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000203_news@columbia.edu_Sun Jun 26 03:20:33 1995.msg
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From: les@MCS.COM (Leslie Mikesell)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems,comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: Re: Improved modem dialing for C-Kermit
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:20:33 -0500
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In article <3shhv6$6r9@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu>,
Frank da Cruz <fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu> wrote:
>>Why not teach it to read uucp Devices and Dialers files on the unix
>>version at least? Everyone has to set these up anyway and it's
>>annoying to have to do it all over again for kermit and add a
>>start up script that knows how to find a free modem line.
>>
>Completely ignoring the difficulties among different UNIX versions
>as to the names, locations, formats, contents, and very existence of
>these files...
This is indeed a problem, but kermit is now quite capable of implimenting
modem selection and dialing in a script which would allow the local
setup to be tweaked to read your existing files.
>It is because C-Kermit is not "just" a UNIX program. If I did this for
>UNIX, I would still have to do it some other way for VMS, OS/2, AOS/VS,
>VOS, the Amiga, and so on. OK, fine, I'm lazy.
In my opinion you would be better off dropping hard-coded dialing
support completely.
>But that's not the only reason. The other reason is at the heart of
>the "Kermit philosophy" (if I may be so pompous). Our goal is to
>provide a suite of communication software programs that work consistently
>across hundreds and hundreds of platforms. I know that we have not
>totally succeeded in achieving the goal, but we are working towards it,
>and we are definitely opposed to working against it.
I disagree with this philisophy when it applies to the user interface
level since it will almost certainly confuse users when they
encounter differences from their normal programs. However at a
script command level I have to agree.
>So when somebody posts a query on this newsgroup asking for the commands to
>set up an XYZcommFaxBlasterPro V.34+++++ for C-Kermit, it should not matter
>what OS they have. The answer should be, and will be, the same for all OS's
>where C-Kermit runs.
My questions are more general:
How do I make kermit automatically select a suitable free modem from
those available on the machine? (Preferably without having to keep
a user base aware of changes or modify scripts every time a modem
is replaced or moved).
How do I add the ability to connect over a new modem or device type
that you didn't anticipate (for example an X.25 PAD or a satellite
link that uses similar commands)?
The Devices and Dialers files in HDB uucp provide a general solution
to these questions. Rather than re-invent that solution or provide
less general hard-coded knowledge of specific devices that most people
don't have imbedded in every binary, why not duplicate it with some
macros in kermit and simply create the files for systems where they
don't already exist? You do need some concepts that didn't exist
in pre-HDB versions, like modem 'classes' rather than speeds in the
Devices file to get it right, though.
Les Mikesell
les@mcs.com