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A.C.T. Apple Conference Terminal
Written by Bob Garth
Copyright (C) 1987, 1988 by Protree
Overview:
A.C.T. (Apple Conference Terminal) is a new terminal program which was specially
designed to work with Main Frame Services, like GEnie and special host systems
which support ACT the emulation mode. It provides a number of features, as in
windowed input sections, line editing abilities for entering your messages, and a
very powerful screen control system which allows controlling characters in
standard text. The Program is also written in modules which allows for several
future expansions and product enhancements.
For those of you who enjoy games, A.C.T. also comes with some special modules
which allows you to play terminal controlled games while you are in one of the
conference rooms. These of course are multiplayer games, so that is how the
conference room (CB) serves its purpose.
Hardware Requirements:
A.C.T. only works with Super Serial Card modems and the Super Serial Card must be
in slot two on your computer. Printers are also supported, but must be in slot 1
and mouse in slot 4. A.C.T. automatically detects these devices via the ROM code
on the card, which does present problems with the EPIC modem. If you happen to
have an EPIC modem, at this time A.C.T. will not run.
You must also have either an Apple //e, //c, or //gs, with at least 128k of
memory.
Ordering Information: This file is the full registered version, as you deserve
the opportunity to really see and evaluate this program before making a buy
descion. Included is the full documentation and all of the current modules.
Support for the program is also offered on GEnie in the Protree RT (m640).
To become a registered user, send $39.95 plus shipping and handling of $2.00 in
the US and $4.00 outside the US to:
Protree
P.O. Box 1106
Westminster, Co. 80030
Update Policy:
As updates become available they will be put up in the Protree Round Table on
GEnie for your convience.
Human Interface:
For the most part A.C.T. provides a simple human interface, which can be
accommodated several ways. Just about every Function can be achieved by
selecting Open Apple keys, or closed Apple Keys. However, as there are so many
commands available, menus are also provided. If you use the menus, there is a
simplified system to selecting those items. Simply use the arrow keys to
highlight the command that you wish to execute and press RETURN to activate that
command. Some commands require that the A.C.T. system disk be online, so it is
recommend that you do keep the system disk online.
An alternative method to select commands is by pressing the Open Apple Key and
the associated letter for that command, i.e. to select Normal CB mode, press Open
Apple C. Pressing the Escape Key will normally return you back to the terminal
mode that you left from.
If you have a mouse it is also supported. The mouse in effect replaces the arrow
keys and the Return Key.
A.C.T. Main Menu Commands:
T - Terminal Mode: This mode produces a full screen simple terminal interface. I
suggest you use this mode for calling local BBS's and definitely those BBS's
which feature hot menus and commands. (Hot menus means you do not have to wait
for the menu to reach the end in order to select a command. The selection of a
proper command, will halt the menu, and perform your instruction immediately.)
C - Conference Mode This mode is ideal for conferences. Use of this mode allows
you to enter up to a three line (at 80 columns) message, with full line editing
abilities, and when you press RETURN, your message is then sent to the host
system that you are working on. (See line editing commands & Conference
messages)
O - One Line CB Mode This mode was designed for use when in normal command mode
on non-hot menu systems, as well as for entering messages. Pressing the RETURN
key also will send the contents of that line to the host, or, reaching the 78th
character in the line will also force a send. Words will automatically be
wrapped to the next line if you exceed the 78th column position. (See line
editing commands & Conference messages)
Z - Edit Conference Messages A.C.T. supports up to 96 prewritten messages, that
you can store and recall in any of the normal CB modes or operation. Selection
of this command loads in a full screen editor which allows you to more easily
create/edit all of these special messages.
When you are in one of the two CB modes, you can instantly call up any of these
messages and send it. This is accomplished by selecting the closed apple and a
letter. Note: the cursor must be in its first location to recall a CB message.
If the cursor is not in its first location, the contents of that line will be
saved to the specified CB location.
E - Echo (Full/Half Duplex) This command is a toggle on/off mode command, i.e. if
Echo is currently selected to full duplex it will switch to half duplex
automatically and vice versa.
B - Baud Rate (XXXX) Allows Baud rate changes for different modem rates.
Q - Quit Program Quits the program, and executes the ProDOS BYE command.
Selection of this command does not hang up the phone to break a connection to a
host.
H - Hang Up Causes the modem to drop its carrier and hang up the phone.
R - Receive File Calls in the Xmodem module for reception of a file. (See File
Transfers)
S - Send File Calls in the Xmodem module for sending a file. (See File
Transfers)
P - Printer (On/Off) Toggles the printer on or off.
V - View Mode (On/Off) Stops sending your data from your keyboard to the modem.
This is useful when testing out special screen formatting commands.
G - Tilda Mode (On/Off) Turns on or off the ability to interpret the special
tilda screen control operations.
