World of Ham Radio 1997

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Users guide for radiogram formatting program version 3.0 (C) Copyright 1991 by Barbara L. Osofsky This is an old version, which may still contain some valuable info. Not every feature is in here, but it still contains most. In the following, the letters "st" will denote a two letter state abbreviation, "#" will denote a single digit, "?" will denote a single letter or digit, and "*" will denote a wildcard--any group of alphanumeric characters. Files associated with this program: In the program directory: NTS.EXE Large executable program for formatting messages in ARRL or (Army) MARS radiogram format for transmission by Amateur Radio packet (or other) systems. Only one of NTS.EXE, ARRL.EXE is needed. ARRL.EXE An overlaid version of the same program taking ARRL.OVR somewhat less memory and using slightly more references to disk when running. COLOR.EXE This program, which must be run from a DOS prompt, lets the user set the foreground and background colors on a color monitor before entering the NTS (or ARRL) program. It aborts if something other than a number is entered when it expects a number. PREAMBLE.ARL This file is created by the program to store information needed to generate preambles for radiograms in ARRL format. ADDRESS.ARL These files store portions of messages that can be inserted TEXT.ARL into a message being produced by typing a period "." when SIGN.ARL the user is asked for the given part of the message. The specific address or text or signature to use is then selected from a list of all entries in the appropriate file by picking a letter associated with it. AREA.ARL This file is produced if the user wishes to extend verification of the agreement of state, zip code, and telephone area codes to include area codes not already in the program. FUNCT.ARL Text to be inserted into an item being edited by use of a function key (F1--F10 together with nothing, shift, ctrl, or alt) is stored in this file. AUXPORT.ARL File containing settings for the serial port program. Unfortunately, the serial port driver is not completely debugged at this time, and so is blocked in this version. MARS.ARL Information for (Army) MARS messages. In the output directory (path stored in PREAMBLE.ARL): st*.NTS Name given to files produced containing a single message ZZ*.NTS in NTS format. "*" refers to alphanumeric characters generated . These files are ready to be uploaded to a packet PBBS. "ZZ" is used instead of st if the message is not addressed "@ NTSst", for example if the user has changed the packet routing of the message so that it is a packet pbbs rather than "@ NTSst". st*.MRS Name given to files produced containing a single packet ready message in (Army) MARS format. "*" is as above. Booking MARS messages by state also will create files of this name and title <nr of messages> R (APO) st. st*.CNT This file is composed of all messages of type st*.NTS for importing into a PBBS program. The st*.NTS files are deleted after concatenation to a file of this form. The "*" avoids overwriting. New copies of the original files can be reobtained by using the separate option in the edit program off the preparation menu. Here st may also refer to a region of the NTS. ZZ*.CNT All files of the form *.NTS are concatenated. ZZ*.CMR All messages of type *.MRS are combined for importation into PBBS software. *.??U Indicates that the message in the file has been used elsewhere by the program and so are ready for archiving. *.D?? These are messages in appropriate format (the last two letters indicate which) which are not ready for packet. they can be made ready for packet by using the separate subprogram of the edit routine. The next group of files in the output directory are rarely produced. WELFARE.### A booked welfare inquiry. These files are produced by an experimental attempt at consideration of what a mass welfare inquiry might look like. This message is packet ready, but not really in standard NTS format. *.BUK A message in NTS net book format, not to be transmitted by packet. *.PRT A message produced by this program for printing. This is a remnant of earlier versions of this program. Wmon####.### If a message is more than 40 words long, it is dumped into a file with such a name. Information stored within the program: Translations of ARRL numbered radiograms as of 1990. State names written out, two letter state abbreviations, ranges of zip codes for each state, area codes for each state. Here "state" includes Canadian provinces and zip codes includes Canadian postal codes. Provision is made to update area codes as new ones are added. Explanations of ARRL HX (handling) instructions. A list of countries with which we had third party agreements as of fall 1988. This can be viewed whenever the program cannot find the state in a message address. Choices on the main menu: If the letter is preceeded by the letter P, the choice is still available from the main menu but actually listed on the preparation menu accessed by the letter P. The only item on the preparation menu not also available from the main menu is the edit. Key Meaning A ARL numbered radiogram texts This routine is used to view the meanings of ARRL numbered radiograms. B Book--common text, signature sent to address list (This was choice C in version 2.) This uses codewords to select which addresses from the file ADDRESS.ARL