Miscellaneous and Uncategorized Discussion of Display Terminals Collected
from Usenet

(some of it before the Worldwide Web was Woven, circa 1994...)

   ...a smattering of VT100 legends and repair hints
   ...enhanced with discussion of the Ann Arbor Ambassador terminal.
   ...Viewdata/Prestel "videotex" services

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:32:56 +0000 (UTC)
References: <e7a50c28-3986-4256-b012-fa21b7d967e9@u10g2000prn.googlegroups.com>
            <fqspeg$bjg$1@panix5.panix.com> <fska8c$7i0$1@panix2.panix.com>
Message-ID: <fsknqo$8ci$1@panix5.panix.com>
Organization: Jeff's House of Electronic Parts
Date: 29 Mar 2008 02:32:56 -0400
From: Jeff Jonas <jeffj@panix.com>
Subject: Re: interfacing to a Flexowriter

>> I used one for a little while: it's 5 bit code, probably baudot.

Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/ replied:
>
> Baudot hasn't been used in over a century.  The usual five-bit code is
> "Murray", also known as International Telegraph Alphabet No 2 (ITA2).
>
> If I recall correctly, Flexowriters used a proprietary seven-bit code.

According to

    http://homepages.cwi.nl/~dik/english/codes/7tape.html

several Flexowriters used a 6-bit code with upper/lower shift.

Ah, this shows 5-bit versions too:

    http://homepages.cwi.nl/~dik/english/codes/5tape.html


 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Host: 67.163.10.36
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:01:31 -0500
References: <e7a50c28-3986-4256-b012-fa21b7d967e9@u10g2000prn.googlegroups.com>
            <fqspeg$bjg$1@panix5.panix.com> <fska8c$7i0$1@panix2.panix.com>
Message-ID: <4811F230.16708CF9@spam.comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:01:04 -0500
From: David J Dachtera <djesys.no@spam.comcast.net>
Subject: Re: interfacing to a Flexowriter


"Keith F. Lynch" wrote:
>
> Jeff Jonas <jeffj@panix.com> wrote:
> >
> > I used one for a little while: it's 5 bit code, probably baudot.
>
> Baudot hasn't been used in over a century.


How many such devices existed in 1908 or earlier? ;-)

-- 
David J Dachtera
(formerly dba) DJE Systems


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!emory!wuarchive!usc!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!eru!hagbard
      !sunic!mcsun!ukc!axion!tharr!conrad
Message-ID: <2007@tharr.UUCP>
References: <6171@cactus.org>
Reply-To: conrad@tharr.UUCP (Conrad Longmore)
Organization: Power Microsystems Ltd
Date: 3 Apr 1991 23:07:01 GMT
From: conrad@tharr.UUCP (Conrad Longmore)
Subject: Re: vt220

In article <6171@cactus.org> cheselka@cactus.org (Mike R. Cheselka) writes:
>
> I have a vt220 by digital, the real thing, not a clone. What is the
> 'Compose Character' key for? How can I use it? 

The 'Compose' key is for creating high-order ascii characters, and other
ascii characters not on the keyboard. To use it, you must operate the
terminal in an eight-bit environment, and be using the VT in VT220 mode.
Put simply, you compose an accented character by a two or three character
sequence, e.g. for A-umlaut you would type COMPOSE A ", for c-cedilla type
COMPOSE c , ... for GB pound sign it's COMPOSE l =, for Japanese yen it's
COMPOSE Y =. Most of the accented characters are fairly easy to guess once
you understand the principle of 'combining' the ascii characters.

>Can I 'save' stuff to the
>function keys so that I power up with Hayes AT commands on them?

The contents of the function keys are host-writable, but the VT220 loses the
settings when turned off. You could look at the ANSWERBACK field though.

>Are there
>any roms out there for Japanese characters sets? 

The character matrix on the VT220 is a bit too crude to allow much in the
way of Japanese, as the chinese root symbols that most of Japanese starts
words with are too complex to the represented properly. Terminals such as
the VT320 have more complex character matrices.

>More generally, would 
>some kind soul send me some information about the differences between the
>various vt### terminals? I always use the vt100 set up, how would vt220
>be better? Can graphics be viewed, like gifs or bitmaps?

The VT220 is a text-only terminal. A quick guide as to the main differences
between the VT terminals follows:

Terminal	Extended Mono	Colour	Redefinable  Refresh Dual Host
		keybd?	 Graph? Graph?  characters?  rate    (2 sessions)?

VT52		No	 No	No	No	     60Hz    No
VT100		No	 No	No	No	     60Hz    No
VT125		No	 Yes	No	No	     60Hz    No
VT220		Yes	 No	No	Yes	     60Hz    No
VT230		Yes	 Yes	No	Yes	     60Hz    No
VT240		Yes	 No	Yes	Yes	     60Hz    No
VT320		Yes	 No	No	Yes	     60Hz    No
VT330		Yes	 Yes	No	Yes	     60Hz    Yes	**
VT340		Yes	 No	Yes	Yes	     60Hz    Yes	**
VT420		Yes	 No	No	Yes	     70Hz    Yes	**
VT1000		Yes	 Yes 	(Monochrome X-windows terminal)
VT1200		Yes	 Yes	(Monochrome X-windows terminal)		**
VT1300		Yes   	 No	Yes (Colour X-windows terminal)		**

All VT100-400 terminals are ANSI X3.41-1977 and X.3.64-1979 compliant.
VTx30 and x40 terminals use Regis graphics, which can provide bitmapped
displays. The VT340 display is very similar to EGA. Terminals marked with
** are current digital terminals.


-- 
    // Conrad Longmore / Uucp: ..!ukc!axion!tharr!conrad / All opinions   //
   // Eniac Programmer/ Janet: tharr!conrad @ uk.ac.ukc / stated are     //
  // Bedford College / YelNet: +44 234 345151 x5350/1  / belong to      // 
 // Computer Centre / Linenoise research a speciality / someone else   //
// ** T H A R R ** / Free access to Usenet in the UK / * 0234 720202 *//

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!litwin!litwin
Message-ID: <1991Jul25.151532.12093@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>
References: <1991Jul25.065806.15608@agate.berkeley.edu>
Nntp-Posting-Host: litwin.jpl.nasa.gov
Sender: news@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Usenet)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date: 25 Jul 1991 15:15:32 GMT
From: litwin@litwin.jpl.nasa.gov (Todd Litwin)
Subject: Re: VT-102 command set

The only place that I know to get the vt102 escape sequences is by getting a
copy of the manual from DEC. I have a copy of the vt100 manual that seems to
cover the additional commands for the vt102. You might try checking the
termcap files on your systems. I found that my Sun workstation did not have
one for the vt102; so I modified the vt100 entry to make one. I have listed it
below. I hope this is useful.

d+|vt102|vt102-am|dec vt102:\
	:cr=^M:do=^J:nl=^J:bl=^G:co#80:li#24:cl=50\E[;H\E[2J:\
	:le=^H:bs:am:cm=5\E[%i%d;%dH:nd=2\E[C:up=2\E[A:\
	:ce=3\E[K:cd=50\E[J:so=2\E[7m:se=2\E[m:us=2\E[4m:ue=2\E[m:\
	:md=2\E[1m:mr=2\E[7m:mb=2\E[5m:me=2\E[m:is=\E[r\E[2J:\
	:al=\E[L:dl=\E[M:AL=\E[%dL:DL=\E[%dM:\
	:cs=\E[%i%d;%dr:sf=\ED:sr=\EM:\
	:rf=/usr/lib/tabset/vt100:\
	:rs=\E>\E[?3l\E[?4l\E[?5l\E[?7h\E[?8h:ks=\E[?1h\E=:ke=\E[?1l\E>:\
	:ku=\EOA:kd=\EOB:kr=\EOC:kl=\EOD:kb=^H:\
	:ho=\E[H:k1=\EOP:k2=\EOQ:k3=\EOR:k4=\EOS:ta=^I:pt:sr=5\EM:vt#3:xn:\
	:sc=\E7:rc=\E8:cs=\E[%i%d;%dr:\
	:eA=\E)0:as=^N:ae=^O:ac=ddcceebbii:
--
		Todd Litwin
		Jet Propulsion Laboratory
		(818) 354-5028
		litwin@robotics.jpl.nasa.gov

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Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!willis.cis.uab.edu!news.cs.uah.edu!malgudi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wupost!uunet!mcsun!news.funet.fi!uwasa.fi!ts
Message-ID: <1991Jul25.200013.24378@uwasa.fi>
References: <1991Jul25.065806.15608@agate.berkeley.edu>
Organization: University of Vaasa, Finland
Date: 25 Jul 1991 20:00:13 GMT
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)
Subject: Re: VT-102 command set

In article <1991Jul25.065806.15608@agate.berkeley.edu> rudiak@garnet.berkeley.edu writes:
>
> Can somebody point me to some documentation for the VT-102 command set?
> (That is, the escape sequences.)  Better yet, email the docs to me (if
:

You'll find some information on this is /pc/ts/tskerm24.arc.

"The wares are available by anonymous ftp from garbo.uwasa.fi,
Vaasa, Finland, 128.214.12.37, or by using our mail server (use the
latter if, and only if you don't have anonymous ftp).  If you are
not familiar with anonymous ftp or mail servers, I am prepared to
send prerecorded instructions on request.  (If you don't get the
instructions from me within a few days, it will mean that your email
address cannot be reached by a simple email reply.  It that case,
contact your system manager for devicing a proper mail path for you,
because unless you do, you wouldn't be able to utilize the mail
server anyway.  If you are in North America first consider using an
ftp site near you to spare the overseas load.)"

...................................................................
Prof. Timo Salmi
Moderating at garbo.uwasa.fi anonymous ftp archives 128.214.12.37
School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland
Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: gado::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!gatech!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!hsdndev!news.bbn.com!bbn.com!pdsmith
Message-ID: <65474@bbn.BBN.COM>
References: <DAVIS.91Aug1051122@muscle.mps.ohio-state.edu>
Sender: news@bbn.com
Reply-To: pdsmith@spca.bbn.com (Peter D. Smith)
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Date: 1 Aug 1991 17:28:43 GMT
From: pdsmith@bbn.com (Peter D. Smith)
Subject: Re: What defines a vt100??


In article <DAVIS.91Aug1051122@muscle.mps.ohio-state.edu> davis@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu  (John E. Davis) writes:
...paraphrased...

   This person would like to know what escape sequence most VT100 clones
   will handle.  Here's my two cents; I'd love to know what everybody
   else does.

Well, there's no canonical list, but here's what to avoid:

    1) Down loaded characters (for obvious reasons)
    2) All ESC-# sequences (eg, double wide characters).
       This also applies to ESC # 8, DECALN (fill screen with E's)
    3) ESC 7/ ESC 8.  These are cursor save/restore.  You'd think
       these would be easy, but both xterm and some of the Sun
       text windows do them wrong.
    4) Most of the settings.  In particular, don't assume that you
       can go into 132 column mode, and don't assume you can set
       reverse video.
    5) ESc[q.  Sigh.  ESC[145q was so much fun.
    6) Out of range parameters.  This is especially true of window-
       based terminal emulators which tend to not check out of range
       arguments.
    7) ESC[m.  Different terminals implement different values; you
       can probably get away with using ESC[7m and ESC[0m.

				Peter D. Smith

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Path: utkcs2!gatech!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!gwdgv1.dnet.gwdg.DE!moeller
Message-ID: <9107300831.AA27777@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Date: 29 Jul 1991 23:35:45 GMT
From: moeller@gwdgv1.dnet.gwdg.DE ("GWDGV1::MOELLER")
Subject: Re^3: Detecting DECwindows (DECterm user)

At last - Cameron Caffee <caffeec@mr.polaroid.com> proposed checking the
"secondary device attribute response" for the terminal "id",
and that looks like a *really* good idea!

I'm curious what "device identification codes" exist among DEC terminals;
so far I have:

	terminal	value
	---------------------
	VT220		1
	VT330		18
	VT340		19
	VT320		24
	DECterm		28
	VT1200 VTE	42

Funnily enough, the DECterm id *is* documented - in the VT1200 guide ...

Wolfgang J. Moeller, GWDG, D-3400 Goettingen, F.R.Germany | Disclaimer ...
PSI%(0262)45050352008::MOELLER      Phone: +49 551 201516 | No claim intended!
Internet: moeller@gwdgv1.dnet.gwdg.de   | This space intentionally left blank.


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
Path: utkcs2!gatech!unix.cis.pitt.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!news.bbn.com!news.bbn.com!wbe
Message-ID: <WBE.91Oct25181422@crystal.bbn.com>
References: <ceOn02ls02Ex00@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., Cambridge, MA
NNTP-Posting-Host: crystal.bbn.com
In-reply-to: dc@uts.amdahl.com's message of 25 Oct 91 17:29:33 GMT
Date: 25 Oct 1991 22:14:22 GMT
From: wbe@bbn.com (Winston Edmond)
Subject: Re: Toshiba 1000SE Terminal Emulator Wanted

dc@uts.amdahl.com (Dennis Chapman) writes:

     I'm finding myself using my 1000SE as a terminal on my UNIX system more
   and more.  I'm not particularly happy with the terminal mode provided by
   WORKS.  Is there any good terminal emulator available?  Nothing fancy,
   just good vt100 or ansi support, baud rates up to 19.2K, and maybe support
   for the 640x400 mode so that I can get more then 24 lines of text.

Procomm version 2.4.3's VT100 emulation works just fine with our SunOS 4.1
Unix and MicroVax Ultrix systems, GNU Emacs, curses, etc., with one
exception:  their emulation defaults to "Origin Mode=Relative" instead of
"Origin mode=Absolute" like every VT100 I know of.  This can be fixed by
putting

  if ($TERM == VT100)  echo -n '^[[?6l'    (where ^[ means ESCape)

in your .login, or an equivalent statement in your .profile.  Procomm runs at
least up to 9600, and I forget offhand if it goes faster.  Procomm also
supports a variety of up/download protocols.

