w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Keith Petersen") (03/21/91)
MS-DOS Kermit v3.10 and associated files are now available from SIMTEL20:
pd1:<msdos.kermit>
MSKER310.ZIP MS-Kermit v3.10 comm pgm for IBM-compatibles
MSKR-EM2.ZIP MS-Kermit v3.1 term emulation & graphics info
XSEND051.ZIP Makes Kermit script files to send entire disk
Here is a list of MS-Kermit's major new features;
. Support for Cyrillic character sets during file transfer
. Automatic parity detection during file transfer
. Support for full-duplex RTS/CTS flow control
. User-settable serial port address and IRQ line
. Improved and expanded network support
. Text and graphics terminal emulation improvements
. Improved printer control
. Additional script programming functions and variables
. Bugs fixed
MAJOR NEW FEATURES:
Support for Cyrillic character sets during file transfer: SET FILE
CHARACTER-SET CP866, SET TRANSFER CHARACTER-SET CYRILLIC (ISO 8859-5
Latin/Cyrillic). This allows Cyrillic text to be transferred with IBM
mainframe Kermit 4.2 and C-Kermit 5A with correct translation to or from the
various system-specific Cyrillic character sets. Languages covered by ISO
8859-1 and CP866 include Bulgarian, Byelorussian, English, Macedonian,
Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian. There is as yet no built-in support for
Cyrillic terminal character sets, but this can be accomplished on Cyrillic
PCs with SET TERMINAL CHARACTER SET TRANSPARENT plus user-constructed SET
TRANSLATE INPUT tables.
Automatic detection of EVEN, ODD, or MARK parity during file transfer (SPACE
parity cannot be automatically detected). Reduces file transfer failures
when using a 7-bits-with-parity connection when you have forgotten to give a
SET PARITY command.
RTS/CTS full-duplex hardware flow control is selectable with the new command
SET FLOW RTS/CTS for smooth operation with high-speed modems, terminal
servers, and other high-speed devices that support this feature.
A new command for telling Kermit the address for COM ports 1, 2, 3, or 4, as
well as their IRQ line numbers. IRQ values other than 3 and 4 can be used
with nonstandard serial communication boards. Now you can adapt Kermit to
just about any serial communications configuration. However, the PC
hardware provides no protection against spurious IRQ values, so you must use
the new IRQ selection feature with great caution (for example, to avoid
accidentally interfering with your hard disk).
New or improved network support:
. Support for Novell's TELAPI TCP/IP telnet program via the new command
SET PORT TELAPI <internet-address>.
. Support for Interconnections Inc TES terminal emulation over Novell Netware
to Netware-equipped VAX/VMS computers via SET PORT TES <hostname>.
. Improved support for IBM EBIOS / LANACS. Baud rate can now be set for ACS,
server port name can be selected so REDIRECT program no longer needed,
HANGUP and BREAK work with ACS.
. Support for AT&T StarGROUP Asynchronous Gateway service (via EBIOS).
. Improved grouping of escape sequences sent by function and arrow keys.
. Improved operation over slow network connections.
. Networks supported now include:
3COM BAPI
AT&T StarLAN / StarGROUP
DECnet CTERM and LAT
IBM EBIOS / LANACS
Intel OpenNET
NetBIOS
Novell Netware NASI / NACS
Novell Netware TELAPI
Interconnections Inc / Novell TES
Ungermann-Bass Net/One
plus any BIOS Interrupt 14 interceptor for TCP/IP or other services
New terminal emulation features:
. Improved 132-column support. New command SET TERMINAL WIDTH {80, 132}
allows you to specify the screen width from the keyboard, and Kermit also
responds to host-generated escape sequences for switching screen width
between 80 and 132 columns. Video adapters supported for automatic
screen-width switching include:
ATI EGA and VGA Wonder (NEW)
AST, Dell, and other boards based on Western Digital VGA boards (NEW)
AT&T / Olivetti
Everex Viewpoint EV-659, FVGA-673, EV-678, Micro Enhancer Deluxe (NEW)
IBM XGA (NEW).
Paradise AutoSwitch EGA Mono (NEW)
Paradise VGA Plus 16 (ROM BIOS 003056-xxx firmware) (NEW)
Paradise VGA Plus (ROM BIOS 003056-xxx firmware) (NEW)
Paradise VGA Professional (ROM BIOS 003056-xxx firmware) (NEW)
STB VGA/EM (Tseng TVGA)
STB VGA/EM Plus (Tseng 4000), VGA/EM-16, VGA/EM-16 Plus (NEW)
Tseng Labs EVA board with 132-column kit installed
Tseng Labs UltraPAK mono/Hercules with 132 column modes
Video 7 Vega Deluxe with 132X25.COM driver installed and Video 7 VGA
Other 132-column capable adapters are supported via automatic execution of
user-provided COLS80.BAT and COLS132.BAT files.
. SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET <name[ G0 [ G1 [ G2 [ G3 ] ] ] ]. The new
trailing parameters let you explicitly designate a particular character set
to one or more of the terminal emulator's G0..G3 areas. This is necessary,
for example, for using an 8-bit character set in the 7-bit environment with
Shift-In / Shift-Out.
. The host may now designate 7-bit National Replacement Character sets to
G0..G3 using standard ISO 2022 or DEC character-set designation escape
sequences.
. Key definition strings can now contain a mixture of keyboard verbs and
regular characters. Verbs can be not only built-in \K verbs (like
\Kbreak), but also names of user-defined macros (like {\Kmymacro}).
. New command SET TERMINAL ARROW { CURSOR, APPLICATION } lets you switch
arrow key modes manually.
. SET KEY LK lets you tell Kermit that you are using a DEC LK250 keyboard
with an external LK250 driver loaded.
. New SET TERMINAL BELL option, NONE, tells Kermit to ignore incoming bell
characters, rather than sounding them (AUDIBLE) or flashing the screen
(VISIBLE).
. Keyboard control sequences and strings are now grouped together in network
packets.
. Transparent printing is now done a line at a time, rather than a character
at a time.
. Improved coordination with DesqView during terminal emulation.
. VT100 terminal type added. This is the same as the VT102, but sends the
VT100 identification string in response to "what are you?" queries to
prevent host applications from sending VT102-specific escape sequences such
as insert / delete character.
. HONEYWELL terminal type added. Same as VT102, but with built-in ENQ and
other responses to mimic a Honeywell VIP7809 terminal. This allows MS-DOS
Kermit to be used with Honeywell DPS-6 computers. (MS-DOS Kermit does not
normally support the ENQ feature because it is a security risk.)
. Terminal emulations supported by the IBM version now include:
DEC VT52
Heath/Zenith 19
DEC VT100 (NEW)
DEC VT102
DEC VT320
Honeywell VIP 7809 (= VT102 but with several VIP-specific features) (NEW)
Tektronix 4010/4014 graphics with VT340 features
NONE (allows external console drivers to provide other emulations)
Tektronix graphics terminal emulation improvements:
. Graphics-mode fore- and background colors now user-selectable via new
SET TERMINAL GRAPHICS COLOR command. Separate fore- and background colors
can be used for text screens and graphics screens. Graphics screen colors
are now preserved after a clear-screen operation.
. A text cursor is now available in graphics mode, selectable with the new
SET TERMINAL GRAPHICS CURSOR command.
. New built-in support of the Microsoft mouse for moving GIN-mode
crosshairs.
. The GIN mode crosshair cursor is now full-screen for increased visibility.
. Various BYPASS mode improvements.
. Improved character placement and rendition.
. Tektronix graphics are supported on the following display adapters:
AT&T / Olivetti (in CGA mode)
Hercules and compatibles
IBM CGA, EGA, VGA, XGA and compatibles (VGA and XGA used in EGA mode)
Wyse 1280x800, 1280x780, and 1024x780 models
Printer control:
. New SET PRINTER command lets you redirect printing to a selected file or
device during terminal emulation, for example SET PRINTER OOFA.TXT (file)
or SET PRINTER NUL (device). This applies to your use of the Print-Screen
and Ctrl-Print-Screen keys as well as to Transparent Print and Autoprint
escape sequences received from the host during terminal emulation.
New file transfer features:
. New command REMOTE PRINT <filespec<optionsto send a local PC file to a
remote Kermit program and ask the remote Kermit to print it with the
specified options (such as printer name, number of copies, etc).
. New SET SEND DOUBLE-CHAR <charcommand, to cause the specified character
to be doubled in outgoing packets. Useful for transferring files through
PADs, TIPs, Honeywell mainframes, etc, that use a printable character as an
escape and require two copies in order to pass one copy through.
. New SET RECEIVE IGNORE-CHARACTER <charcommand, to tell MS-DOS Kermit to
discard and ignore the given character when received during file transfer.
Useful for getting around communications processors that insert line feeds
or similar characters in the data stream, e.g. for "screen wrapping".
. New REMOTE SET FILE COLLISION UPDATE command requests the remote Kermit to
reject all incoming files that are not newer than existing files of the
same name.
. SET FILE COLLISION { OVERWRITE, RENAME, DISCARD } tells what to do when an
incoming file has the same name as an existing file.
. New REMOTE LOGIN syntax allows imbedded spaces in username, passwd, acct.
. Pressing Q or Ctrl-Q during file transfer now sends an XON character to
break XOFF deadlocks.
