MEX OVERLAY LIST #6 ---------------------------------------------------------------- MEXOVLxx.LST: List of current overlays for MEX 1.x communications package. Copyright (C) 1984, 1985 by NightOwl Software, Inc. Last revised: 07/20/85 (Ron Fowler, NightOwl Software, Inc.) ---------------------------------------------------------------- The most current version of this list will be maintained on the NightOwl Connection INFO subsystem. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MexPlus now available! See commercial section at the end of this file. ------------------------------------------------------------ This is a list of all known overlays for the MEX1 communications program. These are all available on the NightOwl Connection subscription TurboDOS system (the "offical" distribution point for all MEX and MEX-related programs and information). (For NightOwl Connection subscription information, see the blatantly commercial section at the end of this file). This file categorizes MEX overlays by name and type; the description sec- tion contains the hardware manufacturer and (if known) lists the UART chip employed by the hardware. Background ---------- There are formally two different varieties of overlay: MODEM and PORT. Port overlays are written for a specific computer or serial I/O board, while modem overlays are for particular types of modems, and make no assumptions about the hardware the modem is connected to. In some cases, the modem is tied directly to the hardware (e.g, the U.S. Robotics S-100 modem), and therefore may be classified as "mixed" (in one case -- the KPxx overlay -- this "mix" is artificially induced by the overlay writer. In general, this practice of mixed port and modem overlays should be avoided unless absolutely necessary; since it weds the port driver to a particular modem type, it reduces versatility to the user). A second form of overlay was introduced with the 1.1 release of MEX: the MXM format overlay. This was intended to be a "pure" modem overlay, and thus segregate the port and modem overlays (the MXM overlay was also in- tended to add a few "intelligent" modem features, mainly through the new SSET command). At least one overlay -- MXM-US13xx -- violates the sep- aration principle, and, while included here, cannot be considered "kosher". Name Type Description ------------ ----- ------------------------------------------------- MXM-CD10.AQM Modem Concord Data Systems 224AD MXM-UD10.AQM Modem UDS 212 A/D modem MXM-US13.AQM Mixed US Robotics S-100 (NOT supported: hardware dep.) MXO-AC01.AQM Mixed Apple-Cat ][ (NO dialing support!): Softcard/ALS MXO-AD13.AQM Port Advanced digital Super-six: Z80 Dart+baud-rate gen MXO-AL10.AQM Port Altos series 5 MXO-AP12.AQM Port Apple 2, various serial cards MXO-AP30.AQM Port Apple2, 2+ 2e w/Softcard or ALS, and Apple Super Ser. MXO-APCC.AQM Port Apple 2, various serial cards (same as AP12???) MXO-CT14.AQM Modem CTS Companion modem (new CTS modems are SM14 compat.) MXO-DB10.AQM Port Dynabyte DB 8/1 MXO-DP10.AQM Port Datapoint 1560 MXO-DT10.AQM Modem DATEC 212 MXO-EP12.AQM Port Epson QX-10 (external modem only) MXO-GB11.AQM Port CompuPro Interfacer 3/4 (2661 UART) MXO-H812.AQM Port Heath/Zenith H89 (8250 UART) MXO-HZ13.AQM Port Heath/Zenith Z100 MXO-II12.AQM Port InterSystems VIO MXO-IM11.AQM Modem Cermetek Info-mate 212A modem MXO-KP42.AQM Mixed All Kaypros, internal modem or external Hayes compat. MXO-KPS4.AQM Mixed All Kaypros (alternate to KP41???) MXO-LO15.AQM Port Lobo Max-80 MXO-MD11.AQM Port Morrow Micro Decision: watch BIOS equate!! MXO-MG10.AQM Port Mega Z80 SBC: Z80 darts with CTC's MXO-MM10.AQM Port Morrow Multi-I/O board and/or 8250 ACE MXO-MM2 .AQM Mixed Apple 2: Super Ser w/Novation J-CAT (dialing supported) MXO-MR10.AQM Port Morrow Micro-Decision (same as MD11???) (Z80 Dart) MXO-NA1 .AQM Port NorthStar Advantage MXO-NE11.AQM Port NEC PC-8001A MXO-NE88.AQM Port NEC PC-8001A (alternate to NE11??) MXO-N815.LBR Port Yet another NEC implementation MXO-NS11.AQM