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I N C O M M : P C P D I A L Version 1.0.1 The Ultimate PcPursuit Automated Dialer From the "In Command of PcPursuit..." line of software products Developed and Published By FutureSoft Technologies P.O. Box 822 Hartselle, AL 35640 USA (205) 778-9561 Program and Documentation Copyright 1992 FutureSoft Technologies All Rights Reserved. No parts of this document or accompanying software may be copied in part or in whole, except as provided in the License statement included with this product. "In Command of PcPursuit..." is a trademark of FutureSoft Technologies. Other product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners. InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, February 22, 1992 TABLE OF CONTENTS ===================================== Introductory Sections ===================== I. Packaging.................................................. 04 II. What is PcPursuit?......................................... 06 III. The PcPursuit Dialing Dilemma.............................. 07 IV. InComm:PcPDial and ICEX.................................... 08 V. Why such a low price?...................................... 09 Informational Sections ====================== 1.0 Introduction............................................... 10 1.1 Warranty and Liability..................................... 11 1.2 Hardware/Software Requirements............................. 12 1.3 Support Information........................................ 13 1.4 Quality Pledge............................................. 14 1.5 Registration Information................................... 15 1.6 Software Pricing Information............................... 16 1.7 License Agreement.......................................... 17 1.8 Contacting FutureSoft Technologies......................... 18 1.9 Shareware Marketing Concept (Our View)..................... 20 Product Sections ================ 2.0 Installation Procedures.................................... 22 2.1 Converting ICEX Dialers to InComm:PcPDial Dialers.......... 23 3.0 InComm:PcPDial Manager..................................... 24 3.1 Miscellaneous........................................... 25 3.1.1 About............................................ 26 3.1.2 Exit Manager..................................... 26 3.2 SprintNet Dialer........................................ 27 3.2.1 Dial............................................. 28 3.2.2 Open............................................. 29 3.3 Target Dialer........................................... 30 3.3.1 Open............................................. 31 3.3.2 Create Command File.............................. 32 3.3.3 Copy Entries To Clipboard........................ 32 3.3.4 Cut Entries To Clipboard......................... 32 3.3.5 Paste Entries Before Current..................... 32 3.3.6 Paste Entries After Current...................... 32 3.3.7 Dispose Clipboard................................ 33 3.4 Terminal................................................ 34 3.4.1 Open............................................. 35 3.4.2 Shrink........................................... 36 3.4.3 Grow Maximum..................................... 36 3.4.4 Disconnect City.................................. 36 3.4.5 Close............................................ 36 3.5 Configuration........................................... 37 3.5.1 SprintNet........................................ 38 3.5.2 Communications................................... 39 Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 2 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.6 Help.................................................... 40 3.6.1 Contents......................................... 41 3.6.2 Glossary......................................... 41 4.0 Dialer.................................................. 42 5.0 Command Line Options.................................... 43 6.0 File Selection Dialog................................... 45 7.0 Dialer Dialog........................................... 47 8.0 Dialer Entry Edit Dialog................................ 49 9.0 Dialing Status Window................................... 51 10.0 Seamless Interfacing to your Favorite Comm Program...... 53 10.1 The Connect.ic File.................................. 55 11.0 Known Problems with InComm:PcPDial...................... 56 Appendix A : Error Messages, Explanations, and Solutions..... 57 Appendix B : Glossary of Terms............................... 64 Registration and License Form................................ 68 Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 3 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 I. Packaging ============= In the distribution package you received InComm:PcPDial with (typically this will be InPCP101.zip), you should find the following files: Install.exe This is the installation program. De-archive your distribution archive into a temporary directory and execute this program to install InComm:PcPDial. Dialer.exe This is the Dialer program portion of InComm:PcPDial. Manager.exe This is the Manager program portion of InComm:PcPDial. Manager.hlp This is the product's help file. Convert.exe This is the convert utility, used to convert ICEX format dialers into InComm:PcPDial format dialers. InPCP101.doc This is the documentation file you are currently reading. Tutorial.doc This document provides a step-by-step walk through on how to use InComm:PcPDial. WE STRONGLY SUGGEST PERFORMING THIS TUTORIAL. PCPInfo.txt A text file put together from information provided on the PcPursuit BBS, The Net Exchange. This file explains what PcPursuit is, along with registration information. License.frm This is the Registration and License form. Print this out, fill it out, and mail with payment to register a software license for Incomm:PcPDial. SprntNet.ict This file is the SprintNet dialer. Use Manager to modify the entires to be applicable for your SprintNet access indial phone numbers. InComPCP.icd This file is the example Target Dialer supplied with InComm:PcPDial. This dialer contains dialing entries for all PcPursuitable BBSs taken from the USBBS90 national bulletin board listing. There are approximately 670 BBS entries here, ready for you to call. InComPCP.cfg Example configuration file for Manager. You need to use Manager to modify this file to include your configuration information. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 4 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 InComPCP.res This is the resource file for Manager and Dialer. This file contains all of the definitions for the menus, dialogs, etc. used with each executable. Read.me This file provides general information regarding this software release. Bugs.Fxd This file contains information on what bugs have been fixed in this release. *.slt & *.slc These files are the example script files for seamless integration of InComm:PcPDial for Telix. Copy these file into your Telix script directory. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 5 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 II. What is PcPursuit? ======================= With PC PURSUIT, you can explore a wealth of free resources and even discover more uses for your PC. In any of the locations accessible to PC PURSUIT, you have the ability to: * communicate with friends and associates on-line, * download and upload public domain software from thousands of Bulletin Board Systems in the 44 PC PURSUIT cities, * research professional projects and personal hobbies through free databases PcPursuit has different tiers of programs for user levels. At its lowest tier, it costs $30/month for 30 hours of connect time, meaning you can call your long distance BBSs for $1/hour. They have a special rate for handicapped individuals also, at $0.33 per hour for connect time (90 hours for $30/month). The features and benefits offered by PC PURSUIT SERVICE include: * Portability ------------ Because the service is widely accessible, you can use PC PURSUIT at home, at the office, or traveling. * Accessibility ------------- The service can be accessed from nearly 9000 local telephone exchanges via the Sprint network. You can dial thousands of free BBSs at 300, 1200, and 2400 bps in 44 major cities across the nation, 24 hours a day. * Convenient Billing ------------------ All PC PURSUIT service charges are billed directly to your VISA, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER or AMERICAN EXPRESS account; or automatically debited from your checking account. * Nonstop Support --------------- As with all other Sprint services, The Sprint Network Control Center provides 24-hour management to ensure reliable data transmission. Customer Service is available to handle system problem reports 24 hours a day at 1-800-336-0437. FutureSoft Technologies is in no way associated with SprintNet or PcPursuit. We just feel that, to quote a famous oatmeal eating dude, "It's the right thing to do." It's fun, and it's a deal. If you're not a PcPursuiter yet, we urge you to give it a try. You really can't beat $1/hr connect charges to connect to tens of thousands of BBSs across the nation. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 6 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 III. The PcPursuit Dialing Dilemma =================================== Currently, using PcPursuit is slightly better than a bad nightmare. One has to be able to run a marathon and jump hurdles to get to the desired target BBS, using PcPursuit. Incomm:PcPDial is designed to allow you to follow this marathon track, but you get to use a rocket- powered hover car instead of going the entire distance on foot. If you are currently using PcPursuit, you know what it entails just to reach your target BBS. First, you have to call SprintNet, then punch in the correct hunt/seek sequence, enter the proper terminal type, type in an incredibly long string of characters, all just to reach a target city; once there, you have to wake up the port's modem, tell it to dial your target BBS, and then wait for a connection! Phew! And after all this, your target BBS is likely busy, so you get to do the dialing sequence over and over again, until it connects to your target. It's one of those repeating nightmares! Ah, but there are cures developed for such nightmares. Maybe you have been lucky and have been using macros to perform these steps for you. However, you still have to bang away at the keyboard to do all of these steps, you just have less keys to press. Maybe you have been using a set of scripts to perform these steps for you, but more likely than not, you have felt restricted by them, or they are just too danged slow! Lastly, you may have picked up a software product called "In Command of PcPursuit", also known as ICEX. If so, then ICEX probably solved most of your nightmare. However, ICEX does not provide a very friendly user interface, has some bugs that prevent it from operating well, and the product is currently unsupported. Whatever method you are currently using for your PcPursuit dialing, put it aside for the moment, and give InComm:PcPDial a try. We are sure you will shelve all other methods and become a Incomm:PcPDial convert. You have nothing to lose by giving it a try. And, if you don't like it, drop a postcard to FutureSoft Technologies and tell us why! Then tell us what YOU would like to see in a product like InComm:PcPDial. All suggestions will be collected, prioritized, and implemented to produce the product that you would use and purchase. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 7 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 IV. InComm:PcPDial and ICEX ============================ InComm:PcPDial is an "In Command of PcPursuit..." product. Rights were acquired to produce "In Command of PcPursuit..." products from the author of ICEX. InComm:PcPDial is meant to replace ICEX completely and is NOT related to ICEX in any fashion except that it fills the same needs of the PcPursuit user. ICEX will not be supported by FutureSoft Technologies. Its time has come and gone. InComm:PcPDial replaces it in the "In Command of PcPursuit..." line of products. All registered users of ICEX, any version, are granted a special offer to purchase an InComm:PcPDial license at just 50% of the standard cost. All others must purchase a license to use the product at full price (and full price is still a bargain at $10.00). If you are currently an unregistered user of ICEX, and there are a lot of you out there (as Fernando would say, "You know who you are darlings!") switch to InComm:PcPDial and register your copy. We think you'll agree that the quality and value far exceeds that of ICEX and costs 1/3 what ICEX sold for. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 8 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 V. Why such a low price for InComm:PcPDial? ============================================ The price for a InComm:PcPDial software license is $8.50 per license. FutureSoft Technologies has plans to produce an large line of "In Command of PcPursuit..." products, including a Windows PcPursuit Dialer, a DOS full blown PcPursuit communications program to compete with the likes of ProComm+, Telix, and Qmodem, and also a Windows version of the PcPursuit communications program. By releasing a high quality product like InComm:PcPDial, at a VERY affordbale price, we let you, our customers know we mean business. We know that if you are satisfied with the product you have purchased, you will continue to give us your business in the future. InComm:PcPDial is our introductory product, at an introductory price. Another, though less significant, reason for the low price is that InComm:PcPDial is engineered for high performance PcPursuit target dialing, using a minimum amount of resources including disk space and memory, but still sporting a friendly user interface. You can now "upgrade" your current communications program, plugging InComm:PcPDial into it, to support high-speed PcPursuit dialing, at a reasonable upgrade price! A consequence of purchasing InComm:PcPDial, though in itself NOT the reason you should purchase your copy (buy it because you are using it), is that you will be eligible for upgrades to the future products mentioned above. InComm, the DOS PcPursuit communications program, is currently under development and will be released in the near future. We will need some beta testers for InComm. Who better to test InComm than those who are already using InComm:PcPDial. So, when you register your copy of InComm:PcPDial you can request to be a beta tester for InComm. We only need a limited amount of beta testers, but if you request to be one, you are guaranteed consideration. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 9 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.0 Introduction ================= Incomm:PcPDial is a high-speed dialer for use with SprintNet's PcPursuit service. If you are not a PcPursuit subscriber, then this package is not for you. It performs all of the necessary dialing over your phone line and modem to reach your desired PcPursuit target. It will do this in a completely automated fashion, repeating it's dialing procedures until the desired target is connected to. It then notifies you that is has connected to its target, allowing you to proceed with your normal BBS tasks. This scheme frees you up to do something else during the wait for the target connection, which often can be lengthy, if you're trying to reach a very popular BBS. When you hear the connect alarm, you come back to the computer, and you're already connected to your BBS, and back in your host communications program to begin your BBS session. InComm:PcPDial is designed to be used with your favorite host communications program, such as ProComm+, Telix, QModem, etc. Incomm:PcPDial can be used alone, as it provides a simple dumb terminal, however this mode of operation is not suggested. A host communications program provides everything you need to carry on a useful session with your target BBS, where InComm:PcPDial provides the high-speed target dialing, not directly supported by your host communications program. Incomm:PcPDial is a product composed of two separate programs. The first program is called the Manager, and the second one the Dialer. The Dialer is the high-speed PcPursuit target dialer. It is this program that is called from within your host communications program, after you have set everything up using Manager. The Manager provides all of the configuration and dialer editing to set up things for the Dialer to use (like target dialing lists). As a bonus, however, Manager also contains the same high-speed dialer, as well as a dumb terminal. So, effectively the Manager can be used as a standalone communications program, sporting its own PcPursuit dialer. It is there, if you need to use it, however you will mostly use the Manager to create, maintain, and test the dialing lists, and use the Dialer to do your PcPursuit dialing for your regular agenda BBS connections. *** NOTE: For those who want to jump right into using InComm:PcPDial there exists a document file in your distribution, called TUTORIAL.DOC. This document provides a step-by-step walk through for using Manager to set up all your information, and then using Dialer with your favortie communications host program to connect to your intended PcPursuitable target. WE STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU PRINT THE TUTORIAL AND PERFORM THE STEPS IT OUTLINES. It is by far the best way to learn how to use InComm:PcPDial. For those interested, InComm:PcPDial was developed with Borland's Turbo Pascal 6.0, using object oriented methods, the Turbo Vision application framework, and our own line of software library products, including ObjectAsync, an object-oriented, event-driven communications library. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 10 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.1 Warranty and Liability =========================== FutureSoft Technologies makes no warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to this software and accompanying documentation. FutureSoft Technologies is not responsible for any problems or damage caused by the use of the software product. This includes, but is not limited to, computer hardware, computer software, operating systems, and any computer or computing accessories. End user agrees to hold FutureSoft Technologies harmless for any problems arising from the use of the software. FutureSoft Technologies SHALL NOT IN ANY CASE BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR OTHER SIMILAR DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY BREACH OF THESE WARRANTIES EVEN IF Futuresoft Technologies OR ITS AGENTS OR DISTRIBUTORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. In no case shall FutureSoft Technologies' liability exceed the license fees paid for the right to use the software product. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 11 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.2 Hardware/Software Requirements =================================== Minimum: * 8088/8086-based, IBM PC compatible computer * Monochrome adapter/screen (only text mode needed) * Modem, 1200 bps, connected on a standard Com port (1-4) * 2 360K Floppy drives * MSDOS 3.0 Suggested: * 80286 or better, IBM PC compatible computer * CGA or better adapter (only text mode used) * Modem, 2400 bps or better, on a standard Com port (1-4) * Hard Disk * Microsoft Compatible Mouse * MSDOS 3.0 or better * Host communications program (eg. Telix, Qmodem, Procomm+) Memory required for InComm:PcPDial varies because it is composed of two separate executable programs. The minimum required available memory is listed below. This is the amount of RAM required to be available before either program is invoked. This is especially important for Dialer, because it will be called from a host communications program. Minimum availble memory required to run Dialer : 130K RAM Minimum available memory required to run Manager : 160K RAM Note: In order to load and use the supplied example Target Dialer containing ~670 BBS entries, you will need an extra 61K of available memory. However, this list can be cut and pasted into other MUCH smaller lists which take only a few hundred bytes to use. Note: If, while in your host communications program, you do not have enough available memory to run Dialer or Manager, you can run them from DOS directly, and upon a successful connection, invoke your host communications program. Usually you will invoke your communications program first, and then either call up Dialer or Manager directly or Shell to DOS and then call up Dialer or Manager. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 12 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.3 Support Information ======================== FutureSoft Technologies support of InComm:PcPDial will be limited, since the product is sold at such an inexpensive price. InComm:PcPDial, as you have received it, is complete. For the base registration price, there are no printed manuals and FutureSoft Technologies will not mail you the latest release of InComm:PcPDial on disk upon receiving your registration. However, when receiving your registration, FutureSoft Technologies will notify you by return mail (our postcard, our stamp) that we have received your registration, and will tell you what the latest version of InComm:PcPDial is and where it can be obtained from. For a small extra fee, FutureSoft Technologies will send you a printed and bound manual and a disk of the current release of InComm:PcPDial. We can also supply, you with executables that have been compiled for use with 80286-based or later IBM compatible systems. There are however, benefits to our limited support. All future updates are FREE to registered owners of InComm:PcPDial. Future versions will be placed on key BBSs and online services for you to download. You register once, and you already possess a license to use all updated versions of InComm:PcPDial. Check your favorite online service or BBS to be assured you always have the latest version of InComm:PcPDial. It's the ROAFUF system: Register Once, All Future Updates Free! Phone support for InComm:PcPDial will be catch-as-catch can and will be provided only to registered users, or to those who cannot get InComm:PcPDial up and running for them. We are a very small organization right now and do not have the budget for continuous phone support. See below for more information on contacting FutureSoft Technologies. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 13 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.4 Quality Pledge =================== FutureSoft Technologies is committed to quality. When bugs in our software are reported, fixing them becomes our first priority task. When bugs are found, we fix them immediately. A fixes release of the software will follow within one week of the reported bug, or immediately if it is a show-stopper bug. We allow a one week grace period between releases, in the event another bug is reported within that week. We guarantee that fixes releases will be only as frequent as necessary to ensure that our product is operating correctly for everyone. All other reports, which are not bugs, will be scheduled accordingly. We will release newer versions of the software at logical intervals, which will be basically when important features are added. This will likely be monthly at first until we have produced a product that appeals to all of our potential customers. We also want to remind you that each of these updates (fixes or standard) is FREE to licensed users. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 14 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.5 Registration Information ============================= To register InComm:PcPDial, print out the registration form included in your distribution package. It will be a file by the name of REGISTER.FRM. If you do not have access to a printer, you can send a SASE to FutureSoft Technologies, and we will promptly send you a registration form. A copy of the registration form can be found at the end of this document. Fill out the registration form, and mail it along with the registration/license fee to FutureSoft Technologies. You will be promptly notfied by return mail, upon our receipt of your registration. You are requested to print your name and address on the registration form, but all other information you give on the form is entirely optional. However, the more information you provide us, the better we will be able to provide you with software that meets your needs, and contact you when new products become available. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 15 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.6 Software Pricing Information ================================= First, lets answer the most important question. How much does InComm:PcPDial cost? FutureSoft Technologies wanted to produce a software package that is affordale to EVERYONE. The first cost reduction we came up with was free future updates, all of 'em! Therefore you pay only once. But, we also wanted to pick a price that makes sense to the customer. We thus have decided to release InComm:PcPDial, and charge only $10.00 per licensed copy. This is equivalent to what you ar already paying for ONLY 10 days of PcPursuit usage, and yet the software you purchase will suit your PcPursuiting neds for years. This is a price everyone can afford, and we feel is a real bargain. You are already paying at least $30/month for PcPursuit service, and this is something you have to pay EVERY month. You pay ONCE for InComm:PcPDial, and get the most out of the $30/month you pay for PcPursuit. There is no reason not to buy a copy today. Print out that registration form and send it in! If you believe that InComm:PcPDial is worth more than the $10.50 license fee (we hope you do!), we won't argue if you pay what you feel the software is worth. *** NOTE TO REGISTERED USERS OF PREVIOUS "In Command of PcPursuit..." *** PRODUCTS, including any ICEX version: FutureSoft Technologies is extending a special offer to purchase InComm:PcPDial for only $5.00. If you are a registered user, simply fill out the form and supply your registration number. This is a 50% discount off of the regular product price. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 16 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.7 License Agreement ====================== All end users are granted a limited license to use InComm:PcPDial for a trial period of one month, free of charge. This allows the user to evaluate this product to determine if it meets their needs. This license begins at the time that the user has obtained this trial copy of InComm:PcPDial, and ends 30 days afterwards. At that time, the license expires and the user must destroy his/her trial and archival copies of the software or purchase a full license to continue using the software. The user may however keep one archival copy for distributing the product using the "Shareware Distribution" guidelines outlined below. By registering InComm:PcPDial, you are purchasing a license for your copy you obtained through shareware marketing. This license allows you unlimited use of InComm:PcPDial, as long as it is used only by you, and is used in only one physical place at a given time. In other words, you can use it in your office, and at your home, but not at the two places simultaneously. As an analogy, treat your software license as if it were a book. It can only be in one physical place at a time, but you can carry it with you wherever you go. You may make copies of InComm:PcPDial for archival purposes, and you may distribute copies using the "Shareware Distribution" methods outlined below. This license agreement is transferrable. Once transferred the license applies to the new owner, and the old owner must destroy all archival copies of the software still in his/her possession. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 17 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.8 Contacting FutureSoft Technologies ======================================= We are VERY interested in hearing from you! We want the bad with the good too. Tell us what you like and dislike about InComm:PcPDial. We welcome all comments and suggestions. Since we are a small group, the best way to contact us is by e-mail. The second best way is to contact us by US Mail. And finally, the third best way (or the least best?) to contact us is by phone. If you contact us by phone, you should adhere to the hours listed below, you will get an answering machine otherwise. We will return all calls we receive on our answering machine, but you must give us the "OK" to call you back collect. If we are available to answer the phone, we will take your call right then and there. If you have a problem getting InComm:PcPDial to work for you, please note if it gives you an error message box on your screen. If it does, please consult the "Error Messages" appendix of this document first. We have listed what the error conditions are that cause these messages, and give steps on how to solve them. This will save both you and FutureSoft Technologies time if it can be solved by you. If your problem still persists, then please contact us. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 18 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 When you contact us, please provide the following information: * Version number of InComm:PcPDial * Your comm configuration (port number, baud, parity, etc) * The name of the host comm program you are using * Your hardware setup (computer type, modem type etc) * Your software setup (TSRs, etc) * Your InComm:PcPDial software license number Contacting us by E-mail: ------------------------ BBS............: The Right Place BBS GAATL, 476-2607 Send Email To : Future Tech AmCom BBS OHCLE, 526-9480 Send Email To : Wayne Wolf The Net Exchange BBS C PURSUIT Send Email To : Wayne Wolf Internet.......: futrtech@gagme.chi.il.us -OR- 70711.460@compuserve.com Compuserve.....: 70711,460 Contacting us by US-mail: ------------------------- FutureSoft Technologies P.O. Box 822 Hartselle, AL. 35640 Contacting us by Phone: ----------------------- (205)-778-9561, Mo-Fr 6pm-10pm CDT Sa-Su 1pm-10pm CDT Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 19 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.9 Shareware Marketing Concept ================================ InComm:PcPDial is being marketed as shareware. This fits nicely with our goal to provide commercial quality products at inexpensive prices. It allows us to devote more of our time and funds into development and away from marketing and advertising. This in turn allows us to sell our software at reduced prices over the commercially marketed competition. Many shareware programs you see we classify as begware or annoyware. They contain annoying messages that pop up, flash, etc. that tell you, you are using a trial copy, and must register your software at once. This certainly detracts from any professional/commercial qualities of the software, and we feel these sort of annoyances give shareware a bad rap. These things you see in a demo, but not the real product. We want to emphasize that our products are marketed using the shareware marketing concept, however they are indeed commerical quality applications. In keeping with our high standard of commercial quality software, you will not see any messages in our software requesting registration, and no software features are disabled. What you have in your hands is the real product. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 20 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 1.9 Shareware Marketing Concept (Distribution Information) =========================================================== You are granted a limited license to copy InComm:PcPDial ONLY FOR THE TRIAL USE OF OTHERS subject to the terms of this software license agreement described above, and the conditions described below are met: * InComm:PcPDial MUST be copied in an unmodified form. It may be distributed in "archive" form or on a diskette by itself. If in "archive" format, it must be named INPCP100.ext where "ext" can be any of the popular archival formats such as ZIP, ZOO, ARC, etc. The diskette or "archive" file MUST contain all of, and only the files listed in "Section I : Packaging." * No fee, charge or other compensation may be accepted or requested by anyone for sale or distribution of InComm:PcPDial without the express written permission of FutureSoft Technologies. * Public Domain / Shareware Disk Vendors May NOT CHARGE a fee for InComm:PcPDial itself. However you may include InComm:PcPDial on a diskette for which you charge a nominal distribution fee. The purchaser of said diskette MUST be informed in advance that the fee paid to acquire the diskette does NOT relieve said purchaser from paying the Registration and License Fee for InComm:PcPDial according to the software licensing terms outlined above. * Operators of electronic bulletin board systems and online services may post InComm:PcPDial for downloading by their users without written permission ONLY AS LONG AS THE ABOVE CONDITIONS ARE MET. A fee may be charged for access to the BBS or online service AS LONG AS NO SPECIFIC FEE IS CHARGED FOR DOWNLOADING InComm:PcPDial without first obtaining express written permission from FutureSoft Technologies to charge such a fee. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 21 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 2.0 Installation Procedures ============================ Installation is automated, using the program called "Install" supplied with your distribution package. To install InComm:PcPDial you must first have all of the distribution files residing in your current directory. This is done when you "un-archive" the distribution archive. We suggest that you create a temporary directory, called "TEMP" on your disk drive (hard drive works smoother than floppy), and extract the distribution archive there. From this temporary directory, you will type -> Install and press your enter key. Install will present you with a dialog. You will fill in the requested data fileds with the information appropriate to your desired set-up. Once you press Enter or click on the "Install" action button, Install will begin to perform its installation. Installation can be done to a floppy or a hard drive, from a floppy or a hard drive. At any time before you press the "Install" action button, you can bring up a help screen by pressing your F1 key. This help screen will explain each of the data entry fields in detail. If you receive an error message during your installation procedure, remember to consult the "Error Messages" section of this document for a detailed explanation of that error, and possible solutions to that problem. After installation is completed successfully, you will need to inspect the updated Autoexec.ic file, which is a copy of your current Autoexec.bat file with some additions to support InComm:PcPDial. After you inspect it to make sure everything went ok, you will want to make a backup copy of your current Autoexec.bat file and replace it with the newly created Autoexec.ic file. At your DOS prompt type the following two lines: COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.BAK COPY AUTOEXEC.IC AUTOEXEC.BAT The Autoexec modifications are done this way to give you more control of what is happening to your Autoexec file, since this is a very important file and we wish to minimize the chance of things going awry. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 22 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 2.1 Converting ICEX Dialers to InComm:PcPDial Dialers ====================================================== Converting dialers for the older ICEX programs is done by using the Convert.exe program supplied in your distribution package. Support is given only for converting versions 2.06 and 2.10 ICEX dialers to be compatible with InComm:PcPDial. If you have an older version than 2.06, you will have to use the 2.06 migration utilities supplied with the ICEX206 distribution package to convert your dialers to 2.06 format first. Using the Convert utility is fairly straightforward. At your DOS prompt, you will type -> CONVERT and press enter. Convert will present you with a file selection dialog, in which you will select the dialer to convert, along with which version of ICEX dialer it is, and also give it the name of the new dialer to convert to. You will press the "Convert" action button and the file will be converted. There is no help system provided with this utility. After you have converted your dialers, be sure to put the converted dialers into your InComm:PcPDial dialers directory (use DOS copy). Remember, this directory is the dialers directory you specified in your configuration for InComm:PcPDial. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 23 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.0 InComm:PCPDial Manager =========================== Manager is one of the two component programs in the InComm:PcPDial software package. It is a superset of Dialer (the other component). Manager provides you with the capability of smooth COMPLETE PcPursuit dialing as does Dialer, and also provides this in automated operational mode, just as Dialer does. However, unlike Dialer, Manager allows user interaction and allows you to control the dialing yourself. What Manager does, that Dialer does not, is provide you the ability to create and modify your dialing lists, the ability to have a moveable and resizeable terminal window on your screen, and allows you to specify a default configuration to use with Manager. Also provided with Manager is an extensive on-line help system. Each of the proceeding sections will take the main menu for Manager, and break it down into it's component functions, explaining each in detail. The main menu bar, looks like this: +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ≡ SprintNet Dialer Target Dialer Terminal Configuration Help | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 24 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.1 Miscellaneous (≡) ====================== The main menu item with the three-lined symbol is the miscellaneous menu selection. The submenu choices under this selection deal with miscellaneous functions in Manager, that are not easily classified under any other main menu selection. This submenu's choices include "About" and "Exit Manager" and when pulled down, looks like the following: +---+ | ≡ | ┌──────────────┐ │ About... │ │ Exit Manager │ └──────────────┘ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 25 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.1.1 Miscellaneous|About ========================== This submenu choice will cause an information window to appear on the screen which gives information pertaining to the version, copyright, and other related information for Manager. 3.1.2 Miscellaneous|Exit Manager ================================= This submenu choice causes the immediate exit of Manager, back to its calling program (usually DOS or your host communications program). Any modem connection is NOT dropped and remains active. If you wish to drop the connection, you must open a terminal window and drop your carrier there, typically by signalling your modem (using +++) and typing "ATH0" and pressing enter. Next you exit Manager. Hitting ALT-X will also force an immediate exit from Manager. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 26 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.2 SprintNet Dialer ===================== This main menu item contains actions which relate to maintaining and using the SprintNet dialer. It's submenu choices include "Dial" and "Open", when pulled looks like the following: +-------------------+ | SprintNet Dialer | +----┌─────────┐----+ │ Dial │ │ Open... │ └─────────┘ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 27 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.2.1 SprintNet Dialer|Dial ============================ This submenu choice causes the immediate dialing of your local SprintNet access number. It will determine which baud you are operating at, either 1200 or 2400, and will dial the appropriate SprintNet access number. Upon connection to SprintNet, it will login in with the appropriate Hunt/Seek sequence, and gives SprintNet your specified Terminal ID. Before you select this submenu choice, it is suggested that you open a terminal window, in order to allow you to see the actual communications between Manager and SprintNet. This is not necessary however, it is only suggested to give you some comfort that Manager is doing the right thing. During the dialing process, you will see the dialing status window which will show you the progress of your dialing attempt. The dialing status window looks like this: ╔═[■]═══════════════════ PcPursuit SprintNet Dialer ════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Target......: SprintNet Total Queued : 1 ║ ║ 539-1631 Elapsed Time : 00:00:04 ║ ║ Next Target : SprintNet ║ ║ Cycle.......: 1 539-1631 ║ ║ Target Time : 00:00:04 ║ ║ Status......: Dialing Standard Number ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Once Manager has successfully connected to SprintNet and logged in, you can continue on by opening a Target Dialer, selecting entries to dial, and pressing it's Dial button. See the section detailing the Target Dialer. Consult the section on the Dialing Status Window for information on each of the items in the window shown above. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 28 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.2.2 SprintNet Dialer|Open ============================ This submenu choice will open a dialer dialog for the SprintNet dialer. This dialog gives you the ability to add, modify, and dial entries in your SprintNet dialer. The dialer dialog looks like this: ╔═[■]════════════ PcPursuit SprintNet Dialer: SPRNTNET ═════════════╗ ║ +-----------------------------------------------------------+---+ ║ ║ | Targets | | ║ ║ | 1 | 539-1332 | SprintNet 1200 bps | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 2 | 539-1631 | SprintNet 2400 bps | (no script) | ■ | ║ ║ | | ▒ | ║ ║ | | ▒ | ║ ║ | | ▒ | ║ ║ | | ▒ | ║ ║ | | ▒ | ║ ║ | | ▒ | ║ ║ | | ▒ | ║ ║ | | | ║ ║ +-----------------------------------------------------------+---+ ║ ║ +--------+ +---------+ +------------+ +--------+ ║ ║ | Dial | | Add New | | Clear Tags | | Save | ║ ║ +--------+ +---------+ +------------+ +--------+ ║ ║ | Edit | | Remove | | Next Page | | Cancel | ║ ║ +--------+ +---------+ +------------+ +--------+ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Note that the first entry in your dialer MUST be the SprintNet access number you use to connect to SprintNet at 1200 baud. The second entry must be the number you use to connect to SprintNet at 2400 baud. Since the dialer dialog is common to both the SprintNet dialer and to all Target dialers, it's functionality is discussed in a separate section, called "Dialer Dialog." Please consult this section. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 29 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.3 Target Dialer ================== This main menu item contains actions which relate to maintaining and using the Target dialers. It's submenu choices include "Open", "Copy Entries to Clipboard", "Cut Entries to Clipboard", "Paste Entries Before Current", "Paste Entries After Current", and "Dispose Clipboard". When pulled it looks like the following: +---------------+ | Target Dialer | ┌──────────────────────────────┐ │ Open... │ │ Create Command File... │ │ Copy Entries to Clipboard │ │ Cut Entries to Clipboard │ │ Paste Entries Before Current │ │ Paste Entries After Current │ │ Dispose Clipboard │ └──────────────────────────────┘ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 30 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.3.1 Target Dialer|Open ========================= This submenu choice will first open a file selection dialog. This dialog is used to select the dialer you wish to work with. If you are creating a brand new dialer, simply type in the name of the new dialer, and press the "Open" button. ** Note: The default for target dialers is to have a file extension of ".ICD" You can choose whatever name you wish, but it is suggested that you use the file extension ".ICD" with your file name. The file selection dialog's functionality is not covered in this section. Please consult the "File Selection Dialog" section for information on how to use this dialog. Once a dialer is selected to work with, using the file selection dialog, Manager will open a dialer dialog for the selected Target dialer. This dialog gives you the ability to add, modify, and dial entries in your Target dialer. ╔═[■]════════════ PcPursuit Target Dialer: INCOMPCP ════════════════╗ ║ +-----------------------------------------------------------+---+ ║ ║ | Targets | | ║ ║ | 1 | NJNEW | 228-0009 | The Forest(tm) | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 2 | NJNEW | 239-1346 | MicroSellarBBS | (no script) | ■ | ║ ║ | 3 | NJNEW | 279-7048 | Dean's Office | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 4 | NJNEW | 305-9042 | EdgelightOnline | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 5 | NJNEW | 313-0002 | Tower | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 6 | NJNEW | 338-3569 | Realm/Imagntn | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 7 | NJNEW | 338-5265 | Golden Dane | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 8 | NJNEW | 340-2394 | SynerSys | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 9 | NJNEW | 374-2730 | Millenium | (no script) | ▒ | ║ ║ | 10 | NJNEW | 377-2526 | Stocks & Such | (no script) | | ║ ║ +-----------------------------------------------------------+---+ ║ ║ +--------+ +---------+ +------------+ +--------+ ║ ║ | Dial | | Add New | | Clear Tags | | Save | ║ ║ +--------+ +---------+ +------------+ +--------+ ║ ║ | Edit | | Remove | | Next Page | | Cancel | ║ ║ +--------+ +---------+ +------------+ +--------+ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Since the dialer dialog is common to both the SprintNet dialer and to all Target dialers, it's functionality is discussed in a separate section, called "Dialer Dialog." Please consult this section for an explanation of how to use the dialer dialog. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 31 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.3.2 Target Dialer|Create Command File ======================================== This submenu choice will generate a command file from your current configuration and from the tagged entries of the current dialer. This command file is used by Dialer to instruct it on how to behave in an automated fashion. To use this command, you first make sure your configuration is correct. Check your SprintNet and Comminucations configurations to make sure they contain the correct information particular to your desired set-up. Next you will open your target dialer to be automated, and tag the entries which you wish to dial automatically. You then make this menu selection. When you select this submenu choice, the File Selection Dialog will appear and you will type in the name you wish to save the command file as. The command file will be created. Now when you wish to dial these targets in a completely automated fashion you will use the Dialer program, giving it the command file to provide it with the information it needs to perform the dialing. It is suggested you consult the Tutorial supplied with this product for a clearer picture on how to use this functionality. 3.3.3 Target Dialer|Copy Entries to Clipboard ============================================== This submenu choice will copy all tagged entries in the current dialer into the dialer clipboard. The dialer can then be closed and another dialer opened. "Paste" is then used to paste the copied entries into the new dialer. 3.3.4 Target Dialer|Cut Entries to Clipboard ============================================= This submenu choice will cut all tagged entries in the current dialer into the dialer clipboard. You can use this function to remove entries from one dialer and place them into another, by using the "Paste" operation, OR you can use this function to simply bulk delete unwanted entries in your dialer by cutting them and then selecting "Dispose Clipboard" to get rid of them. Remember to save your dialer that you cut entries from. 3.3.5 Target Dialer|Paste Entries Before Current ================================================= This submenu choice pastes any cut or copied entries from the dialer clipboard, into the current target dialer. The new entries are added to the dialer at the position just before the currently highlighted target. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 32 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.3.6 Target Dialer|Paste Entries After Current ================================================ This submenu choice pastes any cut or copied entries from the dialer clipboard, into the current target dialer. The new entries are added to the dialer at the position just after the currently highlighted target. 3.3.7 Target Dialer|Dispose Clipboard ====================================== This submenu choice will clear out any entries that are currently in the dialer clipboard. This function will free up memory used by the contents of the clipboard. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 33 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.4 Terminal ============= This main menu item contains actions which relate to using a terminal window. It's submenu choices include "Open", "Shrink" "Grow Maximum", "Disconnect City", and "Close". When pulled, it looks like the following: +----------+ | Terminal | ┌─────────────────┐ │ Open │ │ Shrink │ │ Grow Maximum │ │ Disconnect City │ │ Close │ └─────────────────┘ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 34 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.4.1 Terminal|Open ==================== This submenu choice will open a terminal window. The terminal window will take up all space between the menu bar and the status bar. When opened it will take the dimensions of 80 columns wide by 23 rows. However, this is merely what is displayed. The terminal is really dimensionless in both directions. The terminal can be scrolled up and down to see previous pages of text on the terminal. Likewise, the terminal window can be scrolled left and right to see lines that are longer than can be displayed on one screen page. In order to use the mouse to scroll, you must first shrink the terminal window. All data coming in through the currently active port will be displayed in the terminal window. The terminal supports most ANSI escape sequences, but is not a complete ANSI emulation. Anything that is typed by you, that are standard characters (non- standard are the function keys and the like), while the terminal window is open and active will be sent out the active port. The terminal window will ALWAYS remain beneath ALL other windows/dialogs on your screen, UNLESS it is "Shrunk". This prevents it from obscuring other important windows such as the dialing status window. If you need access to the terminal window while another window is active, close the other window first, which will make the terminal window the currently active window. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 35 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.4.2 Terminal|Shrink ====================== This submenu choice will shrink the currently opened terminal window down to fit, with a frame now, between the menu and status bars. The dimensions for the terminal will now be 78 by 21, however again recall that this is only the viewing area, and the actual terminal area is dimensionless. The terminal window can be scrolled using the keyboard AND the mouse at this point. The window is now resizeable and relocateable. The terminal window now appears as follows: ╔═[■]═══════════════ Terminal Window ═══════════════[ ]═╗ ║ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ▓ ║ ╚═▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓─┘ Shrink is used only if you need to relocate/resize your terminal window, and if you wish to use the mouse to scroll the window up/down or left/right. 3.4.3 Terminal|Grow Maximum ============================ This submenu choice will "unshrink" a shrunk window. It will remove the frame from the current terminal window and restore it to it's 80 column by 23 row state. 