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╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▄ ║ ║ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀ ▒▒▄ ║██ ║ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ║██ ║ ▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒▄ ▀▀▀▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒█▀▀▒▒▄ ▀▒▒█▀▀ ║██ ║ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒█▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒█ ║██ ║ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█ ║██ ║ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▄▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▄ ║██ ║ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ║██ ║ ▒▒█ ║██ ║ ▒▒▒▒█ Version 5 ║██ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ║██ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝██ ███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ "The best Packet Radio software in the world" by Tony Lonsdale VK2DHU (This page intentionally blank) TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I - INTRODUCTION Packet Radio and Digital Communications........................ 1 What is paKet? ................................................ 7 Changes in Version 5 .......................................... 8 Other Communications Modes .................................... 11 The paKet Documentation ....................................... 12 PART II - paKet's WINDOWS Overview ...................................................... 13 Binary File Transfer Window ................................... 14 Communications Windows ........................................ 15 - Flashback ............................. 17 - Flashback Text Find ................... 18 - Write Flashback to disk ............... 18 Configuration Windows - Overview .............................. 19 - System Configuration .................. 20 - Serial Port ........................... 21 - Multi User options .................... 24 - Communications Windows ................ 26 - Colours ............................... 30 - Keyboard Macros/Auto commands ......... 31 - REMOTE Mode options ................... 35 - File Transfer options ................. 37 - File/Directories ...................... 39 - Miscellaneous options ................. 43 Connect Window ................................................ 45 Disk Directory Window ......................................... 46 Help Window ................................................... 48 Message Window ................................................ 49 Status Window ................................................. 50 TNC Help Window ............................................... 53 Type Ahead Window ............................................. 55 PART III - SPECIAL KEY CODES Overview ...................................................... 59 Ctrl-key combinations ......................................... 59 Alt-key combinations .......................................... 59 Function keys ................................................. 60 Other commonly used command keys .............................. 60 i PART IV - KEYBOARD COMMANDS F1 Display Help Screen ............................. 61 F2 Turn Log File on/off ............................ 62 F3 Turn REMOTE Mode on/off ......................... 63 F4 Toggle Word Wrap and Single Line on/off ......... 64 F5 Send ASCII text file ............................ 65 F6 Receive ASCII text file ......................... 66 F7 Send Binary File using pP or YAPP ............... 67 F8 Receive Binary File using pP or YAPP ............ 69 F9 DOS Gateway ..................................... 70 F10 Display TNC Help File commands .................. 71 Alt-F1 Display Online Manual ........................... 72 Alt-F2 Contest Mode on/off ............................. 73 Alt-F5 Send RAW Binary File ............................ 74 Alt-F6 Receive RAW Binary File ......................... 75 Alt-F7 Send Binary File to BayCom (or Digicom) ......... 76 Alt-F8 Receive Binary File from BayCom (or Digicom) .... 77 Alt-A Turn Alerts on/off .............................. 79 Alt-B Send BREAK to the TNC - return to Command Mode .. 79 Alt-C Connect to another station ...................... 79 Alt-D Display a Disk Directory ........................ 80 Alt-E Edit a data file ................................ 81 Alt-F Find text in Flashback .......................... 81 Alt-H Send MHEARD command to TNC ...................... 81 Alt-I Initialise Communications Windows ............... 82 Alt-L Continue Find in Flashback ...................... 82 Alt-M Personal Message System ......................... 82 Alt-P Turn Print Log on/off ........................... 83 Alt-Q Clear TNC's XOFF ................................ 83 Alt-R Rename/Move a data file ......................... 83 Alt-S Script Processing ............................... 84 Alt-T Set TNC's Time and Date ......................... 84 Alt-V Verify TNC's Connected status ................... 84 Alt-W Write contents of Flashback to disk ............. 85 Alt-X Exit the paKet program .......................... 85 Alt-Z Configuration ................................... 85 Insert Toggle Insert Mode on/off ....................... 86 Delete Delete a character or delete a file ............. 86 Backspace Delete the character before the cursor .......... 86 Ctrl-Y Delete a line ................................... 86 Esc Return to previous operation .................... 86 ScrollLock Hold all input data (pause) ..................... 87 Left-Arrow Move the cursor left ............................ 87 Right-Arrow Move the cursor right ........................... 87 Up-Arrow Type Ahead Recall or Move cursor up ............. 87 Down-Arrow Type Ahead Recall or Move cursor down ........... 87 Home Move to start of text or window ................. 88 End Move to end of text or window ................... 88 Shift-Up Flashback - move back a line .................... 88 Shift-Down Flashback - move forward a line ................. 88 PageUp Flashback - Move back a page .................... 88 PageDown Flashback - Move forward a page ................. 88 Ctrl-PageUp Flashback - Move to beginning of buffer ......... 89 Ctrl-PageDown Flashback - MOve to end of buffer ............... 89 Shift-Left Change to previous Communications Window ........ 89 Shift-Right Change to next Communications Window ............ 89 Shift-Fn Change to another Communications Window ......... 89 ii PART V - Messages in the paKet system Overview ...................................................... 91 Messages starting with A to C ................................. 92 D to H ................................. 95 I can't ................................ 99 I to L ................................. 103 M to P ................................. 107 R to S ................................. 112 The .................................... 116 T to U ................................. 120 W to Z ................................. 123 PART VI - REMOTE Mode Overview ...................................................... 125 Activating REMOTE Mode ........................................ 126 Leaving REMOTE Mode ........................................... 127 The REMOTE Menu Commands A to L ............................... 128 MD to MW (BayCom commands) ........... 131 R to W ............................... 134 YD to YW (YAPP or pP commands) ....... 136 Messages (A to L) ............................................. 138 (M to R) ............................................. 142 (S to Z) ............................................. 145 PART VII - SCRIPT PROCESSING Overview ...................................................... 149 Running a Script File ......................................... 149 Script Commands ............................................... 150 The Script File syntax ........................................ 154 Other uses for Scripts ........................................ 154 A sample Script ............................................... 155 Discussion on the sample Script ............................... 156 PART VIII - PERSONAL MESSAGE SYSTEM (PMS) Overview ...................................................... 157 The Sysop PMS Menu ............................................ 158 PMS commands in the REMOTE Menu ............................... 159 Accessing the PMS ............................................. 160 Messages ...................................................... 163 PART IX - CONTEST MODE Overview ...................................................... 169 Base Operation ................................................ 170 Checkpoint Operation .......................................... 173 iii PART X - TECHNICAL Hardware vs Software Handshaking .............................. 175 Preferred TNC Settings ........................................ 177 Kantronics TNCs ............................................... 181 PART XI - paKet PROTOCOL (pP) What is pP ? .................................................. 185 Using pP ...................................................... 186 The Technical details of the paKet Protocol ................... 188 PART XII - ADMINISTRATION DETAIL The cost of paKet ............................................. 193 Acknowledgements and Credits .................................. 194 Where to find the author ...................................... 195 Registration Form ............................................. 196 iv PART I - INTRODUCTION Packet Radio and Digital Communications Packet Radio is a form of Digital Communications. It is a system of reliable, error free communication between two Computer equipped stations using Radio as the medium. Digital Communication is not new. Other Modes such as Morse Code, RTTY and AMTOR have been around for years but these modes lack one thing we have in Packet Radio: Error Free Communications! Let's have a brief look at these modes. Morse Code. Morse Code is the original Digital Mode dating back to the last Century! Today, while the debate rages over Morse Code licensing requirements, more and more stations using this mode have replaced their hand key and their electronic keyer with a Computer keyboard and display. The technology is good but even today, no machine can beat the trained human ear for copying hand sent Morse Code under varying conditions. The keyboard is a more efficient Sending device though (for most people)! Perhaps the one advantage of Morse over Packet and the others, is that a human operator can decode the Morse Code transmissions by ear! RTTY RTTY or RadioTeletype is a direct machine to machine communications mode using the Baudot (or Murray) code. This mode became popular with many amateurs when surplus TTY machines became available at a reasonable cost after World War II. These mechanical monsters provided a keyboard for Input and a paper roll for printed Output. Video displays were still too exotic and expensive in those days. It was not until the late 1970s that we began to see the Video Display come into more widespread use. (By the way, have you ever wondered why Program Languages like BASIC use the command PRINT to display their output?) When transmitting Morse Code, the transmitter is switched on and off to make the dits and dahs. When sending Teletype however the transmitter runs continuously, sending either of two frequencies conventionally known as Mark and Space (a reference to paper tape reception of telegraphy). When listening to a teletype signal off air, you will soon get to recognise the familiar warble of Mark and Space tones. In the amateur shack the TTY machine is usually connected to an HF receiver or transceiver which the operator tunes so that the received audio is just the right pitch or audio frequency to trigger the demodulator's Mark and Space resonators. If the receiver is slightly off the correct frequency the tones vary and the text becomes garbled or even lost altogether. To help the other station tune the receiver correctly, a RTTY operator can send a string of alternate R and Y characters viz: RYRYRYRYRY. This pattern is chosen as it produces the most frequent and almost symmetric alternation of Page 1 Mark and Space tones, giving the receiving operator the best chance to tune the receiver before the "real" message starts. However, even if the signal is accurately tuned, the information can become garbled or completely lost due to interference, fading, or noise. Often, it is possible to make sense of the message even with parts missing, but RTTY is by NO means an error free mode! I should point out that similar problems exist for other modes including "Packet". While information can still fail to get through on the more sophisticated modes, the Error Detecting capability of some, Packet in particular ensure that the operator will receive either accurate information or nothing at all. Usually, where "nothing at all" is received, the information will automatically be retransmitted when the radio is retuned, or the interference stops, (etc) and nothing is lost. Today, RTTY is still a popular mode especially on the HF bands, and the advent of the "Glass Terminal", firstly the Dumb Terminal and now the Personal Computer, has brought this mode to even more operators the world over. Many specialised RTTY systems were developed for the Amateur enthusiasts but have been superseded now by the Personal Computer with one of the Multi Mode TNCs which handle RTTY and many other modes besides. The latest Computerised RTTY equipment generally offers no more in terms of communication than the old TTY machines. Oh yes, they do it better, quieter, more efficiently, using less power and occupying less space, but the limitations of the mode remain. AMTOR AMTOR is a specialised form of RTTY. The term is an acronym for AMateur Teleprinting Over Radio and is derived from the commercial SITOR system (Simplex Telex Over radio). AMTOR improves on RTTY by incorporating a simple Error Detection technique. In ARQ mode (Automatic Repeat Query) data is sent in groups of 3 characters with a fixed Mark/Space proportion enabling the receiving system to recognise many errors received as invalid codes. The receiver responds to each 3 character group by sending either an ACK (ACKnowledge) code (if OK) or a NAK (Not AcKnowledge). In FEC mode, the sending station sends each character twice so this mode provides a means of transmitting to several stations at once. The receiving station does not acknowledge the data received. If a receiving station matches both instances of a character, that character will be printed, otherwise some error symbol is printed. This mode does not provide for the receiver to ask for the missing data to be retransmitted. The Error Detection technique provides improved accuracy over the "vanilla" RTTY mode, but is still not entirely reliable. It is perhaps better termed Error Reduction than Error Detection and has limited application for critical data (such as program code). Page 2 Packet Radio (AX.25) Packet Radio offers many advantages over the other modes including virtually error free communications, simultaneous frequency sharing by several stations, multiple repeater operation ("digipeating") for longer distance communications, and Networking. Error Free Communications. The Error Detection (and Correction) is perhaps the major benefit of Packet Radio. With this mode, using HDLC and the AX.25 protocol, data is checked and verified before being accepted by the receiver's TNC. HDLC (High-level Data Link Control) is a procedure defined by ISO, the International Organisation for Standardisation, for the handling of Error Free frames of information over a communications link. AX.25 is a set of rules or Protocol defining the format and content of packets and how they are handled. It is not the only Protocol for data communications but is the recognised standard in the world of Amateur Packet Radio. Fortunately we don't have to know the details of either HDLC or AX.25 to use Packet Radio. (I read the AX.25 Protocol Specifications and am still not too sure what it said!) The hard work is done in a special device called a TNC (Terminal Node Controller) which is a small computer in itself, programmed to perform the HDLC Error Handling and many AX.25 functions to make it easy for us. The Error Detection is much more sophisticated than that used in AMTOR so the result is significantly more reliable. The chance of an undetected error getting through is less than one in a many millions. So, for all practical purposes Packet Radio is considered completely error free. If any data comes through the system to your computer (to paKet in your case) you can be sure that what you see is exactly what the other station sent. Frequency Sharing. Packet Radio, like the commercial X.25 Packet Switched systems, allows several simultaneous point to point connections to share the same frequency. In Packet Radio whenever we send a message to another station, our TNC builds a Packet, like an envelope, around our message adding details like the callsign of the station this message is addressed to. Then, if the frequency is clear, the Packet is transmitted into the airwaves. Our TNC listens to the audio coming from the radio receiver and if there are any other Packet Radio stations using the frequency, it waits until there is a lull in the transmissions before transmitting our Packet. At first, you might wonder how long it has to wait, thinking the other stations might be going for hours! However, in practice, a Packet might take only a fraction of a second to transmit - a relatively short burst of time compared to the time it takes us to type a message. Unless the frequency is really busy, you might not even notice the delay! The Packet Radio frequency in use also carries messages for many people at the same time. When receiving, your TNC looks at every Packet Page 3 received, checks the address on each Packet and identifies any Packets addressed to you. Any Packets not intended for you may be ignored by your TNC so you see on your screen only those messages addressed to you. This way you need not concern yourself with all the other information flowing around on the frequency, and are free to concentrate on your contact with the other station. If you wish, you can ask your TNC to display everything it receives. This is called Monitoring. Every Packet contains the AX.25 Header ("envelope") which identifies the station who sent it and the station it is addressed to. The Header contains other information too but we wont get into that just now. When monitoring, your TNC will send to the Computer the Headers as well as the contents of the messages so you can see who sent what to whom. Then you will see how the AX.25 system is able to handle lots of different conversations on the frequency at the same time. The other modes do not offer this capability. Multiple Repeater Operation. If the station you wish to communicate with is outside radio range, you may establish the connection via one or more intermediate stations which act as repeaters. A station providing this repeater function is commonly called a Digipeater ("Digital Repeater"). It is part of the AX.25 design that any TNC may be used as a Digipeater so, unless you deactivate this facility in your TNC, your system too can be used as a Digipeater. Say you are trying to establish a connection with a station who is out of radio range. (I'll call it the "Destination" to help avoid confusion here). There might be another station in between who can "hear" both you and the Destination. So, you can call the Destination "via" the intermediate station. Your TNC, using the AX.25 logic, will transmit a "Connect" message with both those callsigns; the intermediate station will see its callsign used as a Digipeater so it will capture the message, store it in its memory for the time being, and when the frequency is clear it will retransmit that same message. This time the Destination will hear it and will respond, again "via" the Digipeater station. So, you now have a point to point connection with the desired Destination as if it were a local contact. It just takes a little longer because each message is transmitted twice. The AX.25 Protocol provides for up to eight Digipeaters to be used for a single point to point connection. So for a more distant destination, you could call that station via two or more intermediate stations. Each of those Digipeaters will store your message and retransmit it as soon as the frequency is clear. This allows distances of hundreds, maybe thousands, of kilometers (even miles!) on VHF or UHF frequencies. Networks. Following on from the previous discussion on Digipeating, I should mention Networks. The term "Network" is often used in different ways but I want to mention just two of those here. Page 4 Networking is a subject that deserves considerably more space that I intend to give it here in this Introductory section. Firstly the term is used to describe an advanced form of Digipeating where we can make contact with distant stations without necessarily knowing what intermediate stations are retransmitting our messages. The idea is like our telephone Network where we make a call by dialling the number of the person we wish to speak to. We don't know nor care how the call is routed, whether it goes via cable or via satellite, or how many telephone exchanges it goes through. We are simply interested in getting our call through to the other person, no matter how it gets there! Networking systems in use in the field of Amateur Packet Radio include TCP/IP, NET/ROM, and ROSE. Unlike the widespread acceptance of the AX.25 Protocol, we do not have any one Networking system preferred over all others in use. There is still lots of healthy debate going on and developments continuing. It may be that we will have to wait for a new generation of Networking System before a single, global system is implemented. However, there may be at least one of these Networking systems used in your area, so check around with other users and see what you have to do to use it. It is supposed to make it easier for you but, as with all developing systems, there may be times when you pine for the "old, simple way". The other meaning of "Network" I want to mention is the BBS (Bulletin Board System) Network which provides a Global Electronic Mail Service for us all. A BBS, sometimes referred to as a PBBS (Packet Radio BBS), is a computer based Packet Radio