. CB/Vax Version 2.3 The Citizens' Band radio simulator for VAX/VMS. Chris Thomas Engineering & Geoscience Computing Services Placid Oil Company 3900 Thanksgiving Tower Dallas, Texas 75201 How many times has this happened to you? You're at home, logged in on a portable terminal, and you want to communicate with someone else who's also logged in. The Phone utility isn't the answer here, since it requires DEC-compatible video terminals to work. You could use the REPLY/TERM command over and over again, but that quickly gets boring. And what if more than two of you want to talk? What will you do? What -will- you do? I carry this... my CB/Vax program. This allows up to 64 people (limit adjustable by you, the system manager) to particpate in simultaneous conversations on up to 40 separate channels (also adjustable by you). CB/Vax has the distinct advantage of not using any terminal-specific features; hence, it's equally at home on your VT100 or your old LA36. WHAT'S NEW FOR VERSION 2.3 The following features are new in version 2.3: o Control-Z's are now treated as /EXIT commands, unless you're being asked for a new handle. In that event, you're returned to CB/Vax without changing your handle. o On a message sent with the /SUMMON command, the current time is added to the end of the message. o If your terminal is set /NOBROADCAST, CB/Vax won't work at all. The program now checks for this condition and terminates if this is so. o Batch access to CB/Vax is prohibited. Real nasties occur if you try this. CB/Vax Version 2.3 Page 2 o If your process disappears while running CB/Vax, you'll be automatically removed from CB/Vax's internal tables as soon as someone else in CB tries to send a message to your terminal. This will help eliminate some dialup problems we've been having. CB/Vax Version 2.3 Page 3 Caveats Those of you who occasionally wander beyond the world of Vax may notice that this program bears an amazing resemblance to the CB simulator program that is found on the CompuServe Information Service. That's exactly the intention. While the idea isn't original, all of the coding certainly is. At our site, we have only one Vax. We don't have DECnet. I -think- that everything here should work with remote access, but I can't promise. Before you attempt to run CB/Vax in a multinode network, try it under a no-load condition just to be safe. (If it doesn't work, I'd like to know about it. Actually, I'd like to know even if it does work!) End of Caveats What's in This Kit When you receive the CB/Vax distribution, you'll get the following files: AAAREADME.TXT Tells you how to find this document CB.RAT,.FOR The user interface to CB/Vax CBMGR.RAT,.FOR The CB Manager program CB.HLP Help file suitable for inclusion in system help files CBBUILD.COM Installation procedure CBUSER.RNO,.MEM CB/Vax user's guide CBINSTALL.RNO,.MEM This document Note that the sources are distributed in both RAT and FOR forms. The RAT files are written for version 2.1 of the ICR Ratfiv preprocessor, found on the Spring and Fall 1982 Decus symposium tapes. If you don't have Ratfiv, you can work straight from the Fortran sources. They aren't the least bit pretty, but they do compile. How to Build CB/Vax Before building CB/Vax, you should look at the site-specific things that are pointed out in the source, either CB.RAT or CB.FOR. If these don't match for your system, change them. There are two ways of getting CB/Vax up and running on your system: 1. Work from the Fortran sources. This is an acceptable way. 2. Work from the Ratfiv sources. This is the better way, since it allows for easier modification of the code. CB/Vax Version 2.3 Page 4 One command procedure, CBBUILD.COM, will allow you to build using either method. To invoke it, log into your system manager's username (or any suitable privileged user). Then, if you haven't already got the distribution in a working directory, do so. To start the build, just type $ @CBBUILD The build procedure will ask you the following questions: o What build method do you wish to use? The procedure lists the build methods. Choose one. o In what directory is RATFIV.EXE? This is asked only if you're building from the Ratfiv sources. Type the appropriate directory or logical name. If you use a logical, be sure to put a colon at the end of the name. o In what directory should EXE files be placed? This is the final resting spot for your new images. Choose a directory or logical name, again using a colon if you pick a logical name. o Do you want to install the help file? If you answer "yes", then a short CB/Vax help file will be placed into your system help file. Then, the command procedure will do everything for you. Well, almost. CB.EXE needs to be installed with elevated privileges. If you want the image to be automatically installed at every system boot, you'll need to edit your site-specific startup files to reflect this: $ MCR INSTALL INSTALL> ddcu:[dir]CB.EXE/OPEN/PRIV=(SETPRV,ALTPRI,DETACH,SYSPRV,OPER,WORLD) INSTALL> ^Z Also, if you want to create a symbol to invoke CB/Vax, you'll need to edit your SYLOGIN.COM file, inserting a line like: $ CB :== $UTIL$EXE:CB CB/Vax Version 2.3 Page 5 Fine Print and Conclusions All the usual boring stuff about not selling this program, not copying it without credit, and such all apply here. But I know you're a trustworthy type of person, right? CB/Vax is still in a somewhat preliminary stage of development. The "talk" feature alluded to in part of the code (but not the documentation) hasn't been implemented. Several commands on CompuServe CB still haven't been implemented here. Furthermore, there may be (heaven forbid) some BUGS left in the code. When you find them, please let me know... gently. (Doing so automatically gets you on the list for the next release, too!) Chris Thomas April 27, 1983