23-May-84 18:58:43-EDT,9663;000000000001
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Date: Wed 23 May 84 18:59:04-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@CUCS20>
Subject: Info-Kermit Digest V1 #1
To: Info-Kermit: ;
Reply-To: Info-Kermit@COLUMBIA-20

Info-Kermit Digest           Wednesday, 23 May 1984	    Volume 1 : Number 1

Today's topics:
                            Info about Info-Kermit
                   New Release of LCTERM for Rainbow MS DOS
               New Implementation of KERMIT for MUMPS on PDP-11
          New Implementation of KERMIT for IBM PC under UCSD p-System
                         Hayes internal modem question
                         UCSD Pascal Kermit for Apple?
                   KERMIT Enhancement -- Changing Filenames

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed 23 May 84 12:04:05-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@COLUMBIA-20>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: Info About Info-Kermit

Because of the need to reduce the load on the Columbia University Computer
Science Department DEC-20 (COLUMBIA-20) during a period of heavy use and
hardware & software development, Info-Kermit will be run as a digest for the
next couple months.  This is the first issue.

Another policy that ARPAnet users should be aware of is the recent restriction
on anonymous FTP at COLUMBIA-20, imposed for the same reasons.  Anonymous FTP
logins are not allowed between the hours of 6:00am and 6:00pm eastern time,
weekdays, but are permitted outside these hours.

A reminder about how to get KERMIT.  For ARPAnet/Internet sites, connect to
host COLUMBIA-20, login as user ANONYMOUS with any non-null password.  For
CCnet (DECnet) sites, use NFT to host CU20B; depending upon the arrangements
between Columbia and your site, you may be able to access the files specifying
user ANONYMOUS; otherwise contact your system manager.  In both cases, all the
KERMIT files are in PS:<KERMIT>, which you can also refer to using the logical
device name KER:.  The file KER:00README.TXT contains information on what files
are in the KERMIT distribution area and how to find them.  One file worth
checking from time to time is KER:CURRENT.DOC, a brief tabular listing of each
existing version of KERMIT, showing the version number and date of the latest
release of each version.  

KERMIT network distribution is also available to users of BITNET through a
server called KERMSRV set up at host CUVMA, an IBM system at Columbia.  To get
started with KERMSRV, type the following command on your own BITnet host:

  SMSG RSCS MSG CUVMA KERMSRV HELP

For those who cannot obtain KERMIT files over these networks, there remain the
DECUS, SHARE, STUG and other user group tapes, various PC or micro floppy
distribution services, and Columbia itself will send out tapes for a
distribution fee (our tape service is described in KER:FLYER.DOC).

Archives of Info-Kermit are in KER:MAIL.*.  The messages up to March 8, 1984
are in KER:MAIL.83A.  Those from March 8 to May 18 (the last "direct mail"
activity) are in KER:MAIL.83B.  The current mail (starting with this issue of
the digest) are in KER:MAIL.TXT.

- Frank

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

Date: Wed 23 May 84 12:04:05-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@COLUMBIA-20>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: New LCTERM for Rainbow MS DOS

Version 2.14 of Larry Campbell's LCTERM multi-protocol (including KERMIT and
XMODEM) communication program for the DEC Rainbow under MS DOS 2.05 or later is
now available.  There are many fixes since the last release, and enhancements
including a session script facility.

The program is available via anonymous FTP from COLUMBIA-20 (ARPANET, only
outside of peak hours), or NFT from CU20B (DECNET/CCNET), as KER:RBLCTERM.*.
RBLCTERM.EXE is the executable program, in MS-DOS binary format.  RBLCTERM.C is
the source (actually this file contains the concatenation of various C and
ASM86 source files).  Installation instructions are in KER:RBLCTERM.HLP.
Documentation is in KER:RBLCTERM.DOC.  Various other files are also included,
including a .BWR file that lists some bugs & restrictions.

Since there is no "printable" object module, such as the .HEX or .H86 files of
CP/M, or the .FIX file provided with MS DOS (IBM PC) Kermit, you should read
the .HLP file before attempting to download LCTERM for the first time.

By the way, there will also be a version of Columbia's MS DOS Kermit for the
Rainbow, which will appear as part of the next MS DOS Kermit release within the
next few weeks. 

