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__________________________________________________________________________ | | | Access! (C) 1987/88 by Keith Young | |__________________________________________________________________________| | | | Author: Keith Young | | Version: .28 | | Date: 01/16/88 | | Status: ShareWare (registration: $25.00) | | Size: 99024 | |__________________________________________________________________________| Copyright and Distribution notice: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Access! is being distributed as SHAREWARE and may be posted at will, provided the following files (listed below) remain UNCHANGED and AS A WHOLE in ARCHIVE FORM along with this notice. (files may be "un-arced" in a directory together on pd disks) ALL rights to the program and graphic images within it remain with the author: Keith Young Please NOTE that this program IS being distributed as "ShareWare", which means that it is "User Supported Software". Your support is appreciated. I have spent ( and do spend ) many hours (and more than a few bucks) every week designing, programming and debugging "Access!" and will continue to do so as long as there is enough interest and support to warrant doing so. Although time does not permit me to offer updated program disks or printed documentation through the mail, I have posted more than a dozen updates (to date) free of charge to registered users. I can usually be found on "the boards" to answer questions and listen to your comments, bug reports and suggestions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits: (Yes, although most of the programming and implementation of ~~~~~~~~ code in this program is a sole effort on my part, I believe in giving credit where credit is due...) DJ.James -> for the origianal source to "Comm1.34" (thanx Dan, I couldn't have made this mess without it! (grin)) C.Heath -> for the origianal source to the "File Requester" and "Color Palette". D.Greenwald-> For his Fast Font routines... J.Nangano -> For sample source to and help with CIS-QB+ protocol. Tim Roach -> BETA (ALPHA?) tester, Moral Support. D.Salas -> of "AMIC" for answering some 'C' questions. J.Denebeim-> of "Deep Thought BBS" (previously "S'ware Distillery") M.Fahrion -> For the NICE Icons! Comments/Suggestions/Bug-Reports/Moral Support... Some Folks on GEnie-> DEB, FAF,SIMUTRONICS, GRAFIX.M, MDAVENPORT, J.CANNON, HOT-DOG, JBURNES, KHALED, etc... etc... Some Folks on CIS -> Steve, Larry, Ariel, GreG, BobR, Ben, etc... etc... B.Hogsett-> and ALL the folks of CA-AUG... thanks for the good reviews guys! (and of course) Commodore-Amiga-> For the BEST damn personal computer money can buy! AND ANYONE ELSE I FORGOT TO MENTION, THANX! AND EVERYONE WHO'S SENT IN THEIR SHAREWARE REGISTRATIONS, THANX! THANX! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Files in this archive: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name Size Function ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ Access! 99024 This is the Terminal program: "Access!" Access!.info 7422 Icon for... Acc!.color 321 Sample color file for... Acc!.keys 288 Sample macro-key file for... Acc!.def 482 Sample define file for... Acc!.phone 1530 Sample phone-lib file for... Access!me 62332 This is what you are reading now... Disclaimer!: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please note that this program is still under developement and therefore.... This program comes with NO WARRANTY either expressed or implied and I assume NO responsibility for any damage whatsoever, caused by the use of it. Nuff Said, Now on to bussiness.... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Access!: ~~~~~~~~ A Telecommunications program based on D.J.James's "Comm1.34". Feature Over-View: ( '*' = new or modified this release ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o Xmodem CRC (and Checksum) uploading and downloading. o Fast WXmodem transfer protocol. * o Compuserve "Quick B" protocol. (a new, faster implementation of CIS-B protocol) o Auto-Chop mode to strip xmodem padding from in-comming files (auto- disabled for ".arc/.zoo/.pak" extended files) o ASCII send and receive mode with user-selectable char. send delay and next-line delay. o "Capture Buffer" for saving in-comming text to file. o "Print" feature for printing in-comong text. o "Strip" feature for stripping in-comming blank lines. * o "Read" feature for reading text files. * o "Chat Mode" with buffered input for tele-conferencing and term-to-term use. o "Split Screen" mode (half screen) for easy access to Amiga's multi- tasking capabilities. o Flexable, informative "File Requester" for all file IO. o User-selectable 8 or 16 color screen/windows. o "Color Palette" for user-selectable color maps with load and save capabilities. o "Macro Window" for the editing/loading/saving of 20 function keys. o "Phone Book" window for editing/adding/loading/saving phone books with up to 60 numbers. (alternate service numbers available) * o "Auto-Dialer" to dial a number (future numberS) until conection is made. o Serial parameters, color file and keymacro file loaded at dial-time for each number. o "Define Window" for editing/loading/saving default filing and modem preferences and other term defaults. o Run-time "Interlace" ON/OFF toggle. o On-screen "Fast-Menus" for easy "access" (pun intended) to most features. o Two built-in Clocks for your time-keeping needs. o And a Partri--dge in a pear treeeee... o And anything else I can work in... stay tuned..... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minimum System Requirements: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amiga: 500/1000/2000/3000 (3000?) with a MINIMUM of 512K. Modem: 300/1200/2400/4800 (well, only if you want to call somewhere :-) Suggested Configuration: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amiga (any of the above will do) with 1MEG. or more. VD0: (or similar recoverable ram disk) for fast downloading/uploading. Hard Disk, 20meg or more is nice... Make a directory on your disk and put the term support files (.key/.phone/ .color/Access!) in it and cd to that directory before booting the term. (this will be your "System Directory", see "Usage:" below) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usage: ~~~~~~ from the cli promt: 1> access! [myfile.def] where: "access!" is the name of the term. and optional: "myfile.def" is the name of a configuration file. (if no configuration file is given, it will look for "Acc!.def" in the current directory. If that is not found, it will look for "Acc!.def" in your "S:" directory. If THAT is not found, it will use built-in defaults) from the Worbench: Just click on the Icon! To set the ".def" file from WorkBench, type: DEFILE=myfile.def (or a full path/filename of a valid configuration file) into the 'ToolTypes' string in the Icon (using the 'Info' command of WorkBench) Once the term is loaded, open the "Define" window and tell it where your "System Directory" is and any other files you would like loaded at boot- time, Fill in the "Modem Strings" with the proper settings for YOUR modem, and then "Save" the information for future use. (you can choose which .def file to load at run-time on the command-line or in the Icon, see above) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Historically Speaking: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ver.28 (the main additions for this version are the Auto-dialer and CIS- ~~~~~~ Quick B protocol, most other changes had to do with "cleaning house" a bit before some (amazing) future additions) <grin> o Auto-Dialer-> a new addition to the Phone-Book is a simple auto-dialer.