[comp.sys.apollo] reprogramming the function keys for the vt100 emulator

kwongj@caldwr.caldwr.gov (James Kwong) (07/21/88)

Could someone please tell me if it is possible(and if so, how)to
reprogram the function keys after starting up the /com/vt100. 

We have a program written on another system that is menu-driven.
It runs on vt100 terminals and expects certain escacpe sequences
from the function keys. I am able to log into this remote system
with the combo. vt100/emt command. If I type in the escape sequence 
manually the particular function works O.K. I try using the kd...ke 
DM window command but it seems like the vt100 overrides these attempts 
as soon as i move the cursor back into the vt100 window (the help 
pages mention that some commands will do this). 

Thank you in advance

JK   
-- 
James Kwong  Calif. Depart. of H2O Resources, Sacramento, CA 95802
caldwr!kwongj@ucdavis.edu(Internet) ...!ucbvax!ucdavis!caldwr!kwongj (UUCP)
The opinions expressed above are mine, not those of the State of California or the California Department of Water Resources.

srt@aero.ARPA (Scott R. Turner) (07/22/88)

In article <363@caldwr.caldwr.gov> kwongj@caldwr.caldwr.gov (James Kwong) writes:
>Could someone please tell me if it is possible(and if so, how)to
>reprogram the function keys after starting up the /com/vt100. 

The short answer is:  Without access to the source code, it isn't possible,
so far as I know.

I really wish that Apollo would release the source to the vt100 emulator,
or at least spend some time fixing it up.  It has any number of bugs in 
it other than the function key problem:

  *  The first vt100 window has to be open (i.e., non-iconized) in order
     to start up a second one.

  *  No selectable fonts.

  *  If a "curses" program screws up and thinks your vt100 window is 
     24 lines when it is in fact longer, all kinds of ugliness occurs.

					-- Scott Turner

bts@sas.UUCP (Brian T. Schellenberger) (07/26/88)

I am, even as I write, looking at vt100 running with a font designed by
three people (including myself) here (it's a 6x10 font, by the way--would
anybody else find such a size useful?  it's as big as std.19l is on a 300,
when displayed on a 3000).

Anyway, what you do is to start up your first vt100 session in a direcotry
with a font called "vt100s" (in my case, this is simply a link) that 
contains the font you want the emulator to use.  Due to the weeirrd way that
vt100 now works, this will cause all further vt100 emulators in your session
(until you sigp vt100_server) to use the same font . . . note that vt100
does reverse video by merely reversing the pixels (without painting a
reversed background first), so you must create a font that has no spacing
between characters but instead has white space within all of the characters.

This in turn is an incredible pain in the rear with the stupid font editor
(no global operations at all), but it can be done.
-- 
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