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File: MISC.DOC -- OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT OZCIS
This section contains information not covered in the other sections.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR CIS DOLLAR
No one ever said using CIS was cheap. The fact that you are looking
for or using an automated navigation program like OzCIS is most likely
motivated by a desire to save some of your hard-earned bucks.
Saving money when using CIS requires, much more than anything else,
careful planning and thought by YOU, before you ever go on-line. Your
patterns of accessing the service, what areas you frequent, and how
you spend time in those areas, will play a major role in your bill.
Right out of the box, let's dispell a common myth:
USING A NAVIGATOR MAY *NOT* SAVE YOU MONEY.
That's right. A navigator makes your on-line time far more productive.
It reduces the time you WASTE on-line to a minimum and helps you get
the most out of each connect-minute; the value of the time you spend
connected to CIS rises dramatically.
However, many people find that because the time they spend on-line is
more productive, they can do MORE - and end up spending just as much
time on-line, albeit covering a lot more ground in the process. As
long as you take control of your access, limit yourself to those areas
that you would use had you not decided to use an automated program,
you will save a substantial amount on your CIS bills. If you start
keeping up with several new forums, or grabing the weather reports
every time you log on, or making trips to the stock quotes areas three
or four times a day instead of once at the end of the day, your CIS
bill will reflect it. A little restraint can go a long way.
HELPFUL INFO
The best defense against surprising bills is a knowledgable consumer.
the following information will explain some areas of CIS billing,
charges and services that most new users don't completely understand.
Do note that the following is gleaned from my 8 years on the service
as user and sysop, from conversations with other "old hands" and CIS
Customer Service personnel, and careful reading of on-line and paper
CIS information; it is neither "the official word" nor guaranteed to
be 100% accurate. If in doubt, contact CIS Customer Service (GO
FEEDBACK) for the latest official position or information.
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 125
CONNECT CHARGES VS. NETWORK SURCHARGES:
CIS charges at least two fees: a flat per-hour rate for your access to
CIS, as the cost of the computer time and providing the various
services; and one or more "network surcharge(s)" to cover the cost of
connecting to the CIS computers.
The flat connect rate is based strictly on the BAUD rate at which you
connect, and while the rate is expressed per hour it is calculated by
minute - and rounded up to the next whole minute. In some cases the
connect charge varies by time of day; connect-time at a given BAUD
rate during "prime time" hours (weekday business hours) will have a
higher per-hour charge than connect-time at the same BAUD rate made
during "non-prime time" hours.
Network surcharge rates vary depending on what network you use to
access CIS and where you are located in the U.S. or abroad. CIS
operates its own network, and most U.S. nodes are on that network.
Other U.S. and/or foreign nodes are operated by "supplemental
carriers" such as TYMNET, SprintNet, DataPac, Datex-P and others; on
these carriers the network surcharge pays the supplemental carrier,
with CIS just doing the billing. In either case, many network
surcharges are based on time OR connect - in other words, you are
charged a flat rate per connect whether you are on-line 1 minute or
59 minutes.
I mentioned early in this documentation that there is no "right" way
to set up OzCIS for forums access; the above is one reason why. I
discussed that many users find it more convenient to quick scan
message headers, retrieve just the messages that interest them, and
then reply. Note that doing so means you must connect to CIS THREE
times: Once to retrieve the headers, once to retrieve the full
messages selected from the quickscan list, and once to send replies.
Depending on the network in use and the way its rates are structured,
and the activity level of the forum(s) in question, this extra connect
experience may end up costing you more than it would have cost to just
retrieve all new messages on the first pass and send replies on the
second. On the other hand, scanning headers can save you money when
used regularly in forums where you may not pick up much traffic.
As I mentioned, these rates vary from network to network, and change
periodically. You can always find out the current rates for your
network in the RATES area (GO RATES).
TIP: If you use a non-CIS-network node to access the service, it's a
good idea to periodically visit GO RATES and capture the current
rate information to a file for offline review.
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 126
SURCHARGED SERVICES:
Some areas of CIS are special areas provided by other contractors,
such as some of the stock trading information areas, the airlines
areas, and others. Many of these are surcharge areas, meaning you pay
an extra fee for using them. Some are charged per-access while others
charge per minute/quote/look-up/etc. Again, the GO RATES area details
what services are surcharged and what those charges are.
A few "custom" service packages, like the Executive Service Option
package CIS offers, add a single fixed monthly surcharge to your bill.
