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E A S Y D I A L Daniel Collier Norm Patriquin User's Guide and Reference Version 4.5 February, 1993 ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (tm) │ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ │─┘ Shareware └───│ o │ Professionals ────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ * Member * Patri-Soft BBS 909-352-2825 Voice 909-352-2820 Fax 909-352-1527 Copyright 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 by Patri-Soft Portions Copyright 1987, 1988, Information Technology, Ltd EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 1 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── About EASYDIAL ────────────── EASYDIAL is a program which allows you to easily use your computer's modem to dial your telephone for normal voice communication. For those of you who have too many numbers to remember, and want them easily accessible, then EASYDIAL is for you. Some people use EASYDIAL to call their banks - the number contains both the bank phone number and their account number. A few keypresses is all you need. Therein lies the beauty of EASYDIAL, not too simple, yet not too complex. EASYDIAL was developed out of need. Recently Patri-Soft purchased a hands-free type office headset. To dial the phone, we had to turn on the headset, lift the handset, dial the number and then hang up the handset. This was a lot of trouble to dial a number - especially when we make a lot of phone calls. Thus began the search for a good telephone dialer. After searching several major BBS systems and not finding a suitable program, Norm decided to write his own for personal use. Just for the fun of it, we posted it on our BBS. Since it was so well received, I decided to enhance and upgrade it. EASYDIAL 4.5 is the product. Quick Start ─────────── 1. Place the ED.EXE file in any directory on your system. EASYDIAL.DIR is automatically created in the same directory as ED.EXE. 2. Start ED.EXE without parameters and configure it to your needs. (Press 'C' in the directory listing.) EASYDIAL was written for ease and speed. If this is the first time you have run EASYDIAL, a sample entry has been provided in the dialing directory. EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 2 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Some General Information ──────────────────────── EASYDIAL stores its phone numbers in an external data file called EASYDIAL.DIR. This file is automatically created in the same directory as ED.EXE. It is a standard text file, and can be edited with any DOS text editor. However, no editor is necessary, as EASYDIAL can perform full maintenance from within the program. The format of EASYDIAL.DIR is fairly simple: You can only have one name and number per line and the combined length of that line cannot exceed 70 characters. The number of entries allowed is unlimited, but EASYDIAL becomes slow to load the entries into memory when the number of entries approaches 1500. I have had my EASYDIAL.DIR up to 3000 entries (about 49K), but I haven't fully tested it. The EASYDIAL entry: EASYDIAL.DIR contains one number per line. EXAMPLE: TIME 555-1212 Pizza 555-1234 EASYDIAL, when dialing a number, scans the entry backward looking for either a space, letter, or other "illegal" character. When it finds it, EASYDIAL knows which is the number and which is the name. So as a consequence, the actual number cannot contain any spaces or letters. For example, "555 1212", "555-ABCD" is not valid. The string CAN contain the following characters: #*;,()-?. (The period is not allowed.) Examples of valid numbers are 555-1212 or 555;1212*;? EASYDIAL has the the ability to be able to both tone and pulse dial a number. By including /P or /T in the dialing string, EASYDIAL can switch to pulse or tone dialing mid-way through dialing. Some services, such as credit card dialing, require tone dialing capabilities. If you are in a place where only pulse dialing is available, EASYDIAL can be used to pulse dial the first out going call, then tone dial the necessary numbers. Example: To make a credit card call from a pulse-dial only residence, the dialing string would look like this: 909-555-4567;/T-909-555-4567-1111 The first part of the number (before the semi-colon) is the number being dialed. The second part is the credit card number. The /T before the credit card number instructs EASYDIAL to tone dial that segment of the call. EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 3 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EASYDIAL can be driven from a menu or the command line. Some people who are using EASYDIAL for extended periods of time prefer to use the menu, where they can see what they are doing. Others who are just making quick phone calls prefer to use EASYDIAL from the command line. I have attempted to write EASYDIAL to be flexible enough to accommodate many different styles of users. You of course, are the judge. EASYDIAL does support the detection of BUSY, RINGING, NO DIALTONE, etc. These are not configurable, but can be controlled by adjusting the modem initialization string to fit your needs. EASYDIAL SYNTAX: EASYDIAL can be started by issuing the command: ED [optional name or number] [optional switches] This manual explains first the menu and then later the command line. MAKING THE CALL: If at any time during