SY.CHRISTINE@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christine M Gianone) (02/11/86)
Info-Kermit Digest Tue, 11 Feb 1986 Volume 4 : Number 10
Today's Topics:
MS-Kermit Suggestion
MSKERMIT-JRD/2
Mail Using Kermit; Protocol Clarifacations (2 msgs)
TELENET KERMIT
Tapes, GEACs, Victors, etc....
PROCOMM Freeware Package
Undocumented Microsoft LINK Option: /E
Dashed Cursor Problem on IBM PC
THE FROG for 64-bit CDC's?
MS-DOS kermits?
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Date: Thu, 6 Feb 86 10:20:28 PST
From: prandt!tweten@AMES-NAS.ARPA (David E. Tweten)
Subject: Re: MS-Kermit Suggestion
From: Samuel_Lam%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
It would be nice if MS-Kermit would use an DOS environment variable to
locate it's profile (MSKERMIT.INI), so that Kermit can be invoked from
various sub-directories of a hard disk with only *one* copy of the
profile stored on the hard disk. Alternately, MS-Kermit could employ
the search PATH used by DOS for it's command files.
My copy of MS-Kermit version 2.28 (with some local mods which don't affect
this behavior) already does that. I ordinarily keep both Kermit and its
initialization file in a directory which is on the MS-DOS PATH. To confirm
that it works more generally than that, I just moved Kermit itself, to yet
another directory on the PATH, and that worked too. From a third directory,
I invoked Kermit, which MS-DOS found in one directory on the path, and Kermit
read MSKERMIT.INI from yet another directory on the PATH.
[From jrd -- Path searches really ought to be done I suppose; it just
takes some time to write the code to a) test if DOS found a file on its
own and b) chugging down the PATH= string trying the selections. I sort
of put this into category B, do when time is available, together with
things like redefinable keys at the Kermit prompt level. A directly
usable Kermit seems more important than waiting for the endless series
of 'frills' to be added.]
In my opinion, for those of us who have hard disks (more and more, lately),
searching the PATH for MSKERMIT.INI is not a frill. It is basic function.
If the (soon to be) 2.29 version of MS-Kermit doesn't do this, I have no
intention of using it until it's modified.
[From JRD: MSKERMIT.INI is sought with paths after all. The procedures have
not been changed by me from the original Columbia 2.28 release for this item
nor for Take file searchs. Kermit does find MSKERMIT.INI if it is on the
environment PATH= list. The RUN command and its Server counterpart REMOTE
HOST command work similarly.]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 86 17:00:00 EST
From: Edgar B. Butt <BUTT@UMD2.UMD.EDU>
Subject: MSKERMIT-JRD/2
I FTP'd MSKERMIT-JRD/2 from CU20b on 2/6/86. Although I haven't had a
chance to test it extensively, it seems to work fine on my Zenith 151.
There are two minor problems which I don't see in the BWR file that are not
hard to solve.
First, when I type SEND with no file specified, MSKERMIT asks for LOCAL
DESTINATION FILE. I now know that LOCAL is correct and DESTINATION is
wrong. The REMOTE SOURCE FILE is equally confusing. Different messages
from those used for GET should be used.
Second, when MSKERMIT is sending a file with a non-ascii character (8-th bit
set) over a 7-bit data path with no 8-bit quoting, it issues a warning and
then proceeds to send the data in a packet with a parity error causing the
transfer to come to an eventual halt. Below is code to issue the warning,
strip the 8-th bit and continue the transfer.
Regards,
Edgar Butt (BUTT@UMD2.ARPA)
[Ed. - The changes you sent will be in the next version of MS-DOS Kermit
(2.29). Thanks!]
------------------------------
Date: Wed 5 Feb 86 15:05:40-PST
From: Bob Larson <BLARSON@usc-ecld>
Subject: Mail Using Kermit; Protocol Clarifacations
I have written a mail transport system from our Primes to our Tops-20
systems (and visa-versa) using the kermit protocol for the file transfer.
It uses the existing tops-20 kermit and a special purpose kermit subset I
wrote for this use on the prime. (I could send this to you, but it does not
pretend to be a general purpouse kermit.)
