Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!public!thad
From: thad@public.BTR.COM (Thaddeus P. Floryan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.datacomm
Subject: Re: Handshake 2.20c questions
Message-ID: <2996@public.BTR.COM>
Date: 9 Jun 91 09:33:14 GMT
References: <1991Jun6.030522.3061@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> <2969@public.BTR.COM> <1991Jun8.212156.1663@dayton.saic.com>
Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, Mountain View CA
Lines: 43

In article <1991Jun8.212156.1663@dayton.saic.com> ake@dayton.saic.com (Earle Ake) writes:
>[...]
>	The systems that have 'SET TERM/INQUIRE' have it there for a reason.
>If you remove it and then try to use an application that uses the SMG (Screen
>ManaGement) service, it might fail.  Anymore by default the terminal lines are
>set 'unknown' and the 'set term/inquire'  is used to determine what type of
>terminal you have and set the terminal settings properly.
>
>	The REAL problem is REAL vt100 emulators should know how to handle that
>escape sequence properly.  Handshake is returning the correct string but in the
>process is resetting itself to a VT220 ALL the time!  The solution is to have
>Eric fix the code not remove the 'set term/inquire' from the login.com!
>[...]

The REAL problem is NOT how DEC VT2?? and VT3?? terminals and clones (both
hardware and software) operate.  Handshake mimics a real DEC VT2?? properly.

I have "real" DEC VT100, DEC VT102, DEC VT220, and DEC VT340 terminals at my
office and can see how they are definitely braindamaged.

A REAL DEC VT220, operated in DEC VT100 mode, will shift to VT2?? mode after
a "SET TERM/INQUIRE" under VMS 4.3, 4.4, 4.7, and all 5.*.

The situation got to be so frustrating that I fixed everyone's LOGIN.COM files
on my systems (yeah, multiple VAXen running VMS (ugh)) to simply set the term
mode to VT100 upon login.  This works just fine with SMG and hasn't caused ANY
problems in over 5 years for anyone including my timesharing customers (among
whom can be found the world's largest banks).

The "problem" is that the DEC terminals, upon receipt of the inquiry code,
indicate they're a (for example) DEC VT220 in VT100 mode and then setup to
VT200 mode; though it's been a while since I've connected DLM test equipment to
check this, it's my recollection that VMS itself instructs the terminal to
enter VT200 mode even though the user had the terminal set in VT100 mode.

IN ANY EVENT, it is NOT a problem with Handshake (in this regards); Handshake
does exactly what DEC's own terminals do in this respect.  Not only that,
EVERY VT200 clone terminal I've tested over the years (e.g. Liberty, Falco,
et al) does the same annoying thing ONLY on a VMS system.

Why do you think VMS is colloquially known as the Vomit Making System?   :-)

Thad Floryan [ thad@btr.com (OR) {decwrl, mips, fernwood}!btr!thad ]