C-Kermit 8.0 Beta.04 Announcement

From: fdc@columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: Announcing C-Kermit 8.0 Beta.04
Date: 19 Nov 2001 16:20:51 GMT
Organization: Columbia University

C-Kermit 7.0 Beta.04 is available for testing:

  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ck80.html

Changes since Beta.03 of 9 Sepember 2001:

Unix documentation:
  • A brand-new Unix man page (ckuker.nr) is included with Beta.04. Also on the Web at: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ckututor.html.
  • Unix installation instructions are now available as a Web page: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ckuins.html.

    Telnet:
  • SET TELOPT policies are now enforced on non-Telnet ports if the server begins Telnet negotiations.
  • SET TERMINAL IDLE-ACTION { TELNET-NOP, TELNET-AYT }.

    Serial ports:
  • UUCP lockfile creation race condition fixed.
  • Dialout, modem signals, hangup, hardware flow control, etc, tested extensively on many platforms, numerous problems fixed.
  • SET STOP-BITS 2 can now be given without SET FLOW HARDWARE.
  • Major improvements in RFC 2217 Telnet Com-Port Control.
  • Improved ability to REDIAL a modem server port.
  • Improved hints when dialing fails.

    Command-line options:
  • kermit -h now shows the command name in the usage usage string.
  • kermit -h now shows ALL command-line options.
  • kermit -s blah, where blah is a symlink, now works.
  • --noperms command-line option = SET ATTRIBUTE PERMISSIONS OFF.
  • HTTP and HTTPS URLs now supported on the command line.
  • An http command-line personality is now available.

    General:
  • Initialization file streamlined to load faster, anachronisms removed.
  • Updated NEWS, INTRO, HELP text, SHOW commands. In particular, see SHOW COMM, HELP SET LINE, HELP WAIT.
  • Date/time arithmetic routines converted from floating-point to integer arithmetic (internally) for greater accuracy and portability.
  • Quoted strings containing commas no longer break macro execution.

    Kermit file transfer improvements:
  • Dynamic timeouts are now much more aggressive.
  • New "hot keys" to turn debug.log on/off during file transfer.
  • Improved hints when transfer fails.

    FTP improvements:
  • FTP CD orientation messages are now printed.
  • -R now accepted on the FTP command line to request Recursion.
  • -m allows Active or Passive mode to be chosen on the command line.
  • -dd on the FTP command line creates a timestamped debug.log.
  • FTP command-line security options filled in.
  • Improved automatic text/binary mode switching for MGET.
  • Removed spurious error messages that sometimes occur during MGET.

    New or improved commands:
  • DIRECTORY, GREP, TYPE, HEAD, and TAIL now have a /OUTPUT:file option.
  • TYPE /NUMBER adds line numbers.
  • CAT = TYPE /NOPAGE; MORE = TYPE /PAGE.
  • GETOK ?-help fixed.

    New variables:
  • \v(timestamp) (= "\v(ndate) \v(time)")
  • \v(hour) (hour of the day, 0-23)

    New functions:
  • \funix2dospath() converts a UNIX path (/) to a DOS one (\).
  • \fdos2unixpath() converts a DOS (Windows, OS/2) path to a UNIX one.
  • \fkeywordval() parses name=value pair, allows macro keyword parameters.

    Security:
  • We now make every attempt to not write passwords to the debug.log.
  • New Certificate Authority certificates file, includes the Kermit Project at Columbia University so you can access our IKSD securely.
  • Secure targets improved and better documented in Unix makefile.

    Builds:
  • All Linux (libc and glibc) builds consolidated under "make linux".
  • HP-UX makefile targets now have consistent names.
  • New aix50 and aix51 targets added.
  • C-Kermit 8.0.200 Beta.04 has been built on nearly 100 different OS/hardware combinations so far. See the binaries list at the end of the web page; if you have a platform that does not have a Beta.04 binary listed, please try building it there and upload the result. For UNIX please use a name like:

      ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/incoming/cku200b04.xxx
    

    where xxx follows the normal convention of makefile entry name, hardware, OS release:

      http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ck80.html#binlist
    

    For VMS use:

      ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/incoming/ckv200b04-ppp-vmsvv-nnnnn.exe
    

    where ppp is "axp" or "vax", vv is the VMS version (e.g. "73" for 7.3), and nnnnn is the network option ("nonet", "tgv43", "ucx50", etc), for example:

      ckv200b04-axp-vms71-ucx41.exe
    

    For extra fun, use C-Kermit's built-in FTP or IKSD clients for uploading: New Kermits Upload Themselves!

    I know I've said this before, but this time I really do expect this to be the final beta test before the 8.0 release, so please give it a workout. I think (hope) you'll find the serial-port functions much more solid; this was the major focus of Beta.04. The following tests should be done on as many platforms as possible:

    I ran all these tests on FreeBSD 3.3, NetBSD 1.4.1, OpenBSD 2.5, Debian Linux 2.1, Red Hat Linux 7.1, SCO XENIX 2.3.4, SCO OSR5.0.5, SCO Unixware 2.1.3, QNX 4.25, HP-UX 10.20, Solaris 2.6, Solaris 2.8, Tru64 Unix 4.0E, SunOS 4.1.3, NeXTSTEP 3.1, and VMS 7.1, at speeds ranging from 9600 to 115200 bps, on good, so-so, and awful connections, with RTS/CTS as well as Xon/Xoff flow control, with and without parity, and it all looked good. But the more platforms the better, since each one is different from all the others.

    Thanks!

    - Frank


    The Kermit Project / Columbia University / kermit@columbia.edu / 19 Nov 2001