TIP: Again, if you use any of these surcharged areas, GO RATES
periodically to stay abreast of the current rates.
"THE CHEAP SEATS" - BASIC SERVICES PACKAGES:
CompuServe has for some time offered a package deal for users called
"Basic Services". (As of this writing they are finalizing an updated
version of the BasSrv package that provides users with extra value.)
The BasSrv package, for a fixed monthly charge, gives you unlimited
access to several areas of CIS, such as Weather and the Weather Maps,
the Electronic Mall and others. HOWEVER... access to areas not
included in the BasSrv group are charged at the normal rate! No forums
are included in BasSrv other than the PRACTICE forum and the special
forums that support the CompuServe CIM products for PC's and Macs.
Additionally, CISMail is handled on an "allowance" basis; you are
given a credit allowance of a fixed amount per month and then charged
a fixed fee per message. When you exceed that allowance you incur the
per-message charge in your bill. (Starts to sound like some of the
billing packages offered by the phone companies, doesn't it?) The
exclusions, conditions and restrictions on the BasSrv package should
be reviewed carefully.
BasSrv can save you money, but how much depends on how you use the
Service. If you tend to handle a lot of forum traffic each month but
don't do a lot in other areas, BasSrv may not save you much. But for
some users it can be a real money-saver, and should not be overlooked
as a means of reducing the monthly hit to your wallet. Note also that
all new members signed up after 1 April 92 will be under the Basic
Services billing plan; current members get to choose which billing
plan they prefer.
TIP: Not being a BasSrv user, I am not familar with all the
intricacies of its billing. However, it has been reported to me
that the smart BasSrv user groups access areas carefully,
putting all BasSrv areas together at the start or the end of the
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 127
on-line session. This reduces potential costs when moving
to/from BasSrv areas and other services such as forums.
HIGH-SPEED ACCESS:
That new 9600bps modem is just the ticket to help save you big bucks
on CIS, right? Not nessessarily! If you do a lot of file transfers,
high-speed access will certainly save you a substantial amount of
money. If your use of CIS is geared more towards messages in the
forums, the issue becomes more complicated.
As you've probably noticed, time spent on-line with CIS consists of
time spent receiving or sending data, and periods of time waiting
while CIS processes the most recent request (as when moving between
forums after a GO command).
The time required to move between forums or process commands remains
fairly constant regardless of the BAUD rate at which you connect,
while the time required to send or receive a certain amount of data
decreases as BAUD rate increases. As you increase the BAUD rate, the
percentage of the total on-line session devoted to "waiting" becomes
Larger and has a more noticable effect on the overall connection. This
can be expressed as an overall characters-per-second efficiency figure
- the higher the c.p.s.-figure relative to the connect BAUD rate, the
more efficient the session; the lower the c.p.s.-figure, the more time
you spent waiting while CIS processed your requests.
An "average" 2400bps session, with a typical mix of CISMail and a
half-dozen forums, will usually return an efficiency in the 80 to 100
CPS range (notice this is less than half of the theoretical maximum of
240 CPS.) However, if the forums are all or mostly "small" (have a
small number of new/waiting messages to be retrieved or sent, and
little other data to be retrieved), the efficiency will be
dramatically less, sometimes down in the 40 c.p.s. range - much of the
total connect time is spent "waiting on CIS". On the other hand, a
session spent mostly in "busy" forums with a large number of messages
to capture, or time spent transfering files, will have a substantially
higher efficiency, sometimes approaching or even exceeding 200 c.p.s.
But, as mentioned above, at 9600bps the "waiting" time becomes a much
larger factor. If the forums you visit are small, it is not uncommon
to see 9600bps efficiencies be only 10%-20% higher than 2400bps
efficiencies. If the forums you access are busy, that difference
becomes quite a bit larger.
9600bps connect time costs almost twice as much as 2400bps access, and
at present it carries an additional $10 hourly surcharge above the
normal 30 cent network surcharge if you call via the 800 number. While
9600 theoretically provides 4 times the throughput of 2400 access, in
practice it provides somewhat less (in some cases substantially less,
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 128
depending on network traffic load and other factors.) With the
increased cost of 9600 access, you need to see somewhere between two
and three times the efficiency CPS in order for 9600 to "pay for
itself." Generally a noticeable increase in efficiency will occur only
when you do a lot of file transfers or library scans, and/or if all
the forums you visit are busy.
