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[Note: This is a translation by dvi2tty of the TeX documentation.
As such, it is not as pretty as is could be.
Sorry. -David]
====================================================================
AmigaFax
The Amiga Fax System
C-Born Software Systems
November 7, 1992
====================================================================
Copyright (C) 1992 by C-Born Software Systems
All right reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Printed in Australia.
PRODUCTION NOTE
This document was produced using the LaTEX document preparation
system macro package for AmigaTEX , Tomas Rokicki's implementa-
tion of Donald Knuth's TEX typesetting system, running entirely on
Commodore Amiga computers. It was printed on a Hewlett Packard
LaserJet III printer, using an Adobe PostScript cartridge.
About...
All the software described herein was developed in Australia by C-
Born Software Systems, on Commodore Amiga computers.
PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA
ii
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Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 What is AmigaFax? : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 1
1.2 Summary of Features : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 1
1.3 System Requirements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 3
2 Installation 5
2.1 Installing the Software : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 5
2.2 Basic Configuration : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 6
2.3 Hardware : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 6
2.4 ARP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 7
2.5 Extra FONTS : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 7
2.6 Printer Setup : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 7
2.7 Configuring for Hardware and User Preferences : : : : : : : 7
3 Configuring the System 9
3.1 General Configuration : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 9
3.2 AmigaFax User Interface : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 10
3.3 Fax Page Layout Options : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 10
3.4 Fax Viewer Configuration : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 11
3.5 Fax Printer Configuration : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 11
3.6 Fax Spooler Configuration : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 11
3.7 Fax Receiver Configuration : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 12
3.8 Fax Transmitter Configuration : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 12
3.9 Modem Command and Status Strings : : : : : : : : : : : : 13
4 The Workbench Interface 15
4.1 AmigaFax : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 15
4.2 FaxAutoAnswer : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 17
4.3 FaxSpool : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 17
iii
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5 Operating from the Shell 19
5.1 AFAX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 20
5.2 NEWFAX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 20
5.3 AFAXSPL : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 20
5.4 MKAFAX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 21
5.5 AmigaFax Command File Format : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 21
5.5.1 Fill Mode : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 23
5.5.2 Stackable fonts and Style support : : : : : : : : : : : 23
5.6 AFAXSEND : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 25
5.7 AFAXPRT : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 25
5.8 FAA : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 25
5.9 AFAXILBM : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 26
5.10VIEWAFAX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 27
5.11FXFX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 28
5.12DVIFAX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 29
A Configuration Specifics 31
A.1 FAXLIB:Aliases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 31
A.2 FONTS : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 32
B Integration with other software 33
B.1 UUCP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 33
B.2 TEX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 33
B.3 PostScript : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 33
B.4 Printer Driver : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 34
B.5 BBS Systems : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 34
C FaxModem Specifics 35
C.1 ZyXEL U-1496 : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 35
C.2 Maestro 9600XR : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 36
iv
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Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 What is AmigaFax?
AmigaFax is a software package that, in combination with a FaxModem,
allows you to send and receive facsimile information from your Amiga com-
puter. Received faxes can be viewed, printed, forwarded to other fax ma-
chines, and saved as ILBM files which can then be accessed using many
standard Amiga programs. You can transmit text, ILBM graphics, and
combinations of these as faxes. Using the AmigaFax command language
you can add text from any Amiga font, along with logos and ILBM graphics,
to create high quality multi-page fax documents.
AmigaFax can be set up to automatically send documents to multiple
recipients, to send faxes at or after set times, and to answer incoming fax
calls automatically.
Faxes can be printed on plain paper, using your normal Amiga printer.
AmigaFax is highly configurable, allowing you to set up a custom envi-
ronment that best suits your hardware and way of working.
1.2 Summary of Features
o Automatic Reception
AmigaFax may be configured to receive faxes in the background, or to
answer an already ringing line in Fax mode. Autoanswer may also be
integrated with a UUCP or BBS environment, where incoming calls
may be Fax or data, by using a specially modified version of the getty
program that recognises Fax calls.
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o Automatic Transmission
Faxes may be queued for transmission after a particular time, to take
advantage of lower off-peak telecom rates, for example. You may
specify the number of times to try before giving up on transmission,
and the period at which retry attempts should be made. All call
progress is logged, and progress may be monitored from the main
program. Call logging displays when attempts were made, the success
or failure of the call, and the Called Number ID of the remote Fax
machine reached.
o Multiple Recipients
Fax numbers may be entered either directly, or using defineable aliases.
Therefore instead of sending to `99123456', you could send it to `Fred'.
