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PT - Packet Terminal
Forward
These programs are copyright
Rovoreed Limited,
New House Cottage,
Cublington,
Madley
Hereford
HR2 9NX
This suite of software is NOT Public Domain, neither are they Freeware or
Shareware.
Rovoreed Limited retains full and exclusive rights to the distribution of
this suite of programs. Too many of our "free" programs have ended up
being sold or distributed on CD-ROM to make profit for third-parties,
that we have been forced to build into this suite of programs mechanisms
to cripple to software remotely.
Rovoreed Limited reserves the right to cripple the software without
warning.
Should we ever be forced to cripple the software, then no data or
programs will erased from your Series 3 computer. A message header
received from your local BBS will condition the software into not
starting up. You will be notified of this fact, and you are advised to
log on to your local BBS and read any messages addressed to PT@WWW for an
explanation. Hopefully we won't have to do it.
Rovoreed Limited regrets that it will not provide any support for this
product. These programs are released to fullfill a specific need. They
should not be construed as being of the standard of software normally
produced by Rovoreed Limited. Specifically, no formal program testing or
program proving has been carried out on this software.
Introduction
Occassionally I have seen requests coming over the packet network on
information or help regarding the availability of packet terminals and
the Psion Series 3. This is my response to those requests.
The programs originally evolved out of several test programs written for
the Psion Series 3 range of computers to learn the available library
routines, and to try to put some meaning behind the words in the Software
Developement Kit. With this background, it can be seen that there was no
regular design, the programs just evolved, and there are some
shortcomings because of it. For example, it is not possible to search for
text in a message. However I use them to handle all my packet traffic, so
I can quite honestly say I find them useful.
The prorams as supplied will run on both the Series 3 & 3a range of
computers. The programs will all adapt to the machine they are running
on. Extra facilities provided on the Series 3a are text zoom, and,
because of the extra resolution, it is possible to display message sizes
when in header mode of the message editor..
What is does
In some respects the programs operate in a similar manner to TPK by
G‚rard Regnard (F1EBN). They can be used by Radio Amateurs to listen out
for interesting messages on the packet network, and to download them
automatically into a Psion Series 3.
The programs provide the following features.
1) solicit FBB beacons from your nominated host.
2) listen out for text strings you have specified and automatically
mark these messages for downloading from your host.
3) at 45 minute intervals automatically download any marked messages,
and upload any messages for onward transmission. You can force an
immediate connection if you don't wish to wait the 45 minutes.
4) allow you to enter private messages or bulletins for uploading to
your host.
5) allow you to reply to any messages received.
6) operates asychronously, in that it is possible to read a message
and reply to it whilst the program continue to communicate with your
host.
7) automatically delete private mail from your host that has been
downloaded.
8) Allow send and receive of 7+ files.
9) Link/Paste architecture is supported. This means that you can
'Bring' from PT into other applications and also 'Bring' from other
applications into PT.
What it does not do that TPK does, is maintain a log, neither does it
compress the messages before transmission, nor does it request compressed
mail from the host. There is definately no YAPP implemented. There are
probably other things that PT doesn't do either.
Installation
You should have the following files:-
PT.APP
PTINIDAT.IMG
PTINITNC.IMG
PTDBMGR.IMG
PTMSG.IMG
PTRENUM.IMG
PT_7PLUS.IMG
PT_PK232.TXT
PT_TINY2.TXT
PT_RS232.TXT
PT.TXT (this file)
PT.APP is the main control program. It handles all communication with the
TNC, and running of the other programs in the suite.
PTINIDAT.IMG is a small program that only runs when PT is started up. It
locates the database files that may have been created on previous runs,
and if it can't find any then it creates some empty ones on the same
device as the program was run from. This simple task was written as a
separate program to reduce memory requirements. The database is looked
for in the following order, the drive the programs are run from, M:, A:
and then B:. The program ignores default drive settings.
PTINITNC.IMG runs at startup and in response to the 'Reset TNC' command
in PT. Unsuprisingly then, it's job is to reset the TNC. It starts by
sampling the RS232 line at the following speeds, 9600, 4800, 2400, 1200,
300 and 110 baud. If it detects a 'cmd:' prompt at one of those speeds
then that is the speed the RS232 link is set at. If no 'cmd:' prompt is
detected, then it starts an autobauding procedure. It sends '*'
characters - which the PK232 uses as an autobaud character, and then
tries to solicit a command prompt with a ^C. This autobaud feature can be
defeated, see below. After it gets a 'cmd:' prompt, the contents of the
file PT_TNC.TXT is sent to the TNC followed by the date/time. Two files
are supplied in the .ZIP. PT_PK232.TXT for the AEA PK232, and
PT_TINY2.TXT for PacComm Tiny 2 modem. Either of these files should be
copied to the Series 3 at PT_TNC.TXT. This file should contain the
commands necessary to initialise the TNC.
