WA8DED(9) XR32 REFERENCE MANUAL 5/2/2013
NAME
WA8DED -- WA8DED TNC Emulator.
DESCRIPTION
XR32 can emulate a WA8DED TNC, in both normal mode and "host"
mode. Host mode operation is covered in the MAN page for
DEDHOST. Normal mode might be used by a human user, or by an
application designed to work with a WA8DED TNC in this mode.
.------. .-----------.
| XR32 |------RS232-------| HyperTerm |<--User
'------' '-----------'
The user may be located on the same machine as XR32, connected
to it either via a pair of "virtual" COM ports, or via a pair
of "real" COM ports interconnected with a null-modem cable.
Alternatively, the user may be located on a seperate machine,
using an RS232 null-modem cable to interconnect the machines.
Configuring WA8DED Emulation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The configuration for non-hostmode operation is essentially
the same as for hostmode, except that an APPL block is not
required in XROUTER.CFG. In fact, an interface set up for
hostmode will work OK in non-hostmode too.
1) Decide how to interconnect the user and XR32.
You can use either a pair of real COM ports and a
null-modem cable, or a virtual com port driver such as
Com0Com.
If using the latter, install it on the PC (if it isn't
already installed) and note the numbers of the two COM
ports it provides. You may need to adjust one or both of
them to a convenient number for your application. Ensure
that "Baud Rate Emulation" and "Enable Buffer Overrun" are
checked on both sides.
2) Add an INTERFACE.
In XROUTER.CFG specify an interface similar to this, where
"x" represents the interface number...
INTERFACE=x
TYPE=ASYNC
COM=18
PROTOCOL=DEDHOST
CHANNELS=4
SPEED=9600
FLOW=0
MTU=256
ENDINTERFACE
COM is the number of one of the real or virtual COM ports
used to connect with the application. XR32 can use COM
numbers up to COM32.
CHANNELS specifies the max no. of host channels the
interface will provide (between 1 and 32). The total number
of host channels available to be shared between all
applications is 64. If XR32 cannot allocate the requested
number of channels it will fail to start. (In versions up
to 200e the number of channels was specified by INTNUM.
This is now deprecated.)
MTU must be 256
SPEED is the serial baud rate.
FLOW must always be set to 0.
- Don't use CHANNEL, IOADDR, or INTNUM keywords.
- Don't try to attach any PORTs to this interface, as they
are not required.
Using WA8DED TNC Emulation in Terminal Mode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XR32's WA8DED emulator starts up in "terminal" mode (i.e. not
host mode) and may be therefore tested or used in this mode
using Hyperterm or any other dumb terminal. Wherever possible,
the emulator behaves the same as a "real" WA8DED TNC, as
detailed below:
In normal mode, commands and information are sent from the
terminal to the emulator in the form of lines. Lines may be up
to 256 characters long, including the terminating CARRIAGE
RETURN. If the 256th character entered is not a CARRIAGE
RETURN, it will be discarded and a BELL character will be
output to the terminal. BACKSPACE and DELETE may be used to
remove single characters from the line. The entire line may be
permanently backspaced out by entering a CONTROL-U or
CONTROL-X.
Lines which begin with an ESCAPE character (echoed as '* ')
are interpreted as commands. Lines without a leading ESCAPE
character are sent as information.
Most commands consist of a single letter. Some commands have
an optional parameter. The number of spaces (if any) between
the command and any parameter is not important. If a command
is issued with no parameter, the current value of that
command's parameter is displayed. Unless a parameter is
returned, commands do not normally return any acknowledgement.
By default, XR32's WA8DED emulator provides the operator with
five virtual TNC channels, numbered 0 to 4 (The actual number
may be altered between 1 and 32 using the CHANNELS= keyword in
the supporting INTERFACE). The terminal is logically attached
to only one of these channels at a time, selected by the 'S'
command.
Channel 0 is reserved for unproto transmissions and
monitoring. This channel does not support connections.
Information sent on channel 0 is always unproto. The unproto
path may be set by issuing a 'C' command when channel 0 is
selected.
