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Minitel/PC V2.3 Technical Documentation The following documents version 2.3 of Minitel Services Company's Minitel/PC terminal emulator. This software allows your IBM or IBM- compatible PC to imitate a Minitel or TTY terminal. This document is divided into the following sections. Section 1.0 - Hardware and Operating System Requirements Section 2.0 - Installing Minitel/PC Section 3.0 - How to run Minitel/PC Section 4.0 - Minitel/PC Commands Appendix A - Command Line Parameters Appendix B - Files distributed with Minitel/PC Appendix C - Configuration Parameters Appendix D - Keyboard Mapping Appendix E - Script Language Description Appendix F - Entering Control Characters Appendix G - Use of the Minitel Function Keys Appendix H - Error Messages Appendix I - Printing the screen Appendix J - Modem switch settings Appendix K - Version Differences Appendix L - Differences from a real Minitel 1.0 Hardware and Operating System Requirements ------------------------------------------ The following minimum hardware configuration is necessary to run Minitel/PC: - 192K RAM (emulator needs 128K bytes of free memory) - MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA or Hercules video display adaptor - One 5.25 or 3.5 inch floppy disk drive with a capacity of 360K or more. Minitel/PC requires MS or PC-DOS version 2.0 or higher. 2.0 Installing Minitel/PC --------------------- The specific steps you must take to install Minitel/PC depend on whether you received it on a Getting Started Diskette or whether you downloaded it from a bulletin board. If you downloaded Minitel/PC from a bulletin board, proceed with section 2.1, otherwise skip to section 2.2. 2.1 Minitel/PC Downloaded from a Bulletin Board The file you downloaded from the bulletin board is a self-unpacking archive containing Minitel/PC and its documentation. The best way to proceed is to create a Getting Started diskette from this archive. To do this follow these steps: i) Obtain a blank formatted floppy diskette. If you have a system with two floppy disk drives, insert this diskette in drive B:, otherwise save this diskette until you are prompted with: "Insert diskette for drive B:" ii) Put the diskette containing the archive in drive A:, then type the following commands: a: [Enter] rename ARCHIVE_NAME runme.exe [Enter] b: [Enter] a:runme [Enter] iii) If you have a single-drive system, insert the diskette containing the archive when prompted with "Insert diskette for drive A:" and insert the blank formatted diskette when prompted with "Insert diskette for drive B:". Now that you have created a Getting Started diskette, you can proceed to section 2.2. 2.2 Minitel/PC Received on a Getting Started Diskette To install Minitel/PC from a Getting Started diskette, put the diskette in drive A:, set the default drive to A:, then type 'install', and just follow the instructions. INSTALL will prompt you for information such as your modem type, display type, and the drive and directory in which you want Minitel/PC installed. The installation program creates a configuration file (mt.cfg) and copies the emulator to the installation drive/directory. The configuration file contains hardware-specific parameters for your machine such as display adaptor type, communication port, and modem speed. See Appendix C for a complete description of all configuration file parameters. 3.0 How to Run Minitel/PC --------------------- Once Minitel/PC has been installed, you can run it by performing the following steps. If you installed Minitel/PC on a floppy disk: i) Insert the Minitel/PC Program diskette in drive A: ii) Log to the A: drive by typing: a: [Enter] iii) Start the program by typing: mt [Enter] If you installed Minitel/PC on a hard disk, type the following commands: c: [Enter] (if installed on drive C:) cd\mt [Enter] (if installed in \mt subdirectory) mt [Enter] A real Minitel terminal contains nine special keys (called function keys) that are not on the PC keyboard. The nine keys are labelled INDEX, CANCEL, PREVIOUS, REPEAT, GUIDE, CORRECTION, NEXT, SEND, and LOCAL/LINE. Since these keys are not available on the PC keyboard, the function keys on the PC keyboard (labelled F1 to F9) are used as replacements. Some of the Minitel special keys have more than one replacement on the PC keyboard. For example, if an application asks you to press the SEND key, you can press either F8 or the ENTER key. The following table shows the mapping of the Minitel function keys to their equivalents on the PC keyboard: English Minitel French Minitel Key Label PC Equivalent(s) Key Label --------------- ------------------------- -------------- INDEX F1 or HOME SOMMAIRE CANCEL F2 or DEL ANNULATION PREVIOUS F3 or PGUP or SHIFT TAB RETOUR REPEAT F4 or INS REPETITION GUIDE F5 or END GUIDE CORRECTION F6 or BKSP CORRECTION NEXT F7 or PGDN or TAB SUITE SEND F8 or ENTER ENVOI LOCAL LINE F9 CONNEXION FIN From within Minitel/PC, you can press the PC key labelled F10 to get a help menu showing the above Minitel function key mapping. The help menu also displays a listing of the following important commands that control your link with the network: Logon to Network SHIFT-F1 Change Service SHIFT-F2 Logoff Network then Quit SHIFT-F3 See Appendix D for the complete mapping of the Minitel keyboard to the PC keyboard. The most commonly used Minitel function keys are SEND, which is used like ENTER (or Carriage Return) on a normal terminal, CORRECTION, which allows you to correct your typing errors, and GUIDE, which is used to request help from the service you are using. See Appendix G for a more complete description of the uses of the Minitel function keys. As shown in the above table, Minitel/PC uses the ENTER (carriage return) key and the BACKSPACE key to emulate the Minitel SEND and CORRECTION keys respectively. When using Minitel/PC it is sometimes necessary to send a real carriage return or a real backspace, for example when issuing commands to your modem or a network. Commands to your modem must be followed by a carriage return and not a Minitel SEND. Corrections to errors in modem commands must be made with a backspace and not a Minitel CORRECTION. The following table shows the Minitel/PC key combinations that are used to send real carriage returns and backspaces: To send real carriage return: [Ctrl-Enter] (i.e. hold down the [Ctrl] key and press [Enter]) or [Ctrl-m] To send a real backspace : [Ctrl-Backspace] (i.e. hold down the [Ctrl] key and press [Backspace]) or [Ctrl-h] Minitel/PC displays certain status information on the upper right hand corner of the screen. In column 39 of the top row of the screen, a reverse video 'C' is displayed once a connection is made to the network (i.e. when the DCD signal is high), and a reverse video 'L' is displayed when there is no connection to the network (i.e. when the DCD signal is low). This indicator may not be correct if you do not have a proper cable between your PC and modem or if your modem switch settings are not correct (see Appendix J for more details on modem switch settings). A reverse video 'M' is displayed in column 40 of the top row of the screen while a script language program is running. Script language programs can be stopped prematurely by pressing the [ESC] key (see Appendix E for more details on script language programs). 4.0 Minitel/PC Commands ------------------- Minitel/PC commands of the form [ALT-letter] are issued by holding down the [ALT] key and pressing the 'letter'. For example, the command [ALT- x] means hold down the [ALT] key and press the [x] key. Commands of the form [SHIFT-Fx] are issued by holding down the [SHIFT] key and pressing the key labelled [Fx]. 