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PHOMAST.DOC Michael R. Ash CompuServe Account: 71350,3327 This is the latest in a series of updates to PHOMAST.T scripts designed to get you up and running utilizing the power of Professional-YAM or ZCOMM. For performance and clarity I have moved my opening remarks and instructions about setting up this script into this file called: -> PHOMAST.DOC <- The PHOMAST.T file is a pure ASCII file for View and Editing. Items below tell you all you need to know to get up and running *FAST*. New features of this update include fully automated menu configuration, autospeed detection, and lots of slick coding examples... When run for the first time this script will generate a new file called 'PROFILE.DAT' containing specific configuration information that in the past you used to have to know and write into the script with an editor in advance before using YAM or ZCOMM. Now when you enter 'yam' or 'zcomm' at the DOS prompt, the script will ask you a few questions to set up the configuration to include COM port identification and modem initialization, and you are ready to communicate immediately thanks to the power of the script language built into YAM and ZCOMM!. I have included comments throughout the PHOMAST.T script to help you understand the fascinating and comprehensive script language included in YAM and ZCOMM. In fact, important instructions are covered in both the phones file as well as this document. Any information in the PHOMAST.T script that follows a colon (:) mark is not read/used by YAM or ZCOMM since it is interpreted as a comment. When you are instructed to un-comment a line it means to load the script into an editor and delete the colon at the start of the line so the program can use it. When ZCOMM is loaded it looks in the C:\ZCOMM subdirectory by default for a file called PHOMAST.T -=- When YAM is loaded it looks in the root for a file called PHONES.T (you could rename PHOMAST.T to PHONES.T and put it in the root but there are a couple of better ways to handle this). The simplest and most flexible method is to use the DOS 'set phones' command (shown below) to tell YAM/ZCOMM where to find its phones file. Another method is to have PUTSNP.EXE (the serial number installing program) change the default location of the phones files. set PHONES=c:\zcomm\phomast.t Page: 1 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash The line above can be added to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to tell YAM where to look for its phones file. ZCOMM users won't need to use this line unless they want to have PHOMAST.T in another directory since it is already the default location for ZCOMM. The phones file (PHOMAST.T) gives YAM/ZCOMM directions on how you want the package to operate. For those of you that haven't heard of YAM, it's the short name for Professional-YAM, a commercial package that includes all of ZCOMM (its shareware subset) plus advanced capabilities for professional telecommunications requirements. ------------------------------ --- Background --- When YAM/ZCOMM is first loaded it looks for a 'phones file' and starts reading instructions at a label called 'setup:' telling the package exactly how to operate in your system environment. YAM/ZCOMM is a communication environment, a tool, that utilizes instructions found in the phones file. It is the phones file (this case PHOMAST.T) that is read by YAM/ZCOMM and instructions found there are executed very much like the line by line commands carried out in a UNIX script or a DOS BATCH file. Basically YAM or ZCOMM is the airplane and your phones script is the pilot the flies the plane. PHOMAST.T (this phones file) is completely modular and includes a simple HOST mode example. Both Professional-YAM and its shareware subset ZCOMM offer a powerful communication environment. Unfortunately, as with any powerful package there is usually a steep learning curve involved. I have worked with the environment and generated this starter script with full documentation to assist users at all levels in tapping the power of this environment. I say communication environment, because unlike most other packages, Chuck Forsberg provides the programming language tools you can use to build a powerful command driven communication package you can configure to function the way you do business, not how someone else thinks you ought to work. --- Configuration --- If you want to modify the basic script, use an ASCII editor. I have included an editor in PHOMAST6.ZIP called Colorado State Page: 2 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash Editor (CSE) version 3.10 developed by J. R. Applegate at the Colorado School of Mines. This full featured and configurable editor is only 13K and features block copies, moves, case change, deletes, etc. Best of all it's PUBLIC DOMAIN! QEdit on the other hand is one of the best fully configurable shareware editors around. Remember if you use Word Perfect in DOS Text mode or Word Star in non-document mode, be sure to set the margins to support a 132 character document to avoid word wrap of long script lines. To save time, if changes are required, just SEARCH for sections marked with the symbol <*>. These changes are optional and NOT required to run the package in most cases. 