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1989-09-30
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70 lines
SHAREWARE REVIEW
PROGRAM: HTL (Hold the Line) - Sysop's Nightmare
AUTHOR: Steve Grobman
REGISTRATION: $5.00 ("If you would like to make a donation....")
WHERE FOUND: Executive Computer Network
RESTRICTIONS: Must Have Modem Connected
RATING: 4.9
VALUE: P (P)oor - (A)verage - (S)uper
The truly great problems in life are the smallest. What to do with the
leftover ketchup on your plate after eating French Fries? Which fork is for
the salad? Why do part of your fingernails turn white? Why does a BBS kick
you off while you are busy doing something off-line?
I don't want to bother with the first three questions, but I definitely
want to deal with the last one!
BBS' are so finicky! Some want ZIPs only, while others are accepts ARCs
only. So to make things happy, you have to drop to DOS and convert the
programs you want to upload. Right? HAHAHA. Sucker! Do that and the BBS
will drop you for inactivity.
Stuck, you attempt to dial the BBS again, but only to find it is busy; just
as busy as it was the previous six hours you were trying to get on. What's
a user to do?
"Hold the line, BBS' aren't always on time...", or so the song went. Hold
the Line (HTL), allows you to remain on-line, while you are away from your
computer by hitting a <RETURN> every 20 seconds.
USE: HTL uses a hybrid command line that mixes straight commands with user
entered values.
You set the program up by answering questions concerning your
communication parameters. [From here on out the ride gets bumpy.]
Rather than the standard form of displaying parameters (2400,8,N,1),
HTL decides to throw a wrench in the plans by asking you to enter the
parameters differently (2400,N,8,1). A small, but noticeable problem.
If you decide to abort the program, you must hit CNTRL-C. You cannot
hit escape. Also, if you are attempting to run the program from the
wrong port, the program will hang.
There is no command to change the default time from 20 seconds, nor is
there a command to change what character is typed every 20 seconds.
But the biggest flaw in the program is that it PREVENTS you from using
your computer while HTL is running. 90% of the time I drop to DOS to
complete a task on-line, only 10% is spent on bathroom, dogs, and
such. If the program were made memory resident, you could still use
your computer and stay on the BBS at the same time.
SUMMARY: GOOD POINTS BAD POINTS
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
√ Great Idea ≈ Not Memory Resident
≈ No User Control
1----------5---------10:
██████████
4.9
HTL is a great idea gone bad. Lack of the availability of the computer
while staying on-line, in addition to the lack of control, drops HTL's
score very low. A memory resident version would be a blessing, but until
then we have no choice but to read long bulletins or display the BBS list
while we are busy.
(C) 1989 Patrick Grote