[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Best communication program for the PC

ron@woan.austin.ibm.com (Ronald S. Woan) (01/04/90)

I hate to revive a dead subject, but with the recent introduction of
Telix 3.12 and TeleMate 2.00, I'd like to get an idea of the major
pros and cons of the mainstream communication software packages out
there. In particular, what are peoples' opinions of TeleMate, Procomm,
Procomm Plus, QModem, Telix, CrossTalk, Mirror, ZComm, Pro-Yam,
Pibterm, and any others you may be using. Either followup or email me
(I'll summarize).

I'll start it off that Telix (what I have been using for a couple
weeks not) has a nice auto-zmodem download facility (like ZComm and
Pro-Yam), but lacks a little in terminal emulation (~5 types) when
compared with Procomm[PLUS]. I've also been told SALT is a better 
script language.

Which one's offer background file transfers (Mirror and ?).

If I get enough response, I'll try to tabilize the features.

						Ron
	
+-----All Views Expressed Are My Own And Are Not Necessarily Shared By------+
+------------------------------My Employer----------------------------------+
+ Ronald S. Woan  (IBM VNET)WOAN AT AUSTIN, (AUSTIN)ron@woan.austin.ibm.com +
+ outside of IBM       @cs.utexas.edu:ibmchs!auschs!woan.austin.ibm.com!ron +

darcy@druid.uucp (D'Arcy J.M. Cain) (01/05/90)

In article <1246@awdprime.UUCP> @cs.utexas.edu:ibmchs!auschs!woan.austin.ibm.com!ron writes:
>I'll start it off that Telix (what I have been using for a couple
>weeks not) has a nice auto-zmodem download facility (like ZComm and
>Pro-Yam), but lacks a little in terminal emulation (~5 types) when
>compared with Procomm[PLUS]. I've also been told SALT is a better 
>script language.
>
My father uses Telix (I'm not sure which version) and he can't use any
curses programs when he dials into my UNIX system.  Seems the ANSI-BBS
and VT-100 emulations aren't complete enough to handle all the screen
access.  The same seems to be true of an older version of Qmodem that
I tried.  I have a user using Procomm and he seems to have no problem
and MSKERMIT also works fine.  Anyone had similar experiences?

-- 
D'Arcy J.M. Cain (darcy@druid)     |   Thank goodness we don't get all 
D'Arcy Cain Consulting             |   the government we pay for.
West Hill, Ontario, Canada         |
No disclaimers.  I agree with me   |

ralf@b.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Ralf Brown) (01/07/90)

In article <1990Jan5.005143.10149@druid.uucp> darcy@druid.UUCP (D'Arcy J.M. Cain) writes:
}My father uses Telix (I'm not sure which version) and he can't use any
}curses programs when he dials into my UNIX system.  Seems the ANSI-BBS
}and VT-100 emulations aren't complete enough to handle all the screen
}access.  The same seems to be true of an older version of Qmodem that

You might want to try the new version of RBcomm that I released today.  The
only VT100 commands I know about which it doesn't do are the answerback
string and double-wide/double-high characters (it does support inverting the
screen, 132 column mode, the alternate character sets, switching to/from
VT52 emulation, scrolling regions, line wrap toggling, terminal responses,
and more).  Double-size character commands are recognized and ignored.

Available via anonymous FTP from CS.CMU.EDU [128.2.222.173] in directory
/afs/cs/user/ralf/pub (you must change directly to it) as file rbcomm30.zip,
73135 bytes.  It will be on SIMTEL20 within a day or so (the earlier 
RBCOMM28.ARC is in PD2:<MSDOS2.MODEM>).


-- 
{backbone}!cs.cmu.edu!ralf   ARPA: RALF@CS.CMU.EDU   FIDO: Ralf Brown 1:129/46
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scott@csusac.csus.edu (L. Scott Emmons) (01/07/90)

In article <1990Jan5.005143.10149@druid.uucp> darcy@druid.UUCP (D'Arcy J.M. Cain) writes:
>My father uses Telix (I'm not sure which version) and he can't use any
>curses programs when he dials into my UNIX system.  Seems the ANSI-BBS
>and VT-100 emulations aren't complete enough to handle all the screen
>access. [...]

