  
                     C O M C A L L   V E R  3 . 1 . 1
  
  
                          ADDITIONALS/UTILITIES.
  
  
  
  This section provides  details as  to  the  additional commands/utilities
  that are provided within the COMCALL package.
  
  YOU  SHOULD  BE  FAMILIAR  WITH  THE   BASIC OPERATION OF  COMCALL BEFORE
  ATTEMPTING TO ADD IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING UTILITIES TO YOUR SET UP.
  
   
                                CONTENTS.
  
  
                              EXECITAT.EXE
                              CHKBOOT.EXE
                              COMBOOT.EXE
                              STOPBOOT.EXE  
                              HARDWARE (Electrical Device Switching)   
  
  
  
  ****************************************************************************
  
  
  
  1.                         EXECITAT.EXE
  
  
  EXECITAT.EXE   is a utility   that enables you   to perform an action  or
  command sequence at   a specific   time.    It  is  a Terminate and  Stay
  Resident (TSR) routine that takes around 14 Kbytes of Memory.   
  
  To use EXECITAT you must have a AT or equivalent  as the  routine depends
  upon the date and time  parameters  being automatically set at  your PC's
  boot  up  time  and  not  manually  entered  (e.g  battery  powered clock
  required).
  
  EXECITAT MUST be executed from the drive that you boot from.  e.g  If you
  have  two hard  disks,  c:  and d:,  and you boot from the c: drive, then
  EXECITAT must reside on the c: drive and be executed from that drive.
  
  EXECITAT  is  purely command line   driven   and should be called  either
  directly from the DOS prompt  or from within  a batch files.   The syntax
  is:- 
  
  
                         EXECITAT hh:mm <t>
  
  where 
  
   hh is the 'Continental Time Hour (00 (Midnight) to 23 (11 pm))
   mm is the minute (00 - 59)
   t  is an optional parameter to silence the warning tone.
  
  NOTE: The hours and minutes MUST be full 24 Hour Clock format e.g.
  
                  09:06   for 6 mins past 9 o'clock
   
           NOT    9:6
  
  EXECITAT goes   against the common   practice of other similar TSR's that
  do not correctly action if the PC  is running another  application at the
  time of the trigger occurring  (e.g.  not at the DOS prompt)  in that  it
  WILL perform   the required action   at   the stated time no  matter what
  other  function   or   program may be running at that  time.  It achieves
  this by using a  controlled reboot request.   A WORD OF  WARNING.  If you
  are in another application,  say your word processor, and the trigger for
  the TSR does fire (time),  then your text processors current data  may be
  lost as a result of the reboot request issued by EXECITAT, depending upon
  when you last did a text save.   If you intend to use the  TSR under such
  circumstances, then leave the EXECITAT warning tone on.  This should give
  you  sufficient  time  (1  minute)  to make  any saves of  data.  Imagine
  however,  if you were foolish enough to perform a database or disk re-map
  in batch mode with this TSR active!  Use with sense and care.
  
  Being a TSR there may be  some  conflict  with  other programs  or  TSR's
  with regard   to   memory or interrupt  contention.    To  date  we  have
  not   detected   any   such contention,  but this does not guarantee that
  some    other programs may not conflict with this utility.   Always treat
  TSR's with the respect that  they deserve and  test any of your  sets ups
  prior to depending upon them.
  
  There may also be some contention between the clocks display  of EXECITAT
  that  is  displayed at the  top right hand  of the screen and  some other
  programs that also display at that point.
  
  Provided you are  aware of the  above points,   EXECITAT can be extremely
  powerful utility.
  
  EXECITAT utilises  interrupt 1C (the timer tick)   and redirects  this to
  one of the   un-used interrupts   (F1).   A second  un-used DOS interrupt
  (F2)   is also utilised   as   a flag.  EXECITAT when loaded takes around
  14K of memory.
  
  EXECITAT  will  perform a 'Cold'  re-boot  of  your  system  at  the time
  specified in  the  hh:mm  parameter.   In  the  last  minute  of  such an
  impending re-boot  you  will  see  a  warning  message   to  this effect.
  Additionally  you will  hear   a  warning tone  during  this final minute
  unless you specified the 'T'   option   when EXECITAT was invoked.   Once
  the re-boot occurs,  a specific action or command sequence as pre-defined
  by you may be performed (see CHKBOOT.EXE later).
  
  EXECITAT can be temporary switched off after having been invoked by using
  the keystroke sequence   of <ALT><RIGHT SHIFT>   (press and hold down the
  ALT key and then press the RIGHT SHIFT key).    You may have to hold this
  keystroke   sequence down for a   short period  in order to wait  for the
  switching tone.    When the  switch  becomes   active  you  will  see the
  message 'STOPPED'  and hear the switch tone.  When this occurs you should
  then   release the ALT-RIGHT/SHIFT    keys  to  latch in  this  off mode.
  Similarly,  if a re-boot request has been temporarily stopped,  then this
  may be resumed by using the ALT-RIGHT/SHIFT sequence again  to toggle the
  request back on.    Note   that  the re-boot  request  timer  would  have
  continued   to run.  Consequently  the  re-boot  request  time  may  have
  expired whist  you had toggled off the EXECITAT request.   If this is the
  case,   then a re-boot will occur as soon as you toggle  the request back
  on   again.    However,  the required action may or may not  be performed
  (see CHKBOOT)  under   such circumstances (according to  how long you had
  the request toggled off for).
  
  In some   cases  some applications (such as   Windows)  may result in the
  clock and re-boot   warning display may not be   seen.   The re-boot tone
  however   should still be heard (unless you invoked EXECITAT with the 'T'
  option).   You will be unable to use the ALT-RIGHT/SHIFT toggle  sequence
  within Windows      and will have  to  exit  back  to  the DOS prompt  in
  order to perform such a toggle.   Generally,  you will find that you will
  not  be  able  to  run any of  the TSR's under a Windows  DOS  shell (DOS
  PROMPT)  option as Windows will complain when  you attempt to  resume the
  Windows session.  You should therefore attempt to initiate an Execitat or
  Comboot (see later) request prior to starting a Windows session.  
  
  To install EXECITAT  you will  need to copy  the file CHKBOOT.EXE  to the
  main root  directory from  which your  system boots (e.g.  C:\). You will
  also need  to   make modifications to  your   autoexec.bat file so  as to
  include a call to the CHKBOOT program (see CHKBOOT.EXE).    Once this has
  been performed then you may invoke EXECITAT as desired.
  
  Once EXECITAT  has been  invoked then that copy  will be disabled if  any
  further  EXECITAT   requests   are  made.    The  latest  request  always
  becomes   the active  request.   You  may however,  still use the COMBOOT
  utility  that   is  also  supplied  as  part  of   the   COMCALL  package
  independently,   although  the earlier of  the two  reboot  requests will
  apply.    Once a reboot does occur then any   other re-boot requests that
  may have  been  outstanding may need to be  re-initialised as required as
  these would have been lost by the re-boot resetting the  PC's  memory  in
  which the TSR's reside.
  
  Having  invoked an  EXECITAT   request,   you may perform any  other task
  that you would normally  perform.   EXECITAT will continue to  run in the
  background.
  
  EXECITAT works on a rolling twenty-four hours basis.   That is  the  time
  that the re-boot occurs will be a time   up to twenty   four hours  after
  the request was entered.  Thus if the current time is 3pm (15:00), then a
  request to reboot at 13:00  (1pm) would be interpreted as a reboot at 1pm
  the following day.   Had  the request been  19:00  then the re-boot would
  occur at 7pm that evening.
  
  Once  a reboot   occurs,   either  as   a  result   of   the CNTL-ALT-DEL
  combination, through EXECITAT or  due to a PC power off/on,  then the TSR
  will   be removed from  memory.    If   it  is  desired to  re-initialise
  this, then you will  have to re-enter the  EXECITAT command (or  have the
  command  within your autoexec.bat file).
  
  
  ****************************************************************************
  
  
  2.                          CHKBOOT.EXE
  
  This is an associated  program to  EXECITAT.EXE.   Its purpose is to test
  whether the re-boot occurred as a result of EXECITAT or some  other means
  such as a power-off/on or a CNTL-ALT-DEL combination.  
  
  If  CHKBOOT determines  that the re-boot  occurred   as  a result  of the
  EXECITAT command then it  will return an  errorlevel value of 1.   In all
  other cases this  errorlevel  will  be 0.    Thus you can use  CHKBOOT in
  batch files such   as your autoexec.bat   in  order to  switch  the batch
  files  processing   sequence.   For  further information  regarding batch
  files, consult your DOS manual.
  
