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Amiga Collections: MegaDisc
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MegaDisc 24 (1991-10)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).zip
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MegaDisc 24 (1991-10)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).adf
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TELECOMMS
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3_Comms_Progs
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3_Comms_Progs
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Text File
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1991-09-26
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7KB
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152 lines
TERMINAL PROGRAMS REVIEW
By
Dave Freeman
Ed: These are Dave's choice of the three best Comms programs available
for the Amiga, and many would agree with him. See screen shots in this
drawer for a couple of them.
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If you want to get into communications then you are going to want to
find a program that will do the job that you want it to. In this
article I will look at three of the more popular programs being used on
the Amiga at the moment. There are many options available but I have
picked these based on their availability, ease of use, popularity and
recent product support.
OK, on with the show. The three contenders for this review are:
GPTerm v4.56N - This is a commercial program written by Greg Perry and
Steve McNamee (from Brisbane). It retails for about $100.
JR-Comm v1.02 - This is a Shareware program written by Jack Radigan (from
the USA). Registration is US$50.
NComm v1.92 - This is a public domain program written by a group of
European programmers.
Documentation:
--------------
In all three the documentation in very comprehensive. The manuals are
laid out to give you an overview of the program and to take you through
each of the menus and their options. All are fairly large and this is
where GPTerm has a small win. As you buy GPTerm as a package, it comes
with a printed manual. My manual had a number of pages that were
hole-punched and bound upside down/back to front. The other two
programs, being distributed electronically or on disk, have document
files that you can print out yourself. The JR-Comm manual runs to about
100 pages and the NComm manual is around 60 pages. A good working out
for your printer. If you are familiar with terminal programs you may
find that you do not really need the manual printed anyway.
Configuration Files:
--------------------
Each program has a series of configuration files that it looks for. If
they are not found then a default setting will be used. These files are
mainly related to phone books, preferences and macros etc.
With JR-Comm, there is an external program that can be used to edit
and save your phone book. All other settings must be edited and saved
from within the program. In the case of NComm all items must be changed
from within the main program. In both cases they use a 'Phone Book' to
save your commonly called numbers along with their associated passwords,
transfer protocols, serial port settings and macro keys.
GPTerm uses a different approach for its phone numbers. With this
program you save all the settings of the program as a configuration file
for that service. To change to calling a different number you have to
load a different configuration off disk. The main plus to this is that
if you are only going to call one service you can click on the
configuration icon for that service and GPTerm will load all ready to
make that call. With the others you will have to select the service
once the program is loaded. On the minus side, if you want to ring
another service you will have to load that off disk (this can be done
from within the program). If you then decide to call the first one, you
will again have to load that off disk.
Compatibility:
--------------
Only GPTerm offers support for FULL IBM graphics - including flashing
characters. All three make use of a custom font definition to display
IBM graphics characters. If you really want to see full IBM graphics on
an IBM BBS then GPTerm is the choice for you. I find that I do not make
full use of this feature and the others still perform quite well
(generally they display flashing characters as bold).
Only NComm offers the option to convert different countries' character
sets from within the program. You have the choice to use various
European character sets plus IBM and Amiga type ANSI graphics. This can
be useful if you call overseas BBSs.
All three offer the usual transfer protocols of X,Y,Zmodem with batch
and CRC checking. JR-Comm also supports CIS-B which is used for
Compuserve (a large on-line service in the USA - and now in Australia).
GPTerm supports Punter, Sealink and Kermit. I have yet to see a BBS
that offers Punter (although I understand that some Commodore ones do)
and Sealink is normally an option on BBSs which also have ZModem (the
best protocol to use if available). Kermit is a protocol that is
primarily used for main frame transfers. In the case of NComm, extra
protocols can be added by making use of 'XPR' libraries. At this stage
the release includes a ZModem and Kermit implementation of these but
others are available.
In Use:
-------
I guess that for most, the test is when you get on-line and start using
it. I have had no trouble using any of these programs once they were
properly configured. All three offer good use of programmable function
keys. These are very important as time saving features. They let you
save a log-on sequence to speed up your access to the BBS.
Only NComm offers the option of a complete script language. The
language is so powerful that the writers have included a sample script
to let you use the program as a small BBS. There are scripts available
on various BBSs to automate a session on a BBS - these will log on to
the BBS of your choice and collect new mail and files and then log off
again.
See the included screen shots for some idea of what the programs look
like when in use. All the shots were taken with the main phone book
configuration menu open.
Conclusion:
-----------
I have used all three over a period of time and found that they all fill
a certain need. It really depends on your budget and your needs as to
which one will best suit you. In terms of value for money, I would have
to say that NComm comes out on top (given the price). Both GPTerm and
JRComm also have their advantages and their uses. I found that GPTerm
was justified in its commercial nature and was a very polished program.
I was able to crash both JRComm and NComm in some circumstances but was
not able to do the same with GPTerm.
Availability:
-------------
GPTerm is available from most good Amiga Software suppliers, or direct
from GP Software at 21 Aloomba St in Ashgrove, Qld.
NComm and JRComm should be available from your local BBS and from
Megadisc (in the PD Collection - ask for "Freemans_Comms").
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