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_____________________________________________________________________ B I M O D E M June 24, 1990 _____________________________________________________________________ Program Reference Manual (C) Copyright 1989,90 by ERIK LABS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Erik Labs 3431 W. Thunderbird Rd. Suite 13-311 Phoenix, AZ 85023 (602)942-5403 Voice (602)866-9229 Data 2400 (602)866-9303 Data 9600 Dual Standard Bimodem Copyright and License Agreement BiModem Copyright and License Agreement (C) Copyright 1989,1990 Erik Labs. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language (natural or computer), in any form or by any means, except as described in the following license without the prior written permission of ERIK LABS. You are granted a limited license to use the software described in this manual. The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of that license, which is described under SINGLE COPY SOFTWARE LICENSE. Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of ERIK LABS. ERIK LABS may make improvements and/or changes in this manual and/or in BiModem at any time. SINGLE COPY SOFTWARE LICENSE THIS IS A SINGLE COPY SOFTWARE LICENSE granted by ERIK LABS whose mailing address is at 3431 W. Thunderbird Rd., Suite 13-311, Phoenix Arizona 85023. BiModem is licensed to you as the end user. You may make one (1) copy of BiModem solely for back-up purposes. You must reproduce and include the copyright notice on the back-up copy. BiModem and its related documentation is copyrighted material. You may not copy the program or its documentation except as for back-up purposes and to load the program into the computer as part of executing the program. You are granted the right to distribute the file BiModxxx.Zip (xxx represents the version number. 111 would be version 1.11) provided you abide by the license to copy contained in its documentation. You may not make any changes or modifications to BiModem, and you may not decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reverse-engineer it. You may not rent or lease it to others. This license is effective until terminated. You may terminate it by destroying the program and documentation and all copies thereof. This license will also terminate if you fail to comply with any term or condition of this agreement. You agree upon such termination to destroy all copies of the program and documentation. This Software is Commercial Computer Software under Federal Government Acquisition Regulations and agency supplements to them. The Software is provided to the Federal Government and its agencies only under the Restricted Rights Provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulations applicable to commercial computer software developed at private expense and NOT in the public domain. The i Bimodem Copyright and License Agreement use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subdivision (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 252.227-7013. LIMITED WARRANTY. Erik Labs makes no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, and fitness for any particular purpose with respect to both the software and the documentation included in this package. IN NO EVENT SHALL Erik Labs OR ANY OF ITS PRINCIPLES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT EVEN IF ERIK LABS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIM. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. The warranties set forth above are in lieu of all other express and implied warranties, whether oral, written, or implied, and the remedies set forth above are your sole and exclusive remedies. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. In no case shall Erik Lab's liability exceed the license fees paid for the right to use BiModem or five dollars ($5.00), whichever is greater. INTEGRATION. This License constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between the parties and supersedes any prior agreement or understanding whether oral or written, relating to the subject of this License. This Agreement may only be modified by a written agreement signed by Erik Labs. ii Acknowledgements Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following individuals for their continued support and assistance. Arthur Mol for RaBIM, the remote access interface. BBS: The Owl's Nest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +31-2155-12571 Chris Hall for QKBilog, the Quick BBS Door. BBS: The PC Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505-821-5341 Dale Fedorchik for his Wildcat interface and assistance in testing. BBS: The Cat's Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215-867-8761 Jimmy Pearson for the Byte Brothers PCBoard Door. Julie Covington for BiMate, the RBBS interface. BBS: Starwest BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509-758-6248 Michael Phelps for use of the name BiMenu. BBS: The Keyboard BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602-846-2940 Michael Malone for the BiModem Echo. BBS: The Migrant BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602-264-2328 Mike Callahan affectionately known as Dr. File Finder for assistance in propagating our product. Nick Anis for his loan of equipment, time, and suggestions. Steve Lea for BiDoor, the Quick BBS/PCBoard interface. BBS: The System Three R's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503-582-4860 We would also like to thank the numerous sysop's who have unselfishly devoted there time and energy to propagating our product. We appreciate it. The following companies hold the following trademarks, or market the following products, mentioned in this manual: Adam Hudson, Arvada, CO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quick BBS Artisoft, Inc., Tuscon, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lantastic Boyan Communications, Woodstock, MD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boyan Clark Development Company, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT . . . . . . . PCBoard Datastorm Technologies, Inc., Columbia, MO . . . . . . . . . . . . ProComm Exis, Inc., West Hill, ONT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Telix The Forbes Project, Inc., Cedar Falls, IA . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qmodem Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc., Norcross, GA . . . . . . V29/V42 modems Microsoft Corporation, Bellevue, WA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS-DOS Mustang Software, Inc., Bakersfield, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wildcat Omen Technology, Inc., Portland, OR . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zmodem, DSZ P & M Software Co., Phoenix, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GT Power Quarterdeck Office Systems, Santa Monica, CA . . . . . . . . . . . Desqview SoftLogic Solutions, Inc., Manchester, NH . . . . . . . . . . . Double Dos US Robotics, Inc., Chicago, IL . . . . . . . . . . . . . HST, Dual Standard Ward Christensen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Xmodem Wynn Wagner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opus iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents Table of Contents Copyright and License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Program Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Machine Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 BiModem Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 BiModem Installation and Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 BiModem Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 BInstall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 BiModem execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BiMenu - The menu for BiModem and its support programs . . . . . . . . . . 11 Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 selection screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 BiMark - An Easy way to mark uploads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 example screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 acceptable keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 BiList - An easy way to mark downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 file does not exist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 example screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 acceptable keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 BiHot - Another way to mark downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 example screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 acceptable keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 BiSelect - The transfer list selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 acceptable keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 BiPath - The original transfer list maintainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 sample screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 acceptable keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 BiBat - The mini terminal emulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 BiModem - The file transfer program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 v Table of Contents Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 example screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 acceptable keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 BiConfig - Configuring your environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 selection screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Screen and Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Key Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Terminal Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 General Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Limits & Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Download Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Upload Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Filenames and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Comm Port Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Write Setup to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Appendix A - Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Appendix B - File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Paths file layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 User Log file layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Intercommunication Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 DSZ Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Appendix C - Interfacing & Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 The Telix connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Sample Telix Script File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 The Boyan connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 The Procomm connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 The Qmodem connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 The GT Powercomm connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 BBS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Appendix D - Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Appendix E - Desqview Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Appendix F - Double Dos Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Appendix G - Lantastic Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Appendix H - Modem Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Preferred USRobotics Courier 9600 HST Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Preferred USRobotics Courier 9600 DUAL Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Appendix I - 16550's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Appendix J - Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 vi Table of Contents Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 vii Table of Contents viii Introduction INTRODUCTION Program Description BiModem is a new communications protocol that allows simultaneous bidirectional file transfers. Yes, BiModem can upload while downloading. Imagine the time savings if you could upload with Zmodem (tm) and YmodemG efficiencies while downloading at the same efficiency simultaneously. The applications for such a protocol are many, and I will not try to cover them here. Everyone from occasional BBS users to full time network managers will appreciate the advantages of exploiting full duplex operations. Even for those with small and moderate volumes of data to transfer, the time savings can be very significant. Please do not expect a 50% decrease in your total modem transfer time. This can only be achieved when the same amount of information is transmitted in both directions, and does not account for the overhead of specifying the lists of files to download and upload. If that feature is not enough to get you really excited, how about the ability to chat while the transfer is going on? Chatting will impact your throughput, but since most of us are slow typists the impact is usually minimal. Two methods of automatic recovery are provided. This first is the one that everyone else provides. If a file exists with the same name, date, and time, but different sizes then BiModem picks up where it left off. The second method is for boards that like to have the date and time stamp reflect the time the file was uploaded. It will rename a file into an abortion directory if the transmission is prematurely terminated. Then when the user calls back to finish the upload it will restart where it left off. A refresh mode of uploading is provided. It verifies the contents of two files and only sends the data where it encounters discrepancies. The verification part takes about 20 seconds per 200k at 2400 baud. If it finds several consecutive discrepancies it then switches to a normal upload. This is perfect for large transaction files where the only thing that ever changes is at the end of the file where transactions are added. Imagine refreshing a 10 meg file in a few minutes that only had 20k modified at the end. Auto Verification insures that the entire file was accurately transmitted and can be switched on at the user's discretion. While this is normally not necessary (BiModem already uses 32bit CRC's to insure accuracy), it is a good feature to have available for those critical transmissions and is efficient enough that you may want to use it routinely. BiModem has more than just * name handling. You can create a large list of upload and download requests before you even sign on. Create an entire evening's worth of requests and let your computer do the rest. Multiple directories can be searched for the file. You can provide a list of directories for BiModem to search. Imagine requesting a download of *.GIF and receiving every GIF file the board has available. Not just the ones in your current area. 1 Introduction You also can supply a list of directories for it to scan for duplicates. Upon finding a duplicate in any of the directories in the list it will stop the transmission of that file. BiModem is both Double Dos and Desqview aware. For both fine multi-tasking software additions it intelligently informs them when it is idle. This allows other tasks to get more of your machine's time. It also means that the display is as fast and intelligent as it can be. All this power is provided to you by a menu. This makes the functions easy to remember and fast to get to. BiModem is fully configurable to allow as much or as little access to your system as you desire. You can allow full path specifications on both ends. If a file already exists, you can replace the file directly, or simply run a verify to revise only the parts that have changed. You may request that the source file be deleted on a successful transmission or you can disable this feature so others cannot delete files from your system. File level password protection is available. When someone uploads a file to a BBS they also can supply a password so that subsequent callers can only access the file if they know the correct password. For registered users there are even more features: Four different methods are available to maintain your file transmission requests. You can mark files to be sent by walking through your hard disks and selecting them. You can scan a previously downloaded list to select files you want to download while you are offline. There is a hot key program provided so that you can mark files that are displayed on screen. And there is the original request list maintenance program. Forget a file? No need to wait until the current transfer is done. You can add transfer requests while transferring other files. You also can kill single requests on either the send or receive side. Surely by now you are wondering if this is all BiModem does. The answer unfortunately for today is yes, but the future holds even more exciting things for BiModem. There just wasn't time to add all the features for this release. But, upgrades are free as long as you are willing to call our BBS to attain them. The future will offer additional features such as: Sub-Directory inclusion: Tell BiModem you want sub-directories included, and it will copy all files matching the * name from the specified directory on down the tree and create a similar tree on the receiving end (if allowed and the tree doesn't already exist). 2 Introduction Dialing lists and scripts: Build a list of phone #'s to call, tell us what script to use, what transmission request file to use, and go to bed (let your computer do the walking). File Compression: for even faster transfer rates. Machine Requirements BiModem requires a PC/XT,AT,or 386 with at least 100k of memory available to it. It will work on MicroSoft DOS 2.0 and higher. Unbuffered communications boards work best. The buffered communications boards will work, but they will have a negative impact on the BiDirectional file transmissions and when chatting. BiModem Files BiModem is comprised of the following files: BiModxxx.Zip - This is the shareware version of BiModem. The xxx represents the version number. For instance 111 would be version 1.11. Registered users are sent this so they may distribute THIS FILE ONLY according to its shareware license. All other files are governed by the license agreement included in this document. xxx.Mod - This text file identifies the latest enhancements to the version xxx. BiRead.Me - This is a text file with last minute notes, and a quick install list. PrtDoc.Com - This program prints BiDoc.Exe on your printer. BiDoc.Exe - This is a self extracting version of the documentation. Use PrtDoc.Com to print it. Register.Com - This program allows you to enter the information we need to register your copy of BiModem, and prints a page for you to send to us. BiMenu.Com - The BiModem menu program. BiModem.Com - The File Transfer Program. This is not supplied on registered versions. (See Bxxxxxxx.Com) BiModem.Id - This is a text file describing the ID imbedded in the shareware version of BiModem.Com. This is not supplied on registered versions. (See Bxxxxxxx.Id) BInstall.Com - This is the installation program you need to run to install BiModem. BInstall.Dat - This is a data file that BInstall.Com uses to determine how to install. 