What is the proper response to a Send-init ("S") packet (acknolaged)
followed by a Break-Trasmission ("B") packet? Should the break-transmission
packet be acknolaged (as tops-20 kermit does) or should an error packet be
sent?
I think a couple of clarifications could be made to section 6.2 of the
protocol manual (fifth edition, which I think is current):
A sentence to the effect: "The 8th (parity) bit should be taken into account
on the checksum if and only if an 8-bit data channel is known to exist."
would probably be appropriate here, even if though it is stated elsewhere.
An alternate checksum calculation for languages/machines that do not allow
bitwise logical operations but do have integer division (/) and modulus (%)
is:
check = char ((s + ((s / 64) % 4)) % 64)
(This results in identical checksums as the other calculation.)
Bob Larson
Arpa: Blarson@Usc-Ecl.Arpa
Uucp: ihnp4!sdcrdcf!oberon!blarson
------------------------------
Date: Fri 7 Feb 86 09:07:17-EST
From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Mail using kermit; Protocol clarifacations
An S-B sequence is perfectly valid -- it's the "null transaction". Depending
on the implementation, it could happen if none of the specified files was
read-accessible. The B packet should be acknowledged, although the sender
of the B packet should not be overly stringent in waiting for the ACK, because
there's always the situation in which the receiver gets the B packet, ACKs it,
and then exits, but meanwhile the ACK is lost. (Although the S-B sequence
is valid, it might be a little kinder to the user to send an Error packet
when no files can be sent...)
All the protocol issues you raise are (I hope) clarified in the Kermit book.
- Frank
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Date: Fri 7 Feb 86 10:42:20-EST
From: DEMPSTER@MARLBORO.DEC.COM
Subject: Re: TELENET KERMIT
My request for advice on tips for network transfer should have been for
TYMNET, and not TELENET.
I fiddle with parameters, REC timeout and PARity but can only achieve about
a 15% success rate with no pattern for successes or failures. KERMIT will
usually hang on initial packet, or time out with repeated sends <RET's>.
Any help appreciated.
joe
[Ed. - Anybody who can help, please reply to Info-Kermit so that others with
similar problems can see the solution.]
------------------------------
Date: 6-FEB-1986 15:23:13
From: SYSKERMIT%vax1.central.lancaster.ac.uk@cs.ucl.ac.uk
Subject: Tapes, GEACs, Victors, etc....
I asked around about GEAC - it's a Canadian machine used for specialised
Library work. No-one's heard of a Kermit for it. For your info, address is
GEAC Computer Corp, 350 Steel Case Road West, Markham, Ontario, Canada. OS
is totally unique but will shortly be UNIX-clones- there is a machine in New
York University library, I'm told. Here endeth the GEAC saga.
On new Kermit front: both Manchester U. and Imperial College London are doing
new/inproved Kermits for Cybers running NOS (one in Pascal, one in Compass).
Will pass them on when they get finished.
Your next message will contain a .BOO file for MS-DOS Kermit for the
Victor 9000/Sirius 1.
Alan
[Ed. - Thanks. The .BOO file is in KER:MSVV90.BOO.]
------------------------------
From: <decwrl!decvax!mcnc!rti-sel!ethos!jay@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 86 14:54:49 est
Subject: PROCOMM Freeware Package
I just picked up a communications package from one of the local BBSs
here in Research Triangle Park, NC. It's called PROCOMM, a freeware package by
PIL software systems. This program is probably the best one I've seen at *any*
price for MS-DOS. It's fully as good as MEX on CP/M. It supports both xmodem,
and kermit protocals, terminal emulation, keyboard macros, and scripts. Its
rather large, so I won't post it on the net unless there is enough interest. I
will however put it on my BBS. The reason I mentioned it is that it supports a
env variable called PROCOMM which contains the path for the parameter files,
it searches this if it doesn't find them on the current directory. Highly
recommended.
Jay Denebeim "One world, one egg, one basket."
{seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!mcnc!rti-sel!ethos!jay
Deep Thought, ZNode #42 300/1200/2400 919-471-6436
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From: Ya'akov_Miles%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Undocumented Microsoft LINK Option: /E
Date: Mon 10 Feb 1986 13:44-MST
There exists an undocumented(?) switch to Microsoft LINK.EXE ver 3.XX,
which will cause an automatic compaction during binding. This process
will eliminate storage for uninitialized arrays from the .EXE file
produced by the linker, reducing the .EXE file size by up to 300
percent! To use this feature, specify the /E option to the command
line, eg
LINK myprog/E;
should work. For example, PCKERMIT.EXE ver 2.27 was 80K when linked
normally but shrunk down to 33K when linked with the /E option...
[Ed. - The question is will any arbitrary DOS machine be able to execute
an .EXE file that was produced this way?]
------------------------------
Date: 7 FEB 86 10:51-MST
From: JRD@USU
Subject: Dashed Cursor Problem on IBM PC
In response to the minus sign as a cursor problem reported in recent Digests
the PC Tech Journal article discussing the problem is "The Dashed Cursor",
by Paul Pierce, PC Tech J., Dec. 1985, page 47. His code goes like this:
...................................
;
; Program FIXCURS.ASM by Paul Pierce, PC Tech Journal, Dec 1985, page 47.
;
code segment public 'code'
assume cs:code, ds:code, es:nothing
;
; This program is set up to be made into a COM file
;
org 100H
;
; First check for the monochrome adapter.
;
start: int 11H ; set ax = equipment flag
and al,30H ; mask off all but video bits
cmp al,30H ; test for monochrome adapter
jne exit ; jump if not monochrome
;
; Now check for incorrect cursor mode returned from the Bios
;
mov ah,3 ; call bios to get cursor type
int 10H ;
cmp cx,0607H ; check for invalid (color) type
jne exit ; jump if not a bad value
;
; At this point we know that the monochrome adapter is in use and that
; the bios cursor mode is incorrect.
; Call the bios to set the cursor type correctly.
;
mov cx,080cH ; use correct cursor type
mov ah,1 ; call bios to set cursor type
int 10H
exit: mov ah,0 ; exit back to DOS
int 21H
code ends
end start
............................................
[Reproduced without anyone's permission.]
Regards,
Joe D.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 86 14:18:00 pst
From: Joel West <westjw%frog@nosc.ARPA>
Subject: THE FROG for 64-bit CDC's?
Is anyone aware of a version of kermit for one of the following
two machines (I'm told the software would be similar):
* Cyber 205 running VSOS
* Cyber 170 running NOS/VE
The existing CDC kermit for NOS, NOS/BE likely won't work for several
reasons:
* different, yet another semi-compatible CDC OS
* 60- (old) vs. 64-bit (new) machine word size
* 6- (old) vs. 8-bit (new) characters
* CDC character set vs. ASCII
One last hope is that every 205 has a 170 as a front end, so if the
one I'm going to use has NOS, then I can use the existing kermit.
Otherwise, it sounds like I'll have to do a port of C-Kermit or the
mini-kermit in the protocol manual...
Joel West CACI, Inc. - Federal
westjw@nosc.ARPA
{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!noscvax!westjw
[Ed. - See message above from Alan Phillips.]
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From: hplabs!seismo!mcvax!wcwvax!nigel@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
Date: Sun 9 Feb 1986 12:51:05 GMT
Subject: MS-DOS kermits?
There seems to be a vast number (spawn?) of Kermits available for different
operating systems and machines; in particular, several different versions
for MS-DOS have been mentioned in this digest. Can someone publish a list
of all the variants that are available currently in the public domain?
A friend of mine is looking for an MS-DOS kermit: is the source code of such
available from anyone in the U.K. (on tape, perhaps)?
[Ed. - Alan Phillips (see message from him above) at Lancaster University
distributes Kermit on magnetic tape & other media in the U.K. as time permits
him: his postal address and phone number are:
Alan Phillips
Communications Group
Department of Computing
Computer Building
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YW, ENGLAND
Phone 0524-65201 x 4881
]
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End of Info-Kermit Digest
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