User manual | CHAPTER 1 PDP-11 KERMIT

CHAPTER 1

PDP-11 KERMIT

Program: Brian Nelson

Language: Macro-11

Documentation: Brian Nelson

Version: 2.32

Date: July 1985

Systems Supported: RSTS/E, RSX11M/M+, P/OS, Micro-RSX, RT11 and TSX+

Kermit-11 Capabilities At A Glance:

Local operation: Yes

Remote operation: Yes

Transfer text files: Yes

Transfer binary files: Yes

Wildcard send: Yes

File transfer interruption: Yes

Filename collision avoidance: Yes

Can time out: Yes

8th-bit prefixing: Yes

Repeat count prefixing: Yes

Alternate block checks: Yes

Terminal emulation: Yes

Communication settings: Yes

Transmit BREAK: Yes (depends on system)

IBM mainframe communication: Yes

Transaction logging: Yes

Session logging: Yes

Debug logging: Yes

Packet logging: Yes

Act as server: Yes

Talk to server: Yes

Advanced server functions: Yes

Local file management: Yes

Command/Init files: Yes

File attributes packets: Yes

Command macros: No

Raw file transmit: Yes

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-2

File systems on the PDP-11

File specifications.

The general format of a file name is:

NODE::DEVICE:[DIRECTORY]NAME.TYPE;VERSION

'Node' refers to the DECNET node name, for example, FUBAR::, if applicable. 'Device', if present, refers to the physical device or logical name where the file resides.

For RSTS/E, 'device' can be a physical device, such as DB0: or DU1:, or it can be a user or system logical name which may include both a physical device name and a directory name. If the device name is a logical name, is it composed of 1 to 9 alphanumeric characters, including '$', as in DISK$ONE:, LB: and so on. For instance, the DCL system command

$ ASS/SYS DB1:[200,210] SRC$DIR would associate both the device DB1: and directory [200,210] with

SRC$DIR:. Explicitly given directories override directory names imbedded in a logical name. Names longer than nine characters are truncated by the executive.

In the case of RSX11M/M+ and RT11, the device name can be either a physical name, such as DU0:, or a logical name which will translate to a physical device name, such as LB:.

On RSTS/E and RSX11M/M+, the [directory] is a UIC (user identfication code) or PPN (project,programmer) number of the format [NNN,MMM]. All users are assigned a UIC (or PPN) when accounts are created, this is the number you give to LOGIN to log into the system. It is also your default UIC (or PPN). Micro-Rsx and P/OS may have directories in either UIC format or named directory format, such as [1,2] or

[KERMIT]. For P/OS, the default directory is [USERFILES].

Directories are not used for RT11.

The NAME field is the primary identifier for the file. The name can be one to nine characters for RSX11M/M+ and P/OS, and one to six characters for RSTS/E, RT11 and TSX+. The TYPE field is usually used to group files according to some convention. For example, XXX.FTN refers to a Fortran-77 source file, FOO.C to a 'C' source file, and

K11POS.TSK refers to a task image.

The version field is applicable ONLY to RSX type systems. The default version is always the highest version number.

All systems mentioned support some sort of filename wildcarding, the flexibility of which varies by executive. All support the use of '*' to represent either a fully wildcarded NAME or TYPE. RSTS/E supports

the use of '?' to match any single character, whereas the others use a

'%' to match any single character. The RSTS/E Kermit server will translate '%' to '?' internally for the GET and REMOTE DIR commands

(see chapter on the SERVER).

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-3

File systems on the PDP-11

Examples of wildcarded filenames:

*.B2S match any file with a TYPE of B2S

K11%%%.MAC match any file starting with K11, followed by

one to three characters, with a TYPE of MAC

K11???.MAC Same as above, but for RSTS/E only.

XYZ.*;* All versions of files with a NAME of XYZ with

any TYPE (RSX11M/M+ and P/OS only).

File formats (binary and text)

RT11 and TSX+

RT11 treats all files as a contiguous stream of characters. There is no information stored in the directory to tell the system (or program) that a file is readable text (source program, runoff document,...) or consists of binary data (executable program, object file, .SYS file,...). An application program like Kermit-11 needs to know what type of file to expect, thus the presence of the SET FILE TYPE command

(discussed later). The only real convention is that text files are streams of seven bit data with each record terminated by a carriage return/line feed character sequence and that binary files normally follow a filename TYPE convention. The TYPE (.SAV, .SYS, ...) is what

Kermit-11 will look at to decide if a file should be sent as a text or binary file.

RSTS/E, P/OS and RSX11M/M+

These systems can provide for a large number of file attributes for each file by using either FCS11 (RSX11M/M+) or RMS11 (all). Text files are normally considered to be either STREAM format (FB$STM) or

VARIABLE with implied carriage control (FB$VAR and FB$CR). RSTS/E has historically defaulted to STREAM, whereas the RSX based systems use

VARIABLE. Kermit-11 follows those defaults when creating files unless told to do so otherwise by the presence of attribute data. The conversion of the internal data representation to one that can be transmitted to another Kermit is transparent for these types of files.

