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From: sam@flake.asd.sgi.com (Sam Leffler)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.announce,comp.os.386bsd.misc
Subject: FlexFAX Release Version 2.1.0 Available
Followup-To: comp.os.386bsd.misc
Date: 19 Apr 1993 17:34:37 -0700
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
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Keywords: fax, free
FlexFAX Release Version 2.1.0 Available
---------------------------------------
This note has the following sections:
Overview
Supported Systems
About the Distribution
Class 1 Modem Support
Commonly Asked Questions
How to Obtain the Distribution by FTP
How to Obtain the Distribution by Mail
How to Obtain the Distribution within Silicon Graphics
What to do Once You've Retrieved Stuff (source distribution)
What to do Once You've Retrieved Stuff (binary distribution)
FlexFAX Mailing List
Use and Copyright
Overview
--------
FlexFAX is a facsimile system for UNIX systems. It supports:
o sending facsimile
o receiving facsimile
o polled retrieval of facsimile
Facsimile can be any size (e.g. A4, B4), either 98 or 196 lpi, and
transmitted/received as either 1D-encoded or 2D-encoded facsimile data
(2D-encoded data is frequently more compact and hence takes a shorter
time to communicate).
Outgoing documents can be any format; the sendfax program uses a
rule-based definition file similar to the System V /etc/magic file
to deduce document types and to decide how to convert each document
to a form suitable for transmission (either PostScript or TIFF/F).
Automatic cover page generation is supported and users can easily
tailor cover pages to their environment. A simple text-based
phonebook database is supported by sendfax. Information is also
provided on how to trivially setup an email to fax gateway service.
Incoming facsimile are stored in a receiving area as TIFF/F files and
may be automatically delivered by mail and/or printed. A fax server
status program, faxstat, can be used to monitor the send and receive
queues, as well as the state of facsimile servers.
Fax modems may be shared with outgoing data communication applications
that honor the "uucp locking protocol". These applications typically
include: cu, tip, kermit, uucp, slip, and ppp. The system can also be
configured so that incoming data calls cause the system to invoke the
standard system getty program.
The software is structured around a client-server architecture. One
facsimile server process exists for each fax modem on a network.
Clients may send facsimile from any machine that can communicate with
the machine(s) on which the server(s) reside. Client software is
designed to be lightweight and easy to port; imaging can be offloaded
to the server or done on the client. (Imaging is, however, typically
done on the server because it simplifies administration.) Multiple
modems may be located on a single machine. An access control mechanism
is included to control which users on which machines may submit
documents for transmission.
The system supports a wide variety of fax modems. Any Class 1 or
Class 2 modem should work with the system. The following modems have
been used successfully with the software:
Class 1 modems:
Digicom Scout+ (firmware revision 2A19/2931 or newer)
Nuvo Voyager 96424PFX (firmware revision AF-C2500-E0)
SupraFAX v.32bis (firmware revision V1.200-H or newer)
NOTE: SEE THE SECTION "Class 1 Modem Support" FOR IMPORTANT INFO ON THE
CLASS 1 MODEM SUPPORT
Class 2 modems:
Boca M1440E (firmware revision V1.270 or newer)
Dallas Fax <something> (no longer sold, not recommended)
Everex 24/96D (no longer sold)
Hayes Optima 24+Fax96 (firmware revision TR00-J260-001 XXX or newer)
Multi-Tech 1432BAI (firmware revision 0307 I or newer)
SupraFAX v.32bis (firmware revision V1.200-C or newer)
Telebit WorldBlazer (firmware revision LA7.01)
Twincom 144/DF (firmware revision V1.200 or newer)
ZyXel U1496E (firmware revision 5.01 or newer)
Other modems:
Abaton InterFax 24/96 (no longer sold)
Note however that some modems perform better than others. The file
MODEMS included in the distribution provides information about each
modem that has been tried.
Supported Systems
-----------------
The software has been ported to the following systems:
sgi Silicon Graphics 4D machines w/ AT&T C++ compiler or gcc 2.3.3
sun Sun3/Sun4 w/ SunOS 4.1.X and GNU gcc 2.3.3
bsdi BSD/386 1.0 w/ GNU gcc 2.3.3
386bsd 386bsd 0.1 on an Intel 486 w/ GNU gcc 2.3.3+patches
svr4 System V Release 4 on an Intel x86 w/ GNU gcc 2.3.3 (incomplete)
solaris2 Solaris 2.x on a Sun4 with GNU gcc 2.3.3 (incomplete)
sco SCO ODT 2.0 (incomplete)
Systems that are marked (incomplete) compile properly and can be used
to send and receive facsimile, but may have known problems or may be
lacking some utilities such as the faxaddmodem installation script.
Porting the software is usually straightforward provided there is a
working C++ compiler (e.g. gcc), PostScript imaging facility (e.g.
ghostscript), and support for a limited subset of the POSIX system call
interface. System requirements are described more fully in the source
code distribution.
