Stars of Shareware: DFÜ und Kommunikation

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MyComm Version 2.11 Unregistered Version Documentation Printed November 12, 1993 Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 - Ken Dorshimer All Rights Reserved MyComm is NOT Public Domain or free software. The MyComm software, support files, and documentation are Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 Ken Dorshimer, all rights reserved. MyComm is being marketed under the "Shareware" concept. You may use MyComm for a 30 day evaluation period to determine its usefulness in your particular application. After the 30 day evaluation period you must register MyComm if you continue to use it. Registration is as follows: Send $25 (twenty five U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank), plus $2 shipping and handling to: Ken Dorshimer P.O. Box 5143 Belmont, Ca. 94002 (Please send check or money order, do not send cash. People who want to order MyComm from outside the U.S. should obtain a money order in U.S. dollars from a local bank.) For your convenience there is a file called ORDER.FRM which is an order form for MyComm. An order form is also included in Appendix F of this documentation. Please note that if you downloaded MyComm from a BBS that charges a subscription fee, obtained a copy of MyComm from a "shareware disk copying" service, or CD ROM library the registration fee for MyComm is not paid for or collected by those services! 1.0 Introduction to MyComm 1 1.1 Registration and Licensing 2 1.2 Disclaimer and Warranty 6 1.3 Definitions, Acronyms 6 1.4 General System Requirements 7 1.5 MyComm Files 8 1.6 MyComm Support and Technical Assistance 9 2.0 MyComm Installation 10 2.1 System Requirements 10 2.2 MyComm Installation Instructions 11 2.3 Running MyComm 12 3.0 MyComm Screens and Menus 14 3.1 Terminal Screen 14 3.2 Help Menu - F1 15 3.3 Chat Mode - Alt A 16 3.4 Send Break - Alt B 16 3.5 Clear the Screen - Alt C 16 3.6 Dialing Functions - Alt D 16 3.6.1 Add Phone List Item 17 3.6.2 Edit Phone List Item Screen 18 3.6.2.1 Name 18 3.6.2.2 Number 18 3.6.2.3 Baud Rate 19 3.6.2.4 Data Bits 19 3.6.2.5 Data Parity 19 3.6.2.6 Stop Bits 19 3.6.2.7 Default Protocol 19 3.6.2.8 Dial Prefix 20 3.6.2.9 Logon Name 20 3.6.2.10 Password 20 3.6.2.11 Terminal Type 20 3.6.2.12 Local Echo 21 3.6.2.13 Received BS (BackSpace) Destructive 21 3.6.2.14 BS Key Sends BS or DELete 21 3.6.2.15 Strip Hi Bits 21 3.6.2.16 Add LF after incoming CR 22 3.6.2.17 Clear last date called 22 3.6.2.18 Script 22 3.6.2.19 Save Changes 22 3.6.3 Delete an Item 22 3.6.4 Call Numbers (Dial) 22 3.6.5 Phone Item Info Screen 24 3.6.6 Manual Dial Screen 24 3.6.7 Mark Phone List Items 25 3.6.8 Find Phone List Items 25 3.6.9 Load Phone List Screen 25 3.6.10 Sort Phone List 25 3.6.11 Move Phone List Item 25 3.6.12 Print Phone List 26 3.7 Local Echo On/Off - Alt E 26 3.8 Hang Up Modem - Alt H 26 3.9 Send Modem Initialization Strings - Alt I 26 3.10 Join Script - Alt J 27 i 3.11 Present Line Status - Alt L 27 3.12 Scroll Back - Alt K 27 3.13 Manual Dial - Alt M 28 3.14 Outside to DOS - Alt O 28 3.14 Change Port Parameters - Alt P 29 3.16 Quick Re-Dial - Alt Q 29 3.17 Run External Program - Alt R 29 3.18 Session Capture On/Off/Pause - Alt S 30 3.19 Terminal Emulation - Alt T 30 3.20 Update Configuration - Alt U 31 3.20.1 Modem Setup Screen 31 3.20.1.1 COM Port 32 3.20.1.2 Modem Initialization String 33 3.20.1.3 Modem Attention String 33 3.20.1.4 Modem Hang Up String 33 3.20.1.5 Modem Answer String 33 3.20.1.6 Modem Cancel Dial String 34 3.20.1.7 Modem Dial Suffix String 34 3.20.1.8 Dialing Wait Time 34 3.20.1.9 Pause Between Calls 34 3.20.1.10 Local Echo on by Default 34 3.20.1.11 Use DTR to Hang Up Modem 35 3.20.1.12 Use XON/XOFF Flow Control 35 3.20.1.13 Use CTS/RTS Flow Control 35 3.20.1.14 Use DSR/DTR Flow Control 35 3.20.1.15 Dialing Prefixes 36 3.20.1.16 Connect Strings 36 3.20.2 Paths Setup 37 3.20.2.1 Download Directory 37 3.20.2.2 Upload Directory 37 3.20.2.3 Path\File for Screen Capture 37 3.20.2.4 Session Capture Path\File 37 3.20.2.5 Phone File Path\File 38 3.20.2.6 Editor Path\Filename 38 3.20.2.7 External Programs Path\Filename 38 3.20.3 Protocols Setup 38 3.20.3.1 ASCII Transfers Setup 39 3.20.3.1.1 Strip High Bits 39 3.20.3.1.2 Remote Abort Char 39 3.20.3.1.3 CR Translation 40 3.20.3.1.4 LF Translation 40 3.20.3.1.5 Local Echo On During Uploads 40 3.20.3.1.6 Expand Blank Lines to Spaces 40 3.20.3.1.7 Line Pace Time 40 3.20.3.1.8 Character Pace Time 40 3.20.3.1.9 Pacing Char 41 3.20.3.2 Zmodem Transfers Setup 41 3.20.3.2.1 Zmodem 32 Bit CRC 41 3.20.3.2.2 Zmodem Auto Download Feature 41 3.20.3.2.3 Zmodem Send Crash Recovery 41 3.20.3.2.4 Zmodem Receive Crash Recovery 42 3.20.3.3 External Protocols Setup 42 3.20.4 Miscellaneous Options Setup 44 3.20.4.1 Screen Background Color 44 ii 3.20.4.2 Screen Text Color 44 3.20.4.3 Date Format Style 44 3.20.4.4 12 or 24 Hour Time Format 44 3.20.4.5 Make Noise When Calls Connect 45 3.20.4.6 Make Noise After File Transfers 45 3.20.4.7 Use Direct Video 45 3.20.4.8 Your Name for sign on 45 3.20.4.9 Password for sign on 45 3.20.4.10 Clever quip for TagLine 46 3.20.4.11 Guess Up/Download Filename 46 3.20.5 COM Port Addresses 46 3.20.6 Restore to Defaults 47 3.20.7 Save Setup 47 3.21 Send Screen to File - Alt W 47 3.22 Exit MyComm - Alt X 47 3.23 Help Screen - F1 47 3.24 Send Name - F2 48 3.25 Send Password - F3 48 3.26 Send Tagline - F4 48 3.27 Transferring Files 48 3.27.1 Starting a File Transfer 49 3.27.2 File Transfer Hints 51 3.27.3 Download Files - PgDn 51 3.27.4 UpLoad Files - PgUp 51 3.27.5 ASCII File Transfers 52 3.27.6 SEAlink Derived File Transfers 52 3.27.7 Xmodem File Transfers 52 3.27.8 1K-Xmodem File Transfers 53 3.27.9 Ymodem Batch File Transfers 53 3.27.9 Ymodem-G Batch File Transfers 53 3.27.11 Zmodem File Transfers 53 3.27.11 External Protocol File Transfers 54 3.27.12 MyComm as a Host 54 Appendix A - MyComm Command Summary 56 Appendix B - MyComm Line Editing Functions 57 Appendix C - Terminal Emulation 58 Appendix D - Troubleshooting 61 Appendix E - MyComm Script Language 64 Appendix F - MyComm Order Form 73 Appendix G - MyComm Bug Report Form 74 Appendix H - Planned Modifications and Upgrades 75 Appendix I - MyComm Revision History 76 Appendix J - Control Characters 77 iii MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 1 1.0 Introduction to MyComm MyComm is a small, yet powerful, telecommunications program designed to enable users to access public bulletin board systems (BBS's) and other telecommunication services. MyComm is designed to run under the PC/MS-DOS operating system using DOS version 3.3 or higher. MyComm has a variety of built in file transfer protocols including Zmodem, Xmodem, Xmodem-1K, Ymodem Batch, Ymodem-G Batch, SEAlink, and of course ASCII. There are also slots to include up to six external file transfer protocols. The driving principle behind MyComm is to provide a reliable, powerful, and versatile communications package which is easy to use, and small in size. Great care has been taken to optimize MyComm for operating speed and to keep the executable code size small so that it takes up less of your valuable disk space. MyComm is designed to be easy to use for both novice and experienced users, and employs a menu system that is friendly and simple to navigate through. MyComm features include: ■ A full featured communications package which is small in size. ■ Wide variety of popular file transfer protocols. ■ Small code size which will run in less than 200K of RAM. ■ Intelligent ANSI character translation which filters out potentially harmful ANSI keyboard re-mapping sequences. ■ Intelligent DOS shell function that brings you back to the disk drive and directory that you started from when you return to MyComm. ■ Detection and use of the 16550 UART and FIFO buffers. ■ Locates program and configuration files no matter what directory MyComm is started from (DOS 3.0 or greater). ■ Support for COM ports 1 through 8. ■ Powerful, yet easy to use "script" language. ■ Simple, and easy to use. Some may even call it "fun"! MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 2 1.1 Registration and Licensing MyComm is NOT Public Domain or free software. The MyComm software, support files, and documentation are Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 Ken Dorshimer, all rights reserved. MyComm is being marketed under the "Shareware" concept. You may use MyComm for a 30 day evaluation period to determine its usefulness in your particular application. After the 30 day evaluation period you must register MyComm. Registration is as follows: Send $25 (twenty five U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank), plus $2 shipping and handling to: Ken Dorshimer P.O. Box 5143 Belmont, Ca. 94002 (Please send check or money order, do not send cash. People who want to order MyComm from outside the U.S. should obtain a money order in U.S. dollars from a local bank.) For your convenience there is a file called ORDER.FRM which is an order form for MyComm. The order form is also included in Appendix F of this document. Please note that if you downloaded MyComm from a BBS that charges a subscription fee, obtained a copy of MyComm from a "shareware disk copying" service, or CD ROM library the registration fee for MyComm is not paid for or collected by those services! MyComm represents many, many hours of work on my part in research, design, coding, testing, and writing the documentation. Writing a piece of software like MyComm is not trivial. Your registration not only gives me the incentive to continue producing and upgrading shareware products like this one, but it is the right thing to do. Let's face it. $25 is not a lot to spend on a program that does everything MyComm does. Comparable communications packages are generally much more expensive. The Shareware market is an "all risk" venture for the author, while the user has everything to gain. Your registration tells me that MyComm was worth creating, and that people like it. I like to know that people appreciate the effort I put into a project, don't we all? Enjoy using the MyComm software, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you. When you register MyComm I will send you the most recent version of MyComm and its documentation on disk (standard 3.5" or 5.25" floppy disk, 3.5" preferred). At this time I am not offering a printed manual in order to keep the cost of the MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 3 software reasonable. Registered users will also be offered a discount on future upgrades. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 4 Multiple registrations to the same individual or site will be discounted as follows: 1 to 5 copies - no discount 6 to 10 copies - 5% discount 11 to 25 copies - 10% discount 26 to 50 copies - 20% discount 51 to 100 copies - 30% discount over 100 copies - inquire for quote Inquiries for site licenses and multiple registrations of MyComm should be directed to the above address, or via Compuserve (Tm) 73113,3536. In the case of site licenses and multiple registrations a maximum of five (5) diskettes will be sent with the order unless otherwise negotiated. Registered users will be granted license to use the MyComm software as they deem fit and within the law. The registered version of MyComm may be duplicated for backup purposes only. MyComm is not to be used on more than one computer at a time. However a user may install MyComm on their computer at work and their computer at home providing that the two computers are not operated simultaneously. Feel free to contact me regarding multiple registrations and site licenses. All users are granted a limited license to make copies of the unregistered version of MyComm for the purpose of allowing others to try it out, and the unregistered version may also be uploaded to public bulletin board systems subject to the above restrictions as well as the following: ■ MyComm must be distributed in completely unmodified form, including all support files and documentation. ■ MyComm may not be included with any other product for any reason without a licence from the author, Ken Dorshimer. ■ No charge or payment may be levied or accepted for the MyComm software except by the author, Ken Dorshimer. MyComm may not be sold or distributed through a third party (this includes copying services and shareware distribution outlets which distribute software for a copying fee) without the expressed written permission of the author, Ken Dorshimer. Shareware distribution services and bulletin boards which charge a fee for software distribution should contact me for written permission to distribute MyComm. The MyComm executable file(s) and documentation, both the "registered" and "unregistered" versions are copyrighted material and may not be modified or reverse engineered in any manner. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 5 This also means that MyComm may not be "hacked" in any manner what-so-ever. If you require modified or customized versions of MyComm for whatever reason please contact the author at the address above. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 6 1.2 Disclaimer and Warranty Disclaimer and Warranty: MyComm was designed and coded on a best efforts basis in accordance with the standard of care usually and reasonably expected in the performance of such computer software. THIS SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS". THE AUTHOR, KEN DORSHIMER, MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR THE SOFTWARE'S USEFULNESS IN A PARTICULAR APPLICATION. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR, KEN DORSHIMER, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS OR PERSONAL PROFITS, BUSINESS OR PERSONAL INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR PERSONAL INFORMATION, OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PROGRAM, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR, KEN DORSHIMER, HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE USER ASSUMES FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY FOR THE PROPER USE OF THE MYCOMM SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION. <Whew>, glad the legal stuff is out of the way. If I hadn't included that my attorney would have me drawn and quartered. 1.3 Definitions, Acronyms, Acknowledgements, and Abbreviations ■ BBS - Bulletin Board System ■ IBM - Trademark, International Business Machines ■ Hayes - Hayes (trademark) compatible modems have become the defacto standard in modem communications. The Hayes command set are modem commands preceded by "AT" ■ DOS - Disk Operating System ■ MS-DOS - Microsoft Disk Operating System, trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ■ Shareware - A marketing system where users are allowed to evaluate software before purchase and registration. ■ XMODEM - A file transfer protocol developed by Ward Christensen in the summer of 1977. ■ YMODEM - A file transfer protocol, based on XMODEM developed by Chuck Forsberg. ■ ZMODEM - A file transfer protocol, developed by Chuck Forsberg/Omen Technology, Inc. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 7 ■ SEAlink - A file transfer protocol, based on XMODEM developed by System Enhancement Associates, Inc. Copyright 1986, 1987 by System Enhancement Associates, Inc. ■ WordStar - Trademark (company unknown) of an editor which has been around since the early days of personal computers. ■ Unix - Trademark of operating system designed by Bell Labs/Western Electric. ■ VT-nnn - As in VT-52, VT-100, etc. are trademarks of the Digital Equipment Corporation. ■ 3270 - 3270 and 7171 are designations used by IBM for terminal emulation and protocol conversion respectively. Any other names, trademarks, etc. not mentioned here belong to whomever they belong to. If there are errors or omissions, and you let me know, I will make an effort to correct them in the next version of this documentation. 