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1994-04-26
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Softerm Modular Communications and Terminal Emulation
WREAD.TXT - Documentation Supplement
April 25, 1994
This Windows Notepad file contains changes and additions to the printed manual.
To obtain a hardcopy of this information, print the READ.ME file using a command
similar to:
COPY READ.ME LPT1
Everything in this text file may not be applicable to your Communication/Terminal
Emulation needs. However, we recommend that you at least scan through the "Changes to
Softerm Plus" topics (Section 2).
Contents:
1. Install Procedure
2. Changes to Softerm Plus
- Toolbars and Button Bars
- RipTerm 1.54 Supprt
- Importing Softerm 2.x Databases
- Multimedia Support
- Mark/Copy -> Transmit to host feature
- Drag & Drop file uploading
- Hot Spots on the monitor
- New Paste option
3. Nationality Object Character Representations
4. New Modems Added
5. Asynchronous TCP/IP Support
*****
1. Installing Softerm Plus (Un-registered Shareware)
-----------------------
Run the SETUP.EXE program to install Softerm Plus. You will also have
the option to install the Softerm TCP/IP SLIP Kernel. The Setup Program
will create Softerm Plus Group and Program Entries.
NOTE: If you choose to install the SLIP Kernel, the following lines will
be added to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
SET TCPOPEN=C:\SOFTERM
SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\SOFTERM
CALL LOADTCP
Step-by-Step Installation Instructions
1. Create a subdirectory on your hard drive using a command similar to the
following:
MD SOFTERM
2. Unzip the Softerm Plus Zip file(s) into this subdirectory.
3. Load Windows (Version 3.1 or higher)
4. From the Windows Program Manager "File" pulldown menu, select RUN.
5. Type C:\SOFTERM\SETUP and click OK
6. Click OK on the initial dialog box to begin the installation.
7. You wil be asked if you wish to install the Softerm SLIP Kernel.
Select Yes or No.
8. When installation is complete, reboot your machine if you installed
the Softerm SLIP Kernel. (Otherwise, proceed to step 9)
9. Installation is now complete! Double-click on the Softerm Plus icon
to start Softerm.
Additional Notes:
If you would like to create a Softerm Icon that Starts a specified
Session, for example an Icon that will start Softerm Plus and
connects to Compuserve;
Create a new program with in the Softerm Plus Group giving the
full path and program name followed by the Session Name and "/p";
C:\SOFTERM\SOFTERM.EXE "CompuServe"/p
If the Session is in a deferent Database file than the default,
(Last Database file opened), then add the database file
name to the command line arguments;
C:\SOFTERM\SOFTERM.EXE MYDATABS.MDB "CompuServe"/p
*****
2. Changes to Softerm Plus
-----------------------
1. Toolbars and Button Bars
The following Toolbars/Button Bars have been added to Softerm:
o Button Toolbar
o Connection Toolbar
o User-Defined Toolbar
o Softerm Status Toolbar
o Terminal Emulation Status Bar
Any combination of toolbars may be active simultaneously.
A. Button Toolbar
The Button Toolbar is an extension of the Softerm Plus
menu for quick access to the most commonly used menu
options.
The Toolbar Icons represent the following menu options:
(From left to right) Connect(Dial), Disconnect (Hangup),
Copy to Host, Copy to Clipboard, Paste to screen, Upload,
Download, Screen Snapshot, Scrollback, Start Script, Keyboard
Remap, Perform Keyboard Function, Record Keyboard Function,
Reset Terminal (Clear Screen), and Help
Also on the Button Toolbar is the Transmit/Receive Status
Indicator. This was designed to emulate the Transmit and
Receive Data LED's on most external modems. This may assist
you if you have an internal modem, or if you are troubleshooting
a comm port or modem related problem.
Choose the "Toolbars..." menu option from the Options menu to
turn this Toolbar on or off.
B. Connection Toolbar
The Connection Toolbar allows you to easily change Connection
Path Object options. The following settings can be modified
from the Connection Toolbar:
Com Port, Baud Rate, Data Bits/Stop Bits/Parity, Transmit Pacing,
and Receive Pacing. Use the "Save" button on this toolbar to save
any modified settings.
Choose the "Toolbars..." menu option from the Options menu to
turn this Toolbar on or off.
C. User-Defined Button Toolbar
The User-Defined tool bar allows you to define a function and
label the functions on the buttons. This tool bar has Up and
Down "spin" buttons on the right hand side to allow you to scroll
through/define up to 24 different buttons.
Defining a button is simple. Simply click on the button you wish
to define, and the Define Button Function dialog will appear. Click
on the Help button for detailed help on defining button functions.
