Free software BY Project Software & Development, Inc. This software is furnished for free and may be used and copied as desired. This software or any other copies thereof may be provided or otherwise made available to any other person. No title to and ownership of the software is hereby transferred or allowed. The information in this software is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by PROJECT SOFTWARE AND DEVELOPMENT, INC. PROJECT SOFTWARE assumes no responsibility for the use or reliability of this software on any equipment whatsoever. Project Software & Development, Inc. 14 Story St. Cambridge, Ma. 02138 617-661-1444 Program: VAXNET, SNDRCV, & REF Author: Robin Miller Date: Spring 1983 Description: VAXNET is a program used to transfer ASCII files over an asynchronous commun- ications line between two computers. The progams supplied in this directory allow for file transmisssion between VAX and VAX or between VAX and RSX11M. File transmission with other system types such as IBM, EASYLINK, APPLE, etc. can be accomplished via the log file capability and the DUMP command. This program only transmits ASCII files. Two programs called F2T and T2F allow files of either 256 or 512 byte fixed length records to be converted into 64 byte ASCII records, transferred to the other computer, and then converted back to the fixed length records. Hopefully by the fall DECUS, this won't be necessary as I'm working on transparent file transmission. This is my third submission of VAXNET. From the many phone calls I get regarding VAXNET, I'm happy to see so many people using it. I must apologize for not getting it into the DECUS library; I'll be completing a submittal form for this release. This version has several enahancements which make it much easier to use. If you have an DEC DF03 or RIXON R212 autodial modem, you'll love it. I've also designed VAXNET so that other types of autodial modems can be easily added. Enhancements include: o DCL symbols can be defined to answer all the startup questions. The help file topic SYMBOLS describes which symbols to define. Also a template file for defining symbols is available called TEMPLATE.COM. Although global symbols can be used, I like using the local symbols as shown in the template file. I usually have one startup command file for each remote system I dial into. o VAXNET now supports two types of autodial modems as described above. It supports the DEC DF03 and the RIXON R212 autodial modems. There are a number of commands to use with autodial modems as well. You can DIAL, REDIAL, HANGUP, and change modem type with MODEM. There is also an autologin capability which can be used with autodial modems (see HELP VAXNET AUTO_LOGIN). By the fall DECUS, I hope to have a SCRIPT command finished to automatically drive the remote terminal session from a script file. This is all aimed at being to submit jobs to batch, autodial a remote SYSTEM, and perform some function such as sending a TELEX to EASYLINK. o Several problems using VAXNET in interactive mode have been fixed. VAXNET also detects when the remote port has the alternate typeahead buffer enabled. If running at high baud rates (2400 baud or more), I suggest the alternate typeahead buffer be enabled to prevent software data overrun problems (these occur if the typeahead buffer is overflowed). The default alternate typeahead buffer size is 200 bytes with the alarm set at 64 bytes. File SETUP.MAI explains how to enable the alternate typeahead buffer and set the port /MODEM if using a modem. o All startup questions can now be changed at the VAXNET command level (Vaxnet> prompt). This is very useful for changing system types, the remote baud rate, or switching to a different remote port. You can type "HELP VAXNET SUMMARY" to get a list of all commands available at the VAXNET command prompt. o New support has recently been added to parse the GET, SEND, and DUMP commands to allow the VAX and REMOTE file names on the same line. I haven't had time to fully test this but I think it works. The format for each command is: GET remote_filename vax_filename SEND vax_filename remote_filename DUMP vax_filename vax_filename1 vax_filename2 o There is now a program called REF (written in PDP-11 macro so it can be used with RSXNET on RSX-11M) which is used to reformat the VAXNET log files. When exiting VAXNET, if a log file is being closed, the command line "MCR REF log_filename" is automatically executed to reformat the log file. The reformat program then creates a file with the same log file name with the next highest version number as the reformatted file. The REF program also has several other uses such as converting print file format, embedded carriage control, and FORTRAN carrriage control to implied carriage control so these files be transmitted between the VAXNET and SNDRCV programs. o If using a hardcopy terminal, VAXNET doesn't output the record number when transmitting a file with SNDRCV. Actually, the file transfer is much faster if this isn't done. o The DUMP command now displays the echo from the remote system (if any). This was added to detect transmission errors when dumping files. o Several other useful commands such as STATUS, NODECHO, etc. are also available. See the help file for a complete list of commands. o Two other files you may want to read are: INTRO.MAI and QUESTIONS.MAI These provide some additional documentation. Problems: Software overrun errors will occur at high baud rates unless the alternate typeahead buffer is enabled for the remote port. Build Procedures: The executables are available and are ready to go when you are. If you should need to rebuild it, the following command files are available: VAXNET.COM Compiles all the FORTRAN modules. VAXNETLBR.COM Generates the VAXNET object module library. VAXNETBLD.COM Generates the VAXNET executable via LINK. COMP.COM This command file is used to compile and replace individual modules in the library. [VAXNET.SNDRCV] Contains the files for the VAX and RSX SNDRCV programs. [VAXNET.RSXNET] Contains the files for the RSXNET program. This is a subset of the VAXNET program which runs on RSX-11M. [VAXNET.REF] Contains the files for the reformatting program.