install into /usr/local. (Or use the more
   specific variables INSTALLPATHBIN, INSTALLPATHMAN, INSTALLPATHDOC and
   INSTALLPATHPATCHES.)

   MIME sending requires the Topal version of mime-tool (included with
   the Topal sources, and compiled and installed at the same time using
   the Makefile). MIME viewing can be handled via metamail, run-mailcap,
   or by saving to a file in the ~/.topal directory and viewed with
   Alpine.

  Pine/Alpine configuration

   Assuming that the topal binary is installed in /usr/bin, set up the
   Pine/Alpine sending and display filters as follows:
display-filters=_BEGINNING("-----BEGIN PGP ")_ /usr/bin/topal -display _TMPFILE_ _RESULTFILE_

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

   You can choose either or both of the sending filters. The -sendmime
   option allows the user to choose the MIME type of the outbound email.
   (Legacy fixes are in place that make -decrypt and -verify behave the
   same as -display.) Note that _RECIPIENTS_ should be last.

   For -sendmime to work, you will need to patch Pine/Alpine. There are
   patches for versions [37]4.44, [38]4.50, [39]4.53, [40]4.58. [41]4.60
   and [42]4.64 of Pine. (They're all more-or-less the same patch.) cd
   into the pine4.xx directory and use the patch command.

   There are patches for Alpine: versions [43]1.00 and [44]1.10. Please
   note that the Alpine patches also modify Alpine's configuration. There
   is a hidden preference `enable Topal hack' (enable-topal-hack) that
   you need to switch on.

   It doesn't seem to have broken anything else.... It seems to work for
   sending via an SMTP server - it might break for sending via
   /usr/lib/sendmail (if it does, please send me a debug trace by
   invoking pine with `-d 9').

   You can also add --read-from _INCLUDEALLHDRS_ before send and
   -sendmime. This makes Topal attempt to guess a suitable key for
   signing and self-encryption. If multiple possible keys match, then
   you'll be offered a menu of the keys.

  Mailcap configuration

   To decode MIME RFC2015/3156 multipart/signed and /encrypted messages
   requires the assistance of metamail. Add in either the user mailcap
   configuration (.mailcap) or the system configuration (/etc/mailcap)
   the lines
multipart/signed; /usr/bin/topal -mime '%s' '%t'; needsterminal
multipart/encrypted; /usr/bin/topal -mime '%s' '%t'; needsterminal
application/pgp; /usr/bin/topal -mimeapgp '%s' '%t'; needsterminal

  Procmail configuration

   In your procmailrc, add the recipe:
:0fw
| /usr/bin/topal --fix-email

   This examines all inbound emails. Those with top-level
   multipart/signed or multipart/encrypted MIME types are modified to add
   a multipart/misc wrapper so that Pine/Alpine can hand it off to Topal.
   All other emails are left unchanged.

   I strongly advise that you also use one of the backup recipes from the
   procmail manual. See also the notes in [45]fixing multipart emails.

  Topal configuration

   Create a directory called `${HOME}/.topal'. This is currently
   hard-coded into Topal. Create the basic configuration file by running
   topal with the -dump or -default options. This file should be named
   `config'.

   All .topal files are silently ignored if they cannot be found.
   Comments begin with a # in the first column, and run to the end of a
   line. They are totally ignored and are not currently preserved.
   Parsing errors cause an exception.

   If you want to include strings with spaces, you'll need to quote them
   with double-quotes ("). Double-quotes themselves can be included by
   `stuffing' ("").
     _________________________________________________________________

Topal usage

  Help!

   -help as the first argument dumps a help message.

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

   See help.txt for information on [46]non-Pine use of Topal.

   Send [47]email to me if you're really stuck.

  Interactive configuration

   -config as the first argument brings up the configuration menu.

   This menu is also available when sending (so that the signing key can
   be changed).

  Decryption/verification

   Depending on configuration, Topal will either ignore the file
   altogether, ask you what you want to do with it, or proceed to process
   the file automatically.

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

   Caching is in place; the results of decryption and verification are
   (subject to configuration) saved in ~/.topal/cache. The results of
   caching mean that you won't be repeatedly asked for your passphrase,
   at the expense of storing decrypts in the clear.

