PIPETSR V1.2 - (c) G4IDE March 1999
-----------------------------------

Introduction
------------
(PIPETSR is a DOS version of BPQPIPE, which did the same thing as a
Windows app, and resulted in several people asking me to write a DOS
version.)

It is a little application for use with BPQ. It will output on one BPQ
port nearly everything it hears on another port and vice versa. For
example, if you start it with the command:-

PIPETSR 1 3

then nearly everything heard on port 1 is transmitted on port 3.
(Don't confuse this with digipeating, it's totally different!)

Putting an optional 'R' on the end of the command line causes frames
to also be piped in the opposite direction.

It is "nearly everything" because, to avoid unwanted transmissions,
the following frames are not piped from one port to the other:-

1. Frames transmitted by the node.

2. Frames addressed to the node callsign/alias, or to the BBS(PMS)
callsign/alias associated with the node.

PIPETSR runs as a DOS TSR, and uses only 1.5kb of memory. (If you look
at the size of the EXE file and think "it can't only use 1.5kb because
the EXE is bigger than that", the program discards its initialisation
code before it goes memory resident.)

PIPETSR is designed for use in one specific situation - when you have
a BPQ node on one PC and you have a PMS system running on another PC,
connected to the node either by a serial link or via ethernet. The
problem in this situation is that, although the PMS can connect to the
node and then to the outside world, it can't see the traffic that the
node monitors. In particular, if the PMS wants to use the FBB unproto
message header beacons, it can't see them.

If you run PIPETSR on the node, and use it to link the port that
hears the BBS and the port to which the PMS is connected, using the
'R' option, then the PMS will see all monitored traffic on that port.
It will therefore be able to see the FBB unproto beacons, and it can
send FBB sync requests direct to the BBS. Also, when the PMS wants to
connect to the BBS or other stations via that node port, it doesn't
first need to connect to the node, it can simply make a direct
connection to the station - the node becomes transparent to the PMS on
that port.

Installation
------------
"The node PC" refers to the PC running BPQ and to which the radios are
connected. "The PMS PC" refers to the PC on which the PMS is running.

PIPETSR runs on the node PC, NOT on the PMS PC. The PMS PC doesn't
even have to be running BPQ, all it needs is to be running software
that can connect via some sort of wire link to a BPQ node. Either a
serial port link or an ethernet link. I have been testing it using
AGWPE on the PMS PC with an AGWPE KISS port connected directly to a
KISS port on the node.

Put PIPETSR.EXE in YOUR BPQ DIRECTORY on the node PC - IT MUST BE IN
YOUR BPQ DIRECTORY.

Using PIPETSR
-------------
When you start BPQ, you will be doing something like this, either from
AUTOEXEC.BAT, or manually:-

CD \BPQ
BPQCODE

To use PIPEPSR, immediately after running BPQCODE, you should run
PIPETSR with the required parameters. Here are some examples:-

PIPETSR 1 3   - transmits all frames heard on port 1 on port 3.
PIPETSR 4 2   - transmits all frames heard on port 4 on port 2.
PIPETSR 1 2 R - transmits all frames heard on port 1 on port 2,
                also transmits all frames heard on port 2 on port 1.

If PIPETSR finds BPQ is loaded and finds BPQCFG.BIN is in the
directory from which it is run, then it will load, otherwise it will
give an error message. NOTE - the previous sentence should explain any
problems that you get with it refusing to run!

PIPESTAT.EXE
------------
PIPESTAT can be run from DOS to give you a status report on PIPETSR.
It tells you how many host mode calls to BPQ have been made by
applications running on the node, and how many frames PIPETSR has
piped. It can also be used to enable/disable PIPETSR:-

PIPESTAT OFF - stops PIPETSR piping frames.
PIPESTAT ON  - enables it again.

Limitations
-----------
1. PIPETSR only works with the TSR version of BPQ (BPQCODE.EXE), it
can't be used with the foreground version (SWITCH.EXE).

2. PIPETSR will not pipe any frames until a program that uses BPQ host
mode is running on the node PC. Usually that won't be a problem,
because many users of PIPETSR will be running BBS or PMS software on
the node PC. However, if you normally don't run a BPQ application on
the node, then you can get round the problem by running PAC4, which
comes with BPQ.

Final Comment
-------------
One problem I have had with the Windows version - BPQPIPE - is that
people have contacted me reporting "problems" with it, when the only
problem was that they were running two BPQ systems that wouldn't even
talk to each other! Before you even think of using PIPETSR, your two
systems must be able to communicate with each other. PIPETSR is not
going to miraculously fix fundamental problems with your system
configuration.

History
-------
1999-Mar-19 - V1.0 -  The first release.
1999-Mar-30 - V1.2 -  Problems with instability in V1.0 fixed. If you
                      tried V1.0 and found that it crashed, it's well
                      worth giving V1.2 a try.


73 - Roger Barker, G4IDE
roger@peaksys.demon.co.uk
http://www.peaksys.demon.co.uk

Last updated: 1999-Mar-30