PTDBMGR.IMG is the database manager. It handles all I/O to the database.
Other programs talk to it to get or send information to the database.
After you terminate PT, you may notice that PTDBMGR lingers under the IMG
Ghost icon for a few moments, it is tidying up the database, and doing a
compress which can take some time with a large database. It is for this
reason that if you exit PT and immediately re-enter it, that some file
errors (File in Use) occur.
PTMSG.IMG is the message reader and editor. It is used to trawl all the
heard message headers and select messages for reading. Replies and new
messages for outbound transmission are also created using this program.
It can also be used to pack/unpack 7+ messages.
PTRENUM.IMG is a utility program for renumbering your copy of the host
database. One day I woke up to find my FBB host synching at 8390 when I
thought it should be 120510. The Sysop had renumbered his msg base, and I
had to do the same, so this program was born.
PT_7PLUS.IMG is a version of 7+ by Axel DG1BBQ modified by me to run on
the Series 3. It can be installed as an .APP in its' own right, or used
to process inter-process requests.
PT_TNC.TXT is a plain text file that is sent to the TNC to initialise it.
See below.
PT_RS232.TXT is a small optional parameter file that can be used to
defeat PTINITNC autobaud. Basically, it tells PTINITNC what speed to use.
See the file contents for more help.
PT.TXT is this file. In versions of PT prior to 1.00, we also supplied a
.WRD file that you could format and print using the Word application.
Unfortunately, this document is now so large that it cannot be processed
by Word. This file is now the only printable documentation.
Installation procedure
The programs have to be installed in the normal Psion way. That is the
file PT.APP should be placed in the \APP\ directory, and all the other
files should be placed a subdirectory called PT under the \APP\
directory, i.e. in \APP\PT\. All files should reside on the same drive.
Finally use the Psion-I command on the system screen to install the
program.
The database will be created on the same device as the programs when the
program is initially run. If you want to keep the programs on Flash, and
the database on RAM, then install the programs on RAM, run PT, exit,
delete the programs from the RAM device and copy the programs to Flash.
I would strongly recommend installing the suite on a RAM SSD initially.
Although the programs are "Flash friendly" the amount of traffic coming
over the amateur network - currently about 300 messages per day are
passing through my local node; means that you will use up Flash SSDs'
quickly, particularly if you download many.
Upgrade procedure
V0.10 to V0.11
Replace the old .IMG and .APP files with the new ones. PTDBMGR.IMG has
not changed. No other files need changing or deleting.
V0.11 to V0.12
Replace the old .IMG and .APP files with the new ones. PTDBMGR.IMG has
not changed.
The program no longer uses transparent text mode to handle the link to
the host BBS. Some changes are required to the file PT_TNC.TXT. For the
PK232 you can simply replace your old PT_TNC.TXT file with the newly
supplied one. If you don't use a PK232, then the new TNC commands which I
found necessary for this new method to work are located at the end of the
file.
V0.12 to V0.13
Replace PT.APP with the new version. No other programs have changed.
V0.13 to V0.14
Replace all programs.
V0.14 to V0.15
Replace all programs.
V0.15 to V1.00
Replace all programs.
Memory requirements
In normal use you should have only two programs running for 95% of the
time. These are PT which is the main screen & control program, and
PTDBMGR. PT requires about 6k of memory. PTDBMGR starts off about at 6k
and grows depending on the number of messages you have on your system. As
a guide, 3 days of bulletins will grow the program to 10k.
PTMSG is the message editor and reader. This again requires about 6k to
run as a minimum, but will grow dynamically for example when text is
loaded for reading. There is a limit of 4k on message entry, but the
reader is capable of loading a message as big as any downloaded from your
host provided you have enough free memory to hold it. Extra memory is
required in addition to what is apparent from the message size. The
system needs extra memory for formatting the message. Further memory
appears to be used by system services. This may not be apparent on a
Series 3 where the standard applications such as Word and Agenda are
already running, but on a "quiet" machine system usage can grow by 10 to
15k. I presume this is .DBF buffering. I would advise therefore that you
have at least 40k free memory when you start. Therefore the basic suite
should run an a 128k Series 3 which "out of the box" has 45k free.
PTRENUM requires as much space again as you have used for your host .DBF
file. If it runs out of room during the renumber operation, no harm is
done, or data lost. It just doesn't do the job.