Both the file attributes and the filename TYPE are examined by

Kermit-11 to determine if a file needs to be sent as a text file

(default) or a binary file. Additionally, on RSTS/E Kermit checks the file protection code, as one of the bits in it is used to flag an executable file (bit 6).

In all cases, unless (at this time) Kermit-11 is talking to another

Kermit-11, or if Kermit-11 can't tell if a file is consists of binary data, the command SET FILE TYPE FIXED must be used to force Kermit to either send or get a non-text file correctly. When Kermit-11 is running in binary mode, all data is read from (or written to) the file without any translation or internal record control information. Any attribute information in the file's directory entry is ignored and the

data read (or written) in 512 byte unformatted blocks. Thus it is indeed possible to transfer files like task images and object libraries. Since Kermit-11 supports a subset of a protocol feature called 'attributes', two Kermit-11's connected together can also

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-4

File systems on the PDP-11 correctly transfer files other than simple text and unformatted binary files, such as RMS indexed or relative files.

Saving files on the PDP-11 from your microcomputer

You can send textual files to Kermit-11 without any special considerations as Kermit-11 defaults to creating normal text files.

However, if you are sending a binary file (perhaps an EXE) from say, your Rainbow under MSDOS, your would need to tell Kermit-11 to expect binary data. This is done with the Kermit-11 command SET FILE TYPE

FIXED. This will force Kermit-11 to write the data out exactly as it comes, in 512 byte unformatted records. Sending the same file back to the Rainbow would not require any special action since the file, as it sits on the PDP-11, has the proper information in the directory entry to tell Kermit-11 that the file is binary. As a note, for RT11 you would need to use a filetype that is normally considered 'binary' like

SAV or OBJ (see above notes for RT11).

Never try to do a wildcarded send with mixed binary and text files with the file type set to FIXED. The result could be unusable as not all systems store text data in the same internal format. For example, if Kermit-11 is forced into binary mode (via SET FIL TYP FIX) and is requested to send a file with implied carriage control (normal for RSX text files), it will actually send, for each line, two bytes representing the record length, followed by the data and then followed by a ascii NUL to pad the record to an even length. That is not incorrect, rather, it is EXACTLY how the data was stored on disk.

In general, avoid sending anything other than unformatted binary files and text file to unlike systems. For example, requesting a RMS indexed file from the PDP-11 to be sent to a PC would case Kermit-11 to send it as a binary file, but the file attributes would be lost.

Sending such a file back to the PDP-11 would result in an unusable file unless you could reconstruct the attribute information.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-5

Program Operation

Kermit-11's prompt is normally "Kermit-11>". This can be changed if need be via the SET PROMPT command. Invoking Kermit-11 is very site dependent.

RSTS/E

If Kermit-11 has a ccl definition, it would likely be invoked as "KER" or "KERMIT". If not, try "RUN $KERMIT", as this is a likely place where Kermit-11 may have been put. Otherwise consult your local support staff.

RSX11M/M+

If Kermit-11 has been installed, it most likely will have a task name of ...KER which means that type "KER" should get things running. If not, consult your local support staff.

RT11/TSX+

On version 5 of RT11, programs can be run simply by typing the filename. Thus, if there is a file DK:KERMIT.SAV, simply type

"KERMIT". If this fails, contact your local support staff for assistance.

P/OS

Kermit-11 is generally run from DCL on P/OS. The program is invoked via the DCL RUN command, as in RUN K11POS or RUN KERMIT, depending on what the task image name is.

Note that for the case where Kermit is installed (for RSTS/E and

RSX11M/M+) that Kermit-11 can get command line arguments, as in:

$ KER SERV Kermit starts as a server.

> KER send fubar.txt Kermit sends the file.

Otherwise, the program is run interactively from the Kermit-11> prompt.

$ KERMIT

Kermit-11 V2.33

Kermit-11>SET BLO 3 Changes checksum type.

Kermit-11>SER Enter Kermit server.

Note that whenever Kermit-11 starts up, it will always try to find a file called KERMIT.INI in your current directory. This file can contain any valid Kermit command, though the usual use of this is to place various Kermit-11 SET commands in it. If this file does NOT exist, it will try to find it in LB:[1,2]KERMIT.INI (excluding RT11).

In addition to the .INI file, commands may be placed in a file and then executed via the Kermit-11 TAKE (or @) command.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-6

Local and Remote operation

Kermit-11 by default assumes that all file transfers will occur over the terminal line that you are currently logged in on (TI:, TT:, KB:).

This is known as REMOTE mode (the PDP-11 is the remote system). This would be the desired case if you are running Kermit on a microcomputer such as a Rainbow and are currently logged into the PDP-11 through the micro. However, if you wanted to dial out, say by an autodial modem, from the PDP-11 to another system, you need to tell Kermit-11 to use some other terminal line. This would be called LOCAL mode (the PDP-11 is the local system). The line can be altered with the SET LINE command (see section on SET and CONNECT). A SET LINE command is done implicitly if Kermit-11 finds itself running on a PRO/350, under either P/OS or RT11.

Since support of parity varies by both interface type (DL11 vs DZ11) and by operating system, Kermit-11 makes NO attempt to find out what the current parity of it's line is. Kermit-11 generates it's own parity which is set with the SET PARITY command.

There are a couple of things to point out regarding Kermit-11 and

LOCAL mode (you did a SET LINE command).

The system manager may have lines other than your own protected

(or owned by the system). On RSTS/E lines are often made

unaccessable unless your account possesses the needed

priviledge(s). On RSX11M/M+, priviledge is required to alter

settings on any other terminal line. You may have to talk to

your system manager to get access to an outgoing terminal line.

Once connected to a modem through another line, a means must

exist for the connection to be broken (if the host you are

calling won't do it). Given that your line has full or partial

modem control (DZV11, DZ11, DH11, DHU/V11) the RSX and RSTS/E

Kermits have a HANGUP (or DISCONNECT) command, which instructs

the system to disconnect the modem. Unless this is done, you

never get disconnected and could run up a tidy phone bill.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-7

Kermit-11 commands

Kermit-11 has the following commands available:

@ Synonym for TAKE

BYE Logout a remote server

CONNECT Connect to a remote system

COPY Local copy of a file(s)

CWD Set new working directory

DELETE Local delete of a file(s)

DIRECT Local directory display

DISCONNECT Hangup a remote line

DISPLAY Internal debugging

ERASE Local delete of a file(s)

EXIT Exit to system

FINISH Stop a remote server without logging out

GET Get a file(s) from a remote server

HANGUP Hangup a remote line

HOST Execute system command locally (where applicable)

LOCAL Force interpretation of command to the local system

LOGFILE Create a log file

QUIT Same as EXIT

PRINT Print a file locally (where applicable)

RECEIVE Receive a file(s) from a remote kermit

REMOTE Prefix for file management commands to a server

RENAME Local rename of filename(s)

SEND Send a file(s) to a remote Kermit

SERVER start a Kermit server

SET Change Kermit parameters

SHOW Display Kermit parameters

TAKE Execute indirect command file

TYPE Local display of file on terminal

WHO Local display of logged in users (RSTS/E only)

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-8

Commands for file transfer

The SEND Command

Sending a file or files:

SEND filespec

The SEND command causes a file or file group to be sent from the PDP11 to the other system. If filespec contains wildcard characters then all matching files will be sent, in alphabetical order (according to the ASCII collating sequence) by name. If filespec does not contain any wildcard characters, then the single file specified by filespec will be sent.

SEND Command General Operation:

Files will be sent with their PDP11 file name and type (for instance

FOO.BAR). Each file will be sent according to the record type and attributes recorded in its file descriptor. Kermit-11 attempts to translate all formats of text file to a format usuable on any system.

Note that there is no need to set the FILE TYPE parameter for sending files, since Kermit-11 always uses the information from the file directory entry and the filetype (extension) to determine how to send the file.

If communication line parity is being used (see SET PARITY), Kermit-11 will request that the other Kermit use a special kind of prefix notation for binary files. This is an advanced feature, and not all

Kermits have it; if the other Kermit does not agree to use this feature, binary files cannot be sent correctly. This includes executable programs (like .EXE files, CP/M .COM files), relocatable object modules (.OBJ files), as well as any text file containing characters with the eighth bit on.

Kermit-11 will also ask the other Kermit whether it can handle a special prefix encoding for repeated characters. If it can, then files with long strings of repeated characters will be transmitted very efficiently. Columnar data, highly indented text, and binary files are the major beneficiaries of this technique.

If you're running Kermit-11 locally, for instance dialing out from a

PDP11 to another system using an autodialer, you should have already run Kermit on the remote system and issued either a RECEIVE or a

SERVER command. Once you give Kermit-11 the SEND command, the name of each file will be displayed on your screen as the transfer begins. As the transfer continues, you will get a small display of the packet count along with the number of packets rejected. See the SET TERMINAL and SET UPDATE commands for more information. You may also type

Control-X or Control-Z to interrupt the current file or file group.

Control-E will also abort the transfer by sending an 'error' packet to

the other Kermit.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-9

Commands for file transfer

The RECEIVE command

Syntax: RECEIVE [filespec]

The RECEIVE command tells Kermit-11 to receive a file or file group from the other system. The name is taken from the incoming file header.

If an incoming file has the same name as an existing file, Kermit-11 will by default create a new file. On RT11 and RSTS/E, the old file will be deleted by the executive. On RSX11M/M+ and P/OS, a new file with a higher version number will be created. To avoid files being superceded, see the SET FILE [NO]SUPERCEDE command.

Incoming files will all be stored with the prevailing file type, ASCII by default, which is appropriate for text files. If you are asking

Kermit-11 to receive binary files from a microcomputer or other 8-bit system, you must first type SET FILE TYPE FIXED. Otherwise, an error may occur when receiving the file. Please note that this does NOT apply to two Kermit-11 programs connected to each other. In that case the sending Kermit-11 will tell the receiving Kermit-11 to switch to binary mode if need be.