system, probably run by some generous local enthusiast or the local club, which provides unattended (usually 24 hours per day) access for the purpose of storing and forwarding messages. They are often used as a central store for data files too so we can transfer programs and other files to or from the BBS. Telephone BBS systems have been around for years, before Packet Radio came into being, so you might be familiar with those. The concept is the same, but we use radio as the medium instead of the telephone. This is very useful for sending messages to friends (or enemies too I suppose) whether they are currently in their shack or not. The BBS mailbox allows us to leave a message addressed to another station and when that other station connects to the BBS they will be able to read our message. This has become such a useful feature that most TNCs now offer a private mailbox. And so paKet has also been provided with a mailbox facility. Even if your TNC doesn't have one, you can still have messages left in your system while you are out. The concept was expanded when Hank Oredson (W0RLI) developed an automatic forwarding system between PBBS systems. Then we could leave a message on our local BBS system and if that message was addressed to someone in another area the BBS would determine where to send it and, at regular intervals in the day or night, it would automatically send our message to the next BBS system. As the "network" developed, our mail would hop from one BBS to another until it reached the desired Page 5 destination. The world is getting smaller! I often receive messages from the other side of the world, and usually find they take less time than an Air Mail letter. Next we saw the concept of Bulletins. This is a general message that is broadcast to anyone and everyone rather than a personal message addressed to one particular station. Bulletins may be "addressed" to some topic such as IBM or HUMOUR or HELP or MORSE... The topics help us to get some idea of what the Bulletin is about so we don't have to read every message that appears on the BBS. Bulletins are usually forwarded to every BBS system in the area, so if there is a Bulletin around, it will probably, eventually get to your local BBS for you to see. Personal Mail is usually addressed to a station @ (AT) some BBS address. For example the local BBS in this area is run by Arthur VK2ATM. So if you want to send a message to me you would send it to VK2DHU @ VK2ATM. There must be millions of Amateur Packet Radio callsigns in use around the world but there are a limited number of BBS systems so it is easier to track down VK2ATM than it is to find VK2DHU. This problem is further reduced with the introduction of Hierachical Addressing which is a system of specifying more than just the BBS callsign, adding State, Country and Continent (or Region) details. For example, my full Packet address according to today's convention is VK2DHU @ VK2ATM.NSW.AUS.OC (meaning this station is in the State of New South Wales, in Australia, in the Oceania Region). Bulletins may be addressed to one particular BBS (eg to MORSE @ VK2ATM) but more commonly they would be issued to cover to a wider area (eg to MORSE @ ASIA). Then the Bulletin would be passed on from one BBS to the next within that area, and every BBS would have that Bulletin available for users to read. Perhaps if you are new to the world of Packet Radio, the best way to find out about BBS systems, Bulletins, etc is to get on the air and talk to the locals. They are in this hobby too and invariably will be keen to help the newcomers. Page 6 What is paKet? paKet is a communications program developed especially for use with Packet Radio, providing all the facilities required for Packet Radio communications. It is designed to run on an IBM compatible computer system (minimum 384KB) and a (preferably TAPR-compatible) Terminal Node Controller (TNC). In addition to providing the usual Terminal Mode where you can send and receive data via the TNC, the program provides many features and facilities to enhance the operation of your Packet Radio system. Such features include: Interrupt driven communications Runs on COM1, COM2, COM3 or COM4 Flashback feature Disk and/or printer logging ASCII text file transfers paKet-Protocol, an exciting new binary protocol YAPP Binary File transfer protocol BayCom Binary File transfers (some versions of Digicom supported too) There's even a RAW Binary mode (no protocol) for manual control Full online TNC help for your TNC commands Online Manual - this entire Manual is available in a pop-up window Both Hardware and Software Handshaking supported Multiple windows for up to 10 simultaneous connections REMOTE Mode - (unattended access) Personal Message System Contest Mode for monitoring sporting event results (eg Triathlon) Access to DOS, your favourite editor, and file LISTer from within paKet Automatic Script processing etc etc etc paKet is fully configurable so you can customise a system especially to suit yourself. Setting up your system is but a matter of a few keystrokes - see the Configuration Windows section of this document for details. For existing paKet users, there have been many, many changes. Some quite small, some cosmetic, others much more significant. Most of the changes have been suggested by you the paKet community and reflect the wishes of experienced users. Some suggestions could not be implemented but I have tried to respond to all your ideas. When an idea is put forward by more than one user I have tried even harder to implement that idea. Refer to "Changes in Version 5" below for a summary of the major changes. paKet is a sophisticated communications system and it may take you a while to become familiar with all its features, especially if this is your first look at paKet, but it is designed to be "friendly" and as easy to use as possible. Help is always available at the touch of the <F1> key if you forget what key to press. However, you really should read through the entire Manual to get the most from the paKet system. Page 7 Changes in Version 5 This section might not be too meaningful to you if you are seeing paket for the first time, but for those upgrading from an earlier version, you might like to have some idea of what's new in Version 5. Here I have indicated some of the major changes, not in any particular sequence, but as they occurred to me. There are lots of small things that have been done but not documented here. Things that I considered needed tidying up or improving. Now for a summary of the major changes: "PAKET" is now "paKet". It doesn't make the program run any better, just makes the name a little more identifiable. Larger Manual - now divided into 2 separate data files because it wont fit on a single 360K diskette, and it may be viewed in a popup Window during paKet operations! New, improved Install program to simplify the Installation process. Binary Transfers now include: - YAPP Protocol (continued from paKet 4); - paKet Protocol (pP) a new YAPP compatible protocol which provides for automatic restart in the event of an aborted transfer; - BayCom support for its PRG (binary file) format; - Digicom' PRG format is also supported; - A RAW Binary Mode is provided for manual synchronisation using the TNC's Transparent Mode. Some added support for the Kantronics range of TNCs. Improved handling of Binary Transfers when STREAMDBL is OFF. This is mainly to allow Kantronics users to enjoy Binary Transfers with paKet. Alerts facility. You may specify certain strings which will trigger an alert bell if any of those strings appear in the Communications Window. Message level option allows the paKet operator to hide some of the routine messages which can sometimes become tiring for the more experienced operators. Optional Screen Blanker with variable blank time. When a Disk Directory is displayed a file Rename or Move option allows data files to be renamed or even moved to another directory with the <Alt-R> key. Additional TNC Help files have been included, thanks to some generous paKet users who have contributed these new data files. There are now 5 TNC Help files supplied with this version of paKet. Page 8 Several improvements to REMOTE Mode, including: - optionally issuing the REMOTE Menu when another station connects. - Configurable REMOTE Trigger in case the user is having problems with the default <Ctrl-]> Trigger in his area. - full PMS accessable by REMOTE users. - access to multiple directories by REMOTE users (at the discretion of the paKet operator). - additional REMOTE Menu options to handle the PMS and to provide BayCom operators access to the paKet system for Binary File Transfers in both directions. Type Ahead Buffer handling improved. - Buffer capacity is now set to the number of lines configured for display. - Word Wrapping is improved. - Recall facility, like DOSKEY or CED, allows previously sent lines to be recalled and either edited or simply resent without retyping. - Full text editing facilities are now available on the Type Ahead data. The Script system has been enhanced with several new commands: - now there is no limit to the size of a Script process because this version provides for nested scripts where one Script can CALL another Script. In addition, the maximum size of each Script is doubled to 200 lines. - The Delay command will now wait until a specified time-of-day as well as an option to wait for a specified number of seconds. - Echo command allows you to echo a string to the system as if that string had been received from the other station. Provided mainly for documentation purposes. - Flags. The Script system now allows you to set, test and clear flags. This gives you more flexibility in programming. - Return command is provided, especially to allow a nested Script to return to the "Mainline" or calling Script. - A Trap facility allows you to specify one or more strings and tell the Script system to goto a particular label if one of those strings is received at any time during this Script process. - You can now perform any DOS command from within a Script. A little imagination reveals mind-boggling possibilities here. Page 9 Some keys have changed functions. (Apologies to existing paKet users, but the number of changes is small and, I think, for the better): - <F6> is now used to Send an ASCII text file. - <Alt-A> is now the toggle for Alerts; - <Alt-E> is now the System Editor key; - <Left-Arrow> and <Right-Arrow> are now used for Type Ahead buffer editing; selecting the next or previous Communications Window is now done with <Shift-Left-Arrow> or <Shift-Right-Arrow>. - <Up-Arrow> and <Down-Arrow> are now used for Type Ahead Recall; moving the Flashback display a single line is now done with the <Shift-Up-Arrow> and <Shift-Down-Arrow> keys. - <Home> and <End> are now used for Type Ahead Buffer editing. <Ctrl-PgUp> and <Ctrl-PgDn> are now used for Top and Bottom of the Flashback buffer. Page 10 Other Communications Modes paKet is a COMMUNICATIONS program and must be used with a TNC or Modem. It provides communication facilities but does not perform the decoding of packets - that is done in the TNC! Neither will paKet decode any of the other communications modes such as Morse, RTTY or AMTOR. These modes too, are decoded by the TNC. Not all TNCs handle these modes so if this is what you want to do you will need one of the Multi-Mode TNCs available (such as the KAM, MFJ-1278 or the PK-232) which decode these other modes. If you have one of those TNCs, you can use paKet for modes other than Packet Radio. Page 11 The paKet Documentation. This documentation is supplied in two compressed files because a it is too large to fit on a single 360K diskette. The two files, when expanded, are REF5.DOC and GUIDE5.DOC. These two files may be combined into a single DOC file if you have the space. This would be the preferred solution as you can then have the entire Manual available in a pop-up window during paKet operations (refer the <Alt-F1> key later). The supplied INSTALL program, will attempt to combine these files into a single file PAKET.DOC if you had the space available on the output drive at the time of Installation. The REF5.DOC is the Reference Manual. The document explains all of paKet's Windows, with an example and explanation of each. Every message in the paKet system is listed with an explanation of what it means and what you have to do about it. And it contains information on all the keys paKet recognises plus details of all the functions available to you the paKet user. The GUIDE5.DOC is the User Guide explaining various sub systems such as REMOTE Mode, paKet's Personal Message System, Script Processing, the unique Contest Mode, plus various other sections that you may find of interest. Page 12 PART II - paKet's WINDOWS paKet's Windows - Overview paKet uses a number of windows for all its operations. Do not confuse this with the popular Microsoft Windows product. You do not need any other software to run paKet. Some of paKet's windows are there permanently, others will pop up on demand. For example, the Communications Window is always there although it might be partly hidden by other windows at times. Some windows do not look like "windows" because they do not have a full box-style border. For example, the Communications Window uses all 80 characters for its communications data, so there is no room for a border line down the sides. It does, however, have a border line at the top known as its Header Line. paKet uses whatever text screen is in operation when it is called. When using an EGA or VGA display, if you were using 40, 52 or 60 lines and paKet is then called, you will find paKet now has a larger Communications Window where vast amounts of information can be viewed at once, and larger type-ahead areas (as detailed below) become practical. A larger monitor is desirable. Each of paKet's Windows is described, in alphabetic sequence, in the following sections. An example of the window is shown and the purpose and operation of each is discussed. Page 13 Binary File Transfer Window Example: ╔════════════════ paKet Protocol File Transfer ═════════════════╗ ║ Receiving File : VIDPARK.ARC ║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ File Size : 3,375 Time to complete : 00:00:04║ ║ Bytes Received : 3,036 Elapsed time : 00:00:32║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ Progress : 89% Bytes per second : 94 ║ ║ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════>▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ Last Packet Recd: DT - Data Packet ║ ║ Current Status : Receiving data ║ ╚════════════ Press Esc to abort the file transfer ═════════════╝ Description. During the transfer of a Binary File, this window is displayed to keep you informed of progress. It is used for all types of Binary Transfer, the top line indicating the Protocol or method in use. That could be: paKet Protocol (as shown in this example), YAPP, BayCom (including Digicom) or RAW Binary (no protocol at all). In the example above, paKet is receiving the file VIDPARK.ARC from the other station; the size of that file is 3,375 bytes and the display shows the transfer is 89% complete with 3,036 bytes received at this stage. paKet has calculated the bytes per second at 94 since the transfer started, and as it knows how many bytes still to go, it can calculate the estimated time to complete (4 seconds in the example). The arrow under "Progress" is a "strip meter" or histograph which gives a proportional indication of the percentage complete. The "Last Packet Recd" field indicates some useful information at the beginning of the file transfer as you can see how the handshaking is progressing. During the transfer though, this does not change much. The "Current Status" field too, should not change much during the transfer, but it helps to see what is happening at the beginning and end. Page 14 Communications Windows Example: ─── 50 ────────── Window 1 - Stream A - VK2DHU ────Paused with ScrLock─── cmd:echo off ECHO was ON ECHO now OFF cmd: Description: These windows, one for each connected stream, contain all communications information flowing to and from the TNC. All data sent to the TNC is displayed in a highlight colour or shade, while all data received from the TNC is displayed in the normal colour or shade. This window is 80 columns wide, so there is no border as such although the top line of this window is referred to as the Communications Window Header Line. Some TNCs use the term "channel" while others use "stream" but this Manual will use "stream" to identify the different user connections. The Communications Window Header Line. Each Communications Window's Header line identifies the current Stream and also the callsign of the station you are connected to (or "Not Connected" as appropriate). In the example shown above, the Header line indicates you are connected to VK2DHU on stream A in the first Communications Window. If the callsign does not appear to be correct, you can verify it with the <Alt-V> function, which is explained in detail in the section "Special Keys". On the left of this header line you will see a counter displaying the number of characters waiting in this window's input buffer (50 shown in the example). Usually the system will process the input characters as they are received so this part of the display would be blank. However, it is possible to have characters build up in the buffer if you are receiving the input characters faster than your computer can process them, or if processing has been suspended for any reason. If the data is coming in too quickly for you to read, you can pause the display by pressing the <ScrollLock> key. While paused, a reminder message is displayed to the right of the Header Line, as illustrated in the example above. To "un-pause" press <ScrollLock> again. This action does not stop the data coming in from the TNC - the data is captured and stored in paKet's input buffers until you are ready to continue. Multiple Communications Windows. You may configure paKet with up to 10 separate Communications Windows. When you are connected to more than one station, a separate Communications Window is used for each connection. Each Window is associated with one of the TNC's streams, and when you switch windows the TNC is automatically switched to the corresponding stream. Page 15 To switch from one window to another, press <Shift-Right-Arrow> or <Shift-Left-Arrow>, that is hold down the Shift key while pressing <Right-Arrow> or <Left-Arrow>. Another way to select a different window is to hold the Shift key while pressing a Function key (eg: press <Shift-F3> for the third window). The Communications Window Header Line will change to indicate the new window number and the TNC stream used with that window. Here you can make contact with the other station and all communications for the associated stream will appear in that Window. Changing streams will not change the TNC's operating Mode. So, if the TNC was in Command Mode and you change to another stream, the TNC will remain in Command Mode, regardless of whether you are connected to a station on that new stream or not. You will need to enter K or CONV to switch to Converse Mode. If any data is received for a Stream other than that currently displayed, it will be diverted to the appropriate Communications Window and an indicator will appear in the Status Window under "Windows". If that happens when you are connected to two stations, you will know the "other" station has sent you a message and you can switch to that window to see it. I personally can work two or three simultaneous connections without much problem, but any more I find rather challenging. So, it should be noted that although paKet allows up to 10 Communications Windows, most of those would not be used. As buffers etc, have to be allocated for each window, it would be advisable to configure a lesser number to conserve memory. I think 3, or at most 4, windows would be more than adequate for most users. To avoid confusion, it would be a good idea to set your TNC's USER parameter to match the number of windows you configure. Then, if you have three windows configured and you are already connected to three stations, a fourth station would get a "Busy" message from the TNC rather than confuse things on the screen. If your TNC has a PMS on a separate callsign, you could set the TNC's USER parameter to one more than the number of windows configured. paKet is almost a Multi Tasking program in that several sessions can be processed simultaneously, some of which may be processing in the background. However, I do not consider paKet to be true Multi Tasking and it is not promoted as such. For example, the processing for Binary File Transfers is NOT multi tasking and you may not conduct more than one simultaneous Binary File Transfer. It is unfortunate the original TAPR TNC (from which all modern TNCs are derived) did not include a Monitor stream. Consequently any data that is monitored on the frequency is not identified by the TNC as belonging to a particular stream - it comes through on whatever stream is currently selected. So, if you have selected window 2 and some monitored data is received from the TNC, it will be displayed in Window 2. I prefer to have the TNC's MCON set to OFF to disable monitoring while connected (paKet turns MCON off automatically for binary file transfers). Page 16 Communications Windows - Flashback. Example: ─── 1250 ────────────────FLASHBACK - (Esc when finished)──────────────── CONNECT VK2ATM-1 cmd:cmd:12-Oct-91 16:22:52 *** CONNECTED to VK2ATM-1 [AIZ-4.20-MH$] G'day Tony VK2ATM BBS> Description: The Communications Windows will also display Flashback data. Flashback is a facility that allows you to redisplay earlier communications activity that has scrolled off the screen. To select Flashback Mode, press <Shift-UpArrow>, or <PageUp>. The Communications Window Header line will indicate FLASHBACK as shown in the example above. You can scroll up and down with: <Shift-Up-Arrow> <Shift-Down-Arrow> (one line at a time) <PageUp> <PageDown> (one page or screenful) <Ctrl-PageUp> (top or <Ctrl-PageDown> bottom of Flashback data) The amount of data held in Flashback is configurable up to 64KB for each Communications Window. While you are in Flashback, any incoming data is held in the input buffer until you have finished (1250 characters shown in the example above) so be sure to return to normal communications mode when you have finished scanning the