PT_7PLUS requires about 64k to run. This is because it is a "dirty port"
from the IBM PC environment, and has not been modified to any great
extent to use the inbuilt features of the Series 3. It may not ever be
possible to run this program from within PT on some machines. For this
reason, PT_7PLUS can be installed as an application and run stand-alone
should you wish.
The TNC setup file
There are two files, one of which is optional.
PT_RS232.TXT if it exists inhibits PT from autobauding. The file
specifies the baud rate your TNC runs at. If you want autobauding, then
delete this file, otherwise it MUST exist in the same directory as all
the .IMG files. Some TNCs don't like the way PT autobauds. If your TNC
has battery backup, and you know what speed it needs, then specify it in
this file.
Two TNC configuration files are supplied. PT_PK232.TXT is for the AEA
PK232 without battery backup. PT_TINY2.TXT is for the PacComm Tiny-2 Mk2.
If you have a different TNC or use the PK232 with battery backup, then
you will probably have to edit this file. Each line is sent to the TNC.
Lines starting with a ';' character are comments and are ignored, i.e.
not sent to the TNC.
The general order of commands within the file is important. Flow control
statements should come first.
Other than that, basic requirements by the software require,
Eight bit, no parity, one stop bit
RTS/CTS handshaking
Echoing of commands disabled
Header lines disabled
Line feeds disabled
Status msgs from the TNC e.g. *** CONNECTED should appear on their own
at the start of a new line.
If you experience problems with getting the TNC to initialise, then try
setting the TNC to work at 2400 baud. After sampling the RS232 at 9600,
4800, 2400, 1200, 300 & 110 baud the link is set back to 2400 to force
autobauding, so 2400 is taken as a last-ditch attempt. If it still
doesn't work after this, then try using the PT_RS232.TXT file.
The database
At runtime a sub-directory is created from the root called \PT\. This
contains details of all messages in the database.
Two .DBF files are created containing the message header information. The
actual message text is held in separate .TXT files, one for each message
in a subdirectory within \PT\.
A further subdirectory called \PT\ARRIVALS\ contains files extracted from
7+ messages.
Although it is possible to switch between different hosts, this is not
advised.
The .DBF files cannot be accessed using the Data application.
The .TXT files are held like they are to be sent, or received from the
host. That is lines delimited with carriage returns. For outbound
messages, PT will automatically word-wrap text at or below colomn 72.
This is only mentioned because after a message is entered, the only way
to alter the text is either to delete the message and re-enter it, or to
edit the .TXT file with the Word application. I've not tried this. On the
one occassion I wanted to do it, I did a bring of the message into Word,
editted it there, deleted the original message, and then did a bring of
the message from Word into PT.
Configuration data, and your prefered setups are saved in a file called
PT.DBF. This file must reside in the same directory as the various PT
.IMG files. It will created initially when the program exits. Although is
it possible to look at the contents of this file with the Data
application it is not advised to try altering anything. The data is held
in binary strings. That is, the Data application will think the data is a
string and try to display it as such, but the string contains binary
data, not always printable ASCII. The programs will behave unpredictably
if you alter anything in this file.
7+
Yes, you too can now send/receive 7+ messages direct from/to your Psion.
If you don't know what 7+ is, then I suggest you read the separate 7+
manual.
The supplied version of 7+ can be run stand-alone, or by inter-process
request. When run with PT, it is driven by inter-process requests, but,
you may not have enough room in your Series 3 for this to work -
particularly if you have a 128k model. For this reason, PT_7PLUS can be
installed like any other application and run outside of PT. On the system
screen, select Psion-I. At the file prompt, navigate to
\APP\PT\PT_7PLUS.IMG by using the Tab and arrow keys. It does not matter
that this application does not end in .APP. The program can then be run
just like any other Psion application.
The program will prompt for a file name. If this is left blank, then the
help subsystem is called. This contains a brief summary of the commands
available, just like if you were to run the IBM PC version without any
parameters.
If you wish to send a file in 7+ format, but the file is resident on your
PC then you will need to start PT without the Series 3 being connected to
your TNC. Instead, connect your Psion to your PC. Get into the outbound
mailbox, select Psion +, and choose the drive as the REM:: drive
containing the file to transmit, and choose the file by navigating to it
using the TAB and arrow keys. This assumes you have a file server like
MCLINK or SLINK running on your PC.
This file will be split up by 7+ and put in you outbound mail directory.
The message titles are automatically generated to contain the file name
and part number.
