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- Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 14:00:00 EDT
- >From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
- Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 3.12 Available for Beta Testing
- Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.12, Kanji, ODI, SLIP, TELNET, TCP/IP, WINPKT
-
- This is to announce a maintenance release of MS-DOS Kermit for the IBM PC,
- PS/2, and compatibles, for beta testing from Professor Joe R. Doupnik of
- Utah State University. The version number is 3.12. The major new features
- of version 3.12 are:
-
- . Networking and communications improvements.
- . Japanese Kanji text file transfer translation.
- . Locking shift protocol for file transfer.
- . IBM mainframe file transfer extension.
- . New script programming and other features.
- . Bug fixes.
-
- Here is a more detailed list:
-
- . All 3.11 patches and corrections incorporated.
-
- . Improved TCP/IP networking:
- - ODI drivers now supported directly
- - SLIP and ETHERSLIP packet drivers now supported
- - TCP/IP networking in Microsoft Windows (see below)
- - Specific TCP service ports can be selected in the SET PORT TCP/IP command
- - Incoming TCP/IP connections are now accepted
- - Packet driver interrupt now can now be given explicitly
- - Improved TELNET operation:
- . Option negotiation bugs fixed
- . Screen size is sent to the host if the TELNET server requests it
- . A terminal-type negotiation override is now available
- . Improved handling of Enter key (CR)
- - BIOS Interrupt 14H no longer used internally for TCP/IP, freeing Int 14H
- for use by external drivers, e.g. for speaking devices.
- - Improved interactions with Domain Name Servers.
- - Kermit now responds to traceroute requests and supports ICMP redirects.
- - Workarounds for Western Digital 8003PKDR.EXE problems.
-
- . Improvements in other networking methods:
- - Now works with PATHWORKS LAT when LAT is loaded in expanded memory.
- - Now works with PATHWORKS version 3 as well as with 2 and 4.
- - Now works with Novell LWP 3.5 as well as 4.
- - Now works with Interconnections TES 2.2 R8.
- . User is warned upon attempt to EXIT Kermit while network connection active.
-
- . Serial communications:
- - HANGUP now leaves DTR signal down until port is used again.
- - IRQ 4 is no longer tested first if COM1 is not the desired port.
- - Improved serial port hardware handling on fast 486 machines.
-
- . Terminal emulation:
- - PRIME PT200 type added (= VT320 with minor differences).
- - New SET TERMINAL OUTPUT-SHIFT {NONE, AUTOMATIC, SI/SO, SS2, SS3}
- command for controlling output of 8-bit characters on 7-bit connections.
- Input shifting is handled automatically, as always.
- - Correctly recognize extended (bold) line drawing patterns for Tek drawing.
- - Use of ESC 1 and ESC 2 to enter and leave Tek mode now disabled.
-
- . File transfer:
- - New support for Japanese Kanji file translation during file transfer,
- via SET TRANSFER CHARACTER-SET JAPANESE-EUC. Works with Kermit-370 4.3
- and C-Kermit 5A.
- - Locking shifts for transferring 8-bit files on a 7-bit connection, via
- SET TRANSFER LOCKING-SHIFT {OFF, ON, FORCED}. Works with Kermit-370 4.3
- and C-Kermit 5A.
- - New SET TRANSLATION CHARACTER-SET {READABLE, INVERTIBLE} command
- to select different styles of text translation during file transfer.
- - Create zero length files if the host sends them.
- - Support for transferring files through non-transparent IBM mainframe
- front ends (like the 3708). Works with Kermit-370 4.3. Includes:
- . Support for printable start-of-packet
- . Support for BLANK-FREE-2 block check
- . Packet echo suppression, etc etc
- - Improved negotiation of 8th-bit prefixing.
-
- . Other new commands and features:
- - OUTPUT \L sends a Long BREAK.
