Option files are used to set several run-time PhoneNet options on a per-channel basis. Option files are stored in the PMDF table directory (PMDF_TABLE: on OpenVMS, or /pmdf/table/ on UNIX, or typically C:\pmdf\table\ on NT) and have names of the form x_option, where "x" is the name of the PhoneNet channel to which the option file applies. Every PhoneNet channel must have an option file.

Option files consist of several lines. Each line contains the setting for one option. An option setting has the form:

option=value

where value can be either a string or an integer, depending on the option's requirements. If the option accepts an integer value, value, a base can be specified using notation of the form b%v, where b is the base expressed in base 10 and v is the actual value expressed in base b.

Comments are allowed. Any line that begins with an exclamation point is considered to be a comment and is ignored. Blank lines are also ignored in any option file.

The available options are:

BACKOFF (integer >= 0)

When BACKOFF specifies an integer greater than zero, backoff retries will be attempted for messages which could not be delivered immediately. See Section 24.6 for details. By default, BACKOFF=0.

BAUDRATE (integer)

This option specifies the baud rate at which to dial-out using the MASTER program. Possible values are: 50, 75, 110, 134, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 1800, 2000, 2400, 3600, 4800, 7200, 9600, 19200, and 38400. Not all hardware interfaces support all these baud rates. In particular, Local Area Terminal Server (LAT) lines can ignore the baud rate setting on the host side; the line speed might need to be set from the terminal server itself (which PMDF cannot access) to have any effect.¹ If no BAUDRATE option is specified in the option file the MASTER program does not change the baud rate of the terminal. On OpenVMS, it is also possible to set the baud rate using a SET TERMINAL command in the all_master.com command file (see Section 24.3.2).

CHANNEL (string)

The CHANNEL option defines the name of the channel with which the option file is associated. This name is used to generate Received: header lines in message headers. The CHANNEL option must be specified for any channel other than the default PhoneNet channel (channel p); if it is not, the channel will not work properly.

LOGGING (0 or 1)

LOGGING controls whether or not the channel maintains a PhoneNet message log file ph_x_y.log. A value of 1, the default, specifies that a log is to be kept. A value of 0 disables use of the PhoneNet log file.

TRANSCRIBE (0 or 1)

TRANSCRIBE controls whether or not the channel maintains a Dial protocol transaction log file di_x_y.log. A value of 1, the default, specifies that a log is to be kept. A value of 0 disables use of the transaction log file.

DATAWAIT (integer)

This defines the number of seconds to wait for a data packet from the remote host. Normally the default value of 180 suffices. A higher value can be necessary if the remote host runs very slowly.

XMITWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for a packet to be transmitted. The default value of 60 should work for almost all applications.

QACKWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for a response to a QUIT packet before retransmission. The default value of 30 should work for almost all applications.

EACKWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for a response to an ESCAPE packet before resending. The default value of 30 should work for almost all applications.

DACKWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for data acknowledgement packets before retransmission. The default value of 30 should work for almost all applications.

ESCAPEWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for an ESCAPE packet during protocol startup. The default value of 60 should work for almost all applications.

XPATHWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for an XPATH packet during protocol startup. The default value of 60 is usually sufficient. However, since this is the first packet exchanged in PhoneNet, it can be necessary to increase this parameter on systems which process lots of files (tallying files to be transmitted delays the sending of the first packet) or which take a long time to start up the PhoneNet programs.

RPATHWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for RPATH packets. The default value of 60 should work for almost all applications.

NBUFFWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for NBUFF packets. The default value of 60 should work for almost all applications.

XPAWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for XPATH packet acknowledgements. The default value of 20 should work for almost all applications.

RPAWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for RPATH packet acknowledgements. The default value of 20 should work for almost all applications.

NBAWAIT (integer)

This is the number of seconds to wait for NBUFF packet acknowledgements. The default value of 20 should work for almost all applications.

EIGHTBIT (0 or 1)

The EIGHTBIT option controls whether eight-bit characters are enabled by MASTER. On OpenVMS, this corresponds to the eightbit setting of the OpenVMS terminal driver. If EIGHTBIT has a value of 0 the eighth bit is masked out on output characters and ignored on input characters. If EIGHTBIT is 1 the eighth bit is preserved on output and interpreted on input. Any other value or the omission of the EIGHTBIT option will tell MASTER not to change the interpretation of the EIGHTBIT flag from its current setting. On OpenVMS, it is also possible to set this option using a SET TERMINAL command in the all_master.com command file as described in Section 24.3.2. PhoneNet normally quotes eight-bit characters so the setting of this characteristic is not relevant insofar as the PhoneNet protocol is concerned. However, it can be necessary to enable or disable the EIGHTBIT option in order for the MASTER login script to work properly.

