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LPTool filetransfer & rexec; version 1.96 23-06-98 (c) 1996-98; Jan van Wijk ════════════════════════════[ www.fsys.demon.nl ]═════════════════════════════ CONTENTS -------- Introduction, purpose of the program 1 Status of the program 1 Installation 2 Summary of commands 2 Command reference 3 Examples of LPT usage 7 Known limitations 8 Considered improvements 8 Introduction, purpose of the program ------------------------------------ LPTool enables file transfer and remote execution via a "laplink" cable connection between parallel ports of two machines running OS/2 3.0 or greater. Features include the ability to create directories on the remote machine, copy of complete directory-trees including EAs (S option), and replace locked (in use) OS/2 DLLs or EXEs at the receiver side. LPTool works using a daemon in a text-window, accessible either directly or through other programs with the help of LPTQ.EXE, enabling REXX and batchfile automation and integration with file-managers. Two warnings! LPTool will overwrite directories and files without warning, so make very certain you know where your files are headed before you begin a transfer. And, LPTool comes with no guarantee of any nature. But so far it seems to work quite well. Availability ------------ 1) My Homepage: http://www.fsys.demon.nl (Follow shareware, lpt) 2) HOBBES (WWW): ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/diskutil/LPTxxx.ZIP On special request an OS/2 2.x version is available. Status of the program --------------------- LPTOOL.EXE (version 1.95) is the latest version and includes LZW compression This version of the program is free for anyone to use, it was written in my own time using my own equipment. However, I would very much appreciate any feedback by e-mail or a simple postcard to: ┌───────────────────┐ │ Jan van Wijk │ │ Blekerstraat 83 │ │ 1315 AC Almere │ │ Netherlands │ └───────────────────┘ Further development depends on my own needs and feedback I receive from other users, al work has to be done on spare time... You can reach me through the Internet: lpt@fsys.demon.nl (preferred) or: jan.van.wijk@cmg.nl Change History -------------- 1.00 27-01-96 Initial version, communicate with the device-driver 1.16 22-02-96 First BETA; with some known bugs 1.26 06-03-96 GAMMA version, including REXEC and performance statistics 1.30 14-03-96 First production version, including REXX; no internal trace CRC-32 checking is being done on file-transfer 1.34 10-04-96 Added extra file-spec evaluation for include/exclude [x] 1.35 14-04-96 Auto exit feature; Replace of locked EXE's or DLL's 1.42 12-05-96 Command-queueing, other programs can supply cmds (LPTQ.EXE) 1.50 27-05-96 Final version using command-queueing, WARP EXEPACK:2 1.56 16-06-96 First version using multi-threaded read/write port/disk 1.65 27-01-97 Dynamic loading of REXX support; fixed thread priorities 1.69 06-02-97 filetree and drivemap commands added for GUI interface 1.70 08-02-97 -c option (clean) and daemon command added for LPTGUI 1.71 12-02-97 P option on send, no peer-prompting and stat; *cmd pilot 1.75 17-02-97 *send reliable (but slow); lpts.cmd for synchronizing dirs 1.76 23-02-97 New cmd "qscreen" on/off, new cmd "say"; @ for no echo 1.81 13-07-97 New filetree / tstree commands; bug-fixes 1.83 26-04-98 Multiple-cmd using # separators; cosmetic fixes; WEB info 1.84 04-05-98 Accept \pipe\xxx as source and \pipe\ as destination stream 1.86 09-05-98 Fixed 'sound asleep' priority problem for daemon thread 1.87 15-05-98 Fixed some more dead-lock possibilities in agent thread 1.90 07-06-98 Made size-param obsolete on \pipe\, prepare for LZW compres 1.92 15-06-98 First release with LZW compression on file-transfer 1.95 21-06-98 Rename to LPTool, display changes + fixes for compress bugs 1.96 23-06-98 High-res icons, fix for 'overwriting dir' trap; diplay fixes Special thanks to: Ray Tennenbaum for his contribution to this documentation Aglaja Przyborski for the nice icons she created for the tool Installation ------------ Only two files are required to operate LPTool, LPTDD.SYS, the device driver, and LPTOOL.EXE, the actual LPTool. 