Flashback data. When scrolling forward, paket will detect the end of the Flashback buffer. If there is some further data waiting to be processed, pressing <PageDn> will display one more page of data from the buffer and paKet will stay in Flashback Mode. If you reach the end of the Flashback and there is no data further waiting in the input buffer, paKet will automatically return to normal communications mode. While in Flashback Mode you can press the <Esc> key for an immediate return to normal communications mode. Page 17 Communications Window - Flashback - Text Find. paKet has a Text FIND facility which will search backwards through the Flashback buffer for a user-defined string of characters. Press <Alt-F> to activate the Find facility. The Message Window will pop up where paKet will ask you for the string you wish to search for. It does not matter whether you enter the string in upper or lower case because the search is not case sensitive - both upper and lower case will be matched. The search begins with the current line in the Communications Window, moving back through the Flashback buffer until either a match is found or until the beginning of the Flashback buffer is reached. If a match is found, searching stops and the line containing the matching text is highlighted. If you want to continue the search, "looking" for another match of the same string, press <Alt-L> and the search resumes. Alternatively you can press <Alt-F> again to begin a search for another string. The Find facility will automatically put paKet into Flashback mode. Communications Window - Write Flashback buffer to disk. Although paKet provides a disk log facility, it is possible you have received something to want to keep but find the log file was not active at the time. To cover this situation, paKet has a facility to write the Flashback buffer to disk. Press <Alt-W>, and paKet will ask you for the name of the file you wish to use. You also have the opportunity to continue logging to this file if you wish. Just follow the instructions on the screen. Page 18 Configuration Windows - Overview As mentioned earlier, paKet is fully configurable and you can set up various parameters to configure the system to suit your own needs. With the Online Configuration facility you can call up the Configuration Windows at any time (with the <Alt-Z> key) and change any of the settings. Most changes will take effect immediately although there are some that will not become effective until the program is next started. Examples of these are where you change the size of the allocated buffers. These changes are not implemented immediately because memory is allocated at the beginning of the run and the buffers are already in use. The new buffer sizes will become effective when paKet is next started. The following sections describe the various Configuration Windows and the parameters you can change. There are two, sometimes three levels of Configuration Window. Select the desired option by either: 1. Typing the option number; or 2. Moving the Cursor to the desired option and pressing <Enter>; or 3. (In many cases) typing the first letter of the option. For example in the following section, where the System Configuration Window is displayed: you could select REMOTE Mode options by typing "6" or "R", or you could move the cursor to that item with the <Down-Arrow> key, (or press the <End> key then three <Up-Arrow>s!). Press the <Esc> key when finished with a Configuration Window to return to the previous level. Page 19 Configuration Windows - System Configuration Example: ╔══════System Configuration═════╗ ║ 1. Serial Port... ║ ║ 2. Multi User options... ║ ║ 3. Comms Window settings... ║ ║ 4. Colours... ║ ║ 5. KB Macros/Auto commands... ║ ║ 6. REMOTE Mode options... ║ ║ 7. File Transfer options... ║ ║ 8. File/Directories... ║ ║ 9. Miscellaneous options... ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════╝ Description. This System Configuration window appears when you select the online Configuration option with the <Alt-Z> key. This System Configuration Window reveals a menu of various configuration options. To better manage the large number of options, they have been subdivided into the categories shown in the above window. Each of the options in the System Configuration Window has its own Configuration Window which will be dealt with in turn in the following sections of this Manual. When you have finished with the Configuration options, press <Esc> to return to normal communications mode. Page 20 Configuration Windows - Serial Port Example: ╔════════ 1. Serial Port...═══════╗ ║COM Port 1║ ║Baud Rate 2400║ ║Parity None║ ║Data bits 8║ ║Stop Bits 1║ ║Handshaking H║ ║DCD ON when Connected? Y║ ║TNC cmd: exit BREAK║ ║Command to Initialise TNC RESTART║ ╚══════Press ENTER to change══════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 1 from the System Configuration Window. It contains the parameters paKet uses for the computer's Serial Port parameters. The Serial port must be set correctly if paKet is to communicate with the TNC. The aim here is to configure paKet to match your TNC settings. As there are a limited range of valid settings here, paKet does not expect you to remember the valid values. Instead you just press <Enter> and it will display the next valid value for that item. COM Port So, starting with the COM Port, press <Enter> to toggle from COM1 to COM2, COM3, COM4 and back again. Only those COM ports actually recognised by your system will be offered, so if you do not have a COM3 port installed you will not be given that option! If you have COM3 and/or COM4 installed but these are not being offered by paKet as options here, it is likely your computer system is one (like the original IBM PC) that does not automatically recognise these ports. Run the supplied COMINIT program and try paKet again. If this fixes the problem, I suggest you add COMINIT to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Many people do not realise that COM1 and COM3 usually share the SAME interrupt line - IRQ4 (COM2 and COM4 share another interrupt line - IRQ3). This makes it difficult to handle the additional ports and is why a lot of software does not support more than COM1 and COM2. Let's say, for example we have a mouse on COM1 and the TNC on COM3. If a character is received from the TNC, an Interrupt occurs on IRQ4 which means the system will give paKet a nudge to go process the incoming character. The trouble is, paKet gets the same nudge if you move the mouse because the same IRQ4 Interrupt occurs! I have catered for this situation and paKet will determine if the Interrupt was caused by our Serial Port or the "other one", and will either process it or pass control over to the other driver for its own processing. There are a couple of considerations here if you want to use these additional serial ports. Firstly, load paKet AFTER loading the other software (drivers, etc). Then paKet will be called first when the Interrupt occurs. If it is the other way around, we are depending on the other software to make these decisions and they may not handle the shared interrupts correctly. Secondly, I suggest you choose a lower baud rate (say maximum 2400) for the paKet/TNC link to help reduce Page 21 conflicts. I tested it at 9600 baud and it worked satisfactorily, but if two interrupts occur on the same IRQ line at EXACTLY the same moment in time, I am not confident the system will process them both correctly. The lower baud rate will reduce this possibility. The COMINIT program developed by Dr. Paul Webster VK2BZC, includes some technical documentation on the use of the additional COM ports. (Thanks Paul - where would I be without him?). When the desired port is displayed, press <Down-Arrow> to move down to the next item, Baud Rate. Baud Rate Pressing <Enter> on the baud rate field will cycle through the valid values which range from 50 baud to 19200 baud. This option sets your COMPUTER's serial port baud rate; the TNC also has a baud rate setting which must match the value chosen here. Parity and Data Bits You may set Parity and Data Bits to any of the displayed values but paKet prefers a setting of No Parity and 8 Data Bits. So unless you have special reason to change, please set Parity to None. You will notice the Data Bits parameter will automatically be set to the correct value. Stop Bits Stop Bits would normally be set to 1. Handshaking Handshaking is either H (for Hardware) or S (for Software). These options are discussed under "Hardware vs Software Handshaking" in the Technical Section of this Manual. If you are not sure which to use, try Hardware mode - paKet will tell you if it cannot see the signals it needs for Hardware handshaking! It is important to tell the TNC which mode to use too: for Hardware Handshaking, set XFLOW OFF; for Software Handshaking, set XFLOW ON. DCD ON when Connected? This is either Y(es) or N(o) and should be set to match the TNC's DCDCON option. Most TNCs have the DCDCON option which, if used, will switch on the DCD line in the RS-232 cable when we are connected to another station. paKet relies to a large extent on the "Connected" message from the TNC to determine whether we are currently connected to another station. If you are monitoring the frequency and someone sends a string of characters that happens to look like a "Connected" message, paKet can easily get confused and take that data to be a signal from the TNC that we have just connected to someone! Fortunately this does not happen too often but if you use this DCDCON option, the risk of this problem occurring is greatly reduced. If you set this option to "Y" paKet will look at the status of the DCD line whenever it monitors a "Connected" message before deciding to Page 22 accept it as a new connection. If the DCD line is still low, it will display a warning message, ignore the "Connected" message and continue monitoring. If your TNC supports the DCDCON option and you are using Hardware Handshaking, it is recommended you use this feature. TNC cmd: exit This parameter has three valid values: <BREAK>, <CtrlC> or <Esc>. Most TNCs support the <BREAK> signal and will return to Command mode when this signal is received. This is the preferred option so try this and choose one of the others only if the <BREAK> does not work on your system. As a second choice for all TNCs except the old TNC-1, the "Command" code (which should be set to the default of <Ctrl-C> in your TNC) would be used. So, unless you have a TNC-1, choose this <Ctrl-C> option if <BREAK> does not work for you. Finally, if you have a TNC-1 which does not have a Command Mode, each command must be entered by sending <Esc>, then the command, followed by <Enter>. So you can set this option to <Esc>. Then when you type <Alt-B> paKet will actually send the <Esc> code to the TNC! Command to Initialise TNC Most TNCs use the RESTART command to perform a warm start of the TNC. This is required to activate any changes to serial port settings so paKet will issue this command to the TNC after you change any of the Serial Port parameters (assuming you have already changed the TNC). However, the Kantronics TNCs use the RESET command for this so the option is provided here in case you have one of those TNCs. Please take care with this, because the RESET command, on most TNCs, will clear every setting you have made and return the TNC to its factory settings! RESTART is the normal command here. Any of these parameters may be altered at any time, but of course you will also need to change the TNC settings to match. For example if you want to alter the Data Bits setting, you have to change both paKet (via this Configuration Window) and change the TNC with a command such as AWLEN. If you change one and not the other, you will probably get garbage on the screen and will fail to communicate correctly. With most TNCs, any change to its serial port settings will become effective after the TNC is next initialised. So, I suggest the following procedure to change Serial Port settings: 1. Issue the commands to the TNC to change its settings. (They will not take effect until you initialise the TNC - usually with a RESTART command). 2. Call up paKet's Online Configuration and enter the desired Serial Port parameters to match the new TNC settings. 3. Reply "Y" when paKet asks if you would like it to initialise the TNC with a RESTART command. Then both the computer and the TNC will continue with the new settings. Press <Esc> when you have finished with the Serial Port parameters. Page 23 Configuration Windows - Multi User options Example: ╔═════ 2. Multi User options...═════╗ ║ Maximum no. of Comms windows 3 ║ ║ Stream-Switch character | ║ ║ STREAMDBL (CHDOUBLE) option ON ║ ║ Alpha or Numeric Stream Id? A ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 2 from the System Configuration Window. It contains the options you have regarding the use of multiple simultaneous connections with other stations. Maximum no. of Comms windows The first item specifies the number of Communications windows you would like to allocate. paKet uses a separate Communications window for each of the simultaneous connections. This field may be any value between 1 and 10. You should keep the number down to a reasonable figure because they all take up some memory and it would be a waste to configure say, all 10 windows when you might hardly ever use more than 2 or 3. As the present number of windows have already been allocated, the new value will not take effect until the next time you start the paKet program. To help avoid confusion, it is considered desirable to set your TNC's USER parameter to the same value used here, or perhaps to one extra if the TNC allocates a separate callsign to its PMS stream to allow one user to use that as well. Stream-Switch character The Stream-Switch character is the code used by paKet and by the TNC to signal a change of stream. Most TNCs use the vertical bar character ("|") as the default but you could change it to any other character if you wanted to. The important thing is to have both paKet and the TNC using the same character. The TNC command to change this value is probably either STREAMSW or CHSWITCH. paKet currently supports only one STREAMSW character so if your TNC has two ports (and two STREAMSW characters) you should set paKet's value to correspond to the port you mostly use. Page 24 STREAMDBL (CHDOUBLE) option STREAMDBL (called CHDOUBLE in some TNCs) is a TNC facility to help avoid confusion where the STREAMSW character is received as part of a data packet. For example, the vertical bar character ("|") that is usually used as the STREAMSW character is also often used as a graphic character to draw vertical lines or for drawing boxes. When paKet receives this character from the TNC it must decide whether the TNC is indicating a change of stream or whether this is just another data character received over the radio. If you set this STREAMDBL option ON, the TNC will generate TWO of these characters whenever one is received over the air - then paKet can tell the difference and there will be no confusion. So you can see once again, that both paKet and the TNC need to have this option set the same way. It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED the facility be used so set this option ON in both your TNC and in this Configuration Window. If set OFF, paKet will assume any STREAMSW character received during Converse Mode is to be processed as a change of Stream; if received during a Binary File Transfer it will be included as a data character in the file. This will probably be correct in most cases but you need STREAMDBL to be sure. ************************** I REPEAT ******************************* * (because this has been one of the main causes of Binary File * * transfer problems in earlier versions of paKet) * * * * Set STREAMDBL ON in BOTH paKet's Configuration AND in your TNC. * * * * If this feature is not implemented in your TNC then set this * * option in paKet OFF. * ******************************************************************* Users of Kantronics TNCs will find their TNC does not support the STREAMDBL command, so you will have to set this option OFF. Please refer to the discussion on the Kantronics TNCs in the Technical Section of this Manual. Alpha or Numeric Stream Id? Although most TNCs use letters of the alphabet to identify the different streams, some use numeric channel numbers. This configuration option allows you to use paKet with either type of TNC. Page 25 Configuration Windows - Communications Windows Example: ╔═════════════════════════ Communications Windows ═════════════════════════╗ ║ Window Number - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10║ ║ TNC Stream Identifier A B C D E F G H I J║ ║ Input buffer size (0-32K) 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2║ ║ Flashback buffer size (0-64K) 64 10 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4║ ║ Word Wrap from 48 48 48 70 70 70 70 70 70 70║ ║ Screen width (normally 79) 79 79 79 79 79 79 79 79 79 79║ ║ Bells (0 - 3 or 250 - 999) 1 2 1 700 700 700 700 700 700 700║ ║ Telephone style connect bell Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y║ ║ Process data without viewing? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y║ ║ Display Status Window? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y║ ║ Display Type Ahead Window? Y Y Y Y N N N N N N║ ║ Number of Type Ahead lines 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 2║ ╚════════════ Press Tab key to move to the next Comms Window ══════════════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 3 from the System Configuration Window. It contains parameters relating to each of the Communications Windows you have configured. Each column of values relates to the settings for that window number. Press <Enter> or <Up-Arrow>/<Down-Arrow> to move to different settings in that column. Use the <Tab> key to move across to the next column. Note, paKet will use only those values for the windows you have configured (refer "Maximum no. of Comms Windows" in the previous section). So if you have configured only 3 windows, the values for windows 4 to 10 in the Example window above are ignored by paKet. TNC Stream Identifier This is the letter or number used by the TNC to identify the different streams. You would normally use stream A in window 1, B in 2, and so on. However, paKet can handle any combination so if, for some reason, you wanted paKet to use TNC stream B in window 1 and stream A in window 2, just specify these streams in the above Configuration settings. Some TNCs use a particular stream for their PMS. For example if your TNC uses stream K for your PMS, you could specify stream K for one of the configured windows. Note that a programming blunder in some TNCs' firmware versions prevents access to stream K in the TNC, though it cheekily issues connect and disconnect messages on that stream! Of course, if your TNC uses numbers for its channel identifiers instead of letters, you would specify 0, 1, 2, etc instead of A, B, C, etc. Input buffer size (0-32K) Each Communications Window has an input buffer to hold the characters received for that stream and this option allows you to specify the size of that buffer. There is also one common 32KB System Input Buffer which is filled by paKet's Interrupt Handler as data is received from the TNC. At regular intervals in the processing, paKet will take data from that System Input Buffer and distribute it to the appropriate Communications Window Input Buffer, according to the stream indicated by the TNC. Page 26 A large input buffer size for the Communications window should not be necessary; in fact you can specify 0 and not have one at all! If it is possible you will have multiple connections, a 2KB buffer (at least one screenful) could be allocated, but anything larger is unlikely to provide any benefits in normal circumstances. Flashback buffer size (0-64K) Flashback is a paKet facility that allows you to scroll back to view Communications Window information that has scrolled off the screen. This option allows you to specify the amount of memory to allocate to the Flashback buffer for this Communications Window. Of course a larger buffer will hold more information, but you will not be able to allocate 64KB to all 10 windows and still hope to get all of paKet into the 640KB allowed by DOS! If you are not sure how much to allocate, try setting 30KB in the first Communications window and 10K in the others. You can easily change these values later. Word Wrap from Screen width paKet has a Word Wrap facility that operates on data entered into the Type Ahead Window. If a word does not entirely fit in the "Screen width" specified, the whole word will be moved down to the next line. To paKet, a "word" is a string of characters separated by a space or end-of-line. So, if you are sending a line of dashes or some other graphic string, you will not want that "word" wrapped to the next line. To help avoid such problems, paKet will wrap a word only if it begins after a certain column, as specified in "Word Wrap from". For example, if the values in these two fields are 48 and 79 respectively, paKet will wrap any word that does not fit on the line provided the word begins after column 48. (That is if the word is not longer than 32 characters). A Screen Width of 80 will work quite well to another paKet station, but will cause double-spacing when received on some lesser systems with bad "wrap" logic. I use a screen width of 79 on my system but you can specify 80 if you want to. Bells (0 - 3 or 250 - 999) This option determines the sound paKet makes when a <BEL> character is received from the TNC, or if paKet issues a Beep to alert the operator. A value of 0 means no sound, so paKet will effectively ignore any <BEL>s received, and will not sound any warning bells. 1, 2 and 3 sound predefined tones. It is not easy to describe a sound in a print document, so change the value and try it! Values between 250 and 999 specify the audio frequency of the beep. Page 27 Telephone style connect bell This is a Y(es) or N(o) option. If set to 'Y', paKet will issue an Aussie telephone-style "ring" from the computer's speaker after a Connection is established if no keystrokes have been detected within 15 seconds. (It will not ring if you have enabled the Auto-REMOTE option where paKet automatically switches into REMOTE Mode on connection). This is to attract your attention in case you might have missed the fact that someone has connected to your system. Pressing any key-character will stop the "bell". If you are running multiple Communications Windows, it is possible some data will come into another window while you are not looking and, although the Status Window will display the other Window number, that message could go unnoticed. So, if this Telephone option is on, paKet will issue a "Call Waiting" (double beep) sound every 20 seconds if some data has some into another Communications Window and you have not yet selected that window to view it. Process data without viewing? When data is received from the TNC for the currently selected stream, it will be displayed in the Communications Window. However, if data is received for some other stream, paKet can either: - hold it in that other Communication Window's Input buffer until you are ready to select that window and view the data; or - process that data whether you have seen it or not. (It will still be available in that Communications Window's Flashback buffer). This option was originally provided for paKet's Contest Mode where a number of Checkpoints are constantly sending data to paKet for recording and automatic acknowledgement. paKet must not hold that data in the buffer, but allow it to be processed whether or not the paKet operator has actually viewed the data. While in Contest Mode, a setting of 'Y' will be assumed. If you set this option to 'N' paKet will hold the data in the buffer until you have selected that window to view it. However, I have found it is often nice to just allow the data to flow into the system - you can easily switch windows and use Flashback if necessary to view anything that may have come in. In either case, paKet will let you know if anything is received for any other stream as it will display in the Status Window the Communications Window number for that stream. For example, if something comes in to Communications Window 4, the Status Window will show "<---4->" under "Windows". So you will know if anything has been received, regardless of the setting of this option. Try it and see which method suits you best. Page 28 Display Status Window? This is a Y(es) or N(o) option. The Status Window occupies the top two lines of the screen and is continuously updated with the time and other information as things change during normal operations. The details on display are discussed in the section on Status Window in this Manual. I recommend this option be set to "Y" at least while you are new to the system, so the Status Window will appear. If you change this to "N" the Communications Window will start on the top line, effectively making that window 2 lines bigger. Display Type Ahead Window? This is a Y(es) or N(o) option. The Type Ahead Window appears below the Communications Window and, if used, may be configured to display from 1 to 9 lines. This window allows you to type messages, commands, etc into paKet's Type Ahead buffer before they are sent to the TNC. There are several advantages in using this Window, so I recommend you set this option to "Y" at least while you are new to the system. Some advantages include word wrap, and a Recall facility (similar to the DOSKEY function in DOS 5), not to mention the ability to edit your typing before it goes to air! Number of Type Ahead lines The Type Ahead Window is optional (refer previous option), but if selected you can choose the number of lines to display. Valid values here are 1 to 9. The Type Ahead buffer capacity is limited to the number of lines displayed. Page 29 Configuration Windows - Colours Example: ╔════════ 4. Colours...════════╗ ║ 1. Message Window... ║ ║ 2. Communications Window... ║ ║ 3. Status Window... ║ ║ 4. Yapp Window... ║ ║ 5. Help Window... ║ ║ 6. TNC Help Window... ║ ║ 7. Type Ahead Window... ║ ║ 8. Configuration Windows... ║ ║ 9. Directory Window... ║ ║ A. Online Manual Window... ║ ╚══════════════════════════════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 4 from the System Configuration Window. It is a list of the various paKet windows for which the colours may be changed. If you are running a monochrome display, you might think this section would not apply to you, but you could try different settings to get a combination of highlighting and contrast that suits you best with your monochrome display. Selecting one of the items in this window will bring up yet another window showing three sets of colours: ╔═══════ 1. Message Window...═══════╗ ║Normal Foreground WHITE ║ ║Normal Background GREEN ║ ║Highlight Foreground LIGHTGREEN ║ ║Highlight Background BLACK ║ ║Border Foreground WHITE ║ ║Border Background GREEN ║ ╚══════Press ENTER to change════════╝ As with the Serial Port options, you may change any of these settings by pressing <Enter> to cycle through the available options. As you change a colour, the new setting is displayed in the window. When you are happy with a particular setting, press <Down-Arrow> to move to the next item. Note that you have 16 colours available: for the foreground, the first 8 colours are normal intensity and the second 8 are high intensity. Provided the display was in normal text mode, choosing a high intensity colour for the background will cause the display to blink. When you have finished changing colours, press <Esc>. You may then change colours for another window or by pressing <Esc> again, you are returned to the System Configuration Window. Note that in many cases, you will not see the new colours immediately. For example, if you change the Communications window colours, you may think it has not worked, but you will see the new colours coming up as new data is sent or received. Page 30 Configuration Windows - Keyboard Macros/Auto commands Example: ╔══ 5. KB Macros/Auto commands...══╗ ║1. Keyboard Macros... ║ ║2. Begin Auto Commands... ║ ║3. End Auto Commands... ║ ║4. Alerts... ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 5 from the System Configuration Window. The Keyboard Macros facility provides up to 10 macro strings which may be generated and sent to the TNC at a single keystroke, well two anyway! Begin and End Auto Commands are some optional commands that may be sent to the TNC when paKet is starting up or proceeding to shut down. Alerts is a new facility that (again optionally) may sound the PC "bell" when a nominated string appears in the Communications Window. This feature could be used if you want to know when a particular callsign is on the air or if some particular topic is being discussed. Selecting each of the 4 options will bring up another window for the details, which are discussed below. Keyboard Macros ┌────────────────────────────1. Keyboard Macros...─────────────────────────┐ 1~BMAIL ON<Enter>MDC<Enter>L<Enter> │ 2~BB<Enter>MAIL OFF<Enter> │ 3 │ 473s from Tony in Port Macquarie<Enter> │ 5 │ 6~BXMITOK T<Enter> │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 0^CD<Enter> │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Description. There are 10 Keyboard Macros available and these are activated by pressing <Alt-1>, <Alt-2>, etc through to <Alt-0>. That is, the number keys along the top of the main keyboard (NOT the numeric keypad). The numbers 1 to 0 showing down the left side of the Window correspond to the macro key you wish to use. It was decided to limit the macro options to 10 number keys as most of the Alt-alpha key combinations are used for pre-defined paKet functions. Move the highlighted cursor down to the item you want to change and type your macro on that line. Press <Enter> to complete the entry. The <Enter> does not go into the string because there may be times where you do not want a Carriage Return at the end of the string. Page 31 If the first key you type is some data character, paKet will automatically blank out the line to allow you to create a new entry. If you want to edit the existing entry use one of the cursor movement keys to start (eg, <Right-Arrow>, <End>, <Home> etc) then paKet will retain the existing string for you to edit. If you have entered something on a line and change your mind, you can press <Esc> and paKet will ignore any changes you have made to that line. It is only when you press <Enter> or if you move to another line with <Up-Arrow> or <Down-Arrow> that paKet considers any changes to a line are complete. To delete a macro, move the cursor to that Macro and type <Ctrl-Y>. Many of the special keys used in paKet may be coded specifically using Less-Than/Greater-Than bracket pairs. These are listed under Special Key Codes in this Manual but as an example here, you could specify the <Enter> key as "<Enter>" or Function key 2 as "<F2>". Several examples of the <Enter> key appear in the above example macros. You can specify <Ctrl- > codes by entering the '^' character followed by the ASCII character, for example in Macro 0 above, we see "^CD<Enter>". The first 2 characters, "^C" will generate a single <Ctrl-C> code. This macro, by the way, is the macro I use to disconnect from another station. The <Ctrl-C> returns the TNC to Command Mode; the "D" followed by <Enter> issues a Disconnect command to the TNC. (Actually I prefer to use <Alt-B> to get the TNC into Command Mode, but I changed it to <Ctrl-C> for this example!) Those familiar with the ASCII table of control characters will see that specifying "^M" instead of "<Enter>" will achieve the same resuilt. If you wish to include <Alt- > key combinations, they may be specified in a similar manner to that used for the Ctrl key, but for Alt key, use the tilde ("~"). For example, in the example macros above you will see "~B" used to specify <Alt-B> which is paKet's <BREAK> key. Note you can use a Macro to send commands to the TNC or to send a string of data to another station. If sending commands it would be prudent to include the "~B" just to be sure the TNC is in Command Mode. When finished with this window press <Esc> to return to the System Configuration window. Page 32 Begin-Auto Commands ┌──────────────────────────2. Begin Auto Commands...────────────────────┐ │ECHO OFF │ │MAIL OFF │ │CTEXT Please feel free to use the system.^V │ │ H for Help or^V │ │ S to "Send" me a message^V │ │ ...Tony │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──────^N to Insert a line; ^Y to Delete a line; ESC when finished──────┘ Description. When paKet starts, a DAY command is sent to the TNC to initialise its date and time to match that in your computer. Then, as part of the initialisation, paKet can send up to 10 additional commands to the TNC. These additional commands are optional, but if you want to include any commands to be sent at start up time, they would be specified here. Each line contains a single command so an <Enter> is implied and will be generated by paKet as each line is processed. In the above example, I have specified a multi line CTEXT command using the PASS character <Ctrl-V> which will cause the following <Enter> to be taken by the TNC as part of the CTEXT data. Refer to your TNC Manual for information on the PASS character. Note, you may enter Special Key Codes or the <Ctrl- > or <Alt- > key sequences as explained in the previous section on Keyboard Macros. When all commands have been entered, press <Esc> to return to the System Configuration Window. There is an alternative to using these Begin Auto commands: paKet will check for the presence of a Script file, AUTOEXEC.SCP, and will execute this Script at Initialisation time if that file is found in the current directory. This will provide more flexibility and allow more than 10 commands if that is necessary. It would also enable you to re-issue these commands (via the <Alt-S> Script command) at any time during the run if that might be a requirement. Page 33 End-Auto Commands ┌───────────────────────────3. End Auto Commands...─────────────────────┐ │CTEXT paKet is not currently running.^V │ │Please leave a message in the PK-232 Mailbox.^V │ │...Tony. │ │MAIL ON │ │ECHO ON │ │^S │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────^N to Insert a line; ^Y to Delete a line; ESC when finished─────┘ Description. This item is almost identical to the previous option, but as you might guess, these commands are sent to the TNC when you exit from the program with the <Alt-X> command. Once again, these commands are optional so leave the window blank if you don't want any commands issued as you exit the program. You may wish to include a "^S" to hold monitored data in the TNC buffer until next session. (paKet always sends a <Ctrl-Q> when it starts up just in case.) Then, when you next start, you will see as much data as has been held in the TNC buffer while you were "offline". There is an option to perform a Script file at this time. If paKet finds a file AUTOEND.SCP, that Script will be performed prior to exiting to DOS. This, like the AUTOEXEC.SCP, is optional. Alerts ┌─────────────────────────────────4. Alerts...───────────────────────────┐ │DHU │ │PAKET │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──────^N to Insert a line; ^Y to Delete a line; ESC when finished───────┘ Description. Up to 10 Alert strings may be recorded in this window. If "Alerts" is enabled with the <Alt-A> key, paKet will scan each line as it appears in the Communications Window for a match. If one of these strings is found, paKet will sound the Bell. Case is not important here as paKet will match both upper and lower case. If the Bells start to annoy you, press <Alt-A> to disable the Alert Monitoring. The strings specified here can stay so when you toggle <Alt-A> again Alert Monitoring will recommence using the same strings. Page 34 Configuration Windows - REMOTE Mode options Example: ╔══════ 6. REMOTE Mode options...═════╗ ║ Allow REMOTE access? Y ║ ║ Issue REMOTE Menu on connection? Y ║ ║ SEND files to REMOTE station? Y ║ ║ RECV files from REMOTE station? Y ║ ║ REMOTE trigger (decimal value) 29 ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════╝ Description: This window appears when you select option 6 from the System Configuration Window. REMOTE Mode is discussed in its own section of this Manual but briefly, it provides unattended access to our system by other users. It is like a BBS in that the other station can perform file transfers to and from our system, they can leave a message in our PMS, and can read any messages left for them, but there are NO MAIL FORWARDING facilities. Allow REMOTE access? This is a Y(es) or N(o) parameter. If you do NOT want other stations to use this REMOTE facility, turn this option off with 'N'. You may still activate it yourself via the <F3> key if you wish, temporarily overriding this Configuration option, so YOU still have a choice. Issue REMOTE Menu on connection? If you are happy to allow REMOTE operations, you can either wait for the other station to send us the REMOTE Trigger (discussed below) or you can choose to have paKet automatically issue the REMOTE Menu when the other station connects to our system. If you enter "Y" for this option, paKet will switch into REMOTE Mode and will issue the menu immediately a connection is established. This is intended for those times when you are not present to communicate with the other station. So if you have pressed a key within the past 60 seconds, paKet will assume you are at the keyboard and will NOT automatically switch into REMOTE Mode. The other station can still send the Trigger to get the REMOTE Menu, or you can do it with the <F3> key if you wish. SEND files to REMOTE station? This is a Y(es) or N(o) parameter. If you have decided to allow REMOTE operations, you might still want to prevent other stations downloading files FROM our system in REMOTE mode. This would normally be 'Y', but if you want to prevent REMOTE Downloads set this option to 'N'. Page 35 RECV files from REMOTE station? This is a Y(es) or N(o) parameter. If you have decided to allow REMOTE operations, you might still want to prevent other stations uploading files TO our system in REMOTE mode. Preventing REMOTE Uploads should reduce the risk of picking up a virus. Alternatively, specifying a unique Binary Receive directory should allow you to be suitably suspicious of whatever turns up in that directory. Nevertheless, if you are still concerned at this possibility, you may choose to set this option to 'N'. REMOTE trigger (decimal value) Another station who has connected to our system might like to switch on our REMOTE Mode (if it is not already on). This trigger code is specified here as a decimal ASCII value because some codes do not display well and trying to display the code itself could become confusing. Using a decimal value leaves no doubt as to the value set. The default value of 29 (or the ASCII GS code) is <Ctrl-]>, that is hold the Ctrl key while typing right-square-bracket. So, if the other station sends us that code, with nothing else on the line, paKet will activate REMOTE Mode and send the REMOTE Menu. Press <Esc> to return to the System Configuration window. Page 36 Configuration Windows - File Transfer options Example: ╔═════ 7. File Transfer options...════╗ ║ DWAIT for normal operations 16 ║ ║ DWAIT for binary operations 48 ║ ║ PACLEN for normal operations 240 ║ ║ PACLEN for binary operations 252 ║ ║ Use paKet Protocol? Y ║ ║ Ctrl-Z after sending ASCII file? Y ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 7 from the System Configuration Window. These options relate to File Transfers only. DWAIT for normal operations DWAIT for binary operations DWAIT is a TNC parameter that specifies a delay in the TNC with a view to minimising collisions with digipeated packets. Some operators recommend a setting of 48 for DWAIT during File Transfers in order to give other Conversational Mode contacts a better response on a crowded frequency. The principle here is that a file transfer should be run as a sort of "Background" process. So, it is considered responsible to give a longer DWAIT time, especially if you have to do your file transfers at a busy time. There are two values for DWAIT that you can set here: the "DWAIT for binary" value will be used while sending a binary file; and the TNC will be reset to the normal DWAIT value when the File Transfer is completed. paKet will accept any value for normal DWAIT but the value for binary operations must be at least 24. Recommended values are 16 for normal mode and at least 32 for Binary File Transfers. PACLEN for normal operations PACLEN for binary operations The TNC's PACLEN parameter specifies the maximum size of the packets to be transmitted. It has been found that in most cases a larger PACLEN value is more efficient for File Transfers on VHF, but perhaps smaller on poorer HF paths. It is generally accepted that a large PACLEN for normal conversation is less important. paKet gives you the ability to specify different PACLEN values for binary file transfer and "conversation". The value can be as high as 256, or 0 which in some TNCs is equivalent to 256. It was found in testing that some versions of Pac-Comm and TAPR TNC EPROM code do not handle PACLEN 0 correctly (the TNC "crashes" during file transfers after 7 packets!). A value of 255 or less appears to be universally reliable. Recommended values are 240 for normal mode and 252 for File Transfers - certain advantages accrue from these settings. Page 37 The <Enter> at the end of each line determines the length of the packets transmitted in Converse Mode, unless you are using CPACTIME. Provided you are using paKet's Type Ahead buffer, the use of CPACTIME with a one second delay is considered more efficient in many cases than the older <Enter> method. For normal conversations there is little difference but if you are transferring an ASCII Text file (refer <F5> key) the CPACTIME method would use this PACLEN specified here and would result in more efficient transmissions. (Not all TNCs support CPACTIME so check your TNC manual for details). Use paKet Protocol? paKet Protocol (pP for short) is an enhanced Binary Transfer protocol developed especially for Packet Radio and is fully compatible with YAPP, the current "Standard". Refer to the section on paKet Protocol in the Technical section of this Manual for more details if required. I used the YAPP Protocol Specifications published by Jeff Jacobsen (WA7MBL), the author of the original YAPP program, when developing this pP system. Extensive testing has shown pP to be fully compatible with YAPP so you can use pP to exchange Binary files with any station equipped to handle the YAPP protocol. The pP protocol automatically detects the presence of another pP station and will use the enhanced features as required. However, just in case there is some other system somewhere that does not quite conform to the original YAPP specifications and causes some difficulty with the new pP, I have provided this option to allow you to turn off the advanced protocol, reverting to the Standard YAPP Protocol for Binary Transfers. I expect this option will always be set to "Y". Ctrl-Z after sending ASCII file? When you send an ASCII Text file with the <F5> key paKet will optionally generate a <Ctrl-Z> character as an End-of-File indicator. Most systems receiving a file or message require the <Ctrl-Z> to close the file or terminate the message being received. So you might find it convenient to set this option to "Y" and allow paKet to generate the code when it detects the end of the file you are sending. For flexibility, however, the choice is yours. If you prefer to enter the code manually set this option to "N". Page 38 Configuration Windows - File/Directories Example: ╔════════════════════ 8. File/Directories...