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From: mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Marc Roussel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm
Subject: Re: Kermit Question
Message-ID: <1991Apr7.205934.20408@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca>
Date: 7 Apr 91 20:59:34 GMT
References: <1991Apr5.175215.23763@nntp-server.caltech.edu> <1991Apr5.201357.7658@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> <11571@jarthur.Claremont.EDU>
Organization: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto
Lines: 26

In article <11571@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> nrossi@jarthur.Claremont.EDU
(Nick Rossi) writes:
>For standard Kermit, the maximum packet length is 94 bytes.  Yes, there is
>a lot of overhead in Kermit which makes it a very inefficient protocol (which
>is why I dislike it so much).  But it was designed to operate on ANY
>computer environment, by forcing packets to consist of only printable 
>characters and such.  I seem to recall using a Kermit program on an IBM which
>was sending 1024 byte packets, but perhaps I was looking at the wrong thing
>on the screen or something, as I haven't been able to reproduce it.

     I don't think that this is quite right.  The packet length in Kermit is
arbitrary.  In fact, the initial handshake between the two computers
includes packet length information.  (Transmission is then undertaken at
the largest packet length allowed by both Kermits.  The "set send/receive
packet length" commands merely tell Kermit how large a packet you wish to
allow it to use.  Why you'd ever want this to be less than the maximum,
I don't know.)  Kermit-65 can't handle packets any greater than 96 bytes
(according to my manual).  This maximum has to do with the amount of memory
available for buffering I think.  On the other hand, the latest versions of
MS-Kermit and C-Kermit can handle packets up to 1Kbytes.
     I hope I got this right.  (I'm relaying second-hand information
here, not first-hand knowledge.)  If I didn't, I hope someone will set me
straight.

				Marc R. Roussel
                                mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca