Using Help:

You  have  invoked Help.  Press the space bar or the
Esc key to leave this help and return  to  what  you
were  doing.   You  may use the PgDn key to move one
frame (several lines) further into  the  Help  text,
and the PgUp key to back up to an earlier part.  The
up-  and  down-arrows move you one line backwards or
forwards though the text, while  the  Home  and  End
keys  take  you  to the beginning or end.  All other
keys will "beep" at you if pressed, but do nothing.


Overview:

You  are  running VTKermit, a terminal emulation and
file transfer program.

Terminal  emulation  is  a  feature  in  which  your
Personal Computer emulates (acts  like)  a  standard
computer terminal.  

Characters  that  you  type on the keyboard are sent
out  a  communications  port  to  a  remote   "host"
computer,  while  characters sent by the remote host
which are received on the  communications  port  are
displayed on the PC's screen.

VTKermit  emulates  a  DEC  VT100  terminal,  so any
"escape sequences" which perform some special action
on a VT100  (e.g. clear screen  or  make  characters
extra bright)  will  perform the same action on a PC
running VTKermit.

Also,  any  special  keys which exist on a VT100 are
simulated on the  PC.   For  example,  the  PC's  F1
through  F4  keys "act like" the VT100's PF1 through
PF4 keys when running  VTKermit,  and  transmit  the
same codes to the host computer.

File  transfer  is  a feature in which files of data
may be sent either from your PC  to  a  remote  host
computer  or  from  a  remote host to your PC.  This
file transfer occurs  over  the  same  communication
ports   and   lines   that  are  used  for  terminal
emulation.  This will involve a communications  port
on your PC and a dial-up port on the host computer.

File  transfer  with  VTKermit uses a communications
"protocol"  called  Kermit.    This   protocol   was
developed  by  Columbia  University,  and  has  been
widely distributed.   The  Kermit  protocol  permits
error-free  communications  over dial-up lines, even
though the dial-up line may be noisy.

Kermit  corrects  errors introduced by line noise by
breaking the data transmission into "packets" and by
detecting packets which have errors.   Incorrect  or
missing  packets  are  retransmitted until they have
been correctly received at the other end.

This  method  of file transfer requires you to run a
file  transfer  program   at   each   end   of   the
communication   line.   On  your  PC  this  will  be
VTKermit, and on the  host  side  there  must  be  a
program honoring the Kermit protocol.  (VTKermit can
also act as a host, or run in server mode.)


Using Terminal Emulation:

When  in terminal emulation mode, VTKermit transmits
all text characters you  type  to  the  remote  host
computer.   On  the  IBM PC, a text character is any
key in the "middle section" of the  keyboard.   This
includes  all alphabetic and numeric characters, all
punctuation, Space, Tab, "backarrow"  (Backspace  or
Delete), Esc and Return (Enter).

Most  of  the  other  keys on the PC are "mapped to"
(associated with)  various  VT100  keys  or  special
VTKermit  functions.   For example, F1 transmits the
codes which would be sent by a VT100's PF1  key,  F7
transmits the codes which would be sent by a VT100's
up-arrow  key,  and F6 invokes the Help facility you
are using now.  A  complete  list  of  function  and
keypad  keys and their effects appears later in this
section.


Numeric keypad:

On the right-hand side of the keyboard, the "numeric
keypad" attempts to act both like the numeric keypad
on a DEC VT100 and like a VT100's arrow keys.  Which
of those two functions will be invoked is determined
by  the  setting  of  the  NUM LOCK feature which is
toggled (turned on and off) by  the  Num  Lock  key.
The  current  NUM  LOCK setting is shown in the mode
line on the bottom line of the screen.


NUM LOCK:

If  NUM  LOCK  is  ON,  the  keypad  will act like a
VT100's keypad.  (The PC's large grey plus key  acts
like  a  VT100's ENTER key, while the PC's "PrtSc *"
key acts like a VT100's keypad comma key.)   If  NUM
LOCK  is  OFF,  only  the  2, 4, 6 and 8 keys on the
keypad, corresponding to down-,  left-,  right-  and
up-arrows, will operate.  The other keypad keys will
simply beep at you if pressed.


