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BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71718 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 00 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── If you are puzzled about some feature of our system you likely are not alone. We receive many, many questions about how to better use this system, most of them through private mail which you could not see. Of course, the answers to these questions would be helpful to any number of our callers and we find that some of these explanations are new even to other system operators on occasion! In the next few messages, I'll post a series of frequently asked questions and their answers in hopes that one or more of them will be useful to those reading the mail. We'll try to repost them periodically for those new to the system and will be adding more to the list as we go along. We may even change the sequence of the answers depending on how frequently folks keep asking for the info. Have fun! --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ ──────══════════[ Regards.. Andy ]══════════────── BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71719 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 01 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> How do I send private mail through the Internet system? I -> tried sending some things but they never arrived at their -> destination! Does this thing really work? Private messages can be entered in any Usenet conference, however, entering them in conference 256 (Private.Mail) will make managing them much easier. You'll need to have the receiver's address before you'll be able send private messages. This is not a big problem because every message be it private or public will contain the original sender's E-Mail address. Once you have the receiver's address you will enter the message using the following format: 1) Choose 'E' from the PCBoard menu. 2) When prompted for who the message is TO, enter "USENET GATEWAY". DO NOT enter the name of the person here!! 3) When prompted for a subject, enter the subject of the message. 4) When asked for the message security, enter "R" for receiver only. (This is not needed if you enter the message in conference 256.) 5) Set the echo flag to "N" for no. 6) The first line of you message should have "TO: useraddress" 7) Place a blank line between the user address and the first line of your message. Main Board Conference Command? J 256 Private.Mail Conference Command? E TO (enter=ALL)? (USENET GATEWAY ) SUBJECT (enter=ABORT)? (This is a test to Joe ) Echo Message? (N) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1)TO: Execnet.Support@Execnet.Com 2) 3)This is just a test message. 4) 5)Thanks, 6)John. 7)john.doe@execnet.com 8) (A,C,D,E,I,Q,S,S,SN,SC) Text entry command? sn Your message will be sent out, through the gateway, usually within a couple of hours, and again you can check to see if the USENET Gateway has handled your message by checking the READ STATUS line of your message. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ From ExecNet's node 99: we're more than just a BBS BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71720 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 02 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> OK, you let me search directories for text, presumably in the -> description of a file but you guys really need to add more power -> to this! It is definitely lame! We need the ability to search -> for multiple keywords and to really make it useful we should have -> alternate options in there! How about some more additions here? Actually all of that is already in there! Try these samples on a few searches (using your own keywords!): You can use three different boolean operators in your search criteria: & - Search for this AND that (e.g. DISK & FORMAT) | - Search for this OR that (e.g. DISK | FORMAT) ! - Search for anything that does NOT have this (e.g. ! .ZIP) The first example would find any description which had the text "DISK" and the text "FORMAT" in it. The second example would search for any description that had the text "DISK" or the text "FORMAT" in it. The last example would locate any file description if it did *NOT* have the text ".ZIP" in it. Remember, that the (Z)ippy scan will not only search the filename description but it will also search the filename, size, and date. Here are some more examples with brief descriptions to the side: Z DISK A - Searches for "DISK" in (A)ll directories Z DISK & UTIL A - Searches for "DISK" and "UTIL" in all directories Z DISK & (UTI | PROG) A - Searches for DISK and either UTI or PROG in (A)ll directories Z DISK & UTIL 101-500 - Searches for "DISK" and "UTIL" in all directories -> Oh, and don't forget dates in these things! They're kind of -> useful! I guess we're really not doing a good job getting the word out, so to speak! Let's talk about flexibility! Try this one next time: Z N 010192 A DISK & UTIL - This would search all files for the text "DISK" and the text "UTIL". Only the files that are later than 010192 would be searched. All others would be ignored. As you can see, the (Z)ippy command is quite powerful. Play around with it a bit and you will find out just how powerful it is. I could not live without it now as I use it every day. I sometimes wonder how we ever got along without it before! --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Brought to you via ILink(sm) International Mail.. BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71721 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 03 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Qmail is great but I have to manually logon each time I want to -> make a change in my selections. How about adding an easier way -> to do this when you have time? No sooner said than done! OK, so it has been there for a long time. You can ask QMail to scan additional conferences for you (add), stop scanning some of the ones you now have selected (drop) or to alter your current position in a message area (reset), all without ever needing a phone line, through your reader. For these commands to be "seen", simply address the message to "QMAIL" (without the quotes!) and for the subject type the word "CONFIG". Your message can contain multiple lines but only one command is recognized on each line. You can use the follwing commands to alter your current setup in Qmail without ever having to go 'live': ADD <confnum> Add a conference into your Qmail scanning list. "YOURS" can also be added to the command if you wish to receive only those messages addressed specifically to you. Example: ADD 1 YOURS DROP <confnum> Drop a conference from your Qmail scanning list. RESET <confnum> <value> Reset a conference last message read pointer to a particular value. You can use "HIGH-xxx" to set the pointer to a number relative to the highest message number in the base. Some valid examples of command usage... To add conferences, you can: ADD 1 (add conferences) ADD 1-10 (add a range of conferences) ADD ALL (add all conferences) To drop conferences you can: DROP 2 (drop conferences) To reset your last read pointers you can: RESET 3 1000 (To set your "last read" pointer in conference 3 to message #1000) RESET 12-30 HIGH-100 (To set your "last read" pointer in conferences 12-30 to a number 100 messages below the last message number) Qmail will report the results of the configuration changes when it imports a CONFIG message in a .REP packet. The CONFIG message can ride along in the .REP with any other normal replies. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Any fool can criticize & condemn - and most do .. BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71722 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 04 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Why do I get some real slow transfers at times?? The above question is one that just doesn't seem to want to go away. It is most often asked by users who have just recently purchased a high speed modem but even the veterans with high speed modems sometimes ask the same question. Let's look at a few possible reasons: If line noise occurs during the connection process where your modem and the host modem perform their handshaking sequence looking for common ground then it is very likely that the two modems will agree to a SLOWER speed to avoid having problems during the remainder of the connection. For instance, we very commonly have users with US Robotics HST or HST Dual Standard modems complain that their modems are capable of 1700 cps but they are seeing only 1400 cps or maybe 1150 cps or even lower and they ask why. Let me explain: the HST modem has real BPS rates of 14400, 12000 and 9600. With the effects of MNP or v.42 (no compression here) you can figure about a 20% speed increase making the CPS rates 1700, 1400 and 1150 respectively. That makes it very obvious then that during the connection phase the modems agreed to only 12000 or 9600 bps instead of the full rated speed of 14400 bps. In fact, if line noise occurs during the call the modems may very well decide to shift down at that time as well. If 9600 bps is noisy your modem may shift down even further to 7200 or 4800 bps. For the USR HST user you can, immediately after logging off, type ATI6 and your modem will tell you what your connect speed was which may help you determine if the slow down was the speed of the connection. Other modems have similar drop down capabilities. For years people used to state that 2400 bps was as fast as DIAL UP phone lines could handle and that we would never go beyond that rate due to the low bandwidth and high noise levels of telephone lines. Then comes along people like US Robotics and Hayes and many others who make high speed modems practical even on dial up lines. Well, line noise is NOT a thing of the past, lost and forgotten. It is still with us. These new modems are not magic either. They manage to HIDE the line noise and in some cases are able to filter it out or even through special encoding cancel some of the line noise. But it is still there. When line noise occurs during a file transfer between two modems which have established an error correction session the only TANGIBLE EVIDENCE of this line noise may very well be SLOW FILE TRANSFERS and nothing else. The USR HST modem has a light on the front panel labelled ARQ. Depending on which modem may have to recover from the line noise by re-sending its data you may see the ARQ light flash perhaps randomly, sometimes very quickly to indicate that it is having to retransmit the data. Most modems give no indication at all that extra work is being required of the modem. Some modems eventually give up and just drop the carrier completely. Like the first example above the HST's ATI6 report (after hanging up) can give you information as to how many times packets of data had to be retransmitted which may give you some clue as to how noisy the line may have been. If you find that downloading ASCII files produces OUTSTANDING file transfers but that downloading ZIP files cuts file transfer CPS rates 25% or more off of your expected throughput then very likely you have turned on what is called "data compression". If you've ever tried to use PKZIP to zip a .ZIP file you usually find that PKZIP will decide to just "store" the file rather than "shrink" or "implode" the file. Why? Because in its attempt to shrink the file it actually causes the file to GROW in size! Quite the opposite of the desired effect. The same exact thing happens when you try to use your modem's built-in data compression capability on a file that is already compressed. The modem's compression algorithm actually causes the data to GROW (i.e. it sends more bytes out over the phone line than are coming into the modem) which slows the file transfer. One "high tech" solution to the problem is to upgrade your modem to the v.42bis standard. In theory, like PKZIP, v.42bis data compression will detect when it is making the data grow and turn itself off so that the data is sent out un-compressed (similar to PKZIP's simple "storing" of zip files). Again, in theory, that means that you can leave data compression turned on all the time and never have to worry about slow transfers of pre- compressed files. For high speed file transfers to work you generally want to open your port speed (the speed that your PC talks to your Modem) at a rate that is faster than the line speed (the speed that your Modem talks to the other Modem). This is somewhat akin to squeezing a bottle to make the liquid come out faster than if you just poured it out directly. If the data is sent to the modem at 9600 bps then the fastest over-the-phone-line rate will be 9600 bps. By sending data to the modem faster than the over-the-line rate you give the modem time to work on packetizing the data (this is where the 20% increase in speed comes from) and possibly even compressing the data (if compression is turned on and the data is not already compressed). The only trouble is, if you are sending data to the modem FASTER than it can send it across the line then there are times when the PC simply must stop sending and wait for the modem to catch up. That is when a traffic light called CTS and RTS, must enter the picture to control the flow of the data. To indicate when the modem's buffer is sufficiently empty to receive data and to indicate when it is full and the data flow must be stopped. If your modem is not configured correctly for flow control, or if your software is not configured correctly to use flow control, or if your asynch board does not support flow control, or if your modem's cable does not have the CTS and RTS lines wired properly ... all of these possibilities can result in flow control errors which will cause data to be lost. When data is lost due to flow control problems there is only one solution and that is to send the data again! This results in slowing down your file transfer. Zmodem will give a ZRPOS error (which means resend the last block of data) while other protocols will simple indicate an error and expect a retransmission of the data. Full flow protocols such as Ymodem/G and 1K-Xmodem/G have no built-in facility to request that data be re-sent and therefore must CANCEL the entire file transfer if such a loss of data occurs. Similar to the modem's buffer and its traffic light to control the flow of data, your PC, and the SOFTWARE it is using, will set up its own local buffer to receive data from the modem. If you are multitasking on your PC you may be asking the PC to perform other tasks besides attending to the data coming in from the modem. If the modem's buffer (or even the buffer on your asynch card) gets too full and is not emptied quickly enough the data can be lost. Your software should be