About the Phonebook

The Phonebook organizes communications settings for the BLAST Data Pump. Like a real telephone book, which may contain thousands of listings, a Data Pump phonebook typically contains multiple listings.

You can organize all of your listings into a single phonebook or create several phonebooks, depending on your needs. You may want to consider how sites with which you connect are related to one another and organize related sites into individual phonebooks.

Internally, phonebooks are subdirectories of Pbdir\, located in the BLAST application directory. Phonebooks are assigned the filename extension ".pbk" by convention. For example, if you installed the BLAST Data Pump in the directory C:\Data Pump\, your phonebooks will be created in the Pbdir\ subdirectory of C:\Data Pump\. A phonebook named Midwest would be found as the directory C:\Data Pump\Pbdir\Midwest.pbk\.

About Phonebook Listings

Each listing contains the information required to open a communications session with a remote site. A phonebook listing will include information such as the telephone number of a remote modem or a network address, login id, password, the name of a script to execute, and the default file transfer protocol.

The default values for new listings are drawn from a default listing stored in the BLAST Data Pump application directory. If you installed Data Pump at C:\Data Pump\, the default listing will be found in C:\Data Pump\Blast\Blast.pbk\Default.pbl. Internally, listings are text files located within the phonebook where they were created. Listings are given the filename extension ".pbl" by convention. For example, if you create a listing "Milwaukee" in the phonebook "Midwest," and Data Pump is installed in the C:\Data Pump\ directory, you will find the listing in the file: C:\Data Pump\Pbdir\Midwest.pbk\Milwaukee.pbl.

About the Phonebook Editor

Phonebooks and the listings contained in the phonebooks are created, modified, and deleted using the BLAST Data Pump Phonebook Editor.

You can start the Phonebook Editor in one of the following ways:

• by selecting the "PBEditor" shortcut in the Data Pump program group.
• by selecting "Phonebook Editor" from the Start Menu.
• by selecting "Edit Listing" from the File Menu of the BLAST Data Pump application.

THE PHONEBOOK

The Space Ship Icon represents the entire collection of Data Pump phonebooks. Double-click the icon to expand (or collapse) the tree view of phonebooks. Right-click the icon to create a new phonebook.

The Phone with Closed Book Icon represents a phonebook. Double-click the icon to expand (or collapse) the tree view of listings within the phonebook. Right-click the icon to bring up the Phonebook Menu (shown below). This menu allows you to create a new listing, copy the phonebook, rename the phonebook, or delete the phonebook.

The Phone with Open Book Icon represents a phonebook listing. Double-click a phonebook listing to view or edit the listing's properties. Right-click a phonebook listing to bring up a Listing Menu (shown below). This menu allows you to copy the listing, rename the listing, view and edit the listing's properties, or delete the listing.

Setting the Properties of a Phonebook Listing

The Properties Sheet

To set or change the properties of a phonebook listing, bring up the Properties Sheet by double-clicking the listing or by right-clicking the listing and choosing Properties from the Listing Menu. The Properties Sheet contains three Pages--the General Properties Page, the Transport Properties Page, and the Protocols Properties Page--accessed by tabs at the top of the Properties Sheet. The following sections describe the property fields of each page. You may read through the descriptions of each field or you may click on a particular field in a screen shot to be taken directly to the description of that field.

The General Properties Page

The first page of the Properties Sheet is the General Properties Page (shown below). To access the General Properties Page from another properties page, click the "General" tab at the top of the Properties Sheet. Following the screen shot below is a description of each general property on the General Properties Page. Alternatively, you may click on a particular field in the screen shot to be taken directly to the description of that field.

THE GENERAL PROPERTIES PAGE

Local Directory:

User-defined

Specifies the local directory to be used when a script is invoked.

System Type:

Any valid system type from list box

Specifies the type of computer Data Pump will attempt to connect to when the BLASTscript command CONNECT is issued. If you plan to connect to a computer requiring no login procedure, select "None."

