0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0››       BOBTERM 1.21 REVIEW›       -------------------››       by Joel Kennedy (Reprinted from›       the Puget Sound Atari News, ›       September  1990)-WITH THANKS›       from THE OL' HACKERS  ATARI›       USER GROUP, Inc., New York››     Well guess what the friendly UPS ›man had for me on August 9th? Yep, ›SpartaDOS X and the R-Time 8 cart ›from ICD! SDX is great! I love it!!! ›The R-Time 8 is just as good (never ›again will I set the clock! right? ›Well, almost. The cart was sitting on ›top of my XE and fell a whole 2 1/2 ›inches. I now have a piece of foam ›stuffed inside the R-Time 8 to keep ›the battery in contact. Don't set the ›cart on top of your computer!).››     Ok, stop laughing and read about ›BobTerm 1.21 from Bob Puff. When you ›first boot up BobTerm (to be refered ›to throughout this article as BT) you ›see a well done title screen. What I ›find most impressive about it is its ›rather accurate depiction of the ›states. Good job, Bob! Next, you see ›the Main Menu. The options are pretty ›self explanatory, but I thought I ›would mention a few of them in more ›depth.››     A -- You can change between ›ASCII, ATARI (aka ATASCII), VT-52E, ›and VT-52O. VT-52 is a terminal ›emulator, the 'E' and 'O' denoting ›even and odd parity respectively.››     B -- Baud rates go clear up to ›19.2k!!››     D -- Well, it seems self ›explanatory but Bob added an ›embellishment. If you press START ›while you press 'D' you will be ›switched into "echoplex." This is ›primarily used when modeming between ›two individuals. One sets 'echoplex' ›on and the other stays in full ›duplex. Normally both would have to ›switch to half duplex, but echoplex ›will echo back the characters - just ›like a BBS.››     F&G -- For when you are talking ›to someone (voice) and want to go to ›the computer mode (data) without ›redialing. Very handy!››     R&S -- You can set both the ›transfer protocol, as well as the ›drive and path, for uploads and ›downloads. For Downloads BT ›automatically adjusts to the senders ›protocol. Also, for both uploads and ›downloads BT eliminates the need to ›pad a transfer block by switching to ›smaller blocks, and therefore lower ›protocols, if the rest of a file ›won't fit in the size block in use. ›For example: You are transferring a ›file that is 2, 176 bytes long. You ›select 1k x-modem and two complete ›blocks of 1k are transfered. BT will ›then switch to standard x-modem for ›the remaining 128 bytes of data.››     K -- basically a standard menu ›of DOS 2.x/MYDOS commands. If you'd ›loaded the CP.BTM (as a module), it ›will give you an interface directly ›into Sparta's command processor. The ›lower menu commands are mainly used ›when you are in the Term mode. You ›can activate word wrap, reset the ›online time clock, switch between ›realtime/online time, do a screen ›dump, save a snapshot of the screen ›to the buffer and even activate fine ›scrolling. The chat window is an ›interesting feature, it allows you to ›pre-edit what you type before you ›send it. It only has a three line ›capacity but it is still handy. I ›don't use it much anymore because of ›the delay it causes. Everything ›that's in the buffer is sent when you ›press RETURN. Most people don't like ›you using it because they can't tell ›if you are typing something or just ›sitting there 'twiddlin your thumbs.'››     When "J" is selected from the ›Main Menu three options will replace ›the lower menu. This submenu is ›pretty straight forward. By selecting ›the first option you will be able to ›see what the system macros have been ›set to. You can change your screen ›colors here as well as alter the ›macros. By choosing the third option ›the BOBTERM.CNF file will be written. ›This saves things other than just the ›macros and screen colors - so make ›sure you have everything set the way ›you want it.››     Selecting "E" from the Main Menu ›will put you in the Autodialer Menu. ›The options are clear. Something of ›note though to you people with 'call ›waiting'. You can use the long ›distance code feature to disable your ›call waiting. See the docs for the ›'how to.' As I mentioned under the ›'DOS functions' selection you can ›activate modules wich will add ›different features to BT. This are ›external modules which are loaded at ›bootup. Two are included, these are ›CP.BTM and XEP80.BTM. As I already ›said, CP.BTM gives you an interface ›to Sparta. XEP80.BTM is the driver ›for the XEP80 80 column card from ›Atari. I don't have this as yet, so I ›can't say how well it works, though I ›have been told that the one included ›in the version 1.20 arc file is buggy ›so make sure you get 1.21. Well ›that's all fine and well on how to ›use it, but what does it feel like to ›use it? Well, I like BobTerm 1.21! I ›have only one complaint - you abort ›an operation by pressing START and ›begin one by pressing SELECT. This ›seems reverse to me. Otherwise, to ›quote Dan Knauf from his 'Black Box ›vs. MIO' article, "pretty is as ›pretty does." BT is very nice and ›user friendly (except for the use of ›the START key). I've used it for the ›past couple of months and the only ›time I had any problems was when the ›handler wouldn't load from my 850 (I ›have to shut EVERYTHING off and try ›again if this happens, not just the ›850 and the computer. If I even leave ›the disk drive on it won't work. Is ›there something wrong with my 850? If ›you know please tell me.) or when I ›attempted certain operations from the ›command line interface to Sparta. ›Outside from the above mentioned ›things I have had no problems ›whatsoever with BT and enjoy it very ›much.››This article was taken from the ›newsnet system, and transferred by ›Mike Blenkiron, and tidied by Dean ›Garraghty. REPRINTED BY THE OL' ›HACKERS ATARI USERS GROUP, Inc., New ›York››   +*+*+*+*+*+ End *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+