File CKERMIT.UPD, Supplement to "Using C-Kermit", Second Edition -*- text -*- As of C-Kermit version: 6.0.192 This file last updated: 6 Dec 1996 Authors: Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone Address: The Kermit Project Watson Laboratory Columbia University 612 West 115th Street, New York NY 10025-7799, USA. Fax: +1 (212) 662-6442 -- or -- +1 (212) 663-8202 E-Mail: kermit@columbia.edu Web: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ Copyright (C) 1992, 1996, Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. All rights reserved. ------------------------------ WHAT IS IN THIS FILE This file lists changes made to C-Kermit since the second edition of the book "Using C-Kermit" was published in November 1996. Use this file as a supplement to the second edition of "Using C-Kermit". If the "most recent update" shown above is long ago, contact Columbia University to see if there is a newer release. For further information, also see the CKERMIT.BWR ("C-Kermit beware") file for hints, tips, tricks, restrictions, frequently asked questions, etc, plus the system-specific "beware file", e.g. CKUKER.BWR for UNIX, CKVKER.BWR for VMS, etc, and also any system-specific update files such as CKERMIT.INF for OS/2, or BUGS.DOC and UPDATES.DOC for Windows 95 and NT. ------------------------------ NOTE TO KERMIT 95 USERS This file concentrates on the aspects of C-Kermit that are common to all versions: UNIX, VMS, OS/2, etc. Please refer to your Kermit 95 documentation: the "Kermit 95" booklet, the UPDATES.DOC and BUGS.DOC files, and to all the other files in the Kermit 95 DOCS directory for information that is specific to Kermit 95. Also, please note that "Using C-Kermit" predates Kermit 95 altogether, and so please pardon the fact that it does not mention Windows 95 or NT; it is still the definitive reference for the C-Kermit command and script programming language. ----------------------------------------- A WORD ABOUT VERSIONS AND VERSION NUMBERS "C-Kermit" refers to all the many programs that are compiled in whole or in part from common C-language source code, comprising: . A Kermit file transfer protocol module . A command parser and script execution module . A modem-dialing module . A network support module . A character-set translation module. and several others. These "system-independent" modules are combined with system-dependent modules for each platform to provide the required input/output functions, and also in some cases overlaid with an alternative user interface, such as Macintosh Kermit's point-and-click interface, and in some cases also a terminal emulator, as Kermit 95. The C-Kermit version number started as 1.0, ... 3.0, 4.0, 4.1 and then (because of confusion at the time with Berkeley UNIX 4.2), 4B, 4C, and so on, with the specific edit number in parentheses, for example 4E(072) or 5A(188). This scheme was used through 5A(191), but now we have gone back to the traditional numbering scheme with decimal points: major.minor.edit; for example 6.0.192. Meanwhile, C-Kermit versions for some platforms might go through several releases while C-Kermit itself remains the same. These versions have their own platform-specific version numbers, such as Kermit 95 1.1.1, 1.1.2, and so on. ------------------------------ CONTENTS I. C-KERMIT DOCUMENTATION: Information about the C-Kermit manual. II. NEW FEATURES: Documentation for features added since 6.0.192 -- (1) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND COMMANDS 1.1. Command Continuation (2) MAKING AND USING CONNECTIONS 2.1. Modems 2.2. TELNET and RLOGIN 2.3. The EIGHTBIT command 2.4. The Services Directory (3) TERMINAL CONNECTION (4) FILE TRANSFER AND MANAGEMENT (5) NEW CLIENT/SERVER FEATURES (6) INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER SETS 6.1. The HP-Roman8 Character Set (7) SCRIPT PROGRAMMING 7.1. INPUT Command Details (8) USING OTHER FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOLS (9) NEW COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS III. APPENDICES IV. ERRATA & CORRIGENDA: Corrections to "Using C-Kermit" ------------------------------ I. C-KERMIT DOCUMENTATION The user manual for C-Kermit is: Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone, "Using C-Kermit", Second Edition, Digital Press / Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, MA, 1997, 622 pages, ISBN 1-55558-164-1. US single-copy price: $39.95; quantity discounts available. Available in computer bookstores or directly from Columbia University: The Kermit Project Columbia University 612 West 115th Street New York NY 10025-7799 USA Telephone: +1 (212) 854-3703 Fax: +1 (212) 663-8202 Domestic and overseas orders accepted. Price: US $39.95 (US, Canada, and Mexico), $50 elsewhere. Orders may be paid by MasterCard or Visa, or prepaid by check in US dollars. Add $35 bank fee for checks not drawn on a US bank. Price includes shipping. Do not include sales tax. Inquire about quantity discounts. You can also order by phone from the publisher, Digital Press / Butterworth-Heinemann, with MasterCard, Visa, or American Express: +1 800 366-2665 (Woburn, Massachusetts office for USA & Canada) +44 1865 314627 (Oxford, England distribution centre for UK & Europe) +61 03 9245 7111 (Melbourne, Vic, office for Australia & NZ) +65 356-1968 (Singapore office for Asia) +27 (31) 2683111 (Durban office for South Africa) A German-language edition of the First Edition is also available: Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone, "C-Kermit - Einfuehrung und Referenz", Verlag Heinz Heise, Hannover, Germany (1994). ISBN 3-88229-023-4. Deutsch von Gisbert W. Selke. Price: DM 88,00. Verlag Heinz Heise GmbH & Co. KG, Helstorfer Strasse 7, D-30625 Hannover. Tel. +49 (05 11) 53 52-0, Fax. +49 (05 11) 53 52-1 29. The Kermit file transfer protocol is specified in: Frank da Cruz, "Kermit, A File Transfer Protocol", Digital Press, Bedford, MA, 1987, 379 pages, ISBN 0-932376-88-6. US single-copy price: $32.95. Availability as above. Kermit for Windows 95 is documented in: Christine M. Gianone and Frank da Cruz, "Kermit 95", Manning Publications, Greenwich CT (1996), 88 pages, ISBN 1-884777-14-7. US single-copy price: $14.95. Included in Kermit 95 shrink wrapped package and available separately from Columbia University or direct from the publisher: Manning Publications Co. 3 Lewis Street Greenwich CT 06830 USA Fax: +1 (203) 661 9018 Email: 73150.1431@compuserve.com News and articles about Kermit software and protocol are published periodically in the journal, Kermit News. Subscriptions are free; contact Columbia University at the address above. Online news about Kermit is published in the comp.protocols.kermit.announce and comp.protocols.kermit.misc newsgroups. ------------------------------ II. NEW FEATURES Support for the Bell Labs Plan 9 operating system was added to version 6.0.192 too late to be mentioned in the book (although it does appear on the cover). Specific items below are grouped together by major topic, roughly corresponding to the chapters of "Using C-Kermit". (1) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND COMMANDS 1.1. Command Continuation Comments that start with ";" or "#" can no longer be continued. In: ; this is a comment - echo blah the ECHO command will execute, rather than being taken as a continuation of the preceding comment line. However, the text of the COMMENT command can still be continued onto subsequent lines: comment this is a comment - echo blah As of version 6.0.192, backslash is no longer a valid continuation character. Only hyphen should be used for command continuation. This is to make it possible to issue commands like "cd a:\" on DOS-like systems. (2) MAKING AND USING CONNECTIONS 2.1. Modems Cardinal modem type added, for Cardinal V.34 MVP288X series. 