Manager's screen is composed of three areas. Top to bottom, they are: (
Menu
Work
Status
The Menu Bar contains all of the menus you will use to operate in Manager. The Menu Bar is found at the first line at the top of your screen.
The Work Area is the area between the Menu Bar and the Status Bar, and it is used to display all of the windows and dialogs of Manager as you select actions. +
Lastly, the Status Bar displays the status of certain things in Manager. These things are namely the memory available to Manager, and the current communications parameters. The Memory
View is found in the rightmost corner of the Status Bar. The Status Bar is the bottom most line on your screen. +
Manager's Main Menu
===================
Manager's main menu is composed of six entries across, with submenus for each entry. The entrys are, in order, left to right: m
Miscellaneous, aka the
entry
SprintNet
Dialer
Target
Dialer
Terminal
Configuration
Help
Using Manager
=============
The typical use of Manager is to create and edit your dialing lists for use with the Dialer
Program. To do this, you would select the main menu choice "Target
Dialer", and under it's submenu, choose "Open". -
Mouse/Keyboard Usage
====================
To use Manager, you can use your Microsoft Compatible mouse, or you can use your keyboard, or both together!
For mouse users, the left button will select items, such as menu choices or dialer items to edit. The right button is used only in the Dialer
Dialog, to tag items for dialing.
For keyboard users, hitting Alt-key, where key is the red letter of the menu choice you wish to select, will automatically select that choice. You can also hit your F10 key on your keyboard and this will take you immediately to the Menu
Bar. You can then use your arrow keys to maneuver through the menus. Your ENTER key is used to select things, such as menu choices or dialer items to edit. Within the Dialer
Dialog, the space bar is used to tag items for dialing. 4
Special Keys in Manager
=======================
At any time, you can press Alt-X, and you will immediately exit Manager back to DOS. You may also at any time press the F1 key to receive context-sensitive help. The
menu is accessed by pressing Alt-Space. 9
Press ESC to put this, and any other, help screen away. :
Ctrl-F5 will put the current window into resize/relocate mode. When it is in this mode, it's frame will turn green and you can resize it or move it. To do so, you can use the mouse, or you can use your arrow keys. Press Shift with the arrow keys to resize, and just the arrow keys alone to relocate the window. (
To close a window, you can use Alt-F3.
Miscellaneous
-------------
The main menu item with the
symbol is the miscellaneous menu selection. The submenu choices under this selection deal with miscellaneous functions in Manager, that are not easily classified under any other main menu selection. Its submenu's choices include:
About
Exit
Manager
Miscellaneous|About
-------------------
This submenu choice will cause an information window to appear on the screen which gives information pertaining to the version, copyright, and other related information for Manager. G
To close the box, press Esc, Space, or Enter, or click the OK button.
Miscellaneous|Exit Manager
--------------------------
This submenu choice causes the immediate exit of Manager, back to it's calling program (usually DOS or your host communications program). Any modem connection is NOT dropped and remains active. If you wish to drop the connection, you must open a Terminal
Window and drop your carrier there, typically by signalling your modem (using +++) and typing "ATH0" and pressing return or enter. Then you exit Manager by selecting this menu choice. O
Note also, that hitting ALT-X will also force an immediate exit from Manager.
SprintNet Dialer
----------------
This main menu item contains actions which relate to maintaining and using the SprintNet Dialer. It's submenu choices include:
Dial
Open
SprintNet Dialer|Dial
---------------------
This submenu choice causes the immediate dialing of your local SprintNet access number. It will determine which baud you are operating at, either 1200 or 2400, and will dial the appropriate SprintNet access number. Upon connection to SprintNet, it will login in with the proper Hunt/Seek sequence, and gives SprintNet your specified Terminal
ID. 0
Before you select this submenu choice, it is suggested that you open a Terminal
Window, in order to allow you to see the actual communications between Manager and SprintNet. This is not necessary however, it is only suggested to give you the extra visual comfort that Manager is doing the right thing. ~
During the dialing process, you will see the Dialing
Status
Window which will show you the progress of your dialing attempt. u
Once Manager has successfully connected to SprintNet and logged in, you can continue on by opening a Target
Dialer.
