RIPtel™ User's Guide
Welcome to RIPtel Visual Telnet™, the first multimedia Telnet browser
available for Microsoft Windows.
Commonly asked questions about RIPtel Visual Telnet, and telnet in general. If you're new to Telnet, then this would be a good place to start.
Step-by-step instructions on how to use RIPtel in everyday situations.
Answers to common questions, general information and legal information concerning this software.
Having difficulty? Here's how to solve those pesky problems.
RIPtel is just one of a suite of products available from TeleGrafix. Many other graphical communications tools are available supporting RIPscrip, including software for your favorite Web Browser.
Registration Information
See our Web site at www.telegrafix.com for current RIPtel pricing information. Inexpensive site licenses are available for corporate and institutional customers. Prices and terms are subject to change without notice. TeleGrafix accepts credit cards from American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Credit card orders will be shipped only to the billing address matching the customer's credit card account. Checks and money orders, payable in U.S. Dollars only, are also accepted. TeleGrafix accepts purchase orders from government institutions and businesses whose credit standing can be verified through Dun & Bradstreet.
You may purchase a license and register RIPtel in several ways:
(1) You can register directly from within RIPtel itself. Just choose the "Register Now!" option when RIPtel starts up, or choose "Register RIPtel" from the Help menu, or click on the "Unregistered Evaluation Edition" button on the System Menu. Depending on whether you have a serial number or not, you will be permitted to perform online registration, or online purchasing of the full RIPtel product. Note, all online registration and purchasing transactions are secured by an advanced encryption system that protects your serial numbers and credit card numbers from unscrupulous hackers.
(2) You can register electronically via our World Wide Web site at www.telegrafix.com. Select the "Buy Now!" option and choose "Electronic Purchasing" from there. Upon completion of the registration form, you will be provided with a serial number which will unlock RIPtel. Choose the "Registration" option from RIPtel's help menu to enter your serial number.
(3) You can register by phone by calling TeleGrafix directly at (540) 678-4050 in the United States. Our business hours are from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
(4) You can register by fax by sending your order to (540) 678-4052. Our fax is online 24-hours a day.
(5) You can register by sending a private e-mail message via the Internet to sales@telegrafix.com.
License registration orders submitted by telephone, fax or e-mail must include your full name, address, voice telephone number, fax number, e-mail address and credit card billing information. Your e-mail address is very important: licensing information (including your registration codes) and correspondence will be sent via e-mail.
Once you've successfully registered RIPtel, the registration option in the help menu will never appear again. Each serial number and activation code is unique and identifiable to your copy of the software. YOUR SERIAL NUMBER AND ACTIVATION CODE IS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION THAT CAN NOT BE DISCLOSED TO OTHERS. Disclosure of this information to others may be considered a violation of U.S. Copyright laws and may subject you to civil and criminal penalities, including fines of up to $100,000 per disclosure.
Purchase of a RIPtel license registration will entitle you to technical support from TeleGrafix. Unregistered users of RIPtel will be denied technical support both over the phone and via Email.
Remote Imaging Protocol, RIPaint, RIPscrip, RIPtel, RIPtel Visual Telnet, RIPterm, RIPweb, TeleGrafix, Telnet Tracker and Visual Telnet are trademarks of TeleGrafix Communications Inc. RIPmaster is a trademark of Advanced Systems Research. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders.
How to Locate Telnet Sites
Your first stop for Telnet information is TeleGrafix's Telnet Tracker site on the World Wide Web, a comprehensive gateway of hotlinks to popular Telnet directories and other resources available on the Internet. Access it at:
www.telegrafix.com/telnet
You can also click the "Questions" button from the RIPtel System Menu, then click on "Telnet Sites". This will automatically launch your configured Web browser and go to the Telnet Tracker web site.
Using RIPtel
Configuration
Connecting to the Outside World
Frequently Used Features
Miscellaneous Features
Changing the default text font
Different macros for different systems
Redrawing a menu on a host system
Search strings and search macros
The ICONS directory (resource files)
Default Text Window Font
RIPtel supports five different fonts for your online sessions. The default font is an 80x25 font. This easily readable font is quite popular with many people, but some "die-hard" users want to pack as much information onto the screen as possible. To change the default font, choose the RIPtel Setup option and change the "Default font" setting. The available fonts in RIPtel are as follows:
80x43
91x43
80x25
91x25
40x25
Toolbench
The toolbench is a place where you can create and run your own user-defined programs. Do you find that you are frequently running a particular program while you're connected to a system? Simply go into the toolbench and double-click on a vacant entry and you can enter the information necessary to run that program. From that point on, you can launch that program from within RIPtel just by choosing its name from the Tools menu.
To launch a program listed in the toolbench, just double-click on its name. You can also click on the program and choose the "Run" option.
To edit an existing tool, or create a new one, highlight the entry to be modified and choose the "Edit" option.
For more detailed information about the toolbench, consult the following sections:
Clearing (erasing) an existing tool
Clearing a User-Defined Tool
If you have a tool on the toolbench that you no longer want, you can erase it by highlighting it and choosing the "Clear" option. You will be asked if you really want to erase the tool. If you choose to erase the tool, its configuration is lost forever.
Editing a User-Defined Tool
Editing a tool is pretty easy. You have some relatively powerful capabilities at your fingertips for controlling what program to execute, what you want it to do, and when you want it to be run. There are two distinct sections to the tool editor - basic settings and automatic execution. See the sections below for more detailed information on each of these subjects:
Basic Settings
The basic settings for a tool control what program is to be run, and where it is located. You can also give it a nice descriptive name and define a keystroke combination that will automatically launch the tool without having to use the toolbench or the menu system.
Automatic Execution
Automatic execution allows you to run a tool whenever a particular file is downloaded. This is a very useful shortcut. Use this option for things like automatically printing text files after you download them, viewing image files, and much more.
Browsing for the Tool Executable
If you aren't sure where the program is located on your computer, or what the correct tool command line should be, you can choose the "Browse" option to search your hard drive(s) for the program's executable. Once chosen, a file listing will be displayed. Simply navigate through your computer until you find the desired program. Remember, only files ending in .EXE, .COM or .BAT may be used as tools in RIPtel.
If you find the desired program, simply click the "Open" button on the browser and the full command line will be entered into the tool editor window for you.
Specifying a Tool's Command Line
The tool command line is what the toolbench needs to know in order to run your tool. It not only identifies the location on your computer of the desired tool, but also the name of the tool's program file. Program files have filenames that end in extensions of .EXE, .COM and .BAT. No other files are executable from the toolbench.
If you do not know the proper command line for your program, then you should choose the "Browse" option to search your computer for the proper tool program file.
There are some special things you can do in the command line option of the toolbench. Most notably, you can use any text variable or picklist command you wish. See the section on host commands for more detailed information on these special command codes.
One special option that you can use in the command line is the $FILENAME$ option. When this option is listed after the program filename, the toolbench will perform special processing. If the tool was launched as the result of downloading a particular file, that file's full name and location will be substituted in place of the $FILENAME$ option. This is a great way of telling the launched program what file it should process. See the section on automatic tool execution for more detailed information about this operation.
If the tool wasn't launched as the result of a file transfer (i.e., it was launched manually), then the toolbench will display a file browser allowing you to choose a file to work with. If you choose the "Cancel" option from the browser, the application will be launched with no filename.
If you wish to use special MS-DOS commands like DIR, TYPE, etc., you must use a special command line because these are "internal" DOS commands, not actual program files. To use these commands, you would use a command line similar to the following:
c:\command.com /K type $FILENAME$
This would force the toolbench to launch an MS-DOS command interpretter and instruct it to use the "type" command to show whatever file is stored in $FILENAME$.
Choosing a Hotkey for a Tool
You can activate a tool by specifying a tool hotkey in the tool editor. Just place the cursor in the field labeled "Run this program when this key is pressed" and type the keystroke you want to use. The name of the keystroke will automatically be entered into this field.
WARNING:Do not use normal keystrokes like "A-Z" or numbers. This would cause RIPtel to automatically run your tool when you type that keystroke. If you are using RIPtel to connect to an online system, you could easily launch your tool when you didn't intend on it simply by typing in a word or a phrase. Use more elaborate keystroke combinations like ALT-R, F3, Ctrl-Alt-T, etc.
When you create a hotkey for a tool, it will automatically be listed next to the tool's name in the Tool Menu for quick reference.
If you are editing a tool, and you wish to delete the hotkey entirely, highlight the name of the hotkey with your mouse and type CTRL-X (i.e., cut).
Special Note:Under Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, choosing F1 as the hotkey will cause some unusual behavior. When you type the F1 key, a help screen will appear showing information about hotkeys (this screen). Simply close the help screen and the phrase "F1" will be displayed in the hotkey field. This happens because Windows automatically displays the help system when F1 is pressed.
Naming a Tool
You may give a tool any name that you wish. Try to use a name that indicates the purpose of the tool. If you do not enter a name for a tool, the tool's command line will be used in the toolbench listing and the Tool menu.
If you wish to give the tool an underlined hotkey in the Tools menu, place an ampersand in front of the desired hotkey (e.g., "&Microsoft Word" will show up as "Microsoft Word" in the Tools menu.
Launching Tools After Files are Downloaded
One of the more powerful aspects of the toolbench is its ability to automatically launch a particular application after a certain type of file is downloaded. For example, if you frequently download .PNG graphics files, you can view these images immediately after downloading them by instructing the toolbench to run a PNG viewer program whenever a file ending in ".png" is received.
To launch a tool in this way, you have to turn on the automatic execution option. When enabled, the file extension option and the user confirmation option will be enabled, allowing you to custom tailor how you want this tool to be auto-executed.
In order for the toolbench to properly launch your tool, you will need to modify the tool's command line to instruct it to process the file you just downloaded. You do this by adding the option "$FILENAME$" immediately after the tool's program filename as in the following example:
c:\Utilities\Read-png.exe $FILENAME$
Now whenever a .png file is downloaded, it will run the program "Read-png.exe" located in the "c:\Utilities" directory. See the section on tool command lines for more detailed information.
Linking Particular Tools to Certain File Extensions
In order for auto-execution of tools to be useful, you have to instruct the toolbench what types of files will activate the tool. You do this by entering the three-character file extension that you intend on downloading. For example, if you wish to load Microsoft Word and view any Word document after you download one, you would type in ".doc" in the file extension field. This instructs the toolbench to launch the Microsoft Word tool whenever a .doc file is downloaded.
IMPORTANT:If you leave the extension field blank, the tool will be launched for any file you download! Be careful when leaving the extension field blank.
When a file is downloaded, the toolbench scans the list of tools from the top to the bottom, running the first applicable tool it finds. If more than one tool are defined for a particular file extension, only the first tool will be executed. If you decide to create a tool that will be used for all files (i.e., no extension), it would probably be a good idea to make it the last tool in the list. This would give other tools that you wish to use specifically a chance to be executed first, leaving the "catch all" tool at the bottom for processing of any other kinds of files.
Controlling Automatic Tool Execution
You can control how the toolbench will launch your tool. When a file is downloaded, and auto-execution finds a tool file extension that matches the newly received file, it will check the user confirmation setting for that tool. There are three possible settings for this option:
1.Always run this tool
2.Ask before running this tool
3.Never run this tool
The first option, "Always run this tool" is the default setting. It instructs the toolbench to run the tool immediately after downloading it, without giving you the chance to say "yes" or "no". Use this option when you will always want to run the tool for a particular file.
The second option, "Ask before running this tool" is for tools that you may not be sure whether or not should be launched. This gives you the ability to control whether the tool should be run when the file is downloaded. When a file with the tools file extension is received, you are asked if you wish to run the tool.
The last option, "Never run this tool" does exactly that. It will not run the tool. This effectively shuts off auto-execution of the tool.
A nice example of the "ask" option might be a tool that automatically executes any program files that you download. This might sound a bit dangerous, but using it in conjunction with the "ask" option allows you to be in control whether the program should be run or not. To run a program execution tool like this, enter a file extension of ".exe", and a command line similar to the following:
$FILENAME$
When any .exe files are downloaded, the toolbench will respond by asking you if you wish to run that program file. If you choose yes, the downloaded program will be executed (e.g., "c:\Riptel\program.exe").
Running a User-Defined Tool
To run a tool from the toolbench is very easy - just double-click on it. You can also run it by highlighting its name in the toolbench and choosing the "Run" option. Lastly, you can choose the desired tool from the Tools Menu.
Tools can also be launched automatically after certain types of files are downloaded. See the section on "automatically launching tools" for more detailed information.
Toolbench Tool Listing
On the toolbench you should find a listing of ten separate "tool slots". Each slot can hold a single tool that may be launched. If a slot is not in use, it will display the phrase "(vacant)", otherwise it will display the name of the tool. Normally the tool's name is displayed. In the event that you haven't given a tool a name, its command line will be displayed instead. If a tool is an auto-executing tool, it will have "(X)" displayed in front of it's name.
Vacant tools are waiting to be defined by you. To create a new tool in a vacant slot, just double-click on the vacant slot, or highlight it and choose the "Edit" option.
To run a tool from the toolbench, just double click on it's name, or highlight it and choose the "Run" option.
Using a Web Browser With RIPtel
RIPtel is designed to work with your favorite Web browser to give you very flexible navigation capabilities to explore the oceans of information existing on the Internet that are not part of the World Wide Web. Not only can the Web browser automatically launch RIPtel when a Telnet link is clicked on from a Web page, but RIPtel can also launch your Web browser. With its seamless integration, RIPtel offers a smooth back-and-forth transition to both the World Wide Web and the wonderful world of Telnet.
Here's some information about different Web aspects of RIPtel:
Integrating the World Wide Web and Telnet
Screen Wipes
The screen wipes option in the setup screen controls whether special effects are used when moving from one system menu screen to another. When this option is enabled, moving from one system menu screen to another will be done in a striking way - with screen wipe special effects. There are many different screen wipes that can be used when this option is on - wipes that peel the screen image off the screen, revealing the new menu behind it, and other such effects.
If you do not wish screen wipes to be active, or you experience slow performance due to your computer or video board, you may wish to disable this option.
Using an FTP Client
RIPtel allows you to configure an FTP client in setup. When defined, the "FTP client" option from the Tools menu will become available. When chosen, this option will launch the specified FTP client software on your computer's hard disk drive. This allows you to send or receive files with the thousands of FTP server sites on the Internet.
You must enter the full path and filename to your FTP program in the setup screen before the FTP option will work.
By default, RIPtel will search for FTP.EXE in your WINDOWS directory during installation. If it finds it there, then it will automatically define this option for you. If you are using some other FTP program other than the one that is included with Windows 95 or Windows NT, then you will need to enter the program file and path information here.
What is Telnet?
With the advent of the World Wide Web, millions of people have started "surfing" the Internet for the first time. As they enjoy the graphical gusto of the Web, many new users don't realize that other vast oceans of information resources reside on other parts of the Internet.
Most people who read don't limit themselves to books, but enjoy magazines and newspapers as well. Likewise, people watch television - but they also listen to radio. Using the Internet presents a similar multitude of choices like Web pages, Telnet sites and BBS systems.
The most powerful part of "the rest of the Net" has always been Telnet, a resource that has been around since the Internet was invented in the 1970's. Think of the World Wide Web as the Atlantic Ocean. Now think of Telnet as the Pacific Ocean, another vast frontier to explore that has its own unique attractions. There are thousands of Telnet sites worldwide containing a wealth of entertainment and information that is not available on the World Wide Web.
Telnet sites come in a wide variety of flavors. Some are corporate or government mainframe systems that are loaded with official databases and technical reports free for access by the general public. Many public and university libraries - including the U.S. Library of Congress - keep their book catalogs on Telnet sites. Scores of community "freenets" - free public access networks containing detailed local community information - are accessed via Telnet. The U.S. Government operates scores of public information and database sites that aren't on the Web, but can be easily toured via Telnet. And there are thousands of BBS systems offering everything from business information to games to online romance that are plugged into the Internet as Telnet sites.
Telnet has lagged behind the Web in popularity because most corporate and government Telnet sites rely on text-based character interfaces that can be difficult to navigate. It's hard leaving the point-and-click multimedia world of the Web for a Telnet system that uses a "command-line" interface and requires knowledge of arcane computer commands.
RIPtel Visual Telnet technology makes Telnet sites as easy to use as Web sites. It's a technological breakthough that brings rapid graphics and point-and-click ease of navigation to Telnet sites for the first time. If your favorite Telnet site doesn't use RIPscrip, you'll still be able to use RIPtel to access it - but all you will see is character-based ANSI text, not colorful graphics and multimedia. Please ask the SiteMaster or System Administrator to make their Telnet system easier to use with an upgrade to RIPscrip and Visual Telnet technology.
Telnet allows you to directly link your PC as a remote terminal to another Internet-connected computer, and that allows you to do things that are impossible on the Web. For instance, Telnet allows any PC user to harness the awesome power and resources of mainframe computers, and to remotely run programs on those big machines. You could use a PC in New York to compile data or test software on a mainframe in Singapore almost as easily as if you were sitting next to the big remote machine.
Web connections remain open just long enough to transmit a page of information, then close. If you want more information, the connection must be reopened, then it will close again quickly. Telnet connections stay open continuously while you're linked to the remote computer. That's why Telnet makes it much easier and faster to search databases, to create dynamic graphical charts on the fly, or to play speedy interactive games in real time with people from all over the planet.
Many Web pages have hyperlinks that allow you to jump to Telnet sites, and that is when Telnet communications software is needed. Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer don't include their own Telnet software. Instead, those Web browsers call up and launch a separate Telnet program. If you click on that Telnet hyperlink in your Web Browser, your configured Telnet program is loaded, and it connects to the remote Telnet site.
Accessing a Telnet site can be a little different from what you're used to on the Web. Typically, you log-in to the Telnet site with a User-ID and a password (although not all Telnet sites require this). If the Telnet site offers "public access", it will normally give you log-in instructions on the first screen of information displayed. Once you're approved, you have full-access to whatever databases or programs on that computer that the system operator authorizes. Frequently you'll be presented with a menu showing you what features, databases or programs are available on that system.
Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) are among the most popular Telnet sites. These online information services are very diverse in what they offer. Most BBS systems are entertainment oriented or are centered around a particular theme. Thousands of BBS systems worldwide are linked to the Internet via Telnet, and the numbers are growing daily. These systems attract customers who want more information or different online experiences than what's available on the World Wide Web. Contrary to what you may read in the popular press, BBS systems have not gone the way of the horse and buggy in the Internet era. Instead, they are becoming both an alternative and supplement to the Web.
At TeleGrafix, we believe that BBS, Telnet and Web systems will blend together as the Internet becomes an ever more powerful force in our lives. System operators and Internet consumers will use whichever online technology is most appropriate for the way they want to display, manipulate and use information. Web sites may suffice for displaying and linking static pages of information, but Telnet sites will be used for dynamically changing information products (such as databases, mapping and games) where the speed and interactivity provided by a constant connection is important. Different types of information will be found on Telnet and Web sites as they both become recognized as being complementary parts of the Internet, just as radio and TV stations carry different types of content, yet are both considered to be complimentary parts of over-the-air broadcasting.
Many BBS Telnet sites already support RIPscrip graphical interfaces. The RIPscrip multimedia used in RIPtel Visual Telnet was pioneered in the BBS industry starting in 1992, and it became an overnight success. Thousands of telephone dial-up BBS systems around the world already offer a point-and-click graphical user interface similar to the World Wide Web. BBS system operators are now rushing to get their systems connected to the Internet through Telnet connections. Now that RIPtel Visual Telnet is available, you can reach many of these graphical BBS systems via the Internet in a familiar and intuitive way.
The hard part about Telnet is knowing where to visit. Telnet sites aren't linked together like Web pages are, although the Web does provide links to many Telnet systems. If you want to find Telnet sites that you can access, you could go to one of the many search engines on the World Wide Web and search for "TELNET SITES". Another popular search phrase is "TELNET and GAMES" to find Telnet sites that offer online entertainment.
Some Telnet sites are subscription services and require payment in order to use their features, but most can be accessed without charge. Telnet sites that do require paid subscriptions typically offer some limited "trial usage" of the system so you can sample it before paying anything.
There are also several directories, such as HYTELNET and lists of Telnet-connected BBS systems, that are available on the World Wide Web to help you find Telnet sites. You can access these resources through TeleGrafix's "Telnet Tracker" gateway on the World Wide Web at "www.telegrafix.com/telnet"..
Please see the section "How to Locate Telnet Sites"
Reference Information
Licensing and Legal Information
General Information
Using a Web Browser with RIPtel
What Telnet Sites are Out There?
Advanced Tips and Tricks
Changing the default text font
Using Netscape with RIPtel
You may configure RIPtel to load your World Wide Web browser whenever you choose the Web option from the File menu, or whenever the host system tells RIPtel to jump to a Web location. To setup RIPtel to load your Web Browser in these situations, either let the Install program detect your Web Browser, or you can configure it yourself from the Setup screen.
To configure your Web Browser from the setup screen, simply enter the complete path to the Web Browser executable. Here are some common examples for Netscape Navigator and Netscape Communicator:
PlatformBrowserPath
Windows 95CommunicatorC:\Program Files\Netscape\Navigator\Program\Netscape.exe
Windows 95Navigator 3.0C:\Program Files\Netscape\Navigator\Program\Netscape.exe
Windows 95Navigator 2.0C:\Netscape\Netscape.exe
Windows 3.1NavigatorC:\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE.EXE
Windows 3.1NavigatorC:\WINDOWS\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE.EXE
If you are unsure where your Web Browser is located on your hard disk, you can find out very easily by using the "Browse" option. The following are some descriptions of how to locate Netscape under different editions of Microsoft Windows:
Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0
Locate the icon for your Web Browser. If you have one already on your desktop as a "shortcut", you're halfway there. Simply right-click on the icon and a popup menu will appear. Choose "Properties" from the menu, and at the top of the popup dialog, choose the "Shortcut" tab. The information you need to enter into RIPtel is contained in the "Target" data entry field. This is the complete path location to your Web Browser on your hard disk. Once you have found this information, type it into the "Web Browser" option in RIPtel's setup screen. Be sure not to enter any double quote marks (") in the data entry field - RIPtel handles this for you.
If you do not have a shortcut created on your desktop, open up "My Computer" and locate the Web Browser executable. Once you've found that, click the left mouse on it and "drag" it onto your desktop. You have just made a "shortcut" to your Web Browser right there on your desktop. Follow the instructions in the preceding paragraph to configure RIPtel for your Web Browser. After this step is complete, you may click on the Web Browser icon on your desktop and hit the "Delete" key to remove it from your desktop (note, this will not delete your Web Browser, just the shortcut).
Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.51
Locate the icon for your Web Browser from within the Program Manager. Click on it with your mouse using the left mouse button. Once the icon is highlighted, click on the file menu and choose "Properties". The information you need to enter into RIPtel is contained in the "Command line" data entry field. Simply enter that into RIPtel's setup screen for the "Web Browser" option and you're done.
Setting Up Netscape
Setting up Netscape Navigator or the new Netscape Communicator to load RIPtel for Telnet links is easy. It is basically the same operation for all versions of Netscape - simply changing one of the general preferences. Netscape Communicator has moved the location of the Preferences sub-menu, so we'll describe Netscape Navigator and Netscape Communicator separately.