1. Under COLORS, you may select the alternate screen colors. These will be automatically set by the menu configuration and only need to be changed if you don't like the default colors... To see the possible colors and their associated code numbers, from the command line prompt enter: 'gosub color' and hit return. 2. Under MODEM SETUP, if your modem doesn't respond correctly to the defaults, just select another modem setup string. Again a default modem string is already configured and will work in most cases if your modem accepts the Hayes command set. YAM or ZCOMM once loaded reads the script (like a BATCH file in DOS) to determine how it is to operate in your specific configuration. Any changes you make to the phones script (PHOMAST.T) will change the way the package works for you. YAM or ZCOMM is a 'command-line driven' package meaning you just give it commands and it does the work. You don't have to go through menus unless you want to. At the YAM/ZCOMM prompt, many DOS and UNIX commands work. For example 'cls' clears the screen, 'dir' gives a directory (as does 'ls'), 'cd' will change directory, 'cdd' changes both drive and directory. I'm sure you'll enjoy this direct approach. To execute a DOS command at the prompt just precede it with a '!' (e.g. !copy fileA fileB). At the YAM/ZCOMM prompt you can recall past commands using the up arrow key and edit the command line at that point since YAM/ZCOMM keeps a history of what you have entered. The ESC key will clear the command at the command line. --- Getting On-Line --- To DIAL a number just enter the phone number at the YAM prompt Page: 3 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash followed by a ';t' telling it to go into terminal mode (meaning go into the mode to talk to the other computer). For example: (F9=Menu) c:/yam-> 434-5566;t calls the phone number and once connected puts you on line. If you want to hang up and exit the session at any time just hit F1 to get back to the command line and type 'off' and hit return. Simple! --- File Transfers --- Downloading files is very easy. ZModem, Kermit, and CompuServe-B will begin a download automatically once host starts sending the file. To send a file up, prepare the host to accept the file by selecting a protocol; then hit F9 for the menu or give a command at the command line. For example 'sz filespec' will send a file ZModem to a host ready to receive the transfer. In the F9 menu you will see shortcut keys defined (e.g. F4=ASCII Upload, F6=ZModem Upload, F7=CRC-XModem download etc.) ASCII upload is convenient for uploading pre-written ASCII messages. --- What do I *REALLY* need --- To use this environment you only need YAM.EXE or ZCOMM.EXE, the main communication program, and a phones file (PHOMAST.T) to tell it how to act with your equipment and tastes. Set up a subdirectory called 'C:\ZCOMM' (using the DOS 'MD ZCOMM' command), then place YAM.EXE or ZCOMM.EXE with the phones file (PHOMAST.T) and help files if you want them there. Call the package with the COMM.BAT file or setup your own BATCH file. If you are using YAM or have the PHOMAST.T file somewhere other then in the \ZCOMM subdirectory, remember to include the DOS command: 'set phones=c:\zcomm\phomast.t' in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Once it is edited into your AUTOEXEC.BAT, activate it by typing the command 'AUTOEXEC' at the DOS prompt. When you first run the program with PHOMAST.T it will ask you whether you have a PULSE dial (the older rotary type phone or push button phone that clicks when it dials) or a TONE dial (the push button phones that uses tones to do all the dialing). After you make that choice if you have to add numbers to get an outside line for all your calls (as with a PBX system) you can have it put that '9' or whatever numbers in for you. Next it will look at your hardware and try to find what COM port you have your modem hooked to. Make SURE your modem is ON for this test, otherwise you will have to tell the script what COM port is used. --- Extra Stuff --- Page: 4 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash The following may be added to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you want colors in your 'flash-up' help processor to match the default colors. set PHONES=c:\zcomm\phomast.t (YAM needs this particular line) set NORMATTR=31 (sets normal attribute) set REVATTR=26 (sets