GENERAL CONTENTS ---------------- 1 Key definitions 2 Setup screen one - General parameters 3 Setup screen two - Tracing parameters 4 Setup screen three - Transfer parameters 5 Setup screen four - Softkey definition 6 Install setup screen ( ALT I ) 7 Network parameters screen ( ALT N ) 8 Receive file window 9 Send file window 10 Simulate file window 11 Trace file window 12 Word conversion window 13 Modem support window 14 Vtrans window 15 Status line selection 16 Softkey definition 17 How to use trace conversion 18 How to use word (mode) conversion 19 How to use a trigger 20 How to use the calculator 21 How to call DOS 22 How to use Background logging 23 How to use replay option 24 How to use Simulate option 25 How to use Screen buffer (memory buffer) 26 How to use Screen buffer (file buffer) 27 How to Save screen buffer 28 How to dump to disk 29 How to use PADS 30 How to define searchcommands 31 How to use LON/LOFF/BAT/INC 32 Mptmon extras (HYCON extras) 33 About wide screen sizes 34 How to change setups 35 Frequently asked questions 36 Solved problems and improvements 37 General considerations Key Definitions --------------- F5 - Brings you to the setup screen one. Consecutive F5s will bring you to the other setup screens. ALT A - Aborts transfer, tracing ALT B - Turns screen buffer on/off without clearing the buffer ALT C - Pops up the calculator ALT E - Empties the screen buffer ALT H - Activates help option ALT I - Install hardware setup parameters ALT K - Display content of a specific mode ALT L - Toggles the status line ALT M - Turns MINI tracing on/off ALT N - Setup screen for network (LAT-protocol) parameters ALT P - Saves the setup ALT Q - Leaves MPP ALT R - Receive file ALT S - Send file ALT T - Activate tracing ALT U - Reset all settings to normal ALT V - Scroll in the screen buffer ALT W - Activate word tracing (mode conversion) ALT X - Toggle between setups SHIFT/ALT M - Modem support SHIFT/ALT L - Toggle screen width between 80/25 and 132/43 SHIFT/ALT R - Replay background file SHIFT/ALT S - Simulate input from file SHIFT/ALT V - Show version of MPP SHIFT/ALT W - Toggle screen width between 80/25 and 132/25 SHIFT/SHIFT - Hot key to PC-DOS CNTRL/BREAK - Leaves MPP ALT /BREAK - Short break SHIFT/BREAK - Long break CNTRL/PRTSCR - Turns logging on/off or dumps screen buffer SHIFT/PRTSCR - To be defined CTRL-left - Shifts screen to the right CTRL-right - Shifts screen to the left HOME - Shift screen to the outmost left END - Shift screen to the outmost right Key definitions in scroll back screen ( ALT V - Memory buf ). ------------------------------------------------------------- B - Search in backward/upward direction D - Search in downward/forward direction F - Search in forward/downward direction M - Convert bytes to modes S - Search a string U - Search in upward/backward direction ALT D - Dump marked area to a disk file ALT L - Mark a line or block of lines ALT U - Unmark a line or block of lines CNTRL/PRTSCR - dumps screen buffer Key definitions in scroll back screen ( ALT V - Disk file ). ------------------------------------------------------------ B - Convert Byte to mode D - Dump marked to file F - Find any case H - Help K - Keep this screen on exit L - Mark Line M - Convert Mode P - Print marked S - Search exact case U - Unmark W - Convert Word to Mode F1 - Help F2 - Find Next F3 - Find Previous Key definitions in the mode conversion screen ( ALT V + M ) ----------------------------------------------------------- D - Dump marked to file F - Find any case H - Help L - Mark Line P - Print marked S - Search exact case U - Unmark F1 - Help F2 - Find Next F3 - Find Previous Setup screen one ---------------- Terminal parameters: ==================== Terminal : Defines the type of terminal. Possible terminals are : VT52, VT100, VT220-7bit, -> future impl VT220-8bit, -> future impl VT320-7bit, -> future impl VT320-8bit -> future impl MPTMON. Local echo : If your host is not echoing your inputted characters then a local echo is available. On line/Local : Gives you the opportunity to disconnect from the link. Backspace sends : If set to backspace then backspace will be send when this (bs) key is pressed else a delete character will be send. Xon/Xoff : Indication used by host or terminal to indicate a necessity to halt incoming data-stream. MPP has a buffer of 1024 characters. Possible choices are : Not used, At 256 characters, At 512 characters, At 768 characters, At 1000 characters. Wrap around : If ON mpp will generate a CR/LF when more then the maximum of characters per line are received (i.e 80 or 132 ). New line : When set the ENTER key causes a CR and LF to be sent, and a received LF causes the cursor to move to the next line first column. Allow overflow : When set the screen buffer will ( if used ) be written into in a cyclic fashion when full. Cursor follow : When a wide screen is selected and you don't have the hardware ( VGA card which can work with 132 columns mode ) the possibility then exists to support a wide screen by means of scrolling beyond the horizontal screen borders. You can choose how the screen should follow the cursor i.e. No follow : The screen stays static Delayed follow : After 3 seconds of inactivity the screen will be adapted so that the cursor becomes visible. Follow : The screen always displays the current cursor position by scrolling automatically from left to right and vice versa. Send EOT on Ack : When MPP is used for MMC communication, S12 sends on regular intervals an EOT character. To keep the port alive an Ack should be sent transparantly. Drop DTR on Exit: When modems are used, dropping the DTR status signal will force the modem to disconnect. If you don't want this to happen, you can prevent this and on leaving MPP, the connection will be kept. Watch out for your telephone bill !! Communication parameters: ========================= Comport : Indicates the used communication port. BPS : Defines the used baudrate. On slow PCs baudrates above 9600 are not recommended. Databits : Defines the number of databits i.e. 7 or 8 bits. Stopbits : Defines the number of stopbits i.e. 1 or 2. Parity : Defines the uses parity i.e. Even, Odd, None Output specification: ===================== Output to : Lets the user define a file name for disk storage of info i.e screenbuffer or logging. Setup screen two - tracing parameters ------------------------------------- Following parameters and related actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). Trace conditions: ================= Display message header : (F1) When set ON the trace will display all information contained in the message header. When off only the message id, source, destination and time are given Display message buffer info : (F2) When set ON the message buffer information will be translated according to the tracefile information. When set off the message buffer information will be suppressed. Display userbuffer info : (F3) When set ON the userbuffer information will be translated according to the tracefile information. When set off the message buffer information will be suppressed. Full or Reduced trace : (F4) When set ON all parameters will be displayed in the trace. When set off only the parameters specified as important ( done in the tracefile ) will be displayed. Display optional parameters : (F6) When set OFF all parameters specified as optional parameters will be suppressed. Display variable parameters : (F7) When set OFF all parameters specified as variable parameters will be suppressed. Convert set elements : (F8) When set ON all parameters defined as set elements will be converted into their set element mnemonic. Background logging : When set ON a temporarily disk file shall be created in which the message will be stored in its original format. The file is opened when COL or :COL is enterred and will be closed when escape is pressed. See How to use background file for more info. Col turn trace on : When set ON a line input COL or :COL will automatically turn tracing on Trace color support : When your PC has a color screen turning this parameter on will allow you to display the messages in color. ( part of it still needs to be written ). Msg name file name : During tracing ( MINI-tracing ) and mode conversion, Hycon files will be used to convert a MSG number into it's name. Specify here the total path and file name. e.g. c:\hycon\hmcp.msg VMI name file name : During tracing ( MINI-tracing ) and mode conversion, Hycon files will be used to convert a VMI number into it's name. Specify here the total path and file name. e.g. c:\hycon\hmcp.vmi BID name file name : During tracing ( MINI-tracing ) and mode conversion, Hycon files will be used to convert a BID number into it's name. Specify here the total path and file name. e.g. c:\hycon\hmcp.bid Trigger conditions : ==================== Triggering is turned on/off with function-key F9. When a message is received and the trigger is not reached the message identity will appear in a special status line on top of your screen. Trigger type : Triggering can be done on a message or an occurrence in a message or both i.e. - Specific message e.g. msg 220 - Specific message + mask e.g. off_hook msg of TN = 5. - All messages - All messages + mask e.g. msgs with TN=5 mask+value can only be specified in the messagebuffer itself ( not in the header nor in the userbuffer ). Trigger message id : In case a trigger type of a specific msg was chosen, the message identity can here be entered in DECIMAL. Continue after trigger : When the initial trigger is reached ( e.g. specific msg ) you can choose how to continue from here i.e. - Take Src -> Src means take the source from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source. - Take Src -> Dest means take the source from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same destination. - Take Dest -> Src means take the destina- tion from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source. - Take Dest -> Dest means take the desti- nation from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same destination. - Take Src -> S or D means take the source from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source or the same destination. - Take Dest -> S or D means take the destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source or destination. - Take S & D -> Src means take the source and destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source. - Take S & D -> Dest means take the source and destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same destination. - Take S & D -> S or D means take the source and destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source or destination. - Free means display all following messages - Continue with trigger means that you continue with your initial trigger i.e trigger specified with your trigger type Trigger offset : If trigger type with mask is specified you can enter here the offset RELATIVE TO THE START OF THE MESSAGE INFORMATION. Your input is in HEXADECIMAL. Trigger mask : If trigger type with mask is specified you can enter here the mask used to filter out unwanted bits or bytes. Your input is in hexadecimal. Trigger value : If trigger type with mask is specified you can enter here the match value in hexadecimal. Setup screen three - transfer parameters ---------------------------------------- You can choose between 3 kinds of transfer methods i.e - ASCII. Normal transfer used to transfer ASCII-files. - VTRANS 8. Special protocol to transfer all types of files from or to the BTM/ETS VAX using an 8 bit transfer medium. - PADS. Special protocol to communicate and transfer via an MPTMON files to or from S12 disk. ASCII: ====== Maximum send rate : Defines how the program will wait after each transmitted character. Possibilities are : No wait 20,40,80,150,300,600 characters per second Paced by echo -> wait for the echo from the host computer. Wait after lines : Defines how the program will wait after each transmitted line. Possibilities are : Wait for n/10 seconds Single keystroke Wait for single character No wait Char to wait for : If wait for single character after each lines is chosen then here is the place to specify which character you want the program to wait for. e.g. your host's prompt. End of line : If you want each line to be terminated by a defined sequence then this is the place to specify the sequence. Possibilities are : CR LF CR-LF LF-CR No change Following parameters and related actions are only applicable when VTxxxx is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). VTRANS 8: ========= Maximum number of retries : The number of times retries are performed before the transfer is aborted. Retry time : Time in seconds before another retry is performed. Following parameters and related actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). PADS : ===== Maximum number of retries : The number of times retries are performed before the transfer is aborted. Command delay time : Time in tenths of seconds between a received and a transmitted command. Only useful when transfer is performed on 9600 baud. Use improved protocol : From EC7 onwards, it is possible to send in blocks of 2K i.s.o. 64 bytes. This speeds up communication tremendously. Setup screen four - Softkey definition -------------------------------------- It is possible to define to function keys SHIFT F1 - SHIFT F10 and function keys ALT F1 - ALT F10 a command string of maximum 254 characters. When a