3.4.4 Terminal|Disconnect City =============================== This submenu choice will disconnect from the current city connection, if there is a city connection to disconnect from. This function is used mainly when a dialing session is aborted and the outdial city port is still connected to. You do not want to be billed for useless connect time, so you will want to disconnect from the city in the case that it is left still connected to. 3.4.5 Terminal|Close ===================== This submenu choice will close the currently open terminal window. Closing this window while a dialer is running does not cause any harm to the dialer. The communications link exists separate from any window or dialog on the screen. Therefore closing windows or dialogs has no ill effect on the current communications connection. However, closing a dialing status window WILL halt the current dialing process. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 36 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.5 Configuration ================== This main menu item contians actions which relate to the confuguration of Manager, namely those to do with your SprintNet information, and those items dealing with how your communications port is set up. It's submenu choices include "SprintNet", "Communications", and "Save". When pulled, it looks like the following: +---------------+ | Configuration | ┌───────────────────┐ │ SprintNet... │ │ Communications... │ │ Save │ └───────────────────┘ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 37 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.5.1 Configuration|SprintNet ============================== This submenu choice will open the SprintNet Configuration dialog. This is simply a data entry dialog, where you will enter SprintNet information particular to you, including your PcPursuit ID, PcPursuit password, and your SprintNet Terminal ID. The dialog appears as follows: ╔═[■]══════ SprintNet Configuration Editor ═══════════╗ ║ ║ ║ SprintNet ID............: abcdefghij ║ ║ ║ ║ SprintNet Password......: ab1cd2 ║ ║ ║ ║ SprintNet Terminal ID...: D1 ║ ║ ║ ║ Sound...................: (∙) On ( ) Off ║ ║ ║ ║ Dialers Path............: C:\InComm\Dialers ║ ║ ║ ║ +--------+ +--------+ ║ ║ | Reject | | Accept | ║ ║ +--------+ +--------+ ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The first three fields are self-explanatory, You will enter your PcPursuit ID and Password, and your Terminal Type (use D1 if unsure). Sound is set to On if you wish to have alarms sound when target connections are made, Off if you wish to have Manager run in silence. Dialers Path is the full path to the default directory for Manager to find it's SprintNet and Target Dialers. You specify the full path for the directory only here, and do NOT include a trailing backslash. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 38 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.5.2 Configuration|Communications =================================== This submenu choice will open the Communications Configuration dialog. This is simply a data entry dialog, where you will enter your communications port's information. This includes port number, baud, parity, data size, and stop bits. The dialog appears as follows: ╔═[■]═══ Comm Settings ════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Port Number Word Size ║ ║ ( ) COM1 (∙) 8 bits ║ ║ ( ) COM2 ( ) 7 bits ║ ║ ( ) COM3 ║ ║ (∙) COM4 ║ ║ ║ ║ Baud Stop Bits ║ ║ ( ) 1200 (∙) 1 bit ║ ║ (∙) 2400 ( ) 2 bits ║ ║ ║ ║ +--------+ ║ ║ Parity | Accept | ║ ║ (∙) None +--------+ ║ ║ ( ) Even | Cancel | ║ ║ +--------+ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════╝ ** Note: InComm:PcPDial only supports the standard Com1, Com2 and defacto standard Com3, Com4 ports. These are given below: Port Address IRQ ---------------------------- 1 $3F8 4 2 $2F8 3 3 $3E8 4 4 $2E8 3 Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 39 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.6 Help ========= This main menu item contians actions related to accessing the online help for Manager. It consist of submenu choices "Contents", and "Glossary". When pulled, it looks like the following: +------+ | Help | ┌─────────────┐ │ Contents... │ │ Glossary... │ └─────────────┘ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 40 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 3.6.1 Help|Contents ==================== This submenu choice will display names of all of the topics known by the help subsystem. You can choose the topic by name and the appropriate help window will pop up for your review. 3.6.2 Help|Glossary ==================== This submenu choice will display the glossary of terms used in the help subsystem and the InComm:PcPDial documentation file. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 41 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 4.0 InComm:PcPDial Dialer ========================== Dialer is the tool to use once you have established your regular agenda BBSs, and placed their information into a target dialer using Manager. The instructions for Dialer are sparse because it is a tool that is completely automated. Dialer does not have any user interaction, but does require some considerable set-up in order to use. This setup is done by using Manager. Dialer is run by giving it an appropriate command line, telling it just what to do. IT IS STRONGLY SUGGESTED THAT YOU READ AND FOLLOW THE TUTORIAL supplied with your distribution package. It describes in detail what steps are necessary to set up and use Dialer. Dialer is best learned by doing. Dialer is command line driven. Consult the section "Command Line Options" for information on how to drive Dialer. Once Dialer is up and running, it is completely automated. If you specified the 'D' parameter on the command line, Dialer will contact SprintNet for you and login you in with the proper hunt/seek sequence and terminal identifier. After connecting to SprintNet, or if you already were connected to SprintNet (you didn't specify the 'D' parameter), Dialer will load the specified dialer and begin dialing those entries you told it to dial. It will continue dialing until it achieves a target connection, or errors out due to SprintNet problems. Once you have a successful connection, Dialer will exit and return you to your host communications program. It's that simple. Remember, Dialer has been engineered for high performance dialing. Dialer is not interactive, however at any time you can type from the keyboard and those characters will be sent out the port. Also, Alt-X will abort Dialer and return you to your host communications program at any time, immediately. This "type in" capability is provided in the case that line noise or some other such situation occurs and Dialer gets confused during it's dialing process. Even though Dialer can typically recover on its own from line noise, there are rare times when it cannot. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 42 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 5.0 Command Line Options ========================= Dialer and Manager support the SAME command line options. However, with Dialer the command line "options" are not really optional, they are required. Manager uses its configuration file for its defaults, which can be overridden by using the command line options. Command line options are information you give the program on it's DOS command line. For example, the following is a typical Dialer command line: Dialer p:1 s:2400N81 d:2 r:D1 n:N t:incompcp.icd u:pcpid,pcppw e:1,4,7-9 The following are the command line parameters. For Dialer, you MUST supply information for each parameter, and ONLY the 'D', 'R' and 'N' parameters are optional. Each parameter on the command line must be separated by a space, and the parameter's information must contain a colon (:) as a separator, as shown above. Parameters are NOT case sensitive. 'P' : Port number to use for dialing. This must be a number 1-4. 'S' : Port settings. They must follow the following format: Baud + Parity + WordSize + StopBits The baud must be 4 digits, all others are only 1 character. For example, for a 1200 baud connection at 7 bits, even parity, and 1 stop bit, you would have : 1200E71 'D' : SprintNet dialer entry to use. Entry #1 is usually for 1200 bps connection and entry #2 for 2400 bps. ** Note: If you do not supply this parameter, Dialer will assume you are already conencted to SprintNet and it will start with target dialing. 'R' : SprintNet terminal type identifier you wish to use. For most of us, this is 'D1'. If you are unsure, use 'D1'. 'N' : Whether or not to use sound. The letter following the colon should be 'N' or 'Y', meaning No and Yes respectively. If sound is on, Dialer will produce a series of alarms for successful connections, dialing problems, etc. 'T' : Filename of target dialer you wish to use for dialing. Note that the path name to find the dialer at is specified in the SprintNet Configuration. For this parameter, enter ONLY the filename with no preceding path. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 43 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 'U' : Your unique PcPursuit User ID and Password. These two items must be separated by a comma (,). 'E' : Entries to dial from the dialer. Entries are specified singly or in sets, with each entry separated by a comma (,). Sets are defined with a bar (-) between the first and last numbers of the set. For example, if you wished to dial entries 1, 4, and 7 through 9, you would have: 1,4,7-9. Sometimes the command line can get very long and bulky to type in. In this case, you can give Dialer or Manager a "Command File" name from which to read the command line. This is done by giving a command line to either program that has the name of the command file, preceded by a '@' symbol. For instance, if you named your command file TRP.CMD, you would enter the following command line for Dialer: Dialer @TRP.CMD TRP.CMD would have that long command line listed above as an example as its contents and this would be read just as if you had typed it all on the command line for Dialer. Command files are used to assist in automating Manager and Dialer, and eliminate the need for remembering and entering lengthy command line parameters to your InComm:PcPDial programs. For more detailed hands-on information on how to use command files and the '@' command line parameter, consult the included Tutorial, and the section in this documentation regarding "Target Dialer|Create Command File." Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 44 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 6.0 File Selection Dialog ========================== The file selection dialog is used to prompt you, the user, for a file name for some reason. You are given this dialog to enter the name of a target dialer to open, when you select "Target Dialer|Open" from the menu bar. You are also presented this dialog when you generated a command file using "Target Dialer|Create Command File." The various parts of the file selection dialog are discussed below, following it's snapshot. The file selection dialog appears as follows: ╔═[■]════════════ Open a Dialer ═════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Name ║ ║ +---------------------------+ ║ ║ | *.icd | +--------+ ║ ║ +---------------------------+ | Open | ║ ║ +--------+ ║ ║ Files ║ ║ +-------------------------------+ +--------+ ║ ║ | INCOMPCP.ICD │ | | Cancel | ║ ║ | ..\ │ | +--------+ ║ ║ | │ | ║ ║ | │ | ║ ║ | │ | ║ ║ | │ | ║ ║ | │ | ║ ║ | │ | ║ ║ |■▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒| ║ ║ +-------------------------------+ ║ ║ ║ ║ C:\INCOMM\*.ICD ║ ║ INCOMPCP.ICD 25298 Dec 15, 1991 10:36pm ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 45 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 6.1 General ============ The file selection dialog is composed of four distinct areas, namely the "Name" section, the "Files" section, the "Information Panel" at the bottom of the dialog, and the "Action Button Panel" at the right side of the dialog. 6.2 Name ========= In this field, you will type in the name of the file you wish to work with. If you are creating a new file, you will type the new name here. If you are selecting an existing file, you can either type its name here, or you can enter a wildcard to narrow the "Files" listing down to a manageable size. Once this field has the appropriate file name in it, pressing "Enter" on your keyboard will select it. You can also press the "Open" button with the mouse. To change to a different directory, simply enter the directory path into this field and press Enter. 6.3 Files ========== This section of the dialog lists the files of the current directory, based on any wildcard entered into the "Name" section. In this section, you can select any of the listed files to "Open" by double- clicking with the mouse on the desired file name. You can also traverse to a different directory by double clicking on that directory name. You can also use the keyboard with this section. Press the TAB key to get to this section, and then use the arrow keys and Enter key to maneuver around directories or select your desired file. 6.4 Information Panel ====================== The information panel is at the bottom of the dialog. It gives you information regarding the currently selected file and currently selected directory and wildcard mask. 6.5 Action Button Panel ======================== This contains two action buttons, namely "Open" and "Cancel". Pressing the "Open" button will open the currently selected file. Pressing this button is the same as pressing your Enter key. Pressing the "Cancel" button will close the form and abort whatever operation you were attempting. Pressing your ESC key is the same as pressing the "Cancel" button. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 46 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 7.0 Dialer Dialog ================== The dialer dialog is composed of two sections, upper and lower. The upper section is the listbox, where the dialer entries are presented. The lower is the action button panel, where you find all of the action buttons for the dialer. The dialer dialog will be discussed in sections, detailing each function supported by the dialer dialog. These typically correspond one-to-one to an action button on the lower action button panel. The dialer dialog appears as follows: 7.1 General ============ The listbox section displays the entire dialing list of entries for the specified dialer. The list can be scrolled up and down using the scrollbar on the right, or by using page-up and page-down keys. The currently highlighted item is the active item. It is the active item that the action buttons will affect, and it is also this item that is marked when you tag it. To change the currently highlighted item, you can click on another item with the left mouse button, or you can use the keyboard's arrow keys to move up and down through the list. 7.2 Tagging an item ==================== The currently highlighted item can be tagged by clicking the right mouse button, or by pressing the spacebar. It can also be untagged by the same methods, the spacebar and right mouse button acting as a toggle for the tag. Items are tagged to represent a group for actions to be performed on. For example, tagged items can be dialed, cut, copied, and pasted. 7.3 Adding a new item to the list ================================== To add a new item to the list, press the "Add New" button on the button panel. A new entry is added to the end of the list. You may have to scroll the list in order to see it. The entry is entered with dummy information, so the next step you'll wish to do is "Edit" the entry. 7.4 Editing existing or newly added entries ============================================ To edit an item, move the highlight bar over the item you wish to edit. Next press the "Edit" button on the button panel. The "Dialer Entry Edit Dialog" will appear for you to enter the new target information. See the section for the dialer entry edit dialog for details regarding its operations. 7.5 Removing an item from the list =================================== To remove an item from the list, move the highlight bar over the item you wish to remove. Press the "Remove" button on the button panel. You will be asked if you really want to continue or not. If you choose "OK", the currently highlighted entry is removed from the list. If you "Save" the dialer, the change will be made permanent. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 47 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 7.6 Removing a group of items from the list ============================================ To remove a group of items from the list, you must tag the ones to be removed first. Once all desired entries are tagged, select "Target Dialer|Cut to Clipboard" from the menu bar. All tagged entries are removed from the list. If you made a mistake, you can then paste them back in if you choose. You will probably want to "Clear All Tags" before you start tagging targets to remove. 7.7 Moving an item to a different position in the list ======================================================= To relocate an entry in the list, first "Clear All Tags" and then tag the entry to relocate. Next select "Target Dialer|Cut to Clipboard" to remove the tagged item. Move the highlight bar to the dialer entry you wish the item to relocate to go in BEFORE. Last, select "Target Dialer|Paste Entries Before Current" or "Target Dialer|Paste Entries After Current" to insert the item into its new position. For example, if you wanted to move entry number 27 to now be the first entry, you would move the highlight bar to be positioned over entry 27. You would then cut this entry to the clipboard, and move the highlight bar up to position 1, and finally paste it into position from the clipboard. 7.8 Clearing all tagged items ============================== To remove tags from all tagged items, you simply press the "Clear All Tags" button on the button panel. 7.9 Dialing tagged items ========================= All tagged entries of the current list can be submitted for dialing by pressing the "Dial" button on the button panel. When this button is pressed, all tagged items are queued for dialing, the dialing status window is displayed, and the targets are dialied in a queue fashion until a connection is achieved or dialing is halted. 7.10 Saving the dialer ======================= After you make changes to the dialer, you will most likely want them to become permanent changes. To save the dialer, you press the "Save" button on the button panel. This will write the dialer back to disk, under the name in which it was opened under. 7.11 Closing the dialer ======================== Pressing the "Cancel" button on the button panel will close the dialer dialog. If you have made any changes to the dialer, you will be prompted to save the dialer. If you chose "YES", all changes are saved back to disk. If you select "NO", all changes are lost. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 48 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 8.0 Dialer Entry Edit Dialog ============================= This dialog is used to enter information for a PcPursuitable target for a target dialer. When you press the "Edit" action button on the Dialer Dialog, this "Entry Edit" dialog will appear. The dialog appears as follows, and each entry field is explained in detail afterwards: ╔═[■]═════ Target Dialer Entry Editor ═════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Target Name...: The Right Place BBS ║ ║ ║ ║ Target City...: GAATL ║ ║ ║ ║ Target ID.....: 476-2607 ║ ║ ║ ║ Connect Script: TRP.SLC ║ ║ ║ ║ BBS Username : Future Tech ║ ║ ║ ║ BBS Password : ********** ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ Reject ▄ Accept ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 8.1 Target Name ================ In this entry field, you enter the name of the target. This is not used by InComm:PcPDial except to inform you which target is being dialed. 8.2 Target City ================ In this entry field, you enter the city mnemonic of the target. If the target is a DFA, you will leave this field blank. If the target is standard dial, you will place a "$" in this field. If you open up the SprintNet Dialer you will notice that in it's entries, this field contains the "$". ** NOTE: For "standard dial" entries, such as the SprintNet access phone number, the "Target City" will be entered as "$". This symbol instructs InComm:PcPDial that the target is "standard dial." 8.3 Target ID ============== For this field, you will enter the dialing instructions for the target being edited. For DFA targets, this will be the DFA's mnemonic -- PURSUIT for example. For all other targets, this will contain the phone number of the target. Remember to put the appropriate phone number here for cities that require the "1" and "1+AreaCode" prefixes for their targets. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 49 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 8.4 Connect Script =================== For this entry field, you will enter the name of the connect script for this target. This data field is optional, and can be left blank. The connect script is the name of the script your host communications program will use to continue with it's automated session. This is the script that will take control within your host communications program when Dialer makes a connection to this target and exits back to the host communications program. For a further understanding of connect scripts, please consult the accompanying Tutorial and the section "Seamless Integration" section (9.0). 8.5 BBS Username ================= For this field, you will enter the BBS username for the target. This information is optional and is used for seamless integration with your host communications program. 8.6 BBS Password ================= For this field, you will enter the BBS password for the target. This information is optional and is used for seamless integration with your host communications program. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 50 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 9.0 Dialing Status Window ========================== The dialing status window is the window that reports to you the current status of the dialing process for the dialer you specified to dial. The window is composed of two columns, left and right, and a number of rows of information in each column. They will be discussed by named section. ** NOTE: Cancelling or closing the dialing status window will halt the dialing process immediately. If you do halt in this manner, remember to disconnect from the current city connection, by opening a terminal window and typing "@" follwed by a carriage return (enter key), and then a "D" to disconnect. The dialing status window appears as follows: ╔═[■]═══════════════════ PcPursuit SprintNet Dialer ════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Target......: SprintNet Total Queued : 1 ║ ║ 539-1631 Elapsed Time : 00:00:04 ║ ║ Next Target : SprintNet ║ ║ Cycle.......: 1 539-1631 ║ ║ Target Time : 00:00:04 ║ ║ Status......: Dialing Standard Number ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 51 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 9.1 Target =========== The first item specifies which target is currently being dialed. Specifically it gives the target name, and number, and city code if applicable. 9.2 Cycle ========== This item tells you which cycle of dialing is currently being performed. This number increases for each cycle through the list of tagged entries being dialed. This information is presented to give you an indication of how many times a given target has been dialied so far. It can also be used to determine the average time per target dial, by dividing the "Elapsed Time" by the "Cycle". 9.3 Target Time ================ This timer begins when each target is dialed, and continues until the target is reached, or fails (busy, etc.). This provides reference to see how long it takes from the point that the target is dialed until a response is received. In the rare event that this timer reaches 83 seconds, Manager/Dialer will halt dialing the current target and proceed to the next target. This is done because all connections under 90 seconds are not billed, allowing some room for when a target cannot be reached. 9.4 Status =========== This information tells you what the current status of the dialing process is. The messages displayed here range from those telling you a Hunt/Seek sequence is being perfored, to "Dialing Target..." This information is provided so you can tell what is going on with the dialer at any given time. 9.5 Total Queued ================= This number tells you how many items exist in the tagged list of targets. 9.6 Elapsed Time ================= This timer displays the elapsed time since the point that dialing began. This gives you an indication of just how long it is taking to contact your specified targets. 9.7 Next Target ================ This contains the same information as the first item in the left column, "Target", except that the information is for the next target to be dialed if the current one cannot be reached this cycle. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 52 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 10.0 Seamless Interfacing to your Favorite Communications Program ================================================================= InComm:PcPDial is intended for use with your favorite host communications program, providing it a high-speed sophisticated PcPursuit dialer. To facilitate a seamless intgration between your host communications program and InComm:PcPDial, some example scripts are included in the distribution package. In this release, we have provided an integration script for Telix only. We will be working on creating integration scripts for all of the popular communications programs, including Procomm+, QModem, ZComm, Telemate, Boyan, GT Power, etc. As these are developed, they will be released as free supplements. Look for them on The Right Place BBS first, as this is where they will be posted. In order to use the Telix integration script effectively, you will have to modify three lines in the script. Open the file named IPCP.SLT with your favotie editor. Look for the three lines with the following comment line preceding them : // Change the next line to reflect your Dialers directory For those three lines, you will change the directory listed on that next line to be dialers directory you have defined in your SprintNet configuration. If your dialers directory is already set to: C:\InComm\Dialers then you do NOT need to perform the above steps, because this is the default setting. After these editions have been made, use Telix's CS salt script compiler to recompile the script IPCP.SLT. See the Tutorial, for a hands-on demonstration of how to use this integration script. Using IPCP.SLT -------------- 1. From within Telix, type -> Alt-G and answer the prompt with the name of the script -> IPCP and press Enter. 