Announcing Kermit 95 1.1.14 for Windows 95, Windows NT, and OS/2
Frank da Cruz
Kermit 95 1.1.14 is now available as a patch to Kermit 95 for Windows 95,
Windows NT, and OS/2. This patch fixes bugs in the previous version,
1.1.13, and adds:
. Dialer improvements:
One-touch creation of desktop connection shortcuts (icons & Start menu)
New prompt-for-password feature
New Printer configuration page
. Compatibility with the new calling conventions of Netscape Communicator.
. New terminal emulations:
QNX Console
QNX ANSI
BEOS ANSI (for logging in to the BeBox)
AIXTERM (for accessing AIX)
IBM HFT (High Function Terminal for AIX)
Siemens Nixdorf (SNI) BA80 and 97801-5xx (for accessing SINIX, etc)
. New host character sets for terminal emulation:
SNI Brackets, Euro, and IBM
QNX Console (mostly the same as CP437)
Windows Code Pages 1250, 1251, 1253, 1254, 1257
. Lucida Console font substitutions for NT (can be turned off and on).
. New built-in modem types:
Rolm 600-Series and 244PC data phones
US Robotics Xjack 1560 X2 56K
. File-transfer command switches for:
Protocol selection (Kermit, Zmodem, etc)
File selection (by date, size, exception list, etc)
Transfer mode (text, binary)
Selection of input from or output to commands and pipes
Disposition of source file after transfer (keep, delete)
Disposition of transferred file (store, mail, print)
Treatment of filenames and pathnames
Specification of filters to pass the file through as part of transfer
etc etc
. CONNECT command switches:
Specification of triggers for automatically escaping back
Time limits, Idle limits, etc.
. Improved printer control and SET PRINTER command switches.
. New /RAW-SOCKET switch for SET HOST / TELNET disables Telnet negotiations.
. Built-in support for several new modems: Rolm, USR X2, etc.
. Blind dialing (i.e. when there is no dialtone).
. Hazeltine 1500 emulation extended to support Wyse printer controls.
. Fixed national keyboard support, dead keys, Alt-Gr combos (again).
. New variables: \v(pid), \v(mousecurx), \v(mousecury), \v(trigger), etc.
. New functions: \fn2hex(), \fn2oct().
. K95D (Internet connection listener) can now launch apps in the background.
. Ability to run with TCP/IP stacks that don't support the use of
select() to test for writability of a socket (e.g. Quarterdeck, Cisco).
. New support for FTP Software's OS/2 PC/TCP TCP/IP stack.
HIGHLIGHTS
One-touch shortcut creation:
The Dialer's ScriptFile button is now a Shortcut button. Press it and a
shortcut is created on the desktop, in the Start menu (Windows only), or
both, that makes the connection to the currently selected Dialer entry,
optionally logging you in automatically (if you have filled in the login
page for that entry). Clicking on the desktop icon opens the connection
without starting the Dialer, but in exactly the same way as if you had
launched it from the Dialer. You can have as many of these as you like
and you can move them from your desktop to any other desired location.
Command modifier switches:
Many of K95's commands now accept modifier switches. Users who are
familiar with VMS or DOS (or oldies but goodies like TOPS-10 and TOPS-20)
will recognize them. Switches let you do lots of things in one command,
where previously many commands might have been necessary, and when applied
to action commands (like SEND), their affect is local to that command
rather than global. Example:
SEND /BINARY /AFTER:{8-Feb-1997 12:00:00} /EXCEPT:OOFA* /DELETE *.ZIP
Means send, in binary mode, all files of type .ZIP created after noon on
February 8, 1997, except for any whose names start with "OOFA". Another:
SEND /TEXT /MAIL:ker...@columbia.edu /SUBJECT:{Bug report} packet.log
This sends mail from your PC as indicated. Even if Kermit isn't started
on the host you are connected to, K95's autoupload feature takes care of
that for you automatically.
Improved printer support:
Printing is always a headache in PC operating systems. By adding switches
to the SET PRINTER command, we let you adapt better to the most prominent
difficulties. Now you can specify header pages or configuration files,
end-of-job strings to force out the last or only page, filter programs,
timeouts, and so on, and you can select between "DOS" printer devices
(like PRN or LPT1) and Windows queues since, in our experience, if one
doesn't work the other one might. Examples:
SET PRINTER /DOS:LPT2 /EOJ:{\12} /TIMEOUT:2
SET PRINTER /WINDOWS:HP_LaserJet_5L /JOB-HEADER:CONFIG.PCL
SET PRINTER /FILE:C:\K95\TMP\PRINTS.TXT
SET PRINTER /COMMAND:{textps.exe>lpt1}
SET PRINTER /BIDIRECTIONAL /DOS:COM2 /SPEED:19200 /FLOW:RTS/CTS
CONNECT command switches:
The CONNECT command (which switches K95 to its interactive terminal
screen) now allows several options to specify how long the terminal
screen stays active, what to do if the session is idle for a given
amount of time, and various events that can return K95 to command mode
automatically, including any "trigger" strings that you might want to
specify. Example:
CONNECT /IDLE-LIMIT:300 /TIME-LIMIT:600 /TRIGGER:{NO CARRIER}
Netscape:
Netscape 4.0 (Communicator) changed the way it invokes its Telnet
program when you choose a Telnet URL. The new way does not work with
K95 1.1.13 or earlier, nor does it work with most other Telnet clients.
K95 1.1.14 accepts Netscape's new calling method, as well as the more
conventional older one, and so should work with all versions of
Netscape.
HOW TO GET IT
Kermit 95 1.1.14 is available as a patch to version 1.1.13 or earlier.
Current registered users of Kermit 95 can download the 1.1.14 upgrade patch
from our BBS or from our Web site:
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95patch.html
or with ftp:
ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/k95/patches/
All the new features are documented in the updated UPDATES.TXT file that
comes in the patch, and the bug fixes are detailed in the updated BUGS.TXT
file. Please send reports of any difficulty with the patches by email to:
Christine Gianone, Frank da Cruz, Jeffrey Altman
The Kermit Project, Columbia University, New York City
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/