It has always been possible to receive 7+ files with PT, but now it can
unpack them too. In the header mode in the message editor, place the
cursor on a message header which you think is a 7+ file. You can normally
tell this from the title of the message. Hit Psion -, and the message
will checked for being a valid 7+ format file, and in doing so, check to
ensure all the parts are already resident in the Series 3. If any parts
are missing you will be notified. If all the parts are present, then the
original file is recreated from the individual messages. Unfortunately,
in this version of 7+ the original file date/timestamp is lost. The file
will get the current date/time.
After the file has been recovered from the one or more messages, then the
option concerning whether to keep the individual parts is obeyed. I would
advise leaving this option at the default of delete. This option can be
found in the Set Preferences option on the main PT screen.
Runtime
One of the required items of data that you must supply is your call sign
and that of your host. You must enter these before the program will start
up. Other items default to sensible values.
The programs will start up without a TNC being connected. A notifier will
be displayed and you get the option of continuing or aborting. It might
be useful to continue if you simply want to access a previously read
message. i.e. you are out and about without your radio and 3-Link and
have a few spare moments to reply to your mail, or alternatively if you
wish to 7+ up a file resident on your PC.
Active programs
Screen displays
The screen images change depending on which program is in the foreground.
Normally this will be PT itself, but you can switch to the inbound or
outbound message reader.
PT - Packet Terminal
The main PT screen show the local time and UTC in the top right hand
side. If the UTC time appears wrong then check that you have set your
'Home Town' correctly within the World or Time applications. You can also
check that the daylight savings options are correct in the Time
application.
The top left of the screen show your callsign and the amount of free
space on the device used for the database. This free space total gets
updated at minute intervals.
There might optionally be an envelope type symbol shown next to the UTC.
If it is there, then there is mail waiting on your host that has not been
read. This envelope is triggered by the MAIL> beacon your host generates.
The next line shows the number of unread messages, and unsent messages.
As the program is meant to run unattended this gives a quick indication
if any new messages have arrived.
The FBB beacon shows the highest FBB beacon heard from your host. This
may not be the same as the highest beacon saved to file. The reason is,
some beacons simply represent messages passing through your host, others
may be private messages, or, simply a beacon has been hit by QRM.
If the program is really out of sync with your host, then another number
will appear alongside the FBB beacon. This number represents the highest
message the system is "happy with". The term "happy with" is used because
again, it doesn't actually represent any quantifyable term. It is the
highest beacon number heard without breaks. If you watch this number, it
may occassionaly stick, and a re-sync. beacon will be transmitted. When
the missing beacon is received, the number will leap, because hopefully,
the program will have heard some of the subsequent beacons, and held them
internally. When the missing beacon is heard, it can save all subsequent
ones to file.
The bottom 4 lines of the screen (7 lines on a Series 3a) acts as a
traffic window. If you can hear packet traffic on your transceiver but
nothing appears in this area, then there is probably something wrong with
the TNC configuration. In this circumstance you will probably also get
messages such as 'Serial Overflow' and 'Packet too large' appearing.
When it is deemed time to connect to the host - either because the 45
minute timer has elapsed, or on command; then a popup window appears
giving a guide to the state of the connection. Because the programs all
behave asynchronously, there is no need to wait for the dis-connect
before doing something else. You can read messages as they arrive, delete
stuff you no longer need, in fact you can do anything, which is just as
well because last night it was busy in IO91VK and it took 26 minutes to
send a 20 word message !! It's almost as boring watching packet mail as
it is watching batteries recharge.
PTMSG - Message Editor
The editor operates on both the inbound messages - those received from
your host; and outbound messages - those that you wish to send.
The editor operates in three modes. These are header mode, reader mode
and edit mode. When the program is first called, it is header mode.
Header mode displays all the headers within either the inbound or
outbound mailbox and the initial display is different depending on
whether you are looking at inbound messages or outbound messages.
For inbound messages it should start by positioning you at the header of
the first new message that has entered the system since you last looked.
If there are no new messages, it positions you at the last message. For
outbound messages it simply positions on the last header in the system.
Other than that the displays are identical. Embelishments are used to
highlight the status of different headers. These are :-
Italics indicate messages that are marked for downloading from the
host, but have not yet been downloaded.
Inverted indicates messages that are filed. i.e. there actually is
some text for the message, and it can be read.
Underlined indicates that the header has been marked for keeping. It
will not be purged off, but it can still be deleted, without any
warning if you explicitly tell the program to do so. A 7+ unpack
will not delete messages so marked.
You can navigate around with the up/down keys, the page up/down, the home
and end keys. There are other commands for moving around, and they will
be covered later.
Having found a filed message, then the next logical step is to read it.
To do this we enter reader mode. Simply move the cursor to the message
and hit the 'Enter' key. If the message has not yet been downloaded, you
get told, otherwise to message is loaded ready for reading.
