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- HD6KER.BWR
-
- This file contains information about Superkermit idiosyncrancies and
- known problems up to Version 2.00. Honeywell 3.1 support is still
- provided (only in conjunction with MSKermit 3.02!) however, the
- increased size of Superkermit may impact 3.1 applications. MSKermit
- 3.02 provides limited support for Honeywell terminals (TTY line-mode
- only) with 3 special commands to support the Honeywell DPS-6:
-
- set terminal honey ; give proper term resp; both 3.1 and 4.0 op. systems.
- set rec ignore 10 ; ignore LF in long packets; both 3.1 & 4.0 op. systems.
- set sen double 92 ; send 2 '\' chars out; 3.1 op. system only!.
-
-
- o Superkermit can now do wildcard 'sends' and process micro Kermit
- wildcard 'gets'. Only files matching the wildcard parameter AND
- conforming to the file type (ASCII or binary) given on the Super-
- kermit command line will be downloaded. For instance, if you enter
- the following Honeywell DPS-6 command:
-
- SUPERKERM SA *.C <c/r>
-
- You will (S)end all (A)scii files with a 'C' filename extension
- to the receiving Kermit. As usual, the Honeywell DPS-6 has an
- idiosyncracy...to receive ALL files of a given type you must use an
- '**' wildcard in the 'send' or 'get' command and not the '*.*'
- wildcard of MSDOS fame. This routine makes use of the Honeywell
- 'C' compiler heap, therefore the new batch compilation file that I
- have included MUST be used to build executable Superkermit. A limit
- of 100 files may be transferred using a wildcard. Since this new
- routine checks for correct file types even in non-wildcard file
- transfers, only host files of the proper type are 'visible' to
- the get or send command.
-
- o By popular demand, Superkermit now has the ability to change
- working directories on Honeywell host systems while in server mode.
- Unfortunately, the directory delimiter on the DPS-6 is the '>'
- (greater than) symbol. For some reason MSKermit does not correctly send
- a directory name with three or more '>' characters such as:
-
- 'remote cd >UDD>DREANO>TEST (c/r)'
-
- Packet logging reveals the above directory name is truncated to
- '>UDD>DREANO' by MSKermit. Therefore, I have allowed users the
- option of substituting the '/' character in Honeywell directory
- names, a la UNIX:
-
- 'remote cd /UDD/DREANO/TEST (c/r)' Go to regular directory
- 'remote cd ^PACK/UDD/DREANO (c/r)' Go to a specific pack
- 'remote cd .. (c/r)' Go to parent directory
- 'remote cd (c/r)' Go to home directory
-
- (It wouldn't suprise me if the '>' problem didn't have some kind of
- conflict with MSDOS I/O redirection which uses the same character;
- I have hit this kind of snag before.)
-
- o Superkermit can now accept an MSKermit command to change the type of
- files (TEXT or BINARY) that Superkermit will 'get' while in host
- server mode; once this process is performed the server STAYS in the
- new mode until it either exits or a new file type is asked for:
-
- 'remote set file type text (c/r)'
- 'remote set file type binary (c/r)'
-
- CAUTION: This also changes the mode for files RECEIVED by the
- Superkermit server. Therefore, either 1) never change modes from the
- original server command invocation or 2) always perform the above
- 'remote set file type' command appropriate for the file(s) you are
- preparing to upload. Failure to do this will result in the WRONG
- type file being created on the Honeywell. If you ever get an MSKermit
- error like: 'No valid names in GET request', and you KNOW that the
- file is on the host, it is a good bet that Superkermit is NOT set
- for the proper file type.
-
- o There is now an extra file type in Superkermit for the transfer of foreign
- file types (e.g. MSDOS: *.EXE, *.COM, *.WKS, etc.). It may be invoked
- from the Superkermit command line with an 'F' argument. This option
- allows MSDOS executable files to be stored on the Honeywell and then
- retreived correctly on a PC. Since the 'remote set file type' command
- only has 'text' and 'binary' arguments (see paragraph above), I have
- implemented a special Superkermit server command to handle these files:
-
- 'remote kermit foreign (c/r)'
-
- This was a conscious design decision which allows Superkermit to store
- a foreign file's attributes within the file itself on the Honeywell and
- they are then sent to a receiving Kermit during downloads.
- If you use Kermit file attribute packets MSDOS, UNIX, etc. files will be
- EXACTLY reproduced on the original hardware with correct creation
- dates, file access rights, etc.. Without file attributes host system
- defaults will be used. Also, the fsize() routine is used to locate DPS6
- 'foreign' files and may prove to be operating system version specific
- (it is the only Superkermit code that is not regular 'ole 'C' routines).
