News about NAPLPS
North American Presentation-Level-Protocol Syntax

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Newsgroups: comp.protocols.misc,news.groups,comp.terminals,comp.protocols.iso,comp.bbs.misc,comp.graphics
Followup-To: comp.protocols.misc
Message-ID: <l9r47jINNoi5@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu>
References: <oeL6PB4w164w@uuisis.isis.org>
Organization: University of Tennessee, Knoxville--Dept. of Computer Science
Date: 28 Aug 1992 02:35:31 GMT
Keywords: NAPLPS
Summary: BYTE ran a series of articles in 1983
From: shuford%cs.utk.edu (Richard Shuford)
Subject: Re: looking for NAPLPS discussion


In article <oeL6PB4w164w@uuisis.isis.org>, Michael Dillon asked where
to find information on NAPLPS, as used in Prodigy, ALEX, and Telidon.

Back in 1983, BYTE magazine ran a series of four articles about NAPLPS,
the "North American Presentation-Level Protocol Syntax", a protocol
developed for encoding videotext graphics.  The first article was

    "NAPLPS: A New Standard for Text and Graphics,
     Part 1: Introduction, History, and Structure"
     by Jim Fleming and William Frezza.  BYTE,
     volume 8, number 2, February 1983, pp. 203-254.

The articles presented a large amount of detail about how NAPLPS works
and how it may be used; the series of articles continued in the March,
April, and May 1983 issues of BYTE.

NAPLPS, pronounced like "nap-lips", fits in at approximately level 6
of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model, but it
bears only slight resemblance to the ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation
1) and BER (Basic Encoding Rules) that constitute the official OSI
level 6.  NAPLPS defines a methodology of representing graphics
primitives within a 7- or 8-bit code set built around the model of
ASCII.  (If you are fully OSIfied, you may prefer to say "built around
the model of International Alphabet number 5".)

(Devotees of computer-industry history will note that the cover of
the February 1983 issue of BYTE featured a newly announced computer
system which promised to change the way people used computers--the
Apple Lisa.  And I happen to think that the editorial on page 6 was
well written.  :-)

-- 
 ....Richard S. Shuford  | "When the righteous triumph, there is great elation;
 ....shuford%cs.utk.edu  |  but when the wicked rise to power, men go into
 ....BIX: richard        |  hiding."  Proverbs 28:12


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Newsgroups: comp.protocols.misc,news.groups,comp.terminals,comp.protocols.iso,comp.bbs.misc,comp.graphics
Message-Id: <9209140341.AA24634@netcom.netcom.com>
In-Reply-To: <l9r47jINNoi5@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu>
References: <oeL6PB4w164w@uuisis.isis.org>
Organization: Netcom--posted from Andover, Mass.
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 20:41:26 PDT
To: shuford%cs.utk.edu
From: vancleef%netcom.com (Henry van Cleef)
Subject: Re: looking for NAPLPS discussion

The real tout for naplps graphics is Dave Hughes who runs oldcolo [BBS]
in Col. Sprints (see the nixpub listing).  The old ATT7300/UnixPC comes
with GSS software which is naplps.  It is also the sofware that Prodigy
uses for their graphics.

-- 
Hank van Cleef---The Union Institute---History of Science and Technology
Unix, X11, networked systems  vancleef@netcom.com, vancleef@tmn.com  

 ..............................................................................

UUCP Map entry for site "oldcolo" as of December A.D. 1992

#N	oldcolo                                                            
#S	SVC 386, SCO XENIX SYS V 2.2.3
#O	Old Colorado City Communications                              
#C	David Hughes                                
#E	oldcolo!dave                                                 
#T	1 719 632 4848                                                   
#L	38 55 N / 104 50 W                                        
#R	Conferencing, Foxbase Data Base, Naplps Graphics, Packet Radio
#W	oldcolo!dave (Dave Hughes); Thu Mar 7 15:00:00 MST 1991        
#U      csn.org   hp-lsd  bigsky  spacenet
# 	
oldcolo csn.org(DAILY), hp-lsd(DAILY), bigsky(DAILY), spacenet(DEMAND)

