home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
kermit.columbia.edu
/
kermit.columbia.edu.tar
/
kermit.columbia.edu
/
archives
/
burroughs7800.zip
/
b78kerdoc.txt
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1988-08-16
|
17KB
|
397 lines
Burroughs KERMIT
Kermit is written for the Burroughs in ALGOL. In general, as much intel-
ligence as possible was put into Kermit-7800 to allow smooth communication
with even the most minimal Kermit implementations. Packet lengths are typi-
cally limited to 88 characters of data.
Burroughs file specifications are of the form:
(USERCODE)NAME1/NAME2/.../NAMEX
with up to 12 names, each containing up to 17 characters.
Most micros have file names of the form:
namename.ext
where namename may be up to 8 characters long and .ext is an optional
name extension up to 3 characters long.
For files transferred from the Burroughs, the filename sent is the name
following the final slash (ie. NAMEX in the example above). If the name fol-
lowing the slash is longer than 8 characters, a "." (period) will be inserted
after the 8th character. If the name is longer than 11 characters, it will be
truncated, eg.:
Burroughs filename : sent as :
(USERCODE)NAME1/.../LONGERTHAN11 longerth.an1
For files transferred to the Burroughs, if the filename contains any
'special characters' (as far as the Burroughs is concerned...) the filename on
the Burroughs disk will be enclosed in quotes. Special characters include
just about anything except alphanumeric characters and slashes. Refer to your
WFL manual for a precise definition.
Since the default character set on the Burroughs is EBCDIC, all text is
appropriately translated to/from ASCII by Kermit. Files written by Kermit are
translated to EBCDIC; files read by Kermit are translated to ASCII. There is
no provision for overridding this, but since a full 8-bit translate table is
used there is no loss of information. Kermit, by default, changes between
fixed and variable length records. Normally, trailing blanks are stripped off
of records transmitted by the Burroughs. Records received which are short
have trailing blanks added to produce fixed length records, and long records
are split into more than one fixed length record. These features are user con-
trollable with the SET FILE command.
Kermit-7800 must be run interactively and can be run only in remote mode.
All file transfer is done over the job's controlling terminal line. What Bur-
roughs presumes is that your terminal is really another computer running its
own copy of Kermit.
Kermit commands can be abbreviated using the minimum distinguishable
string. For example, as a command 'SE' could be 'SET' or 'SEND' and will pro-
duce an error; 'R' is sufficient for 'RECEIVE'. Abbreviations are context
- 2 -
sensitive. As a command, 'SE' is ambiguous; as an argument to 'STATUS' one can
abbreviate 'SEND' with 'S'. One can check for ambiguous abbreviations by
entering an abbreviation followed by '?' with no intervening space.
Here are the Kermit-7800 commands:
EXIT Exit from Kermit-7800, closing any open debugging log files. You
may also stop Kermit-7800 in the midst of a transfer or during
server operation by typing ?DS.
HELP Gives a list of command verbs. Typing <command> ? will give options
available for that command.
QUIT A synonym for EXIT.
RECEIVE Receive a file or group of files from other Kermit.
SEND <filespec1> <filespec2> ...
Send file(s) specified by <filespec1> <filespec2> ... to the other
Kermit. This command may be used to send files to any Kermit,
server or not.
You should escape back to your local Kermit and give the RECEIVE
command. If you don't do this fast enough, several "send-init"
packets may arrive prematurely; don't worry, Kermit-7800 will keep
sending them until it gets a response.
SERVER Act as a Kermit Server with default options, or with whatever
options have been established by previous SET commands. Note that
all options remain as long as the server is running -- there is no
way to change them without shutting down the server and restarting
with new options. The server may be shut down from the local Kermit
using a FINISH command, or by connecting back to the Burroughs and
typing ?DS. A FINISH command halts the server without logging off
CANDE.
SET <parameter> <value>
Set the specified parameter to the specified value. Some parameters
have their own parameters. Possible settings:
BINARY <value>
On some systems, transmitting 8 bit data over a typical
terminal line may result in corruption of the 8th bit.
Kermit uses "binary quoting" to indicate to the receiver
that a byte is to be stored with the high bit on. This
method involves extra overhead, and should only be used
when necessary to guarantee the integrity of the 8th bit
of your data.
ON Use "binary quoting" when transmitting bytes
with the high bit on.
- 3 -
OFF Do not send any "binary quotes" when transmit-
ting. The received value of the high bit is
assumed to be arbitrary. This is the default.
DEBUGGING <mode>
When KERMIT is not transferring files successfully, it may
be useful to inspect the messages that are sent between
the two Kermits, or the internal state transitions.
Several options are available.
STATES Shows the packet number and type or internal
state, for each packet. The packet types and
states are:
S Send Initiate
R Receive Initiate
F File Header
D Data
Z End of File
B Break Transmission
C Transfer Complete
E Error
A "Abort" Transmission
T Timeout
PACKETS Display the actual incoming and outgoing pack-
ets. For a description of the packet format,
see the Kermit Protocol Manual.
LOG-FILE <filespec>
Debugging display cannot be done to the screen
since Kermit-7800 cannot run in local mode.
This option allows the data to be logged to a
file. If a SET DEBUG command has not previously
been issued, this command will also force DEBUG-
GING mode to STATES. SET DEBUGGING OFF will
close the log file, as will the EXIT, BYE, and
FINISH commands. (This option is currently not
implemented completely. The log file is called
KERMIT/LOG and may not be changed via the
<filespec> but can be file-equated).
OFF No debugging information will be displayed. If
debugging was previously in effect, debugging is
turned off and any debugging log file is closed.
Debugging is OFF by default. The default <mode>
for the SET DEBUG command, however, is STATES.
DELAY <d>
Specify the delay, in seconds, before sending the first
send-init packet. This gives you time to "escape" back to
your local Kermit and issue a RECEIVE command. Normal
delay is 5 seconds.
- 4 -
FILE <parameter> <value>
File parameters allow Kermit to control some attributes of
the files being processed. FIXED applies only to files
being read. The rest apply to files being written.
BLOCK-SIZE <d>
This option sets the number of UNITS per block
for the receive file. Default BLOCK-SIZE is 420
(UNITS/block). Also see RECORD-SIZE and UNITS.
EXPAND-TABS <value>
Since not all software and hardware on the Bur-
roughs can deal with tabs this option allows one
to have tabs expanded into blanks. The tabs are
fixed at 8 columns per tab, and not modifiable
by Kermit. The default setting is ON, but set-
ting RAW will turn this option OFF.
ON Expand tabs into blanks.
OFF Store the tab characters received into
the output file.
FIXED <value>
Most Kermits deal with variable length records
on their host machines. In order to be compati-
ble with these systems, Kermit on the Burroughs
converts files from fixed length to variable
length records by stripping trailing blanks from
each record before transmitting. This also
helps reduce the number of bytes transmitted.
ON Do not strip tailing blanks. Send all
the data bytes.
OFF Do not transmit trailing blanks. This
is the default.
RAW <parameter>
The Burroughs tends to handle fixed-length
records more easily than variable-length
records. This option allows for receiving a
file and packing it into records regardless of
'end-of-line' characters.
ON Records are filled character-by-
character. A new record is started
only when the current record is full.
OFF Records are filled character-by-
character. A new record is started
each time a NL (newline) character is
received. This is the default.
- 5 -
RECORD-SIZE <d>
The Burroughs uses fixed-length records, usu-
ally. RECORD-SIZE sets the length in terms of
UNITS, for the receive file. Default RECORD-
SIZE is 15.
UNITS <type>
CHARACTERS -- The RECORD-SIZE and BLOCK-SIZE
receive file attributes are measured in charac-
ters (bytes).
WORDS -- The RECORD-SIZE and BLOCK-SIZE receive
file attributes are measured in Burroughs words
(48 bits/word). This is the default.
INCOMPLETE <disposition>
Normally, when a file transfer cannot be completed (for
instance, because the communication path suddenly breaks
or becomes too noisy), the side receiving the file nor-
mally "aborts" the operation -- that is, everything
received so far is discarded. This command allows the
user of Kermit-7800 to specify the disposition of par-
tially received files upon abnormal termination of a file
transfer:
DISCARD Remove all traces of the partially received file
from the Burroughs disk.
KEEP Keep the file on disk, containing all the data
that was transferred successfully up until the
error occurred. This option may be useful when
transferring very long files, when it is possi-
ble to have the sending system start again at
the place it was interrupted, e.g. by breaking
the end of the file off with a text editor.
This is the default.
RETRY <parameter> <d>
Set the maximum number of times Kermit-7800 will retry an
operation before giving up and terminating the transfer.
Parameters are INITIAL-CONNECTION and PACKETS. The normal
values are 20 and 10, respectively, but can be set higher
when the connection is noisy or other problems prevent a
transfer from completing successfully.
RECEIVE <parameter> <value>
SEND <parameter> <value>
These commands allow you to specify to the other Kermit what the
packets it sends should look like, or to inform this Kermit what to
expect.
END-OF-LINE <d>
The character the other Kermit should terminate its pack-
ets with, CR (ASCII 15) by default. Kermit-7800 does
- 6 -
require the "line terminator" to be a CR.
PACKET-LENGTH <d>
The longest packet the other Kermit may send. Legal
values are 10 to 94; the default is 94.
PADDING <d>, PADCHAR <d>
Inter-packet padding. The Burroughs does not need any
padding.
PAUSE <d>
When receiving a file, pause the specified number of
tenths of a second between receipt of a packet and sending
the ACK or NAK. Default is no pause.
QUOTE <char>
The character the other Kermit should use for quoting con-
trol characters, normally ASCII 43 ("#"). There should be
no reason to change this. Permissible values are 41 ("!")
to 176 ("~"), i.e. the ASCII characters in the printable
range.
START-OF-PACKET <d>
The character the other Kermit will be using to start its
packets. Normally ASCII 1 (SOH, CTRL-A). If the other
Kermit is incapable of transmitting an ASCII 1, you may
use this command to tell Kermit-7800 what character to
expect. Permissible values are 1 (CTRL-A) to 37 (CTRL-
Underscore).
TIMEOUT <d>
The minimum number of seconds after which the remote Ker-
mit should time out when waiting for a packet. You may
adjust this as necessary to accommodate various line
speeds, or to compensate for slow systems. Legal values
range from 1 to 94 seconds. The default is 5 seconds.
SHOW [parameter]
STATUS [parameter]
Show the settings of parameters that can be affected by the SET com-
mand, plus information about SEND or RECEIVE parameters. The param-
eter (SEND or RECEIVE) will determine which set is displayed. The
default is RECEIVE.