Short: NComm V3.0. Released the 1st of October 1993 Uploader: jawil aid no Architecture: m68k-amigaos :::::::: NComm/NComm.news :::::::: NComm V3.0: Released the 1st of October 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is finally here, and this time it's not a fake... :-) I have to apologize for the long time it has taken to develop this new version of NComm. It took quite a lot of time to make NComm look and feel like a real OS 2.0 program. A lot of care had to be taken to still keep the program compatible with OS 1.3. Actually, NComm will look just as good under 1.3 as it does with OS 2.0 or 3.0. This is much thanks to Nico François and his ReqTools.library. You will quickly notice that this is not a complete version of NComm. NComm 2.0 was cracked the same day as it was released and I have certainly lost a lot of registrations on that. Even if the copy protection had been better, some persons would certainly have managed to crack it after some time. A new step has therefore been taken with NComm 3.0. Unfortunately, I had to remove the code for a few important functions. This will hopefully encourage users to register and certainly makes it impossible to turn the unregistered version into a registered version. If you want to have a complete version of NComm, you should register (or pay your upgrade fee if you are already a registered user). EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Cheques (except from EuroCheques written out in norwegian kroners) will no longer be excepted as payment for NComm due to very expensive cashing fees ... Also, the general pricing has changed, please refer to the "Register.doc" file for further information about registering or upgrading. Apart from the OS 2.0 look and the new OS 2.0 support functions, some persons will probably not notice an enormous difference between NComm 2.0 and NComm 3.0...at first. The underlying changes are, however, quite big. Several bugs have been fixed and a lot of changes have been made. This especially goes for the script language. Numeric variables and arithmetics are a few of the things that have been added. Please see below for a complete list of changes in NComm since version 2.0... Two versions of the reqtools.library have been included, one for OS 1.3 and one for OS 2.0 and above. Click on the "Install13" icon if you want to install NComm for use with 1.2/1.3, otherwise click on the "Install20" icon. A custom IBM font has also been included, in some cases it may be preferable to use this font instead of the NComm font. I have not included all the XPR-protocols listed in the protocol menu. This is mainly because most people don't want to download a few 100K extra because of some protocols they never use. When registering your version of NComm, please specify if you want additional protocols installed on your NComm 3.0 disk... (all will not fit). There have been a lot of demands about improving the terminal emulation in NComm. Not many changes have been made to that part of the program, although it certainly can be much improved and made quite a lot faster. I have unfortunately been quite busy lately and also lack specific information about the different emulation protocols. However, if you keep on supporting this product, I will probably include this and several other things (like XEM support) in the future. The custom font support will probably also be improved a bit. If you have suggestions or source code for future versions of NComm, it is certainly welcome. Bugreports are also very much appreciated. Please note that the email addresses mentioned in the previous version of NComm are no longer valid. The best way to reach me is via the Rodelĝkka (M)BBS, which is also the new support BBS for NComm. Refer to the "doc/NComm.doc" file for further information. Note: NComm 3.0 will probably not work on a 512K machine anymore (unless you are using a two color config file). It is recommended that at least 600K of memory is available when starting NComm. Below, you will find a list of things that have been fixed or added in this version of NComm: Xfer bugs --------- o XPR protocols that attempted to call any of the four XPR extension functions would crash NComm. This was a really dangerous bug and is also the reason why Jmodem crashed when using NComm 2.0. I must say that it is a miracle that Zmodem worked at all... :-) o XPR protocols that attempted to do a serial read after flushing the serial input would crash NComm. This bug could actually cause crashes whem using any XPR protocol, including Zmodem. o Icons were not created for Xmodem / Ymodem / txt files when downloading o Auto-activated downloads performed with EXPR protocols would be placed in the current system directory instead of the current download directory. o NComm crashed if it received characters after receiving the error message "Unable to open XPR library". o Error messages during transfer are now cut off so they fit in window. o The "Use WB Screen" option