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ICEX - In Command of PcPursuit... Copyright 1987,1988 A communications package for use with GTE Telenet's PcPursuit service Wayne Wolf Wolfpack Programmers Wolfpack Programmers Wayne Wolf P.O. BOX 13774 Gainesville, Florida 32604-1377 Voice: (904)-338-1735 UUCP: ...!ihnp4!codas!uflorida!beach.cis.ufl.edu!ww ARPA: ww@beach.cis.ufl.edu BBS via Computer Archives @ FLTAM, 968-6220 via The Black Bag @ CODEN, 750-3228 Introduction 1.0 What is PcPursuit? PcPursuit is a packet-switching service provided by GTE Telenet for PC users. It is basically a long distance service for modem users. It allows users to connect to major cities across the nation with their modem and call any BBS, database, mainframe, or even your best friend. PcPursuit is provided for a flat rate of $25 per month provided the user uses the services only on weekdays between the hours of 6:00 pm and 7:00 am (your local time) and between 6:00 pm Friday and 7:00 am Monday (all weekend hours open). For a more detailed description, download the accompanying archive by the name of PCPINFO.ARC. 1.1 What is ICEX? ICEX is a communication package for the IBM PC and close compatible PcPursuit user. It is designed to be used in conjunction with your favorite communications package such as Procomm+ or Qmodem-SST, though ICEX can be used as a standalone if desired. ICEX is basically a very fancy PcPursuit dialer that acts as an extension to your communications package. When invoked, ICEX assumes command and will allow the user to connect to a desired city and desired BBS with only a few keystrokes. The user can instruct ICEX to dial whichever target cities he/she desires and ICEX will proceed to dial these cites in a queue fashion (one after the other, repeating the sequence) until a city responds with a connection. ICEX will then present the user with the appropriate BBS dialing directory for the city connected to and allow the user again to mark the BBSs he/she wishes to dial. Again, ICEX will dial in a queue fashion until a connection is established. Once a connection is established, ICEX can, at the users request, automatically log into the BBS. After optionally logging in, ICEX will pass command back to the calling program (Procomm+, Qmodem, etc.) where file transfer, data capture, and other functions can take place. 1.2 Why ICEX? If you have experienced the woes brought about by repeatedly banging out your target city mnemonic, username and password only to receive that wonderful " BUSY 01 80 " response you will appreciate the utility of ICEX. There are many other utilities that also cure these woes such as scripts and macros. Macros usually lack in that even though the user's target city, username, and password are defined, one has to repeatedly tap the key for each time a BUSY response is received. This is slow and inefficient and besides wearing down the keyboard, is a waste of time that could be spent doing other things while waiting for a connection. Scripts are the answer to this dilemma since they run by themselves with little or no user intervention but they also have their own deficiencies. Scripts are severely limited in their language. Many languages do not support a handy-dandy means for implementing a queue dialer. Many lack in appealing screen displays. And all are SLOW! This is due to their interpreted nature. ICEX solves all these problems and pushes far ahead with its speed and best of all it is designed fairly generically so it can be used with your favorite comm package. Another appealing feature of ICEX is that the user need not have any knowledge of script programming. ICEX also appeals to the neophyte PcPursuit user because it does all the work and the user need not know PcPursuit's command syntax. 1.3 Features of ICEX version 2.03 ∙ Can be invoked from a "calling program" such as Procomm or Qmodem or used as a standalone ∙ Features a simple dumb terminal (uses ANSI.SYS if installed) ∙ Allows user configuration ∙ Features circular dialing queues ∙ Allows users to add, delete, and maintain dialing directories for cities, direct connects(DAFs) and BBSs ∙ Allows mixing cities and direct-connects in ONE dial queue ∙ Allows up to 99 directories for each city, 150 entries each ∙ Keeps active statistics for each dialer (date/time of connect, number of dials, average required dials, etc.) ∙ Supports both Racal and Hayes modes (on target city modems) ∙ Supports both 1200 and 2400 baud access ∙ Supports 7E1, 8N1, and 8N2 protocols (data,parity,stop) ∙ Supports Com1-Com4 and baud rates of up to 9600 though at present only 1200/2400 baud are useful ∙ Auto-logins to over 14 different BBSs ∙ Automatic connected-city detection, Carrier detection, etc. ∙ Provides a friendly user oriented menu/window environment ∙ And best of all, it lets YOU get the MOST out of your monthly $25 PcPursuit fee 1.4 Files of ICEX (in archive ICEX203.ARC) ∙ ICEX203.EXE -> the executable program ∙ ICEXGEN.EXE -> the icex203 script interface generator ∙ ICEXCVT.EXE -> dialing directory convert utility ∙ ICEX203.DOC -> what you are reading right now ∙ IC.BAT -> batch file for your comm program to invoke ICEX203 ∙ CONVERT.BAT -> batch file to convert ICEX11 dirs to ICEX203 ∙ CITY.LIS -> City dialing directory ∙ DC.LIS -> Direct Connect dialing directory ∙ *.DIR -> dialing directories for each city 1.5 Distribution ICEX is intended to be distributed ONLY in its archived form. Please help support the ShareWare concept and assist in distributing ICEX by uploading ICEX203.ARC to your favorite BBSs. 1.6 Credit where credit is due I would like to thank the following persons for assisting with ICEX in the areas of testing, distribution, super ideas and moral support: Joe Hyland (BBS: 813-968-6220) FLTAM Dr. File Finder (BBS: 303-750-3228) CODEN Tandy Way (BBS: 813-886-0284) FLTAM Mark Findlay (BBS: 202-488-4709) DCWAS Roger Sligar (BBS: 404-476-2607) GAATL Bob Brody I would also like to thank the following for their suggestions for improving ICEX (please forgive me if I leave anyone out): Al Kalian Gary G. Hedberg James E. Smith Joseph P. Barrett Jr. B. Sherman John W. Zerkel William M. Mertens Bruce Wilson Chester H. Wilkinson Steve Williams Peggy Shambo Tom Bense And I would like to thank all of you who support ICEX and have registered your copy. Registration and Trial Usage 2.0 ICEX is ShareWare... ICEX is distributed under the ShareWare concept and is copyrighted to protect the author's many hours of work. It is a try-before-you-buy package and you are granted a limited license to use ICEX for a trial period. There is no limit to your trial period though it is assumed you will have decided if ICEX is suitable for your needs within a few weeks usage. Usage beyond a trial period requires registering your copy. Please help support ShareWare authors by registering your copy of ShareWare programs. 