7171 mode:

A  built-in  7171-MODE changes the mapping of the PC
keyboard to more closely match that of an  IBM  3270
as seen through an IBM 7171 protocol converter.  The
PC's  F1  through  F10  will  simulate  a  3270's F1
through F10.  ALT F1 and F2 are F11 and F12.


Other special keystrokes:

In  either  Command  Mode  or  Terminal Mode, ALT F7
Exits  VTKermit  and  ALT  F8  Pushes   to   a   new
COMMAND.COM.   ALT  F5  toggles between Command Mode
and Terminal Mode.  ALT F6 will pop up a Help window
in either mode.  (F6 sends a 3270 F6 in 7171 mode.)


Escape Character:

A  special  character  is reserved by VTKermit as an
"Escape Character".  The default Escape Character on
the IBM PC is control right-square-bracket, which is
displayed as ^] or Control-] and is typed by holding
down Ctrl and pressing  the  ]  key.   Whatever  the
Escape Character is, it must be typed twice in a row
to be transmitted.

If  the  Escape  Character is pressed once, a second
character may then be  typed  to  invoke  a  special
function.   In  this case, neither character will be
transmitted:  instead,  VTKermit will  perform  some
action.

The  most  commonly  used second characters are C to
Close the current  terminal  emulation  session  and
enter  command mode, and S to get the current Status
of all settable parameters.  The Close  function  is
identical  to the close which is invoked with the F5
key, and Status is identical  to  the  command  mode
Status command.


Mode line:

A mode line appears on the 25th (bottommost) line of
the  PC's  display.   This line reminds you that you
are in terminal emulation mode, and suggests  a  few
useful  keys: F5 to go to Command Mode, F6 to invoke
Help (as you have done) and shows  you  the  current
Escape Character.

It  also  lets you know whether you are in CAPS LOCK
state and whether the  keypad  is  in  NUM  LOCK  or
arrow-key  mode.   Finally,  the mode line shows the
status of the simulated VT100 LEDs.  If any  of  the
L1  through  L4 indicators is blinking then that LED
is ON, otherwise it is OFF.

The  mode  line  may be removed by typing the Escape
Character followed by an M.  Repeating this  equence
will restore the mode line.


Alternate Mode line:

If  you  type  the Escape Character, the normal mode
line will be temporarily replaced  by  an  alternate
mode  line  which suggests completion characters for
the Escape function.  If you type a ?  following the
Escape Character, a list of  second  characters  and
their  functions will be displayed and you will have
another chance to complete the Escape function.   If
you  don't  want any of the choices, press the space
bar to continue with terminal emulation.


List of keys and functions:

 Function keys:   F1  --  PF1
                  F2  --  PF2
                  F3  --  PF3
                  F4  --  PF4
                  F5  --  Switch to Command Mode
                  F6  --  Invoke Help facility
                  F7  --  Up-arrow
                  F8  --  Down-arrow
                  F9  --  Left-arrow
                 F10  --  Right-arrow
     
                   NUM LOCK ON       NUM LOCK OFF
                   -----------       ------------
         0/Ins  --  keypad 0              *
         1/End  --  keypad 1              *
  2/down-arrow  --  keypad 2           down-arrow
        3/PgDn  --  keypad 3              *
  4/left-arrow  --  keypad 4           left-arrow
             5  --  keypad 5              **
 6/right-arrow  --  keypad 6          right-arrow
        7/Home  --  keypad 7              *
    8/up-arrow  --  keypad 8           up-arrow
        9/PgUp  --  keypad 9              *
     - (minus)  --  keypad - (minus)      *
      + (plus)  --  ENTER                 *
       PrtSc/*  --  keypad , (comma)      *

     *  Beep, no action        **  No action

 [End of help for VTKermit]
