EVERHART%ARISIA.decnet@crdgw1.ge.com (10/18/89)
If one must use a parity ASCII line for Kermit transfers, Kermit
CAN handle binary data. The key is to tell Kermit (at both ends)
SET PARITY even (or anything other than the default SET PARITY NONE)
so Kermit will realize it must quote 8th bit-on bytes.
When transferring with a Kermit implementation, major performance
gains can be realized if you use a Kermit that supports large buffers
or sliding windows or both. Kermits like the C Kermit already support
large buffers; sliding window code has been done and is being merged
at Columbia. The sliding window code for VMS will be on the Fall '89
VAX SIG tapes also (unless Columbia gets the official merge done first
in which case that can be put on instead).
You may be limited though if the Amiga Kermit you're using only
does the small packets (94 bytes max) of early Kermit protocols.
If you must use a parity ASCII line anywhere in your path, protocols
like Xmodem will NOT work; they assume 8 bit data can be sent. I believe
this is true of Y and Zmodem also. Kermit was however designed to work
correctly even where only printable characters and one or two control
characters could be passed; this is almost ALWAYS true. (In fact that's
why you can Kermit to IBM mainframes whose terminal handling is very
different from most other systems...half duplex, "funny" character set,
NO timeout from the host, etc. etc.)
I don't know how good the Kermit is in various implementations. The
Amiga C kermit is quite old but may have large packet support. VT100
and Handshake both support Kermit; I believe VLT does also. I suggest
coupling with a large packet Kermit on the VAX and seeing which Amiga
Kermit does the best job. Kermit's debug mode should be valuable here.
Glenn Everhart
Everhart%Arisia.decnet@crd.ge.com