This is to announce version 2.29 of MS-DOS Kermit for the IBM PC family and compatibles, the DEC Rainbow, Heath/Zenith-100, HP-1xx, NEC APC, Sanyo MBC, TI PC, Victor 9000, several other systems, and generic MS-DOS. This version replaces version 2.28, which was released June 10, 1985. The new release was prepared by Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State University (JRD@USU.BITNET) over many long months of detailed work. Joe began by adding full DOS 2.0 file support to 2.28 along with a range of server functions, and fixing the bugs that were listed in the .BWR file. Then he took the VT100 emulation code from James Harvey of Indiana/Purdue University (which was written for version 2.27) and merged it in, adding features to bring it up to nearly complete VT102 emulation, while leaving the VT52 and Heath-19 emulation intact. Joe has also added many new features and commands, and has tirelessly coordinated testing of the new program on different systems through many generations of prerelease, and cheerfully checked and merged in improved support for various systems (like the Z100). The result is finally ready for distribution. In addition to the new programs, there is a completely new MS-DOS Kermit chapter for the Kermit user guide, new help and beware files, and other new material. On most systems, the new version requires less memory than the previous one, and only slightly more disk space. On the IBM PC family, the program needs about 60K to run, but will allocate more if it can. New Features of This Release: . Full DOS 2.0 file system support in all commands. DOS 1.x support removed. . On the IBM PC family, emulation of VT102, VT52, H19, and dumb terminal. . Support for host control of 25th line during terminal emulation on IBM PC. . Screen rollback memory now dynamically sized rather than fixed. . IBM PC VT102 emulation includes all major VT102 features except 132 columns, smooth scrolling, printer control, and diagnostic functions. . On IBM PC family, peaceful coexistence with TopView, DesqView, MS Windows. . Some support for IBM Extended and Professional Graphics Adapters. . New SET TERMINAL command for setting terminal type and parameters, including foreground and background color and intensity on systems that support it (currently only for IBM family). . New screen dump feature (on the DEC Rainbow and IBM family only). . Increased screen rollback memory on Rainbow & IBM. . HANGUP command for dropping DTR & RTS, to signal modem to hang up phone (IBM family only). . Heath/Zenith-100 port i/o now interrupt driven, therefore much faster. . The MS-DOS Kermit server now responds to advanced server commands (REMOTE DIR, REMOTE HOST, REMOTE DEL, REMOTE TYPE, REMOTE CWD, etc). . SET RETRY n command for changing the packet retry threshold. . Improved file name handling, to prevent destruction of directory, system, hidden, read-only, and volume label files. File renaming algorithm much improved for conversion of incoming file names to DOS conventions, and for filename collision avoidance. . LOG command now also logs debugging information (packets, terminal session) if SET DEBUG ON command has been given. . New file transfer display options: SET DISPLAY QUIET, REGULAR, SERIAL. . Serial display used by default in generic MS-DOS Kermit. . Program segments are now ordered independently of MASM/LINK version, without any special switches required for building. . Assembles with MS MASM 1.25, IBM MASM 2.0 aka MS MASM 3.0, and MS MASM 4.0, as well as Intel RMX assembler. As released, the programs were assembled with Microsoft MASM 4.00 and Link 3.05. Runs under all existing versions of MS/PC-DOS, 2.0 and higher. . All known bugs in version 2.28 fixed including: Severe problems if program assembled and linked improperly GET command filename confusion Many problems with file renaming, name truncation, etc. Exported filenames with no filetype no longer end with period SET DEST PRINTER didn't work correctly Problems with dynamic memory allocation Display problems on early PC, Compaq Heath-19 emulation bug regarding receipt of CR or LF at col 80 vs autowrap The "C?" bug in the command parser ^C of a file transfer now honors SET INCOMPLETE KEEP Lost clusters on disk if BYE command given with log file open RUN command did not default file types .EXE, .COM, .BAT Long debug lines would overflow screen Overruns of half duplex systems at high baud rates Control-prefix operands in packets not range checked Interrupt and performance problems on IBM PC family Numbers sometimes disappearing from file transfer display Problems parsing SET PORT options in generic MS-DOS Kermit Program crashed with "divide overflow" when transferring very long file Tendency to hangup Hayes 1200B internal modem upon startup Problems when padding with more than 2 or 3 characters Incompatibilities with previous release: . SET HEATH gone, replaced by SET TERMINAL { HEATH, VT102, VT52 } . SET AUTOWRAP gone, replaced by SET TERMINAL WRAP . Filename completion (recognition) no longer works, because of support for fully qualified DOS 2.0 pathnames. Tested on the following systems: . IBM PC, XT, AT, PCjr, Portable PC, Convertible PC, and RT with AT DOS option . Compaq, Z150, Z160, and other IBM compatibles . DEC Rainbow . Heath/Zenith-100 . HP-150, HP-110, and Portable Plus . NEC APC and APC-3 . Victor 9000 / Sirius 1 . ACT Apricot . Sanyo MBC 550 . Texas Instruments Professional PC . Intel 300 series with iRMX-86 . Generic MS-DOS Needs testing on: . Wang PC . Olivetti M24 PC . Grid Compass II . DECmate-II,III with XPU (MS-DOS) option IBM PC family H19 and VT102 emulators tested successfully with: . EMACS (DEC-20, CCA, GNU, and others, using line/char insert/delete) . EDT, PHONE (VAX/VMS) . 1-800-DEC-DEMO . UNIX vi, sysline, etc . Various torture tests The new files are in KER:MS*.* on CU20B, available on the Internet via anonymous FTP, and in MS* * on CUVMA, available on BITNET through KERMSRV at CUVMA. Within a few days they should also be available for UUCP transfers from okstate (Oklahoma State University). The executable programs are encoded in "BOO" format (a printable 4-for-3 encoding of the .EXE file, with compression of repeated zeros). The BOO files are in KER:MSV*.BOO (for instance, the version for the IBM PC family is in KER:MSVIBM.BOO), which may be decoded with the program MSBPCT.BAS (slow) or MSBPCT.EXE (fast, but you need the Basic program to get the fast version in the first place, because it too is BOO-encoded). BOO files for the old release (2.28) are still available as KER:MSO*.BOO. The new manual chapter is in KER:MSKERM.DOC (long, about 122K). A summary of the Kermit-MS invocation and commands is in KER:MSKERM.HLP (shorter, about 9K). KER:MSKERM.BWR lists the known bugs and deficiencies, along with some implementation notes. KER:MSR229.UPD contains the release notes for this version (somewhat similar to this message). Before you get all of the KER:MS*.* files over the network, first get the following files, which will help you zero in on the particular files you need: . KER:MSAAAA.HLP - describes the organization MS-Kermit files in detail. . KER:MSBAAA.HLP - describes the bootstrapping procedure for BOO files. . KER:MSSAAA.HLP - describes how to build the program from source files. Most people will not need the source files, which add up to quite a chunk. If you are new to Kermit network distribution, then even before you get these files, you should get and read KER:AAAREAD.ME (AAAREAD ME on BITNET KERMSRV). If you can't access CU20B or CUVMA by network, you can order diskettes by mail from: Kermit Distribution Columbia University Center for Computing Activities 612 West 115th Street New York, NY 10025 Include a check for $10 US ($15 if you also want a Kermit User Guide) payable to Columbia University Center for Computing Activities, to cover our reproduction and handling costs. To order from outside North America, write to the above address for further information. Please send inquiries, bug reports, comments, complaints, and suggestions to Info-Kermit-Request@CU20B, or by postal mail to the above address. In particular, reports that the program works (or doesn't) on the as-yet-untested machines will be most welcome.