****************************************************************** DialEasy - Copyright (C) 1994 by Christian M Wikstrom ****************************************************************** - A dialer for voice and computer connections - -------------------- QUICK INSTRUCTIONS: -------------------- dial [name] - dials a name from 'NUMBERS.TXT'. dial [part of a name] - dials the first matching name. dial [number] - dials a number directly. dial [n1] [n2] [n3] ... - dials many names and numbers. (Do not type the brackets.) The command-line is limited to 30 entries or 79 characters. Entering 'dial' and 'dial /c' will get you info. You may edit 'NUMBERS.TXT' and 'DIAL.INI' to suit your needs. These files should be in the current directory. --------------------- THE MANUAL CONTINUES: --------------------- ****************************************************************** DialEasy is CHEAP, and that's not all... ****************************************************************** This is the complete and uncrippled version of DialEasy. Please, pay me USD 5 for the program if you keep it. Corporates are to pay USD 5 for every user. IN RETURN you will get a picture post-card with personal greetings from Finland, and your registration number. (This offer is valid 1994-1997.) You can pay in CASH or by a MONEY TRANSFER (A transfer costs an extra USD 5. For instructions see 'README.TXT'). No checks please. Thank You! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Address: Christian M Wikstrom Lotvagen 49 68500 Kronoby Finland (Mention "DialEasy") ------------------------------------------------------------------ The author is a communications graduate. Internet email: christian.wikstrom@helsinki.fi ****************************************************************** YOU ARE WELCOME TO COPY THIS PROGRAM ****************************************************************** You are welcome to copy and distribute this program as long as you do not alter it in any way. The program includes the following five files: DIAL.EXE, DIAL.INI, DIALEASY.TXT, NUMBERS.TXT and README.TXT, which are 'zipped' into a file called DIALEASY.ZIP. You may use another compression method if necessary, but you may not alter or remove any of the files within the archive. You may not change or remove any copyright notices, payment notices, addresses or other information relating to the program. The author is retaining the copyright over the program. You may not charge anything for this program, other than fees to cover costs directly resulting from the distribution process, such as the cost of disks, CD:s, shipping, etc. ****************************************************************** DIALEASY - THE MANUAL ****************************************************************** 1. Introduction 2. Installing the program files 3. System requirements 4. Dialing 5. Connecting to remote sites 6. Using the phone-number file 7. Editing 'DIAL.INI' 8. In case of errors 9. A few AT-commands Disclaimer ****************************************************************** 1. INTRODUCTION ****************************************************************** DialEasy is a command-line dialer. You can use it for voice calls and computer connections. The program dials names and numbers - up to 30 in a single loop. If AUTO-REDIAL is set, the dialing continues until a computer answers, or until you pause or stop the dialing. * You can dial names, in which case the program will look for the names and numbers in a phone-file called 'NUMBERS.TXT'. * You can dial abbreviated names, in which case the program will look for the first matching names in 'NUMBERS.TXT'. How many letters you enter is up to you. * You can dial numbers, in which case the program will dial the numbers directly. * You can enter several names and numbers on the command-line, in any order and in any combination. Separate the entries with a single space. You can dial from within batch-files too. The command-line is limited to 30 entries or 79 characters, whichever comes first. - Redial manually by pressing - Hang up manually by pressing - Exit by pressing or Ctrl+C - Pause by pressing the letter 'p' ****************************************************************** 2. INSTALLING THE PROGRAM FILES ****************************************************************** The executable file 'DIAL.EXE' can be placed in any directory. If you put it in a directory on your 'DOS-path' you can use it from any other directory. The files 'DIAL.INI' and 'NUMBERS.TXT' should be placed in the current directory (the directory from where the dial-command is issued). Otherwise the program won't use them. The dialer *will* work even if it does not find 'DIAL.INI'. It will then use its internal default configuration. It does not give you any error messages if it cannot find 'DIAL.INI'. The dialer *will* give you an error message if you attempt to dial a name and the file 'NUMBERS.TXT' is missing. ****************************************************************** 3. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ****************************************************************** This dialer should work on any IBM-PC compatible computer. The program works with modems that use the AT-command set. (Hayes and compatibles, etc.) During voice calls you must have a phone as well as a modem connected to the phone-line. The program has been tested at speeds of 300 and 2400 bps, and it should work at 4800 and 9600 bps too. The program was written for the MS-DOS environment. It should work with any DOS version from 5.0 upwards. It probably works with older versions as well. ****************************************************************** 4. DIALING ****************************************************************** The dialer will automatically figure out whether you entered names, abbreviated names, or numbers on the command-line. You can enter up to 30 names/numbers or up to 79 characters. Separate the entries with a single space. The dialing process will be shown on-screen. You can put modem AT-commands in front of a number, and the program will