1) Unzip the files into a directory. Next, add to your config.sys: DEVICE=[drive]:\[path]\LPTDD.SYS Note: LPTDD.SYS takes one optional parameter: "-T:ss" specifying the timeout value on send/receive (default is 3 seconds). If using slow media (diskette) increase this to at least 10 seconds for reliable operation, e.g. DEVICE=[drive]:\[path]\LPTDD.SYS -T:10 2) To use LPTOOL.EXE, either copy it to a directory in your path (recommended) or simply start it in its own directory. You may then issue commands like the ones below. LPTool supports REXX. * LPTRACE.EXE is the LPTool with trace and debug code -- it also runs on OS/2 2.11. * LPTQ.EXE is a simple text front-end to pass LPTool commands to LPT.EXE -- very useful for batchfile transfers of files and directories. * LPTS.CMD is an LPTool REXX script to synchronize a local directory with a remote directory, based on date- and time-info. * LPTD.CMD is a simple command to start LPTool as dedicated daemon. For best results, all these should be in your PATH. Summary of commands ------------------- LPTool takes commands as a command-line argument or from the keyboard and displays the results to the screen, scrolling text upward. Results can also be copied to a file for later analysis. When a command is passed from the command-line, LPTool will quit automatically after execution of the command. This makes is easier to call LPTool functions from other tools, like file-managers. The commands are single words. Most commands have one or more parameters of wich some are optional. An overview of the available commands is given below, it can also be referenced from within the program using the '?' command. ping [ + | - ] = Check if other station is connected and ready find [s][c][o][a][n][x] = Find files, display info; optional cmd [c]) show [s][d][o][a][n][x] = Show source & target filespec for a send send [s][d][o][a][n][x] = Send files to connected peer machine s = source specification, optional absolute or relative path d = destination: path or, '*' = current dir, '=' = same path o = options: S=subdirectories, F=Files, D=Dirs, I=Include, A=async x = exclude/include file-spec(s), wildcards * and ? allowed a = Attributes to match for source selection n = Attributes to set/reset afterwards on source A = Archive, R = Read-only, S = System, H = Hidden Prefix each with '+' for set and '-' for reset command-string = Execute an LPTool or OS/2 command here .command-string = Execute an LPTool command at the other side r command-string = Remote exec command, redirect output back run lpt-macro[.cmd] = Run REXX macro in LPTool ADDRESS-environment ? = Give (this) helptext q, quit, exit = Exit LPTool; 1.96 23-06-98 (c) 1996-98; Jan van Wijk EXTERNALS Any command not recognized as a valid LPTool internal command will be passed to the default command-processor (COMSPEC). Usefull commands: DIR, DEL, ... Command reference send [source-files] [destination] [options] [attrib] [new-attr] [excludes] Purpose: Send one or more files from HERE to PEER Parameters: source-files source specification, default '*' may include absolute or relative path, can also be a named pipe: "\pipe\pipename" where pipename will be used as destination filename dest destination path, default current dir '*' = current dir (placeholder), '=' = same path as source \pipe\ = Named pipe "\pipe\src-fname" where src-fname is the filename part of the source specification (no path) options options for file selection, default 'B' R = Reportback RC of file-transfer to sender S = subdirectories included F = Files only D = Directories only B = Both files and directories I = Use additional Filespecs [x] as INCLUDE selection, not Exclude. (default exclude) may be prefixed with '+', '-' or '/' attrib Attributes for selection, default none A = Archive R = Read-only S = System H = Hidden D = Directory When specified, each attribute must be prefixed with: '+' attribute set '-' attribute clear '*' attribute don't care new-attr Attributes to set/reset afterwards on each selected source file/directory. A = Archive H = Hidden R = Read-only D = Directory S = System When specified, prefix each attribute with: '+' attribute set '*' attribute keep '-' attribute clear excludes Upto 9 seperate file-specs to be excluded or specifically included. Multiple wildcards * and ? allowed. Output: One line for each file/directory sent to PEER, with: filesize EA-size attributes filename progress Some lines with a summary of the number of files, directories, read-only files etcetera that were found. Also a performance indication in Kb/second is given, the actual amount sent and the compression ratio. show [source-files] [destination] [options] [attrib] [new-attr] [excludes] Purpose: Show wich files will be sent from HERE to PEER if the same parameters are used on the SEND command Parameters see SEND command Output: One line for each file/directory sent to PEER with: source-filespec => target-filespec find [source-files] [os2-command] [options] [attrib] [new-attr] [excludes] Parameters see SEND command, except for [c] parameter os2-command Command to execute on each file found, the full path and filename will be passed as argument to the specified command. Note: DO NOT INCLUDE ANY SPACES IN THE COMMAND Purpose: Find files using same syntax as send/show Output: One line for each file/directory found with: filesize EA-size attributes filename Some lines with a summary