are to receive the (mail merged) message. It also contains a routine for adding addresses in a pre-prepared file to ADDRESS.ARL. A file in the form used for ADDRESS.ARL is also produced which may be renamed ADDRESS.ARL from a DOS prompt, presumably after renaming the original ADDRESS.ARL. The pre-prepared file may, for example, be obtained by exporting addresses from a data base into an ASCII file with the symbol * on a line by itself separating addresses. The phone number for the individual address should be on a line by itself just before the "*". Before the book is actually prepared, the common parts are written to the screen to give the user an opportunity to select what additional information (such as ARL and HX explanations) to include or whether to abort. No address is written because the user cannot modify addresses at this point. The messages are usually prepared individually for packet, but it is possible to put them into the form of a book for a phone or cw net. There is also an experimental routine for creating a disaster welfare inquiry. If messages are written using this mail merge routine, all defaults are removed at the end of writing the book, but if no addresses with the given code word(s) are found, defaults are retained in case the code word(s) were mistyped and the user still wishes to send the book. If the user does not want to send the book at that time, he should remove remove these defaults. P C Concatenate message files by state or region In this routine the user may specify specific messages to be concatenated into a single file which is easier to import into a PBBS program. The individual files are erased from the output directory. Mars messages by state are booked into two single messages with title indicating the number and whether or not they are for APO st. Messages can be specified by the following: S -- All NTS messages to a given state -- S(tate) R -- All NTS messages to a given NTS region -- R(egion) A -- All NTS messages -- A(ll) B -- All MARS messages to a given state -- B(ook) C -- All MARS messages -- C(ollect) P D Default parts of messages A message in NTS format has three parts besides the preamble. It has an address, a text, and a signature. Any one of these three parts can be entered as a default, to be automatically included in every message produced that session unless removed as a default. Entering and removing defaults are done using this routine. In addition, items in the preamble or the name of the output directory path can be assigned as defaults for a given session without writing the new items to disk. All defaults are lost at the end of the session. If preamble parts are to be permanently changed, the Update files routine should be used. E Enter MARS subprogram This subprogram does for messages in Army MARS format what the general program does for messages in NTS format. If other branches of the armed services use the same format, it can also be used for their MARS messages. Its subprograms are: A Amateur format converted to MARS format. The message may be filed to be sent by packet (using the letter P) or RTTY (selecting R). B Book MARS messages by state. This routine can also be accessed from the main menu using the C(oncatenate) option. C Change MARS call or location. E Edit--same as in preparation menu. M MARS format converted to amateur format. O Originate MARS formatted message. When the message is entered, the letter P will write to disk for packet, and the letter R for RTTY. R Relay message in MARS format. This just attaches the relaying stations information. Q Quit this subroutine. T Terminal program. This is exactly the same routine accessed from the main menu. P F Function key definitions Each of the 40 function keys, F1--F10, Shift-F1--Shift-F10, Ctrl-F1--Ctrl-F10, Alt-F1--Alt-F10, can be assigned text of up to 255 characters. When the function key is hit while in the editor, the assigned text will be inserted into the material being edited at the position where the function key was hit. P L Look at files. This is a directory viewing routine with the option of displaying a selected file page by page on the screen. M Message entry This is the main routine of this program. It is intended to make the task of producing a message in NTS format as easy as possible. It generates the preamble of the message automatically from information in the PREAMBLE.ARL file or defaults set for the current session. This can be avoided by the user typing a preamble starting NR # as the first line of the address. It computes the check as it would be computed for a correctly formated message on an NTS net. It automatically prepares packet sending lines for uploading to a bulletin board. It converts state names to two letter state codes if necessary and makes sure that state, zip, and area code (or province, postal code, and area code) are consistent. It generates 4 premessage lines requesting servicing if the message is not removed from a PBBS near the destination, and explanations of ARL codes and handling instructions. Each message part (address, text, signature) is entered separately. If default parts have been set, they automatically are inserted. Otherwise the user is given a choice of entering a period "." to use the part file or anything else to use the built in on screen editor. The editor commands are listed on the editor screen. They include cursor movements, search and search/replace, and