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======================================================================== CHAPTER 9 Connect to CompuServe ======================================================================== In this chapter we cover the Magic of TAPCIS--its ability to go online and get the information you want, without your intervention. Each connection to CompuServe is initiated by you; TAPCIS will not connect on its own. You do this by choosing one of the Connect menu choices--typically by pressing one of the single letter hotkeys such as [N] for Connect | New In box. We will also briefly cover "interactive" use of CompuServe. In this mode you can explore CompuServe on your own, especially the free basic services areas and non-forum extended service areas that do not lend themselves to automation. Before you can connect to CompuServe, you will need to configure the modem, phone number, user name, user ID, and password. For automated use of CompuServe, you will also need to set up Mail and any forums and services you want TAPCIS to process. These steps are covered in Chapter 1, Quick Start, and in the detailed reference information available in Chapter 10, Setup. See also: Connect Menu--9-1 B+ Protocol--9-12 Automated Sessions--9-5 Logging--9-11 Interactive Use Latin1--9-11 of CompuServe--9-8 Mouse Support--9-13 Conferencing/Chat--9-10 Frequently Asked Questions--9-14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Connect Menu Through the Connect Menu, you instruct TAPCIS to go online to CompuServe and do the work of retrieving and delivering information. No other TAPCIS commands actually cause the program to exchange data with CompuServe. For example, when you "release" a message to be sent, the message remains in the "Out box" until you tell TAPCIS to communicate with CompuServe through one of the Connect options. Important notes: The Connect options New In box [N], Out box [O], Read waiting [Ctrl+R], Visit waiting [Ctrl+V], and Mail waiting [Ctrl+M] process *all* transactions in the Out box except for those that are individually held (H) or that belong to a Connect to CompuServe 9-1 forums/service that is held. A transaction need not belong to a forum/service that is active and listed in the forums/services box to be included in the online session. The connection aspects of TAPCIS are handled by the program module T6COM.EXE which TAPCIS6.EXE calls as necessary. You need not concern yourself with this process. Connect Commands --- All of these Connect commands (except for Connect | Go Interactive [I] and Connect | Simple terminal [!]) direct TAPCIS to do "automated" tasks. Connect | New In box [N] or [Alt+C][N] Once you have set up mail, forums, and services, they will appear in the forums/services box on the main screen. The Connect | New In box command (press [N] from the main menu) is designed to automatically start an online session that gets new messages, headers, and library catalog updates. This command also processes any Out box transactions. This is the command you use to "start the day." After it completes, you should have transactions in the In box. Highlight an In box transaction and press [Enter] to "use" the information. If something unexpected happens, remember that: 1) If you don't have any active forums/services (displayed in the Forums/Services box without "H" (held) next to them), TAPCIS won't have anything to do that is "new." 2) You may have set the frequency on a forum/service to be other than "New." In that case, an online session may not end up visiting that particular forum or service during each New session (see Setup | Forums). Connect | Out box [O] or [Alt+C][O] This command processes the transactions that are shown in the Out box, ignoring any that are held (H), or have errors (E). Use Connect | Out box [O] after you have: 1) Marked headers and want to get the corresponding messages; 2) Specified library searches, downloads, and uploads; 3) Written messages you want to send; 4) Asked for other tasks to be performed, as shown in Out box transactions. TAPCIS connects to CompuServe, performs the transactions shown in the Out box, then disconnects and returns to the main menu--automatically. 