[fa.info-kermit] Info-Kermit Digest V2 #40

info-kermit@ucbvax.ARPA (06/29/85)

From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC@CU20B.ARPA>

Info-Kermit Digest         Fri, 28 Jun 1985       Volume 2 : Number 40

Departments:

  C-KERMIT -
	Yet Another Unix Kermit Release (minor)
	MacKermit Observations

  MS-DOS KERMIT -
	Bug in MS-Kermit 2.28 and Tandy 2000 support
	MS-Kermit Reverse Wrap at Column 1

  MISCELLANY -
	FTP Problems on CU20B

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri 28 Jun 85 17:12:33-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC@CU20B>
Subject: Yet Another Unix Kermit Release (minor)
To: Info-Kermit@CU20B

This is to announce C-Kermit 4C(055).  No major changes, mainly just some
enhancements to the dial command, support for a some additional systems and
modems.  Here, for those who understandably have a hard time keeping up with
all this, is a list of changes since 4C(052) was announced on June 18:

C-KERMIT FOR UNIX, CHANGES FROM 4C(054) TO 4C(055), 28 JUNE 85:

ckudia.c (all changes by Dan Schullman, DEC):
. Add support for US Robotics modem (untested) from Joe Orost at Berkeley.
. Reorganize MDMINF data structure to accommodate US Robotics (some char
   fields had to become strings).
. Allow interrupts (SIGINT, e.g. ^C) to cancel dialing in progress.
. Ring bell when connection made successfully.
. Close line on failures.
. Allow stored numbers with DF100 and 200 modems.

ckudia.c now supports the following modems:
. Cermetek Info-Mate 212 A
. DEC DF03-AC
. DEC DF100 Series
. DEC DF200 Series
. General Data Comm 212A/ED
. Hayes Smartmodem 1200 & compatibles
. Penril
. Racal Vadic
. US Robotics 212A
. Ventel
Plus "unknown" modems and direct (modemless) connections.

C-KERMIT FOR UNIX, CHANGES FROM 4C(053) TO 4C(054), 25 JUNE 85:

ckuker.mak (makefile):
. Add "make ft17" for Fortune 16:32 For:Pro 1.7.
. Add "make uts24" for Amdahl UTS 2.4
. Add "make valid" for Valid Scaldstar CAD system
. Add "make c70" for BBN C/70 IOS 2.4

ckcmai.c:
. Add call to sysinit()

ck[uvm]tio.c:
. Add sysinit() function.  For VMS, open console.  For others, null for now.

ckutio.c, ckufio.c:
. Add support for Fortune 16:32, mostly like 4.1bsd.
. Ditto for Amdahl UTS 2.4, mostly like V7.

ckuus2.c:
. Expand a couple tabs in hlp1 (-h help message) so things line up right.


C-KERMIT FOR UNIX, CHANGES FROM 4C(052) TO 4C(053), 21 JUNE 85:

ckcfn2.c:
. Change dopar() to be of type CHAR.
. Fix dopar() to calculate odd parity correctly.

ckucon.c, ckuscr.c:
. Add "extern CHAR dopar();" declarations.

The files, as usual, are in KER:CK*.* on CU20B, available via anonymous FTP.
There's no real need to get them unless one or more of the changes listed
above is of use to you.

------------------------------

Date: Fri 28 Jun 85 10:32:33-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC@CU20B>
Subject: MacKermit Observations
To: manis%ubc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY
In-Reply-To: Message from "Vincent Manis <manis%ubc.csnet@csnet-relay>"
 of Thu 27 Jun 85 22:49:46-EDT

	>Date: Thu, 27 Jun 85 19:42:15 pdt
	>From: Vincent Manis <manis%ubc.csnet@csnet-relay>
	>To: info-kermit@CU20B
	>Subject: MacKermit 
	>
	>I've been using MacKermit for a week or so (0.8 (28)), and would like
	>to know whether the following are intended to be fixed:

We're up to 0.8(32) now...

	>1) If I tell my local Unix that I'm a VT100, emacs has difficulty
	>   refreshing the screen properly. Is the VT102 emulation imperfect,
	>   or simply different enough from the VT100 that I should make a new
        >   termcap entry?

We use Mac Kermit with EMACS (both CCA and GNU) at 9600 baud on our VAX/Unix
system and have not seen this problem.  We tell it we're a VT100 since our
EMACS's (or termcaps) don't yet have support for VT102.  See if 0.8(32)
exhibits the same behavior.

	>2) I'd like the ability to include an initial character string to send
	>   automatically when I fire up a settings document. This would
	>   provide some modem support (even if not terribly well).

A reasonable idea; we'll add it to the list of things to do.  A lot of other
things have higher priority though, like screen save/print, saving lines off
the top, cutting/pasting the screen, sizing the screen, allowing international
character sets, etc.

	>3) Any possibility of mouse support (clicking the mouse somewhere away
	>   from the current cursor position would send the requisite cursor 
	>   positioning string)?

I doubt it.  The program is already straining the limits of a 128K Mac.

	>4) Why doesn't KerKey have the ability to create a new settings
	>   document?  Why can't the settings menu from MacKermit be included
	>   in KerKey as well?  This would allow one to create a complete
	>   settings file at one time. 