Open Apple (0-9) A.C.T. was written to be expandable. Selection of this commands
will run external ACT modules.
W - Write CB Buffer Writes the CB buffer to the disk.
L - Load CB Buffer Loads the CB buffer from the disk.
? - Selects the main Menu
/ - same as Open Apple "?"
K - Copy Buffer Toggle on/off for the special copy buffer storage. A copy
buffer, is a special buffer used to capture incoming data for the purposes of
later viewing or storage.
U - Save Copy Buffer Selection of this command will prompt for a file name and
save the contents of the copy buffer to the disk. This will be saved as a
standard text file.
Y - Load Copy Buffer Loads a file into your copy buffer.
N - View Copy Buffer Displays the contents of what ever is in your copy buffer.
D - Dialer Selection of this command will allow you to use autolog on macro's.
Line Editing Commands:
Note- ^ indicates the following character is a control key and may be selected by
first pressing the CONTROL key and then at the same time, pressing the
appropriate alpha character.
^A = Adds a space at the current cursor location.
^D = Deletes the character at the current cursor position.
^W = Pulls in the last CB line that was sent into the line editor
^M or RETURN = sends the contents of the line in the edit buffer to the modem.
^F or TAB = Advances the cursor to the beginning of the next word.
^R = Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.
DELETE = Deletes the character just previous to the cursor position.
Up Arrow = Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.
Down Arrow = Advances the Cursor to the End of the line.
CLOSED Apple (X) = If the cursor is in it's first position on the line selection
of any normal alpha character will immediately pull the respective CB message
into the line editor. If however the cursor is not on the first location of the
line, it will immediately save the contents in the line editor to the respective
CB location.
Tilda Interpreter:
Because most host systems do not allow imbedded control characters use of a tilda
signals the terminal program that the following characters are the equivalent to
control characters. These commands are as follows:
~@ = Position the cursor to the bottom of the screen.
~A = Clear to end of page
~B = Back shift - delete characters in the line.
~C = Clear Line
~D = Scroll the whole screen Down one line
~E = Inverse of normals ^EX (X=number) characters.
~F = Front shift. Adds a space where ever the cursor is located.
~G = Bell, beep the other guy's bell
~H = Mark and memorize the current cursor position for later recall. ~HA
saves in memory A -- There are 26 values A-Z
~I = Put the screen in Inverse Video mode
~J = Linefeed (same as down arrow)
~K = Goto mark from saved by ~H (~KX) X = A to Z
~L = Clear entire Screen, and home the cursor.
~M = Carriage return. Positions cursor to the beginning of the line.
~N = Put the screen in Normal Video mode
~O = Set the top border of the screen
~P = Pause the screen. If user hits any key, it will continue. Also,
if it times out, it will continue.
~Q = Set the bottom border of the screen
~R = Homes the cursor. Does not clear the screen.
~T = Plays a note for each ASCII character that follows.
~U = Scroll the whole screen up one line
~V = Inverse the entire line that the cursor is on.
~W = Normal the entire line that the cursor is on.
~X = Sets the X axis screen position (~XA) Would put the cursor on the
23rd column of the screen.
~Y = Sets the Y axis screen position (~X$) Would put the cursor on the
5th of the screen.
~Z = Set terminal into normal terminal Mode
~d = Do/execute memory. I.E. ^da would pull the contents from memory
"a" execute the text/tilda commands, as if sent from the host.
~e = Move cursor to the end of the line.
~h = Backspace one character.
~i = Right space, advance cursor one character.
~k = Move the cursor up one line.
~l = Receive and save a buffer data line i.e. ~laXXXXXXXXXX would save
XXXXXXXXXX into address CB location "a".
~r = Restore previously saved screen.
~s = Save current screen.
~| = Draws a horizontal Border i.e. ~|- would draw a line of horizontal
dashes across the screen.
Xmodem:
Currently A.C.T. supports standard and CRC 16 Xmodem types. Xmodem is basically,
a block sending/receiving protocol with check sums in the data to verify the
accuracy of the contents of the data block. If there was an error in the
transmission, then the contents of the block is resent. This is exceptionally
useful for sending programs, and other special files which require very high data
integrity.
To send or receive data, select the Open Apple S or Open Apple R keys. This will
load in the respective Xmodem module from the ACT.SYSTEM disk. First, set the
disk prefix, to the volume you wish to send or receive the data. Then, move the
cursor down to the file name. If there is nothing in the file name line, and you
press RETURN, the current disk path name will be cataloged. You may at that
time, position the cursor to the file you wish to deal with, and press the space
bar. This will mark the file name automatically for you. Then if you press the
RETURN key, that name will automatically be brought into the file name. If the
file name that you marked had a proceeding "-" in front of it, it means that the
file you marked is a directory, and instead of loading it into the file name, it
will prefix automatically to that directory, and again, catalog the pathname
again. Next, select the protocol mode. To send or receive the file, select
Go/Transfer file, and the file transfer will commence.
