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P C P u r s u i t: V E R S A d i a l Version 1.1 May 23, 1987 A ProComm Utility for Access to PC Pursuit Written by Allen Brunson, David Rhoten, and Gizmo Accept no substitutes! Table of Contents Files Included in This Package . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Customizing VERSA: General Setup . . . . . . . 3 Customizing VERSA: BBS Numbers and Names . . . 6 Installing VERSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Using VERSA with Extended Menus ON . . . . . . 9 Using VERSA with Extended Menus OFF. . . . . .12 Using DISC.CMD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Notes on Using VERSA . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 VERSA Updates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 What's New in Version 1.1. . . . . . . . . . .16 Various Technical Matters. . . . . . . . . . .18 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 Files Included In This Package ============================== The following files are included in the PC Pursuit: VERSAdial package: VERSA.DOC This documentation file PRINTDOC.BAT A batch file for printing VERSA.DOC EXAMPLE.VER A sample "linked command file" VERSA.CMD The main VERSA command file, opti- mized for maximum speed VERSA.KEY A ProComm macro file used to store your user ID, password, etc. DISC.CMD A small command file for disconnect- ing from BBSs VERSA1.MNU Extended menus for Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, and New- ark VERSA2.MNU Extended menus for New York, Phila- delphia, Research Triangle Park, Tampa, Washington D. C., and Chi- cago VERSA3.MNU Extended menus for Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Denver, and Phoenix VERSA4.MNU Extended menus for Salt Lake City, Glendale, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seat- tle VERSA-C.CMD Main VERSA command file, with exten- sive comments VERSA1-C.MNU The first extended menu file, with extensive comments PCP-EXTR.LST A list of BBSs available via PC Pursuit You are currently reading VERSA.DOC. PRINTDOC.BAT is just a simple batch file for printing this document. EXAMPLE.VER is a sample "linked command file." These are similar to, but not exactly the same as, the linked command files used with Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 1 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 the ProComm dialing directory entries. More on linked command files can be found in the section of this document titled "Customizing VERSA: BBS Numbers and Names." VERSA.CMD is the main command file to be executed. It is opti- mized for fastest possible execution by having all command words trimmed down to four letters, and all unnecessary spaces, blank lines, and remarks taken out. VERSA.KEY is a ProComm format keyboard macro file that is used by VERSA to store information about your PC Pursuit account. VERSA loads this file in upon execution. Information about customizing this file can be found in the section titled "Customizing VERSA: General Setup." More on how this file is used can be found in the section titled "Installing VERSA." DISC.CMD is a very short command file that can be used to discon- nect from a BBS, if this is desired. DISC.CMD is optimized. There is no DISC-C.CMD with comments because this command file is short and easily understood. More on using DISC.CMD can be found in the sec- tion of this document called "Using DISC.CMD." VERSA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU contain the "extended menus." See the section in this document called "Customizing VERSA: General Set- up" for information on using the extended menus. VERSA-C.CMD is a fully annotated version of VERSA.CMD with spaces added for clarity, command words completely spelled out, and lots of remarks. VERSA1-C.MNU is a similarly lengthy version of VERSA1.MNU. There is no need for a lengthy version of all four menu files, be- cause the code in each is nearly identical. PCP-EXTR.LST is a listing of IBM PC oriented BBSs that are avail- able via PC Pursuit. This list was extracted from Meade Frierson's extensive list, IBMBDS.LST, by a utility written by Gizmo called PCP- EXTRACT. Note that you will only need VERSA.CMD, DISC.CMD and VERSA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU for operation of VERSA. The other files are in- cluded for the sake of completeness. Introduction ============ PC Pursuit: VERSAdial is a program written in the ProComm command language for use in gaining access to the PC Pursuit service provided by Telenet. Therefore, to use this program, you must have a copy of ProComm and access to the PC Pursuit network. If you do not have both of these, then this program is not for you. There are a number of programs written for use with ProComm that simplify the use of PC Pursuit. This is logical, considering the Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 2 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 complexity of PC Pursuit and the amount of typing that is required to use it. These various programs all take slightly different ap- proaches to the task of automating PC Pursuit use. VERSA, of course, reflects the approach of the authors. Our goal has been to make VERSA as easy to use and as flexible as possible, while keeping the actual code to a minimum for speedy execution. While VERSA can be used as a start to finish solution to PC Pursuit use, it is also well suited to the user who wishes to do some of the work for him- or herself. VERSA can be stopped or started at any time during a PC Pursuit session (with the exception of when you are connected to a BBS), allowing you to take over or surrender