========================================================================= *********************************************************************** ========================================================================= CommTool - 1.0 Telecommunications Full-Screen Editor & On-Line Conferencing Tool (coming soon) Operational Documentation ------------------------- Software and Documentation Copyright 1991 John Eidsvoog by John Eidsvoog Revision: Thursday, August 15, 1991 CommTool is a shareware program. If you use it, you are expected to send $15 to the author: John Eidsvoog P.O. Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 ========================================================================= *********************************************************************** ========================================================================= ------------ What it is ------------ CommTool is a full-screen editor designed to edit messages while on-line with various telecommunications networks and BBSes. This eliminates the hassles of trying to edit your messages (mistakes) using the cumbersome on-line editors currently existing. If you frequently call more than one of these services, you'll no longer have to remember how each of the editors works. CommTool can be used in any resolution on any Atari ST/TT in any of the on-line environments supported. CommTool is fully automatic and can sense which protocol is currently in use. The message editing protocols currently supported are: Compuserve Delphi GEnie Michtron Future versions of CommTool will also include a conferencing tool with split screens, multi-line type-ahead buffer, scroll-back history buffer, and a capture buffer. --------------------- Installing CommTool --------------------- CommTool runs as a program or can be installed as an accessory. It works especially well as a MultiDesk Deluxe MDX accessory where it can share the memory with other MDX accessories. To install CommTool as an accessory, just rename its file extension to .ACC and either copy it to the root of your bootup drive or place it in a folder for loading into MultiDesk (such as MULTDESK.MLT). If you run CommTool as a program, the best way to use it is to call it from your terminal software. If you use Flash it's best to use a .DO file to call it. This way when you exit from CommTool you will immediately return to Flash rather than being prompted for a keypress. Create a .DO file with just a single line specifying the location of CommTool: >EXEC \FLASH\COMMTOOL.PRG| The easiest way to invoke the .DO file is by defining a function key for it: >DO \FLASH\DO\COMMTOOL.DO| After creating these two commands, CommTool can be invoked by simply pressing a function key. Make sure to include the ">" and the "|" characters so that Flash knows that they are commands and that they are followed by Returns. ---------------- Using CommTool ---------------- CommTool expects you to be in the midst of entering a message when it is called. On a Michtron BBS, you can either be entering a message or at the edit command prompt. On the other systems, you should be within the message itself. CommTool starts out by sending a Return. This ensures that if you are in the middle of a line, it will be captured. The response received is used to determine which on-line mode you are in. CommTool will next cause the entire contents of the message to be captured (if anything has been entered so far). You can hit the Esc key to abort the capture. If no data is received within 3 seconds, CommTool will abort the capture and bring up a blank editing screen. NOTE: Occasionally, there may be a communications error which prohibits CommTool from capturing the entire message correctly. If this happens, you can hit Control-R to re-read the message. The message lines will be displayed on the screen and you'll have full screen-editing capabilities, up to 99 lines. When you're done, you may send the edited text back to the on-line service, or simply exit from CommTool, leaving the message as it was. CommTool allows you to edit up to 99 lines. The up and down arrow keys as well as shift up and down keys may be used to scroll the display if it is longer than a screenful. The mouse may also be used to position the cursor. After CommTool exits, your message will be listed once again by the connected service. You will then be placed back in message entry mode and may continue entering or proceed to the saving of your message. If you have entered CommTool while in the middle of a line, the formatting on your terminal screen may look a little strange upon return to it (prompts may appear at that point instead of at the beginning of the line). This is because there was a lot of modem activity of which your terminal program was unaware. The message listing should look fine, however. -------------- Key Commands -------------- Two lines of key command description will appear at the bottom of the screen in inverse text. Here is a more detailed description of the commands. Arrow keys can be used to move right, left, up, or down, including wrapping around at beginning and ends of lines. Moving up or down, the cursor will retain its column position even if you've passed through a line with a shorter length. Shift Up and Down Arrows move first to the top or bottom of the page and then jump a page (where the top or bottom line is retained as a reference) if the edit area is larger than a screenful. Shift Left and Right Arrows take you to the beginning or the end of the line. Control Right and Left Arrows move forward and backward by words. The cursor will be moved to the first character of the next or previous word. You can also position the cursor by clicking either mouse button at the desired position. Holding the mouse button down at the top or bottom of the screen will cause the display to scroll up or down. If you hold either shift key down while scrolling with the mouse, the display will jump by pages. The Home key will take you to the beginning of the text. Shift Home will take you to the end. The Insert key will insert a blank line in place of the current line. The current line and all succeeding lines will be pushed down. Control-Delete will delete the current line, regardless of the cursor position. The deleted line will be stored in a "paste" buffer. Undo will insert a line stored in the paste buffer, pushing the current line down. Only the last deleted line will be available for pasting, but it may be pasted as many times as you like. If no line has been deleted, Undo will do nothing. The Backspace and Delete keys function in their normal fashion. Backspace deletes the character before the cursor and Delete deletes the character at the cursor position. Deleting the last character of a line or backspacing from the first character of the line will join the two lines together, causing a paragraph reformat operation. Return will split a line at the point of the cursor or add a new blank line if the cursor is at the end of a line. Control-P causes a paragraph reformat. Line length is set at 74 characters per line (34 in low-res, if there'd ever be a reason to use it). The cursor position will be retained after a reformat. Control-Q will quit the editor, upload your message as it currently exists and return control to your terminal program where it will be relisted in its edited form. The previous contents of your message will be erased. If CommTool does not receive the correct responses to its deletion and insertion commands, it will time-out after 3 seconds and exit. Alternate-Q will do the same thing as Control-Q but will take it one step further, saving (posting) the message after listing it. Control-R will abandon all changes you've made and re-read the message as it exists on the BBS. This is useful if you've messed things up and want to start over. Control-I (same as Tab) allows you to insert a file at the current cursor position. A file selector will appear for you to select the file you wish to insert. If the cursor is in the middle of a line, the line will be split and the file will be inserted in between the two portions. CommTool allows a maximum of 99 lines. When inserting a file, only those lines which fit will be inserted. This means if you insert a 150 line file at a time when you've already entered 49 lines, only the first 50 lines of the file will be inserted. Of course, if your screen is blank, inserting is the same as just loading a file. Control-S allows you to save the contents of the current message to a disk file. The GEM file selector will appear for you to enter the name and path of the file you wish to save. Control-X will abandon all changes you've made and exit CommTool without making any changes. The message will be listed again upon return to your terminal program. The F10 function key will toggle between full-height and half-height text. This feature is only available if the screen font is an 8-by-16 font. The current resolutions where this is available are ST High Res, TT Low/Med/High, and big screen monitors. If CommTool is invoked with half-height text already set, it will not be switchable. All standard ASCII characters will be inserted at the current cursor position. If the insertion causes the current line to exceed 74 characters, a paragraph reformat will automatically be performed. ---------------------- Time-out Elimination ---------------------- A common practice on all on-line services is an automatic log-off due to inactivity. This is to protect you from unnecessary fees if you were to forget that you were connected or fall asleep, etc. The timeout period might be anywhere from 3 minutes to 15 minutes and might even be user-configurable. Since you might spend this much time or more in CommTool composing a message, there is a special feature which sends commands over your modem every three minutes. This assures that you will not be logged off for inactivity while in CommTool. A short sound will be played every time this occurs to serve as a reminder that you are still connected and that on-line charges may be accruing. The message sent to eliminate a time-out varies from service to service, but it is designed to be non-volatile so that it will not interfere with the current message listing, just in case you decide to abort your editing and leave the message as it is. --------------------------- Mode-Specific Information --------------------------- Compuserve: To use CommTool, make sure that you have chosen EDIT as your editor as opposed to LINEDIT. This selection can be