reverse attribute) set UNDLATTR=31 (sets underline attribute) This example expects to find YAM.EXE or ZCOMM.EXE and PHOMAST.T in C:\ZCOMM. Remember a ':' before a line makes it a comment in script file. This will activate OR deactivate lines of code. To turn something OFF just put a ':' in front of the line. Words starting in column #1 that end with a ':' are considered to be labels... To activate menu status or make a call from DOS command line (assuming you are using ZCOMM.EXE) enter the command: zcomm gosub menu <-- or --> zcomm call cis The example on the left will bring a menu up when ZCOMM is loaded; and the example on the right will load ZCOMM and then call CompuServe... This can be either via a batch file or directly as a DOS command. Note you can call any label in any script file using: zcomm call label.[path][file] zcomm gosub label.[path][file] If no path or file is included, the phones file is searched for that specific label. Auto-log demos are set for local San Antonio numbers... These numbers may differ in your area and require an area code of (512). BNF is an example of an auto-log to a WildCat(tm) BBS, whereas Olde Guard is an example of an auto-log to a TComm(tm) Bulletin Board System. A word about how YAM/ZCOMM displays information on the screen follows: Think about YAM/ZCOMM as running on four monitors on your desk. If this were possible you'd see the following from left to right on the four different screens: |Full-Help| |Command Line| |On-Line Mode| |Circular Buffer| <-- move left with F1 -=- F2 moves you right --> Page: 5 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash (F9 = Mini Help) Now, since you only have one screen, the way you switch between the four possible displays is by using the F1 and F2 function keys. Picture F1 as moving you to a screen to the left and F2 moving you to a screen to the right. If you were On-Line, hitting F1 once would put you into command mode. Hit F1 again and you are in the flash-up help processor. If you hit F2 from On-Line mode (called terminal mode) you move into the circular buffer (which you can also access using the PgUp, PgDn, Home and End as well). Hitting F1 puts you back On-Line, and F1 again you're back to the command line... To tell where you are, in Full-Help you'll see a help menu, in the command mode you will see the command line, when on-line you will see the status line at the bottom of the screen and in the circular buffer you will see at the bottom of the screen a message "xx.x% Review Cmd?". --- How to use the Circular Buffer --- One of the most powerful features of YAM/ZCOMM is the circular buffer. What this does is record your on-line session. If for example something scrolls off the screen (a listing of files perhaps) you can pop-up and review it by hitting the PgUp/PgDn, Home, End keys, or F2 key if you're on-line. This takes you into a review function where you see a history of what was on the screen earlier. The Home key takes you to the start or top of the buffer, the End key takes you to the bottom. You can tell you are in the circular buffer since the bottom line will say "x.xx% Review cmd?" showing you where you are in the buffer. Hitting the PgUp/PgDn, Home, End, and arrow keys will move you around. To get back on-line just hit F1 or the Return key. You can search and cut info out of the circular buffer. Say there is a message you want to save that's scrolled off the screen that talks about 'modems'. Just hit the Home key to go to the top of the buffer, enter the command 's' or '?' to search then enter the word 'modems' and hit return. The line with that word will move to the top of the screen. To cut this info, hit 't' to mark the Top, then move the messages using cursor keys until the bottom of what you want to capture is on the top line and hit 'b' for Bottom. This marks the text. Now enter the command 'w' for Write and YAM/ZCOMM responds: 'Write to file:' To this prompt just enter a file name or 'prn' to send it to the printer. This allows you to cut information that scrolled off the screen and save it for later. You can even 'read' a file Page: 6 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash into the circular buffer. At the command line give the command 'read filespec' and the file will be put into the buffer. --- Some useful shortcut keys --- Alt-1 is DOS shell where you can enter a DOS command Alt-2 is YAM/ZCOMM command line where you can enter command Alt-D is current directory contents Alt-W writes open capture file Alt-C closes an open capture file. Alt-M changes keyboard mapping if you have others defined Alt-N NUKE key - aborts whatever process running Alt-S Shows status of running comm package Alt-Q once download complete will log you off host. The string sent by Alt-Q is define by 'set quitcmd' in the script. To activate, hit Alt-Q once a download