If parity is being used on the communications line, then 8th-bit prefixing will be requested. If the other side cannot do this, binary files cannot be transferred correctly.

If you are running Kermit-11 locally, you should already have issued a

SEND command to the remote Kermit, and then escaped back to Kermit-11.

As files arrive, their names will be displayed on your screen.

If a file arrives that you don't really want, you can attempt to cancel it by typing Control-X; this sends a cancellation request to the remote Kermit. If the remote Kermit understands this request (not all implementations of Kermit support this feature), it will comply; otherwise it will continue to send. If a file group is being sent, you can request the entire group be cancelled by typing Control-Z.

Normally, one runs the remote Kermit as a SERVER, thus the RECEIVE command is never used, rather, the GET command, described next, is used.

The GET command

Syntax: GET [remote-filespec]

The GET command requests a remote Kermit server to send the file or file group specified by remote-filespec. This command can be used only when Kermit-11 is local, with a Kermit server on the other end of the line specified by SET LINE. This means that you must have

CONNECTed to the other system, logged in, run Kermit there, issued the

SERVER command, and escaped back to the PDP11.

The remote filespec is any string that can be a legal file

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-10

Commands for file transfer specification for the remote system; it is not parsed or validated locally. Any leading spaces before the remote filespec are stripped, and lower case characters are raised to upper case.

As files arrive, their names will be displayed on your screen. As in the RECEIVE command, ^X to request that the current incoming file be cancelled, ^Z to request that the entire incoming batch be cancelled.

If the remote Kermit is not capable of server functions, then you will probably get an error message back from it like "Illegal packet type".

In this case, you must connect to the other Kermit, give a SEND command, escape back, and give a RECEIVE command.

Server operation

The SERVER command puts a remote Kermit-11 in "server mode", so that it receives all further commands in packets from the local Kermit.

The Kermit-11 server is capable (as of this writing) of executing the following remote server commands: SEND, GET, FINISH, BYE, REMOTE

DIRECTORY, REMOTE CWD, REMOTE SPACE, REMOTE DELETE, REMOTE TYPE,

REMOTE HELP, REMOTE COPY, REMOTE RENAME, REMOTE WHO, and REMOTE HOST.

Any nonstandard parameters should be selected with SET commands before putting Kermit-11 into server mode, in particular the file type. The

Kermit-11 server can send all files in the correct manner automatically. As noted before, if a Kermit-11 is talking to another

Kermit-11, they will negotiate any 'binary' parameters automatically.

However, if this is NOT the case and you need to ask Kermit-11 to receive binary files you must issue the SET FILE TYPE FIX command before putting it into server mode, and then you must only send binary files. You cannot send a mixture of text files and 8-bit binary files to a Kermit-11 server unless the files are not for use on the PDP-11.

Command for Servers

When running in local mode, Kermit-11 allows you to give a wide range of comands to a remote Kermit server, with no guarantee the that the remote server can process them, since they are all optional features of the protocol. Commands for servers include the standard SEND, GET,

BYE, FINISH commands, as well as the REMOTE command.

The BYE command

The BYE command tells a remote server to log out of the remote system.

In addition, some remote systems will also disconnect the line for you. If this is not the case, the DISCONNECT command will (depending on your interface) cause the line to be dropped. See DISCONNECT.

The FINISH command

The FINISH command tells the remote Kermit server to exit without logging out of the remote system. You can then CONNECT back to the system.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-11

Server operation

REMOTE command

Send the specified command to the remote server. If the server does not understand the command (all of these commands are optional features of the Kermit protocol), it will reply with a message like

"Unknown Kermit server command". If does understand, it will send the results back, and they will be displayed on the screen. The REMOTE commands are:

REMOTE COPY filespec newfilespec

Copy file. The server is asked to make a copy of the specified

file. Both filespecs must be in the correct format for the

remote system. Kermit-11 does not parse or validate the file

specifications. Any leading spaces will be stripped and lower

case characters converted to upper case. Note that this command

simply provides for copying a file within the server's system -

it does not cause a file to be transferred.

REMOTE CWD directory

Change Working Directory. If no directory name is provided, the

server will change to the default or home directory. Kermit-11

currently does not ask for a password.

REMOTE DELETE filespec

Delete the specified file or files. The names of the files that

are deleted will appear on your screen.

REMOTE DIRECTORY [filespec]

The names of the files that match the given file specification

will be displayed on your screen, perhaps along with size and

date information for each file. If no file specification is

given, all files from the current directory will be listed.

REMOTE HELP

The remote server will send back a list of server commands that

it can execute.

REMOTE HOST command

Pass the given command to the server's host command processor,

and display the resulting output on your screen. Not all Kermit

servers can do this function. In the case of Kermit-11, only the

RSTS/E Kermit-11 server can execute the REMOTE HOST command.