3 Introduction BInstall.H1 - This is a help file for BInstall.Com. BInstall.H2 - This is a help file for BInstall.Com. BInstall.H3 - This is a help file for BInstall.Com. BInstall.H4 - This is a help file for BInstall.Com. BInstall.H5 - This is a help file for BInstall.Com. BiPath.Com - The Paths File Maintenance Program. BiBat.Com - A Mini Terminal Emulator that monitors the communications port to see when BiModem is up on the other computer. BiConfig.Com - The BiModem Configuration Program. BiModem.Cf? - A series of config files used during the installation process. BiModem.Slt - Simple script example for Telix. BiModem.Slc - Simple compiled script example for Telix. BiModem.Scr - Qmodem script for executing BiMenu. BiModem.Asp - Procomm script for executing BiMenu. BiMark.Com - Program to mark uploads from your disks. BiList.Com - Program to mark downloads from a downloaded LIST of files. BiHot.Com - Hot Key program to mark downloads from what's displayed on your screen. BiSelect.Com - Program to select from multiple transfer lists. For registered users the following programs are included. Bxxxxxxx.Com - This is your personalized copy of BiModem.Com. The installation process will copy this file to BiModem.Com. The xxxxxxx represents your serial #. Make a note of the serial #. It is required to obtain updates. Bxxxxxxx.Id - This is a text file describing the ID line imbedded in your Bxxxxxxx.Com. BiModem will create a BiModem.Cfg file if none exists at the time it is run. BiPath, BiMark, BiList, and BiHot will create a BiModem.Pth. 4 Installation and Execution BiModem Installation and Execution BiModem Installation The easiest way to get BiModem up and running is to run Binstall. It will let you select the communications program that best describes your program (Other for most), and what directory it resides in. You also will be asked which communications port your modem uses. The appropriate files will then be copied to your communications directory. Before running this, you should unzip the BiMod*.Zip file into a work directory from which the files may be copied to your communications directory. If you installing from a registered shipment disk, copy the diskette contents to a temporary directory for installation. When you are done please refer to Appendix C if you are installing BiModem for use with a telecommunications program. If you are installing BiModem on a BBS, then you should refer to the interface software documentation for further installation information. Erik Labs has many interface programs available for various BBSes on it's BBS (Valley of the Sun). The interface programs read your BBSes configuration, establish an environment for BiModem to run in, and update user and BBS statistics and file listings. Executing BInstall The following screen will be displayed if you have multiple registered copies of BiModem: ***************[Binstall (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1990]**************** * * * Phone # ID (Select the BiModem to Install) * * * * 6029425403 ***** John Erickson *** Personal Version ***** v * * 6029425403 ***** Dave Krause ***** Personal Version ***** v * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***[Esc-Exit,F1-Help,F2-DOS Shell,PgUp,PgDn,C-PgUp,C-PgDn,>,<,v,^]**** 5 Installation and Execution The first line will be highlighted. You can then use the up and down arrows to select the BiModem that you wish to install. When the correct BiModem is highlighted, press the enter key to select it. 6 Installation and Execution Once you have selected a BiModem, or if you only have one BiModem to install the following screen will be displayed: ***************[Binstall (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1990]**************** * * * What communications program will you be using 4 * * 1 - BBS 5 - Procomm * * 2 - Boyan 6 - Qmodem * * 3 - GT Powercomm 7 - Telemate * * 4 - Other 8 - Telix * * * * What communications port will you use (1-8)? 1 * * * * Where do you want BiModem Installed? ie C:\BiModem * * * * * * What is the path to your script directory? ie C:\TELIX * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***[Esc-Exit,F1-Help,F2-DOS Shell,PgUp,PgDn,C-PgUp,C-PgDn,>,<,v,^]**** What communications program will you be using This field identifies the type of communications software you will be using. The valid entries are listed below the prompt on the screen. What you enter here will decide if script files are needed to run in that environment. It also will determine which configuration file will be used. The ? of BiModem.Cf? will be replaced by the communications software type to determine what file to copy. What communications port will you use (1-8) This field identifies the communications port you will be using. If your modem is attached to com1, then you need to specify a 1. If your modem is attached to com2, then you need to specify a 2, etc. Your response will be placed in the appropriate BiModem.Cf? file. Where do you want BiModem installed? This field identifies the directory that you want to have BiModem installed into. Normally this would be your communications programs directory. For GT Powercomm, and some BBSes, the directory should be a sub-directory of the main communications program's directory. Please consult you communications software manual to see if they have any suggestions. If they don't mention anything, it's probably safe to install BiModem into the main communications program's directory. 7 Installation and Execution What is the path to your script directory This field is only applicable if you are using Telix. It identifies the directory that contains all your Telix script files. Normally this is set to the main Telix directory, but Telix allows you to assign it to a different location. If you're not sure where your's is set to, you probably should set this field to the main Telix directory. The script files can be moved to a different location later. BInstall installation After you have filled in all the fields mentioned above, BInstall will start copying the appropriate files into the directories you told it to. If this is an upgrade, you will notice that some files are skipped. For instance, the configuration file is always skipped if one already exists in the installation directory. While the files are being copied you will see the following screen appear: ***************[Binstall (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1990]**************** * Installing * * BiModem.Com - BiDirectional Transfer program * * BiMenu.Com - Menu for BiModem and it's support programs * * BiBat.Com - Mini terminal emulator (used in Remote BiModem) * * BiConfig.Com - BiModem's configuration program * * BiPath.Com - Transfer list maintenance program * * BiModem.Doc - BiModem's Documentation * * BiRead.Me - Read me file * * BiHot.Com - TSR for marking downloads from screen memory * * BiSelect.Com - Transfer list selection program * * BiList.Com - Mark downloads from a downloaded BBS file listing * * BiMark.Com - Mark uploads from your disk * * BiModem.Slt - Telix Script source for executing BiMenu * * BiModem.Slc - Telix Compiled Script for executing BiMenu * * ** DONE ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****************[Strike any key to return to Binstall]**************** Each line will be displayed 1 at a time, while the file described is copied. If a problem occurs during the copy (Like running out of space) an error message will be displayed under the line describing the error. When all the files have been installed, BInstall will display the ** DONE ** line. Then you can press any key to return to BInstall. If you only have one copy of BiModem to install, then BInstall will return to dos. If you have more than one copy, BInstall will redisplay it's first screen so that you can install the next one. While using BInstall you may use the following list of acceptable keys. 8 Installation and Execution Down Arrow Advances to the next field, or selection line. Up Arrow Takes you back to the prior field or selection line. Right Arrow Advances the cursor to the next character. Left Arrow Positions the cursor on the prior character. PgDn On the selection screen this key advances you to the next page of selections. PgUp On the selection screen this key takes you to the prior page of selections. Ctrl/PgDn On the selection screen this key advances you to the last selection displayed on the screen. Ctrl/PgUp On the selection screen this key takes you to the first selection displayed on the screen. Esc This key exits BInstall and returns you to dos. F1 This key displays an appropriate page of help text. F2 This key brings up a dos shell. It is very useful if you forgot a path. When you type exit at the dos prompt, dos will return you to the exact location that you exited from. BiModem execution 9 Installation and Execution Now that you have BiModem installed we will cover how to use it with a telecommunications package. The following is a list of the normal actions that occur to execute BiModem. 1. If you have a registered BiModem you may want to add BiHot to your AutoExec.Bat file. This is a small TSR program that makes marking downloads a breeze. 2. Normally you would want to build the list of transfer requests before you sign on to the BBS. This saves a lot of time while you're on the BBS. There are several tools available to do this. You can use BiPath to enter both your uploads and downloads. This method is tedious and requires that you know where all the files reside. BiMark is available to registered users to mark uploads from an XTree like list. BiList is available to registered users to mark downloads from a previously downloaded list of files on the BBS. You may use any or all these three methods to build your list of transfer requests before signing on to a BBS. 3. Next you would want to invoke your telecommunications software and have it dial the BBS. 4. While you're wandering through the bulletins, and browsing the recent uploads, you may come across an additional file that you want to download. If you have previously loaded BiHot, then you can easily mark these additional files from your screen display. Otherwise you may want to jump into BiPath when you come across an additional file that you want. 5. When you're ready to transfer files, you can invoke remote BiModem. This will allow you to type commands to the BBS such a F for the files menu, or open 1 if BiModem is in a door. When Remote BiModem automatically senses that BiModem is up on the BBS it will bring BiModem up on your computer. That's all there is to it. You're now witnessing the phenomena of a BiDirectional transfer. Amazing isn't it. 10 BiMenu BiMenu - The menu for BiModem and its support programs BiMenu is a customized menu for BiModem and its support programs. BiMenu and all its sub-programs can either be in your current directory or in the directory that BiMenu is loaded from. It is designed to be invoked from a terminal emulator as a hot key, or by jumping to DOS and invoking BiMenu (see appendixes for interface information). The Command Format is: BiMenu [/?] [/B Baud] [/C Config_Path] [/E Decimal Character Number to Escape] [/F] [/L Comm Port] [/P Transfer List Path] [/Q] [/S Size Limit] [/T Time Limit] [/W Password File Path] /? This displays the acceptable arguments. /B Baud Rate Tells BiMenu what baud rate to pass to BiModem for it to use in its time estimate. This value overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /C Config_Path Tells BiMenu what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. This argument, as with all BiMenu arguments is passed through to programs that it invokes. /E Decimal Character Number to escape Tells BiModem what character that you want escaped (not sent but translated). Escaping can decrease performance anywhere from two to fifty percent depending on the number of escaped characters in a file. To eliminate escaping you need to specify a /E0 argument. This indicates that you do not want any characters escaped. If you omit this argument, then BiModem will escape the @ symbol. This is required for PC pursuit connections. The remote BiModem will be informed of your desire to escape a character and if it has an escape character of /E0 specified it will escape your character. It is recommended that Bulletin Boards specify a /E0 and allow the caller to specify an escape character if they are calling over a network that requires it. PC Pursuit for instance uses an @ (or /E64) symbol to stop data flow and enter PC Pursuit commands. 11 BiMenu /F This turns BiModem's DSZ receive logging off. Some bulletin board interfaces can read a DSZ format log file, but they tend to get confused by the fact that there are both uploads and downloads in the log. They usually do not maintain correct upload or download statistics. By using the /F argument these interfaces will maintain correct download statistics, but not upload statistics. This argument will be temporary and it will go away when all known interfaces properly handle BiDirectional DSZ logging. /L Comm Port Tells BiMenu what communications port to pass to BiModem. This value overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /P Transfer List Path Tells BiMenu what transfer list path to use. This argument overrides the path specified in the configuration file. /Q Tells BiMenu to invoke BiModem in quiet mode. Quiet mode is when BiModem does not display anything. /S Size Limit Tells BiMenu what size limit to pass to BiModem. This value overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /T Time Limit Tells BiMenu what time limit in minutes to pass to BiModem. This value overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /W Password file path Tells BiMenu what password file to pass to BiModem. This argument overrides the password file identified in the configuration file. 12 BiMenu The selection screen looks like this: **************[BiMenu - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************** * * * * * Download Capture from Local List * * * * Mark Uploads from Disk * * * * Remote BiModem * * * * Host BiModem * * * * Transfer List Maintenance * * * * Kill Transfer List * * * * Select New Transfer List * * * * Configure BiModem * * * * Exit * * * * * ****************************[Esc-Exit,v,^]**************************** Once this screen appears you may use the up and down arrows to position to the appropriate selection. Once the selection bar is on the appropriate selection you can then hit the enter key to invoke that function. Alternatively you can type in the first character of the selection to invoke it. Some of these functions are internal to BiMenu and some of them invoke other programs. If the function involves loading another program, then BiMenu will first try to load it from the current directory. If it can't find it there, it will try to load it from the directory that BiMenu resides in. We will now discuss the functions in detail. Download Capture from Local List This selection invokes the program BiList. It allows you to mark files to be downloaded from a previously downloaded list of files. Presumably on the system you are connected to. Upon completion of BiList control will return to BiMenu. For further information on BiList see its chapter. Mark Uploads from Disk This selection invokes the program BiMark so that you may mark files on your system to be uploaded. Upon completion of BiMark control will return to BiMenu. For further information on BiMark see its chapter. 13 BiMenu Remote BiModem This selection first invokes the program BiBat so that you may start BiModem on the bulletin board at the other end. BiBat is a mini terminal emulator. It passes characters that you type on to the comm port and displays characters received from the comm port on your screen. It also monitors the characters received for the space/backspace character sequence that BiModem uses for its handshaking. Once BiBat recognizes a space/backspace sequence it terminates and BiMenu then invokes BiModem on your computer. Upon completion of BiModem, BiMenu also terminates. This should bring you back to your favorite terminal emulator software. Host BiModem This selection invokes BiModem on your computer. Upon completion of BiModem, BiMenu also terminates. This should bring you back to your favorite terminal emulator software. Transfer List Maintenance This selection invokes the program BiPath so that you can modify the list of files to be transferred. When BiPath terminates control will return to BiMenu. See the chapter on BiPath for information on how to use it. Kill Transfer List This selection deletes the current transfer list file. Select New Transfer List This selection invokes the program BiSelect so that you can pick a new transfer list. When BiSelect terminates control will return to BiMenu. See the chapter on BiSelect for information on how to use it. Configure BiModem This selection invokes the program BiConfig so that you can establish the operating environment for BiModem and all its support programs. When BiConfig terminates control will return to BiMenu. See the chapter on BiConfig for information on how to use it. Exit This selection terminates BiMenu. The Escape key also terminates BiMenu. 14 BiMark BiMark - An Easy way to mark uploads BiMark is a program designed to let you browse through your system's files and mark what files you want to send to another system. It is designed to be invoked from BiMenu, but you can invoke it from the command line if you prefer. The Command Format is: BiMark [/?] [/C Config_Path] [/P Transfer_List_Path] /? This displays the acceptable arguments. /C Config_Path Tells BiMark what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. /P Transfer_List_Path Tells BiMark what transfer list path to use. This argument overrides the path specified in the configuration file. BiMark initially displays all files and directories in your current directory. If you have a list of sending directories, then BiMark will start out with the first directory in that list, instead of the current directory. Directories are listed first in alphabetical order. Next it will display the files in alphabetical order. When a directory is selected the screen will be redisplayed with the directories and files in that directory. The first directory will be the .. directory if you are not in the root. This is a special directory that allows you to get back to the parent directory. To select a file to be sent you must position the cursor on the file and press enter. Selected files are highlighted. If you want to cancel a selection, position the cursor on the file and press enter. 15 BiMark Here is an example screen. **************[BiMark - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************** * C:\TLX\*.* * * \.. 3/13/89 BIGOOD.COM 2/15/89 23102 * * \ABT 4/23/89 BIHOT.COM 5/07/89 3408 * * \BBS 3/13/89 BILIST.COM 5/07/89 8899 * * \HSTFILES 3/14/89 BIMARK.COM 5/07/89 10447 * * !RUN_ME.COM 10/20/88 243 BIMENU.COM 5/07/89 7849 * * 114-42.LST 4/27/89 58684 BIMENU92.ZIP 2/18/89 35920 * * 1ON2.PAK 3/30/89 210151 BIMENUR.COM 5/06/89 7849 * * 60294254 4/28/89 BIMENUU.COM 5/06/89 7100 * * 60299351 4/28/89 BIMOD.BAT 2/02/89 707 * * A19 2/24/89 248 BIMODEM.CFG 5/04/89 554 * * A20 2/24/89 1488 BIMODEM.COM 5/07/89 24106 * * ALTCFG.TXT 1/12/89 1331 BIMODEM.PTH 5/07/89 496 * * ANSI.KEY 12/25/88 176 BIMODEM.SLC 4/16/89 32 * * AUTOEXEC.BAT 4/20/89 848 BIMODEM.SLT 4/16/89 1022 * * AVATAR.KEY 10/10/88 131 BINSTALL.BAT 1/24/89 10745 * * BBS.LST 2/24/89 2105 BIOPUS.COM 1/01/80 13881 * * BIASM.ZIP 5/01/89 186901 BIPATH.COM 5/07/89 7886 * * BIBAT.COM 5/07/89 2503 BISELECT.COM 5/07/89 9101 * * BICONFIG.COM 5/07/89 11126 BISETUP.COM 1/24/89 5389 * * BIDIR 2/27/89 24 BUILD.BAT 4/14/89 176 * ***********[Esc-Exit,Alt/C,PgDn,PgUp,C/PgDn,C/PgUp,>,<,v,^]*********** The following lists the acceptable keys and what they do. A Letter or Number Any time a letter or number is depressed BiMark will position the cursor on the next file that starts with that letter or number. This may require that a new page be displayed so that the file containing that letter is displayed on the screen. Down Arrow This advances to the next entry. Up Arrow This takes you back to the prior entry. Page Down Advances you to the next display page and the cursor will stop on the first entry on that page. 16 BiMark Page Up Takes you to the prior display page and the cursor will stop on the first entry on that page. Ctrl/PgDn If you have a list of directories, then this key will advance you to the next directory in the list. Ctrl/PgUp If you have a list of directories, then this key will take you to the prior directory in the list. Alt/C Lets you enter a search string. The cursor will be positioned on the search string on line 1. Then you can enter a search string, enter to retain the same name, or Esc to exit BiMark. Esc Exits BiMark. 