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File CKCKER.UPD, Supplement to "Using C-Kermit". -*- text -*-
As of C-Kermit version: 5A(190)
This file last updated: October 4, 1994
Authors: Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone
Address: Watson Laboratory, Columbia University Academic Information Systems,
612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025-7221, USA.
Phone: +1 212 854-5126
Fax: +1 212 662-6442 -- or -- +1 212 663-8202
E-Mail: kermit@columbia.edu
Copyright (C) 1985, 1994, Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New
York. The C-Kermit software may not be, in whole or in part, licensed or
sold for profit as a software product itself, nor may it be included in or
distributed with commercial products or otherwise distributed by commercial
concerns to their clients or customers without written permission of the
Office of Kermit Development and Distribution, Columbia University. This
copyright notice must not be removed, altered, or obscured.
------------------------------
WHAT IS IN THIS FILE
This file lists changes made to C-Kermit since version 5A(188) was released
and the first edition of the book "Using C-Kermit" was published. Use this
file as a supplement to "Using C-Kermit". If the "most recent update" shown
above is long ago, contact Columbia University to see if there is a newer
release.
For further information, also see the CKCKER.BWR ("C-Kermit beware") file for
hints, tips, tricks, restrictions, frequently asked questions, etc, plus the
system-specific "beware file", e.g. CKUKER.BWR for UNIX, CKVKER.BWR for VMS,
etc, and also any system-specific update files such as CKOKER.UPD for OS/2.
------------------------------
CONTENTS
I. C-KERMIT DOCUMENTATION: Information about the C-Kermit manual.
II. NEW FEATURES: Documentation for features added since 5A(188) --
(1) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
1.1. Command Retry, Recall, and Typeahead
1.2. The System-Wide Initialization File
1.3. The SET EXIT Command
(2) MAKING AND USING CONNECTIONS
2.1. Using the Services Directory
2.1.1. Login Macros
2.1.2. Connection Details
(3) TERMINAL CONNECTION
3.1. Auto Up- and Download
3.2. The CONNECT Command
3.3. The SET KEY Command
3.4. The SET TERMINAL Command
3.5. The SET TELNET Command
(4) FILE TRANSFER
4.1. File Transfer Recovery
4.1.1. The RESEND Command
4.1.2. Manual Recovery: The PSEND Command
4.2. Control-Character Unprefixing
4.3. Keyboard Cancellation of Packet Mode
4.4. New RECEIVE Command Features
4.5. Automatic Directory Creation
4.6. Pausing Between Packets
4.7. Fullscreen File Transfer Display Improvements
4.7.1. Thermometer
4.7.2. Repainting the Screen
4.8. Improved Status Codes
(5) NEW CLIENT/SERVER FEATURES
5.1. New REMOTE Commands
5.2. "WHATAMI" -- Making Kermit GET more like FTP GET
(6) INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER SETS
6.1. Hebrew File Transfer
6.2. Hebrew Terminal Emulation
6.3. The Hewlett Packard Roman8 Character Set
(7) SCRIPT PROGRAMMING
7.1. New IF Commands
7.2. New \v() Variables
7.3. New \f() functions
7.4. INPUT and OUTPUT Command Improvements
7.5. The New MINPUT Command
7.6. Other New or Improved Script Programming Commands
(8) EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS
8.1. The REDIRECT Command
8.2. New Macros
(9) NEW COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
III. APPENDICES
Appendix 1: UNIX C-KERMIT
Appendix 2: VMS C-KERMIT
Appendix 3: OS/2 C-KERMIT
Appendix 4: MACINTOSH KERMIT
Appendix 5: STRATUS VOS C-KERMIT
IV. ERRATA & CORRIGENDA: Corrections to "Using C-Kermit"
------------------------------
I. C-KERMIT DOCUMENTATION
The user manual for C-Kermit is:
Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone, "Using C-Kermit", Digital Press /
Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, MA, 1993, 514 pages, ISBN 1-55558-108-0
US single-copy price: $34.95; quantity discounts available. Available in
computer bookstores or directly from Columbia University:
Kermit Development and Distribution
Columbia University Academic Information Systems
612 West 115th Street
New York, NY 10025 USA
Telephone: (USA) +1 212 854-3703
Domestic and overseas orders accepted. Price: $34.95 (US, Canada, and
Mexico), $45 elsewhere. Orders may be paid by MasterCard or Visa, or
prepaid by check in US dollars. Add $35 bank fee for checks not drawn on
a US bank. Price includes shipping. Do not include sales tax.
Inquire about quantity discounts.
You can also order by phone from the publisher, Digital Press /
Butterworth-Heinemann, with MasterCard, Visa, or American Express:
+1 800 366-2665 (Woburn, Massachusetts office for USA & Canada)
+44 1865 314627 (Oxford, England distribution centre for UK & Europe)
+61 03 9245 7111 (Melbourne, Vic, office for Australia & NZ)
+65 356-1968 (Singapore office for Asia)
A German-language edition is also available:
Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone, "C-Kermit - Einfuehrung und
Referenz", Verlag Heinz Heise, Hannover, Germany (1994).
ISBN 3-88229-023-4. Deutsch von Gisbert W. Selke. Price: DM 90,00.
Verlag Heinz Heise GmbH & Co. KG, Helstorfer Strasse 7, D-30625 Hannover.
Tel. +49 (05 11) 53 52-0, Fax. +49 (05 11) 53 53-1 29.
The Kermit file transfer protocol is specified in:
Frank da Cruz, "Kermit, A File Transfer Protocol", Digital Press,
Bedford, MA, 1987, 379 pages, ISBN 0-932376-88-6.
US single-copy price: $29.95. Availability as above.
News and articles about Kermit software and protocol are published
periodically in the journal, Kermit News. Subscriptions are free; contact
Columbia University at the address above.
Online news about Kermit is published in the Kermit Digest and in the
comp.protocols.kermit newsgroup.
------------------------------
II. NEW FEATURES
Items are grouped together by major topic, roughly corresponding to the
chapters of "Using C-Kermit".
(1) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
1.1. Command Retry, Recall, and Typeahead
These features apply only when you are typing commands at the C-Kermit>
prompt, and not to command file or macro execution. They were added in
edit 190.
If you enter a command that contains a syntax error, C-Kermit now reprompts
you automatically with the portion of the command that was correct, so you
don't have to retype it. Example:
C-Kermit>set block-check oofa
?No keywords match - oofa
C-Kermit>set block-check _
"_" shows the position of the cursor after you are reprompted. At this
point, you can type question mark (?) to find out what is legal here, or you
can complete the command, or you can erase it with Ctrl-U, etc, just as if
you had retyped the initial words yourself. If you want to disable this
feature, tell C-Kermit to:
SET COMMAND RETRY OFF
C-Kermit versions that are built with the "DYNAMIC" memory allocation option
now support command recall (type "show features" and look for DYNAMIC and/or
CK_RECALL). C-Kermit saves your commands in a command recall (history)
buffer, which, by default, holds your last 10 commands. To recall your
previous command, type Ctrl-P (that is, hold down the Control or Ctrl key and
press the P or p key) or Ctrl-B. Type Ctrl-P (or Ctrl-B) again to recall the
command before that, and so on. If you try to go back too far, C-Kermit beeps
at you.
NOTE: In OS/2, you should use Ctrl-B rather than Ctrl-P because, at least in
certain kinds of sessions, depending on your system's configuration, Ctrl-P
is trapped by OS/2 itself as a "toggle printer" command, as in MS-DOS.
Each time you recall a command, it appears before you as if you had typed it
up to, but not including, the Enter (Carriage Return) that actually causes it
to execute. If you want to execute the command, press the Enter (Carriage
Return) key. If you want to edit it, use the editing keys, including Ctrl-U
to erase it.
When you are viewing recalled commands, you can also go forwards in the
command recall buffer by typing Ctrl-N. This is handy in case (for example),
you typed too many Ctrl-P's, and went back too far.
NOTE: In general, arrow keys (and mice, etc) can not be used for command
recall. Why? Because C-Kermit would have to grow to twice its size to
include all the operating-system, version, hardware, keyboard, and terminal
dependent code to make these devices work uniformly on all (or even some) of
the computers where C-Kermit runs. EXCEPTION: The up- and down-arrow keys
can be used in OS/2 to scroll up and down in the command recall buffer.
You can change the size of the command recall buffer to hold any number of
commands you like, subject to the memory limitations of your computer. The
command is:
SET COMMAND RECALL-BUFFER-SIZE number
where "number" is the number of commands you want to keep. The more you keep,
the more memory C-Kermit uses. If you enter a size of 0, the command recall
feature is disabled. Whenever you give the SET COMMAND RECALL-BUFFER-SIZE
command, your previous command history is lost. You can display the size of
your command recall buffer, as well as your COMMAND RETRY setting, with:
SHOW COMMAND
(Note: SET CMD and SHOW CMD are synonyms for SET COMMAND and SHOW COMMAND)
Typeahead is now permitted during entry of interactive commands. Typeahead is
not preserved, however, over execution of command files or macros, because
these might themselves require keyboard input, or might enter CONNECT or file
transfer protocol mode. Edit 190.
1.2. The System-Wide Initialization File
As of edit 190, C-Kermit can be configured to execute its initialization file
from a single system-wide directory, rather than requiring a copy in each
user's home directory. This is particularly important for UNIX; VMS C-Kermit
already had a facility for this. A common initialization file saves disk
space and management headaches. It is recommended that all the features of
the standard initialization file (dialing directory and services directory
setup, chaining to customization file, etc) be kept intact.
1.3. The SET EXIT Command
SET EXIT WARNING { ON, OFF } tells whether C-Kermit should issue a warning
message and require confirmation if an EXIT command, or a SET LINE (SET
PORT), SET HOST, or TELNET command is given and a connection (dialed or
network) still appears to be open, since any of these commands would close
the currently open connection. The default is OFF, meaning no warnings.
If SET EXIT WARNING is ON, a warning is issued if a network connection appears
to be open:
C-Kermit>exit
A network connection to foo.bar.edu might still be active.
OK to exit?
at which point you can type Yes or No.
You will also get a warning if the serial SET LINE device has the carrier (CD,
DCD) signal and C-Kermit has not been told to SET CARRIER OFF:
C-Kermit>set line /dev/acu
A serial connection might still be active on /dev/ttyh6.
OK to close?
Note that not all versions of C-Kermit have access to the carrier signal; if
your version of C-Kermit says "Modem signals not available" when you give a
SHOW COMM command, then SET EXIT WARNING ON will always warn you about a
possibly active serial connection when you try to exit after using a SET LINE
/ SET PORT connection.
SET EXIT STATUS <number> tells C-Kermit to use the given number as its program
exit (return) code. This lets the user set program return code without
actually having to exit; for example, the user can OR in various bits at
different times.
Display the SET EXIT values with SHOW EXIT. Edit 190.
(2) MAKING AND USING CONNECTIONS
2.1 Using The Services Directory
In the original release of C-Kermit, 5A(188), the services directory feature
was provided mainly as an illustration of how C-Kermit's script programming
language can be used to build handy communications tools, and so it was not
presented or explained until Chapter 13 of "Using C-Kermit", and therefore was
probably missed by a lot of readers (and users).
Since then, the services directory feature has proven to be quite useful in
its own right, and has also been improved in one small but important way.
Here is a brief nontechnical explanation.
The services directory is a plain-text file in your home directory, containing
one line, or "entry", for each service that you want to access. Each service
listed in your services directory can be connected to and logged in to
automatically, no matter whether this involves dialing up a modem, making a
network connection, or any other type of connection that C-Kermit can handle.
The name of the services directory file is .ksd in UNIX and OS-9, and
CKERMIT.KSD in OS/2, VMS, and elsewhere.
The services directory can be used only if you are also using the standard
C-Kermit initialization file.
Each line in the services directory has the following parts:
<name-of-entry> <login-macro-name> <username> <connection-details>
For example:
HP9000 unixlogin olga net tcp/ip hp.xyzcorp.com
where "HP9000" is the entry name, "unixlogin" is the login macro name,
"olga" is the username, and "net tcp/ip hp.xyzcorp.com" are the connection
details.
To use this entry, you would give the following command at the C-Kermit
prompt:
access hp9000
or:
access hp9000 xxxxxx
where "xxxxxx" is your password on the computer you will be accessing.
C-Kermit's ACCESS macro (defined in your C-Kermit initialization file) handles
the connection details: "net" means it's a network connection; "tcp/ip" tells
which type of network, and "hp.xyzcorp.com" tells the name or address (in this
case, the name) of the computer or service on the network. If you don't
supply a password to the ACCESS command, you are prompted for it. You do not
(can not, and should not) include passwords in your services directory file.
