john13@garfield.UUCP (06/02/87)
[] This would have been a great and extensive review of the capabilities of Diga!, which arrived today, except for....sigh...the disk-eater bug. The package arrived here with NO DISK! Well, the manual says it will do Textronix emulation in overscan mode, and 2-way file transfer (2-way? I don't know if you can send, receive and talk all at the same time) with simultaneous chat mode, and Kermit, Xmodem, Ymodem, Compuserve-B, extensive phone directory functions, all sorts of neat script file operations, and tons of other great stuff. However, I can't go into detail because the package is on its way back, hopefully in exchange for one with a disk. Better insist on checking that there IS a disk inside that big professional- looking license agreement envelope before you buy it :-(. With any luck this was a one-in-a-million stroke of bad luck. John, still user of VT100 :-( :-( :-(
cheung@vu-vlsi.UUCP (Wilson Cheung) (08/12/87)
Aegis Diga! 1.0
With all the hype about Aegis Diga! I was swayed over from
upgrading my Online! 1.0 to 2.0 towards purchasing Diga! 1.0. Overall I
think I made the correct decision. Aegis Diga! is not only packed with
almost every feature a hacker could ever desire, but is well built and
thought out towards ergonomics. By ergonomics I mean something that is
first of all solidly coded with little or no bugs. Secondly it is fast
and responsive so that I can start something at the click of my mouse or
a push of a button, and stop it abruptly (even abusively) just as
easily. And finally it means flexibility offering many redundant ways
of changing settings to satisfy my varying moods and a growing level of
expertise.
The Diga! program weighs in at a fat 163K. Take into
consideration that it needs additional memory for its screen, a review
buffer and its terminal emulation modules and that starts to push a bit
over 300K. It is a program that you can't run on 256K and will find
near impossible to multi-task in a 512K Amiga. In fact the release
disk is set up so that Diga! takes over the whole machine. Only after
some experimenting did I find out that one must have a different
program or window up prior to running Diga! in order to multi-task.
Diga! currently supports about five different terminal emulations
including a tektronix 4010, a vt100, and even a talking terminal. The
tektronix terminal is one of Diga!'s premier features. It utilizes the
Amiga's maximum overscan, interlaced resolution and even allows the user
to continually zoom in on any tektronix graphics. With a tektronix
pictured loaded in on a 700X440 screen my eyes swore I was looking at a
workstation; the display was crisp with no visible flickering. Aegis
achieves low flicker by choosing low contrast colors. This, although
fine for graphics, was near unacceptable for text. To top it off any
tektronix display can be converted into an Aegis Draw file for further
modification and eventual plotting. The talking terminal is an
undocumented feature included apparently at the last minute. It is
more of a curiosity as it has problems keeping up with text at even 300
baud and is therefore unintelligible. I do, however, get the
impression that Aegis spent so much time on the tektronix emulation
that they forgot about the more fundamental emulation of the VT100.
Diga!'s VT100 emulation failed to draw the screen correctly when logged
into the screen editor of my University's VAX. What's worse is that
they don't tell you how the VT100's keypad and function keys are mapped
unto the Amiga. Fortunately most of the keypad is layed out where you
would expect them to be, on the Amiga's keypad. However, the function
keys were not mapped unto the Amiga's function keys as expected; after
calling Aegis customer service I found out that they were squashed into
the Amiga keypad by using the CTRL key; why? I don't know. Currently I
still use Dave Wecker's vt100 emulator when I need to use the VAX
screen editor. Diga! also claims to support user created terminals
which is pretty misleading, since it amounts to submitting a written
request to Aegis to create the emulation for you.
There are usually two classes of software. One is usually
packed with alot of features but is fairly weak on user interfacing.
The other is simply the inverse. Diga! attempts to do both. First of
all it has 7 file transfer protocols consisting of Xmodem, Xmodem with
CRC, Ymodem, Compuserve B, Kermit, ASCII, and Double Talk. Double talk
is a full duplex protocol that allows simultaneous upload and download
while chatting with the person on the other line; this feature while
impressive only works with Diga! users on both end of the telephone
line. Again in its file transfer protocols Aegis seems to have spent
so much time on touted features such as Double Talk that they neglected
to implement the most fundamental protocol of all, straight ASCII.
While existent the ASCII transfer does not have any settings for
character delays or end of line delays; it just sends the text at full
speed without pauses. This usually overwhelms the computer on the other
end which can't keep up. I also found a serious problem with its Kermit
file transfer. For some unknown reason I can not send files
successfully without having first downloaded a file. In addition
turning off the modem or having the line drop unexpectedly while
transfering files hangs up Diga! although leaving the rest of the Amiga
system running normally.