4.1 Send Break Signal [ALT-b] This command sends a break signal to the remote system. A BREAK is usually not necessary when communicating with videotex systems. On some data switches and modem pools, a BREAK is used for a local attention. The length of the break sent is specified by the BREAK_LEN configuration parameter. The value in the BREAK_LEN parameter is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 55 milliseconds (this is the default granularity of the PC clock interrupts). 4.2 Exit Minitel/PC without disconnecting [ALT-e] This command allows you to exit to DOS from Minitel/PC without disconnecting from Minitel. 4.3 Disconnect and exit Minitel/PC [ALT-q] This command drops the line and then terminates execution of the Minitel/PC. For HAYES modems the line is dropped by first sending three plus signs (+++) to go into local mode and then issuing the ATH command. For other types of modems the line is dropped by dropping the RS232 DTR signal. In Minitel mode a LOCAL LINE key is sent prior to dropping the line to disconnect from the current service. During Minitel emulation the program function key SHIFT F3 is set by default to perform the same function as [ALT][q]. 4.4 Program Function Keys [SHIFT-F1] -> [SHIFT-F10] The program function keys can be used to extend the functionality of Minitel/PC by adding your own commands. A program function key can be used to execute a script language program (see Appendix E for instructions on writing your own script language programs) or to cause a predefined series of characters to be sent to the remote system as if they had been typed at the keyboard. See Section C.5 (Appendix C, Section 5) for a description of how to assign values to function keys. During Minitel emulation the program function keys [SHIFT-F1] through [SHIFT-F4] are set by default to perform the following functions [SHIFT-F1] - LOGON TO NETWORK Automatically dial and log on to the Minitel kiosk. This is normally the first command that you will issue after starting Minitel/PC. [SHIFT-F2] - CHANGE SERVICE When connected to a service this command can be used to return you to the Minitel kisok so that you can select a new service. [SHIFT-F3] - LOGOFF NETWORK then QUIT This command disconnects you from the current service, drops the line and returns you to DOS. [SHIFT-F4] - NETWORK LOGON If you have an auto-dial modem that does not work with [SHIFT-F1], you can manually instruct your modem to dial and then issue this command to logon to the Minitel kiosk. It is possible for these commands to fail for a number of reasons, including a bad communication line, a service not available, or network failure. See Appendix H (Error Messages) for a list of possible errors and instructions on how to recover in case of an error. The remaining program function keys [SHIFT-F5] through [SHIFT-F10] can be used to add your own commands to Minitel/PC. The command [ALT-f] can be used to display the current settings of the program function keys. During TTY emulation all ten program function keys are available to add new commands. 4.5 Display Help Menu [F10] or [ALT-h] This command displays a menu containing the Minitel function keys and the most often used Minitel/PC commands. To leave the menu you can either press the [ESC] key or execute one of the commands on the menu. 4.6 Program Function Key Menu [ALT-m] This command displays a menu containing all of the program function key settings. To leave the menu you can either press one of the program function keys (to run the key) or press [ESC] to leave the menu without running a program function key. 4.7 Save screen to disk [ALT-s] This command causes the contents of the screen to be saved to a disk file. After entering this command you will be prompted with: Enter file name: In response to this prompt enter the name of the DOS file in which you would like the screen to be saved. If the file that you enter already exists, you will be prompted with: File xxxx already exists. Overwrite ? (y/n) Answering 'y' to this prompt will cause the original file to be overwritten. 4.8 Load screen from disk [ALT-l] This command is used to display screens that were saved with the [ALT-s] command. After entering this command you will be prompted with: Enter file name: In response to this prompt, enter the name of the DOS file that contains the screen you would like displayed. 4.9 Switch to TTY/Minitel mode [ALT-o] This command is used to toggle Minitel/PC between Minitel emulation mode and TTY emulation mode. The default mode of operation is 'Minitel emulation mode'. 4.10 Print Text [Shift-PrtSc] This command causes the current screen (text only) to be sent to the printer. This command does not print graphics. 4.11 Dial [ALT-d] This command causes Minitel/PC to run the logon script (logon.mto). The command [ALT-d] is the same as the default setting of [SHIFT-F1]. 4.12 XMODEM File Transfer [ALT-f] Use this command to send or receive a file using XMODEM protocol. This command only works during TTY emulation mode. After entering this command you will be prompted with: PRESS [R] to receive File using XMODEM PRESS [S] to send File using XMODEM PRESS [ESC] to exit At this point you can press the 'R' key to receive a file, the 'S' key to send a file, or press the ESC key if you decide not to transfer a file. If you press the 'R' or 'S' keys you will be prompted with: ENTER FILE NAME (Leave blank to exit): If you are receiving a file enter the name that you want the file to be called on your local PC. If you are sending a file enter the name of the file that you want to send. If you decide that you do not want to transfer a file after all, hit ENTER without typing in a file name. If you have read sections 1 through 4, you now know all you need to know to use Minitel/PC. The appendices describe advanced information and features that are not required during normal use. APPENDIX A Command Line Parameters ----------------------- During startup, Minitel/PC reads the contents of the file MT.CFG to determine hardware-specific information and obtain function key and terminal settings (See Appendix C for a complete description of the configuration file). It is possible to have more than one configuration file. This is useful if you routinely access more than one service and you need to have different configuration parameters for each. To create a new configuration file, use the DOS copy command to create a copy of the default configuration file (MT.CFG), then use a text editor such as EDLIN to change the parameters to the values required by the new system. Example: C>copy mt.cfg newconf.cfg <- make a copy of mt.cfg C>edlin newconf.cfg <- change parameter values C>mt newconf <- invoke Minitel/PC using the new configuration file In this example we created a new configuration file called 'NEWCONF.CFG' and invoked Minitel/PC with the new configuration. Note that on the command line we typed 'mt newconf' rather than 'mt newconf.cfg'. If you do not specify an extension on the configuration file name then Minitel/PC automatically appends a '.CFG'. Some configuration parameters can be temporarily changed using command line options. For example suppose that our configuration file 'MT.CFG' specifies that COM1: is to be used for communications and we want to use COM2: for this session. This can be done with the following command. mt /c2 The above command will start Minitel/PC using COM2: for communications. This change only affects the one session. The next time you invoke Minitel/PC it will use COM1: for communications (unless of course you use the /c2 option again). The backslash in parameter tells Minitel/PC that you are specifying a command line option and not a configuration file name. The 'c' specifies that we want to change the communications port, and the '2' says that we want to change the communications