Updates from MS-DOS Kermit 2.26 (July 27, 1984) to 2.27 (December 7, 1984): Version 2.27 is primarily intended to fix some of the problems that surfaced in version 2.26. Some minor new functionality has also been added. See MSKERMIT.BWR for problems that are known to exist in version 2.27. MS-DOS Kermit has been implemented for the following MS/PC-DOS systems: . IBM PC and PC/XT and compatibles (Compaq, Z150, ITT Xtra, etc) . IBM PC/AT (new) . IBM PCjr (serial port only) . DEC Rainbow 100 and 100+ . Heath/Zenith 100 . HP-150 . Wang PC . NEC APC (from Ron Blanford, U of Wash & Ian Gibbons, U of Hawaii) . TI Professional (from Joe Smith, CSM, includes Tek 4010 emultation) and there is a "generic MS-DOS" version for systems not explicitly supported (the generic version runs slower and doesn't take advantage of any machine-specific features). New Features of Version 2.27 ---------------------------- . SET PORT DEVICE and SET PORT FILE-HANDLE commands to allow generic DOS Kermit more flexibility in finding the communication port on new systems. . DEC Rainbow now has SET BAUD command. . SET DESTINATION SCREEN command - directs incoming files to the screen rather than to the disk. . Escape character command P to push to DOS during CONNECT. . Includes the enhanced NEC APC support for Ian Gibbons -- full key scan-code redefinition, auto-determination of color/monochrome for CRT formatting, direct video access for faster help menus, and a scroll/noscroll key that sends ^S and ^Q alternately. Problems Fixed in Version 2.27 ------------------------------ Version 2.27 attempts to fix the following problems from version 2.26 (thanks to those who reported them, and especially to those who also sent fixes): * Program Design: Some code that proved to be system-dependent (like structure definitions that assumed only two communication ports) has been moved into the system-dependent sections. LEA's have been changed to MOV ..,OFFSET or to LEA ..,WORD PTR in msfile, so that program can be built by non-IBM assemblers. * File Transfer: Incoming packets are now discarded if they're the same type as the packet just sent, in some hardware in the communication path is echoing them back. SET DEST PRINTER now uses PRN device, not LPT1. An extraneous partial final buffer should no longer be printed printed during direct transfers to printer ('SET DEST PRINTER'). Use of Return key to retransmit current packet is now documented in the file transfer display. SET EOF CTRLZ has been fixed to work as described in the manual. Various new precautions have been taken to guard against packet buffer overrun. Buffer overruns caused various symptoms in v2.26 -- CRC's would stop working, memory dumps would appear on screen, etc. Open files are now closed if a fatal error occurs during file transfer and 'set incomplete keep' is in effect. Empty responses to REMOTE HOST commands no longer crash the program. Some early copies of 2.26 displayed the number of Kbytes transferred incorrectly during file transfer; this was fixed in later copies, and is also fixed in 2.27. * Terminal Emulation: In IBM H19 emulation, tabs are no longer destructive. IBM H19 emulation problems with Insert/Delete bottom line of screen are fixed. On IBM, H19 cursor save/restore function is now supported. On IBM, carriage returns in inverse video mode no longer scroll inverse lines onto screen (Unix MORE users will appreciate this). On IBM, Remote/Local Echo status line is now correctly displayed. On IBM, the keypad "+" key may now be redefined using SET KEY (this key has normally has the undocumented function of toggling the mode line during CONNECT). On the Rainbow, various problems have been fixed with screen scrolling: . Character attributes are now displayed correctly in previous screens. [double height/width attributes are still not saved, though] . Prev/Next Screen no longer overshoots. . Lines are no longer lost when autowrap is in effect. . 132 column display works with Prev/Next screen. . VT52 emulation no longer breaks Kermit. On the Rainbow and the IBM PC, BREAK now should last exactly 275 msec. The Rainbow now resists attempts to send ESC-8 and ESC-c to the firmware, since these codes will crash the machine (firmware bugs). * Command Parser: The current directory is now searched for files before the PATH, in the same way DOS searches for files. 'Set key scan ' now works properly. SHOW MACRO should have been SHOW MACROS, now it is. Table overflow for 'set key' definitions is now detected. Undetected overflow had unpredictable (but always bad) consequences. Trailing comments are now illegal in commands typed at the keyboard; they still may be used in command files. This allows the ";" character to be used in commands like "get foo.bar;2" or "remote host cd ; pwd". The eighth bit is stripped from incoming characters; previously, entering characters from the keyboard with the high-order bit on would crash Kermit. * PC/AT support: Some minor problems introduced by DOS 3.0 when the PC/AT appeared have been fixed, and Kermit 2.27 should operate correctly on the AT. Documentation: ------------- The manual has not yet been updated. Many of the changes were made in order to make the program conform to the manual. An updated manual will follow shortly. Future Versions: --------------- Future plans for MS-DOS Kermit include: . Removal of DOS 1.x support. Dynamic memory allocation features of DOS 2.0 and above would allow the program to be much smaller on disk. . Addition of a login script facility, similar to the one recently added to DEC-20 Kermit.