(!) see: "Phone Book" below for details. o Access! Now supports "CIS Quick B" protocol. This is an improvement on the earlier protocol in that it uses 1024 byte blocks (vs. 512) and has a "send ahead" feature (it will send a second block without first waiting for an ACK for the first one, overcoming some of the time delay involved when using "packet switched" networks.). This protocol does not show up anywhere within the menus in the term because everything happens auto- maticaly. To use it: 1) Select "Compuserve 'B'" when prompted for a protocol by CIS. (CIS will know whether to use "Quick B" or regular "B" ) 2) When prompted for a file name for YOUR computer, type in the FULL path name and file name for the file ( drive:dir/filename ). 3) Sit back and wait for the transfer to finish. (NOTE: users with limited memory might have problems downloading large files with this version due to the fact that the entire file is buffered into ram and then written to disk AFTER the transfer.) o The term will now also look in your "S:" dir for the "Acc!.def" file if you do not specify one on the command line/Icon or if it is not in the current dir. o Changes to the "CHAT" mode: 1) resized windows again....stole a line from the lower window and added it to the top (receiving) window. 2) added a "/Sen xx" gadget for use in conference mode to "Send" private messages to job # xx (can currently be used on GEnie and CIS). no big deal here, basicaly if it is enabled (click on "/Sen"), it will prefix your message with "/Sen" and the job # that you provide in the string gadget so that you can carry on a short private conversation without having to type it yourself every time (click again to de-select it). 3) ALL input is now buffered while in CHAT mode and is not sent out until you press <RETURN> and therefore you may... 4) cancel a line without sending it by pressing <CTRL> <X>. o You may now use the cursor keys to scroll around in the "File Reader" window. Also, you may use the "READ" feature while on-line and continue to type (by clicking on the main term window first) and receive in-coming chars but please close this window before opening other term windows or clicking on the "Fast-Menus". o Some filtering has been added to the serial chars. being received to keep out "some" line noise and to prevent the term from going into a "chinese" char set. ( <CTRL> <N> is now filtered ) o A <CTRL> <S> (xoff) will now stop chars from being displayed IMMEDIATLY whereas before it would display any chars still in the receive buffer before stoping. (possibly causing some important data to scroll off the screen) A <CTRL> <Q> (xon) will start the data flowing again. o Fixed a few little "display" bugs... like the strings for the "Get Keys" and "Get Colors" on the Phone-Book being switched... etc... o You should also see a "slight" improvement in the overall speed of in- coming text due to changes in the serial parsing routine. o "Coming Soon..." a dedicated "support" area for registered users! (stay tuned....) Ver.27 ~~~~~~ o "READ"-> This was a last-minute addition and is NOT YET in its FINAL FORM but I thought I'd leave it in for whatever use you might get from it. Therefore, I will just breifly describe it here... This feature is basically a 'text-file-reader', when you select it you will be asked for a file to read. After you make your selection, a window will open and you will see a 'line-counter' ticking away in the titlebar. After the file has been proccessed (which may take a few seconds), a page worth of the file is displayed. Clicking anywhere in the lower 1/2 of the window will scroll the file forward, clicking in the top 1/2 will scroll backward one line (and continue until you release the button). There are two arrow-gadgets in the titlebar for moving forward/backward one page at a time, along with gadgets for moving to the top/bottom of the file. Although it is now a 'file-based' reader, it was origionally put in as a "shell" for a (future)"scroll-back-buffer" and therefore the forward/ reverse scrolling (one line at a time) is VERY slow on disk-based files (but is fairly quick on ram-based files). Also, although the (new) Clock still ticks and in-coming text still gets printed, it is not yet designed to be used on-line (you must close this window before using other functions of the term.) If you are already familiar with Access! and have this file in RAM:/VD0: you might want to go ahead and boot-up and finish reading this from within the term to try this new feature out! (what? you already are? :-) o Access! NOW supports user-selectable number of bit-planes (colors)! You can now select between 8 and 16 colors at any time. This is done via. the "Define Access!..." window and this value is also saved/loaded along with the other system defaults. Most of the 'support' windows make use of the upper 8 colors if you are using 16 colors, so you should be able to 'color' these windows to suit YOUR taste now without disturbing the lower 8 colors that are used for the gadgets.(note the difference in the speed of things between 8 and 16 colors... blame-> Intuition, not me :-) (see: "Color Palette" & "Define Window" below for more info) o "Shadow Pen" is now user-selectable. With the addition of some 'shadowing' now being done in the support windows, the problem arose of "not all color combinations working well". So you can now select which pen (color) will be used for all shadows. (note that if the 'shadow pen' is '2', then this will effectively 'turn off' the shadows (except for the 'status- line')). This value is also saved/loaded with the other defaults.