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HISTORY
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1990-07-19
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Recent Revision History
-----------------------
This file contains the "What's new?" sections from prior {COMMO}
releases. If you have used {COMMO} before, please make sure you are
caught up on all the changes and improvements.
See the READ.ME file for changes in the current release.
----------- -------------
{COMMO} 4.2 April 7, 1990
----------- -------------
Support File Changes
--------------------
Item 40 in the Configuration File now has three options for Terminal
Emulation Type: ANSI-BBS, VT102 or TTY. Please update your file.
The Macro File no longer has keys assigned to the protocol macros and
other external program macros. You may now use point-and-shoot or
assign your own keys. This was done to avoid key conflicts.
Bugs/anomalies fixed
--------------------
The spacebar would not cycle dialing during the inter-dial delay.
The Printlog toggle worked erratically in some situations.
The PCBoard sample login macro ended with a {return} function. It
should have ended with a {stop} or {}.
The Search Again feature will now search for the last string requested
starting at the current top-of-page, no matter what the outcome of the
last search (even after switching to another file).
General
-------
ANSI Terminal Emulation has been upgraded once again and there are now
three choices for Terminal Emulation Type: ANSI-BBS, VT102 or TTY.
Check item 40 in the sample Configuration File to set the startup
Terminal Type. The Alt-L key command may be used to change the Terminal
Type at any time.
For VT102 users, auto-switching keyboard support is available (two
common configurations are provided in the files VT102-1.MAC and
VT102-2.MAC). There are two new macro functions, VTCUr and VTPAd, to
support mode switching. See Appendix E in COMMO.DOC for details.
True split-screen Chat Mode is activated with [Alt -] (Alt minus). All
{COMMO} features are available while in this mode.
An important change has been made to the RETUrn macro function. The
"RETUrn without CALL" macro error has been eliminated -- a STOP will be
executed instead. This allows a macro to be CALLed as a subroutine and
to be used standalone as well (e.g., assigned to a key).
{COMMO} should now run under OMNIVIEW without any display "bleed
through".
The pacing character in ASCII Upload can now be any character except a
linefeed. Control characters can be specified as "^m" for carriage
return, etc. See Appendix D "ASCII Character Representation" in
COMMO.DOC.
Display scrolling has been improved to minimize "flicker" on certain
displays (not when "snow checking" is on).
----------- --------------
{COMMO} 4.1 March 12, 1990
----------- --------------
The purpose of this release to is address some popular demands that went
unanswered in {COMMO} 4.0. My apologies to those who have been
inconvenienced in any way.
Support File Changes
--------------------
Configuration File: a number of additions have been made in the
section "Communications and Modem." Please spend a few minutes to
customize the sample file to your own needs. Changes include:
1) Four different Dialing Prefixes may be specified. These may be
selected in the phone number field of the Dialing Directory (see
below).
2) Success and failure modem response codes may now be configured.
These allow the use of nearly any type of modem.
3) Whether or not to erase dialing marks when saving the Dialing
Directory file is now configurable (default is to erase marks).
Dialing Directory File: a new parameter has been added -- the
selectable Dialing Prefix (#1,#2,#3,#4). This is optional and need only
be added where needed:
Joes BBS {555-1234} {pword1} {joe} Use default, prefix #1
Sams File City {#2 555-6789} {pword2} {sam} Use prefix #2
The # must immediately follow the {.
Macro File: no changes since release 4.0.
Command Line Options
--------------------
You can now have Dialing Strings AND a Startup Macro on the command line
used to call {COMMO}. If both are present the systems listed will be
marked (not dialed), then the macro will be started.
A new switch "/i=[yes/no]" can be used to control Modem Initialization
during {COMMO} startup. Use it to eliminate the prompt on the
Initialization Screen.
Screen Image Function
---------------------
The Screen Image Save function has been expanded to bring up a window
similar to the Capture File Options window. Also the name of the
corresponding macro function has been changed from SCNImage to SCREEN.
See "Programming {COMMO} Macros" in COMMO.DOC for details.
----------- -------------
{COMMO} 4.0 March 5, 1990
----------- -------------
The big change in this release is the Macro Programming capability. This
facility gives you the tools to automate most of your communications
activities and to customize {COMMO} to an extraordinary degree. New and
previous users alike should read the section in COMMO.DOC entitled
"Programming {COMMO} Macros."
Support File Changes
--------------------
Configuration File: no changes.
Dialing Directory File: a new field has been added -- the Linked Macro.
This is used to automatically start a macro when a connection is
established. It is placed between the password and the parameters, so
if you have parameters you must at least have a null string {} as a
placeholder.
Macro File: the format of all macros is new and more consistent now.
See below.
Macro Processor changes
-----------------------
Macro files must be redone. Command Macros may be converted to EXEC
functions and Text Macros may be converted to SEND functions. But you
will probably want to make more changes to take advantage of the great
increase in power.
{c,af1} {dsz port %p rz %n}
becomes: {af1} {exec dsz port %p rz} {stop}
{t,f1} {Fred|}
becomes: {nf1} {send Fred|} {stop}
Note that the short form of "{stop}" is "{}".
Key-id's are more strict now, so take a look at the list in Online Help.
The Ctrl-break key can be used to break out of macro processing and
return you to the Terminal Screen.
The %n parameter (nowait) has been replaced with the %w parameter (wait)
in the DOS command processor ("EXECute" function). Thus nowait is the
default, which seems more logical. Please remove all %n's since they
will cause an error.