in the menu was not ghosted during downloads. If you tried selecting it during a transfer, NComm would crash if you were using KickStart 1.2 / 1.3 ... Terminal bugs -------------- o When using the 80 x 24 mode, the status line covered the last three pixels of the main terminal window. Reported by several persons :-) o NComm sent the x,y coordinates in wrong order when a VT100 terminal asked for a query. The results were unpredictable :-) o The "Destructive BackSpace" option now works when using half duplex. o Terminal colors were mapped wrong when using 4 colors. o The main terminal window will keep its original size if NComm is unable to open a split window (the size was previously halfed) o It was difficult to select the IBP character set. Although currently in use, it would not be checkmarked in the menu. o Flashing text didn't work if you cleared the screen when using text snapping (previously called OS2 snapping) o When using ConClip and pasting the clipboard, NComm sent a null ('\0') to many. Was normally harmless, unless using emacs :-) Dialling bugs ------------- o The serial port crashed if the "max ringing" number was set to something different from zero and "RINGING" was received. o When connecting to a bulletin board, config and several other things will be loaded before starting the attached script. This fixes problems with script commands being overridden by phonebook settings. o NComm now restores the "Redial at logoff" menu flag after loading a new configuration file. Scrollback bugs --------------- o The scrollback previously only sent and remembered text currently visible on screen when marking a long line. o NComm would refuse to append to a Scrollback or Capture file. The original file would be overwritten. o NComm now ghosts the "View Scrollback" functions if buffer is empty. o Amiga System Shortcuts entered while positioned in the scrollback will no longer be threated as commands to the scrollback window. Script/ARexx bugs ----------------- o The "CONVERSE" command now has higher priority than the "WHEN" command when waiting for a string that is also searched for with a WHEN command. This fixes problems with the error message "Unknown Command ''". o The ARexx "message" function crashed when displaying a very long line. o The ARexx "menuselect" function did not handle subitems o The script language "DORX" command didn't do anything :-) Other bugs ---------- o NComm didn't clean up nicely if it was unable to open a screen/window o The serial port stayed open if there wasn't enough memory to start. o The phonebook "sort" function was unable to sort within a specific area. The sort function now works as mentioned in the documentation. o The OS2 Snapping option (now called "Text Snapping") was not always ghosted when using KickStart 1.2/1.3. If selected when using 1.2/1.3, the results were unpredictable :-) o Changing any of the default transfer directories caused enforcer hits (and sometimes trashed memory). OS 2.0/3.0 changes ------------- o Added Reqtools.library support. Reqtools.library looks much nicer than the previous req.library. It has full 1.2/1.3 and 2.0/3.0 support and looks good with both versions of the operating system. All the ReqTools requesters in NComm support automatic shutdown. This avoids the highly irritating "Please close the current requester" messages. Note: Magic FileRequester does not patch the reqtools.library correctly when using the ShareIDCMP and ReqHandler features! NComm checks for the existance of MFR and will disable automatic shutdown of the file requester if present (this avoids crashes). o All NComm windows now have a much nicer 2.0 look that much resembles the look of the requesters in the reqtools.library. o Support has been added for all 2.0/3.0 screenmodes via the reqtools lib ScreenMode requester. You may now run NComm in for example DoublePAL or Productivity Mode. This also means that NComm will no longer phreak out if you are using DoublePAL on the WorkBench screen. o NComm now uses interleaved BitMaps (supported by OS 3.0 and above). This avoids flashing when scrolling and even speeds up text output. If you are using OS 3.0, you don't need CpuBlit anymore. o When using OS 3.0, menus will get the "New Look" (light background). o All NComm windows that are displayed will be centered on the screen (unless the window is snapshot). o Full Public Screen support has been added. The public screen name is the same as the rexx port name, i.e. "NComm" for the first copy of NComm and "NComm_#" for additional copies (# is 1 or more). When selecting a Public Screen, NComm asks if it should "shanghai" windows. If you turn this option on, NComm will steel any windows that would normally open on the WorkBench screen. By using this option, you may for example easily run a Shell window on the same screen as NComm... o The "NEWCLI" environment variable has been renamed to "NEWSHELL" which is more according to the 2.0 style guide :-) The same thing goes for