17 BiMark 18 BiList BiList - An easy way to mark downloads BiList is a program designed to let you browse through a previously downloaded list of files on another system, and mark what files you want to receive from that system. It is designed to be invoked from BiMenu, but you can invoke it from the command line if you prefer. The Command Format is: BiList [/?] [/C Config_Path] [/P Transfer_List_Path] /? This displays the acceptable arguments. /C Config_Path This tells BiList what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. /P Transfer_List_Path This tells BiList what transfer list path to use. This argument overrides the path specified in the configuration file. 19 BiList BiList will default to the file named in your configuration file. See BiConfig 'Filenames and Paths'. If that file does not exist you will see the following screen. **************[BiList - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************** * files.bbs * * * * * * Invalid List File * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****************[Alt/C-Change List,Esc-Exit,v,^,>,<]****************** The cursor will stop on the files.bbs prompt and let you type in the appropriate file path. The file must contain valid file names and must be either carriage return/line feed, carriage return, or line feed delimited. If the file you point it to does not exist or does not have at least 1 valid file name in it, then this screen will be redisplayed and you can retype it. 20 BiList Once a valid file is found a screen similar to the following example screen will be displayed. **v***********[BiList - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************** * files.bbs * * *************************************************************** * * * BiModem and related support Programs and Utilities * * *************************************************************** * * *************************************************************** * * FILES.BBS This listing of available files * * _______________________________________________________________ * * * * Latest Versions of BiModem and Support Programs * * * * *FLASH* BiModem now supports HST's and MNP!!! * * * * Note: Latest BiModem available by Freq as BIMODEM * * Latest BiOpus available by Freq as BIOPUS * * _______________________________________________________________ * * * * BIMOD111.ZIP 03/15/89 Public Release Version of BiModem * * Include any special ID line info yo * * like (In addition to your Name and * * with your registration. * * BIMODEV.ZIP 03/16/89 BiModem for those getting Carrier Loss only. * **^*************[Alt/C-Change List,Esc-Exit,^,v,>,<]****************** This screen is an example of what might be in a files.bbs file. The first line of the display is the path to the file currently being displayed. The second through the last lines are records in the file. The arrows imbedded in the top and bottom borders show the column where BiList will look for file names. In the example the only valid file names are FILES.BBS, BIMOD111.ZIP, and BIMODEV.ZIP. The cursor will start out on the first valid file name of FILES.BBS. If this is a file that you want downloaded then press enter. BiList understands the following formats for file names. File.Ext File .Ext File Ext The following is the list of acceptable keys. Right Arrow This moves the column indicators 1 position to the right. If there are no valid files at this column location, BiList will continue to advance the column indicators until it finds a valid file name. This also will cause the display to move to the first page in the file that contains a valid file name. Left Arrow 21 BiList This moves the column indicators 1 position to the left. If there are no valid files at this column location, BiList will continue to decline the column indicators until it finds a valid file name. This also will cause the display to move to the first page in the file that contains a valid file name. Tab This moves the column indicator to the next position divisible by eight. If there are no valid files at this column location, BiList will continue to advance the column indicator until it finds a valid file name. This also will cause the display to move to the first page in the file that contains a valid file name. Back Tab This moves the column indicator to the prior position divisible by eight. If there are no valid files at this column location, BiList will continue to decline the column indicator until it finds a valid file name. This also will cause the display to move to the first page in the file that contains a valid file name. Down Arrow This advances to the next valid file name. Up Arrow This takes you back to the prior valid file name. Page Down This advances you to the next page in the file and the cursor will stop on the first valid file name on that page. Page Up This takes you to the prior page in the file and the cursor will stop on the first valid file name on that page. Alt/C This lets you enter a new path to a different files listing. The cursor will be positioned on the file path on line 1. Then you can enter a new path name, enter to retain the same name, or Esc to exit BiList. Esc This exits BiList. 22 BiHot BiHot - Another way to mark downloads BiHot is a program designed to let you mark files displayed on your screen for subsequent downloading. It is a hot key program. So you must load it before you display something to be marked. Once loaded it will remain in memory monitoring your keystrokes for Ctrl/M and Ctrl/U. Ctrl/M causes it to enter mark mode and Ctrl/U causes it to unload itself. If Ctrl/M or Ctrl/U conflict with keys that you routinely use in another software package, you may redefine them to be any key sequence you want (See BiConfig 'Key Definitions'). The Command Format is: BiHot [/?] [/C Config_path] [/P Transfer_List_Path] /? This displays the acceptable arguments. /C Config_Path Tells BiHot what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. /P Transfer_List_Path Tells BiHot what transfer list path to use. This argument overrides the path specified in the configuration file. 23 BiHot The first time BiHot is loaded it will display the following message: BiHot - (C) Copyright Erik Labs, 1989,90 Installed - Depress (Ctrl/M) to activate or (Ctrl/U) to unload BiHot need only be loaded once. If you attempt to load it a second time it will display the following message: BiHot - (C) Copyright Erik Labs, 1989,90 Already Loaded - Depress (Ctrl/M) to activate or (Ctrl/U) to unload If you enter Ctrl/U any time after loading BiHot it will unload itself from memory. Ctrl/M is used to enter mark mode. Here is an example screen that you might have displayed before entering Ctrl/M. *********************************************************************** * BiModem and related support Programs and Utilities * *********************************************************************** *********************************************************************** FILES.BBS This listing of available files _______________________________________________________________________ Latest Versions of BiModem and Support Programs *FLASH* BiModem now supports HST's and MNP!!! Note: Latest BiModem available by Freq as BIMODEM Latest BiOpus available by Freq as BIOPUS _______________________________________________________________________ BIMOD111.ZIP 03/15/89 Public Release Version of BiModem Include any special ID line info you would like (In addition to your Name and Phone) with your registration. BIMODEV.ZIP 03/16/89 BiModem for those getting Carrier Loss only... Uses DSR instead of Carrier Detect Signal. BIOPUS16.ARC 03/15/89 Public Domain Version of BiOPUS Registration not required, check back for latest releases though. When you hit Ctrl/M, the first thing BiHot does is display the following status line on line 25. ^ BiHot Activated. Esc-Exit,Enter-Marks/UnMarks,^,v,>,< The arrow at the left shows the column where BiHot believes file names start. If this is an incorrect assumption, you may move this arrow to the correct column by using the left and right arrows or tab keys. BiHot will then highlight the first file it comes to. Valid file names are display lines that have a non-space 24 BiHot character in the selected column of the screen. It also will highlight any file name currently displayed on screen that has been previously selected for downloading. BiHot understands file names in the following formats. file.ext file .ext file ext The following is a list of acceptable keys. Right Arrow This moves the column indicator 1 position to the right. If there are no valid file names at this position, BiHot will continue advancing the column indicator until it finds a valid file name. Left Arrow This moves the column indicator 1 position to the left. If there are no valid file names at this position, BiHot will continue declining the column indicator until it finds a valid file name. Tab This moves the column indicator to the next column divisible by eight. If there are no valid file names at this position, BiHot will continue advancing the column indicator until it finds a valid file name. Back Tab This moves the column indicator to the prior column divisible by eight. If there are no valid file names at this position, BiHot will continue to decline the column indicator until it finds a valid file name. Down Arrow This advances to the next valid file name. Up Arrow This takes you back to the prior valid file name. Enter This marks or unmarks a file to be downloaded. Esc This exits BiHot. 25 BiHot 26 BiSelect BiSelect - The transfer list selector BiSelect is a program designed to let you select a new transfer list file while in BiMenu. It is designed to be invoked from BiMenu ONLY. If you attempt to invoke it from the command line it will complain. Here is an example of what the screen will look like. *************[BiSelect - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * *.Pth * * New: * * BIMODEM.PTH 5/07/89 * * IZ$$8 G .PTH 5/07/89 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****************[Alt/C-Change Search,Esc-Exit,>,<,v,^]**************** BiSelect will start out by displaying any transfer list files (*.PTH) in your current directory. The cursor will stop on the New field. This field is for typing in a new transfer list file name. If the transfer list is in a different directory, or does not have a suffix of PTH, you can hit Alt/C to enter a new search string. If the file exists you can position the cursor to it (using the up and down arrows or the first letter of the name) and select it using the enter key. You may use any of the following acceptable keys: Down Arrow This advances to the next transfer list file. Up Arrow This takes you back to the prior transfer list file. 27 BiSelect Page Down This advances you to the next page of transfer lists and the cursor will stop on the first transfer list file on that page. Page Up This takes you to the prior page of transfer lists and the cursor will stop on the first transfer list file on that page. Alt/C This lets you enter a new search string for the transfer lists. The cursor will be positioned on the search string on line 1. Then you can enter a new search string, enter to retain the same name, or Esc to exit BiSelect. Esc This exits BiSelect. 28 BiPath BiPath - The original transfer list maintainer BiPath is a program designed to let you maintain the list of files to be sent and/or received. It is designed to be invoked from BiMenu, but you can invoke it from the command line if you prefer. The Command Format is: BiPath [/?] [/C Config_Path] [/P Transfer List Path] /? This displays the acceptable arguments. /C Config_Path This tells BiPath what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. /P Transfer List Path Tells BiPath what transfer list path to use. This argument overrides the path specified in the configuration file. If you do not pass this argument BiPath starts out with an empty file. 29 BiPath BiPath starts out by displaying all files currently selected to be sent/received in the top part of the screen. The cursor will then stop on the (U)pload/(D)ownload field and wait for you to enter a new file to be sent/received. If you want to modify an existing transfer request you can press PgUp and PgDn to get to the request you want to modify. Then you may use Ctrl/D to delete the request or retype the information to change it. Here is a sample screen followed by a description of the fields, and a list of valid keys. **************[BiPath - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1988-90]************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ********************************************************************** * (U)pload/(D)ownload U * * Source File> * * Dest File--> * * Description> * * Refresh Include Sub Directories * * Replace Delete SOURCE When Done * * Verify When Done * *[Esc-Undo,Alt-X Exit,Ctrl-D Delete,PgUp,PgDn,C-PgUp,C-PgDn,>,<,v,^]** (U)pload/(D)ownload This field will only accept a U for upload or a D for download. Upload means a file that is going to be sent from your computer to another computer. Download means a file that is going to be received on your computer, sent by another computer. Source File This field is the path to the source file(s). It can contain star names. For an upload it would point to one or more files on YOUR computer. For a download it would point to one or more files on ANOTHER computer. If it is an upload the path is checked to insure at least one file exists. Some bulletin boards may not allow the use of full paths. If this is the case then the file part of the path you have entered will be used and the path part will be ignored. You can configure BiModem to search multiple directories for a file (See BiConfig). This will only work if a simple name (file name only, no path) is used or, the file name has been stripped from the path due to the simple name only configuration option. You also can supply a password in the source file like this: [D:\path\]file,password. If you are downloading a file that is password 30 BiPath protected, this is the only way that you can get the file. If you are uploading a file and you supply a password, the filename and password are added to the remote's password file. This means that no one else can download this file unless they know the password you have assigned to it. Dest File This field is optional. This instructs BiModem where to put the file on the receiving computer. For an upload this would be on another computer. For a download this would be on your computer. If you omit this field the file will be put in either your current directory, or the receiving directory specified in BiConfig. You can point to a directory by terminating this field in a slash. This is extremely handy for star names source files. Description This field is optional. It is only meaningful for an upload. Some bulletin board interfaces will use this field to post the description of the file. If you omit this field on an upload some bulletin board interfaces will prompt you for them after the transfer is completed. Refresh This field is optional. You may specify a Y,N,or space. A Y indicates that you want the file verified via checksum and any discrepancies found, sent. Of course this will only occur if a file is found on the receiving side. If the file can't be found then BiModem will perform a normal transfer. An N has no effect other than eliminating a default Y in BiConfig. A blank in this field indicates that BiModem will use the BiConfig default for uploads or downloads. Replace This field is optional. You may specify a Y,N,or space. A Y indicates that the file will be replaced (if the receiver allows replacements). An N has no effect other than eliminating a default Y in BiConfig. A blank in this field indicates that BiModem will use the BiConfig default for uploads or downloads. Verify When Done This field is optional. You may specify a Y,N,or space. A Y indicates that the file will be verified when the transfer is complete. An N has no effect other than eliminating a default Y in BiConfig. A blank in this field indicates that BiModem will use the BiConfig default for uploads or downloads. Include Sub Directories This field is not used at this time. It is planned that a Y in this field will indicate that directories subordinate to the one pointed to will also be searched for matching files to be transferred. 31 BiPath Delete SOURCE When Done This field is optional. You may specify a Y,N,or space. A Y indicates that the source file will be deleted when a successful transfer completes. This ability can be disabled via BiConfig. An N has no effect other than eliminating a default Y in BiConfig. A blank in this field indicates that BiModem will use the BiConfig default for uploads or downloads. While using BiPath you may use the following list of acceptable keys. Right Arrow This advances the cursor 1 position to the right. Left Arrow This advances the cursor 1 position to the left. Control Right Arrow This advances the cursor 1 word to the right. Control Left Arrow This advances the cursor 1 word to the left. Home This puts the cursor at the beginning of the field. End This puts the cursor at the end of the field. Control E This deletes the current word. Control U This converts the case of the current letter. Destructive Backspace This deletes the character behind the cursor and positions the cursor and text back 1 space. Control I This inserts 1 space at the current cursor position. 32 BiPath Del This deletes 1 space at the current cursor position. Control End This erases from the current cursor position to the end of the field. Alt E This erases the entire field and puts the cursor in position 1 of the field. Down Arrow This advances to the next field. Up Arrow This takes you back to the prior field. Control Home This puts the cursor on the first field. Page Down This accepts the current transfer request or advances to the next transfer request. Control D This deletes the current transfer request. Page Up This takes you back 1 transfer request. Control Page Down This advances you 1 page of transfer requests. Control Page Up This takes you back 1 page of transfer requests. Alt/X This exits BiPath and causes any modifications or additions you have made to be written to disk. 33 BiPath Esc This key has many purposes. Its basic function is to undo the last thing entered. For example if you were half way through entering a description and you hit Esc, it would clear the description field and place the cursor at the beginning of the field. If you then hit Esc again it would clear the record you were working on and position the cursor on the first field. Then if you hit Esc again it would terminate BiPath and write the modifications to disk. 34 BiBat BiBat - The mini terminal emulator BiBat's main purpose is to allow you to invoke BiModem on a bulletin board. Then once it sees BiModem come up it terminates so that BiModem can come up on your end. BiBat is a mini terminal emulator specially tailored for BiModem. Besides performing ansi graphics level terminal emulation it also monitors characters received for 2 space/backspace pairs. The space/backspace pair is how BiModem handshakes to determine that there is a BiModem running on the other end. When BiBat sees 2 space/backspace pairs it terminates so that BiModem can be run either through a batch file or BiMenu. BiBat can be run on both sides of a connection, but it will never detect the 2 pairs of space/backspaces. Thus it will never continue on to BiModem. The Command Format is: BiBat [/C Config_Path] /C Config_Path Tells BiBat what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. Once invoked, if Bibat does not immediately detect the 2 space/backspace pairs, it displays the following message. Dos to Comm Gateway -> Invoke BiModem on the other end or press ESC to exit (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90 Then you may type characters and they will be passed to the comm port (Just like any terminal emulator). Normally you would type whatever characters the board requires to start BiModem. Characters received from the comm port are then displayed on your terminal. If it detects the 2 space/backspace pairs, BiBat will terminate. You may also hit Esc to terminate BiBat. 