From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!info-vax
Newsgroups: fa.info-vax
Title: BRDCST.MAR
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.537
Posted: Wed Dec 29 22:27:22 1982
Received: Fri Dec 31 08:35:20 1982

>From KFL@MIT-MC  Wed Dec 29 22:20:29 1982
Mail-From: ARPANET host SANDIA rcvd at 28-Dec-82 2033-PST
Mail-From: ARPANET site MIT-MC rcvd at 28-Dec-82 2134-MST
To: STEW@MIT-MC
Cc: INFO-VAX@MIT-MC, KFL@MIT-MC
Remailed-Date: 29 Dec 1982 2035-PST
Remailed-From: the tty of Geoffrey S. Goodfellow  <Geoff5 at SRI-CSL>
Remailed-To: Info-VAX@SRI-CSL: ;

I installed STEW's BRDCST.MAR on my vax 11/780 (VMS 3.1).  After modifying
it to work on an H19 (Z19) it worked fine.  I will test it on a VT100
tomorrow.  We don't have any AAs.
  I especially liked the unmentioned feature that it puts all your messages
in a file, ITS style.  I have long thought that VMS's not doing so is one
of its more subtle and annoying misfeatures.
  When running Gosling's Emacs, or when set /NOBROADCAST, sends only appear
on the bottom line.  Otherwise sends appear both on the bottom line and
where the cursor is.  The terminal should definitely be set /NOBROADCAST
when using BRDCST.  I notice that BRDCST also intercepts the status
message that ^T gives you.
  It is especially good on H19s because they have a 25th line which is
usually not used for much.
  The one problem I have noticed is that when you are just sitting at DCL
a send will not appear until you type something.  This may be an artifact
of how I implemented the H19 mode.  Has anyone else had this problem?
  Now if only ^T (or some other sequence) could give the time on the
bottom line when I am running Emacs.  Emacs has a current-time function,
but it inexplicably is running 11 months, some odd days, and some odd hours
slow.  The system clock is correct.  Has anyone else heard of this?
  One other thing to keep in mind is that some installations bill
connect-time charges for subrocesses!  Better check on that before
setting it up at your site.
  I would like to upload (download?) some files from my vax to MC, through
a TAC.  TACs (and TIPs) can't take solid 300 (or even 110) baud transmission.
At least I don't know how to make them take it.  The only way I have to
move files onto the net is this horrible kludge I hacked, which sends a
character, and waits for the echo before sending the next character.  It
works well enough if you are in no hurry.  It averages about 2 characters
per second.
Does anyone know of a better way?
								...Keith