XON/XOFF/EOF Protocol

Autolog provides a simple, non-error-correcting way of transferring text or ASCII files from command mode using XON/XOFF/EOF protocol. Use the post command to send a text file to the remote system, and capture to receive a file from the remote system.

The remote system must have software that honors XON/XOFF/EOF protocol. This is the way this protocol works:

  1. Start the file transfer software at the remote side while in talk mode. Tell it to send or receive a text file using XON/XOFF/EOF protocol.
  2. Press the change key to return to Autolog's command mode. Enter the appropriate post or capture command.
  3. The sending side will wait for an XON (usually control-Q) to begin sending the file. The receiving side will send XON when it's ready to receive data, and will send XOFF (usually control-S) when it can't accept more data and needs the sender to suspend transmitting.
  4. When the file is completely transferred, the sender will send the EOF character (usually control-Z).
XON/XOFF/EOF protocol can only be used to transfer text, or ASCII, files. It requires that the remote side, when sending a file, send an EOF character when it is done. You can define the EOF character to accommodate remote software that uses XON/XOFF protocol but sends some other character besides control-Z when the transfer or text dump is done.

post and capture are not error-correcting file transfers. You may want to use an error-correcting file transfer protocol if one is supported by the remote system.