README

FTN/FidoNet Squish message-base reader for PHP 8.4.

This package reads Squish .SQD and .SQI files and returns normalized ParsedMessage objects from golded-dev/laravel-ftn.

It does not write Squish files, repair broken message bases, discover areas, read .MSG, JAM, Hudson, or packet files, or add Laravel framework bootstrapping. The package name says Laravel because it belongs to the GoldED.dev Laravel package family. The runtime code is plain PHP.

Installation

composer require golded-dev/laravel-ftn-squish:^1.0

Requires PHP 8.4+.

Reading A Message Area

Pass the Squish base path without an extension:

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Golded\Ftn\Squish\SquishReader;

$reader = new SquishReader();

foreach ($reader->read('/path/to/messages/SQUISH/STEST1') as $message) {
    echo $message->msgno.PHP_EOL;
    echo $message->fromName.' -> '.$message->toName.PHP_EOL;
    echo $message->subject.PHP_EOL;
    echo $message->bodyText.PHP_EOL;
}

SquishReader::read() looks for .sqd or .SQD and .sqi or .SQI next to the base path. Missing or unreadable files produce an empty result.

Reader Options

use Golded\Ftn\ReaderOptions;
use Golded\Ftn\Squish\SquishReader;

$messages = new SquishReader()->read(
    path: '/path/to/messages/SQUISH/NETMAIL',
    options: new ReaderOptions(fallbackCharset: 'CP437'),
);

The fallback charset is used when the message body does not declare a usable FTN charset control line. The default comes from golded-dev/laravel-ftn.

What Gets Parsed

The reader extracts:

• message number from the Squish index
• from name
• to name
• subject
• body text converted to UTF-8
• raw attribute bitfield
• posted date when the packed Squish date can be parsed
• external ID from MSGID when present
• reply-to message number
• first reply message number

When a message has no MSGID, the reader creates a stable synthetic ID from the parsed message fields. Old message bases are rarely polite. Downstream imports still need a handle.

What You Do Not Get

• No area discovery.
• No packet parsing.
• No .MSG, JAM, Hudson, or other message-base readers.
• No Squish writer or repair tool.
• No Laravel service provider.
• No database models.
• No queues, commands, config publishing, or framework bootstrapping.

Pair this package with your own source locator or import pipeline.

Development

Install dependencies:

composer install

Run tests:

composer test

Run static analysis:

composer test:types

Run Rector dry-run:

composer test:refactor

Run everything:

composer test:all

Versioning

This package starts at 1.0.0 and uses semantic versioning.

Versions come from Git tags. Do not add a version field to composer.json.

Breaking changes include:

• changing SquishReader::read() behavior in a way that drops messages previously yielded
• changing parsed field semantics
• changing charset fallback behavior
• changing the required PHP version
• changing the golded-dev/laravel-ftn public contract this reader returns

Adding support for more Squish header fields is usually a minor release when existing fields keep their meaning.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome when they make Squish parsing more correct without turning this into a framework package. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Security

Do not report security issues in public tickets. See SECURITY.md.

Code Of Conduct

Be direct, useful, and not a pain on purpose. See CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.

License

Released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.