Copyright © 1992-2000 by Keller Group Inc. All rights reserved.
QUICK START GUIDE FOR PMFAX OS/2
- Introduction
- Desktop Features
- Faxing from OS/2 Apps
- Faxing from DOS Apps
- Faxing from Windows Apps
- Solving Problems
- Why should I get the Pro version?
HARDWARE
- Modems
- Multiline Notes
- Serial cards and drivers
- Brooktrout Boards
- GammaFax Boards
SOFTWARE/APPLICATIONS
- Scanner & OCR Support
- Integration with Other Applications
NEW FEATURES & DOCUMENTATION
- New in PMfax Lite
- New in PMfax Pro
- New in PMfax LAN
- Documentation for some newer features
PMfax supports a very wide variety of modem hardware. Most modern modems support either the Class 1 or Class 2.0 fax command set, but PMfax also supports some older fax command sets.
To configure PMfax to use your fax modem, do the following:
When in doubt, first try Class 1. If you get a "modem error" message when you try to send a fax, then try Class 2.0. Selecting the wrong values will not hurt anything, so give it a try and see what works best for your hardware.
Using an external modem is often easier than using an internal modem. Some modems are "Winmodems" that only work when used with a Windows software driver, so they won't work on other operating systems. Some "Plug and Play" internal modems can be difficult to install on non-Windows systems because their "switchless" configuration uses drivers or software that may require Windows.When it comes to fax and voice support, the best modem is not necessarily the fanciest or the most expensive. Simple modems based on standard Rockwell or Lucent chip sets provide very good performance for both fax and voice. Modems that send data at high speed still send faxes at a maximum of 14.4 kb (for compatibility with the millions of fax machines - after all, that's what makes faxing so useful), so a simple modem using a standard chip set may be better than a fancy data modem using a proprietary chip set.
Modems are very inexpensive these days, so you may want to test a few different modems from several manufacturers. Modems use different command subsystems for data, fax and voice activities, so the best data modems are not necessarily the best for fax or voice functions.
Additional notes are below. Manufacturers are constantly changing their modem hardware and firmware so it is difficult to reference specific model numbers, but if your modem doesn't seem to work correctly these notes may suggest a fix.
Using a voice/fax modem based on the Rockwell or Lucent chip set is recommended, but others are also supported. Some modems do not support voice, so check your modem's package or documentation to determine if it is a voice/fax modem.
Some modems do not follow our supported voice data standards and must be run in "native" mode. These modems, when used in "wave" mode, will have either poor sound quality or total noise. If you change to "native" mode, you must attach your speaker/microphone/telephone directly to you modem and rerecord your outgoing message and any other voice prompt files using your modem to get them into your modem's native format.
When using voice features, we recommend loading our fmd.sys driver (and then selecting an FMD port on the Ports page of the Settings notebook). This driver is optimized to handle fax/voice issues, but the standard COM ports will often work fine, too. On some systems, checking the "Use HW FIFO (16550A)" checkbox on the Modem Type settings page is also required for good voice quality.
Some examples of modems that have been tested or reported to work (many others also work):
Voice with "Rockwell command set" and "wave format" (Multimedia support): Cardinal - 14.4/28.8 Fax Modems with Voicemail/Speakerphone Practical Peripherals - 336 Ext Voice Model No. 5638US Reveal - Quad Office/MV500/Decathlon XL Zoom - Voice VFP 14.4V Shark - Multimedia Baby Tiger 288-R Radicom - 33.6 voice Motorola - 56k VoiceSurfer (External) VOBIS/Elsa - Highscreen Bahn Boostar 56k future
Voice with "Rockwell command set" and "native" format:
Hayes - Optima 288 V.34/V.FC+FAX+VOICE
Voice with "U.S. Robotics command set" and "native" format:
USRobotics - Sportster internal Voice 28.8 w/Voicemail Model 1171
USRobotics - Sportster external Voice 28.8 w/Voicemail Model 1172 Voice with "U.S. Robotics command set" and "Wave format":
USRobotics - Sportster 56000 Voice V4.5.1 or later (ATI3 to check)
Voice with "ZyXEL command set" and "native" format:
ZyXEL - Omni 288s Voice with "Cirrus Logic command set" and "wave format" (OS/2 Multimedia): Jaton Communicator - (CL-MD3452 chipset with IS-101 voice)
Voice with Brooktrout adapter and "wave format" (OS/2 Multimedia): Brooktrout - TR114 series
For most Class 1 modems, using the 'Check TCF signal' on the Modem Type page of the Settings notebook will provide enhanced speed downgrading. This may improve the quality of received faxes. On a few modems, engaging this switch will cause the modem not to initialize properly, so use this switch with care. We don't recommend using this switch with a US Robotics Sportster modem.
Most modems do NOT need any special settings. A few older modems that may need special settings are listed below. If your model of modem is not one of these, first try Class 1 or Class 2.0 without any special settings and test your modem for faxing with the PMfax software.
