Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!usc!apple!bionet!ames!dftsrv!drax!buck From: buck@drax.gsfc.nasa.gov (Loren (Buck) Buchanan) Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi Subject: Re: lost esc keys - ancient history Message-ID: <3822@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> Date: 5 Nov 90 18:00:05 GMT References: <9011041640.AA25355@snow-white.merit-tech.com> Sender: news@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov Reply-To: buck@drax.gsfc.nasa.gov (Loren (Buck) Buchanan) Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation @ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Lines: 34 In article <9011041640.AA25355@snow-white.merit-tech.com> goss@SNOW-WHITE.MERIT-TECH.COM (Mike Goss) writes: >You have stumbled across one of the most ancient and mysterious Unix problems >ever to vex the minds of historians! I don't think I've ever worked on >a Unix system that did NOT have this problem, going back to a Perkin-Elmer >3220 running Unix Version 7 (not a misprint; Version 7 came before System V, >for reasons known only to AT&T). > >Anyone who can solve this problem once and for all will certainly earn >the thanks of Unix users everywhere, and perhaps a shot at a Nobel prize >or Turing award, or at least an Edgar. The answer is simple, ensure that the escape sequence arrives at the UNIX system in one piece, and also ensure that vi, emacs, etc. is not swapped during the time the escape sequence is being processed. Oh, dear me, that is not a simple solution is it ;-)? Well, an alternate solution is to remap the keys on your terminal to use a different charcter than escape as the signal character. A one bit change from 0x1b to 0x1f (control-_) and then also changing your ex.rc file to recognize the new signal key. A third solution is to ignore arrow keys (and function keys altogether, which is the solution I have used successfully for years). OK, now where do I go to get my prize ;-) ;-) ;-). B Cing U Buck Loren Buchanan | buck@drax.gsfc.nasa.gov | #include CSC, 1100 West St. | ...!ames!dftsrv!drax!buck | typedef int by Laurel, MD 20707 | (301) 497-2531 | void where_prohibited(by law){} Phone tag, America's fastest growing business sport.