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KERMIT-09 Users guide
FLEX-09 KERMIT
--------------
Author: Jur van der Burg
Nettelhorst 56
2402 LS Alphen aan den Rijn
The Netherlands
Language: C (Compiled with Introl (c) compiler)
Version: 3.0
Date: July 1986
KERMIT for FLEX has it's roots in the UNIX version. It is enhanced in
several ways, such as data logging, server mode etc.
It should run on about any version of the FLEX-09 (tm) or SK*DOS (tm)
operating system. It requires 48K of memory. Hardware dependent things
are kept in the files FLK.H and FLIO.C .
FLEX-09 KERMIT has most of the features specified in the KERMIT Protocol
Manual.
- 1 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
1. Remote and Local Operation
KERMIT programs can be run in two ways, remote and local. A remote
Kermit is usually running on a mainframe, which you have CONNECTed
to through a PC or other computer. When KERMIT runs remotely, all
file transfer is done over the job's controlling terminal line --
the same line over which you logged in, and to which you would type
interactive commands. What the system thinks is your terminal is
really another computer, usually a microcomputer, running its own
copy of Kermit.
When KERMIT is in "local mode", file transfer is done over an
external device, such as a microcomputer's serial communication
port, or an assigned terminal line on a mainframe. The local Kermit
is connected in some way (like a dialout mechanism) to another
computer, again running its own copy of Kermit. A local Kermit is
in control of the screen, a remote Kermit has no direct access to
it.
Microcomputer KERMITs usually run in local "mode", whereas
mainframe Kermits usually need to be given some special command to
run in local mode. Some commands make sense only for remote
Kermits, others only for local, still others can be used with
either. Local and remote operation of KERMIT is shown schematically
here:
Micro is Local, Mainframe is Remote:
Communication Line (Packets)
+-------------------/ /-----------------+ Other terminals
! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! !
Micro ! LOCAL Mainframe ! ! ! ! REMOTE
+----------+----------+ +------------+--+--+--+--------+
! Serial Port ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! !
! +---------------+ ! ! Your job's !
! ! Packets: 724 ! ! ! terminal line !
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! File: FOO.BAR ! ! ! !
! +---------------+ ! ! !
! Screen ! ! !
! ! ! !
+---------------+-----+ +------------------------------+
!
! (Commands)
!
+------------+---------+
\ Keyboard \
+----------------------+
You
- 2 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
The KERMIT program on the micro is a local Kermit. It can control
the screen, the keyboard, and the port separately, thus it can
update the screen with status information, watch for interrupt
signals from the keyboard, and transfer packets on the
communications port, all at the same time.
The KERMIT program running on the mainframe is a remote Kermit. The
user logs in to the mainframe through a terminal port. The host
computer cannot tell that the user is really coming in through a
microcomputer. The keyboard, screen, and port functions are all
combined in user's mainframe terminal line. Therefore a remote
Kermit is cut off from your screen and keyboard during file
transfer.
A KERMIT server is always remote, and must get its commands from a
local KERMIT. The following descriptions will indicate when a
command must be remote or local.
2. Command Interface
The FLEX-09 implementation has an interactive keyword-style command
interface, modeled after that of the DEC VAX/VMS operating system,
which is roughly as follows:
In response to the "Kermit-xx>" prompt you may type a keyword, such
as SEND, RECEIVE, or EXIT, possibly followed by additional keywords
or operands, each of which is called a field. You can abbreviate
keywords (but not file names) to any length that makes them
distinguishable from any other keyword valid for that field. The
command is terminated by a carriage return. Before the carriage
return is typed, the command can be edited using RUBOUT or other
command editing keys. Finally, the same command is entered again
with a minimum of keystrokes, with each field abbreviated to its
shortest unique length.
3. Notation
In the command descriptions, the following notation is used:
anything
A parameter - the symbol is replaced by an argument of
the specified type (number, filename, etc).
[anything]
An optional field. If omitted, it defaults to an
appropriate value.
number
A whole number, entered in hexadecimal or decimal
notation.
character
A single character, entered literally, or as a number
(perhaps decimal or hexadecimal) representing the ASCII
value of the character.
file-spec
A file specification, i.e. the name of a file, possibly
including a drive number or other qualifying information,
- 3 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
and possibly containing "wildcard" or pattern-matching
characters to denote a group of files.
^X
A control character may be written using "uparrow" or
"caret" notation, since many systems display control
characters this way. Control characters are produced by
holding down the key marked CTRL or Control and typing
the appropriate character, e.g. X.
Commands are shown in upper case, but can be entered in any
combination of upper and lower case.
4. Summary of KERMIT Commands
Here is a brief list of KERMIT commands as they are found in the
FLEX-09 KERMIT program. The following sections will describe these
commands in detail.
For exchanging files:
SEND, RECEIVE, GET
For connecting to a remote host:
CONNECT, SET LINE, SET CONFIGURATION, SET BAUD, SET DUPLEX,
SET HANDSHAKE, SET ESCAPE, SET PROMPT, SET LOG
For acting as a server:
SERVER
For talking to a server:
BYE, FINISH, GET, SEND
Setting nonstandard transmission and file parameters:
SET BLOCK_CHECK_TYPE, SET DEBUG, SET DELAY, SET FILETYPE,
SET INCOMPLETE, SET WARNING, SET CONFIGURATION, SET RETRY,
SET END_OF_LINE, SET START_OF_PACKET, SET PACKET_LENGTH,
SET TIMEOUT, SET PADDING, SET PADCHAR, SET QUOTE,
SET REPEAT_QUOTE, SET EIGHT_BIT_QUOTE, TAKE
For interrupting transmission:
Control-X, Control-Z
Getting information:
HELP, STATISTICS, SHOW, Control-D
For recording the history of a file transfer operation:
SET DEBUG LOG
For non-protocol file capture or transmission:
SET LOG, TRANSMIT
Leaving the program:
EXIT, QUIT
If you have a file called KERMIT.INI in your default or home disk,
KERMIT will execute an automatic TAKE command on it upon initial
startup. KERMIT.INI may contain any KERMIT commands, for instance
SET commands to configure KERMIT to various systems or
communications media.
- 4 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
5. The SEND Command
Syntax: SEND filespec [filespec2] [filspec3...]
The SEND command causes a file or file group to be sent to the
other system. The filespec may contain the commonly used wild-card
characters '*' and/or '?', where '*' stands for a string match
(including null) and '?' stands for a single character match. Use
of wildcard characters is the most common method of indicating a
group of files in a single file specification. For instance if
FOO.BAS is a single file, a BASIC program named FOO, then *.BAS
might be a group of BASIC programs. If filespec1 contains wildcard
characters then all matching files will be sent, in directory-
listing order by name. If a file can't be opened for read access,
it will be skipped. There may be a total of twenty files or file
groups specified.
SEND Command General Operation
Files will be sent with their filename and filetype (for instance
FOO.BAR, no device or directory field, no generation number or
attributes). If communication line parity is being used (see SET
CONFIGURATION), the sending KERMIT will request that the other
KERMIT accept a special kind of prefix notation for binary files.
This is an advanced feature, and not all KERMITs have it; if the
other KERMIT does not agree to use this feature, binary files
cannot be sent correctly.
SEND Remote Operation
If you are running KERMIT remotely (for instance, from a
microcomputer), you should "escape back" to your local Kermit
within a reasonable amount of time and give the RECEIVE command.
Don't take more than about one minute to complete the switch, or
KERMIT may "time out" and give up (in that case, you'll have to
CONNECT back to the remote system and reissue the SEND command).
SEND Local Operation
If you're running KERMIT locally, for instance on a microcomputer,
you should have already run KERMIT on the remote system and issued
either a RECEIVE or a SERVER command.
Once you give KERMIT the SEND command, the name of each file will
be printed on your screen as the transfer begins, and information
will be displayed to indicate the packet traffic. When the
specified operation is complete, the program will sound a beep, and
the status of the operation will be indicated by the message
Complete, Interrupted, or Failed.
