A Review  by  Gregg Hommel  (c. 1994)
Procomm Plus for Windows, version 2.0 from Datastorm Technologies...

I don't know about you, but I get tired of reading "reviews" that do nothing
more than praise a product, no matter it's shortcomings, or those that
"parrot the party line" according to the press packet included with the
software. This one, hopefully, will not be like that...

Before we look at what the new Procomm Plus for Windows v.2.0 is, let's look
at what it isn't... It's not the answer to all your communications prayers.
In fact, if you have a CAS modem (like the Intel Satisfaxion 400i), it's not
even the answer to your fax needs, since Procomm Plus for Windows 2.0 does
not support the CAS standard.  If you are a power fax user, and send hundreds
of those critters a day, there are applications, like WinFax Pro, which are
far more suited to that. However, if you are one of "us"... a small business
owner, or a rabid BBSer, then perhaps, Procomm Plus is the answer to all your
communications prayers.

Procomm Plus for Windows 2.0 is a smoothly integrated combination of a fax
application with a strong data communications program.  All the power of
Procomm Plus for Windows 1.0x and Procomm Plus for DOS 2.01 are here, with
something missing in both of the earlier Datastorm applications... ease of
set up and use.

Installing Procomm Plus for Windows 2.0 is a relatively simple chore.  As
with most Windows applications of any importance today, the installation
offers two options... Express or Custom.  Express is just what it implies..
..a fast, no questions asked installation of the complete Procomm forWin 2.0
application, including all support and sample files. Custom offers the user
a few choices in regard to those portions of the rather larger than Procomm
for Windows 1.0x application he wants to install.  Procomm Plus for Windows
2.0, in an Express installation will take up a trifle over 13 megs. of hard
drive real estate.  When using the Custom option, you can trim that a little,
depending upon how you use Procomm for Windows.  Custom will allow you to
decide whether to install the sample script files, the Compuserve and MCI
Mail managers, the tutorial (which is worth looking at to see what can be
done with the script language, if nothing else <G>), the fax Cover
Sheet Editor and sample cover sheets, and even the v.2.0 Host mode script
files.

On one test install, using the Custom option, and installing only the bare
necessities, I was able to get the hard drive requirements down to 9 megs.
This is s till more than a full Procomm for Win 1.0x installation, but
considering the improvements, not a bad trade-off !

Once the installation routines goes through installing all the files
requested, with the now common "advertising" and user notes on the nicely
drawn installation screen <G>, we finally get to the fun part of the
installation.

Procomm for Win 2.0 will load itself, and begin walking you through the
initial set up of the various parameters it needs to operate. One of the
first things done, after getting your name, phone number, etc., is modem
set up.  Procomm for Win 2.0 shows a decided improvement in this respect
over both Procomm for Win 1.0x, and most other Windows communications
applications... an automatic modem detection/setup routine, that works!

This is one area where Procomm for Win really shines. You'll be asked if you
want Procomm for Win to determine the modem on your system for you.
Tell it "yes", make sure your external modem is powered up <G>, and then
sit back and wait for a minute.  Procomm will check all of your installed
comm ports, determine which, if any, have a 16550 UART installed, and then
query your modem to determine what type (make and model) it is. TheProcomm
for Win 2.0 WMODEMS.DAT file contains data for several hundred different
makes and models of modems, and Procomm for Win 2.0 will make a valiant
attempt to automatically determine the make and model of the modem connected
to your system.  If the software can't find an exact match, it will suggest
the closest modem it can find in it's extensive list, and in 99% of cases,
this will be all you will ever need.


Converting files:

During the installation, Procomm for Win 2.0 will also ask if you want it
to "convert" your Procomm for Win 1.0x files (if you have that application
previously installed, and are upgrading), such as the dialing directory,
metakey and keyboard files, to the new, Procomm for Win 2.0 format, along
with converting your existing script files to the new Wasp 2.0 version of the
language (more on this later). I would suggest that you go ahead and allow
Procomm/Win 2.0 to do this for you... the changes to some of these files are
extensive, and the conversion utility does a good job of saving you the
effort to recreate these files for use by Procomm for Win 2.0.