   Be warned: Topal often invokes less to view something. So you'll need
   to use q to get out of it. metamail is called for anything after MIME
   processing.

   A new option (for version 0.7.8) called inline-separate-output
   concerns inlined (i.e., not MIME) messages. If the option is on, then
   the Topal/GnuPG output will be shown to you by less. Then the
   decrypted or verified output will be handed back to Pine/Alpine. This
   is the way to approach attachments. However, you will normally want to
   keep this option off, because if you're reading (for example) BugTraq
   mailings, then it will want you to hit q an awful lot....

  Sending

   If you choose the `Topal' filter when sending, you will be offered a
   menu
  (lkr) List/edit current recipient keys   (@) Add own key
  (n) Pass through unchanged  (o) Configuration  (q) Abort
  Execute GPG: (e) Encrypt (s) Sign-encrypt (c) Clearsign

   Above that, it will indicate picking up keys for each recipient email
   address. It will also add a key `for self'.

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

   `Pass through unchanged' does nothing to the message. This means that
   you can always have Topal invoked for sending.

   `Add own key' adds an `encrypt to self' key. (It is added by default,
   but if you remove it, this is a quick way to restore it.)

   The three `execute GPG' options use the current settings and execute
   GPG. You will be asked to confirm the command-line, and after
   processing, less is invoked to visually check that the desired result
   has been achieved. Again, a confirmation is asked for.

   If -sendmime was used, then a menu will ask
  (p) Inline plain text  (a) application/pgp  (m) multipart/*
  (q) Abort

   offer a choice of three MIME types. Don't use (a) unless you really
   know what you're doing. If you are signing and encrypting, a further
   choice,
(e) multipart/* encapsulated

   will be offered. This encapsulates a MIME signed message inside an
   encrypted message. Otherwise, we do both operations at once. (If you
   choose `clearsign' and `multipart/*', then all trailing blank lines
   will be deleted. Note also that Pine/Alpine appears to delete trailing
   whitespace in trailing blank lines.)

   `Configuration' offers the same menu that is available from the
   -config option.

   `List current recipient keys' offers a list of recipients:
  Select key, or (dq) to quit and return to main send menu
  or (s) to select a key after searching in the main keyring
  or (ak) to add keys from the main keyring (not recommended, use `s')
  Displaying choices 1 to 2 of 1 to 2    (<,) page up   (>.) page down
   1 - 50973B91 2000-12-19 Dr Phil Brooke (at home)
   2 - 9DAF9B5C 2005-10-21 Dr Phil Brooke

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

   `Add key from main keyring' prompts you for a search pattern. It will
   do a general search on your GPG keyring and add all matching keys.
   Beware of just pressing enter - it will select all keys on your
   keyring.

   A better alternative is to use the `select after search' option. This
   also does a search on your GPG keyring, but then you must select one
   key to be added to your list of recipients.

   Selecting a key will offer a third menu (a similar menu is offered
   when selecting a single key):
  Key: 50973B91 2000-12-19 Dr Phil Brooke (at home)
  (d) Display details of key with less, (v) Verbosely
  (r) Remove key from list   (kql) Return to key list

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

   `Display details of key (less)' simply uses GPG to list the key
   details via less. You'll need to use `q' to get out of less.

   `Verbose details of key (less)' pipes verbose output from GPG for this
   key into gpg. You'll need to use `q' to get out of less.

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

  Command-line usage

   If you invoke Topal on the command-line with a filename as an
   argument, it will offer the sending functions on that file. It doesn't
   actually send anything: instead it allows you to encrypt, sign, etc.
   the message. You have a choice of overwriting or preserving the
   original file (this bit is case-sensitive).

   The main purpose of this mode is for encrypting or signing attachments
   before they are attached to the message in Pine/Alpine. Beware that
   Pine/Alpine does not feed the attachments to a sending filter.

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

  Remote and server mode

   Suppose you are reading your email on a remote host via ssh (as I
   often do). You now want to compose an email and sign it, but your
   secret key is only accessible on the local computer. Topal has
   rudimentary support for this (primarily to support my style of
   working). This comes in two parts: a `server' mode to run on the local
   computer (with access to the secret key) and a remote option in the
   sending menu.

