When you have the information, feed it into the Internet application that you run on the Palmtop.
The following sections will describe the information the user needs to input to the Internet program he or she is using, and gives some practical examples using the SLIP/PPP programs.
Dialing and Logon Information
Your independent service provider will give you one or more phone numbers that you can use to connect to the Internet. You'll also get a username or id, a password, and instructions on how to start up the PPP or SLIP connection once you're logged on. Often, the logon procedure can be automated by placing all of this information in a script file that needs to be written specifically for the individual service provider.
Mail servers (SMTP+POP3)
In order to send and receive e-mail you will need to know the name of a mail server. This is the system that your Palmtop will connect to for sending and receiving e-mail. Usually you will need to supply two names:
News Server (NNTP)
Since Usenet Newsgroups are placed on different news servers throughout the Internet, you'll have to tell your Palmtop which news server to use. Some service providers have their own news servers, while others don't. You'll have to ask around for a server near you.
Domain Name Server (DNS)
Each system on the Internet has its own unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. In order for you to be able to connect your Palmtop to another system, you have to know its IP addresses. Luckily you don't have to keep a huge catalog of IP address on your Palmtop. You can access a system known as a Domain Name Server to provide that information. However, you will need to know the IP address of the Domain Name Server to access it.
IP address
All systems on the Internet must have an IP address, including the Palmtop. Some (very few) ISPs will give you a permanent (static) IP address, in which case you'll enter this into your Internet application. However, most of the time you will be assign a temporary IP address at the time the PPP/SLIP connection is set up.
Setting up Net-Tamer on your HP Palmtop
This Internet suite is the most popular with Palmtop users. It lets you access e-mail and other Internet services from your Palmtop using a PPP connection.
Transfer the Net-Tamer files to your Palmtop and then run Net-Tamer's READER.EXE to set up the program. The first menu lets you set up your modem. When you're finished setting up the modem go to the next menu and fill out items A through I. Please note that when you enter the phone number(s) of your ISP, you will also be prompted for the file name of your login script. Depending on how your service provider is set up, you may be able to use one of the scripts supplied by Net-Tamer (see sample below). If not, the document NETTAMER .DOC has more information on writing login scripts.
Sample ISP script for connecting to CompuServe:
BLAST <13>
WAIT Name:-OR-#500
DELAY 20
BLAST CIS<13>
WAIT ID:-OR-#300
DELAY 10
BLAST Username$/go:pppconnect
WAIT word:-OR-#100
DELAY 10
BLAST Password$
WAIT PPP-OR-#300
DELAY 10
PPP
Minuet
This DOS program combines POP mail client, Gopher+ client, Telnet, FPT, NetNews reader and WWW browser into an integrated package that works on the HP Palmtop. The first thing you'll have to do is copy the Minuet files to your HP Palmtop. To use Minuet you first have to make a PPP connection using EtherPPP and MYIP (in INETDOS.EXE). This may be done by running a DOS batch file DIAL.BAT, similar to this:
set MYIP=000.000.000.000
ppp /c 1 /s 115200 /d script
myip.exe
minuet.exe/lcdmono
termin 0x60
del mincache\*.*
The first line above initializes the "MYIP environment variable."
The second line runs the program PPP with the following switches:
/c 1 -- tells PPP to use COM1: for communication.
/s 115200 -- sets the speed to 115200 baud.
/d script -- tells PPP to run the script found in the file DIAL.PPP (see below).
After the connection has been set up, the third line runs MYIP.EXE, which determines the dynamic IP address assigned to the Palmtop by the service provider and writes the address to the MYIP environment variable.
The fourth line runs MINUET.EXE, which uses the IP address in MYIP. The switch /lcdmono will run MINUET in the best possible color combination for the Palmtop.
The fifth line runs the TERMIN program, which closes down the PPP connection.
The sixth and last line deletes the cache in the subdirectory MINCACHE.
DIALING SCRIPT
The second line in DIAL.BAT above ran PPP and, among other things, accessed a "dialing script." Using CompuServe as the Internet service provider, the dialing script DIAL.PPP might look like this:
send "at\r"
recv 3000 "OK\r\n"
send "atdt<Access Number>\r"
recv 30000
send "\03"
recv 30000 "ser ID:"
send "<User ID:>/GO CIS:PPPCONNECT\r"
recv 2000 "ord:"
send "<Password>\r"
recv 10000 "PPP Connection"
send +++
Be sure to replace <Access Number>, <User ID>, and <Password> above with your information.
Once Minuet is launched, select the Setup pulldown menu to setup:
DosLynx
DosLynx also uses EtherPPP and MYIP to make a PPP connection (see Minuet above). Note, however, that in order for DosLynx to automatically use a dynamically assigned IP address, MYIP will have to be version 2.0 or higher, since this version introduced an enhancement for use with DosLynx.
As with Minuet the connection is set up by running a DOS batch file DIAL.BAT, similar to this:
ppp /c 1 /s 115200 /d script
myip.exe/d
mode bw80
doslynx
termin 0x60
The first line above runs the program PPP with the following switches:
/c 1 tells PPP to use COM1: for communication.
/s 115200 sets the speed to 115200 baud.
/d script tells PPP to run the script found in the file DIAL.PPP (see below).
After the connection has been set up using PPP, the second line runs MYIP.EXE to determine which dynamic IP address the Palmtop has been assigned by the ISP. MYIP.EXE is run with the switch /D so that it will write this address to a configuration file named MY_IP.CFG.
The third line issues the MODE BW80 command, which runs DOSLYNX in the best possible color combination for the Palmtop.
The fourth line runs DOSLYNX.
The fifth line runs the TERMIN program, which closes down the PPP connection.
Using CompuServe as ISP the dialing script DIAL.PPP might look like this:
send "at\r"
recv 3000 "OK\r\n"
send "atdt<Access Number>\r"
recv 30000
send "\03"
recv 30000 "ser ID:"
send "<User ID>/GO CIS:PPPCONNECT\r"
recv 2000 "ord:"
send "<Password>\r"
recv 10000 "PPP Connection"
send +++
Be sure to replace <Access Number>, <User ID>, and <Password> above with your information.
Before DosLynx is run, the configuration file DOSLYNX.CFG must be edited. Replace the nameserver and nntphost fields with the information obtained from your Internet service provider. In addition, the my_ip field in DOSLYNX .CFG must be commented out and the include field set to MY_IP.CFG, which is the file that has the IP address obtained from the MYIP.EXE program.