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I N C O M M : P C P D I A L TUTORIAL Version 1.0.0 The Ultimate PcPursuit Automated Dialer From the "In Command of PcPursuit..." line of software products Developed and Published By FutureSoft Technologies P.O. Box 822 Hartselle, AL 35640 USA (205) 778-9561 Program and Documentation Copyright 1992 FutureSoft Technologies All Rights Reserved. No parts of this document or accompanying software may be copied in part or in whole, except as provided in the License statement included with this product. "In Command of PcPursuit..." is a trademark of FutureSoft Technologies. Other product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners. InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 Lesson 1 : Using Manager ------------------------ Getting Started --------------- 1. Start up Manager. If you cannot complete the first step (a) due to insufficient memory, then just start with step b. a. Enter your host comm program first (Telix, Procomm+). Shell to DOS (consult your host comm's manual). b. From the DOS prompt, type -> Manager and hit the enter key. 2. At the menu bar, select the Miscellaneous menu choice. This can be done by selecting it with the left mouse button, or you can type Alt-spacebar on your keyboard. 3. Select the submenu choice: "About". This is done with the left mouse button or you can use the keyboard's arrow keys to move the highlight bar over "About" and then press your enter key. The window displayed gives you information about Manager. Press "OK" button on the window and it will close. Use the left mouse button or just press your enter key. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 2 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 User Configuration ------------------ 1. Select the "Configuration" choice from the menu bar. 2. Select the "SprintNet Configuration" submenu choice. 3. Enter your SprintNet ID, Password, and Terminal Type into the appropriate data entry fields. To cycle between fields you can use the TAB key, or your left mouse button. At each field, type in the appropriate information, and then select the next data entry field. DO NOT PRESS ENTER YET! If you press enter, the default button is pressed -- we don't want that to happen yet. Finish entering all of your SprintNet information. If you are unsure about your terminal type, use 'D1'. After you have entered your information, you now press your enter key to select the "Accept" button. You can also TAB to the "Accept" action button and press enter, or you can press it using the left mouse button. 4. Select the "Communications Configuration" submenu choice. 5. Enter the appropriate information describing your default communications setup. First, select the correct comm port you are using. Again, TAB key cycles between data entry fields, or you can use the left mouse button. Within data entry fields, you can use the keyboard arrow keys to change between selections, or make your selection with the left mouse button. Finish up by selection your baud, parity, stops, and word size. The suggested values for these items are 2400, N, 1, and 8 respectively. Lastly, press the "Accept" button. 6. Save your configuration by choosing the "Save" submenu choice. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 3 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 SprintNet Access Numbers ------------------------ 1. From the menu bar, select "SprintNet Dialer". 2. Select the "Open" submenu choice. This will open the SprintNet Dialer Dialog. 3. You will see two targets in this dialer, with the highlight bar over the first entry. Select the "Edit" action button from the button panel at the bottom of the dialer dialog. You can select this using the left mouse button or you can use the TAB key to cycle around to the "Edit" button. If you go past the "Edit" button using TAB, use shift-TAB to cycle in reverse. Once "Edit" is active using TABbing, press enter to select it. 4. The target edit dialog will appear. You will enter information in the same manner as you did for SprintNet configuration. The only information you should have to change is the "Target ID." The "Target City" must remain as a "$" -- this signals the dialers that this target is a regular target and not a PcPursuit target. Do NOT enter any username, password, or script information, as these do not apply to the SprintNet target. The first entry in the list is your 1200 bps SprintNet access number, while the second entry is your 2400 bps access number. 5. After entering the appropriate information, press the "Save" action button to save the SprintNet Dialer back to disk. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 4 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 Making Your Own Target Dialer ----------------------------- 1. From the menu bar, select "Target Dialer". 2. Select the "Open" submenu choice. This will open a File Selection Dialog. 3. In the file selection dialog, you will see an entry called "InComPcP.icd." Select this dialer. This can be done by double-clicking on it using the left mouse button, or you can use the TAB and arrow keys to highlight it and press your enter key to open the dialer. 