still treat it as a number. On the other hand, you can put one digit after a name, and the program will treat it as a name. Examples: 1234567 - is seen as a number. ATX3M2DT1234567 - is seen as a number. Amy - is seen as a name. Computer1 - is seen as a name. The entries are not case-sensitive. It does not matter whether you type 'dial amy' 'DIAL AMY' or 'dial Amy'. You do not even have to enter complete names to dial. If, for example, you enter 'dial a', then the program will pick the first name in 'NUMBERS.TXT' that starts with the letter 'a'. You may enter any number of letters you wish, or any number of letters the dialer needs to pick the right name. You may enter up to 30 different names/numbers on the command- line. Separate the entries with a single space. Do not enter more than 79 characters. Otherwise the last accepted entry may be truncated. Abbreviate the names if you need to dial lots of names at once. For example: dial a b c d e f g h i... a1 a2 a3 b1 b2... If the wrong number is being dialed, press , and the dialing will be aborted. A comma ',' can be used for pausing while dialing. This is useful for example if you have to dial a '9' or a '0' to get out of a local phone-switching system. NOTE: You, yourself, will decide when to pick up the phone during a voice call. (Do not pick up the phone when calling a computer.) When you make voice calls, keep the modem speaker on, so that you can hear the call going. This is done with the 'M1' option in the dialing prefix. This option is the default. The speaker will be turned off if a remote computer should answer. You can pick up the phone as soon as you hear the other phone ringing. You may wait until there is an answer. But you should not wait too long. Otherwise the modem may hang up. You can decide how long the modem should wait before hanging up. To do this, use the S7 option in the AT-prefix. (See chapter 9.) This option can also set the time interval between redials. If the modem hangs up and AUTO-REDIAL is set in 'DIAL.INI', then the program will redial. (The modem may hang up if a busy signal is detected, if no remote computer is detected, etc.) You can choose automatic redialing by editing the appropriate line in 'DIAL.INI'. You may redial manually at any time by pressing the space-bar. You do not have to wait for the modem to hang up. You can force the modem to hang up at any time by pressing . You can pause the dialer by pressing the letter 'p'. This is useful when dialing many voice calls in a row. Pressing when paused, will dial the next number in the row. You can exit without hanging up by pressing or Ctrl+C. ****************************************************************** 5. CONNECTING TO REMOTE SITES ****************************************************************** The dialer will tell you when you are connected to a remote computer site. The dialer understands both words and numbers as 'result codes' from the modem. Most modems use words as the default type of result code. This dialer recognizes: NO CARRIER, NO DIALTONE, BUSY, CONNECT... The speed and line settings can be adjusted in 'DIAL.INI'. Four speeds are available: 300, 2400, 4800 and 9600. When the modem connects to a remote computer, the dialer will exit without hanging up. You may then start some terminal program. This dialer is not a terminal program. A USEFUL HINT: You could dial from within a batch file called 'CONNECT.BAT', for instance. In the batch file you could put something like this: DIAL line1 line2 line3 line4 line5 KERMIT connect Line1-5 would be entries in 'NUMBERS.TXT' and KERMIT could be replaced with whatever terminal you use. (Don't forget the program paths). The terminal would then start automatically after DialEasy has connected to a remote computer-site. If you experience problems with words as result codes, you may tell the modem to issue numbers instead, with a 'V0' command. Chapter 9 in this manual describes some important AT-commands. ****************************************************************** 6. USING THE PHONE-NUMBER FILE ****************************************************************** To get the most out of this dialer, keep names and numbers in a phone-number file called 'NUMBERS.TXT'. The layout of 'NUMBERS.TXT' is simple; Name1 Number1 Name2 Number2 Name3 Number3 etc... It is a normal DOS-text file. You can edit it with any editor that is capable of saving DOS-text files. The lines are terminated with a carriage return and a line feed. Put one name and one number per line. It does not matter how many spaces you put between the name and the number. But there must be no spaces within the name itself. The entries are not case sensitive; NAME = Name = name = nAmE. If you want to have first names as well as last names (or even middle names) in 'NUMBERS.TXT', then you may enter them like this, for instance: Amy_Rogers number Melinda_Alicia_Hatherell number Line1-Computing-Centre number It is important not to use spaces in the middle of a name. The dialer will treat everything after the name as a number. You may use spaces within the numbers. In fact you can use any characters that your modem accepts (like parenthesis or dashes). A single phone-number can be up to 32 characters long. NOTE: The first empty line will be treated as the end of the file. There must be no empty lines between the entries or at the beginning of the file. You may put comments at the end of the file, after the first empty line. A '0 0' entry somewhere in 'NUMBERS.TXT' will permit you to dial a single '0' if that should become necessary. You may use individual modem AT-commands in front of the numbers. These AT-commands will then override the AT-dialing prefix that would otherwise have been used. (You can change the default AT-prefix in the file 'DIAL.INI'.) ****************************************************************** 7. EDITING 'DIAL.INI' ****************************************************************** The file 'DIAL.INI' contains information that the dialer reads. If 'DIAL.INI' cannot be found, the dialer will use its internal default configuration. In many cases you should be able to leave 'DIAL.INI' as it is. But if you dial remote computers, you may want to change the speed, for example. The dialer supports four speeds; 300, 2400, 4800 and 9600 bps. When you make voice calls it does not matter which speed you use, as long as your modem can handle it. The other default line settings are; no parity, eight data bits, one stop bit (N81). They can be altered on one single line. Change these only if you have to. If the dialer does not work as you want it to, then you may need to change some values in 'DIAL.INI'. See chapter 9. You may also consult your modem manual. You may want to turn the AUTO-REDIAL option on or off. This is done by editing the appropriate line in 'DIAL.INI'. You may tell the dialer which serial COM-port to use, by editing the appropriate line. Accepted entries are COM1 or COM2. 