pcterm_news.txt

Discussion of the "pcterm" mode for using a character-cell video terminal.

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Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <7vko24$ngh$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
References: <3818AA7B.2411@compuserve.com>
Date: 1 Nov 1999 19:01:24 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
From: Jeffrey Altman <jaltman@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: Re: Looking for PCTerms

In article <3818AA7B.2411@compuserve.com>,
Donato B. Masaoy III <104625.sevenfive@compuserve.com> wrote:
:
: We are running MultiUser DOS 5.11 in our office. I have a few TV950's
: and the rest of our terminals are PC's running an emulator called PCTerm
: which comes with MDOS. Would prefer some dedicated terminal rather than
: PC's.  We run a handful of DOS apps only. I have tried VT420 but can't
: get that setup correct. I have heard that Wyse 60 is "PCTERM"
: compatible, tried one of those out, but the setup only allowed for ANSI.
: Tried an ANSI TV970 but that didn't work out.
:
: Basically looking for help determining definition of PCTerm and
: terminals that will support that.
:

PCTerm is not an emulation but a keyboard mode.  When PCTerm mode is
active, the terminal sends make/break sequences for the keyboard events
to the host, instead of characters.

PCTerm is implemented on a variety of DG and Wyse terminals.  It is also
available in the DEC [Boundless] VT5xx series.

In addition to the PCTerm keyboard mode you also need to choose the
correct terminal type, whether that be DG, Wy60, or ANSI X3.64 based.

Several Unix console drivers also support a PCTerm mode, including SCO ANSI
and AT386.

-- 
    Jeffrey Altman * Sr.Software Designer * Kermit-95 for Win32 and OS/2
                 The Kermit Project * Columbia University
              612 West 115th St #716 * New York, NY * 10025
  http://www.kermit-project.org/k95.html * kermit-support@kermit-project.org

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Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: !cambridge1-snf1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!news.shore.net
      !newsfeed.mathworks.com!enews.sgi.com!wlbr!news
X-Trace: wlbr.to.gd-es.com 941846587 17734 (None) [206.241.180.182]
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Organization: General Dynamics Communication Systems
Message-ID: <38237032.105F1801@GD-CS.Com>
References: <3818AA7B.2411@compuserve.com>
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 00:02:58 GMT
To: "104625.sevenfive@compuserve.com" <104625.75@compuserve.com>
From: "Scott G. Hall" <Scott.Hall@GD-CS.Com>
Subject: Re: Looking for PCTerms

"Donato B. Masaoy III" wrote:
>
> We are running MultiUser DOS 5.11 in our office. I have a few TV950's
> and the rest of our terminals are PC's running an emulator called PCTerm
> which comes with MDOS.

The product "PCTerm" is unique to the OEM version of MS-DOS that shipped
from your MultiUser DOS.  But the terminal mode it is emulating has been
around for a while, and products such as Alloy PC-Cards and other plug-in
boards that are really PC's on a card in the slot of a different computer
(Alloy's boards were ISA, acting like a network of PCs inside a PC; Sun's
SunPC and SunPCI are examples for Sparc-based systems).


> ...Would prefer some dedicated terminal rather than
> PC's.  We run a handful of DOS apps only. I have tried VT420 but can't
> get that setup correct.

The VT420's did not support PC-TERM mode.  However VT5xx series does.


> ...I have heard that Wyse 60 is "PCTERM"
> compatible, tried one of those out, but the setup only allowed for ANSI.

The old Wyse-60 was designed before there were even PCs.  However, the
Wyse-160 has a "pcterm" emulation mode.  As does the Wyse-99GT and few other
late-model Wyse Terminals.


> Tried an ANSI TV970 but that didn't work out.
>
> Basically looking for help determining definition of PCTerm and
> terminals that will support that.

PC-Term mode basically is this:

a) The keyboard sends scancodes back to the host rather than character
   codes.  In other words, it looks like an IBM-PC/AT keyboard.

b) The screen portion responds to a specialized subset of ANSI with a few
   minor enhancements -- it behaves just like the old ANSI.SYS driver from
   MS-DOS.

