Telix allows you to keep telephone numbers in files called dialing directo- ries. A dialing directory can hold from 1 to 1000 entries. Along with the number, many other fields of information are stored, such as the communica- tions parameters needed to talk to the service. The default dialing directory file is called TELIX.FON, but you can have as many directories as you want and load them as needed. Access the dialing directory by pressing Alt-D while in terminal mode. A window will appear, asking you to enter the entries to dial or to press Return to see the dialing directory. For the moment just press Return. This first window is simply a very quick way to dial your most commonly called numbers. Once you have pressed Return the dialing directory will appear. The Display Most of the screen is taken up by a window showing 15 (or more, depending on the screen mode) of the possible 1000 entries in the dialing directory. On the bottom of the screen is a menu of options, here shown on two lines so that it will fit: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � Dial List Toggle Find Manual Redial Add Edit Clear � � Unmark Other eXit � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 This menu works in a similar manner to the other menus found in Telix. Since dialing is such a common function, if any numeric key is pressed, Telix assumes that the 'List' function is wanted and this number is carried over as the first digit entered for that function. At the same time you may view the dialing directory. To scroll through the directory one entry at a time, use the Up and Down arrow keys. Use PgUp to go back one page, and PgDn to go forward one page. Press Home to go to the beginning of the directory, and End to go to the end of the directory. Whenever the line 'Scroll with Up, Down, Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn' is displayed, you may scroll through the directory. Many items are stored for each entry. All the fields can not be displayed at the same time; you may toggle which fields are shown on the screen by select- ing the 'Toggle' command. Each entry contains information under the following headers: Name: This is the name of the remote service (i.e., Compuserve, Genie, Dialog, Telix Software Support BBS, etc.). Number: This is the phone number which Telix should dial to reach the remote service. Line Format: These are the communication parameters (such as baud rate, parity, etc.) needed to talk to this service. Script: A script file may be linked to each entry in the dialing directory. When Telix connects to this service, the script file is run, and may (for example) automatically log-on, entering your name and password as needed. LastCall: This is the date of the last successful call you made to this remote service. Total: This is the total number of successful calls you've made to this number. Terminal: This is the terminal Telix should start emulating when a connection has been reached to this number. P: This is the first letter of the protocol which should be set as the default if a connection is reached to this number. E: This controls whether local echo should be on or off when a connection is reached with this number. L: This controls whether the Add Line Feeds setting should be on or off when a connection is reached with this number. H: This controls whether Telix will strip the high (most significant) bit of incoming characters in terminal mode. BD: This controls whether a received backspace sequence is destructive (that is, if the character backspaced over should also be erased). BK: This controls what value the Backspace key sends, either Backspace, or Del. DP: This setting is used to tell Telix what Dialing Prefix to use when dialing this entry. One use for it is to turn on or off MNP (error correcting) support in modems, to avoid delays when the number called does not support it. Password: This filed may hold a password for the remote service repre- sented by this entry. The password may be used by a script file to automatically perform a log-on operation. Please note that this field is NOT encrypted, so if security is a problem, do NOT store your passwords in the dialing directory! Editing an Entry To edit the currently highlighted dialing directory entry select 'Edit' from the dialing directory menu. A window will appear with the contents of the entry. You may edit each field, starting with the first (name). To leave the contents of a filed as is, press Return. Pressing the Escape key one or more times will get you out of the edit window without any changes being made. Once all the fields have been edited, Telix will ask you if the 'Last Call' and 'Total Calls' fields should be cleared. Answer yes or no as needed. Telix will then ask for confirmation before writing any changes to disk. Adding Entries To add a blank entry to the end of the dialing directory, select 'Add' from the dialing directory menu. A dialing directory may hold up to 1000 entries. Clearing Entries To clear an entry or a range of entries select 'Clear' from the dialing directory menu. Telix will ask you to select the range of entries to clear. You can do this by moving the highlight bar and pressing Enter. After confirm- ing your choice, Telix will clear the selected entries. Finding an Entry To search for a particular entry in the dialing directory select 'Find' from the dialing directory menu. You will be asked to give the string to search for. If Telix finds the entry with that string in it, that entry will be highlighted. If while searching for the string Telix reaches the end of the directory without finding the string, it will wrap around to the beginning and continue the search. If the string still can not be found Telix will display the message, 'Sorry, string not found'. If you want to search for the same string as last time, just press Return when asked for the search string. Dialing Telix allows you to dial a group of dialing directory entries repeatedly until a connection is established, or you abort the attempt. Selecting the 'Dial' function from the dialing directory menu will make Telix commence dialing in sequence all the currently marked entries. You may also dial a user-entered list of entries, by selecting the 'List' function from the dialing directory menu. Telix will ask you to enter up to 10 entries to dial in sequence. List dialing is made even more convenient; you may also select the 'List' function by pressing a numeric key while in the dialing directory menu; this number is then carried over and entered as the first digit in the string you are asked to enter. While you are entering the list of entries to dial you may also scroll through the directory as described above. If you specify more than one entry to dial, each should be separated by a space. Sometimes you may want to dial a number that is not in the dialing directory. To do this select the 'Manual' option of the dialing directory menu. You will be asked to enter a number to be sent to the modem. Whatever you supply will be sent out exactly as is, except for Long Distance codes. Long Distance Codes A Long Distance code is an advanced dialing option which adds some flexibili- ty. There are four Long Distance code characters: !, @, $, and +, which when encountered by Telix while dialing expand to user-defined strings. If Telix is dialing a number from a dialing directory entry, and one of the Long Distance code characters is encountered in the number, Telix will send whatever string has been assigned to that code. For example, a dialing directory entry could contain the phone number '!967-1111'. If the string '9,,' was assigned to the ! LD code character, Telix would first send the 9 followed by the commas, and then send the rest of the digits. LD codes may also be used with the 'List' dial function. When you place one of them in front of or behind an entry number to dial, it will be expanded to a string. For example you could have the exclamation sign '!', be expanded to '9,', or any string you specify. You may place up to 3 Long Distances codes in front and one Long Distance code after each entry number. For example, specifying the entry '+21!' would send the string for the '+' Long Distance code, followed by the number from entry 21, followed by the string for Long Distance code '!'