------------------

It is possible that queries may be sent from SMTP Internet mail to
this address:

   oldcolo!dave@csn.org

There is some chance that you may be able to contact Mr. Hughes by 
sending to

    hughes%nerus.pfc.mit.edu


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Newsgroups: comp.archives.msdos.announce
Path: cs.utk.edu!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.edu!uunet!tacom-emh1.army.mil!msdos-ann-request
Message-ID: <9305120811.kp11521@tacom-emh1.army.mil>
Organization: The SIMTEL20 Archives
Followup-To: comp.archives.msdos.d
Summary: Reposted by Keith Petersen
Sender: msdos-ann-request@tacom-emh1.army.mil
Approved: w8sdz@tacom-emh1.army.mil
Date: Wed, 12 May 1993 08:11:29 GMT
From: mpdillon@halcyon.halcyon.com (Michael Dillon)
Subject: SHOWPLP.ZIP - Add NAPLPS support to any BBS program

I have uploaded to WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil and OAK.Oakland.Edu:

pd1:<msdos.naplps>
SHOWPLP.ZIP     Add NAPLPS support to any BBS program

SHOWPLP is a program which follows a plain text script and transmits
NAPLPS graphics files to a BBS user's terminal program.  This door
program can be used to add NAPLPS support to any BBS such as Maximus
and Remote Access.  The caller must be using a NAPLPS capable terminal
program such as PP3 or Turmodem to see the results.

Michael Dillon
mpdillon@halcyon.halcyon.com


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Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.graphics.misc
Message-ID: <Pine.3.96.980615121212.428A-100000@stratagy.com>
References: <3581A661.FF6@cs.hongik.ac.kr> <kludgeEuG14I.AK2@netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 12:39:52 -0400
From: "Richard S. Shuford" 
Subject: Re: HELP: NAPLPS supported terminal on workstations

In msg <kludgeEuG14I.AK2@netcom.com>, Scott Dorsey <kludge%netcom.com> wrote:
>
>In article <3581A661.FF6@cs.hongik.ac.kr> Jihun Park <jhpark%cs.hongik.ac.kr>:
> >
> >
> > I am developing a simple program to get NAPLPS data from
> > workstations. I realize that there are protocols handshaked
> > between a NAPLPS server and a client terminal. I do not need to
> > draw pictures.but want to get down load data only. Please give me info
> > on what kind of commands are passed between them. I downed
> > a naplps.zip doc file from the internet, but it did not help me.
>
>Your best bet might be to get a VT240 manual.


Alas, the DEC VT240 terminal has *nothing* to do with NAPLPS.  You
must be thinking of the ReGIS protocol, which the VT240 does support.

It is not clear to me exactly what Mr. Jihun Park is trying to do.
The only reason I know, why one would want to use NAPLPS (the North
American Presentation-Level-Protocol Syntax), would be to draw
pictures of some type.

(Did you ever take a network class in which the instructor drew the
7-layer tower of the OSI Reference Model?  NAPLPS is supposed to fit
at layer 6, just below the "application" layer.)


> > between a NAPLPS server and a client terminal. I do not need to
> >                                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > draw pictures.but want to get down load data only. Please give me info
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If you just want to transfer data between machines, without looking
at it on a screen, you do not need to have any NAPLPS implementation.
Maybe Kermit is what is needed?  Have a look at:

    http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/

 ...RSS


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Newsgroups: alt.graphics,alt.graphics.pixutils,comp.protocols.misc
Followup-To: comp.protocols.misc
Message-ID: <1991Feb19.043620.12415@cs.utk.edu>
References: <70560@microsoft.UUCP> <1991Feb10.065345.5883@riacs.edu>
Organization: University of Tennessee, Knoxville--Dept. of Computer Science
Summary: BYTE magazine article references
Keywords: NAPLPS graphic protocol BYTE videotext teletex
Lines: 72
Date: 19 Feb 1991 04:36:20 GMT
From: shuford(at)cs.utk.edu (Richard Shuford)
Subject: Re: info needed on "NAPLPS"

The BYTE article series about the North American Presentation-Level-Protocol
Syntax (NAPLPS--which may be pronounced like "nap-lips"):
   
  NAPLPS: A New Standard for Text and Graphics, Part 1: Introduction.  Jim
  Fleming and William Frezza.  BYTE, February 1983, Vol. 8, num. 2., p. 203.

  NAPLPS: A New Standard for Text and Graphics, Part 2: Basic Features.  Jim
  Fleming and William Frezza.  BYTE, March 1983, Vol. 8, num. 3., p. 152.

  NAPLPS: A New Standard for Text and Graphics, Part 3: Advanced Features.
  Jim Fleming and William Frezza.  BYTE, April 1983, Vol. 8, num. 4, p. 190.

