larry@tapa.UUCP (Larry Pajakowski) (12/16/88)
I'm looking for some suggestions to problems I'm having with Excelan's Telnet for the IBM PC under DOS. First let me make it very clear that technically Excelans software is very very sound. While technically good Telnet is almost unusable for me and other users where I work. Here's why. We have a Compaq 386 runing Xenix-386. Works well. We bought the Excelan Ethernet hardware and software to use the Compaq as a disk server and development platform. The disk server works well though slowly (50% faster than my DOS floppy and .2 the speed of my DOS hard disk). Terminal access via Telnet is awful. The screen update is very slow. I can type faster than vi can insert characters. Part of this is caused by having to use BIOS screen access since Excelan's Telnet doesn't have a "no snow" option for CGA. Though slow it is acceptable the keyboard isn't. The application we develop using a 4GL heavily uses function keys. Excelan some what capriciously uses 2 of the function keys makeing them unavailable to our application. About half of the numeric key pad generates anything usable and in some modes send rather unamusing things like ^D (EOT) for page down. Unix/Xenix doesn't like that one bit (it is documented though as vi mode). I believe the cause of all this is a slavingly accurate vt-220 emulation. If the vt-220 didn't have a key neither does the DOS implimentation. Technically corect but where was the marketing input? What about us MERE USERS? So here I sit with 13 DOS developers and users unable to do development or testing of our application under Xenix. Any comments or source to alternate versions of Telnet or tricks would be extremely welcome. Anybody tried keyboard remappers or terminal emulators like Fansi Console? Oh yes if anyone cares all softare is version 3.3. Thank's in advance. Yours in frustration Larry Pajakowski larry@abtcser.UUCP or larry@tapa.UUCP or 1-312-937-1153 days.