Introduction:
=============
Seyon is a complete full-featured telecommunications package for
the X Window System. Some of its features are:
Dialing directory that supports an unlimited number of entries.
The directory is fully mouse-driven and features call progress
monitoring, dial timeout, automatic redial, multi-number dialing,
and circular redial queue. Each item in the dialing directory can
be configured with its own baud rate, bit mask, and script file.
The dialing directory uses a plain-text phone book that can be
edited from withen Seyon. Seyon also supports manual dialing.
Terminal emulation window supporting DEC VT02, Tektronix 4014, and
ANSI. Seyon delegates its terminal emulation to xterm, so all the
familiar xterm functions such as the scroll-back buffer,
cut-and-paste utility, and visual bell are availabe through
Seyon's terminal emulation window. Using xterm also means that
Seyon has a more complete emulation of VT102 than other any Unix
or DOS telecommunications program. Other terminal emulation
programs can also be used with Seyon to suit the user's need; for
example, color xterm can be used to provide emulation for color
ANSI (popular on many BBS systems), and xvt can be used if memory
is a bit tight.
Script language to automate tedious tasks such as logging into
remote hosts. Seyon's script interpreter uses plain-text files and
has a syntax similar to that of sh, with a few extra addtions. It
supports many familiar statements such as conditional branching by
if-else and looping by goto. Scripts may be assigned to items in
the dialing directory for automatic execution after a connection
is made.
Unlimited number of slots for external file transfer protocols.
Protocols are activated from a mouse-driven transfer console that
uses a plain-text file, editable from withen Seyon, for protocol
configuration. Seyon prompts the user for filenames only if the
chosen protocol requires filenames or if the transfer operation is
an upload, for which Seyon also accepts wildcards. Multiple
download directories can be specified for the different transfer
slots.
Support for zmodem auto-download. Seyon detects incoming zmodem
signature and automatically activates a user-specified zmodem
protocol to receive incoming files. Zmodem transfers can thus be
completely automatic and require no user intervention.
Translation modes. Seyon can perfrom useful trasnlations on the
user's input. From example, Seyon can translate backspace to
delete (useful on may Unix systems), newline to carriage return
(useful on many BBS hosts), and my favorite, meta key tranlation:
to send keys pressed while the meta (ALT) key is held down as an
escape (ESC) followed by the key press. The latter mode simulates
the meta key on hosts that do not support 8-bit-clean connections
and makes possible the use of the meta key in programs like Emacs
on such hosts.
Other features: interactive setting of program parameters, on-line
help, software (XONN/XOFF) and hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control,
session capture to a file, and temporary running of a local shell
in the terminal emulation window.
Seyon is intended to be both simple and extensively configurable.
Almost every aspect of Seyon can be configured via the resources
to suit the user's taste.
Portability:
============
Seyon is reported to run on most Unix platforms. Read the file
PORTING for more details.
Use:
====
Please read the manual page and the FAQ to learn how to use Seyon.
I've put a lot of effort into making the manual page as accurate
and up-to-date as possible.
IMPORTANT:
Add the resource 'Seyon.modem: /dev/ttys0' to your Xdefaults file
(substitute your modem device for /dev/ttys0) or invoke seyon by
the switch '-modem /dev/ttys0'. You have to specify the full path
name of the device in all cases.
The name of the startup file is 'seyon'. That of the dialing
directory is 'phonelist' and that of the protocols file is
'protocols'. These have to be in directory called '~/.seyon' by
default or in the current or home directoy. Examples are provided.
To use Seyon, just invoke from anywhere by 'seyon &'. That's about
it.
To advantage of Seyons's color, add the following to your
Xdefaults file:
#ifdef COLOR
*customization: -color
#endif
Seyon is Free:
==============
If you use Seyon and like it, sending me a picture postcard of a
site in your area would be nice, and would give me the incentive
to continue maintaining Seyon. If you don't feel like doing that
(you lazy bum! :-), just let me know by e-mail.
Development:
============
Seyon was written and is being maintained on a no-name 386SX-25
PC-clone running linux with XFree86. The machine has 10MB of
memory and a 200MB hard drive. Seyon has its roots in xcomm 2.2,
which was written by Eric Coe and Larry Gensch.
Disclaimer:
===========
This program is provided 'as is', with no explicit or implied
warranty. I disclaim all warranties with regard to this software,
including all warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no
event shall the author be liable for any damages resulting from
the use of this program.
Copyright:
==========
Seyon is Copyright (c) of Muhammad M. Saggaf. Seyon is not
public domain. Permission is granted to use and distribute Seyon
freely for any use and to sell it at any price without reference to
the copyright owner provided that in all above cases Seyon is intact
and is not made part of any program either in whole or in part and
that this copyright notice is included with Seyon. Permission is
also granted to modify the source as long as the modified source is
not distributed.
Contact:
========
For suggestions, patches, bug reports, or general discussion,
contact the author, or better yet, join the Seyon mailing list.
See the FAQ on how to join. Any letter you send to the mailing
list reaches me (and others who might help).
Author:
=======
Muhammad M. Saggaf
42 Carleton Street
Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
e-mail: alsaggaf@mit.edu