Softerm Modular Plus Communications and Terminal Emulation OREAD.TXT - Documentation Supplement August 9, 1993 This OS/2 System Editor file contains changes and additions to the printed manual. To obtain a hardcopy of this information, print the READ.ME file using a command similar to: COPY READ.ME LPT1 Contents: 1. Install Procedure 2. Changes to Softerm Modular - Revisions to the installation program and procedure (including file decompression utility) - Name changes to menu options - Problem Determination (removed option) - Close Appended Capture (new option) - Profile data base not created automatically - "If File Exists" now supports Zmodem (see also topic 8) - Mark/Copy -> Transmit to host feature - Hot Spots on the monitor - Hide option when downloading - New Paste option 3. Printing to a Network Printer 4. Nationality Profile Character Representations 5. Softrans File Transfer Protocol Source Code 6. Zmodem File Transfer Protocol 7. CompuServe B+ File Transfer Protocol ***** 1. Installing Softerm Modular Plus ---------------------------- Run Setup program to create Softerm Plus Group and Program Entries or follow these steps: 1. Create a new group entitled "Softerm Plus". 2. Create a new program within that group giving OS/2 Presentation Manager the full path and program name to SOFTERM.EXE. And that's it. In the SOFTERM.MDB file, you can go in and add or delete any dial sessions that you like. Double click on it with the mouse, and you are set. If you would like to create a Softerm Icon that Starts a specifyed Session, for example an Icon that will start Softerm Plus and connects to Compuserve; Create a new program with in the Softerm Plus Group giving the full path and program name followed by the Session Name and "/p"; C:\SOFTERM\SOFTERM.EXE "CompuServe"/p If the Session Profile is in a different Database file than the default, (Last Database file opened), then add the database file name to the command line arguments; C:\SOFTERM\SOFTERM.EXE MYDATABS.MDB "CompuServe"/p ***** 2. Changes to Softerm Modular -------------------------- Please make a note of the following changes in the manual: 1. Pages INTRO.2 - 3 The Install program has been divided into INSTALL.EXE, which copies necessary installation files to the designated drive and directory and SETUP.EXE, which performs the main installation and program configuration. Quick Install has been renamed to Install All. In addition, Softerm's files are compressed, and the first character of the file extension is changed to a '$'. Should you want to manually decompress a file, the decompression utility, SFTUNARC.EXE, is supplied on Disk 4. Its syntax is: SFTUNARC [/L] InFileName [OutFileName] where: /L is an optional switch which will List the contents of a compressed file. InFileName is the name of the file to be decompressed. OutFileName is the optional decompressed file name. If not supplied, it defaults to '*.*'. (Currently, however, each archive contains only one file.) This parameter accepts templates, such as '*.dll', '*.hlp', 'wh*.dll'. Examples: SFTUNARC OHP2392.$LL SFTUNARC /L WHP2392.$LL SFTUNARC OHP2392.$LL HP*.HLP Compressed Ext. Decompressed Ext. .$OM .COM .$LL .DLL .$XE .EXE .$LP .HLP .$DB .MDB .$OD .MOD 2. Page INTRO.3 The Hide option has been renamed to GUI Disable. 3. Pages MO.1 - 2 (Session Manager: Options Menu) The Problem Determination option has been removed. 4. Page RF.9 (Session Window: File Menu) Please add the following information to Close Capture: a. The cascading menu now appears similar to: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Save Capture � � Discard Capture � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Close Appended Capture � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� b. Close Appended Capture If the Terminal Emulation printer definition option Append Disk Printer File On Close (p. PE.8) is enabled and printer data has been redirected to a disk file, use this option to permanently close the file. Important: A capture cannot be active when this option is used. 5. Pages RO.1 and RO.5 (Session Window: Options Menu) The Problem Determination option has been removed. 6. Pages E.2 and E.3 (Appendix E: Startup Switches) If the named profile data base does not exist, it will not be created. 7. Page RF.5 (Session Window: File Menu) Please change the description of "If File Exists" to: If a file with the name you have assigned already exists on your PC, you can specify that you want to: - Resume the transfer (if you are using Zmodem); - Replace the existing file; - Append the received data to the end of the existing file, or; - Stop the file transfer. 8. Auto-detect ZModem and CompuServe B+ Protocols. These download protocols will start receiving a file automatically when you are downloading. You no longer need to go in and start the download manually. The program is set up so that you can enable/disable the autodownload session by changing it under the Settings menu, selecting Terminal Emulation, and Auto Download. Under the Dialog box for Auto Download, you can set your default download path, and set your options for "If file exists....". 