Beijing Paradise BBS Backup

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Beijing Paradise BBS Backup / PARADISE.ISO / software / BBSDOORW / BGFAX150.ZIP / WHATS.NEW < prev

Wrap

Text File | 1995-08-12 | 20.1 KB | 440 lines

Changes between BGFAX 1.50 and BGFAX 1.47 THU 17 AUG 95 ========================================= ============= NOTE: If you receive faxes in a directory other than your BGFAX directory, you must move FAXIN.LOG into the directory where all the faxes are received before installing 1.47 Beta!!! MAKEFAX.EXE show now properly handle page breaks (Ctrl-L) when converting ASCII files to FAX. New Features in VIEW.EXE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. VIEW supports XMS memory now! 2. VIEW can now view TIFF Class F (Faxworks, Word Perfect, QLII *.REC, etc) files, as well as 2-color PCX and DCX files. 3. Some new magnification factors have been added. Use Alt-S to cycle through the scales when viewing a fax. BGFAX starts in full mode (no on-screen compression) Alt-S once, makes the image 1/3 width Alt-S twice, makes the image 1/3 width "bold" Alt-S thrice, makes the image 1/2 width Alt-S 4 times, makes the image 1/2 width "bold" Alt-S 5 times, cycles back to the original full mode (no width compress) The "bold" is just a different algorithm for the on screen compression, which sometimes makes it easier to read, other times, it makes it harder to read. (That's why I leave both options in VIEW.) 4. When you are viewing the fax, if you want to print a particular page rather than the whole fax, simply press Ctrl-Enter to print the page you are currently viewing! 5. VIEW would detect the video adapter on startup, and on many systems would identity it as "SVGA" (800x600), but would fail to display images. Since I have not yet been able to debug this, I am now making VIEW only auto detect up to VGA adapters. To use 800x600 mode, use /SVGA on the VIEW command line. To use 1024x768, use /1024. New VIEW.EXE command line switches... /P39 Use PCL (laser printer) 150x150 dpi mode. Useful with laser printers with small (512K) memory, and for people who want super-fast printing. (/P40 PCL mode is 300x300 dpi). Only 1/4 the amount of data sent in /P40 mode is sent in /P39 mode. /DCX VIEW filename.fax /DCX will convert the fax to a multipage DCX file. DCX is nothing but a black-and-white multipage PCX file. See the BGFAX.DOC for a quick description of the DCX format. Also, <F3> at the VIEW main menu is available for FAX->DCX. /HS When VIEW creates PCX or DCX files, it will "half size" them so that they are only 864 pixels wide (similar to the way Quick Link II performs FAX->PCX) instead of the normal 1728 pixels wide. /LP Select legal paper size during printout (Ex: VIEW /P40:LPT2 /LP) Only valid if using laser printers (/P39 or /P40 mode) /A4 Select A4 paper size during printout (Ex: VIEW /P40 /A4) Only valid if using laser printers (/P39 or /P40 mode) /NF If you are using the NFAX.COM TSR program, if you place the /NF switch on the VIEW.EXE command line, if any "FAX" message appears on the screen, it will turn it off. (Same as FAXOFF.COM program.) New Features in BGFAX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Improved Class 1 performance. (BGFAX now follows the timing specs in T.30 better.) 2. Improved BGFAX/2 screen write speed significantly. Fixed a bug in BGFAX/2 /HOST mode which caused Maximus/2 users problems when downloading files. 3. In /HOST mode, if a non-error correcting call came in, the "%4" variable in the DOBBS.BAT file was not being set to anything. Now, non-EC calls will have that variable set to "N/A". I think this is the way FD and IM do it. Let me know if this is wrong. Note: You _might_ have to adjust your FBBS.BAT files regarding this, depending upon BBS software. 4. A new BGFAX.CNF entry for /HOST mode... Example: vm=CONNECT VOICE If the "CONNECT VOICE" string is encountered, BGFAX will exit with an errorlevel of 8. You can also use this will distingtive ringing modems, i.e., vm=RING B to have BGFAX exit with errorlevel 8 if it encounters the second RING cadence pattern (must have a distingtive ringing modem and feature from the phone company, as well as some kind of voicemail application that supports a "hot" port.) 5. If you are using a ZyXEL 2864I (ISDN) and want to /SEND faxes, you will need to put a "ss=AT&O0" in your BGFAX.CNF file. That will tell BGFAX to send using the Fax/Modem DTE channel instead of the ISDN DTE channel. New BGFAX.EXE command line switches... /SP:nn Tells BGFAX to start sending pages from page number nn. Example: BGFAX /SEND OUTPUT.FAX 555-1212 /SP:14 Tells BGFAX to send the OUTPUT.FAX file, starting at page #14. /C2 For modems such as the ZyXEL, forces BGFAX /SEND mode to use Class 2 mode for fax sending instead of Class 2.0 mode. Examples: BGFAX /SEND OUTPUT.FAX 555-1212 /C2 The /DW and /OU switches have been removed. ############################################################################## Changes between BGFAX 1.47 and BGFAX 1.40 MON 2 MAY 95 ========================================= ============ New help files (*.TXT in HELPME.ARJ) included for... PC Board Wildcat! Maximus/2 MainDoor/2 WWIV NOTE: Tranquility Base (BGFAX support BBS) is now on the Internet! You can TELNET/FTP/VMODEM to IP address 198.65.189.2 to logon. We now have an ISDN connection (64K) rather than the old slow V.34 (29K) connection, so things are much faster now. This is a _different_ IP address than before. The BGFAX147.ARJ file is protected using a ARJ Security Envelope. AUSTRALIA: Users of BGFAX in OZ who do not have access to a credit card can now register by cheque or money order. See the REGISTER.AUS file included with this archive for more information. <<< BRIEF SUMMARY OF MAJOR CHANGES >>> a. Faxworks/2 fax format added b. Many BGFAX/2 releated bugs have been fixed (TRAP errors, etc.) c. BGFAX/DOS now allows one to use hardware (CTS) flow control while sending, which helps under multitasking environments (DV and Windows) d. Many LaserJet and DeskJet printing (PCL) problems fixed New stuff ~~~~~~~~~ 1. Finally have added another fax format type into BGFAX. Now, along with ZFAX and QLIIFAX format, BGFAX supports the Faxworks/2. Faxworks/2 is the fax program that comes on the OS/2 Warp Bonus Pack. At present, VIEW.EXE will _NOT_ correctly view Faxworks/2 files. You must use the Faxworks/2 program ("open log" function) to do this. Since you must use the "open log" function, you must tell BGFAX to save faxes in the \FAXWORKS directory rather than the \BGFAX directory. NOTE: When BGFAX saves the files, the naming convention is as follows: ZFAX 2.xx.... FAXnnnn.FAX QuickLink.... FAXnnnn.QFX Faxworks/2... FXnnnnnn.FAX 2. BGFAX/2 now allows for OS/2 programs to pass the hot com handle number to BGFAX/2. (Binkley/2, MainDoor/2, Lora/2 people.) Example startup of BGFAX/2 if using Lora/2 where the com handle is passed as the third command line parameter: bgfax2 /fax c:\bgfax h%3 z If you are using a strange OS/2 BBS program like VBBS which does not pass OS/2 com handles to BGFAX/2, you will need to use a V in front of the com port NUMBER (not the handle) on the BGFAX/2 command line to tell BGFAX/2 to use "VBBS compatibility mode". Example for COM1... bgfax2 /fax c:\bgfax v1 z 3. New command line switch: BGFAX /HOST /SB Spawn DOBBS.CMD, OS/2 version only, relating to use with Maximus/2, see MAXIMUS2.TXT 4. BGFAX/2 will now store the COM HANDLE in the DOBBS.CMD file instead of the com port number as it was doing before. (BGFAX/DOS will continue to write the com port number in the DOBBS.BAT file.) 5. New command line switch: BGFAX /SEND /HW Hardware (CTS) flow control This will tell BGFAX to use CTS handshaking when sending the fax image. If you are using a Class 2.0 modem, BGFAX will automatically set the correct flow control command (AT+FLO=2 for RTS/CTS). If you are using a Class 1 or 2 modem, you _might_ (you might not) have to change the BGFAX dial string so that the modem is set to be in the same mode as BGFAX. Example, for Rockwell-based modems, you might have ds=ATM2&K4DT for a regular XON/XOFF send fax dial string ds=ATM2&K3DT for a hardware RTS/CTS send fax dial string 6. BGFAX /HOST mode can now be terminated by semaphore files. When BGFAX is running in /HOST mode, if you put a file called "EXITnnn.SEM" in the BGFAX directory, it will cause BGFAX to exit with errorlevel nnn. i.e., "EXIT72.SEM" will cause /HOST mode to terminate with level 72. This is useful on multitasking or networked systems. 7. BGFAX will now pass a second parameter to the DOPRINT.BAT (DOPRINT.CMD) file. The second parameter will be the remote fax ID, with underscores replacing spaces. This can be used in case your EXEPRINT.BAT/CMD file will need to scan for certain bad numbers (fax advertising) and not print them, or, can be used to pass to programs designed to page you with the remote fax ID. Confused?? Don't worry about it. Here is a sample of the new DOPRINT.BAT/CMD file: CALL C:\BGFAX\EXEPRINT.BAT C:\BGFAX\FAX0872.FAX (old way) CALL C:\BGFAX\EXEPRINT.BAT C:\BGFAX\FAX0873.FAX 713_893_9124 (new way) 8. Some of the older Class 1 modems do require a 19200 shift. I thought all Class 1 modems behaved like the Hayes Optima 288, but apparently I was wrong about that. (The Optima 288 doesn't use 19200 shifting, while I recently discovered modems such as the Hayes Accura 14400 do require 19200 shifting.) To handle this situation, a new com port modifier is available, the minus sign. Example: bgfax /fhay:713_555_1212 c:\bgfax 2- z The above line would tell BGFAX to use Class 1 mode on COM2, but it will perform 'old-style' Class 1 DTE shifting. (Notice it is "2-" instead of "2"). If you are using a Hayes Accura 14400 in BGFAX's /HOST mode, make your BGFAX.CNF file say po=2- if you are using COM2. 9. A new command line switch for VIEW, /LP --- this switch means you plan to use 'legal sized' paper on your laser printer. (Legal sized paper is 8.5 x 14" instead of the normal USA 8.5 x 11" size). 10. New command line switch: BGFAX /HOST /ND No incoming data callers Bugs fixed ~~~~~~~~~~ 1. In /SEND mode, if the input fax file is not found, BGFAX will immediately exit. If BGFAX send mode is in extended results mode (/ER command line switch), this file not found condition will cause BGFAX to exit with errorlevel 18, rather than errorlevel 0 (generic failure). 2. Numeric result codes work better when BGFAX is used in rear-end mode (Required for people using Syncronet software.) 3. Fixed problem when running BGFAX in /HOST mode when using a FOSSIL driver. BGFAX 1.36 and 1.40 would refuse to answer the phone. 4. I think I fixed the problem with BGFAX/2 generating a TRAP-D error on many systems when trying to run it in /HOST mode. 5. Fixed problem with BGFAX thinking a "CONNECT 14400 REL" was a 0 bps connection. :-) ... Before, BGFAX was expecting "CONNECT 14400/REL". 6. If you were receiving a 2D-MR coded fax and BGFAX was not receiving a valid 2D-MR RTC code at the end of the page, BGFAX was trying to 'help' by adding a 1D-MH RTC code. (It should have added a 2D-MR RTC code, as this version should now do.) 7. I have attempted to fix a problem during PCX conversion that existed in VIEW 1.40 and 1.40A. 8. Many people have reported problems trying to print faxes on Laser or Desk Jet printers. This VIEW.EXE update tries to fix the problem by sending printer output via software interrupt $17, rather than opening 'LPT1' as a 'binary file'. The printing screen has had an overhaul as well. Here is some example command line parameters: view /p40 will print to LPT1 via Int 17 (new way) view /p40:lpt1 will print to LPT1 via Int 17 (new way) view /p40:lpt2 will print to LPT2 via Int 17 (new way) view /p40:hello.you will print to file 'HELLO.YOU' via binary file view /p40:+lpt1 will print to LPT1 via binary file (old way) Under OS/2, it appears as if printing the old way is faster, that's why I made it possible to print using the old way (by inserting the plus). 