Windows Packet Controller Index

Commands

File Menu

Edit Menu

Options Menu

Break Menu

Keyboard

Keyboard shortcuts


File Menu

The File menu includes commands for printing, or that enables you to send or receive files.

Send text file

Receive text file

Print

Exit


Edit Menu

The Edit menu provides commands for using the Clipboard, and clearing the buffers.

Copy

Paste

Clear


Options Menu

The Options menu provides access to options that affect the way the program operates.

Communications

Window

Font


Break Menu

While appearing on the top level menu bar, this is not a menu.  Selecting this menu item sends a Break Signal to the TNC.


Send Text File

Send the contents of a text file to the TNC.  This calls the File dialogue to select the desired file.


Receive Text File

Copy either the Whole Buffer, a Selection of text, or Echo the incoming text, or cancel text being "echoed" to a file from the File dialogue.

If Text is being echoed to a file, then a "check mark" will be displayed on the menu, and the file name is shown in the Status window.

If the "check mark" is not displayed on the menu, then the File dialogue is called.


Print

Print either the Whole Buffer, a Selection of text, or Echo the incoming text, or cancel text being "echoed" to the printer from the Print dialogue.

If Text is being echoed to the printer, then a "check mark" is displayed on the menu, the Status window will show that it is printing.

If the "check mark" is not displayed on the menu, then the Print dialogue is called.


Exit

Selecting this closes the program.


Copy

Copy the selected text from the transmit window or the receive window to the clipboard.  Selecting text in one window, will clear any selection in the other.


Paste

Paste text from the clipboard to the transmit window.


Clear

Clear the window buffers.

NOTE all the data in the buffers will be lost.


Communications Menu Item
Communications

Set the parameters for communication with the TNC with the Communications dialogue.


Window Menu Item
Window

Set the Window parameters using the Window dialogue.


Font Menu Item
Font

Set the Text parameters using the Font dialogue.


File Dialogue Box
File Dialogue

The File dialogue box is for selecting either the file to send for Send text file, or a file to save for Receive text file.

File Name

The name of the file.  This must be an existing file for file send, or either a new file, or an existing one for file save.

If, on file save, the file exists, you will be prompted to overwrite it.  Selecting Yes will overwrite, No will append the new data onto the end, and Cancel will stop without saving.

Directory

This displays the name of the current directory.

Files

This shows a list of files in the current directory.

Directories

This shows a list of the directories in the current directory.

In the centre of the dialogue box are three radio buttons for Receive text file.  These are, from left, Buffer, Selection, and Echo.  These select what is to be printed.  If a selection is unavailable, eg, no text selected, then that button will be greyed out.  All the buttons will be greyed out for Send text file.


Print Dialogue Box
Print Dialogue

The Printer dialogue box allows you to control your printing.

At the top is a drop down list box, containing a list of all the printers installed on your system.  If you wish to use a printer that is not installed, you must install it from the Control Panel.

In the centre of the dialogue box are three radio buttons.  These are, from left, Buffer, Selection, and Echo.  These select what is to be printed.  If a selection is unavailable, eg, no text selected, then that button will be greyed out.

At the bottom of the dialogue box are four buttons.  These are from left, OK, Cancel, Setup, and Help.

OK	Signals to the computer to print.

Cancel	Returns to the program without printing.

Setup	Calls the printer setup dialogue box, allowing you to change the printer settings.

Help	Accesses the online help system.


Communications Dialogue Box
Communications Dialogue

The Communications dialogue box allows you to control how the Computer talks to the TNC.

Baud Rate

The Baud Rate is selectable to one of 1200, 2400, 4800, or 9600 baud.

Data Bits

The number of Data Bits in a character can be either seven or eight.  NOTE for binary transfers, or the extended ASCII characters this must be set to eight.

Connector

This tells the program which RS-232 port is connected to the TNC.

Flow Control

The type of handshaking used between the computer and the TNC can be either Xon/Xoff, Hardware, or None.

Parity

To allow some form of rudimentary error checking, a Parity bit may be specified.  NOTE this parity setting must match that of the TNC, or the data may be garbled.


Window Dialogue Box
Window Dialogue

The Window dialogue box allows you to control how the Transmit and Receive windows are set.

CR/LF on CR

Transmit	Send both a carriage return and a line feed instead of just a carriage return.

Receive	Converts carriage return only into courage return and line feed.

Buffer memory

Specifies the amount of memory to be allocated to each buffer in kilo bytes (1024 bytes).

Maximum of 1024Kbytes.

Minimum of 1Kbyte.

Maximum line width

Select between eighty and one hundred and twenty characters to a line.

Wrap around width

Set the number of characters after which typing a space in the transmit window will generate a new line.


Font Dialogue Box
Font Dialogue

The Font dialogue box controls which font, which colours and the Tab settings for the text used by the program.

Tab Width

Set the number of spaces to separate each tab point.

Font

Select the font for use by the program, in the transmit and receive windows.

RX Colour

Set the colour to display received text from the TNC.

TX Colour

Set the colour to display transmitted text, sent to the TNC.


About Dialogue Box
About Dialogue

The Packet Controller About box, access from the Help Menu.

Contains:

Program version.

The percentage of free space in the Receive Buffer.  NOTE, this is a sliding buffer, once full, the oldest data is lost as newer information is received.


Keyboard Short Cuts
Keys Help

There are a number of Hot key short cuts:

Alt+B

Ctrl+Shift+B

Send a break signal to the TNC

Ctrl+Shift+C

Call up the Communications dialogue box.

Ctrl+Shift+F

Call up the Font dialogue box.

Ctrl+Shift+P

Call up the Print dialogue box..

Ctrl+Shift+R

Call up the Receive text file dialogue box..

Ctrl+Shift+S

Call up the Send text file dialogue box..

Ctrl+Shift+W

Call up the Window dialogue box..

Shift+Insert

Paste text from the clipboard.

Ctrl+Insert

Copy selected text to the clipboard.


Dialogue Boxes

A Dialogue box is a "pop-up" window, that allows you to change things within a program.


Configuration File

A record is kept of all the initial preferences for such things as:

Serial port settings (Baud rate, etc.).

Window Buffer sizes.

Text fonts and colours.

This information is kept in the file "PKTWIN.INI", in the Windows directory.


Whole Buffer

This selects the whole of the receive buffer.


Selection

This takes just the selected (highlighted) text in either the receive or the text buffer.


Echo

This copies incoming text as it arrives.


Transmit window

The lower of the two windows, this is where you type the text to be sent.


Receive window

The upper of the two text windows, this is where the incoming text, from the TNC, goes.


Status window

The "3-D" grey bar in between the two text windows, this tells you about the following:

Receive window scrolled.

Transmit window scrolled.

Insert/Overwrite text mode.

Printer echoing on.

Receive file being echoed.


Insert/Overwrite

Pressing the "Insert" key on the keyboard, switches between overwriting the character under the character cursor, or inserting one before it.


Menu Check Marks

A Menu Check Mark, in this instance, is a small "tick" mark to the left of a menu option.

For example


Break Signal

This is used to return a TNC to Command mode from Transparent or Converse mode.


Greyed Selections

If a menu or dialogue box item is not relevant to a particular operation then that selection will be signalled as unavailable.  The most common form of signalling that an object is not available is to print it using grey ink.


Buffers

The text windows store their contents in two buffers, one for the Receive window, and one for the Transmit window.  Each of these buffers is First In First Out, that is when they become full, the oldest data is discarded.  They can be any size from one kilo byte to one thousand kilo bytes.


Baud Rate

The speed at which the data bits are sent "down the wire" to the TNC is known as the Baud Rate.  The computer and the TNC must be set to the same rate.


Handshaking

To enable either the TNC or the computer to control the rate at which data is received, the receiving end of an RS-232 connection can request that the transmitting end stop sending.  When it wants some more characters, it can then ask the transmitter to start sending again.  This process of flow control is known as handshaking.  Without some form of handshaking, incoming characters may be discarded, resulting in a loss of data.