by Version 1.7 of Seyon is released. You can get it from sipb.mit.edu
(/pub/seyon) and export.lcs.mit.edu (as well as linux ftp sites:
nic.funet.fi and sunsite.unc.edu). The beta version of this release
was reported to run on many Unix platforms: Linux, SVR4, SVR3.2,
Ultrix 4.2, SunOS 4.1, Domain/OS-12 (Apollo), and 386BSD. Please read
the change log, as this release has many added features and ones that
have changed from the previous version. This release has a more
complete manual page that I have put a lot of effort into making as
accurate and up-to-date as possible, so please take a look at it.
(Note: be forewarned that the FAQ has not been updated sine the last
release, so there may be things in it that are outdated and no longer
apply).
The following is an introduction to Seyon, then the change log.
Introduction:
=============
Seyon is a complete full-featured telecommunications package for
the X Window System. Some of its features are:
Dialing directory that supports an unlimited number of entries.
The directory is fully mouse-driven and features call progress
monitoring, dial timeout, automatic redial, multi-number dialing,
and circular redial queue. Each item in the dialing directory can
be configured with its own baud rate, bit mask, and script file.
The dialing directory uses a plain-text phone book that can be
edited from withen Seyon. Seyon also supports manual dialing.
Terminal emulation window supporting DEC VT02, Tektronix 4014, and
ANSI. Seyon delegates its terminal emulation to xterm, so all the
familiar xterm functions such as the scroll-back buffer,
cut-and-paste utility, and visual bell are availabe through
Seyon's terminal emulation window. Using xterm also means that
Seyon has a more complete emulation of VT102 than other any Unix
or DOS telecommunications program. Other terminal emulation
programs can also be used with Seyon to suit the user's need; for
example, color xterm can be used to provide emulation for color
ANSI (popular on many BBS systems), and xvt can be used if memory
is a bit tight.
Script language to automate tedious tasks such as logging into
remote hosts. Seyon's script interpreter uses plain-text files and
has a syntax similar to that of sh, with a few extra addtions. It
supports many familiar statements such as conditional branching by
if-else and looping by goto. Scripts may be assigned to items in
the dialing directory for automatic execution after a connection
is made.
Unlimited number of slots for external file transfer protocols.
Protocols are activated from a mouse-driven transfer console that
uses a plain-text file, editable from withen Seyon, for protocol
configuration. Seyon prompts the user for filenames only if the
chosen protocol requires filenames or if the transfer operation is
an upload, for which Seyon also accepts wildcards. Multiple
download directories can be specified for the different transfer
slots.
Support for zmodem auto-download. Seyon detects incoming zmodem
signature and automatically activates a user-specified zmodem
protocol to receive incoming files. Zmodem transfers can thus be
completely automatic and require no user intervention.
Translation modes. Seyon can perfrom useful trasnlations on the
user's input. From example, Seyon can translate backspace to
delete (useful on may Unix systems), newline to carriage return
(useful on many BBS hosts), and my favorite, meta key tranlation:
to send keys pressed while the meta (ALT) key is held down as an
escape (ESC) followed by the key press. The latter mode simulates
the meta key on hosts that do not support 8-bit-clean connections
and makes possible the use of the meta key in programs like Emacs
on such hosts.
Other features: interactive setting of program parameters, on-line
help, software (XONN/XOFF) and hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control,
session capture to a file, and temporary running of a local shell
in the terminal emulation window.
Seyon is intended to be both simple and extensively configurable.
Almost every aspect of Seyon can be configured via the resources
to suit the user's taste.
Changes:
========
Version 1.7:
* Revied the location of transient popups. No more dangling
windows. Now transiet windows pop up at a small offset from the
the top of the parent window instead of its buttom.
* New resource: dialAutoClose. If set to 'on', the dialing
directory will be automatically closed after a successful dial.
Defaults to 'off'.
* The baud and port dialogs in the settings window now popup
instead of cluttering the window and causing it to be too large.
* Added a new keyword for the dialing directory BPS and BITS
fields: CURRENT (can be abbreviated to CUR). If this is used,
the current baud rate and/or bit mask will be used for that
host. Not sure if this would be useful. Notice that if the BPS
or BITS field is missing, the default values (as specified in
the resources) would be used.
* Added two new fields in the dialing directory: PREFIX and
SUFFIX. If either is present, it overrides the default specified
in the resources. See examples in the included phonelist file.
These fields also accept the CURRENT keyword as above.
* All script commands and keywords are now case sensitive.
* Revised newline translation. Three translation modes are now
available: no translation, newline to carraige return, and
newline to carraige return / line feed. Consequently, the
resource newlineTranslation is changed from boolean to string,
whith three possible keywords corresponding to the above: nl,
cr, and cr/lf. The script keyword nl is also changed to
newlineTranslation to coincide with the resource, and accepts
the same keywords.
* Added 'View Log' under the misc window, but currently does
nothing.
* New script command 'echo'. This just behaves as the usual echo
shell command and prints its argument to the terminal (does not
send it to the modem, use 'transmit' for that). This command
supercedes the old command under the same name, which is now
more appropriatetly called 'debug'.
* Essentially got rid of the busy waits in the program -- even for
systems that do not have usleep -- by using Seyon's own usleep
if the system doesn't have one. (written by o...@raster.kodak.com).
* Seyon now does not allow the user to exit the program while it
is executing an externala command until that command is finished.
(this is a feature, since exiting while a child process is still
running can lead to a lot of trouble).
* The default color for monochrome displays is now black on white.
Earlier versions tried to use color even if none is vailable, so
the color combination led to unreadable menus on monochrome
displays. Note that if you have a color display you must put
something like:
#ifdef COLOR
*customization: -color
#endif
in your Xdefaults file, or Seyon (as well as other X
applications) will be monochrome even on your color setup (but
you already know that, don't you :-).
* Various changes to accomodate SunOS 4.1 (thanks to Peter Davies
for pointing most of those problems).
* New configuration script. This script probes your system looking
for the functions your system has and automatically writes
config.h for you. Tested only under bash and ksh, not sure if it
would run under plain old regular sh. Give it a try.
* YADBC, yet another default background color. This one is more
reminiscent of Motif.
/Muhammad M. Saggaf | Stop the genocide
alsag...@athena.mit.edu | Save Bosnia