Here's another example, in which the connection is made by dialing a modem:
COMPUSERVE cislogin 765,4321 call hayes /dev/cua 2400 93,876-5432
Here, "COMPUSERVE" is the entry name, "cislogin" is the name of the login
macro, "765,4321" is your CompuServe user ID, and the connection details are:
"call hayes /dev/cua 2400 93,876-5432". "Call" means we will be making a
phone call; "hayes" tells which type of modem, "/dev/cua" is the name of the
device that modem is connected to, "2400" tells the communication speed, and
"93,876-5432" is the phone number to dial.
2.1.1. Login Macros
Each login macro looks for the appropriate prompts from the host or service
and responds accordingly with your username, password, and/or other
information, and then waits until it sees the main prompt of the host or
service, or other indication that you have been logged in successfully.
The following login macros are available in the standard C-Kermit
initialization file (.kermrc on UNIX and OS-9, CKERMIT.INI elsewhere):
UNIXLOGIN
For logging in to all types of UNIX systems: Solaris, HP-UX, Linux, IRIX,
DG/UX, NeXTSTEP, OSF/1, SunOS, etc etc. The default system prompt
(explained below) is "\13\10$\32"; that is, carriage return, linefeed,
dollar sign, space.
VMSLOGIN
For logging in to DEC VAX/VMS or OpenVMS systems. The default system prompt
is "\10\13$\32"; that is, linefeed, carriage return, dollar sign, space.
This macro can also be used for logging in to DG AOS/VS systems if you
specify a different prompt ("\13\10)\32"). NOTE: The VMSLOGIN macro has
been updated to account for new procedures for use with VMS 6.0 and/or 6.1,
while retaining comptability with earlier VMS releases.
VMLINELOGIN
For logging into IBM mainframes with VM/CMS over linemode connections.
VMFULLOGIN
For logging into IBM mainframes with VM/CMS over fullscreen connections.
CISLOGIN
For logging in to CompuServe.
DOWLOGIN
For logging in to Dow Jones News/Retrieval.
DJNRSPRINT
For logging in to Dow Jones News/Retrieval over SprintNet.
NOLOGIN
For accessing computers or services that do not require logging in.
Each login macro name must be followed by a username, even NOLOGIN.
For NOLOGIN, just include a "dummy" name, like "xxxx", that will not be used.
Other login macros can be easily constructed, modeled on those above. Read
Chapters 11-13 of "Using C-Kermit" for full instructions. If you add or
modify login macros, you should put their definitions in your C-Kermit
customization file (.mykermrc in UNIX and OS-9, CKERMOD.INI elsewhere).
There was a problem with the login macros in C-Kermit 5A(188-189), namely that
the system prompt was hard-coded into the macro. For example, the UNIXLOGIN
macro assumed that the UNIX shell prompt was "$ " (dollar sign followed by
space), but in many cases it might be something else, and the only way to
allow for different prompts was to edit the macro itself. In C-Kermit 5A(190)
and later, you may include the system prompt in your services directory by
grouping it together in curly braces with the login macro name:
{macroname prompt}
For example:
CSHELL {unixlogin \13\10%\32} olga net tcp/ip bsd.xyzcorp.com
CHEMISTRY {vmslogin \10\13CHEM$} OLGA net tcp/ip chemlab.xyzcorp.com
DG {vmslogin \13\10)\32} olga net tcp/ip aosvs.xyzcorp.com
The first example specifies the C-Shell prompt, "% ", rather than using the
default UNIX (Bourne Shell, K-Shell) prompt of "$ ". The second example
accesses a system that has a custom prompt. The third uses the VMSLOGIN macro
to access a Data General AOS/VS system by specifying the AOS/VS prompt, ") ",
since otherwise the Username: and Password: prompts are the same as for VMS.
The "backslash-number" notation is a way of including special (usually
nonprintable) characters in C-Kermit commands and files, explained on pages
21-22 of "Using C-Kermit". The number is the ASCII character number, such as
10 for linefeed, 32 for space.
2.1.2. Connection Details
The Connection Details part of a services directory entry starts with one
of the following words:
CALL - The connection is made with a phone call through a modem.
SERIAL - The connection is a direct (dedicated) serial connection.
NET - The connection is made on a network.
The subsequent information depends on the type of connection.
CALL must be followed by the following information, in this order:
1. The modem type (a valid SET MODEM value).
2. The name of the device on your computer that the modem is connected to.
3. The speed, in bits per second, at which to use the device.
4. The telephone number to dial. This can also be the name of an entry
in your dialing directory.
SERIAL must be followed by the following information, in this order:
1. The serial device name.
2. The communication speed.
NET must be followed by:
1. The network type: TCP/IP, X.25, DECNET, etc (a valid SET NET value).
2. The name or address of the host or service you want to connect to.
3. Additional network-specific information, like a service or socket number.
For TCP/IP network connections, you can include a socket number by appending
to the IP name or address with a colon, for example:
WEATHER nologin xxxx net tcp/ip madlab.sprl.umich.edu:3000
Create your services directory file using a text editor, as a plain-text
(ASCII) file. If you are using a word processor, be sure to save your
services directory as a plain text (ASCII) file.
To use your services directory, just type "access" and the service name at the
C-Kermit prompt, for example:
C-Kermit> access hp9000
olga's password: __________
To list your services directory, type "list" at the C-Kermit prompt. To look
up a particular services directory entry, type "list" and then the name, for
example "list hp9000".
(3) TERMINAL CONNECTION
3.1 Auto Up- and Download
As of edit 190, the OS/2, UNIX, and VMS versions of C-Kermit are able to
respond automatically to "autoupload", "autodownload", or auto-anything-else
directives from the remote computer during CONNECT mode. These directives
come in the form of an Application Program Command escape sequence, or APC.
The APC is sent by a host application to a terminal emulator, containing one
or more commands to be executed by the terminal emulation program. This
mechanism lets the host application software control your communications
software, allowing an unprecedented degree of automation and convenience.
Good uses for this feature include: (a) automatic communications, protocol,
terminal, keyboard, or other setups by the host application; (b) automatic
initiation of file transfer by the host application.
The form of an APC is "<ESC>_text<ESC>\", where "<ESC>" is ASCII character 27
(Escape), and "text" is a command or a list of commands separated by commas.
The APC sequence was originally defined by Digital Equipment Corporation for
its VT300-series and higher terminals.
There are two "ends" to an APC operation, and you need to understand how
to control each end. Let's call the application which sends an APC escape
sequence the "APC sender", and the application that receives it, and which is
supposed to execute the commands it contains, the "APC receiver".
Any host application can be an APC sender. To send an APC, all it needs to do
is display the desired commands on your terminal screen, enclosed in <ESC>_
and <ESC>\. C-Kermit 5A(189) (and later) has a command for doing this:
APC text
where the "text" is a command (or commands) for the APC receiver. Leading and
trailing spaces are removed from the text unless it is enclosed in braces:
APC { text }
Here's an example that sets MS-DOS Kermit parameters from the C-Kermit command
line. It assumes that C-Kermit is being accessed from MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 or
later, which is in CONNECT mode:
C-Kermit>apc set receive packet-length 2000, set window 4
This command causes C-Kermit to send the following characters to the terminal
(i.e. MS-DOS Kermit's terminal emulator):
<ESC>_set receive packet-length 2000, set window 4<ESC>\
MS-DOS Kermit recognizes the APC sequence, extracts the commands from it,
and processes them automatically, according to the rules listed below.
Here's an example in which you define and then execute a C-Kermit macro to
send a file from C-Kermit, causing MS-DOS Kermit to receive it automatically
without your having to escape back and type "receive". You do not need to
CONNECT again after the transfer is done, either; this too happens
automatically.
C-Kermit>define autosend apc receive, send \%1
C-Kermit>autosend oofa.txt
A macro is used because if you type APC RECEIVE at the C-Kermit prompt, MS-DOS
Kermit goes immediately into RECEIVE mode and you have no way to give the SEND
command to C-Kermit. Conversely, if you type the SEND command first, C-Kermit
goes into SEND mode, and you have no opportunity to give it an APC command.
When the macro (or a TAKE command file) is the source of commands, the
"Catch-22" is avoided because the keyboard is out of the picture.
The APC receiver can be:
. MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 or later
. C-Kermit 5A(190) for OS/2
. C-Kermit 5A(190) for UNIX
. C-Kermit 5A(190) for VMS
When one of these Kermit programs is in CONNECT mode, and an APC escape
sequence arrives, the commands it contains are executed if:
1. Terminal emulation is VT100, VT102, VT220, VT320, or ANSI, and:
2. SET TERMINAL APC is ON and the commands are not "dangerous", or:
3. SET TERMINAL APC is UNCHECKED.
After processing the APC sequence, whether its commands are executed or not,
the APC receiver returns to CONNECT mode automatically.
The C-Kermit initialization file defines several macros to let you take
advantage of the APC feature. They are to be used at the C-Kermit> prompt,
when you are accessing C-Kermit through an APC receiver. They include:
PCSEND <filespec> [ <as-name> ]
Sends the file or files from C-Kermit to the "PC" that's on your desk.
(Of course, the PC might also be a UNIX workstation, etc). If the <filespec>
does not contain wildcard characters (that is, it is the name of a single
file), you can include the optional "as-name" to send it under a different
name. The file or files are sent according to C-Kermit's current FILE TYPE
setting, text or binary (except in VMS, where VMS C-Kermit determines the
file type and transfer automatically for each file). In other words, the
PCSEND macro is exactly like the SEND command, except it automatically puts
your local Kermit program into RECEIVE mode, and then back into CONNECT mode
again when the transfer is complete. This process is sometimes referred to
as "autodownloading".
PCGET <filespec> [ <as-name> ]
This tells C-Kermit to get the specified file or files from your "PC".
It puts your local Kermit program into server mode, GETs the specified
files from it, then sends it a FINISH command and puts it back in CONNECT
mode automatically. The transfer type is governed by C-Kermit's current
FILE TYPE setting.
This process can be called "autouploading".
C-Kermit's response to APC sequences is controlled by the following command:
SET TERMINAL APC { ON, OFF, UNCHECKED }
The default setting is OFF, meaning that C-Kermit ignores APC sequences unless
you tell it otherwise. In the OS/2 version, they are harmlessly absorbed and
not displayed. In the UNIX and VMS versions of C-Kermit, they are passed
through transparently, in case you want them acted upon by your actual
terminal or terminal emulator.
To activate the APC feature, use:
SET TERMINAL APC ON
This allows execution of all commands received in APC sequences except those
considered dangerous, such as: PUSH, RUN, !, REDIRECT, DELETE, RENAME, OUTPUT,
ENABLE, DISABLE, SCRIPT, and SET TERMINAL APC. With this setting, for
example, it would not be possible for someone to send you a "letter bomb" or
screen message that contained an APC sequence to execute a command on your
computer (because RUN and ! are disabled). The commands allowed by SET
TERMINAL APC ON are only the ones which affect Kermit itself, including the
initiation of Kermit file transfers.
Should you want to enable APC execution off ALL commands, which can be
dangerous and is therefore not recommended unless you know exactly what you
are doing, you can:
SET TERMINAL APC UNCHECKED
Use UNCHECKED at your own risk.
Note that when TERMINAL APC is not OFF, the CONNECT command might run a bit
slower than when TERMINAL APC is OFF.
3.2. The CONNECT Command
The CONNECT command now has an optional "switch", /QUIETLY, to suppress the
verbose CONNECT message on versions of C-Kermit (such as UNIX, VMS, etc) that
normally give one:
C-Kermit>CONNECT /QUIETLY
or:
C-Kermit>C /Q
or even just:
C-Kermit C /
This switch has no effect on versions of C-Kermit that contain true terminal
emulators, such as the OS/2 and Macintosh versions.
3.3. The SET KEY Command
The SET KEY command now allows you to press the Return or Enter key after
the word KEY to be prompted for a keystroke and then a definition separately.
Using this form of the command lets you assign material to a key or key
combination without having to know its key code. After you press the key to
be assigned, you are shown its current definition, if any. You can cancel by
typing Ctrl-C, restore the default definition by pressing the Return or Enter
key, or enter a new definition. Example:
C-Kermit>set key
Press key:
Key code \16 => Character: \16 (self, no translation)
Definition: blah
C-Kermit>
NOTE: There are many changes and additions to the key mapping facility in
OS/2 C-Kermit. Please refer to the OS/2-specific update file for details.
3.4. The SET TERMINAL Command
SET TERMINAL DEBUG { ON, OFF }
SET TERMINAL DEBUG ON is a synonym for SET DEBUG SESSION.
SET TERMINAL DEBUG OFF turns off session debugging without interfering
with any other debugging that might be active (such as LOG DEBUG).
Session debugging status is displayed in the SHOW TERMINAL display.
Edit 190.
NOTE: There are numerous other new SET TERMINAL commands for OS/2 C-Kermit.
Please refer to the OS/2-specific update file for details.
