OS/2 Shareware BBS: 3 Comm/03-Comm.zip/phn111.zip/PHONE.HLP

OS/2 Help File | 1994-09-17 | 25KB | 691 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. The LAN Telephone program ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The reason for this program is to give you a controlled way of chatting to
someone at another computer in the network.

The program accepts command line options.

It is important the there are enough NetBios resources for each instance of the
program.

Use the program like this:
Just start the program and choose Call... from the Connect pull-down menu.
There you will see a list of other users currently running the program. Choose
one of the users, click on the key marked Call user and you are calling
him/here. If the other user chooses to answer your call you will get connected.
Then you can type your message to him and, at the same time, see what he is
typing to you.

It is recommended that you keep the program files on your local hard disk. This
way you will be able to communicate with other users even when you are not
logged on to the network. You will even be able to connect when the server
computer is shutdown and/or turned off.
The only requirement is that your LAN requester must be started.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Help for Connect ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this pulldown-menu you find the options to:

Call another user. (A window showing all possible recipients will be showed.)

Ansver an incoming call.

Hang-up on another user.

Block your phone from incoming calls.

Exit the Telephone program.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Help for Call user... ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

To call a remote user you need to specify whom to call. By choosing the
"Call..." option you will get a dialog box showing all users possible to call.

The users shown in the list are users that have:
A) Started their computer.
B) Started the LAN requester software.
C) Started their own instance of the Telephone program.

Users with status Busy or Blocked will not answer your call.

Busy users are already involved in a conversation with someone else. Blocked
users don't want to receive any calls.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Help for Answer (Phone line) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When a remote user calls you, this will be indicated both on the speaker and in
the status window.

If the program is minimized it will show a dialog box, giving you the chanse
either to answer the call or to ignore the call.

By choosing the Answer action you will accept the incoming call and a
communication session will be established.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Help for Hangup (Phone line) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Any one of the two users in an established communication session may choose to
do a hang-up. When this is done the communication session will be terminated
and both users will get ready to establish a new session. Both users will get
notified of the disconnection by a text in the status window and also by a
small beep on the speaker.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Help for Block phone ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

If you don't want to receive any calls, you can use the Blocked action to "lift
the receiver".

When you want to resume receiving incoming calls, you use the Unblocked action
to "replace the receiver".


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Help for Blocked ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

With this action, you will put your phone line in a blocked state. Then you
will not receive any incoming calls.
You cannot hide this state. Other users will see your state in their call list
when they want to make a call to someone.

When you enter the blocked state, a checkmark will be shown on this menu
alternative and an information text will be shown in the status window. If you
minimize the program, it will also be visible that you are blocked.

While in blocked state, you can still make an outgoing call. Note though, that
after any call you will not return to the blocked state, but automatically your
phone will become unblocked.

To resume, you use the Unblocked action. Then you will receive all incoming
calls again.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Help for Unblocked ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

If you have blocked your phone line, you use this action to resume receiving
incoming calls. If you call someone else, while in blocked state, you will
always return to the unblocked state.

When you enter the unblocked state, a checkmark will be shown on this menu
alternative.

The program will always be started in the unblocked state.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Help for Exit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The Exit option will disconnect any pending calls and terminate the Telephone
program.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Help for Answ. machine ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this pulldown-menu you find the options to manipulate the answering machine.

You may:
Choose if you want it to answer incomming calls.
Read all received messages.
Setup the behaviour of the answering machine.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Help for Answer (Answ. machine) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you will find sub-menu alternatives for:
Answer all calls to the answering machine or
answer no calls to the answering machine.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Help for answer all (Answ. machine) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When you choose this alternative your answering machine will answer all calls
according to the rules you have setup in your answering machine preferences.

This choise will be checked as an indication of the auto-answer state.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Help for no answer (Answ. machine) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When you choose this alternative your answering machine will answer no calls at
all.

This choise will be checked as an indication of the no-answer state.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Help for read (Answ. machine) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When you choose this alternative you will be presented a dialog box containing
a list of all messages received by your answering machine.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Help for Setup (Answ. machine) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you will find sub-menu alternatives to:
Choose the name of the file containing all your Answering machine messges.
Give your own preferences to how your answering machine is to behave.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Help for setup file (Answ. machine) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When you choose this alternative you will be presented a dialog box where you
choose the name of the file containing all your answering machine messages.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17. Help for setup preferences (Answ. machine) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When you choose this alternative you will be presented a dialog box where you
can setup the prefered behaviour of your answering machine.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18. Help for Edit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this pulldown-menu you find the options to manipulate either the incoming,
the outgoing or both windows at the same time.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 19. Help for Incoming ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The incoming window is where the remote users text will be presented for you.

