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1988-05-27
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The PE1CHL version of NET by KA9Q
by R.E. Janssen, PE1CHL. last update: 27-May-1988.
This document describes some changes I have made to the NET
program (by KA9Q) after porting the program to the Atari ST.
These features are now also available in a PC version.
Current program version is 871225.12.PE1CHL
AX.25 callsign handling
The 'mycall' variable and command have been replaced by a more
powerful set of commands, that allow more complex ax.25 use of
the package. The callsign to use in IP and NET/ROM is now
specified as an extra parameter to the attach command.
This change allows a different callsign-ssid to be used on
different bands, a requirement in some countries. Also it is the
basis of some cross-band digipeating features. A problem occurs
when the same station can be contacted on 2 bands, and the
routing tables in each station indicate a different band to be
used. The other station incorrectly assumes the same callsign is
valid on both bands. ARP can be fixed to include the interface in
the table, and keeping separate callsigns for each IP address-
interface pair. This has not yet been implemented.
The digipeater functionality and command have been enhanced. It
is now possible to switch digipeating on and off independently
for each interface, and as an extra option it is now possible to
have a digipeater gateway between 2 or more bands. To use this
feature, set a different callsign-ssid on each band (in the
attach command), and use "ax25 digipeat <interface> gate"
commands for each interface participating in the gateway.
Packets arriving on an interface, and requiring to be digipeated
by the call of another interface, will be sent out on the
digipeat interface with the digi call replaced by the call of the
interface where the packet arrived. (a known trick to implement
a multi-band digipeater gateway).
Example: If the callsign on 2m is PE1CHL-2, and on 70 it is
PE1CHL-7, someone qrv on 2m can connect a station on 70 by
connecting "via PE1CHL-7". This results in a transmission on 70
cm specifying PE1CHL-2 as a digipeater. When the destination
station replies, the packet will be digipeated on 2m with
digipeater callsign PE1CHL-7.
MHEARD
The familiar "MHEARD" command has been added. It is now only
implemented for ax.25, but it could be used on any network.
It is possible to set the number of different addresses to
remember using "mheard <interface> number". The default is 0,
i.e. no recording of heard stations.
Use the command "mheard 144 23" to keep the last 23 heard
stations in the list (i.e. one screenful).
The command "mheard 144" will then list the heard stations, in
this format:
May 25 21:25:34 PA0GRI-1 to PE1CHL-2
May 25 21:25:20 PI8CIK to MAIL via PI8HOB >(PI8VRZ)
In the second line, a station was heard using a digipeater. The
part of the digipeater list in brackets indicates the digipeaters
that did not yet relay the packet when it was last heard. So in
the example, PI8VRZ was not heard digipeating the packet.
The ">" sign indicates that the input of the digipeater was
heard, in this case the transmission by PI8HOB to PI8VRZ.
If the 2nd line reads:
May 25 21:25:20 PI8CIK to MAIL via >PI8HOB >(PI8VRZ)
this means that PI8CIK was heard DIRECT and via PI8HOB, but not
via PI8VRZ.
The most common use of this feature is to determine if a station
can be heard direct and/or via a digipeater, as in:
May 25 21:38:10 PI8RNI-7 to PI8ESA-7 via >PI8HOB
This indicates the station can be heard both direct and via the
digipeater.
SOURCE
The "source" command has been added to read a commands file, like
the autoexec.net file. The syntax is "source <filename>" This
command can also appear within the autoexec.net file itself,
making it possible to subdivide this file in some logical parts
(e.g. setup and routing commands).
This allows you to structure the autoexec.net file into different
parts, like attach of interfaces, parameter setting, routing
commands etc. Now, it is possible to share some of these files
between different setups to be used by NET.
ROUTE
The "route" command hast been extended: when you enter
"route add <host> via <ipgate>", the existing route to <ipgate>
is stored in the routing table. This means that if you change
the route to <ipgate> in your autoexec file, all the routes that
are via this gateway will automatically be updated when you start
NET. (especially handy when you change the interface at which a
gateway can be reached, and still more important when you want to
run different configurations of you local machine(s) using a
cleverly built autoexec.net using the "source" command to read
routing tables from separate files.)
Example:
route add pa0gri 144
route add bbs.pa0gri via pa0gri
Some very minor changes in the doadd and dodrop routing functions
now make it possible to use symbolic names in route commands,
even when specifying the number of bits:
Example:
route add Belgium/16 via pa0gri
TRACE
Tracing can now be routed to a file. Use "trace to <pathname>" to
enable tracing to a file, "trace to con" to switch back to
console tracing. Always use an absolute pathname for the file
(e.g.: trace to c:\net\tracefile), as it is sometimes closed and
re-opened using the specified name. This could fail if you
change the working directory.
The date and time-of-day has been added to the first line of each
trace output, which is useful when writing to a file.
FLOW
The "flow" command has been implemented, and works like in the
TNC code. Incoming input is not printed when the user is typing
input on an interactive connection, greatly enhancing the
readability of keyboard-to-keyboard communications. The input
will be printed when a RETURN is typed, or whenever you backspace
to the beginning of the line. "flow on" enables this feature.
Input Line Editing
Input line editing has been enhanced, and a history of command
lines (of more than 1 character) is kept. The arrow keys can be
used to move through this history, and to edit input lines. An
"insert" mode is recognized (insert key).
Key functions are:
left arrow nondestructive backspace through the current
line. allows corrections in your input.
right arrow to move towards the end of the line. when it
is used at the end of the input, characters
from the previous input line will be
inserted.
up arrow get the previous line in the input line
history and show it. put cursor at end of
this input line.
down arrow get next line from input line history.
delete when the cursor is over a character in the
current input line, deletes that character.
insert toggles between overtype and insert mode. in
insert mode, anything typed when the cursor
is not at the end of the input line will be
inserted at the cursor position.
^H, backsp delete the character left from the cursor
position.
^R redisplays the input line and puts the cursor
at the end.
^U, ^X cancels the current input line.
RETURN accepts the current input line. note that the
cursor may be anywhere in the line, the
complete line will always be accepted.
AX.25 ports
The "ax25 port" command has been added to allow ax.25 servers to
run in the NET program, just like TCP servers. It is possible to
define a callsign (and optionally an interface) that can be
connected to, and a port number of a corresponding ax.25 server.
The type "digi" can be specified, in this case the program will
open a "fake" connection when the callsign appears in the
digipeater field of an incomin