If you want super-top-notch-whiz-bang-complete VT100 emulation, get a copy of
KERMIT.  It supports practically most features of VT340s and VT102s.
Kermit's user interface will feel more primitive, and it only supports the
kermit file transfer protocol, but it works and it's free.
 -WBE

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!gatech!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!corton!imag!ouicheck
From: ouicheck@imag.imag.fr (Ibaa Oueichek)
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Subject: Arabic terminals
Keywords: Term emul, arabic terminals
Message-ID: <27615@imag.imag.fr>
Date: 14 Nov 1991 16:57:58 GMT
Organization: IMAG Institute, University of Grenoble, France
Lines: 22


   Hi, everyone.
   Ever heard about arabic terminals ?
   I'm writing an arabic terminal emulator for Mac. It actually emulates the 
dku7140 (Bull & Integro). I'm extending the program so it may emaulte other 
teminals such as :
- ALIS (by ALIS Tech).
- ALTRAK (by Alphacrete).
both of them are arabic ANSI (vt100,vt200) terminals.

My questions are:
 Does anyone know about manuals for these terminals (especially for ALIS). The
 one which I have doesn't speak about arabic features. 

 Do you know if there is any other types of arabic terminals ?.
 Do you know if there are hebrow terminals ? ( I think integrating them won't
 be difficult).

 Thaks for your help.

 Ibaa Oueichek
 ouicheck@imag.imag.fr


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Path: utkcs2!gatech!darwin.sura.net!wupost!uwm.edu!news.bbn.com!bbn.com!pdsmith
Message-ID: <67461@bbn.BBN.COM>
References: <dt5dxnn@lynx.unm.edu>
Sender: news@bbn.com
Reply-To: pdsmith@spca.bbn.com (Peter D. Smith)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Date: 20 Nov 1991 22:24:12 GMT
From: pdsmith@bbn.com (Peter D. Smith)
Subject: Re: Need VT125 help (2nd request)


From the Device Support Library at BBN, comes the answer to "how to set
up the VT125 printer".  See question 6, add look at SETUP-B, bank 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

comp.terminals unofficial FAQ
20-NOV-1991 Added Q. 6 (VT125 setups) & changes Q.1 to point to Q.6
 1-NOV-1991 Added Q. 1 (cursor on and off)

1) How do I save my VT100 setups? -- see question 6

2) How do I set my DEC terminal to reverse video?
	Use the sequence ESC [ ? 5 h (white on black) or ESC [ ? 5 l
	(black on white).

3) What are the DIP switches for an H19 (or Z19)?
	Switch S402
	    0 cursor is 0=underscore 1=block
	    1 keys 0=will 1=wont click
	    2 lines 0=wont 1=will wrap
	    3 Auto LF on CR is 0=off 1=on
	    4 Auto CR on LF is 0=off 1=on
	    5 Terminal mode is 0=Heath/Zenith 1=Ansi
	    6 keypad 0=normal 1=shifted
	    7 refresh 0=60Hz 1=50Hz
	Switch S401
	    0..3 = Baud rate, on of N/A 110 150 300 600 1200 1800 2000
		   2400 3600 4800 7200 9600 N/A N/A N/A such that if all
                   switches are ZERO except switch 0, terminal is 300 baud
	    4 Parity is 0=off 1=on
	    5 Parity is 0=even 1=odd
	    6 Parity is 0=normal 1=stick
	    7 Duplex is 0=half 1=full

From: Joseph Gil <yogi@cs.ubc.ca>
Organization: Computer Science, University of B.C., Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Q: How can an application set the Backarrow (the key at the north east
side of the keyboard which is supposed to erase the previous char.
The icon on it is something like <=] partkey of vt320 to send backspace? DEL?

A: Send ESC[?67l to make <=] send DEL
   Send ESC[?67h to make it send BackSpace.

The following CSH script in unix may turn useful for switching
between the two modes.

	if ($?DEL) then
		stty erase "^?"	
		echo "[?67l"
	else
		stty erase ""
		echo "[?67h"
	endif

5) How do I turn my cursor on and off?
	ESC [ ? 2 5 h   --- Cursor visible
	ESC [ ? 2 5 l   --- Cursor Invisible
    Many "ANSI" terminal implement this, including all DEC VT100 and
    higher, the Kermit terminal emulator, etc, but not all.

6) What are the VT1xx setup items?
    Storing SETUP -- go into SETUP-A mode and press 'S'
    Recalling SETUP -- go into SETUP-A mode and press 'R'
    Resetting to factory default -- go into SETUP-A mode and press 'reset'
    Screen brightness -- go into SETUP-A mode and use up/down arrow keys.

    SETUP B
    Bank 1
	Scroll is 0=jump 1 =smooth
	Auto repeat 0=off 1=on
	Screen background is 0=dark 1=light
	Cursor is 0=underline 1=block

    Bank 2
	Margin Bell is 0=off 1=on
	Key click is 0=off 1=on
	Terminal is a 0=vt52 1=ansi (vt100)
	Auto XON is 0=off 1=on

    Bank 3
	Character set is 0=us 1=uk
	Auto wrap is 0=off 1=on
	Line feed/new line is 0=off 1=on
	Interlace is 0=off 1=on

    Bank 4
	Parity sense is 0=odd 1=even
	Parity is 0=off 1=on
	There are 0=7 1=8 bits/char
	Power supply is 0=60 1=50 hz

    Bank 5
	Reserved = 0
	Aux. Port has 0=7 1=8 bits/char
	Aux port speed is 00=300 01=1200 10=2400 11=9600
	Aux port speed second bit

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!ornl!sunova!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!news.cs.indiana.edu!arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!orion.oac.uci.edu!unogate!mvb.saic.com!cpva!marcus
From: marcus@cpva.saic.com (Mark Jenkins, SAIC/CIR Network Services)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: Need VT125 help (2nd request)
Message-ID: <7816.292cdbd6@cpva.saic.com>
Date: 22 Nov 91 18:28:38 GMT
References: <dt5dxnn@lynx.unm.edu> <1991Nov21.130254.2084@spcvxb.spc.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Science Applications Int'l Corp./San Diego
Lines: 21

In article <1991Nov21.130254.2084@spcvxb.spc.edu>, havemann_l@spcvxb.spc.edu writes:

> In article <dt5dxnn@lynx.unm.edu>, sadler@carina.unm.edu (Joe Sadler) writes:
>> 
>> Well, I posted here a few weeks ago about a problem I'm having with
>> an ancient vt125 I've recently acquired, but haven't received _any_ 
>> response.  It came to me without a manual, of course, so my question
>> is: how do I get the printer port to work?

Well, this isn't by email, but I would like someone to point out if I am wrong! 
You can send things to the printer port using <ctrl>-PF1 and <shift>-PF1 I
believe.  One of them toggles output so that it all goes to the printer port in
addition to the screen, the other sends the current line (screen?) to the
printer port.  Sorry- don't have a manual in front of me, and I haven't used a
VTxxx terminal in three years (ever since I got a VS 3200...).

-- 
Mark Jenkins <Marcus@CPVA.SAIC.Com>| My views do not necessarily match yours.
Science Applications               | I've never met an iguana I didn't like.
International Corporation          | But that goes without saying.
San Diego, CA   USA  (619) 458-2794| -------- This space for rent ----------

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!gatech!darwin.sura.net!wupost!uunet!mcsun!ieunet!tcdcs!maths.tcd.ie!sboyle
Message-ID: <1991Dec8.142249.24152@maths.tcd.ie>
References: <1991Nov22.195110.22046@samba.oit.unc.edu> <pmcgaley.690855749@unix1.tcd.ie> <2821.293e233f@vulcan.mentec.ie>
Sender: news@maths.tcd.ie
Organization: Dept. of Maths, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Lines: 38
NNTP-Posting-Host: walton
From: doctorgonzo <sboyle@maths.tcd.ie>
Date: 8 Dec 1991 14:22:49 GMT
Date: 8 Dec 91 14:22:49 GMT

In <2821.293e233f@vulcan.mentec.ie> john_w@vulcan.mentec.ie writes:

>pmcgaley@unix1.tcd.ie (Elessar) and lots of other people talk about
>soft fonts on vt terminals, followed by E. sending a sample output...

>I thought the pic was great! it displayed in a few seconds on my terminal
>(VT320 @ 9600 baud).

>I've recently been working on a program to generate & display the Mandelbrot
>set on a VT320. So far it'll display small portions o.k., but runs out of
>characters on the larger images. Part of the program could be easily adapted 
>to read a bit-mapped image and generate sixels for it.

Sounds like the sources for "gifview" are needed here. It's got all the stuff
you'd need to fix up your M-set prog to save on redundant characters...
unfortunately, it'd probably be best outputting it into an intermediate
stage so the image display can be done after all the computation is
finished. That way you won't have any problems with having to estimate
how big the image should be, as it's unlikely, even for a full -2 to 2
view of the set, to get it displaying full-screen - 96 characters don't go
very far, especially where boundaries between shades are involved.

>BTW, I usually run it on a batch que with output to a file!

No surprises there :-) Thankfully, the gifview optimising process doesn't
take the 5 minutes I originally envisaged... only about 30 seconds to
work it out and 5 to display it on a fairly slow machine.

PS: Come to think of it, I might post it here if people want to see it.
If you're interested, send me some mail expressing just that! I think
I've ironed out almost all of the bugs, with only glitches left, so
it's safe for a test release. I'd better get writing a manpage
and fixing up comments and the like. It runs on (I'd guess) any UNIX
platform safely, seeing as it uses only stdio calls. In fact, it could
be hacked up to run on ANY platform, seeing as it only _needs_ to
output to a terminal and nothing more!
--
doctorgonzo - sboyle@maths.tcd.ie

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Path: utkcs2!gatech!swrinde!mips!pacbell.com!att!cbfsb!cbnewsb.cb.att.com!wa2ise
From: wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (robert.f.casey)
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Subject: VT220 display repair
Keywords: bad pot in sync circuit
Message-ID: <1991Dec28.155531.9997@cbfsb.att.com>
Date: 28 Dec 91 15:55:31 GMT
Sender: news@cbfsb.att.com
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 16

I have a VT220 terminal that had a display problem.  The image (charcters
on the screen) used to wiggle side to side from time to time.  Took the
cover off, and found that the pot marked something like "horiz hold"
seemed dirty.  When I rotated it some, the wiggle problem would clear
for a while.  Got tired of having to do this every so often, so I replaced
this pot.  No more wiggles since I did this a week ago.
BTW, when I got this terminal, the display was not horiz sync-ing at all.
Cleared that by playing with this pot.  This bad pot caused the reason
why I was given this terminal in the first place.

This pot is the one inside the display, on the left side, closest to the 
front.  You have to take the back cover off to see it.  It's just a cheap
trimpot type.  5K ohms.  4.7K will also work.  Try to measure the old
pot with an ohmeter to verify this though.
This may be all that's wrong with that VT220 sitting in the back room.
Disclaimer: proceed at your own risk.  WA2ISE

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!gatech!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken!taco!cepmax.ncsu.edu!jwb
From: jwb@cepmax.ncsu.edu (John W. Baugh Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Summary: Blurry (and dim) monitor
Message-ID: <1992Jan8.170324.9534@ncsu.edu>
Date: 8 Jan 92 17:03:24 GMT
Sender: news@ncsu.edu (USENET News System)
Reply-To: jwb@cepmax.ncsu.edu
Organization: North Carolina State University
Lines: 52

Thanks for all the input.  Here's the summary.

John Baugh
jwb@cepmax.ncsu.edu

--------------------------

From: BRENNAN@COCO.CCHS.SU.OZ.AU (Luke Brennan)

 John,
 I spend a LOT of my time resurrecting dead/near dead terminals
 for our poverty-stricken college environment..
 If you're prepared to pull the back off, you'll find a coupla
 little wheels.. They should be marked, so just find the appropriate
 one and tweak it a bit.. probably won't require much..


From: berglin@sscux1.ssc.gov (robert berglin)

 Try opening the case and cleaning out the dust, especially from the high
 voltage "stinger" lead that goes into the side of the CRT.  If you've not
 ever done something like this, you may want to find someone who has;  you
 should always use something like a screwdriver to discharge the CRT by working
 the tip under the protective cap where the high voltage lead goes in to the
 CRT, and laying the shaft of the scredriver against the monitor's chassis.
 The monitor is then relatively safe to work on (don't forget to unplug it).


From: edotto@uipsuxb.ps.uiuc.edu (Edward C. Otto III)

 1) Take it to your local TV repair shop and have them de-gas the tube.
 Involves taking the cover off and attaching a machine to the yoke on the
 CRT.  Should cost around $30.

 2) While they are in there, have them do two things:
 	A) Check the HVAC to see that it's corect, and have them adjust
 	   it if it isn't;
 	B) Have them degauss the tube (not de-gas -= this involves
           using a magnetic instrument to remove residual magnetic
 	   fields from the front and sides of the tube).

 This should fix it.


From: pat@warren.mit.edu

 VR260 Monitor Owner:
 Remove the back cover of the monitor.  There are 3 (I think) knobs which
 adjust the focus, vertical size, and horizontal size of the monitor area.
 Open a few windows on the monitor at upper lhs, middle, and lower rhs for
 example, and adjust the focus until you get a reasonable compromise of focus
 across the open windows.  I did this and had great results.


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Article 2842 of comp.terminals:
Path: utkcs2!gatech!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!spool.mu.edu!uunet!bii!cth
From: cth@bii.COM (charlie thibault)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.terminals
Subject: Re: Request: Vt100 escape sequences
Summary: Re: Request: Vt100 escape sequences
Message-ID: <252@bii.COM>
Date: 28 Feb 92 22:29:25 GMT
References: <1992Feb23.051033.29865@galileo.cc.rochester.edu> <1992Feb26.073529@pan.mc.ti.com>
Followup-To: comp.terminals
Organization: Bruker Instruments Inc., Billerica MA.
Lines: 13
Xref: utkcs2 comp.lang.c:36754 comp.terminals:2842

The following book has the escape sequences for most terminals that
existed when it was written.  I find it a valuable reference work.