════════════════════╗ ║ Text Recv directory C:\PAKET\TEXT\ ║ ║ Text Send directory C:\PAKET\TEXT\ ║ ║ Binary Recv directory C:\PAKET\BIN\ ║ ║ Binary Send directory C:\PAKET\BIN\ ║ ║ Log File directory C:\PAKET\ ║ ║ PMS directory C:\PAKET\ ║ ║ Online Manual File C:\DOC\PAKET.DOC ║ ║ Help File C:\DOC\PK-232.HLP ║ ║ System Editor D:\EDWIN.COM ║ ║ Script File C:\PAKET\MAILBOX.SCP ║ ║ Connect File C:\PAKET\PAKET.DIR ║ ║ Command to list a file TYPE ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 8 from the System Configuration Window. The paKet system manages a number of files and directories and in this window you may specify your preferred defaults. Note, in the above window the first six items are DIRECTORY names so for these items please specify a drive and sub directory name finishing with a backslash character ("\"). So, if you want to specify the diskette in drive A: using its root directory, you would specify "A:\". Text Recv directory This is the default directory the system uses when we receive an ASCII text file. This would be when you select the Receive File function with the <F6> key, or it would also be used by a REMOTE user if that station sends us an ASCII text file. Text Send directory This is the default directory the system uses when you send an ASCII text file. So when first sending a file with the <F5> key, paKet will display this directory in the Disk Directory Window while you select the file to send. Of course, you can select a file from another directory if you wish. This directory will also be used by a REMOTE operator if that station wants to transfer one of our text files. A REMOTE user may access this directory and any sub directories below this one, so if you specify the Root directory here, the REMOTE user will be able to access any part of the specified drive for downloading. REMOTE operations are discussed elsewhere but it should be pointed out here that a REMOTE user may issue a "W" ("What") command to ask paKet to display a directory of our text files. paKet will send this "Text Send directory". For your protection, this directory and its sub directories are the only directories a REMOTE user will see. Page 39 If the Text Receive directory is not within the Text Send branch of the directory tree, the REMOTE operator will not know what files have been uploaded, so you might like to specify a directory for Text Receive which is the same as the Text Send (or one of its sub directories). Binary Recv directory This is the directory the system uses when we receive a Binary File. In paKet there are four ways to transfer a Binary file: paKet Protocol (pP); YAPP protocol; BayCom; and RAW Binary (no protocol). Whichever method is chosen, paKet uses this directory to receive the transferred file. It would also be used if a REMOTE user sends us a Binary File using one of these methods. You are not asked for the file name when receiving a Binary File with pP or YAPP: that information is expected to be in the protocol Header. So if you wanted the Binary File to go into a different directory or to have a different name, you will have to copy it or Rename/Move it (refer <Alt-R> key) after the transfer has completed. Binary Send directory This is the default directory the system uses when we send a Binary File. So when sending a Binary File, paKet will display this default directory in the Disk Directory Window while you select the file to send. Of course, you can select a file from another directory if you wish. This directory will also be used by a REMOTE operator if that station wants to transfer one of our Binary Files. For the same reasons discussed under the "Text Send directory" above, it would be helpful to REMOTE users if the Binary Receive directory is within the directory subtree specified for Binary Send. Log File directory This is the default directory the system uses for the disk log file. When you press the <F2> key to activate the log file, you will be asked to select the file name and, though a default is offered using the drive and directory specified here, you may specify a different name, directory or even drive if you wish. If you have the AUTO log option active, paKet will generate a Log File name based on the computer's date and will create the file in this directory. You don't have to do anything! Page 40 PMS Directory paKet has a Personal Message System which operates in a style similar to many of the BBS systems, and is explained in its own section of the Manual. There are two files maintained by the system for the PMS, one to contain the messages themselves and the other for an index into the message system. The directory specified here is where these files will reside. Once you specify the directory here, there is nothing else you need to do. If the PMS files cannot be found, paKet will automatically create new ones. Of course if you change this directory entry, next time paKet tries to access the PMS, the files will probably not be found in the new directory and it will create new files, effectively "losing" any messages that were in the old directory! The following items are FILE names although you can specify a drive and/or subdirectory path as well. Online Manual File paKet includes an Online version of this Manual. Actually it IS this Manual! Here you specify the path and file name so when you press <Alt-F1> paket knows where to look for the file. If you have sufficient disk space the entire paKet Manual should be combined into a single file, PAKET.DOC which would be the name specified here. If you prefer, you could leave the original DOC files separate and specify here the desired part, eg MANUAL1.DOC. Help File The Help File is the name of the TNC help file that you want to use. For example, if you have a PK-232 and you had that help file in a directory called C:\HELP, you could set this item to: C:\HELP\PK-232.HLP If you do not specify a path, paKet will assume the help file is in the "current" directory, which is the directory DOS was using when you loaded paKet. System Editor The System Editor is an external text editor you may call up with the <Alt-E> key. This item allows you to specify the name (and optionally the path) of your favourite text editor. Any editor may be used, even DOS's (ugh) EDLIN if you have nothing else! This editor will be run with paKet in the background, so there are a couple of considerations to keep in mind here: 1. paKet will continue to capture any input from the TNC and store it in the System Input buffer while you are using the editor. So you should be able to run the editor at any time without losing any input data. Page 41 2. As paKet is still in the background, we will not have the full amount of memory available for the editor. So you may not be able to edit a very large file or may not even be able to load the editor if memory demands are high. For example if you have specified several Communications Windows each with large input and Flashback buffers, there will be less free memory available; and/or if your favourite editor happens to be one of the LARGE Word Processing packages it might not fit into the available memory alongside paKet anyway! Most of the simpler "Text" or "Programmer's" editors should work just fine. Script File When you execute a Script file, paKet will offer a default Script file name to save you unnecessary typing. This item specifies your preferred default Script file name. Connect File This is the name of the file you wish to use for paKet's Connect facility. The Connect file contains the names and connect paths for our regular contacts and will be used when you select <Alt-C> to initiate a connection to another station. It is conceivable we could have more than one Connect file although one file will hold up to 200 entries which should be more than enough to satisfy most users. Refer to the Connect Window section for more discussion on the Connect facility. Command to list a file If you have pressed <Alt-D> to display a Disk Directory, you may highlight any file listed in the directory and press <Enter> to view the contents of that file. paKet will use this command to display the file. You may specify the DOS "TYPE" command (as shown in the example above), although I prefer to use the excellent Public Domain utility, LIST. If you want to use an external program (such as LIST), don't forget DOS will need to be able to find it, so you might specify the Drive and/or directory name along with the command (Eg: C:\UTILITY\LIST). Of course this will not be necessary if the program is it is in the current directory or if it is covered by the DOS PATH statement. Page 42 Configuration Windows - Miscellaneous options Example: ╔════════════ 9. Miscellaneous options...════════════╗ ║ Station callsign VK2DHU ║ ║ Operator's name Tony ║ ║ Msg level (All,Warnings,Errors) A ║ ║ Eliminate SNOW? (CGA only) N ║ ║ AUTO LOG (on while Connected) Y ║ ║ Screen blanker delay (seconds) 60 ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Description. This window appears when you select option 9 from the System Configuration Window. It contains those configurable variables that did not seem to fit into any of the other sections. Station callsign Operator's name These items are used in a couple of places for display purposes. For example some REMOTE menu messages will show your name and/or callsign in order to make it appear a little more friendly. The callsign is also used in the PMS. If a REMOTE user leaves a message without specifying a callsign, paKet will assume it is for you and will insert your callsign as the addressee. Similarly when you enter a message into the PMS, there is no need to specify who it is from. paKet knows who you are! Msg level (All, Warning, Error) There is a complete listing of paKet's messages in its own section of this Manual. Each message is identified as belonging to a particular category. For example some messages are considered Information Only. They tell you what is going on at a particular time but are not really important as no action is required. Warning messages alert you to something unexpected but in many cases paKet can cope without your intervention, taking whatever action it deems necessary! Error messages are those that occur in situations that are considered serious and usually require some action on your part. Most messages are left on the screen for about 3 seconds to allow time to read them. This can sometimes be a little tiring for experienced users when the system is displaying these messages, especially the routine Information messages which can become quite predictable. Experienced users might prefer to hide the simple Information Only messages as they will probably know what is going on anyway. And the real experts might choose to hide even the Warnings (at their own peril!). This option allows you to specify the level you wish to use. I recommend EVERYONE, regardless of experience, specify A (All) to start with, maybe changing the level later. I expect it would be in very unusual circumstances that anyone would want to hide the Warning messages by specifying level E. With level A - All messages will appear; level W - Warnings and Errors only will appear; level E - Errors only will appear. Page 43 Eliminate SNOW? (CGA only) This is a Y(es) or N(o) parameter. The SNOW parameter is used for antique CGA displays that misbehave when a program writes directly to the video display's RAM. The effect on these displays is a 'snow' effect. paKet uses direct memory writes to enhance performance but it will use a different (slightly slower) method if you set this parameter to 'Y' to minimise the 'snow'. Note, however, that this is for CGA displays only - it will not work with other types of display adapter (shouldn't be necessary anyway!). AUTO LOG (on while Connected) This is a Y(es) or N(o) parameter. paKet provides a disk logging facility which may be activated at any time with the <F2> key. However, the AUTO LOG feature (if ON) will automatically activate the disk log file using the default naming convention when a connection is established with another station and will turn it off when disconnected. This allows you to keep a log of your communications with other stations without clogging the log file with other data. Set this field to 'Y' if you want to use the AUTO LOG feature. Screen blanker delay (seconds) The nature of Packet Radio is such that you might leave the system running even while you are not actually present, especially with the availability of paKet's REMOTE facilities. However, prolonged display of unchanging information on a screen can cause a "burning-in" effect which may be relieved with a Screen Blanker to switch off the display when nothing is happening. paKet has its own Screen Blanker which becomes effective after a specified period of inactivity. This option allows you to specify the period. For example, if you specify 60 seconds here, the screen will be blanked if nothing is received from the TNC and if no keys have been pressed during the past 60 seconds. If something is received from the TNC or if you press a key, the 60 second countdown restarts, so in times of normal activity the screen might not blank at all! If the screen is blanked, it will be restored for normal communications immediately a character is received from the TNC or upon any keystroke from you. Note, you can simply start typing a message because your keystroke will be processed by the system even if you could not see the paKet screen when you pressed the key. If you simply want to redisplay the screen without actually "typing" something, I suggest you press Ctrl or Alt (without any other key). These keys will be detected by paKet and will cause the Screen to be restored, but they do not actually generate any character on their own. A value of 0 (zero) here tells the system you do NOT want any screen blanking at all. Page 44 Connect Window Example: ┌─Name ->▌ Callsign to CONNECT to (including Digipeaters, etc)───┐ │BBS VK2ATM-1 │ │Paul VK2BZC │ │Arthur VK2ATM │ │Col VK2KQX │ │Bill VK2ZCV │ │YDN BBS VK2YDN-1 via VK2RCH 668900 │ │CKG Cessnock VK2CKG via VK2RLO VK2RPW │ │CZZ VK2CZZ via VK2RLO VK2RPW VK2RPN │ │Daryl VK2DAZ v VK2RLO VK2RPW │ └───── <Enter> to CONNECT; ^N - insert a new entry; ^Y - delete entry────┘ Description. The Connect Window appears when you press <Alt-C>. It contains a list of names and connect paths for your regular contacts. This feature is provided to facilitate the connection process. You may record up to 200 entries in the Connect Window. To make a connection, move the highlight bar to the desired entry and press <Enter>. At first the window will be blank but you may enter the details of your regular contacts to more easily establish contact with them next time. Some Networks require you to connect to a particular Node, then when that connection is established, you issue another connect request to the desired station. In this case you could specify two entries in the Connect Window - one for the Node and another for the destination station. To create a new entry, type a name that you can easily recognise, then press <Tab> to move to the start of the Callsign section. Here you enter the details of the connect path you wish to use for this station. paKet will generate the TNC's CONNECT command using this "Callsign" information. If you want to insert a new entry between two existing entries, move to the desired location and press <Ctrl-N>. If you want to remove an existing entry, move to that entry and press <Ctrl-Y>. Any changes are saved automatically. Page 45 Disk Directory Window Example: ╔═════════════════C:\PAKET\═══════════════════╗ ║ (Enter file name manually) ║ ║ (Change to another drive) ║ ║ .. <Previous directory> ║ ║ ALAN.LZH 14751 18-04-91 20:57 ║ ║ ARA 2264 11-10-91 21:13 A ║ ║ AUG22.LOG 3581 1-09-91 21:45 A ║ ║ AUG28.LOG 394 6-09-91 12:46 A ║ ║ AUG29.LOG 6885 6-09-91 12:47 A ║ ║ AUTOEXEC.SCP 144 11-09-91 21:09 A ║ ║ BETA <DIR> ║ ║ CKPT.BAK 198 3-07-91 22:34 ║ ║ CKPT.DAT 196 11-10-91 19:48 A ║ ║ CMD 12 23-09-91 21:20 A ║ ║ CONFIG.SAV 1398 1-10-91 9:50 A ║ ║ CONNECT.DMP 2048 12-10-91 14:19 A ║ ║ CONTEST.LOG 577 4-07-91 20:54 ║ ║ CONTEST.SAV 39555 1-04-91 19:54 ║ ╚══════════ Directory - 20,480 free═══════════╝ Description. This window will appear whenever you request a directory display (with the <Alt-D> key). It will also appear when paKet asks you to choose a file name (eg if you want to send a file to the other station). The directory is displayed in alphabetical sequence with hidden and system files and the volume label displayed in a different shade. (You can't hide from paKet!) Also shown are the file date/time and file attributes. At the top of the window is the drive\path of the displayed directory, and on the bottom line is the amount of free space on that drive. You may scroll up and down this window using the <Up-Arrow> and <Down-Arrow>, the <PageUp> and <PageDown> keys, or the <Home> and <End> keys. Or you can use paKet's hot-key typing by entering part or all of the file name - paKet will highlight the first filename that matches the characters you have typed so far. Often all you need to type is one or two characters to move to the file you want. An item may be "selected" by moving the cursor (the highlight bar) to that item and pressing <Enter>. If there is another level of subdirectory below this one, that subdirectory name will be listed in sequence with "<DIR>" instead of a file size. In the example above, there is a subdirectory named "BETA" shown. Selecting that item will ask paKet to display that subdirectory in the Window. Sometimes you might prefer to enter the file name yourself rather than go through a number of display options. This is especially so if you want to create a file that does not yet exist on the disk (for example if you are using the System Editor to create a NEW text file). In this case, select the option to "(Enter file name manually)" and paKet's Message Window will pop up for you to enter the file name. Page 46 You may display the directory of a different drive by selecting the "(Change to another drive)" option second from the top of the window. And you can select "<Previous directory>" to go back a level. If you used <Alt-D> to Display the directory, selecting a file will display the contents of that file. The command used to perform the display is configurable - refer to the "Configuration Windows - File/Directories" section for details. If you press the <Delete> key, paKet will delete the highlighted file after asking for your confirmation that you really wish to perform the deletion. This is convenient if you are doing some housekeeping such as cleaning out unwanted log files. You can use the System Editor to inspect log files on the disk and to edit out unwanted data. Then delete any unwanted files. All without leaving paKet. Alternatively, a file may be renamed or indeed moved from one directory to another by pressing <Alt-R> whilst that file is highlighted. You are then asked to type the full new path and name for the file. If a new name is typed without a path, the file will remain in the current directory. Page 47 Help Window Example: ┌──────────────────────────────paKet 5.0 Help──────────────────────────────┐ │ F1 - Help Alt-A - Alert bell on/off │ │ F2 - Turn Log File ON Alt-B - Send a BREAK signal to TNC │ │ F3 - Turn REMOTE mode ON Alt-C - Connect to another station │ │ F4 - Word Wrap/Single Line Alt-D - Disk Directory │ │ F5 - Send an ASCII text file Alt-E - Edit a data file │ │ F6 - Receive ASCII text file Alt-F - Find text in Flashback │ │ F7 - Send Binary File using pP Alt-H - MHEARD │ │ F8 - Recv Binary File using pP Alt-I - Initialise Comms Windows │ │ F9 - DOS Gateway Alt-L - Continue Find in Flashback │ │ F10 - Help with TNC Commands Alt-M - Personal Message System │ │ Alt-F1 - Display Online Manual Alt-P - Turn Print log ON │ │ Alt-F5 - Send RAW Binary file Alt-Q - Clear TNC's XOFF with Ctrl-Q│ │ Alt-F6 - Recv RAW Binary file Alt-R - Rename/Move data file │ │ Alt-F7 - Send File to BayCom Alt-S - Script processing │ │ Alt-F8 - Recv File from BayCom Alt-T - Set TNC Time and date │ │ Page Up - Flashback Alt-V - Verify Connected callsign │ │ Scroll Lock - Pause Alt-W - Write Flashback to disk │ │ Shift-Right - Next Comms Window Alt-X - Exit this program │ │ Shift-Left - Prev Comms Window Alt-Z - Configuration │ │ Up/Dn Arrow - Recall Type Ahead │ │ Enter desired function, or Esc to leave Help Screen │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Description. This Help Window is always available at the touch of the <F1> key. You may select any function by pressing the key shown in the Help Window - it is not necessary to remove the Window first. If you do not want to use any of those functions at this time, press <Esc> to remove the Help Window and return to normal communications. Page 48 Message Window Example: ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Log File closed ║ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Description. This is a small window that will appear from time to time, mostly to inform you of some condition or problem. Some messages will disappear after a few seconds, others which are considered more serious will wait for you to press the <Enter> key before they disappear. Full details of all messages, together with an explanation of each are provided in the Messages Section of this Manual. Some of these messages may be suppressed entirely by specifying a higher "Message Level" in the Configuration. But, be warned, that is for experienced users only! Page 49 Status Window Example: ─ Buffers ─ Windows ─────────── paKet 5.0 ── Log File ──── COM1(2400) ─── 2045 PRS<--3> REMOTE A 14:16:41 OFF RTS CTS DSR DCD DTR Description: This window is optional (but recommended) and displays some of paKet's operational settings. On the top line, along with the fixed headings, you have the current version number of the paKet program in the centre, and on the right, details of the serial port being used including the current baud rate. Most status information appears on the second line: Buffer: At the left is the System Input Buffer counter. All data received from the TNC is stored in this System Input Buffer temporarily while waiting for paKet to come and see where it belongs. If we are conducting multiple sessions, this data will have to be distributed to the appropriate Communications Window. At regular intervals in the processing, paKet will perform this distribution. The Status Window shows the number of characters in the buffer that have yet to be distributed. The count may build up if data is being received faster than your system can process it, or if it cannot yet be distributed (eg: because one of the Window input buffers has already filled). If you have started the System Editor <Alt-E> or taken the DOS Gateway <F9>, paKet no longer has control of your system and so cannot perform this data distribution. However, the Interrupt Handler is still operational so anything received from the TNC during this time will be captured and stored so you will not lose any input data. When you return to paKet you will see the System Input Buffer drain quickly into the Window input buffer(s) and data will flood into the Communications Window as paKet catches up. Just keep in mind that if you take TOO long and the System Input Buffer fills (it is 32KB), any further data data would then be lost. If the Status Window is displayed and the number of held characters reaches 