ftp.whtech.com/ftp.whtech.com.tar/ftp.whtech.com/club100/cat/vt100.exe/lha/SXMDOC.DO

Text File | 1994-08-15 | 9KB | 197 lines

USERS GUIDE to SXM.BA
Sept. 9, 1986

FEATURES:

SXM.BA is a short, yet powerful and fast telecommunications program for your
Model 100.  It provides important functions not available in TELCOM.  At the
same time it keeps normal function key assignments as much as possible.  It
also lets you switch back to TELCOM whenever you want.  SXM.BA is about 3500
bytes long, a lot shorter than this documentation!

With SXM.BA you can:

1.  Transfer ASCII files, either text or programs saved as DOcuments, with the
xmodem protocol.  This insures error-free uploads and downloads.

2.  Automatically call a busy BBS until it answers and automatically log on. It
uses the auto log on sequence or script stored in your ADRS.DO file.

3.  Download to or upload directly from cassette or a disk drive that uses the
system bus.

4.  Upload messages to BBSs that have only a line-entry mode.  This prevents
you from losing a few letters at the beginning of each line after the first
line.  That happens while the system is sending the line number.  This is an
automatic form of a prompted upload.

5.  Turn the printer on and off with the <F5> key.

6.  Easily tell what SXM.BA sends and what it receives.  It does this by
showing a right-arrow before the prompts it sends.  It also shows the time of
every dialing attempt and whether it's using your auto logon.

7.  Use without conflict an assembly language program like Floppy.CO for the
Tandy Disk Drive.  It will remain in high memory after using SX.BA, since
SXM.BA doesn't reset maxram.

SETTING UP:

When you first get SXM.BA, it's a regular DOcument file.  To run it as a BASIC
program takes two or three steps.  Delete anything at the beginning of your
download before line 0 and anything after line 95, which ends with 21276.  LOAD
it into BASIC, then SAVE it.  After that, you can KILL the DOcument version.

You must either have an ADRS.DO file in RAM or an ADRS file on your active
Disk/Video Interface disk.  Otherwise SXM.BA will give you an error message.
You type the numbers you want to call exactly as you do with TELCOM, including
their auto log on sequences.   Nevertheless, with some packet switching
services such as Telenet you may have to start your auto log on sequence with
additional pauses.  That's because with TELCOM the delays are long enough for
Telenet, while SXM.BA responds immediately.

RUNNING SXM.BA:

Connect your Model 100 to the phone line and set the switches on the left side
for <Dir>ect and <Orig>inate.  (You set the switch to <ACP> only when you use
the acoustic coupler.)  Now you're all ready to call!

Put the cursor over SXM.BA and press <ENTER>.  You should see Find: at the top
of your screen.  You can type the name of the system you want to call and then
press <ENTER>.   Or you can just press <ENTER> until the name you want shows up
as the second line on your screen.  For the Model 100 to dial the number just
press any key (except <ENTER>).  As the Model 100 dials, the time and system
listing appear on the next line of you screen.   Upon connecting, the Model 100
will squeal at you and say Auto logon.  Otherwise it'll tell you to wait while
it dials again and again.

Sometimes it's useful to dial manually, so SXM.BA lets you do this too.  At the
Find: prompt just type Dial. Don't press <ENTER> yet.  Now use the telephone
connected to the Model 100 to dial the number.  When you hear the carrier,
press the <ENTER> key and you're on.  With this method you'll have to enter
your log on sequences manually.

This version does not support a external modem.

ON LINE:

Now you're talking!  First, notice the eight special function keys.  They look
pretty much like in TELCOM, right?

The <F1> key will still show you the previous eight lines.

The <F2> key still is for downloading to your Model 100.

The <F3> key still is for uploading to the other computer.

The <F4> key is Term.  Pressing it will take you immediately to TELCOM on a
one-way street.  In other words you can't get back to SXM.BA without redialing.

The <F5> key is PrOn when your printer is on and PrOf when it's off.  Be sure
to connect the printer and put it on line before pressing <F5>.  It works just
like the ECHO key in TELCOM, except the label doesn't disappear when it's off!

The <F6> key is DirF.  Pressing it will show you both the directory of files in
RAM and how much free memory you have.   It will tell you it still has 369
bytes free when it aborts a download with an out-of-memory error.

The <F7> key is the Brk (break) key.  Brk will take you back to BASIC.  You
won't break the connection, unless you try to edit or kill a file.  With a
Disk/Video Interface you can use it to do an LFILES command.  Just type CONT to
continue.   You can make the other system pause with CTRL-S or PAUSE; continue
by pressing CTRL-Q.

The <F8> key is still Bye.

DOWNLOADING:

You can either download in the terminal character-by-character mode or with the
xmodem protocol.  When you press the <F2> download key, the program prompts you
with "Save to:".  Here call it anything you like as long as it's six letters or
less and isn't the name of an existing file.  The file you download will
overwrite an existing file of the same name instead of appending to it.  This
can be useful to kill a file no longer needed while you stay on line.

The next question is "Xmodem protocol?".  Answer N unless the other computer is
ready to send a file with the xmodem protocol.  If you type Y by mistake, just
press the <F8> key to abort.  While you're downloading without the xmodem
protocol, the <F2> key changes to @@@@.  To stop downloading just press <F2>
again.

To download with xmodem the other computer must be ready to use it too.  You
use the xmodem protocol to download by typing Y (without pressing the <ENTER>
key) at the xmodem protocol prompt.  The transfer begins with one or more
question marks.  It changes to one or more X's.  Then it finally becomes a
series of periods.

You can also download to cassette or Disk/Video Interface.

You can save a file to your printer by toggling the <F5> key to PrOn, whether
or not you're downloading it.  Press <F5> again to stop the printer.

UPLOADING:

Unlike downloading, the other system has to be ready to receive when you want
to upload a message or file.  When it's ready, press the <F3> Up key.  SXM.BA
prompts with the message for you to upload.  Type the name of the DOcument file
in your Model 100 with or without the DO extension.  The next question is
"Xmodem protocol?".  If you type N, SXM.BA prompts for Width.  This is the
maximum line length that the system you're sending to can accept.  On
CompuServe it's best to limit messages to 79-character lines.  Here is where
you format line width; the DOcument file in your Model 100 only needs carriage
returns for paragraphs.  You can even put a blank line between paragraphs
without aborting your upload.  Press <Enter> and the upload begins.

To upload with the xmodem protocol answer Y to the "Xmodem protocol?" prompt
without pressing <ENTER>.  Just like in downloading, the transfer starts with
questions marks and changes to X's.  It finally becomes a series of periods as
it successfully transfers blocks of data.  If you want to, you can abort either
type of upload by pressing the <F8> Abrt key.

You can also upload from cassette or Disk/Video Interface.

BYE:

After you log off from the other system, press the <F8> Bye key.  SXM.BA will
ask you if you want to disconnect.  Unless you pressed this key by mistake
while you're on line, answer with a Y (without pressing the <ENTER> key).  In a
second you'll be back at the MENU.

ERRORS AND CONFLICTS:

To download directly to or upload from a Chipmunk disk drive, you'll need a
special (slower) version of SXM.BA.  That version is called SXM.CHP.  It's also
available in Data Library 1.

SXM.BA (or any program that uses POKEs or CALLs) won't run from within the
Ultimate ROM II framework.

When SXM.BA must abort an operation it shows the relevant line number of the
program and the BASIC error code.  The Model 100 owner's manual lists these
codes on page 217.

If you abort the program while auto dialing, make sure the Model 100 has hung
up the phone.  If not, just press <RESET> at the back of the Model 100.
Otherwise, it could leave your phone off the hook.

OPTIONAL SOUND PATCH:

If you want SXM.BA to call you when you finally connect to a BBS, change line
78 and add line 79 as follows:

78 PRINT:PRINTU$" On line":Q$="mdm:7i1e":OPENQ$FORINPUTAS1:OPENQ$FOROUTPUTAS2
79 SOUND830,10:SOUND783,20:IFINKEY$=""THEN79ELSE32

You'll have to hold down a key to get the sound to stop (instead of just
pressing it).  On some BBSs letting the sound continue for more than a few
seconds will show several garbage characters on your screen.

DEVELOPMENT:

This program started with Rick Perry's Xmodem.312, which itself grew out of his
Xmodem.100.  Rich Young modified the program for the South Coast Model 100
Users Group in Santa Barbara county, California.  We use it to improve
communications with our BBS, Goleta OxGate [phone].  That's where Rich
first made it publicly available.  Rick Mendosa wrote this documentation.  Bye!