'Dial.ini' is a normal DOS-text file. You can edit it with any editor that is capable of saving DOS-text files. Note that the entries must be on their specific lines. Leave no blank lines at the beginning of the file or between the entries. NOTE: Any individual AT-commands in the phone-number file or on the command line will override the AT-dialing prefix set in 'DIAL.INI'. ****************************************************************** 8. IN CASE OF ERRORS ****************************************************************** A few things to check... If the dialer refuses to run: ----------------------------- 1) Is the modem connected to the correct serial port? 2) Is the modem turned on and sufficiently powered? 3) Are the modem cables OK? 4) Is either COM1 or COM2 chosen in 'DIAL.INI'? If the modem refuses to dial: ----------------------------- 5) Can the modem handle the settings in 'DIAL.INI'? 6) Is there something wrong with the AT-commands? If the dialing process malfunctions: ------------------------------------ 7) Is the file 'DIAL.INI' as it should be? 8) Is the file 'NUMBERS.TXT' as it should be? 9) Are the mentioned files in the current directory? 10) Are appropriate AT-commands used? 11) Did you put too many spaces between entries on the command-line (1 space allowed)? 12) Did you enter more than 79 characters on the command- line? ('dial ' + 79 characters are allowed.) 13) Are your modem's result codes recognized by the dialer? (If not, try switching between words/numbers - V1/V0.) 14) Is the phone-number too long? (32 characters allowed.) The program should not 'hang' or 'crash'. The dialer will refuse to run if it does not detect a modem. In that case it will give you a list of things to check. An exception: If the program detects a modem, but there is in fact another device connected to the port, then the dialing may run slowly, and it may take a minute or so before you can exit. Also: Do not hold down the space-bar. Otherwise the dialer may get caught in a huge set of redials. The only way to stop that would be to wait, or press ++. Garbled entries in 'DIAL.INI' will force the dialer to use internal default values instead of the garbled ones. Illegal AT-commands are not seen as 'garbled entries', though. The mandatory pauses around the modem escape code '+++' and after the initializing sequence are set to 1.5 and 2 seconds. This is half a second more than most modems need. ****************************************************************** 9. A FEW AT-COMMANDS ****************************************************************** The default initializing string for this dialer is: 'ATZ'. The default dialing prefix is: 'ATDT'. An AT-command line starts with the modem attention command 'AT'. An 'X3' option will make the modem accept unconventional dialing tones. This option is necessary from within some local phone-switching systems. On the other hand, the modem may detect busy signals if 'X3' is used. If you do not want busy signals detected, use some options other than 'X3' or 'X4'. 'V' or 'V0' tells the modem to use numbers instead of words as 'result codes'. DialEasy is able to understand both. If you experience trouble with words as result codes, try this option. The default is 'V1' (words) with the author's modem. 'M1' sets the modem speaker on until a remote computer answers. When you dial remote computers you could also turn the speaker off completely with 'M' or 'M0'. 'E' or 'E0' would tell the modem not to echo any characters while in command mode. Echoed characters are not used by the dialer, but have not been found to cause any problems either. If you suspect that they are causing a problem with your setup, use this option in a new initializing sequence: 'AT&FE'. 'DT' tells the modem to use touch tone dialing. If your phone network has pulse dialing only, you will have to use the 'DP' option instead. An 'S7' command is not used in the default prefix. However, you might want to use it. It allows you to set how long the modem should wait before hanging up. The modem hangs up after the specified time, if no remote computer has answered. (If the 'X3' or 'X4' options are used, the modem may hang up much sooner for a busy signal.) When you have picked up the phone during a voice call, it does not matter if the modem hangs up. Usage: S7=[time], where [time] is 1 to 255 seconds. Sample prefix: 'ATX3S7=60DT' , would wait 60 seconds. The default interval is 30 seconds for the author's modem. Your modem manual should be able to provide you with more information about various AT-commands. ****************************************************************** DISCLAIMER ****************************************************************** This program has been tested and found to work properly on an IBM-compatible PC with a modem that understands AT-commands. BUT: There is no warranty of any kind for this program, neither expressed nor implied. The author will accept no responsibility for any damages or losses caused by using this program or by the inability to use this program. You use this program entirely at your own risk. ----------------------------------------------- Enter 'DIAL /C' for important information. -----------------------------------------------