In the same way, an alias can refer to a list of other aliases, or num-
bers, so that one fax could be sent to `Customers', representing a list
of customers.
o Flexible Fax Viewer
The Fax viewer allows you to view a fax document at scales of from
1:1 to 1:8. A 1:3 scale igenerally gives a quite readable image while
still fitting the entire Fax width across a standard Amiga screen. You
can easily zoom in on areas of particular interest if required.
o Powerful Document Builder
This allows you to mix any Amiga font or ILBM graphic on a page,
include text, ILBM, Fax, or AmigaFax command files anywhere on
a page or in a document, perform alignment at character or pixel
level, justify text regardless of font size, automatically add standard
information such as address, signature, logo, and current time/date.
o Highly User Configurable
The configuration file allows you to set the system up to suit your
requirements. You can define your prefered editor for text and for
graphics, set a standard file to use as a template when creating new
Fax documents, customize your dial type (pulse/tone, special prefix
to get outside line, etc), set the Caller ID string to identify yourself
to remote Fax machines, define the modem type you are using, and
set many system default values.
o Multiple Serial Port Support
Using the A2232 multi-serial port card, AmigaFax can support mul-
tiple FaxModems simultaneously, each modem being able to transmit
and receive facimiles and data.
2
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o Uses Preferences Printer
Because the Amiga Preferences printer is used to print out the docu-
ments, you can tradeoff speed for resolution as you require.
o Workbench or CLI interface
AmigaFax can be run either from the workbench, or from a shell or
CLI interface. In either case, an easy to use graphical presentation
makes operation straightforward.
1.3 System Requirements
AmigaFax requires AmigaDOS version 1.3 or greater. It operates with
AmigaDOS 2.0, and will run on Amigas from the original A1000 through
to the A3000. It is possible to run on an unexpanded A1000 with 512K
RAM and 1 disk drive, but in this case memory and disk restraints will
limit the number and size of faxes that may be generated or received. In
general the more memory and disk available the better. For unattended
Auto-receive operation a hard disk system is highly desirable.
3
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4
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Chapter 2
Installation
Warning: Be sure to back up your original disks, and use working copies
of the disks for normal operation.
2.1 Installing the Software
Information on installing the AmigaFax software on your system is given
in the ReadMe file on the distribution disk. Insert the distribution disk, and
from the WorkBench double-click on the ReadMe icon for instructions.
The installation script should automatically handle most installations.
To use it, from the WorkBench double-click the Install_Now icon, or from
a Shell window type amigafax:install. The script will prompt you for
information required to complete the installation.
If you are updating to a later revision, the installation procedure will not
overwrite your configuration or alias files, so you will not lose information.
However in this case you may want to examine the files in the directories
lib.user and s.user on the distribution disk for examples of more recent
configuration options.
The AmigaFaX software requires certain logical assignments to be made.
The installation procedure will create a file afax:s/User-Startup. You
must edit your S:User-Startup (2.0) or S:Startup-Sequence (1.3)
to include the contents of that file, which will be typically something like:
assign afax: Work:AmigaFax
mount null:
run >nil: <nil: l:fifo-handler
if exists afax:s/AFAX-Startup
execute afax:s/AFAX-Startup
5
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endif
If your devs:MountList doesn't contain an entry for the NULL: device,
append the MountList file from the devs directory on the AmigaFax to it.
2.2 Basic Configuration
There are many possible ways to operate the AmigaFax software. You may
wish to operate it as the only software using your FaxModem, or have it
share the modem with other software such as AmigaUUCP. The AmigaFax
spooler may be started when you boot up your computer, or only when you
want to send a fax. Fax Auto-Answer may be left on all the time, started
only when you are expecting a fax, or not used at all.
If you want the fax-spooler to start when you boot up your system, you
must add the line
run >nil: <nil: AFAX:C/afaxspl
to your startup sequence. This can be done in the AFAX:s/AFaxAssign
file, for example. Normally this would only be necessary if you send a lot
of faxes with delayed spooling, and your computer may be rebooted often,
as the spooler is automatically started when sending a fax.
If you want auto-answer with Fax detection running constantly in back-
ground, you may either use the modified Getty command, or use faa di-
rectly, by adding the line
run >nil: <nil: faa
somewhere in your startup sequence.
Note that the modified getty will allow you to receive data and fax calls
effectively, and is the recommended approach. However if you only wish to
receive faxes, faa is effective and may be started by double-clicking on the
FaxAutoAnswer icon.
2.3 Hardware
The cable between your Amiga and Modem MUST connect CTS,RTS,
DTR, DCD, TXD, RXD and GND conductors. CTS and RTS are used
for flow control handshaking. DTR is used to keep the modem on line -
hangup occurs if it is dropped. DCD is used for carrier detection.
6
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TXD 2 Transmit Data
RXD 3 Receive Data
RTS 4 Request to Send
CTS 5 Clear to Send
GND 7 Signal Ground
DCD 8 Data Carrier Detect
DTR 20 Data Terminal Ready
2.4 ARP
If you have the ARP library installed (Libs:arp.library) the system will
make use of it for file requesters.
Support for the ASL library under AmigaDOS2.0 has now been added
to AmigaFax. It is used in preference to ARP.
2.5 Extra FONTS
Some extra fonts have been included in the FaxFonts directory. You may
let the installation script copy them into your FONTS: directory, or under
AmigaDOS2.0 you may copy them into another directory, and modify your
startup to extend the FONT: assign to that directory. The extra fonts are
from the Computer Modern series, as used with TEX.
2.6 Printer Setup
AmigaFax currently uses the standard printer driver, as configured in Pref-
erences. A future update may allow you to override the default settings
via the configuration file. Using a dot-matrix printer, Halftone Dithering,
Integer Scaling, Black and White, Density 7 appears to work reasonably
well.
