SY.CHRISTINE@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christine M Gianone) (11/07/87)
Info-Kermit Digest Fri, 6 Nov 1987 Volume 6 : Number 25
Today's Topics:
New 2.29C Test Version with Support for Enhanced Keyboards, etc.
Announcing Mac Kermit 0.9(36)
Initial Impressions of Mac Kermit 0.9(36)
Use of Kermit by the Disabled
Easylink and C-Kermit
How to Get C-Kermit for Data General AOS/VS?
Amiga Kermit
VMS 4.6 Bug Report with C-Kermit 4E(067)
Mapping Kermit65's Vt100 emulation to GS & //e Keypad
MS-Kermit and IBM Mainframes
RSTS V7.0 Kermit Wanted
More on C64 Kermit V2.0
Diffs for C-Kermit 4D(061) and Tandy 6000
Long Packets in CD3KERM
Long Packet Support in Apple Kermit
Tektronix Excerciser Needed
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 87 21:27 MST
From: <JRD%USU.BITNET@CUVMA.COLUMBIA.EDU> (Joe Doupnik)
Subject: New 2.29C Test Version with Support for Enhanced Keyboards, etc.
Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 2.29C, Enhanced Keyboards
I found a safe way to test for the IBM Enhanced keyboard and use it if
found. The improved keyboard translator was tested locally on a PCs Ltd 386
with the Enhanced keyboard, on two PCs Ltd 286's (one supporting the
keyboard and the other <mine!> with an older Bios which does not), and a
Zenith 151 PC clone which also predates Enhanced keyboards. Systems having
the new keyboard and a compatible Bios can use F11, F12, the separate arrow
keys, plus digit 5 and asterisk and forward slash keys on the keypad as
essentially new keys. This means NumLock can be toggled on for a numeric
keypad and still let the separate arrow keys operate as regular arrow keys.
Status and Help displays were tweaked by one column to provide readable
results for 40 column displays. The terminal emulator works just fine with
40 columns (excepting both the status line and drop down help menu) since I
made the dynamic screen size improvements this summer. Try DOS MODE CO40 or
similar to see this in action.
This one also fixes (?) the reported problem of an extra character occurring
between the packet's EOL and Handshake chars causes loss of the packet, and
it fixes a mangled Set Handshake command (crunched in a general cleanup
recently).
Regards,
Joe D.
[Ed. - Thanks, Joe! The new version is, as usual, in KER:MSTIBM.BOO, and
the manual draft, KER:MST29C.DOC, has been altered to reflect the new
changes. This release, however, has (at least) one minor bug. ASCII RUB
(DELETE) appears on the screen as a little house. You can fix this by putting
the following statements in your MSKERMIT.INI file:
SET TRANSLATE INPUT ON
SET TRANSLATE INPUT \127 \0
This glitch will be removed in the next (pre)release.]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 87 18:43 GMT
From: <MACMAN%CZHETH5A.BITNET@CUVMA.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Announcing Mac Kermit 0.9(36)
Keywords: Macintosh Kermit
Some times ago Carlos Albuerne was so kind to pass my Modula-2 version
of Kermit to you. In his letter he mentioned that you might be glad about
some help with the Macintosh version. So I'm happy to be able to send
you a new enhanced binary version of the program. It's a port to MPW C
including many bug fixes and new features. Here is a short (unordered and
incomplete) list of the changes I made to the program:
# The Cursor with open desk accessories now works correctly
# Long packets now supported
# Dialog boxes cleaned up
# New program icon
# Settings files are no longer TEXT
# Changed "Restore ResourcesE" to "Load ResourcesE"
# Reformatted many parts of the source to be better readable
# Settings can now be written back to an already existing settings file
# Server mode: added directory listing feature
# Added multifile (folder) send
# Added Server "Delete" file command
# Added Server "Space" command
# Server mode: Stop Alerts are not displayed (e.g. User cancelled transaction
stopped server operation)
# Get whole folder content from the server with filename ":"
# Menu command keys added to menus
# Support of menu command keys
# Menu command key and FKEY flag now saved with settings
# Accept end of transmission with keydown (not only mousedown)
# Added terminal settings dialog
# Added non-transparent terminal mode
# Added smooth scrolling option to terminal emulation
# Added underline cursor option to terminal emulation
# Added display of protocol version to "About Kermit" dialog.
# Fixed a bug in ckmtio which caused problems with the parity bit when
receiving form an IBM host for example.
