Copyright: Copyright ® 1993 Prodigy Computing


Contents

Quick Start

For Upgraders

Compatibility

Detailed Discussion

The Problem

What wfListen Does

Differences between Using wfListen and Using the Receive | Setup Dialogue

Installation

Using wfListen

Command-line Usage

Dialogue Mode

Status Display
Control Buttons
Preference Settings
The System Menu

Error Messages

Frequently Asked Questions

How to uninstall wfListen

Feedback

Report defects, get support and make suggestions here.

To licence wfListen for use beyond the evaluation period costs US$6.

This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP).  If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member, ASP may be able to help. Click on the ASP logo for details.

Licence and Acknowledgements

Licence

Acknowledgements

Trademarks

Helpfile Revision

This is $Revision::   3.40     $ of the helpfile.


Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP)

This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP).  ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products.  Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI USA 49442-9427, Fax 616-788-2765, or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 (Internet: 70007.3536@compuserve.com).


For Upgraders

If you're upgrading from revision 3.3x, there is little that is new. This is a documentation upgrade: the only differences between this and revision 3.3x is in the help.

The file compat.wri, which gives specific instructions for using wfListen with various communications products, has been expanded yet again, and incorporated into this helpfile. There are new, much simpler, instructions for using wfListen with Prodigy.

If you're currently running revision 3.3x, don't bother to reinstall. Just copy across the helpfile.

If you're upgrading from 3.0x or earlier, the following will be of interest to you.

We haven't loaded wfListen down with bells and whistles: it's much the same program as revision 3.0x. But we have incorporated most of the suggestions that users made. Here's what's new:

We've got rid of the annoying quarter-second flash of dialogue box when the program starts.

The Setup program is a lot more intelligent, and it can talk to Norton Desktop for Windows.

The add-on programs, wfLaunch (for programs that have launcher stubs) and wfSuspend (for programs that can't tolerate WinFax even with auto-receive off) are now better integrated into the product, and give better error messages if things go wrong.

A new preference setting, Preserve Auto-Receive, lets you tell wfListen not to switch auto-receive back on if it was off when your comms program started.

WfListen now lets you launch your comms program maximized, minimized, or hidden.

Multiple invocations are now handled differently. If you launch several programs with wfListen, the last program to shut down will switch auto-receive on.

For those of you with CAS modems, when wfListen switches off WinFax auto-receive, it now immediately switches reception back on at the modem. This way, the modem will continue to receive faxes even though WinFax will not be immediately aware of them.

The help has been beefed up again, and has a full troubleshooting guide and a section on frequently asked questions.

Tips for Upgrade Install

If wfListen is running, shut it down.

You can, and probably should, install wfListen 3.40 over version 3.0x or earlier, in the same directory. That is because all of your existing command lines point to that directory. If you want to be on the safe side, rename the existing directory to something else and let Setup create a new directory with the same name as the old.

If you made copies of wflisten.exe in other directories (eg Prodigy), delete them, and don't forget to delete wflistnx.dll at the same time. This is important. You shouldn't need to make new copies: wfLaunch now knows where to find wfListen.

If your previous version was 3.00, Setup will transfer your wfListen preference settings to a separate file, wflisten.ini, in your Windows directory. The old [wflisten] section in win.ini will remain until the next time you save your preferences, at which point it will be deleted. Later revisions already have a wflisten.ini file


How to Uninstall wfListen

To unintall wfListen, follow these steps.

1. Delete the Program Manager group. WfListen Setup creates a Program Manager group. To delete it, open Program Manager. Minimize the group if it isn't minimized already. Click on it once so that its system menu is showing. Then select File | Delete from the Program Manager menu.

2. Delete the wfListen directory. WfListen Setup creates a separate directory for wfListen, which you specified at install time. Use File Manager to delete this directory (and all the files in it).

3. Delete the .ini file. Use File Manager to delete the file wflisten.ini in your C:\windows directory.

4. Delete the dynamic link library (maybe). Setup also copied the file bwcc.dll to your C:\windows\system directory, if it was not there already. This library may be used by other applications on your system, and these applications will fail if you delete it. Unless you are very sure that no other application besides wfListen uses bwcc.dll, you should not delete it. One approach is to rename it, for example to bwcc_.dll, and wait a few weeks. If all of your applications continue to work, then you can delete the file later.


The Problem

In WinFax, when you switch automatic fax reception on, it initializes the modem in a particular way and then "listens" for a ring. The way it does this is different from most other communications programs. Most other programs set the modem to Auto-Answer and then monitor the DSR (data set ready) line. But WinFax switches Auto-Answer off at the modem and monitors the RI (ring indicator) line.

The Problem with Windows Communications Programs

The Problem with DOS-based Communications Programs


The Problem with Windows Communications Programs

If you try to use a Windows-based communications program, such as Windows Terminal, WinCim or WigWam, Windows will realize that WinFax is listening to the modem and notify you of a conflict. You can tell Windows to take the modem away from WinFax, which it will. Or you can avoid the problem by going into WinFax beforehand and switching off automatic reception. Go to Receive | Setup and uncheck Automatic Reception. Press OK and all will be well.

Either of these actions will turn automatic reception off. However, it's easy to forget to turn it back on again, and you might go a whole day with your fax reception inadvertently turned off. This is unlikely if you are running wfStatus, but even if you are, it's a nuisance to have to turn auto-receive back on by hand.

You can avoid the problem entirely by abandoning your existing communications program and switching to Delrina's WinComm Pro, a WinFax-aware communications program. But that solution is a little drastic for some people.

The Ideal Solution to the Problem

What one would like is to have some automatic way of turning automatic reception off before starting a communications program, and turning it back on once the program has finished.


The Problem with DOS-based Communications Programs

Many WinFaxers use DOS-based communications programs, such as Tapcis, CompuServe Information Manager, Telix, and others. When you run these programs from Windows, they usually reset your modem for their own purposes. Once they have done this, WinFax will no longer answer the phone.

While you are using the communications program, you are unlikely to receive calls, so this is not a problem. But when you exit from your communications program, you would like automatic reception to be switched back on.

WinFax is unaware that anything has changed at the modem, so as far as it is concerned, automatic reception is still enabled. But it will not know when the phone rings, and will not answer.

You can cure this by hand quite easily.  Go to Receive | Setup and make sure Automatic Reception is checked. Press OK and all will be well.

However, this is easy to forget, and you might go a whole day with your fax reception inadvertently turned off. This is unlikely if you are running wfStatus, but even if you are, it's a nuisance to have to turn auto-receive back on by hand.

The Ideal Solution to the Problem

What one would like is to have some automatic way of turning automatic reception off before starting a communications program, and turning it back on once the program has finished.


WigWam

A Windows forum navigator for CompuServe. Ashmount Software, CIS 75300,250. GO UKCOMP on CompuServe for more details.


WinComm Pro

A Windows communications and terminal emulation program. Delrina Technology Inc, 895 Don Mills Rd, 500–2 Part Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3C 1W3. GO DELRINA on CompuServe for more details.


Windows Terminal

A terminal application supplied by Microsoft with Windows 3.1. Microsoft Corporation, 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond WA 98052-6399. Consult Chapter 11 of your Windows 3.1 manual, or GO MSWIN on CompuServe for more details.


Tapcis

A DOS-based forum navigator for CompuServe. Support Group Inc, Lake Technology Park, McHenry MD 21541. CIS 74020,10. GO TAPCIS on CompuServe for more details.


Telix

A widely-used terminal program. Available in both DOS and Windows versions. DeltaComm Development, Inc., PO Box 1185, Cary, NC  27512, USA.


CompuServe Information Manager

A desktop-metaphor point-and-click front end for CompuServe, available in both a DOS version (DosCim) and a Windows version (WinCim). CompuServe, PO Box 20212, Columbus OH43220. GO CIMSUP (DosCim) or WCIMSUP (WinCim) on CompuServe for more details.


PIF

Program interface file, a file that specifies the kind of DOS environment that Windows needs to provide to a DOS application for proper operation. Consult Chapter 8 of your Windows 3.1 manual for more details.


WinBatch

A Windows batch interpreter. Wilson WindowWare, 2701 California Ave SW #212, Seattle, WA 98116. GO WILSON on CompuServe for more details.


CAS

A specification for fax modems. CAS modems have their own built-in microprocessor that allows the modem to handle the entire transmission process without the assistance of the computer's central processing unit.

CAS is short for DCA/Intel Communicating Applications Specification version 1.3, Copyright © 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994 by Digital Communications Associates, Inc., 1000 Alderman Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30201-4199,  and  Intel Corporation, 5200 N.E. Elam Young Pkwy., Hillsboro, OR 97124-6497.

GO INTELF on CompuServe for more details.


What wfListen Does

WfListen solves the problem by sending WinFax a DDE message to disable automatic reception and re-enable it afterwards.

WfListen does the following:

        It sends a DDE message to WinFax, switching automatic reception off.

        It then runs a communications program and waits for it to finish.

        Finally, it sends another DDE message to WinFax to switch automatic reception back on.

A diagram may help to make the process clear.
To start with, WinFax is running (1) with Auto-receive on.
You wish to run Terminal to log on to a bulletin board.
But first you need to switch auto-receive off. So you run wfListen (2).
WfListen tells WinFax to switch auto-receive off (3) and then launches Terminal (4).
Terminal starts (5) and you can then use it to log on to the bulletin board.
When you're finished, you shut down Terminal (6).
WfListen sees Terminal shut down (7) and tells WinFax to switch auto-receive back on (8).
As soon as WinFax responds that it has done this, wfListen shuts down too (9).
The diagram shows Terminal, but the wfListen actually doesn't care what communications program it is (or even if it is a communications program at all). It just launches whatever program you tell it to launch, and waits for it to finish.


Differences between Using wfListen and Using the Receive | Setup Dialogue

What wfListen does is not entirely equivalent to switching automatic reception on and off using the Receive | Setup dialogue. The difference is that when wfListen switches automatic reception off, it also inhibits scheduled sending.

Imagine, for example, if you have a fax that is scheduled to be sent at some time in the future. Then you use wfListen to switch off automatic reception, because you wish to use a communications program. Suppose that the scheduled time for the fax to be sent comes around before wfListen has switched automatic reception back on. WinFax will not send the scheduled fax until wfListen does switch automatic reception back on.

Similarly, suppose you go offline but you leave your communications program running and iconized. WfListen will of course still be waiting for that program to terminate. If you switch to WinFax and compose a fax for immediate transmission, it will not be sent until you do one of the following:

	Exit from the communications program so that wfListen switches automatic reception back on.
	Double-click on the wfListen icon to activate it, and manually select Enable.
	Right-click on the wfListen icon.
A moment's reflection will convince you that this is in fact desirable behaviour.

If you have a CAS modem, there are other differences too.


Differences between Using wfListen and
Using the Receive | Setup Dialogue
(CAS modems)

In the normal way, when you switch WinFax auto-receive off, WinFax tells the CAS modem to switch auto-receive off. But the CAS modem is quite capable of receiving faxes when WinFax auto-receive is off; in fact, WinFax doesn't have to be running at all.