of the number of files, directories, read-only files etcetera that were found. filetree [source-files] [dest] [options] [attrib] [new-attr] [excludes] Purpose: Find files, display in REXX SysFileTree format Parameters see SEND command, [dest] parameter is ignored Purpose: Find and list files using REXX SysFileTree output syntax Output: One line for each file/directory found with: dd/mm/yy hh:mm filesize attributes full-filename fstree [source-files] [dest] [options] [attrib] [new-attr] [excludes] Purpose: Find files, display in date-sortable format Parameters see SEND command, including [dest] parameter (destination) Purpose: Find and list files using a date sortable output format Output: One line for each file/directory found with: yymmddhhmm full-filename » destination-path .command-string = Execute an LPTool command at the other side Purpose: Execute an LPTool command at the PEER Parameters: As required by the LPTool command *command-string = Execute an LPTool command at the other side, watch Purpose: Execute an LPTool command at the PEER, stay watching output for a short while (usefull from LPTQ to get AGENT output back) Also see the 'WATCH' command Parameters: As required by the LPTool command r command-string = Remote exec command, redirect output back Purpose: Execute an OS/2 command at the PEER and get output HERE Parameters: As required by the OS/2 command Output: All standard-output (STDOUT, filehandle 1) and all standard-error (STDERR, filehandle 2) will be intercepted at the PEER, send back to the local machine, and is displayed using standard LPTool mechanisms. This includes a local log-file. set var [value] = Set/show an LPTool system variable value Purpose: Set an LPTool system variable to a specific value and/or show the actual value of a variable Parameters: var [value] name and optional value for a variable - prompt prompting level 0 no automatic prompting 1 just a command-prompt 2 full menu at auto prompt 4 Daemon usage auto prompt - compress compression level 0 no compression 10 .. 13 LZW variants 14 LZW 14-bit (default) Output: Value of the system-variable, after optional value assignment watch [time-out] [idle-time] Purpose: Keep watching, and redirecting, screenouput to be able to see it from an attached LPTQ or in the logfile Parameters: time-out Timeout for first-output line in seconds, if no ouput after (to) then command ends idle-time Timeout after first output is seen in seconds, if no more ouput is seen for (it) seconds the command (and redirection) will end Output: All standard-output (STDOUT, filehandle 1) and all standard-error (STDERR, filehandle 2) will be intercepted at the PEER, send back to the local machine, and is displayed using standard LPTool mechanisms. This includes a local log-file. l [file] = Log to 'file' ('l' = stop log) Purpose: Close current LOG, open new and capture LPTool output in it Parameters: File specification If no parameter is specified, logging is stopped. Output: Concatenated output of LPTool commands given after the 'l' command, upto next 'l' or 'q' command. ANSI control characters for colors and cursor-positioning are not written to the logfile. Remarks: There is no check on available space on the destination drive, file may end up empty if disk(ette) is full. The same logfile specification can be used more than once, output will be concatenated. On each 'l' command the current logfile will be closed. trace [level] = Set trace level for LPTool internal functions Purpose: Investigate unexpected behaviour and debug LPTool Parameters: level optional Trace level; 0 = no trace Output: The resulting trace-level, after this the output will be normal output mixed with extra trace information showing API return-codes and LPTool internal variables Remarks Use with care, tracing will delay processing wich might cause additional problems like LPTDD$ timeouts. This function might be left out of production versions of the tool to get maximum performance. q, quit, exit = Exit LPTool; 1.96 23-06-98 (c) 1996-98; Jan van Wijk Purpose: Exit LPTool program Parameters: none Output: none Remarks: LPTDD$ and logfile will be closed on exit Asynchronious running threads will be aborted. When given from clients like LPTQ, the daemon can be stopped as well by executing the 'QQ' command. lpt = Identify currently running LPTool (daemon) version Purpose: Show version of connected LPTool daemon, useful from clients Parameters: none Output: Version info cd [path] = Change current Directory Purpose: Change both the current directory and the current drive Parameters: path optional Absolute or relative path specification Output: The resulting current drive and directory Remarks: '.' and '..' can be used in the relative path specification d: = Change current Drive Purpose: Change the