port to COM2:. Command line parameters can also be used in combination with a configuration file name. In the following example, the configuration file 'NEWCONF.CFG' is used instead of 'MT.CFG'. mt newconf /c2 The general form of all command line options is: backslash single_character_option option_parameter No spaces are allowed between the single_character_option and the option_parameter. Not all options have an option parameter. Either upper or lower case can be specified for both the option name and parameter. The following table lists all the available command line options and the valid parameter values for each. Equivalent Config file Option Parameter Description ------ ----------- ----------- c COMMPORT Set communications port Valid parameter values are 1 and 2 b SPEED Set line speed in bits per second Valid parameter values are: 300,1200,2400,4800,9600,19200 p PARITY Set the character parity type. Valid param values are o,e,n,m,s, where o=ODD,e=EVEN,n=NONE,m=MARK,s=SPACE d DATABITS Set the number of data bits per character. Valid parameter values are 7 and 8. s STOPBITS Set the number of stop bits per character. Valid parameter values are 1 and 2. a DISPLAY_ADAPTOR Specify display adaptor type. Valid parameter values are H,C,E,M, where H=Hercules,C=CGA,E=EGA,M=MDA. e EMULATION Specifies the type of terminal to be emulated. Valid parameter values are T and M, where T=TTY and M=Minitel. m <none> Specifies the name of a script (macro) language program to run after startup. n PHONE Specifies a telephone number to use when dialing. x X3_MODE Specifies whether X.3 PAD compatibility is to be used. 0=NO and 1=YES. ? Causes this table to be printed at the terminal. This option has no parameters. More than one command line parameter can be specified when starting Minitel/PC. The syntax of the Minitel/PC command line is: mt config_file_name /c* /b* /p* /d* /s* /a* /e* /m* /x* /n /? Notes: The '*' denotes the position of the option parameter. Command line options can be specified in any order. The configuration file name(s) can also appear after or between command line options. If more than one configuration file is named on the command line, they are read in the order specified, and only the last one is updated to reflect any changes. Having more than one configuration file allows you to separate the different types of parameters into separate configuration files. For example, you may wish to put the communications parameters in one file and the program function key settings in another. Examples: In this example, we start Minitel/PC using the configuration file 'XXX.CFG' and specify that the line speed is to be changed to 2400 bps (bits per second) and the display adaptor is to be changed to EGA. mt xxx /b2400 /ae The following example is the same as the first except that we specify two configuration file names. mt origconf newconf /b2400 /ae APPENDIX B Files distributed with Minitel/PC --------------------------------- The following files are distributed with Minitel/PC: MT.EXE - The MINITEL/PC main program CGA.FNT - Data file containing character font descriptions for the CGA display adaptor (only necessary when using a CGA display adaptor) EGA.FNT - Data file containing character font descriptions for the EGA display adaptor (only necessary when using a EGA display adaptor) HERCULES.FNT - Data file containing character font descriptions for the HERCULES display adaptor (only necessary when using a HERCULES display adaptor) MT.DOC - The file you are now reading. INSTALL.EXE - Minitel/PC installation program. PHONE.DAT - Minitel Services Company telephone access listing (used by INSTALL) MTINST.FIL - Emulator file list (used by INSTALL) MTC.EXE - Script Language Compiler LOGON.MTO - Script language program to dial and logon to the Minitel kiosk (needed by the [SHIFT-F1] command) LOGON.MT - Source code for the above program CHANGESE.MTO - Script language program which causes a disconnect from the current service and returns you to the kiosk so you can select a new service (needed by the [SHIFT-F2] command) CHANGESE.MT - Source code for the above program NETLOGON.MTO - Script language program to that logs on to the Minitel service kiosk (needed by the [SHIFT-F1], [SHIFT-F2], and [SHIFT-F4] commands) NETLOGON.MT - Source code for the above program APPENDIX C Configuration parameters ------------------------ This section describes the parameters in the Minitel/PC configuration file (MT.CFG). The configuration file contains one parameter per line. Lines are separated by CR/LF pairs. All lines have the following format: parameter_name=parameter_value The equal sign (ASCII 3D) separates the parameter name from its value. Control characters can be specified in the parameter value by using a circumflex (^) followed by another character. For example ^M (control M) can be used to specify a carriage return. Two circumflexes in a row can be used to specify a circumflex. See Appendix F for a detailed discussion on entering control characters in a string. The following table describes all of the configuration parameters that are implemented in this version of Minitel/PC: C.1) Modem Paramters Parameter Name Type Description -------------- ---- ----------- MODEM int Describes the type of modem. Valid values are: 0 = HAYES300 2 = HAYES1200 3 = HAYES1200B 4 = HAYES2400 5 = HAYES2400B 6 = MANUAL 7 = DIRECT 8 = OTHER MODEM_INIT char String that must be sent to initialize the modem (if any) MODEM_RESPONSE char String that the modem sends in response to an initialization command. MODEM_DIAL_PREFIX char String that must prefix the telephone number in a dial command MODEM_DIAL_SUFFIX char String that must follow the telephone number in a dial command MODEM_SUCCESS char Specifies a successful response to a modem dial request. There can be more than one of these parameters present if there are multiple success responses (maximum of ten). MODEM_FAILURE char Specifies a failure response to a modem dial request. There can be more than one of these parameters present if there are multiple failure responses (maximum of ten). C.2) User Information Parameter Name Type Description -------------- ---- ----------- PHONE char Telephone number of nearest Minitel Services Company access point USERID char Minitel User ID PASSWORD char Minitel Password SERVICE char A standard Minitel Service Code. If this parameter is present, the [Shift-F1] auto-logon procedure will automatically connect to the specified service, as if the Service Code had entered at the Minitel broadcast screen. C.3) Communication Parameters Parameter Name Type Description -------------- ---- ----------- COMMPORT int Number of the port to use for communications (1=COM1, 2=COM2, etc) SPEED int Communications speed in bits per second (one of 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200) PARITY char Parity (one of O,E,N,M,S = ODD, EVEN, NONE, MARK, SPACE respectively) DATABITS int Data Bits (either 7 or 8) STOPBITS int Stop Bits (either 1 or 2) BREAK_LEN int Duration of BREAK signal in milliseconds (a break signal can be sent with the [ALT-b] command) CARRIER_DETECTABLE int This parameter informs the emulator if the presence of carrier is detectable by looking at the state of the RS232 CD pin. In some cases the carrier is not detectable because the modem keeps this signal high or the pin is missing from the cable that connects the modem to the PC. FLOWCONTROL int This parameter can have one of the following values. 