25000, the counter will change colour to warn you it is filling up and an intermittent audible alarm will sound (if Bells are enabled for this Communications Window). P: This will appear while the Print Log is active. (refer <Alt-P> key). R: This will appear while you are Receiving an ASCII text file (refer <F6> key). S: This will appear while you are Sending an ASCII text file (refer <F5> key). Page 50 <--3> This item indicates there has been some activity on another Communications Window. In the example shown, there has been some activity in Window 3 and you should switch to that window (with <Shift-Right-Arrow> or <Shift-F3>) to see that data. This field will reflect the number of available windows. The example shown indicates three Communications Windows have been configured but if, for example, you had configured 6 Communications Windows, this item would have appeared as: "<--3--->". REMOTE This indicator field will usually be blank, but will indicate: or "REMOTE" if paKet is currently in REMOTE Mode; or SCRIPT "SCRIPT" if paKet is currently processing a Script file; or or "INIT" during paKet's Initialisation process; or INIT "(msg)" if a remote user has left a message for you or (msg) A: Alert On. This indicates that paKet is scanning incoming data for strings that match those specified in the Alerts Configuration Window. If a match is detected (case is unimportant - both upper and lower case will be matched) paKet will sound the Bell. Perhaps you wish to know when a friend is on air and have specified his callsign, or you wish to see when a hot topic is being discussed! This feature may be toggled on/off with the <Alt-A> key. Time In the centre is the computer's current time. This will be the TNC's time as well because paKet will automatically initialise the TNC with the computer system's time when the program starts or whenever you press <Alt-T>. OFF This field indicates the current status of paKet's disk or logging system. There are basically three different indicators: file or - OFF The disk log facility is not currently active so AUTO nothing is written to the log file. (Press <F2> to turn it on.) - file When you activate the log file, you have the opportunity to specify the filename. You can use the default name suggested by paKet if you wish. The filename chosen is displayed here in the Status Window. - AUTO This is a configurable option (refer to the "Configuration Windows - Miscellaneous options" section). If the option is ON, paKet will automatically activate the disk log, using the default file name, when a connection is established, and will automatically close the file upon disconnection. Page 51 This field will display "AUTO" while waiting for a connection; and it will change to show the default file name when connected. RTS This area of the Status Window is used for Handshaking etc details. If you have specified Hardware Handshaking, the status of significant RS-232 lines is displayed - if the line is high, the indicator is shown; if the line goes low, that indicator disappears. For example, if the CTS (Clear to Send) "light" goes out you will know the TNC has asked paKet to stop sending for a while. You will see "Software Handshaking" instead of these indicators, if you have selected that mode. However, this will change to "XOFF" when the TNC sends that code to ask paKet to stop sending for a while. When the TNC sends the <XON> code, the Status Window reverts to its original "Software Handshaking" display. If you feel you do not need this Status Window display and would prefer to have the additional two lines available for Communications Window data, you can adjust the Configuration (Communications Windows option) so it does not appear. For new users however, it is recommended you keep it there at least until you are fully familiar with the paKet system. Page 52 TNC Help Window Example: ╔═ COMMAND ════ ARG ════ DEFAULT ═══════ DESCRIPTION ════════════════════╗ ║ABaud 'n' 45-9600 110 Specify ASCII radio baud rate ║ ║AChg Immediate Cmd Force AMTOR into transmit mode ║ ║ACKprior ON|OFF OFF Priority Acknowledgement feature ║ ║ACRDisp 'n' 0-255 80 Set the screen or printer width. ║ ║ACRPack ON|OFF ON The <SENDPAC> char is included in packets║ ║ACRRtty 'n' 0-255 69|71 Automatically insert <CR> in output ║ ║ADelay 'n' 1-9 4 AMTOR key up delay ║ ║AFilter ON|OFF OFF ASCII filter for all Modes ║ ║ALFDisp ON|OFF ON Send <LF> to terminal after each <CR> ║ ║ALFPack ON|OFF OFF Add <LF> to outgoing packets ║ ║ALFRtty ON|OFF ON Add <LF> after <CR> in RTTY mode ║ ║AList Immediate Cmd Switch into AMTOR's ARQ Listen mode ║ ║AMtor Immediate Cmd Switch into AMTOR Mode ║ ║ARq aaaa Immediate Cmd Start an ARQ SELCAL ║ ║ARQTmo 'n' 0-250 60 Time to send ARQ before shutdown ║ ║AScii Immediate Cmd Switch into ASCII RTTY mode ║ ║AUDelay 'n' 0-120 0 Specify the delay from PTT to AFSK tones ║ ║AWlen 'n' 7|8 7 Number of data bits per word. ║ ║Ax25l2v2 ON|OFF ON Select level 1 or 2 of AX25 protocol. ║ ║AXDelay 'n' 0-180 0 Extra keyup delay (n*0.1 sec). ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Description. The TNC Help Window shows the available commands for your TNC. It will display each command on a single line with the valid abbreviation in UPPER CASE, the valid arguments, the usual default, and a brief description of the command. For example, there is an "AWLEN" command shown in the example above. AW is the valid abbreviation; valid arguments are 7 and 8 and the normal default is 7. This command is used to set the "Number of data bits per word" in the TNC. If you move the highlight bar to any of those commands and press <Enter>, paKet will display Detailed Help for that TNC command. There are several ways to move the highlight bar: 1. use the arrow keys to move the cursor up or down - the window will scroll if necessary; or 2. use the <PageUp>, <PageDown>, <Home>, or <End> keys to move around the available items more quickly; or 3. use paKet's hot-key typing facility and type the command (or part of the command) you are interested in, either before or after selecting this window with the <F10> key. paKet will try to match what you have typed with the available commands and will move the cursor to the first matching item. You do not have to type the full command. Page 53 Once the desired item is highlighted, press <Enter> to get the Detailed Help description of that command, such as: ╔═COMMAND══════ARG══════DEFAULT═════════DESCRIPTION═════════════════════╗ ║ AWlen 'n' 7|8 7 Number of data bits per word. ║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ Modes: All ║ ║ ║ ║ Parameters: ║ ║ 'n' - 7 or 8 specifies the number of data bits per word. ║ ║ ║ ║ This value defines the word length used by the serial I/O port. ║ ║ ║ ║ AWLEN 8 and PARITY 0 is the required setting for paKet. ║ ║ ║ ║ To send and receive, retaining all 8 data bits, you should use Trans ║ ║ mode (which uses all 8 data bits) or set AWLEN 8. This is for the ║ ║ transmission of executable or special binary files. ║ ║ ║ ║ paKet provides the several Binary protocols and automatically switches║ ║ into Transparent mode for the file transfer, so if you use the Binary ║ ║ File transfer facilities, you would not normally need to concern ║ ║ yourself with this command. ║ ║ ║ ╚Command Reference for the PK-232 (firmware to 10/89) - (PK-232.HLP v13)╝ This information was gathered from TNC manuals but you will probably be aware that there can be variations between TNCs and even between different releases of firmware for the same TNC! So while this feature may prove helpful in most cases, you should refer to your TNC manual if in doubt or if it does not appear to be working the way this Help window suggests. As there are some differences in the commands of various TNCs it will be necessary to select the appropriate HLP file for your TNC. So check the supplied HLP files and make sure you have specified the appropriate file name in "Configuration Windows - File/Directories". There are five Help files included with the current version of paKet: KAM.HLP for the Kantronics range of TNCs; (thanks Col, VK2KQX for producing this Help file) MFJ1278.HLP for the MFJ-1278 Multi Mode TNC; PK-232.HLP for the PK-232 Multi Mode TNC; TNC1.HLP for the original TNC-1 (thanks Norm, VK2XCI for producing this Help file) TNC2.HLP for just about everything else as this file covers the more standard TAPR-style TNC commands. If there does not appear to be a HLP file for your TNC, try the TNC2.HLP file as it covers the basic TAPR-compatible commands that most TNCs use. If that does not appear to suit, let me know (via Packet to VK2DHU @ VK2ATM) in case another TNC Help file has been developed since your copy of paKet was distributed. Otherwise, I would appreciate it if you could let me know the details, or (preferably) if you could edit an existing HLP file to suit your TNC and let me have a copy of the new file so I can arrange to have it distributed to all users of that TNC. Page 54 Type Ahead Window Example: ──── Single Line ──────────Type Ahead buffer─────────────Word Wrap ON ─── echo off Description. This window is optional (but recommended). If you choose to have a Type Ahead Window, you may configure the number of lines you wish to use. Refer to the section: "Configuration Windows - Communications Windows" for details. This window is always 80 columns wide. When enabled, all typed characters are displayed in this window but are not sent to the TNC until the <Enter> key is pressed. This allows you to start typing before the other station has finished, and is sometimes convenient where you can start answering questions, etc and have the answers ready to send when your turn comes. If the Single Line option is ON the data will be sent to the TNC as each line is completed. The capacity of the Type Ahead buffer is limited to the number of lines displayed. So if you have configured 2 lines for the Type Ahead Window, the buffer capacity is 160 characters. When using this Type Ahead facility, Keyboard Macros (<Alt-1> to <Alt-0>) are sent and most <Alt- > functions are executed without affecting the partial line in the Type-Ahead. The following keys are effective when used in the Type Ahead buffer: <Enter> - send the contents of the buffer to the TNC (the entire Type Ahead buffer will be sent regardless of the cursor position); <Backspace> - remove the character before the cursor; <Delete> - remove the character under the cursor; <Left-Arrow> - move the cursor left one character; <Right-Arrow> - move the cursor right one character; <Ctrl-Left-Arrow> - move the cursor left one word; <Ctrl-Right-Arrow> - move the cursor right one word; <Home> - move the cursor to the start of the buffer; <End> - move the cursor to the end of the buffer; <Ins> - toggle Insert mode. When in Insert Mode the cursor will appear as a Block character and when in overwrite mode it will appear as an underscore; <Tab> - will be expanded to spaces; Tab "stops" are assumed to be every 8 positions. <Ctrl-Y> - Clear the contents of the Type Ahead buffer without sending any data to the TNC. <Up-Arrow> and <Down-Arrow> - Recall a line from the Type Ahead "history" (This will clear anything that was previously in the buffer); Refer to the discussion on this facility below. Page 55 Type Ahead Recall Each line sent from the Type Ahead buffer is saved in a Recall buffer. Lines may be recalled one at a time from this Recall buffer with the <Up-Arrow> and <Down-Arrow> keys. This facility operates in a similar manner to the DOSKEY or CED utilities so, if you are familiar with those utilities, you know what to expect here. A recalled line is placed into the Type Ahead buffer as if you had typed it again, ready for editing and/or resending. This could be used so "improved" versions of previously sent text can be sent after some editing; or the same text may be sent again. I have often typed a long line of text and sent it only to find the TNC was in Command Mode and it responds with "What?" or "Eh?" or something equally intelligent. So, after restoring the TNC to Converse Mode, this Recall facility allows me to send that line of text again, this time to the other station, without retyping it all! Similarly, if I enter a command to the TNC but find it was not in Command Mode at all but in Converse Mode, my "command" will go to air for all to see. No problem: I just press <Alt-B> to reset the TNC to Command mode, then <Up-Arrow> and <Enter> to reissue the command. The Type Ahead buffers for each Communications Window are preserved between switching windows, but the Recall buffer is common. You can send the same line to many connectees in quick succession! Word Wrap: paKet has a Word Wrap facility that operates on data entered in the Type Ahead window. If a word does not entirely fit on the current line, the whole word will be moved to the next line. You might want to turn it off (with the <F4> key) where you are typing a long message such as a CTEXT message and you don't want paKet to interfere when you reach the end of the line. However I expect most paKet users will have Word Wrap ON all the time. It is so much nicer to be on the receiving end of Word Wrapped text than the broken words we sometimes get from lesser systems. The status of the Word Wrap toggle is shown to the right of the Type Ahead header line. In the above example the Word Wrap option is ON. Single Line If Word Wrap is ON, you also have a Single Line option. Normally, the data you type will be held in the Type Ahead buffer until you press the <Enter> key, at which time the buffer will be transferred to the Communications Window and the data sent to the TNC. If Single Line option is ON, the data will still be entered into the Type Ahead buffer, but when the line is filled (ie when the last word is wrapped to the next line) that full line will be sent to the TNC. Why have a Single Line option? Well, sometimes you might be typing a lengthy reply to the other station, and with Word Wrap (as in a Word Processor) you do not need to concern yourself with the end of a line - Page 56 you just keep typing. In that case, the buffer could fill, or at best, the other station is waiting, waiting, ... until eventually you press <Enter> to send all that text at once! With the Single Line option ON, you get the benefits of the Type Ahead Window, with ability to edit or delete some of your text together with the freedom to be typing some text while the other station is sending, but without the disadvantages of filling the Type Ahead buffer or making the other station wait for the entire message. Anyway, try it. I was not so excited about it when a paKet user suggested it, but now I like it and have it ON all the time! Many experienced Packet Radio users do not use "over", "K", ">>" and such jargon from other modes because Packet is a full-duplex mode; you can just keep typing! Single Line mode enhances this style of operation. The incoming and outgoing traffic is readily distinguished by colour in both Communications Window and Flashback. The <F4> key cycles through the Word Wrap and Single Line options if the Type Ahead window is displayed. Page 57 (This page intentionally blank) Page 58 PART III - SPECIAL KEY CODES Overview Special Key Codes are expressions of keystroke-combinations which, if required, need to be specially coded in the various "Command Texts" such as a Keyboard Macro, a Script S(end) command, or the Begin-Auto or End-Auto commands. An example of a Special Key Code is the <Ctrl-C> combination. When you are using the keyboard this key-combination can be entered into the system by typing the letter C while holding the Ctrl key. Trying to write such a combination into one of the Command Texts requires special syntax, which is described in this section. Types of Special Key Codes include: Ctrl-key combinations such as <Ctrl-V> Alt-key combinations such as <Alt-B> Function-keys such as <F2> Many commonly used command keys such as <Enter> In this section, in fact in the entire Manual, I use the Less-Than and Greater-Than ('< >') characters as brackets to to better identify special key names. Let's call them "Pointer Brackets". Ctrl-key combinations. Any of the <Ctrl- > key combinations from <Ctrl-A> to <Ctrl-Z> may be entered into a Command Text. The syntax is to enter two characters in the Command Text, the caret ('^') followed by the desired Control Letter. For example: ^H for <Ctrl-H> (which is the ASCII code for Backspace) ^M for <Ctrl-M> (which is the ASCII code for Enter) So a Keyboard Macro which contains the following 5 character string: ^CD^M would result in 3 bytes being sent to the TNC. The first 2 characters of the Macro would be combined into a single <Ctrl-C> character; the letter 'D' comes next; then the last 2 characters in the macro would be combined into a single <Ctrl-M> character (same as Enter). If you want to send a caret ('^') to the TNC, enter 2 of them in the Command Text. So, for example this Keyboard Macro: ABC^^XYZ would result in the following text being sent to the TNC: ABC^XYZ Alt-key combinations. Any of the <Alt- > key combinations may be coded into a Command Text too. The syntax is similar to that for the <Ctrl- > key combination but here we use the tilde ('~') as the prefix. For example: ~B for <Alt-B> (which is paKet's BREAK command) ~6 for <Alt-6> (which is Keyboard Macro 6) Page 59 So a Keyboard Macro which contains the following 4 character string: ~P~H would send our MHEARD list to the printer. Assuming the Print Log function is currently OFF, the first two characters (~P) would be processed as <Alt-P> to turn ON the Print Log. The next two characters (~H) are processed as <Alt-H> which sends the MHEARD command to our TNC. If you want to send a tilde ('~') to the TNC, enter 2 of them in the Command Text. So this Command Text: ABC~~XYZ would result in the following text being sent to the TNC: ABC~XYZ Function Keys. Any of the Function keys may be specified in a Command Text although please note paKet does not support <F11> nor <F12>. The syntax is to specify the letter 'F' followed by the number of the Function Key and surround that with Pointer Brackets. For example: <F2> for Function Key 2 (which paKet uses to toggle the Log File) <F10> for Function Key 10 (display TNC Help File) You can also specify an <Alt-Fkey> combination as follows: ~<F8> for <Alt-F8> (for Receiving a Binary File from BayCom) So a Keyboard Macro which contains the following string: YD PROG.EXE^M<F8> would send the string "YD PROG.EXE" to the TNC, followed by a Carriage Return (the equivalent of <Ctrl-M>). Then Function Key 8 is processed to Receive a Binary File. Other commonly used command keys. The following keys may be coded for use in Command Texts and are written as spelt here, surrounded by Pointer Brackets: UP HOME ENTER DOWN END ESC LEFT PGUP RIGHT PGDN Upper or lower case (or any combination) is OK. For example, instead of using the ^M combination as demonstrated above for a Carriage Return, we could specify <Enter>. The two codes (^M and <Enter>) do the same thing - it is a matter of preference. I think "<Enter>" is more descriptive and should be preferred. So, the example given in Ctrl-key combinations above (^CD^M) could be written as: ~BD<Enter> The <Alt-B> achieves the same result as the <Ctrl-C> - they both put the TNC into Command Mode. The 'D' is the Disconnect command. And "<Enter>" generates a Carriage Return. Page 60 PART IV - KEYBOARD COMMANDS It is intended that the operation of the paKet program should at all times be intuitive and as easy to use as possible. However, you still need to know about some of the special keys, details of which are given below. F1 Display Help Screen. Display a help screen showing most of paKet's special keys and their functions. You may select any function by pressing the key shown on the Help Screen - it is not necessary to remove the window first. If you do not want to use any of those functions at this time, press <Esc> to return to normal communications. This Help Screen is intended as a memory jogger. Full details are included here in this Manual which may be viewed by pressing <Alt-F1>. Page 61 F2 Turn Log File on/off. Pressing this key will switch the Log File on or off. As explained under the description of the Status Window, the Log File has three possible states: - ON When the log file is ON, the Status Window will display the name of the file currently used as a log file and all Communications Window activity will be written to that log file. If the Log File is not ON, its state will be either: - OFF The disk log facility is not currently active so nothing is written to the log file. or - AUTO (This will only occur if you set the AUTO LOG option ON). In this state the disk log facility is OFF, but paKet will automatically activate the disk log, using the default file name, when a connection is established, and will automatically close it upon disconnection. The effect of this is the same as if you press <F2> on connection and then press <F2> again on disconnection. So, if the Log File is currently OFF (or AUTO), pressing <F2> will turn it ON. A Directory window will appear, together with a suggested file name. The default file name will be today's date in the form MMMDD.LOG, for example: NOV23.LOG but you may use any name you like. Using the default name means you can easily keep a separate log for each day's activities. If the selected file already exists on the disk, it will be preserved and incoming data will be appended to that file. If, when you press <F2>, the Log File is currently ON, it will be closed and further logging activity will cease. The Log status will return to either OFF or AUTO, depending on the AUTO LOG option. Some operators prefer to use the log file for all captured data including ASCII file transfers, and use their favourite editor to extract desired messages, files, etc from the log file later. Page 62 F3 Turn REMOTE Mode on/off REMOTE Mode is discussed more fully in its own section in this Manual, but briefly it is a facility that allows another (remote) user to operate our paKet system's PMS or File Transfer systems even if our station is unattended. There are three ways to get this system into REMOTE Mode: 1. You can configure paKet to automatically switch into REMOTE Mode when another station connects; 2. The other station could send the REMOTE Trigger code. This code would normally be the default <Ctrl-]>, but is configurable via the "Configuration - REMOTE Options" Window; 3. You can activate our REMOTE Mode by pressing <F3>. When paKet enters REMOTE Mode it will issue the REMOTE Menu to the other station. If this system is already in REMOTE Mode, there are three ways to switch that Mode OFF: 1. The other station could enter B (Bye) to log off REMOTE Mode and Disconnect the TNC session; or he may just disconnect. 