If you see many packet retry indications, you are probably
suffering from a noisy connection. You may be able to cut down on
the retransmissions by using SET PACKET_LENGTH to decrease the
packet length; this will reduce the probability that a given packet
will be corrupted by noise, and reduce the time required to
- 5 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
retransmit a corrupted packet. If you notice a file being sent
which you do not really want to send, you may cancel the operation
immediately by typing either Control-X or Control-Z. If your are
sending a file group, Control-X will cause the current file to be
skipped, and KERMIT will go on to the next file, whereas Control-Z
will cancel sending the entire group and return you to KERMIT-09
command level.
6. The RECEIVE Command
Syntax: RECEIVE [filespec]
The RECEIVE command tells KERMIT to wait for the arrival a file or
file group sent by a SEND command from the other system. If only
one file is being received, you may include the optional filespec
as the name to store the incoming file under; otherwise, the name
is taken from the incoming file header. If the name in the header
is not a legal file name on the local system, KERMIT will attempt
to transform it to a legal name. If an incoming file has the same
name as an existing file, KERMIT will either overwrite the old file
or else try to create a new unique name, depending on the setting
of FILE WARNING.
If you have SET CONFIGURATION with parity, then 8th-bit prefixing
will be requested. If the other side cannot do this, binary files
cannot be transferred correctly. The sending KERMIT may also
request that repeated characters be compressed.
If an incoming file does not arrive in its entirety, KERMIT will
normally discard it; it will not appear in your directory. You may
change this behavior by using the command SET INCOMPLETE KEEP,
which will cause as much of the file as arrived to be saved in your
directory.
RECEIVE Remote Operation
If your are running KERMIT remotely, you should escape back to your
local Kermit and give the SEND command. You should do this within
about one minute, or KERMIT may time out and give up; if this
happens, you can CONNECT back to the remote system and reissue the
RECEIVE command.
RECEIVE Local Operation
If you are running KERMIT locally, you should already have issued a
SEND command to the remote KERMIT, and then escaped back to KERMIT-
09 (not SERVER -- use the GET command to receive files from a
KERMIT server).
As files arrive, their names will be shown on your screen, along
with a continuous display the packet traffic.
If a file begins to arrives that you don't really want, you can
attempt to cancel it by typing Control-X; this sends a cancellation
request to the remote Kermit. If the remote Kermit understands this
request (not all implementations of Kermit support this feature),
it will comply; otherwise it will continue to send. KERMIT-09 will
- 6 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
detect this situation and send an error packet. If a file group is
being sent, you can request the entire group be cancelled by typing
Control-Z.
7. GET
LOCAL ONLY -- Syntax: GET remote-filespec [filespec2...]
The GET command requests a remote KERMIT server to send the file or
file group specified by remote-filespec. Note the distinction
between the RECEIVE and GET commands: RECEIVE puts KERMIT into a
passive wait state, whereas GET actively sends a command to a
server.
The GET command can be used only when KERMIT is local, with a
KERMIT server on the other end of the line. This means that you
must have CONNECTed to the other system, logged in, run KERMIT
there, issued the SERVER command, and escaped back to the local
KERMIT.
The remote filespec is any string that can be a legal file
specification for the remote system; it is not parsed or validated
locally. As files arrive, their names will be displayed on your
screen, along with a continuous indication of the packet traffic.
As in the RECEIVE command, you may type Control-X to request that
the current incoming file be cancelled, Control-Z to request that
the entire incoming batch be cancelled.
If the remote KERMIT is not capable of server functions, then you
will probably get an error message back from it like "Illegal
packet type". In this case, you must connect to the other Kermit,
give a SEND command, escape back, and give a RECEIVE command.
8. SERVER
Syntax: SERVER
The SERVER command instructs KERMIT to cease taking commands from
the keyboard and to receive all further instructions in the form of
KERMIT packets from another system. A KERMIT server must be remote;
that is, you must be logged in to the system through another
computer, such as a microcomputer. In addition, your local KERMIT
should have commands for communicating with remote servers; these
include GET, FINISH, and BYE.
After issuing this command, escape back to your local system and
issue SEND, GET, BYE, FINISH, or other server-oriented commands
from there. If your local KERMIT does not have a BYE command, then
it does not have the full ability to communicate with a KERMIT
server and you should not put the remote KERMIT into SERVER mode.