# Added a simple Take file interpreter
# Added session logging
# Added transaction logging
# Added a completly new keyboard management (CKMKEY is no longer necessary)
# "Keep" flag settable by user
# statistics in about dialog
# rewrote parts of the window handling routines: windows are now
highlighted according to the userinterface guidelines
Thanks to the good code generation of the MPW C compiler just porting the
source saved about 20 kBytes of binary code. Rewriting parts of the source
saved some more kBytes. This results in a new version with all the new
features added but about 6 kByte smaller than version 0.8(35).
I hope you will like the new version which I think could be called 0.9(36).
Please tell me where and how to send the source code (preferably a BITNET
address). Today I read about Paul Placeway of Ohio State University who seems
to be working on a new version too. Unfortunately I don't have an address to
contact him directly. So I leave it up to you, how to handle the integration
of the sources. Unfortunately I will not be able to continue the work on
MacKermit at the moment, because the company who payed for the three weeks of
development wants me to do some work which pays for them too. Nevertheless I
will try to write a documentation for the new version. I will keep you
informed about this.
Matthias Aebi
PS: Please do not try to reply via the source address of this message. I
normally do not have access to this account. Use one of the two adresses below
instead:
BITNET: K116430@CZHRZU1A
USENET: ...!mcvax!cernvax!unizh!aebi
[Ed. - Many thanks, Matthias! It should be noted that this contribution came
out of the blue, and it may or may not be reconciled with other work in
progress. Thus, it may become the "mainline" Mac Kermit, it may become a dead
end, or it may be integrated with the work of some other people. But if it
works as advertised, it should be a definite improvement on the current
versions, so please take it and try it out. Reports and reviews are most
welcome. Does it work on all Macs? All but the original 128K Mac? Support
old and new keyboards, file systems, etc? Meanwhile, we're making an attempt
at getting Matthias's sources to other Mac Kermit developers in hopes of
combining the best of all versions.]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 87 17:07:50 PST
From: dplatt@teknowledge-vaxc.arpa (Dave Platt)
Subject: Initial Impressions of Mac Kermit 0.9(36)
Keywords: MacKermit
I've spent the last half-hour playing around with Kermit 0.9(36) on a Mac
Plus running System 3.2, connected via a 9600 baud hardwired line to a TIP
which opens TELNET connections to various local hosts in-house. I tested
0.9(36) against 4E(067) running on a Vax 8650 under Ultrix 1.2.
Notes from my fiddle-about:
1) I was able to puzzle out the method for remapping some of the keys
on the Mac Plus keyboard to do what I wanted. The big clue was that
one persuades Kermit to send a control character by using the
sequence "\nn", where "nn" is the decimal representation of the
ASCII character desired. Unfortunately, it's difficult to confirm
the setting of a key that has been mapped in this fashion; when you
hit the same key to check the setting, you typically see a small
empty box (the standard "Unassigned font code" character in the Mac
font structure). It'd be nicer if Kermit reconverted unprintable
characters to the \nn notation before displaying them.
2) I wasn't able to figure out how remap a key so that it would send a
Break. This was possible under 0.8(34) and (35) using a _very_
obscure function mapping; I haven't discovered the equivalent under
0.9(36).
3) The send and receive packet-sizes, and perhaps some of the other
protocol-related information, isn't being restored properly when you
load a settings file; the packet size returns to the default of
90. Some of the protocol information (block-check type, for
example) is being saved and restored properly, though.