   The server mode (on the local host) is started by running topal
   -server. This is where GPG requests for signing are made.

   When sending, you can choose `remote'. This prompts for the host to
   connect to using ssh/scp: this host should be running the `server'.
   The files are sent to the local server, processed by the server, then
   the results are copied back. ssh and scp are both used: because
   they're used repeatedly, you might want to use key-based
   authentication and have the key added to a current ssh-agent.

   There isn't a remote mode for receiving: my approach is to use unison
   (or some other file synchroniser or a simple scp) to move the email(s)
   concerned, then view them on the local computer.
     _________________________________________________________________

Fixing multipart emails

   Two scripts used to be included with topal (long ago): topal-fix-email
   and topal-fix-folder. They have been replaced by the --fix-email and
   --fix-folder command-line options to the main binary.

   topal --fix-email modifies any email that is (at the top level) a
   multipart/signed or multipart/encrypted message. It creates a
   multipart/misc message instead: this revised message is simply a
   wrapper version of the original message so that Pine/Alpine can pass
   the signed or encrypted part to Topal.

   Usage:

   topal --fix-folder <folder> ...
          This fixes the old email folders you may have.

   topal --fix-email
          Takes no arguments; it accepts a single email on stdin.
          Ideally, it should be invoked by procmail (see the
          [48]configuration section above).

   topal --fix-email has a simpler mode (--simple) where it pretends that
   there are two MIME content types: `application/x-topal-encrypted' and
   `application/x-topal-signed'. You might prefer using this.

   Why do we need this? If we just set the .mailcap file for, say,
   multipart/signed, then Alpine (at least version 1.00) is unable to
   handle a top-level multipart/signed email: an error message starting
   `Can't find body for requested message' is seen. But multipart/signed
   inside a multipart/mixed (or multipart/alternative, etc.) can be
   successfully handed-off to Topal.

   Replying to such messages is a pain: you'll have to save off the
   actual message and read it in. Suggestions on fixing this are
   welcome....

   See Workaround.Fix_Email in the sources for more details.
     _________________________________________________________________

Notes

  The Pine/Alpine patch, and sending other attachments

   What does the patch to Pine/Alpine do? It removes some of the safety
   checking when changing the content-type (_MIMETYPE_) in a filter.
   Normally, if the returned content-type is not text/*, then the entire
   content-type is dropped.

   The patch instead adds a flag, `topal_hack', and sets this if the
   returned content-type is not text. From time-to-time, we pretend that
   the body is normal text. We take a little care to check if this
   message is already a multipart message, so hopefully, the normal
   sending of attachments still works.

  Key IDs and keylists

   Topal internally lists keys by their fingerprint. It uses GPG to look
   up key fingerprints by using whatever GPG can cope with.

   Duplicate keys are silently suppressed. Removing a key only removes
   one instance, if somehow you've coerced Topal to list duplicates
   (which is quite easy, since adding a key with its short key ID, and
   the same key with its fingerprint will add two identical keys).

   The way that Topal chooses the keys is as follows:
     * For each recipient email address (supplied by Pine)
         1. For each matching line in keylist, use the key ID to get a
            fingerprint, and add the key to the list.
         2. In there are no matching lines in keylist, try to get a
            fingerprint via just that email address (but exclude `xk'
            configuration entries).

   The keylist is a way to say, `for this particular email address, use
   this particular key'. In your config file, include lines such as
ake=50973B91,philb@soc.plym.ac.uk
ake=50973B91,pjb@lothlann.freeserve.co.uk

   These mean `use key 50973B91 for the the given email addresses.
   Similarly,
xk=50973B91

   means `don't use key 50973B91'. There are also similar sake and sxk
   options for the secret key selection (via --read-from) (although the
   testing of the secret key listings is less thorough so far).

  Errors

   Bad things happening should result in Topal setting its exit status to
   `failed', so Pine should detect this and not send your email.

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

  Decrypting attachments

   If an attachment is a plaintext PGP ASCII-armoured message, then Topal
   will be invoked by Pine. You probably want to say `no' when asked here
   (beware of the configuration options here). Otherwise, you'll get a
   decrypted file with the original attachment filename, plus the various
   Topal headers.