In this menu you find the sub-menu options to:

Copy text to the clipboard.
Clear the incoming window from any text in it.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20. Help for Both ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you will find options to manipulate both the incoming and the outgoing
windows at the same time.

In this menu you find the sub-menu options to:
Clear both the incoming and the outgoing windows from any text.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21. Help for Outgoing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The outgoing window is where you type your text. Everything you type to this
window will be presented in the incoming window at the remote computer. You
also have the possibility to use the backspace key to correct any typing
errors.

In this menu you find the sub-menu options to:

Paste text from the clipboard to the outgoing window.
Break the pasting of text from the clipboard.
Clear the outgoing window from any text in it.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22. Help for Copy ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

With this action you can copy text to the clipboard from the incoming window.

This is a little bit difficult, since in this situation both you and the remote
user want's to have control of the window at the same time. You take control of
the window by marking some text with the mouse. Then you can copy the marked
region, either by using the keyboard (Ctrl-Insert) or by choosing this action.

Of course, you could wait until the conversation is over, disconnect and then
do your copy. But then you loose the possibility to get your data right away.

All copying to clipboard will be done from the incoming window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 23. Help for Paste ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

With this action you can paste text from the clipboard to the outgoing window.
The receiver will see this text coming in just as if you had typed it in from
the keyboard.

This action is available only when you are connected to another program and not
already pasting text. I.e. you cannot start two pasting actions at the same
time.

If you want to stop the pasting action, then you use the break paste action.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24. Help for Break Paste ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

With this action you can break an ongoing paste action.

The clipboard is rather abstract. You have to know by hart what's there before
using the data. If you for instance realize that you have just started a paste
of 1 megabyte of text, then you can use this option to stop pasting, without
having to hang up the line.

This action is available only when you have started a paste action.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 25. Help for Incoming clear ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This action will clear the incoming window. All text in the window will be
deleted.

This action is not available when you are connected to another user.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 26. Help for Both clear ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This action will clear both the incoming and the outgoing windows. All text in
the windows will be deleted.

This action is not available when you are connected to another user.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 27. Help for Outgoing clear ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This action will clear the outgoing window. All text in the window will be
deleted.

This action is not available when you are connected to another user.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 28. Help for Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this pulldown-menu you find the options to configure the programs behaviour.

Ring signal


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 29. Help for Ring signal ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

By choosing this action, you will be able to configure how the program should
behave when another user is calling you.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 30. Help for Help pulldown ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Under this menu alternative you will find the choises for:

Help index.

General help.

Using help.

Keys help.

Product information.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 31. Help using Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you will find the help for using the help facility.

The help facility is delivered with the operating system and it's services are
used by most Presentation Manager programs.

The help facility is called upon whenever you ask this program for help. The
help information concerning this program is also delivered in it's help file,
but the help facility contains it's own help. I.e. Help using Help.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 32. Help for Keys Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

HID_KEYS_HELP Put a description of the KEYS HELP option here.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 33. Help for Help Index ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When choosing the help index you will get a list of all help actions. By
choosing from this option you can get help for a specific topic in the program
without making the topic the current task.

Doubble-click on a topic to get the desired help.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 34. Help for ProductInfo ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The product information will show you a window containing information about
this product. The information will be the product name, the product version and
a copyright banner indicating who has written this software.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 35. Help for Available users ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The available users dialog box is presented when you choose the Call... action
from the menu.

Here you will find the user list, containing a list of users running another
instance of the program. Use the mouse or the keyboard to choose a user in this
list. The choosen user will be marked by inverted colours.

You will also find 5 pushbuttons marked:
     Call the choosen user.
     Send a message to the choosen user.
     Refresh the user list.
     Cancel this operation and terminate the dialog box.
     Help gives information about all actions possible to perform in this
     dialog box.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 36. Help for User list ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this listbox you will find one line for every Telephone program running in
your network.

When this dialog box is created, a question is broadcasted all over the network
to investigate what other instances of this program is running. When the remote
programs identify themself, they will be presented here. All entries will be
sorted in a descending order. There is a reason for this. That way the programs
reporting that their user is logged off from the network will be placed in the
end of the list. It is assumed that you will prefer calling the computers where
you know who will answer.

The first column in the list contains the User ID of the user currently logged
in to the network on that computer.

The second column contains the ID of the computer from where a response is
received. Only those computers will respond where an instance of the PHONE
program is running. If the user at the remote computer have started more than
one instance of the program, all but the first instance will be suffixed by an
instance number.

The third column contains the reported line status. Status can be one of the
following:

Blocked.
     The user has choosen not to accept any calls from anyone. (It might still
     be possible to send a message to this user.)

 Busy.
     The user is already connected to someone else. (Even in this case it might
     be possible to send a message to the user.)

 Free.
     This is not indicated at all. The user is ready to receive a call.