DELL - Digitan (older Dell desktop units)
Class-2, XON Receive start, no DLE esc
DELL - Datarace (older Dell laptop units)
Class-1, Special command \J0\Q2
Dynalink - V1433VQE
Class 1, Check TCF Spec cmd \A3\N3%C3%E2S24=15S38=10
ELSA - 2460, MicroLink 14.4T/TM/TL
Class-2, Special command \Q1
14.4T with ROM 2.01 also needs Special command &K1&R7
Everex - EverFax 24/96 (COM1/2 only)
Class-2, Alt bit order, XON Receive start
Megahertz - 96/96 FAX/Modem (P296FMV)
Class-1, Special command \J0\Q1
Megahertz - 14400 Fax/Modem (XJ244)
Class-2, XON Receive start, No DLE esc
Megahertz - 14400 Fax/Modem (XJ1144)
Class-1, Special command &K4
MICC - 9642 Class-2 MicroCom user reported:
Class-1, Special command &C1
MultiTech - MultiFaxPC MT932, Multi Modem MT932EAF, II, V.32 Fax
Class-2, Alt bit order
Reveal - Quad Office/VM500/Decathlon XL
Class-1, Special command &C1
Supra - SupraFAXmodem V.32bis
Class-1 or Class-2 Silent Answer feature is supported
Special command +FAA=2 for Class 2 with Silent Answer,
and +FEA=2 for Class 1 with Silent Answer
USRobotics - Courier HST Dual Std w/Fax
Class-1, Special command &H2, Receive EOP delay
USRobotics - Sportster 14,400 or 28,800
Class-1, Receive EOP delay, Special command &H2&I0&R1
If sending to Pitney Bowes machines, also use S36=0
Do not use 'Check TCF signal' with this modem
USRobotics - Sportster Voice 28.8 with Personal Voicemail Model 1171/1172
Class-1, Receive EOP delay, Special command &H2&I0&R1S36=0
Do not use 'Check TCF signal' with this modem.
USRobotics - Sportster Voice 33.6
Class-2.0 Special command &H2&I0&R1S36=0
USRobotics - Sportster 56000 Voice (x2 modem)
Need V4.5.1 FLASH ROM or later from USR (ATI3 to check)
Class-1 (or try Class-2.0) Special command &H2&I0&R1S36=0
USRobotics - Courier 28800
Class-1, Special command &H2&I2, Receive EOP delay
USRobotics - V.terbo 21600 w/14400 Fax
Class-1, Receive EOP delay
USRobotics - Worldport 2496 V.42bis, 9696 MNP5 FAX
SendFax
USRobotics - Worldport 9696 V.42 w/Fax, 14400 V.42 w/Fax
Class-1, Special command &H2
Zoltrix - 33.6 fax/data/voice (TI RK Voice chipset - user tested)
Class-2.0 Spec cmd: &A3&B1&H1&R2&D2&C1X4S0=0S7=90
(#CID=1 for caller ID enabling)(not supported for voice)
Zoom - 56kbps FAX modem, Model 2819
Class-1, Skip TCF read
If you have purchased additional line options for your program, you can install multiple fax hardware devices and fax telephone lines, and then do simultaneous fax sending and/or receiving on these lines. PMfax can support up to 96 lines per CPU, and the LAN product has optional "multiple fax server" support for even more capacity.
On a given CPU, the multiple fax hardware devices must be of the same type. The same configuration page in the Settings notebook controls the configuration for all the fax hardware devices. The Ports page in the Settings notebook is used to configure the individual fax lines for sending, receiving or both. The selected lines are automatically used for simultaneous sending/receiving.
Fax modems - Either internal or external fax modems can be used, and while the modems do not need to be identical, they must all use the same values on the Modem Type page in the Settings notebook. Each fax modem must be on a separate COM port in your system, and the COM ports should generally be standard hardware chips (8250, 16450, 16550, or 16550A equivalents), although the ports need not be at the conventional COM port address and IRQ settings since you can specify these settings on the FMD.SYS line in your CONFIG.SYS file. See the next section for a discussion of serial boards (both "non-intelligent" and "intelligent") for adding COM ports. For large port counts, we recommend using ports with 16550A UARTs and Class 2.0 fax modems.
Brooktrout boards - If you have properly installed the OS/2 runtime software from Brooktrout, the Brooktrout ports will appear on the Ports page in the Settings notebook. It is possible to run up to 96 lines using Brooktrout fax hardware. The boards require Brooktrout's OS/2 driver at a proper version level for your fax software. You can download the needed Brooktrout files from our web download area. See the installation notes for Brooktrout hardware.
GammaLink boards - The GammaFax ports will appear on the Ports page in the Settings notebook. The fax program interfaces with the GammaFax boards via the GammaFax Dispatcher, so it can operate simultaneously with many other GammaFax software products which also use the GammaFax Dispatcher. See the installation notes for GammaFax hardware.
The multiline versions of the fax software can support up to 96 fax lines, but it can be difficult to find enough ports, interrupts or slots to attach modems to your PC.
A serial port board might be the answer. Boards that provide real hardware UART ports (compatible with standard PC COM ports) are supported, and the fax software's optimized device driver (FMD.SYS) allows you to use nonstandard port I/O addresses, nonstandard interrupts and shared interrupts. Serial boards are commonly available in 4-, 8- and 16-port versions for both ISA and MCA machines, and we've tested many products including boards from DigiBoard, STB, GTEK, and Quatech. For large systems, we generally recommend using boards with 16550A UARTs and Class 2.0 fax modems.
