Alert: AOL FlashSession Bug

["Chas. Bosdet" <WLFTRIX -at- AOL -dot- COM>]

TO:  List members who use AOL's FlashSession feature in Windows
        (I don't know whether this also affects DOS users, and whether
        the principle also applies to Macs):

PROBLEM    If you have two screen IDs whose first 8 characters are the same,
you risk erasing the mail database for one ID the moment you launch a
FlashSession for the other.  I've reported this to AOL.

    (I say "risk," but in fact this disaster worked flawlessly for me
    the very first time.  During a single FlashSession, two mail
    databases vaporized before I knew it.  If I try real hard, I
    can almost view this bug as a benefit:  AOL could call it the
    Clean Slate feature -- eliminates unsightly mail build-up. Heh.)

SOLUTION    According to AOL Tech Support, the only immediate solutions seem
to be: (1) use FlashSession for only one of your IDs, or (2) install the AOL
program again, but *in a new directory,* so that you have separate icons for
each screen ID (yes, you'd have two full copies of the AOL software on your
disk drive).

DESCRIPTION    The AOL software automatically creates a mail file ("<screen
name>.mal") in the "idb" subdirectory to hold your downloaded mail.  It does
this by using the first 8 characters of your screen name.  For screen names
"TechWriter" and "TechWrites" the mail file would be "techwrite.mal" -- but
two files can't have the same name, so here's what happens:

Step 1.  You launch a flash session for "TechWriter." The downloaded mail is
deposited in the "techwrite.mal" mail file and is linked to the TechWriter
screen ID.

Step 2.  You launch a flash session for "TechWrites."  The software looks for
a "techwrite.mal" file *that is linked to TechWrites,* doesn't find it, and
automatically creates an empty new "techwrite.mal" file *after erasing the
existing mail file.*

If you repeat Step 1, you'll lose the mail you received in Step 2. And so on.


Heads up, and good luck.

Chas. Bosdet