Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!decvax!mcnc!gatech!bloom-beacon!husc6!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ut-sally!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!sp7040!obie!wsccs!terry
From: terry@wsccs.UUCP (terry)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Using an ANSI emulator with VMS editors
Message-ID: <190@wsccs.UUCP>
Date: 26 Feb 88 04:21:08 GMT
References: <2058@bsu-cs.UUCP> <719@ddsw1.UUCP>
Lines: 69
Summary: Wrongo, keebler!

In article <719@ddsw1.UUCP>, karl@ddsw1.UUCP (Karl Denninger) writes:
> In article <2058@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
> >I use Microport System V/AT to dial up and its termcap entry that I
> >use is:
[a termcap entry nobody wants is deleted here]
> >This works nicely with 4.3BSD.  But VMS editors just splutter at me
> >(even if I do $ set terminal/ansi etc.) and mess up my screen.  Does
> >anybody know how to do this?

Don't listen to him... the answer is "yes".

> Forget it - it's probably easier to buy a VT220 clone than fix it.

Demonstrably false... read on:

> VMS doesn't want to see ANSI, they want to see their idea of ANSI
> -- which contains proprietary extensions, etc.  For example, they define a
> 'inquiry' sequence which the terminal is supposed to respond to (the
> sequence response identifies the type of terminal, enhancements in it if
> any [ie: graphics], etc.)

	If you are not talking about the ^Z, then the inquiry sequence *IS*
ANSI standard.  You may also notice that ANSI terminals have 24 lines and
what uPort and SCO are calling ANSI isn't, for this as well as a grundle of
other reasons; you only hit the high points below...

> You're also contending with the fact that the ANSI emulation which uport
> uses in the console driver is not quite playing with a full deck.  That is,
> things like scroll regions don't work quite right (2.3.0 is better but not
> quite right -- earlier versions had major shortcomings).

> The biggest problem with VAX/VMS and terminals (in my opinion) is that you 
> can't make your own termcap entries.  The software knows of only a few 
> terminals -- all DEC products.  (Ever wonder why there's such a market for
> VT100/VT220 look-alike terminals?  Now you know!)

	That's a lie.  There is a terminal database on VMS.  It's called
SYS$SYSTEM:SMGTERMS.TXT.  It just that 1) a terminal has to be able to do
at LEAST what a VT100 can do (AM, no SG#1, no UG#1, etc) to be able to live
up to being defined in this file... it makes too many assumptions, and 2) a
lot of programs for VMS from commercial people (I don't count DEC, as that is
nepotism, not commercialism) assume a minimum of a vt100 and then just go off
and emit the sequences themselves, due to porting considerations becoming too
ugly otherwise.

> Your only solution would be to write a filter routine which you insert in
> your terminal program (or pipe to/from it) that translates *all* the DEC
> control codes to what uport wants to see.  Yuck.

[sorta commercial... ignore if necessary to avoid sending me nasty mail]

	How about a VT100 emulator for the uPort system?  We sell a dandy
one which even does box-drawing graphics and scroll regions... even if the
terminal doesn't have the graphics, we can adequately fake it for the VT100
and our 9 other emulations.  Heck!  We even emulate _out_ a VMS system.

[end commercial... it isn't often I get to prosyletize :^)]

	Or there is a public domain one (don't know how good it is) which
is avaiable from the archives... so there IS an alternative or five.



| Terry Lambert           UUCP: ...!decvax!utah-cs!century!terry              |
| @ Century Software       or : ...utah-cs!uplherc!sp7040!obie!wsccs!terry    |
| SLC, Utah                                                                   |
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