  Locale problems

   GPG does not do any encoding of input data. This means that the
   encoding is dependent on Pine/Alpine and Topal. If a message is sent
   with one encoding and received by a user running in a different
   locale, then we might end up with a good message not verifying (i.e.,
   bad signature).

   I currently have no way to automatically fix this. However, the
   --ask-charset option will ask during inline decryption/verification if
   you want to change the encoding. If you know that the message was
   written by a UTF-8 user (and you're in a different locale), this might
   help. (This only happens if a bad signature is returned.)

   I know it's a kludge. I'd be interested to hear success and failure
   reports.

  Cleaning up the cache

   You might want to run something like
find ${HOME}/.topal/cache -mtime +7 | xargs rm

   to remove all the cache files that are a bit old (in this example, 7
   days old or older).

  Remote and server mode

   When remote is invoked in a sending menu:
     * The host has to be chosen for ssh/scp.
     * Because topal might be outside the normal path, you'll be asked
       for that too.
     * The sender scp's the relevant files into .topal/server.
     * The sender calls ssh (server) -remotesend ... or ssh (server)
       -remotesendmime ....
     * The invocation of -remotesend or -remotesendmime triggers the
       server to run a new instance of Topal on the local computer.
     * When that instance is finished, the relevant files are copied
       back, along with the return value.

  New releases

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

  Release numbering

   The old release numbering was making less sense to me. New releases
   are simple integers. In the event that an earlier release is modified,
   I'll then add extra components to the release number.
     _________________________________________________________________

Author

   Phil Brooke wrote this, partially out of boredom, but mostly because
   he wanted a GPG/Pine add-on to do exactly what he wants. There are
   many similar programs.

   If you like this program, please tell me. If you'd like it better with
   changes, please tell me what changes you want. If particular items on
   the [49]`To do' list are important to you, let me know. In particular,
   if you find bugs, feel free to tell me the details by email.

   This package is released under the GPL: see the file [50]COPYING.

   I can be emailed on [51]pjb@lothlann.freeserve.co.uk

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

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

Licence

   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 as
   published by the Free Software Foundation.

   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
   General Public License for more details.

   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
   along with this program. If not, see [52]http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
     _________________________________________________________________

To do...

     * Planned releases:
          + Add S/MIME support via gpgsm.
          + Improve attachments code (and add some documentation).
     * Better error handling, particularly when missing dependencies such
       as mime-construct or metamail.
     * Add signal handlers.
     * Catch GPG keyboard interrupt.
     * Should we check that the infile matches the cache file even if the
       MD5 hash matches? (We'd need to store the infile in the cache as
       well.)
     * Check through code: all external calls should check return values.
     * Refactor code.
     * Add interrupt option at very beginning of execution? (which would
       bring up the configuration menu?)
     * Associate extra options with particular keys?
     * Configuration routine for managing keys/config/keylist?
     * Implement rest of configuration menu.
     * Make a much nicer interface all round....
     * Separate out all the constant strings -- so that we can have
       internationalization.
     * Context-sensitive help throughout (modify mkhelp to create
       multiple procedures, or do it by number?); add COPYING option?
     * More receiving/decrypt options: include both plaintext and
       ciphertext.
     * Add periodic cache cleanup when Topal is invoked?
     * Add logging for workaround mode (report time of email processing
       (include PID); indicate if the file was changed or not)?
     _________________________________________________________________

Version history

   Look in [53]release for the current release number.

   06/2001, 0.1
          First alpha release.

   06/2001, 0.2
          Minor changes.

   06/2001, 0.3
          Major changes to how keys are identified and looked up.

   06/2001, 0.4
          Adding more customization features.

   11/2001, 0.4.4
          Cleaned up some error messages; added -nps mode.

   11/2001, 0.4.5
          Added `gpg-options' config item with default `--no-options'.
          (Forgot to add this note as well....)

   11/2001, 0.5.0
          Dumped -verify and -decrypt modes in favour of the
          multiple-block `-display' mode. Added -help. Added caching.
          Added more switches relating to caching. Better output
          formatting.

   11/2001, 0.5.1
          Improved menus. Tidied up some of the interface. Added -s,
          which does the same as -nps.

