"...Much of the material in this book covers aspects of telecommunications and networking that apply regardless of what software you use. I was particularly fascinated by the discussion of portable dialing entries and international dialing conventions. Some incredible workarounds are required in certain areas of the world.
"For those of us that communicate in heterogeneous environments ... this book is perfect. It contains whole chapters and sections about transfers and connections with VMS and other systems.
"I personally think that every professional sys admin should take a look at this book and get a copy of the package from Columbia University..."
BKUSCKMT.RVW 970623
"Using C-Kermit", Frank da Cruz/Christine M. Gianone, 1997, 1-55558-164-1, U$49.99
%A Frank da Cruz fdc@columbia.edu %A Christine M. Gianone cmg@columbia.edu %C 225 Wildwood Street, Woburn, MA 01801 %C or Kermit Distribution, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025 %D 1997 %G 1-55558-164-1 %I Digital Press / Butterworth-Heinemann / Columbia University %O U$44.95 800-366-BOOK 212-854-3703 Fax: 617-933-6333 212-663-8202 %O kermit@columbia.edu http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ %P 622 %T "Using C-Kermit", 2nd editionKermit is the most widely available communications software in the world. Versions on some platforms, however, may lack features available on others. Also, there may be a few computers to which Kermit has not been ported. This is where C-Kermit comes in. C-Kermit is the C language source code for a feature-rich version of Kermit, very similar in function to the highly mature MS-DOS version of Kermit. C-Kermit is the native version for most of the Kermit versions on major platforms, and there is no longer any reason not to have a Kermit for *your* machine.
This is the user level manual for C-Kermit. (General advice on porting, configuration and compiling is included with the source, available from the Kermit distribution centre at Columbia University. Extensive documentation and back issues of the Kermit digests and announcements are also available.)
Well thought out, well presented, well written, the book is an excellent addition to the previous "Kermit: A File Transfer Protocol" (BKKERMIT.RVW) and "Using MS-DOS Kermit" (BKUMSKMT.RVW). For those who insist that computer documentation is, by nature, turgid, obtuse, and boring, you haven't read anything by Frank da Cruz and Christine Gianone. Technical writers take note: *this* is how you do it.
The structure and order of the book is logically organized for users, new and old. Early chapters, and appendix two, provide an excellent primer for serial communications of all kinds. (The "test number" for you to call is an 800 number bulletin board, accessible from all over the United States and Canada, courtesy of Digital.) The only minor oddity in the arrangement is that scripting, possibly of most use to non-programming users, comes after the chapters on macros and programming. This is intended to give some basic programming concepts prior to introducing scripts, since the book assumes no programming background. It is, however, possible to write simple scripts without much in the way of conditional structures, controls or variables, and it would be a pity if non-programmers gave up too early to find this out.
C-Kermit is, as far as possible, the standard for the Kermit interface and functions. This, therefore, is the standard Kermit user guide.
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994, 1997 BKUSCKMT.RVW 970623
roberts@decus.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@freenet.victoria.bc.ca link to virus, book info at http://www.freenet.victoria.bc.ca/techrev/rms.html Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER)