CD ROM Paradise Collection 4/CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso/comms/ts3j.zip/DIALER.DOC

Text File | 1994-12-08 | 25KB | 617 lines

    DIALER.EXE 1.1                Copyright (c) 1992 Joe Hayashi


    A brief note:  Dialer is run automatically if you are using Telefile
    with the proper dialer setup in telefile.ini.  You may contact
    P. C. Softsmith for ASP level support for dialer.

    Dialer is a nifty utility -- read on ...


    I.  What is dialer?

    Dialer is designed to be (as much as any program can be) the one pro-
    gram you need to make all of your voice and data calls.   If you make
    a lot of calls, are constantly updating your phone lists, or frequently
    travel between area codes, dialer could be for you.

    I originally wrote dialer to work with stand-alone communications proto-
    cols (specifically DSZ from Omen Technology).  With dialer and one of
    these protocols (like DSZ, GSZ, Kermit, OZBEXT, or others) you get
    most of the functionality of a more expensive (and sometimes less reli-
    able) communications package.  Dialer has all of the features of the
    dialing portion of any good communications program.  I think dialer is
    better in that you can 1) use a regular text file as a phone directory
    2) use it to easily dial your voice calls, and 3) pick and choose
    among a variety of free and inexpensive software to add whatever other
    communications functionality you might need.

    Probably the best thing about dialer is that it is easy to use for
    making your voice calls.  If you travel between different area codes,
    just tell dialer which area code you are in and all the numbers in your
    phone list that have this area code will be dialed as a local call--no
    more editing phone lists!  When making voice calls, just hit any key
    and dialer will hang up the modem and let you talk.  Dialer even has an
    option to dial certain numbers as long distance calls even though they
    are in your local area code.

    More specifically dialer is a filter that takes text, parses a phone
    number, and dials the phone until it gets a connection.  The program is
    easy to configure and was designed to work with short batch files.
    Port & line settings can be set with a few simple switches.  Almost
    everything about dialer is configurable.  Dialer requires a modem,
    DOS 3.x or higher, and 128k.  Best of all, dialer is free.

________________________________________________________________________________

    II.    How do I use dialer?

    Dialer works best with batch files. I've included some well documented
    batch files that are easy to modify and should work for most people.

    Using dialer is something like this:

    dial Alice    or    dial Allen Barton    or     dial Compuserve

    With this distribution are 3 batch files: DIAL.BAT, LOOKUP.BAT, and
    BBS.BAT.  Also included is a sample phone number, NUMS.TXT, and a
    READ.ME file. The batch files rely on the DOS FIND utility to function.
    If FIND is not your path, these batch files won't work.  In most cases
    if DOS is installed on your machine, FIND will be on your path.

    Description of included files:

    DIALER.DOC    The file you are reading.

    DIALER.EXE    The dialer program.  Dialer is distributed as a
            compressed executable.  If you have weird iron and
            suspect that the compression is causing problems,
            contact me and I'll send you the uncompressed
            version.  I don't have an optimizing compiler so my
            C programs tend to be larger than they need to be,
            hence the compression.

    LOOKUP.BAT    Batch file to find a person in your phone list.  Will
            show you the entire phone list if given no arguments.
            Type:    "lookup Eric" or "lookup"

    DIAL.BAT    Batch file to dial a person or bulletin board you
            specify. You can use first or first and last names.
            Case is important.
            Type:    "dial Robert" or "dial Robert Tell"

    BBS.BAT        Batch file to dial a bbs and launch DSZ in terminal
            mode if you get a connection.  DSZ must be on your path
            or in the same directory.
            Type:    "bbs Compuserve"

    NUMS.TXT    Phone directory file.  Contains some sample numbers and
            some hints on adding your own.

    READ.ME        Some notes on this and other versions of dialer.


    Dialer has a lot of options.  The default options should be adequate
    for nearly everyone.  In all likelihood you'll never have to read all
    of the documentation.

    If you think you know what you're doing, look at the batch files, edit
    the phone list, and start dialing.

    If your modem seems to have taken a vow of silence or seems to be
    speaking in tongues, make sure that you know how to specify the correct
    COM port (see the C SWITCH below).  You might also check the I and D
    SWITCHES.

    If you're having problems figuring out why dialer isn't recognizing
    your phone numbers, first check to make sure that you are using the
    batch files properly and then read about the S and X SWITCHES.