If your local KERMIT does have a BYE command, use it to shut down
and log out the KERMIT server when you are done with it. The
KERMIT-09 server can also be shutdown by typing Control-X or
Control-Z. Then the server will stop after the timeout.
Any nonstandard parameters should be selected with SET commands
before putting KERMIT in server mode, in particular the block check
type and special file modes.
- 7 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
9. BYE
LOCAL ONLY -- Syntax: BYE
When running as a local Kermit talking to a KERMIT server, use the
BYE command to shut down and log out the server. This will also
close any debugging log files and exit from the local KERMIT.
10. FINISH
LOCAL ONLY -- Syntax: FINISH
When running as a local Kermit talking to a remote KERMIT server
use the FINISH command to shut down the server without logging out
the remote job, so that you can CONNECT back to it.
11. FLEX
Syntax: FLEX command
Execute the specified command on the local system -- on the system
where KERMIT to which your are typing this command is running.
These commands provide some local file management capability
without having to leave the KERMIT program, which is particularly
useful on microcomputers. Be sure that the programs you run reside
in the utility command space ($C100 - $C6FF).
FLEX DELETE filespec Delete the specified file or files.
FLEX CAT [filespec] Provide a directory listing of the specified
files.
12. CONNECT
LOCAL ONLY -- Syntax: CONNECT [terminal-designator]
Establish a terminal connection to the system at the other end of
the communication line. On a microcomputer, this is normally the
serial port. On a mainframe, you will have to specify a terminal
line number or other identifier, either in the CONNECT command
itself, or in a SET LINE command. If a log file was opened (see SET
LOG) then the data will be buffered in memory, which will be
written to disk if it becomes full. Handshaking is provided (see
SET HANDSHAKE). Get back to the local KERMIT by typing the escape
character followed by a single character "command".
- 8 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
Several single-character commands are possible:
C Close the connection and return to the local KERMIT.
H Show availability.
S Show status of the connection.
B Send a BREAK signal.
0 (zero) Send a NUL (0) character.
Q Quit logging session transcript.
R Resume logging session transcript.
? List all the possible single-character arguments.
^ (or whatever you have set the escape character to be)
Typing the escape character twice sends one copy of it
to the connected host.
other Rings the bell.
You can use the SET ESCAPE command to define a different escape
character, and SET CONFIGURATION, SET BAUD, SET DUPLEX, SET
HANDSHAKE to establish or change those parameters.
13. HELP
Syntax: HELP [subject] [sub-subject]
Typing HELP alone prints a brief summary of KERMIT and its
commands. Help about a particular topic can be obtained by giving
it as a parameter. The HELP data file will be searched on the drive
KERMIT-09 was loaded from.
14. EXIT, QUIT
Syntax: EXIT
or: QUIT
Exit from KERMIT. QUIT is a synonym for EXIT. If a log file was
used with CONNECT, and the buffer still contains data, then the
buffer will we written to disk before terminating KERMIT-09.
15. The SET Command
Syntax: SET parameter [option] [value]
Establish or modify various parameters for file transfer or
terminal connection.
When a file transfer operation begins, the two KERMITs
automatically exchange special initialization messages, in which
each program provides the other with certain information about
itself. This information includes the maximum packetsize it wants
to receive, the timeout interval it wants the other KERMIT to use,
the number and type of padding characters it needs, the end-of-line
character it needs to terminate each packet (if any), the block
check type, the desired prefixes for control characters, characters
with the "high bit" set, and repeated characters. Each KERMIT
program has its own preset "default" values for these parameters,
and you normally need not concern yourself with them. You can
examine their values with the SHOW command; the SET command is
provided to allow you to change them in order to adapt to unusual
conditions.
- 9 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
The following parameters may be SET:
BAUD Set the speed of the current communications port
BLOCK_CHECK_TYPE Packet transmission error detection method
CONFIGURATION Character parity to use
DEBUG Mode or log file
DELAY How long to wait before starting to send
DUPLEX For terminal connection, full (remote echo) or
half (local echo)
EIGHT_BIT_QUOTE Character to use for binary file transfer if
parity used
END_OF_LINE End of line character
ESCAPE Character for terminal connection
FILETYPE For setting ascii or binary file type.
