Subj : Synchronet v3.21e for Win32 release
To   : All
From : Digital Man
Date : Tue Mar 17 2026 02:25:04

An updated revision of Synchronet for Win32 has been released today: v3.21e

Installer: http://synchro.net/Synchronet/sbbs321e.zip
Upgrade from v3.16c or later: http://synchro.net/Synchronet/sbup321e.zip

In celebration of my middle daughter Emma's birthday today (yes, born on St. Patrick's Day back in 2004), I'll say the 'E' is for "Emma Patty". :-)

It's only been a few weeks since the v3.21c release, but with some important bugs fixed (some of which I already posted about here, with patches or work-arounds), I thought it was important to get a more stable release out for Windows sysops.

Here is the list of the most notable changes since the release of v3.21c:

General
~~~~~~~
o Fix !include'd .ini files getting merged (e.g. with modopts.ini), issue #1088
o Add configurable colors to uifc.ini (and related .ini files, e.g. scfg.ini)
o Fix non-blocking TCP connects (Mail Server SendMail and Telnet/Rlogin Gate)
o Fix crashes with cached filter files and using an older MSVC++ runtime
  (MSVCP140.dll)
o Fix linked-list mutual exclusion protection on Windows
  - all mutex-protected linked-lists shared the same critical section handle

Terminal Server
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o Return to the 1-second ESC key delay of Synchronet v3.20 and earlier
o printfile(..., P_SEEK) now accounts for extended color codes in print columns
o Display changed attributes in change message attribute function
o When reading un-read mail, log msg "read un-read mail" instead of "read mail"
o Don't set the "read" message attribute flag if message display was aborted
o Fix the LINEDELAY @-code behavior (delaying between output lines)
o Do not apply the "Expire when out of time" feature to user not logged-in
  Resolve errors reported by plt via IRC when SCFG->System->Security->
  User Expires When Out-of-time is set to "Yes" and a client runs out of time
  before being able to successfully login. Example:
    term Node 1 !ERROR in data_ovl.cpp line 150 (sbbs_t::putuserdec32) writing
    "user.tab" access=-100
o When executing .bin modules, enable globally-supported
  (SCFG->System->Advanced) extra attribute codes in PRINT function calls
  Fix issue #1091

SCFG
~~~~
o Add help text for the "Parent Directory" prompt when importing a dir list
  This prompt could be confusing, so explain how/why it's being prompted for
o Add help text for the List File prompts when import/exporting directory list
o Re-word the "Min bytes Free Disk Space" option to be a little clearer
o Make the FTP server's minimum/maximum uploaded file sizes configurable here
o Add special help text for the "Moderated Posting User" requirements settings
o Update help text for fixed events, clarifying that some can be interactive

Synchronet Console (sbbs.exe for Windows)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o Graceful detection and reporting of sbbs library version mismatch
o Accidentally named sbbscon.exe, back to the normal/expected name: sbbs.exe
o Add support for (re)starting stopped servers from prompt
o Make the prompt for which server to (T)erminate, (S)hutdown/Start, or
 (R)ecycle re-display when there new log messages appear

JSexec
~~~~~~
o Graceful detection and reporting of sbbs library version mismatch

Synchronet Control Panel (sbbsctrl.exe) for Windows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o Fix uptime jump (forward or backward) upon Daylight Saving Time
  Fix issue #1093
o Close node.dab file between refreshes if first node is so-configured in SCFG
o Restore form "View states" - don't always restore all forms as visible

Web Server
~~~~~~~~~~
o Fix long standing heap corruption causing libmozjs crash triggered via POST
  Issue #1094

Mail Server
~~~~~~~~~~~
o Log the message relative number (and total msgs waiting) for POP3 retrievals
  giving some indication of progress towards the last message waiting for the
  user

FTP Server
~~~~~~~~~~
o Log better errors/warnings when upload directory doesn't exist
  or doesn't have enough free space
o Load file data from filebase when updating (uploading) an existing file
  Fix !DATA ERROR -101 updating file (filename) in database
o Log the restart offset both when the client sets it (with the "REST" command)
  and in the "uploading" log message, helpful in debugging unique upload issues
o More accurate log/response messages about maximum file size allowed
  The max file size allowed for upload can change based on available disk space
  and the sysop-configured minimum amount of free disk space. Report the
  correct numbers

Modules
~~~~~~~
o <several>
  - Fix wide-spread misuse of console.getkeys()
o automsg.js
  - More friendly to 40-column terminal users
o emailval.js
  - Usability improvements
  - Don't allow a blank valid_chars options to break this module:
    the default ctrl/modopts/emailval.ini has the key 'valid_chars' set to
    nothing, just as an example/documentation, but that had the effect of
    setting the valid chars to a blank string (no valid code chars). Now fixed
o email_sec.js
  - prompt is now configurable via modopts [email_sec] prompt
o avatars.js
  - install() no longer overwrites existing keys/values in modopts.ini
  - identicons are now supported
    Set modopts.ini [avatars] auto_identicon = false if you don't want them
  - Add 'enabled' option (default true) to modopts [avatars]
    The nuclear option to disable avatar display everywhere
o avatar_chooser.js
  - Add "Identicon as avatar" option
o meme_chooser.js
  - Usability improvements
o mqtt_spy.js
  - Output the MQTT spy banner earlier
o newuser.js
  - Add identicon avatar option, set modopts [newuser] avatar_identicon = true
o nodelist.js
  - Use console.putmsg() instead of write() where @-codes might be wanted
o update.js
  - '-noavatars' option now supported

chksmb/fixsmb/smbutil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o Gracefully terminate (e.g. unlock msgbase) when aborted with Ctrl-C/break

Text Strings
~~~~~~~~~~~~
o FileInfoEditPrompt - Shortened so it doesn't wrap (for 80col terminals)
  when spinning cursor is enabled
-- 
                                            digital man (rob)

Breaking Bad quote #36:
Clearly his taste in women is the same as his taste in lawyers...
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