2.7 Configuring for Hardware and User Pref-
erences
You will need to modify the file FAXLIB:Config to suit your specific hard-
ware and preferences. See Chapter 3 for details on how to do this.
7
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8
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Chapter 3
Configuring the System
The file FAXLIB:Config is used to configure the basic operation of Ami-
gaFax to suit your particular hardware and preferences. You must edit
this file carefully, using a text editor. You should always keep a backup
copy of this file. The configuration options are continually being added to
as AmigaFax grows, so if you are upgrading you should look at the latest
copy. This will NOT overwrite your existing configuration as part of the
installation process.
From version 1.30, AmigaFax configuration can be done using local or
global environmental variables. This will override the values read in from
the FAXLIB:Config file. For example typing from the CLI/Shell
SetEnv LocalID +61-52-786355
will override the LocalID string with the new number.
3.1 General Configuration
o Debug
Debug level, 0-9. Takes one numeric argument. Useful for fault-
finding, observing handshake between the Amiga and your FaxMo-
dem.
o LogFile
Specifies the file for logging debug and error information. If not given,
information will not be logged.
o LocalID
The rest of the line is used as the local identifier string, which is
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passed to the remote fax machine. This is usually your fax number,
and is limited to 20 characters.
o Device
The device to use for connecting to the modem, usually serial.device
(default). This should only be changed if using a different serial de-
vice, as with a third-party serial hardware.
o Unit
Takes one numeric parameter as the unit number to use on the given
device. Default is 0. For example when using the first port on the
A2232 multi-serial, set this to 2.
3.2 AmigaFax User Interface
These items are used by the afax program.
o Editor
The name of the your prefered text editor, for example TxEd, ced,
memacs, dme, mg, or Ed (default). I use mg (MicroGnuEmacs).
o ILBMEditor
The editor you prefer for editing IFF ILBM graphics, for example
dpaint.
o Template
The name of a file to use as a template for building fax documents, If
given, the editor will be given a copy of this file to work on when you
ask for a new fax file. This may include references to your address,
your signature, etc.
3.3 Fax Page Layout Options
These items are used by the mkafax program.
o DefaultFont
This is the default font, used for normal text unless otherwise spec-
ified. It takes two parameters, the font name, and size. The font
cmtt10 41 looks quite good for standard text.
o HeaderFont
This is the font used for page headers.
10
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o PHeader
If given, a header will be printed on each fax page, and the rest of
the line used as the main text, along with the date, local ID string,
and page number. If not given, no header will be printed.
o LeftIndent
The left indentation (border) to be used, in pixels. Many fax machines
will not print to the full fax width, and typically an indentation of
at least 50 pixels (approx 1/4 inch) on each size is required to avoid
losing characters.
o RightIndent
The right indentation (border) to be used, in pixels.
3.4 Fax Viewer Configuration
These items are used by the viewafax program.
o ViewScale
Takes one numeric argument, 1-8. This is the default scale used by
the fax viewer when it starts up. A value of three allows a standard
fax to fit across the screen. A scale of 1 shows maximum detail.
3.5 Fax Printer Configuration
These items are used by the afaxprt program.
o MinLines
Takes one numeric argument. This is the minimum number of lines
that must be on a fax page before we print it. The default value is
0 (zero), meaning print all pages. This is for cut-sheet feeders (Laser
Printers), where the fax may be just a little longer than one page.
Use a value of around 100 here to stop getting `blank pages' printed
out.
1.32 and later MinLines is now used to scale a fax page to fit on a
printer page. If the fax page is longer then the printer page by less
than MinLines, it will be scaled to fit. A value of around 500 works
for most faxes.
3.6 Fax Spooler Configuration
These items are used by the afaxspl program.
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o SpoolInterval
This is the time interval, in minutes, at which the outbound fax queue
is scanned for untransmitted files.
3.7 Fax Receiver Configuration
These items are used by the faa program.
o RSetup
The receive setup string. This optional string is sent to the modem.
Unlike versions before 1.23, the string is NOT preceded by AT. In-
stead, the line is sent as it appears. This allows multiple commands
to be sent when initializing the modem. This allows you to add com-
mands to set such things as speaker use and volume.
o RStatus
Receive Status. If present, a status window will pop up when a fax is
being received, showing various details such as name, connect speed,
transmitter ID, amount of data received. It takes two optional nu-
meric parameters, which are used for the top and left edge pixel po-
sitions to place the window.
o DLEmode
There are many incompatible modems and modem ROM revisions
about. This allows you to specify certain things about how your
FaxModem sends your data. It currently takes one numeric argument,
(0, 1 or 3).
- 0
(default) treat DLE in received data as escape (Maestro 3.1,
ZyXEL 3.99+)
- 1
Received DLE is g3 data (ZyXEL Vn3.90, Supra?)
- 3
RAW input mode. Data is saved raw. For debug only.
3.8 Fax Transmitter Configuration
These items are used by the afaxsend program.
o WSetup
The transmit setup string. This optional string is sent to the modem.