2. The other station could enter T (Talk) to switch off REMOTE Mode but retain the connection continuing in normal communications. 3. You could press <F3> to switch off REMOTE Mode returning to normal communications (same effect as if the other station sent "T"). Page 63 F4 Toggle Word Wrap and Single Line on/off Word Wrap: paKet has a Word Wrap facility that operates on data entered in the Type Ahead window. If a word does not entirely fit on the current line, the whole word will be moved to the next line. Word Wrapped text is much tidier for the receiver to read and I expect this option, used with Type Ahead, to be the norm. Perhaps you might want to turn it off where you are typing a long message such as a CTEXT message and you don't want paKet to interfere when you reach the end of the line. The status of the Word Wrap toggle is shown to the right of the Type Ahead header line. Single Line: If Word Wrap is ON, you also have a Single Line option. Normally, the data you type will be held in the Type Ahead buffer until you press the <Enter> key, at which time the contents of the buffer will be transferred to the Communications window and the data sent to the TNC. If Single Line option is ON, the data will still be entered into the Type Ahead buffer, but when the line is filled (i.e. when the last word is wrapped to the next line) that full line will be sent to the TNC. The <F4> key cycles through the Word Wrap and Single Line options if the Type Ahead window is displayed. Page 64 F5 Send an ASCII text file If you have an ASCII text file to send, this option will read the data from the disk file and send it to the TNC. An example of this might be where you want to send a lengthy message to someone, or if you want to send the same message to more than one station, you could prepare a disk file with the desired text before you connect to that station. Then when you are ready to enter the message, just press <F5> to send the file. Of course this option is also used to transfer a data file or source program file to another station, provided the file contains only ASCII text. While it is POSSIBLE to transmit a binary file using this command, it is prone to problems and NOT recommended! You should use one of the Binary File Transfer methods to send a file that contains non-ASCII data. When this option is selected, a Directory Window will appear and you can simply move the highlight bar to the desired file and press <Enter> to send that file. You can enter the filename manually if you prefer, by selecting that option at the top of the Directory Window. While the file is being sent an 'S' will appear in the Status Window to the left of the Windows display. When the entire file has been transmitted, paKet will optionally add a <Ctrl-Z> character indicating end-of-file to the other station. If you do not want this code added, you can disable the option via the Configuration - File Transfer options. Page 65 F6 Receive ASCII text file When you press <F6>, paKet will ask you for the name of the file you want to open. From then, all data received in this Communications Window will be written to this file. If the other station sends an end-of-file character, <Ctrl-Z>, the file will be closed. Or you can close it yourself by pressing <F6> again. While the file is open, an 'R' will appear in the Status Window to the left of the Windows display. It should be noted that if you have more than one simultaneous connection, paKet will keep the data separate and will write only data for THIS window to this file. You can change to another window and press <F6> again to create ANOTHER file for data received into THAT window. There is no limit to the number of files open at any one time, provided you have specified enough FILES in your CONFIG.SYS (refer to your DOS manual for details of the FILES parameter). Page 66 F7 Send a Binary File using either pP or YAPP Protocol. To use this feature the other station must be able to handle either pP (paKet Protocol) or YAPP protocol. If you have pP enabled and the other station is also equipped to handle pP, the advanced protocol is automatically selected, otherwise the transfer will be performed according to the original YAPP specifications. If you want to send a Binary File to a BayCom or Digicom system, refer to the <Alt-F7> key. And if you prefer to send a Binary File to the other station with no protocol at all (you will have to synchronise it manually), refer to the RAW Binary mode with the <Alt-F5> key. When you wish to send (or "upload") a file to the other station, first of all arrange for that station to be ready to receive the file, then press <F7>. paKet will ask you for the name of the file you wish to send. A Directory Window will pop up to help you select the file. Then paKet will: set up the necessary parameters in the TNC; display the Binary File Transfer Window; synchronise with the other station; then begin the transfer. If all goes well, you do nothing - just sit back and watch - and the file will be sent. The program returns to normal communications when the transfer is completed. For example, if you are logged on to a BBS system and it is waiting for a command, you could type: "YU PROG.EXE" (This is the BBS command to upload a YAPP file) and it would respond with something like: "Ready to Receive with YAPP protocol" Then you press <F7> and tell it the name of your file, which is presumably the same as the file name you told the BBS (in this example, PROG.EXE). Of course various other systems might require a slightly different command and might respond with a different prompt, but you get the idea. If in doubt, ask the operator of the other station. Any problems with the file transfer could be: 1. a problem with the other station (not in Binary Receive mode; not enough room on disk there; etc) in which case you need to try again when that station is ready to receive the Binary file transfer; or 2. there could be a problem in the handshaking between your computer and your TNC. If you are using Hardware Handshaking (you will see RTS CTS etc in the right hand side of the Status Window), try using Software Handshaking as there could be a problem in the cable you are using between the computer and the TNC. Page 67 To change to Software Handshaking, refer to the "Configuration Windows - Serial Port" section of this manual. Check both the TNC and paKet's Serial Port Configuration to ensure the Handshaking options correspond: If you have specified Software Handshaking to paKet, set XFLOW ON in your TNC; If you have specified Hardware Handshaking to paKet, set XFLOW OFF in your TNC. 3. There is a mismatch in your settings for STREAMDBL. paKet works best if STREAMDBL is ON in both the paKet Configuration AND in the TNC, but the important thing is to ensure they are BOTH set the same way! If your TNC does not have a STREAMDBL option, set paKet's option OFF. Refer to the section, Configuration Windows - Multi User options, for a full discussion on the STREAMDBL settings. 4. Some TNCs cannot handle a PACLEN of 256 (or 0 which, to the TNC, is equivalent to 256). Reduce PACLEN for binary operations to 252 in the Configuration - File Transfer options. Page 68 F8 Receive Binary file using either pP or YAPP protocol. This is the reverse of the Binary File Send discussed under <F7>. To use this feature the other station must be able to handle either pP (paKet Protocol) or YAPP protocol. If you have pP enabled and the other station is also equipped to handle pP, the advanced protocol is automatically selected, otherwise the transfer will be performed according to the original YAPP specifications. If you want to receive a Binary File from a BayCom or Digicom system, use the <Alt-F8> key. And if you prefer to receive a Binary File from the other station with no protocol at all (you will have to synchronise it manually), refer to the RAW Binary mode with the <Alt-F6> key. This is even simpler than sending as you do not have to specify the file name here - that is sent by the other station in the Protocol header. To use this feature, prepare the other station for the file transfer then press <F8>. That is all! For example, if you are logged on to a BBS system and it is waiting for a command, you could type: "YD PROG.EXE" (The BBS command to download a YAPP file) and it would respond with something like: "Ready to Send with YAPP protocol" Then you press <F8> and watch as the file PROG.EXE (or whatever you have specified) is transferred to your disk. paKet will: set up the necessary parameters in the TNC; display the Binary File Transfer Window; synchronise with the other station; then begin the transfer. Once again, I suggest you check with the operator of the other station if this command does not appear to be working on that system. Page 69 F9 DOS Gateway Pressing this key will provide access to DOS so you can run other DOS jobs without leaving paKet. A Message Window will pop up asking you for a DOS command. There are two ways to perform a DOS command: 1. You may enter the command into the message window beside the ">" prompt. If you do this, the command will be executed (if possible) and you will be invited to "Press any key to continue" before paKet resumes where it left off. The "Press any key to continue" message appears briefly over the DOS display to allow you time to peruse the result of the job and to read any messages etc that may have come from the DOS command. 2. Press <Enter> instead of entering a command, and the screen will be cleared before control is passed over to DOS and the familiar DOS Prompt. When you have finished the DOS operations, type EXIT to return to paKet. Do NOT type PAKET again as the system will attempt to load a second copy of paKet into memory! Please keep in mind that paKet is still in memory at this stage so you will have considerably less free memory for your other DOS programs. You may even find some will not run due to insufficient memory. The only remedy for this, I am afraid, is to return to paKet and exit the program (with the <Alt-X> key) so you can release the memory occupied by paKet. While you are "away" in DOS, paKet's Interrupt Handler continues to operate so any input from the TNC during that time will be captured and stored in paKet's 32KB System Input Buffer. Unless your DOS jobs take a long time, you should not lose any input data. Page 70 F10 Display TNC Help File commands This feature will load the TNC Help file and will display a window showing the available commands for your TNC. The TNC Help file that is displayed is the one specified in the Configuration - File/Directories Window. Several TNC Help Files are supplied with paKet so be sure to specify the file best suited to your TNC. The TNC Help File Window will display a list of all the commands for this TNC and this may be all you need to choose the desired command. If so, press <Esc> to return to normal communications. For more detail on any of these commands, highlight the desired command and press <Enter>. When finished with this Detail display press <Esc> to return to the main TNC Help file list. Then select another item to display or press <Esc> to return to normal communications. Further details of this display are available in the section on "TNC Help Window". Page 71 Alt-F1 Display the Online Manual Pressing this key will bring up paKet's Online Manual Window which reveals the entire contents of this Manual. The Manual is indexed and the index will appear for you to select a topic. Move the highlight bar with the <Up-Arrow>, <Down-Arrow>, <PageUp>, <PageDown>, <Home> or <End> keys to the desired topic, then press <Enter> to select that topic. Once a particular topic is selected the full text for that section of the Manual will be displayed and you may scroll up or down as desired. When you have finished with that section, press <Esc> to return to the Index to select another topic. If you have finished with the Online Manual, press <Esc> to return to normal communications. Page 72 Alt-F2 Contest Mode on/off This key combination will activate Contest Mode. If already active, it will cancel Contest Mode and return to normal communications. Contest Mode is a rather specialised mode designed to monitor the progress of a sporting event such as a Triathlon. It is a mode I expect would be seldom used. Contest Mode is described fully in its own section of this Manual. Page 73 Alt-F5 Send a RAW Binary File This option is similar to the other Binary File Transfer options in that paKet will put the TNC into Transparent Mode and will display the Binary File Transfer Window while the file is being transferred. The main difference here is that no protocol at all will be used. If there is any synchronisation required with the other station, you will have to do that manually. This facility is provided to cover those situations where you want to send a data file containing non-ASCII codes to another station (or non-ASCII commands to the TNC). If the other station cannot handle one of the Binary Transfer protocols supported by paKet and you are unable to use the standard ASCII Text file transfer (<F5>) because of the non-ASCII codes in the file, this might be your last hope! paKet will ask you for the name of the file you wish to send. A Directory Window will pop up to help you select the file. paKet will: set up the necessary parameters in the TNC; display the Binary File Transfer Window; begin the transfer. Remember, with this RAW method, you will have to perform any synchronisation required and to manually issue any commands to start and to end the file transfer. paKet does nothing to help - this time it is your responsibility! Page 74 Alt-F6 Receive a RAW Binary File As with the <Alt-F5> command to Send a RAW Binary File, this option is similar to the other Binary File Transfer options in that paKet will put the TNC into Transparent Mode and will display the Binary File Transfer Window while the file is being transferred. The main difference here is that no protocol at all will be used. If there is any synchronisation required with the other station, you will have to do that manually. This facility is provided to cover those situations where you want to transfer a data file containing non-ASCII codes from another station which cannot handle one of the Binary Transfer protocols supported by paKet. paKet will ask you for the name of the file you wish to open to hold the captured data. paKet will: set up the necessary parameters in the TNC; display the Binary File Transfer Window; open the nominated file; write any data received into that file. You will have to close the file manually by pressing <Alt-F6> again. Remember, with this RAW method, you will have to perform any synchronisation required and to manually issue any commands to start and to end the file transfer. paKet does nothing to help - this time it is your responsibility! Page 75 Alt-F7 Send a Binary File to a BayCom system The BayCom system supports Binary Transfers via its //WPRG and //RPRG commands but does not currently support any Binary File Transfer PROTOCOLS. However, with just one reservation, paKet is able to effect a reliable Binary File Transfer to a BayCom system. This paKet facility is provided primarily for Binary Transfers to a BayCom system although it should work into a Digicom system as well. When you press <Alt-F7> the Disk Directory window will appear for you to select the file to send. Then paKet will ask for the name (and path if that is required) this file is to have in the BayCom system. paKet will: set up the necessary parameters in the TNC; display the Binary File Transfer Window; send BayCom's //WPRG command; transfer the contents of the file; send BayCom's <CR>//WPRG OFF<CR> command at end-of-file. If all goes well, you do nothing - just sit back and watch - and the file will be sent. The program returns to normal communications when the transfer is completed. As the BayCom system does not have a defined File Transfer Protocol, the only way to indicate the end-of-file is with the <CR>//WPRG OFF<CR> command. The trouble is, the BayCom system will add this string of characters to the file BEFORE recognising it as the command to close the file! So the file now on the BayCom system will be 12 bytes longer than the one we sent. This is a flaw in the BayCom system and there is nothing paKet can do about it. Fortunately it is not a big problem: I have found it usually does not matter that the additional characters are there. Executable program files and archived (compressed) files seem to ignore the additional characters. And if required, the BayCom operator can easily edit the additional bytes from the end of the file. Small price to pay for the convenience of having Binary Transfer capability! Page 76 Alt-F8 Receive a Binary File from a BayCom system The BayCom system supports Binary Transfers via its //WPRG and //RPRG commands but does not currently support any Binary File Transfer PROTOCOLS. However with some operator input, paKet is able to effect a reliable Binary File Transfer from a BayCom system. This paKet facility is provided primarily for Binary Transfers from a BayCom system although it should work from a Digicom system as well. The main difficulty in transferring a Binary File from a BayCom system is the absence of any end-of-file indicator. The BayCom system will send the Binary File in response to its //RPRG command and will simply stop sending when it has reached its end-of-file. paKet needs to know when to close the file. There are four ways this can be done: 1. paKet will count each byte received and, provided it knows the size of the file, it will close the file when that number of bytes has been received. 2. If paKet receives BayCom's <CR>//WPRG OFF<CR> string it will assume that is the end of the file. That string will NOT be written to our file. This means the Binary File being transferred cannot have this string embedded in the file. If the file does happen to contain this string, I suggest you ask the BayCom operator to compress the file with LHA or similar and send the compressed version of the file - this should change the file so the string is no longer apparent. If the file being received was previously transferred to the BayCom system by some other user (or by us for that matter), that file will probably have the <CR>//WPRG OFF<CR> string on the end of the file. paKet would recognise that and close the file at the right time! (Refer to the comments on sending a Binary File to a BayCom system, under <Alt-F7>). The BayCom operator could send us this "command" when that system has finished sending the file, although if the BayCom operator is present we should know the file size and will probably have closed the file by now. 3. You can press <Alt-F8> during the transfer to close the file manually. 4. paKet will close the file if nothing has been received for a period of 2 minutes. As the BayCom system will stop sending when it has finished and will wait for our next command, this option might be used if the BayCom system is unattended and you do not know the filesize. If the radio frequency is not busy, it should be rather obvious when the other system has stopped sending so you Page 77 might close the file manually with <Alt-F8> (option 3 above) before the 2 minutes expires. Before attempting the transfer, you should get the details of the file from the BayCom operator. You will need the filename of course and if it is not in the BayCom system's current directory you will need to know its path as well. If possible get the file size in bytes too. When you press <Alt-F8> paKet will ask you for the name of the file in the BayCom system. This name will form part of the //RPRG command paKet sends, so be sure to specify any path details if required. If you are transferring a file from a Digicom system, it might be an unusual file name because the Commodore 64 can cope with longer file names including embedded blanks! You will have to specify the file name as it appears in that Digicom system. Of course the file name you choose for this file on our system will have to conform to the DOS requirements. Then paKet will ask you for the file size in bytes. If you do not know the file size, enter 0. This means the first of the above options will not apply and you will probably have to close the file manually or wait for the 2 minute timeout. If you are transferring a file from a Digicom system, you will probably not know the file size in bytes because the Commodore 64 system displays its file sizes in blocks rather than bytes. In this case, enter -1 for the file size. This will tell paKet to expect the Digicom responses (which are a little different from BayCom's) as well as indicating the file is to be closed manually. Finally, paKet will ask you for the filename you wish to use here. As you will most likely use the same name as that on the BayCom system, paKet offers this name as a default. You can change the details if you wish or simply press <Enter> to accept the same name. Then the transfer begins. paKet will: set up the necessary parameters in the TNC; display the Binary File Transfer Window; send the BayCom //RPRG command; begin the transfer; When the file is closed by one of the above methods, paKet removes the Binary File Transfer window and returns to normal communications. Page 78 Alt-A Turn Alerts on/off This toggle enables or disables the Alerts facility which can sound a Bell if one of the predefined strings is detected in the Communications Window. Refer to the Configuration - Alerts window to see how to specify the desired search strings. When the Alerts facility is enabled, an "A" will appear in the Status Window to the left of the Time display. Alt-B Send a BREAK signal to TNC - return to Command Mode Pressing <Alt-B> will send to the TNC either a BREAK signal, a <Ctrl-C>, or an <Esc> depending on the setting you have chosen in your Serial Port configuration. Most TNCs support the BREAK signal and will return to Command mode when this signal is received. This is the preferred option. If the BREAK is not supported, the TNC's "Command" character (usually <Ctrl-C>) must be used. You might need to send an <Esc> character to indicate Command Mode if you happen to