Diga! like most emulators has its own phone book. However, this
phone book is much more complete providing lines to enter a name,
several lines for a description and an address, phone number, terminal
configuration file, baud rate and a voice or data setting. One can
therefore dial different services be sure of the correct emulations and
script files going with it. If your concerned about compatibility with
a system that uses antiquated settings or use of a non-Hayes compatible
modem you needn't worry, Diga! will likely have what you require. In
terms of communications and modem settings it is extremely thorough.
To start off it supports the 5 different parity settings one can
encounter, which can be combined with a 7 or 8 bit word size and 1 or 2
stop bits for a total of 15 possible parity settings. If you require
unusual settings of your RS232 port Diga offers Xon/Xoff, 7-wire and
7-wire/X interfacing. If you should ever need high baud rates Diga!
will accommodate you up to MIDI speeds. And finally if you have a
smart modem that happens to be non-Hayes compatible Diga! provides a
modem settings screen to allow it to be customized to ask your modem to
turn on or off autoanswer mode, hangup, change speed, or switch to
voice mode. It is also because of the ability to program the proper
commands to be sent to your modem that Diga! is able to do one simple
thing that has eluded every communications package I have ever used on
an IBM as well as the Amiga, hang up the phone! Most packages do have
a function for hanging up the modem but this never seems to work. This
is because many emulators assume all modems will hang up by dropping
the DTR line instead of sending a command such as the Hayes ATH command
to hang it up explicitly.
What else could you ask for. How about 50 programmable function
keys and a remote mode. One gets 50 function keys by using F1 through
F10 in combination with the ALT, CTRL, left and right Amiga keys. One
drawback with the keys is that one can only use them to send strings to
the host computer. It would have been nice to have been able to use
them to make Diga! execute a script file. What really makes me irked is
that they could have set up four of the keys namely F1 through F4 to
emulate the VT100s function keys. Fortunately I was able to copy
information from Dave Wecker's Vt100 emulator to program the correct
escape code sequences into these keys. Now I have 46 function keys
which I can't use for much more than sending one line strings, any
ideas? The manual suggests inane operations like using several of
these keys in sequence to logon and send passwords to the host
computer. I say inane since one will usually have the Diga! logon
automatically by way of script files. To be fair some programs don't
even have programmable function keys. Speaking of script files, Diga!
does have a very complete script language. In addition to the common
"Wait for", "send", and "if then" type of commands it even has
case-like structures, the ability to transfer files through any
protocol, and the ability send Amigados CLI commands.
The remote mode is a feature that will more and more be a welcome
sight for the future as computers become more widespread. It actually
converts Diga! into a crude BBS allowing you and others to logon to your
Amiga in order to leave messages, and transfer files. Of course for my
own peace of mind I can impose two levels of password protection. One
for the general user and one for you to allow operations such as
erasing files. I can also select what disks they can get access to as
well as to the maximum online time.
What really makes Diga! worthwhile and unique is its responsiveness
and well planned out ergonomic environment. To start out it does
terminal emulation on its own screen rather than a window. This allows
the user to adjust the number of columns from 80 to 136 characters (136
characters is very hard to read) and lines from 23 to 50 by using the
interlaced and overscan display features of the Amiga. For example all
settings are accessible in more than one way. For the beginner one can
simply search through the menu bars to change a setting. However,
often one would like to change several settings at once or find out the
current status of Diga! For this reason settings are also logically
grouped together into a cluster of pop up screens. Quick menus are
separate pop up screens filled with buttons and entry lines. With one
of these up one can for example find out the current parity, change it
with a click, alter his screen width and utilize overscan mode in a
matter of seconds. And many of these screens have features that overlap
appropriately with the features of other screens. This is the case
with Diga's quick menu which is just one big pop of screen with nearly
everything on it. And finally for the impatient advanced user there
are provided key stroke equivalents to nearly every single setting,
function, and command of Diga!
Another of Diga!'s conveniences is a review buffer which allows the
user to look back over text that has scrolled off the screen. The
buffer defaults to a loop mode which records only the most recent 16K of
text. Depending on the amount of memory available one can adjust the
size of the buffer from 4K to 512K. Of course, a buffer is nothing new.
