####
        ##
       ##  ==============================================================
      ##   N T R O D U C T I O N
     ##  ================================================================
    ##
  ####

When this document was first released almost two years ago, the tide of
SysOps converting their BBS's from Commodore to Amiga was reaching its
peak.  At that time, SkyLine 1.3 was the hottest Amiga BBS around (because
of its unique SkyPix protocol.)  Michael Cox, however, decided to release
Version 2.0 without SkyPix implementation, and some would say that the
decline of SkyLine's popularity began there.  Fortunately for SkyPix fans
such as myself, however, C-Net Amiga now supports the protocol, providing
a viable outlet for it until a better graphic-oriented protocol becomes
ubiquitous in the Amiga market (such as RIP for instance.)

TO C-NET USERS: the ANSI portion of this document is basically useless to
you (other than as a technical reference), since C-Net's [M]essage
[C]ommand [I]nterpreter mirrors all of the standard ANSI commands.
However, SkyPix commands are not covered by MCI, and BBS artists must still
enter them the old-fashioned way (or with SKYPAINT.)  As of version 2.63,
the only way to use ANSI/SkyPix while on-line is through the line editor
(the visual editor will not respond to ESC sequences for some reason, but
this may have been fixed in CNet/3.)  Also, you must press ESC twice for
the code to register with the editor (the ESC code will show as a
tilde ~.)

TO SKYLINE 1.3 USERS: this document contains commands to which SkyLine's
built-in editor should (I said SHOULD) respond, and since SkyLine has no
equivalent of MCI, these Escape-commands provide the only method of
changing colour and adding other various effects from within the BBS.


OK, BUT JUST EXACTLY WHAT IS ANSI?
==================================

ANSI is actually an organisation, the American National Standards
Institute, which back in the stone ages decided to introduce
hardware/software standards to make the job of persons in the computer
industry easier.  Originally, the ANSI protocol governed printer-to-
computer communications since monitors were rare at that time.
Eventually, however, someone invented the CRT, and ANSI seemed a logical
choice to govern text displays on this new device.  When MS-DOS came into
being in the 1970's, MicroSoft picked up on the ANSI standard (implemented
in ANSI.SYS) to allow non-graphics-capable machines (this was before CGA)
to generate pseudo-graphic displays using text and ANSI colour changes.
Then came the 80's and the era of the modem, and some clever programmer
grabbed the standard once again to use for data terminal emulations,
providing SysOps and users with on-line "pictures", colour changes, and
cursor movement which made BBS'ing more interesting.  The word "ANSI" can
refer to a variety of standards (such as ANSI C, for instance), but for
now I will refer to only the data terminal implementation.

The ANSI protocol is functionally similar to Commodore's Pet ASCII in that
each command is implemented by a series of weird characters that no one in
their right mind would ever type by mistake.  Also like PetSCII, it is
designed so that terminal and host should (ideally) respond identically
to the same command (this is rarely the case, however.)  Since all 16-
colour ANSI terminals (including ones on the Amiga) are designed to
emulate the standard ANSI palette, it is possible to view the
same graphics using vastly different machines.

        Next Section                                Table of Contents  

Converted on 22 Aug 1996 with RexxDoesAmigaGuide2HTML by Michael Ranner.