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Text File | 1995-03-27 | 38KB | 1,014 lines

BCTERM Terminal Emulator Program for Bridge Crew Introduction BCTERM is a Terminal Emulation Program produced for use with Bridge Crew. It allows any IBM or compatible computer to operate as an inteligent Bridge Crew terminal. The main computer will have one or more PCs running BCTERM and/or dumb terminals attached via serial ports to COM1 and COM2 using null-modem cables. BCTERM allows PCs to be 'daisy-chained' together using null-modem cables. In this configuration, a PC (lets call it PCa) running BCTERM is connected from the main computer's COM1 port to PCa's COM1 port, then an additional PC or a dumb terminal is connected to PCa through PCa's COM2 port. PCb and an additional PC are connected to the Main computer's COM2 port in the same manner. Daisy Chaining Main Computer Com1 Com2 | | | | aCom1 bCom1 PCa PCb aCom2 bCom2 | | | | Terminal PC BCTERM can be used with multi port cards provided the relevant port is set up using BCREWSET (value 2) Multi-port Card Configuration Main Computer Com1 Com2 Port1 Port2 Port3 Port4 | | | | | | | | | | | | Terminal PC PC Terminal Terminal PC Features BCTERM supports the following features: Programmable function keys Variable screen layout Up to four different sounds (the Sound Blaster compatible sound card must be installed in the machine running BCTERM.) A lightbox attached to the printer port. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 1 Screen Layout The screen layout of BCTERM can be altered by the user. The screen consists of four areas: Reports Messages Input Function keys The generic form of the screen is shown below. To run BCTERM with the generic screen, type BCTERM GENERIC.DAT at the command prompt of the PC that is to run BCTERM. +-------------------------REPORTS------------PGUP PGDN--------------+ DEFAULT ª ª F1 ª ª WHO ª ª ======= ª ª F2 ª ª RECON ª ª ======= ª ª F3 ª ª THINGS ª ª ======= ª ª F4 ª ª +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ ======= +-------------------------MESSAGES----------------------------------+ F5 ªTerminal initialised ª ªConnections established ª ======= ª ª F6 ª ª ª ª ======= ª ª F7 +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------INPUT-------------------------------------+ ======= ª | F8 ª | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ ======= Contents of the Input Window The text of the most recent command that you entered. Eg if you typed the command WHO, it will appear in the input area; the response will appear in the messages area (see below). Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 2 Contents of the Reports Window The response to the latest REPORT command that you entered. Eg if you entered the command REPORT CREW, the report shown will appear in the reports area. It will stay there while other (non-report) commands are entered, until another report is requested. Damaged Functions 0 Casualties 0 Damage Remaining 2120 Failure Point 585 Hull Before Fail 1535 There are two additional components to the REPORT area: PGUP view the result of the previous REPORT command. PGDN view the result of the REPORT command entered after the one you are currently viewing. Contents of the Messages Window Contains the response to non-report commands. Eg if WHO was entered, logical port 6 physical port 7 will appear in the messages area. Function Keys You can load frequently used commands into the function keys area (labeled DEFAULT in the example shown) using the Change Function Keys screen in BCTERSET. Pressing a function key during play will cause its command to be executed. Eg, if using the example screen shown, pressing F2 will cause the command RECON to be executed. CUSTOMISING THE BCTERM PROGRAM The size and location of the Reports, Messages and Input areas of the screen can be altered using the Change Windows option in BCTERSET. The headings of these areas and the special characters used in the borders of the areas can be altered using the Change Boiler Plate option of BCTERSET. The size and location of the function key area can be altered using the Change Function Keys option of BCTERSET. Using BCTERSET you can construct a number of setups and save than as different names these can be loaded into BCTERM when it is run eg: >BCTERM MYSETUP.DAT would load setup file MYSETUP.DAT Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 3 BCTERSET - BCTERM Setup Program In order to use BCTERM effectively, details of the Main Computer and the computer running BCTERM must be entered via the setup program - BCTERSET. BCTERSET has three options in its main menu File Change Help File Menu The File menu has the following options: New Read From Save Save As About Exit New New initialises all the BCTERM setup details Read From Reads the setup details from an existing file and loads them into BCTERSET's work area. An example screen is shown below: File Change Help _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ______________+-[_]-------------- Read File ------------------+______________ ______________ª ª______________ ______________ª Name ª______________ ______________ª *.DAT _ ª Open _ ª______________ ______________ª _________ ª______________ ______________ª Files ª______________ ______________ª BCTERSET.DAT ª ..