SprintNet Dialer|Open
---------------------
This submenu choice will open a Dialer
Dialog for the SprintNet dialer. This dialog gives you the ability to add, modify, and dial entries in your SprintNet dialer.
Note that the first entry in your dialer MUST be the SprintNet access number you use to connect to SprintNet at 1200 baud. The second entry must be the number you use to connect to SprintNet at 2400 baud. You may place any other numbers in any other position within the dialer. The reason this is done is because Manager will use the first entry to dial your specified Sprintnet 1200 bps access number, and use the second entry likewise for 2400 bps access.
Target Dialer
-------------
This main menu item contains actions which relate to maintaining and using the Target dialers. It's submenu choices include:
Open
Create
Command
Copy
Entries
Clipboard
Entries
Clipboard
Paste
Entries
Before
Current
Paste
Entries
After
Current
Dispose
Clipboard
Target Dialer|Open
------------------
This submenu choice will first open a File
Selection
Dialog. This dialog is used to select the dialer you wish to work with.
Once a dialer is selected to work with, using the File Selection Dialog, Manager will open a Dialer
Dialog for the selected Target Dialer. This dialog gives you the ability to add, modify, and dial entries in your Target Dialer.
Target Dialer|Create Command File
---------------------------------
This submenu choice will create a command file from your current configuration and from the tagged entries of the current dialer. This command file is used by Dialer to instruct it on how to behave in an automated fashion.
To use this command, you first make sure your configuration is correct. See SprintNet
configuration and Communications
configuration sections. Next you will open
target
dialer and tag the entries you want to dial automatically.
Next you make this menu selection to generate a command file. The File
Selection
Dialog will appear and you will type in the name you wish to save the command file as. The command file will be created. H
Now when you wish to dial these targets in a completely automated fashion you will use the Dialer program, giving it the command file to provide it with the information it needs to perform the dialing. It is suggested you consult the Tutorial supplied with this product for a clearer picture on how to use this functionality.
Target Dialer|Copy Entries to Clipboard
---------------------------------------
This submenu choice will take the tagged targets in the current target dialer and copy them to the clipboard. This is useful for later pasting into another target dialer. You wqill use this function in order to make other dialers using targets from other dialers you have. This is especially useful when you wish to take the supplied sample target dialer with over 670 entries and create smaller dialers out of it. See also Paste
Before and Paste
After sections.
Target Dialer|Cut Entries to Clipboard
---------------------------------------
This submenu choice will take the tagged targets in the current target dialer and cut them to the clipboard. This is different from the Copy function in that the targets are placed into the clipboard AND they are deleted from the target dialer. This function is used like the copy function but can also be used to do bulk deletions of unwanted targets from your dialers.
Target Dialer|Paste Entries Before Current
------------------------------------------
This submenu choice will take the entries that have been Cut or Copied to the clipboard and will paste them into the currently open target dialer:TargetDialerOpen}. It will do so at the position before the currently highlighted target in that dialer. If you wish to insert at the end of all your entries, you will have to use the function Paste
After.
Target Dialer|Paste Entries After Current
------------------------------------------
This submenu choice will take the entries that have been Cut or Copied to the clipboard and will paste them into the currently open target dialer:TargetDialerOpen}. It will do so at the position after the currently highlighted target in that dialer. If you wish to insert at the front of the list, you will have to use the function Paste
Before.
Target Dialer|Dispose Clipboard
-------------------------------
This submenu choice will dispose of the current clipboard. This is useful for freeing up the memory taken by information that has been Cut or Copied to the clipboard. It is not necessary that you dispose of the clipboard though, as it will be disposed of after each Paste operation.
Terminal
--------
This main menu item contains actions which relate to using a Terminal
Window. It's submenu choices include: ?