Netscape Navigator (All Versions)
From within Netscape Navigator, choose the "General Preferences" command from the "Options" menu. You will be presented with a setup screen. Choose the "Apps" tab at the top of the setup screen to view the application program setup screen. On that screen, enter the location of RIPtel's executable in the "Telnet Application" field. If you don't know where RIPtel's executable program file is, you can use the "Browse" button on the right of the field. Typical locations for the RIPtel executable are:
Windows EditionLocation
Windows 3.1C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows NT 3.51C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows 95C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Windows NT 4.0C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Netscape Communicator
From within Netscape Communicator, choose the "Preferences" option from the "Edit" menu. You will be presented with a sub-menu of preferences. Choose "General Preferences" from this sub-menu. Next you will be see the general preferences setup screen. Choose the "Apps" tab at the top of the screen to view the application program setup screen. On that screen, enter the location of RIPtel's executable in the "Telnet Application" field. If you don't know where RIPtel's executable program file is, you can use the "Browse" button on the right of the field. Typical locations for the RIPtel executable are:
Windows EditionLocation
Windows 3.1C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows NT 3.51C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows 95C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Windows NT 4.0C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Note for Windows 3.1 Users Running Netscape:
Netscape Navigator for Windows 3.1 does not like to be run more than once. If you have accessed RIPtel from a web page with a Telnet link (i.e., where Netscape automatically loaded RIPtel for you), you may not be able to run Netscape from within RIPtel until you shutdown Netscape first. This appears to be a Netscape problem with Windows 3.1, and does not appear to affect Windows 95 or NT Netscape users.
Keyboard Guide for RIPtel
The following keystrokes are available in RIPtel. They allow you to quickly access features of the software without having to use the pulldown menus.
Activate Web BrowserALT-W
Add new bookmarkALT-F6
BookmarksALT-D
Capture text to fileALT-L
Clear screenALT-R
Command modeALT-Q
DisconnectALT-H
Exit RIPtelALT-X
FTP clientALT-N
Keystroke macrosALT-K
Local echoALT-F10
Manual connectionALT-M
Minimize windowALT-F7
Open audio fileALT-A
Open image fileALT-G
Open RIPscrip fileALT-I
Print screenALT-SHIFT-T
Receive filePgDn
Redraw menuALT-F5
Scrollback bufferALT-B
Send filePgUp
Search for HelpCTRL-F1
Send logon user-IDALT-F1
Send logon passwordALT-F2
SetupALT-S
Show mouse fieldsCTRL-ALT-M
Show System MenuALT-F12
TAB-key navigationALT-F8
ToolbenchALT-F9
These options are only available in "Full Screen" mode:
Connect popup menuALT-C
Edit popup menuALT-E
File popup menuALT-F
Help popup menuALT-F10
Options popup menuALT-O
Tools popup menuALT-T
Show All Mouse Fields
This option highlights all defined mouse fields in the current RIPscrip scene. All fields are numbered from 0 through the last field. Also, all simple mouse fields are labeled with the phrase "mse", and all button mouse fields are labeled "but" to distinguish between the various types of mouse fields. Also, if a field has an ID value associated with it, that ID value is displayed as well. Below the identification information is the actual host command that will be processed and/or transmitted when the field is clicked on.
This command is useful for debugging purposes, giving you the ability to poke into the scene and find out what is clickable and what isn't.
If you want to restore the screen back to its original graphical contents, switch away from the RIPtel window (i.e., ALT-TAB, or by minimizing the window), then bring the window back again.
Technical Support
Technical support is available to registered and licensed owners of the commercial edition of RIPtel. Customers using the Evaluation Edition of this software are not entitled to support from TeleGrafix Communications, Inc.
Technical support may be obtained in one of several ways. The fastest way of getting answers to your questions is to call TeleGrafix's offices Monday through Friday, from 9am to 5pm Eastern Time. Our Technical Support department is standing by to assist you in any way they can. They can be reached at (540) 678-4050.
You can also fax any questions to TeleGrafix at (540) 678-4052. You may also Email your questions to TeleGrafix through Internet Email. You may also leave questions to the Sysop account on our bulletin board system at (540) 678-4053. Technical support questions may be sent via Internet e-mail to support@telegrafix.com. We try to answer most inquiries within 24 hours, but a response may take up to five days during peak periods and holidays.
Another good source of information is our World Wide Web site at www.telegrafix.com. This site has a great deal of information available online, ready for your review, 24 hours a day year-round.
Finally, there are many files on our FTP site that might be of assistance to you. Everything from the latest releases of software, to technical bulletins, white papers and frequently asked questions (FAQ) documents. Our FTP site can be reached at ftp.telegrafix.com 24 hours a day year-round.
Other RIPscrip Products
TeleGrafix Products
RIPterm 2.0 for MS-DOS
RIPaint 2.0 for MS-DOS
RIP-2-C 3.0 developer tools
RIPscrip 3.0 protocol specification
Products Available Through TeleGrafix
RIPweb for Linux (soon to be released)
RIPmaster servers (from Advanced Systems Research)
Various RIPmaster server modules
Third-Party Terminals Supporting RIPscrip
ProComm Plus for Windows - from DataStorm Technologies
Telix for Windows - from deltaComm Development
Qmodem Pro for Windows - from Mustang Software
Qmodem Pro for MS-DOS - from Mustang Software
SoftTerm for Windows - from Softronics
WinRamp for Windows - from Veronics
SmartCom for Windows - from Hayes
ST-RIP for the Atari ST
AREXX extensions for the Amiga
Host Systems Supporting RIPscrip
RIPmaster (Unix and TBBS), from ASR
Searchlight BBS, from Searchlight Software
TBBS (The Bread Board System), from eSoft
The Major BBS/WorldGroup, from Galacticomm
Wildcat!, from Mustang Software
Remote Access
Kitten BBS
Solaris BBS
Synchronet BBS
Powerboard BBS
Renegade BBS
...and many more!
Contacting TeleGrafix
TeleGrafix may be contacted easily through the Internet, World Wide Web, or even your trusty postal service at the following location. Please send all customer correspondence to:
TeleGrafix Communications, Inc.
Attn: Customer Support Team
111 Weems Lane, Suite 308
Winchester, VA 22601-3600
United States of America
Voice:(540) 678-4050WWW:http://www.telegrafix.com
Sales:(540) 678-4051Email:sales@telegrafix.com
Fax:(540) 678-4052FTP:ftp.telegrafix.com
BBS:(540) 678-4053Telnet:telnet.telegrafix.com
The Bookmark System
The bookmark system of RIPtel is probably one of the most useful tools available. It allows you to define up to 1000 different systems that you connect with on a regular basis. You can customize the available settings for a particular system quickly and easily with the bookmark editor.
Bookmark Basics
Connecting to a system in the bookmark list
Adding new entries to the bookmark list
Highlighting entries in the bookmark list
Changing the Bookmark Listing's Appearance
Connecting to Systems in the Bookmark List
Connecting to a system listed in the bookmark list couldn't be easier. Simply double-click on the system listed on the display, and RIPtel will attempt to connect with the system. You may also highlight the system with your mouse, and choose the "Connect" option at the bottom of the bookmark listing.
Once you indicate that you want to connect to a particular system, RIPtel attempts to establish a connection with that system. The host address used for the system is defined in the bookmark editor for the system you chose (e.g., telnet.telegrafix.com, etc.)
Once the connection process actually begins, a status window is displayed to show you the progress of the connection.
When a connection is actually established, the caption bar at the top of the RIPtel window will change to the host name of the system you are connected with. When the connection to the system is broken for whatever reason, the name of the system is removed from the window's caption bar.
You may only select one system to make a connection. You may not tag multiple systems.
The Connection Status Window
The status window shows the current connection progress of RIPtel. It is displayed only when you are attempting to connect with a Telnet site on the Internet. It is designed to show you what is happening during the course of the connection phase.
Various pieces of information are displayed on the status window. At the top of the window is the name of the system you are try to connect with, otherwise known as the host name. An actual name will be displayed here only if you attempt to connect with a system through the bookmark system. If you are performing a manual connection to a system, then the system name will be displayed as "(Manual Connection)".
Below the host name is the host address. This is the Internet address that is being used to obtain a connection (e.g., "telnet.telegrafix.com").
To the right of the host address is the port number on the other end of the connection. Typically this will be set to the value "23", and shouldn't require changing. Some Telnet sites require that you connect to their system on a port number other than 23. These unusual systems typically specify their port number wherever they display their Telnet host address.
Below the host address and port number sections, is a display field for system notes. This is where any useful information about the system is displayed.
At the very bottom of the status window is a space showing the actual progress. Throughout the connection process, different messages will appear in here displaying the current status of the connection. Messages about contacting the system, waiting for replies and more will be displayed.
Host Address (Internet Addresses)
Host Address (Internet Addresses)
A host address is simply an Internet address for the system you wish to connect with via Telnet. An address is in the form address.com, or telnet.address.com and is the location on there Internet where the system exists. Host addresses never contain the "@" symbol or a user name (e.g., "webmaster@address.com" is not a valid Telnet address, but "address.com" is). Host addresses can also take on the form of an I.P. address. An I.P. address is four numbers separated by periods (e.g., "100.101.102.103" is a valid I.P. address. You will rarely use these, but you can if you ever need to.
Host Name
Host Name
A host name is just a name for the Telnet site. You may give the system your own name, or you may know what the name of the system is from some other source of information. For example, TeleGrafix's Telnet site is the home of RIPscrip graphics and might be given the name "TeleGrafix's RIPscrip Demo Site".
Port Numbers
Port Numbers
A port number is the "channel number" for the Telnet site. Many Telnet sites on the Internet provide a number of services (e.g., World Wide Web, FTP, Telnet, etc.) Each of these services are accessed through a particular channel number, or port number in the case of the Internet. Just like knowing that your favorite TV show is always on channel 7, Telnet sites are almost always on port number 23. Some systems are different, but they are relatively rare.
System Notes
System Notes
Every system that you add to your bookmarks can have a descriptive note attached to it. This let's you remember what a particular system is used for, or it could be a reminder that you have something to do on that system. The use of system notes is entirely up to you.
RIPtel's Caption Bar
RIPtel's Caption Bar
The caption bar of RIPtel is the title bar displayed at the top of the main RIPtel window. If displayed, it gives you useful information about what system you are currently connected. When you are not connected to any system, it says "RIPtel 3.1 - A Graphical Telnet Client".
Adding New Bookmarks
You may add up to 1000 entries to your bookmark listing. Each entry can be a completely different Telnet site, or they could be the same Telnet site, but accessing a Telnet service on another port number (e.g., channel). For example, TeleGrafix offers different Telnet services on different port numbers. See the TeleGrafix web page at www.telegrafix.com for more details about available Telnet sites.
To add a new bookmark, simply click on the "New" option. If you don't already have 1000 entries in your bookmark listing, you are placed in the bookmark editor where you can enter the information for the new Telnet site. Fill-in as much of the information that you want to, and choose "OK". The entry will be added to the end of your bookmark list.
When a new bookmark is added, it is displayed at the end of the list. When you accumulate a lot of bookmarks, you will find that you won't want new entries to be put at the end of the list. To change only a couple of entries around, you should swap bookmark entries. This let's you switch the positions of two entries quickly. To completely reorganize your entire bookmark listing, you will probably choose to sort your bookmark entries.
When you add a new bookmark, many of the settings are automatically "filled-in" for you by RIPtel. The settings that are preconfigured for you are taken from the basic RIPtel configuration and should be adequate to get you going. You should only have to change these settings if things don't appear correctly on the screen. See the bookmark editor for more detailed information about these options.
Once a new bookmark has been added, it is ready to be accessed. TeleGrafix has provided you with some existing bookmarks to get you started with some useful and interesting Telnet sites. This should be enough to get you going.
Changing the Bookmark Display
The bookmark listing has two display modes, "normal" and "alternate". Each display mode shows different information about the bookmarks.
Normal Mode
When in normal mode, the bookmark listing displays the name of the system (i.e., the host name), it's Internet address, or host address, and also any system notes that may be available for it. This is the most general display and shows you overall information about the systems in the bookmark list.
Alternate Mode
When in alternate mode, the bookmark listing displays the name of the system (i.e., the host name), the login user-id used to access the system, and the logon password that is required to access that account. Additionally, the total number of connections made to that site are listed as well as the date that you last connected to it.
You may change the bookmark display mode by choosing the "View" option. Whenever you choose this option, the bookmarks are toggled between normal and alternate display modes. The display mode of bookmark listing is preserved even when you quit the software. The next time you load RIPtel, the bookmark listing will use the same display mode that you had set the last time you used it.
Organizing Your Bookmarks
RIPtel provides two methods for organizing your bookmarks. You may "Swap" the locations of two bookmarks, or you can sort the entire bookmark list.
Swapping the locations of two bookmarks is easy. Follow these basic steps:
1Highlight the first bookmark by clicking on it.
2Highlight the second bookmark by holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on it. Two systems should be highlighted in the bookmark list.
3Choose the "Swap" option on the bookmark screen. The two entries should switch positions.
With the swap option, you can make minor changes to the bookmark listing easily. For example, to move an entry one position higher in the list, click on it, then SHIFT-click on the system immediately above it and choose the swap option. Keep doing that until the system is in the desired position.
Removing Bookmarks
Use the Remove bookmark option to remove old, undesirable systems from the bookmark listing. With as little as two clicks of the mouse, you can remove any bookmark in the system. In fact, you can remove more than one entry at a time.
Removing a Single Bookmark
Simply click on the bookmark that you wish to delete and choose the "Remove" option. You will be asked if you want to remove the desired bookmark from the listing. Simply respond by choosing the "Yes" option, and the bookmark will be removed. All systems listed below will be moved up one position.
Removing Multiple Bookmarks at the Same Time
To remove several bookmarks at the same time, you highlight multiple bookmarks before choosing the "Remove" option. You can either click the mouse on one of the bookmarks, and drag it down to highlight a range of systems, or you can use the SHIFT key while clicking on systems to highlight a range of bookmarks. Hold down the CTRL key while clicking the mouse to highlight additional bookmarks. When you have highlighted all of the bookmarks you wish to remove, choose the "Remove" option. You will be given one last chance to change your mind before the bookmarks are removed.
Highlighting Bookmarks
There are many ways to bookmark entries in the bookmark list. All of them involve using the mouse, and some require that you also use the keyboard. The following methods can be combined to achieve quite a few different ways of highlighting entries.
Highlight a Single Bookmark
To highlight a single bookmark, simply point to it with the mouse and click on it with the left mouse button. Any bookmarks currently highlighted will be un-highlighted, and the one you chose will be highlighted instead..
Range Highlighting by Dragging the Mouse
You can highlight multiple bookmarks in a range by clicking on the first bookmark with the left mouse button, and while the button is still being pressed, drag the mouse up or down. As you move the mouse, more bookmarks will be highlighted. Drag the mouse above or below the bookmark listing window to cause it to scroll and highlight more bookmarks. Release the left mouse button when you've highlighted all the bookmarks you want.
Range Highlighting by Using the Keyboard
You can highlight a range of bookmarks by single clicking on the first bookmark in the range (described above). Once the first bookmark is highlighted, hold down the SHIFT key on the keyboard and click on the last bookmark in the range. All bookmarks between the first and last ones you clicked on will be highlighted. You may "add" to the list of highlighted additional bookmarks by successively "SHIFT-clicking" on more bookmarks.
Highlighting Additional Bookmarks Individually
You can highlight individual bookmarks by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on the desired bookmark. Each time you click on a bookmark while holding down the CTRL key, will either highlight or un-highlight the specified bookmark. This is useful to highlight a number of bookmarks that are not next to each other on the list. You can also use this method to un-highlight a bookmark in a range of previously highlighted bookmarks.
Adding New Bookmarks
While you are online with a particular system, you can quickly add a bookmark to that system bo choosing the "Add Bookmark" command from the Connect menu. When chosen, the current Internet address for the system is automatically copied into the bookmark editor, and you are asked to enter some relevant information about the system. You are asked to enter only the most basic information about the system (e.g., a name for the system, some descriptive notes if you care to, and the login User-ID and password if you want). At the very minimum, you must enter a name for the system.
You may alter the Internet address for the bookmark at this time and/or the port number, but since they're already filled-in, you'll probably never need to do this.
Since you'll be asked to fill-in only the most basic information about the system, later on you may wish to customize the options for this system more fully. To do this, you load the bookmark list, then highlight the bookmark you wish to modify, and choose the Edit option. You'll be presented with more detailed configuration options for this site in the detailed bookmark editor.
Below are descriptions of the basic "Add Bookmark" editor options. For more detailed configuration options, see the Bookmark Editor.
Basic Bookmark Settings (Required)
These settings are required for all bookmark entries. They define what the system is, how to connect with it, and on what port number the system may be accessed by.
Miscellaneous Bookmark Options
These bookmark settings are entirely optional. They are intended to make your life easier when surfing around on the Internet. They are used as reminders, and may be used for just about any purpose.
Editing Bookmarks
The bookmark editor is used not only to modify existing bookmarks, but to add new ones as well. There are a number of basic editing options available which let you custom-tailor how RIPtel accesses that bookmark. With the diversity of systems out there on the Internet, many of the options available in the editor are unavoidable. We will discuss all of these options in depth so that you have a complete understanding of how they relate.
Basic Bookmark Settings (Required)
These settings are required for all bookmark entries. They define what the system is, how to connect with it, and on what port number the system may be accessed by.
Miscellaneous Bookmark Options
These bookmark settings are entirely optional. They are intended to make your life easier when surfing around on the Internet. They are used as reminders, and may be used for just about any purpose.
Advanced Bookmark Options
The advanced options in the bookmark editor are more involved than the previously described settings. They are generally used to control how RIPtel displays information when connected to the bookmark site. Depending on the type of software used on the remote system, you may have to change these settings to get things to display properly. When you create a new bookmark, these settings are "imported" from RIPtel's setup configuration, so you have a basic starting point to work from.
Sorting Your Bookmarks
Sorting the bookmark list is probably one of the most commonly used methods of organizing things. When you sort the bookmarks, all entries are reorganized based on some sorting method. There are five different sorting methods available, and two different ways of using them, giving you up to ten different ways to sort things.
The most important part of sorting your bookmarks, is to choose the correct sorting method. This defines how the sorting will occur. Do we sort the bookmarks by system name, or by date of last connection? That's what sorting methods are all about.
The second aspect of sorting is specifying the sorting direction. This determines how bookmarks are sorted. For example, if you were sorting bookmarks based on the name of the system, do you want systems starting with "A" to be at the top of the list, or at the bottom? That's all there is to it with sorting directions.
Sending and Receiving Files
Sending and receiving files is probably one of the more valuable aspects of RIPtel. These features allow you to transfer information to or from the remote system and your personal computer. With this option, you can electronically send your latest cost analysis spreadsheet to your boss, or download questionable recipe files for blowfish sushi.
Receiving Files (Downloading)
Receiving files is the most common way of transferring files between systems. Receiving a file involves the remote host system electronically "sending" the file to you over the Telnet connection. RIPtel uses a process known as Zmodem to transfer the file to your computer. Zmodem is a file transfer protocol that is used to control the transfer of the file, and to make sure that it is transferred 100% error-free. It is one of the fastest and most popular file transfer protocols available. It is also one of the most frequently used ways of transferring files on BBS systems, UNIX servers, and other online services.
To receive a file with Zmodem is an automatic process. Once the remote host system begins to send you a file with Zmodem, RIPtel automatically begins to receive the file. You don't have to do anything on your end. The only time that you would actually have to instruct RIPtel to receive a file is if it didn't auto-engage the Zmodem file transfer for some reason (a truly rare situation).
Files that are received with Zmodem are automatically stored in a directory called "FILES" under RIPtel's installed directory (e.g., "C:\RIPTEL\FILES"). If you would like to store received files in a different location, you need to define a "download directory". See the setup option to define a dowload directory.
RIPtel can automatically "resume" a file transfer that was interrupted. If you were receiving a file from a Telnet site, and your connection with the system was broken in the middle of the transfer, RIPtel can automatically resume the file transmission where the error occurred. All you have to do is tell the other system to begin the download all over again. RIPtel will compare its file with the one on the remote Telnet site, and continue where it left off. This is automatic, and requires no intervention on your part.
Sending Files (Uploading)
Sending a file to a remote site is a bit more complex. Unlike receiving a file, which can be handled automatically by RIPtel, sending a file isn't that automatic.
Sending a file is a two-step process. The first step involves you telling the Telnet system that you're about to send a file to it. The second step is to actually send the file. This illustrates a key point about file transfers: both systems have to be ready for the file transfer at the right moment to complete the transfer.
When you tell the Telnet system that you're about to send it a file, it immediately goes into Zmodem, waiting for you to actually send the file. The system will sit there for a very long time if you don't send something to it. Eventually, it will give up waiting and display some kind of annoying message, or possibly even disconnect you. Many Telnet sites will tell you that it is waiting for the file with a message like "Ready to receive zmodem file (press Ctrl-X to abort)", or something to that affect. Still other systems don't say anything - displaying only a cryptic sequence of numbers and letters (UNIX systems mostly). In either event, you should be ready to send the file when the system wants it.
Once the Telnet site is in "receive mode", you have to tell RIPtel to send the desired file. Choose the "Send file" option from the "Files" menu, or hit the "Page Up" key on your keyboard (short for "upload"). You will be presented with a file browser that allows you to select one or more filenames to send. You may highlight multiple filenames if you wish. The method of selecting multiple files is exactly the same as highlighting multiple bookmarks. Click on "OPEN" to send the file(s) to the Telnet system. If the file transfer aborts prematurely, then you probably didn't tell the Telnet system to properly receive a file.
If you wish to abort a file transfer before you actually tell RIPtel to send a file, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and hit the "X" key several times until the Telnet system breaks out of Zmodem. The CTRL-X sequence is the universal way of breaking out of a Zmodem file transfer.
Files that are sent with Zmodem are normally retrieved from a directory called "FILES" under RIPtel's installed directory (e.g., "C:\RIPTEL\FILES"). If you would like to retrieve files from a different default location, you need to define an "upload directory". See the setup option to define an upload directory.
Aborting a File Transfer
You may stop any file transfer (send or receive) by hitting the ESCAPE key on your keyboard. Just keep in mind that if you abort the file transfer, the file being sent will not be complete, and may have to be deleted on the receiving system (it will undoubtedly be corrupted).
Toothbrush and Moose
Something silly in an entirely "too serious world":
"No, really! She was carving her initials into the moose with the sharpened end of an interspace toothbrush, given to her by Svenge, an Oslo dentist, and star in many Norwegian films: "The Hot Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", and "The Huge Molars of Horst Nordfink"."
Excerpt from Monty Python's, "The Holy Grail." We're not sure who holds the copyright to this, but it's great stuff.
Opening Files
Whether or not you are connected to a Telnet system, you can use RIPtel to display or "playback" various kinds of files on your computer. You can display image files, play sound clips, or even show RIPscrip artwork. This is a useful way of viewing things that you've just downloaded, or listening to a song that you might have in a WAVE audio file. Note, all files are by default, located in the ICONS\ directory under RIPtel's installed directory (e.g., "C:\RIPTEL\ICONS"). You can change the directory where the file is retrieved by changing the directory when asked for the filename to open.
Displaying Images
You can display any BMP image or JPEG photo file without leaving the comforts of RIPtel. Simply choose the image file that you wish to view, and RIPtel will display it to your screen. You can then print the image to your local printer, or just look at it. This is a great way of viewing the files you download without having to switch programs.
Showing RIPscrip Artwork
One of the principal powers of RIPtel is its ability to view RIPscrip graphics. In fact, its mission is to provide a RIPscrip interface to Telnet systems. Until now, there has never been a Telnet package that could display an online system graphically over Telnet. That's RIPtel's main claim to fame - it's a graphical, multimedia Telnet client. It can display RIPscrip multimedia artwork as easily as it does text.
You can ask RIPtel to display any RIPscrip data file that you might have on your computer. Choose the "Open RIPscrip file" option, and you'll be allowed to select a .RIP file to view. When you choose the file, RIPtel automatically displays it to your screen. Viewing RIPscrip files has many uses. You can load sample artwork, menu files, entire multimedia presentations, or a number of other kinds of applications of RIPscrip. A .RIP file that is displayed might even have clickable buttons or mouse gadgets that can take you to other screens, Telnet sites, or who knows. RIPscrip has a wealth of capabilities and its use is limited only by your imagination.
Playing a Digitized Audio File
Not only can RIPtel display various kinds of image and multimedia files, it can also play sound files as well. You can play any .WAV audio file that you could normally playback under Windows.
Capturing Information
When you're online, information that you view can be extremely important. What you need is the ability to record that information. That's what capturing is all about. It allows you to capture information in several ways. You can capture text data and store it in a file, or you can print it out as you view it. Both styles of data capture are designed around a "turn it on", "turn it off" approach - continually capturing the information until you say otherwise. You can even disconnect from one system while capturing is on, then connect to another system, and you'd still be capturing text information. Note, you can be capturing to both a text file, and to the printer at the same time.
Capturing Information to a Text File
When you choose the "Capture text to file" option, you are prompted to choose a filename to store information to. Once you select a file, RIPtel goes into text file capture mode. Any text information that appears on your screen from the Telnet site will automatically be stored in this text file. If the file already existed before you started the capture operation, then any new information is automatically added to the end of the file.
While you're in capture-to-file mode, you may temporarily suspend capturing by selecting the "Pause/Close capture file" option from the pulldown menus. This is useful if you know that some information is going to be displayed that you don't want stored in the text file. Once you have paused your capture mode, you can resume the capturing by choosing "Un-pause/close capture file" from the menus.
This option is frequently called "log-to-disk" in other software packages. It uses the same ALT-L keystroke as is often used elsewhere in the software market.
Note, ANSI and RIPscrip graphics are not captured in this mode. Only "raw text" information.
Capturing Information to the Printer
The capture-to-printer option is very similar to the capture-to-file mode just described. The main difference is that the information is printed on your local (or network) printer as it is received. The data is not stored in any text file, and you do not have the option of "pausing" the printout. When in capture-to-printer mode, simply choose the "Close printer capture" option from the menu system. You can "resume" printer capture by selecting the mode again.
Whenever you choose the printer capture option, you are presented with a typical printer settings option which lets you select portrait or landscape mode, and the number of copies you want to make.
As with the capture-to-file option, you cannot capture ANSI or RIPscrip graphics to the printer using this command. See the Print command for a way of producing graphical printouts.
Printing
Choosing the "Print" option from the menus let's you print a copy of the current RIPtel screen. Also known as a "print screen" operation, this command is most useful for printing menus, information, or whatever happens to be displayed on RIPtel's display.
When you choose this option, the typical printer settings screen is displayed allowing you to specify how many copies of the printout you want, and whether you want portrait or landscape mode. It also lets you specify which printer to use.
No matter what printer you select, or what page layout mode you choose, RIPtel will attempt to make the image appear on the printed page in exactly the same proportions as you see it on the screen. It will display the image as large as possible on the printed page so you get the most output possible.
Connecting to a System
Unlike the bookmark system, this option allows you to connect to a specific system without having to go through the effort of creating a new bookmark. All you need to do is type in the address to connect with, and RIPtel takes it from there. It is very useful when you want to "check out" a new Telnet site, but aren't sure if you want to keep the address around for future use.
When you choose this option, you are asked to enter a Telnet address, and optionally a port number. At the very minimum, you must enter the Telnet address. The port number option is automatically filled-in with the most commonly used port number, "23". You should only change the port number if you know that you have to.
Choosing the "OK" button tells RIPtel to actually begin the connection process. The connection status window is shown, displaying any connection progress information.
Disconnecting from a System
Disconnecting from a system actually breaks the link between your computer and the Telnet site that you're accessing. The account you are logged-in as is automatically logged off. RIPtel updates the caption bar of the software to indicate that there's no connection.
Once chosen, a disconnection status window is shown. This window displays the status of the disconnection process. Unlike simple modem disconnections (i.e., hangup), disconnecting from a Telnet site can be a bit more complex. Your connection with the Internet isn't broken - just the Telnet session. Any messages pertinent to the disconnection process are displayed in the hangup window.
Clearing the Screen
Choosing the clear screen option does more than simply erasing the screen. It actually resets many internal settings of the RIPscrip graphics environment. Any clickable mouse fields are forgotten about (i.e., destroyed), resident query commands are deleted, color palettes are reset, and much more. You can think of this as a clear screen command, but it's more like an internal reset command - hence the ALT-R command sequence.
Setting Up RIPtel
Using RIPtel is very easy, but there are a couple of potentially confusing settings. This information will discuss each option in great detail so that you understand how everything works together.
Display Settings
The display settings affect how RIPtel appears to you, and how it displays various kinds of information. Accessing some online services via Telnet can be tricky, Many online systems work differently and some require special settings to allow access. These display options allow you to set your basic "default" terminal settings, the ones that will be used most of the time. Any of these options may be overidden by settings in the bookmark editor:
Keyboard Options
These options control aspects of the keyboard and how it interacts with the remote server. Currently, the only options requiring configuration are how the backspace key is handled. Different server systems handle the backspace key differently.
Advanced Settings
RIPtel's graphics abilities are pretty much automatically handled by the software. Under some circumstances though, you may wish to custom-tailor how the RIPscrip graphics system does things. This options allow you to custom-tailor some basic system modes. These options make no visual differences to the display, but control how things are processed:
Download Directory
By default, RIPtel stores downloaded files in the "FILES" directory under the RIPTEL\ directory. You can alter this location by defining a download directory in RIPtel's setup.
The download directory setting allows you to determine where files that are downloaded (received) from a host will be stored on your hard disk. By default, RIPtel will place files that are downloaded into the "FILES" directory (i.e., "C:\RIPTEL\FILES\"). You can define your own directory name in this field if you wish to place files into another location. This option is most often used to prevent files in your RIPtel runtime directory from being overwritten, or from cluttering up your RIPtel directory with a lot of files.
NOTE:Your file transfers will fail if the directory does not exist.
Upload Directory
The upload directory setting allows you to instruct RIPtel where files that you will upload (send) to a host are located. By default, files are assumed to be in the "FILES" directory under the RIPTEL\ directory (i.e., "C:\RIPTEL\FILES"). Any directory specified must correspond to an existing directory on your hard disk.
You are not restricted to uploading files from this directory only. If you wish to upload a file from some other directory, you do not have to alter this setting if you don't want to. When prompted to enter a file to upload, simply choose the path of the file in the file browser.
Licensing
RIPtel Visual Telnet v3.1, a RIPscrip-enabled Telnet Browser
Copyright (c) 1997 by TeleGrafix Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved
TeleGrafix Communications, Inc.
111 Weems Lane, Suite #308
Winchester, VA 22601-3600
United States of America
Voice:(540) 678-4050WWW:http://www.telegrafix.com
Sales:(540) 678-4051Email:sales@telegrafix.com
Fax:(540) 678-4052FTP:ftp.telegrafix.com
BBS:(540) 678-4053Telnet:telnet.telegrafix.com
DISCLAIMER
THIS IS A CONTRACT. YOU SHOULD READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE DOWNLOADING, INSTALLING OR USING THIS SOFTWARE. DO NOT DOWNLOAD, INSTALL OR USE THIS SOFTWARE UNLESS YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE DEFINITIONS, TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT. ANY DOWNLOADING, INSTALLATION OR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT.
1 - INTRODUCTION
RIPtel Visual Telnet v3.1, a product of TeleGrafix Communications Inc., is a RIPscrip-3 (Remote Imaging Protocol scripting language) enabled Telnet browser that permits Internet users to use and view RIPscrip (TM) graphics and multimedia on Telnet Internet sites. RIPtel (TM) is configured to work as a standalone Telnet browser, or it may be used with and launched from popular Internet World Wide Web browser programs such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. RIPTEL IS NOT "FREEWARE" AND IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. It is copyrighted commercial software and is licensed for use by individuals and organizations. RIPtel, RIPscrip, Remote Imaging Protocol, TeleGrafix, Visual Telnet and certain related product logos are trademarks of TeleGrafix Communications Inc.
2 - DEFINITIONS
The term "License" refers to this software license agreement. The term "RIPtel" refers to the computer software program files (and all copies, editions, functionally-equivalent derivatives, modifications, merged portions, parts, upgrades and versions) supplied via electronic download or on physical media, including any documentation in electronic or printed form. The terms "You" and "Your" shall refer to the person and/or entity who obtained this License to use RIPtel or for whom such License was obtained.
3 - NONEXCLUSIVE LICENSE
TeleGrafix Communications Inc. ("TeleGrafix"), a Virginia corporation, licenses You to use RIPtel in binary executable form on a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, terminable and worldwide basis. You may use RIPtel only as a single complete product. You may not seperate its component parts for use on computers. This License is a legal agreement between You and TeleGrafix. It shall continue for as long as You use RIPtel. You agree that we need not sign this License for it to take effect. You assume all responsibility for the installation, use and results obtained from RIPtel. TeleGrafix reserves all rights that are not expressly granted to You by this License.
4 - NO-CHARGE EVALUATION EDITION USE
You may use versions of RIPtel that are marked by TeleGrafix as an "Evaluation Edition" FREE OF CHARGE to evaluate whether to buy an ongoing license. The evaluation period is limited to a single period of sixty (60) days, counting from the day You first install RIPtel. EVALUATION COPIES OF RIPTEL SOFTWARE CONTAIN COMPUTER CODE THAT DISABLES MOST OR ALL OF ITS FEATURES SIXTY (60) DAYS AFTER FIRST INSTALLATION. THESE FEATURES BECOME ENABLED AND RIPTEL BECOMES FULLY FUNCTIONAL ONCE A PAID ONGOING SOFTWARE LICENSE IS PURCHASED AND CERTAIN SECURITY CODES ARE INSTALLED. Unlicensed use of RIPtel after the evaluation period is a violation of U.S. and international copyright laws and may result in civil and criminal penalties. You may redistribute the Evaluation Edition free of charge if You comply with the restrictions and terms described in "Exhibit A - Special Terms For Redistribution Of Evaluation Edition Software." YOU CAN NOT REDISTRIBUTE ANY "NON-EVALUATION" OR "COMMERCIAL" EDITIONS OF RIPTEL (OR ANY OTHER VERSION IN WHICH SOFTWARE SECURITY PROTECTION METHODS HAVE BEEN CIRCUMVENTED, DISABLED, MODIFIED, REMOVED OR UNLOCKED) WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION OF TELEGRAFIX AND THE PAYMENT OF APPLICABLE LICENSE FEES.
5 - OBTAINING A PAID SOFTWARE LICENSE
If you use RIPtel after the evaluation period ends, You agree to buy an ongoing License. Current License fees are posted on the TeleGrafix Web site (http://www.telegrafix.com) and are subject to change without notice at any time. You are responsible for paying any taxes, including personal property taxes, resulting from this License. THE ACCEPTANCE OF ANY PURCHASE ORDER PLACED BY YOU IS EXPRESSLY MADE CONDITIONAL ON YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT, AND NOT THOSE IN YOUR PURCHASE ORDER. TeleGrafix accepts American Express, MasterCard and VISA. All payments must be in U.S. Dollars.
6 - SCOPE OF LICENSE
Your License is personal to You. You shall not copy RIPtel or permit others to operate or use it except as authorized by the terms and conditions of this License.
(a)As an individual single-copy user, You may install and use one (1) copy of RIPtel on a single computer used by You. You may make one (1) copy of RIPtel in machine-readable form for backup or archival purposes. You may not alter any copy in any way. Each copy must contain the original license, copyright and proprietary notices. You may not copy any printed materials accompanying RIPtel.
(b)If You received Your first copy of RIPtel electronically, and a second copy on magnetic media, only a single License is created. The second copy may be used for archival purposes only. You can transfer the entire program to another computer if RIPtel is used by only one computer at a time. Any simultaneous use requires a separate License for each computer.
(c)You may use RIPtel in a multiple computer, multi-user or network environment only if You have obtained an additional License for each computer. For example, if there are three users of RIPtel on a network, three Licenses must be obtained from TeleGrafix. You may have only as many copies of RIPtel in use as You have Licenses. You agree to keep a current list of the computers, including their serial numbers, upon which RIPtel is installed. You shall take reasonable measures to comply with this License. You shall instruct Your employees that making unauthorized copies or permitting more users than authorized by this License violates intellectual property protection laws. Upon the request of TeleGrafix, You shall provide records about RIPtel usage to verify compliance with this License. TeleGrafix shall have the right to inspect Your facilities during regular business hours to verify compliance.
(d)You may transfer RIPtel to another party if they agree to accept the terms and conditions of this License. If You transfer RIPtel, You must transfer all copies (including any upgrades or prior versions that You have) to the same party and destroy any copies not transferred.
7 - CUSTOMER SUPPORT
IF YOU ARE USING ANY VERSION OF RIPTEL FREE OF CHARGE, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANY TELEPHONE TECHNICAL SUPPORT OR HARD-COPY DOCUMENTATION. Customers who purchased a License are eligible for free telephone technical support for ninety (90) days. Hard-copy documentation may be available to paid customers for an additional fee. Customer support service policies and programs are described on the TeleGrafix Web site at http://www.telegrafix.com and/or other TeleGrafix-provided materials, and are subject to change without notice at any time. Any ideas, bug fixes or reports, technical information or product improvement suggestions concerning RIPtel that You provide to TeleGrafix shall become the property of TeleGrafix and may be used for its business purposes without any payment or accounting to You.
8 - UPGRADES
IF YOU ARE USING ANY VERSION OF RIPTEL FREE OF CHARGE, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANY UPGRADE. If any version of RIPtel is identified by TeleGrafix as an upgrade, You must have a valid paid License registration for a product identified by Tele Grafix as eligible for the upgrade in order to use it. An upgrade replaces and/or supplements the original software product that formed the basis for Your eligibility for the upgrade. If RIPtel is purchased as an upgrade or provided as an update to a previous version of licensed software, (a) RIPtel may be used only to replace the previous version and no additional license is granted, and (b) You may not separately use the previous version or transfer it to a third party. TeleGrafix retains the right to charge for any upgrade. Any upgrades provided by TeleGrafix shall be covered by the terms of this License, unless expressly subject to the terms of another agreement to which TeleGrafix is a party.
9 - OWNERSHIP OF SOFTWARE
This License gives You only limited rights to use RIPtel. You do not own it. Title, ownership rights, and intellectual property rights in and to RIPtel or any copy, modification or merged portion shall remain in the name of TeleGrafix and/or its suppliers. RIPtel is protected by United States copyright laws and international copyright treaties. You shall not rent, lease, sublicense, network, grant a security interest in, or otherwise transfer rights to RIPtel except as specifically permitted by the terms and conditions of this License (or by a separate supplemental agreement signed by a TeleGrafix officer). Title, ownership rights, and intellectual property rights in and to any information accessed through RIPtel is the property of the applicable information owner and may be protected by applicable copyright or other law. This License gives You no rights to such information. You agree that TeleGrafix may cite or use Your name as a licensee of RIPtel, for no charge or payment, in its publicity materials.
10 - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
You acknowledge that the structure, organization and code of RIPtel are valuable trade secrets of TeleGrafix and/or its suppliers. You acknowledge that RIPtel in source code form remains a confidential trade secret of TeleGrafix and/or its suppliers and cannot be disclosed by You to any other party. You agree not to attempt to discover the source code of RIPtel. You agree not to clone, decompile, decipher, disassemble, merge, modify, reverse assemble, reverse engineer, reduce to human readable form, or translate RIPtel (or any copy or portion) in whole or in part, except to the extent applicable laws specifically prohibit such restrictions without the possibility of contractual waiver. You shall not create derivative works based on RIPtel unless authorized in writing by a TeleGrafix officer. You shall not alter, obscure or remove any proprietary notices or legends (including copyright, patent and trademark notices) from RIPtel or any copies. You shall not circumvent, disable, disclose, modify or remove any software security protection methods (including license keycodes, serial numbers, unlocking codes or activation codes) that are used in the operation of RIPtel. You agree to keep confidential all information concerning RIPtel security protection methods and not to disclose it to any other party. Title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to any such software security protection methods shall remain with TeleGrafix and/or its suppliers. You acknowledge that violations of the U.S. Copyright laws may result in criminal and civil penalties, including fines of up to $100,000.
11 - INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
You acknowledge that RIPtel embodies trade secrets of TeleGrafix, the unauthorized use or disclosure of which would cause substantial harm to TeleGrafix that could not be remedied by the payment of damages alone. Accordingly, TeleGrafix shall be entitled to preliminary and permanent injunctive relief and other equitable relief for any breach of this License. The parties agree that in the event of a breach or threatened breach of this License (including unauthorized reproduction and/or distribution of RIPtel, disclosure of security protection methods, or unauthorized use of Trademarks and logos), that immediate injunctive relief shall be appropriate. The parties agree that TeleGrafix shall be released from any requirement to post any bond, cash or security as a condition of obtaining injunctive relief, to the extent permitted by law. TeleGrafix's right to obtain injunctive relief shall not limit its right to seek any other remedies to which it may be entitled.
12 - EXPORT CONTROLS
You agree not to export, ship or transfer RIPtel in any way prohibited by the United States Export Administration Act or any other export laws or regulations. None of the software or underlying information or technology may be downloaded or otherwise exported or reexported (1) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Iran, Syria or any other country to which the U.S. has embargoed goods; or (2) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders; or (3) any end user who will use the software in the design, development or production of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. By downloading or using RIPtel, You are agreeing to the foregoing and You are representing and warranting that You are not located in the prohibited countries; You are not under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country; You are not on any such list; and You are not engaged in prohibited weapons activities.
13 - HIGH-RISK ACTIVITIES
RIPtel is not fault-tolerant. It is not designed, licensed, manufactured or intended for use with, or resale as, online control equipment in hazardous environments requiring fail-safe performance (such as nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communications systems, aircraft traffic control systems, life support machines, or weapons systems) in which the failure of RIPtel could lead directly to death, personal injury or severe physical or environmental damage ("High Risk Activities"). TELEGRAFIX AND ITS SUPPLIERS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR HIGH-RISK ACTIVITIES.
14 - WARRANTY DISCLAIMER
RIPTEL IS DEEMED ACCEPTED BY YOU WHEN DOWNLOADED, INSTALLED OR USED BY YOU. RIPTEL IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. TELEGRAFIX (AND ITS AGENTS, DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) DOES NOT AND CANNOT WARRANT THE PERFORMANCE OR RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN BY USING RIPTEL, THAT RIPTEL WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT RIPTEL WILL OPERATE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF RIPTEL IS BORNE BY YOU. SHOULD RIPTEL PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU (NOT TELEGRAFIX) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENSE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT VARY BY JURISDICTION. Despite the foregoing, TeleGrafix does warrant the physical media on which RIPtel is furnished to be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of delivery to You. This limited warranty for physical media does not apply if the media has been abused, changed or damaged by You, or if You received RIPtel via electronic download without physical media from TeleGrafix. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY TELEGRAFIX (OR ITS AGENTS, DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) SHALL CREATE ANY NEW WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE.
15 - LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
TELEGRAFIX'S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU (AND THAT OF ITS AGENTS, DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR RIPTEL. TELEGRAFIX'S ENTIRE LIABILITY AND YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY SHALL BE, AT TELEGRAFIX'SSOLE OPTION, THE REPLACEMENT OF RIPTEL OR THE REFUND OF YOUR PURCHASE PRICE. IF YOU DOWNLOADED RIPTEL, REPLACEMENT DISKS ARE NOT COVERED BY THIS LICENSE. OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND CANADA, THESE REMEDIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE WITHOUT PROOF OF PURCHASE FROM TELEGRAFIX OR AN AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL TELEGRAFIX (OR ITS AGENTS, DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS, WORK STOPPAGE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, LOST OR DAMAGED DATA, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SPECIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE RIPTEL (EVEN IF TELEGRAFIX OR ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR THEY ARE FORESEEABLE), OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL NOT APPLY TO LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY TO THE EXTENT APPLICABLE LAW PROHIBITS SUCH LIMITATION. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THIS LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NO CLAIM, REGARDLESS OF FORM, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS LICENSE MAY BE BROUGHT BY YOU MORE THAN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION HAS OCCURRED. THE WARRANTY DISCLAIMER, EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES AND LIMITED LIABILITY SET FORTH IN THIS LICENSE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND TELEGRAFIX, AND YOU AGREE THAT TELEGRAFIX COULD NOT PROVIDE RIPTEL ON AN ECONOMICAL BASIS WITHOUT SUCH LIMITATIONS.
16 - U.S. GOVERNMENT END-USER RESTRICTIONS
All U.S. Government end users license RIPtel with only those rights set forth herein. RIPtel is licensed only with "restricted rights" when used by or on behalf of an agency or unit of the United States Government. RIPtel is "restricted computer software" as defined by the Federal Acquisition Regulations. RIPtel is "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation" that was developed at private expense. RIPtel is not in the public domain and is, in all respects, proprietary data belonging to TeleGrafix. Title to and ownership of RIPtel shall remain with TeleGrafix Communications Inc. All unpublished rights are reserved by TeleGrafix under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any use, duplication or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions set forth in subparagraphs (a) through (d) of the Commercial Computer-Restricted Rights clause at FAR 52.227-19 when applicable, or in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013, and in similar clauses in the NASA FAR Supplement. The U.S. Government is prohibited from changing or removing any insignia, logo or lettering from RIPtel or any accompanying written materials that are provided, and from producing copies of any manuals or disks (except one for backup purposes). Use of RIPtel and any documentation shall be limited to the government facility for which it is acquired. RIPtel is a trade secret of TeleGrafix Communications Inc. for all purposes of the Freedom of Information Act. Contractor/manufacturer is TeleGrafix Communications Inc., 111 Weems Lane, Suite #308, Winchester, VA 22601-3600.
17 - LEGAL
The official language of this License and all documents used with reference to it shall be English. All agreements covering RIPtel (including but not limited to any and all updates, upgrades, and enhancements to RIPtel or any portion thereof, bearing the same registration number) shall be deemed to be counterparts of one and the same License instrument. This License shall be governed by and construed under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America, and the applicable international treaties. You agree that jurisdiction and venue for any dispute arising from this License or relating to RIPtel shall be in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Harrisonburg Division, or the Circuit Court for the City of Winchester, Virginia. By downloading, installing, redistributing or using RIPtel (or by disclosing any security protection methods used in RIPtel), You expressly confer upon these courts in Virginia jurisdiction over You and waive any jurisidictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such courts. In the event that TeleGrafix is the prevailing party in any litigation or proceedings (including proceedings in bankruptcy) between the parties arising from this License, TeleGrafix shall be entitled to recover, in addition to any other relief awarded, its reasonable costs and expenses (including fees and expenses for attorneys and expert witnesses), court costs and collection costs incurred in the proceeding. The failure of either party to enforce any rights granted by this License or to take action against the other party in the event of any breach of this License shall not be deemed a waiver by that party of its right to enforce such rights in the future. You expressly agree to indemnify and hold harmless TeleGrafix (and its agents, affiliates, dealers, distributors, employees, licensors, subsidiaries, and suppliers) against any and all claims, damages, costs or expenses that arise directly or indirectly out of or from Your breach of this License or Your use or operation of RIPtel. If any part of this License is held to be unenforceable for any reason by a court of competent jurisdiction, such part shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the rest of this License shall remain in full force and effect. This License shall not be governed by the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and its application is expressly excluded. All questions concerning this License shall be addressed to: TeleGrafix Communications Inc., 111 Weems Lane, #308, Winchester, VA 22601-3600, United States of America, Attention: Legal Department.