4) The screen image is not restored properly after a dialog box is
erased (e.g. after a download, or after changing the settings). The
problem appears to be most acute if the screen was trying to scroll
during the erase-and-refresh process; I suspect that the scroller
and the screen-refresher are stepping on each other's feet.
5) The ability to receive 900-byte packets makes an _amazing_ different
in the speed of a download in my 9600-baud TELNET environment.
6) If you save a settings file "on top of" an existing settings file
of the same name, 0.9(36) does not copy the old version's
window-placement information when it creates the new version.
This is most noticable if the old version had been moved onto the
Mac desktop; the new version is not visible on the desktop, but is
instead found in the disk's (or folder's) window. 0.8(34) did this
correctly, by copying the old version's window/position information.
7) I like the smooth scrolling, and the ability to use a thin-underline
cursor rather than an eye-searing blinking-block.
Conclusion: not at all bad for a beta version; it'll really be nice
when the current set of glitches are tracked down and persuaded to
move to Tumbolia.
Here are the results for the Mac II:
1) I had noticed that some of the field labels in the protocol-setup
box were either misplaced, or only partially present, when I ran
0.9(36) on a Mac Plus under System 3.2. These fields all appear to
be OK when the same version of Kermit is run under System 4.1 on
my Mac II. I'm not sure whether the difference is in the System
itself, or in the fonts.
2) The scrolling/refresh conflict I noticed on 3.2/Plus is also present
in the 4.1/Mac II environment.
3) I reported that some of the protocol-configuration information wasn't
being saved and restored in the settings files. I found last night
that the "send packet-length" information is saved and restored OK,
but that the "receive packet-length" always reverts to 90.
4) Smooth scrolling on a Mac II in 8-bit-pixel mode is incredibly slow
(much slower than smooth scrolling on a Plus).
5) Over a 1200-byte dialup line to a Tip which was telnet'ed into a
Sun 3/110 running SunOS 3.4, 800-byte packets worked just fine for
both "send file" and "receive file".
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 87 09:21:11 PST
From: dplatt@teknowledge-vaxc.arpa (Dave Platt)
Subject: Use of Kermit by the Disabled
Keywords: Disabled, MacKermit
I might suggest that people with motor impairment might wish to consider
running CKMKER on a Macintosh, and make use of the new "Easy Access"
capabilities of the Macintosh operating system.
"Easy Access" is a standard, free (bundled) utility which permits the use of
the Macintosh window environment with a single finger (or any similar
manipulating digit such as a mount-stick, forehead-mounted pointer, etc). It
includes several capabilities, including "sticky keys" (touching a modifier
key such as Shift or Option once will "press" it for the duration of the next
keystroke; touching the modifier twice will "lock" it until it is touched a
third time) and "Mouse keys" (permits the user to move the cursor around on
the screen by using the arrow keys on the keypad, and "click" the mouse button
by typing a single digit on the keypad).
Of course, "Easy access" doesn't solve any of the problems relating to
Braille output, voice output, etc.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 87 10:05:59 EDT
From: pisces!wells@compass.UUCP (Ian Wells)
Subject: Easylink and C-Kermit
Keywords: C-Kermit, Easylink
I would like to use Kermit (C-Kermit) with scripts to upload and download
electronic mail to Easylink - Western Union's electronic mail system.
I am planning on using this from a Sun running Berkeley Unix and a Motorola
system in Europe using System V Unix. Who should I contact to find someone
who might have written such a script?
(-: IanWells COMPASS Wakefield MA USA think!compass!wells +617 245 9540 :-)
------------------------------
Date: 13 Oct 87 13:40
From: BRADLEJP@SNYPLABA
Subject: How to Get C-Kermit for Data General AOS/VS?
Keywords: Data General Kermit, AOS/VS Kermit, C-Kermit
It appears that there is a beta version of Kermit in C for AOS/VS. I have a
directory of the files on KERMSRV, and believe that the necessary files have
XKD as the first three letters. Is this correct?