He must be using a _very_ old version.  Every version of Telix I've tried (in
the last 2 years) has worked _Perfectly_ on all flavors of UNIX and curses we
have here at our site.  (And with enhanced termcap entries it exceeds any other
terminal program!)

-- 
			L. Scott Emmons
			---------------
		...[!ucbvax]!ucdavis!csusac!scott
		ucdavis!csusac!scott@ucbvax.berkeley.edu

roy@comcon.UUCP (Roy M. Silvernail) (01/07/90)

In article <1990Jan5.005143.10149@druid.uucp>, darcy@druid.uucp (D'Arcy J.M. Cain) writes:
> My father uses Telix (I'm not sure which version) and he can't use any
> curses programs when he dials into my UNIX system.  Seems the ANSI-BBS
> and VT-100 emulations aren't complete enough to handle all the screen
> access.  The same seems to be true of an older version of Qmodem that
> I tried.  I have a user using Procomm and he seems to have no problem
> and MSKERMIT also works fine.  Anyone had similar experiences?

The VT100 emulation is supposed to be fixed in the new Telix version,
3.13. I use Boyan 4.01 for my Unix work. Seems to work just fine, and
gets along great with curses programs.
(unless I crash before resetting to cooked... now I know how curses
_really_ got its name ;-)
-- 
_R_o_y _M_. _S_i_l_v_e_r_n_a_i_l  | UUCP: uunet!comcon!roy  |  "Every race must arrive at this
#include <opinions.h>;#define opinions MINE  |   point in its history"
SnailMail: P.O. Box 210856, Anchorage,       |   ........Mr. Slippery
Alaska, 99521-0856, U.S.A., Earth, etc.      |  <Ono-Sendai: the right choice!>

pcoen@drunivac.uucp (Paul Coen) (01/08/90)

In article <1990Jan7.002029.14315@csusac.csus.edu>, scott@csusac.csus.edu (L. Scott Emmons) writes:
> 
> He must be using a _very_ old version.  Every version of Telix I've tried (in
> the last 2 years) has worked _Perfectly_ on all flavors of UNIX and curses we
> have here at our site. (And with enhanced termcap entries it exceeds any other
> terminal program!)
> 

Well, Telix 3.11 (I think it was 3.11, it might've been 3.10) had very 
poor VT100 emulation for Vax/VMS systems.  It just can't handle many 
of VMS's SMG routines for screen drawing.  MS-Kermit does this very 
well.  PC-VT is fairly good, but even the new version (10.0) can't do 
all of the screen drawing functions correctly.  At our site we use SMG 
extensivly, and have settled on MS-Kermit as the standard for most of 
our 2,000 or so users.  

Paul Coen:  	usenet: rutgers!njin!drew!pcoen  
		bitnet: pcoen@drunivac, pcoen@drew

6600zeek@hub.UUCP (Todd Howitt) (01/08/90)

From article <28848.25a7897c@drunivac.uucp>, by pcoen@drunivac.uucp (Paul Coen):
> of VMS's SMG routines for screen drawing.  MS-Kermit does this very 
> well.  PC-VT is fairly good, but even the new version (10.0) can't do 
> all of the screen drawing functions correctly.  At our site we use SMG 
> extensivly, and have settled on MS-Kermit as the standard for most of 
> our 2,000 or so users.  

Ahhhh, just what I'm desperately seeking; a decent vt100 emulator!  Is
there an ftp site that has MS-Kermit?  Thanks.
     ______________Remember, UNIX spelled backwards is XINU._____________
    |Todd Howitt, AKA Bob & Doug | Disk space -- The final frontier!     |
    |6600zeek@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu   | A day without sunshine is like night. |
    |6600zeek@ucsbuxa.bitnet     | Gravity is a myth.  The earth sucks.  |

ho@fergvax.unl.edu (Tiny Bubbles...) (01/09/90)

From article <28848.25a7897c@drunivac.uucp>, by pcoen@drunivac.uucp (Paul Coen):
> In article <1990Jan7.002029.14315@csusac.csus.edu>, scott@csusac.csus.edu (L. Scott Emmons) writes:
>> 
>> He must be using a _very_ old version.  Every version of Telix I've tried (in
>> the last 2 years) has worked _Perfectly_ on all flavors of UNIX and curses we
> 
> Well, Telix 3.11 (I think it was 3.11, it might've been 3.10) had very 
> poor VT100 emulation for Vax/VMS systems.  It just can't handle many 
> of VMS's SMG routines for screen drawing.  MS-Kermit does this very 

I think the main problem with Telix before (before 3.12, that is) was the 
lack of proper cursor-key mapping.  I've tried 3.12 with VMS, and it now
seems to work fine.