non-ascii character should be send you should put it's numerical value between '<' and '>' characters in decimal e.g. a LF would be like this <10>. Only for a Carriage return a mnemonic is existing i.e . The answer back key is a string which will be transmitted to the host whenever an ENQ (#5) character is received. It is also possible to pause for a while i.e. , where xx is a value in thenth of seconds. It is also possible to wait for a received character i.e. a) , where xx is the decimal value of the character waited for. b) , where x is the character waited for. Install setup screen ( ALT I ). ------------------------------- Blank screen : When set the screen will be blanked after 5 minutes of terminal inactivity. Status line background color, Status line foreground color, Screen background color, Screen foreground color : Allows the user to define colors when a color screen is used. 132x24 columns screen function number : This number is the function number used to switch a SVGA board to 132 column mode. For more info see help section about wide screens. 132x43 columns screen function number : This number is the function number used to switch a SVGA board to 132x43 mode. For more info see help section about wide screens. Comport 3 base Address : This number is used to communicate with the HW providing the third com-port. This setting is HW dependant, check the HW documentation on the correct setting e.g. 3f8 Comport 4 base Address : This number is used to communicate with the HW providing the fourth com-port. This setting is HW dependant, check the HW documentation on the correct setting e.g. 3f8 Screen Buffer Destination : To free up memory when you go to DOS using SHIFT-SHIFT, you have a number of options to free more memory. This is only applicable when your screen buffer is kept in memory and not in a disk file. Disk file is recommended on a 486 and faster PC. Screen Buffer Type : Here you can specify whether you want to keep the screenbuffer in memory with the limitation of 64K compressed storage ( recommened for slow PCs ), or in a disk file. Restore Screen After Scrolling : If you prefer to have the hycon approach i.e. when you go back in your screenbuffer ( ALT-V ) and wish to keep the screen information on the screen when ESC is pressed, here is the possibility to set this. If you choose to restore the screen as it was ( before you started scrolling ) it's still possible to keep the screen- information when you leave the scroll- buffer pressing 'K' in stead of ESC. Mptmon Type : Here you specify the used mptmon type. Starting from EC72 and onwards, the correct setting is very important to allow correct mode conversion. Comport 3 IRQ number : This number is used to communicate with the HW providing the third com-port. This setting is HW dependant, check the HW documentation on the correct setting e.g. 'A' Comport 4 IRQ number : This number is used to communicate with the HW providing the fourth com-port. This setting is HW dependant, check the HW documentation on the correct setting e.g. 'A' When a key is pressed and held down the pressed key will be repeated after a defined delay and with a defined rate. These parameters can only be changed on a AT-PC. Keyboard typmatic delay : Time before the key is repeated i.e 1/4 second 1/2 second 3/4 second 1 second Keyboard typmatic rate : Number of repeated characters per second i.e. 5 characters/second 10 characters/second 15 characters/second 20 characters/second 25 characters/second 30 characters/second Network parameters window ( DEC-LAT protocol ). ----------------------------------------------- When you have a PC connected to a LAN network using the DEC-net LAT software, you can use MPP to communicate over a LAN. Specify in this screen the Network service you which to connect to. Remark : PADS is not possible over the network. Session Status : Status of your connection. Cannot be changed by the user. Network Service : Service you which to connect yourself to. F2 : Connect to the service specified. F3 : Disconnect from specified service. F4 : Request the available services from the network. F5 : Read miscellanous parameters from the network. F6 : Request the status from the network. Receive file window. -------------------- When you want to receive a file the name of the file can be entered here. For the moment only ASCII transfer method is possible. You can start the transfer by giving a subsequent ALT-R. Filename : name of the file on your disk. Suppress ctrl char : 'YES' will suppress all received control characters (smaller then 32) Cntrl-z marks end of file : 'YES' will end the transfer when a control-z (EOF) character is received. Send file window. ----------------- When you want to send a file the name of the file can be entered here. For the moment only ASCII transfer method is possible. You can start the transfer by giving a subsequent ALT-S. Filename : name of the file on your disk. Cntrl-z marks end of file : 'YES' will end the transfer when a control-z (EOF) character is read from disk. Simulate file window. --------------------- Following parameters and related actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). For, e.g. tracing purposes, it might be necessary to use the trace features of MPP on an external taken trace file. You can 'feed' this trace to MPP by entering the name here and give a subsequent ALT-S. Filename : name of the file on your disk. Trace file window. ------------------ Following parameters and related actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). The message and structure-mode information needed for MPP to convert received messages is grouped in a series of files created by an external program. The name of these files can be entered here. All files have the same prefix, but different suffixes. Enter the complete path plus the prefix of the file name(s). A subsequent ALT-T will start trace conversion. The file should be in the current directory or the complete DOS-path should be specified ( the latter is preferred ). Filename : name of the file(s) on your disk. Word conversion window. ----------------------- Following parameters and related actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). By using the stored structure-mode information in the trace file it is possible to read via mptmon a bunch of bytes or words and 'feed' them to MPP which uses this information to convert the info into a readable format. A subsequent ALT-W will send the command string to the mptmon while MPP will wait (for max 4 seconds) for a reply. Give mptmon command : A command string for mptmon should be entered here. This command string can be a macro name, or a command line as WORD/BYT xxxx:xxxx L x, as long as it results in a number of bytes