REMOTE RENAME oldfile newfile

Change the name on the specified file (or files). Both file

specifications must be valid for the server's system.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-12

Server operation

REMOTE SPACE

Display information about disk usage in the current directory.

REMOTE TYPE filespec

Display the contents of the specified file on your screen.

REMOTE WHO

Display current status of user's logged in.

Commands for Local File Management

These commands provide some local file management capability without having to leave the Kermit-11 program. These commands are very similar to the REMOTE commands in function and syntax. They are all executed locally, and are available when Kermit-11 is either local or remote. The arguments to these commands are the same as the arguments expected from the user Kermit when Kermit-11 is processing a command in server mode. Additionally, these commands can be prefixed by the

LOCAL keyword.

COPY filespec newfilespec

CWD directory

DELETE filespec

DIRECTORY [filespec]

HELP

HOST command

RENAME oldfile newfile

SPACE

TYPE filespec

WHO

Connect

The CONNECT command will allow you to connect in as a virtual terminal over the line that was specified by the set line command. (Using the

CONNECT command before using the SET LINE command will result in an error message) The terminal line must be one which is accessable to the user. The format of the CONNECT command is:

Kermit-11>CONNECT

The distributed RSX11M/M+ task has been built with the /PR:0 switch to enable the task to change other terminal settings. Addtionally, for

RSX11M/M+, the MCR command SET /SLAVE=TTnn: should be done before entering Kermit-11.

If you are running K11POS.TSK on a PRO/350, Kermit will set the line

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-13

The Connect command to XK0: and the speed to 9600 by default.

Please note that Kermit-11 CAN NOT change the speed of a DL11 type interface, nor can it change the speed of a PDT-150 modem port (use

SPEED.SAV).

The following is an example of using a Racal-Vadic VA212 autodialing modem to log into a remote TOPS-20 system. There are two points at which there is no echoing of the user input. The first is the typing of a control-E <cr> sequence to get the attention of the modem, which responds by sending the string 'HELLO:I'M READY'. The second is the typing of the local 'escape sequence', which by default is control \ followed by a 'c'. The control backslash informs the terminal emulator that the next character is a command. In this case, the command was 'C', which means to return to the local PDP-11 system.

Control \ ? would print a help message.

$ kermit

Kermit-11 V2.13

Kermit-11>set logfile 20.log

Kermit-11>set deb console

Kermit-11>set lin tt58:

Link device set to TT58:

Kermit-11>set spe 1200

Kermit-11>con

Connecting to TT58:

HELLO:I'M READY

NUMBER?

9-1-212-123-4567

DIALING...

ANSWER TONE

ON LINE

enter class 4

class 004 start

CU20B

@log xx.abcdef

CU20B, TOPS-20 Monitor 5.1(5101)-2

Job 28, TTY32, 2-Apr-84 4:15:24PM

Previous login was 2-Apr-84 4:10:16PM

@log

[Confirm]

Logged out Job 28, User XX.ABCDEF , TTY 32,

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-14

The Connect command

at 2-Apr-84 16:19:34, Used 0:00:11 in 0:04:10

Kermit-11>disc

KERMIT link TT58: disconnected

Kermit-11>exit

$ logout

SET

The SET command is used to set various parameters in kermit. The format of the SET command is:

Kermit-11>SET parameter keyword

SET ATTRIBUTES

Part of the Kermit protocol is the support of file attributes.

Connected Kermits that support this can send information to each other about file size, time/date of creation, RMS file headers and other useful things. Due to potential problems with incompatible implementations this feature can be disabled. In this case, the sending Kermit-11 will never try to send file attributes, even though the receiver may have indicated that it supports this.

Kermit-11>SET ATTRIBUTES OFF

Kermit-11>SET ATTRIBUTES ON

SET BAUD

This is the same as SET SPEED. See HELP SET SPEED

SET BINARY-TYPE

Kermit-11 has a default list of filetypes that are scanned to decide if a file should be sent in binary mode in addition to checking file attributes for RSX, P/OS and RSTS/E. The user can, however, overide this list with the this command. The default list is fairly inclusive, with types such as .SAV and .TSK forcing Kermit-11 into binary transmission. See HELP SET FIL for the default list.

Kermit-11> SET BINARY-TYPE .SAV

Kermit-11> SET BIN .EXE

SET BLOCK-CHECK

The SET BLOCKCHECK command is used to determine the block check

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-15

The SET COMMAND sequence which will be used during transmission. The block check sequence is used to detect transmission errors. There are three types of block check available. These are the single character checksum

(default), the two character checksum, and the three character CRC

(cyclic redundancy check). This command does not ensure that the desired type of block check will be used, since both Kermit's involved in the transfer must agree on the block check type. Kermit-11 will request that the type of block check set by this command be used for a transfer. If the other Kermit has also had the same block check type requested, then the desired block check type will be used. Otherwise, the single character checksum will be used. The command should be given to BOTH Kermits since Kermit-11, when in server mode, has no say about what kind of checksum it wants to use. (See Kermit protocol manual for more information.)