0 = NONE 1 = XON/XOFF (TTY emulation only) 2 = CTS/RTS hardware protocol (XON/XOFF protocol should not be used during Minitel emulation) X3_MODE int Specifies whether the access network uses X.3 PADs. 0 = NO 1 = YES Default value is "0" as X.3 PAD compatibility is not required for access via the normal Minitel network. If the port is other than COM1 or COM2, the following parameters must also be specified (values must be specified in a decimal radix). ADDR8250 int I/O address of 8250 UART INTVECTOR int Interupt vector number ADDR8259 int Absolute I/O address of 8259 Interupt Controller IRQ int IRQ number for 8259 C.4) Display Parameters Parameter Name Type Description -------------- ---- ----------- DISPLAY_ADAPTOR int Type of display adaptor in the PC. Valid values are: 0 = HGC (Hercules) 1 = CGA 2 = EGA 3 = MDA (Monochrome) C.5) Program Function Keys Parameter Name Type Description -------------- ---- ----------- PF1 char Setting of program function key 1 PF2 char Setting of program function key 2 PF3 char Setting of program function key 3 PF4 char Setting of program function key 4 PF5 char Setting of program function key 5 PF6 char Setting of program function key 6 PF7 char Setting of program function key 7 PF8 char Setting of program function key 8 PF9 char Setting of program function key 9 PF10 char Setting of program function key 10 Each program function key value is either NULL or has the following format: Positions Meaning --------- ------- 1 Type of value stored in the key. Must be one of the following: M - A MACRO (script language program) to be run S - A string to be sent 2 A single dash character (ASCII 2DH). This is just a separator to make the line readable. 3- Value to be stored in the function key: Pos 1 Contents of pos 3- ----- ------------------ M Name of file containing the script language program to be run when this key is pressed. S String to be sent to the remote system when this key is pressed. Control characters can be specified in this string by using a circumflex (^) followed by another character (See Appendix F). Example: -------- To assign a HAYES dial command to program function key five, the following line could be added to the configuration file. PF5=S-ATDP438-8304^M ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | The ^M specifies a carriage return | | Program function key value | Program function key type Names the program function key to be set The following special values can also be assigned to program function keys. M-<DROPLINE/QUIT> This is the default value of PF3. This value causes the emulator to drop the line then exit to DOS. M-<DROPLINE> This value causes the emulator to drop the line. Same as the above value except the emulator does not exit to DOS. M-<QUIT> This value causes the emulator to exit to DOS without dropping the line. C.6) Terminal Parameters Parameter Name Type Description -------------- ---- ----------- EMULATION int Type of emulation to perform. Value must be one of: 0 = TTY 1 = MINITEL LOCAL_ECHO int Local echo on or off (0=OFF, 1=ON). During MINITEL emulation this flag works with the CARRIER_DETECTABLE flag. If the carrier is detectable and local echo is on then keystrokes will be echoed to the screen when there is no carrier (i.e. when 'L' appears on status row). During TTY emulation keystrokes are always echoed when this parameter is on. PAGE_MODE int Page or scroll mode flag (0=SCROLL MODE, 1=PAGE MODE) X3_MODE int X.3 pad compatibility mode enabled flag (0=OFF, 1=ON). VT_LF_NL int This paramater only has effect during TTY emulation. If the parameter has a non-zero value a CR/LF will be displayed on the screen whenever a LF is received from the remote system APPENDIX D Keyboard Mapping ---------------- The following describes the mapping of the Minitel keyboard to the PC keyboard. Single Codes Code Sent Key or Combination (in hex) Character of Keys Minitel PC --------- --------- ------- ------- 00 NUL Ctrl' Ctrl @ 01 SOH Ctrl A 02 STX Ctrl B 03 ETX Ctrl C 04 EOT Ctrl D 05 ENQ Ctrl E 06 ACK Ctrl F 07 BEL Ctrl G 08 BS Ctrl H 09 HT Ctrl I 0A LF Ctrl J or Ctrl: Ctrl J 0B VT Ctrl K or Ctrl; Ctrl K 0C FF Ctrl L 0D CR Ctrl M or Enter Ctrl M 0E SO Ctrl N 0F SI Ctrl O 10 DLE Ctrl P 11 Cursor ON Ctrl Q 12 REP Ctrl R 13 SEP Ctrl S 14 Cursor OFF Ctrl T 15 NACK Ctrl U 16 SYN Ctrl V 17 ETB Ctrl W 18 CAN Ctrl X 19 SS2 Ctrl Y 1A SUB Ctrl Z 1B ESC Esc 1C FS Ctrl , Ctrl | or Ctrl \ 1D SS3 Ctrl - Ctrl } or Ctrl ] 1E RS Ctrl . Ctrl ^ 1F US Ctrl ? Ctrl _ 20 Space Spacebar Spacebar 21 ! SK 1 ** 22 " SK 2 ** 23 # # or SK 3 ** 24 $ SK 4 ** 25 % SK 5 ** 26 & SK 6 ** 27 ' 'or SK 7 ** 28 ( SK 8 ** 29 ) SK 9 ** 2A * * or SK : ** 2B + SK ; ** 2C , , ** 2D - - ** 2E . . ** 2F Box with diagonal line SK ? / 30 0 0 31 1 1 32 2 2 33 3 3 34 4 4 35 5 5 36 6 6 37 7 7 38 8 8 39 9 9 3A : : 3B ; ; 3C < SK , ** 3D = SK - ** 3E > SK . ** 3F ? ? ** 40 @ SK ' ** 41 A A Shift A 42 B B Shift B 43 C C Shift C 44 D D Shift D 45 E E Shift E 46 F F Shift F 47 G G Shift G 48 H H Shift H 49 I I Shift I 4A J J Shift J 4B K K Shift K 4C L L Shift L 4D M M Shift M 4E N N Shift N 4F O O Shift O 50 P P Shift P 51 Q Q Shift Q 52 R R Shift R 53 S S Shift S 54 T T Shift T 55 U U Shift U 56 V V Shift V 57 W W Shift W 58 X X Shift X 59 Y Y Shift Y 5A Z Z Shift Z 5B [ SK * ** 5C 10 o'clock diagonal line SK Cancel \ 5D ] SK # ** 5E Up Arrow SK 0 ^ 5F Low horizontal line Ctrl 6 _ 60 Middle horizontal line Ctrl 5 ` 61 a SK A A 62 b SK B B 63 c SK C C 64 d SK D D 65 e SK E E 66 f SK F F 67 g SK G G 68 h SK H H 69 i SK I I 6A j SK J J 6B k SK K K 6C l SK L L 6D m SK M M 6E n SK N N 6F o SK O O 70 p SK P P 71 q SK Q Q 72 r SK R R 73 s SK S S 74 t SK T T 75 u SK U U 76 v SK V V 77 w SK W W 78 x SK X X 79 y SK Y Y 7A z SK Z Z 7B Left vertical line Ctrl 1 or { SK repeat 7C Middle vertical line Ctrl 2 | 7D Right vertical line Ctrl 3 or } SK send 7E Upper horizontal line Ctrl 4 ~ 7F Filled in Box Ctrl <-- Ctrl BS Sequences of two or three codes: Code sent Key or combination (in hex) Character of keys Minitel PC --------- --------- ------- ------- 19,41 ` (grave accent) SK Next (not impl) 19,43 ^ (circumflex) SK Index (not impl) Sequences sent by function keys: Key or Combination of keys PC Key Codes Sent ------------------ ------ ---------- Send F8 or Enter 13,41 Previous F3 or Shift-Tab or PgUp 13,42 Repeat F4 13,43 Guide F5 13,44 Cancel F2 or End 13,45 Index F1 or Home 13,46 Correction F6 or Backspace 13,47 Next F7 or Tab or PgDn 13,48 Line/Local F9 13,49-Modem SK Line/Local (not supported on PC) 13,49-Socket Ctrl Line/Local Alt b Break to modem Notes: 1) SK = Special key on Minitel = Shift key on PC 2) Where there is no PC key specified, the PC key is the same as the Minitel key. 3) '**' Means to use the Key marked for this purpose on your particular keyboard. APPENDIX E Minitel/PC Script Language -------------------------- E.1 Script Language Compiler (MTC.EXE) The Minitel/PC script language is a semi-compiled language. To create a script language program, any text editor which creates an ASCII format file can be used. Once a script program has been created, it must be compiled by the program 'MTC.EXE' (Minitel/PC Compiler) before it can be executed. MTC checks the source for syntax errors and produces a compiled program as its result. Script source files are expected to have an extension of 'MT'. MTC gives compiled scripts an extension of 'MTO' (Minitel/PC Object). To compile a program with MTC, type the command: mtc source_file_name in response to the DOS prompt. It is not necessary to specify the '.MT' extension of the source file name. If you do not specify the source file name on the command line, MTC will prompt you with the line: 'Source file name ?'