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- SLIP package Page 1 March 1, 1993
-
-
- What is SLIP? 1
- How Does It Work? 1
- What is the SLIP package? 3
- SLIP.BAT 3
- UMSLIP.COM 3
- TERMIN.COM 3
- PHONE.EXE 3
- Documentation 3
- SLIPDISK 3
- Where to Get It 4
- SLIP.BAT 4
- SETUP 4
- POPMAIL 4
- GOPHER 5
- TELNET 5
- FTP 5
- QUIT 5
- UMSLIP.COM 5
- TERMIN.COM 5
- PHONE.EXE 6
- The HELP system (F1 Key) 6
- Hot Keys 6
- Cross-References (Hypertext) 7
- Mouse 7
- Previous Key (Alt-F1) 7
- Index 7
- Contents 7
- Help-with-Help 7
- The Primary Screen 8
- The Menu Bar 8
- Selecting from the Menu Bar 8
- The System (Alt-Space) 9
- Actions (Alt-A) 9
- Setup (Alt-S) 10
- Server Window 19
- Time Display 20
- The Lower Status Bar 20
- Active Keys display 20
- Context-Sensitive display 20
- Transaction Log Window 20
- Command-line operations 20
- PHONE DIAL 21
- PHONE HANGUP 21
- PHONE FORCE <command> 21
- PHONE WRITE 21
- PHONE ? 21
- Scripts 21
- Built-in scripts 22
- How to make custom scripts 22
- PHONE WRITE 22
- PHONE.CMD 22
- The SLIPScript Language 23
- SLIPScript Elements 23
- SLIPScript commands 23
- Writing a script 30
- Debugging a script 30
- Let us know about your scripts. 31
-
- What is SLIP?
-
- SLIP stands for Serial Line Internet Protocol, and is a way to
- establish a network connection through a modem. What this means
- is that programs like POPMail, Gopher and NCSA Telnet will operate
- over telephone lines and through your modem, as if connected to the
- network by a network card.
-
- Normal network connections are usually very fast (on the order of 10
- million bits per second, as compared with 10 thousand bits per
- second with the fastest modem), so applications running over a SLIP
- connection may seem to run somewhat more slowly than they would
- on a hardwired network connection.
-
- However, there are many advantages to using networked
- applications rather than standard modem communication programs
- such as Procomm. For one, you can take advantage of client-server
- protocols such as Gopher or POP, which allow your computer to do
- some of the computing work, and to store the files received on your
- hard drive rather than on a remote host computer. Another
- advantage is the ability to run multiple sessions: programs like NCSA
- Telnet will allow you to connect to multiple hosts at one time, and to
- transfer files in the background while working in another window.
-
- In order for this to work, your local network must have a "SLIP
- server". A SLIP server is a computer which monitors incoming
- modems for SLIP connections and translates the modem signals into
- standard TCP/IP network signals. You may also have some form of
- security system controlling who can connect to a SLIP server and
- receive an IP address. You should check with your local network
- administrator to see if SLIP is available.
-
- How Does It Work?
-
- Developers of network applications often design their software to use
- the Packet Driver Specification. A packet driver is a small piece of
- software that handles communications between your computer and
- the outside world. A packet driver communicates with an ethernet
- board, a Token Ring card, a serial communications port, or some
- other piece of hardware that is connected to the network. It
- provides the "glue" that allows the network application to
- communicate properly with the network. Applications written to the
- Packet Driver Specification do not need to know how to communicate
- with ever possible network adapter; they just need tonow how to
- address the packet driver. Figure 1 shows how this works.
-
-
-
- Figure 1. How network packet drivers work.
-
-
- The UMSLIP packet driver is written specially for SLIP
- communications, and uses your serial port instead of a network
- adapter card to make a network connection.
-
-
-
-
- Figure 2. How UMSLIP makes a network connection
-
-
- Network applications such as POPMail and Gopher talk only to the
- packet driver interface to get their information. The UMSLIP packet
- driver replaces the packet driver normally used with a network
- adapter card, and sends the data out the serial port of your
- computer instead (Figure 2). The network application can't tell the
- difference: it's only talking to the interface. So all your network
- applications function as if they are physically connected to the
- network.
-
- What is the SLIP package?
-
- Everything that's necessary to make a SLIP connection can be found
- together in the SLIP.ZIP compressed file. These include:
-
- SLIP.BAT
-
- A convenient batch file which makes it easy to use all of the network
- applications with SLIP.
-
- UMSLIP.COM
-
- The SLIP packet driver which translates program network signals
- into modem signals.
-
- TERMIN.COM
-
- The unaltered NCSA TERMIN.COM program for removing
- UMSLIP.COM from memory.
-
- PHONE.EXE
-
- The program which dials the telephone and establishes a SLIP
- connection.
-
- Documentation
-
- PHONE.DOC is this file
-
- PHONE.HLP is the on-line help database for PHONE.EXE
-
- README.TXT is the help file for SLIP.BAT.
-
- UMSLIP.DOC is a help file for UMSLIP.COM.
-
- SLIPDISK
-
- As a supplement to the basic SLIP package contained in SLIP.ZIP, an
- automatic installation package is available called SLIPDISK.ZIP. It
- contains the PHONE, POPMAIL, GOPHER, and NCSA Telnet and FTP
- programs, plus the installation program.