control. Whenever VERSA is executed, it senses the current level of PC Pursuit and reacts accordingly. Keeping the amount of code to a minimum has required a trade- off. Compared to other PC Pursuit utilities, VERSA lacks some func- tions and abilities that you may consider useful. For instance, VER- SA does not have the ability to redial a number of cities or BBS num- bers at once. (We may implement this feature in a later version.) Depending on the mode that you use VERSA in, it has either a 20 num- ber dialing directory, or a 10 number per city dialing directory. While this document (and VERSA itself) refer to the computers that you call as BBSs, you can of course use PC Pursuit and VERSA to call any computer equipped with a modem. VERSA is not intended for unattended use. There are many in- stances where VERSA will need input from you. Customizing VERSA: General Setup ================================ We suggest that you first make a backup copy of VERSA, just as you got it. This way, if you give it to a friend or upload it to another BBS, it will be in the condition that we as the authors in- tended it to be (and you will also have a backup in case something happens to your working copy). After you have made a backup copy, and have a second copy of the files to use, you will have to do some customizing to make VERSA work properly for you. First, start up ProComm, making sure that the file VERSA.KEY is in a place where ProComm can find it. Press Alt-M, the keyboard macro key, and then press "L", to load in a macro file. Enter the name VERSA.KEY (you may enter an entire filespec, if the file is in a different directory than your ProComm files). Once VERSA.KEY has been loaded in, you will have to customize it with information about your PC Pursuit account. The middle of the macro window will look like this: Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 3 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 ALT-0 MYPASS! ALT-1 ALT-2 ALT-3 ALT-4 ALT-5 ALT-6 ALT-7 LOCAL TELENET NUMBER! ALT-8 /12, ALT-9 MYID! ==> R: Revise L: Load S: Save C: Clear ESC: Exit As you change these macros to fit your needs, make SURE that Alt-0, Alt-7, and Alt-9 end with "!". This represents a carriage return when the macro is actually used. VERSA will not work properly without those three exclamation points. Press "R" and then "0" to enter your password, ending with a "!". Press "R" and then "9" to enter your user ID, once again ending with a "!". Do the same with Alt-7, adding your local Telenet number. So, if your local Telenet number is 262-5669 (which it is, in Wichi- ta, Kansas), the Alt-7 line would look like: ALT-7 2625669! Alt-8 represents the baud rate that you will be setting PC Pur- suit to. You will probably not need to alter Alt-8, as most people use PC Pursuit at 1200 baud. However, if are going to call 300 baud BBSs, you will need to alter this line to look like: ALT-8 /3, The beginning slash and the ending comma are important. They are part of the PC Pursuit dialing command. Note that, if you have a 300 baud modem, it may well work to set PC Pursuit to 1200 baud. Sooner or later, PC Pursuit should be adding 2400 baud. When that happens, you may want to change the "12" on this line to a "24." After you have modified all the keyboard macros correctly, you will need to select option "S" from the macro window to save the file with its new contents. You will be prompted for a name for the saved file. It is important that you again call it VERSA.KEY, or VERSA will not be able to use it. Once you have customized VERSA.KEY with your PC Pursuit user ID and password, BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE FILE! This is the only place the VERSA keeps your ID and password, so it is safe to give away modi- fied copies of all other VERSA files, but do NOT let anyone else have access to VERSA.KEY! If you do, other people may well end up using Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 4 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 your PC Pursuit account. After you have customized VERSA.KEY, there are three things that you may have to change in VERSA.CMD itself, depending on your prefer- ences and hardware. These are the baud rate that VERSA will attempt to set your modem to, whether your modem uses pulse or tone dialing, and whether or not you wish to use VERSA's extended menus. By default, VERSA.CMD will try to set your modem to 1200 baud be- fore beginning dialing, attempt to use tone dialing with your modem, and will set the extended menus ON. The use of extended menus re- quires some explaining. If you opt to use the extended menus (which is the default), then VERSA will always print the PC Pursuit City Menu, and will use the 25 separate BBS menus contained in the files VERSA1.MNU through VER- SA4.MNU. If you decide not to use the extended menus, then the files VER- SA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU will never be used. Instead, VERSA will always use the All Cities BBS Directory, which can contain up to 20 different BBS numbers and names, for all cities. Also, instead of displaying full menus, VERSA will print short prompts. (You can opt to display the menus, however, by entering "M", for "Menu," at the prompt.) This mode of VERSA runs slightly faster, because it does not have to draw the menus, and it takes up less disk space by not requiring the .MNU files. If unsure of which mode to use, we recommend that you go with the default and leave the extended menus ON. This mode of VERSA use is easiest to understand. If you wish to change any of these three defaults that VERSA will attempt to use, then get out your plain ASCII text editor and load up VERSA.CMD. The lines to modify for the default baud rate and the use of the menus are lines 39 and 40, which look like this: SET BAUD 1200 ;Baud rate of YOUR modem ASSI S6"ON" ;Extended menus (ON or OFF) If the ASSI S6 line assigns any other value than "ON" or "OFF" to S6, then VERSA will default to using the extended menus. If you wish to suppress the menus, you must set this line to "OFF". If you wish VERSA to use pulse dialing with your modem when call- ing your local Telenet access number instead of tone dialing, then the line to look for is number 579, which looks like this: TRAN"AT S2=42 DT " It is the very last "T" in this line that causes tone dialing to be used. If you have a pulse dial telephone line, or if your modem is only capable of using pulse dialing, then change the last "T" to a "P". Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 5 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 Customizing VERSA: BBS Numbers and Names ======================================== After you have entered the information about your modem and PC Pursuit access in VERSA.CMD, then you may customize VERSA with the numbers and names of your favorite BBSs that are accessible via PC Pursuit. Note that it is not necessary to perform this step: VERSA always allows you the option of entering a phone number to dial di- rectly without using the numbers stored in the BBS directories. Fur- thermore, the dialing directories in VERSA are already stocked with many BBS numbers available through PC Pursuit. VERSA stores BBS numbers in two places: In VERSA.CMD itself, and in the files VERSA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU. The numbers stored in VERSA.CMD itself are used if extended menus are set OFF, and the num- bers in VERSA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU are used when extended menus are set ON. (Note that the 20 number dialer in VERSA.CMD is sometimes used even when extended menus are set ON. This occurs if VERSA is started when you are already connected to a remote city, and you do not pro- vide VERSA with a recognized area code when you are asked for one.) If you are going to add your own numbers to the All Cities BBS Di- rectory in VERSA.CMD, the process can be divided into three steps. First, decide which position that the new BBS will occupy (1-20); let's assume for the sake of this example that you wish to use posi- tion five. Get out your plain ASCII text editor and locate the code segment in VERSA.CMD that starts at line 462. There is a remark at the end of this line to make the segment easier to find. Lines 462 through 469 look like this: CASE"1" ;Beginning of All Cities BBS directory ASSI S2"4330062" ;ASSI S7"COMMAND.VER" ENDC CASE"2" ASSI S2"2373750" ;ASSI S7"COMMAND.VER" ENDC The first two numbers are illustrated here. There is a code seg- ment just like these two for each of the 20 positions. The phone num- ber for position five is at line 479, so insert the phone number of your new BBS in the position currently occupied by "9645160". Notice the line below the phone number. This is optional (the ";" in front of the line indicates that it is a remark). If you have a command file that you would like to be executed when VERSA connects with this BBS, then enter the name of the command file here and re- move the ";". You may enter an entire filespec, if you wish. This linked command file can be used to take care of tasks that Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 6 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 are done every time that you connect with this BBS, such as entering your name and password, opening a log file, or setting communication parameters other than 8,N,1 (which are the parameters that VERSA will automatically set, once it connects with a BBS). EXAMPLE.VER is a sample "linked command file" for use in connecting with BBSs running PC-Board software. You can use this command file as a model for building your own. We have implemented a sort of "standard:" we decided that these files would be easily recognizable if they all ended in .VER. How- ever, you can make these files end in any extension that you want, so long as the name of the file in VERSA.CMD and the name of the file itself match exactly. We call these "linked command files," because there is a similar function used in the ProComm dialing directory. It also refers to these files as "linked command files." Once you have entered the BBS's phone number, you will need to lo- cate another section in VERSA.CMD that starts at line 764. This is the BBS menu itself that is drawn onscreen when extended menus are set ON. It is very near the bottom, so start searching from the end and you're sure to find it. This menu contains the names of the BBSs that go with the numbers and linked command files. Write in the name of your new BBS on the line that starts with "< 5>", and put the BBS's area code in the pa- rentheses to the right of the name. This would complete the addition of this BBS to VERSA.CMD. Note: If you want to use a "linked command file" from option 6 of the PC Pursuit City Menu, which is the direct dial option for the Net Exchange, then look for a section in VERSA.CMD that starts at line 264. Lines 264 through 268 look like this: CASE"6" ;Net Exchange handling ASSI S1"NET" ;ASSI S7"COMMAND.VER" GOTO GOLEVEL ENDC To assign a "linked command file" for use with the Net Exchange, add the name of your file in line 266, and remove the ";" at the be- ginning of the line. Addition of BBS numbers, names, and linked command files in VER- SA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU is much the same as adding numbers to VER- SA.CMD itself. Let's