9. Mark/Copy -> Transmit to host feature Now you can mark a section of text using your mouse and transmit it to the host. If it is a single character, like 'x', double click on it. That will send it. If it is a block of text, mark it off with the mouse, click on the EDIT menu, and select transmit to host. The block will be received at the other end of the connection. This is defined under Settings, System Environment, and then select Edit Action Options. From there you can set up how you want the transmission to be formatted, and where you want it to go. 10. Hot Spots on the monitor If you are on a service that asks you to press (Enter) to continue, all you have to do is double click on a blank area of the screen. That will send a carriage return to the other end. It will also send entire words, finding the beginning and the end of the word. By double clicking on that word, it will transmit it to the host or to clipboard, dependant upon how it is configured. It can also transmit an entire page of text, by highlighting it with the mouse, then clicking somewhere inside of that block, and it will be transmitted. Refer to item #5 for defining the settings for this option. 11. Hide option when downloading There is a button that you can select in the download screen that will minimize your session while you are downloading and maintain the download. 13. New Paste option You can now cut & paste from outside files, using Shift- Delete, Ctrl-Insert, and Shift-Insert keys. As well as the Edit menu. This item is defined with the EDIT menu. This will work *only* for TEXT. ***** 3. Printing to a Network Printer --------------------------- Softerm fully supports rerouting LPT1, LPT2 and LPT3 to network printers, but does not monitor the status of the printers. Serial printing is supported only on local ports unless the vendor's network software supports such cases. ***** 4. Nationality Profile Character Representations ------------------------------------------ If you use the Nationality Profile to remap incoming or outgoing characters, you may see character descriptions which appear similar to: Character Description Hexadecimal [VT] NOTE:See READ.ME 0BH These characters cannot be displayed within the menu system. Locate the Hexadecimal value in the following list to see how the character is translated: Hex Character Description 001H � Single Line Horizontal 002H � Single Line Vertical 003H � Single Line Upper Left Corner 004H � Single Line Upper Right Corner 005H � Single Line Lower Left Corner 006H � Single Line Lower Right Corner 007H � Single Line Cross 008H � Single Line Junction Left 009H � Single Line Junction Right 00AH � Single Line Junction Top 00BH � Single Line Junction Bottom 00CH � Double Line Horizontal 00DH � Double Line Vertical 00EH � Double Line Upper Left Corner 00FH � Double Line Upper Right Corner 010H � Double Line Lower Left Corner 011H � Double Line Lower Right Corner 012H � Double Line Cross 013H � Double Line Junction Left 014H � Double Line Junction Right 015H � Double Line Junction Top 016H � Double Line Junction Bottom 017H � Communications Error Character 018H Up Arrow 019H Down Arrow 01AH Right Arrow 01BH Left Arrow 01CH � Solid Block 01DH � Solid Block, Lower Half 01EH � Solid Block, Upper Half 01FH � Solid Middle Block 087H � Single To Double Upper Left Corner 088H � Single To Double Upper Right Corner 089H � Single To Double Lower Left Corner 08AH � Single To Double Lower Right Corner 08BH � Single To Double Cross 08CH � Single To Double Junction Left 08DH � Single To Double Junction Right 08EH � Single To Double Junction Top 08FH � Single To Double Junction Bottom 093H � Solid Block, Left Half 094H � Solid Block, Right Half 095H � Greater Than Or Equal To 096H � Less Than Or Equal To 097H � Double To Single Upper Left Corner 098H � Double To Single Upper Right Corner 099H � Double To Single Lower Left Corner 09AH � Double To Single Lower Right Corner 09BH � Double To Single Cross 09CH � Double To Single Junction Left 09DH � Double To Single Junction Right 09EH � Double To Single Junction Top 09FH � Double To Single Junction Bottom ***** 5. Softrans File Transfer Protocol Source Code ----------------------------------------- Softrans, a file transfer protocol developed by Softronics, Inc., was designed to provide reliable file transmission over a wide variety of asynchronous communications connections, including switched packet networks and front end communications processors. Full binary file transparency automatically is provided by the protocol with no requirement for an 8-bit wide data path; standard 7-bit ASCII characters only are used within a data buffer. In addition, no control characters (00 hex thru 1F hex) occur within any Softrans block; the only control character used is carriage return (0D hex) which is the End of Message (EOM) character. Contact Softronic's sales for the Fortran 77 source code that can be uploaded to your host system and compiled with the appropriate Fortran compiler. Source code avalible for: Source for Unix systems Source for VAX systems Source for Data General systems ***** 6. Zmodem File Transfer Protocol ----------------------------- The Zmodem protocol has been added to Softerm. Please add the following information: Page PX.15 (Profiles: File Transfer) --------------------------------- Zmodem Protocol Parameters Retries Specify the maximum retry count for error conditions. Possible error conditions include timeouts and block check errors. If an error condition occurs during a file transfer operation and the Retries count is exhausted, a Line Failure message will be displayed on your screen. This parameter accepts values from 0 to 255. Transmit Packet Size This parameter determines the number of bytes contained by each packet of data. Set it to the size supported by the host (if you know what it is) or to Auto. If set to Auto, the packet size is determined by the speed of the connection. The faster the speed, the larger will be the packet size. Page B.12 (Appendix B: File Transfer Protocols) -------------------------------------------- Zmodem Protocol Note: Zmodem was developed for the public domain by Omen Technology under a Telenet contract. The Zmodem protocol descriptions and the Unix rz/sz program source code are public domain. No licensing, trademark, or copyright restrictions apply to the use of the protocol, the Unix rz/sz source code and the Zmodem name. The Zmodem file transfer protocol provides reliable file transfers with complete end-to-end data integrity between application programs. Zmodem uses either a 16-bit or a 32-bit Cyclical Redundancy Check to detect errors. Zmodem accommodates network and timesharing system delays by continuously transmitting data unless the receiver interrupts the sender to request retransmission of garbled data. Softerm's implementation of Zmodem supports all functions except fallback to Ymodem transfer. File Transfer Initiation When the Zmodem receive program starts, it immediately sends an initiation header to start Zmodem file transfers, or a challenge header to verify the sending program. The sender may send an optional intitialization frame to define the receiving program's Attention sequence, or to specify complete control character escaping. The sender sends a header with Zmodem Conversion, Management, and Transport options followed by a data subpacket containing the file name, file length, modification date, and other information identical to that used by Ymodem Batch. The Zmodem Header The header contains a "frame type", four bytes of supervisory information, and its own CRC. Data frames consist of a header followed by 1 or more data subpackets. In the absence of transmission errors, an entire file can be sent in one data frame. Frame File Information Zmodem sends the same file information with the ZFILE frame data that Ymodem Batch sends in its block 0. Pathname The path name (conventionally, the file name) is sent as a null terminated ASCII string. Length The file length and each of the succeeding fields are optional. The length field is stored as an ASCII-coded octal string counting the number of data bytes in the file. The Zmodem receiver uses the file length as an estimate only. It may be used to display an estimate of the transmission time, and may be compared with the amount of free disk space. The actual length of the received file is determined by the data transfer. A file may grow after transmission commences, and all the data will be sent. Modification Date The modification date is an octal number giving the time the contents of the file were last changed measured in seconds from Jan. 1, 1970 Universal Coordinated Time (GMT). A date of 0 implies the modification date is unknown and should be left as the date the file is received. File Mode Unless the file originated from a Unix system, the file mode is set to 0. The receiver examines the file name, length, and date information provided by the sender in the context of the specified transfer options, the current state of its file system(s), and local security requirements. If the receiver has a file with the same name and length, it may respond with a CRC header, which requires the sender to perform a 32-bit CRC on the file and transmit the complement of the CRC in a header. The receiver uses this information to determine whether to accept the file or skip it. Error Recovery Normally the receiver specifies the data transfer to start at the beginning of the file, but may start the transfer further down in the file. This allows a file transfer interrupted by a loss of carrier or system crash to be completed on the next connection without requiring the entire file to be retransmitted. If downloading a file from a timesharing system that becomes sluggish, the transfer can be interrupted and resumed later with no loss of data. Normal Session Ending When the sender receives the acknowledging header, it sends two characters, "OO" (Over and Out) and exits to the operating system or application that invoked it. The receiver waits briefly for the "O" characters, then exits whether they were received or not. Session Cancel Sequence If the receiver is receiving data in streaming mode, the Attention sequence is executed to interrupt data transmission before the Cancel sequence is sent. The Cancel sequence consists of eight CAN characters and ten backspace characters. Zmodem only requires five Cancel characters, the other three are "insurance". The trailing backspace characters attempt to erase the effects of the CAN characters if they are received by a command interpreter. For complete information about the Zmodem protocol, please contact: Chuck Forsberg Omen Technology Inc. 17505-V Sauvie Island Road Portland, Oregon 97231 Phone: 503-621-3406 Modem: 503-621-3746 7. CompuServe B+ File Transfer Protocol ------------------------------------ You may now select the CompuServe B+ protocol for transfering files. This protocol will now appear on the selection list of available protocols and may be selected the same way the XMODEM or ZMODEM protocols would be selected. The CompuServe B+ protocol has been added to Softerm. Please add the following information: CompuServe B+ Protocol Parameters Retries Specify the maximum retry count for error conditions. Possible error conditions include timeouts and block check errors. If an error condition occurs during a file transfer operation and the Retries count is exhausted, a Line Failure message will be displayed on your screen. This parameter accepts values from 0 to 255. Receive Acknowledgment Timeout This parameter sets the number of seconds before a transfer operation will cancel when an acknowledgement for data transmitted to the host is expected to be received. Valid values are from 0 to 65535.