current drive, without changing current directory Parameters: none Output: The resulting current drive and directory screen [arg] = Switch output to the screen on or off Purpose: Allow output to logfile only Parameters: arg optional 'on' or 'off' to switch mode Output: none Remarks: The returncode (rc from REXX) will indicate the setting for screen output: 0 indicates screen switched on 1 indicates screen switched off run mf [arg] = Run a REXX macro from LPT Purpose: Execute a REXX script using the 'LPT' environment Parameters: mf mandatory Macro file specification arg optional Arguments to the REXX macro Output: Any output from the REXX macro including (OS/2) commands executed from the macro. There is no redirection of any output to the LPTool logfile. Remarks: LPTool commands can be issued from within the macro, this is the default environment (Address LPT). Command for CMD.EXE must be addressed explicitly using an 'Address Cmd' The following REXX variables will be available after each executed LPTool command from a macro: rc The returncode from the LPTool command REXX is dynamically loaded, when the run-command is exectuted It requires REXX.DLL and REXXAPI.DLL in the libpath. filetree [s][d][o][a][n][x] = Find files, output in SysFileTree format Purpose: Show wich files exist for a given filespec and attributes usefull for a GUI interface remote query (".filetree") Parameters see SEND command Output: One line for each file/directory in SysFileTree format drivemap [d] Show wich logical drives exist Purpose: Show wich drive-letters exist at the LPT-deamon usefull for a GUI interface remote query (".drivemap") Parameters d optional Output-format / level of detail Output: default: One line of drives, example: "C: D: E: R: Z:" '-' : One line for each drive-letter, just the drive '+' : One line for each drive-letter, with drive and additional filesystem information EXTERNALS Any command not recognized as a valid LPTool internal command will be passed to the default command-processor (COMSPEC). Purpose: Allow execution of external commands like CHKDSK, DIR etc. Parameters: As required by the external command Output: Any output by the command Examples of LPTool usage ----------------------- - Send all files in current directory to PEER's current directory SEND - Send a single file to a specific directory SEND s:\some\source\path\somefile.ext d:\some\destination\path - Send a complete tree of files to a specific destination directory SEND s:\some\source\path\* d:\some\destination\path s - Send all modified (archive-bit set) file in a directory tree to exactly the same path on the PEER side and reset archive-bit on source SEND * = s +a -a - Show wich files will be sent for the previous example SHOW * = s +a Note that the '-a' option is NOT SPECIFIED to prevent the archive-bit to be reset just by showing (we want that to happen on SEND). - Send a product-development tree except objects and executables: SEND d:\project\* . s * * *.OBj *.EXE - Send an installed OS/2 version to a different destionation-drive and exclude the OS/2 ini-files, swapper end desktop-directory SEND c:\* e:\ s * * *os2*.ini *swapper.dat c:\desktop* - Send all .C and .H files, from a tree, that have changed (archive bit) SEND d:\project\test\* . si +a * *.c *.h - Find all files on the C: drive that are read-only FIND C:\* s +r - Show drives available at the remote machine: REXEC DRIVEMAP - Show new (archive attribute) files at remote machine in filetree format: REXEC FILETREE C:\* s +a - Show new (archive attribute) files at local machine in filetree format: FILETREE C:\* s +a - Send a file using a named-pipe as source (as called from DFSee "sim"): SEND \pipe\bootsect.img d:\tmp - Receive a file using a named-pipe as destination (as with DFSee "wrim"): .SEND d:\tmp\bootsect.img \pipe\ Known limitations and bugs -------------------------- Error recovery Error recovery is limitted to reporting the error-code and for most common errors als a short description of the error. Usualy this will be shown both HERE and at the PEER station. REXEC redirection of STDIN No redirection for a remote program's standard-input is possible yet. Canceling functions Interrupting the program using Ctrl-C will exit completely, there is currently no 'smooth' way to cancel an operation. Redirection sometimes causes keyboard-in-use errors (rc 447) I noticed this on the 'find' command. Considered improvements ----------------------- - Limited retries on failing block-transfers (CRC error, timeout etc) - Redirect STDIN for remote executed commands from PEER to HERE - A PM frontend (LPTQPM.EXE) to supply LPTool command with a graphical user-interface for both input and output. - A text-mode frontend (LPTQVIO.EXE) to supply LPTool command with a user-interface for both input and output.