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PHONE.DOC
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1989-03-19
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Phone v2.0x
Network Interactive Conversation and File Transfer
Copyright 1987-89 by
Programming Unlimited and Citadel Systems
Citadel Systems
10 Ely Place
P. O. Box 5
Simsbury, CT 06070
(203) 651-5376
What is Phone?
Phone is a Local Area Network program designed
specifically for use with Novell networks. The program
allows interactive chat-style conversations between users on
the LAN. Conversations can be started between any two users
on a NetWare LAN, including those which are bridged
internally or externally with NetWare bridges. In addition
to conversations, Phone performs file transfer between
workstations.
The main difference between Phone and other chat-style
programs is that Phone conversations take place character by
character. That is, as each character is typed on the
sending station the receiving station displays it. This
makes life much more interesting than sentence based
programs. Phone also performs file transfer between
workstations. The transfer can be initiated by either
station, and the non-initiating station has the option of
aborting the process.
Phone is very simple to use. All program input can be
entered via the NetWare style Opening Menu, or the desired
callee can be specified on the command line in standard
NetWare notation.
How to Install Phone
Phone can be installed on any network drive by using the
normal DOS COPY command, or the Netware equivalent NCOPY
command. The following set of instructions will install
Phone under the PUBLIC subdirectory. Here we are assuming
that SYS:PUBLIC is mapped to the Z: drive, as this is the
default mapping for Netware. If this is not the case, or you
do not wish to install Phone in the PUBLIC directory, then
simply substitute the appropriate drive letter for your case.
Each command is followed by pressing the <enter> key.
1) Make SYS:PUBLIC the default drive.
Type Z:
2) Copy the Phone files into PUBLIC.
Type NCOPY A:*.* Z:*.*
3) Make Phone a read-only file.
Type FLAG Z:PHONE.EXE SRO
4) Make WHEREIS a read-only file.
Type FLAG Z:WHEREIS.EXE SRO
5) Delete LAN-MORE.COM from PUBLIC.
Type DEL Z:LAN-MORE.COM
The Phone files are now installed in the PUBLIC directory.
How to Run Phone
Phone is invoked by typing PHONE server/user at the DOS
prompt and pressing <enter>, or just typing PHONE and
pressing <enter>. Any two users who wish to PHONE each other
must be logged into or attached to at least one common
fileserver. For the following example, you are logged into
FS1 as AL and you want to call the user DAVE who is also
logged into fileserver FS1. The F: drive is mapped to some
directory on FS1, and PHONE either exists on that directory,
or is located on a search drive.
F: PHONE
Using the above form of the command will bring up the
Opening Menu. This is a NetWare style menu from which you
may change servers, select a user, enter a fileserver/user
name combination by hand, or cause a call to be placed. You
may also exit the opening menu by pressing the Escape (Esc)
key. The top of the menu shows the current default
fileserver and the user name you are logged in as on that
server. A menu choice is selected by using the cursor keys
to highlight a choice, and pressing <enter>, or by typing
successive characters of the choice you want and pressing
<enter>.
Selecting the "Change Current Server" entry will present
you with a list of the fileservers to which you are currently
attached. To select a new server, highlight the desired
entry and press <enter>. To keep the same server, press
<esc>.
Choosing "Select User From List" will present you with a
list of users who are logged into the current server. To
select a new user, highlight the desired entry and press
<enter>. You may use either the cursor keys or type
successive letters of the user name you want to highlight the
proper entry. If the list can't fit on the screen, then the
list will scroll as needed. Note that by using this method
you can only choose one user-station combination at a time.
If a user is logged in more than one time, then only the
station number selected here will be notified. If you wish
to send call notification to every station that a user is
logged into, then you must use the "Enter User by Hand"
entry.
Selecting the "Enter User by Hand" entry will allow you to
type in a fileserver/user name combination without having to
use the other menu entries. When the entry box appears, type
the user name in the form of FILESERVER/USER, or
FILESERVER/*. The FILESERVER part of the entry can be
omitted if the user exists on the current server. If the
user selected at this point is logged in more than once, then
all stations to which he is logged in will be notified of
your desire to establish a Phone conversation. The
FILESERVER/* form can be used to change servers without
choosing from one of the opening menu entries.