9. A user with a new Practical Peripheral's V.FC modem reported trouble sending faxes. Apparently, the modem would echo "ATDTphonenumber " ...instead of "ATDT phonenumber" which would confuse BGFAX and BGFAX/2. The extra spaces in the modem output are the problem. This update to BGFAX should fix this problem. ############################################################################## Changes between BGFAX 1.40 and BGFAX 1.36 SUN 1 JAN 95 ========================================= ============= <<< BRIEF SUMMARY OF MAJOR NEW FEATURES >>> a. OS/2 executables now included b. EXAR based fax modem related bugs in BGFAX addressed c. VIEW now supports VESA SVGA display modes for viewing faxes d. VIEW now supports printing in PCL mode (LaserJet, DeskJet) e. CALLER ID info in /HOST mode is now saved to DOBBS.BAT files <<< Detailed summary of changes and new features >>> OS/2 EXECUTABLES NOW INCLUDED! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BGFAX2.EXE and MAKEFAX2.EXE are included with this release! You can use BGFAX2.EXE for sending faxes under OS/2. For receiving faxes with BGFAX2.EXE under OS/2, you must be using a BBS software or Fido mailer software that is OS/2 native (i.e., Lora/2 or MAINDOOR/2). If your BBS or Fido mailer software is DOS native (i.e., FrontDoor or InterMail) you still must use BGFAX/DOS. If you are using BGFAX/2 in /HOST or /SEND mode, a small change in the BGFAX.CNF file will be required. Instead of using "po=1" to represent COM1, for example, you will need to use "p2=1". Where "po=" is the port used in BGFAX/DOS and "p2=" is the port used in BGFAX/2. Why this change? Say, under DOS you have "po=2e8x5", but under OS/2, you have SIO set up to map $2e8, IRQ5 to COM4, therefore "p2=4". BGFAX/DOS creates *.BAT files (DOBBS.BAT, DOPRINT.BAT). BGFAX/2 will instead create *.CMD files (DOBBS.CMD, DOPRINT.CMD). Please report any TRAP errors to me. I tried my best to make sure I squashed all TRAP related bugs, but just a few days ago, someone said they got a TRAP error in /HOST mode. Bugs fixed ~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Many USR and PPI owners often came home from work to find BGFAX sitting there on the screen after several hours. This big, bad bug is now fixed. BGFAX will now timeout correctly after 40 seconds of no activity. 2. BGFAX was not correctly logging some hangup status codes on Class 2.0 modems. (Such as the +FHS:A2 code, which the string-to-integer unit was reporting as "0", now it should report "A2", etc.) 3. Numerous VIEW.EXE problems have been touched. EGA graphics mode now appears to work on EGA-only systems. New stuff ~~~~~~~~~ 1. VIEW now supports VESA SVGA resolution modes of 800x600 and 1024x768. If VIEW detects a functioning VESA adapter, it will use a default resolution of 800x600. If you want to use 1024x768, you will have to force VIEW into that mode by using the /1024 command line switch. Your VESA card must support use 64K banks for 1024x768 mode to work. If something goes wrong, VGA mode can always be forced with /VGA switch. I have tested both of the new high res modes on my Farenheight 1280 and Trident SVGA cards. (1024x768 mode was very slow, even on my 486DX4/100 machine, that's why I default VESA mode to 800x600). Please note that many SVGA cards are _not_ VESA compatible. Sometimes, these non-standard cards come with VESA-drivers for DOS. 2. VIEW.EXE now supports printing using the PCL command set (i.e., you can now print faxes on LaserJet and DeskJet printers!) To tell BGFAX to use PCL mode, start VIEW with the /P40 command line parameter. 