Open
Shrink
Grow
Maximum
Disconnect
Close
Terminal|Open
-------------
This submenu choice will open a Terminal
Window. The terminal window will take up all space between the Menu
Bar and the Status
Bar. When opened it will take the dimensions of 80 columns wide by 23 rows. However, this is merely what is displayed. The terminal is really dimensionless in both directions. The terminal can be scrolled up and down to see previous pages of text on the terminal. This can be done using the Pg-Up and Pg-Dn keys. Likewise, the terminal window can be scrolled left and right to see lines that are longer than can be displayed on one screen page. To scroll left and right, use the left and right arrow keys respectively. In order to use the mouse to scroll, you must first Shrink the terminal window.
All data coming in through the currently active port will be displayed in the terminal window. The terminal is a "dumb terminal", meaning that it displays exactly what comes through the port. It does not do any terminal emulation such as ANSI or VT220.
Anything that is typed by you, that are standard characters (non-standard are the function keys and the like), while the terminal window is open will be sent out the active port. The exception to this is when a dialog is open and it takes your keyboard input for itself.
Terminal|Shrink
---------------
This submenu choice will shrink the currently opened Terminal
Window down to fit, with a frame now, between the Menu
Bar and Status
Bar. The dimensions for the terminal will now be 78 by 21, however again recall that this is only the viewing area, and the actual terminal area is dimensionless. The terminal window can be scrolled using the keyboard AND the mouse at this point. The window is now resizeable and relocateable. t
Shrink is used only if you need to relocate/resize your terminal window, if you wish to use the mouse to scroll the window up/down or left/right. Lastly, you need to shrink the terminal window in the case that you had a Dialer dialing, and then clicked your mouse button to the terminal window. The terminal window suddenly completely covered the dialer's status window. You shrink the terminal window in order to resize/relocate it so everything fits nicely on the screen. You typically will not use it for this purpose, since there will not be a reason to click the mouse in the terminal window while a dialer is running.
Terminal|Grow Maximum
---------------------
This submenu choice will "unshrink" a Shrunk window. It will remove the frame from the current terminal window and restore it to it's standard 80 column by 23 row state.
Terminal|Disconnect City
------------------------
This submenu choice will send a "Disconnect City" command to SprintNet. If you are currently connected to a dialout port (GAATL for example), you will be promptly disconnected from the city and dropped back to the SprintNet command prompt. This command is useful if you have cancelled the dialing process and you are still connected to the outdial city.
Terminal|Close
--------------
This submenu choice will close the currently open Terminal
Window. Closing this window while a DialerDialingStatusWindow is running does not cause any harm to the dialer. The communications link exists separate from any window or dialog on the screen. Therefore closing windows or dialogs has no ill effect on the current communications connection. You may again open a terminal window on the current port at any time by using the Terminal
Open menu selection.
Configuration
-------------
This main menu item contians actions which relate to the confuguration of Manager, namely those to do with your SprintNet information, and those items dealing with how your communications port is set up. It's submenu choices include:
SprintNet
Communication
Configuration|SprintNet
-----------------------
This submenu choice will open the SprintNet Configuration dialog. This is simply a Data
Entry
Dialog, where you will enter SprintNet information particular to you, including your PcPursuit ID, PcPursuit password, and your SprintNet Terminal ID.
PcPursuit ID
============
Your PcPursuit ID is the user ID that SprintNet assigned you for use with the PcPursuit service. It will probably look something like: pcp676321q. )
PcPursuit Password
==================
Your PcPursuit Password is the user password that SprintNet assigned you along with your user ID. /
SprintNet Terminal ID
=====================
This is the terminal ID of the machine you are using to connect to SprintNet with. In almost all cases, this will be a value of D1, with sometimes using D3 when you wish SprintNet to use XON/XOFF software handshaking on it's connections.
Sound
=====
This configuration option tells Manager whether or not to use sound. This includes the alarms that are given upon a successful target connection. If you do not want these loud alarms, then make sure this option is set to "No".