2.1 Registration ICEX is not free. It is however left up to you to decide whether or not it suits your needs and whether you should pay for it. ICEX was written to assist PcPursuit users and to free up time that could be spent doing other things while waiting for a connection. It was also written to assist the author, me, who has some hefty college financial woes (still another year to go). Please register your copy of ICEX. Registration is $25 which is only 1/12 of what you pay PcPursuit for a year's usage. Registration entitles you to the next TWO major updates of ICEX and will allow you special access to my BBS when I get it set up. I will provide support for all registered users by both voice (if you can catch me home) and by BBS, either mine (when set up) or Dr. File Finder's Black Bag (mentioned in the ICEX intro message when running the program). You will be mailed the next TWO major updates by diskette mailer and you will receive these 5 days in advance of release to the BBS world. The registration form is on the following page. Please use the form for registering as it makes keeping files on registered users much easier to process. Thankyou. ICEX203 - In Command of PcPursuit , External version, revision 2.03 Registration Form Name ____________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Home Ph _____________________ Bus Ph _____________________ Where did you get ICEX203 from (BBS name, phone number, etc.)? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Amount of Registration ($25 per copy) _____________________ Date Registered ___________________ ==================================================================== Comments/Suggestions ( ALL comments and suggestions are welcome! ) ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ *** Please make checks payable to Wayne Wolf Mail to Wayne Wolf, PO Box 13774, Gainesville, Fl. 32604-1377 Getting Started 3.1 Installing ICEX on a Hard Disk System For ease of explanation, it will be assumed your hard drive has the name C:. It is also assumed that you have Pkxarc available for use. a) go to your root directory -> cd C:\ b) make an ICEX directory -> md ICEX c) put in the necessary files -> pkxarc ICEX203 *.lis C:\ICEX pkxarc ICEX203 *.dir C:\ICEX (this puts all .LIS and .DIR files into your new dir) d) change to your comm directory i.e -> cd \Procomm e) extract the remaining necessary files -> pkxarc ICEX203 ic*.* 3.2 Installing ICEX on a Two Floppy system For ease of explanation, it will be assumed you have a blank unformatted disk in drive B: and a disk containing the archive ICEX203.EXE and the file pkxarc.exe in drive A:. You are also assumed to be in drive A:. You also must have your favorite comm package diskette on hand (Procomm+ disk for example). a) put ICEX support files on blank disk -> pkxarc ICEX203 *.lis B: pkxarc ICEX203 *.dir B: b) remove ICEX disk from B: and replace with your comm disk (Procomm+ diskette) and extract remaining files -> pkxarc ICEX203 ic*.* B: 3.3 First usage / initializations a) Go to your comm directory If you are a hard drive user i.e -> cd \Procomm If you are a floppy user, put comm disk in drive A:, support disk in drive B: -> A: b) Invoke ICEX203 -> ICEX203 -i (must include the '-i') c) You will be put into the user configuration menu d) Configure ICEX to be specific for your usage (see section 5.7, User Configuration) e) Select option #3 (Support dir Pathname) f) enter -> hard disk users --> C:\ICEX\ floppy users --> B:\ g) tap ESC to exit back to DOS Now you are ready to begin using ICEX... Converting from ICEX11 to ICEX203 4.1 What is ICEXCVT? There is a convert utility provided with ICEX203 that will do the trick for you called ICEXCVT. This utility will convert your old BBS dialing directories from ICEX11 format to those readable by ICEX203. The ver. 2.03 format is NOT compatible with ver 1.1. There is no need to use the convert with AC.LIS because all current PcPursuit cities are already prepared in the CITY.LIS file. 4.2 Using ICEXCVT To use ICEXCVT you simply type ICEXCVT followed by the .DIR file you wish to convert, followed by an optional new name for the directory. *** An important note is that you add a number suffix to the new directory name or ICEX203 will NOT recognize it. For example, the Atlanta directory must be GAATL-1.DIR and not simply GAATL.DIR as in ICEX11. The reason is because this allows ICEX203 to handle more than one BBS dialing directory per city. This also allows you to take dialing directories that others have been distributing for ICEX11 and give them their own separate number suffix. Another important note is that each successive directory must have the next inorder successive number (the second Atlanta directory must be GAATL-2.DIR, the next GAATL-3.DIR, and so on). A more precise explanation and examples follow: ICEXCVT usage -> ICEXCVT old_name <new_name> <> = optional examples: ICEXCVT 404.DIR GAATL-1.DIR (pre Jan-5 1.1 to 2.03) ICEXCVT GAATL.DIR GAATL-2.DIR (post Jan-5 1.1 to 2.03) ^ |___ don't forget the number! Starting ICEX 5.0 Command line options There are currently two command line options, namely they are '-d' and '-i': -d -> ICEX203 -d causes ICEX to NOT drop the DTR upon exit (doesn't hangup the phone) -i -> ICEX203 -i causes ICEX to go into the user configuration section, for setup 5.1 Invoking ICEX as a standalone To call up ICEX you simply type -> ICEX203 Now proceed to section 6.1, After Invocation 5.2 Invoking ICEX from a calling communications program (Procomm+) There are few ways to invoke ICEX203 while using your favorite comm package. There are four in particular and they will be described briefly in this section and you will be referenced to another section for more detailed information specific to your communications package (Procomm+,Procomm 2.4.2,GT Power,Qmodem, Boyan, etc.). 5.2.1 Calling ICEX directly This method assumes your comm package has a means for "executing" external programs (Procomm+ ALT-J). The specific details for each comm program can be found under section 7.1, Calling ICEX Directly. 