Assuming that your response is yes, we would like to receive these files via
BITNET, but have some questions about the KERMSRV commands. We will be making
the request from a Burroughs A-10 mainframe (not having a BITNET
implementation for our DG machine). Are the files ASCII text files, or are
some of them binary? We understand that the files are in "V-format," but are
not sure what this means (no experience with the IBM world). Could you please
tell me what the physical layout of the files is, and what KERMSRV command
would be best to use to request them?
Thank you very much
[Ed. - The files are all ASCII text. The binaries are encoded printably,
and a decoder is included among the XKD*.* files. The ones you need are
XKC* *, XKU* *, XKW* *, and XKD* *. Tell KERMSRV at CUVMA to send you each
of these groups. Once you get them, you have to rename XK*.* to CK*.* if
you want to compile from source.]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 87 21:31:24 CDT
From: Phil Howard <PHIL@UIUCVMD>
Subject: Amiga Kermit
Keywords: C-kermit, Amiga Kermit, VM/CMS Kermit
I have obtained all the files identified in the file CKIAAA.HLP from the
BITNET Kermit server. I FTP'd these to a UNIX system and then downloaded them
to my Amiga using an older version of Kermit that was already on a disk
someone gave me. My C compiler has not arrvied yet so I can't compile the
source but I did go ahead and run the basic program (CKIBOO.BAS) to convert
the boot file (CKIKER.BOO) into what I thought should be a runnable file. The
file did not run and AmigaDOS said it was not a runnable object program. It
had almost the same size as the older one, and the beginning stream of
characters was similar as best as I could it by typing them on the screen.
1. Is that the proper procedure, to convert the boot file into a runnable
object program?
2. Does anyone who is on a VM/CMS system on BITNET have an already converted
runnable object program that they know work (cause they ran it) that
they can send me? I would prefer it be sent from a VM/CMS to a VM/CMS
system to be sure it does not undergo brain damage from ASCII/EBCDIC
conversion gremlins; remember it's a binary.
[Ed. - The problem is probably ASCII/EBCDIC gremlins as you surmise. No one
else has complained so far, but then we have no way of knowing if anyone
else has tried this yet! Can anybody help?]
------------------------------
Date: 19 Oct 87 10:49:00 EDT
From: "ETD1::LABOVITZ" <labovitz%etd1.decnet@afwal-aaa.arpa>
Subject: VMS 4.6 Bug Report with C-Kermit 4E(067)
Keywords: VAX/VMS Kermit, C-Kermit
I have just compiled the source modules for C-Kermit 4E(067) under VAX/VMS 4.6
on our VAX 11/785, using the supplied XMVKER.COM file. During the final
link of the KERMIT executable, the following warning message is produced
by the linker:
%LINK-W-MULDEF, symbol SYSTEM multiply defined
in module C$UNIX file SYS$COMMON:[SYSLIB]VAXCRTL.OLB;1
While I have not had a chance to confirm this with our DEC Software Analyst
(he's on vacation until next week), this seems to be directly attributable
to the new VMS 4.6 C Run Time Library.
Other than producing a warning message, however, our new version of KERMIT
seems to be running well thus far. If any other problems arise, I will forward
them to Info-Kermit, otherwise it will soon replace our current version
of KERMIT-32.
LT Stuart Labovitz
arpa: LabovitzSL@Afwal-aaa.ARPA
arpa: Labovitz%Etd1.DECNET@Afwal-aaa.ARPA
[Ed. - Thanks for the report. It's been forwarded to the new C-Kermit/VMS
developer and added to the XKVKER.BWR file. Since compilation and linking
were tested with VAX-11 C 2.3 on VMS 4.6, and this problem didn't arise,
the culprit is indeed most likely the runtime system.]