16550A UART Support - The fax software can take advantage of 16550A UART chips if they are used in your PC serial port, internal fax modem or serial port board. The use of 16550A UARTs is not required, but they will decrease the system load during fax sending and receiving with fax modem hardware since the 16550A hardware buffering substantially reduces the interrupt rate.
Intelligent Boards - "Intelligent" serial boards (and some types of non-standard fax modems) do not provide physical UART ports, so they cannot be used through the optimized FMD.SYS OS/2 device driver. Instead, they provide a replacement for OS/2's COM.SYS device driver which makes their ports accessible as COM devices, and the ports can only be accessed through their proprietary COM.SYS replacement driver. If you wish to try using such "intelligent" boards, simply select the COM ports on the ports settings page. This has been tested with COM.SYS and SIO.SYS, and should work with other COM.SYS replacement drivers. Because the performance of this interface is dependent upon the characteristics of the COM.SYS-type driver which is provided by other parties, we cannot provide warranty or support for use of these "intelligent" boards. But this can be very useful since, for example, SIO.SYS supports special serial ports like the Hayes ESP and Telcor Tport which are not directly supported by our FMD.SYS driver. You should test your specific configuration to see if it works in an acceptable manner. We continue to recommend use of FMD.SYS or the standard OS/2 COM.SYS driver for all devices which provide actual UART ports.
Brooktrout's OS/2 driver (version 3.7) is required for Brooktrout TR112, TR114, and TruFax boards. This driver is available in our web download area.
To our knowledge at the time of writing, Brooktrout has not released PCI support for OS/2, so be sure to use ISA boards for the OS/2 platform.
To install the Brooktrout fax hardware, first follow the instructions in Brooktrout's hardware guide to install your Brooktrout fax boards, then follow these instructions to install the Brooktrout OS/2 driver software.
[The destination directory for the Brooktrout software is assumed to be C:\BFAX for the following steps. Please change the commands as needed for your installation directory.]
1) To create the install directory, type:
MKDIR C:\BFAX
2) Copy BFAX.SYS, FAXINIT.EXE, *.CFG, and *.PEX into C:\BFAX. If a directory other than C:\BFAX is used, BTCALL.CFG will need to be edited and all four paths changed from C:\BFAX to the proper directory.
3) Edit your C:\CONFIG.SYS to add an appropriate line like this one:
DEVICE=C:\BFAX\BFAX.SYS D1 I12 N24
This line is for DMA channel 1, interrupt 12, and 24 channels. These settings should match the jumpers set on the boards. Modify the D1 or I12 as appropriate. The N24 (or other number) is only required for more than 16 channels. Please make sure any DEVICE= lines from older Brooktrout BFAX drivers are removed from your CONFIG.SYS and that there are no device conflicts with the DMA channel and interrupt number you have chosen.
4) Edit your C:\STARTUP.CMD to add the following line:
C:\BFAX\FAXINIT
(or put "RUN=C:\BFAX\FAXINIT.EXE" after the BFAX.SYS line in your CONFIG.SYS).
5) Install the OS/2 fax software. With PMfax version 4, select Brooktrout as the fax hardware. If you have a CD-based copy of PMfax v3 and use the install.exe program, select "Brooktrout BFAX" as the fax hardware type when running install. If you have a web-downloaded copy of PMfax v3, by sure to replace the default fax.adp file in the web download with the version of this file for Brooktrout hardware by getting the "Brooktrout fax adapter" file from our web download area.
6) You will need to reboot for OS/2 to load the new BFAX.SYS driver.
7) On the Utilities/Settings/Brooktrout screen, specify the path:
C:\BFAX\BTCALL.CFG
Note that FAXINIT.EXE, BFAX.SYS, *.PEX, and *.CFG are from Brooktrout. We will do our best to help out, but any real problems should be addressed to Brooktrout.
We have noticed some things about Brooktrout's FAXINIT program. There is an undocumented range of addresses that FAXINIT looks for. Here is what we know about FAXINIT:
FAXINIT doesn't load firmware into the cards, it just finds them. After it peeks around at the board addresses, it tells the BFAX.SYS driver where they are. (The driver then tells TR114 cards what DMA to use.) This means that FAXINIT needs to know where to look. FAXINIT will automagically find cards at the following addresses:
140 144
210 214 218 21C
220 224 228 22C
230 234 238 23C
240 244 248 24C
250 254 258 25C
260 264 268 26C
270 274 278 27C
If your card address is not on this list, it WILL NOT be found by default.
If you choose non-standard addresses, you must create a configuration file listing the port address of each card, even if some of the cards have standard addresses. Addresses must be in hex format. For example, if you have 3 cards, with non-standard addresses at 300, 350, and 354, list them in your configuration file in the following way:
addr 300
addr 350
addr 354or:
addr 300
addrs 350 2
To execute FAXINIT when you are using non-standard addresses, use the following command where filename is the name of your configuration file:
faxinit -n filename
PMfax supports used of the intelligent GammaFax boards, such as the CPi, CP, CP MC, and XPi. Multiport boards also work, including the CP4-LSI and the MLCP4 with DTI-124 T1 interface board. (XP and XP MC boards are NOT supported since they are non-programmable and do not support API access.)
PMfax for OS/2 requires use of GammaLink's GammaFax OS/2 dispatcher (version 5.3).
Install the GammaFax OS/2 software as directed in GammaLink's instructions. It is recommended that the GammaFax software be installed in a directory different than the fax program. For our examples that follow, we are assuming that the GammaFax software is installed in the directory "C:\FAX". Be sure to modify the pathnames if you use different directories.
Verify that the command script files (C:\FAX\GFQM.CMD and C:\QF.CMD) correctly reflect the GammaFax software's installation directory. For example, if the GammaFax OS/2 software is installed in C:\FAX, the first line of both the files should be "SET GFAX=C:\FAX".
Verify that your CONFIG.SYS file includes the line "SET GFAX=C:\FAX". (You will need to reboot your system so that the changes to your CONFIG.SYS file will take effect.)
Edit the configuration file, C:\FAX\GFAX.$DC, to include the lines below, in addition to or replacing the lines provided by the GammaFax installation program. The gfx lines should be repeated for each GammaFax channel to be controlled by the fax adapter and the value 1 should be replaced with the logical channel number.
To setup each line:
gfxshutdown 1 3 *changed from default 0 for API direct control
To enable DTMF LAN routing for each line:
gfxdtmftimeout 1 6 15 *added to control DTMF interdigit and total t/o gfxdigits 1 4 3072 *added for 4 DTMF digits and * or # termination gfxdtmftone 1 440 500 *added to use 440 cps .5 second DTMF prompt
Please refer to the "GammaFax Reference Manual" for more information about the configuration file (chapter 4 "Configuring the GammaFax System" in version 5.x).
An example of a complete configuration file is included at the end of this section.
Start C:\FAX\GFQM.CMD in an OS/2 window. If desired, you can add C:\FAX\GFQM.CMD to your STARTUP.CMD or create a program object with the Path and File Name set to C:\FAX\GFQM.CMD and place the object in your startup folder.
Start the fax program and set the ports to be controlled using the Ports page in the Settings notebook. Also in the Settings notebook, set the proper phone line type (recognizable dial tone or not) and dialing style (tone or pulse).
---------
This is an example of a 2-line multiline configuration file, and also demonstrates the use of DTMF input for routing incoming faxes.
From what we understand, the CPi and XPi boards are like the CP and XP, but with built-in DTMF reception - the CP board requires an optional daughter board for DTMF input.
The lines in this example were rearranged so all that reference a channel are grouped together. This does not affect the operation.
chassis 1 buffers 4 numchan 2channel 1 0 GFAX1.01 country 1 1 init 1 load 1 C:\FAX\GFXCX.BIN gfxshutdown 1 3 *changed from default 0 for API direct control gfxdtmftimeout 1 6 15 *added to control DTMF interdigit and total t/o gfxdigits 1 4 3072 *added for 4 DTMF digits and * or # termination gfxdtmftone 1 440 500 *added to use 440 cps .5 second DTMF promptchannel 2 1 GFAX1.02 country 2 1 init 2 load 2 C:\FAX\GFXCX.BIN gfxshutdown 2 3 *changed from default 0 for API direct control gfxdtmftimeout 2 6 15 *added to control DTMF interdigit and total t/o gfxdigits 2 4 3072 *added for 4 DTMF digits and * or # termination gfxdtmftone 2 440 500 *added to use 440 cps .5 second DTMF prompt
Native scanner support software is available from several vendors, and most of the scanner packages can easily be used to scan and fax documents with our fax software. Because any scanning software can generally print the scanned image to your printer, it can also print the scanned image to our fax printer driver (FxPrint) to convert it into a fax document.
For the OS/2 platform, information on using some of the OS/2 scanner packages with the fax software:
Applause and other scanning and OCR products [Solution Technology - http://www.stiscan.com] - Image utilities for OS/2 - support for HP ScanJet and Logitech scanners. Scanned images can be turned into fax documents by printing to FxPrint, Clipboard cut/paste, or using Applause's Edit/Scale to FAX command and then using File/Save As to produce a DCX-format file which can be read with the fax program's Fax/Open file/DCX command.
CopyShop/2 [Trafalgar Business Systems - http://www.tbsny.com] - Utility for "scan & fax", "scan & print" and "scan & view" using HP ScanJet scanners. By selecting FxPrint as the printer for CopyShop/2, you get a "single-button" way to scan a document and get the Fax Send dialog. For multi-page faxes, it supports automatic document feeders and, for those without auto feeders, it allows a series of single page scans to be treated as a single fax job.
Galleria [Bitware Australia, information at http://www.os2ss.com/select/applications/graphics/galleria.html] - Image utility for OS/2 - support for HP ScanJet scanners. Scanned images can be turned into fax documents by Clipboard cut/paste or printing to FxPrint.
PMfax is designed to cooperate with other applications. Some examples:
SCANNING - As described above, some OS/2 scanner packages support "scan and fax" with the fax software.
INTERNET E-MAIL FAXING - The software can send and receive fax documents via e-mail by cooperating with various Internet E-mail products. When our fax software and cooperating e-mail products are used for sending and retrieving the e-mail, the fax document is transparently delivered to the receiver and appears in their fax log as a received document. Advanced "Internet Relay Systems" for Internet fax delivery are also supported. See our web page on Internet Faxing for the latest information on this feature.
