JCOM is an user friendly menu-driven software with rich features for
386-based PC MSDOS terminal emulator. It supports ANSI, VT102 and Linux
consoles and also supports the function/cursor keys for terminal emulation.
It supports RS-232 UART 16550A FIFO hardware with speed up to 115200 bps
and includes software and hardware flow control.

JCOM has a built-in subset C script interpreter that makes JCOM has been able
to process more complex work.

In addition to the default com1 to com4, JCOM supports hardware device setup
for other communication ports (com5 to com35).
JCOM includes command-file and doskey-like function which are very useful for
remote-system-command execution.

User can place default.cmd in the working directory. When JCOM starts,
the first 200 lines of the file will be loaded automatically. It is a
doskey-like function and not a command-file function. User can execute
command lines from the command-line bar directly thus saving the typing
effort.

Sample.tbl is a conversion table of characters. The left column is the
original ASCII value of each character, the middle column is the converted
outgoing ASCII value and the right column is the converted incoming ASCII
value.
User should rename sample.tbl to jeancom.tbl and modify it to match system
requirements. The function supports character's value from 0 to 255, user may
not change any value on the left column which are original value of the
character, to use this function, just place jeancom.tbl in the working directory
before executing JCOM, otherwise user can press Alt-T then press 3 to edit
new one then press 2 to load that file and press 4 to show the result of the
table.

User can place autoexec.sic in the working directory. When JCOM starts,
the script of the file will be executed automatically.

The mono cyan-colored characters on the help screen are switch keys and can be
operated directly. Press N to reset all the switches to default setting. Press
ESC key to return to terminal mode so that user can use other compound keys
(Alt-A to Alt-Z) and function keys.

Before using local function keys (F2 to F5) to execute command-file function,
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user need to press Alt-Z then press K to select "Local" mode of "Cursor/F keys".
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JCOM has five modes for the function of "Cursor/F keys" which are Local, ANSI,
VT_NORM, VT_APPL, Linux_1, Linux_2. (VT_NORM stands for VT100 normal mode and VT_APPL
stands for VT100 application mode.)

When press Ctrl and right arrow to get command-line bar, user can operate the
editing keys as follows,

Up arrow: Move one line up.
Down arrow: Move one line down.
Left arrow: Move one column left.
Right arrow: Move one column right.
PgUp and PgDn: Display a page of command lines. User can move up and down the
menu then press Enter key to select the high-lighted command line.
User can repeat pressing PgUp (or PgDn) and Enter to browse ten pages of
command lines.
Tab: Move cursor to eight columns right.
Shift-Tab: Move cursor to eight columns left.
Home: Move cursor to the first column of command line.
End: Move cursor to the end of command line.
Ctrl-Home: Move to the first line of buffer (buffer size is 200 lines).
Ctrl-End: Move to the last line of buffer.
Del: Delete the character above the cursor.
Ins: Press the key to toggle Insert and Replace.
Ctrl-Y: Erase the entire line.
Ctrl-BackSpace: Erase the entire line.
BackSpace: Delete the character at the left of cursor.

The operation sequence of command-file function is described as follows,

1. Press Alt-F to input the last message of system-specific report. Another
method is pressing F2 key to read in a file to select and edit the command
line on command-line bar. Press Alt-R on command-line bar to get that command
line as the last message of remote system-specific report. User can press Esc
key to return to terminal mode, and press Alt-F to display that command line
again.
2. Press F2 to load a command file into the buffer of the function.
3. Press F3 to start or continue command-file function.
4. Press F4 to stop command-file function temporarily.

After JCOM receives the last message of the remote system-specific report,
wait until the remote system is ready so that JCOM can issue the next
command line. User can press Alt-W to enter the number of waiting times.
User should input enough number of waiting times.
(One waiting time meant that JCOM has run a loop, so if a slow PC runs a loop
but a fast PC maybe has run hundreds of loops.)

The command-file and the doskey-like function cannot be executed
simultaneously. During loading a command file the doskey-like function is
disabled. To resume the doskey-like function press Alt-Z and B.

After JCOM executes all of the command lines in the command file, it will
close the command file and clear all command lines in the buffer. Or, user
can press Alt-Z and then press C to clear all command lines in the buffer.
After either of the two operations, user can use the doskey-like function again.

Press Alt-P then press L to save all settings of JCOM in the working directory.
Press Alt-G then enter filename to save all command lines in the buffer of
command-file function to as a command file, user may not enter filename which
file is open. (e.g. active command file, captured file, TMP file, and so on)
Press F5 to restore the last screen captured automatically when exiting from
the browser (alt-v, alt-b, alt-k).

Simple description for the help screen is as follows,
ESC Character Yes/No: This function is to display the characters of ANSI ESCAPE
SEQUENCES.
Drop DTR Yes/No: If user wants to drop down modems' dtr line when pressing Alt-X
to exit JCOM or pressing Alt-H to hang up modem.
Dropping down dtr line will disconnect the connection between local PC and
remote system when user is using dial-up.
Remote Doskey Yes/No: To show if doskey-like function is active or not.
R_Doskey + CR Yes/No: To show does your command line need to append an Enter
character? (This function is used for long line command.)
Read Command File ON/OFF: To show if command-file function is active or not.
XON/XOFF     Yes X ON/OFF: To show if software flow control is active or not.
CTS/RTS      Yes R ON/OFF: To show if hardware flow control is active or not.
Cursor/F keys Linux_1   K: To select a operation mode of the cursor and function
keys for terminal emulation.
The mode of Linux_2 defines the ALT key to as a Meta key, so user may not use
compound keys for local functions except Alt-Z and Alt-X.
If user want to save the mode of Linux_2 to as a default setting, then user need
to edit the file of jeancom.cfg and set "Cursor Mode=5".
8 Bits Clean Mode / Character Sets Mode   8: To toggle console's characters
either use "charset" translate table or not.

