398 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
398 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
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DFXX IS BROKEN VERSION OF DFX
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DOS FILE EXCHANGE [1.1]
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=======================
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PROGRAM BY BLACKSMITH
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(C) 1982 BY ARROW MICRO SOFTWARE
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INTRODUCTION
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------------
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DOS FILE EXCHANGE (DFX) is a program for transferring DOS 3.3
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files between APPLE II computers that are equipped with the HAYES
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MICROMODEM II*.
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DFX supports an APPLE to APPLE terminal "CHAT" mode that allows
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both ends to type messages to each other at the same time that
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files are being transferred.
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HARDWARE REQUIRED
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-----------------
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APPLE II 48K
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APPLESOFT in ROM or LANGUAGE CARD
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HAYES MICROMODEM II in slot 2
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DISK II in slot 6
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SOFTWARE REQUIRED
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-----------------
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DFX PRIMARY DISK
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DOS 3.3 SYSTEM MASTER
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INDEX
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-----
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HOW TO RUN DFX .....................2
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ERROR HANDLING .....................4
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LIMITATIONS ........................5
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INTERNALS ..........................5
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MAKING COPIES OF DFX ...............7
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* Indicates trademark of Hayes Microcomputer Products. Inc.
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APPLE is a registered trademark of APPLE COMPUTER INC.
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HOW TO RUN DFX
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--------------
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LOADING THE PROGRAM
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Run the program called DFX on the LOCAL and REMOTE APPLE II computers.
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The program makes a quick check to see if the phone line has a clean
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data carrier present, in which case DFX will accept the current call
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and present the M-$-& menu. If no carrier is detected, DFX will hangup
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the line and present the following C-& menu:
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C .... CALL ORIGINATION
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& .... BOOT DRIVE 1
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WAITING FOR CALL
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The "WAITING FOR CALL" message means that the system will auto-answer
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the telephone if a RING is detected.
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PLACING THE CALL Type "C" to originate call. Then type the telephone
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number of the other APPLE as requested and let DFX dial the number via
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the modem. If an answer is received within 30 seconds, the call will
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be connected and the following M-$-& menu presented.
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M .... MASTER MODE
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$ .... HANGUP LINE
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& .... BOOT DRIVE 1
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CHAT MODE
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A flashing cursor near the bottom left of the screen indicates that
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you are in CHAT mode connection with the other APPLE. Likewise, the
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REMOTE APPLE will be in in CHAT mode connection with you. This means
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that you may type messages to each other within a three line scroll
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area just above the STATUS display line at the bottom of the screen.
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All the non-control characters may be typed, and in addition, the
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control-G will ring the bell. The LEFT ARROW key will backup the
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cursor as far as the left margin.
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FUNCTION MODE
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To select any of the MENU items, you must toggle your keyboard from
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CHAT to FUNCTION mode by using the FORWARD ARROW key.
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THE STATUS DISPLAY
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As you play with the CHAT-FUNCTION toggle, you will notice that at the
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bottom right of the screen in the STATUS display there is a "C" or "F"
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indicating the current state of the LOCAL APPLE. If the REMOTE starts
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to toggle his CHAT-FUNCTION state, you will see his current state at
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the left of the STATUS display.
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HANGING UP THE LINE
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Selecting "$" will hangup the telephone line and within about 15
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seconds, both APPLES will reset to the original C-& menu and the
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WAITING FOR CALL state.
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RETURNING TO DOS
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Selecting "&" will leave the telephone line connected and cause the
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system to BOOT from DRIVE 1.
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TRANSFERRING FILES
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To transfer files, one of you must take control of the total system.
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This means that one of you elects to become the "MASTER" and the other
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end becomes the "SLAVE". To become the MASTER, type "M" from the
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FUNCTION mode and if you succeed in becoming MASTER the REMOTE menu
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will be replaced by the message:-
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[CONTROLLED BY REMOTE]
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You will be presented with the S-R-E menu:-
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S .... SEND LOCAL FILES
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R .... RECEIVE REMOTE FILES
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E .... EXIT MASTER MODE
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You can toggle between CHAT and FUNCTION mode at any time, but when
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ready to select from the menu, you must be in FUNCTION mode.
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Selecting the "E" menu item will relinquish MASTER control and return
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both APPLES to the M-$-& menu.
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SELECTING FILES FOR TRANSFER
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Insert into DRIVE 1 any disk that contains files to be sent or has
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space for files to be received and select "S" or "R" from the menu.
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The APPLE that holds the files to be sent will read the CATALOG from
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its disk and send a copy to the other APPLE. When both ends have
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copies of the CATALOG displayed, the MASTER end can select the files
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to be transferred. This is done by moving the selection cursor up and
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down the screen with the < and > (or , and .) keys while in FUNCTION
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mode. The MASTER end toggles the file selection with the SPACE bar and
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both ends can see which files have been selected. When ready to start
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the file transfer, type CONTROL-C.