. If you enter only a carriage return in response to the source file prompt, MTC will prompt you to enter the program source at the terminal. The following diagram illustrates the script creation process: Create Script Source file with text editor (create myscript.mt) | | V mtc myscript | | V myscript.mto E.2 Running a Script Language Program Scripts can be started by assigning them to a program function key, then pressing the program function key at run time, or by using the /m command line parameter. For example typing 'mt /mlogon' starts Minitel/PC, then invokes the script program named 'logon'. Only one script language program can be specified on the command line. If more than one is specified, only the one that was last named is run. While a script language program is running, a reverse-video 'M' will appear in column 40 of the status row. A running script language program can be aborted at any time by pressing the [ESC] key. E.3 Script Language Description A Minitel/PC script language program consists of a series of statements. Each statement can be preceded by a label. A label consists of up to 15 alphanumeric characters (and underscores) followed by a colon. The first character of a label must be alphabetic. Comments can be placed anywhere in a program by enclosing the comment within curly brackets ({}). The END directive must follow the last statement of a script language program (the END directive is a message to the script language compiler (MTC) telling it that it has reached the end of the program). Following is a description of all script language statements: E.3.1) DIAL statement The dial statement causes the modem to dial the Minitel Services Company node using the phone number and modem information from the MINITEL/PC configuration file. If the dial attempt fails, the script language program is aborted, and a failure message is displayed on the screen. The DIAL command supports all required modems for the HOST machine. For example, on the PC the DIAL command supports the HAYES modem, MANUAL dial modems, DIRECT modems, and any command-driven auto-dial modem. The following algorithm details the logic used by the DIAL command: a) If the modem type is direct, terminate successfully, otherwise proceed with step b). b) If the modem type is manual, proceed with step c), otherwise go to step e) c) Prompt user to dial the number d) Prompt user for a key; If the user enters an ESC, terminate with failure If the user enters a key other than ESC, terminate successfully If the carrier signal goes from low to high while waiting for a key, terminate successfully. e) If there is a MODEM_INIT parameter in the configuration file, send it and proceed to step f), otherwise proceed to step h). f) If there is a MODEM_RESPONSE parameter in the configuration file, proceed to step g), otherwise wait till two seconds elapses with no data received from the remote system, then proceed to step h). g) If the modem response is not received within 10 seconds, terminate with failure, otherwise proceed to step h). h) Build a dial command from the MODEM_DIAL_PREFIX, PHONE and the MODEM_DIAL_SUFFIX configuration parameters and send the dial command to the modem. i) If there are no MODEM_SUCCESS configuration parameters, inform the user that a dial command has been sent and proceed to step d). j) Wait for any of the MODEM_SUCCESS or MODEM_FAILURE responses to be received. If 90 seconds go by with none of the success or failure responses received, terminate with failure. If a success response is received, terminate successfully. If a failure response is received, proceed to step k). k) Prompt the user to see if he wants to try another dial attempt. If 'YES' proceed to step e), otherwise terminate with failure. E.3.2) BRANCH statement SYNTAX: BRANCH label The BRANCH statement causes program execution continue with the statement following the given label, rather than the next statement. statement 1 statement 2 BRANCH skip statement 3 statement 4 skip: statement 5 In the above example, the statements will be executed in the this order: statement 1 statement 2 statement 5 E.3.3) PAUSE statement SYNTAX: PAUSE tenths_of_second The PAUSE statement causes the program to halt for the given number of tenths of a second before proceeding with the next statement. e.g. PAUSE 10 <- pause for 1 second E.3.4) TYPE statement SYNTAX: TYPE string The TYPE statement causes the characters in the given string to be sent to the remote system as though they had been typed at the terminal. The string can consist of any combination of the following. - a quoted string. The quoted string can contain diagraphs of the form '^letter' to include control characters in the string. For example the digraph ^M is a carriage return. See Appendix F for a complete description of digraphs. See notes at the end of section E.5 for more details on quoted strings. - a Minitel function key (one of LOCAL_LINE, INDEX, CANCEL, PREVIOUS, REPEAT, GUIDE, CORRECTION, NEXT, SEND) - a character constant (CR, LF, BS, BELL) - any of the following configuration parameter names PASSWORD PHONE USERID e.g. TYPE 'AT?' CR <- send string AT? followed by a CR TYPE 'AT^M' <- same as above TYPE 'CHAT' SEND <- send the string CHAT followed by the Minitel send key TYPE USERID CR <- send the value of the configuration file USERID parameter followed by a CR (carriage return) E.3.5) QUIT statement Terminates execution of the current script program. E.3.6) DOPF statement SYNTAX: DOPF number Causes the named program function key to be executed. This causes the same effect as the user pressing the given function key at the keyboard. Script language programs can invoke other script language programs using function keys. e.g. DOPF 2 <- execute PF2 E.3.7) MESSAGE statement SYNTAX: MESSAGE string This command causes the given string to appear in a pop-up window on the screen, along with the message 'PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE'. After the user presses a key, the pop-up window disappears, and the underlying screen is restored. The string containing the message to be printed must have the same format as a string in a TYPE statement. e.g. MESSAGE 'Logon Procedure has failed' E.3.8) LOOP statement SYNTAX: LOOP number statements AT_END_DO statements ENDLOOP The LOOP statement causes the statements between the LOOP keyword and the AT_END_DO clause to be executed 'number' times. After the last time, the statements following the optional AT_END_DO clause are executed. The loop can be terminated prematurely by using the BREAK statement or the BRANCH statement. The BREAK statement causes program execution to continue following the ENDLOOP clause. If the loop is terminated prematurely for any reason, the statements following the AT_END_DO clause are not executed. The BREAK statement is ignored if it is encountered anywhere other than within a LOOP. Example: LOOP 3 type 'hello' CR AT_END_DO type 'this is the last hello' ENDLOOP The above example causes the following data to be sent to the remote system: hello hello hello this is the last hello Example 2: LOOP 2 TYPE 'I am about to pause for 5 seconds' PAUSE 50 ENDLOOP The above example demonstrates a loop statement with no AT_END_DO clause. E.3.9) WAIT statement SYNTAX: WAIT tenths CASE string 1 statements CASE string 2 statements . . CASE string N statements FAILURE statements ENDWAIT The WAIT statement causes the script program to WAIT for data from the remote computer system. If any of the strings named by one of the CASE clauses are received from the remote system, the statements following that CASE clause are executed. If 'tenths' tenths of a second go by with no data received from the remote system, or if the line drops, the statements following the optional FAILURE clause are executed. After the statements following a CASE or FAILURE clause are executed, execution continues after the ENDWAIT clause. The string parameter of the CASE clause must have the same format as a string in a TYPE statement. Multiple strings can be specified by separating them with a comma (,). If there are multiple strings separated by a comma, the statements following