BRIGHT@AC.DAL.CA (BOB BRIGHT) (04/06/89)
I just got a new terminal emulator accessory called
"STalker", and thought I'd share my first impressions. STalker
features:
- ansi and vt52 emulation, including vt100 keypad emulation (but
no video attributes)
- a virtual screen configurable from 24-2000 lines by 40-200
columns
- an autodialer which will cycle through a list of up to 40
numbers until it gets a connection
- ascii and xmodem uploads, ascii and x/ymodem downloads
- 20 function key macros (but no macro processor :-( )
- all configuration parameters, including phone numbers and
macros, are saved in an .inf file (separate rs232 and terminal
parameters can be specified for each number; very handy)
- best of all, STalker runs in the background with any GEM
application (but not .TOS)
Unlike the Shadow background transfer accessory, STalker
doesn't require you to set aside a chunk of RAM at boot-up which
is at least as large as the largest file you want to download.
STalker flushes its download buffer whenever it's full, which has
the advantage of freeing up a lot of RAM, but the disadvantage of
temporarily tying up the machine during disk accesses.
The package includes a configuration program which allows
you to set the size of the download buffer and the virtual
screen. With everything configured as small as possible (24-line
screen buffer, 4K download buffer), STalker occupies about 85K of
RAM, and I can just _barely_ squeeze STalker and WordPerfect into
my 520STfm. (I do mean just barely: I had to dump a couple of
small TSR's from my /AUTO/ folder, which occupied 2K at most,
before I could get WP to run).
What do I think? In a word (three, actually), I LOVE IT!
I've been doing background xmodem downloads all morning from the
local vax while I was working on my PhD dissertation in
WordPerfect. (Heck, if it'll run with WP, then it'll run with
anything.) I didn't notice any slowdown at all, except when
STalker was doing disk accesses, in which case everything locks
up for a few seconds. I found the lockups slightly annoying at
first, but quickly got used to them. With a bigger download
buffer, of course, the disk accesses would be less frequent.
My only real complaint is that STalker apparently interprets
ansi and vt52 escape sequences with reference to its virtual
screen, rather than to the physical screen. Thus if the machine
you're talking to sends a cursor-to-home followed by an erase-to-
end-of-screen (ESC H ESC J for a vt52; this is the usual way to
clear the screen), the net effect is that STalker completely
flushes its virtual screen, which renders it rather unhelpful for
a lot of purposes. Otherwise the virtual screen would be a very
handy feature indeed, since you can configure it for up to 2000
lines, and can even scroll through it while performing downloads.
Besides being very impressed with the actual operation of
STalker, I'm also impressed with the service provided by Strata
Software. After looking at a demo version of the accessory last
week, I mailed Strata a cheque for the full version. I received
it exactly a week later; they must've mailed it out as soon as
they got my order, without even waiting for my cheque to clear.
That kind of service I can handle!
Price of STalker is $35Cdn, or $30US, and well worth every
penny in my opinion. The address of Strata Software is:
94 Rowe Drive
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
K2L 3Y9
(613) 591-1922
If anyone's interested in looking at the demo version, send
me email. (Don't bother posting requests to the newsgroup; it
wastes bandwidth, and besides the reply function in our news
reader is broken.) The demo isn't configurable, and will only
work for ascii downloads and xmodem uploads. (Maybe I should
just post the demo to comp.binaries.atari.st? What exactly is
the policy on posting shareware, demos, etc.? There was a big
discussion of this issue in comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d recently.)
BBB (Needless to say, I'm not affiliated in any way with Strata
Software.)
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Bob Bright <BRIGHT@DALAC.BITNET>
Philosophy Dept.
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS B3H 3J5 (902) 424-3810