(also selectable on the "Color Palette" by selecting a color, then 'clicking' on the "Shadow Pen" gadget, but the value is saved from the "define" window)(Also note that if you are in 8 color mode, if the shadow pen is say..15 then the color 'used' will be 15-8 = 7. examples:8=0,9=1,10=2... this is also how the color changes are done in the windows/menus...I define something as being color #15, and if it's not there, it uses #7..) o Other new features available in the "Define Access!..." window: Priority (although semi-functional for now), Interlace on/off, Borders on/off, Title-bar on/off. These values are all 'set' when you select "OKAY" on this window. These values are not stored when the window is opened, so if you just want to set up and save a ".def" file, and don't want the changes to take effect, it is best to reset them before closing the window. (in other words, "CANCEL" does NOT (currently) re-set the origional values!)(See: "Define Access!" below for more info) (NOTE: several values have been added to the ".def" file. It should still boot ok with an 'old' file but PLEASE define and SAVE a NEW ".def" file for future use.) o The "Prop Gadget" on the "File-Requester" is now "proportional" (makes sense right? :-). The size of the prop gadget now represents the number of files available vs. the number displayed. Also connected now are the "up/down arrow gadgets"(seems there were a few lose wires on the last version :-). These additions still allow you to select a file before the directory fills in. o A CLOCK!! has been added (finally). Actually there are two clocks...one is a simple 'counter' clock in one of the "Fast-Menus". It starts ticking when the term boots and can be re-set at any time by 'clicking' on it (manually, I SAID it was simple...). The other is a "Time of day" clock that lives in the "Info" window. There is (currently) no way of setting the "System Time" from within the term, you must set that externaly your- self for this one to reflect the correct time. Hopefully these will both be 'smarter' in future revisions... (see: "Clocks" below for details) o Various changes were made to the "Status-Line" (bottom of the screen). This is the same line/window that's always been there, but it's now been 'colored in' and supports the new 'shadow fonts'. o Swicthed back to D.Greenwald's "old" FastText() routine... this is not as versatil (or quite as small) as the newer one but seems to be quite a bit faster.(now I can do the 'shadow fonts' as fast or faster than doing a 'normal' diplay with the system 'Text()' routine) Ver.26 ~~~~~~ o First and foremost, the ONLY! thing now supported on the command-line is the name (and path) of your favorite ".def" (definition file). This SHOULD "cure" MOST, if not ALL of the "can't find Keyfile..." problems some people have been having... (See: Usage, and Recomended Set-up, above) This file is also definable via the Icon Tool-Type option from WorkBench. ( as -> DEFILE=df2:Acc/Myfile.def <- or whatever/wherever your file is called/placed.) This MUST be a valid definition file if it is found. If not found, it will look for "Acc!.def" in your CURRENT DIRECTORY. If that is not found, it will use built-in defaults. (so if you are reading this after trying to define your phone.file on the command-line and wondering what the @$%##% happened, now you know.... So PLEASE read this doc file for future changes in this and other formats) o Pulled the wiring out of the back of the "File Requester" and gave it a complete "overhaul" (grin). It now displays 7 files at a time (vs. 5) along with the SIZE of each file displayed. (BTW, the "up & down arrow gadgets" on the File-requester DO NOT YET DO ANYTHING! I just put them there for spacing and left them there to see how many people actually "READ THE DOCS" before yelling "BUG"! (I know... just asking for trouble... :-)) o Added a "Parent" gadget to the file requester for backing out of sub-directories. o D.Greenwald's new "Fast-Font" routines (ffont02.arc) are now being used in the "File Requester" and the "Phone Book" to speed things up a bit. o "Bytes Free:" now knows what to do when "Ram:" is selected. Take note though that this is the TOTAL amount of free ram, it does NOT subract memory allocated for "VD0:" or other "ram disks" (unless they actually do allocate memory and not just set a limit on size...). In other words if it says you've got 2 megs free in VD0: and it also says you've got 2 megs free in RAM: , chances are, you do NOT have 4 megs free between the two. o The "Define" window has been cut down in size... no new options here this time, but it will now "save" your definition files in a freindlier way. Previous versions used the same buffer used in the File requester for the "System Dir:" so that if you wanted to define your "System Dir:" as say... "df1:Acc" and when you went to save it, you saved it to "Ram:" (don't know why you'd do that but what the hey...) then your "System Dir:" was redefined as "Ram:". This has been fixed and should now save it to wherever you please, without altering the "System Dir:". (whew) o Added 3 new gadgets to the "Phone Book"... There is now a string gadget beside "Get Color" and "Get Keys" that will let you define the name of the .color/.key files to load at dial-time if you use these functions. These are filled in automatically for you (using the same format as earlier versions) when you select a phone number. I removed the borders from "Get Keys" and "Get Colors" but you still must select them to use them. Hmmm, that's 2 of the gadgets... I forget what the other one is/does... (hehe) o Added my own (home-spun) "shadow font" to most (all?) of the support windows... o Re-wrote MANY routines (again? :-). You might have noticed this version is less than 400 Bytes bigger than the last one (AcJr!), the "Fast Font" routines ALONE added about 500 Bytes, and that was before the shadowing, file-requester mods, etc...etc... (big smile) Ver.25a (.25a? this was actually released as "AcJr!" (.01). As it was the ~~~~~~~ first 8 color version. That name will not be used in any future versions as "Access!" will be supporting selectable number of bit-planes starting with Ver.27 ) o Well....First thing's first: I finally cut this puppy down to size! AcJr! is essentually the same program as Access!, but it uses 3 bit-planes instead of 4. Although the program is only a few KBYTES smaller, dropping the extra bit-plane has resulted in a savings of as much as 64K at run-time! (actually that's the approx. total amount of savings if ALL the windows are open at the same time. With just the main terminal window and fast-menus, the term uses about 20K less than Access! Ver.25) (applause, applause) This means that you should now be able to open more of the 'utility' windows at once with less memory required to do so. Another result of dropping the 4th bit-plane is that things seem to work/print/open a little faster and the text doesn't 'jerk' as much. (it still does, just not as bad) o A slight BUG was fixed... for some reason, if you changed the color palette, the string beside "Bytes Free:" in the "File Requester" got screwed up. I'm still not sure exactly what caused this but I got it fixed. (I think it was a wild pointer in