info-kermit@ucbvax.ARPA (12/08/84)
From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC%CU20B@COLUMBIA.ARPA>
Info-Kermit Digest Fri, 7 Dec 1984 Volume 1 : Number 43
Special Issue: Announcement of MS/PC-DOS Kermit Version 2.27
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This is to announce version 2.27 of MS-DOS Kermit. This release is
primarily intended to fix some of the problems that surfaced in version
2.26. Some minor new functionality has also been added. The work was
done by Daphne Tzoar and Jeff Damens of the Columbia University Center
for Computing Activities -- some original, and some based on code
contributed from other sites, such as the University of Maryland.
MS-DOS Kermit has been implemented for the following MS/PC-DOS systems:
. IBM PC and PC/XT and compatibles (Compaq, Z150, ITT Xtra, etc)
. IBM PC/AT (new)
. IBM PCjr (serial port only)
. DEC Rainbow 100 and 100+
. Heath/Zenith 100
. HP-150
. Wang PC
. NEC APC (from Ron Blanford, U of Wash & Ian Gibbons, U of Hawaii)
. TI Professional (from Joe Smith CSM, includes Tek 4010 emultation)
and there is a "generic MS-DOS" version for systems not explicitly
supported (the generic version runs slower and doesn't take advantage
of any machine-specific features).
New Features of Version 2.27
----------------------------
. SET PORT DEVICE and SET PORT FILE-HANDLE commands to allow generic DOS
Kermit more flexibility in finding the communication port on new systems.
. DEC Rainbow now has SET BAUD command.
. SET DESTINATION SCREEN command - directs incoming files to the screen
rather than to the disk (for displaying files from those systems whose
Kermits don't support the REMOTE TYPE command).
. Escape character command <esc-char>P to push to DOS during CONNECT.
. Includes the enhanced NEC APC support from Ian Gibbons, U of Hawaii --
full key scan-code redefinition, auto-determination of color/monochrome
for CRT formatting, direct video access for faster help menus, and a
scroll/noscroll key that sends ^S and ^Q alternately.
Problems Fixed in Version 2.27
------------------------------
Version 2.27 attempts to fix the following problems from version 2.26 (thanks
to those who reported them, and especially to those who also sent fixes):
* Program Design:
Some code that proved to be system-dependent (like structure definitions
that assumed only two communication ports) has been moved into the
system-dependent sections.
LEA's have been changed to MOV ..,OFFSET or to LEA ..,WORD PTR in msfile,
so that program can be built by non-IBM assemblers.
* File Transfer:
Incoming packets are now discarded if they're the same type as the packet
just sent, in case some hardware in the communication path is echoing them
back.
SET DEST PRINTER now uses PRN device, not LPT1.
An extraneous partial final buffer should no longer be printed printed during
direct transfers to printer ('SET DEST PRINTER').
Use of Return key to retransmit current packet is now documented in the
file transfer display.
SET EOF CTRLZ has been fixed to work as described in the manual.
New precautions have been taken to guard against packet buffer
overrun. Buffer overruns caused various symptoms in v2.26 -- CRC's would
stop working, memory dumps would appear on screen, etc.
Open files are now closed if a fatal error occurs during file transfer
and 'set incomplete keep' is in effect.
Empty responses to REMOTE HOST commands no longer crash the program.
Some early copies of 2.26 displayed the number of Kbytes transferred
incorrectly during file transfer; this was fixed in later copies, and
is also fixed in 2.27.
* Terminal Emulation:
In IBM H19 emulation, tabs are no longer destructive.
IBM H19 emulation problems with Insert/Delete bottom line of screen
are fixed.
On IBM, H19 cursor save/restore function is now supported.
On IBM, carriage returns in inverse video mode no longer scroll
inverse lines onto screen (Unix MORE users will appreciate this).
On IBM, Remote/Local Echo status line is now correctly displayed.
On IBM, the keypad "+" key may now be redefined using SET KEY (this
key normally has the undocumented function of toggling the mode line
during CONNECT).
On the Rainbow, various problems have been fixed with screen scrolling:
. Character attributes are now displayed correctly in previous screens
(except for double height/width attributes)
. Prev/Next Screen no longer overshoots.
. Lines are no longer lost from prev screen when autowrap is in effect.
. 132 column display works with Prev/Next screen.
. VT52 emulation mode entry/exit no longer hangs the program.
On the Rainbow and the IBM PC, BREAK now should last exactly 275 msec.
The Rainbow now resists attempts to send ESC-8 and ESC-c to the firmware,
since these codes will crash the machine (firmware bugs).
* Command Parser:
The current directory is now searched for files before the PATH, in
the same way DOS searches for files.
'Set key scan <space><space><return>' now works properly.
SHOW MACRO should have been SHOW MACROS; now it is.
Table overflow for 'set key' definitions is now detected. Undetected
overflow had unpredictable (but always bad) consequences.
Trailing comments are now illegal in commands typed at the keyboard;
they still may be used in command files. This allows the ";" character
to be used in commands like "get foo.bar;2" or "remote host cd ; pwd".
The eighth bit is stripped from incoming characters; previously,
entering characters from the keyboard with the high-order bit on
would crash Kermit.
* PC/AT support:
Some minor problems introduced by DOS 3.0 when the PC/AT appeared have
been fixed, and Kermit 2.27 should operate correctly on the AT.
Documentation:
-------------
The manual has not yet been updated. Many of the changes were made in order to
make the program conform to the manual. An updated manual will follow shortly.
Future Versions:
---------------
Future plans for MS-DOS Kermit include:
. Removal of DOS 1.x support. Dynamic memory allocation features of DOS 2.0
and above would allow the program to be much smaller on disk.
. Addition of a login script facility, similar to the one recently added to
DEC-20 Kermit.
How To Get Version 2.27:
-----------------------
Version 2.27 of MS-DOS Kermit is available via anonymous FTP from host CU20B,
Internet host number [192.5.43.128]. It is in the files KER:MS*.*. The
executable programs are encoded in ASCII ".BOO" format -- those who don't know
what that means should get the MS-DOS Kermit chapter of the Kermit User Guide
(available as KER:MSKERMIT.DOC) and read about bootstrapping MS-DOS Kermit.
Those who may have gone through this before are exhorted to obtain the current
copy of KER:MSPCTRAN.BAS, the .BOO file decoder, in which a serious bug was
recently fixed.
The sources are in KER:MS*.ASM and KER:MS*.H. KER:MSBUILD.HLP tells how to
build the program.
Binaries, for those who can transfer them directly, are in KB:MS*.EXE.
This new release will be available at DECUS in Anaheim, Dec 10-14, and should
appear on the resulting DECUS SIG tapes. It will also be submitted to PC-SIG
for distribution on floppy disk. And it will appear for BITNET distribution
in the near future.
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End of Info-Kermit Digest
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