  NAPLPS: A New Standard for Text and Graphics, Part 4: More Advanced 
  Features and Conclusion.  Jim Fleming and William Frezza.  BYTE, May 1983,
  Vol. 8, num 5., p. 272.

(I was working for BYTE at the time, and I served as the theme editor for
that February 1983 issue on standards.)

It may be fair to say that the North American Presentation-Level-Protocol
Syntax (not "standard") grew out of the efforts in the early 1980s to
create a mass market for what was variously called "teletex" or "video-
text" (although at the time nobody could agree on what these terms really
meant).  The basic idea was for delivery of information to a nontechnical
user base who were nonetheless familiar with video games and wanted to see
pretty graphics.

As I recall with some memory haze, there were two general graphics schemes
developed for teletex.  One was used in the British Prestel system, and I
think it was called "alpha-mosaic".  The other, somewhat more sophist-
icated technology was pioneered in Canada with Telidon, an "alpha-
geometric" protocol.  A key feature is the extension of the ASCII-type
codes to include Picture-Description Instructions (PDIs).  Some of the
advanced features of Telidon were incremental lines, macros, dynamically
redefinable characters, chain-encoding of shape edges, and various types
of display fields.

AT&T added some features to Telidon and handed NAPLPS to the ANSI-
accredited standards committees and said, "Here.  Bless our standard," so
the X3L2 (technical) Committee on Character Sets and Coding worked on it
for some time.  The draft document was BSR X3.110-198x; I don't know the
numbers of any successor documents.  Fleming and Frezza, who worked with
the protocol for AT&T, were on this committee.  

In my opinion, a major handicap for NAPLPS was that for a long time the
only equipment available for encoding the images was a special computer
sold in the United States only by AT&T, costing tens of thousands of
dollars.  This major capital start-up expense delayed or killed a lot of
creative ideas for using the NAPLPS protocol and/or teletex.  Eventually
there were some cheaper encoding products, based on an Apple or IBM
PC-type platform, but the initial enthusiasm had already declined.

The significance of the "presentation-level" part of the protocol's name
has also been changed by events.  The real OSI protocol stack, which was
amorphous indeed back in 1983, now has a pretty firmly defined Presentation
Service.  So the Abstract Syntax Notation 1 (ASN.1) and its Basic Encoding
Rules (BER) now occupy that slot.  I suppose that somebody could adapt
NAPLPS as an alternate to ASN.1/BER for certain applications, but the
effort to make it mesh with the other OSI layers would be nontrivial.

The CoSy conferencing software used by BIX (the BYTE Information eXchange)
contains support for transmitting NAPLPS images to its users, but this
feature has been rather neglected in recent years.  There used to be some
NAPLPS-encoded images in one of the BIX graphics conferences, but I don't
know if these are still online.

I was not aware that Prodigy is using NAPLPS.  The concept certainly makes
sense.  It could be the beginning of a revival of interest in this unique
protocol.

-- 
....Richard S. Shuford  | "Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke
....shuford%cs.utk.edu  |  a wise man and he will love you.  Instruct a wise
....BIX: richard        |  man and he will be wiser still."  Proverbs 9:7

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Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Organization: TELECOM Digest
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
Posted: Sun Mar  4 16:52:17 1990
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 143, Message 5 of 8
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Message-ID: <4727@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 4 Mar 1990 15:52:17 GMT
From: wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher)
Subject: ALEX Service Starting in Toronto, Montreal


Bell Canada expects to start the Alex system up in Toronto at the end
of April. This is basically a line that can be called via modem to
access a variety of "service providers" that are online. It works with
the NAPLPS videotext format to transmit data and diagrams.

It all started with a market trial in Montreal, where 20 000
subscribers were expected during the two-year trial period. They
reached 20,000 in six months, although the turnover (they call it
"churn") was quite high.
 
Services such as banking, home shopping could be provided through the
Alex system. Bell plans to put its white pages on line (yellow pages
cannot be provided because of some technicalities with the act under
which Bell Canada was incorporated; the CRTC denied them a modem
"yellow pages" service).
 
Alex will work on a number of service levels. These are:
 
1) Customer gets service for free. The service provider pays 10c/min for
   a subscriber's on line time.
 
2) Customer and service provider each pay 5c/min

3) Service provider pays 10c for the first three minutes. After that,
   it's the customer who pays the 10c/min. [This level will be used for the
   "white pages" service; that is, get the first three minutes of white
   pages for free.]
 
