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HISTORY
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1991-01-12
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Recent Revision History
-----------------------
This file contains the "What's new?" sections from prior {COMMO} releases. If
you have used {COMMO} before, please make sure you are caught up on all the
changes and improvements.
See the READ.ME file for changes in the current release.
----------- ------------------
{COMMO} 4.4 September 29, 1990
----------- ------------------
This release contains some important technical enhancements and a number of
improvements to the user interface. Please read the information below to
familiarize yourself with all these changes.
COMMO.DOC and the Online Help file have been reorganized. COMMO.DOC now
contains detailed information about all program operations. Online Help is
more concise and reference-oriented.
Bugs fixed
----------
The LOOKfor timer was taking on erratic values if more than 255 seconds were
specified.
On rare occasions a GOLOok match would fall through the LOOKfor instead of
GOTO'ing the macro-id specified (as if a null macro-id were given).
--------------------
Support File Changes
--------------------
Configuration File
------------------
Several new items have been added. Please take a few minutes to edit the new
sample file to your own needs. The simplest way is to print your old file,
then edit the new file using the printout as a guide. You will NOT be able to
start {COMMO} using your old Configuration File.
Flow Control (items 5, 6). You can now specify software (XON/XOFF) and/or
hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control. See Appendix C "Flow Control" in COMMO.DOC.
Auto Receive strings (items 8-11). These allow you to configure "signatures"
for automatic downloading. A macro will be started when a given string is
received. They may be used for other purposes as well, since any string may
be used to trigger any macro. See "Auto Receive" in COMMO.DOC for details
(Auto Receive does not operate in macros).
Terminal Screen BIOS display (item 40). This directs the Terminal Screen
display through the BIOS, allowing it to be intercepted by resident programs.
This is mainly intended for blind users with speech synthesizer equipment.
Enhanced Keyboard (item 41). Support has been added for all eight
combinations of F11 and F12 (Normal, Shift, Ctrl, Alt) and for ten other keys.
Set this item to "yes" if your BIOS has enhanced keyboard support (most of the
keys should work on the 83-key keyboard as well). See "List of Key
Identifiers" in Online Help for the new key-id's.
Time with System Name (item 42). This lets you have the time of day displayed
on the Status Line along with 30 characters of the System Name.
Dialing Directory
-----------------
There is a new window command "N" which is a variation of Manual Dialing "M".
It dials the number entered, but it does not make an entry in the directory.
If a marked number is dialed by pressing Enter, and a connection is made, the
number will be unmarked. Previously numbers were unmarked only when using
Multi Number Dialing.
Macro Processor
---------------
A new function, DISPlay, lets you display strings and control information to
the screen.
A new function, CURSor, will turn the Terminal Screen cursor on or off.
A new function, DOORway, will toggle Doorway mode.
The HELP function now includes an argument: the Online Help topic number. You
can write {help 5} to go directly to topic 5, etc.
General
-------
You can now look behind the small windows (Capture File Options, EXEC a DOS
Command, etc.) if you need to see what is on the Terminal Screen. Just press
PgUp at any time and the window will disappear until you press a key.
The current value of the Inter-Character Delay will now appear in the Alt-L
window when you press "D" to change it. A symbol next to the Terminal-Type on
the Status Line indicates an Inter-Character Delay > 0.
The Signal Lights can now be seen during an ASCII Upload. The FIFO
buffer indicator is now shown with the Signal Lights.
ASCII Upload can now have a linefeed as the pacing character (^J). This means
that any of the 256 characters may be used.
Each time a character is typed to the remote during macro execution, the
prompt timer will now be restarted. This prevents an "n|", for example, from
being sent while you are typing a response that your macro did not expect.
------------ --------------
{COMMO} 4.32 August 4, 1990
------------ --------------
--------------------
Support File Changes
--------------------
There are no required support file changes between Releases 4.31 and 4.32.
Bugs fixed
----------
There was still a problem in VT102 emulation with reverse video appearing when
it wasn't supposed to.