Only you can determine if 9600bps will save you money over 2400bps. In
addition to what I've mentioned already, you have to factor in any
long distance charges that might be associated with your access,
and/or any extra network surcharges. The only way to know for sure is
to keep careful track of your usage at both BAUD rates, and calculate
which is best for you.
TIPS: Use OzCIS' access logs (and the accessory OzLOG program) to
help you keep close track of your on-line times and
efficiencies. Never do interactive manual work at 9600bps
unless you're only transfering files; you're sure to be wasting
money otherwise. Do large library scans at 9600; like file
transfers they will almost always be more efficient. Plan your
access times; because heavier network loading during the day
and early evening slows down 9600 access by a larger percentage
than it does 2400, save your 9600 sessions until later in the
evening or early morning hours. Take advantage of OzCIS'
ability to "hold" files (pending downloads in CISMail) by doing
your normal mail access at 2400, then logging back on at some
other time at 9600 to get the actual files.
CONFERENCING:
Conferencing can be the most expensive time you spend on-line. I'm not
discouraging conferencing; it can be a wonderful way to meet people,
learn new things, familarize yourself with a forum's membership and
"spirit," or just spend some time chatting with friends. But in terms
of raw data throughput, no use of CIS will give you less per-minute
return on your dollar. If your bill is important to you, make sure you
limit your conferencing to those areas and things that will give you a
return on your investment.
Tip: ALWAYS conference at 300 BAUD. Real-time conferences run at
typing speeds; few people can type 30 characters per second, so
conferencing at 300 BAUD gives you the cheapest connect rate
while still being plenty fast enough to keep up.
USING CIM:
The CompuServe Information Manager (CIM), for simplifying access to
the Service, is a program written and sold by CIS itself. While it is
quite limited in its automation capabilities compared to OzCIS and the
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 129
other navigator programs, it excels in interactive on-line operation,
especially in certain areas like the Executive News Service and the
Airlines areas, and in conferencing. Its user interface is quite
similar to that of OzCIS in several ways, although the two cannot
share files such as messages or forums lists.
I cannot recommend CIM for regular CISMail or forum traffic or file
transfers, but I do recommend it for conferencing and some other
manual on-line chores. CIM can be ordered on-line (GO ORDER). The cost
is $25, but an included $20 usage credit means the net cost is $5 -
well worth it. CIM can be installed as an external in OzCIS for easy
access.
THE "PRACTICE" FORUM:
Becoming familar with CIS, even when using an automated program, can
be an expensive process. CIS provides a free forum called PRACTICE,
where connect time charges are waived (but network surcharges still
apply!) and in which you can "play." The sysops are friendly,
knowledgable people, ready to answer any question and understanding of
people who don't know the ropes and get confused over the multitude of
commands, etc. If you're unsure about doing something on the service,
stop by the PRACTICE forum and try it out on CompuServe's nickel -
instead of your own.
SAVING MONEY WITH OzCIS
As mentioned throughout the preceeding section, YOU are the primary
determining factor in how your CIS bill looks at the end of the month.
However, OzCIS provides several things that can be used to your
advantage.
1) As mentioned in the discussion of 9600bps access, using the
access log files generated by OzCIS to keep track of the on-line
time you spend and where you spend it can be very helpful in
determining ways to save money. The OzLOG utility included with
the program can help you quickly make sense of the logs. (See
below for more information.)
2) Keep your access limited to later evening and weekend hours as
much as possible, especially when doing file transfers or library
scans; you'll get higher efficiency. Avoid Monday early evenings
if possible; this is traditionally the highest-access time for
the Service. By the same token, don't start long scans or
downloads in the wee hours of the morning unless you are familar
with the down-for-maint. schedule for that forum. All forums are
taken down for a short time every day, to do a complete backup
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 130
and freshen programs as needed; usually this is done between 2AM
and 5AM EST, but some forums come a bit earlier or later.
3) Short-format scans of forum libraries take MUCH less time to
retrieve than do long-format scans. If you are investigating a new
forum's libraries, do a short-format scan first - then use the
Retrieve option from the short-list display to get the full
abstracts for only the files that interest you.
4) By the same token, never re-scan a complete long catalog unless
you have to; use the Update option to retrieve only new files.
Or use the Custom Library Scans facility to reduce the scan list
even further.
5) Looking for a file, but aren't sure what forum it's in? Never
just start hopping from forum to forum browsing the libraries!