4) Customer pays 10c/min. The service provider may bill separately,
   however (ie. if you pay for extra service using a credit card or
   whatever).
 
5) Customer pays 15c/min, while service provider pays 10c/min. There is a
   10% of customer charge levied for an Accounts Receivable Management
   (presumably a way to bill the customer further through the Alex service).
 
6) Customer pays 20c/min. Service provider pays as in 5).
 
7) Variable. Customer will pay at least 25c/min (cost will be a multiple
   of 5c/min). This is Alex's version of 976 service.
 
Bell will rent an ALEXTEL video terminal for $7.95/month for residence
customers. There will also be PC software that can connect to Alex
(though this would be determined by other manufacturers and market
demand.
 
Access will be through a single number (in the Montreal test, separate
numbers were used for each level of Alex service). Login will be by
userid and password. Initial registration is expected to be done via
an 800 number where name, address, other details are collected before
account access is given.
 
Bell has promoted the upcoming service by placing "smart alex" ads in
various places (without reference to Bell, or what the Alex product is
about). They consist of pictures of people that have fluorescent
features written over their faces (glasses, beards, etc). The service
should be ready to go on 30th April according to their timetable (in
Toronto and Montreal). Other localities will eventually have service,
but Bell is secretive about that for some reason what with their
timetable of implementation showing a big whited-out gap below the
mention of Toronto and Montreal.
 
There are also plans to link up with other data services like Datapac
or Dataroute and that in the future.

-- 
|| David Leibold      "Morals are one thing. Ratings are everything."
|| djcl@contact.uucp                - from _Max_Headroom_ TV series


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Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Reply-To: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
Posted: Tue Mar  6 13:52:32 1990
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 151, Message 5 of 8
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
Lines: 18
Message-ID: <4862@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 6 Mar 1990 12:52:32 GMT
From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: ALEX Service Starting in Toronto, Montreal


> Bell Canada expects to start the Alex system up in Toronto at the end
> of April. This is basically a line that can be called via modem to
> access a variety of "service providers" that are online. It works with
> the NAPLPS videotext format to transmit data and diagrams.

Sounds like SourceLine, which is a service Southwestern Bell tried to
make a go of down here in Houston. Remember the stuff a while back
about SWBell versus BBS operators? That was Ma trying to kill off her
competition. They just gave up on SourceLine and left the field to
U.S.Videotel. Whether any of their associated lawsuits and rate change
stuff with the PUC follow it into the bit-bucket is another question.


 _--_|\  Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. <peter@ficc.uu.net>.
/      \
\_.--._/ Xenix Support -- it's not just a job, it's an adventure!
      v  "Have you hugged your wolf today?" `-_-'


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   [4 years later...]

Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Organization: FidoNet Nameserver/Gateway
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 14, Issue 210, Message 8 of 22
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Message-ID: <telecom14.210.8@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: 10 May 1994 21:54:54 -0500
From: Dave.Leibold@f730.n250.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Leibold)
Subject: Bell Canada Alex Videotex Service Officially Closing


Bell Canada received official approval to discontinue the
controversial Alex videotex service.

From a check of the list of new and deleted services on Alex itself,
it appears no new services have been added since 1991, and services
were being deleted, at least as of last fall. It seemed the home
shopping and commerce offerings were few, and the chat/dating lines
plenty (the latter being done with less cost and more finesse on the
regional BBS scene).  The most useful service left on Alex (IMO) is
the electronic white pages, complete with an automated long distance
call rate calculator.

The following eulogy just arrived in the [physical] mail:

 ..............................................................................

[Bell Canada letter to Alex service customers follows ...]

T.E. Graham
T/Director - Business Planning,
Bell Advanced Communications
160 Elgin Street, Floor 12,
Ottawa, Ontario
K1G 3J4

April 29, 1994

Dear Customer,

Some five years ago, Bell Canada launched an innovative service that,
after its initial trial run, logged more than a million calls from
interested people like you. We then decided to go ahead and introduce
this exciting, new concept to enable customers to access home-based
interactive and transactional services. Though it was risky, we heard
your call and answered it. The ALEX service was born.

Our early success in Montreal eventually led us to expand into the
Toronto Market and become a leader in the Canadian videotex industry.
Although our role was primarily one of a carrier providing technical
support, we helped our Service Providers develop applications -- from
home shopping and personal banking to financial news and learning
programs -- in order to keep you on the leading edge of the
information explosion.

