phil@WUBIOS.WUSTL.EDU (J. Philip Miller) (01/09/90)
A new version of Kermit for the IBM PC & friends was announced yesterday. It promises many important improvements for individuals who use kermit for accessing SAS/Graph on other hosts. In particular it offers support of the VT340 (16 color) terminal and saving of graphics images as TIFF files. I invite the graphics junkies out there to exercise it with SAS/Graph and point out problems to the developers this week so that the final version will work well with SAS. -phil > Date: Mon Jan 8 1990 12:00:00 EST > From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu> > Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 Beta Test Available > Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0, International Character Sets, Sliding Windows > Keywords: Tektronix Emulation, VT320/340 Emulation, Local Area Networks > Keywords: WordPerfect > > This is to announce a very short public beta testing period for MS-DOS > Kermit 3.0 for the IBM PC, PS/2, and compatibles. Releases of 3.0 for some > of the non-IBM-compatible MS-DOS computers are in preparation, but not ready > yet, others need volunteer help. Please get the test version as quickly as > possible and report problems directly to the author of the program, Joe R. > Doupnik, JRD@USU.BITNET, jrd@cc.usu.edu, or jrd@watsun.cc.columbia.edu. > > The files for this new release are available via anonymous FTP from > watsun.cc.columbia.edu on the Internet, and from KERMSRV@CUVMA on > BITNET/EARN. On watsun, login with FTP as user anonymous (any password), cd > kermit/test, and multiple get (mget) the files. On BITNET, send a message > (interactive or mail) to KERMSRV@CUVMA and request the desired files. The > manual is in preparation and will be announced shortly. > > The file MSTIBM.BOO is the runnable .EXE file encoded in printable format. > To convert the BOO-file back to .EXE, use any of the MSBPCT.* programs, > which can be found in the "A" area of Kermit distribution on watsun > (cd kermit/a), or in KERMSRV (just refer to them by name). On watsun only, > the executable program, MSTIBM.EXE, is available for FTP in binary mode > (note, on watsun, the filenames are lowercase). Here is a brief list of the > files that are available during this testing period (many of these names > will change in the real release): > > Internet BITNET/EARN > WATSUN CUVMA > kermit/test T: Description > > mstibm.exe (none) Executable program, about 131K (watsun only) > mstibm.boo T:MSTIBM.BOO BOO-encoded version of MSTIBM.EXE, about 156K > mstibm.hlp T:MSTIBM.HLP A short help file > mstibm.bwr T:MSTIBM.BWR "Beware" file, known limitations and bugs > mstibm.upd T:MSTIBM.UPD Summary of features new to version 3.0 > mstibm.ed T:MSTIBM.ED Detailed edit history > mstibm.vt T:MSTIBM.VT Summary of functions of VT320 emulator > mstibm.ini T:MSTIBM.INI Sample init file for version 3.0 (MSKERMIT.INI) > mstibm.hay T:MSTIBM.HAY Hayes modem dialing script (HAYES.TAK) > mstibm.wp T:MSTIBM.WP WordPerfect init file for version 3.0 (WP30.INI) > mstlk2.asm T:MSTLK2.ASM LK250 keyboard driver source (from Terry Kennedy) > mstlk2.com (none) Binary executable LK250 keyboard driver > mstlk2.boo T:MSTLK2.BOO BOO-encoded version of MSTLK2.COM > mstlk2.hlp T:MSTLK2.HLP Help file for LK250 driver > ms*.asm,.h T:MS*.ASM,.H Source files > > The public beta-testing period will last only about a week, so please test > the new features and send in reports and/or fixes as quickly as possible! > The formal release will come several weeks later. Your cooperation in rapid > testing and reporting of bugs is much appreciated, and the short notice is > regretted. > > As bugs are reported and fixed, the files MSTIBM.EXE, .BOO, and .BWR will > probably change from day to day, so when reporting a problem, be sure to > include the full version heading (as reported by the VERSION command). > These changes will be logged at the end of the file MSTIBM.ED. > > NEW FEATURES OF MS-DOS KERMIT 3.0 > > 1. Emulation of most features of the DEC VT320 terminal, plus many features > of the VT340. > 2. International character sets in terminal emulation and file transfer. > 3. Sliding window packet protocol. > 4. Expanded support for local area networks. > 5. Enhanced graphics commands in the Tektronix emulator, suitable for use > with mainframe WordPerfect versions 5 and 4.2. > 6. Many other improvements. > > The rest of this message describes these new features. See MSTIBM.UPD and > MSTIBM.ED for details. > > 1. VT320/VT340 EMULATION > > MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 emulates the DEC VT320 terminal, international model, with > many features of the more advanced VT340/330 text/graphics terminals thrown > in. VT320 is the default terminal type for MS-DOS Kermit 3.0. Kermit > continues to offer emulations for the DEC VT52, Heath/Zenith-19, and DEC > VT100/102 terminals, as well as of Tektronix graphics terminals. Kermit's > VT320/340 emulation offers many capabilities beyond the VT102, including: > > . A selection of character sets, with the ability to switch among them. > . Translation of the above sets to/from any of the five IBM PC code pages. > . User-defined soft function keys, downloadable by the host. > . Tektronix 4010/4014 graphics with many extensions, including color, > "sixel" graphics, rectangle fill with various patterns, and more. > . Support of the DEC LK250 keyboard, a DEC LK201 keyboard for IBM-PCs > (via a special driver, MSTLK2.*). > . A new mechanism for switching between 80 and 132 columns when your > display adapter supports this. > . Graphics screens may now be saved to disk files in uncompressed > Aldus/Microsoft TIFF 5.0 format (approximately 110K per EGA screen) > for importation into other applications that support TIFF files. > -- J. Philip Miller, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Box 8067 Washington University Medical School, St. Louis MO 63110 phil@wubios.WUstl.edu - Internet (314) 362-3617 phil@wubios.wustl - bitnet uunet!wucs1!wubios!phil - UUCP C90562JM@WUVMD - alternate bitnet