the "Color Palette") o Another "oversight" was fixed.... it seems that the keyboard command sequence for the "NewCli" and "Editor" got switched around. The comand for "NewCli" is now <rt-Amiga> 'N'. (Editor is not yet implemented) o While doing all the color changes, I "re-arranged"/ "organized" the color selection a little... The default Sysytem colors are now (from 0 to 7): Black, White, Grey, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue This gives me enough of the "basic" colors to work with and the arrange- ment makes more sense. (kinda' rainbow-like) o Because of the reduction in colors..... (this is the part where I get to bitch and whine) I HAD TO RE-DRAW ALL THE GADET IMAGES, RE-DO ALL THE MENUS, RE-DO ALL THE WINDOWS, TEXT RENDERING, ETC...ETC...!!! Seriously, it did take longer than I thought it would (about 20 hours) but it also turned out better than I thought it would! (and I'm not really bitchin' about it, I enjoyed the challenge) (hopefully doing this will let more people with 512K use it) o Generally cleaned up the code. ( took out about 1000 Bytes of redundant code before doing the color changes) Ver.25 ~~~~~~ Additions: (Note: not a WHOLE lot of additions this version, (I've had the FLU (sigh)) but due to #1 listed below, I thought I'd go ahead with it) o Re-did the "welcome" screen (again) due to popular DEMAND (hehe, it's still there, but it goes away quicker.) o "Line Delay" prop gadget added to the "INFO" window. (see below for details) o "BORDERS" gadget added to fast menu to disable/enable borders (thus giving full 80 cols. vs 79 cols.) o Re-arranged the normal menus. (now all but one feature can be accessed through the normal menus) o "Fast-Menu" positions are now saved/loaded along with "Acc!.def" file. (see below for details) o Re-sized the "CHAT" windows... the bottom window now has 3 lines of text and the top has 19. (used to be 4 bottom 18 top)(with the borders turned off, you get 4 lines on bottom 19 top) o Spent an HOUR re-formatting this doc file to take out some of the extra blank lines and left-justifying the lines (a little) to get more text per line, thus removing even more lines... (no great improvement on the quality of the file, just the length :-) (of course letting you know that I did this has now added 5 more lines... hehe) Ver.24 ~~~~~~ o Another new "welcome" screen... o "WAIT" feature added...(buffers chars. until <return> is pressed see below) o New feature added to "File Requester" (displays "Bytes Free" on selected drive. ("RAM:" is currently not displayed correctly, should be working next Version...) o "Get Keys" option added to "Phone Book" for loading keymacro file at dial time. (see below for details) o "Get Colors" option added to "Phone Book" for loading color file at dial time. (also see below...) Ver.23a ("quicky" update to Ver.23) ~~~~~~~ o Added menu option to allow Loading/Saving of "Phone Books" without opening the "Phone Book" window. (this was added because the amount of memory used to open the "Phone Book" window might prevent opening the "File Requester" to load/save on 512K machines.) o New "welcome" screen at boot time... (let me know if you liked it the old way :-) o 2nd "Fast-Menu" now opens at top of screen, this should be an option in future versions... Ver.23 ~~~~~~ o Access! now looks for "Acc!.def" file at boot time to "define" system support files. (i.e. "phone.file", "key.file", "color.file", and other system defaults, see below for details) o new "Define Access!" window for loading/saving/defining system defaults. (see "DEFINE" below for details) o Upload/Download directories are now seporate and definable. o "Alternate Service" added (put back in:-) to "Phone Book". o "STRIP" feature now supported on "Captured" files (for stripping blank lines) o fixed the bug that put the "dir/path" on the "file" line in the "File Requester". (now only the file is displayed there, and the "dir/path" is on the "drawer" line where it's supposed to be :-) o re-wrote many of the file io routines to support the ".def" file, let me know if something has crept up... Ver.22 ~~~~~~ o fixed the old "subdirectory within a subdirectory" bug that added the extra '/' char. to the end in the file requester. o re-formatted the "normal" menus for easier "access"(pun intended) to the "sub-items". o Made "File-Requester" more flexable! (see below) o "SAVE" option now working on the "Phone Book" ('bout time huh?) o Changed "phone book" format to the "FinalList (tm)" type format. (serial params. are now set when number is dialed, see below) o fixed small bug... title bar now stays on (if it WAS on) after the interlace/toggle thing... (thanks for the report D.Whatley) o "Macro Window" now uses the "File Requester" for loading/saving. (peviously used the (now non-existent) "Input Window") o "CHAT" mode now re-entered after "Split-Screen" (provided it was on prior to "Split-Screen") Ver.21 ~~~~~~ o "LACE" option added for switching Interlace/NonInterlace AFTER start-up (see "LACE" below) o "STRIP" option added for stripping in-comming blank lines. (see "STRIP" below) o "ADD" gadget now working on "Phone Book" o "EDIT" gadget now working on "Phone Book" o Extensive re-writes on MANY routines... Ver.20 ~~~~~~ o NEW "Phone Book" added. (see "Phone Book:" below for details) o Now supports 60 phone numbers (as compared to 44) o bug fix in "color palette" (see "Load" under "Color Palette" below) o modified "Redial" option (slightly) Ver.19 ~~~~~~ o Load/Save option added to "Palette" window! (see below) o Split-Screen option now supported from WBench ICON. o "Help" window updates more often to help monitor Memory Available. o "Cleaned-up" gadgets a little... Ver.18 ~~~~~~ o New "Macro Window" added (see Macros: below) o Fixed "CHAT" mode (now works on 512K machines) o Once again, minor code changes and "window dressing" Ver.17 ~~~~~~ o Second "Fast-Menu" (see Fast Menu: below) o TRUE "Split-Screen" mode (see Fast Menu: below) o Minor code optimizing and "window dressing" Ver.16 (first "public" BETA release) ~~~~~~ While teaching myself 'C' I decided to "Hack-up" someone else's (EXCELENT) program.... This program is essentually "Comm 1.34e" , with the changes listed below. When I first started modifying it, I had it open up on a three bit-plane screen, giving me 8 colors to play with (and support for 8 color BBS's). I then proceeded to add custom gadgets and more color to the menus etc... etc... Well, I wasn't happy with JUST 8 colors (I'm greedy!) so...I changed it to 4 bit-planes and 16 colors! (this seems to satisfy my needs for now:-). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Individual Features Listed Below ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Clocks": ~~~~~~~~~ There are two clocks in the term... (batteries not included) One of them lives in one of the "Fast-Menus" (gadget bars) and is a simple "counter/timer" for keeping track of online/session time. This timer starts up when the term boots and is reset when a connection to a BBS is made using the "Auto-Dialer" or at any time by clicking on it. It is updated once a minute and is fairly accurate although (depending on when it gets reset) it may display negative numbers (grin). This has to do with crossing a 12 hr. "time-zone" so if it does, just reset the thing. ( I've got a watchsmith coming by to look at it, so maybe it'll be fixed by the next version :-) The other (simple) clock lives in the "INFO" window (accessed through the normal menus or by hitting the <help> key). This clock just displays the current "system time" in hrs./mins. and is also updated once a minute (the most this one SHOULD be off is one minute (depending on how close to the minute it is when you reset the "counter" clock mentioned above)). There is currntly no way to set the system time from within the term so you must do that by some other means if you want this clock to be correct. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Color" menu item: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o "Reset Text Colors"-> Selecting this will reset both the foreground and background colors (colors 1,0 respectively). This is usefull if you make a selection on a "Color" BBS in the middle of a color change and you get a "bad" color combination. (this ever happen to you?) o "ForeGround Text Color" -> Here you can select the color for text in the "receive" window. This color will stay the same until... 1:You select another color. 2:A BBS (or other terminal) sends an ANSI code that changes it. (NOTE: in split screen mode, the TOP (receive) window will use this color,but the BOTTOM (transfer) window will be color #1.) o "BackGround Text Color" -> Same as above but for the text background color. (NOTE: see note above :-) o "Sample Text Colors" -> This option lets you test your foreground/background color selections to see what works best... EXAMPLE: Select a foreground color, go to "Sample Text Colors", select "Background Colors" and your selected foreground color will be displayed on 8 different background colors. Now try the opposite for background. (confused yet?) o "Modify Palette" -> Yep, you guessed it, this will bring up a color palette for you to set the colors YOU like. (the colors I like are already there). 1a) "OKAY"-> Selecting this gadget tells the system that the current/modified (or not modified) colors are the ones you would like to use. 1b) "RESET"-> This gadget brings back the original "system" colors (the ones I like :-). If you get things all messed up, you can always get back to where you started. 1c) "CANCEL"-> This gadget tells the system that you changed your mind and it will return you to the last colors that were "OKAYed". EXAMPLE: If you have modified the colors (and hit OKAY) and then want the "default/system colors", 1. Open the Palette. 2. select "RESET" 3. select "OKAY" (if you select "CANCEL" instead, it will return to the last colors) IMPORTANT! ~~~~~~~~~~ ONLY AFTER selecting your colors and CLOSING the palette, open up the file-requester and/or menus and check out the colors. Many of the colors are dependent on each other for the gadgets and menus to look "esthitically" pleasing.(in my humble opinion anyway :-) But if you find a combination that works well, SAVE THEM for later use. 1d) "LOAD"-> This will load the colors in the given file name. (provided they were "saved" by "Access!") 1e) "SAVE"-> The "save" option will save the currently selected color values to a text file with the given name. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Macro Window: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Selecting this option (from the "Fast-Menu" or the regular menu) will open up a "Macro Window" that will let you see/edit/load/save all currently defined macro keys (F1-F10,<shift>F1-F10). usage: When the window opens, you will see 10 funtion key definitions. Hit the "arrow" gadget to toggle between shifted/non-shifted keys. To edit one, simply point to it and "click". It will then move down to the editing line where you can make your changes. When your through, be sure to hit <return> before moving on or your changes will be lost! The new definitions will be in effect until you either quit the program, change them again, load in new ones, or (heaven forbid) crash. Select "Save" to save them to disk for future use. BTW, if for some reason while you're editing you hit the "switch" gadget (arrow) and THEN hit <return> your changes will go onto the current page at the same location.(might be useful for "copying" from F1->S1 etc... but not much else :-) a) "OKAY" -> when your done editing/loading/saving ect.. this will close the window. b) "SAVE" -> brings up the "File Requester" window and saves macros to the name you supply. (Access! looks for the .key file defined in the "Acc!.def" file at startup) c) "LOAD" -> opposite of "SAVE" (above) d) "CANCEL"-> currently acts the same as "OKAY" above (selceting this gadget COULD be used for "undoing" any current changes, but this would take a little more "overhead" and I left that option out for now...) e) " ^ " -> (arrow) click on this to toggle between "shifted" and "non-shifted" funtion key definitions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phone Book: ~~~~~~~~~~~ Although not yet in "finished" form, There is a "Phone Book" window. Usage is fairly straight-foward but I'll expand a little anyway... When the "Phone Book" opens, you'll see 30 phone numbers list along with some other gadgets/info... 1) "ADD" -> Will allow you to add numbers (up to 60 total) to the "Phone Book".(see "NOTE" below for further info) 2) "DELETE"-> still N/A (this version) opposite of "ADD" (above) 3) "EDIT" -> Will allow editing individual phone numbers without leaving the "Phone Book". (see "NOTE" below for further info) (NOTE: While in the "Phone Book", if you select "ADD" or "EDIT", the gadget will remain selected to remind you of what the "current" action is... when you hit <return> on the string gadget (which you must do for the change to take effect) the "current" action will be taken. (ie: if "ADD" is selected, the number will be ADDed to the end of the list (provided there is room) If "EDIT" is selected, the number will be changed to the one in the string gadget.) If you change your mind, selecting "ADD" or "EDIT" again will toggle them back off. (so does "CANCEL") 4) "LOAD" -> Brings up the file requester for loading in new "Phone Books" (up to 60 numbers and TWO alternate service numbers, if you have more than 60 numbers, use an editor to break them up into 60 number chunks) 5) "SAVE" -> When your through "editing/adding" phone numbers, SAVE them! 6) " ^ " -> (up arrow) This will shift the display between numbers 1-30 and 31-60. (this variable is stored so that the next time you open the window, you will see the previously selected set of numbers) 7) "CANCEL"-> This will close the window without dialing any number (possibly numberS in the future) 8) "OKAY!" -> Dials Currently selected number(if any)(possibly numberS in the future) And begins the "Auto-Redial" process if selected. (see below for details) BTW, to select a number, just click on it. 9) "Alt-Serv #1" -> Selecting this gadget will dial the specified alternate service number (in the string gadget to the right) and then dial the selected phone number.