EXPECTWINDOW (0 or 1)

This option tells the local slave program whether to expect a "set window size" packet from the remote master. The default is 0 which means that the packet must not be received. A setting of 1 means that the packet must be received. If EXPECTWINDOW is set to 1, the window size that is received in the "set window size" packet overrides the setting of the WINDOW option.

FLUSHRATE (integer)

The FLUSHRATE parameter controls how often transaction log file buffers are emptied and the files brought up to date. PMDF periodically issues a $FLUSH on the transaction log. This operation, coupled with the fact that the file is shareable, makes it possible to examine the file while MASTER or SLAVE is still running. (On OpenVMS, the standard DCL TYPE command can be used to examine the file if desired.) The FLUSHRATE value is expressed as the number of lines between flush operations. The minimum value of 1 means that the file will be updated as each line of text is written to it. Low values can cause performance degradation due to the expense of issuing so many $FLUSH calls. The default value is 32.

HOSTSYNC (0 or 1)

This option tells PMDF whether or not to use flow control (CTRL/S and CTRL/Q) to regulate incoming data flow. If HOSTSYNC's value is 1 PMDF will instruct the system to send a CTRL/S when the terminal input buffer is nearly full and a CTRL/Q when the buffer empties. A HOSTSYNC value of 0 tells PMDF to disable this form of flow control. Any other value or not specifying the HOSTSYNC will leave this setting unchanged from the default already set on the terminal. The HOSTSYNC setting on one side of a connection should usually match the TTSYNC setting on the other, and vice versa. On OpenVMS, it is also possible to set this option using a SET TERMINAL command in the all_master.com command file as described in Section 24.3.2. Setting this option in this command file will not affect its use by SLAVE, however.

NOISE (list of integers)

This defines the set of characters to ignore when reading data from the remote host. The decimal ASCII values of the characters to ignore are listed separated by commas. The default is 13 (CR).

PARITY (NONE, ODD, EVEN, MARK, SPACE)

This controls the use of parity on the line. Possible values are NONE, ODD, EVEN, MARK, and SPACE. PMDF will assert the specified parity on outgoing characters. Any setting other than NONE will cause the uppermost (eighth) bit to be stripped from all incoming characters. A parity setting of NONE passes all characters as-is. The default is NONE.

SENDWINDOW (0 or 1)

This tells the local master program whether to send a "set window size" packet to the remote slave. The default is 0 (no). A setting of 1 means yes. Some older link-level protocol implementations do not accept this "set window size" packet. The actual window size is determined by the WINDOW option setting described above. The default window size on relay.cs.net is 1 so set WINDOW=2 and SENDWINDOW=1 to override this default.

TERMINATOR (integer)

This defines the packet-terminator for packets sent to the remote host. The decimal ASCII values of the desired terminators should be listed without quotes and separated by commas. The default is "13,10" (CR,LF).

TTSYNC (0 or 1)

This option tells PMDF whether or not to interpret flow control (CTRL/S and CTRL/Q) sent by the remote system. If TTSYNC's value is 1 PMDF will instruct the system to stop sending characters when a CTRL/S is received and to resume sending when a CTRL/Q is received. A TTSYNC value of 0 tells PMDF to disable this form of flow control. Any other value or not specifying the TTSYNC will leave this setting unchanged from the default already set on the terminal. On OpenVMS, it is also possible to set this option using a SET TERMINAL command in the all_master.com command file as described in Section 24.3.2. Setting this option in this command file will not affect its use by SLAVE, however. The TTSYNC setting on one side of a connection should usually match the HOSTSYNC setting on the other, and vice versa.

WINDOW (1 or 2)

This defines the window size for the link-level PhoneNet protocol. The default is 1 (single buffering). A setting of 2 means double buffering. Double buffering can be used only over full-duplex lines and typically results in 25% to 60% throughput improvements, depending on the type of communication line being used. The local and remote hosts must agree on the window size. (See SENDWINDOW and EXPECTWINDOW above.)