GO IBMFF instead; use the FileFinder to zero in on the file
you're looking for rapidly. If the file is a graphics image, use
GO GRAPHFF. Other FileFinders exist for other computer types,
such as MACFF.
6) If you access a non-forum area regularly, look into writing or
acquiring a script to automate it as far as possible rather than
always doing it manually.
7) Never send a mail message "Receipt requested" unless it's REALLY
nessessary. Those 25-cents-per-receipt charges can add up quickly
when you RR most or all of your mail messages.
8) Ditto for CC'ed messages. Hint: if you only have a few addressees
for a given message, create the first copy and then call up the
CISMAIL.MES file in the General Editor, block-copy the duplicate
messages and edit the address info to suit. The break-even point
for this technique is about 5 smaller messages; if the message is
long or you have more than 4 or 5 people to send it to, the time
spent sending all the extra text will equal or exceed the per-copy
costs for CC'ing a message.
9) When setting up or sorting your forums, if you have one or more
forums in a different "gateway" (such as ZiffNet), group those
forums together and put them at the end of your forums list. Doing
so reduces the "dead" time CIS spends switching thru the gateway.
10) Never start a file transfer and walk away, especially if you don't
use an error-corrected modem and the line has been showing
symptoms of being noisy or problematic. If a download is visibly
slow due to high network loading, or is getting a number of
errors, abort the transfer and try again later (taking advantage
of the B+ protocol's "resume" feature.)
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 131
11) Unless it's your primary reason for using CIS, never set up areas
such as Weather or ENS to be processed each and every time you log
on. These areas generally are slower processing than the forums
and CISMail, and can sometimes result in a large amount of data
being re-captured.
12) Save processing of Weather Maps until mid- to late-afternoon if
possible. Some of the maps do not become available until the
afternoon, so requesting one of these maps before they are
available means a deadhead pass thru the AWM area.
ACTIVITY LOGS
OzCIS generates and maintains an activity log of all on-line sessions.
This log contains both timing information for accounting purposes, and
reports of file transfer success or failure.
Activity log files are named MMM-YY.LOG, where "MMM" is the three-
letter identifier for the current month, and "YY" is the last two
digits of the current year. A new log file is created the first time
you log on (or after the first of each month) and is stored in the
directory where OzCIS itself is stored. These log files can grow quite
large, depending on the frequency with which you log onto CIS, how
many forums you visit, how often you run scripts, and how often you
operate in manual terminal mode. Once you are finished with activity
log files that are no longer current, I recommend you archive them off
to floppy disk or otherwise store them away.
The OzCIS distribution set contains a small utility program called
OzLOG. This program will read the session log file and generate a
tabular report by host, session and forum, showing on-line time by
host in each forum and time spent performing non-OzCIS work. It also
provides approximate costs for the time you spent on-line. This
utility is quite handy for getting an idea of how much you're spending
on CIS access, but it should not be construed to be an accurate
representation of charges - it has no knowledge of areas that are free
of charge or surcharged.
See the file UTILS.DOC for information on using OzLOG.
OzCIS COLOR CONFIGURATION
The colors configuration area (CONFIGURATION > COLORS CONFIG) allows
you to change the colors OzCIS uses for display. While we have tried
to set up a colors scheme that most users will find pleasing, to each
his own!
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 132
OzCIS maintains two sets of colors, one for the editor/viewer windows
and their related fields, and one for the menus, picklists and entry
dialogs. (It also maintains a set of colors for error alerts and
dialog boxes, but these are not currently configurable.) Within each
color set are two subsets, one for color systems and one for
monochrome systems. All screen element types will have one each of the
two types of attributes.
The "Color Map" window on the left side of the screen shows the
available attributes. Each attribute's value is composed of two
numbers, the top number and the side number in the matrix. When
entering an attribute value, use the top number first and then the
side number to create the actual attribute. (Some users will instantly
recognize this as standard hexidecimal attribute notation, but some
users may not be familar with it.)
For example, find the attribute in the matrix for white text on a blue
background (close to the lower-left corner.) The value above that
attribute's column is "1", and the value for that attribute's row is
"F". Therefore, the attribute value you would input in a field if you
wanted white text on a blue background would be "1F". Yellow on blue
(just above white-on-blue) would be "1E", and so forth.
OzCIS SVGA VIDEO TYPES SUPPORTED
OzCIS supports the following SuperVGA types when displaying GIF
images on-line:
Standard VGA - IBM-compatible VGA with no SVGA support.
Should be used if your card does not support
SVGA modes or does not fall in the group
below.