   12/2001, 0.5.2
          Tidied disclaimer. Added synonyms for -help (-h, -?, --help,
          --h) Cleaned up menus; keypresses aren't echoed any longer.

   12/2001, 0.5.3
          Altered packaging to include version in directory name. Changed
          names of some -clear options to be a bit more sensible.
          Changing config settings method (big change). Making -s the
          default operation. Some rearrangement of code, constants. Some
          configuration editing possible via Topal. Send has access to
          configuration menu.

   12/2001, 0.5.4
          Bug fix; one-off error in the sending menus.

   12/2001, 0.5.5
          Removed redundant examples directory. Changed over to HTML
          documentation. Tweaked the RELEASE stuff. Use space instead of
          enter when waiting to continue: this looks forward to offering
          a help option at every prompt. The receive/blocks stuff now
          uses an expanding array. The GPG return value is checked when
          receiving: if it's bad, then some bits of the output are
          omitted; the cache file is not written. The date bit of Topal
          output moved onto the previous line (echo -n blah blah).

   12/2001, 0.5.6
          Adding installation instructions. Using tee and PIPESTATUS to
          get stderr on screen during receiving while also saving that
          output and recording gpg's exit status. Changed RELEASE
          filename to release. Tidied up the Makefile. Invalid passphrase
          messages are grep'd out of the output. Added `fast continue'
          options. Key lists in the configuration section now use
          expanding arrays. Changed key details selection message. Secret
          key selection now offers a menu of secret keys on the secret
          keyring. Initial recipient search excludes keys in XK list.
          Added key search/selection menu choice - much nicer to use than
          the add menu. More configuration stuff added (still more to do,
          although the config file can always be used). Partial
          documentation update.

   2/2002, 0.5.7
          Adding limited RFC2015/MIME decoding of multipart email.

   2/2002, 0.5.8
          Adding mime-construct to configuration in expectation of more
          RFC2015 features. Put test for the config file existing before
          actually attempting to read it (oops). Added -O2 -Wall and the
          TOPALDEBUG variable for compiling. Put up WWW page via own
          Freeserve site. Announcing via Freshmeat. Automating output WWW
          site generation (all the grunge in the Makefile).

   3/2002, 0.6.0
          Distribution uses a gzip'd binary now.... Added a pre-built
          binary that is statically linked against the GNAT stuff so that
          people don't need to acquire GNAT first (this, I believe,
          complies with the GNAT licence).
          Added the scripts topal-fix-email and topal-fix-folder. This
          makes it a lot easier to work with other people's
          multipart/signed or /encrypted email. Procmail recipe added to
          this README.
          Added display of application/pgp messages. Including the text
          of one of these in a reply might be difficult, but then, it was
          difficult without topal's mangling. At least they can be
          verified and read now.
          -sendmime option added. Hack needed (in topal-pine-patch [now
          pine-4.44.patch]) to allow non-text/blah content-types in Pine.
          RFC2015 send and received done (including micalg detection when
          sending clearsigned messages: list used from RFC3156.). Ditto
          for application/pgp, but I'm not sure of some of the
          parameters, since I've only ever seen signed emails of this
          form.
          Removed some of the waits for execution, since it seems
          reliable. Added error checking on return value of GPG in sends.

   3/2002, 0.6.1
          The Content-Type for MIME sending is displayed on the screen
          using `cat' rather than `less', which was getting to be
          annoying.
          Two changes that are related to how I manage the source code:
          Slight tweak to makefile for keeping track of RCS files; and
          using rcs -n<symbolic-name> to tag the released files.

   3/2002, 0.6.2
          MIME clear-signed messages: trailing blank lines are now
          deleted before signing (this would cause BAD signature when
          verifying on some other MTAs). Added remarks to documentation
          about the patch to Pine and attachments.

   4/2002, 0.6.3
          RFC1847 multipart encapsulation added. (See section 6.1 of
          RFC3156.) Cleaned up related receiving/caching behaviour.
          Another MIME clear-signed messages bugfix. This one sorts out
          line-end conventions correctly.
          New patch for Pine: this stops a SEGFAULT when using RFC2015
          stuff and other attachments at the same time.
          Updated documentation; added man pages for the two scripts.