The text of the message pops up, and it is possible to move around using
the cursor movement keys. It is not possible to change the text. To exit
reader mode either hit Psion-U, or Psion-X (or equivalent in other
languages).
After having read a message you may wish to reply. For this we need edit
mode. This mode can only be entered with the Psion-R (Reply), or Psion-E
(Enter) commands. Full editting facilities are available. Exit edit mode
either with the Psion-S (Save) or Psion-U (Revert) command.
7+ messages can be sent with Psion +, and unpacked using Psion -.
Utility programs
PTRENUM - Host message base renumber
PTRENUM is used to renumber your copy of the host database. In two years
I have only needed to do this once.
If you discover your host is outputting beacons with much lower numbers
than you expect, then log on to your host manually, and check what the
last message you have is now numbered. The difference (usually negative)
is entered at the prompt.
This program can be run from under the IMG icon although the program
should be kept with all the other PT .IMG files. Place the cursor on the
.IMG icon and press tab. Navigate to the \APP\PT\ sub-directory select
PTRENUM and hit enter.
The reason it is done like this is that is so the the program can find
all the files it requires and update them accordingly.
The program cannot be run while PT is running.
The commands
The following gives a desciption of the commands available in PT and
PTMSG. Help is available for most commands, but for those where it is not
available, then the command is identical to the standard Psion function
of the same name.
Inbound mail - Loads PTMSG which then interrogates the inbound
messages, i.e. those from your host.
Outbound mail - Loads PTMSG which then interrogates the outbound
messages, i.e. those you wish to transmit.
Message numbers - allows you to reset your next bid, or to change the
highest FBB beacon heard. It is very unlikely that you will ever
need to use this command. It is provided so that you can reset the
message numbers to sensible values if you have been using another
offline reader, for example TPK or you have been offline for a
while. If you think you can get a lot of messages by setting the
last message received from to host to a low value like 1, then
forget it. FBB restricts the number of old message headers it will
broadcast, but it varies from system to system, so some will give
more than others.
Purge messages - allows you to recover some SSD space. The 'Keep how
many days' operates from today. If today is the 3rd, and you only
have messages for the 1st and 2nd, and you specify keep 2 days, the
purge will delete all messages for the 1st, i.e. it will keep
messages for the 2nd & 3rd, even though there maybe no messages for
any of those days. It is generally a good idea to keep UNREAD
messages, since 7+ can wait several days for all parts to arrive.
Reset TNC - resets the TNC by invoking PTINITNC. The TNC is reset when
the program starts up. Probably the only other time you will need
this command is if power fails to the TNC. If the TNC fails to
initialise, then all operations to the TNC are trapped, and not
executed, i.e. the Connect or Synchronise commands do nothing. If
the TNC does not reset for any reason, then a small information
message appears each time you explicitly access the TNC.
Connect to host - forces a connection to the host, thereby avoiding
the 45 minute wait to send and receive messages. A pop-up window
displays the current state of the connection. When sending messages,
the screen tends to stick at a message with 100% complete, don't
worry about this, the TNC is usually busy talking to your host.
Log - toggles on and off capture of all data sent and received to the
TNC. The log file is called PT.LOG and is created in the same
directory as the database files. Toggling on the log file will cause
any old log file to be deleted, i.e. it does not append.
Synchronise - sends a re-synchronise request to your host. Normally
you will not need to use this, since a re-sync request is sent when
the program starts and any time that PT detects it is out of step
with the host. Possibly the only time you may wish to use it is to
check that your host is still up and running. If your host hears the
resync request it should respond within a minute depending on how
busy it is.
Set preferences - You will have seen this option before, when you
first ran the program. It is used to specify your call sign and that
of your host. Any subsequent change will probably be just to the
'listen for' text, and to toggle reception of bulletins. Although
you can receive private messages, the default on FBB is to not allow
it. This has to be enabled on your host with the OR command. One new
feature in FBB 5.15b is that private messages for users that do not
use your host are no longer broadcast as FBB beacons. This is to cut
down on the number of beacons that FBB transmits on a resynch
request, so although you might request download of private messages,
you might not get as many as you think there are. The 'listen for'
can appear anywhere, so you can trap messages from certain users, or
just topics. Where you wish to trap more than 1 item, e.g. all
messages to PSION and messages from GB2RS, then separate the items
with commas, e.g. PSION,GB2RS
7+ Parts tells PT what to do with all the individual messages that
go up to make the complete 7+ file. Usually we would want to delete
the parts after the file has been recreated.