5.2.2 Shell to Dos This method involves calling up DOS (shell) and then calling the batch file IC.BAT from DOS. See section 7.2 for details on how to call DOS from your comm program 5.2.3 Calling ICEX from a script This method involves using the scripts generated by the script writer program included in the package. See section 7.3, and section 8, ICEX and Scripts. 5.2.4 Exiting your comm program and calling ICEX You may not have enough memory for the other three methods to work so you simply exit your comm program (without dropping the carrier). Next you call ICEX with the command -> ICEX203 -d And when ICEX has done its job it will exit back to DOS at which call up your comm program again. Using ICEX 6.1 After Invocation... After starting ICEX you will be given an introductory screen at which you merely hit any key. ICEX will then attempt to determine if you are: a) connected to PcPursuit, or b) already connected to a city, or c) have no carrier, or d) if it cannot correctly open the comm port a) If you are connected to PcPursuit and are at the "@" prompt then ICEX will deposit you automatically into the City Dialer from which you can dial target cities, see section 6.3, City Dialer. b) If you are already connected to a city then ICEX will check its log file to see what city it is. This method is not infallible and so ICEX will ask you if it has assumed the correct city and if you wish to enter this city's BBS dialer or not. If you answer positively then you will be placed into the respective city's BBS dialer, otherwise you will be given the main menu. c) you will be placed into the main menu, you should either exit back to the calling program and dial your local number and log into Telenet or else go to the Dumb Terminal (choice D) and hit the function key F2, which will dial your local number and log in for you. See sections 6.2 and 6.6, Main Menu and Terminal respectively. d) If this is the case, then most likely you have told ICEX to use com2 when you only have com1 working or something of that order. If you get this error and cannot figure out the source of the problem do not hesitate to get in touch with me and we'll work on the solution. 6.2 Main Menu The main menu gives you six choices. You can maneuver through the main menu with arrow keys and pressing <RETURN> when your choice is highlighted. ICEX also supports "quick-key" entry where you can simply press the first letter corresponding to your choice. The main menu appears as follows: First Letter Choice |==== ICEX203 Main Menu ===| | City Dialer | C or c | BBS Dialer | B or b | Direct Connect Dialer | D or d | Terminal | T or t | User Configuration | U or u | Exit | E or e |==========================| and upon entry, "City Dialer" will be highlighted. You can use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar up and down, pressing <RETURN> on your choice or you can simply tap the first letter of your choice. The appropriate letters appear on the side of the menu above. The functions of each of the menu choices will be explained in detail under their appropriate sections (6.3 - 6.8). 6.3 City/Direct-Connect Dialers The city dialer is the circular queue dialer that will dial your choice of PcPursuit accessible cities at either 1200 or 2400 baud. The direct connect dialer allows the user to dial his/her choice of direct connects supported by PcPursuit, such as PORTAL, PURSUIT, EXECPC, etc. The dialers allow the user to perform many functions and provides an informative display. 6.3.1 Dialer Display The top part of the dialers' displays appear as follows and each column is described below: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] |=========================== City Dialer ==========================| | AZPHO Phoenix, Arizona 04-01-88 18:45 13 7 | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | |+CODEN Denver, Colorado 04-01-88 19:22 18 23 | | CODEN (2400) # Denver, Colorado 04-02-88 23:59 23 11 | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | PURSUIT * The Net Exchange 04-05-88 09:35 6 3 | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | WASEA Seattle, Washington 04-05-88 22:52 1 5 | |==================================================================| [1] Dialing Queue Tag ( '+' = in queue , ' ' = not in queue) [2] City/Direct-connect mnemonic [3] Baud rate (blank if 1200, (2400) if 2400) [4] Description (name of city or direct-connect) (** see note) [5] Date of last connection [6] Time of last connection [7] Last number of tries before achieving a connection [8] Average number of tries to achieve a connection ** Note: In column 3, description, there are two "exceptions" which are designated by having the FIRST character of the description be a special symbol. There are currently two such exceptions and are as follows: # = This city is 2400 baud * = This is a direct connect, not a city 6.3.1 (cont'd) Note that the display presented above is for the City Dialer, but the Direct Connect Dialer is exactly the same but does NOT support and special character exceptions (like # and *) and furthermore ALL entries must be direct connects. The bottom part of the display simply gives the available commands and will not be shown here. The commands however will be described in detail below. Note that all commands respond to either upper or lower case, and if a "*" appears to the left of any choice on the screen, that choice is unavailable to the user. 6.3.2 Dialer Command Summary [arrow keys] = The arrow keys move the highlight bar up and down the dialing directory [pg-up/pg-dn] = The page-up/page-down keys allow the user to display the dialing directory by pages [ESC] = The escape key exits the dialer and returns to the main menu [<ENTER>] = The enter key starts the dialer, see section 6.3.3 below, Dialer in action... [SPACEBAR] = The spacebar will toggle (tag or untag) the currently highlighted entry for entry into the dialing queue. A plus (+) will appear to the left of any entry that is tagged for dialing [A] = Add an entry to the dialing directory [D] = Delete an entry from the dialing directory [K] = Kill currently highlighted entry from the directory [E] = Edit the currently highlighted entry (see section 8, Autologins) [C] = Clear Queue (clears all tags) [T] = Tag all entries (sets all tags) [S] = Switch sorting, will switch from sorting the directory by field [2] to sorting by field [3], or vice versa [H] = Hang-up city, disconnects from current city, allowing the user to dial another city [1] = Set modem settings to 7E1 [2] = Set modem settings to 8N2 [N] = Set modem settings to 8N1 6.3.3 Dialer in Action... To start the dialer one simply presses the <ENTER> key from the dialer menu. The dialer will change screen to a window that will display the input and output going to/from the modem. All tagged entries will be dialed in order. The dialer will set its parameters to 7E1 for dialing purposes so the responses are intelligible to the viewer. The dialer recognizes PcPursuit error codes (REJECTING, NOT OPERATING, etc.) and acts appropriately to those. The dialer will continue to dial as long as it receives BUSY signals and until it receives a CONNECT message. The user can abort dialing by pressing the ESC key. Once a connection is established with a target, then one of the following happens. If the target was a direct connect then the dialer will auto-login if you configured it to do so, or will return command to the calling program (or dumb terminal in standalone usage). If the target is a city then the appropriate BBS dialer will be brought up (see section 6.4 for details on BBS dialers). 6.4 BBS Dialers The BBS dialer is the circular queue dialer that will dial your choice of BBSs accessible from the currently connected city. The construction very closely resembles the city dialer but performs different dialing specifics. One can have up to 99 different dialers per city by using the [M] command to make new directories. Each directory is limited to 150 entries. The dialers allow the user to perform many functions and provides an informative display. 6.4.1 Entry into BBS Dialers There are three methods for entry into the BBS dialer. The first is from the main menu. If you enter from the main menu you will be prompted for the CITY CODE for the city you wish to invoke the BBS dialer for. You simply enter the mnemonic for that city, see section 10.1 (Current City Mnemonics). Then you will be deposited into the appropriate dialer. The second method is that you will be placed into the appropriate BBS dialer once a city is connected to from the city dialer. The third method is similar, but you will be deposited into the appropriate BBS dialer from the start-up "smart" feature that "knows" which city you are connected to. 6.4.2 Dialer Display The top part of the dialers' displays appear as follows and each column is described below: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] |================BBS Dialer, City Code: GAATL #1==================| | 977-6686 PcExchange 04-01-88 18:45 13 7 | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | |+476-2607 The Right Place 04-01-88 19:22 18 23 | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | | .. .. .. .. .. .. | |==================================================================| [1] Dialing Queue Tag ( '+' = in queue , ' ' = not in queue) [2] BBS phone number (supports xxx-xxxx, xxx-xxx-xxxx, 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx) [3] Description (name of BBS) [4] Date of last connection [5] Time of last connection [6] Last number of tries before achieving a connection [7] Average number of tries to achieve a connection The bottom part of the display simply gives the available commands and will not be shown here. The commands however will be described in detail below. Note that all commands respond to either upper or lower case, and if a "*" appears to the left of any choice on the screen, that choice is unavailable to the user. 6.4.3 Dialer Command Summary Up/Down [arrow keys] = The arrow keys move the highlight bar up and down the dialing directory Left/Right [arrow keys] = Go to the next dialing directory (R-arrow goes to next number, i.e. GAATL #1 to GAATL #2; L-arrow is the same but opposite) [pg-up/pg-dn] = The page-up/page-down keys allow the user to display the dialing directory by pages [ESC] = The escape key exits the dialer and returns to the main menu [<ENTER>] = The enter key starts the dialer, see section 6.4.4 below, Dialer in action... [SPACEBAR] = The spacebar will toggle (tag or untag) the currently highlighted entry for entry into the dialing queue. A plus (+) will appear to the left of any entry that is tagged for dialing [A] = Add an entry to the dialing directory [D] = Delete an entry from the dialing directory [K] = Kill currently highlighted entry from the directory [M] = Make a new dialing directory (use this if you have 150 entries in current directory and need another directory. It will create a directory with the name one higher than the greatest existing, i.e. say you have GAATL #1, GAATL #2, and you make a new directory, it will be named GAATL #3) [E] = Edit the currently highlighted entry (see section 8, Autologins) [C] = Clear Queue (clears all tags) [T] = Tag all entries (sets all tags) [S] = Switch sorting, will switch from sorting the directory by field [2] to sorting by field [3], or vice versa [H] = Hang-up city, disconnects from current city, allowing the user to dial another city [1] = Set modem settings to 7E1 [2] = Set modem settings to 8N2 [N] = Set modem settings to 8N1 6.4.4 Dialer in Action... To start the dialer one simply presses the <ENTER> key from the dialer menu. The dialer will change screen to a window that will display the input and output going to/from the modem. All tagged entries will be dialed in order. The dialer will set up the PcPursuit modem for either Racal operation or Hayes operation (whichever you selected from the User Configuration). Racal mode is highly recommended! It will then begin to dial the targeted BBSs in order until a successful connection is achieved. ICEX recognizes all the special response codes provided by Racal mode for faster and more efficient operation. Once a connection is established, ICEX will perform an auto- login, if you edited the entry to do so. Once it has auto-logged in ICEX will return command to the calling program, or Terminal if used as standalone. Note that one can skip a BBS and start dialing the next BBS i the queue, this being handy if you see one dial giving the "Ringing..." response over and over, you can abort and start the next. Also remember that the ESC aborts dialing at any time. The Spacebar is the command for aborting the current and starting dialing the next BBS in the queue. 6.5 Direct Connect Dialer The direct connect dialer functions exactly as the City Dialer with a few minor exception (which are outlined in the City Dialer section). For brevity of documentation and to avoid repetition, consult the City Dialer section, section 6.3. 