3.4. The SET TELNET Command
SET TELNET NEWLINE-MODE { ON, OFF, RAW }
This command tells C-Kermit what to send during CONNECT mode on a TELNET
connection when you type Carriage Return (Return or Enter key). ON (the
default) means to send Carriage Return and Linefeed (CRLF); OFF means to
send Carriage Return and NUL (ASCII 0). The TELNET protocol Network Virtual
Terminal specification says that Carriage Return must always be followed by
LF or NUL. However, certain TCP/IP services do not like CRLF or CR-NUL,
and so in edit 190, the RAW option was added, which means to send CR as
itself, i.e. a plain carriage return.
(4) FILE TRANSFER
4.1. File Transfer Recovery
C-Kermit 5A(190) (the UNIX, OS/2, AOS/VS, and Amiga versions) and MS-DOS
Kermit 3.14 now have the ability to continue interrupted binary-mode file
transfers, and also allow you to "manually" recover from certain other types
of failures.
4.1.1. The RESEND Command
The new RESEND command lets you continue a file transfer from the point where
it was interrupted (for example, because of a telephone disconnection) without
having to retransmit the data that was already successfully transmitted.
Imagine, for example, transferring a ten-megabyte file over a 2400-bps modem
connection when, after 9 megabytes have been sent, your call-waiting feature
kicks in and drops the modem connection. 9 megabytes at 240 cps takes about
11 hours. The remaining megabyte would take about 1.2 hours. The recovery
feature lets you complete the failed transfer in the amount of time it takes
to send the as-yet-untranmsitted part of the file, rather than sending the
entire file again from the beginning -- in this example, a savings of 11
hours.
Before seeing how to use this feature, let's look at the restrictions:
1. Recovery works only for binary-mode transfers between computers that have
Kermit programs that support this feature. It does not work with any
other transfer modes, including text or labeled. In other words, if you
want to be able to use the recovery feature, you must tell the file sender
to:
SET FILE TYPE BINARY
In VMS, C-Kermit will switch to binary mode automatically if the file
has a fixed record format. You can also force binary-mode transfer in
VMS via SET FILE TYPE IMAGE.
2. The original transfer must have been done with SET FILE INCOMPLETE KEEP
in effect at the receiver, meaning that incompletely received files are
kept rather than discarded. In C-Kermit 5A(190) and later, this is the
default, which is a change from previous releases.
3. Recovery only works between two Kermit programs that have this capability
and negotiate it successfully. As of this writing, these programs include
C-Kermit 5A(190) and later for UNIX, OS/2, VMS, VOS, and the Commodore
Amiga, and MS-DOS Kermit 3.14 and later for DOS and Windows. (But see
below for a way around this.)
4. You should never use SET FILE COLLISION RENAME if you intend to use the
recovery feature (see the CKCKER.BWR file for an explanation).
Hint: You can also resend text files as long as you transfer them in binary
mode. You can transfer text files in binary mode as long as (a) both
computers represent text files in stream-CRLF format, and (b) you do not
need character-set translation.
To recover a failed upload: reestablish the connection, access the same
account and directory to which you were sending the file previously, start
Kermit there and put it in RECEIVE or SERVER mode. Then escape back to the
local Kermit program and give it these commands:
SET FILE TYPE BINARY
RESEND filename [ as-name ]
The RESEND command should use exactly the same names (and SET FILE NAME
options) as the SEND command that was interrupted. When you RESEND a file,
the receiving Kermit, upon getting the filename, looks up the file and gets
its size; it sends the size back to the sending Kermit, and the sending Kermit
resumes sending from that point; the receiving Kermit appends incoming
material to the partial file rather than creating a new file.
You can recover a failed download in the same way. Just make sure you are
accessing the same directories as before, and the files have (or are being
sent with) the same names as before.
The RESEND command ignores your SET FILE COLLISION setting; thus you need not
change your FILE COLLISION setting when RESENDing, and you will not find it
altered afterwards either. (But please, as mentioned earlier, do not use SET
FILE COLLISION RENAME if you ever intend to use the RESEND command.)
If the RESEND command is used, but a partial file of the same name does not
exist on the receiving end, RESEND behaves just like SEND -- it sends the
whole file. If the file on the receiving is the same size as the sender's
copy, RESEND does nothing; both files are left alone (exception: when VMS
C-Kermit is receiving a resend, it will replace the file's final block).
These properties let you resume the interrupted transfer of a group of files.
Suppose you had originally done this:
Receiver: Sender:
SET FILE INCOMPLETE KEEP SET FILE TYPE BINARY
RECEIVE (or SERVER) SEND *.ZIP
and the phone hung up in the middle of one of the ZIP files. Just reestablish
the connection, and recover this way:
Receiver: Sender:
SET FILE INCOMPLETE KEEP SET FILE TYPE BINARY
RECEIVE (or SERVER) RESEND *.ZIP
The files that were already sent are skipped, the file that was partially
sent is recovered, and the files that were not sent yet are sent.
In order for the recovery feature feature to be useful at all, the default for
SET FILE INCOMPLETE was changed from DISCARD to KEEP when the RESEND command
was added in edit 190. Otherwise an interrupted transfer would leave no
partial file behind unless you had remembered to change the default. But now
you have to pay closer attention to Kermit's messages to know whether a
transfer succeeded or failed -- previously, if it failed, the file would not
show up on the receiving end at all; in edit 190 and later, you'll get a
partial file which could easily be mistaken for the complete file unless you
change the default back to DISCARD or read the screen messages, or keep a
transaction log.
Watch out for SET FILE COLLISION RENAME, especially when used in conjunction
with recovery. Recall that this option (which is NOT the default) renames
the incoming file if a file already exists with the same name (the default is
to rename the previously existing file, and store the incoming file with its
own name). It is strongly recommended that you do not use SET FILE COLLISION
RENAME if you ever intend to use the recovery feature:
. When the file is first received by C-Kermit, its name will be changed if
another file already has the same name. When you RESEND the same file
after a failure, C-Kermit will probably try to append the re-sent portion
to the wrong file.
. Assuming that you get RESEND to work with FILE COLLISION RENAME, C-Kermit,
when receiving the remainder of the file during a RESEND operation, will
report back the wrong name. Nothing can be done about this because the
name is reported back before the receiving Kermit program finds out that
it is a recovery operation.
Using RESEND, you can write a script program to REALLY, REALLY send a file.
Here is a sample, in which we dial up to a UNIX computer and send the MS-DOS
Kermit distribution ZIP file. This script program runs under C-Kermit 5A(190)
or later on OS/2 (and with a change in the dialout device name, under UNIX
too), and under MS-DOS Kermit 3.14 or later. If the transfer fails, we
reestablish the connection and restart the transfer from the point of failure,
as many times as it takes to get the file across.
---(cut here)---
ask \%u { username: }
askq \%p { \%u's password: }
;
; Settings for entire session.
;
define \%s 20 ; Seconds to pause between each try
define \%n 7654321 ; Phone number
set modem hayes ; Modem type
set port com1 ; Communication port (use /dev/whatever for UNIX)
set speed 19200 ; Speed
set file type binary ; File transfer mode must be binary
set input timeout quit ; This is just to keep the script program short...
set count 50 ; Try up to 50 times to send the file
goto nomsg ; Skip message the first time
:LOOP ; Come here to redial
hangup ; Give the phone a rest
echo CONNECTION BROKEN.
echo Pausing for \%s seconds...
sleep \%s
Echo redialing...
:NOMSG
dial \%n ; Dial the phone number
if fail goto AGAIN ; Keep trying...
output \13 ; System answered, send a carriage return
input 15 login: ; Get login prompt
output \%u\13 ; Send user ID
input 8 Password: ; Get password prompt
output \%p\13 ; Send password
input 60 {$ } ; Get system prompt
cd /kermit ; CD to desired source directory
output cd mskermit\13 ; and destination directory
input 8 {$ } ; Get system prompt
out kermit -r\13 ; kermit -r(eceive) on remote system
input 10 KERMIT READY ; Wait for READY message
pause 1 ; Plus a second for safety
resend msvibm.zip ; RESEND the file
if success goto done ; Success means file is completely transferred
:AGAIN
if count goto LOOP ; Otherwise, try again.
Stop 1 Too many tries. ; Too many tries, give up.
:DONE
echo File transferred OK ; Success, give message
output exit\13 ; Log out from remote computer
pause 5 ; Give it time...
hangup ; Hang up
stop 0 Script succeeded ; Finished, the end.
---(cut here)---
4.1.2. Manual Recovery: The PSEND Command
The PSEND ("partial send") command is like the SEND command, but it begins
sending from a specified position in the file:
PSEND <filename> <position> [ <as-name> ]
<filename> must refer to a single file, not a file group. <position> is the
byte position in (offset into) the file; 0 means the beginning, 1000 means the
1001st byte. As with the SEND command, the file is sent under its own name
unless you specify an "as-name". Unlike RESEND, PSEND can be used for both
text and binary transfers, and no special capabilities are required of the
Kermit program on the receiving end. The PSEND command can be viewed as part
of a "do-it-yourself" recovery feature to be used when the other Kermit
program does not support recovery. For example, suppose you were sending a
file called OOFA when the connection hung up, and that the receiving Kermit
program had been instructed to keep incompletely received files (SET FILE
INCOMPLETE KEEP). If the transfer was in binary mode, you could note the
length of the partial file on the receiving end; let's say it was 123456.
Then tell the file receiver to:
SET FILE COLLISION APPEND
RECEIVE
and tell the sender to:
SET FILE TYPE BINARY
PSEND OOFA 123456
If the receiver does not support SET FILE COLLISION APPEND, you could just
use PSEND to create a new file:
SET FILE TYPE BINARY
PSEND OOFA 123456 OOFA.NEW
and then, after the transfer is complete, join the two pieces together on
the receiving end, using a system command or utility.
4.2. Control-Character Unprefixing
This feature allows you to improve C-Kermit's file transfer performance on
connections that you know are transparent to certain control characters. It
lets you tell C-Kermit exactly which control characters need to be prefixed
and encoded, and which ones can be transmitted "bare" when sending files.
SET { SEND, RECEIVE } CONTROL-PREFIX <code>
Sets the control-character prefix which C-Kermit uses to the ASCII character
represented by the numeric <code>. The <code> must be in the range 33-63 or
96-126. Normally it is 35 (#, number sign). SEND is the one that C-Kermit
should use in packets it is sending. RECEIVE should normally never be used,
except to override some kind of protocol negotiation foulup with a buggy
commercial or shareware Kermit implementation.
Synonym: SET { SEND, RECEIVE } QUOTE.
SET CONTROL-CHARACTER UNPREFIXED { <code>..., ALL }
Says you think it's safe to include the control character represented by
<code> without prefixing in packets which C-Kermit sends. The <code> is the
numeric ASCII code for a control character, 1-31, 127-159, or 255. For
example, linefeed (code 10) is normally sent as two printable characters,
#J. SET CONTROL UNPREFIXED 10 lets linefeed be sent literally. Include the
word ALL to unprefix all control characters (except 0). Or you can specify
a list of one or more numeric values, separated by spaces, e.g.:
SET CONTROL UNPREFIXED 2 4 5 18 20
If you can safely declare a lot of control characters to be UNPREFIXED, you
can send binary files (esp. precompressed ones) up to about 20-25% faster.
If you include a control character in this category that causes trouble,
however, the transfer will fail, so experimentation is necessary. This
command will not let you "unprefix" the NUL character (0), nor the following
characters if C-Kermit's current FLOW-CONTROL setting is XON/XOFF: 17, 19,
145, 147. Nor can you unprefix character 255 on a TELNET connection (if
C-Kermit *knows* it's a TELNET connection).
SET CONTROL-CHARACTER PREFIXED { <code>..., ALL }
Says that the given control character(s) must be prefixed in Kermit packets.
By default, all control characters, 0-31, 127-159, and 255, are prefixed.
SHOW CONTROL-PREFIXING
Displays the current control prefix and a table of all control-character
values, showing 1 for each one that will be prefixed and 0 for each one that
will not be prefixed.
SET REPEAT PREFIX <code>
Sets the repeat-count prefix to the ASCII character represented by the
numeric <code>. Normally it is 126 (tilde). The <code> must be in the
range 33-63 or 96-126.
SET REPEAT COUNTS { OFF, ON }
Turns the repeat-count compression mechanism off and on. REPEAT COUNTS are
ON by default. Turn them OFF in case they cause trouble when used against a
faulty Kermit implementation in a shareware or commercial communications
program. Or when transferring precompressed files (like .ZIP or .Z files),
since it is very rare to find runs of repeated characters, and disabling the
repeat-count mechanism frees another character from prefixing, thus
resulting in slightly more efficient transfers.
The purpose of the SET CONTROL UNPREFIX command is to UNILATERALLY configure
C-Kermit to skip prefixing and printable encoding of selected control
characters to achieve higher performance when sending files. This feature
takes advantage of the fact that most Kermit programs will accept control
characters within packet data-fields literally, provided they get through at
all, and provided they do not have a special meaning to the receiving Kermit
program (such as, in many cases, the packet-start and packet-end characters).
There is no protocol negotiation between the two Kermit programs to determine
a "safe set" of control characters, and in fact any such negotiation would be
largely meaningless, because in most cases the two Kermit programs don't have
all the needed information. For example, there might be a terminal server or
PAD between them that is sensitive to a particular control character, even
though the two Kermit programs are not.
If you include in your SET CONTROL UNPREFIXED list one or more control
characters that are unsafe, any of several things might happen:
1. Transfer of any file containing these characters will fail.
2. The receiving Kermit program might be interrupted or halted.
3. Your connection might become hung, stuck, or broken. For example because
a control character causes a PAD, terminal server, modem, or similar
device to go from online mode to command mode.
The set of safe control characters depends on the two Kermit programs, their
settings, the host operating systems and their settings, the communication and
flow control methods, and all the devices, drivers, and protocols that lie
between the two Kermit programs. Therefore, this feature is recommended only
for use on well-known and often-used connections, so the time invested in
finding an optimal unprefixed control-character set will pay off over many
file transfers.
You must be willing to experiment in order to achieve the optimal safe set.
Here is one way. Create a short file containing all 256 possible bytes in
sequence and also in pairs, as well as several text strings surrounded by
CRLFs; for example, compile and run the following program, redirecting its
output to a file:
---(cut here)---
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int i;
puts("\r\n256-byte test pattern:\r\n");
for (i = 0; i < 256; i++) putchar(i); /* singles */
puts("\r\n256-double-byte test pattern:\r\n");
for (i = 0; i < 256; i++) { putchar(i); putchar(i); } /* in pairs */
puts("\r\nEnd of test patterns\r\n");
}
---(cut here)---
To send the file to MS-DOS Kermit from either C-Kermit or MS-DOS Kermit,
try the following settings:
SET CONTROL UNPREFIXED ALL ; Turn prefixing off for all but 0
SET CONTROL PREFIXED 1 ; Turn it back on for packet-start character
SET CONTROL PREFIXED 129 ; and 8-bit version thereof
(HINT: Abbreviate SET CON U and SET CON P)
Or to send the file from MS-DOS Kermit to C-Kermit, tell MS-DOS Kermit to:
SET CON U ALL ; Turn prefixing off for all
SET CON P 0 ; Turn it back on for NUL
SET CON P 3 ; and for Ctrl-C
SET CON P 131 ; as well as Ctrl-C + parity bit
NOTE 1: 3 and 131 normally need not be prefixed when sending to C-Kermit
5A(190) or later, nor to 5A(189) if you have SET TRANSFER CANCELLATION OFF.
NOTE 2: 1 and 129 need not be prefixed when sending files *to* C-Kermit, but
must be prefixed when sending files to MS-DOS Kermit.
NOTE 3: 13 (carriage return, the customary packet terminator) normally need
not be prefixed when sending files to either C-Kermit or MS-DOS Kermit,
except on a TELNET connection (because TELNET servers are likely to change
CRLF into CR).
Try to send the test file in binary mode. If it works, fine. If not, try
prefixing some of the other likely control characters (see below). Once you
find the minimum set of prefixed control characters for the test file, it is
likely they will also work for any other file on the same connection. Try
sending a large precompressed (e.g. ZIP or .Z or GZIP) file. And, of course,
for maximum performance, also use a window size greater than 1 (say, 3) and a
packet length of 1000 or more.
Under ideal conditions (totally transparent and clean serial connection, no
Xon/Xoff, and C-Kermit has been told to SET TRANSFER CANCELLATION OFF, see
below), the minimum set of control characters that need to be prefixed is:
SENDER RECEIVER PREFIXED CONTROLS
MS-DOS Kermit MS-DOS Kermit 1 129
MS-DOS Kermit C-Kermit 0
C-Kermit MS-DOS Kermit 0 1 129
C-Kermit C-Kermit 0
For example, to set up C-Kermit to unprefix the minimum set of prefixed
control characters for sending files to MS-DOS Kermit, tell C-Kermit to:
SET FLOW NONE ; Or SET FLOW RTS/CTS
SET CONTROL UNPREFIX ALL
SET CONTROL PREFIX 1 129 ; C-Kermit always prefixes character 0
When the mininum set doesn't work, consult this list of control characters
that are apt to cause trouble and are therefore likely candidates for
prefixing. In particular, note that unprefixing of the packet-start character
(normally 1 and 129), can cause problems when sending to C-Kermit if the
communication link (including device input buffers) is noisy or apt to lose
characters.
set con p 0 ; Ctrl-@ = NUL, internal string terminator in C-Kermit.
; Also, often discarded as padding.
set con p 1 ; Ctrl-A = Packet-start character.
set con p 3 ; Ctrl-C = Packet breakout for remote-mode C-Kermit,
; packet breakout for server-mode MS-DOS Kermit,
; likely to cause interruptions on other systems.
set con p 13 ; Ctrl-M = Carriage return, packet-end character.
; Always prefix on TELNET connections.
set con p 14 ; Ctrl-N = Shift Out
set con p 15 ; Ctrl-O = Shift In
set con p 16 ; Ctrl-P = Commonly-used X.25/X.3 PAD escape character
set con p 17 ; Ctrl-Q = XON, must be prefixed with Xon/Xoff flow control
set con p 19 ; Ctrl-S = XOFF, must be prefixed with Xon/Xoff flow control
set con p 27 ; Ctrl-[ = ESC, prefix if going through some kind of ANSI device
set con p 28 ; Ctrl-\ = CONNECT-mode escape for C-Kermit
set con p 29 ; Ctrl-] = CONNECT-mode escape for TELNET
set con p 30 ; Ctrl-^ = Cisco terminal server escape.
set con p 127 ; Ctrl-? = DEL, often discarded as padding.
; Also becomes TELNET IAC if parity bit is added.
set con p 128 ; = NUL + 128 (i.e. NUL + parity bit)
set con p 129 ; = Ctrl-A + 128
set con p 131 ; = Ctrl-C + 128
set con p 141 ; = CR + 128
set con p 145 ; = XON + 128
set con p 147 ; = XOFF + 128
set con p 255 ; 255 = TELNET IAC, must be prefixed on TCP/IP TELNET connections
INCLUDING TELNET connections through terminal servers!
Note, by the way, that nothing special need be done for SLIP connections,
since the four special SLIP characters are in the G1 printable range:
192 SLIP END character
219 SLIP ESC character
220 SLIP END quote
221 SLIP ESC quote
Here is a suggested (conservative) starting point for experimenting with
control-character unprefixing. Tell the file sender to:
SET CONTROL UNPREFIX ALL
SET CONTROL PREFIX 0 1 3 13 17 19 127 129 131 141 145 147 255
Perhaps some of these can be removed, depending on the connection, and maybe
others need to be added. If you are going through a terminal server or an
intermediate Kermit or TELNET program, also add the appropriate escape
character values (bare, and plus 128).
PREFIXING NOTES:
If C-Kermit or MS-DOS Kermit has initiated a TELNET connection, prefixing of
255 (TELNET IAC) is forced automatically.
IMPORTANT WARNING: When you have a TELNET connection through a
terminal server, neither one of the Kermit programs knows that
it's a TELNET connection, and in this case unprefixing of 255 is
NOT automatically disabled. This can cause file transfer failures.
When in doubt, do not unprefix 255.
Kermit will not let you unprefix XON (17), XOFF (19), XON+128 (145), or
XOFF+128 (147) if its FLOW-CONTROL setting is XON/XOFF. If you want to
unprefix these, make sure *both* Kermits have first been told to SET FLOW
NONE (or RTS/CTS), and that XON/XOFF flow control is not in effect anywhere
along the communication path between the two Kermits.
When sending files to C-Kermit 189 or earlier, and C-Kermit is in remote
mode, you should normally tell the file sender to SET CONTROL PREFIX 3 and
SET CONTROL PREFIX 131, because C-Kermit 189 and earlier (by default) takes
two Ctrl-C's (3 or 131) in a row as cancellation of packet-mode. However,
you can UNPREFIX these characters if you know your files do not contain two
Ctrl-C's in a row, or if you tell C-Kermit to SET TRANSFER CANCELLATION OFF,
or SET TRANSFER CANCELLATION ON <code> <number> when you know that <number>
copies of <code> do not occur in a row in the data. When sending files to
edit 190 of C-Kermit and later, you can leave 3 and 131 unprefixed unless you
have disabled repeat-count compression.
4.3. Keyboard Cancellation of Packet Mode
When C-Kermit is in remote mode and in packet mode, the user no longer has
normal control of the terminal. Characters typed at the keyboard do not
echo, commands have no effect, etc. This is because C-Kermit is trying to
read file-transfer protocol packets from your local Kermit program. If you
have put C-Kermit into packet mode by giving a SEND, RECEIVE, SERVER, BYE,
or similar command, but you did not mean to do this, or you do not have a
local Kermit handy to exchange packets with (for example, because you
neglected to give a SET LINE or SET HOST command first), you can force
C-Kermit back to its prompt by typing a special sequence of characters.
By default, the packet-mode interruption character is Control-C (ASCII 3). In
edits 189 and earlier, two consecutive copies of this character were required
to get out of packet mode, and the parity bit was always ignored. In edit 190
and later, three copies are required by default, and the parity bit is ignored
if C-Kermit's PARITY setting is not NONE.
On noisy connections, two or three Control-C's might show up as noise; or you
might want to allow C-Kermit to accept Control-C characters literally in data
packets during file transfer. The following command lets you control this
feature:
SET TRANSFER CANCELLATION { OFF, ON [ <code> [ <number ] ] }
OFF turns off the packet-mode cancellation feature, preventing escape from
packet mode except by normal protocol operations: completion, timeout, error
packet, etc. USE WITH CAUTION.
ON enables this feature. The optional <code> is the ASCII code for the
control character (0 through 31 or 127) to be used for interruption (the
default is 3 = Ctrl-C), and the optional <number> is the number
of consecutive copies of the character required to cause interruption. For
example, "SET XFER CANCEL ON 6 5" tells C-Kermit to break out of packet mode
upon receipt of 5 consecutive Ctrl-F (ASCII 6) characters. Note that the
parity bit is ignored for this purpose, so (for example) 3 and 131 are
treated the same.
If you SET TRANSFER CANCELLATION OFF, you might still need a manual method of
getting remote-mode C-Kermit out of packet mode. This can be accomplished by
escaping back to your local Kermit and giving a RECEIVE command, then typing E
(or Ctrl-E) to send an error packet. Or just type the following Kermit packet:
<Ctrl-A># E* <-- This is a "fatal error" packet.
If the remote Kermit is in server mode, you can send a FINISH command, or if
you don't have a local Kermit to escape back to, type:
<Ctrl-A>$ GF4 <-- This is a FINISH command packet, for the server.
The SET TRANSFER CANCELLATION command was installed for the UNIX, VMS, and DG
versions of C-Kermit 5A(189). Use SHOW PROTOCOL to find out the current
settings. It has affect only when C-Kermit is in remote mode; when C-Kermit
has been used to establish a connection to another computer (i.e. when
C-Kermit is in local mode), this feature is inactive -- there is no need for
it because you have control of the program via the file-transfer interruption
characters (X, Z, C, E, etc).
In edit 190, the default number of packet-mode cancellation characters was
raised from two to three. That is, if you are looking at a remote C-Kermit in
packet mode, and have no other way to get back to the C-Kermit> prompt, you'll
have to type three consecutive Control-C's (or whatever your transfer
cancellation character is), instead of two, by default. This was done to
allow SET CONTROL UNPREFIX n (where n = the ASCII code for the cancellation
character) to work, even with the default TRANSFER CANCELLATION settings;
three or more consecutive copies of any character are transformed by Kermit
protocol into a repeat count plus one copy of the character, thus preventing
three consecutive Control-C's from appearing as data in a Kermit packet,
provided the other Kermit supports repeat-count compression (all popular
Kermit implementations do) and it has been successfully negotiated (which it
will be unless you take special measures to prevent it; see SET REPEAT above).
4.4. New RECEIVE Command Features
In edit 190 and later, the RECEIVE command can accept a device or directory
name as an argument, and all incoming files will go into the specified device
or directory under the names they were sent with. If the argument is not
a device or directory name, it is treated as before: as a name under which to
store the (first) incoming file. This change also affects the '-a' ("as-name")
command-line option.
This feature depends on the symbol CK_TMPDIR being defined at compile time,
plus the supporting code for each operating system. Type SHOW FEATURES to see
if CK_TMPDIR is defined in your version. As of edit 190, this feature is
available in the UNIX, OS/2, and VMS versions of C-Kermit.
