RISC OS - Pluto and news/mail transports: data flow

Pluto is a news and email reader and writer. It does not send or fetch emails or news from the internet. Both of those functions are done by separate programs (the Transports). The diagram should help clarify this.

Pluto_flow/png The diagram shows 3 computers labelled 1, 2 and 3. All computers are networked to each other (green lines) and to the router (red lines - though those have little to do with Pluto!) which connects to the internet.

All copies of Pluto need their !Run files changed to tell them whether they are Master or slave and so that no two computers can run Pluto at any one time: this would cause great confusion. Only the Master Pluto can change all the choices such as such as Users, Address Book, Boxes. slaves cannot change these.

Computer 1

On this are shown

News and mail fetchers must have access to the router. Here they are shown on the same computer - but they could be on separate computers.

Pluto's articles directory is, by default, inside Pluto. But it can be anywhere on the Network - even on its own computer. Here it is shown on computer 1, with Pluto. Since the Articles are stored here, we will call computer 1 the Server.

The Pluto on the server knows where incoming news and mail are. It debatches them into the articles directory and it "posts" outgoing News and email back to the mail fetcher - which also sends them both out. This is the Master Pluto: only it can change or add users, email boxes etc.

The Master Pluto does not have to be on the same computer as the Transports, or even as the Articles directory, but that would be adding unecessary complication.

Computer 2

This runs a copy of Pluto. The copy must be updated whenever the Master Pluto is changed. This is a slave copy of Pluto and cannot alter certain choices ().

This slave must have its run file altered to tell it where Pluto's Articles directory is.

If it is required that this slave Pluto can de-batch News and email, then it will need to be told where they reside. This is something that can only be done on the Master Pluto, so it must be done there in such a way that the route (or Path) to the fetchers is the same from every computer.

Computer 3

This does not have a copy of Pluto. Instead, it runs the main copy of Pluto, but in slave mode. So it the Master Pluto is set up correctly, it can understand where the Articles directory resides, and also where the transports are.

Afterword

The above should have given you an idea of what you can do. See the scond article on how to set up Pluto as you wish.

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© 2015-2025 Richard J Torrens
Page's Author: Richard John Torrens
Page first published Thursday the 16th of July, 2015
Document URI: diy.torrens.org/RO/Pluto/flow.html
Last modified: 2020