.LM0.RM80
.NPA
The following reflects
VMS Kermit version 3.0.051.
.B
.C;New features and changes to VAX/VMS Kermit-32
.C;---------------------------------------------
.B
There have been a number of new features which have been added to
VAX/VMS Kermit-32.
.LS
.LE;The "SET PROMPT xxx" command has been added.
.le;When running as a user Kermit (i.e., talking to a server), it is
possible to access all of the generic command functions (REMOTE commands)
that were specified in edition 4 of the protocol manual.
.le;When Kermit-32 is running as a remote Kermit (i.e., transferring
over a terminal other than the controlling terminal line), typing a control-A
will give a single status line, typing a control-D will toggle debugging
on or off, and typing a carriage return will force a timeout (usually causing
a NAK or retransmission).
.LE;There is now a SET SERVER__TIMER command
to set the period for NAKs to be sent when the server is idle.  If this
value is set to zero, the server will only send out NAKs if it receives
a bad message.  This is useful when the Kermit on the other end cannot
clear its buffers.
.LE;When Kermit-32 starts up, it will determine a default terminal line to
be used for file transfers (and the CONNECT command) by the following
process.  If there is a logical name "KER$COMM" which translates to
a terminal name, the default transfer terminal will be that terminal.
Otherwise, Kermit checks "SYS$INPUT", "SYS$OUTPUT" and "SYS$COMMAND", (in
that order), and the first one which translates to a terminal name is
used as the default.  If none of these are terminals, Kermit will use
the terminal which controls the job which owns the process.  If
the process does not have a controlling terminal, or if the terminal
which was found cannot be allocated, Kermit will not have a default terminal,
and the SET LINE TTcn: command must be used before any commands which
require the transfer terminal (SEND, GET, etc.).  Kermit will type out
a message indicating the default transfer terminal when it is started.
.LE;Kermit-32 will now type out its version number when it starts up.
This makes it easier to know what version is being run (only other way
to check under VMS is to do an ANALYZE/IMAGE).
.LE;Some problems with IBM mode have been fixed.  Kermit-32 should now
be able to talk to CMS Kermit without problems.
.LE;Files which are being written with FILE TYPE set to BINARY are
now written as 510 byte records within a variable length record file.
This improves on the performance of binary receives substantially.
.le;The file processing should now handle sending any type of file.
Previously, VFC format files did not work, and certain records from
PRN or FTN format files would cause infinite loops.
.LE;The format in which ASCII files are sent has been changed to correspond
with both the protocol manual and everyone's expectations (instead of the
way VMS defines things).  Each record from a file with implied CRLF's will
be followed by a CRLF, not preceded by a LF and followed by a CR as
VMS claims the records are supposed to be.
.le;Kermit-32 will only abort a transfer on the controlling terminal
line if two control-Y's are seen in sucession (without any other character
or timeout in between).  This will keep a single glitch of a control-Y from
killing a transfer.
.le;The SET FILE__TYPE command has been changed to SET FILE TYPE.  This
change was to allow for the addition of the SET FILE NAMING command.
This new command takes a keyword as an argument to determine how
file names will be processed.  The keywords are:
.LS1.LE;FULL - This will cause Kermit to send complete file specifications
and perform
no translations on received file specifications.
.LE;NORMAL__FORM - This will cause Kermit to send only the file name
and file type, and
perform translations on received file specifications to force them
to be only a valid file name and type.
.LE;UNTRANSLATED - This will cause Kermit to send only the file name and
file type, and
perform no translations on received file specifications.
.ELS
.LE;There is a new file type - FIX.  This will cause Kermit-32 to create
a 512 byte fixed record length file.  This is useful for transferring .EXE
or .TSK files.
.le;Kermit-32 should handle all types of parity correctly.  Previously,
a SET PARITY ODD would work as SET PARITY NONE, and Kermit-32 would not
reset the parity correctly after finishing with the terminal line.
Kermit-32 will also default to using the parity type of the default
terminal line when it is started.
.LE;The GET and RECEIVE commands are now different.  RECEIVE now
allows the user to give the name into which the file is to be received.
This is the same as the RECEIVE command in Kermit-10 and Kermit-20, and
conforms to the "standard" format for Kermit commands.
.LE;The code which handles the CONNECT command has been changed to
improve the response.  It is still possible to connect to a 9600 baud
line without losing characters (usually), and echoing now appears
to work as well as on any other timesharing system Kermit.
CONNECT now also respects the PARITY setting.
.le;While running CONNECTed, more escape commands are now available.
These conform with the suggested set of commands from the protocol manual,
and include commands for turning the log file off and on, sending a null
(although if a null can be typed on the terminal, it can be sent directly),
obtaining help, etc.
.LE;All messages output from the CONNECT command are identified by the
node name of the system Kermit-32 is running on (the translation of
SYS$NODE, if any).  This should make it easier to keep track of what
system is responding.
.LE;There are now options for setting the start of packet character
which is sent or expected.