- - IF [NOT] INPATH <filename> <command>
- - Optional <path> added to PATCH command, e.g. PATCH C:\KERMIT
- - Keyword "O" is (once again) a snyonym for OUTPUT.
- - Variable \v(terminal) reports the current terminal type.
- - INCREMENT <variable>
- - DECREMENT <variable>
-
- . Fixes:
- - TRANSMIT fixed to wait for handshake from host, if requested.
- - SET PROMPT <string> no longer lets long strings overwrite memory.
- - WAIT now sets SUCCESS or FAILURE correctly.
- - Close log files when asked to do so, not just when EXITing from Kermit.
- - Lexical comparisons IF LLT, IF LGT fixed.
- - STOP and END now accept an optional numerical argument, to be used as a
- return code or failure/success code, plus optional trailing message text
- to be printed.
- - Better handling of Ctrl-C interruption during script execution.
- - \v(directory) value now always ends in backslash (the directory separator)
- - DESQview corrections and enhancements.
-
- With MS-DOS Kermit 3.12, Joe is also releasing an improved version of the
- WINPKT "shim" - a program that sits between the packet driver and a Windows
- application (such as MS-DOS Kermit) that uses the packet driver. Since
- Windows can move applications around in memory, deactivate them, or possibly
- swap them out, the packet driver (which stores packets at specific,
- registered addresses in the application) will fail. WINPKT solves this
- problem by recognizing the Windows Enhanced mode virtual machine in which
- the program is running and invoking that machine before delivering a packet
- to the program. This eliminates the need to "lock application memory" in
- its .PIF file and eliminates the Crynwr (nee Clarkson) PD command argument
- "-w", which simply rejects a packet if the program is not immediately
- active. WINPKT was originally written by Roger F. James. These mechanisms
- will also appear in Joe's next edition of the shim, DIS_PKT, Packet Driver
- interface for NDIS.
-
- Joe expresses his special thanks for assistance, contributions, and
- suggestions to Frank da Cruz, Hirofumi Fujii, John Chandler, James
- Sturdevant Andre Asselin, Jim Fregin, Jim Reisert, Rick Sladkey, Richard
- Stanton, Bertil Stenstrom, Konstantin Vinogradov, Robert Weiner, and to
- Digital Equipment Corporation, Quarterdeck Online Systems, Novell, AT&T, and
- Interconnections Inc.
-
- NEW FILES
-
- MS-DOS Kermit 3.12 Beta is being released only in binary form. Sources will
- be made available after the testing period is over.
-
- Internet anonymous ftp EARN/BITNET
- watsun.cc.columbia.edu KERMSRV@CUVMA Description
-
- kermit/test/mstibm.boo MSTIBM BOO BOO-encoded KERMIT.EXE for IBM PC
- kermit/bin/mstibm.exe (none) Binary executable for IBM PC
- kermit/text/msr312.upd MSR312.UPD List of changes since version 3.11
-
- The ".boo" file is the .EXE file encoded in a printable ASCII format,
- suitable for BITNET, e-mail, and other nontransparent modes of transmission.
- You can decode the boo-files back into .EXE files using any of the MSBPCT.*
- programs available in kermit/a/msbpct.* or MSBPCT * from KERMSRV. See
- msbaaa.hlp (MSBAAA HLP) for details.
-
- WINPKT is available only on watsun, in the packet-driver collection:
-
- packet-drivers/bin/winpkpt.com WINPKT executable
- packet-drivers/doc/winpkpt.hlp WINPKT help file
- packet-drivers/src/winpkpt.asm WINPKT help source code
-
- My usual thanks to Joe, on behalf all MS-DOS Kermit users everywhere, for
- all the work and skill he put into this new release, and to Dr. Hirofumi
- Fujii for extensive contributions to the Kanji support. Please send
- questions, bug reports, and comments to me at the Internet e-mail address
- above, or to KERMIT@CUVMA on BITNET/EARN.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 13:00:00 EDT
- >From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
- Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 3.12 Released
- Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.12, Kanji, ODI, SLIP, TELNET, TCP/IP, WINPKT
-
- This is to announce a maintenance release of MS-DOS Kermit for the IBM PC,
- PS/2, and compatibles, from Professor Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State University.
