Starting a Telix Session To start the Telix program type the following while at the DOS prompt: Telix [O] [Q] [B] [Sfilename] [Cfilename] [Ffilename] The letters in the square brackets are optional command line switches affect- ing what Telix will do upon start-up. The square brackets should not be entered. The order and case of the options does not matter but they MUST be separated by at least one blank. Specifying the 'O' option upon start-up tells Telix that you are already online (connected to a host systems), and that it should not try to initialize the modem. The 'Q' option in the command line chooses quiet mode for the current session. When quiet mode is on Telix will not sound any alarms (e.g., when a file transfer is over), no matter what the default setting for alarms is. This is useful for those late night sessions. Any bell characters sent by the remote system are still sounded however. Specifying 'B' in the command line forces Telix to use the PC's BIOS for all screen write operations, whatever the default setting for screen writes might be. This is useful when you want to run Telix in a multi-tasking environment such as Topview or MS Windows for just one session. Note that Telix is DESQview aware, so you do not have to use this mode for DESQview. The 'S' option indicates that a script file (explained elsewhere) is to be run immediately upon start-up. The 'S' should be followed immediately (no blanks) by the name of the script file to execute. The 'C' option indicates that another Telix configuration file than the standard TELIX.CNF should be used. If it doesn't exist, it will be created. In this way, you may have multiple configurations for Telix. The name of the configuration file should immediately follow the 'C', and should include the extension. The 'F' option indicates that another dialing directory (FON) file than the default TELIX.FON should be loaded at start-up. The name should immediately follow the 'F'. Note that another dialing directory file may also be loaded from within Telix (in the dialing directory screen). Upon starting, Telix will display a title screen for a period of 25 seconds or until you press a key. Please read the message on the title screen carefully. After you are past the title screen, you will be in 'terminal mode' unless Telix can't find the configuration file (usually TELIX.CNF), in which case it will ask you a few questions about your machine and modem, and then will write a configuration file for you. Terminal Mode Immediately after starting Telix, and for most of the time while using it, you will be in Telix's terminal mode. While in this mode any normal (ASCII) characters you type will be sent to the modem port, and any incoming charac- ters will be printed on the screen. It is from the terminal mode that most Telix commands are initiated. Most commands are selected by pressing two keys at the same time. For example, to access the dialing directory, you would press Alt-D. That is, while holding down the Alt key, you press the D key. The Help/Status Screen While in terminal mode, pressing the Alt-Z sequence will switch you to a help screen showing you a summary of all the available commands. If the key for a command is pressed while the help screen is still on, the screen will be turned off and the command will be executed. On the bottom of the help/status screen is some information regarding some current settings and the status of the current connection, as follows (in slightly compressed form). 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � Time..10:39:00 Online .... No | Capture...Off � � Date..06-29-88 | Printer...Off � � Baud..2400 Terminal .. VT102 | Script....None � � Comm..N,8,1 Port ...... COM1 | Reg. Key..TELIX.KEY � � Echo..Off Add LF .... Off | Dial Dir..TELIX.FON � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 Items included are: the current time and date, the connect status, the elapsed time for the call in progress, the current communications parameters, the state of the capture file and printer, the currently executing script file (if there is one), the current dialing directory, the current keyboard macro definition file, and a few other items. The Status Line Telix has an optional status line which may be displayed at the bottom or top of the screen (it may be controlled via the Telix Configuration Menu). The status lines displays the current communications setting such as baud rate and parity, the state of the Capture file, whether or not the printer is on, the currently executing script file (scripts are explained elsewhere), and whether Telix is On-line or Off-line. Communications Parameters Pressing Alt-P allows you to change the Communications Parameters. This is the format in which Telix sends data over the modem, and expects to receive it in. After pressing Alt-P a window is displayed with the current parameters at the top, and the options in the rest of the window. To change a value press the letter of the setting you want. �� Comm Parameters 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� � � � Current: 2400,N,8,1,COM1 � � � � Speed Parity Data � � � � A: 300 J: None Q: 7 � � B: 1200 K: Even R: 8 � � C: 2400 L: Odd � � D: 4800 M: Mark Stop � � E: 9600 N: Space � � F: 19200 S: 1 � � F: 38400 T: 2 � � F: 57600 O: N-8-1 � � F: 115200 P: E-7-1 � � � � 1: COM1 3: COM3 5: COM5 7: COM7 � � 2: COM2 4: COM4 6: COM6 8: COM8 � � � � Choice, or to exit? � 훤袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴暠 There are a number of parameters that can be changed. The baud rate is the speed that you want to communicate at (it should really be called bps rate, which stands for bits per second. 