copyright (c) 1994 by Paul Wheaton, Banana Programming

The ANSI-BBS industry is riddled with conflicts.  Since the true ANSI
standard has not been strictly followed, a variety of variations have
evolved.  Some have become popular.

This document spells out what BananaCom uses for it's terminal emulation: A
mish-mash of ANSI, VT100, pseudo-ANSI and pseudo-VT100 that tries to follow
what most modem services expect and use. Perhaps this will help to make
BBS's and COM programs work together with a little less research and
programming effort.

Note that some features of BananaCom are intentionally undocumented.  This
has mostly to do with VT100 stuff which is well documented in other places
AND, I think, the use of which should be discouraged.

Terminal sends:

  All ASCII characters from 1 to 127 are sent as is.  If somebody wants to
  feed a special character that comes through as a character 128 through
  255, send that through too.

  Note that "Doorway mode" is a simple, beautiful thing developed by
  Marshall Dudley that allows a user calling a modem service to run DOS
  programs on the modem service! Look for DRWY*.* on your favorite modem
  service or call Marshall Dudley's support BBS at (615)675-3282.  While
  BananaCom is in Doorway Mode, all IBM PC extended keys send a NULL
  character (ASCII value 0) followed by the scan code given by the BIOS.

  The following keystrokes are well established:

        Keystroke             Sent          Doorway mode

        left arrow key        ESC [ D         NULL 75
        right arrow key       ESC [ C         NULL 77
        up arrow key          ESC [ A         NULL 72
        down arrow key        ESC [ B         NULL 80
        home key              ESC [ H         NULL 71
        end key               ESC [ K         NULL 79
        ^home key             ESC [ L         NULL 119
        ^page up              ESC [ M         NULL 132

        F1 key                ESC O P         NULL 59
        F2 key                ESC O Q         NULL 60
        F3 key                ESC O w         NULL 61
        F4 key                ESC O x         NULL 62

          capital "oh", not a zero^            ^ASCII value 0

  All other keys send a NULL character (ASCII value 0) and then the BIOS
  scan code (as a character, not multi digits representing the number).
  Note that most com programs will use Alt-A through Alt-Z and Alt-1
  through Alt-9 and Alt-0.  If there happens to be keys left they will be
  passed through.

  Function keys are your best bet and are all passed through

               Alone        Shift         Ctrl         Alt

        F1                 NULL  84     NULL  94     NULL 104
        F2                 NULL  85     NULL  95     NULL 105
        F3                 NULL  86     NULL  96     NULL 106
        F4                 NULL  87     NULL  97     NULL 107
        F5    NULL  63     NULL  88     NULL  98     NULL 108
        F6    NULL  64     NULL  89     NULL  99     NULL 109
        F7    NULL  65     NULL  90     NULL 100     NULL 110
        F8    NULL  66     NULL  91     NULL 101     NULL 111
        F9    NULL  67     NULL  92     NULL 102     NULL 112
        F10   NULL  68     NULL  93     NULL 103     NULL 113

   Some com programs use the Page Up and Page Down keys to initiate a file
   transfer although this seems to be changing - these keys are of great
   use to BBS's.

        Page Up           NULL  73
        Page Down         NULL  81
        Insert            NULL  82

   Note that when you press control-page-down with some terminal programs,
   they send   ESC [ H ESC [ 2 J   and a lot of BBS's simply ignore that.

        ctrl-page-down    NULL 118
        ctrl-end          NULL 117
        ctrl-left-arrow   NULL 115
        ctrl-right-arrow  NULL 116
        shift-tab         NULL 15

Terminal receives:

  Most ANSI terminals use a screen 80x24 - with the last line reserved for
  reporting the current status of the terminal program.  BananaCom uses
  this standard.

  There are a few ASCII characters that have a special effect on the
  terminal:

      Dec  Hex  char   function

       7    7    ^G    beep
       8    8    ^H    destructive backspace
       9    9    ^I    tab - move to next tab column (8,16,24,32,40...)
      10    A    ^J    line feed - move down one. Scroll up if needed
      12    C    ^L    clear screen & home cursor (1,1)
      13    D    ^M    return - move cursor to column 1

  Note that there is some controversy in the ANSI vs. VT100 worlds about
  what color (attribute) to use when clearing the screen.  From what I
  could find out, this is the result of "might makes right" introduced by
  DOS version 3.x.  Before DOS 3.x, clear the screen was always "clear to
  black".  DOS 3 used "clear to current attribute background color" - this
  introduced conflict.  Now, some programs clear to black and some clear to
  the current attribute.  The safest thing to do, of course, is to set your
  background attribute to black before you clear.  Earlier versions of
  BananaCom would clear to black, newer versions clear to current attribute
  - don't count on this staying this way.  HOWEVER!  You can count on the
  "ESC [ b" functions that allow you to color a region, including the whole
  screen!  See below for more details.

