From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:00 1996 Subject: FAQPROGS.TXT contents Copyright (c) 1993-1996 by Timo Salmi All rights reserved FAQPROGS.TXT Frequently (and not so frequently) asked questions relating to programs with answers. Comments and corrections are solicited. .................................................................... Prof. Timo Salmi Co-moderator of news:comp.archives.msdos.announce Moderating at ftp:// & http://garbo.uwasa.fi archives 193.166.120.5 Department of Accounting and Business Finance ; University of Vaasa ts@uwasa.fi http://uwasa.fi/~ts BBS 961-3170972; FIN-65101, Finland -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) How do I capture text from the screen to a file? 2) How do I redirect the output from the screen to the printer? 3) How can I direct all output to a file instead of the printer? 4) Where can I get VT102 emulation codes? 5) Problems with Procomm or Telix VT102 emulation. 6) Is there a program to convert Pascal to C? 7) I need a bigger cursor for my laptop. 8) Where to find a source code for detecting which CPU my PC has? 9) Can anyone recommend me a good linear programming package? 10) Where can I find sources for Unix Zmodem? 11) Where can I find sources for Unix arc, lharc, zip, and zoo? 12) How to delete non-empty directories fast? 13) I can't run this file I got with a .zip (.arc etc) extension. 14) What is the best archiver? 15) What is the best text editor? 16) Am I safe against viruses if download files from FTP sites? 17) Where can I find a program to expand the keyboard buffer? 18) How to make z-modem transfer between a Unix mainframe and my PC? 19) Where can I find Unix-like utilities for my MS-DOS PC? 20) How can I hide files and directories? 21) Which is better, Procomm Plus or Telix? 22) How can I restore the original screen when a program muddles it? 23) Where can I find compress for MS-DOS to handle .Z files? 24) I found a bug in a shareware program. How should I report it? 25) Where can I find a program to break a PKZIP encryption password? 26) Where can I find other good programs that are not on this list? -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:01 1996 Subject: Capturing text to file from screen 1. ***** Q: I want to capture to a file everything that comes on the screen. How do I do this? A1: There are two sets of programs that are useful here. The first set consists of programs which automatically capture to a file everything that comes on the screen. Examples of these "scrolling" programs are /pc/printer/concpy11.zip (or whatever version is the latest) and /pc/printer/script11.zip. The second set are the "static" programs which capture a snapshot of the screen, or a portion of the screen at the invocation of a hot key. Get /pc/screen/snippr26.zip for such a utility. Another is /pc/printer/lamneth.zip which redirects the results of pressing the PrintScreen key to a file instead of the printer. A third one is /pc/printer/scap250.zip. Also worth considering is /pc/screen/vprint51.zip. Please note that these programs only work for the text mode. They won't capture graphics output. (The same also goes for the next Q&As). +------------------------------------------+ ! To get these and other programs given as ! ! /dir/subdir/name ! ! see the instructions in PD2ANS.TXT ! +------------------------------------------+ A2: How to find MS-DOS files on garbo.uwasa.fi: If you are looking for a particular program at garbo.uwasa.fi you should start by getting the following files: /pc/INDEX.ZIP /pc/INDEXTS.ZIP For seeing what is new in the /pc/ts directory, get /pc/ts/0news-ts For seeing selected news and reviews of files in all MS-DOS (the /pc) directories, get the following file full of information /pc/pd2/news-pd2 For a monthly raw list of all the new MS-DOS files, get /pc/_files.in -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:02 1996 Subject: Printing all output from screen 2. ***** Q: I want to get printed everything that comes to the screen. How can I achieve this? A: Simple. First capture the output to a file (see the previous Q&A) and then print the file. If you need to capture text that has already scrolled off the screen use ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/screen/buffit30.zip resident screen scrollback utility, which is a handy TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program anyway. Another, even better screen scrollback buffer TSR is ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/screen/scrlit18.zip (or whatever is the current version number). -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:03 1996 Subject: Printer redirection to a file 3. ***** Q: How can I direct all output to a file instead of the printer? A: There is a good utility called ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/printer/ lptx.zip exactly for this purpose. It comes in several versions. There is another utility ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/printer/ prn2file.zip which I haven't tested myself, but should be good judging from the comments of the others. A third such utility is ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/printer/prndi802.zip, but even if it is useful, it not very easy to figure out the first time. In general, take a look at the /pc/printer directory at garbo.uwasa.fi. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:04 1996 Subject: VT102 emulation codes 4. ***** Q: I need information on VT100 (VT102) emulation codes. A: The following packages may have some relevant information. Take a look at MsKermit documentation /pc/termprog/mskdo232.zip, MsKermit advice and utilities in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tskerm26.zip, and Procomm advice in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tspfon29.zip. (A later note: mskdo232.zip is no longer available from Garbo for the Kermit authors' distribution policy reasons. For Kermit material connect to Columbia University Academic Information Systems, New York: kermit.columbia.edu) -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:05 1996 Subject: Procomm or Telix VT102 problems 5. ***** Q: I'm experiencing problems in my Procomm (or Telix) VT102 terminal emulation. What should I do? A: If terminal emulation is your main concern, you should consider using MsKermit. Procomm and Telix very good programs which are at their best in connections to BBSes (bulletin boards). MsKermit is at its best in main frame connections and terminal emulation. (MsKermit is better at BBS connections as generally thought, since contrary to common belief it can utilize a dialing directory). Get the packages ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tspfon29.zip and /pc/ts/tskerm26.zip to give more information and utilities for Procomm and MsKermit. The packages are available by anonymous ftp, mail server and WWW from garbo.uwasa.fi. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:06 1996 Subject: Pascal to C converters 6. ***** Q: I'm looking for a program to convert Turbo Pascal code automatically to C. (Mother of all FAQs? :-) A: To find utilities for such a specific purpose the very first thing to do is to look through file lists. At garbo.uwasa.fi there are useful file lists such as /pc/INDEX.ZIP and INDEXTS.ZIP. Here is some old information as an example: From simibm file list -------------------------------------------- T2C.ARC Microsoft's Turbo Pascal to C translator TPTC17.ARC Turbo Pascal to C translator, 1of4 TPTC17SC.ARC Turbo Pascal to C - src for translator, 2of4 TPTC17TC.ARC Turbo Pascal to C - test cases, 3of4 TPTCINFO.ARC Info on Turbo Pascal to C translator, 4of4 From files-mm (Micro Maniacs Opus file list) --------------------- PTOC.ZIP 79789 Pascal To C Conversion Program. TPC.ZIP 26262 Converts TurboPascal to C. GLOCKEN.ZIP 112240 01/15/88 Glockenspiel Turbo Pascal to 'C' TPTOQC.ZIP 112062 12/01/87 Translate Turbo Pascal to Quick 'C' TPAS2MSC.ZIP 111884 12/10/89 MS Convert Turbo Pascal to MS C I've seen some positive comments on a P2C, and our system manager has installed it on our mainframe with very good results, but I do not know where it is publicly available. I have seen an ad on a Pascal to C translator in the Shareware Magazine, Vol V, No. 6, Nov.-Dec. 1990, p. 52, involving PC-Sig disk 1321. From: raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) Two different Pascal-to-C converters are available from a comp.sources.unix archive near you. volume10: ptoc/part[01-02] Pascal to C translator volume13: pas2c.pch Patches for Pascal-to-C translator volume21: p2c/part[01-32] Pascal to C translator " p2c/patch1 Fix to incomplete shar files for p2c, Patch1 p2c is by Dave Gillespie. It understands several Pascal dialects (HP, partial Turbo, etc) and is very flexible and configurable. It has been compiled and used on Sun-3's, so presumably it is fairly portable among 32-bit Unix machines. The p2c package is also available for ftp from csvax.caltech.edu. Note, however, that although it can translate PC dialects of Pascal, the converter itself runs under UNIX. (Timo's note, it is also available on Garbo.) If you have the ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsfaqn44.zip Frequently Asked Questions collection, also take a look at the old ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/faquote.zip for more information. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:07 1996 Subject: Looking for a big cursor for laptops 7. ***** Q: I am literally looking for a way to see the cursor on my laptop. Is there a utility to make the cursor bigger? A: There are several (both TSR and non-TSR) programs around to make the cursor big. My ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutld22.zip (or whatever version number is the most recent) utility collection contains the following programs for this. ADJCURS.BAT Batch shell for adjusting cursor BIGCURS.EXE Make the cursor better visible BIGNCURS.EXE NonResident temporary big cursor -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:08 1996 Subject: Code to detect the CPU type 8. ***** Q: Does anyone have a source code for detecting which CPU my PC has? A: See Tischer, Michael (1990), PC System Programming, An in-depth reference for the DOS programmer, Third printing, Abacus, Chapter 15. Another source is ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/turbopas/ifp1s158.zip (or whatever version is current). It contains the InfoPlus source code. A third alternative is /pc/turbopas/cpuid_tp.zip. If you are a Turbo Pascal programmer, see /pc/ts/tspa*.zip for a tpu with no source code available. (In general, if you are interested in Turbo Pascal programming, see ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqp.zip). -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:09 1996 Subject: Linear Programming MS-DOS Packages 9. ***** Q: Can anyone recommend me a good linear programming package? A: See the references in the documentation of /pc/ts/tslin34.zip (or whatever version number is the latest) linear programming and linear goal programming package available by anonymous ftp or mail server from garbo.uwasa.fi. There are a couple of references to useful papers that compare different commercial LP programs for the PC. Also see ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/math/faqlp.zip Frequently Asked Questions about linear programming (A later note: faqlp.zip is no longer available from Garbo, because the author does not have the time to bother to keep it up to date for our site. Use rtfm.mit.edu instead.) If you are looking for a linear programming source code then take a look at 303775 May 1 1991 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/turbopas/nrpas13.zip nrpas13.zip Numerical Recipes Pascal shareware version. See the sci.op-research Usenet newsgroup for an interesting, related forum. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:10 1996 Subject: Need Unix Zmodem 10. ***** Q: Where can I find sources for Unix Zmodem? A: You can find a Unix Zmodem package in the /unix/zmodem directory at the anonymous ftp site garbo.uwasa.fi, Vaasa, Finland. The instructions for processing this Unix package are in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/ts/0news-u. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:11 1996 Subject: Unix counterparts for PC archivers 11. ***** Q: Where can I find Unix sources for .arj, .arc, .lzh, .zoo, and .zip file compression. A: You can find Unix arc, UNarj, lharc, LHa, zoo, UNzip, hpack, squeeze, and zip packages in the /unix/arcers directory at the anonymous ftp site garbo.uwasa.fi. Many users have also inquired about the source code for making .zip files. A project group Mark Adler, Rich Wales, and Jean-loup Gailly have programmed the long awaited Unix zip. It was released about at the beginning of October of 1991. Way back the it was /unix/goldies/zip10ex.tar.Z, currently /unix/arcers/unzip512.tar.Z. For installing it, see /unix/arcers/unzmake.inf. For a pointer to the Info-ZIP project and their address see /pc/pd2/author35.zip. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:12 1996 Subject: Deleting entire subdirectories 12. ***** Q: I need to delete a directory which has files (and perhaps subdirectories) in it. How can I delete without having to go trough them individually. A: It can be done, but note that if you are not VERY CAREFUL you may inadvertently do much harm to your files by deleting more than you intended! There is a utility by Norm Patriquin /pc/dirutil/pdel44.zip, which can be used to delete non-empty directories. Another utility, which is handy for many other purposes as well, is sweep.com with the /pc/pcmagvol collections. Other utilities which you can use for this purpose include TDEL.EXE from ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutle22.zip, and ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/dirutil/deldir11.zip. I use TDEL.EXE myself a lot. One frequent solution is using the Unix like rm command for MS-DOS. Different renditions of rm can are common in the collections in our /pc/unix directory. If you blunder, and delete more files that you intended, then undelete utilities like the one in PcTools or MS-DOS 5.0 (and later) can save you. (The usual disclaimer applies). -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:13 1996 Subject: Arced, Zipped etc files 13. ***** Q: What is this file with this .zip (.arc, .arj, .lzh, .pak, .rar, .sdn, .uc2, .zoo etc) extension? What am I supposed to do to it? Q2: I can't run this file I got with a .zip extension. A: This is a PC newcomer's question, but that is perfectly all right. One has to start from somewhere. These files with a .zip (.arc, .arj, .lzh, .pak, .rar, .sdn, .uc2, .zoo etc) extension are compressed collections of files, often called archives. You are not supposed to run a compressed entity. You are supposed to unpack it first to extract the files from within the package. For this you need the relevant (un)packing program. You can find them in the /pc/arcers (some in /pc/goldies, some in /pc/unix) directory at the anonymous ftp site garbo.uwasa.fi, its mirrors, or at practically any fine bulletin board. (After you have gotten them, they are very easy to process, since most often these utilities are self-extracting). At the time of writing this we have e.g. arc602.exe .arc SEA's .arc packing/unpacking system. arce40g.zip .arc Buerg's extraction, also for SEA's new .arc pk361.exe .arc This packed and unpacked .arc files fast arj250a.exe .arj Robert Jung's .arj archiver gzip124.zip .(g)z GNU gzip compress, don't confuse with (pk)zip ha098.zip .ha Harri Hirvola's slow but efficient archiver hpack78.zip .hpk HPACK Multi-System Archiver lha255b.exe .lzh LHa for .lzh compression pak251.exe .pak NoGate's for pak, arc, sdn, zip, files rar155.exe .rar RAR, Russian archiver by E.Roshal sqz1083e.exe .sqz SQUEEZE from Sweden. uc2pro.exe .uc2 UltraCompressor II archiver pro from AIP-NL ue.exe .uc2 UltraExpander II: free expander for UC2 archives pkz204g.exe .zip PKWare's PKZIP/PKUNZIP 2.04G unz512x.exe .zip Info-ZIP group's 2.04G compatible extractor zoo210.exe .zoo Zoo packing facility from Rahul Dhesi Always use the latest version. For example we have been getting many false alarms of allegedly corrupt .zip packages just because users have been applying out of date PKUNZIP versions. Once you are well familiar with unpacking and packing, there is an excellent shell for running these utilities. It is called SHEZ and is in version ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcutil/shez109.zip at the time I revised this item. Another advanced feature once you get the hang of this, is that (most of) these are available in the Unix environment, as well. See the /unix/arcers directory at garbo.uwasa.fi archives for the Unix versions. E.g. you can find zoo210.tar.Z in there, etc. See /pc/unix/0news-u for more on the Unix versions. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:14 1996 Subject: Archiver comparisons 14. ***** Q: What is the best archiver? A: Some netters have made accurate measurements of the packing / unpacking times, and the size of the archives produced. I won't try to repeat those interesting experiments, but express some subjective views instead. If you want to know more, the Usenet newsgroup comp.compression is the one to read. Also see material like ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/act-27.zip for the comparisons. If you are a heavy user, there is no choice. You'll need all the archivers. (A good shell like shez will make life much easier for you then). Let's start from Zoo. Personally, I found the old Zoo 2.01 prohibitively difficult to use beyond simple unpacking. Its compression ratio was week. But it has been available for Unix and MS-DOS for a long time, from the same author for both the platforms, and this has made it the obvious choice for example for the distribution binary postings in comp.binaries.ibm.pc despite what used to be a poor ratio. The introduction of Zoo version 2.10 changed the situation quite a lot for the better. Its compression is at good par with the other methods, but it is still slow, and the commands are complicated, but there is a good self-documentation to alleviate that. Furthermore, there are problems with the file datestamping on Unix. I have discussed potential further Zoo updates with