The items listed in the list box for System Type are gathered from script files found in the Scripts\Systems\ subdirectory of the Data Pump installation directory. For example, if Data Pump is installed in C:\Data Pump\, the systems scripts will be found in C:\Data Pump\Blast\Scripts\Systems\.

If the system you are logging onto is not in the list, you may be able to use an already existing system script. For example, the Unix script will get you connected to most UNIX and several other multi-user systems. If you must write your own script, we suggest that you use an existing script as a template.

If you create a new system script, save it as a text file in the Scripts\Systems\ directory with the extension ".scr." When you restart the Phonebook Editor, your new system script will show up in the System Type list.

Reserved Variable: @SYSTYPE

Login Account:

User-defined

Specifies the login id that will be used to log onto the remote system when the BLASTscript command CONNECT is issued. The login id will be transmitted to the remote system during the login process.

Reserved Variable: @USERID

Password:

User-defined

Specifies the password that will be used to log onto the remote system when the BLASTscript command CONNECT is issued. The password will be transmitted to the remote system during the login process. For security reasons, "Xs" instead of the actual password is displayed in this field.

Reserved Variable: @PASSWORD

Modem Type:

Any valid modem type from list box

Specifies the type of modem Data Pump will attempt to initialize when the BLASTscript command CONNECT is issued.

The items listed in the list box for Modem Type are gathered from script files found in the \Scripts\Modems\ subdirectory of the Data Pump installation directory. For example, if Data Pump is installed in C:\Data Pump\, the systems scripts will be found in: C:\Data Pump\Blast\Scripts\Modems\.

If the modem you are using is not in the list, you may be able to use an already existing modem script. For example, the AT script will correctly initialize many modems. If you must write your own script, we suggest that you use an existing script as a template.

If you create a new modem script, save it as a text file in Scripts\Modems\ with the extension ".scr." When you restart the Phonebook Editor, your new modem script will show up in the Modem Type list.

Reserved Variable: @MODEM

Log File:

Filename

Specifies the file that keeps a record of all session activity. Activities such as file transfers, going online, going offline, execution of script commands, etc., are recorded to the Log File. If the file specified already exists, Data Pump appends new session activity to the file. Otherwise, a new file is created. By default, the log will be written to the Local Directory.

Reserved Variable: @LOGFILE

Script File:

Filename

Specifies a BLAST script that will be executed when the phonebook listing is loaded.

Reserved Variable: @SCRFILE

Enable Extended Logging

Yes  [No]

Enables Extended Logging, which provides detailed information about file transfers.

Reserved Variable: @XLOG

Verify on Delete

[Yes]  No

Specifies that the Phonebook Editor prompt for confirmation prior to deleting the phonebook listing.

Auto Online

Yes  [No]

Specifies that the listing go online immediately when the listing is loaded.

Help

Opens the Phonebook section of online documentation using your installed browser.

The Transport Properties Page

To access the Transport Properties Page, click the "Transport" tab at the top of the Properties Sheet.

Transport Method

Serial Communications or Network

The Transport Method selected on the Transport Properties Page determines whether you will use the serial port or a TCP/IP network socket for communicating with the remote computer. Please note, if you intend to make a serial connection to a remote machine using PPP, you must set the Transport Method to "Network."

Selection of the Transport Method and Network Port Parameters determines what file transfer protocols will be available. The table below outlines the availability of file transfer protocols as determined by the Transport Method Settings and Network Port Parameters.

Reserved Variable: @TRANSPORT

THE TRANSPORT PROPERTIES PAGE

Serial Communications

Setting Transport Method to "Serial Communications" or setting the @TRANSPORT reserved variable to "serial" enables use of a serial port built into the computer system.

Network

Setting Transport Method to "Network" or setting the @TRANSPORT reserved variable to "socket" enables use of the computer's TCP/IP networking facilities.