FAX MERGING - Some OS/2 word processors, including DeScribe v5.0 and IBM Works (in the BonusPak), support fax merging within their mail merging features. Other word processors (even Windows or DOS word processors) can often support such automated faxing by embedding the >>TO printer driver command in their document or by using word processor macros which pass the >>TO command to the FxPrint printer driver in various ways as described in the Reference Manual. You can also do a type of "fax merging" with the new Edit/Cover sheet command in the fax software.
PHONE BOOK SHARING - The Personal Contact Management Utility (pLog) from Oberon Software supports the fax phone books, so you can maintain a common phone book for both fax and voice auto-dialing. The phone book files use a simple, standard format (comma-separated value ASCII) that can be imported and exported by most spreadsheet and database programs.
SERIAL PORT SHARING - The "shared mode" feature can often allow data programs to make outbound calls while the fax software remains in receive mode. But even if you are using "private mode", you can use the FxRcv.EXE utility program in a command file to exit receive mode, call your data program, then enable receive mode again. Some programs (TE/2 from Oberon Software, Golden CommPass from Creative Systems Programming Corp, and others) provides fields or scripts using the FxRcv commands to manage the port sharing.
This 32-bit fax software for OS/2 is fully enabled for the OS/2 Workplace Shell, taking advantage of the latest OS/2 user interface standards.
It allows you to send and receive faxes of unlimited length and print faxes to any OS/2 printer. The FxPrint printer driver works with the fax program for creating and sending faxes by "printing" from your OS/2, DOS and Windows applications running on OS/2. Features include drag-and-drop printing and viewing, normal and fine fax resolution, portrait and landscape orientation, multiple page lengths and printer emulation for print capture (LPT3) from your DOS and Windows applications.
If you have the Lite version and you send or receive faxes on a regular basis, you will want to upgrade to the Pro version. The Pro version has many additional features, including a configurable toolbar, fax markup and editing, drawing, import, export, automatic printing, gray-scale viewing for enhanced on-screen readability, multiple phone books, enhanced log selection and maintenance, and printer driver commands. You can also get LAN versions with automatic routing, multichannel support for up to 96 fax lines and programming interfaces for developing your own "fax enabled" applications. To purchase the Pro version or program options, see the information on the program's Help Product Information screen or contact Keller Group.
READING THE QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE - A Quick Reference Guide page is included in the program's fax log. Run the program, open the fax log, and double-click on the Reference Guide to view the page. The program can print any fax document to your OS/2 printer, so you can print a copy of the Quick Reference Guide.
CONFIGURING THE PROGRAM - In the fax program's Settings notebook, set the port used by your fax modem on the Ports page, your modem baud rate and line type on the Modem page, and your fax modem values on the Modem Type page. See the program's README.DOC file for recommended settings for your modem. The Lite product supports fax modems which follow the Class 1, Class 2/2.0 and SendFax standards. The Pro version includes support for many additional types of fax hardware.
TO GET HELP - Check the message line as you move the mouse over a toolbar button or menu item, or press F1 for extensive on-line help information on any menu item that you have highlighted. The Lite version includes the same help system as the Pro product, so some of the described features are not in the Lite version.
TRY THE TOOLBAR - The buttons in the toolbar provide "single-click" access to the menu items. When you put the mouse over a toolbar button, the message line tells you about the button. You can drop fax file objects on some of the buttons to send, print or view the fax. In the Pro version, the toolbar is configurable using drag-and-drop (drag the buttons, or drag menu commands to the toolbar).
USE POP-UP MENUS - As with other Workplace Shell operations, a right-click of the mouse will provide a pop-up menu. The contents of the pop-up menu will vary based on what the mouse is on when you press the right mouse button. Different pop-up menus will appear if you right-click on the main program window, the status window, the fax log window, or the phone book window.
Drag-and-drop printing - If you use an OS/2 application that supports printing of its document file objects by dropping them on printer objects, then you can drop them on the FxPrint printer object to create and send a fax. Most modern OS/2 word processors now support this feature.
More drag-and-drop - Double-click on a fax file object to view the fax, or drag and drop a fax file object to do many useful things. For example, you can drop it on any printer object to print it, on the fax program object or into the fax workspace to view it, on the Send toolbar button to send it, on the Print toolbar button to print it, on any of the View or Orientation toolbar buttons to view it in that size or orientation, or on the Log toolbar button to add a copy of the fax to the fax log for later viewing or sending.
Resizable windows - Drag the borders of the program, log and phone book windows to suite your preferences, and the program will remember the sizes.
Fonts of your choice - Drag fonts from the OS/2 Font Palette and drop them in many places, and the program will remember your font choices. Drop them in the log, in the phone book, on the message line, or on the status window.
The FxPrint printer driver is a true OS/2 printer driver, and you use it just like any other OS/2 printer driver. The FxPrint printer driver turns your print job into a fax document file, and an optional Send pop-up dialog allows you to send the fax.
To create and send a fax from an OS/2 application, use the OS/2 application's Printer Setup command to select the FxPrint printer object, then use the OS/2 application's Print command.
If you are using an OS/2 application that supports printing of its document file objects by dropping them on a printer object, then you can drop them on the FxPrint printer object to create and send a fax. Most modern OS/2 word processors now support this feature.
