Xref: utzoo comp.dcom.modems:1210 comp.misc:1644 comp.protocols.misc:197
Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!jimp
From: jimp@cognos.uucp (Jim Patterson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems,comp.misc,comp.protocols.misc
Subject: Re: Inquiry on the program 'blast'
Message-ID: <2023@cognos.UUCP>
Date: 4 Jan 88 20:11:06 GMT
Article-I.D.: cognos.2023
Posted: Mon Jan  4 15:11:06 1988
References: <335@caus-dp.UUCP>
Reply-To: jimp@cognos.UUCP (Jim Patterson)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 54

In article <335@caus-dp.UUCP> root@caus-dp.UUCP (The Super User) writes:
>I was approached by a man from Intellience Communication Services (I think
>thats the company) about a product that their company is reselling called
>'blast'.
>
>My question is this, is there anyone out there who has a copy of this
>program that is working in a semi-rough enviroment and is working correctly?

We've been using BLAST in an environment which has VAX/VMS, DG/AOS/VS
and HP/3000 computers. Basically, the product does what it says it does
(remote logon and reliable file transfer). However, it isn't without its
problems. It certainly isn't a replacement for a decent LAN setup.
I haven't been working with this software for about a year now, so please
note that some things may have changed since then.

The most difficult thing that I found with BLAST was in setting up a
reliable configuration. BLAST has menus to define logon sequences to
the various systems you need to access. You can enter control sequences
to pause a second, wait for a given string, etc. However, you can't do
anything that is truly intelligent, such as retransmit a prompt if the
original prompt didn't trigger the right response. (In contrast,
Reflection on the IBM PC does allow this, and so is considerably more
powerful in practice). Getting a configuration that "works" is largely
a process of trial and error, and even then varying loads on the systems
or a system upgrade can easily confuse things enough that your configuration
will fail to work.

We were able to get assistance in setting up configurations and other problems
from the vendor, so support for BLAST seems to be reasonable. (They weren't
able to solve all of our problems, though). 
	
We've gotten BLAST to work reasonably well from the VAX/VMS side to both of
the other systems. We have been less successful in getting BLAST to operate
from the DG system (though we can still move files back and forth, as long as
we move them FROM the VAX system). I think we've had similar problems on the
HP/3000. Also, we found that the VAX batch file transfer option didn't work,
but that might be fixed by now. I haven't had any experience with BLAST on the
PC or other systems. We found that other products like Reflection did the job
for PC communications for less cost.

Something else that you should know about is that BLAST is a menu-driven product
which supports a limited repertoire of terminals. If you have a VT100 terminal
or compatible, you're okay. With other terminals you may be less fortunate. 

In summary, I think that BLAST is a reasonable product for small file transfer
applications, and does support a wide range of systems. It isn't appropriate,
though, for large scale computer communications for several reasons: the inherent
bandwidth limitation of RS232 communications, the fallability of establishing
connections, and problems (possibly fixed by now) with batch operations.
-- 
Jim Patterson                              Cognos Incorporated
UUCP:decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!jimp P.O. BOX 9707    
PHONE:(613)738-1440                        3755 Riverside Drive
                                           Ottawa, Ont  K1G 3Z4