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[ 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
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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.
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