.LE;The SEND command will now check that the file (or file group) being
sent is legal before starting up the protocol.  This means an error
message will be issued immediately, instead of after the protocol
initialization is completed.
.le;When running as a server Kermit, some of the generic command functions
are processed.
The following generic server commands (REMOTE commands) are supported
in server mode. Note that most of these commands are implemented
by spawning a subprocess with a DCL command and therefore have the
full range of functionality supplied by the DCL command used.
However, this also means that the user's default command line interpreter
must be DCL (or something that works exactly like it - LIB$SPAWN must
work). These commands are also implemented as LOCAL commands.
.ls1
.LE;COPY - Copy from one file to another.  This uses the DCL command
COPY/LOG source-file destination-file.  Any qualifiers for the COPY
command may be supplied.
.LE;CWD - Change working directory.  This is the functional equivalent
of the DCL SET DEFAULT command.  If no argument is supplied, the
default device/directory is reset to that in effect when Kermit was
started.  Any password is ignored.  Note that setting the default device
to be a network node name may not always work correctly.  At this point
I'm not sure if there is a bug or feature in RMS in this respect.
.LE;DELETE - Delete a file or files.  This uses the DCL command
DELETE/LOG file-specification.  Any qualifiers for the DELETE command
may be supplied.
.LE;HELP - Display a help message.  This will return a short help
message to be displayed on the user's screen.  Any argument is ignored.
.LE;HOST - Execute a host command.  The argument to this command will
be passed to DCL as a command to be executed.  Any DCL command is valid,
but only those which will require no further input from the command
device can really be reasonably executed, since there is no way for
the user to interact with the spawned sub-process.  In order to
perform actions which require input from the command device (SYS$COMMAND),
first create a command file, then use the indirect command (@filespec)
or SUBMIT the file to a batch queue.  Also note that if the command
takes a long time to execute, the Kermit transaction may abort due to
inactivity.
.le;RENAME - Rename a file or files.  This uses the DCL command
RENAME/LOG old-file new-file.  Any valid qualifiers for the RENAME
command may be supplied as part of the file specifications.
.le;SEND - Send a one line message.  This use the privileged DCL command
REPLY/TERMINAL=destination "message text" to send the single line message
to the given terminal.  This requires OPER privileges.
.LE;SPACE - Display disk space usage.  This uses the DCL command
SHOW QUOTA (or SHOW QUOTA/USER=uic) to display the amount of disk space
in use by the owner of the process running Kermit, or by the specified
UIC.  The argument, if supplied, must be the desired UIC in brackets
(e.g., [1,4]).
.le;TYPE - Type a file or files.  The resulting files are transfered
for display on the user's screen. This does not use the DCL TYPE command,
but just sends the files the same as for a file transfer with the destination
being the user's screen.
.le;WHO - Show who is logged in.  This performs a DCL SHOW SYSTEM command
and returns the result.  Any arguments are ignored.
.ELS
.le;The LOG command has been added to support log files.  There are currently
three types of log files implemented - SESSION, TRANSACTION, and DEBUG.
The SESSION log is
used in connection with the CONNECT command to log all characters which are
being typed on the user's terminal.
The TRANSACTION log is used during file transfer sessions to record
information about which files are being transferred and any errors which
occur during the session.  The current implementation of the TRANSACTION
log is very basic, and will be expanded upon in future versions of VMS Kermit.
The DEBUG log is used for debugging output (when debugging is enabled).
The LOG DEBUG command only sets the name for the debugging log file - it
does not turn debugging on.  This must be done explicitly by the SET DEBUG
command.
Each time the log file is opened by VMS Kermit, a new generation is
created.  The SESSION log file is opened every time a CONNECT command is
done.  The DEBUG and TRANSACTION log files are opened every time a command
which performs a transfer is executed, or when VMS Kermit is put into
server mode.
Any of the log files may be cleared by giving the proper LOG command without
a file specification.
.LE;There is now a PUSH command.  This command allows the user to
spawn a new process (connected to the users terminal).  This can be useful
when the user wishes to perform a number of operations outside of Kermit
(or perhaps edit a file, etc.), but does not want to have to reset any
parameters that may have been changed in VMS Kermit.  When done with
the sub-process, a LOGOUT command will return to VMS Kermit.  It is
also possible to use the ATTACH command to return to VMS Kermit, and then
return to the sub-process with another PUSH command.
.le;Sites which wish to enforce restrictions on the files which may be
transferred with Kermit can now supply a routine which will validate a file
specification.  This routine is called before a file is read or written
by Kermit-32, and can return a standard error/success status value to
indicate whether the access should be permitted.
The following is a sample FORTRAN subroutine to implement this check:
.LM+10
.NO FLAG QUOTE
.literal
	INTEGER FUNCTION USER_FILE_CHECK (NAME, FUNCT)
	CHARACTER*(*) NAME		! The file name
	LOGICAL*4 FUNCT		! True if file is being read, false if written
	EXTERNAL KER_ABORTED
	INTEGER KER_ABORTED
	IF (NAME.EQ.'NOGOOD')THEN
	    USER_FILE_CHECK = %LOC(KER_ABORTED)
	ELSE
	    USER_FILE_CHECK = .TRUE.
	ENDIF
	RETURN
	END
.END LITERAL
.FLAG QUOTE
.LM-10
.LE;Sites which wish to change the commands used for the various generic
server commands should modify VMSGEN.MAR.  This is especialy important for
sites which want to restrict what files can be transmitted, since otherwise
a user could give a generic rename or copy command to make a copy of a file
and then transmit it.
.els
.b
.c;Kermit Sources
.c;------ -------
.b
The follwing describes the sources for VAX/VMS Kermit.  The names
given below are those which are ususally found on a Kermit distribution
tape, or on one of the network distribution areas.  The "VMS" prefix should
be changed to "KER" before the files are used.
Note that some of the sources are common between VAX/VMS Kermit, Kermit-10
and Pro/Kermit.  The "VMS" version of these source may only contain a pointer
to the file which contains the complete source.
.b
Common BLISS source modules:
.ls
.LE;VMSTT.BLI - Common BLISS source for the terminal text output support.
This module produces VMSTT.MAR.
.LE;VMSGLB.BLI - Common BLISS source for the global storage
for VMSMSG.BLI.  This module produces VMSGLB.MAR.
.LE;VMSMSG.BLI - Common BLISS source for the protocol
handling module.  This module produces VMSMSG.MAR.
.LE;VMSCOM.REQ - Common BLISS require file which defines various common
parameters.  This is required by VMSMSG.BLI.
This file must be renamed to KERCOM.REQ.
.els

The following files make up VAX Kermit:
.ls
.le;VMSMIT.MAR and VMSMIT.BLI - Macro-32 and BLISS-32 source for the command
parser, and some basic support routines.
.le;VMSFIL.MAR and VMSFIL.BLI - Macro-32 and BLISS-32 source for the file
I/O.
.LE;VMSTRM.MAR and VMSTRM.BLI - Macro-32 and BLISS-32 source for the terminal
processing.  This handles the driving of the terminal line for the transfers
and the connect command processing.
.LE;VMSSYS.MAR and VMSSYS.BLI - System interface routines for the Kermit
generic command processing.
.le;VMSGEN.MAR - Macro-32 source file that contains the REMOTE command
text that is given to VMS.
Sites desiring to change what DCL commands are used to process the various
generic server commands can make those changes in this source.  This
also contains the text of the help message returned in response to the
server generic help command.
.LE;VMSERR.MSG - MESSAGE source for error messages used by VAX/VMS Kermit.
.LE;VMSERR.REQ - BLISS-32 require file which defines the error codes. This
is REQUIREd by the BLISS-32 sources.
.LE;VMSMIT.RNH - RUNOFF source for the help files for VAX/VMS Kermit.
When this is run through RUNOFF with /VARIANT=SYSTEM, it produces
a .HLP (VMSSYS.HLP) file suitable for inserting into the system help library
(SYS$HELP:HELPLIB.HLB) to provide a KERMIT topic for the system HELP
command.  When run through RUNOFF without the /VARIANT=SYSTEM, it
produces a .HLP file (VMSUSR.HLP) to be stored on SYS$HELP: for use
by the Kermit HELP command.
.LE;VMSSYS.HLP - RUNOFF output file for system wide Kermit HELP.
.LE;VMSUSR.HLP - RUNOFF output file for Kermit's HELP command.
.LE;VMSINS.COM - Command file to build and install VAX/VMS Kermit.
.LE;VMSMIT.EXE - The executable (binary) file of VAX/VMS Kermit.  Note
that this is only included when it is possible.  This may be either
a copy of the .EXE file which was transferred to a TOPS-10 or TOPS-20
system using Kermit with Kermit-10 (or -20) using FILE BYTE-SIZE 8-BIT,
or a direct copy of the .EXE file (if the file is either on a native VAX/VMS
tape or is residing on a VAX/VMS system).
.LE;VMSMIT.HEX - A hexifed version of .EXE file for VMS Kermit.  This file
can be dehexified using the supplied program.  In the hexified form, the
file should be transferrable over any medium which handles normal text.
This is the most reliable copy of the executable version of VMS Kermit.
.LE;VMSHEX.MAR - Source for the hexification program.  This is the program
which was used to produce VMSMIT.HEX.  It can also be used to produce
hexified version of any (or at least almost any) Files-11 file.  The
dehexification program should then be able to reproduce a copy of the
original file with the file parameters correctly set.
Note that the format used for the hexified files is basically Intel hex
format.  There are some additional records used to store the record format,
etc.  Also, the file name as typed to the prompt from VMSHEX is stored
in the hexified version of the file for use by the dehexification program.
By doing this, it is possible to store more than one binary file with
a single hexified file.
.le;VMSDEH.MAR - Source for the dehexification program.
.els