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OS/2 Help File
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1996-03-16
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23KB
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640 lines
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
EuroDial is yet-another telephone dialler, which however, is designed to
address a number of requirements not met elsewhere. For a start, if you are a
user of the IBM Works for Warp, you will find EuroDial will consistently dial
the telephone! Many users have found that early versions of the Phone dialler
failed to interface correctly to the modem.
Another design feature is cater to users like myself, who are constantly
changing countries of residence. Most software originates in the USA where the
concept of foreign countries and borders is not well understood <bg>. EuroDial
permits you to configure your current country and area code and automatically
adjusts the telephone number you want to dial. Thus you do not have to edit
your phone book every time your job takes you across another border.
What EuroDial is not, is a Personal Information Manager. It is a self-contained
VX-REXX application which dials the phone from a list of numbers, and nothing
more. Hopefully it will be useful to those who need a dialler but do not want
to install the entire IBM Works package.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. The Main Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The EuroDial main window is a standard Presentation Manager interface, with a
container to display the phone book entries and a menu bar and a toolbar to to
effect actions on the entries. As usual, with PM applications, right-clicking
within the container will produce a context-menu.
There are three main topics about the main window:
Using the Menu bar
Using the Toolbar
Using the Entries container
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. Using the Menu bar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The menu bar has three pull-down options:
Dial General control functions for the application.
Entries Functions to add, edit, delete and paste phone book entries.
Help Invokes the Help dialog.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1.1. The Dial pull-down ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This pull-down controls the major functions of the dialler.
Option Action
Dial This is the main choice and dials the currently selected
phone book entry.
Settings This option opens the Settings notebook where the dialler
is configured.
Save This option causes the current entries in the container to
be written back to the database file immediately.
Browse This choice displays the call log of calls made.
Sort Sorts the current page into alphabetical order.
Arrange Currently the icons are auto-arranged so this option has
little effect.
Exit Saves the entries to the database and closes down the
application.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1.2. The Entries pull-down ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This pull-down is used to edit phone book entries. There are three options:
Option Action
Add This option displays a dialog to add one or more entries to the
phone book.
Edit This option is used to edit an existing entry.
Delete This option is used to delete one or more selected entries.
Paste Pastes the address for the selected entry into the clip-board
so it may be merged into a document.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. The Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The toolbar gives one-click access to the major functions of the dialler.
Button Action
Dial button Click on this button to dial the current entry. This
button is also a drop target, you may drag an entry here
to start dialling.
Browse button Click on this button to display the phone call log. If the
log has been hidden it will be redisplayed.
Add button Click on this button to display the Add entries dialog.
Settings button Click on this button to open the Settings notebook.
Create button Click on this button to create a FastCall Object on the
desktop. This button is also a drag target.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. Using the entries container ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The entries are listed in a standard PM container, the appearance of which is
set using the View page in the settings dialog. A single click on an entry
selects it, a double click or pressing the Enter key causes the dial dialog to
be invoked. Multiple entries may be selected as usual, by holding down the Ctrl
or Shift keys. Right-clicking an entry displays the Entries menu option.
Particularly languid users may also drag icons to the Dial button on the
toolbar. Right-clicking on empty space in the container displays the Dial menu
option. Entries may also be deleted by dragging them to the Shredder object.
Different colours and fonts may be dragged on to the containers, in the usual
WPS way. They will be remembered at the next invocation of EuroDial.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. The Phone Book Entry Dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog is used to add a new entry to the phone book or edit an existing
one. Entry details are organised into three pages in a notebook. The first page
contains personal information which is free-format. The second page is for
dialling information which must obey certain rules. Basically, the various
codes must be numeric, of course, but in the local number part dots and hyphens
may be used to make numbers more legible. Also, the special characters * and #
are permitted for smart telephones. The third page is for addressing
information. This is of course not required by the dialler but is provided so
EuroDial may be used as an address book. The Paste option on the entry menu may
be used to copy the address to the clip-board, from where it may be inserted
into a document in an editor or word-processor.
Personal Details
Phone Details
Address Details
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.1. Personal Details ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This page is used to enter the name and location of the person or organisation
being entered. A suitable icon may also be selected.
Family Name field
First Names field
Location field
Icon field
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2. Phone Details ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog specifies the various codes and prefixes needed to make a call from
your current location.
Country Code field.
Area Code field.
Local Number field.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3. Address details ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This page is provided for the convenience of the user. EuroDial makes no use of
this information except to paste it to the clip-board if required.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. The Settings Notebook ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Settings notebook is used to configure the dialler. Normally, this need
only done after first installation or if you have crossed a border or if you
wish to customise the appearance of EuroDial. It is organised into four pages
in a notebook.