the actual dialing sequence, if you press ESC, EASYDIAL will abort the call and will NOT log or time it. After the number is dialed, a message appears in the dialing window, Dialing...Pick up handset and press any key when ringing. Pressing any key will hang up the modem and return EASYDIAL to either DOS or the menu. If a busy signal is detected, EASYDIAL will display, Busy (Attempt x) Redial pause: x seconds. (Any key cycles, ESC aborts redial) EASYDIAL will keep dialing until either you press ESC or the call is completed. EASYDIAL will also detect RINGING. This is useful if your modem is not quite loud enough to hear. The word RINGING will appear accompanied by a short beep. OPERATING EASYDIAL FROM THE MENU When starting EASYDIAL with no parameters, you are placed in a full screen menu with all of your EASYDIAL.DIR entries on the screen. You may then use your arrow keys to scroll through the listing and find the number you wish to dial. Simply press ENTER on the found entry and EASYDIAL dials the number. The following commands are available to use: EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 4 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Configure To configure EASYDIAL, press 'C'. A screen appears, and it is here where you custom EASYDIAL to fit your needs. Modem Initialization String: This is the string which controls your modem and how EASYDIAL interacts with it. Modem strings can be confusing, so if you're not sure, it is better not to change it. The initialization string must always start with "AT". For some reason, a string of ATZ does not reset the modem and consequently cannot be used. However, "AT" works fine for those who do not want EASYDIAL to change any of their modem settings. You may place a tilde (~) in the initialization string to cause EASYDIAL to pause for half a second during the initialization. The string breaks down as follows: E0 -- Do not echo commands back to EASYDIAL. If it was set to E1 then EASYDIAL would interpret the echoed commands as errors. (Try it to see what would happen) Q0 -- This tells the modem to send it responses back to EASYDIAL. Otherwise if it was Q1, EASYDIAL would have no idea of the modems status. M1 -- Speaker on. If set to M0, you could not monitor the call. X4 -- This is the command that EASYDIAL depends on. Below is a chart detailing the uses of the X commands. X0 X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 OK o o o o o o o o CONNECT o o o o o o o o RING o o o o o o o o NO CARRIER o o o o o o o o ERROR o o o o o o o o CONNECT 1200 o o o o o o o NO DIAL TONE o o o o BUSY o o o o o NO ANSWER o o o o o CONNECT 2400 o o o o o o o RINGING o o o VOICE o o If you want EASYDIAL to detect RINGING, then a value greater than X4 needs to be set. Looking at the chart, X5 seems to fit the need. However X5 detects voice, which could hang the modem up on your call with nothing EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 5 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── more than a "Hello?". This could be useful if you want EASYDIAL to automatically hang up, assuming that you have already picked up the phone. It turns out, that to optimize your calling, X7 is the best setting, however, some modems do not support values above X4. V1 -- This tells the modem to give return verbal responses. EASYDIAL depends on full, verbal responses, so if you set this to V0, EASYDIAL cannot process the responses. L1 -- This controls speaker volume. L1 is the quietest, while L3 is the loudest. ACTIVE COM PORT: If you are not operating on COM1, you need to change this to reflect the correct port. Valid ports number from 1 - 4. EASYDIAL does not currently support nonstandard IRQs, but it will in the future. (Provided that people express the need) REDIAL PAUSE LENGTH: When EASYDIAL detects a busy signal, it will wait the desired amount of seconds before trying to redial. TIME CALLS: EASYDIAL can time each call. The advantage is that you can monitor how much time a call is requiring, or you can keep track of the duration for tax/office purposes. EASYDIAL is busy keeping track of elapsed time during this process, but you can temporarily shell from EASYDIAL by pressing F3 during the timing sequence. Then, to return to EASYDIAL, type "exit". EASYDIAL will continue timing the call normally. LOG CALLS: EASYDIAL will log the person, time, number, and duration of each phone call if this flag is set to Y. A file called EASYDIAL.LOG is created in the same directory as ED.EXE. If you prefer, EASYDIAL will log only the long distance calls (calls which begin with "1-"). Set this flag to 'L' to enable this. The log file has a format that can be used to easily import the information into a database. The format is: <mm-dd-yy, hh-mm-ss, hh-mm-ss, <--------Num-------->, <---Name----------> Date, Time, Duration, Number called, Name called (if any) COMMENT IN LOG: You can leave a one line description in the log at the time of the call if this option is set to Y or A. If you set it to A, EASYDIAL will ask you if you wish to enter a comment at the end of each call. If set to Y, it will automatically request the comment. PULSE OR TONE: Some houses (still) have pulse dialing and need to set this flag to P. EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 6 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── COLOR OR BLACK/WHITE: On Toshiba and