-
- Where to Get It
-
- SLIP.ZIP and SLIPDISK.ZIP are available via anonymous FTP from
- boombox.micro.umn.edu in the /pub/slip directory. SLIPDISK.ZIP is
- in the slipdisk subdirectory, and is easiest to use when unzipped onto
- a 1.44Meg 3 1/2" disk labelled DISK1. To do so, type the command
-
- PKUNZIP -D SLIPDISK.ZIP A:
-
- SLIP.BAT
-
- SLIP.BAT is a batch file that automates SLIP. Simply type "SLIP
- XXXXX" to run option XXXXX via a SLIP connection.
-
- The SLIP batch file will:
-
- 1) Check to see if the UMSLIP packet driver is loaded, and loads it if
- necessary.
-
- 2) Check to see if there already is a SLIP connection and creates one
- only if necessary.
-
- 3) Run the program requested if everything is correct.
-
- SLIP SETUP
-
- Before you can successfully establish a SLIP connection, you need to
- set up both your Modem parameters (Baud Rate, Word Length, etc.)
- and your SLIP parameters (Username, Password, etc.) The command
- SLIP SETUP will automatically run the PHONE program and present
- the configuration screens for easy access.
-
- SLIP POPMAIL
-
- Establishes the SLIP connection if necessary, then runs POPMAIL.
-
- SLIP GOPHER
-
- Establishes the SLIP connection if necessary, then runs GOPHER.
-
- SLIP TELNET <parameters>
-
- Establishes the SLIP connection if necessary, then runs TELNET. For
- example:
-
- SLIP TELNET LUMINA.LIB.UMN.EDU
-
- SLIP FTP <parameters>
-
- Establishes the SLIP connection if necessary, then runs FTP. For
- example:
-
- SLIP FTP BOOMBOX.MICRO.UMN.EDU
-
- SLIP QUIT
-
- If you are all done using slip and want to free up about 6k of
- memory, you can type "SLIP QUIT". This disconnects your modem,
- and then unloads the UMSLIP.COM packet driver from memory.
-
- UMSLIP.COM
-
- The PHONE program needs the UMSLIP packet driver in order to talk
- to the modem. If you use the SLIP.BAT batch file, it will
- automatically run UMSLIP for you.
-
- If you want, you can run UMSLIP from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to
- ensure that it is always ready.
-
- UMSLIP uses about 6k of RAM.
-
- TERMIN.COM
-
- TERMIN.COM will remove the UMSLIP.COM packet driver from
- memory. See SLIP QUIT above.
-
- PHONE.EXE
-
- PHONE establishes a connection to the SLIP server or terminates an
- active connection. It does this by sending commands to your modem
- to dial the phone, and then sending your login information to
- validate the connection with the SLIP server. The UMSLIP.COM
- program must be run before PHONE.EXE.
-
- The HELP system (F1 Key)
-
- To access PHONE's Help System, press the F1 key. A window will
- open containing information about the menu item or dialog box field
- that is currently in the foreground. This is known as "context-
- sensitive" help.
-
- You can browse through the help text using the
-
- Description Key
- up arrow -
- down arrow /
- Page Up PgUp
- Page Down PgDn
-
- keys on the keypad.
-
- When you are finished using the help, press the Escape (Esc) key.
-
- Hot Keys
-
- Some menu commands are considered to be so important that they
- need to be available with a quick keypress short-cut: a "hot key"
- that goes straight to that command. Hot keys for PHONE are shown
- below.
-
- Hot-Key Command
- F1 Help
- F2 Dial
- F3 Hang up
- F5 Exit
- Alt-X Exit
-
- Cross-References (Hypertext)
-
- Some help messages contain Cross-References to other topics. Cross-
- References are displayed in a different color from normal help text.
- One cross-reference is always highlighted. If you press Enter, the
- help message associated with the cross-reference is displayed. If
- there are several cross-references within a help message, you can
- press the Tab or Shift-Tab keys to move the highlight to the next or
- previous cross-reference.
-
-
- Mouse
-
- If your computer has a mouse, move the cursor over a cross-
- reference and click the left mouse button twice to select it. Double
- Clicking (pressing the left mouse button twice in rapid succession)
- has the same effect as pressing the Enter key.
-
- Previous Key (Alt-F1)
-
- Press the PREVIOUS button (Alt-F1) to "back up" one page to the
- previously-selected HELP topic.
-
- Index
-
- An alphabetical listing of every on-line help entry.
-
- Contents
-
- Help entries organized by subject and category.
-
- Help-with-Help
-
- You can use PHONE's on-line Help from the Help menu or via hot
- keys.
-
- Wherever you are in PHONE, you can press F1 to see a help
- screen about the menu command or dialog-box item that's
- currently active.
-
-
- To learn more about using on-line Help, use the arrow keys
- to move the cursor to one of the Help keywords; then press ENTER.
-
- You can also press TAB to jump to the next Help keyword, and then
- press ENTER.
-
- If you're using a mouse, just click the Help keyword you're
- interested in.
-
- The Primary Screen
-
- The Primary Phone Screen consists of four parts: a top Menu Bar, a
- message space below, a Transaction Log window where the progress
- of the connection can be observed, and a lower Status Bar.
-
- The Menu Bar
-
- The Menu Bar consists of the primary groups of PHONE commands
- available on pull-down menus. You can open these menus by
- selecting a given Menu Bar item with the mouse (by positioning the
- cursor over a given item and clicking the left button), or by pressing
- keys for those who don't use a mouse.