18 - TERM AND TERMINATION
This License is effective until terminated, and it will terminate automatically and immediately without notice if You fail to comply with any of its provisions. In the case of Evaluation Edition software, this License will terminate automatically at the expiration of the evaluation period. You may terminate this License at any time by destroying all copies of RIPtel covered by this License. If You transfer possession of any copy of RIPtel (or any Functionally-equivalent derivative) or any portion or modification thereof to another party, or remove any copyright or proprietary notices or labels on RIPtel or any copy, or disclose any software protection methods, Your License is automatically terminated. You may not sublicense, assign or otherwise transfer this License or software except as expressly provided in this License. Any attempt to otherwise sublicense, assign, or transfer any of the rights, duties or obligations hereunder is expressly prohibited and will terminate this License immediately. In addition, TeleGrafix may terminate this License at any time by delivering notice to You. On termination, You must destroy all copies of RIPtel or return them to TeleGrafix. The provisions of Paragraphs 9 through 18, and Your obligation to pay any accrued charges or fees, shall survive any termination of this License.
BY INSTALLING OR USING RIPTEL, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT IT IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF THE LICENSE AGREEMENT BETWEEN US AND SUPERSEDES ANY PROPOSAL OR PRIOR AGREEMENT, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN US RELATING TO THE LICENSING OF RIPTEL. THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT MAY BE AMENDED ONLY BY A WRITING SIGNED BY BOTH PARTIES.
EXHIBIT A - SPECIAL TERMS FOR REDISTRIBUTION OF EVALUATION EDITION SOFTWARE
TeleGrafix grants You a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, terminable and worldwide license to copy, bundle or redistribute unlimited copies of the time-limited Evaluation Edition of RIPtel (in the English language) FREE OF CHARGE for evaluation purposes only. Any copying, bundling or redistribution of the Evaluation Edition must strictly comply with the following terms:
(a)The Evaluation Edition must not be altered in any way. All copies must contain this License and the same copyright and other proprietary notices that appear on RIPtel.
(b)You may copy, bundle or redistribute only the most recently published version of the Evaluation Edition available from TeleGrafix. If a new version has been released, You may continue to redistribute any remaining inventories of physical media containing the previous version until those inventories are depleted.
(c)You may not charge or collect any fee for any copying, licensing, bundling, redistribution or use of the Evaluation Edition, and it may not be sold as a separate, standalone or value-added component or product. You may not distribute, license, sublicense, offer for sale, or sell the Evaluation Edition to other resellers or original equipment manufacturers. If the Evaluation Edition is bundled with a commercial product, you may not charge a higher fee for the bundled product than would be charged if it did not include the Evaluation Edition.
(d)You may post the Evaluation Edition for downloading on any online information system (including bulletin board systems, freenets, corporate intranets, Internet service providers, public network servers, Telnet sites, and World Wide Web sites). Within thirty (30) days of posting or redistributing RIPtel, You agree to establish and maintain a hypertext link from the opening screen or home page of Your primary Telnet and/or Web site to TeleGrafix's home page at http://www.telegrafix.com for the term of this License. You agree to place the RIPscrip button logo (available for download at www.telegrafix.com/trademarks.htm) immediately adjacent to any such hypertext link. Online information systems not connected to the Internet (such as BBS systems) shall display the RIPscrip button logo along with the TeleGrafix Telnet/Web addresses and BBS phone number, if possible.
(e)You may copy, bundle or redistribute the Evaluation Edition with any commercial product (including books, CD-ROM, computer hardware or software products). Your promotional and/or packaging materials must clearly disclose that the Evaluation Edition is copyrighted software of TeleGrafix, that no charge is made by TeleGrafix or You for it, and it is not a fully supported commercial version. You agree to place on any product packaging (any book, box and/or CD packaging) the TeleGrafix RIPscrip logo (available for download at www.telegrafix.com/trademarks.htm). The RIPscrip logo must be featured as prominently as all other third-party logos appearing on the packaging or promotional materials. You agree to provide TeleGrafix with two (2) complimentary copies of any product bundled or redistributed with the Evaluation Edition.
(f)If You operate an online information system or are a commercial product vendor, You must notify TeleGrafix via e-mail at sales@telegrafix.com with the following information PRIOR to any copying, bundling, posting or redistribution of the Evaluation Edition:
•Company name
•Address, City, State, Zip Code
•Telephone Number
•Fax Number
•State of Incorporation
•Name of Principal Contact in Company
•Title of Principal Contact in Company
•E-mail Address of Principal Contact in Company
•URL(s) for Online Site(s) on which Evaluation Edition will appear
•Brief description of commercial product/service for distribution with Evaluation Edition
(g)When redistributing the Evaluation Edition pursuant to this License, You shall have a limited, nonexclusive and nontransferable right to use the TeleGrafix Trademarks and logos identified above in Paragraph 1 (captioned "Introduction") of this License agreement. You may use free of charge the TeleGrafix Trademarks and logos only in those promotional materials and packaging related to Your bundling and/or redistribution of RIPtel. You agree that Your usage of such trademarks or logos shall comply with TeleGrafix's standard Trademark and logo licensing and usage policies as posted on the World Wide Web at http://www.telegrafix.com/trademarks.htm and as may be provided by TeleGrafix to You from time to time. You agree that TeleGrafix reserves the right to change these Trademark or logo licensing policies without prior notice at any time and solely at its discretion, and You agree to comply with any changes announced by TeleGrafix. Nothing in this Agreement shall give You any right, title or interest in the Trademarks or logos, other than the specific and limited licensing rights granted herein. You agree not to use the Trademarks or logos in any way that would disparage or injure TeleGrafix's reputation for high quality and technological innovation.
(h)You agree to cooperate with TeleGrafix on a news release which TeleGrafix will issue concerning this License. You agree to state in Your own news releases or promotional announcements that Your commercial product or online information system uses RIPscrip multimedia technology from TeleGrafix Communications. This requirement includes (but is not limited to) news releases, news conferences, and BBS/Telnet/Web site promotional announcements concerning Your product or online information service.
(I)Within fifteen (15) days of the end of each calendar quarter, You shall provide TeleGrafix a report detailing the number of copies of the Evaluation Edition downloaded from Your online information system or redistributed with any commercial product. Reports shall be e-mailed to sales@telegrafix.com.
(j)TELEGRAFIX WILL PAY LICENSING COMMISSIONS TO OPERATORS OF ONLINE INFORMATION SYSTEMS THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL PRODUCT VENDORS WHO BUNDLE OR REDISTRIBUTE THE EVALUATION EDITION WITH PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR SALE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC ONLY UNDER THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS SPECIFIED IN A SEPARATE "TELEGRAFIX ASSOCIATES AGREEMENT" (contact TeleGrafix for details via e-mail at sales@telegrafix.com), AND ONLY IF SUCH AN AGREEMENT HAS BEEN EXECUTED IN WRITING BY BOTH PARTIES PRIOR TO ANY BUNDLING OR REDISTRIBUTION.
(k)TeleGrafix reserves the right to terminate or revoke at any time this authorization permitting You to copy, bundle or redistribute the Evaluation Edition if, in TeleGrafix's sole judgment, it may diminish or otherwise damage TeleGrafix's business reputation or may encourage unlawful activities. If this License is revoked or terminated, you must immediately cease any copying, bundling, posting and/or redistribution of the Evaluation Edition.
(l)UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL ANY "NON-EVALUATION" OR "COMMERCIAL" EDITIONS OF RIPTEL (OR ANY OTHER VERSION IN WHICH SECURITY PROTECTION DEVICES HAVE BEEN CIRCUMVENTED, DISABLED, MODIFIED, REMOVED OR UNLOCKED) BE COPIED, BUNDLED OR REDISTRIBUTED WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION OF TELEGRAFIX AND THE PAYMENT OF APPLICABLE LICENSE FEES.
--- END OF LICENSE AGREEMENT ---
World Wide Web Integration
Using RIPtel with Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer couldn't be easier. RIPtel was designed to work with both Netscape Navigator, as well as Microsoft Explorer. It operates as the Telnet client application for use with web browsers. With Netscape, choose the "Networking" setup option, then for the "Telnet" option, enter the path to the RIPTEL.EXE program (e.g., "C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE"). That's all there is to it. Anytime you click on a hyperlink that would normally take you to a Telnet site (e.g., "telnet://telegrafix.com"), Netscape will now automatically load RIPtel and instruct it to Telnet to that site.
Netscape accomplishes this by passing the RIPtel program the internet address to connect with as a command-line parameter (e.g., "C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE telegrafix.com"). This illustrates an example of how RIPtel can be loaded and connect with a system immediately. See the section on setting up default systems for more information.
TeleGrafix also offers a "RIPscrip plug-in" for Netscape Navigator 3.0. This plug-in allows you to view RIPscrip graphics directly on World Wide Web pages, without having to Telnet to special sites to see it.
RIPscrip Plug-In for Netscape
TeleGrafix offers a Web browser "plug-in" module compatible with both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. This plug-in allows you to display and view RIPscrip graphics directly on any web page! With this software add-on, you can turn a boring web page into a stunningly exciting multimedia presentation, without making the web site slow to a crawl.
For more information about the RIPscrip plug-in for Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, see our Web Site at www.telegrafix.com, or call TeleGrafix at (540) 678-4050.
What are RIPscrip Graphics?
What is RIPscrip 3.0?
RIPscrip 3.0 is an exciting new multimedia technology from TeleGrafix Communications, Inc. that represents the third generation of the rapid Remote Imaging Protocol scripting language. Based on the award-winning RIPscrip 1.54 technology, RIPscrip 3.0 adds unheard of power and flexibility to your online system by using advanced mathematics to encode complex images as extremely compact text files that can be sent rapidly over the Internet. Unlike other multimedia technologies, RIPscrip was designed from the ground up with online transmission in mind.
We believe that RIPscrip 3.0 is the most powerful multimedia technology available on the Internet today.
RIPscrip 3.0 allows you to create, transmit and display dazzling, bandwidth-efficient multimedia rapidly over any type of computer system or telecommunications connection. It can be used by any online system -- World Wide Web pages, Telnet sites, BBS systems and local dial-up systems -- whether or not they are connected to the Internet. It shatters the bandwidth bottleneck for those who rely on normal telephone modem connections to access online systems.
Rapid RIPscrip 3.0 technology offers features and capabilities for nearly every Internet system operator. Do you want to create online mapping systems, show real-time weather images or make online shopping catalogs? Do you want to setup a large-scale online service, fully graphical, with seamlessly integrated dialogs and data entry areas? Do you want to show photos of your customers and hear them speak online as well? RIPscrip 3.0 allows you to do all of that. You can take your online service to a speedy dimension you had never thought possible. RIPscrip takes the World Wide Wait out of the Internet.
RIPscrip 3.0 gives you all of the graphical operations you need to create a top-notch online service. With RIPscrip, you aren't limited with multimedia options as you are with HTML-based Web pages and you aren't locked into a particular "look and feel" provided by closed-end proprietary Graphical User Interfaces. This means that you can make your online service look anyway you want, with special effects and layouts never before seen on the Internet, and your customers can enjoy multimedia that displays extremely rapidly over regular telephone connections.
RIPscrip 3.0 can be used to complement HTML in Web pages - and it can be used as a more powerful substitute.
Because RIPscrip images are small and bandwidth-efficient, you can embed them in Web pages as a speedy replacement for bulky and slow-downloading GIF images. And since RIPscrip 3.0 technology is not tied to particular communications protocol (like HTML is tied to HTTP), it can be used on all types of online services and communications networks - even those unable to use HTML (such as Telnet or BBS systems).
How is this possible? Simple - RIPscrip 3.0 gives you all of the drawing capabilities to perform just about any graphical operation you could imagine. Simple, yet powerful graphical commands in the technology let you do just about anything on the graphics screen. You can do anything from setting fonts, drawing basic objects like rectangles, lines or curves, creating mouse-clickable buttons, showing photos or bitmaps, and even play digitized sounds. With RIPscrip 3.0, you get a complete set of graphical drawing primitives. This gives RIPscrip 3.0 the ability to display anything you want, and in any appearance you desire.
RIPscrip 3.0 also offers full client/server capabilities including in-depth methods of storing information on the client software for later re-use. Create things like graphical styles, special color schemes, or even completely pre-built graphical screens - they can all be called up and used on the client software at any moment.. Features of the technology allow the server to make sure that resources are up-to-date on the client software, and lets you simplify the process of logging on or transferring files. Simple database capabilities even let the client software remember things about the server for the next log-on. Ever wanted to use a host system where all you do is click a button and you're online without laying a finger on the keyboard? RIPscrip let's you do all these kinds of things, and much more. And since it is based on text, any online information system that can transmit text can use RIPscrip.
And with RIPscrip, you don't lose the ability to do normal ANSI or VT-102 terminal sessions. RIPscrip has that built-in so that you can seamlessly travel the information superhighway from graphical systems to character-based systems without having to change communications software.
Why Should I Use RIPscrip on my Online Service?
There are many reasons why RIPscrip is the best graphical technology for your online service.
First, it's easy and fun to use.
Second, RIPscrip is already an industry standard graphical technology. In 1993, first-generation RIPscrip 1.54 was awarded the Dvorak Award for Technical Excellence in the field of Online Graphics Technology. By 1995, enhanced RIPscrip 1.54 capabilities were present in nearly 90% of the BBS servers sold worldwide (such as industry leaders Galacticom, Mustang Wildcat, PCboard, tbbs, Searchlight and others). In addition, many popular communications software packages (such as ProComm, Q-Modem, Cyberjack, WinRamp and others) are RIPscrip 1.54 compatible No other graphics technology can claim such a wide degree of acceptance. This means that your customers will probably already have a software package that supports RIPscrip already installed on their PC - no need to download bulky client software for a proprietary GUI.
If that's not enough, what about the online service that you're already running? Does it offer a built-in graphical interface? If it doesn't (and most do not), then you'll have to dump your server software and install (and learn) a completely new system. With RIPscrip, you don't have to learn another system. RIPscrip works on nearly every online server system in the world, requiring little or no modification.
Specific Features and Capabilities of RIPscrip 3.0
RIPscrip 3.0 is a robust technology. It has features and options for nearly every aspect of creating graphical systems. Here is just a short list of its major capabilities:
•Full set of graphical drawing primitives (e.g., line, oval, rectangle, freeform curves, text objects and more).
•Complete control over the appearance of filled-in objects (patterns, multiple colors, etc.)
•Complete control over object border attributes like thickness and dash patterns.
•Multiple column text displays for news articles and more.
•Utilize Adobe™ and TrueType™ style fonts for nearly any appearance you could imagine.
•Complete flexibility over the appearance of fonts (italics, bold, rotation, shadowing, spacing and more).
•Display JPEG anywhere on the screen, in any size. Even display them while they're downloading.
•Play digitized audio files while you're online - even in the background!
•Full bitmap BMP capabilities. Show bitmapped images anywhere on the screen, including as buttons.
•Full set of button and mouse field objects for making radio buttons, checkboxes, and other clickable objects.
•Reliable client/server architecture allows for remote resource updating Images, scenes and other data files can be accessed locally, or from the remote server. Use them locally for ultra-fast performance.
•In-depth text variable command language allows you to perform countless operations online, or whenever a button is selected by the user.
•Advanced template command language for complete control over host/server commands.
•Built-in data tables for graphical styles, color palettes, button definitions, environments and more allow you to "cache" large amounts of graphics data locally for advanced client/server applications.
•Complete backup system designed for preserving the current "state" of the RIPscrip environment. Great for use when creating dialog boxes, or executing door programs.
•Fully resolution independent. A screen you draw at 640x480 will look just like what you intended to a caller using 1024x768 resolution!
•Fully color palette independent. New 24-bit architecture allows you to display artwork on systems with any number of existing colors.
•Multiple text windows allow you to create data-entry forms, and other things!
•Full VT-102 and ANSI terminal emulation built-in!
•Creation of entire Graphical User Interfaces by combining other RIPscrip features.
As you can see, RIPscrip 3.0 has a full arsenal of graphical capabilities. They're all right there at your fingertips, ready to act upon your command. All you need to take advantage of RIPscrip on your service is a RIPscrip authoring tool (i.e., RIPaint 3.0), and the client terminal software named RIPterm 3.0. With those two simple tools, you can create fabulous online services the likes of which are only limited by your imagination!
Demonstrations of RIPscrip 3.0
There are thousands of online systems throughout the world that are running RIPscrip graphics already. To see an incredible demonstration of RIPscrip 3.0's capabilities, use your RIPtel Visual Telnet browser to visit the TeleGrafix Telnet site at telnet.telegrafix.com.
Setting Up Default Systems
RIPtel has the ability automatically to connect with a server when you load the program. This is accomplished by changing the "properties" of the program itself. All you have to do is add the Internet address for the host system you want to connect with into the command-line of the program. Accessing the command-line is a bit different depending on if you're using Windows 3.1, or Windows 95.
Windows 3.1
From the Program Manager, click on the icon for the RIPtel program. Once highlighted, choose the "Properties" option from the File menu. Once the property editor is displayed, you will have the ability to change the program's command-line. This normally tells Windows where to the software is on the hard disk, and what the actual filename that the program is stored in. To make RIPtel automatically connect to a specific Telnet site after startup, simply add the Internet address of the system after end of the existing command-line. For example, change it from "c:\riptel\riptel.exe" to something like "c:\riptel\riptel.exe telegrafix.com". Choose the OK option, and RIPtel is updated for auto-connection to a default system. If you want to make RIPtel connect to a Telnet site on a special port number other than port 23 (the default Telnet port), then add that port number after the Telnet address with a space in between (e.g., "c:\riptel\riptel.exe telegrafix.com 2000").
Windows 95
From the Windows 95 desktop, open up the proper folder that contains the RIPtel software and click once on the icon for the RIPtel program. Once highlighted, simply click the right mouse button once to display the popup menu for that program. Choose the properties option. Once the property editor is displayed, you will have the ability to change the program's command-line. This normally tells Windows where to the software is on the hard disk, and what the actual filename that the program is stored in. To make RIPtel automatically connect to a specific Telnet site after startup, simply add the Internet address of the system after end of the existing command-line. For example, change it from "c:\riptel\riptel.exe" to something like "c:\riptel\riptel.exe telegrafix.com". Choose the OK option, and RIPtel is updated for auto-connection to a default system. If you want to make RIPtel connect to a Telnet site on a special port number other than port 23 (the default Telnet port), then add that port number after the Telnet address with a space in between (e.g., "c:\riptel\riptel.exe telegrafix.com 2000").
A useful tip that makes life easy, is to make a duplicate copy of the program icon on the desktop. Each program icon lets you setup different "default systems" individually. It is a good idea to leave one icon untouched, with no default system, and other icons with their own default systems. This way, you can always get into RIPtel without having automatically to connect with a particular system.
RIPtel Command Line
RIPtel Command Line
A command-line is the complete path and filename of the RIPtel software. It specifies the exact location on your computer's hard disk where the software is stored, and what the filename to use to load the program. The RIPtel command-line allows you to add additional information after the program's name to make it do different things.
Screen Display Mode
RIPtel allows you to specify how large you want the window to be. Normally, it sets itself to be as large as the screen, with the usual menu bar at the top, and a frame around the window. RIPtel doesn't allow you to stretch the window to new sizes.
Under some circumstances, you might not want to have RIPtel appear in this mode. You might want it to be a window that you can drag around on the screen, or you might want it to be full-screen, with no menu bar or frame around it - taking up your entire video monitor!
There are five different RIPtel display settings. No matter which setting you choose, RIPtel will basically work the same way (see the full-screen option for more details). Some games or other software products written for RIPscrip graphics instruct you to run the terminal software in a specific screen mode (e.g., 640x480, 800x600, etc.) The reasons for this are too technical to go into, but the vendors of these packages may sometimes design their products for a particular screen size. RIPtel allows you to accommodate these unusual packages by letting you set the screen size yourself.
Normal Mode
This is the standard RIPtel setting. When in this mode, RIPtel makes its window as large as the entire video screen, with the usual caption bar and menu strip at the top, and a thin frame around the exterior of the window. This gives you the largest screen space for visual display of multimedia graphics.
Full-Screen Mode
Full-screen mode is for the die-hard user who wants to be engulfed in everything he or she does. When in this mode, RIPtel takes over the entire video screen - all you see is RIPtel's display window - there's no window frame, caption bar or even menu bar at the top. When RIPtel starts up, you receive a black screen. Since there's no menu bar at the top, you might feel lost. Fear not - all the normal menu commands are at the touch of your mouse. Simply click on the right mouse button, and a popup menu appears giving you access to all menu options, and even provides a few shortcuts.
In addition to the normal popup menu, you can also access the four basic menu options of the software directly from the keyboard. Hitting ALT-F will display the File popup menu, ALT-C shows the Connection popup menu, ALT-O displays the Options popup menu, and ALT-E views the Help popup menu. These special popup menus only appear in full-screen display mode.
640x480 Mode
This mode lets you use RIPtel as a traditional window. It doesn't appear as a full-screen window, and you can move it around on the desktop as you would come to expect from a Windows program. This mode is sometimes used to play some online games that are optimized for a particular resolution. When in this mode, the RIPtel window is exactly 640 pixels wide, and 480 pixels tall (not including the window's frame, caption bar or menu strip). This option is only available if Windows is running at a video resolution bigger than 640x480 (e.g., say at 800x600 mode).
800x600 Mode
This mode lets you use RIPtel as a traditional window. It doesn't appear as a full-screen window, and you can move it around on the desktop as you would come to expect from a Windows program. This mode is sometimes used to play some online games that are optimized for a particular resolution. When in this mode, the RIPtel window is exactly 800 pixels wide, and 600 pixels tall (not including the window's frame, caption bar or menu strip). This option is only available if Windows is running at a video resolution bigger than 800x600 (e.g., say at 1024x768 mode).
1024x768 Mode
This mode lets you use RIPtel as a traditional window. It doesn't appear as a full-screen window, and you can move it around on the desktop as you would come to expect from a Windows program. This mode is sometimes used to play some online games that are optimized for a particular resolution. When in this mode, the RIPtel window is exactly 1024 pixels wide, and 768 pixels tall (not including the window's frame, caption bar or menu strip). This option is only available if Windows is running at a video resolution bigger than 1024x768 (e.g., say at 1280x1024 mode).
Terminal Emulation
Terminal emulation controls how RIPtel "acts". It pretends to be a particular type of computer terminal device. Exactly what type of terminal it pretends to be, or emulates, depends on this setting.
Background on Computer Terminals
Terminal emulation is something from the Stone Age of the computer world. It is around because years ago, nearly every computer in the world was accessed through keyboard terminals. In those days, the idea of a PC was unheard of - all computers were shared between many users at the same time, through keyboard terminals. There were many different types of terminals, and with this diversity came different ways of displaying information. One computer system's terminal was not necessarily the same as those on another computer network.
This is where the idea of terminal emulation comes in. No matter what computer system you used, your terminal acted like a specific kind of terminal (e.g., black and white, color, etc.) Depending on the type of terminal, the main computer would display information using different methods. Information transmitted to a black and white terminal wasn't the same as information destined for a color terminal.
Over the years, two basic terminal types evolved as the most prominent in the computer industry. The most common is the ANSI terminal type. This is what most IBM-PC clones are based on. This is also what most electronic bulletin board systems use throughout the world. A less well known terminal type is the VT-102 terminal. This was a black and white terminal used to access mainframes and UNIX computers. In the world of corporate computer networks, the VT-102 terminal is very common.
Choosing the Right Terminal Emulation
When accessing Telnet sites on the Internet, you will encounter many that use VT-102 terminal emulation, and many others that use ANSI emulation. ANSI is by far more common. If the system you are trying to connect with doesn't explicitly tell you what kind of terminal emulation setting to use, then you may have to guess. If you're not sure what emulation to choose, try ANSI first. ANSI was originally designed to display information on color terminals, whereas VT-102 was designed for black and white systems.
