Date: Thu, 6 Oct 1988 17:08:33 EDT
From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: Announcing EASYK, a Menu-Driven Shell for MS-DOS Kermit
Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 2.31, EASYK

This is to announce a "shell" for MS-Kermit 2.31, for use on the IBM PC and
compatibles in the IBM mainframe 3270 emulation environment, developed by
Prof. Richard A. Elnicki of the University of Florida College of Business,
$$$HUSG@NERVM.BITNET.  The shell is constructed from a collection of Kermit
command and script files, and provides menu-driven access to IBM CMS and TSO
systems via VTAM.  The package, called EasyK, was designed to provide users
with easy, full-screen access to CMS and TSO services in their homes in a mode
that looks similar to the access they have in their offices on micros with
coaxial cable boards.

Since there are numerous files, some of them containing 8-bit characters (e.g.
for special effects in the documentation), they have been archived using the
PKARC utility, and the resulting EASYK.ARC file was converted to .BOO format
for distribution over networks, on tape, etc, as MSIEAS.BOO (available on
CUNIXC as ~kermit/a/msieas.boo).

To use these files, make a separate directory on the PC for the MSIEAS.BOO
file, CD to it, then run any of the MSBPCT programs to "unboo" it (the result
will be called EASYK.ARC).  Because of the way BOO files are encoded, there
may be one or two extraneous null characters on the end of EASYK.ARC after you
do this.  Now run PKXARC to de-archive EASYK.ARC into its constituent files.
Because of the extra nulls, you might get an error message, which you can
ignore.  To see "easyk" in action, just type "easyk".

Note, the EasyK package is normally distributed with a copy of KERMIT.EXE
which has been renamed to EASYK.EXE.  Since MS-DOS Kermit is available
separately in the same directory as the EasyK files, the EASYK.EXE file
has been replaced by EASYK.BAT, which simply contains the line "kermit".
This means that KERMIT.EXE must be on your current disk:directory or in your
DOS PATH.

Thanks to Prof. Elnicki for contributing his work.  Although some of it is
specific to the University of Florida mainframe environment, it should be
easily customizable for other institutions with similar equipment.

An overview follows...

------------------------------

Date:     Fri, 2 Dec 1988 15:22:51 LCL
From: $$$HUSG@NERVM.BITNET (Dick Elnicki)

EasyK(ermit): Kermit Made Easy

Professor Richard A. Elnicki, D.B.A
Department of Decision and Information Sciences
College of Business Administration
University of Florida
$$$HUSG@NERVM.BITNET

  Students, faculty and staff at the University of Florida (UF) have access to
the broad range of computing facilities available at most large universities.
A number of dial-up software packages giving access to our IBM 3090/400
services were in use when I was first introduced to Kermit.  Having previously
written a dozen or so user manuals on the use of our IBM systems (TSO, CMS,
DISOSS, etc.), I worked on a user manual for a locally written dial-up
software package (YT) and found it quite limited in function.
  Kermit 2.30 appeared to be a package that could be used to build an easy to
use -- EasyK(ermit) -- set of files my colleagues in the College of Business
could take home and put on their micros.  These files permitted them to use
their micros at home in about the same way they used their office micros.
Their office micros have various types of coax boards and software emulating
IBM 3270 terminals.  Kermit 2.30 did work as expected.  EasyK 1.00 was
distributed to some of my Business School and computer center staff
colleagues.
  The script capability in Kermit 2.31 sent me back to the drawing board. The
result was quite successful.  UF faculty, students, and staff are now using
Version 1.10 to access VTAM services at the Northeast Regional Data Center
(NERDC) from their offices, homes and labs. (Others are using a variation to
access various VAX systems on the UF campus.)
  The design objective of EasyK is to minimize the number of keystrokes a user
must (1) remember and (2) enter to access a mainframe service while making
available an easy-to-use set of help screens in a relatively "friendly
environment."  The friendly environment was created by a colleague at the
NERDC, Scott Crumpton. (He makes a living making sure NERDC's many gigabytes
of DASD space work efficiently as designed for large user applications on the
IBM 3090/400.)
  Scott wrote a set of VT102 keystroke definition files for Kermit to emulate
an IBM 3270 terminal through an IBM 7171 Protocol Converter.  The friendly
part is that his keyboard definition files disable all keystroke combinations
that can cause problems (i.e., due to heavy fingers or typing mistakes) and
THEN defines the keys that exist on an IBM 3270 terminal.
  Following the KISS principle, I designed a set of help screens for a hybrid
cross of (1) a college student interested in the minimum necessary to pass
and (2) a college department secretary interested only in doing the job.
Most of the EasyK start screen (without neat graphics) follows.
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
      Your entry from DOS,          A>easyk
                                    -------
                                       :
      gives the EasyK prompt:        EasyK>_      (All options may
                                    ---------      be entered at any
  Your options are as follows.         :           EasyK prompt.)
   -----------------------------------------------------------------
   :       :          :         :           :           :          :
 quit    status      map       ???         xmit       howend     kbmap
 -----   -------     ---       ---         ----       ------     -----
  To      To         To        To          To          To        To
 exit   display     see      access     see how to   see how    see the
  to    session    NERDC      NERDC      transfer    to hangup   EasyK
  the   commun-   service    service    files to &   the phone  PC-3270
 EasyK  ication    access   named ???   from NERDC    & modem.  keyboard
 Menu.  settings.   map.    (See map)   & UFFSC CMS.             mapping.