9-2 Connect to CompuServe Connect | Read waiting [Ctrl+R] or [Alt+C][R] This command works like Connect | Out box to process transactions in the Out box, except it also handles messages in Mail and messages addressed to your user ID in forums that are active in the forums/services box. How TAPCIS handles the waiting messages is governed by the Waiting Messages option under Setup | Forums | Defaults and under the setup for each individual forum (Setup | Forums | Edit). Note that if Waiting messages is set to Ignore in the settings, you will not get the text of the waiting forum messages using Connect | Read waiting or Connect | Visit waiting. Connect | Visit waiting [Ctrl+V] or [Alt+C][V] Like the Connect | Read waiting command, Connect | Visit waiting [Ctrl+V] handles waiting messages. This command only handles them in Mail and/or forums that are already scheduled to be visited because they have other Out box transactions that need to be processed. For example, let's say you have MAIL, TAPCIS, and CRFORUM active in your Forums/Services box, and just an outgoing message to the TAPCIS forum in your Out box. Connect | Read waiting will get waiting messages in MAIL, TAPCIS, and CRFORUM, and post the message from the Out box while it visits TAPCIS Forum. Connect | Visit waiting will go to the TAPCIS Forum only, post the message, and retrieve waiting messages (if any) from the TAPCIS Forum. Connect | Mail waiting [Ctrl+M] or [Alt+C][M] If you want to have all Out box transactions performed, as well as have new incoming CompuServe Mail processed, use Connect | Mail waiting [Ctrl+M]. You can use this command as a replacement for Connect | Out box [O] so that you always retrieve any waiting CompuServe Mail when you go online. Connect | Mail only [Ctrl+Y] or [Alt+C][Y] This specialty command performs Out box transactions for Mail *only*, as well as processing new incoming mail (if any). No forums or services will be visited. If there are no Out box transactions for Mail, it will still log on and check for new incoming mail. Connect | Go Interactive [I] or [Alt+C][I] By "interactive", TAPCIS means that it will open the port, dial CompuServe, log in, go to the Mail area (which is free, under the Standard Billing Plan), and then turn the controls over to you. You can explore, type commands, capture information, explore menus, etc. It lets you visit areas of CompuServe that TAPCIS does not automate. After login, TAPCIS will tell you that it is entering terminal mode. From the Mail! prompt, type "GO TOP" to get to the main CompuServe Menu, or "GO GATEWAY:PAGE" to jump to a particular service (e.g., GO ZNT:NEW). Connect to CompuServe 9-3 We refer to this as "terminal mode." In the good ol' days, one used a dumb terminal to type in commands and responses by hand for all operations. Now, for most operations, the TAPCIS "autopilot" does the work of entering the commands, navigating to different areas, storing the information on disk, and logging off. Exploring in terminal mode can be fun, especially in the free "basic services" areas. Connect | Simple terminal [!] or [Alt+C][T] Simple terminal opens the communications port and lets you type commands directly to the modem. This is used primarily for diagnostic purposes. You go into simple terminal and type commands to the modem to see if it responds (e.g., Type AT and press [Enter] and see if the modem responds OK). No response may indicate that the modem is off, that the correct COM port has not been selected, that there is an IRQ conflict, etc. (See Setup | Modem). Connection Options --- These are menu items you can toggle on (first character changes to an asterisk (*)) and off (first character shows as an underscore (_)) by selecting the menu choice. *When turned on, they stay in effect until you exit TAPCIS or turn them off.* Connect | _Stay online [Alt+C][S] Tells TAPCIS that once it is done with its processing work online, the controls should be turned over to you (interactive, terminal mode). Alternatively, you can activate the "stay online" option just for the current session by pressing [End] any time after TAPCIS starts connecting to CompuServe and before TAPCIS automatically logs off. When TAPCIS is ready for you to take over, it will pop up a message on the screen and beep to get your attention. If you do not respond in a couple of minutes, TAPCIS will log off anyway. Connect | _Hold Out box [Alt+C][H] This is a convenient way to tell TAPCIS not to process anything in the Out box when online. (There is no visible indication in the Out box that all transactions are being "held.") Accordingly, you must use Connect | New / Read waiting / Mail waiting for TAPCIS to have anything to do online when this option is active. Another way to achieve the same effect is to go to the Out box [Ctrl+O], Select | All [Ctrl+A], Action | Hold [H], and then confirm the action applies to the selected items. Repeat these steps later to "unhold" all the items. 9-4 Connect to CompuServe Connect | _Schedule all [Alt+C][A] You can set a frequency for message reading/scanning and for library updates when you set up a forum or service. There are times when you may want to override the frequency and include all forums/services, regardless of their next scheduled visit. Activate this menu choice, then use Connect | New In box [N] to go online. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Automated Sessions An automated session is one in which TAPCIS automatically connects to CompuServe, logs in, performs certain tasks, and logs off without intervention. The following Connect Menu commands invoke automated sessions: New In Box [N], Out box [O], Read waiting [Ctrl+R], Visit waiting [Ctrl+V], Mail waiting [Ctrl+M], and Mail only [Ctrl+Y]. The /CMD:x DOS command line option can also be used to invoke an automated session (see chapter 8). The Agenda --- When TAPCIS is asked to perform an automated session, it begins by building an "agenda"--a list of tasks to be performed online. The agenda is built using the contents of the Out box, the active forums/services, and your active user information (name, ID, password). Depending on the type of connection that is requested, the agenda will include released (non-Held, non-Error) items from the Out box and may also include additional tasks (as for a New In Box session where the Mail and Forums/Services setup determines the tasks necessary to generate the new In box information you've requested). Building the agenda can take a few moments. TAPCIS cross checks information from several files and builds the agenda in an internal file called ONLINE.BOX in the actions directory. TAPCIS sorts the transactions according to their ideal processing order (so that all items are grouped by the Gateway:PAGE(s) that need to be visited, and then in the proper order within the page) to make the online session as efficient as possible. Connecting --- After the agenda has been built, TAPCIS connects to CompuServe by opening the port, initializing the modem, and dialing the phone number (see Setup | Modem & Phone). If the phone number is busy, TAPCIS normally pauses 30 seconds and then retries the connection (see Setup | Parameters | Connect). During the connection process, the following hotkeys are shown on the middle status line:: F7 When dialing or waiting for a connection, cancels the attempt and pauses before the next attempt. When pressed during the pause, begins the next attempt. F8 When dialing or waiting for a connection, cancels the attempt, and selects the "Next phone" (if one has been Connect to CompuServe 9-5 specified--see Setup | Phone number) which will be used during the next connection attempt. Alt+X Cancels the connection and returns to the main screen. (or Alt+Z) Common problems: If a connection cannot be established, it may be because: 1) the proper COM port has not been selected under Setup | Modem; 2) the COM port is correct, but it is using a non-standard IRQ or base address (such as COM3, IRQ5); 3) there is an IRQ conflict between the port selected and another COM port in the machine (COM2/COM4 or COM1/COM3); 4) the modem is turned off or unplugged from the computer or the telephone jack; 5) the phone number is incorrect; 6) the telephone line is too noisy for a connection to be established. Logging In --- The login process begins once TAPCIS sees the "Success" report from the modem. It then uses the login script if one is specified or uses the built-in login procedure for CompuServe networks. Once TAPCIS sees the node's "User ID:" prompt, it requests information about the date/time and login node, and then sends your user ID, password, and *OTHER/INT/GO:MAIL to log in, have CompuServe initiate the secret handshake that tells CIS that you're using TAPCIS (so the online options are set properly), and transfer to CompuServe MAIL. Common problems: The login process will fail if: 1) you have not entered your user ID and password correctly, 2) your temporary password was changed by CompuServe (on the date indicated in the letter you should have received) but you have not yet told TAPCIS the new password, 3) your credit card has expired or there is another billing problem that you will need to resolve using Connect | Interactive [I], or 4) CompuServe Mail is "broken" and enters a "One moment please..." loop. While #4 does not happen often, when it does TAPCIS will log off and warn you to go to the Forums/Services box with [Ctrl+F] and use Action | Hold [H] for MAIL so that you are able to log in during the Mail outage. You will need to turn off the hold on Mail again to re-activate it, usually after 15-30 minutes. Hotkeys During Automated Session --- The following hotkeys are available while TAPCIS is online in an automated session. No other keys are available: F7 Cancels the current action. While navigating from one forum/service to the next or while performing actions in Mail, cancels the current "page" and continues to the next page. F8 Moves to the next Gateway:Page by cancelling the current action and all remaining actions for the current page. Alt+X Cancels the current and all remaining actions and logs off. Alt+Z Aborts the session immediately. End