SY.CHRISTINE@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christine M Gianone) (09/26/86)
Info-Kermit Digest Thu, 25 Sep 1986 Volume 5 : Number 11 Today's Topics: New Release of QK-KERMIT (MsDos and CP/M Kermit in Turbo Pascal) New Release 1.6 of KERMIT/TSO Motorola Kermit New IBM and Rainbow .BOO Files for MS-DOS 2.29a MS-DOS Kermit 2.29 Question VMS File Attributes and KERMIT Timing out on CMS Re: Kermit BOO for HP Integral? UNIX SYS/V Version of Kermit? UUCP and Kermit Server at Okstate returns to life Kermit for C128? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Sep 86 16:27 EDT From: VIC@QUCDN Subject: New Release of QK-KERMIT (MsDos and CP/M Kermit in Turbo Pascal) Keywords: QK Kermit, Turbo Pascal I am sending you version 2.6 of QK-KERMIT (an MsDos and CP/M Kermit program written in Turbo Pascsal.) In addition to the new Pascal source, I have sent the following files: 1. hex file for MsDos (IBMPC) kermit with VT100 emulation. 2. hex file with overlay file for a kermit with VT100/TEK4010 emulation. 3. hex file for a KayproII kermit. 4. updated installation documentation 5. updated user documentation. Both the MsDos versions will also contain code to handle the APL character set. You should replace the old files with the new files. The old files which I didn't send are the same for the new version. There is also a new QKKER.SCR (Script source for the documentation) will also be sent. [Ed. - Thanks, Vic. The new files have been installed in KER:QK*.* on CU20B, and in BITNET KERMSRV on CUVMA as QK* *.] ------------------------------ Date: 23 Sep 86 14:15 CET From: Fritz Buetikofer <M70B@CBEBDA3T.BITNET> Subject: New Release 1.6 of KERMIT/TSO Since May 86 some bugs in the version 1.4 have appeared. And furthermore some new commands have been implemented: * Bugs fixed and error handling improved in the routine which checks for the presence of a file (Check_Dsn). * New command TAKE to execute KERMIT-commands from within a file. * When displaying STATUS screen, you will find a notice, whether the INIT-file (KERMIT.SETUP) has been found or not. * New command SET ATOE/ETOA to modify the ASCII <-> EBCDIC translation tables, while running KERMIT. * New command SET INCOMPLETE, to specify what has to be done with a file when user aborts the transfer. * Update of SEND command, so that the user may specify a filename, which is sent to the micro (instead of generating one automatically). Only the Pascal source file and the documentation were changed. For the very near future, I'm going to implement a STATISTICS command, handling of attribute packets and (maybe) long packets. Regards to all TSO freaks, F.Buetikofer, University of Bern (Switzerland) [Ed. - Thanks, Fritz! The new files are installed as KER:TS2KER.PAS and KER:TS2KER.DOC, replacing the old version, on CU20B for anonymous Internet FTP, and TS2KER PAS and TS2KER DOC on CUVMA for BITNET KERMSRV access. This version of MVS/TSO Kermit works only on linemode (3705-style) connections, but it has many more features than the original TSO version. Meanwhile, watch Info-Kermit for announcements of at least two other new TSO Kermits on the way, both with many advanced features, and both able to operate over both linemode and Series/1-style connections.] ------------------------------ Date: 22 sep 86 17:07 GMT +0100 From: <RBG.XX@GEN> Subject: Motorola Kermit Keywords: Motorola Kermit, 68000 After experimenting the high reliability of the Kermit file transfer protocol, I promoted its utilization in my department. Since we make a heavy use of Motorola microprocessors I am writing a Kermit implementation for 680xx processors based systems. The language used is assembly, and I think it may be processed by most assemblers following the syntax defined by Motorola (I proved the 2500 A.D. 68000 cross assembler, the Motorola MC68000 cross assembler and the CERN M68MIL cross macro assembler). The key principle of this Kermit implementation is machine independence (obviously stated that the processor belongs to the 680xx family). The system dependent part is composed by a few routines, containing all the knowledge about the system's file structure and I/O ports. The program is thoroughly documented, thus allowing the implementors to modify it easily, according to their need. This Kermit implementation has been written in order to be installed also on those 680xx family based machines, which have no or not-standard operating system, being often custom built for the solution of specific processing problems. At least in the high energy physics field, that frequently happens. I think that the first version of the program will be ready in 1 or 2 months. If you are interested in it, I would be glad to send it to you, so that you can distribute it. Roberto Bagnara Physics Department Bologna University via Irnerio, 46 40126 BOLOGNA ITALY DECnet address: 39948::MICRO Bitnet address: RBG.XX@GEN.BITNET [Ed. - This will be announced when it is received.] ------------------------------ Date: 21 SEP 86 18:24-MDT From: JRD@USU Subject: New IBM and Rainbow .BOO Files for MS-DOS 2.29a Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit MSTIBM.BOO and MSTRB3.BOO are identified as MS Kermit 2.29 test 21 Sept 1986. The items of note are: - new command to control width (7 or 8 bits) of characters displayed in non-file-transfer mode: Set Display Regular | Serial | Quiet | 7-bit | 8-bit 7-bit is the default width. Any two keywords above can be used together on the same command line. The Status display also shows the Regular etc type plus the 7-bit or 8-bit tag. 8-bit is ineffective if parity is other than None. - Set Send Packet ### has been modified slightly to use this command to set the ultimate upper limit the size of outgoing packets. The default value is 1000. The Status screen still shows the active, negotiated, size. In practice this means MS Kermit will send packets of size "other end's requested size" or the Set Send Packet value, whichever is smaller; thus the user need not do anything to send long packets to an appropriate host. However, MS Kermit requests only standard 94 byte packets be sent to it unless the user specifically requests another length by giving the command Set Receive Packet ###. The limit of 1000 bytes is arbitrary and can be enlarged by changing the single parameter "maxpack" located in the header file and rebuilding; two lines of Help in mssset.asm should also be edited to match the readjusted maxpack value. - Bug fixed: incompletely received files were not deleted when a transfer was prematurely terminated. - Bug fixed: VT102 emulator did not always correctly position the cursor within a restricted scrolling region when the escape sequence ESC top; bottom r was received. Regards, Joe D. [Ed. - Thanks, Joe! The new files replace the old ones as KER:MST*.BOO (and KB:MST*.EXE) on CU20B and MST* * on CUVMA. This should pretty much complete the list of new functions for 2.29a; leaving only the tedium of bringing all the other versions up to this level and testing them, and then bringing the manual up to date...] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 86 19:47 EDT From: Michael G. Chan <seismo!mcnc!duke!chan@columbia.edu> Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 2.29 Question Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit Is there any way to patch MSKermit to recognize the 43 lines mode of an EGA? I can put the display in 43 lines mode but MSKermit always put the status line on the 25th line when connected. Thanks Michael Chan chan@duke [Ed. - From JRD: There are no quick patches even though most of the code is written for arbitrary sized screen. Some parts are specific about line numbers (location of the status line, for example). Also, my experience has been that 43 line mode is such a hybrid (ega vs the rest of the Bios and DOS) that it may not function well on machines having two display adapters; I have such a situation. For a while I considered including more specific ega mode support but quit when the quirks became too much. EGAs were designed with most registers being write-only. Thus, the ega needs to be managed; in turn, that is tough to do properly within an applications program containing an inner program (terminal emulator).] ------------------------------ Date: 19 Sep 1986 2127-EDT From: "Bernie AT&T:617-467-5664 LDP Workstations" <EIBEN@MARLBORO.DEC.COM> Subject: VMS File Attributes and KERMIT Keywords: VMS Kermit With a 'little bit' of trickery it's possible to send any file from VMS to any other system and back to VMS. Single files : Use LZCOMP/LZDECOMP {base language C - an implementation of Lempel-Ziv- Welch compression} in {non-portable} VMS-specific mode. In this mode RMS-attributes are carried and reestablished at decompression. Use KERMIT to move the file. Collection of files : Use VMS BACKUP to generate a single 'Backup' save-set and then a. LZCOMP/LZDECOMP {see above} or b. VMSBAK.BAS {source language BASIC} to 'restructure' the blocking of the save-set to KERMIT's 512 bytes fixed records. Then use KERMIT to move and VMSBAK again to de-block back to original blocking {restriction - original blocking has to be multiple of 512!!. .. last {but not least} single and multiple files Use Stevens Institute's VMSHEX and VMSDEH {source language MACRO} - and transmit the resultant 'hexified' files via KERMIT. This method (although the oldest) will generate the largest files for trans- mission via KERMIT and could therefore be the slowest one. BTW 'standard' VMS executables can also be 'moved' by telling the 'receiving' KERMIT 'SET FILE TYPE FIXED'. However the above three 'choices' will work in all cases - since LZCOMPRESS, BACKUP and VMSHEX all include RMS file descriptors in the encoded file and reconstitute same. [Ed. - Thanks, Bernie! The VMSBAK.BAS program was already in the Kermit distribution, and now the LZW-compression programs have also been added, as KER:VMSLZ*.*; the file KER:VMSLZ.HLP explains the organization and contents of the files. The programs are written in C, and may be compiled under VAX/VMS with VAX-11 C, on PDP-11s with DECUS C, or under Unix. Thanks to Martin Minow of DEC for adapting 'compress' to the DEC operating systems.] ------------------------------ Date: Mon 22 Sep 1986 16:26:54 CDT From: Dan Theriault <DANNO@UIUCVMD> Subject: Timing out on CMS Keywords: CMS Kermit Some of our users here type Kermit Receive on CMS and then realize too late that they forgot their PC Kermit at home or whatever. The result is that they can't get out of Kermit so what they often end up doing is hanging up their telephone and run disconnected on CMS for days. They often wind up using 80 percent of our CPU as Kermit searches and searches and searches for an incoming file. I've looked at the source to our Kermit and I found a variable that claims to be the time-out counter for Receiving, but nothing I've done causes it to work. Any help? Dan Theriault University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [Ed.