   4/2002, 0.6.4
          New patch for Pine. Adds a workaround for the problem where
          some versions of MS Exchange would silently lose inbound MIME
          clearsigned email. It turns out that a slight formatting change
          stops the problem.

   5/2002, 6/2002; 0.6.5, 0.6.6, 0.6.7, 0.6.8
          Adding more debugging, mostly to the menus code. Used for
          tracking down a nasty problem causing exceptions. Many thanks
          to Felix Madlener for pointing this out and testing the revised
          code.

   7/2002, 0.6.9
          Renamed the Pine patch for when new versions come out. (It's
          still the same patch as for Topal 0.6.4.) Added trap for
          non-existent file when using `-s'. Cache directory as well as
          .topal directory is also chmod'd to 700. Added README.txt to
          package file (even though it's generated from the .html) so
          that those who just want to `less' it (instead of firing up a
          HTML reader) can do so.

   8/2002, 0.7.0
          Changed email address in man page. Lots more exception handling
          for extra info when something goes wrong. Moderate code
          reorganisation: mostly splitting blocks of code out for future
          work. Fixed `bug' (feature?) where send fails if a public key
          is unusable (although this may risk sending plaintext through;
          we assume that if an output file was generated, then the GPG
          errors weren't fatal). Now we check instead if the output file
          exists. Checking all source files for any similar bugs in menus
          (cf. the 5/2002 entry). Modified MIME RFC2015 receiving
          function so that it isn't so reliant on shell calls of sed
          (which can fall over with nasty characters in an incoming
          emails boundary). Moreover, it can now cope with MIME parts
          that don't end with a newline. Tweaking MIME/verify cache
          handling: we shouldn't actually get an output file from GPG
          (since we're only verifying one part with the other); we put a
          vague warning if this happens, and trap when reading the cache.
          Added content-type to plaintext for MIME/encrypted.
          Documentation update.

   8/2002, 0.7.1
          Fixed minor bug with inverted return code (`-s' trap). Doc
          update.

   9/2002, 0.7.2
          Fixed minor bug in key list handling code (dealing with key
          selection).

   9/2002; 0.7.3, 0.7.4 (BETA)
          Disposed of the dependency on a shell by introducing Ada
          bindings for fork/exec/dup/pipe/glob, etc.. Several external
          binaries are no longer needed (cat, echo). Most return codes
          are now properly checked (although still need to do a better
          audit). Followed Eduardo Chappa's advice and changed Pine patch
          version letter. Miscellaneous cleanups and fixes. Many thanks
          to Peter Losher for giving me the incentive to sort out the
          external calls.

   9/2002; 0.7.5 (BETA)
          Tidying up structure of external calls, and how the various
          messages are built up and torn down. Changed the lynx switches
          at the suggestion of Felix Madlener (many thanks!). When
          receiving MIME encrypted attachments, the output is not
          included in the Topal output, but only in the metamail
          invocation.

   10/2002; 0.7.6 (BETA)
          Explicitly noted which versions are not intended for general
          use (beta versions). Rearranged command line parsing for more
          flexibility in future.

   10/2002; 0.7.7 (BETA)
          Re-implementing topal-fix-email and topal-fix-folder as part of
          the main topal binary. This removes the (script) dependency on
          munpack, but adds formail and diff to the main binary. Fixed
          some missing bits for particular binaries in configuration
          handling. Adding `important changes from last stable version'
          documentation. Tweaked the body extraction procedure. Tweaked
          some output messages. Major changes to menus: they now use
          enumerated types rather than integers.... Tweaking cl_menu some
          more. Added `pass-thu' option to send menu (so you can always
          use the Topal filter. This might also fix the minor problem
          with text/html occasionally being sent when it shouldn't
          be....) Fixed bug where MIME decrypt failure would still cause
          metamail to be invoked, but that's a waste of time.

   10/2002; 0.7.8
          Clearing out case statements with `when others'. Tidying up
          sending.adb. Fixed problem in MIME output where a leading blank
          line was added. Finally implemented `topal --fix-folders'
          functionality added. No longer need the two old scripts (I
          hope)! Another documentation tidy-up. Added
          `inline-separate-output' option: this effectively turns off the
          GnuPG/Topal wrappers in output. However, the side-effect is
          that the cache must be cleared when upgrading to this version.