12
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As in the RSetup line, the line is sent to the modem as it appears
(since 1.23). This allows you to add commands to set such things as
speaker use and volume.
o DialType
Takes the parameters Pulse (default) or Tone.
o DialPrefix
Prefix to add before number when dialling. I use it to get an outside
line (dials 0 first), by setting it to ATDP0,DT, which will pulse-dial
0, then tone-dial the rest of the number.
o DoPadding
This should not be necessary. However, some FaxModems to not ob-
serve the minimum scan-time restrictions set by the standard. When
connecting to slower fax machines, this may result in missed scan-
lines. Note that if you set this parameter, it will usually result in fax
transmissions taking longer, as worst-case padding must be added.
o WStatus
Write Status. If present, a status window will pop up when a fax
is being transmitted, showing various details such as name, connect
speed, receiver ID, percent of file sent. It takes two optional numeric
parameters, which are used for the top and left edge pixel positions
to place the window.
3.9 Modem Command and Status Strings
Certain modem commands and status codes have now been made variable.
The variables default to their own value, and may be set in the Config file,
or as environment variables.
eg setenv +FLID +FLI
will result in the string +FLI rather than +FLID being used for setting the
local ID code.
Variables are:
o Status
- +FCON
Fax connect established
- +FCSI
Called station identifier follows
13
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- +FTSI
Transmitting station identifier follows
- +FDCS
Current session parameters follow
- +FK
- +FPTS
- +FHNG
Fax hangup (terminal)
o Command
- +FDT
Fax Data Transmit (I am about to transmit)
- +FDR
Fax Data Receive
- +FLID
Local ID string follows
o Dual Use
- +FET
Fax End of Transmission (Followed by status code)
- +FDIS
Constrain session parameters
14
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Chapter 4
The Workbench Interface
Once configured, AmigaFax may be operated either from a Shell or CLI
(Command Line Interface), or from the Workbench. If you choose to op-
erate from the Workbench, you will find three main icons, `AmigaFax',
`FaxAutoAnswer' and `FaxSpool'.
4.1 AmigaFax
When you double-click on the `AmigaFax' icon, the main AmigaFax con-
trol window will open. This allows you to edit, compile and view faxes,
queue them for transmission, review previously queued transmissions, and
so forth. There are currently six string gadgets, six pushbutton gadgets,
and one toggle gadget on the control window.
The gadget functions are:
o FINE/STD
This toggle gadget allows the user to toggle between Fine (200 DPI)
and Standard (100 DPI) vertical resolution, when creating AFax files.
Standard resolution takes half the space, and half the time to trans-
mit, of Fine mode, but Fine looks MUCH nicer !!
o To:
This is the intended recipient of the Fax. It may be just a phone
number, or it may be an alias. When you enter a string and press
return, if the first character is a digit it will be treated as a number,
otherwise it will be checked for aliases. If no aliases are found, the
string is removed, otherwise the number of aliases found is shown.
Refer to section A.1 for more information on aliases.
15
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o From:
This is picked up from the LocalID field in your Config file, if present.
You may override this value. It is a 20 character string sent to the
remote Fax to identify you as the sender, usually your phone number
for return faxes.
o Source:
This is the name of the fax source document, usually an AmigaFax
command (.FCOM) file, although plain text or ILBM files may also be
used. If you press return with an empty string, and ARP is installed,
a requester will prompt you for a filename.
o AFAX:
This is the name for the actual fax file. The system will usually pick a
name for you, but you may wish to override it. Note that the AFAX
file name will be reserved, but not actually created, until time to send
the Fax. You may force creation with the "Make" gadget if you wish
to test that it is created correctly. If a document is to be faxed to
multiple recipients, only one copy of the AFAX file will be made. It
is automatically deleted when all recipients have been reached.
o Tries:
The maximum number of times to try to get a fax through to a
specific recipient if problems are encountered, such as remote phone
being engaged. Defaults to three.
o Time:
The Fax will not be sent until after this time. An empty field means
send at any time. Fill in as hh:mm, (24 hour format) then press
return. The system will interpret the time, and display the result.
Time can only be in the future, past time is rounded up by a day.
o New
Create a new Fax document, and edit it using your configuration
editor. The file pointed to by the configuration entry "Template" will
be used as a fax pro-forma. The system will pick a default document
name for you, which you may keep or override.
o Edit
Edit a Fax document, using your configuration editor. Note that you
may set both a text and a graphic editor in your config file.
o Make
The system will attempt to build an AFAX file from your source
16
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document. This is not necessary when sending faxes, but does allow
you to check whether the document will appear as you wish.
o Preview
Invokes the AFAX viewer program, so you can preview the completed
document.
o Send
Your facsimile document will be queued for sending to the appropriate
recipients. If the fax-spooler is not running, you will be asked if you
wish to start it.
o QCheck
This gadget will bring up the queue check window, to monitor the
progress of outgoing Faxes. From here it is possible to requeue Faxes
that have exceeded their error allowance, and to remove the spool files
for faxes that have been successfully sent, or that are still queued for
transmission.
4.2 FaxAutoAnswer
This icon will activate the background automatic-answer facility. If it is
already operating, you will get the choice of removing the existing applica-
tion (stopping it), or replacing it with the new version. You may wish to
replace it if you have modified the configuration file settings.
Note that you should only activate the auto-answer system in this fash-
ion if you are not using the GETTY mode of operation, and only want to
receive facimile transmissions, not data.
4.3 FaxSpool
This icon will activate the background fax-spooler program. If it is already
operating, you will get the choice of removing the existing application (stop-
ping it), or replacing it with the new version. Note that in normal operation
the main AmigaFax program will start the spooler for you when you queue
a fax for transmission, or you will run it up automatically in your startup
sequence. You may wish to replace it if you have modified the configuration
file settings.
17
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18
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Chapter 5
Operating from the Shell
There are 11 separate executable modules included in the release.
o afax
Intuitionized interface for AFAX create/edit/send etc
o newfax
Notifies new fax received, allows print/view/delete, etc [Intuitionized
interface]
o afaxspl
Fax spooler daemon, many options/features
o mkafax
Convert documents to AmigaFax AFAX IFF file format
o afaxprt
Print and AmigaFax AFAX IFF file using preferences printer
o afaxsend
Send an AmigaFax AFAX IFF file to a remote Fax machine
o faa
Receive Fax documents in auto-answer mode
o afaxilbm
Convert pages from an AmigaFax AFAX IFF file to ILBM format
o viewafax
FAX viewer
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o fxfx
Manipulates fax files
o dvifax
Converts TEX.dvi file to fax format (Registered version only)
5.1 AFAX
AFAX:c/afax - no command line switches at present. This brings up a win-
dow which you can use to create new Fax documents, edit the documents,
create the actual AFAX files, and send your faxes.
5.2 NEWFAX
AFAX:C/newfax faxname This program is automatically invoked by faa
when a fax is received. It puts up a window informing you of the Fax,
with details about it (name, sender ID, number of pages), and allows you
to view, print or delete the document.
5.3 AFAXSPL
[run >nil: <nil:] afax:c/afaxspl [-s] [-i n]
With the -S option, the spooler will run once only, checking for any
faxes waiting to be spooled out. In this mode, it could be launched using
cron/dcron/amicron at whatever times you wish to send faxes.
Otherwise it will run in background and check for faxes to spool at in-
tervals of every n minutes, where n is the interval in minutes from the con-
figuration file default, optionally overridden by the -i command-line switch.
You could do this perhaps every 1/2 hour, (n = 30), or even at 1 minute
intervals while testing.
The spooler checks for files of the form FAXSPOOL:*.SPL. These are
human-readable. As calls progress, results are added to the end of the file. If
successfully sent, the file is renamed FAXSPOOL:*.OK . If unsuccessful for
more than the specified number of tries, it is renamed FAXSPOOL:*.ERR
. Note that you can re-spool a .ERR file by using an editor to increase the
allowed tries, then renaming it back to .SPL .
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5.4 MKAFAX
mkafax <docfilename> <AFAX_filename>
mkafax currently recognizes the IFF file types AFAX and ILBM, plain
text files, and AFAX command text files, as input.
A plain text file will be converted to an AFAX file using default settings.
An IFF ILBM will be converted to a single-page FAX document. Only
the first plane is converted, to convert multi-plane (eg DigiView Pics) use
another tool, such as PfiltView (AmigaTeX). May integrate later ?
An AFAX command file uses lines starting with a dot (.) as special
commands, similar to TROFF style text processors. The file MUST start
with .FCOM on the first line.
5.5 AmigaFax Command File Format
An AFAX command file uses lines starting with a dot (.) as special com-
mands, similar to TROFF style text processors. The file MUST start with
.FCOM on the first line.
.FCOM
on the first line to be recognised as a command file.
.FCOM may optionally be followed by a dialstring or target alias.
(Currently unused, future compatability)
Other commands currently supported are :
.PG Clear out the old page and start a new one
.LM n Set the left margin to n characters, in the current font
.LI n Set the left indentation to n pixels (default 50)
.RI n Set the right indentation to n pixels (default 50)
.LJ Left-justify text and Graphics from now on
.RJ Right Justify text and Graphics
.CT Center Text and Graphics
.TS n Set Tabs every n characters (default 8)
.PL n Set page length to n (pixel) rows (default 2292 == A4)
.FILL Turn on fill mode
.NOFILL Turn off fill mode
.VERBATIM
All text read in will be printed verbatim, until .ENDVERB
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.VERBINC filename
Include a file in verbatim mode. Still requires a .ENDVERB
.ENDVERB
End verbatim mode
.FONT name size [styles]
Set the font as specified. Typical use might be
.FONT topaz 11
.FONT diamond 20
.FONT cmr10 30
and so on. See the .STYLE command for style options.
.ENDF pop the current font/style, and return to the previous one.
.STYLE styles
Set the style according to the style string,
N - Normal
B - Bold
U - Underlined
I - Italics
E - Extended
eg .STYLE BU (set to bold, underlined)
. (dot followed by white-space) Rest of line is a comment
.INC file
Include the named file. File may be text, ILBM, or another command
file. Type is auto-recognised. If a full path is not given to the
include file, the current directory will be searched, then the
FAXLIB: directory. Thus addresses, signatures, etc may be kept
in FAXLIB:
From version 1.34, you may also .INC an AFAX format file. At
present only one page is included, by default the first page.