Kermit-11>SET BLOCK_CHECK keyword

Kermit-11>SET BLO 1

Kermit-11>SET BLO 2

Kermit-11>SET BLO 3

Where keyword is one of:

1_CHARACTER_CHECKSUM or ONE_CHARACTER_CHECKSUM

2_CHARACTER_CHECKSUM or TWO_CHARACTER_CHECKSUM

3_CHARACTER_CRC_CCITT or THREE_CHARACTER_CRC_CCITT

SET CONSOLE

The SET CONSOLE command is used under P/OS to control the passing of 8 bit data to th terminal during the connect command. If you are getting multinational characters being printed, this is a very useful thing to set. The default is SET CON 7.

Kermit-11>SET CON 8

Kermit-11>SET CON 7

SET DEBUG

The SET DEBUG command is used to specify the type and level of debugging to a disk file . This disk file must have been created by the SET LOGFILE command. The format for SET DEBUG is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG qualifier

SET DEBUG ALL

SET DEBUG ALL will turn on logging for CONSOLE,CONNECT,FILE,PACKET and

STATE to the disk file specified by SET LOGFILE. This commamd is the same as SET DEBUG ON. The command format is:

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-16

The SET COMMAND

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG ALL

SET DEBUG CONSOLE

SET DEBUG CONSOLE will turn on logging for all i/o during a remote connect to the disk file specified by SET LOGFILE. This command is the same as SET DEBUG CONNECT. The command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG CONSOLE

SET DEBUG CONNECT

SET DEBUG CONNECT will turn on logging for all i/o during a remote connect to the disk file specified by SET LOGFILE. This command is the same as SET DEBUG CONSOLE. The command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG CONNECT

SET DEBUG FILE

SET DEBUG FILE will log all file 'opens' and 'creates' to the file specified by SET LOGFILE. The command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG FILE

SET DEBUG HELP

SET DEBUG HELP gives the user a list of all qualifiers which can be used with SET DEBUG. Command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG HELP

SET DEBUG NONE

SET DEBUG NONE 'turns off' all debugging. This is the same as the SET

DEBUG OFF command. Command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG NONE

SET DEBUG OFF

SET DEBUG OFF 'turns off' all debugging. This is the same as the SET

DEBUG NONE command. Command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG OFF

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-17

The SET COMMAND

SET DEBUG ON

SET DEBUG ON will'turn on' logging for CONSOLE,CONNECT,FILE,PACKET and

STATE to the disk file specified by SET LOGFILE. This commamd is the same as SET DEBUG ALL. The command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG ON

SET DEBUG PACKET

SET DEBUG PACKET will 'turn on' logging of all receive and transmit packets to the disk file specified by SET LOGFILE. The command format is:

Kermit-11>SET DEBUG PACKET

SET DEBUG STATE

SET DEBUG STATE will turn on logging of all internal Kermit-11 state transitions

SET DELAY

The DELAY parameter is the number of seconds to wait before sending data after a SEND command is given. This is used when Kermit-11 is running in remote mode to allow the user time to escape back to the other Kermit and give a RECEIVE command.

Kermit-11>SET DELAY number-of-seconds

Where number of seconds is the (decimal) number of second to wait before sending data.

SET DEFAULT

The DEFAULT parameter allows you to specify a device and UIC (or PPN) for all subsequent file opens (for SENDING) and file creates (for

RECEIVING). It is disabled by typing SET HOME.

Kermit-11>SET DEFAULT device

Kermit-11>SET DEFAULT DB2:[200,201]

This is quite useful for Kermit-11 running on a DECNET link, as you can set the default for file operations to include node names and passwords as in:

Kermit-11>set def orion::sys$system:[fubar]

SET DUPLEX

The DUPLEX parameter controls whether an outgoing link (set via the

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-18

The SET COMMAND

SET LINE command) is a full duplex link (the default) or a half duplex link. All it does for half duplex is to cause all characters typed after the CONNECT command to be echoed locally.

Kermit-11>SET DUPLEX HALF

Kermit-11>SET DUPLEX FULL

SET END-OF-LINE

The END-OF-LINE parameter sets the ascii character which will be used as a line terminator for all packets SENT to the other KERMIT. This is normally not needed for most versions of KERMIT.

Kermit-11>SET END-OF-LINE octal value of character

SET ESCAPE

This command will set the escape character for the CONNECT processing.

The command will take the octal value of the character to use as the escape character. This is the character which is used to "escape" back to Kermit-11 after using the CONNECT command. It defaults to control (octal 34). It is usually a good idea to set this character to something which is not used (or at least not used very much) on the system being to which Kermit-11 is CONNECTing.

Kermit-11>SET ESCAPE octal-character-value

Where octal-character-value is the ASCII value of the character to use as the escape character (in octal).

SET FILE

The SET FILE allows you to set various file related parameters.

Kermit-11>SET FIL option

SET FILE TYPE ASCII

File type ASCII is for text files. SET FILE TYPE TEXT is the same.

