[comp.sys.ibm.pc] ANSI.SYS

dd26+@andrew.cmu.edu (Douglas F. DeJulio) (01/23/89)

What do people think of the idea of screen drivers other than ANSI.SYS?  I mean
things like, perhaps, Z19.SYS, VT102.SYS, or maybe even XTERM.SYS.  Then one
would use a TERM environment variable, and programs would check it and write
display stuff accordingly.  Benefits include:
1) Easy support for non-standard displays (132x43 characters, for example)
2) Terminal support of your choice, not forced ANSI.  For example, you might
want a terminal that supported resizing during execution, so you could switch
from 25 line to 43 line mode on the fly.
3) Using an actuall terminal via serial port would be simplified.  Just set the
appropriate variable and programs work w/o modification or special treatment.

I'm thinking of starting work on VT102.SYS, but if I hear any good arguments
against it, I'll probably devote my time to something else.




____
Doug.deJ
----------------------------------------------------------------
|    ^    | dd26+@andrew.cmu.edu, doug@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu  |
|  \/ \/  |      Home: The Castle Anthrax, (412)422-2089       |
|   >*<   |----------------------------------------------------|
|  /\ /\  | "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law"  |
|    v    |                              -Aleister Crowley     |
----------------------------------------------------------------