The Dialing Directory:

In particular, the dialing directory under Procomm for Win 2.0 is rather
drastically changed  - for the better - in most cases.  It is now a "three
part" dialing directory, with parts for each dialing directory entry which
allow you to store data, fax, and voice information. You can also"group"
entries under common headings, to be dealt with, and dialed as a group. The
editor for the dialing directory is now much more extensive, comprehensive,
and better organized than under Procomm for Win v.1.0x.

Of course, most of us are never happy with pre-determined settings for
anything, and we just simply have to "tweak" every application for what we
consider the "best" operations. When it comes to "tweaking", Procomm for
Win 2.0 leaves it's predecessors in the dust.  The new setup functions allow
you to "tweak" almost every aspect of Procomm for Win 2.0, from the fonts
it uses, to WAV files to play when certain events occur. Unlike Procomm for
Win 1.0x, it does this using a setup which no longer looks like a port from
the DOS version of Procomm, but follows Windows standards to a large extent.
There are still a few "unique" ways of setting up some of the defaults, but
far less than there were in Procomm forWin 1.0x.

With a little time and careful reading of the manuals,(They are much
improved over those for Procomm for Win 1.0x ) one actually finds readable
and useful information not buried in communications "lingo".  Stripped from
the comm jargon which is impossible to find or understand, you end up with a
single communications application which performs almost any function you might
demand of it.... including both data and fax communications!

To assist in making Procomm for Win 2.0 your only communications application,
Datastorm has included two new script "applets" with this version. The CIS
Manager allows you to log on to Compuserve, and manage your activities there,
including downloading message headers and/or messages, and grabbing files,
without using a third-party application, such as WinCIM or CSNav, if you wish.
There's also an "applet" for MCI Mail, if you use that, which automates and
simplifies the tasks of writing and sending that particular form of email.


Remote Usage:

Of course, Host is still included even though Host v.2.0 is not a great deal
changed from the previous versions.  It does, however, allow you to receive
incoming fax calls while it is running, if your fax modem supports Adaptive
Answer, and also includes a "fax back" feature which allows remote users to
log in and request that the host computer send a fax back to the remote. But
Host still contains the same rather dull screens, and limited feature set of
the earlier versions.  There is no provision to shell to DOS from the remote,
and very little in the way of user customization. You can now edit your user
records from the Host utilities instead of having to use a text file editor,
and decipher the cryptic entries in the user records.  This Host holds more
user information than previous versions but remains simply a rudimentary
application to allow remote connections to Procomm/Win.

I must state that I am somewhat "biased" when it comes to discussing the Host
included with Procomm for Win in any version, given that I wrote a
replacement for it, called GHOST BBS.  Even so,  the comments above are based
upon what users of Host have told me.  Hopefully, they are somewhat objective.

Host also has some problems making a clean connection with a remote. This
occurs mostly with modems which respond somewhat slowly to AT commands,
although, from messages on BBS nets, and the Datastorm forum on Compuserve,
there just may be a lot of modems with this problem.  If you try running Host,
and you can't seem to get a clean "connect" from the remote, i.e. it doesn't
always connect properly, or if it does connect, the remote gets on screen
"garbage", drop me a note, and I can tell you how to edit the scripts for
Host, as recommended by Datastorm. It's not a guaranteed fix, but it does work
for the majority of cases.

Overall, for data communications, Procomm for Win 2.0 continues the traditions
of Procomm Plus for DOS 2.01, and Procomm Plus for Windows 1.0x. It is solid,
fast, and reliable, whether transferring compressed files, or just logging on
to your local BBS to browse through the mail.  Zmodem transfers seem slightly
improved in speed over v.1.0x.  Datastorm has finally fixed one of the bigger
problems with v.10x, that being file renaming of duplicate downloaded files
under Zmodem. Unlike v.1.0x, this now works as expected, which should help to
ease the many problems users experienced under v.1.0x when downloading files,
especially QWK packets.

Although ANSI emulation is as good, and as fast or faster than it was under
Procomm/Win 1.0x, the new font choices shipped with Procomm Plus 2.0 leave a
fair bit to be desired according to a lot of users (including myself! <GG>.
There is a fairly simple solution, however...if you still have Procomm
for Win v.1.0x installed on your system, you have a file there which contains
the much preferred PCPlus SS fonts from that version, PWTRMNL.FON. If you
don't have Procomm for Win v.1.0x still installed, not to worry. The font is
also available fro downloading from the Datastorm BBS, or their forum on
Compuserve. Once you have the *.FON file, all you need to do is place it in
your PROWIN directory, and restart Procomm for Win 2.0. The older v.1.0x
PCPlus SS fonts will then be listed at the bottom of the font list, and you
can select them for use under Procomm for Win 2.0.