-
- Selecting from the Menu Bar
-
- There are three ways to select a menu command:
-
- F10
-
- Press F10, then use the left and right arrow keys to select the
- appropriate menu and use the the up and down arrow keys to select
- a command. Press Enter to choose the selected command.
-
- Alt
-
- Press Alt and the highlighted letter of the menu you want (such as
- Alt-F for the File menu), use the up and down arrow keys to select a
- command, then press Enter to choose that command.
-
- You can also press the highlighted letter of a menu name or
- command instead of using the arrow keys.
-
- Mouse
-
- Click on the title of the menu you want to pull down, then click on
- the menu command you want to choose.
-
- The highlighted menu title is the currently selected menu.
-
- Menu commands are followed by an ellipsis (...), an arrow, or a hot
- key. An ellipsis indicates that selecting that option will bring up a
- dialog box, as opposed to immediately initiating a program action.
-
- The System (Alt-Space)
-
- The System appears on the far left of the menu bar and is
- represented by the = symbol. Alt-Spacebar is a keyboard shortcut
- that you can use at any time to pull down this menu.
-
- The = menu contains the "About" item. Some other programs will
- provide some utilities under this menu.
-
- About
-
- When you choose the About command from the System menu, a
- dialog box appears, showing copyright and version information.
-
- Press ESC, click OK, or click Cancel to close the box.
-
- Actions (Alt-A)
-
- Phone can either Dial (F2) to establish a SLIP connection, or
- Hang Up (F3) to break the connection and clear the phone line.
- Finally, you can Exit (Alt-X) from the program.
-
- Dial (F2)
-
- Once you have used the Setup options to configure your modem and
- to enter your user name and password, the DIAL command will
- place the call and establishing the SLIP connection.
-
- You can watch the lower Transaction Log window to observe the
- progress of the connection.
-
- After you have configured the DIAL menu, you can also type the
- command PHONE DIAL from DOS. This will run PHONE and attempt
- to establish the SLIP connection with no further commands on your
- part.
-
- If the program fails to establish the connection for some reason, it
- will return an ERROR CODE, id used in DOS batch files (such as the
- SLIP.BAT file, see above) to decide whether to proceed to the next
- command in a batch file.
-
- You can begin dialing by using the mouse to click on Actions:Dial, by
- typing Alt-A then D, or by pressing the F2 key.
-
- Hangup (F3)
-
- If your modem is already connected to a SLIP server or any other
- service, HANGUP will disconnect it and hang up the phone. You can
- also do this by typing the command PHONE HANGUP from DOS.
-
- You can hang up by using the mouse to click on Actions:Hangup, by
- typing Alt-A and then H, or by pressing the F3 key.
-
- Quit (Alt-X)
-
- Use the Exit command when you are done using PHONE.
-
- Note that this does not hang up the phone or break your SLIP
- connection (see the Actions:Hangup command). It simply quits from
- the PHONE.EXE program.
-
- You can quit PHONE by using the mouse to click on Actions:Exit, by
- typing Alt-A and then X, or by typing Alt-X.
-
- Setup (Alt-S)
-
- Before you can establish a SLIP connection, you need to configure
- both your Modem parameters (F4) (Baud Rate, Word Length, etc.)
- and your SLIP parameters (F5) (Username, Password, etc.)
-
- Modem (F4)
-
- The settings in this dialog box are used to tell your computer how to
- talk to your modem. The speed of the modem, where it's connected,
- and what kind of modem it is are among the characteristics which
- need to be set so that your computer and modem can communicate.
-
- While this window may look complex, you should need to set only a
- few of the options. You will need to select the Baud Rate, Com Port,
- and Modem List entries will need to be set, but the Advanced entries
- are likely to be fine the way they are.
-
-
- Baud Rate
-
- The Baud Rate is the speed at which modems and computers talk to
- each other.
-
- If your modem does not feature data compression, click on the
- highest baud rate at which your modem can communicate. If your
- modem does feature data compression, click on a rate 2 to 4 times
- higher than the highest baud rate at which your modem can
- communicate. Examples:
-
- If you have a Hayes (TM) SmartModem 1200, a modem that does not
- do data compression, click on 1200.
-
- If you have a Multi-Tech (TM) MultiModem II, which is a 9600 baud
- modem with data compression, click on 19,200 or 38,400.
-
- If you choose a baud rate higher than that at which your modem can
- communicate, you'll also have to check the boxes labeled CTS and RTS
- Handshaking (see below). This prevents your modem from
- overwhelming your computer with data.
-
- Data Errors
-
- Your modem may be able to detect transmission errors (caused by
- static on the line, for instance) and correct them. It corrects the
- error by signaling the remote computer that an error occurred, and
- requesting that the block of data be sent again. If errors occur, your
- final Baud Rate may seem to be much lower than that set.
-
- Transmission Bottlenecks
-
- In any SLIP connection, several devices are transferring information
- in a "bucket brigade". No matter the settings you use, the line can
- only go as fast as the slowest device. For example, you might set
- your computer's baud rate to talk to its modem at 9600 baud.
- However, the modem itself might only be a 2400 baud modem.
- Therefore, you'll only see 2400 baud transfers on your screen.