Page Usage
Codes This page displays a dialog where the dialling codes appropriate to
the country you are currently in can be set.
Modem This page causes a dialog to be displayed where modem details may be
set.
View This page is used to control the mode of the container for the phone
book entries. Entries may be displayed in icon or detailed format.
The background colour or bitmap may be set here.
Style This page also controls the features of EuroDial. The toolbar, menu
bar and status area are all configurable. The limited use of sound
may also enabled here.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. The Dialling Codes Dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog is used to specify the local PTT access codes for international and
long-distance calls, and your current country and area codes so that dialled
numbers will be as short as possible. For example, within the European Union
(and most of the rest of Europe) the code for international calls is 00 and for
long-distance calls 0, whilst in North America these codes are 011 and 1
respectively.
International Prefix
Country Code
Long-distance Prefix
Area Code
Exchange Prefix
There are also the standard push-buttons.
Set
Undo
The Help button invokes this help file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.2. The Modem Configure Dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog must be used for an initial setup to tell EuroDial vital
information such as, which comm port to use and any non-standard modem strings
required.
Comm port Selection
Speed Selection
Reset command string
Initialise command string
Dial command string
Hangup command string
The dial-retry parameters may be set here.
Number of retries
Pause time
There are also the standard push-buttons.
Set
Undo
The Help button invokes this help file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3. The View Dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The view dialog controls the appearance of the main container. There are five
group boxes containing a number of radio buttons which toggle the various
properties.
View
Colour
Format
Icon Display
Image
There are also the standard push-buttons.
Undo
Default
The Help button invokes this help file.
.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.4. The Style Dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows the user to customise the various parts of the EuroDial main
window. Then menu bar, toolbar and status area are all optional. Additionally,
the toolbar icons are available in two sizes and the use of sound in call
connection may be suppressed.
Show Toolbar
Show Menu Bar
Show Status Area
Enable Sounds
There are also the standard push-buttons.
Undo
Default
The Help button invokes this help file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Dialling a phone book number ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This may seem obvious but might be useful for someone new to modems. After you
have selected an entry, a dialog is presented showing the exact number that
will be dialled. This will not in general be the full number you entered, but
will be shortened as much as possible depending on your current location
relative to the number being dialled.
If you are satisfied that the number is correct, click on the Dial button (or
press Enter) and pick up your telephone handset. You will hear the number being
dialled. When you hear a ringing tone, click on the Hangup button to put the
modem back on-hook. This gives control over to your telephone and, if you
don't, your conversation will be heard from the modem speaker, causing an echo
and possible feedback loops.
Of course, if you hear a busy tone, or some other dissuasion signal, you should
also Hangup the modem.
The Confirm Dial dialog
The Elapsed Time dialog
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.1. The Confirm dial dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog displays the precise number to be dialled for you to check, and
Dial/Hangup and Cancel buttons. See the section Dialling a phone book number
for a detailed description of the use of these buttons.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.2. The Elapsed time dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
While a conservation is in progress, a dialog is displayed showing the elapsed
and current time. You may use the Start/Stop button to pause the timer if, say,
the callee takes a long time to answer. When you hang up your handset, click on
Stop to stop the elapsed timer, and then click on one of the check-boxes to
record the status of the call. Then click on HungUp to dismiss the dialog and
return to the main window. There is an entry box where notes may be made about
the call. The call details are written to a log file and may be viewed using
the Browse option .
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. The Call Log Browser ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog displays the log of phone calls made, sorted in descending order of
the time and date the call was made. This dialog contains no menu or toolbar,
simply right-click to display a context-menu of options to sort or exit the
dialog. A read-only entry box will display any notes made about a particular
call.
The log browse appears in a secondary window and this under WPS rules will
always overlay the main window. However, if you minimise the browse container,
EuroDial will hide the window until you click on the Browse toolbar button
again.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Create FastCall Object ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Dragging an entry record to the FastCall Object button (or using the popup
menu) will create an program object icon on your desktop representing the
record. Double-clicking on this object will invoke the EuroDial Dial dialog
directly. So frequently used numbers can be dialled very quickly.
EuroDial calls SysCreateObject in update mode specifying an ObjectId
constructed from the name and location of the record. Thus if you attempt to
create a second FastCall Object from a record, the first object will updated in
situ, providing the name and location data are exactly the same. Of course, an
object may have as many shadows as you like.