If you know that the Telnet site you're going to be accessing is a "bulletin board system", or BBS for short, then it is most likely ANSI. Nearly every BBS system is based on the ANSI terminal emulation.
If you know that the system is a mainframe computer, UNIX system, or some kind of "shared" network system, it is probably VT-102.
Symptoms of an Incorrect Terminal Setting
Knowing whether you have the correct terminal emulation setting or not can be a tricky issue. There are a lot of different factors that can affect the proper display of information. A couple of dead giveaways that you have the wrong setting is if the screen doesn't clear correctly. If the screen clears, but the cursor isn't where you think it should be, then you've probably got the wrong setting. Also, if the background color on the text screen seems to "bleed" around when you scroll up or down, then you probably have the wrong setting. If these situations occur, try switching to the other terminal emulation setting and trying again.
Related Settings
There are a number of other settings that can affect the correct display of information in RIPtel. They're all related to the origins of computer terminals, and with all of the different manufacturers in the world, many different systems have been designed. You should read through the following sections to understand how these things relate - they are the key to correctly viewing information on Telnet sites.
The setting that probably makes the most dramatic impact on the display of information is how end of lines are handled. The end of line setting controls how text received by RIPtel needs to be displayed.
Another important setting is the local echo setting. This controls how your keystrokes are displayed.
Two settings control how the backspace key is handled. Probably the most important backspace setting is how RIPtel performs a backspace operation. Also important is what code is sent to the Telnet system when you hit the backspace key.
End of Line
The end of a line of text can be encoded in different ways. Having the correct setting for this option is crucial to the proper display of text. It is also very obvious when this setting is incorrect. Below we will talk about the differences in encoding methods, symptoms, and other issues related to this option.
Background on Text Encoding
Contrary to popular belief, text information in the computer world is not handled the same on different computer systems. In fact, one computer's way of encoding text can be different than another system. Over the last twenty years, nearly every computer system in the world has standardized on a single standard for text information, otherwise known as ASCII text. Everything on the Internet is in this format, and its how the information that you're reading right now is encoded. There's not much variation in this aspect of text. What is handled differently is how the end of a line of text is encoded.
When you use an actual typewriter, you start a new line by hitting the carriage return key on the keyboard. This moves the cursor to the beginning of the line, and moves the paper up one line. The result is that any keys you hit will appear starting at the left column of the next line. That's more or less how things work in electronic text on computers, but how that "carriage return" is recorded varies.
A Macintosh computer records the end of a line of text with the ASCII character "carriage return", also known as "CR" in the computer world. The Amiga computer also work this way.
A UNIX-based computer uses a different character code to mark the end of a line of text. They use the "linefeed" character, also known as "LF". A text file that was created on a UNIX system won't display correctly on a Macintosh unless you convert the file somehow.
An IBM-PC is also different. Rather than using a single character code for the end of line sequence, it uses two! It uses a carriage return followed by a linefeed character (CR + LF). A text file created by an IBM-PC will actually be viewable on a Macintosh, or a UNIX system, but sometimes little quirks arise from the ignored character.
Choosing the Right Setting
RIPtel by default, expects text to be encoded with carriage returns and linefeeds. If a linefeed is missing, then your text will overwrite itself, all on the same line. If this is the case, then change RIPtel to use the setting "CR & LF". In this mode, RIPtel automatically adds a linefeed character whenever it receives a carriage return.
If you notice that lines of text have a blank line between them, then you undoubtedly are in "CR & LF" mode, when you should really be in "CR" mode. In this situation, the host system is transmitting text in "CR & LF" format, and you're automatically adding an additional line feed character (which moves the cursor down one line). Changing to "CR" mode should do the trick in this situation.
Backspace Key Mode
This option controls how RIPtel responds when a Telnet site requests that the cursor be moved backward one position (i.e., a backspace operation). When the cursor moves back over the previous character, does RIPtel erase that character, or does it merely overlay the cursor over the character?
That is what the backspace key mode is all about. Some Telnet systems expect your terminal software to erase characters that it backspaces over, whereas other systems don't want the characters erased. But how do you know if the setting you have chosen is the right one or not? It's not always obvious. One easy way to know is if you are in some kind of text editor on the Telnet system, and characters start disappearing on the screen when they're not supposed to. If this happens, try switching to the other setting to see if the problem goes away.
A good rule of thumb is to know what terminal emulation to use. ANSI emulation almost always requires that the backspace operation should erase characters, whereas VT-102 rarely does it that way. VT-102 normally wants the backspace operation not to delete characters. RIPtel understands these common settings, so anytime you change the terminal emulation setting, RIPtel automatically sets the backspace mode to the most common setting for that terminal emulation.
Backspace Sends
Many Telnet sites handle the backspace key in different ways. Some systems expect a backspace ASCII character to be transmitted to them when the user hits the backspace key. Still other systems expect a different code to be sent - the delete character.
This option allows you to instruct RIPtel how to handle the backspace key. Normally, in ANSI terminal emulation, the backspace character is what's transmitted when the user hits the backspace key. Under VT-102 environments though, the delete character is expected.
RIPtel understands these common settings, so anytime you change the terminal emulation setting, RIPtel automatically sets the backspace key to transmit the most commonly used character.
Error Mode
The error mode setting controls what RIPtel does when RIPscrip detects an error condition. RIPscrip graphical data can be quite complex, and can originate from many different sources. A good RIPscrip drawing package doesn't produce graphics data with any errors in it, but the world is far from perfect. A corrupted file here, a poorly written software package there - there are a number of ways that a RIPscrip graphics file could have errors in it.
Normally RIPtel displays only certain kinds of errors (i.e., "Serious Errors"). You can change RIPtel to display only the very worst kinds of errors, or even the most trivial kinds of warnings, no matter how minor. You can even turn off the error messages entirely. The use of this option is not intended for the general consumer, but people who are working with RIPscrip graphics closely and want to be sure that there data is valid.
There are five different error levels that may be set in RIPtel:
Warning Messages
This setting will generate the most error and warning messages possible. Even the most trivial error condition is displayed. This option can generate a lot of popup display messages. Many of these messages are not earth shattering. Simple warnings about an obsolete command, or other such things are displayed. When this level is set, any images that cannot be found, will display the actual image filename below the "broken image" icon.
Basic Errors
A basic error is one that can happen fairly often in RIPscrip, but doesn't adversely affect things. Things like an invalid parameter in a command that causes it to be rejected, or other basic syntax errors in RIPscrip would be displayed. This can generate quite a few messages, but nowhere near the number of messages that can be displayed when in "warning" mode.
Serious Errors
This is the default RIPtel setting. In this mode, only errors of a relatively serious nature are displayed. Things like insufficient memory, missing files, or other things that could cause a graphics file not to display correctly. No warnings or basic errors are displayed. This setting strikes a good balance between importance of an error condition, and having too many messages displayed (i.e., information overload).
Critical Errors
A critical error is one of a fatal nature. Usually related to some kind of initialization process, a critical error would be any kind of error that will cause the system to act erratically, or make the system unstable. Use this option when you don't want to be bothered with the nitty gritty details about RIPscrip. When in this mode however, you may not realize why a RIPscrip graphics file isn't displaying correctly. If you truly want to know why, try lowering the error mode to a more basic setting.
No Error Messages
In this mode, no error or warnings messages of any kind are displayed. This mode isn't recommended. Use it in situations where the user may not be present to hit close the error window.
Icon Search Path
This advanced setting controls how RIPtel searches for files used by the RIPscrip graphics system. Normally, RIPtel knows where to look for various resources to displays its graphics, but in some circumstances it is necessary to tell RIPtel where resources might be located.
The icon search path option allows RIPtel to search additional directories for various files (e.g., icons, sound, photos and RIPscrip scenes). RIPtel always searches for files in the ICONS\ directory, so you never need to add this one. Also, if you have a host directory setup in your bookmarks editor, you don't need to add that one either.
This option is useful when you have other directories that contain icons, sounds or other files that RIPtel can use. You may specify more than one directory if you wish, simply by separating them with semicolons (;). Here are some examples:
C:\Windows;D:\;Icons\MyIcons
Files are first checked for in RIPTEL\ICONS directory and also in the host system's directory (e.g., "RIPTEL\host-directory"). If the requested file cannot be found, then RIPtel will search for it in the any special locations you have added to the icon path. In this case, it would search for the file in C:\Windows, on disk drive D:\, and if the file still can't be found, it for it in Icons\MyIcons (underneath the RIPTEL directory - e.g., "RIPTEL\Icons\MyIcons").
D:\
Search for files on drive D:\, which could be a hard disk, a CD-ROM or even a network drive.
This option is very useful if you use online services that provide a CD-ROM for accessing system resources. If you are using such a service, enter the drive letter for the CD-ROM included with your system here (or follow the manufacturer's instructions).
Word Wrap
Word wrap controls what happens when the cursor reaches the right edge of the screen. Normally this setting is turned on, to cause the cursor to automatically move to the next line of text. Some systems don't expect this kind of behavior though, and need this setting to be turned off.
There is no hard and fast rule about this setting. Sometimes this setting is optional, and not required. In some situations, it can be useful to turn this option off temporarily so that tables of information display correctly. Use this option experimentally, as there typically is no way of knowing what the correct setting should be. Probably 99% of all systems want this to be turned on.
Local Echo
The local echo option controls how keystrokes that you type are displayed to the screen. When you're online, anything that you type on the keyboard gets sent to the Telnet system. Most systems on the Internet actually send those same keystrokes back to your computer to be displayed as text. In this situation, RIPtel doesn't display your keystrokes when you type them, it waits until the computer on the other end tells you to display them. If you see your keystrokes displaying twice, then you know that local echo should be turned off.
Another less frequently used mode is local echo mode, where RIPtel automatically displays the keystroke the moment you type it. It doesn't wait for the computer on the other end to tell it to display the keystrokes. If your keystrokes aren't being displayed at all, then you probably have to turn local echo on.
Another use for local echo is if you are directly talking with another person on the Telnet system. Sometimes in these situations, you have to turn on local echo to see what you type.
Secure Data Requests
This option controls the access of information in RIPscrip. Many RIPscrip systems have the ability to ask your computer questions. Sometimes, these systems store some setting information inside a RIPscrip database file on your computer, so it can retrieve your settings the next time you call. These kinds of information requests are quite common.
But there's nothing stopping the computer on the other end from asking your system for more important information, like a credit card number, or a password. That's where this option comes in. When enabled, you are informed anytime the computer on the other end of the line requests information from RIPtel. You are given the chance to refuse the request. This also controls whether the remote computer can request that a file be uploaded to it.
You can turn this setting off if you completely trust the system on the other end. We don't recommend it, but there are some circumstances where it is useful to disable this security measure. For example, if you are accessing a system inside your own company, you could probably trust that system, and the people who run it. But if you are accessing systems on the Internet, that trust might be easily broken by unscrupulous system operators, or even hackers. Disable this option with care!
Sorting Order
When the number of bookmarks becomes rather large because you access a lot of systems, it sometimes becomes necessary to organize them. This is made easier by having the ability to sort your boookmarks . When you sort the bookmarks, you organize them based on some piece of information (e.g., the name of each system, their address, etc.) You have five separate ways of sorting your bookmarks and you also have the ability to sort in ascending or descending order:
It should be noted that any bookmarks which are not in use will always be put at the very bottom of the list, regardless of the way you try to sort your entries.
The "Sort By" group of options controls what information in each bookmark is used for the sorting process. For example, if choose the "System Name" option, then all bookmarks will be sorted in alphabetical order. The five options are described more fully below:
System Name
Sort bookmarks alphabetically by the name of each system.
AscendingDescending
NameName
ArenaBBSTeleGrafix BBS
Bob's BBSCompuServe
CompuServeBob's BBS
TeleGrafix BBSArenaBBS
System Address
Sort bookmarks alphabetically by their internet addresses.
AscendingDescending
AddressAddress
bayarea.comusanetwork.com
compuserve.comtelegrafix.com
telegrafix.comcompuserve.com
usanetwork.combayarea.com
System Notes
This sorts all bookmarks based on the notes field of the bookmark editor. All bookmarks with notes are placed at the top of the list and any with no note entries are placed at the bottom of list.
AscendingDescending
NameNotesNameNotes
BBS 1My favoriteBBS 3Tech. Support BBS
BBS 2Nobody's favoriteBBS 2Nobody's favorite
BBS 3Tech. Support BBSBBS 1My favorite
BBS 4BBS 4
BBS 5BBS 5
Last Connection Date
This is the last date that a successful connection was made to a bookmark site. Sorting this way lets you to find out what bookmarks haven't been used in ages, or which ones you used most recently.
AscendingDescending
NameDateNameDate
CompuServe02/03/92TeleGrafix BBS05/17/96
Bob's BBS11/27/93Genie06-22/94
ArenaBBS11/28/93ArenaBBS11/28/93
Genie06-22/94Bob's BBS11/27/93
TeleGrafix BBS05/17/96CompuServe02/03/92
Total Connections
This option sorts your bookmarks based on the total number of completed connections to each site. With this you can determine which bookmarks are the most frequently used, and which ones you hardly ever use.
AscendingDescending
NameCallsNameCalls
CompuServe0TeleGrafix BBS92
Bob's BBS5Genie23
ArenaBBS23ArenaBBS23
Genie23Bob's BBS5
TeleGrafix BBS92CompuServe0
Sorting Direction
The Sort Order option lets you control whether your bookmarks should be sorted "up" or "down". Ascending order means that you are sorting "up", and descending order means that you are sorting "down".
Examples of sorting order can be found in the section documenting the sorting methods.
System Name
The system name of a Telnet site is the basic description of the site, also known as the host name. Usually used to indicate the name of the online service (e.g., "CompuServe", "Delphi", "Genie", etc.) This is the main piece of information that is displayed on the left side of the bookmark listing. When you attempt to connect with a system, this is the information that is displayed in the connection status window.
NOTE:You must enter a name for an online service. Without it, RIPtel will not allow you to save a bookmark.
Address of System
The system address option is the actual Internet address for the online service that you wish to connect with. This address is normally in normal Internet address notation, with one or more words separated by periods. An alternative address could be in I.P. address notation. I.P. addresses are much less frequently used because they're harder to remember.
Normal Internet Addresses
A normal Internet address, also known as a domain name, is made up of two or more words or phrases separated by periods. For example, TeleGrafix's Internet address is "telnet.telegrafix.com". Reading from right to left, this address falls in the "com" category, which represents commercial sites, the most common Internet category. This is where most companies who do business on the Internet have their addresses. Next, we have the "telegrafix" sequence which slices out a piece of the "com" category specifically for TeleGrafix Communications, Inc. After that, we have the "Telnet" phrase which is the address for TeleGrafix's Telnet site. As you can see, Internet addresses are hierarchical in nature, and well organized. Similarly, TeleGrafix also has Internet sites at "www.telegrafix.com", and "ftp.telegrafix.com". These different addresses are TeleGrafix's World Wide Web site, and their FTP server. This illustrates a key point - that Internet addresses frequently describe what type of Internet service is available with the left-most part of the address (i.e., "telnet", "www" or "ftp" in this example). This is not always the case - many systems on the Internet don't use their Internet addresses this way - but it would appear that this is the growing trend in the land of the 'net.
I.P Addresses
I.P. addresses operate on a completely different principle than normal Internet addresses do. They both serve the same purpose, to access an Internet site. But their uses are very different. A normal internet address (i.e., a domain name) is what people use to refer to an Internet site. Computer systems on the Internet use I.P. addresses to reference systems on the network. There are "domain name servers" on the Internet which automatically translate domain names into I.P. addresses that the network can use to find the desired server. The description of this process goes well beyond the scope of this document. All you need to know is that an I.P. address can be used to access a server just like its Internet domain name. An I.P. address is actually four numbers separated by periods (e.g., "100.101.102.103"). Under no circumstances will any of the four numbers ever exceed the value 255, and they cannot be negative.
Notes
The system notes portion of a bookmark is where you can place any kind of descriptive text you want. It is longer than the system name field. Unlike the system name, it doesn't require that you fill-in any information. This is a useful place to add reminders, descriptions, or important information about the service. The use of this field is entirely up to you.
Host Directory
The host directory is used when an online service displays information with RIPscrip graphics. When using RIPscrip graphics, the host system can instruct RIPtel to load an image resource from its local hard disc and display the data on the video screen. RIPtel automatically looks for those files in a specific directory on the hard drive. If you have specified a host directory in the bookmark editor, than RIPtel will look for these kinds of files in that directory first. If the file cannot be found, then it checks the ICONS directory. If the file still cannot be found, then RIPtel checks any additional search directories that you have defined in the RIPtel setup screen. After checking all of these possible directories, RIPtel will only display an error if the file couldn't be found.
Like the ICONS directory, your host directory can only exist under the directory where RIPtel is installed. For security reasons, the host directory cannot exist in any arbitrary location on your hard drive. You may define search directories anywhere on your system, but not host directories.
Normally you will not have to set this option. Many online services create their own host directories for you, without your knowledge. But in the event that a system doesn't do this, then you may create your own with the host directory option in the bookmark editor.
User-ID
When you start to logon to many Telnet sites, you can quickly become confused about logging into systems. On one system you might use a particular logon ID, or user-ID, but other systems may have you use entirely different ones. Some systems don't even require a login user-ID. Depending on the service you are using, you will have different needs.
The user-ID option in the bookmark editor is useful to store the logon user-id that will be used for the service. This way, you don't have to try to remember them all, or keep them written down in a notebook. You may transmit the user-ID setting to the host system simply by pressing the ALT-F1 key on your keyboard. For more details about ways to transmit your User-ID, see the transmit User-ID command.
Password
The password field in the bookmark editor is similar in nature to the user-ID value. You can store the password that is used for an online service in this field for future use. Use this option with great care though - if other people have access to your computer, and can get into RIPtel, then your password's security might be compromised. We recommend that this field only be used for common Telnet sites where security isn't a major concern. If security is very important to you, then don't enter any sensitive password information.
Just like the user-ID option, the password may be sent to the host system simply by hitting the ALT-F2 sequence on your keyboard. For more details about ways to transmit the password, see the transmit password command.
Bookmark Listing
The bookmark listing is the actual display of all Telnet sites defined in RIPtel. The information displayed on the listing window depends on the bookmark display mode, accessed with the "View" button.
In the normal display mode, the system name, Internet address and any notes available for the system are displayed. In alternate display mode, the system name, logon user-ID and password are displayed, as well as the last connection date and the total number of connections made to the system.
You can select one or more bookmarks with the mouse by clicking on the desired bookmark. You have quite a bit of flexibility in how you can choose your entries. See the section on highlighting bookmarks for more information.
Specifying Port Numbers for Host Systems
The port number of a Telnet site is much like channel numbers on the television. Depending on the channel number, you can find different kinds of shows. On Internet systems, the port number is used to select what kind of Internet service you want from that location. In the world of Telnet, port 23 is the channel that is used almost universally to access Telnet services.
Some Telnet sites use other port numbers for different purposes. For example, TeleGrafix uses port 2000 on our telnet.telegrafix.com site to access our demo system directly, without having to login to the service. Port 2001 is used on TeleGrafix's site to demonstrate a newsreader product that uses RIPscrip graphics. If you access TeleGrafix's site using the normal port 23, you are prompted to login to the server, requiring you to have a user-ID and a password to access the system.
Overwrite or Append to Log File?
When you choose to capture text information to a log file, you are asked to choose a filename to receive the information. If that file already exists, you are prompted if you wish to overwrite the existing file, or append the new information to the existing file. If you choose to overwrite the file, then any information contained in that file is lost forever. Appending to the file simply adds the newly captured data to the end of the file, not losing any of the information that was stored in it before.
Unpause the Log File, or Close it?
When you have paused a capture operation, you have two choices when you choose the capture command again. You can decide to un-pause the capture process, thus resuming a recording of your online session, or you can close the log file entirely, thus terminating the capture process once and for all.
Pause the Log File or Close it?
When you are done capturing information to a text file, you have the option of closing the capture file completely, or simply pausing the capture. Pausing capture mode allows you temporarily to suspend the capture process - not recording the text information received to the log file until you resume capturing or close the file.
Pausing the capture log is very useful if you know that you're going to be viewing some sensitive information that you don't want to store in a text file. You can quickly resume the capture process when the sensitive information is complete.
Command Mode (Queries)
An advanced option in RIPtel is the command mode. This allows you to execute a macro command directly from the menu system without creating a keystroke macro. This is useful if you want to test out the macro language, or other RIPscrip host command language options (the same as the macro command language). Anything you enter in the command prompt that isn't a macro language code is sent to the remote server exactly as you typed it. If you add macro language codes, they are processed and potentially inserted into your command wherever the code was placed. Please note that not all macro language codes insert information into the final data.
This command can be useful if you want to do some unusual things. For example, you can turn off the text cursor simply by issuing the command "$COFF$" (without the quotation marks of course).
Scrollback Size
The scrollback buffer can only hold a certain amount of information. When new data is received from the server, it is added to the end of your scrollback buffer. If the buffer is already full, some of the oldest information is deleted to make room for the new information.
This option allows you to customize the size of your scrollback buffer, controlling how much data can be stored in it. You must enter a number which indicates how many kilobytes of data can be stored in the buffer. A single kilobyte can store 1024 characters of information. By default, your RIPtel scrollback is set to hold 100 kilobytes (100K), or approximately 100,000 characters, of data. This should be more than adequate for most needs. If you are running extremely low on memory, you can reduce this to a value as small as "1" for only 1024 (1K) characters of storage. If you want an extremely large buffer of information, you can increase this number to a value as high as 10,000 for a ten megabyte buffer.
Keystroke Macros
A keystroke macro is a special event that happens when a certain keystroke is typed on your keyboard. Keystroke macros are completely customizable. You can set up nearly any key combination on the keyboard to transmit anything you could want to the server. You can even make RIPtel do different things whenever a macro is executed.
The number of keystroke macros you can have is limited only by available memory in your computer. Macros are stored in keystroke macro files ending in a .KEY file extension. The default keystroke macro file is RIPTEL.KEY and it is automatically loaded whenever RIPtel is executed. It is stored in the same directory where RIPtel is installed.
RIPtel's keystroke macro system is very advanced and extremely flexible. Game players, telecommunications professionals and power users alike will find these features invaluable. Please read the following sections for more details:
Basic Macro Options
RIPtel offers the usual basic editing features for manipulating keystroke macros. Adding, editing and deleting macros are only the basics. You can also load any keystroke macro file, or save to a file for later use.
Advanced Macro Options
RIPtel advanced macro features let you truly unleash the power of RIPtel. These options allow you to do anything from automatically logging you into a system, to automating mundane tasks. Imagine if you were playing an online game, and you could immediately attack someone if they attack you first? Wouldn't it be nice if you could do that automatically, so even if you were taking a drink of coffee when they attacked you, you don't have to wait - RIPtel could attack back for you!
Auto-loading macro files (system macros)
Examples of advanced macro usage
Macro Command Language
Another advanced option in RIPtel is the ability to use a macro command language. Similar to script commands available in other software packages, the macro command language allows you to do a great many things that would be difficult or impossible to do without them. Pull information out of a database, display image files, play sounds, or even send today date and time. There's a wealth of power in the macro language:
Scrollback Buffer
The scrollback buffer is used to review previously received information. As you use RIPtel to logon and use Telnet sites, you see a lot of information. The scrollback system let's you go back and see things that are no longer on your screen (i.e., to "scroll back to the previous screens").
Scrollback mode provides you with a number of options to work with the information. You can save it to disk, print it or even copy it to the Windows clipboard to paste to another application or even into your Telnet window.