Kill 7+ Metafile is used when an error is found in the 7+ file. See
the 7+ manual. Normally this is set to 'Yes' to delete the metafile
when an error occurs. These metafiles can get big, and just use up
valuable space.
Version - displays the software version.
Exit - exits the program. You may notice PTDBMGR running under the IMG
ghost icon for several moments after exiting the program, this is
simply the database manager tidying things up now it knows that it
will get no more requests to service the database.
Not all of the following commands are available at the same time within
PTMSG
Jump to new msgs - jumps to the latest untouched message. Not
available in the outbound mailbox. An untouched message is one that
the cursor hasn't visited. When entering the inbound mailbox you are
immediately put at the first new message. You can scroll back up the
list with the cursor keys, and then use this command to get back to
where you were. Alternatively, if you have touched the last message
header, then this command will put the last message at the top of
the screen, leaving the remainder of the screen blank, so that you
can watch new messages arrive.
Jump to msg no - If you know an explicit message number, then this is
the command to use to get to it quickly.
Find unread msg - If you come back to PT after a few hours, and it
says unread messages are available, then enter the inbound mailbox,
and use Psion-*. It will find the first (or next) unread message in
the system. A message is recorded as being read after the message
text has been loaded into the message reader with the Enter key. It
doesn't matter if you have not looked at all the text of a message.
If a message has been loaded into the reader, it is deemed to have
been read. If you don't read the message, then hitting Psion-* again
will find the next unread message. To find the first unread message
again, move the cursor to any message that is not an unread message
and hit Psion-*. Basically, if you are on an unread message Psion-*
will find you the next unread message, else it will find you the
first one.
Find - This command is used to search the message headers for specific
text. It is possible to search the Subject, From, To and At fields
for specific text, in any direction, with case sensitivity on or
off.
The text is treated as a substring, so entering 'A' in subject will
find all messages where 'A' appears anywhere in the subject.
If no text is entered for a field, then that field will not be used
in the selection process.
E.g. To search for a message from an EA8 station to EU, then set the
'To' field to EU and the 'From' field to EA8. The search will only
find message headers from EA8 stations to those at EU.
Find again - Basically works the same as standard Psion Find again
functions. It continues to search from the current position, and
uses the same search criteria as Find.
Mark for download - Messages marked for download are displayed in
italics. If a message header looks like it could be interesting, and
you want to download it, or, if the 'listen for' text has detected
something you know you don't want, then you can use this command to
toggle the marked for download status.
Delete - deletes the message header, and any file containing the
message text. Even if a header is marked keep protected, then it
will be deleted. No confirm message is issued, it just does it.
Keep - toggles a message as protected from automatic delete by the
purge. Keep protected messages are underlined.
Enter new msg - Creates a message in the outbound mailbox. If you are
in the inbound mailbox, the message is still created in the outbound
mailbox. You enter a dialogue requesting the addressee and home BBS.
These fields must be completed, after which you enter edit mode. See
the command available below.
Reply to message - is similar to the 'Enter new message' above, just
that the addressee and subject fields are prefilled with data taken
from the message the cursor is pointing to.
Resend message - is only available in the Outbound Mailbox.
Send 7+ File - will prompt you for an addressee and a file. It will
then request PT_7PLUS to encode the file and put all the parts in
your Outbound Mailbox ready for transmission.
Unpack 7+ File is used to manually rebuild a file from the constituent
messages. If not all the parts have been downloaded into your Psion,
then it will tell you which parts are missing. The generated file is
output to \PT\ARRIVALS\. The various constituent parts will be
deleted if you requested this in the Preferences menu option on the
main screen.
It is also possible that some of the parts you received are corrupt.
If this is the case, then an error report will be generated ready
for sending back to the original sender. You also have the option to
save the metafile for error correction. This option is also in the
Preferences menu option on the main screen.
Header - When entering or replying to a message, you may wish to go
back to the dialogue that started message entry, so that you could
change the subject or the private/bulletin status for example. This
command allows that. On exit, you are back in the editor where you
left it.
Insert text - Standard Psion insert.
Copy text - Standard Psion copy.
Bring - Standard Psion bring.
Save - Saves the message in the outbox ready for uploading to your
host.
Revert - forgets the message you are entering.
Set preferences - There are two options available concerned with
loading the message text into the reader. These are, load message
routing, and use proportional text. These are by default, no and yes
respectively. You may wish to view the route to see why the message
took so long getting to you, or where is has been on the way.
Frankly, after you've seen this stuff more than twice, it gets
boring, which is why it is normally set to not load. The
proportional text is normally enabled because it looks better, but
normal PCs don't use proportional text and people will send you
tables of data that will look "wonky" in proportional text mode.