What is new is the ability to type into the terminal and look at the
review buffer simultaneously; on other telecommunications software its
either look at the buffer or type into the terminal not both. Another
unique feature of the buffer is its support of the clipboard. I often
use this to cut critical information out of the buffer and pasted it
into an article on my Scribble! wordprocessor. Of course one can also
print out the contents of the review buffer. Even in this basic feature
Diga! shines by doing its printing in the background instead of tying up
precious online time. The interface to the printer is absolutely hitch
free. When you cancel the print out it stops immediately and never
forgets to free-up the printer so that other programs can use it.
One would think that so many features would have plenty of
documentation to go along with it. This is not the case. The manual
although well written is missing a lot of critical information. They
for example don't mention that the stack setting has to be raised to
10000 to ensure Diga! doesn't crash the system. Additionally one must
also delete the file called cycles. This is an IFF file that provides a
pretty picture to look at while Diga! loads in; it apparently causes
problems when the user doesn't boot up from the Diga! disk. To give the
extent of the under documentation, Aegis found the urge to post just
over 7 pages of text on a BBS on material that should have been put on
the manual (single-spaced and in elite pitch)-- that is quite an
addendum. Probably the most important thing the manual is missing is a
phone number. I had to go paging through some old magazines to find
out Aegis' phone number and that only gave me the non-toll free number!
For those who don't like being placed on hold when calling long
distance the toll free number is: 1-800-345-9871. Overall Aegis is a
well built and readily satisfies the impatient beginner as well as the
demanding veteran user. It is simply a good example of well planned
and organized programming. On the other end it is also an example of
poor quality control. It makes an error that always seems to strike
the ambitious, forgetting the fundamentals. Although it did not meet
my needs for a good VT100 emulator it is still used as my primary
telecommunications package; it simply has too many conveniences and
features that I can't do without. One note, Aegis is already busy on a
Diga! 2.0 which should clear up the few faults Diga! does have; it will
of course be offered free to all registered Diga! 1.0 owners.
Wilson Cheung
Villanova University
EE Dept.
vu-vlsi!cheungwalton@tybalt.caltech.edu (Steve Walton) (08/13/87)
In article <1052@vu-vlsi.UUCP>, Wilson Cheung writes: > Aegis Diga! 1.0 As another new Diga! owner, I am largely in agreement with Wilson on his positive reaction to the package and in particular his praise for its ergonomics. >[Diga!] is a program that you can't run on 256K and will find >near impossible to multi-task in a 512K Amiga. In fact the release >disk is set up so that Diga! takes over the whole machine. I find this surprising. (I have 1 MB.) Does this mean that you don't get the screen depth arrangers if you run Diga! on 512K?? I've certainly never had trouble multitasking with it; in fact, it's friendlier than most. > Diga! currently supports about five different terminal emulations >including a tektronix 4010, a vt100, and even a talking terminal. The >tektronix terminal is one of Diga!'s premier features. It should be emphasized again that it emulates a *4010*, not a 4014. Really, it only has the MOVE and DRAW functions. What the world *really* needs is a 4125 emulator!! >Aegis >achieves low [interlace] flicker by choosing low contrast colors. >This, although fine for graphics, was near unacceptable for text. I find the interlace text colors (some pale color on black) to be very good, better than the dark gray background and black letters I use on my Workbench. Of course, I'm red-colorblind :-). >Diga!'s VT100 emulation failed to draw the screen correctly when logged >into the screen editor of my University's VAX. What's worse is that >they don't tell you how the VT100's keypad and function keys are mapped >unto the Amiga. There is a sheet of Diga! hints on Aegis's BBS (1-213-399-7316) which is required reading; wasn't it posted here recently? Anyway, you have to select 24 lines (overscan or not) and a transparent cursor before loading the VT100 emulation. Also, there is a genuine bug in the emulation: they got the escape sequences for turning autowrap on and off exactly backwards. After I tell my UN*X system I'm on a VT100, I have to manually turn Wrap back On, since ^[[?7h turns it off instead of on. Then it works fine, at least with GNU Emacs. Haven't tried VMS EDT or TPU (tm's of Digital Equipment). Yes, the keys are in a very strange place. I think nearly everyone will remap them. By the way, PF1, PF2, PF3, and PF4 on a VT100 send <ESC>OP, <ESC>OQ, <ESC>OR, and <ESC>OS, respectively. >Diga! also claims to support user created terminals >which is pretty misleading, since it amounts to submitting a written >request to Aegis to create the emulation for you. The emulation docs floating around have sources for all the custom emulations and instructions for your