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

Date: Wed 23 May 84 12:04:05-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@COLUMBIA-20>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: New Implementation of KERMIT for MUMPS-11

Kermit-M is a version of Kermit that is written in 1982 ANSI Standard MUMPS, by
David Rossiter of the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary
Computing Facility.  This version is designed for PDP-11 computers running
InterSystem's M/11 operating system (version 5), but instructions are provided
for converting to other machines or MUMPS implementations.  The files may be
found in the KERMIT distribution area as KER:MPKERMIT.*.  Some of these files
have very long "lines" (over 200 characters), which are apparently unavoidable
in the MUMPS language.  Thanks to Kate MacGregor of Cornell University for
contributing this Kermit implementation through BITNET.

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

Date: Wed 23 May 84 12:04:05-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@COLUMBIA-20>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: New Implementation of KERMIT for IBM PC under UCSD p-System

This implementation of KERMIT for the IBM PC p-System was submitted by Kate
MacGregor and Steve Pacenka of Cornell University Computing Services.	It
requires version IV.x of the UCSD p-System, and is also intended to be
transferrable to other computers that run the same level of the p-System.
It was developed on the IBM PC using NCI release C1F.

The files are in KER:UCIBMPC.*.  The Pascal source files are concatenated
together into the file KER:UCIBMPC.PAS; there are also .DOC and .HLP files.
The other UCSD Pascal Kermit from Cornell (the one for the Terak) has been
reorganized along similar lines, as KER:UCTERAK.*.

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

Date: Tue 22 May 84 12:04:05-EDT
From: Alan Crosswell <US.ALAN@CU20B>
Subject: Hayes internal modem question.
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA, info-kermit@CUCS20

I would appreciate it if somebody who has the Hayes internal modem or who
looked at one and decided against it would let me know what your experience
has been with it.  I have heard a rumor that it is unreliable.  Is this
true?  Is it worth the price difference to get the internal modem instead
of an async card and external one?  The professor who is looking is 
absolutely convinced that he will never want to attach to an RS232 line
but will always use a telephone from his home.

Alan Crosswell
User Services
Columbia University Center for Computing Activities

[Editor's note: I don't know if the Hayes modem is good or bad, but there are
several good reasons for avoiding internal modems in general:
. They take up a slot that might be otherwise put to better use
. They can't be easily used on other PCs
. They can't be used at all on different kinds of micros
. They tend to confuse and/or complicate communication software, like KERMIT
People interested in using KERMIT- or MODEM-like programs for transferring
files should avoid internal modems.]

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

Date: Tue 22 May 84 18:06:05-PDT
From: Bruce Tanner <CERRITOS@USC-ECL.ARPA>
Subject: Apple Pascal Kermit?
To: INFO-KERMIT@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA

I see from VERSIONS.DOC that there are several UCSD p-system Kermits
around, but none for the Apple.  Is there one available?

Thanks,
-Bruce

[Not to my knowledge.  But see the above announcement for a UCSD Pascal Kermit
for the IBM PC.  There are now at least three versions -- IBM PC, Terak,
HP-98x6 -- to use as a basis.  Any volunteers?  - Frank]

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

Date: Wed 23 May 84 15:20:05-EDT
From: Dave Weaver <DWEAVER@DEC-MARLBORO.ARPA>
Subject: KERMIT Enhancment
To: cc.fdc@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA

I would like to see all flavors of KERMIT offer an option to the
RECEIVE or GET commands to output to a file spec other than the
same one as you are receiving.  Not only would this help with
file name length problems, but it would be a valuable asset on
VAX systems with DECnet, because one could "RECEIVE" a file to
a different node.

Something like:

Kermit-32> get FILE.EXT NODE"user password"::FILE.EXT

and:

Kermit-80> get TOPS20_LONG_FILE_NAME.EXTENSION FILE.EXT

The latter is because TOPS20 supports long file names and it
would be nice to be able to copy them without first copying
them to some shorter named file.

In the former example I could be talking to a 20 from a VAX
which is a DECnet node, but I would like to copy the file to
another node other than the one I am running KERMIT from.

                                        -Dave

[Heartily endorsed.  In fact, the Kermit Protocol Manual recommends this;
see section 9.1 of the 5th edition.  Not many implementations support all
these options; KERMIT-20, for instance lets you send FOO (AS) BAR, but
not GET FOO (AS) BAR.  This should be fixed.  But note that there's always
the problem of delimitation -- some systems (ITS, VM/CMS) have filenames
with imbedded spaces.  FTP takes care of this by having you type the
source and destination filespecs on separate lines.  - Frank]
-------
26-May-84 15:45:29-EDT,6067;000000000000
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Received: from CUCS20 by CU20B with DECnet; 26 May 84 15:45:14 EDT
Date: Fri 25 May 84 20:28:43-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@CUCS20>
Subject: Info-Kermit Digest V1 #2
To: Info-Kermit: ;
Reply-To: Info-Kermit@COLUMBIA-20

