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           dataComet 4.5.1 README     (5/2/98)

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   The dataComet application, resources, and on-line documentation are 
Copyright 1995,1996 databeast, Inc., All Rights Reserved.   Reverse
compilation or disassembly of dataComet is expressly forbidden.  

   dataComet is a shareware product.  Registering dataComet costs $20
US ($10 US educational) for a  single copy, with substantial discounts 
available for site licenses.  Users should obtain a license for this 
product; check the information in the "About dataComet..." Apple Menu 
item and databeast's  home page.

   You can register dataComet on-line with a charge card through Kagi 
at <http://order.kagi.com/?2S9>.  Users outside the US who wish to pay 
with cash are encouraged to mail it in to Kagi, including the printout
from the "Register dataComet" program.  Checks and POs should be sent 
directly to databeast.

   databeast's home page:   <http://www.databeast.com/>
   databeast's FTP server:  <ftp://ftp.databeast.com/pub/datacomet/>
   Send email to:           <mailto:datacomet@databeast.com>

   To get started using dataComet, read the document "0. Overview of 
dataComet", which is included in the "Documents" folder of the 
dataComet distribution (these documents can be conveniently opened 
within dataComet from the "Documents" menu item in the Apple menu).
This document contains information on installing dataComet and 
configuring web browsers and Internet Config to use dataComet as 
the default Telnet and TN3270 applications.

   This distribution includes dataComet 4.5.1-68K along with versions 
4.45 of dataComet-Brown and dataComet-NCSA.  The distribution contains 
the following files and folders:

   dataComet 4.5.1-68K:  A final release version of dataComet, which 
works well with both Open Transport and MacTCP.  See the Document "A1.
dataComet Release Notes" for detailed information on changes in the 
latest version.  

NOTE that once again, some fonts have been improved and some font
names have  changed in this distribution, so you should dispose of
old copies of the fonts in the System "Fonts" folder and install the 
new ones.

   Register-dataComet:  This folder contains the program used to
send dataComet registrations in to Kagi via mail or fax.

   dataComet-Brown:  This folder contains dataComet-Brown, an
application which converts Brown TN3270 documents into dataComet
documents and launches them.  This application will supplant Brown
TN3270 as the Finder's default application for launching Brown
documents.  You can still use Brown by dropping documents onto it; you
can cause the Finder to reselect Brown as the default by dragging it
to a new location or removing dataComet-Brown.*

   dataComet-NCSA:  This folder contains dataComet-NCSA, an
application which converts NCSA Telnet documents into dataComet
documents and launches them.  This application will supplant NCSA
Telnet as the Finder's default application for launching NCSA Telnet
documents.  You can still use NCSA by dropping documents onto it; you
can cause the Finder to reselect NCSA as the default by dragging it to
a new location or removing dataComet-NCSA.*

   Documents:  This folder contains dataComet documentation and sample
session documents.  dataComet expects to find the "Documents" folder
in its home directory, so that its Control-Click help feature can work 
automatically.

   Fonts:  This folder contains fonts, which should be dropped into the
"Fonts" Folder in the System Folder to ensure correct results when
printing.  dataComet will display fonts in this folder even if they
are not installed in the Fonts Folder.  The "CharcoalMenus" resource
for MacOS 8 and national customization resources may also be placed
in this folder so they will be opened and used by dataComet.

   dataComet Keyboard:  A Keyboard Layout resource which changes the
mapping of some Option-key combinations which the standard keyboard
layout maps into foreign characters.  This resource should be
drag-and-dropped onto the System.  Installation is optional; users of
non-English languages should not install this resource.

   NOTE:  This version of dataComet should be very reliable...  but if
you do find a bug in dataComet, please send a bug report (using the
form from the Apple Menu item "About dataComet...").

	   * dataComet-Brown and dataComet-NCSA are provided so that
dataComet will work as a Telnet helper application with applications
(such as Netscape) which use documents rather than GURL AppleEvents to
create new host sessions. 


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         dataComet Feature Summary
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   dataComet emulator window configurations and text window contents are
saved as individual documents which can be launched directly from the
Finder.  Modeless dialogs make it easy to tailor session configurations
for different hosts.  dataComet supports AppleEvents, including Internet
Config 'GURL' AppleEvents.  "Command-click" resolves  URLs in dataComet
windows through Internet Config.  Two supporting applications,
dataComet-Brown and dataComet-NCSA, are provided to allow Telnet URL
launches from Netscape, which does not support Internet Config.  

   Emulators:  dataComet offers multiple VT220, PC-ANSI, and IBM 3278
color terminal emulator windows with searchable scrollback buffers. 
dataComet is unique in automatically drawing variable-width fonts as
mono-spaced fonts; users can set the character height and width of all
fonts for maximum legibility.  Sessions can be configured so they are
automatically logged to a file.

   Text Editing:  dataComet also offers text editing windows whose
contents can be sent to a host by making a selection and pressing the
Enter key (or Command-Return to break a line and send it to a host,
easing use of host-based Chat programs).  Users can use keyed commands
to search, move the cursor by characters, words, or lines, and
reformat text by adding or removing line breaks.

   Printing:  dataComet offers both QuickDraw and direct serial
printing, so that both WYSIWYG and fast printing are available.

   Macros:  dataComet includes powerful macro commands which can be
invoked through mouse clicks, configurable on-screen buttons, menu
items, and key-remapping, and also on host open and close.  Macros can
be recorded automatically as the user interacts with the host to ease
macro creation.  An AppleScript interface allows other applications to
open dataComet documents, execute dataComet macros, and monitor
session status.

   Interfaces:  dataComet uses an Open-Transport compatible MacTCP
interface to support TCP/IP Internet access to host computers,
supporting both DEC VT220 Telnet and IBM 3278 TN3270 terminal
emulations.  Firewalls can be traversed using a SOCKS V4 proxy. 
Serial access is supported only for the DEC VT220 emulators (serial
access to IBM mainframe hosts requires the use of an IBM 7171 or
similar VT100 <-> 3278 channel translator).

   File Transfer:  dataComet offers X/Y/ZMODEM transfers on both
serial and Telnet connections with automatic file launching using
Internet Config File Mappings.  dataComet also includes a TFTP file
server to support TCP/IP file transfer.  The dataComet FT3270
protocol is supported for IBM mainframes which have the FT3270
program module installed on the host, allowing transparent downloads
for both TCP/IP and serial access.  Downloaded files can be printed
automatically.

   Public Access Terminals:  dataComet also supports special
configurations for computers intended to be used as public-access
terminals, which require enhanced security; a launch macro can be
configured which disables commands which are inappropriate for your
particular application.

   dataComet is fully internationalizable through customization of the
on-line documentation and the 'MENU' and 'STR#' resources incorporated
in the program.  dataComet supports user-configurable international
character translation for the Macintosh character set, with character
translation tables provided for ISO-Latin-1, DEC Multinational,
PC-ANSI, IBM ALA, and IBM 3270. 

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