DOS ain't dead

Hi,
I am trying to use my modem as a touch tone dialer for automated systems. This means I have to be able to dial numbers after a connection is made to a voice system. For most other terminal programs out there such as Qmodem, the default setting is to hang up the modem if no carrier is detected and a command like "atdt1" will automatically hang up modem after any such connection is made.

Does anyone know a good such utility to be found for DOS or how would one go about to control the modem so that it does not hang after entering more dialing commands when a connection has been made in any terminal program? The only thing I found is a badly written software written in Visual Basic and it's shareware for Windows.

Thanks,
Tito

> Does anyone know a good such utility to be found for DOS
Yes, there are (were) lots of programs to do this. Try searching the archives of simtel.net. PC Magazine certainly wrote a few but be aware of the whole legal aspect of using PC Mag utils. I had a quick look under ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/ (FreeDOS archive) but couldn't see anything. But certainly lots do exist.

> or how would one go about to control the modem so that it does not hang
> after entering more dialing commands when a connection has been made
Some of the AT commands cover this, e.g. setting the S registers such as S10: ATS10=255

It's been a long time (years) since I have had to do what you are asking.
On many modem you can (/may) be able to set switches on the modem, e.g. ignore DTR if you can't or don't want to set it in software for whatever reason. It is also possible to short (abuse) various RS-232 lines by shorting them together if you know what your doing, e.g. loop RTS back to DTR. Again last time I did this was mid 90's.

> > Does anyone know a good such utility to be found for DOS
> Yes, there are (were) lots of programs to do this.
> PC Magazine certainly wrote a few
I revisited this today. Oddly try as I might I could NOT track down/re-locate PCMag's version (even via the Buried Software Utilities in the Simtel and 'pcmag' Archives by Dr. W. Curtiss Priest which is an amazing list.

I did however relocate:

AT1     .ZIP       672  20/06/90  Send Hayes AT commands to modem
                              34  \COMFILES\
AT10    .ZIP     11311  17/06/89  send modem commands from DOS level
                              34  \COMFILES\
ATSEND .ZIP 11982 06/07/89 Send AT commands to modem from DOS cmd line
34 \COMFILES\

source: http://cd.textfiles.com/microhaus/mhblackbox2/MHAUS/FLMMASTE.LST

all of which can both be downloaded from:
http://cd.textfiles.com/microhaus/mhblackbox2/COMFILES/

The first util is I believe the one that I remember which I am sure I have seen with asm source (it's not long...) and the second and third ones are different versions of the same thing which are shareware (for some reason!).

It's also worth point out that you can of course do echo ATD123 >COM1 if you've set the port up via mode, e.g. mode com1:9600,n,8,1 - you will of course run into good old Int 24h with a Abort, Retry, Fail? - there are numerous ways to knock that out and an easy introduced in later versions of MSDOS was to use COMMAND.COM's /F parameter, e.g. COMMAND /F /C ECHO ATD123 >COM1 so you may already have what you need without other utils. Example:

@echo off
rem set serial port speed
mode com1:9600,n,8,1
rem set S10 register to max value
command /F /C echo ATS10=255
rem attempt to tone dial 123 "blind" and ignore errors
command /F /C echo ATD123 >COM1

Something like the above may do what you want without any extra utils. It should work but I'll be honest and say that I haven't tested it as I'm writing this from memory having written a lot of similar in the past before I later moved onto other ways to do this for situations that I needed ages ago (unreleased internal projects). Indeed the last thing I did with a modem was to use one as a call logger. It's been a while since I've used a modem to dial out which I find shocking considering I used to use and hear modems all the time (ex-BBS sysop).

Thanks for the info.
Actually the problem wasn't sending AT commands to my modem or setting up the com port but rather having a better understanding of the AT commands.
Say I do atdt5551212 and the call connects, another command of atd1 would automatically cause the modem to disconnect, which is something I want to turn off.

> but rather having a better understanding of the AT commands.
> Say I do atdt5551212
Try atdt5551212; (with the semicolon at end)
There is a description of the Hayes command set at
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/164660

> > but rather having a better understanding of the AT commands.
> > Say I do atdt5551212
> Try atdt5551212; (with the semicolon at end)
> There is a description of the Hayes command set at
> http://support.microsoft.com/KB/164660

Even better info here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_command_set

And here....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_modem_command_set

_________________________________________________________

And then there's this.....

ftp://ftp.bu.edu/pub/mirrors/simtelnet/msdos/commprog/dialeasy.zip

******************************************************************
DialEasy - Copyright (C) 1994 by Christian M Wikstrom
******************************************************************
- A dialer for voice and computer connections -
--------------------
QUICK INSTRUCTIONS:
--------------------

dial [name] - dials a name from 'NUMBERS.TXT'.
dial [part of a name] - dials the first matching name.
dial [number] - dials a number directly.
dial [n1] [n2] [n3] ... - dials many names and numbers.
(Do not type the brackets.)
The command-line is limited to 30 entries or 79 characters.
Entering 'dial' and 'dial /c' will get you info.

You may edit 'NUMBERS.TXT' and 'DIAL.INI' to suit your needs.
These files should be in the current directory.
---------------------
THE MANUAL CONTINUES:
---------------------
******************************************************************

> > but rather having a better understanding of the AT commands.
> > Say I do atdt5551212
> Try atdt5551212; (with the semicolon at end)
> There is a description of the Hayes command set at
> http://support.microsoft.com/KB/164660
Ah thanks! The semicolon worked like a charm in my terminal program.
Yes I have searched many AT command references but it seems like the semicolon was not readily mentioned (perhaps due to it not being used much.)

I certainly have done what I just did before using echo atdt >com2 before and was able to navigate automated manuals with atdt but I can't remember if I used the semicolon or not before. Perhaps this is modem specific on whether it's required or not?

The semicolon is used to indicate the modem should continue in
command mode after connecting. It is part of the Hayes command set.
I found it in Glover and Young "Pocket PC Reference", 2nd. edition.
This is a printed book and I have no way to send you a copy, even
if it was not a breach of copyright.
From what I saw, the following e-publications discuss it (and scores
of other Hayes commands):
1)ITU v.250 <http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-V.250/recommendation.asp?lang=en>
2)Conexant note 100498 <http://www.zoomtel.com/documentation/dial-up/100498D.pdf>
Both are free to download.
Best regards