With scrollback, you don't have to revisit a menu or information source multiple times. This is especially useful in an environment where you pay for information each time you view it.
General Scrollback Information
The following options describe how to work with the scrollback buffer system. How information is displayed, how to highlight data and controlling the size of your buffer:
Setting the size of your scrollback buffer
Scrollback Commands
These options permit you to do something with the information stored in the scrollback system. You can locate information stored somewhere in the scrollback, copy data to the clipboard, or even save and print the scrollback's contents:
Copying information to the clipboard
Pasting the Clipboard
The paste option in the edit menu allows you to take the text contents of the Windows clipboard and "paste" it into your current Telnet session. When you choose this, any textual information stored on the clipboard automatically is sent to the remote server as if you had typed the information by hand.
This is extremely useful for taking information typed up in a word processor or text editor and sending it to a system quickly and easily. Information pasted into RIPtel's Telnet window doesn't have to originate from within RIPtel - it could have been placed on the clipboard from another application.
You may place text information on the clipboard from the scrollback buffer of RIPtel. This let's you transmit previously received information back to the server.
Quitting RIPtel
The quit option will exit RIPtel, shutting down any current Telnet session. This disconnects you from the remote server automatically if you are still connected. Note, any print logs or capture files are automatically closed and saved when you quit RIPtel.
NOTE:Due to the nature of many server systems on the Internet, it is a good idea to logout of the system normally before exiting RIPtel. Some server systems don't recognize when you hangup and leave you online for an indeterminate amount of time. When in doubt, logout through the normal method for that particular server.
Searching the Help System
You can search through the help system for available topics. When you choose this option, you are permitted to enter a phrase that will be searched for in the list of available help topics. Under Windows 95, you can also perform a keyword search of the entire help file if you wish.
This is useful if you are trying to find something, but aren't sure where it's located in the help system.
Sending Your User-ID
RIPtel lets you store the login User-ID for Telnet systems in bookmarks. Not only is this a reminder for you if you forgot who to login as, but it also can be used to automatically transmit the login User-ID to the server.
If you hit ALT-F1 on the keyboard, the User-ID defined in the current bookmark is automatically transmitted to the server followed by a carriage return. This option doesn't appear in any of the pulldown menus for security reasons.
You may also access the login User-ID from a keystroke macro or from the command option. When using one of these two features, you can use the text variable named $USERNAME$ to insert the current login User-ID into a macro. This is especially useful if you are setting up a search macro to automatically log you into a particular server. You can also get fancy with the $USERNAME$ text variable by adding prompts or other special text variable options.
You define your login User-ID by editing a bookmark and entering information in the Username field.
Sending Your Password
RIPtel lets you store the login password for Telnet systems in bookmarks. It can be used to automatically transmit the login password to the server.
If you hit ALT-F2 on the keyboard, the password defined in the current bookmark is automatically transmitted to the server followed by a carriage return. This option doesn't appear in any of the pulldown menus for security reasons.
You may also access the login password from a keystroke macro or from the command option. When using one of these two features, you can use the text variable named $PASSWORD$ to insert the current login password into a macro. This is especially useful if you are setting up a search macro to automatically log you into a particular server. You can also get fancy with the $PASSWORD$ text variable by adding prompts or other special text variable options. If you use the $PASSWORD$ text variable in a keystroke macro, you will probably want to use the special "don't echo keystrokes" option to "hide" the keystrokes of the password from the viewer (e.g., "$#PASSWORD$").
You define your login User-ID by editing a bookmark and entering information in the password field.
Show a Tip
The tips part of RIPtel is to tell you about interesting features of the software. Each time you start RIPtel, it will display a tip message. If you do not want to see tip information, you can choose the option at the bottom of the tip screen that says "Don't show this in the future".
How to Use Help
Choosing this option will invoke the Microsoft Windows help system, displaying the help information about the help viewer. It is intended to instruct you in the use of help - how to access it, use it, and customize it.
About RIPtel
Choosing the About RIPtel option displays a copyright screen showing contact information for TeleGrafix, and other information about the RIPtel product in general.
Auto-loading Macro Files
You may instruct RIPtel to automatically load specific keystroke macro files whenever you connect to a bookmark site. This allows you to create customized macro files for different systems, and have them automatically loaded simply by logging on.
Any keystroke macro file that you specify will be loaded from the RIPTEL\ directory itself. You cannot specify an arbitrary directory location for these automatically loaded macro files.
This option is extremely useful for game players online. No more having to remember what macro file contains your favorite commands. You can also use the search macro system to make macros automatically execute whenever a particular piece of text is received from the server.
Search macros are an easy way to automatically log you onto a particular system. Simply tell it what text to search for (e.g., "Enter your login name:"), then tell it what text information to send when the desired message is received (e.g., "$USERNAME$^m"). You can get much fancier than this, but this gives you the basic idea.
Finding Data in the Scrollback
You can search through the information in the scrollback buffer for a particular piece of text. This lets you quickly jump to the desired topic without having to scan through endless pages of data.
When you choose this option, RIPtel begins searching for the desired text from the beginning of the scrollback buffer. When the desired information is found, RIPtel displays that page on the screen and highlights the line that contained the text. It also highlights all occurrences of that text on the screen - so if you searched for the word "the", RIPtel would display the first line with that phrase in it, and if it appears in other locations on the screen, it will be automatically highlighted.
When searching for information, you have the option of making a case sensitive search to make your search request more precise.
To tell RIPtel to stop highlighting search phrases in the scrollback, choose the find command, then click on the text to search for and delete every character in the edit box. Then choose the Find option. RIPtel will return to the top of the scrollback buffer and stop highlighting anything.
Case Sensitive Scrollback Searches
The case sensitive option instructs RIPtel to only match exact characters in your search information. If you asked to search for the word "PHRASE" all in capital letters, then RIPtel would not find "Phrase", "phrase" or "pHRASE", but it would find "PHRASE", "PHRASES", "PARAPHRASE", etc.
If you turn this option off (the default), then RIPtel ignores the case of the information you type in and will locate any occurrence of the text in your scrollback buffer regardless of upper or lower case issues.
Specifying Text Searches
When you choose the Find command in the scrollback system, you are prompted to enter the information that you wish to search for. Enter one or more characters of text in the "search for" field. If you search for nothing (i.e., a blank search), then RIPtel resets the search operation, moving to the top of the scrollback buffer and doesn't highlight anything.
The information that you enter here ignores the case of letters (e.g., "JOE" is equivalent to "joe"). If you want RIPtel to be sensitive to the differences in case, choose the case sensitive option.
Repeating a Scrollback Search
Once you've searched for a piece of text, you can continue searching for additional occurrences of information in the scrollback. If RIPtel finds another instance of the text, it will automatically move to its location and highlight it appropriately.
For more information about initiating a search of the scrollback system, see the section on searching the scrollback buffer.
Saving the Scrollback Buffer
One very useful feature of the scrollback buffer is the ability to save scrollback information to a text file. When you choose the Save option, you have the opportunity to save all or part of the scrollback's contents to a desired text file. What information is stored in the file depends on several things.
If you have not highlighted any information in the scrollback, then you will be prompted if you want to save the entire scrollback to disk, or just the current page of information.
If you have highlighted information with your mouse, then only that information will be stored to the text file. See the section on highlighting scrollback information for details on how to do this.
If the text file you choose already exists, you will be prompted if you want to overwrite the file with the new information, or if you wish to add to the end of the file.
Printing the Scrollback Buffer
Another useful feature of the scrollback buffer is the ability to print the information in the scrollback to your printer. When you choose the Print option, you have the opportunity to print all or part of the scrollback's contents to your printer. What information is printed depends on several things.
If you have not highlighted any information in the scrollback, then you will be prompted if you want to print the entire scrollback, or just the current page of information.
If you have highlighted information with your mouse, then only that information will be printed. See the section on highlighting scrollback information for details on how to do this.
In either event, the printer options screen is displayed allowing you to specify how many copies you want to print, what printer you want to use, and all of the usual settings.
Copying Scrollback Data to the Clipboard
Once you have highlighted information in the scrollback buffer, the Copy command becomes available. This lets you copy the highlighted information to the windows clipboard. Once it is on the clipboard, you can paste the information into any other Windows application (e.g., Microsoft Word, Notepad, etc.) This lets you transfer text information from RIPtel to another application.
RIPtel also has the option to let you paste the information into your Telnet window. After copying information to the clipboard, use the Paste command from the Edit menu to send the information on the clipboard to the remote host system. This makes it appear as if you typed the text in yourself.
Scrollback Display Window
When the scrollback buffer is displayed on the screen, a number of command options are available - they are displayed above and below the scrollback display window. The display window is where the actual scrollback information is displayed.
Information is displayed in simple text format. All text is displayed in a light gray color on a black background. If you have searched your scrollback for information, the line containing the current "match" is highlighted in blue. All occurrences of the search text are highlighted in different on the display so you can easily pick out where the information you're looking for is located.
If you have highlighted any information in the scrollback, it will be displayed with a white background. This makes it stand out very clearly. See the section on highlighting scrollback information for details on how to do this.
When you scroll the scrollback buffer up or down, the highlighted information moves as well. Even if you move highlighted data off the screen, then move back to that page, the highlights will be redisplayed. This provides for a "real-time" display of information.
Highlighting Scrollback Information
Any piece of information that you see in the scrollback buffer can be highlighted with the mouse. Once information is highlighted, you can print it, save it to disk, or even copy it to the clipboard. You don't have to highlight information to print or save to disk, but if you do, then only the selected data will be printed or saved.
To highlight information using the mouse, position the mouse cursor where you want to start highlighting. Click and hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse over the desired text. When the you have highlighted the desired information, release the left mouse button. While moving the mouse button to extend the highlighted area, you can move the mouse above or below the scrollback display window to automatically scroll the display up or down. This lets you highlight more than a complete screenful of information.
If you have information already highlighted, and you want to add more data to the highlighted area, you don't have to re-highlight the old information. Just hold down the SHIFT key on the keyboard and use the mouse to highlight the additional information. RIPtel will do the dirty work of adding the new information to the highlighted area.
To un-highlight any information (i.e., remove the highlights), simply click the left mouse button anywhere in the display area and immediately release the button (don't move the mouse). RIPtel will turn off the highlighted area when you release the mouse button. When you do this, the Copy option becomes disabled (i.e., nothing to place on the clipboard).
Adding New Macros
Creating a new keystroke macro is very simple. Choose the Add option from the Keystroke Macro system. You will be presented with an editor window with two options. The first option, the "macro keystroke", is the key combination on your keyboard that will activate the macro. The second option is the actual text information to send when that keystroke is typed. It's pretty much that simple. If you enter a keystroke that is already in-use by another macro, it will be overwritten automatically.
To make the changes to the macro system permanent, be sure to save your macros!
See the following sections for more detailed information on these two options:
Editing Existing Macros
Editing a macro is an easy matter. Simply click on the macro that you wish to edit and choose the Edit option. You will be presented with an editor window with two options. The first option, the "macro keystroke", is the key combination on your keyboard that will activate the macro. The second option is the actual text information to send when that keystroke is typed. Just edit whichever of these two options you want. It's pretty much that simple. If you change the keystroke that activates the macro, and that keystroke is already in-use by another macro, it will overwrite the old macro automatically.
To make the changes to the macro system permanent, be sure to save your macros!
See the following sections for more detailed information on these two options:
Deleting Macros
Removing macros from the macro system is a simple matter. Just click on the macro you no longer want and choose the Delete option. You will be asked if you truly want to delete the macro. If you choose Yes, then the macro will be removed.
To make the changes to the macro system permanent, be sure to save your macros!
Loading a Macro File
RIPtel automatically loads the macro file RIPTEL.KEY when the software starts. Under many situations, these macros may be all that you need. But if you start accessing a lot of online systems, you could very well want to use different macros in different situations. Saving your macros to different .KEY files allows you to do this.
When you want to switch to another set of macros, go into the keystroke macro system and choose the Load option. You will be asked to choose a macro file. When you select the file, RIPtel will load the new macros. Any previous macros that were defined are erased, in favor of the new macro file.
If you want to automatically load a particular macro file when you connect to a specific Telnet site, try setting a macro file in the bookmark editor to auto-load keystroke macros.
Note:When you load a macro file, not only are your keystroke macros changed, but so are all of your search macros. Loading a new macro file does not affect the $USERNAME$ login User-ID macro, or the $PASSWORD$ login password macro defined in the bookmark.
Saving a Macro File
Saving your macros is necessary if you want to make your changes permanent. When you choose to save your macros, RIPtel asks you what file they should be stored in. By default, the macro file is RIPTEL.KEY unless you've loaded another macro file. Remember, that a macro file could have been loaded simply by connecting to a bookmark site, so be careful when overwriting macro files!
Not only are all of your keystroke macros saved to disk, but so are any search macro definitions. If you wish to save a macro file that you wish to auto-load from a bookmark, you must store that file in the RIPTEL\ directory! If you don't, the bookmark system will not be able to find it.
Searching Macros (Auto-Executing)
Search macros are a unique feature of RIPtel. They allow you to specify a piece of text to search for, and when it is received from the host system, a macro is immediately executed. Although not a unique concept in the communications area, never before has it been so easy to make search macros in a terminal product!
You may encounter situations where you want to send certain information routinely to the host system when a particular phrase is received. A good example of this would be to send your login User-ID when the phrase "Please enter your username:" is found. This is a simple way to automatically log-on to a system.
The applications of this feature are almost limitless. A game player could take advantage of this in thousands of ways. You could setup a search string of "There's gold on the ground", and when that phrase is found, the sequence "pick up gold^M" could be transmitted. Remember, that the sequence "^M" is a macro code for the carriage return. See the section on the Macro Command Language for more details about macro codes.
You are allowed up to eight different search macros per macro file. Use multiple macro files if you need to have different search macros for different environments.
When you choose the search macro option, you are presented with eight different search macro sets. Each search macro has three different settings:
There are many different kinds of examples of using search macros. Here are some tips and tricks for using search macros for some situations:
Search Macros - Sending Your User-ID
The descriptions that follow make heavy use of the user-defined text variable options available in the macro command language. See the macro command language section for details on the full language, or the user-defined text variable section for details on using your own text variable definitions.
Sending the User-ID automatically
If you would like to automatically transmit the User-ID every time without prompting you, use this text variable command:
$&UserName$^m
Prompting for a new User-ID every time
You can automatically send the User-ID stored in a bookmark with the text variable sequence:
$UserName$^m
Using this macro will automatically pop-up a window with your User-ID defined in a bookmark and ask if you want to send this text. If you wanted to always popup a window asking you to enter your User-ID, but also have a descriptive prompt at the top of the window, use a macro like this:
$UserName@Please enter your login name$^m
Here's another variation. What if you wanted the login name that you type in to always be converted to lower case? Simple, add a format code to your text variable like this:
$UserName(ToLower)@Please enter your login name$^m
Lastly, if you want to make sure that the user is forced to enter a login name, use this macro:
$*UserName(ToLower)@Please enter your login name$^m
Choosing from a list of User-ID's
If you wanted to be presented with a list of possible login User-ID's, then you would use a popup list option in your macro. Let's say for example that you wanted to choose between three choices: Jeff, Mark or Pat. You would create a popup list in your macro like this:
((Jeff,Mark,Pat))
If you wanted to have a descriptive title at the top of the list, choose a macro like this:
((Choose a Login-ID::Jeff,Mark,Pat))
If you wanted to force the user to pick one of the choices from the list (i.e., you couldn't cancel the list), then try this:
((*Choose a Login-ID::Jeff,Mark,Pat))
Lastly, if you wanted to display one set of choices, but send something completely different to the host system, you could add descriptive entries to the list like this:
((*Choose a Login-ID::jreeder@Jeff,mhayton@Mark,pclawson@Pat))
In this last example, the user would be presented with a list of three people to login as, "Jeff", "Mark" or "Pat". Depending on which option they choose, the phrase "jreeder", "mhayton" or "pclawson" would be sent to the host system respectively.
For more information, see the section on popup lists.
Search Macros - Sending Your Password
The descriptions that follow make heavy use of the user-defined text variable options available in the macro command language. See the macro command language section for details on the full language, or the user-defined text variable section for details on using your own text variable definitions.
Sending the Password automatically
If you would like to automatically transmit the password every time without prompting you, use this text variable command:
$&Password$^m
Prompting for a new Password every time
You can automatically send the password stored in a bookmark with the text variable sequence:
$Password$^m
Using this macro will automatically pop-up a window with your password defined in a bookmark and ask if you want to send this text.
NOTE:In the previous example, the actual password will be displayed in the popup window. If you would like to a bit more secure in your passwords (WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS), then use the "don't display" option of the text variable system like this:
$#Password$^m
When the popup window is displayed, your password will be hidden, replaced with asterisk (*) characters just like other Windows applications do. This allows you to change your password, but not let anybody looking over your shoulder to see it.
If you wanted to always popup a window asking you to enter your password, but also have a descriptive prompt at the top of the window, use a macro like this:
$#Password@Please enter your login password$^m
Here's another variation. What if you wanted the login password that you type in to always be converted to lower case? Simple, add a format code to your text variable like this:
$#Password(ToLower)@Please enter your login password$^m
Lastly, if you want to make sure that the user is forced to enter a login password, use this macro:
$*#Password(ToLower)@Please enter your login password$^m
Text to Search For
When creating a search macro, you must specify the text to search for. This is the information that will trigger the transmission of the macro text. You must enter at least one character to search for, although you probably would want to use a few more characters. If the search information is blank, the search macro is ignored.
The text that you define as the "search for" information is case sensitive. It will be matched exactly to the information being received from the host system. If you are looking for the text "yOu ArE bEiNg AtTaCkEd", then you must type it in exactly like this - if you type in "you are being attacked", then your macro will never be executed!
After you define the text to search for, you need to enter the text to send for your macro.
Text to Send for Search Text
Once you have defined the text that you are searching for, you must enter the text information to send to the host system when the search text is found. This is a normal keystroke macro text response. You may add in any of the available options in the macro command language.
Common uses of the search system are to automatically transmit your login User-ID, or to automatically send your login password. Many other applications exist, such as reacting to things in online games, preventing yourself from being disconnected when you're not at the keyboard, and many other things. Be creative - that's what we designed the feature for! If you come up with a truly innovative use for the search system that you think nobody knows about, please share it with others!
After you specify the text that should be sent to the host system, you must decide if you want this search macro to be automatically executed every time the search text is found, or processed only when you say so, set the Prompt option appropriately.
Prompt Before Sending
When defining a search macro, you have the choice of having your macro execute each and every time that the search text is encountered, or prompting you whether the macro should be processed.
If the prompt option is off, then every time the search text is encountered, the macro is immediately processed. You are not notified, and you have no option to stop the execution of the macro.
If you turn the prompt option on, then anytime the search string is encountered, you are prompted whether you want to process the specified macro. Choosing Yes at this point will process the macro, otherwise the macro is ignored for that occurrence of the search text.
Macro Keystroke
Enter the keystroke that activates a macro is a simple matter. Simply click in the macro keystroke box and type the key you want. It's that simple. The name of the keystroke will automatically be entered into the keystroke box (e.g., Alt-F, Alt-F10, Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Z, etc.) Immediately after entering the keystroke, you will be asked to enter the text to send for the macro.
Text to Send for Macro
When you define the macro send text, you have a great deal of flexibility in what you can do. At the very simplest level, you can transmit a specific piece of text to the host system. You can also enhance your macros with a large number of useful features available in the macro command language.
More often than not, you will also want to transmit a carriage return after your macro text. This simulates you hitting the ENTER key. The code for a carriage return is "^M" and is only one of the many available control character codes at your disposal. For example, you could send your name to the server with a macro like this:
Jeff Reeder^m
A more complex macro, but still quite simple in design could transmit your address information:
Jeff Reeder^m111 Weems Lane^mWinchester, VA 22601
This macro would send the following to the host system:
Jeff Reeder
111 Weems Lane
Winchester, VA 22601
That's not all. You can get even fancier with your macros. You can add popup lists to your macros which will present you with a list of choices. One of these choices will be inserted into your macro wherever the list code is. Suppose you are playing a game and you want to have a single macro that moves you north, south, east or west. You could create a macro like this:
MOVE ((NORTH,SOUTH,EAST,WEST))^M
After choosing a direction, this macro would transmit "MOVE NORTH", "MOVE SOUTH", "MOVE EAST" or "MOVE WEST" followed by a carriage return. You can make very complicated popup lists. See the section on popup lists for more details.
It doesn't end there. The macro command language has things called text variables. There are text variables that insert a piece of text into the macro, and there are others that perform some kind of action. For example, if you wanted to insert the current date into your macro, try this macro:
Today's date is $DATE$^m
This would send "Todays date is 11/27/96" followed by a carriage return to the host system. If you wanted to clear the screen from inside a macro, you could use the macro "$CLS$". There are over one hundred different text variables that you can use in your macros. See the section on text variables for more information.
Another option in the macro language is the ability to display a file stored in your ICONS\ directory. The ICONS\ directory is where many resource files are stored for RIPtel. If you had a WAV audio file called SONG.WAV stored in the ICONS directory, you could play that sound at any time by making a macro like this:
$)SONG.WAV$
Another application would be to read-in a RIPscrip graphics file from the ICONS directory. If you had a file called GAMEMENU.RIP in the ICONS directory, you could playback (i.e., display) the file with the macro:
"$>GAMEMENU.RIP".
Another kind of file that you can display are bitmap (BMP) or photo (JPG) files. Both of these files must be stored in the ICONS directory. Bitmap files are displayed with a macro like "$<BITMAP.BMP$", and photos are displayed with a macro like "$(PHOTO.JPG$".
When showing photos or bitmap files, they are normally displayed "full-screen". You can alter this though. You can specify where you want an image or a bitmap file to be placed on the screen by defining an image style. If you wanted to display the file PHOTO.JPG starting at (20,30) on the screen, and going ending at (100,110), then you'd use a macro like this:
$IMGSTYLE(cur,20,30,100,110)$$(PHOTO.JPG$
Note the phrase "cur" in the image style definition. You do not need to concern yourself with this value - it simply says to display the image to the currently defined screen port. This is something that is part of the RIPscrip graphics language and goes well beyond the scope of keystroke macros. If you want to learn about the thousands of different text variable options, get yourself a copy of the "RIPscrip 3.0 Protocol Reference" document from TeleGrafix.
For more information about displaying/playing files from the local hard disk, see the section on file playback.
You also have complete control over the definition and use of your data variables. If you know that you have some information stored in the variable $NAME$, then you could insert that information into your macro with something like this:
My name is $NAME$^m
When working with your own text variables, you will probably not want RIPtel to automatically popup a window on the screen every time you reference one of your variables. In this case, simply change the above macro to the following (this tells RIPtel not to prompt the user):
My name is $&NAME$^m
If you wanted to create your own variable from inside a macro, do this:
$+PERMANENT_VARIABLE$
When you execute this macro, you will be prompted to "Enter information for PERMANENT_VARIABLE". When you enter some information, that data is stored permanently in a database file. Simply reference the variable with a macro like "$&PERMANENT_VARIABLE$ to retrieve the variable's contents.
If you wanted to popup the previous variable, but fill-in the response for the user with some suitable default answer, use something like this:
$+PERMANENT_VARIABLE=my information$
What if you wanted to take this example and actually ask the user a question? Try this:
$+PERMANENT_VARIABLE@What do you want to enter?=my information$
Lastly, if you want to create a variable from within your macro, assigning it a particular value, and you don't want the user to be prompted or bothered, then you would use a macro like this:
$+-PERMANENT_VARIABLE=my information$
There are a great many more options with text variables not discussed here. For learn more about user-defined text variables like these and more, see the section on User-Defined Text Variables.