assume for the sake of this example that you want to add a number to position four in the Chicago menu. First, you must determine which of the .MNU files contains the Chicago menu. This can be discovered by looking at the city menu in VERSA.CMD: the first six cities have their menus in VERSA1.MNU, the second six in VERSA2.MNU, the third six are in VERSA3.MNU, and the Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 7 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 last seven are in VERSA4.MNU. (Do NOT count the Net Exchange option, number 6, when you are counting cities this way.) Chicago is in the second set of six, so its menu is in VERSA2.MNU. Load VERSA2.MNU into your plain ASCII text editor. Look through the file until you locate the menu that says "Chicago BBS Directory (312)" at the top. It starts at line 434 in the file. Write the name of your BBS into position four in the menu, along with any infor- mation you desire in the column on the right labeled "-SIG-" (Special Interest Group, or whatever the BBS specializes in). Then, find the code fragment directly beneath this menu that starts at line 469. It looks like this: CASE"4" ASSI S2"2808180" ;ASSI S7"COMMAND.VER" ENDC There are ten segments just like this, one for each BBS selection in the menu. Insert the number of your new BBS where "2808180" cur- rently is located. If you want to use a linked command file with this entry, enter its name in the line below the phone number and re- move the ";". (Linked command files were discussed at length earli- er.) This completes the addition of this BBS number. If you have any trouble locating code sections in VERSA.CMD or any of the .MNU files, then print out VERSA-C.CMD and VERSA1-C.MNU; they contain many extensive remarks. Once you have finished customizing VERSA.CMD and the .MNU files, we suggest that you remove all lines that begin with ";" or remarks at the ends of lines that begin with ";". This will make the files smaller and will speed up execution. Installing VERSA ================ Once you have customized the files VERSA.CMD and VERSA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU, then you are ready to "install" them. This sim- ply entails placing them in ProComm's default directory, or in the directory where the other ProComm files are stored (such as PRO- COMM.EXE, PROCOMM.XLT, etc.). Note that if the default directory is different than the directory that contains the ProComm system files, the default directory will be searched BEFORE the directory with the ProComm files. To start VERSA, just press Alt-F5 once you are in ProComm. Pro- Comm should find VERSA.CMD in one of its searched directories and its name will be printed in the box on the right of the screen. Simply move the highlighted area with the arrow keys to the line that says "VERSA.CMD" and press RETURN, or enter the name of the file directly. Do NOT rename VERSA.CMD or VERSA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU. Using Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 8 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 the ProComm command language's EXECUTE command, VERSA.CMD executes all four menu files, and the menu files in turn execute VERSA.CMD. If any of the names are changed, the menus will not work properly. Do not execute any of the menu files directly. They are counting on having certain parameters passed to them from VERSA.CMD. If the menus are executed directly, VERSA will terminate with the message "Parameter error from menu command file." If you are going to use linked command files with VERSA, they will also need to be in a directory where ProComm can find them. If you wish, you can customize VERSA with entire filespecs for linked command files, instead of just the names. In that case, the .VER files could be anywhere that you wish. Using VERSA with Extended Menus ON ================================== We will now discuss the use of VERSA, assuming that you have not set the extended menus OFF (ON is the default). Once VERSA is started, it will display a small box with its name and the name of the authors, and two options you may always use in re- sponse to any input prompt: "D" and "E". These two options will be discussed more fully later in this section. VERSA then sets the communication parameters to even parity, sev- en data bits, and one stop bit (this is necessary for communication with Telenet). Next, VERSA will try to determine which level of PC Pursuit you are currently at. There are three possibilities that VERSA might discover: (1) Your modem is offline entirely, and not connected to anything, (2) You are connected to the local level of PC Pursuit, or (3) You are connected to a remote city. (If VERSA does not discover one of these three states, it will terminate itself.) The first case is partially taken care of by ProComm -- it moni- tors the carrier detect state of your modem. If your modem is con- nected, VERSA determines what level of PC Pursuit you are at by send- ing "ATZ" <CR> to Pursuit. If you are at the remote city level, Pur- suit will return an "OK"; if you are at the local level, Pursuit will return a "?". VERSA will react accordingly depending on which of these three states it discovers. If VERSA does not find either an "OK" or a "?", it will then test for Racal-Vadic mode. This is new in version 1.1. If you are con- nected to a remote modem that is in Racal-Vadic mode, VERSA will re- set it to Hayes mode and then continue normally. If VERSA does not receive a response that it was expecting from Pursuit, then it assumes that the situation is beyond its control and Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 9 