   11/2002; 0.7.9
          Added some infrastructure for encrypting/signing attachments
          (but this is nowhere near working yet). Documentation and
          manpage update (again). Seems stable, will release.

   2/2003; 0.7.10, 0.7.11
          Tweaking distribution pages (mkdistrib). Including patches
          against Pine versions 4.50 and 4.53. (They're all more-or-less
          the same patch. It's pretty easy to apply them against 4.51 and
          4.52 if you feel so inclined.) Further doc clean up (particular
          the stuff about important changes from previous stable
          versions). Implemented Felix M.'s suggestion for handling
          non-existant command-line options: things that aren't valid
          options, but are prefixed with a `-' get a more helpful error
          message. --fix-email workaround also writes out the original
          input in the exception handler. Changed recommended procmail
          recipe so that Topal's exit code is checked.

   2/2003; 0.7.12
          Adding `workaround-error-log' file to .topal. This accepts
          output from topal --fix-email when it fails to exit cleanly.
          Not quite clear if this bit works yet (was tracking down other
          problem). It appears that when running without a real terminal,
          the call to set_echo fails. Odd. Nasty workaround implemented.

   2/2002; 0.7.13
          Added missing includes to ada-echo-c.c. Perhaps related to
          issue in the previous entry.

   4/2003; 0.7.13b
          Bug fix release only - backported from (not-yet-released
          0.8.0). Fixed bug when changing own signing key using the
          -config option - thanks to Stewart James for the bug report.

   10/2003; 0.7.13.2
          Bug fix release only - backported from (not-yet-released
          0.8.0). Changed bug fix versioning scheme. Makefile now links
          properly against static GNAT runtime. Fixed problem which
          manifests as: `relocation error: /lib/libreadline.so.4:
          undefined symbol: BC' (needed instruction to link against
          ncurses) - thanks to Marty Hoff for the bug report. Added patch
          against Pine version 4.58.

   10/2003; 0.7.13.3
          Now use -gnatwa and -gnato for all Ada compilation. It was
          omitted from the main binary build command before. Fixed all
          the resulting warnings.

   1/2004; 0.7.13.4
          Patched externals calls for errno to prevent (in some cases)
          warnings from ld.so, and in other cases, failures to build.

   6/2004; 0.7.13.5
          Added patch against Pine version 4.60. Updated some notices.

   1/4/2005; 0.7.13.6
          Calls to the GPG binary now have LANG set to C before exec so
          that we don't have to worry about different language output in
          GPG. Thanks for Joern Brederec for the bug report and
          suggestion of how to fix it.

   2005-2007
          Four internal development releases junked.

   8/1/2008; release 55
          --fix-email now replaces the original message with a
          multipart/misc wrapper, rather than expanding it into a
          multipart/alternative message.
          Replaced some key selection code. Hopefully, this reduces the
          number of locale-dependent and GPG version-specific problems.
          Additionally, revoked, disabled and invalid keys are no longer
          offered; checks are made to ensure that the key is valid for
          encryption/signing when applicable.
          New patch for Alpine 1.00. Includes configuration setting.
          The `pass through unchanged' send option no longer modifies the
          content-type to text/plain.
          Should now build and run on Cygwin.
          Licence is now GPL-3.
          Attempt to prevent potential memory leak (if running for a long
          time) by making the implementation of expanding_array a
          controlled type.
          Cleaned up Ada source to reduce warnings.
          Other minor changes, e.g., better checks on keylists,
          documentation clean-up.
          Changed [54]release numbering.
          HTML cleaned up and CSS added.

   8/1/2008; release 56
          --read-from option added to select different signing keys
          depending on the From line. Also added sake and sxk
          configurations.
          Fixed bug in Keys.Remove.Key (didn't match if the full
          fingerprint wasn't given).
          Command-line parser now accepts 1 or more hyphens for any
          option.
          Improved keylist documentation.
          Corrected release date for release 55... oops.

