Z88 Communications Program
(ZCP)
Copyright 1990 Richard C. Haw
Introduction:
The Z88 communications program (ZCP) is a binary and text file
transfer utility supporting the popular XMODEM file transfer
protocol.
Disclaimer:
This program and all documentation is provided as is, without
any warranty either expressed or implied, including but not
limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a
particular purpose. In no event shall the author be liable for any
loss of profit or any other damage caused by the use or misuse of
the program, including but not limited to special, incidental,
consequential or other damages.
Distribution
This program is copyright 1989,1990 by Richard C. Haw, all
rights reserved. It may be freely copied and distributed so long
as the original documentation is distributed with the program and
no fee is charged for the program other than normal on-line
charges for dial-up systems or a distribution medium fee not to
exceed $5.00 (US) for manual distribution.
BASIC program:
The BASIC version of this program is not really in BASIC, but
is machine code in a form which can be run from BASIC. There are
two limitations to this approach. One, the program can not be
saved back from BASIC, if this is done only the small BASIC header
is saved and the next time you try and run the program it will
give a 'corrupted' message. Two, the program must be run in a
'clean' BASIC, PATPCW.BAS or anything similar can NOT be
running. If you have something like that installed you will get an
error message saying 'bad page'. Simply go back to the INDEX, kill
that instantation of BASIC and start up a new one.
Operation:
Use of the program is very straight forward, all file transfer
operations are controlled from the front menu. Each of the
possible operations are described separately in the following
sections.
The flow control (XON/XOFF) is reset by this program during
binary file transfers, it should be set to ON for normal usage (in
the setup screen).
ASCII send:
This command transmits a text file line by line to a remote
system. This command is useful for uploading messages and
electronic mail to BBS systems and the like. After each line is
sent the Z88 will wait for a prompt character before the next line
is sent. This character can be changed using the options menu.
Goto Terminal:
Selecting this option will take you to the Terminal program in
the Z88. The ZCP program is still running, you can return to
the program to send or receive files whenever needed by pressing
the square key followed by the B key.
Options:
The options command takes you to the options menu, see the
section on options for detailed information.
Receive binary:
This command allows the transfer of a file to the Z88 using
the XMODEM data protocol. You will be asked for the name of the
file to transfer, the incoming file will then be saved under that
name.
Send binary:
This command allows the transfer of a file from the Z88 using
the XMODEM data protocol. You will be asked for the name of the
file to send.
RemoTe mode:
This puts ZCP into remote mode, see the section on ZCP Remote
Mode for detailed information.
eXit:
This command exits the program.
Options:
The options menu allows you to set all of the options
pertaining to the ZCP program, and are described in the
following paragraphs. Default values used for each of the options
are listed in parenthesis after the option name.
MacBinary (off)
If this option is selected the MacBinary file transfer
protocol will be recognized and used. While this option is on
files will be sent in MacBinary format.
Prompt (:)
This option is used to set the prompt character for text
file transfers. This is a single character used to indicate
that another line of text should be sent. If ENTER is hit in
response to the prompt for a character no wait will be
performed by the program at the end of each line.
Z88 Remote
Introduction:
The Z88 Remote program is a program which allows communication
with the Z88 through a serial line. It allows for file transfers,
option settings, etc. all working on the computer to which the Z88
is connected.
User interaction is provided through a menu which is displayed
on the remote system. Each of the menu choices provided is
described in detail below.
Change directory:
This option allows the remote system to change the
working directory on the Z88. All file operations will be
performed using this path.
Erase
This option erases, or deletes, a file on the Z88. Simply
enter the name of the file to be erased.
NOTE:This command does NOT prompt for any sort of
confirmation, it just erases the file. Make sure you
really want to get rid of the file before doing this.
Files:
This command lists out all of the files and
subdirectories of the current directory. Files are listed
with date and size information.
Information:
This command displays an information screen on the remote
system showing the current path, amount of free space on the
Z88, etc.
Receive File:
This tells the Z88 to send a file using the XMODEM
protocol. The remote system should then initiate an XMODEM
receive. If you are using MacBinary see the notes on this at
the end of this section.
Send File:
This option sends a file to the Z88 from the remote
system. You will be prompted for the file name to be used on
the Z88. If you are using MacBinary see the notes at the end
of this section.
Type File:
This option types out a text file. A prompt for the file
name will be issued on the remote system and then the file
will simply be listed to the screen on the remote system.
Each line of text will be terminated with a CR/LF (carriage
return and line feed).
?:
This command puts out an expanded list of the commands
rather than just the first letter.
Notes on using MacBinary:
The MacBinary protocol is a protocol which uses a modified
XMODEM protocol to allow for the exchange of file name and
attribute information using the first block of the XMODEM
transfer. When used to transfer files to the Z88 the Macintosh
file names will be adjusted to something appropriate for the Z88
and attributes (such as creator and type) will be lost since the
Z88 does not use them.
If the MacBinary option is turned on Z88 Remote will
automatically recognize and accept file transfer requests. All you
have to do is start the file transfer on the Macintosh side.
Similarly, if you are running a communications program on the
Macintosh which supports MacBinary all you need to do to transfer
a file from the Z88 to the Macintosh is to tell ZCP remote you
want to receive a file, and the name of the file.
It would be impossible for me to test all of the
communications programs which could be used with ZCP, it does
however seem to work fine with everything I could test it with in
XMODEM mode, and works well with the Microsoft Mac Works terminal
program in MacBinary mode.
Program availability and help:
The latest version of ZCP will be found on Compuserve so long
as there is a place to upload it to. At the time of this writing
support on CIS was limited, but hopefully will be expanding in the
future.
Currently on CIS Z88 files and information can be found in the
CLUB forum, data library 5.
Questions, suggestions, bug reports and the like are welcome,
and can either be sent to me by Email at [73527,2642], or start a
topic in the forum supporting the Z88.
Future Enhancements:
Enhancements to the program are planned, but the extent and
type of enhancements are uncertain at this time. Some suggested
enhancements which are being looked at are:
Script capabilities:
A script language to allow setting com parameters,
sending and receiving text, etc.
Improved error handling and messages:
Self explanatory.
Built in terminal emulator:
A full feature emulator will probably not get written
(such as a VT100 emulator), simply because I don't need one,
and this isn't a commercial product. However, a simpler one
with a scroll back buffer would be useful and is under
consideration.
Direct manipulation of com port hardware:
Due to the large amount of overhead inherent in the Z88
handling of the COM port, the maximum baud rate is somewhat
limited (though you can set to 19200, 9600 is the fastest
which will run effectively, and then the throughput is more
like 4800 baud). The UART will run at up to 38400 baud,
though I have not experimented to see exactly what the Z88
can handle. If this were implemented it would only be used in
remote mode and probably would not support xon/xoff for the
text information (menus and such).
If you have any additional suggestions for enhancements, or
comments, please feel free to Email me at the CIS address above or
leave a message in the Club forum.