(if you don't know what this would be used for, then you probably don't need it :-) 10) "Alt-Serv #2" -> This is a SECOND alternate service number you may define. (works the same as above) (NOTE: Currently EITHER or BOTH of the "Alt-Serv's" may be used with a number... in other words, if both are selected, "Alt-Serv #1" will be dialed FIRST then the "Alt-Serv #2" will be dialed, then (finally) the number. The alt-serv's can be up to 18 numbers each and the phone number can be up to 18 numbers... for a total of 54 numbers! This SHOULD be enough to reach any number you wish to dial. (along with your account number if needed) (although there may be a 30-40 number limit on your modem...) These numbers are definable in the "string" gadget where they live, and are saved/loaded along with the "Phone Book". (these are "toggle" gadgets so you have to de-select them if your not using them.) 11) "Get Keys"-> Selecting this (toggle) gadget tells the system to load the "keymacro" file with the same name as the currently selected phone number. The term will take the name of the selected phone number up until the first "space" in the name, then append ".keys" to it, the attempt to find/load a file of that name in the current "System" directory (the one that you keep all your "support" files in) EXAMPLE: If this gadget is selected and you select: Good BBS in Ca. 1-(123)-456-7890 |------Name------|-----Number-----...... to call... Then it will take the name until it reaches a "space" i.e. "Good" then add ".keys" (Good.keys) and look for that file in the current "System" directory. (selecting "Genie" would look for "Genie.keys" etc..) 12) "Get Colors"-> As you might have guessed, this operates exactly as the above function does, but it looks for a ".color" file... Using the same examples above, it would look for: "Good.color" and "Genie.color" (NOTE!: You may edit the .key/.color file to be loaded by altering it in the string gadget to the right before dialing. 13) "Auto-Redial"-> Selecting this gadget will cause the selected number to be dialed (and then re-dialed) until a connection is made. This process depends on and uses the "result codes" returned by your modem which you define in the "Define" window (part of the .def file loaded at boot time). If the result matches what you have defined as the "Busy" string or the "No Carrier" string, it will immediatly re- dial the number. If it matches the "Voice" result string, it will abort the process. If/when it finally matches one of the "Connect" strings, it will first reset the "Timer Clock" (in the Fast-Menu) to 00:00 and then BEEP and close the "Speed-Dialer" window. There is (currently) no timer or limit on the number of "tries" that it will dial. It will dial indefinately until it either connects or you abort the process yourself. Format for "Acc!.phone" files: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Duplex (F or H) | Linelength (8 or 7) || Parity (None,Even,Odd) ||| StopBits (1 or 2) |||| |||| | 17 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 26 | |--System Name---|--Phone Number---|-Baud|-Set|--------comment----------| AMIC CA. 1-(707)-579-0523 2400 F8N1 F1,F2 any comment you want Deep Thought NC 1-(919)-471-6436 2400 F8N1 (S'ware Distillery) F1,F2 GENIE 1- 774-2427 1200 H8N1 F6 CAUG OH 1-(216)-581-2284 2400 F8N1 nice board F3,F4,F2 Example of 18 numb123456789012345678 | | Number starts HERE^ Baud starts here! If needed you may actually use 18 chars. for the "phone number", and the '-', '('and ')' are optional. (to use 18 numbers they must be as shown in the last example shown above (spacing wise). Duplex, Linelength, Parity, StopBits and Baud rate (format shown above) are automatically set when a number is dialed! (unless the "Set" field is empty) (also, use CAPITAL letters in the "Set" field ) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "DEFINE" Window:... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UPDATE!: There are several additions to this window from earlier versions: (These new additions ARE set when "OKAY" is selected, and are NOT reset to thier "origianal" state if "CANCEL" is selected, so if you just want to set up and "SAVE" a ".def" file for future use but DON'T want to USE these settings, PLEASE reset them BEFORE closing this window.) o Priority: This one is of (very) limited use but it IS set when "OKAY" is selected so if you do not know why you would use it, please just leave it set to "0". (ok?) o Interlace: Sets interlace on/off. (See: NOTE BELOW!) o Borders: Sets borders on/off. o TitleBar: Sets titlebar on/off. o # Of Colors: Sets between 8/16 colors. (See: NOTE BELOW!) o Shadow Pen: The pen number (0-15) used for text "shadows" in the support windows.(this is set/changed every time you click on it.) (NOTE BELOW!: If you make any changes that require more memory than you have available (in particular INTERLACE) the program may "exit" when it can't re-open the screen/windows. (rude, I know, I'll work on a freindlier handler of such cases...) ....The "Define Access!" window will let you laod/save/define the support files, user dir's, ul/dl dir's... see below. This window displays the current filing preferences and modem defaults. i.e. if you change the "Key File" to "my.keys", if you go to the "Macro Window" and select LOAD, then "my.keys" will be shown in the file string. The reverse is true also... If you LOAD in "my.phone" from the "Phone Book", when you open the "Define Access!" window, "my.phone" will be displayed beside the "Phone Book:" string. The same is also true for ALL the support files/dirs/paths/user dirs etc... Currently, loading in a .def file (via the LOAD button on this window) will only load in the "names" of the files, it does not actually LOAD the FILES in. In other words, it will load in the NAME "grey!.color" but to actually LOAD the color in, you will have to go to the "Color Palette" and LOAD it in there. (this window is currently BEST used for setting up the file to be loaded at boot-up at which time THE FILES ARE LOADED IN!) You can specify the ".def" file to be loaded at boot-up via the Icon or the command-line (see Usage and Suggested configuration above). There is a sample definition file "Acc!.def" included in the arc, it will get you loaded and running the first time then you should open the "Define Access!..." window, fix it the way you want it, then SAVE it for future use. (you might set up different ones with different color files, .key files, phone books, etc... and then just specify the setup you want when you run the program i.e. 1> Access! grey.def might load in a configuration setup to be used in interlace...) Although it is not shown on this window, the positions of the "Fast-Menus" are also now saved/loaded along with the other defaults. i.e. if you save the defaults with one or the other of the "Fast-Menus" at the top, then if you load that file back in, they will be returned to that position.