Macro Command Language
RIPtel has a sophisticated macro command language allowing you to do many different kinds of operations. The language is based on you entering one or more codes into your macros. For example, the macro code "^M" inserts a carriage return into your macro, whereas the sequence "((Option 1,Option 2))" inserts a popup list into your macro, giving you the choices "Option 1" and "Option 2". After you select on of the two choices, the final choice is inserted into your macro. There's much more to the macro language. Read the following sections for further details:
Control Characters
You may use codes in your macros to insert "control characters" into the text sent to the remote server. These control characters are "special" codes which are often used to simulate a keystroke on the keyboard. The most commonly used is the carriage return, which simulates the ENTER key on your keyboard (e.g., "^M"). Whenever you want a macro to send a piece of text to the system then hit the ENTER key, you will need to add the "^M" control code. Here is a list of the most commonly used control character codes:
Individual Control Characters
These control codes are commonly used to simulate ordinary keystrokes (e.g., CTRL-G, CTRL-C, etc.) Many of them aren't used very often, but they are listed here for completeness:
CodeDescription
^@Null (ASCII 0)
^GBeep
^LClear Screen (Top of Form)
^MCarriage Return (Enter key)
^CBreak (sometimes)
^HBackspace
^[Escape character
^SPause data transmission
^QResume data transmission
Special Keystrokes
These control codes are used to simulate special keys on the keyboard like the arrow keys and a few others. It should be noted that not all special keys on the keyboard have corresponding controls codes available (e.g., DELETE, INSERT, etc.). These are the most commonly used special keyboard codes and should be considered the complete reference on special control keys:
CodeDescription
^[[AUp Arrow
^[[BDown Arrow
^[[CRight Arrow
^[[DLeft Arrow
^[[HHome Key
^[[KEnd Key
^[[LControl Home
You may use the caret symbol "^", or the backquote symbol "`" interchangeably. The choice is up to you. You may specify a literal caret symbol in your macro by doubling-up on the character (e.g., "^^"). Similarly, you can insert a literal backquote character by specifying two backquote characters (e.g., "``").
Displaying Files
One of the macro system's abilities is to display or execute various files. This option instruct the system to playback a file located on your hard disk, thus displaying or "playing it back". These files are normally located in the ICONS\ directory of the RIPtel system, but could also be located in the system's host directory. With this command option, you can do things like display a local RIPscrip scene from the hard disk (e.g., .RIP), play a sound (e.g., .WAV), show a photo image (i.e., .JPG), or even display a bitmap file (e.g., ,BMP).
The following display commands are available for the macro system:
DescriptionFile Types
Audio files.WAV
Display RIPscrip Files via Macros
You can re-play a .RIP file that you have locally on your hard disk from your macros. To display a RIP file whenever a macro is executed, enter a command similar to the following:
$>MYFILE.RIP$Show MYFILE.RIP to the screen
$>FILE1$Show FILE1.RIP to the screen
$>FILE2.TXT$Show FILE2.TXT to the screen (text file)
Note in the last example, a file extension other than .RIP was used. You are not limited to playing back local .RIP files. In fact, you can play-back any file you want. You could load any simple text file, ANSI picture image, or other such thing. When loaded, the data is not sent to the host; it is strictly echoed on your local screen. If the file is a .RIP file, it will replay any graphics that were in the file and if any mouse regions are defined, it will create those fields for you as well, thus allowing you to pop-up dialog screens or other such things that are not built-in to RIPtel normally.
Each "RIP playback command" you enter will search for the .RIP file in the current host's directory. If it cannot find the file in that directory, it will check the ICONS\ directory.
Playing Audio Files via Macros
In your macros, you can choose to playback a WAV audio file. This allows you to make your RIPtel system come alive with audio. This command is nearly identical in syntax to the display RIP file command with a simple alteration. Instead of using the ">" character to signify RIPscrip file, you use the close parenthesis ")" as in the following example:
$)TRAIN.WAV$Play TRAIN.WAV on your speakers
$)AUDIOFIL.FIL$Play AUDIOFIL.FIL on your speakers (assume it's a WAV file)
As you can see, the file extension is unimportant. This command assume that the specified file is a WAV audio file, and attempts to play it regardless of what kind of file it really is. The file will be searched for in the current host's directory. If it cannot find the file in that directory, it will check the ICONS\ directory.
Showing Bitmap Images via Macros
In your macros, you can indicate that you want to display a bitmap image file. The bitmap will be displayed inside the current image settings (typically full-screen). This is an advanced command and isn't used very often. The image is displayed using the current image style defined by the current RIPscrip image style. See the RIPscrip specification fore more details about setting the image style. The $IMGSTYLE$ text variable can be used to set the image display area before this command is executed.
For the purposes of universality, the bitmap is shown to the screen using the current screen's color palette and "auto-dithering" mode is used for the viewing of the image. If you need support for some of the other modes for viewing a bitmap image (i.e., the RIP_LOAD_BITMAP's flexibility), then you will have to use that command instead. This command is provided as a simple method of showing a bitmapped image from within a host command.
Note, if no image style definition has been recorded then the bitmap is shown in the maximum size of the current viewport. In other words, it will be scaled to fill up the entire viewport.
To instruct the terminal to playback a local bitmap file, you would execute a host command with the following in it:
$<FILENAME.BMP$
The file will be searched for in the current host's directory. If it cannot find the file in that directory, it will check the ICONS\ directory.
When showing bitmap files, they are normally displayed "full-screen". You can alter this though. You can specify where you want a bitmap file to be placed on the screen by defining an image style. If you wanted to display the file BITMAP.BMP starting at (20,30) on the screen, and going ending at (100,110), then you'd use a macro like this:
$IMGSTYLE(cur,20,30,100,110)$$<BITMAP.BMP$
Note the phrase "cur" in the image style definition. You do not need to concern yourself with this value - it simply says to display the image to the currently defined screen port. This is something that is part of the RIPscrip graphics language and goes well beyond the scope of keystroke macros. If you want to learn about the thousands of different text variable options, get yourself a copy of the "RIPscrip 3.0 Protocol Reference" document from TeleGrafix.
Showing Photo Images via Macros
In your macros, you can indicate that you want to display a bitmap image file. The bitmap will be displayed inside the current image settings (typically full-screen). This is an advanced command and isn't used very often. The image is displayed using the current image style defined by the current RIPscrip image style. See the RIPscrip specification fore more details about setting the image style. The $IMGSTYLE$ text variable can be used to set the image display area before this command is executed.
Currently, only JPEG compressed image files are supported. If no image style is recorded, then the JPEG file is displayed inside the current viewport and will occupy the entire viewport's dimensions (typically full-screen).
To display a local image file from within a macro, insert a command similar to the following in your macro:
$(MYFILE.JPG$
In this example, the file MYFILE.JPG is displayed to the current screen in the given image style (typically full-screen). The file will be searched for in the current host's directory. If it cannot find the file in that directory, it will check the ICONS\ directory.
When showing photos, they are normally displayed "full-screen". You can alter this though. You can specify where you want an image is to be placed on the screen by defining an image style. If you wanted to display the file PHOTO.JPG starting at (20,30) on the screen, and going ending at (100,110), then you'd use a macro like this:
$IMGSTYLE(cur,20,30,100,110)$$(PHOTO.JPG$
Note the phrase "cur" in the image style definition. You do not need to concern yourself with this value - it simply says to display the image to the currently defined screen port. This is something that is part of the RIPscrip graphics language and goes well beyond the scope of keystroke macros. If you want to learn about the thousands of different text variable options, get yourself a copy of the "RIPscrip 3.0 Protocol Reference" document from TeleGrafix.
Popup Lists
Your macros can also include special commands that will "pop-up" a list of options to you. After selecting one of the available options, a different piece of text information is transmitted to the host server.
A list is created by putting special list instructions inside two sets of parenthesis like this: "((" and "))". The list consists of an optional question followed by two colons "::", followed by one or more list entries. For example, "((Send Email to?::Sysop,Cosysop,Joe))" says to popup a list asking you "Send Email to?", giving you the choices of "Sysop", "Cosysop", and "Joe". After making a choice, the requested text is sent to the remote server system (e.g., "Sysop", "Cosysop" or "Joe").
If you do not specify a question, then the list defaults to the question:
Choose one of the following:
You may specify an X/Y location for the upper-left corner of your popup list . To do so, specify the location in the following manner (note, the X/Y locations are based in the current RIPscrip world coordinates and can vary from one environment to another):
((x,y:Question::option1,option2))
Notice the "x,y:" sequence immediately before the question text. If you omit this sequence then the list should be centered both horizontally and vertically on the screen. You may omit either one of these values to indicate that the dialog should be centered in that direction, but you must specify the comma (,) as in the following examples:
((20,30:Question::option1))Place dialog at (20,30)
((,30:Question::option1))Center horizontally, 30 vertical
((20,:Question::option1))Center vertically, 20 horizontal
((,:Question::option1))Center vertically and horizontal
By default, if you press the ESC key instead of picking an entry in the list, then nothing will be inserted into the text of your macro. You can indicate that the user must pick an entry by putting an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the question. For example, "((*Send Mail to?::Sysop,Joe))". This would make it so that the user must choose either "Sysop" or "Joe" - you couldn't cancel out of the requested list.
It should be noted that if the "response required" directive is specified, then it goes before any X/Y location data as in the following example:
((*20,30:Question::option1,option2,option3))
In the previous examples, Sysop and Joe are the text responses that are inserted into your macro command. These are also the same things that are displayed in the listing. If you want to use something else in the listing instead of the text sent to the server system, you can - when you make the list entry, add an "@description" to the end of it. For example:
((Send Mail To?::Sysop@Head Honcho,Cosysop,Joe))
This would display a popup pick list of "Head Honcho", "Cosysop", and "Joe". If you choose "Head Honcho", it would transmit "Sysop" to the server instead of "Head Honcho". Since the remaining options in the list don't have this special description option set, they will send their normal descriptions to the server (e.g., "Cosysop", and "Joe" respectively).
One character has special significance in the macro commands: the backslash character "\". To use this character in a macro, it must be preceded by another backslash (e.g., "\\").
One final feature of a popup list allows you to specify a hotkey for each entry in the list. For example, if you wanted the first character of each entry to be highlighted (thus allowing you to select that character to activate the entry), simply put a tilde (~) or an underline (_) before and after the keystroke. For example "_S_ysop" would highlight the "S" in "Sysop" appearing like this:
Sysop
You can highlight more than one character, but only the first one will be the active hotkey. If you omit the second tilde or underline, then the remainder of the description will be highlighted.
RELEASE NOTE:List hotkeys are not yet functional in this software. They will be shortly (sorry)
NOTE:If you use a tilde or an underline in the response sequence (not the description), then those characters are inserted into your macro command when it is transmitted to the host. You probably don't want to do this. Recommendation: only use hotkey features on list entries where you specify a description via the "@description" option!
You may specify up to 64 entries for any one list.
Here are some more complicated popup list examples:
((Send E-Mail to?::Sysop,Joe,Mike))
((*Send E-Mail to?::Sysop@The Head Honcho,Joe,Mike@My Brother))
((::Sysop@_T_he Head Honcho,Joe,Mike@My _B_rother))
Text Variables
Text variables are a useful way of inserting information, or executing certain RIPtel operations from within a macro. You can even define and retrieve your own database variables with text variables. For example, you could create a text variable called $CREDIT_CARD_NO$ and store your Visa card number in it, and make it so that a server couldn't ask for its contents without your permission.
User-Defined Text Variables
A user-defined text variable is a variable that stores data in it that you specify. You may create as many of these variables as you wish. Variables can be stored temporarily in memory, or permanently in a disk-based database file. There are a quite a few options for controlling how information is formatted, accessed and displayed with user-defined text variables:
User-defined text variable reference
Variables Returning Data Values
These text variables are automatically replaced with some piece of text information. The exact information inserted in your macro depends on the variable. For example, the text variable $DATE$ inserts a date in the format "MM/DD/YY".
$ADOW$Abbreviated Day of Week (0-7)
$AMPM$Returns AM or PM depending on time
$BASEMATH$Query base math for RIPscrip
$BAUDEMUL$Return baud rate emulation
$COLORMODE$Queries the color mode
$COLORS$Total number of colors of current video device
$COORDSIZE$Queries the byte-size of X/Y coordinates
$CURSOR$Text Cursor Status
$CURX$Text Cursor X Coordinate
$CURY$Text Cursor Y Coordinate
$DATE$Date in short format
$DATETIME$Date and Time
$DAY$Day of Month Number
$DOW$Day of week fully spelled out
$DOY$Day of year
$FIELDID$Returns current mouse field's ID value
$HOUR$Hour (format HH) - normal style
$FYEAR$4 digit year
$ISEXTWIN$Is text window an extended text window?
$ISPALETTE$Reports if a color palette exists or not
$M$Mouse Button Status: LMR
$MHOUR$Hour (format HH) - military style
$MIN$Minutes
$MONTH$Month Name
$MONTHNUM$Month Number
$MSTAT$Mouse Status
$OFFSCREEN$Get offscreen bitmap port pixel data
$PASSWORD$The current login password defined in a bookmark
$PORTH$Height of port
$PORTW$Width of port
$PORTX0$Port's upper left X coordinate
$PORTX1$Port's lower right X coordinate
$PORTY0$Port's upper left Y coordinate
$PORTY1$Port's lower right Y coordinate
$RAND$Generate a random number
$RESX$Horizontal resolution of current video device
$RESY$Vertical resolution of current video device
$RIPVER$RIPscrip version (e.g., RIPSCRIP015300)
$SEC$Seconds
$STATBAR$Status Bar Status
$TEXTXY$Obtain last X/Y graphical text location
$TIME$Time in standard format
$TIMEZONE$Time Zone or "NONE" if unknown
$TWFONT$Active Text Window Font
$TWH$Text Window Height
$TWW$Text Window Width
$TWX0$Text Win Upper Left X Coordinates
$TWX1$Text Win Lower Right X Coordinate
$TWY0$Text Win Upper Left Y Coordinate
$TWY1$Text Win Lower Right Y Coordinate
$USERNAME$The current login User-ID defined in a bookmark
$WDAY$Day of Week
$WORLD$Query World coordinate frame
$WORLDH$Vertical resolution (height) of world coordinate system
$WORLDW$Horizontal resolution of world coordinate system
$WOY$Week of current year 00-53; Sunday=1st Day of Week
$WOYM$Week of current year 00-53; Monday=1st Day of Week
$X$X Mouse location
$XY$X/Y Mouse Location
$XYM$X, Y & button status
$Y$Y Mouse location
$YEAR$2 digit year
Variables Performing Some Kind of Command
These macros do not insert any information into your macro. Instead, they perform a specific operation (e.g., clear the screen, make a noise, etc.). Many of these commands are very advanced in nature and aren't normally used by the average RIPtel user. These macros are more fully documented in the RIPscrip 3.0 protocol specification:
$ALARM$Warning! This sound indicates failure!
$ATW$Activates a text window
$AVP$Activates the viewport
$BEEP$Beep Sound (a.k.a. Ctrl-G)
$BLIP$Blipping Sound (like a hitting a barrier)
$CLS$Clears the screen to background color (no reset)
$COFF$Disable the Text Cursor
$COMPAT$Sets environment to RIPscrip 1.54 settings
$CON$Enable the Text Cursor
$DTW$Deactivate Text Window
$DVP$Deactivate viewport
$DWAYOFF$Turn Doorway Mode OFF
$DWAYON$Turn Doorway Mode ON
$EGW$Erase Graphics viewport
$ETW$Erase Text Window
$FILEDEL$Delete host files (e.g., $FILEDEL(file1,file2,...)$
$HKEYOFF$Disable Button Hotkeys
$HKEYON$Enable Button Hotkeys
$IMGSTYLE$Set image style (e.g., $IMGSTYLE(cur,x0,y0,x1,y1)$
$MKILL$Kill Mouse Fields
$MTW$Maximize text window to full size
$MUSIC$Musical (cheerful) sound
$MVP$Maximizes viewport to full screen
$NOREFRESH$Disables screen refresh expression
$NULL$A null text variable (returns nothing)
$PCB$Paste Clipboard at last location
$PHASER$Fire phasers!
$RBS$Restore a button style from a backup area
$RCB$Restore Clipboard
$RCP$Restore a color palette from a backup area
$RENV$Activates a previously snapshotted environment
$REFRESH$Forces terminal to Transmit Refresh
$RESET$Perform a reset operation
$RESTORE$Restore graphics screen
$RESTORE0-9$Restore graphics screen (0-9)
$RESTOREALL$Restore all system attributes
$REVPHASER$Fire phasers!
$RGS$Restore a graphics style from a backup area
$RMF$Restore Mouse Fields
$RTW$Restore Text Window information
$SAVE$Save graphics screen
$SAVE0-9$Save graphics screen (0-9)
$SAVEALL$Save all system attributes
$SBS$Save a button style to the backup area
$SCB$Save Clipboard
$SCP$Save a color palette to the backup area
$SENV$Records environmental configuration
$SGS$Save a graphics style to the backup area
$SMF$Save Mouse Fields
$STW$Save Text Window information
$TABOFF$Disable TAB key Mouse Field select
$TABON$Enable TAB key Mouse Field select
$TWERASEEOL$Erase text window to line end
$TWHOME$Move cursor to home position in text window
$TWIN$Text Window Status
$VT102OFF$Turn VT-102 keyboard mode OFF
$VT102ON$Turn VT-102 keyboard mode ON
User-Defined Text Variables
Any text variable that isn't one of the pre-defined data or command variables is automatically considered a user-defined text variable. The user is automatically prompted to enter some information for the variable when it is accessed. Here are some examples of user-defined text variables:
$FULL_NAME$What is your full name?
$COMPANY_NAME$What company do you work for?
RIPtel will "keep track" of these text variables for you (if you ask it to). You can tell RIPtel to store these values permanently, or they may be active only during the current session, or they may be defined as temporary where they are not stored for more than a brief moment.
Creating your own text variables
Creating permanent text variables
Creating User-Defined Text Variables
To create a text variable, you simply reference it in a macro (e.g., $NAME$). Whether the contents of the variable are saved to disk or memory or not though depends on you adding save codes to the variable.
Once you have entered a response, it is sent to the server system (maybe) or possibly recorded and saved. How long it is stored depends on what the host told the terminal. You can tell RIPtel to save this on your hard disk forever. You may also tell the RIPtel "don't save this to disk, but remember this value until you exit". You also have the option of saying "don't remember this value at all, just pop up a question, and send the value" - (i.e., don't save it at all, just enter it and send it to the host).
Accessing Text Variables
Now that you know how to define information on the terminal, you need to know the last method of asking the terminal about text variables. This feature is called "data query". Data query is a generic query command that can ask the terminal one or more questions, and tell it how to transmit the information back to the host.
If the exchange is interactive, the data is displayed in a pop-up editor box, asking you if the information is correct. If it is, press ENTER and the retrieved information is sent to the host for you. If it is not correct, or it has not been created yet, just type it in and press ENTER and it will be saved automatically, and sent to the host all at once.
Lets take a simple example. You wanted to ask the terminal program some address information. You could do this with the following query (remember, the query also tells the terminal how to send the data back to the host):
$FULL_NAME$^m$ST_ADDR$^m$CITY$, $STATE$ $ZIP^m
This would query the terminal the contents of 6 text variables, and format them in a manner similar to any normal address on an envelope. The results of this query might send the following back to the host :
Jeff Reeder
128 S. Loudoun Street
Winchester, VA 22601
If a text variable is queried, and it has not been defined yet, a pop-up question will appear asking the user to fill in the information.
Defining Permanent Text Variables
Under normal situations you reference text variables by simply placing dollar signs ($) around the variable name. Anywhere where that text variable occurs in a macro or command, its contents are replaced with the associated information.
If you reference a text variable in a macro that hasn't been defined yet (e.g., "$FIRST_NAME$"), then you will be presented with a pop-up dialog box asking you to:
Please enter FIRST_NAME:
When you enter some information, the data is inserted where the $FIRST_NAME$ variable was located, and the contents of that variable are lost after that moment. What is truly needed is an ability to preserve that information (either on disk, or in memory) so that it can be used later on.
There are six basically different text variable directives, each of them take a single command character added between the first dollar sign and the beginning of the variable name. Those characters and their significance is:
CodeDescription of Variable Code
*An answer is required.
+Save variable to database permanently.
=Save to internal memory table (lost when RIPtel hangs up).
#Do not echo keystrokes (show #'s instead). This is useful for things like entering passwords.
-Set the variable without prompting the user.
&Retrieve the variable's contents without prompting the user.
If you do not specify the "+" or the "=" directives to save the text variable's contents, the data will be passed on as part of whatever macro it was a part of, and will not be saved. To save the text variable permanently, you must specify the "+" command which will store it the data to an internal database file for permanent storage. If you wish to only save the variable temporarily (e.g., for the duration of the current session), use the "=" directive instead - this saves the variable in an internal memory table.
To ask for the FIRST_NAME text variable that must be filled in, and to instruct RIPtel to save the variable to the local database, you would use the following text variable command syntax:
$*+FIRST_NAME$
The four command characters (*, +, = and #) can be in any order, but can only appear once in the text variable statement - additional occurrences of them are ignored.
You may specify how wide the data entry field for the text variable is. To do this, put the number of columns after the variable name with a comma (,) in between (e.g., $NAME,10$).
As you may have noticed earlier, if a text variable is referenced without being previously defined, it will display a generic question. You have the option to specify a custom prompt. To prompt with a customized question, place an at-sign (@) followed by the question, then the final dollar sign as in the following example:
$FIRST_NAME,20@What's your first name?$
In the question text, you are not allowed to use dollar signs at all.
You also have the ability to X/Y location of the pop-up window that asks for the text variable. This gives you control over the location of the window. The way you do this is by adding some coordinate information before the variable name followed by a colon. An example of this would be as follows:
$10,10:FIRST_NAME,20@What's your first name?$
These coordinates are specified in normal decimal format. If one or either of the number are omitted then the dialog is centered either horizontally, vertically or both. Some examples of this are as follows:
$,50:NAME$Centered horizontally
$50,:NAME$Centered vertically
$,:NAME$Centered both horizontally and vertically
$NAME$Centered both horizontally and vertically
You may also supply a default value for the text variable. This default value is used if the variable doesn't already exist. When the default value is used it is displayed in the data field's edit region and you have the option of changing it.
To supply a default response, you specify the default contents after an equal sign (=) which must be placed after the variable name (and width parameter and question parameter if applicable). Some examples are:
$STATE=Ca$
$STATE@What state do you live in?=Ca$
User defined text variables do not always require a specific response (unless the "*" option is specified indicating that a response is required). If the user chooses to ignore the request (i.e., hitting cancel or whatever), then a value of "NONE" is inserted in place of the user data text variable.
The "answer is required" setting forces the user (if prompted) to make some kind of selection (i.e., they can't abort the text variable operation).
Text Variable Formatting Options
User-defined text variables can take advantage of formatting options. Formatting options are specified as "parameters" to a text variable, and when present, control how the text variable is formatted. Parameters are specified in a text variable by placing a set of parenthesis after the name of the variable with the parameter in between (e.g., "$NAME(ALPHA)$", "$NAME(ANY,TONAME)$", etc.) You may specify up to two formatting parameters for a text variable. The first parameter indicates the type of data that may be entered for the text variable. The available options are:
ModeDescription of Mode
ANYAny character is allowed
ALPHAUser can enter alphabetic characters only (A-Z, a-z)
NUMBERUser can enter numeric characters only (0-9)
ALPHANUMUser can enter alphanumeric only (A-Z, a-z, 0-9)
The second parameter is an optional formatting designator. The possible settings for this parameter are:
ConversionDescription of Conversion
TONAMEConvert the data to "name" format. The first letter is capitalized and all subsequent characters in a word are set to lower case automatically (e.g., "TOM SMITH" becomes "Tom Smith". No special processing is performed on names like "McDonald", etc. If you wish to tackle this particular complexity of name conversion, feel free.