HANDSHAKE Selecting flow control characters, like XON/XOFF
INCOMPLETE What to do with an incomplete file
LINE Terminal line to use for terminal connection or
file transfer
LOG CONNECTion logging file
PACKET_LENGTH Length of a packet
PADDING Number of padding characters
PADCHAR Padding character
PROMPT Prompt of the local KERMIT
QUOTE Character used to transfer control characters
REPEAT_QUOTE Character to use for data compression
RETRY How many times to retry a packet before give up
START_OF_PACKET Start of packet character
TIMEOUT Time to wait for a packet
WARNING File conflict warning flag
SET BAUD
Syntax: SET BAUD number
Set or change the baud rate (approximate translation: transmission
speed in bits per second) on the currently selected communications
device. In simple FLEX systems the only allowable baud-rates are
300 and 1200. Other interfaces may provide a complete range.
SET BLOCK_CHECK_TYPE
Syntax: SET BLOCK_CHECK_TYPE number
KERMIT normally uses a 1-character block check, or "checksum", on
each packet. The sender of the packet computes the block check
based on the other characters in the packet, and the receiver
recomputes it the same way. If these quantities agree, the packet
is accepted and the transmission proceeds. If they disagree, the
packet is rejected and transmitted again.
However, the block check is not a foolproof method of error
detection. The normal single-character KERMIT block check is only a
6-bit quantity (the low order 8 bits of the arithmetic sum folded
upon itself). With only six bits of accuracy, the chances are one
6
in 2 -- that is, 1/64 -- that an error can occur which will not be
detected in the checksum, assuming that all errors are equally
likely.
- 10 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
You can decrease the probability that an error can slip through, at
the expense of transmission efficiency, by using the SET
BLOCK_CHECK_TYPE command to select more rigorous block check
methods. Note that all three methods will detect any single-bit
error, or any error in an odd number of bits.
The options are:
1-CHARACTER-CHECKSUM:
The normal single-character 6-bit checksum.
2-CHARACTER-CHECKSUM:
A 2-character, 12-bit checksum. Reduces the probability
of an error going undetected to 1/4096, but adds an extra
character to each packet.
3-CHARACTER-CRC:
A 3-character, 16-bit Cyclic Redundancy Check, CCITT
format. In addition to errors in any odd number of bits,
this method detects double bit errors, all error bursts
of length 16 or less, and more than 99.99% of all
possible longer bursts. Adds two extra characters to each
packet.
The single character checksum has proven to be quite adequate in
practice, much more effective than straightforward analysis would
indicate, since all errors are not equally likely, and a simple
checksum is well suited to catching the kinds of errors that are
typical of telecommunication lines. The other methods should be
requested only when the connection is very noisy.
Note that the 2- and 3-character block checks are not available in
all versions of KERMIT; if the other KERMIT is not capable of
performing the higher-precision block checks, the transfer will
automatically use the standard single-character method.
SET DEBUG
Syntax: SET DEBUG options [file]
Record the packet traffic, either on your terminal or in a file.
Options are:
ON Display each incoming and outgoing packet
(lengthy).
OFF Don't display debugging information (this is the
default). If debugging was in effect, turn it off
and close any open debug log file.
LOG Log the information to the specified file.
During data transfer, debugging can be toggled on and off by
pressing Control-D. If a log file was opened, it will be closed.
- 11 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
SET DELAY
Syntax: SET DELAY number
Specify how many seconds to wait before sending the first packet
after a SEND command. Use when remote and SENDing files back to
your local Kermit. This gives you time to "escape" back and issue a
RECEIVE command. The normal delay is 5 seconds. In local mode or
server mode, KERMIT does not delay before sending the first packet.
SET DUPLEX
Syntax: SET DUPLEX keyword
For use when CONNECTed to a remote system. The keyword choices are
FULL and HALF. FULL means the remote system echoes the characters
you type, HALF means the local system echoes them. FULL is the
default, and is used by most hosts. HALF is necessary when
connecting to IBM mainframes. Half duplex is also called "local
echo".