  Note also that in Doorway mode passing through a NULL (ASCII value 0), will
  force the next character to be displayed on the screen and not
  interpretted.

  Example:

    Sending a ^L that is not preceeded by a NULL character will result in
    clearing the screen.  Sending a NULL character and then ^L while in
    doorway mode will result in the female symbol appearing at the current
    cursor location.


  Escape sequences do not have spaces in them.  Spaces have been added
  here for readability.

  Anything appearing in angle brackets is an escape sequnce variable.  The
  angle brackets are not sent.


  ESC D    scroll up
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    All of the text on the screen (or the scrolling region, if one is
    defined) is scrolled up one line.  The bottom line is filled with
    spaces colored according to the current attribute.

    Note that there is no left bracket "[" between the ESC and the 'D'.

    Example:  ESC D              scroll all text up one line


  ESC M    scroll down
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    All of the text on the screen (or the scrolling region, if one is
    defined) is scrolled down one line.  The top line is filled with spaces
    colored according to the current attribute.

    Note that there is no left bracket "[" between the ESC and the 'M'.

    Example:  ESC M              scroll all text down one line


  ESC c    reset terminal
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This is something of particular use to door programs and internet
    service providers.  Sometimes, a user will go into a door or telnet to
    an internet service and they will set a variety of bizarre terminal
    modes that BananaCom (and other COM programs) will retain until told to
    drop them.  If you send this sequence, you can know for certain that
    you have the defaults and a clean slate.  I strongly recommend that
    modem services, door programs and any on-line utilities use this often.
    Especially if your service is offered on the internet.


  ESC [ @    insert char
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Insert a space into the current line at the current cursor position.
    The character at column 80 is thrown out.  The current attribute is
    used for the new space.


  ESC [ <NumLines> A    cursor up
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Move the cursor up specified number of lines (default is one).

    If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since last "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r"
    then the cursor will not be allowed to move beyond the top of the
    scrolling region.

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 A        move up ten lines

    Example:  ESC [ A            move up one line


  ESC [ <NumLines> B    cursor down
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Move the cursor down specified number of lines (default is one).

    If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since last "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r"
    then the cursor will not be allowed to move beyond the bottom of the
    scrolling region.

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 B        move down ten lines

    Example:  ESC [ B            move down one line


  ESC [ <NumCols> C    cursor right
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Move the cursor right specified number of lines (default is one).

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 C        move right ten columns

    Example:  ESC [ C            move right one column


  ESC [ <NumCols> D    cursor left
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Move the cursor left specified number of lines (default is one).  Cannot
    move beyond left of screen.

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 D        move left ten columns

    Example:  ESC [ D            move left one column


  ESC [ <Num> E    line feed
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Convert to specified number of line feeds.  If the cursor is at the
    bottom of the screen (or scrolling region if one is defined) text will
    be scrolled up and the bottom line will be cleared.

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 E        convert and process as ten linefeeds

    Example:  ESC [ E            convert and process as onr linefeed
                                 (why not just send ^J ?)


  ESC [ F    undefined
  ESC [ G    undefined


  ESC [ <row> ; <col> H    move to
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Move cursor to this position.

    If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since the last
    "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r" then the cursor will be positioned relative to
    the scrolling region.

    This will perform exactly the same as "ESC [ <row> ; <col> f".

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 ; 5 H    The cursor will be positioned at row 10
                                 and column 5.

    Example:  ESC [ 10 H         The cursor will be positioned at row 10
                                 and column 1.

    Example:  ESC [ H            The cursor will be positioned at row 1
                                 and column 1.


  ESC [ I    undefined


  ESC [ <type> J    clear all or part of display
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Clear all or part of the screen (or scrolling region if one is
    defined).

    The cleared region will always be the "current attribute", although
    this could later change to "clear to black" due to some standards
    issues.

    Cursor does not move.

    Example:  ESC [ 0 J          Clear from cursor to end of screen

    Example:  ESC [ 1 J          Clear from beginning of screen to cursor

    Example:  ESC [ 2 J          Clear whole screen
                                 (note that sending ^L does the same thing)

    Example:  ESC [ J            same as "ESC [ 0 J"


  ESC [ <type> K    clear all or part of current line
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The cleared region will always be the "current attribute" although
    this could later change to "clear to black" due to some standards
    issues.