similar laptops, the color scheme of EASYDIAL can be difficult to understand. However, with this flag, EASYDIAL can be set so it is much more clear and understandable. CREDIT CARD NUMBER: This field now contains your telephone credit card number. When making a credit card call, EASYDIAL will automatically append this number to the number being dialed. Since some phone companies require different prefixes to indicate a credit card call is being made, the next field has been provided. CREDIT CARD PREFIX: EASYDIAL will automatically put this number in front of the number being dialed. This number can be as simple as 0- or 10-ATT-0. Hopefully this will enable EASYDIAL to be able to be used with all phone companies. PREFIX NUMBER: Sometimes it is desirable to dial a number before the actual number you are calling. This number could be the command to turn off call waiting, or perhaps a "1-" to indicate a long distance call. IGNORE AREA CODE: This feature has a lot of potential. If you live in a 123 area code, but travel to the 456 area code, your EASYDIAL.DIR cannot always conform to the area code that you are in. If all your phone numbers have the area code 456 in them while you are in 456, then you have to modify all your entries to remove the area code before dialing. Or, you can put 456 in this field. EASYDIAL will then ignore all occurrences of 456. SAVING THE SETUP: Press F10 to save, or ESC to abort. If at any time, things get too mixed up, press F9 to restore the values that EASYDIAL was shipped with. Add Pressing 'A' in the menu will scroll all entries below the highlight bar down and pop up a window where you can enter the new data. Pressing ESC aborts the add, ENTER saves it to disk. Revise To revise an entry, position the highlight bar on the desired entry. Press R, and a window pops up with the entry to be revised. Pressing ENTER accepts the change, ESC aborts. NOTE: While revising the entry, you also have a few options available. Pressing ALT-X restores the unchanged line. Pressing ALT-U converts the line to upper case, ALT-L changes it to all lower case, ALT-C capitalizes it. Delete To delete an entry, position the highlight bar on the desired entry and press ALT-D. This will scroll all the other entries up one to replace the deleted one. EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 7 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Find Find an entry. With large EASYDIAL.DIRs, finding an entry can be difficult. Pressing 'F' in the menu will allow you to enter a search string. EASYDIAL then searches FROM THE TOP DOWN for a matching string and highlights it. Last Repeat the Last find. Pressing 'L' will cause EASYDIAL to search FROM THE HIGHLIGHT BAR DOWN. Pick If you have a large EASYDIAL.DIR and want to look for a specific name, but aren't sure of the exact name, press 'P' in the menu. EASYDIAL will prompt you for a search string and then find all entries that match that string. It puts them in a secondary scrolling window where you may then find your entry among all the others. Pressing return will dial it. Justify In an effort to provide some sort of format to the EASYDIAL.DIR, I have provided 'J' in the menu. After pressing it, EASYDIAL separates the name and the number, and puts the number flush with the right margin. It takes an entry like: TIME 555-1212 and makes it TIME 853-1212 Tag To tag a number, press the Right arrow key. EASYDIAL will scroll the screen and the tagged number will appear blue and have a "■" on the right margin. CTRL-RA tags all, CTRL-LA untags all, Left arrow by itself untags only the entry the highlight bar is positioned on. Then, when you are ready to dial the tagged numbers, press 'T'. EASYDIAL counts the tagged numbers and asks you if you want to dial them. Answering Y causes EASYDIAL to dial them one at a time, with a pause at the end of each call. At the completion of each call, the number is untagged and the next one is dialed. Sort Pressing 'S' in the EASYDIAL.DIR will tell EASYDIAL to go sort your directory in alphabetical order. The sort algorithm is not very fast, so it may take a few seconds. (A faster sort will hopefully be included in the next version). F3 Issue any DOS command. EASYDIAL will return to the menu after the completion of the command. F5 Report phone time usage from EASYDIAL.LOG. EASYDIAL totals the amount of hours, minutes, and seconds of usage and displays the information on the screen. The information is also written to EASYDIAL.RPT EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 8 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── F8 Toggle PREFIX active in the menu. An indicator will appear in the upper left hand corner. While this is active all numbers dialed will have the number which accompanies the PREFIX field (found in the configuration screen). F9 Toggle CREDIT active. As with prefix, an indictor will display in the upper left hand corner. All calls will have the credit card number attached to it and will be prefaced by the credit card prefix number. F10 Automatically redial the last number dialed. Manual To manually dial a number, press 'M'. EASYDIAL will then Dial pop up a window requesting the number to dial. ESC aborts. OPERATING EASYDIAL FROM THE COMMAND LINE: ED [name/number] [-] [aufltbr] Dialing from the command line: Issuing the command ED PIZZA will dial the number associated with the first entry which matches PIZZA. This is the fastest and easiest way to use EASYDIAL. You can also just dial a number from the command line, i.e. ED 555-1212. ED -N:xxx Specify an alternate directory to use. Normally Easydial uses a file called EASYDIAL.DIR, but by using -N you may specify an different directory to use. Example: ED -N:OFFICE.DIR will use the OFFICE.DIR to dial. You may set this command in the environment if you wish to use it all the time. To use this, enter the command SET EASYDIAL=-N:OFFICE.DIR Substitute the appropriate directory name in the place of OFFICE.DIR. ED -A [OPTIONAL NAME/NUMBER] Add an entry from the command line. If no name and number are supplied than you will be prompted for one. ED -F [NAME/NUMBER] EASYDIAL will find all matches to the the supplied name and number and display them on the screen. You will then be able to dial them. EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 9 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ED -H <name> Dial the specified number, then exit to DOS without a keypress. If the number is busy, Easydial will continue to redial until either a key is pressed or the call is completed successfully. Allow up to 8 seconds before Easydial disconnects the modem. ED -M:x Specify the com port to use (x=1, 2, 3 or 4) ED -U Pulse Dial the call ED -T Time the call ED -L Log the call ED -B Specify black and white operation DIALING STRING MODIFIERS The actual dialing string can contain several special characters: ? , ; W. ? -- Place this AT THE END of your dialing string if you want to dial the number from you keyboard. For example, when calling our voice mail number, we have a dialing string like this: PAGER 555-1212;1111? EASYDIAL dials the string and then waits for user input. I can then listen to my messages by using my keyboard to dial the numbers. The letters on the keyboard are automatically changed to their numeric counterparts, just as on the telephone keypad. NOTE: Manual dialing is SLOW. Wait to hear the modem send the number before pressing another! ; -- Place a semi-colon anywhere in the dialing string to make EASYDIAL pause and wait for a keypress before dialing the remainder of the string. In the previous example, ';' is used to wait for my voice mail service to answer the phone. As soon as it does, I can dial the remainder of the string. Another application is credit card calls - I place the ; between my credit card number and the actual number. I wait until I hear the tone to enter my card number and then press a key to dial the remainder of the sequence. , -- Places a two second pause in the string wherever this is located. Some people use a , instead of a ; when they know that only a short delay is needed. (i.e. If you are dialing out of an office and you need to dial 9 to get out, set up your dialing string as such: HOME 9-,555-1212 W -- Placing a 'W' in the dialing string will make EASYDIAL wait for a second dial tone before dialing the rest of the number. /T -- Switch to tone dial during dialing string. /P -- Switch to pulse dial during dialing string. EASYDIAL Users Guide/Reference Copyright 1993 Patri-Soft Page 10 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CREDIT CARD CALLS EASYDIAL supports use of an option to automatically append your credit card number to the number you are calling. To use this, you have to configure EASYDIAL to reflect the credit card number and credit card prefix. (Press 'C' in the menu). You may active credit card dialing by either starting EASYDIAL with a -C or pressing F9 in the menu. Then, when making a call, EASYDIAL will automatically append the credit card number to the number being dialed. This number will be preceded by the number in the "credit card prefix" field. This number is used to indicate that a credit card call is being made. This feature enables EASYDIAL to make credit card phone calls easily, regardless of the phone company being used. APPENDING A PREFIX The same concept as credit cards can be applied to a PREFIX call. To use this, start EASYDIAL with the -P option or press F8 in the menu. EASYDIAL will automatically preface the number being dialed with the number which accompanies PREFIX. This can be used to shut off call waiting (in which case your prefix may look like "*70,,,") or to indicate that you are placing a long distance call. Program Maintenance: ──────────────────── Version 1.0 April 1990 Version 1.1 May 1990 -Enabled EASYDIAL to log and/or time calls Version 1.5 -Fixed manual dial mode -Added windows -Added -C and -O option enabling EASYDIAL to append a credit card or optional number to a dialing number. Version 2.0 --Removed -C & -O. --Added a scrollable directory enabling full EASYDIAL.DIR maintenance from within listing. Version 2.0A --Fixed time-call problem Version 2.2 --Fix command-line dialing problems. Dialed first match of first word instead of first match of entire string --Added a Find option for the directory listing. Version 2.5 --Enabled all parameters to be used either in the directory listing or the command line --Enabled all environment commands to be able to be set from the command line --Changed all modem routines to more reliable and smart routines --Added busy detect and automatic redial --Total Parameters added: -M:x Specify comport -R:x Specify redial pause -L Log the call Version 3.0 --Added an internal configuration