******* **** **** * * * * * * * * * **** *** ** *** ** * **** **** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** * * **** **** * * * * * * Version 1.0 A Shareware telecommunications tool for the Amiga personal computer. DISCLAIMER ---------------------- No warranties are implied or expressed with regard to the fitness or merchantability of JR-Comm for any particular purpose. All risks and damages, incidental or otherwise, arising through the use or misuse of JR-Comm are entirely at the responsibility of the user. While considerable effort has been made to provide you with a reliable product, there is no guarantee that this program is 100% "bug-free". Any problems that do arise will be corrected when and if feasible. Maintenance releases will be made available in order to correct potentially hazardous malfunctions within the program. Fixes for benign problems, usually cosmetic in nature, will most likely be deferred until the next major release of JR-Comm. This disclaimer does not guarantee future versions of this product, only a prescribed method of dealing with possible errors, and their corrections, to this program. LICENSE ------------------- JR-Comm is a copyrighted product made available to you under the concept of Shareware. It has never been, and will never be, a Public Domain or otherwise "free" program, therefore, you must obtain a license in order to rightfully use it. So that you may be provided ample time to fully evaluate JR-Comm, you are granted a limited use license for a period of thirty days after initial usage. Registration is required for any continued use past this evaluation period. Commercial or governmental use is limited to one person during the evaluation period. Further use requires registration of every copy in use. Site licenses are available for eleven or more copies per order. They are distributed as one master disk to one contact person. This person is required to limit the number of active copies in circulation equal to or less than the quantity registered. User groups may use the site license discount rates for a one-time group registration for each major release of JR-Comm. The order must be addressed to the Treasurer of the user group and must also include a list of the firstname, lastname and addresses of each member who is registering JR-Comm. The list must be printed on user group letterhead. iii DISTRIBUTION ------------------------ Distribution is limited to the original shareware distribution archive file only. None of the member files may be omitted. Furthermore, no profit or other material gain may be realized for distributing JR-Comm with the sole exception of recovery for media and postage. Bundling JR-Comm, the distribution archive or any member files, with any commercial product is expressly prohibited prior to obtaining a "Commercial Distribution Agreement". Contact the support BBS for details if you wish to obtain this agreement. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ---------------------------- Michael Cox for his permission to include the SkyPix terminal protocol. Chuck Forsberg for his X/YMODEM and ZMODEM protocol specifications and for his public domain rz.c, sz.c & zm.c source files. Russ Ranshaw for his CompuServe B Plus protocol document. Paul Resch for his BPLUS.C source file, converted from the Pascal source BPLUS.PAS by Russ Ranshaw. Peter Boswell for his WXMODEM protocol document. Special thanks to: Earle Ake, Nathan Barbar, Jon Boulle, Dan Browning, Jim Burwell, John Campanella, Henry Colonna, Deb Christensen and the folks on GEnie, Glenn Edgar, Fintan Farrell, Doug Keller, John Kempf, John Norman, Tony Preston, Benjamin Reich, Bruce Schoenberger, Greg Smith, Chet Solace, Bob Suess, Alex Tsopeis, Mike West, Steve Winokur, Joe Wolfe, John Yeager and anyone else forgotten. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Display features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.2 File transfer protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.3 Phonebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.4 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 SETUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.1 System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2 Default data files directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.3 JR-Comm data files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.4 File search logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.5 Limitations in 512k environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.6 Notes for 1Meg system users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.7 Starting JR-Comm for the first time . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.7.1 Creating the jrcomm.def file . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.7.2 Terminal parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.7.3 Serial parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.7.4 Modem parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.7.5 General parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.7.6 Saving your defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.8 Modem setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.8.1 Carrier detect signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.8.2 Data terminal ready signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.8.3 The initialization command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.8.4 Modem response codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.8.5 Dialer auto-baud feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.8.6 Additional information for MNP modems . . . . . . . . . 11 2.9 Specific instructions for different modems . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.9.1 Supra Modem 2400 (external) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.9.2 MultiTech 224EH (external) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.9.3 USRobotics Courier HST (external) . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3 SYSTEM BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.1 The display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.2 Status line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.3 Connect timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.4 Time-of-day clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.5 Terminal emulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.5.1 TTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.5.2 Amiga ANSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.5.3 IBM color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.5.4 IBM mono . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.5.5 VT100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.5.6 SkyPix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.6 Review buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.7 Capture file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.8 Chat mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.9 File transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3.10 Gadget types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.10.1 String gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.10.2 Option gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.10.3 Control gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.10.4 Intuition gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 v 3.11 Keyboard attention sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4 SPECIAL REQUESTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.1 File requester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.1.1 Functional description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.1.2 File lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.1.3 SELECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.1.4 PARENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.1.5 UNSELECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.1.6 Filename . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.1.7 Pathname . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.1.8 OK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.1.9 CANCEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.2 Query requester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 5 MENUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5.1 Project menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5.2 Phonebook menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5.3 Buffer menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5.4 Transfers menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5.5 Options menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5.6 Misc menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5.7 Modes menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 6 PHONEBOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 6.1 Phone Directory requester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 6.1.1 DELETE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 6.1.2 EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 6.1.3 DIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 6.1.4 UNSELECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 6.1.5 ADD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 6.1.6 SORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 6.1.7 LOAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 6.1.8 SAVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 6.1.9 Master password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 6.2 Phone entry editor requester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 6.2.1 Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6.2.2 Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6.2.3 Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6.2.4 Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6.2.5 Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6.2.6 Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 6.2.7 Dial prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6.2.8 Cents/min . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6.2.9 Password type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6.2.10 Reset timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6.2.11 Parameter requester gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6.2.12 CANCEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6.3 Dialer operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 6.3.1 Response codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 6.3.2 Dialer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 6.4 Master password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 7 TRANSFER PARAMETERS REQUESTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 7.1 Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 7.1.1 Some notes on flow control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 7.2 ZMODEM send modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 7.2.1 Skip if absent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 7.2.2 Newer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 7.2.3 Newer/longer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.2.4 CRC different . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 vi 7.2.5 Append files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.2.6 Overwrite files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.2.7 Protect all files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.2.8 Don't care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.3 ZMODEM options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.3.1 Resume transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.3.2 Auto download . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7.3.3 Auto d/l challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7.3.4 Escape ctrl chars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7.3.5 32 bit CRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7.3.6 Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7.4 ASCII send options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 7.4.1 Expand blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 7.4.2 Prompt char . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 7.4.3 Char delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 7.4.4 Line delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 7.5 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.5.1 Binary mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.5.2 Save aborted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.5.3 Relaxed timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.5.4 Auto chop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.5.5 Overdrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.5.6 X/Y pre-ack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 9 MODEM PARAMETERS REQUESTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 9.1 Modem commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 9.1.1 Init command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 9.1.2 Hangup command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 9.1.3 Dial prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 9.1.4 Dial postfix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 9.2 Alternate dial prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 9.3 Modem response codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 9.4 Intelligent dialer parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 9.4.1 Redial delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 9.4.2 # of retries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 9.4.3 Dial timeout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 9.4.4 Dial pacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 9.5 Miscellaneous options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 9.5.1 Ignore No Carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 9.5.2 Ignore Carrier Detect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 9.5.3 Hangup on dialer exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 9.5.4 Drop DTR to hangup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 9.5.5 Flush with a BREAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 9.5.6 Dialer auto-baud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 10 TERMINAL PARAMETERS REQUESTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10.1 CR xlate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10.2 LF xlate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10.3 EOL out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10.4 Screen type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10.5 Capture filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10.5.1 ANSI codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10.5.2 CTRL chars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 10.5.3 Backspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 10.6 Emulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 10.7 Text size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 10.8 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 10.8.1 Strip high bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 10.8.2 Custom palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 10.8.3 Destructive BS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 vii 10.8.4 Swap DEL & BS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 10.8.5 Smooth scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 10.8.6 Chat line on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 10.8.7 Wrap lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 10.8.8 IBM Doorway mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10.8.9 Cursor blink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10.8.10 Optimized scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10.9 Answerback message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10.10 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10.11 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10.12 Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 10.13 Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 11 FUNCTION KEY MACROS REQUESTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 11.1 Macro escape codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 12 PALETTE REQUESTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 12.1 Red Green and Blue proportional gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . 57 12.2 Color selection gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 12.3 RESET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 12.4 UNDO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 12.5 Palette usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 12.5.1 Default palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 12.5.2 Phonebook entry palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 13 GENERAL PARAMETERS REQUESTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.1 Status line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.1.1 Status line active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.1.2 Time of day clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.1.3 Connect timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.1.4 24 hour mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.1.5 Audible beep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.2 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 13.2.1 CTS/RTS handshake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 13.2.2 Immediate exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 13.2.3 Logfile active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 13.2.4 Split review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 13.2.5 File saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 13.2.6 Disk check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 13.3 GMT offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 13.4 Task priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 13.5 Chat history size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 13.6 Review buffer size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 13.7 Transfer buffer size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 13.8 Filenames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 13.9 Font name & size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 