With wfListen, the chief reaon for switching auto-receive off is to allow outgoing calls. For most users, having the modem's auto-receive function disabled while a communications program is running is an unwanted side-effect.

For this reason, when wfListen tells WinFax to switch auto-receive off, it immediately switches it back on again at the modem. This allows your modem to handle incoming fax calls even though WinFax auto-receive is disabled.


Installation

WfListen has an installation program,  setup.exe, and using it is probably the easiest way to install the program. However, the installation program co-operates with Windows Program Manager to perform the installation, and if you are using another shell, the installation may fail. If it does, you will need to do the installation by hand. But it's not hard or complex.

First, follow the installation procedure, which tells you what files to copy where.

Then, follow the instructions for using wfListen to set up your program icons to use wfListen.


Automatic Installation
Installation Program

When you run the setup program, you will see the display shown opposite. It asks for the following items of information:

Install wfListen in

Comms programs are in group

Clone this group as

Install support for


Automatic Installation
Installation Program

When you run the setup program, you will see the display shown opposite. It asks for the following items of information:

Install wfListen in

Comms programs are in group

Clone this group as

Install support for

Full/CD-ROM Install


Full versus CD-ROM Install

If you are installing wfListen from a CD-ROM, you are given the option to do a full install, or to install the program to run from the CD-ROM.

If you install wfListen to run from the CD-ROM, this lets you try out the program without taking up significant hard disk space. The only files that Setup will copy to your hard disk are WFLISTEN.INI (in your Windows directory) and the installation log (in your Windows TEMP directory).

But wfListen will work (and will launch your communications program) only if the same CD-ROM is in the drive when you try to run it.

So this option is provided only so that you can give wfListen a quick try.


Install Support for
Install Support for...

This permits you to select the language or languages you want to install. WfListen supports several languages in addition to English, and you can choose to install one language, or more than one. You must install at least one.

If any language checkbox appears greyed out, then necessary files for that language are missing from your installation disk(s).

Installing multiple languages allows you to change your mind afterwards about the language you want, in the language preference settings. Preferences will not let you specify a language that you have not installed.

On the other hand, installing unwanted languages wastes disk space. Support for one language takes approximately 250K.


Install wfListen in
Install wfListen in...

Enter the name of the directory that you would like to have wfListen installed in. The directory need not already exist: if it does not exist it will be created. The default directory is  c:\wflisten, but you are free to choose a different drive or directory name if this suits your needs better.


Comms programs are in group...

A list of all your Program Manager groups will be shown here. Select the one where you keep your communications programs. WfListen will make a copy of this group, and in the copy it will modify the command lines of the individual programs so as to save you the trouble of doing this yourself.

Don't specify the group that contains WinFax. Specify the group that contains your other communications programs.

If you keep your communications programs in several groups, you can run Setup against all of them.

If you keep WinFax in the same group as your other communications programs, don't worry. Setup knows how to handle this.


Clone this group as...

Enter the name you would like to give to the group that Setup will create. Setup derives its default name from the original group name. For example, if you keep your communications programs in a group called Communications, Setup will suggest the name Communications/wfListen. But you can change it to anything you choose.


Manual Installation Procedure
Installation Procedure

First, copy the wfListen files as shown below:

Copy these files:	To this directory:
wflisten.exe wflistn0.dll wflistn0.hlp	A special directory you have created for wfListen, for example c:\wflisten
wflistn1.dll* wflistn1.hlp*
wflistn2.dll* wflistn2.hlp*
Copy this file:	To this directory:
BWCC.DLL	Your \windows\system directory.
*Optional file. Only needed if you want dialogues and help in French. You can ignore it otherwise.

*Optional file. Only needed if you want dialogues and help in German. You can ignore it otherwise.

Next, follow the instructions for modifying the Program Item Properties of your communications programs in the section Using wfListen.


C:\windows directory

We consistently call the directory where Windows is installed   C:\windows". That is the Microsoft default. But you may have chosen another name for the directory when you installed Windows, such as \ win31. If you have done this, then you must substitute that name for  \windows, wherever it  appears.


Using wfListen

Before using wfListen, be sure to check the installation instructions to make sure that you have installed it properly.

What you do next depends on whether you are using

- a DOS communications program

- a DOS communications program run via a PIF

- a Windows communications program.


Using wfListen with DOS communications programs via a PIF

Suppose currently you are running Tapcis from Windows via a PIF. You will have an icon in Program Manager that is set up to look much like the dialogue box below:

1. Change this so that wfListen runs first (to switch off automatic reception). Pass it the name tapcis.pif as a parameter, by adding a call to wfListen before it.

2. If the Working Directory is not already specified, then transfer the name of the directory where the PIF resides from the Command Line box into the Working Directory box. This is important: if you neglect this step, your PIF will not run unless Windows knows where to look for your PIF.

3. If your communications program requires command-line parameters, you must specify them in the PIF. You can't pass command-line parameters to a PIF.

A side-effect of this process is that it changes the icon that Program Manager displays. This is probably not what you want. Press the Change Icon button and you will see 15 other icons representing a variety of communications programs, some generic and some specific. You can select any of them to represent your communications program.

If none of them is to your taste, use the Browse button in the Change Icon dialogue to find and select the icon library containing the icon that you were using for your communications program, and select the correct icon there.


Using wfListen with DOS communications programs

Suppose currently you are running Tapcis from Windows. You will have an icon in Program Manager that is set up to look much like the dialogue box below:

1. Change the command so that wfListen runs first (to switch off automatic reception). Pass it the name tapcis.exe as a parameter, by adding a call to wfListen before it.

2. If the Working Directory is not already specified, then transfer the name of the directory where Tapcis resides from the Command Line box into the Working Directory box. This is important: your communications program may misbehave, or may not run at all, if you neglect this step.

3. If your communications program requires command-line parameters, simply put the parameters after the name of the program in the Command Line box, just as they were before.

A side-effect of this process is that it changes the icon that Program Manager displays. This is probably not what you want. Press the Change Icon button and you will see 15 other icons representing a variety of communications programs, some generic and some specific. You can select any of them to represent your communications program.

If none of them is to your taste, use the Browse button in the Change Icon dialogue to find and select the icon library containing the icon that you were using for your communications program, and select the correct icon there.


Using wfListen with Windows communications programs

Suppose currently you are running WinCim from Windows Program Manager icon. You will have an icon in Program Manager that is set up to look much like the dialogue box below:

1. Change this so that wfListen runs first (to switch off automatic reception). Pass it the name wincim.exe as a parameter, by adding a call to wfListen before it.

2. If the Working Directory is not already specified, then transfer the name of the directory where WinCim resides from the Command Line box into the Working Directory box. This is important: your communications program may misbehave if you neglect this step.

3. If your communications program requires command-line parameters, simply put the parameters after the name of the program in the Command Line box, just as they were before.

A side-effect of this process is that it changes the icon that Program Manager displays. This is probably not what you want. Press the Change Icon button and you will see 15 other icons representing a variety of communications programs, some generic and some specific. You can select any of them to represent your communications program.

If none of them is to your taste, use the Browse button in the Change Icon dialogue to find and select the .exe file of the communications program you are using and select the correct icon there.

This side-effect changes only the icon that Program Manager displays. When your communications program runs, it will display its own icon in any event.


DDE

Dynamic data exchange, a mechanism for Windows programs to exchange data and issue commands to each other.


Command-Line Usage

When you run wfListen, it takes one optional parameter, which can either be a program name, or else have the value 1 or 0.

Command Line:	wfListen will:
wfListen.exe mypgm.exe [parm1 parm2 ...]	1. Send WinFax a message to disable automatic fax reception 2. Run mypgm.exe, optionally passing it the parameters parm1, parm2 etc 3. Wait for mypgm.exe to finish 4. Switch automatic reception back on 5. Silently terminate
wfListen.exe 1	1. Send WinFax a message to enable automatic fax reception 2. Silently terminate.
wfListen.exe donuthin.exe	As above, but will wait for the specified shutdown delay before re-enabling automatic fax reception.
wfListen.exe 0	1. Send WinFax a message to disable automatic fax reception 2. Silently terminate.
wfListen.exe	1. Establish a DDE link with WinFax but will send a message only when asked. 2. This you do from the control panel.
If the parameter you supply is neither 0 nor 1 nor the name of a program, you will get the error message "Invalid command line parameter" or "Program mypgm.exe not found to launch" and wfListen will wait for a dialogue-mode command.

The parameterless option is designed primarily for testing and for setting options, not for normal use.

The parameters 0 and 1 may be useful in Windows batch applications.

The preference setting Shutdown Delay does not work with the command-line parameter 1. If you need a shutdown delay, instead of using 1, launch the program donuthin.exe. As its name suggests, this program does nothing and terminates immediately. But wfListen will wait for the specified shutdown delay before attempting to re-enable auto-receive.


Dialogue Mode

It will be clear from the discussion that wfListen is intended always to be used in one of its silent forms, with its operation controlled by a command-line parameter rather than by the buttons on the dialogue that appears if you run it with no parameters.

The dialogue-mode interface is provided so that you can experiment with the program, set preferences, and as a place to hang this help file.

 When you start wfListen without parameters, you will see the dialogue shown opposite. The dialogue consists of the Status Display and the Control Buttons.


Status Display

Although they look a bit like radio buttons, you should think of the five options as "status lights" like the ones on a modem. If you click on them with the mouse they will  not respond.

Initially and very briefly, the status will be shown as "unknown". If WinFax is running, this will be replaced almost immediately with one of the other statuses, all of which are probably self-explanatory.

WfListen shows the status of WinFax even when it is iconized.

 is the equivalent of Automatic Reception Disabled.

 is the equivalent of Automatic Reception Enabled.

 is the equivalent of Busy.

 is the equivalent of Unknown.

This status is accurate when wfListen starts, and when you change the status in wfListen. In the interests of performance, no continuous monitoring is done. If you go to WinFax itself and change the reception status, you will not see the status change in wfListen's window, until you set the focus back to wfListen.

This smart icon feature is not available under Windows 95, but the Windows 95 version of wfStatus will provide a substitute.

Refreshing the Status

If you suspect that the status that WinFax is displaying is incorrect, you can force it to refresh the status by selecting the Refresh option from the system menu: press Alt-space and select Refesh. The keyboard shortcut for this is F5.


Control Buttons

The following five buttons appear at the bottom of the dialogue:

Enable

Disable

Preferences

Help, which you already understand, or you would not be reading this.

Exit, which shuts wfListen down as one might expect.


  Enable/Disable

At any given moment, the leftmost button will permit you either to enable or disable WinFax automatic reception. Pressing this button sends the appropriate DDE message, and rechecks the status.

When you press the Enable button, wfListen sends a message to WinFax, which in turn tells MOD.EXE to reinitialize the modem. This takes a while: up to 20 seconds on slow modems. While this is happening, wfListen will show WinFax's status as BUSY, and the Enable/Disable button will be greyed out.

When wfListen is iconized, you can enable or disable WinFax with a single mouse click by clicking on the wfListen icon with the right mouse button.


Preference Settings
 Preferences

If you press the Preferences button, you will see the dialogue shown opposite. If you press the OK button, any changes that you make in the Preferences dialogue will be saved immediately as settings in the [Settings] section of your wflisten.ini file. No special action on your part is required.