35 BiBat 36 BiModem BiModem - The file transfer program BiModem is the file transfer program. It can be run all by itself from command line, or it can be invoked from BiMenu. There are two references to BiModem in Bimenu. Remote Bimodem invokes BiBat first and then BiModem (see BiBat for further info). The second invokes BiModem immediately. The Command Format is: BiModem [/?] [/B Baud Rate] [/C Config_Path] [/D Download List] [/E Decimal Character Number to Escape] [/F] [/L Comm Port] [/P Transfer List Path] [/Q] [/S Size Limit] [/T Time Limit] [/U File List] [/W Password File Path] /? This argument displays a list of acceptable arguments. /B Baud Rate This tells BiModem what baud rate to use in its time estimate. This value overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /C Config_Path This tells BiModem what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. 37 BiModem /D File_List This specifies a list of files to be acquired from the remote computer. These may be the simple format or full paths. However, full paths may not be allowed on the remote computer. It may strip away the full path and only use the file name part of the path specification. Due to limited command line length it is not practical for more than a few file specifications. Note, that wildcard names are permitted and that under certain circumstances many files may be transferred with this specification. If the file list is preceded by an @ (@download), it indicates that this is a path name to a c/r,l/f delimited list of file paths to be downloaded. This list may contain files in the following format: [D:\path\]file,password(C/R L/F) This allows you to access files that have been password protected. Passwording is not provided for in command line specifications. In other words you cannot say /D file,password on the command line. This is because you can separate multiple file names with commas on the command line (/D file,file,file...). /E Decimal Character Number to escape This tells BiModem what character that you want escaped (not sent but translated). Escaping can decrease performance anywhere from two to fifty percent depending on the number of escaped characters in a file. To eliminate escaping you need to specify a /E0 argument. This indicates that you do not want any characters escaped. If you omit this argument, then BiModem will escape the @ symbol. This is required for PC pursuit connections. The remote BiModem will be informed of your desire to escape a character and, if it has an escape character of /E0 specified it will escape your character. It is recommended that Bulletin Boards specify a /E0 and allow the caller to specify an escape character if they are calling over a network that requires it. PC Pursuit for instance uses an @ (or /E64) symbol to stop data flow and enter PC Pursuit commands. /F This turns BiModem's DSZ receive logging off. Some bulletin board interfaces can read a DSZ format log file, but they tend to get confused because there are both uploads and downloads in the log. They usually do not maintain correct upload or download statistics. By using the /F argument these interfaces will maintain correct download statistics, but not upload statistics. This argument will be temporary and it will go away when all known interfaces properly handle BiDirectional DSZ logging. /L Comm Port This tells BiModem what communications port to use. This value overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /P Transfer List Path This tells BiModem what transfer list path to use. It overrides the path specified in the configuration file. 38 BiModem /Q This tells BiModem to come up in quiet mode. Quiet mode is when BiModem does not display anything. It is useful when invoking BiModem on a system that is running some type of remote access software. It prevents the remote access software from sending changed screen information out the comm port, and destroying the data being transferred. /S Size Limit This tells BiModem what size limit to use. It overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /T Time Limit This tells BiModem what time limit in minutes to use. It overrides the value specified in the configuration file. /U File List This specifies a list of files to be sent to the remote location. These may be the simple format, which requires that the file is in the current directory, or they may be full or partial paths. Due to the limited command line length, it is a convenient way to send a very few file specifications. Note, that the wildcard specifications are permitted and that depending on the situation, many files may be transferred with this option. If the file list is preceded by an @ (@uploads), it indicates that this is a path name to a c/r,l/f delimited list of file paths to be uploaded. This list may contain passworded files in the following format: [D:\path\]file,password(C/R L/F) This allows you to upload files that others can only access if they know the password you have assigned to it. Passwording is not provided for in command line specifications. In other words you cannot say /U file,password on the command line. This is because you can separate multiple file names with commas on the command line (/U file,file,file...). /W Password file path This tells BiModem what password file to use. It overrides the password file identified in the configuration file. 39 BiModem Here is an example screen. *****************[BiModem - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1988-90]****************** * (602)942-5403 ** John Erickson's Personal Copy Version 1.21 * ****************************************************************************** * Sending BIMOD120.ZIP * Receiving TLX310-1.ARC * Summary * * Bytes 105247 83572 * Bytes 87585 83572 * 167144 * * Time 7:24 5:52 * Time 6:10 5:52 * 5:54 * * Bytes/Sec 236.8 237.4 * Bytes/Sec 236.7 237.4 * 472.1 * * Err Count _____ * Err Count _____ * _____ * * Last Err ____________________ * Last Err ____________________ * * ************************************[Text]************************************ * Here is the new version of Telix. It is MUCH improved over the old * * version. Some of its supporters have been a bit concerned over the * * complexity of the Script language, however, I maintain that it is all for * * the better. I tried BiModem out with a Beta Version my brother gave me, * * and I must say I was Impressed. I can't wait to try the public release * * version... Thank you for allowing me to download it. Let me know if you * ****************************************************************************** * Please, let us know what you think of BiModem. It is our first Shareware * * product, and we really would like to make it the BEST PROTOCOL AVAILABLE. * * We feel that if a good percentage of people will call in with their * * comments (both good and bad), we will be able to reach this goal. Thanks * * again for your interest in our product and keep in touch. * **[Alt/Q-Quiet, Alt/A-Add, Alt/S-Kill Send, Alt/R-Kill Recv, Esc-Terminate]*** The following text describes the information displayed on BiModem's transfer screen. While you probably will find most of the information self explanatory, you might want to read this section to be sure you understand it. First, the top of the screen informs you who is on the other end. This option is good for sysops as they may not have been on their system when the transfer began. The second section provides information about the file transfer such as the names of files being transferred, their length, and the rate at which the data is being transferred (Bytes Per Second). The first thing you will notice is that the total Bytes Per Second (Located on the far right) doesn't appear to be equal to the sum of the bytes per second on the individual files. There are several reasons for this. Since the sending file finished 2 minutes ago, its time stays constant. However, the combined rate reflects real time information. The reporting is designed to be as accurate as possible, and the total fields begin accumulation when BiModem is started. If the other end waited several seconds to start up their end, it would severely reduce the total throughput of the operation. It also includes the identification transfer that identifies the user at the other end. This also reduces the total transfer rate. The figures on each file represent the total time and actual rates for transferring the files that are sent. There are 2 columns for each file being transferred. The first column represents BiModem's prediction of how long the transfer will take. The second column represents the real time transfer results. 40 BiModem The third and perhaps the most noticeable feature of BiModem is that you may converse with the person on the other end of the connection while transferring your files. Yes, it is just your normal chat window, but the good part about it is that it has no effect if it is not used. It also has very little effect when very fast typists use the feature. We have tested some very fast typists, and find that even continuous chatting during the file transfer will affect the transfer throughput only 3 to 10 BPS. Only when very fast key repeating utilities are used does the effect become noticeable. As a little bonus, we have allowed the ctrl-G keystroke to cause a beep at the other end. Normally, BiModem will terminate at both ends when all the transfers, that you requested, have taken place. However, if you are in the middle of a conversation, it will go into a mode called chat extension. During this mode it will monitor chat activity and terminate when there has been a 10 second period of silence. It also can be terminated when one end or the other hits the ESC key. Adding a file during this mode is not allowed, unless you are talking to another BiModem version 1.21 or greater. You will notice a change in the screen when this mode is active. Between the 2 chat windows you will see the following: -[Chat extended for 10 seconds. Esc to Terminate]- The number of seconds will decline in this display, so you can see where you stand. When the number of seconds reaches 0, BiModem will terminate. Each chat character you type, or receive will reset the timer back to 10. So if it's getting close to 0 seconds left, and you want to keep it going, just type a character. The following lists the acceptable keys and what they do Alt/A This key is applicable to the registered version only. It allows additions to the transfer list. Brings up the following screen in the bottom chat window. ****************************************************************************** * (U)pload/(D)ownload U * * Source File> * * Dest File--> * * Description> * * * **[Alt/Q-Quiet, Alt/A-Add, Alt/S-Kill Send, Alt/R-Kill Recv, Esc-Terminate]*** While this screen is displayed you may add a request. The keys function similar to the way they do in BiPath. Esc takes you out of request add. Alt/X or PgDn completes the request. None of the options are overideable when adding a request this way. The requests that you add will use the defaults from BiConfig Upload and Download defaults. The meanings of the fields are the same as in BiPath, but we will reiterate them here. 41 BiModem (U)pload/(D)ownload This field will only accept a U for upload or a D for download. Upload means a file that is going to be sent from your computer to another computer. Download means a file that is going to be received on your computer, sent by another computer. Source File This field is the path to the source file(s). It can contain star names. For an upload it would point to one or more files on YOUR computer. For a download it would point to one or more files on ANOTHER computer. If it is an upload the path is checked to insure at least one file exists. Some bulletin boards may not allow the use of full paths. If this is the case then the file part of the path you have entered will be used and the path part will be ignored. You can configure BiModem to search multiple directories for a file (See BiConfig). This will only work if a simple name (file name only, no path) is used or, the file name has been stripped from the path due to the simple name only configuration option. Dest File This field is optional. This instructs BiModem where to put the file on the receiving computer. For an upload this would be on another computer. For a download this would be on your computer. If you omit this field the file will be put in either your current directory, or the receiving directory specified in BiConfig. You can point to a directory by terminating this field in a slash. This is extremely handy for star names source files. Description This field is optional. It is only meaningful for an upload. Some bulletin board interfaces will use this field to post the description of the file. If you omit this field on an upload some bulletin board interfaces will prompt you for them after the transfers are completed. Alt/S This key is applicable to the registered version only. It allows you to kill the currently transferring send file. It doesn't stop transferring until all buffers are cleared. This usually means it waits until up to 2 blocks of data have been sent. If you are talking to a version of BiModem prior to 1.09 it will work, but it just signals end of file. Alt/R-Kill Receive This key is applicable to the registered version only. It allows you to kill the currently transferring receive file. It will only work if you are talking to a version of BiModem 1.09 or better. It happens immediately and doesn't have to wait for buffers to clear. 42 BiModem Alt/Q-Quiet Mode Toggle This key switches between quiet mode and regular mode. Quiet mode is when BiModem does not display anything on the screen. You will notice a change to the line between the two chat windows when you are in quiet mode. The following will appear: -[Quiet Mode]- Control G - Operator Page This key rings the bell on the remotely connected computer. Provided of course that the remote computer allows bells during this time of day (See BiConfig General Options). Esc-Terminate This key halts transmission, and terminates BiModem. 43 BiModem 44 BiConfig BiConfig - Configuring your environment BiConfig is a program designed to let you configure BiModem and its support programs. It is designed to be invoked from BiMenu, but you can invoke it from the command line if you prefer. The Command Format is: BiConfig [/?] [/C Config_path] /? This argument displays a list of acceptable arguments. /C Config_Path Tells BiConfig what configuration path to use. The default is BiModem.cfg in your current directory. 45 BiConfig There are 9 sections to BiConfig. These sections are accessed from a selection screen similar to BiMenu. The selection screen looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * * * Screen and Colors * * * * Key Definitions * * * * Terminal Options * * * * General Options * * * * Limits & Editing * * * * Download Defaults * * * * Upload Defaults * * * * Filenames and Paths * * * * Comm Port Setup * * * * Write Setup to Disk * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** Once this screen appears you may use the up and down arrows to position to the appropriate selection. Once the selection bar is on the appropriate selection you can then hit the enter key to invoke that function. Alternatively you also can type in the first character of the selection to invoke it. We will now discuss the functions in detail. 46 BiConfig Screen and Colors This selection is for modifying the way BiModem and its support programs converse with your display and to modify the color palette used. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * * * * * Remove Snow (Y/N) N * * Use Bios for Screen Display (Y/N) N * * * * Press the arrow keys (><) to change the foreground colors. * * Press Ctrl and the arrow keys (><) for background colors. * * Sample Screen * * **[BiModem - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1988]*** * Prompts * 000 000-0000 Remote site not Registered ** * Fields ********************************************* * Chat Received * Sending * Receiving * Summary ** * Chat Keyed * Bytes * Bytes * ** * Error Color * Time * Time * ** * *******************[Text]******************** * Menu Items * Sample of Received Chat ** * * ** * Not Marked/Current ********************************************* * Not Marked/Not Current * Sample of Typed Chat ** * Marked/Current * ** * Marked/Not Current **************[Esc - Terminate]************** *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** Remove Snow On some older CGA display adapters direct screen writers will cause flicker. This field instructs BiModem and its support programs to wait until vertical retrace happens before moving things to the screen. In layman's terms if your screen flickers say Y. 47 BiConfig Use Bios for Screen Display BiModem and its support programs display approximately 100 times faster if it can talk directly to your display hardware. So whenever possible you want this field to say N. Multi-tasking software such as Double Dos, Desqview, etc. do not like programs to do this. The display is not stoppable and will bleed through to the other task(s). Another class of programs that doesn't like direct screen writers are the ones that allow you to remotely access your PC. In order for them to see what is displayed, the programs that you run must use Bios. If you are running one of these types of programs you will want to say Y to Use Bios. (Note: BiModem itself will properly handle Double Dos and is Desqview aware, so on a bulletin board where all you are running is BiModem, you can leave this set to N. The support programs are Desqview aware, but not Double Dos aware.) Changing Colors There are nine different colors used in BiModem and its support programs. One for each of the following field types: Prompts, Fields, Chat characters received, Chat characters typed, Menu item current and not marked, Menu item not current and not marked, Menu item current and marked, Menu item not current but marked, and error color. To change one of these colors you do the following. First position the cursor to the appropriate field type. Then you can use the right arrow and left arrow to change the foreground colors. The control right arrow and control left arrow keys will change the background colors. There is a sample BiModem screen displayed that will change colors as you change the colors of the different field types. 48 BiConfig Key Definitions This selection is for modifying what keys perform what functions in the BiModem support programs. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * This screen enables you to change the keys used for certain * * functions. Strike the key to use for the specified function. * * * * Bihot activate key Alt/M * * * * BiHot Unload key Alt/U * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** BiHot activate key This field identifies what key will cause BiHot to become active. To change to another key simply press the key sequence you want to use to start BiHot. BiHot Unload key This field identifies what key will cause BiHot to unload itself from memory. To change to another key simply press the key sequence you want to use to unload BiHot. 