Port N* Horizon, std ports or HSIO-4 or Seattle Multi-port MXO-OA11.AQM Port Otrona Attache MXO-OC10.AQM Mixed Osborne-1 with COMM-PAC modem MXO-OS15.AQM Port Osborne-1 (6850 ACIA) MXO-OS22.AQM Port Osborne-1 (seems to be different from OS14??) MXO-OX11.AQM Port Osborne Executive MXO-P1-1.AQM Port PMC Micromate 101 (CP/M+ only!) MXO-PM22.AQM Mixed PMMI S-100 modem MXO-PR10.AQM Modem Penril 300/1200 AD and compatibles (Rixon) MXO-QX10.AQM Port Epson QX-10 (alternate to EP12 ???) MXO-R211.AQM Port Tandy TRS-80 MOD 2 MXO-RP10.AQM Port Tandy TRS-80 MOD 4 with CP/M + MXO-RS13.AQM Port Tandy TRS-80 MOD 4 With Montezuma CP/M 2.2 MXO-RV15.AQM Modem Racil-Vadic models VA212 and VA3451 MXO-SB12.AQM Port Intertec Superbrain MXO-SC10.AQM Modem Novation Smartcat modem MXO-SM13.AQM Modem Hayes and Hayes compatible ("official" SM version) MXO-SM14.AQM Modem Hayes, with hardware-dependancies (NOT SUPPORTED!!!) MXO-SS10.AQM Port Advanced Digital Super-6/Super Quad (see also -ADxx) MXO-SY21.AQM Port Sanyo MBC-1000 MXO-TD30.AQM Port TurboDOS comms channels (somewhat hardware dependant) MXO-TV11.AQM Port TeleVideo TS-802 MXO-UD10.AQM Modem UDS 212 A/D (see also MXM-UDxx) MXO-UR13.AQM Mixed US Robotics S-100 (see also MXM-USxx) MXO-VP10.AQM Modem Ventel MD212-Plus auto-dial modem MXO-VTL1.AQM Modem Vental with Otrona Attache (note hardware dependencies) MXO-XE12.AQM Port XEROX 820 and 820-II (Z80 SIO) MXO-Z321.AQM Port OSM Zeus 3 OTRONMEX.LBR Port Complete Otrona implementation (based on -OA10, not 11) MXO-AM10.AQM Port Ampro little board: SIO w/CTC as Baudrate gen MXO-DV10.AQM Port Davidge DSB-4/6 SBC: NEX 7201 MPSC I/O chip MXO-SX10.AQM Port Starplex (Nat'l Semi): 8251 w/8253 baud-rate gen MXO-IF10.AQM Port Informer Computers: 6840 UART MXO-MW10.AQM Modem Racal-Vadic MAXWELL MXM-CM11.AQM Modem Paul Traina's Cermetek/Infomate 212A modem overlay MXM-CQ11.AQM Modem Concord Data sys 224 ARQ/AD MXO-K484.AQM Mixed Kaypro 4/84 with internal modem MXO-PX8.AQM Port Dave Kozinn's Epson PX-8 overlay MXO-PX8.DQC ---- Doc for the PX-8 overlay MXO-TSA.AQM Port Toshiba T100 w/John Sojak's serial adapter card MXO-AL11.AQM Port Altos 580 MXO-MC10.AQM Port Magic Computer PC-88 MXO-SD10.AQM Port Sierra data SBC-100 MXO-VT11.AQM Port DEC VT-180 MXO-XE2U.AQM Mixed Xerox 820-II MXO-ZB11.AQM Port Zorba MXO-AP31.AQM Mixed Apple 2 w/ Mountain Hardware or PCPI, Hayes modem MXO-AP50.AQM Mixed Apple 2e w/PCPI, Super serial card, Hayes modem MXM-RT10.AQM Modem Racal-Vadic 3451 Autodial modem MXO-BB11.AQM Port Big-board I / Xerox 820, 820-II ------------------------------------------------------------ Notes ----- 1) Some hardware configurations seem to have more than one overlay writen for them (for example, the Advanced Digital Super Six); rather than try to evaluate all -- a difficult proposition when we don't have the hard- ware available for testing -- we'll maintain all versions on this list, until advised by users that one supercedes or obsoletes another. 2) The SM14 overlay listed above has introduced some hardware dependencies to the SM13 code; the reason for this is understandable (and probably somewhat desirable), after examining the source code. We feel most strong- ly, however, that Modem-type overlays contain NO hardware depencies what- ever, no matter how good the reason. Therefore, while we'll likly maintain SM14 on the NightOwl Connection for a time, any future changes must NOT contain any hardware-dependant code if they're to be officially sanctioned. ---------------------------------------------------------------- RCPM System operators: please leave the following blatently commercial section intact. We realize it may violate the pol- icy of some systems, but it is only through commercial avail- ability of NightOwl products that MEX overlay information can be maintained. Thank you for your indulgence in this. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Commercial: NightOwl Software, Inc., is the company that's been formed to provide support for MEX, both now, and in future releases of MEX and MEX-compatible products. NightOwl is currently offering subscriptions to the NightOwl Connection, a service available over phone lines at 300, 1200 and 2400 baud (yes, 2400, and on all incoming lines), 24 hours daily. NightOwl Connection subscribers reap the benefit of a large database of the "best" of the public-domain world, a proprietary software base of programs written by NightOwl (and available only to NightOwl Connection subscribers), access to our MexPlus enhanced 8-bit Communications program (available now, see information at the end of this file for variants of the sign-up policy), a 10% discount on all NightOwl authored software products (and absolutely FREE updates for as long as you maintain your subscription), and up-to-the- minute information on the MEX communications programs. The NightOwl Con- nection now holds about 6 MB of PCDOS and related files. The Connection subscribership is growing at a daily rate; we've already com- pleted our first system expansion: we're now at 2 incoming system lines and 56 MB of disk space, and are poised to expand to as many as 12 incoming lines as we take on users (in fact, that's how many lines we've reserved with the telephone company). The subscription rate is $100 for the first year and $50 per year thereafter; this is called an "A" class membership, and includes a copy of MexPlus, available for downloading, with your subscription. A special "C" class membership is now available for $50/year, that includes access only to the public domain software. Visa/Master Card accepted: call 1-800-NITEOWL (in Wisconsin, call 414-563-4013) to order on your charge card. Or write us for more information: NightOwl Software, Inc. Route 1, Box 7 Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Note: We are now shipping MEX-PC, a version of MexPlus written specifically for the IBM-PC. The price is $59.95 + 5.00 s/h ($53.95 + $3.00 s/h to NightOwl Connection subscribers -- limit one (1) per subscriber). Price includes a 180-page User's Guide, plus diskette. 2400 baud modems! ----------------- NightOwl is now a dealer for U.S. Robotics Courier 2400 modem; this modem is an excellent Hayes-compatible, priced at $200-$300 below competing modems, with no compromise in quality and features. We're offering several specials, including subscriptions to the NightOwl Connection and/or MEX-PC, when purchased with a Courier. We're currently offering the modem, by itself, for $525 plus shipping; the bundled packages are described in the NightOwl Catalog (NITE-CAT.00? on many RCPM systems, including the FortFone system at 414-563-9932, 24 hrs, 300/1200 & shortly, 2400. This is the modem that we are now using on the NightOwl Connection, by the way; they were an easy replacement for the previous 1200-only models used on the Connection. -------------- MexPlus ------- We've had so many inquiries about our MexPlus software that we thought we'd better include some information here. So what follows is a gen- eral rundown on the current features of MexPlus (including the IBM-PC version). MexPlus supports a real-time clock overlay and a terminal overlay;¨ script files (i.e., READ files) can print menu-oriented screens, using new commands like @ x,y say ACCEPT Six string variables are supported, each of which may be 32 characters in length. You can accept input from the console to a string, wait for a particular string from the modem, wait for a date or time-of-day, and view the text buffer. Conditionals are now supported in script files, along with two numeric variables. Properly modified overlays can be dynamically installed using the LOAD command. You can time-date stamp your ASCII capture files, customize your STAT screen, put MEX commands under keys (as key-strings) for use at com- mand level. There is an EXI.MEX that works similarly to INI.MEX, except that it runs when you exit MEX. GLOBAL READ lets you force the operator to stay in a script file, for dedicated applications. Script files