. The string '10 +15 20!' entered at the prompt would dial entry 10, then entry 15 with a Long Distance code in front of it, and finally entry number 20, with a Long Distance code after it. These numbers are redialed repeatedly until a connection is reached. Other Functions Selecting 'Other' from the dialing directory menu will present a menu of secondary functions, dealing with: 1. Deletion or insertion of entries in the dialing directory 2. Revising Long Distance Codes 3. Handling dialing directories (Telix allows you to have as many dialing directories as needed and switch among them at will) Inserting Blank Entries Insert blank entries in the dialing directory by selecting 'Insert' from the dialing directory 'Other' menu. Entries will be inserted at the current position of the highlight bar. Telix will ask how many entries to insert and will ask for confirmation before proceeding. Deleting Entries You can delete an entry or a range of entries in the dialing directory by selecting the 'Delete' option from the dialing directory 'Other' menu. Select the range to delete by moving the highlight bar. After confirming your choice, the entries will be deleted and any following entries will move up to where the deleted entries were. Revising Long Distance Codes Revise the Long Distance codes by selecting the option called 'Edit_LD' from the dialing directory 'Other' menu. There are four Long Distance code charac- ters: ! @ - +. When you place one of them in front of or behind a number to dial, it will be expanded to a string. After selecting this option you will be shown a menu of the available long distance codes. Selecting an LD Code will let you modify the text currently assigned to it. You must save them to disk with the 'Save changes' option if you want to use them every time you run Telix. Creating a Dialing Directory You can create a blank dialing directory by selecting the option called 'Create' from the dialing directory screen's 'Other' menu. Telix will ask you for the name of new directory. Any legal DOS filename is suitable, and there is no default extension. Telix will then create the blank directory on disk. The current dialing directory is not be affected and will stay in memory. Example: You could create a directory named: MYNUMBER.DIR Loading a Dialing directory You can load a dialing directory by selecting the 'Load' option form the dialing directory screen's 'Other' menu. Telix will ask for the name of the new directory and then load it into memory. Telix does not assume any default extension, so if the directory you want to load has an extension, include it (e.g., TELIX.FON). The new directory becomes the default directory for the rest of the session or until you load another one. Printing the Dialing directory Selecting the 'Print' option from the dialing directory screen's 'Other' menu allows you to send the the current dialing directory to the printer, the serial port, or any device or disk file. Telix will ask you for the device or file which to print. Enter the name or press Return to use the 'PRN' device (printer). Since these are DOS devices, Telix has no way of knowing things such as whether or not your printer is online or not. If Telix seems to lock-up here, make sure your printer is on and it is set to online. Automatic Queue Redial When Telix has one or more numbers to dial, it redials repeatedly until a connection is made. To keep you informed of the status of the redial Telix displays a status window, and alerts you when a connection is established. The status window is similar to the figure on the next page. �栢 Redial栢袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴敲 � � � Redial started at 20:15:33 Press: T to change dial time � � Attempt #10 20:19:27 D to delete from list � � � � This attempt: Dialing My Favorite BBS ... 22 � � number: 967-1111 � � Last Attempt: Busy � � � � Press Space to cycle to next number, Esc to exit. � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴暠 Information included: 1. The time redial was started 2. The time the current attempt was started 3. The status of the last attempt 4. The status of the current attempt 5. A countdown timer for the current attempt If you are dialing all the marked entries with the dialing directory 'Dial' command, when a connection is reached, the mark is taken off the entry connected to, so that when you later select the 'Dial' function again, only the remaining entries are dialed. If you are dialing a list of entries selected with the 'List' dialing directory command, when a connection is established the entry connected to is taken out of the list, so that when you later select the 'Redial' command from the dialing directory or the Alt-D command from terminal mode, only the remaining entries will be shown. While redialing, you have the option of changing the time that Telix waits for a connection, and also the option of deleting a number from the list to dial, by pressing 'T' or 'D' while telix is dialing the number. Unless you have the function disabled, Telix sounds an alarm when a connection has been reached. If a script file is linked to the entry however, the alarm is skipped so that the script may immediately proceed. It's the responsibility of the linked script to alert the user of the fact that a connection has been reached. Pressing Alt-Q while in the terminal mode or selecting 'Redial last' from the dialing directory menu will allow you to redial one or more numbers that you entered previously using the 'List' command. You will be shown the list and asked to edit it until you are satisfied, and then to press Return. The Quick Dial Bar You may have noticed that after you press Alt-D an inverse bar is displayed on the bottom of the screen. It asks you to select the entries to dial or to press Return to see the Dialing directory. Up to now, you have just pressed Return to go on to the Dialing Directory, but this bar is a quick way to dial commonly called directory entries whose numbers you have memorized. You may enter a list of entries to dial just as if you had used the 'List' command of the dialing directory menu. This saves the dialing directory from having to be displayed on the screen if you already know the entry or entries you want to dial. The Quick Dial Bar can also be used to dial a number manually. To do this just preface the number with an 'm'. For example, 'm967-1111' would dial 967-1111, just as if you had used the 'Manual' dial option of the Dialing Directory. Either lowercase or uppercase 'm' is accept- ed. The use of the Quick Dial Bar may be disabled via the Configuration Menu.