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 it terminates. This can occur if you are connected to something oth- er than PC Pursuit, or if you are connected to a BBS. DON'T start VERSA if you are connected to a BBS -- use DISC.CMD, or exit the BBS. Assuming that VERSA discovers that your modem is offline or at the local Telenet level, it will then display a menu of 25 PC Pursuit cities (and the Net Exchange, because there is a special command to dial this BBS directly). In the menu, these cities are arranged by time zone. You can then enter the number of your desired city as displayed in the menu, or "6" for direct dialing the Net Exchange, or a city's area code, or some other area code (this will be useful as PC Pursuit expands). Be careful what you type, because any input that VERSA does not explicitly recognize will be assumed to be an area code. If you entered the number or area code of one of the cities in the menu, then a menu for that city will be displayed, containing up to ten BBSs. (If you entered an area code that VERSA does not recog- nize, then you will next see the All Cities Dialing Directory con- tained in VERSA.CMD.) You may then enter one through ten to indicate one of the BBSs in the menu, or simply a phone number. NOTE: If you have assigned a linked command file to a certain en- try, you MUST enter the menu number (1 through 10) of that BBS for the command file to be used. If you enter the BBS's phone number di- rectly, the BBS will be connected with properly, but if you have a linked command file, it will not be executed. In addition to entering a menu number (1 through 10) or a tele- phone number, you may also enter "G" to go back to the city selection menu. If you enter "G" when you are connected to a remote city, VER- SA will disconnect from that city before displaying the city menu. If you enter something at a BBS menu prompt that is not explicit- ly understood by VERSA, it will be interpreted as a phone number, so be careful what you type. Once you have entered an area code and a BBS number, VERSA begins dialing. First, it will dial your local Telenet number. The command also contains an instruction to your modem that will reset your mo- dem's escape character to "*". This escape character's default value is "+". (More about the necessity for this can be found in the sec- tion called "Using DISC.CMD.") If Telenet does not connect for some reason, VERSA will automatically redial. VERSA will then take care of connecting properly to Telenet and initiate dialing of your select- ed area code. If there are no modems available in the remote city of your choice, VERSA will inform you of this, and ask if you want to redial the city. If you answer "N", you will be taken back to the city se- lection menu; a "Y" will cause VERSA to repeatedly redial your select- ed city until a connection is made. Once a city is connected with, VERSA will escape to the Telenet prompt and execute some SETs that cause PC Pursuit to act slightly Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 10 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 differently. First, the SETs will cause Telenet to ignore a <CR> @ <CR> combination for returning to the Telenet prompt (which, on rare occasions, can spoil an upload or download if the file contains an embedded <CR> @ <CR>). Second, the packet delay is changed, which will result in slightly faster downloads. Third, Telenet is instruct- ed to escape to the Telenet prompt when a "break" is received. After the SETs, VERSA will reset the remote modem and dial your selected BBS number. (If the modem you get is in Racal-Vadic mode, VERSA will automatically reset it to Hayes mode.) If the BBS is busy, you will again be asked if you wish to redial. An "N" answer sends you to a prompt asking you if you wish to disconnect from the remote city; a "Y" answer causes VERSA to redial repeatedly until a connection is made. Once the BBS has been connected with, a check is made to see if there was a command file linked to that number (this is only possible if you select a BBS from a menu). If a command file is linked to that BBS number, control passes to that command file, and VERSA termi- nates. The real beauty of VERSA is its ability to deal with any level of PC Pursuit. It is perfectly acceptable for you to start VERSA when you are already connected to a remote city (say, after you have dis- connected from a BBS). If VERSA is started at the remote city level, then you are asked to supply the area code of the connected city. This is necessary so that VERSA will know which of the 25 BBS menus to display. If you just press Return in response to this prompt, or you enter an area code that VERSA is not familiar with, then you will next see the All Cities BBS Directory contained in VERSA.CMD. This is because, in this case, VERSA will not know which menu to display. Although not all possibilities have been covered here, VERSA will usually do what you expect it to. For instance, if you are asked if you wish to redial a BBS that was busy and answer "N", you are taken back to the BBS menu for the connected city. If you answer "Y" (indi- cating you DO wish to redial the BBS), VERSA begins redialing until a connection is made (or you terminate VERSA by entering Esc). There are two options you always have whenever VERSA asks you for your input, even though they are never stated on any of the menus: "D" and "E". You can, at any time you are prompted for your input, ignore the question entirely and enter one of these two letters. These two options are covered in the following paragraphs. "D" stands for Disconnect, and it does just that. If you enter "D" in response