

                         
                                               
                                BiModem        
                                  for          
                              Boyan v. 4.0     
                                               
                         

                             William J. Flynn
                             Phoenix, Arizona
                            February 20,  1989



        The documentation that comes with Bimodem is a little on the
        sparse side, to say the least.  The particular version that I am
        using (1.05) states that Bimodem may not work with Boyan ver.
        3.0, but I have had no problem installing it in Boyan ver. 4.0.

        In order to use Bimodem, which allows two way transfers to occur
        at the same time (I have had some upload/download sessions take
        place at an equivalent of 475 CPS at 2400 baud)! with the new version
        of Boyan Communications v. 4.0 you will need to do four things:

        1.  Download two programs a)Bimod105.arc and b)BiMenu07.arc or
            the latest versions af these that are available.

        2.  UnARC the two programs and place them in the same
            subdirectory as Boyan.COM.

        3.  Configure BiMenu for your system.

        4.  Configure Boyan for your system and set Bimenu as a callable
            shell from within Boyan.

        *****************************************************************

        Assuming that steps 1 and 2 are within the mental capacity of
        most - we shall go directly to steps 3 and 4, above.


                 CONFIGURING BOYAN COMMUNICATIONS v. 4.0
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Since configuring Boyan is actually quite simple we can start
        there.  Here are the steps:

        1.  From the opening Boyan screen press Alt-C to enter the
            configuration menu:

        2.  Enter S to change the amount of Shell Memory allocated:

        3.  Choose L to edit the amount of reserved DOS Shell Memory:

        4.  Here comes the trade off - you have to enter a number large
            enough to permit Bimenu and Bimodem to run under Boyan, but
            if you pick a number too large it dramatically reduces the
            number of scroll-back pages available.  On a 640K system I
            have found that 250 entered here provides a good balance
            between the shells I run and the scroll-back pages Boyan
            maintains.

        5.  Hit Esc to go back to the configuration menu and enter M for
            the macro's menu.

        6.  From the M (Macro) menu choose a key that will represent
            your Bimodem Hot-Key.  On my system I chose H and then 72 to
            cause the F2 key to be the Bimenu trigger.  After entering
            72 (or whatever key you picked) type \DC-[bimenu1] and
            enter.  If your modem is connected to Comm 2 type
            \DC-[bimenu2] and enter.  The \DC means (in Boyan macro
            language) Dos Command; the minus - means return to Boyan
            directly upon completion of the program bimenu1. (the
            brackets are mandatory).

        7.  That's it.  Boyan will now shell to Bimenu whenever you
            press the F2 (or your) hot-key.

        *****************************************************************

                       CONFIGURING BIMENU AND BIMODEM
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Both Bimenu and Bimodem come with self configuring programs.
        Bimodem's program is called BINSTALL and is pretty self
        explanitory - just make sure that you pick "Other" when asked
        what communications program you are using.

        After running BINSTALL type BIMENU1 (or bimenu2 if using Comm 2)
        and choose the C or Configure option for Bimenu.  Again pretty
        clear cut and the documentation is easy also.  This will
        configure BiModem and BiMenu.

        If you've gotten this far, the last step involves the actual
        file transfers.  I usually try to pick the programs I'm going to
        Upload ahead of time.  This way when I log onto a system where
        Bimodem is available, all I have to do is specify the Download
        side of the exchange.  You can type in a list of your Upload
        programs and store them by following this proceedure:

        1.  Start Boyan and get past the opening screen.

        2.  Hit your Hot-key (let's say F2).  If the installation was
            done properly, BiMenu should pop up.

        3.  Choose F for Files from the menu.  If you specified an
            upload and download path with the C (Configure) option of
            Bimenu (which you really should do!) it is not necessary to
            list the full path name to your upload files.

        4.  When starting out it is probably best just to fill in three
            lines of the Bimenu "File" screen.  The first line is either
            U or D for Upload/Download - pick U.  Give the Source file
            name and a Description of the file.  That's all you really
            need to worry about on this screen.  Hit Enter at each
            location until the filename moves to the upper half of the
            window.

        5.  Follow step 4 above until you have a list of your files you
            wish to  upload.  When you're done hit Alt-X to save your
            list and return to the opening Bimenu screen.

        6.  Hit Q to quit the menu and return control to Boyan. Dial up
            a board that has a Bimodem window or has Bimodem available
            as one of its available protocols.  Tell the board which
            file/files you want to receive and start the download.

        7.  Press your Hot-key (F2 in the example).

        8.  When Bimenu pops up just press S for Send and Bimodem's
            magic begins.  If you have an external modem watch what
            happens to the status lights when it begins to send and
            receive at the same time - awesome.

        ****************************************************************

                   FINAL COMMENT THEN I'M OUTA HERE!

        I was really leary of using Bimodem for the first time.  It is,
        after all, quite different than any of the other "normal"
        protocols.  There are not too many boards yet that have made
        Bimodem windows available.  There are three here in Phoenix, AZ
        that I know of (but then Bimodem was invented by Erik Labs here
        in Phoenix so you might expect more here than elsewhere).

        As stated before; on the local lines from my computer to the
        boards that are using Bimodem, I can get error free transfers
        that average 470-475 CPS at 2400 baud using two way exchanges -
        that's reason enough for some other SYSOPS to give it a try!!

                        Enjoy,


                        Bill Flynn
                        Phoenix, AZ
                        (602)223-2375 (days only)