  Remember that you should use a textual editor to modify your autoexec.bat
  file  and   not a   word-processor   package   as   these  can  introduce
  unseen control characters.    If you   do  use  your  word   processor to
  modify your autoexec.bat file,  then ensure that you save the  file using
  the export to ASCII text option.
  
  CHKBOOT should be placed within  your autoexec.bat file  at  a convenient
  point,  preferably somewhere after your   path  statement   (if  you have
  one)  and before any other  called applications.    A typical addition to
  your  autoexec.bat file could therefore be:-
  
         .
         .
         CHKBOOT
         if errorlevel 1 goto doit
         goto over
         :doit
         REM execute a specific action or
         REM command sequence here
         :over
         REM continue normal autoexec.bat file sequence here
         .
         .
  
  The dots represent previous lines  in your   autoexec.bat file and should
  not be  included.  They  purely  demonstrate  that  there  may  be  other
  autoexec.bat file  commands  or  actions both  prior  and  following this
  example piece of code.
  
  The  REM (remark)  statements  are comment  lines  provided   purely  for
  descriptive  purposes and should be  replaced with your  desired specific
  actions/commands.
  
  The   processing  sequence  as  a  result  of  this  additional  code  in
  your autoexec.bat file now becomes:-
  
  Any actions or commands prior to  this example are  executed. The CHKBOOT
  command is  executed  and  the  errorlevel  parameter   set  according to
  whether the boot  occurred  as  a result of   EXECITAT (errorlevel  would
  equal 1)  or  some  other reason  (errorlevel would  equal  0).    If the
  errorlevel is 0  then processing would  continue at the :OVER  label (the
  colon in column 1  of a batch file   indicates a  processing  label)  and
  normal   batch   file  running would continue.   Otherwise the processing
  would automatically flow   through  to  the  next  line  after  the :doit
  statement.   This is where you would place any of your desired actions or
  command sequences to  be performed if  the re-boot occurred  as  a result
  of   the EXECITAT   request   (ie   at the specified   time).  Once these
  actions/commands    had     completed    then    the  autoexec.bat  files
  processing   would   be   resumed  as  per  normal  batch file processing
  rules,   and any commands   after  the above   sequence   would   then be
  executed.
  
  Note  that CHKBOOT is clock (time and date)  dependant.   If  the time as
  stated  in  the EXECITAT request  is significantly different  to the time
  detected upon the CHKBOOT command being executed,  then  the  action will
  not be performed, even if the request arose out of an EXECITAT command.
  
  ****************************************************************************
  
  
  3.                            COMBOOT.EXE  
  
  
  
  This is a simple timed re-boot utility.   COMBOOT uses interrupts 1C (the
  timer  tick)  and F3,  F4  (Unused DOS interrupts).  When loaded, COMBOOT
  takes around 9K of memory.
  
  COMBOOT   goes   against common   practice in that   it will perform  the
  required action   at   the stated time no  matter what other function  or
  program may be  running at  the stated  time.   The routine is similar to
  that of the EXECITAT  function  (ALSO NOTE THE  EXECITAT WARNING), except
  that  you cannot  specify an  action  to  be  performed  upon  the reboot
  occurring.
  
  Being a TSR there may be  some  conflict  with  other programs  or  TSR's
  with  regard   to   memory or interrupt  contention.   To  date  we  have
  not   detected   any   such contention,  but this does not guarantee that
  some   applications may not conflict  with  this  utility.   Always treat
  TSR's with the respect that they  deserve and test  any of  your sets ups
  prior to depending upon them.
  
  COMBOOT writes the current time to the top right hand part of the screen.
  As some other programs may also write to this area after COMBOOT has been
  loaded,  some apparent screen conflict  may appear at this  location.  In
  such  cases,  the display at  this  point may alternate between  the last
  program (application or COMBOOT)  that performs a physical  write to this
  area of the display.  This is not a need for concern.
  
  Provided you are aware of  these  possible   pit-falls,   COMBOOT  can be
  extremely powerful utility.
  
  COMBOOT is either command line driven, or may be entered via batch files.
  
  Syntax:-
  
                           COMBOOT x
  
  
  Where x is a value 0   -  59  that represents the number of minutes to be
  counted before a cold reboot is initialised.  
  
  For example entering  the command COMBOOT 2   would  result  in  a reboot
  occurring after 2  minutes  had elapsed from  the  time  of  entering the
  command.
  
  Once   a  reboot   occurs,   either as   a  result  of  the  CNTL-ALT-DEL
  combination, through COMBOOT or  due to  power off/on,  then the TSR will
  be   removed from memory.    If it   is  desired to  re-initialise  this,
  then   you   will   have  to re-enter the COMBOOT command  (or  have  the
  command  within  your autoexec.bat file).
  
  Having  invoked a COMBOOT  request,  you may perform any other task  that
  you would normally perform (again note EXECITAT warning).    COMBOOT will
  continue  to  run in  the background.   You may  call  subsequent COMBOOT
  requests.   If  you  do  so,  then  the  latest  (last)   request  always
  over-rides any previous requests and becomes the active request.    If an
  EXECITAT request is  outstanding and has   an   earlier re-boot time than
  that of  the current COMBOOT   request then  the   EXECITAT  request will
  result in the loss of  the COMBOOT request when   the PC does  reboot  as
  COMBOOT  is stored in  volatile memory.   That is the contents of  the PC
  memory  in which COMBOOT  resides will   be   reset  as  a  result  of  a
  reboot.    Like  EXECITAT,  requesting COMBOOT  will  result  in  a clock
  appearing at the top Right hand part of  the screen.    This clock may or
  may not be seen  depending   upon which other programs you call  (such as
  Windows)   in  a similar fashion to  that  as described  for the EXECITAT
  command.
  
  COMBOOT allows you to  perform such  operations as loading  a  particular
  program  for a limited time.    If a STOPBOOT  command   is not initiated
  within this  time  period  so as to  stop the COMBOOT  countdown,  then a
  'cold'  system re-boot  will occur no matter what other task is being run
  at  the given time.    Why  would you wish  to  do  this?    Well  as  an
  example,   lets   say that  you have  instructed COMCALL to initialise  a
  Communications   program  in   host   mode   upon   the   receipt   of  a
  particular   trigger and that  the telephone line  in use is one  that is
  shared with  your normal voice calls.     Lets   also  assume  that  this
  trigger   condition   is activated and your comms program started in host
  mode.   Unless a data call does come in,  then   your phone line would go
  into   a permanent data mode condition,   preventing any voice calls from
  coming in   successfully.  If, as part of the Comcall  trigger condition,
  you had requested the  execution  of  your   Host   communications  via a
  batch file,  and,  as part of the batch file you invoked COMBOOT with say
  a  time    parameter  of  3   minutes,  then  (providing  you  have  your
  autoexec.bat  startup  file  correctly  configured),   you  could  have a
  protected system   that   would re-boot  after  this   time  delay   of 3
  minutes.  Your   telephone line   could therefore be   switched  back  to
  voice under such circumstances using  a suitable control  command in your
  autoexec.bat file (e.g. echo ATS0=0 >com1 so as to set the modem to never
  auto-answer).    If,  on the other hand,  you did call back in data mode,
  then as soon as you log in   to  your host, you should simply execute the
  DOS  shell option   of   your  communications  package  and   execute the
  STOPBOOT command so as to prevent the impending re-boot from occurring.
  
  COMBOOT  and   EXECITAT (see previous)   will both work  together.   Note
  however,  that the first of  these two to  come  into  effect will result
  in  the reboot  occurring    and   will  unload  both  of  the   requests
  from    memory.    Any  re-initialisations  will  therefore have   to  be
  performed upon  such   reboots as required.    These   may be  set up  in
  your   autoexec.bat   file   as necessary.  e.g.  The earlier of the  two
  requests will be   the one taken  as the reboot time. e.g. if the current
  time is 01:21   and you execute  a EXECITAT 02:00 request,  followed by a
  COMBOOT 50  (reboot in  50  minutes) request, then the actual reboot will
  occur at 02:00   (being the earlier of the two times).   Once this reboot
  occurs  then  the earlier COMBOOT  50   request  would   have   been lost
  (re-boots re-initialise memory  where the COMBOOT and EXECITAT  reside  -
  thus overwriting them).
  
  If   you choose   to   use both   EXECITAT and  COMBOOT at similar  times
  then you should   use   suitable   combinations of EXECITAT,  COMBOOT and
  STOPBOOT  in  the sequences necessary for  you  to   perform  the desired
  action  according  to the above rules. (STOPBOOT is described later).
  