Help

Opens the Phonebook section of online documentation using your installed browser.

Serial Communications Settings

When "Serial Communications" is selected on the Transport Properties Page, clicking the "Settings" button brings up the Communications Settings dialog (shown below).

COMMUNICATIONS SETTINGS

Connection:

User-defined

Specifies the serial port BLAST will use.

Reserved Variable: @COMMPORT

Baud Rate:

110  300  600  1200  2400  4800 [9600]  19.2K  38.4K  57.6K  115.2K

Specifies the serial port device driver speed.

Reserved Variable: @BAUDRATE

Data Bits:

7  [8]

Sets the number of data bits for the serial port device driver. Xmodem must be set to "8."

Reserved Variable: @DS_BITS

Stop Bits:

[1]  1.5  2

Sets the number of stop bits for the serial port device driver.

Reserved Variable: @DS_BITS

Parity:

[None] Even  Odd  Mark  Space

Sets the parity of the serial port device driver. Xmodem must be set to the default, "None."

Reserved Variable: @PARITY

Flow Control:

[None]  RTS/CTS  XON/XOFF  Both

Sets the type of flow control the serial port device driver will use. Xmodem must be set to "RTS/CTS" or "None."

Flow Control Settings:

XON/XOFF

Sets the serial port device driver for software, or XON/XOFF, flow control. When one computer needs to stop the flow of incoming data, it transmits XOFF (Control-S). When the computer is ready to restart the flow of data, it transmits XON (Control-Q). During a BLAST protocol transfer, BLAST will wait a maximum of 30 seconds for an XON from the remote. If the XON is not sent, BLAST will attempt to clear flow control and resume file transfer.

Reserved Variable: @XONXOFF

RTS/CTS

Sets the serial port device driver for hardware, or RTS/CTS, flow control. Hardware flow control uses the RS-232 signals Request-To-Send (RTS) and Clear-To-Send (CTS) for optimized throughput over error-detecting modems. Do not use RTS/CTS flow control unless

• As shown in the illustration below, the Phonebook Editor presents phonebooks and the listings contained in each phonebook as standard Windows tree view.
• error-detecting modems are at both ends of the connection.
• you have an RTS/CTS (hardware handshake) modem cable that supplies full modem control.

Reserved Variable: @RTSCTS

Phone Number:

User-defined

Stores the phone number of the remote computer. This field allows dashes between numerals.

Most modems allow the use of special characters to control dialing, for example, the use of a comma to signify a pause in dialing. Although you may enter any alphanumeric character, be careful to avoid using characters that may be misinterpreted by the modem. This string of characters is passed unchanged to the modem. See your modem manual for details.

Reserved Variable: @PHONENO

Wait for Call

Yes  [No]

Specifies whether BLAST will wait for an incoming call or dial out to another system.

Reserved Variable: @ORGANS

Connection Timeout:

User-defined

Specifies the number of seconds that BLAST will wait to achieve a connection after dialing the remote system.

Reserved Variable: @CONNTIMO

Network Port Parameters

When "Network" is selected on the Transport Properties Page, clicking the "Settings" button brings up the Network Port Parameters dialog (shown below).

NETWORK PORT PARAMETERS

Telnet Connection:

Yes  [No]

Specifies whether a Telnet terminal session will be started when Data Pump goes online. Please note, enabling Telnet will affect the available file transfer protocols; see the transport method comparison chart under Transport Method.

IP Address:

User-defined

Specifies the TCP address in dotted decimal form or host name of the remote machine.

Port Number:

User-defined

Specifies the network port number to use. The default port number for Telnet connections is 23.

Reserved Variable: @NETPORT

The Protocols Properties Page

To access the Protocols Properties Page, click the "Protocols" tab at the top of the Properties Sheet.

THE PROTOCOLS PROPERTIES PAGE

Protocol

Specifies the file transfer protocol to use. As noted, the selected Transport will affect available protocols. See the transport method comparison chart under Transport Method.