-
- Data Compression
-
- Finally, a factor which speeds things up instead of slowing them
- down. Data compression is a means by which slow modems can send
- data faster than would normally be possible. If your modem
- supports data compression (and this will be clearly indicated on the
- box at time of purchase, as it is a strong selling point), it will look at
- the data that it receives to see if there are any ways in which the
- data can be reduced in size. For example, if it receives the letters
- "aaaaaaaaa", it might compress them into "9*a". Of course, the
- modem on the other end of the telephone must know how to de-
- compress this data correctly.
-
- COM Ports
-
- Most IBM-compatible computers come with four possible
- "Communications Ports". Usually only one or two of these is built in
- and others must be added separately. These built in ports are COM1
- and COM2. If you are not sure which port your modem is connected
- to, start with COM1, then try COM2. If nothing works, you may have
- to seek assistance in determining your setup.
-
- COM 1
-
- The most commonly-used Communications port is COM1. Click on the
- COM1 button if your modem is plugged into the COM1 port. You'll
- have to figure out what plug-in on your computer is the COM1 port
- as they are rarely labeled.
-
- If your computer has COM1 and COM2 already occupied, or you have
- some special cards that use the COM interrupts, you may have your
- COM ports at a non-standard address (see below).
-
- COM 2
-
- COM2 is also frequently used for communications. If you have a
- mouse connected to COM1, you will want to use COM2 for
- communications.
-
- COM 3 and COM 4
-
- COM3 and COM 4 are not as commonly used as COM1 or COM2. Part
- of the reason for this is that these ports use the same Interrupt
- signals as COM1 and COM 2 (Interrupts 4 and 3, respectively). For
- example, if you have a device on COM1, you cannot put a device on
- COM3, because whenever the computer sends a signal to COM1 both
- devices will try to answer at once.
-
- Nonstandard Ports
-
- For individuals who have filled their standard (COM1 through COM 4)
- ports, several nonstandard ports are available, but not
- recommended:
-
- COM5 is actually COM3, but using interrupt level 2.
-
- COM6 is actually COM4, but using interrupt level 2.
-
- COM7 is actually COM3, but using interrupt level 5.
-
- COM8 is actually COM4, but using interrupt level 5.
-
- Real techweenie stuff
-
- Below is a chart of I/O addresses and Interrupt levels. Most users
- won't have to worry about this. If you have your COM port at a
- non-standard I/O address or interrupt level, then you'll have to
- consult this chart to figure out what COM port your serial port uses.
-
- Unfortunately there are two sets of these numbers, one for non-
- MicroChannel PC's and one for MicroChannel PC's. MicroChannel PC's
- are mainly IBM PS/2 models 50 and above.
-
- MicroChannel ISA/EISA
- PORT IRQ I/O Address PORT IRQ I/O Address
- com1 4 03f8 com1 4 03f8
- com2 3 02f8 com2 3 02f8
- com3 3 3220 com3 4 03e8
- com4 3 3228 com4 3 02e8
- com5 3 4220 com5 2 03e8
- com6 3 4228 com6 2 02e8
- com7 3 5220 com7 5 03e8
- com8 3 5228 com8 5 02e8
-
- Modems
-
- It's important to know what kind of modem you are using when
- establishing a SLIP connection. The Modem List displays built-in
- scripts for operating Hayes, ADI-100, and other kinds of modems. It
- is possible to build customized scripts if your modem is not listed
- (see SCRIPTS below).
-
- HAYES
-
- As the standard by which other modem command sets are measured,
- the Hayes script ought to be compatible with any modem. Of course
- it isn't, which is why customized scripts are needed (see SCRIPTS
- below).
-
- ADI
-
- The University of Minnesota's internal telephone system operates
- over a digital network, allowing both voice and computer data to be
- transmitted over the same phone line, and allowing for the routing of
- computer data into the SLIP server without using a standard modem.
- Instead, offices at the University which do not yet have a standard
- network connection can order an ADI-100 transceiver with MKO
- (Machine Keyboard Originate) enabled. For information about this
- procedure, U of M staff can contact the Telecommunications
- Department at 6-7800.
-
- The ADI script is to be used with these ADI-100 connections.
-
- Other
-
- We will add other modem scripts to this list as time for testing
- allows. If you create a customized script which you think would be
- useful to others, please feel free to send it to us at
-
- slip@boombox.micro.umn.edu
-
- Advanced Configuration
-
- Parity
-
- Parity Checking is the means by which your computer can make sure
- that transmitted data is getting through correctly. Different hosts
- need different parity settings.
-
- Odd Parity means that the parity of all data words received should
- be set odd.
-
- Even Parity means that the parity of all data words received should
- be set even.
-
- Mark Parity means that no error checking is conducted, but the
- parity bit is always set to one. Nobody uses it. There is no truth to
- the rumor that Mark Parity invented the first modem.
-
- Even fewer people use Space Parity than Mark parity. Space parity
- means no error checking is conducted, but the parity bit is always
- set to zero.
-
- Stop Bits
-
- Stop Bits are used to separate words of data. The more stop bits
- employed, the longer the pause between data words. This used to be
- an issue when data transmission technologies were new, but
- nowadays stop bits are not quite as important. One is usually
- sufficient.
-
- Two stop bits are usually more than are necessary.
-
- Handshaking
-
- Handshaking is the means by which two computers tell each other
- when they are able and unable to accept further data. There are two
- ways to do this: Software and Hardware.
-
- Software Handshaking
-
- Software handshaking controls data flow by sending a signal called
- "XON" for "Transmit On" (usually a control-Q), or "XOFF" for "Transmit
- Off" (control-S).