own; however, they are in C and communicate with the rest of Diga! via Exec messages, so you'll need to be a programmer. I see a market for add-on Diga! emulations, myself :-). >While existent the ASCII transfer does not have any settings for >character delays or end of line delays; it just sends the text at full >speed without pauses. I always have ^S/^Q (XON/XOFF) flow control enabled when I ASCII send anyway. You VMS'ers will have to do a SET TERMINAL/HOSTSYNC to tell the remote machine to send you ^S/^Q when it starts to overflow. On UN*X (or at least BSD) the command is "stty tandem". >Most [other communication] packages do have a function for hanging up >the modem but this never seems to work. This is because many >emulators assume all modems will hang up by dropping the DTR line >instead of sending a command such as the Hayes ATH command to hang it >up explicitly. Well, my Avatex 1200 doesn't have ATH or anything else like it, and only hangs up the phone when DTR is dropped. In fact, I thought all modems did this and some, in addition, had a hangup command for "by hand" invocation. When you tell Dave Wecker's VT100 V2.6 to hang up, it drops DTR. >[After putting PF1-PF4 on F1-F4], I have 46 function keys which I >can't use for much more than sending one line strings, any ideas? Yes. The aforementioned Diga! hints file points out that you can put a carriage return into a function key sequence by hitting Ctrl-M (NOT the Return key!). You're still limited to 80 characters per key, though, I think. Steve Walton, guest as walton@tybalt.caltech.edu AMETEK Computer Research Division, ametek!walton@csvax.caltech.edu "Long signatures are definitely frowned upon"--USENET posting rules
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (08/18/87)
In article <3621@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> walton@tybalt.caltech.edu (Steve Walton) writes: >In article <1052@vu-vlsi.UUCP>, Wilson Cheung writes: >> Aegis Diga! 1.0 >>tektronix terminal is one of Diga!'s premier features. > >It should be emphasized again that it emulates a *4010*, not a 4014. >Really, it only has the MOVE and DRAW functions. What the world >*really* needs is a 4125 emulator!! > Steve Walton, guest as walton@tybalt.caltech.edu Ahem. A short bit a history here to folks who dont use Tek terminals will know what I'm talking about. First there was a 4010 (Move, Draw) then there came the 4014. These were both stroke writers (ie. NOT raster devices.) Then came a whole slew of oddball terminals untill things really settled - 4111, 4112, 4113, 4114, 4114B, 4115 etc. I didnt see any of those, they are merely computer lore to me. What I have (and am typing on now) is a 4107 - 640 x 480 x 4 planes. Sounds like a good candidate for an amiga emulation so far right ? Well, this damn terminal has 3 planes for 'text overlay' ie, I can type, this without messing up the graphic on the screen. So we need 7 planes to emulate the (low end) 4107 series (now the 42xx series) The 4125. Ahhh, the big daddy of graphic terminals. 1280 x 1024 x 8 with 7 (I think) alphatext overlay planes. Now, we can always scale oe window to get the (apparent) resolution, but that 15 plane requirement is a killer. Plus have you seen the commands ? Gawd, they go on forever; there are sooo many. And while they seem pretty trivial, they are a bear to implement. (Pixel copy, hey no problem, oh, raster ops, oh, mirrored in X, oh, mirrored in y, oh, mirrored in X and Y in place nondestructive copy ...and on and on) And while Tektronix makes GREAT terminals, wonderful CRT's (nicest phosphors on the block) their manulas suck dead bunnies through a straw. I have them all from the 4014 to 412x, and yes, they do get better as years go by, they are still awfull. Sure thay tell you what the command does, real briefly, they dont tell you in very much detail, and you end up having to write a program to try it on a real Tek terminal to see what it REALLY does. Please note that I'm *not* flaming Tek, they are one of my favorite companies, a real class act. Not too swift on manuals though. I can see no real solution to this 'alphatext overlay' problem on displays that just dont have the requisite number of bitplanes. I have seen some solutions, for example The Bristol Group sells a 4125 emulator for the Sun, but they do the dialog area (alphatext overlay) in a seperate window, which on the face of it appears to be a good idea, BUT, people often make menus that have graphics, alphatext and graphics text. How good is your menu going to look when 1/3 of it is in another window. No, you shouldnt do this, but the idea is to support existing Tek applications, and, by god, thats what existing Tek applications do. So, sad but true, the 4014 is probably the only Tek terminal a 'bare' amiga can do. Now, if somebody were to do a 1280 x 1024 x n (14 < n < 24) video card for the amiga, it would be a simple matter of taking two years and writing the 4125 emulator. Plus, what do you do about the bugs in the tek terminals ? Do you emulate them or fix em. :-) -- Richard Sexton INTERNET: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM UUCP: {akgua, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, ihnp4, nosc}!crash!gryphon!richard "It's too dark to put the key in my ignition..."