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While your disk is actually being accessed, you will be barred from
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using the keyboard, but at all other times, including file
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transmission, you may select CHAT mode and converse with the other
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end.
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WATCHING THE DATA GO BY
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There are three display screens supported by DFX. They are called the
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MENU, UTILITY and the GRAPHIC screens. You may switch from the current
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MENU screen to either the UTILITY or GRAPHIC screen at any time. The
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ESC key toggles your APPLE between the three screens and the STATUS
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line shows a U, G or M so that you know where you are. You can even
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see which screen the REMOTE is currently selecting by looking at the
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left side of the STATUS line.
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THE UTILITY SCREEN
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This shows the Receive and Transmit data streams and an extension of
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the CHAT scroll area. In FUNCTION mode, the < and > (or , and .) keys
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move the small arrow under the data stream left and right. The
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hexadecimal values of the two indicated data stream characters are
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displayed at the right. A count of the total characters Received and
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Transmitted is displayed on the left.
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THE GRAPHIC SCREEN
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The GRAPHIC screen shows 32 blocks of any file in transit. If it is a
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HIRES picture file, the sender will see the picture as loaded from
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disk, while the receiver will see it slowly appear. There are no valid
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FUNCTION mode keys while using the GRAPHIC screen.
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ERROR HANDLING
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--------------
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FAILURE TO GAIN MASTER CONTROL
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If you both managed to type "M" almost simultaneously while attempting
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to become MASTER, then you will both get a NOT ACCEPTED BY REMOTE
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message.
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If you have placed a call to another computer that is not running DFX,
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then you will get the NOT ACCEPTED BY REMOTE message after typing
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"M".
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DISK ERRORS
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If disk errors occur, both ends will be informed by a message at the
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top of the MENU screen. The MASTER end will be asked to type a SPACE
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in FUNCTION mode to terminate the file transfer and the system will
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reset to the S-R-E menu.
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TRANSMISSION ERRORS
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During file transmission, each block of 256 bytes has a checksum
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appended so if line errors occur, the checksum will not match the
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receivers calculated checksum. A RESEND PREVIOUS BLOCK signal (NAK)
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will be returned by the receiver and the block will be resent.
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However, no error correction is applied to the CHAT sequences.
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INTERUPTION OF FILE TRANSFER
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Once a selection of files has been made and transmission started,
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either end may ABORT the process without dropping the telephone line.
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Select the UTILITY screen, FUNCTION mode and type SHIFT-CONTROL-P.
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This will signal the REMOTE APPLE to close any open files and return
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to the M-$-& menu. If successful, the LOCAL APPLE will then do the
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same. If either APPLE was in the middle of a disk access at the time,
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you may have to repeat the sequence again.
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LIMITATIONS
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-----------
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* All disk functions refer to DRIVE 1.
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* The HAYES MICROMODEM II must be in slot 2.
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* All files must be in standard DOS 3.3 format. (APPLESOFT, INTEGER,
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BINARY or TEXT).
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* If the sender's CATALOG has more than 38 files, only the first 38
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will be displayed for possible transfer.
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* If the sender's CATALOG has more than 19 files, the display will
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show all file names truncated after the 12th character. However, the
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file names up to the 30th character are still used internally.
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* At least one end must be running an original DFX PRIMARY DISK as
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provided by ARROW MICRO SOFTWARE. The other end may be a SECONDARY
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copy produced by any suitable file copy program, bit copier, or by the
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DFX PULL-THROUGH (DPT) utility. If you attempt to run SECONDARY copies
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of DFX in both APPLES, you will be permitted to place the call, CHAT
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and select files; but you will not be permitted to transfer any files.
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The slowly flashing "*" at the centre of the STATUS line will break
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into a fast flash if both ends are running SECONDARY copies of DFX.
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Also, the message:-
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[NO PRIMARY DFX DISK]
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will be displayed when you enable the M-$-& or S-R-E menu. If you
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attempt to transfer files between two SECONDARY copies of DFX, you
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will be forced to press RESET which will drop the line and reboot.
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INTERNALS
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---------
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DFX is a small APPLESOFT program that loads and executes four binary
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program segments.
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MODEMSUB.OBJ is the operating system that supports the three screens,
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CHAT-FUNCTION, STATUS display and modem.
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DFXAPPLN.OBJ is the File Transfer Application routine.
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DFXAPPLNMSG.OBJ contains all the messages for DFXAPPLN.OBJ.
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DFXGSODS.OBJ makes various modifications to DOS 3.3 and initializes
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all variables. It then evaporates.
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DFXDOCUMENTATION is a formatted text file of this documentation.
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DOC is a rather slow and simple minded APPLESOFT program that prints
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the DOCUMENTATION file to a printer in slot 1.
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DPT is an APPLESOFT program that will send a copy of the DFX files to
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a REMOTE.