Toggles "Remaining online" option to remain online in terminal mode at the end of the automated session. Ctrl+E Toggles screen echo off and on. 9-6 Connect to CompuServe Ctrl+S Sends pause character to CompuServe (XOFF) Ctrl+Q Resumes after pause (XON) The Screen Display --- While TAPCIS is logged on to CompuServe during an automated session, the screen display will show a variety of status information as well as a running transcription of the online session (unless you have echo turned off). The top status line shows, from left to right, the T6COM version number, the general status (Connecting, Logging in, In session, Terminal mode, Logging off, Resetting, Disconnected), the forum/service being visited, whether Logging and screen Echo are in effect, whether TAPCIS will remain online at the end of the session, the current time, and the elapsed time online. Below the top status line is the "progress window" (usually 6 lines) that gives progress reports on what TAPCIS is doing during the automated session. Below the progress window is another status line showing the hotkeys that are available at a particular moment. Then there is the large text window that shows the information as it is received from CompuServe unless echo has been turned off to speed up online processing on slower machines and under Microsoft Windows (Setup | Parameters | Connect). The bottom status line is primarily for diagnostic purposes, and it does give you some feedback on performance during an automated session when echo is turned off. It indicates the COM port and port speed being used for the call. Next to this, in brackets, is a "meter" to show how well your machine is keeping up with the flow of data from CompuServe. It changes rapidly, but if you see it stay at [100] for much of a session, you should definitely turn echo off to improve performance. "CPS total" is the number of characters received since logging in, divided by the number of seconds elapsed. "CPS current" is calculated from the number of characters received during the last 10 seconds or so. You should not, in general, concern yourself with these values. The throughput one receives online is highly dependent on the types of transactions being performed. For example, sending messages is slower than reading them. And it takes time to navigate from forum to forum. Next on the bottom status line is an asterisk that, when present, indicates that data has arrived from the modem within the last two seconds. DTR means that TAPCIS is sending the DTR signal to the modem; when it disappears, the modem should hang up. CD means that carrier is detected (your modem and the remote modem are communicating); it should appear after the connection is established. RTS (from TAPCIS to the modem) and CTS (from the modem to TAPCIS) are flow control signals. The number on the end of the line to the right is the number of overruns. A number that is regularly non-zero, especially if over 5, indicates that the computer cannot keep up with the incoming flow of information. The solution to this is a serial port or modem with a 16550A FIFO buffer. Or, you can sometimes resolve the problem by turning Connect to CompuServe 9-7 off the "write caching" part of your disk cache. If you need more help, stop by the TAPCIS Forum and ask. Logoff --- When the session is complete, assuming you did not press [End] to remain online, TAPCIS will automatically log off by sending the command BYE to CompuServe. It then waits for CompuServe to sign off so that it can process the "reset modem" command (if present). It then drops DTR to the modem, which should force the modem to drop the phone line. Common problem: If the modem is not disconnecting, use Setup | Modem to select another reset modem ("Hangup") command from the picklist available by pressing [F2] in that field. Error Handling --- In the event that there is a problem during an automated session (such as a forum/service being unavailable, an incorrect page name, or even a CompuServe bug), TAPCIS does recognize most errors and move on to the next forum/service. It also has timeouts built in that will, at worst case, log off within a few minutes. Any Out box item that caused an error will be returned to the Out box with an Error (E) status flag. It can either be deleted [Del], or toggled for a retry by pressing [H] twice. If the item is incomplete, such as marked header retrieval being interrupted part way due to a dropped connection, TAPCIS will return that item to the Out box with an Incomplete (I) status code. Use Connect | Out box [O] again to complete such a transaction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Interactive (Terminal Mode) The Connect | Go Interactive [I] command connects to CompuServe and navigates to CompuServe Mail. It then announces