to an input prompt, VERSA will go through the proper steps to disconnect you from PC Pursuit, and will then terminate. "E" stands for Exit. If you enter "E" in response to any input prompt, then VERSA will terminate. (You will still be connected to PC Pursuit). You can then operate PC Pursuit manually, and restart Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 11 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 VERSA whenever you wish. "D" and "E" are the only unstated possibilities. All other pos- sible inputs are listed in the menus or the prompts themselves. For disconnecting from BBSs that are "hung," or for some other reason will not let you off, see the section later in this document called "Using DISC.CMD." Using VERSA with Extended Menus OFF =================================== VERSA's major functions are all the same when operating without the extended menus, so this section will only cover the differences. Read the previous section for general information on using VERSA. When VERSA has been customized to set S6 to "OFF", then the .MNU files will not be needed (VERSA will instead always use the built-in 20 number All Cities BBS Directory). If you decide to use VERSA with the extended menus OFF, then you can erase the .MNU files supplied with VERSA to save disk space. With the extended menus set off, VERSA will default to displaying only prompts. This speeds up execution because the menus take a while to print. When you are prompted for an area code or a BBS num- ber, you will have a new option: "M", or Menu. This option will dis- play either the city menu or the All Cities BBS Directory, depending on which prompt you enter it at. Once the menu is drawn, VERSA again prompts you for your input. This mode of VERSA use is handy if you have memorized most of your favorite selections, and if you do not call a great many BBSs with PC Pursuit. If you can't remember the number of a selection, you can always request that a menu be printed. Using DISC.CMD ============== There is only one situation during a normal PC Pursuit session when you should not start VERSA, and that is when you are connected to a BBS. For the sake of completeness, DISC.CMD is included with VERSA to allow you to disconnect from a BBS, if you desire. This is useful if you are connected to a computer that is acting as a termi- nal. This section will explain how to use DISC.CMD, and how it works. NOTE: All BBSs incorporate a method for disconnection. Some BBSs are prone to losing data or have to be rebooted if you just hang up on them, so you should use a BBS's normal method of disconnection whenever possible. Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 12 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 DISC.CMD is NOT provided so that you can avoid having to go through normal BBS termination procedures. It should be used only if a BBS is "hung" for some reason, or if you are connected to another computer acting as a terminal. According to Hayes command conventions, the proper way to exit to a modem's command mode while online is by doing this: wait one sec- ond, type "+++", and wait another second. Your modem will then re- spond with "OK". Then, you can enter ATH0 to cause the modem to dis- connect. When using PC Pursuit, this method has a problem. Both your lo- cal modem AND the remote modem will interpret the "+++" string as a request to return to command mode. For disconnection from a remote computer while using PC Pursuit, only the remote modem should escape to command mode. The "+" in this example is referred to as your modem's (and the remote modem's) "escape character." The "+" is the default, but it can be changed. When VERSA first dials the local Telenet number, included in the command is this: "S2=42". 42 is the ASCII code for "*". This resets the escape character for your local modem to "*". From then on, a pause, "+++", and another pause will not cause your modem to escape to command mode. a pause, "***" and another pause will. The old command will still work for the remote modem, though. This is the principle that DISC.CMD takes advantage of. You execute DISC.CMD in exactly the same way that you do VER- SA.CMD: by pressing Alt-F5, and either typing its name or selecting it with the arrow keys. The only time this will have any effect, however, is when you are connected to a remote computer. When you are connected to a remote computer, and you start DISC.CMD, it will issue the old "pause, '+++', pause" command to escape to the command mode of the remote modem. It then issues a disconnect command, "ATH0". The remote modem will drop carrier. DISC.CMD will then ask you if you wish to execute VERSA. If you answer "Y", VERSA will be started just as if you had executed it with Alt-F5. "N" will return you to ProComm's terminal mode. "E" will do the same thing, in emulation of VERSA's "E" command. "D", however, is not supported. DISC.CMD will not work properly if your local modem's escape char- acter has not been reset to something other than "+". This can hap- pen if VERSA never dials the local Telenet number, or an ATZ is is- sued to your modem after VERSA resets the escape character. Some communications programs would not work properly with the es- cape character reset, because they perform disconnections in exactly the same way that DISC.CMD does. They could not force your modem in- to command mode, since they would be using the wrong escape character Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 13 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 and therefore could not hang up the phone. ProComm, however, usually hangs up by dropping the DTR line to your modem, so