Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/utils/miscutil.zip/MIRRORDD.ZIP/MIRRORDD.DOC

Text File | 1987-07-24 | 15KB | 300 lines

OLD USERS: see section entitled XTRA...XTRA for new features!!!



If you like my script, you can always send me a five or ten spot:

                Paul Doland
                10910 Gulf Frwy  #519
                Houston, TX  77034
                [phone]  wk.
                [phone]  hm.



On with the documentation:

QUICKSTART:
As with much software, somethings are just easier to see for
yourself than they are to explain.  I suggest running it just to
see what it does before reading all of the documentation.  It is
really easy, I just don't know it the instructions are clear
enough or not.  I understand them, but I wrote it.  Load
Fkeys.xtk.  Then DO MIRRORDD.  If your in Houston, then many of the
boards are probably familier to you.  If not, just unplug the
phone and pretend.  Type A B C <ENTER> (no spaces) to the
prompts.  It should dial directory entries A, B and C in circular
fashion.  After it has dialed a few times, hit escape three times
quickly.  Hit F8.  It will delete from the queue the number it
was on and now only dial the other two numbers.  Hit escape 3
times quickly.  Now hit F9.  This time, it will not delete, it
will restart where it left off, dialing the two numbers.  Try
again and use F8 again.  There will only be one number left to
dial.  If it does not go smoothly, the rest of the documentation
should be of help.


INTRODUCTION:

MIRRORDD.XTS gives Mirror a dialing directory with simaler to Qmodem.
MIRRORDD.XTS is a scipt file that will allow you to dial in a
circular fashion up to ten numbers chosen from a menu.  As it is
a script file, it can run in the background while you are
working with other software in the foreground.  When it reaches
a connection, it will beep you, even if Mirror is in the
background.  When you finish that call, you have the option to
continue dialing the same list of numbers minus the one that you
reached.  In case you got disconnected,  you can have it
continue dialing the list including and starting with the one
you reached.  You can of course choose to use different function
keys than I use, but in expaining what to do, I will say "hit
F9" so you are stuck with learning my keys.  This is for my ease
of making this documentation.  You might also try a DO XFER right
away.  I think my documentation on it makes it sound like you
need a college degree in Mirror to use it, but its simple.

OPERATION:

Enter the command:  DO MIRRORDD <return.>  (Note: it will run a
little faster if you keep MIRRORDD.XTS on a RAM disk)   You will
be given a menu of 46 names.  Setting the directory entries up
will be covered in the section SET UP.  Beside each number is a
letter, digit, or special character such as ].  The command line
will prompt you for the first number for the queue.  Type the
letter of character to the left of the desired entry.  It will
prompt you for the second number.  Continue this process until
you have given it the entire list you wish to dial.  If you have
entered less than ten numbers, hit the return key to terminate the
list and start dialing.

When it gets a connection, you will be beeped.  Even if you were
processing in the foreground.  When you complete that call, you
can type the command JUmp Continue.  You will be prompted as to
whether you wish to delete from the queue.  Typing Y will delete
the number that you were connected to from the list.  Typing N
will not delete from the queue and will start dialing starting
with the number you were just connected to.  This is in case you
were inadvertantly disconnected.

Another way to accomplish restarting the list is to assign
function keys.  There are several labels in the program to
assist you.  If you set a function key to @JUMP DELETE|  hitting
that function will delete from the queue and start dialing.
@JUMP RECALL|  will start dialing from the last number.
@JUMP CONTINUE|  will prompt you if you wish to delete or not.

When dialing, you may wish to abort a dial and have it continue
with the list.  Hit the ESC key once.  You might wish to
delete from the queue.  For example, if you see that one number
is just ringing.  Hit the ESC key three times quickly.
Then do whichever method of deletion described above.  You might
wish to immediatly redial a number.  Hit the ESC key three times
quickly and do whichever method of recall as described above.
Note, the above suggestions only work if you hit the ESC key
before the dial in question is aborted by Mirror.  (before
timeout, busy, etc.)  If you wait to hit the ESC key after a
BUSY or NO CONNECTION message appears, it is to late to do as
described above.  (If you are to late you will delete the next call
from the queue; or you will restart from the next call in the
queue.)

SET UP:

Use your favorite editor to edit MIRRORDD.XTS.  Using Mirror's
built in editor is recomended because you will then be able to
edit MIRRORDD.XTS even if you have a program suspended in the
background.

