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Text File | 1991-07-23 | 17KB | 356 lines

Opus Terminal A terminal emulation program for the Atari ST. Written by Daniel Ståhl. FidoNet: Daniel Stahl 2:200/409.7 or 2:200/404.7 InterNet: d90ds@efd.lth.se Users manual version 0.5, 910721 by Ilja Hallberg. 1. - Introduction 1.1 Some features 1.2 Hardware requirements 1.3 User support 1.4 Disclaimer 2. - Using Opus terminal 2.1 Modes of operation 2.2 Basic preparations 2.3 Dialling 2.4 Translation table 2.5 File transfer 2.6 Function keys 2.7 Disk capture 2.8 Miscellaneous Appendices I. INT. CHARACTERS II. KEYBOARD EMULATION 1. - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Some features Opus Terminal is mainly designed for communicating with the BBS program OPUS. It correctly interprets all escape sequences, including colour, conforming to ANSI/VT100 or the special OPUS protocol AVATAR. It will use blitter if present or directly address the screen memory in terminal mode, thus making screen redraw very fast even with high speed modems. Opus Terminal has a built in translation table which allows for correct interpretation of language specific characters. 1.2 Hardware requirements You need a Atari ST with a SM124 monochrome monitor or equivalent. Any memory configuration above 500K will do. The program has been tested with TOS 1.0, 1.2, 1.6 (STe) and 2.0. It will probably work with TOS 1.4. You also need a modem. 1.3 User support This program is free. You may use it at home for your own enjoyment. You may also give it to friends or upload it to a bulletin board system, but only as long as all files are included and AS LONG AS NO FEE IS TAKEN IN EXCHANGE. The use of this program in a business or corporation is granted only under special license agreements with the author. If you enjoy the program and decide to use it please send the author a postcard as a tribute to his programming effort. You may also receive the latest version of Opus Terminal by sending an empty formatted diskette in a self addressed envelope to the author, please supply enough international reply coupons to send it back. All bug reports and suggestions are welcomed. The address can be found in the program. 1.4 Disclaimer The author takes no responsibility to whatever happends when using Opus Terminal. You use it at your own risk. The program has been thoroughly tested and if the program turns your computer into a toaster or vice versa, I'm surprised and indeed very sorry. 2. - USING OPUS TERMINAL 2.1 Modes of operation Usage of the program is divided into two modes, menu and terminal mode, you switch between them by pressing <Help>. After startup you enter menu mode. Everything not concerning on-line typing and reading is done here. Terminal mode is used when you want to write something directly to your modem or when a connection to another computer is made. In terminal mode you find a information line at the bottom of the screen: ________________________________________________________________________ OPUS Terminal | Ansi | _______________________ | | 00:00:00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | V | | | | (name) | | | | V | | | (emulation currently in use) | | | | | V | | (last message from modem, ex: CONNECT 2400) | | V | (reserved for expansion) | V (time on-line since connection) You can switch between the modes while receiving, since incoming data from the modem is buffered in a 8 Kbyte buffer. Remember that 8 Kbyte is a lot more than a full screen. The clock will measure time from the moment your modem sends the signal CD (Carrier Detect). Some modem cables exclude this wire, with the obvious result of a non working clock. 2.2 Basic preparations Before using Opus Terminal as a terminal you must configure some settings. All settings can be found under menu item "Settings": "RS232" Set the correct transmission speed between your computer and your modem by selecting the appropriate button. Further you must select the characteristics of the transmission: Flow, parity, number of data bits and number of stop bits. Those charactersistics depend on the computer and modem setup on the other end of the line. "Terminal emulation" Incoming escape sequences are always correctly interpreted whether they are ANSI or AVATAR. However you must select the appropriate mode for Opus Terminal to interpret the non-ASCII characters of the keyboard; you choose if you want to send ANSI or AVATAR sequences. AVATAR is a lot faster than ANSI/VT-100. You must also select the way the screen will be redrawn in terminal mode; either use your blitter if you have one or if not use the fast built in direct memory access ("CPU") mode. When automatic Z-modem is on, Opus terminal will automatically invoke Z-modem download at the request of the computer you have made a connection to. Please remember that ALL parameters found under "Settings" can be saved in a special file under "File" -> "Save settings" for later recall. When Opus terminal is started the file "OPTERM.DAT" will be loaded as default. You can also make a setting for every phone number (see Dialling). 2.3 Dialling To dial a number you enter menu "Function" and click on item "Dialer". A dialog box containing names, phone numbers and some additional data will open. To make a call you simply select a name with the mouse and press the button "Dial". The program will then turn into terminal mode and try to make a connection. Leaving the dialog without making a call is done by pressing "OK". To change or add a number you select a name and press the box "Edit". You will now be able to change the following: name - Simply the name of the person, BBS or mainframe that you want to store. Ex. "R. T. Nixon", "Ragnarök BBS", "CIA". phone number - The dial string of your modem followed by the phone number. If your modem is Hayes compatible the dial string will probably be "at dt". Ex. "at dt 90510". Please consult your modem manual for the correct dial string. setting - Every number can have its own settings file which will be loaded every time you make a call, thus making Opus terminal adjust itself correctly for different numbers. Of course you can use one settings file for many numbers. Ex. "SETTINGS.DAT", "JOHN.DAT", "NORMAL.DAT". reset - init - For every name there is a specific phone number and setting. This is however not true to "reset" and "init" which are the same for all numbers. Before every call a reset and a init string will be sent to the modem. Ex. reset: "atz", init: "atm0" (turn off the internal loudspeaker). Please consult your modem manual for the appropriate strings to send. You end editing the number by pressing the "Edit" box once more (the checkmark will disappear). The changes you have made will disappear when quitting the program, you must therefore save them to disk. This is done under menu item "File" -> "Save dialer". When Opus terminal is started it will load "OPTERM.DIA" as default. 2.4 Translation table The ASCII protocol for text representation does not include some extra characters found in the scandinavian languages, german and french (just counting some languages using roman letters) and that is a shame. As a late entry some of the letters in the end of the ASCII "alphabet" has been redefined to include these letters, giving a new definition for every language (see the appendices). Opus terminal uses the translation table to change incoming or outgoing ASCII codes, which only covers letters 0-127, to any of 0-255 possible representations on the screen. Ex. in swedish [ \ ] { | } are used for representing Ä Ö Å ä ö å. To get correct transmission and representation of these letters, you use the translation table to turn letters 91-93 and 123-125 to 142,153,143 and 132,148,134 when receiving (in lo, in hi). You do the same backwards when sending (out lo, out, hi). The problem will still remain when you wish to use the original ASCII letters simultaneously with the nation specific ones, as in a non-english fido C-echo. As Opus terminal does not use the atari internal character set for representing letters and "letter-graphics" on the screen you must consult the appendices before changing the translation table. 2.5 File transfer For the program to work properly with in- and outgoing files you must tell it where to put and get all the files; that is done under "Settings" -> "Path / Transfer". After "Dload" and "Capture" you put the correct path to where you want your downloaded files and where the capture buffer should be dumped when full. Everytime you choose to make an upload you will be presented a file selector box with the default starting directory set according to what you put after "Upload". You can also give the file selector box a mask other than "*.*" to exclude all but some specific files, i. e. files with the same extension. Since all file transfers are done with external protocols (except ASCII send which only "dumps" a file on the line) you must also tell Opus terminal where to look for these. You have the option of using Z-, X- or Y-modem. For each protocol you must set the path to the receive and send modules. When the module is invoked it must be given a command to work properly. An example: [ Z modem ] Send : .\TRANS\SZ.PRG Command: # Receive: .\TRANS\RZ.PRG Command: -e The "#" character is replaced with the file (or files) chosen in the file selector box before making an upload. ".\" expands to the full path from where Opus terminal is started (if Opus terminal is located at "A:\OT\" then RZ.PRG and SZ.PRG should in the above example be put at "A:\OT\TRANS\"). Which command to use is specific to each module. By selecting the "E" box all error messages sent by the module will be shown, otherwise error messages will be suppressed. Some protocols allow foz batch file processing i. e. many files sent in a row. By selecting the"B" box you will bepreseNted a new file selector box for each new file chosen for upload. Select "cancel" when you are done and the program will showáa list of all the chosen files, askingáyou to confirm the selection. Z-modem is the fastest and most reeble protocol, then Y- and X- modem. 2.6 Function keys IECT 2400) | | V | (reserved for expansion) | V (time on-line since connection) You can switch between the modes while receiving, since incoming data from the modem is buffered in a 8 Kbyte buffer. Remember that 8 Kbyte is a lot more than a full screen. The clock will measure time from the moment your modem sends the signal CD (Carrier Detect). Some modem cables exclude this wire, with the obvious result of a non working clock. 2.2 Basic preparations Before using Opus Terminal as a terminal you must configure some settings. All settings can be found under menu item "Settings": "RS232" Set the correct transmission speed between your computer and your modem by selecting the appropriate button. Further you must select the characteristics of the transmission: Flow, parity, number of data bits and number of stop bits. Those charactersistics depend on the computer and modem setup on the other end of the line. "Terminal emulation" Incoming escape sequences are always correctly interpreted whether they are ANSI or AVATAR. However you must select the appropriate mode for Opus Terminal to interpret the non-ASCII characters of the keyboard; you choose if you want to send ANSI or AVATAR sequences. AVATAR is a lot faster than ANSI/VT-100. You must also select the way the screen will be redrawn in terminal mode; either use your blitter if you have one or if not use the fast built in direct memory access ("CPU") mode. When automatic Z-modem is on, Opus terminal will automatically invoke Z-modem download at the request of the computer you have made a connection to. Please remember that ALL parameters found under "Settings" can be saved in a special file under "File" -> "Save settings" for later recall. When Opus terminal is started the file "OPTERM.DAT" will be loaded as default. You can also make a setting for every phone number (see Dialling). 2.3 Dialling To dial a number you enter menu "Function" and click on item "Dialer". A dialog box containing names, phone numbers and some additional data will open. To make a call you simply select a name with the mouse and press the button "Dial". The program will then turn into terminal mode and try to make a connection. Leaving the dialog without making a call is done by pressing "OK". To change or add a number you select a name and press the box "Edit". You will now be able to change the following: name - Simply the name of the person, BBS or mainframe that you want to store. Ex. "R. T. Nixon", "Ragnarök BBS", "CIA". phone number - The dial string of your modem followed by the phone number. If your modem is Hayes compatible the dial string will probably be "at dt". Ex. "at dt 90510". Please consult your modem manual for the correct dial string. setting - Every number can have its own settings file which will be loaded every time you make a call, thus making Opus terminal adjust itself correctly for different numbers. Of course you can use one settings file for many numbers. Ex. "SETTINGS.DAT", "JOHN.DAT", "NORMAL.DAT". reset - init - For every name there is a specific phone number and setting. This is however not true to "reset" and "init" which are the same for all numbers. Before every call a reset and a init string will Arrow Arrow PgDn Num 3 PgUp Num 9 Home Clr Home End Num 1 Ins Ins or Num 0 Del Del or Num . F1-F10 F1-F10 F11-F20 Shift F1-F10 F21-F30 Ctrl F1-F10 F31-F40 Alt F1-F10 Ctrl PrtSc Ctrl Num - Alt 1-9,0,-,= Alt 1-9,0,+,é (may differ depending on country)