(in case you're wondering, this is represented by either a '1' (for up) or a '0' (for down) for each of the "Fast-Menus" in the ".def" file but I reserve the right to change this format so ONLY use the TERM for saving/editing these files...) Filing Preferences: o "Phone Book"-> defines the "phone.file" to be loaded. (name only, no dir/path) o "Key File" -> defines the "key.file"... o "Color File"-> defines the "color.file"... o "Upload Dir"-> defines default dir/path for uploads. o "Dnload Dir"-> defines default dir/path for downloads. o "System Dir"-> defines dir/path to search for support files.(.phone, .key, .color etc...) o "Def.Capture"-> defines dir/path/name used for "captured" file when L-amiga 'c' is pressed. o "User Dir #1"-> defines dir/path used in the first user-selectable string gadget in the file requester. o "User Dir #2"-> defines dir/path used in the second... Modem Defaults: o "Set-up String"-> defines the string sent out to initialize the modem. o "Dial Prefix" -> defines string sent to modem prior to dialing. (ATDT for hayes compatibles) o "Dial Suffix" -> defines string sent to modem after dialing. ( <return>... ^M ) o "Hangup String"-> string sent to modem to hang-up. (this one may be deleted in a future version when I'll just drop carrier to hang-up) (NOTE: the strings below MUST be set properly for YOUR modem for the "Auto- dial" feature to work correctly) o "1200 Connect"-> string RETURNED by modem when you get connected at 1200 BAUD. o "2400 Connect"-> string RETURNED by modem for 2400 BAUD. o "No Connect #1"-> string returned by modem when... "NO CARRIER" o "No Connect #2"-> string returned by modem when... "BUSY" o "No Connect #3"-> string returned by modem when... "VOICE" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes on File Requester: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You might notice that two of the "disk" gadgets in the "File Requester" look a little odd... I KNOW your not reading this BEFORE you ran the program, so I'm SURE that you discovered that they actually have "STRING GADGETS" connected to them!! While contemplating how to make the "File Requester" fit YOUR set-up, I came accross this idea. I assume EVERYONE has "RAM:" (at least SOME ram) MOST people have "VD0:" (if you don't, you should.) EVERYONE has "DF0:" (it's the one connected to your AMY!) ALOT of people have "DF1:" (ok, so SOME people don't...) And that takes care of 4 out of 6 "disk gadgets" so the other two are free for you to specify as you please. (drive, path, ect... up to 50 chars. (I think it's 50)) This way you don't have to do alot of "assigning" if you use deeply inbedded "paths" for dl/ul's! These are two of the defaults that are defined in the "Acc!.def" file that is loaded in at boot-up. "Bytes Free" displays the totals available bytes free on the currently selected drive. Up/Down arrows on this window/requester/whatever allow you to scroll forward/backward/sideways (sideways?) through the file listing. The "brakes" I put on these (when you reach the end) didn't work so a "new feature" was added in that when you reach the bottom/top of the listing, it'll scroll around to the top/bottom and start all over again! (nice for HUGE directories, irritating on small ones :-) (any votes on "fixing" this?) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAST MENUS: ~~~~~~~~~~~ Most of these are self explanitory(sp) and are just short-cuts to the "normal" menu-items. There are a few that need further explanation... (NOTE:these may change from time to time and all of them may not be listed below...) (not neccessarily in any particular order ) o "QUIT" -> hmmmmmm..... o "READ" -> To read a disk (or ram:) based text file. o "PRINT" -> Starts Printer (if you have one hooked up :-) o "CAPT" -> Starts ASCII Capture (with file name) o "XUP" -> " XModem (or WXModem) send o "XDOWN" -> " XModem download o "WXDOWN"-> " WXModem download o "CHAT" -> Chat Mode o "COLOR" -> Brings up the Color Palette o "NEWCLI"-> Starts a NewCli (flip back to WBench to find it) o "MACROS"-> Opens "Macro Window" o " ^ " -> (Up Arrow) This gadget will send the "FAST MENU" to the top of the screen (and back again)(NOTE: if your cursor is at the top of the screen when you send the menu bar up there, it will "hide" the cursor. (if for some reason you can't find the cursor, move the fast menu and it will probably be there.) If you select "CHAT" AFTER the menu is at the top, the cursor will move down for you. (NOTE: this gadget works the same for both "FAST MENUS") // o "\X/ " -> (check mark) This gadget is essentually a "Back Gadget". Use it to reposition the "Fast-Menus" and the "Status Line" to your preferences. o "ASEND" -> Starts ASCII "Send" mode (same as normal menu selection). (see: "Other" below) o "HANGUP" -> Sends out "hang-up" string to modem. o "DIAL" -> Opens "Phone Book" window. o "REDIAL" -> Simply "re-dials" last number dialed... (NOTE: if the "auto-redial" feature is currently selected, then this gadget will restart the "auto-redial" process, otherwise the current number is simply redialed.) o "00:00" -> (or "01:30","12:00","04:15"...you get the picture) It's a Clock. (see: "Clocks" above for details) o "STRIP" -> This option will strip all blank lines from in-comming text! This allows you to get more (meaningful) lines of text on screen at once. (nice feature for conferencing, CB mode, ect... but can be used anytime) o "BORDRS" -> (stands for "BORDERS") This option will enable/disable the main window borders to give you a full 80 col. screen vs a 79 col. screen. This will also give you an extra line of text in the "transmit" (bottom) window in "CHAT" mode. (3 lines vs. 2.5 with the borders on) o "SPLIT" -> ( activated ONLY in interlace mode ) Selecting "SPLIT" (currently not a normal menu item) will give you a TRUE split screen!, which means no more swapping back and forth to the WorkBench screen to see how your "unarcing" is coming along (know of a good, small "DirUtil"? like one that takes up half of a screen... ? ) What it actually does is shrink the term down to normal, non-interlaced size (640*200) and