poggio%sri-med@sri-tsca@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (03/04/86)
From: Andy Poggio <poggio@sri-tsc.ARPA> I have taken brief look at both Amigaterm and MicroEMACS as Fred Fish so generously distributes them (Thanks Fred!). I think that both can offer improved capabilities in complementary way. First, a brief description of how I believe their input/output works. Amigaterm seems to be smart about its input, i.e. it knows it isn't talking to just a terminal. Thus, it is able to use the mouse for menu selections. However, for output it uses a minimally functional terminal emulator that is part of the Amigaterm code. The major drawback to this is that if you are connected, for example, to a screen-oriented text editor on the other side of your phone connection, that editor cannot use the Amigaterm terminal emulator to do things like clear the screen or insert a line. MicroEMACS appears to be just the opposite. It is simplisitic about its input, i.e. it thinks it is talking to a simple terminal. The drawback to this is that it cannot use the mouse for things like menu selection or moving the cursor. However, on the output side it uses the (Commodore-provided) ANSI terminal emulation to perform screen-oriented functions. The question is: Can you combine the Amigaterm input strategy with the MicroEMACS output strategy (Keyboard and mouse input with ANSI terminal emulation output)? If so, this would provide an Amigaterm with ANSI terminal emulation and a MicroEMACS that uses the mouse for cursor positioning and menu selection. This latter capability is common on more expensive workstations like the SUN and the Symbolics LispMachine. Can anyone shed some light on this possibility? Anyone want to give it a try? --Andy
acs@amdahl.UUCP (Tony Sumrall) (03/05/86)
In article <1423@caip.RUTGERS.EDU> poggio%sri-med@sri-tsca@caip.RUTGERS.EDU writes: > From: Andy Poggio <poggio@sri-tsc.ARPA> > > > The question is: Can you combine the Amigaterm input strategy with the > MicroEMACS output strategy (Keyboard and mouse input with ANSI terminal > emulation output)? ... > > --Andy I have pretty much the same feelings as the original poster on this. Why note provide another call, similar to Text, which allows the ANSI emulation? Any comment from the C-A folks out there? -- Tony Sumrall ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,seismo,sun}!amdahl!acs [ Opinions expressed herein are the author's and should not be construed to reflect the views of Amdahl Corp. ]
mic@ut-ngp.UUCP (Mic Kaczmarczik) (03/06/86)
[burp] Amigados and Intuition *already* provide a way to combine the ANSI terminal emulation and Intuition menus and so on. An example of this is found in the PDTerm program posted to this group about a week ago. How it works: when you open an Intuition window (using Intuition, not AmigaDOS), you can also open the console.device to read and write from that window. Voila! You can do graphics, use menus, and send ANSI escape sequences in the same window. As far as AmigaDOS goes, you can tell the RAW: device to insert menu and other events into the input stream just like a function key or a regular key, so you can at least detect mouse moves and so on. I'm not sure if you can get a handle on the window the RAW: device is using, which means you may not be able to set the window title or add menus to the window. If anybody out there knows how to do it, how about sharing the knowledge? In fact, I've modified my copy of Amigaterm to use the console device, and yup, the arrow keys send the right sequences, the ANSI terminal emulation (kind of) works, and the only problem is that the console device seems to be a bit slow when writing one character at a time to the screen. I think the reason you don't see this feature in programs like Amigaterm and MicroEmacs is not because it's unavailable -- it's because people need the time and documentation to integrate the feature into their programs. I've seen a (non-distributable) version of MicroEmacs that uses menus for all the commands, opens up its own private screen, and uses the mouse for setting the cursor and the mark. Similarly, there is no reason (beyond speed) that you can't add the console device to Amigaterm. As time passes, and more programmers get their hands on the (much-improved!) 1.1 documentation, you'll see more software that combine text and graphics in useful and exciting ways. For the meantime, it sure is convenient to be able to port utilities like MicroEmacs in almost no time flat, so you can get some work done while waiting for programs that use all of the Amiga's potential. Cheers, Mic Kaczmarczik "Tensor", said the tonsor, ...!ut-sally!ut-ngp!mic "Tonsor", said the tenser, mic@a20.utexas.edu "Tension, dissention and apprehension have begun!" -- The Demolished Man
acs@amdahl.UUCP (03/08/86)
In article <3027@ut-ngp.UUCP> mic@ut-ngp.UUCP (Mic Kaczmarczik) writes: > > [burp] > > Amigados and Intuition *already* provide a way to combine the ANSI > terminal emulation and Intuition menus and so on. An example of this is > found in the PDTerm program posted to this group about a week ago. > Well, somehow the PDTerm program never showed up here...would someone please email the source to me?--I'd really like to see how the console.device is used! On second thought, maybe it would be better if you just email me to let me know that you've got it and are willing to email it so I can pick the shortest path--wouldn't wanna flood the net with 500 copies of PDTerm! Thanks! -- Tony Sumrall ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,seismo,sun}!amdahl!acs [ Opinions expressed herein are the author's and should not be construed to reflect the views of Amdahl Corp. ]