Using point and shoot (pressing [Enter]) in the Macro File window will
now execute the command as if it had been invoked with a key from the
Terminal Screen, rather than forcing waits. Waits may still be forced
before and after DOS commands are executed by pressing [Ctrl-Enter].
Dialing Directory changes
-------------------------
Multi-number dialing now has the following new rules:
1) When Alt-U is pressed from the Dialing Directory window, dialing will
begin at the Selector Bar (or the next marked number). This affords
some control over the order of the dialing sequence.
2) When Alt-U is pressed from the Terminal Screen, dialing will begin
with the next number in sequence.
3) Dialing marks will be erased whenever the Dialing Directory file is
saved to disk. There is also a new key "Y" in the directory window
to erase all marks manually.
Internal Editor changes
-----------------------
1) Lines can now be up to 255 characters in length.
2) Alt-Y replaces Alt-D to delete a line (to prevent accidents).
3) Alt-T can be used to truncate from the cursor to end-of-line.
4) The F1 and F2 keys can be used to type a "{" and a "}" respectively.
5) F3 and F4 can be used to scroll up/down one line (all windows).
5) F5 and F6 can be used to scroll horizontally left and right.
6) ^PgUp/^PgDn move to beginning/end of file (all windows).
7) The current column number is shown at the bottom of the screen.
8) Files are now saved without the EOF character (ASCII 26) at the end.
General
-------
{COMMO} now has Doorway Mode, toggled on and off with Alt-=. This will
blank out the status line and run the display in 25-line mode. All
extended keys will send their respective scan codes (no internal {COMMO}
commands or macros may be executed without pressing Alt-=).
The command line switch "/m=" has been changed. This switch now
specifies a macro to be executed on {COMMO} startup. If the macro is
found the modem init string will be sent and the macro started. See the
section "Command Line Options" in COMMO.DOC.
The communications port now remains open during Shell to DOS and DOS
command execution. Thus you can perform these functions without losing
data. However the buffer size is limited (2048 bytes), so don't be long
if data is coming in rapidly. Also beware of DOS! At higher speeds
characters will be lost due to long periods of disabled interrupts. Use
a 16550A to be sure.
ANSI emulation has been further enhanced to include the line and
character editing functions used by some full-screen BBS editors.
------------ ----------------
{COMMO} 3.31 December 1, 1989
------------ ----------------
This is basically a "bug-fix" release and does not require any changes
to the support files.
---
Users with monochrome displays may once again set the "colors"
(attributes, actually) by answering "yes" to the new Configuration File
parameter attached to Item 20:
20 * {07,yes} Terminal screen colors,
enable mono attributes (yes,no)
Leaving it "no" will force the default colors as in release 3.30. This
parameter has no effect on color displays. In either case it may be
omitted and will default to "no."
---
ANSI emulation has been improved. This will be especially noticeable on
CompuServe, where the screen will clear properly and the capture will
work correctly.
---
When using command line Dialing Strings {COMMO} will no longer terminate
the search if the string is located on a Dialing Directory comment line.
Searching will continue until the string is matched on a valid entry
line or the end of file is reached.
---
Blank line expansion will now work if the first line of an ASCII
Upload file is blank.
---
Handling of serial port interrupts has been expanded and enhanced,
improving the speed of ASCII Uploads while in DESQview.
---
{COMMO} will now support the NS16550AN UART chip, enabling the FIFO
buffers whenever the serial port is opened and disabling them when the
serial port is closed. This is especially important when running at
high speeds on multi-tasking systems, or when TSR programs create long
interrupt chains which may cause overrun errors.
------------ ----------------
{COMMO} 3.30 November 2, 1989
------------ ----------------
The Configuration File has some new entries. Previous users please edit
the new sample file to your own needs. You will NOT be able to start
{COMMO} using your old Configuration File (this will only take a few
minutes).
Appearance
----------
The appearance of the windows has been changed.
Command line options
--------------------
The switches have a new format:
"/C=other.cfg" instead of "{C=other.cfg}," etc.
Search strings may be specified to initiate dialing from the command
line. For example:
commo exec-pc telegodzilla
will mark the directory and begin Multi Number Dialing. See COMMO.DOC
for details.
Status line and toggles
-----------------------
What was previously "Local Echo" is now "Chat Mode" (sorry, not split
screen yet). The new Local Echo does not add linefeeds. This is for
calling certain services, such as GEnie.
The Signal Lights Display toggle is now configurable. The lights are
now on the right side of the status line, alternating with System Name,
and still toggled manually with Alt-0.
The number of minutes connected to a system is shown on the status line.
This is reset whenever you connect to a new system.
Dialing
-------
If communication parameters (for example, {2400,8}) are not present in
the Dialing Directory, then the default values in the Configuration File
(item 2) will be used. There is really no reason now to specify these
for each entry unless they are different from the defaults. In prior
releases the defaults (when dialing) were the current values showing on
the status line.
Handling of dialing results and manual cancellation has been improved,
especially with high-speed modems.
Internal editor
---------------
Lines in {COMMO} support files may now be edited to 132 characters.
Passwords are hidden in the Dialing Directory. Just press [E] to expose
them.
Cursor keys are now much more logical. For example, Home and End
move to the beginning and end of the line. See Online Help for
details of these and other key changes.
Sound
-----
Alarms and beeps may now be totally silenced. All alarms are
individually configurable.
-end-