Subj : Nano/MultiMail W10
To   : All
From : Sean Dennis
Date : Sat Jan 11 2020 08:57 pm

Hi everyone,

I discovered this text file I wrote sometime last year and hope it will be
of help.

===
Setting Up Nano With MultiMail Under Windows 10
Written by Sean Dennis (1:18/200@Fidonet // sysop@outpostbbs.net)

I use 64-bit Windows 10 on my laptop and use MultiMail v0.52, a console mode
offline mail reader for my offline mail needs.  I have been searching for a
good and easy-to-use console text editor with MultiMail (MM).  I've
discovered that Nano does a good job though it is a little involved to set
up initially but is well worth the effort.

First, you must get the right version of Nano.  Nano is a *NIX program
meaning that it is ported to the Windows platform.  There is a development
branch for Nano that allows for a standalone version (meaning a single EXE
and no cross-platform libraries such as Cygwin are needed) at this URL:

https://files.lhmouse.com/nano-win/

The version of Nano that I am currently using is: 

nano-win_8303_v4.5-103-gb12aeeac

which is the current version as of this writing.

I use WinRAR which can handle the 7Zip archive format that this group uses
to store their Nano compiles.

When you open up the archive, there may be multiple versions available. 
Pick one, go into that folder and then the bin folder.  Copy that executable
to somewhere in your path.  I created "C:\Program Files\nano" and put the
file in that folder.  Also note that there is a .nanorc file in the archive
at the root folder.  Copy that to your %USERPROFILE% directory which is
usually "C:\Users\<username>".  In my case, it is "C:\Users\Sean".

From there, open Control Panel->System->Advanced system settings and click
the button labeled "Environmental Variables...".  Another window will pop
up.  In the top window within that window, highlight "Path" and then click
on the "Edit" button.  Click on the "New" button then add "C:\Program
Files\Nano" into the dialog box.  Click "OK" on that window and the two
previous windows.  That directory is now in your system's search path.  You
can also cheat and just drop the executable into C:\Windows\System32 if
you're lazy...

You will want to set up a few things in .nanorc first.  The important thing
for me was to turn on the soft wrapping of lines to make everything fit
properly in the editor for MultiMail to process it.

Open .nanorc in your %USERPROFILE% directory and uncomment the following
lines:

set atblanks
set softwrap
set smarthome
set trimblanks

Read the comments at each line about what those commands do.  I also used
the default color scheme with a minor change:

set titlecolor brightwhite,blue
set statuscolor brightwhite,green
set errorcolor brightwhite,red
set selectedcolor brightwhite,magenta
set stripecolor ,yellow
set numbercolor cyan
set keycolor yellow,blue
set functioncolor green

Open a shell window and run Nano.  It should pop up with the new colors.

Next, open mmail.rc in your MultiMail directory and edit the following line
to match this:

# Editor for replies = $EDITOR; or if not defined, start /w notepad
editor: nano

Your MultiMail is now configured to use Nano for a text editor.
===

Later,
Sean

.... The light of a hundred stars does not equal the light of the moon.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Maximus/2 3.01
 * Origin: Outpost BBS * bbs.outpostbbs.net:2304 (1:18/200)

.