Reserved Variable: @PROTOCOL

Remote Directory

User-defined

Specifies the remote directory for file transfers. This feature is not supported by Xmodem.

NOTE:   This field should be used with care. If users forget or are not aware that this field has been set, they may encounter difficulty locating remote files during and after file transfer.

Help

Opens the Phonebook section of online documentation using your installed browser.

BLAST Protocol Settings

When the selected protocol is "BLAST" on the Protocols Properties Page, clicking the "Settings" button will bring up the dialog shown below.

BLAST PROTOCOL SETTINGS

Block Size:

1 - 4085  [256]

Indicates the size in bytes of the data packet used by the BLAST protocol. There is a fixed amount of "overhead" associated with each block. Larger block sizes will generate less overhead and, in general, result in faster throughput. There are other factors involved, however, and specifying the largest block size available will not always provide the best throughput.

While transferring files, if the quality of the line varies or there are a significant number of retries, throughput will be reduced. A smaller block size will usually improve throughput.

This field "negotiates" down. The versions of BLAST running on the local computer and the remote computer will compare values and use the smaller of the two values.

Important: When transferring files with BHost, always set the Packet Size to at least 200, which is BHost's minimum packet size.

The default for this field is 256, which is the optimum setting for most users.

Reserved Variable: @PAKTSZ

Logon Timeout:

0 - 999  [120]

Specifies the number of seconds BLAST will attempt to establish BLAST filetransfer session with the remote computer. Logon Timeout affects BLAST protocol transfers and remote control sessions. Logon Timeouts can happen if:

• there is excessive noise on the line.
• there are parity or data/stop bit mismatches.
• BLAST is terminated unexpectedly on the remote computer.
• the connection is lost.

Reserved Variable: @LOGTIMO

Inactivity Timeout:

0 - 999  [120]

Defines the time interval in seconds that BLAST will stay connected after the last valid data packet has been received from the remote computer. Inactivity Timeouts happen if:

• the connection is lost.
• there is excessive noise on the line.
• the remote computer goes down.
• flow control has not been released.

Reserved Variable: @INACTIMO

Transfer Password:

User-defined

Stores a case-sensitive password (up to 8 characters) that will restrict a remote user's access. If anything is typed in this field, requests by a remote user to perform file maintenance on and file transfers to and from your computer will not be honored unless the password has been received first. Without the password, the remote user is limited to sending and receiving messages.

If the remote computer is running Data Pump, the remote user may gain access by sending the Transfer Password using the command RPASSWORD, as shown in the example below:

   filetransfer
   RPASSWORD @rmpasswd
   get "data.txt", "data.txt", "to"
   esc


NOTE:  Transfer Password is intended to validate remote users logging onto your system. If Data Pump running on your system loads a phonebook listing with something typed in the Transfer Password field, you will not be able to receive files without the remote computer sending the password.

Reserved Variable: @TRPASSWD

Compression Level Send:

0 - 6  [4]

Specifies the maximum compression level that can be used while sending files to the remote computer.

Reserved Variable: @SCOMP_LEV

Compression Level Receive:

0 - 6  [4]

Specifies the maximum compression level that can be used while receiving files from the remote computer.

Reserved Variable: @RCOMP_LEV

Launch String:

Any ASCII string [\r]

Specifies a string to be appended to BLAST protocol blocks. This will help communications to a mainframe through protocol converters. Just as in BLASTscript, you may send any string of ASCII characters, including the same control characters used in string constants. Nonprintable characters may be represented with a backslash followed by a three-digit octal number (for example, a linefeed may be represented as a \012). The string should not be enclosed in quotes. The default for this field is a carriage return (\r). For a list of ASCII characters, see ASCII Character Set.

Reserved Variable: @LAUNCHST

Advanced Options

Retransmit Timer:

0 - 9999  [4]

Sets the maximum number of seconds BLAST will pause before resending a packet. For example, if the window size is set to 5 and the retransmit timer is set to 30, BLAST will attempt to resend the fifth packet every thirty seconds if it receives no acknowledgment.

Reserved Variable: @RETRAN

ACK Request Freq:

1 - Window size  [4]

Specifies the number of protocol blocks that will be acknowledged with 1 ACK block. Possible values range from 1 to the current window size. Set this field higher for better performance with error-correcting modems.

Reserved Variable: @ACKFREQ

Disconnect Blocks:

0 - 9  [3]

After the first disconnect block, sets the number of additional disconnect blocks that BLAST sends when exiting the BLAST session. The default value is 3, which indicates four total disconnect blocks.

Reserved Variable: @NUMDISC

Window Size:

1 - [16]

Sets the window size of the BLAST protocol. "Window" refers to the number of BLAST transfer packets that can be sent by the local computer to the remote system before an acknowledgement is sent from the remote.

Reserved Variable: @WDWSIZ

DCD Loss Response:

Abort  [Ignore]

Specifies the action BLAST will take after DCD loss during a BLAST session:

ABORT--exits the BLAST session.

IGNORE--ignores carrier loss. The BLAST session continues until an Inactivity Timeout takes effect.

Reserved Variable: @DCDLOSS

7-Bit Channel

Yes  [No]

Defines the logical width of the data path to be used. "YES" specifies a 7-bit data encoding scheme; "NO" specifies an 8-bit encoding scheme.

Some networks, minicomputers, and asynchronous devices will only support 7-bit path widths. The BLAST protocol will operate more efficiently using 8-bit encoding; however, the data path width has nothing to do with the type of data that may be transferred. BLAST will transfer 8-bit binary or 7-bit ASCII over either 7- or 8-bit data paths.

Reserved Variable: @7BITCHN

Allow OVW and Remote Cmds

[Yes]  No

Specifies whether remote commands and file overwrites are allowed during Filetransfer mode.

Note that disabling these functions only applies to local files. For example, you will still be able to send a file with the Overwrite transfer option, described under The BLAST Session Protocol.

Reserved Variable: @ENABLERCMD

Enable FWD and STR

Yes  [No]

Enables the /FWD and /STR file transfer options. For a fuller description of these options, see Store and Forward under The BLAST Session Protocol.

Note that disabling these options only applies to local files. For example, you will still be able to get a file with the Forward transfer option because the file will be deleted from the remote system.

Reserved Variable: @ENABLEFS

Transfer Trace:

Any legal path and filename

The name of the trace file for BLAST protocol file transfers.

Xmodem and Xmodem1K Protocol Settings

When "Xmodem" or "Xmodem1K" is selected on the Protocols Properties Page, clicking the "Settings" button will bring up the Xmodem (or Xmodem1K) Protocol Settings dialog (shown below).

Pad Character:

Any ASCII value between 0-255  [26]

Specifies the character to be used to pad the last Xmodem packet to 256 bytes. The default pad character is Control-Z (26).

Reserved Variable: @XMPADCHAR

Timeout:

1 - 5000  [60]

Specifies the number of seconds to wait before starting the Xmodem protocol. This parameter should be modified if Xmodem in Data Pump and Xmodem on the remote system are having difficulty initializing.

Reserved Variable: @XMTIMEOUT

Retries:

2 - 50  [10]

Specifies the total number of bad packets allowed before failure of a session. This is a cumulative total, not a per packet total. The number of retries should be increased if sessions are consistently failing due to too many bad packets.

Reserved Variable: @XMRETRIES

Inter-Packet Timeout:

1 - 10  [4]

Specifies the number of seconds to wait to get either an ACK or a NAK after sending a packet. This parameter should be increased if the remote system takes too long to respond to transmitted packets.

Reserved Variable: @XMPACKETTO

Transfer Trace:

Any legal path and filename

Specifies the name of the trace file for Xmodem file transfers.

EOT Timeout:

[1] - 10]

Specifies the number of seconds to wait between sending each EOT character (4) at the end of the Xmodem file transfer. This parameter should be increased if the remote Xmodem needs a greater amount of time to process EOT characters at the end of an Xmodem transfer.

Reserved Variable: @XMEOTINTERVAL

EOT Retries:

1 - 10  [5]

Specifies the number of times Data Pump will send an EOT character (4) at the end of an Xmodem transfer. This parameter should be increased if the remote Xmodem tends to ignore the first few EOT characters.

Reserved Variable: @XMEOTRETRIES

EOT Challenge

Yes  [No]

Specifies whether Data Pump will respond to the first EOT sent by the remote system with a NAK. If EOT Challenge is enabled, the remote system must send another EOT to acknowledge that the transmission is completed.

Reserved Variable: @XMEOTCHALLENGE

FTP Settings

When "FTP" is selected on the Protocols Properties Page, clicking the "Settings" button brings up the FTP Settings dialog.

FTP SETTINGS

File Conversion:

ASCII  Binary

Specifies whether the file will be treated as text or binary data. If binary is specified, the file will not be modified during transmission. If ASCII is specified, the file will be converted to a text file on the receiving system.

Reserved Variable: @FTPCONV

Transfer Trace:

Any legal path and filename

The name of the trace file for FTP file transfers.

Phonebook Field and Scripting Shortcuts

In fields that require a directory path, several typing shortcuts may be implemented.

For example, where the BLAST Data Pump directory is C:\Program Files\Blast\Data Pump\, typing $BLASTDIR\Logs\Sales.log into the Log File field of the General Properties Page enters the following path into the field: C:\Program Files\Blast\Data Pump\Logs\Sales.log. The path will be visible in the field the next time you open that phonebook page or dialog.

This shortcut may also be used in scripts. Given the BLAST Data Pump directory above, the script statement

set @LOGFILE = "$BLASTDIR\\Log Files\\Sales.log"

would set the path of the log file that records the communications session to C:\Program Files\Blast\Data Pump\Logs\Sales.log.

The shortcuts may also be used with @LOCALDIR and @XFERTRACE. For example, given the BLAST Data Pump directory above, the script statements

set @LOCALDIR = "$BLASTSCRIPTDIR\\Joescripts" display @LOCALDIR

would display C:\Program Files\Blast\Data Pump\Blast\Scripts\Joescripts. Similarly, $SERIALNUMBER may be used to display the registered serial number of the copy of Data Pump in use.

Option Overrides

Because Phonebook settings can specify options that may also be specified by command line switches and scripts, Data Pump follows a well-defined order of precedence:

• Whenever a Phonebook setting conflicts with a command line switch, the command line switch overrides the Phonebook settings.
  
• Whenever a BLAST script changes a value specified in either the Phonebook or the command line, the script change overrides the Phonebook setting or command line value.

Converting Setups to Phonebook Listings Included in the Data Pump Bin folder is the application SU.Convert, which converts DOS BLAST setups to Data Pump Phonebook listings. When you launch SU.Convert, you will be presented with a dialog as shown in the figure below:

SU.Convert Values

Before executing a conversion, you must assign a value to the following fields:

Type in the name of the directory containing DOS setups or locate the directory by clicking the browse ("...") button to the right of the Setupdir field.

Performing Conversions

After highlighting the setups that you wish to convert, click the ">>>" button to execute the conversion. You may be prompted whether to overwrite a particular modem and/or system script definition. If you want to retain a modification made to a definition in your DOS BLAST modem or system script, choose "Yes"--the modified definition will overwrite the definition in the Data Pump modem or system script. Otherwise, choose "No." Your setup(s) will then be converted to Phonebook listings and will appear in the Listings field.