4.5. Automatic Directory Creation
File names are treated according to the SET FILE NAMES command (see p.114 of
"Using C-Kermit"), CONVERTED (the default) or LITERAL. SET FILE NAMES LITERAL
means:
. When sending files, put the filespec into the outgoing file header packet
exactly as the user typed it. What happens on the receiving end is
entirely up to the receiver.
. When receiving files, use the file specification from the incoming file
header exactly as given, so if it happens to include a device or directory
specification, C-Kermit attempts to use it, and if the device and/or
directory does/do not exist or are not write-accessible, the transfer fails.
SET FILE NAMES CONVERTED, which is the default, transforms outgoing filenames
by (a) removing device, directory, and other "extraneous" information, (b)
uppercasing all lowercase letters, (c) making sure there is no more than one
period, and (d) translating all "uncommon" characters to X's.
A new command allows us to strike a compromise between these two methods:
SET { SEND, RECEIVE } PATHNAMES { ON, OFF }
SET SEND PATHNAMES ON means to leave pathnames ON outbound file names, which
is the default for compatibility with earlier behavior. Note, however, that
PATHNAMES are always stripped from outbound filenames when FILE NAMES are
CONVERTED, and in OS/2, disk letters are always stripped.
SET SEND PATHNAMES OFF means to strip OFF path information, leaving only the
file's name. SET SEND PATHNAME applies only to the filename given directly to
a SEND or MSEND command, and not to the "as-name", which is always sent
literally and without modification, regardless of SEND PATHNAME or FILE NAMES
settings.
SET RECEIVE PATHNAMES applies to the filenames in incoming file header
packets; ON means to leave the name alone and attempt to use it as-is, OFF
means to attempt to strip the path information ON THE ASSUMPTION that any path
information found there would be in the notation of the local file system, and
therefore recognizable. If not, the results are unpredictable; for example,
if a file called MYVAX::DUA0:[OLAF.PICS]MONA_LISA.GIF;17 arrives on a UNIX
system, UNIX C-Kermit can not be expected to distinguish the path information
from the name (it is a general principle of communication protocols that a
particular computer must not be expected to understand the conventions and
formats of some other kind of computer).
In VMS, UNIX, and OS/2, SET RECEIVE PATHNAMES has an additional meaning: If the
incoming file name contains directory information (such as [.KERMIT]OOFA.TXT,
kermit/oofa.txt, or C:\TEXT\LETTERS\ANGRY\OOFA.TXT) -- either absolute or
relative, then, if the named directory, or any of its ancestors, does not
exist, Kermit attempts to create it (or them) before opening the output file.
For example, suppose your current directory (in UNIX) is /usr/olga/budget, and
a file arrives under the name "aaa/bbb/ccc/ddd/bankrupt.txt", and that the
/usr/olga/budget/aaa directory already exists, but it does not have a bbb
subdirectory. Then Kermit will create the bbb subdirectory, and then the ccc
subdirectory under bbb, and then the ddd subdirectory under ccc, and then it
will store the bankrupt.txt file in the /usr/olga/budget/aaa/bbb/ccc/ddd
directory.
In UNIX, tilde notation for usernames (like "~olga") is recognized, and any
directories that are created inherit the permissions of their parents, and the
owner and group of the user who is running the Kermit program. Naturally,
directory creation fails if the user lacks the appropriate permissions.
Directory creation fails in OS/2 if a disk letter is included for a
nonexistent or non-writable disk.
Use SHOW FILE to display the SEND/RECEIVE PATHNAME settings.
4.6. Pausing Between Packets
The new command:
SET { SEND, RECEIVE } PAUSE <number>
tells C-Kermit to pause the given number of milliseconds (thousandths of
seconds) before sending each packet. This might be necessary when
communicating with certain devices or over certain kinds of connections.
Don't use this except as a final resort, since it slows transfers down. SHOW
PROTOCOL displays the current setting. SET SEND PAUSE and SET RECEIVE PAUSE
do exactly the same thing. Edit 190.
4.7. Fullscreen File Transfer Display Improvements
4.7.1. Thermometer
Versions of Kermit that support SET FILE DISPLAY FULLSCREEN now are able to
show a file-transfer "thermometer" (percent bar-graph) to graphically
represent the progress of the file transfer. It can be explicitly selected or
deselected via the new trailing argument to this command:
SET FILE DISPLAY FULLSCREEN { THERMOMETER, NO-THERMOMETER }
A running display of the transfer speed in characters per second (CPS) is also
shown; it is computed once per second as the total actual file characters
transferred so far versus elapsed time.
4.7.2. Repainting the Screen
On multiuser operating systems like UNIX and VMS, it is possible for messages
to be sent to your terminal screen while Kermit is in the middle of
transferring a file. If you are using the fullscreen file transfer display,
this will jumble the formatting. C-Kermit has no way to know this has
happened. In edit 190 and later, however, you can make C-Kermit clear and
repaint the file transfer display screen by typing Ctrl-L (or L or R or r)
while the display is active. Control-W is also accepted for this purpose.
This will result in either a full or partial reconstruction of the display,
depending on the underlying operating system. Edit 190.
4.8. Improved Status Codes
Like most other C-Kermit commands, file transfer commands such as SEND,
RECEIVE, GET, etc, return a status code for use with IF SUCCESS, IF FAILURE,
etc. Prior to edit 190, these codes were not always accurate. In particular,
if a file was rejected (for any reason at all) via the attribute refusal
mechanism, success was always indicated. In edit 190, the status codes have
been improved as follows:
. If the transfer completes successfully, the status is success.
. If a file is refused via the attribute refusal mechanism, the status
is failure UNLESS the reason was "date" or "name", in which case the
file was not transferred because it was already there (SET FILE
COLLISION UPDATE or DISCARD), and so the transfer is considered successful.
. It the transfer terminates with an error (E packet), loss of connection,
etc, the status is failure.
You can use SHOW STATUS after any command to test its success or failure.
Also, the \v(status) variable is set to 0 if the most recent command
succeeded, and to a nonzero value if it failed.
(5) NEW CLIENT/SERVER FEATURES
5.1. New REMOTE Commands
The following features are all new to edit 190.
REMOTE PWD
Allows the client to ask for the server's current directory in
system-independent way. Formerly, this could only be done via system-
dependent REMOTE HOST commands. The response is displayed on the screen.
REMOTE SET FILE TYPE { TEXT, BINARY, LABELED }
The LABELED option has been added to this command in the VMS and OS/2
versions only. Also, the file type specified in this command also takes
effect locally. Previously, it was only sent to the server. Edit 190.
REMOTE QUERY { KERMIT, SYSTEM, USER } <name>
Asks the server to send the value of the variable of the given type that has
the given name. If the query succeeds, the value is displayed on your
screen and it is also stored in a local read-only Kermit variable, \v(query)
If the query fails, an error message is printed and the \v(query) variable
is set to the empty string.
In C-Kermit and MS-DOS Kermit, "KERMIT" variables are the \v(name) kind,
such as \v(time), \v(version), \v(date), etc. "SYSTEM" variables are DOS or
UNIX environment variables, such as PATH, USER, HOME, or VMS logical names,
etc. USER variables are everything else -- \%a-z, \%1-9, and macro names
used as long variable names.
The <name> of a KERMIT or SYSTEM variable must be given in an
implementation-independent format without special syntax, e.g. TIME, DATE,
VERSION, PATH, USER, etc, rather than (say) \v(time), \$(PATH). However,
in most cases, case matters in system variables. The <name> of a USER
variable is given in the syntax of the server, e.g. \%a.
Examples:
C-Kermit>remote query kermit time
13:25:18
C-Kermit>echo The server's time is: \v(query)
The server's time is: 13:25:18
C-Kermit>rem q k dir ; Note, abbreviations allowed.
/usr/olga/letters
C-Kermit>echo The server's current directory is: \v(query)
The server's current directory is: /usr/olga/letters
C-Kermit>rem q system USER
olga
C-Kermit>echo user = \v(query)
user = olga
REMOTE ASSIGN <name> [ <value> ]
Asks the server to assign the given <value> to the remote user variable
denoted by <name>. The <value> is fully evaluated LOCALLY before being sent
to the Kermit server. The maximum length for the value is governed by the
maximum negotiated packet length, i.e. the server's RECEIVE PACKET-LENGTH.
Synonym: REMOTE ASG.
Examples:
C-Kermit>remote assign \%a \v(time) ; Assign client's time to server's \%a
C-Kermit>remote query user \%a
13:41:18 ; This is the client's time
C-Kermit>rem asg myname Olga ; Assign my name to server's myname macro
To force a string corresponding to a local variable name to be sent literally,
use two backslashes:
C-Kermit>remote assign \%a \\v(time) ; Assign "\v(time)" to server's \%a.
C-Kermit>remote query user \%a
13:41:18 ; This is the server's time.
C-Kermit>
You can disable and enable the server's handling of REMOTE QUERY and ASSIGN
with the commands:
DISABLE QUERY The server should not respond to REMOTE QUERY commands
DISABLE ASSIGN The server should not respond to REMOTE ASSIGN commands
ENABLE QUERY The server should respond to REMOTE QUERY commands
ENABLE ASSIGN The server should respond to REMOTE ASSIGN commands
By default, like all other ENABLE/DISABLE items, the initial state is ENABLEd.
5.2. "WHATAMI" -- Making Kermit GET more like FTP GET
Those who are accustomed to using client/server applications such as FTP
expect that certain kinds of commands, when given to the client, will affect
the server correspondingly. Most notable among these commands (in FTP's case)
are those that set the transfer mode: BINARY, ASCII, etc.
In Kermit, however, the transfer mode has always been determined by the file
sender, a concept totally unrelated to the client/server distinction, and less
than obvious to most people. Furthermore, Kermit programs do not always have
a client/server relationship -- there is also the send/receive arrangement.
C-Kermit 5A(190) and MS-DOS Kermit 3.14 (when it becomes available) implement
a new "What Am I" feature, which operates transparently to the user (i.e.
there are no commands to control it), and results in FTP-like operation when:
1. One Kermit program is in SERVER mode, the other is a client, AND:
2. Both Kermit programs support the WHATAMI feature. Currently, these are
limited to C-Kermit 5A(190), MS-DOS Kermit 3.14. A forthcoming release
of IBM Mainframe Kermit will support it too.
Presently, the WHATAMI feature affects only the GET command, and addresses the
following scenario:
1. User starts a Kermit server, giving it no special settings.
2. User tells the client to:
SET FILE TYPE BINARY
SET FILE NAMES LITERAL
GET cku190.tar.Z
3. The file is transferred in text mode when the user expected a binary
transfer, and the name was converted even though the user wanted it not
to be changed.
At the beginning of any protocol transaction, the two Kermits exchange "What
Am I" information as part of the S or I packet data. This information
includes (a) whether I am a client or server; (b) my transfer mode (text or
binary); and (c) my file name handling (literal or converted).
Then, when the server receives a GET-command packet from the client, AND if
WHATAMI information has been successfully exchanged, then the server switches
its file transfer mode and file name handling to the client's corresponding
modes. Nothing special happens when files are sent TO the server, since this
works right anyway, using the previous mechanisms.
Hopefully this change will result in more pleasant surprises than unpleasant
ones. One Beta tester (a seasoned Kermit user), however, was unpleasantly
surprised when he sent the following commands from a client to a server:
REMOTE SET FILE TYPE BINARY
GET OOFA.ZIP
The file arrived in text mode because the client was in text mode. The user
was relying of the old rule, by which the file sender informs the file
receiver of the transfer mode via the attribute packet, but since the WHATAMI
exchange took place after the REMOTE SET, it changed the server's mode back to
text. To cure this situation, REMOTE SET FILE TYPE now sets the local file
transfer mode too.
Should all this sound confusing, remember that the WHATAMI feature (and the
other mechanisms for reconciling file transfer mode) make a difference only
when the sender and receiver's file transfer modes do not agree. The rules
can be summarized like this:
1. To be certain of the file transfer mode, give the same SET FILE TYPE
command to both Kermits (exception: when VMS C-Kermit is sending a file,
it determines the transfer mode for each file automatically).
In case you did not do this, and the transfer modes of the two Kermit programs
disagree when the file transfer starts:
2. If the file sender is VMS C-Kermit, it determines the file type
automatically unless its file type has been set to IMAGE or LABELED.
Otherwise:
3. If both Kermits have the WHATAMI feature, the client program's transfer
mode prevails. Otherwise:
4. If both Kermit programs have Attribute-packet capability, the sender will
inform the receiver of the transfer mode, and the receiver will switch to
the sender's transfer mode automatically. Otherwise:
5. The transfer proceeds with each Kermit program using the transfer mode
that the user has told it to use. This can result in mismatches, which
are usually not what was intended.
Since not all Kermit implementations -- particularly those found in commercial
or shareware software packages -- implement the WHATAMI feature or Attribute
packets, it is always safest to inform both Kermit programs of the transfer
mode prior to file transfer.
