Technical requirements for connection with INFOEPPO
EPPO Reporting Service item 520/01 has announced that the EPPO Bulletin Board Service INFOEPPO has been in operation since 1992-01-06. The following technical requirements are necessary to connect to INFOEPPO.
What you need in order to connect to INFOEPPO :
A microcomputer
Communications software
A modem operating at 1200 bps*
An international telephone line
The connection to INFOEPPO is made directly through an international telephone line, like a normal international phone call. It will cost you the same as an international phone call. INFOEPPO is not connected to any international packet-switching network, such as TRANSPAC.
A typical configuration for connecting to INFOEPPO might be an IBM-compatible PC, working under MS-DOS, with a hard disk. Modems are usually sold with suitable communications software, e.g. XTALK. There is a wide variety of communications packages available.
* INFOEPPO currently operates at 1200 bps, but will soon be upgraded to operate also at 2400, 4800 or 9600 bps. You are advised to use the highest speed you can obtain, since this will help to keep connection times short.
* INFOEPPO currently operates at 1200 bps, but will soon be upgraded to operate also at 2400, 4800 or 9600 bps. You are advised to use the highest speed you can obtain, since this will help to keep connection times short.
If your computer and modem can communicate through an ordinary telephone line, then they can almost certainly connect with INFOEPPO; the make and size of your equipment are not important.
Entering the system
To communicate with INFOEPPO, certain parameters must be correctly set in your communications software. Once these have been set correctly in the initial configuration, your software can probably memorize them, with the INFOEPPO telephone number, so that you can subsequently connect automatically with INFOEPPO in the correct configuration.
The correct parameters are :
- telephone number : 33 1 40 50 62 83
- number of data bits : 8
- number of stop bits : 1
- parity : none
- full duplex
Before first trying to connect, please telephone EPPO headquarters and arrange a time, so that we can be at the other end to help. We advise you to have an experienced person beside you to explain what is happening. Strange things can appear on the screen if your software is wrongly configured. Once it is correctly set, connection becomes a very simple routine.
Sources
EPPO Secretariat, Paris (1992-02)