1.4 General System Requirements MyComm is designed to run under the PC/MS-DOS operating system. MyComm can be run either from a hard drive or a floppy drive, although a floppy drive is not recommended when performing file transfers (just too slow). Great care has been taken to keep the code size small so MyComm will run with as little as 200K of main memory (RAM) available. MyComm will run using a Monochrome Graphics Adapter (MGA), a true Hercules (Tm) monochrome card, EGA, and VGA. MyComm is designed to use modems which use the Hayes (Tm) "AT" command set. Your modem should support this standard or a subset of it. MyComm supports modem speeds of 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, and 115200 baud and a wide variety of data bit, parity bit, and stop bit settings. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 8 1.5 MyComm Files The files included in the MyComm package are: ■ MYCOMM.EXE - MyComm main executable program. ■ MYCOMM.DOC - Documentation for MyComm (you're reading it now). ■ ORDER.FRM - Order form for MyComm. ■ BUGRPT.FRM - Form to describe any problems or bugs you may have found, or to make suggestions for future versions of MyComm. ■ SCP_CHK.EXE - Program to check the syntax of script file commands. See Appendix-E "MyComm Script Language" for more information. MyComm also creates and modifies the following files as part of its normal operation: ■ MYCOMM.CFG - MyComm configuration file. ■ MYCOMM.PHN - MyComm phone list file. ■ MYCOMM.OLD - Backup of the MyComm phone list file. ■ MYCOMM.SCR - File created when you capture the screen to a file (see Alt W). ■ MYCOMM.SES - File created when capturing your current session to a file (see Alt S). ■ Other Files - phone lists that you create, script files, and any files that were downloaded. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 9 1.6 MyComm Support and Technical Assistance MyComm technical assistance is offered in the following ways: ■ Call the MyComm support BBS at 415-592-5669 (2400 8-N-1) ■ Contact the author through Compuserve at 73113,3536 ■ Write to: P.O. Box 5143 Belmont, Ca. 94002 Please note: If the copy of MyComm that you are using is more than a few months old the BBS number may have changed and you should use one of the other two methods to contact the author. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 10 2.0 MyComm Installation MyComm is amazingly simple to install and use. That's the whole idea. The instructions in this section will have you up and running in no time. Pay special attention to the information that should be in your CONFIG.SYS file, and the stuff about the COM ports. 2.1 System Requirements MyComm is designed to run on IBM or compatible personal computers under the MS-DOS operating system. Machines can be of the PC, XT, AT, 386 or above class of personal computers. MyComm has the following system requirements: ■ at least 200K of free memory (RAM). ■ MS-DOS version 3.0 or greater or similar "after market" DOS operating systems. ■ Hayes compatible modem which accepts the " AT " command set. ■ CONFIG.SYS statements of Files=40 and Buffers=40. Look at your CONFIG.SYS file to make sure there is a "Files=" and a "Buffers=" statement. The CONFIG.SYS file can be edited with an ordinary text editor. Simply type in a line that reads "Files=40" and one that reads "Buffers=40" (without the quotes) and save the file. Refer to your DOS manual if you need more information on CONFIG.SYS. ■ CONFIG.SYS statement of Device=ANSI.SYS. Look at your CONFIG.SYS file to make sure there is a "Device=ANSI.SYS" statement. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 11 2.2 MyComm Installation Instructions Before you start the MyComm installation you should know at least what COM port your modem is set for. Consult your modem's manual if you're not sure. Modems vary too much from one manufacturer to another for me to describe that here. Step 1: Modify your CONFIG.SYS file to make any of the required changes described in section 2.1 above. Step 2: Create a directory on your hard drive (or a floppy drive) called "MYCOMM" and change directory into the new "MYCOMM" directory. Example: C: CD\ MD MYCOMM CD MYCOMM Step 3: Copy the MYCOMM files into this new directory. Step 4: Run MyComm. At the DOS command prompt type "MYCOMM" then press the <Enter> key. Step 5: MyComm will start to load. The first time MyComm is run it will tell you that it can't find the "Configuration File". It will then create a new configuration file called MYCOMM.CFG. MyComm will also create an empty phone dialing list called MYCOMM.PHN. Step 6: MyComm has a default COM port setting of COM Port 1. If your modem is set up for COM 1 already, don't sweat it. Otherwise, MyComm will prompt you for the serial port to use. Choose the COM Port that your modem is set on. MyComm will then try to initialize the COM Port. If all goes well you should see the letters "OK" on the screen under the copyright notice. If the modem doesn't appear to be responding, try repeating Step 6 using another COM Port (if you have more than one) or see Appendix D "Troubleshooting". You can see if the modem is responding correctly by typing "AT" (without the quotes) and then press <Enter>. The modem should respond with "OK". You can test the phone line connection by typing "ATM1DT" (again, without the quotes) then press <Enter>. What this does is tell the modem to turn its' speaker on, then dial nothing. You should hear a dial tone from the modems' speaker. Press <Enter> again and the dial tone should stop and the modem should respond with "NO CARRIER". MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 12 Step 7: Press the <Alt> and "U" key. This will bring up MyComm's Update Configuration Menu. Go through each of the menu options and make any changes required. The rest of this documentation describes each of the MyComm options and functions. Step 8: You will also need to modify the "Modem Initialization String". This is done in the "Modem Setup" screen. MyComm needs to see text response codes from the modem rather than numeric codes. The general purpose initialization string that MyComm uses as by default is: AT M1 X4 Q0 V1 S0=0 S11=50 S7=50 &C1 &D2^M Broken down this means: AT - "Hi modem! I'm sending you commands now". M1 - Turn on modem speaker (M0 turns it off). X4 - Select highest level of responses. Q0 - Always send responses. V1 - Send text responses. S0=0 - Do not answer the phone. S11=50 - Use fast dialing speed. S7=50 - Wait time for Carrier Detect in seconds. &C1 - Keep Carrier Detect (CD) low until a connection is made. &D2 - Use RTS/CTS flow control (important on high speed modems). ^M - Send Carriage Return character (MyComm internal command - see also Appendix J). 2.3 Running MyComm Section 3 of this document covers all the options and functions that MyComm offers. There are some additional items that should be covered first. MyComm can be started in a number of ways. Below are three different methods to start the MyComm program. Method 1: Start MyComm from the directory that you installed MyComm in. For example: CD\MYCOMM then type "MYCOMM" and press the <Enter> key. This will start the MyComm program. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 13 Method 2: MyComm will also load from any directory if you have set a "Path" with the DOS path command that points to the directory MyComm lives in. For example to set the path type: PATH=C:\MYCOMM providing of course that you installed MyComm in the directory C:\MYCOMM. Just substitute the appropriate path in that case. Method 3: You could also specify the "fully qualified" DOS path to start MyComm. For example: C:\MYCOMM\MYCOMM will also cause MyComm to start. If you have questions about the DOS Path commands or statements please refer to your DOS manual. If you are using DOS version 3.0 or higher MyComm will automatically find it's configuration file. This means that MyComm can be started from anywhere on your system without having to always start in the MyComm directory which will save you the trouble and typing of changing directories when you want to use MyComm. MyComm will however try to start a new phone file in the directory you are in unless you have included the fully qualified path to the phone directory file in the Setup options. This allows you to keep multiple phone files in different directories depending on your needs. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 14 3.0 MyComm Screens and Menus MyComm has several screens and menus to allow you to change various options and to perform various functions. Most screens and menus are brought up by pressing the <ALT> key and then a letter. Pressing <F1> while in the terminal screen shows you Help Menu which lists all of the MyComm functions (see also section 3.2). 3.1 Terminal Screen When MyComm is first loaded, and after the configuration file has been read, it defaults to the terminal screen which looks like this: MyComm <Version Information> Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 Ken Dorshimer - All rights reserved. Press <F1> for Help Press <Alt-D> for Dial Screen You will see the version number, and copyright notice. In the terminal screen you may enter regular Hayes - AT modem commands, or choose one of the many MyComm functions. The MyComm functions are listed in the Help Menu which is displayed when you press the <F1> key on your keyboard. A description of each of the MyComm functions is detailed in the following sections of this manual. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 15 3.2 Help Menu - F1 Pressing the <F1> key brings up the MyComm Help Screen which looks like this: (NOTE: many of the MyComm screens shown in this documentation are smaller than actual size so that they will fit on a printed page.) +------------------------------------------------| MyComm Help |+ | | | MyComm Commands | | | |Alt A Activate Chat Mode Alt M Manual Dial | |Alt B Send Break Alt O Outside to DOS | |Alt C Clear the Screen Alt P Change Port Parameters| |Alt D Dialing Functions Alt Q Quick Re-Dial | |Alt E Toggle Local Echo On/Off Alt R Run External Program | |Alt H Hang up modem Alt S Session Capture On/Off| |Alt I Send Modem Init. String Alt T Terminal Emulation | |Alt K Scroll BacK Alt U Update Configuration | |Alt L Current Line Status Alt W Write Screen to File | |Alt J Join Script Alt X EXit MyComm | | | | | |F1 Help With Commands PgDn Download Files | |F2 Send Name PgUp Upload Files | |F3 Send Password | |F4 Send Tagline | | | | | | MyComm <Version Information> | | Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 Ken Dorshimer - All rights reserved.| | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Pressing <Esc> or any other key closes the MyComm Help Screen window. The functions shown on the Help Menu are described in detail in the sections that follow. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 16 3.3 Chat Mode - Alt A Pressing the <ALT> and the "A" key brings you into the MyComm Chat window. The Chat window is divided into a top half and a bottom half. The top half of the screen is where received characters are written, the bottom half is where the characters you type are written. The chat screen is useful when you want to "chat" interactively with someone while on-line. If you were not using the Chat Mode and trying to chat, the "conversation" would eventually end up looking like a garbled mess on your screen. To exit Chat Mode, just press <Esc>. 3.4 Send Break - Alt B Pressing the <ALT> and the "B" key sends a special signal called "BREAK". Some host systems use the Break signal to perform special functions such as ending a session. 3.5 Clear the Screen - Alt C Pressing the <ALT> and the "C" key clears the screen and resets the current color attributes. Some host systems send color information which stays in place even after you log off. Clear Screen resets the screen colors to the ones you chose. 3.6 Dialing Functions - Alt D Pressing the <ALT> and the "D" keys displays the MyComm Dial Screen. From this screen you can add, delete, edit, view, find, and mark phone list entries, and of course dial phone list entries. You will see the options available from this screen written into the little window at the bottom of the screen. The letter which activates an option will appear highlighted or in a different color. A description of the dialing functions follows. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 17 You will see a bar highlighting the current phone list item. You can move the highlight bar up and down by using the Up-Arrow, Down-Arrow, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys. The highlight bar appears as reverse video bar on monochrome screens. +------------------------------------------------| Dial Screen |+ | | | # Name Phone Number Last Call | | | | 1 Your Favorite BBS 555-4657 01/26/92 | | 2 The Music Board 555-8944 01/19/92 | | . . . . | | . . . . | | . . . . | | 15 00/00/00 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | | | Add Edit Delete Call Info Manual (Un)MarK Find Load | | Sort moVe Print | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 3.6.1 Add Phone List Item Pressing the "A" key in the Dial Screen window adds a blank entry after the currently highlighted entry. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 18 3.6.2 Edit Phone List Item Screen Pressing the "E" key in the Dial Screen window brings up the Dial Edit window. This is where you set up the phone list entry for each system you will call. There are several options to choose from, and each is described. You can also use the Up- Arrow and Down-Arrow keys to move between items. Items such as Name, Number, etc use MyComm's Line Editor described in Appendix B. +----------------------------------------| Edit |+ | | | Name: Your Favorite BBS | | Number: 555-4657 | | Baud Rate: 2400 Data Bits: 8 | | Data Parity: None Stop Bits: 1 | | Default Protocol: 1K-Xmodem | | Dial Prefix: 1 ATDT*70 | | Logon Name: Your Name | | Password: Password | | Terminal Type: ANSI | | Local Echo: No | | Received BS Destructive: Yes | | BS Key Sends BS or DELete: BS | | Strip Hi Bits? (Pure ASCII): No | | Add LF after incoming CR?: No | | Script | | Clear last date called and number of calls? | | | +------------------------------------------------+ The following describes each phone list item and how to configure it. 3.6.2.1 Name Just type in the name of the bulletin board system or person you will call here. 3.6.2.2 Number The telephone number of the system you will call goes in here. The telephone number can include spaces or hyphens for readability (modems usually ignore spaces and hyphens). Characters such as letters or other gibberish will probably confuse your modem. MyComm will assume that whatever you put here is a valid telephone number. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 19 3.6.2.3 Baud Rate Choose a baud rate (300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, or 115200) that you want MyComm to use when connected to the system. For a more accurate reading of the data rate during file transfers (described elsewhere in this manual) and the on- line status (also described elsewhere in this manual) the baud rate should be set to the rate of the system that you will be calling. 3.6.2.4 Data Bits Choose the data bits (5, 6, 7, 8) that you want MyComm to use when connected to the system. 8 data bits is the most common setting for public bulletin board systems. 7 data bits are common on mainframes and many Unix (Tm) systems. 5 and 6 data bits are rarely used by many systems any longer, but are included for completeness. Most host systems in their advertisements, etc. tell you what Data, Parity, and Stop bits they expect. You will often see them listed as 8-N-1 or similar. 