Columbia Kermit/kermit.zip/c-kermit/ck61a07.txt

Internet Message Format | 2020-01-01 | 8KB

From: Frank da Cruz <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: C-Kermit 6.1.193 Alpha.07

Here's Alpha.07 of C-Kermit 6.1.193.  Still a closed Alpha (pre-Beta)
test, not ready for open public testing yet.  Details about the new version
are given in the text files mentioned towards the end of this message.
Let me know if you want off the announcement list.  (I wasn't planning to
have another Alpha but...)

(Note: I added some people to this mailing who probably haven't seen any of
this before, but who have built and/or otherwise taken care of C-Kermit on
other platforms -- if you want to try building this one and have any
questions, please send me mail.)

GENERAL CHANGES SINCE ALPHA.06

 . Minor version number changed from 0 to 1: C-Kermit 6.1.193.
 . Several extraneous items removed from the SET TERMINAL keyword list.
 . The IF/WHILE-condition keyword table was out of order.
 . SET HOST / TELNET to a numeric IP address called gethostbyname()
   unnecessarily, which could wind up getting you to the wrong host
   under certain conditions (e.g. multihomed hosts).
 . Try to turn off RTS/CTS flow control during dialing since some modems
   do not assert CTS until after the connection is made, even if they are
   configured for RTS/CTS.  Also, warn user if no modem signals at all are
   encountered before dialing (at least DSR should be on...)
 . Save and restore default or user-requested block check around protocol
   operations that might negotiate a different one.
 . Minor parsing adjustments relative to external XYZMODEM protocol settings.
 . Made SET / SHOW SPEED work right for 134.5 bps.
 . Lots of #ifdef adjustments for many platforms and feature selections.
 . /PROTOCOL:{KERMIT,...} switch added to RECEIVE command.
 . Updates and corrections to CKERMIT2.UPD.

The main reason for Alpha.07 is that I discovered the autodownload feature was
not working very well.  If you SET TERMINAL AUTODOWNLOAD ON (which you must do
to enable it in UNIX, VMS, etc; see docs), it didn't always work, and when it
did, it sometimes would take 10-20 seconds to kick in.  Worse, if you
interrupted an autodownload with Ctrl-C, the program and the connection would
just disappear.  Well, fixing that uncovered some other problems, etc etc,
hopefully all fixed now:

 . An interrupted autodownload would prevent future autodownloads or APCs
   from working.
 . The file-transfer-completion bell would never ring until the next time
   you manually escaped back to the prompt.
 . Various pieces of the file-transfer screen might not have been updated
   at the end of the transfer.
 . APC execution was busted so I fixed that too, etc etc.

So the autodownload / autoupload and APC features need a rather thorough
workout, as do all the other new features -- SEND/RECEIVE/GET/CONNECT
switches, and particular what happens when any of these are interrupted,
before we go Beta.  Dialing too -- there is no way I can test this myself
on more than a handful of systems.

UNIX-SPECIFIC CHANGES

 . Fixed the HP-UX 10.x version not to put 57600 in the SET SPEED list twice
   while omitting 115200.
 . New makefile entries for HP-UX from Peter Eichhorn.
 . Helpful hint messages about what to do next if C-Kermit can't get access
   to the requested dialout device (or associated lockfile).
 . Plan 9 (not really UNIX) SET SPEED updated.

VMS-SPECIFIC CHANGES

 . Added John Santos's changes for CMU/IP (which, he says, don't actually
   work, but at least now it compiles and links).
 . I'm finished with "CD" vs VMS 6.1/6.2 CTRL bugs -- I did all I can do.
   It remains as in Alpha.06.

OPEN ISSUES

 . Supporting serial speeds above 38400 in IRIX 6.2.
 . Transferring bizarre-record-format files in VMS that worked with Kermit-32.
 . Making it work at all on the BeBox.
 . Adding TCP/IP support for Plan 9 (should be interesting!).
 . Lousy performance on AOS/VS (in case anybody cares).

WHERE TO FIND IT

C-Kermit 6.0.193 Alpha.07 is in the usual places for C-Kermit test versions,
along with early drafts of all the update documentation, etc:

 ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/test/tar/
   cku193src.tar.Z   Source code (UNIX and VMS), tar, UNIX compress
   cku193src.tar.gz  Source code (UNIX and VMS), tar, gzipped
   cku193txt.tar.Z   Other text files, tar, UNIX compress
   cku193txt.tar.gz  Other text files, tar, gzipped

 ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/test/text/
   Individual source and text files.