I own a Link terminal that supports PC-Term emulation.  As do the XTerm
utilities in both my UnixWare system and my Linux system.

-- 
Scott G. Hall
General Dynamics Communication Systems
North Carolina Systems Center
email: Scott.Hall@GD-CS.Com

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Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <6s7u4o$hst$1@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu>
References: <6s7sj9$2em$1@cletus.bright.net>
Date: 29 Aug 1998 03:56:08 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
From: jaltman@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Jeffrey Altman)
Subject: Re: WYSE/PC TERM Emulator?


In article <6s7sj9$2em$1@cletus.bright.net>,
TowerComm, Inc. <tower@bright.net> wrote:
:
: Has anyone out there seen or used an emulator for Wintel (DOS/Win3x/Win9x)
: that emulates a WYSE 150 which is, in turn, emulating a PC TERM personality?
: 
: Any input would be appreciated.  I've got a wacky application developed by
: a programmer that used some characteristics of the WYSE 150 terminal under
: PC TERM that is driving me nuts - most packages I've looked at emulate WYSE
: or PC TERM, but not "both at once", if you know what I am saying.
 
That is really interesting considering the fact that PCTERM is not an
emulation but a keyboard mode that may be applied to any terminal 
emulation.

Kermit 95 (http://www.kermit-project.org/k95.html) supports a Wyse 60
emulation that has all of the Wyse 150 extensions.  And it supports
PCTERM keyboard mode.
 
    Jeffrey Altman * Sr.Software Designer * Kermit-95 for Win32 and OS/2


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Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <35EB022D.9F0AD1AA@GSC.GTE.Com>
References: <6s7sj9$2em$1@cletus.bright.net>
Organization: GTE Government Systems
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 20:06:05 GMT
To: "TowerComm, Inc." <tower@bright.net>
From: "Scott G. Hall" <Scott.Hall@GSC.GTE.Com>
Subject: Re: WYSE/PC TERM Emulator?

TowerComm, Inc. wrote:
> Has anyone out there seen or used an emulator for Wintel (DOS/Win3x/Win9x)
> that emulates a WYSE 150 which is, in turn, emulating a PC TERM personality?

{ Actually Link and Altos terminals are the only other ones
  I saw that emulated Wyse-150 "PC Term" mode correctly --
  what a hoot to see this still around...                   }

As I posted in a previous post, try Procomm Plus for Windows.  Then set the
emulation to "PC Scan Codes" under the ANSI modes.  What the Wy-150 in PC-
Term mode is doing is sending back 8-bit codes per key that emulate the
scancodes of the original IBM PC/XT keyboard and upon return, is acting like
you have ANSI.COM running.

{ Don't laugh! This was perfect for those folks with Alloy boards that where
  an XT or AT on a card, and used a serial terminal in PC-Term mode as the
  screen and keyboard.  A Wyse-99GT would even provide HGA graphics emulation
  with these boards (the Hercules graphics mode) }


--
Scott G. Hall
GTE Government Systems
North Carolina Systems Center
email: Scott.Hall@GSC.GTE.Com (old address)

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References: <3818AA7B.2411@compuserve.com> <38237032.105F1801@gd-cs.com>
Date: 6 Nov 1999 20:05:03 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <8021lf$iij$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
From: Jeffrey Altman <jaltman@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: Re: Looking for PCTerms

In article <38237032.105F1801@gd-cs.com>,
Scott G. Hall <Scott.Hall@GD-CS.Com> wrote:
: PC-Term mode basically is this:
:
: a) The keyboard sends scancodes back to the host rather than character
:    codes.  In other words, it looks like an IBM-PC/AT keyboard.
:
: b) The screen portion responds to a specialized subset of ANSI with a few
:    minor enhancements -- it behaves just like the old ANSI.SYS driver from
:    MS-DOS.

The Wyse 160 terminal's PCTERM is the combination of Extended Wy60
screen display with make/break sequences from an AT-style keyboard.