file to control all options internally. Version 3.1 --Added ability to leave comment in log --Fixed directory listing problems Version 3.2 --Fixed bugs with adding --Changed the way Add and Revise work --fixed manual dial problem --added alpha-order sort --Enabled "W" modem command --Now can include numbers in name field --Protect comment-in-log Version 3.3 --Improved configuration --Created bigger stack size to enable large EASYDIAL.DIRs. --Changed add/revise. (again) --Added black and white operation Version 3.5 December 1990 --Did more work than I care to recall --Added Pick, Tag, and Justify --Added delays for people with FAST machines --Upgraded comm routines --Loads of little things Version 3.6 June 1991 (DLC) --Fixed PGDN bug. The highlight bar was not positioned properly. --Increased the size of the screen. Version 4.0 August 1991 (DLC) --Added flexibility to credit card dialing. Now ED can have a user defined credit prefix which will then work with all phone companies. --Moved CREDIT and PREFIX into the configurations screen. --Now store defaults in EASYDIAL.DAT instead of ED.EXE. --Add F8 (prefix on) and F9 (credit on) in dialing menu --Added option to log only long distance calls --Implemented PGUP and PGDN in Pick feature --Added ability to report time usage from EASYDIAL.LOG. --Added last number redial --Fixed PGUP to be more consistent --Added ability to ignore parts of certain numbers --Added /P and /T to switch to pulse or tone dialing mid way though the string. Version 4.1 October 1991 (DLC) --Fixed redial problem (redial was not dependable) --Fixed log problem - comments would not be recorded. --Fixed mono - now works OK. --Added format to log --Now can press F3 to access DOS while time a call. Version 4.2 December 1991 Version 4.3 January 1992 Version 4.4 May, 1992 --Fixed lowest baud rate problems Version 4.5 February, 1993 --Added /M: switch for com port selection --Corrected baud rate problems --fixed minor bugs You may register EASYDIAL in one of three ways: 1) By mail with check, money order, or credit card to: Patri-Soft, 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., 71-358, Riverside, CA 92507. CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS MUST INCLUDE 7.75% STATE SALES TAX! 2) Call or fax Patri-Soft with your order. (909) 352-2820 (Voice) (909) 352-1527 (Fax) 3) VISA/Mastercard orders are also accepted by Public Software Library: 800-242-4775 or 713-665-7017 to order. The Patri-Soft BBS operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, open to all callers. Call (909) 352-2825. The author can also be reached on CIS via PPN 76347,2477 (please use MAIL). We support our software. One of the great strengths of the Shareware concept is the interaction between the program's authors and its users. Many of the features contained in EASYDIAL are the result of user input. If you have a problem evaluating this program or want to make a suggestion, comment, or complaint, please contact us immediately. Even after registering EASYDIAL, if you later determine that it is unsuitable for your use, you may contact us for a refund. It is not necessary that you be a registered user to contact us for technical support. Technical support will be available through the U.S mail, telephone, or the Patri-Soft BBS. EASYDIAL is distributed under the Shareware concept. This allows users to evaluate software for a short time to determine if it is useful to them. If you decide the software is of value to you, you are required to register it. This concept allows for quality software to be distributed at a reasonable cost. Many of hours of my time have been invested in EASYDIAL. Continued registration will justify the continued upgrading of this utility to insure it remains up to date with current technology. In any case, I greatly appreciate all users that care enough to register. I try to provide the best possible software for all you faithful supporting users. Send registration requests to: Patri-Soft 5225 Canyon Crest Dr. Suite 71-358 Riverside CA, 92507 The registration charge is a one time fee that entitles you to all future versions of the product. These may either be obtained from normal Shareware sources or from me. I do not automatically send product updates to registered users. It is impossible to provide automatic upgrades at the low costs of these utilities. For an EasyDial registration order form, see ORDER.FRM. Reporting Problems (EASYDIAL 4.5) I welcome all comments or enhancement suggestions. Please document each item clearly and provide printed examples, if possible. Please be sure to include this form with all requests. It will help to make sure we can provide you with the best possible service. Name: __________________________________________________________ Company: _______________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ City: __________________________________ State: _______________ Zip: ______________________________ Telephone: _______ / ________________________ (Home / Work) Date: _________________________ Machine Type:_______________ Modem Type (IMPORTANT) ________________________________________ Name of Utility: _______________________ DOS Level: ____________ Description of problem or enhancement: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Suggested solution: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________