that it is ready to enter terminal mode. Press any key to do so. If you do not respond within three minutes, TAPCIS will assume that you were called away, and it will log off. Once you are in terminal mode, the screen shifts and the 6-line status window disappears to leave more room for text. From the Mail! prompt, you can type any CompuServe navigation command. Navigating around CompuServe is done using "GO" commands and menu choices. For example, type "GO BASIC" to go to the Basic Services menu. "GO TOP" goes to the CompuServe top menu. Menus list choices by number. From the exclamation prompt (!), you can type a number and press [Enter]. When you are done, press [Alt+Q] at any ! prompt to log off. Hotkeys in Terminal Mode --- Alt+Q Quit: Logs off CompuServe Alt+Z Aborts the session immediately. 9-8 Connect to CompuServe Alt+L Reviews the log of information received from CompuServe (scrollback buffer) Alt+V Views a text file from disk Alt+B Sends a break signal (rarely used) Ctrl+E Toggles screen echo off and on. Ctrl+L Toggles special character support (Latin1) off and on. It is necessary to turn off Latin1 before using certain online areas such as Biz*File, EaasySabre, and others. If the screen suddenly turns to gibberish, you can use GO TOP and then press Ctrl+L and return to the area you wanted to access that does not support Latin1 (which is ON by default in TAPCIS). Ctrl+S Sends pause character to CompuServe (XOFF) and pause display. Ctrl+Q Resumes after pause (XON) Ctrl+X Opens chat/conference mode window PgDn Opens/closes capture file. Useful for capturing information for reviewing offline. Use PgDn before you enter commands that generate output from CompuServe. PgUp Transmits a text file or execute a script. The file extension .SCR is added if no text file matches the name as entered. Ctrl+F10 Macros: Enter text Alt+F10 Macros: send text (also Alt+M) Sh+F1 DOS Command (does not swap program out of memory) Ctrl+F1 Shell to DOS (does not swap program out of memory) Scrollback Buffer & View Text Files --- The scrollback buffer is the log of what CompuServe has recently sent to TAPCIS during this session. This command is particularly useful when the information you need to see just scrolled off the top of the screen. Press [Alt+L] when in terminal mode to review the buffer. You can also view a text file on disk by pressing [Alt+V]. The following commands are available when reviewing either the scrollback buffer or a file on disk: Keystroke Function Alternate Left Character Left Ctrl+S Right Character Right Ctrl+D Ctrl+Right Word Next Ctrl+F Ctrl+Left Word Previous Ctrl+A Up Line Up Ctrl+E Down Line Down Ctrl+X Home Line Beginning Ctrl+Q S End Line End Ctrl+Q D PgUp Screen Up Ctrl+R PgDn Screen Down Ctrl+C Ctrl+PgUp Screen Top (of doc) Ctrl+Q R Ctrl+PgDn Screen Bottom (of doc) Ctrl+Q C Window Top Ctrl+Q E Window Bottom Ctrl+Q X F4 or Alt+F4 Block Beginning Ctrl+K B Shift+F4 Block End Ctrl+K K Connect to CompuServe 9-9 Ctrl+F4 Block Word Ctrl+K T Alt+F6 Block Beginning of Line Shift+F6 Block End of Line Shift+<arrows> Block using arrows Enter ClipBlock/Append to file Ctrl+K C Ctrl+Enter ClipBlock/Overwrite file Ctrl+K V Alt+L View Log (refreshed) Alt+V View text file (prompts for file name) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Conferencing (Chat, CO, CB) Conferencing is also called "chat" because it is interactive communication between people, as opposed to forums where messages are posted and seen/answered at a later time. Forums have conference rooms that are sometimes used for formal or informal online meetings. There is also a "Convention Center" for conferences with celebrities or on topics that are likely to draw many participants. The "CB" areas of CompuServe are also "chat" areas where these TAPCIS commands apply. From terminal mode you switch into conference mode using [Ctrl+X]. This opens a window at the bottom of the screen where you can type your message before it is sent out to the others in the conference room. The input window offers the advantage that, while you are editing your message, incoming text from other conference participants does not interrupt what you are typing. The commands available in conference mode are: Escape Exits chat mode (also Alt+X or Alt+Z) Enter Inserts a new line. If the cursor is on an empty line at the end of the window, or at the end of the last available line, the Enter key transmits the window's contents (see Alt+T). Ctrl+M Inserts a new line Ctrl+U Clears the input window Ctrl+W Sets Wrap margin. By default the chat window accepts lines as wide as the full screen. To set a narrower margin, type the new setting (a number greater than 15) in an empty chat window and press Ctrl+W. Alt+T Transmits chat window text and clears window. If more than three lines of text have been entered, there will be a six-second delay after the first three lines have been transmitted. Alt+S Saves text (overwrite file), and clear window. Alt+A Saves text (appending to file), and clear window. Alt+L Views session log (scrollback buffer) Alt+V Views text file PgDn Opens/closes Capture file PgUp Transmits a text file using pacing (a six second pause every three lines). The default file name is the file most recently saved to with Alt+S/Alt+A or clipped to while in the file/log viewer (Alt+L/Alt+V). 