   8/1/2008; release 57
          Initial attempt at supporting attachments within Topal.
          Changed MIME boundary detection code (the previous algorithm
          couldn't cope with multipart included in a signed email).
          Please tell me if this breaks your emails....
          Bug fix to _INCLUDEALLHDRS_ - it needs to turn the CRLF back
          into LF or it might chop off some of your message....

   22/6/2008; release 58
          UI improvements (count keys in keylist, clearer indication of
          position in menus).
          Added patch for Alpine 1.10. Renamed all patch files.
          Default paths for binaries are no longer absolute.
          Configuration files now allow comments, but they're not
          preserved by Topal.
          Added more exception handling messages.
          Sending and receiving both save off original input as tempfiles
          to help debugging.
          Added --ask-charset command line option. This is really only
          for testing a new workaround for locale-related bad signatures.
          Please see [55]locale problems in the notes and send feedback.
          Started removing dependency on mime-construct; new source files
          mime.ad[sb].
          Build date added to binary.

   3/7/2008; release 59
          Added sequence numbers to temporary files to reduce possible
          name conflicts.
          The makefile's install target now installs to INSTALLPATH. This
          can be overridden, e.g., make install INSTALLPATH=/usr/local.
          The four more specific paths, INSTALLPATHBIN, INSTALLPATHMAN,
          INSTALLPATHDOC and INSTALLPATHPATCHES can also be overridden.
          Fixes request from Nils Schlupp re: ebuild.
          The --ask-charset command-line option is now only used if a bad
          signature is returned; a second attempt is then made if a
          different character set is suggested by the user.

   13/7/2008; release 60
          Update installation instructions for make install.
          We now use a modified version of Jeffrey S. Dutky's mime-tool
          instead of mime-construct for creating MIME messages. We
          include our modified version in the Topal tarball (since both
          are GPL, and our modifications are needed if creating MIME
          messages).
          MIME viewing can now use metamail, use run-mailcap or save the
          attachment to the folder ~/.topal/viewmime (which you can then
          open in Alpine). run-mailcap and saving support are new.
          Sending menu allows user to view and edit the email. A quicker
          method for changing/setting the signing (own) key is available.

   14/7/2008; release 61
          An initial, rather crude, but (for my purposes at least)
          effective remote mode for sending.
          Some history is now saved.

   17/7/2008; release 62
          Added basic support for S/MIME verification of messages.
          Quoted-printable encoder (in MIME-tool) improved (single dots
          and leading "From ") as per RFC2049.
          Ignore errors in strip in Makefile (trips up Cygwin, which
          expects the executable to be foo.exe).
          Update feature list for remote sending.
          Internal changes to configuration storage.
     _________________________________________________________________

References

   1. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#introduction
   2. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#features
   3. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#important-changes
   4. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#inst-and-config
   5. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#comp-and-inst
   6. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#pine-config
   7. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#mailcap-config
   8. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#topal-config
   9. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#topal-usage
  10. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#topal-help
  11. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#interactive-config
  12. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#decrypt-verify
  13. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#sending
  14. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#nonpine
  15. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#remote
  16. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#fix-multipart
  17. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#notes
  18. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#pinehack
  19. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#keyids
  20. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#errors
  21. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#decrypt-attachments
  22. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#locale-problems
  23. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#cleaning-cache
  24. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#remote-notes
  25. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#new-releases
  26. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#release-numbering
  27. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#author
  28. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#licence
  29. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#todo
  30. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#changes
  31. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#last-changes
  32. http://www.gnupg.org/
  33. http://www.washington.edu/pine/
  34. http://www.washington.edu/alpine/
  35. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#features
  36. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#comp-and-inst
  37. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/pine-4.44.patch
  38. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/pine-4.50.patch
  39. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/pine-4.53.patch
  40. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/pine-4.58.patch
  41. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/pine-4.60.patch
  42. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/pine-4.64.patch
  43. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/alpine-1.00.patch
  44. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/alpine-1.10.patch
  45. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#fix-multipart
  46. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#nonpine
  47. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#author
  48. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#procmail-config
  49. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#todo
  50. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/COPYING
  51. mailto:pjb@lothlann.freeserve.co.uk
  52. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/
  53. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/release
  54. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#release-numbering
  55. file://localhost/home/pjb/projects/topal/STABLE3/topal/README.html#locale-problems