    Cursor does not move.

    Example:  ESC [ 0 K          Clear from cursor to end of line

    Example:  ESC [ 1 K          Clear from beginning of line to cursor

    Example:  ESC [ 2 K          Clear whole line

    Example:  ESC [ K            same as "ESC [ 0 K"


  ESC [ <num> L    insert line
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    "<num>" blank lines will be inserted at the current cursor location.
    These lines will have the color of the current attribute.  The previous
    current line and all of the lines below will be moved down.  Lines that
    are scrolled beyond the bottom of the screen (or scrolling region, if
    one is defined) will be lost.

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 K        insert ten lines

    Example:  ESC [ K            insert one line


  ESC [ M    ANSI Music / delete line
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This is the biggest conflict in ANSI emulation.  The actual ANSI
    standard clearly states that this sequence is to be used for "delete
    line".  The person that came up with "ANSI music" must not have known
    this.  There are still many modem services and mainframe computers that
    depend on this being "delete line" - however, far more people are
    served by systems that depend on this being "ANSI music".

    What this means is that as a programmer, you cannot depend on ESC [ M.
    Some modem services and com programs will lock up when they expect one
    thing and receive another.

    Here is a solution:

        a)  A modem service can send "ESC [ b" to the terminal.  If the
        emulation outlined in this document is supported, 003 will be sent
        back.  If it is not, the terminal will most likely not show the
        escape sequence and you can then know that ESC [ M should be
        avoided since its interpretation is unknown and could cause a
        lockup.

        b)  Use "ESC [ N" for music and "ESC [ Y" for delete line.

    What BananaCom supports for ESC [ M may change although at the time of
    this writing, it is used for ANSI music.  See "ESC [ N" and "ESC [ Y"
    for information on how to use ANSI music and delete line.


  ESC [ N <music codes> <^N>  ANSI music
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This command is provided with BananaCom as a substitute to the
    traditional ANSI music sequence of "ESC [ M" since that sequence has
    conflicts.

    For complete information on how to use ANSI music, look for the file
    BBSAMT*.* (BBS ANSI Music Tutor) by Linda Bloom.  This file is
    available on the Montana Banana BBS (406)543-8234 and Bloomunit BBS
    (407)687-8712.

    Example:  ESC [ N E 8 G 8 G 8 G 8 F 4 E 8 G 2 ^N    this will belt out
    the first few notes of "Popeye the Sailor".  "ESC [ N" starts the music
    sequence and the control-N character finishes.  What's in between are
    all of the notes and how long each note lasts.  Further details of the
    music may be provided as specified in BBSAMT.

    Note that this is not an ANSI or VT100 standard, but something that is
    in BananaCom.  I hope other com program folks do the same.


  ESC [ O    undefined


  ESC [ <num> P    delete char
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Delete the character at the current cursor position.  All characters to
    the right of the cursor will be shifted one to the left.  The right
    most character on the screen will be converted to a space and will have
    the same attribute as the character that used to be there.

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 P        delete ten characters

    Example:  ESC [ P            delete one character


  ESC [ Q    undefined
  ESC [ R    undefined


  ESC [ S    scroll up
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    see ESC D


  ESC [ T    scroll down
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    see ESC M


  ESC [ U    clear
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Clear the screen with the "normal" attribute and home the cursor.
    New text will use the previously defined attribute.

    Note that this does the exact same thing as ^L.


  ESC [ V    undefined
  ESC [ W    undefined
  ESC [ X    undefined


  ESC [ <num> Y    delete line
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This command is provided with BananaCom as a substitute to the
    traditional delete line sequence of "ESC [ M" since that sequence has
    conflicts.

    "<num>" lines will be deleted at the current cursor location.
    Lines from below will be scrolled up.  The blank lines inserted at the
    bottom of the screen (or scrolling region, if one is defined) will be
    colored with the current attribute.

    Example:  ESC [ 1 0 Y        delete ten lines

    Example:  ESC [ Y            delete one line

    Note that this is not an ANSI standard, but something that is in
    BananaCom.  I hope other COM program folks do the same.


  ESC [ Z    back tab
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Relocate the cursor to the previous tab.  Tabs are located at columns
    1, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72 and 80.  So, if your cursor is
    currently located at column 10 and a "ESC [ Z" is received, the cursor
    will be moved to column 8.


  ESC [ a    undefined


  ESC [ b    Banana ANSI
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    There are five different functions that can be accessed through this
    sequence.