 Among the interesting text files:
   ckermit2.upd    -- Docs for new features since 6.0.192.
   ckc193.upd      -- Program edit history since 6.0.192.
   ckuins.doc      -- UNIX installation instructions.
   ckvins.doc      -- VMS installation instructions.
   ckvker.bwr      -- VMS C-Kermit "beware file" with new hints on CD, etc.
   ckuker.bwr      -- UNIX C-Kermit beware file.
   ckcplm.doc      -- Program logic manual, API definition, etc.
   alpha0[1-7].txt -- Announcements of each Alpha test.

INDIVIDUAL ALPHA.07 BINARIES:

I *did* have a chance to update and minimally test them this time; the
following binaries are all C-Kermit 6.1.193 Alpha.07, transferred using
themselves to the Kermit ftp site:

 ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/test/bin/
   ckdker-aosvsii.pr:           DG AOS/VS-II
   ckuker.bsd44c-hp9000_300     HP-9000/300 4.4BSD-Lite
   ckuker.bsdi2-2.1             PC, BSDI 2.1
   ckuker.bsdi2-3.0             PC, BSDI 3.0
 * ckuker.hpux500wintcp         HP-9000/550 HP-UX 5.21 + TWG-TCP/IP 1.2
   ckuker.hpux80oc-hp9000_385   HP-9000/385 HP-UX 8.00
   ckuker.hpux90o700            HP-9000/712 HP-UX 9.05
   ckuker.hpux100o-10.20        HP-9000/712 HP-UX 10.20
   ckuker.du32                  DEC Alpha Digital UNIX 3.2
   ckuker.du40                  DEC Alpha Digital UNIX 4.0
   ckuker.irix51-5.3            SGI IRIX 5.3
   ckuker.irix60-6.2            SGI IRIX 6.2
   ckuker.linux-1.2.13-i386     PC, Red Hat Linux 1.2.13
   ckuker.next-3.1-mc68040      NeXT 68040 NeSTSTEP 3.1
   ckuker.rs6aix41c             IBM RS/6000 AIX 4.1
   ckuker.sco32v504net          PC, SCO OpenServer 5.0.4
   ckuker.sinix542-5.42-mips    SNI SINIX 5.4.2 MIPS (RM200)
   ckuker.solaris2x-2.4-sparc   Sun Sparc, Solaris 2.4
   ckuker.solaris2x25-2.4-sparc Sun Sparc, Solaris 2.4 + SunLink X.25
   ckuker.solaris25-sparc       Sun Sparc, Solaris 2.5.1
   ckuker.sunos41c              Sun Sparc, SunOS 4.1.3_U1
   ckuker.ultrix42c-4.3-mips    DECstation 5000, Ultrix 4.3
   ckuker.unixware2-2.1.1       PC, Unixware 2.1.1
   ckuker.unixware2-2.1.2       PC, Unixware 2.1.2
   ckvaker-vms62-nonet.exe:     Alpha CPU, VMS 6.2,   no TCP/IP
   ckvaker-vms62-tgv40a.exe:    Alpha CPU, VMS 6.2,   MultiNet 4.0A
   ckvaker-vms71-nonet.exe:     Alpha CPU, VMS 7.1,   no TCP/IP
   ckvaker-vms71-tgv40b.exe:    Alpha CPU, VMS 7.1,   MultiNet 4.0B
   ckvvker-vms55-nonet.exe:     VAX CPU,   VMS 5.5-2, no TCP/IP
   ckvvker-vms55-ucx20.exe:     VAX CPU,   VMS 5.5-2, UCX 2.0
   ckvvker-vms61-nonet.exe:     VAX CPU,   VMS 6.1,   no TCP/IP
   ckvvker-vms61-tgv40a.exe:    VAX CPU,   VMS 6.1,   MultiNet 4.0AX
   ckvvker-vms71-nonet.exe:     VAX CPU,   VMS 7.1,   no TCP/IP
   ckvvker-vms71-tgv40b.exe:    VAX CPU,   VMS 7.1,   MultiNet 4.0B

(*) Circa 1983; This one didn't finish compiling yet -- probably will take
    another day; I know you're anxious :-)

I'd be glad to do more of these myself and spare you the trouble -- for that
I'd need guest IDs on systems I can Telnet to from here, and which have the
necessary C compilers, header files, & libraries.

Thanks to all of you for your help with & comments on this version so far!
Please beat it to death and send any bug reports straight to me so I don't
embarrass myself too much when announcing the public Beta.

If you do succeed in building it on a platform not listed above, please
let me know the details (machine make & model, OS and version, separate
TCP/IP product, if any, and the size (in bytes) of the resulting executable
(for addition to the table in the ckc193.upd file).  And if you have trouble,
of course, let me know.

- Frank