Stephens, David, "A Programmer's Guide to Video Display Terminals",
Atlantis Publishing Corporation, Dallas, 1985.

The address in the book for the publisher is:

Atlantis Publishing Corporation
PO Box 59467
Dallas TX 75229

Charlie


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!memstvx1!ukma!asuvax!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!pa.dec.com!nntpd.lkg.dec.com!regent.enet.dec.com!lasko
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Subject: Re: Need help with VT102 setup
Message-ID: <33974@nntpd.lkg.dec.com>
From: lasko@regent.enet.dec.com (Tim Lasko, Digital Equipment Corp., Westford, MA)
Date: 4 Mar 92 23:33:35 GMT
Sender: news@nntpd.lkg.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 13


In article <z999020.699656092@odin.mda.uth.tmc.edu>, z999020@odin.mda.uth.tmc.edu (Eric Sisson) writes...
>A member of our faculty has a DEC VT102 terminal in his lab ...
>We can enter the `Setup' mode, get into `Setup B', and change the
>parameters of the modem port to our heart's content, but we cannot
>come up with any way to access the parameters for the printer port.

Dusting off my FM... Use [SHIFT] [->] to select the printer port features;
[SHIFT] [<-] brings you back to the modem features. [SHIFT] [P] does parity,
[TRANSMIT] and [RECEIVE] also operate.

Tim Lasko, Digital Equipment Corp., Westford MA  (lasko@regent.enet.dec.com)
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own; the facts can speak for themselves.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Path: utkcs2!emory!swrinde!mips!mips!decwrl!access.usask.ca!regina
      !mercury.cs.uregina.ca!hubich
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <1992Feb25.162530.10716@regina.cs.uregina.ca>
Sender: usenet@regina.cs.uregina.ca (Usenet Admin)
Reply-To: hubich@mercury.uregina.ca (Chad D. Hubich)
Distribution: comp.terminals sci.electronics
Organization: University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan
Lines: 39
Nntp-Posting-Host: mercury.cs.uregina.ca
Date: 25 Feb 1992 16:25:30 GMT
From: hubich@mercury.cs.uregina.ca (Chad D. Hubich)
Subject: VT100 Repairs


	Over the years we have repaired a few DEC VT100 terminals with 
various problems.  Typically the same failures occur repeatedly in 
different machines.  Below is a short summary of some of the most common 
failures and their fixes.  If anyone has any other repeair info, especially
with the last problem, please post it to the net.


	Symptom				Possible Fix
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No HV or filament voltage	check/replace F401 2A picofuse
				(usually caused by some other failure)

No video or only vertical	check/replace C441 10uF, 35V bi-polar 
line down center of screen
(no horizontal deflection)

No video, middle of screen 	check/replace C439 100uF, 25V
compressed or warped along 
vertical line or screen too
wide.	

No video			check/replace CR408 1N5408
R478 hot or smoking

Low HV or Jittering video	check/replace flyback transformer

Error '2' (NVR) at power	replace E24 (logic board) ER 1400
up or when Setup is saved  	

Bright raster along left 	??????????????????????????????????????
side of screen	

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chad D. Hubich
Technician				hubich@cs.uregina.ca
University of Regina			chubich@ureginav.BITNET
Department of Computer Science
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!gatech!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!male.EBay.Sun.COM!jethro.Corp.Sun.COM!exodus.Eng.Sun.COM!appserv.Eng.Sun.COM!sun!amdcad!netcomsv!teda!jeffy
From: jeffy@teda.Teradyne.COM (Jeffrey Youngstrom)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x,comp.terminals,comp.sys.sun.apps
Subject: SUMMARY: getting vt100 keypad on sun4 keyboard in xterm
Message-ID: <41475@teda.Teradyne.COM>
Date: 26 Feb 92 22:33:57 GMT
Followup-To: comp.windows.x
Lines: 131
Xref: utkcs2 comp.windows.x:43904 comp.terminals:2835 comp.sys.sun.apps:441

Heya,

	A couple of weeks ago I asked how one goes about getting the
	sun4 keypad to put out the escape sequences for the vt100 keys
	(like PF1 and its ilk)

	I got lots of responses, and thanks to everyone who made
	suggestions.

	There were several suggestions that indicated xmodmap.
	Unfortunately, I didn't want to remap the keyboard for all
	windows, only for a couple that were unfortunate enough to have
	to access a VAX.

	The solution I settled on uses the translation resource in
	xterm.  Here's what you do:

1) add the following lines to your .Xdefaults file (note that the first
   character of each of these `string' commands is an ESC (^[), so if it
   got nuked in transit, this won't work.  I'll put a uuencoded version of
   this at the bottom of this message just in case.):

----cut here----
XTerm*vt100.translations: 	#override \
   !Shift <Key>R1:		keymap(vt100)
XTerm*vt100Keymap.translations:	#override \
   <Key>R4:				string("OP")\n\
   <Key>R5:				string("OQ")\n\
   <Key>R6:				string("OR")\n\
   <Key>KP_Subtract:	string("OS")\n\
   Shift<Key>KP_2:		string("B")\n\
   Shift<Key>KP_4:		string("D")\n\
   Shift<Key>KP_6:		string("C")\n\
   Shift<Key>KP_8:		string("A")\n\
   <Key>KP_0:			string("Op")\n\
   <Key>KP_1:			string("Oq")\n\
   <Key>KP_2:			string("Or")\n\
   <Key>KP_3:			string("Os")\n\
   <Key>KP_4:			string("Ot")\n\
   <Key>KP_5:			string("Ou")\n\
   <Key>KP_6:			string("Ov")\n\
   <Key>KP_7:			string("Ow")\n\
   <Key>KP_8:			string("Ox")\n\
   <Key>KP_9:			string("Oy")\n\
   <Key>KP_Decimal:		string("On")\n\
   <Key>KP_Add:			string("Ol")\n\
   <Key>R2:				string("Om")\n\
   <Key>KP_Enter:		string("OM")\n\
   !Shift <Key>R1:		keymap(None)
----cut here----

2) use xrdb to get the window manager to notice that something was
   changed

xrdb ~/.Xdefaults

3) start up an xterm.

Once the xterm starts up, if you type Shift-R1, it turns on the vt100
keymap which remaps the type 4 keypad to look like this:

+---------------------------+
|      |      |Scroll| Num  |
|Pause |  ,   |Lock/ | Lock |
|      |      |Break |      |
|------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |
| PF1  | PF2  | PF3  | PF4  |
|      |      |      |      |
|------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |
|  7   |  8   |  9   |      |
|      |      |      |      |
|------+------+------+  -   |
|      |      |      |      |
|  4   |  5   |  6   |      |
|      |      |      |      |
|------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |
|  1   |  2   |  3   |  E   |
|      |      |      |  n   |
|------+------+------+  t   |
|             |      |  e   |
|      0      |  .   |  r   |
|             |      |      |
+---------------------------+

When shifted, 8, 4, 6, and 2 return the usual cursor motion codes.

Note that only the current xterm is affected.  If you start up a new
one, it will come up with the original keys and you'll have to press
Shift-R1 to get it to use the vt100 bindings.

Pressing Shift-R1 again returns the normal keypad.

If anyone wants a copy of all the mail I got, send me email.

Thanks again to everyone who offered suggestions.

jeffy

--
Jeffrey Youngstrom   jeffy@eda.teradyne.com or ...!{decwrl,sun}!teda!jeffy
Teradyne EDA  West  |  5155 Old Ironsides Drive  |  Santa Clara, CA  95054
                I have no idea what I'm doing out of bed.

Here's that xdefaults stuff uuencoded.
---snip and save----
begin 666 vt100keys
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L*"(;3TTB*5QN7 H@(" A4VAI9G0@/$ME>3Y2,3H)"6ME>6UA<"A.;VYE*0IG
 
end

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!ucbvax!ECLX.PSU.EDU!Y1Z
From: Y1Z@ECLX.PSU.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: VT100 Animation ftp site
Message-ID: <5229F92700400B75@ecl.psu.edu>
Date: 29 May 92 02:00:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: world
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 31

Hi, netters,

I asked about the VT100 graphics code before and some guys send me helpful 
hints on that.  However,  I found a ftp site that has several VT100 animation
files that some of you (not-gurus) will be interested in.  The files can be 
got from anon ftp site: ftp.irisa.fr (131.254.254.2) in the directory 
/pub/vt100.  I think the ".FR" in the site name stand for France, so please 
ftp them after the 6 p.m. local time.  

Another thing I'd like to share with you is in order to get the contrl sequence 
in editing you own graphics file,  you can use the EDT and press <ctrl>33, 
remember to press 3 twice while pressing down the <ctrl> key.  I learnt this 
from another post to info-vax but sorry I cannot refer to his name.

A good way to explore the graphics code of VT100 is edit the following lines
replace the <ESC> with the real escape code you got from <ctrl>33.

<ESC>(0  <------ turn the terminal to grphics mode
type in any keys that you are interested in their graphic corresponds.
i.e 	a b c d ... 
<ESC>(B  <------ turn the terminal back to text mode

if you got mess up on your terminal, simply RESET it in the setup menu or turn
it off and restart it.

Have fun

Yang

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!europa.asd.contel.com!uunet!psinntp!notable!oberon!daven
From: daven@notable.com (Dave Newman)
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Subject: Re: Seeking latest ANSI X3.64 standard information
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 92 16:36:23 PST
Organization: Notable Technologies, Inc.
Message-ID: <01058004.79r45a@oberon.notable.com>
Reply-To: daven@notable.com
X-Mailer: uAccess LITE - Macintosh Release: 1.5v4
Lines: 112


In article <31900001@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com> (comp.terminals), jws@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com (John Stafford) writes:
| I'm in need of some information from the latest (not the first) edition
| of ANSI Standard X3.64 (the standard that defines an ANSI terminal).
| 
| The information I need is 
| 
|    The format of an ansi terminal sgr (set graphics resources?)  escape
|    sequence seems to be
| 
|       ESC [ n1 ; n2 ; n3 m
| 
|    where each of the n[123] are digit sequences that specify various
|    attributes.  The semicolons are separators, if you only want to set
|    one attribute you use
| 
|       ESC [ n1 m
| 
|    for two attributes you use
| 
|       ESC [ n1 ; n2 m
| 
|    etcetera.
| 
|    But what happens if you specify,
| 
|       ESC [ n1 ; m
| 
|    that is, you include the semicolon separator, but specify no second
|    attribute?  There are two schools of thought
| 
|       1. The missing attribute is implicitly treated as a zero, which
|          turns all attributes off (rendering the earlier attributes
|          meaningless).  This is what an HP 2392A does in ANSI mode (and
|          what its manual specifies) and it is also what two different PC
|          based "ANSI terminal" emulators that I tried did.
| 
|       2. The missing attribute is essentially ignored and is not seen
| 	 as an implicit zero (hence attributes set earlier in the same
| 	 escape sequence remain in effect).
| 
|    A wrinkle to consider is that both
| 
|       ESC [ 0 m
| 
|    and
| 
|       ESC [ m
| 
|    are defined as turning attributes off.
| 
| I do not know which interpretation is correct, evidence exists for both.
| I'm interested in chapter and verse and text from X3.64 if possible.
| Thanks in advance.


SGR is Set Graphic Rendition.

ANSI X3.64-1979, section 3.5.1 on Parameter Values says:

  "In a control sequence a parameter string consists of bit
   combinations from 3/0 to 3/15 inclusive. A parameter string
   may represent one or more parameters. Each standardized
   parameter consists of one or more bit combinations from
   3/0 to 3/9, inclusive, representing the decimal values
   0 to 9, or is possibly of zero length. The maximum length
                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   of a parameter is an implementation-defined limit. Parameters
   are separated from each other by the bit combination 3/11,
   usually a semicolon (;). The bit combination 3/10 is
   reserved for future standardization.

   In each parameter leading bit combinations of 3/0 are not
   significant and may be omitted. A zero length parameter
                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   or one consisting only of 3/0 bit combinations represents
   a default whose value depends upon the control function."
     ^^^^^^^

The spec then goes on to say in section 5.77 on Select Graphic Rendition
to say the default value for a parameter to the SGR is 3/0.


I would interpret the section on parameter values to say that the
cases of

   CSI 7 ; m

and

   CSI 7 ; 0 m

yield the same result. The second parameter has no length in the first
case, thus it defaults to 3/0, whereas in the second case the second parameter
is explicitly 3/0.

The wrinkles you noted are covered by the definition qouted above.

Hope this helps, and it would be nice to hear other's interpretations as well.
However, when it comes to emulating a specific terminal I always side in favor
of what the hardware does... usually.

--Dave


-----------------------------------------------------------
Dave Newman                 |  AOL:      AFC Tinman
Artillery Spotter           |  ALink:    TINMAN
Notable Technologies, Inc.  |  CIS:      70743,3323
Voice:    510.208.4449      |  internet: daven@notable.com
FAX:      510.444.4493      |  
-----------------------------------------------------------

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!mips!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!torn!utzoo!censor!comspec!scocan!zackx
From: zackx@sco.COM (Zack Xu)
Subject: Re: Buying X-Terminal for Home Use
Organization: SCO Canada, Inc.
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1992 02:42:05 GMT
Message-ID: <1992Jun30.024205.29491@sco.COM>
Sender: news@sco.COM (News administration)
Lines: 152

I recently asked for information about getting an X-terminal for home-use.
My sincere thanks to many helpful netters for their advice.  But my impression
is that getting an X-terminal for home use is not very affordable, with that
kind of money, I can get a 486 or even a low-end workstation from Sun or HP.

Here are the responses I received.  Once again, thanks alot!

