The TSCOPE Terminal Program

Preliminary Documentation
The TSCOPE terminal program was
written by Joe Miller [70007,546],
for the members of SIG*ATARI, as a LIMITED featured program, to bridge
the gap until a more COMPLETE terminal program is available.
Specifically, it will allow users of the 1030 ATARI modems to
transfer (UPLOAD and DOWNLOAD) both
ASCII and BINARY files to SIG*ATARI and save them to disk.
***Note*** As TSCOPE supports the
Compuserve A-Protocol for
transferring files, it will NOT
work on an ATARI BBS. TSCOPE does
not support file transfers to
cassette.
Installing Tscope
Format a blank disk with Atari
DOS 2. Write new DOS files onto
your new disk. Copy TSCOPE.OBJ
from your master disk onto this
new disk. Rename it to AUTORUN.SYS.
Booting TSCOPE
First, remove the BASIC cartridge,
turn on the disk drive, 1030 modem,
and any other peripherals. Then,
powerup your ATARI with your new
TSCOPE disk in drive 1. XL owners
should hold down the OPTION key
while turning on their computer to
disable internal BASIC.
TSCOPE commands
To see a menu of available
commands, hit the HELP key on XL
models or the ATARI key on the
400/800 computers. When you see
the key-combo: CON-6 that means
to hold down any of the CONsole
keys and hit the number 6 (Console
keys are either the OPTION, SELECT
or START keys). The TSCOPE
commands are self explainatory. To
quit TSCOPE and go to the DOS
menu, you must have a disk with
DUP.SYS in D1: and simultaneously
depress a CONsole
key, the CTRL key, and the ESC key.
The BREAK key sends a CTRL-C to
Compuserve when online. Be careful
not to hit the BREAK key when you

mean to hit the BACKSPACE. The

CTRL-C will abort MOST Compuserve
operations.
Setting CIS to VIDTEX defaults
While TSCOPE is not a full
version of a Compuserve VIDTEX
terminal program, it will support
some of the VIDTEX functions,
including the UPL and
DOW commands for file transfers,
and the ONLINE color graphics
available on various parts of the
system. However, you must ALSO
configure your CIS terminal
parameters to the VIDTEX
standards. To do this, go to page
CIS-9 and follow the menus. When
asked for a terminal type, pick
VIDTEX. If TSCOPE
will be the ONLY terminal program
you will use on CIS, exit DEFAULT
(item 6), and when prompted, choose
to make this configuration PERMANENT
FOR ALL FUTURE SESSIONS.
If, however, you are like many
ATARI users, and will be using other
terminal programs in addition to
TSCOPE, you should do the following:
1-Follow the same procedure as
above, but when exiting, select to make these terminal defaults for the CURRENT
SESSION ONLY.
2-Immediately upon exiting the
DEFAULT program, from any page of
DISPLA, type 'PRO' to get to the OK
prompt. Then to define the current
terminal settings as a unique file that can be invoked by a single name use the
command: TER DEF VIDTEX.
3-Then, whenever you log on to
Compuserve in the future using
TSCOPE, when prompted for your USER
ID:, enter your PPN with an '*' and
the name of the terminal settings you
wish to invoke. In our example, it
might look like this:
User ID:76703,254*VIDTEX
If you need assistance in
defining alternate terminal
configurations as in the example
above, leave a message to
the SYSOPs.
FILE TRANSFERS

TSCOPE will support file

transfers ONLY on CIS using their
ERROR-FREE
A-Protocol. When you wish to UPLoad
TO or DOWnload FROM Compuserve, the
following conventions apply:
1-Use the (S)can or (BRO)wse
commands in the XA's to determine the
exact name of the file on CIS you
wish to DOWnload
to your ATARI and save to disk.
2-To initiate the file transfer,
use the command: DOW filename (where
filename is the name of the pgm on
Compuserve).
3-After the system determines you
are using TSCOPE or any VIDTEX
compatible terminal program, it will
ask you for a filename to be used by
the ATARI when it saves the program.
Enter a full, valid ATARI filespec
(it does not need to be the same name
as the file on CIS) in the form:
D:FILENAM.EXT
4-The system will then take over
and write the program directly to
your disk. You will be notified upon
completion, or if it aborted for any
reason. While writing to disk, the
program will print a series of
periods to the screen to show you
that everything is being transferred
correctly. If you see a backslash
printed to the screen, the program
is trying to transfer that sector
a second time because of a file
transmission problem. Don't worry,
Tscope is very patient with bad
phone lines and will keep trying
until it gets it right.
To UPLoad a file from your ATARI
to Compuserve, you must:
1-Have the file available on your
disk.
2-Use the command: UPL filename
(where filename is a valid Compuserve
filename up to 6 letters with a 3
char. extender)
**Note** CIS places special
importance upon the 3 letter extender
when you select a filename. If you

are uploading a binary file, you MUST

use the extender BIN.
3-The system will ask you for the
filespec of the program as it is
named on your disk.
4-When you UPLoad a file to our XA's, you will be expected to provide
a few meaningful KEYWORDS. Enter 2-4
single keys, separated by a space.
End KEYWORD input with <return>.
5-You will be asked to provide a
SHORT description explaining your
program. Don't try to cram all the
DOC into this space. Please UPLoad a
separate DOC file.