    If you plan to use dialer as the dialing portion of your communications
    software or if you're a fan of DSZ or GSZ, be sure to read section IV
    on other useful utilities.

    If you find yourself constantly editing your phone directory file and
    you've read the entire documentation, write me a letter.  I tried to
    write dialer so that you could use it with any text file of names and
    phone numbers.  If this is not working for you, let me hear about it
    and maybe I can suggest something or perhaps I'll rewrite the program.

    Happy dialing!

___________________________________________________________________

    Dialer as used in TELEFILE.INI:

    [TELEFILE]  # TELEFILE initialization file
    # $(NUMBER) is replaced by the telephone number at run time
    dialer = echo $(NUMBER) | dialer /c2


___________________________________________________________________

    III.    The details - switches and miscellaneous stuff.

    Dialer accepts both slash (/) and dash (-) command line switches.  If
    you type "dialer /?" or "dialer -?" you should see this:

    dialer version 1.1 Copyright (c) 1992 Joe Hayashi
    usage :    dialer [ options ]
         /a# ignore area code #
         /b# use # baud
         /c# use # COM port
         /d$ use string $ as dial command
         /h  print this message
         /i$ use string $ as modem initialization string
         /l  turn off automatic 1 prepend for long distance numbers
         /p# use # as minimum phone number length
         /r  turn off redial mode
         /s# parts of phone number are separated by # non-digits
         /w# wait # seconds between redial attempts
         /xc use character c as local long distance marker
         /yc use character c as line settings marker


    The following is a description of what the switches do.
    -----

    A SWITCH
    AREA CODES            /a#    or    /A#
    I strongly recommend that you use full ten-digit phone numbers in your
    phone list.  If you move your computer to another area code, just
    tell dialer about it and all will be well.  If you live in Boston
    you might specify the option like this:

        dialer /a617

    With this setting, all numbers in the 617 area code get dialed as
    local numbers.  For numbers within the same area code that need to be
    dialed as a long distance number, read about LOCAL LONG DISTANCE
    DIALING below.
    -----

    B SWITCH
    BAUD                /b#    or    /B#
    I allowed you to set the baud in two places.  By default, dialer will
    use 2400 baud.  If you have a 9600 baud modem, use 9600 as the default
    and specify slower speeds for individual bulletin boards in your phone
    directory file.  Read more about the phone list in the NUMS.TXT file
    and under OTHER LINE SETTINGS below.

        dialer /b9600

    This would set dialer to dial out at 9600 baud.  If you only use dialer
    for voice calls, you never have to worry about baud or other line
    settings.
    -----

    C SWITCH
    COM PORT            /c#    or    /C#
    If your modem is not connected to COM1, you need to inform dialer of
    this. Dialer does not support more than 4 COM ports, if you try to
    specify a port higher than 4, dialer will default back to COM1.
    COM2 can be specified like this:

        dialer /c2

    If you use a member of the DSZ or OZBEXT family, dialer will use the
    DSZPORT or OZPORT environment variables and you won't have to specify
    the COM port as a command line argument.  Of course, these variables
    must be set to work, otherwise dialer will default to COM1.  You can
    always override an environment variable with this switch.  You can
    set a variable just for dialer by typing

        set DIALERPORT=2

    from DOS or including this line in your autoexec.bat file and then
    rebooting.
    -----


    D SWITCH
    DIAL COMMAND            /d$    or    /D#
    There are several good reasons to change the dialing command from the
    default ATDT.  Some phones require pulse dialing, you might want to
    turn off call waiting when you dial bulletin boards, you might want
    to use your credit card or telephone card to dial long distance calls,
    or you might need to dial out of a centrex system.  This switch allows
    you to accomplish all of these feats.

    Let's say we want to do turn off call waiting and dial a "9" to get
    out of a centrex system.

        dialer /dATDT*70,9

    *70,  - turns off call waiting for most people ("," adds a pause)
    9    - to dial out of a centrex system

    The maximum length for a dial command is 40 characters and there can
    be no spaces in the command.

    I included a separate section on CREDIT CARD, PHONE CARD, and COLLECT
    DIALING under MISCELLANEOUS STUFF below.
    -----


    I SWITCH
    MODEM INITIALIZATION STRING    /i$    or    /I$
    By default dialer uses "AT Q0 V1 X4" as it's modem initialization
    string.  You can use a different string through this switch.

        dialer /iATZ    or     dialer /iATM0

    Note that the string cannot have any spaces in it and can be a maximum
    of 15 characters.