- The version number is 3.12, first announced for beta testing on August 26th.
- The major new features of version 3.12 are:
-
- . Networking and communications improvements, including support for ODI.
- . Japanese Kanji text file transfer translation.
- . Locking shift protocol for file transfer.
- . IBM mainframe file transfer extension.
- . New script programming and other features.
- . Bug fixes.
- . WINPKT "shim" for TCP/IP connections under Microsoft Windows.
-
- The Kanji and locking shift protocol extensions can be used with C-Kermit 5A
- and IBM Mainframe Kermit-370 4.2.3 and 4.2.4. The IBM mainframe file
- transfer extension (which allows files to be transferred through
- non-transparent 3270 protocol converters) works with the new IBM mainframe
- Kermit.
-
- See Info-Kermit V16 #2, 26 August 1992, for a more detailed announcement
- of MS-DOS Kermit 3.12. See V16 #1, 6 August 1992, for detailed announcements
- concerning the new IBM mainframe Kermit, as well as the announcement below.
-
- (Note: Info-Kermit Digest volumes are archived in kermit/e/imail.yyx on watsun
- and IMAIL.yyx on CUVMA, where yy is the year, and x = "a" for first half of
- year or "b" for second half of year, for example imail.92b (IMAIL.92B) for the
- current volume.)
-
- NEW FILES
-
- Internet anonymous ftp EARN/BITNET
- watsun.cc.columbia.edu KERMSRV@CUVMA Description
-
- kermit/bin/msvibm.exe (none) Binary executable for IBM PC
- kermit/a/msvibm.boo MSVIBM BOO BOO-encoded KERMIT.EXE for IBM PC
- kermit/a/msr312.upd MSR312 UPD List of changes since version 3.11
- kermit/a/mskerm.hlp MSKERM HLP Updated help file
- kermit/a/mskerm.bwr MSKERM BWR Updated beware file
- kermit/a/mskermit.ini MSKERMIT INI Updated initialization file
- kermit/a/mscustom.ini MSCUSTOM INI New customization file
-
- Use MSR312.UPD, MSKERM.HLP, and MSKERM.BWR as your supplement to the MS-DOS
- Kermit 3.11 documentation.
-
- The source files are available on both watsun and CUVMA in the same directory
- as the .BOO and .UPD files. The source files are all ASCII text files. Their
- names begin with the letters MS (lowercase on watsun), and they have file
- types of .C, .H, and .ASM (lowercase on watsun). Microsoft MASM and C 6.0
- are required for building version 3.12 from the source files.
-
- The MSVIBM.BOO file is the .EXE file encoded in a printable ASCII format,
- suitable for BITNET, e-mail, and other nontransparent modes of transmission.
- You can decode the BOO-file back into an .EXE file using any of the MSBPCT.*
- programs available in kermit/a/msbpct.* or MSBPCT * from KERMSRV. See
- msbaaa.hlp (MSBAAA HLP) for details.
-
- WINPKT is available only on watsun, in the packet-driver collection:
-
- File name Description
- packet-drivers/bin/winpkt.com WINPKT executable (binary)
- packet-drivers/doc/winpkt.hlp WINPKT help file (ascii)
- packet-drivers/src/winpkt.asm WINPKT source code (ascii)
-
- My special thanks to Joe, on behalf all MS-DOS Kermit users everywhere, for
- the work and skill he put into this new release, and to Dr. Hirofumi Fujii
- of the Japan National Laboratory of High Energy Physics, Tokyo, for
- extensive contributions to the Kanji support. And thanks to all of you
- who sent in helpful comments on the Beta version.
-
- ------------------------------
-