the author Rahul Dhesi, and he confirmed long ago that he was working on these aspects. One has to be realistic though, since the last time around the updating took over one year. Rahul is a busy man. It seems to be the same with this promised update, also. Nothing whatsoever since. PKWare's PKZIP has become fairly dominating in bulletin boards and many FTP sites. For example it is the only method we currently accept in the uploads to our Garbo MS-DOS FTP archives. PKZIP makes reasonably tight packages, but is slow in making them on old PCs. With a 386 or 486 this does not matter any more. Personally, as an MS-DOS FTP site moderator, I like the possibility of keeping the date stamp of .zip archives in line with the date stamp of the latest file within the package. With zipped archives this is very easy. The attractiveness of zipping in archive maintenance in much increased by Zip being available also for the Unix environment courtesy of the Info-ZIP programming group. The support for the Unix zip is unrivalled by the other archivers. PKWare almost blew it with its version 2 release. They advertized version 2 on PC magazines for almost a year without it being available, making it one of the best know cases of shareware vaporware. On top of that the first 2 version, called 2.04C turned out with far too many prohibitive bugs to be acceptable as a compression method. For example Garbo archives refused to adopt 2.04C. PKWare then produced updates in rapid succession, naming them versions 2.04E and 2.04G. The current 2.04G release has done very well indeed, even if its advanced features occasionally cause some consternation. The Japanese lharc is tight (comparable to, and often better than PKZIP 1.10 was) and it is available for Unix, as well. But both MS-DOS and Unix lharc totally lack user support (but who needs it anyway for these facilities). The author is not even reachable. You may experience difficulties with the path names when using lharc. Since versions beyond 2.0 LHarc has been called LHa, and it is even tighter than before. Lha can make self-extracting packages with very little overhead, and is dominant among the compression archivers in that respect. What about the old ARC method? PKWare's pkpak (originally called pkarc) is fast in making archives, but its compression is not very strong. But I still like it for some purposes because of its concise one-line format of file comments, which I prefer to the multi-line format used by pkzip and zoo. SEA's arc is available both for MS-DOS and Unix (from different authors). But it has lost its former popularity and goodwill (unfairly or not) among many users. First with the lawsuit with PKWare (the author of pkarc aka pkpak, and pkzip), and subsequently with its product development policy, which has left very much to be desired, and caused some frustrated postings in the Usenet news. It seems that SEA missed out on its golden opportunity to be the dominant archiver. Now it is but vanishing from the scene. I have seen postings referring to a new incompatible commercial version ARC 7.0, which is not to be distributed through bulletin boards and ftp sites at all. I really fail to understand SEA's self-defeating policies. SEAs new .arc is cannot be handled with the old versions, but I have been told that /pc/arcers/arce*.zip can be used for extraction. NoGate's Pak (as far as I know) is not available for Unix, only for MS-DOS. But it can handle .arc, .pak, .sdn, and .zip formats, and is the only one having this "multiple" property. Last, but certainly not least let's consider ARJ by Robert Jung. ARJ, in version 2.50a at the time of last updating this item, is turning out to be the most serious alternative to PKZIP. ARJ's ability to span an archive on multiple disks is considered one of its strong points. The author used to be active on the Usenet news, and ARJ has thus good support. The lack of a proper Unix version is however a major weakness. There only is unarj241.tar.Z. Some users also complain about the switches being quite complicated to master. You can, of course, alleviate that problem by using a shell like SHEZ. There are also some other, tight methods like hpack, ha and sqz, but mostly they have only a marginal following. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:15 1996 Subject: The best ascii text editor 15. ***** Q: What is the best text editor? A: These are difficult questions, especially since almost every user is more or less biased in favor of the program he/she is best familiar with. In the case of text editors these personal views easily flare up into what is appropriately termed as "editor wars". But also objectively speaking there is a good rationale for defending the editor one is used to. Almost each editor involves a great number of predefined (or customizable) key combinations, which at first are difficult to learn, but very natural after one has gotten used to them after extended exposure. This means, that changing over to another editor (even a considerably better one) will involve a high cost of learning. This explains the ardent defensive positions users tend to take, if they feel that their hard-learned habits come under threat when someone else puts down their favorite editor (let alone insists on changing over to their own editor choice). This is how most editor wars break out. Once these cautionary words being said, let me tell you about my own text editor choices. I would prefer to use only a single editor to make life easier for me. This is has not been possible since I have needed editors for several operating systems. These systems have been MS-DOS, Unix, VAX/VMS, and at an earlier stage Sinclair QL QDOS. Since I write quite a lot of programs in Turbo Pascal, this has dictated my choice of the MS-DOS text editor to editors with WordStar like commands. At one early stage I even used Turbo Pascal 3.02A as my text editor besides as my compiler. Hence the obvious choice for me has been ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/goldies/qedit3c.zip SemWare's QEdit Advanced shareware editor later renamed to The SemWare Editor Junior ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/editor/tsejr4.zip. It has very similar commands to Turbo Pascal's integrated editor. There are just two features missing in QEdit which I would like to have. One is the lack of markers to return easily to a spot. The other is that I would dearly like to have the possibility of right-adjusted text. These aside, Qedit has many nice features including configurability, small size (an important consideration for laptops), and useful macro programming (not very easy, though). I also like and need its potential to copy and move columns besides just rows. I won't make the error of saying here that there aren't better text editors, but I can recommend this editor as one good choice. Incidentally, I've written a few macros for QEdit myself. They are available as ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsqed18.zip from Garbo anonymous ftp archives. SemWare has made a new editor based on QEdit. It is called The SemWare Editor. I have had it since its prerelease version. By the updating of this item it is in version 2.5. It has an advanced macro language setting right the few inadequacies of QEdit. TSE is the editor I use the most (including writing this). A demo version is available as ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/demo/tsetd2.zip. I have written a number of macros for TSE in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tstse16.zip (for version 2.0) and ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tstse17.zip (for version 2.5). In the VAX/VMS environment I earlier used its EDT editor, which is well suited to MsKermit terminal emulation with the PC keypad layout. But when we acquired a Unix Sun 4 to our computer centre as our main computer, I simply had no other viable choice than to learn to use MicroEmacs. Along with many other former EDT users I still intensely hate MicroEmacs (even if I am now fully conversant with it). But as MicroEmacs is available for VAX/VMS I have dumped the EDT editor in order to get by with fewer text editors. I even occasionally use MicroEmacs on my PC for special tasks (e.g. very long lines) which QEdit cannot handle. The point I want to make here is that the portability of MicroEmacs has been important enough for me to overcome my aversion of its user interface, even if I still feel it is overly complicated to use. The VAX/VMS environment is no longer relevant, however, since I have long since stopped using other main frames than those running on Unix. And what I have written here is typical of editor discussions. Even if I've tried to be analytical, in retrospect this text much more emotional than my average text. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:16 1996 Subject: Are FTP sites safe from viruses 16. ***** Q: Am I safe against viruses if download files from FTP sites? A: I'll give some information on this from an FTP moderator's point of view. The official stand is the following directly from one of our public documents: No liability is accepted for the consequences of using, or the inability to use, any of these files. No absolute guarantees are given that these programs are clean from nasties, although none have been in evidence. Please duly observe shareware rules wherever indicated. But remember that there are no absolute guarantees _whatever_ your sources are. There have even been cases of contaminated commercial products. So the safety factor will never be a 100 per cent whether you keep on downloading from ftp sites or not. At worst you can even catch a virus if you buy a new machine (this has been known to happen). On the other hand, the scare should not be exaggerated. It is certainly a good idea to employ two or three good virus testers / protectors such as McAfee's /pc/virus/scn-229e.zip and /pc/virus/fp-221.zip by Fridrik Skulason (or whatever are the current version numbers). There are others too in our /pc/virus directory. I have one small additional trick up in my sleeve. Put my dtetimal.exe in your autoexec.bat. If dtetimal gets contaminated, it will loudly inform you of the fact. Dtetimal is part of my /pc/ts/tsutil41.zip (or whatever version number is current) package at garbo.uwasa.fi archives. Also use /pc/sysutil/chksum.zip to always check at least your io.sys, msdos.sys, and command.com at boot time. You then have a better chance of being alerted if you use these measures. There is a good batch scanz.bat in /pc/ts/tsbat47.zip (or whatever version number is the current) to automate the virus checking of zipped (.zip) archives. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:17 1996 Subject: Expanding the keyboard buffer 17. ***** Q: Where can I find a program to expand the keyboard buffer? A: To find utilities for this and other specific purposes the very first thing to do is to look through file lists. At garbo.uwasa.fi there are several useful file lists such as /pc/INDEX.ZIP, and /pc/INDEXTS.ZIP. Here is some information on garbo.uwasa.fi files. /pc/keyboard/256.zip 256 key typeahead buffer /pc/keyboard/buf128.arc Keyboard buffer of 128 characters /pc/keyboard/buf160_5.zip Expand the keyboard buffer to 160 chars /pc/keyboard/fastbf26.zip Keyboard enhancer /pc/keyboard/kbuf_ma.zip Increases keyboard buffer /pc/keyboard/keybbuff.zip Type-ahead keyboard buffer 16-512 bytes /pc/keyboard/keybuf10.zip Resizable keyboard buffer /pc/keyboard/skbdinst.arc SUPERKBD v2.41; (repeat rate, buffer,... /pc/keyboard/typeahd.zip A 256 bytes typeahead buffer -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:18 1996 Subject: Problems in Zmodem file transfers 18. ***** Q: How to make Zmodem transfer between a Unix mainframe and my PC? A: You naturally need the Zmodem programs both for your PC and your Unix host. If you don't have them, the PC Zmodem transfer program can be found as 112016 Jun 7 1995 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/termutil/gsz0607.zip gsz0607.zip X/Y/ZMODEM driver with graphic file xfer display (or whatever is the current version). For the Unix end of things get ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/zmodem/rzsz3_36.zip. The /unix/zmodem/ rzszmake.inf file explains how to install the Unix facilities. Unpacking the PC facilities is standard knowledge, so no more about that. To the the transfers going at the PC end of things you'll find some additional, useful the information in /pc/termutil/ zdoc0814.zip, /pc/ts/tskerm26.zip (zset.cmd in particular), and also /pc/ts/tspfon29.zip (pcpqa.txt in there). These latter two packages concern primarily MsKermit and Procomm, but the Zmodem ideas in them are general. 