The following items are available in the Preferences dialogue:

Expect WinFax

Preserve auto-receive status

Hide wfListen Icon

Shutdown Delay

Launch Application

Language


Language Preference Setting

WfListen supports several languages other than English. You can choose the language you prefer here. If you change the language you must shut down wfListen and restart it for the change to take effect.

This option setting is stored in the [Settings] section of your wflisten.ini file.

Language=0 means English.
Language=1 means French.
Language=2 means German.


Preserve Auto-Receive Status

In normal operation, wfListen switches WinFax auto-receive back on when it terminates, even if auto-receive was off when wfListen started. The Preserve Auto-Receive Status option tells wfListen to leave WinFax auto-receive as it found it. WfListen will shut down at once, and not wait for your program to finish, if this option is checked and WinFax auto-receive is off.

This option setting is stored in the [Settings] section of your wflisten.ini file.

PreserveAR=0 means that wfListen will always switch auto-receive on when the communications program terminates.
PreserveAR=1 means that wfListen will leave auto-receive in the same status that it found it.


Shutdown Delay

Some applications reset the modem after they have finished. To do this, they send a modem reset string. Depending on your modem and the amount of work the reset string demands, the modem may be busy for an appreciable period after your communications program has ended.

If wfListen attempts to re-enable automatic reception during this period, WinFax will attempt to reconfigure the modem for its own purposes. This will result in a conflict, with either WinFax complaining that it cannot communicate with the modem, or Windows complaining that you have two applications attempting to use the same port.

To avoid this conflict, you can specify a shutdown delay. WfListen will wait for this length of time after your communications program terminates, before re-enabling WinFax automatic reception. The delay is specified in milliseconds, that is, 2000 means two seconds.

If you encounter the behaviour described here, try setting a delay. The default is 2000. If you need to set it higher, start at 10000 and work downwards. The value to set needs to be determined by trial and error.


Suspend Delay

The Suspend Delay is an unusual setting that you may need to modify if you use wfSuspend to launch a communications program and you find that WinFax is not relinquishing the modem quickly enough. To change this setting you need to edit the wflisten.ini file. It is not accessible from Preferences.


Expect WinFax
Expect WinFax Preference Setting

This option is a toggle: it can either be checked or unchecked.

If it is checked then wfListen expects WinFax to be running when it starts, and complains if it cannot establish a DDE link with it.

You will see this dialogue box if wfListen cannot establish a DDE link with WinFax. You can then choose the following options:

Press:	This will happen:
Abort	wfListen terminates
Retry	wfListen tries a second time to establish a DDE link with WinFax
Ignore	wfListen continues running as normal
If it is unchecked, then wfListen tries to establish a DDE link with WinFax. If WinFax does not respond on the first attempt, wfListen silently terminates.

This option may be set at any time, but it is effective only when wfListen is launching another program. If you run wfListen without parameters, and WinFax is not running, the message shown above will always be displayed.

This option setting is stored in the [Settings] section of your wflisten.ini file. ExpectWinFax=1 means that the option is checked. ExpectWinFax=0 means that the option is unchecked.


Hide Icon Preference Setting

This option is a toggle: it can either be checked or unchecked.

If it is unchecked then wfListen launches the communications program and then runs as an icon on the desktop.

If it is checked then wfListen launches the communications program, but is not visible as an icon on the desktop. It is still there and running, but it is not visible. This keeps the desktop tidy, but has the disadvantage that you can not gain control of wfListen except by running it without parameters–which you cannot do if you have another instance running already.

This option may be set at any time, but the setting is effective only when wfListen is launching another program.

This option setting is stored in the [Settings] section of your wflisten.ini file. ShowIcon=1 means that the option is unchecked. ShowIcon=0 means that the option is checked.


Launch Appliication Preference Setting
Launch Application Preference Setting

This option allows you to specify how a Windows communications program appears when you launch it. It has no effect on DOS communications programs: use a PIF to control how DOS applications appear.

Setting:	This will happen:
Maximized	wfListen launches the communications program maximized, that is, covering the entire desktop.
Normal	wfListen launches the communications program at its usual size. If the program has been written to remember its usual size, then that size will be used; otherwise Windows will determine what size to display it.
Minimized	wfListen launches the communications program as an icon.
HIdden	wfListen launches the communications program hidden: it will not appear on the desktop, nor in the Task List. Use this option with care. If the communications program does not provide a mechanism to make it visible, then the only way you can shut it down is to exit Windows.
This option may be set at any time, but the setting is effective only when wfListen is launching another program.

This option setting is stored in the [Settings] section of your wflisten.ini file.
LaunchApp=0 means hidden;
LaunchApp=1 means normal;
LaunchApp=2 means minimized;
LaunchApp=3 means maximized.

This option setting replaces the LaunchMaximized setting used in previous releases of wfListen.  LaunchMaximized=1 is replaced by LaunchApp=3; LaunchMaximized=0 is replaced by LaunchApp=1.


MOD.EXE

WinFax's modem control program.


System Menu

If you click on the control box in the top left hand corner of the main window, you will see the menu shown opposite. It is the usual Windows system menu, with the following items added:

Refresh

About...

Enter Licence Number... (this option does not appear on licensed copies of the program)


Entering Your Licence Number

When you pay for a licence to use the program, you will receive a licence number. Selecting the Enter Licence Number option on the system menu shows the dialogue shown opposite. This dialogue permits you to enter your name and licence number. After they have been entered, your name and licence number will appear in the About box, and you will not receive messages reminding you to obtain a licence for the program.

You must enter your name exactly as it appears on the notice we send you, because a checksum of the name is encoded in the licence number. If your name is not spelt correctly then let us know and we will issue you a new  number.

The  number is 10 hexadecimal digits, for example AB-120F-ABCD. Enter the number exactly as it appears on the licence notice, with the hyphens.


Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal (base-16) numbers consist of the digits 0 to 9 and the letters A to F (representing the values 10 to 15).


About Box

The About box gives brief information about the authorship of the program and the version that you are running. It also has a button that gives direct access to the conditions of the licence. If you are using a licensed copy the About box will also show the name of the licensee and the licence number.


Licence

WfListen is distributed as shareware. It is not in the "public domain". It is not free software. However, you do have the opportunity to try it for 60 days before you pay for it, subject to the licence terms set out below. These terms form a contract between us. Even though you have not signed the contract, using the program for an exended period indicates your assent.

To use wfListen beyond the 60-day trial period without paying for it is a breach of this licence agreement. In other words, illegal. Using shareware without paying for it is no different from making illicit copies of retail software.

Any money that you may have already paid to obtain a copy of this program is purely a copying fee: the author receives no part of it.

Temporary 60-Day Evaluation Licence

You may use the program WFLISTEN.EXE without payment for a trial period of 60 days. At the end of the trial period you must either delete the program from your computer system or obtain a permanent licence to use the program.

Permanent Usage Licence

The licence fee is US$6. In return for the fee, you will be granted a non-exclusive licence to use the program WFLISTEN.EXE (including any revised version of the program that the author may publish in the future) indefinitely without further payment.

No Warranty

The program is made available voetstoots (a Roman-Dutch legal condition that excludes, among other things, all supplier's warranties of any kind, express or implied, against defects latent or patent). You assume all responsibility for the adverse consequences of any defects in the program. If the program does not work, or if it works differently from the way you expected or intended or were led to believe, your sole remedy is to stop using it. You may in certain cases claim a refund of any licence fee you have paid. See the section on licensing the program for details.

Limited Distribution Licence

The following may distribute the wfListen package incuding WFLISTEN.EXE and all of its supporting materials completely unaltered, without further permission:

-	private individuals passing copies to friends without charge;

-	bulletin board systems;

-	bulletin board file distribution networks;

-	disk vendors who are ASP Vendor Members; and

-	disk vendors who are not ASP Vendor Members but who disclose to their customers prior to purchase in a visible fashion that the product is shareware, the nature of shareware, and that separate payment to the copyright owner is required if the product is used beyond the 60-day trial period.

For other channels of distribution or to distribute in modified form, you must consult the data record in the file VENDINFO.DIZ, which is included in the package, and which is hereby incorporated by reference. Any distribution satisfying all the distribution requirements expressed in that data record is hereby authorized. Distribution that does not conform to the requirements of this licence nor to the requirements expressed in the attached data record requires explicit written permission from the copyright owner in every case.

Copyright

This program was written by Paul Keating. The program and its supporting materials are copyright © 1993 by Prodigy Computing (Pty) Limited, PO Box 2194, Cramerview 2060, South Africa. Supplied with the program is a dynamic link library, BWCC.DLL, which is copyright © 1991–1992 by Borland International, PO Box 660001, Scotts Valley CA95067-0001, USA, and which is redistributed by permission of the copyright owner.


Obtaining More Information

For more information about payment, site licences, etc, contact us by mail, by fax, or by e-mail.


Problem Reports

If you report problems with wfListen, we will be glad to try and resolve them. If you have suggestions about how the program could be improved to be more useful to you, they will be welcomed.

Before calling for support, please review the answers to the half-dozen most frequently asked questions.

If that doesn't help, send us a description of the defect by mail, by fax, or by e-mail. We can't offer telephone support, because the licence fee we charge is too low to fund it.

Users of licensed copies get guaranteed support for 90 days. The guarantee means that if wfListen does not work with your combination of hardware and communications programs we will do our best to fix it so that it does work. Because wfListen interacts with other programs, we can't promise to make it work in all cases. If we can't fix the defect we will refund your licence fee.

We will support you even if you have not yet paid for a licence, but the support will be limited to getting the program up and running to allow you to evaluate it, and if your problem requires program changes, they may be accorded a low priority.

 When you report problems, it is really important for us to know what release of wfListen you are running (the problem you report may already have been identified and fixed in a later release). So, to help us respond promptly, please pull down the About box from the system menu and note the Program Revision and Resource Revision number, and include these numbers in your problem report.

It may seem obvious, but we also need to know what communications program you are using (and remember to say whether it is the DOS or Windows version), and an exact description of the defect: what happens? do you get an error message? which one? And please understand that we may never have even heard of the communications program you are using, much less have a copy on hand.


Mailing Address

Use the address below for support requests, payment, and enquiries:

Paul Keating
Prodigy Computing
PO Box 2194
Cramerview
South Africa 2060

Please be patient if you use the mail. It is slow.


Support by Fax
Fax Number

Use the number below for support requests, payment, and enquiries:

Paul Keating
Prodigy Computing
+27-11-888-2370 or +27-11-792-9512

The + means your international dialling code, usually 011 in North America and 00 in Europe.


Support by Email
Email Address

Use either of the addresses below for support requests, payment, and enquiries:

CompuServe: 73770,660

Internet: keating@acm.org.

If you use the Internet and you are concerned about sending a message containing a credit card number via an insecure email channel, encrypt your message using PGP.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q. WfListen works with some communications programs but not with others. Can I get it to work with all the programs I use?

Q. I've just installed wfListen but when I run WinFax I get the message "WinFax is not responding to DDE link requests. Either the system is very busy or WinFax is not running." But the system is not busy and I've just started WinFax. How do I fix this?

