Date: Mon Jan 8 1990 12:00:00 EST From: Christine M Gianone Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 Beta Test Available Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0, International Character Sets, Sliding Windows Keywords: Tektronix Emulation, VT320/340 Emulation, Local Area Networks Keywords: WordPerfect This is to announce a very short public beta testing period for MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 for the IBM PC, PS/2, and compatibles. Releases of 3.0 for some of the non-IBM-compatible MS-DOS computers are in preparation, but not ready yet, others need volunteer help. Please get the test version as quickly as possible and report problems directly to the author of the program, Joe R. Doupnik, JRD@USU.BITNET, jrd@cc.usu.edu, or jrd@watsun.cc.columbia.edu. The files for this new release are available via anonymous FTP from watsun.cc.columbia.edu on the Internet, and from KERMSRV@CUVMA on BITNET/EARN. On watsun, login with FTP as user anonymous (any password), cd kermit/test, and multiple get (mget) the files. On BITNET, send a message (interactive or mail) to KERMSRV@CUVMA and request the desired files. The manual is in preparation and will be announced shortly. The file MSTIBM.BOO is the runnable .EXE file encoded in printable format. To convert the BOO-file back to .EXE, use any of the MSBPCT.* programs, which can be found in the "A" area of Kermit distribution on watsun (cd kermit/a), or in KERMSRV (just refer to them by name). On watsun only, the executable program, MSTIBM.EXE, is available for FTP in binary mode (note, on watsun, the filenames are lowercase). Here is a brief list of the files that are available during this testing period (many of these names will change in the real release): Internet BITNET/EARN WATSUN CUVMA kermit/test T: Description mstibm.exe (none) Executable program, about 131K (watsun only) mstibm.boo T:MSTIBM.BOO BOO-encoded version of MSTIBM.EXE, about 156K mstibm.hlp T:MSTIBM.HLP A short help file mstibm.bwr T:MSTIBM.BWR "Beware" file, known limitations and bugs mstibm.upd T:MSTIBM.UPD Summary of features new to version 3.0 mstibm.ed T:MSTIBM.ED Detailed edit history mstibm.vt T:MSTIBM.VT Summary of functions of VT320 emulator mstibm.ini T:MSTIBM.INI Sample init file for version 3.0 (MSKERMIT.INI) mstibm.hay T:MSTIBM.HAY Hayes modem dialing script (HAYES.TAK) mstibm.wp T:MSTIBM.WP WordPerfect init file for version 3.0 (WP30.INI) mstlk2.asm T:MSTLK2.ASM LK250 keyboard driver source (from Terry Kennedy) mstlk2.com (none) Binary executable LK250 keyboard driver mstlk2.boo T:MSTLK2.BOO BOO-encoded version of MSTLK2.COM mstlk2.hlp T:MSTLK2.HLP Help file for LK250 driver ms*.asm,.h T:MS*.ASM,.H Source files The public beta-testing period will last only about a week, so please test the new features and send in reports and/or fixes as quickly as possible! The formal release will come several weeks later. Your cooperation in rapid testing and reporting of bugs is much appreciated, and the short notice is regretted. As bugs are reported and fixed, the files MSTIBM.EXE, .BOO, and .BWR will probably change from day to day, so when reporting a problem, be sure to include the full version heading (as reported by the VERSION command). These changes will be logged at the end of the file MSTIBM.ED. NEW FEATURES OF MS-DOS KERMIT 3.0 1. Emulation of most features of the DEC VT320 terminal, plus many features of the VT340. 2. International character sets in terminal emulation and file transfer. 3. Sliding window packet protocol. 4. Expanded support for local area networks. 5. Enhanced graphics commands in the Tektronix emulator, suitable for use with mainframe WordPerfect versions 5 and 4.2. 6. Many other improvements. The rest of this message describes these new features. See MSTIBM.UPD and MSTIBM.ED for details. 1. VT320/VT340 EMULATION MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 emulates the DEC VT320 terminal, international model, with many features of the more advanced VT340/330 text/graphics terminals thrown in. VT320 is the default terminal type for MS-DOS Kermit 3.0. Kermit continues to offer emulations for the DEC VT52, Heath/Zenith-19, and DEC VT100/102 terminals, as well as of Tektronix graphics terminals. Kermit's VT320/340 emulation offers many capabilities beyond the VT102, including: . A selection of character sets, with the ability to switch among them. . Translation of the above sets to/from any of the five IBM PC code pages. . User-defined soft function keys, downloadable by the host. . Tektronix 4010/4014 graphics with many extensions, including color, "sixel" graphics, rectangle fill with various patterns, and more. . Support of the DEC LK250 keyboard, a DEC LK201 keyboard for IBM-PCs (via a special driver, MSTLK2.