    From the above you might have guessed that dialer relies on complete
    verbal return codes to operate.  If you mess with the result codes,
    dialer may not deal with it too well.  If you don't know how to change
    the result codes, don't worry about it.
    -----


    L SWITCH
    TURN OFF AUTOMATIC 1 PREPEND    /l    or    /L
    You might have noticed that if dialer finds a 10 digit number it adds
    it's own "1" to the number so that it dials as a long distance call
    when it's needed.

    If you need to turn this feature off, just give dialer this switch.

        dialer /l

    In order to use collect or credit card dialing, you need to use this
    switch.  If you're dialing from another country, this switch might
    also be helpful.
    -----


    P SWITCH
    MINIMUM PHONE NUMBER LENGTH    /p#     or    /P#
    So what is a phone number anyway?  The answer to this question is not
    as trivial as it sounds.  Like everything, it depends.  What country
    do your live in?  Are you dialing within a centrex system?

    By default dialer believes that any string of 7 to 11 digits separated
    by no more than 1 non-digit is a phone number.  Examples of valid phone
    numbers are 555-1212, 212-555-1212, 1(800)555-1212, and even
    1h2e3l4p5 6m7e.  If you need to have dialer dial numbers that are less
    than 7 digits long, use this switch.

        dialer /p5

    This sets the new lower limit for the length of phone numbers to 5.
    Valid phone numbers would now include 5-5555 and 234-45 as well as all
    the examples above.  You cannot set a new upper limit.  See the S
    SWITCH below for more on phone numbers.
    -----


    R SWITCH
    REDIAL TOGGLE            /r    or    /R
    If you want to turn off redialing and have dialer give up after one
    try, you can tell it do to this by using the redial off switch.  You
    can always abort a dial in progress by hitting any key.

        dialer /r

    By default dialer will redial until you're blue in the face.
    -----


    S SWITCH
    PHONE NUMBER SPACE SEPARATION    /s#    or    /S#
    This version of dialer gives you some flexibility in determining what
    dialer understands a phone number to be.  As you recall, a phone number
    is 7 to 11 digits separated by no more than one non-digit.  Not every
    phone number follows these rules.

    A text file of toll-free bulletin boards that are listed like this

    Free bbs    1 [phone]    lots of files, etc.

    could give you problems.

    -Why?
    If you tacked this line onto your phone list and typed "dial Free bbs",
    dialer would dial only 123-4567.  The left parenthesis and the space
    prevent dialer treating the 800 as part of the phone number because
    dialer only allows one non-digit between parts of a phone number.

    -Well that's silly!
    You could edit your phone list and take out the extra space or the
    parentheses.  The alternative is to use the s switch to tell dialer to
    allow 2 spaces between digits when looking for phone numbers.

        dialer /s2

    Given the above switch, dialer will understand phone numbers to be 7 to
    11 digits separated by no more than two non-digits.  Obviously dialer
    would not be too useful if you set s to zero or a negative number.  If
    s is set to a very high number, dialer may believe that every number in
    your dialing directory is part of some phone number.

    See the P SWITCH above to learn more about phone numbers.
    -----


    W SWITCH
    WAIT BETWEEN REDIALS        /w#    or    /W#
    Unless you specify otherwise, dialer waits 30 seconds before attempting
    a redial after it fails to get a connection.  You can change this 30
    second period using the w switch.

        dialer /w45    or     dialer /w10

    Some people are just control freaks.  Thirty seconds is fine for most
    folks.
    -----


    X SWITCH
    LOCAL LONG DISTANCE MARKER    /xc    or    /Xc
    You should understand LOCAL LONG DISTANCE DIALING (detailed below)
    before you read this section.

    The x switch allows you to change the character that marks local long
    distance calls from the default tilde (~) to a character of your
    choice.

        dialer /x!

    This would set the "!" character to the local long distance marker.
    If your phone directory is littered with stray tildes, this feature is
    for you.  Note that because of DOS you will have trouble setting this
    character to "<", ">", or "|".
    -----


    Y SWITCH
    LINE SETTING MARKER        /yc    or    /Yc
    You should read about the OTHER LINE SETTINGS (detailed below) before
    you read this.

