Index

Pigeon/2 is now officially out of beta testing. Many thanks to the beta testers; with a good team of users helping the programmer(s), bugs are found much faster than a single programmer can find them!

Pigeon is very new as yet, so the features are minimal. Anyone who's used Telegraf/2 extensively (like my family here :-) will know that it has many more features - and many more bugs. With Pigeon I intend to add only the features which are wanted by users - so tell me what you want, so I know what to put in. I still have my Telegraf/2 source, and hopefully will keep it for a long time, so if you want a feature already in Telegraf, just tell me where in Telegraf it is and I'll grab it.

Note: Registered Telegraf/2 users are entitled to a free copy of Pigeon, by email, on disk, or over the Internet. If you want it sent by email (as an attachment - make sure your mail system can handle it!), send a message to talldad@kepl.com.au and ask politely. (This is my Dad's email address, so you'll have to persuade him that you're respectable. :-)

The technical specs: Pigeon consists of a .DLL (previously written in Virtual Pascal for OS/2, now written in NASM (Netwide Assembler)), and an executable (written in VX-REXX, my favorite PM programming interface). Either component can be replaced without affecting the other. Several programs can use the same DLL, and can therefore communicate easily - Pigeon can be used noninteractively as IPC for REXX programs. The functions are simple, easy to use, and few. See Pigeon.INF (in the zip) for details.

Source of Pigeon.DLL and/or Pigeon.EXE is available by permission. Drop me an email and ask - but you'll have to have a good reason. Think hard! <bg>

Most of the documentation for Pigeon is in Pigeon.HLP and History.TXT. Pigeon.INF is only of interest to programmers who want to use Pigeon.DLL in their own programs. Note that History.TXT contains much useful information - it's not just references to the .HLP file. Bugs.TXT is also worth reading, if you want to stay informed of what not to do. When bugs are corrected or limitations removed, the entry will remain in Bugs.TXT with a notation 'Corrected' or 'Removed' or similar.

Any program that can read OS/2 .INF files should be able to read Pigeon.HLP - View.EXE (the default OS/2 INF viewer) and NewView.EXE (the non-default OS/2 INF viewer) can manage quite acceptably. HyperView PM works well, too, but (being text-only) doesn't do the links.

The archive contains the following files:

• Pigeon.DLL - function library
• Pigeon.EXE - PM executable
• Pigeon.HLP - documentation for Pigeon.EXE
• Pigeon.INF - documentation for Pigeon.DLL. This may be slightly out of date - please inform me of any errors!
• History.TXT - change history
• SEND.CMD - console REXX program to send pigeons
• RCV.CMD - console REXX program to receive pigeons
• SENDTG2.CMD, RCVTG2.CMD - as above, but can communicate with Telegraf/2 (uses \PIPE\TELEGRAF and Telegraf/2 protocol)
• IPCSRV.CMD, IPCCLI.CMD - InterProcess Communication samples. Start both, then give the Client some commands for the Server to execute. Client and Server need not be on the same computer.

The .CMD programs can be used, modified, and needle nardle nooed as much as desired, but don't distribute modified programs without contacting me first please. Please also drop me an email if you make some useful, positive change. I'd like to know what people do with my programs!

File: PIGEON.ZIP, 52KB - current version 0.6.0
Requires: REXX, VROBJ (for Pigeon.EXE); networking very useful
Installation: Unzip, copy DLL to LIBPATH.
Operation: Run Pigeon.EXE. See INF and HLP for details.
De-installation: Delete. You can remove the EXE and/or CMDs without affecting the others, but removing the DLL will break any program which uses it (of course).
Distribution: Freeware.