Compunet Reborn - Amiga Client
==============================
Compunet (aka CNet) was a UK interactive online service that ran from 1984 to
1993, serving the Commodore 64 community: user-generated content, electronic
mail ("Courier"), telesoftware downloads, a page editor, multi-user Partyline
chat, and the iconic horizontally-scrolling "duckshoot" menu.
This is the *original 1989 Amiga Compunet client* - recovered and reverse-
engineered from the shipping binary, reconstructed as recompilable C, and re-
pointed from its modem/cnet.device transport at the Compunet Reborn server over
native TCP/IP. The on-the-wire X.25 framing and the entire application-layer
protocol are preserved unchanged; only the hardware transport is swapped for
bsdsocket.library.
Features:
* Directory browsing with the "duckshoot" menu and PETSCII frame rendering
* Electronic mail (Courier) - send, receive, recipient ID lookup
* Downloads and uploads (telesoftware, IFF pictures, text pages)
* The frame/page Editor
* Partyline multi-user chat (via the resident CnetTty viewer)
* LIFE / VOTE / user catalogue
Requirements:
* A TCP/IP stack providing bsdsocket.library (Roadshow, AmiTCP, Miami, ...),
installed and online - these need Kickstart 2.04 or higher, which is what
sets the floor
* The client itself runs on Kickstart 1.3 or higher, as the 1989 original did;
with no stack it keeps its offline UI
* A free Compunet Reborn account - register at https://compunet.live/
Usage:
Un-archive the download to get a "Compunet" drawer. If needed, edit the
"TCPHOST" file inside; it is preset to the live server:
vme.compunet.live:6400
Bring your TCP/IP stack online, then double-click the Compunet icon.
Compunet Reborn is an open recreation of the Compunet online service - connect
from a C64, a PETSCII terminal, or the Amiga. Register and read more at:
https://compunet.live/
The reverse-engineering and reconstruction are documented at:
https://github.com/tgreaves/compunet-reborn
Changes affecting the Amiga client
----------------------------------
1.4.0
* New: IFF/ILBM pictures. The service can now hold pictures, and the client's
built-in viewer displays them - painting in as they download, as it was
meant to. There is an AMIGA area off the main menu with one to try.
* Fixed: that viewer had never displayed anything. The picture was decoded
correctly and then drawn onto a screen left behind the client's own,
through a window sized for a different screen, so a download completed,
the file saved, and nothing appeared.
* Fixed: clicking any directory button - Dir, Back, Goto, Dnld or Upld -
painted a solid block over it that never came off, for the rest of the
session.
* Fixed: pressing Return in Goto Page, Download filename, Upload filename,
Vote or Extend By abandoned the command instead of accepting it, and those
fields opened without a cursor, so typing did nothing until you clicked in.
* Fixed: Left-Amiga+HELP now aborts a download or page read in progress. It
only ever worked while the client was idle.
* Fixed: a charged text page was downloaded, and you were billed, without the
"WARNING - CHARGED ITEM" confirmation appearing. Every other kind of
charged item asked first.
* Fixed: quitting after viewing a picture crashed the client.
* Fixed: disconnecting did not release the modem, so connecting again in the
same session built on top of the previous connection.
* Fixed: the client leaked memory on every run - the character set, and the
editor and Partyline viewer programs, were never given back.
* Fixed: entering a Goto Page code could corrupt memory elsewhere.
* Fixed: Extend By accepted anything typed into it, not just a number.
* Fixed: the connect panel drew its text in the same colour as its
background, and had no cursor. It now reads blue on white as the original
did, and TAB moves between the fields.
* Fixed: turning on Diagnostics opened a window that stayed blank and could
not be closed until you quit.
* Fixed: an unreadable file chosen for upload failed silently instead of
offering "Can't read file - try again?".
* Fixed: the directory could offer a row that was not there, showing a page
number left over from the previous listing.
1.3.0
* Fixed: a download taken after any other action wrote the previous screen to
disk instead of the file, and reported it as a completed download. The
saved file was unusable.
* Fixed: downloads are around 40 times faster. A 166K program took 36
seconds and now takes under one.
* Fixed: a download interrupted by a lost connection left the file locked, so
every retry failed with "Can't open file - try again?" until the client was
restarted.
* Fixed: the file size sent with a download was truncated and byte-swapped
for Amiga files, so anything over 64K was described wrongly.
* Fixed: uploading from the Amiga could later have the entry recorded as a
C64 file, after which downloading it warned it was for the wrong machine.
* New: the About window shows the client version, and credits the Reborn
project alongside the 1989 authors.
1.1.0
* First release of the Amiga client.
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