Dialers Path
============
This option tells Manager where the default directory is to find it's SprintNet and Target Dialers. You specify the full path for the directory only here, and do NOT include a trailing backslash. )
For example: C:\InComm\Dialers
For information on how to use the data entry dialog consult the section:
Data
Entry
Dialog
Configuration|Communications
----------------------------
This submenu choice will open the Communications Configuration dialog. This is simply a Data
Entry
Dialog, where you will enter your default communication port's information. This includes port number, baud, parity, data size, and stop bits.
Port Number
===========
Your port number must be in a range from 1 to 4. These ports are the standard COM1, COM2, and de facto standards COM3 and COM4. Manager does not support non-standard communications ports. Here are the standard port addresses and IRQs Manager understands:
Port Address IRQ
-----------------------------
COM1 $3F8 4
COM2 $2F8 3
COM3 $3E8 4
COM4 $2E8 3
Baud
====
Your baud must be either 1200 or 2400. PcPursuit uses baud rates of 300, 1200, or 2400. Manager does not support 300 baud connections.
Parity
======
Your parity must be either Even or None. PcPursuit only supports these two parity settings.
Data Size
=========
Your data size must be either 7 or 8. PcPursuit only supports these two data size settings.
Stop Bits
=========
Your stop bits must be set to either 1 or 2. K
For information on how to use the data entry dialog consult the section:
Data
Entry
Dialog
Configuration|Save
------------------
This submenu choice will save your current configuration to disk, in the file called InComPCP.cfg. This file will be written into your current directory. When Managaer starts up, it always reads the configuration file to determine default settings for SprintNet and your communications port.
Help
----
This main menu item contains actions which relate to obtaining Help for operating Manager. It's submenu choices include:
Contents
Glossary
Selecting Help Contents will display a list of keywords/topics that the help system provides help for.
Selecting Help Glossary will display a glossary of terms used throughout the help system and the documentation for InComm:PcPDial.
Contents
--------
About,
Close,
Terminal
Command
Creation,
Target
Dialer
Communications,Configuration
Configuration
Contents,
Copy
Clipboard,
Target
Dialer
Cut
Clipboard,
Target
Dialer
Data
Entry
Dialog
Dial,
SprintNet
Dialer
Dialer
Dialer
Dialog
Dialing
Status
Window
Disconnect
City,
Terminal
Dispose
Clipboard,
Target
Dialer
Exit
Manager,
File
Selection
Dialog
General
Information
Manager
Glossary
Grow
Maximum,
Terminal
Help
Memory
Menu
Miscellaneous
Open,
SprintNet
Dialer
Open,
Target
Dialer
Open,
Terminal
Paste
After
Current,
Target
Dialer
Paste
Before
Current
Shrink,
Terminal
SprintNet,
Configuration
SprintNet
Dialer
Status
Target
Dialer
Target
Dialog
Terminal
Terminal
Window
Work
Glossary
--------
Action Buttons These are buttons contained in a dialog. When pressed
they cause some action to be performed. Some examples
are "Cancel", "Accept" and "Remove."
Communications The communications parameters include baud, parity,
Parameters word size, and stop bits. Collectively, these define
how your modem communicates with SprintNet.
Communications This is the hex address that the communications port is
Port Address accessed through (the link between the computer and the
port).
Communications This is the interrupt line and priority used for the
Port IRQ communications port. The standard IRQs are 3 and 4.
Communications The communications port is the computer port your modem
Port is hooked up to. It must be one of the four accepted
standard ports. This is the channel through which your
computer communicates with your modem.
Configuration The configuration file contains information describing
File your default setup, including SprintNet information and
communications settings. It is used by Manager.
Context-Sensitive Context-sensitive help refers to help that is given
Help based on what section of the software you are currently
operating in. For example, you are in a target dialer
dialog and you request help (F1 key), a help window
will appear with information specific to the target
dialer dialog.