made by choosing OPTIONS from your desired Forum. The EDIT editor is the default choice, so if you've never changed it, you won't need to change it now. Make sure that you are entering a message at the time CommTool is invoked, not at the Post Action Menu. You can also use CommTool to edit file descriptions and E-Mail. When you exit from CommTool, your message will be listed and you will be brought to the Post Action Menu. From here you can post, edit, list, mail, or cancel your message. If you exitted from CommTool with Alt-Q, your message will be automatically POSTed. Delphi: On Delphi, you should select OLDIE as your editor. Once again, this is the default editor selection so you won't need to change it if you've never changed it before. You can also use CommTool to edit file descriptions and E-Mail. After exiting from CommTool, your message will be listed and you can type Control-Z to post the message, type in more text, or type Control-C to abort the message. If you've used Alt-Q to exit from CommTool, your message will be automatically posted. GEnie: On GEnie, you can use CommTool to edit Roundtable messages or E-Mail messages. When editing E-Mail, CommTool captures the Addressee, Carbon Copy recipients, and the Subject so that it can re-enter them when sending the message. Currently, CommTool will only work correctly on E-Mail messages with one Addressee in the "To:" field and one (or no) Addressee in the "Carbon Copy:" field. Michtron: Besides using CommTool for messages, you can also use it for E-Mail and even descriptions of uploads. Just remember that the upload descriptions are limited to five lines of text. ----------------- Troubleshooting ----------------- CommTool should reliably determine which on-line service is in use, as long as you invoke it at the correct time. Make sure that you are actually entering a message at the time that you use CommTool. If you find that you are having problems with CommTool, you should first remove all other resident programs and accessories in order to determine if one of them is interfering. If the problem persists, please contact me at any of the on-line addresses below, or write to the address shown below. I am eager to fix any problems that come up with CommTool in an effort to make it a useful tool. GEnie: J.EIDSVOOG1 (CodeHead Category 32, Atari ST RT) Delphi: EIDSVOOG Compuserve: 70242,2402 CodeHead Quarters BBS: John Eidsvoog [s] (213) 461-2095 ----------------------- The Shareware Concept ----------------------- CommTool is a shareware program. The idea of shareware is that you may distribute CommTool freely to anyone (please, as much as possible). This method of distribution saves money for you the user and me the developer by eliminating marketing, manufacturing, and production costs. If you make use of CommTool, you are expected to register yourself as a CommTool owner by sending a payment of $15 to the address below. The next version of CommTool will also contain a conferencing tool featuring a split screen with a multiple line type-ahead buffer, a scrollback listing, and a capture buffer. When it is ready, it will be distributed by the same means as this version. I do not believe in releasing crippled versions of my shareware. In turn, you should not necessarily expect a written response to your registration fee, unless you send me a self-addressed stamped envelope. If you'd like to receive the latest version of CommTool, please include a disk and postage enough for 2 ounces (currently 52 cents in the U.S.). Please note that CommTool is not a CodeHead Software product. All CodeHead Software products are commercial programs which must be purchased through normal commercial channels. CodeHead Software has never and will never release any shareware programs. Neither this document file (COMMTOOL.TXT) nor the program file (COMMTOOL.PRG) may be altered in any way. Copies of these files may not be sold, and this document may not be reprinted, without my written permission. I've tried to make CommTool as bug-free as possible. Nevertheless, I cannot be responsible for any damages which may occur as a result of the use (or misuse) of CommTool. Thank you for supporting shareware and please _buy_ CodeHead Software: John Eidsvoog CodeHead Software P.O. Box 74090 Member of the IAAD Los Angeles, CA 90004 Independent Association of Atari Developers _______________________________________________________________ | | | If you don't own HotWire, you're doing things the hard way! | | | --------------------------------------------------------------- Version numbers and suggested retail prices for CodeHead Software products as of Thursday, August 15, 1991 are: Product Version Price ------- ------- ----- CodeKeys ............. 1.3 .......$39.95 G+Plus ............... 1.5 ....... 34.95 MultiDesk ............ 2.2 ....... 29.95 LookIt & PopIt ....... 1.2/1.1 ... 39.95 MaxiFile ............. 3.0 ....... 44.95 HotWire .............. 3.0 ....... 44.95 HotWire Plus ..................... 69.95 MIDIMAX .............. 1.3 ....... 49.95 CodeHead Utilities ... Rel 4 ..... 34.95 _______________________________________________________________ | | | Watch for MultiDesk Deluxe, to be released in September, 1991 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------