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GETTING OUT OF DFX
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When exiting from DFX, it is necessary to reboot the system with a
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more normal DOS 3.3. The "&" character has been chosen as the menu
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selection character because it requires a SHIFT and "&" key to reach
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it. This helps avoid accidental reboots. Likewise, the "$" key is
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used in the M-$-& menu to hangup the line. Even then, you must be in
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FUNCTION mode.
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CHAT AND FILE TRANSMISSION
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The CHAT mode can coexist with the file transfer because, as you will
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see from the data stream on the UTILITY screen, all CHAT characters
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are preceded by a special ESCAPE character ($FE). When a $FE is found
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in the file data block, two of the special ESCAPE characters are sent
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and treated as only one at the other end.
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WHEN THE DISK IS ACTIVE
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The disk read and write routines prevent the APPLE processor from
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servicing the modem for short periods. In order to prevent any
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characters from being lost, the REMOTE APPLE is sent a special signal
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to prevent it from sending until given a second GO AHEAD message after
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the disk operation is finished. During this "lockout" period, the
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REMOTE APPLE will buffer any CHAT characters and delay their
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transmission until given the GO AHAEAD signal.
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DFX WITHOUT A TELEPHONE LINE
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There is a hidden menu character in the C-& menu that will be of
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interest to those users that have access to two APPLES in the same
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room. You may connect the two modems directly, back-to-back, without
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actually involving the telephone lines. To place a call, type "C" and
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at least one digit followed by a <RETURN>. Since there is no ring
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signal available to the answering machine, just type "P" (for pickup)
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and it will cycle through its answering program.
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MAKING COPIES OF DFX
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--------------------
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SECONDARY COPIES
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All the files on the DFX PRIMARY DISK may be copied to another disk
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that has been initialized by the INIT program on the DOS 3.3 SYSTEM
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MASTER. The result is a Secondary copy of DFX. The SECONDARY copy
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will inherit the same serial number as the original DFX disk but the
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letter "S" will be seen to be appended. (The serial number is
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displayed at the bottom left of the screen before any call has been
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placed.) You may make and distribute as many SECONDARY copies of DFX
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as you please, but remember that to be able to transmit files, one of
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the two APPLES must be loaded from an original PRIMARY copy of DFX
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which is obtainable from ARROW MICRO SOFTWARE.
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DFX PULL-THROUGH
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There is a utility program called DFX PULL-THROUGH (DPT) on the DFX
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PRIMARY DISK which will let you send a SECONDARY copy of DFX to
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another APPLE by using the neat facilities of the HAYES MICROMODEM II
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ROM. Here is what you do:-
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Call the user at the other end and tell him to BOOT the DOS 3.3 SYSTEM
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MASTER DISK. He should then remove the disk and insert a write enabled
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blank disk into drive 1. Warn him that this disk will soon be
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initialized and all existing files erased.
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THE PULL-THROUGH CALL
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Now you must get your APPLES connected together in the standard way as
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described in the HAYES MICROMODEM II manual. That is:-
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Let him type IN#2 <RETURN> so that you may place the call.
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Now you type IN#2 <RETURN>, control-A, control-H, control-A,
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control-Q. Enter the telephone number of the other APPLE and
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<RETURN>.
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When the connection has been established, type control-A, control-X to
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exit from TERMINAL MODE and then RUN DPT.
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Sit back and watch for about 8 3/4 minutes.
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WHEN DPT FINISHES
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He should now have a SECONDARY copy of the DFX files on his disk and
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DFX should be up and running on both APPLES.
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If all goes well, your DFX will be running a few seconds ahead of his
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and you will see his CHAT status "C" appear when his DFX starts up. It
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is now safe to chat to him. If you start chatting too soon, his system
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may hangup the line because he sees strange bits on the line while he
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is testing the connection.
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SENDING THE REST OF THE DFX FILES
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To complete the SECONDARY DFX file complement, you should now use DFX
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to send him the files called:- DOC, DFXDOCUMENTATION, ORDERING, HELLO
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and DFX. (HELLO and DFX are required to replace the temporary files
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sent by DPT.)
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COPYRIGHT
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---------
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This software product (DFX) is copyrighted and all rights are reserved
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by ARROW MICRO SOFTWARE. The distribution and sale of this product are
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intended for the use of the original purchaser only. However, lawful
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users of this program are hereby licensed to execute the DPT program
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to transmit a SECONDARY COPY of any of the DFX files to other users
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for the purpose of usefully executing the DFX program between APPLE II
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computers.
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Note: In any DFX to DFX communication, at least one end must run a
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PRIMARY COPY of DFX to work correctly.
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No warranty, either expressed or implied, is made with respect to any
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part of this software. The programs are sold "AS IS". In no event
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shall AMS be liable for any direct or indirect, incidental or
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consequential damages resulting from any defect in the licensed
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program.
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