- From John F. Chandler <PEPMNT@CFATA1.BITNET> The normal method of escaping from a Kermit protocol wait is to type a bunch of CR's at Kermit. The number required will depend on the context: for the initial packet exchange, the retry threshhold is 16, but after that the threshhold is determined by the SET RETRY command (default 5). There is no need to set aside some special sequence of characters to abort a transfer "by hand"; all it takes is the patience to type 16 carriage returns.] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Sep 86 11:33:29 cdt From: seismo!uiucdcs!uxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU!zinzow@columbia.edu (Mark Zinzow) Subject: Re: Kermit BOO for HP Integral? Keywords: HP Integral Kermit It seems the only boo files for Ckermit are for machines like the Amiga. The HP does not come with a c compiler so having a boo file available from kermsrv would be desirable. [Ed. - Can anybody send in a Kermit .BOO file for this system?] I was very happy when MSTIBM.BOO made it over the net. Does anyone have an application to run on an IBM mainframe using a 7171 or Series/1 type front end, that utilizes the new print support for local printing of a mainframe file (under VM/CMS) with kermit on the PC? Mark S. Zinzow ARPA: zinzow@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU Research Programmer BITNET: MARKZ@UIUCVMD.BITNET Computing Services Office UUCP: ihnp4!pyrchi!uiucuxc!zinzow University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ------------------------------ Date: 15 Sep 86 20:25:20 GMT From: jc@cdx39.UUCP Subject: UNIX SYS/V Version of Kermit? Keywords: UNIX Kermit Does kermit now cooperate with uucp? That is, does it know how to create the uucp lockfiles for a device, so that uucp won't wake up and stomp on kermit's toes? Of course, if it doesn't, it would be easy enough to modify kermit, if only we had the source. [Ed. - Yes, C-Kermit includes code to "cooperate" with uucp. BUT... Every version of Unix wants this to be done a different way, and every site tends to change it again. And then come the perennial questions: what is the name of the lock directory? what are the lock files called? should the lock directory be publicly writeable, or should Kermit be sutuid'd or setgid'd to it? Should the lock file be empty, or contain the pid of the process that has line locked. A quick look at ckutio.c (yes, the sources are widely available, e.g. see next message) will show just some of the variations on these themes, as will a perusal of many past issues of this digest...] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Sep 86 15:18:51 -0500 From: Mark Vasoll <vasoll%a.cs.okstate.edu@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA> Subject: UUCP and Kermit Server at Okstate returns to life Keywords: Okstate, UUCP The UUCP and Kermit Server services at the Oklahoma State University Department of Computing and Information Sciences are back on the air again. The information in the okstate.txt blurp still contains the correct access information. One side note though, since we reactivated the dial-in line on Sept 16th, someone's system has been dialing us every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day and using the uucpker login and password. Since this type of thing is easily automated and forgotten, and since the system in question doesn't get far enough into the UUCP protocol to identify itself (so I could send the system manager a mail message), I am making this public plea for everyone who even *might* have something like this set up to go take a look before your phone bill hits the mega buck level. Thanks, Mark Vasoll Department of Computing and Information Sciences Oklahoma State University Internet: vasoll@a.cs.okstate.edu Obsolete: vasoll%okstate.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa UUCP: {cbosgd, ea, ihnp4, isucs1, pesnta, uokmax}!okstate!vasoll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Sep 86 20:47:40 EDT From: mek%UMass.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU Subject: Kermit for C128? Keywords: Commodore Kermit Are there any plans for a version of KERMIT-65 for the COMMODORE 128 in 128 mode? I have all kinds of problems with the COMMODORE 64 version, and it would be very convenient, I think, for all COMMODORE 128 users to have a 128-mode version. An ideal program would be one similar to the other kermits, but one that redefined the 128 character set for special unix-type characters (backslash, curly braces, tilde, etc.), worked in 80-COLUMN mode, emulated a VT-52, and could take advantage of the 8502 microprocessor's 2-MHZ speed, at least during actual file transfers, and prefereably always when in 80-column mode. If anyone has plans for this, I would be happy to help out. I don't know 6502 assembly language, but I do know BASIC, Pascal and C quite well. If anyone knows of any plans for a 128 version, please let me know! Thanks! Matt Kimmel, MEK@UMASS.BITNET <BITNET> MEK%UMASS.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA <ARPANET> ------------------------------ End of Info-Kermit Digest ************************* -------