jks (07/21/82)
Things are looking up in the area of communications packages for the IBM PC!
If you are one of the frustrated buyers of IBM's "Asynchronous Communi-
cations Support" (ACS) programs, you may be interested in a good patch kit
offered by Microcorp of Philadelphia. Called COMMPLUS, it is what the IBM
product should have been in the first place. I have had mine only a few days,
so I can't offer a thorough review. What I can say is that it is a significant
step in the right direction from the ACS.
The most important improvement for my uses is the upload/download
facility. You open the file to be written to / read from using the F2 key and
its associated menu (which includes an option to review the disk directory),
then return to terminal ops. There you are greeted with an intense flashing
L or a 'normal' U on the status line (line 25) right next to
- another feature - the "F5=HELP time date" prompt. (Also included on the
bottom line are error messages and a "P" indicator when the printer repeat
- F7 - is on and/or an "H" for hex listings - F6.)
The flashing "L" signifies that any incoming characters will be captured
by your disk file, and it may be toggled on and off using the F10 key. So all
you have to do to download a file from UNIX is open the disk file as above,
toggle the file closed, type "CAT unix filespec", F10, <enter>. Then sit back
and read what's going into the file (or else take a potty break because 300
baud is VERY slow).
Uploading is just as easy. The 'normal' U means that the file is primed
and cocked and just waiting for you to hit the F9 key to start it heading
out. For UNIX operations simply enter edit for the desired filespec and "a"
for append where you want the data to go. You can use the F9 key at any time
to pause the transfer and do something else. One missing feature here that
I've seen on ST80III for the TRS-80 is the variable transmission speed ability.
Evidently that could be important for some applications where the receiving
system is REALLY slow.
Another good feature is that COMMPLUS supports the Hayes Smartmodem auto-
dial capabilities. Have a list of up to 9 phone numbers and log-on lines
ready when you initialize the program - initially - and they will always be
there for you at the flick of the F8 key. I emphasize the "initial" because
the phone numbers are made part of your program when you apply the patches
at the outset. I haven't investigated what plumbing would be necessary to
change the list at some later date.
If you have a 64k machine you have to give up the TSO and VM/370
and half-duplex options in the terminal selection menu. With 96 or 128k of RAM
it relocates the RS232INT.BAS above the 64k boundary and you get to keep all
of your options. It wasn't a hard choice for me. You can always use the plain
ACS program for TSO and VM/370 work, and you won't have wrong-key-itis, as
all the function keys do the same things (where enabled) in both programs.
It's interesting that the - very useful in my eyes - printer toggle option
was actually buried in the ACS program, but not implemented.
I have continually mentioned the speed - or lack of it - at 300 baud. This
is not the program's fault, although the authors do acknowledge in a cover
letter with the documentation that the keyboard response is a little slow.
This is evidently due to the nature of the basic algorithms for outputing
the data. You can select up to 9600 baud as a line bit rate, but I had no way
to test anything other than 300 because of my modem.
Speaking of the documentation, I would have to describe it as thorough but
unimaginative. A large portion of the 30 pages is dedicated to the portion
of the program in which the patches are applied to ACS. This is the thorough
part, and I think anyone who has produced the ante for a PC should have enough
savvy to follow the directions. A little "background" on the evolution of the
program follows, and then a description of each function. This section was
not what I would call a "thriller". I sorta skipped over it. There were a
bunch of long paragraphs, type-written, not type-set, that I just couldn't
bring myself to read. Reckon what features I missed?
One thing I did catch is that you can press <end> ( # 1) and then F8, and
if you have a Smartmodem, it will hang up for you. Sometimes I have trouble
getting UNIX to turn me loose (it generates a new ";login:" prompt after I've
said bye). And I never have been successful getting the "+++" technique to
put me back in command mode so I could hang up - one of those really frustrat-
ing little problems. Anyway, COMMPLUS does it for me now. How do YOU hang up a direct-connect modem when the host computer keeps making its carrier?
The documentation is rounded out with several pages describing what is
happening in each section of code. This is certainly thoughtful on the part
of the programmers; they obviously realize the old maxim about no perfect
communications program, and have facilitated us hackers whacking away on theirs.
The thoroughness returns in the last section, as they have provided a hand-
holding tutorial to get you through a sample session of 'communicating'.
Two things in closing. The terminal selection menus allow a choice between
monochrome and color monitors. It supports 40-character screens. 2. Included
with the documentation is a blurb about INTELLITERM which will evidently be
a machine-language version of the package similar to what they now offer for
the TRS-80. COMMPLUS cost $25. + an incredible -in my eyes- $5. shipping.
My invoice said I could get full credit towards the INTELLITERM at a later
date. I guess they are working feverishly to get it "out the door".
Enough.
John Shirey (jks)
919-851-6552
call if you want to know more,
or write in care of this address (unix header)
the company is: Microcorp
913 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 627-7997