SET FILE TYPE AUTO

Kermit-11 will normally try to decide if a file must be sent in binary mode based on the file attributes and filetype. If, for instance, the directory entry for FUBAR.TXT showed it to be RMS (or FCS) fixed length records, Kermit-11 will switch to binary mode and send it verbatim. If the receiving Kermit is Kermit-11, then the sending

Kermit will send attribute data over also. The following file types also will normally be sent as binary files unless you use the SET FILE

TYPE NOAUTO command.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-19

The SET COMMAND

*.TSK ; rsx, ias, and rsts tasks

*.SAV ; rt11 and rsts save images

*.OBJ ; compiler and mac output

*.STB ; tkband link symbol tables

*.CRF ; tkb and link cross reference files

*.TSD ; 'time shared dibol' for rt11

*.BAC ; rsts basic+ 'compiled' files

*.OLB ; rsx, ias, and rsts object libraries

*.MLB ; rsx, ias, and rsts macro libraries

*.RTS ; rsts/e run time systems

*.EXE ; vms executable

SET FILE TYPE BINARY

File type BINARY is for non-text files. Note that binary files which are generated on a PDP11 system cannot be transferred to another (non

PDP-11) system without losing file attributes. This means that (for example), an RSM11 indexed file cannot be transmitted with Kermit-11 at this time. You can not have parity set to anything but NONE to use binary file transfer (see HELP SET PARITY) unless the other Kermit can process eight bit quoting. Two Kermit-11's connected to each other will use binary transmission automatically via the Kermit attribute packets, preserving file attributes where it makes sense (ie, RSTS/E and RSX only).

SET FILE TYPE FIXED

This is the same as SET FIL TYP BIN

SET FILE TYPE NOAUTO

SET FILE NOAUTO disables Kermit-11 from trying to base binary transmission mode on file attributes or filetype.

SET FILE SUPERCEDE

SET FILE [NO]SUPERCEDE allows Kermit-11 to accept or reject files received (from either the RECEIVE or GET commands) on a per file basis. The default is SUPERCEDE. By doing SET FILE NOSUPERCEDE

Kermit-11 will always check to see if the file to be created is already there (independent of version number) and reject it to the sending server if it exists. This presumes that the Kermit sending the file understands the protocol to reject one file of a (possibly) wildcarded group of files.

The main use of this is to resume getting a group of files, as in GET

KER:K11*.* or GET KER:MS????.* having lost the connection after transfering some of the files. If this is set, then any files already transfered will not be transfered again.

Kermit-11>SET FILE SUPERCEDE

Kermit-11>SET FILE NOSUPERCEDE

SET HOME

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-20

The SET COMMAND

SET HOME resets the default device and UIC (or PPN) to nothing, ie, all file opens and creates use your default disk (SY:) and your UIC

(or PPN).

Kermit-11>SET HOME

SET IBM-MODE

The SET IBM ON (or OFF) will instruct Kermit-11 to wait for an XON following each packet sent to an IBM host. Since the default for IBM mode may not always be appropiate for your IBM compatible system, you can always use the SET HANDSHAKE XON and SET DUPLEX HALF to avoid the parity setting implied by using IBM mode.

Kermit-11>SET IBM ON

Kermit-11>SET IBM OFF

SET LINE

The SET LINE command sets the terminal name up for use with the connect command. To use this you must have access to that device. On many systems terminal lines other than your own are protected from access, and may require special procedures to access them.

The form of the device name is TTnnn:, where 'nnn' is a decimal number for RSTS and an octal number for RSX11M/M+. For RT11, the device name is simply the MT unit number shown by the SHO TER command, as in '5' for DZ11 unit 0 line 4. If you are running K11POS.TSK for P/OS on the

PRO/350, Kermit-11 will set the line to XK0: and the speed to 9600 baud when Kermit starts. To override the line or speed, set HELP SET

LINE and HELP SET SPEED.

Kermit-11>SET LINE TT55: (for RSTS and RSX)

Kermit-11>SET LINE 5 (for RT11)

Kermit-11>SET LINE XK0: (for P/OS)

See HELP CONNECT, HELP SET DUPLEX and HELP SET SPEED for more information.

SET LOGFILE

The SET LOGFILE command creates a debug dump file for you. It must be used BEFORE any SET DEBUG commands can be used. See HELP DEBUG for further information about debugging modes.

Kermit-11>SET LOGFILE MYLOG.TXT

Created debug file MYLOG.TXT

Kermit-11>

SET PACKET-LENGTH

You can alter the default transmitted packet length with the SET

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-21

The SET COMMAND

PACKET-LENGTH command. This should not normally be needed unless the line is very noisy, at which time you should probably give up anyway.