the system menu. ARexx changes -------------- o It is now possible to Shift-Select a script icon when starting NComm from WorkBench. NComm will automatically detect if this is an ARexx file or a normal script file. o NComm now uses '|' instead of ',' as a seperator between ARexx telephone numbers (',' is used as a modem delay command). o Upto 60 characters (previously 40) can be entered in a requester brought up with the ARexx "STRINGREQ" function. The same thing also goes for the normal script language. o A "NCommToFront" command has been added. It simply brings the NComm screen to front. The same thing goes for the normal script language. o New "GetBoardName" command returns the name of the current board. o New "GetBoardNum" command returns the current board phone number. o New "GetLogTime" command returns the current logon time. o New "GetDlDir" command returns the current download dir. o New "GetUlDir" command returns the current upload dir. Terminal changes ---------------- o The 80 x 24 option will now open a screen that is 640 x 204 pixels. This reduces memory and also looks better. o Several finnish and swedish users have requested a character set that both receives IBM and SF7 correctly (all 8-bits) but sends SF7 (7-bits). This is supported when using the new "S87" character set. Script changes --------------- o The script language has been much improved and now has numeric variables (sort of) and arithmetics (+, -, *, /, %, ^). Numbers are completely compatible with text strings and you may therefore easily convert back and forth between text and numbers. A part of a text string can be used as a numeric argument by using the "STRPART" function. A "STRLEN" function has also been added, it returns the string length. Off course, you may also use numbers for making do/while/repeat loops. In general, the NComm script language is now almost as powerful as ARexx... o I have a added a $RAND variable that returns a random number between 0 and 65535. To get a number within a specific range, multiply with (range + 1) and divide with 65536. o The new variable $Boardname contains the name of the current board. o The new variable $Boardnum contains the current board phone number. o The new variable $Logtime contains the current logon time. o The new variable $Dldir contains the current download dir. (Note: Change IRIS scripts that refer to standard variable with same name) o The new variable $Uldir contains the current upload dir. (Note: Change IRIS scripts that refer to standard variable with same name) o The "Start Script" option in the menu works as a toggle but the text in the menu did not reflect this. NComm now displays "Stop Script" in the menu if a script is running. Screen changes --------------- o Added "Use WB Palette" option that automatically gives you the same look in NComm (on a custom screen) that you have on your WorkBench screen. A nice feature is that you may grab and modify the WorkBench palette by entering the palette requester and clicking on "OK". If you turn off the "WB Palette" option, the modified palette will be used. o Custom font support has been added. The translation menu still selects which type of translation that should be performed. If you are using an IBM font, you should normally set the translation to ISO (no translation). Custom fonts are unfortunately not _fully_ supported since the console device is not able to display characters in the range 0x80 to 0x9f... These characters will appear as blanks. I hope to add some functionality in the next version of NComm that makes it possible to display these characters by using custom text routines. It may be preferable to use the inbuilt NComm IBM emulation if you need these characters but normally you won't notice much of a difference. o I've added a "Line Editing" option that puts outgoing split screen characters in a buffer until carriage return is pressed. You may in other words edit the line by using "backspace" before sending it off. o A sample option has been added to the list of "beep" options. Any 8SVX sample may be loaded and will be played back when a beep (Ctrl-G) is received (OS 2.0/3.0 has the same option when a DisplayBeep is performed. You may want to disable either "DisplayBep" or the "Sample" option in NComm if you're not running 1.2/1.3) ... o The terminal, split screen and scrollback windows will automatically be snapshot when saving the config and will remember their previous positions when starting NComm the next time. o I've added an "ANSI Pens" option that arranges the screen pens so that NComm 3.0 will look as good as possible with the original NComm ANSI palette. The palette may need a few modifications, though. If you are using a normal OS 2.0 palette, you should turn this option off. System changes -------------- o NComm no longer starts a background process (with cback.o) since many programs depend on NComm being sticky. If want NComm to work the old way, I recommend inserting "alias NComm run >NIL: