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CD-ROM Aktief 1995 #3
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DIALER.TXT
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1994-12-08
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DIALER.EXE 1.1 Copyright (c) 1992 Joe Hayashi
A brief note: Dialer is run automatically if you are using Telefile
with the proper dialer setup in telefile.ini. You may contact
P. C. Softsmith for ASP level support for dialer.
Dialer is a nifty utility -- read on ...
I. What is dialer?
Dialer is designed to be (as much as any program can be) the one pro-
gram you need to make all of your voice and data calls. If you make
a lot of calls, are constantly updating your phone lists, or frequently
travel between area codes, dialer could be for you.
I originally wrote dialer to work with stand-alone communications proto-
cols (specifically DSZ from Omen Technology). With dialer and one of
these protocols (like DSZ, GSZ, Kermit, OZBEXT, or others) you get
most of the functionality of a more expensive (and sometimes less reli-
able) communications package. Dialer has all of the features of the
dialing portion of any good communications program. I think dialer is
better in that you can 1) use a regular text file as a phone directory
2) use it to easily dial your voice calls, and 3) pick and choose
among a variety of free and inexpensive software to add whatever other
communications functionality you might need.
Probably the best thing about dialer is that it is easy to use for
making your voice calls. If you travel between different area codes,
just tell dialer which area code you are in and all the numbers in your
phone list that have this area code will be dialed as a local call--no
more editing phone lists! When making voice calls, just hit any key
and dialer will hang up the modem and let you talk. Dialer even has an
option to dial certain numbers as long distance calls even though they
are in your local area code.
More specifically dialer is a filter that takes text, parses a phone
number, and dials the phone until it gets a connection. The program is
easy to configure and was designed to work with short batch files.
Port & line settings can be set with a few simple switches. Almost
everything about dialer is configurable. Dialer requires a modem,
DOS 3.x or higher, and 128k. Best of all, dialer is free.
________________________________________________________________________________
II. How do I use dialer?
Dialer works best with batch files. I've included some well documented
batch files that are easy to modify and should work for most people.
Using dialer is something like this:
dial Alice or dial Allen Barton or dial Compuserve
With this distribution are 3 batch files: DIAL.BAT, LOOKUP.BAT, and
BBS.BAT. Also included is a sample phone number, NUMS.TXT, and a
READ.ME file. The batch files rely on the DOS FIND utility to function.
If FIND is not your path, these batch files won't work. In most cases
if DOS is installed on your machine, FIND will be on your path.
Description of included files:
DIALER.DOC The file you are reading.
DIALER.EXE The dialer program. Dialer is distributed as a
compressed executable. If you have weird iron and
suspect that the compression is causing problems,
contact me and I'll send you the uncompressed
version. I don't have an optimizing compiler so my
C programs tend to be larger than they need to be,
hence the compression.
LOOKUP.BAT Batch file to find a person in your phone list. Will
show you the entire phone list if given no arguments.
Type: "lookup Eric" or "lookup"
DIAL.BAT Batch file to dial a person or bulletin board you
specify. You can use first or first and last names.
Case is important.
Type: "dial Robert" or "dial Robert Tell"
BBS.BAT Batch file to dial a bbs and launch DSZ in terminal
mode if you get a connection. DSZ must be on your path
or in the same directory.
Type: "bbs Compuserve"
NUMS.TXT Phone directory file. Contains some sample numbers and
some hints on adding your own.
READ.ME Some notes on this and other versions of dialer.
Dialer has a lot of options. The default options should be adequate
for nearly everyone. In all likelihood you'll never have to read all
of the documentation.
If you think you know what you're doing, look at the batch files, edit
the phone list, and start dialing.
If your modem seems to have taken a vow of silence or seems to be
speaking in tongues, make sure that you know how to specify the correct
COM port (see the C SWITCH below). You might also check the I and D
SWITCHES.
If you're having problems figuring out why dialer isn't recognizing
your phone numbers, first check to make sure that you are using the
batch files properly and then read about the S and X SWITCHES.
If you plan to use dialer as the dialing portion of your communications
software or if you're a fan of DSZ or GSZ, be sure to read section IV
on other useful utilities.
If you find yourself constantly editing your phone directory file and
you've read the entire documentation, write me a letter. I tried to
write dialer so that you could use it with any text file of names and
phone numbers. If this is not working for you, let me hear about it
and maybe I can suggest something or perhaps I'll rewrite the program.
Happy dialing!
___________________________________________________________________
Dialer as used in TELEFILE.INI:
[TELEFILE] # TELEFILE initialization file
# $(NUMBER) is replaced by the telephone number at run time
dialer = echo $(NUMBER) | dialer /c2
___________________________________________________________________
III. The details - switches and miscellaneous stuff.
Dialer accepts both slash (/) and dash (-) command line switches. If
you type "dialer /?" or "dialer -?" you should see this:
dialer version 1.1 Copyright (c) 1992 Joe Hayashi
usage : dialer [ options ]
/a# ignore area code #
/b# use # baud
/c# use # COM port
/d$ use string $ as dial command
/h print this message
/i$ use string $ as modem initialization string
/l turn off automatic 1 prepend for long distance numbers
/p# use # as minimum phone number length
/r turn off redial mode
/s# parts of phone number are separated by # non-digits
/w# wait # seconds between redial attempts
/xc use character c as local long distance marker
/yc use character c as line settings marker
The following is a description of what the switches do.
-----
A SWITCH
AREA CODES /a# or /A#
I strongly recommend that you use full ten-digit phone numbers in your
phone list. If you move your computer to another area code, just
tell dialer about it and all will be well. If you live in Boston
you might specify the option like this:
dialer /a617
With this setting, all numbers in the 617 area code get dialed as
local numbers. For numbers within the same area code that need to be
dialed as a long distance number, read about LOCAL LONG DISTANCE
DIALING below.
-----
B SWITCH
BAUD /b# or /B#
I allowed you to set the baud in two places. By default, dialer will
use 2400 baud. If you have a 9600 baud modem, use 9600 as the default
and specify slower speeds for individual bulletin boards in your phone
directory file. Read more about the phone list in the NUMS.TXT file
and under OTHER LINE SETTINGS below.
dialer /b9600
This would set dialer to dial out at 9600 baud. If you only use dialer
for voice calls, you never have to worry about baud or other line
settings.
-----
C SWITCH
COM PORT /c# or /C#
If your modem is not connected to COM1, you need to inform dialer of
this. Dialer does not support more than 4 COM ports, if you try to
specify a port higher than 4, dialer will default back to COM1.
COM2 can be specified like this:
dialer /c2
If you use a member of the DSZ or OZBEXT family, dialer will use the
DSZPORT or OZPORT environment variables and you won't have to specify
the