49 BiConfig Terminal Options This selection is for modifying the way BiModem and its support programs converse with your communications port. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * * * * * * * Baud rate to base estimates on (Modem Rate) 2400 * * * * Communications Port (1-8) 1 * * * * Modem Type D - USR Dual Standard F * * H - Half Duplex at high speeds * * F - Full Duplex always * * * * CTS/RTS hardware flow control (Y/N) Y * * * * Signal Loss of carrier on Carrier Detect (Y/N) Y * * * * Signal Loss of carrier on Data Set Ready (Y/N) N * * * * * * * * * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** Baud rate This field identifies the normal connection default. It is used only for computing estimated times and is overideable by the /B option of BiModem. Since BiModem relies on other software to configure the communications port and establish the modem connection, there is no way for it to know the connection rate. If you have a MNP modem there is no accurate method of predicting estimated times. Communications Port This field identifies the communications port number. It is overideable by the /L option of BiModem. It is used as an index into the table defined in the Comm Port Setup function of BiConfig. 50 BiConfig Modem Type This field identifies the type of modem that is used. F indicates that the modem is full duplex always. This is true of known 2400 baud or less modems, V32 modems, and V42 modems. H indicates that the modem is full duplex below 9600 baud and half duplex above. This is true of US Robotics HST modems, Hayes 9600 baud V29 modems, and most 9600 baud modems that do not say they are V32 or V42. D indicates that the modem is full duplex if it connects to another D or F and half duplex if it connects to another H. This is true of the US Robotics Dual Mode. If it connects to another Dual Mode Modem it can transfer full duplex, but if it connects to a HST it talks half duplex. When BiModem determines that it must operate in half duplex mode it will only send files in one direction at a time. It will still allow chat. Most half duplex modems do have a slower speed back channel that allows chatting to occur, but if we attempt to transfer files bi-directionally the modems usually thrash too much trying to contend for the fast side of the transmission. CTS/RTS This field indicates whether you want to use CTS/RTS flow control. This is a requirement for MNP compression/bit stripping to occur. Under MNP you need to connect your PC to your modem at a faster rate than the modem is communicating over the phone line. This gives MNP time to compress the data and strip bits. Likewise on the receive side it needs to deliver more characters to your computer than it receives. Since you are talking to your modem faster than it is sending or receiving, there needs to be some method of throttling the data so that you don't overrun its buffer. The most efficient method available today is CTS/RTS. It does not require any significant time. The other method commonly used is Xon/Xoff. We have elected not to use this method because it slows down transmission. The transmitting of Xon/Xoff characters take time, not to mention Xon/Xoff characters that occur in data then have to be escaped to. In summary if your computer is talking to your modem faster than the modem is talking over the phone line than you want to say Y to CTS/RTS. Signal Loss of carrier on Carrier Detect This field indicates whether to base carrier loss on a drop of the carrier detect line from the modem. Y indicates that if the carrier detect line drops loss of carrier has occurred and BiModem terminates. Normally when someone hangs up their modem, the other modem will no longer hear the carrier signal and drop the carrier detect line. Yet, some modems have been found that do not raise the carrier detect line and causes a loss of carrier immediately. If this occurs change this value to a N. Signal Loss of carrier on Data Set Ready This field indicates whether to base carrier loss on a drop of the data set ready line. Y indicates that if the data set ready line drops, loss of carrier has occurred and BiModem terminates. Normally you would set this to N and data set ready will not be tested. If you can't use Carrier Detect, as mentioned in the prior field, you may want to use data set ready. 51 BiConfig General Options This selection is for modifying what will be allowed when people request files from or send files to YOUR system. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * These options dictate what will be allowed when people * * request files from or send files to YOUR system * * * * Allow current directory access (Y/N) Y * * Allow file names only (no paths) (Y/N) Y * * Rename the file if it already exists (Y/N) N * * Always verify when done (Y/N) N * * Do NOT allow source deletion (Y/N) Y * * Retain original file date (Y/N) Y * * Do NOT allow full directory transfers (Y/N) Y * * Do NOT allow sub directory transfers (Y/N) Y * * Replace Timer Interrupt (Y/N) N * * Replace Keyboard Interrupt (Y/N) N * * Allow remote file requests (Y/N) Y * * Allow local file requests (Y/N) Y * * Skip transfer if same date/time/size (Y/N) N * * * * * * * * * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** Allow current directory access This field indicates whether remote users are allowed access to the current directory. It is applicable to files sent from your system, only if the sending directory field (see filenames and paths) points to a list of directories. Y indicates that it will first search the current directory and then the list. N indicates that it will only search the list of directories. Allow file names only This field indicates whether paths are allowed on file requests. Y indicates that other people can NOT supply path names. This does not say that YOU can't supply paths. Requests that are generated locally can still supply full pathnames to files. Yet, if another computer supplies a full path the directory part will be stripped away and just the file name will be used. N indicates that other people CAN supply full path names. 52 BiConfig Rename the file if it already exists This field determines if files that already exist at the destination location are allowed to be replaced or is the new file renamed to a unique name. Y indicates that a duplicate file name can NOT replace the dupe. It will be renamed to a unique name. This does not prevent file recovery. See "directory that aborted files will be renamed into" under filenames and paths. N indicates that replacement of files is allowed. Always verify when done This field determines if files are always verified when the transmission is complete or not. Y indicates that whenever a file completes it is always verified. N indicates that verification occurs only if requested by the other computer, the request, or because of a file sum error. Do NOT allow source deletion This field indicates whether source files can be deleted when transmission is complete. Y indicates that files can never be deleted. N indicates that a file on your computer can be deleted after a successful transfer. Retain original file date This field indicates whether files you receive are to retain their original date or get current date/time stamped. Y indicates that files received will retain their original date and time. N indicates that files received will be date/time stamped according to the clock. Do NOT allow full directory transfers This field is not currently used. Its future intent is to disallow the transfer of a directory and all its sub directories by pointing to the directory in question. Do NOT allow sub directory transfers This field is not currently used. Its future intent is to disallow the include all sub directories type of transfer. Replace Timer Interrupt This field indicates whether to replace the timer interrupt. On a few systems we have encountered problems in the timer interrupt bios. On these systems BiModem gets many Naks. Generally the interrupt replacement is not necessary. When running under multi-tasking software such as Double Dos and Desqview replacement of the timer interrupt can cause problems. Local Area Networks also have problems if the timer interrupt is replaced. So we normally recommend not replacing it unless you absolutely have to. Y indicates that the timer interrupt is replaced by a small and quick version. N indicates that the timer interrupt is not replaced. 53 BiConfig Replace Keyboard Interrupt This field indicates whether to replace the keyboard interrupt. On a few systems we have encountered problems in the keyboard interrupt bios. On these systems BiModem gets many Naks while chatting. When not chatting files transfer without errors. Generally the interrupt replacement is not necessary. When running under multi-tasking software such as Double Dos and Desqview replacement of the keyboard interrupt can cause problems. Local Area Networks also have problems if the keyboard interrupt is replaced. So we normally recommend not replacing it unless you absolutely have to. Y indicates that the timer interrupt is replaced. N indicates that the keyboard interrupt is not replaced. Allow remote file requests This field indicates whether remote transfer requests will be allowed. Y indicates that other people may request that files be sent to/from your computer. N indicates that any file requests received from the remote end will be rejected. The message "Rem Req Disallowed" will be displayed on both ends if a file is remotely requested and you do not allow it. If the remote end is not at least version 1.13 it will receive either the message "File Not Found" or "Create/Open Error" instead. Some bulletin board interface writers have requested this option so that they may require file requests to be entered on the BBS. We hope this does not become a standard interface design because it does not allow you to use BiHot, BiMark, BiList, and online file request additions. However, some kind of BBS interface is preferable to none at all. Allow local file requests This field indicates whether local transfer requests will be allowed. Y indicates that local transfer requests are allowed. N indicates that local transfer requests are not allowed. No messages are displayed. It just bypasses loading the paths file and/or any /u,/d arguments. This does not apply to phone number specific requests. They can still be sent. This is provided so that BBS's can prevent people from uploading a bimodem.pth and having access to all files on their systems. Of course, if properly configured, the user would not normally have access to the directory where bimodem.pth lives. We are providing this option just to insure security. Skip transfer if same date/time/size This field indicates whether files that have the same date and time and size will be skipped. Y indicates that if you are attempting to receive a file that has the same date and time and size as one that already exists in your receiving directory, it will be skipped. N indicates that in this situation the file would be verified. 54 BiConfig Limits & Editing This selection is for modifying BiModem time/size limits and controlling how numeric fields are edited. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * These fields establish the limits of time/size and * * the editing characteristics. * * * * Number of seconds to wait for connect 40 * * * * Operator Page allowed from 0: 0 till 0: 0 military time * * * * Phone number edit mask. All 9's will be replaced with a * * portion of the phone #. Other characters in the mask are * * placed in their display position as is. Please be sure * * to include 10 9's in the mask (999)999-9999 * * * * Maximum # of bytes that can be sent during 1 connection * * 0 means no limit 0 * * * * Maximum time allowed during 1 connection 24 hours 0 minutes * * * * Max # of errors before disconnect (0=No Max) 0 * * * * * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** Number of seconds to wait for connect This field specifies the number of seconds BiModem will wait for a connection to another BiModem before displaying the error 'Connection cannot be established'. Operator Page allowed from These fields indicate during what time of day operator pages (Ctrl/G) will be allowed. They must be specified in military time (no Am/Pm support). If both the start and stop time are zero then paging can be done any time. Phone number edit mask This field defines how phone numbers will be displayed. Phone numbers are always stored as 10 digit numbers. How these 10 digits are edited is up to you. This is done via a mask. In the mask where ever the digit 9 occurs it will be replaced by 1 digit from the phone number. When entering a new mask make sure there are 10 9's in the mask or the results may be a program crash. The default US mask is supplied (999)999-9999. An example of one of the European masks is +999-999- 9999. 55 BiConfig Maximum # of bytes that can be sent during 1 connection This field indicates the maximum number of bytes that can be sent during a single connection of BiModem. A zero in this field indicates that it is unlimited. Maximum time allowed during 1 connection This field indicates the maximum hours and minutes that a person can be connected during a single connection of BiModem. Max # of errors before disconnect This field indicates the maximum number of errors that are allowed for a single file. If this threshold is exceeded BiModem will inform the remote of that fact, and then terminate. Zero indicates that BiModem will not terminate because of excessive errors. 56 BiConfig Download Defaults This selection is for modifying the default settings that will be used when you request a file to be sent TO your computer. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * * * * * These are the default settings that will be used when * * you request a file to be sent TO your computer * * * * * * If file exists, use verify to upload it (Y/N) N * * * * If file exists, replace it (Y/N) N * * * * Verify files when done transferring (Y/N) N * * * * Delete source file when done (Y/N) N * * * * Include matching files in sub directories (Y/N) N * * * * * * * * * * * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** All the fields on this screen decide the default action to be taken if you indicate to take the default on a download request. If File exists, use verify to upload it This field indicates whether verify is to be used to overlay an existing file on a download request. Y indicates that verify should be used. N indicates that BiModem should select what it thinks is the best method. If File exists, replace it This field indicates whether to replace an existing file. Y indicates that the file should be replaced. N indicates that it should not be replaced. Verify files when done transferring This field indicates whether to verify a file when done. Y indicates that the file should always be verified when the transfer is complete. N indicates that it will only be verified if the other computer requests it, or a fatal transmission error has occurred. 57 BiConfig Delete source when done This field indicates whether to delete the source file upon successful completion of the file transmission. Y indicates that the source file is to be deleted. Of course if the other computer does not allow its files to be deleted, then it won't happen. N indicates that the source file is to remain intact. Include matching files in sub directories This field is not currently used. Its future intent is to inform BiModem to include all sub directories of the referenced directory in the file search. 58 BiConfig Upload Defaults This selection is for modifying the default settings that will be used when you request a file to be sent FROM your computer. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * * * * * These are the default settings that will be used when * * you request a file to be sent FROM your computer * * * * * * If file exists, use verify to upload it (Y/N) N * * * * If file exists, replace it (Y/N) N * * * * Verify files when done transferring (Y/N) N * * * * Delete source file when done (Y/N) N * * * * Include matching files in sub directories (Y/N) N * * * * * * * * * * * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** All the fields on this screen decide the default action to be taken if you indicate to take the default on an upload request. If File exists, use verify to upload it This field indicates whether verify is to be used to overlay an existing file on an upload request. Y indicates that verify should be used. N indicates that BiModem should select what it thinks is the best method. If File exists, replace it This field indicates whether to replace an existing file. Y indicates that the file should be replaced. N indicates that it should not be replaced. Verify files when done transferring This field indicates whether to verify a file when done. Y indicates that the file should always be verified when the transfer is complete. N indicates that it will only be verified if the other computer request it, or a fatal transmission error has occurred. 59 BiConfig Delete source when done This field indicates whether to delete the source file upon successful completion of the file transmission. Y indicates that the source file is to be deleted. Of course if the other computer does not allow its files to be deleted, then it won't happen. N indicates that the source file is to remain intact. Include matching files in sub directories This field is not currently used. Its future intent is to inform BiModem to include all sub directories of the referenced directory in the file search. 60 BiConfig Filenames and Paths This selection is for modifying the paths to directories and files used in BiModem. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * * * Directory that files will be received into * * * * Directory that aborted files will be renamed into * * * * Delete aborted destination files (Y/N) N * * List of directories that determine rejections * * * * Directory or list of directories files are sent from * * * * Path to Password file * * * * Path to UpLoad/Download list (Transfer List) file * * bimodem.pth * * Path to default files list for BiList * * files.bbs * * Path to log file * * bimodem.log * * Are connects/disconnects to be logged (Y/N) N * * Are file transfer statistics to be logged (Y/N) N * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** Directory that files will be received into This field identifies the directory that files without paths are to be received into. This would include all files if you have specified that you allow simple names only (see general options). Directory that aborted files will be renamed into This field identifies the directory that files that get aborted will be renamed into. This is only pertinent to files being received. Aborted refers to any type of abortion ie. user cancel, carrier loss, user hitting the esc key. The rename will fail unless the directory is on the same drive as the receiving directory. BiModem will not copy a file to another drive. Every time a user attempts to send you a file, this directory will be checked first to decide if the user is attempting to recover from a prior abortion. If the file they are trying to send to you exists in this directory it will be renamed back to the receiving directory and the transmission will restart where it left off. 61 BiConfig Delete aborted destination files This field indicates that an aborted file should be deleted. Aborted refers to any type of abortion ie. user cancel, carrier loss, user hitting the Esc key. List of directories that determine rejections This field identifies a file that contains a list of directories that will be scanned to figure out if you already have the file the user is trying to send you. If the file is found in any of these directories, then the transmission is halted. If the user has a prior version of BiModem than it will be sent a create/open error. If the user has the current version of BiModem then it will be sent a file rejected error. The directories in the list should be terminated by a \ and a carriage return and line feed. If you press F2, BiConfig will read this file and allow you to modify it. Directory or list of directories files are sent from This field identifies where files will be sent from if the user does not supply a path. Of course if you are disallowing full paths (see general options), then it would include all file requests. This field also can point to a file containing a list of directories to be searched. The directories in the file should be terminated by a \, carriage return, and line feed. For a star name request all the directories in the list will be searched. For a non star name request when the first match is found directory searching will terminate. If a list of directories is supplied, then the current directory is always checked first followed by the first directory in the list. If this field points to a list of directories, you may press F2 to have BiConfig read the list and allow you to modify it. Path to Password file This field identifies the path of the password file. Passwords can be used to make certain files accessible only if you know the correct password. The file that this path points to can contain up to 500 entries in the following format: FilePath,Password(C/R L/F) If the FilePath is a simple file name it applies to all files by that name in all your directories. If, on the other hand, the FilePath is a full pathname it is applicable only to that one file. It is recommended the absolute paths be specified, not relative (no ..