You can configure the FxPrint printer driver for various page lengths, orientations, and other settings. The on-line help explains the various options in detail.
Note that you can create several printer objects which use the FxPrint printer driver, and each can have different "Job Properties" in its settings notebook.
The FxPrint printer driver provides emulation for the IBM Proprinter X24 printer, so your DOS programs can create and send fax documents by printing to the FxPrint printer object's LPT device.
By default, the FxPrint printer object is usually attached to LPT3. FxPrint should be attached to an LPT device that is not used by any other printer object. You can check and set the LPT device on the Output page of the FxPrint printer object's settings notebook.
To create and send faxes from DOS programs running on OS/2, have your DOS program use LPT3 for printing (or whatever LPT device you have set on the Output page of the FxPrint printer object). If possible, tell your DOS program that LPT3 is an IBM Proprinter X24 printer. This will allow the DOS program to use the Proprinter's fonts and graphics. To produce a fax document that is easier to read, tell your DOS program to use the Proprinter's "Elite PS" font or a bold font.
If you want the results to be larger on the fax page, change the LPT Emulation setting from "IBM Proprinter X24E" to "IBM PP X24E Enlarged" by using the Job Properties button on the Printer driver page of the FxPrint printer object's settings notebook.
If your DOS program can only produce high-quality printed output when using a LaserJet printer, then you may want to upgrade to the Pro version and the optional PCL5 emulation feature. This allows your DOS and Windows programs to print to the fax printer driver as if it was a LaserJet III printer.
As described in the previous section, the FxPrint printer driver provides emulation for the IBM Proprinter X24 printer. Your Windows programs can print to the Proprinter Windows printer driver, and that printer driver can pass the data to the FxPrint printer object's LPT device to create a fax document.
You must do a onetime installation/configuration of the Windows printer driver. To do this:
To create and send faxes from Windows programs running on OS/2, use the application's Printer setup command to select the Proprinter printer driver, then use the application's Print command.
If you want the results to be larger on the fax page, change the LPT Emulation setting from "IBM Proprinter X24E" to "IBM PP X24E Enlarged" by using the Job Properties button on the Printer driver page of the FxPrint printer object's settings notebook.
If you upgrade to the Pro version and the optional PCL5 emulation feature, then your Windows programs print to the fax printer driver as if it was a LaserJet III printer.
Most fax problems are due to improper modem settings and are easily corrected. Be sure to see the notes and suggestions about your fax hardware at the beginning of this file.
Port selection - Be sure that the fax program is using the correct port by checking the Ports page in the program's settings. If your fax hardware is turned on and attached to the specified port, they you will hear it pick up the phone line and dial when you tell the fax program to send a fax. If it doesn't, try testing your fax modem with a data communications program to make sure it is properly attached and working.
Modem settings - Look at the Modem Type page in the program's settings and check the settings for your fax hardware. See the Fax Modems section of this document for the recommended settings for your modem. If your modem is not listed, check your modem manual to determine if your modem uses the Class 1, Class 2, Class 2.0 or SendFax command set for faxing. If your modem supports both Class 1 and Class 2/2.0 and you are having problems in Class 2/2.0 mode, try changing it to Class 1. As noted in the modem information at the start of this file, some modems also need additional check boxes or special commands on the Modem Type page.
Finding the fax directory - If the fax program can't seem to find the
fax log, or if you have changed the location of your fax data directory (which
contains FAX.LOG, FAX.IDX, *.FAX and *.PBK files), then you must tell the program
where it is. To do this, start the fax program with the parameter of
-L newdir
where newdir is the full pathname of the directory which contains the FAX.LOG
file. You only need to do this once, and the fax program will then remember
it.
Capturing details to track down problems - The fax program includes
a facility for capturing detailed information on its activities, including all
the commands and responses with your fax hardware. Technical support will need
this information to provide assistance. To report a problem, first start the
fax program with a parameter of -V, recreate your problem, close
the fax program, and e-mail a copy of the VOUT file (found in your fax data
directory) to technical support.
The Pro products add many features, including:
For information on upgrading to the full retail version or purchasing program options, see the information on the program's Help Product Information screen.
Some of the new features added in version 3:
Some of the new features added in version 3:
Some of the LAN features added in version 3:
Version 3 features:
PRIORITY SENDING - If you check the "Priority" checkbox on the Fax Send dialog, your job will be sent before other "normal priority" jobs. This is useful if there are other jobs already waiting to send (such as during a broadcast), but you want your job to send right away. This works for both stand-alone and LAN versions. API users can use the new priority field in the FXINFO structure, and enhanced printer driver users can use the new priority argument to the >>AT printer driver command (>>AT=,,1 for high priority).
PRIVATE/SHARED PORT - Fax modem configuration includes a "Private" checkbox. When not checked (the default), we use the port in a new "shared" mode which provides two useful features:
When checked, we use the port in "private" mode where we acquire the port when waiting for incoming calls and expect the port to be immediately available when we send a fax (like past operation).