a very rudimentary clipboard (buffer). When a part is completed, the user types Ctrl-Q or "^" to exit the editor. Many non-alphanumeric characters are simply ignored by the editor. All letters are upper case. The editor has 68 column word wrap (to look like (Army) MARS format) although shorter lines are no problem. The placing of words on lines in the final NTS formatted message is in groups of five with two groups on a line. Messages containing a count of more than 40 words are not formatted for packet. They may be written to disk for later editing, but the packet sending header will have to be entered manually if the count is not reduced. When a message is completed, it is printed to the screen with its packet sending header, 4 premessage lines, explanations of HX and ARL codes used, the final "/EX", and the name of the output file. A very rudimentary menu appears on the bottom which is rather cryptic and incomplete as room is very tight (the top few lines of the message may well scroll off the top of the screen). Here are the explanations of the options offered and some possibilities not even mentioned on the menu. The letters and numbers mean: C or 1 The complete message, including premessage lines and expla- nations for HX and ARL codes, is written to the indicated file. This should probably NOT be used for mass originations from a fair or similar event. Using C returns you to the main menu. Using 1 files the message and immediately takes you to the message routine for entering the address of the next message. P or 2 The message written to disk contains only what is necessary for a packet message. The four premessage lines and explanation of codes are omitted. This is probably best for mass originations. Using the letter P writes to disk and returns to the main menu, whereas 2 writes and returns to entering the next message. M or 3 The 4 premessage lines are omitted, but the explanations of ARL and HX codes are included in the output disk file. Again the letter returns to the main menu and the digit to the next message. J or 4 Just the radiogram without packet heading, premessage lines, explanations, is written to disk. If the message needs further revisions, one might do this and then edit the results. This is similar to the treatment of messages too large for the program to accept (text word count > 40). F or 5 This writes the message starting with the actual preamble and ending with ARL and HX explanations. This enables the user to type in a received radiogram and produce hard copy that can be sent to the recipient which will give him/her explanations of what the codes mean. Q This aborts message entry without writing to disk. As im a great many places in the program, typing Q exits from the current routine (Ctrl-Q for the editor). E This is a post-entry edit. One can edit message parts, change the name of the output file or the output directory path for that message. If a preamble has been generated (the address did not start with NR #) one can change any part of it. The user can change the generated "ST ##### @ NTSst" or subject field entry, for example to send to a specific call at a specific PBBS call. If the address came from the address file and this kind of a change had already been made, the output file name would begin with "ZZ" rather than "st", but a post edit change of routing leaves the output file name alone. The number of the next message is not incremented by 1 if the post edit routine is used to change the call of the originating station. Q Quit program As the program exits, the user is asked if there are any message files he/she wishes to concatenate. A carriage return or the letter "N" or "n" exits the program, whereas "Y' or "y" takes the user to the concatenate files routine before exiting. P S Sort files by codewords All address, text, and signature file entries have a codeword associated with them, even if it is only "NONE ". These codewords are used to select which addresses are to be used in a mail merged book. This routine also uses these codewords in a crude sort. If the parts files ADDRESS.ARL, TEXT.ARL, SIGN.ARL have many entries it can be very helpful for the entries most likely to be used in a given session to be in the front of the file. For example, in December, the user might want to bring to the front of the address and text files those messages appropriate for the holiday season or for December birthdays. If those parts were assigned codewords "XMAS " and "DECBD" respectively, sorting the files in the order "DECBD XMAS" would arrange entries so the December birthdays appeared first and the winter holiday entries (which were not also December birthdays) appeared next. The remaining entries would not be reordered. The user then chooses whether to write the new order to disk or not. T Terminal program -- this program may not be working at this time. This is a very rudimentary program addressing the serial port. Characters received at the serial port are written to the screen. Characters entered at the keyboard are written to the port. The Cursor-down arrow will start recording all received characters to disk. Recording is ended by receipt of Esc from the keyboard, and the file is named mnd_*.TER, where mn is the first and third letter of the month, and d the day. "*" is the usual characters to prevent an overwrite. Cursor-up arrow takes the user to an upload routine which will upload