2. The script will present a menu to you. Make a choice. Selecting "1) Manager", will call up Manager. Selecting "2) Dialer" or "3) Manager Auto" will present you with a listing of dialer command files and then prompt you to enter the name of the one which you want to execute. After you have entered the command file name, either Dialer or Manager will be called up in automatic mode. 3. Once Dialer or Manager/Auto has established a successful target connection, it will return control to the Telix script. The script will then tell you which target has been connected to, and will chain to the script defined for that target, in order to automatically log into your target. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 53 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 4. Continue with your normal BBS session. 5. When you have disconnected from your Target (BBS), you will need to run the PcPursuit disconnect script, which will disconnect you from the current city port connection, and prevent you from being billed for unused time. Within Telix, Type Alt-G, and at the prompt enter -> DIS 6. DIS will restart IPCP script so you can conitinue and dial another target. 7. Note that these scripts maintain a session log, recording your PcPursuit usage. This allows you to keep track of your billing time for your PcPursuit usage and calculate if you have reached your 30 hours per month quota. The log's file name is called 'PCP.LOG' and is found in your Telix default "logfile" directory. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 54 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 10.1 The Connect.ic file ========================= When InComm:PcPDial establishes a target connection, it will write information out to a file. This file is called "Connect.ic" and can be found in your specified Dialers Path. This will be the dialers path you entered during the configuration entry. The default for this file is: C:\InComm\Dialers\Connect.ic. The information written to it is in straight ASCII text, with one piece of information per line. You will find the following in Connect.ic for the currently connected target: Line 1 -> Target Name Line 2 -> Chain Script Name Line 3 -> Your BBS username Line 4 -> Your BBS password This information is taken from the data associated with each target entry. When you perform an "Edit" from within the Target Dialer Dialog, you will enter this data there. Then upon a target connect, the target specific data you entered for that target will be written to the Connect.ic file, for your use in your seamless scripts. The target name is provided so that you can display a pop-up message in your scripts or whatever you may need it for. The Chain script field is provided in case you have a generic script to call up InComm:PcPDial, but a specific auto-login script for each individual target BBS. For example, you may have a script called "IPCP.SCR" which will ask for a ".cmd" file, and will call up Dialer with that ".cmd" file. The cmd file tells dialer to call The Right Place BBS. Dialer connects to TRP, writes to Connect.ic, and returns you to your host comm program. Your generic script will then read the script name from line 2 of Connect.ic and chain to that script. The chained script will be specific to TRP. In your TRP-specific script, you will again read Connect.ic, but will read lines 3 and 4, which will provide you with information necessary to automate the log in procedure, providing you with the target's BBS username and password. See the files IPCP.SLT, TRP.SLT, DIS.SLT, found in the distribution package, for a detailed example of how to make use of the connect.ic file. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 55 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 11.0 Known Problems ==================== At present there exists only one known problem with InComm:PcPDial. The Manager program has a problem with its help screens. When a "modal window" is presented on your screen, and you press the HELP button (F1), the context-sensitive help screen given will appear BEHIND the modal window, and will be inaccessible until that window is closed. This problem is unavoidable and is a function of the way Turbo Vision, the platform that InComm:PcPDial is built upon, functions. Modal windows include pull-down menus, the dialer dialog, and the entry edit dialog. We will soon be getting the source code to Turbo Vision that we may cure this problem. The solution to this problem is to bring up the modal window, while it is up, press the HELP button (F1), and then close the modal window. Modal windows can be closed by pressing your ESC key. This will reveal the hidden help screen and it will now be active. We know this is annoying, but we wanted to provide context-sensitive help with our product, and the choice was to deliver the system this way, or to not deliver a help system. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 56 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Appendix A : InComm:PcPDial Error Messages ============================================ When an InComm:PcPDial program gives you an error message, that message pops up in a small window on your screen. In the title portion of that error window, you will see an error number. Use this number to look up the explanation and solution in the following pages. Error Code Explanations and Solutions ---- -------------------------- 001 Nonprintable Error. You will never get this error. If this error appears, please contact FutureSoft Technologies. 002 The command file specified cannot be properly created. Make sure the Dialers Directory you have defined in your SprintNet Configuration exists. Also, make sure the command file does not already exist as a read-only file. 003 The command file you specified on the command line using the '@' command line parameter cannot be loaded. The reason for this is because the specified file cannot be found. Check to see that you typed the file path correctly. 004 An error occurred while creating the configuration file. Check to make sure you have sufficient disk space, that your INCOMM directory exists, and that the configuration file does not already exist as a read-only file. 005 An error occurred while opening the existing configuration file. Make sure the configuration file exists and is in your INCOMM product directory. 006 An error occurred while reading the configuration file. If you get this error and NOT errors 4 or 5, then something very strange has happened. Give FutureSoft Technologies a call. 007 An error occurred while writing the configuration file. Make sure your configuration file is NOT read-only. 008 A Dialer is already open, you cannot open another one. Close the current dialer first. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 57 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Error Code Explanations and Solutions ---- -------------------------- 009 A Dialer Dialog is already open, you cannot open another one. Close the current dialer dialog first. 010 This is a fatal error. The message queue for InComm:PcPDial's event processor has overflowed. Please contact FutureSoft Technologies if you receive this error. 011 Cannot access the help file for Manager. Check to make sure the help file exists in the INCOMM product directory. 012 You have given an incomplete command line. You need to supply parameters P, S, D, U, T, and E. Check your command line to make sure you supplied all parameters and values for each. Check the documentation above for proper syntax. 013 There is insufficient memory available to perform action. Check to see if your available memory is low. It is displayed in the lower right corner of your screen, on the status bar. You can free up memory by closing dialogs and windows that exist on the screen. If this does not help, you must have more memory available from DOS. Unload some TSRs or give more memory to your DOS shell from within your host communications program. 014 The dialer you wish to load is too large to fit into memory. Follow the steps given in error 013. Once the dialer is loaded you can Copy and Paste it into other, smaller dialers that WILL fit into limited memory. 015 There is insufficient memory available to properly run InComm:PcPDial. Your DOS shell must have more memory available to it. See error 013 solutions above. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 58 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Error Code Explanations and Solutions ---- -------------------------- 016 The auto dialer entry list specified on the command line is invalid. You have typed in the dialer entry list with improper syntax. Make sure your commas and dashes are in the correct places. See the documentation above for proper syntax specifications. This is the "e:" parameter. 017 You have given an invalid command line parameter. Check the documentation above for which letters are valid for command line parameters. If you supplied a valid letter, make sure it is followed immediately by a colon (:). 018-023 Memory is too low for specified operation. See error 013 solutions. 024 You have specified a port that is not supported. Check your command line, specifically your "p:" parameter. It must be a number 1-4. 025 The given communications port cannot be opened, and probably does not exist. The hardware is not responding. Check that you have specified it correctly and that it exists. Check your configuration or your command line, whichever was used to specify the active comm port. 026 Nonprintable Error. If you get this error printed out the world will end within an hour. Please contact FutureSoft Technologies so we know the world is ending. Thanx! 027-036 A resource error has occured. This will occur if the resource file is missing, is unreadbale, or cannot be located. Check to see that the file InComPcP.res is available and readable in your current directory. It's gotta be there. 037 You have supplied, on the command line, for InComm:PcPDial to dial an entry from the SprintNet Dialer that does not exist. Check your command line, parameter "d:". The number after it must be an entry in the SprintNet Dialer. Check the SprintNet Dialer and make sure that entry number exists. Use Manager to check, specically use the "SprintNet Dialer|Open" menu selection. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 59 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Error Code Explanations and Solutions ---- -------------------------- 038 You have specified a blank Dialers Path in your configuration. Type your Dialers' directory path in the entry form. 039 You have specified a blank SprintNet ID in your configuration. Type your PcPursuit ID in the data entry form. 040 You have specified a blank SprintNet Password in your configuration. Type your PcPursuit Password in the entry form. 041 You have specified a blank SprintNet Terminal ID in your configuration. Type D1 into the data entry line. 042 You have not tagged any entries with which to generate a command file from. Check your dialer. Tag the desired entries and try again. Tag entries by using the spacebar or right mouse button. Each tagged entry will have a '+' beside it. 043 You have not tagged any entries in the dialer to dial. Check your dialer. All tagged entries will have a '+' beside their entry number. Use the spacebar or the right mouse button to tag the entry. 044 Your target dialer has no entries in it, you cannot edit nothingness. Hit the "Add New" action button to add a new entry. Now you can edit that entry. 045 Your target dialer is empty, you cannot delete what is not there. If you really must delete something, hit the "Add New" button to add a dummy entry. Now you can delete it! Ah, much better now! 046 You left the target ID data entry field blank. Enter a target ID, it cannot be left blank. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 60 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Error Code Explanations and Solutions ---- -------------------------- 047 A Terminal Window is already open, you cannot open another one. Close the current terminal window first, then try again. 048 A Terminal Window could not be opened successfully. This error should have been preceded by another error message. You will get this message if there is insufficient memory to open the terminal window or if the default communications port could not be opened properly. See solutions for errors 013 and 025. 