Disk No: 1987                                                           
Disk Title: BSR                                                         
PC-SIG Version: S1                                                      
                                                                        
Program Title: BSR                                                      
Author Version: 1.2                                                     
Author Registration: $20.00                                             
Special Requirements: RS-232 Port, Null Modem Cable, BASIC Language.    
                                                                        
BSR is a utility for transferring files back and forth between computers
using different types of disk drives, e.g. between laptops using 3.5"   
disk drives and desktop models with 5.25" drives.  BSR is particularly  
handy in unexpected situations, when you don't have at hand copies of   
the .EXE program on both 3.5" and 5.25" media, because it includes      
BASIC versions of the "Send" and "Receive" programs which can be typed  
in a relatively short time.  Although the author's claim that the BASIC 
listings can be typed in 2 minutes each is an exaggeration, they are    
short enough to type in manually in a pinch.  Then, you simply need     
BASICA or GW-BASIC to run the BASIC listing.                            
                                                                        
BSR will be most useful to those who must occasionally transfer files   
between computers using different types of disk drives.  Although the   
transfer rates achieved by BSR are comparable to the best that          
commercially available programs offer, individuals or businesses        
frequently needing to transfer files probably should invest in an       
additional diskette drive in order to avoid the awkwardness of          
constantly connecting and disconnecting computers, or in a commercial   
program, which provides more facilities for transferring large numbers  
of files at the same time.                                              
                                                                        
BSR does seem to contain either a "bug" or an error checking deficiency.
While the program worked flawlessly transferring files from my laptop (a
DataVue Spark running DOS 2.1, with a 9-pin RS-232 port addressed as    
COM1) to my desktop (an AT clone running DOS 3.3 with a 23-pin RS-232   
port addressed as COM2), I was unable to effect transfers in the other  
direction.  As the desktop computer indicated that it was executing     
"retries", the laptop would indicate that it was receiving a file and   
indicate that it was receiving bytes far in excess of the size of the   
file being sent.  After 20 retries the desktop would abort the transfer;
the laptop had written the correct filename to disk, but the file       
invariably contained 0 bytes.  I encountered the same problem with both 
the .EXE and .BAS versions of the program.  Using the same hardware and 
DOS versions, ZIP.COM transferred files in both directions without      
difficulty.  I am quite prepared to believe that the problem was due to 
an error on my part rather than to a "bug" in the programming.  However,
there were no error messages to give me a clue as to what the problem   
might be.                                                               
                                                                        
PC-SIG                                                                  
1030D East Duane Avenue                                                 
Sunnyvale  Ca. 94086                                                    
(408) 730-9291                                                          
(c) Copyright 1989 PC-SIG, Inc.