it is unaffected by the change. It is possible, however, that ProComm DOES perform standard dis- connections with your modem. This happens if it tries to disconnect by dropping the DTR line and it doesn't work. It will then use its "hangup string," which you can view in ProComm by pressing Alt-S to get to the setup menu, and then pressing "1" to get to the modem setup menu. You can tell if ProComm is using its "hangup string" by the speed with which it executes disconnections. If, when you press Alt-H, ProComm immediately drops carrier, then the DTR approach is working, and ProComm is NOT using the hangup string. If disconnections take longer (about three seconds), then ProComm is using its hangup string. If ProComm uses its hangup string with your modem, then for com- patibility with VERSA, you should change the hangup string to use three "*"s and modify ProComm's "modem init string" to contain these characters: "S2=42". Then, whenever ProComm is started, it will re- set your escape character automatically. This should be done even if you do not use DISC.CMD, because VERSA.CMD resets the escape charac- ter, not DISC.CMD. If you find DISC.CMD to be confusing, just don't use it. It is not an essential part of VERSA. You can get along just fine without it. Notes on Using VERSA ==================== Our chief goal in designing VERSA has been to make it flexible. If it ever appears that VERSA is not behaving as you would like it to, just terminate it by pressing Esc (this is ProComm's way of stopping command file execution), and start it again with Alt-F5. VERSA can be a powerful tool for teaching yourself the mysterious ways of PC Pursuit. Simply execute VERSA, and if you decide that you want to try something different, terminate VERSA and type away. If you desire, VERSA can be started again once you have finished experi- menting. Do NOT start VERSA when PC Pursuit is busy executing a command. For instance, if you enter an "ATDT xxxxxxx" command to a modem in a remote city, and then start VERSA before the "BUSY" or "CONNECT" comes back, VERSA will be confused because it was not expecting any input, and will probably hang. There are some instances where PC Pursuit will throw you off without warning. This will happen if you sit idle for too long Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 14 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 without sending anything to Pursuit, or connect to and then discon- nect from four different ports. VERSA takes care of this by making sure that your modem is still connected before beginning to dial either an area code or a BBS number, and will start dialing at the local level if necessary. If this happens, VERSA will inform you about it with onscreen messages. There are some things that VERSA cannot take into account. For instance, if you are at the remote city level and escape to the Tele- net command mode by typing <CR> @ <CR>, and then start VERSA, then VERSA will be fooled into thinking that you are at the local Telenet level. Versa cannot be started when you are connected to a BBS -- disconnect from the BBS normally, or use DISC.CMD, before starting VERSA. Unfortunately, our testing of VERSA has shown that there are some instances where the program simply cannot operate correctly, even though you have not done anything wrong. This often happens because ProComm command language does not have the ability to "read" incoming text from the remote computer while at the same time transmitting text. Therefore, it is sometimes possible that VERSA will miss some- thing it was looking for because it was busy transmitting. We are researching ways in which this problem might be circumvented, but it is really a limitation of the language itself. In these cases, VERSA will appear to "hang:" it will sit motionless for up to three min- utes, or perhaps indefinitely, not doing anything. It is easiest in these cases to just terminate VERSA with Esc and then restart it. In this version of VERSA, Racal-Vadic mode is recognized. From the point of view of the code of VERSA itself, there are two places where VERSA can run into a modem left in Racal-Vadic mode: When it is first started and attempting to determine the PC Pursuit level, and when it is dialing a BBS. In either case, VERSA will reset the modem to Hayes mode and then proceed normally. The modems used in the remote cities are not really Hayes modems; they are Racal-Vadic ones imitating Hayes modems. You can experiment with Racal-Vadic mode by connecting to a modem in a remote city, exit VERSA with Esc if you were using it, and then entering: ATZ <CR> Ctrl-E <CR> The modem will respond with "HELLO:I'M READY." Then type "?" <CR> to get a menu of options. Racal-Vadic mode offers many benefits not found in Hayes mode, and it is possible to alter VERSA to use it. But we, the authors, decided not to use it. If you experiment with Racal-Vadic mode, enter "I" to get back to Hayes mode before leaving the modem. Even if you are finished with Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 15 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 your PC Pursuit session, you should reset the modem with "I". Other- wise, the modem will STAY in Racal-Vadic mode for the next caller, who will possibly be confused by it. VERSA Updates ============= It is entirely likely that VERSA will have to be updated as PC Pursuit expands or changes. You can count on the Information Booth in Wichita, Kansas, to always have the latest version. (Gizmo is the sysop there and Allen and David live nearby.) The Information Booth is the "home" of VERSA. Here is a list of the boards that we plan to keep updated with the latest