13.10 Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 13.11 Keymap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 13.12 Serial device & unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 14 MISC MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 14.1 Timer reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 14.2 Send break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 14.3 Hangup modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 14.4 Clear screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 14.5 Print screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 14.6 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 15 MODES MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 15.1 Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 15.2 Chat line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 viii 15.3 HEX output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 15.4 IBM Doorway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 15.5 Screen title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 16 INFORMATIONAL MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.1 Directory not found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.2 User font not found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.3 Can't load file, wrong version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.4 Can't open log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.5 File already exists, resume d/l? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.6 File already exists, overwrite? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.7 Really quit JR-Comm? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 16.8 Unable to open printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 16.9 Review buffer is empty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 16.10 Print registration form? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 17 WARNING MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.1 Directory read error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.2 Could not open screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.3 Could not open window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.4 Capture file currently open! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.5 Couldn't open capture file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.6 CTS disabled, no CTS present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.7 CTS disabled, no DSR present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.8 CTS disabled, shared mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 17.9 Session will expire in 5 mins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 18 FATAL ABORT MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 19 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 20 SUPPORT INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 20.1 JR-Comm Support BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 20.2 GEnie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 20.3 CompuServe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 20.4 People Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 20.5 BIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 20.6 USENET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 20.7 If you have problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 ix 1 OVERVIEW 1.1 Display features - JR-Comm automatically adjusts itself to either NTSC or PAL displays. Interlace and overscan is supported as well. - Terminal emulations for TTY (dumb terminal) Amiga ANSI, IBM ANSI (color and monographic modes), VT100 and SkyPix. - An optional status line with hidden gadgets for easy adjustment of file transfer protocol, duplex, XON/XOFF flow control, data length, parity, stop bits, baud rate and resetting of the connect timer. - 40 user definable function key macros per macro file. Each macro can contain a maximum of 160 characters. Several macro primitives are available, like chaining to another macro or loading phonebook and macro files. - A special DOORWAY keyboard mode for IBM scan codes. Allows 100% compatibility with MS-DOS programs via the popular remote DOS program, DoorWay, which is used by most MS-DOS based BBS installations. - Split screen review buffer option that allows simultaneous terminal I/O while viewing the contents of the review buffer. - Chat mode provides line editing and history features. Natural control codes are immediately sent whereas escaped control codes are inserted in the chat line buffer. - Optimized scrolling option for boosting throughput of multiple bit-plane displays. - Smooth-scroll option available. - User definable font available. - User definable keymap available. - Full dead and double-dead key support. 1.2 File transfer protocols - CIS B+, XMODEM, XMODEM-1k, WXMODEM, YMODEM, YMODEM-1k, YMODEM-g, ZMODEM and ASCII file transfer protocols are present. All implementations adhere strictly to their respective specifications. JR-Comm provides file transfer throughput that exceeds most every telecommunications product that is currently available for the Amiga computer. - 1 - - JR-Comm has the most complete ZMODEM implementation of any currently available Amiga telecommunications product. Auto- downloads and a full set of upload send options are a few of the available functions for this protocol. - All file I/O is handled asynchronously to provide floppy disk users with throughput figures that are simply unobtainable with lesser telecommunications products. - Upload overdrive option for ZMODEM and YMODEM-g protocols that provide the absolute maximum in throughput speed for users with high-speed modems. - X/YMODEM pre-ack option to boost performance of these protocols at the expense of error correction. - Intelligent auto-chop for XMODEM, XMODEM-1k and WXMODEM protocols. - ASCII send has options for character and line delays as well as prompt mode for line oriented editors. Blank line expansion is also available. 