2.2. TELNET and RLOGIN SET TELNET BUG BINARY-ME-MEANS-U-TOO { ON, OFF } was added to edit 192 after the book was printed. Also SET TELNET BUG BINARY-U-MEANS-ME-TOO. The default for both is OFF. ON should be used when communicating with a Telnet partner (client or server) that mistakenly believes that telling C-Kermit to enter Telnet binary mode also means that it, too, is in binary mode, contrary to the Telnet specification, which says that binary mode must be negotiated in each direction separately. The RLOGIN section on page 123 does not make it clear that you can use the SET TELNET TERMINAL-TYPE command to govern the terminal type that is reported by C-Kermit to the RLOGIN server. Note that the SET TCP commands described on pages 122-123 might be absent; some platforms that support TCP/IP do not support these particular controls. 2.3. The EIGHTBIT command EIGHTBIT is simply a shorthand for: SET PARITY NONE, SET TERMINAL BYTESIZE 8, SET COMMAND BYTESIZE 8; that is, a way to set up an 8-bit clean connection in a single command. 2.4. The Services Directory Chapter 7 of "Using C-Kermit" does not mention the ULOGIN macro, which is used by our sample services directory, CKERMIT.KND. Unlike UNIXLOGIN, VMSLOGIN, etc, this one is for use with systems that require a user ID but no password. Therefore it doesn't prompt for a password or wait for a password prompt from the remote service. (3) TERMINAL CONNECTION (4) FILE TRANSFER (5) NEW CLIENT/SERVER FEATURES (6) INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER SETS 6.1. The HP-Roman8 Character Set The HP-Roman8 character set was omitted from Table VII-4: Hewlett Packard Roman8 Character Set dec col/row oct hex description 160 10/00 240 A0 (Undefined) 161 10/01 241 A1 A grave 162 10/02 242 A2 A circumflex 163 10/03 243 A3 E grave 164 10/04 244 A4 E circumflex 165 10/05 245 A5 E diaeresis 166 10/06 246 A6 I circumflex 167 10/07 247 A7 I diaeresis 168 10/08 250 A8 Acute accent 169 10/09 251 A9 Grave accent 170 10/10 252 AA Circumflex accent 171 10/11 253 AB Diaeresis 172 10/12 254 AC Tilde accent 173 10/13 255 AD U grave 174 10/14 256 AE U circumflex 175 10/15 257 AF Lira symbol 176 11/00 260 B0 Top bar (macron) 177 11/01 261 B1 Y acute 178 11/02 262 B2 y acute 179 11/03 263 B3 Degree Sign 180 11/04 264 B4 C cedilla 181 11/05 265 B5 c cedilla 182 11/06 266 B6 N tilde 183 11/07 267 B7 n tilde 184 11/08 270 B8 Inverted exclamation mark 185 11/09 271 B9 Inverted question mark 186 11/10 272 BA Currency symbol 187 11/11 273 BB Pound sterling symbol 188 11/12 274 BC Yen symbol 189 11/13 275 BD Paragraph 190 11/14 276 BE Florin (Guilder) symbol 191 11/15 277 BF Cent symbol 192 12/00 300 C0 a circumflex 193 12/01 301 C1 e circumflex 194 12/02 302 C2 o circumflex 195 12/03 303 C3 u circumflex 196 12/04 304 C4 a acute 197 12/05 305 C5 e acute 198 12/06 306 C6 o acute 199 12/07 307 C7 u acute 200 12/08 310 C8 a grave 201 12/09 311 C9 e grave 202 12/10 312 CA o grave 203 12/11 313 CB u grave 204 12/12 314 CC a diaeresis 205 12/13 315 CD e diaeresis 206 12/14 316 CE o diaeresis 207 12/15 317 CF u diaeresis 208 13/00 320 D0 A ring 209 13/01 321 D1 i circumflex 210 13/02 322 D2 O with stroke 211 13/03 323 D3 AE digraph 212 13/04 324 D4 a ring 213 13/05 325 D5 i acute 214 13/06 326 D6 o with stroke 215 13/07 327 D7 ae digraph 216 13/08 330 D8 A diaeresis 217 13/09 331 D9 i grave 218 13/10 332 DA O diaeresis 