being displayed by mptmon in a sequential order. Give mode name : The name of the stored structure-mode in the trace- file in use should be entered here. An ALT-M will show all stored mode names. When ALT-M is pressed a mode can be chosen by scrolling the selection bar onto the preferred mode and press enter to select. Modem support window. --------------------- Here you can pre-define a dial and hangup command for a Hayes compatible modem. The dial command is composed from the dial command string and the telephone number. You can use in the command string the same control characters as for softkeys i.e. or <4> or . Additional keys are : F3 : sends dial command + telephone number F4 : sends hangup command. CR, ESC : leaves this window. ALT-H : displays stored telephone numbers. The stored telephone numbers cannot be modified from within MPP. You need an external (text)editor to perform this task. The numbers should be stored in a file with name = 'MPP.TEL'. This file must be found within the DOS-path. The file must be made as follows : - Each telephone number on a different line. - Each line must start with '##'. If ALT-H is pressed the stored telephone numbers will be displayed. By using the up/down arrows a telephone number can be chosen and by pressing return it can be selected. Vtrans window. -------------- Following parameters and related actions are only applicable when VTxxxx is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). Vtrans is a special protocol developed for VTERM and is only possible between two computers equipped with this kind of transfer software. BTM and ETS vaxes have this software and transfer can be performed between MPP, VTERM and COTERMs 220. The VTRANS window is only a status window meaning that you cannot enter here anything. When you have problems with timeouts you should try to increase or decrease the timeout value in setup screen three. When a lot of retries are needed because the line is very bad, then you can try to increase the number of retries in setup screen three. Status line selection. ---------------------- You can choose between 7 different kind of status line appearances. You can switch between different status lines pressing ALT-L until your preferred status line is displayed. i.e Normal status line displays you * Terminal type * Status of Capslock i.e LC = lowercase or CAPS = for Capslock * Status of Numlock i.e NUM for numlock or four arrows * Screen buffer status i.e ON or percentage full * Logging status PRINT means that everything is also sent to the file specified in setup screen one (output to). * Logging status LON means that everything is also sent to the file specified when the LON command was enterred. If no filename was enterred, MPP.LOG will be the default filename. * SIMUL/REPLAY indicates that simulation of a file or replay of the background file is in progress. * TRACING indicates that all received info is parsed by mpp tracing facility. * MINITRC indicates that all received info dumped by the mini tracer is converted by MPP into a standard s12-mptmon message structure. This can then be used to have it translated by the trace-facility. Also triggering can be specified. * BREAK indicates that a break is currently transmitted towards the host. * LOCK means that the SCROLL-LOCK key was pressed. * WIDE indicates that a wide screen is selected. Tracing status line displays you * HEAD : when lit the whole message header info will be displayed * MBUF : when lit the whole message buffer info will be displayed * UBUF : when lit the whole userbuffer info will be displayed * Full/Red : when full is chosen all domains of the message will be displayed. When Red(uced) is chosen only the domains marked in the tracefile as important will be displayed. * OPT is used to suppress optional parameters in N7 or ISUP messages. * VAR is used to suppress variable parameters in N7 or ISUP messages. * CONV : when lit domains of the mode SET will be converted into there set element mnemonic ( if present in the tracefile ). * TRIG : when lit the trigger defined in setup screen two will be applicable on incoming messages. * Screen buffer status i.e ON or percentage full * BREAK/SIMUL/REPLAY/TRACE indicates the respectively status of the MPP program i.e. BREAK -> break is sent to host SIMUL -> A file is fed to MPP REPLAY -> the background file is replayed TRACE -> tracing is in progress Ascii send file status line displays you * Filename * Bytes send * File size * Status i.e finished/waiting/aborted Ascii receive file status line displays you * Filename * Bytes send * Status i.e finished/waiting/aborted Shift-function softkey status lines displays the first 7 characters of each softkey string ( defined to the function key pressed together with the Shift key ). Alt-function softkey status lines displays the first 7 characters of each softkey string ( defined to the function key pressed together with the Alt key ). No status line if you prefer to work without the status line. When tracing is turned on ( automatically or manually ) the tracing status line is automatically chosen by the program. When sending or receiving of files using the ASCII transfer method is in progress then the program will choose automatically the respective status line. Softkey definition. ------------------- It is possible to define to function keys SHIFT F1 - SHIFT F10 and function keys ALT F1 - ALT F10 a command string of maximum 254 characters. When a non-ascii character should be send you should put it's numerical value between '<' and '>' characters in decimal e.g. a LF would be like this <10>. Only for a Carriage return is a mnemonic existing i.e . The answer back key is a string which will be transmitted to the host whenever an ENQ (#5) character is received. It is also possible to wait between the sending of two characters by specifying a pause as follows : where xx is a decimal number representing a time in deci-seconds. A keypress will skip the remaining pause-time. It is also possible to wait for a received character i.e. a), where xx is the decimal value of the character waited for. b), where x is the character waited for. How to use trace conversion. ---------------------------- Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). With an external program (name = CREA ) can you make files containing information about your S12 messages and their related modes. In the trace window can you define the file to work with. The file specified must have the correct DOS-path. There are two ways to make the trace-support active i.e. a) Two consecutive ALT-T key-presses. b) By specifying in setup screen four 'COL TURN TRACE ON = YES' and to write COL or :COL. What is the trace-support doing : It receives the message