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Date:	Wed, 8 Dec 1999 00:31:42 PST
From:	dallasii@kincyb.com
Reply-To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Programming: kermit / tinyirc notes

(sent to comp.protocols.kermit.misc, scoug-irc,
scoug-programming)

Below are some macros that are a first stab at writing
a simple IRC client as a Kermit script.
An envisioned use was as way to get fast help
when trying to recover from a system disaster
and running off of removable media or a
maintenance partition.
I don't have access to my Warp system right now,
so I haven't spent to much more time on this,
because there seems to be a problem with getting
the EOLs properly interpreted by the Debian Linux 2.1
terminal properly, that didn't seem to show up with
the first few stabs at this with Kermit/2,
where the terminal emulation is supplied by Kermit.
These hint at a possible use for a
'set terminal nl-display crlf'
command. (or maybe someone more knowledgable about
UNIX/c-kermit can suggest an stty/setterm option to solve
the problem.)
Also, it should be possible to have automatic
ping/pong and some CTCP responses using
the 'trigger' feature of recent Kermit versions.

define self dallasK
define server irc.ca.webbnet.org
define iport 6667
define channel {#scoug}

define init set duplex half, -
set terminal newline-mode on,
; run stty onlret

define link set host \m(server):\m(iport) /no-telnet-init , init,
define nick output nick \m(self)\13,
define greet output user leganii \v(ipaddress) \m(server) :Dallas (PHX)\13,
define join output join \m(channel) \m(self)\13,
define pong output pong \m(nick)\13,
define say output privmsg \m(channel) : \%*\13,
# link nick greet join and you're connected to a chat channel

What I've had some success with using C-kermit is
to use the 'set network command' feature:

set network command
set host irc ......

and you can connect if the irc client uses termcap
for console i/o.
ircII works for this fine, but a better division of labor
seemed to be combining kermit with tinyirc, which is less
then 1/10th the size of ircii, at 20K.
The most recent versions of tinyirc use curses,
but using the Lycos ftp search engine an earlier
version that could be compiled using termcap was easily
found.
Toward the front of the C listing, add

#include

and for Linux, the posix entry in the make file was changed
from:

$(CC) -O -DUSETERMIOS -o tinyirc tinyirc.c -ltermcap

to:

$(CC) -O -DUSETERMIOS -DDO_CTCP -o tinyirc tinyirc.c -lcurses

Apparently, now the termcap.h include file is basicly a
interface to curses to provide support for the pre-curses
approach, hence the seeming contradiction of using
TERMIOS and the curses library simultaneously.
(I haven't tried this yet, but the 'gnu' choice
in the Makefile might work with the OS/2 EMX compiler
(if someone hasn't already done it) and DJGPP in DOS)
While I was at it I grafted the CTCP ping response from
the more recent versions of tinyirc into this version.
Now with 'set host tinyirc dallas irc.webbnet.org #scoug'
and connect, you go to the tinyirc screen,
^\-c returns to the kermit command line.
'cls' frees up the screen from the tinyirc settings
when at the Kermit command line, and ^W^W resets
the tinyirc status line when in kermit connect/terminal
session mode.
Kermit can supply logging and scripting capabilities,
while tinyirc essentially acts as a plugin for Kermit,
providing a 'tunnel' to IRC handling the IRC specific
aspects of the communication connection.
One possible use that came to mind was to deliver a
prepared 'speech' over IRC by setting the kermit pacing
to a reasonable interval and transmitting a file
to the chat channel (if you're working
in a full screen environment you can't just dump
the clipboard into your irc client input .).
(Just what the world doesn't need - a new media
for politicians to deliver their blather over! :-) )

I tried putting Lynx under similar control,
and the video output came through ok, but apparently
the keyboard input is nonstandard and chokes, so it looks
like the simplest thing to do might be to try using
w3.org's line mode browser, but then you can telnet into
one of those anyway....
(But I still like turning things upside down and having
a web browser plugin for my telnet client!)

Thanks to Nathan Laredo for writing tinyirc,
and the Kermit people at Columbia U. for adding the
intresting new capabilities to Kermit, and
Sector & crew at irc.webbnet.org for putting up with
my ravings.

Regards, Dallas E. Legan
dallasii
@
kincyb
.
com
leganii
@
surfree
.
com

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