\ Cancel _ ª______________ ______________ª COX.DAT ª _________ ª______________ ______________ª TEMP.DAT ª ª______________ ______________ª TEST.DAT ª ª______________ ______________ª TESTHIN.DAT ª ª______________ ______________ª TESTHOUT.DAT ª ª______________ ______________ª TESTNIN.DAT ª ª______________ ______________ª TESTNOUT.DAT ª ª______________ ______________ª _____________________________ ª______________ ______________ª ª______________ ______________ª D:\BCTERM\*.DAT ª______________ ______________ª BCTERSET.DAT 23446 Oct 18,1994 08:33p ª______________ ______________+-----------------------------------------------+______________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 4 Save Saves the current settings. Save As Saves the current settings in a file of your choosing. About Displays information about the author of the program. Exit Exit from BCTERSET. You can also exit the program by typing Alt X. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 5 Change Menu The Change Menu has the following options: Function Keys Boiler Plate Graphic Mode Ports Light Sound Windows The options Function Keys, Boiler Plate and Windows used together, allow you to design your own BCTERM screen. If you wish to design your own screen rather than use the one(s) supplied, the F9 key allows you to view the screen layout as you work. F10 will return you to the BCTERSET menu. Function Keys Selecting Function Keys from the Change Menu will display the screen shown below: File Change Help ______________________________________________________________________________ ___+-[_]--------------- Setup function keys for BCterm -------------------+___ ___ª Text on ª___ ___ª Screen Command to send out ª___ ___ª F1 WHO WHO ª___ ___ª F2 RECON RECON ª___ ___ª F3 THINGS THINGS ª___ ___ª F4 ª___ ___ª F5 ª___ ___ª F6 ª___ ___ª F7 ª___ ___ª F8 ª___ ___ª ª___ ___ª Start X pos 73 Increment X 0 Separator 61 ª___ ___ª Start Y pos 2 Increment Y 3 Length 7 ª___ ___ª Display Function Keys Yes ª___ ___ª ª___ ___ª Ok _ Cancel _ ª___ ___ª ________ ________ ª___ ___+----------------------------------------------------------------------+___ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu Enter the text that you wish to appear on the screen for each function key under the heading Text on Screen. Enter a valid Bridge Crew command under the heading Command to Send Out. You cannot use a macro in the command. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 6 It is also possible to alter the location and size of the function key area on the BCTERM screen using fields shown towards the bottom of the screen. Start X pos The horizontal starting position of the function key area - the number entered is the number of characters from the left hand side of the screen. Start Y pos The vertical starting position of the function key area - the number entered is the number of characters from the top of the screen. Increment X The number of characters in the x-direction (i.e. horizontally) from the start of one function key to the start of the next. Increment Y The number of characters in the y-direction (i.e. vertically) from the start of one function key to the start of the next. Length The length of text (and separator) for each function key. Separator The ASCII code for the separator character (61 is the code for the equals sign - =). In the example above, the function keys appear vertically down the right hand side of the screen. See the picture of the BCTERM screen in the Screen Layout section. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 7 Boiler Plate Selecting Boiler Plate from the Change Menu will display the screen shown below: File Change Help ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______+-[_]------------ Boiler Plate Setup for Bcterm -----------------+______ ______ª ª______ ______ª Color 4 Background Character 32 ª______ ______ª ª______ ______ª Insert ª______ ______ª X Y Text X Y Character ª______ ______ª 29 1 REPORTS 71 23 24 ª______ ______ª 48 1 PGUP PGDN 71 24 25 ª______ ______ª 29 14 MESSAGES 0 0 0 ª______ ______ª 29 22 INPUT 0 0 0 ª______ ______ª 73 1 DEFAULT 0 0 0 ª______ ______ª 0 0 0 0 0 ª______ ______ª 0 0 0 0 0 ª______ ______ª 0 0 0 0 0 ª______ ______ª ª______ ______ª Ok _ Cancel _ ª______ ______ª ________ ________ ª______ ______+----------------------------------------------------------------+______ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu This screen can be used to change the colour of the screen, the background character, the headings of the various screen areas on BCTERM and the positioning of the special characters used as up/down arrows on the messages area. The screen areas, as titled in the above screen, are REPORTS the response to the latest REPORT command. PGUP view the result of the previous REPORT command. PGDN view the result of the REPORT command entered after the one you are currently viewing. MESSAGES The response to the last non-report command that you entered. INPUT The text of the most recent command that you entered DEFAULT The heading of the function key area. The values for X and Y shown on the left hand side of the headings are the starting positions of those headings. For example, 29 1 SPY INFO will place the heading SPY INFO 29 characters from the left of the screen and 1 character down from the top of the screen (rather than the heading REPORTS). The area on the right hand side of the boiler plate screen, headed up Insert Character and requiring X and Y characters, is used for including special characters in the screen design. In the layout defined by the above screen, the up arrow is placed in location Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 8 (71,23); the down arrow in location (71,24) - the right hand side of the INPUT area. BCTERM retains the last four commands entered by the player. When the up arrow is activated, the previous command is displayed and can be sent, clicking on the down arrow will display the command entered after the one currently shown. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 9 Graphic Mode Selecting Graphic Mode from the Change Menu will display the screen shown below. To bring up a selection of available graphics modes, click on the triangle at the right hand side of the Setup Graphics Mode box. File Change Help ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________+-[_]-- Setup Graphics Mode ------+______________________ _____________________ª ª______________________ _____________________ª Graphics Mode EGA/VGA ª______________________ _____________________ª ª______________________ _____________________ª ª______________________ _____________________ª Ok _ Cancel _ ª______________________ _____________________ª ________ ________ ª______________________ _____________________+---------------------------------+______________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu The following table of values will be displayed: +-[_]------------- Table Values -----------------+ ª ª ª Select Value ª ª Mono - ª ª CGA _ ª ª EGA/VGA _ Ok _ ª ª _ ________ ª ª _ ª ª _ ª ª _ ª ª _ Cancel _ ª ª _ ________ ª ª _ ª ª ª ª ª +------------------------------------------------+ Select the required graphics mode and click on Ok. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 10 Ports If you intend running Bridge Crew with daisy-chaining, you must set up the port parameters. Selecting Ports from the Change Menu will display the screen shown below. File Change Help ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________+-[_]---- Setup port parameters for BCterm ---------+_____________ ____________ª ª_____________ ____________ª Port Attached to Main Bridge Crew Machine COM2 ª_____________ ____________ª Other port Type Nothing ª_____________ ____________ª Am I the first Bcterm in this chain Yes ª_____________ ____________ª ª_____________ ____________ª Ok _ Cancel _ ª_____________ ____________ª ________ ________ ª_____________ ____________+---------------------------------------------------+_____________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu Port Attached to Main Bridge Crew Machine To tell BCTERM which communications port is attached to the main Bridge Crew machine, click on the triangle to the right of the "Port Attached to Main Bridge Crew Machine" literal. A Table Values box will be displayed, giving the options of: COM1 COM2 Select the appropriate port and click on OK (or highlight the Ok box using the tab key and press enter). In the screen shown above, COM2 has previously been chosen as the port attached to the main Bridge Crew machine. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 11 Other port Type To tell BCTERM about the other port on the local machine (i.e. the machine running BCTERM) click on the triangle to the right of the "Other port Type" literal. A Table Values box will be displayed, giving the options of: Nothing Mouse Dumb Terminal PC running BCTERM If the local machine is the last (or only) machine in this daisy chain, choose Nothing or Mouse, depending on whether the other COM port has nothing or a mouse attached to it. If the local machine is the first machine in this daisy-chain, it may have either a dumb terminal attached to it or another PC (IBM compatible, Amiga, Atari or Macintosh) running a VT100 terminal emulation program. If either of these two situations applies, select the option Dumb Terminal. If the local machine is the first machine in this daisy-chain, it may have another (IBM compatible) PC running BCTERM attached to it. If so, select the option PC running BCTERM. Am I the first Bcterm in this chain? Click on the triangle to the right of the "Am I the first Bcterm in this chain" literal. A Table Values box will be displayed, giving the options of: Yes No Choose the appropriate option and click on Ok. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 12 Light This feature is only used with the Light box produced by Mithril Software and is of no value to people without one. This option makes the coloured light for the condition selected illuminate as the command is executed. (Eg blue light for condition blue). Selecting Light from the Change Menu will display the screen shown below. This screen is used when setting the parameters to use a light box when running Bridge Crew. The light box is plugged into the parallel port LPT1 (printer port). The light box has been specially developed for use with Bridge Crew and is only available through Mithril Software. File Change Help ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________+-[_] Setup light box parameters for Bcterm ----+_______________ ______________ª ª_______________ ______________ª Light Box in use No ª_______________ ______________ª ª_______________ ______________ª Light Number For Ship is Hit Light 8 ª_______________ ______________ª ª_______________ ______________ª Light Number For Condition Green Light 1 ª_______________ ______________ª Light Number For Condition Red Light 2 ª_______________ ______________ª Light Number For Condition Blue Light 3 ª_______________ ______________ª Light Number For Condition Yellow Light 4 ª_______________ ______________ª ª_______________ ______________ª ª_______________ ______________ª Ok _ Cancel _ ª_______________ ______________ª ________ ________ ª_______________ ______________+-----------------------------------------------+_______________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu Click on the triangle to the right of the "Light Box in use" literal. A Table Values box will be displayed, giving the options of: Yes No Choose the appropriate option and click on Ok. If you choose Yes and have a light box available, you can tell BCTERM which light should be activated for each condition code. Eight lights are available. In the example above, coloured lights are inserted into each of the first four sockets, one for each condition code (red for condition red, green for condition green etc.). The eighth light is currently a power point mounted on the box, into which we plug a table lamp that can be pointed at the players. This is then configured, using the Light Number For Ship is Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 13 Hit option, to flash when the players' ship is hit by an opponent. The select the light number for any of the condition codes or for the Ship is Hit option, click on the triangle to the right of the literal. A Table Values box will be displayed, giving the options of: Light 1 Light 2 Light 3 Light 4 Light 5 Light 6 Light 7 Light 8 Choose the appropriate option and click on Ok. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 14 Sound Please read SOUND.TXT for details on enabling sound in BCTERM. Selecting Sound from the Change Menu will display the screen shown below. This screen is used when setting the parameters to use a sound effects when running Bridge Crew. Note that the sound card must be in a machine running BCTERM, not the main machine running Bridge Crew. File Change Help _____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ _+-[_]--------------- Setup sound parameters for BCterm --------------------+_ _ª ª_ _ª Sound type in use Sound Blaster ª_ _ª Sound to be read from file No (Sounds Must be on a Ram Disk if Yes) ª_ _ª ª_ _ª Sound File for Hit on Shields D:\BCTERM\BC5.VOC ª_ _ª Sound File Condition Green ª_ _ª Sound File Condition Red ª_ _ª Sound File Condition Blue ª_ _ª Sound File Condition Yellow ª_ _ª ª_ _ª Sound files must be in .VOC format and have some size restrictions ª_ _ª see help on sound for details ª_ _ª ª_ _ª Ok _ Cancel _ ª_ _ª ________ ________ ª_ _+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+_ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu To tell BCTERM whether or not sound is in use, click on the triangle to the right of the "Sound type in use" literal. A Table Values box will be displayed, giving the options of: None Sound Blaster Choose the appropriate option and click on Ok. You can choose your own sound files to run with Bridge Crew, provided that they are in .VOC format, take less than two seconds to play and are smaller than 32 kilobytes in size. Enter the path and file name of each of the sound files that you wish to play. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 15 Windows Selecting Windows from the Change Menu will display the screen shown below. This screen is used to change the screen layout for BCTERM, in conjunction with the Boiler Plate and Function Keys screens. There are four windows on the BCTERM screen, Main, Reports, Messages and Input. The Main window contains all the other windows (function keys are placed within the bounds of the Main window). The definition shown below is for the BCTERM screen shown at the start of this document. The other windows are: REPORTS the response to the latest REPORT command. MESSAGES The response to the last non-report command that you entered. INPUT The text of the most recent command that you entered File Change Help ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______+-[_]-------------- Windows Setup for Bcterm -------------------+_______ ______ª Window Left Top Right Bottom Colour Border ª_______ ______ª Main 1 1 80 25 1 No ª_______ ______ª Reports 2 2 70 12 2 Yes ª_______ ______ª Messages 2 15 70 20 3 Yes ª_______ ______ª Input 2 23 70 24 15 Yes ª_______ ______ª ª_______ ______ª Vertical Line Char 186 Top Left Corner Char 201 ª_______ ______ª Horizontal Line Char 205 Bottom Right Corner Char 188 ª_______ ______ª Top Right Corner Char 187 ª_______ ______ª Bottom Left Corner Char 200 ª_______ ______ª ª_______ ______ª Ok _ Cancel _ ª_______ ______ª ________ ________ ª_______ ______+---------------------------------------------------------------+_______ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Alt-X Exit F9 View Screen F10 Menu You define window's area on the screen by telling the program the starting position of each side of the window. For example, the Reports window is defined as Left 2, Top 2, Right 70 and Bottom 12. This means that the left hand of the report starts 2 characters from the left of the screen, and finishes 70 characters from the left of the screen, the top of the window starts 2 characters from the top of the screen and finishes 12 characters from the top of the screen. You may choose a colour for the window - use the ASCII code. Each window may have a border - click on the triangle under the literal Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 16 "Border" for the given window. A Table Values box will be displayed, giving the options of: Yes No Choose the appropriate option and click on Ok. If a border is chosen, the characters that make up that border may be chosen using the ASCII codes for the desired special characters. These are selected using the fields shown at the bottom of the screen: Vertical Line Char 186 Double Vertical line Horizontal Line Char 205 Double Horizontal line Top Left Corner Char 201 Double top left hand corner Bottom Right Corner Char 188 Double bottom right hand corner Top Right Corner Char 187 Double top right hand corner Bottom Left Corner Char 200 Double bottom left hand corner Help Menu The help menu is not yet fully implemented. Copyright Mithril Software Pty Ltd Page 17 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..............................................1 Daisy Chaining..........................................1 Multi-port Card Configuration...........................1 Features..................................................1 Screen Layout.............................................2 Contents of the Input Window............................2 Contents of the Reports Window..........................3 Contents of the Messages Window.........................3 Function Keys...........................................3 CUSTOMISING THE BCTERM PROGRAM............................3 BCTERSET - BCTERM Setup Program...........................4 File Menu...............................................4 New...................................................4 Read From.............................................4 Save..................................................5 Save As...............................................5 About.................................................5 Exit..................................................5 Change Menu.............................................6 Function Keys.........................................6 Boiler Plate ...........................................8 Graphic Mode............................................10 Ports...................................................11 Port Attached to Main Bridge Crew Machine.............11 Other port Type.......................................12 Am I the first Bcterm in this chain?..................12 Light...................................................13 Sound...................................................15 Windows.................................................16 Help Menu...............................................17