6-Aug-92 15:28:53-GMT,22960;000000000001 Return-Path: Received: by watsun.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB) id AA04953; Thu, 6 Aug 92 11:28:49 EDT Date: Thu, 6 Aug 92 11:28:49 EDT From: Christine M Gianone To: Info-Kermit Subject: Info-Kermit Digest V16 #1 Reply-To: Info-Kermit@watsun.cc.columbia.edu Queries-To: Info-Kermit-Request@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU Errors-To: Info-Kermit-Request@watsun.cc.columbia.edu Message-Id: Info-Kermit Digest Thu, 6 Aug 1992 Volume 16 : Number 1 Today's Topics: News Announcing IBM Mainframe Kermit-370 Versions 4.2.3 and 4.2.4 Announcing IBM Mainframe VM/CMS Kermit-370 Version 4.2.3 Announcing IBM Mainframe MUSIC Kermit-370 Version 4.2.3 Announcing IBM Mainframe MVS/TSO Kermit-370 Version 4.2.4 Announcing IBM Mainframe CICS Kermit-370 Version 4.2.4 The new FULLSCREEN transfer mode A Few More Release Files for Kermit-12 Digest submissions may be sent to Info-Kermit@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU or KERMIT@CUVMA.BITNET. Requests for addition to or deletion from the Info-Kermit subscriber list should be sent to LISTSERV@CUVMA.BITNET or LISTSERV@CUVMA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU. These messages must be of the form: SUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT (To start a subscription) UNSUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT (To cancel a subscription) REGISTER I$KERMIT (To correct your name) Kermit files may be obtained over networks and by mail order. On the Internetwork, use FTP to log in to host WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU, a SUN-4/280 running UNIX (SUNOS 4.1), IP host number 128.59.39.2. Login as user anonymous (note, lower case), any password, and GET or MGET (MULTIPLE GET) the desired files. The Kermit files are in directories kermit/a, kermit/b, kermit/c, kermit/d, and kermit/e. Test versions are in kermit/test. All files in these directories should be transferred in text (ASCII) mode. Binaries are in kermit/bin (use ftp in binary mode). All files on watsun have lowercase names, and case is significant. You can also get Kermit files over the BITNET/EARN network; to get started send a message with text HELP to KERMSRV, the Kermit file server, at host CUVMA. For detailed instructions, read the file kermit/a/aanetw.hlp (AANETW.HLP on KERMSRV). To order by mail, request a complete list of Kermit versions and an order form from Kermit Distribution, Columbia University Center for Computing Activities, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025 USA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, May 26, 1992 11:14 EDT From: Christine M Gianone Subject: News Keywords: LISTSERV, I-KERMIT Our IBM mainframe host computer, CUVMB, was recently upgraded from VM/HPO to VM/ESA. It seems that VM/ESA has a new feature: it does not allow dashes (hyphens) in user names. So the I-KERMIT and IBM-KERMIT names have been changed to I$KERMIT and IBM$KERMIT, respectively. Please use the new names when sending mail to CUVMA. This change does not affect KERMSRV, only LISTSERV. Let's hope that the next big VM release continues to allow dollar signs... To those who have been asking when the next issue of Kermit News, our printed journal, will appear: Sorry, publication has been delayed due to circumstances beyond our control. We expect it to be ready in the Fall. But this also gives us more time to collect articles. If you would like to submit an article for publication, let me know. Sorry for the long delay since the last Info-Kermit issue. The following announcements of the new release of IBM mainframe Kermit were delayed pending release of accompanying test versions of MS-DOS Kermit and C-Kermit, but rather than hold them up any longer, here they are. The new version is in the test area (kermit/test/ik*.* on watsun, and the T: area of KERMSRV at CUVMA on BITNET). They will be moved the regular B area if no serious problems are reported. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1992 May 13 11:14 EDT From: "John F. Chandler" Subject: Announcing IBM Mainframe Kermit-370 Versions 4.2.3 and 4.2.4 Keywords: IBM 370 Kermit Xref: IBM Mainframe, Also see IBM 370 Kermit-370 version 4.2.3 has now finished the testing stage and is available in the usual places (KERMSRV, watsun, LISTSERV@HEARN, etc.). The new release appears in the form of expanded update files for all the variants of Kermit-370 (CICS, CMS, MUSIC, TSO, and even ROSCOE) and, in addition, a new source component. Because of the latter (and only because of the latter), all the installation guides have been updated, but the new source component is, in fact, optional (see below). Numerous fixes, extensions, and improvements have been included in the new release, mostly generic, but some system-specific as well. See the accompanying system-specific announcements for further details: IKCKER.ANN (CMS), IKMKER.ANN (MUSIC), IKTKER.ANN (TSO), and IKXKER.ANN (CICS). Anyone interested in helping to port Kermit-370 to still other operating systems should contact John Chandler or . Many thanks to the beta testers who have helped work out the bugs in the new release; also to Joe Doupnik and Frank da Cruz, who have created the corresponding facilities in MS-DOS Kermit and C-kermit; finally, to Hirofumi Fujii, who supplied most of the information for translation of Kanji characters. Below is a list of the generic changes in version 4.2.3. Kermit-370 ... - Has a new FULLSCREEN controller type. The new mode allows Kermit file transfers in a generic way on nearly all protocol converters, but it carries some special limitations -- packets cannot be longer than 77 bytes, and the other end must be MS-DOS Kermit 3.12 or higher or C-Kermit 5A(180) or higher. Part of the implementation is a special checksum type called BLANK-FREE-2 intended to avoid the possibility of repeated blanks in Kermit packets. - Supports the new locking shift protocol (helps to compress certain files with many 8-bit bytes). This protocol is used only in talking to another Kermit that supports it, e.g., MS-DOS Kermit 3.12 or C-Kermit 5A(180). - Now supports file transfers using Japanese Kanji with translation between IBM, Hitachi, or Fujitsu codes and the newly added transfer character set JAPAN-EUC. This support requires the new source component ik0kan.asm, which contains the necessary translation tables. Translation works automatically when Kermit-370 is talking to another Kermit that requests or supports the JAPAN-EUC character set. - Now recognizes CP1047 as a synonym for EBCDIC. (1047 is IBM's new code page that follows the de facto standard.) - Has a new-and-improved means of detecting the termanal controller type with less need for the old optional update SC89058 (now replaced by the more flexible SC9131X). - Now suggests parameter changes only upon the new HINTS subcommand, not at startup time. More parameter settings are now scrutinized. - Now avoids looping when a solid terminal I/O error sets in or upon any error at the very end of a transfer (no reply expected). - Has changed the calling sequence of the KERMAIL, KERMPRT, and KERMSUB commands used in support of local mail, print, and job submission. Instead of passing no filespec at all on the first invocation, Kermit passes a dummy filespec consisting of a single period. Implementers of such commands, take note! For best results, the revised commands should be able to handle both the old and the new syntax. - No longer requires hitting ENTER an extra time to get out of server mode after typing STOP. - Now uses the built-in default A-to-E translation table for reading Kermit commands in server mode when the transfer character set is TRANSPARENT. - No longer halts a transfer upon seeing a data packet with no data. - No longer gives a spurious reason for a cancellation issued by user intervention on the micro or the STOP command. - Now avoids certain lock-ups on the Hydra II at the start of protocol mode and others on the the IBM 3174 AEA at the end of a download. - Now allows the STOP command on PCI and certain other protocol converters that did not previously support it. - Now tolerates (at the source code level) alternate EBCDIC versions which do not have all the Roman letters at the standard code points. Also, the use of one-letter abbreviations of SET options for program logic flow has been generalized. This simplifies the task of translating the user interface into languages other than English. - Now has a SIMULATE subcommand, which plays back a file giving one or both sides of a file transfer to supply the packets (instead of the communication line). This is mainly for debugging. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1992 May 13 11:14 EDT From: "John F. Chandler" Subject: Announcing IBM Mainframe VM/CMS Kermit-370 Version 4.2.3 Keywords: IBM 370 Kermit, VM/CMS Kermit Xref: CMS Kermit, See VM/CMS Kermit, IBM 370 Kermit This is to announce the release of Kermit-370 version 4.2.3 for CMS. As usual, the new version comes in VM/SP, VM/XA, and VM/ESA flavors. The CMS-related Kermit files that have been changed or added are as follows. IKCAUX CMD sample EXEC's (new) IKCKER ANN this message IKCKER BWR bugs, warnings, and restrictions IKCKER INS installation instructions IKCKER UPD post-4.2.0 updates IKCXA UPD updates for VM/XA and VM/ESA IK0AAA HLP Kermit-370 release notes IK0KAN ASM optional Kanji tables IK0KER ANN the accompanying message on Kermit-370 IK0KER UPD the cumulative list of updates in all variants IK0423 HLP notes on the new features in 4.2.3 Many thanks to the beta testers who have helped work out the bugs in the new release. There are several changes specific to CMS: - Now comes with a file of sample auxilliary EXEC's for use with Kermit (IKCAUX CMD). These include KERMAIL, KERMPRT, and PC. The latter is designed for "one-touch" mainframe-initiated file transfers to or from an appropriately configured micro Kermit. The syntax is PC PRINT name or PC + any valid Kermit command, such as GET, SEND, or REMOTE. Any reply is written to KER REPLY. The sample KERMAIL and KERMPRT are compatible both with version 4.2.3 and with earlier versions. - No longer considers it a file name collision if the new file being received is to have the same name as a file on a read-only extension of the destination disk. - Once more transparently supports the old form of non-library help file in addition to the new PDS form (version 4.2.3 did not). - Can now reject a file that is too large to fit in the destination SFS directory. Enabling SFS support in general is now done by selecting the appropriate CNTRL file when applying the updates. Available: KERMIT (CMS 1-5), KERMCMS6 (CMS 6), KERMXA (CMS 5.5), KERMXA21 (CMS 5.6), and KERMESA (CMS 7-8). - Now explicitly releases its SCBLOCK when it exits. (Before CMS 5, that is necessary.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1992 May 13 11:14 EDT From: "John F. Chandler" Subject: Announcing IBM Mainframe MUSIC Kermit-370 Version 4.2.3 Keywords: IBM 370 Kermit, MUSIC Kermit Xref: MUSIC Kermit, IBM 370 Kermit This is to announce the release of Kermit-370 version 4.2.3 for MUSIC. The MUSIC-related Kermit files that have been changed or added are as follows. IKMKER.ANN this message IKMKER.BWR bugs, warnings, and restrictions IKMKER.INS installation instructions IKMKER.UPD post-4.2.0 updates IK0AAA.HLP Kermit-370 release notes IK0KAN.ASM optional Kanji tables IK0KER.ANN the accompanying message on Kermit-370 IK0KER.UPD the cumulative list of updates in all variants IK0423.HLP notes on the new features in 4.2.3 Many thanks to the beta testers who have helped work out the bugs in the new release. Note: versions 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 were never released, except for testing. Version 4.2.3 represents an accumulation of two years of improvements. Most of the advances in the new release are simply duplications of the simultaneous generic changes in the other variants of Kermit-370, but some of the changes included system-specific code that required porting to MUSIC. Two notable changes, however, involved porting of features that had already been available in other variants. - Kermit-MUSIC now tries to automatically detect the terminal controller type. Previously, it could not because MUSIC did not allow the needed I/O operations. - Kermit-MUSIC now gives the date and time of each file in response to the Kermit DIR subcommand, and the attribute packet for a download now carries the correct time stamp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1992 June 10 15:09 EDT From: "John F. Chandler" Subject: Announcing IBM Mainframe MVS/TSO Kermit-370 Version 4.2.4 Keywords: IBM 370 Kermit, MVS/TSO Kermit Xref: TSO Kermit, See MVS/TSO Kermit, IBM 370 Kermit This is to announce the release of Kermit-370 version 4.2.4 for TSO. The TSO-related Kermit files that have been changed or added are as follows. IKTAUX.CMD sample CLIST's (new) IKTGUP.ASM TSO-specific portion of GUPI IKTKER.ANN this message IKTKER.BWR bugs, warnings, and restrictions IKTKER.INS installation instructions IKTKER.UPD post-4.2.0 updates IK0AAA.HLP Kermit-370 release notes IK0KAN.ASM optional Kanji tables IK0KER.ANN the accompanying message on Kermit-370 IK0KER.UPD the cumulative list of updates in all variants IK0423.HLP notes on the new features in 4.2.3 and 4.2.4 Many thanks to the beta testers who have helped work out the bugs in the new release. Note that version 4.2.3 has been available in the Kermit test area for several weeks. 