SET ESCAPE
Syntax: SET ESCAPE character
Specify or change the character you want to use to "escape" from
remote connections back to KERMIT. This would normally be a
character you don't expect to be using on the remote system,
perhaps a control character like ^[, ^], ^^, or ^_. KERMIT-09 uses
the up-arrow ('^') by default. After you type the escape character,
you must follow it by a single-character "argument", such as "C"
for Close Connection. The arguments are listed above, under the
description of the CONNECT command.
SET FILETYPE
Syntax: SET FILETYPE parameter
Establish file-related parameter. This may be either ASCII for text
files or BINARY for non-text files. This is a very important
command if you intend to transfer binary files, but is normally
unnecessary for transmitting textual files.
SET HANDSHAKE
Syntax: SET HANDSHAKE start stop
For communicating with full duplex systems. System-level flow
control is not necessary to the KERMIT protocol, but it can help to
use it if the same method is available on both systems. The most
common type of flow control on full duplex systems is XON/XOFF. If
the KERMIT input buffer is filled up to 250 characters, the stop
character is sent. If the buffer becomes empty and contains only 10
characters, the start character will be send. The defaults for
start is XON (17), and for stop XOFF (19).
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KERMIT-09 Users guide
SET INCOMPLETE
Syntax: SET INCOMPLETE option
Specify what to do when a file transfer fails before it is
completed. The options are DISCARD (the default) and KEEP. If you
choose KEEP, then if a transfer fails to complete successfully, you
will be able to keep the incomplete part that was received.
SET LINE
Syntax: SET LINE terminal-designator
Specify the terminal line to use for file transfer or CONNECT. This
command is found on mainframe KERMITs, which normally run in
"remote mode" using their own controlling terminal for file
transfer. Specifying a separate line puts the program in "local
mode". If the line is specified as 'REMOTE', the communication will
revert to the job's controlling terminal.
SET CONFIGURATION
Syntax: SET CONFIGURATION number
Parity is a technique used by communications equipment for
detecting errors on a per-character basis; the "8th bit" of each
character acts as a check bit for the other seven bits. KERMIT uses
block checks to detect errors on a per-packet basis, and it does
not use character parity. However, some systems that KERMIT runs
on, or equipment through which these systems communicate, may be
using character parity. If KERMIT does not know about this,
arriving data will have been modified and the block check will
appear to be wrong, and packets will be rejected.
If parity is being used on the communication line, you must inform
both KERMITs, so the desired parity can be added to outgoing
characters, and stripped from incoming ones. SET CONFIGURATION
should be used for communicating with hosts that require character
parity (IBM mainframes are typical examples) or through devices or
networks that add parity to characters that pass through them. Both
KERMITs should be set to the same parity. The specified
configuration parity is used both for terminal connection (CONNECT)
and file transfer (SEND, RECEIVE, GET).
The choices for SET CONFIGURATION are:
0. Seven data bits, even parity and two stop bits.
1. Seven data bits, odd parity and two stop bits.
2. Seven data bits, even parity and one stop bit.
3. Seven data bits, odd parity and one stop bit.
4. Eight data bits, no parity and two stop bits.
5. Eight data bits, no parity and one stop bit (default).
6. Eight data bits, even parity and one stop bit.
7. Eight data bits, odd parity and one stop bit.
Eight bits means no parity is affecting the data, and the 8th bit
of each character can be used for data when transmitting binary
files.
- 13 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
If you have set to use parity then advanced versions of KERMIT
(including KERMIT-09) will request that binary files will be
transferred using 8th-bit-prefixing. If the KERMIT on the other
side knows how to do 8th-bit-prefixing (this is an optional feature
of the KERMIT protocol, and not all implementations of KERMIT have
it), then binary files can be transmitted successfully. If eight-
bits communication is specified, 8th-bit-prefixing will not be
requested.
SET EIGHT_BIT_QUOTE
Syntax: SET EIGHT_BIT_QUOTE character
What character to use to process eight_bit bytes over a line using
only seven data bits. The sending KERMIT will ask the other KERMIT
whether it can handle a special prefix encoding for characters with
the eighth bit on, using the eight_bit_quote character. This
character should be distinct from the REPEAT_QUOTE character and
the QUOTE character. The default is "&" (38). There should be no
reason to change this.