Zack

> From me
> 
> Hi.  I need some advice on buying an X-terminal for home use.  I haven't
> decided on buying one yet, but I'd like to get some information first.
> 
> The X-terminal will connect to either a workstation (DEC3100, or one of
> HP9000 series, or IBM RT, or SUN4...) in a university, OR a 486 running
> SCO UNIX in a company.  The kind of work I do is all very UNIX, like vi,
> emacs, cc, C debugger, rn, bitmap, etc. under either X-Window or Motif,
> preferably tvtwm, :-)  (the kind of thing you normally do on a UNIX work-
> station).
> 
> The X-terminal will be at my home connecting to the machines (listed above)
> in the same city via telephone line.
> 
> Since I don't know much about X-terminals, modems, etc., I wish to know
> if it's feasible/possible to run the things I wished on this X-terminal
> at home (like how I do them on the workstation in office)?
> Do I need to buy a fast (9600) modem to run X through phone line?  Even
> then how is the speed??  I don't want to wait for 60 seconds to bring up
> an xterm or a calculator.
> 
> How much does a X-terminal cost these days? (not too shabby, but not too
> expenseive)  What are the brands available on the market?  The kind of things
> I need to know before making a decision? (e.g. warranties, screen size, etc.?)
> 
> I really like to hear your advice!!  Also please suggest any relevant
> books on purchasing an X-terminals.
> 
> Is there another newsgroup more appropriate for me to post this message?
> 
> From: Raymond Chui <rchui@nswc.navy.mil>
> 
> 
> I think you are very rich. The price for X-Terminal range
> between $2500.00(black-white,low resolution, 15") to
> $5000.00(color, resolution 1280x1024, 19").
> Price for 9600 Baud modem about $350.00 to $900.00
> Your X-Terminal in your office connected on Ethernet
> (I assume) is 10 Mbps, your modem only 9600 Baud.
> 8 bits per byte. 8x9600=76800 bits per second(bps).
> 76800 << 10 Mbps( much much less than).
> Well, you can establish a T1 link(1.445 Mbps) between
> your office and your home.
> about $45k to $60k for installation.
> about $35K flat annual rate.
> about $2000.00 high speed serial link device.
> 
> Or your establish a T3 link(45 Mbps). I don't want to
> know that price.
> 
> Or establish Frame Relay link. I don't know the price for
> installation and equipment.
> Frame Relay don't charge flat annual rate, instead charge
> the date packet(8 bits) through output/input. This will much
> lower price if your use too much.
> -- 
> Raymond H. Chui
> NSWC U33
> 10901 New Hampshire Ave.
> Silver Spring, MD 20903-5000
> Voice:(301)394-5192 Fax:(301)394-5835
> E-Mail:rchui@corona.nswc.navy.mil
>  _ __                                  _    ,   __
> ' )  )                           /    ' )  /   /  ) /
>  /--' __. , , ____   ______   __/      /--/   /    /_  . . o
> /  \_(_(_(_/_/) ) )_(_) /) )_(_(_     /  ( o (__/ / /_(_/_(_
>           /
>          '
> Received: by gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca id <18459>; Thu, 25 Jun 1992 16:19:13 -0400
> From:	John Dorn <nordgraf@utcs.utoronto.ca>
> 
> 
> I work for a company that sells GraphOn and Visual X terminals.
> Give me a call, and I can tell you all about remote X and give you a good
> pric on a demo terminal.
> regards
> John Dorn
> 338-7329
> Nord graph
> Oakville
> From: Vance Shipley <vances@xenitec.on.ca>
> 
> In article <1992Jun24.190601.6773@sco.COM> you write:
> >Hi.  I need some advice on buying an X-terminal for home use.  I haven't
> >decided on buying one yet, but I'd like to get some information first.
> >
> 
> You will undoubtably get a number of messages telling you this will not work.
> Don't let them discourage you too much.  Yes it is true that X over a modem
> can be very slow.  I ran PC-Xsight, from SCO/Locus on a notebook from home.
> I used FTP to run slip over the internal 2400 baud modem to my Opendesktop
> system at work.  It was an experiment, and as such it was a success. It took
> about five minutes to draw the screen in graphics.  It was basically unusable.
> 
> There are several ways to improve the performance.  A 9600 baud modem would
> quadruple the performance I observed.  Another way is to subscribe to centrex
> data from Bell Canada.  For about $70/month you can have dialup 56K at home.
> The other end will also be $70 though.  There is also an equipment cost, about
> $1000 an end or you can rent.
> 
> There is an improved protocol for running X over low bit rate streams called
> XRemote.  It was developed by NCD, the X terminal people.  I understand that
> MIT is incorporating XRemote into a future release of X11.  XRemote removes
> or compresses a lot of overhead in the X protocol.
> 
> I recently saw an ad for an X terminal for under a grand.  It was Black and 
> White though.  Good luck.
> 
> -- 
> Vance Shipley 
> vances@xenitec.on.ca   vances@ltg.uucp   ..uunet.ca!xenitec!vances
>
>
> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 92 10:31:11 EDT
> From: Ira Ekhaus <ibe1109@etbsun1.draper.com>
> 
> zack,
> 
> 
> There is this magazine "workstation News" that has lots of 
> ads for xterminals ( i've seen some advertised for < $1000 in mono) . 
> Also look in X type journals.
> 
> After you've bought your terminal,
> you can go to misc.forsale.computer and get a used v32.2 modem for
> ~$300.
> 
> Instead of a modem , maybe you could inquire about an ISDN
> connection in your area.
> 
> Also, could post a summary?
> 
> Ira
> ekhaus@draper.com
> Phone: 617 258 1109
> Draper Laboratories m.s. 7c
> 555 Technology Square
-- 
========================================================================
  Zack Xu               SCO Canada Inc.
  zackx@sco.com         130 Bloor Street West, 10th Floor
  416-922-1937          Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1N5

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!mips!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!unipalm!steven
From: steven@unipalm.co.uk (Steven Vincent)
Subject: Re: Buying X-Terminal for Home Use
Message-ID: <1992Jul1.121344.9244@unipalm.co.uk>
Organization: Unipalm Ltd., 216 Cambridge Science Park, Cambridge CB4 4WA, UK
References: <1992Jun30.024205.29491@sco.COM>
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1992 12:13:44 GMT
Lines: 46

zackx@sco.COM (Zack Xu) writes:

>I recently asked for information about getting an X-terminal for home-use.
>My sincere thanks to many helpful netters for their advice.  But my impression
>is that getting an X-terminal for home use is not very affordable, with that
>kind of money, I can get a 486 or even a low-end workstation from Sun or HP.

>Here are the responses I received.  Once again, thanks alot!

>Zack

>> You will undoubtably get a number of messages telling you this will not work.
>> Don't let them discourage you too much.  Yes it is true that X over a modem
>> can be very slow.  I ran PC-Xsight, from SCO/Locus on a notebook from home.
>> I used FTP to run slip over the internal 2400 baud modem to my Opendesktop
>> system at work.  It was an experiment, and as such it was a success. It took
>> about five minutes to draw the screen in graphics.  It was basically unusable.
>> 
>> There are several ways to improve the performance.  A 9600 baud modem would
>> quadruple the performance I observed.  Another way is to subscribe to centrex
>> data from Bell Canada.  For about $70/month you can have dialup 56K at home.
>> The other end will also be $70 though.  There is also an equipment cost, about
>> $1000 an end or you can rent.
>> 
>> There is an improved protocol for running X over low bit rate streams called
>> XRemote.  It was developed by NCD, the X terminal people.  I understand that
>> MIT is incorporating XRemote into a future release of X11.  XRemote removes
>> or compresses a lot of overhead in the X protocol.


The X-Remote protocol will also be shipped in the next versions of PC-XView
or so I have been told. Given the Price of X-Terms I would definitly think
in terms of a 386-25 with 8514 video and lots of Memory. Note the 8514 card
is probably better than buying a fastermother board since your ISA architecture
will limit screen I/O as well as your serial link. Also a PC system will give
you a resonable standalone capacity which an XTerm lacks. PC-XView is a DOS
based X-Server and so does not have the Overhead associated with MS-Windoze.
I would start with 8 Meg, 8514 card PC-XView and the fastest modems I can find
for the line, add as much processor as I can then afford with a small hard disk
(Which can be replaced later or go NFS to your SCO box). Should cost you a lot
less than a proper X-Term.

One other bit of advice is to try conecting up a serial link at work and 
then Run X over that. SLIP at 19.2 is not good when you are used to Ethernet.

Steven Vincent
Unipalm Tech Support

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: purdue.forsale,comp.terminals,misc.forsale.computers
Path: utkcs2!gatech!destroyer!plex-1!root
From: root@plex-1.ann-arbor.mi.us (Dave Parks)
Subject: Re: WANTED: documentation for Televideo-950 HELP!!
Message-ID: <1992Sep20.171717.17707@plex-1.ann-arbor.mi.us>
Organization: Plex-1, Michigan's Public Access Usenet Gateway  (Ann Ar bor).
References: <92261.211614SYBRA@PURCCVM.BITNET>
            <1992Sep18.143629.11465@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1992 17:17:17 GMT
Xref: utkcs2 comp.terminals:3536 misc.forsale.computers:54207

In article <1992Sep18.143629.11465@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
   mzhao@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Min Zhao) writes:
>
>In article <92261.211614SYBRA@PURCCVM.BITNET> <SYBRA@PURCCVM.BITNET> writes:
>>I just purchased a used TV950. I am trying to set it up to dial into our
>>campus system here at Purdue but I don't know what to set the switches on.
>>Please mail me a reply if possible.
>>
>>HHHHEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP!!!!!!!!  AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
>>
>>-dc
>
> 
>    I need help on this too. 
> 
>    I have one that seem to be power on okay.  And I believe I have the speed
>setting matching my modem, however, nothing I type appears on the screen, 
>any hints ?  
> 
>Thanks in advance
>
>


I have the docs for these machines, and use three of them around here, on
Plex-1 and Plex-2. They are very nice and easy to work with. You can mail
me at anyone of the addresses below (fastest=plex-1) and I will help you 
set your tvi950's up, the docs are too large to copy and mail off.
						   _____    _____
						  '  /  )  '  )  )
						  .-/- /    -/--'
						 (_/__/_AVE / ARKS
-- 
destroyer!m-net!kite    Public Access  Altos 68020 UNIX Sys-III (313) 994-6333
destroyer!kitenet!kite     "     "     Altos 68000 UNIX Sys-III (313) 663-7255
vela!plex-1!root         Usenet News   Plexus P/35 68000 UNIX SysV.2  663-6207
   -- You can mail Dave Parks at these addresses, or phone (313) 663-2247 --

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: purdue.forsale,comp.terminals,misc.forsale.computers
Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.edu!uunet!newsserver.pixel.kodak.com!laidbak!tellab5!vpnet!uumeme!drac
From: drac@uumeme.chi.il.us (Bruce Maynard)
Subject: Re: WANTED: documentation for Televideo-950 HELP!!
Organization: UUMEME Public Access UNIX
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 92 07:15:13 GMT
Message-ID: <1992Sep21.071513.3585@uumeme.chi.il.us>
References: <92261.211614SYBRA@PURCCVM.BITNET> <1992Sep18.143629.11465@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Lines: 16
Xref: utkcs2 comp.terminals:3543 misc.forsale.computers:54567

Re yer TV950 doc-help wanted...

I don't really recall if the TV950 has a 'setup' key, but if it does... (it's
been awhile, but I use tv955's and 905's alla time)...

While holding SHIFT down, press the setup key. If there is one, it's in the far upper right corner of the keyboard.
This'll getcha into setup MODE, which is the main point... if I recall correctly,
you'll now have lists of options at the bottom of the screen. You can use the 
up/down arrow keys to go to selections, and use the space bar to change 'em.
When yer done, use shift-setup again, then answer the question that appears
on the screen (as in "SAVE? Y/N" or some such).


I hope this helps... like I said, it's been a LONG time (years) since I've
messed with an old 950...

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: utkcs2!gatech!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!usenet.coe.montana.edu!nntp.uoregon.edu!cajal.uoregon.edu!johnm
From: johnm@cajal.uoregon.edu (John Martin)
Subject: Re: VT100 control codes
Message-ID: <1992Oct9.042111.26689@nntp.uoregon.edu>
Keywords: n
Sender: news@nntp.uoregon.edu
Organization: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon
References: <1b0q7eINN7ii@darkstar.UCSC.EDU>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 04:21:11 GMT
Lines: 19

In article <1b0q7eINN7ii@darkstar.UCSC.EDU>, ttk@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (the troglodyte killer) writes:

>     Howdy, I'm sure you get alot of this, but could someone point
>me in the direction of a good source for VT100 control codes?  I'm 
>writing a WordStar clone for the local anti-vi'ers and would like
>to get it to talk ANSI and VT100.  I've already written an ANSI
>driver, but need the VT100 commands..


I have seen a couple of requests for this, so I'll post my response:
You can FTP the list from cajal.uoregon.edu. The file if in \pub, and
is called vt100.escape.codes. There is also a compressed version,
vt100.escape.codes.Z, if you have access to the Unix uncompress program.

	-Hope this helps!

-- 
John Martin                                        johnm@cajal.uoregon.edu
Institute of Neuroscience,   University of Oregon,    Eugene, OR,    97402

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!spool.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!nntp-server.caltech.edu!SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU!CARL
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.gps.caltech.edu
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Lines: 27
Message-ID: <1a2lm7INNbea@gap.caltech.edu>
References: <1992Sep17.025142.14560@candle.uucp> <DRACK.92Sep17080605@osprey.mars.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu> <6201@npri6.npri.com>,<pershing.717533734@teal>
Date: 26 Sep 1992 21:45:43 GMT
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Subject: Re: Canceling effect of F6 key

In article <pershing.717533734@teal>, pershing@teal.csn.org (Paul Pershing) writes:
>
>Speaking of VT220 function keys... I have looked (it seems like) everywhere
>for the codes used on F1-F20, including the DO key, and maybe even the
>PF1-PF4 keys that are used on our VAXstation 3100s, so I can create a set
>of function keys on my PC term program at home and be able to function
>when I'm dialed in. I can't find them, and I do not have access to any
>of the VMS/VAX documentation (where I'm told such definitions are), and
>I've tried about everything..


They're in SYS$SYSTEM:SMGTERMS.TXT.  The named keys are referred to by their
numbers, though:
	HELP		F15
	DO		F16
	FIND		E1
	INSERT HERE	E2
	REMOVE		E3
	SELECT		E4
	PREV SCRN	E5
	NEXT SCRN	E6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.