6.6 Terminal The terminal is a very simplistic terminal which buffers input and output and displays the input/output to the screen. It will supports ANSI if ANSI.SYS or substitute is installed. Basically the terminal is there for you to interact with the operations in case something goes awry with the dialers. It is also there so ICEX can be used as a standalone. The terminal does provide some special function however which are invoked through the F-keys on your keyboard. The description of these special functions are outlined below: [F1] - Presents a help screen basically giving the same information presented here. [F2] - Automatically dials your local Telenet number and logs you into PcPursuit at the phone number and parameters you specify in the user configuration. You will be prompted for the baudrate to use (1200/2400). [F3] - Disconnects you from the currently connected city, if you are connected. This is the same as the [H] command from the dialing directories. [F4] - Drops the DTR and hangs up your phone [F5] - Shell to DOS (if enough memory available) [F6] - Send a BREAK signal over the modem [F7] - Set modem to 8N1 [F8] - Set modem to 8N2 [F9] - Set modem to 7E1 [F10] - Exit Terminal back to main menu 6.7 User Configuration The user configuration is THE most important part of ICEX. You MUST make sure your user configuration is set to match your equipment and needs. When you enter the User Configuration option either because you selected it from the main menu or you are forced into it by ICEX, you will be given a windowed screen showing your current settings. You must modify these to suit you by selecting the appropriate option number and making any changes desired, and finally pressing ESC to exit and save the new configuration file. The easiest way to describe the user configuration options is to list them one-by-one and describe them in further detail... 1. User ID This is your PcPursuit ID 2. Password You PcPursuit Password 3. Support dir Pathname This is VERY important! The default directory is set to be the current default directory, but I highly suggest you create a separate directory to hold ICEX support files. The best choice is to make a directory in your root directory called ICEX, i.e. cd \ md ICEX It is suggested you include the complete pathname including the drive. A good choice would be "C:\ICEX\". 4. Your modem predial This is YOUR modem's predial string, most likely "ATDT". 5. Local Telenet Number (1200 baud) This is your local telenet number. It can be a complete phone number including area code. It must be for your local 1200 baud dial-in. 6. Local Telenet Number (2400 baud) This is your local telenet number. It can be a complete phone number including area code. It must be for your local 2400 baud dial-in if you have one. 7. Port This is the port number you wish to use (1-4). 8. Baudrate This is the baudrate you wish to run (300-9600). It is suggested you set it to either 1200 or 2400 since PcPursuit only supports these two baudrates. 9. Data, Parity, Stop These are the parameters you wish to run your modem at. ICEX accepts three different sequences, '7E1', '8N2', '8N1'. I recommend using 8N2 for everything you do on PcPursuit for one reason. Uploads go thru better for most people when they use 8N2. 6.7 (cont'd) 10. Modem mode This is the mode you desire to use PcPursuit modems in. You can select either Hayes or Racal. I strongly suggest you use Racal mode as ICEX is geared towards Racal usage and responds much better to Racal. Racal is also more efficient. Everything is automated so you do not need to know the command set for using Racal mode. The bottom line is that Hayes is available, but don't use it. 11. Your local phone number This is required for some of the autologins to function properly. You must type your full phone number including area code in the form -> xxx xxx xxxx The spaces must be present. 12. Sound on This tells ICEX whether or not to sound the alarms when it makes a connection. I recommend you set this parameter to TRUE so you can let ICEX go to its thing while you spend your important time doing something else and can responds when you hear the alarm sound. 13. Connect messages on This option when set to true will, after the alarm, pop a small window up and tell you which BBS you have just connected to. It is recommended you have this turned off (FALSE) because it will delay return to the calling program and some data could be lost (the opening screen sent from the BBS for example). 14. Cursor active This is an important feature for those who are visually impaired and have a screen reader attached to their machine. ICEX turns off the cursor and this makes screen readers burp. So, if the cursor is active, then it will be displayed and the screen readers read everything just fine. I wish to thank Mr. Tandy Way for his suggestion for this addition. 6.7 (cont'd) 15. Alarm number This is for those who like a variation on alarms. Currently only three alarms are available. They are: 1 - Whooping alarm This alarm makes a 'whoop' sound going from low to high pitch, sort of like the RED alert on Star Trek. 2 - Buzzer alarm This alarm sounds like the new space age telephones but a much higher pitch. 3 - Charge alarm This plays CHARGE!!! for an alarm 16. Statistics Active This tells ICEX whether or not to keep statistics on it's dialers. I strongly suggest you keep statistics active. The logic in allowing the user to disable the statistics keeping functions is that the return to the calling program is much faster since ICEX does not have to write statistics into the dialing directory. 6.8 Exit This is plain and simple. This simply exits ICEX and returns control to the caller. Invoking ICEX (specifics) 7.1 Calling ICEX directly 7.1.1 Procomm Plus Setup: Go to the Set-Up menu (ALT-S). Next select the "FILE/PATH OPTIONS." Select option "F" and enter the following on the command line: ICEX203 -D Hit ESC to return to the SET-UP menu and select "SAVE SETUP OPTIONS" to save this configuration. Application: To use this feature you simply hit ALT-J when you wish to invoke ICEX. *** Important Note: Procomm+ does not function correctly under this mode due to a bug in Procomm+. What happens is that upon returning from ICEX203, PcPlus does not reinitialize the comm port and thus all data coming in through the modem does not go to the screen. A quick cure is to hit ALT-P and then ESC, but this is annoying. Hopefully the next release of Procomm+ will have cured this problem. 7.1.2 GT Power (14.00) GT Power does not have the ability to EXEC a program directly. 7.1.3 Qmodem SST Qmodem does not have the ability to EXEC a program directly. 