using cmd.exe as a telnet client

[Donnal Walter]

Grant Edwards wrote:
> You don't have to start from scratch. The telnet module has
> hooks built-into it1 so that you can have it call your routines
> to handle option negotiation.  I did it once to impliment some
> extra Telnet protocol features, and it wasn't difficult.

Ok, you've inspired me to give it a try. First, I am assuming that you 
mean writing a custom callback function to send to 
Telnet.set_option_negotiation_callback(callback). Or did you mean 
writing a subclass of Telnet? Can someone provide an example of a 
callback function that I might use as a template for writing mine?

This is unfamiliar territory for me, but I tried to snoop a bit using 
ethereal (also new to me) and as near as I can tell, the options in 
question are:
0, binary transmission
1, echo
3, suppress go ahead
23, send location

And it may be that not all of these are critical, but if so, I don't 
know how to tell which is which.

Eyal Lotem wrote:
> I think I have a much simpler solution for you guys..
> Assuming you can run arbitrary code on the proprietary
> server.

Actually I cannot. The server runs a second-party information system, 
the primary access to which is third-party terminal emulator software 
that uses telnet connections. What I am trying to do is emulate this 
emulator. :-)

>   cmd.exe is not a command line program.  It's a terminal (emulator).  
> You might be able to use the telnet program, though.

Yes, I see that now. Thanks.

>  Before doing this, 
> I'd recommend looking at Twisted's telnet support (both
> the version in 1.3 and the version that will be in 2.0),
> which actually supports option negotiation in a
> reasonable way.

I've been wanting to get acquainted with Twisted for awhile now, so this 
might be a good time to do so. I think I will give Grant's idea a whirl, 
but if I get bogged down there, I will definitely look at Twisted's 
telnet support. BTW, do you know if Twisted's option negotiation uses a 
callback function? I might download it just to take a look, even if I 
don't use it directly.

Thanks,
Donnal Walter
Arkansas Children's Hospital