jet@flatline.UUCP (j. eric townsend) (10/28/89)
Just what is it? wtinit says I must run it from a "DMD terminal"... -- "I imagine you know about as much about deconstruction as I do programming in assembly language." -- Thomas Maddox J. Eric Townsend uunet!sugar!flatline!jet com6@uhnix1.uh.edu EastEnders Mailing list: eastender@flatline.UUCP
john@banzai.PCC.COM (John Canning) (10/30/89)
In article <2502@flatline.UUCP> jet@flatline.UUCP (j. eric townsend) writes: > >Just what is it? wtinit says I must run it from a "DMD terminal"... > xt/layers runs with the AT&T 615 and 630 terminals. It allows you to run several processes from one terminal (aka the suspend function key on the main console). It fulfills the original marketing hype that one could use the suspend key from remote terminals. With the 615 terminal, you use the function keys to create a new window. Using the local CPU inside the 615, you can resize the window, and reposition it on the screen. You can have either 3 or 5 windows (I forget which is the maximum number). If the window is active and takes up the entire screen, then you cannot see any of the other windows. Otherwise, you can have several windows on the same screen, and as output goes to each window it is updated. Output is sent to the terminal in packets, and each packet is tagged for a specific window. The 615 will update a window inside its own memory even if it is not being displayed at the time. So, xt/layers acts as a bit of a multiplexer... AT&T offered an upgrade to the 610 terminal to make it a 615 multi- tasking terminal. It cost about $80. I found xt/layers to be a bit on the slow side. Although several of our customers have 615 terminals, none of them are using xt/layers. With the 630 terminal, you can write your own drivers for the terminal itself, and download them to it. At a recent Unix convention, I saw some pretty neat "layered" displays on the 630 with both the 6386 and 3B2 family of computers. John Canning ...uunet!uvm-gen!banzai!john The People's Computer Company ...attmail!banzai!john Williston, Vermont john@banzai.pcc.com 802-864-0747
wtr@moss.ATT.COM (3673,ATTT) (10/30/89)
In article <1989Oct30.063026.8242@banzai.PCC.COM> john@banzai.PCC.COM (John Canning) writes: >In article <2502@flatline.UUCP> jet@flatline.UUCP (j. eric townsend) writes: >>Just what is it? [layers] >>wtinit says I must run it from a "DMD terminal"... >xt/layers runs with the AT&T 615 and 630 terminals. The entire family of DMD terminals (all by AT&T) includes the old Teletype BLIT, the 5620, the 615, 620, and 630. These terminals allow you to download a basic window manager for the terminal for the host computer. programs (editors, previewers, games) can be downloaded onto the terminal to run. on my 630 at work i have a troff previewer and a bitmap editor currently loaded. the old 5620 terminal uses an mc68000 processor for management. i believe that the 630 is the same. >It allows you to >run several processes from one terminal (aka the suspend function key >on the main console). the method used is similar to that of shell layers (shl), in that a number of "virtual devices" (/dev/xt### in this case) are created and i/o to the terminal is done through these) >I found xt/layers to be a bit on the slow side. Although several of >our customers have 615 terminals, none of them are using xt/layers. The "slowness" can also be attributed to the fact that all this communication is still run over you standard serial line. we are not dealing with that great a bandwidth. >John Canning -- ===================================================================== Bill Rankin email address: att!moss!wtr was: Bell Labs, Whippany NJ att!bromo!wtr now: AT&T Federal Systems, Burlington NC (919) 228 3673 (cornet 291)