Q. Sometimes, when I'm running a communications program, but I'm not online (reading my mail, say), a fax call comes in and WinFax doesn't answer because auto-receive is off. How can I get WinFax to answer when my communications program is not actually using the modem?

Q. I get an intermittent error. Sometimes, after exiting my communications program, WinFax complains that it cannot communicate with the modem. How do I fix this?

Q. I get an intermittent error with wfSuspend. Sometimes, my communications program complains that it can't communicate with the modem. How do I fix this?

Q. I'm not used to having program A holding a conversation with program B and then launching program C. It all seems very complicated. How about a detailed troubleshooting guide?

Q. WfListen just does not work.


"WfListen just does not work"

We quite understand that it may not be working for you.

But we also have several hundred satisfied users from Alaska to New Zealand who report successful operation with a very long list of communications products, and who have paid to continue using wfListen. So we are confident that it really does work, for most people, and with most communications programs.

You may not be one of those people, and we're quite happy to help you to get wfListen to work on your system too. But before we can do that, we need to know what doesn't work. To begin with, please review the section explaining how wfListen is supposed to work. The reason we ask you to do this is simple. Many people have difficulties because they make one of the following false assumptions:

"WfListen will eliminate my communications port conflict if I copy wflisten.exe into my WinFax directory."
Sorry, not true. It won't.

"WfListen will eliminate my communications port conflict if I keep it running on the desktop all day."
Sorry, not true. It won't.

"WfListen will eliminate my communications port conflict if I start up WinFax with it."
Sorry, not true. It won't.

Once you have established that you are using wfListen the way it is meant to be used, you're in a position to pinpoint what exactly is not working in your setup. There is a troubleshooting guide that will take you step by step through all aspects of wfListen's operation. Once you have established that the defect lies with the DDE conversation, the program launch, or your application's use of the communications port, we'll be in a position to investigate it and supply you with a solution.


"WinFax is not running" ... but it is!

This happens when you use wfListen to launch WinFax, which is probably because you copied the wfListen files out of the zipfile instead of using Setup.

You don't use wfListen to launch WinFax. That is not how wfListen works. The message you get is correct: WinFax is in fact not running because wfListen hasn't got around to launching it yet. Remember what wfListen does.  It switches off automatic reception and then launches a program.  But you don't want automatic reception to be switched off before you run WinFax.  You want it to be switched off when you run your communications program.  Change the WinFax command line back to what it was before.

See the section What wfListen does to learn how wfListen is meant to be used.

See the section Using wfListen, to learn how to modify the command line of your communications program.


Intermittent failure to restart WinFax

This is probably because your communications program issues a reset string as it exits, and your modem is still processing this string when WinFax tries to take the modem back. In Preferences, increase the Shutdown Delay value to 10000 (= 10 seconds). If this works you can gradually reduce it again. The exact value is a matter of trial and error, because it depends on your software and hardware setup.


Swiching Auto-Receive on when Offline

WfListen is not a device driver. It cannot sense when your communications program is not actually using the modem. And it has no knowledge of what your communications program is doing. So it can't automatically give the modem back to WinFax when your communications program happens not to be using it.

But you can do this quite easily. If the phone rings while you're running a communications program in offline mode, just right-click with the mouse on the wfListen icon. WfListen will toggle WinFax auto-receive back on, and WinFax will reinitialize the modem and then answer. Right-click again to turn auto-receive back off.

If you have a CAS modem, you will not have this problem, because wfListen lets your CAS modem receive faxes even when WinFax auto-receive is off.


Intermittent failure to Start a Program with wfSuspend

This is probably because in your setup, WinFax is taking unexpectedly long to shut down and release the modem. Increase the Suspend Delay value to 5500 (= 5½ seconds). If this works you can gradually reduce it again. The exact  value is a matter of trial and error, because it depends on your software and hardware setup.


Only works with some programs

Review the file compatibility notes: there may be a special procedure for the program that is giving trouble. If not, contact the support address. New releases of communications programs appear so frequently, and there are so many of them, that we're usually a few months behind.


Troubleshooting Guide

To troubleshoot properly, you need to separately test every element of wfListen's operation. The idea is to test one thing at a time, and establish that it works correctly. Once you have confidence in one aspect of the program's operation, you can go on to try the next one. This process is a little tedious, but the only way to establish where a defect lies is to be methodical about it.

With wfListen, this means answering the following questions:

1. "Is the DDE conversation between wfListen and WinFax working correctly?"
If you are satisfied that it is, go to the next question; otherwise, follow these steps...

2. "Does wfListen correctly launch a communications program that is known to work?"
If you are satisfied that it does, go to the next question; otherwise, follow these steps...

3. "Does wfListen correctly launch the communications program that I actually want to use?"
If you are satisfied that it does, go to the next question; otherwise, follow these steps...

4. "Does the communications program that I want to use work with WinFax auto-receive switched off, or do I need to shut down WinFax completely?"
If you are satisfied that it does, then you have no troubleshooting left to do: you've tested everything there is to test, and it all works. Otherwise, follow these steps...


Troubleshooting DDE

The first stage is to ensure that wfListen and WinFax are communicating.

Step 1.1

Bring up WinFax, don't minimize, but wait for it to stop initializing the modem. That takes about half a minute. Also run wfListen, don't minimize. Manoeuvre the two programs on your screen so that you can see the WinFax status line and the wfListen control panel at the same time.

Step 1.2

Switch auto-receive off in WinFax. Switch the focus to wfListen. Does it report WinFax status correctly? Now switch auto-receive back on in WinFax, and switch the focus to wfListen. Again, is it reported correctly? If so, go on to step 1.3.

Step 1.3

Press the Disable/Enable button in wfListen a few times. Does the WinFax status change? (After pressing Enable, the button will be greyed out for up to 30 seconds. This is normal.)

If these tests are positive, then you can go on to testing the program launch process.

These tests have only ever been reported to fail twice: once with a very old release of WinFax Pro version 2 from June 1991, and once with a beta-test (pre-production) release of WinFax Pro version 3. You can find out what version of WinFax you have by pulling down the About box from the Help menu.


Troubleshooting Launch using Windows Terminal

In Step 1 you established that the DDE conversation between wfListen and WinFax is working correctly.

The next step is to test the program launch process. For this, to begin with, you should avoid programs that need, or may need, special treatment. Instead, use something dead simple like Windows Terminal. (In fact, for the test, it doesn't have to be a communications program at all, anything will do, even Paintbrush. But we will use Terminal in the example.)

Step 2.1

Run wfListen without using it to launch another program. In Preferences, set Launch Application to Minimized. Then shut wfListen down.

Step 2.2

Set up a special icon for Terminal with the following command line:

C:\WFLISTEN\WFLISTEN.EXE C:\WINDOWS\TERMINAL.EXE

(modify the directory names if necessary). Don't run it yet.

Step 2.3

Bring up WinFax, not iconized, then alt-tab to Program Manager and run your new special icon.

Step 2.4

Alt-tab back to WinFax and shrink Program Manager if necessary so that you can see icons on the desktop. There should be a Terminal icon and a wfListen icon. By the time you have done this, wfListen should have already switched off auto-receive, and you will be able to see this from the WinFax status line.

Step 2.5

Click once on the Terminal icon and select Close from the system menu. You should see the Terminal icon disappear. Then there should be a pause of about 2 seconds. Then you should see WinFax start to reinitialize the modem (if you have an external modem the lights will flash), and this should be reflected on the WinFax status line. Finally, the wfListen icon will disappear.

If these tests all work, you're ready for the next step, which is to check that wfListen launches the program you actually want to use.


Troubleshooting Launch using My Application

In Step 1 you established that the DDE conversation between wfListen and WinFax is working correctly. In Step 2 you established that wfListen correctly switches off WinFax auto-receive, launches Terminal, waits for it to finish, and switches auto-receive back on.

The next step is to repeat the process with the communications program you actually want to use. We obviously don't know what program this is. We will use WinCim in the example. If you're using something else, just substitute your program name for wincim.exe in the examples.

Step 3.1

If you didn't already do this in Step 2.1: run wfListen without using it to launch another program. In Preferences, set Launch Application to Minimized. Then shut wfListen down.

Step 3.2

Set up a special icon for WinCim with the following command line:

C:\WFLISTEN\WFLISTEN.EXE C:\COMPUSRV\WINCIM\WINCIM.EXE

(modify the directory names if necessary). Don't run it yet.

Step 3.3

Bring up WinFax, not iconized, then alt-tab to Program Manager and run your new special icon. If nothing happens, it is probably because wfListen can't find the program C:\COMPUSRV\WINCIM\WINCIM.EXE that you specified on the command line.

Step 3.4

Alt-tab back to WinFax and shrink Program Manager if necessary so that you can see icons on the desktop. There should be a WinCim icon and a wfListen icon. By the time you have done this, wfListen should have already switched off auto-receive, and you will be able to see this from the WinFax status line. Wait a few moments. If the wfListen icon disappears, then it is probable that wfListen is waiting for the wrong program to terminate, in which case do the following:

Review the compatibility notes: if your program is not mentioned there, follow the instructions for ProComm+ or contact one of the support addresses.

Step 3.5

Click once on the WinCim icon and select Close from the system menu. Note that you haven't actually used WinCim to connect to CompuServe. We're keeping that for the next step. You should see the WinCim icon disappear. Then there should be a pause of about 2 seconds. Then you should see WinFax start to reinitialize the modem (if you have an external modem the lights will flash), and this should be reflected on the WinFax status line. Finally, the wfListen icon will disappear. If WinFax issues an error at this point, you probably need to increase Shutdown Delay because your application is issuing a complex modem-reset string.

If these tests all work, you're ready for the next step, which is to check that your communications program can actually communicate.


Troubleshooting Communications Port Conflicts

In Step 1 you established that the DDE conversation between wfListen and WinFax is working correctly. In Step 2 you established that wfListen correctly switches off WinFax auto-receive, launches Terminal, waits for it to finish, and switches auto-receive back on. And finally, in Step 3 you established that it does the same correct thing with your communications program. All that remains is to ensure that your communications program can actually use the modem and dial out.

The final step is to repeat the process of testing the communications program you actually want to use. But this time, you will actually use it to communicate. We obviously don't know what program this is. We will use WinCim in the example. If you're using something else, just substitute your program name for wincim.exe in the examples.

Step 4.1

Check that you still have the special icon for WinCim with the following command line:

C:\WFLISTEN\WFLISTEN.EXE C:\COMPUSRV\WINCIM\WINCIM.EXE

(modify the directory names if necessary) that you created in Step 3.2. Don't run it yet.

Step 4.2

Bring up WinFax, not iconized, then alt-tab to Program Manager and run your new special icon.

If your communications program complains that it cannot communicate with the modem, or misbehaves in other ways, it may be one that requires special treatment.

Not all communications programs will work with WinFax running and auto-receive switched off. Some require you to shut down WinFax completely: wfListen provides a supplementary program to do this automatically. To find out if your communications program requires a complete shutdown of WinFax, follow these steps...

