CLIENT SETUP

HylaFAX is based on a client-server architecture. A single server machine with one or more modems may service a network of client machines that do not have modems. Client and server machines typically communicate using a special HylaFAX client-server protocol that is transported on top of the TCP/IP protocols. Alternatively, clients can be setup to submit facsimile and pager requests using other transport mechanisms such as electronic mail or a network printing service. This chapter discusses only the setup of a UNIX system as a client machine that uses the standard HylaFAX client applications to submit and manage outbound jobs. Building a mail-to-fax gateway is discussed in a separate ``Mail to Fax Gateway'' chapter. You are on your own if you want to use a printer protocol to hook clients up; though it is not much more complicated than the mail route (you should look at how the mail support is done).

## From the Source Distribution

From the source distribution configure and build the software as described in the chapter ``Building HylaFAX From Source Code'' (NB: this will build both client and server software). To install only the programs and files required on a client then do

    hyla# make installClient

The set of files required for a HylaFAX client is also given in the hylafax-client manual page (see the FILES section).

## Setting Up Defaults

With the applications and data files available on a client machine, the only other work one might do on the client machine is to configure default settings for the HylaFAX client applications. The most important of these settings is the identity of the machine to contact for service. This can be specified in many ways. HylaFAX client applications read configuration information from a system-wide file named hyla.conf followed by a per-user configuration file named .hylarc that is stored in the user's home directory. The `Host`, `Port`, `Protocol`, and `Modem` configuration parameters can be setup to completely specify a HylaFAX server and modem to use as a default. Otherwise the `FAXSERVER` and `SNPPSERVER` environment variables can be used to override this information (the latter is used only by the sendpage program). If no configuration values are defined on a client machine then HylaFAX uses values that are compiled into each program: service is requested from the `localhost` at the port associated with the `hylafax` service or at port `4559` if this service is not defined in the system services database.

Consult the manual page for each client application for a full list of the configuration parameters that are used and the set of configuration files that are searched.

## Setting up Server Access

Once a client machine is setup for use the server machine may need to be configured to permit client access. Specifically, the file etc/hosts.hfaxd in the spooling area on the server machine must be setup to permit client access to HylaFAX services. This documentation has a section on ``Setting up client access'' and the hosts manual page has reference information how this is done.

## Customizing Cover Pages

The fax submission program sendfax includes support for the automatic generation of cover pages for each outbound job. Cover pages are generated by invoking a program, by default faxcover, to create a PostScript cover page for a transmission. Users can customize cover page generation in many ways. The default faxcover program supports customization through the user of template files that are parameterized with PostScript. Alternatively the faxcover program itself can be replaced by overriding its definition in a configuration file (either a personal file or a system-wide file). Finally clients may simply suppress the automatic cover page support provided by sendfax and supply pre-constructed cover pages of their own choice as normal documents that are to be transmitted. The only negative aspect of the last alternative is that cover pages submitted in this manner may confuse the continuation cover page support provided a the HylaFAX server.

## Customizing Document Conversions

A HylaFAX server accepts PostScript or TIFF format files and converts them to the appropriate format required to transmit them as facsimile. Any other documents must be converted prior to submitting them to the server for transmission. In particular ASCII text must be converted before it can be submitted. The fax submission program sendfax uses a set of file type conversion rules to decide how to prepare documents for transmission as facsimile and HylaFAX includes several document conversion programs that are used on client machines to prepare documents for transmission: textfmt to formats text and convert it to PostScript and, for IRIX systems, sgi2fax to convert SGI RGB-format images to TIFF. Users can customize the file type conversion rules as needed by overriding the default set of conversion rules. To do so just create a .hylarc file that specifies a private set of file type conversion rules:

    TypeRules: /usr/people/sam/.typerules

then copy the default set of rules and edit it as needed. For example the default rules do not include support for preparing WordPerfect documents for transmission. However there is a user-contributed wpr script that can be used together with the following typerules:

    0	byte	0xff	error	WordPerfect document
    >1	string	WPC	ps	/usr/local/bin/wpr %i >%o

Consult the typerules manual page for details.

HylaFAX table of contents.