from MPTMON and translated the received bytes into readable information i.e. - you can define the names of the domains - you can take the info from bit offset and translate the info into : - byte - word - nibble - ascii - packed structures - set element names - unravel complex mode-structures like e.g. ISUP structures. Following function keys are applicable on the trace-support output : F1 : Display/suppress message header info F2 : Display/suppress message buffer info F3 : Display/suppress userbuffer info F5 : Brings you in setup screen one F8 : Converts yes/no bytes to set elements F9 : Turns on/off message trigger tracing By pressing ESC, ALT-BREAK or ALT-A the trace-support will be terminated and normal screen output will continue. If you are logging on disk the logging will be the same as what you see on your screen. It is also possible to use an externally taken trace and feed it to the trace-support feature by using the simulate option for example : A trace taken in the field is given to you on a floppy. Press twice ALT-T to activate tracing support. Press SHIFT-ALT-S and write the name of the file in the window. An additional SHIFT-ALT-S or ALT-S will start to feed the file as if it was received from the RS232 port. It might seem to you that the information flow goes to fast to read but you can always use the screenbuffer and the ALT-V option to scroll back and read all the received information. How to use word (mode) conversion. ---------------------------------- Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). Because the trace-file usually contains a lot of modes it is also possible that you have a structure in memory (e.g. Stable data) that you would like to read and convert using the trace-support facility. This is possible by using the ALT-W option and write : a) The mptmon command ( can also be calling a macro as long as it's output is raw words or bytes ). b) The mode used for the conversion. ALT-M allows you to display all modes included in the trace file and gives you the opportunity to select from this list. A subsequent ALT-W or RETURN will send the command to the MPTMON. It might now take a bit before your information is displayed, the reason is that the trace-support feature first has to receive all related bytes before it starts to display (and convert) the received information. So a structure of 100 hex bytes at a baudrate of 1200 bps will take a while before being displayed. How to use a trigger. --------------------- Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). When you are tracing on an FMM or a specific message on an exchange which carries life-traffic it might be very difficult to trace your specific call. MPTMON provides some features but they are not sufficient e.g. you want to trace the CACO application process created for TN = 8. With MPTMON it is possible to trace on a process but by the time you have entered the MPTMON command with the correct process id is the application process already terminated. It is possible with the trigger option to specify a trigger and a continuation specification e.g. wait for create-CACO-application message for TN = 8 (this was the trigger) and continue displaying all messages send and received only by this application process. This might seems nice but there is a big drawback namely when the MPTMON buffer overflows because of too many message also our messages will be lost because the triggering and filtering is done in the MPP program and not by the MPTMON-slave. Triggering is turned on/off with function-key F9. When a message is received and the trigger is not reached will the message identity appear in a special status line on top of your screen. Trigger type : Triggering can be done on a message or an occurrence in a message or both i.e. - Specific message e.g. msg 220 - Specific message + mask e.g. off_hook msg of TN = 5. - All messages - All messages + mask e.g. msgs with TN=5 mask+value can only be specified in the messagebuffer itself ( not in the header nor in the userbuffer ). Trigger message id : In case a trigger type of a specific msg was chosen, can the message identity here be entered in DECIMAL. Continue after trigger : When the initial trigger is reached ( e.g. specific msg ) can you choose how to continue from here i.e. - Take Src -> Src means take the source from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source. - Take Src -> Dest means take the source from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same destination. - Take Dest -> Src means take the destina- tion from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source. - Take Dest -> Dest means take the desti- nation from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same destination. - Take Src -> S or D means take the source from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source or the same destination. - Take Dest -> S or D means take the destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source or destination. - Take S & D -> Src means take the source and destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source. - Take S & D -> Dest means take the source and destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same destination. - Take S & D -> S or D means take the source and destination from the trigger msg and display all following messages with the same source or destination. - Free means display all following messages - Continue with trigger means that you continue with your initial trigger i.e trigger specified with your trigger type Trigger offset : If trigger type with mask is specified can you here enter the offset RELATIVE TO THE START OF THE MESSAGE INFORMATION. Your input is in HEXADECIMAL. Trigger mask : If trigger type with mask is specified can you here enter the mask used to filter out unwanted bits or bytes. Your input is in hexadecimal. Trigger value : If trigger type with mask is specified can you here enter the match value in hexadecimal. How to use the calculator. -------------------------- This calculator can handle different numeric operations on HEXADECIMAL, BINARY and DECIMAL numerical input values. F1 : Clear input register. F2 : Clear all and reset calculator. F3 : Add to memory value. F4 : Decrement from memory value. F5 : Recall memory value. F6 : Allows "And" function. F7 : Allows "Or" function. F8 : Allows "Xor" function. F9 : Recalls last total result. F10 : Shows other function keys. H : Shows help. TAB : Moves between the fields. Specifications. --------------- DEC : Signed REAL type with 19 digits. HEX : 12 significant digits. BIN : 20 significant bits. How to call DOS. ---------------- You can go to DOS and perform any command by using the SHIFT-SHIFT key combination. When you are in the