Choose the "Toolbars..." menu option from the Options menu to
turn this Toolbar on or off.
NOTE: Be sure to choose "Save window" from the options menu to save
your button definitions.
D. Softerm Status Toolbar
The Softerm Status Bar serves as both a status indicator and
Button Toolbar. The buttons on this toolbar toggle the "on
and off" states of the appropriate buttons.
Of special note is the "Mark on/off" button. It serves as both
a "toggle switch" to turn the Mark capability off and on.
In the down position, mark mode is off. Mouse clicks on the
screen will not mark text or transmit data to the host or clipboard.
In the up (default) position, the Mark button's "LED" indicator will
be "lit" when text is marked. If you experience a signifigant pause
in your terminal emulation, check this indicator to see if you
accidentally clicked on the terminal emulation window and initiated
mark mode.
To turn this toolbar option on or off, choose the "Terminal Emulation
Object..." menu option from the Settings menu. Double-click on the
"Status Line Definition" in the list box.
E. Terminal Emulation Status Bar
This Button Bar will change based on your current terminal emulation.
It will allow you to toggle/change options that are available on the
actual terminal that you are emulating.
To turn this toolbar option on or off, choose the "Terminal Emulation
Object..." menu option from the Settings menu. Double-click on the
"Status Line Definition" in the list box.
2. RipTerm 1.54 Supprt
The RIP emulation window can be resized at any time, up to a maximum
of 640x350 pixels. The emulation performs best at this (maximized) size. If
you are running Softerm on a slower 386 machine, you may want to use a
16 color video driver for optimum performance.
If you experience problems with the RipTerm emulation (flood fills
don't appear to work correctly, or the emulation locks up) try using
a different Windows video driver. The Rip Emulation functions best
using an 800x600 resolution, 256 color mode.
"Color Cycling" is ignored unless you are in a 256 color mode.
3. Importing Softerm 2.x Object Databases
Importing an older Softerm Database is simple. Just copy the .MDB
file into the Softerm Plus directory. Follow any on-screen prompts
the next time Softerm Plus is run.
4. Multimedia Support
Softerm Plus supports all multimedia formats and devices available to you in Windows.
To attach sound, video, or animation to functions or operations in Softerm, select
"Sound..." from the Options menu from either the Session Manager or Terminal
Emulation windows. The options available on the Multimedia configuration dialog
allow you to change existing configurations, remove existing multimedia events,
and test multimedia events. Simply click on the appropriate dialog button. You may
also globally enable or disable all multimedia events from this dialog.
NOTE: Be sure to select "Save Window" from the option menu to save any changes you
make to the multimedia configuration.
5. Mark/Copy -> Transmit to host feature
Now you can mark a section of text using your mouse and
transmit it to the host. If it is a single character,
like 'x', double click on it. That will send it. If it
is a block of text, mark it off with the mouse, click on
the EDIT menu, and select transmit to host. The block
will be received at the other end of the connection.
This is defined under Settings, System Environment, and then
select Edit Action Options. From there you can set up how
you want the transmission to be formatted, and where you
want it to go.
6. Drag & Drop file uploading
This allows you to drag a file out of the File Manager
in Windows, and drop it into the window in which you are
connected, and it will upload the file to your host. Note,
you must be at the place on your host where you can do that!
Uses default session protocol, if none, it uses the
character protocol.
7. Hot Spots on the monitor
If you are on a service that asks you to press (Enter) to
continue, all you have to do is double click on a blank
area of the screen. That will send a carriage return to
the other end. It will also send entire words, finding the
beginning and the end of the word. By double clicking on
that word, it will transmit it to the host or to clipboard,
dependant upon how it is configured. It can also transmit
an entire page of text, by highlighting it with the mouse,
then clicking somewhere inside of that block, and it will
be transmitted. Refer to item #5 for defining the settings
for this option.
8. New Paste option
You can now cut & paste from outside files, using Shift-
Delete, Ctrl-Insert, and Shift-Insert keys. As well as
the Edit menu. This item is defined with the EDIT menu.
This will work *only* for TEXT.