1) To send an ascii file from your PC to your Unix host you might use at your Unix end just rz and then at your PC gsz port 1 est 0 9600 sz -r -a FileName This would send the file from your PC at 9600 bauds through port 1 using crash recovery and ascii file transfer. 2) To go the other way, for example to send a ascii file from your Unix host to your PC you would first write at your Unix host sz FileName and then at your PC gsz port 1 est 0 9600 rz -y -a r:\ This would send the file from your Unix host using ascii transfer, overwriting, and directory r:\ as the destination. 3) To send a binary file with crash recovery from Unix to PC use sz FileName gsz port 1 est 0 9600 rz -r r:\ It is very difficult to give advice that is generally applicable because there are so many alternatives. One has to rely heavily on experimentation on each different configuration. Prepare a systematical test pattern to go through the all the potential parities, 7/8 bits, and server parameters (if you are running through a server). Such a structured approach has most often (but not always) solved these problems. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:19 1996 Subject: Unix-like utilities for MS-DOS 19. ***** Q: Where can I find Unix-like utilities for my MS-DOS PC? A: There are often questions asking for Unix-like utilities for MS-DOS, perhaps since many users have a Unix background and would like to use familiar commands. And some of these commands are useful for MS-DOS even if one hasn't used Unix. In fact they can serve as a gentle introduction to Unix. We have for example the following packages at garbo.uwasa.fi archives in directory /pc/unix: danix201.zip dantools.zip picnix3a.zip picnix3b.zip picnix3up.zip uznix120.zip Furthermore there is a large uxutl23*.zip in the /pc/unix directory. The danix201.zip (or whatever is the latest version number) collection by Dan Schikore is yet another, originally dated 12-Nov-90. It is a nice set and includes for example man, head, and tail, which have been sought by many users. The well-known picnix utilities are by Peter Heitman, and date back to 1988. Then there is the Dosnix dosnx22a.zip from G. Vrooman. The oldest collection we have is the also useful dantools.zip by Daniel Norton dating back to 1987. Take a look at /pc/INDEX.ZIP for the full list. Also note that the file contents of the /pc/unix packages at Garbo are available as /pc/unix/0unix.zip. So if you are looking for a single MS-DOS counterpart for a Unix utility, start by taking a look at that list. If you are a Unix person, you might also be interested in the collection of Bourne shell scripts in the /unix/ts directory. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:20 1996 Subject: Hiding files and directories 20. ***** Q: How can I hide files and directories? A: Each MS-DOS file has a set of attributes: read-only, archive, system, and hidden. You can hide both files and directories by turning on their hidden attribute. The usual MS-DOS attrib command (before MS-DOS 5.0) can only change the read-only and archive attributes, so you'll need a program that can change all the attributes. Some users have suggested naming a directory as ascii 255, but this is non-solution, since the directory will show as blank by the usual dir command. A file, or a directory that has the hidden attribute set, does not show in a directory listing by (the pre-5.0) MS-DOS dir command. Notice, however, that there are many utilities which will show also the hidden files. This means that these methods are good for elementary hiding only. For more advanced protection you need different tools. One possibility is encrypting files. There are many encrypting facilities around including my crypter.exe in the ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsfcom24.zip file utilities collection. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:21 1996 Subject: Comparison of telecomm progs 21. ***** Q: Which is better, Procomm Plus or Telix? A: Procomm 1.1A vs Telix 3.12 -------------------------- Both are excellent telecommunications programs. I won't try to answer in any absolute terms, but tell some of my subjective observations, since I have used both quite a lot. I am first speaking of Procomm+ version 1.1A and Telix 3.12 (on Procomm Plus 2.0 later). Procomm+ is a fully commercial program while Telix is shareware. (There is an earlier shareware Procomm [version 2.4.3]. Both the shareware programs are available from garbo.uwasa.fi archives /pc/termprog directory. The shareware Procomm is not in the same league with Procomm+ and Telix. A later note: the shareware Procomm is not available from Garbo because of its excessive distribution limitations). Procomm+ comes with a manual, and there is literature on Procomm+ while Telix documents come as a file in the shareware distribution. I have tried the user support of both, with slightly discouraging results. In the case of Procomm+ I asked about the possibility of a two-way translation table, but the response was a polite no without any useful suggestions. In the case of Telix, I returned a faulty shareware disk, and had no reaction at all. Didn't even get the disk back. (This happened with version 3.12 with the previous owner Exis Inc. Telix has since been sold to deltaComm Development, and I have no experience on contacting the latter.) On the other hand, both are such good products that I haven't really needed the support. Procomm+ and Telix both have a useful command language. Procomm's is annoyingly sluggish since it is interpreter while Telix sports a C-like Salt compiler. Procomm's aspect command language is easier to use, while