8-N-1 means 8 data bits, no parity (None), and 1 stop bit. 8-N-1 is the most common setting used. If in doubt, try 8-N-1 first. 3.6.2.5 Data Parity Choose the data parity (None, Even, Odd, Mark, Space) that you want MyComm to use when connected to the system. None is usually used on most systems, especially with 8 data bits. Even parity is common when using 7 data bits. 3.6.2.6 Stop Bits Choose the stop bits (1, 2) that you want MyComm to use when connected to the system. 1 stop bit is the most common. 3.6.2.7 Default Protocol MyComm allows you to choose the file transfer protocol that you will use by default for each system you call. Choose the protocol which best suits your needs. A more complete description of the various protocols is found later in this manual in the section on Uploading and DownLoading Files. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 20 3.6.2.8 Dial Prefix Choose the dialing prefix that you want MyComm to use when calling the number for this system. MyComm has slots for three different dialing prefixes. Choose one by moving the highlight bar to the selection you want. The dialing prefixes can be changed to suit your needs in the Update Configuration menu option. 3.6.2.9 Logon Name This option lets you enter the name that you log on with when you call this system. When bulletin board systems answer your call they usually ask for your name and password. Putting the characters "^M" at the end of the Logon Name causes an <Enter> character to be sent. Some BBS's don't like seeing an <Enter> character immediately after the Logon Name string when logging on, in which case you should leave the "^M" out. If Logon Name is filled in MyComm will send your logon name when you push the <F2> key to save you some typing. 3.6.2.10 Password This option lets you enter the password that you log on with when you call this system. When bulletin board systems answer your call they usually ask for your name and password. If Password is filled in MyComm will send your logon password when you push the <F3> key to save you some typing. If you are really security conscious, then you can leave this option blank. Putting the characters "^M" at the end of the Password causes an <Enter> character to be sent. Some BBS's don't like seeing an <Enter> character immediately after the Password string when logging on, in which case you may leave the "^M" out. 3.6.2.11 Terminal Type This option lets you choose the type of terminal emulation to use when calling this system. The choices are TTY, ANSI, VT-52, VT-100 and 3270 (registered version only). TTY (TeleTYpe) gives no emulation what-so-ever. The characters appear on your screen just as they come in with no formatting. ANSI emulation provides functions similar to your ANSI.SYS driver to provide color attributes (except on mono monitors of course), blinking characters and other goodies. MyComm uses intelligent ANSI character translation which filters out any ANSI sequences which cause "keyboard re-mapping". This prevents the MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 21 unscrupulous from sending ANSI sequences to your personal computer system that could potentially cause damage or annoyance. VT-52 and VT-100, and 3270 are most commonly used on mainframe hosts. Some bulletin boards also support these. Both of these emulations support a subset of the DEC protocols including a mapping to the "keypad mode" used to generate commands on DEC terminals. It should be noted that VT-52 is an "ANSI incompatible" emulation, and VT-100 is ANSI compatible. A listing of the keys supported for the ANSI, VT-52, VT-100, and 3270 emulations is in Appendix C - Terminal Emulations. 3.6.2.12 Local Echo Local Echo is used when the other system does not send the characters typed on your terminal back to you. Most systems do echo characters back, so Local Echo is normally off ("No"). If you find that you can't see what you are typing when connected to a system, set Local Echo on ("Yes"). On the other hand if you see double characters when you hit a key (for example you see "xx" when you type an "x") then Local Echo should be off ("No"). 3.6.2.13 Received BS (BackSpace) Destructive This option tells MyComm whether received BackSpace or DELete characters should back up the cursor and erase what was there. Usually this On. 3.6.2.14 BS Key Sends BS or DELete This option tells MyComm whether to send a BS (BackSpace - 8 decimal) or DEL (Delete - 127 decimal) character when the backspace key is pressed. Usually this is set to BS. Mainframe hosts usually like to see DEL rather than BS. 3.6.2.15 Strip Hi Bits This option tells MyComm whether to strip the high bit from received and sent characters. Usually this is set to "No". Just for your own information, bytes on the personal computer are 8 bits long. So, the bit-map of a byte might be 10011101. The left-most bit is the high bit. So if you were to strip the high bit, the byte above would become 00011101. Pure ASCII only covers bytes in the range of 00000000 (0 decimal) to 01111111 (127 decimal). The ANSI extended set includes values from 10000000 (128 decimal) to 11111111 (255 decimal). So by stripping the high bit, a character is guaranteed to be in the range of the pure ASCII character set. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 22 3.6.2.16 Add LF after incoming CR This option tells MyComm whether to add a LF (Line Feed - 10 decimal) character after a CR (Carriage Return - 13 decimal) character is received. Usually this is set to "No". If you notice that the lines on the screen seem to look odd or do not scroll up properly, you will want to turn this on (Yes). 3.6.2.17 Clear last date called and number of calls Each time you connect with a system MyComm updates the last date and time called portion the dialing entry record. If you want to reset the date and time the system was last called and the number of times you have called it, answer "Yes" here. 3.6.2.18 Script This is where you will put the name of the script file that you want to run ("Join") when you connect with this system. For a complete discussion of the MyComm script language see Appendix - E "MyComm Script Language". 3.6.2.19 Save Changes (not shown in example) MyComm asks if you want to save the changes you just made. If you answer "Yes" MyComm updates the phone file on your disk drive. When MyComm updates the phone file a backup of the phone file is created and named PHONE.OLD. 3.6.3 Delete an Item Pressing the "T" key allows you to delete the item that is currently at the dialing highlight bar. MyComm asks you to confirm the delete request before proceeding. MyComm also updates the phone file on your disk drive. 3.6.4 Call Numbers (Dial) Pressing the "C" key tells MyComm that it's time to start calling numbers in the Dialing List (See also section 3.6.7 (Un)MarK). Pressing the <Enter> key also will start the dialing. If no Dialing List Items are "marked" MyComm will dial the number that the highlight bar is currently resting on. If there are "marked" Dialing List Items, MyComm will start dialing the marked numbers in sequence until a connection is made. During the dialing attempts you can cancel the dialing by pressing the <Esc> key. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 23 While MyComm is calling numbers and waiting for a connection, a Dial Status Window is displayed (see example below). The status window shows who is being called and the telephone number, how many call tries have been made so far, the status of the last dialing try, the time in seconds until this try "times out", the time since you started calling, and the time that the current dialing attempt started. +-------------------------------------------------------| Dial |+ | | | Calling: Your Favorite BBS At: 555-4657 | | | | Try # 1 Last Status: None Yet Dial Time: 42 | | | | Dialing started at: 3:01:20 This try started at: 3:01:21 | | | | | | Hit ESC to quit dialing, 'N' for next number, | | or 'D' to delete number from list. | | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Pressing the "N" key causes MyComm to stop dialing the number it is currently dialing and to skip to the next marked number. Pressing the "D" key causes MyComm to stop dialing the number it is currently calling and to remove it from the list of "marked" numbers. If you press "D" and the number is the only one left in the "marked" list, MyComm will give you a warning and stop dialing. The Dial Time and Pause Time between calls is a user configuration option which can be set up in the Update Configuration menu described later in this document. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 24 3.6.5 Phone Item Info Screen The Phone Item Info Screen looks very much like the Edit Phone List Item Screen with the exception that the Last Call Date, Last Call Time, and Number of Calls fields are shown. If you see something you want to change, pressing "E" will bring you to the Edit Phone List Item Screen. +------------------------------| Phone Item Info |+ | | | Name: Your Favorite BBS | | Number: 555-4657 | | Baud Rate: 2400 Data Bits: 8 | | Data Parity: None Stop Bits: 1 | | Default Protocol: 1K-Xmodem | | Dial Prefix: 1 ATDT*70 | | Logon Name: Your Name | | Password: Password | | Terminal Type: ANSI | | Local Echo: No | | Received BS Destructive: Yes | | BS Key Sends BS or DELete: BS | | Strip Hi Bits? (Pure ASCII): No | | Add LF after incoming CR?: No | | | | Last Call Date: 01/26/92 | | Last Call Time: 4:26:12 | | Number of Calls: 28 | | | | Press "E" to Edit Record | +-------------------------------------------------+ 3.6.6 Manual Dial Screen Pressing "M" brings up the Manual Dial Screen. The Manual Dial Screen lets you enter a single phone number to dial. The dialing prefix used is always Dialing Prefix number 1. Pressing <Esc> cancels the function. Pressing <Enter> accepts the telephone number and the usual Dialing Status Window appears. +-------------------------------------| Manual Dial |+ | | | Enter phone number: 555-1234 | | | +----------------------------------------------------+ MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 25 3.6.7 Mark Phone List Items Pressing "K" marks or un-marks phone list items for later dialing. As a convenience, pressing the <Space> bar also marks and un-marks items. When a phone list item is marked a chevron ("»") will appear next to the item. 3.6.8 Find Phone List Items Pressing "F" brings up the Find Phone List Items screen (not shown). Simply type in the characters in the name, or a partial phone number that you want to find. The search is started at the top of the list. If the search fails, a message is displayed. 3.6.9 Load Phone List Screen Pressing "L" brings up the Load Phone List Screen. You can keep more than one phone dialing list. Each list can hold up to 100 telephone numbers. If the dialing list you select does not yet exist, MyComm will display an empty dialing list. Again, when changes are made to the phone file, MyComm will create or update the file PHONE.OLD as a backup. There is only one PHONE.OLD backup file kept, so all new backups overwrite the last PHONE.OLD backup file. 3.6.10 Sort Phone List You can sort the Phone List in one of four ways: - by BBS name - by Telephone number - by last date called - by number of times called The sort option will also ask you for Ascending or Descending sort order. Simply select the sort option that best suits your needs. The list will be saved in the new sort order. Pressing <Esc> exits the Sort menu. 3.6.11 Move Phone List Item This option allows you to move a phone list item to another location in the list. This will save you some retyping if you want to customize your phone list. To use this option move the highlight bar to the phone list item that you want to move. Press the "V" key. Next use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight bar to the position that you would like the item moved to. Press the <Enter> key to make the move permanent, or <Esc> to quit the move. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 26 3.6.12 Print Phone List This option allows you to print the phone list. The phone list may also be "printed" to a text file. The printed output shows the BBS name, phone number, and last date called. To use this option press "P". You will then be asked for a file name to "print" to. To print to your printer (PRN) simply press <Enter> (PRN is a standard DOS device name for the printer). A status message is displayed while the phone list is being printed. The printing can be stopped by pressing the <Esc> key. 3.7 Local Echo On/Off - Alt E Local Echo is used when the other system does not send the characters you typed on your terminal back to you. Most systems do echo characters back, so Local Echo is normally off ("No"). If you find that you can't see what you are typing when connected to a system, set Local Echo on (Yes). On the other hand if you see double characters when you hit a key (for example you see "xx" when you type an "x") then Local Echo should be off ("No"). 3.8 Hang Up Modem - Alt H Pressing the <ALT> and the "H" key tells MyComm that you want to disconnect from your current telephone connection. MyComm will try to hang up the phone first by dropping the modem signal called DTR, and if that fails by sending the Hang Up String defined in the Modem Setup Screen (see section 3.17.1 Modem Setup Screen). If you don't want MyComm to use DTR to hang up the modem set the option "Use DTR to Hang Up Modem" in Modem Setup Screen to "No". 3.9 Send Modem Initialization Strings - Alt I Pressing the <ALT> and the "I" key brings up the Send Init. String Menu shown below. Choosing one of these options will send the Modem Initialization String, or the Hang Up String (same as <Alt> + H), or the Modem Attention String, or the Phone Answer String. These strings are defined in the Modem Setup Screen (see section 3.17.1 Modem Setup Screen). +-------| Send... |+ | Init. String | | Hang Up String | | Attention String | | Phone Answer | +------------------+ MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 27 3.10 Join Script - Alt J This option will allow you to "Join" in or run a script file. You will be asked to supply the name of the script file which MyComm will then load. If the script file can not be opened you will see an error message. You may quit the script by pressing the <Esc> key until you see the "Yes/No" window that asks if you want to quit the script. See Appendix-E "Script Language" for more information on script files. 3.11 Present Line Status - Alt L Pressing the <ALT> and the "L" key brings up the Present Line Status Window. This window tells you the current COM Port Status, i.e. what Port, Baud Rate, Data Bits, Parity Bits, and Stop Bits are in effect, whether you are on-line and for how long. If you are on-line MyComm tells you the name of the system you are logged onto, and the default file transfer protocol. Also shown is the present Local Echo status and whether Session Capture is active. Pressing <Esc> closes the window. +--------------------------| Present Line Status |+ | | | COM Port Status COM2, 2400, 8, N, 1 | | ---------------------------------------- | | | | On-line: Yes Time On-line: 0:00:00 | | Logged on to: My Favorite BBS | | Current Protocol: None | | ---------------------------------------- | | | | Local Echo On: No | | Screen Capture On: Yes | | ---------------------------------------- | | | | Current Time: 12:34:56 Date: 01/23/93 | +-------------------------------------------------+ 3.12 Scroll Back - Alt K Pressing the <ALT> and the "K" key brings up the "scroll back" buffer. MyComm saves the last few screens of received text for you. This option allows you to see what has been recently received in case there was something that went by too quickly that you would like to look at again. The scroll back buffer saves about two to three screens worth of information depending on how much actual text was in the previous screens (about 4K's worth). The scroll back buffer does not display ANSI or high bit characters, they are stripped out to leave more room for useful information. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 28 When the scroll back buffer is first shown it displays the very beginning of the buffer information. The up-arrow, down-arrow, Page Up, and Page Down keys scroll the text. You may also write the buffer to a file by pressing the "W" key. To exit press the <Esc> key. 3.13 Manual Dial - Alt M Pressing the <ALT> and the "M" key brings up the Manual Dial Screen. The Manual Dial Screen lets you enter in a single phone number to dial. The dialing prefix used is always Dialing Prefix number 1. The parity setting is always 8-N-1. If you press <Esc> you can cancel the selection. Pressing <Enter> accepts the telephone number and the usual Dialing Status Window appears. This is exactly the same function as in the Dialing Screen, selection "M", described above. 3.14 Outside to DOS - Alt O Pressing the <ALT> and the "O" key lets you shell out of MyComm to DOS. You can use the Outside to DOS even when you are on- line. Typing "EXIT" on the DOS command line brings you back to MyComm. One point of interest here: if you switch to a different drive or directory while in the DOS shell, MyComm will automagically bring you back to the drive and directory you started from when you type "EXIT" to return to MyComm. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 29 3.14 Change Port Parameters - Alt P Pressing the <ALT> and the "P" key brings up the Change Port Parameters Screen (see example below). MyComm will let you change the port configuration, even while on-line. Please note however that changing the COM Port while on-line will probably disconnect the current session. However Data, Parity, and Stop Bits can be changed. Please note that the changes done here are not permanent. To make permanent changes to the COM port settings, you must use the "Update Configuration" which is brought up by pressing <Alt> and "U" then the "M" key. +-----------------------| Change Port Parameters |+ | | | Present settings: COM2, 2400, 8, N, 1 | | | | COM Port:2 | | | | +---------+ | | | 1: COM1 | | +-----------| 2: COM2 |---------------------------+ | 3: COM3 | | 4: COM4 | | 5: COM5 | | 6: COM6 | | 7: COM7 | | 8: COM8 | +---------+ 3.16 Quick Re-Dial - Alt Q Pressing the <ALT> and the "Q" key allows you to redial the last number that MyComm dialed. This is especially useful for re-dialing manually entered telephone numbers. 3.17 Run External Program - Alt R Pressing the <ALT> and the "R" key brings up the Run External Program Screen (not shown). MyComm lets you define an editor program plus up to three other programs you can run without leaving your MyComm session. The external programs are defined in Paths Setup (see 3.19.2 Paths Setup). If there is not enough available memory to run the external program, the external program will not run and control passes directly back to MyComm. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 30 3.18 Session Capture On/Off/Pause - Alt S Pressing the <ALT> and the "S" key opens the MyComm Session Capture Screen (not shown). You can either accept the default name that MyComm provides for the capture file or enter a new name. If the Drive:\Path\Filename is in any way invalid, MyComm will issue an error message. You can also press <Esc> to leave the Session Capture Screen without starting the Session Capture. After a Session Capture has begun you can pressing the <ALT> and the "S" key again to Close, or Pause the capture file. If you choose to Pause the Session Capture, Pressing the <ALT> and the "S" key again will give you the option to Close or Resume the capture session. If you exit MyComm and forget to Close the Session Capture file, MyComm will do it for you. Please note that often while Session Capture is active, that the display may appear jerky, or start and stop from time to time. This is normal during Session Capture as it is the time that MyComm is writing to the capture file. It may also be important to know that the Session Capture does not do any ANSI filtering. What you see is what you get. Generally you will read the Session Capture file using a text editor or word processor when you are no longer "on line". Text editors and word processors usually do ANSI filtering for you. 3.19 Terminal Emulation - Alt T MyComm allows you to reset the Terminal Emulation even while on-line. The options are: TTY, ANSI, VT-52, VT-100, and 3270. Further information on the emulation can be found in Appendix C - "Terminal Emulations". MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 31 3.20 Update Configuration - Alt U Pressing the <ALT> and the "U" key brings up the Update Configuration Menu (see below). From this menu you can choose various options to allow you to customize the MyComm configuration. You can either use the Up and Down-Arrow keys, the press <Enter> to choose an option, or simply press the highlighted letter of the option you want. A description of the things you can configure follows. +---| Update Configuration |+ | Modem Setup | | Paths and Filenames | | File Transfer Options | | Other Stuff for MyComm | | COM Port Addresses | | Save Configuration | | Exit | +---------------------------+ 3.20.1 Modem Setup Screen The Modem Setup Screen (see below) allows you to make changes to the various setting that control the modem. You can move from item to item by using the Up and Down-Arrow keys and the pressing <Enter>. Some of the items use MyComm's built in line editor to modify the item, others use little pop-up Yes/No windows. If you want to exit without making any changes, just press the <Esc> key. A description of each item in the Modem Setup Screen follows. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 32 +------------------------------------------------| Modem Setup |+ | | | COM Port: COM2, 2400, 8, N, 1 | | Modem Initialization String: ATM0X4Q0V1S0=0S11=50S7=50^M | | Modem Attention String: +++ | | Modem Hang Up String: ATH0^M | | Modem Answer String: ATA^M | | Modem Cancel Dial String: ^M | | Modem Dial Suffix String: ^M | | Dialing Wait Time, in Seconds: 45 | | Pause Between Calls, in Seconds: 4 | | Local Echo on by Default? No | | Use DTR to Hang Up Modem? Yes | | Use XON/XOFF Flow Control? Yes | | Use CTS/RTS Flow Control? No | | Use DSR/DTR Flow Control? No | | Dialing Prefix #1: ATDT*70 | | Dialing Prefix #2: ATDT 9, | | Dialing Prefix #3: ATDT 1 | | | | | | Use Up and Down Arrows to move between items | | Hit <Enter> to edit, <Esc> to Quit | | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 3.20.1.1 COM Port The COM Port selection allows you to set the various settings your COM port should use. When you first installed your modem you probably set the COM port up for COM1, COM2, etc. use the setting correct for your modem. If you set the wrong COM port in this area, MyComm doesn't mind, it just won't let you dial numbers later on. MyComm does not re-initialize the COM port when you make changes in this menu. The new COM port settings will be used the next time that you run MyComm. If you need to change the COM port settings now, use the Alt-P function from the main terminal screen. The baud rate should be set to whatever the top speed of your particular modem is. Refer to your modems' user manual if you're not sure. The most common settings for the Data, Parity, and Stop bits are 8-N-1 (8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit). If the settings you prefer are different, this is the place to change them. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 33 3.20.1.2 Modem Initialization String This option lets you set up the Modem Initialization String. This is the string which is sent to the modem to "wake it up" when MyComm is first loaded. The initialization string is made up of Hayes "AT" commands. The command line always starts with the letters AT. The rest of the string is various options for your modem. Your modem manual should have a list of the commands that are valid for your modem. MyComm always likes to have AT LEAST the Q0, V1, and X4 commands. Q0 tells the modem to ALWAYS send result codes, V1 tells the modem to ALWAYS send the text, not numeric, result codes. MyComm needs the result codes in text format to monitor call progress, and to send you other useful information that the modem produces. X4 (your modem may use X1, X2, etc) tells the modem to send verbose modem status information to MyComm. Another useful feature is, if you place "^M" at the end of the Initialization String MyComm will send a Carriage Return at the end of the line. High speed modem users: If you need to set your modem's "flow control" options in the setup string this is the place to do it. For example, if your modem needs to use RTS/CTS flow control the Hayes AT command "&K3" should be added to the initialization string. 3.20.1.3 Modem Attention String This is the Attention signal that tells the modem that you want it's undivided attention for something. Most Hayes compatible modems use three plus signs "+++" as the attention string. Refer to your modem's manual if you use a different Attention string. 3.20.1.4 Modem Hang Up String This is the string that tells your modem to hang up the telephone line. On most Hayes compatible modems this is ATH0. You can use the characters "^M" to have MyComm send a Carriage Return after it sends the Hang Up string (recommended). Refer to your modem's manual if you use a different Hang Up string. 3.20.1.5 Modem Answer String This is the string that tells your modem to answer the telephone. On most Hayes compatible modems this is ATA. You can use the characters "^M" to have MyComm send a Carriage Return after it sends the Answer string (recommended). Refer to your modem's manual if you use a different Answer string. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 34 3.20.1.6 Modem Cancel Dial String This is the string that tells your modem to cancel dialing a telephone number. On most Hayes compatible modems this just a Carriage Return (13 decimal). You can use the characters "^M" to send a Carriage Return after it sends the Cancel Dial string (recommended). Refer to your modem's manual if you use a different Cancel dialing string. 3.20.1.7 Modem Dial Suffix String This is the string that tells your modem what to terminate telephone numbers with when dialing. On most Hayes compatible modems this just a Carriage Return. You can use the characters "^M" to have MyComm send a Carriage Return as the Dial Suffix string (recommended). Refer to your modem's manual if you use a different Dial Suffix string. 3.20.1.8 Dialing Wait Time After MyComm dials a number it waits for this amount of time for a connection. Waiting stops automatically if MyComm detects a BUSY signal. The valid range for Dialing Wait Time is 1 to 240 seconds. In general a wait time of 45 seconds is good for most local and long-distance calls, 60 seconds for international calls. You will also want to add "S7=nn" (without the quotes), to your modem Initialization String (see above). Replace nn with a number greater than or equal to the time set in Dialing Wait Time. 3.20.1.9 Pause Between Calls If a connection is not made after dialing due to a BUSY signal or a time-out, MyComm resets the modem and waits the amount of seconds specified in the Pause Between Calls before trying to dial again. The valid range for Pause Between Calls is 0 to 60 seconds. In most cases a pause time of 2 to 5 seconds is a sufficient time for the modem to reset. 3.20.1.10 Local Echo on by Default Local Echo is used when the other system does not send what you typed on your terminal back to you. Most systems do echo characters back, so Local Echo is normally off ("No"). If you find that you can't see what you are typing when connected to a system, set Local Echo on (Yes). On the other hand if you see MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 35 double characters when you hit a key (for example you see "xx" when you type an "x") then Local Echo should be off ("No"). 3.20.1.11 Use DTR to Hang Up Modem This option allows you to set whether MyComm should use the modem signal called DTR to terminate connections. Using DTR to hang up is usually faster than just sending the Hang Up String (above). This option is usually set to "Yes". However, some modems don't like to have DTR messed with. You can usually tell if the modem doesn't like you to fool with DTR as it will cause your computer system to lock up (not a bad thing really, just terribly annoying - re-booting always fixes this). Refer to your modem manual if you have questions about whether to use DTR to hang up the telephone connection. NOTE: some modems require that you add "&D2" to your initialization string (see above) to enable the DTR line monitoring. Check your modem manual for further details. 3.20.1.12 Use XON/XOFF Flow Control This tells MyComm whether it should use the XON/XOFF flow control while in terminal mode and during ASCII file transfers. This option is generally on ("Yes"). 3.20.1.13 Use CTS/RTS Flow Control This tells MyComm whether to use CTS/RTS flow control. This is used with high speed modems and null modem cable links to regulate the flow of data. If the modem supports CTS/RTS flow control this should be on (refer to the user manual for your modem). If a null modem cable is being used and these signals are to be sent over the cable, this should be on. You may also want to add "&K3" to your initialization string (see above) to enable your modem to follow CTS/RTS status. This option is most often used on high speed modems. 3.20.1.14 Use DSR/DTR Flow Control This tells MyComm whether to use DSR/DTR flow control. Hardware handshaking is used with high speed modems and sometimes null modem cable links to regulate the flow of data. If the modem supports CTS/RTS flow control this should be on (refer to the user manual for your modem). If a null modem cable is being used and these signals are to be sent over the cable, this should be on. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 36 You may also want to add "&D2" to your initialization string (see above) to enable your modem to follow DTR status. This option is most often used on high speed modems. 3.20.1.15 Dialing Prefixes Dialing Prefixes are dialing codes such as area codes, that get sent before a telephone number is dialed. MyComm lets you set up three different dialing prefixes. For example, if you have Call Waiting (Tm) you can disable it by dialing *70 (that's asterisk - 70) before the number you're calling (this works in the my dialing area, your dialing area may differ). If you were to set one of your dialing prefixes to *70 MyComm would "prefix" every number you called with *70. The dialing prefixes can also be used to store long distance codes, or whatever dialing codes you would want to have dialed before a number. The dialing prefix can be up to 25 character/digits long. 3.20.1.16 Connect Strings MyComm will use the strings defined in Connect and No Connect strings to determine the dialing status. From this option you will be able to change the strings that MyComm will use as responses from your modem. There is one "Connect" string and four "No Connect" strings. The Connect string should be the same as the one your modem generates when a connection has been made. The default is "CONNECT" which is fairly standard. Please note: you must define this string so that MyComm will know when a connection has been made. MyComm does not rely on the Carrier Detect signal to determine when it has connected during dialing! The "No Connect" strings should be set to whatever strings your modem generates when a connection is not made during dialing. When MyComm sees one of these responses from the modem during dialing it stops waiting for a connection and moves on to the next number to be dialed. The default strings are "BUSY", "NO CARRIER", "NO DIALTONE", and "VOICE". MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 37 3.20.2 Paths Setup The Paths Setup Screen (see below) is where you set up paths to directories that you want MyComm to know about. A description of the various system paths follows. +---------------------------------------------| Paths Setup |+ | | | Directory to Download files to: C:\PUBLIC\ | | Directory to Upload files from: C:\PUBLIC\ | | Path\File for Screen Capture: C:\PUBLIC\MYCOMM.SCR | | Path\File for Session Capture: C:\PUBLIC\MYCOMM.SES | | Path\File for Phone File: C:\MYCOMM\MYCOMM.PHN | | Path\Filename.Ext for Editor: C:\UTIL\EDITOR.EXE | | Path\Filename.Ext of Xter Prog1: C:\SOMEPRGM.EXE | | Path\Filename.Ext of Xter Prog2: C:\ | | Path\Filename.Ext of Xter Prog3: C:\ | | | | | | Use Up and Down Arrows to move between items | | Hit <Enter> to edit, <Esc> to Quit | | | +------------------------------------------------------------+ 3.20.2.1 Download Directory This option tells MyComm which directory you want MyComm to put files that you download from another system. Notice that the path always ends in a backslash ( "\" ) character. 