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000049_news@columbia.edu_Sat Jun 3 18:02:47 1995.msg
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From: fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: Re: kermit 3.13 question
Date: 3 Jun 1995 18:02:47 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
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In article <3qne5b$iep@recepsen.aa.msen.com>,
Jeff Schneider <jschneid@conch.aa.msen.com> wrote:
>I currently am using kermit 3.13 for dos for terminal emulation to allow
>my users to talk to a RISC 6000 running AIX3.2.5 We have set Kermit up
>to the point that the user doesn't really know that he is using a terminal
>emulator. Unfortunatly this means that most do not know how to use kermit
>to its fullest ( such as "dial foobar" ). We are now migrating to laptops
>and this adds the dimension of dialing in from home or hotel. My problem:
> 1. how can I invoke kemrit with a batch file so that it will either:
> a. connect directly trough a com port
> b. dial the modem - area code optional,
> prefix optional
> c. connect directly through a network card.
>
>I need to work this miracle with as litter user intervention as possible.
>
The answer is: it can be done, but you will have to write the appropriate
script program(s) to do it. Script programming is documented in "Using
MS-DOS Kermit", supplemented by the KERMIT.UPD file on the Kermit diskette.
Note that the current version of MS-DOS Kermit is 3.14, not 3.13.
Still, your script program can't be a mind reader. It doesn't know if the
laptop it is running on is in the owner's house, in a hotel, on an airplane,
or plugged in to a network (or if it is, whether the network should be used
instead of the serial port or internal modem). So there will still need
to be some hints from the user. That is, the user will still have to know
something. Like whether s/he is in a hotel room or at home. And what
the dialing prefix is, and whether an area code is needed, etc.
In our frenzy to make things easy -- "seamless" -- for users, we make them so
dependent on the tools we develop for them that they become helpless without
them. I'm in favor of a somewhat more minimalist approach -- make things
easy, sure, but don't hide information from them unnecessarily. For example,
I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who are astounded to learn,
when (say) Kermit's DIAL command doesn't work for some reason, that they can
actually CONNECT to the modem and type ATDT<phone-number>. Yes, the don't
have to be helpless in the face of complicated technology. What is the 90's
word for that... empowerment?
- Frank