DFA A DFA is a target known by PcPursuit and is connected
directly to a SprintNet port. DFAs include The Net
Exchange BBS, Plink, Portal, etc.
Data Entry This dialog type is used to collect information from
Dialog the user. These include the configuration editing
dialogs and the dialogs used to edit dialer entries
(targets).
Data Entry This is a section of a dialog where the user enters
Section Information.
Dialer.exe This is one of the two component programs of
InComm:PcPDial. It is the high-speed PcPursuit
automated dialer.
Dialer Dialog This dialog is used to provide the user with the
capability of creating, editing, maintaining, and
dialing Target Dialers and/or the SprintNet Dialer.
Dialing Status This window is displayed when a dialer is commanded to
Window dial. It displays the status of the dialing as it
progresses through dialing all tagged entries until a
connection is achieved.
Dialog A dialog is like a window in all respects, except that
it cannot be resized. Dialogs are used to take and
process information from the user. They are usually
composed of data entry sections, and action buttons.
File Selection The file selection dialog allows you to enter
Dialog information to specify an exact file to select to use.
It supports wildcard and also allows you to search the
directory tree to find the file you need to access.
Host This is a program you use to carry on your normal BBS
Communications operations such as downloading and uploading files.
Program InComm:PcPDial functions best when used in conjunction
with a host communicationssss program such as Telix or
Procomm+.
Hot Key This is a key or key-sequence (like Alt-X) which causes
an action to be performed immediately. Most Hot keys
for visible actions (on menus and action buttons) are
simply the "Alt" key held down and then pressing the
highlighted letter in the action name. Hot keys allow
very quick access to program functions without
requiring menu or dialog traversal with the mouse or
arrow keys.
Hunt/Seek This is the sequence of data sent to SprintNet to
Sequence inform it which communications parameters you are using
for your connection. The actual sequences are know by
InComm:PcPDial and are not necessary to know.
Listbox This is the component of the target dialer dialog which
displaying the dialer's list of entries. It can be
used to select entries for manipulation, or to scroll
through the list.
Manager.exe This is one of the two component programs of
InComm:PcPDial. It is a superset of Dialer.exe, plus
it provides target dialer edititing capabilites,
configuration editing, and a dumb terminal.
Menu bar The menu bar is the top line of the screen, and
contains active areas that can be selected by the mouse
or keyboard, that when selected cause an appropriate
action to be performed. The menu bar is the main
control panel for Manager. When an entry from the menu
bar is selected, a submenu is pulled down. Selections
from these submenus are what causes the actions to be
performed.
PcPursuit A service provided by US Sprint that allows long
distance modem connections to 44 major US cities, for a
flat rate 30 hours/$30 per month.
PcPursuit ID This is the ID assigned to you by Sprint necessary for
using PcPursuit.
PcPursuit This is the password assigned to you by Sprint
Password necessary for using PcPursuit.
SprintNet This is a large data network operated by Sprint. It is
this network that PcPursuit is supported on.
SprintNet Dialer This is the dialer that is used to contact and log into
SprintNet. The dialer is not a single entity, but is
composed of the Dialer Dialog and the Dialing Status
Window. It is also used to refer to the list of
SprintNet access numbers.
SprintNet This is the terminal ID given to SprintNet to identify
which Terminal ID sort of terminal you want it to
support when sending and receiving data. For most
cases this ID will be "D1", or "D3" for Xon/Xoff
software handshaking.
Status Bar The status bar is at the bottom of the screen and
displays information regarding available hot-keys,
current communications port and parameters, and
available memory.
Sub Menu A sub menu is a group of selections that appears when
an entry from the menu bar is selected. When the user
select an entry from a sub menu, the appropriate action
is performed. For example, selecting "Miscellaneous"
from the menu bar brings down a sub menu with choices
of "About" and "Exit Manager."