program this key combination will only act when you are in the normal working screen ( i.e. not in the setup screens or not in the calculator screen nor in the scroll back screen etc) While you are in DOS a SHIFT-SHIFT key press will bring you back to the program. Normally you can switch between any program as long as no time critical function is being performed ( e.g. writing to disk etc. ). When the SHIFT-SHIFT combination is pressed and the program cannot due to circumstances be revived will you hear 5 beeps. A RETURN keypress might revive the program here or try again after the disk access which was for example in progress is finished. It is possible due to the size of MPP that the program you want to run doesn't have enough memory to run. You can free up memory to turn off the screen buffer (takes about 64k) or put in the INSTALL window (ALT-I) to flush the screen buffer to disk or even to discard the screenbuffer. If you choose to flush the file to disk MPP will store the screenbuffer in the file MPP.BUF in its raw form. Don't change or delete this file because it will lead to the lost of your screen buffer. Because MPP is intercepting a lot of interrupt vectors it is necessary to terminate programs and TSRs in the exact opposite sequence as they where started. This to avoid your PC to lockup. All TSR which are revived with SHIFT-SHIFT should be avoided ( SIDEKICK and VTERM ) this to avoid conflicts. MPP has most features included from SIDEKICK and VTERM. You should also avoid to terminate MPP when you still have another DOS program active in the background. It will always terminate the DOS program and will lockup its allocated memory resources. How to use Background logging. ------------------------------ Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). When this feature is chosen a temporary disk file (MPP.BGL) will be created as soon as the command COL or :COL is enterred. In this file all received info will be stored in its original form so it can be looked at later. The file is closed when collecting messages is stopped ( ESC, ALT-BREAK or ALT-A). The file is always being overwritten so you can only display the information received from the start of the collecting until it's end. The file is not deleted upon exit of MPP. The file can be recalled (or fed to the trace support) by pressing SHIFT-ALT-R. An indication will appear in the status line and the file will be send to the MPP as if it came from the RS232 port. How to use replay option. ------------------------- Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). By pressing SHIFT-ALT-R a file (in the current directory) with name MPP.BGL will be fed to MPP. The idea is now to re-specify your trace support output options (suppress set elements etc.) and convert the previous received information once more. To create this background logging file read the help info about background logging. How to use Simulate option. --------------------------- Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). It is also possible to use an externally taken trace and feed it to the trace-support feature by using the simulate option for example : A trace taken in the field is given to you on a floppy. Press twice ALT-T to activate tracing support. Press SHIFT-ALT-S and write the name of the file in the window. An addition SHIFT-ALT-S or ALT-S will start to feed the file as if it was received from the RS232 port. How to use Screen buffer ( Memory buffer ). -------------------------------------------- If the screen buffer is turned on using ALT-B a buffer of maximum 64K will be assigned to store information which flows from the screen. The information is stored in a compressed form with color information so even more then 64K can be stored. To review the stored information you can press ALT-V. By now using the up, down arrows and the home, end, pageup, pagedown keys you can scroll through the stored information. If you want to search for a certain string can you press 'S' which will open a window for you to enter the search string. Following keys will direct the search : 'F','D' : search forward or downward 'B','U' : search backward or upward It is also possible to mark a part of the buffer and dump it to disk ( or to the printer in the future ). Mark begin and end-line using ALT L To dump to disk use : ALT D To unmark use : ALT U If you've made a message or mini trace, you can convert bits and bytes into mbids and modes. Position the cursor on the message header line and press 'M' to convert this message. If an MBID has to be translated, position the cursor at the MBID line and press 'M'. The converted information will be written into file 'MPP.W##' in your current working directory. At the same time a window will be opened, allowing you to browse through the file. Pressing 'ESC' will close the window. How to use Screen buffer ( Disk file ). --------------------------------------- If the screen buffer is turned on using ALT-B all information will be written to disk. The file used to store the information will also contain the color information. This allows to scroll back in the file and still preserv all colors. As a result the file is not immediately readable with a normal editor. One can avoid this by using my browser i.e. 'BROWSE or CBROWSE' which can handle this kind of files. If you which to use another browser, first save the file as a normal textfile. You can do this by pressing 'D' while in the scroll buffer ( or using 'BROWSE/CBROWSE' ) and simply dump the whole file to another file. While doing this the color information will be removed from the file. To review the stored information you can press ALT-V. By now using the up, down arrows and the home, end, pageup, pagedown keys you can scroll through the stored information. If you want to search for a certain string can you press 'F/S' which will open a window for you to enter the search string. Following keys will direct the search : 'F3' : search forward or downward 'F9' : search backward or upward Difference between Search and Find : Search will do a case sensitive search Find will do a case insensitive search It is also possible to mark a part of the buffer and dump it to disk or to the printer. Mark begin and end-line using L To dump to disk use : D To dump to printer use : P To unmark use : U If you've made a message or mini trace, you can convert bits and bytes into mbids and modes. Position the cursor on the message header line and press 'M' to convert this message. If an MBID has to be translated, position the cursor at the MBID line and press 'M'. If you which bytes or words to be translated, position the cursor over the info you which to translate and press 'B/W. The converted information will be written