*). . A new mechanism for switching between 80 and 132 columns when your display adapter supports this. . Graphics screens may now be saved to disk files in uncompressed Aldus/Microsoft TIFF 5.0 format (approximately 110K per EGA screen) for importation into other applications that support TIFF files. 2. INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER SET SUPPORT MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 supports translation between the PC's local character set (Code Page) and ISO Latin Alphabet 1 (ISO 8859-1) during file transfer. The relevant new commands are: SET TRANSFER CHARACTER-SET { TRANSPARENT, LATIN1 } SET FILE CHARACTER-SET { CP437, CP850, CP860, CP863, CP865 } The default transfer character set is TRANSPARENT (that is, no translation is done) for compatibility with previous releases of MS-DOS Kermit. The default file character set is your PC's current code page, such as CP437, which is detected automatically. These new commands allow you to transfer files containing accented and other special characters with Kermit programs on computers that represent these same characters using different codes, such as VAX/VMS, UNIX, Macintosh, IBM mainframes, etc, when the Kermit programs on these computers also support international text file transfer; new versions of C-Kermit for UNIX and VAX/VMS, Macintosh Kermit, IBM mainframe Kermit, and others which support this feature are in preparation (watch Info-Kermit for announcements). International file transfer is also useful between two PCs that use different code pages. Various host-based international character sets are also supported during VT320 terminal emulation, including 8-bit ISO Latin Alphabet 1, the DEC 8-bit Multinational Character Set, 12 different 7-bit National Replacement Character (NRC) Sets, and several others. Kermit automatically translates incoming characters from the current terminal character set (SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET) to the current PC code page, and it automatically translates keystrokes from the current code page to terminal character set. The default terminal character set is LATIN1 (Latin Alphabet 1). SET KEY assignments take precedence on a per-key basis. 3. SLIDING WINDOW PACKET PROTOCOL For increased efficiency during file transfer across long-distance, long-delay communication links such as public data networks, MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 includes sliding window packet protocol. This means that Kermit does not have to wait for an acknowledgement for the current packet before sending the next packet. The number of packets that may be sent before acknowledgements arrive is called the "window size", and this may range from 1 to 31. A sufficiently large window size allows transmission of packets to be continuous, and makes maximum effective use of the transmission channel. The command to select the window size is: SET WINDOW n where n is a number from 1 to 31. The default window size is 1 for Kermit's normal stop-and-wait operation. Window sizes greater than 1 can be used only with other Kermit programs that support this option, including PRIME Kermit, C-Kermit 5A or later (still in preparation), certain commercial programs, or another copy of MS-DOS Kermit 3.0. Sliding windows may be used in conjunction with long packets. The product of the packet size and the window size may not exceed 2000. 4. LOCAL AREA NETWORK SUPPORT MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 for the IBM PC, PS/2, and compatibles supports the following local area networks and protocols: . Netbios via SET PORT NETBIOS for PC-to-PC file transfers. Requires a Netbios-based PC network (like IBM PC Network or IBM Token Ring) and accompanying hardware and drivers. . Netbios via SET PORT NETBIOS for PC to AT&T Unix systems over StarGroup (formerly StarLAN) and for PC-to-host file transfer across any NetBios compatible system. Requires a Netbios driver for your network interface. . Novell Terminal Emulation Service (TES) via SET PORT BIOSx. Requires Novell TES BIOS-Level COMx driver (e.g. COM1, COM2) that intercepts BIOS interrupt 14H and controls the network interface, and a host VAX running NetWare/VMS. . Novell NASI/NACS V2 and compatible asynchronous communication servers, via SET PORT NOVELL. Requires Novell or compatible network. . DECnet-DOS, both LAT and CTERM interfaces, via SET PORT DECNET. Requires installation of DECnet-DOS or DECnet PCSA. . Ungermann-Bass Net/One Int 6BH via SET PORT UB-NET1. Requires an Ethernet board with U-B Net/One drivers or compatibles. . Intel OpenNET via SET PORT OPENNET, a NetBios implementation. . IBM asynchronous communication servers accessed through IBM EBIOS, via SET PORT BIOSx. Requires EBIOS Int 14H interceptor (needs testing). . 