PROCOMM .CMD SCRIPT FILE CONVERSION TO PROCOMM PLUS VERSION 2

Updating your Procomm 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 .CMD scripts to work with Procomm PLUS
Version 2.0, is really a two-step process.  Before you start changing you
scripts to bring them into Procomm PLUS Version 2.0 compatibility, please make
a set of backups.  Failure to do this has caused untold grief for many.

First, the .CMD scripts used in Version 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 must be changed to the
.ASP scripts used in Procomm PLUS 1.1.  From that point, utilities furnished
with Version 2.0 will finish the job for us.  To see how we do this, let's use
the material provided in the Version 1.1 User's Manual of that time.

Procomm 2.4.2 (and 2.4.3) used several "output translation characters" which
Procomm PLUS does not support - the exclamation point (!, representing a
carriage return) and the vertical bar (|, representing an escape).  In Procomm
PLUS, use a Ctrl-M (^M) in place of the exclamation point to send a carriage
return; use Ctrl-left bracket (^[) to send an escape.  The caret (^) for a
control character and tilde (~) for a pause are still supported.

You can easily convert Procomm 2.4.2 (and 2.4.3) command files (*.CMD) to .ASP
files:

                 Type RENAME *.CMD *.ASP, then press [ENTER].

Within the converted *.ASP files make the following two changes.  First, make
sure that all command keywords are completely spelled out; Procomm PLUS does
not support abbreviated keywords.  Second, change all the output translation
characters as described above.

Finally, several script commands have changed:

  Change any occurrences in your script files of
     SET BACKSPACE IN DEST|NONDEST
  To
     SET BACKSPACE DEST|NONDEST

  Change any occurrences of
     SET CR_IN CR|CR_LF
  To
     SET CR CR|CR_LF

  Change any occurrences of
     SET FLOWCTRL ON|OFF
  To
     SET SOFTFLOW ON|OFF

  Procomm 2.4.2's SET BACKSPACE OUT and SET CR_OUT are not supported by Procomm
PLUS. Change the keyboard mapping (Press Alt-F8) to assign the output values
for the [BACKSPACE] and [ENTER] keys.

That wasn't so bad, was it?

Now it is time to take these scripts converted from .CMD to .ASP and do a quick
check or two on them.  Because Procomm PLUS Version 2.0 uses compiled scripts,
and because the compiler (ASPCOMP.EXE) is a fussy little devil, some syntax
errors you may have made in your older scripts can cause a problem.  Here are a
few tips based on what I have seen on the Forum.  Many use the command DIAL 1
to dial the Dialing Directory entry number 1.  Previously this sneaked by in
many cases.  But the compiler requires the correct syntax, DIAL "1" (note the
quotes).  Do be sure that all your comments within your converted .ASP scripts
start with a semicolon (;).  A line which is only comments and contains no
script commands should start with a semicolon.  And be sure your script ends
with a "newline", that is, an ASCII 13 followed by an ASCII 10 for the cr/lf
combination.  This is the correct way that a word processor (saving in ASCII
mode) saves the file.  But if you have written your file with COPY CON you may
have omitted this.  There should be no end-of-file character (Ctrl-Z) on the
last command line, but rather on the line after the last line which contains a
command.

I have seen on the Forum a couple of other things that cause problems.  Among
these are mismatched IF/ENDIF, $IF/$ENDIF, SWITCH/ENDSWITCH, CASE/ENDCASE,
DEFAULT/ENDCASE, FOR/ENDFOR, WHILE/ENDWHILE, and COMMENT/ENDCOMMENT
statements.  It is best to get these squared away now.

That done, we are ready to use the CONVERT.EXE program that comes with Procomm
PLUS Version 2.0 to convert these Procomm PLUS Version 1.1 .ASP scripts to the
new format.  If they were already prepared as above when you used PCINSTAL to
install Version 2.0, the scripts would have been automatically converted.  To
do it manually, go to the directory containing CONVERT.EXE (which is on your
distribution disk if you can't find it) and your newly upgraded .ASP scripts
and enter CONVERT MYFILE.ASP for each of the .ASP files in turn.  This
conversion process will write the new style .ASP file, and make a .BAK backup
copy out of the old one.  When it converts it will correct for changes in
syntax in most cases, and will also add PROC MAIN at the top of the script and
ENDPROC at the end of the script.  Because we can now have all kinds of
procedures, this is a sort of "label" that the compiler requires.  There will
also be a header on the script saying it has been converted.  You might take a
look at one to see just what this CONVERT.EXE actually does.

The next step is to "compile" the newly created new version .ASP file, using
ASPCOMP.EXE, another of the files on your distribution disks.  The compiling
actually makes an .ASX file from an .ASP script, and it is this .ASX script
file that Procomm PLUS Version 2.0 actually uses.  It is a lot smaller than its
equivalent .ASP file, and nobody can read it to see your Passwords, etc.  It
runs much faster, too.

Although in some circumstances Procomm PLUS will compile the script for you "on
the run", I suggest you do not use this system at first, since you miss a lot
of error information.  Instead, do it at the DOS prompt.  Simply enter: ASPCOMP
/ML MYFILE.ASP.  The /ML causes the compiler to write a .MAP file for the
script which will help you find errors, should there be any.  In some cases it
will even write an .ERR file to provide help in tracking down problems.

Remember that if you change an .ASP file for any reason, you must once again
compile it using ASPCOMP so that the changes are reflected in the .ASX file
actually used as a script by Procomm PLUS Version 2.0.

Once everything is running properly you can delete the .BAK backup versions of
your scripts, and the .MAP and .ERR files that the compiler may have written.

The Datastorm Forum is the place to get answers if you have any problems with
these converted scripts.  Just give a holler and one of the SYSOPs or other
users will be happy to give you a hand.  Welcome to Version 2!