into file 'MPP.W##' in your current working directory. At the same time a window will be opened, allowing you to browse through the file. Above described features ( search, dump ) can be used. Pressing 'ESC' will close the window. If you which to leave the scroll back buffer, and prefer to keep the , at that moment, visable information on the screen, Press 'K' in stead of ESC. The screen as it was scolled will stay. How to Save screen buffer. -------------------------- You can save the screen buffer by : - specify in setup screen one the file to output to - press ALT-V - press CNTRL-PRINT SCREEN How to dump to disk. -------------------- If you want everything which appears on the screen to be send to disk you can specify in setup screen one a filename in the field "OUTPUT TO". A CNTRL-PRINT SCREEN press will toggle between opening the file and continue to dump and closing the file and stopping the dumping. If the file already exist will a window appear asking you to : - Cancel the command - Overwrite the existing file - Append to the existing file How to use PADS. ---------------- Pads can only be started up when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). The way to start PADS : - On an EC5 or EC7 MPTMON you write PADS + password You will see that MPP tries to link and afterwards allow you to enter PADS commands. If the linking is not successful and afterwards the MPTMON is not responding then try THREE consecutive ALT-BREAKs. This will normally release your MPTMON again. If this doesn't help, write 'PADS' plus two times . Another link attempt is made. If this still doesn't work, restart MPTMON. In pads you can for the time being do only four commands i.e. - WRI to write a file to S12 disk - REA to read a file from S12 disk - DEA to dealocate a file on the S12 disk - REL or EX to release the PADS link. The correct syntax is as follows : Write command : --------------- WRI duf.duf 1032,890 --+--- --+- -+- | | +-> S12 file number in DECIMAL | +-> S12 logical device id in DECIMAL (1032 id twin | disks). +-> PC file specification (can be with complete DOS path ) Read command : -------------- REA 1,302 aaj4110b.gls + -+- -----+------ | | +-> PC file specification (can be with complete | | DOS path ) | +-> S12 file number in DECIMAL +-> S12 logical device id in DECIMAL (1 = disk C). Dealocate command : ------------------- DEA 1032,890 --+- -+- | +-> S12 file number in DECIMAL +-> S12 logical device id in DECIMAL (1032 id twin disks). You can also use the arrows to scroll in the input buffer and modify a previous input. How to define searchcommands. ----------------------------- Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). It is possible to extend the set of mptmon-command with some search- commands. A searchcommand is a command with an optional parameter to search in a defined file for an occurance and if found to print it onto the screen. For example : E 700 will print out error 700 The information regarding added commands is stored in a file called 'MPP.FIL'. This file is read when MPP is started up and must be found in the dos-path. Each line of this file contains the info for a new searchcommand. The commands must be defined as follows e.g. E,c:\hycon\hmcp.err,2,17,m_err_,?undefined anomal + ================= + == ++++++ ================= | | | | | +-> suppress value | | | | +-> prefix string | | | +-> size of array element | | +-> file type, 2 = fixed sized array | | search value and occurance | +-> complete dos-path + file name of file to be searched +-> New search command The first two parameters are straight forward i.e. New search command : string when enterred will trigger a search in the specified file File name : Name + dos-path of file which will be searched. The third parameter is the file type + search method. There are 5 file types existing i.e. 0 - file is non-text, each record has a fixed size. Searching will be done with the optional parameter taken as a string. 1 - file is non-text, each record has a fixed size (indexed-file). Searching will be done with the optional parameter taken as it's value, i.o.w. the optional parameter will be the record number to be displayed. When the optional parameter is not an integer value, nothing will be printed out. 2 - file is non-text, each record has a fixed size (indexed-file). It the optional parameter is an integer value searching will be done with the optional parameter taken as its value, i.o.w. the optional parameter will be the record number to be displayed. When the optional parameter is not an integer value, searching will be done with the optional parameter taken as a string. 3 - file is a text-file i.o.w. each record is terminated with cr-lf and the records have no fixed size. Searching will be done by searching for an occurance of the optional parameter in each line until the end of the file. The line where an occorance was found will be printed out. 4 - file is a text-file i.o.w. each record is terminated with cr-lf and the records have no fixed size. Searching will be done by searching for an occurance of the optional parameter in each line until the end of the file. The line where an occurance was found will be printed out and all following lines will be printed out until the end-string was matched ( see further on regarding end-string). Parameter four gives the length of each record in bytes ( in decimal ). Parameter four depends on parameter three. Parameter four is only meaningfull for file type non-text. When the file type=text-files this parameter is void and is therefore ingnored. Parameter five is a string which will be added in front of the to-be- printed out record, to avoid storing redunded info in your files and still be able to print out the info in a nice way. Parameter six is a string which represents the suppress value of a record. If a file is searched and no optional parameter is enterred, all records are printed out. To avoid that from an indexed non-text- file all records regardless if they contain information or not will be printed out, a compare of the contents is first done with the suppress value. If equal the record will not be printed out. e.g. in a file containing errors, not all errors are existing, but the file has a record for errors ranging from zero until ... All records of non existing errors have the same value i.e. ?undefined anomal. By specifying this a suppress value, you can enter 'E' as a command and only get defined errors. Parameter seven is the end-search-string. Parameter seven is only applicable for file types = 4, which are text- files. When an occurance of the optional parameter is found in a line, this line and all following lines will be printed until a line is found which contains an occurance of the