Page number can be specified by an optional parameter, eg
.INC FAXREC:Fax0001 2
At present only 1 page from an AFAX file can be included for each .INC
command, and no data after that page will appear on the page it is
included on. Text/graphics can be included before the included fax
page, so you could use this, for example, to automatically add some
header text to a received fax before relaying it on.
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Note that at present, normal page-length checking is NOT done while
processing the included fax page, so you may get a longer than
expected page.
.DATE Insert a line with the current date and time, using current font
and line settings.
Any line not beginning with a . will be processed as normal text, ac-
cording to the current settings.
5.5.1 Fill Mode
In this mode, lines will be filled from input to full width (inside LR indent)
in the current font. Line filling terminates on a dot command, blank line,
or end of page. Left Margin is disabled while filling.
See the included test.com file for examples of useage.
5.5.2 Stackable fonts and Style support
Starting at version 1.34, mkafax supports stackable fonts, and the use of
styles, such as Bold, Italic and Underline_.
Useage of the command .FONT has been extended, and the commands
.STYLE and .ENDF have been added.
The font system has been modified so that fonts are now nestable. This
means you can set a font/style, and then return to the original font/style,
without needing to know what that was. This can be very useful for include
files, which can return to the original font before they exit, for example.
The .FONT command now takes an optional third parameter, which
defines the requested style to use. This takes the form of a string, consisting
of the letters N, B, U, I and E in any order, upper or lower case.
N - Normal
B - Bold
U - Underlined
I - Italics
E - Extended
Note that the letters are parsed in order, and that N will clear the other
flags and set the font back to normal. For example,
.FONT topaz 30 BU
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will set the font to topaz 30, Bold and Underlined.
.FONT CGTimes 50 I
set CGTimes at 50-point, Italic.
You can retain the existing font, but change its style, by using the new
.STYLE command.
.STYLE U
This is Underlined.
.STYLE IU
This is Underlined and Italic.
All .FONT and .STYLE commands can now be nested. This means that
the font/style you set will remain in effect until the new command .ENDF
is encountered. After this the previous font/style set will be in force. The
Default font, which can be set from your FAXLIB:Config file or by environ-
mental variable, is always the underlying font. No matter how many .ENDF
commands you enter, this will not be popped from the font stack.
Note that if you have defined a Header font, this will be automatically
pushed for headers, and popped afterwards.
Example .FCOM file:
.FCOM
This is in default font
.FONT CGTimes 30 U
This is in Underlined 30 point CGTimes
.FONT topaz 20 B
This is in Bold 20 point topaz
.STYLE NIU
And this is Italic Underlined 20 point topaz
.ENDF
Bold 20 point topaz
.ENDF
Underlined 30 point CGTimes
.ENDF
Default font
.ENDF
Default font
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5.6 AFAXSEND
afaxsend [-t -d -P] <dialstring _ alias> <AFAX_filename>
eg afaxsend Jeff MyFaxFile
-D name - Use name for the device (default serial.device)
-U num - Use device unit num (default 0)
-t - Use Tone Dialing
-P - Padding on (default)
-p - Padding off
Attempts to dial out, connect to the remote fax machine, and tranfer
the specified document.
If the first character of dialstring is not a digit, and not a name alias,
the whole string will we be sent to the modem non-prefixed as a dial string.
If an alias is used, it may be a group alias, resulting in the fax being sent
to everyone in that group.
5.7 AFAXPRT
afaxprt [-pnum] [-n] [-dn]<AFAX_filename>
eg afaxprt -p2 MyFaxFile
If the -p option is not used, all pages are printed.
The -n option does not actually send the data to the printer. Useful
with the debug option -d.
Sends the AmigaFax document to the preferences printer. It is a good
idea to set your printer for high density. Using a dot-matrix, Halftone
Dithering, Integer Scaling, Black and White, Density 7 appears to work ok.
Note that this has not been extensively tested with printers other than
the HPLJIII and the Star NX10.
5.8 FAA
faa [BaseName]
Fax auto-answer. Sets up the FaxModem to auto-answer and recognise
Fax or data tranmissions. Incoming Faxes will be saved in AFAX format.
the default BaseName is FAXREC:FAX, so that incoming faxes will be
named
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FAXREC:FAX0000
FAXREC:FAX0001
FAXREC:FAX0002
etc.
Note also that although faa recognises the difference between Fax and
Data, it currently does nothing special with data. I hope to integrate this
with the UUCP system in the future. Any other suggestion ?
To terminate the faa program, send it a CTL_C break. If you ran it
directly from your shell, just type control-C and wait. If you used RUN or
RUNBACK, send a break to its process number. (eg break 7 all)
Command Line switches are:
-dn - Set debug on, level n (default 1)
-D name - Use name for the device (default serial.device)
-U num - Use device unit num (default 0)
-a - Immediate Answer
-G - Run from a Getty
-z - Diagnostic, do not detach, so debug messages can be read
The Immediate Answer switch assumes phone is ringing, configures the
modem & answers immediately. It probably makes sense to attach this to
an alias if you use it this way. eg. alias fa "faa -a"
The Getty option specifies that faa was run from a Getty. It will not
modify the serial port parameters. It assumes that the Getty has answered
the phone, detected a Fax call, and set up the line accordingly. Faa will
connect, collect a Fax document, and return control to the Getty.