the CASE clause are executed if any one of the named strings are received from the remote system. Example: TYPE 'ATDP 438-8304' CR WAIT 600 { wait up to 60 seconds (600 tenths) } CASE 'CONNECT', 'CONNECT 1200', 'CONNECT 600', 'CONNECT 2400' { the dial attempt has succeeded so just continue } { with the statement following the ENDWAIT } CASE 'NO CARRIER', 'BUSY', 'NO ANSWER' MESSAGE 'Dial attempt has failed, try again later' QUIT CASE 'ERROR', 'NO DIALTONE' MESSAGE 'Fatal error during dial attempt' QUIT FAILURE MESSAGE 'Timeout, line lost or user ESC during Dial Attempt' QUIT ENDWAIT WAIT 5 CASE CR LF { wait for rest of modem response } ENDWAIT In the above example, we send a dial request to a HAYES modem and use the WAIT statement to check the result (note that you would normally not have to do this since the above and more can be performed automatically by the DIAL command). Example 2: LOOP 10 TYPE CR WAIT 3 CASE '#' BREAK ENDWAIT AT_END_DO MESSAGE 'PAD not responding with a # prompt.' QUIT ENDLOOP In the above example, we send up to 10 carriage returns (one every three tenths of a second) in an attempt to get a '#' prompt from a Minitel Services Company PAD. The WAIT statement waits up to three tenths of a second for a '#'. If it fails, there is no effect (since there is no FAILURE clause). If the WAIT statement succeeds, the BREAK statement is executed, and the LOOP terminates prematurely. If the loop terminates prematurely, the statements following the AT_END_DO clause are not executed. Note that statements can be split over multiple lines. The above WAIT statement would be more clearly written as: WAIT 3 CASE '#' BREAK ENDWAIT E.3.10) IF statement SYNTAX: IF string THEN statements IF string THEN ELSE OR statements statements ENDIF ENDIF The IF statment tests the value of 'string' for a non-null value. If 'string' has a non-null value, the statements between the THEN and ELSE clauses are executed, otherwise the statements between the ELSE and ENDIF clauses are executed. The ELSE clause is optional. If there is no ELSE clause, and 'string' has a non-null value, the statments between the ELSE and ENDIF clauses are executed, otherwise execution continues after the ENDIF clauses. Example: { if there is a phone # in the config file then dial } if phone then message 'Your local access # is ' phone dial else message 'No PHONE parameter specified in config file' endif Example 2: { if there is a password in the config file then send it } if password then type password SEND endif E.4 Script Program Example The following example is a complete script language program that dials the Minitel Services Company kiosk and requests a service. { logon.mt - script program to dial the Minitel services company network and request a service } dial { dial Minitel Services Company network - uses config modem type & number } { try up to six times to get a pound sign } loop 6 type CR wait 3 case '#' break endwait at_end_do message 'PAD not responding with #' quit endloop { perform network logon } type 'x' CR wait 50 case '*' { success } failure message 'PAD not responding with *' quit endwait type '.vmt' CR { request network service } end E.5 Detailed Script Language Syntax Definition The following defines the syntax of all legal script language programs. Program -> Lines END Lines -> Lines Line -> Line -> <empty> Line -> Label Statement Label -> <identifier> : -> <empty> Statement -> WAIT <integer> Waitcases Failcase ENDWAIT -> LOOP <integer> Lines Endstmnts ENDLOOP -> IF Charexp THEN Lines ElseIf ENDIF -> MESSAGE Charexp -> DOPF <integer> -> DIAL -> BRANCH <identifier> -> PAUSE <integer> -> QUIT -> TYPE Charexp -> BREAK Waitcases -> Waitcases Waitcase -> Waitcase Waitcase -> CASE Charexplist Lines Charexplist -> Charexplist , Charexp -> Charexp Failcase -> FAILURE Lines -> <empty> Endstmnts -> AT_END_DO Lines -> <empty> ElseIf -> ELSE Lines -> <empty> Charexp -> Charexp Charterm -> Charterm Charterm -> Envcharvar -> Charconst -> Functionkey -> <string> Charconst -> CR -> LF -> BS -> BELL Envcharvar -> PF1 -> PF2 -> PF3 -> PF4 -> PF5 -> PF6 -> PF7 -> PF8 -> PF9 -> PF10 -> PASSWORD -> PHONE -> USERID -> SERVICE Functionkey -> LOCAL_LINE -> INDEX -> CANCEL -> PREVIOUS -> REPEAT -> GUIDE -> CORRECTION -> NEXT -> SEND Notes: i) <empty> means that the construct is optional. ii) <identifier> is an identifier of up to 15 alphanumeric characters (and underscore) in length. The first character of an identifier must be alphabetic. iii) <string> is a character string enclosed in single quotes. Single quotes can be included within the string by putting two of them together. For example, to specify the string; that's all folks you would enter 'that''s all folks' iv) <integer> is an integer value in the range -32768 to 32767. Values outside this range will cause undefined results. v) Comments can appear anywhere in the program except within a token. Examples: WAIT { this is a legal comment } 10 CASE 'hello' ENDWAIT WAI{ this comment causes an error }T 10 CASE 'hello' ENDWAIT APPENDIX F Entering Control Characters --------------------------- Control characters can be entered into configuration file parameters, literal strings in a script language program, and in the answers to prompts in the installation program by using a two character digraph of the form ^x, where '^' is the circumflex character (ascii 94) and 'x' is any other character. The sequence ^x causes the control character whose value is the ascii value of the upper case version of the character minus 64 to be entered into the string. For example ^m causes a carriage return to be entered into the string (the ascii value of an upper case 'm' is 77. Seventy-seven minus 64 is equal to 13 which is the ascii value of a carriage return). The following table lists a number of useful digraphs: Digraph Control Character Ascii Value ------- ----------------- ----------- ^M CR 13 ^J LF 10 ^H BS 8 ^G BELL 7 ^L FF 12 ^I TAB 9 ^[ ESC 27 The following digraph/character combinations can be used to encode Minitel functions keys within a string: Code Function Key Ascii Values ---- ------------ ------------ ^SA SEND 19 65 ^SB PREVIOUS 19 66 ^SC REPEAT 19 67 ^SD GUIDE 19 68 ^SE CANCEL 19 69 ^SF INDEX 19 70 ^SG CORRECTION 19 71 ^SH NEXT 19 72 ^SI LOCAL/LINE 19 73 If you wish to enter a circumflex (^) in a string as itself, you must put two of them in a row. If you enter a sequence in a string of the form ^x, and the ascii value of the character x is less than 64, the circumflex (^) is ignored. APPENDIX G Use of the Minitel Function Keys -------------------------------- The following tables describe the most common meaning of each of the Minitel function keys. Pressing the asterisk key (*) prior to a function key modifies the meaning of a number of the keys. FUNCTION KEY MEANING ------------ ------- LOCAL LINE Causes a disconnection from the current service. SEND Validation of character strings or completion of a form. REPEAT Causes service to retransmit the previous screen. Used to clear transmission errors. *REPEAT Refresh the current display with updates made since the previous request. INDEX Return to the index of the service in use. *INDEX Access to the index at the highest level in the case of a hierarchical index. GUIDE Request HELP from the service. CORRECTION Used to erase the last character typed. The following function keys have slightly different meanings depending on whether you are in a data entry screen or are giving a command to an application. MEANING IN DATA MEANING AS COMMAND FUNCTION KEY ENTRY SCREEN TO APPLICATION ------------ --------------- ------------------ CANCEL Deletes the contents of Abort current enquiry. the current field. *CANCEL Delete all fields on the No Meaning current form and move to the first