Macro Processor
---------------
IMPORTANT: The actions of the [Esc] and [Ctrl-Break] keys during macro
execution have been reversed. [Esc] will now terminate macro processing,
[Ctrl-Break] will terminate the current function. This makes it a lot easier
to stop a macro when manual control is desired.
The big news is the GOLOok function. This allows up to seven additional
strings to be watched for during a LOOKfor function (eight total). A macro-id
to GOTO may be specified for each. See COMMO.DOC for details.
The EXIT macro function may now include a return code to pass to DOS. This
can be tested with the IF ERRORLEVEL batch command. Example: {exit 2}.
Macros that use the "%i" parameter no longer require that [Enter] be pressed
twice to execute the command (unless there is more than one "%i" in the
command). If you still need to see the full command before execution, you can
press [Ctrl-Enter] in the Macro Processor window. This will also force a wait
after command execution (like "%w").
General
-------
A new control key, Alt-Q, has been added to the Internal Editor. It will end
the edit and the file will not be saved when exiting {COMMO}. Any subsequent
changes will restore the normal save-on-exit condition, however. This allows
temporary changes to be made but not saved.
The "/L" command line switch is once again an official feature. Displays may
be set to 25 or more lines BEFORE starting {COMMO}. For example, if your VGA
is in 50 line mode use the switch "/L=50" and {COMMO} will display the
Terminal Screen and File Windows in 50 line mode.
------------ ------------
{COMMO} 4.31 July 4, 1990
------------ ------------
--------------------
Support File Changes
--------------------
There are no support file changes between Releases 4.3 and 4.31.
Bugs fixed
----------
Some comm programs (mainly game terminal programs) were crashing in the shell
to DOS if the serial port had a 16550A UART chip. The FIFO buffers are now
disabled in the shell to DOS, eliminating the problem. If this inconveniences
anyone I'll have to make it configurable.
The serial port was sometimes hanging during initialization and when
the PARMs macro function was used to change to a new port using the same
interrupt.
When starting the VT102 emulation, linewrap was on. It should have been off.
ANSI/VT102 color processing has been improved. Some colors and reverse video
were sometimes displayed incorrectly. Some other minor adjustments were made
to the terminal emulations.
General
-------
The "=" is no longer required in the command line switches. This allows
switches to be passed as parameters to batch files (the "=" acts as a
delimiter to the batch file processor). See COMMO.DOC.
There is a new parameter in the EXEC function, "%k." It is used to insert a
control character into the DOS command. For example, you could send a
formfeed to your printer with: {exec echo %k^L > prn}. Use a separate %k for
each control character.
The left half of the status line will take on the colors of the Set Terminal
Parameters window when Alt-L is pressed. This is to emphasize the port
parameters, especially if the status line is turned off (with {00} colors).
----------- -------------
{COMMO} 4.3 June 15, 1990
----------- -------------
--------------------
Support File Changes
--------------------
Configuration File
------------------
Config has been reorganized and some items have been changed. Please take a
few minutes to edit the new sample file to your own needs. The simplest way
is to print your old file, then edit the new file from the printout. You will
NOT be able to start {COMMO} using your old Configuration File.
The Default Serial Port Parameters item has been expanded to include parity,
stop-bits and port number (the old port number item is gone): {2400,8n1,1}.
See "Set Terminal Parameters" in Online Help.
Dialing Directory
-----------------
Place a starter date in the form of "00/00/00" on an entry line in the
directory (anywhere outside the curly braces) and {COMMO} will place the
current date there whenever a connection is made. The Dialing Directory will
be saved to disk when you exit the program.
Setting a pathname in the Config File will enable the new Usage Log. This
will record times, dates, etc. when you connect/disconnect with any system.
See "Configuration File" in Online Help for details.
More parameters (parity, stop-bits, and port number) may be specified for each
directory entry: {1200,7e1,2}. See "Dialing Directory" in Online Help.
Macro File
----------
The PARMs function has been changed to conform to the parameter strings in the
Configuration File and Dialing Directory (the serial port number is now at the
END of the string): {parms 9600,8n1,1}.
Two new functions, TERMinal and DELAy, can be used to set the Terminal-Type
and Inter-Character Delay (especially useful in logon macros). These
parameters can also be set with Alt-L.
