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CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
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1994-12-16
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COMMIE r.03
A free program brought to you by John Rohner.
I can be reached for comments/etc. at Immortality (414-643-1576).
ABOUT
This is a bare-bones communication program to use when calling BBS's
that support the GIP graphics exchange protocol. Such as Juggernaut.
GIP (Graphics Interchange Protocol) is a public domain standard that
allows BBS's and callers to view VGA graphics as easily as they do
ANSI graphics.
This program is also an example of how other communication program
authors can add support for GIP to their programs.
As a stand-alone communications program, it's not great. You will
want to hang on to what you're using now.
This program has the following features:
GIP support (VGA or better required)
upload/download files
use arrow keys
fossil-based communications
macro key definitions
This program has the following limitations:
Zmodem only protocol
no dialing directory
no other frills
requires a fossil driver
requires at least a 286
COMMIE.CFG
The program requires that you have a fossil driver (X00, BNU, etc.)
DEVICE = X00.SYS E
will do for most people.
Some things you can configure in the COMMIE.CFG file. The file is a
standard text file which you may edit with any text editor.
The lines immediately following "REMINDERS" are displayed when you run
the program. These are useful for holding the numbers of BBS's.
The lines immediately following "SETTINGS" are configuration
information, and must remain in the same order:
ATE1X4 This is the initialization string your modem needs.
This will do for most people--but if you have
troubles, check what your current communications
program sends, and use that.
19200 This is the speed to talk to your modem at. It is
usually the highest speed your modem can handle.
Valid values are: 1200, 2400, 9600, 19200, 38400
No "57600"--use 38400 instead.
C:\DSZ.EXE Pathname to your Zmodem program.
DIRECT ON This means to use Direct (fast) screen writing,
anything else here disables direct screen writing.
This is also used to tell the software whether to use
Direct graphics writing. So if your graphics are all
screwed up always, you should turn this off.
If you turn this off, display speed may reduce
dramatically, if so change your device line to:
DEVICE = X00.SYS R=4096 T=2048 E
That might help. It increases the modem buffers and
is good for improving speed.
2DH If you have an SVGA card, put your cards screen MODE
for 640x480x256 here. This can usually be found in
the card's docs. If you can't find it, don't worry
about it--it's only needed if the BBS wants to use
SVGA modes (which right now is nobody).
2EH If you have an SVGA card, put your cards screen MODE
for 800x600x256 here.
The lines immediately following "MACROS" are hot-key'd macros. Put
the text you want to send in these, then when you hit F1 - F10 that
text is sent (everything after the "="). Use "|" for a CR/LF.
OPERATION
Not much to say, just run it.
The GIP protocol automatically captures and updates any graphic files
(such as icons) that the BBS uses. There is no need to download the
BBS's graphic files.
These will be stored in the BBSSTUFF\ directory, which will be created
in the current directory. So it's best to always run Commie from the
same place, preferable it's own directory.
Only Zmodem is supported to download and upload files.
The arrow keys are active, pressing them works on some BBS's for stuff.
Commands:
<pgup> to send file(s) (upload to a BBS)
<pgdn> to receive file(s) (download from a BBS)
<alt>c to reset the screen to non-graphics mode (clear screen)
<alt>h to hang up
<alt>s to shell to DOS
<alt>x to exit the program
PROBLEMS
problem: Getting strange characters on the screen after the "What is your
comm port" question.
solution: Fix the baud rate in COMMIE.CFG.
problem: GIP isn't working. When selected, it locks up/stops about where
icons should be displayed.
solution: If you have a slow computer and/or a 2400 or less modem, try
the X00 line with "R=4096 T=2048".
problem: You want to make programming changes to the source code.
solution: Source code is available with JDR_BBS (Juggernaut). But you also
need Basic PDS 7.x. The COMMIE.BAS file included is just a sample
of how to make your own comm program GIP-capable.
problem: You see only the text from menus on the screen, no graphics.
solution: Your computer is not going into the graphics mode the sysop is
using, or possibly line noise has confused everyone. Hitting
[Enter] usually redraws the menu--if it redraws correctly you
know it was just line noise troubles.