Info-Kermit Digest        Friday, 25 May 1984      Volume 1 : Number 2

Today's Topics:
                           Info-Kermit Digest Format
                                Kermit at DECUS
                     Kermit on Cyber Machines (2 messages)
                             Kermit on Epson QX10?
              Kermit Enhancement - renaming files in get and send

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

To: Info-Kermit
Date: Friday, 25 May 1984 8:04pm-EST
From: Frank da Cruz <cc.fdc@columbia-20>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: Info-Kermit Digest Format

There were a few complaints about the format of the first issue of the new
Info-Kermit digest.  Various digest digesters complained of indigestion.  This
issue should be better -- the dashed separators are the "right length", there
are some asterisks at the end, tabs removed, etc.  Let me know of any further
problems.

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

Date: Friday, 25 May 1984 8:04pm-EST
From: Frank da Cruz <cc.fdc@columbia-20>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: Kermit at DECUS

The new KERMIT releases that were announced in the last issue (UCSD, MUMPS),
this issue (Cyber 170), and the next issue (most likely VAX/VMS, TOPS-10, and
Professional-350) will be available at Spring DECUS.  Brian Nelson will
probably be bringing new releases of his PDP-11 Kermit for RSX, RSTS, and maybe
RT-11.  Attempts will be made to bring all these last-minute releases together
into a coherent collection for the various SIG tapes (particularly VMS and
RSX), and to make them available on whatever machines are provided by DEC for
people to make their own copies.  If you need any of these new releases and
you're going to DECUS, you might want to bring along a tape (a 2400' reel --
the entire KERMIT distrubution won't fit on anything smaller), as well as some
floppies for the Rainbow and Pro-350 versions.  This will save you the trouble
of FTP'ing a large amount of data over the net, or sending for a tape if you
don't have FTP access, as well as avoiding cumbersome bootstrapping procedures
for first-time users of Rainbow and Pro Kermit.

I'm not going to DECUS myself, but I understand a KERMIT session has been set
up for Friday (when most people have left).

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

Date: Fri, 25 May 84 13:24:38 cdt
From: knutson@ut-ngp.ARPA
To: cc.fdc@columbia-20.ARPA
Subject: New Cyber Kermit

You can get the source for the new Cyber Kermit via anonymous ftp to ut-ngp.
The files you need are 170kermit.for and 170azlib.asm.  These two files
should replace the current 170kermit.for.  The following are a list of 
changes made:

Version 2.0 - File name packets send uppercase file names, Error packets
        now handled correctly, modified character tables for CDC 63 and
        64 character sets, merged Ric Anderson's NOS/BE code, added
        push and ! commands, added read delay for performance tuning,
        changed binary data-mode to ignore NEL characters,  OVCAP or
        SEGLOAD version can be produced, reduced field length.

Note that this version now truly supports NOS/BE (aside from differences
in front-ends).  Ric Anderson of the University of Arizona at Tuscon
deserves credit for this.

I'll hopefully have a true NOS version in a couple of months.

Keep up the good work,
Jim Knutson
ARPA: knutson@ut-ngp
UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,kpno,ctvax}!ut-sally!ut-ngp!knutson
Phone: (512) 471-3241

[Ed Note -- The new files are in KER:170*.* on COLUMBIA-20, available via
anonymous FTP in the usual manner.  Note that a good deal of the Fortran code
of the previous release has been replaced by assembler.  Also, there doesn't
seem to be any new documentation beyond what's been said above, but then maybe
none is necessary.]

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

Date: Fri, 25 May 84 10:11:04 EST
From: decvax!mulga!stephenw.murdu@Berkeley (Stephen Withers)
To: cc.fdc@columbia-20.ARPA
Subject: Kermit on Cyber Machines

You might be interested to know that one of my colleagues has modified
Kermit-170 (Cyber) to run on the 815 - we'll send you a copy when it's
been more thoroughly tested.  Our 815 runs NOS 2.2, by the way, and
Darryl Chivers (the one doing the job) also plans a NOS/BE version for
the 730, but that's further off.

- Steve Withers, University of Melbourne

[Let's hope the different Cyber versions will get back together one day...
- Ed.]

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

Date: Wed, 23 May 84
To: info-kermit@columbia-20
Subject: Kermit on QX10
From: fenchel@wisc-rsch.arpa

Has anyone brought kermit up on the Epson QX10?

Bob Fenchel

[Not to my knowledge.  Anyone else heard anything?  - Ed.]

