Collection of Tools & Utilities/Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso/comm/tt_104.zip/TT_104.DOC

Text File | 1988-02-22 | 7KB | 163 lines

TinyTerm, version 1.04
Copyright (C) 1988, George A. Stanislav
All Rights Reserved

TinyTerm is a terminal emulator. It converts a personal computer into
a dumb terminal. That means the computer will be able to call other
computers, send text and control codes from them as well as receive
the same back.

There are two types of emulation TinyTerm is capable of:

    1. ANSI BBS. This allows you to receive ANSI color codes from
BBS and interpret them properly. TinyTerm sends these codes to the
screen. To have them converted into colors, you must install
ANSI.SYS. You can do that by adding the following line to the file
called CONFIG.SYS:

    device=ansi.sys

For more information on ANSI.SYS consult your MS DOS manual.

    2. AVATAR - the Avanced Video Attribute Terminal. In this
TinyTerm is somewhat ahead of its time. It can receive the advanced
color codes developed by Wynn Wagner III and used by his Opus BBS
program. Whenever the AVATAR emulator encounters the codes, it
converts them into the appropriate ANSI codes. Since AVATAR codes are
much more compact than ANSI codes, the AVATAR emulation allows for a
faster transmission of screen controlling data.

    Here is a summary of AVATAR commands:

    ^v^a - tells AVATAR that the next character is a color code.
AVATAR will translate it into <esc>[?;3?;4?m.

    ^v^b - turns blink on by translating to <esc>[5m.

    ^v^c - moves the cursor one line up - <esc>[1A.

    ^v^d - one line down - <esc>[1B.

    ^v^e - moves cursor one space left - <esc>[1D.

    ^v^f - one space right - <esc>[1C.

    ^v^g - clear to end of line - <esc>[K.

    ^v^h - locate a different cursor position. The next two
characters are read and interpreted as binary representation of <row>
and <column>.

    ^l   - clear the screen - <esc>[H<esc>[0;33;36m<esc>[2J<esc>J.

    ^y   - repeat character. AVATAR reads the next character and
displays it repeatedly as instructed by the byte which is received
immediately after the repeated character.

This information is given for reference only, a more detailed
description is available in Opus documentation. It is not important
for the user of this program to know anything about AVATAR emulation,
it works automatically.

TinyTerm is tiny indeed. It only runs on COM1 at 300, 1200 and 2400
baud. It is meant mostly to show how FOSSIL communications and AVATAR
emulation can be programmed. TinyTerm does not support any file
transfer on its own but will call Chuck Forsberg's program DSZ to do that.
DSZ is a shareware program distributed separately. You can find it on many
bulletin boards.

The function keys can be used to change the baud rate and parity.
Some function keys are used as macros for Hayes compatible commands.
For the list of commands press <F10>. If you are using an AT enhanced
keyboard, you can use <F12> as well.

Version 1.03 added four new functions to TinyTerm - hardcoded keyboard
macros, user configurable start-up defaults, support for external Zmodem
file transfer and lowering the DTR which usually results in disconnecting.

The source code itself has no hardcoded macros, but leaves enough space
in the program to include them. The advantage of hardcoded macros is that
the program need not open and read any external files, it is all included.
That's one of the advantages of being "tiny". There is an obvious dis-
advantage to this approach: To have them hardcoded, you either have to
include the macros in the source code and reassemble the program each time you
want to modify the macros. Or you need an external utility to write your
macros into TT.COM as if it were a file.

TTSETUP.COM is such a utility. Not only can you change the hardcoded macros
to whatever you want, but you can change the defaults from 1200 baud,
8 bits, no parity and COM1 to something else. You can configure the
program to run from COM1 - COM9, to initialize the modem to 300, 1200,
2400 or 9600 baud and to set parity to equal or none, with 7 or 8 stop
bits respectively.

The macros are attached to the 10 function keys when pressed together
with either the <ctl> or <alt> key. The TT.COM file distributed in the
arc file already has one macro defined: <ctl> <F1> will dial my bulletin
board if your modem uses Hayes commands. You can leave it that way or
change it to whatever you want.

If you insert a vertical line in your macros, TTSETUP.COM will convert
it into a carriage return before hardcoding it to TT.COM. For example:

    John Doe Y|Doey|

will be changed to: "John Doe Y<cr>Doey<cr>" which is the proper macro
to log onto Opus BBS without letting anyone see your password.

You can use the macros for any string of characters: To dial a number,
to send a code to your modem, to enter your password, whatever.

Version 1.03 of TinyTerm needed a program called ProZ.Com to be capable of
Zmodem file transfers. ProZ in term would call DSZ. I decided this was a
kludge - it got the thing done but was not elegant.

In version 1.04, TinyTerm will call DSZ by calling MS DOS. If you use a hard
disk, this will be totally transparent to you. If you are a floppy user, make
sure you have COMMAND.COM in the same drive and directory you booted the
system from.

As long as I had to code the exec routine, I decided to add the possibility
to drop to DOS temporarily and to call an external editor. The distribution
copy of TinyTerm comes configured to call the BRIEF editor with MSGTEMP the
file to edit. You can use any editor or word processor you wish (or any
program or even batch file for that matter). Use TTSETUP to make the choice.
As everything else in TinyTerm, your choice will be hardcoded in the program.
That allows you to call TinyTerm anywhere on your system.

Now, assuming you have obtained a copy of either DSZ.COM or DSZ.EXE and have
it somewhere on your path, and have set up the defaults for the editor, these
are the commands to shell other programs:

    <Page Down>   - call DSZ for a Zmodem download,
    <Page Up>     - same for upload,
    <Ctrl> <PgDn> - Xmodem download,
    <Ctrl> <PgUp> - Xmodem upload,
    <Alt> <E>     - run the editor
    <Alt> <D>     - drop to DOS (type EXIT to return).

By the way, TinyTerm does not tell DSZ which communications port to use.
DSZ defaults to COM1 which can be changed using an environmental variable.
Please refer to DSZ documentation. Also note that DSZ is copyrighted by
Omen Technologies and you are expected to pay for its use. Please do not
distribute DSZ in the same archive with TinyTerm.

You can drop the DTR (data terminal ready) by pressing <alt> <H>. This
usually results in hanging up and disconnecting. Please notice the "usually."

TinyTerm uses FOSSIL to access the modem. To run this program you must
have a FOSSIL driver installed. In fact, you need a new FOSSIL driver
supporting draft 4, better yet draft 5 of FOSSIL specs. If your
driver is too old, TinyTerm will tell you and refuse to run. If
TinyTerm does not refuse to run, you have a proper version of FOSSIL.

TinyTerm achieves its tiny size by being written in assembly
language. The full source code is included.

George Stanislav, the author of TinyTerm, makes no warranties or
claims that TinyTerm will run and work on any equipment. He has
tested it on his own equipment where it worked flawlessly. If you run
TinyTerm, you do that fully at your own risk.