049 Installation program cannot create the specified product or dialers directory. Check that the path specified in the Install Dialog is a valid path. 050 Installation program had an error creating the default configuration file. See solution for error 004. 051 Installation program had an error while writing to the default configuration file. See solution for error 007. 052 Installation cannot open Autoexec.Bat file. Check that AutoExec.Bat file exists on the drive you specified in the Install Dialog. 053 Installation could not properly open a scratch file. Check that there is disk space available. 054 Installation had an error while writing to scratch file. Check that there is sufficient disk space available. 055 Installation could not erase Autoexec.Bat. Make sure your AutoExec.Bat file is NOT read-only. 056 See error 053. 057 Installation could not create an updated AutoExec.Bat file. Check that there is disk space available. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 61 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Error Code Explanations and Solutions ---- -------------------------- 058 Installation error moving scratch file to Autoexec.Bat file. The scratch file could not be copied to the Autoexec.Bat file. If you get this error and not any of the previous errors, there is a serious problem. Contact FutureSoft Technologies. 059 Installation cannot rename scratch file. Make sure there is not already a file by the name of "Autoexec.ic". If it exists already, delete it, and re-run the installation. 060 Installation cannot open the specified distribution file for copying into the product directory. Make sure the distribution file exists, and that your "Source" directory is correct and exists. 061 Installation cannot create the destionation file to hold the copied distribution file. Check to make sure you have supplied a valid "Destination" directory for the product to be installed to. 062 Installation encountered an error installing the given file. Make sure there is sufficient disk space available, and that the given file does not already exist as a read-only file. 063 You left the "Destination" dialer name in the convert program blank. You must supply a valid filename for the new dialer. 064 You have specified the SAME source and destination dialer for conversion. These two cannot be the same. Specify a different name for the destination dialer. 065 Convert cannot open specified source dialer. Make sure the specified source dialer exists. 066 Convert encountered a read error on the source dialer. You should not get this error. If you do, contact FutureSoft Technologies. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 62 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Error Code Explanations and Solutions ---- -------------------------- 067 Convert cannot open specified destination dialer. Make sure you have specified a valid filename for the destination dialer filename. 068-069 Invalid format for source dialer. Check to make sure you specified the correct format for the dialer to be converted. If you have, then the dialer is corrupted and cannot be converted. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 63 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Appendix B : Glossary of Terms ================================ Action Buttons These are buttons contained in a dialog. When pressed they cause some action to be performed. Some examples are "Cancel", "Accept" and "Remove." Communications The communications parameters include baud, Parameters parity, word size, and stop bits. Collectively, these define how your modem communicates with SprintNet. Communications This is the hex address that the communications Port Address port is accessed through (the link between the computer and the port). Communications This is the interrupt line and priority used for Port IRQ the communications port. The standard IRQs are 3 and 4. Communications The communications port is the computer port your Port modem is hooked up to. It must be one of the four accepted standard ports. This is the channel through which your computer communicates with your modem. Configuration File The configuration file contains information describing your default setup, including SprintNet information and communications settings. It is used by Manager. Context-Sensitive Context-sensitive help refers to help that is Help given based on what section of the software you are currently operating in. For example, you are in a target dialer dialog and you request help (F1 key), a help window will appear with information specific to the target dialer dialog. DFA A DFA is a target known by PcPursuit and is connected directly to a SprintNet port. DFAs include The Net Exchange BBS, Plink, Portal, etc. Data Entry Dialog This dialog type is used to collect information from the user. These include the configuration editing dialogs and the dialogs used to edit dialer entries (targets). Data Entry Section This is a section of a dialog where the user enters information. Dialer.exe This is one of the two component programs of InComm:PcPDial. It is the high-speed PcPursuit automated dialer. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 64 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Dialer Dialog This dialog is used to provide the user with the capability of creating, editing, maintaining, and dialing Target Dialers and/or the SprintNet Dialer. Dialing Status This window is displayed when a dialer is Window commanded to dial. It displays the status of the dialing as it progresses through dialing all tagged entries until a connection is achieved. Dialog A dialog is like a window in all respects, except that it cannot be resized. Dialogs are used to take and process information from the user. They are usually composed of data entry sections, and action buttons. File Selection The file selection dialog allows you to enter Dialog information to specify an exact file to select to use. It supports wildcard and also allows you to search the directory tree to find the file you need to access. Host This is a program you use to carry on your normal Communications BBS operations such as downloading and uploading Program files. InComm:PcPDial functions best when used in conjunction with a host communicationssss program such as Telix or Procomm+. Hot Key This is a key or key-sequence (like Alt-X) which causes an action to be performed immediately. Most Hot keys for visible actions (on menus and action buttons) are simply the "Alt" key held down and then pressing the highlighted letter in the action name. Hot keys allow very quick access to program functions without requiring menu or dialog traversal with the mouse or arrow keys. Hunt/Seek Sequence This is the sequence of data sent to SprintNet to inform it which communications parameters you are using for your connection. The actual sequences are know by InComm:PcPDial and are not necessary to know. Listbox This is the component of the target dialer dialog which displaying the dialer's list of entries. It can be used to select entries for manipulation, or to scroll through the list. Manager.exe This is one of the two component programs of InComm:PcPDial. It is a superset of Dialer.exe, plus it provides target dialer editing capabilites, configuration editing, and a dumb terminal. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 65 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Menu bar The menu bar is the top line of the screen, and contains active areas that can be selected by the mouse or keyboard, that when selected cause an appropriate action to be performed. The menu bar is the main control panel for Manager. When an entry from the menu bar is selected, a submenu is pulled down. Selections from these submenus are what causes the actions to be performed. PcPursuit A service provided by US Sprint that allows long distance modem connections to 44 major US cities, for a flat rate of 30 hours/$30 per month. PcPursuit ID This is the ID assigned to you by Sprint necessary for using PcPursuit. PcPursuit Password This is the password assigned to you by Sprint necessary for using PcPursuit. SprintNet This is a large data network operated by Sprint. It is this network that PcPursuit is supported on. SprintNet Dialer This is the dialer that is used to contact and log into SprintNet. The dialer is not a single entity, but is composed of the Dialer Dialog and the Dialing Status Window. It is also used to refer to the list of SprintNet access numbers. SprintNet This is the terminal ID given to SprintNet to Terminal ID identify which type of terminal you want it to support when sending and receiving data. For most cases this ID will be "D1", or "D3" for Xon/Xoff software handshaking. Status Bar The status bar is at the bottom of the screen and displays information regarding available hot-keys and available memory. Sub Menu A sub menu is a group of selections that appears when an entry from the menu bar is selected. When the user select an entry from a sub menu, the appropriate action is performed. For example, selecting "Miscellaneous" from the menu bar brings down a sub menu with choices of "About" and "Exit Manager." Tagged This refers to when a target dialer's entry has been marked for a subsequent operation, such as Dialing or Copying/Cutting to the clipboard. Entries are tagged using the spacebar or the right mouse button. Tagged entries are seen in a target dialer with a '+' beside them. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 66 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Target A target is typically a BBS or a DFA. These are entries in the target dialer which are tagged by the user to dial and connect to. Target Dialer This is the dialer that is used to contact PcPursuitable targets (BBSs/DFAs). The dialer is not a single entity, but is composed of the Dialer Dialog and the Dialing Status Window. It is also used to refer to the list of dialable targets. Terminal Window The terminal window displays the connection between your computer and your modem. It basically shows you everything that is broadcast out of your modem, and received by your modem. XOn/XOff This is a software handshaking protocol which allows data flow to be temporarily shut off while the receiving end is processing it. This is used for the rare case that SprintNet's receive buffering gets overflowed, to prevent loss of data. Window A window is an area enclosed by a frame, and is displayed in the work area of your screen. Windows can be moved and resized using the keyboard or mouse. They are used to display information, and are generally not user interactive. Window Frame The window's frame is the outer boundary of the window, and completely surrounds the window. It is the frame that provides the move and resize functions and provides a title for the window. Work Area The work area is the space on the screen between the menu bar and the status bar. This area is where all of the windows and dialogs will be displayed. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 67 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 InComm:PcPDial release 1.0.1 License/Registration Form ====================================================== Remit to: Futuresoft Technologies, PO Box 822, Hartselle, Alabama 35640 USA ====================================================================== Qty Item Per item price Price ----------------------------------------------------------------- [ ] InComm:PcPDial.............. $10.00 ea : $_________ ( ) ICEX user special 50% offer, limit one per registered user..... $ 5.00 : $_________ ICEX registration number: __________________ [ ] Printed/Bound manual........ $ 8.00 ea : $_________ [ ] Latest release disk(s)...... $ 2.00 ea : $_________ -- OR -- [ ] Latest release disk(s) with 80286 version executables included. $ 3.00 ea : $_________ Diskette media : [ ] 3.5" [ ] 5.25" Alabama resident state sales tax @ 4.00%........: $_________ ********************************************************************** Total......(payable to FutureSoft Technologies)......: $_________ (Checks must be drawn on a US bank, in US funds) ********************************************************************** Name : ______________________________________________ Company : ______________________________________________ Address : ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 68 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Check below the method by which you obtained Incomm:PcPDial: [ ] - Shareware Catalog/Vendor [ ] - User Group [ ] - Compuserve [ ] - Other online service Which one? _________________________________ [ ] - Electronic Bulletin Board System BBS Name/Number: ___________________________________ [ ] - Other - Please Specify: ____________________________ ____________________________ ********************************************************************** Your comments are appreciated: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 69 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.1, March 3, 1992 Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 70