However, while the ALEX service continued to grow and attract
interest, the inconsistent rate of development of the videotex
industry coupled with Canada's declining economic fortune has made
the service difficult to justify. We are faced with having to
drastically cut our costs, yet have resisted laying off employees or
raising customer prices. So we have been forced to make a painful
decision and terminate the ALEX service.

This is a difficult decision, and one that must be weighed against
the reality of today's tough economic climate. Quite simply, the ALEX
network is not the right vehicle, nor the appropriate technology, at
this time to deliver the information goods needed in our fast-paced
society.

We filed on December 30th, 1993 for the de-tariffing of the ALEX
service with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC), the federal telecommunications regulator. On April
18th we received their approval, and will discontinue the ALEX
service effective June 3rd, 1994. The ALEXtel terminal will also be
withdrawn from the marketplace and cease to be supported.

Bell has always tried to meet the needs of its business and residential 
customers by offering the best and latest in communications technology.
We will keep trying to bring you innovative telecommunications products 
and services that best fit your needs. As the pace of technology quickens 
and opportunities begin to unfold, we will be there again ... listening. 
We will also be ready to serve you, knowing full well that such advances 
must be balanced by your wishes.

Thank you for doing business with Bell. If you have any questions
about this matter, please call 1 (800) 267-8480.

Sincerely,


T.E. Graham

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Excerpts from _Canadian Journal of Communications_
              Volume 16, Number 3/4, 1991 

"The Videotex Industry in Quebec:
 The Difficulties of Mass Marketing Telematics"
 by Serge Proulx, University of Quebec, Montreal 

http://www.wlu.ca/~wwwpress/jrls/cjc/BackIssues/16.3/proulx.html

...

The first serious attempts to adapt the Telidon format to effective
technical systems coincided with a $10 million deal signed on August 28,
1979, between the Canadian government and Bell Canada, for the
realization of the Vista project. The initial goals of this project, to
produce 100,000 screen-pages and install 1,000 terminals, were later
made less ambitious. The project was finally abandoned by Bell Canada in
1983.

As for the Telidon experience as a whole, after a five-year period of
field experiments where the government invested $65 million and private
enterprise just as much, the Minister Marcel Masse announced its official
demise in March 1985. Bell Canada, for its part, having first hesitated,
then abandoned the idea of importing Minitel into Canada [6], decided in
1987 to develop its own videotex system, Alex, that functions according
to an alphageometrical format that is a subdivision of the NAPLPS one. 
[North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax]

 ...

Bell Canada's Alex Project

With the agreement of the federal Department of Communications, Bell
Canada, the largest telephone company in the country, has put the Alex
system into effect and has been attempting to popularize it in Quebec
since December 1988. This network allows its subscribers (provided with
an ALEXtel terminal rented at $7.95 per month or a microcomputer equipped
with simulation software and a modem) to have access to many services:
home banking, leisure, compushopping, travel and transportation, current
events and information, sports, education, games and lotteries,
electronic billboards and party lines, and so on.  Billing adjusted to
use and  activity is in effect.  In January 1989, Alex had 110 services
originating from about 40 suppliers. In November 1989, Alex offered
almost 450 services provided by 120 suppliers (La Salle, 1989). Bell
Canada has invested $60 million into this project and expects that
service suppliers will add about $50 million.

The launching of the project was well publicized. In December 1988,
it was announced that the objective was to quickly attain 20,000
subscribers in Greater Montreal. As of April 23, 1989, ALEX had 10 477
subscribers using 5,414 Alextel terminals and 5,063 microcomputers
equipped with emulators. The number of calls had passed 400,000, with an
average duration of 7.5 minutes per call. (Bernatchez, 1989, p. 18)

However, one can observe that:

(a) Most first-time users, after a free two-month trial period, returned
    their terminals to Bell Canada, which means that there has been a very
    quick turnover among new users.

(b) After receiving their first phone bills, which showed prohibitive
    costs for the Alex service [8], many subscribers gave up on the very
    idea of using this type of service, while others formed the Association
    of Users of Alex Services to encourage Bell to lower its rates [9].

(c) The suppliers have too few clients (there is an average of 5,000
    hours of connections per month, which is insufficient to make the
    network profitable [La Salle, 1989]); as a consequence, they lack
    the financial resources to improve service: it becomes hard in turn
    to attract new subscribers. A vicious circle is created that hinders
    the development of the system. 

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