Choosing "Place Call" causes Phone to try to find and
notify the user selected by one of the previous methods that
a Phone conversation is desired by you. If no user was
selected, then an error message to that effect will be
displayed.
F: PHONE FS1/DAVE
Using the preceeding form of the command, Phone will send
a NetWare SEND style message to DAVE on FS1 and wait for a
reply. If DAVE is logged into more than one station, then
all his stations will be notified of your intention to
establish a Phone conversation. If DAVE is not logged into
FS1, then a message stating so will be displayed. If the
fileserver FS1 does not exist, then a message will be
displayed. Pressing any key will clear either of the two
above error messaged. If DAVE is logged on FS1, but does not
reply in what you consider a timely manner, you can press
<esc> to abort the call. This will leave you at the opening
menu where you may enter another user name or exit the
program.
F: PHONE DAVE
Using the above form of the command, Phone will send a
NetWare SEND style message to DAVE on your current server and
wait for a reply. If DAVE is logged into more than one
station, then all his stations will be notified of your
intention to establish a Phone conversation. If DAVE is not
logged into the current server, then a message stating so
will be displayed and you will be returned to the opening
menu. If DAVE does not reply in what you consider a timely
manner, you can press <esc> to abort the call. Doing so will
leave you at the opening menu where you may enter another
user name or exit the program.
There is also another form of the command.
F: PHONE FS2/*
Using this form of the command, Phone will try to make FS2
the current server and display the opening menu. From this
point you use the opening menu as described above. Note that
to use this form of the command, you must be logged into FS2,
or a message stating that FS2 does not exist will be
displayed.
In the event that DAVE is logged in multiple times, and
the notification message is sent to every station where Dave
is logged in, the first station that calls back will be the
one with which a connection will be made. In the event that
two stations logged in as DAVE answer at EXACTLY the same
time, the one with the lower logical station number will make
the connection. If you don't want to alert every station
where DAVE is logged in, and only want to alert the station
where Dave is actually sitting, then the last form of the
PHONE command may be used. Here we assume that DAVE is
logged into FS1 at station numbers 7, 10, and 14, and we want
to talk to the real Dave who is sitting at station 10.
F: PHONE FS1/10
In situtations such as these, it is recommended that you
use the WHEREIS command (described below) or the NetWare
USERLIST command to try to determine exactly which station it
is you want to contact.
In any of the above cases DAVE will get a message similar
to the following:
Please PHONE FS1/AL 10:30:15
If DAVE is inclined to answer, he can type
PHONE AL
And the connection between the two machines will be made.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NetWare SEND STYLE MESSAGE THAT IS
USED TO ALERT POTENTIAL PHONE RECIPIENTS LOCKS THE RECEIVING
MACHINE UNTIL THE USER PRESSES <cntl-enter>. IF YOU TRY TO
PHONE A USER WHO IS NOT AT HIS MACHINE, IT WILL REMAIN LOCKED
UNTIL HE RETURNS AND PRESSES <cntl-enter>.
Once The Connection Is Made
The internal process of making a connection between two
stations running Phone involves the stations exchanging
version information. This is done to ensure that
incompatible versions of Phone do not begin to talk to each
other and possibly cause problems. If the version check is
successful, then a split screen will appear. On the top
screen will appear the side of the conversation of the user
at that station, and the other user's conversation will
appear on the bottom. You may type freely, use the backspace
key, and all the cursor movement keys. You may move about
your own window without restriction. If you try to type past
the edge of the box, automatic wrap to the next line occurs.
Whatever you type on your screen, the other user will see on
his screen. Both users may type at the same time. Aside
from the alphabetic keys, the following keys are active.
<Home> - causes your conversation area to be cleared, and
the cursor sent to the top left corner.
Cursor Keys - cause the cursor to move in the direction of
the arrow.
^G (CTRL-G) - makes a beeping sound on both machines.
<F1> - displays a HELP screen.
Alt S - starts a file transfer SEND operation.
Alt R - starts a file transfer RECEIVE operation.
File Transfer
Either workstation can initiate both SEND and RECEIVE
operations. SEND will transfer a file from your PC to the
other PC, and RECEIVE will transfer a file from the other PC
to your PC.
SEND: To initiate a SEND operation, type Alt S (hold down
the <Alt> key while you press S). The "File Transfer (Send)"
operation box will appear on your screen, while the "File
Transfer (Receive)" operation box will appear on the other
PC's screen. At this time, the keyboard of the other PC is
inactive. It remains inactive until the transfer is about to
begin, at which time it becomes active so that the other user
may abort the transfer. Now you may begin entering the two
peices of information needed for the file transfer. The
"File to be sent" is the name of the file which you want to
transfer to the other machine, and "Remote file name" is the
name of the file created on the other end. If you type the
name of a file that does not exist in the "File to be send"
field, then an error message will be displayed and you will
be prompted to enter another name. The "File size" field
will be filled in automatically. As the file is transferred,
the "Transferred" field will reflect the number of bytes
which have been transferred so far.
Filling in both filenames and pressing <enter> will begin
the transfer. Before the transfer actually takes place,
however, the other party has a chance to abort it. A message
stating "Pressing any key in the next 5 secs will abort
transfer" appears on the screen of the other PC, and "Waiting
for confirmation from other machine" appears on your machine.
If the remote user presses a key, then the transfer will be
aborted, otherwise it will take place.
If you want to quit the SEND operation, there are two
places to do so. Entering no filename (pressing <enter>
without typing a name) in either the "File to be sent" or the
"Remote file name" field will abort the transfer. Once you
have entered two names and pressed <enter> the transfer will
take place unless the other party aborts it.
RECEIVE: To initiate a RECEIVE operation, type Alt R (hold
down the <Alt> key while you press R). The "File Transfer
(Receive)" operation box will appear on your screen, while
the "File Transfer (Send)" operation box will appear on the
other PC's screen. At this time, the keyboard of the other
PC is inactive. It remains inactive until the transfer is
about to begin, at which time it becomes active so that the
other user may abort the transfer. Now you may begin
entering the two peices of information needed for the file
transfer. The "File to be received" is the name of the file
which you want to transfer from the other machine (the name
of the file as it exists on the other machine), and "Local
file name" is the name of the file created on your machine.
If you enter the name of a file that does not exist in the
"File to be received" field, then an error message will be
displayed and you will be prompted to enter another filename.
As the file is transferred, the "Transferred" field will
reflect the number of bytes which have been transferred so
far.
Filling in both filenames and pressing <enter> will begin
the transfer. Before the transfer actually takes place,
however, the other party has a chance to abort it. A message
stating "Pressing any key in the next 5 secs will abort
transfer" appears on the screen of the other PC, and "Waiting
for confirmation from other machine" appears on your machine.
If the remote user presses a key, then the transfer will be
aborted, otherwise it will take place.
If you want to quit the RECEIVE operation, there are two
places to do so. Entering no filename (pressing <enter>
without typing a name) in either the "File to be received" or
the "Local file name" field will abort the transfer. Once
you have entered two names and pressed <enter> the transfer
will take place unless the other party aborts it.
The WHEREIS Utility
If you want to find out all the locations a user is logged
into before invoking PHONE, you can use the WHEREIS utility.
WHEREIS searches all attached fileservers for the username
specified on the command line, for instance:
WHEREIS DAVE
will return every instance that DAVE is logged into all
fileservers to which you are attached. This is especially
useful if DAVE is logged in multiple times and you wish to
PHONE him via his logical station number rather than his user
name.
You can redirect the WHEREIS output to a DOS file by
typing WHEREIS > FILENAME.EXT
You can redirect the WHEREIS output to the printer by
typing WHEREIS > LPT1:
Command Line Specifications
The regular expression which describes the use of Phone
follows:
PHONE ((server/) ((station) | (user) | (*)))
Examples of legal invocations of PHONE follow:
PHONE
PHONE FS1/*
PHONE DAVE
PHONE FS2/DAVE
PHONE FS1/14
PHONE 7