On the command-line bar if command-file function is active and the number of
command lines in the command file is more than 200 lines, user can press F6
to get next 200 lines of the command file and F7 to return to the top line
of the command file. When press F6 and hear a beep, it alerts that command
line has already moved to the end of the command file. Press F6 again will
return to the top line of the command file.

Press ALT-S to send ASCII or TEXT to the remote system. Press Esc key to stop
sending. User can press ALT-P then press H to change the delay time of sending
each character and press I to change newline delay time.
For the best performance and stability, the former is default to 10ms and the
latter is default to 100ms.

If JCOM is running and the screen displays "Overrun Error" messages frequently,
it may indicate that user's PC does not have a UART 16550A chip. When this
happens, user should set JCOM to a lower speed rate.

To enter filename, search path or pattern in the dialog box, the function
prompts for a filename, subdirectory name or a search path.  The default search
path is the current working directory.
The search pattern can contain wild card chars, valid file names, or a
valid subdirectory name.
Note: The total files of the same pattern are limited to no more than 800 files
, and exceeded files will not be displayed.
  
User should return to terminal mode within 24 hours to assure correct On-line
time. The so-called terminal mode refers to the mode that JCOM can respond to
the remote system without using any function key or compound key.

If the setting of JCOM has a status bar and your remote system is a Unix
system then send "stty rows 24 columns 80" command to your remote system
to set your terminal, otherwise send "stty rows 25 columns 80".
User can press Alt-O then press 2 to select 24 or 25 lines of the screen.

JCOM has a built-in browser function (use alt-v or alt-k), but user can
press alt-b to use a more powerful browser (list93a.zip).
User can press alt-v or alt-k to use JCOM's built-in browser function, but
the searching function can not high-light one found string which located
outside of 30000 columns.
User may not edit a file which is in use. (e.g. active command file,
captured file, TMP file, and so on)

When user press alt-d to autodial, user may not modify any "MODEM STRING"
on item 5 "Modem String Setup" unless user is using a special modem, thus
prevent from losing the function of autodial.
As a general rule, user does not need to use autobauding.

User may press alt-q to set at most 20 compound keys to specified path and
script files (e.g. C:\script\passwd.sic), or press alt-r to select and run
a script file from a selected directory. User may press alt-d to select
"auto dial" then edits dialing menu to append a string ("s00" - "s19") to
mark a flag of auto-script which make a script to be executed automatically
when auto-dialing just completes the connection to remote system. these marked
specified script files are the same as those setting of pressing alt-q.

Please read a C reference book to learn the C syntax, or see the enclosed
script examples and file script.txt to get a feeling of the script language.

To install JCOM, user should unzip jcom174h.zip to c:\jcom or a preferred
directory and add the following 3 lines to c:\autoexec.bat,
SET PATH=C:\JCOM;%PATH%
SET EDITOR=C:\JCOM\TDE.EXE
SET SIC=C:\SCRIPT

After rebooting the PC, user can start JCOM from any directory.
cd \jcom
pkunzip -d jcom174h.zip
cd \work
jcom

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Between jcom174f edition and before editions has some differences
as follows:

1. When remote system sends Back Space (the ASCII value is 8), the terminal
   only has the cursor does shifts to the left processing front.
2. When press Alt-S (send ascii) or Alt-R (run script) and selects a file then
   press the Enter key, certainly not immediately carries out for the safe
   consideration, but is first demonstrated the file content, after treats
   the terminal operator browsing as well as the confirmation is unmistakable
   presses the Enter key execution again, otherwise may cancel according to the
   Esc key to or edits it according to the E key.
3. When press Alt-V or Alt-K browsing file under, may press 'M' or 'B' to mark
   the most upper line or the most lower line, after returns to the terminal
   mode (press the ESC key) then press Ctrl-> compound key to be immediately
   pastes on this character string once again, the operator may or not to
   modify this character string then sends out the execution (press the Enter
   key).
4. When press Alt-V or Alt-K browsing file under, may press 'M' or 'B' to mark
   lines then press C, after returns to the terminal mode (press the ESC key)
   then press Alt-S to be immediately pastes on this lines once again, the
   operator may or not to modify this lines then sends out the execution
   (press the Enter key). (This is the function of copy and paste.)

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jcom174g:
1. Adding in some intrinsic functions.
2. Improving ansi-escape sequences performance.

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jcom174h:
1. Adding in a strerror() function.
2. JCOM could have a script-file argument for making jcom to be a subset of
   C based toolkit for automating interactive programs.
   (eg. "jcom color.sic")

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Special requirements: gsz9705.zip (gsz.exe) for ZMODEM protocol.
                      (optional requirements: list93a.zip (list.com)
                      for external browser).

User can download the above files from ftp.simtel.net.

JCOM is a freeware and freely distributable.
If user need to contact the author, please E-mail to jean.com@msa.hinet.net.
Enjoy JCOM!

Huey-Chang Jean
jean.com@msa.hinet.net
