cc.fdc@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (09/07/83)
From: Frank da Cruz <cc.fdc@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA> In response to several messages about Kermit between the IBM PC and UNIX... First, there are several bugs in UNIX Kermit that have been identified and fixed, notably the wildcard send business. The new UNIX Kermit (which also has support added for various non-Berkeley UNIX systems and some performance improvements) is being tested and will be announced shortly. It will not be, however, the last version we'll see. Several improvements still have to be made in the short term -- standardization of file specifications in the file header packet (case conversion, removal of directory path, etc), addition of error packet processing, etc. In the longer term, UNIX Kermit will also have server mode added. Somebody suggested that UNIX Kermit should let you say "kermit r foo.bar" to let the incoming file be stored under a different name than it was sent with. This is, in fact, a major source of confusion since many Kermits have this feature. The confusion arises because different Kermits interpret this command differently: Kermits that talk to servers (e.g. the IBM PC and CP/M Kermits) pass the given filespec to the server in a request for the server to send it, whereas some other Kermits (like IBM VM/CMS and DEC-20 Kermits) use the given filespec to override the one that comes in a file header packet. Could it be that people who are having trouble transferring files from UNIX to the PC are giving the command "receive filespec" to the PC, rather than just "receive"? That would certainly explain the problem, since the former causes the PC to send a server-mode command to UNIX Kermit, which UNIX Kermit doesn't understand. The whole "receive filespec" business was probably a mistake to begin with. When it's being used to override filenames from incoming file header packets, it's only effective for a single file (not an entire wildcard batch transfer), so its usefulness for that purpose is limited. Since it can also be used to ask a server to send the specified file, the meaning may not be clear. For consistency it would be better to have all versions of Kermit use the following conventions: send filespec send the specified local file receive receive remote files, storing them under the name from the file header. receive filespec receive a single remote file, storing it under the specified local name. get filespec Ask the server to send the specified remote file. Comments? - Frank