usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) (07/03/89)
I have had many requests to post a summary to my posting about any programs that allow download/uploading in the background. It is suggested that some of them are public domain. Does anybody out there know where I can get it from? Since so many people have replied to me, may I suggest that they be posted to the net? Thank you to everyone who replied and gave such usefull information. Dave Scholten ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here is what I received: Not PD, but Desqview lets me do it quite nicely. Desqview needs an EEMS board or a 386 to be really useful though. I've heard DoubleDOS is good at it too. In terms of TSRs, there's a terminal emulator series called Reflection XX (XX=1, 3, 5, or 7), which will run in the background. It takes a lot of memory (over 100K, I seem to recall). Sidekick Plus also claims to be able to do this sort of thing, though I've never tried it. ============================================================================= dave, i'd suggest looking at softklone, inc.'s MIRROR III, a very competent and robust communications package fashioned after crosstalk. infoworld reviewed it some time ago and it scored highly. i think it retails for $99.95, but you could probably get it mail-order for under $50. it supports a very good scripting language (much like C), xmodem, ymodem, hayes, kermit, crosstalk, and compuserve file transfer protocols, background communications, file capture, dial directory features (if implemented, like procomm), and a strong set of available terminal emulators (vt100, vt220, televideo 912, 920, 925, ansi, IBM mainframe, etc.). it also has a host mode (if your modem can automatically answer the phone). i can set my pc up at work with MIRROR in host mode and call into it from home. it supports an array of security features (e.g., setting up "logins" and security levels) for its host mode. for example, i load mirror and have it dial me into a system. once MIRROR logs me in, i can begin downloading a file, hit both shift keys and i'm in DOS. mirror is in the background, downloading files, while consuming only (!) 260K of RAM. you can then run wordperfect, lotus, dbase, etc., and do something else. while in dbase, for example, i can hit both shift keys, and i'm back in mirror. double-shift again, and i'm back in dbase. my only regret is that the package doesn't currently support zmodem. i've been using it since it was MIRROR II (version 3.6) which has been almost five years. MIRROR III was a welcome upgrade. good luck shopping around. ======================================================================== Oh, there is one program: DGTERM is a terminal program which appeared in c.b.i.p. a long while back, and which boasts of background file transfer. I found it extremely fragile for my purposes. It would run fine in the background, provided you didn't run any big programs, change directories, sneeze, turn your head more than 15 degrees or take a deep breath. Essentially, it would run fine in a background mode as long as there was no foreground to speak of. Again, this is supposedly because DOS is built like a giant playground. All the best. ========================================================================= I use MIRROR 3 from Softklone for just such purposes. It costs about $70 and has background file transfers with xmodem, xmodem-1K, ymodem, kermit, and crosstalk protocols, a plethora of terminal emulations, a powerful script language, and optional MNP in software (I haven't tried it). Runs fine in the background as long as the foreground program doesn't access the comm port you are using or do strange things to the interrupts. However, it uses about 200K of memory (more if you want lots of buffer space) and might not leave enough memory for whatever you want to be doing. For example I have a batch file in which I type dviout <filename> causing the computer to automatically dial up the campus mainframe, send a TeX Dvi file, print the file, and log out while I do more important things. Another approach would be to run Kermit under Desqview, but you lose the script language and have the same memory shortages. I once saw a shareware program that did background file transfers but it was too buggy to be useful. ============================================================================== I believe there is a program called RCOMM which will allow background file transfers. Check it out. ======================================================================== I'm not sure if it does Kermit, but there's a file called RCOMM around (often named RCOMMV2, RCOMM-V2, or RCOMMV22) which is a very reliable background transfer module. I've used it with Xmodem and Ymodem Batch, but I try to avoid frogs so can't remember if it does Kermit or not. You may want to look around for it and see if it suits your needs. It's available on most bulletin boards, and is probably available from SIMTEL20 by anonymous FTP.