SET END_OF_LINE
Syntax: SET END_OF_LINE character
The ASCII character to be used as a line terminator for packets, if
one is required by the other system, carriage return by default.
You will only have to use this command for systems that require a
line terminator other than carriage return. The character must be
specified as a hexadecimal number.
SET LOG
Syntax: SET LOG filespec
Create a transcript of a CONNECT session, when running a local
KERMIT connected to a remote system, in the specified file. Logging
can be "toggled" by typing the connect escape character followed by
Q (Quit logging) or R (Resume logging). Session-logging is useful
for recording dialog with an interactive system, and for
"capturing" from systems that don't have KERMIT. No guarantee can
be made that the file will arrive correctly or completely, since no
error checking takes place. The log file will be closed if the
filespec is a dash ("-").
SET PACKET_LENGTH
Syntax: SET PACKET_LENGTH number
Maximum packet length to send between 10 and 94 (decimal).
Shortening the packets might allow more of them to get through
through without error on noisy communication lines. Lengthening the
packets increases the throughput on clean lines.
SET TIMEOUT
Syntax: SET TIMEOUT number
How many seconds to wait for a packet before trying again.
- 14 -
KERMIT-09 Users guide
SET PADDING
Syntax: SET PADDING number
How much padding to send before a packet, if the other side needs
padding. Default is no padding.
SET PADCHAR
Syntax: SET PADCHAR character
What kind of padding character to send. Default is NUL (0). The
character must be specified as a hexadecimal number.
SET QUOTE
Syntax: SET QUOTE character
What printable character to use for quoting of control characters.
This character should be distinct from the EIGHT_BIT_QUOTE
character and the REPEAT_QUOTE character. The default is "#" (35).
There should be no reason to change this.
SET REPEAT_QUOTE
Syntax: SET REPEAT_QUOTE character
What character to use to process repeat count characters. The
sending KERMIT will ask the other KERMIT whether it can handle a
special prefix encoding for repeated characters, using the
repeat_quote character. This character should be distinct from the
EIGHT_BIT_QUOTE character and the QUOTE character. The default is
"~" (126). There should be no reason to change this.
SET RETRY
Syntax: SET RETRY number
Set the maximum number of retries for how many times to try sending
a particular packet before giving up, normally 10. If a line is
very noisy, you might want to increase this number.
SET START_OF_PACKET
Syntax: SET START_OF_PACKET character
The start-of-packet character is the only control character used
"bare" by the KERMIT protocol. It is Control-A by default. If a
bare Control-A causes problems for your communication hardware or
software, you can use this command to select a different control
character to mark the start of a packet. You must also set the
start_of_packet character at the KERMIT on the other system
(providing it has such a command). The character must be specified
as a hexadecimal number.
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KERMIT-09 Users guide
SET WARNING
Syntax: SET WARNING keyword
Enable or disable the warning if an incoming file already exists,
where the keyword must be either ON or OFF. When set to ON (the
default) and an incoming file already exists, an attempt will be
made to store the file under a new and unique name. When set to
OFF, an existing file will be overwritten.
16. SHOW
Syntax: SHOW option
The SHOW command displays the values of the parameters settable by
the SET command. If the option is ALL, then a complete display will
be provided.
17. STATISTICS
Syntax: STATISTICS
Give statistics about the most recent file transfer, such as the
total number of characters transmitted, the effective baud rate
(only if a hardware clock is available), and so forth.
18. TAKE
Syntax: TAKE filespec
Execute KERMIT commands from the specified file. The file may
contain any valid KERMIT commands, including other TAKE commands.
19. TRANSMIT
Syntax: TRANSMIT filespec
Send the contents of the specified file to the other system "bare",
without protocol, packets, error checking, or retransmission. This
command is useful for sending standard logon or connection
sequences, or to send commands to a smart modem, or for sending
files to systems that don't have KERMIT. No guarantee can be made
that the target system will receive the file correctly and
completely. When receiving a file, the target system would normally
be running a text editor in text collection mode. The tranferred
data will be displayed on the screen if DEBUG is on.
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