   [Yes, that was a post from Carl Lydick, who has now passed into net-legend.]


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Path: utkcs2!gatech!concert!ais.com!bruce
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Message-ID: <1992Sep27.004436.5755@ais.com>
References: <1992Sep17.025142.14560@candle.uucp> <DRACK.92Sep17080605@osprey.mars.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu> <6201@npri6.npri.com> <pershing.717533734@teal>
Organization: Applied Information Systems, Chapel Hill, NC
Date: 27 Sep 1992 00:44:36 GMT
From: bruce@ais.com (Bruce C. Wright)
Subject: Re: Canceling effect of F6 key


In article <pershing.717533734@teal>, pershing@teal.csn.org (Paul Pershing) writes:
> 
>>...actually, the VMS terminal driver munges the sequence sent from the keyboard
>>(<ESC>[17~) into a ^C.  your application and/or DCL environment is then
>>interpreting the ^C to be a ^Y.....
> 
> Speaking of VT220 function keys... I have looked (it seems like) everywhere
> for the codes used on F1-F20, including the DO key, and maybe even the
> PF1-PF4 keys that are used on our VAXstation 3100s, so I can create a set
> of function keys on my PC term program at home and be able to function
> when I'm dialed in. I can't find them, and I do not have access to any
> of the VMS/VAX documentation (where I'm told such definitions are), and
> I've tried about everything..

	Find		CSI 1 ~		Select		CSI 4 ~
	Insert here	CSI 2 ~		Prev Screen	CSI 5 ~
	Remove 		CSI 3 ~		Next Screen	CSI 6 ~

	F6		CSI 1 7 ~	F15 (Help)	CSI 2 8 ~
	F7		CSI 1 8 ~	F16 (Do)	CSI 2 9 ~
	F8		CSI 1 9 ~	F17		CSI 3 1 ~
	F9		CSI 2 0 ~	F18		CSI 3 2 ~
	F10		CSI 2 1 ~	F19		CSI 3 3 ~
	F11		CSI 2 3 ~	F20		CSI 3 4 ~
	F12		CSI 2 4 ~
	F13		CSI 2 5 ~
	F14		CSI 2 6 ~

	PF1		SS3 P		PF3		SS3 R
	PF2		SS3 Q		PF4		SS3 S

Notes:

    1.	CSI is 0x9b in 8-bit controls mode, or ESC [ in 7-bit mode.
    2.	SS3 is 0x8f in 8-bit controls mode, or ESC O in 7-bit mode.
    3.	ESC is 0x1b in both 8-bit controls mode and in 7-bit mode.
    4.	All other characters are themselve, therefore the F20 sequence
	is 4 characters long in 8-bit mode and 5 characters in 7-bit mode.
    5.	Keys F1-F5 send no codes on the VT220 and VT320;  they are strictly
	local function keys.  On the VT420 they can be configured as either
	local function keys or as normal function keys with codes in the
	range of CSI 1 1 ~ through CSI 1 5 ~ .
	
> 	Or, maybe someone who knows where I can get a term program via
> ftp that does VT220 or even 300_SERIES emulation with all the keys?

Look for a recent version of Kermit - version 3.11 has decent VT320
emulation.  Its user interface isn't as slick as some programs that 
are out there, and its file transfer isn't _quite_ as fast, but it's
one of the most solid VT emulators available & it works very well with
VMS, plus it's free.  It should be available on most bulletin boards;
you can also FTP it from Columbia (watsun.cc.columbia.edu in the kermit
directory) if you have access to FTP.

Good luck,

Bruce C. Wright

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec
NNTP-Posting-Host: hardy.france.sun.com
Message-ID: <1c0pdvINN420@grapevine.EBay.Sun.COM>
References: <1992Oct18.205720.9474@wega.rz.uni-ulm.de>
    <1992Oct18.213520.29557@decuac.dec.com> <1992Oct20.001221.5007@gordian.com>
Organization: SunConnect
Date: 20 Oct 1992 11:09:51 GMT
From: "Steve McKinty - Sun ICNC" <smckinty@sunicnc.France.Sun.COM>
Subject: Re: VT220 string-sendback feature?


In article <1992Oct20.001221.5007@gordian.com>, mike@gordian.com (Michael A. Thomas) writes:
>
> In article <1992Oct18.213520.29557@decuac.dec.com>, mjr@hussar.dco.dec.com (Marcus J. "Buddy can you spare a clue?" Ranum) writes:
>
> > >Is there a (non-documented) feature in the VT220, which sends back a string
> > >specified in a control-sequence?
> > >$ write sys$output "<some_magic_sequence>directory"
> > >and the VT220 (not a VMS-process or the terminal-driver!) sends the string
> > >"directory" back which is then evaluated by DCL.

> 
>   Actually the broadcast system service even goes to the trouble of
> filtering escape sequences out of the supplied text, I think (Yuck).
> One of the favorite things we used to do is send people messages which
> put their terminal in smooth-scroll-one-line-a-minute mode -- quite
> obnoxious. Writing directly to another lusers terminal normally 
> requires privs though...


You don`t have to do it with the answerback. Send a sequence like:

clear screen
home
<commands you want executed>
printscreen_to_host

That will send up to 24 lines of commands back to the host system :-)

When DEC fixed that by preventing mail from passing <ESC> characters, they
forgot to prevent it from passing <DCS> so you could do something similar
with ReGIS macros. Eventually they 'fixed' that too :-(

Steve

-- 
Steve McKinty
SUN Microsystems ICNC
38240 Meylan, France
email: smckinty@france.sun.com	   BIX: smckinty

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: cs.utk.edu!gatech!swrinde!pipex!uunet!newstf01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Lines: 18
Sender: root@newsbf02.news.aol.com
Message-ID: <3dp7bu$se@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
References: <3d46lm$nv@NNTP.MsState.Edu>
Reply-To: psichel@aol.com (PSichel)
Date: 27 Dec 1994 09:12:14 -0500
From: psichel@aol.com (PSichel)
Subject: Re: Vendors Needed

I work for one of the vendors (Digital) and check here every week
or so.  I've helped design Digital's low end video terminals since the
VT300 family, so am quite familiar with these products.

I try to answer questions that would be difficult to answer from other
sources.  I don't have time to help everyone who is looking for
information on VT100 escape sequences, and I'm not an expert on every VT
emulator, though I am working on making all of Digital's VT manuals
available on-line (as Postscript or PDF files).

What sort of vendor representation do you think would be most useful
in this forum.

- Peter

  Video Terminals Business Group
  Components & Peripherals
  Digital Equipment Corporation

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
References: <3cac7975@212.67.96.135>
Message-ID: <3CACB347.BDBA85F1@celigne.co.uk>
Organization: http://vt100.net
Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 21:10:47 +0100
From: Paul Williams <celigne@celigne.co.uk>
Subject: Re: AMR "The UnTerminal Station"

Lee Causier wrote:
> 
> I've been given (by the techie at my school) a dumb terminal by
> Advance Micro Research (which was found in a cupboard) - called "The
> UnTerminal Station".
>
> Any suggestions on what, if anything, it does and how to use it
> would be useful.

Take a look at this posting from an AMR employee, archived on Google:

http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9201170757.AA13539%40relay1.UU.NET&rnum=1

Unfortunately it appears that this device will not work standalone or
just hooked to a host but rather needs some extra network servers. At
least that's how I read this description.


Regards,
Paul

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <8229ce48.0211180629.9ea071c@posting.google.com>
Date: 18 Nov 2002 06:29:13 -0800
From: Gorik Vanderreken <gorik_vdr@hotmail.com>
Subject: Advance Micro Research "The Unterminal Station"

Hi,

I just received a machine which is called the "Advace Micro Research -
The Unterminal Station". I presume it is an X-terminal since it got a
SVGA-port on it.

I would like to get it up and running on Linux, but I get nothing (no
screen, no prompt, nothing).

This is the first time I get a graphical terminal into my hands.
Can anyone help me to get this device up and running with a Linux-server ?

Kind regards,

Gorik

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
References: <8229ce48.0211180629.9ea071c@posting.google.com>
Message-ID: <3DD90139.F21B3546@uk.thalesgroup.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 15:03:21 +0000
From: Paul Williams <flo@uk.thalesgroup.com>
Subject: Re: Advanced Micro Research "The Unterminal Station"

Gorik Vanderreken wrote:
> 
> I just received a machine which is called the "Advace Micro
> Research - The Unterminal Station". I presume it is an X-terminal
> since it got a SVGA-port on it.
> 
> I would like to get it up and running on Linux, but I get nothing
> (no screen, no prompt, nothing).


I don't think this terminal can work the way you want, because the
UnTerminal stations must be connected to UnTerminal network cards in PCs;
at least that's how I read this posting from a former AMR employee:

http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9201170757.AA13539%40relay1.UU.NET&rnum=1

- Paul

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

FROM: EDDIE.MIT.EDU
DATE: 02/17/1986 19:48:00
SUBJECT:  DTR flow control for Ann Arbor?

Has anyone modified the ROMs in an Ann Arbor Ambassador to make the terminal
use DTR or CTS for hardware flow control, so I can disable XON/XOFF?  The Ann
Arbor support person claimed that they`ve never implemented it for my serial
number of terminal, so I`d like to hack it myself unless someone has already
solved the problem for me.

Scott Weikart
Community Data Processing: 415-322-9069
cdp!<EMAIL: PROTECTED>
{decwrl,sun,bellcore,megatest,adobe,hplabs,...}!glacier!cdp!scott
{ihnp4,decvax,ucbvax,cbosgd,hao,purdue,duke,...}!hplabs!cdp!scott

From rpics!<EMAIL: PROTECTED> Wed Feb 19 12:44:35 1986


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: fa.info-terms
Path: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!info-terms
Message-ID: <anews.Aucbvax.2558>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1981 19:22:20
From: info-terms
Subject: Ann Arbor Ambassador terminal info...

>From decvax!ittvax!lynch@Berkeley Fri Aug  7 10:23:54 1981

Hi,
        I've used an Ann Arbor for a few months and I believe that is 
conforms to the ansi standard as does the vt100. If you were to ask
Peter Langston at decvax!chico!esquire!psl, who at this time has several,
he could tell you specifically. I think that he may also have some
specialized software for it as well.
                
                        Lionel

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: fa.info-terms
Path: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!info-terms
Message-ID: <bnews.ucbvax.7675>
From: info-terms
Date: Fri Jun 18 03:02:33 1982
Subject: Ann Arbor Ambassador Set-up Y

:From lacasse@RAND-UNIX Tue Jun 15 17:24:54 1982

I think leaving set up mode with 'Y' puts the terminal in memory diagnostic
mode.  It can be awakened from this mode by hitting any key several times
(or holding CR, SPACE, etc.).  In this mode 1) the power is on (low and
high voltage), 2) the filiment on the CRT is on, 3) the video is off.  This
method of turn-off avoids the cool-down, warm-up cycle, but avoids burning
text or the cursor on the phosphor of the CRT.  This is probably optimal
from a maintenance point of view, at least for "off" times of under a day.
For that reason, we turn our Ambassadors "off" that way at Rand.

          Mark LaCasse
          Rand Corporation
          1700 Main Street
          Santa Monica, CA 90406
          213/393-0411

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: net.sources
Path: utzoo!decvax!harpo!seismo!hao!menlo70!bill
Message-ID: <bnews.menlo70.147>
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1983 03:59:58
From: menlo70!bill
Subject: Function Key Program

Here is a program to load the function keys of an Ann Arbor Ambassador.
It is provided for those who have tired of translating DCS strings by hand.
This has been used on 4.1,4.1c,2.8,2.9 BSD systems and seems to be innocous.

Send any remarks to ucbvax!william or v:william@Berkeley.

        Bill Jolitz.

--------------------------------------aaakeys.c
/*
 * aaakeys:
 *      Program to load the function keys of an Ann Arbor Ambassador.
 *      Some parts borrowed from termlib (thanks guys). This program uses
 *      termcap styled escapes to load the function keys instead of
 *      doing the idiotic translations by hand.
 *
 *      Probably this program should be made terminal independant,
 *      and suck in strings from other sources(command line,environment)
 *      but it's useful enough as it is.
 *
 *              W. F. Jolitz 11/82
 *              Symmetric Computer Systems
 *              Los Gatos, CA 95030
 */

# include <ctype.h>
# include <stdio.h>

/*
 * Function key name strings.
 * The ordinal number of this array plus ' '
 * corresponds to the ASCII byte value
 * used to set the function key.
 */

char *lookup[] = {
/* ' ' */       "header",
/* '!' */       "trailer",
/* '"' */       "reserved",
/* '#' */       "enq",
/* '$' */       "da",
/* '%' */       "send",
/* '&' */       "reset",
/* ''' */       "setup",
/* '(' */       "break",
/* ')' */       "shift-break",
/* '*' */       "pause",
/* '+' */       "return",
/* ',' */       "move-up",
/* '-' */       "shift-move-up",
/* '.' */       "move-down",
/* '/' */       "shift-move-down",
/* '0' */       "shift-0",
/* '1' */       "shift-1",
/* '2' */       "shift-2",
/* '3' */       "shift-3",
/* '4' */       "shift-4",
/* '5' */       "shift-5",
/* '6' */       "shift-6",
/* '7' */       "shift-7",
/* '8' */       "shift-8",
/* '9' */       "shift-9",
/* ':' */       "period",
/* ';' */       "tab",
/* '<' */       "enter",
/* '=' */       "shift-tab",
/* '>' */       "erase",
/* '?' */       "shift-erase",
/* '@' */       "edit",
/* 'A' */       "delete",
/* 'B' */       "shift-delete",
/* 'C' */       "insert",
/* 'D' */       "shift-insert",
/* 'E' */       "print",
/* 'F' */       "shift-print",
/* 'G' */       "control-shift-7",
/* 'H' */       "pf1",
/* 'I' */       "pf2",
/* 'J' */       "pf3",
/* 'K' */       "pf4",
/* 'L' */       "pf5",
/* 'M' */       "pf6",
/* 'N' */       "pf7",
/* 'O' */       "pf8",
/* 'P' */       "pf9",
/* 'Q' */       "pf10",
/* 'R' */       "pf11",
/* 'S' */       "pf12",
/* 'T' */       "shift-pf1",
/* 'U' */       "shift-pf2",
/* 'V' */       "shift-pf3",
/* 'W' */       "shift-pf4",
/* 'X' */       "shift-pf5",
/* 'Y' */       "shift-pf6",
/* 'Z' */       "shift-pf7",
/* '[' */       "shift-pf8",
/* '\' */       "shift-pf9",
/* ']' */       "shift-pf10",
/* '^' */       "shift-pf11",
/* '_' */       "shift-pf12",
                "\0"
};


main(argc,argv) int argc; char **argv; {
        register char *cp,c;
        char string[512], func[8], line[512], name[80];
        char getstrcol();
        FILE *fp;

        cp = getenv("HOME");
        strcpy(string,cp);
        strcat(string,"/.aaakeys");
        if (( fp  = freopen(string,"r",stdin)) == NULL) {
                printf("aaakeys: cannot open ~/.aaakeys\n");
                exit(1);
        }

        while ((c = getstrcol(name)) == ':') {
                if ((c = getstrcol(line)) == ':') {     
                        if ((c = getstrcol(func)) == '\n') 
                                dostr(name,line,func);
                        else error("bad programming string phrase",func);
                }
 else error("bad function key phrase",line);
        }
}

