				    HPComm
                     ========================================
                     PC to HP48 Transfer-Program for Win95/NT
                     ========================================

				 ***************
				 * VERSION 2.1 *
				 ***************

	                         Home of HPComm:

			      http://over.to/hpcomm

					or

			http://www.stud.ee.ethz.ch/~jbergami/HP48



HPComm is an easy to use program to transfer files from your HP48 to your PC and
vice versa. It uses a simple, explorer-like drag'n'drop interface and works
together with all HP48 models!

The features in short:

 - Copy single files, several files together or whole directories
 - Delete files on your HP48 and throw files on your PC in the recycle-bin
 - Move files on your HP48 and your PC
 - Transmit files in ASCII or binary mode
 - Change I/O-settings on you HP48 with your PC
 - Use the "Send to" command of the Windows-Explorer to send files to your HP48
 - Drag files from Windows-Explorer directly to the HP48 window to copy them
 - Archive and restore your HP48 contents
 - Save your favorite PC-directory which contains your HP48 stuff and it will 
   always be opened at startup
 - XMODEM transmission (which is up to 4x faster than Kermit)
   Only available with the G-Series
 - Convert BMP-Graphics to GROBs and vice versa


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLATION
============

To get it run, just copy the exe-file (HPComm.exe) to a location you want, and
start it.
Be sure your HP is configured correctly and in SERVER-MODE!!!

At startup, COM1 is selected. If the communication can't be established, you'll be
asked to set the comm-settings. After you choose them, they are stored in the file
HPComm.ini in the windows directory (just a couple of bytes in size).
You can delete it if you want to remove the program from your PC.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USING IT
========

The handling of the program is really simple! Just drag one or more files from your
HP to a desired location on your PC and vice versa. If you drop the files over a
directory, it will be transmitted to it!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To move files/directories on your HP, simply drag them to the desired location. It
is really slow because the HP doesn's support any kind of "Move" operation (so a
helper program must first be sent to the HP). If you drop the selection over a
folder, the files will be moved to it.

A doubleclick on a directory opens it. Already opened directories on the HP are
stored to provide fast browsing of the HP directories.

To use the "Send To"-command of the explorer, simply put a shortcut to HP48.exe
to the C:\Windows\SendTo (or whatever) folder. After that, you can select files
withing the explorer, rightclick and choose "Send To" -> "Shortcut to HP48.exe".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use the menu-command "Set favorite Path" you current directory of the PC is
stored in the HPComm.ini and at the next startup, you automatically start with it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you hit the "del" key or use the delete command/button, the selected files are
deleted on the HP or thrown into the recycle-bin on the PC!
I encountered some problems deleting big directories on the HP. My HP crashed
several times and memory recovering did not work any more!!!
Maybe it's a good idea to delete the files within a directory, before deleting itself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can convert BMPs to GROBs and vice versa. Simply use the menu-command. Assert
that the BMP you want to convert only has two colors. Use any graphic-program
to set the number of colors.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately it's not possible to start an archive-operation, while the HP is
in server mode. When archiving with this program, you have to hit the eval key on
the HP48 after the server has been finished by the program.
Still easier than doing all by yourself ;-)

To restore the whole HP, choose a backup-file and then "HP48-Restore". The file
will be transmitted to the HP and the backup is restored. Attention: Restoring
means deleting the whole memory of the HP48 and replacing it by the backup-file.
So be careful!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------



XMODEM
======

If you want to use XModem transmission, press the shift key, while dropping the
files at the desired location or use the menu/toolbar. The Kermit-server is
finished. To start the transaction, press the EVAL key on the HP to start the
little helper program.
The filesize on the PC may vary from that on the HP if you use XModem because only
fix block-sizes of 128 bytes are transmitted at a time. So the minimum file-size
on the PC is 128 bytes.

XModem transmission is up to 4 times faster than Kermit, but there is no possibility
to transmit files in ASCII mode.
If you try to transmit an ASCII file back on the HP with XModem there will be an
error message an the file is not transmitted.
If a XModem-transfer aborts, there is no possibility to recover the error. Just put
your HP back in server mode and try again.
If you transmit a file which already exists on the HP, the file will be renamed
with the ending .1

A strange thing is, that the HP reports "Insufficient Memory" if you transfer "big"
files to it with XModem. I don't know if it stores receiving files first in a kind
of temporary file and then copies it to the destination file. For successful 
transmission, pleas be sure, you have the double amount of memory free, you try
to transmit with XModem.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LIMITATIONS
===========

One thing doesn't work yet:
  - Parity (but who needs that??????)

So set your HP to NONE parity!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The progress-bars do not work exactly when transferring files from your HP to the
PC in ASCII mode, because there's no possibility to determine which size the file
will have after extraction to ASCII mode.
The binary mode or the transfer from the PC to the HP works fine!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When transferring files from the HP to the PC, you only can skip the whole bunch
of files. The HP48 doesn't support other mechanisms to skip only one file!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The icons look kind of strange on NT (and I don't know why). It's ugly, but
it works.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Some hints and tips
===================

 - Avoid filenames which contain HP-specific characters. The name will be
   translated by Kermit to store it on the PC, but an upload with the same
   file name back to the HP will not be possible. Rename files which cannot be
   transmitted back.

 - Clear your stack before using this program. After every command, the HP48
   transmits the whole stack. You can imagine that it slows down the whole thing, 
   if you have a lot of elements in your stack.

 - Use binary-mode, if you don't want to view/edit the files on the PC. It's
   a lot faster. Or even better: if you have a G-series calc, use XModem!
   Especially libraries can cause troubles, if transferred in
   ASCII-mode (and there is no sense, too).


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


If you detect any other bugs, or if you have some ideas or wishes, feel free to
write me:

		james@switzerland.org


Thanks for using it!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And remember: 	This program is Alms-ware. Everybody who uses this program regularly
		please send $10 to:

		Bergamin Jean-Pierre
		Kanonengasse 19
		CH-8004 Zuerich
		Switzerland

		
		or go to HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But seriously: It's fair to pay a poor student-programmer's work.
Please contact me if you use this program. The more feedback I get,
the more I am willed and motivated to improve it!