--------------------------------------------------------------------------- deltaComm Development, Inc., PO Box 1185, Cary, NC 27512 USA (919)-460-4556 voice, (919)-460-4531 FAX, (919)-481-9399 BBS Telix Copyright (C) 1986-1994 by deltaComm Development, Inc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 31, 1994 -- Notes on Telix 3.22: o This update is a free upgrade to registered users with serial numbers and original disks (from Exis or from deltaComm). The file TLX322-U.ZIP will be posted on the deltaComm BBS starting January 31st, 1994, and its contents will "patch" a registered, unbranded (from the original disk) copy of Telix 3.21 into a registered, unbranded version 3.22. Users of versions before 3.21 will also require the 3.21 patch files to get from 3.11 or later to 3.21 first. This file is TLX321-U.ZIP. Both of these patch files may be widely distributed and posted publicly on other bulletin boards. o New methods of support are now available electronically. You may contact deltaComm Development, Inc., customer service via these new additional addresses: FidoNet EMail to TELIX SUPPORT at 1:151/107 Compuserve EMail to 71035,2167 Internet EMail to support@delta.com We also hope to be assigned our own forum on Compuserve in the near future. We hope that our "GO" word will be "TELIX"; until such time as we can be sure that this will happen, Compuserve EMail and public access in the IBMCOM forum, subforum 3, is available. We are also still available via voice support at 919-460-4556 and on our own BBS, deltaComm Online, at 919-481-9399. o The main reason for this release is to program around a known flaw in a particular revision of Rockwell's firmware. The symptom was modems that returned incomplete responses (i.e. type "AT" and get back "O" instead of "OK"). We have been able to confirm without a doubt that this is a bug in the Rockwell firmware, and we have found the root cause. While the chips do remain flawed, we have found a software solution for the flaw, which is incorporated into this release. Owners of the two known brands that shipped modems with this firmware should have no further problems with Telix 3.22. Neither of those manufacturers is now shipping new modems with the flawed chips. This programming "kludge" also has the happy result of requiring much fewer interrupts on machines with 16550 UARTS installed, meaning that Telix should now be slightly more efficient under Windows, OS/2, DESQview, or other multitasking environments. Transfer rates might improve by a few cps on slower machines. o Changed the flashing "F" during file transfers to a more descriptive "Flow". This should eliminate many of the FAQ's of "what does the flashing 'F' mean in the transfer box?" o When using the function to "Insert an Entry" into the dialing directory, the speed now defaults to the default baud rate rather than to 1200 bps. o Corrected two anomalies in the script learning code: Learn will now accept a carriage return by itself as a valid response to a prompt, and will also preface any double-quote (") you type with a caret so that it will be coded into the script properly. o Corrected several display areas that could leave "blank splotches" on the screen if you had changed the background color of the menus to be a color other than black. o Added some registration enticers to the closing screen of the program. o Found and squashed a bug that could cause the file transfer status bar in Zmodem transfers to exceed the 100% width for very small files. o Added an Alt-6 command to the registered version to pop up a status window with your serial number at any time. This is mainly to aid our support staff when someone calls for help. o The status line now changes to the actual connect rate if it can be determined by the dialing method. o External protocol triggers were being left active even after its protocol was removed from the Alt-O/Protocols menu. Fixed. o Added a "save entire scrollback" feature to the Alt-B command. o Altered the behaviour of the PgUp, PgDn, and End keys in the dialing directory as suggested by many. They now do more of what you'd expect as you approach the beginning and end of a directory. o Added two new features to the dialing directory, under the "other" menu. You may now sort a dialing directory internally based on four keys, in ascending or descending order. If your desired order is not available, you may also move individual entries or groups of entries to new locations in the directory. o Added order forms for foreign registration sites to make registration from abroad much easier. o FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY corrected code that in some circumstances would cause the dialing box to read: Connected at - press any key to continue. Fixing this also caused us to find a latent oversight (not really a bug, but a faux pax in any case), whereby a user with a dialing directory entry