IMPORTANT NOTE: The shared port feature depends upon the hardware ring indicator in your com port chip. If you are using an external fax modem and your cable does not provide the necessary signals, the fax software will not know that the line is ringing and will therefore not answer the incoming calls. IF THE SOFTWARE DOES NOT ANSWER INCOMING CALLS WHEN SET IN RECEIVE MODE, CHECK THE "PRIVATE" CHECKBOX ON THE MODEM PAGE OF THE SETTINGS NOTEBOOK.
ALT COM - The fax modem ports list includes both COM and FMD ports. The software uses our FMD.SYS device driver to access the fax modem serial ports. When selected, the software uses the COM ports (via COM.SYS, SIO.SYS, or other replacement COM drivers) for accessing the fax modem serial ports. This is most useful when you need to use special COM device drivers for intelligent serial port cards such as Digiboard, Artic, or Hayes ESP (via SIO). When COM ports are used, the "shared port" feature of FMD.SYS is not available, but the "wait for line" feature still works.
LAN - ENHANCED LAN ROUTING AND ROUTING GROUPS - For LAN systems running in private mode, the routing capabilities have been substantially enhanced:
CLIENT NUMBER DATA FOR CHARGE-BACK REPORTS - You can now make the software prompt the user for "client information" when sending a fax, and even prevent them from sending a fax without selecting a valid client number. This information is saved in the "notes" field of the fax log and the activity report, from which you can easily generate charge-back reports and usage reports. This is controlled by the presence of the FxNotes.INI file in the log directory (for stand-alone systems or shared mode LAN systems) or the public directory (for private mode LAN systems).
=Enter Customer Number
Cust 1, Matter 1
Cust 1, Matter 2
Cust 2
Cust 3=Enter Customer Number
=
Cust 1, Matter 1
Cust 1, Matter 2
Cust 2
Cust 3"HOT CALL" RECEIVING - There's now an easier way to receive a "current call" fax (when you've answered a call and then realize that someone is sending you a fax), and even a way for a data program to pass "hot" calls to our program. ("Hot" means that the COM port is already open and the modem has already picked up the call, so we need to receive on the attached port without resetting the modem or dropping the call.) Unlike the previous way of doing current call receiving with program commands or the FxRcv utility program, it doesn't even matter whether or not our program is running! You tell us what to do by using the new "-n" parameter followed by an appropriate value. The value is a number composed of the following bits. For example: -n0 does a current call receive, then displays the fax, and -n7,10 does a hot receive on open COM handle 10, then exits.
COLOR DRAG/DROP IN LOG - You can drag/drop colors from the OS/2 Color Palettes to the workspace background and the log display using OS/2 drag/drop standards (drop to change background color, Ctrl-drop to change foreground color). All the different status types (sent, received, error, edit) in the log are independently changable by using Ctrl-drop on the different status line types. As before, you can drag/drop fonts from the OS/2 Font Palette, too.
HOLD MODE - The program now includes Fax/Hold commands, a -H startup parameter, and FxRcv utility program parameters for "hold mode". When in hold mode, no new send or receive jobs will be started, but current activity will complete gracefully. This is useful for laptop users when no phone line is available or for shutting down LAN/multiline systems.
T.30/T.33 SUBADDRESS ROUTING - We now support IS-141 T.30 / T.33 Subaddress Routing with Class 1 fax modem and Brooktrout cards. To use outbound Subaddress Routing, simply put a ' (single quote) character after the regular fax number followed by the route digits. Inbound, the route digits are treated just like digits from DTMF or DID for automatic LAN routing.
NEW FOR API USERS - FxKill function for killing fax jobs which are sending or spooled Priority Sending and "priority" field in FxSend's FXINFO structure. Also the ">>AT" command in the enhanced printer driver has been extended to include a priority argument. The format of the command is now ">>AT=time,date,priority". For example ">>AT=,,1" sets the priority flag.
NEW DRAWING TOOLS - Added to the edit menu are five new drawing tools! Line, arrow, box, ellipse, and check have been added for better mark up capability. The draw command still does free-hand line drawing... but for straight lines, the new line command allows dragging of a line from a first point to a second. The arrow, box, and ellipse all work with the same dragging style. Try it!
PHONEBOOK AND LOG SEARCH - A new field has been added to the phonebook and log screens to allow an incremental search. The arrow keys end can be used to find the next and previous entries. Home and end keys will go to the first and last matches.
AUTOMATIC BUSY CALL BLOCKING (MULTILINE SYSTEMS) - If sending with multiple lines to the same fax number (such as to several people in a company), the system automatically determines how many fax lines are available at the recipient's site and the additional spooled jobs to that number are done sequentially after the currently connected jobs complete. This avoids unnecessary BUSY attempts, yet continues to send jobs in parallel (and thereby get them delivered much sooner) if the recipient has multiple fax rollover lines available.
ADDITIONAL LPT PORTS - If all your normal LPT ports (LPT1, LPT2 and LPT3) are in use, now you can create additional LPT ports for use by the fax printer driver. The LPT49 utility will create LPT4 through LPT9 on your system. You can install the fax printer object on any of these LPT ports. You can also create multiple fax printer objects on different LPT ports and each printer object can have different job properties (orientation, resolution, page length, emulation, etc.).