(6) INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER SETS
Since "Using C-Kermit" was published:
. Edit 189 of C-Kermit added support for Hebrew character sets.
. Edit 190 added Hebrew terminal emulation to OS/2 C-Kermit.
. Edit 190 added support for the Hewlett-Packard Roman8 character set.
6.1. Hebrew File Transfer
C-Kermit 5A(189) has the following new commands for Hebrew file transfer:
SET TRANSFER CHARACTER-SET HEBREW-ISO = ISO 8859-8 Latin/Hebrew Alphabet
SET FILE CHARACTER-SET HEBREW-ISO = ISO 8859-8 Latin/Hebrew Alphabet
SET FILE CHARACTER-SET CP862 = Hebrew PC Code Page
SET FILE CHARACTER-SET HEBREW-7 = DEC 7-Bit (VT100) Hebrew
These commands work just like the corresponding commands for Cyrillic
character sets, described in Chapter 9 of "Using C-Kermit". When receiving
files, C-Kermit recognizes Hebrew files automatically if the file sender tags
the file as Hebrew in the Attribute packet, which the file sender should do if
it has been given the SET TRANSFER CHARACTER-SET HEBREW command; C-Kermit does
not, however, switch automatically to a Hebrew file character-set, so you must
choose one in advance if that's what you want. The tag is "I6/138" (these are
ISO registration numbers). When sending files in Hebrew mode, of course,
C-Kermit includes the same tag.
An invertible translation table between Latin/Hebrew and CP862 is used during
both terminal emulation and file transfer. The translation table between
Hebrew-7 and Latin/Hebrew, however, is not invertible because these character
sets are different sizes.
Here is an example of uploading a Hebrew file from a PC to UNIX. The PC
version is coded in the Hebrew PC code page, and the UNIX version is to be
stored in the 7-bit Hebrew character-set so it can be sent as network e-mail:
C-Kermit> set file character-set hebrew-7 ; I want a 7-bit version for email
C-Kermit> receive ; Wait for the file.
<Alt-X> ; Escape back to the PC
MS-Kermit> set file type text ; Make sure we are in text mode
MS-Kermit> set file character-set cp862 ; File coded in Hebrew PC code page
MS-Kermit> set xfer character-set hebrew ; Send using ISO Latin/Hebrew
MS-Kermit> send rab.oof ; Send the file
The file sender automatically tells the file receiver that the transfer
character-set is Hebrew.
The three Hebrew character sets are also available for use in C-Kermit's
TRANSLATE command, which translates a local file from one character-set to
another. Thus you can use C-Kermit to convert a local file from, say,
Latin/Hebrew to Hebrew-7.
C-Kermit's Hebrew file transfer features can be used in conjunction with
MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 and later (with which C-Kermit shares the same translation
tables to ensure consistent translations) and IBM Mainframe Kermit 4.2 or
later, which translates between Latin/Hebrew and IBM CECP 424 (the Hebrew
EBCDIC Country Extended Code Page).
6.2. Hebrew Terminal Emulation
NOTE: See the OS/2 C-Kermit section of this document (below) for details
about Hebrew terminal emulation in OS/2 C-Kermit.
There is no support for right-to-left screen-writing direction or other
terminal emulation features in C-Kermit, since C-Kermit (except the OS/2 and
Macintosh versions) does not do terminal emulation itself, but just provides a
terminal-independent "pipe" to your terminal emulator. However, you can still
have C-Kermit provide the character translations during CONNECT mode:
SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET { HEBREW-ISO, HEBREW-7, CP862 } [ local-cset ]
The terminal character-set affects not only CONNECT mode, but also the session
log and the TRANSMIT command.
You can test for the presence of Hebrew support in your version of C-Kermit
using the CHECK HEBREW command or the SHOW FEATURES command.
6.3. The Hewlett Packard Roman8 Character Set
C-Kermit 5A(190) adds support for Hewlett Packard ROMAN8 as a file
character-set and a terminal character-set. This is an 8-bit character-set
roughly equivalent, but not identical, to Latin-1, and (of course) with
entirely different encoding. The translations between HP ROMAN8 and Latin-1
are invertible.
(7) SCRIPT PROGRAMMING
7.1. New IF Commands
IF DIRECTORY <name> succeeds if <name> is the name of a directory or a
file-structured device, fails otherwise. Available, as of edit 190, in UNIX,
VMS, and OS/2.
IF NEWER <file1> <file2> compares modification (or creation) date/times of two
files, succeeds if first file is newer than second file. Edit 190.
IF REMOTE-ONLY succeeds if C-Kermit was started with the -R (uppercase)
command-line option, fails otherwise. This lets you advise C-Kermit that you
only intend to use it in remote mode; the initialization and customization
files can (and the standard ones do) include IF REMOTE-ONLY commands to skip
over time-and-space-consuming items, such as the dialing and services
directories, that will not be used in remote mode. This allows Kermit to
start more quickly. For examples of use, see the standard initialization
file, ckermit.ini / .kermrc. Edit 190.
IF EQUAL, IF LLT, IF LGT string comparison commands, as of edit 190, allow the
use of braces around comparands that contain imbedded spaces, for example:
IF EQUAL {\%a} {sentence with four words} echo They are equal.
Prior to edit 190, constructions like this would cause a parse error (see
p.239, "Using C-Kermit"). Be sure to use braces around both items.
7.2. New \v() Variables
\v(charset) C-Kermit's local character set. Use this (e.g.) in scripts
for deciding which character set to use when printing screen messages.
\v(connection) When C-Kermit has made a SET LINE or SET HOST connection, this
variable tells the connection type: "serial", "tcp/ip telnet", "decnet lat",
"decnet cterm", "x.25", etc. If C-Kermit is in remote mode -- i.e. it has
not made a connection to another computer -- the value of this variable is
"remote".
\v(cps) gives speed in characters (bytes) per second of the most recent
file transfer. If a group of files was transferred, the figure applies
to the whole group.
\v(dialstatus) contains a numeric result code for the most recent DIAL command:
-1 No DIAL command given yet
0 DIAL succeeded
1 Modem type not specified
2 Communication device not specified
3 Device can't be opened
4 Communication speed not specified
5 Hangup failure
6 Internal error (memory allocation, etc)
7 Device input/output error
8 DIAL TIMEOUT expired
9 Dialing interrupted by user
10 Modem not ready
11-19 (reserved)
20 Modem command error
21 Failure to initialize modem
22 Phone busy
23 No carrier
24 No dialtone
25 Ring (incoming call)
26 No answer
27 Disconnected
28 Answered by voice
29 Access denied, forbidden call
98 Unknown error
99 Unspecified failure detected by modem
\v(evaluate) = result of most recent EVALUATE command
\v(ftype) = current FILE TYPE setting: "text" or "binary". In OS/2 and VMS,
also "labeled". In VMS only, also "image".
\v(keyboard) (OS/2 only), the keyboard model: "88", "101", or "122".
\v(modem) = current modem type (SET MODEM value).
\v(parity) = current PARITY setting: "even", "odd", "mark", "none", or "space".
\v(newline) is the newline character or sequence appropriate to the operating
system where C-Kermit is running, for example linefeed (\10) for UNIX,
carriage return (\13) for OS-9, carriage-return linefeed (\13\10) for OS/2.
\v(minput) = number telling which MINPUT search string was matched: 0 = none
of them; 1 = the first one, etc. (see section on MINPUT below).
\v(rexx) (os/2 32-bit only) = the return value from the last Rexx command
issued.
\v(rows) = the number of rows (lines) on the console terminal / screen,
i.e. its length, -1 if unknown.
\v(cols) = the number of columns on the console terminal / screen,
i.e. its width, -1 if unknown..
\v(terminal) = terminal type, if known, otherwise "unknown".
\v(query) = result of most recent REMOTE QUERY command.
\v(space) = number of free bytes on current storage device (OS/2 only).
\v(startup) (OS/2 only) Disk:Directory from which C-Kermit was started.
\v(sysid) = Kermit system/OS code, from pp.275-278 of the Kermit book:
U8 = MS-DOS (and Windows)
U1 = UNIX
D7 = VMS
UD = OS-9
L3 = Amiga
A3 = Macintosh
UO = OS/2
F3 = AOS/VS
K2 = Atari ST
MV = Stratus VOS
etc...
7.3. New \f() Functions
\Fdate(filename) returns the modification (or creation) date of the given
file in "yyyymmdd hh:mm:ss" format, or else the empty string upon failure.
As of edit 190, available in UNIX, VMS, and OS/2 versions.
\Freplace(s1,s2,s3). This function replaces all occurrences of the string s2
in the string s1 by the string s3. s1 and s2 must be at least one character
long. s3 can be omitted, in which case all occurrences of s2 are removed
from s1. If s2 is omitted, s1 is returned unchanged. Examples:
\freplace(oofa,o,O) = OOfa
\freplace(oofa,o,oo) = oooofa
\freplace(oofa,o) = fa
\freplace(oofa) = oofa
or (more practically for OS/2):
\freplace(\v(cmdfile),\\,/) ; replace backslashes by forward slashes
\Fsize(filename) tells the size, in characters (bytes), of the given file.
7.4. INPUT and OUTPUT Command Improvements
As of edit 190, the INPUT and OUPUT commands are buffered, which results
in greater speed of execution.
The new command:
SET OUTPUT PACING <number>
causes C-Kermit to pause for (at least) the indicated number of milliseconds
(thousandths of a second) between each character in the OUTPUT string. Use
this option when OUTPUT'ing characters to a device that can't receive
characters at the full communication speed without losing or garbling them.
The default OUTPUT PACING is 0, i.e. no pauses. Display with SHOW SCRIPTS.
Edit 189.
The OUTPUT command accepts three special notations for sending special signals
or characters:
\B or \b or \\B or \\b
Send a BREAK signal. On serial connections, this is a 250 millisecond
spacing condition. On network connections, it is a network-specific
BREAK protocol message, such as a TELNET BREAK.
\L or \l or \\L or \\l
Send a Long BREAK signal. On serial connections, this is a 1.5-second
spacing condition. On network connections, it is the same as \B (BREAK).
\N or \n
Send a NUL (ASCII 0) character. \0 can't be used for this because it is
the terminator for C-language strings. (\N is new to edit 190.)
If you need to send \B, \L, or \N literally (e.g. to configure certain kinds
of modems), you can use either:
OUTPUT \fliteral(\B) (or \fliteral(\L) or \fliteral(\N))
or:
OUTPUT \\\\B (or \\\\L or \\\\N)
(yes, four backslashes).
Note: \fliteral() can be abbreviated, e.g. \flit(\N).
7.5. The New MINPUT Command
The new command, MINPUT ("multiple input") is a version of the INPUT command
that looks for more than one string. Syntax:
MINPUT <sec> [ string1 [ string2 [ string2 [ ... ] ] ] ]
Strings are separated by spaces. If any of the search strings is encountered
within the timeout interval, the command succeeds and the \v(minput) variable
is set to the number of the string that was found: 1, 2, 3, etc. If none of
the search strings is found, the command times out, fails, and \v(minput) is
set to 0. All SET INPUT paramaters apply - SET INPUT CASE, etc. Example:
minput 30 Login:, Username:, Ready
if success goto LBL\v(minput)
end 1 Prompt didn't arrive.
looks for any of the three strings "Login:", "Username:", or "Ready" and
then goes to one of the labels "LBL1", "LBL2", or "LBL3", depending on which
string was matched.
To include a space in a string, enclose it in { braces }.
minput 20 {a b} c
This searches for either "a b" or "c".
As in the regular INPUT and REINPUT commands, leading and trailing spaces are
stripped from each search string unless it is enclosed in { braces }. Example:
minput 20 { abc }, {{ def }}, ghi
searches for " abc ", "{ def }", or "ghi".
7.6. Other New or Improved Script Programming Commands
EVALUATE <arithmetic-expression>
The new EVALUATE command evaluates arithmetic expressions for you, printing
the answer. It is exactly like the \feval() function described in the book,
but for interactive use: you can type the expression directly, and the
answer is printed, e.g.:
C-Kermit> evaluate 1+1
2
C-Kermit> eval 6!
720
C-Kermit> def \%a (7 + 8)
C-Kermit> ev (1 + 2) * (\%a - 3)
36
FORWARD <label>
Like GOTO, except the label search begins at the current position in
the macro or command file, rather than at the beginning. It will not find
labels that have already been passed. The major use for a command like
this would be to improve the performance of script programs that contain
a lot of forward GOTOs, especially when that program is a command file that
will be executed from a diskette. This is obviously not good programming
practice -- since such programs can easily break of blocks of code are
moved around -- but then neither are GOTOs themselves. If the FORWARD
label search fails in the current macro or TAKE file, the search continues
in the forward direction only in superior macros macros and TAKE files.
NOTE: The FORWARD command has been used extensively in the CKERMIT.INI
file for C-Kermit 5A(190), resulting in a dramatic decrease in startup
time.