configured to use flow control to tell the modem when to stop sending data to it. Another course of action is to utilize the National Semi-conductor NS16550AFN uart chip in your asynch port which has a 16-byte buffer on it (that may sound small but it is 16 TIMES the size of the buffer used by all uart chips before it). All things must come together to work in harmony, your modem, your software, your asynch card and cable. And this is only on one side of the connection. The same requirements are necessary on the other side of the telephone line to ensure fast and reliable transmission of data. One more area that people need to learn about is choosing the right protocol for the file transfer. Too often you'll find people using Xmodem to download files when their modems have established a high speed connection. What's wrong with Xmodem, you ask? Xmodem sends packets of 128 bytes of data and after each and every packet is sent it waits for the receiver to tell if it the packet was good or bad. This is fine at slower speeds because if it takes 1/10th of a second to receive this acknowledgement at 1200 bps then at most you've lost the ability to send 12 characters out the port. At 2400 bps that same 1/10th second delay means a slow down of 24 characters. And at 9600 cps the delay means 96 characters. And a 1/10th of a second delay is being OPTIMISTIC here because if you are dialing long distance or going over a satellite or using a packet-switch network the delays might actually be measured in full seconds. Ymodem sends packets of 1024 bytes. This means that the same delay that Xmodem experiences occurs only 1/8th as often because it sends 8 times as much data before waiting for an acknowledgement. Okay, that means that Ymodem will give you faster file transfers than Xmodem. But it still is not perfect. Zmodem, on the other hand, does not wait for an acknowledgement but instead continually sends data until the receiving end tells it to back up to a previous location (ZRPOS) in the data stream and resend that information. Since there are no built-in delays every X-bytes of data you'll find Zmodem gives you excellent file transfer rates. Ymodem/G, having less over-head than Zmodem because it ASSUMES that your modem is configured correctly and that there will be no data loss, is able to send the data even faster than Zmodem. The one caveat: if an error *does* occur then the file transfer must be aborted. In summary ---------- With the above arsenal of information, about line noise, about data compression, about flow control and about file transfer protocols you should have enough information to guide you to the real cause of the slow down in file transfers. There is no "one set answer" to the question. But taken together the above should help you determine which answer, or --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Leading authority: one who guessed right 2+ times BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71724 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 05 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Scanning in your mail door is slooooooow! Anything I can do?? Seems that most of you (by far) make your conference selections through the QMail configuration and simply type "D" to download when calling for mail. Well, there IS a better way, y'know! Especially when you have a relatively small group of conferences selected, the scanning process will take quite a while this way and your packet will be fairly large. Remember that when you do this QMail has to check 4,000 conferences to find out which you have selected! You can speed this process a great deal by specifying the conference to be scanned on the command line while in QMail. Thus, if you had selected conferences 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21 and 256 for scanning, you could do something like: D 10-21 256 which would go directly to conference 10, scan till it reaches 21, immediately jump to 256 and stop scanning! Significantly faster and the packet will be smaller as well! By the way, did you know (you did, but may have forgotten) that you can do all this right from our "Main Board Command" prompt? To perform the above scan, download the packet and log off automatically, at the "Main Board Command" prompt you could easily type/send: QMAIL D;10-21;256;Y;G which also adds the "Y" to answer the "do you want to download.." question and "G" to log you off when done. And yes, of course you can also add "U" for uploading yourr packet, which might look something like: QMAIL U;D;10-21;256;Y;G Hey, what do you mean you didn't know that? :-) Since ExecNet is now comprised of 4,000 conferences, maed up of the various networks, such as ILink, BasNet, SourceNet and the numerous networks which make up the Internet/Usenet world, you may find this little tip REAL handy! Incidentally, some of you have asked why scanning is "so much slower" on this system than on other system(s) you call.. The answer? Probably because the other system(s) do not have 4,000 conferences to look through... ;-) Hope this helps some ... --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ When over the hill, you begin to pickup speed.. BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71725 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 06 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> I've been getting a LOT of line noise lately! Anyone else -> having this problem?? What gives?! We (nearly) always receive complaints from folks saying that they are getting a lot of bad blocks on file transfers or that they are seeing real slow response times on our system. Usually they leave a message demanding to know what is wrong with our system. The answer? Nothing at all... It seems like certain times of the year introduce more line noise on the phone line than others - line noise being any noise on the phone line other than what was placed there by the sending and receiving modems. Some causes of line noise are: 1) wet ground conditions which introduce electrical changes in the phone company's telephone lines, 2) increased traffic on the telephone lines, 3) older (wearing) telephone lines and circuitry, 4) use of satellites for transmission can cause delays and sometimes introduce line noise, 5) weak modem signals, etc. Number 1 is seasonal, numbers 2 and 3 are continually getting worse, number 4 you often have to live with when calling overseas and number 5 can be caused by modems or any combination of all of the previous items. To make matters worse - there is absolutely *nothing* that you can do with software to make any of the above items any less severe (or any more for that matter). Yet often when we release a new version of PCBoard people often come to us and ask if the new version is causing more line noise than the previously release - yet it has nothing to do with PCBoard at all. Some modems can handle line noise better than others. In fact, some modems HIDE the line noise so completely that you never see it. Other modems (such as 1200 or 2400 baud modems WITHOUT error correction) cause the line noise to be displayed on the screen as junk characters which have nothing to do with the actual data being transmitted. Most of the high speed modems on the market today include noise filters, echo cancellation circuitry, etc. which actually makes them much more resistant to line noise than your average slower speed 2400 