Hint: Move all your FastCall Objects into a folder and then shadow the objects
onto your favourite launch pad. This way your favourite numbers are a single
click away. If the launch pad supports bubble help, this is particularly cool.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. A note from the author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Despite the sales pitch in the introduction, EuroDial was mainly written as a
bit of fun, and as an attempt by an old mainframe hack from wayback to enter
into the wonderful world of GUI and PC programming. Having said that, I hope
that someone finds this program useful and any suggestions, bug reports,
encouragement, abuse, offers of contracts in exotic locations, convertible
currency, airmiles, will be gratefully received.
It will immediately be stunningly obvious that EuroDial lacks a pizza icon.
Anyone possessing one of these should, please, email it to me immediately!
Also, if EuroDial failed to correctly deduce your local international access
code, please email me and I will make a correction. I do not actually know all
the world's nations access codes.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to all those contributors to the IBM Talklink OS2BBS who have
assisted me with numerous problems during the development of this software.
This is EuroDial 1.1 and incorporates several new features, including redial if
the number is busy and the introduction of FastCall Objects, which provides a
level of WPS integration.
Robin Atwood March 1996
CIS: 100277.537 Email: 100277.537@CompuServe.Com
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter text here for the family or company name. This entry must be present.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This is an optional field. Enter first names, titles, department codes, etc.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This is an optional field to differentiate between one person with many
numbers.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Select an appropriate icon to display alongside the entry. The default is the
EuroDial icon. Click on the Select button to display a container of useful
icons. You may add your own icons to the EuroDial icon directory.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter the country code part of the number. This only is used if it is different
from your currently configured country code.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter the area code of the number. If the country does not use area codes (eg,
Luxembourg or Hong Kong) leave this field blank. Note the area code should not
contain a leading zero: this is not part of the number and is configured in the
dialling codes dialog.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter the local number here.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter here the number used to prefix country codes.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter the country code of the country you are currently located in.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter the digit used to prefix area codes for long-distance calls (almost
universally 0).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter here the code for the area you are currently in. If you do not have one,
leave this value (and the long-distance prefix) blank.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter here whatever codes are necessary if you are dialling-out via a PABX
(this has never been tested).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This button causes the new values to be written to the INI file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This causes the code values to be restored to those of the preceding Set
command or, if no Set has been issued, the initial values.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Select one of COM1 to COM4.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Select the highest speed your comm port supports (not the highest speed of your
modem). It is unclear what difference, if any, this parameter makes to a
dialler, but it is provided anyway.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This string is used to reset the modem prior to use. It defaults to ATZ which
should normally work, but you may like to use AT&F instead.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This initialises the modem for use. The parameters are standard and will be
described in your modem documentation.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This command is used to dial the number. Note that DT is used for telephones
connected to exchanges which support tone dialling, otherwise DP must be used
for pulse dialling (ugh!). The S11=55 is used to control the speed the number
is dialled. You will find 55 msecs between tones satisfactorily fast.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This is used to hang up the modem after the number has been connected to, and
H0 should work in most cases.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This parameter controls how many times a number will be redialled if is busy.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This parameter controls the number of seconds to pause between retries.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This button causes the new values to be written to the INI file and the modem
to be reinitialised.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This causes the modem values to be restored to those of the preceding Set
command or, if no Set has been issued, the initial values.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This group contains two radio buttons which toggle the container view between
the icon and detail layouts. Note that both views are automatically arranged
but not, after the initial load, sorted.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This group box contains a check-box to specify if the container background is
to be colour-only or may be a bitmap image. Clicking on the Change Colour...
button invokes the OS/2 Mixed Colour Palette. Unchecking the Colour only box
enables the Image control group.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This group controls the format of the icon view. You may choose radio buttons
to select flowed, non-flowed or non-grid.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This group controls the appearance of the icons. You may choose radio buttons
to select normal size, small or invisible formats. In Detail view the invisible
format is disabled.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This control is used to specify a bitmap image for the container. A Find dialog
is provided so that the filestore may be browsed for BMP files.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This button may be used to undo the most recent changes to the preceding
values.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This button may used to reset the View to the install default.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Unchecking this box causes the toolbar to made invisible. There is also another
check-box to select small or large icons if the toolbar is visible.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Unchecking this box causes the menubar to become invisible. Note that right
mouse-clicking on empty space in the container will produce a context-menu
similar to the menubar.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Unchecking this box suppresses the status message area at the bottom of the
container. Note that if you do this, the hints and error messages will not be
displayed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Unchecking this box prevents EuroDial from playing wave files when a call has
connected and been terminated. If there is no multimedia on your system, this
box is disabled.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This button causes the previously used values to be reinstated.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This button causes the install default values to be set.