AutoDetect - OzCIS will attempt to detect which type of
video hardware is available.
VESA Driver - Any SVGA card that is using a VESA driver.
This is the recommended setting if at all
possible.
Tseng Labs ET3000 - All SVGA cards using the ET3000 chipset with
512K of video memory.
Tseng Labs ET4000 - All ET4000-based cards with 1Mb of video
memory.
Trident 88/8900 - Trident 8800- and 8900-based cards with max
memory. The three above chipsets comprise the
vast majority of both "brand-name" and "no
name" cards that are not made by one of the
mfgrs below.
Paradise - Most recent Paradise and AST cards. Includes
some motherboard-mounted video.
Video7 - Vega, VRAM and FastRAM cards with max memory.
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 133
ATI - ATI VGA Wonder and Small Wonder cards only,
with max memory.
Chips&Tech - The C&T "451" chipset-based cards.
Ahead - "A" and "B"-based cards with max memory.
Everex - Most Everex cards, including some that
actually use the Trident 8800 chipsets.
If you're unsure about the chipset used by your video card, look at
the card itself or consult your dealer/vendor.
OzCIS provides a small external program call OZGIF.EXE for viewing GIF
images off-line. The program must be installed in the same directory
as OzCIS in order for the main program to find it. You can then select
WINDOW > VIEW GIF from the main screen to view GIF files off-line.
OZGIF is a small and simplistic program that will display GIFs but
does not provide many of the advanced features of some of the
available offline graphics viewers available. Many of these other
programs can resize, pan and zoom images, handle other formats such as
BMP, PCX and TIFF, and allow editing color palettes and other image
manipulation. Some will also support a wider range of video hardware
than OZGIF as well. There is a wide selection of such programs
available in the PICS Forum, library 3. My favorites are CSHOW and
VPIC, but many others are just as good. A few that work with Microsoft
Windows are also available.
If you prefer to use one of the other programs to view GIF images,
hooking it into OzCIS is fairly simple. Create a batch file called
OZGIF.BAT which executes your preferred offline viewer, and put it in
the same directory as the main program. OzCIS will note the existance
of that batch file and execute it rather than OZGIF.EXE if it is
found.
ERROR CODES
OzCIS has a number of error codes that may be reported during the
operation of the program. Most of these are internal errors that you
will never see unless there is a system conflict or out-of-memory
condition. Some are DOS errors that you may see, and these are listed
below. Note that error codes are broken into "classes", where a class
has a hundreds prefix indicating error class (such as the 29xx and
89xx errors for comm-port-related errors below.)
ecFileNotFound = 2; {File not found}
ecPathNotFound = 3; {Path not found}
ecTooManyFiles = 4; {Too many open files}
ecAccessDenied = 5; {File access denied}
ecInvalidHandle = 6; {Invalid file handle}
ecOutOfMemory = 8; {Insufficient memory}
ecInvalidDrive = 15; {Invalid drive}
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 134
ecNoMoreFiles = 18; {No more files}
ecDiskRead = 100; {Attempt to read past EOF}
ecDiskFull = 101; {Disk is full}
ecNotAssigned = 102; {File not Assign-ed}
ecNotOpen = 103; {File not open}
ecNotOpenInput = 104; {File not open for input}
ecNotOpenOutput = 105; {File not open for output}
ecWriteProtected = 150; {Disk is write-protected}
ecUnknownUnit = 151; {Unknown disk unit}
ecDriveNotReady = 152; {Drive is not ready}
ecUnknownCommand = 153; {Unknown command}
ecCrcError = 154; {Data error}
ecBadStructLen = 155; {Bad request structure length}
ecSeekError = 156; {Seek error}
ecUnknownMedia = 157; {Unknown media type}
ecSectorNotFound = 158; {Disk sector not found}
ecOutOfPaper = 159; {Printer is out of paper}
ecDeviceWrite = 160; {Device write error}
ecDeviceRead = 161; {Device read error}
ecHardwareFailure = 162; {General failure}
Other errors you may see refer to problems with the serial port, such
as parity, framing or overrun errors or errors during protocol
sessions. These include:
ecNoMorePorts = 2900; {Can't open port}
ecOverrunError = 2901; {UART receiver overrun}
ecParityError = 2902; {UART receiver parity error}
ecFramingError = 2903; {UART receiver framing error}
ecBlockIncomplete = 2920; {Block shorter than requested}
ecBufferIsFull = 2921; {No room for new char in buffer}
ecBufferIsEmpty = 2922; {No characters to get}