1200 baud and 2400 baud are the two most common speeds in use, and represent about 120 and 240 characters per second, respectively. Baud rates all the way up to 115200 are supported by Telix, however a fast PC is needed for the higher rates (a stock 4.77 MHz XT can handle 9600 and possibly 19200 baud, higher rates need an AT class computer). Parity is a form of error checking. Allowable parities are None, Even, and Odd. Data bits is the number of bits in each character. Allowable values are 7 and 8. Finally, the number of stop bits parameter can be set to either 1 or 2. The most common format for BBS use is a baud rate of 1200 or 2400, 8 data bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit. On many large networks such as Compuserve, the data format used is E71. The communications parameters menu also allows you to select the communica- tions port you want to use. Note that by default only the first four comm ports are defined (the last four are duplicates of COM1). Changing any parameters changes them only for the duration of the current communications session. If you want a set of parameters to be the default when you start Telix, use the Telix Configuration Menu. Using Telix Menus Whenever Telix must ask you to select an item from a group of options, it uses the same basic type of menu. The options will be arranged vertically for a vertically oriented menu, and next to each other for a horizontally oriented menu. There are two ways to select the item that you want. Each menu option has one of its letters in bold text; pressing that letter will select the corresponding option. As well, one option in the menu is always highlighted in inverse video. The arrow keys on the PC's keypad will move the highlight up and down or left and right. When the highlight is over the option you want to select, press Carriage Return. Entering and Editing Strings While using Telix, you will often have to enter a string of characters, for example a filename, or a list of numbers to dial. Telix gives you full editing powers when you enter a string. As you type characters, you may use the Backspace key to delete previously entered characters. The Left and Right arrow keys allow you to move back and forth in the string to edit what you have entered. By default, any characters you enter overwrite any that are already there. Pressing the Ins key will place Telix in insert mode, and any existing characters are pushed ahead as you type. Pressing Ins once more places you back in overwrite mode. Finally, pressing the Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right arrow keys allows you to move back and forth in the string by increments of a word. Output String Translation In quite a few instances while using Telix, the user must specify a string to be sent out over the modem port. Sometimes this string must contain characters which can not be printed on the screen, for example, control characters, and even pauses. There has to be a way of indicating these special characters, and it is done through the use of special characters called translation charac- ters. When these translation characters are encountered in an output string they are translated into other characters. The default translation characters are: ^ - when this character is encountered in an output string it will make the following character a control character. For example, ^A will send out the code for Control-A. A few common control characters are ^M, which is the Carriage Return character, ^J, which is the Line Feed character, and ^[, which is the Esc character. To send out the ^ character itself, use two ^'s, as explained above. ~ - when this character is encountered it will make Telix pause for 1/2 a second. There is no way to send the actual ~ character out. Two in a row will be converted to two pauses. There is one thing to keep in mind. These characters are only translated on strings sent out to the modem, for example, the dialing prefix, the hang-up string, a keyboard macro, the modem initialization string, and a few other cases. Ending a Telix Session To exit the Telix program, press Alt-X. Telix will ask you if you really want to exit. Press 'Y' to confirm the exit, 'N' or Esc to return to Telix. If Telix detects that you are still on-line (connected to another computer), it will also present a third option, 'Hang-Up'. If this option is selected, Telix will make sure that the connection is broken before exiting.