4.2.4 differs in only two respects: the inclusion of a new update supporting relative GDG numbers, and an extra message has been added to the usual protocol-mode greetings. The added message is "KERMIT READY TO SEND..." (or RECEIVE or SERVE). These are the changes specific to TSO: - Now comes with a file of sample auxilliary CLIST's for use with Kermit (IKTAUX.CMD). These include KERMAIL, KERMPRT, and PC. The latter is designed for "one-touch" mainframe-initiated file transfers to or from an appropriately configured micro Kermit. The syntax is PC CMD('PRINT name') or PC CMD('any Kermit subcommand') where the Kermit subcommand would typically be GET, SEND, or REMOTE. Any reply is written to KER REPLY. The sample KERMAIL and KERMPRT have not been completely filled out, but are included for pedagogy. - No longer generates a KER.LOG entry marked "e" for normal full-screen I/O operations. - Now recovers cleanly if the user specifies an erroneous CWD string. - The TSO GUPI source has been changed, but only in two trivial ways: (a) missing sequence numbers have been supplied on 4 lines, and (b) comments have been added to show the list of TSO macros invoked. - Now supports relative generation numbers for GDG's for both sending and receiving files. The number for a received file can be supplied either in the RECEIVE subcommand or in the file header packet. When this notation is used for sending, neither the relative nor the absolute number is included in the outgoing file header. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1992 June 10 15:09 EDT From: "John F. Chandler" Subject: Announcing IBM Mainframe CICS Kermit-370 Version 4.2.4 Keywords: IBM 370 Kermit, CICS Kermit Xref: CICS Kermit, IBM 370 Kermit This is to announce the release of Kermit-370 version 4.2.4 for CICS. The CICS-related Kermit files that have been changed or added are as follows. IKXKER.ANN this message IKXKER.BWR bugs, warnings, and restrictions IKXKER.HLP Help files IKXKER.INS installation instructions IKXKER.UPD post-4.2.0 updates IKXTRN.ASM VSE installation utility IK0AAA.HLP Kermit-370 release notes IK0KAN.ASM optional Kanji tables IK0KER.ANN the accompanying message on Kermit-370 IK0KER.UPD the cumulative list of updates in all variants IK0423.HLP notes on the new features in 4.2.3 and 4.2.4 Many thanks to the beta testers who have helped work out the bugs in the new release. Note that version 4.2.3 has been available in the Kermit test area for several weeks. 4.2.4 differs in only two respects: (1) the KSDS used for storing the Help and TAKE files has a new, longer key size and will require re-installation for sites that have the old Help files installed. See IKXKER.INS for the details. The reason for the change is the expansion of the "userid" field in Kermit from four to eight bytes. (2) an extra message has been added to the usual protocol-mode greetings. The added message is "KERMIT READY TO SEND..." (or RECEIVE or SERVE). There are several other changes specific to CICS: - Now prevents clashing simultaneous access to a TDQ by two Kermit sessions. - Now distinguishes between readable and writable data objects when determining file name collision and searching for files to download. - Now has the correct code for CICS 1.6 access to extra-partition TDQs under MVS. - Now pads the interactive mode prompt with XON (or whatever is the current HANDSHAKE character). - Now drives the 3174 AEA properly in transparent mode through VTAM. - No longer produces unpredictable results when copying to or from Kermit directory members. - No longer mistakes the date in March-December of even-numbered years. - No longer produces spurious error messages at installation time under VSE/ESA. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1992 May 13 11:14 EDT From: "John F. Chandler" Subject: The new FULLSCREEN transfer mode Keywords: IBM 370 Kermit Xref: IBM Mainframe, Also see IBM 370 In the past, Kermit was not usable with certain communications front ends, such as SIM3278/VTAM, the IBM 3708 in full-screen mode, and the MICOM 7400, all of which lack a working transparent mode suitable for Kermit protocol. However, the new FULLSCREEN mode for Kermit-370 allows file transfers without control characters and, therefore, without a transparent mode. The new mode entails one protocol change to allow printable characters to synchronize packets and another to avoid strings of repeated blanks; thus, only a suitably upgraded micro Kermit can be used (currently, only MS-DOS Kermit 3.12). C-Kermit has the necessary changes, but they are not yet complete, nor have they been ported to the C-based micro Kermits. In principle, FULLSCREEN mode could be used with almost any protocol converter, but the printable packet characters and other restrictions on this mode make it less robust and slower than a transparent mode would be, so FULLSCREEN mode is recommended primarily as a last resort. The basic setup consists of the following Kermit subcommands: -----Mainframe----- ----------PC-------- SET CONTROLLER FULL SET SEND START 62 SET RECEIVE START 62 SET RECEIVE START 62 SET SEND START 62 SET BLOCK B SET BLOCK B SET HANDSHAKE NONE SET HANDSHAKE 0 Possible variations: - The choice of 62 (Greater-than sign) for the start-of-packet character is arbitrary, and it can be changed, as long as you change all four of them. For best results, choose a character that seldom appears in the files you will be transferring. - Packet sizes are automatically restricted by Kermit-370 in this mode, so they need not be set explicitly unless conditions require packets shorter than the default (77). - Flow control is probably immaterial for locally connected terminals, but some protocol converters may require it to keep up with the data rate on uploads. - The parity settings in the mainframe Kermit are ignored in this mode, and those in MS-DOS Kermit should be the usual. - Setting the block check to "B" (yes, "B") is important on certain protocol converters because it avoids problems with "optimization" of outbound strings of repeated blanks. However, it is not generally necessary, and a setting of "1" will normally suffice and will avoid certain other problems that can occur when an inbound initialization packet has a blank checksum. Warnings: - If the protocol converter has a buffer significantly shorter than 80 bytes, it will be necessary to shorten inbound packets accordingly (by issuing a SET REC PACK to K-370). The symptoms of a short buffer are fairly obvious -- the log of packets on the mainframe side will show an inbound packet that has been truncated and concatenated with a second copy of the same packet; the micro log will show a truncated echo of the inbound packet and then a timeout. - It may be possible to avoid shortening the packets if the protocol converter can do flow control. Just turn on flow control in the micro Kermit as well as the controller. - If the mainframe packet log shows inbound packets losing the leading, rather than trailing, characters, and the micro shows the same problem with echoed packets, the trouble may be a "dead" time in the protocol converter between send and receive states -- the solution may be to set a pause in the micro Kermit before sending each packet. - See the Kermit distribution file ik0aaa.hlp for details about specific protocol converters. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jul 92 15:00:00 EDT From: Charles Lasner Subject: A Few More Release Files for Kermit-12 Now available are two new versions of K12DEC and K12ENC, which have a new feature for image transfer of an entire device optionally split into two parts. This comes at the request of a user, and was quite easy to add. As before, the sources document how to use the programs, etc. The new files have been installed in the regular places: BITNET/EARN Internet KERMSRV@CUVMA watsun.cc.columbia.edu Description K12MIT ANN kermit/d/k12mit.ann Announcement of KERMIT-12 K12MIT UPD kermit/d/k12mit.upd Release update (this) file K12ENB PAL kermit/d/k12enb.pal .BOO-format encoding program K12DEB PAL kermit/d/k12deb.pal .BOO-format decoding program K12MIT NOT kermit/d/k12mit.not Release notes file K12MIT DSK kermit/d/k12mit.dsk Description of RX02 diskettes ------------------------------ End of Info-Kermit Digest *************************