A nice little DOS IRC Client for IBM PCs, XTs PCjrs, and newer machines
Introduction
IRCjr is a small IRC client suitable for running on early IBM PCs and
compatibles. It is built using a high performance TCP/IP (mTCP) stack that is
tailored to the needs of smaller machines. The amount of features
and coding style were chosen to make it usable on these older machines.
IRCjr is not a replacement for a full featured modern IRC client. If
you need file transfer capabilities, multiple connections to different
servers, etc. then you probably want a modern IRC client on a modern
machine.
Below is a screen shot of it running in DOSBox on a Windows 2000
machine: (This is similar to what a CGA user would see.)
Note the TCP/IP statistics (obtained by hitting Alt-S) - over 100,000
TCP/IP packets in and out during this session! (I finally ended the
session after a week.)
Specifications:
Requirements
- IBM PC, XT, PCjr, or clone system with 8088 class processor
or better.
- 160KB free memory
- CGA, MDA, EGA or VGA video card
- Ethernet card with supported Packet Driver
- DOS 2.0 or later (DOS 3.3 or greater is recommended)
User interface
- Standard 'split-screen' layout: 21 lines of chat area on
top, 1 status line, 3 lines for user input
- User configurable backscroll buffer tested up to 1000
lines. (Requires more memory)
- Autodetects active display in dual-head configurations
- Toggleable beeper to alert you to new incoming messages
Features
- It is fast - very usable even on 8088 class systems
- Lots of buffering to prevent lost packets
- TCP/IP stack is built in (one less TSR to setup)
- Settings to limit 'snow' on CGA cards
- DNS resolver built in
Limitations
- Only one connection to one server is supported.
- Only one active channel to the server is supported
Download!
IRCjr is included with the other mTCP based applications. They can be downloaded from the main mTCP page here.
Support
I am interested in hearing about your experiences with IRCjr and any
comments you have. Please email me at mbbrutman@yahoo.com. You can also
start a thread on http://www.brutman.com/forums
(Mike's PCjr Page) in the 'Programming' area.
Changelog
2008-08-22
Increase length of nickname to 20 (from 9). Note that the current RFC still says 9 chars.
Recognize nickname changes.
End program automatically if you fail to connect to the server due to nickname collisions.
2008-07-30
Rewrite backscroll buffer handling to reduce code size and be able to process new input in the background.
Move to a file based configuration for the TCP/IP parameters.
2008-06-24
Bug fix on message output
to get rid of 'Abnormal Termination Errors'
Add 'Ping Responses' and 'Time Active' to statistics command
Add TCP and Packet statistics to output when program ends
Created June 20th, 2008, Last updated August 23rd,
2008
(C)opyright Michael B. Brutman, mbbrutman@yahoo.com