is started... Alt-Z ZAPS a copy of the screen saving it into a file called YAMPIC. To see the file use the DOS file UNPIC.EXE and give the command UNPIC YAMPIC. To save the screen as a file use 'UNPIC YAMPIC > filespec' at the DOS prompt or use '!UNPIC YAMPIC' at the YAM/ZCOMM prompt. Ctrl-Home - Blanks the screen when on-line F4 -- ASCII Upload (for sending messages prepared offline) F9 -- Help Menu F10 -- On-Line Manual Shift-F6 -- Modify default Configuration / Colors When writing script files the '!' is used for DOS shell and '@' used to execute a YAM/ZCOMM command... (e.g. !chkdsk will run Check Disk). That should get you going! Once you are up and running look at the other commented features that will give you even more POWER... --- So what are the Menus --- Once YAM/ZCOMM is loaded, if you hit 'F9' you will see the following menu options. F3 OPEN Capture file Page: 7 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash F4 Send ASCII Text (sending messages prepared offline) F5 Send Kermit Upload F6 Send Zmodem Upload <<BEST>> F7 Receive CrcXmodem Download F8 Send CrcXmodem Upload F9 Press for THIS HELP SCREEN F10 On-Line Manual Alt-1 Get DOS Command prompt Alt-2 Get ZCOMM Command prompt Shift-F3 HOLDING Pattern online to keep the other end from timing out and disconnecting. Basically, the HOLDING Pattern sends a space/backspace to the host every 2 seconds... Shift-F4 Use Script Writer to generate your own autologon Shift-F6 Change your Modem / Color Configuration Shift-F7 Demonstration of dialing menu DIAL.T Alt-F1 AutoLog B&F Tech BBS at 2400 baud Alt-F2 AutoLog Olde Guard 2400 baud Alt-F3 Write and then close opened Capture file Alt-F4 Call CompuServe demo account at 1200 baud Alt-F5 Call PC Magazine BBS Alt-F6 Force local system into HOST MODE operation Alt-F7 Sign your name with a function key ALT-F9 Edit PHOMAST.T SCRIPT (Note: You can change this Function Key assignment to use your preferred editor.) TO CALL OTHER BBSs: enter 'call name' where name is a label To DIAL A NUMBER enter number followed by ';t' For example use the format '523-8994;t' -- CompuServe-B, KERMIT, and ZMODEM download automatic -- Stop Redialing ---- press <CR> Hangup w/o pgm exit - enter 'o' To exit program just get to the command line and enter 'off' Alt-N EMERGENCY EXIT, 'Nuke It' to get command line ---------------------------------------- Page: 8 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash --- Specialized Keyboard Mapping information --- YAM/ZCOMM lets you completely remap the keyboard if you wish. Below is an example of a special application for Digital Equipment interface that you could add to a script. I have included the following advanced discussion here to supplement normal documentation in case you need to utilize this powerful keyboard mapping command. The bottom line is any that key can be mapped to send any character string to the host computer. Note: From the YAM/ZCOMM command line you can find the number of the key sequence by entering a underline char "_" (underscore command) followed by a return... This will display the key sequence strings in a series of 4 numbers. For example hitting the letter 'a' will produce: 30 30 0 0141 (Hitting Ctrl-a produces 30 30 4 0001). The first two numbers are the 'scancodes' and actually the second number is the best to use since it will take into account extended keyboard functions. The third number shows the ShiftState which is actually the numeric sum of what other keys are hit with the selected key. The numbers are defined as follows: 0 - no other key hit with the target key 1 - the Right Shift key was held down as the key was hit 2 - the Left Shift key was held down as the key hit 4 - the Ctrl key held down as key hit 8 - the Alt key held down as key hit 16 - provided the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt key states match, select this mapping regardless of whether the Application Keypad Mode or the Decoded Function Key conditions (below) are true. 32 - Alternate Keypad Mode (not numeric) 64 - Decoded Function Key (Character value > 0400 as displayed by _ (underscore) command. 