EMBEDDED PRINTER COMMAND IN DOCUMENTS - Printer driver commands can
now be placed directly in various word processor documents that are being printed
to our LPT port using PCL or Proprinter emulation (such as from DOS or Windows
programs). For example, if
>>TO=Mark,Keller Group,555-5555
is in a WordPerfect document and sent to the printer using a printer font (so
that the characters are visible to the printer driver), the fax printer driver
will automatically send the document. The command won't appear in the fax that
is sent.
FAXCHART UTILITY - Available free via download, the FaxChart utility program can analyze your fax usage based on "lines used", "number of calls" or "minutes of line usage" for various date ranges and time periods. It reads your usage data from either the fax log or activity report file, then charts the results graphically as line, area or bar charts (with or without 3D). FaxChart helps you study your usage patterns and determine when to add additional fax lines.
LAN - MULTIPLE FAX SERVER FACILITY - If you need extra fax capacity in your fax server or fax broadcast system or want to spread your fax lines across multiple processors, now it's easy with this optional feature! The Multiple Fax Server Facility applies multiple OS/2 machines to the task of fax sending and/or receiving (i.e., multiple fax servers). The multiple fax servers are transparent to users of the LAN or broadcast system, and can be used with all other features (multiline options, e-mail options, DID routing, Multi-LAN Group Facility, etc.). Each fax server is independently started or stopped, and can even use a completely different type of fax hardware. Now the number of fax lines in your server or broadcast platform is virtually unlimited!
LAN - FAX STOP FROM WORKSTATION - The workstation software, the redirector, and the server program have been changed to allow a workstartion's private-mode fax in Spool or Send status to be selected from the log and be stopped. Just right click on the log entry and select 'Stop'.
LAN - CREATING SHARED PHONE BOOKS FROM WORKSTATION - New in build 232, the phone book list now indicates which phone books are "public phone books" (i.e., shared with other LAN users) by placing a " (p)" after the phone book name in the list. LAN workstation users can also create a new public phone book by including the " (p)" suffix on the phone book name. Phone books which are created without this suffix are private phone books for the LAN workstation user.
LAN - CUSTOMIZING NOTIFICATION PROCESSING - The FxRdr (LAN redirector) program now accepts command line parameters to override the default notification processing. You can control the level of notification separately for command notification (-nc#), e-mail notification (-ne#) and print notification (-np#) where # is 0 to notify only for receive or bad receive events, 1 to also notify on bad send events, and 2 to also notify on successful send events.
LAN - DYNAMIC ADMINISTRATION AND NEW INTERFACE - New in build 232f, the FxRdr (LAN redirector) program now reads the workstation configuration file (WS.INI) whenever it is modified and automatically creates the private fax directories for any new users that are found in the file. This allows you to use your own programs or REXX scripts to update the fax users from your LAN user information without needing to restart the FxRdr program. Or better yet, you can use the new Lan User Administration program (free via BBS download) to administer the fax users from any OS/2 workstation (not just on the fax server machine). The Lan User Adminstration program displays the workstation users in an OS/2 container with multiple views (icon, detail, flowed, etc.) and lets you add, replicate and delete users with object selection and pop-up menus.
LAN - NEW EMAIL GATEWAY OPTIONS - New options were added to FxVIM to control the file type used on received e-mailed faxes. FxVIM will by default attach standard PCX image pages in ccMail and attach a Tiff class-F file in Notes. This behaviour can be overridden with new command line options: -PCX will force multiple PCX page attachment, -DCX will force DCX file attachment, -TIF will force Tiff class-F file attachment, and -NOFAX will turn off all file attachment.
ACCELERATOR KEYS AND KEYBOARD ENABLING FEATURES - New in build 223g and later, we now provide keyboard and tab improvements, including improved tab movement in the Settings notebook, use of the Del key for deleting highlighted items from the "To list" or phone book or log window, support for using Shift-F10 to get pop-up menu in the phone book or log window or status window, and accelerator keys on the Send Fax screen so you can open the phone book with a single keystroke. In 236c and later, you can double-click on a item in the "To list" to view/edit/delete the item.
CALLER ID SUPPORT - If you have Caller ID services from your telephone company and you are using a modem which supports your telephone company's Caller ID services, you can tell your modem to capture the Caller ID information and report it to the software. To use Caller ID: 1) Sign up for caller id service from your telephone company. 2) You must be in "Private" mode (on Modem page of Settings) so that we have the port open and ready at the first ring. 3) You must set "Answer Rings" (on Modem page of Settings) to 2 or more since Caller ID data comes between first and second ring. 4) You must enter a "Special command" (on Modem Type page of Settings) to enable Caller ID in your modem. This command is #CID=1 for Rockwell chipsets, +VCID=1 for Cirrus chipsets, or S40.2=1 for Zyxel. Caller ID information is placed in the Name field in the log record.
INTERNET E-MAIL SUPPORT - In the Pro and LAN products, the software can send and receive fax documents via e-mail by cooperating with various Internet E-mail products. When our fax software and cooperating e-mail products are used for sending and retrieving the e-mail, the fax document is transparently delivered to the receiver and appears in their fax log as a received document.
DISTINCTIVE RING SUPPORT (build 3.01.00) - If you have distinctive ring service from your telephone company and you are using a modem which supports it, you can tell your modem to answer only on specific ring patterns. Also, for those creating their own answer scripts, a new Rexx call: FxLnLine( 'DRING' ) will return the ring type. To use distinctive ring:
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