ecTimeout = 2923; {Timed out waiting for something}
ecStringIncomplete = 2924; {String shorter than requested}
ecStringOverrun = 2925; {String longer than 255}
ecUserAbort = 2926; {User aborted during "wait"}
ecBadPortNumber = 8900; {Out-of-range port number}
ecOutofRange = 8901; {General out-of-range error}
ecPortNotOpen = 8902; {Port not open}
ecInvalidBaudRate = 8903; {Bad BAUD rate for this device}
ecInvalidArgument = 8904; {General programming error}
ecNoDevice = 8905; {No device layer installed}
ecNotaUart = 8906; {Couldn't find a uart}
ecInvalidParity = 8907; {Bad parity option}
ecBadFileList = 8909; {No end of list marker found}
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 135
ecInitFail = 9900; {init failed}
ecInitCancel = 9901; {init was canceled on request}
ecCancelRequested = 9902; {Cancel requested}
ecDuplicateBlock = 9903; {Duplicate block received}
ecSequenceError = 9904; {Wrong block number received}
ecDirNotFound = 9905; {Directory not found}
ecNoMatchingFiles = 9906; {No matching files}
ecLongPacket = 9907; {Long packet received}
ecEndFile = 9908; {End of transmitted file}
ecHandshakeInProgress = 9909; {protocol handshake in progress}
ecFileRenamed = 9910; {Incoming file was renamed}
ecFileAlreadyExists = 9911; {Incoming file already exists}
ecInvalidFilesize = 9912; {Ymodem header bad file size}
ecInvalidDateTime = 9913; {Ymodem header bad date/time}
ecUnexpectedChar = 9914; {Unexpected char during protocol}
ecBlockCheckError = 9915; {Incorrect CRC/checksum received}
ecNoSearchMask = 9916; {No search mask specified}
ecNoFilename = 9917; {No filename specifed}
ecAsciiReceiveInProgress = 9918; {Ascii receive in progress}
ecFileRejected = 9919; {Receiver rejected file}
ecTooManyErrors = 9920; {Too many errors received}
The other possible codes are internal errors. If you see one of these,
please report it to me, including the sequence of commands or
operations that lead up to the error. In general the 7xxx class of
errors are recoverable and the program will continue, while the 8xxx
class of errors are "fatal".
ecFieldRequired = 7000; {field is required}
ecBadFormat = 7001; {bad format (number/date/time, etc.}
ecOutOfRange = 7002; {value entered is out of range}
ecBlanksInField = 7003; {field contains blanks}
ecPartialEntry = 7004; {field contains a partial entry}
ecBadCharacter = 7005; {field contains an illegal character}
ecStringNotFound = 7100; {search string not found}
ecNotToScreen = 7101; {cannot write output to screen}
ecInvalidNumber = 7102; {invalid number entered}
ecBufferFull = 7110; {edit buffer is full}
ecLineTooLong = 7111; {line too long, CRLF inserted}
ecTooManyLines = 7112; {max line limit would be exceeded}
ecOverLineLimit = 7113; {max line limit already exceeded}
ecFileTruncated = 7114; {file truncated}
ecFileTooLarge = 7115; {file too large to fit in buffer}
ecNoBlock = 7116; {block not marked or hidden}
ecWinCoordsBad = 8100; {bad coordinates specified}
ecWinNotActive = 8101; {window must be active}
ecWinNotCurrent = 8102; {window must be current}
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OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 136
ecWinIsActive = 8103; {window must be inactive}
ecWinInaccessible = 8104; {stacked window not accessible}
ecWinIsZoomed = 8105; {zoomed window cannot be zoomed again}
ecWinBadIndex = 8106; {invalid header or hot spot index}
ecWinNotSizeable = 8107; {window must be sizeable}
ecNoProcessor = 8108; {no command processor is available}
ecWinIsChild = 8109; {operation is not valid on child window}
ecNoPickItems = 8200; {attempt to pick from empty list}
ecBadPickOrient = 8201; {invalid pick orientation}
ecBadPickHandler = 8202; {invalid pick command handler}
ecHelpInvalid = 8220; {invalid help file format}
ecNoHelpForTopic = 8221; {no help for specified topic}
ecNoBoundHelp = 8222; {pointer for help not registered}
ecTooManyFields = 8300; {too many fields in a entry screen}
ecBadCoordinates = 8301; {bad coordinates for a field}
ecNotScrollable = 8302; {virtual screen not allocated}
ecNoFields = 8303; {selector/entry screen has no fields}
ecFieldNotFound = 8305; {attempt to move to non-existent field}
{reported by various units}
ecNilPointer = 8500; {nil pointer where one shouldn't be}
ecBadParam = 8501; {bad parameter to a procedure}
COMMAND LINE SWITCHES
OzCIS provides several command line switches that can make using the
program, or debugging problems with on-line operations, much easier:
/? or ? - Display a list of available command line switches,
then exit at once.