1.3 Phonebook - Each phonebook file can contain up to 9999 entries. Each entry is capable of completely re-configuring JR-Comm. - Ability to generate a unique password for each directory entry based upon a master password for each phonebook file. - Sort options available for name, phone number or user selected ordering. - An intelligent dialer that monitors the result of each attempt and is capable of multiple entry dialing in the order of selection. - Automatic baud rate detection option for Hayes compatible modems that return extended result codes. 1.4 Miscellaneous - A powerful FILE requester that maintains several lists of files, devices and directories rather than hardcoded selections that may not exist on your system, or even worse, may not include devices/volumes unique to your environment. - A batch selection facility unique among other Amiga telecommunications products which enables you to select - 2 - files from any number of directories and devices in a simple manner. - User adjustable task priority, chat history, review and transfer buffer sizes. - User definable serial device for third party multi-port boards. - Optional file saver to prevent complete loss of file if a system crash occurs during a download. - Free space check during downloads for those users with limited disk space. - Special keyboard sequence which releases the serial.device in the event of a lock-up when an XOFF character is received while XON/XOFF handshake is active. - 3 - 2 SETUP 2.1 System requirements Version 1.2 Workbench or later is required. Although JR-Comm can be run in a 512k system, 1Meg is highly recommended to take advantage of several features JR-Comm incorporates. The recently released 1.3.2 update to the Amiga Workbench disk contains a new version of the "serial.device" device driver. It will provide you with somewhat better performance although the original driver works just fine. A Hayes compatible modem is recommended if you plan to utilize all of the advanced capabilities within JR-Comm. The intelligent dialer requires a modem that is capable of detecting busy signals reliably. Otherwise, you will have to disable some of the dialer's functionality. The connect timer requires a functional Carrier Detect (DCD) signal or it will have to be disabled as well. Your modem also must be able to return extended result codes, such as "CONNECT 2400", in order to use the auto-baud feature of the dialer. Finally, your modem must have the ability to sense the Data Terminal Ready (DTR) signal so that JR-Comm can hangup the modem very quickly. JR-Comm was written with high-speed modems in mind. Tests have been conducted locally during development with a 14.4kbps US Robotics HST and with a MultiTech 224EH MNP 2400bps modem. Please see the section below on modems for more information. The discussion that follows assumes a certain level of familiarity with the AmigaDOS CLI. "The AmigaDOS Manual", 2nd. edition, from Bantam Computer Books is a valuable book to have and is highly recommended. 2.2 Default data files directory JR-Comm uses a single directory path for saving and loading all of its data files during operation. When you first start the program, it will look for the assigned directory or floppy disk volume name "JRCOMM:". If this assignment/volume name exists, it will be copied to the "JR-Comm data files" directory string gadget in the GENERAL PARAMETERS requester. However, JR-Comm will fall back to the logical assignment "S:" if "JRCOMM:" is not found. NOTE: Although JR-Comm will set the default data files directory to one of these two assignments/volume names when it is first started, it may be changed to a new - 4 - directory after loading a defaults file if the pathname it contains is different. 2.3 JR-Comm data files There are four data files that JR-Comm creates and maintains for its own use. Their postfixes are: .def The default parameters file. JR-Comm will search for a file named "jrcomm.def" when it is first loaded. Refer to section 2.4 on file search logic for more details on finding and loading this file. .phones Phonebook file. Contains a list of phonebook entries which are used by the intelligent dialer. An attempt to load the filename defined in the "jrcomm.def" file will be made when JR-Comm is first started. .macros Function key macros file. Holds up to 40 separate 160 character macros. JR-Comm will attempt to load the macros file defined in the "jrcomm.def" file when it is first started. .log This is an optional file. It will be created only if the "Logfile active" option is selected in the GENERAL PARAMETERS requester. JR-Comm writes status entries to this file only when this feature is active. 2.4 File search logic After JR-Comm has determined the initial data files directory, it will attempt to load its initial default parameters file which is hardcoded with the filename "jrcomm.def". This is the ONLY defaults filename that JR-Comm will look for when it is first started. You cannot change this. The current directory that JR-Comm was started from will be searched first for the "jrcomm.def" file. JR-Comm will then attempt to find the file in the data files directory that was assigned in section 2.2. JR-Comm will use a internal set of default parameters if the "jrcomm.def" is not located in either directory. The next two files loaded will be the default phonebook and macros files. These two files are initially set to "jrcomm.xxx", where ".xxx" is ".phones" for the phonebook file and ".macros" for the macros file. But, and this is important, the directory used for these two files will depend on the pathname that was - 5 - saved in the "jrcomm.def" default parameters file when it is loaded. Allowing you to change the data files directory in this manner gives you the ability to create multiple "jrcomm.def" files for special purpose environments as needed and yet have a "global" defaults file located in either the "S:" or "JRCOMM:" directory that is loaded when a "jrcomm.def" file is not found in the current directory. All this flexibility is primarily of value to a hard disk based Amiga system. Floppy disk users will find it easier to just make multiple copies of their JRCOMM: master disk and configure each for the different environments needed. 2.5 Limitations in 512k environments You must use a 2 color screen with this set-up. This leaves you with about 100k of free memory once JR-Comm is loaded. This extra bit of free memory gives you enough room to open the various requesters used in the program. A worst case example would be the TERMINAL PARAMETERS requester being open when editing a phonebook entry. This situation has three requesters open simultaneously which uses about 40k of additional memory. If you decide to use a different depth screen you will find that some, if not all, of JR-Comm's requesters cannot be opened due to a lack of free memory. If you encounter this situation, exit JR-Comm via the Q sequence and delete your jrcomm.def file to reset JR-Comm to its internal defaults. You may also have to remove any additional floppy drives past DF1: as each drive requires 26k of chip ram for disk buffers. The same goes for the AmigaDOS "AddBuffers" command, you may find that you will have to trim down the number of buffers assigned to each floppy with this command, if not having to eliminate this command from your "Startup- Sequence" batch file entirely. Users running a PAL display will have somewhat less memory due to the additional scan lines a PAL display has. 2.6 Notes for 1Meg system users Although an Amiga outfitted with 1 megabyte of ram enables you to run JR-Comm with a 16 color display, you will find that the program operates very slowly.This is due to not having any true fast ram. Although the AmigaDOS "Avail" command may report that 512k of your memory is recognized as - 6 - fast ram, it is in reality "pseudo-fast" ram. Because this ram is synchronized to the chip ram buss it subjects the cpu to the same lock-out conditions that occur with an Amiga that contains only chip ram. Depending on how you use JR-Comm, you may find that dropping down to an 8 color display will give you enough extra processing power to achieve your telecommunications goals. 2.7 Starting JR-Comm for the first time JR-Comm will use its internal defaults the first time you start it. You can save any changes you make so that JR-Comm will configure itself to these settings every time it is used afterwards by writing the defaults to the file "jrcomm.def". The internal defaults are aimed at giving the new user the most common configuration to "plug-n-play" with a minimum of hand holding, but you may want to browse over the various options that JR-Comm has to offer (it is *very* configurable!) after having used it a few times so that you can personalize the way it operates. 2.7.1 Creating the jrcomm.def file After the title screen has closed, JR-Comm will enter its terminal mode. The flashing cursor notifies you that it is ready for you to set the default parameters and write them to the initial defaults file "jrcomm.def". Every time you restart JR-Comm it will load this file and reconfigure itself to the settings that were in effect when it was saved. 2.7.2 Terminal parameters Users with only 512k of memory should immediately open the TERMINAL PARAMETERS requester via the OPTIONS menu to set a two color screen prior to doing anything else. Otherwise you will eventually not be able to open any of the other requesters in JR-Comm. See section 10, TERMINAL PARAMETERS for additional information of the options available in this requester. 2.7.3 Serial parameters Open the SERIAL PORT PARAMETERS requester by selecting the SERIAL menu item in the options menu. Set the appropriate - 7 - parameters for your set-up. The defaults provided are usually sufficient. 2.7.4 Modem parameters The MODEM PARAMETERS requester is accessed via the MODEM menu item of the OPTIONS menu.. It provides you with many options that enable you to tailor JR-Comm to the modem you are using. See sections 2.8 and 9 on modem installation and on the MODEM PARAMETERS requester for additional information. 2.7.5 General parameters The GENERAL PARAMETERS requester (opened by selecting the GENERAL menu item of the OPTIONS menu) contains options that are global to the operation of JR-Comm. Notice the string gadget labeled "JR-Comm files". It should contain either JRCOMM: or S: if you have started JR-Comm for the first time. If you wish to use the current directory exclusively for all JR-Comm files, then you must delete the contents of this string gadget. Refer to section 2.4 for information on the use of this particular pathname. If you are using a third party multi-port serial board or an alternate serial device driver, please enter the proper information in the lower right string gadgets. You will have to save the initial defaults to the "jrcomm.def" file if you wish to use this alternative device for all future use. If you are using an MNP or other high-speed modem that requires a fixed baud rate you will have to set the CTS/RTS handshake option. Please see section 2.8.6 prior to activating this handshake mode or you may find that JR-Comm can no longer communicate with your modem. European users may want to set the keymap and font file to something that will suit the systems they intend to call. Please read section 13.11 for details on how to use the keymap feature. 2.7.6 Saving your defaults At this point you can save your settings by selecting the WRITE DEFAULTS menu item in the PROJECT menu. A FILE requester will open and the filename shown should be "jrcomm.def". Select the "OK" button or press to write the defaults. - 8 - 2.8 Modem setup Hayes compatible modems are preferred for use with JR-Comm. Fortunately, almost every modem made today is Hayes compatible. The specific features the modem should have are discussed below. 