    Jeffrey Altman * Sr.Software Designer * Kermit-95 for Win32 and OS/2
                 The Kermit Project * Columbia University
              612 West 115th St #716 * New York, NY * 10025
  http://www.kermit-project.org/k95.html * kermit-support@kermit-project.org

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References: <3818AA7B.2411@compuserve.com> <38237032.105F1801@gd-cs.com>
            <8021lf$iij$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 23:52:54 GMT
Organization: General Dynamics Communication Systems
Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Message-ID: <38276256.72082CAA@GD-CS.Com>
From: Scott G. Hall <Scott.Hall@GD-CS.Com>
Subject: Re: Looking for PCTerms

Jeffrey Altman wrote:
>
> The Wyse 160 terminal's PCTERM is the combination of Extended Wy60
> screen display with make/break sequences from an AT-style keyboard.

That's what I get for generalizing from my WY-99GT and my Link terminal.
Both run the screen in subset-ANSI mode while sending scancodes from the
keyboard when in PCTERM emulation; I assumed that the WY-160 did as well...
(sigh)  Now that I look at the setup, the Link can respond to a number of
encodings when in pcterm mode...

--
Scott G. Hall
General Dynamics Communication Systems
North Carolina Systems Center
email: Scott.Hall@GD-CS.Com

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Newsgroups: comp.terminals
NNTP-Posting-Host: 198.152.13.71
NNTP-Posting-Date: 24 Jul 2003 04:55:42 GMT
Message-ID: <ebb5558a.0307232055.e48b919@posting.google.com>
Date: 23 Jul 2003 21:55:42 -0700
From: Ralph Warta <rwarta*avaya.com>
Subject: AT386 terminal specs needed

Hi,
Does anyone posess the specs for a AT386 terminal (including charsets)?
I need it because I have to write a Terminal Emulator but cannot find
the specs for the AT386.
Thanks
Ralph

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

Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.21.0307241855130.20093-100000@list.stratagy.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 19:22:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: Richard S. Shuford <shuford*list.stratagy.com>
Subject: Re: AT386 terminal specs needed

The AT386 is the virtual terminal type of the Unix operating system
product originated by Interactive Systems and later taken over by Sun
Microsystems.  Some versions of SCO Unixware also implement the AT386
as the console terminal type.

Therefore, there is mention of the AT386 in the file on "Unix terminal use".

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

Some of the AT386's properties may be deduced from its terminfo 
description, which in Solaris resides in binary form at

    /usr/share/lib/terminfo/a/at386

Here is the termcap-style decoding:

$ infocmp -C at386
AT386|at386|386AT|386at|at/386 console @(#)386.ti 1.4:\
        :am:bw:eo:xo:pt:\
        :co#80:li#25:kn#6:\
        :AL=\E[%dL:DC=\E[%dP:DL=\E[%dM:DO=\E[%dB:IC=\E[%d@:\
        :LE=\E[%dD:RI=\E[%dC:SF=\E[%dS:SR=\E[S:UP=\E[%dA:\
        :ae=\E[10m:al=\E[1L:as=\E[12m:cd=\E[J:ce=\E[K:\
        :cl=\E[2J\E[H:cm=\E[%i%2;%2H:dc=\E[P:dl=\E[1M:ho=\E[H:\
        :ic=\E[1@:is=\E[0;10m:k1=\EOP:k2=\EOQ:k3=\EOR:k4=\EOS:\
        :k5=\EOT:k6=\EOU:k7=\EOV:k8=\EOW:k9=\EOX:kb=\b:\
        :kd=\E[B:kh=\E[H:kl=\E[D:kr=\E[C:ku=\E[A:nd=\E[C:\
        :se=\E[m:so=\E[7m:ue=\E[m:up=\E[A:us=\E[4m:vb=^G:\
        :bc=\E[D:nl=\E[B:ko=le,do,nd,up,dc,ho:

If you don't know how to interpret a "termcap" entry, there is a book to read:
 
    "termcap and terminfo"
    by John Strang, Linda Mui and Tim O'Reilly
    3rd Edition April 1988  
    270 pages, ISBN: 0-937175-22-6, $29.95 U.S.
    http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/term/
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0937175226

Kermit-95 (and possibly MS-Kermit) have AT386 as an emulation type.
You could consult that documentation, and possibly the documentation
of other products that emulate the type.

 ...RSS

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