Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!news.cs.indiana.edu!mips!wdl1.wdl.loral.com!wdl50!mdm
From: mdm@wdl50.wdl.loral.com (Mike D Marchionna)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: XNext
Message-ID: <1991Mar12.212422.24081@wdl1.wdl.loral.com>
Date: 12 Mar 91 21:24:22 GMT
References: <799Ny2w164w@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca>
Sender: news@wdl1.wdl.loral.com
Organization: LORAL Western Development Labs
Lines: 76

ersys!drin@nro.cs.athabascau.ca (Adrian Smith) writes:

>I've FTP'd the X11R4-2.0 release from cunifx (thanks to whoever fixed it
>up), but I have some questions, having NEVER used X before. These should 
>maybe be on comp.windows.x, but I'll try here first.
> 
>We're hoping to run X11 on the NeXT and hang graphics capable (well, 
>Desqview/X) PCs ethernetted off it.  Will we get the NeXTStep interface on
>the PCs, or, more correctly, what WILL we get on the PCs (no flames 
>please, I'm a complete amateur at this)?
> 

Sorry there is no way you can get NeXTStep applications to display on a PC
running an X server.  Using Desqview/X on your PC's will allow any networked
client to display X applications on your PC.  This is assuming your network
is setup properly and you have set your X server to allow access from the
the host node running the X client application.  The only way you could
display NeXTStep applications on your PC is if you ran a NeXTStep server on
your PC.  As far as I know none currently exist.

>On the PC end (I know, wrong forum...), will PC apps that use graphics 
>(ie. Lotus 1-2-3 rel3, Harvard, etc) display their output on a window on 
>the NeXT? Or will we only get command-line?

This depends on what capabilities the supplied Desqview/X applications provide.
For example the standard X application Xterm is nothing more then a VT100
terminal emulator.  Assuming Desqview/X allows you run an Xterm that provides
access to the DOS prompt, (and I'm not sure that it does), the Xterm would
only support DOS applications that output ANSI terminal escape sequences to
standard output.  That means DOS apps. that directly modify screen page memory,
which is pretty much every useful application, wouldn't work.  If however,
Desqview/X supplies an X application that emulates a EGA/VGA/SVGA screen then
that means your DOS applications run within an X window.  Basically anything
that runs within an X window can be directed to display on any server in the
network that allows the client access to its X server.  As example say you have
networked a NeXT running XNeXT, and a PC running Desqview/X.  Any X application 
that you run on the NeXT can be redirected to display on the PC by changing an 
environment variable that specifies the node to draw to.  Similarly there should
be no problem setting a variable on the PC to inform the application you are
about to run to send its output to the NeXT node running XNeXT.  Assuming you
had a Desqview/X application that emulated an EGA screen called Xegados.  On
your PC you would probably end up doing something like this on your PC.

	C:> set DISPLAY  nextnode:0.0
	C:> Xegados

By running Xegados after setting the above environment variable the Xegados
application would try send X protocol packets to the X server on node 
"nextnode" using graphics device 0 and the number 0 screen on that device.
Assuming the Xegados program can run your 123, windows, word perfect, et al  
programs then you can get your NeXT to display it through the X window.
However, this is all rather silly since there already is a NeXTStep application 
called SoftPC that lets you run PC applications directly on your NeXT.  


> 
>We'd like to have some kind of graphical interface betwen the machines, 
>but if we're only going to get command-line shell, it's not worth the 
>hassle.

If what you want is a common GUI running on both platforms then X is your only
choice.  If what you want is to have the same applications running on both
platforms then you would need to limit yourself to nothing but X applications.
If you just need to have PC applications available on both platforms you are 
probably better off buying SoftPC and some network software to transfer files 
between your NeXT's and your PC's.  If you want to run NeXTStep applications on
your PC's then your currently out of luck.

>Thanks,

>-drin
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