Perhaps the biggest "news" about Procomm for Win 2.0 is the integrated fax
support. This side of Procomm for Win 2.0 is not up to the "power user"
standards of something like WinFax Pro, however, for most home and small
business users, it provides more than enough features to satisfy their
needs. You can send multiple copies of the same fax to different receivers,
schedule your fax messages to be sent at a pre-determined time, and poll
remote units for faxes. There is a fairly decent collection of sample cover
pages which you can include with your fax transmission, and a cover sheet
editor so that you can modify those over sheets, or create your own.

Incoming fax calls are handled neatly and cleanly by Procomm for Win 2.0,
without interfering with applications in the foreground, when Procomm for
Win 2.0 is being run in the background for fax reception. (Speaking of
background operations... remember that annoying "feature" of Procomm
for Win 1.0x which caused the it's minimized icon to "flash" when a file
transfer was completed?  You can configure that in Procomm for Win 2.0 to
behave as in the previous version, or to simply behave itself, and stay
still <GG>)

Along with fax support, Procomm/Win 2.0 also now supports Caller ID,
Distinctive Ring, and Adaptive Answer, if the hardware on your modem
handles these kinds of calls, and your local phone company offers the
services. Caller ID allows you to see what phone number is originating a
call when it is received, Distinctive Ring allows you to use two phone
numbers, on a single phone line for different purposes (say fax and data),
with each phone number resulting in a "distinctive ring" on the receiving
end, when called, and Adaptive Answer lets the modem determine whether an
incoming call is a fax call, or a data call and route the call to the
appropriate "side" of Procomm/Win 2.0 (which can be quite nice when used in
conjunction with a Host application which also supports it, such as the
Datastorm Host, or the soon-to-be-released, GHOST BBS 3.20).

To match these many changes, the scripting language of Procomm for Win,
Windows Aspect (Wasp) has gone through extensive changes of it's own.,
and now also includes a complete set of commands for the fax side of Procomm
for Win. Regrettably, one of the side effects of these changes is that scripts written in Wasp 1.0 for Procomm/Win 1.0x are not compatible
with Procomm for Win 2.0, and will not run under it without modification,
and recompiling. Datastorm has attempted to ease this transition, with a
conversion utility which will convert your Procomm for Win 1.0x dialing
directories, keyboard and metakey files (which also are not compatible
between the two versions) to the new format, and also will convert your
Wasp 1.0 script files to a Wasp 2.0 compatible version.

Script conversion is not perfect. The resulting Wasp 2.0 compatible file
may be as much as two or three times as large as the original, Wasp 1.0
file, and can contain whole new routines added by the conversion utility
to ensure compatibility with how commands, etc. functioned in Wasp 1.0.
But, in the vast majority of cases, once you have "converted" your Wasp
1.0 scripts, and recompiled them under Wasp 2.0, they will run as they
did under Procomm for Win 1.0x, and thus, allow you to keep your log on and
other scripts, without too much difficulty. Depending upon the extent of
your scripts, you way wish to later clean up this compatibility code,
once you have learned how Wasp 2.0 operates.

However, the script conversion utility will only convert source code
files (with the WAS extension). If you have any third party script
utilities, which ship only in compiled form (with the WAX extension),
these will NOT be converted to run under Procomm/Win 2.0, and will NOT
run without being converted. For these files, you will have to contact
the author of the application regarding a Procomm for Win 2.0 version.

Overall, Procomm for Win 2.0 is well worth looking at, especially if you
have a need for fax and data communications, and would prefer them in a
single application. It has some problems, some of which Datastorm is
aware of and is apparently working on.  In general, it is a solid,
steady and reliable performer, with a minimum of setup hassles and
with good ease of use, especially for the beginner or novice in the realm
of Windows communications.

***********************************************************************
contact information :
Internet   - gregg.hommel@canrem.com
FIDO       - 1:229/15
Compuserve - 72537,552