Tagged This refers to when a target dialer's entry has been
marked for a subsequent operation, such as Dialing or
Copying/Cutting to the clipboard. Entries are tagged
using the spacebar or the right mouse button. Tagged
entries are seen in a target dialer with a '+' beside
them.
Target A target is typically a BBS or a DFA. These are
entries in the target dialer which are tagged by the
user to dial and connect to.
Target Dialer This is the dialer that is used to contact
PcPursuitable targets (BBSs/DFAs). The dialer is not a
single entity, but is composed of the Dialer Dialog and
the Dialing Status Window. It is also used to refer to
the list of dialable targets.
Terminal Window The terminal window displays the connection between
your computer and your modem. It basically shows you
everything that is broadcast out of your modem, and
received by your modem.
XOn/XOff This is a software handshaking protocol which allows
data flow to be temporarily shut off while the
receiving end is processing it. This is used for the
rare case that SprintNet's receive buffering gets
overflowed, to prevent loss of data.
Window A window is an area enclosed by a frame, and is
displayed in the work area of your screen. Windows can
be moved and resized using the keyboard or mouse. They
are used to display information, and are generally not
user interactive.
Window Frame The window's frame is the outer boundary of the window,
and completely surrounds the window. It is the frame
that provides the move and resize functions and
provides a title for the window.
Work Area The work area is the space on the screen between the
menu bar and the status bar. This area is where all of
the windows and dialogs will be displayed.
Menu Bar
--------
The menu bar is the topmost line on your screen. It contains the main menu that controls the program. You can select entries from the menu by using the mouse, by using hot keys, or by pressing F10 and then using the arrow keys to move around the menus -- then pressing Enter to select the currently highlighted choice. When a menu choice is selected, the appropriate action is performed. The menu bar is the main control point for Manager.
Status Bar
----------
The status bar is the bottommost line on your screen. It contains information telling you what special hot keys are available, such as Alt-X and Ctrl-F5, and what actions are associated with these special key combinations. In the rightmost portion of the status bar, is the Memory
Viewer.
Work Area
---------
The work area is the space on your screen that lies between the Menu
Bar and the Status
Bar. The work area is where all of the windows and dialogs used in the program are displayed.
Memory Viewer
-------------
The memory viewer is a component of the Status
Bar. It lies in the rightmost part of the status bar. In the memory viewer, there are two numbers, separated by a "/" character. These two numbers tell you how much memory is available to Manager. The two numbers are often different but only by a small margin. The first number tells how much memory is really available to the program in one big chunk. The second number is the total memory available and contains some small chunks included in the number. If these two numbers differ greatly then it is time to exit Manager and start it again. It is very rare that you will ever have to do this. Keep an eye on the first number. If it falls below 8000, then you are running out of memory.
Dialer Program
--------------
Dialer is the companion to Manager in the InComm:PcPDial product. Dialer allows an unattended, fully automated PcPursuit dialing session. It is designed to work with your favorite host communications program, such as Telix or Procomm+. Manager is used to set up all information needed by Dialer. Manager will be used to create and maintain configuration and PcPursuit targets information, and for initial dialing of those targets. Once you have established some regular targets, you will want to automate your dialing of them, and that is where Dialer comes in to play.
Terminal Window
---------------
The terminal window is opened using the Open
Terminal command. The terminal is opened on the current communications port with the specified settings, as entered in the Communications Configuation:ConfigurationCommunications}. The terminal is a dumb terminal, no special ANSI interpretation or VT-100, etc is performed.
Dialing Status Window
---------------------
The dialing status window is displayed when you start a dialing session -- you pressed the "Dial" action button from within a Target
Dialer
Dialog. This window shows the progress of the dialing process, giving information such as what target is currently being dialed, which one is next, how long it is taking to dial this target, what dialing cycle through the list, etc. If you cancel or close this window, the dialing process will halt immediately, so be careful about closing this window. O
During the dialing process, if a target is reached, you will be given an alarm and a pop-up message box telling you which target was connected to. The dialing status window will be removed and you can proceed with your BBS session either within the Terminal or you can Exit Manager and go back into your host communications program.
