Welcome to SimpTerm 2.1, the tnc/tu communications package for the masses.

You should have the following after unzipping. 

.            <DIR>      7-25-94  15:23   ..           <DIR>      7-25-94  15:23
keys.doc         1584   8-13-93  13:30   osimp.hlp        1048   9-01-93  15:02
readme           6336   1-13-94  14:45   simp.cfg            8   8-05-93   8:27
simp.doc        65496   7-25-94  15:26   simp.exe       154976   1-13-94  14:33
simp.hlp         1231   1-13-94  14:21   simp.hlw         1899   7-31-93  15:34
simp.ini         1989   7-25-94  15:30   simptr21.zip    91988   1-13-94  14:45
simp_doc.bak    65494   1-12-94   9:44   simp_ini.bak     1989   1-12-94   9:54

To get out of SimpTerm, use the ALT-X key.  Nothing disturbs me more than to
bring up a program and then not be able to figure out a way out.

The keys.doc file contains a list of the valid key names.
The simp.doc is the main manual.  Copy it to your printer (29 pages)
or read it with your favorite editor/lister or more.

Please at least read the quick start section of the manual before
you attempt to use SimpTerm.

The readme probably won't match, but the rest should.

New features in SimpTerm 2.1

Added the following %c notation special formatting characters.

%Y	2 character year (00-99)
%M	2 character month (01-12)
%A	2 character day (1-31)
%H	2 character hour (00-23)
%m	2 character minute (00-59)
%S	2 character second (00-59)

These can be used to form a date/time string "your way".
You can now have something like:
KEY_ALT_F9 This is kd4rqn at %H:%m:%S
in your simp.ini file and when you press the alt-f9 key you will send
This is kd4rqn at 23:59:59
If you do it at one second before midnight.

The preload file is now searched for the special characters on a line-by-line
basis.  This enables you to have something like:
DAYTIME %Y%M%A%H%m
in your ini file to set the date and time correctly on your TNC.  
This works for any tnc that conforms to the TNC-2 standard.

Not mentioned before, but these date and time functions along with
the original ones (%d, %D, %t) pay attention to the GMT variable.

You can now display the current date and time on the status line with
the TIMELINE variable.  If you set the TIMELINE variable to a character
string including the date and time functions as described above, the
status line will display the date and time as you defined it.
For example:
TIMELINE %A-%M-%Y %H:%m:%S
in your simp.ini file will cause the status line to include:
25-12-93 12:00:00
At noon on Christmas, 1993, if you're lucky enough to be able to get on
the air on Christmas.

There is a new variable, POSTLOAD, that works exactly like the PRELOAD
variable, except it uploads the file just before exiting.  You can
use this to leave your tnc in a known state after running SimpTerm.

There is a new function, savebuf, that will ask you for a file name
and then dump the received data buffer to a file.  The received data
buffer is what you are looking at as you scroll back in the top 
window. 
You might have something like:
!KEY_ALT_S savebuf
in your ini file and when you hit the alt-s key it would ask you for
a file name to write the buffer to.  Be careful, it will overwrite an
existing file without telling you so.

There is a variable, SCROLLLINES, that can be set to a number in the
range 0-409.  This is used to specify the size of the received data
buffer in lines.  Of course, I don't suggest you use 0 or anything
less than 20 or so.  I don't know what happens if you make it too
small.  The default is 300.  Why 409?  That is because the maximum
buffer size is 32768 and 32768/80 is about 409.

I have added an automatic feature.  It was intended to be a way
to automatically send CQ or call someone, but it can be used for
other things.  If you assign the function "auto" to a key,
when you press that key you will be prompted for a another key
press.  Press the key that you want to automatically resend.
For instance,  if you want to call CQ until someone answers,
Press ALT-A (if you have "!KEY_ALT_A auto" in your simp.ini file)
and you will see a window pop up with these three lines:
	Press the key you want executed every NNN seconds
	Press the ENTER key to change the time from NNN seconds
	Press the SPACE bar to cancel");
The NNN will be replaced with the AUTOTIME variable.

Now press the ALT-C (again, assuming that the ALT-C key has been
assigned to a macro string that calls CQ for you) and the window
should go away, the CQ should be sent and resent at the specified
intervals.  If you hit the enter key you will be prompted for a
new interval.  The default interval is set with the AUTOTIME line in
the simp.ini.  Here is a snippet of a typical simp.ini file to 
demonstrate the automatic feature.

AUTOTIME 90
KEY_ALT_C ^Mx^M\
cq cq cq de k4gvo^M\
cq cq cq de k4gvo^M\
cq cq cq de k4gvo at %t k^M^M^D
!KEY_ALT_A auto

The "x" and the "^D" in the above macro are the commands to the 
AEA PK-232 and PK-900 to start transmitting and to stop transmitting
respectively.  If your tnc has different commands, you will obviously
have to change them.  The time is specified in seconds.  Since 
the program has no way of knowing when the transmitter has actually
shut off, there is no way of assuring that you don't resend the
CQ 3 seconds after finishing.  Be sure to make the time delay sufficiently
long in order to have time to listen for a reply.

The automatic operation is shutdown as soon as any key is depressed on
the keyboard (other than the CTRL, ALT, SHIFT etc. keys) or a mouse
button is depressed.  There is one exception, if you press the same key
that you are automatically re-executing, it won't stop.  When you are
in automatic operation, you will see a capital A in the first column of
the status bar.

Bugs fixed in 2.1

The function, togcap, as described in the earlier manual is really
toglog.  There is no togcap function.  The simp.ini file that was
sent out with version 2.0 uses toglog, so most people didn't 
notice this.

The snow and bios features weren't working in 2.0.  They now work as
described.  If you use DesqView, you will want to set the bios variable.

Not really a bug, but the numbers you see at the far right of the status
line are the decimal key codes that you are typing.  This is gone in version
2.1, but if you want them back on, add this to your simp.ini file.
DEBUG KEYS

Write if you have problems.

There is a Postscript version of the manual that looks pretty good.  Drop
me a email if you want me to send you a copy.

Thanks to the following beta testers:

levin@BBN.COM 	
brettb@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us 	
kthompso@donald.wichitaks.NCR.COM 
fkf1@cornell.edu
pauln!pauln@wattres.SJ.CA.US
wdhyte@bnr.ca
flinxwei@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
jangus@skyld.tele.com
VFOAO007@VAX.CSUN.EDU
pineapp@netcom.com
wtr@mitre.org
russ@dialup.rain.com
mustang@sequent.com
byon@csulb.edu
n7oo@huachuca-emh8.army.mil
mebly@eng.umd.edu 

73 de K4GVO
Jim <jwl@cray.com> or (look me up in wp)(packet)