Kermit-11>SET PACKET 60

SET PARITY

This is used with the SET LINE and CONNECT commands to specify the type of parity for the remote link. It defaults to NONE and can be either ODD, EVEN, MARK or SPACE as in:

Kermit-11>SET PARITY NONE

Kermit-11>SET PARITY ODD

Kermit-11>SET PARITY EVEN

Kermit-11>SET PARITY MARK

Kermit-11>SET PARITY SPACE

All parity generation is done via software, no special hardware is used. The use of software parity generation is restricted to 8 bit links only. The character format, if parity is set to anything but

NONE, will be 7 bits of data followed with high bit set or cleared to indicate the parity. If you set parity to anything but NONE (the default) you can NOT, at this time, send binary files. Attempting to set parity if the FILETYPE is BINARY will result in an error (SET

FILETYPE qualifier).

SET PAUSE

PAUSE tells Kermit to wait the specified number of seconds between each packet being sent to the other Kermit. This may be useful under situations of heavy system load. This may be automatically computer by Kermit-11 in a future release as a function of line speed.

Kermit-11>SET PAUSE 1

SET PROMPT

The SET PROMPT command is useful if you are using two Kermit-11's to talk to each other. By using the SET PROMPT command, you can change the prompt from 'Kermit-11>' on either (or both) Kermit to something that would indicate which system you are currently connected to.

Kermit-11>SET PROMPT KERMIT-11/1170>

Kermit-11>SET PROMPT FUBAR>

Kermit-11>SET PROMPT PROKERMIIT-11>

SET RECORD-FORMAT

Kermit will, by default, create RMS11 variable length implied carriage control records for text files. You can override this and change it to create stream ascii records with the SET RECORD-FORMAT STREAM

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-22

The SET COMMAND command. This is useful for RSTS/E systems if you need file compatibility with BASIC Plus.

Kermit-11>SET RECORD-FORMAT STREAM

Kermit-11>SET RECORD-FORMAT VARIABLE

This command would be most useful in a KERMIT.INI file, which is executed by KERMIT when Kermit starts.

SET RETRY

SET RETRY value tells Kermit to try that many times on a NAK'ed packet before giving up. This should only be needed if the line is extremely noisy or the PDP11 host is running very slowly due to the system load.

Kermit-11>SET RETRY 10

SET RTFLOW

Note that for the connect command under RT11 you will most likely need xon/off flow control to be generated by Kermit-11. This is enabled with the SET RTFLOW ON command. This is by default OFF since the modem the author uses, a Vadic 212LS, can't handle XONs and XOFFs while in command mode. The solution here is to escape back to Kermit command mode after the remote system has been logged into, and then type SET RTFLOW ON.

The effect of SET RTFLOW ON is for Kermit-11, when in connect mode, to send an XOFF to the host every eight characters. When the loop in the connect module finds no more data in the input buffer, it sends up to

2 XON characters (in case the first XON got lost) to tell the remote system to start sending again. The reason for doing so is that the

RT11 multiple terminal service is very slow about handling input interupts and does not do any of it's own flow control when it's internal ring buffer gets full. This has been tested at line speeds up to 4800 baud without losing data.

SET RTFLOW has NO effect on packet transmission, since the Kermit packet size is never mode than 96 characters, and the RT11 input buffer is 134 characrters in size.

Kermit-11>SET RTFLOW ON

Kermit-11>SET RTFLOW OFF

SET SPEED

SET SPEED value sets the line speed for the device specified via the

SET LINE command, and used for the CONNECT command. Changing the speed of a terminal line requires privilege for RSTS and RSX11M/M+.

The SET SPEED command will only function with a DH11, DHV11, DZ11 or

DZV11 multiline interface.

Kermit-11>SET SPEED 1200

PDP-11 KERMIT Page 1-23

The SET COMMAND

1200 Baud would be a normal speed to use with a VA212LS or a DF03.

Please note that Kermit-11 CAN NOT change the speed of a DL11 type interface, nor can it change the speed of a PDT-150 modem port. For a

PDT-150 modem port, use a command of /M/S:nnnn. to change the speed to nnnn for the SPEED.SAV program.

SET TIMEOUT

The timeout value tells Kermit how long to wait to get a packet from the other Kermit. If system loads are high, it may be desirable to increase this beyond the default of 10 seconds.

SET TERMINAL

The SET TERMINAL command simply controls the way which Kermit-11 prints packet counts while send or receiving a file (or group of files). The simplest way is the default, SET TER TTY. Using SET TER

VT100 will cause Kermit to display headers for the numbers printed, at a possible cost in packet speed due to screen control overhead.

Kermit-11>SET TER TTY

Kermit-11>SET TER VT100

SET UPDATE

The SET UPDATE command controls the frequency at which the packet count display is updated. The default is 1, displaying each packet.

A SET UPD 0 will disable all packet count logs, whereas a SET UPD N will update the display every N packets. The SET NOUPDATE command is the same as SET UPDATE 0.

PDP-11 KERMIT Page Index-1

Index

INDEX

Bye, 1-10 Local and remote operation, 1-6

Commands for file transfer, 1-8 Program operation, 1-5

Commands for local file

management, 1-12 Remote, 1-11

Commands for servers, 1-10

Connect command, 1-12 Saving files on the pdp-11 from

your microcomputer, 1-4

File formats (binary and text), Server operation, 1-10

1-3 Set command, 1-14