Telix's Salt command language is really powerful. Procomm+ command files can be invoked from a menu. In Telix this very convenient option is missing. Under difficult conditions with a slow machine plus a fast modem Telix behaves much better. I've even noted circumstances where Telix is the only working choice of the two, because Procomm+ cannot always cope with the load. Admittedly, Telix has fewer file transfer protocols than Procomm+, BUT this is more than amply compensated by the fact that Telix has an inbuilt Zmodem protocol. Neither has a sliding Kermit. The translation tables of both programs cause headaches to users needing some 8-bit characters as we Finns do. Procomm+ does not have an outgoing translation table at all. Telix does, but it gets tangled in ansi graphics when A with double dots is translated. Personally, I prefer Procomm's concise call logging to Telix's fuller but incoherent call logging. This is very subjective but of the two the "feel" of the user interface in Telix is more user friendly than that of Procomm+. In particular, Telix has an automatic starting of downloads. Procomm+ has a superior host mode compared to Telix. Yes, I know that there are external host modes for Telix, such as host44.zip, but I've never managed to make it work even in a selftest. (The host that comes with the new Telix 3.21 version seems ok, though). Incidentally, the host mode of shareware Procomm is better left alone. They frequently crash the machine. Another thing is that Procomm+ host mode shell to dos option also does this. If you use Procomm or Procomm+ you might be interested in more information given in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tspfon29.zip. At the moment I have settled to Telix for calling to BBSes, to Procomm+ when I need the host mode (and MsKermit when I connect remotely to garbo.uwasa.fi, because MsKermit has clearly the best VT102 emulation of the three). Epilogue: At the time I last revised this item. Telix had been sold to deltaComm development, and version 3.20 just been released. It is a minor improvement, but worth taking a look at. Be warned, however, that it employs nagware tactics by having registration reminders at both ends. ---------------- Procomm Plus 2.0 ---------------- At the time I wrote this, Procomm Plus version 2.0 had just been released. (Telix 3.15 arrived when I wrote this, but it's just a minor bug fix). Commercial Procomm 2.0 is mostly at par with shareware Telix 3.12. Much of Procomm 2.0's improvements seem to have directly been adapted from Telix, but there is a touch of TeleMate as well. The aspect language compiler is the foremost example of emulating Telix strengths. But the old Procomm+ .asp files are not compilable without changes! Procomm 2.0 now has an inbuilt Z-modem with autodownload. This is a feature that was sorely missing earlier. Procomm 2.0 has long kermit packets which is an improvement over Telix. The installation phase of Procomm 2.0 is impressive. Full points for that. The really frustrating feature of Procomm 2.0 is the problems with non-US (at least the Finnish) keyboard, which renders much of it inoperable, if not useless. And there is still no outgoing translation table. Over all, my first impressions on the Procomm Plus 2.0 update are far from enthusiastic. On the other hand what might make Procomm Plus 2.0 worth its while is its host mode. It seem more flexibility than before, and can be considered a mini-BBS. This is a feature that Telix practically lacks. But I have had problems with 2.0 file transfers over a direct connection, which I didn't have with 1.1A. Interestingly, the outward appearance of Procomm Plus 2.0 has reverted back to the Procomm shareware days. -------- TeleMate -------- There are other very good telecommunication and terminal emulation programs besides Procomm+, Telix, and MsKermit. One of them is TeleMate (/pc/termprog/tm412-?.zip, where ? = 1,2,3,4). It's speciality is that the file transfers can take place in the background, which, for example, allows you to use TeleMate's useful screen editor while the transfer is taking place. Another nice feature is TeleMate's quote function. On the other hand TeleMate's dialog box based user interface takes some getting used to, and in this respect I feel that Procomm+ and Telix have a clear advantage over TeleMate. Also TeleMate's online help screen is not very coherent, and there is some inconvenience in figuring out how to load the translation tables on a regular basis. Shareware is a nice concept. I was able to try TeleMate out for a period with a clear conscience before making my decision of not adopting. We also have Boyan at garbo.uwasa.fi. I have just taken a very brief look at it, but I know that some users like it. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:22 1996 Subject: Restoring the screen 22. ***** Q: How can I restore the original screen when a program muddles it? A: Many (screen oriented) programs do not restore the original screen after having been run. They either leave their own last layout on the screen, or, in many cases some kind of a shareware advertisement (nagware :-), or something else what you'd rather not remain on your screen after you exit the program. If you normally use a 25*80 text mode, and you are running a program named, say foo, which does not restore the screen, make the following batch (I have ramdisk on r:) pushscr r:\tmpscr.$$$ /o foo %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 popscr r:\tmpscr.$$$ del r:\tmpscr.$$$ > nul The utilities pushscr.exe and popscr.exe are part of the ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutld22.zip package (or whatever version number is the latest). If the foo program also changes the video mode, and doesn't change it back, you'll need reset.exe prior popscr. It is available in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsutil42.zip. Alternatively you can use the MS-DOS mode command to restore the correct video mode. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:23 1996 Subject: MS-DOS compress for .Z files, MS-DOS uude/encode, etc 23. ***** Q: Where can I find compress for MS-DOS to handle .Z files? Q2: Is there a tar for MS-DOS? A: Unix has compress, uncompress and zcat programs to pack or unpack files which are given the .Z extension. These files can also be handled under MS-DOS using for example /pc/unix/comp430d.zip, which is available from anonymous FTP sites like garbo.uwasa.fi, etc. You can also use /pc/unix/gzip124.zip, which is more general and can handle .Z and .(g)z files. There is one useful trick if you uncompress on MS-DOS such text files that have been made on Unix with compress. Unix and MS-DOS have different eolns (end of lines). You can extract a Unix compressed text file as follows comp430d -d -c YourZFile | unix2pc > YourOutputFile where unix2pc.exe is taken from /pc/ts/tsfilt22.zip (or whatever is the current version number). While we are at it let's look at two similar questions of MS-DOS counterparts for Unix file handling. Uuencoding and uudecoding is a common method to handle files so that they can be sent as ordinary ascii email. There are several utilities for uu(en/de)coding files on a PC. See our /pc/decode directory. One that I can recommend is uuexe540.zip (or whichever version is current), which has an option to use formats like the one employed in the comp.binaries.ibm.pc binary postings. Yet another often queried counterpart for Unix is tar for MS-DOS. See our directory /pc/unix for tar extractor utilities such as tar4dos.zoo, extar10.zip (or whatever version number is current), ltarv3.zip or tar320f-.zip. If you have a *.tar.Z file, you'll first have to uncompress it and then untar it. On MS-DOS this requires a bit of juggling with the file names, since MS-DOS can handle only one point (.) in a file name. (Since I have been asked: On VAX/VMS the extension TAR-Z is often used, but unlike Unix tar.Z that is a local rather than a generic convention.) -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:24 1996 Subject: Reporting shareware bugs 24. ***** Q: I found a bug in a shareware or a PD program. How should I report it? A: This is not actually a Frequently Asked Question, but I would like to put forward some personal views on this. Starting with my own programs, all sensible feedback is welcome whether it is emailed or posted. Some of the colleagues on the net may have a slightly different views on reporting the bugs publicly, and I respect also that view, even if I don't personally see anything basically wrong with it as long as the feedback is not malicious or outright incorrect. The first thing to do when you note a bug (or a truly problematic feature), and want to report it, is to recheck your facts. Is it an error you have made, or a simple case of RTFM (you haven't read the documentation properly)? If the bug is still there, then by all means go ahead and report. The second thing to do before reporting to a major shareware author is objectively asking yourself are you just trying to solicit extra support, or are you honestly reporting a bug for the author's benefit. Let me tell you about my own method of giving feedback. When reporting bugs I have had very varying responses from shareware authors. Some are very responsive, some never answer. The method I use (if I feel I have something useful to report) is roughly the following. If I can find out the email address of the author I send an email report. If I cannot find the email address I leave things be (I'm frankly too busy to go through the extra trouble of ordinary paper mail). If I get a confirmation of the receipt (or have at sometime had useful exchanges with the author), then ok. If I don't get any reaction (or haven't had any previously), I let things lie, but if I ever have further feedback, I won't send it. Instead I send an enquiry telling that I have this bug report, and ask the author if s/he is interested about getting my bug report. If I still get no response, I won't bother send that author any feedback ever again. Incidentally, I have compiled a list of the addresses of MS-DOS PD & SW authors reachable on or from Internet. This list is available as ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/author35.zip. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:25 1996 Subject: Breaking PKZIP encryption 25. ***** Q: Where can I find a program to break a PKZIP encryption password? (I zipped a few files awhile ago and password protected the zipped file. The problem is, I forgot the password. Does anyone know of a utility that can get me past the password?) This is a recurring question especially in the comp.compression newsgroup on Usenet. The credibility of this FAQ is low. It is not highly likely that this error of forgetting the zip file password really occurs as often as this question. The blunt response is "Why would one, in the first place, want to use a security feature that can be easily broken?" Yes, brute force programs can be found on the net for that purpose, because the encryption used in PKZIP is not very strong. In particular, if the password that has been used is relatively short it can be broken. If someone points you to the exact location of such a utility, that is no problem for me. But please allow me not to divulge myself information which contains advice involving cracking. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From ts@uwasa.fi Fri Feb 9 00:00:26 1996 Subject: Additional good utilities 26. ***** Q: Where can I find other good programs that are not on this list? A: I have listed a number of useful MS-DOS programs into ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/bestp43a.zip bestp43a.zip Timo's choice of 43 best MS-DOS SW and PD packages As for Usenet newsgroups. When you are looking for a particular shareware, freeware or public domain MS-DOS program, use news:comp.binaries.ibm.pc.wanted to pose your query. If you are looking for a fully commercial program, post your question to news:comp.os.msdos.apps. Futhermore, there are some excellent search engines on the net if you have WWW. You'll find some of them from my list of HTTP links http://uwasa.fi/~ts/http/ --------------------------------------------------------------------