============================================================================== [ THE KAY*FOG RBBS | Filename=CPM-CC20.ART | posted 07/05/86 | 200 lines 11k ] The CP/M Connection Originally published in by Computer Currents Ted Silveira 5720 Hollis Street (copyright and all rights reserved) Emeryville, CA 94608 February 11, 1986 MODEMMAIL DOES IT ALL I love computer communications. People who've never hooked their computers up to a modem and called another computer often don't understand what all the fuss is about, but I get a kick from reaching out a ghostly hand to tap the keys on someone else's computer, or rummaging through an endless cave of free software, or having conversations with people whose faces I've never seen and whose voices I've never heard. Still, I realize that those of you who are unconverted may want to know a little more before you plunge. What, you ask, can I actually _do_? First, you can call another computer and talk to it--get information from it, swap files with it, talk to its operator. This other computer might be a simple bulletin board on which you can trade messages with other people, or it might be a massive commercial information service like CompuServe or Dow Jones, with data banks full of stock quotes, financial reports, airline schedules, and bibliographic references. Second, you can set up your own computer so that you can call it from another location and run it as if you were sitting at the keyboard. People who use computers both at home and at work can get at the programs and files stored in one place when they're in the other. And people whose jobs take them out in the field can carry laptop computers with them yet still call on the power of their larger computers back at the office. Third, you can set up your own computer as a remote bulletin board or message system for other people to call. It's not just "hobbyists" who have a use for bulletin boards. Businesses with workers or branch offices in the field can set up message systems to create a central information exchange tying everyone together. Some businesses have even used bulletin boards for customer support hot lines. Fourth, you can take the bulletin board idea a step further and make your computer part of an electronic mail system, a network of computers in different locations, each of which can receive and store messages locally and then forward them to an "address" on some other computer on the network. Small and medium businesses that have branches in several locations, possibly even in different countries, can use this system to quickly pass important information without worrying about different time zones or playing long-distance telephone tag. Your lowly CP/M computer can do any and all of these things. All you need is a modem--the device that connects your computer to the telephone line--and the right communications program to run it. [Introducing ModemMail] ModemMail, a CP/M communications program from AutoSoft, Inc., is remarkable because it can handle _all_ the communications jobs I listed above. There is, as far as I know, no other CP/M program that can make the same claim. First of all, ModemMail can be set up as a simple remote access system. You can set it running on your own computer, and then later you (or another person) can call your computer from a remote location and run it as if you were sitting at the keyboard. ModemMail will answer your phone when it rings, connect if it finds another computer at the other end (and hang up if it doesn't), and ask for a password if you've instructed it to (to keep out intruders). Once you're logged in, you can not only execute any of the ModemMail commands but also exit to the CP/M prompt and run any CP/M programs that are on your current disks. About the only thing you can't do is put a new disk into the drive (unless you have a very long arm). ModemMail can also set your computer up as a remote bulletin board system that will allow many users to call in and to pass messages to one another. Such a ModemMail bbs can keep a list of users and user passwords (so that no one can log on under another person's name) and also register new users. ModemMail can set different levels of access and even run different programs, depending upon which user logs on. New users, for example, can be routed through a system of help menus and given only restricted access--no access to CP/M, no privilege to leave messages or transfer files. Trusted users, on the other hand, can be given "the keys to the city"--full access to CP/M and any ModemMail commands, full privileges to send and receive messages. As a bulletin board, ModemMail has a full message system that allows both public (readable by anyone) and private (restricted to sender, receiver, and system operator) mail. I don't find its system of browsing and viewing messages as convenient as that of the Metal message system (used on Kay*Fog and other local bulletin boards), but it's good enough to allow public discussions as well as private chit-chat. [Networking with ModemMail] One of the most exciting parts of ModemMail, and the one its creators emphasize the most, is its ability to function as part of an electronic mail network. Like the Fidonet system (created by Tom Jennings of San Francisco) that runs on IBM PCs, ModemMail bulletin boards can be linked together. This network makes it possible for you to call a local node (bbs) on the network and leave a message for someone who is a registered user on _any_ other node of the network, even one in another country. Once a day, your ModemMail node will automatically call up other nodes and forward any "long-distance" messages, picking up its own forwarded mail at the same time. The real beauty of this system is that your local node doesn't have to call up each node it has messages for. Instead, it consults a "routing table," figures out the shortest route between it and the destination node, and then simply forwards the proper mail to the next node on the route, which then takes over the job of bumping the mail along the line to its ultimate destination. This "least-cost routing" makes the whole network proposition much more economical. What's more, when two ModemMail nodes get together to exchange mail, they compare their routing tables, and if one has a more recent table it updates the other. This way, changes to the routing table spread quickly (and automatically) through the network. ModemMail also keeps track of usage and charges for each user who has network mail privileges. And it can forward files as well as messages, offering optional "one-time pad" encryption and decryption of files transferred for greater security. There is also a second way to make a ModemMail computer into part of an electronic mail network, by using ModemMail as a sort of gateway to other electronic mail systems, such as MCI Mail or CompuServe. The ModemMail system can be set to call the target system at a specific time and then to send on any mail it has and collect any waiting mail. The interaction between the two systems isn't as tightly-knit as between two ModemMail nodes, but it is workable. [ModemMail Goes It Alone] Usually, communications programs are either message systems meant solely for remote operation--as in the case of bulletin board software-- or standalone communications programs (sometimes called terminal programs) meant to be used to allow you to call other computers--as in the case of programs like MITE or the public domain MEX and IMP. ModemMail, however, can do both jobs, though its creators don't put much emphasis on its standalone capabilities, perhaps for fear it will distract attention from the network power of ModemMail. Whatever the reason, I think they're missing a bet, because ModemMail makes a perfectly good standalone communications program. It has a terminal mode to allow your computer communicate directly with other computers (such as bulletin boards), it can capture text coming in from the other computer and put it in a disk file, and it can upload and download files using the XMODEM protocol. What makes ModemMail a really interesting candidate for such uses is its programming language, which makes it possible to build really useful and complex script files for automatic log-on, file transfer, and other functions. Those who have tried to use such script files with MEX know how tricky it can be, since MEX can only check for a single character coming from the other system and has no "branching logic" that would allow it to take different actions depending on what it receives. These lacks mean that MEX is easily confused by any out-of-the-ordinary response and can get stuck. But ModemMail can look for whole words or phrases as its cues and can branch to different actions depending on what it receives. As a standalone communications program, ModemMail takes more setting up than many, but it offers great possibilities. ModemMail is so flexible because of its extensible BASIC-like programming language. You could say that the programming language _is_ ModemMail and that the various functions I've mentioned are just programs written in ModemMail's special communications language. Next issue, I'll give you a quick look at this language and what it can do. In the meantime, you can get a sample of what ModemMail's like by calling the AutoSoft bulletin board at 408/336-8080, 1200 or 300 baud. Note: the system is normally shut down until a call comes in. After the modem answers the phone and connects, there's about a 30 second delay until the bulletin board signs on. Be patient. The system automatically detects your modem's speed, so you don't need to hit any carriage returns--just wait. Usually ModemMail sells for $249.00, but recently it's been on sale for $124.95. Contact: AutoSoft, Inc. 166 Santa Clara Avenue Oakland, CA 94610 415/658-2881 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ted Silveira is a freelance writer and contributing editor to several computer-oriented publications. He appreciates suggestions or feedback and can be reached through the KAY*FOG RBBS (415)285-2687 and CompuServe (72135,1447) or by mail to 2756 Mattison Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95065. ------------------------- End of CPM-CC20.ART Text -------------------------