individual files by user provided name, by state, by NTS region, or all NTS or MARS messages. A ctrl-Z is sent to the PBBS in place of /EX to terminate each message. After a message is uploaded, if the serial port receives the prompt ">" the file extension is changed to end in the letter U, so the file name will no longer match the masks for concatenating or uploading. There are a variety of (hopefully understandable) error messages. Esc will terminate an upload. This program uses stop/start flow with stop character <ctrl-S> and start <ctrl-Q> in both directions. Set your TNC for these characters if it has software flow control (they are almost certainly the default values). the program is currently in limbo. All routines have had a reasonable amount of debugging, the hardware intercept seems to work and report error conditions as programmed. But I have a problem with the TNC I was using to test it. Even with a known working terminal program I could not get output to the TNC, and the only input I got was about half of the sign on program. With this program I got one or two symbols from the sign on of the TNC and loads of error reports (funny characters indicate overwrite, parity, framing errors). I have no idea how to continue debugging this. My guess is there is some kind of a handshaking problem. I've set both DTR and RTS high and ignored hardware handshaking. Any ideas, suggestions, help, etc would be much appreciated. P U Update files This routine enables the user to add, edit, or delete entries in the address, text, and signature files on disk and in memory. The editor is used as in entering message parts in a message, except that an additional command Ctrl-D is included if a message being picked from the file is to be deleted. One can also change entries in the preamble file. These entries are: next message number, default handling instructions, call of station, location of station, information on inserting the time of origin into preambles, zip of station, output directory path. Serial port parameters are also updated using this option. P X Xtras for screen appearance This routine enables the user to select cursor type and highlight type. For an LCD screen, one can select a block cursor rather than an underline cursor. The highlighting selection can also make a great difference on an LCD screen. (There is a separate external file COLOR.EXE that can be used to adjust the colors of foreground and background for a color monitor. The color program must be run from a DOS prompt by typing COLOR and following instructions. It is not included in the main program because if the user accidentally makes the foreground and background colors indistinguishable, the user is in trouble, and a letter or other character in place of a digit will abort the program.) Miscellaneous comments: The editor screen is divided into three parts. The top is where what is being typed is displayed. The bottom is a list of commands and some status indicators. The middle few lines are messages from the editor to the user, such as statements of what is being entered, warnings of state, zip, areacode mismatches, requests for confirmations of deletions. If the editor seems suddenly to behave differently, CHECK THIS MIDDLE SCREEN AREA. There is a lot of "alphabet soup" in the various menus and output file names. Any suggestions for improvements would be greatly appreciated. Some rough rules of thumb: Q exits most routines (Ctrl-Q for the editor); Ctrl-C exits the program in most places; Ctrl-D is used in updating routines using the editor to delete the item in the editor; numbers in the order things are written in the bottom line of the post edit member perform the operation and then start entry of the next message. I have tried to make normal entry of messages as easy as possible. If you find that some routines take extra keystrokes to do normal things, please let me know. On the other hand, if you find that there is some thing you would like to do that you cannot, let me know that also. My usual response to comments about earlier versions of this program was to do my best to ascertain exactly what the commenter had in mind and then see if I could work it into the program. The result has been a collection of improvements and elimination of bugs from version to version. Let me know any thoughts you have on how to improve things. Also, please report bugs to me asap. And anyone with any serial port programming experience please let me know what I might try next on the terminal program. If there is considerable user interest, the color program can be improved so that it does not abort if it does not get a number when expected, and foreground and background colors cannot be the same. With these modifications it could be an option in Xtras for screen appearance. Let me know if this would be valuable for you. At some point, a mating program to the experimental welfare message generation might be produced to create lists of welfare inquiries outside a disaster area and to automatically check those lists against lists from inside the area. The hope is to help relieve pressures from this kind of inquiry inside the disaster area by moving much processing of it outside. Is there any interest in such a program? Barbara Osofsky KB2HM 1010 South Park Avenue Highland Park, NJ 08904 908-985-2997 February 1991, revised Sept 1991 Published in the AmSoft CD-ROM with permission from KB2HM.