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

Date: Thu, 24 May 84 10:31:20 pdt
From: Ken Poulton <kdp%hp-labs.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa>
To: info-kermit@csnet-relay.arpa
Subject: Kermit Enhancement - renaming files in get and send

I agree with the need.  I found kermit-20's "send .. (as) .."  so handy that I
implemented it for Tools and Unix Kermits.  Doing the same for Get would be
nice, too.  [Ed note -- Ken is the author of the Software Tools Kermit, written
in Ratfor.]

A note on syntax: I chose to allow Send to take any number of files (possibly
wildcarded); any filename followed with "-as" is sent with the word following
the "-as" as the name.  Obviously, you don't want to mix wildcards with "-as",
but the "-as" needn't restrict you to one file at a time.  In my opinion, files
with spaces in their names are a pathological case: try to provide a mechanism
to deal with them, but don't restrict your syntax (one file per line) because
of them.

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

End of Info-Kermit Digest
*************************
-------
30-May-84 19:11:31-EDT,8442;000000000000
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Date: Wed 30 May 84 19:06:46-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@CUCS20>
Subject: Info-Kermit Digest V1 #3
To: Info-Kermit: ;
Reply-To: Info-Kermit@COLUMBIA-20

Info-Kermit Digest      Wednesday, 30 May 1984     Volume 1 : Number 3

Today's Topics:
               KERMIT for TRS-80 I and III with TRSDOS
                     New Release of DEC-20 KERMIT
                 DEC Pro-350 & IBM PC Kermit Queries
                   KERMIT for Commodore-64 Underway
                        Fix for Kermit-80 V3.9

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

Date: Mon, 28 May 84 16:55:55 CDT
From: Stan Hanks <stan@rice.ARPA>
Subject: TRS-80 Kermit
To: Frank da Cruz <cc.fdc@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA>
Cc: Stan Barber <sob@rice.ARPA>

Frank,

Stan Barber has finally completed the TRS80 version of Kermit.  Included
is all of the source, plus a BASIC program that, when executed, will
generate a correct binary. The manual entry for the user's guide is also
present.

This implementation of the Kermit is written in Z80 Assembler,
compatible with M80 and EDAS from Mysosys.  It runs under all DOS's
available for the TRS80 Model I or Model III (and the Model 4 running in
Model III mode).  It has been checked out under the following DOS's:
TRSDOS 2.3 (Model I), TRSDOS 1.3 (Model III), NEWDOS/80 V 2.0, LDOS
5.1.3, DOS+ 3.5 and VTOS 3.0 (Model I).

                                Stan Hanks

[Ed. Note: The files have been renamed for grouping together in the
KERMIT distribution as KER:TRS*.*.  The file KER:TRSMIT.HLP contains the
correspondence between the real names and distribution names.  The file
KER:TRSMAKE.BAS is a Basic program that generates the executable binary,
and KER:TRSMIT.DOC is the KERMIT User Guide manual chapter for this
version.  All available from COLUMBIA-20 or CU20B in the normal manner.]

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

Date: Wed 30 May 84 16:47:28-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <CC.FDC@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: New Release of DEC-20 KERMIT

There is a new release of KERMIT-20 for the DECSYSTEM-20, 4(222), which
fixes a couple bugs in the previous release, 4(215), and should replace that
version (or any earlier version).  The changes since edit 215 include:

 Fix FILE NAMING NORMAL-FORM (it was broken in the previous release).
. Fix problem with two consecutive ~ chars in data when doing compression.
. Don't create empty debugging log files.
. Change SET DEBUGGING LOG to LOG DEBUGGING, like other KERMITs.
. Add SET FLOW-CONTROL to allow explicit enable/disable of XON/XOFF.
. Add SET EXPUNGE to allow enable/disable of automatic expunge on DELETE.
. Make LOCAL prefix optional on LOCAL commands like LOCAL DELETE, etc.
. Add LOCAL TYPE, LOCAL RUN.
. Change LOCAL/REMOTE DISK to LOCAL/REMOTE SPACE, like other KERMITs.
. Add code to believe remote TTY line speed under TOPS-20 6.0.
. Miscellaneous minor bugs fixed.

The new release is in KER:20KERMIT.* on COLUMBIA-20 or CU20B.  The file
suffixes include:

  .EXE - The executable program
  .MAC - The MACRO-20 program source file
  .UPD - The program update history
  .DOC - A new KERMIT User Guide chapter for KERMIT-20
  .MSS - The Scribe source file for the manual chapter
  .INI - A sample KERMIT.INI file

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

Date: 28 May 84 19:02:01 EDT
From: Chris Koenigsberg <CK0C@CMCCTE>
To: To: info-kermit-request@CUCS20
Subject: DEC PRO 350 and IBM PC KERMIT

Hello, I am a staff technologist here at CMU's School of Urban and
Public Affairs, where they have given us 50 DEC PRO 350 personal
computers to play with.  I wonder if anyone has successfully assembled
a Kermit to run on these beasts.