Simply a question of not having enough time to write the code.

	>5) I've had some sort of transient behaviour in which the first file
	>   transfer in a session works ok, but subsequent ones just hang.
	>   Firing up MacKermit again seems to cure the problem, but it's a
	>   nuisance. (On the Unix end, this happens with both CKermit and the
	>   old Unix Kermit, but not with enough regularity for me to pin it
	>   down). 

You're not using parity, are you?  If so, get 0.8(32), which fixes problems
with parity.  Otherise, it's hard to know what to say about this without more
details about what machine, what Unix, what version of C-Kermit, what kind of
connection, what baud rate, etc etc.  This kind of behavior is always a
possibility between any two Kermits and usually has more to do with the
operating systems or communications equipment that Kermit itself.  For
instance, if you're running 4.2 bsd on a VAX with DMR's, you might be suffering
from problems in Berkeley's DMR driver.  Some other systems just get tired of
allocating tty buffers after a while...  We've used MacKermit to transfer very
large batches of files at high baud rates without observing any consistent kind
of failure.

	>6) The key in the upper right hand corner is labelled ``Backspace''.
	>   By default it should generate a backspace.

Matter of taste.  You can always type a backspace using CTRL-H, but how do you
type a DEL if there's no DEL key?  Anyhow, that's what KerKey is for -- so
people who don't like the defaults can change them.

To be perfectly honest about the situation, Mac Kermit is "between maintainers"
just now.  The last two people who worked on it have both left, so I expect it
will stay pretty much as it is for quite some time.

- Frank

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Jun 85 19:04:46 cdt
From: goldberg@Uiuc.ARPA (Phil Goldberg)
Subject: Bug in MS-Kermit 2.28 and Tandy 2000 support

When you type 'C?' from the command prompt, instead of getting a 'Confirm with
CR' message as in 2.27, you get a list of all commands from C-Z displayed.
Since C is a valid command, isn't this a bug.  I looked, but I couldn't figure
it out.

[Ed. - Hmmm... must have something to do with C being a synonym for CONNECT
(necessary because of the addition of the CLEAR command).  Added to the list of
bugs, KER:MSKERM.BWR.]

Steve Alexander has done mods to MSX/YIBM to get a Tandy 2000 module for
v2.28.  He swears up and down that this time he will send them in. 

					Phil Goldberg
					goldberg@Uiuc
[Ed. - Hope so...]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Jun 85 17:44:22 pdt
From: gts%ucbpopuli.CC@Berkeley (Greg Small)
To: info-kermit@cu20b
Subject: MS-Kermit Reverse Wrap at Column 1

The backspace from column 1 to column 80 of the previous line was added for
UNIX.  For normal input echoing, UNIX assumes that the terminal handles all
margin wraping.  This includes both the normal forward wrap at the right margin
and the less known reverse wrap at column 1.  Many newer terminals do both.
ANSI X3.64 enumerates some margin actions but does not specify any.

Of course this only impacts those who enter and then wish to erase characters
from lines longer than 80 characters.  I had thought than no one would care,
but our beta test release of MS-Kermit 2.27 turned up a number of users who
complained that they could not erase characters accross the line wrap.

I confess that I am not overly concerned with exact emulation of the
limitations of the H19, our priority is delivering functionality.  However we
do try to avoid extensions which are likely to cause dificulties.  Actually,
we have abandoned pretending that a particular program emulates a real
terminal.  We now treat each emulator and version thereof as a seperate
terminal type.


Greg Small                              (415)642-5979
Microcomputer Communications            gts@ucbpopuli.Berkeley.ARPA
214 Evans Hall CFO                      ucbvax!ucbpopuli!gts
University of California                SPGGTS@UCBCMSA.BITNET
Berkeley, Ca 94720

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Jun 85 17:16:57 pdt
From: rag@uw-june.arpa (David Ragozin)
Subject: FTP problems on CU20B

Today I tried to FTP some of the vms*.mar files on k2:.  None of them 
would come.  Each time I tried (with "TYPE ASCII") I received the 
error message: File not 7-bit - not text file.  That sounds to me like
a problem at your end, not mine.  Could you have someone check it out?

[Ed. - Oops!  The bytesize was indeed 36, rather than 7.  This is fixed
now.  Surprised nobody reported this before.  In fact, all the following
files had 36-bit bytesizes, which are now changed to 7:

    AP2KER.ASM
    AP2KER.TXT
    APPLEK.M65
    CP4CPT.HEX
    CPMH8.HEX
    CPMPRO.HEX
    K10MIT.CCL
    K10V3.MEM
    MTSKERMIT.ASM
    MTSKERMIT.DOC
    MTSKERMIT.PAS
    PROV1.MEM
    RTED.TXT

Sorry for the confusion; most of these files were created by TOPS-10
utilities that run on our DEC-20 system.]

Also, is there some reason you know why I haven't been able to get any
response from KERMSRV on BITNET for many days?  

[Ed. - KERMSRV has been undergoing reorganization the last few days.
Should be up now.]

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End of Info-Kermit Digest
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