Basically four formats are supported. ASCII, Standard Xmodem, Binary II (which
supports batch file sending and receiving) and ProDOS.
Reversi:
Reversi is a relatively new module which is designed to allow multiple players to
play real time Reversi with each other while in conference mode on Main Frame
modem services like GEnie or in an ACT to ACT mode. To Select the Reversi Game,
press Open Apple 1. The Reversi program will then be loaded in from the ACT
system disk. To start playing, first select which color you wish to be. Either
you or your opponent must reset or clear the board at this time. Once that is
done, using the arrow keys, position the command to "Move" and press RETURN. If
you are playing ACT to ACT then also select your channel to "@". This will
enable the echoing of what you type in the chat mode. Remember, Black always
moves first in Othello. To select the move you wish to make, simply, by using
the arrow keys, position the cursor to the square you wish to move your piece to,
and press RETURN. Because of line noise, or no acknowledgement, there is also a
resend command. If for some reason your opponent doesn't receive your previous
move, select resend and press RETURN. This will retransmit your last move. If
you wish to play with someone in your local area, you also have another provision
to set the channel to "@". This will inform ACT to play in a modified mode so
moves can be echoed from the receiving ACT terminal. Other channels are also in
ACT for the purpose of allowing more than one game in the same conference room at
the same time. If you are on another host system, do not use channel "@" as this
is reserved for ACT to ACT interaction only.
Chess:
Chess is another new module which like Reversi is designed to allow multiple
players to play real time Chess with each other while in conference mode on Main
Frame modem services like GEnie or ACT to ACT. To Select the Chess Game, press
Open Apple 2. The Chess program will then be loaded in from the ACT system disk.
Again, chess is very similar to Reversi in all respects with a couple exceptions.
Chess has one new command. Adjust the board, which is intended to allow you to
remove or place piece anywhere on the board you choose. This is very useful for
pond promotion. Chess unlike reversi does not check your moves either.
Dialer:
ACT comes standard with a macro dialer. To enter new numbers, go to the Edit
mode and enter/edit the appropriate field. In the macors them selves, there are
only two commands, the "\" and the "^". The "\" is used to tell ACT to flip
between input and output modes, or visca versa, and the "^" is used to indicate a
Carraige return.
Example:
^^^\PASSWORD: \MYPASSWORD^\SECOND\3397^
With this macro, the system will first output three carriage returns, then wait
for the word "PASSWORD: " to be received. Once it is received it will output
"MYPASSWORD" followed by a carriage return, then wait for the word "SECOND" to be
received. Once recieved, ACT will send "3397" followed by a carriage return.
When marcos first start, ACT defaults to the output mode.
Commonly Asked Questions/Problems and Answers:
Problem 1:
I am having difficulty getting ACT to work. What happens is, I am not receiving
anything. The modem dials, but, I am not getting the data back on my screen.
Make sure your interrupt switch on your super serial card is turned on. This is
switch S2-6, should be in the up position.
Problem 2:
It sure would be nice if I could catalog the disk. You can. To do this, simply
make sure that the file name is empty. and hit the RETURN key. The volume that
you are currently prefixed to will be cataloged. Files that are marked with a
"-" in front of the file name are directories. If you mark a directory, the
prefix will be automatically changed, and the new pathname will be cataloged
again.
Problem 3:
My printer doesn't work. Even when I am in the main menu I can never turn it on.
Make sure your printer is in slot 1. ACT checks slot 1 to see if anything is
there. If not, it turns off the printer option to avoid accidental selection.
Problem 4:
ACT doesn't support a dialer, and, I forget all of the phone number of all those
BBS's. ACT, will in a later version have a dialer installed, however, in the
meantime I suggest you use one or more of the 96 cb buffers available. What I
do, is place the number to call in the closed Apple 1, and my password in closed
Apple 2. The instruction for dialing with most serial/external modems is:
ATD427-7114. To get touch tone dialing, it would be ATDT 427-7114 and to get
pulse dialing, it would be ATDP 427-7114. Once you have a set of numbers and
passwords in your CB file, save it. This way you can have literally, tons of
numbers available when ever you need them.
Problem 5:
What is Binary II protocol? Binary II is a special format in which all of the
file information is put into the first block of the transfer. File which contain
this information allow any one with Xmodem to be able to download that file, and
with a special utility be able to put it back into the correct file type. In
this manner, binary files can be sent without first converting them into
text/exec files.
Problem 6:
What is the difference between Standard and CRC Xmodem? Standard Xmodem has only
a one byte check sum with is used to verify the data integrity of the
transmission. This type of protocol is used primarily to insure no errors in the
file. CRC is a two byte check sum, and provides a much higher reliability for
file transfers. If the system you call supports CRC, I always recommend that you
use that protocol mode.