-
- The problem with this method is that if you send an XON or XOFF
- signal inadvertently (for instance, by sending a binary file which
- happens to contain a control-S character), your computer will
- interpret this as an XOFF and stop sending.
-
- So for SLIP transmissions, it usually best to use either NO
- handshaking, or to use the other method of handshaking, Hardware
- Handshaking.
-
- Hardware Handshaking
-
- Hardware handshaking depends on the actual pins connecting your
- computer to your modem to control data flow. If you are using a
- cable which does not have wires connecting pins number 4 and 5 (on
- a 25-pin cable or 7 and 8 on a 9-pin cable) , hardware handshaking
- will not function. The two signals carried on these pins are Clear-To-
- Send CTS and Request-To-Send RTS.
-
- CTS, or Clear-To-Send Handshaking, sets pin 5 of your serial port
- either ON or OFF depending on whether or not your computer is
- ready to receive more data from your modem.
-
- RTS, or Request-To-Send Handshaking, sets pin 4 of your serial port
- either ON or OFF depending on whether or not your computer is
- ready to send more data to your modem.
-
- If you are using a modem with data compression, set CTS and RTS
- handshaking ON, otherwise leave it OFF.
-
- Signals and Cables
-
- There are nine signals which comprise the serial communication
- signals from your computer to its modem (see table below). These
- signals are carried between your computer and modem by a modem
- cable. While nine signals are available, it is possible to skimp and get
- by on only four of the nine signals: SD, RD, DSR and DTR. Sometimes
- cable manufacturers will produce inexpensive cables by only running
- four wires carrying these signals between the ends of the cable.
- SLIP communications are much more demanding, and require all
- nine signals to be present. Be sure to use serial cables with all signal
- lines in place. One way to be sure is to purchase "flat" or "ribbon"
- cable, which carries all 25 lines in a flexible plastic ribbon.
-
- Table. Serial communication signals and pins.
- Signal Description Code 25 Pin # 9 Pin #
- Transmitted Data SD 2 3
- Received Data RD 3 2
- Request to Send RTS 4 7
- Clear to Send CTS 5 8
- Data Set Ready DSR 6 6
- Signal Ground SG 7 5
- Carrirer Detect CD 8 1
- Data Terminal Ready DTR 20 4
- Ring Indicator RI 22 9
-
-
- Plugs
-
- There are two kinds of plug to be found on modem cables. The first
- kind, 25-pin, is a wide, flat plug with two rows of pins. Only nine of
- these signals are used for serial communications, even if all 25 pins
- are present (sometimes the unused pins are left out of the plug
- itself).
-
- The second kind of plug is a 9-pin connector. It has one pin for
- every signal necessary for serial communications. The table below
- indicates which pins carry which signal on each kind of plug.
-
- Note that hardware handshaking will only work if the cable between
- your modem and PC has the proper wires carrying Request to Send
- and Clear toSend (pins 4 and 5 on a 25-pin connector, 7 and 8 on a 9-
- pin connector) running from end to end. If your modem cable does
- not carry all nine signals, you will need to purchase a cable with all
- lines in place.
-
- Dialing
-
- Touch tone dialing is present when you can place a call by dialing
- with musical tones. Sometimes you might think you have touch tone
- because you have a fancy telephone which has buttons; but if it
- doesn't actually complete your call until doing a lot of clicking, it's
- likely converting your button-pushes into pulse signals.
-
- Determine which type of telephone service you have, and select
- either Tone or Pulse . When in doubt, use Pulse.
-
- Initialization String
-
- You may wish to send some command to the modem to meet some
- special need. The string you type in this box gets sent to the modem
- just before dialing is done. It is sent after the modem script has sent
- its options.
-
- SLIP (F5)
-
- Configuration Window
-
- A SLIP server is usually implemented with some form of security.
- PHONE can be configured to respond correctly to your SLIP server's
- security system by entering the proper values in the fields in this
- window.
-
- User Name
-
- Enter your username as
-
- username@computer.full.tcp.name
-
- for example:
-
- joe0024@student.tc.umn.edu
-
- Password
-
- Enter the password that goes with your username here.
- It will not be displayed on the screen, so be sure to get it right.
-
- Phone Number
-
- Enter the phone number in this box.
-
- As of Feb, 1993 some commonly used phone numbers (in Minnesota)
- are:
-
- % The Univ of Minn SLIP server for most modems is 626-1920.
- % The Univ of Minn SLIP server when on-campus is 6-1920.
- % The Univ of Minn SLIP server for ADI modems is 3-0291.
- % The MRNET SLIP server is 626-7638.
-
- If you are in a different area code, you'll need to prepend the area
- code to these numbers. In some area codes you also need to prepend
- a 1.
-
- Special Dialing Considerations
-
- If you need to dial out from a hotel phone, or an office telephone
- system, you may have to prepend a 8 or 9 to dial out of that local
- phone system. You may also have to add a comma to add a bit of
- delay after the 8 or 9. For example, to call the the U of M from a
- hotel in California, you may have to specify:
-
- 8,1,612,626-1920
-
- If you have call-waiting, your SLIP connection may occassionally be
- interrupted by incoming telephone calls. Depending on the service
- available in your area, you may be able to suspend call-waiting for
- the duration of one call. This is accomplished with a special dialing
- sequence which precedes the actual phone number
-
- Tone Pulse
- *70 1170
-
- To suspend call waiting from an off-campus telephone calling the
- University of Minnesota, you would enter the phone number as
-
- *70,6261920
-
- or if using pulse dialing
-
- 1170,6261920
-
- You may wish to test for this feature by hand before incorporating it
- into your dialing sequence.
-
- Server Window
-
- A SLIP server is the remote computer which will be your gateway to
- the TCP/IP network. If more than one gateway exists, this window
- will holds the list of gateways to choose from. If only one gateway
- exists, this window will not appear. This list will vary from one local
- network to another.
-
- University of Minnesota students & staff should pick the UofM
- server.
-
- Time Display
-
- For your convenience, the current time is displayed in the upper
- right-hand corner of the screen. This can be a useful device for
- determining the timing of events if you happen to be writing a
- custom script (see SCRIPTS below).
-
- The Lower Status Bar
-
- The lowest line on the screen is a status bar which will change to
- offer you assistance with whatever portion of the program you
- currently have active. This bar has two parts:
-
- Active Keys display
-
- The left-hand portion shows active help keys highlighted in red, with
- their names beside them in black. For instance, at any time you can
- press the F1 key to get Help with the current active item, so the
- Active Keys display will usually show at least "F1 Help".
-
- Context-Sensitive display
-
- The right-hand portion of the Lower Status Bar indiciates the
- purpose of the currently active item. For instance, if the cursor is in
- the Transaction Log window, the right-hand portion of the Lower
- Status Bar reads "This window displays what is happening during a
- login.", which is the function of the Transaction Log window.
-
- Transaction Log Window
-
- This window is where you can watch the interaction between your
- computer and the remote computer which will provide SLIP service.
-
- Labelled horizontal status bars indicate when important steps in the
- login sequence are completed or fail to complete correctly.
-
- Command-line operations
-
- From the DOS command line, you can type
-
- PHONE DIAL
-
- to connect to the SLIP server, or
-
- PHONE HANGUP
-
- to disconnect from the SLIP server. In some cases
-
- PHONE FORCE <command>
-
- where <command> is either DIAL or HANGUP may be necessary. Try
- these if PHONE is complaining that the modem is misbehaving.
-
- PHONE WRITE
-
- PHONE comes with several script files built in. These include the
- individual modem dialing scripts such as HAYES and ADI (see The
- Primary Screen: Setup: MODEM above), plus the HANGUP command.
- The PHONE WRITE command will extract these scripts into a file
- called PHONE.CMD. For more information, see the SCRIPTS section
- below.
-
- PHONE ?
-
- Prints a brief description of the PHONE command-line options.
-
- Scripts
-
- Until now, using SLIP was difficult. First you had to call a SLIP
- modem pool, using a modem and a communications program such as
- PROCOMM. Then you would tell the modem pool that you wanted to
- use SLIP, and receive an IP address for the session. Then you would
- exit the communications program, being careful not to disconnect
- your modem (by leaving DTR on for you experts), and edit a
- configuration file, adding your IP address to the configuration.
- Finally, you would load your packet driver and you could use Telnet
- or FTP.
-
- This was very cumbersome.
-
- The PHONE program is designed to automatically connect to a local
- SLIP server, configuring your computer and loading the UMSLIP
- packet driver. Ideally you can establish a SLIP connection simply by
- using the command:
-
- PHONE DIAL
-
- from the DOS command line, or a batch file, and be connected
- "automagically" .
-
- Built-in scripts
-
- To accomplish this task, PHONE understands a built-in scripting
- language. This lets you custom design a script to work at your
- particular site. You have to customize the script for each site for two
- main reasons: (1) Each model of modem is slightly different and
- needs different commands. (2) Each SLIPserver will have its own
- custom prompt lines and will require different information for
- logging on and entering SLIP mode.
-
- We supply some generic scripts that work with Hayes-like modems
- to dial our local U of MN SLIP server. You can probably customize
- this script for your particular site. See the scripting language guide
- which follows.
-
- How to make custom scripts
-
- PHONE comes with several built-in scripts. However, these scripts
- are not likely to work for anyone who is not at the University of
- Minnesota. Therefore, it will be necessary for many people to create
- customized scripts.
-
- PHONE WRITE
-
- The first step in the process of creating customized scripts is to write
- the built-in scripts out to a file. It is often easiest to customize an
- existing script rather than to start from scratch. The PHONE WRITE
- command writes the scripts out to the PHONE.CMD file.
-
- PHONE.CMD
-
- If the PHONE.CMD file is present in the directory with PHONE.EXE,
- PHONE will read in PHONE.CMD rather than its built-in scripts.
- With the SLIPScript language (see below), it's easy to create and use
- customized SLIP scripts.
-
- The SLIPScript Language
-
- SLIPScript is a simple language for setting up the serial line, sending
- characters, waiting for a character string.
-
- Each SLIPScript script must contain at least two procedures, named
- "Dial" and "Hangup". The "Dial" script should contain commands to
- open the SLIP connection. The "Hangup" script should contain
- commands to close the serial connection.
-
- SLIPScript Elements
-
- # comment
-
- You can enter any text after a # character. This text will be ignored
- by the command processor.
-
- The # comment can be on a line by itself, or appended to the end of
- another command line.
-
- command param1 param2 param3
-
- SLIPScript commands consist of a keyword. Valid command
- keywords are: Proc, EndProc, Send, Serial, Expect, DTR, Repeat, Flush,
- TimeOut, Wait, and Set.