Channels other than 0 support connections, but are unproto if
they are not currently connected. Outgoing connect requests
may be issued on any unconnected channel (other than channel
0), while incoming connect requests will use the first
available channel (provided the maximum number of connections
set by the 'Y' command will not be exceeded).
Information received on a connected channel that is not
currently selected will remain queued there until that channel
is selected. The 'L' command may be used to determine the
channel(s) where stored information is located. Information
for transmission is sent only to the currently selected
channel. When a connection is ended, received information
will remain queued until it has been displayed.
Frame monitoring is controlled by the 'M' command. The
command parameter determines the types of frames monitored,
and is a list of desired frames chosen from the letters in the
following table:
LTR FRAME
--- -----
N None
I I frames
U UI frames
S Supervisory frames
C Monitor while connected
+ Call signs to be included (maximum of 8)
- Call signs to be excluded (maximum of 8)
The '+' and '-' parameters may not be used together. If either
is used, it must be the last parameter (followed by one to
eight callsigns, if applicable). If no list of callsigns is
specified to be included or excluded, all callsigns will be
candidates for monitoring. Entering a '+' or '-' with no
callsigns will clear the list.
An asterisk displayed after a callsign in the digipeater list
indicates the frame was transmitted by that station. The
control field displayed will be one of the following:
NAME DESCRIPTION
---- -----------
RRa - Receive Ready
RNRa - Receive Not Ready
REJa - Reject
UI - Unnumbered Information
DM - Disconnected Mode
SABM - Connect Request
DISC - Disconnect Request
UA - Unnumbered Acknowledge
FRMR - Frame Reject
Iab - Information
?ccH - Unknown
a = Next expected frame number (0 - 7)
b = Frame number of this frame (0 - 7)
cc = Hexadecimal value
In addition, one of the following characters will be
displayed, reflecting the protocol version, command/response
bits, and the poll/final bit:
(blank) = version 1 frame without poll/final bit
! = version 1 frame with poll/final bit
^ = version 2 command frame without poll bit
+ = version 2 command frame with poll bit
- = version 2 response frame with final bit
v = version 2 response frame without final bit
The protocol identifier field is displayed in hexadecimal
An unattended mode, controlled by the 'U' command, provides
for sending user supplied text to a connecting station, and
then allows that station to leave a brief message. This mode
can operate on all channels simultaneously, but in no way
limits the operator's ability to interact with one of the
connected channels or the ability to make outgoing connect
requests.
When unattended mode is enabled, link status messages are
queued to the associated channel and not output to the
terminal unless that channel is currently selected. Link
status messages will therefore be displayed in chronological
order with the information from that channel.
In addition, text supplied by the user with the 'U' command
will be sent to any station that connects. If channel 0 is
left selected, stations may then connect and leave messages
on channels 1 - 4 (limited by the 'Y' parameter, of course).
The 'L' command may be used to determine if messages have been
left on any channel. Selecting a channel containing messages
will cause all link status and information from that channel
to be displayed. If xon/xoff handshaking is enabled,
CONTROL-S and CONTROL-Q may be used to regulate the output to
the terminal to allow comfortable reading.
Command Summary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(In terminal mode all commands are preceded by ESC character)
COMMAND PARAMETER DESCRIPTION
------- --------- -----------
A (1) 0 Auto linefeed disabled
1 Auto linefeed enabled
* C Cs1 [Cs2 ... Cs9] Connect path (0=unproto path)
* D Disconnect
E (1) 0 Echo input disabled
1 Echo input enabled
* I Cs Tnc source callsign
JHOST (0) 0 Terminal mode enabled
1 Host mode enabled
K (0) 0 Timestamp disabled
1 Timestamp status messages
2 Timestamp monitoring & status
L [0-n] Display channel status
M (IU) NIUSC+- Monitor mode
S (0) 0-n Select channel (0=unproto)
U (0) 0 [text] Unattended mode disabled
1 [text] Unattended mode enabled
V (0) Displays the software version
Y (4) 0-n Maximum incoming connections
Z (3) 0 Flow disabled, xon/off disabled
1 Flow enabled, xon/off disabled
2 Flow disabled, xon/off enabled
3 Flow enabled, xon/off enabled
(0) Default values are shown in parentheses
n Number of channels, as specified by CHANNELS keyword
* These commands are applicable to each connection channel
Command Description
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 'A' (AutoLF) command is used to enable or disable the
automatic insertion of LINEFEED characters after CARRIAGE
RETURN characters to the terminal.
