9fans archive / 1996 / 04 / 96 /    prev next

From: geoff@pla... geoff@pla...
Subject: vt100
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 02:29:41 -0400

if your application can do it, use hp 2621 emulation instead:  run hp
on plan 9 and set TERM=2621 on unix.

i have an ascend pipeline 50 isdn/ethernet bridge that will only talk
to a vt100 or reasonable emulation thereof when being configured (it
has an awful fake window system using cursor addressing).  i took the
old at&t 5620 emulator from the jerq world and merged it with hp to
produce 56, which emulates enough of a vt100 for my purposes, notably
the main ansi escape sequences but not the weird graphics character
set.  the old 5620 emulator was covered by 5620 software licences, so
56 is probably only available to folks who have both a plan 9 licence
and an appropriate 5620 software source licence (and can prove it).

it should be straightforward to modify a copy of hp to emulate a
vt100.  in lieu of a vt100 manual or the terminal escape sequence
standard (ansi x3.64 or iso/iec 6429:1992 or ecma-48), see
ftp://cs.utk.edu/pub/shuford/terminal/.  if you do want the standard,
it's supposedly available free by sending mail asking for ECMA-48 to
helpdesk@ecm... and including your paper mail address.