4. The target dialer will open and present you with a list of around 670 PcPursuitable targets. Obviously this is an enormous amount, so lets make a smaller dialer to use by copying some of the entries. You will notice that some targets are already tagged (they have a '+' beside them). If you wish, you can tag some more targets, or untag targets that are currently tagged. This is done using the left mouse button to move the highlight bar over the item to be tagged, and then pressing the right mouse button. This is also done using the arrow keys to move the highlight bar and pressing the spacebar to toggle the item's tag. 5. Once the desired targets are tagged, go to the menu bar and select the "Target Dialer" choice once again. 6. Select the submenu choice "Copy Entries to Clipboard". 7. Select the "Cancel" action button on the target dialer dialog to close the dialer. 8. Open a new target dialer. Follow the first few steps above to open the File Selection Dialog again. This time instead of selecting anything, type in the name, "Tutorial.icd" and press your enter key. This opens up a brand new dialer. 9. The dialer is empty and needs some targets! From the menu bar, select "Target Dialer" once again, and under it's submenu, choose "Paste Entries After Current". This will paste the entries you copied from the other target dialer earlier, in step 6. 10. Press the "Save" action button on the dialer, to save your new target dialer. 11. You are one with this part for now, select the "Cancel" action button on the dialer. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 5 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 Opening a Terminal Window ------------------------- 1. From the menu bar, select "Terminal". 2. Select "Open" from the submenu choices. 3. Select "Shrink" from the submenu choices. This will give the terminal a frame which allows you to move and resize the window. 4. Move and resize the terminal window. This can be done by using the left mouse button and clicking in the lower right corner of the window to resize it, or clicking on the title bar to move it. From the keyboard, press Ctrl-F5 to activate the window. Now use the arrow keys to move the window and Shift-arrow keys to resize the window. 5. Select "Grow Maximum" from the submenu choices. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 6 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 Adding Targets -------------- 1. Open up that target dialer you just created. This time, select the dialer named "Tutorial.icd" from the list of choices in the File Selection Dialog. 2. In the target dialer, press the "Add New" action button. The new entry will appear LAST in the list of targets, and will have some dummy information in it. You need to edit it. 3. Select the "Edit" action button. The Dialer Entry Edit Dialog will appear. Enter the following information: Target Name : The Right Place BBS Target City : GAATL Target ID : 476-2607 Leave the other fields blank or with whatever dummy data is there. We will fill in this information later in the tutorial. 4. Tag the new entry. Select from the "Target Dialer" the submenu "Cut Entries to Clipboard". You will see the new entry cut from the list of targets. Now, move the highlight bar to the top of the list of targets. The easiest way to do this is to hit your Page-Up key, or click the left mouse button at the top of the scrollbar. Lastly, from the "Target Dialer submenu", select "Paste Entries Before Current". This will place the new entry at the first of the list. 5. Generate a command script from this dialer. First, tag the first entry in the list, "The Right Place BBS." Once this is tagged, select the "Create Command File" submenu under the "Dialer" menu selection. The File Selection Dialog will appear again, and this time you will enter the command script's name. Type in the name "TRP.cmd" for the command script's file name. This will be used in Lesson 2 later. 6. Finally, save the updated dialer by pressing the "Save" action button and then press the "Cancel" button to close the dialer. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 7 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 Dialing SprintNet and Targets ----------------------------- 1. From the menu bar, select "SprintNet Dialer". 2. From the submenu select "Dial". 3. The "Dialing Status Window" will appear and dialing will commence. You will see the interaction in the Terminal Window you opened earlier. Manager will dial your SprintNet access number and log you in. Once this is done you will receive an alarm and a pop-up message box notifying you that the connection has been achieved. The dialing status window will close and you can proceed to dial your targets. You can cancel the dialer by pressing the small close icon in the upper left hand corner of the window using the left mouse button. Likewise you can press Alt-F3 from the keyboard. 4. You are now connected to SprintNet, now go dial The Right Place BBS. Open your target dialer using the Target Dialer submenu choice Open, and selecting "Tutorial.icd" from the File Selection Dialog. Once it is opened, make sure The Right Place BBS entry is tagged, and tag it if it is not. Now, press the "Dial" action button. This will open the Dialing Status Window and show you the progress of your dialing attempt. You will also see all of the transactions between Manager and SprintNet in its effort to contact The Right Place BBS. 5. Sit back and watch or go and grab a snack. The BBS is probably fairly busy, but you will eventually get on. In the case that you do not get through in a reasonable amount of time, you can select a BBS other than The Right Place and try that instead, or even better, you can tag all the entries in your dialer and press "Dial" to connect to any one of the, whichever answers first. The remainder of the tutorial is tailored towards the target The Right Place. If you have contacted a different BBS, adjust as necessary. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 8 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 6. Once connected to The Right Place, you will get an alarm and pop-up notification. After you dismiss the pop-up, and the dialing status window is closed, you have a choice of what to do next. You can continue to interact with The Right Place within Manager, using the Terminal Window that is currently open. Or, you can exit manager at this point, using Alt-X, and return to your host communications program. If you exit Manager, at the DOS prompt, type "Exit" to return to your host communications program, or if it is not active yet, call up your host comm program. Note, if you use the Terminal Window to interact with The Right Place, do NOT select any color graphics modes, because the terminal does not support ANSI codes. 7. Log into The Right Place as a new user and read all instructions carefully. Fill out the appropriate questionaires and read the appropriate bulletins. If you do NOT follow these instructions as they are given, you will NOT be granted access, so read and follow them carefully. 8. Once you are done with the BBS, and say Goodbye to it, you will be returned to the SprintNet connection. Whether you are in your host comm program or within Manager, you must disconnect from the city, GAATL in this case. To do so, you can type "@" and hit the return key, and then type "D" and hit the return key. This will disconnect from the city. If it does not work, try it again. If you are still in Manager, you can simply select "Disconnect City" submenu under "Terminal". 9. Now you are at the SprintNet command level. Hang up your connection by typing "HANG" at the SprintNet prompt. Don't forget to press return after typing "HANG." The modem connection will be dropped. 10. You are done with the Lesson. Select "Miscellaneous" from the menu bar, and select from its submenu, choice "Exit Manager". Or you can simply type Alt-X to exit. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 9 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 Lesson 2 : Complete Automation, Part I -------------------------------------- 1. Start up Manager, either from within your host comm program or straight from DOS. Either way is fine. 2. Open your target dialer callled Tutorial.icd. 3. Edit the first entry, the one you added as "The Right Place BBS." Modify the remaining fields you did not modify last time. You will supply the username and password you used to log into The Right Place BBS. For "Connect Script" you will enter the script name "TRP" with a file extension appropriate for your host communications program. For this tutorial, we assume you are using Telix. For example, here are some common extensions: .SLC -> Telix .ASP -> Procomm+ .SCR -> Qmodem, Telemate, GT Power The fields are as follows: BBS Username : <your BBS username for TRP> BBS Password : <your BBS password for TRP> Connect Script : TRP.SLC 4. Save the dialer, by pressing the "Save" button. 5. Exit Manager, type Alt-X. The purpose of the above steps was to supply the dialer with the BBS username and password, and also the name of the connect script. This information is written to a file when a target is reached, giving the host comm program information on what was connected to and how to proceed. Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 10 InComm:PcPDial, Release 1.0.0, January 26, 1992 Lesson 3 : Complete Automation, Part II --------------------------------------- The rest of this lesson is tailored for using Dialer in an automated fashion with Telix as the host communications program. Future releases will contain automation scripts for all major communications programs. 1. Start up Telix. 2. Invoke the script named "IPCP.SLC." This is done by performing the following sequence: Type Alt-G, and at the prompt enter -> IPCP 3. The script will start. Select choice "2) Dialer" from the given menu. You will be given a liting of available dialer command files. After the listing is given, you will be presented with a data entry box, asking you for the command file name to run. Here you will enter -> TRP.CMD. 3. Sit back and watch. The script will call up Dialer and set it on its way. Dialer will dial The Right Place BBS until a connection is achieved. It will write out the target information to a file, and exit back to Telix. The script will read in the information from the file and will proceed to log you into The Right Place BBS, automatically. You will be left at The Right Place's main menu. The automatic logging in is performed by the compiled script called TRP.SLC, which is the script name you entered for the target entry for "The Right Place". Check out the TRP.SLT source script to see how this is implemented. This will give you an idea of how to create your own target specific scripts. 4. You're all done with the tutorial. Adapt these methods for dialing your own set of BBSs. And most of all, have fun! Copyright 1992, FutureSoft Technologies Page 11