The first section is a the menu section.  You will see two
columns of letters and other characters.  Beside each letter,
put in the name of a computer system you wish to have in your
directory.  Leave insert off to avoid moving of the columns
around.  But this section does nothing but give you the menu, so
its appearance is up to you.

Farther down in the program is a label, LABEL START-DIAL.  You
may wish to use your editor's search capability to find it.  Its
purpose is to initial all of your stardard parameters before it
starts to dial.  If you're like most people, you probably don't
change vary many parameters from one system to another,
especially if your modem supports automatic speed setting.  But
you may find one system requires 7 data bits and others require
8.  Later, I will tell you where to put the DAta 7 statement for that
one number.  But rather than now having to put a DAta 8 under all
other numbers, instead, put DATA 8 on a line under
START-DIAL.  Alternatively, you may wish to reload your entire STD
file.  You will need to convert your STD.XTK to a nested script
file.  To do this, copy STD.XTK to STD.XTS.  Change the last
statement which should be a GO statement to a RTurn statement.
Then put a DO STD statement under START-DIAL.  NOTE:  The
statements after START-DIAL are executed before it starts to
dial the chain, not between each dial.  Therefore, it will not
slow down redials if you put nested script files under
START-DIAL.

Farther down is where you place the names and phone numbers.
There is a section that that looks like the following:

LABEL CALL-A
NAME
NUMBER
GO R1/45
IF -$ JUMP @C10
JUMP ONLINE

LABEL CALL-A is for menu choice A, CALL-B is for menu choice B,
and so on.  Put each name and number into this section.  Make
sure they corrospond to what you put into the menu section.  If
this particular system is one that requires 7 data bits, put a
DATA 7 statemtent between the IF -$ and the the JUMP ONLINE
statements.  You can put as much as you want here.
Alternatively, you may wish to call a nested script file.
Perhaps even one that was created with the LRn command.  Be sure
it ends with a RTurn statement.  You will note you won't have to
stick in DATA 8 statements anywhere else because you already put
it under START-DIAL.  (This has been an example of course)


NOTE:  MIRRORDD.XTS uses the alternate function key assignments to
store what numbers to dial.  It also uses FK C7,C8,C9 and C10 as
internal variables.

Another hint:  It is suggested you set the first two characters
of the Call Progress string to hyphens.  (ie. disable NO
CONNECTION)  First of all, this message means your modem timed
out and it should not be set to time out before Mirror does.  If
your modem times out first, lengthen its timeout.  This is
stored in register 7 of Hayes compatable modems.  Second of all,
a NO CONNECTION message from you modem can get stored into
Mirror's buffer and foul the next redial.  If everytime you
start to redial, the first redial gets aborted, then this is
what is happening!!!  I was told this bug with Mirror had been
corrected, but I find it not works fine with my old setup, so I
haven't messed with it.



XTRA...XTRA...XTRA:  NEW FEATURES:

Once Mirror detects that a call has been successful, it will put
itself into a WAit Manual mode.  This means that the script file
has been suspended so that you can continue it.  The JUmp
statements unsuspend the script file.  But if you decide to run
another script file while MIRRORDD is suspended, MIRRORDD will
get aborted.  I wish Mirror would treat such a condition as a
nested script file, but it doesn't.  There is a get around.
But before I descibe it, I will tell you that I
made some mods to help keep MIRRORDD from getting aborted by getting
it to run nested script files.  But then I figured I might as well
set it up so that it can easily be restarted.  To restart Mirrordd, just hit
F10 (rerun MIRRORDD), then a return to the first prompt.  You will be asked
whether or not you wish to delete (from the previous queue) and
you will continue as though nothing has happened.  This assumes you
don't mess with the function keys I have reserved for MIRRORDD.

The next couple of paragraphs show how to get Mirrordd to run nested
script files.  This will keep it from getting aborted.  But you can
really just ingore this feature as you might as well just restart.  A DO
by itself will unsuspend MIRRORDD.  MIRRORDD will now ask you what
script file you wish to run.  If you hit return, it will give you
a menu of the script files from the current drive and directory.
If you hit return again, MIRRORDD will return to suspended mode.
If you tell it to run a script file that ends in a RTurn, it will
return to suspended mode, retaining the ability to Delete or
Recall.  I set up F5 to @DO| to do this.  As I said, you if you
do as I say, you will still be able to hit F8 or F9 to restart
the queue.  From now on, all my script files end with these two lines:

Label RTurn
RTurn

If the script in question wasn't really nested, this satement
will have no effect.  I set up F7 to @JUmp RTurn|.  This is in
case I abort a script file run as a nested script via the method
described above.  I hit F7, this will get me out of the
nested script, back to MIRRORDD, suspended.  F8 and F9 work.

