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Qdial 1.3
PC-Pursuit Dialer for Qmodem 4.2x
Qdial is a simple, straightforward program designed to permit the easy use of
PC Pursuit with Qmodem 4.2x, easily the best shareware communications program
available. If you are reading this file, you are probably a user of Qmodem
or are considering it. If you use Qmodem, please register it and support
John Friel, Qmodem's author and shareware in general.
PC Pursuit, Sprint/Telenet's long-distance outdial service is an inexpensive
way to connect with 43 U.S. metropolitan areas and the bulletin boards (BBS)
accessible from each outdial within those area codes. Unfortunately, the
commands needed to get from your local access number to an outdial city are
arcane, making it easy to make typing errors each time you try to connect
with a city or change cities.
Qdial makes the navigation of PC Pursuit almost effortless by taking
advantage of the great features in Qmodem's phonebook. You can use the
quicklearn feature, print the phonebook, find text, attach notes to entries,
link scripts, tag entries--the whole bit. Qdial setup takes five minutes.
After you dial your local PC Pursuit access number Qdial will:
1. Automatically load a dialing directory of PC Pursuitable BBSs
(PCP.FON) which you can easily modify and maintain.
2. Present a menu to connect you with the outdial city of your choice.
3. After connecting you with the outdial city, prompt you to pop up the
dialer with Alt-D.
4. After hanging up from the BBS, you can either dial another BBS in
that area code, or disconnect from the outdial city and connect with
a new outdial city, log onto the PC Pursuit BBS, or hangup and
restore Qmodem to the original configuration.
The archived QDIAL13.ZIP file should contain the following:
QDIAL13.DOC -- This file.
PCP.FON -- Phonebook for PC Pursuit cities in Qmodem 4.2x format
PCP.SCR -- Linked script for your local Telenet access number.
GETCITY.SCR -- Script which connects you with the outdial city of
your choice.
QUITCITY.SCR -- Script which disconnects you from an outdial and calls
GETCITY.SCR. Used as an Fkey macro.
PCP.KEY -- An Fkey macro file which assigns QUITCITY.SCR to F2.
CITIES.DOC -- A handy listing of available PC Pursuit outdial
cities and special dialing instructions.
Qdial 1.3 Page 2
SETUP
These instructions assume that you have a basic working knowledge of Qmodem
and that you have set it up with Qinstall (Alt-N). For specific questions
concerning paths, please consult the Qmodem manual.
1. Using an ASCII editor (I highly recommend Qedit) or QModem's internal
editor, examine and modify if necessary the file PCP.SCR. Two ASSIGNment
statements at the beginning of the script define the paths of PCP.KEY and
PCP.FON. Modify the pathnames to reflect your Qmodem setup. As you can see,
I use C:\QMODEM to store PCP.KEY and a subdirectory C:\QMODEM\PCPFON in which
to store PCP.FON. Now, in your Qmodem phonebook place the name of this
script, PCP.SCR in the SCRIPT entry of your local Telenet access number, so
that when you connect with Telenet PCP.SCR will automatically run. Note that
the hunt/confirm sequence assumes you are using 2400 baud 8/N/1 settings.
You may have to modify PCP.SCR if you use other settings.
2. Using your ASCII editor, examine the file GETCITY.SCR. The first few
lines contain the ASSIGNment statements for your PCP userid and password, the
baud rate you will be using, and the paths for your default Qmodem Fkey and
phonebook files. Type in the required information as explained in the script
file. Be sure to surround entries with quotes. NOTE: If you give these
files to others, be sure you do not pass your userid and password as well!!
3. Using Qmodem or QFE (an outstanding shareware Qmodem phonebook editor)
modify PCP.FON to reflect the BBSs you intend to call, using the (I)nsert
command. Note that the dialer is sorted numerically (primarily for cosmetic
reasons--the FIND command doesn't care) so that area code 201 (NJNEW) is at
the top and the last available PC Pursuit area code (919, NCRTP) is at the
bottom. Add the BBS names under their appropriate area codes, enter the
correct baud rate, and if you use a linked script for the entry, enter that
as well. Use the Insert and Delete commands to keep PCP.FON sorted.
USING QDIAL
1. Dial your local PC Pursuit access number. When the local modem connects,
the linked script PCP.SCR will load PCP.KEY and PCP.FON and then will
transfer control to GETCITY.SCR.
2. GETCITY.SCR will display a menu of the available PC Pursuit outdial
cities. Enter the area code (not the city name) of the outdial city you want
and hit <ENTER>. Qdial will attempt to connect you with that city. If you
type an illegal area code (a code for which there is no PC Pursuit outdial)
you will hear a beep and the menu will immediately reappear. Try again.
Note: PC Pursuit does not use the area code to connect you with an outdial in
the same way you would dial a long distance number manually. The area code
is merely Qdial's way of letting you choose the appropriate outdial. A few
outdials can serve as gateways for other area codes. For example, if you are
Qdial 1.3 Page 3
calling DCWAS and want to reach a BBS in certain parts of the 703 area code,
you should still dial "202". This will connect you with the DCWAS remote
modem, from which you will then dial the BBS in the 703 area code. See the
CITIES.DOC for help.