can "WAIT SILENCE", to skip past a block of incoming text (while copying to a term file, if you choose). There are line drawing commands for scripts (BOX, VLINE, HLINE, DRAW), useable if a terminal overlay is installed. The INSTALL command lets you load supplementary modules (one of which is the REMOTE module, which lets you call in from a remote location and run MEX, password-protected. This is an optional module, that sells for $30, but is included with NightOwl Connection subscriptions -- as are all the optional modules). The 8086 version has a larger text buffer (allocated in its own segment), and change-dir, remove-dir and make-dir commands. The IBM implementation has an interrupt-driven "front end" that defaults to 16K, but can be SET to between 1K and 63K; you can SHELL another program (the text keeps coming into the interrupt buffer, so you don't lose anything while run- ning your spreadsheet, for example, unless the buffer fills up). There's much more coming, including Kermit protocol, VT100 and TVI920 emulation, a video-oriented full-screen editor, for modifying the text buffer (an add-on module, but again, subscribers to our system get all¨ the add-on modules as they become available), nestable scripts (scripts can be chained in the current versions, but not nested), terminal-mode status line, split-screen (for CB) and more. We're considering X-PC and CIS 'B' protocols, but haven't made a firm decision on either. The 8086 version is $59.95 +$5 s/h, and comes with a 180-page ring- bound and typeset manual (unfortunately, the 8-bit doc is still being written, so we have documentation for that one only on disk for now; but then the 8-bit version is $10 less, for that reason. When the 8-bit manual is complete, it will be available for $10). The best way to stay current is to subscribe to the NightOwl system, if you can afford the phone bills (!). It's $100 if you want to download all the software; you can select access to either the 8-bit or 16-bit version at the time you subscribe. For $105, we'll send you a disk with the cur- rent version of 8-bit MexPlus, along with your login information and pass- word. $115 will get you the MEX-PC version, along with the 180-page ring- bound manual. You can have both for a total price of $156.95 (MEX-PC with manual, MexPlus on disk, and a 1-year subscrption). All prices include shipping! Your subscription is good for 12 months (renewals are $50/year). Updates must be downloaded as they appear, but we can ship update disks for $10 plus a small shipping charge. Of course, you don't have to subscribe to the NightOwl system to take advan- tage of MexPlus and MEX-PC. Our update policy is simple: the price you pay for MexPlus or MEX-PC, less $10, is applied to a credit toward the next re- vision of MEX. Thus, the $59.95 you might have paid for MEX-PC v1.2 is worth $49.95 as a credit toward 1.4 (or 1.5; you can update whenever you like). You might want to consider purchasing MexPlus or MEX-PC with a NightOwl Con- nection subscription, ordering the software on disk for the few additional dollars, then checking in on the board occasionally for information on new releases. For $10 plus a small shipping charge, you can receive the updates on disk, and save the telephone call (and still take advantage of the hundreds of files available on the NightOwl system). ------------------------------------------------------------ Currently available terminal overlays for MexPlus: Televideo 920, 925, 950, 970 Most Kaypro computers Liberty Freedom 100 Dec VT100 Wyse We have clock support for the following configurations: All versions of TurboDOS, CP/M 3 or higher, or MP/M CompuPro System Support I Kaypro with built-in clock Kaypro's with the Legacy Real-time clock board QT clock board Computime Computerwatch We have an especially powerful implmentation of MexPlus for TurboDOS sys- tems, using the communications functions provided by the operating system. ------------------------------------------------------------