3.20.2.2 Upload Directory This option tells MyComm which directory you want MyComm to get the files from that you want to upload to another system. Notice that the path always ends in a backslash ( "\" ) character. 3.20.2.3 Path\File for Screen Capture This option tells MyComm which directory and the filename that you want MyComm to use for the Screen Capture file. Screen Capture is activated by <Alt> + W. 3.20.2.4 Session Capture Path\File This option tells MyComm which directory and the filename that you want MyComm to use for the Session Capture file. Session Capture is activated by <Alt> + S. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 38 3.20.2.5 Phone File Path\File This option tells MyComm which directory and the filename that you want MyComm to use for the Phone File which contains your dialing directory. You can have multiple Phone Files, but this is the one that MyComm will load when it starts up. 3.20.2.6 Editor Path\Filename If you want to use your favorite editor without leaving MyComm, this option lets you tell MyComm the path and filename of the editor. Notice that the filename of the editor must include not only the filename, but the extension (.EXE or .COM) as well. 3.20.2.7 External Programs Path\Filename You can define up to three other external programs to run without leaving your MyComm session. Use options to tell MyComm the paths and filenames of the programs. Notice that the filename of the programs must include not only the filename, but the extension (.EXE, .COM, or .BAT) as well. 3.20.3 Protocols Setup The Protocols Setup Menu (see example below) lets you set up parameters for ASCII file transfers, Zmodem file transfers, and the external protocols. The usage of these options follows. +--| Protocol Setup |+ | ASCII Transfers | | Zmodem Transfers | | EXternal Protocols | | Exit | +--------------------+ MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 39 3.20.3.1 ASCII Transfers Setup The ASCII Transfers Setup screen (see example below) lets you set up the parameters for ASCII file transfers. ASCII file transfers are only used to transfer text files. Program files and archived files, also known as binary files, should not be transferred as ASCII files. Most of the options for the ASCII transfers work well with their default settings. A description of the different options follows. +----------------------------| ASCII Transfers Setup |+ | | | Strip High Bits?: No | | Remote Abort Char (0 for none): 0 (ASCII Value) | | | | ASCII Upload Options | | CR Translation: None | | LF Translation: None | | Local Echo On During Uploads?: Yes | | Expand Blank Lines to Spaces?: No | | Line Pace time in 1/10 seconds: 0 | | Char Pace time in 1/10 seconds: 0 | | Pacing Char (0 for none): 0 (ASCII Value) | | | | ASCII Download Options | | CR Translation: None | | LF Translation: None | | | | Use Up and Down Arrows to move between items | | Hit <Enter> to edit, <Esc> to Quit | +-----------------------------------------------------+ 3.20.3.1.1 Strip High Bits This option tells MyComm whether to strip the high bit from received and sent characters during ASCII uploads and downloads. Usually this is set to "No". See also section 3.6.2.15 "Strip High Bits" for a discussion of "high bits". 3.20.3.1.2 Remote Abort Char If the system you're performing the ASCII file transfer with uses an abort char to cancel transfers you should set this value. The value is in the range of 1 to 255. A value of zero (0), the default, means MyComm won't look for the abort character during ASCII file transfers. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 40 3.20.3.1.3 CR Translation Upload and Download Some systems require a CR (Carriage Return) character placed before the LF (Line Feed) character during ASCII file transfers. If the lines of the file look odd after the transfer, this may be the case. 3.20.3.1.4 LF Translation Upload and Download Some systems require a LF (Line Feed) character placed after the CR (Carriage Return) character during ASCII file transfers. If the lines of the file look odd after the transfer, this may be the case. 3.20.3.1.5 Local Echo On During Uploads During ASCII uploads if you want to watch the file transfer set this option to "Yes". This is often used when uploading a message into a bulletin boards message base. When this option is set to "No", the usual file transfer window is shown as the upload progresses. 3.20.3.1.6 Expand Blank Lines to Spaces This option tells MyComm to expand lines that are empty except for a CR/LF into a line of spaces that end with a CR/LF. This is useful when you are uploading a message to a bulletin board. Some boards interpret a blank line with only a CR/LF as the end of message signal. Expanding blank lines allows you to upload the entire message. 3.20.3.1.7 Line Pace Time This options tells MyComm to how much time to wait between sending each line of text from the ASCII file. Some systems can't handle high speed ASCII transfers, this gives the other system time to "think". The value entered from 0 (the default) to 255 are in increments of 1/10 second (approximately). 3.20.3.1.8 Character Pace Time This options tells MyComm how much time to wait before sending each character from the ASCII file. Some systems can't handle high speed ASCII transfers, this gives the other system time to "think". The value entered from 0 (the default) to 255 is in increments of 1/10 second (approximately). MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 41 3.20.3.1.9 Pacing Char Some systems send a Pacing Character to limit throughput on ASCII transfers. MyComm will wait for the Pacing Char before sending each line of the file. The Pacing Char value ranges from 1 to 255 which represents an ASCII value. A value of zero (0), the default, means MyComm will not look for the Pacing Char. 3.20.3.2 Zmodem Transfers Setup MyComm lets you define certain special functions used in the Zmodem file transfer protocol. A description of these follows. 3.20.3.2.1 Zmodem 32 Bit CRC Zmodem uses either a 16 bit or a 32 bit CRC for error detection during file transfers. The 32 bit CRC provides a much higher degree of accuracy and reliability than its 16 bit cousin. However the calculation involved in the 32 bit CRC makes for a slightly slower transfer rate (by only a few CPS though). If you want a high degree of error detection this option should be set to "Yes". For higher transfer speed, set this option to "No". 3.20.3.2.2 Zmodem Auto Download Feature With this option set to "Yes" MyComm will automatically start a Zmodem download file transfer for you. The Zmodem protocol at the host's end sends some special characters when it starts up a Zmodem transfer. MyComm looks for these characters and will save you some typing by starting up the Zmodem download for you. If you don't want to use this feature, set this option to "No". 3.20.3.2.3 Zmodem Send Crash Recovery Sometimes a file transfer will fail after a file has been partially sent. A failed file transfer could be caused by any number or reasons such as line noise for example. Zmodem has a rather nifty feature that will attempt to restart a failed file transfer. For normal use this feature should be set to "No". If you want to attempt to restart a failed Zmodem transfer set this option to "Yes" before beginning the upload again. If the system you are trying to upload the file to supports the "Crash Recovery" feature the file transfer will resume where it left off. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 42 3.20.3.2.4 Zmodem Receive Crash Recovery Sometimes a file transfer will fail after a file has been partially received. A failed file transfer could be caused by any number or reasons such as line noise for example. Zmodem has a rather nifty feature that will attempt to restart a failed file transfer. For Normal use this feature should be set to "No". If you want to attempt to restart a failed Zmodem transfer then set this option to "Yes" before beginning the download again. If the system you are trying to download the file from supports the "Crash Recovery" feature the file transfer will resume where it left off. THIS OPTION SHOULD BE USED WITH CARE. If this option is set to "Yes" and you download a file from another system that has the same name as a file you already have in your download directory, the end of the existing file will be overwritten with the information from the new file. This option should only be set to "Yes" when you are attempting to restart a previously failed Zmodem transfer. NOTE: the Zmodem Crash Recovery option has some rudimentary idiot proofing. The option will not perform the transfer if the file you have has a different time/date stamp than the other system, or if the file you have is larger than the file on the other system. 3.20.3.3 External Protocols Setup MyComm lets you define up to six external file transfer protocols. Once defined the external file transfer protocols will appear in the Upload and Download protocol selection menus. You can use the Up and Down-Arrow keys to move from item to item. The <Enter> key selects an item for editing and saves the completed edit. Pressing the <Esc> key quits the edit. +-----------------------------------| External Protocols Setup |+ | | | Protocol Name Upload.Bat Download.Bat Ask FileName | | | | 1: BIGFAST BIGFASTU.BAT BIGFASTD.BAT No | | 2: Yes | | 3: Yes | | 4: Yes | | 5: Yes | | 6: Yes | | | | Use Up and Down Arrows to move between items | | Hit <Enter> to edit, <Esc> to Quit | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 43 The name of the external protocol should be typed in under the "Name" heading as you would like it to appear in the MyComm Upload and Download protocol selection menus. In the fields for Upload.Bat and Download.Bat you will enter the names of the DOS batch files that will be used to run the external protocol. In the selection marked "Ask FileName" tells MyComm whether you should be asked the name of the file when performing downloads (some file transfer protocols automatically get the filename for you). External file transfer protocols are run as DOS batch files from MyComm (see your DOS manual for information on batch files). MyComm sends the COM Port number you are using, the Baud Rate, and the Drive:\Path\ and filename as parameters for the batch file. Using the example above, let's say you are using an external protocol called "BigFast", your COM Port is 2, the Baud Rate is 2400, and your upload directory is "C:\PUBLIC\" and you are uploading a file called MYSTUFF.ARC. The batch file for Uploads with BigFast would look something like this: REM BigFast Upload batch file BigFast Send Port: %1 Baud: %2 %3 the %1 would be replaced by a "2", the %2 by "2400", and the %3 would be replaced with the name of the upload directory and the filename: "C:\PUBLIC\MYSTUFF.ARC" when MyComm calls the .BAT file to run. External file transfer protocols often differ quite a bit, but they usually come with enough documentation of their own to get you going. NOTE: Experience has shown that some external protocol drivers may not release the COM port properly when they have completed their business. This causes the terminal to appear "locked" (no characters come across the scree). MyComm attempts to restore the COM port after the external protocol has been called. If your terminal appears locked you can restart the COM port by using the <ALT> + P function from the terminal window. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 44 3.20.4 Miscellaneous Options Setup The Miscellaneous Options Setup screen (see example below) lets you set up special options for MyComm. Most options are self- explanatory, but are covered below. +------------------------------------| Misc. Options Setup |+ | | | Screen Background Color: Black | | Screen Text Color: Gray | | Date Format Style: MMDDYY | | 12 or 24 Hour Time Format: 12 Hour | | Make Noise When Calls Connect?: Yes | | Make Noise After File Transfers: Yes | | Use Direct Video? (Faster): Yes | | Your Name for sign on : Your Name^M | | Password for sign on : Password^M | | Clever quip for TagLine: Witty quote goes here... | | Guess Up/Download Filenames: Yes | | | | Use Up and Down Arrows to move between items | | Hit <Enter> to edit, <Esc> to Quit | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ 3.20.4.1 Screen Background Color This option tells MyComm what color to use for the screen background color. This option only affects the screen of the terminal window. 3.20.4.2 Screen Text Color This option tells MyComm what color to use for the screen foreground (the text) color. This option only affects the screen of the terminal window. 3.20.4.3 Date Format Style You can choose three date formats for MyComm to use when it displays the date: MM/DD/YY, DD/MM/YY, or YY/MM/DD. Choose whichever one best fits your mood. 3.20.4.4 12 or 24 Hour Time Format MyComm will display the time in either 12 hour or 24 hour format. Choose the one that bests reflects how you identify with time. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 45 3.20.4.5 Make Noise When Calls Connect MyComm sounds a short alarm noise when a connection is made during dialing. If you don't want MyComm to sound the alarm, set this option to "No". 3.20.4.6 Make Noise After File Transfers MyComm sounds a short alarm noise after a file transfer has completed. If you don't want MyComm to make the noise, set this option to "No". 3.20.4.7 Use Direct Video MyComm by default uses a system called "direct video" when displaying information to the screen. Unfortunately, direct video will usually "bleed through" to other programs in a multitasking environment. If you are using a multitasker and getting bleed through from MyComm, set the Direct Video option to "No". 3.20.4.8 Your Name for sign on This option lets you enter the name that you log on with when you call systems. When bulletin board systems answer your call they usually ask for your name and password. This name becomes the default for "Logon Name" for new numbers you add to the dialing directory. If Logon Name is filled in MyComm will send your logon name to systems when you push the <F2> key to save you some typing. 3.20.4.9 Password for sign on This option lets you enter the password that you log on with when you call systems. When bulletin board systems answer your call they usually ask for your password. This password becomes the default for "Logon Password" for new numbers you add to the dialing directory. If Logon Password is filled in MyComm will send your logon password to systems when you push the <F3> key to save you some typing. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 46 3.20.4.10 Clever quip for TagLine When you call a BBS there are usually message areas in which you can converse with other people. If you want to be able to sign your name, leave a witty quote or whatever without typing it over and over for each message fill this area in. When you press the <F4> key MyComm will send the message you have entered here. The message can be up to 40 characters long. You can also send ANSI "Escape" sequences (see DOS manual) from the Tagline. If you want to send the ASCII "ESCape character (27 decimal, 1B hex) which usually precedes ANSI escape sequences, MyComm uses the characters "^[ ". ("caret" sign left bracket). For example, the ANSI.SYS driver recognizes the string <Esc>[5mThis is blinking<Esc>[0m as a string that blinks. (note: <Esc> represents the 27 decimal (1B hex) character here). So, if your Tagline looked like ^[[5mThis is blinking^[[0m the other system would display "This is blinking" as a blinking message line. 3.20.4.11 Guess Up/Download Filename This option lets you tell MyComm whether to try to "guess" the filename that you want to upload or download. Having this option set to "Yes" can save you time and typing when performing file transfers. MyComm will make a best guess as to what you most recently typed that looked like a filename. 3.20.5 COM Port Addresses This option allows you to change the COM port addresses. By default MyComm uses standard addresses and Interrupt Request Lines (IRQ) to communicate with your modem. Most users will never have a need to use this option. It is most commonly used when there is a conflict with a mouse or other serial device and the modem. By changing the base address and IRQ line this problem can often be alleviated. Modifying the COM port address table and IRQ settings can be tricky. If you are not entirely certain that you know what you are doing this option is best left alone. You will see a table with the COM port number, the base address it is using, and the IRQ line. You move from field to field by pressing the <Enter> key. The base address is displayed in and should be entered as a hexadecimal number. The IRQ line will take numbers between 2 and 7. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 47 After you make changes you will have to reinstall the COM port. This is done by going back to the main terminal window and pressing <Alt> and 'P' and following the "Change Port" menu. 3.20.6 Restore to Defaults This option will reset the MyComm configuration information to it's defaults. A message will appear warning you of this, and a second "Yes/No" screen will ask if you want to proceed. The changes take effect immediately, but are not saved until you use the "Save Setup" option. 3.20.7 Save Setup This option saves the changes you made to the various configuration items to the file MYCOMM.CFG. If you make changes, but do not save them, the changes will only remain active until you exit from MyComm. 3.21 Send Screen to File - Alt W Pressing the <ALT> and the "W" key takes a "snap shot" of the currently displayed terminal screen and writes it out to the file MYCOMM.SCR. The resulting file will contain the text currently on the screen. 3.22 Exit MyComm - Alt X Pressing the <ALT> and the "X" key brings up the window shown below. Press "Y" to exit MyComm or "N" or <Esc> to not leave MyComm. +----------------------+ | | | | | Exit from MyComm? | | | | | | Yes No | | | | | +----------------------+ 3.23 Help Screen - F1 When you are in the main terminal window pressing the F1 key will show you a list of MyComm commands that are available to you. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 48 3.24 Send Name - F2 When bulletin board systems answer your call they usually ask for your name and password. This option sends the name that you log on with when you call a system. 3.25 Send Password - F3 This option sends the password that you log on with when you call a system. See also "Send Name" above. 3.26 Send Tagline - F4 This is used to sign your name, or put a short quote, up to 40 characters at the end of a message. This is set up in the "Miscellaneous Options Setup" screen. 3.27 Transferring Files MyComm has a wide variety of built in file transfer protocols such as Zmodem, Xmodem, Xmodem-1K, Ymodem Batch, Ymodem-G Batch, SEAlink, and of course ASCII. There are also slots to include up to six external file transfer protocols if you would like to add more. You can Upload (send) files or Download (receive) files. Most host systems will have you start the file transfer at their end first, and then wait for you to set up on your end. Host systems usually wait about a minute or so for you to set up, so don't panic. All file transfer protocols on MyComm use 8-N-1 (8 data bits, No parity, and 1 stop bit). MyComm automatically sets these settings for you before the file transfer begins, then switches back to what ever settings were in place before the transfer began. Except for ASCII file transfers, MyComm turns off the XON/XOFF flow control switch if you have it set on. This is done to prevent the XON/XOFF codes as being mistaken as part of the incoming file. The original state of the XON/XOFF flow control is restored at the end of the file transfer. If your modem has its own built in XON/XOFF flow control setting, you should turn it off during file transfers (refer to your modem manual - usually the &K option). MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 49 File transfers differ slightly from one host system to another. Basically you need to know three things: ■ whether you want to Upload (send) or Download (receive) a file ■ the name of the file you want to send or receive ■ which file transfer protocol you want to use Probably you can figure out for yourself whether you are uploading or downloading from a system, and what the file name is that you want to transfer. However you and the host system MUST use the same file transfer protocol or the transfer will fail. The tricky part sometimes is deciding which file transfer protocol to use. There are so many! Actually it's real easy to decide which file transfer protocol you want to use. When you request a file transfer from the host system, they usually show you a list of which file transfer protocols their system supports. Just pick one that both MyComm and the host system support, and you're on your way! The two most frequently used protocols are Xmodem and Zmodem. A little experimentation on your part will help you decide which of the file transfer protocols you like the best. A description of each of the file transfer protocols that MyComm supports will be found later in this section. 3.27.1 Starting a File Transfer The steps to start the file transfer from your end with MyComm are simple: ■ Press PgUp to send files, or PgDn to receive files ■ Choose the file transfer protocol you want to use from the menu ■ Type in the filename (if needed) ■ The file transfer will start and display a status window ■ When the file transfer completes MyComm makes a noise MyComm's file transfer menus and screens look basically the same for both uploads and downloads. When you press PgUp or PgDn a menu pops up showing you the different file transfer protocol options you have (see example below). Pick a protocol, or press the <Esc> or "Q" key to cancel. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 50 Download Protocol Menu Example +------| Down Load |+ | ASCII | | SEAlink Derived | | Xmodem | | 1K-Xmodem | | Real Ymodem Batch | | Ymodem Batch - 1K | | Zmodem | external protocol ==> | 1: BIGFAST | (example) | Quit/None | +-------------------+ After you pick a file transfer protocol, MyComm will ask you for the filename that you want to send or receive. Some of the file transfer protocols for receiving files, such as Ymodem Batch and Zmodem, don't need to ask you the file name so you may not always be asked for a filename. MyComm ALWAYS asks for the filename when you upload files. Note: When you upload files with batch protocols you can also use the DOS "wildcard" characters for filenames such as *.* or ALL*.ARC, or FILE??.*, etc. If the filename, or the path to the file (the directory) are invalid or can't be found you will see an error message and you can re-enter the filename. If you want to exit without performing the file transfer press the <Esc> key. When the filename is entered correctly MyComm will start the file transfer and the File Transfer Status Window shown below will pop up. Download/Upload Status Window +------------------------------------------| Ymodem Download |+ | | | Receiving: D:\PUBLIC\SOMEFILE.EXT | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Xfer Time: 0:04:18 Bytes Received: 14567 | | Elapsed Time: 0:01:18 Bytes Expected: 58645 | | Approx. CPS: 186 Blocks Sent: 114 | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Error Count: 0 Error Correction: CRC-16 | | Last Error Message: Receiving File | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 51 The status window displays information about the file transfer such as the file name being sent/received, an estimate of how long it will take to do the transfer, the elapsed time, the CPS rate (Characters Per Second), the bytes sent/received, the blocks sent, error correction type, and error status. Note: Some protocols will not tell you the Xfer Time or the Bytes Expected during downloads. This is because some protocols do not send an information "header" packet that tells MyComm how many bytes to expect from the sender. When MyComm calculates the amount of time a transfer will take it does the calculation based on a "worst case" rate of 80% efficiency. This is to take into consideration possible line noise, packet resends, and other considerations. Actual file transfers may be faster than what MyComm calculates. The CPS rate reflects only the number of bytes actually sent/received from/to the file. Overhead bytes such as CRC and "escape" characters are not included in the calculation. This provides a more realistic picture of the file transfer progress. 3.27.2 File Transfer Hints ■ Both the sender and receiver MUST use the same file transfer protocol ■ If a file transfer keeps aborting using one protocol on a host system, try using a different one. ■ It is not a good idea to upload or download from floppy disk. Floppy drives are slow, so the read and write access time will slow down the transfer. Floppy drives do not hold very much data. If the floppy disk were to fill up during a download, the transfer would be aborted. 3.27.3 Download Files - PgDn Pressing the PgDn (Page Down) key starts the file download procedures previously discussed. 3.27.4 UpLoad Files - PgUp Pressing the PgUp (Page Up) key starts the file upload procedures previously discussed. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 52 3.27.5 ASCII File Transfers ASCII file transfers are only used to transfer text files. Program files, also known as binary files, should not be transferred as ASCII files. ASCII uploads do not show the File Transfer Status Window unless you have set the "Show Upload" option to "No" in the ASCII Xfer configuration menu. ASCII transfers have no error correction, but just plough along as though the characters were actually being typed from the keyboard. In fact, this is often known as a "send and pray" protocol. During ASCII downloads, the download continues until either a Ctrl-Z (end of file marker) is received, or no characters have been received for 10 seconds. You may also stop the transfer at any time by pressing the <ESC> key. 3.27.6 SEAlink Derived File Transfers SEAlink is an advanced version of Xmodem developed by System Enhancement Associates. SEAlink uses a "sliding window" protocol which sends ahead several packets while waiting for an acknowledgement from the receiver. This can result in transfers that are 10 to 20 percent faster than plain Xmodem. SEAlink sends the file name and file size when the transfer starts up, and can be used to send more than one file at a time. The version of SEAlink that MyComm uses is known as "Derived SEAlink" as MyComm does not support the "overdrive" option which is only used in half-duplex links. 3.27.7 Xmodem File Transfers Xmodem is probably the most widely used protocol today. Xmodem was originally developed by Ward Christensen in the summer of 1977 for use on CP/M machines, and was soon ported to the MS-DOS environment. Xmodem sends data in 128 byte blocks. The block count seen in the File Transfer Status Window shows the number of 128 byte blocks that have been transferred. This euphemistically has been called "Xmodem blocks" and has become somewhat of a standard in P.C. data communications. Xmodem has two flavors; Check Sum and CRC-16 mode. MyComm supports both Check Sum and CRC-16 mode, and automatically selects the correct one to use. The check sum mode is not nearly as reliable as CRC-16, and isn't used as often. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 53 3.27.8 1K-Xmodem File Transfers Xmodem-1K is a variation of Xmodem which uses a 1K (1024 byte) block to send data. Under most conditions Xmodem-1K is slightly faster than plain Xmodem. If there is a lot of line noise however, the throughput can degrade due to having to perform a resend on the larger packet. Some older host systems may refer to Xmodem-1K as "Ymodem" so read the host system menu carefully. 3.27.9 Ymodem Batch File Transfers The Ymodem Batch protocol can perform either single or batch file transfers. That is, it can send or receive one or more files in a transfer session. Ymodem Batch starts sessions by sending the file name and size to the receiver, then sends the file data. Ymodem uses both a 128 byte or 1024 byte (1K) packet size and MyComm chooses the correct packet size to use during the transfer. 3.27.9 Ymodem-G Batch File Transfers The Ymodem-G Batch protocol is similar to the regular Ymodem Batch protocol. The difference is that Ymodem-G performs no error correction what-so-ever and as such it is generally only used with error correcting modems, or Null modem cables. If an error is detected during a transfer, the transfer is immediately aborted. 3.27.11 Zmodem File Transfers Zmodem is another widely used file transfer protocol. It was developed by Chuck Forsberg/Omen Technology, Inc. Zmodem is an extremely robust protocol it recovers from errors well and will try to keep the file transfer session going as best as possible. Zmodem will perform both single file and batch (multiple) file transfers. Like Ymodem, when receiving a file using Zmodem, you don't have to type in the file name on your end. Zmodem sends the filename as part of a special "header" that MyComm recognizes. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 54 Zmodem uses either a 16 bit or 32 bit CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) when transferring the file. You will see the CRC type displayed in the File Transfer Status Window. The CRC is used for error checking during the transfer. MyComm automatically selects the proper CRC type to use so you don't have to worry about it. The 16 bit CRC transfers often go a little faster than 32 bit CRC transfers. However the 32 bit CRC is much more reliable for error correction, and well worth the few seconds added to the transfer time. 3.27.11 External Protocol File Transfers MyComm lets you define up to six external file transfer protocols. The external file transfer protocols will also appear in the Upload and Download protocol selection menus. External protocols should be set up in the External Protocols Setup (see section 3.20.3.3 "External Protocols Setup"). External protocols differ from vendor to vendor, so you should refer to the particular protocol's documentation for more detailed installation instructions. MyComm invokes the external protocols through the use of DOS "batch" files. Parameters are passed to the batch file in the following order: COM Port number (0 to 7), BPS rate, and Drive:\Path\Filename which translate to batch parameters %1, %2, and %3. 