  Note that in cases of where both EXECITAT and COMBOOT have   been  loaded
  then,  if   you  utilise  the  ALT-RIGHT-SHIFT  combination  in  order to
  temporarily suspend   the  EXECITAT  command  (see  EXECITAT  description
  earlier   in this section)   then the clock at the top right hand part of
  the screen may   be seen to alternate between the COMBOOT  clock  and the
  STOPPED message,   thus implying that both Execitat and Comboot have been
  loaded and are running.
  
  When  using Windows,  Comboot should  preferably be invoked prior  to the
  starting of the Windows session.  Windows will complain if you attempt to
  start a TSR from within the Windows DOS Prompt option and then attempt to
  resume Windows.
  
  ****************************************************************************
  
  
  4.                            STOPBOOT.EXE
  
  
  This  utility is  used  in  conjunction with  COMBOOT and   EXECITAT (see
  previous).  If  a reboot request  has been initialised  with the EXECITAT
  and/or   COMBOOT command then,  if you wish to cancel such a request then
  you should call the STOPBOOT command.
  
  STOPBOOT should be invoked either from the DOS prompt   or from within  a
  batch file.
  
  STOPBOOT will stop  the execution of  EITHER AND/OR BOTH  of EXECITAT and
  COMBOOT requests that may be  outstanding,  depending upon whether one or
  both were loaded.  
  
  Once a STOPBOOT  request  has  been  initialised   then  the  EXECITAT or
  COMBOOT programs will  only be stopped,  not unloaded.   Therefore if you
  intend to  use multiple  calls to  Execitat,  Comboot  and  Stopboot, you
  should attempt to occasionally allow a reboot to  occur.  Otherwise, your
  PC's memory may diminish to a level below that what can be suitably used.
  
  ******************************************************************************
  
  
  5.                              HARDWARE
  
  The Comcall package now incorporates additional hardware options that may
  be  purchased directly  from the author.   We regret that as  the devices
  are  supplied  on  a zero  profit  basis,  such  supply  is restricted to
  currently  registered  Comcall  users.   Overviews  of  the  devices  are
  outlined  within  the  installation  section  of  this  manual.  Further,
  detailed information as regard to the P,  S and C switches, together with
  any recent additions,  are automatically forwarded to registered users at
  the time of posting the registrational acknowledgement return.  
  
  The  addition    of such devices to your base  system will permit  you to
  perform such physical control as the following:-
  
  Switch your PC and Modem on and off from a remote location.  No licensing
  for connection  to the telephone  network is required as  the controlling
  device is not directly connected to the telephone network.   Switching is
  achieved via a security  check with  many  possible  options in  order to
  prevent  mis-use.   No additional hardware is required at  the requesting
  end.   Switching may be performed from practically anywhere in  the world
  for free as no connection is made (phone only has to ring).  When used to
  power on/off  a base  PC/Modem  combination this  is an ideal  option for
  those of  you who might wish  to access their base  system  from a remote
  location whilst not having to leave the base  system permanently switched
  on.
  
  Switch low voltage devices using  simple  commands  from  your  PC (model
  railway  control etc),  both locally and/or  remotely  (using  a suitable
  modem link).   Up to eight outputs are catered for that may alternatively
  be used for additional device control (e.g.  arranged as a 4  by 4 matrix
  in  order to  control a  remote  control  device  such  as  a  VCR  or TV
  controller).  Each output line may be individually or jointly set. 
  
  Switch  mains voltage devices under  control  of  your  PC  (again either
  locally or  remotely).   Up to  eight devices  may  be  controlled either
  individually  or  jointly using simple  commands.   High  level  of mains
  voltage to  PC  isolation  is achieved using inductive linkages so  as to
  prevent possible damage.
  
  
  
  When combined with the Comcall software, we believe such hardware options
  offer the chance for  you to enter  the world of  physical device control
  with a high level of flexibility  all at an extremely  competitive price.
  Thereby  enabling you  to turn your  base system into  a truly remarkable
  access  and control centre.   As  far as  we are aware,  no other package
  offers such combinations at such low prices.
  
  But that's  not all.   We are  constantly  seeking  to  add  even further
  options to the  Comcall package.   Such as the option to  control devices
  remotely  using MF  tones.   And to provide a direct  programmable remote
  controller/PC interface in order that you may control all  your household
  devices that may be directly controlled  using a remote  controller under
  instruction  by  your  PC.   With such an  addition,  we will add further
  functionality to the Comcall software so as  to make the control  as easy
  as possible.