    ESC [ 0 b
    ESC [ b

      Banana ANSI query. If a terminal uses everything listed in this
      document, it will send back

            003

      later versions may return  004  or  005  or  006   etc.

    ESC [ 1 <Row> ; <Col> ; <Wide> ; <High> ; <Att> b

      Color box.  All parameters are optional.  Relative to the scrolling
      region if one is defined.  "ESC [ 1 b" would color the entire screen
      (or scrolling region, if one is defined) to the current attribute.

      Note that the default for "High" is 24 or the height of the scrolling
      region if one is defined.

      Note that "Att" is a number that represents PC text video attributes.

      Examples:

        ESC [ 5 ; 3 0 ; 2 0 ; 1 0 ; 1 6 b

          This would put a blue box on the screen 20 columns wide and 10
          lines high with the upper left corner being in position row 5 and
          column 30.

        ESC [ 5 ; 3 0 b

          This puts a box on the screen colored with the current attribute.
          The upper left corner is in row 5, column 30 and the lower right
          corner of the box is in the bottom of the screen (or scrolling
          region if one is defined) and column 80.

    ESC [ 2 <Row> ; <Col> ; <Wide> ; <High> ; <Att> b

      Draw box.  Similar to "ESC [ 1 b" except that a single line box is
      drawn.

    ESC [ 3 b

      Preserve the screen.  The entire screen (except for the status line
      at the bottom) is saved.

    ESC [ 4 b

      Restore a preserved screen.  Whatever the screen looked like before
      the last "ESC [ 3 b", is how it will look after this escape sequence.

      Note that things like cursor location and current attribute are not
      saved.

    Note that these sequnces are not an ANSI standard, but something that
    is in BananaCom.  I hope other com program folks do the same.


  ESC [ c    VT100 query response
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Some modem services use mainframe computers that send this and are
    looking for some unique response or they will assume your terminal is
    brain dead.  BananaCom sends back "ESC [ ? 1 ; 2 c" and that seems to
    keep most machines happy.


  ESC [ d    undefined
  ESC [ e    undefined

  ESC [ f    move to
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    see "ESC [ H"


  ESC [ g    not used - VT100 tabs
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    not supported in BananaCom


  ESC [ h    set options
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    These options include sending an actual question mark or equals sign as
    part of the sequence:

       ESC [ ? 6 h      certain functions which normally ignore the
                        scrolling region, will now operate relative to the
                        scrolling region.  Note that those functions will
                        again ignore the scrolling region the next time the
                        scrolling region is changed.

       ESC [ ? 7 h      Auto word wrap is turned on (it is normally on -
                        this is provided in case you turn it off).

       ESC [ = 2 5 5 h  doorway mode on (default is off).  This makes
                        BananaCom disable many user functions so that those
                        keystrokes may be passed through to the modem
                        service - also, all cursor keys that were passed
                        through as an escape sequence, are now passed
                        through as a null sequence (see top of file for
                        more info).


  ESC [ i    not used - VT100 print stuff
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    not supported in BananaCom


  ESC [ j    undefined
  ESC [ k    undefined


  ESC [ l    set options
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    These options include sending an actual question mark or equals sign as
    part of the sequence.  They compliment the "ESC [ h" sequences.  Note
    that these seqences end with a lowercase L:

       ESC [ ? 6 l      Negates "ESC [ ? 6 h".  This is the default.

       ESC [ ? 7 l      Auto word wrap is turned off.  Note that the next
                        time you change the scrolling region, word wrap will
                        be turned on again.

       ESC [ = 2 5 5 l  doorway mode off


  ESC [ <num> ; <num> ; ... m    set video attributes
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Set the foreground color, background color and blink attributes for
    future text.  Note that each number may overwrite or enhance a previous
    number.  There are four basic attributes:

         Foreground color:  8 colors

                   Bright:  On or off

         Background color:  8 colors

                 Blinking:  On or off
                                                 Effects

    Possible numbers to pass:                  FC Br BC Bl

       0  "normal": gray on black, no blink     x  x  x  x
       1  bright foreground                        x
       2  regular (non-bright) foreground          x
       4  underscore if available               x
       5  Blink on                                       x
       6  Blink on (yup, same as 5)                      x
       7  reverse                               x     x
       8  invisible text (fore=back)            x  x     x
      30  black (+Br=dark gray)                 x
      31  red (+Br=bright red)                  x
      32  green (+Br=bright green)              x
      33  brown (+Br=yellow)                    x
      34  blue (+Br=bright blue)                x
      35  magenta (+Br=bright magenta)          x
      36  cyan (+Br=bright cyan)                x
      37  gray (+Br=white)                      x
      40  black                                       x
      41  red                                         x
      42  green                                       x
      43  brown                                       x
      44  blue                                        x
      45  magenta                                     x
      46  cyan                                        x
      47  gray                                        x

    Examples:

      ESC [ 0 ; 1 ; 3 3 m        yellow on black with no blink

      ESC [ 3 3 m                use same background as before.
                                 no change to blink attribute.
                                 foreground is either brown or yellow
                                 depending on the bright attribute.

