Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d8/tadex10.arc/TADEX.DOC

Text File | 1989-04-23 | 6KB | 108 lines

                               TADEX Version 1.0
                        Telix Auto-Download for EXEC-PC

                                By John Abatte
                                April 22, 1989


                                 INTRODUCTION

         TADEX was written to automate mail read and file downloads from
    EXEC-PC at a predetermined time selected by the user. In other words,
    those of us who would rather be doing something other than attending
    a keyboard during a download session, like maybe catching up on some
    Z's, or watching old Bogart or Cagney flicks. Also handy for those
    who like saving money on their phone bills, since you can collect
    your mail and read it off-line.

         Currently, the script is set up for using Zmodem since this is
    easy to implement with Telix's Zmodem Auto-download feature. I'll be
    adding the option for others in the future. Since this is an initial
    release, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible to minimize the
    possibilities for errors.

                                    SETUP

         First, fire up Telix and go into your dialing directory. Edit
    your entry for EXEC-PC to run the EXEC script. This is the logon
    script for Telix, and may be used by itself if you like. Just be
    sure to edit out the last line if you want to use it only for
    logons. Now, make a note of the directory entry number for EXEC-PC.
    We'll be using that later in the EXECTIME.SLT file. One last thing
    to do here is to be sure your password is also in the dialing
    directory. The logon script will read it from the dialing directory
    and send it to the BBS.

         Now you'll need to edit the EXEC.SLT file to put your name in
    the string variable at the top of the script. Be sure to include the
    semi colon between your first and last name. Edit the next line also
    to place your capture files where you want them. Apart from getting
    your mail and saving it, the capture file will help you to keep
    track of almost everything that occurred during the session, in case
    of a problem.

         Next thing to do is edit EXECTIME.SLT. This one's easy! All you
    need to do is edit the line for the dialing directory entry number
    you noted above (you DID make a note, right?). For instance, my
    directory entry is #45. Just replace the number where indicated in
    the script with your entry number for EXEC-PC. Easy, eh?

         Next item is to edit EXECDOWN.SLT for the name of the file you
    want to store the filenames for downloading in. The default is to
    access a file called FILELIST.DAT which Telix expects to be located
    in his default directory. You can give the file any name you like
    and specify any path you wish, just be sure to edit the script
    telling Telix where to find the file. If you prefer to take the easy
    way, just create FILELIST.DAT in Telix's startup directory. That's
    it for the setup procedure. Now let's get onto using the scripts.

                                   USAGE

         OK, now that you've set up all the above your ready to compile
    the scripts. Once that's out of the way, you can create the
    FILELIST.DAT, or whatever you decided to call it in EXECDOWN.SLT.
    This is just a plain ASCII text file containing the names of the
    files you want to download. Please note that you should only place
    one filename on a line since the file is read one line at a time.
    Take a look at the sample included. Be sure not to leave any blank
    lines in the file as this will cause the script to send the blank
    line followed by a carriage return. This effectively tells the BBS
    that you are done entering filenames, but the script will keep
    merrily chugging along thru the list until it reaches the end of the
    file, thereby producing some strange results. I've included a sample
    FILELIST.DAT so you can see the format of the file.

         One last item is to be sure you have the Zmodem Auto-download
    feature enabled in Telix, and be sure to set your default protocol
    on the BBS to Zmodem.

         Now your ready to actually use the scripts. Start up Telix as
    you normally do, press "Alt-G" for GO, then enter EXECTIME at the
    prompt for the script to run. Now you'll be asked for the time to
    delay script execution. You only need to enter the Hour and Minutes
    you want to start the script. The scripts use 24 hour format so be
    sure to enter the hours and minutes that way, and include the colon
    separating hours and minutes. The exact format is "HH:MM" past
    midnight. Omit the quotes of course. For example, if I wanted to
    have the script execute at 2:30 AM, I'd enter 02:30 at the prompt.
    If I wanted them to start at 7:15 PM I'd enter 19:15. Nothing to it!
    As a convenience, an easy way to run the script is to assign a Macro
    within Telix in the form "@EXECTIME", omitting the quotes of course.
    Note that if you change your mind after starting the timer, you can
    abort it by hitting the "Esc" key at any time.

         That's pretty much all there is to do. If you have any
    difficulties, or bug reports, you can leave mail for me on EXEC-PC's
    Telecommunications Conference, in the General Topics section.

         Things I plan to add in the future will be a script for dialing
    EXEC-PC thru PC Pursuit, a feature not included in this release due
    to time considerations. Also planned is a means for capturing new
    file uploads to the BBS so that you can find out what new files are
    available since your last call. I'll also be adding support for
    other protocols other than Zmodem, possibly Ymodem-G for those with
    hardware error-correcting modems.

                     Have fun and enjoy the scripts!