Another new function, MACLoad, will load a new Macro File. Options include
starting a macro in the new file and whether to reload COMMO.MAC at the end of
the call.
See "{COMMO} Macro Functions" in COMMO.DOC for details.
The VT102 key files have been reorganized with the MACLoad function in mind.
Also the full screen editor support keys have been changed to a more efficient
set. Be sure to merge these changes into your existing Macro File.
General
-------
Support files that have been modified during a session will now be saved
automatically when you exit {COMMO}. You will no longer be prompted when
exiting the Internal Editor (files may still be saved with Alt-F while in the
editor).
The Internal Editor has an "undo" key, Alt-U, which will restore the current
line if no scrolling or vertical cursor movement has occurred.
There is now an Inter-Character Delay for sending to very slow systems. See
Online Help. The default is in the Config File. It may be changed with the
new macro function DELAy or with Alt-L.
When saving the Dialing Directory to disk and the "erase marks" config option
is set to "yes," the file will be saved without marks but the marks will
remain in memory. In previous releases the marks in memory were also erased.
There is a new Config File option to use the BIOS for screen scrolling. This
allows the use of external backscrolling programs like FANSI Console, WAS or
Back Scroll!. The default is "yes" and should only be "no" if your BIOS
produces excessive "flicker" when scrolling.
There is now a status line indicator for FIFO buffers:
{19200,8n1,1} A F ... etc.
The presence of the "F" means the FIFO's have been recognized and enabled. You
must have an NS16550A UART chip for this to work.
------------ --------------
{COMMO} 4.22 April 27, 1990
------------ --------------
Bugs Fixed
----------
Doorway Mode got mangled when VT102 was installed. It should work a lot
better now.
Some adjustments were made to the Terminal Emulation:
1) Linewrap now defaults to OFF in VT102, ON in ANSI-BBS and TTY.
2) Default Config File colors are restored by the reset attribute
sequence.
3) Blinking is allowed in reverse video mode.
Dialing
-------
The Manual Dial option in the Dialing Directory will now insert an entry
at the beginning of the directory. This is convenient for redialing the
number or converting it to a permanent entry. Remember to save the file
with Alt-F or it will be lost.
When returning to the Dialing Directory from the dialing window, the
Selector Bar will be on the last entry dialed.
General
-------
{COMMO} will run under DoubleDOS without display bleed-through if the
"DISPLAY = TEXT" option is used in DDCONFIG.SYS. See Appendix B in
COMMO.DOC for details.
A new macro function, IFEXist, tests for the existence of any file:
{ifexist c:\ul\file.zip,abc,def}
Control will GOTO "abc" if the file exists, "def" if the file does NOT
exist. The default for either macro-id is to pass control to the next
function in sequence. So that:
{ifexist c:\ul\file.zip,,def}
will GOTO "def" if the file does not exist, but continue in sequence if it
does.
The aggregate size of the three support files, COMMO.CFG, COMMO.FON and
COMMO.MAC may now be as large as 64k.
------------ --------------
{COMMO} 4.21 April 14, 1990
------------ --------------
Support File Changes
--------------------
There are no required changes to the support files.
{COMMO} Auto Receive
--------------------
{COMMO} Auto Receive can detect when the remote wants to send a file via
Zmodem or Puma, then activate any macro you select. Auto Receive is
enabled by placing special macro-id's on your Zmodem and/or Puma receive
macros:
{.z.} for Zmodem (use with DSZ.COM)
{.p.} for Puma (use with PUMA.COM)
Remember that a macro may have more than one macro-id:
ZMODEM batch {af1} {.z.} {exec DSZ port %p rz %a %w} {}
PUMA {af3} {.p.} {exec PUMA P%p S%s r %d\ %w} {}
That's all there is to it! If the special macro-id's are not found,
then no automatic start will occur.
Auto Receive is disabled while a macro is executing. The receive macros
may be made available for CALLing from other macros by ending them with
a RETUrn function:
ZMODEM batch {af1} {.z.} {exec DSZ port %p rz %a %w} {return}
-end-