      ESC [ m                    use "normal" attribute - gray on black,
                                 no blink.


  ESC [ 6 n    report current cursor location
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    If the cursor is located in the lower-right corner of the screen,
    BananaCom will respond "ESC 2 4 ; 8 0 R".  Many modem services will
    send "ESC [ 6 n" before asking a user what their name is.  When the
    response is given, the modem service knows that the calling computer
    supports ANSI terminal emulation.


  ESC [ 2 5 5 n    report screen size
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    "ESC 2 4 ; 8 0 R" is always sent back.


  ESC [ o    undefined


  ESC [ p    not used - ANSI keyboard reassignment
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    not supported in BananaCom


  ESC [ q    not used - VT100 keyboard lights
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    has to do with turning the VT100 keyboard lights on and off.
    not supported in BananaCom


  ESC [ <top> ; <bottom> r    set scroll region
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Define a region of the screen for scrolling.  This is usually used for
    full screen text editors.  Some information can be stored on some parts
    of the screen that will remain for the entire editing session - such as
    what keys you push to indicate that you are done editing.  The scroll
    region will be where the user types the text of their message.  Some
    commands (escape sequences) always ignore the scrolling region; some
    default to ignoring the scrolling region, but can work relative to the
    scrolling region when the "ESC [ ? 6 h" sequence is sent; some always
    work relative to the scrolling region if one is defined.

    Example:  ESC [ 2 ; 2 3 r    leave the first and last lines out of
                                 the scrolling region.

    Example:  ESC [ 5 r          the first four lines are left out of the
                                 scrolling region.

    Example:  ESC [ r            turn off scrolling region


  ESC [ s    save current cursor position
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The current cursor position is stored and can be reset with
    "ESC [ u"


  ESC [ t    undefined


  ESC [ u    restore cursor position from last save
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Restores the cursor position that was stored with "ESC [ s"


  ESC [ v    undefined
  ESC [ w    undefined
  ESC [ x    undefined


  ESC [ y    not used - VT100 tests
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    VT100 specs say that this is to invoke certain tests.
    Not supported in BananaCom.


  ESC [ z    not used - reset
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    some "ANSI" terminals use this to reset



The information in this document is for programmers writing all sorts of
communications software - whether BBS's, door programs, or terminal
emulation programs.  If you use this, I hope you mention "Banana ANSI" in
your documentation.

The latest version of this document can be found on

         The Montana Banana BBS  (406)543-8234

Anyone having any information on VT100 class emulation or ANSI emulation
that is not mentioned in this text file, I would appreciate a copy.

      Paul Wheaton
      Banana Programming
      1916 Brooks #205
      Missoula, MT  59801

      CompuServe:  72707,207
      Internet:  72707.207@compuserve.com

Resources:

  BBSAMT40.ZIP - ANSI Music Tutorial by Linda Bloom

  DRWY222.ZIP - Doorway by Marshall Dudley

  VT101 Video Terminal User Guide - part EK-VT101-UG-003 by Digital
  Equipment Corporation.

  VT102 Video Terminal User Guide - part EK-VT102-UG-003 by Digital
  Equipment Corporation.

  ANSI.X34 - ANSI X3.64 encodings as interpretted by a BYTE magazine
  author, April 1984 page 365.

BananaCom Philosophy:

  Different modem services use different terminal emulations and different
  "dialects" of terminal emulations.

  COM programs are trying to keep up by offering users dozens (hundreds,
  sometimes infinite!) of configuration switches.  Users can pick which
  emulation they want to use with each service and then create "dialects"
  that will work best with that particular service.

  Now modem services are trying to expand their markets - trying to
  include people that are uncomfortable with computers and especially
  uncomfortable with modems.

  In an effort to help users get started with using their modem, and not be
  intimidated by a plethora of options and features, BananaCom will have as
  few features as possible while still giving users the functionality
  necessary to cleanly accomplish simple tasks on VT100 and ANSI systems.