*****
3. Nationality Object Character Representations
---------------------------------------------
If you use the Nationality object to remap incoming or outgoing
characters, you may see character descriptions which appear
similar to:
Character Description Hexadecimal
[VT] NOTE:See READ.ME 0BH
These characters cannot be displayed within the menu system. Locate the
Hexadecimal value in the following list for a description of how the
character is translated or print the READ.ME file which also displays the
actual character:
Hex Description
001H Single Line Horizontal
002H Single Line Vertical
003H Single Line Upper Left Corner
004H Single Line Upper Right Corner
005H Single Line Lower Left Corner
006H Single Line Lower Right Corner
007H Single Line Cross
008H Single Line Junction Left
009H Single Line Junction Right
00AH Single Line Junction Top
00BH Single Line Junction Bottom
00CH Double Line Horizontal
00DH Double Line Vertical
00EH Double Line Upper Left Corner
00FH Double Line Upper Right Corner
010H Double Line Lower Left Corner
011H Double Line Lower Right Corner
012H Double Line Cross
013H Double Line Junction Left
014H Double Line Junction Right
015H Double Line Junction Top
016H Double Line Junction Bottom
017H Communications Error Character
018H Up Arrow
019H Down Arrow
01AH Right Arrow
01BH Left Arrow
01CH Solid Block
01DH Solid Block, Lower Half
01EH Solid Block, Upper Half
01FH Solid Middle Block
087H Single To Double Upper Left Corner
088H Single To Double Upper Right Corner
089H Single To Double Lower Left Corner
08AH Single To Double Lower Right Corner
08BH Single To Double Cross
08CH Single To Double Junction Left
08DH Single To Double Junction Right
08EH Single To Double Junction Top
08FH Single To Double Junction Bottom
093H Solid Block, Left Half
094H Solid Block, Right Half
095H Greater Than Or Equal To
096H Less Than Or Equal To
097H Double To Single Upper Left Corner
098H Double To Single Upper Right Corner
099H Double To Single Lower Left Corner
09AH Double To Single Lower Right Corner
09BH Double To Single Cross
09CH Double To Single Junction Left
09DH Double To Single Junction Right
09EH Double To Single Junction Top
09FH Double To Single Junction Bottom
******
4. New modems added
----------------
The following modem options have been added:
AT&T DataPort 14.4
Bocamodem M1440 series
INTEL SatisFAXtion Modem/Fax
Practical Peripherals 14400FXSA V.32bis
USRobotics Sportster 14,400
Zoom Modem VX-V.32bis
Zyxel U-1496 Fax/Modem
These modems, like any other high speed modem running at
baud rates greater than 9600 require RTS/CTS pacing. To
select pacing, go into your Connection Path object settings
Dialog and select the Pacing option. In the Pacing dialog,
set Transmit pacing to CTS and receive pacing to RTS and
re-save your Connection Path Object.
NOTE: When doing communications at baud rates greater than
9600, you will need communications cards or internal
modems that use 16550 UART. To enable 16650 UART under
Windows, Read your Windows user manual and add the
following to your SYSTEM.INI file under [386ENH]
COM1FIFO=1
COM2FIFO=1
COM3FIFO=1
COM4FIFO=1
******
5. Asynchronous Tcp/Ip Support
---------------------------
Throughout this section "{INSTALLDIR}" refers to the base
directory that this product was installed in.
Asynchronous Tcp/Ip support (commonly referred to as SLIP,
serial line interface protocol) is achieved by installing
the SLIP Tcp/Ip kernel (TCPIP_SL.EXE) before the execution
of WINDOWS and configuring a Softerm Plus session with a
Softerm SLIP connection path.
This SLIP support provides Softerm Plus with the capability
to dial into a remote system or network that supports the Tcp/Ip
protocol and establish a TELNET terminal session. The INTERNET
is one such network that is becoming increasingly popular and it
is usually necessary to sign up for a network service prior to
being able to use that network.
Softerm SLIP session can be configured to seamlessly integrate
the following tasks that need to be performed before the Tcp/Ip
protocol can be utilised to establish a TELNET session:-
o initialize the local modem
o dial a remote system or network
o execute a series of batch commands to:-
o automate a login process
o request the remote to enter SLIP (Tcp/Ip) mode
o scan the received asynchronous data stream for various
Ip addresses that the local PC is to use during the
current connection
o automatically disconnect the modem when the Tcp/Ip
connection is terminated
Since the local asynchronous communications port will be accessed
and controlled by the Tcp/Ip kernel, WINDOWS and WINDOWS based
applications must be prevented from also attempting to access this
port. To accomplish this, one of the following sets of two lines
must be added to the [386Enh] section of the WINDOWS SYSTEM.INI
file:-
COM1IRQ=-1
COM1BASE=0
or
COM2IRQ=-1
COM2BASE=0
The SLIP Tcp/Ip kernel configuration is defined in the file
"{INSTALLDIR}\SETUP\NETINFO" and is setup assuming that the
remote system or network will dynamically provide the information
that is to be used for the duration of the connection. If this
inforamtin has been permanently assigned, it will be necessary
to edit the follwing lines in the NETINFO file:-
IPADDRESS=0.0.0.0
IPGATEWAY=0.0.0.0
SUBNETBITS=0
where:-
IPADDRESS specifies the local PC's IP address
IPGATEWAY specifies the IP address of the default IP gateway or
router to which the Tcp/Ip kernel will send all packets for
delivery to their ultimate destination
SUBNETBITS specifies the number of bits used as the subnet ID
for example:-
IPADDRESS=192.148.174.50
IPGATEWAY=192.148.174.49
SUBNETBITS=4
These items are usually assigned when a service is subscribed to.