3COM Bridge Application Program Interace (BAPI) to asynchronous communication servers via SET PORT BIOSx. Requires 3COM Int 14H interceptor. . TCP/IP Telnet via SET PORT BIOSx. Requires vendor's Int 14H interceptor to execute Telnet protocol, for example FTP Software's PC/TCP v2.04 (TNGLASS), or Interlan's TCP/IP Gateway for Novell Networks. Use TNGLASS dated 6 Dec 1989 or later. 5. TEKTRONIX GRAPHICS The name Tektronix may no longer be adequate to describe the new features drawn from DEC VT340/330 and HDS 2000/3000 graphics terminals. Principle additions are: . Rectangle (border only) and pattern filled rectangle drawing commands. . More preprogrammed line patterns, many rectangle fill patterns, both include several host-definable patterns. Fill patterns are tiling kinds synchronized to the screen boundaries, for smooth joinery and easy pattern overlaying operations. . Host control of destructive space and backspace. . User control of opaque or transparent character writing. . Control of pixel basic operations such as write absolute, OR, XOR with existing colors, including DEC VT340 ORing of color palette numbers. . DEC Sixel graphics commands. . Screen dumping in TIFF v 5.0 formats (class B for B/W, class P palette for EGA and VGA screens), uncompressed. One file for each screen capture. . Support of most common cursor steering and line/screen erasure escape sequences of ANSI text terminals, scaled to the text terminal's screen shape, so that text, Tektronix, and Sixel graphics can be mingled. . Automatic switching from text terminal to graphics terminal upon receipt of a Sixel Device Control String. . Presence, use, and reporting of the 16 color and b/w palettes of the DEC VT340/330 terminals. DEC characteristic of black always writes absolutely. . Coloring commands acceptable in ANSI ESC [ 3x; 4x m format and in Device Control Strings for both RBG and HLS (hue, lightness, saturation) systems. . Reporting of the graphics screen size and number of colors upon host request, an MS-DOS Kermit escape sequence in DEC private format. . Support for mainframe WordPerfect 5.0 and 4.2 to view and edit figures (pictures) and pages in graphics mode while preparing documents in text mode. TIFF files from MS-DOS Kermit screens are directly readable into WordPerfect (and several other packages). . Terminal identification response of VT300 with Sixel and other attributes. . Recognition of 8-bit control sequences, but truncation of other 8-bit characters to 7-bit form. For this, parity must be NONE and DISPLAY 8-bits. . Recognition of the ESC [ ? 34 h and l TerminalS and TerminalR MS-DOS Kermit macro invokation sequences from the host. 6. OTHER IMPROVEMENTS * Communications . Support for advanced features of the PS/2's National Semiconductor 16550A UART (serial communications) chip for improved performance. . New SET DUPLEX { HALF, FULL } command includes support for RTS/CTS handshake for use with half duplex modems, radio transmitters, etc. RTS/CTS is used if DUPLEX is set to HALF and the DSR signal is present. * Terminal Emulation (in addition to VT320/340 and Tektronix features listed above): . Expanded storage for rollback screens. If memory is available, Kermit will allocate room for about 10 screens. More is available via the new DOS environment variable, KERMIT: SET KERMIT=ROLLBACK 120, memory permitting. . Screen rollback is now instantaneous. . New REPLAY command to replay a Kermit session log through the terminal emulators. . Transparent print now works properly in the presence of parity. . New SET TERMINAL KEYPAD { APPLICATION, NUMERIC } command gives users explicit control over VT terminal keypad mode. Formerly the keypad mode could be changed only by escape sequences sent from the host. . Visual bell for deaf users (SET TERMINAL BELL VISUAL) during terminal emulation. . Support for additional monitors and display adapters: - Wyse-700 (graphics in several high resolution dimensions) - ATT EGA VDC600 (automatic recognition of 80/132 column mode) - STB VGA/EM, VGA/EM-15 boards (automatic recognition of 80/132 column mode) - Other boards to or from 80/132 columns via COLS80.BAT and COLS132.BAT. * Kermit Protocol (in addition to international character sets and sliding windows, described above): . Maximum file transfer packet size increased from 1000 to 2000 bytes. . New server security features, including login/password, available via DISABLE, ENABLE, and SET SERVER commands. . Redirection of output of REMOTE commands to file or printer via DOS redirection symbol (>), e.g. REMOTE DIRECTORY > PRN. . Non-control versions of single-character file transfer interrupt commands (X,Z,E,C) are now available. . Many new options for SET ATTRIBUTES command, to control attributes individually, for example SET ATTRIBUTES DATE OFF. Attributes now include date and time, file size, file type, and transfer character set. . MS-DOS Kermit server now recognizes REMOTE KERMIT SET commands. . New REMOTE SET command, used to change settings on remote Kermit server, as described in Info-Kermit V11 #1. Also supported by MS-DOS Kermit server. This is a new Kermit protocol feature, as yet unsupported by other Kermit programs, but will be in future releases of C-Kermit, etc. * Miscellaneous Features and Commands: . Space for macro names expanded from 500 to 1000 bytes. Space for macro definitions was formerly 3000. Now it's dynamically allocated and will use as much memory as can be found. . SHOW commands added for many types of things (file, protocol, terminal, memory, modem, statistics, etc). . Keyboard verbs (like \Kexit) can now be embedded within keyboard definition text strings and mixed with other keyboard verbs. . New WRITE command to annotate log files. may be SESSION, PACKET, TRANSACTION, or SCREEN. may be TIME, DATE, PATH, TEXT, etc. . New IF statements for arithmetic comparison: IF <, IF >, IF =, for example: IF < %\1 3 echo Argument is less than 3. . New numeric variables, can be used with IF <, etc, and WRITE: - ARGC Number of words in a macro invocation - COUNT Loop counter (set via SET COUNT) - ERRORLEVEL Error level (set via SET ERRORLEVEL) - VERSION Program version (built in, 3.0 = 300) Note: ARGC allows construction of macros that can test for the presence of arguments and supply defaults, without being confused by leftover parameters from previous macro invocations. . ASK command now operational, and allows backslash codes in prompt. ASK prints prompt, stores what user types in variable. . New ASKQ command, like ASK but does not echo what the user types, useful for passwords. . Allow ECHO string and ASK prompt string to contain backslash codes for the PC's 8-bit characters, so that fancy effects and international characters can be displayed. . New controls and options for TRANSMIT command (SET TRANSMIT ?). . New command SET FILE WARNING { ON, OFF, NO-SUPERSEDE }. ON and OFF are like previous SET WARNING command. NO-SUPERSEDE option can be used for continuing interrupted wildcard file reception, skipping over files that already exist. . A patch mechanism for applying corrections to the binary executable program image. Thanks to Professor Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State University for a year of hard work on this release, and to the many testers during the development phase, and to the contributors who helped with many aspects of the new version. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1990 12:00:00 EST From: Christine M Gianone Subject: Announcing MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 This is to announce the final release of MS-DOS Kermit 3.0, first announced for beta-testing in Info-Kermit V11 #2. Thanks to the thousands of you who participated in the short testing period. To recapitulate the major new features of 3.0, they are: . DEC VT320 terminal emulation. . Many additions to Tektronix graphics emulation, including features from the DEC VT340 (color, sixel, but not REGIS) and HDS2000/3000, suitable for use with mainframe versions of WordPerfect 4.2 and 5.0. . Saving of graphics screens on disk in TIFF 5.0 format, suitable for import into PC Paint, Ventura Publisher, Pagemaker, WordPerfect 5.0, etc. . True half duplex operation with RTS/CTS hardware handshake. . International character set support for both terminal emulation and file transfer. . Sliding window packet protocol. Problems