About the Distribution
----------------------
There are two distributions: a binary version that is directly
installable on a Silicon Graphics IRIX 4.0.x system and a source
distribution.
The executables in the binary version of this distribution are only
for Silicon Graphics 4D processor-based systems. The distribution
is sure to work on any IRIX 4.0.x system, though it may also work
on pre-4.0 os versions.
The source distribution includes all the source code in the system
except a small bit of code used to build a Display PostScript-based
imager (this code is useless unless you have a developers agreement
with Adobe for Display PostScript). The system is written almost
entirely in C++. I use the AT&T 2.1 compiler, as supported by Silicon
Graphics. GNU gcc 2.3.3 has been successfully used to build this
software on all systems.
A PostScript interpreter program is needed for imaging outgoing
facsimile on the server machine. The binary distribution for Silicon
Graphics machines includes an imaging program that requires the Display
PostScript execution environment (dps_eoe) that is available with most
versions of IRIX. The source distribution includes a device driver for
use with Ghostscript version 2.5.2 or later.
Class 1 Modem Support (Caveat Emptor)
-------------------------------------
Most contemporary fax modems provide one of two command interfaces for
communication between the host and modem: Class 1 or Class 2.
(Actually, many modems that provide a Class 2 interface also provide a
Class 1 interface.) These interfaces are specified by the Electronic
Industries Association/Telecommunications Industry Association
(EIA/TIA). The Class 1 standard provides minimal hardware support for
fax communication while Class 2 adds many commands and places more
functionality in the modem.
FlexFAX includes drivers for both Class 1 and Class 2 modems. Robust
support for Class 1 modems places two requirements on the host system:
o low latency for serial line input
o near realtime response
In a UNIX environment both these requirements can be problematic. In
particular, many UNIX systems increase the latency for data received on
a serial port in order to reduce system overhead. That is, input data
are typically held in a low level device driver for some period of time
before they are passed to the user so that bursts of input data can be
delivered to the user together. This behaviour is known to occur under
the Silicon Graphics IRIX and SunOS 4.1.x operating systems; it may
also occur under other systems. It is important for the proper
operation of the Class 1 driver that input data be delivered to the
facsimile server as quickly as possible. This may require making a
non-standard call of some sort to the operating system. For SGI
systems this call is automatically done. For SunOS systems it appears
that the only way to minimize the input latency is to create a stream
i/o module that accesses an internal interface (see the comments in the
routine setInputBuffering in faxd/FaxServer.c++).
The response time requirements are important for insuring that T.30
protocol messages are received in a timely fashion. On a loaded
system the protocol process may be preempted by other activities and
not be run fast enough to satisfy the protocol timing requirements.
This can usually be guarded against by assigning the facsimile process
a high scheduling priority. Unfortunately most UNIX systems do not
provide support for such facilities and so even if it is possible to
receive serial line input with the minimum of delay, protocol timing
requirements may not be met because of delays in scheduling the
execution of the fax server process. For this reason the facsimile
server process attempts to raise its scheduling priority while it is
actively sending or receiving facsimile. At other times, such as when
it is doing queue management operations, it runs at a normal priority.
On Silicon Graphics systems the ``high priority'' is a nondegrading
scheduling priority that is above the priorities of the normal system
processes. On other systems the server currently always runs at the
same (normal) scheduling priority. For more details consult the
setProcessPriority routine in faxd/FaxServer.c++.
In summary, if you want to use a Class 1 modem with this software and
your system does not provide support for low latency serial line input
you are likely to have troubles. If your system does not provide a
mechanism for raising process scheduling priority (note that this is
not the same as the UNIX ``nice'' parameter), then you may see problems
when the server is under load. Exactly how much load will cause trouble
is dependent on the system configuration and processing power.
Commonly Asked Questions
------------------------
Q: How is FlexFAX related to netfax (aka GNU fax)?
A: Netfax is a simple fax package developed by folks at MIT and freely
available under the terms of the GNU software agreement. FlexFAX is
a totally independent project that was intended to provide a robust
facsimile service that supports a wide variety of modems and systems.
FlexFAX is also publicly available, but with a different copyright
agreement (see the copyright at the bottom of this note).
Q: My modem is not listed as supported, will it work?
A: If the modem conforms to the draft Class 2 standard that most vendors
used to implement their ``Ersatz Class 2'' modems, then it should work
with the software; probably with some minor modifications to one of the
modem configuration files distributed with the system.
If the modem conforms to the EIA-578 "Class 1" programming interface,
then it will only work if the intended host provides certain system
facilities. At present the only machine that is *known* to provide
the necessary facilities is the Silicon Graphics Indigo.
Otherwise it is possible to support a modem by writing a new ``modem
driver'' that is compiled into the facsimile server.
Q: What's the best modem to buy/use with this software?
