pcserver(1M)

NAME

pcserver - Basic Serial and HP AdvanceLink server

SYNOPSIS

pcserver [−n] [−l [log_file]]

DESCRIPTION

pcserver is the hostside server program for Basic Serial and AdvanceLink. pcserver is both started and terminated by an application program on a PC.

pcserver supports both the Basic Serial and the AdvanceLink protocols. Basic Serial is a library of routines that support various types of ’services’ between a PC and a serially connected host computer. These include file transfer and remote interprocess communication.

AdvanceLink is a terminal emulation program that also supports file transfers between a PC and host system over various physical connections.

The following options are recognized by pcserver:

−l [logfile] Enable packet logging. This should only be used when needed for debugging. If logfile is not specified, the file s-log is used in the default logging directory. The default logging directory is defined in file server.pro. pcserver looks for a version of server.pro in the user’s home directory, and if none is found uses the system defaults in /usr/adm/server.pro. If logfile exists, logging is appended to it. If the file does not exist, it is created.

−n Use some form of “netmode” for data encryption. Netmode should be used in situations where certain characters might create undesired results (such as when a PAD is being used and device control characters must masked). This option only tells pcserver that some form of netmode will be used. The actual details are negotiated between pcserver and the PC application. For a more comprehensive discussion on netmode, see Using Basic Serial Connection Files.

pcserver is designed to be invoked by a PC application program rather than from the command line. In order for the connection to be correctly established, the PC and host port must be properly configured.

If you are using pcserver to manage a session between a PC and a hostside application (via Basic Serial), you may need to use a Basic Serial connection file to actually log in to your account. Establishing connections using Basic Serial connection files is a sensitive operation. Before attempting to use them, you should read the manual Using Basic Serial Connection Files.

If you are using pcserver to transfer files between a PC and a host machine via Advancelink, use the following AdvanceLink commands:

&HOSTCOPY "pcserver"
&TERMINATOR "$"

If your prompt does not end with $, replace the $ in the terminator command with the last character in your normal prompt.

To permanently configure AdvanceLink for the HP-UX version of pcserver, refer to the Using AdvanceLink manual for more information.

NOTES

If your screen displays a "Command not found" message when you choose START TRANSFER from AdvLink, either pcserver has not yet been installed on your HP-UX system, or it has been installed in a directory that is not part of your current path.

HP-UX treats files containing binary or ASCII data identically. Therefore it is up to the user to specify the desired file type when using pcserver to transfer files with Advancelink. The difference between the two is that during ASCII transfers, pcserver maps HP-UX line-feed characters to the MS-DOS carriage-return/line-feed pair. This produces incorrect results when transferring a binary file as an ASCII file.

Also, older versions of AdvanceLink show totally inaccurate estimates for file transfer times. This does not interfere with the actual transfer.

If the PC is reset while a transfer is taking place, it may temporarily appear to be a "dead" terminal port. This is no cause for alarm; left to its own devices, pcserver will restore the port in a short time. In the worst case, it could take six timeout periods (6∗20 = 120 seconds). For faster response, press the Break key a few times to terminate pcserver immediately.

FILES

/usr/bin/pcserver the executable program

/usr/adm/server.pro system-wide logging profile

$HOME/server.pro local logging profile