Therefore an option is provided to disable proportional text.
Zoom - is only available on the Series 3a, and replicates the standard
Psion zoom commands.
Version - software version
Exit - exits the inbound or outbound mailbox.
Going /P
This is not advisable. The program is designed to run continually. When
going portable, this implies that there will be long gaps between using
the program. When the program starts up, it will try to resync with your
host. If you have been QRT for a few days, then you will be several
hundred or possible thousands of messages out of step with your host. The
program will try its' best to bring you up to date. However, the beacons
FBB output are on all bands, so if you are on a relatively quiet 4m band,
the beacons you cause to be output are also splattering across 2m & 70cm.
You will become unpopular.
The best way I can think of overcoming this problem is to use the TNC
command XMITOK OFF, start the program up, and wait for an FBB beacon to
appear. Use the Psion-M command to reset the highest FBB beacon saved to
this value, exit PT, use the Comms application to set XMITOK ON again,
and re-enter PT. It is a bit long winded, but at least you won't get a
stream of abuse.
Direct connect
You can't. If you want to take direct control of the TNC then you must
exit PT and enter the Comms Application.
You will probably find that the TNC will need a few commands sent to it
before it is easily usable, e.g.
ALFDISP ON
ACRPACK OFF
ECHO ON
These are the commands for a PK232, if you've got something different,
then it's up to you to work it out. It is useful to have these in a
script file if you intend to direct connect a lot.
For the Tiny-2, the commands are :-
AUTOLF Y
ECHO Y
Problems
UTC time is wrong. Check that you have correctly set your 'Home City'
in the World or Time applications. If this is right then check the
Daylight Savings option.
TNC not powered up. Some TNCs can be powered from the control voltages
present in the RS232 lead. This is not possible with the Series 3
even if it is powered with a mains adaptor. You will have to get an
alternative power supply or TNC.
TNC not responding at all. Try using the Comms application. If there
is nothing at all, then are you aware that both the TNC and the
Series 3 are wired up as DCE? You'll need a null modem adaptor to
overcome this problem.
You need to digipeat to your host but can't see how to. The reason is,
you can't. It has to be a single hop.
No traffic appears, and you get Serial Overrun messages. The link to
the TNC has reset to the wrong speed. Use Psion-R to reset the TNC
again.
You can't get it to work and want help. You could try asking me but I
don't promise anything. If I think you've found a bug, I may have
already fixed it. These programs are supplied FREE OF CHARGE & it's
not worth my time to be continually messing with the code.
The future
The following is simply some rough thoughts on what (if any) improvements
that will be made to these programs over the coming months. They do not
indicate any intention to do them though.
The program is not language specific. In common with other Psion Series 3
products, the program can potentially support, English, French, German,
Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, American, Swiss
(French), Swiss (German), Portuguese, Turkish, Icelandic, Russian,
Hungarian, Dutch, Belgian Flemish, Australian, New Zealand, Austrian and
Belgian French. If someone desparately needs a foriegn language version I
can probably work something out. No promises though, and you'll have to
do the translation yourself.
Initial experiments with compressing mail indicates that the (de)compress
program is likely to be about 80k on its own. Adding to that the
recommended 40k gives far more free memory than most Series 3 computers
have available at runtime. It may be possible to reduce this memory
requirement.
It is unlikely that a log will ever be maintained like TPK does. I can
see little or no point as the TPK log does not satisfy UK licensing.
Text search within the editor, in the body text of messages.
Better manual.
Use the TNC host mode.
Handle multiple sessions.
PMS.
Known Bugs
File in use error on program startup - caused by PTDBMGR still running
after exiting from the program moments earlier.
Switching hosts causes saved FBB beacon to become confused. There's only
one saved beacon number. Answer - don't switch hosts.
Modification History
V0.10 released 19th Dec 1993
Disable reset of TNC while connected.
When replying to mail, don't RE: RE: RE:... One is enough !
Fixed problem when multiple databases exist. Problem in PT_CONN.C saving
messages to path in DatCommandPtr, and not the path found by PTINIDAT.
Also PTINIDAT searched in order M:, A:, B:, Installed drive. This is not
the order the documentation said. We now do what the documentation says.
Changes for FBB 5.15b. Mail is now sent with S%C %S @ %S. Note the extra
spaces around the @. This is downward compatible with FBB 5.15. Not
tested on other versions.
PTINITNC now checks at 9600,4800,2400,1200,300,110 baud before forcing
autobaud. This seems far more reliable than previous methods.
V0.11 released 9th Jan 1994 incorporates all the above fixes.
Changed the way the program detects end of message.
