TcpLink 3000 CS		INAC Computer Innovative Netzwerkanwendungen

Benutzerhandbuch TcpLink 3000 CS in englischer Sprache

Chapter 7

Additional Commands

7.1 Help

The following command prints the TCP command option list on the screen:

TCP H

7.2 Changing/printing default configuration parameters

The default configuration of TCP is given by the following parameter list:

default destination: a: (default archive is the floppy drive) / (default destination directory on the floppy is / ) default numeric parameters: 20 (default Aspect timeout constant is 20 sec) 30 (default unit timeout constant is 30 sec) 1 (default block count display rate) 1 (default special internal parameter is 1) default Disnmr command specification: S #CURDAT (by default Disnmr sends the current data file)

The default configuration can be printed by the command

TCP A

In order to alter the configuration, it is required to generate a new TCP program that has one or more of these parameters changed. This may be performed several times and allows you to maintain an arbitrary number of TCP programs on the disk, each with a different configuration.

At first you must set up a text file containing the desired default destination, numeric parameters, and DISNMR command specification in the following format (this is just one example and will be further illustrated by other examples later):

indigo (destination host name) max (user login id on destination host) xam12xrt (user password on destination host) /usr/people/max/datafiles (destination directory on host ) 20 30 1 1 (numeric config. parameters, see above) S #CURDAT (disnmr command specification) exit (must terminate the file)

After having set up the the configuration file (lets assume you have chosen the name config.tcp), proceed as follows:

Make sure that you are in ADAKOS region 1 (from where you normally start \dis), and region 1 has at least 128K memory assigned. This can be verified using the ADAKOS DMP command.
Enter the following command sequence in ADAKOS mode:
LOA TCP 202000 TCP CONFIG:A STO TCPF 202000[20K];202001'IXP TCPF A
The first command will load TCP at a high memory address (at offset octal 200000 from the normal ASPECT 3000 load address 2000). The second command starts TCP at its usual low memory address and puts the new configuration constants from the specified file in the program loaded in high memory. The third command stores the updated program under a new, user defined name on disk. The number in brackets is the program size that may increase when new versions come up. We therefore recommend to check the size via DIR TCP before storing, and use the true size. The last command, finally, prints out the configuration of this program for verification.

After this procedure, you have 2 programs available, TCP and TCP f with a different internal configuration. Let us consider the following to examples:

TCP S SPEC.001 TCPF S SPEC.001

The first command would archive the specified file on floppy diskette since this is the default destination after installing TCP . The second command would send the file to the host indigo because we generated TCP f to have this default configuration.

Here is another example that illustrates a configuration file:

a: (destination archive name) /spec1d (destination directory on archive ) 25 35 1 1 (numeric config. parameters) SUN:S #CURDAT (disnmr command line) exit (must terminate the file)

In this case the default destination is not a host on the network, but a floppy disk archive. Note that no login id and no password need be specified. The two timeout constants and the \dis specification line have also been changed.

Specification line for `DISNMR`

On the DISNMR sepcification line of the configuration file the same arguments may be specified that are allowed for TCP itself. In the example a file transfer to the station SUN is requested if the TCP program configured by this file is called from DISNMR via PASC. The file argument # CURDAT indicates that the file to be transferred is the current DISNMR data set defined via the RE command. Any argument other than #CURDAT would directly denote a file name specification requiring the same syntax as if TCP was called from ADAKOS command level.

One major drawback of executing TCP from DISNMR is the inability to specify arguments. You may type PASC TCP, but not PASC TCP <args>. This disadvantage can be circumvented by storing several TCP programs on disk, e.g. one that archives files and one that retrieves files (lets say TCP and TCPF). Then, PASC TCP and PASC TCPF would perform the desired tasks.

Particularly in DISNMR AU programs in could be of advantage to do both, sending and receiving files using the same or different destinations. This problem is easily solved by setting up configuration files containing the desired destinations and DISNMR specification lines, and then generate the appropriately configured TCP programs that may then be invoked from the AU program via PASC.

Numeric configuration parameters

The numeric configuration parameter line consists of 4 numbers. The first two define the timeout constants. If the TCP program is started, it tries to get into connection with the TCPLINK or SPECSTORE unit. If it does not succeed, it will give up after the time specified first. Note that the time is specified in seconds. The actual time may be two times larger, depending on which other tasks keep the ASPECT busy.

The second time value is the internal timeout constant of the TCPLINK or SPECSTORE unit. It might be necessary to change (increase) these parameters under certain error conditions described later.