-
- Some commands take parameters. Parameters are separated by
- spaces. If you need a space inside a parameter, enclose the whole
- thing in quotes ("").
-
- The TimeOut, Wait and Repeat commands take a time in seconds.
- You can specify fractions of a second, i.e. 0.5 or 2.5 seconds.
-
- SLIPScript commands
-
- Procedure and EndProcedure
-
- The "Proc" statement identifies the beginning of a procedure.
- Procedures continue until the next "EndProc" statement.
- Example:
- #
- # This is the shortest possible script
- #
- Procedure Modem.Hayes.Dial
- EndProc Modem.Hayes.Dial
-
- The proc name has three parts, separated by dots. The first part is
- either "Modem" or "Host". The second part is the name of the modem
- or host. The third part is either "Dial" or "Hangup" for a modem
- script, or "Login" and "Logout" for a Host Script.
-
- Join
-
- The join command lets you continue execution in another script. For
- instance, many modems need some initial setup commands, then
- they can join the standard Hayes modem script. The join command
- eliminates much duplicate scripting.
-
- Serial
-
- The "Serial" command lets you set up the serial port. You can choose
- which serial port to use, what baud rate to use, and choose even, odd,
- or no parity. You can also choose whether to use hardware
- handshaking. The parameters are:
-
- COM port
- Selects the COM port to use.
-
- 7 or 8
- Selects 7 or 8 data bits.
-
- 9999
- Any string of 3 or more digits means a baud rate. Valid values are
- 300,1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600.
-
- E, O, N
- Selects Even, Odd, or None parity.
-
- hi+ or hi-
- Sets input hardware handshaking on (+) or off (-).
-
- ho+ or ho-
- Sets output hardware handshaking on (+) or off (-).
-
- Examples:
-
- Serial Modem 1200 # simple 1200 baud modem
- Serial Modem 38400 hi+ ho+ # fancy v32 modem
-
-
- Notes:
-
- Once established in SLIP mode, SLIP connections must be 8 data bits.
- You may have to choose 7 data bits first to talk to the modem, PBX,
- or the terminal server.
-
- YouUll need hardware handshaking if you are using a modem with
- data compression.
-
- YouUll also need hardware handshaking if your modem auto-connects
- at a different baud rate than the one it is talking to. Otherwise it is
- safer to use the default ( hi- and ho-). See the section on Hardware
- Handshaking for a discussion of hardware handshaking.
-
- You may lose some incoming characters if they arrive just as the
- Serial command is being executed. It is best to place the serial
- command at spots where you know is quiet.
-
- Send
-
- You use the Send statement to send out a stream of characters.
- Anything you place on the same line after the "Send" keyword will
- go out the serial line. It is best to put the string in quotes ("") to
- avoid ambiguity.
-
- There are a few special characters that have special meaning:
-
- < (less-than sign)
-
- The less-than sign means send an ASCII "Return", or end of line
- character. For example, to get the attention of a Hayes-style modem:
-
- Send AT<
-
- %
-
- The percent sign means to insert a variable in place of the % sign.
- The character following the % is a letter from a-z identifying the
- variable.
- Predefined variables include:
-
- %n
- for the phone number entered into the SLIP user dialog box.
- %u
- for the user name entered into the SLIP user dialog box.
- %p
- for the password entered into the SLIP user dialog box.
- %s
- for the custom init string entered into the SLIP modem dialog box.
-
- ^ (caret sign)
-
- The up-caret lets you send any control character. For instance you
- can get the attention of a ADA 2020 modem by sending Control-Q:
-
- Send ^Q
-
- To send the caret character itself, send two carets together (e.g. ^^).
-
- #
-
- Remember that the # starts a comment.
-
- You can define other variables with the"Set" command
-
- There is a 1 second pause before each send command. There is a
- 1/10 second pause between sending out each character, in order to
- simulate typing speed.
-
- SendDT
-
- You use the SendDT statement to send the two forms of the dialing
- command. The first parameter is the pulse dialing command, the
- second the tone dialing command. For a Hayes modem, this is:
-
- SendDT 'AT DP %n' 'AT DT %n'
-
-
- Expect
-
- The Expect statement has two parameters. The first is a string of
- characters to wait for. The second is an error message to display if
- the string is not seen. The strings are not case-sensitive.
-
- It waits for the default time of 10 seconds. If it doesnt get the
- specified string in that time, the script displays the error message,
- quits execution and SLIP signals connection failure to the application.
-
- Example: Getting the ModemUs attention:
-
- Send 'AT<'
- Expect 'OK' 'Did not get OK'
-
-
- Reject
-
- The Reject statement detects error conditions. The Reject statement
- has two parameters. The first is a string of characters to wait for.
- The second is an error message to display if the string is seen. The
- strings are not case-sensitive.
-
- You can have any number of reject statements. It waits for the
- default time of 10 seconds. If it does get the specified string in that
- time, the script displays the error message, quits execution and SLIP
- signals connection failure to the application.
-
- If you dont specify an error message, the current "alert" string is
- used.
- Example: Getting the ModemUs attention:
-
- Send 'AT DT6-1920<'
- Reject 'BUSY' 'Phone line is busy'
- Reject 'NO CARRIER' 'No modem answered'
- Expect 'OK' 'Did not get OK'
-
- TimeOut
-
- You can change the timeout interval for the next Expect statement
- with the TimeOut command. The TimeOut command takes two
- parameters. The first is the number of seconds to wait before timing
- out. The second parameter is an error message to display upon
- timeout.