	Thanks for all the good work you have done.
				Chris Koenigsberg
				Urban Systems Institute
				CMU SUPA MMC204
				(412)578-2175

[Ed. Note --  At least two versions of KERMIT for the Pro-350 have
been done; one by Bob Denny of DECUS C fame, and the other by Stevens
Institute of Technology.  The Stevens version will be released this
week or next week, and will be presented at DECUS.]

p.s. Is there a new version of the Kermit-86 for the IBM running
PC-DOS?? Around here everyone uses version 1.19 or 1.19A....1.19 gets
hung up a lot when running things like Emacs on the host, and 1.19A is
the "brain-damaged" version which they once thought would eliminate
the overloading of the TOPS20 front end by drastically cutting the
speed with which packets are sent during uploads.  (They were wrong,
the front end still gets overloaded, and lots of people are using this
brain-damaged very slow upload for absolutely no reason!!)

[Ed. Note - Columbia is working on a new release of MS DOS KERMIT, far
advanced over the current release, which is 1.20.  It should be ready
within a couple weeks (I've been saying this for months, but this time
I really mean it...).  The new version has much improved terminal
emulation, particularly in the character insert/delete area.  The
special CMU customization for slowing things down, pausing between
packets, etc, has never proven to be necessary at any other site that
I know about, and is probably an artifact of some system modifications.]

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

Date: 30 May 84 16:43:26 EDT
From: Eric <LAVITSKY@RU-BLUE.ARPA>
Subject: C64 Kermit
To: cc.fdc@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA

Hi Frank,

 Many of us C64 owners are distraught at the lack of a good public
domain communication/file transfer program like Kermit.  We are also
distraught at the lack of attention Columbia has decided to give to
the project of writing Kermit for this machine.  Therefore, I have
decided to start the project myself.  At present the VT52 emulation is
complete, and was written by Frank Prindle (Prindle@NADC) and myself.
The remainder of Kermit will be written by me, and later some will be
done with the help of Brian Beattie (Beattie@mitre-gateway).  If
anyone up there has already started to write anything, or formulate
some ideas as how to approach the project on the C64, we would like to
hear from them.  I will keep you posted as to our progress.  By the
way, we will be writing it in Commodores' Macro Assembler and
maintaining a working copy in Cross format. Due to various time
restrictions, I don't expect the project to be near completion till
the end of the summer.

Eric Lavitsky (Lavitsky@Rutgers)

[Ed. Note - Good for you!  I wish we had been able to do it.  We
announced our intention to do C64 Kermit because one of our
departments had decided to require its students to buy C64s.  We even
went so far as to buy one ourselves to do the work on.  But the
project never bubbled up high enough on our priority list to actually
get started, what with the MS DOS, CP/M, DEC-20, IBM VM/CMS, Unix,
Macintosh, and other implementations that were more important to
larger numbers of Columbia users.  Good luck!]

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

Date: 29 May 1984 0242-PDT
From: Charles Carvalho <CHARLES at ACC>
Subject: Fix for Kermit-80 V3.9
To: CC.FDC at COLUMBIA-20

Kermit-80 v3.9 will always prefix all &'s in the data with #'s.  This should
only be done if 8th-bit prefixing has been requested.  This problem will only
be seen when the other Kermit does not request (or permit) 8th-bit quoting,
since Kermit-80 always agrees to use 8th-bit quoting.  To fix it, replace the
following three lines between gtch4a: and gtch4b:.

	lxi	h,qbchr		;[jd] point to 8-bit quote char
	cmp	m		;[jd] is it our quote character?
	jz	gtch4b		;[jd] yes, have to quote it...

with:

	lda	quot8		; Are we doing 8th-bit quoting?
	ora	a
	jz	gtch4c		; if not, skip test and restore char.
	lda	qbchr		; get 8th-bit quote character
	cmp	d		; same as current character?
	jz	gtch4b		; yes, have to quote it...
gtch4c:	mov	a,d		; no. get character back again.

[Ed. Note - This fix will appear in the next release of CP/M-80
Kermit, which Charles is preparing.  It will include other fixes,
various improvements, but most important it will have the long
heralded modular reorganization.  Anyone with items to add or fix in
KERMIT-80 3.9 should hold off until this new release appears.]

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

End of Info-Kermit Digest
*************************
-------
