Modified February 1999 from an article originally published in the September 1995 issue of the Lima User Group newsletter. ----------------------- SAVING AND LOADING TEST DIRECTLY BETWEEN FUNNELWEB AND AN IBM COMPATIBLE PC by Charles Good Lima Ohio User Group Using the Funnelweb editor you can use LF and SF to LoadFiles and SaveFiles directly to and from a hard drive or floppy disk on an IBM compatible PC. You can use the IBM's hard drive to store all your important text files! This can be sometimes be done at very fast transfer rates comparable to saving and loading text using a 99/4A disk, and you don't need a modem on either the TI or the IBM What you do need is an IBM and TI computer cabled together between the TI's serial port and an IBM com port. I find that a "modem cable" purchased for $8 at my local WalMart store works just fine with no modification, connecting my TI's RS232 to my laptop PC's COM1 port. If you want to try and make your own cable, the needed pin connections for such a cable are these: TI..IBM 1----1 2----2 3----3 6----20 7----7 20---6 ------------- TO SAVE TEXT FROM FUNNELWEB TO THE IBM: On the PC I use the windows 3.1 terminal program (term.exe) on systems running either windows 3.1 or windows 95/98. The reason I use the older windows 3.1 program is that I can't figure out how to get windows 95/98's Hyperterminal program to accept direct cable transfers. If you don't have this program I can email it to you as an attached file or, if you send me $1 I will put it on an IBM disk and snail mail it to you. On the IBM start Windows and boot the Windows 3.1 terminal program. Click on "Settings". Then click on "Terminal Preferences" and make sure CR does not generate CR/LF (if the box has an x in it, click on the box to turn off the x) and that you are in 80 colums. Accept these settings by clicking on ok. Click on "Settings" again and then click on "Communications". Select either 19200 or 9600 baud, odd parity, 7 data bits, and the proper COM port. Then click on ok. I havn't figured out how to save 8 bit characters (Funnelweb's extended IBM graphics set) directly to an IBM using this technique. You may want to experiment with the baud rate. On my Geneve I can use a baud rate of 19200 without losing characters at the IBM end or causing an error message at the Geneve. On my 99/4A system I can only use 9600. Cable length and the peculiarities of your system may dictate that you use a slower baud rate. When using 19200 to save text the speed of this save is at least as fast as saving to TI floppy disk. Click on "Transfers" and then click on "Receive Text File". Select or create a file name, drive letter, and directory. Then click on ok. If asked say you want to override the existing log file. Now you are ready to receive text from Funnelweb. On the 99/4A or Geneve write your document or LF a document into the Funnelweb editor. First set up the IBM Terminal program as described above, then enter SF from Funnelweb's command line. Use "RS232.BA=19200" (or BA=9600 on a 99/4A system) as the SaveFile file name. Yes I know the TI's RS232 isn't supposed to be able to handle a baud rate of 19200, but on my Geneve it works for me! You need to specify the same baud rate in Window's Terminal and Funnelweb's SF file name. Once you enter the SF file name your text will flow out of Funnelweb and across the serial cable into your IBM. You will see the text appear on the IBM screen. When the IBM cursor stops displaying more text move the mouse pointer of the IBM and click on "Stop". Your Funnelweb text has now been saved to an IBM disk as an 80 column ascii text file with no control characters and no tab markings. ---------- TO LOAD TEXT FROM AN IBM INTO FUNNELWEB: On the 99/4A or Geneve load the Funnelweb editor. If you are using a Geneve load the Funnelweb editor from GPL (you can use speed 5) rather than using EXEC. When using EXEC v2.11 on the Geneve I can't break out of the RS232 loading process although I seem to remember that I could with an earlier version of EXEC. From Funnelweb's command line type LF and specify "RS232.BA=600" as the file name. Press enter and Funnelweb will appear to lock up as it waits for text to flow in from the RS232. You can't use baud rates faster then 600 for LoadFile even though you can use much faster baud rates to save files. On the PC boot the windows 3.1 terminal program. Click on "Settings" then on "Communications". Click on 600 baud, 7 bit, Odd parity, the proper com port, and then click on ok. Now click on "Transfers" and then click on "Send Text File". Select the file name and drive of the text file you are loading into Funnelweb and click on ok. At this point text will start flowing into Funnelweb and you will see line numbers increment at the right of the Funnelweb v5.x command line. When text stops flowing across the PC screen and the PC cursor returns to the terminal window and when Funnelweb's line numbers stop incrementing on Funnelweb's command line this means all the text is now in the TI's text buffer. Press FCTN/4 (the Break key) and then to display this text on the TI's screen. It is this FCTN/4 keypress that fails when I load Funnelweb into my Geneve using Exec instead of GPL.