When a Softerm SLIP session object is created the TELNET destination
address can be specified as either an Ip address or a name. When
a name is used the Tcp/Ip kernel must itself resolve this name to
an Ip address. This name resolution is accomplished by first
accessing a Domain Name Server on the network that has been dialed
into and if that fails by accessing the "{INSTALLDIR}\ETC\HOSTS"
file and perfoming a lookup translation. A sample HOSTS file is
included with this product.
To use a Domain Name Server for host name resolution the following
two lines should be added to the NETINFO file:-
DOMAIN=name
NSIPADDRESS=ipaddress
where:-
DOMAIN specifies the name of the domain for the remote system or
network that will be dialed
NSIPADDRESS specifies the IP address of the Domain Name Server
for example:-
DOMAIN=csn
NSIPADDRESS=128.138.213.21
If it is required that name resolution be performed using the
local HOST lookup file, these two lines shoud be removed from the
NETINFO file.
Definitions for use of the locally attached modem are maintained
in the file "{INSTALLDIR}\ETC\MODEMS". This MODEMS file may
contain multiple entries (typically for different connection
baud rates) and an example file is included with this product.
When a Softerm SLIP connection path object is created, an entry
from this file can be selected within the communications parameters
dialog.
Definitions for the phone numbers of remote systems and networks
and their associated batch commands are maintained in the file
"{INSTALLDIR}\SETUP\PHONES". This PHONES file will typically
contain multiple entries and an example file is included with
this product. When a Softerm SLIP connection path object is created,
an entry from this file can be selected within the dial parameters
dialog. Each PHONES file entry may have one or more of the
following batch commands associated with it in order for the
previously mentioned functions to be performed:-
SEND string[CR]
WAITFOR string SEND reply[CR]
WAITFOR_IP string
WAITFOR_NETMASK string
WAITFOR_GATEWAY string
SLIPMODE
where:
[CR] represents a carriage return character in a transmit string.
[LF] may be used to represent a linefeed character in a transmit
string.
The SEND keyword defines a string that is to be transmitted as soon
as a carrer signal is detected from the remote system or network
during connection establishment.
The WAITFOR keyword defines a string that when detected in the
receive data stream causes the associated SEND string to be
transmitted to the remote system or network.
The WAITFOR_IP, WAITFOR_NETMASK, WAITFOR_GATEWAY keywords define
lead-in strings for the local Ip address, local Ip address mask
or remote gateway Ip address respectively. When one of these
lead-in stings has been detected in the receive data stream the
receive data is further scanned for the first Ip address, in
dotted notation. When a valid Ip address has been received, that
address will be used by the kernel for all subsequent Tcp/Ip
operations. These lead-in strings only need to define a unique
string that precedes an Ip address somewhere in the receive data
stream, they do not have to define the string immediately preceding
the Ip address.
for example, the batch command 'WAITFOR_IP your' will set the
local Ip address to '192.94.51.28' when the following string is
received:-
Annex address is 198.243.36.253. Your address is 192.94.51.28.
The SLIPMODE keyword causes the Tcp/Ip kernel to be put into SLIP
mode and execution of batch commands to be terminated. This
command is executed when the immediately preceding batch command
has been executed. If there is no preceding batch command, the
SLIPMODE command is executed as soon as the carrier signal is
detected from the remote system or network.
A single SLIP connection will support multiple Softerm SLIP
sessions, but the phone number configured within those sessions
must be the same for each. Once a SLIP connection has been made,
each Softerm SLIP session will proceed to the TELNET establishment
phase. The SLIP connection will be terminated when the last
Softerm SLIP session is terminated.
WSCM.EXE
--------
WSCM.EXE (Slip Connection Manager) is a stand alone utility for
execution under WINDOWS that can be used to dial and/or hangup
a connection to a remote Tcp/Ip system or network. It performs
exactly the same functionality as a Softerm SLIP session up to
the point of establishing a TELNET session. In addition it will
display all received data and thus is a convenient utility for
the development and testing of those batch commands necessary to
automate SLIP connection establishment.
WPING.EXE
---------
WPING.EXE (Host Availability Query Program) is a stand alone
utility for execution under WINDOWS that can be used to test the
availablility of a host (by name or Ip address) on the network.
WSCM should be used to establish a connection into a network and
WPING can then be used to test if a particular host is available.
******