Dialer Dialog
=============
The dialer dialog is displayed when you choose the Target
Dialer
Open command. The dialer dialog is the heart of the Manager program. It is here that you will create, maintain, and dial your PcPursuit targets. The dialer dialog is composed of two sections. The upper portion contains the dialing list of targets. The "Current" target is the one that had the green highlight bar on it. You can change the current entry by using the Up/Down arrow keys, or by clicking on the new current entry using the left mouse button. Each of the entries in the list can be "Tagged" for certain operations, such as the clipboard operations (Cut, Copy, and Paste), the "Create
Command
File, and also to Dial the tagged entries (by pressing the "Dial" action button). Tagged items are shown with a '+' beside their entry. To toggle a target's tag, you can use the spacebar, or you can use the right mouse button. The currently highlighted target will be the one acted upon.
The lower portion of the dialog is the action button panel. This panel contains action buttons, that when pressed will perform some action. This action is typically performed upon the currently highlighted target. To "Press" a button you can click over it with the left mouse button. Likewise, you can press the TAB key until the desired action button is highlighted (its text will turn white), and then press Enter. A description of each action button follows:
Dial
====
This action button, when pressed will start the dialing process. All tagged entries are placed into a dialing queue and the dialing begins. The dialing will continue until a successful connection is achieved with one of the targets tagged in the list. When you press the dial button, the Dialing
Status
Window is displayed and the dialer dialog is closed.
Add New
=======
This action button will add a new entry to the dialer. The entry is added last in the list and has dummy information in it. You will want to now Edit the current entry by highlighting it (press Pg-Dn a few times) and then pressing the Edit action button.
Edit
====
This action button will open a Target
Dialog for the currently highlighted target. Using this dialog you can change the information for the given target.
Remove
======
This action button will remove the currently highligted entry. You will be prompted for removal, just in case you accidently pressed this button. If you want to remove more than one target at a time, Tag the entries to be removed and then use the Cut command.
Clear Tags
==========
This action button will clear the tags for all targets in the dialer.
Next Page
=========
This action button will toggle the information display page for the targets. There are two pages of information.
Save
====
When this action button is pressed, the curent dialer is saved back to disk, under the name with which it was opened, using the File
Selection
Dialog.
Cancel
======
Pressing this action button will close the dialer dialog. If you have made any changes to the dialing list of targets, you will be prompted to save your changes back to disk.
Data Entry Dialog
-----------------
The data entry dialog is really a class of dialogs instead of a specific dialog. In this dialog you will have a series of information "regions." You will see the current information for each region, and you can change that information. x
For example, a region can be a set of data entry lines, where you will type in the new information using the keyboard. W
A region can be a set of radio buttons with assigned values, where you will use the mouse to press in the button of your choice, or use the spacebar to press in the button. An example of radio buttons are the regions of the Communications
Configuration dialog, where you tell it which baud, parity, stops, word size, and port number to use.
Target Edit Dialog
------------------
The target edit dialog is a Data
Entry
Dialog. It is discussed in further detail because some of the information fields carry special meanings. They fields and their explanations are given below:
Target ID
=========
The target ID is typically the phone number of the PcPursuit target to dial. However, for special targets, called DFAs this is a mnemonic instead of a phone number. For example, to connect to the PcPursuit BBS, called the Net Exchange, the target ID is "PURSUIT."
Target City
===========
The target city is one of those "special meaning" fields. This field will contain the city mnemonic (GAATL, FLTAM, CAPAL, etc) for those PcPursuit targets that are BBSs. It will remain blank for those targets that are DFAs (like PURSUIT). However, it will have the value of "$" if the target is a "regular dial" target. Regular dial targets are non-PcPursuit targets.
