Libris Britannia 4/science library(b).zip/science library(b)/COMMUNIC/0717.ZIP/MSR229.UPD

Text File | 1987-05-24 | 10KB | 196 lines

MS-DOS Kermit Version 2.29 Release Notes, May 26, 1986:

New Features:

. Full DOS 2.0 file support; device and path may be included in any
  file specification in any Kermit command.  DOS 1.x support fully removed.
  Version 2.29 will not run under DOS 1.x (neither would 2.28).

. On the IBM PC family, emulation of VT52, H19, VT102, and dumb terminal (the
  latter to allow coresidence with a loadable console driver like [N]ANSI.SYS).
  Support for host control of 25th line during terminal emulation.  Increased
  screen memory for rollback, dynamically sized to allow for varying memory
  capacity (about 8K required per screenful).  Program needs at least 60K to
  run, will use as much as 100K if available, plus more when PUSH, SPACE, or
  other commands that invoke DOS or other programs are used.

. VT102 emulation on IBM PC family includes all major VT102 features except
  132 columns, smooth scrolling, printer control, and various diagnostic
  functions.  H19/VT52 emulation is more complete than in previous versions.
  VT102 is equivalent to VT100 with AVO, plus line and character insert and
  delete functions, and local echo capability, i.e. it is a strict superset
  of the VT100, and is upwards compatible with ti.

. The MS-DOS Kermit server responds to advanced server commands (REMOTE DIR,
  REMOTE HOST, REMOTE DEL, REMOTE TYPE, REMOTE CWD, etc).  But because
  certain DOS "interactions" can't be fully disabled, these commands can
  sometimes cause the server to hang (like when DOS asks "Abort, Retry,
  Ignore?" at the real console).

. Improved file name handling, to prevent destruction of directory,
  system, hidden, read-only, and volume label files.  GET and RECEIVE allow
  device and path to be prefixed to incoming filename.  File renaming algorithm
  much improved for conversion of incoming file names to DOS conventions, and
  for filename collision avoidance.  Only valid DOS filenames are created or
  used for new files.

. On the IBM PC family, compatibility with TopView, DesqView, and MS Windows,
  and with the IBM Extended and Professional Graphics Adapters.

. Screen save (on the DEC Rainbow and IBM family only).  <esc-char>F
  appends current screen to file KERMIT.SCN; use SET DUMP to change screen
  dump file (or device) name.  Differs from LOG in that escape codes are
  not saved, only the text itself (sans attributes).  Use in conjunction
  with screen rollback to save the last several screens.

. New SET TERMINAL command for setting terminal type and parameters,
  including foreground and background color and intensity on systems that
  support it (currently only for IBM family).  Also, explicit control over
  whether program should wait for vertical retrace cycle to write screen (snow
  removal).

. New file transfer display options: SET DISPLAY QUIET, REGULAR, SERIAL.

. Program segments are now ordered independently of MASM/LINK version, without
  any special switches required for building, which should clear up all the
  system crashes that occurred when people ran the program after building it
  from source without the appropriate switches.

. Assembles with MS MASM 1.25, IBM MASM 2.0 aka MS MASM 3.0, and MS MASM 4.0,
  as well as Intel RMX assembler.

. Increased screen rollback memory on DEC Rainbow.

. Heath/Zenith-100 port i/o now interrupt driven, therefore much faster.

. COMMENT command, for documenting TAKE files.

. SET RETRY n command for changing the packet retry threshold.

. HANGUP command for dropping DTR & RTS, to signal modem to hang up phone
  (IBM family only).

. LOG command now also logs debugging information (packets, terminal session)
  if SET DEBUG ON command has been given.

. All known bugs in 2.28 fixed including:
   Severe problems if program assembled and linked improperly
   GET command filename confusion
   Failure to warn when run under DOS 1.x
   Many problems with file renaming, name truncation, etc.
   Exported filenames with no filetype no longer end with period
   SET DEST PRINTER didn't work correctly
   Problems with dynamic memory allocation causing system crashes
   Problems with dynamic memory allocation requiring more memory than necessary
   Problems with file transfer display & mode line display on early PC, Compaq
   Problem with <esc-char>? display on early PC, Compaq
   Heath-19 emulation bug regarding receipt of CR or LF at col 80 vs autowrap
   The "C?" bug in the command parser
   ^C of a file transfer now honors SET INCOMPLETE KEEP
   Lost clusters on disk if BYE command given with log file open
   RUN command did not default file types .EXE, .COM, .BAT
   Long debug lines would overflow screen
   Overruns of half duplex systems at high baud rates
   Control-prefix operands in packets not range checked
   Interrupt and performance problems on IBM PC family
   Numbers sometimes disappearing from file transfer display
   Problems parsing SET PORT options in generic MS-DOS Kermit
   Program crashes with "divide overflow" when transferring very long file
   Tendency to hangup Hayes 1200B internal modem upon startup
   Problems when padding with more than 2 or 3 characters