bps modem! On top of that, they generally include an error correcting protocol, such as MNP or v.42, which masks out the line noise completely by retransmitting lost or garbled data. This retransmission of data is completely transparent to you - meaning: you will never see any difference since the data always looks clean. HOWEVER, during this retransmission process the speed or responsiveness of the session may be severly affected. With an error correcting modem you can generally determine that there is line noise on the phone line by monitoring the speed of file transfers which may drop drastically as the modems resend the data between themselves. Additionally, the responsiveness when typing can slow to a crawl as the modems try to verify each keystroke on a noisy line. So what can you do about line noise? You can contact your phone company and let them know that you are getting something less than you expect out of your telephone service. While a single person may not make a difference - it will make a difference if we all keep the phone company "in touch" with what we are experiencing on our phone lines. After that about all you can do is wait for the phone company to try to make the phone lines better or - in the case of seasonal line noise - wait for the weather to change. In the mean time what can be done? We have found that using AT&T for your long distance service can quite often cut down on the amount of line noise experienced when using "other" long distance carriers. You can reach our system by dialing out thru AT&T even if your default long distance carrier is *not* AT&T by dialing the numbers "10288" in front of the phone number you want. For instance, to reach us you could dial: 10288,1-914-667-4567 to reach the HST phone lines 10288,1-914-667-4066 to reach the Dual Standard (v.32) lines Of course, if the source of the line noise you are experiencing is coming from the LOCAL phone lines (on either end of the connection) rather than the LONG DISTANCE carrier - then even switching long distance carriers will not solve the problem. However, often times you can get a better phone connection simply by redialing and hoping to go thru a different set of circuits/lines the next time you connect. In short, you can make line noise easier to live with by: 1) using better modems, 2) masking it out with error correcting modems, 3) using a different long distance carrier to make your connection or 4) redial to get a better phone connection. One thing that will *not* make the phone lines any better is leaving a message to the sysop demanding better service. If you do - we will, of course, pass the word on to our local phone company so that they can keep an eye on the quality of our local phone lines. But don't expect us to be able to fix a problem that exists within the phone lines used to connect your modem to ours. We'll do our best to keep our system up and running, to keep all modems operational and to keep the phone company appraised of our situation. From there it's up to the phone company and whichever long distance service you choose to use to make sure you get a good, clean connection. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ If you're strong enough, there are no precedents. BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71726 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 07 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> When I subscribed I thought I was supposed to get a copy of the -> Deluxe reader. Was I wrong? I have not see anything about it! The Executive Network offers free on-line updates of both Qmail Deluxe and EZ Reader programs to registered users. Some of our memberships also include a free copy of such a program. Many of you asked how to go about getting the reader of your choice or how to get the latest upgrade of same. Believe it or not, it is quite simple! QMail Deluxe Qmail Deluxe is available for downloading to the public as D2-121.ZIP at the time of this writing. Note that this name may change with future revisions. The file you download is a demo version only which requires a QMAIL.KEY file to make it fully functional. You can always download the latest version of the reader (the demo) regardless if you have purchased the software or not. If you have a .KEY file you are all set. Should the .KEY file have changed or if you have just purchased the reader you will need to download the .KEY file from us. You can do this quickly via the QMail system. At our main system prompt simply enter "QMAIL KEY" (without the quotes!) and you'll be on the way! If you acquired Deluxe from the Executive Network simply select the download option. Note that the transfer is automatically set for XModem - not your default protocol! This is a very small file and it makes sense to use XModem. If you acquired Deluxe at Sparkware or some other place you must have a .KEY file in order to get a new one from us. Simply select the upload option, transmit your current .KEY file and you will receive the latest copy automatically via return transfer. If you have no .KEY file or if your Deluxe serial number contains the letter "s" (sysop copies) you must call Sparkware for the upgrade. Once you have the latest version of the .KEY file place it in your Deluxe directory and you are all set! EZ Reader If you are a registered EZ Reader user you have a password assigned to you by the author. It makes no difference if you acquired the registration her or elsewhere. The EZ Reader update program is available through our selection of "doors". Simply type OPEN or DOOR to view the available options. Once in the update program you will be asked for the password and will have a few choices to make. The system will prepare your serialized copy of the requested reader and you will be able to download it, along with documentation using your preferred protocol. Please note that our system cannot identify you unless the author has added your information to the files. We have no control over this process. If your name is not yet listed we cannot help you. Likewise, a common error is registering here as "BOB" while your EZ Reader registration read "ROBERT". The system will not be able to match you to the files! This is all there is to it. Give it a try you'll find it simple and quick! Should you have further questions we'll be happy to answer them. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Never insult alligator until you crossed the river BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71727 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 08 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Would I be better off buying a modem with MNP? If yes, why? Three things (and I'll discuss both MNP -and- v.42 since they have the same benefits and the same reasons for being): 1) MNP (or v.42) provides you with an ERROR CORRECTED session between your modem and the modem at the other end of the phone line. If you have ever logged onto a system and found that you could barely read or write messages due to all of the line noise .. then you can appreciate the difference between a "clean line" and a "noisy line". When both modems have MNP (or v.42) then they are capable of filtering out the line noise. BUT, make no mistake about it - the line noise may STILL be there .. it just does not get printed on your screen nor the host screen because the modems have filtered it out. This "filtering process" is similar to the error correction protocols such as Xmodem or Ymodem. They send a block of data and a CRC together and if the receiving modem finds a different CRC value then the two modems resend the data until it is corrected. So, in the same manner that a file transfered with Ymodem is pretty much guaranteed to be "correct" after it arrives (even though line noise may have caused several re-sends of the data) the same is true of data that you see on your screen when using error correcting modems. 