For example, the SprintNet access phone numbers are "regular dial" targets and if you bring up a Target Edit Dialog on a SprintNet Dialer entry, you will see that the City field is a "$". A
In essence you can use the Target Dialer to dial standard BBS numbers by making the City data entry a "$". This feature was added so that a generic dialer could be used for the Target Dialers and for the SprintNet dialer. However, the functioality is available to use the Target dialer to dial "regular dial" targets.
Target Name
===========
The target name is simply that. In this field you gie the name of the PcPursuit Target. !
Connect Script
==============
The connect script is a file name. It names the file that your host program will chain to for the given target, when the target is connected. This is useful when using Dialer and performing an automated dialing session. When Dialer makes a target connection, it will write the information contained in this field to a file which your host communications program will read. It will read the name of the connect script from this file and will automatically chain to that script to perform operations specific to the target you are connected (like automated e-mail fetching, etc). ?
BBS Username and BBS Password
=============================
This information is also written to the connect information file along with the connect script information, so that the host communications program can automatically log into the BBS target connected to.
File Selection Dialog
---------------------
The Target
Dialer
Open command displays the File Selection Dialog. In this dialog box you select the Target Dialer file you want to work with. %
The File Selection Dialog contains:
an input box
a list box to browse the directory
the standard Cancel button
Open action button
an information panel that describes the
selected file
The list box will display files that match the current wildcard that is in the input box. To traverse to a different directory, you can use the mouse or the TAB key to move the highlight bar around the list box. To change to the highlighted directory, double click the mouse left button or press Enter. r
To select the currently highlighted file, double click on it with the left mouse button, or press the Enter key.
To create a brand new file in the currently selected directory, type in the new file name into the input box and press Enter.
Installation of InComm:PcPDial
------------------------------
Please fill in the prompted information for this dialog specific to your desired configuration. DO NOT PRESS ENTER until you have entered all information. Use the TAB key or Shift-TAB to move from field to field. Once Enter is pressed, or the "Install" button is clicked on with the mouse, the installation process will begin. Pressing ESC or clicking on the "Cancel" button will abort the installation process. (
Install will copy all product files into the specified product directory. It will then make the appropriate modifications to your Autoexec.bat file. Next it will install the InComm:PcPDial dialers into the specified dialers directory. And, lastly it will create the default configuration file.
After installation is complete, and you exit from Install, you should clean up the source directory by deleting it's contents. The product is successfully installed and these are no longer needed. %
Source Directory
================
In this field you will enter the path to where the InComm:PcPDial product files currently reside. This should be where you extracted the product files from your archive (InPCP100.zip). The default path, already supplied in this field, is the directory you started the install program from. '
Product Directory
=================
In this field you will enter the path to where you wish InComm:PcPDial to be installed. The default is product path "C:\InComm." All InComm:PcPDial product files will be moved from the source directory into the product directory. '
Dialers Directory
=================
In this field you will enter the path where InComm:PcPDial will store and retrieve its dialers. The install program will move the two supplied dialers, InComPCP.ice and SprntNet.ict into this directory for you.
PcPursuit ID
============
In this field you will enter your PcPursuit ID. This is necessary to configure InComm:PcPDial specifically to you. )
PcPursuit Password
==================
In this field you will enter your PcPursuit password. This is necessary to configure InComm:PcPDial specifically to you. k
Port Number, Baud, Parity, Word Size, and Stop Bits
For these fields you will select the appropriate configuration for your setup. For example, the most common set-up would be COM1, 2400, N, 8, 1, and this configuration is selected by default. #
Modify Autoexec
===============
It is suggested that you select "Yes" for this field. Install will then make modifications to your Autoexec.bat file which will append the InComm:PcPDial product directory to your "PATH". It will also set an environment variable, used by InComm:PcPDial, specifying the location of your dialers directory. If you select "No" for this field, these modifications will not be performed, and InComm:PcPDial will not be as flexible to use. !
Autoexec Drive
==============
This field specifies the drive in which the Autoexec.Bat file can be found for modification. Note that this file MUST exist.
(.txt)