field. NEXT Move to following field. Move to following page. PREVIOUS Move to previous field. Move to previous page. *NEXT Move to following page. Move to following document. *PREVIOUS If there is a previous Return to the last menu page, return to the first page or message. field of the previous page, otherwise move to the first field of the current page. The above tables were adapted from tables in the Intelmatique document titled 'USE OF THE MINITEL FUNCTION KEYS'. APPENDIX H Error Messages -------------- This appendix lists the most common error messages that can occur and recommends corrective action that can be taken for each. If the suggested corrective action fails for the following group of commands, try exiting the emulator (with the [SHIFT-F3] command) and restarting the emulator (with the MT command). Command(s) Error and Corrective Action ---------- --------------------------- [ALT-d], [SHIFT-F1] "Timeout or Line Lost while Dialing" Retry the [SHIFT-F1] command. [ALT-d], [SHIFT-F1] "Modem not responding to init string" Make sure that your modem is connected and powered on, then retry the [SHIFT-F1] command. [ALT-d], [SHIFT-F1] "DIAL Attempt has Failed." "Try Again ? (Y=Yes, N=No)" Enter 'Y' if you want Minitel/PC to try again. If you want to quit, enter 'N', then issue the [SHIFT-F3] command. If you want to try dialing manually, enter 'N', then enter the dial command. If you get a connection by dialing manually, you can use the [SHIFT-F4] command to logon to the kiosk. [ALT-d], [SHIFT-F1], "Unable to connect to network service" [SHIFT-F2], "PAD not responding with #" [SHIFT-F4] "PAD not responding with *" If any of the above errors occur, issue the [SHIFT-F4] command (even if the error occured in a [SHIFT-F1] or [SHIFT-F2] command). If any of the following errors occur then you must exit the emulator to take corrective action. Command(s) Error and Corrective Action ---------- --------------------------- [ALT-d], [SHIFT-F1], [SHIFT-F2], "User ID prompt not received" [SHIFT-F4] If this error occurs, exit the emulator with the [SHIFT-F3] command and start again. [ALT-d], [SHIFT-F1] "Error: No PHONE param in config file" To use the auto dial feature of Minitel/PC, you must enter a value in response to the access number prompt in INSTALL. If this error occurs, re-run INSTALL and enter an access number. [ALT-d], [SHIFT-Fx] "Script <xxx> not found." Make sure that the file 'xxx' is in the default drive and directory before starting the emulator. [ALT-d], [SHIFT-Fx] "Error reading <xxx>" "Aborting Script - Bad Instruction" "Aborting Script - Bad env var" "Aborting Script - Bad function key" "Aborting Script - Bad char item" If any of the above errors occur, the script program that was running when the error occurred has become corrupted. Try recompiling the script program with MTC. [SHIFT-Fx] "Illegal value in key PFx" This error occurs if there is a bad definition for the program function key PFx in the configuration file. Possible errors are: - A character other than an upper case 'M' or 'S' was specified as the first character of the key definition - A character other than '-' was specified as the second character of the key definition To correct this problem, fix the program function key definition in the configuration file. APPENDIX I Printing the screen ------------------- From within the emulator you can send the text on your screen to the printer using the [Shift-PrtSc] key combination (i.e. hold down the Shift key then press the PrtSc key). This command will work no matter what type of display adaptor or printer you have in your system. Currently it is not possible to print graphics. APPENDIX J Modem Switch Settings --------------------- This section specifies the switch settings that are recommended for each of the modems that are supported by the emulator. 1) Hayes 300 and Hayes 1200 external modems switch: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 setting: - - - - - U - D D = down, U = up, - = don't care 2) Hayes 1200B internal modem switch: 1 2 3 setting: - - D D = down, U = up, - = don't care 3) Hayes 2400 external modem, Hayes 2400B internal modem and direct connection: nothing needs to be set with these modems. 4) Manual Dial modems and Other (non-Hayes compatible) command-driven modems: For best results these modems should be configured so that: -> DCD tracks the state of the data carrier from the remote modem. -> An ON to OFF transition of DTR causes the modem to drop the line. If the modem is command-driven, it is recommended that during installation (while running INSTALL), you put the commands that configure the modem as above in the modem init string. APPENDIX K Version Differences ------------------- This section provides a list of the changes that were made to Minitel/PC version 2.2 to produce version 2.3. 1) The keys used for many of the commands have been changed to bring the emulator into conformance with TOG standards. 2) An XMODEM file transfer command has been added (ALT-f). The XMODEM command only works during TTY terminal emulation. 3) The [Shift-PrtSc] command can now be used to send the text of any screen to the printer no matter what type of display adaptor you are using. 4) The [ALT-d] command now dials and performs an auto-logon. Previously it just dialed. The [ALT-d] command uses the provided script 'LOGON.MTO' for this purpose. 5) The following VT100 escape sequences and control codes have been implemented in the TTY portion of the emulator (some of these sequences were partially implemented in the previous version of Minitel/PC). ESC [ x J - clear screen ESC [ x K - clear line ESC [ x1 ; x2 ; ... m - set video attributes (bold, blink, inverse and underline have been implemented) HT - standard tabs every eight columns VT, FF - same as LF 6) Use of command line configuration parameters no longer updates the configuration file 'mt.cfg.' All command line configuration parameters are temporary - for that single execution of the Minitel emulator. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This section provides a list of the changes that were made to Minitel/PC version 2.1 to produce version 2.2. 1) The keypad plus and minus keys can no longer be used to send a real CR and LF. These keys now send plus or minus. 2) The following commands have been added. ALT d - auto dial ALT t - switch to TTY emulation mode ALT m - switch to Minitel emulation mode ALT p - send text of screen to the printer 3) The [ALT][q] command now works in Minitel mode (same as SHIFT F3). 4) The program function keys PF1 to PF4 can now be reassigned by the user. 5) The special program function key values '<DROPLINE/QUIT>', '<DROPLINE>' and <QUIT> have been added to the emulator (see Appendix C, section 5). 6) Some changes have been made to the Hercules screen driver to make dithered text easier to read. 7) The TTY emulation mode now implements the ANSI escape sequences to clear the screen (ESC [ 2 J) and position the cursor ('ESC [ Pr ; Pc f' and 'ESC [ Pr ; Pc H'). 8) The special script language symbols for the function keys (NEXT, SEND, PREVIOUS, etc) were not returning X.3 versions of the function keys when in X.3 pad compatibility mode. This bug has been corrected. 9) When returning the terminal id request the emulator now ORs the version byte with hex 40 if X.3 pad compatibility mode is active. 10) The emulator now filters the function keys if they are echoed back. Also all other special filtering that is performed by the Minitel has now been implemented. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This section provides a list of the changes that were made to Minitel/PC version 2.01 to produce version 2.1. 1) The save screen to disk [ALT-s] and load screen from disk [ALT-l] commands were added to the emulator. 