Not sure changes to PTMSG.IMG in V0.11 were actually included in the
released .ZIP. There was a mixup with the latest source.
Don't use transparent mode, because we seem to miss disconnect messages
from the host if the host times out and we aren't expecting it.
Messages for sub-nodes are now sent to the host.
If a download aborted, then the message file was left open. The next
attempt to download put up a notifier 'File in Use'. This problem has
only become apparent now that we recover gracefully from a TIME OUT at
the host end, and never manifested itself when in transparent text mode.
V0.12 released 17th Jan 1994 incorporates all the above fixes.
Removed extraneous CTRL-Z at end of message input. Stops the menus being
output more then once on a message send. Saves wasteing time.
Now that FBB5.15b doesn't output "P" msgs, when we start up, our FBB
beacon will drop back to the last held on file, not the last heard. This
can be as much as 40 or 50 headers, and is a waste of bandwidth. Save
last heard as type "F" in PT.DBF
V0.13 released 9th Feb 1994 incorporates all the above fixes.
Rebuild with SDK version 2.
Added new parameter file PT_RS232.TXT which holds baud rate. If this file
exists then PTINITNC doesn't autobaud.
V0.14 released 21st Mar 1994 incorporates all the above fixes.
Improved link/paste server. Apparently it was possible to hang system
apps, I never experienced this problem, but incorporated mods as
suggested by Psion.
Added search function.
Renumber utility added.
Envelope type graphic to show mail waiting on the host. Shows bug in FBB
that sometimes keeps private mail for us, and doesn't beacon it.
Only write unique messages to the database. Fixes bug where we had msgs
repeated down the screen in the msg reader.
Search added.
Added 3a Icon and the main program, PT, now runs in dual mode
If a msg was entered, and the file is then replaced by another file, the
msg lengths became confused and the transmit %age would not end at 100%
V0.15 released 31st May 1994 incorporates all the above fixes.
If TNC not connected then allow machine to time out/power down.
PTMSG now runs in dual mode and Zoom option added.
Fixed bug where if reading a message and toggled status window, then the
display refreshed to the header list.
Bug fix. When entering a msg, and the title was the max number of chars,
it said must fill to and at.
Make menus more dynamic. Stops saying 'Prohibited in ... mode'. User
doesn't get the option in PTMSG & PT says Log On/Log Off.
Added 'Resend' option.
Send a DAYTIME command to the TNC after setup. If PT_TNC.TXT contained a
RESTART it was cleared.
7+ encode/decode added.
Timer on input buffer. Don't have to wait for new packet before display
the currently held one.
Stop extraneous UNPROTO transmissions.
Use background formatting in message editor.
Bug Fix. If downloaded a message already marked as unread, it bumped the
unread count again.
V1.00 released 16th September 1994 incorporates all the above fixes.
If the default drive is not where the message base is, then 7+ fell over
complaining about the lack of a directory, or file.
Increase size of @ field in message input to allow for explicit addressing.
Bug fix in send 7+ file. The file should be sent roughly equal parts of
file size/4000. For a file just over 65k i.e. 79k the calculation gave a
truncated figure for the 79k i.e. 14k divided that by 4000 to arrive at 3
parts, so the file was split into 4 parts of about 20k.
SSIDs allowed.
Speed up the database manager. Now far more responsive while purging - use
p_getosd to check if client waiting, and if there is, serve the client.
V1.01 released 8th December 1994 incorporates all the above fixes.
If a new msg header arrives in PT when the user is reading a msg with
PTMSG then when the user finishes reading, they could not get to the new
message header until yet another new message header arrived. i.e. First,
Last and count of headers was only updated when the header list was
displayed.
V1.02 released 11th January 1995 incorporates the above fix.
If low on system memory, PTDBMGR could fail during initialisation, and
PT would hang waiting for initialisation to finish. PT now reports the
failure.
If set "Last Host Msg" higher than really heard, then set it lower, the
last message read stays at the higher value. Allow change in Next Message
menu.
The message header list on the Series 3 Classic only showed titles. Show
the whole thing.
Fix Connection Status box on Series 3 Classic. Text scribbled over the box
margin.
Fix PT Set preferences dialog so that there are not too many items on the
Series 3 Classic. Move 7+ options to new menu item.
V1.03 released 15th August 1995 incorporates the above fixes.
New version that works with PacComm Tiny-2.
V1.04 released 10th November 1995.
/---\____________
_ / /\_)___________) 73 de Henk.
()_____)
()_____)
--\___()____)
Pc :486Dlc/40MHz Tnc:AEA Pk-88 Trx:Bosch Kf-161 Ant:Dualband 2m/70cm$W
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