------------------------------
Date: 21 Oct 87 20:57 -0600
From: Grant Delaney <delaney%wnre.aecl.cdn%ubc.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Mapping Kermit65's Vt100 emulation to GS & //e Keypad
Keywords: Apple II Kermit, Kermit-65
For version (3.79): The attached patch when executed will Apple Kermit's Vt100
function keys into the Keypad. You will still have to use Open-Apple with the
keypad keys. This should also work with Apples numeric keypad
Key Pad VT100 Function Keys
___________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | |FNDNXT | Dellin |
| clear | = | / | * | Gold | Help | Find | Undlin |Gold
|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 7 | 8 | 9 | + | Page |section|append | DLword |
| | | | | command | Fill |Replace|Undlword|Gold
|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 4 | 5 | 6 | - | Advance | Backup| Cut | DelChar|
| | | | | Bottom | top | paste |undlchar|Gold
|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| | | | | word | EOL | Char | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | | ChngCas | DelEol|SpecIn | Enter |Gold
|------------------------| enter |-------------------------| |
| | | | BLine |Select |SubStit |
| 0 | . | | OpenLine | Reset | |Gold
_________________|_______|_______|___________________________________
========================== cut here ==========================
BLOAD KERMIT379
CALL -151
6AFB:2E 18 3D 2F 2A
6B00:37 38 39 2B 34 35 36 2D 31 32 37 38 39 2B 34 35
6B10:36 2D 31 32 33 0D 30
BSAVE KERMIT379.GS,A$1000,L$6900
[Ed. - Thanks, your message has been added to the APPKER.BWR file.]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 87 09:59:53 EDT
From: Claude Goldman <CLAUDE@BROWNVM>
Subject: MS-Kermit and IBM Mainframes
Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit, Protocol Converters, IBM Mainframe
I have several questions/suggestions about using kermit on an IBM PC
to connect to IBM mainframes via a 7171's.
1 - Is it possible to indicate the status of the VT102 status lights
in some way? In particular it can be very frustating not knowing
when you are or are not in insert mode.
[Ed. - The four VT102 LEDs are shown in the Kermit mode line. But they
don't necessarily reflect whether the terminal is in insert mode, only
that the host sent the sequences to turn the lights on or off.]
2 - When emulating a 3270 type terminal it would be very handy to be
able to assign different colors to different field attributes, i.e.
protected/unprotected high/low, foreground/background (now possible),
etc. This would be handy for full screen programs in Rexx, Xedit,
Focus, etc.
3 - I could not do ascii file transfers when parity was set to none.
Any ideas why?
[Ed. - Because the 7171 and IBM mainframe use parity. If you don't tell
MS-Kermit about this, checksums will appear to be wrong.]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 87 12:24 GMT
From: <KERMIT@CZHETH5A.BITNET>
Subject: RSTS V7.0 Kermit Wanted
Keywords: PDP-11 Kermit, RSTS Kermit
I am here with Hansruedi and we are looking for a way to connect a PDP-11/34
running under RSTS V7.0 to a 11/73 under RSTS V9.3. For internal reasons we
would like to keep V7.0 on the old machine and therefore we are looking a
RSTS-Kermit for V7.0. We asked Brian already for that problem, and he says he
is not sure whether he still has such an old backup binary version of
RSTS-Kermit, because compiling the old source on his new 9.5 RSTS will not
necessarily garantee to run on our old machine. Therefore, would you know of an
existing RSTS V7.0 runnable Kermit ( HLP- and EXEC-files) or would it possible
that you deposit an "Wanted" call into the KERMIT-infobox. Hoping to find in
our account some morning such a nice RSTS V7.0 version of KERMIT. Thanking you
in advance, we remain with best regards also from Hansruedi
otto.
------------------------------
Date: 14 Oct 87 21:36:54 EDT
From: FFO04688@UDACSVM
Subject: More on C64 Kermit V2.0
Keywords: Commodore 64 Kermit
I have had some success with the new version of Kermit. It seems to do a
pretty good job of supporting the VT100 protocol. A couple of things that I
noticed:
1. Boot file dosen't work properly. I have to load the main file and
run it.
2. Delete key on keyboard is mapped as Rubout (very annoying) You
have to press the F7 key for backspace. This can be dealt with
(at least on UDEL vaxes) by issuing an 'stty dec' command to the
c-shell. This could probably be fixed via a custom termcap entry
(or more drastically) changing the program's translation table.