end-search-string. This will be the last line that is printed out. Searching for the optional parameter will resume until the end-of-file is reached. If the end-search-string is not defined, an empty line will be the trigger to stop printing, this allows you to group info, separated by an empty line. How to use LON/LOFF/BAT/INC. ---------------------------- Following actions are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). To make MPP compatible with HYCON, LON/LOFF/BAT/INC were introduced to tranmit files from/to PC to/from MPTMON. When LON is enterred, all received bytes will be stored on disk. If LON was enterred without an optional parameter, the default disk file name will be MPP.LOG. If LON was enterred with a file name, this file name will be used to write all received bytes in. When LOFF is enterred, dumping to disk will stop. It is possible to use CTRL-PRTSCRN and LON simultanously. BAT and INC are used to send a file to MPTMON. An file name must be given, there is no default file name. BAT/INC cannot be together used with LON, first close log-file with LOFF, send your file to mptmon with INC/BAT, open the log file again with LON . When logging is active, SHIFT-SHIFT cannot be used to go to DOS. Close the log file first and reopen when returning from DOS. Mptmon extras. -------------- The following extras are only applicable when MPTMON is chosen as terminal (setup screen one). a) You can use the up/down arrows and recall and edit the 20 last commands. b) Use PADS to transfer a file to S12 disk. c) Use TRACE support facility d) Use MINI tracing facility e) Use WORD tracing facility f) Use SIMULATE and REPLAY facilities. g) Use LON/LOFF to store received info. h) Use BAT/INC to send files to mptmon. i) Create new SEARCHCOMMANDS. About wide screen sizes. ------------------------ If your PC has a super VGA board and your monitor is a multi-syncing type it is possible to use the board to display up to 132 characters on a single line. Put in the install window (ALT-I) the interrupt number to switch your card into 132 column mode. This interrupt number is not standardized yet and differs from board to board. It is also possible that your board cannot handle this at all. Therefore look in your documentation if you can find the interrupt (function) number. If you cannot find it I developed a program (VIDEO_DETECT) which tries all possibilities to find a function number which gives more than 80 characters per line. This program outputs in a file = "VIDEO.FIL" and can be read afterwards with a (text)editor. Use the information from this file and enter the function number in the INSTALL window. Leave the install window and press SHIFT-ALT-W to see if your PC switches to a wider screen if not try the other possibilities. If none of the possibilities gives you a satisfying result then write zero as the function number (in the install window) this to avoid switching when an escape sequence is received to switch to a wide screen. How to change between setups. ----------------------------- You can start MPP with maximum two additional DOS command line para- meters. For example MPP S12 VAX. MPP will start to work with the setup parameters specified in S12.TIS but you can toggle between S12 and VAX setup parameters by pressing ALT-X. If no parameter is specified at startup will MPP.TIS be taken ( or a default MPP.TIS file will be created ). The ".TIS" files will be searched in the complete DOS-path. It is also possible to specify the complete DOS-path e.g. MPP C:\MPP\S12. Frequently asked questions. --------------------------- None. Program is self explanatory ( small joke ). Solved bugs and improvements. ----------------------------- 28/6/96 version 2.6 Mode conversion ('M' in browse ) doesn't always work, caused by the trigger option ( F9 ). LM4 trace ( EC72++) cannot convert complex messages. 31/7/96 version 2.7 Search in mode results in a shifted screen 3/8/96 version 2.7 Include search mechanisms in the MPP screenbuffer. Displaying mode m_rng_type, the field b_code_index gives a fault. 20/8/96 version 3.0 Replaced screenbuffer by a browser, allowing a file as screenbuffer 22/8/96 version 3.02 Display a mode ( 'M' in browser ), the line number on top of the screen changed 22/8/96 version 3.10 Display mode m_data_req_mand_part gave problems. The else case treatment was missing. Marking lines in the scrollbuffer wasn't working anymore 2/9/96 version 3.13 The Status-line sometimes disappears and cannot be manipulated anymore by 'ALT-L' When there is not enough memory, the browser doesn't work. A beep is now generated to indicate memory problems. When 'LON' is used to open an already existing file, the Cancel/ Overwrite/Rename option were not correct functioning. 10/10/96 version 3.16 The offset of special packed array were not correct. Reported by K. Hollands on monitor tables 20/10/96 version 3.17 The last line in the screen buffer couldn't be marked Remove control characters from uploading ASCII textfiles, e.g. macros with tab characters couldn't be uploaded properly 25/10/96 version 3.19 MINI on complex messages doesn't work anymore due to stupid bug 8/12/96 version 3.2 Scrolling the screen to the left and right is to slow. 'Home' and 'End' keys are redefined and will trigger a horizontal movement. 'Ctrl Home' and 'Ctrl End' will perform a vertical movement. A search in the screenbuffer with a found occurance at a character offset > 80 renders the screen corrupt New features! N7 message translation was (re) introduced ISDN message tracing and IE translation was introduced Mode conversion in screenbuffer was introduced Converting words to their mode ( ALT-W ) was (re)introduced Mini tracing was lined up with latest EC74 features like shell tracing. EC74 message trace and conversion to their mode was introduced After internal arrangement, memory use was reduced by 110K. 15/1/97 version 3.22 Using comport 3 with IRQ > 7 gave problems. Sending was possible but nothing was received due to wrong IRQ handling of second PIC. 20/1/97 version 3.23 Help file updated 15/3/97 version 3.24 Again update on Help file Using and ( wait and pauze ) in the softkey sending was not working always correctly. Alt-W sometimes didn't start converting the mode. An additional 'cr' was necessary. General considerations. ----------------------- Because this program is using overlays to keep the program as short as possible all less important functions are put in overlays. Because of this is it not always possible to do any action at any time e.g. the calculator can only be activated in the normal working screen. The same goes for ALT-C, ALT-H, ALT-P, ALT-V, SHIFT-SHIFT, CTRL-BREAK etc. Maybe in the future I will try to overcome this inconvience. Have fun.