If this is not the problem, special treatment  may still be required, particularly in cases where one program launches another.

Step 4.3

Alt-tab back to WinFax and shrink Program Manager if necessary so that you can see icons on the desktop. There should be a WinCim icon and a wfListen icon. By the time you have done this, wfListen should have already switched off auto-receive, and you will be able to see this from the WinFax status line.

Step 4.4

Double-click on the WinCim icon and go through the process of connecting to CompuServe. When you are satisfied that you have connected correctly and that WinCim behaves the way you expect, log off from CompuServe.

Step 4.5

Minimize WinCim. Arrange the screen if necessary so that you can see both the WinCim icon and the wfListen icon, and the WinFax status line.

Step 4.6

Click once on the WinCim icon. Select Close from the system menu. You should see the WinCim icon disappear. Then there should be a pause of about 2 seconds. Then you should see WinFax start to reinitialize the modem (if you have an external modem the lights will flash), and this should be reflected on the WinFax status line. Finally, the wfListen icon will disappear.


Poinpointing Conflicts with Auto-Receive Off

Not all communications programs will work with WinFax running and auto-receive switched off. Some require you to shut down WinFax completely: wfListen provides a supplementary program to do this automatically.

If your communications program will not work with WinFax running and auto-receive off, then wfListen alone will not help. This is because it does not matter much whether you switch auto-receive off manually, or whether wfListen does it. The main thing to remember is that wfListen does nothing with WinFax that you cannot do yourself by hand. All it does is automate a tedious and forgettable manual process.

To find out if your communications program requires a complete shutdown of WinFax, do the following.

Step 4.3.1

Bring up WinFax. Look at the auto-receive status on the status line. If it is enabled, switch it off at Receive | Receive Setup | Automatic Reception.

Step 4.3.2

Run your communications program without wfListen: just use the program icon that was there before you installed wfListen.

Step 4.3.3

Use the communications program to log on to a bulletin board or online service. If the program complains that it cannot communicate with the modem, you have established that wfListen alone is not going to solve the problem, because you have just done manually what wfListen does automatically.

Review the compatibility notes: if your program is not mentioned there, follow the instructions for ProComm+, or contact one of the support addresses.


Licensing wfListen

If you like and use wfListen, we insist that you pay for it. WfListen is shareware: it is not free.

A licence to continue using the program legally costs US$6.

How to pay for wfListen:

If you can pay by credit card, you can also pay for wfListen by email or by fax or by mail.

We accept NetCash for email registrations.

If you have a CompuServe account, the quickest and easiest way to obtain a licence is to use CompuServe's online shareware registration service. This way, the licence fee is simply added to your regular monthly CompuServe bill.

If you need to send a cheque, then you will need to mail your licence fee to us.

Some companies make it difficult to send payment with order. Corporate users who have this problem may issue a purchase order.

The benefits of licensing the program are:

1. Nag-free usage. When we receive your licence fee we will send you a licence number. Once you have entered the number, the program will cease to nag you about being unlicensed.

2. Support. Licensed users get guaranteed support for 90 days. If wfListen does not work with your combination of hardware and communications programs we will do our best to fix it so that it does work. Because wfListen interacts with other programs, we can't promise to make it work in all cases. If we can't fix the defect we will refund your fee.

3. Peace of mind. Shareware publishers trust you to try the program out, and pay for it if you use it. Some people want only free software, and routinely abuse that trust, secure in the knowledge that they can't be made to pay. We're sure you don't want to be to be one of them.


Purchase Orders

Corporate users who find it administratively difficult to send payment with order may issue a purchase order.

Because of the administration involved, we don't accept corporate purchase orders for single copies. We accept corporate purchase orders for five copies ($30) or more. We will invoice your company in US dollars and issue the licence numbers on receipt of payment.

Mail your purchase order to: Prodigy Computing, PO Box 2194 Cramerview, South Africa 2060.

Generous discounts for site licences are available. Details are available on request: contact one of the information addresses.


NetCash

NetCash is a new form of online currency that may be used by anyone who has an electronic mail address.

NetCash is traded simply by including it in an e-mail message, and sending it from one person to another.  And, like real money, there are no transaction fees incurred when NetCash is exchanged. For this reason, NetCash is ideal for paying small amounts of money over the Internet.

The NetBank, operated by Software Agents Inc, is the online transaction processing system that manages the exchange of NetCash between users. The NetBank validates NetCash coupons, makes change, and provides the "currency exchange" service for converting between real money and NetCash.

Customers may purchase NetCash from the NetBank by mail, fax or email. For full details, send an email message to netbank-info@agents.com. Here is a quick summary of how it works:

These are two NetCash coupons that represent the licence fee: a five dollar bill and a one dollar bill:

  NetCash US$ 5.00 E123456H789012W

  NetCash US$ 1.00 F345643A987623R

To pay for your licence, you simply send $6 in NetCash coupons to us in the licence form. After you give the coupons to us, they are no longer yours. You may only spend a NetCash coupon once.

We will accept the NetCash by sending the following transaction to the NetBank via e-mail:

  NetCash US$ 5.00 E123456H789012W /Accept

  NetCash US$ 1.00 F345643A987623R /Accept

The NetBank will check that the NetCash is valid. If it is valid, the NetBank will record that these coupons have been spent and disallow their use again. The NetBank will then issue us a fresh $6 NetCash coupon with a new number. We will keep the coupon in our "cash drawer" and ultimately deposit it into our NetBank account.


Paying for wfListen by Mail
Obtaining a wfListen Licence by Mail

You can pay by credit card (we accept MasterCard and Visa) or by domestic cheque in US or Canadian dollars or South African rands. Our agents will process cheques in other currencies. Please don't draw a cheque in a currency not your own. It costs us more than their face value to cash them. And please don't send cash through the mail.

Press the button like this:  that you will see on the licence form to send the form to your printer. Fill it in and mail it to the address shown on the form.

If you pay by credit card, we ask for your address, because our bank requires us to mail your copy of the completed credit card voucher to you. We promise not to use this address for any other purpose.

Please be patient if you use the mail. It is slow.

We will send you your licence number by fax (if you provide a fax number) or email (if you provide an email address). Otherwise we will airmail it to you.


Mail is Slow

Surface mail (one way) from the US to Southern Africa takes anything up to four months. Airmail takes 2-4 weeks.

Surface mail (one way) from Europe takes 4-6 weeks. Airmail takes 10 days.


Paying for wfListen by Fax
Obtaining a wfListen Licence by Fax

On the licence form you will see a button like this:  Select File | Print Setup to direct printed output to WinFax. Then press the button to send the form to WinFax. When WinFax displays the Send Fax dialogue, check the Save to File box. Use WinFax's annotation feature to fill in the form. Then fax it to us. The fax number is on the form.

When you pay by fax you must pay by credit card (we accept MasterCard and Visa). We will fax your licence number to you.

We ask for your address because our bank requires us to mail your copy of the completed credit card voucher to you. We promise not to use this address for any other purpose.


Paying for wfListen by eMail
Obtaining a wfListen Licence by Email

On the licence form you will see a button like this:  Press this button to copy the form to the clipboard. Use a text editor or the message editor of your communications program to fill it in. Then email it to us: email addresses are on the form.

When you pay by email you can choose one of two methods. You can pay by credit card (we accept MasterCard and Visa), or send us a NetCash voucher.

We will email your licence number back to you.

If you use your credit card, we ask for your address because our bank requires us to mail your copy of the completed credit card voucher to you. This address will be used for no other purpose.

If you are concerned about sending your credit card number over the Internet, then either use the split-number technique or encrypt your message using PGP.


Split-Number Technique

Credit card numbers are easy to pick out of a mail message automatically because they have a very fixed structure: 1111-2222-3333-4444 05/96. Packet-sniffers can steal your number by scanning messages and looking for this pattern. If you send two registration messages with the first half of your number in the first message, and the second half of your number in the second message, your message will be proof against pattern-recognizers.


Encrypting Your Message using PGP

If you have a copy of PGP, you can use it to encrypt your message. Included in the wfListen package is a file called public.key, which contains Prodigy Computing's PGP public key. To add this key to your keyring, use the command pgp -ka public.key. To encrypt your registration form, save it as a text file (for example regform.txt), then use the command pgp -ea regform.txt Prodigy. Import or paste the resulting file into an email message.

PGP is short for "Pretty Good Privacy", a public-key cryptosystem using the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman algorithm. PGP is a trademark of Philip Zimmermann and Phil's Pretty Good Software, 3021 Eleventh Street, Boulder, Colorado 80304  USA. PGP is © copyright Philip R. Zimmermann, 1990-1993.

Please don't ask Prodigy Computing or Philip Zimmermann to send you a copy of PGP. Both will refuse, for legal reasons (see below). However, you can probably obtain PGP from your nearest bulletin board, or via anonymous ftp from nic.funet.fi, ghost.dsi.unimi.it or src.doc.ic.ac.uk.

Notice: If you as a private citizen use or distribute PGP within the US, you may be infringing US Patent 4405829, held by Public Key Partners. If you import PGP into the US from another country, you may be infringing US laws regarding the import of munitions. If you import PGP into your own country from the US, you (and the source you import it from) are almost certainly infringing US laws regarding the export of munitions.


CompuServe Online Registration
Obtaining a Licence Online

CompuServe offers a way to pay for a licence online. When you do this, the licence fee is added to your CompuServe charges and CompuServe will bill you in the normal way.

To obtain a licence online, you must first find the program's description in CompuServe's Shareware database.

To begin, GO SWREG and select "Register Shareware" from the menu.  CompuServe calls the process of obtaining a licence "registration". A list of search criteria will be displayed to you. CompuServe has assigned wfListen the Registration ID 2113. Enter this ID under option #1 on the search criteria menu. You will then navigate directly to wfListen's description. This is the easiest and fastest method licensing a program.

Alternatively, you can license wfListen and wfStatus together as a bundle at the rebated licence fee of US$10 for the two programs (normal fee $11). CompuServe has assigned the wfListen/wfStatus bundle the Registration ID 3974.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service, send a message to the Shareware Administrator by selecting the "Provide Feedback" option at the main SWREG menu.

We will send you your licence number by CompuServe email.


Licence Form: mail (cheque)
Prodigy Computing                                                      Print this form
wfListen Mail Licence Form

Cheques

I want to license my copy of wfListen. Please license the program in the name of

and send me a licence number.

[   ] I enclose a cheque in favour of Prodigy Computing (Pty) Ltd for the full licence fee.

[   ] I am a licensed wfStatus user, number                                       and enclose a cheque for the rebated licence fee.

My bank account is in	Currency	Full Licence Fee	Rebated Fee for wfStatus users
US dollars	USD	$6-00	$5-00
Canadian dollars	CAD	$8-50	$7-00
SA rands	ZAR	R23-00 including VAT	R20-00 including VAT
Another currency...
Email address or fax number or mailing address (for notification of licence number):

Mail to:
Prodigy Computing, PO Box 2194 Cramerview, South Africa 2060.


Licence Form: mail (credit card)
Prodigy Computing                                                      Print this form
wfListen Mail Licence Form

Credit Cards

I want to license my copy of wfListen. Please license the program in the name of

and send me a licence number.

