To use this demo, start by configuring ProTERM for your communcations hardware (your modem). Follow the steps below under “Configuring ProTERM.” If you have difficulty determining which modem to select from the “Device” list (in the Configure command), use ProTERM's automated “Modem Tester” tool. This tool automatically determine which entry in the Device list is the best choice for your modem. To do this, follow the steps below under “Using Modem Tester.”
NOTE: The demo version requires you to configure ProTERM each time it is used.
After configuring ProTERM, you must create “descriptions” for each service you are going to connect to. Follow the steps below under “Creating a Service.” Once you have created your services (and they appear in the Connect menu), follow the steps below under “Connecting to a Service.”
Configuring ProTERM:
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1- Choose Configure from the Connect menu.
2- Leave the Method pop-up menu set to Default.
3- Select your modem from the Device pop-up menu.
4- After modem selection is complete, click the OK button.
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Using Modem Tester:
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1- Choose Exec from the File menu.
2- Select the file named “Modem Tester” from the “Extras” folder.
3- Click the Exec button.
4- Follow the directions presented by the Modem Tester tool.
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Creating a Service:
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1- Choose Create from the Connect menu.
2- Enter a name for the service and click the Save button.
3- Wait for the large window with the name of the service to open.
4- Enter the phone number in the Phone Number field.
5- Select the desired modem speed (bps) from the Speed pop-up menu.
6- The other options may be changed, but can be left as-is. Additional options such as terminal emulation can be accessed by clicking the radio buttons.
7- Choose Close from the File menu.
8- When asked to "save changes?", click Yes.
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NOTE: To change service information after creation is complete, choose the service from the Connect menu and edit as needed. Choose Close from the File menu when changes are complete.
NOTE: To connect to a service using Telnet, set the Method pop-up menu to Telnet and enter the internet address in the Phone Number field.
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Connecting to a Service
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To connect to a service, choose the name of the service from the Connect menu. When the service description window opens, click the Connect or Retry button. The Connect button makes one attempt to connect to the service. The Retry button makes repeated attempts (until the connection succeeds or you cancel the attempt). When you connect to the service, the service description window closes and a terminal window opens. All of your interaction with this service takes place through the terminal window.
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FYI: While ProTERM is attempting to connect to a service, you’re able to choose a different service from the Connect menu and click its Connect/Retry button. This adds that service to the “dialing queue.” If the first connection fails (because the service is busy), ProTERM attempts to connect to the next service in the queue.
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The terminal window displays incoming text from the service. When the terminal window is full, text scrolls off the top of the window, but is captured in scrollback. By moving the scrollbox, you can review text which previously scrolled off the window. Note: the demo limits the amount of text which can be reviewed to several screens. While connected to a service, you can click the "paws" icon in the lower-left corner of the terminal window to pause the incoming text. The up/down arrow icon provides quick access to the current online options.
While connected to a service, you can:
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• Transfer files to or from a service. The file transfer commands are located in the Send and Receive sub-menus in the Online menu.
• Participate in real-time two-way conferencing. Choose Chat Mode from the Online menu to open a separate “chat buffer” window easy chatting without confusing text mixup.
• Display a keyboard emulation map. Choose Keyboard Online menu to determine which keyboard keys are used generate which terminal emulation function keys.
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When you finish using the service, give the service to the command to disconnect. ProTERM can detect when the service has disconnected and appends a "banner" at the end of the terminal window giving the date/time of the disconnect. If you need to force a disconnect, choose Disconnect from the Online menu. After disconnecting from the service, you can continue to use the scrollbar to review, select and copy text from your previous session.
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Using the Editor
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ProTERM's integrated editor is a powerful tool which allows messages and replies to be easily created offline. The editor is fast and flexible and includes many commands to manipulate text as needed in a communications environment. Note: the demo version does not allow editor documents to be saved or printed, and limits their size to around 8000 characters. In the release version, editor documents can use as much memory as is available.
To create a new editor document (such as a reply to a message), choose New from the File menu. You can immediately start typing text into the editor window. Use the arrows or mouse to move the cursor and perform editing. The three icons at the bottom-left of the editor window control the display of paragraph markers and white-space, and enable/disable smart-quote conversion.
The Edit menu and Convert sub-menu (located in the Edit menu) provides many useful tools for manipulating text. Of particular interest are the Reply Format, Format Test and Send ASCII command. The Reply Format command reformats text with reply markers to the left of each line of the text (such as "GS>"). The Format Test command displays a document as it would look with all formatting and text conversion performed. The Send ASCII command allows text to be sent directly from an editor document to a service. Procedures for using each of these commands are given below.
Using Reply Formatting:
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1- Highlight the text you want to convert to reply format. This text may be something you cut and pasted from the terminal window.
2- If the text is in normal paragraph format, choose Paragraph Format from the Convert sub-menu. Skip this step for text in tables and other special formats.
3- Choose Reply Format from the Convert sub-menu.
4- Enter the reply prefix to be inserted at the start of each line.
5- Click the Format button.
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Using Format Test:
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1- Choose Format Test from the Edit menu.
2- A new editor document called “Format Test” is automatically created.
3- The Format Test document shows your document in its formatted form. Tabs are expanded to spaces, special Macintosh symbols (like • and “ and ”) are converted to ASCII equivalents, and RETURNs are added to each line.
4- When done viewing the formatted document, choose Close from the File menu.
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NOTE: Though not possible in the demo version, the release version allows the formatted document to be saved. This is useful for services which allow messages to be uploaded with a protocol transfer.
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Sending Editor Text to a Service:
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1- Connect to the service.
2- Enter the appropriate commands to get the service to the point at which you would normally type in your messages.
3- Highlight the text you want to send from the editor document.
4- Choose Send ASCII from the Edit menu.
5- If the service displays a prompt when it is ready for you to type a line of text (such as "1>" or "1:"), enter the prompt character (such as > or :) in the Prompt field.
6- Click the Send button.
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Other Notes
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ProTERM includes full multi-session support (up to 7 sessions). To use multiple sessions, you need either a network connection or two modems. In the case of a network connection, just connect to multiple services with Telnet. To use multiple modems, use the Configure command to define another connect method (call it "Modem #2"). Set the Device menu to correspond to the modem type. Choose a service from the Connect menu and set its Method to "Modem #2". To see multiple sessions, connect to that service, then choose a service in the Connect menu which still has its Method set to Default and connect to it.
ProTERM has excellent multi-tasking support. This means that while your modem is busy doing something (like transferring a file), you can continue to use other ProTERM commands. During a file transfer, review the terminal window or edit a document. You can also have multiple macros running simultaneously.
ProTERM includes a sophisticated macro language which uses much of the syntax of C. For those interested in seeing the macros, you can open the files called AutoTime (Exec Me) and Resident Macros, both located in the Macros folder. Due to their size, they can only be partially loaded by the demo editor. Nonetheless, they provide a “feel” for the flavor of the ProTERM macros.
The AutoTime Macro helps to demonstrate the flexibility of the ProTERM macros. This macro can connect to a time server and then set your Macintosh clock to the proper time. If you would like to try this sample macro, choose Exec from the File menu and select the “AutoTime (Exec Me)” file from the Macros folder. Before using this macro, you should use the Map control panel to verify that the location and timezone of your Macintosh is correct. Keep in mind that this macro places a long-distance phone call to the time server.