5.9 AFAXILBM
afaxilbm [-pnum] <AFAX_filename> <ILBM_filename>
eg
afaxilbm -p2 RAM:AFAXR001 FX.ILBM
This will extract the specified page from the AFAX file to the named
ILBM file. It may then be viewed using standard ILBM viewing programs,
such as LoadImage from Fish disks 281 and 355, of programs like Deluxe-
Paint.
If no page number is given, all pages will be extracted to separate files,
and given names of the format base.1 base.2, etc
The default ILBM file base name is afax_ilbm
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5.10 VIEWAFAX
viewafax [opts] <FaxFile>
The fax viewer is normally started automatically by from the NewFax win-
dow. When invoked from the CLI, it takes the options:
-d debug_level
-p Page_Number
-s Scale
The current version of the viewer keeps one entire fax page in memory.
If the page will not fit in the requested scale, it tries to reduce the resolut*
*ion
until it finds one that will fit. Once a page is displayed, you can move about
the page using the arrow keys. There is a scale gadget at the top left of
the window, in the form of 1:n, where n is the current scale (say 3). You
can click on the gadget, delete the current scale, and enter your own, in the
range 1 to 8, where 1 is 1:1 (full size), 2 is 1:2 (half size) etc. To the right
of that gadget is another of the form Page: n where n is the current page
displayed. Again you may enter the required page number in this gadget.
To the top right of the window is a group of gadgets of the form | <<
-- >> |. These are actually four gadgets, which allow moving through
the pages of the fax. From left to right they are First Page, Previous Page,
Next Page, and Last Page.
You may use the windows sizing gadget to resize the window. However
with the current viewer, sizing the window larger than the fax page will
result in the window shrinking to the page size at the next movement.
Several keys are active in the viewer window.
o Down Arrow (Cursor Key or Numeric Pad)
Move window down fax page.
o Up Arrow (Cursor Key or Numeric Pad)
Move window up fax page.
o Right Arrow (Cursor Key or Numeric Pad)
Move window right on fax page.
o Left Arrow (Cursor Key or Numeric Pad)
Move window left on fax page.
o Numeric pad keys 1,3,7,9
Diagonal window movement
o i
Flip fax page vertically. Useful when faxes are sent upside-down.
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o q
Quit from viewer
o b
Move back on page in fax file
o n
Move to next page in fax file
o f
Move to first page in fax file
o e
Move to end page in fax file
o s
Make fax smaller - reduce scale one step
o l
Make fax larger - increase scale one step
5.11 FXFX
This utility allows you to split and merge AFAX format fax files. A typical
use is where you have a complete fax document, perhaps generated by TeX-
>dvifax, or received as an AFAX fax-file and you want to sent it with an
attached cover page, or you want to extract one or more pages from the
document.
The command-line format is:
fxfx infile [-range] [infile[-range]] [...] outfile
Some examples:
fxfx file1 file2
copies fax files file1 to file2
fxfx file1 file2 file3 file4
merges all pages from file1-3 to create file4
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fxfx file1 file2 -1,3,5-7,9- file3 -4 file4
merges all pages from file1, pages 1,3,5-7 and 9 on from file2, and
page 4 from file3, to create file4
The range is currently sorted, so to reverse page order is currently
not simple, eg
fxfx file1 -3 file1 -2 file1 -1 file2
to create file2 from pages 1-3 of file1 in reverse order.
5.12 DVIFAX
This module works with the AmigaTeX package from Radical Eye Software,
to enable you to convert a TEX.dvi file into an AmigaFax fax file.
The command line syntax is
dvifax file.dvi -o file.afx
You will be prompted for various size and scaling numbers. You are
probably best to accept the default values (hit return) unless you have a
very good idea what you are doing.
The Squeeze Fax option will remove all white-space from the top and
bottom of each page. This can result in significant savings in transmission
time, and in fax paper at the other end.
When creating faxes with dvifax, you may want to add a cover page.
This can be done easily with the fxfx utility.
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Appendix A
Configuration Specifics
A.1 FAXLIB:Aliases
This file allows you to alias numbers to names, create fax mailing groups,
etc. Aliases may be defined in terms of other aliases.
For example we could have:
joe: 1234596
fred: 9876123
bill: 0981234
andy: "0,123-4567,,,"
customers: joe, fred, bill
Lines beginning with # are treated as comments, a comma means the
alias list continues.
If you want to include spaces or commas in an alias (commas are a way of
inserting delays into a dial-string), you should surround the aliased number
with double quotes. Adding coma-delays at the end of a dial string can
be useful when dialing numbers that take a long time to respond, avoiding
possible timeouts.
The alias system is modelled closely on the one used in Matt Dillon's
UUCP package. See UUCP documentation for more details. Thanks, Matt.