/*
 * getstrcol:
 *      Fetch a string up to colon or newline.
 */

char
getstrcol(cp) register char *cp; {
        register char c; register back = 0;

        if ( (c = getchar()) != -1)
                while (c > 0 && ( back || (c != ':' && c != '\n'))) {
                        if(back)back=0;
                        if(c == '\\') back++;
                        *cp++ = c;
                        c = getchar();
                };
        *cp = '\0';
        return(c);
}

/*
 * dostr:
 *      Process a valid function key
 */

dostr(key,line,name) char *key,*line,*name; {
        register char **lp;
        char buffer[512], buffer2[512], *decode();

        lp = &lookup;
        while (**lp != '\0') {
                if ( **lp == *key && strcmp(*lp,key) == 0) {
                        decode(line,buffer);
                        translate(buffer,buffer2);
                        printf("\033P`%c%s\033\\",' '+(lp-lookup),
                                buffer2);
                        return;
                }
 lp++;
        }
 printf("can't find `%s'\n",key);
}

/*
 * Indicate where to complain.
 */

error(s,n) char *s,*n; { printf("%s:  ->%s<-\n",s,n); exit(1); }

/*
 * Decode does the grung work to decode the
 * string escapes.
 */

static char *
decode(str, area)
        register char *str;
        char *area;
{
        register char *cp;
        register int c;
        register char *dp;
        int i;

        cp = area;
        while ((c = *str++) && c != ':') {
                switch (c) {

                case '^':
                        c = *str++ & 037;
                        break;

                case '\\':
                        dp = "E\033^^\\\\::n\nr\rt\tb\bf\f";
                        c = *str++;
nextc:
                        if (*dp++ == c) {
                                c = *dp++;
                                break;
                        }
                        dp++;
                        if (*dp)
                                goto nextc;
                        if (isdigit(c)) {
                                c -= '0', i = 2;
                                do
                                        c <<= 3, c |= *str++ - '0';
                                while (--i && isdigit(*str));
                        }
 break;
                }
 *cp++ = c;
        }
        *cp++ = 0;
        str = area;
        area = cp;
        return (str);
}

/*
 * translate:
 *      convert an ascii string into an downloadable ("DCS")
 *      string for the Ambassador.
 */

translate(in,out) register char *in, *out; {
        register shift = 0;

        while (*in) {

                if (shift && ((*in >= '`') && (*in <= 'z'))) {
                        *out++ = toupper(*in++);
                        continue;
                }
                else if (shift) {
                        *out++ = '}';
                        shift = 0;
                }

                if ( *in >= ' ' && *in <= '_') {
                        *out++ = *in++;
                        continue;
                }
                if ( *in < ' ') {
                        *out++ = '~';
                        *out++ = *in++ + ' ';
                        continue;
                }
                if ( *in >= '`' && *in <= 'z') {
                        *out++ = '{';
                        shift++ ;
                        *out++ = toupper(*in++);
                        continue;
                } 
 
        }
        if(shift) *out++ = '}';
        *out = '\0';
}
-----------------------------------------------aaakeys.1
.TH AAAKEYS LOCAL 
.SH NAME
aaakeys \- safe and sane program to load Ambassador function keys
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B aaakeys
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I aaakeys
loads function keys from a file in the users home directory.
This program translates strings in the file "~/.aaakeys" into
a form suitable for a Ann Arbor Ambassador.
.SH FILE FORMAT
The download file has a format not unlike a termcap(5) file.
Lines are of the form <keyname>:<programmed string>, where
<programmed string> consist of any ascii characters and
termcap escapes, while <keyname> can be any of these strings:
.nf

break control-shift-7 da delete edit enq
enter erase header insert move-down move-up
pause period pf1 pf2 pf3 pf4 pf5 pf6 pf7
pf8 pf9 pf10 pf11 pf12 print reserved
reset return send setup shift-0 shift-1
shift-2 shift-3 shift-4 shift-5 shift-6
shift-7 shift-8 shift-9 shift-break
shift-delete shift-erase shift-insert
shift-move-down shift-move-up shift-pf1
shift-pf2 shift-pf3 shift-pf4 shift-pf5
shift-pf6 shift-pf7 shift-pf8 shift-pf9
shift-pf10 shift-pf11 shift-pf12
shift-print shift-tab tab trailer
.fi
.SH FILES
 .aaakeys
.SH "SEE ALSO"
termcap(5)
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
.nf
bad programming string phrase
bad function key phrase
cannot open ~/.aaakeys
can't find `function key'
.fi
-----------------------------------------------


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Date: 10 Jul 2002 11:12:41 GMT
Organization: RadixNet Internet Services
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <agh4r9$13m$1@news1.Radix.Net>
References: <3D221411.A0AB4FAA@res.raytheon.com>
    <3ca7738bc73bc56f@mayday.cix.co.uk>
From: Thomas Dickey <dickey@saltmine.radix.net>
Subject: Re: Ann Arbor emulator??

Robert de Bath <rd11877@mayday.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Jul 2002, default wrote:

>> Does anyone know if there exist an Ann Arbor terminal emulator that will
>> run under windows?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

> Lookin' at the master terminfo list most of them seem to be ANSI klones
> with their own set of fkeys; for those most of the better emulators should
> work after you redefine the keyboard. (CRT, Reflections, netterm)

or pre-ANSI.  I seem to recall using an aaa as a vt52 clone rather than vt100.

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey <dickey@radix.net> <dickey@herndon4.his.com>
http://dickey.his.com
ftp://dickey.his.com


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
X-NNTP-Posting-Date: 10 Jul 2002 14:59:02 GMT
Message-ID: <aghi3m$c32$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
References: <3D221411.A0AB4FAA@res.raytheon.com>
	<3ca7738bc73bc56f@mayday.cix.co.uk>
	<3D2C4315.941F4BB1@res.raytheon.com>
Organization: Columbia University
Date: 10 Jul 2002 14:59:02 GMT
From: Jeffrey Altman <jaltman@watsun.cc.columbia.edu> 
Subject: Re: Ann Arbor emulator??


In article <3D2C4315.941F4BB1@res.raytheon.com>,
Larry Deck <default@res.raytheon.com> wrote:
:
: Hi,
: 
: I need to emulate an Ann Arbor XL Series "Ambassador" terminal.  My real
: problem is the non-ANSI command set that Ann Arbor implemented is causing me
: troubles.  In particular the ESC 7 (save cursor), ESC 8 (restore cursor) and
: ESC 9 (change graphics  rendition) commands are not ANSI standard.  I tried
: several emulators that are ANSI compliant and none of them will handle these
: commands.  My application code (written in FORTRAN back in the late 70's) took
: advantage of these special commands to blink and bold text on the display.
: These commands are not being processed correctly using ANSI standard terminal
: emulators.
: 
: Can you suggest an emulator that will interperate these special Ann Arbor
: commands.  I have tried ProComm;  Tera Term Pro v2.3 and Secure CRT.
: 
: Keyboard mapping isn't the issue.  The real problem is how data is displayed
: on screen when these ESC commands are used.
: 
: Larry Deck
: 
: 
: 
: Robert de Bath wrote:
: 
: > On Tue, 2 Jul 2002, Larry Deck wrote:
: >
: > > Does anyone know if there exist an Ann Arbor terminal emulator that will
: > > run under windows?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
: >
: > Lookin' at the master terminfo list most of them seem to be ANSI klones
: > with their own set of fkeys; for those most of the better emulators should
: > work after you redefine the keyboard. (CRT, Reflections, netterm)
: >
: > Or are you after a 4080 ? Now that's a weird terminal.
: >
: > --
: > Rob.                          (Robert de Bath <robert$ @ debath.co.uk>)
: >                                        <http://www.cix.co.uk/~mayday>



ESC 7 in VT terminals saves more than just the cursor position.
They also save the video attrbutes and the G0/G1/G2/G3 tables
and the GL/GR/SSGL states.

"ANSI" terminals such as SCOANSI, QANSI, AT386, ... only save
the cursor position.

Kermit 95 implements the above items correctly including the appropriate 
restore with ESC 8.

ESC 9 in a VT terminal is DEC Forward Index.  If you can tell me what
Change Graphics Rendition is supposed to do I should be able to implement
it for you.  If you have a complete terminal spec that would be 
even better.


-- 
 Jeffrey Altman * Sr.Software Designer     Kermit 95 2.0 GUI available now!!!
 The Kermit Project @ Columbia University  SSH, Secure Telnet, Secure FTP, HTTP
 http://www.kermit-project.org/            Secured with MIT Kerberos, SRP, and 
 kermit-support@columbia.edu               OpenSSL.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Organization: RadixNet Internet Services
Message-ID: <aghluv$am7$1@news1.Radix.Net>
References: <3D221411.A0AB4FAA@res.raytheon.com>
    <3ca7738bc73bc56f@mayday.cix.co.uk> <3D2C4315.941F4BB1@res.raytheon.com>
    <aghi3m$c32$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 10 Jul 2002 16:04:47 GMT
From: Thomas Dickey <dickey@saltmine.radix.net>
Subject: Re: Ann Arbor emulator??

Jeffrey Altman <jaltman@watsun.cc.columbia.edu> wrote:
>
> ESC 7 in VT terminals saves more than just the cursor position.
> They also save the video attrbutes and the G0/G1/G2/G3 tables
> and the GL/GR/SSGL states.

> "ANSI" terminals such as SCOANSI, QANSI, AT386, ... only save
> the cursor position.

> Kermit 95 implements the above items correctly including the appropriate 
> restore with ESC 8.

> ESC 9 in a VT terminal is DEC Forward Index.  If you can tell me what
> Change Graphics Rendition is supposed to do I should be able to implement
> it for you.  If you have a complete terminal spec that would be 
> even better.

I have an Ann Arbor Ambassador manual (January 1983).
For this item, it says:

zCGR CHANGE GRAPHIC RENDITION (ESC 9)

        Changes the graphic rendition of the character at the cursor, and all
        following characters in the active Qualified Area (see DAQ), to that
        specified by the present setting of the GR-register; see SGR.

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey <dickey@radix.net> <dickey@herndon4.his.com>

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
X-NNTP-Posting-Host: 138.127.192.116
X-NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 13:34:20 EDT
Message-ID: <3D2C7019.6DBD8603@res.raytheon.com>
References: <3D221411.A0AB4FAA@res.raytheon.com> <3ca7738bc73bc56f@mayday.cix.co.uk> <3D2C4315.941F4BB1@res.raytheon.com> <aghi3m$c32$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
Organization: Raytheon Company
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 13:34:17 -0400
From: default <default@res.raytheon.com>
Subject: Re: Ann Arbor emulator??

Jeff Altman wrote:
>
> ESC 9 in a VT terminal is DEC Forward Index.  If you can tell me what
> Change Graphics Rendition is supposed to do I should be able to implement
> it for you.  If you have a complete terminal spec that would be
> even better.


Jeff,

Upon a little investigation in the Ann Arbor manual I believe that you
are correct in the that Esc 7 and 8 command also store/restore the
graphics setting.  No information in the manual about what specific
registers are used.

See the reply by Thomas Dickey for a definition of what the Ann Arbor
Esc 9 command does.  I don't have much more info then this definition to
explain what it does.  I could send you a copy of the Ann Arbor manual
that I have if this would help but it's pretty thin on implementation
details.

When you say that you could implement it for me do you mean that you
could modify an existing emulator of your own design or are you talking
about the Kermit 95 product?  This sounds fantastic!  We could take this
discussion to direct e-mail if you would like.

Larry Deck
lid@swl.msd.ray.com


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Date: 5 Feb 2003 17:49:51 GMT
Organization: RadixNet Internet Services
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <b1rirv$drj$2@news1.radix.net>
References: <NX80a.7381$da1.6509@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk>
From: Thomas Dickey <dickey@saltmine.radix.net>
Subject: Re: Axel termial emulators.

Graham Phillips <graham@g-mdp.co.uk> wrote:
> Has anyone set-up one of these on Linux/Aix yet? I have to get one of these
> going, and any help in setting up terminfo would be appreciated.

the descriptions I see via google make it sound like a graphics terminal
(terminfo does not apply)

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey <dickey@radix.net> <dickey@herndon4.his.com>
http://dickey.his.com
 ftp://dickey.his.com

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.188.82.137
NNTP-Posting-Date: 24 Jun 2003 01:44:43 GMT
Message-ID: <7846b2d8.0306231744.6acef5a0@posting.google.com>
Organization: http://groups.google.com/
Date: 23 Jun 2003 18:44:42 -0700
From: jd <jakub.dalek@utoronto.ca>
Subject: Terminal Woes

I have been having problems setting up, or even acquiring basic
information with a terminal, which I want to communicate with Linux.
Be aware that I have little experience with Linux and this would be
my first real "project" I would pursuing on the OS.