2) The second benefit of MNP (or v.42) is that while it is creating data packets for the "error correction protocol" it is able to reduce the size of the data by stripping out start and stop bits. For instance, a normal character takes up 8 bits plus 1 start bit and 1 stop bit for a total of 10 bits. On that basis you can figure that a 2400 bits per second modem will give you a maximum throughput of 240 characters per second (because each character is 10 bits long). The MNP (or v.42) protocol can strip the start and stop bits which subtracts 20% of the data and gives you a 20% increase in speed (minus a few percentage points for the protocol overhead). Therefore, without even compressing the data you can expect to see as much as 270 characters per second on a 2400 BPS line (versus the "norm" of about 235 cps on the same line). 3) The third benefit of MNP (or v.42) is DATA COMPRESSION. In the BBS world you are probably aware of files that are ARC'ed or ZIP'ed. The reason for using ARC or ZIP is to decrease the size of the file before storing it on disk - and then uncompress the file when you want to use it. This saves disk storage. When performing file transfers it also saves time! The data compression capabilities of MNP and v.42 are not nearly as good as either ARC or ZIP. But on straight ASCII text they are still capable of decreasing the data to about 50% of its size. Decreasing by 50% means that you can DOUBLE the throughput on the line so that a 2400 bps modem can effectively transmit 480 cps (the speed of a 4800 bps modem!). Now the drawbacks...... 1) You only get the benefits of MNP (or v.42) if the modem at the OTHER END also has MNP (or v.42) built into it. All our Member lines are equiped with MNP error correcting modems! 2) Data Compression between modems is only effective if the data being transferred is NOT ALREADY COMPRESSED. This means that you can expect to see fast transfers on ascii text files - but transferring a file that is already compressed (such as an ARC or ZIP file) will actually be SLOWER than if the modems did not perform any data compression. Unfortunately, in the BBS world compressed data is more common than non-compressed data. Sure, you'll be able to read messages faster (if you can move your eyes that fast!) and you can download bulletins and other non-compressed data faster. But downloads of most files on BBS's will actually be slower. Fortunately, you can usually tell your modem to turn data compression off (prior to making the phone call) so as not to slow down your file transfers. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ I am fascinated by the way memory diffuses facts BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71728 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 09 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> I read something about a fax gateway when I subscribed. How do -> I use it? The Executive Network's Fax Gateway is no more difficult to use than entering a message! But, you must observe some minimal differences. First off, you must be in the right conference area of our system. You can do this quickly from our Command prompt by entering "J FAXMAIL". Of course, if you are using an off-line reader you'll be doing it somewhat differently. Please, DO NOT use the FaxMail area for mail exchange. It should be used for outgoing fax documents ONLY! To enter (or record) a fax to be sent simply create a message containing the data you wish to send. This is identical to entering a message anywhere on our system. Use the message "TO:" field to enter the destination fax's telephone number. Make sure you specify area code & number if the area code is not 914. Likewise, make sure you do not specify the 914 if it is! This is no different than if you were dialing a telephone! When our system warns you that the "user" is not in this conference, simply continue (C). Make sure you include the recepient's name, clearly, near the top of your fax! If you are using an off-line reader like Deluxe2, do not worry about sending. It will happen anyhow. If you are typing live and wish to send immediately, use the command "SENDFAX" at the conference command prompt (after you have saved the message). Our system is setup to periodically look for unsent fax documents and batch send them. Using the "SENDFAX" command is not a requirement. There are some limitations on the fax gateway at the moment as it will only accept transmissions to some (relatively) nearby area codes. For sure, the 212, 914, 516, 201, 203 area codes are all available. If you're having a problem sending drop us a line! --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Inflation is when the buck doesn't stop anywhere! BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71729 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 10 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> I am using an XXXXXX brand V.32 bis modem and I was told it can -> connect to others at 14,400 bps! When I call ExecNet, sometimes I -> get the high speed connection, at other times only 9600 and yet -> others only 2400 bps. Why is this? There are a few reasons for this happening. First of all, at the time of this writing (September 92) we only have 6 V.32 modems on-line and out of these 6 only 2 are v.32 bis (or 14.4) capable. Second, our telephone numbers 'hunt', that is they automatically seek the next available telephone line when one of the is in use or busy. As a result, even though you are likely calling our high speed access number (914-667-4066), you can get bounced by the hunt sequence, depending on usage at the time. If the v.32 bis modems are in use you will be bounced to a standard, 9600 bps v.32 modem. If all of these are used as well your call is passed further down the line to a node which is equipped with a US Robotics HST modem which is not v.32 capable, thus the 2400 bps connection. We are addressing the problem and are in the process of upgrading many of our modems. We expect the new modems to be arriving here from the manufacturer in groups, with the next 4 being expected during the second half of September 92. By late this year we expect to have most of our nodes at least v.32 capable so the 2400 bps connection you are now experiencing should be only a memory! --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71730 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 11 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> When doing a (Q)uick Scan of messages I see little characters -> to the left of the numbers in the display. What do these -> things mean? These are status codes used by our system to control message reading. They may restrict the list of people who can read it or protect a message or .. Here they are: ╔═════════╤════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Status │ ║ ║ Code │ Description ║ ╠═════════╪════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ │ ║ ║ Blank │ A public message, can be read by anyone ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ * │ A private message read by someone, but not yet read by ║ ║ │ the actual or intended recipient of the message. The only║ ║ │ people who can read such a message (beyond the intended ║ ║ │ recipient) are the operators of the system ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ + │ A private message which has been read by the official ║ ║ │ recipient ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ - │ A public mmessage sent to a specific user which has been ║ ║ │ read by the adressee ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ ~ │ A COMMENT addressed to the System Operator, not yet read. ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ ` │ A COMMENT addressed to the System Operator which has been ║ ║ │ read ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ % │ An unread message protected by Sender Password ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ ^ │ A message protected by Sender Password which has been ║ ║ │ read ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ ! │ An unread message protected by Group Password ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ # │ A message protected by Group Password which has been ║ ║ │ read ║ ╟─────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ $ │ A message addressed to ALL but protected by a group ║ ║ │ password ║ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ So, now you know what all those funny little characters mean... :-) --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Too much of a good thing is wonderful! BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71731 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 12 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Many people new to high speed modems initially experience problems with flow control. At high speed (where the modem sends data across the phone line as fast as the PC sends it to the modem) you'll likely not see any problems at all. However, at low speed (where the speed at which the PC sends data to the modem is SEVERAL TIMES faster than the speed at which the modem sends it out over the phone line) the problem appears. These problems can manifest themselves whenever one side has a slow and the other a fast modem, regardless which one you might have. Consider the following 3 pictures: (1) (2) (3) PC-to-Modem 2400 bps 9600 bps 9600 bps ┌┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ││ │ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ │ ┌───┘└───┐ ┌───┘ └───┐ ┌───┘ └───┐ Buffer inside │ │ │ │ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ the modem │ │ │ │ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ │░░░░░░░░│ │░░░░░░░░░░│ │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ └───┐┌───┘ └───┐ ┌───┘ └────┐┌────┘ ││ │ │ ││ ││ │ │ ││ └┘ └──┘ └┘ Modem-to-Modem 2400 bps 9600 bps 2400 bps You could compare these diagrams to a bucket with one hose putting water into the bucket and one hose draining water out. If the hose that is putting water into the bucket is bigger than the hose that lets the water out then the bucket is going to fill up. In this case you need to have the water turned off from time to time in order to let the water in the bucket drain out through the smaller hose. In other words, you need some kind of "Flow Control" on the big hose. Your modem, likewise, needs to utilize flow control so that the modem's buffer doesn't overfill with data to go out over the phone lines. If that flow control isn't working then the buffer will overflow and data will be lost (just like water would be spilled from the overfilled bucket). Okay, so we know what the description of a flow control problem is like and how to identify that the problem being experienced is related to flow control. Now how do we find the problem and fix it? Well, there are three possibilities: 1) The serial CABLE may not have the CTS and RTS pins wired up. It is quite common for us to hear someone tell us "No way, it can't be the cable!" and often enough they finally end up eating their words. Usually the cable is the last thing you'd suspect and so it is the last thing you will try to fix which just means a lot of wasted effort for not having considered the cable as a source of the problem. The fix? Try a 25-pin STRAIGHT THROUGH cable. That's more pins than a modem needs... but the point is they are ALL wired up and they are ALL straight through. If that doesn't fix it then go on to #2. 2) The ASYNCH CARD may have CTS disabled. Don't ask me why... but it was very common when asynch ports first came out to have the CTS signal disabled. Perhaps because back then most software didn't care and most modems didn't have mis-matched input and output speeds. The fix? Usually a jumper or switch on the card. Check your docs. 3) The MODEM may have CTS disabled. Again, probably for the same reasons as for the asynch card. Check your docs to make sure that you have the modem configured properly. In most cases if the modem is listed in PCBModem then and you run PCBModem to set it up it should be configured correctly for RTS/CTS flow control. BE AWARE: Flow control problems can occur on BOTH sides of the connection. In other words, the modem on the BBS side of the phone line, if it has a buffer, should also be set to honor flow control. If it is not then there is a very real possibility that flow control problems will happen on that end. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Mondays are the potholes in the road of life! BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71732 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 13 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Having trouble getting automated (scripted) connections to a BBS. I -> never have problems connecting here though! The problem is that -> when the call is answered the question about do you want graphics -> never gets transmitted and I have to hit a key to get the display -> rolling. I haven't had time to test out why but I was getting Given the following scenario: 1) A NON-MNP modem is on the BBS (or a modem with MNP disabled) - and - 2) Your modem has MNP and the MNP features are enabled You will connect to the BBS and will fail to see the "do you want graphics" prompt and everything that system displays UP TO that prompt. The problem is this: your modem, with MNP enabled, eats the first FOUR SECONDS of data that comes from the BBS modem in an attempt to determine if the BBS modem also has MNP. Because the BBS modem does not have MNP the first four seconds worth of data transmitted is lost. There are three possible solutions to this problem: 1) Call only BBSs which offer an MNP or errorcorrecting connection. :) 2) DISABLE the MNP features of your modem when you dial a BBS where you knows in advance does not have MNP on its side. No harm done here. The connection will be much faster. The only disadvantage is that it's your responsibility. There is absolutely *nothing* you can do on the BBS side to fix the problem. 3) Another solution is to IGNORE the fact that the "do you want graphics" prompt is missing and ANSWER IT anyway. In other words, type "Y" and press ENTER as if you could see the prompt on the screen. You'll see the "Y" appear and after pressing ENTER you'll proceed normally to the "what is your first name" prompt. With the prices of MNP modems dropping the way they are you can expect most BBSs to increasingly have MNP modems on their end. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Careful! Your thoughts might become words any time BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71733 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 14 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Every time I run certain programs on my PC I keep getting an "Out of -> environment space" message. ny ideas or suggestions? "Out of Environment Space" is a DOS error message indicating that your environment space (the space in memory used to hold your PATH, your PROMPT and any other "SET" statements you may have) cannot hold the new SET command you are trying to issue. To correct this you could either decrease your environment needs (shorten your PATH or other SET statements) or you could increase your environment size. To increase your environment size you could edit your CONFIG.SYS and insert a line such as this: SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:256 /P If you already have a "SHELL=" command in your config.sys file then you would need to increase the number after the /E parameter by perhaps another 128 bytes. The above line tells DOS to set up a 256 byte environment space. The default is 160 bytes. We recommend NOT going overboard on this... we have found that some programs will lock up or behave erratically if an environment size of 1024 bytes or larger is used. That is actually a very large environment size and you should find that you can fit everything you'll ever need in about 512 bytes. If you're running Windows and experiencing "Out of Environment Space" errors then the problem is that Windows passes only a very small amount of environment space to DOS programs when it runs them. This is IN SPITE of whatever /E:xxx setting you used in config.sys. To get around this limitation what we recommend that you edit your autoexec.bat file and include a line such as this: SET DUMMY=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Then as the first line of the batch file in your DOS window you would include another line such as this: SET DUMMY= What happens is this: DOS allocates sufficient room to hold your DUMMY environment variable and Windows has to pass it on to the DOS window. Then your DOS window promptly frees the space that was used by DUMMY making it available to any other SET statements you may want to then use. You *may* need more than one DUMMY variable (different names for each) in order to allocate sufficient memory to pass to your DOS windows. Don't forget to release each of them with the "SET xyz=" statement at the top of your batch files. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Reading about music is like making love by mail BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71734 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 15 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> I am confused about various high speed modems available, can -> you help? 1) The old USR HST had a top transmission speed of 9600 bps. This is before taking into account any kind of MNP compression. Typical throughputs with the old HST ranged from 1150 cps on a compressed file with the modem-compression-DISABLED to 1900 cps on a regular text file with modem-compression-ENABLED. The HST will only transmit at 9600 bps when connected to another HST but will connect at 300/1200/2400 baud to other standard modems. 2) The newer USR HST (termed the 1440) is able to transmit data at 14400 bps (again, this is before taking into account MNP compression, etc). Typical throughputs with the new HST will range from about 1500-1700 cps on a compressed file with modem-compression-DISABLED to about 2300-2400 cps on a text file with modem-compression-ENABLED -- this is assuming that you've opened your comm port at 38400 bps. The HST will only transmit at 9600 bps when connected to another HST but will connect at 300/1200/2400 baud to other standard modems. 3) The Hayes V-Series 9600 modems are similar to the old USR HST described in #1 above. You will typically see throughputs as high as 1900 cps on text files but only about 960 cps on compressed files. The Hayes V-Series 9600 will only transmit at 9600 bps when connected to another V-Series 9600 modem but will connect at 300/1200/2400 baud to other standard modems. 4) Hayes has recently begun shipping its V-Series modems with new ROM chips in them giving them v.42 compatibility. This means that the V-Series 9600 modems can now provide an error-corrected session when connected to any regular MNP modems at 2400 bps. This is because v.42 implements MNP levels 1 through 4 (which excludes MNP compression). You will typically see throughputs of about 260-280 cps on a 2400 bps line due to MNP's stripping of the start and stop bits. 5) The v.32 modems (such as those made by US Robotics and MultiTech) run at 9600 bps and will give you similar throughputs to those described in #1 above (i.e. v.32 will give you slower transmission speeds than will the new HST's running at 14400 described in #2). However, the advantages of v.32 are that it provides you with better "interactive response times" (such as when typing) and that because v.32 is a CCITT "standard" they will connect at 9600 bps to modems made by OTHER manufacturers. By "other" I mean that you can connect US Robotics v.32's to MultiTech v.32's to any other v.32's. The v.32 standard appears to be one that remain for some time to come .. so purchasing a v.32 modem may be a better investment if you are concerned about future compatibility. However, v.32 still costs more than the proprietary standards such as the HST 9600 or the V-Series 9600. 6) The USR Dual Standard is BOTH a v.32 and an HST modem. When it is in the "HST mode" everything said in #2 above (about the new 1440 HST's) is true. When it is in "v.32 mode" then everything said in #5 (about v.32 modems) is true. In other words in v.32 mode you will not get the full speed advantage of the Dual Standard for file transfers. However, one BIG advantage to the Dual Standard is that it is compatible not only with the v.32 standard but with all of the existing HST modems as well. This may or may not be an advantage for you depending on which modems you frequently dial into or which modems dial into you. 7) Hayes is working on a v.32 modem that is similar to the v.32 description given in #5 above. I cannot comment further on this modem due to lack of details that have been given to me. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ No one really knows enough to be a pessimist! BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71735 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 16 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> What the devil is the difference between all those V numbers -> (like V.32, V.42)? Do the higher numbered ones mean better -> modems? With so many v. (pronounced VEE DOT) standards you can get confused just thinking about them and even more confused if you try to pronounce them all in the same sentence. We will attempt to explain some of the differences and myths surrounding these topics. The v.32 standard is a "modulation" standard. I like to compare it to the AM and FM standards used in radio broadcasting. Not only are they at different frequencies but they use different modulation techniques. There are different modulation standards for 300, 1200 and 2400 baud. The v.32 standard is a full duplex (data going both ways simultaneously at the rated speed) standard for 4800 and 9600 bps connections. The "bis" means simply that it is an enhanced v.32 standard. Modems incorporating v.32bis are capable of transmitting data not only at the 4800 and 9600 bps standards but also at the higher 12000 and 14400 bps standards. Again, like the slower v.32 speeds the data can move in both directions simultaneously at the rated speed. The v.42 standard is an error correction standard. It is a method by which data is packetized and sent between modems to ensure that the data that arrives at the receiving end is the same as what was transmitted. MNP is another error correction standard. In fact, the v.42 standard includes MNP as an "alternate" method in case a modem is not v.42 compliant .. in other words v.42 modems can connect with MNP modems and achieve a "reliable" connection. Yes. The v.42bis standard adds a high level of data compression to the error correcting facilities built into the v.42 standard. For example, an ascii text file that is 100K in length could, while being transmitted, be compressed down to just 25K making a 4:1 reduction in size. On the receiving side the transmitted data is expanded out to the original 100K size. In effect, the transfer rate of the modem can be double, triple or even quadruple the rated speed of the connection by compressing the data before transmitting it and uncompressing it on the other end. It should be noted that this type of data compression, while very useful for downloading ascii files, bulletins, messages, etc, is useless when downloading ZIP or ARC files which are already compressed. A commonly asked question is if v.32 modems will work with v.42 -- and the answer is yes. If you asked the question "can I transmit ENGLISH over an FM RADIO FREQUENCY and have the listeners understand" the answer would be the same and for virtually the same reasons (here we're likening the v.42 method of packetizing data to ENGLISH and the v.32 method of modulation to FM RADIO TRANSMISSIONS). The v.42 and v.32 standards are for two completely different (but complimentary) areas of communication. In fact, you'll most likely discover that every v.32 modem you find has v.42, MNP or some other kind of error correction control built into it. So, combined together, a modem with v.32bis, with its higher transmission speeds, and v.42bis, with its greater compression ability, can be very fast when transmitting and receiving data. For example, a v.32 modem's raw throughput at 9600 bps would deliver 960 cps. Adding v.42 brings you up to 1150 cps and if the data is compressible then with the compression capability of v.42bis you could see even greater speeds (2 to 4 times greater depending on the data being compressed). A v.32bis modem's raw throughput of 14400 bps delivers 1440 cps. Adding v.42 brings you to 1700 cps and with data compression, again, it is possible to achieve 2 to 4 times that speed depending on the compressibility of the data being transferred. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Reply to: Andy.Keeves@ExecNet.Com or 914-667-4567 BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71736 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 17 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Why do I get asked twice if I want to use the Full Screen Editor? -> Use Full Screen Editor? Y -> Full Screen Editor requires ANSI capability -> Use Full Screen Editor? N The second, redundant, question is merely to make sure that you want to use the full screen editor. It is asked because ExecNet was unable to confirm that you have ANSI capability on your end so it wants to warn you in advance that you need ANSI capability. If you then answer YES to the second question you will immediately go into the Full Screen Editor. You'll want to be aware of a new question that is asked when using the (W)rite User Info command: Full Screen Editor Default: (Y)es, (N)o, (A)sk? The responses given perform the following: Y = Default to using the Full Screen Editor - don't ask first N = Default to using the Line Editor - don't ask first A = Ask user if he wants to use the Full Screen Editor with a default of YES if he is in EXPERT MODE and ANSI has been detected or a default of NO in any other case. So now you can choose your default and leave it at that while others may choose a different default or prefer to be asked each time. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Statistics are no substitute for judgement BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71737 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 18 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> Why doesn't my BACKSPACE key work in the Full Screen Editor? A number of COMM programs allow you to swap the action or definition of the BACKSPACE and the DELETE keys and you've got your program set up incorrectly for PCBoard's use. Take the following table for instance: Key ASCII code --------- ---------- BACKSPACE 8 DELETE 127 If your comm program is set to swap the BACKSPACE and DELETE keys then it will send a 127 when you press the BACKSPACE key instead of an 8. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ From ExecNet's node 99: we're more than just a BBS BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71738 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 19 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> When logging onto other PCBoard systems and scanning for mail I get a -> display something like this: Messages Messages Num Conference To You Found ----- ------------- -------- -------- 0 Main Board 0 1 1 Networks 0 4 2 Invetments 2 129 3 Tech 0 31 4 BBS-Ads 0 44 256 Private.Mail 4 36 To get a display like this, when you log into ExecNet you can request the above format by typing an "A" to scan all conferences and a "Q" to use Quick Scan format. But, be careful! If you have not selected the conferences you wish to scan (via the SELECT command) the display will take a *long* time due to the number of conferences we offer! The following scan commands are available to create your prefered display: (A) scans all message bases (S) scans only for mail left since the last message read (C) limits scan to current message base only (+) or (-) forces the direction of the scan (Q) display in Quick Scan format (L) display in Long Scan format (NS) displays text output in non-stop mode The help screen for the Y command will give more information on this. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ Leading authority: one who guessed right 2+ times BBS: The Executive Network Information System - New York 914 667-4567 Date: 10-09-92 (23:57) Number: 71739 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: EXECNET SUPPORT Read: NO Subj: ExecNet FAQ - 20 Status: PUBLIC MSG Conf: Main Board Direction: FORWARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── -> When I log on ExecNet and it says I have messages, it doesn't -> tell me what the message number is. How do I know which one to -> read... Tell it to use the LONG format on the message scan. You can do that by typing an "L" at the "scan for messages?" prompt which overrides the default here which is the (Q)uick format. --- ■ DeLuxe² 1.20 #8s ■ From ExecNet's node 99: we're more than just a BBS