9-10 Connect to CompuServe ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Logging TAPCIS can log what occurs online to a file called ONLINE.LOG. Activate this feature using Setup | Parameters | Connect, which is described in Chapter 10, Setup. The online log gives you a record of the session in case there is a problem that needs to be diagnosed later. Usually, you configure the log to be overwritten with each new session or TAPCIS execution. Logging does require some additional overhead, since TAPCIS will often be writing to two disk files at the same time. Since the disk space for a log can be considerable, don't turn on logging if disk space is tight. When you are online in terminal mode, you can manually turn on logging to a disk file of your own choice using the [PgDn] key. Use [PgDn] again to turn off the log. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Latin1 To support the use of international characters, CompuServe has adopted the use of the ISO 8859-1 character set, also called Latin1. TAPCIS offers support for this character set by handling the translations that are necessary between the character set of your computer (called the "code page") and Latin1. Although many of the ISO/Latin1 characters are available in the MS-DOS code pages, the character code numbers assigned to them are not the same, which is why the translations are needed. TAPCIS supports the following code pages through the CHARMAPS.TAP translation file: 437 - English 863 - Canadian-French 850 - Multilingual 865 - Nordic Code page 850 supports the most comprehensive set of Latin1 characters. But even if you use the standard, English code page 437 (which is the default on U.S. computers and requires no special configuration), many of the international characters are available for your use in forums and CompuServe Mail. TAPCIS 6.0 activates Latin1 support by default under Setup | Parameters | Connect. If you want to send/receive only the ASCII character set, turn off Latin1. For more information on entering special characters and the Latin1 character set, see the file LATIN1.INF, available in the TAPCIS Forum. Connect to CompuServe 9-11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ B+ Protocol To transfer files error-free from CompuServe (downloading) and to CompuServe (uploading), TAPCIS uses the B+ communications protocol. It is the optimal protocol for use on CompuServe. The status box displayed during a protocol transfer tells you the filename for the file on your disk, the number of bytes sent and received, and estimates for the total time and remaining time. A status bar gives you a visual indicator of the percentage of the transfer that has been completed. Any errors that occur in the data are automatically corrected. So, even though the box may show an error count, if the transfer completed, you are assured that the file was received or sent error-free in its entirety; the count refers to corrected errors. That is the purpose of using a protocol to transfer information. Partial Downloads --- If for some reason a download you've requested is interrupted (by you aborting the transfer, the connection dropping, etc.), TAPCIS will save the partial file on disk and return the download request to the Out box with an error (E) flag. While this does not guarantee that the transfer can be restarted, if you are sure that you have enough room available on disk, you can try to resume the download by moving the cursor to the item in the Out box and pressing [H] *twice* to clear the error flag. Then, go online with Connect | Out box [O] and watch the download. If you decide not to download the remaining part of the file, you should delete the partial file from the download directory. Resuming & Existing Files --- When TAPCIS goes online either to resume a download or to download a file that already exists in the download directory, it will ask you how you'd like to handle the situation. The default choice, which TAPCIS will choose automatically after 15 seconds if you do not respond, is to [R] compare and resume. This means that TAPCIS and CompuServe will compare the files by size and "CRC" to see if the file on your machine is a partial copy of the file on CompuServe. If it is, the transfer will resume at the proper point to complete the download. If the files match identically, meaning it was already downloaded to completion, the transfer will end as a "complete" transfer. If the files do not match, the download will be aborted, and the download transaction will be returned as an error (E) status to the Out box. In that case, you will need to delete the old file from the download directory before clearing the error flag by pointing to it , pressing [H] twice, and going online again to retrieve the new version. Or, you can choose [O] overwrite when the File exists box pops up during the download to delete the old file and replace it with the new one. Another option is to choose [C] to change the name. TAPCIS offers the name it will use (e.g., FORUMS01.LST if FORUMS.LST already exists). The 9-12 Connect to CompuServe replacement name cannot be changed until the file is downloaded; then it can be changed from DOS. The last option is self-explanatory: [A] aborts the download attempt. B+ Protocol Hotkeys --- F7 Aborts the protocol transfer F8 Aborts the transfer. In automated mode, cancels remaining actions for the current page/forum. Alt+X Aborts transfer. In automated mode, cancels remaining actions for the session. Alt+Z Immediate abort/force disconnect. Alt+Q For terminal mode downloads only, toggles "Logoff pending" which causes TAPCIS to log off immediately after the transfer is completed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scripts A script is a programmed set of instructions TAPCIS is to perform when online. A script can be used to get weather reports, stock quotes, news, weather maps, and much more. Scripts can also be used in a forum to perform special procedures. Most TAPCIS users will not program their own scripts. They will use scripts defined for them by other people. They may change some of the "input" for the script, such as indicating what for city and state they want the weather. That is likely the limit of what most people will need to know about script programming. Those who want or need to know more are invited to download the file SCRIPT.T6N from the TAPCIS Forum. Automated script execution is done through the Other | Special Actions [Sh+F4] / Execute script command covered in Chapter 8. Also, review the section on Setup | Services in Chapter 10. To invoke a script in terminal mode, use the [PgUp] key. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mouse Support The online portion of TAPCIS does not support the use of the mouse; therefore, the mouse pointer is disabled while online. This reduces the chance of characters being lost while online. Most of the time, all the online work in TAPCIS will be done without any need for your intervention. Connect to CompuServe 9-13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frequently Asked Questions *** Why did the message I tried to send return to the Out box with an "E" next to it? The "E" status means an error occurred when TAPCIS tried to send the message. Usually, this is an addressing problem, such as trying to send a message to "All" or "Sysop" via MAIL (a valid mail address is required on each private message, including those being sent via MAIL). If you press [Enter] on the item from the out box, TAPCIS will show you a brief summary of the error information. You can edit the address and make any other necessary corrections. You can also examine the ONLINE.LOG file to see what happened online when that send was attempted. If all else fails, you can [Del] the message from the Out box, and try again. *** In the middle of a Connect | New In box [N] session, the carrier dropped and the session ended. What happened and how should I recover? Carrier drops when your modem can no longer maintain a connection with the remote modem. Just as with a voice call, sometimes this happens because of a sudden loss of the connection. Other times, the connection is too "noisy" for the modems to hear one another clearly. If this occurs in the middle of a New In box session, you might want to use Action | Hold [H] on the forums/services that had already been visited before the carrier was dropped, and then go online with Connect | New [N] again. Or, you can mark any headers that were received, then go online with Connect | New again. If any other type of Connect is interrupted, just use that connect command again to complete the work. *** Why do I get strange characters on the screen when I navigate to Eaasy Sabre, Biz*File, and Official Airline Guide? These services do not support CompuServe's Latin1 character set, which is active by default when you use TAPCIS in interactive mode. In such cases, you can press [Ctrl+L] to turn off Latin1 and restore the output to normal. In some cases, you may need to GO TOP before this will work. 9-14 Connect to CompuServe