🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1027891443342110@thelake.UUCP> pwcs.StPaul.GOV!stag!thelake!steve writes:
>>  Does anyone out there know of or use a background uploading/downloading
>>program that is either shareware or public domain.  I get on the net and
>>download ALOT of things and it takes incredible amounts of time with a 
>>1200 baud modem and background downloading would really be great.  Thanks
>>in advance for any help.
>
>A "crippleware" program called STALKER was distributed on this network
>many months ago; it may be available at the archive sites. The demo
>version was limited to uploading (from you to a remote computer). To get
>downloading capabilities, you had to send money to the programmer.

     I've been using STalker for all my communications for a year
or so, and recently upgraded to v2.03.  STalker is a desk
accessory terminal emulator (vt52/100) which features a very
flexible background autodialer (handy when you don't want to tie
up your system trying to get onto a busy system), a scrollable
virtual screen which is configurable to any size you want,
limited function key macros, and ASCII/Xmodem/Xmodem-1K uploads
and ASCII/Xmodem/Ymodem-batch downloads in the background with
any GEM application.  The most recent version also includes
STeno, a basic text editor accessory with hooks into STalker.  (I
don't use it myself, since I spend most of the day in Word
Perfect.)  The main reasons I use STalker are: I really like
having my communications program a mouse-stroke away; being able
to view my terminal session in one window while using Word
Perfect in another (as I'm doing now) is great; and being able to
download large files without tying up my machine for hours is a
godsend.  I think I paid $35 Cdn for the original version, and
$15 for the upgrade.
     A couple of comments on Steve's comments:

>It looked pretty good. However, the background operation was based on
>GEM pseudomultitasking. This means that any non-AES operations will bring
>the background task to a screeching halt. For example, I could upload to a
>BBS quiet easily while running GEM First Word, but as soon as I fired up
>MicroEMACS, a compiler, or even a command shell, the system halted because

Right; STalker will not work in the background with most non-GEM
applications.  (It _will_ run in the background with the most
recent version of MicroEMACS, however; I can't remember the
version number, but it's the one that uses the mouse.  Not sure
we can generalize here, but any application which uses the mouse
should be a good bet for use with STalker.)  This isn't really a
problem for me, since as I mentioned, I spend most of the day in
Word Perfect.  But be forewarned.

>STALKER is a desk accessory, with all the limitations that accrue thereto.
>As I recall, the size of the file to be transferred was limited by a static
>buffer. The reason for this is that a GEM DA doesn't own any file handles;

     Nope.  I think you must be confusing STalker with Shadow,
Double Click Software's background transfer utility.  Shadow
requires you to allocate a fixed amount of buffer space at
startup, and writes to disk only when the transfer is complete. 
This has the advantage of making transfers "reset-proof", but the
disadvantage of tying up large amounts of memory, particularly
when you anticipate downloading large files.  By contrast,
STalker writes to disk whenever its transfer buffer is full, and
can be configured with a transfer buffer as small as 4K.  (BTW,
the most recent version of STalker takes advantage of Shadow's
hooks, so you can use Shadow's background routines with STalker
if you really want to.  It also supports Double Click's multiple
rs232 port gizmo, so if you've got a pair of modems you can
install two copies of STalker, and have two terminal sessions
running in the background at the same time!  It can also be
configured to work with the midi port, though whether this would
allow hanging an additional modem off the midi port is beyond
me.)
     As an accessory, STalker does use memory.  A minimum
configuration burns about 90K.  This still allows me to allocate
a 200K ramdisk at startup and run Word Perfect with room to spare
on my unadorned 1040ST, so I can't complain.
     SO: If you spend a lot of time in non-GEM applications and
don't mind setting aside a large chunk of RAM at startup, check
out Shadow.  If you use mostly GEM applications and like the idea
of having background communications at your fingertips, I highly
recommend STalker.  Make no mistake: STalker is nowhere near as
full-featured as Uniterm or even Flash.  I used to be a die-hard
Uniterm user, and never thought I'd be tempted to use anything
else; but STalker is so damn handy (for me!) that I haven't
dusted off my Uniterm disk in months.  STalker is written by Eric
Rosenquist and marketed by:

Strata Software
94 Rowe Drive
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
K2L 3Y9  (613) 591-1922

Needless to say, I have no pecuniary interest in Strata Software
(or anything else for that matter, if my bank account is an
indication).
BBB

--------
Bob Bright <bright@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Dept. of Philosophy
452A University College
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3T 2N2
(204) 474-9680