7.1.4 Boyan-D3 Setup: You must go to the Configuration section with ALT-C. Once there, you must select [A], and under the next screen you select [J]. You arte then prompted for the amount of K to allot the DOS shell. I suggest entering a value no less than 400, with 450K being suggested. If this preparation is not done then you will not have enough memory to invoke ICEX203. Note that this need only be done ONCE. Application: To call ICEX203 directly you simply hit the INS key on your extended keypad on your keyboard. You will be prompted for a command line at the bottom of your screen ( something like "C>" ). From this prompt you merely type -> ICEX203 -D and tap the <ENTER> key. 7.1.5 Pibterm 4.1 Pibterm does not have the ability to EXEC a program directly. 7.1.6 Telix 2.12 To directly execute ICEX from within Telix you must hit the ALT-V key combination and when prompted for the DOS command you type: ICEX203 -D and tap the <ENTER> key. 7.1.7 Zcomm To directly execute ICEX from within Zcomm you simply type, from the '+++c:' prompt, the following: !icex203 -d and tap the <ENTER> key. 7.2 Calling ICEX through a DOS shell 7.2.1 Procomm Plus (1.1) To go to DOS (Shell) from inside Procomm you simply type the ALT-F4 key. Once in DOS, you type -> IC and hit the return key. This will start a batch file to invoke ICEX and return to the caller program (Procomm). 7.2.2 GT Power (14.00) To go to DOS (Shell) from inside GT Power you simply type ALT-1 sequence. Once in DOS, you type -> IC and hit the return key. This will start a batch file to invoke ICEX and return to the caller program (GT Power). 7.2.3 Qmodem SST To go to DOS (Shell) from inside Qmodem you simply type ALT-R sequence. Once in DOS, you type -> IC and hit the return key. This will start a batch file to invoke ICEX and return to the caller program (Qmodem). *** Important Note: Qmodem also does not function correctly under this mode due the same reason it did not function with Procomm+. Hopefully in the next release they will reset the com port upon a return from DOS. I do not know of a way to induce Qmodem into resetting the com port without dropping the DTR and thus hanging up the phone. My suggestion is DO NOT USE ICEX WITH QMODEM EXCEPT BY USING THE SCRIPT GENERATED WITH ICEXGEN (7.3.3). 7.2.4 Boyan-D3 A jump to dos in Boyan requires a one-time preparation. *** One time preparation: You must go to the Configuration section with ALT-C. Once there, you must select [A], and under the next screen you select [J]. You arte then prompted for the amount of K to allot the DOS shell. I suggest entering a value no less than 400, with 450K being suggested. If this preparation is not done then you will not have enough memory to invoke ICEX203. Note 450K is overkill and 275K seems to work for most people okay. To jump to DOS from within Boyan you simply hit the ALT-J key combination. Once in DOS, you type -> IC and hit the return key. This will start a batch file to invoke ICEX and return to the caller program (Boyan). 7.2.5 Pibterm 4.1 To jump to a DOS shell from within Pibterm you simply hit the ALT-J key combination. Once in DOS, you type -> IC and hit the return key. This will start a batch file to invoke ICEX and return to the caller program (Pibterm). 7.2.6 Telix 2.12 To jump to a DOS shell from within Telix you simply hit the ALT-J key combination. Once in DOS, you type -> IC and hit the return key. This will start a batch file to invoke ICEX and return to the caller program (Telix). 7.2.7 Zcomm I'm not quite sure how to invoke a DOS shell from Zcomm. 7.3 Calling ICEX through a script 7.3.1 Procomm Plus To invoke the script made by ICEXGEN you simply type ALT-F5, and when it asks you for the parameters you type the following: ICEX-12 or ICEX-24 and then tap the <ENTER> key. 7.3.2 GT Power (14.00) To invoke the script made by ICEXGEN you simply type ALT-3, and when prompted for a name you type: ICEX-12 or ICEX-24 and then tap the <ENTER> key. 7.3.3 Qmodem SST To invoke the script made by ICEXGEN you simply type ALT-F, and when prompted for a name you type: ICEX-12.QMS or ICEX-24.QMS ..... and then tap the <ENTER> key. It will then ask you for script parameters, at which you again tap <ENTER>. 7.3.4 Boyan-D3 To invoke the script made by ICEXGEN you simply type ALT-R, and when prompted for a name you type: ICEX-12; or ICEX-24; and then tap the <ENTER> key. Do not leave out the semi-colon! 7.3.5 Pibterm 4.1 To invoke the script made by ICEXGEN you simply type ALT-G, and when prompted for a name you type: ICEX-12 or ICEX-24 and then tap the <ENTER> key. 7.3.6 Telix 2.12 To invoke the script made by ICEXGEN you simply type ALT-S, and when prompted for a name you type: ICEX-12 or ICEX-24 and then tap the <ENTER> key. 7.3.7 Zcomm Invoking Zcomm through a script is a little different than for other conventional comm programs. Zcomm incorporates it's scripts directly into its dialing directory. So, all you do is create the Zcomm script with ICEXGEN (sec 8.1) and then simply append it onto the end of Zcomm's PHODIR.T. Consult Zcomm's documentation for instructions on adding to PHODIR.T. To invoke the script you type from the '+++c:' prompt, 'call zci' and it will start the script. ICEX and Scripts 8.1 Using the Script Generator ICEXGEN ICEXGEN is a program that will ask you a few questions and then generate a script appropriate to be run from your favorite comm program to provide a friendly, completely automated interface between your comm program and ICEX. ICEXGEN is straightforward. All you do is answer the questions posed and then select which comm package you wish to generate a script for. The scripts are written for you by the program so you do not need to know anything about script programming. The only thing you need know is how to use the scripts, and this is detailed under section 7.3. I strongly suggest you use the script method for calling up ICEX, as it provides a much smoother interface between your favorite comm program and ICEX. Make sure you have your configuration file set to reflect your desired modem settings, such as 8N2 or 7E1. You will be asked for the baud rate you want the script for. I strongly suggest you generate BOTH scripts, and call whichever one is appropriate for the baud rate you wish to call in at, from inside your comm program. Auto Logins 9.1 What are Autologins? An autologin is where, once the BBS dialer has connected to your target BBS, will automatically log into the BBS with your name and password and then return command to your calling program. 9.2 Why use them? Using autologins speeds up things tremendously and also lets you "forget" your password for that BBS as it is kept inside the dialing directory. Thus, all you have to do is dial the BBS and your previously recorded information (name, password, etc.) will be retrieved and used to log you into that BBS. It is also a good idea to use autologins because by setting them up, you will automatically keep track of all your passwords for every BBS you have in your lists. This is handy if you forget your password or if you lose your master list of passwords to your favorite BBSs. In a future release, ICEX will support a complete print portion to the program that will allow you to print certain reports related to ICEX, including statistics and dialing directories, etc. 9.3 How do you use them? a.k.a. Autologins and [E]dit In order to instruct ICEX to perform an autologin for a given BBS, you must set up that BBSs entry in the dialer to reflect your intents. To do this, you go to the appropriate BBS dialer (see section 6.4) and place the highlight bar over the BBS you wish to update for autologin. You then hit the [E] key on your keyboard and you will be given a window containing all the information ICEX knows about that particular BBS entry. You can then update this information in a similar fashion as you did for the user configuration. The appropriate options you will wish to modify for autologging purposes are choice #6 thru choice #10. These will be explained in further detail below: 9.3 (cont'd) Option 6. Login type ===================== Login type is the method of logging in you desire. These methods are listed below and are classified as to the type of BBS this entry is for. Note that Type 1 is the predominant type. Type BBS software ---- ------------------------------------------- 1 PcBoard, RBBS-PC, WildCat, Phoenix, dBBS, generic 2 FIDO, OPUS, TBBS 3 Tcomm 4 T.A.G. 5 2am BBS 6 Collie 7 Pc-Host 8. Genesis Option 7. Color logins ======================== If this option is set to TRUE then the autologging feature will attempt to log you into the current BBS and will tell it to use color screens and ANSI commands. Option's 8-10. (first/last name and password) ============================================= These options tell ICEX what your username and password are for this BBS. Different BBS types require different information. Some require first and last names and a password, where others simply ask for a user number and password. These specifics are outlined below classified by BBS type. Type Information ---------- ---------------------- 1,2,3,6,7 first - your first name last - your last name password - your password 4,5,8 first - your user number last - not used password - your password 10.1 Current City Mnemonics Following is a list of cities supported by PcPursuit at the time of release of this version of ICEX. The information given is the city name, area code, and city mnemonic. More detailed information can be found in the archive xxxx which can be found on the Net Exchange. 201 Newark, New Jersey NJNEW 202,301,703 Washington, D.C. DCWAS 203 Hartford, Connecticut CTHAR 206 Seattle, Washington WASEA 212,718 New York, New York NYNYO 213 Los Angeles, California CALAN 214,817 Dallas, Texas TXDAL 215 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PAPHI 216 Cleveland, Ohio OHCLV 303 Denver, Colorado CODEN 305 Miami, Florida FLMIA 312,815 Chicago, Illinois ILCHI 313 Detroit, Michigan MIDET 314,217,312,815 St. Louis, Missouri MOSLO 404 Atlanta, Georgia GAATL 408 San Jose, California CASJO 414 Milwuakee, Wisconsin WIMIL 415 San Francisco, California CASFA 415 Oakland, California CAOAK 415 Palo Alto, California CAPAL 503 Portland, Oregon ORPOR 602 Phoenix, Arizona AZPHO 612 Minneapolis, Minnesota MNMIN 617 Boston, Massachusetts MABOS 619 San Diego, California CASDI 713 Houston, Texas TXHOU 714 Riverside, California CARIV 714 Santa Anna, California CASAN 801 Salt Lake City, Utah UTSLC 813 Tampa, Florida FLTAM 816,913 Kansas City, Missouri MOKCI 818 Glendale, California CAGLE 919 Research Triangle Park, N.C. NCRTP 11.1 ICEX History ICEX started about two years ago when I subscribed to PcPursuit. I was very amazed at the tedium is took to simply connect to a city and then was dismayed at having to to it all again to get through to my desired BBS. I was using Procomm at the time and had done a little script programming for Procomm. I decided to write scripts that would take care of this dilemma and automate everything I needed to do to use PcPursuit effectively. These scripts worked fine for me, and I could change them to suit my needs because I KNEW how to program Procomm script language. I felt that I should not be the only one to benefit from these scripts as I know there are others suffering out there who do NOT know script programming. But therein was the drawback in distributing these scripts to the public -- the majority of the public did not know what it required to keep the scripts up to date and to have them specific for themselves. So, I decided to sit down and write a program that actually wrote the scripts by itself based on the user's specifications. The program not only generated the scripts but also maintained these scripts as well. The benefit of this was that there was absolutely no need for the user to have any knowledge of script programming to run the program. This program was named ICPR, with the appropriate version number tacked onto the end. This program was great in that it provided the user with a complete interface with Procomm and PcPursuit without any required knowledge on the user's part. There was one major drawback however, this program was specific for Procomm. What about all the other people out there that preferred Qmodem or Boyan or Telix? Well, the script languages for these programs were not well suited to carry out the operations ICPR performed in the scripts it generated. In short, Procomm's script language was far superior and the functions used could not be readily reproduced with other script languages. A second drawback was that scripts are entirely TOO SLOW because they are interpreted. Enter ICEX!!! I decided to start from scratch and make a complete comm program that could be used INDEPENDENT of the comm program using it. ICEX is also its own program and does not deal with scripts. It is entirely self contained. ICEX incorporates speed and a better user interface than its predecessor and also has the advantage of being generic, for use with ALL comm packages. ICEX will continue to grow as more and more suggestions come in. Please keep those suggestions coming and help ICEX to grow into the comm package YOU want. Eventually ICEX may become a full fledged comm program specifically for PcPursuit user which will be able to be used as a true standalone. 