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I think its time for me to
(1) document it; (people call me and say "my product is going to include
it - what can I 'reference'", or "I'm writing a paper on it, what do I put
in the bibliography") and
(2) propose an "incremental extension" to it, which might take "exactly"
the form of Chuck Forsberg's YAM protocol. He wrote YAM in C for CP/M and
put it in the public domain, and wrote a batch protocol for Unix[4] called
rb and sb (receive batch, send batch), which was basically XMODEM with
(a) a record 0 containing filename date time and size
(b) a 1K block size option
(c) CRC-16.
He did some clever programming to detect false ACK or EOT, but basically
left them the same.
People who suggest I make SIGNIFICANT changes to the protocol, such as
"full duplex", "multiple outstanding blocks", "multiple destinations", etc
etc don't understand that the incredible simplicity of the protocol is one
of the reasons it survived to this day in as many machines and programs as
it may be found in!
Consider the PC-NET group back in '77 or so - documenting to beat the band
- THEY had a protocol, but it was "extremely complex", because it tried to
be "all things to all people" - i.e. send binary files on a 7-bit system,
etc. I was not that "benevolent". I (emphasize > I < ) had an 8-bit UART,
so "my protocol was an 8-bit protocol", and I would just say "sorry" to
people who were held back by 7-bit limitations. ...
Block size: Chuck Forsberg created an extension of my protocol, called
YAM, which is also supported via his public domain programs for UNIX
called rb and sb - receive batch and send batch. They cleverly send a
"block 0" which contains the filename, date, time, and size.
Unfortunately, its UNIX style, and is a bit weird[5] - octal numbers, etc.
BUT, it is a nice way to overcome the kludgy "echo the chars of the name"
introduced with MODEM7. Further, chuck uses CRC-16 and optional 1K
blocks. Thus the record 0, 1K, and CRC, make it a "pretty slick new
protocol" which is not significantly different from my own.
Also, there is a catchy name - YMODEM. That means to some that it is the
"next thing after XMODEM", and to others that it is the Y(am)MODEM
__________
4. VAX/VMS versions of these programs are also available.
5. The file length, time, and file mode are optional. The pathname and
file length may be sent alone if desired.
Chapter 3
X/YMODEM Protocol Reference 10-27-87 8
protocol. I don't want to emphasize that too much - out of fear that
other mfgrs might think it is a "competitive" protocol, rather than an
"unaffiliated" protocol. Chuck is currently selling a much-enhanced
version of his CP/M-80 C program YAM, calling it Professional Yam, and its
for the PC - I'm using it right now. VERY slick! 32K capture buffer,
script, scrolling, previously captured text search, plus built-in commands
for just about everything - directory (sorted every which way), XMODEM,
YMODEM, KERMIT, and ASCII file upload/download, etc. You can program it
to "behave" with most any system - for example when trying a number for
CIS it detects the "busy" string back from the modem and substitutes a
diff phone # into the dialing string and branches back to try it.