 Note that the status is presented as it was reported when the status question
 was responded to. The situation is constantly changing, without furter notice.
 Even if a user is indicating he is free to receive a call, someone else might
 call him before you do. To see the current situation, push the Refresh button.

 The last column contains the user comment. It is up to the network
 administrator to decide what is the users comment for the users in the
 network. Very often it is the users complete name, wich is highly recommended,
 but there is no guarrantee that there will be any useful information at all.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 37. Help for Compose and send message ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In the Compose and send message dialog box you will se any outgoing message
from the remote users answering machine and also compose a message to be sent
to the remote user.

If the remote user has got any outgoing message to send it will be presented in
the upper window. Otherwise a default message will be placed there.

The two lower windows are where you compose your message. You may choose to
enter a short subject about the message. A subject will be visible to the
receiver without actually opening the message.

You are not allowed to send empty messages. Every message has to contain at
least one character, either in the subject or in the message body. If your
program is registered, you may send up to 10 KB (!) of text. If your program is
unregistered, you may send no more than 128 characters. When the size of your
text is within the limits, the Send push-button is enabled. If the push-button
is disabled, you are out of bounds.

If you are not allowed to send any characters at all, then either the remote
program is terminated or the remote user has turned off the answering machine.

Note!
You have a limited clipboard interface. (Text only.) From the upper window you
may paste to the clipboard. In the two lower windows you may cut, copy and
paste text to and from the clipboard.

When your message is composed, click the Send push-button. The message will be
sent to the remote user and the dialog box will be closed.

If you have changed your mind, just click the Cancel push-button and the dialog
box will be closed without sending any message.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 38. Help for Configure - Ring signal ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When a remote user is calling this program, the program will behave different
according to the rules you have set up.

Ring signal
     Flash means that the program, or it's icon in minimized state, will start
     flashing when an incomming call is detected. At the same time, a few
     signals will be sent to the computers speaker for every ring signal.
     Ring emulates a telephone ring signal on the speaker. In the Number of
     signals each ring controll, you tell the program how many signals will be
     sent to the speaker each time a telephone ring signal is produced.
     When the Message box when minimized check-box is marked, the program will
     be easier to find in a stressed situation. If you have a lot of windows
     covering the screen, and suddenly someone is calling, the program produces
     a small dialog box. The box is placed on top of all other windows and is
     instantly possible to manipulate. From this box you choose either to
     answer or to ignore the call with a click on a push-button.

 Note that you cannot make the program completely quiet here. If you don't want
 the program to generate any sounds at all, then you will either have to block
 the program or to configure the answering machine to answer after 0 (zero)
 calls.

 Ring tone
     When you have choosen the Ring style signal, you may also choose the
     frequency for the ring signal. You may choose between high, medium and low
     signal.
     Of course, this can be used to fit you personal choise. Another use might
     be if you are more than one person working in the same office. Then it
     might be convenient to have different ring signals, thereby making it
     easier to hear who's computer is calling.

 If you click the Use push-button, your selection will be used throughout this
 session only.

 If you click the Save push-button, your selection will be used throughout this
 session and all comming sessions, until you change the values again.

 If you click the Cancel push-button, no changes will take place. The same
 values as before will be used.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 39. Help for Answering machine setup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

If someone is calling you and you don't answer, it is possible to let the
Answering machine take a message.

When auto answer is turned on, the program will wait the number of ring signals
indicated, and then offer the calling user to send you a message.
If you set the number of ring signals to 0 (zero), then you will be running the
program in quiet mode. I.e. you will never hear any ring signals. All calls
will be taken care of by the answering machine and remote users will only be
able to send you messages. No interactive communication will take place.

When auto answer is turned off, then all calls must be taken care of by
yourself, or the calls will not be established.

If your answering machine is turned on and you check the Auto answer when
blocked option, then you can block your phone and still receive messages.

You have 4 push-buttons in this dialog box.

     If you click the OK button, then the configuration you have done will take
     effekt.

     If you click the Filename button, then you will be presented a dialog box
     where you configure what should be the filename where your answering
     machine messages will be stored.

     If you click the Cancel button, then no changes will be done.

     If you click the Help button, then you will get this help.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 40. Help for Received messages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you will see a list of all messages currently stored in your answering
machine. Choose a message by selecting it with the mouse or keyboard. If you
have choosen a message that you are allowed to read, you will see the subject
for the message (if any) in the top window. Then you may Open or Delete the
choosen message.

In the Read column you will see an asterisk (*) for those messages that have
already been read.

The Date and Time columns shows when the message was received.

The From user and at computer columns shows the origin of the message.

The To user column shows who is allowed to read the message. If you are not
logged on to the domain controller, then you may only read messages sent to a
logged off user. If you are logged on, then you may read all messages to
yourself and all messages to a logged off user.