128 - Select this mapping unconditionally You can even have specific combinations by summing the keys held down. For example if the ShiftState is 3 this means both Right and Left Shift keys held down. If the number is 14 means the Right shift (2), the Ctrl (4) and the Alt (8) key were all held down when the key hit (2+4+8=14). As you can see this gives you very specific mapping even taking into account simultaneous use Page: 9 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash of multiple keys. For more information see pg 184 under Terminal Emulation in the YAM manual you receive when you register YAM or ZCOMM. Actual keyboard mapping utilizes the command 'mk' with the following syntax : mk Scancode ShiftState Class String where: Scancode - Explained above using the '_' function. Take the SECOND number displayed as the scancode to use here. ShiftState - numeric sum of what other keys are hit as explained above. Special case 128 maps unconditionally as with Ctrl Arrow keys... Class - determines the type of string to put ahead of your selected sting. This saves you having to enter the 'ESC[' at the start of each string for example. Class 0 in VT mode puts "ESC[" before string Class 1 in VT52 mode, ESC is prepended, otherwise "ESC O" Class 2 specialized for Keypad, Not mapped in numeric mode Class 3 puts just "ESC" before string Class 4 nothing is added Here is a brief example of what you can do... mk :Clear old mapping display mapkb vt100 :Setup VT100 display pN2 :Turn off NumLock mk 72 16 0 A : Up arrow (class=0 sends:ESC[A ) mk 80 16 0 B : Down arrow mk 75 16 0 D : Left arrow mk 77 16 0 C : Right arrow mk 41 1 0 \d52\d126 : Map rf-Shift-~ sends: ESC[4~ mk 41 2 0 \d52\d126 : Map lf-Shift-~ sends: ESC[4~ mk 28 4 0 31~ : Ctrl-Enter Insert line Esc[31~ mk 21 4 0 32~ : Ctrl-Y delete line Esc[32~ mk 115 128 3 OR : Ctrl-Left move one word left mk 116 128 3 OQ : Ctrl-Right move one word right Example of fKEY mapping... Page: 10 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash set f10 "\E[21~" : Map F10 to Abort (ESC[21) set fpgup "\E[6~" : Map PgUp to previous screen set fpgdn "\E[5~" : Map PgDn to next screen set fins "\E[2~" : Map INS key to Esc[2~ set bs "@mput \177" : Map BackSpace key to be Del The above examples demonstrate that you can do essentially anything you want to do... ----------------------------------------------------------------- <<< Comments below courtesy of Bob Willoughby >>> This is a "hands-on" script. It incorporates three "auto logon" examples which show how to write an auto logon script. They include auto logons to B&F, Olde Guard BBS here in San Antonio, Texas and a demo account area of CompuServe... You can generate an autolog script like the ones above using the TurboLearn Script(tm) (Shift-F4). This will actually create rough script that you can later refine and add to PHOMAST.T and run from there. Having WildCat, TComm, and CompuServe examples to work from lets you see lots of tricks that will help you generate other automatic scripts. They can be made so sophisticated that you can completely automate any procedure... Examples of auto logon scripts may be found in PHOMAST.T and in Chuck Forsberg's phone scripts distributed with YAM/ZCOMM. Other examples are included in the file SCRIPTS.ZOO which may be downloaded from Telegodzilla, the YAM/ZCOMM support BBS. The YAM/ZCOMM manual explains how such auto logon scripts are constructed and how to use the TurboLearn(tm) feature to automate writing scripts. I recommend new users use this script essentially "as is" for a while to test your new phone directory entries and become familiar (comfortable) with YAM/ZCOMM. Then you can enjoy the challenge, the fun, and the satisfaction of modifying this script to add auto logon procedures, dial queues, and the like. Keep in mind that this is only an example script to use in learning basic ZCOMM functions. You will have plenty of time to enhance and embellish this script later. ------------------------------------------------------------- Page: 11 PHOMAST.DOC Michael Ash The only files you must have are YAM.EXE (or ZCOMM.EXE) and this phones file PHOMAST.T -=- The following files are included in the PHOMAST6.ZIP file: PHOMAST.T -- the actual code YAM/ZCOMM reads PHOMAST.DOC -- this documentation file DIAL.T -- simple example of a dialing menu (optional) HOSTHELP.TXT -- external help text for HOST mode (optional) TUF_FONS.T -- an alternative, no-frills phones script WHATS.NEW -- changes since PHOMAST5.T of one year ago COMM.BAT -- example of BATCH file to call YAM/ZCOMM CSE.* -- Public Domain Editor and Support Files PROFILE.CSE -- Keyboard configuration file for editor. README.CSE -- Simple setup instructions for CSE editor ---------------------------------------- I have tried to make this script as perfect as possible but like most things in life there are no guarantees that I found everything. I wish you the best of luck with YAM or ZCOMM. Please let me know if you run into problems... I have spent hundreds of hours over many years on this script to make ZCOMM or YAM useful to new users right out of the starting block. If this has helped you get a better grasp of the package I would like to hear from you. If this really made a difference, and you think my time is was well spent, throw a couple bucks my way and I will go out for a Taco (what else in San Antonio...). Regardless, I would appreciate a postcard, just to get an idea who this script finally reached... Michael Ash 3766 Tupelo Ln #2904 San Antonio, TX 78229 ---------- Have Fun ---------- Page: 12