Date : Fri, 23 Oct 1987 13:48:57 EDT
From : "John S. Fisher" <FISHER@CICGE.RPI.EDU>
Subject: CP/M software file server on Bitnet
I have made a few radical changes to the CP/M file server on Bitnet.
I will describe the changes first, then, for many of the newer people
on this list who never heard of the server, I'll review its use.
(1) The server has been redesigned to use a disk "cache" for keeping
only the most recently/frequently requested files online. Requests
for files not in the cache are deferred for overnight processing.
The offline-to-online procedure is automated, but subject to
delays; if a request cannot be satisfied in 5 days, the request
is abandoned.
(2) The archive is now more current than the former collection
(which was dated 17 July 1987). I will try to keep my server
up to date with Simtel20, at least within a week or two. This
means very new files on Simtel20 will not be immediately available
on my server, and the reverse for recent deletions. Synchronizing
my server with Simtel20 is a manual process I'll perform on a
best-efforts basis.
(3) THE SERVER IS STILL EXPERIMENTAL, AND INFORMATION ABOUT IT SHOULD
STILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL TO THIS GROUP. Nonetheless, the archives
have been expanded to include the MSDOS, PC-BLUE and SIGM collections.
The server claims to recognize the ADA and CPMUG directories, but
it lies. (I had intended to include the CPMUG files, however, a
problem with the CPMUG directory list has delayed this.)
(4) The /PDDIR command is available for getting directory listings.
(5) As before, if you have any comments, questions or problems with the
server, direct them to FISHER@RPICICGE.BITNET (me), and not the
Info-CPM mailing list.
*****************************************************************
* Help information for the PDGET command. *
*****************************************************************
Selected portions of the SIMTEL20 public domain software
archives are available at RPICICGE.BITNET. At present the
collections include the following directories:
PD:<CPM.*> -- The Info-CPM archive (CP/M machines).
PD:<SIGM.*> -- The SIG/M User Group archive (CP/M machines).
PD:<PC-BLUE.*> -- The PC-Blue software archive (IBM PC's).
PD:<MSDOS.*> -- The MSDOS archive (MSDOS machines).
Planned:
PD:<CPMUG.*> -- The CP/M User Group archive.
Any of the files in these collections are available from the file
server LISTSERV@RPICICGE.BITNET. The server responds to two commands.
/PDDIR requests a directory listing of files available in an archive,
and /PDGET requests a file from an archive. The file server accepts
commands in both interactive messages or RFC822-style mail. (On
VM and MVS Bitnet hosts, TELL LISTSERV AT RPICICGE... can be used to
send an interactive message. Other Bitnet systems may have similar
facilities. People on non-Bitnet systems must use the mail interface,
and must insure that the From: header represents a valid return path.)
****Note: The server actually responds to many, many other commands,
but none of them have anything to do with the archives.
The two commands have the following form:
/PDGET <format> simtel.filename < ( encoding >
/PDDIR simtel.pattern
The <...> mark things that are optional.
* "simtel.filename" specifies the name of a file to be delivered to the
user. Names are usually of the form "PD:<dir.subdir>name.type"
* "simtel.pattern" specifies a search pattern used in generating a
directory listing. The form of the pattern is like the filename
mentioned above, but asterisks (*) may be used freely in the
subdir, name, and type parts as wild cards (but not in the dir field.)
* "format" specifies the method of transmission to be used:
NETDATA -- suitable for transfer to Bitnet hosts that can accept
files in IBM Netdata format.
PUNCH -- suitable for transfer to Bitnet hosts that can accept
files but cannot decode the Netdata format. Files
are sent as 80-byte card-images.
MAIL -- suitable for transfer to hosts that can accept only
mail or are accessible to Bitnet only through gateways.
Large files sent via mail are split into several
smaller files that the recipient must reassemble.
If the format is omitted, NETDATA is assumed for Bitnet hosts
and MAIL for all others.
* "encoding" specifies any special encoding of the file data:
ASIS -- suitable for hosts that can receive binary data. The
file is sent exactly as it is stored on my system:
CP/M sector images, binary mostly. ASIS may be used
only with format NETDATA.
UUENCODE -- suitable for hosts that cannot receive binary data.
The file is sent uuencoded.
TRANSLATE -- suitable for any host, but only when the file actually
represents readable text. The file is translated into
character data format.
If the encoding is omitted, files are sent ASIS if the transmission
format is NETDATA, and UUENCODEd otherwise.
/PDDIR Examples:
===============
(1) The user is looking for the LASM program.
/PDDIR PD:<CPM.*>LASM.*
(2) The user wants a listing of the full CPM collection.
/PDDIR PD:<CPM>
/PDGET Examples:
===============
In each of the following examples the user wants the CPM.CRCLST file to
examine on his host and the UNARC16.ARK file to download to his micro,
both from the CPM collection. Note that none of the examples have a
closing parenthesis!
(1) The user is on an IBM host directly connected to Bitnet:
/PDGET NETDATA PD:<CPM>CPM.CRCLST (TRANSLATE
/PDGET NETDATA PD:<CPM.ARC-LBR>UNARC16.ARK
(2) The user is on a non-IBM host directly connected to Bitnet and can
receive Netdata files:
/PDGET NETDATA PD:<CPM>CPM.CRCLST (TRANSLATE
/PDGET NETDATA PD:<CPM.ARC-LBR>UNARC16.ARK (UUE
(3) The user is on a non-IBM host directly connected to Bitnet and can
receive punch files:
/PDGET PUNCH PD:<CPM>CPM.CRCLST (TRANSLATE
/PDGET PUNCH PD:<CPM.ARC-LBR>UNARC16.ARK (UUE
(4) The user is on some host somewhere:
/PDGET MAIL PD:<CPM>CPM.CRCLST (TRANSLATE
/PDGET MAIL PD:<CPM.ARC-LBR>UNARC16.ARK (UUE