Using C-Kermit. Communication Software for OS/2, Atari ST, UNIX, OS-9, VMS, AOS/VS, AMIGA

516 Pages·1993·32.75 MB·English

by  Frank da Cruz and Christine Gianone (Auth.)

USING
C-KERMIT
COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE FOR
UNIX, VMS, OS/2, AOS/VS, OS-9, Amiga, Atari ST
Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone
EflSQOBQ
Digital Press
Copyright © 1993 by Digital Equipment Corporation.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re­
trieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani­
cal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the
publisher.
Printed in the United States of America.
987654321
Order number EY-J896E-DP
The publisher offers discounts on bulk orders of this book. For information, please
write:
Special Sales Department
Digital Press
One Burlington Woods Drive
Burlington, MA 01803
Trademarks and trademarked products mentioned in this book are listed on pages
497-500.
Cover design: Outside Designs
Production: Editorial Inc.
Typesetting: Frank da Cruz, using Scribe and PostScript output from Chiron, Inc.
C-Kermit software copyright © 1985, 1992, by the Trustees of Columbia Univer­
sity in the City of New York. Permission is granted to any individual or institution
to use this software as long as it is not sold for profit and as long as this copyright
notice is retained. C-Kermit software may not be included in commercial products
or otherwise redistributed without written permission from Columbia University.
The C-Kermit software is a product of Kermit Development and Distribution, Co­
lumbia University Academic Information Systems, 612 West 115th Street, New
York, NY 10025, USA. C-Kermit software is provided "as is"; no other warranty
is provided, either express or implied, including, without limitations, any implied
warranty of merchantability or implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.
Neither Columbia University nor any of the contributors to the C-Kermit develop­
ment effort, including, but not limited to, AT&T, Digital Equipment Corporation,
Data General Corporation, or International Business Machines Corporation, war­
rants C-Kermit software or documentation in any way. In addition, the following
individuals and institutions do not acknowledge any liability resulting from program
or documentation errors: the authors of any Kermit programs, publications, or docu­
mentation; Columbia University; any other contributing institutions or individuals.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
da Cruz, Frank, 1944-
Using C-Kermit: communication software for UNIX, VMS, OS/2, AOS/VS,
OS-9, Amiga, Atari ST / Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-55558-108-0
1. Communications software. 2. C-Kermit. I. Gianone, Christine M.
II. Title.
TK5105.9.D33 1993
005.7'13--dc20 92-41716
CIP
Illustrations
Figure 1-1 Remote and Local Computers 2
Figure 1-2 Connecting the Local and Remote Computers
Figure 1-3 Logging in to the Remote Computer 4
Figure 1-4 Transferring a File 5
Figure 3-1 C-Kermit in Remote Mode 38
Figure 3-2 C-Kermit in Local Mode 38
Figure 3-3 C-Kermit in the Middle 39
Figure 3-4 A Direct Connection 49
Figure 3-5 A Dialed Connection 50
Figure 3-6 Speed Matching 60
Figure 4-1 Terminal Connection 80
Figure 4-2 Command and Terminal Bytesize 89
Figure 5-1 Upload and Download 99
Figure 5-2 Uploading a File 99
Figure 5-3 Downloading a File 101
Figure 5-4 Kermit Text File Conversion 112
Figure 6-1 Character Formats 122
Figure 6-2 Hardware Flow Control 125
Figure 6-3 Terminal Server Connection 131
Figure 8-1 Kermit Packet Format 151
Figure 8-2 Stop-and-Wait Packet Exchange 152
Figure 8-3 Sliding Windows 159
Figure 9-1 Structure of an 8-Bit Latin Alphabet 173
xi
Figure 9-2 Terminal Character Set Translation 178
Figure 9-3 International Text File Transfer 180
Figure 9-4 Linguini Transfer 184
Figure 12-1 Returning from Nested Command Files 244
Figure 13-1 Sample IBM 3270 Login Screen 293
Figure II-1 Character Formats 360
Figure II-2 Asynchronous Character Transmission Format 360
Figure II-3 Computers Connected by Modems 363
Figure II-4 Asynchronous Modem Cable Schematic 371
Figure II-5 Data Connectors 372
Figure II-6 Asynchronous Null Modem Schematics 372
Figure VIII-1 Structure of a Standard 8-Bit Character Set 460
xii Illustrations
Tables
Table 1-1 Kermit Software Features 8
Table 1-2 Kermit Software, Listed by Computer Type 10
Table 2-1 Special Characters in C-Kermit Commands 24
Table 2-2 Basic C-Kermit Commands 31
Table 2-3 C-Kermit Initialization File Name 36
Table 3-1 Sample Dialout Device Names 41
Table 3-2 Modem Types Known to C-Kermit 53
Table 4-1 C-Kermit CONNECT-Mode Escapes 83
Table 5-1 Special Characters in C-Kermit File Specifications 96
Table 5-2 Kermit Packet Types 108
Table 8-1 Kermit File Transfer Feature Summary 168
Table 9-1 Decimal Character Codes for Accented Capital Letter A 170
Table 9-2 ISO 646 National Character Sets, Differences from ASCII 172
Table 9-3 The ISO Latin Alphabets 173
Table 9-4 Right Half of Latin Alphabet 1 174
Table 9-5 DEC Multinational Character Set 174
Table 9-6 ANSI Escape Sequence Formats 177
Table 9-7 C-Kermit File Character Sets 181
Table 9-8 Language-Specific Transliteration Rules 192
Table 12-1 Comparison of IF and XIF Commands 249
Table 12-2 \Feval( ) Operators 258
Table 12-3 Selected VT100 Escape Sequences 264
Table 13-1 Notation for SCRIPT Command 308
xiii
Table 14-1 C-Kermit Command-Line Option Summary 313
Table 1-1 C-Kermit Return Codes 324
Table 1-2 Summary of Backslash Codes 325
Table 1-3 Summary of Built-in Variables 326
Table 1-4 Summary of Built-in Functions 327
Table 1-5 Summary of File Transfer Interruption Keys 328
Table 1-6 C-Kermit CONNECT-Mode Escapes 329
Table II-1 RS-232-C Modem Signals and Pins 364
Table II-2 Selected Hayes Smartmodem 2400 Commands 366
Table II-3 Modem Modulation Techniques 368
Table II-4 Modem Error Correction and Compression Techniques 369
Table III-l Setting Your Terminal Type in UNIX 383
Table III-2 UNIX Terminal Control Characters 385
Table IV-1 VMS Kermit SET FILE Commands 416
Table IV-2 MS-DOS - VMS File Transfer 417
Table V-l Special PC Keys in CONNECT Mode 428
Table V-2 The Arrow Keys 429
Table V-3 The Numeric Keypad 430
Table V-4 Control Characters 435
Table V-5 VT102 Escape Sequences 436
Table V-6 VT 102 Control Sequences 437
Table V-7 Set/Reset ANSI Mode Parameters 439
Table V-8 Set / Reset DEC Mode Parameters 439
Table V-9 Set Graphic Rendition Parameters 439
Table V-10 VT52 Escape Sequences 440
Table VI-1 AOS/VS Template Characters 446
Table VIII-1 Character Codes of ASCII and ISO 646IRV 461
Table VIII-2 7-Bit CO Control Characters 462
Table VIII-3 7-Bit National Character Sets, Differences from ASCII 463
Table VIII-4 West European Character Sets 464
Table VIII-5 East European Character Sets 468
Table VIII-6 Cyrillic Character Sets 470
xiv Tables
Preface
1
"Who Is Kermit and Why Is He in My Computer?" asked a recent headline [52]. Kermit
is not a "he" at all, but rather an inanimate, genderless, yet personable and friendly com­
puter software package that lets just about any two computers in the world communicate
effectively with each other, no matter how they may differ in size, appearance, location,
power, architecture, manufacture, or nationality.
This book describes the Kermit program, C-Kermit, for UNIX computer systems, Digital
Equipment Corporation VMS and OpenVMS systems, Data General AOS/VS systems,
PCs with OS/2, the Commodore Amiga, the Atari ST, and computers with the OS-9 real­
time operating system. The UNIX version of C-Kermit runs on most known modern im­
plementations of UNIX (see page 13) and on computers ranging from PCs to large
mainframes and supercomputers.
C-Kermit software gives you terminal connection, error-free file transfer and manage­
ment, comprehensive support for national and international character sets, and a wide
variety of communication methods including direct or dialed serial connections and (in
some versions) TCP/IP or other kinds of network connections. You can use C-Kermit be­
tween two computers, or to access dialup information services like CompuServe or MCI
Mail as well as subscriber-based public data networks like SprintNet and TYMNET, and
even the worldwide TCP/IP Internet.
Numbers in brackets refer to entries in the the bibliography on pag e491.
xv
With C-Kermit's powerful script programming language, you can have Kermit perform
routine or time-consuming tasks for you automatically: let the computers handle the
drudgery while you're attending to other matters.
C-Kermit transfers text and binary files efficiently and correctly. The Kermit file transfer
protocol takes care of synchronization, error detection and correction, file format and
character set conversion, and myriad details you should never have to worry about. The
Kermit protocol was designed to work in hostile communication environments where
other protocols fail.
The Kermit file transfer protocol was designed in 1981 at the Columbia University Center
for Computing Activities (CUCCA), which has been "Kermit Headquarters" ever since.
The Kermit protocol is simple, robust, adaptable to almost any style of communication
and any computer architecture, and its specification is open and public [18]. Source code
availability gives users confidence in this age of viruses and worms and it allows users to
fix bugs, add features, and adapt the software to new computers or local conditions.
Kermit software is produced by dedicated volunteer programmers in all parts of the world,
whose efforts are coordinated from Columbia, where a definitive collection of all Kermit
software is maintained, supporting hundreds of different computers and operating systems.
Kermit is the low-cost, high-quality alternative to commercial communication software.
Acknowledgments
C-Kermit was written by Frank da Cruz of Columbia University with contributions from
hundreds of other developers and testers. The following are just a few of the contributors,
all of whom have our deepest thanks (U = University, locations in the USA unless other­
wise indicated):
Chris Adie (Edinburgh U, Scotland); Robert Adsett (U of Waterloo, Canada); Larry Afrin
(Clemson U); Greg Andrews (Telebit Corp); Barry Archer (U of Missouri); Bengt An-
dersson (ABC-Klubben, Sweden); Robert Andersson (International Systems A/S, Oslo,
Norway); Chris Armstrong (Brookhaven National Laboratory); William Bader (Software
Consulting Services, Nazareth, PA); Fuat Baran (Columbia U); Stan Barber (Rice U); Jim
Barbour (U of Colorado); Donn Baumgartner (Dell Computer Corp); Nelson Beebe (U of
Utah); Karl Berry (UMB); Dean W Bettinger (State U of New York); Gary Bilkus; Marc
Boucher (U of Montreal, Canada); Charles Brooks (EDN); Bob Brown; Mike Brown (Pur­
due U); Rodney Brown (COCAM, Australia); Jack Bryans (California State U at Long
Beach); Mark Buda (DEC); Fernando Cabrai (Padrâo IX, Brasilia, Brazil); Bjorn Carlsson
(Stockholm U Computer Centre QZ, Sweden); Bill Catchings (formerly of Columbia U);
Bob Cattani (formerly of Columbia U); Davide Cervone (Rochester U, NY); Seth Chaik-
lin (Denmark); John Chandler (Harvard U/Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory,
xvi Preface
Cambridge, MA); John L Chmielewski (AT&T, Lisle, IL); Howard Chu (U of Michigan);
Bill Coalson (McDonnell Douglas); Bertie Coopersmith (London, England); Chet Creider
(U of Western Ontario, Canada); Alan Crosswell (Columbia U); Jeff Damens (formerly of
Columbia U); Mark Davies (Bath U, England); S. Dezawa (Fujifilm, Japan); Joe R. Doup-
nik (Utah State U); Frank Dreano (US Navy); John Dunlap (U of Washington); Jean
Dutertre (DEC France); David Dyck (John Fluke Mfg Co.); Stefaan Eeckels (Statistical
Office of the European Community, CEC, Luxembourg); Paul Eggert (Twin Sun, Inc.);
Bernie Eiben (DEC); Kristoffer Eriksson (Peridot Konsult AB, Oerebro, Sweden); John
Evans (1RS, Kansas City); Glenn Everhart (RCA Labs); Charlie Finan (Cray Research,
Darien, CT); Herm Fischer (Encino, CA); Carl Fongheiser (CWRU); Marcello Frutig
(Catholic U, Sâo Pâulo, Brazil); Hirofumi Fujii (Japan National Laboratory for High
Energy Physics, Tokyo); Chuck Fuller (Westinghouse); Andy Fyfe (Caltech); Hunter
Goatley (Western Kentucky U); John Gilmore (UC Berkeley); German Goldszmidt
(IBM); Alistair Gorman (New Zealand); Richard Gration (Australian Defence Force
Academy); Chris Green (Essex U, England); Alan Grieg (Dundee Tech, Scotland); Yekta
Gursel (MIT); Jim Guyton (Rand Corp); Vesa Gynther (Finland); Michael Haertel;
Marion Hakanson; John Hamilton (Iowa State U); Steen Hammerum (U of K0bnhavn,
Denmark); Simon Hania (Netherlands); Stan Hanks (Rice U); Ken Harrenstein (SRI);
Eugenia Harris (Data General); David Harrison (Kingston Warren Corporation); James
Harvey (Indiana/Purdue U); Rob Healey; Chuck Hedrick (Rutgers U); Ron Heiby
(Motorola Computer Group); Steve Hemminger (Tektronix); Christian Hemsing
(Rheinisch-Westfalisch Technische Hochschule, Aachen, Germany); Andrew Herbert
(Monash U, Australia); Mike Hickey (ITI); R.E. Hill; Bill Homer (Cray Research); Randy
Huntziger (US National Library of Medicine); Larry Jacobs (Transarc); Steve Jenkins
(Lancaster U, England); Dave Johnson (Gradient Technologies); Mark Johnson (Apple
Computer); Eric Jones (AT&T); Luke Jones (AT&T); Peter Jones (U of Quebec,
Montreal, Canada); Phil Julian (SAS Institute); Peter Kabal (U of Quebec); Mic
Kaczmarczik (U of Texas at Austin); Sergey Kartashoff (Institute of Precise Mechanics &
Computer Equipment, Moscow); Howie Kaye (Columbia U); Rob Kedoin (Linotype Co,
Hauppauge, NY); Mark Kennedy (IBM); Terry Kennedy (St Peter's College, Jersey City,
NJ); Douglas Kingston; John Klensin (MIT); Tom Kloos (Sequent Computer Systems);
Jim Knutson (U of Texas at Austin); John Kohl; David Kricker (Encore Computer);
Thomas Krueger (U of Wisconsin at Milwaukee); Bo Kullmar (Central Bank of Sweden,
Kista, and ABC-Klubben, Stockholm); R. Brad Kummer (AT&T Bell Labs, Atlanta, GA);
John Kunze (UC Berkeley); Russell Lang (Monash U, Australia); Bob Larson (USC); Bert
Laverman (Groningen U, Netherlands); Steve Layton; David Lawyer (UC Irvine); David
Le Vine (National Semiconductor Corp.); S.O. Lidie (Lehigh U); Tor Lillqvist (Helsinki
U, Finland); Benny Lôfgren (DIAB, Sweden); Dean Long; Kevin Lowey (U of Sas­
katchewan, Canada); Andy Lowry (Columbia U); David MacKenzie (Environmental
Defense Fund, U of Maryland); John Mackin (U of Sidney, Australia); Martin Maclaren
(Bath U, England); Chris Maio (formerly of Columbia U); Fulvio Marino (Olivetti, Ivrea,
Italy); Peter Mauzey (AT&T); Tye McQueen (Utah State U); Ted Medin (NOSC); Ajay
Acknowledgments xvii
Mehta (DEC); Hellmuth Michaelis (Hanseatischer Computerservice GmbH, Hamburg,
Germany); Leslie Mikesell (American Farm Bureau); Gary Mills (U of Manitoba,
Canada); Martin Minow (DEC); Pawan Misra (Bellcore); Ken Mizialko (IBM, Manassas,
VA); Ray Moody (Purdue U); Bruce J Moore; Steve Morley (Convex); Peter Mossel
(Columbia U); Tony Movshon (NYU); Lou Muccioli (Swanson Analysis Systems); Dan
Murphy; Gary Mussar (Bell Northern Research); John Nail (Florida State U); Jack Nelson
(U of Pittsburgh); Jim Noble (PRC, Inc.); Ian O'Brien (Bath U, England); John Owens;
Michael Pins (Iowa Computer Aided Engineering Network); André Pirard (U of Liege,
Belgium); Paul Placeway (Ohio State U); Piet Plomp (Groningen U, Netherlands); Ken
Poulton (HP Labs); Manfred Prange (Oakland U); Christopher Pratt (APV Baker, UK);
Frank Prindle (NADC); Tony Querubin (U of Hawaii); Phil Race (ICL, Manchester,
England); Anton Rang; Scott Ribe; Alan Robiette (Oxford U, England); Michel Robitaille
(U of Montreal, Canada); Kai Uwe Rommel (Technische Universitàt Munchen, Ger­
many); Larry Rosenman (Irving, TX); Jay Rouman (U of Michigan); Jack Rouse (SAS In­
stitute); Stew Rubenstein (Harvard U); Bill Schilit (Columbia U); Michael Schmidt (U of
Paderborn, Germany); Eric Schnoebelen (Convex); Benn Schreiber (DEC); Dan
Schullman (DEC); John Schultz (3M); Steven Schultz (Contel); APPP Scorer (Leeds
Polytechnic, England); Gordon Scott (Micro Focus, Newbury, England); Gisbert W. Selke
(Wissenschaftliches Institut der Ortskrankenkassen, Bonn, Germany); David Sizeland (U
of London Medical School, England); Fridrik Skulason (Iceland); Dave Slate; Bradley
Smith (UCLA); Richard Smith (California State U); Ryan Stanisfer (UNT); Bertil
Stenstrom (Stockholm U Computer Centre QZ, Sweden); James Sturdevant (CAP GEMENI
AMERICA, Minneapolis, MN, and Medtronic, Inc., Fridley, MN); Peter Svanberg (Kungl.
Tekniska Hôgskolan, Sweden); James Swenson (Accu-Weather, Inc., State College, PA);
Chris Sylvain (U of Maryland); Andy Tanenbaum (Vrije U, Amsterdam, Netherlands);
Tim Theisen (U of Wisconsin); Lee Tibbert (DEC); Markku Toijala (Helsinki U of Tech­
nology, Finland); Rick Troxel (US National Institutes of Health); Warren Tucker (Tridom
Corp, Mountain Park, GA); Dave Tweten (NASA); G. Uddeborg (Sweden); Walter Un­
derwood (Ford Aerospace); Pieter Van Der Linden (Centre Mondial, Paris, France); Ge
van Geldorp (Netherlands); Fred van Kempen (MINIX User Group, Voorhout, Nether­
lands); Wayne Van Pelt (General Electric Corporate Research and Development); Mark
Vasoll (Oklahoma State U); Konstantin Vinogradov (ICSTI, Moscow, Russia); Paul Vixie
(DEC); Eduard Vopica (Prague School of Economics, Czechoslovakia); Dimitri Vulis
(City U of New York); Roger Wallace (Raytheon); Stephen Walton (California State U at
Northridge); Jamie Watson (Adasoft, Switzerland); Rick Watson (U of Texas); Robert
Weiner (Programming Plus, New York City); Lauren Weinstein (Vortex Technology);
David Wexelblat (AT&T Bell Labs); Bill Whitney (DEC); Joachim Wiesel (U of
Karlsruhe, Germany); Lon Willett (U of Utah); Michael Williams (UCLA); Nate Williams
(U of Montana); David Wilson; Patrick Wolfe (Kuck & Associates, Inc.); Gregg
Wonderly (Oklahoma State U); Farrell Woods (Concurrent); Dave Woolley (CAP Com­
munication Systems, London, England); Jack Woolley (SCT Corp); Frank Wortner; Ken
Yap (formerly of U of Rochester, NY); John Zeeff (Ann Arbor, MI).
xviii Preface