The third number is a configuration parameter that controls the display frequency of the block count during the data transfer. Zero forces mute operation of a data transfer, 1 causes a counter to be displayed which is updated each time 8K data have been transmitted. This allows you to watch the progress of a data transfer. If the number is larger than 1, let's say n, the counter is updated if n*8K have been transmitted. If TCP is mainly called from ADAKOS level in region 1 which owns the graphics display, the number should be set to 4 or larger since a frequent refresh of the graphics display will slow down the data transfer. If TCP is mainly called from ADAKOS region 2 or from \dis, the block display will not appear on the graphics screen, but on the LED. The data transfer speed is not influenced in this case.

The forth number is currently for internal use only and must always be 1.

7.3 Ping: Is a host responding?

The TCP program allows you to test whether a particular host is responding or can be reached from your TCPLINK via network. This is the simplest test you can perform if there are transfer problems. Internally the TCP/IP ping mechanism is used. The general command syntax is:

TCP :P

The following table presents some examples.

Command	Operation
`TCP P`	ping the default host
`TCP SUN:P`	ping the host described in SUN.TCP

Ping will fail if the host is down, but also if there are problems with your system. In this case you should check whether all setups for this host are correct. Check also if the Ethernet cable is plugged into the TCPLINK unit correctly.

7.4 Listing directory contents

The TCP program allows you to display the contents of the destination directory. The general syntax is:

TCP D <option>, or TCP <data destination file>:D <option>.

In the first case, the contents of the default destination directory on the default hosts are displayed (which may be printed via TCP A, in the second case according to the specified date destination file.

If the host system is a PC under DOS, only one directory listing format is provided and specified options are ignored. For UNIX systems, several options are supported. If no option is specified, a short directory listing is generated, consisting of the file names only. The option L provides a long directory listing, including file size and creation date. The option R creates a recursive directory listing, that is, the contents of all subdirectories (if existing) are also displayed. Finally, the option D sorts the files according to their date. The oldest file appears first.

The following table presents a list of examples.

Command	Operation
`TCP D`	short listing from default destination
`TCP D L`	long listing from default destination
`TCP SUN:D R`	recursive listing accord. to sun.tcp
`TCP SUN:D D`	listing sorted by file creation date

If the destination directory is located on a UNIX host, then its contents are listed in UNIX format. If it is located on a DOS PC or on a SPECSTORE archive, the listing format corresponds to DOS.

Often the directory listing is so long that it does not fit on the ASPECT screen. Since the directory listing is always saved in the protocol file prot.tcp, you can always view, list or edit it from there.

7.5 Remote command execution

The TCP program allows you to execute commands on a UNIX host from the ASPECT keyboard. This feature is not supported for PCs under DOS on the network. The output is displayed on the ASPECT screen, provided it is a sequence of ASCII characters. Interactive commands that require additional keyboard input are not supported. The general syntax is:

TCP X <UNIX command line>, or TCP <data destination file>:X <UNIX/DOS command line>.

In the first case, the destination computer corresponds to the default destination, in the second case to the specified data destination file.

The following table presents some examples.

Command	Operation
`TCP X ps -ef`	execute ps -ef on default host
`TCP SUN:X cd /usr/max;cmp -l f1 f2`	change dir., compare files on sun.tcp
`TCP FLOP:X DEL TEST.*`	delete files from `DOS` archive (device code specified in flop.tcp)

Any terminal output generated by remote command execution is saved in the protocol file prot.tcp and may be retrieved from there.

On remote command execution you should be aware that if a UNIX host is specified in the destination file, the command syntax must be according to UNIX , if the destination device is a DOS archive only DOS commands are legal. If you specify an interactive command such as del *.* for DOS archives which requires an answer from the user to be typed in, the TCPLINK or SPECSTORE unit may hang up and you must re-boot it. In the special case of del, you would better use the commands del name.* or del *.ext that are non-interactive.

7.6 Examining the serial number, software version, date, and time

Each TCPLINK or SPECSTORE unit has a serial number assigned. It works only together with an operation diskette of the same serial number. You can examine it via the command

TCP N .

This command also prints the unit's, software version, and its internal date and time. An extra section of this manual describes how to change these values.

Please note that the operation diskette is copy protected. If it becomes defective for some reason, you must use the backup copy which is part of the delivery. At any time you can order a new diskette suitable for your hardware version.

7.7 Sending files from an archive to the network

Your TCPLINK unit is equipped with at least one DOS compatible archiving device, namely the diskette drive. From this archive, or from any additional one connected to the unit a file may be transferred directly to a host on the network from the ASPECT keyboard. This is illustrated by the following examples.

TCP SUN:S A:SPEC.001 TCP SUN:S A:/DATA/SPEC.001