/S - Create a log file of the entire on-line session. The
first time you log on after starting OzCIS, the file
SESSION.LOG is created (overwriting any existing file
with that name). All com-port activity is captured
into this file as well as into the program itself. If
you log off and then log back on later, without
exiting OzCIS completely, the file is appended to.
NOTE: session log file can get very large, especially
if you do larger library scans, etc.; using this
switch all the time is not a good idea.
/M - Force the use of monochrome video attributes. This
switch is handy for those with mono video or laptop
type displays connected to color video cards.
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/1 - Force a 1st Pass to be executed immediately upon
startup.
/2 - Force a 2nd Pass to be executed immediately upon
startup.
/X - When used with either the /1 or /2 switch, forces
the program to exit once the automated pass is
complete. Otherwise ignored.
/43 or /50 - Use 43-line mode on EGA or 50-line mode on VGA.
COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. My system gets a little way into the Profile Configuration pass
and stops. What's up?
A. The most likely problem is that you have the CIS config option
"BRIEF Prompts" set to [NO]. The fix: log on manually and issue GO
PROFILE. Select "User Profile", then "Terminal Settings", then
"General Options", then item 2 ("BRIEF Prompts") and set this
option to [YES]. Exit the area, saving your changes. Log off, then
give the Profile Config pass command again.
Q. My system gets a little way into on-line processing and locks up,
always in a different place, at 9600bps; at 2400 everything works
fine. Bug?
A. The single most common cause of lockups at 9600bps and higher port
speeds, for _all_ comm programs, is having a slow disk cache or
other TSR or driver running that takes a lot of time processing its
interrupts. This can include programs like Stacker and other
runtime disk compression programs, EMS/XMS drivers, TSR's that sit
on a regular interrupt like the clock-tick interrupt, etc. To find
out if this is your problem, un-install as needed all TSR's,
EMS/XMS device drivers, Stacker, etc., and run the program (it
should work fine.) Then add back one driver or TSR at a time and
retest, until you hit the one causing the problem. (Note: load
order can also be important.) Consult the documentation for the
TSR, driver or tool causing the problem, or contact that company's
tect support line. Many disk cache and other programs have specific
sections in their documentation on this problem, because it is so
common.
NOTE: DR-DOS 6.0's XMS driver has a known serious bug that can
cause problems. DRI is aware of the problem and is supposedly
working on a fix; until such time as a fix is generally available,
do not use DR-DOS' XMS driver with OzCIS.
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One other MAJOR help: install a 16550AFN UART chip if you can. This
kind of serial chip provides an internal 16-byte buffer than can
eliminate the vast majority of such problems. OzCIS automatically
detects and takes advantage of a 16550AFN is one exists. Consult
your hardware vendor for more information.
Q. I just switched to the new Basic Services option; will this cause
problems for OzCIS?
A. No. The changes to menus, etc., for Basic Services are transparent
to OzCIS.
Q. The reported on-line costs by OzLOG don't come close to matching
the reports I get when I do a GO BILL. Why?
A. OzLOG has no way to know which areas are free, which are part of
Basic Services, and which are surcharged services. All it knows is
how long you were on-line, and where. It therefore cannot adjust
billing info to account for those increases or decreases in per-
area costs. OzLOG is intended to be a simple helper to give you a
general idea of your on-line time and billing, not as an accurate
report; for an accurate report you should GO BILL.
Q. My CPS readings at 9600bps seem awfully low, often less than 300
characters per second. Shouldn't 9600 access be much faster than
this? What's wrong with OzCIS?
A. See the section on 9600 access above. OzCIS can handle data at
any speed CIS will send it; the program is not slowing down CIS.
CIS itself slows down when host computer and/or network traffic
is high, and this slow-down is more appearent at 9600 than at
2400. Review your 9600 access per the guidelines above - you may
well find that using 9600 is not economical for your access
patterns.
