DIALER.EXE 1.01Copyright (c) 1992 Joe Hayashi

I.What is dialer?

Dialer is a filter that takes text, parses a phone number, and dials
the phone until it gets a connection. Dialer is easy to configure;
you can set port & line settings with a few simple switches. Because
dialer is a filter, you can use it with a simple text file containing
the names and numbers of people or bulletin boards you call frequently.

Dialer was designed to work with stand-alone communications protocols.
I wrote it to work with DSZ from Omen Technology. With dialer and a
stand-alone communication protocol (like DSZ, GSZ, Kermit, Ozbext,
or others) you get most of the functionality of a more expensive (and
sometimes less reliable) communications package.

Dialer is also great for making voice calls. Dialer has an option
to ignore a user-specified area code. If you travel between different
area codes, just tell dialer which area code you're in. All numbers
in your phone list that have this area code will be dialed as a local
call. You won't have to edit your phone lists! When making voice
calls, just hit any key and dialer will hang up the modem and let you
talk.


II.How do I use dialer?

Dialer is designed to work from batch files or aliases. I've included
some rather profusely documented batch files that are easy to modify
and should work for most people.

Using dialer is something like this:

dial Aliceordial Allen Bartonor dial Compuserve

With this distribution are 3 batch files: DIAL.BAT, LOOKUP.BAT, and
BBS.BAT. Also included is a sample phone number file called NUMS.TXT.
The batch files rely on the dos FIND utility to function. If FIND
is not your path, these batch files won't work. This should not be
a problem for most people (or at least I would hope that it would not
be a problem).

Description of included files:

DIALER.DOCThe file you are reading.

DIALER.EXEThe dialer program.

LOOKUP.BATBatch file to find a person in your phone list. Will
show you the entire phone list if given no arguments.
Type:"lookup Eric" or "lookup"

DIAL.BATBatch file to dial a person or bulletin board you
specify. You can use first or first and last names.
Case is important.
Type:"dial Robert" or "dial Robert Tell"

BBS.BATBatch file to dial a bbs and launches DSZ in terminal
mode if you get a connection. DSZ must be on your path
or in the same directory.
Type:"bbs Compuserve"

NUMS.TXTPhone directory file. Contains some sample numbers and
some hints on creating adding your own numbers.


If you type "dialer /?" from dos you get this:

dialer version 1.01 Copyright (c) 1992 Joe Hayashi
usage :dialer [ options ]
/a#ignore area code #
/b#use # baud
/c#use # COM port
/d$use string $ as dial command
/hprint this message
/rturn off redial mode

The following is a description of what the switches do.

AREA CODES/a
I strongly recommend that you use full ten-digit phone numbers in your
phone list. If you move your computer to another area code, just
tell dialer about it and all will be well. If you lived in Boston
you might specify the option like this:

dialer /a617
^^^^^
With this setting, all 617 numbers dialer gets fed will be dialed
without the 617 before the number.

BAUD/b#
I allowed you to set the baud in two places. By default, dialer will
use 2400 baud. If you have a 9600 baud modem, use 9600 as the default
and specify slower speeds for individual bulletin boards in your phone
directory file. Read more about the phone list in the NUMS.TXT file.

dialer /a617 /b9600
^^^^^^

COM PORT/c#
If your modem is not connected to COM1, you need to inform dialer of
this. Dialer does not support more than 4 COM ports, if you try specify
a port higher than 4, dialer will default back to COM1. Here's how to
specify COM2.

dialer /a617 /b9600 /c2
^^^

DIAL COMMAND/d$
There are probably three reasons you would need to specify a different
dial command (other than the default ATDT): your phone must use
pulse dialing, you need to dial a 9 before you dial the number, or
you want to turn off call waiting. Let's say we want to do all three.
I threw some commas in there to add some nice pauses in case our phone
is usually slow.

