JRD@cc.usu.edu (Joe Doupnik) (09/09/90)
Russ Lister asked how to make MS-DOS Kermit drop it's AT&T NetBios connection when a user logs out of the host. The answer is Kermit will exit when there is a network error. And such an error is timing out waiting for a packet. So, the host needs to drop the NetBios connection and then Kermit will pop out of Connect mode. All that said, there are some "variations" shall we say from version to version of Kermit on whether or not this happens. It does occur in the development v3.02. The variations occur because material keeps being added to support LANs and sometimes the quit when gone part gets dinged. I can say that Kermit does exit automatically when talking to my Unix systems, including an AT&T Unix/386 machine. The time delay is usually several seconds and depends on the retry interval employed by the NETBIOS program. A final point on this subject. When Kermit is put into Server mode then it will remake a broken connection. I did this purposefully so that timeouts would be transparent when neither client nor server has anything to say for long intervals. What really happens is the old connection is declared deceased and a fresh connection is attempted to the same name. The server puts out a LISTEN request to any name and the client will do a transparent CALL to the server's name, all without the user being aware the connection had broken (save maybe a login to the server if that's engaged). This transparent repair stuff does not occur when talking to a Unix terminal server port because the packets get through. I am anxious that MS-DOS Kermit work smoothly with AT&T Unix systems so if there are problems that I can help resolve (i.e., the PC side) please send me a detailed message. Joe D.