3. Before VIEW would always use "LPT1" when printing. Now, you can tell VIEW which port (or file) to use, i.e.: VIEW /P24 <-- means use 24-pin printer on LPT1 VIEW /P26:LPT2 <-- means use Bubble Jet on LPT2 VIEW /P40:LPT3 <-- means use Laser Jet on LPT3 VIEW /P24:DUMP.PRN <-- means 24-pin printer output saved to file [ Send DUMP.PRN to printer doing "COPY DUMP.PRN PRN" at DOS prompt ] 4. Caller ID information is now logged in the DOBBS.BAT files in /HOST mode. (BGFAX presently supports Rockwell Caller ID, ZyXEL Caller ID will probably be added in the future.) To demonstrate, here's the data from the modem (DEBUG.LOG): 12-03-94 17:21:58 f=[RING] 12-03-94 17:21:59 f=[DATE = 1203] 12-03-94 17:21:59 f=[TIME = 1727] 12-03-94 17:21:59 f=[NMBR = 7138939124] 12-03-94 17:21:59 f=[NAME = GUILLOT B J ] 12-03-94 17:22:04 f=[RING] 12-03-94 17:22:05 f=[ata] 12-03-94 17:22:17 f=[CARRIER 28800] 12-03-94 17:22:17 f=[PROTOCOL: LAP-M] 12-03-94 17:22:17 f=[COMPRESSION: V.42BIS] 12-03-94 17:22:17 f=[CONNECT 28800/ARQ] Here's the data from the BGFAX.LOG: 12-03-94 17:22:04 caller id [1203 1727 7138939124 GUILLOT_B_J] 12-03-94 17:22:04 answering phone 12-03-94 17:22:17 extra id [PROTOCOL: LAP-M] 12-03-94 17:22:17 extra id [COMPRESSION: V.42BIS] 12-03-94 17:22:17 data inbound [CONNECT 28800/ARQ] 12-03-94 17:22:18 reliable connection And, here's what DOBBS.BAT ends up looking like: C:\BGFAX\EXEBBS.BAT 28800 3E8X3 819 /ARQ 1203 1727 7138939124 GUILLOT_B_J If no caller ID was detected, DOBBS.BAT would look like this: C:\BGFAX\EXEBBS.BAT 28800 3E8X3 819 /ARQ N/A 5. One user reported problems with MSDOS 5.0 not letting BGFAX/DOS use commas in the fax number when /SENDing. i.e., bgfax /send output.fax 555.1212 actually uses "555,1212" EXAR based fax modems supported correctly ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ People with EXAR based fax modems (a few non-USA users) can now correct the dreaded DLE/error, bad scan line problem by putting a /EX at the end of the BGFAX command line. This seems to reduce nearly all bad scan lines. DO NOT USE /EX ON A NON-EXAR MODEM. If you try using the /EX switch on a Rockwell, USR, or Sierra based fax modem, your faxes will become garbled. Important change for multinode users of BGFAX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BGFAX before offered a syntax of "BGFAX /FAX path c x p" where 'c' is the com port, 'x' is Q or Z, and 'p' was a PID number. The 'p' syntax was also available with the /PID:ppp switch. Now, the old syntax for using a PID number on the command line is removed. So, if you are running BGFAX in a multi-node environment, you now must use "BGFAX /FAX c x /PID:p" I think it is more readable this way. BGFAX /FAX C:\BGFAX 1 Z /PID:5 ...would mean BGFAX5.LOG would be created instead of BGFAX.LOG. ############################################################################## Release History ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version Date Comments ----------- --------------- ------------------------------------- Alpha 4 Fri 21 May 1993 (first open alpha test) Beta 1 Sat 19 Jun 1993 (first open beta test) BGFAX 1.06 Tue 14 Sep 1993 (initial public release, DOS version) BGFAX 1.07 Sun 14 Nov 1993 BGFAX 1.08 Sun 21 Nov 1993 BGFAX 1.09 Wed 22 Dec 1993 BGFAX 1.10 Mon 4 Jan 1994 BGFAX 1.21 Fri 25 Mar 1994 BGFAX 1.30 Sat 11 Jun 1994 BGFAX 1.36 Sun 25 Sep 1994 BGFAX 1.40 Sun 1 Jan 1995 (initial public release, OS/2 version) BGFAX 1.47 Mon 2 May 1995 BGFAX 1.50 Thu 17 Aug 1995 (released at ONE BBSCON TAMPA)