GETC <variable-name> [ <prompt-string> ]
The new GETC command (edit 190) lets a script program prompt the user to
type a single character. Example:
GETC \%a Press any key to continue:
The character is stored in the given variable.
WRITE-LINE <file> <text>
This is exactly like the WRITE command, which is used to send text to the
specified file or log. The difference is that WRITE-LINE always formats the
output text as a line, or record, appropriate to the underlying operating
system's file format. This allows Kermit script programs to create text
files in a system-independent fashion. Synonym: WRITELN. WR, WRI, and WRIT
are still accepted as abbrevitions for WRITE. Also see the \v(newline)
variable. Edit 190.
RENAME <oldfilename> <newfilename>
In the UNIX and OS/2 versions, the second argument (normally the new name
for the file) is allowed to be a directory name (or, in OS/2, a device and
directory name), in which case the file is moved to the given (device and)
directory, keeping its original name. Edit 190.
RETURN and END
These commands may now be given, with the expected results, from
within the command-lists of FOR, WHILE, or XIF commands. Edit 190.
ASK and ASKQ
These commands now allow question mark and backslash to be entered just like
any other text character. Prior to edit 190, question mark would make a
help message pop up, and backslash would fulfill its normal function of
introducting a variable or quoting a special character. However, these
commands are unlikely ever to be used by somebody who will reply to a
question with a Kermit variable name and expect it to be evaluated. Nor
should they be expected to "quote" question marks. This change makes for
smoother dialogs between Kermit scripts and users, and it also allows users
to type DOS-like filenames such as C:\TEMP\OOFA.TXT, which could not
otherwise be entered except by doubling each backslash. However, script
writers should note that the mere fact that a DOS path name can be entered
into a variable via:
ask \%f { Please type the DOS path name: }
Please type the DOS path name: c:\123\files\widgets.wks
does not mean that the resulting variable can be used bare and unprotected.
For example:
send foo.bar \%f
will not do what you think, because the SEND command will evaluate \%f "too
much" (in this case "\123" becomes becomes "{", i.e. ASCII character number
123, and \files looks like the beginning of a Kermit function, and results
in a syntax error). The needed protection comes from \fcontents():
send foo.bar \fcontents(\%f)
which evaluates to the variable's definition ("contents") but does not
evaluate it any further.
There is also a new command in edit 190 to turn the backslash and question-
mark features on and off for any commands at all:
SET COMMAND QUOTING { ON, OFF }
When ON (which is the default), backslash and question mark fulfill their
normal roles in C-Kermit commands. When OFF, backslash and question mark
are treated just like any other ordinary text characters by the command
reader.
You can display the current command quoting setting with:
SHOW COMMAND (synonym: SHOW CMD)
Before this feature was added to C-Kermit, users C-Kermit for UNIX, VMS, etc,
had to do something like this when referring to DOS files (because DOS uses
backslash as a directory separator and question mark as a wildcard character):
send foo.bar c:\\foo\\bar\\baz\\oofa.txt
get d:\\files\\\?\?\?.\?
Now it is possible to allow natural DOS notation:
set command quoting off
send foo.bar c:\foo\bar\baz\oofa.txt
get d:\files\???.?
set command quoting on
This feature is also handy on computers that have DOS-like files systems,
such as PCs with OS/2:
set command quoting off
cd \
set port \\server\modem
directory e:\pictures\pic???.gif
set command quoting on
rather than:
cd \\
set port \\\\server\\modem
directory e:\\pictures\\pic\?\?\?.gif
set command quoting on
Caution: Expect unpleasant results if you try to run script programs with
COMMAND QUOTING OFF.
Also new to edit 190 is the ability to include multiple words in any command
field that requires a single word, by use of braces for grouping. For
example:
define \%a two words
if equal \%a {two words} echo Equal.
(8) EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS
8.1. The REDIRECT Command
Syntax: REDIRECT command [ arguments... ]
Synonym: <command [ arguments... ]
Edit 190. This command, which is implemented only in operating systems that
provide the underlying mechanisms (primarily, certain versions of UNIX, and
partially in OS/2), allows you to run another program from the C-Kermit
prompt, and have its standard input and output redirected to the SET LINE or
SET HOST connection.
It is useful for running "external protocols" over the C-Kermit connection
when you have made a connection to a computer or service that does not support
the Kermit protocol. REDIRECT works only with software that uses standard
input and output. Here's an example showing how to transfer a file with a
pre-1989 version of UNIX Zmodem that allowed its standard input and output to
be redirected:
C-Kermit>connect ; Connect to remote computer
$
$ rz ; Start Zmodem receive process on remote computer
rz ready. To begin transfer, type "sz file ..." to your modem program
(Escape back to C-Kermit)
C-Kermit>redirect sz oofa.zip ; C-Kermit runs sz with stdio redirected
24575 ZMODEM CRC-32 ... ; File is transferred with Zmodem
C-Kermit> ; Prompt returns
Note, the REDIRECT command in the above example could also have been entered
like this, using the "<" synonym:
C-Kermit><sz oofa.txt
NOTE: A complete set of X/Y/Zmodem access macros for UNIX C-Kermit is provided
in the ckurzsz.ini file; please read the comments in this file for further
details.
Another use for the REDIRECT command is with the UNIX "term" program; see the
ckuker.bwr file for details.
You can use C-Kermit's CHECK REDIRECT command to find out if your version of
C-Kermit has the REDIRECT command. If the REDIRECT command is present, it
still might not work, if:
. The underlying operating system lacks certain facilities, in which case
C-Kermit will respond with "?Missing pieces".
. The process to be redirected does not allow redirection, such as recent
releases of sz and rz.
. In OS/2 C-Kermit, the REDIRECT command only works for serial, not network,
connections.
8.2. New Macros
New macro packages are available for running external protocols from the
C-Kermit command line (edit 190):
ckurzsz.ini - UNIX rz/sz/rb/sb/rx/sx.
ckop101.ini - OS/2 P 1.01.
ckop200.ini - OS/2 P 2.00.
ckom2z.ini - OS/2 M2Zmodem.
(9) NEW COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
Command-line options are commands that can be given to C-Kermit on the same
line with which you invoke it, for example:
kermit -s oofa.txt -p s
Command-line help and error messages have been improved, and the following
command-line options or new features have been added:
-a name ("as-name" for a transferred file) now allows "name" to be a device
or directory name, when used in conjunction with '-r' (RECEIVE), to specify
a device and/or directory into which all incoming files are to be stored
under the names they were sent with. If "name" is not a device or directory
name, the (first) incoming file is stored under the given name, as before.
Edit 190.
-D n, where "n" is a number, is equivalent to the interactive command SET
DELAY n, which specifies the number of seconds C-Kermit should wait before
starting to send a file in remote mode (to give the user time to escape back
and initiate the RECEIVE process at the local Kermit program). Edit 190.
-N n, where "n" is a number, is the NETBIOS adapter number to be used with
NETBIOS connections (OS/2 only).
-R advises C-Kermit that it will be used in remote mode only; that is, it
will not be used to establish a connection by dialing, SET HOST, etc. This
option is advisory only; it does not prevent local-mode operations from
taking place. When the -R option is given, the IF REMOTE-ONLY command will
succeed throughout the C-Kermit session. This allows initialization and
script files to skip dialing and service directory setup and similar
time-consuming items when they will not be used. Edit 190.
------------------------------
III. APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: UNIX C-KERMIT
New features in UNIX C-Kermit since edit 188:
Correct handling of file date/time in POSIX, 4.4BSD, BSDI, etc
CONNECT-mode speedups, important when C-Kermit is "in the middle".
Interfork-signaling in CONNECT module bulletproofed.
POSIX signal handling is now supported, for reliable signals.
APC support during CONNECT sessions.
New makefile entries and/or systems supported:
Amdahl UTS + TCP/IP
Bull DPX/2 BOS/X
CONSENSYS System V R4 + TCP + curses
DECstation 5000 MIPS3 CPU
FreeBSD
HP-UX: many variations, big improvements in functionality
Lynx
NetBSD
OSF/1 2.0
QNX 4.2
Solaris 2.x
UnixWare 1.1 + curses + TCP/IP
System-wide initialization file is now an option.
TELNET window (i.e. screen) size negotiation, SIGWINCH trapping.
RTS/CTS flow control added for Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OSF/1, SCO ODT 3.0,..
Support for higher serial speeds added for Linux, HP-UX, QNX, etc.
FIONREAD and select() support added for Linux.
(Optional) FSSTND (File System Standard) compliance for Linux.
APPENDIX 2: VMS C-KERMIT
New features in VMS C-Kermit since edit 188:
APC support during CONNECT sessions.
New support for CMU/Tektronix TCP/IP.
Problems running from DCL procedures, SPAWN'd, in batch, etc - fixed.
Append-to-file operations now available.
SET SPEED problems fixed.
Console terminal flow-control fixed.
Automatic compensation for systems SYSGEN'd with small MAXFUFs, etc.
GNU CC compatibility.
TRANSMIT command fixed to handle VMS-specific file types sensibly.
Session-log record format fixed.
TELNET window (i.e. screen) size negotiation.
Completion codes for RUN, SPAWN, !, @, DIR, etc, fixed.
APPENDIX 3: OS/2 C-KERMIT
OS/2 C-Kermit has been completely overhauled since version 5A(188). The
changes are listed briefly here, and described in detail in a separate file,
CKOKER.UPD. First, there is an interactive automated installation procedure,
written in the form of a REXX script program, INSTALL.CMD.
Communications methods now include:
. Direct serial COM port connections.
. Dialed serial COM port connections.
. LAN modem-server dialed connections.
. DECnet PATHWORKS
. IBM TCP/IP
. NETBIOS
. Named Pipes
Numerous terminal-emulation improvements:
. VT100, VT220, and ANSI emulations added (to VT102 and VT52);
. Mouse support added: mouse-directed cursor movement, copy-and-paste.
. Complete support for all VT220 PF, F, keypad, arrow, and editing keys.
. A big selection of keyboard verbs ("\Kverbs"), as in MS-DOS Kermit,
including a complete set of VT220 keyboard verbs and a
new keymap file, CKOVTK2.INI, to set them up for you, and
allowing the Num Lock key to be used as DEC PF1 (or anything else);
. Hebrew terminal emulation for use with ALEPH library software;
. Ability to assign user-defined macros to hot keys via \Kverbs;
. Executes APC escape sequences, just like MS-DOS Kermit, for
"auto-download", "auto-upload", and auto-anything-else;
. Improved colors, color control, new border color;
. Numerous fixes to VT emulation;
. Improved, context-sensitive popup help screens and status lines;
. Print/Dump screen;
. Many new host-controlled printer actions;
. Redirection of printer to file;
. New screen rollback options and features;
. TELNET bugs fixed, TELNET screen-size negotiation added;
. Session debugging display, including graphic display of TELNET
options, control characters, and escape sequences;
. Compose Key for composing accented characters;
. New unique scan codes added for keypad period, Shift-Esc, Tab;
. Answerback string now includes C-Kermit version number and terminal type;
. Code page control.
. SET FLOW KEEP now leaves RTS alone instead of always turning it on.
. XSEND macro transfers directory trees intact.
. New macros for activating external protocols.
OS/2 C-Kermit file transfer improvements:
. Recovery.
. ".LONGNAME" attribute supported on FAT file systems.
. Automatic directory creation for incoming files.
. SET FILE TYPE LABELED, a file-transfer mode that transfers OS/2
files along with all their attributes (read-only, hidden, system,
and extended), similar to the same facility in VMS C-Kermit.
. Automatic parity detection during file transfer;
. Ability to transfer files with IBM mainframes thru non-transparent
3270 protocol converters;
. SET FILE COLLISION UPDATE really works now;
. Server's execution of REMOTE DIRECTORY, REMOTE TYPE, etc, fixed;
. Problems transferring with HP-48, CP/M, etc, fixed.
Other OS/2 C-Kermit improvements:
. Support for the LAN Manager Named Pipe communication method.
. Support for peer-to-peer NETBIOS connections (e.g. to MS-DOS Kermit).
. NetBIOS and Named Pipe connections can be either established or received.
. A Rexx programming interface, so C-Kermit scripts can contain Rexx commands,
and Rexx programs executed from within C-Kermit may contain
C-Kermit commands. This also works, to a limited extent, with VX-REXX.
. Improved, more-flexible install procedure.
. HP-Roman8 character-set support.
. Task list adjusted to show current serial port or TELNET host.
. More accurate available-space checking for incoming files.
. Improved, more-flexible install procedure.
APPENDIX 4: MACINTOSH KERMIT
New features in Mac Kermit:
Now works with System 7.1 and later on Power Macs, etc:
downloads files without crashing.
Many commands fixed or added that never worked before:
CD, PWD, DIRECTORY
OPEN READ / READ / CLOSE READ
LOG { SESSION, TRANSACTION, PACKETS }
Log files and other text files now in TeachText format
LOG DEBUG goes to a window.