\dir\file). This is because the paths must match exactly. The filename part of the path may contain * names. When someone requests a file that is password protected they must supply the password as part of the pathname ([d:\path\]file,password). You may also upload a password protected file to someone. This is done by supplying the password as part of the source pathname ([d:\path\]file,password). BiModem will recognize that you have uploaded a password protected file when it terminates and write out a new password file. Then the next person that tries to download that file can only download it if they know the password. If you hit F2, BiConfig will read this file and allow you to modify it. 62 BiConfig Path to Upload/Download list file This field identifies the default transfer list path. The file it points to need not exist as BiModem and its support programs will create it when needed. Path to default files list for BiList This field identifies the default path to the files list that BiList should start out with. Path to log file This field identifies the file that logging information will be written to. If the file exists the logging info will be appended to the end, otherwise a file will be created. What information is logged to this file is controlled by the following 2 fields. Are connects/disconnects to be logged This field determines if connections and disconnections are to be logged to the file identified in the path to log file field. Y indicates that connections and disconnections are to be logged. N indicates that they are not logged. Are file transfer statistics to be logged This field determines if file transfer statistics are to be logged to the file identified in the path to log file field. Y indicates that file transfer statistics are to be logged. N indicates that they are not logged. Acceptable Keys during file editing (F2) Enter This advances you to the next record. Down Arrow This advances you to the next record. Up Arrow This takes you to the prior record. Page Down This advances you to the next screen page of records. Page Up This takes you to the prior screen page of records. Control A 63 BiConfig This takes you to the first record on the current screen page. Control Z This takes you to the last record on the current screen page. Control Page Down This takes you to the last record on the last screen page. Control Page Up This takes you to the first record on the first screen page. Alt D This deletes the record you are currently on. Alt I This inserts 1 blank line in front of the record you are currently on. Esc This key terminates the edit mode. If the files have been modified, BiConfig will ask you if you want to save the changes. If you respond Y to that question, it will overwrite the old file with your changes. If you respond N, it will leave the original file intact. 64 BiConfig Comm Port Setup This selection is for modifying the comm port and IRQ table. If you select this function it will bring up a screen that looks like this: *************[BiConfig - (C) Copyright Erik Labs 1989,90]************* * * * Base Interrupt * * Port Request * * Address Number * * * * Comm 1 03F8 4 * * * * Comm 2 02F8 3 * * * * Comm 3 03E8 4 * * * * Comm 4 02E8 3 * * * * Comm 5 03F8 4 * * * * Comm 6 02F8 3 * * * * Comm 7 03E8 4 * * * * Comm 8 02E8 3 * * * *****************[Esc-Exit,Tab,BTab,>,<,v,^ ]****************** Comm 1 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 1 in the terminal options section or on the command line. Comm 2 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 2 in the terminal options section or on the command line. Comm 3 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 3 in the terminal options section or on the command line. 65 BiConfig Comm 4 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 4 in the terminal options section or on the command line. Comm 5 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 5 in the terminal options section or on the command line. Comm 6 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 6 in the terminal options section or on the command line. Comm 7 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 7 in the terminal options section or on the command line. Comm 8 These two fields identify the base port address and interrupt request queue that is to be used when you specify communications port 8 in the terminal options section or on the command line. 66 BiConfig Write Setup to Disk This selection will write any changes you have made to the current configuration file. It will not bring up a screen, but you should see the disk activity light flash as it writes out the file. 67 BiConfig 68 Appendix A Appendix A - Logging BiModem optionally uses 3 different logging methods and formats. We provide these many different methods so that interfacing BiModem to Bulletin Boards and Terminal programs is as easy as possible. Please consult your terminal or interface documentation to determine the type of logging it requires (if any). The user log defined by BiConfig is a general purpose log. It is easily displayable by many utilities including edlin and copying it to con. You have complete control of the level of logging (full,transfer only, or none), and where to put the file. This is set using BiConfig. Several interfaces use this log because of it's ease of viewing. What we call an intercommunications log is available by passing BiModem or BiMenu a \^P Log_Path argument. The file that this creates is very difficult to view. However, it is considerably easier to deal with programmatically. When writing an interface program we recommend using this log. It is the only log that contains the descriptions. All the data fields in it are in hex. Each record in it is a fixed length. All interfaces written by Erik Labs will use this log, because it is so easy to deal with. The third log file we call our DSZ log. It is in the same format that the original Zmodem(tm) DSZ program outputs. Since there are already many interfaces available for DSZ this makes the interfacing job considerably easier. However, we must caution you that most of the existing DSZ log interfaces do not expect bi-directional activity. As a temporary measure to solve this problem we have provided a /F argument to BiMenu and BiModem. When this argument is present, only files that are sent are logged. This insures that at least the download statistics are correct. To use the DSZ log, simply execute a "SET DSZLOG=path" command prior to invoking BiModem or BiMenu. 69 Appendix A 70 Appendix B Appendix B - File Formats Configuration File 1 - 1 Short Int Max Time Hundredths 2 - 2 Short Int Max Time Seconds 3 - 3 Short Int Max Time Minutes 4 - 4 Short Int Max Time Hours 5 - 8 Long Int Max Size 9 - 12 Long Int Baud rate of Modem Connection 13 - 13 Short Int Active Port Number 14 - 15 Integer Port Address 1 16 - 16 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 1 17 - 18 Integer Port Address 2 19 - 19 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 2 20 - 21 Integer Port Address 3 22 - 22 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 3 23 - 24 Integer Port Address 4 25 - 25 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 4 26 - 27 Integer Port Address 5 28 - 28 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 5 29 - 30 Integer Port Address 6 31 - 31 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 6 32 - 33 Integer Port Address 7 34 - 34 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 7 35 - 36 Integer Port Address 8 37 - 37 Short Int Interrupt Request Number 8 38 - 38 Bit Map 0 - Half Duplex Modem 1 - Dual Standard Modem 2-3 Reserved 4 - Maintain original date 5 - Summary Statistics 6 - Full Statistics 7 - Simple Names only 39 - 39 Bit Map 0 - Reserved 1 - Never allow sub directories 2 - Never allow directories 3 - Delete abortions 4 - Never delete source 5 - Always verify when done 6 - Always rename collisions 7 - Reserved 40 - 40 Bit Map 0-6 Default Download Options 41 - 41 Bit Map 0-6 Default Upload Options 42 - 121 Character Default Send Directory 122 - 201 Character Default Recv Directory 202 - 281 Character Default Log File Path 282 - 361 Character Default Paths File Path 362 - 362 Character Remove Snow (Y/N) 363 - 363 Character Modem Type (F-Full Duplex, D-Dual Standard, H-Half Duplex) 364 - 364 Character Use Bios Indicator (Y/N) 71 Appendix B 365 - 365 Character Test CTS Indicator (Y/N) 366 - 366 Character Test Carrier Detect (Y/N) 367 - 367 Character Test Data Set Ready (Y/N) 368 - 368 Character Replace Timer Interrupt (Y/N) 369 - 369 Character Replace Keyboard Interrupt (Y/N) 370 - 370 Short Int Prompt Color 371 - 371 Short Int Field Color 372 - 372 Short Int Chat Received Color 373 - 373 Short Int Chat Sent Color 374 - 374 Short Int Menu current and not marked color 375 - 375 Short Int Menu not current and not marked color 376 - 377 Integer # of seconds to wait for connect 378 - 378 Short Int Start Page Minutes 379 - 379 Short Int Start Page Hours 380 - 380 Short Int End Page Minutes 381 - 381 Short Int End Page Hours 382 - 394 Character Phone Edit 395 - 474 Character Rejection List Path 475 - 554 Character Abort Directory Path 555 - 555 Character Allow current directory access (Y/N) 556 - 556 Character Allow remote file requests (Y/N) 557 - 557 Character Allow local file requests (Y/N) 558 - 559 Integer BiHot Activate key value 560 - 565 Character BiHot Activate key name 566 - 567 Integer BiHot unload key value 568 - 573 Character BiHot unload key name 574 - 653 Character Password file Path 654 - 655 Integer Maximum # of errors allowed per file (0=no max) 656 - 656 Short Int Menu not current, but marked color 657 - 657 Short Int Menu current and marked color 658 - 658 Short Int Error Color 659 - 738 Character Default BiList list file path 739 - 739 Character Skip transfer if same date/time/size (Y/N) Paths file layout 1 - 1 Character (U)pload or (D)ownload 2 - 2 Character (R)efresh 3 - 3 Character {Y| |N} Replace if existing override 4 - 4 Character {Y| |N} Verify when done override 5 - 5 Character {Y| |N} Delete source when done override 6 - 6 Character Unused 7 - 7 Character {Y| |N} Allow full directory override 8 - 8 Character {Y| |N} Include subdirectory override 9 - 88 Character Source Path 89 - 168 Character Destination Path 169 - 248 Character Description (Only used on Uploads) User Log file layout Connect Entry 72 Appendix B 1 - 13 Character "Connected to:" 15 - 74 Character Registered ID 76 - 88 Character Edited Registered Phone # 90 - 97 Character Date connected (MM/DD/YY) 99 - 106 Character Time connected (HH:MM:SS) 107 - 107 Character Carriage Return 108 - 108 Character Line Feed Send/Receive Entry 3 - 10 Character Beginning Time (HH:MM:SS) 12 - 12 Character Direction/Success Indicator (S-Sent Normal, s-Sent Abnormal, R-Received Normal, r-Received Abnormal) 14 - 21 Character File Size 23 - 30 Character Elapsed time (HH:MM:SS) 32 - 37 Character Characters per Second (ZZZZ.9) 39 - 41 Character "BPS" 43 - ?? Character Pathname[,Password] ??+1 Character Carriage Return ??+2 Character Line Feed Disconnect Entry 1 - 14 Character "Disconnected @" 16 - 23 Character Disconnect Time (HH:MM:SS) 24 - 24 Character Carriage Return 25 - 25 Character Line Feed Intercommunication Log 1 - 1 Short Int Day transfer completed 2 - 2 Short Int Month transfer completed 3 - 4 Integer Year transfer completed 5 - 5 Short Int Hundredths of seconds transfer completed 6 - 6 Short Int Second transfer completed 7 - 7 Short Int Minute transfer completed 8 - 8 Short Int Hour transfer completed 9 - 9 Character Direction (S=Send,R=Receive) 10 - 88 Character Path[,Password] 89 - 89 Character Status (Blank=Successful,D=Duplicate,A=Aborted) 90 - 169 Character Description 170 - 171 Integer Characters per Second 172 - 231 Character Registered ID 232 - 233 Integer Area Code part of registered phone # 234 - 236 3byte Int Remaining part of registered phone # DSZ Log 1 - 1 Character Transfer Type (b=Send,B=Receive,e=Error Sending, E=Error Receiving) 3 - 8 Character Byte Count 73 Appendix B 10 - 14 Character Baud Rate 16 - 18 Character "bps" 20 - 23 Character Characters per Second 25 - 27 Character "cps" 29 - 31 Character Error Count 33 - 38 Character "errors" 40 - 44 Character Flow Control Stoppages (not used, 0) 46 - 49 Character Packet Size 51 - 62 Character File Name 64 - 76 Character Registered Edited Phone # 77 - 77 Character Carriage Return 78 - 78 Character Line Feed 74 Appendix C Appendix C - Interfacing & Installation Setup for most telecommunications programs is easy. In this appendix we attempt to walk you through the detailed process of setting up BiModem to be executed from some more common telecommunications programs. We apologize if we missed your telecommunications program. There are far to many of them to cover them all. Most of these programs allow a jump to dos and this is probably the easiest way to initially test BiModem. After signing in to your favorite BBS, when you get to the point you are ready to transmit files, you can jump to DOS and execute BiMenu. From there you can use one of the many ways to mark files for download/upload, or use transfer list maintenance to enter the list of files you want to send/receive. When you have all the requests entered, you can select remote BiModem. This allows you to tell the board you are ready to run BiModem. When the BBS loads BiModem, remote BiModem will recognize that fact, load BiModem on your end, and start transferring files. When the transfer is complete, you will be back at DOS, and you can type exit to return to telecommunications program. The following discussions will instruct you on how to hook BiModem up to your communications program, and avoid the jump to dos step. The Telix connection There are 2 main methods of connecting BiModem to Telix. It can be connected as an external protocol, or as a hot key. Since Telix is not set up to handle BiDirectional file transfers through the external protocol option, the preferred method is to set it up as a hot key. We also will describe how to set it up as an external protocol, just in case you prefer that method. External Protocol Setup Up to 4 external protocols can be set up in Telix. You can set up BiModem as an external protocol and have it act just like all the internal protocols. This includes having Telix ask you for the files to upload OR download. Unfortunately telix was not written with bidirectional transfers in mind, so setting it up this way limits BiModem to one direction at a time (Like all the rest of the protocols). You may want to set up this method so you can use BiModem quickly on those occasions when you only have 1 direction to transfer. To set it up you must first create 2 batch files. These batch files will be executed whenever you select B from PgUp/PgDn of Telix. The first batch file should be called bimodemu.bat and look like this: BiModem /B %1 /L %2 /U %3 The second batch file should be called bimodemd.bat and look like this: BiModem /B %1 /L %2 /D %3 The next thing you must do is enter telix and follow these simple instructions: 1. Select ALT/O to configure Telix. 2. Select Protocol options. 3. Type B to enter BiModem as external protocol B. 75 Appendix C 4. Type B to make B the key to select BiModem from PgUp/PgDn. 5. Type BiModem as the protocol name. 6. Type BiModemU as the Upload Filename. 7. Type BiModemD as the Download Filename. 8. Select Batch-file. 9. Select Yes for "prompt for the name on downloads" 10. You are done, make sure you select "Write setup to disk". Note: Some people prefer to set up BiMenu in their batch files. While this does give a uniform method of selecting transfer protocols, there is no way to prevent Telix from prompting for file names on uploads. To avoid this unneeded step we prefer the Hot Key Setup method. Hot Key Setup Telix allows any key (or combination of keys) to be setup to execute a script file. We provide you with a script file that executes BiMenu called BiModem.SLT. If you run the install program (BInstall), then it is copied into your telix script directory. Follow these simple instructions to tell Telix about it. 1. Invoke Telix. 2. Hit Alt/K to bring up the keyboard definitions screen. 3. Select Regular. 4. Select Edit. 5. Type the key you wish to become the hot key. We recommend control B. 6. Type in @BiModem. This tells Telix to run the script BiModem.SLT 7. Press the space bar to exit. 8. Select Save. 9. Hit Enter to save it to telix.key. 10. Select eXit. Now to bring up BiMenu all you have to do is hit Ctrl/B. Sample Telix Script File (Included as BiModem.SLT) main() { dos("BiMenu",0); } This script will, of course, have to be compiled prior to use with Telix. It is written for Telix 3.10. Therefore, it may differ with other releases of Telix. To compile the script type: CS BIMODEM 76 Appendix C The Boyan connection Boyan can be set up 2 different ways, as an external protocol or a hot key. Again Boyan is not set up to handle bidirectional transfers in it's external protocols, so we recommend the hot key method. We will describe both methods, in case you want to use BiModem unidirectionally. External Protocol Setup Up to 10 external protocols can be set up in Boyan. You can set up BiModem as an external protocol and have it act just like all the internal protocols. This includes having Boyan ask you for the file to upload OR download. Unfortunately Boyan was not written with bidirectional transfers in mind, so setting it up this way limits BiModem to one direction at a time (Like all the rest of the protocols). You may want to set up this method so you can use BiModem quickly on those occasions when you only have 1 direction to transfer. The first thing you must do is enter Boyan and follow these simple instructions: 1. Select ALT/C to configure Boyan. 2. Select X for external protocols. 3. Select an available protocol # (0-9). 4. Type BiModem as the protocol name. 5. Type B as the menu letter. Some systems may us B for Compu-Serve, then choose I. 6. Type BiModem.Com as the External File. 7. Hit Enter for No Prompt for DL-Name. 8. At the BiModem Upload Prompt type: \DC-[%P:BiModem /L %MD /B %MS /U %TF]. 9. At the BiModem Download Prompt type: \DC-[%P:BiModem /L %MD /B %MS]. 