Charge the US$6-00 licence fee to my [   ] MasterCard [   ] Visa Card.

I have a licensed copy of wfStatus, number                                        . Charge the rebated US$5-00 licence fee to my [   ] MasterCard [   ] Visa Card.

I understand that exchange rate fluctuations may slightly affect the amount charged.

      Number:

      Expiry date:           /           (must be supplied)

      Name on card (if different from name above):

      Postal Address (for return of credit card voucher):

      Signature (required for mail orders):

      Email address or fax number (for notification of licence number–if omitted you will be notified by mail):

Mail to:
Prodigy Computing, PO Box 2194 Cramerview, South Africa 2060.


Licence Form: email/fax
Prodigy Computing                                                      Print this form
wfListen Email/Fax Licence Form              Copy to Clipboard

I want to license my copy of wfListen. Please license the program in the name of

and send me a licence number.

[   ] I am paying the normal $6 licence fee.

[   ] I have a licensed copy of wfStatus, number                                        , so I am entitled to a rebated licence fee of $5.

[   ] Here is a NetCash coupon for the licence fee:______________________

[   ] Charge the licence fee to my [   ] MasterCard [   ] Visa account. I understand that exchange rate fluctuations may slightly affect the amount billed.

Note: If you are concerned about sending your credit card number over the Internet, then use either the split-number technique or encrypt your message using PGP.

      Card Number:

      Expiry date:           /           (must be supplied)

      Name on card (if different from name above):

      Postal Address (for return of credit card voucher: our bank insists that we mail it to you):

      Signature:

      Email address or fax number (for notification of licence number–if omitted you will be notified by mail):

Fax to:
Prodigy Computing, +27-11-888-2370 or +27-11-792-9512. The + means your international call prefix, such as 011 in the US or 00 in Europe.

Email to:
CompuServe: 73770,660
Internet: keating@acm.org


Exchange Rate Fluctuations

If you live outside South Africa, your credit card will be billed the equivalent of the appropriate licence fee in South African rands at the ruling exchange rate on the day your order is processed. Because exchange rates fluctuate, your credit card company may use a slightly different rate when it converts the charge back into your own currency. So the amount actually charged to your card may be slightly lower or slightly higher.

South African users will be billed directly in rands. The full fee is R23-00 including 14% VAT and the rebated fee is R20-00 including VAT.


Rebated Licence Fee

The licence fee for wfListen is US$6-00. The licence fee for wfStatus is US$5-00. If you license both, either together or separately, you get a $1-00 rebate, giving a combined licence fee of US$10-00. You can claim the rebate only once per copy of wfListen.


Another currency

If your bank account is in a currency other than US or Canadian dollars or South African rands, this is unlikely to be a problem, but please contact us before sending payment for pricing and payment instructions.


wfStatus

WfStatus, by the same author and also available as shareware, is a companion utility to wfListen, and provides WinFax users with a handy added feature.

If you switch often between having auto-receive on and auto-receive off, you'll know how easy it is to leave WinFax in the wrong mode by accident. WfStatus solves this problem by changing the WinFax icon to indicate its status. This way, you can see whether WinFax has auto-receive on or off, even when WinFax is iconized.

You can even customize the icons.

WfStatus works by instructing Windows to change the icon that WinFax displays, and so affects only the in-memory copy of WinFax. Your Delrina executable files are not patched or modified in any way.

If you license both wfListen and wfStatus, you get a rebate on the licence fee.


US Cheques

Cheques in US dollars must be drawn on a US bank. Cheques in Canadian dollars must be drawn on a US or Canadian bank.

If your bank account is in a currency other than US or Canadian dollars or South African rands, this is unlikely to be a problem, but please contact us before sending payment for pricing and payment instructions.


Shareware

Shareware is copyrighted software which is distributed through bulletin boards, on-line services, disk vendors, and copies passed among friends. It is not free. It is commercial software that you are allowed to try before you pay for it.

You use the software on your own system, in your own work environment, for a fixed period. If you decide not to continue using it, you throw it away and forget all about it. But if you continue to use it, you must pay for it. To use it without paying for it is, bluntly, theft.

Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. There is good and bad shareware, just as there is good and bad retail software. If retail software turns out to be unsatisfactory, you might have trouble getting your money back. With shareware, you know if it's good or bad before you pay for it.


Error Messages

A previous installation of this program failed an internal consistency check. Contact the author for assistance. [7026] This means...

Application execution error. Cannot find file wflisten.exe (or one of its components). Check to ensure the path and filename are correct and that all required libraries are available. This means...

Could not obtain status from WinFax: server lost or not responding. [7030] This means...

Could not pass requested action to WinFax: server lost or not responding. [7033] This means...

Could not terminate DDE link conversation with WinFax: server lost or not responding. [7029]. This means...

Data received across DDE link from WinFax is not text. [7027] This means...

DDE command to WinFax was rejected, probably because WinFax was busy initializing the modem. [7032]  This means...

DDE link conversation terminated by WinFax. [7028] This means...

Invalid command line parameter 'x'. [7036] This means...

Not a valid licence number. Number and name must correspond exactly to the notice you received. [7048] This means...

Program 'pppppppp.exe' not found to launch. [7037] This means...

Restart wfListen for the language change to take effect.  [7049] This means...

This program has failed an internal consistency check. Contact the author for assistance. [7025] This means...

WinFax is not responding to DDE link requests. Either the system is very busy or WinFax is not running. [7034/7044] This means...

Your two-month evaluation period has expired. Please obtain a licence! This means...


Error message: "Your two-month evaluation period..."
"Your two-month evaluation period has expired. Please obtain a licence!"

WfListen has determined that the program was first used on your system at least 60 days previously. This means that the two months you had to evaluate the program have now expired. When you pay for a licence to continue using the program you will receive a licence number. Once the licence number has been entered, this message will not appear again.


Error message: "A previous installation..."
"A previous installation of this program failed an internal consistency check.
Call for support."

The program file wflisten.exe previously failed an internal checksum test. This indicates a corrupted .exe file, which may have been caused by a virus or other external agency. Stop using the program and call for support. Please include a full description of the events leading up to the error, and the outcome of any virus scans you have done.


Error message: "Cannot find file..."
"Application execution error.
Cannot find file wflisten.exe (or one of its components).
Check to ensure the path and filename are correct
and that all required libraries are available."

This means one of the following:

(1) You have misspelt the name of wflisten.exe, or there is an error in the directory name.

(2) You have not installed bwcc.dll, or you have installed it somewhere that Windows can't find it. Review the installation guidelines.


Error message: "Could not obtain status..."
"Could not obtain status from WinFax:
server lost or not responding."

WinFax was apparently shut down while wfListen was waiting for it to report its status.


Error message: "Could not pass requested action ..."
"Could not pass requested action to WinFax:
server lost or not responding."

WinFax was apparently shut down while wfListen was waiting for it to acknowledge a requested action.


Error message: "Could not terminate DDE link..."
"Could not terminate DDE link conversation with WinFax:
server lost or not responding."

WinFax was apparently shut down while wfListen was waiting for it to acknowledge the end of the DDE conversation.


Error message: "Data received..."
"Data received across DDE link from WinFax is not text."

WfListen was expecting a text string from WinFax in response to a request for WinFax to report its status. The data received was not text. This error may indicate the presence of an ill-behaved third application that is performing illicit operations on clipboard data. In any case, you should shut down Windows and restart it.


Error message: "DDE command..."
"DDE command to WinFax was rejected,
probably because WinFax was busy initializing the modem."

WfListen sent a command to WinFax but WinFax rejected it. WinFax is too busy to respond to the request. The usual reason for this is that it is in the middle of a modem initialization sequence, which can take up to 20sec to complete.


Error message: "DDE link conversation..."
"DDE link conversation terminated by WinFax."

WinFax closed down and notified wfListen of this fact.


Error message: "This program has failed..."
"This program has failed an internal consistency check.
Call for support."

The program file wflisten.exe has failed an internal checksum test. This indicates a corrupted .exe file, which may have been caused by a virus. Stop using the program and call for support. Please include a full description of the events leading up to the error and the outcome of any virus scans you have done.


Error message: "WinFax is not responding ..."
"WinFax is not responding to DDE link requests.
Either the system is very busy or WinFax is not running."

WfListen attempted to initiate a DDE conversation with WinFax but WinFax did not respond. This may mean that WinFax is not running. You can suppress this message in normal operation by unchecking the Expect WinFax preference setting.

This message may indicate that you are using wfListen to launch WinFax, which is not the way wfListen works. See Frequently Asked Questions.

"...Expect Winfax setting is ignored in dialogue mode."

This is added to the end of the message when

WinFax is not running and

wfListen's "Expect WinFax" preference setting is Off and

You have started wfListen in dialogue mode (that is, without parameters).

It is assumed that you are running the program in dialogue mode to experiment, to set preferences or to consult help. You would not want the program to disappear 3 seconds after you start it, before you have a chance to do anything, which is what it would do if it heeded the Expect WinFax setting.


Error message: "Not a valid licence number ..."
"Not a valid licence number.
Number and name must correspond exactly
to the notice you received."

When you license the program you will receive a licence number. The number is personal to you and no-one else may use it: your name is actually encoded into the number. This means that if you spell your name even slightly differently from the way it appears on the notice we send you, wfListen will reject the number.

For example, you will get this message if the licence is in the name Francis Bloggs and you enter Frances Bloggs instead.

Case is significant. So you will get this message if the licence is in the name Francis Bloggs and you enter FRANCIS BLOGGS instead.

Punctuation is significant. So you will get this message if the licence is in the name Francis X. Bloggs and you enter Francis X Bloggs (without the period) instead.

If your name is incorrectly spelt on the notice, let us know and we will send you a new licence number.


Error message: "Program not found ..."
"Program 'pppppppp.exe' not found to launch."

You passed the program name pppppppp.exe to wfListen on the command line, but wfListen could not find it. This means one of the following:

(1) You have misspelt the name of the program, or the name of the directory where it resides.

(2) The program name is correct, but the program is neither in the working directory that you specified in Program Item Properties nor in the DOS path.


Warning message: "Restart wfListen ..."
"Restart wfListen for the language change to take effect."

WfListen stores its dialogues and error messages in a dynamic-link library that is loaded when you start the program. Changing the language changes the language setting in your wflisten.ini file but wfListen only looks at this setting when the program starts. So changing the language will appear to have no effect until you restart the program.


Error message: "Invalid command line ..."
"Invalid command line parameter 'x'."

You passed the single character x to wfListen on the command line, but that character was not 0 or 1. Other characters are not permitted: you must pass wfListen either 0 or 1 or the name of a program.


Acknowledgements

There is an excellent saying among doctors: Honour your teachers. The author would like to thank Tom Swan, for his book Borland Pascal 7.0 Programming for Windows (Borland Bantam, 1993) and its predecessor Borland Pascal for Windows 3.0 Programming; Pat Ritchey (of Team Borland on CompuServe) for his WinExecAndWait function, which lies at the heart of wfListen; and Kurt Barthelemess, also of Team Borland, for patient advice on so many occasions I've lost count.

