ARPD.EXE History V. 1.00 First wide area Beta release. The program is perfect in every way. Absolutely flawless. Performs exactly as expected on every system and with every TNC. V. 1.01 Fixed small Typographical error in source code. Could happen to anyone. V. 1.02 Fixed compiler error in Interrupt Service Routine. Fixed bug which caused the TNCB.USY file to be left in the ARPD directory if the door was entered when an external connect was in progress. V. 1.03 Rewrote Interrupt Service routine. Some systems reporting trouble with display of TNC output. Let's see if this fixes it. V. 1.04 Just a small cosmetic change in the (thus far) undocumented features display. V. 1.05 Made another change in ISR hoping to fix the durned display problem experienced by some systems. V. 1.06 Found and fixed bug in TNC initialization which was causing TNC port protocol to be set to a random number depending on what was run in that area of memory before ARPD was entered. Added timing loop to keep the system from overwritting older TNC buffers. Added 3 ^C characters before TNC is initialized before attempting to load call strings and time. Re-installed original ISR. It was better and wasn't the source of the display problem after all. Enabled support for multi-line BBS's. Don't know how well this will work yet. Just trying to satisfy everyone. V. 1.07 Fixed inconsistency in defined value. Not a real problem but causing some confusion in my mind. V. 1.08 - 1.09 Mostly experimentation. Adding XON/XOFF capability. Optimizing the terminal function. All in house stuff. V. 1.10 Re-wrote the terminal function to operate faster and correct unknown problem experienced by some systems with the present code generated by the compiler. (See, wasn't MY fault. It was the compiler! That's why we call it Pass - the - Buck SoftWare!) Added support for XON/XOFF protocol for the TNC port. Some of you guys out there are running three wire serial cables. If you have the option go with RTS/CTS. Shortened the inter-character delay timing for the TNC port so your users won't be looking at the "Wait while TNC is initialized" screen this time next Tuesday. Changed the way connect status is handled for screen color changes. Makes it easier to change color in all modes. Added configuration command XFLOW to let the terminal know if you are using XON/XOFF. No switches, just add the line to the CONFIG.TNC if you are going to enable software flow control. Added configuration command NEWLINE xx command to change the newline character used when talking to the TNC. If the line is not present in the CONFIG.TNC file 13 is the default. If your TNC likes 11 better then just add the line NEWLINE 11 to the configuration. The number MUST be in Decimal format. HEX WON'T WORK! There are some very strange hardware combinations out there. Changed TNC port handler so it will wait till BOTH the TX register and the TX buffer are empty before sending a byte. As slow as TNC's operate, it shouldn't be noticed. Changed Time Limit warning from informational to demanding. Some guys don't want to leave. Document the F3 & F4 functions. Help and Chat modes, respectively. Always been there. Just not in the documentation till I could have a chance to check them a little more thuroughly and correct a little problem with the screen color handling. v. 1.15 Another stunning achievement! An absolutely marvelous and flawless program released in the public interest. If only the BIG software houses could write programs like this! v. 1.20 Fixed TNCB.USY file check to insure that it operates as advertised. Those that are erasing the file in the calling .BAT are not reading the documentation. IF you aren't using multiple phone lines or you are not using the TNC while users are online simply delete the TNCNODE.TNC file and the TNCB.USY will NOT be created. Added CTRLCBRK command. CTRLCBRK, if present in the CONFIG.TNC file will cause the system to issue a 'modem break' signal to the TNC rather than passing along the $03 character. On many TNC's this will insure a return to the cmd: state regardless of current mode. Added screen color preference choices in the CONFIG.TNC. The commands: DEFCOLOR, CONCOLOR and SYSCOLOR should be followed by the appropriate choices from: BLACK, RED, GREEN, BROWN, BLUE, VIOLET, CYAN, WHITE, GRAY, LTRED, LTGREEN, YELLOW, LTBLUE, LTVIOLET, LTCYAN, LTWHITE. The defaults are : DEFCOLOR=WHITE, CONCOLOR=LTGREEN and SYSCOLOR=YELLOW. The DEFCOLOR (default color) is the color of the screen print when the first CMD: prompt is seen. The CONCOLOR (connected color) is the color of print when the TNC is connected. The SYSCOLOR (sysop color) is the color of the print in Chat or Help modes. Any or all of the color commands can be added to the CONFIG.TNC file. (Remember, the background color is ALWAYS BLACK. If you set BLACK print you will NOT SEE IT!!) v. 1.22 Fix screen color problem with online help screen. (TAB key) Fix typo in initialization code. v. 1.23 Moved this code to another directory and it became the core code for v. 2.0 which will be MFJ 1278 specific. Multi-Mode and Multi-Radio. Lotta rewrite to be done on this one so it will be along some time in the future. v. 1.24 Removed redundant code in the send_tnc() function. Moves the data a little faster and saves a few bytes. Added user levels: LIMITED & READONLY to the FULL already expected by ARPD in the USERS.TNC file. At this time LIMITED is the same as FULL in previous releases. Change all your users to LIMITED until they prove they can use the door as it has always been. Your veteran users who have proven themselves can be made FULL. About the only advantage in this release is that they don't have to get past the INTRO.TNC screen. FULL access users are dropped right at the CMD: prompt when the TNC is initialized. READONLY is DANGEROUS!!! It has NOT been completely tested. Have one of your trusted users try this mode and see if they can get to the TNC. In READONLY mode, the XMITOK OFF string is sent to the TNC to disable the transmitter. All user keystrokes are ignored except for the TAB and CTRL-A keys. When a user is online in READONLY mode the SysOp, acting as control operator may allow the user to use the keyboard to control the TNC by using the SYSOP HELP key. This is like sitting beside the user at the keyboard and allowing them to type. Remember, if you want the transmitter to work in this mode, tell the TNC "XMITOK ON". As a precaution, you should send "XMITOK OFF" before you leave HELP mode. When the SysOp leaves HELP mode the user is again locked out. I think. TEST it and use it with caution. The legality of this mode should be checked with your local FCC office. It's legal for me to write it. It may be illegal for you to use it. Moved MYMCALL to the DEFAULTS.TNC file. Removing this from the executable allows those users who have non-standard or poorly made TNC's (in my humble opinion) to replace it with MYPBBS or some other such nonsense. Took some brute force steps on the hardware to allow for the poor condition it may be left in by other less sophisticated programs. Let me know if you still have problems with ARPD following another program into the TNC serial port. Included a text file on using ARPD in an OS/2 environment. This text was written by Bob, WD5DHF, and is the definitive work on the subject to this point. Thanks Bob. v. 1.31 Allowing new CONFIG.TNC line 'KAM' to handle a couple of things I have found unusual in operation of KanTronics. ARPD should now properly set the TIME and the CALL in these units.