reported and fixed during the testing period include: . Incorrect Attribute packet character set announcers. . Problems when receiving badly formatted packets 1800-2000 bytes in length. . Incorrect receive packet length after SET WINDOWS command. . Incorrect crosshair cursor report in Tektronix mode. . Automatic return to wrong text terminal type after Tektronix emulation. . Several incorrect special terminal character translations. . Incorrect operation of SET TRANSLATE INPUT. . Terminal lockup after failure to automatically enter 132-column mode. . Insufficient maximum allowed number of ANSI escape sequence parameters. . Nonfunctional 3COM BAPI network support. . Case sensitivity of ARGC, VERSION, and other special numeric variables. . Various minor escape sequence misinterpretations. The new files have been installed in the regular Kermit distribution "A" area, and are available over the networks via anonymous FTP from watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Internet) and from KERMSRV at CUVMA (BITNET), and by mail order from Kermit Distribution at Columbia University on a variety of magnetic media. Internet BITNET Description msvibm.boo MSVIBM.BOO BOO-encoded (printable) version of MSVIBM.EXE. mskerm.hlp MSKERM.HLP Summary of MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 features & commands. msr300.upd MSR300.UPD Description of new features in version 3.0. mskerm.bwr MSKERM.BWR Limitations and known bugs in version 3.0. mskerm.ed MSKERM.ED Detailed edit history of version 3.0. msvibm.vt MSVIBM.VT VT52/102/320/340/H19 terminal emulation summary. msvibm.tek MSVIBM.TEK Tektronix graphics summary (in preparation). mss*.asm,.h MSS*.ASM,.H System-independent source code. ms*ibm.asm MS*IBM.ASM IBM-PC/PS2-specific source code. msvibm.bat MSVIBM.BAT DOS batch program for building 3.0. msvibm.mak MSVIBM.MAK A makefile for building 3.0 under DOS with MASM. msvibb.mak MSVIBB.MAK A makefile for building 3.0 with Borland TASM. msvibx.mak MSVIBX.MAK A makefile for building 3.0 under Xenix. msvibm.lnk MSVIBM.LNK LINK command file for 3.0. Kermit Init/Command Files: mskermit.ini MSKERMIT.INI Sample initialization file, includes DIAL macro. msihay.tak MSIHAY.TAK Hayes modem dialing script (used with DIAL). msiem*.ini MSIEM*.INI Keyboard setups for use with EMACS. msiwp3.ini MSIWP3.INI New keyboard setup for mainframe WordPerfect. Utilities: mspeps.* MSPEPS.* Epson printer driver for EGA graphics screens. mspep4.* MSPEP4.* PC CP437-to-Epson character set translation. mspupc.sh MSPUPC.SH PCPRINT (transparent print) for UNIX. mspvpc.com MSPVPC.COM PCPRINT for VAX/VMS. msixse.* MSIXSE.* XSEND utility for sending directory trees. msuchk.* MSUCHK.* SCANCHEK utility to display keyboard scan codes. msulk2.* MSULK2.* LK250 keyboard driver. Binaries are available on watsun only, for FTP in binary (image) mode, in the kermit/bin directory: msvibm.exe The MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 executable program. mspeps.com Epson printer driver for EGA graphics screens. mspep4.exe PC Code-Page-437-to-Epson character set translation. msixse.exe XSEND utility for sending directory trees. msuchk.exe SCANCHEK utility for keyboard scan codes. Non-IBM Versions: The non-IBM-compatible versions of MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 are not done yet. Some (DEC Rainbow, Heath/Zenith-100) are currently in preparation and will be announced when they are ready. Volunteers are needed for the others (Victor, Sanyo, TI, HP, NEC, etc). In the meantime, the new mss*.* source files are incompatible with the old msu, msg, msx, msy, and msz system-dependent source files for the non-IBM systems. The .BOO files for the non-IBM versions, however, will remain available. Also, the old source files will be accessible for limited time (most likely until the next major release of MS-DOS Kermit) in kermit/old on watsun. Bootstrapping: For those who cannot use FTP to transfer the binary MSVIBM.EXE file directly, the MSVIBM.BOO is an encoding of MSVIBM.EXE into printable ASCII characters that should be safely transferrable over BITNET, e-mail, etc. Use your old version of Kermit to download this file to your PC, and then run any of the "BOO-file decoders" to translate it back into a runnable .EXE file. The following files are available for this purpose: msbaaa.hlp An explanation of the bootstrapping files and procedures. msbpct.bas A BOO-file decoder written in Microsoft BASIC. msbpct.c Like MSBPCT.BAS, but written in C for speed. msbpct.boo BOO file formed from MSBPCT.EXE based on MSBPCT.C. msbpct.