SET FILE TYPE { TEXT, BINARY, MACBINARY }
File transfer display improved:
Direction and mode shown correctly when transfer started from prompt.
Current directory is shown.
Numerous bugs fixed.
Mac-specific modules can now be compiled with Think C as well as MPW C.
Please refer to the following files for more information:
ckmker.fon -- Notes about the new Mac Kermit terminal emulation font
ckmker.ps -- PostScript version of user documentation for 0.9(40)
ckmker.doc -- user documentation for 0.9(40), the previous release (1988)
ckmker.bwr -- Notes about the current prerelease, FAQ's, etc
APPENDIX 5: STRATUS VOS
A full C-Kermit implementation, supporting serial, TCP/IP, and X.25
connections, lacking only the fullscreen file transfer display, is included
with edit 190. VOS-specific files have the "CKL" prefix, including CKLKER.DOC
(user documentation), CKLKER.BWR (VOS-specific hints and tips), CKLINS.DOC
(VOS installation instructions).
------------------------------
IV. ERRATA & CORRIGENDA
The following errors in "Using C-Kermit" (first edition, first printing)
have been noted, most of them by Gisbert W. Selke, while translating the
book into German:
PAGE REMARKS
xviii Fridrik Skulason's name is spelled with an eth, not a d.
xx Ditto.
13-14 The list of systems supported by C-Kermit is not exhaustive.
New systems discovered since the printing date are listed in
the file CKCxxx.UPD, where xxx is the current edit number, e.g. 189.
46 The SET CARRIER description says that it doesn't take effect until the
next SET LINE command. In fact, it can have an effect at certain
other times too, such as when you issue any communication-oriented
command that changes the communication device modes. The SET CARRIER
AUTO description should say: "Requires carrier during CONNECT,
TRANSMIT, INPUT, OUTPUT, and SCRIPT commands, but not during DIAL
operations or file transfer." These fine distinctions in SET CARRIER
operation apply mainly to System-V or POSIX based UNIX C-Kermit
implementations and OS/2 C-Kermit, but (in general) not to others.
53 Table 3-2, HST-COURIER, contains extraneous typesetting information
("Courier10PitchBT-Roman"). (This probably happened because an
error-correcting protocol was not used to download the final
PostScript to the printer :-) Two new modem types, COURIER and
SPORTSTER have been added, which are the same as HST-COURIER. The
description should say "US Robotics modems".
85 The command in the final line in the example, "send olga It's
765-4321", should be underlined.
91 SET KEY CLEAR added in 5A(190), restores default key mapping.
93 The description of SET SESSION-LOG fails to mention that XON and
XOFF are removed from a text-mode session log.
101 In the HINT inset, the words SEND and RECEIVE should be exchanged.
144 In REMOTE CD [ directory ] description, the brackets should be
in italics.
145 There should be no right parenthesis in REMOTE DIRECTORY [ filespec) ].
150 "Now start C-Kermit on the VAX..." should say "Now start C-Kermit on
the UNIX system..."
164 The description of compression predates the new SET REPEAT command,
described below.
172 Table 9-2. The text fails to mention that the Chinese Roman,
Icelandic, and Japanese Roman sets are not used by C-Kermit.
All nine occurrences of accent acute (') by itself in column 6/00
should be accent grave (`). Column 7/14 for Norwegian should show
macron (overline) rather than vertical bar.
174 Table 9-4, row 03, column 13 should be O-acute, not O-grave.
178 Next-to-last paragraph: "rlogin -8", not "rsh -8".
185 C-Kermit>set unknown-char-set (not "sent unknown-char-set").
189 The description of JIS X 0201 says that it differs from a
Latin Alphabet in that the right half has some empty positions.
Some Latin Alphabets (e.g. Latin/Hebrew) also have empty positions.
195 Second example: "type diab.asc" instead of "type diab.lat".
197 6th line from bottom: MSCUSTOM.INI, not MSKERMIT.INI.
203 Examples should say XM (XMIT) rather than XF (XFER).
215 Example should say "duplex" rather than "duplux".
226 \m() variables are really not like \%a-style global variables,
in that the do not get recursively evaluated -- on the literal
definition is returned.
239 Line 3: "secret" should be "oofa".
Middle paragraph, material beginning "In these commands, literal
strings to be compared must not contain any spaces..." As of version
5A(190), this is no longer true. Multiple words can be grouped
together within braces, e.g. "if equal \%a {here are four words} ..."
242 First line should have no comma at the end.
246 Description of label syntax should state that in a macro definition,
labels are set off by commas.
249 In the syntax description of the FOR command, the words "initial",
"final", and "increment" should be in italics, and there should be
no right angle bracket (>) following the word "increment". Also,
the description of the FOR command fails to state explicitly that
the increment can be negative for counting backwards, in which case
the completion test is that the variable becomes less than the
final value, not greater than the final value. Also, the book
does not mention that the value of the loop variable can be changed
by the commands in the loop contents, and this will affect the
execution of the loop.
250 In the wakeup-call example, the tests should be "if llt" rather than
"if not lgt".
252 Comments on the example should say "third is smaller or equal".
252 Text fails to mention that functions can not change their arguments
(i.e. arguments are passed by value).
254 \Flower() and \Fupper() functions only work correctly on 7-bit ASCII
letters.
258 Table 12-2, operator |. Example should say \%a | 4 gives value 6.
264 Table 12-3, entry "double width line" should be \27#6, not \27#4.
264 Table 12-3, entry "set scrolling region" should refer to top row,
bottom row; not to row, column.
264 Table 12-3, entry "Stops transparent printing", Kermit Notation
column, should say "\27[4i", not "\27[0i".
264 Table 12-3, entry "Starts transparent printing", Kermit Notation
column, should say "\27[5i", not "\27[0i".
264 Table 12-3, entry "VT200 ID" should say "ESC [ 62c", not "ESC [ 6c".
264 Table 12-3, entry "VT300 ID" should say "ESC [ 63c", not "ESC [ 6c".
266-267 The section File Transfer Shortcuts does not apply to file transfer
with MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 or later. The escape sequences associated
with the TERMINALR and TERMINALS macros in MS-DOS Kermit 3.12 and
earlier are now used for changing screen-writing direction during
terminal emulation, as on real DEC Hebrew VT terminals. See the
MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 update notes (KERMIT.UPD) for detailed information.
267 The description of the RETURN command says it may not be used in the
command list of a FOR, WHILE, or XIF command. As of edit 190, this
is no longer the case.
268 Carl, not Karl, Friedrich Gauss.
269 The OPEN !READ command example for VMS should use /EXCLUDE= rather
than /EXCEPT=.
272 Line 14 of example should say "if = \%n \%d", not "if = \%i \%d".
275 Comma missing after closing brace of FOR loop in CALL macro.
276 Line 13: When you give a SERIAL (not LINE), NET, or CALL command...
286 The OUTPUT command in the middle of the page should say
"\27[\?6c" rather than "\27[\?1c".
287 SET INPUT TIMEOUT QUIT in the VMSLOGIN macro should be
SET INPUT TIMEOUT PROCEED. The continuation hyphen is missing from
three lines. The VMSLOGIN macro in the distributed CKERMIT.INI file
corrects these errors.
294 The CISLOGIN macro has several mistakes. The following section:
input 5 User ID:,-
output \%2\13,-
input Password:,-
output \%3\13,-
input 20 Enter Choice!,-
Should be replaced by:
input 5 User ID:,-
output \%1\13,-
input 5 Password:,-
output \%2\13,-
input 20 CompuServe Information Service,-
299 Paragraph after "define ACCESS": "and assigned to the local temporary
variable \%9" should be removed. Towards the bottom of the page, the
example and the last two paragraphs should be adjusted to discuss the
ACCESS macro definition as it appears at the top of the page! The
\%9 variable is not used. The example "if def \%9 doaccess { \%2} \%9"
should read "if success doaccess { \%2} \v(return)". In the first line
of the last paragraph, "\%9" should be changed to "\v(return)".
315 VMS examples:
$ define compuserve $sys$system:kermit.exe sys$login:compuserve.cmd
$ define sprintnet $sys$system:kermit.exe sys$login:sprintnet.cmd
Should be:
$ compuserve :== $sys$system:kermit.exe sys$login:compuserve.cmd
$ sprintnet :== $sys$system:kermit.exe sys$login:sprintnet.cmd
323-324 The description of C-Kermit program exit status codes fails to
mention the special method used by (Open)VMS, in which these codes
are assigned to the symbol CKERMIT_STATUS (see CKVKER.BWR).
336 PRINT, PING, and similar commands work by running the corresponding
system command (PRINT, lp, lpr, etc), which must be in the user's PATH
with execute permission, otherwise an error message appears stating
"command not found" or "permission denied", etc.
346 SET KEY CLEAR added in 5A(190), restores default key mapping.
352 The syntax of SET TELNET TERMINAL-TYPE should include italicized
square brackets around "text" to indicate that the text is optional,
and that if it is omitted, the TELNET TERMINAL-TYPE reverts to the
default, usually the terminal type of your login session.
352 The entries for SET TERMINAL ANSWERBACK, ARROW-KEYS, KEYPAD-MODE, and
SCROLLBACK, etc, are missing. These are OS/2-specific commands (all of
these except those new to edits 189 and 190 -- are described in the
OS/2 Appendix on page 432). See the OS/2 updates file.
353 The entries for SET TERMINAL TYPE and WRAP are missing.
These are also OS/2-specific commands (described on page 432).
354 SET TRANSMIT PAUSE description is inaccurate. An accurate description
appears on page 204.
366 In Table II-2, "ATSO=0" should be "ATS0=1".
402-403 "define sys$input" and "define sys$output" in the examples on these
two pages should be "define /user_mode sys$input", etc. This makes
the definitions effective only for the next program invocation. In
that case the "deassign sys$input", "deassign sys$output" commands
can be removed.
403 The section "Running C-Kermit in DCL Command Procedures" fails to
describe how to use C-Kermit's exit status codes (see CKVKER.BWR).
409 The Backup date in the example at the top of the pages should not
be earlier than the Created and Revised dates. The maximum record
length is 65534, not 32767.
419 The "stepping-stone" at the beginning of the OS/2 Appendix fails
to refer readers to the CKCKER.BWR and CKOKER.BWR files, and the
OS/2 updates file CKOKER.UPD.
420 Footnote. The COMDMA driver, though discussed in the OS/2
documentation, never actually existed. The regular COM.SYS driver
is used instead.
425 The first paragraph in the Serial Communications section fails to
mention that other serial-port device names are also acceptable.
425 Bottom -- OS/2 C-Kermit now also supports VT100, VT220, and ANSI
terminal emulation.
428-432 These pages are largely obsolete as of version 5A(190). The CONNECT-
mode actions shown in Table V-1, as well as the Arrow keys (Table V-2),
Keypad keys (Table V-3), now have \Kverbs associated with them,
exactly as in MS-DOS Kermit. Additional \Kverbs are provided for
VT220 (LK201) F keys and editing keys. See the OS/2 updates file.
430 Table V-3 fails to include the Num Lock key, and the accompanying
text does not mention the fact the fact that it can be assigned
with SET KEY. See CKOKER.BWR, CKOVTK2.INI, and the OS/2 updates file
for further information.
431 Third paragraph. "F1 through F4" should be "F1 through F10".
Also, the Home key should be included in the list of keys that
control screen rollback.
432 The description of SET TERMINAL ANSWERBACK is missing.
Also, numerous new SET TERMINAL commands have been added for OS/2;
see the OS/2 updates file.
435-439 Tables V-4 through V-9 need to be augmented with VT220 sequences.
See the OS/2 updates file.
438 No explanation of "nbits". 1=8-bit characters, 2=7-bit characters.
"baud" should be "bps".
440 Table V-10. ESC W misplaced (alphabetically).
447 "SET FILENAMES" should be "SET FILE NAMES".
462 The text at the top of the page should say "ISO 8859", not "ISO 8858".
463 Table VIII-3. Same as for Table 9-2, page 172. Plus: Fr-Canadian
should be listed as Canadian-French.
486 The Cyrillic expansion for "KOI" is misspelled.
491 Reference [6]. The third Cyrillic word is misspelled.
495 Reference [48]. "Unterschiessheim" should be "Unterschleissheim".
Reference [50]. Second Cyrillic word misspelled.
... Hebrew character set tables need to be added.
Index Needs entries for:
Command-line options
Delay
Encryption
Grouping of words in commands
Commands, grouping of words in
Length, of packets
Length, of files
Prompt, how to set
Spaces, in commands
Telenet (see SprintNet)
Terminal servers, dialing out from
umask
Please send reports of other errors to the authors, as well as suggestions for
improvements, additional index entries, and any other comments.
------------------------------
END OF CKCKER.UPD