Pretzel is a simple Prestel terminal emulator. It supports the following:
• Standard Prestel alphanumerics
• Contiguous and non-contiguous mosaics
• Blast-through characters
• Flashing cursor + cursor on/off
• Standard Prestel keypad
• Auto-dial modems
and incorporates the following additional features:
• Customisable user buttons
• Standard Macintosh cut, copy & paste (text)
• Pretzel 9 and 18 point font for editing and printing of Prestel frames with any Macintosh text editor which supports different fonts
• Cursor keys (Mac Plus keyboard or old numeric keypad)
• Works with all known Macintosh models
It does not (as yet) support:
• Double height characters
• Flashing characters
• Hide/Reveal
• Auto identification
New in version 1.71:
• Configurable baud rate (300..9600)
New in version 1.72:
• Support for Scandinavian VIDEOTEX
New in version 1.723:
• Support for 19200 baud
• Pretzel font ID is no longer hard-coded
New in version 1.725:
• Cosmetic improvements for System 7.0
INSTALLATION
In order for Pretzel to work properly you must install the Pretzel 9 font in your System file. Note: if you want high quality printing then you should also install the Pretzel 18 font in the System file.
NB: If you intend to access Prestel using V23 (1200/75 baud) then your modem must be capable of converting the 1200/75 split baud rate to 1200/1200. Most 'intelligent' modems are capable of doing this, but some older models may not have this capability. In any case, it is preferable to operate at V22 (1200/1200 baud) if your modem and Prestel node support it.
OPERATION
Opening Pretzel presents a window with the Prestel screen occupying the left 2/3 of the screen and a number of buttons on the right. The top 12 buttons make up the standard Prestel keypad, and below this are 10 special purpose buttons:
• 'Dial' - generates the dial sequence for your modem (eg ATD8541<cr>)
• 'Log On' - sends your Prestel ID (eg 4444444444)
•'Password' - sends your Prestel password (eg 4444)
•'Feedback' - initiates sending of a message to the author of the program (*77_919994421_) for bug reports, suggested improvements etc
• 'Log Off' - tells Prestel you have finished (*90_)
• '6'..'10' are additional, customisable buttons which may be configured for dialling other services, fast access of favourite pages, electronic signature, or any other function you can think of.
(NOTE: All 10 buttons are customisable with a resource editor such as ResEdit - both the title of the button and the corresponding string which it sends may be changed)
IMPORTANT: Make sure when you give away a copy of Pretzel that it is a copy of the original and not your customised version, otherwise you may be giving away your Prestel ID!
CONFIGURATION
To configure Pretzel with your own Prestel ID etc, you will need a copy of ResEdit. Open a copy of Pretzel with ResEdit and then open the 'STR ' resource type. You should see 12 strings listed: '1' to '10', 'InitModem' and 'BaudRate'. Strings '1' to '10' correspond to the 10 strings sent by the 10 Pretzel buttons ('Dial', 'Log On', etc), 'InitModem' is the string sent to the modem when Pretzel is first opened (eg: 'ATZ'), and 'BaudRate' is the baud rate which Pretzel will communicate at. Normally this will be set to '1200' but you may change it to any valid baud rate in the range 300 to 9600 baud. Having customised the strings to your requirements, close the modified copy of Pretzel and save changes.
EDIT MENU
When Pretzel is active you may use the standard commands Cut, Copy and Paste (and their keyboard equivalents) from the Edit menu.
Cut and Copy are identical and simply copy the current screen contents to the clipboard - this may then be pasted into MacWrite, Edit, Scrapbook or whatever. Provided you have the Pretzel font in your System file you can treat Prestel pages just like ordinary text (this applies to Prestel text and graphics equally - the graphics are simply produced with special characters in the Pretzel font).
Paste works a little differently - you can only use it to paste short pieces of text (up to 255 characters long) which are then transmitted via the modem - this is useful for pasting Mailbox numbers or short messages only. Do not try to paste Prestel pages back into Pretzel or the result will just be a mess! Also note that text to be pasted into messages should not contain carriage returns as these are treated oddly by Prestel (use the Note Pad to prepare messages and let it wrap the text for you, ie. don't use carriage returns).
Hardware handshaking (CTS) is enabled during Paste.
Here is an example of a Prestel page copied from Pretzel and pasted into another application:
KNOWN BUGS
The Pretzel font used to have the same ID as the Boston II font. From version 1.6 onwards, however, the Pretzel font ID has been changed (from 128 to 144) and there should no longer be a clash of ID's. If you have an earlier version of Pretzel then you should remove the old Pretzel fonts from the System file and then install the new ones.
LaserWriter printing is reported to be rather slow - I am looking for someone with a LaserWriter and Fontographer to produce a Laser version of the Pretzel fonts - any offers?
Possible future enhancements
Point-and-click at a character on the display screen to transmit it - eg. if part of the screen reads:
KEY 1 FOR MAIN INDEX
then clicking on the 1 will get you to the main index...
Utility program to do the customisation for you - a small program to help you set up the 10 buttons with your own Prestel ID, dialling strings, password etc. rather than having to rely on ResEdit, which not everyone has a copy of or feels happy about using...
Ability to save screens as text files with the Prestel page number as a title - not strictly necessary since you can do this with Cut and Paste but might be more convenient for some users.
Interface to MacInTalk - I have already tested a version of Pretzel which uses MacInTalk to 'speak' Prestel frames (not the graphics of course, just the text!). The only use I can think of for this would be for a blind person who wanted access to Prestel or other service, hence this feature will not be implemented as standard but may be available as an option if anyone has a good use for it.
Special note for Scandinavian users
From version 1.72 onwards there is some support for non-UK keyboards and character sets. All you will need is a modified version of the Pretzel fonts in order for the special Scandinavian characters to display properly - you can either do this yourself with a font editor, or write to:
Kjell Olsson
Lillgatan 18
S-830 80 Hoting
SWEDEN
REGISTRATION
This program was not written as a commercial venture but considerable effort has been put into its creation and so I ask that if you find it useful you show your appreciation by contributing a small amount of cash to the relief of world hunger.
If this program is useful to you then the deal is this:
• make a donation (#10, say) to OXFAM or other charity
• send a copy of the receipt to the author
You are then registered as a Pretzel user and will be eligible for future updates to the program and on-line support from the author.
COPYRIGHT
This program was written by Paul Russell, ARC Electronics, during 1986/1987. Early versions were compiled under the TML Systems Pascal compiler. The current version was compiled under MPW Pascal 3.2b12. It may not be sold. It may, however, be freely distributed in its original unmodified form provided that this documentation accompanies it, and that no charge is made, other than a nominal charge for media and postage.
THE AUTHOR
Paul Russell
ARC Electronics
14 Terminus Street
Brighton
BN1 3PE
Prestel MBX 919994421
OXFAM
OXFAM
274, Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 7DZ
ADVERTISEMENT
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