Known limititations of version 2.29:

. On the IBM family, SET MODE OFF, SET MODE ON sequences can produce
  permanent, normal-video mode line.
. On the IBM family, SET DEBUG ON not only selects packet display during file
  transfer, but also control-character/escape-sequence display during
  terminal emulation.  There are no separate controls for these functions.
. On systems that use "grey keys" or F-keys for functions like BREAK, modeline
  toggle, screen scroll, or emulator reset, there is no way to move these
  functions to other keys.  Therefore, if "traditional" (e.g. keypad) values
  are to be assigned to these keys using SET KEY, their built-in Kermit
  functions are lost.
. Certain keys on the IBM PC keyboard produce no scan code detectable by
  Kermit, e.g. keypad 5, control-5, etc., and therefore cannot be redefined
  with SET KEY SCAN.  Additional keys on the new "enhanced" keyboard
  (such as F11 and F12) behave similarly.
. On some systems, the message "Undefined baud rate" may appear when program
  is started.  This just means you should issue a SET SPEED command.
. Semicolons can not be used in filenames in GET commands from TAKE files,
  because within TAKE files, semicolons are treated as the start of a comment.
. Caution should be used when invoking certain terminate-and-stay-resident
  programs while PUSHed from Kermit (e.g. using the PRINT command for the first
  time), as not all of these programs observe proper etiquette for allocating
  and freeing memory.
. Each command macro definition is limited to 132 characters in length.
  Longer macros can be formed by chaining (end one definition with a DO
  for the next).
. On early (original motherboard & BIOS) PCs, and on systems that mimic them
  (e.g. Compaq), the cursor may assume a strange shape upon return from
  CONNECT.  This is caused by a bug in the early BIOS, which stored cursor
  attributes incorrectly.
. MS-DOS Kermit cannot read commands from a .BAT file.  It only reads them
  from the keyboard.  It may be run in the batch, but only using command
  line arguments (possibly invoking TAKE files).

Incompatibilities with previous releases:

. SET HEATH gone, replaced by SET TERMINAL { HEATH, VT102, etc }
. SET AUTOWRAP gone, replaced by SET TERMINAL WRAP
. SET REMOTE ON/OFF changed to SET DISPLAY OFF/ON (but SET REMOTE still there)
. Filename completion (recognition) no longer works, because of support for
  fully qualified DOS 2.0 pathnames.

Tested successfully on the following systems:

. IBM PC, XT, AT, PCjr, Portable PC, Convertible PC, and RT with AT DOS option
. Compaq, Z150, Z160, and other IBM compatibles
. DEC Rainbow
. Heath/Zenith-100
. HP-150, HP-110, and Portable Plus
. NEC APC and APC-3
. Victor 9000 / Sirius 1
. ACT Apricot
. Sanyo MBC 550
. Texas Instruments Professional PC
. Generic MS-DOS
. Intel 300 series with iRMX-86

Needs testing on:

. Wang PC
. Olivetti M24 PC
. Grid Compass II
. DECmate-II,III with XPU (MS-DOS) option

IBM PC family H19 and VT102 emulators tested successfully with:

. EMACS (DEC-20, CCA, GNU, and others, using line/char insert/delete)
. EDT, PHONE (VAX/VMS) (what else on VMS?  TPU?)
. 1-800-DEC-DEMO
. UNIX vi, sysline, etc
. Various torture tests

What's not in 2.29 (wish list for future releases):

. TRANSMIT command for raw file upload
. Login scripts
. DIAL command, telephone directory
. Transaction file logging.
. A way to accept default values for omitted trailing fields in commands.
. A better built-in help facility.
. VT102 ANSI printer control
. Long packets, sliding windows, or attribute packets
. Tektronix or other graphics terminal emulation (except in TI Pro & Victor)
. Redefinable keys at Kermit-MS> prompt level
. Control over display of 8-bit characters during CONNECT
. Pause at end of screen during local TYPE
. A simple way to make Alt = Meta, without many many SET KEY commands
. Piped operation a la UNIX (e.g. compress foo.bar | kermit send)
. Integration with C-Kermit protocol modules

Request contribution of TopView .PIF file, Desqview and Windows configuration
files, verification that 2.29 works on the as-yet untested systems, along with
.BOO files, installation instructions, etc., for those systems.