Thanks also to:

Beta testers

Wayne Balardo, Yves Berbié, Tony Birnseth, Tim Clark, John Deweerd, Jon Fleming, Chris Gardner, Roger Goun, Craig Horrell, Gerry Irving, Donald Jenkins, David Little, Ed Lynn, Howard Mansfield, Sandy McKean, Tim Musselman, Christopher Peterson, John Pinter, Elyakum Shapirra.

Significant enhancements suggested by

Yves Berbié, Tony Birnseth, Tim Clark, John Deweerd, Robert Engelbardt, Paco Finch, Roger Goun, Mark Hanna, Rudolf Haupt, David Little, Peter Lubczynski, Sandy McKean, Heinz Mezera, Christopher Peterson, John Pinter, Ward Yelverton.

Improvements to the helpfile suggested by

Jon Allen, Wayne Balardo, Robert Engelbardt, Mike Gibbons, Rudolf Haupt, David Marcus.

Translation by

Yves Berbié (French), Rudolf Haupt (German).


Trademarks

WinFax is a trademark of Delrina Technology Inc. Other products have been mentioned in this documentation by way of example and we have done our best to identify the owner or distributor of each. Approach the owner or distributor for further information about trademark status. wfListen and wfStatus are protected names and are the property of Prodigy Computing (Pty) Limited. Reciprocal treaties give these names trademark or registered trademark status in other jurisdictions.


Compatibility: Overview
wfListen Compatibility

WfListen is designed for use with WinFax Pro from Delrina Inc. It will not work with other fax programs. Within that limitation, it is a widely compatible product. The installation procedure handles most special cases.

Are you concerned about...

... compatiblity with the version of WinFax you have?

... compatibility with your Windows shell (for example Norton Desktop, or Windows 95)?

... compatibility with your communications software?


WinFax versions: compatibility
Compatibility with WinFax versions

Windows Shells	Communications Software

Please select your version of WinFax from the list below:

WinFax Pro version 2

WinFax Pro version 3

WinFax Pro version 4

WinFax Pro version 7

WinFax Lite

WinFax Lite 3


Windows Shells; compatibility
Compatibility with Windows Shells

Please select your Windows shell from the list below:

Windows 3.x Program Manager

Norton Desktop for Windows

Windows 95

Other Shells


Compatibility with Communications Software

Please select your communications program from the list below. If your communications program is not listed, that doesn't mean you can't use wfListen with it. It only means that no problems have been reported.

Com-It for Windows

CompuServe Information Manager (WinCim) 1.x

CompuServe Information Manager (WinCim) 2.0

CompuServe Information Manager for DOS (DosCim)

CompuServe Navigator, Windows Edition (CSNav)

Crosstalk for Windows

Dial-up Networking (Windows 95)

Distinct TCP/IP SLIP/PPP for Windows

HyperTerminal (Windows 95)

Internet application not listed

Internet-in-a-Box

Kermit 3.13

MSN (Windows 95)

OzCIS

OzWin

PCbel

pcAnywhere for Windows 1.0

ProComm+ for Windows

Qmodem Pro for Windows

Prodigy for Windows

Smartcom 1.0B

Tapcis 5.4x

Tapcis 6.0

TAPI-compliant (Windows 95) applications

Telix 3.12

Telix for Windows 1.01d

UUPC for DOS

Trumpet Winsock 1.00

Winsock transport not listed

Windows Terminal

Windows for Workgroups Remote Access Services


No Known Problems

You need to take no special actions to use wfListen with this product.


Compatibility with WinFax Pro version 2

Windows Shells	Communications Software

wfListen is compatible with WinFax Pro version 2, revisions after and not including 24 June 1991. You can find out the date of your revision by selecting Help | About from the menu.


Compatibility with WinFax Pro version 3

Windows Shells	Communications Software

wfListen is compatible with all revisions of WinFax Pro version 3. Some beta-test versions of WinFax Pro version 3 are known to be incompatible.


Compatibility with WinFax Pro version 4

Windows Shells	Communications Software

wfListen is compatible with all production revisions of WinFax Pro version 4. There is a known defect in WinFax Pro version 4 that may affect your use of wfListen, because wfListen uses DDE commands to turn auto-receive on and off.

If you start WinFax Pro version 4 with auto-receive switched off, it is not possible to use DDE to turn it on. WinFax accepts and acknowledges the DDE command but does not act on it. Repeating the command has no effect, but may result in program termination.


Compatibility with WinFax Pro version 7

Windows Shells	Communications Software

wfListen is compatible with WinFax Pro version 7. However, it is does not know about the CommBar and will not use it. To use wfListen with WinFax Pro version 7, run WinFax, not the CommBar.


Compatibility with WinFax Lite

Windows Shells	Communications Software

WinFax Lite is a repackaged version of WinFax Pro version 2. Delrina produces different, custom versions of the product for each OEM. This means that there many WinFax Lites. WfListen works with all versions of WinFax Lite that we have been able to test.


Compatibility with WinFax Lite 3

Windows Shells	Communications Software

WinFax Lite 3 is a repackaged version of WinFax Pro version 3. Delrina produces different, custom versions of the product for each OEM. This means that there many WinFax Lite 3s. WfListen works with all versions of WinFax Lite 3 that we have been able to test.


Norton Desktop for Windows

Windows Shells	Communications Software

There are no known problems using wfListen itself with Norton Desktop.

WfListen's Setup program interacts with the shell to create a cloned Program Manager group (folder in NDW). Versions of NDW prior to 3.0 were not strictly compatible with Windows Program Manager, and Setup may be unable to create a cloned folder for you.

If so, you can install manually.


Windows 95

Windows Shells	Communications Software

wfListen is a 16-bit Windows application. It is intended to be used to share a single modem between WinFax and 16-bit communications programs.

Windows 95 incorporates an entirely different approach to sharing a modem, called TAPI (telephony API). Examples of TAPI-compliant programs are MSN, Hyperterminal, Dialup Networking, and WinFax 7. Even though WinFax 7 is TAPI-compliant, this in itself is not much help if the other applications using the modem are not TAPI-compliant. You will find wfListen useful if you want to use WinFax (any version) alongside 16-bit communications programs. If all your communications programs are TAPI-compliant, you do not need wfListen.

To check whether wfListen will be useful to you under Windows 95:

If you have WinFax 7...

If you have WinFax 2, 3, 4 or Lite...


wfListen and WinFax 7

If you are runing Windows 95 and WinFax Pro version 7...

... and you have a "legacy" (non-TAPI compliant) communications application, then use wfListen with that application.

... and your communications application is TAPI-compliant (examples: MSN, Hyperterminal, Dial-up Networking), then modem sharing is handled by Windows 95 and you do not need wfListen.

If you don't know whether your application is TAPI-compliant, it probably isn't. If you used it under Windows 3.1, it almost certainly isn't.


wfListen and WinFax 2-4 under Windows 95

If you are runing Windows 95 and a 16-bit version of WinFax Pro (which includes all releases prior to version 7)...

... and you have a "legacy" (non-TAPI compliant) communications application, then use wfListen with that application.

... and your communications application is TAPI-compliant (examples: MSN, Hyperterminal, Dial-up Networking), then wfListen will not be useful. Consider upgrading to WinFax Pro version 7, or contact us about the release date of Tapioca, which is planned to incorporate this functionality.

If you don't know whether your application is TAPI-compliant, it probably isn't. If you used it under Windows 3.1, it almost certainly isn't.


Other Shells

Windows Shells	Communications Software

There are no known problems using wfListen itself with any Windows shell.

WfListen's Setup program interacts with the shell to create Program Manager groups, or equivalent. Your shell may not have the concept of groups or folders, or if it does, it may not be strictly compatible with Windows Program Manager.

If so, Setup may be unable to create a cloned group for you, and you will need to install manually.


pcAnywhere

Windows Shells	Communications Software

You can use pcAnywhere in two modes. Remote mode is where you use it to dial into another computer anc control it. Host mode is where a computer waits for a call from a computer using remote mode.

You can use wfListen with pcAnywhere remote mode. wfListen won't let you use pcAnywhere host mode and WinFax auto-receive together.


Internet Applications

Windows Shells	Communications Software

Understanding Windows Sockets

Internet applications differ from most other communications programs in one major respect. That is, the process of dialling your service provider and establishing a connection is handled by one program, often called the WinSock Transport, while the application (email, Web browser, etc) is an entirely different application.

That is why you can browse the Web in the foreground while downloading a file via FTP in background.

When you run an Internet application such as Mosaic, the following things happen:

Mosaic starts, and loads a DLL called winsock.dll. Winsock is short for Windows sockets, and provides services similar to sockets on a Unix machine. Sockets is the name for a set of system services connecting two computers together. Sockets takes care of establishing the connection, mutual identification, handling broken connections, and so on, so that the application does not have to concern itself with these details.

Unless you have a direct Internet connection, winsock.dll will need to establish a connection to your service provider before Mosaic can do anything. It usually does this by running a separate program called a dialler or a winsock transport. There are many implementations of Windows sockets, not just one, from many different suppliers.

The dynamic link library is always called winsock.dll, and always provides the same basic functionality (or should). The reason for this is simple. You can only have one copy of winsock.dll loaded at any one time. That one copy needs to be able to service all of your Internet applications.

The winsock transport may have many names. For example, Trumpet's winsock transport is called tcpman.exe. Internet-in-a-Box's winsock transport is called dialer.exe. CompuServe's winsock transport is called cid.exe.

The winsock transport does not have to be in a separate .exe file at all. Your version of winsock.dll may do the whole thing itself.

Using wfListen with Windows Sockets

You can use wfListen with your Internet applications in the normal way. It will switch off WinFax auto-receive as soon as you launch your first application, and switch it back on again after you close down the last one. This is easy to do, but may not be what you want.

For example, if you spend a lot of time in your email program, but are only very briefly online, then what you really want is for WinFax auto-receive to be disabled only when the winsock transport is actually using the line.

wfListen may be able to do this for you, if–

1. The winsock transport is in a separate executable (.exe) file.

2. You know, or can find out, what the winsock transport program is called.

3. The executable file will still work properly if it is renamed.

If these conditions are fulfilled, then follow the instructions for Trumpet Winsock, substituting the correct name of the winsock transport program wherever tcpman.exe appears.


ProComm+ for Windows

Windows Shells	Communications Software

Most Windows communications programs will work when WinFax auto-receive has been disabled. Some early versions of ProComm+ for Windows will not. In order to use these versions of ProComm+ it is necessary to shut down WinFax completely. The program  WFSUSPND.EXE does this. It shuts down WinFax, and then cooperates with wfListen to restart WinFax after you have finished using ProComm+.

Setup will attempt to detect that you are using ProComm and act appropriately, but it obviously can't tell what version just from the program name.

If you are using Procomm+, follow the instructions for using wfListen but put  WFSUSPND in the command line instead of  WFLISTEN.


CompuServe Information Manager for Windows, version 2

Windows Shells	Communications Software

If you choose to use WinCim 2's Winsock transport (the default) For WinCim 2.0, increase the shutdown delay in Preferences to 8500.