11.2 ICEX Revision History 1.0 === First release of the new ICEX, to become the son of ICPR. 1.1 Released in beginning of January, 1988 === -------------------------------------- This was a quick fix to some nasty glitches in 1.0. 2.01 Released on Friday, May 27th, 1988 ==== ---------------------------------- This is the next major release. It fixes a couple of bugs found in 1.1, namely the com port bugs and baud rate bugs. It also incorporates many many new features as requested by the many users of ICEX. The changes and additions are too numerous to mention. I have decided to use a 2 digit minor revision number because revisions will be put out more often. 2.02 Released on Tuesday, May 31st, 1988 ==== ----------------------------------- This is a bug fix. It fixes a couple of bugs, namely the Direct Connect Dialer works now, and [K]illing the first entry of any dialing directory is safe to do now. The documents have been updated and revised. Another fix is that the '-i' command line switch now works. You can now [A]dd an entry to a dialer, and then [E]dit it without ICEX locking up. Note that THE support BBS for ICEX is Computer Archives, reachable through FLTAM, at 813-968-6220. All revisions can be found there, and will be posted there first. Give it a call, it's one of the nations largest BBSs with over 1.6 gigabytes of file storage. 2.03 Released on Friday, June 3rd, 1988 ==== ---------------------------------- Bugs fixed: 1) Exiting a BBS dialer back into the city dialer and then hitting [D] by accident, followed by an <ESC> to abort the mistake results in a very undesirable effect, it deletes the 'last-connected' city from the list! It's a bizarre combination, but I found it. This bug has been fixed and it will no longer delete when it is not supposed to. 2) Baud rate conflicts are handled with more finese 3) Dialing a Direct-Connect exception in the City dialer and receiving as BUSY caused the next city to be dialed incorrectly. In fixing the Direct connect dialer in 2.02, this error cropped up in 2.02. Ironic, eh? This is fixed now. 4) Some folks were having problems with ICEX thinking it was connected to a city when it actually was not and also having the Terminal not function at all. The cure was to go into ICEX, enter the terminal and hit the F3 key. This has been fixed. Additions: 1) Automatic baud detect added for smoother interface with calling programs. 2) ICEX is now smart enough to decipher the garbled responses given by PcPursuit, so the user can read them. 3) ICEXGEN now supports user's choice of 1200 or 2400 baud script generation. You should create both scripts. It will look at your config file for the Parity, Data, and Stop bits, so set these apprpriately. 12.0 Support for ICEX Computer Archives in Tampa, Florida is the support BBS for ICEX. All revisions will be released there first, and the latest revision can always be found there. I support a Q&A there for all questions concerning ICEX. If you have a problem getting ICEX to work for you, leave me a question on Computer Archives, and it will be answered within the next day. Computer Archives can be reached through the FLTAM node. The phone number for new users is (813) 968-6220. The first call you make with ICEX should be to Computer Archives to get yourself validated as a user there so you can take advantage of the ICEX forum. Also, do not forget to call Dr. File Finder's Black Bag at CODEN - 303-750-3228. This is the second distribution point of ICEX. Both boards support a forum for discussions of ICEX, where you can voice your problems, complaints, and suggestions. Please take advantage of this, even if it is just to let me know what you think of ICEX. Since I do not yet have a BBS set up, and if I did it would be Pursuitable, please contact me at either of the two BBSs mentioned above, or at the Net Exchange. Also, if you wish to contact me by phone that is fine too, but I will warn you that you will get my answering machine most of the time. I am around to answer the phone from about 12:00 am - 2:00 am EST. Other than those times I'm usually not around to answer the phone. Since my schedule is so busy, I usually do not get a chance to return phone calls at reasonable hours of the day, so your best bet is to leave me a message on Computer Archives since I check in there every day and you will be assured a quick response. I cannot promise a quick response if you leave a message on my machine. A BBS will be set up soon, now if we could only convince Telenet to support the small town of Gainesville as a PcP city! 13.0 About the Author... My name is Wayne Wolf. I am a senior in CIS Engineering at the Univiersity of Florida in Gainesville. I am 21 years old and have over 9 years programming experience including Pascal, BASIC, C, Assembly, Fortran, Lisp, Modula-2, dBase III+, COBOL, Unix, ... I am hopefully graduating December 1988 and will be out in the real world of engineers. I intend to continue to write public domain and ShareWare programs and also to open a private consulting business. One long term goal is to set up a system similar in performance to EXEC-PC BBS. I write ShareWare programs, namely ICEX, to assist those who are Telecommunications freaks like myself manuever through the nightmare interface of PcPursuit. Also I have put my time into developing ICEX, most of my free time (which is scarce), in order to hopefully generate enough income to support my financial obligations in paying for my education. I feel a $25 regisistration fee is a fair assessment of my time and effort and of the benefit ICEX brings to the PcPursuit user. I am also open to comments about that as well. I'd like to know what you think is fair. Also remember that if you cannot afford the $25 registration that $20,$15,$10 is fine as well, but I cannot promise you that you will receive the next updates by mail. I can promise you support for ICEX and also that you will find it on your favorite BBS after it is released. Also, I am currently going to begin my search for employment after graduation (Dec 88) and if anyone out there is in need of an innovative and hardworking programmer/designer/engineer please do not hesitate to point me in your direction.