papa@uscacsc.UUCP (06/18/87)
By popular demand, here are the results of running Per Linberg's VTTest
program on Diga! 1.0, A-Talk 1.1, Dave Wecker's VT100 2.6 and the VT100
emulator included in xterm 6.6B as part of the X Window System. I run
version 1.7b of the VT100 test program, dated 1985-04-19. The test was
compiled on a VAX running 4.2BSD. Here are the grusom details. If you're
not into heavy VT100 use, skip to the next message (sound advice :-). I
have not included Online! VT100 emulator in this, since the one currently
available (ver. 1.0) is definitely braindamaged. MSS is coming out
"Real Soon Now" with Online 2.0. It would be unfair to include data on an
obsolete product :-).
The notes are as follows:
OK passes the test with NO errors
FAILS There is at least ONE error
N.A. The feature is not available.
TEST TYPE Diga! A-Talk xterm VT100 (2.6)
--------- ----- ------ ----- ------------
1. Test of Cursor movement
a) 80 char screen pattern FAILS OK FAILS OK
b) 132 char screen pattern FAILS OK FAILS FAILS
Diga! supports 80, 128, and 132 chars/line. A-Talk supports 80 and 128.
c) cursor control char
inside ESC sequence FAILS OK OK OK
d) leading zeros in ESC
sequence OK OK OK OK
2. Test of Screen Features
a) wrap around mode setting FAILS OK OK OK
b) Tab setting/resetting OK OK OK FAILS
c) light background FAILS OK OK FAILS
d) dark background FAILS OK OK FAILS
e) scroll up region 2 OK OK OK OK
f) scroll down region 2 OK OK OK OK
g) scroll up region 24 OK OK OK OK
h) scroll down region 24 OK OK OK OK
Note: only xterm partially supports "soft" scroll.
i) origin mode test 1 OK OK OK FAILS
j) origin mode test 2 OK OK OK OK
k) graphics rendition FAILS OK OK OK
l) save/restore cursor with
underscore/blink/reverse FAILS OK OK FAILS
3. Test of Character Sets
a) USA ASCII OK OK OK OK
b) UK FAILS OK OK FAILS
c) graphics/line drawing FAILS OK OK OK (partially)
d) Alternate ROM 1 FAILS OK FAILS FAILS
e) Alternate ROM 2 FAILS FAILS FAILS FAILS
4. Test of double Size Characters
None of the emulators supports double height/double width character fonts.
Most of them will still place the character at the right spot with no
garbage around. FAILS here means garbage on screen, OK means no garbage.
a) double height/width FAILS OK OK OK
b) Frame with blinking bold FAILS OK OK OK
c) Half box OK OK OK OK
5. Test of Keyboard
a) LEDs FAILS OK OK OK
None of the emulators shows the LED (one puts up garbage)
b) Auto-repeat OFF FAILS FAILS OK FAILS
c) Auto-repeat ON OK OK OK OK
d) ANSI Reset Cursor Mode OK OK OK OK
e) VT52 Cursor Mode FAILS FAILS FAILS FAILS
f) ANSI numeric keypad FAILS OK OK OK
g) ANSI application keypad FAILS OK OK OK
Diga! does not remap PF keys and keypad "," in either num. or appl. mode
h) VT52 numeric keypad FAILS FAILS FAILS FAILS
i) VT52 application keypad FAILS FAILS FAILS FAILS
A-Talk includes a VT52 emulator tha passes test e, h and i.
j) control codes OK OK OK OK
6. Test of Terminal Reports
a) Answerback Message N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.
All emulators pass the test, but do not allow entering a message
b) Linefeed/Newline Set FAILS OK OK FAILS
c) Linefeed/Newline Reset OK OK OK OK
d) Report terminal status FAILS OK OK OK
e) Report cursor position FAILS OK OK OK
f) Report device attribute OK OK OK OK
g) Report Parameters 1 FAILS FAILS OK FAILS
h) Report Parameters 2 FAILS FAILS OK OK
7. Test of VT52 Mode
No emulator allows switching between VT100 and VT52 mode. A-Talk
include a separate VT52 emulator that passes the test. Diga! also
provides a separate VT52 amulator.
8. Test of VT102 features (insert/delete char/line)
a) test 1 FAILS FAILS OK FAILS
b) test 2 FAILS FAILS OK FAILS
c) test 3 FAILS FAILS OK FAILS
d) test 4 FAILS OK OK FAILS
e) test 5 FAILS OK OK FAILS
f) ANSI insert char FAILS OK OK FAILS
9. Test of reset and Self test
a) Reset FAILS OK OK OK
b) confidence test FAILS OK OK OK
The only thing that I did not include is the "Test of known bugs". None
of the emulators seem to implement any of them.
I run the test on Diga! with both Auto-Wrap On and Off, with similar results.
From the data it seems apparent who is doing things right and who is doing
things wrong. But that's for you to judge.
I also tested all the programs with Gosling's Emacs, vi (4.2bsd), and EDT
(VMS). A-Talk, xterm, and vt100 performed flawlessly on all three editors.
I was able to break Diga! on all three editors, though. With vi, just try
to insert data in the middle of the bottom line until the line exceeds the
"vi" line length. Similarly with emacs, open a bunch of windows, and then
insert in the middle of the last line in a window until it wraps around.
With EDT everything broke apart. I think that the main reason for Diga! to
perform so poorly (besides the fact that it does not support a whole bunch
of standard VT100 escapes) is the fact that it does not handle properly the
setting and resetting of auto wrap and linefeed/newline from the HOST.
That's why things brake at the end of lines. Well, enough for "free"
debugging for Aegis from a competitor :-). Since there have been questions as
to how many versions of Diga! there are around, here is the data on mine. The
version of Diga! I have is the released version I purchased directly from
Aegis. The Diga! file size was 163231 bytes (!!), dated 12-May-87. The Diga!
VT100 emulator file size was 10196 bytes, dated 18-Dec-86.
As Per Linberg's test says at the end of the test:
"That's all folks!"
-- Marco
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Marco Papa 3175 S. Hoover St., Ste. 275 (213)669-1497
Los Angeles, CA 90007 USC: (213)743-3752
F E L S I N A
Now working for ::::::: BIX: papa
But in no way :: ::
Officially representing ::::::: ...!oberon!uscacsc!papa
S O F T W A R E papa@cse.usc.edu
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-spencer@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Randy Spencer) (06/24/87)
I have looked at the list, but what I want to know is what happened to
a program I have somewhere called "HandShake". It is supposed to be
MegaCompatible with a VT100, infact so much so that it doesn't even
have Xmodem file transfer. This program is supposed to have even
things like double height-double width letters and all the character
sets. If it is no where to be found I bet that I can lay my hands on
it somewhere.
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Randy Spencer P.O. Box 4542 Berkeley CA 94704 (415)284-4740
I N F I N I T Y BBS: (415)283-5469
Now working for |||||||||||::::... . . BUD-LINX
But in no way |||||||||||||||::::.. .. .
Officially representing ||||||||||||:::::... .. ....ucbvax!mica!spencer
s o f t w a r e spencer@mica.berkeley.edu
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