* There are also versions of MSBPCT in assembler, Fortran, etc. If you have a C, Pascal, or other compiler, download the appropriate MSBPCT source code, compile it, and run it to translate MSVIBM.BOO into MSVIBM.EXE. If you only have BASIC, you should download MSBPCT.BAS and MSBPCT.BOO. Then use the former to create MSBPCT.EXE from the latter, and then use MSBPCT.EXE to decode MSVIBM.BOO (using the BASIC version directly on MSVIBM.BOO would take a very long time). Our deepest thanks to Professor Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State University (JRD@USU.BITNET) for the year of hard work he put in on this release, and for his continuing devotion to the Kermit effort over the years. Thanks also the many others who contributed to 3.0, particularly Terry Kennedy, Jack Bryans, John Junod, Bert Tyler, Mikko Laanti, Fred Richter, Hirofumi Fujii, Gary Stebbins, Drew Derbyshire, and Paul Whitmer. And for the accompanying utilities, thanks to Mark Buda, Terry Kennedy, Phil Benchoff, Mark Zinzow, R. Brooks Van Horn, and Frank da Cruz. More about MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 in the following messages. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1990 13:12:11 EST From: Christine M Gianone Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 Questions and Answers Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 Here are the questions that came up most frequently during the MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 beta testing period: Q - I tried using the Latin-1 (or DEC-MCS) terminal character set, but I didn't get any special characters on my screen, only incorrect ASCII characters where the special characters should be. A - To see 8-bit text characters, you need an 8-bit no-parity connection to the host, and you must tell MS-DOS Kermit to SET DISPLAY 8 (7 is the default). In the 7-bit environment, you can still use an 8-bit character set if your host sends shift-in/shift-out codes (but see MSKERM.BWR). Otherwise you must use one of Kermit's 7-bit "national replacement character sets" (Italian, Norwegian, etc), in which brackets, vertical bars, etc, are replaced by national characters. Q - If none of Kermit's built-in terminal character is suitable for my language or computing environment, what can I do? A - Put a lot of SET KEY and SET TRANSLATE INPUT commands in your MSKERMIT.INI file. These commands override Kermit's built-in translations of outbound and inbound characters, respectively. Also remember to SET TRANSLATE INPUT ON. Using these mechanisms, you can construct an entirely new terminal character set. Q - Word-11 or other DEC PDP-11 or VAX/VMS applications do not seem to work right with 3.0. Screens are fractured, etc. A - Kermit's new VT320 terminal emulation is noticed DEC by operating systems like VMS 5.0 or later, causing them to send 8-bit control sequences which are ignored by MS-DOS Kermit unless you SET DISPLAY 8. SET DISPLAY 7 is still the default, for compatibility with earlier releases. Q - If Kermit does VT340 graphics, how come my SAS graphs don't come out right if I tell SAS that I have a VT340? A - Kermit implements many VT340 graphics features, including colors and sixels, but not DEC's REGIS graphics language, which is what SAS uses. There are no current plans to implement REGIS, which is huge. The VT340 features which are supported by Kermit can be used to best advantage with host-resident versions of WordPerfect (4.2 and 5.0) on VAX/VMS or UNIX. Q - Why do I have to SET FILE TYPE TEXT and SET FILE TYPE BINARY with 3.0 when I didn't have to do this in previous versions? A - During file transfer, version 3.0 does two things that previous versions didn't do: text file character set conversion, and conveying and using the file type given in the file attribute packet. If you want to approximate the old mode of operation, in which you did not have to (and indeed could not) give SET FILE TYPE commands, you can SET TRANSFER CHARACTER-SET TRANSPARENT (this is the default anyway) and SET ATTRIBUTE TYPE OFF. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 10:34:09 EST From: Frank da Cruz Subject: New MS-DOS Kermit Book Available Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 Christine M. Gianone, who you know as the editor of the Info-Kermit Digest, Manager of Kermit Development and Distribution at Columbia, designer of recent extensions to the Kermit protocol, author of recent pieces in Data Communications Magazine, PC Week, etc etc, has written a book on MS-DOS Kermit 3.0: "Using MS-DOS Kermit", Digital Press, Bedford, MA (1990). This book includes MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 for the IBM PC family on a 5.25-inch PC diskette. Printing should be complete by early- to mid-February. The short beta-testing period for 3.0 was due to the printing and binding deadline for this book+disk package. Chris's book is quite different from the earlier MS-DOS Kermit manuals. It is tutorial in nature, geared mostly towards the typical non-computer-expert PC user. It includes illustrated step-by-step instructions for program installation and hooking up your cables and modems, an introduction to MS-DOS, and chapters devoted to major Kermit topics including terminal emulation, file transfer, server mode, international character sets, script programming, features for people with disabilities, etc. Every concept is illustrated by examples. A complete command reference is included, along with tables of PC keyboard scan codes, Kermit keyboard verbs, and PC character sets, plus glossary, index, etc. The detailed technical appendices (escape sequences, etc) found in the previous manuals are omitted; this information is (or will be) available in other forms. "Using MS-DOS Kermit" is an excellent introduction to MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 and its new features, and the command summaries and tables also make it a valuable reference. The new book+disk package provides higher-quality documentation to a wider audience. Its tutorial approach will reduce the consulting burden on the organizational help desk. The book will give Kermit software a more "serious" and professional image in the corporate and government sectors, and in the press. Ultimately, the result should be increased popularity for Kermit, new inroads into the mass market, and some badly needed revenue for Kermit Development and Distribution at Columbia to keep the Kermit project alive. See the file MSKERM.HLP for availability and ordering information. Of course, the Kermit software itself remains free, copyable, and sharable, with source code openly available. Online documentation is available too, including: MSKERM.HLP - Expanded summary of MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 features and commands. MSKERM.BWR - The "beware" file, listing limitations, bugs, workarounds. MSR300.UPD - Description of the new features in 3.0. MSKERM.ED - Detailed edit history since 2.32/A. MSVIBM.VT - Description of terminal emulator escape sequences, keys, etc. MSVIBM.TEK - Description of graphics emulation features and escape sequences. MSKERM.DOC - The 2.32/A manual (long). Also .MSS and .PS versions. MS*.ASM,.H - The source code! (very long). All these files are new except for the 2.32/A manual (which still applies, since 3.0 is backwards compatible with 2.32/A). In addition, there are numerous supporting files (contributed script programs, key mapping files for various applications, notes and hints found in the Info-Kermit digest, etc). Those who don't have access to the book should be able to find whatever information they need in these files, and of course can tailor or combine these documents to produce whatever local documentation they need. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Jan 1990 14:13:12 EST From: Christine M Gianone Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 Feedback Wanted Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 How is MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 working for you? We usually hear from you only if you have problems. We'd also like to hear about it when things are OK. Please let us know how you like the new features of 3.0 -- international character sets, VT320 emulation, the new graphics features, sliding windows, etc. Also let us know about any discoveries you have made: how to use the program with local area networks, host graphics applications, character sets, etc, that are not mentioned in the documentation. And of course, your problem reports and suggestions for additional features in future releases are always welcome. And if you have any interesting stories about how you or your organization are using Kermit, please send them in for possible publication in forthcoming issues of Kermit News (yes, the fourth issue is on the way!). ------------------------------