    If you need to use the pipe character (|) in your dialing directory for
    something else, you can change the line setting marker by using this
    switch.

        dialer /y*

    The above would change the line setting marker from | to *.  As in the
    X SWITCH, you probably won't be able to set this character to a DOS re-
    direction character unless you can somehow bypass COMMAND.COM.
    ----------

    MISCELLANEOUS STUFF
    Wait, there's more . . . .


    RETURN CODES
    Dialer will return a 0 to it's calling environment if it gets a
    connection.  This feature allows you to write batch files that call a
    comm program or external protocol when you get a connection.  The
    BBS.BAT file is written to take advantage of this feature.

    return code            reason for code
    0                connect
    1                no connection or error
    254                user cancel
    -----


    LOCAL LONG DISTANCE DIALING
    Just because two phone numbers are in the same area code does not mean
    that every call within that area code is a local call.  One way to get
    dialer to add a "1" to 7 digit numbers is for you to edit your dialing
    directory and prepend a 1 onto number numbers that need it. If you
    travel to other area codes (especially if you use the area code feature
    described under the A SWITCH above) you'll find yourself frequently
    editing your phone directory file on the plane, furiously adding and
    subtracting 1's in between beverage breaks.

    Rather than waste your valuable nap time, you can add the local long
    distance marker character to indicate which numbers, when dialed from
    your "home base", should be dialed as a long distance number.  If you
    use the area code feature, these numbers will still be dialed correctly
    from other area codes.

    If dialer finds a tilde (~) in phone directory file it will dial that
    listing with a 1 automatically prepended to the number.  For example,
    if you lived in the White House and you were calling your constituent
    Eric Hargan, listed like this:

        Eric Hargan~    202-555-1212

    dialer will dial 1-555-1212, rather than just 555-1212.  From New York
    dialer would dial Eric as 1-202-555-1212.  Note, you must have the area
    code feature turned on (with the A SWITCH set to /a202) for this
    example to work.

    A neat 'n tidy way to list local long distance numbers is like this:

        Eric Hargan    202~555-1212

    Astute observers may realize that this won't do any good for people
    who need to dial local long distance calls from more than one area
    code. On the other hand, this problem is only severe for people with
    two or more home bases located in separate area codes.

    Read about about how to change the local long distance marker character
    under the X SWITCH above.
    -----


    OTHER LINE SETTINGS
    By default dialer's line settings are 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop
    bit, and 2400 baud.  You can change global baud settings with the B
    SWITCH described above.  If there are numbers you call that require a
    different setting, you can set these in the text that is piped to
    dialer (e.g. phone directory text).

    When text is piped to dialer, it scans the text for a phone number and
    a couple of special characters.  If it finds the line settings marker
    (by default the "|") it will read the next three characters it sees as
    as data bits, parity setting, and stop bits.  The number immediately
    following the stop bits set the baud.  If you just want to change the
    data bits and the stop bits, you must specify a parity setting even if
    you want the default.  Dialer is strict about the order in which line
    settings appear.

    An example:

    Compuserve toll-free number    [phone]    |7E11200

    If you put this entry in your phone directory file, dialer would dial
    out using 7 data bits, even parity, and 1 stop bit at 1200 baud.  Right
    now parity can only be set to even (E or e), odd (O or o), or none
    (N or n).  If you need mark or space parity, write me a note.

    If the text files you use for your phone directory use the | character
    to mean something else, you can tell dialer to use a different
    character to mark line settings.  See the y SWITCH above.

    The line settings can come before or after the phone number.


    CREDIT CARD, PHONE CARD, and COLLECT DIALING
    I mentioned in the D SWITCH above that you can use dialer to dial out
    using a phone or credit card.  Probably the best way to accomplish this
    is to write a separate batch file for each kind of dialing you want to
    do.  The dialer line in the collect batch file might read:

    find "%1 %2" | dialer /l /dATDT0

    This command changes the dial command to always prepend a "0" to the
    number.  The L SWITCH prevents dialer from adding a 1 to all numbers.
    A credit card or phone card batch file might have the following
    command:

    find "%1 %2" nums.txt | dialer /l /dATDT0,,,21255512121234,

    The long number in the dialing command (21255512121234) would be
    replaced by your credit or phone card number.  I can't tell you how
    the several long distance companies require you to dial their numbers,
    but as long as you turn off dialer's automatic "1" prepend and put the
    magic numbers in the dial command, you should be able to get this work.
    Remember that you can put a pause in the dial command just by adding
    a comma ",".


