itc bix

1.

Each instruction is on a line by itself

2.

Labels are declared on lines by themselves and a colon (:) follows the label name.

3.

When labels are referenced, the colon is not used.

4.

Indenting is optional, but aids in keeping your script readable.

5.

Quoted text arguments can have control characters imbedded in them by entering a caret (^) followed by the letter (upper or lowercase) of the corresponding control character. For example, to put a carriage return at the end of a PRINT instruction, you would use:

PRINT "Testing^M"

6.

Quoted text arguments can include characters like quotes, carets, and backslash by prefixing them with the backslash (\).

7.

Text arguments containing spaces must be put between quotation marks, otherwise the program will only recognize the first word in a series of words.

8.

A space character must separate a command from its argument(s).

9.

Comments can be placed on lines by themselves following any of these comment characters: pound (#), semi-colon (;), apostrophe (’), asterisk (*).

do label

Causes script execution to begin executing instructions at label. When a return instruction is encountered, program flow resumes with the next instruction following the do command.

term

Temporarily pauses script execution and puts you into terminal mode. When you exit terminal mode, script execution continues.

goto label

Diverts script execution to a certain label. Unlike do, a return will not return to the instruction after the goto.

clear

Clears the screen and puts the cursor in the upper left corner.

print "text"

Displays text on the screen, but is not sent to the modem. Add “^M” at the end of the text to issue a carriage return.

speed bps

speed will set the bits per second rate for use with it. Values for bps are 300, 1200, 2400, 9600, 19200, 38400, and 57600.

echo mode

Sets up local or remote echo modes for terminal mode. Arguments for mode are on and off. Echo on is half duplex (local echo). Echo off is full duplex (remote echo).

dial number

Dials a phone number.

connect

Attempts to connect with a host computer after dialing. Use the IF statement after executing connect to determine if connection was successfully established.

return

Causes script execution to return to the line following the corresponding do instruction.

wait "text"

Halts script execution until “text” has been received. This is used for handshaking on incoming data. Use the if instruction to determine if pattern was found.

if condition [ then goto ] label

IF is used to test the most recent function performed by the script, such as attempting to connect with a host computer, sending or receiving a file, or handshaking on incoming text. Example conditions for use with IF are:

if found goto ... if ok goto ... if connect goto ... if good goto ... if failed goto ... if bad goto ... if true goto ... if success goto ... if false goto ... if no goto ... if yes goto ...
Place not or no in front of a condition to negate it, such as “if not found goto label”. The words “then” and “goto” are optional. If the condition is true, the script branches to the label referenced at the very end of the if instruction.

send "text"

Works like print, except sends text to the modem and not to the screen. If you need to send a carriage return, use “^M” (caret followed by the letter M).

hangup

Disconnects the modem with the host, and hangs up the phone.

sendfile file [ delay [ char ] ]

Send the text in file, line by line. Output is paused after each line for delay seconds if included. The next line is not sent until char is received if the optional char argument is included. Example:

sendfile bletch.txt 2 :
This sends the file “bletch.txt” line by line, with an interline delay of 2, and waits for a colon from the host before each line is sent.

break

Sends a modem break tone.

sleep seconds

Causes script execution to pause for the seconds specified, then execution resumes.

exec command

Executes the system command line in command. This can be used to run any program on the system, such as external protocols, or a C-Shell that invokes a shell script. Examples:

exec "csh cd /profile/mail; rm tempfile" exec "sz filename" exec "csh source batch.script"

Commands with spaces must be enclosed in quotation marks.

When the command is complete, control returns to it and the script continues. “If” statements can be used to test the success of the exec command.

run script

Lets you run a different script file from within a script.

end

Causes a script to stop running. If you’re online, you’re taken right to terminal mode.

exit

Causes the script to stop running and forces it to quit.

printer mode

Specifies whether any output which is shown inside the terminal mode window will be sent to the printer or not. Values for mode are on and off. Printer on sends output to the printer, while printer off does not.

emulate terminal

Initializes terminal emulation for the named terminal template file.