May 22, 1990


In combination with ConMan 1.3's CNX: MountList entry, ConZap
enables you to use an Amiga Shell (or better yet, an ARP 1.3
AShell) on a remote ANSI or VT100-compatible terminal or computer
connected to the Amiga's serial port.

Obtaining a text editor that is useful on such a terminal can be
difficult; however, the MicroEMACS from Fred Fish Disk #61 can be
patched to work.

ConZap also allows you to prevent AmigaDOS requesters from
appearing on the Amiga and stopping all work at the terminal.

Note: an article which discusses this whole matter in more length
may be found on page 565 of the June 1990 issue of Computer
Shopper.


Installation

Assuming you've already installed the ConMan 1.3 CNX: MountList
entry as described in the ConMan documents, copy ConZap to your C:
directory, and copy the small "emacs" batch file to your S:
directory.  Make sure the Script bit is still set on this file
after the copy (or use Copy CLONE).

Now you need to patch the FF #61 emacs executable to open the
console device rather than its own window.  Load emacs into FileZap
or NewZap or whatever, then change sector 72, cursor position 0C4
to hex 2A (the asterisk) and the next byte to a 00.  Save this
patched file into the C: directory.  It's possible to use other
editors instead of emacs; if you can find one that opens a RAW:
window and uses no other input methods (no menus or IDCMP), locate
the RAW: window title string and patch it to be a star (hex 2A)
followed by a null.


Usage

ConZap accepts two parameters, one to control requesters (Req or
NoReq) and one to set the console to raw or cooked mode (Raw or
Cooked).  The parameters aren't case sensitive and can come in any
order.  For example:

     ConZap noreq

would disable AmigaDOS requesters on the current CLI.  (Don't use
the Raw parameter from anything other than a batch file, or you'll
find yourself locked out of that CLI!)

Connect your terminal to the serial port, and make sure the
Preferences serial settings are accurate.  You may have to
experiment with settings on your terminal to get everything to
respond properly.  In particular, Amiga programs often send only a
line feed at the end of each line, so you may need to send an ANSI
"SET MODE" command to cause the terminal to recognize LF as an
end-of-line character.  You can do this with the ARP Echo command
like so (the string inside quotes is case-sensitive):

     Echo "*E[20h"

Finally, to start up an AShell on the remote terminal, type

   AShell CNX:serial.device/0

Now would be a good time to use ConZap to shut off AmigaDOS
requesters, so type

   ConZap NoReq

At this point, you can use ordinary CLI commands (List, CD,
whatever) on the terminal.  To edit a file, type

   emacs filename

and the "emacs" batch file in the S: directory takes over, using
ConZap to set the console mode and requester status.

That's it!

Questions or comments welcomed.

(Thanks to John Toebes and Chuck Mcmanis for their help!)


Warren Block
1921 Fifth, #3
Rapid City, SD 57701
(605) 342-1632