    AUTOMATIC 1 STRIPPING
    I wrote dialer to automatically ignore the 1 in front of 10 digit phone
    numbers (e.g. the "1" in 1-202-222-3333).  It's far easier for me to
    treat numbers in a more uniform way if the one is not there. In the
    1.01 release, dialer would add it's own 1 to a number like this and
    would spend some time trying to determine if the voice recording on the
    other end was really a modem in disguise.

    I am aware that this might cause problems for people outside of the
    USA, though I am not sure that it will.  If this feature makes dialer
    unusable for you, let me know and I'll include yet another switch
    allowing you to disable this feature.  Note that dialer will only
    remove a "1" in front of a 10 digit number.  Shorter numbers shouldn't
    be a problem.

________________________________________________________________________________

    IV.    Other useful utilities.

    If you're like me and use dialer with an external protocol module as
    your communications software, you'll probably want to get your hands on
    some other utilities that capture text, allow you to use different
    terminal emulations, etc.

    For calling plain old bulletin boards, I recommend that you use DSZ
    or GSZ.  They are super reliable and easy to use with ansi and text
    capturing.  DSZ is something like $25.  Use kermit for mainframes and
    Unix machines.  If you use Compuserve get a copy of OZRLE, OZBEXT, or
    OZSMALL.

    Here's a little table of features you might need and the utilities I
    know about to get the job done.

    If you need:             Get a copy of:
    Ansi emulation            ANSI.COM from PC magazine allows you
    with DSZ or GSZ            to load and unload ansi at any time.
                    Alternatively you can use ANSI.SYS or
                    a faster ansi clone (NANSI.SYS or
                    ZANSI.SYS). Read your DOS manual on how
                    to install ANSI.SYS.

    Ansi code stripping        A utility called KLEANBBS strips ansi
                    codes from straight text files.  It
                    does gag, however, on lines that are
                    really long, but works for 99% of
                    all needs.

    Text capturing            Because DSZ and GSZ both write text
                    to the screen through the bios, any
                    utility that captures "bios sent" text
                    should work. I only know about one
                    utility, however, CONCOPY.EXE.  OZBEXT
                    II does not write through the bios.
                    OZSMALL does, Kermit doesn't. OZRLE
                    allows you to scroll back and dump
                    the screen and scrolled text to a file,
                    but it does not write through the bios.

    VT-100 or greater        Kermit is probably best, version 3.10
    emulation            has VT-320, 102 and 52 emulation.  A
                     program called DGTERM has VT-102
                    emulation and is a TSR.

    Audible alarm on connect    I had a hard time deciding whether or
                    not to include an alarm bell in dialer.
                    In the end, I didn't because you can
                    achieve the same effect with other
                    software. Since dialer returns a zero
                    when it gets a connection, you can
                    write batch files that take advantage
                    of this. 4DOS has a beep command that
                    could work well or you could use a
                    freeware program that plays a tune
                    or rings the bell.  There are many.

    If you don't like that fact that the batch files are case sensitive
    don't use the DOS FIND utility.  I actually use a version of the Unix
    GREP tool; mine (Turbo Grep from Borland) has an option to ignore case.
    Not all DOS implementations of GREP allow you to ignore case.

    You should register the programs that require it.  KERMIT, ANSI.COM,
    CONCOPY, OZBEXT, and OZRLE are free for individual users (don't hold
    me to that, but I'm pretty sure about that).  Again DSZ and GSZ need
    to be purchased but are totally worth it.

    If you send me email, I might send you the free utilities or at least
    try and remember where I got them.

________________________________________________________________________________

    V.    Administrivia.

    Some things in life are free.  Dialer is one of these things.

    You use dialer at your own risk and with the understanding that I
    am not responsible for any damage you might incur through the use
    or misuse of this program.

    You may distribute dialer provided this documentation is included
    with it.  You may not charge a fee for the distribution of dialer or
    include dialer as part of a software package distribution without
    my prior written consent.

    Please inform me about bugs, nasty limitations, and general weirdness.
    Ironically, I'm not going to give you my phone number so you can't use
    dialer to contact me.  The best way to reach me is through Compuserve
    or Internet mail.  I'm also including a postal address that may work.
    Let me know if you like dialer and thanks for trying it out, I hope
    it's useful.

    EMAIL
    [e-mail]
    or just 70754,1164 for compuserve users

    POSTCARDS
    2282 Southshore Way
    Boise, ID  83706