Note: This could be a problem with our VT100 termcap, but I
doubt it as I have never had a problem with any other
VT-100 emulators.
3. Send command dosen't seem to work properly with C-kermit's receive,
I have to put the host into server mode and issue commands to the
server to transfer files properly.
I'm interested in hearing about anyone else's experiences with the package.
Rob Elkins
ARPA: relkins%trillian@udel-relay
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 87 22:20:18 EDT
From: cbmvax!vu-vlsi!devon!paul@RUTGERS.EDU (Paul Sutcliffe Jr.)
Subject: Diffs for C-Kermit 4D(061) and Tandy 6000
Keywords: C-Kermit 4D(061), Tandy Kermit
In Info-Kermit Digest V6 #23, I said I'd send the diffs along to compile
C-Kermit on a Tandy 6000. Here they are. Note that they assume that one is
running Tandy Xenix 3.0 or greater.
Install these diffs in the "stock" 4D(061) C-Kermit distribution, and then
type "make trs16" to compile. In reality, you only need to make the
modification to the makefile (ckuker.mak); the other diffs just make the
startup banner agree with the operating system version -- I didn't like
kermit saying "Xenix/286" on my 68000!
- paul
[Ed. - Thanks! Just the makefile entry is reproduced below. The full diffs
have been added to KER:XKUKER.BWR.]
#Tandy 16/6000 with Xenix 3.0
trs16:
make wermit "CFLAGS= -DTRS16 -DXENIX -DUXIII -DDEBUG -DTLOG \
-DM_VOID -Dvoid=int -F 3000 -n" \
"LNKFLAGS = -F 3000 -n"
------------------------------
Date: 24 OCT 1987 20:36 EDT
To: <INFO-KERMIT@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU>
From: Steve Roseman <LUSGR%LEHICDC1.BITNET@CUVMA.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Long Packets in CD3KERM
Keywords: CDC Kermit, Long Packets
My feelings are crushed! In V6 #24, you didn't mention that long packet
support has been in CDC Cyber Kermit V3 (CD3KER) since March. The guy 'Ed.'
who makes comments on each letter to Info-Kermit forgot about us. Just
because Cybers aren't as popular as VAXes, IBMs, and PCs.....
Steve Roseman
Lehigh University
[Ed. - Oops, sorry! Cybers might not be as popular as IBM PCs, but one
Cyber costs about as much as about 1000 of them...]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 87 12:13:49 PST
Subject: Long Packet Support in Apple Kermit
From: Mick Laver (ACC Microconsulting) <zz1ml%sdcc3@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu>
Re: Your response to John Gartley about long packet support (KD 6:24).
The Apple II Kermit (ver 3.79) also supports packets up to 250 characters.
Use SET RECEIVE (OR SEND) PACKET FA (or less). It works well with C-Kermit
4E(067).
Mick Laver, C-010 Internet: laver@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu
UCSD Academic Computing Center UUCP: ...!sdcsvax!sdcc3!zz1ml
La Jolla, CA.92093 BITNET: laver@ucsd.BITNET
[Ed. - Oops again. This all comes from not having a comprehensive database
of what Kermit versions have which features. Someday... For that matter,
add the new Mac Kermit 0.9 to the list.]
------------------------------
Date: Fri 30 Oct 87 16:48:53-EST
From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Tektronix Excerciser Needed
Keywords: VAX/VMS, Tektronix Emulation
Does anybody have a VAX/VMS program that will put a Tektronix 4010 emulator
through its paces? If you're willing to contribute to development and testing
of a new Kermit release, please send your program to me by electronic mail
(if it's not too huge) in hex format (as produced by the VMSHEX program that's
supplied with VMS Kermit). Thanks!
Frank da Cruz
SY.FDC@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU (Internet)
FDCCU@CUVMA (BITNET)
------------------------------
End of Info-Kermit Digest
*************************
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