A: First, if your system is incapable of supporting a Class 1 modem, then
you need to use a Class 2 modem. The best Class 2 modem that I have
had experience with is the Everex 24/96D, but it is no longer sold and
it does not support the v.17 standard for transmitting and receiving
at 14.4KB. I have had good success with all the Class 1 modems listed
above; though the Supra modem exhibits the usual problems known to exist
with modems built around the Rockwell RC144DP (data pump).
How to Obtain the Distribution by FTP
-------------------------------------
The source code is available for public ftp on
sgi.com sgi/fax/v2.1.src.tar.Z
(192.48.153.1)
You can also obtain inst'able images for Silicon Graphics machines from
sgi.com sgi/fax/v2.1.inst.tar
(192.48.153.1)
For example,
% ftp -n sgi.com
....
ftp> user anonymous
Password: <use mail address as password>
ftp> cd sgi/fax
ftp> binary
ftp> get v2.1.src.tar.Z
....
ftp> quit
In general, the latest version of the 2.1 release of the software is
always available as "v2.1.src.tar.Z" or "v2.1.inst.tar" in the ftp
directory. This file is a link to the appropriate released version (so
don't waste your time retrieving the linked file as well!) Any files of
the form v2.1.*.patch are shell scripts that can be used to patch older
versions of the source code. For example, the file v2.1.0.patch would
contain patches to update v2.1.0.tar.Z. Patch files only work to go
between consecutive versions, so if you are multiple versions behind
the latest release, you will need to apply each patch file between your
current version and the latest.
How to Obtain the Distribution by Mail
--------------------------------------
Do not send me requests for the software; they will be ignored (without
response). If you cannot use FTP at all, there is a service called
"ftpmail" available from gatekeeper.dec.com: you can send e-mail to
this machine and it will use FTP to retrieve files for you and send you
the files back again via e-mail. To find out more about the ftpmail
service, send a message to "ftpmail@gatekeeper.dec.com" whose body
consists of the single line "help".
How to Obtain the Distribution within Silicon Graphics
------------------------------------------------------
Internal to Silicon Graphics there are inst'able images on the host
flake.asd in the directory /usr/dist. Thus you can do something like:
% inst -f flake.asd.sgi.com:/usr/dist/flexfax
to install the latest version of the software on your machine.
What to do Once You've Retrieved Stuff (source distribution)
------------------------------------------------------------
The source distributions come in a compressed tar file. To extract the
software do something like:
% mkdir fax; cd fax
% zcat <somewhere>/v2.1.src.tar.Z | tar xf -
(uncompress and extract individual files in current directory). Then
follow the instructions in the file README in the top of the source tree.
What to do Once You've Retrieved Stuff (binary distribution)
------------------------------------------------------------
The binary distribution comes as a tar file that contains images for
use with the standard Silicon Graphics installation program inst(1).
To unpack the inst images do something like:
% mkdir dist; cd dist
% tar xf <somewhere>/v2.1.inst.tar
Next, run inst to install the appropriate pieces that you want. The
key documentation from the source distribution is included in the
subsystem flexfax.man.readme. When this subsystem is installed the
README file and other useful pieces of information are placed in the
directory /usr/local/doc/flexfax. Otherwise the software is broken
into two areas: flexfax.client.* for software needed on client machines,
and flexfax.server.* for software needed on a machine where a fax
modem is located. To unpack and install the client portion:
% mkdir dist; cd dist
% tar xf ../v2.1.inst.tar
% cd ..; inst -f dist/flexfax
...
inst> go
(Note, the dist subdirectory is because some versions of inst fail if
the files are in the current directory.) Note that server binaries are
not installed by default, so to get them also you need to do:
% inst -f flexfax
...
inst> install flexfax.server.*
inst> go
Remember that to install a server on a Silicon Graphics machine, you
need to have already installed the Display PostScript execution
environment product (dps_eoe). Otherwise, the fax server will not be
able to convert PostScript to facsimile for transmission.
FlexFAX Mailing List
--------------------
A mailing list for users of this software is located on sgi.com.
If you want to join this mailing list or have a list-related request
such as getting your name removed from it, send a request to
flexfax-request@sgi.com
Submissions (including bug reports) should be directed to:
flexfax@sgi.com
When corresponding about this software please always specify what
version you have, what system you're running on, and, if the problem is
specific to your modem, identify the modem and firmware revision.
Use and Copyright
-----------------
Silicon Graphics has seen fit to allow me to give this work away. It
is free. There is no support or guarantee of any sort as to its
operations, correctness, or whatever. If you do anything useful with
all or parts of it you need to honor the copyright notices. I would
also be interested in knowing about it and, hopefully, be acknowledged.
Sam Leffler (sam@sgi.com)
Copyright (c) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 Sam Leffler
Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993 Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and
its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided
that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in
all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of
Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or
publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written
permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY
WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR
ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY
KIND,
OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR
PROFITS,
WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY
THEORY OF
LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
PERFORMANCE
OF THIS SOFTWARE.