version: Western U. S.: Phoenix Techline (602) 936-3058 Midwest: The Information Booth (316) 684-8744 East Coast: Interconnect BBS (703) 848-2106 PC Pursuit Central: The Net Exchange (703) 689-3561 All of these boards, with the exception of the Information Booth, are available through PC Pursuit. Interconnect is available through the 202 port. What's New in Version 1.1 ========================= PC Pursuit: VERSAdial, version 1.1, is the second release. This section briefly describes the new features that were added to this version. VERSA now beeps, by sending a Ctrl-G to the console, when a remote city is connected with. This is an effort to make VERSA easier to monitor if you are not at your computer during a lengthy redial. In version 1.0, if a BBS was connected with and you were not us- ing a linked command file, the normal "VERSA finished" message would be printed. This often interfered with the text coming from the BBS, so version 1.1 exits, when connected to a BBS, without printing this message. DISC.CMD was added. VERSA now resets your local modem's escape character to "*", which is necessary for DISC.CMD to work. Three different SETs are now sent to Telenet once a remote city is connected with. The SETs cause <CR> @ <CR> to be ignored and a break to be used instead, and resets the packet delay for slightly faster downloads. In version 1.0, if VERSA was started when you were connected to a Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 16 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 remote city, VERSA would always display the All Cities BBS directory. Version 1.1 allows you to enter the area code that you are connected to, if you know it. Version 1.0 asked if you wanted to disconnect from the remote city in several instances. This question was taken out. If you want to disconnect from a remote city, just enter "G" at one of the BBS menus. VERSA now checks for remote modems that have been left in Racal- Vadic mode, and will reset them to Hayes mode, if necessary. Slight cosmetic changes have been made in all of the menus and screens. Many new BBSs have been added to the .MNU files, courtesy of Charles Burdsal. Note that, while VERSA1.MNU through VERSA4.MNU have been slightly changed, you can still use your old .MNU files from version 1.0. This will allow you to avoid having to go through the whole process of customizing the .MNU files all over again. You may notice that the telephone number of one of the boards in the All Cities Dialing Directory, "Friends, Too!," is written like this: 17184571752 This looks like a mistake, but it's not. It is possible to get to New York BBSs in the 718 area code by calling the 212 port and prefacing their number with 1718. This is one of many quirks in the Telenet network. It may not always work, but it does at the time of this writing. If you want to call boards in the 718 area using this method, you MUST add their numbers in one of VERSA's BBS menus, because you can directly enter only seven digits. Certain information that VERSA uses was moved to the file VER- SA.KEY. This was done for two reasons: (1) It frees up some vari- ables, and since ProComm command language only allows ten, that is im- portant, and (2) it makes VERSA more "modular," allowing a new ver- sion of VERSA to be swapped with an old one without having to add your user ID, password, and local Telenet number. The disadvantage of using this method is that ProComm seems to always have to perform a disk access when anything in VERSA.KEY is used. The use of VERSA.KEY adds several steps to VERSA's actions. When it first runs, it loads in VERSA.KEY. When it is exited normally by entering "D" or "E" in response to an input prompt, it will reload PROCOMM.KEY. If VERSA is exited by pressing Esc, then it will not have a chance to reload PROCOMM.KEY. If you use one or more custom- ized keyboard macro files, this information could be important to you. Many of the changes in this version are due to the patient test- ing and helpful comments of Charles Burdsal. Our heartiest thanks go Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 17 PC Pursuit: VERSAdial Version 1.1 out to him for beta-testing above and beyond the call of duty. Various Technical Matters ========================= TRADEMARKS: ProComm is a registered trademark of Datastorm Tech- nologies, Inc. PC Pursuit and Telenet are registered trademarks of US Sprint Corporation. DISCLAIMER: This program is provided on an "as is" basis. We, the authors, assume no liability for its use. Users of this program acknowledge that all documentation and program materials are provided without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk of using VERSA lies with the user. If you are not prepared to accept this responsibility, DON'T USE THIS PROGRAM. COMPENSATION: We don't expect you to send any of us any money (if you really feel like sending someone some money, send it to Datastorm Technologies, the makers of ProComm -- they are the real programmers involved here). We would, however, appreciate any comments you might have for the improvement of VERSA. You can address comments to us by calling the Information Booth. This is the best way to get in touch with all three of us. Allow us to stress this last point. VERSA has apparently become a fairly popular product, but very few people have called in to tell us what they think of it, and what they would like to see changed. I'm sorry we're not reachable via PC Pursuit here in Wichita, but may- be you could call on Sunday when the rates are low. Gizmo runs a good board that is well worth your calling. We hope you enjoy using VERSA. Copyright (C) 1987, Allen Brunson Page 18