2) Some changes were made to the color shadow combinations that are used with the CGA adaptor. 3) The following videotex decoder bug was corrected: - Writing past column 40 when on row 23 in double height mode was not being handled correctly. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This section provides a list of the changes that were made to Minitel/PC version 2.0 to produce version 2.01. 1) For "hard to read" foreground/background color combinations the CGA screen driver now puts a shadow to the right of characters to make them easier to read. 2) Some speed improvements were made to the CGA screen driver. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This section provides a list of the changes that were made to Minitel/PC version 1.6 to produce version 2.0. In this release the videotex decoding software and screen drivers were completely re-written. The new decoding software and screen drivers provide the following improvments and new features: 1) The emulator now uses the Minitel M1B font (VPG5). 2) The blink/steady and conceal/reveal attributes are now implemented for all supported display adaptors. Reverse polarity blinking characters blink out of phase with normal polarity blinking characters, as on the Minitel. 3) "Scan forward" is now implemented. Writing a delimeter now updates the conceal attribute of all following characters and the background color and underline of all following text characters. Writing a graphic character now updates the background color of all following text characters. 4) Various bugs in the videotex decoding were corrected. This includes the following: - Receiving characters past the right margin caused the latent serial attributes to be lost. - The control characters 0B (ctrl k) and 0A (ctrl j) reset the background color in graphics mode. - The CAN control code (ctrl x) caused the latent background attribute to be validated. For example: ctrl l (FF), ESC T, ctrl x (CAN) Caused the first row to change to a blue background. - Occasionally when using an EGA adaptor random horizontal lines would appear through the characters. 5) The EGA driver now uses the 320x200 16 color mode instead of the 640x200 mode. This increases the speed of the EGA driver with no loss of display quality. 6) The CGA driver now uses the 320x200 four color mode (with the MAGENTA/CYAN/WHITE palette) instead of the 640x200 two color mode. The remaining 4 colors are simulated by combining the existing colors in a checkerboard pattern. The following table shows the color combinations that are used for the 8 Minitel colors: Minitel color Color on CGA ------------- ------------ BLACK BLACK BLUE BLACK/CYAN RED BLACK/MAGENTA MAGENTA MAGENTA GREEN MAGENTA/CYAN CYAN CYAN YELLOW CYAN/WHITE WHITE WHITE 7) The CGA driver now uses normal thin characters instead of the old thick ones. 8) The Hercules screen driver now simulates eight grey scales for text as well as graphics. 9) The MDA screen driver now works with the CGA and EGA adaptors as well as with the MDA and hercules adaptors. This is more of an advantage for the CGA adaptor, as it provides eight colors and high resolution text for services that are mostly text based (i.e. where graphics are not that important). 10) The MDA screen driver now simulates the graphics characters by using the closest available characters from the ROM font. 11) Cursor handling was enhanced for for the EGA, CGA and hercules adaptors so the cell under the cursor is displayed in reverse polarity when the cursor is on. This makes the character under the cursor visible at all times. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This section provides a list of the changes that were made to version 1.5 to produce Minitel/PC version 1.6: 1) The name of the emulator was changed from MiniTerm to Minitel/PC. 2) Various minor bugs in the videotex decoding were corrected in the emulator. These include the following: - The emulator would switch from scroll to page mode when a FF was received. - The original graphic state was not restored when moving from the status row with a LF. - Scroll down did not work on the monochrome display adaptor - A CAN received in row 24 while in scroll mode would cause the screen to scroll up - CAN was causing some video attributes to be reset - Receiving an SI when already in alpha mode was not resetting double width, double high and inverse attributes - Receiving a double width or size attribute when in row zero or one was not being handled correctly i.e. - double size was not resetting double width in fact it was forcing double width - double high was not resetting double width - A CR was causing the latent serial attributes to be reset 3) A command line parameter (/n) to specify a new telephone number was added to the emulator. This allows a temporary alternate telephone number to be easily specified in cases where the normal number is not available due to network problems or if you are out of town. Numbers specified with the '/n' parameter are not stored in the configuration file on program termination. 4) The installation program now has a default value for most prompts that you can accept by just pressing the [ENTER] key. 5) The installation program now allows you to exit at any point with the [ESC] key. 6) The [SHIFT-TAB] key combination (hold down the [SHIFT] key and press the [TAB] key) now causes the installation program to return to the previous data entry screen. 7) The list of suggested modem switch settings has been moved from the installation program to the user manual (i.e. Appendix J of this document). 8) An option for tone dialing has been added to the installation program. 9) A new THIN font has been created for the EGA adaptor. This font is in the file EGA.FNT. 10) An IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF statememt has been added to the SCRIPT language (see Appendix E). 11) A optional SERVICE parameter has been added to the configuration file (see Appendix C). APPENDIX L Differences from a real Minitel ------------------------------- Minitel/PC emulates the Videotex mode of the Minitel M1B terminal except for the following differences (ascii and mixed modes are not implemented). 1) The M1B is capable of displaying double-high and double-size characters with different colors on the top and bottom rows. The emulator always displays double-high/size characters with the same color on both rows, using the color of the lower row. 2) None of the CSI formatting functions are implemented. CSI sequences are filtered but are not acted upon. 3) The only software protocol commands and features of the software protocol that have been implemented are: - scroll mode on/off (no acknoledgement returned) - reset to power on state (acknowledgement returned) - ID request (The seqence SOH (01 hex) Cu7 EOT (04 hex) is returned in response to the ID request. The sequence SOH Cuw EOT CR is returned when the emulator is in X.3 pad compatibility mode. These are the same as the sequences that are returned by the Telic Alcatel M1B terminal) Protocol commands that have not been implemented are filtered out by Minitel/PC so that they do not appear on the screen. 5) When overwriting a double-width character with a single-width character, the M1B shifts the double-width character to the right one space. This was not implemented in Minitel/PC. 6) When overwriting the right half of a double-width character, the Minitel displays the character one space to the right. This is not implemented in Minitel/PC. 7) The emulator implements a TTY terminal emulation mode. 8) Keyboard differences are noted in Appendix D. The extended keyboard mode is not implemented. 9) The error correction protocol is not implemented. 10) The screen transparency commands have not been implemented.