The same rules apply for deleting messages. In addition, if you choose to
delete a message that is still unread, then you will be asked to confirm the
action.

This leads to the conclusion that if you send a message to someone who is
currently logged off, then anyone at that computer may read your message.
Remember that there is no real connection between a computer and a user.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 41. Help for Incomming message ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In the listbox you will see the complete received message. In the header, above
the listbox, you will see the origin of the message and when it was received.

You will have limited clipboard capabilities. You may copy parts of the message
to the clipboard, but you may not cut to, or paste from, the clipboard.

You have 3 push-buttons in this dialog box.

     If you click the Delete button, then the message will be deleted.

     If you click the Keep button, then the message will be kept in the
     answering machine, but it will be marked as read.

     If you click the Help button, then you will get this help.

 The checkbox Read another message will allways be checked when this dialog box
 is opened. If the checkbox is still checked when you close the dialog box,
 either by choosing Delete or Keep, then you will return to the list of
 received messages.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 42. Help for Preferences ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In the Preferences dialog box you may configure the programs behaviour to fit
your personal opinion.

Local behaviour.

The Startup options describe how the program is to behave when it is first
fired up.
     Automatic size means that the program will get the same size as it had
     when it was last terminated.
     Maximized means that the program will allways be maximized when it is
     started.
     Restored means that the program will allways take the system default size
     when it is started.
     Minimized means that the program will allways be minimized when it is
     started.
     Blocked input line means that the program will enter the blocked state
     immediately when it is started.
     Count messages means that the program will count any received messages
     stored in your answering machine file when it is started. If you do have
     any unread messages, then you will get notified.
     Note that counting messages is activated in registered versions of the
     program only.

 The Close options describe how the program should behave just before it is
 terminated.
     Confirm when connected means that you will be asked if you really want to
     terminate the program if you try to do this while connected to another
     user. If this is not selected, then the program will disconnect (hangup)
     and terminate upon your request without further notice.

 Communication.

 The Session options are yet not implemented.

 The Clear windows options describe how the different windows in the program
 should behave.
     When the Incomming is checked, then the incomming window will allways be
     emptied in the same moment as you, or the remote user, does a hangup.
     When the Outgoing is checked, then the outgoing window will allways be
     emptied in the same moment as you, or the remote user, does a hangup.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 43. Command line options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The program accepts command line options. Options are case sensitive. Boolean
options are lower-case. Options that also carry some data information are
upper-case. These options also contains a colon ':' between the option
identifier and the data. All options are prefixed with either a hyphen '-' or a
slash '/'.

Available options:

-e
     If given, create a log file of all detected error situations.

 -A:n
     where n is the logical LAN Adapter number. It is up to the user to make
     sure the logical adapter number is valid. If this option is omitted, a
     default value of 0 (zero) will be used.
     Don't use this option unless it's necessary.

 -I:n
     where n is the Instance number of the program. By specifying different
     instance numbers, you can run several instances of the program on the same
     network card. The instance number will, if higher than zero, be added to
     the computer ID. Other users can choose what instance to call, even though
     they are running in the same computer. The instance will also be visible
     in the title bar of your program. If this option is omitted, a default
     value of 0 (zero) will be used and nothing will be concatenated to the
     computer ID.

     A hint is to create several program objects on the desktop, all
     referencing to the same program, but with different startup options and
     with different object names. Normally all programs that where running when
     you last shot down your computer will be restarted by the operating
     system. But if you have turned off the AUTOSTART PROGRAMS option in your
     CONFIG.SYS file, then you should place at least one of them into your
     startup folder. This way you will never forget to start the program after
     a boot.

     Example:

     Create two objects. The first object is given the name LAN phone - 0. This
     object does not contain any command line options.
     The second object is named LAN phone - 1 and contains the -I:1 command
     line option.
     By starting both instances of the program, you can now have two telephone
     sessions running at the same time.

     Take care!
     By starting several instances of the program you might occasionally run
     out of NetBios resources.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 44. Domain controller ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

When you logg on to "the network" you actually logg on to a computer acting as
the controller of your domain. In most cases this will be the same computer as
your file server, but it could just as well be a separate computer. The domain
controller is the computer where you ask for permission to logg on with a
specific user name. If the domain controller accepts your request, then you
will thereafter be identified in the network with that user name.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 45. NetBios resources ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Every instance of the program uses 6 NetBios sessions, 7 NetBios NCB's and 7
NetBios names.

To configure these parameters you should use the LAPS (LAN Adapter and Protocol
Support) program, included in the LAN Server/LAN Requester package.

At boot time the IBM OS/2 NETBIOS 4.0 device driver reports how much of these
resources are left to application programs. Note that the resources left are to
be shared among all application programs that use the NetBios communication
protocol.