10. You are done. Hit multiple escapes to get back to the main screen. Note: Some people prefer to set up BiMenu from their PgUp/PgDN. While this does give a uniform method of selecting transfer protocols, there is no way to prevent Boyan from prompting for file names on uploads. To avoid this unneeded step we prefer the Hot Key Setup method. Hot Key Setup Boyan allows most keys (or combination of keys) to be setup to execute a macro command. However, they have certain pre-defined functions that occur on some keys. My favorite, Alt/B, is used to turn beeps on and off. If you don't need this function, go ahead and use that key sequence. We will, however, describe how to hook BiMenu up to Alt/1. Follow these simple instructions to tell Boyan about it. 1. Invoke Boyan. 2. Hit Alt/C to bring up the configuration screen. 3. Type M to select macros. 4. Type G to bring up the key set including Alt/1. 5. Type 61 to select Alt/1. 6. Type the macro: \DC-[BiMenu]. 7. You are done. Hit multiple escapes to return to the main screen. 77 Appendix C Now to bring up BiMenu all you have to do is hit Alt/1. 78 Appendix C The Procomm connection Procomm can be set up 3 different ways, as an external protocol, a hot key, or a script file. The script file method requires you to type in the name of the script, after alt/f5, each time you run one. Since that is far to many keystrokes to do something as common as a file transfer protocol, we do not recommend this method. However, we do supply an example script called BiModem.ASP, just in case. Again Procomm is not set up to handle bidirectional transfers in its external protocols, so we suggest the hot key method. We will describe both methods, in case you want to use BiModem unidirectionally. External Protocol Setup Only 3 external protocols can be set up in Procomm. You can set up BiModem as an external protocol and have it act just like all the internal protocols. This includes having Procomm ask you for the files to upload OR download. Unfortunately Procomm was not written with bidirectional transfers in mind, so setting it up this way limits BiModem to one direction at a time (Like all the rest of the protocols). You may want to set up this method so you can use BiModem quickly on those occasions when you only have 1 direction to transfer. To set it up you must first create 2 batch files. These batch files will be executed whenever you select 14-16 from PgUp/PgDn of Procomm. The first batch file should be called bimodemu.bat and look like this: BiModem /U %1 The second batch file should be called bimodemd.bat and look like this: BiModem /D %1 The next thing you must do is enter Procomm and follow these simple instructions: 1. Select ALT/S to configure Procomm. 2. Select Protocol options. 3. Type A, C, or E to enter BiModem as external protocol 1, 2, or 3. 4. Type BiModemU as the upload filename. 5. Type B, D, or F to enter BiModem as external protocol 1, 2, or 3. 6. Type BiModemD as the download filename. 7. Hit Esc to exit. 8. You are done, make sure you select "Save Setup Options". Note: Some people prefer to set up BiMenu in their batch files. While this does give a uniform method of selecting transfer protocols, there is no way to prevent Procomm from prompting for file names on uploads or downloads. To avoid this unneeded step we prefer the Hot Key Setup method. Hot Key Setup Procomm allows two user hot keys to be defined to execute a program (Alt/J and Alt/U). Procomm allows programs to be executed when you hit one of these two 79 Appendix C keys. Follow these simple instructions to tell Procomm what to do when an Alt/J or Alt/U is hit. 1. Invoke Procomm. 2. Hit Alt/S to bring up the setup screen. 3. Select file/path options. 4. Select either F for Alt/J or G for Alt/U. 5. Type BiMenu. 6. Hit Escape. 7. Your done, Select Save Setup Options. Now to bring up BiMenu all you have to do is hit Alt/J or Alt/U. Sample Procomm Plus Aspect File (Included as BiModem.ASP) DOS "BiMenu.Com" This script needs to be copied to your Procomm Plus directory. It is executed while connected to your remote site (Usually a BBS), by pressing alt F5 and entering BIMODEM in the window. 80 Appendix C The Qmodem connection Qmodem can be set up 3 different ways, as an external protocol, a hot key, or a script file. The script file method requires you to type in the name of the script, after alt/f, each time you run one. Since that is far to many keystrokes to do something as common as a file transfer protocol, we do not recommend this method. However, we do supply an example script called BiModem.SCR, just in case. Again Qmodem is not set up to handle bidirectional transfers in its external protocols, so we suggest the hot key method. We will describe both methods, in case you want to use BiModem unidirectionally. External Protocol Setup Up to 10 external protocols can be set up in Qmodem. You can set up BiModem as an external protocol and have it act just like all the internal protocols. This includes having Qmodem ask you for the files to upload OR download. Unfortunately Qmodem was not written with bidirectional transfers in mind, so setting it up this way limits BiModem to one direction at a time (Like all the rest of the protocols). You may want to set up this method so you can use BiModem quickly on those occasions when you only have 1 direction to transfer. To set it up you must first create 2 batch files. These batch files will be executed whenever you select B from PgUp/PgDn of Qmodem. The first batch file should be called bimodemu.bat and look like this: BiModem /B %1 /L %2 /U %3 The second batch file should be called bimodemd.bat and look like this: BiModem /B %1 /L %2 The next thing you must do is enter Qmodem and follow these simple instructions: 1. Select ALT/N to configure Procomm. 2. Type P for Protocols. 3. Type 0 to enter BiModem as an external protocol. 4. Type S to enter the selection character. 5. Type B to have B be the selection character. 6. Type P to enter the protocol name. 7. Type BiModem as the protocol name. 8. Type U to enter the upload bat file name. 9. Type BiModemU so it will execute BiModemU.Bat on PgUp. 10. Type D to enter the download bat file name. 11. Type BiModemD so it will execute BiModemD.Bat on PgDn. 12. Type F to enter the file name prompt option. 13. Type N to indicate no file name prompt on downloads. 14. Hit Esc twice to return to the setup screen. 15. Type E to exit. 16. Type S to save. Note: Some people prefer to set up BiMenu in their batch files. While this does give a uniform method of selecting transfer protocols, there is no way to 81 Appendix C prevent Qmodem from prompting for file names on uploads. To avoid this unneeded step we prefer the Hot Key Setup method. Hot Key Setup Qmodem allows function keys to be defined to execute a program or script. Follow these simple instructions to tell Qmodem what to do when F1 is hit. 1. Invoke Qmodem. 2. Hit Alt/J to define function keys. 3. Type 1 for normal function keys. 4. Type @shellx BiMenu 5. Hit F10 to save the new function key definition. 6. Hit Escape. You're done. Now to bring up BiMenu all you have to do is hit F1. Sample Qmodem Script File (Included as BiModem.SCR) DOS "BiMenu.Com" EXIT This script needs to be copied to your Qmodem directory. This is admittedly a very simple script file, but it is intended mostly as an aid to understanding what is required. Secondly, for the novice programmer who may not know where to begin with a script file, this may lend some assistance. BiHot problems with Qmodem Many people have reported a problem running BiHot in conjunction with Qmodem. Qmodem has the ability to take over the keyboard interrupt. When this is done BiHot, who is also hooked to the keyboard interrupt, never sees it's key struck. There is a simple solution. The following describes in detail how to make Qmodem not take over the keyboard interrupt. 1. Invoke Qmodem. 2. Hit Alt/N to bring up the setup menu. 3. Select O for Options. 4. Select R for Runtime Parms. 5. Insure that Int16 Enable is Off. 6. Make sure you save your changes when you Exit the Setup Menu. 82 Appendix C The GT Powercomm connection GT Powercomm (or GT for short) was the first telecommunications package to integrate and ship BiModem with itself. It is a very good communications package that integrates terminal emulation, BBS, and mail functions into one package. BiModem is simple to install in GT. Just follow these detailed procedures: 1. Install BiModem into a directory subordinate to GT's main directory called BiMod. (See the installation chapter at the front of this manual for more info). 2. Make sure that the files protocol.bbs and protocol.cbs allow for the protocol i. That's all it takes. You're ready to use BiModem in terminal, host, and mail mode. GT uses two files in the main GT directory that control BiModem execution. On our GT installation I have slightly modified them so that I can use BiMenu when I'm in terminal mode. They are called BiRx.Bat and BiTx.Bat. Both files should be identical. Here is the file that I run: rem Batch file for BIMODEM rem f:\gt\gtbimod %1 %2 f:\gt\bimod\ if errorlevel 4 goto mail if errorlevel 3 goto host if errorlevel 2 goto term goto end :term f:\gt\bimod\bimenu /c f:\gt\bimod\bimodem.cfg /p f:\gt\bimod\bimodem.pth goto end :mail f:\gt\bimod\bimodem /c f:\gt\bimod\bimodem.cfg /p f:\gt\bimod\bimodem.pth goto end :host f:\gt\bimod\bimodem /c f:\gt\bimod\bimodem.cfg :end 83 Appendix C BBS Installation In order to run BiModem on your Bulletin Board, it will require an interface program. Current bulletin board software was not designed with BiDirectional transfers in mind. To date none of them will allow a user to type both upload files and download files before indicating the transfer protocol to use. Ideally they would ask for the protocol first so that they would know whether to ask for only one side or both, and then ask for the files to send and/or receive. Or perhaps they should have a separate entry in their files section called BiDirectional transfer that the user could select instead of upload or download. Of course that's just the surface of the problem. None of them will properly handle user statistics, and directory list maintenance when files are both sent and received at the same time. So what's the solution? Well until the board authors redesign their boards to handle BiDirectional transfers, the only answer is to use an interface program. There are far to many interfaces available for the numerous types of Bulletin Boards to cover in this document. It would at least double the size of this document to cover them all. So instead we will cover how to obtain one, and what the best interfaces provide. To obtain an interface designed specific to your BBS software call our BBS "Valley of the Sun". The number is listed on the cover page of this document. The interfaces can be found in file area B (BiModem support). You can quickly find the ones available for your software by performing a text search on the BBS software name. They will normally contain their own documentation on how to set up the interface for your particular board. Most of them are very easy to install. In the case of our Opus interface, and PCBoard interface, they can usually be installed in less than 15 minutes. A good interface will accomplish the following: 1. Establish the environment for this user. This entails building a directories that this particular user has access to, and setting time and size limits for bimodem. 2. Execute BiModem. 3. Update the bulletin board files reflecting the transfers that just occurred. The last step usually varies quite a bit, depending on the boards requirements. Generally it involves updating user statistics, updating directory lists (which might include asking for descriptions if they were not supplied), and updating log files. In some interfaces, such as our PCBoard interface, this can be programmed by you to include ZIP testing, virus checking, or whatever else you would like to perform against uploaded files. If for some reason you would like to write your own interface, then download a file called TOOLKIT.ZIP. This file contains file layouts used by BiModem, and a discussion on how to write an interface. 84 Appendix D Appendix D - Performance We wanted a fair way to compare BiModem and other protocols... So what we did was download 6 files using each of 3 transfer protocols. We chose Telink which was about as close to XMODEM as we could get and still support wildcard downloads, Zmodem which is very popular these days, and BiModem. We timed the execution from the time we pressed enter to start the transfer until the system responded ready to enter more commands. The tests were conducted using a 1200 baud modem connection from an 8mhz XT compatible to a 10mhz AT compatible that was running the BBS software (OPUS v1.03b). The XT was using Telix version 3.10. Here are our results: Downloading 6 2136 byte files: Telink - 2 minutes 45 seconds Zmodem - 2 minutes 29 seconds BiModem- 2 minutes 07 seconds Downloading 6 2136 byte files and uploading 6 2136 byte files Telink - 5 minutes 30 seconds Zmodem - 4 minutes 58 seconds BiModem- 2 minutes 07 seconds Of course, we knew it would be much faster when uploading and downloading, but we didn't expect it to be so much faster when transmitting in one direction. While these are not very scientific test results, they show the kinds of performance boosts you can get with Bimodem. Results may vary depending on the particular software and hardware used, so we encourage you to run your own timing tests. We have attempted to be as accurate as possible on the rates BiModem reports, but the transmission speeds reported by most transfer protocols can be pretty misleading, some do not account for buffering (Either hardware or software). So use your stop watch and time the actual difference yourself. 85 Appendix D 86 Appendix E Appendix E - Desqview Notes BiModem can be classified as Desqview aware. It automatically determines if it is running in a Desqview environment. It will inform Desqview when it is idle, so that other tasks can have more time on the system. BiModem and all the support programs have there screen output redirected to the Desqview screen buffer and Desqview periodically updates the screen from that buffer. This allows other windows to overlay the BiModem window with no bleeding of the information. We recommend that a separate window be created for either BiModem or BiMenu so that you can inform Desqview that this window is NOT swappable. The amount of memory required for BiModem is dynamic. It depends on the number of transfer requests, upload directories, and rejection directories. We recommend that you use 100k. This should cover 99.9% of situations. In our example we use 115k because BiMenu is in memory with BiModem. Here is an example of the required program parameters. *1**Change*a*Program************************************************************ * Change a Program * * * * Program Name............: BiMenu (BiModem Menu) * * * * Keys to Use on Open Menu: ME Memory Size (in K): 115 * ******************************************************************************** * Program...: \tlx\bimenu.com * * * * Parameters: * * * * Directory.: \tlx * ******************************************************************************** * Options: * * Writes directly to screen......: [N] * * Displays graphics information..: [N] * * Can be swapped out of memory...: [N] * * Requires floppy diskette.......: [N] * * * * Press F1 for advanced options Press <** when you are DONE * ******************************************************************************** 87 Appendix E *1**Change*a*Program************************************************************ * Change a Program Advanced Options * * * * System Memory (in K).......: 0 Maximum Program Memory Size (in K)..: 115 * * * * Script Buffer Size.......: 2000 Maximum Expanded Memory Size (in K): * * * * Text Pages: 1 Graphics Pages: 0 Initial Mode: Interrupts: 00 to FF * ******************************************************************************** * Window Position: * * Maximum Height: 25 Starting Height: 25 Starting Row...: 0 * * Maximum Width.: 80 Starting Width.: 80 Starting Column: 0 * ******************************************************************************** * Shared Program * * Pathname..: * * * * Data......: * ******************************************************************************** * Options: * * Close on exit to DOS.........: [Y] Uses its own colors.........: [Y] * * Allow Close Window command...: [Y] Runs only in foreground.....: [N] * * Uses math coprocessor........: [N] Keyboard conflict (0-4).....: [0] * * * * Press F1 for standard options Press <** when you are DONE * ******************************************************************************** 88 Appendix F Appendix F - Double Dos Notes BiModem is Double Dos aware. It automatically detects the presence of Double Dos. It changes the priority to 70/30 (70 for BiModem). Then it informs Double Dos when it is idle. This method yields excellent performance results. On my 386-25 when I run Telix in one partition and Norton SI in the other I get around a 9. When I run BiModem in one partition and Norton SI in the other I get around a 26. BiModem also switches to BIOS mode when it detects Double Dos. This allows you to normally write directly to the screen (BIOS N) and when you run Double Dos it will change for you. Switching to BIOS slows down the display, but it prevents bleeding through to the other task. 89 Appendix F 90 Appendix G Appendix G - Lantastic Notes BiModem works well in a Lantastic environment provided you follow one simple rule. You must NOT replace the timer interrupt (See BiConfig General Options). Lantastic does all its network work during a timer interrupt. By replacing the timer interrupt you are not allowing Lantastic to do its job. 91 Appendix G 92 Appendix H Appendix H - Modem Settings For most modems no adjustments are needed to use BiModem. We have found some modems that have switch settings that can affect the CTS signal handling. These settings should be made so that CTS indicates the modem's readiness to accept data. Xon/Xoff software flow control should not be used. Preferred USRobotics Courier 9600 HST Settings. C=? E=? F=? M=? Q=? V=? X=4+ B=? BAUD=19200 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 DIAL=HUNT ON HOOK TIMER &A? &B1 &G? &H1 &I0 &K1 &M4 &N0 &P? &R2 &S? &Y? S00=??? S01=??? S02=??? S03=??? S04=??? S05=??? S06=??? S07=??? S08=??? S09=??? S10=??? S11=??? S12=??? S13=??? S14=??? S15=008 S16=??? S17=??? S18=??? S19=??? S20=??? S21=??? S22=??? S23=??? Settings marked as ? don't affect BiModem Performance. Preferred USRobotics Courier 9600 DUAL Settings. B0 C1 E? F? M? Q? V? X? BAUD=38400 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 DIAL=HUNT ON HOOK TIMER &A? &B1 &C? &D? &G? &H1 &I0 &J? &K? &L? &M? &N0 &P? &R2 &S? &X? &Y3 S00=??? S01=??? S02=??? S03=??? S04=??? S05=??? S06=??? S07=??? S08=??? S09=??? S10=??? S11=??? S12=??? S13=??? S14=??? S15=008 S16=??? S17=??? S18=??? S19=??? S20=??? S21=??? S22=??? S23=??? Settings marked as ? don't affect BiModem Performance. 93 Appendix H 94 Appendix I Appendix I - 16550's A 16550 is a chip that replaces the standard communications chip (UART) in your PC. The advantage to a 16550 is that it has a built in 6 character buffer. We have found that many NAKs are caused by bios, and other software running concurrently with BiModem, disabling interrupt processing for too long. This causes characters to be lost. A good example of this is on AT's where the fixed disk interrupt has a higher priority than communications. Characters cannot be sent or received while your machine is servicing a fixed disk interrupt. The built in buffer of the 16550 cause those characters not to be lost. Instead they are buffered until the disabling condition has passed. The buffering of the 16550 is programmable. BiModem will recognize that you have a 16550 and automatically enable the buffer. When BiModem terminates it will restore the buffering state to its pre-BiModem state. 95 Appendix I 96 Appendix J Appendix J - Error Messages BiModem can produce a few messages. We will describe them here and describe how they can be caused. This first section of errors appears in the last error field of the BiModem transfer screen. File Summ Error - This appears if both bimodems disagree on the summ of bytes transferred. It only occurs on noisy lines. BiModem will automatically verify the file when this occurs. If a discrepancy is found, that piece of the file will be retransmitted. File Not Found - This is self explanatory. Often it is caused by a BBS whose list of sending directories is not all inclusive. This causes you to see the file in a directory list, but not be allowed to download it. File exists, verify - This is an informative message stating that BiModem has discovered that file you are sending or receiving already existed, and the date or time of the two files were different. Following this message, BiModem will switch to the verify mode of sending the file and only send the parts that have changed. File exists, Skip It - This occurs if you are trying to send or receive a file that has the same date, time, and size. You must specify Y to 'Skip files with same date/time/size' in BiConfig under 'General Options'. If you specify N (the default), then BiModem would issue the previous message and go into verify mode. After this error is displayed, BiModem will go on to the next file. Create/Open Error - This occurs if BiModem has a problem when it attempts to create or open the received file. There are many things that can cause this to happen. The most common one is that the receiving directory is mis-specified, and BiModem is attempting to create the file in a directory that does not exist. Timeout - This occurs if BiModem has waited too long for a response from the remote computer. It can be caused by many things. I will try to list a few. The remote user has turned off their modem, and your configuration is not set up to detect loss of carrier. See BiConfig 'Terminal Options' - 'DSR causes loss of carrier', 'CD causes loss of carrier'. A PCPursuit connection has been broken, but you're still connected to the local PCPursuit station. See BiModem /E argument. Out of Space - This occurs if the disk drive receiving a file runs out of disk space. User Abort - This is an informative message stating that the user at either end has requested that this file be aborted. File Rejected - This occurs when you try to send or receive a file that already exists in a rejection directory. See BiConfig "Filenames and Paths" - "Rejection Directory List" Password Failure - This occurs when you try to receive a file that is password protected and you didn't supplied the correct password. 97 Appendix J Verify error - x - This message indicates that BiModem has detected a difference between two files during a verification transmission. The x indicates what 1024 byte block of the 10 blocks being tested. The x also determines what block of data will be transferred to correct the discrepancy. Switched to Replace - This message indicates that a verify transfer has encountered more than 6 errors in a row. After this message, BiModem switches to a regular transfer, instead of the verify transfer. Rem Req Disallowed - This occurs when a transfer request is made from the remote side of a BiModem that has said N to "Remote Requests Allowed" in BiConfig under "General Options". Seq Err xxx yyy - This occurs when BiModem's transmission packets are acknowledged out of sequence. It is usually caused by extremely noisy lines. The xxx represents the block number BiModem was expecting to be acknowledged, and the yyy represents the block number that was acknowledged. Too Many Errors - This occurs when either end of a BiModem transmission has exceeded it's "Maximum number of errors allowed" in BiConfig under "Limits and Editing". After the error, BiModem terminates. Nak - This occurs when a 32 bit CRC does not agree on the receiving end of a transfer. There are many things that can cause this. BiModem will split the block into two blocks, and retransmit them. The most common of which is telephone line noise. However, if you are getting naks ALL the time, and not just occasionally, you might want to look into other causes. The 2nd most common cause is interfering programs. It is possible for a TSR, device driver, or disk caching software to disable interrupts too long on occasion. This can cause BiModem to loose characters. To check to see if this is happening, modify your config.sys and autoexec.bat files to contain only the bar essentials (path, files, buffers) and try the transfer again. If suddenly you don't see any nak's, then you can reimplement the items you removed, one at a time, until you find the culprit. Once you've located the offending software you can, report it to the author to see if they already have a fix, find a similar product that does not have the same problem, or try installing a 16550 chip in place of your 8250 communications chip. Other common causes of naks are: bad cable from the computer to the modem (especially if the modem is an MNP type), crossed wires in your house phone wiring (there are many inexpensive phone line testers available. Try radio shack.) The following can be seen in the last error field of the file having the problem. These correspond to the DOS fatal error codes. For more information, please refer to your DOS manual. BiModem is more aggressive about recovering from these errors than most programs. It will attempt to recover 3 times before reporting the error. Fatal error - Protected media - This is DOS fatal error 0. Fatal error - Unknown unit - This is DOS fatal error 1. Fatal error - Drive not ready - This is DOS fatal error 2. 98 Appendix J Fatal error - Unknown command - This is DOS fatal error 3. Fatal error - Data (CRC) error - This is DOS fatal error 4. Fatal error - Bad req struct - This is DOS fatal error 5. Fatal error - Seek error - This is DOS fatal error 6. Fatal error - Unknown media - This is DOS fatal error 7. Fatal error - Sector not found - This is DOS fatal error 8. Fatal error - Out of paper - This is DOS fatal error 9. Fatal error - Write fault - This is DOS fatal error A. Fatal error - Read fault - This is DOS fatal error B. Fatal error - General failure - This is DOS fatal error C. Fatal error - UNDEFINED - This is DOS fatal error D & E. Fatal error - Inv. disk change - This is DOS fatal error F. The following can be displayed prior to BiModem terminating if a major error has occurred. Loss of carrier detected - When this happens is dependant on how you have BiModem configured. If in BiConfig 'Terminal Options' you have said Y to 'Loss of carrier on CD', then it will happen whenever the Carrier Detect (CD) signal is lost. If in BiConfig 'Terminal Options' you have said Y to ' Loss of carrier on DSR', then it will happen whenever the Data Set Ready (DSR) signal is lost. What it means is that the other end of a BiModem connection has hung up the phone. Unable to establish connection (CTS low) - This means that when BiModem was starting up, the Clear To Send (CTS) signal was low on the comm port. It is usually caused by specifying an incorrect comm port, or base port address in BiConfig. However, it can also be caused by your modem not supporting, or being configured for, CTS handshaking. If you're modem does not support CTS handshaking, you can disable this check in BiConfig under 'Terminal Options' by setting the 'CTS/RTS hardware flow control' to N. Unable to establish connection - This means that BiModem did not receive the space/backspace sequence that it looks for in the configured amount of time. See BiConfig 'Limits & Editing' under 'Number of seconds to wait for connect'. On initial installations this can be caused by interfering software not allowing BiModem to send or receive at all. See the discussion on the previous page under 'Nak' for the discussion on eliminating interfering software. Remote BiModem has been altered - This means that the BiModem that you are talking to has been altered. The connection is terminated to avoid the ability of the altered BiModem to send viruses to your computer. 99 Appendix J 100 Index Index 16550's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Aborted Files Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Baud Rate BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 BBS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 BiBat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 35 BiConfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 45 BiHot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 activate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 unload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 BiList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 BiMark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 BInstall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Bios for Screen Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 BiPath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 BiSelect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Boyan External Protocol Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Hot Key Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Colors Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 48 Comm Port BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Command format BiBat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 BiConfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 BiHot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 BiList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 BiMark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 BiPath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Configuration File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 101 Index Configuration Path BiBat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 BiConfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 BiHot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 BiList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 BiMark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 BiPath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Connect Wait For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Connect Entry Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Create/Open Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 CTS/RTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Current Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Delete Aborted Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Source File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 53, 58, 60 Transfer List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Transfer request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 42 Desqview Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Program parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Destination File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 42 Directory Aborted Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Received Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Rejection List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Sending/List of Sending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Disconnect Entry Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Double Dos Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Download Capture from local list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 19 Capture from screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 File List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 42 DSZ Log Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Exit BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 File Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 102 Index Name only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 File exists, Skip It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 File exists, verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 File Not Found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 File Rejected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 File Summ Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Files list path Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 GT Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 75 Intercommunications Log Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Interfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Keyboard Interrupt Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Keys Alt E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Alt/A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Alt/C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 22, 28 Alt/Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Alt/R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Alt/S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Alt/X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Control E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Control End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Control G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Control Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Control I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Control Left Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Control Page Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 33 Control Page Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 33 Control Right Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Control U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Del . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Destructive Backspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Down Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 16, 22, 25, 27, 33 End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Enter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Esc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 17, 22, 25, 28, 34, 43 F1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 F2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Left Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 21, 25, 32 Page Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 16, 22, 28, 33 Page Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 17, 22, 28, 33 Right Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 21, 25, 32 Up Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 16, 22, 25, 27, 33 Lantastic Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Log File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 103 Index Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Connections/Disconnections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Transfer Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Loss of carrier Carrier Detect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Data Set Ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Loss of carrier detected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Machine Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Modem Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Nak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Operator Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Out of Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Password Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Password file path BiConfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 PC Pursuit Escape Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 38 Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Phone number edit mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Procomm Aspect File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 External Protocol Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Hot Key Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Qmodem External Protocol Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Hot Key Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Quiet Mode BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Receive Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Refresh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 57, 59 Rejection Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Rem Req Dissallowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Remote BiModem has been altered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Rename the file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 57, 59 Screen BiConfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 BiHot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 BiList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 21 BiMark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 41 BInstall installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 BInstall questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 104 Index BInstall Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 BiPath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 BiSelect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Comm Port Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Download Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Filenames and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 General Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Key Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Limits & Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Screen and Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Terminal Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Upload Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Script Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Send/Receive Entry Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Sending Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Seq Err xxx yyy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Simple Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Size Limit BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Source File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 42 Sub Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 53, 58, 60 Switched to Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Telix External Protocol Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Hot Key Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Script File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Time Limit BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Timeout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Timer Interrupt Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Too Many Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Transfer List Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Kill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 29 Select New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Transfer List Path BiHot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 BiList . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 BiMark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 BiMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BiModem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 BiPath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 105 Index Transfer Requests Allow Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Allow Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Skip if same date/time/size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Unable to establish connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Unable to establish connection (CTS low) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Upload Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 File List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 42 Mark from disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 15 User Abort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 53, 57, 59 106