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A.2 FONTS
AmigaFax can use all the standard Amiga fonts. Under AmigaDOS2.0 the
ability to perform font-scaling means that you can generate quite impressive
documents very easily.
The AmigaFax distribution also includes a selection of larger sized fonts
from the Computer Modern series, which again allows very high quality
faxes to be produced. These were generated from standard TEXfonts using
the TEXF program. Note that these fonts do not contain the umlaut
characters commonly used in Europe.
These include the fonts cmr10, cmbx10, cmssbx10 and cmtt10 in sizes
from 29 to 103.
I would suggest that anyone using AmigaDOS 2.0 use the standard
Amiga fonts. Even Topaz scaled to 30 point size or greater comes out quite
effectively. Play around until you find a setup you like.
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Appendix B
Integration with other
software
B.1 UUCP
AmigaFax was designed from the beginning to integrate with UUCP, in
particular with Matt Dillon's AmigaUUCP1.15D. Using the modified Getty
program provided, a Fax call will be recognised, and the Fax auto-answer
program will be called to handle it. Normal logins and UUCP connections
should function as usual.
Other facilities, such as network fax-server capability, can be provided
to enhance the basic AmigaFax system.
B.2 TEX
We have written a dvifax program, which will take a standard TEX .dvi
file, and transform it to an AmigaFax file, with superb quality output. This
is now provided with the distribution.
B.3 PostScript
PostScript support is not yet in place, but it is on the list. Priority given
depends on demand.
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B.4 Printer Driver
An AmigaFax printer-driver is also high on the list of things to do. This
will allow any program that normally produces output using the standard
Amiga Preferences printer to produce AmigaFax files as output.
B.5 BBS Systems
The FifoBBS BBS system for VLT is no longer distributed with AmigaFax.
There several BBS systems that should work well alongside AmigaFax,
the one we are currently using at C-Born is TransAmiga. This is a freely
distributable shareware package which also supports FidoNet. It is available
from several sources, including Amiga ftp sites. See the file BBSREADME
in the distribution disk BBS directory for more details.
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Appendix C
FaxModem Specifics
C.1 ZyXEL U-1496
The ZyXEL U-1496 provides data rates to v32bis and higher, with v42bis er-
ror correction and compression. It is capable of facsimile data rates greater
than 9600bps, currently up to 14400bps. ZeroOne makes ROM upgrades
available through their BBS, with frequent upgrades. They are very helpful
and responsive to customer requests.
The latest ROM version we have used is V5.00.
With this ROM, it is possible to lock the DCE/DTE data rate for fax
with the sequence ATS38=8S18=n, where n is the DTE speed as per the S20
register list, eg 2 for 38.4Kbps, 3 for 19.2Kbps.
There is a Voice-mode ROM for the ZyXEL currently in Beta-test.
When this is released, we will try to integrate it with AmigaFax. this
will allow you to send and receive voice messages, as well as fax and data
calls, all from your Amiga.
A few more tips on configuration, with getty. In my standard startup
line I have been setting the page-length to A4, as my printer is A4, which
is the standard here. However, it appears that my fax (and most others)
when appending their header/footer lines, force the page past A4. This has
not been a problem in the past, but now the U1496 must be obeying the
page-length setting, and forces out an extra very short page for each A4
page. This causes handshake problems, etc.
So for now, the best solution seems to be setting up for unlimited page-
length. The AmigaFax software has no problem with this, but your printer
may, if single-sheet type.
Another option allows fax data-rates greater than 9600. Not many fax
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machines support this yet, but we may as well use it, just in case.
The +FDCC options are as follows:
+FDCC=1,5,0,2
^ ^ ^ ^
| | | +- Page Length: 0=A4(297mm) 1=B4(364mm) 2=unlimited
| | +--- Page Width : 0=1728 Pixels in 215mm (Current AmigaFax Limit)
| +----- Bit Rate : 0=2400 1=4800 2=7200 3=9600 4=12000 5=14400
+--------Vert. Res. : 0=Normal(98 lpi) 1=Fine(196 lpi)
Other options cover compression format, error correction mode, binary
file transfer, and scan time. These are not yet supported, probably not
until the standards are finalized.
The line I use to start up Getty is:
RunBack Getty -Mh -B19200 -x8 -F6 AT&C1&D3+FDCC=1,5,0,2
As I have the FaxModem running from a AS2232 multiport serial card,
with a maximum baud rate of 19200, I must limit the DCE/DTE rate to
that.
C.2 Maestro 9600XR
This is a low-cost Australian made 2400bps data, 9600bps send/receive fax
modem, based on the Exar chipset. It does not allow DCE/DTE rate lock-
ing, and as of the latest version ROMs we have, still has occasional problems
in correctly synchronising to incoming fax data, resulting in `garbage data'
faxes, and missing lines from the top of pages. These problems may have
been fixed in later ROM versions, but we have not been notified of any up-
grades. The modem software does not appear to observe specified line-scan
delays, which may result in missing lines when transmitting to older/slower
fax machines.
A typical Getty startup-line for this modem is:
run >nil: <nil: Getty -Mh -B2400 -F AT&C1&D2+FDCC=1,3
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