Re: Using Xy to dial your phone

["Dale Schultz" Dale@xxxxxxxx]

Hi

20 years ago I also dialed the phone from the computer. I used a simple batch file
and I could call it from XyWrite also. Note there is no need to set any port setting
such as baud rate etc...

The batch file was something like the following (not I have just typed this in from
memory here, and not tested it)

@echo off
if %1x==x goto help
goto start
:help
echo usage: Dial name
goto end
:start
set dialstring = "ATDT"
goto %1

:Joe
set number = 123-4567
goto dial

:fred
set number = 876-5476
goto dial

:dial
echo dialling %1 at %number
echo %dialstring %number > com2
echo lift handet and press any key
pause
:end

so from a dos prompt
>dial joe
 would send atdt123-4567 to com port 2 and that is all that is needed to dial using a
modem

Note that the numbers are actually stored in the batch file.

The technique relies on the piping ability of DOS to send anything to any port. I
don't know if that still works. It should.

from XyWrite I spawned the batch file with something like
do command dial ≪put saveget≫ /c
or was it
do command /c dial ≪putsaveget≫ - I can't remember... (and no longer care!)

Later I made a simpler batch file that took the number to be dialed as a parameter.
Then from within XyWrite I spawned to a batch file that opened the database (askSam)
that held my phone numbers with the search string of the person I wanted to call, the
database would display matching hits and write an ASCII file to disk with the
selected number, then return to the batch file, which would then run the dialing
batch which picked up the ASCII file with the number and threw that at the com port.
Worked like a charm for years.

Dale
http://ebay.mixmox.com

(BTW the 10MB Bernoulli disks I am selling at
http://debale.home.comcast.net/ebay/special.htm were used by Dave Erickson for
backing up the source code of XyWrite! but of course I have removed the source code
so now they are museum pieces only)















:end





----- Original Message -----
From: "Harry Binswanger" 
To: 
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 12:31 AM
Subject: Using Xy to dial your phone


> Under Win9x, I could use Xy to shell out to run the little DOS program
> ADT.COM to dial my phone. ADT doesn't seem to work with the simulated DOS
> of XP.
>
> Does anyone know how to get ADT to work with XP or else tell me about some
> substitute dialer program that does work with XP? The few free dialers I've
> found on the web are too complicated. Or, can I use the dialer supplied
> with XP (I think there's one, but I'm unfamiliar with it).
>
> It may be relevant to understand how I use a dialer. I have a "Demon
> Dialer" box that is installed where the phone line comes in to the
> apartment and allows every extension in the apartment to use the same
> speed-dial system. To dial up Bob, I program the Demon Dialer to put out
> Bob's number when, on any regular extension phone, I dial: #BOB#.
>
> The problem is programming the Demon with the numbers and the
> abbreviations. Since I use over 50 speed-dial abbreviations, I don't want
> to program them all in by hand, which would mean dialing in, for 50+
> numbers, sequences like: #S#BOB#2125551212# then hanging up, re-picking up
> the phone, and doing the next one.
>
> So I've been using an XPL program to do all this for me, based on a XY text
> file that has all the information in a table. The program shelled out to
> DOS, invoked ADT with the appropriate switches to pick up the phone, dial
> the string into the Demon Dialer, hang up, and then exit DOS so the program
> can go to the next entry in the table.
>
> Help appreciated.
>
> Harry Binswanger
> hb@xxxxxxxx
>