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-
- Odyssey VT320 Emulation
- =======================
-
- VT320 emulation was added to Odyssey as of version 1.41g.
-
-
-
- General Notes.
- --------------
-
- This emulation does not support down-line loading of soft fonts, since the
- VT200/VT320 font size is not usable on an IBM type display - we *may* add
- this in future for users who want to download soft fonts to Odyssey with a
- VGA cell size - however, this would make the host application Odyssey
- specific, so it probably isn't a good idea. Another problem with this
- emulation are multinational character sets which include the Danish 0 (an O
- with a slash through it). The VGA character set unfortunately does not
- include this character. If we do add VGA soft fonts in the future then
- that will deal with this problem. The problem with soft fonts however is
- that it will tend to mess up TSR pop-up programs etc which will certainly
- assume the standard IBM character set in use in the PC, so if we add this
- feature we will certainly make it optional.
-
- A VT320 terminal has the option of running in either "7 bit" or "8 bit"
- mode. When this emulation runs in "7 bit" mode it reports the terminal
- type on the Odyssey status line as "VT320-7b", and in "8 bit" mode it
- reports "VT320-8b". Odyssey will run this emulation in eight bit mode only
- if parity is set to "none" and "Strip Parity Bit" (in setup/general) is
- set to "off", at the time that the terminal emulation is loaded.
-
-
- Keyboard
- --------
-
- The notes in the Odyssey manual regarding keys in the VT100 emulation also
- apply to the VT320 emulation. However, VT320 has a number of extra keys,
- in particular it provides up to 20 programmable function keys. For this
- reason we recommend that you use an enhanced keyboard (102 key) with the
- VT320 emulation, a keyboard which is as close as PC keyboards get to the
- DEC equivalent.
-
- For convenience, applicable sections of the notes from the VT100 emulation
- are repeated here:-
-
- The numeric keypad on an IBM PC does double duty as a cursor pad. When
- NumLock is set the VT100 emulation will generate numbers from keypad keys
- if the keypad is in numeric mode, or application sequences in alternate
- mode. The '+' key on the keypad generates the same sequence in alternate
- mode as the ',' which occupies this position on the VT100 pad.
-
- If NumLock is not set then the keypad generates cursor sequences, either
- ANSI or application depending on the cursor key mode.
-
- Since the standard PC keypad does not have PF1-PF4 or Enter, these keys are
- generated using CTRL-F1 to CTRL-F4, and CTRL-F5 for Enter.
-
- On the main keyboard, the backspace key on the PC generates BS (ASCII
- 8) and not DEL (ASCII 127) which a VT100 user may expect. You can reverse
- this using the "BS key generates..." option in Setup/General.
-
- Note: A standard VT100 terminal has 24 lines. If you leave the
- Odyssey main menu line enabled then the Odyssey display area will only be
- 23 lines. For complete compatibility with mainframe applications you
- should disable the menu line when VT100 is used.
-
- VT100 emulation will not work in 43/50 line modes on the EGA/VGA.
-
- The Odyssey VT100 emulation does support 132 column mode, but the PC hardware
- is not capable of displaying this on one screen. Odyssey therefore implements
- "panning" which treats the physical display as a "window" on which you can
- view a selected portion of the 132 column display. The following keys control
- the portion of the 132 column region shown:-
-
- Ctrl-Home ...... Show left side
- Ctrl-End ...... Show right side
- Ctrl-Left Arrow ...... Pan 10 columns to the left
- Ctrl-Right Arrow ...... Pan 10 columns to the right.
-
-
- Added VT320 specific information:-
-
- A VT200/VT320 keyboard adds a separate arrow key cluster, a cluster of
- editing keys (Find/Insert etc), and 20 function keys, the first five of
- which generate no keystrokes, but serve local terminal functions.
-
- Arrow key cluster:
- If you have the old PC keyboard then you must use the numeric keypad
- keys, as described in the VT100 notes. On an enhanced keyboard you may
- use the separate arrow key cluster, which is identical to the VT320
- equivalent.
-
- Editing keys:
- An enhanced keyboard is far more convenient for this than the old PC
- keyboard. This is the mapping of PC key to VT320 equivalent:-
-
- PC key VT320 equiv.
-
- Insert Insert
- Delete Remove
- Home Find
- End Select
- Page Up Prev Screen
- Page Down Next Screen
-
- Note that although the appearance of the PC cluster is similar to the
- DEC equivalent, the keytops are different. The emulation follows the
- PC keytops (where possible), rather than the VT320 keytops, otherwise
- things could get rather confusing, however you should beware of help
- messages from the host system (such as in VMS EDT), which indicate the
- correct keys graphically. If you have the old PC keyboard then you
- must use the numeric keypad (remembering to toggle NUMLOCK off), but
- the same key mapping applies.
-
-
- Function keys.
- As noted above, the first five function keys serve local terminal
- functions both in Odyssey and on a real VT320. This is convenient,
- since it means that Odyssey F1 (help) can still work. Other keys:-
-
- PC key VT320 equiv.
-
- F6 to F10 F6 to F10
- ShiftF1 to ShiftF10 F11 to F20
-
- For convenience, for those users with enhanced keyboards, VT320 key
- F15 (Help) is duplicated on PC key F11, and F16 (Do) is duplicated on
- PC key F12.
-
-