moves the screen half-way down. Thus giving you a 23 line (interlaced) terminal on the bottom of the screen w/out losing any of the normal terminal display area ( of course you dont get as many lines as a "full/sized/interlace/display" but you can swap back and forth as you like!) Seleting "SPLIT" again returns you to a Full/Sized/Interlace screen again (it's a toggle switch). (NOTE: this option works very well when used with the "NEWCLI" option above or with a "half-screen DirUtil" if there's one around or better yet, with WBench set to interlace also. o "LACE" -> This option will toggle you between "Interlace" and "Non-Interlace" modes. (or cause the program to exit if you don't have enough memory for interlace) I have played with this EXTENSIVELY and it seems to work fine. (let me know if it doesn't for you, along with what you system set-up is, BUT BEFORE YOU DO THAT, see the paragraph below about memory) AGAIN, if you don't have enough memory for "INTERLACE" in the first place, chances are the program will EXIT! You might also avoid clicking on this (or ANY other) gadget while either the "File Requester", "File Reader Window" or "Palette Window" is open. (all other windows should be ok) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other: ~~~~~~ o Checks for ".arc/.ARC/.zoo/.ZOO/.pak/.PAK" extensions and disables "auto-chop" feature for these files. o There is another "prop" gadget in the "INFO" window labeled "Line Delay". This gadget controls the amount of delay between lines of text sent via the "ASCII SEND" feature. This was added by the suggestion of someone who "uploads" source files to a VAX computer that needs a short delay between lines to compile them. But I have also used this to upload pre-typed messages to a BBS's message base. If you do this, you'll probably need to experiment with both the delay and the length of the lines that the BBS will take. I've found that 70 chars. per line and 1 click to the right on this gadget works just fine... (the other gadget "Char Delay" controls the delay between characters sent.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Known Bugs: ~~~~~~~~~~~ o You CAN open every window/requester at the same time... This is NOT good and SHOULD be AVOIDED! (or you might see a number to meditate over :-)(although if you close them back down in the right order, it should be OK, as long as you don't fiddle with a bunch of gadgets while they're open) o A new bug has reared it's ugly face this version (.26)... if you are in interlace/split-screen/chat-mode and try to turn the borders on/off, BYE BYE! I re-wrote the openstuff()/closestuff() routines (to fix another thingie) and it seems to have stemmed from that. I've only seen it when ALL of the above conditions are true at the same time. (actually, the odds of some- one doing this were pretty slim maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it...:-) I haven't tracked it down yet, so don't do that^ ok? o This program is being developed on an "Amiga 1000" w/68010, a "Starboard II" 2 meg. expansion, "Signalman Lightning 2400 Baud Modem" among other things... I try to test it with various configurations before releasing a version (Amiga 1000 w/512K, and Amiga 500 w/1meg.) but am not always able to do so. Interestingly, what works on my 2.5 meg 1000 does not always work on an "A500". And these problems DON'T seem to be memory related (doesn't seem to be an overall lack of memory causing the problem). I've also heard some reports of problems (using the same configuration as me) that I can NOT reproduce on my machine. One such report was that when in "chat mode" (ver.26), the bottom (usable) text line in the lower window was either partially obscured or entirely hidden by the "status line"(depending on whether the borders were on or off...) I have not seen this, can not reproduce it and certainly would not have released a version that I had seen this happen on. I am not saying that this was not the case, only that I can not reproduce it. I am definately interested in hearing about such things (the kind of thing that makes you think:"Why the %$#@ would he release a program that does such-in-such"). Chances are, I did not know it DID "such-in-such". (please also let me know of any other programs you have running, machine, memory, etc...) Along these same lines, it has come to my attention that certain other programs do not work correctly with "Access!" (or is it the other way around ? :-). noted are: "PopCLi III", "More-Rows", "Facc II", "DME" and "SetFont". A few of these problems seem to be due to "Access!" and others I have not yet determined. Of course, if you know of any others, please let me know. (BTW, Access! will NOT work correctly with ADOS 1.1 and I have no plans to change this! (does anyone STILL use 1.1 ?!)) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ********************* NOTE ON BUG REPORTS!!! ****************************** So far, things seem to be going pretty well (knock on wood). The main problem USUALLY ALWAYS has to do with a lack of memory... Using an 8/16 color CUSTOM screen with a dozen or so support windows, thirty or so multi-color gagdets, fully functional console.devices along with the code to implement all this and multiple protocols ( with more on the way :-), makes this a fairly ambitious program memory-wise so..... If a window "just doesn't open" when you expect it to, CHANCES ARE, you do not have enough memory for the window to open! i.e. If you see a message in the main terminal window the says something like... "Can't open such-in-such Window" then it's a MEMORY (or lack there of) problem! The term SHOULD still work on a 512K machine, but you may have to make some sacrafices to do so (like multi-tasking). If you do have other problems to report, PLEASE list the VERSION NUMBER along with the report! This will help me track down the problem or let me know if it's already been fixed. I try to respond to most/all reports/suggestions/comments but am not always able to do so. -Keith- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Plea: ~~~~~~~~~ Again, Access! IS being distributed as ShareWare so if you continue to use it after some trial period, please help in the fight against high-priced software and support ShareWare authors by sending in your registration. Suggested contribution is $25.00 (but please feel free to adjust this figure to the amount you feel it's worth. BTW, contributions over $100.00 will not be accepted. (just a joke, actually they will :-)) ANY contribution is APPRECIATED! Snail Mail: Keith Young RT. 2 BOX 13G MONETA, VA. 24121 Please send all BUG REPORTS, KUDO'S, HELP, SUGGESTIONS, INSULTS to... AMIC: Keith Young GENIE: K.Young CA-AUG: Keith Young Compuserve: 73170,307 Deep Thought: Keith Young __________I CODE TO BE FRUSTRATED, DON'T WE ALL? AND AIN'T IT FUN?____________