New script programming features:
. New IF commands added: IF LLT <word1<word2("lexically less than") and
IF LGT <word1<word2("lexically greater than") for lexical string
comparisons (IF EQUAL was already available), similar to IF <, IF >, IF =
for numeric comparisons. Both forms may be used with NOT, e.g. IF NOT LLT
\%a \%b ...
. New PRODUCT macro, similar to TERMINALS/TERMINALR. Invoked when host sends
CSI Pn;..Pn ~. If macro named PRODUCT is defined, it is invoked with its
arguments set to the numeric Pns (up to 9 of them). Designed to let host
applications invoke custom procedures on the PC, e.g. for VAX Lotus to
automatically invoke a Kermit key mapping command file to set up the PC's
keyboard for using VAX Lotus.
. New CLS command to clear screen while in command mode.
. New ON_EXIT macro, executed automatically (if the user has defined it) by
the EXIT or QUIT command. Useful for restoring video modes, etc.
. Built-in variables of the form \v(name) added to command parser, for use in
script programs, TAKE files, etc:
\v(argc) macro argument count
\v(count) current value of loop counter (SET COUNT / IF COUNT)
\v(date) current date dd-mm-yyyy, e.g. 08-02-1991
\v(ndate) numeric date yyyymmdd, e.g. 19910208
\v(directory) current disk and directory, e.g. C:\LETTERS
\v(errorlevel) current value of ERRORLEVEL variable (SET ERRORLEVEL)
\v(keyboard) IBM PC keyboard type: 88, 101, or (for LK250) 250.
\v(platform) PC type, e.g. IBM-PC, DEC-RAINBOW
\v(program) Program name, MS-DOS_KERMIT
\v(speed) Current transmission speed (only for COM1..4)
\v(status) 0 if previous command succeeded, nonzero if it failed.
\v(system) MS-DOS
\v(time) Current time of day, hh:mm:ss, e.g. 12:30:01
\v(version) Numeric program version, e.g. 310 for version 3.10.
These variables can be used in any context in any command where a \%x
variable can be used, except they cannot be the objects of DEFINE, ASSIGN,
or ASK commands; that is, they are read-only. View all built-in variables
with the new SHOW VARIABLES command.
. Read access of DOS environment variables via \$(name), for example \$(PATH).
. WAIT command now accepts modem signal names without backslashes: CD CTS DSR
(for compatibility with C-Kermit), as well with with them: \CD, \CTS, \DSR.
. New, more flexible WRITE command.
Bugs fixed since 3.01:
. Redirection of REMOTE command output has been fixed
. Unwanted echo of path from CD command in command files or macros
. REMOTE LOGIN operation fixed
. Corrected operation of ASK operation if used within a macro
. Corrected operation of SET LOG command within macros
. Latin1 transfer character set identification changed from I2/100 to I6/100
. Serial port input buffer now cleared at start of a file-sending operation
. Improvements in half duplex operation
. Corrected calculation of screen rollback space for small and big memories
. Corrections to character set translation tables
. Corrections to VT300 UDK (user-defined keys) feature
. Corrections to transparent printing
. Corrections to split/speed Xon/Xoff flow control
. Corrected operation with remote servers that don't understand I-packets
. Correction to print-screen operations with local-echo on
. Various minor VT and Tektronix terminal escape sequence bugs fixed
. PC disk i/o errors during file transfer now reported to other Kermit
. Corrected recovery from disk-full errors when logging a terminal session
INCOMPATIBILITIES BETWEEN MS-DOS KERMIT 3.10 and 3.00/3.01:
Macro arguments are now "stacked", saved at each macro entry and restored
upon exit, so that calling macro B from within macro A does not destroy macro
A's arguments. Note: this changes the operation of the LOOKUP macro
described in "Using MS-DOS Kermit" (1st edition). Variable \%0 now holds the
name of the currently active macro.
An INPUT command interrupted by keyboard activity now sets a FAILURE status
rather than SUCCESS, by popular demand. You can use IF ALARM to test whether
failure was because of timeout or keyboard interruption.
The REPLAY command now allows screen rollback, dump, print, etc. At the end
of the replay file, use regular terminal emulation keys (PgUp, Ctrl-End,
PrintScreen) to invoke these functions, and use Alt-X, Ctrl-]C, or Ctrl-C to
get back to the prompt. Previously, any keystroke would return to the prompt.
BYE, FINISH, or LOGOUT commands that fail (e.g. because the remote server has
these operations disabled) no longer behave as if they had succeeded.
WRITE command has new format: WRITE <destination<text>. The <textmay
contain any Kermit variables, including \v(...) variables.
CRLF is now supplied automatically at the end of WRITE and ECHO text.
Keith
--
Keith Petersen
Maintainer of SIMTEL20's MSDOS, MISC & CP/M archives [IP address 26.2.0.74]
Internet: w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil or w8sdz@vela.acs.oakland.edu
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