219 13/11 333 DB U diaeresis 220 13/12 334 DC E acute 221 13/13 335 DD i diaeresis 222 13/14 336 DE German sharp s 223 13/15 337 DF O circumflex 224 14/00 340 E0 A acute 225 14/01 341 E1 A tilde 226 14/02 342 E2 a tilde 227 14/03 343 E3 Icelandic Eth 228 14/04 344 E4 Icelandic eth 229 14/05 345 E5 I acute 230 14/06 346 E6 I grave 231 14/07 347 E7 O acute 232 14/08 350 E8 O grave 233 14/09 351 E9 O tilde 234 14/10 352 EA o tilde 235 14/11 353 EB S caron 236 14/12 354 EC s caron 237 14/13 355 ED U acute 238 14/14 356 EE Y diaeresis 239 14/15 357 EF y diaeresis 240 15/00 360 F0 Icelandic Thorn 241 15/01 361 F1 Icelandic thorn 242 15/02 362 F2 Middle dot 243 15/03 363 F3 Greek mu 244 15/04 364 F4 Pilcrow sign 245 15/05 365 F5 Fraction 3/4 246 15/06 366 F6 Long dash, horizontal bar 247 15/07 367 F7 Fraction 1/4 248 15/08 370 F8 Fraction 1/2 249 15/09 371 F9 Feminine ordinal 250 15/10 372 FA Masculine ordinal 251 15/11 373 FB Left guillemot 252 15/12 374 FC Solid box 253 15/13 375 FD Right guillemot 254 15/14 376 FE Plus or minus sign 255 15/15 377 FF (Undefined) (7) SCRIPT PROGRAMMING 7.1. INPUT Command Details The description of the INPUT command on page 422 fails to mention the following two points about the timeout: 1. "INPUT -1 text" (or "INPUT \%x text", where \%x is any variable whose value is -1 or less) means "wait forever". 2. "INPUT 0 text" means don't wait at all -- fail immediately if the text is not already waiting to be read. The same points apply to MINPUT. (8) USING OTHER FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOLS (9) NEW COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS III. APPENDICES Figure II-5 on page 494. The pin assignments of the Mini Din-8 connector are not described anywhere. As noted in the text, these tend to vary from vendor to vendor. One common arrangement is: 1. HSKout (Handshake out -- definition depends on software) 2. HSKin (Handshake in or external clock) 3. TxD- 4. Not used 5. RxD- 6. TxD+ 7. Not used 8. RxD+ Note the "balanced pairs" for Receive Data (RxD) and Transmit Data (TxD), and the utter lack of modem signals. These connectors follow the RS-423 standard, rather than RS-232. In some arrangements, Pin 1 is used for DTR and Pin 2 for CD; in others Pin 1 is RTS and Pin 2 is CTS. IV. ERRATA & CORRIGENDA The following errors in "Using C-Kermit", Second Edition, first printing, have been noted: First, some missing acknowledgements: JE Jones of Microware for help with OS-9, Nigel Roles for his help with Plan 9, Lucas Hart for help with VMS and Digital UNIX, Igor Kovalenko for his help with QNX. PAGE REMARKS COVER "COS" is a misprint. There is no COS. Pretend it says "SCO" or "VOS". 123 Third paragraph from bottom: "..otherwise if a your local username.." should be "..otherwise your local username..". 298 Table 16-2, Portuguese entry. Column 4/00 should show section sign, not acute accent. 453 "the the" (last paragraph) should be "the". 454 EOT (last paragraph) is End of Transmission, not End of Text. 457 "macro for and" (last paragraph) should be "macro and". 560-563 HP-Roman8 missing from Table VII-4. It is listed in section II(6). 565 "d stroke" in Table VII-5 has the wrong appearance; the stem should be upright. The letter shown in the table is actually a lowercase Icelandic eth, which has a curved stem. 601-604 BeBox, BeOS, Plan 9, and probably others not listed in trademarks. 604 The words "SCRIBE TEXT FORMATTER" appear at the end of the last sentence of the first parapgraph of the Colophon. They should have been in the Index. Please send reports of other errors to the authors, as well as suggestions for improvements, additional index entries, and any other comments. ------------------------------ END OF CKERMIT.UPD