In case you didn't understand what I've said in the last couple of
paragraphs, let me restate it a bit.  I first tried to find a work-
around to keep MIRRORDD from getting aborted when running other
script files.  I set MIRRORDD to up to run nested script files.
A DO command will get MIRRORDD to run a nested script file.  Then
I decided that I would like to make MIRRORDD restartable even if
it does get aborted.  This is the F10 <return> (rerun MIRRORDD)
method.  Below, when
I describe XFER.XTS, I say to type DO <return> XFER <return>  rather
than just DO XFER <return>  This is because the later method will
get MIRRORDD aborted.  But if you want, you can really ignore all
the garbage about RTurns and keeping MIRRORDD active and just use
the F10 <return> method.

As of now, I'm including two script files set up like this.
The first, NS.XTS is very simple, but it may make you realize a
little script file might make your life easier.  When I ask a
BBS for a list of all files in all directories, it will keep
asking me Y,N,NS?  Even if I type NS (non stop) when it gets to
the next directory, it will ask again.  NS.XTS makes an infinite
loop to watch for [NS]?  or NS?  And will reply NS|

XFER.XTS is a file transfer menu.  Believe me, I'm not a menu
finatic and I would just as soon type RX xxxx.xxx than put up a
menu asking me what protocol, etc.  But since Mirror won't beep
at you when it completes a transfer, I needed at least a small
script file to ALarm after the transfer.  Second of all, since a
lot of Sysops don't like you to set up a download and leave the
BBS to timeout afterwords, it is set up that if you don't do
respond within 5 seconds after the end-of-transfer alarm, it will
log off.  XFER isn't too smart at logging off, but it works for
the BBS's I've so far tried it with.  It sends a G| for goodbye.
Then it sends N| for those boards that ask if you want to leave a
comment.  For those boards that ask if your sure you want to log
off, it then sends G| then Y| then N| then BYe.  You may need to make
this smarter if it won't always log you off.  Enter DO <return>
XFER <return>.  I use F5 for DO| and F6 for XFER|
It will give you a menu of protocols, ask you if you are
receiving or xmitting, and the file name.  While some protocols
do not allow specifying the file name on the receiver, they all
allow at least a path name.  Some protocols even allow a second
parameter.  If necessary, just type this in too.  Just remember
that when it asks for filename, just type whatever you would
type if you were entering the command yourself.  The command
structure to my menu is set up so that you type the same thing
you would ordinarily type, but give you the added features as
described above.  For instance XX is the Mirror command to xmit with
xmodem and the XFER command to do likewise.  The menu is
put on the status screen, then you are put back on the terminal screen.
My menu also adds RS which means receive single file ymodem protocol.
And RN for no error checking version of ymodem.  According to SoftKlone,
these options are not needed for the transmit ymodem, but I do have
XN and XS on my menu.  These menu choices just append a /s or /n to
the command for you.  You can do this yourself by using the normal
RY command and appending a /s or /n to the filename.  This is what you
have to do if you want both (according to SoftKlone, use /sn)  And you
can also do this with the /t option.  I've never messed with these, so
I don't really know if my menu options work, but they should.

PERSONAL NOTES:
An off line utility maintanance utility would ease set up of the
dialing directory.  I have thought about writing such a utility.
Features that it would have would include easy entry of names
and phone numbers, set up of length of time allowed per dial,
whether it would be silent or alarm, etc.  I also thought about
having it set up nested scripts so that a person could have it
call up to 10 BBS's and automatically get all of his messages
off of each board.  The nested scripts would most likely be
created by the LRn command.  Presently, the dialing directory is
limited to one screen of 46 numbers.  I have also planned to add
additional screens.  Adding multiple pages would start to make
the script file rather large.  Of course that really doesn't hurt
anything.  But one small enhancement to the script language would
eliminate one large section of code.  There is a section of code
that follows the following pattern:

LABEL SET-A
@C9 CALL-A
JUMP @C10

This entire section would not be needed if I could simply have
a statement:  @C9 CALL-@   where the present value of @ would be
processed.