be running a vintage TNC-1. This Configuration option is available too although it should be specified ONLY by TNC-1 users. Alt-C Connect to another station This feature allows you to more easily make a connection to your regular contacts, especially where there are long path details to be entered. Pressing <Alt-C> will bring up paKet's Connect Window which is fully described in the section on the Connect Window. To make a call, simply move the cursor to the desired item and press <Enter>. You can change an existing entry by moving the cursor to the character to be changed, and overtyping the new data. Pressing the <Insert> key allows you to insert additional characters. Use the <Tab> key to move from the Name field to the Callsign field. To insert a new entry, move the highlight bar to the desired line and press <Ctrl-N>. The entry on that line and on all following lines will move down making room for your new entry. To remove an existing entry, move the highlight bar to that entry and press <Ctrl-Y>. Page 79 Alt-D Display a Disk Directory Pressing <Alt-D> will bring up the Disk Directory Window which is fully described in the section on the "Disk Directory Window". You may scroll up and down this window using the <Up-Arrow> or <Down-Arrow> keys, the <PageUp> or <PageDown> keys, or the <Home> or <End> keys. Or you can use paKet's hot-key typing by entering part or all of the file name - paKet will highlight the first filename that matches the characters you have typed so far. Often all you need to type is one or two characters to move to the file you want. If you press the <Enter> key, the action taken depends on the type of line highlighted. If the highlight bar is on: (Enter file name manually) The Message Window pops up to ask you for the desired file name. When you enter the file name the contents of that file are displayed as if you selected that file with the <Enter> key (see below). (Change to another drive) The Message Window pops up to ask you which drive you wish to change to. Then the directory display changes to show the root directory for that drive. When entering the new drive letter, the colon is optional. For example, you could enter either: A or a: to select drive A:. Note upper or lower case is acceptable. <Previous directory> The directory display changes to show the contents of the "Parent" directory, that is the directory above this one. <DIR> If there is an entry with "<DIR>" instead of the file size, this represents a sub directory below this one. So pressing <Enter> on this line, causes that subdirectory to be displayed. (filename) If you press <Enter> with any file highlighted, paKet will display the contents of that file. The command used to create the display is configurable and is defined in Configuration Windows - File/Directories. I prefer something like the LIST program, but you could use the DOS "TYPE" command if you wish. When the display program has finished, press any key to return to the Directory Window. If you don't want to display any more files, press <Esc> to return to normal communications. While you are viewing the file, paKet's Interrupt Handler continues to operate so any input from the TNC during that time will be captured and stored in paKet's 32KB System Input Buffer. Page 80 If you press the <Delete> key while a file is highlighted, paKet will delete that file (after seeking your confirmation). If you press the <Alt-R> key while a file is highlighted, paKet will ask you for the new filename then will Rename that file. If you specify a new directory, paKet will Move the file to the new directory. Alt-E Edit a data file with your preferred System Editor This feature allows you to edit a file using your favourite text editor. Details of the System Editor program are defined in Configuration Windows - File/Directories and may be any editor or word processor you choose. Keep in mind however, that paKet with all its buffers and data is still in memory, so you will probably not be able to load and run one of the BIG Word Processing packages using this feature. When you press <Alt-E>, paKet will display the Disk Directory Window so you can identify the file you wish to edit. Then it will load the nominated editor program. When you have finished the edit and exit from that program, you will be returned to paKet where you left off. While you are using the System Editor, paKet's Interrupt Handler continues to operate so any input from the TNC during that time will be captured and stored in paKet's 32KB System Input Buffer. Alt-F Find text in Flashback Pressing <Alt-F> will commence a search backward through the Flashback buffer, looking for a particular string of characters. A Message Window will pop up asking you to enter the desired search string. You can enter this in either upper or lower case because the search is not case sensitive. If found, the line containing the string is highlighted and paKet remains in Flashback mode. Pressing <Alt-L> will continue the search, looking for an earlier occurrence of the same string. Further details on this option are found in the Communications Windows - Flashback section. Alt-H Send MHEARD command to the TNC This option simply generates and sends the MHEARD command to the TNC. Page 81 Alt-I Initialise Communications Windows This option would not be used in normal circumstances but has been provided mianly to "fix" problems that were discovered while testing with a KAM TNC. Other Kantronics TNCs were not tested but it is likely the problems will occur with those models as well. These TNCs do not behave in the same way as other TNCs when multiple streams are used as they do not support the STREAMDBL command. If, when monitoring the frequency, the program receives a STREAMSW character from the TNC, it has no way of knowing whether it is a data character or whether it is really a change of stream. Other TNCs resolve this issue with the STREAMDBL facility. If we are going to be able to handle multiple streams, the program cannot ignore this STREAMSW character - it must process it as a change of stream! The result of this is that the monitored data will suddenly start appearing in one of the other Communications Windows. The last of your configured Windows could even change to another stream id! If you are using one of these Kantronics TNCs and find data is going into some other Communications Window, you will need to reset the Streams, clear any responses in the other Windows and get everything back into order. This is what this <Alt-I> command will do for you. If you are using some other brand of TNC this command should not be required although it will not cause any problems. It will simply clear any backlog in the other Communications Windows and reset the TNC to the Stream specified for the first Communications Window. Alt-L Continue Find in Flashback Refer to the <Alt-F> command for details. Alt-M Activate the Personal Message System (PMS) When you press this key you get the Sysop PMS menu: Sysop PMS menu: <B,H,K,L,R,S,?> While the menu is active all other communications will be held in the input buffers until you have finished. You don't have to do anything - paKet will automatically switch <ScrollLock> on and will switch it off again when you have finished. The Menu options are used as follows: B (Bye) - Return to normal communications H (Help) - Display brief summary of menu options K (Kill) - Kill a message (eg K 3) L (List) - List available messages R (Read) - Read a message (eg R 3) S (Send) - Send a message (eg S (callsign)) ? (Help) - Display brief summary of menu options (same as H) Page 82 If someone has left a message in the PMS via our REMOTE Mode, paKet will display "(msg)" in the Status Window to alert you to this. Pressing <Alt-M> will remove that reminder from the Status Window. Refer to the PMS section in this Manual for more details on this sub system. Alt-P Turn Print Log on/off This is a toggle, meaning you press <Alt-P> to turn the Print Log ON and press it again to turn the Print Log OFF again. While the Print Log is ON, a 'P' will be displayed in the Status Window to the left of the Windows display and all Communications data will be echoed to the printer on LPT1. If the Print Log is OFF, no data will be sent to the Printer. Alt-Q Clear TNC's XOFF This command is mostly useful if you are using Software Handshaking. When the TNC wants paKet to stop sending, it will send an <XOFF> code. paKet will not send any further data to the TNC until an <XON> code is received. If the <XON> code is not received or appears to have been lost paKet will effectively be locked up waiting for that code before it will continue to send normally. With this <Alt-Q> command you can force an <XON> to clear the way for processing to continue. I expect this facility would be required only on very rare occasions. Alt-R Rename/Move a data file <Alt-R> may be used to Rename a data file or Move it into another directory. This command may be used only while the Disk Directory is currently being displayed. It has no effect at other times. Refer to the discussion on the Disk Directory Window for more details. Move the Highlight bar to the file you want to rename or move before pressing <Alt-R>. The Message Window will then pop up asking you to enter the new filename. If you want to simply change the file's name, leaving the file in its exising directory, just type the new filename and press <Enter>. The filename will be changed and the Directory Window will be re-sorted and re-displayed. Page 83 If you want to Move the file into another directory, enter the full path details into the Message Window (you may also enter a different filename if you wish) and paKet will transfer the file to the new directory. The new Directory Window will then be displayed, showing that file in the new directory. When a file is Moved into another directory, the data is not actually transferred, it is just the directory entry that is moved. DOS does not permit a "Move" to another drive, so if you want the file on a different drive, you'll have to COPY the file yourself. Refer to the <F9> DOS Command for access to DOS to perform the COPY. Alt-S Script processing - load and run a Script file This is the command you use to activate a paKet Script file. (Script Processing is discussed fully in its own section in this Manual). When you select this option, a Disk Directory Window will appear with the default Script file name already highlighted. If you decide to enter a file name manually and you type a file name without an extension, paKet will assume an extension of ".SCP". When you select the desired Script file, that file will be loaded and Script processing will commence. The word "SCRIPT" will be displayed in the Status Window to the left of the time display while the Script is running. When the Script has completed, or is aborted by <Esc>, the indicator in the Status Window will disappear and you will be returned to normal communications. Alt-T Set TNC's Time and date If for any reason, you need to reset your TNC, you can easily reset the date and time with this function. paKet will generate a "DAY" command using the computer system's date and time as it does during initialisation.. The format of the generated command includes the time in Hours, Minutes and Seconds. It has been brought to my notice that some TNCs cannot handle that format and will accept the time as Hours and Minutes only. So, if you hold the Ctrl key while typing this <Alt-T> command (i.e. <Ctrl-Alt-T>), paKet will generate the DAY command without the seconds. Alt-V Verify the TNC's Connected status When a Connection is established with another station, paKet will try to determine the callsign of that station from the TNC's "Connected" message when it appears in the Communications Window. paKet will then display that callsign in the Communication Window's Header line. Some software packages operating in Host Mode or KISS Mode can interrogate the TNC to get this information, but these packages Page 84 are usually more specific to certain TNCs. paKet, on the other hand was designed to run on all TNCs and so relies on the data flowing from the TNC rather than on some special TNC codes. paKet's method works well most of the time, but there are occasions where the callsign displayed is incorrect. For example, if you reload paKet after a TNC connection has already been established, the newly loaded copy of paKet will not see a "Connected" message and so will think there is no connection! This <Alt-V> command will issue a "C" (Connect) command to the TNC and will look at its reply to determine the connected status. A Message Window will pop up to advise you of the result and, if necessary, paKet will change the displayed callsign in the Communications Window Header. Alt-W Write contents of the Flashback buffer to disk If you have received some information which you wanted to save and is still in the Flashback buffer, but did not have the disk Log File on at the time, you can select this option to write the entire Flashback buffer to disk. paKet will ask you for the desired file name, via a Disk Directory Window. Alt-X Exit the paKet program This command returns you to the DOS operating system. Any files that were open will be closed automatically. To guard against inadvertent exits, paKet will ask for your confirmation that you really do want to exit. If you have specified any End-Auto Commands (Refer the Configuration section for details) they will be sent to the TNC and if paKet finds an AUTOEND.SCP file in the current directory that Script will be executed before paKet returns to DOS. Alt-Z Configuration This option allows you to configure paKet's many options to set up an environment especially to suit you. When you press <Alt-Z> the System Configuration Window will appear to show the major items that may be configured. Then when you select one of those options additional Configuration Windows will appear to allow you to select the desired options. Full details of all configurable options are shown and explained in the section on Configuration Windows in this Manual. If you are new to this, start with the Configuration Windows - Overview and work your way through all the options from there. Page 85 Insert Toggle Insert Mode The <Insert> key toggles the Insert Mode on and off. When Insert Mode is on, the cursor will be a Block shape and any newly typed data characters will be inserted between existing data characters at the cursor position. When Insert Mode is off, (i.e. Overwrite Mode) the cursor will be an Underscore shape and newly typed data will overwrite any data previously stored at the cursor position. If the Type Ahead Window is not being used, you will not be able to "insert" characters (or move the cursor back) because in this mode each character you type into the Communications Window is sent to the TNC as you type. It is too late to insert something else! Delete Delete a character or delete a file When entering text the <Delete> key will remove the character under the cursor. If a Disk Directory Window is currently displayed, you can delete a file from the disk by highlighting the unwanted file then pressing the <Delete> key. Backspace Delete the character before the cursor When entering text the <Backspace> key will remove the character to the left of the cursor. Ctrl-Y Delete a line When entering text the <Ctrl-Y> key will remove all text currently in the Type Ahead Buffer or on the line being entered. Esc Return to previous operation The <Esc> key is used in a variety of places in paKet, each time in a manner of "exiting" or "returning" from the current function. It is your way of saying "I don't want to do this any more". For example, if in Flashback Mode, the <Esc> key will return the system to normal communications. And if displaying a Disk Directory Window the <Esc> key will return the system to normal communications. If there are several "levels" involved in the current function, for example when using the Configuration Windows you could have two or even three levels of Configuration Window displayed. The <Esc> key will take you back to the previous level. If you are already at the first level, it will take you back to normal communications. You may note the <Esc> code cannot therefore be sent to the TNC from the keyboard. If you need to send an <Esc> code to the TNC you could Page 86 define it in a Keyboard Macro as <Ctrl-[> (written as "^[" which is caret and left-square-bracket). We wont go into the details here, but <Ctrl-[> generates the same code as <Esc>. If you enter it this way paKet will process that as data, sending the code to the TNC. Refer to the Special Key Codes section for more information on the use of the '^' symbol for generating <Ctrl- > key sequences. ScrollLock Hold all input data in the buffers The <ScrollLock> key in paKet operates as a Pause key for input data. Keyboard activity remains unaffected, so you may continue to send to the TNC. While the system is "ScrollLock"ed, any input data coming in from the TNC will be held in paKet's input buffers until the Scroll Lock key is pressed again to release it. While ScrollLock is ON, an indicator appears to the right of the Communications Window Header line. You may have difficulty finding the <ScrollLock> function on some "IBM-almost-compatibles" such as the Tandy 1000. Refer to manual! Left-Arrow Move the cursor left one position When entering text this key is used to move the cursor one character position to the left. The text remains unchanged. Right-Arrow Move the cursor right one position When entering text this key is used to move the cursor one character position to the right. The text remains unchanged. Up-Arrow Previous Type Ahead Recall or move up one line When using the Type Ahead Buffer this key is used to Recall a previous line from the Recall buffer. The Type Ahead Recall facility is discussed more fully in the Type Ahead Window section of this Manual. When viewing a Disk Directory Window, the Online Manual or the TNC Help File, the <Up-Arrow> key is used to move up the list of items on display. Down-Arrow Next Type Ahead Recall or move down one line When using the Type Ahead Buffer this key is used to Recall the next line from the Recall buffer. The Type Ahead Recall facility is discussed more fully in the Type Ahead Window section of this Manual. When viewing a Disk Directory Window, the Online Manual or the TNC Help File, the <Down-Arrow> key is used to move down the list of items on display. Page 87 Home Move to the start of the text or the window When entering text the <Home> key moves the cursor to the beginning of the text. The text remains unchanged. When viewing a Disk Directory Window, the Online Manual or the TNC Help File, the <Home> key is used to move to the first of the items on display. End Move to the end of the text or the window When entering text the <End> key moves the cursor to the end of the text. The text remains unchanged. When viewing a Disk Directory Window, the Online Manual or the TNC Help File, the <End> key is used to move to the last of the items on display. Shift-Up-Arrow Flashback - move back one line This key is used for Flashback operations, moving up one line at a time. Flashback Mode is a facility for redisplaying Communications Window information that has scrolled off the top of the screen. It is discussed in its own section under Communications Windows in this Manual. Shift-Down-Arrow Flashback - move down one line This key is used for Flashback operations, moving down one line at a time. Flashback Mode is a facility for redisplaying Communications Window information that has scrolled off the top of the screen. It is discussed in its own section under Communications Windows in this Manual. PageUp Move display up one page When viewing a Disk Directory Window, the Online Manual or the TNC Help File, the <PageUp> key is used to move up the list of items on display a page at a time. At other times this key is used for Flashback operations, moving up one page at a time. A "page" here is considered to be the size of the window being displayed. PageDown Move display down one page When viewing a Disk Directory Window, the Online Manual or the TNC Help File, the <PageDown> key is used to move down the list of items on display a page at a time. Page 88 At other times this key is used for Flashback operations, moving down one page at a time. If you reach the end of the Flashback Buffer and there is some Input data waiting to be displayed, paKet will display one page of that Input data and remain in Flashback mode. If there is less than a page waiting, it will return to normal communications. A "page" here is considered to be the size of the window being displayed. Ctrl-PageUp Move to beginning of the Flashback buffer This key is used for Flashback operations, scrolling to the beginning of the Flashback buffer. While the scrolling is in progress, pressing any key including <Ctrl-PageUp> again will stop it at that point. Ctrl-PageDown Move to end of the Flashback buffer This key is used for Flashback operations, moving to the end of the Flashback buffer. While the scrolling is in progress, pressing any key including <Ctrl-PageDown> again will stop it at that point. Shift-Left-Arrow Change to previous Communications Window <Shift-Left-Arrow> tells paKet to change to the previous Communications Window if available. You might prefer to use the <Shift-Fn> keys to change Communications Windows (eg: <Shift-F3> to change to Window 3) but whichever method you choose, paKet will automatically issue the change of stream commands to the TNC when you change Windows. Shift-Right-Arrow Change to next Communications Window <Shift-Right-Arrow> tells paKet to change to the next Communications Window if available. You might prefer to use the <Shift-Fn> keys to change Communications Windows (eg: <Shift-F3> to change to Window 3) but whichever method you choose, paKet will automatically issue the change of stream commands to the TNC when you change Windows. Shift-Fn Select another Communications window. You may select another Communications Window, that is select another Stream, by pressing Shift and a Function key. <Shift-F1> is the first Communications Window, <Shift-F2> the second, etc. For example, you can select Window 4 by pressing <Shift-F4>. Another way to change to another Communications Window is to use the <Shift-Left-Arrow> or <Shift-Right-Arrow> keys to move, one-by-one to the desired window. Page 89 (This page intentionally blank) Page 90