-
- For example, if your phone system is slow to dial and connect, you
- may want to say:
-
- Send 'AT DT 636-1630<'
- TimeOut 45 'Did not get connect in 45 seconds'
- Expect 'CONNECT'
-
- Repeat
-
- The repeat command is useful when you have to retry sending a
- string of characters to get attention. For instance, many systems
- require an indeterminate number of ASCII Return characters to
- detect your baud rate. The repeat command makes this easy. You
- can specify the number of repeats and the time interval between
- repeats:
-
- Example: to get the attention of a certain terminal server:
-
- Repeat '<' 'access:' 20 2.5
-
- Will send "<" which is the special character meaning ASCII Return,
- until it receives the string"access:". It will try up to 20 times, with a
- 2.5 second pause between attempts.
-
-
- Or to get the attention of a certain modem that is slow to detect the
- baud rate:
-
- Repeat 'AT<' 'OK' 5 1.0
-
-
- You need not specify the repeat count and pause time. The default
- repeat is 10 and default pause is 1.0 seconds.
-
- Since the repeat command takes several parameters, you should
- enclose strings in quotes to avoid any confusion as to which
- parameter is which.
- Example:
-
- Repeat "<" "Please log in now:"
-
- Wait
-
- The wait command pauses for the specified number of seconds. This
- is usually the wrong way to control interactions. It is better to use
- the "Expect" command to wait for a particular prompt. But
- sometimes a pause is the only way to meet some login requirement.
-
- Example: Calling out through a slow PBX
-
- Send "Dial 8<" # Get an outside line
- Wait 5.0 # Wait 5 sec for slow PBX
- Send 'Dial %n' # send the phone number
-
- DTR
-
- Some modems or PBXUs don't respond until the DTR line (RS-232 pin
- 20) is asserted. The DTR command lets you control the DTR line.
- Examples:
-
- DTR On Asserts DTR
- DTR Off Drops DTR
- DTR Drops DTR, waits 1 second, asserts DTR
-
-
- Note that many serial cables send the DTR line out pin 8, requiring a
- special cable or adapter to move this to pin 20. See Signals and
- Cables above.
-
- Flush
-
- Sometimes you want to ignore any pending input characters as they
- may be misleading. The Flush command throws away any pending
- input characters. You often want to do this when you expect some
- "logon banner" that might have some unpredictable text. Flush that
- stuff before you try to do an "Expect".
-
- Example:
-
- Send 'AT DT 636-1630<'
- TimeOut 45
- Expect 'CONNECT' # wait for modems to connect
- Flush
- Repeat "<" "login:" 20 1.0 # hit return til login
-
- Set
-
- The set command lets you set up variables that you use again and
- again. You can set them up in one place instead of repeating them
- over and over. The syntax is:
- Set x something
-
- Sets the variable x to the value "something". x can be any letter from
- a to z. Something can be anything including other % variable
- references.
-
- Example: Your terminal server prompts with "Server #0001 for the
- Main Campus:"
-
- Set %h "Server ##0001 for the Main Campus:"
- Send 'ATDT 636-1630'
- Expect 'CONNECT'
- Repeat '<' %h 20 2.0
- Send 'terminal NoEdit<
- Expect %h
- Send 'terminal FlowControl None<'
- Expect %h
- Send 'terminal baudrate 9600<'
- Expect %h
- Send 'terminal databits 8<'
- Expect %h
-
- Writing a script
-
- If possible, modify an existing script instead of writing a new one
- from scratch. The best way is to try connecting with a terminal
- emulator, saving the output to a file. This log file will guide you in
- writing the script.
-
- You'll have to note places where you had to pause for something to
- respond. Writing a script can be easy or difficult. Many dial-up
- ports a bit non-deterministic and you'll have to play with the Repeat
- command until things work right.
-
- When you write your script, make use of the variables the user has
- set up in the PHONE menu, i.e. don't hard code "636-1630" as the
- phone number, use the %p phone number variable.
-
- Debugging a script
-
- Try out scripts by choosing them in the Modem settings dialog box.
- PHONE will run your Dial script. It may fail at first. The most likely
- failure is an Expect command failing. If an "Expect" command fails, it
- will show you what it expected and what it actually received. Edit
- the script and try again.
-
- Remember to send a Return at the end of lines that expect a Return.
- The Send command never sends a Return for automatically.
-
- Alert
-
- You can put up custom messages in case of error conditions. With
- the "Alert" command you can specify a message that will be put up if
- an Expect command fails. e.g.:
-
- Alert "Your modem may not be on?"
- Send 'AT<'
- Expect 'OK'
-
-
- If PHONE doesnt get an "OK" in the specified time, the user will see a
- dialog box with "Your modem may not be on?".
-
- Message
-
- You can also put up an informative message to the user to keep them
- appraised of how the dialing procedure is going. Normally PHONE
- displays each command as it is executed. If you use the Message
- command, that string will be displayed instead of the commands.
- Your message will remain displayed until you change it with another
- Message commmand, or until the script ends. e.g.:
-
- Message "Getting the modem's attention"
- Send 'AT<'
- Expect 'OK'
- Message "The modem is responding!"
-
- Let us know about your scripts.
-
- We will add other modem scripts to our list as time for testing
- allows. If you create a customized script which you think would be
- useful to others, please feel free to send it to us at
-
- slip@boombox.micro.umn.edu
-
-