- ASCII files uploaded in foreign mode will NOT be formatted for perusal.
- If you want to look at a text file on the DPS-6 upload it in text, not
- foreign mode. I strongly encourage the use of a Public Domain MSDOS file
- archival/compression program such as PKZIP to cut down on file transfer
- times both ways. The 'foreign' file ability also works with the VIP-3
- terminal emulator/file transfer package but is considerably slower than
- with MSKermit.
-
- o To support both 8th-bit prefixed and image mode binary file transfers
- two new Kermit commands are available. If no mode is ever specified
- the default is 8th-bit prefixed:
-
- 'remote kermit image (c/r)'
- 'remote kermit prefix (c/r)'
-
-
- NOTE: The Superkermit server will automatically switch to ASCII file mode
- temporarily in order to do the following 'remote' commands and then
- switch back to the previous mode (FOREIGN, ASCII, BINARY).
-
-
- o Superkermit will now respond to MSKermit commands to type a file
- from the host WORKING directory to the microcomputer screen. If the
- file to be typed is not ASCII the command returns the same error as
- a 'get' of a non-existant host file:
-
- 'remote type myfile (c/r)'
-
- o Re-implemented the server ability to do a Honeywell host system
- command. It is much cleaner, less exotic, and sends the results
- of the command (for better or worse) directly to the PC screen
- for instant gratification. These results could probably be re-
- directed from MSKermit to a disk file or interpreted through a
- MSKermit script to do many useful functions such as checking the
- available space on a pack prior to a file upload or verifying
- the success of a 'remote cd' command. NEVER execute an interactive
- host command (such as the Honeywell line editor) with this facility
- since it is implemented using I/O redirection to files and not human
- interaction!.
-
- 'remote host STS -ALL (c/r)'
- 'remote host LWD (c/r)'
-
- o The 'remote dir' command works and is really a DPS-6 'LS' command:
-
- 'remote dir *.c (c/r)'
-
- o The 'remote delete' command is really a DPS-6 'DL' command
-
- 'remote delete *.c (c/r)'
-
- o The 'remote message' command is really a DPS-6 'MSG' command
- which sends the string to the operator's console:
-
- 'remote mess How are you? (c/r)'
-
- o The 'remote who' command is really a DPS-6 'VIDEO' command and
- any arguments are ignored:
-
- 'remote who (c/r)'
-
- o Avoid the 'remote space' command; it seems to send a misformed packet.
-
- Use instead: 'remote host STS -ALL (c/r)'.
-
- o The server 'logout' command works but is not very pretty since it
- causes a Superkermit 'C' signal trap...but it gets you off the DPS-6.
- If you are NOT running in a Honeywell 'swappool/pagepool' you can spawn
- a task to do the 'bye' with a time argument and the 'C' trap will not
- occur. Replace the 'byenow' string in HD6KER.H with:
-
- >SYSLIB2>ST 0 -EFN >SYSLIB2>BYE -DFR MS=3000 -ARG -BF
-
- o Performed a much-needed clean up of code placing all compiler pre-
- processor code along with global/external variables and function
- prototypes in a separate file. In addition, I have adopted the
- Columbia University naming conventions for the source files:
-
- HD6KER.BWR - 'Beware' file of Superkermit bugs.
- HD6KER.DOC - Version 2.00 documentation.
- HD6KER.H - New include file described above.
- HD6KER.C - Kermit state switchers and heuristics.
- HD6PRI.C - Kermit protocol primitives.
- HD6COMP.EC - New Kermit batch compilation JCL.
-
- o If Superkermit is run as a server on a dedicated line and a
- direct connect microcomputer is turned off, it is the same as
- an interactive Honeywell user hitting the 'break' key and the
- Superkermit server is suspended. To avoid this Superkermit
- should be started from an EC that performs the '>SYSLIB2>BRKF'
- command to disable 'break' processing - this may NOT be desirable
- in every case.
-
-
- I believe the above improvements have resulted in a much more
- useful Superkermit 'server' mode as well as more manageable source code.
- My thanks to Tim Ewing of Honeywell Federal Systems Incorporated (HFSI)
- in McLean, Virginia for suggesting and testing some of the above changes.
- If I had it to do over again I think I would have made all of the debug
- file output code dependent on a compiler switch (e.g. #ifdef DEBUG) so
- it would only be compiled in if you needed it. I feel that the code
- reorganization and additional server functionality have made this a
- major release and I am calling it Version 2.00. The work done by
- Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State University on MSKermit 3.02 to make it usable
- with the Honeywell DPS-6 is greatly appreciated.
-
- Frank Dreano Jr.
-
- /*** End of HD6KER.BWR ***/
-