Q. My modem won't connect. I've juggled the init string, but it
still balks. Why?
A. Different modems work differently; while the Hayes "AT" command
set _style_ is pretty much universal today, there are a lot of
variations. For example, some modems don't use the standard "ATZ"
command to reset the modem, they add a numeric parameter such as
"ATZ1". OzCIS allows flexibility in how you configure the modem.
Here are some general tips:
1) You can control whether OzCIS resets the modem on initialization
via the "Reset Modem?" switch in the Host config. OzCIS resets the
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modem by sending the standard "ATZ"; if your modem needs something
different, try turning off the auto reset and include the reset in
the initialization string (see next.)
2) OzCIS allows you to embed special characters for 1/2-sec delay
(~) and carrage-return (|) in the init string. You should never
_end_ the init string with the CR character, but otherwise it's
acceptable to use in the string itself. For example, an init
string might include a reset sequence, like so:
ATZ1|~~~~AT\M3
where the string resets the modem, waits 2 seconds and then sends
the init string.
3) Probably the most common error is to include a "DT" or "DP" (or
just the "D" command) as part of the init string. Don't! OzCIS
does it for you, so duplicating the command will usually confuse
the modem.
4) The second-most-common error is to confuse the init string as
being just a reset string - in other words, putting only "ATZ" in
the init string field. This also will confuse some modems.
Q. Everything works OK except for Forum downloads; I can't get the
program to get past the "Lib xx" prompt. What can I do?
A. The most common cause of this is having the "BRIEF Prompts" option
in the Profile Config area set to NO. The give-away on this
problem is when OzCIS sends the "LIB 1" command, CIS sends back
something like "LIB 1 - Customer Files !"; OzCIS expects the
brief format prompt in response, which would be just "LIB 1 !"
Another common mistake is prepending a 0 on a library number, so
that OzCIS sends "LIB 01" but gets "LIB 1 !" back. To correct the
brief prompts problem, perform a Profile Config pass.
Q. "Fast Logon" doesn't work, it hangs at the ^P... but it works OK
when I call at 2400bps.
A. Fast Logon often does not work at 9600bps, because the CIS network
swallows the following prompt at these high speeds. Never use
Fast Logon at 9600bps.
Q. I can't find a way to make OzCIS always scan a library for new
files each time I enter that forum. Can this be done?
A. Yes and No. No, because there is no way to do it 100% automatically
from within the program. Yes, because you can easily create a
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script to scan your chosen libraries, and then install the script
as the "Permanent Script" in the forum configuration dialogue. See
TERMINAL.DOC for info on the script language and example scripts.
Q. I've grown accustomed to using RECON and TAPPET to manage my forum
messages and threads, and scan headers. Can I use these tools
with OzCIS? How about CATSCAN?
A. Yes to RECON and TAPPET, with a couple of notes. You can use
RECON with OzCIS for all forum messages (sorry, not CISMail
messages) by doing the following things:
1) In the Pass Options window for the forums you wish to manage
with RECON, set "Purge Type" to NEVER.
2) Install RECON as an external program.
3) Included in the OZCIS3.EXE archive are two files: RECONVRT.EXE
and PARAMS.OZ. RECONVRT is a utility to convert RECON's outbox
file (replies and new messages to be sent) to OzCIS' format; you
will need to run this program on the outbox files before OzCIS can
send them. Creating a batch file to do this is the easiest way.
PARAMS.OZ is a special params file for RECON when used with OzCIS;
you will need to edit it for your Name, User ID and path
information.
The message file format OzCIS uses, and its QS (quick-scan) headers
file format, works fine with TAPPET. TAPPET's output files work
with OzCIS. The only problem is file names; TAPPET expects TAPCIS
filename conventions. To use TAPPET with OzCIS, you will need to
create a batch file something like the following:
rename *.mes *.msg
rename *.qs *.qsn
tappet /r
rename *.msg *.mes
rename *.thd *.get
del *.qsn
This renames all OzCIS received-message and QS-headers files to the
names TAPPET expects, and runs TAPPET. It then renames the messages
files back to OzCIS' names and renames the TAPPET output files to
the names OzCIS expects, then deletes the now-unneeded QS headers
file. If you have created separate directories for your forums, you
will of course need to account for that in your batch file. Install
this batch file as an "external."
At this writing, CATSCAN has not been tested with OzCIS. I
personally have no idea what would be required to make CATSCAN
work with OzCIS.
# # #
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