set at 38,400, and with AUTOBAUD DETECT turned on would not ever get connected. From time to time we'd get a tech call from someone who used the dialing directory and it would simply count down and down and down; even if you could visibly verify a connect via the modem lights, Telix would not see it. The old autobaud detect methods only looked for several specific connect strings: if (auto_baud) { th_array[1] = track_add((char far *)"CONNECT\r", 0); th_array[2] = track_add((char far *)"CONNECT 1200", 0); th_array[3] = track_add((char far *)"CONNECT 2400", 0); th_array[4] = track_add((char far *)"CONNECT 4800", 0); th_array[5] = track_add((char far *)"CONNECT 9600", 0); th_array[6] = track_add((char far *)"CONNECT 19200", 0); } else { make_output_strn(&modem_strns[0][0], strn); th_array[0] = track_add((char far *)strn, 0); } In other words, if autobauding, look for a speed (or lack thereof, by getting a right after "CONNECT"), and if not autobauding, look for the connect string with track handle zero. In a roundabout way, auto_baud was hidden in the code under the auspices of another variable (it would take too much time to explain...), so we missed finding the place where it actually changed the baud if autobaud detect was turned on. Without setting the DCE value there as well, the string "Connected at -- press any key to continue" was being left blank, since the DCE value was also being left blank. This was fixed by adding 38,400 and 57,600 to the speeds looked for by the autobaud detect function. NOTE WELL! This has the effect of using two additional track handles during dialing. If you have a script that is counting on 11 handles being unmolested by Telix even if you call "dial", this is NO LONGER the case. Telix will use FIVE track handles if autobaud detect is OFF, but it will usurp ALL SIXTEEN handles if autobaud is ON (CONNECT^M, CONNECT 300, CONNECT 1200, ..., CONNECT 57600, plus the four no-connect strings). You may want to modify complex dialing scripts to insure that autobaud detect is OFF to insure that your track handles are not commandeered by Telix. o The upload picklist box has been a continuing source of problems to users of removable drives (Bernoulli, device driven floppies, etc). 3.21 added a new, user-editable line can be to TELIX.CNF, but the user had to read the docs and then add the line with a text editor: drivelst="acdxz" Where each of the letters listed in quotes is validated as being a POTENTIAL drive letter (i.e. A-Z) and then added to the picklist. 3.22 has squeezed this option into the menus. It is Alt-O/General/Q. o Added the /D parameter to the ALT-O menus, as Alt-O/Terminal/O (moved Answerback string to option P). /D will still be valid, but will be unnecessary if this option is turned on in the config file. It is listed as "dropcts" in the config file, and defaults to "OFF" if not present. o Added Alt-O/Filenames/Startup Script to the menus. If this option is set, this script will be executed every time Telix is run, UNLESS a script is passed on the command line with the /S parameter. /S scripts CANCEL OUT this default startup script; if a script is passed in from the DOS command line, then this script will NOT be run. Thanks to Earl Borah for this suggestion. This feature solves one of the most commonly asked questions, without (finally) the use of a batch file. If this script is specified, the opening screen will NOT appear. You can now avoid the opening screen without having to use a "TX.BAT", and can even run PICKUP or such without a batch file as well. o This release includes the 16550 patch that TX321FIX.ZIP made, to correct for those UARTS that are picky about the order in which the registers are restored. The symptoms here were other comm programs locking up (notably, Prodigy wouldn't run after Telix). This is NOT the same thing as the AMI BIOS bug whereby the BIOS doesn't recognize certain ports after a warm boot. This will STILL occur and there's nothing Telix can do about it. New in the CSS.EXE SIMPLE script compiler: o Fixed bug in string parser which would accept STRING01 as a valid string, however, it would use S_1 as the definition, and S_01 as the usage. It now correctly strips out the leading zero's in the usage respect. o Fixed bug in protocol selection which would incorrectly parse 1K-XMODEM as K-XMODEM (due to invalid leading number token), the protocol has been change to XMODEM-1K. o Added New command RENAMEFILE , , which is pretty self explanatory. o Added New command ADDSTRING , , which will concatonate to the end of . o Added New command CURSOR (ON/OFF) which turns the cursor on and off. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- deltaComm Development, Inc., PO Box 1185, Cary, NC 27512 USA (919)-460-4556 voice, (919)-460-4531 FAX, (919)-481-9399 BBS Telix Copyright (C) 1986-1994 by deltaComm Development, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------