3.27.12 MyComm as a Host At this point in time MyComm does not have a "host" mode per Se. This was a design decision in order to keep the code size small. A stand-alone host program is presently being considered for development at the moment. But, all hope is not lost. It is entirely possible to transfer files between two MyComm programs (or MyComm and another communication program). To do this one person acts as the "host", and the other as caller. As the caller you would just call the other person as you would for any other bulletin board system. For this example, let's say you're the host since that's the complicated part. Step 1: Prearrange a time for the other person to call you. Step 2: Get MyComm up and running. MyComm Version 2.11 Documentation Page 55 Step 3: When the other person calls you will hear the phone ringing or see the word "RING" appear on the MyComm terminal screen. When you see "RING", type ATA then press the <Enter> key. This tells your modem to answer the phone and initiate the carrier tones so the two modems will "talk" to each other. Alternatively you could press <Alt> and the "I" key, then press "A" for the "Send Answer String" command. Step 3a: Alternative to Step 3: before the other person calls type ATS0=1 then press <Enter>. This tells your modem to answer the modem on the first ring and to initiate the carrier tones. Step 4: When transferring files from one MyComm to another remember that when they are uploading, you are downloading and vice versa. So if the other person wants to download a file from you they would start the download function at their end, and you would start an upload from your end. The most important things to decide before doing the transfer are: - who is uploading/downloading to and from who - which file transfer protocol you are using (they MUST be the same) - and finally, what the filename is. Step 4a This is where the MyComm "chat" mode can be handy. It can help you establish stuff while you're on-line with the other person. If you would like to "chat" on-line with the other person, Press <Alt> and the "A" key to bring up the MyComm split screen chat mode (see section 3.3 "Chat Mode"). Step 5: If all goes smoothly the file transfer will be successful. In fact for the most part it will be as though you had simply called another BBS, except this time you're interacting with a live person rather than the BBS software. Appendix A - MyComm Command Summary Alt A - Chat Mode Alt B - Send Break Alt C - Clear the Screen Alt D - Dialing Functions Alt E - Local Echo On/Off Alt H - Hang Up Modem Alt I - Send Modem Initialization Strings Alt J - Join Script (Run a Script) Alt L - Present Line Status Alt K - Scroll Back Alt M - Manual Dial Alt O - Outside to DOS Alt P - Change Port Parameters Alt Q - Quick Re- Dial Alt R - Run External Program Alt S - Session Capture On/Off/Pause Alt T - Terminal Emulation Alt U - Update Configuration Alt W - Send Screen to File Alt X - Exit MyComm F1 - Help Screen F2 - Send Name F3 - Send Password F4 - Send Tagline PgUp - Upload Files PgDn - Download Files Appendix B - MyComm Line Editing Functions Many of the user configuration options and the dialing list have sections that require a line of text to be input and edited. MyComm has a built in line editor to perform simple editing on these text lines. The MyComm line editor uses a tiny subset of WordStar type commands. A description of the line edit commands follows. ■ Enter - Terminates editing the line and keeps it ■ Esc - Terminates editing the line and does not keep it ■ Right Arrow - Moves the cursor right. ■ Left Arrow - Moves the cursor left. This is "non- destructive", the character is not erased as the cursor moves ■ BackSpace - Moves the cursor left. This is "destructive", the character is erased as the cursor moves ■ End - Positions the cursor at the end of the line ■ Home - Positions the cursor at the beginning of the line ■ Ctrl + T - When the Ctrl key and the letter T are pressed simultaneously, the line is erased from the current cursor position to the end of the line ■ Ctrl + Y - When the Ctrl key and the letter Y are pressed simultaneously, the entire line is erased and the cursor is positioned at column one Appendix C - Terminal Emulation This is a list of the functions that MyComm supports in the terminal emulators. TTY TTY does not provide any character translation what-so-ever. The characters are simply displayed as they come in. ANSI ANSI provides mapping similar to that found in your ANSI.SYS driver. The color and screen attributes as described in the "MS-DOS 5.0 User's Guide and Reference" are supported, except for the keyboard mapping functions. The following keys also generate codes recognized by other systems operating in ANSI mode: Direction (Arrow) Keys - move cursor Delete - sends DEL (127 decimal) End - erase to end of line Home - homes cursor Ctrl-Home - clears screen, and homes cursor Function Keys - do not generate a character VT-52 and VT-100 The VT-52 and VT-100 emulations are typically used with mainframe environments. These emulations provide a subset of the "application keyboard" functions defined in the "VT-200 Programmer Guide", Digital, #EK-VT220-HR-001. These emulations will work in either a 7 or 8 bit environment. A standard key pad for these terminals looks like this: +-----------------------+ | PF1 | PF2 | PF3 | PF4 | |-----+-----+-----+-----| | 7 | 8 | 9 | - | |-----+-----+-----+-----| | 4 | 5 | 6 | , | |-----+-----+-----+-----| | 1 | 2 | 3 | R | |-----------+-----| T | | 0 | . | N | +-----------------------+ MyComm defines these keys as follows: PF1 through PF4 - <SHIFT> + F1 through F4 1 through 0 - <ALT> + F1 through F10 Minus Sign "-" - <SHIFT> + F5 Comma "," - <SHIFT> + F6 Decimal Point "." - <SHIFT> + F7 RTN (Enter key) - <SHIFT> + F8 NOTE: the above keys are the function keys on a standard PC keyboard. The PC numeric keypad has not been mapped to these keys. Also defined: Direction (Arrow) Keys - move cursor Delete - sends DEL (127 decimal) End - erase to end of line Home - homes cursor Ctrl-Home - clears screen, and homes cursor 3270 Emulation - included in registered version only This emulation is most commonly used when connecting to IBM mainframe hosts. This emulation should be used instead of VT-100 emulation when connecting through the 7171 protocol converter. This emulation works best with 101 key PC keyboards (to get the PF11, PF12, PF23, and PF24 keys). The mapping to the PC keyboard follows. PC Keypad Alternate 3270 emulation <Shift> + F1 PF1 ... ... ... ... <Shift> + F10 PF10 <Shift> + F11 <Esc> + - PF11 <Shift> + F12 <Esc> + = PF12 <Alt> + F1 PF13 ... ... ... ... <Alt> + F10 PF22 <Alt> + F11 <Esc> + _ PF23 <Alt> + F12 <Esc> + + PF24 <Ctrl> + F1 PA1 ... ... ... ... <Ctrl> + F4 PA4 Arrow Keys Arrow Keys Insert Toggle Insert <Shift> + <Tab> Back Tab <Ctrl> + <Left Arrow> BackSpace Home Home Delete DEL <Ctrl> + Home CLEAR End Erase to End of field <Ctrl> + End Line Feed Appendix D - Troubleshooting This section should answer common problems that you might have when using MyComm. Problem: - Modem doesn't respond. Possible Causes: - Is the COM port the right one? i.e COM 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8. - Is the modem installed correctly? - Is the modem really Hayes (Tm) compatible? - If this is an external modem, are the cables hooked up? Is it plugged in? - MyComm uses default address and interrupt vectors for COM Ports of: COM Port Address IRQ Line 1 3F8 4 2 2F8 3 3 3E8 4 4 2F8 3 5 3E8 2 6 2F8 2 7 3E8 5 8 2F8 5 If you have set these to something different, MyComm probably won't like it. Reset the interrupt vectors to their standard settings. If you don't know what this means, you probably didn't fool with it in the first place, so don't mess with it now. MyComm allows user configuration of addresses or interrupt vectors on the COM ports. See the section "COM Port Addresses" for more information. Problem: - Modem won't hang up the phone line. Possible Causes: - Some modems have a DIP switch setting that keeps Carrier Detect always on. MyComm uses the Carrier Detect signal (CD) to see if it's on-line, and to see when the modem has released the phone line. You should set your modem to let software, in this case MyComm, to handle the Carrier Detect signal. - Try adding the Hayes command &C1 to your initialization string. This tells the modem to raise Carrier Detect only when connected. Problem: - Modem dials, but doesn't know when the connection is made. Probable Causes: - Make certain that the modem is sending text responses rather than numeric. Add "Q0" and "V1" to your modem initialization string. - Go into the "Modem Setup" screen and check the "Connect Strings" setting. Make sure that they look like the ones your modem usually generates. Problem: - The result codes from the modem are numbers instead of text. Possible Causes: - Try adding Q0 and V1 to the modem initialization string. MyComm MUST see the result codes, and they have to be the English Text. Also try adding X4 to the initialization string. Problem: - When using a multitasker such as Windows (Tm), DoubleDOS (Tm), etc, the MyComm displays bleed through to other applications. Possible Causes: - Set the option in the Miscellaneous Options Screen named "Direct Screen Writes" to "No". Problem: - When I call some services, the characters look weird, or just garbage. Possible Causes: - Make sure that the Baud Rate, Data Bits, etc. are set correctly. Most public BBS's use 8-N-1, but some may use 7- E-1 (often true with Unix (Tm) based systems and mainframes). Problem: - File transfers seem to always time out or abort. Possible Causes: - MyComm will abort a transfer if there are too many errors in the transfer due to line noise, or other unpredictable circumstances. - Are you and the other guy are using the same file transfer protocol? Appendix E - MyComm Script Language 1.0 Script Language Introduction Beginning with version 2.1 of MyComm a "script" language is included. The script language is a series of commands in a text file that is read by MyComm to perform functions. Some functions would include sending your name and password automatically when you log onto a system, then performing steps to navigate through the system's menus to gather your mail for you and then log off. This Appendix describes the format and syntax of the "script" language used by MyComm. The script language used in MyComm consists of 16 commands that are used to build scripts. The script language is very simple, yet very powerful. It was designed in such a way that ordinary people rather than programmers or technicians would find it easy to use and understand. MyComm's script language should be no more difficult than writing DOS batch files. 1.2 Creating a Script Scripts are created using a line editor, text editor, or word processing software that can save text in a plain vanilla format. It is similar to creating DOS "batch" files. To Create a Script Step 1: Log onto the BBS or system that you want to create a script for. As you log on write down the sequence of questions and responses that you receive and send. For example if the host system has a prompt that says "Enter your Name:" and you type in your name at that point, write it down. Step 2: Log off the BBS or system. No sense in tying up their line. Step 3: Use you text editor to write the script file. The script commands that MyComm understands are described later in this Appendix. The script file must be saved to the same directory that the MyComm program (for example C:\MYCOMM) is in so that MyComm can find it later. Step 4: Test your script with the MyComm Script Checker, SCP_CHK.EXE (described later in this Appendix). Revise the script and re-test as necessary. Step 5: Go to the Dialing Directory and bring up the Edit Screen for this BBS. There is an option called "Scripts". Add the name of your script file here. Step 6: Call the BBS and try out your script. Sometimes it may take more than one try to get it all right. Don't worry, it happens to us all. 2.0 Script Language The MyComm script language consists of 16 commands which will be described shortly. The script files that you create must have the file name extension .SCP, and must be saved in the same directory that MyComm is in. For example if you created a script for MyBbs, the script file would be named MYBBS.SCP. This manual will use the following conventions to describe the functions and the parameters that they take: FUNCNAME() - Function name is all CAPS. Please note that no function name is over eight characters long. All functions have the parameters enclosed with parenthesis. The parameters are separated with commas. <int> - Integer parameter. <string> - String parameter. Please note that all incoming and outgoing strings may be a maximum of 20 characters in length. Strings are case sensitive, "PassWord" and "password" are different strings! Also note that the strings are Not enclosed in quotes. Strings should not contain parenthesis! Parenthesis are interpreted as the beginning and end of functions! <op> - Operator parameter. Some functions use an operator. <label> - Label name. :label - Label within the script file. All labels are preceded by a colon ':' character. Labels may be up to eight (8) characters. comments - Comments are preceded by a semi-colon ';'. The comments are free form and may be placed anywhere. The rest of the line after the semi-colon is ignored by the script. 2.1 Special Script Characters There are three (3) special characters that MyComm will interpret for you when they are put into strings that you are sending to the host system: ^M ("caret" sign and capital "M") This character sends a "carriage return", or the same as if you had pressed <Enter> on the keyboard. ^[ ("caret" sign and capital "M") This character sends <Esc> as though you had pressed <Esc> on the keyboard. ~ (tilde) - This character causes a 100 millisecond delay. 2.2.1 Labels Labels are places within the script file that you can jump to them when a condition is met, or by use of a GOTO( <label> ) function. 2.2.2 WAITFOR() WAITFOR() takes the following format: WAITFOR( <int>, <string>, < (optional) label> ) WAITFOR() will wait up to <int> seconds for <string> and goto <label> if the <string> is received. If the <string> is not received the next line in the script is executed. Note that <label> is optional in which case the next line in the script would be executed regardless. For example if you wanted to wait 30 seconds for the string "PassWord" then jump to the label :GotPass WAITFOR(30, PassWord, GotPass) would do it. Notice that "PassWord" is not enclosed in quotes! 2.2.3 XMIT() XMIT( <string> ) sends <string>. For example: XMIT(password) would send the string "password". 2.2.4 GOTO() GOTO( <label> ) jumps to :label. For example, if you have the label ":Lab001" in your script, GOTO(Lab001) would jump to that label. Script execution would resume at the line after the label. 2.2.5 SETFLAG() There are five integer flags that you may set. The flags are referenced as flag 0 through 4. The flags can take on values between -999 and 9999. This function has the following format: SETFLAG(<int>, <int>) For example to set flag 1 to 42: SETFLAG(1, 42) 2.2.6 INCFLAG() The flags that you set (see SETFLAG() above) may be incremented by 1. To increment flag 1: INCFLAG(1) 2.2.7 DECFLAG() The flags that you set (see SETFLAG() above) may be decremented by 1. To decrement flag 1: DECFLAG(1) 2.2.8 IFFLAG() The five integer flags may be tested for conditions. If the condition is met, you can jump to a label. The test condition operators are: EQ - equal GT - greater than LT - less than GE - greater than or equal LE - less than or equal NE - not equal IFFLAG() has the following format: IFFLAG( <int>, <op>, <int>, <label> ) If you wanted to test to see if flag 1 was EQual to 42, then jump to label :Lab001 you would enter: IFFLAG(1, EQ, 42, Lab001) 2.2.9 IFSCAN() You may set up five scan strings to continuously scan for. When the scan condition is met, you will jump to a label. For example if you wanted to scan for the string "John Doe" and then jump to the label :Lab001 when it was found: IFSCAN(1, John Doe, Lab001) would do it. IFSCAN() recognizes 0 through 4 as valid flag names. The IFSCAN() function can be reset to scan for a new string as well. For example: IFSCAN(1, Bob Doe, Lab001) 2.2.10 SENDNAME() The SENDNAME() function will send the name you have defined in your dialing directory entry for the BBS that the script is "Joined" to. SENDNAME() take no parameters. If the name entry in the dialing directory is blank nothing is sent. 2.2.11 SENDPASS() The SENDPASS() function will send the password you have defined in your dialing directory entry for the BBS that the script is "Joined" to. SENDPASS() take no parameters. If the password entry in the dialing directory is blank nothing is sent. 2.2.12 SENDFILE() The SENDFILE() function will send a file to the host system. You will have to take care of any preparatory steps yourself, such as telling the host that you are sending a file. SENDFILE() has the following format: SENDFILE( <op>, <string> ) Where <op> is a one letter designator for the protocol, and <string> is the filename. The file that you are sending should reside in the "Upload Directory" that you have defined in MyComm. The valid operators for <op> are: A - ASCII S - SEAlink X - Xmodem K - Xmodem-1K Y - Ymodem Batch G - Ymodem-G Z - Zmodem For example if you wanted to send the file "MYCOMM.ARC" using Zmodem: SENDFILE(Z, MyComm.Zip) would do it. 2.2.13 RECVFILE() RECVFILE() allows you to receive a file from the host system. You will have to take care of any preparatory steps yourself, such as telling the host that you want to receive a file. RECVFILE() has the following format: RECVFILE( <op>, <string> ) See SENDFILE() (above) for the list of valid operators. For example if you wanted to download the file "STUFF.ARC" using Xmodem: RECVFILE(X, STUFF.ARC) Would do it. Please note that SEAlink, Ymodem, Ymodem-G, and Zmodem do not require that the filename be specified. These protocols send the filename in a special header. The ASCII, Xmodem, and Xmodem-1K protocols always require that the filename is specified. NOTE: if you have the Zmodem "Auto Download" feature turned on there may be conflicts between the script Zmodem and the MyComm Zmodem. If you have the Zmodem "Auto Download" feature turned on in MyComm the Zmodem file transfer will start automatically, and you will not need to use this function during Zmodem downloads. 2.2.14 SNDBREAK() SNDBREAK() sends a "Break" signal. It takes no parameters. 2.2.15 ALARM() ALARM( <int> ) will make a noise for <int> milliseconds. For example ALARM(500) would sound a beep for 1/2 second. 2.2.16 PAUSE() PAUSE( <int> ) will make a pause for <int> seconds. For example PAUSE(5) would pause the script for 5 seconds. 2.2.17 HANGUP() HANGUP() take no parameters. It will cause the modem to disconnect. HANGUP() uses the information in the MyComm configuration file to send the correct hang up string. 3.0 Script Syntax Checker The program SYN_CHK.EXE is used for checking your script files. To use the program to check a script file type: SYN_CHK SCRIPT.SCP Replace SCRIPT.SCP with your file name. Also the .SCP extension is assumed and you may leave it off if you like. The output from SYN_CHK will be display on the screen, or you may redirect the output to a file. For example SYN_CHK MYSCRIPT > MYSCRIPT.OUT would create the file MYSCRIPT.OUT with all the error information. This might prove useful if you have a long error list. The output from SYN_CHK will look something like this: Line 3 ALARM - Error : too few arguments This shows you the line number where the error occurred, the function that caused the error, and the reason why it was an error. The error messages are self explanatory. Simply re-edit the script file and correct any errors. Run SYN_CHK again to make sure that you caught all the errors. 4.0 Script Sample This is a sample of a working script file that picks up mail at a local BBS. waitfor(20,ANSI?) ;wait for opening logo xmit(C^M) waitfor(20,first and last) ;asking for name sendname() ;send my name waitfor(20,No Echo) ;asking for my password sendpass() ;send my password waitfor(20,To Continue) ;more stuff xmit(^M) ;send a carriage return waitfor(20,Conferences) xmit(N^M) waitfor(20,To Continue) xmit(^M) ;jump right into main menu if not 1st time logged in today waitfor(10,edisplay?, 1sttime) ;get past bulletin menu goto(mainmenu) ;GOTO mainmenu label :1sttime xmit(N) waitfor(20,To Continue) xmit(^M) :mainmenu waitfor(30, Command?) xmit(O^M) ;start the off-line reader waitfor(30, =quit?) ;answer some questions xmit(D^M) waitfor(30, QWK Packet?) xmit(^M) waitfor(30,limit?) xmit(200^M) waitfor(30, Files?) xmit(^M) waitfor(30, essages?) xmit(N^M) waitfor(180, tart?) ;start mail download xmit(G^M) ;download happens here Zmodem so it's automatic waitfor(200, Thanks again) ;wait for goodbye screen hangup(); ;hang up Appendix F - MyComm Order Form MyComm Version 2.11 Order Form Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 - Ken Dorshimer All Rights Reserved Mail to: Ken Dorshimer P.O. Box 5143 Belmont, Ca. 94002 Your Name: _________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ City: _________________________________________________ State: _________ Zip Code: _________________________ Disk Format: 5.25" floppy ____ OR 3.5" semi-floppy ____ Number of Copies of MyComm _______ X $25.00 = __________ Number of Copies of MyComm _______ X $2 S&H = + __________ Total: __________ Please make check or Money Order payable to Ken Dorshimer, and send to the address above (mine not yours). Funds should be in U.S dollars, and drawn on a U.S. bank. (Please send check or money order, do not send cash. People who want to order MyComm from outside the U.S. should obtain a money order in U.S. dollars from a local bank). Please note: I am not able to process credit card orders at this time (several folks have asked me about this). Appendix G - MyComm Bug Report Form MyComm Version 2.11 Bug Report Form This form is used to describe any problems, or bugs that you may have found with MyComm. You may also use it to tell me of any enhancements you would like to see added to MyComm, or suggestions for future versions. Bug reports and suggestions are always welcome. I am trying to provide the very best communications software package I can. Of course all bug reports and suggestions get much closer scrutiny when accompanied by a registration check. <grin> ---------------------------------------------------------- Machine Type __________________________ DOS Version ____ Machine BIOS Type _____________________ Monitor ________ Modem Brand __________________________ Speed ______ Describe problem, bug, or suggestion: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Mail To: Ken Dorshimer P.O. Box 5143 Belmont, Ca. 94002 Appendix H - Planned Modifications and Upgrades At this time I am planning (contingent on the number of registrations of MyComm) to make several modifications and upgrades to MyComm. Some of these are: ■ MS-Windows (Tm) and/or Deskview (Tm) compatibility ■ Compuserve-B file transfer protocol ■ KERMIT file transfer protocol ■ VT-200 Terminal Emulation ■ 3270 Terminal Emulation (currently in registered version only) ■ Script Language enhancements ■ Simple Host/BBS mode Of course upgrades are dependent on you, the end user. MyComm is user supported software. If I see that people are interested in the program, and interested enough to register it, I will feel more inclined to continue to perform upgrades to MyComm. The creation and development of a program like MyComm is by no means trivial. Continued user support in the form of registrations gives me, your humble author, the incentive to keep upgrading and improving MyComm. Appendix I - MyComm Revision History Note: Past versions of this section had every nuance of every enhancement or bug fix listed. I have decided to only list the enhancements that pertain to the current major release for brevity. September 19, 1991 - MyComm Version 1.0 design began February 16, 1992 - MyComm Version 1.0 completed March 18, 1992 - MyComm Version 1.10 completed April 11, 1992 - MyComm Version 1.20 completed May 9, 1992 - MyComm Version 1.22 completed MyComm Version 2.0 Revisions and Additions Entire source code was redesigned in C++ to provide more object oriented base for possible future MS-Windows (Tm) version. Added VT-52 and VT-100 terminal emulation. Enhanced the ANSI terminal emulation. Fixed bug in "hardware handshaking" i.e XON/XOFF, CTS/RTS, DSR/DTR flow control. Added detection and support of 16550 UART and FIFO buffers. Vastly improved the look of the menu system and screen colors in general. Generally improved the internal program structure for greater stability. April 8, 1993 - MyComm Version 2.0 completed June 19, 1993 - MyComm Version 2.01 (bug fix) completed July 7, 1993 - MyComm Version 2.02 (bug fix) completed August 8, 1993 - MyComm Version 2.1 (enhancement) completed - Script language added - COM Port Address changes menu added - Support for up to eight COM Ports added - Connect strings can now be user defined November 11, 1993 - MyComm Version 2.11 (Maintenance release)completed - Fixed minor dialing counter bug - TAB key now moves to new field in edit lines - Enhanced several internal functions (probably invisible to the user) Appendix J - Control Characters MyComm now supports the control characters that are standard with telecommunications. Control characters are preceeded by a caret sign '^'. The caret sign denotes that the next character will be a control character. For example ^M is the symbol for Carraige Return or <Enter> which could be used to terminate your "Modem Initialization String". The '^' stands for Ctrl, so sending one of these sequences would be similar to pressing the Ctrl key and the character 'M' simultaineously. The control characters are especially useful when using the script language functions, for example ^[ would send the ESCape character which is often used to start a session on a BBS. Please note that these caret sequences are only interpreted by MyComm when you are sending a string such as your "Modem Initialization String", "Hangup String", etc. or with the XMIT() function in the script language. A listing of commonly used control characters follows. Sequence Meaning ^F ACKnowledge ^G BELl ^H BackSpace ^I TAB ^J Line Feed ^L Form Feed ^M Carraige Return (Enter key) ^Q XON ^S XOFF ^U NAK ^Z SUB (also end of file) ^[ ESCape 1K-Xmodem File Transfers 49 Add LF after incoming CR 18 Add Phone List Item 13 ALARM() 66 Alt A 12 Alt B 12 Alt C 12 Alt D 12 Alt E 22 Alt H 22 Alt I 22 Alt K 23 Alt L 23 Alt M 24 Alt O 24 Alt P 25 Alt Q 25 Alt R 25 Alt S 26 Alt T 26 Alt U 27 Alt W 43 Alt X 43 ANSI Emulation 54 ASCII File Transfers 48 ASCII Transfers Setup 35 ASCII Transfers Setup Screen 35 Baud Rate 15 BS Key Sends BS or DELete 17 Bug Report Form 70 Call Numbers (Dial) 18 Caret Sign 73 Change Port Parameters - Alt P 25 Change Port Parameters Screen 25 Character Pace Time 36 Chat Mode - Alt A 12 Clear last date called 18 Clear the Screen - Alt C 12 Clever quip for TagLine 42 COM Port 28 COM Port Addresses 42 Command Summary 52 Connect Strings 32 Control Characters 73 CR Translation Upload and Download 36 Data Bits 15 Data Parity 15 Date Format Style 40 DEC VT-100 Emulation 54 DEC VT-52 Emulation 54 DECFLAG() 63 Default Protocol 15 Definitions, Acronyms 3 Delete an Item 18 Dial Prefix 16 Dial Screen 13 Dialing Functions - Alt D 12 Dialing Prefix #1 32 Dialing Prefix #2 32 Dialing Prefix #3 32 Dialing Prefixes 32 Dialing Status Window 19 Dialing Wait Time 30 Disclaimer and Warranty 3 Download Directory Path 33 Download Files - PgDn 47 Download Protocol Menu 46 Download/Upload Status Window 46 Edit Phone List Item Screen 14 Editor Path\Filename 34 Exit MyComm - Alt X 43 Exit MyComm Window 43 Expand Blank Lines to Spaces 36 External Programs Path\Filename 34 External Protocol File Transfers 50 External Protocols Setup 38 External Protocols Setup Screen 38 F1 key 11, 43 F2 key 44 F3 key 44 F4 key 44 File Transfer Hints 47 Filename Guessing 42 Find Phone List Items 21 General System Requirements 4 GOTO() 63 Guess Filename 42 Guess Up/Download Filename 42 Hang Up Modem - Alt H 22 HANGUP() 66 Help Menu - F1 11 Help Screen 11 Help Screen - F1 43 High speed modem 29 IFFLAG() 64 IFSCAN() 64 INCFLAG() 63 Installation 6, 7 Introduction to MyComm 1 Join Script - Alt J 23 LF Translation Upload and Download 36 Line Editing Functions 53 Line Pace Time 36 Load Phone List Screen 21 Local Echo 17 Local Echo on by Default 30 Local Echo On During ASCII Uploads 36 Local Echo On/Off - Alt E 22 Logon Name 16 Make Noise After File Transfers 41 Make Noise When Calls Connect 41 Manual Dial - Alt M 24 Manual Dial Screen 20 Manual Dial Window 20 Mark Phone List Items 21 Miscellaneous Options Setup 40 Miscellaneous Options Setup Screen 40 Modem Answer String 29 Modem Attention String 29 Modem Cancel Dial String 30 Modem Dial Suffix String 30 Modem Hang Up String 29 Modem Initialization String 29 Modem Setup Screen 27, 28 Move Phone List Item 21 MyComm as a Host 50 MyComm Bug Report Form 70 MyComm Command Summary 52 MyComm Files 5 MyComm Installation 6 MyComm Line Editing Functions 53 MyComm Order Form 69 MyComm Registration and Licensing 2 MyComm Revision History 72 MyComm Screens and Menus 10 Name 14 Number 14 Order Form 69 Outside to DOS - Alt O 24 Pacing Char 37 Page Down 47 Page Up 47 Password 16 Password for sign ons 41 Paths Setup 33 Paths Setup Screen 33 Pause Between Calls 30 PAUSE() 66 PgDn 47 PgUp 47 Phone File Path\File 34 Phone Item Info Screen 20 Planned Modifications and Upgrades 71 Present Line Status - Alt L 23 Present Line Status Window 23 Print Phone List 22 Protocols Setup 34 Protocols Setup Menu 34 Quick Re-Dial - Alt Q 25 Received BS (BackSpace) Destructive 17 RECVFILE() 65 Remote Abort Char 35 Restore to Defaults 43 Revision History 72 Run External Program - Alt R 25 Save Changes 18 Save Setup 43 SCP Files 61 Screen Background Color 40 Screen Capture Path\File 33 Screen Text Color 40 Screens and Menus 10 Script - Dialing Entry 18 Script, creating 60 Script Labels 62 Script Language 60, 61 Script Sample 68 Script Syntax Checker 67 Scripts, Special Characters 62 Scroll Back - Alt K 23 SEAlink Derived File Transfers 48 Send Break - Alt B 12 Send Init. String Menu 22 Send Modem Initialization Strings - Alt I 22 Send Name - F2 44 Send Password - F3 44 Send Screen to File - Alt W 43 Send Tagline - F4 44 SENDFILE() 65 SENDNAME() 64 SENDPASS() 64 Session Capture On/Off/Pause - Alt S 26 Session Capture Path\File 33 SETFLAG() 63 SNDBREAK() 66 Sort Phone List 21 Starting a File Transfer 45 Stop Bits 15 Strip Hi Bits 17 Strip High Bits 35 SYN_CHK.EXE is used for checking your script files. To use the program to check a script file type System Requirements 6 Terminal Emulation - Alt T 26 Terminal Screen 10 Terminal Type 16 Time Format - 12 or 24 Hour 40 Transferring Files 44 Troubleshooting 57 Update Configuration - Alt U 27 Update Configuration Menu 27 Upload Directory Path 33 UpLoad Files - PgUp 47 Use CTS/RTS Flow Control 31 Use Direct Video 41 Use DSR/DTR Flow Control 31 Use DTR to Hang Up Modem 31 Use XON/XOFF Flow Control 31 WAITFOR() 62 XMIT() 62 Xmodem File Transfers 48 Xmodem-1K 49 Ymodem 49 Ymodem Batch - 1K 49 Ymodem Batch File Transfers 49 Ymodem-G Batch 49 Your Name for sign on 41 Zmodem 32 Bit CRC 37 Zmodem Auto Download Feature 37 Zmodem File Transfers 49 Zmodem Receive Crash Recovery 38 Zmodem Send Crash Recovery 37 Zmodem Transfers Setup 37