dialer /a617 /b9600 /c2 /dATDP*70,9,
^^^^^^^^^^^^

ATDP - for pulse dialing
*70 - turns off call waiting for most people
9 - to dial out of a centrex system


REDIAL TOGGLE/r
If you want to turn off redialing and have dialer give up after one
try, you can tell it do to this by using the redial off switch. You
can always abort a dial in progress, by hitting any key.

dialer /a617 /b9600 /c2 /dATDP*70,9, /r
^^

RETURN CODES
Dialer will return a 0 to it's calling environment if it gets a
connection. Thus you can write batch files that call a comm program
or external protocol when you get a connection. The BBS.BAT file works
this way.

return codereason for code
0connect
1no connection or error
254user cancel


OTHER LINE SETTINGS
By default dialer's line settings are 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop
bit, and 2400 baud. You can change global baud settings with the /b
switch. If there are numbers you call that require a different
setting, you can tell dialer this in the text that is piped to it.

When text is piped to dialer, it looks for the first 10 digits and
uses them as a phone number. It then looks for a special character
to indicate line settings (in this release the "|"). Once it sees
this character it will read the next three characters respectively
as data bits, parity setting, and stop bits. The characters immedi-
ately following the stop bits set the baud. If you change any line
settings in this way you must specify all the others, even if you
want the defaults.

Compuserve toll-free number(800)848-4480 |7E11200

If dialer saw this text it would dial out using 7 data bits, even
parity, and 1 stop bit at 1200 baud. Right now parity can only be
set to even (E or e), odd (O or o), or none (N or n).


III.Other useful utilities.

If you're weird like me and use dialer with an external protocol as
your communications software, you'll probably want to get your hands
on some other utilities that capture text, allow you to use different
terminal emulations, etc.

For calling BBSs I recommend that you use DSZ or GSZ. They are
super reliable and easy to use with ansi and text capturing. Use
kermit for mainframes and Unix machines. If you use Compuserve get a
copy of OZRLE or OZBEXT.

Here's a little table of what features you need and the utilities I
know about to get the job done.

If you need: Get a copy of:
Ansi emulationANSI.COM from PC magazine allows you
with DSZ or GSZto load and unload ansi at any time.
Alternatively you can use ANSI.SYS or
a faster ansi clone (NANSI.SYS or
ZANSI.SYS).

Ansi code strippingA utility called KLEANBBS strips ansi
codes from straight text files. It
does gag, however, on lines that are
really long, but works for 99% of
all needs.

Text capturingBecause DSZ and GSZ both write text
to the screen through the bios, any
utility that captures "bios sent" text
should work. I only know about one
utility, however, CONCOPY.EXE. If you
use kermit or ozbext, you'll need to
use a screen capture program. OZRLE
allows you to scroll back and dump
the screen to a file.

VT-100 or greaterKermit is probably best, version 3.10
emulationhas VT-320 and 102 emulation. A pro-
gram called DGTERM has VT-102 emulation
and is a TSR.

If you don't like that fact that the batch files are case sensitive
don't use the dos FIND utility. I actually use a version of the Unix
GREP tool; it has an option to ignore case.

Of course you should register the programs that require it. KERMIT,
ANSI.COM, CONCOPY, OZBEXT, and OZRLE are free for individual
users (don't hold me to that, but I'm pretty sure about that). DSZ
and GSZ need to be purchased but are totally worth it.

If you send me email, I might send you the free utilities or at least
try and remember where I got them.


IV.Administrivia.

Some things in life are free. Dialer is one of these things.

You use dialer at your own risk and with the understanding that I
am not responsible for any damage you might incur through the use
or misuse of this program.

You may distribute dialer provided this documentation is included
with it. You may not charge a fee for the distribution of dialer or
include dialer as part of a software package distribution without
my prior written consent.

Please inform me about bugs and nasty limitations. Let me know if
you like it and thanks for trying it out, I hope it's useful.

EMAIL
[email protected]

POSTCARDS
2282 Southshore Way
Boise, ID 83706

-NJH