I purchased an old terminal from a second hand store a while back,
which I used as a telephone.  This is a Canadian made AlexTel dumb
terminal.  From researching the matter I found out the project ALEX
was a Canadian project by Bell, Nortel, and a company from Quebec
whose name escapes me.  It was meant as a telephone, which is mounted
beside the CRT and can input text via a fold able keyboard attached to
the bottom of the CRT.  It is meant as a terminal for the blind (TTY)
and a telephone.  In the back there is a DB-25 female printer port and
an RS232 male DB9 serial connector along with two phone jacks.  Serial
connection is easily established via a hot key and a black screen is
shown, this obviously produces an error without a working connection.


I have two problems essentially, I have no clue how to properly
connect this to my machine physically; and I have had bad luck
purchasing the wrong cables.  I first purchased a Male DB25 to Female
DB9 serial cable along with a Serial Extender.  To my dismay I did
this before I realized that communication is done through the DB9 on
the terminal and not the printer port.  I am considering purchasing a
block adapter to convert the DB25 to DB9 and connect this to the
serial connection on the terminal.  Would this be wise?  I also heard
that people can use a null modem cable, I have one of those does it
apply to this situation? How can I set this up?

My second, and more important problem is getting more information
about the model and which terminal standard it uses. I have found so
little information about this unit, I am worrying about properly
interfacing it.  There is no FCC ID to look up because it is Canadian
made, but the information is as follows:

CRTC ID :  332 2794 A. 
Nortel Serial Number: 140000688  
Nortel Model Number:  NT9G52AJ 
Nortel Product Number: NNTM000119.   

Nothing in the way of copyright date can be found, although I am
guessing this is really old, circa 1981, by the baud rate it uses.
The configuration screens do not reveal too much, only baud settings,
parity check, and the like. I scoured termcap extensively but could
not find a description even remotely associated with this
terminal. Other than that I can find no technical documents regarding
the terminal.

Any help you guys can provide regarding either, physical connection or
information would be greatly appreciated.

-jd  (jakub.dalek@utoronto.ca)

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.protocols.misc, comp.sys.net-computer.misc
Message-ID: <rshu_20030624_154545@stratagy.com>
References: <7846b2d8.0306231744.6acef5a0@posting.google.com>
Organization: The Late, Great Stratagy Users Group
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 15:45:45 -0400
From: Richard S. Shuford
Subject: Re: Terminal Woes (AlexTel)

jakub.dalek(at)utoronto.ca wrote...
| 
| I have been having problems setting up, or even acquiring basic   
| information with a terminal, which I want to communicate with Linux.
| ...
| I purchased an old terminal from a second hand store a while back,
| which I used as a telephone.  This is a Canadian made AlexTel dumb
| terminal.


The ALEXtel terminal appears to be one designed for use with Bell Canada's
"videotex" service, introduced in 1991.  It probably understands only the
graphics-oriented NAPLPS (North American Presentation Level Protocol
Syntax) protocol, and perhaps only the alphageometrical subset of that. 

I suggest that trying to get an ALEXtel unit to communicate usefully with
Linux is going to be more difficult than you would like.  I suggest that
you look for a different terminal that emulates (or is) a DEC VT100 or a
successor model.  (Other viable types include TVI955, Wyse 50, or ADM-3a.)
...

A collection of ALEXtel terminals has been found useful for artistic endeavors:
    
    http://www.sagamie.org/centres_artistes/interaction_qui/forum_info3.html

a discussion of the ALEX service may be found here:

    http://www.wlu.ca/~wwwpress/jrls/cjc/BackIssues/16.3/proulx.html

 ...RSS

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <3ef927da@news.leadingedgeinternet.net.au>
References: <7846b2d8.0306231744.6acef5a0@posting.google.com>
Organization: Ihug Limited
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 14:42:38 +1000
From: Kieran Murphy <news@repertoire.com.au>
Subject: Re: Terminal Woes

I am not sure about the ALEX terminal but it sounds a bit like one Telstra
(then Telecom Australia) released in the mid 1980s.  It died a rapid and sad
death in the market place.  The one I worked on had little ROM "bubbles"
that clipped into the keyboard, and micro tapes to store data.

As I recall, there was an optional bubble to purchase a VT100 emulation and
communication protocol.  I did manage to get it respond via the modem
installed in the unit, but without the special ROM the machine brought no
joy.

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.protocols.misc, comp.sys.net-computer.misc
Message-ID: <7846b2d8.0306250727.69c660e2@posting.google.com>
References: <7846b2d8.0306231744.6acef5a0@posting.google.com>
	    <rshu_20030624_154545@stratagy.com>
Date: 25 Jun 2003 08:27:23 -0700
From: jd <jakub.dalek(at)utoronto.ca>
Subject: Re: Terminal Woes (AlexTel)

Nope,  

Thanks to all that helped, however, it was surprisingly simple to get
the terminal running; despite the odd terminal, it works with all
character attributes fine, running termcap's "vt100" definition.

I used a null modem serial and changed the inittab and it worked.
(I was shocked.)

-jd (jakub.dalek(at)utoronto.ca)


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: tor.forsale.computers
Organization: Internet Look Communications - http://www.look.ca/
NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.154.0.118
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 18:05:41 EST
Message-ID: <9b586.27951$7.1138111@quark.idirect.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 23:05:41 GMT
From: "D.K. Gardiner" <dkgardin@idirect.com>
Subject: Free (but really old)

   Most likely used as historical pieces (doubt you'd get much use out of
them), the following two items are free to anyone interested.

  Bell ALEXtel.  Basically a small monitor (10"?) with keyboard and modem
built in.  Can be used for connecting to BBS's and freenets.  Also works as
a regular phone (fool your friends into thinking it's a video phone).

  Hewlett Packard 45711B portable computer.  Heavy.  Old.  Less hard drive
space than a floppy drive (speaking of which, no floppy drive).  Runs DOS
2.1.  Comes with power cord!  Woohoo!  Works great as paperweight.

I guess they could be conversation pieces if you have the room to display
them (which I don't).

Dan

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <c133d118.0309100649.21e684d9@posting.google.com>
Date: 10 Sep 2003 07:49:03 -0700
From: Alex Bird <alex@redbeastie.fsnet.co.uk>
Subject: WTD: Any info on config/codes for Philips NMS6302/00B
    (minitel/prestel) ?

Hi,
There are a lot of similar, and unanswered, questions on this ng.  I
can't track down any info elsewhere though, so here goes.

The unit is as supplied until quite recently by the bank of scotland
HOBS(home office banking system).  It seems to be very like a minitel
terminal, possibly exactly the same, and is made in france.  I have
found lists of escape seqs to control the screen, which even my french
can cope with!  However not all of them work, I have it talking to a
java program via an rs232 transeiver chip, and I have sent almost
every sequence I can think of.  In particular I cannot control the
cursor(on/off, movement).
Anyone have a clue here?

Thanks for any help you can give,
Alex

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <c133d118.0309101321.617032d8@posting.google.com>
References: <c133d118.0309100649.21e684d9@posting.google.com>
Date: 10 Sep 2003 14:21:58 -0700
From: Alex Bird <alex@redbeastie.fsnet.co.uk>
Subject: Re: WTD: Any info on config/codes for Philips NMS6302/00B (minitel/prestel)?

alex@redbeastie.fsnet.co.uk (Alex Bird) wrote in message
news:<c133d118.0309100649.21e684d9@posting.google.com>...
>
>  In particular I cannot control the cursor(on/off, movement).

Well, I don't know what I was doing wrong before, I have that sorted.

Now what I would really like to know is a way of turning the local
echo off remotely.  It is turned off locally using the fnct key, this
transmits nothing.

Cheers,
Alex

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <w7oab.710$1l5.668@reader1.news.jippii.net>
References: <c133d118.0309100649.21e684d9@posting.google.com>
Organization: Saunalahti Customer
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 23:02:09 +0300
From: Jukka Aho <jukka.aho@iki.fi>
Subject: Re: Any info on config/codes for Philips NMS6302/00B (minitel/prestel)?

Alex Bird wrote:

> seems to be very like a minitel terminal, possibly exactly the
> same, and is made in france.  I have found lists of escape seqs
> to control the screen, which even my french can cope with! 
> However not all of them work, I have it talking to a java
> program via an rs232 transeiver chip, and I have sent almost
> every sequence I can think of.  In particular I cannot control
> the cursor(on/off, movement). Anyone have a clue here?

You might want to see the following pages:

    http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/eprebel/Communication/Prestel/
    http://www.cix.co.uk/~rrussell/products/bbcwin/manual/bbcwinh.html
    http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/6443/tipe.html

-- 
znark


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.104.228.147
NNTP-Posting-Date: 22 Sep 2003 00:04:20 GMT
References: <c133d118.0309100649.21e684d9@posting.google.com>
    <w7oab.710$1l5.668@reader1.news.jippii.net>
Message-ID: <c133d118.0309211604.648fa83c@posting.google.com>
Date: 21 Sep 2003 17:04:19 -0700
From: Alex Bird <alex@redbeastie.fsnet.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Any info on config/codes for Philips NMS6302/00B
    (minitel/prestel) ?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

"Jukka Aho" <jukka.aho@iki.fi> wrote in message
news:<w7oab.710$1l5.668@reader1.news.jippii.net>...
> Alex Bird wrote:
> 
> > seems to be very like a minitel terminal, possibly exactly the
> > same, and is made in france.  I have found lists of escape seqs
> > to control the screen, which even my french can cope with! 
> > However not all of them work, I have it talking to a java
> > program via an rs232 transeiver chip, and I have sent almost
> > every sequence I can think of.  In particular I cannot control
> > the cursor(on/off, movement). Anyone have a clue here?
> 
> You might want to see the following pages:
> 
>  <http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/eprebel/Communication/Prestel/>
>  <http://www.cix.co.uk/~rrussell/products/bbcwin/manual/bbcwinh.html>
>  <http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/6443/tipe.html>

Thanks, I had found a couple of these, sadly the french page is beyond
me.  I have another which is a little clearer, but most of the codes
don't seem to work.  It might be for different hardware.

What I most want to do is send it codes to turn off local echo, and
change the baud rate.  This has to be done by pressing key
combinations on the terminal.

I can put it in acsii mode remotely, where some VT100 codes work. 
Also, higher baud rates become available, but only in this mode.

I will be using this mode because it has 80 columns, and it will not do
80 cols in prestel/teletel mode.

Thanks for your help,
Alex


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.sys.dec, comp.os.vms
NNTP-Posting-Host: 82-32-114-195.cable.ubr03.hawk.blueyonder.co.uk [82.32.114.195]
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 18:59:27 BST
References: <bi8utb$2f1$1@online.de>
Message-ID: <3F4A4C91.8CE292D6@blueyonder.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:59:27 GMT
From: Tim Llewellyn <tim.llewellyn@blueyonder.co.uk>
Subject: Re: connect FALCO 5220e to ALPHAstation 255/233

Phillip Helbig  wrote:
> 
> Several years ago, I used to have a FALCO 5220e terminal connected to
> the serial port (OPA0 or TTA0) of an ALPHAstation 255/233.  Now, I can't
> get it to work.
> 
> The serial ports on the ALPHAstation work OK; a VT320 connects up with
> no problem.  Thus, I suspect that the problem is with the FALCO terminal
> and/or with the cables.
> 
> The cables are PHYSICALLY OK, since other connections using them work.
> 
> When I had things working several years ago, I had a couple of very long
> serial cables connected together and used that as the connection.
> Presumably, the reason was that a standard serial cable wouldn't work,
> and the ones which did had some non-standard pin connections.
> 
> Does the FALCO require a different sort of cable (apart from gender)
> than a VT320 (the FALCO has a female RS232 connector on the back (2
> actually, one for each port) whereas the VT320 has a male connector)?
> There are so many options in the setup that even if it were possible to
> change the nature of the connection, I doubt I could find it.  Anyone
> know if this is possible?
> 
> What should the setup values be for the FALCO to use it as a console
> terminal with the ALPHAstation?
> 
> I have a serial cable where I can flip switches to turn the individual
> pins on and off at each end.  What should the settings be for a VT320?
> For the FALCO?


I addition to checking for modem/null modem by swapping data leads as others
suggest, are you SURE the terminal setup has not changed?

The Falco's I remember had an MMJ port as well as 25 pin, with a SETUP
switch to toggle between them.

-- 
tim.llewellyn@blueyonder.co.uk

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.sys.dec, comp.os.vms
NNTP-Posting-Host: dslam191-137-59-81.dyndsl.zonnet.nl (81.59.137.191)
References: <bi8utb$2f1$1@online.de>
Message-ID: <bicrau$78s84$1@ID-143435.news.uni-berlin.de>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 13:18:50 +0200
From: Hans Vlems <hvlems.nieuw@zonnet.nl>
Subject: Re: connect FALCO 5220e to ALPHAstation 255/233

Try jumpering/shorting pins 4+5 and 6+20 on the Falco.

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.sys.dec, comp.os.vms
Message-ID: <bif6e7$l7m@newton.cc.rl.ac.uk>
References: <bi8utb$2f1$1@online.de>
Organization: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxon, UK
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:40:37 +0100
From: Richard Brodie <R.Brodie@rl.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: connect FALCO 5220e to ALPHAstation 255/233

"Phillip Helbig" <helbig%astro.multivax.de> wrote in message
news:bi8utb$2f1$1@online.de...

> Several years ago, I used to have a FALCO 5220e terminal connected to
> the serial port (OPA0 or TTA0) of an ALPHAstation 255/233.  Now, I can't
> get it to work.

I used to use these a while back. They did seem to often XOFF themselves
spontaneously on power up. Try giving it a CTRL/Q (xon). 

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Host: 211.134.130.18
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 09:01:08 +0000 (UTC)
Message-ID: <52af4a80.0312080006.12b140d@posting.google.com>
Date: 8 Dec 2003 01:01:08 -0800
From: hally <hally@vorc.org>
Subject: Videotex terminal specifications

Hi groups!