TOUPPER Convert the data to upper case.
TOLOWER Convert the data to lower case
You may omit one or both of the parameters. If both are omitted, then it will default to "ANY" data with no conversion of any kind. You may omit the mode parameter if you wish, and specify only the conversion parameter. Under no circumstances should a conversion parameter be allowed before a mode parameter - this is considered a syntax error. Some examples of legal and illegal user variable queries might be:
Legal$USERDATA$
Legal$USERDATA()$
Legal$USERDATA(ANY)$
Legal$USERDATA(ALPHA,TOUPPER)$
Legal$USERDATA(TONAME)$
Illegal$USERDATA(TONAME,ANY)$
Illegal$USERDATA(ANY,ALPHA)$
Illegal$USERDATA(TONAME,TOUPPER)$
By default, a format option of "ANY" is assumed when no parameter are specified.
Lengths of Text Variable
Valid text variable names may contain alpha characters, numbers, or an underscore ("_"). The first character must be an alphabetic character. Any text variable name is automatically converted to upper case.
The maximum length of a text variable name is 20 characters. The maximum size of a question or default response is 100 characters. Anything longer than this length is truncated. The maximum length of a text variable text field is 255 characters. Anything longer than this length is truncated.
User-Defined Variable Examples
Below are some examples of user defined text variables as might be used in a real world situation:
$*+20,50:NAME(ToName),30@What's your name?=John Doe$
This is about as complex as they get. Going from left to right, lets look at what all the codes mean. First, the "*" means that a response to this request is required (they cannot hit ESC or CANCEL to get out of it). The "+" means to save the response to the internal database permanently. The sequence "20,50:" means to place the dialog box's upper left corner at location (20,50) on the screen. The "NAME" is the name of the data variable. The format option "(ToName)" means that this should be a formatted name field where the first letter of any word should be capitalized and the remaining characters should be set to lower case. The value ",30" after the variable name/format indicates that this field is up to 30 characters in length. "@What's your name?" indicates that the question "What's your name?" should be displayed when the user is prompted for the information. Finally, the "=John Doe" indicates that if the field doesn't exist, it should be filled in with "John Doe" before any editing is allowed. This gives the user the ability to choose a default name if they wish.
$*#20,10:PASSWORD,10@Please enter your password$
This example is a required data variable that echos #'s in place of the keystrokes you entered. The field is placed at (20,10) on the screen with a variable name of PASSWORD. The field is 10 characters wide and the prompt is "Please enter your password".
The ICONS directory
RIPtel is a multimedia Telnet program. It can display many different kinds of images and sounds that are transmitted from the host system. It can also load multimedia files from your hard disk and display or replay them. If RIPtel is told to retrieve a multimedia file from its local hard disk, it will attempt to search for the file first in the Telnet site's host directory located on your local hard disk. If the host directory exists, RIPtel searches for the file in that location first. If it cannot find the file there, then it will look for it in the normal RIPtel ICONS\ directory.
This ICONS directory is a common storage location for images and multimedia files that you want to be accessible to all systems you call. RIPtel itself comes with a few standard files that are automatically stored in this location. You may place your own files in there if you wish. You might want to do this if you wish to access the files from keystroke macros using file display options of the macro command language.
If the requested file still cannot be found, RIPtel will search for the file in any of the directories you have specified in the Search Path defined in the RIPtel setup screen.
Using RIPtel with Microsoft Explorer
You may configure RIPtel to load your World Wide Web browser whenever you choose the Web option from the File menu, or whenever the host system tells RIPtel to jump to a Web location. To setup RIPtel to load your Web Browser in these situations, either let the Install program detect your Web Browser, or you can configure it yourself from the Setup screen.
To configure your Web Browser from the setup screen, simply enter the complete path to the Web Browser executable. Here are some common examples for Microsoft Internet Explorer:
PlatformPath
Windows 95C:\Windows\Microsoft Internet\Iexplore.exe
Windows NT 4.0C:\Netscape\Microsoft Internet\Iexplore.exe
Windows 3.1C:\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE.EXE
Windows NT 3.51C:\WINDOWS\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE.EXE
The same setup method should work for Netscape, NCSA Mosaic, and other Web Browsers. If you are unsure where your Web Browser is located on your hard disk, you can find out very easily by using the "Browse" option. The following are some descriptions of how to locate Internet Explorer under different editions of Microsoft Windows:
Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0
Locate the icon for your Web Browser. If you have one already on your desktop as a "shortcut", you're halfway there. Simply right-click on the icon and a popup menu will appear. Choose "Properties" from the menu, and at the top of the popup dialog, choose the "Shortcut" tab. The information you need to enter into RIPtel is contained in the "Target" data entry field. This is the complete path location to your Web Browser on your hard disk. Once you have found this information, type it into the "Web Browser" option in RIPtel's setup screen. Be sure not to enter any double quote marks (") in the data entry field - RIPtel handles this for you.
If you do not have a shortcut created on your desktop, open up "My Computer" and locate the Web Browser executable. Once you've found that, click the left mouse on it and "drag" it onto your desktop. You have just made a "shortcut" to your Web Browser right there on your desktop. Follow the instructions in the preceding paragraph to configure RIPtel for your Web Browser. After this step is complete, you may click on the Web Browser icon on your desktop and hit the "Delete" key to remove it from your desktop (note, this will not delete your Web Browser, just the shortcut).
Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.51
Locate the icon for your Web Browser from within the Program Manager. Click on it with your mouse using the left mouse button. Once the icon is highlighted, click on the file menu and choose "Properties". The information you need to enter into RIPtel is contained in the "Command line" data entry field. Simply enter that into RIPtel's setup screen for the "Web Browser" option and you're done.
Setting Up Internet Explorer
Setting up Internet Explorer to load RIPtel for Telnet links is a bit involved. Microsoft didn't make it terribly easy to configure a Telnet client in their Web Browser. The version of Internet Explorer for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.51 require that you edit a configuration file to define your Telnet client. The Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 editions let you do this from a setup screen. We'll describe each situation separately:
Internet Explorer for Windows 3.1 and NT 3.51
Internet Explorer for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT makes it kind of difficult to configure a Telnet client to be activated when the user clicks on a Telnet link. You can look through all the options in the menus until you're blue in the face, but you'll never find the option that lets you setup a Telnet client. For 16-bit versions of Internet Explorer, you have to actually edit a configuration file with a text editor, and restart Internet Explorer!
To edit the correct configuration file, follow these basic steps:
1.Load the Windows accessory program called "Notepad".
2.From inside Notepad, open the file "IEXPLORE.INI" which is typically located in the "C:\WINDOWS\IEXPLORE" directory. You will find a copy of IEXPLORE.INI in the Windows directory "C:\WINDOWS", but DO NOT edit this file! Internet Explorer overwrites this file each time the software loads with a copy of the file from the Internet Explorer directory - that's the one you'll need to edit.
3.Once you have the IEXPLORE.INI file loaded into Notepad, scroll down until you see a line that begins with the sequence "[Helpers]". Immediately under that line, enter the following text on a new line which says where your RIPtel executable is located (see below if you don't know where your RIPtel program is stored):
1.telnet=C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
1.Save the file.
2.Exit Notepad
3.Re-start Internet Explorer
If you don't know where RIPtel's executable program file is, you can use the "Browse" button on the right of the field. Typical locations for the RIPtel executable are:
Windows EditionLocation
Windows 3.1C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows NT 3.51C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows 95C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Windows NT 4.0C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Internet Explorer for Windows 95 and NT 4.0
The Telnet configuration option for 32-bit versions of Internet Explorer is deeply buried in sub-menus and options. To find it, follow these basic steps:
1.Choose the "Options" menu item from the "View" menu.
2.Click the "Programs" tab at the top of the options setup screen.
3.Click the button on the right called "File Types".
4.Scroll down in the "Registered File Types" listing until you find the option "URL:Telnet Protocol". Double-click on that option.
5.You are now editing the Telnet Protocol option. In the listing at the bottom for "Actions", you should see an option called "open" (it may appear differently on your system). Double click on the option called "open".
6.A new popup screen appears allowing you to modify the "Application used to perform action". In this edit box, enter the path to the RIPtel executable program file, and you're done. Close all the dialog boxes by clicking "Close" or "OK" as appropriate. You're done.
If you don't know where RIPtel's executable program file is, you can use the Browse button on the right of the field. Typical locations for the RIPtel executable are:
Windows EditionLocation
Windows 3.1C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows NT 3.51C:\RIPTEL\RIPTEL.EXE
Windows 95C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Windows NT 4.0C:\Program Files\RIPtel\RIPtel.exe
Purchasing or Registration RIPtel
If you haven't already purchased a copy of RIPtel, you can do so directly from within the software. Just choose the option "Purchase a copy of RIPtel with your credit card", and you're in business.
If you have already purchased a copy of RIPtel from TeleGrafix (either from our Web Site, or you received it on diskette), all you need to register RIPtel is a serial number. For Web Site orders, your serial number was given to you after your credit card transaction was complete (we hope you wrote it down). If you ordered RIPtel on diskette from TeleGrafix, then your software serial number will be printed on your diskette label.
Once you have a serial number, choose the "Register previously purchased copy of RIPtel" option. You will be allowed to enter your registration information, and RIPtel will automatically connect with TeleGrafix's registration server and complete the registration process for you.
Online RIPtel Registration
Once you have your RIPtel serial number, you can register the software quickly and easily right over the Internet. With RIPtel, there are no clumsy registration forms that everybody forgets to fill-out, or drop in the mailbox. Everything is done right over the Internet - no muss, no fuss.
If you don't have a serial number, then you'll have to purchase a copy of RIPtel from TeleGrafix. This can be done easily over the Internet with a credit card. Just choose the "Online Purchasing" option of RIPtel to register RIPtel with a credit card. If you don't have a credit card, and wish to pay by check or money order, you can do so by sending TeleGrafix a check or money order, payable in U.S. dollars to TeleGrafix. See the section on Registering RIPtel for more information.
To register your copy of RIPtel online, you must enter the following information:
•RIPtel serial number
•First and last name
•Street address
•City, State and ZIP/Postal code (Click here for a listing of U.S. State codes).
•Voice telephone number
All of the above information is required before RIPtel can be registered. If you wish, you can also enter additional information for the following:
•Email address
•Company name
•Fax telephone number
•Comments
We encourage you to enter your Email address and/or fax number if you have one. TeleGrafix notifies its customers about new products, upgrades, and other relevant information usually via Email. Customers that do not have an Email address, but do have a fax number are notified via Fax.
Online RIPtel Purchasing
You can purchase a copy of RIPtel right over the Internet, directly from within the RIPtel software. All you need is a Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit card. Just choose the Online Purchasing option, and you will be asked to fill-in your registration information. When you are done entering your information, RIPtel will connect to the TeleGrafix Registration server and process your credit card transaction. When the transaction is complete, RIPtel will automatically unlock itself, submit your registration information to TeleGrafix (no pesky registration forms), and provide you with a serial number. When the transaction is complete, RIPtel will be fully registered, and you'll get no more notifications about unregistered evaluation versions.
It should be noted that RIPtel uses an advanced encryption method for protecting your credit card information from prying eyes over the Internet. All credit card data transmitted over the Internet is fully protected and cannot be hacked by unscrupulous thieves.
To register your copy of RIPtel online, you must enter the following information:
•RIPtel serial number
•First and last name
•Street address
•City, State and ZIP/Postal code (Click here for a listing of U.S. State codes).
•Voice telephone number
•Credit card type
•Credit card number
•Credit card expiration date
All of the above information is required before RIPtel can be registered. If you wish, you can also enter additional information for the following:
•Email address
•Company name
•Fax telephone number
•Comments
We encourage you to enter your Email address and/or fax number if you have one. TeleGrafix notifies its customers about new products, upgrades, and other relevant information usually via Email. Customers that do not have an Email address, but do have a fax number are notified via Fax.
Virginia residents will be charged an additional 4.5% sales tax over the normal price of US$19.95.
United States and Canadian State/Provinces
If you're not sure what the abbreviation for your State is, consult the list below:
United States
StateAbbreviation
AlabamaAL
AlaskaAK
American SamoaAS
ArizonaAZ
ArkansasAR
CaliforniaCA
ColoradoCO
ConnecticutCT
DelawareDE
District of ColumbiDC
Federated States of MicronesiaFM
FloridaFL
GeorgiaGA
GuamGU
HawaiiHI
IdahoID
IllinoisIL
IndianaIN
IowaIA
KansasKS
KentuckyKY
LouisianaLA
MaineME
Marshall IslandsMH
MarylandMD
MassachusettsMA
MichiganMI
MinnesotaMN
MississippiMS
MissouriMO
MontanaMT
NebraskaNE
NevadaNV
New HampshireNH
New JerseyNJ
New MexicoNM
New YorkNY
North CarolinaNC
North DakotaND
Northern Mariana IslandsMP
OhioOH
OklahomaOK
OregonOR
PalauPW
PennsylvaniaPA
Puerto RicoPR
Rhode IslandRI
South CarolinaSC
South DakotaSD
TennesseeTN
TexasTX
UtahUT
VermontVT
VirginiaVA
Virgin IslandsVI
WashingtonWA
West VirginiaWV
WisconsinWI
WyomingWY
Canada
ProvinceAbbreviation
AlbertaAB
British ColumbiaBC
ManitobaMB
New BrunswickNB
NewfoundlandNF
Nova ScotiaNS
North West TerritoriesNT
OntarioON
Prince Edward IslandPE
QuebecPQ
SaskatchewanSK
YukonYT
Frequently Asked Questions
If you're new to the world of Telnet or with any kind of terminal software, undoubtedly you will be confused about one thing or another. Telnet is certainly a very different world than the World Wide Web, and can be very confusing. Here are some commonly asked questions that will help get you going, and work around any odd problems you might encounter.
My backspace key doesn't work.
This is a common problem and is usually related to an incorrectly set "terminal emulation" type. For example, if you're connecting to a bulletin board system (i.e., BBS), you should typically be set for "ANSI" terminal emulation. Whereas if you're logging onto some kind of Internet server or UNIX machine, you should probably be set for "VT-102" terminal emulation. Try changing the terminal emulation setting - it can't hurt. See the section Terminal Emulation for more information.
More specifically, if you type the backspace key and it doesn't erase the previous character, then you need to turn on "Backspace erases characters" in the Setup or your Bookmark editor. If the backspace key just beeps at you, or does nothing, then you probably need to change the setting "Backspace sends" in Setup or the Bookmark editor.
The screen clears, but the cursor doesn't move to the upper-left corner.
You're using a system that is designed for ANSI terminal emulation, but you're set for VT-102. Try changing your terminal emulation setting to ANSI in Setup or in the Bookmark editor. See the section on Terminal Emulation for other information about common terminal emulation problems.
When I connect to a system, I see "RIPSCRIP03000" where my User-ID should go.
Many BBS systems on the Internet support RIPscrip graphics, and will automatically detect RIPscrip when you connect to the site. Unfortunately, some systems like MajorBBS or WorldGroup don't wait very long for a response from the Telnet client before assuming that RIPscrip is not available. When this happens, you will see the phrase "RIPSCRIP03000" displayed on the logon screen. When this happens, either hit the backspace key a few times until the text is removed, or disconnect and try again until it works. When the BBS asks the Telnet client "Are you RIPscrip compatible?", RIPtel responds with the message to the server. If the server "times-out" waiting for the message, then it assumes that RIPscrip is not available. In the case of MajorBBS and WorldGroup, the server only waits about one to one and a half seconds before moving on in normal text mode. Over the Internet, this waiting period is not long enough. If the 'net is being slow, it could take several seconds for this message to be received by the server.
I don't get RIPscrip graphics when I logon to a site I know supports it.
See the previous question.
I don't get color when I connect to a site that supports color.
Many online systems automatically detect ANSI terminal emulation when you connect to the system. This is done by sending out a command to your Telnet client, and if the client responds, then the system assumes that ANSI color terminal emulation is present. If the system doesn't wait very long for a response, it might not see your Telnet client's response in time. This is a fairly common problem over the Internet where a response might take many seconds to reach the server due to network delays. The only real solution to this problem is to disconnect and try again.
When I choose the Web Browser option, I get an error about "insufficient memory".
This happens under Windows 3.1 with Netscape Navigator. The 16-bit Netscape Navigator cannot be run twice. If RIPtel is launched by Netscape, and you in turn click on something in RIPtel that will bring up the Web Browser, you will get this message if you haven't already shut down Netscape. The solution is to shutdown Netscape before trying to access the Web Browser from within RIPtel.
When I type characters, they take forever to display on the screen.
This is a common problem that has to do with Network delays. At times when the Internet is working very slowly, you can see long delays between keystrokes. The reason they are slow is when you type a key, RIPtel transmits the keystroke to the remote computer. When that system receives the character, it sends it back to your Telnet client, which then displays the received character on your screen. This roundabout way of doing things is called "full duplex", or "host echo". You can change this behavior in RIPtel but turning "Local echo" on in Setup or the Bookmark editor. If you do this though, you will have to find a way to tell the server system that it shouldn't echo back your keystrokes. Doing this is different on nearly every server, and in fact, some servers don't let you do this. See the section on Local Echo for more information.
When I use the System Menu, the screens show up very slow.
This can happen on some older video cards that don't have "accelerated" or high-speed Windows drivers. The solution to this problem is to go into Setup, and turn off "Screen Wipes", or disable the "System Menu" altogether. Or, you could buy a better video board - but this is kind of extreme just to get a faster System Menu. See the RIPtel Setup section for more details about the System Menu and screen wipes.
How can I cut and paste text from my terminal window?
Due to technical reasons, RIPtel does not let you cut or copy information directly from your terminal screen. If you want to put some text onto the clipboard, you have to do so from the Scrollback mode. Bring up the Scrollback window, highlight the text you want and click "Copy". See the section on the Scrollback Buffer for more information.
The arrow keys don't do what they're supposed to.
Your terminal emulation setting is probably not set properly. If it's set to VT-102, change it to ANSI. If it's in ANSI mode, change it to VT-102. This usually corrects the problem. If that doesn't do the trick, it's probably some setting on the server. See the section on Terminal Emulation for more information.
My TAB key doesn't work.
This can happen in a RIPscrip environment when you have a text editor up on the screen, and also have one or more clickable mouse buttons. Normally, RIPtel uses the TAB key so that you can navigate the mouse buttons via the keyboard. If you have mouse buttons on the screen and you need to use the TAB key, choose disable "TAB navigation" from the Options menu.
How to automatically logon to a system without typing the User-ID and password?
You can do this by using the Search Macro feature in the Keystroke Macro editor. See the section "Search Macros" for more information.
Minimizing RIPtel's Window
When you are running RIPtel in full-screen mode, you won't have a title bar at the top of the screen. Without this title bar, you can't click on the minimize button to force RIPtel's window to shrink itself, thus giving you access to other Windows. If you choose the Minimize option from RIPtel's Options menu, or hit ALT-F7, RIPtel will automatically minimize itself for you.
Index
- About RIPtel
- Accessing Text Variables
- Adding New Bookmarks
- Adding New Bookmarks — While you are online with a particular system,…
- Adding New Bookmarks — You may add up to 1000 entries to…
- Adding New Macros
- Address of System
- Auto-loading Macro Files
- Backspace Key Mode
- Backspace Sends
- Bookmark Listing
- Browsing for the Tool Executable
- Capturing Information
- Case Sensitive Scrollback Searches
- Changing the Bookmark Display
- Choosing a Hotkey for a Tool
- Clearing a User-Defined Tool
- Clearing the Screen
- Command Mode (Queries)
- Connect Pop-up Menu
- Connecting to a System
- Connecting to Systems in the Bookmark List
- Contacting TeleGrafix
- Control Characters
- Controlling Automatic Tool Execution
- Copying Scrollback Data to the Clipboard
- Creating User-Defined Text Variables
- Default Text Window Font
- Defining Permanent Text Variables
- Deleting Macros
- Disabling the System Menu
- Disconnecting from a System
- Display RIPscrip Files via Macros
- Displaying Files
- Download Directory
- Edit Popup Menu
- Editing a User-Defined Tool
- Editing Bookmarks
- Editing Existing Macros
- End of Line
- Error Mode
- File Popup Menu
- Finding Data in the Scrollback
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Help Popup Menu
- Highlighting Bookmarks
- Highlighting Scrollback Information
- Host Address (Internet Addresses)
- Host Directory
- Host Name
- How to Locate Telnet Sites
- How to Use Help
- Icon Search Path
- Keyboard Guide for RIPtel
- Keystroke Macros
- Launching Tools After Files are Downloaded
- Lengths of Text Variable
- Licensing
- Linking Particular Tools to Certain File Extensions
- Loading a Macro File
- Local Echo
- Macro Command Language
- Macro Keystroke
- Minimizing RIPtel's Window
- Naming a Tool
- Notes
- Online RIPtel Purchasing
- Online RIPtel Registration
- Opening Files
- Options Popup Menu
- Organizing Your Bookmarks
- Other RIPscrip Products
- Overwrite or Append to Log File?
- Password
- Pasting the Clipboard
- Pause the Log File or Close it?
- Playing Audio Files via Macros
- Popup Lists
- Port Numbers
- Printing
- Printing the Scrollback Buffer
- Prompt Before Sending
- Purchasing or Registration RIPtel
- Quitting RIPtel
- Redrawing a Host System Menu
- Reference Information
- Registration Information
- Removing Bookmarks
- Repeating a Scrollback Search
- RIPscrip Plug-In for Netscape
- RIPtel Command Line
- RIPtel's Caption Bar
- RIPtel™ User's Guide
- Running a User-Defined Tool
- Saving a Macro File
- Saving the Scrollback Buffer
- Screen Display Mode
- Screen Wipes
- Scrollback Buffer
- Scrollback Display Window
- Scrollback Size
- Search Macros - Sending Your Password
- Search Macros - Sending Your User-ID
- Searching Macros (Auto-Executing)
- Searching the Help System
- Secure Data Requests
- Sending and Receiving Files
- Sending Your Password
- Sending Your User-ID
- Setting RIPtel Up to Run Your Web Browser
- Setting Up Default Systems
- Setting Up RIPtel
- Show a Tip
- Show All Mouse Fields
- Showing Bitmap Images via Macros
- Showing Photo Images via Macros
- Showing the System Menu
- Showing the System Menu — When you are offline, you can re-display RIPtel's…
- Showing the System Menu — RIPtel comes included with a built-in system menu…
- Sorting Direction
- Sorting Order
- Sorting Your Bookmarks
- Specifying a Tool's Command Line
- Specifying Port Numbers for Host Systems
- Specifying the Text to Search For
- System Name
- System Notes
- TAB-Key Navigation
- Technical Support
- Terminal Emulation
- Text to Search For
- Text to Send for Macro
- Text to Send for Search Text
- Text Variable Formatting Options
- Text Variables
- The Bookmark System
- The Connection Status Window
- The ICONS directory
- The Speed Menu
- Toolbench
- Toolbench Tool Listing
- Tools Menu
- Toothbrush and Moose
- United States and Canadian State/Provinces
- Unpause the Log File, or Close it?
- Upload Directory
- User-Defined Text Variables
- User-Defined Variable Examples
- User-ID
- Using a Web Browser With RIPtel
- Using an FTP Client
- Using RIPtel
- Using RIPtel with Microsoft Explorer
- Using RIPtel with Netscape
- What are RIPscrip Graphics?
- What is Telnet?
- Word Wrap
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