 Enter "start" from any EasyK prompt to return to this display.

 EasyK>_
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  The option "map" invokes a Kermit macro that gives a picture of the 11 VTAM
services included in EasyK.  And, the macro name used to have Kermit dial into
each service is listed.  Included in the EasyK files is "USING.DOC" that shows
exactly how users must customize various files including the specific numbered
lines in the files.
  Accessing a typical VTAM service requires three entries given proper
customization for the user's ID: start EasyK from DOS, enter a service macro
name, e.g., nervm, and enter the service password in the service access
level, e.g., CP READ for VM/CMS.  EasyK tells the user what is next
happening at teach step in the dial-up and log-in process so one can see
where it "broke" if the process is not successful.  It redials twice if
the line is busy -- this number can be set as desired.
  EasyK was made to run through the IBM 7171 Protocol Converter at the NERDC.
A variation runs successfully at the local school board's center running VM/CMS
on an IBM 4381.  The NERDC's 7171 uses the standard VT100 specifications with
engineering change (EC) A31860.  The TAB keys are 3270 Tab Field functions
keys; they are defined in the 7171.INI file as follows.

; Define Tab field and Backtab field:       (  -->:  and  :<--  )
;
set key      \9           {\{9}}        ; Tab        Tab Field
set key      \783         {\{27}\{9}}   ; Shift-Tab  Backtab Field
:            :            :               :          :
Kermit Cmd   PC/PS Value  Sent to 7171    PC/PS Key  IBM 3270 Function

These may be set to Column Tab keys with other EC's.  In addition, specific
installations may have made other changes to the vanilla IBM 7171 microcode.

INFO-KERMIT Digest V8 #10 included a compliment from Joe Doupnik on the
work (Thanks, Joe!).  Christine Gianone added a note indicating EasyK is in
an archived file put in kermit/a/msieas.boo.

------------------------------

To:       Frank da Cruz & Joe Doupnik
From:     Dick Elnicki
Date:     November 27, 1988
Subject:  EasyK with a Freeware CHOICE.EXE

   The enclosed files contain EasyK(ermit) with a CHOICE.EXE that I absolutely
guarantee can be freely distributed.  I asked an employee of our Computing Lab 
to write a ASK.EXE equivalent; he did one in "C" in a couple of hours.  It 
includes a line indicating it was written for EasyK.  He promised me a "more 
compact" version when he has time to write it in Assembler. 

   The other general use utilities included are definitely in the public 
domain.  BLANK, QUICKEYS, and COLOR were originally printed in micro news-
journals.  CED, the DOS command stacker, is shareware.  J.C. Dunford wrote this
version of CED (1.0) in 1985.  I got it at a "shareware fair" held at during 
meetings of an academic organization at Georgia Tech two years ago.  The group 
was "The International Business School Microcomputer User Group"; it is still 
holding meetings but I have not attended any since then. 

   The enclosed EasyK manual contains the files one should read to use EasyK.
Most of the manual is the file USING.DOC, but with a large number of editorial
changes and no substantive content changes.  I will make a "final" version of
this effort during the upcoming year-end holidays.  

   Until you get that version, do make this EasyK with its freeware CHOICE.EXE
available for interested users if you wish to do so.  I now have 70 to 80 
people running it here at the UF.

Best regards,
Dicke                                                  $$$HUSG@NERVM.BITNET

------------------------------