3. After you connect with the outdial, Qdial will beep and a message will
appear to remind you to type Alt-D to bring up the dialer. (Presently, the
Qmodem script language cannot simulate the Alt-D command.) If properly
configured, your PCP.FONbook will appear. To find the BBS you want to dial,
use the (F)IND command. For example, to FIND Exec PC BBS, type "F exec"
<ENTER> and the dialer will take you directly to that entry (assuming you've
placed it in the phonebook!). Hit <ENTER> a second time and Qmodem will dial
the number. If you want to set up a dialing queue of BBSs in that city, tag
them and hit <ENTER>.
Note: Some outdials (such as the DCWAS example) can access more than one area
code. As a result, some outdials have special dialing instructions for
reaching these area codes. Consult the CITIES.DOC for instructions. Be
aware that not every number in any given area code is accessible via PC
Pursuit. You should check the exchange lists on the PC Pursuit bulletin
board (choose "P" on the main menu) to see if a number can be reached from an
outdial.
4. After you quit the BBS with which you've connected, a NO CARRIER message
will appear on the screen. If you want to dial another BBS in that outdial
city, Alt-D brings up the phonebook; dial as usual. Alternatively, if you
want to connect to another outdial city, the PC Pursuit BBS or quit PC
Pursuit altogether, F2 will disconnect you and the city menu will reappear.
(In case of a problem, such as a bad or busy remote modem, hitting F2 will
almost always get you out of trouble.) You can connect to another city, the
PC Pursuit BBS, or by typing "g" or "G" (case doesn't matter) quit PC
Pursuit. (G)oodbye restores QMODEM.KEY and QMODEM.FON defaults.
REVISION HISTORY
1/12/91 - Release of Qdial 1.0.
1/15/91 - Release 1.1. Fixed bug which often made GETCITY "hang" after the
ATZ command had been issued. Thanks to Alert User Steve McCrystal who served
as defacto beta tester and bug fixer.
3/19/91 - Release of 1.2. Added CAOAK which somehow never got on the menu.
Added five new outdial cities: TXAUS, TNMEM, NYHEM, FLORL, and
NJNBR.
Improved error handling.
Added the PACE=200 command to allow Telenet to receive the
dial command without problems.
Added CITIES.DOC for user reference.
Qdial 1.3 Page 4
6/1/91 - Release of 1.3
Added three new outdial cities: MIAAR, ININD, and PAPIT.
Redesigned main menu to reflect alphabetical outdial order,
instead of numerical outdial order.
UPGRADE NOTES
If you are already using Qdial 1.2, in addition to replacing GETCITY.SCR and
PCP.SCR, you need to insert the following entries into PCP.FON: MIAAR (AC:
313A), ININD (AC: 317), and PAPIT (AC: 412).
If you use the PCP.FON phonebook as it's currently set up, you should have
space for 115 or more BBS entries, depending on how you enter them. If you
need more space than that, you have more time for BBSing than I do, and
certainly enough time to make a simple modification to GETCITY. I suggest
you set up two phonebooks, one for area codes 201-414, and another for area
codes 415-919, or something similar. Use a simple filter statement to load
the correct phonebook after entering the area code.
With the release of Qdial V1.2 the PACE=200 option was added to the SEND
command which dials the Pursuit outdial. Telenet sometimes chokes on this
command if the characters are sent faster than it can process them, which
results in a message stating that your USERID and PASSWORD are invalid. The
PACE=200 option inserts a 200 millisecond delay between characters. Note
that versions of Qmodem prior to the 4.2F release do NOT support the PACE=
option, and the script interpreter will return an error. If you are using an
earlier version of Qmodem, remove this option. Better yet, upgrade to 4.2F!
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Near-future enhancements to Qdial will be limited to periodically adding new
outdial cities as they are announced by Telenet. However, when Qmodem V5.0
is released with its new script language, Qdial will be re-written in the new
language. This will undoubtedly permit tighter code, faster execution, and
more options.
DISCLAIMER
These scripts are hereby released to the public domain. There is no fee for
using them, nor does the author assume any liability in the event that their
use results in monetary loss, famine, pestilence, disease or an Elvis
sighting.
Users are encouraged to modify the scripts as they desire, but are asked to
distribute via BBS only the original QDial files. The author would
appreciate suggestions for improvements and any bug fixes, and can be reached
at:
Qdial 1.3 Page 5
Mario Dennis Interlink Qmodem Conference
311 Grace Street Exec PC BBS: (414) 789-4210
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Qmodem is a product of The Forbin Project. If you need a telecommunications
program, this is the one. Author John Friel offers unparalleled support to
users, and is responsive to user requests and inquiries on the Interlink
Qmodem conference.
QFE is a product of Sunflower Systems, and is an outstanding editor for
Qmodem phonebooks.
Elvis sightings are a product of overactive imaginations.