I have found that MS-Kermit has a plethora of drawbacks which make it 
unsuitable for beginning users.  It reminds me a lot of ZComm.  Both are
very good and extremely powerful communications packages.  But both have a
user interface that makes DOS seem like a beginner's dream system.
---
        ... Michael Ho, University of Nebraska
Internet: ho@hoss.unl.edu               USnail:  115 Nebraska Union
                                                 Lincoln, NE 68588-0461

daven@ibmpcug.co.uk (D R Newman) (01/10/90)

I found that the best program for my purposes was a program Odyssey, sold
by Micropack Ltd. of Aberdeen, Scotland (0224 631100) for 70 pounds.

1. It has a robust implementation of MNP2, 4 and 5 in software - so I don't
have to spend the extra money for an MNP modem (an extra 300 pounds over here).

2. It supports Xmodem, WXmodem, Ymodem, Batch Ymodem, Kermit, Zmodem and
Ymodem-g fiel transfer protocols. The MNP engine knows about file transfers,
so it uses an appropriate block size on uploading.

3. It has two built-in, wordstar-like editors. One is for files, the other is
for the review buffer - i.e. you don't just scroll up the last few pages
received, you can edit it, cut and paste, and save to disk. And the file
editor allows you to paste a block of text, perhaps a message, to the remote
system.

4. It does some internal multitasking, so you can edit files while a file is
being transfered or text is being received on the screen - but you cannot run
it in the background like Mirror.

5. It has a good script language, not quite up to Telix SALT standards, but
with commands to allow event-driven programming - you can watch for 32
different strings simultaneously. The scripts are compiled when called from
Odyssey, or you can precompile them so they run faster. I've used the script
language to overcome some of the few shortcomings of the program - Odyssey does
not time and log your calls, but you can do that under a script. I've written
two scripts for interacting with rn - one to give extra help, the other for
automatic scanning and message uploading. Now if only it had an object-oriented
script language!

(Sorry for posting this instead of mailing, the mail didn't get through).
-----
Dave Newman, Consultants in Appropriate Technology, 188 (2A) Bedford Hill,
London SW12 9HL, England. Tel. 01-675 5933 (After 22 January 1990, Aston Univ-
ersity, Computer Services Dept., Aston Triangle, BIRMINGHAM B4 7ET, England.
Tel. 021-359-3611)
Usenet: daven@ibmpcug.co.uk    IPC networks (Eco/Peace/GreenNet): gn:davenewman
JANET: daven@uk.co.ibmpcug     CIX: davenewman@cix.cix.uucp
-- 
Automatic Disclaimer:
The views expressed above are those of the author alone and may not
represent the views of the IBM PC User Group.
-- 

ron@woan.austin.ibm.com (Ronald S. Woan) (01/11/90)

I am working on a summary on this topic for next week. So far I
haven't had much feedback from Telix or Procomm users. I have been
archiving the news postings and mail that I have received on this
subject and am scanning Fidonet and Eggnet communication newsgroups, 
as well.

For some reason, kermit users have been the most responsive... I
didn't realize so many were still out there. I'll have to look into
the new kermit that just came out with vt 340 emulation. For those of
you interested in trying something new, Telemate 2.00 is out... It
offers builtin mouse support, autodownload zmodem, ansi/vt102/vt52
emulation, background file transfers (at least you can edit and view
files, I am going to try and shellout while downloading tonight), ansi
music, script language, etc... It has hung my system a few times
already though...

Keep sending or posting your replies!

						Ron

+-----All Views Expressed Are My Own And Are Not Necessarily Shared By------+
+------------------------------My Employer----------------------------------+
+ Ronald S. Woan  (IBM VNET)WOAN AT AUSTIN, (AUSTIN)ron@woan.austin.ibm.com +
+ outside of IBM       @cs.utexas.edu:ibmchs!auschs!woan.austin.ibm.com!ron +