Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!udel!sbcs!csserv2.ic.sunysb.edu!dtiberio
From: dtiberio@csserv2.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.datacomm
Subject: Re: Prodigy
Keywords: garbage, trash net, hellfire
Message-ID: <1991Feb21.170825.5994@sbcs.sunysb.edu>
Date: 21 Feb 91 17:08:25 GMT
References: <1991Feb20.034644.14053@infonode.ingr.com>
Sender: usenet@sbcs.sunysb.edu (Usenet poster)
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Lines: 49

In article <1991Feb20.034644.14053@infonode.ingr.com> hychejw@infonode.ingr.com (Jeff W. Hyche) writes:
>
>
>	The word Prodigy in the computer world is both a scourge
>and a god send.  You say Prodigy to one computer user and he will
>have visions of tin plated tyrants who censor every word they
>don't like (some people use the word censor and some people use
>edit, I use censor).  Others think that they have broken the yoke
>of hourly service charges and freed them from that bondage (not
>including the $.25 mail charge).  Personally I don't agree with
>their policy of censorship or only porting their software to the
>IBM or MAC so I will never use their service.  But apparently some
>Amiga owners do and that creates a demand for their service.  But
>they refuse to port the software to the Amiga.
>	Now I have a question.  Why do we have to use their
>software?  I know they use special software that will only work
>with Prodigy.  But why does it have to be that way.  I can count
>at least a dozen PD or Shareware programs for the Amiga.  So why
>can't someone write a PD front end for Prodigy for the Amiga?
>	I think of no legal Prodigy could stop us from using our
>on program to access their service.  Since we would have to buy
>their start-up package to get a password and access information,
>they would get their money and we would get the service of
>Prodigy.  So as I said I see no legal way to stop us from writing
>and using such a program.  A PD program could be even better than
>their own software for the Mac and IBM.  From what I have heard
>from some Prodigy owners you can't capture text from the screen to
>a file, you can only print certain articles.
>	Such a program might be difficult to write.  First you
>would have to figure out the special codes that Prodigy use to
>command both the system and the software.  Next a program would
>have to be written to strip the password and other information
>from the original program.  Since I don't know that much about how
>Prodigy really works, or even that much about programming on the
>Amiga (or I would try to write such a program myself) any takers?
>-- 
>                                  // Jeff Hyche           
>    There can be only one!    \\ //  Usenet: hychejw@infonode.ingr.com
>                               \X/   Freenet: ap255@po.CWRU.Edu

  To do this testing you will need a copy of Prodigy on a Mac/IBM, and then
hook it up to an Amiga (well, actually any computer will do). I would write
a program that reads in all of the codes when transmitted by the other program,
as menus or options are selected. Then, call up prodigy and enter the codes
by hand to see what the Prodigy response codes are. Maybe this would be easier
if an Amiga multitasked an IBM running Prodigy, and an Amiga program were
written to intercept all data that is transmitted over the serial port.

DavidTiberio SUNYStonyBrook2-3605 AMIGA TotoProductions DDDMEN