23 Jan
2012
23 Jan
'12
4:13 a.m.
----- Original Message:
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:49:57 +0000
From: Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com>
On 22 January 2012 18:55, MikeS <dm561 at torfree.net> wrote:
----- Original Message:
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:59:25 +0000
From: Pete Turnbull <pete at dunnington.plus.com>
> I dislike hyperterminal fairly intensely...
> Just curious: what is it specifically about HyperTerminal that you not
> only dislike, but dislike "fairly intensely" (other than that it used to
> be supplied by Microsoft and runs in Windows)? As for me: I really dislike the business of selecting
a session, attaching
it to a specified modem device and so on. I want a comms program to just
open up and point me at the serial port; I'll do the dialling, thanks.
------
Different strokes for different folks, I guess; for 'real work', i.e.
connecting to an external system/device, I actually like being able to
simply click on an appropriate icon and being transparently connected to
that system without selecting com ports, dialing numbers, etc.
------
I do feel that the basic function of a comms program
is to be a terminal
emulator, though. HyperTerm compelled you to create a session, install a
modem driver, choose a modem and so on, even if you just wanted to type
ATI1
ATI2
ATI3
...etc.
If you wanted a dumb terminal session, IIRC, you had
to configure a null
modem or a direct cable connection and point it at that. It was just
obstructive.
------
Umm, no, not really; if all you wanted was to talk to a comm port then like
any terminal program you selected the comm port, baud rate and handshaking
and away you went, optionally saving the configuration to a session in case
you wanted to use it again. Of course most of the time you wanted to connect
to a _system_ or a _device_ and not a comm port, which would require some
additional setup like entering phone numbers, modem configuration
parameters, etc.
But yes, if what you wanted was to tinker with different baud rates,
handshaking, emulations etc. instead of just connecting to whatever, then
other terminal programs like Bray's Term, RealTerm, PuTTY etc. or even DOS's
ProcommPlus or Telix were indeed more flexible, and I use them all as well
from time to time.