Are there anyone from France or Britain? Please let me know hardware
details of early Videotex terminals, as computers. Although I cannot
find any informations about the Prestel terminals, I've heard the
first Minitel terminal widely spread to France had some Motorola CPU,
black/white monitor and 1200baud modem. What CPU was it? How many RAMs
were there? Do they have sound capability?

Thanks,

Hally

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Host: 193.251.180.39
NNTP-Posting-Date: 09 Dec 2003 22:54:03 MET
References: <52af4a80.0312080006.12b140d@posting.google.com>
Message-ID: <3FD644D4.9010000@chez.lui>
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 22:55:32 +0100
From: thierry escola <thierry.emailpasbon@chez.lui>
Subject: Re: Videotex terminal specifications

hally wrote:
> 
> ...Please let me know hardware details of early Videotex terminals,
> as computers... 

hi !

I'm Thierry from France.
about the hardware, there was many different kind of hardware. the cpu 
used was 68XX with very few RAM with just *one* sound : pip ! :-)

I'm looking for a scheme and I'll tell you here what I found in a couple 
of days.

Thierry
-- 
http://members.fortunecity.fr/tagada/

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
References: <52af4a80.0312080006.12b140d@posting.google.com>
Message-ID: <1c1d51e9fed1ff00@mayday.cix.co.uk>
Organization: Microsoft Junk Merchants
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 22:30:12 GMT
From: Robert de Bath <rdebath-20031211@mayday.cix.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Videotex terminal specifications

On 8 Dec 2003, hally wrote:

> Hi groups!
>
> Are there anyone from France or Britain? Please let me know hardware
> details of early Videotex terminals, as computers....

I don't remember for sure but ...

If you're right about the MC part then it will probably have been the
MC6802 this is a varient of the MC6800 (NOT MC68000) with 128 bytes of
memory onchip (32 bytes battery backupable) and running at 1Mhz.

There would have been an extra 1kbyte of memory for the display buffer
and the BT viewdata ASIC. The display was 40x25 designed for a TV just
like teletext.

The really upmarket versions would have had a real keyboard, most just
had a telephone style numberpad on which you entered ascii digits or
a sequence like:

  *1234#                Page numbers
  *90#                  Logout
  *910# to *990#        Various editing stuff.

The modem was a 1200/75 (75 bits per second upstream, 1200 downstream).

Looking at the character set in my old dusty hackers handbook, I don't
see the ^G defined as bell, so I'd say it couldn't even beep.


-- 
Rob.                          (Robert de Bath <robert$ @ debath.co.uk>)
                                       <http://www.cix.co.uk/~mayday>
Google Homepage:   http://www.google.com/search?btnI&q=Robert+de+Bath

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Newsgroups: comp.terminals
References: <1135961613.750766.3220@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
Message-ID: <dp5cki$k7f$2@news.xmission.com>
Organization: multi-cellular, biological
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 07:40:02 +0000 (UTC)
From: Richard <legalize+jeeves@mail.xmission.com>
Subject: Re: Philips HCS 80

[Please do not mail me a copy of your followup]

"maxxflow@gmail.com" <maxxflow@gmail.com> spake the secret code
<1135961613.750766.3220@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> thusly:

>I have an old Philips HCS 80 dumb terminal..
>[...] It is a 'Minitel' terminal [...]

Wow!

Just the other day I was wondering whatever became of Minitel!

I saw it in 1986, when I imagine it was pretty popular.  However,
since everything was from a single source provider (the French PTT),
I seem to recall that participating in their communities was pretty
expensive.  So I never did much more than poke around the surface of
minitel.

Its been so long that I don't recall any specifics of how they
operate.  Are you trying to test it out in France? :-)  I'd say your
best bet on getting information about these is to find some French
computing forums and ask politely in the best French that you can
manage :-).
-- 
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
          <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
	    Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
               <http://pilgrimage.scene.org>

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.unix.solaris
NNTP-Posting-Host: gateway1.lawson.com [64.211.101.4]
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 16:49:16 +0000 (UTC)
Message-ID: <1143823751.791391.186960@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
Date: 31 Mar 2006 08:49:11 -0800
From: DBPW <mmcgaa@gmail.com>
Subject: Solaris 10 Terminal Types

It seems that my new Solaris 10 sparc system doesn't get it when
setting the TERM to pt80-e. Don't ask me why the software developers at
my company use pt80-e, but they do on other Solaris 8 and 9 systems
without any problems.

On the Solaris 10 box, when I set the term equal to pt80-e, the session
does not regonize the "clear" command (nothing happens) and it will not
vi a file. Doing the same exact thing on my Solaris 8 system and
everything works. I'm kinda stuck here as the web provides nill on
pt80-e and Solaris 10 term types.

root #> vi log.txt
pt80-e: Unknown terminal type
I don't know what kind of terminal you are on - all I have is 'pt80-e'.
[Using open mode]


 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.unix.solaris
NNTP-Posting-Host: admin.mie.utoronto.ca
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 17:36:13 +0000 (UTC)
References: <1143823751.791391.186960@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
Message-ID: <e0jpad$pl8$1@news.mie>
Organization: University of Toronto
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 12:36:12 -0500
From: Oscar del Rio <delrio@mie.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Re: Solaris 10 Terminal Types

DBPW wrote:
> It seems that my new Solaris 10 sparc system doesn't get it when
> setting the TERM to pt80-e. Don't ask me why the software developers at
> my company use pt80-e, but they do on other Solaris 8 and 9 systems
> without any problems.

SunOS 5.8 sun4u SPARC:

	% export TERM=pt80-e
	% vi
	pt80-e: Unknown terminal type

Same on Solaris 8 x86, Solaris 9 SPARC, and even 2.5.1 SPARC.

Someone else installed the pt80-e terminfo on your Solaris 8/9 systems?

 ..............................................................................

Path: stratagy.com!not-for-spam
Newsgroups: comp.unix.solaris,comp.terminals,comp.sys.prime,comp.unix.sys5.r4
Message-ID: <rshu_20060331_121212@stratagy.com>
References: <1143823751.791391.186960@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
Organization: The Late, Great Stratagy Users Group
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 12:12:12 -0800
From: "Richard S. Shuford" <shuford@list.stratagy.NO-SPAM-HERE.com>
Subject: Re: Solaris 10 Terminal Types (terminfo for pt80-e)

DBPW <mmcgaa(at)gmail.com> wrote:
| 
| On the Solaris 10 box, when I set the term equal to pt80-e, the
| session does not regonize [recognize?] the "clear" command (nothing
| happens) and it will not vi a file.  Doing the same exact thing on
| my Solaris 8 system and everything works.

Sparse hints in Internet sources suggest that the "PT80" was a
character-cell video terminal made and sold by the German company
Siemens A.G.  I have never seen one (despite my having been employed
by a Siemens joint-venture enterprise during the 1980s), so I
conclude that PT80s have always been rare in North America.

Circumstantial evidence indicates that you work for Lawson Software,
which is apparently one of a handful of companies that still rely
on the PT80 terminal type.  We may guess that the sysadmins at
Lawson have a private "terminfo" entry for "pt80-e" which they
customarily install on new Solaris systems.  Perhaps the custom was
neglected in your case, but you'll have to find out within Lawson.

The situation with a terminal prefix of "PT" is a bit confusing,
because at least three hardware vendors have used it.  (This is in
addition to the software entity called "pty", the "pseudo-terminal".)

During its heyday, Prime Computer sold a series of terminals
comprising the PT100, PT200, and PT250.  Prime (PR1ME) was later
absorbed by ComputerVision of Framingham.

Back in the 1980s, when AT&T was trying to be a computer company,
it introduced a line of character-cell video terminals, an early
member of which was the Personal Terminal 505, or PT505 for short.
(This apparently was the same thing as a "Getset 5430".)  Some of
AT&T's terminal products were sold under the "Teletype" brandname.
Over time AT&T's product roster came to include all the following:

    ATT500 series (including ATT510, ATT513, etc.)
    ATT600 series
    ATT700 series
    ATT2300 series
    Teletype 4400 series
    Teletype 5400 series
    Teletype 5600 series (including ATT5620, etc.)

The AT&T terminal business eventually came into the ownership of
Boundless Technologies, which has collected many such lines of
business, and still (in A.D. 2006) sells new character-cell text
video terminals.

    http://www.boundless.com/text%20terminals.htm

For other information on character-cell terminals and how to use them,
you can have a look at my "Archive of Video Terminal Information":

    http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
    [this archive]

 ...RSS

-- 
While constructing your next turkey sandwich, consider chives!

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: comp.unix.solaris
Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2006 16:55:03 -0000
From: Thomas Dickey <dickey@saltmine.radix.net>
Subject: Re: Solaris 10 Terminal Types

Oscar del Rio <delrio@mie.utoronto.ca> wrote:
>
> DBPW wrote:
>>
>> It seems that my new Solaris 10 sparc system doesn't get it when
>> setting the TERM to pt80-e. Don't ask me why the software developers
>> at my company use pt80-e, but they do on other Solaris 8 and 9 systems
>> without any problems.

> SunOS 5.8 sun4u sparc:

> % export TERM=pt80-e
> % vi
> pt80-e: Unknown terminal type

> Same on Solaris 8 x86, Solaris 9 sparc, and even 2.5.1 sparc.

> Someone else installed the pt80-e terminfo on your Solaris 8/9 systems?


Google suggests it's specific to an application that normally sets
LATERM (Lawson TERM).  The developers probably found it convenient
to have a single name for the terminal.

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey
http://invisible-island.net/
 ftp://invisible-island.net/

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:34:32 -0500 (EST)
To: Richard <legalize+jeeves*mail.xmission.com>
From: Richard S. Shuford
Subject: Re: "party line" terminals -- is it RS-422?

| Newsgroups: comp.terminals
| NNTP-Posting-Host: xmission.xmission.com
| NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 22:26:19 +0000 (UTC)
| Message-ID: <dvcomb$jid$1@news.xmission.com>
| Organization: multi-cellular, biological
| Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 22:26:19 +0000 (UTC)
| From: Richard <legalize+jeeves*mail.xmission.com>
| Subject: "party line" terminals -- is it RS-422?
| 
| I have a terminal that was probably used to display airline flight
| information.  It has no keyboard and data ports on the back that look
| like standard DB-25 ports but also a DB-9 like port labelled "party
| line".  Is this an RS-422 port?  Does it do anything special besides
| having an RS-422 style interface?
| 
| The terminal is a Westinghouse W1643.
| -- 
| "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
|           <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
| 	    Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
|                <http://pilgrimage.scene.org>


Sir Richard:

Sounds more like RS-485 to me.  Check out Chris Blum's essay:

    http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal/blum_serial_port.txt

You'd probably need a converter/adapter from Black Box Corp.

    http://www.blackbox.com/

I've never seen a  Westinghouse W1643, but if it was used for
airline reservations, it is probably not what you'd want as a
Linux terminal. 

 ...Richard S. Shuford

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Host: c-98-225-8-22.hsd1.wa.comcast.net
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 22:26:43 +0000 (UTC)
References: <c591eacf-4377-4cf6-9fbb-ba4df46af6cf@u36g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
Message-ID: <ac318c0f-9bf5-41a6-a534-e0450c9ab264@w39g2000prb.googlegroups.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 15:26:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bran_deeno@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Westinghouse W1642 terminal

On Jun 12, 6:15 am, retrohac...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> I've just accquired a Westinghouse W1642 terminal, and I'm looking for
> any kind of documentation I can find on it. It's clearly somewhat of a
> single purpose terminal, originally used at airlines. The keyboard is
> weird, and is missing many "useful" characters, like brackets,
> slashes, pipe and comma. Instead, it has various weird symbols,
> command keys, and such. It has no shift key, and only displays upper
> case. It also appears to support multiple sessions, with keys to
> switch between them, and display a split screen mode. Typing in any of
> the sessions will echo to the screen, even with nothing connected.
>
> On the back are four female DB25 connectors - LINE/PRINT, PRINT1,
> PRINT2 and AUX. I've tried connecting it up to a computer and sending
> text to it, at 9600 baud. Connecting an RS232 cable to AUX causes the
> CTRL-DOWN indicator at the bottom of the screen to go away, but only
> for the full screen session. Sending random junk to the terminal
> through the serial port occasionally is able to bring up a message at
> the top, something about an invalid printer, but no other garbage
> displays. So far, I've only tried it at 9600 baud, I didn't have time
> last night to try other speeds.
>
> Inside the terminal seems rather conventional, I haven't dismantled it
> completely, but near each port is a 75154 (quad line receiver), and it
> appears that farther back on the board are other comms chips
> (socketed). I was expecting to see 1488/89 pairs, but haven't seen
> those in there yet. Two of the ports are on a daughter board, the
> other two are on the main board. The boards are partially hidden by
> the monitor chassis, and I've not pulled them out to look yet. There
> are some dip switches on the main board though.
>
> So.. basically, I know that this isn't going to be a great computer
> terminal, with it's lack of important command keys, (no ESC either!).
> That's too bad, since it's very well built, has a very nice keyboard,
> and a very sharp, clear screen. But, I would like to be able to do
> something with it, send text to it, use it as a console command
> monitor, something. Does anyone have any kind of documentation or
> information on this beastie?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Ian


I have some info that might help a lil, I currently work for a major
airline and have used the systems that have run on them. We currently
use Worldspan aka "PARS" (Programmable Airline Reservation System) as
we call it at work. Each command must have a SOM (Start of Message)
which looks kinda like >

The funky symbols that you see are modifiers as an example to log on
would like this:

>BSIA(4 digit numeric number)(2 letter code)/(duty code) so would basically
look like this (>BSIA1234AB/GS) followed by enter

to add a name to the reservation aka PNR (Passenger Name Record) would be:

>-LAST/FIRST

Another airline I worked for also used the W1642 Termnial. So I can
input more if you would like, or email you. Some other stations still
use the W840 and the W1642 Terminals I can tell you more info if you
would like.


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
