Importing binary files without removable storage nor non-bundled

The obvious out-of-band signal is a keypress (either the 'Any key' or some partciular one like ctrl-C). In other words, COPY /B should copy all characters from the serial port to the file _without modification_ until there's a keypress. The user has to start the copy, get the other device to start sending data, then press a key when it's finished. That's mainly because they are not hardware handshake lines, at least not for things like that. They were status lines between a terminal and the local modem, not the device at the other end of the link. Using them for flow cotnrol is actually contrary to the RS232 standard (or at least the one I saw). I suppose using the for end-of-file (which could be taken to be similar to loss-of-carrier or something) would sort-of comply with the standards, but I doubt that was ever done. Problem is that if you use them as they were originally intended then you'll have problems because nobody else does that. I remember bitterly doing battle with the HP82164 RS232 interface. This seems to have been designed by someboy who has read the standard but has never seen a real-world 'RS232' device. I seem to remember some very odd pin-swaps to get it working... -tony