CompuServe Navigator, Windows edition (CSnav)

Windows Shells	Communications Software

CompuServe Navigator works with wfListen in the normal way. But if you are using Scheduler, do the following.

Don't wrap  WFLISTEN around the launch of  SCHED.EXE in ProgMan | File | Properties. (If Setup did this for you, then just delete the icon from the cloned group and go on using the old one that CSNav set up for you.)

What the Scheduler does is launch CSNav. While CSNav is running, WinFax must have auto-receive off. So, the trick is to invoke wfListen at the point when CSNav is going to run, not when Scheduler runs.

To use wfListen with Scheduler, build the scheduled command line in Scheduler in the normal way:

Program:  csnav.exe,

CSNav Parameters: (whatever is required).

After Scheduler has built the scheduled command line, insert the full pathname of wfListen (eg  C:\WFLISTEN\WFLISTEN.EXE) to the left of  C:\CSERVE\CSNAV\CSNAV.EXE in the Program edit box, and then press the Save button.

If you have Scheduler in your Startup group, you may need to extend the countdown delay to give WinFax time to initialize the modem before Scheduler starts a wfListen-launched app. This time will depend largely on your modem. A good value to try is 30sec. If you find that wfListen is complaining that WinFax is busy, increase the delay.


Internet-in-a-Box

Windows Shells	Communications Software	Understanding Internet Applications

As you know, wfListen works by launching your communications program and waiting for it to finish. This requires you to modify the comand line that launches the program. Unfortunately, Internet-in-a-Box knows that its winsock transport is called  DIALER.EXE and so that is the command line that it executes. You actually want it to run the command line  WFLISTEN DIALER.EXE.

You have to fool Internet-in-a-Box into launching the modified command line. You do this by giving it a program that it thinks is  DIALER.EXE, but is actually a little program launcher that passes the modified command line to Windows. In order to do this, you have to rename the real  DIALER.EXE program to something else, and name the launcher  DIALER.EXE. You can choose to do this by hand, or to use an automated facility. If you are comfortable renaming files, then you may find the manual process easier and quicker. If you are not comfortable renaming files, use the automated facility.


Internet-in-a-Box: Manual Process

1. Delete the icons that Setup created for Internet-in-a-Box applications, and go back to using the original one, without WFLISTEN in the command line.

2. Rename ibox_dir\ DIALER.EXE to ibox_dir\ WFDIALER.EXE.

3. Copy wflisten_dir\ SURROGAT.EXE to ibox_dir\ DIALER.EXE.

4. Edit wflisten.ini as follows:

 [Surrogates]

 dialer=wfdialer

; This says that the real  DIALER.EXE is now called  WFDIALER.EXE.

5. If you need to be able to invoke  DIALER.EXE by hand, edit the command line to read ibox_dir\ WFDIALER.EXE.


Internet-in-a-Box: Automated Process

The entire process of renaming the files is automated.  So all you have to do is the following:

1. Delete the icons that Setup created for Internet-in-a-Box, and go back to using the original one, without  WFLISTEN in the command line.

2. In the same file, add this line to the  [Launchers] section:

 [Launchers]

 ibox=dialer

; This says that IBOX.EXE expects to launch DIALER.EXE

3. Change the command line for Internet-in-a-Box to  WFLAUNCH.EXE IBOX.EXE.

For those who like to know the details, this is what will happen when you use wfLaunch:

1. WfLaunch will check that the program  DIALER.EXE is identical to the launcher program  SURROGAT.EXE. If the two programs are identical, it will skip to step 4. Otherwise, it will

2. Rename  DIALER.EXE to  WFDIALER.EXE (the name specified in the Surrogates section).

3. Copy  SURROGAT.EXE to  DIALER.EXE.

4. Launch  IBOX.EXE, which in turn will

5. Launch  DIALER.EXE (that is, the copy of  SURROGAT.EXE), which in turn will

6. Tell wfListen to launch  WFDIALER.EXE.

The first time you do this, wfLaunch will warn you that it has not seen  DIALER.EXE before. This is normal. WfLaunch is simply telling you that steps 2 and 3 above need to be performed.


OzWin Optional Setup

Windows Shells	Communications Software

WfListen works with OzWin in the usual way. However, there is an alternate setup that some users may prefer. WfListen's standard operation is to switch off auto-receive, launch OzWin, wait for it to finish, and then switch auto-receive back on again.

This means that auto-receive is off for the whole time that OzWin is running, even when it's not actually using the modem.

Using this alternate setup, you can restrict the time that WinFax auto-receive is off to just the period that OzWin is on-line.

1. Remove the invocation of wfListen from the OzWin command string (or go back to using the icon that OzWin created for you).

2. In OzWin's "pre-online" command string, specify:

 c:\wflisten\wflisten.exe 0

(modifying the directory as necessary). This switches off auto-receive just before ozwinol.exe starts to run.

3. In OzWin's "post-online" command string, specify

 c:\wflisten\wflisten.exe c:\wflisten\donuthin.exe

(modifying the directory as necessary). This switches on auto-receive after ozwinol.exe terminates. As its name suggests, donuthin.exe is a Windows program that does exactly nothing. As ozwinol.exe shuts down, it sends a modem reset string to your modem. Your modem (depending on the model and what it is being asked to do) may take several seconds to digest this string. During this time, WinFax cannot take control of the modem because the modem is busy. So it is necessary to wait for a few seconds before restarting WinFax. WfListen calls this a shutdown delay, and you specify it in Preferences. Launching a do-nothing program causes WfListen to wait for the specified shutdown delay before telling WinFax to take the modem back.


Prodigy for Windows

Windows Shells	Communications Software

Prodigy for Windows works with wfListen in the normal way. But if you have created a nickname to log you on automatically, do the following:

When you create a nickname, Prodigy creates a file called nickname .ATL in your Prodigy directory. To log you on automatically using this nickname, you just need to put nickname .ATL after the invocation of prodigy.exe in your command line.

So program item will look like this:

Command line:  c:\wflisten\wflisten.exe prodigy.exe mynick.atl

Startup directory:  c:\prodigy

(By the way, Prodigy Computing has no connection whatsoever with the Prodigy information service.)


Trumpet WinSock

Windows Shells	Communications Software	Understanding Internet Applications

As you know, wfListen works by launching your communications program and waiting for it to finish. This requires you to modify the comand line that launches the program. Unfortunately, Trumpet WinSock knows that its winsock transport is called  TCPMAN.EXE and so that is the command line that it executes. You actually want it to run the command line  WFLISTEN TCPMAN.EXE.

You have to fool Trumpet WinSock into launching the modified command line. You do this by giving it a program that it thinks is T CPMAN.EXE, but is actually a little program launcher that passes the modified command line to Windows. In order to do this, you have to rename the real  TCPMAN.EXE program to something else, and name the launcher  TCPMAN.EXE. You can choose to do this by hand, or to use an automated facility. If you are comfortable renaming files, then you may find the manual process easier and quicker. If you are not comfortable renaming files, use the automated facility.


Trumpet WinSock: Manual Process

1. Delete the icons that Setup created for your Internet applications, and go back to using the original ones, without  WFLISTEN in the command line.

2. Rename trumpet_dir\ TCPMAN.EXE to trumpet_dir\ WFTCPMAN.EXE.

3. Copy wflisten_dir\ SURROGAT.EXE to trumpet_dir\ TCPMAN.EXE.

4. Edit wflisten.ini as follows:

 [Surrogates]

 tcpman=wftcpman

; This says that the real Trumpet Winsock program is now called WFTCPMAN.EXE.

5. If you still want to be able to invoke Trumpet Winsock by hand, edit the command line to read trumpet_dir\ WFTCPMAN.EXE.


Trumpet WinSock: Automated Process

The entire process of renaming the files is automated.  So all you have to do is the following four steps:

1. Delete the icons that Setup created for your Internet applications, and go back to using the original ones, without  WFLIST EN in the command line.

2. In  wflisten.ini in your Windows directory, add lines for each of your Internet applications on the following model, substituting the actual program name for inteappx:

 [Launchers]

inetapp1 =tcpman

inetapp2 =tcpman

inetapp3 =tcpman

for example:

 mosaic=tcpman

 cello=tcpman

 ws_ftp=tcpman

; This says that each of these applications expects to launch  TCPMAN.EXE

4. Change the command lines for inetapp1 to  WFLAUNCH.EXE INETAPP1.EXE, and so on.

For those who like to know the details, this is what will happen when you use wfLaunch:

1. wfLaunch will check that the program  TCPMAN.EXE is identical to the launcher program  SURROGAT.EXE. If the two programs are identical, it will skip to step 4. Otherwise, it will

2. Rename  TCPMAN.EXE to WFTCPMAN.EXE.

3. Copy  SURROGAT.EXE to  TCPMAN.EXE.

4. Launch  INETAPP1.EXE, which in turn will

5. Load  WINSOCK.DLL, which in turn will

6. Launch  TCPMAN.EXE (that is, the copy of  SURROGAT.EXE), which in turn will

7. Tell wfListen to launch  WFTCPMAN.EXE.

The first time you do this, wfLaunch will warn you that it has not seen  TCPMAN.EXE before. This is normal. WfLaunch is simply telling you that steps 2 and 3 above need to be performed.


Windows for Workgroups Remote Access Services

Windows Shells	Communications Software

As you know, wfListen works by launching your communications program and waiting for it to finish. This requires you to modify the comand line that launches the program. Unfortunately, when you use RAS, you run  RASSTART.EXE, which in turn launches  RASPHONE.EXE. And the command line that launches  RASPHONE.EXE is hard-coded inside  RASSTART.EXE and cannot be modified.

There is no point in wrapping  WFLISTEN around the launch of  RASSTART.EXE. If you do this, wfLIsten will launch RASstart and wait for it to finish. RASstart launches RAS and then terminates. WfListen sees RASstart terminate and re-enables WinFax auto-receive, just as RAS is trying to take control of the modem.

Because the command line cannot be modified, we have to fool  RASSTART.EXE. We do this by giving it a program that it thinks is  RASPHONE.EXE, but is actually a little program launcher with a modified command line. In order to fool  RASSTART.EXE, we have to rename the real RAS program to something else, and name the launcher  RASPHONE.EXE. The entire process of renaming the files is automated.  So all you have to do is change the RAS command line to  WFLAUNCH.EXE RASSTART.EXE.

For those who like to know the details, this is what will happen when you use wfLaunch to run RAS:

1. wfLaunch will check that the program  RASPHONE.EXE is identical to the launcher program  SURROGAT.EXE. If the two programs are identical, it will skip to step 4. Otherwise, it will

2. Rename  RASPHONE.EXE to  WFRAS.EXE (the name specified in the Surrogates section of wflisten.ini).

3. Copy  SURROGAT.EXE to  RASPHONE.EXE.

4. Launch  RASSTART.EXE, which in turn will

5. Launch  RASPHONE.EXE (that is, the copy of  SURROGAT.EXE), which in turn will

6. Tell wfListen to launch  WFRAS.EX E.

The first time you do this, wfLaunch will warn you that it has not seen  RASPHONE.EXE before. This is normal. WfLaunch is simply telling you that steps 2 and 3 above need to be performed.