2.8.1 Carrier detect signal The modem should have a functioning carrier detect (DCD) signal on pin 8 of the serial port. The DCD signal goes true once your modem has established a connection with the remote modem that you have called. This signal needs to be functional if you intend to use the connect timer in the status line. It is also used by the dialer for early detection of a connection. It is not required to have this signal be functional, but it is recommended. Most Hayes compatible modem manufacturers default the modem to permanently set this signal true. You will be able to determine if DCD is active if the connect timer starts to increment immediately after starting JR-Comm. If so, please refer to the users manual for your modem in order to set the modem so that it allows the DCD signal to work properly. If you cannot get the DCD signal to function correctly, you must activate the gadget button labeled "Ignore carrier detect" in the MODEM PARAMETERS requester. You should also turn off the connect timer in the GENERAL PARAMETERS requester. 2.8.2 Data terminal ready signal This signal (DTR) on pin 20 of the serial port tells the modem when the data terminal, (JR-Comm) is ready. JR-Comm also uses this signal, if the modem recognizes it, to force the modem to hang up or go on hook. As with the DCD signal, many manufacturers will assert this signal permanently true. Check the modem's users manual for the proper command which will cause the modem to go "on hook" (hangup) and also return to its command state whenever the DTR signal is dropped and then raised again. If the modem is able to do this you can activate the button gadget in the MODEM PARAMETERS requester that is labeled "Drop DTR to hang up" so that JR-Comm can use it to hangup the modem. - 9 - 2.8.3 The initialization command The MODEM PARAMETERS requester has a string gadget that is initially set to the following Hayes compatible modem command when you run JR-Comm for the first time. "ATZ^M~~~ATE1 Q0 V1 X4^M" This command is probably fine for most Hayes compatible modems. But, you may have to modify it to your needs for your particular modem. The '~' character inserts a one half second delay. It is not sent to the modem. To send a control character, like a carriage return, precede the desired control character with the '^' character. A "^M" will send the same character as if you had pressed the key on the keyboard of your Amiga. To send the '^' character itself requires two of them in the string gadget. Although these two special characters are also used by the function key macros in the same manner, the additional escape sequences for the macros are not available to any of the commands in the MODEM PARAMETERS requester, so do not use them. 2.8.4 Modem response codes The set of response codes available in the MODEM PARAMETERS requester should not need to be changed unless your modem is not fully Hayes compatible. Notice that the labels for each of the response codes matches the default setting exactly, if you do need to change them, use the associated response code for your modem that is returned for each action listed in this group. Leaving or setting a response code blank will result in JR-Comm disabling that particular function in the intelligent dialer. See section 6.3 for details of its operation. 2.8.5 Dialer auto-baud feature The dialer has the ability to automatically adjust JR-Comm's baud rate to that of the connection. To do this properly you modem must be able to send extended CONNECT responses that have a numeric value equivalent to the baud rate at which the connection was established. The default response of CONNECT without a value attached to it will result in JR- Comm setting the baud rate to 300. The X4 command should activate the extended response mode. If your modem sends a CONNECT string without a numeric value and it is not set to 300 baud, you will not be able to use this feature. In this case you will have to determine - 10 - the proper baud rate for the system you're calling before hand and set the SERIAL PARAMETERS for the associated phonebook entry to the correct baud rate for all future calls. NOTE: You may want to fire off a "nasty-gram" to the manufacturer for deviating from the Hayes established standard for extended CONNECT responses too. 2.8.6 Additional information for MNP modems MNP stands for Microcom Networking Protocol. It is a hardware based method of error correction built into the modem itself. There are several levels of MNP with 3, 4 and 5 being the most commonly used modes. Levels 3 and 4 provide error correction, with level 4 being more efficient of the two. A level 4 MNP connection can give you as much as an 19% gain in throughput under optimal (noise free) conditions. Level 5 adds adaptive data compression "on the fly". It is of little value (and can degrade performance) if you plan on doing a majority of file transfers with already compressed files (.ARC, .ZOO, .ZIP and .LZH files). But, it can boost text based transmissions by incredible amounts depending on the profile of text being sent. In order to use an MNP modem properly, and to maximize the throughput it is capable of delivering, you need to set JR-Comm and the modem to a fixed baud rate that is usually 2 or 4 times greater than the connection rate between the local and remote modem. Since JR-Comm is now capable of sending data at a baud rate higher than that at which the two modems are connected, it requires some sort of handshaking so that no data losses occur. The kind of handshaking most often used in this type of situation is hardware or CTS/RTS handshaking. CTS refers to the Clear To Send signal while RTS is for the Ready To Send signal. This pair of signals is used by the modem and the computer to stop and start the flow of data between them. If you plan to download to a floppy disk and are going to use ZMODEM, you must have XON/XOFF handshake active in order for the serial device to stop the flow of data while writing to disk. Otherwise, you run the risk of buffer overrun errors. Although the transfer won't be corrupted or lose data due to error correction, it will increase transfer time because of the sender having to resynchronize with the receiver. - 11 - YMODEM-g transfers to floppy are not possible when using the internal serial.device due to it not dropping RTS when the serial input buffer is almost full. XON/XOFF handshake is disabled for YMODEM-g because it needs full 256 byte transparency for successful transfers. If you are using an alternate serial device that supports RTS handshake then downloading to floppy using YMODEM-g is possible. The default serial device for the internal port in the Amiga is odd in that it requires the Data Set Ready (DSR) signal (pin 6) to be active when it is first opened or it will not activate the CTS/RTS handshake mode. Worse yet, your modem will suddenly appear to not communicate with JR-Comm since the serial device thinks that the modem is not "ready" to receive data. Most MNP modem manufacturers default the modem to having the DSR signal follow the carrier detect signal. Fortunately, they always have a command and/or switch to permanently set DSR active. SO, in order to utilize the CTS/RTS handshake mode, you will have to set your modem so that it keeps the DSR signal permanently active. In addition to the DSR signal having to be permanently asserted, your modem must have CTS true when the modem is not online. Check the manual for your modem to insure that these two signals are set up correctly or JR-Comm will notify you that it was unable to honor your request for CTS/RTS handshaking and will open the serial device in normal mode instead. 2.9 Specific instructions for different modems The three following modems are representative of some of the most common modems in use today. The Supra 2400 is your average Hayes compatible clone modem. It is quite reliable and is very close to a real Hayes 2400bps modem in commands and operation. It is quite affordable and should accommodate most telecommunications situations a casual user may encounter. The next modem described is the MultiTech 224EH. Although Hayes compatibility is very high, it deviates from the normal 2400bps modem by including the MNP error correcting protocol. As with most MNP modems, it contains an almost overwhelming list of parameters. The MultiTech series of modems represent the high- end in 2400bps price, features and quality. It is truly "industrial strength" and can be easily adapted to nearly any communications situation that might arise. The last modem is the ultra fast US Robotics Courier HST (High Speed Technology) 14.4kbps modem. Like the MultiTech, it is armed with an enormous array of configuration options due to its incorporation of MNP levels 4 and 5. This modem is in use by - 12 - more BBS installations then just about any other high speed modem. It is capable of very high throughput rates, but only when connected to another Courier HST modem due to the proprietary method of data transfer that it incorporates. A more expensive variation of this modem, the Dual Standard, is available which adds the v.32 specification for full duplex 9600bps method of transfer. This type of modem is growing in popularity due to its recent acceptance by the CCITT (A French based international organization which, when translated to English, means International Telegraph and Telephone Consultive Committee) for 9600bps operation. Most v.32 compatible modems are still quite expensive, but this should change in the near future. Although the modem you have may not be listed here, it will most likely share many, if not all, of the same features and even commands as those listed below. First, categorize your modem against the basic features of each of these modems to determine which one your modem most closely resembles. Then try to match the options listed against similar options in the users manual for your modem. 2.9.1 Supra Modem 2400 (external) This is your basic, no-frills, Hayes compatible 2400bps modem. Unlike most older modems, this one has no dip switches to configure the modem for operation. Instead, it has a non-volatile ram (NVRAM) area which retains the current modem settings whenever it is turned off. A special modem command writes the settings to ram after you've configured it. There should also be a companion command to reset the modem to the default factory configuration. The sequence of modem commands to configure this modem for use with JR-Comm are as follows: 1. AT&F (reset modem to factory defaults) 2. AT&C1&D2&W &C1 - Carrier detect functions normally. &D2 - Hang-up and return to command mode. &W - Write settings to NVRAM. 3. Set modem init string in MODEM PARAMETERS requester to "ATZ^M". Carrier detect and DTR will operate as expected and you can use the DTR to hang up option with this configuration. - 13 - 2.9.2 MultiTech 224EH (external) The 224EH is a 2400bps Level 5 MNP modem. It should be representative of most Hayes compatible MNP modems that are available today. Configuration sequence for this modem is: 1. Set switches to: 12345678 1234 11010110 0110 (0 - OFF 1 - ON) 1 - Forced DTR off. 2 - Verbose responses. 3 - Enable response codes. 4 - Enable command echo. 5 - Disable auto-answer. 6 - Forced CD/DSR off. 7 - RJ11 phone jack. 8 - Enable command mode. 1 - Forced CTS off. 2 - Dial-up line. 3 - Call progression. 4 - Async mode. 2. AT&F (reset modem to factory defaults) 3. ATB1X4&E1&E4&Q1$BA0&C1&R2&S0&W0 B1 - Wait-for-dialtone dialing. X4 - Hayes dialtone and busy detection. &E1 - enable MNP auto-reliable mode. &E4 - CTS/RTS flow control. &Q1 - Hayes Smartmodem 2400 responses. $BA0 - Baud adjust off. &C1 - Carrier detect functions normally. &R2 - CTS drops for 2 seconds on disconnect. &S0 - DSR permanently asserted. &W0 - Write settings to NVRAM. 4. Set init string to "ATZ^M". 5. Set dial prefix to "AT&E1&E14DT" 6. Set alternate dial prefix #1 to "AT&E1&E15DT". 7. Set alternate dial prefix #2 to "AT&E0DT". The three different dial prefixes are needed to enable and disable the MNP mode before dialing. This is needed due to the inability of a true Hayes modem to successfully complete a connection when an MNP modem calls it. The default dial prefix enables MNP without data compression. This should be used when there is the - 14 - possibility of transferring an archive file since compression will delay the transfer. Alternate dial prefix #1 will enable both MNP and data compression which will greatly increase throughput for text only transfers. The last prefix will disable MNP for calling true Hayes modems. If the connection is made, but no data is seen, you should try calling back with MNP disabled to see if it works. If it does, this number is most likely a true Hayes modem and you should use this prefix for all future calls.