The 'C' (Connect) command is used on channels other than 0 to
initiate a link connection. A 'C' command issued when channel
0 is selected sets the unproto path. If digipeaters are
specified, 'v' or 'via' is not required (but is allowed)
between the destination callsign and the digipeater callsigns,
and callsigns must be seperated by spaces. Note that on
channels > 0 this command ignores the destination path and
only allows connect to the node. The default unproto address
for channel 0 is "CQ".
The 'D' (Disconnect) command is used to initiate a link
disconnection. If there is unsent or unacknowledged
information remaining, the disconnect request frame will not
be sent until all information has been transmitted and
acknowledged. No additional information will be received after
the 'D' command has been issued. A second 'D' command may be
entered to force the transmission of the disconnect request
frame before all information has been sent and acknowledged.
A 'D' command issued during the establishment of a link or
after a disconnect request frame has been transmitted will
cause an immediate return to the disconnected state.
The 'E' (Echo) command is used to enable or disable the
echoing of input (commands and information) to the terminal.
The 'I' (Ident) command is used to set and display the TNC
source callsign. The initial value is the APPLCALL. If no
APPLblock was defined, the initial value is all blanks.
Changing the TNC source callsign on a connected channel is not
permitted. If the TNC source callsign is left blank, the TNC
will not allow connect commands or unproto transmissions. The
callsign stored in channel 0 is used to initialize each
connection channel upon power up or disconnection.
The 'JHOST' command is used to switch between terminal and host
modes. See the DEDHOST MAN page for details of host mode
operation.
The 'K' command controls the time stamping of status messages
and monitored frames.
The 'L' (LinkStatus) command is used to display the link
status of one or all channels. Information displayed
includes the connection path and the number of received frames
not yet displayed, number of send frames not yet transmitted,
number of transmitted frames not yet acknowledged, and the
current retry count. A '+' character preceeding the channel
number indicates the currently selected channel. Operation of
this command when host mode is enabled is somewhat different,
and is described in the MAN page for DEDHOST.
The 'M' (Monitor) command is used to set the frame monitoring
mode. The command parameter determines the types of frames
monitored, and is a list of desired frames chosen from the
letters in the following table:
LTR FRAME
--- -----
N None
I I frames
U UI frames
S Supervisory frames
C Monitor while connected
+ Call signs to be included (maximum of 8)
- Call signs to be excluded (maximum of 8)
The '+' and '-' parameters may not be used together.
If either is used, it must be the last parameter
(followed by one to eight callsigns, if applicable).
If no list of callsigns is specified to be included or
excluded, all callsigns will be candidates for
monitoring. Entering a '+' or '-' with no callsigns
will clear the list.
The 'U' (Unattended) command is used to enable or disable
unattended modes.
The 'V' (Version) command just displays the software version.
In this respect it behaves like TheFirmware instead of WA8DED.
The 'Y' command is used to set the maximum number of
connections that may established by incoming requests. This
command has no effect on the operators ability to initiate
outgoing connection requests.
The 'Z' command is used to enable or disable flow control and
XON/XOFF handshaking to the terminal. If flow control is
enabled, output to the terminal will be inhibited while
entering commands or information. If flow control is
disabled, output to the terminal will not be restricted.
Flow control and xon/xoff handshaking should be disabled
during periods in which the TNC is operated without a
terminal, to avoid suspending output which will consume
buffers. If XON/XOFF handshaking is enabled, terminal
scrolling may be stopped and started using CONTROL-S and
CONTROL-Q characters. Flow control and XON/XOFF handshaking
are not performed when host mode is enabled.
The '@' command is a software maintenance command. A
parameter of 'B' displays the number of free buffers.
SEE ALSO
DEDHOST(9) -- WA8DED Hostmode Emulation.
XROUTER.CFG(8) -- Main Configuration File.
WA8DED(9) END OF DOCUMENT
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