Shareware Overload Trio 2

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Text File | 1994-04-07 | 20KB | 543 lines

Paul Wheaton of Banana Programming has done a thorough study of the conflicts between the ANSI standard and ANSI music codes. Bloomunit wishes to strongly endorse the changes he suggests in the below BANSI.DOC, and to encourage all software authors and developers to make the suggested modifications to their ANSI music-supporting communi- cations programs by January 1, 1997. The most notable of these suggestions is replacing the M sequence for starting ANSI music with the N sequence, which has no conflicts at all with the existing standard, and furthermore is easy to remember since it relates to the character (Ctrl N) which closes a music string. With cooperation and united effort, those of us who use and support BBS ANSI music can bring about a permanent change for the better, and make it more accessible for all to enjoy. Linda Bloom Bloomunit BBS April 6, 1994 -------------------------------------------------------- BANSI.DOC copyright (c) 1994 by Paul Wheaton, Banana Programming The ANSI-BBS industry is riddled with conflicts. Since the true ANSI standard has not been strictly followed, a variety of variations have evolved. Some have become popular. This document spells out what BananaCom uses for it's terminal emulation: A mish-mash of ANSI, VT100, pseudo-ANSI and pseudo-VT100 that tries to follow what most modem services expect and use. Perhaps this will help to make BBS's and COM programs work together with a little less research and programming effort. Terminal sends: All ASCII characters from 1 to 127 are sent as is. If somebody wants to feed a special character that comes through as a character 128 through 255, send that through too. ANSI terminal emulation is supposed to be a superset of the escape sequences used by the DEC VT100 terminal. These required that an escape (ASCII 27) be sent followed by some other characters. The following keystrokes are well established: Keystroke Sent left arrow key ESC [ D right arrow key ESC [ C up arrow key ESC [ A down arrow key ESC [ B home key ESC [ H end key ESC [ K ^home key ESC [ L ^page up ESC [ M F1 key ESC O P F2 key ESC O Q F3 key ESC O w F4 key ESC O x ^capital "oh", not a zero All other keys send a zero and then the BIOS scan code. Note that most com programs will use Alt-A through Alt-Z and Alt-1 through Alt-9 and Alt-0. If there happens to be keys left they will be passed through. Function keys are your best bet and are all passed through Alone Shift Ctrl Alt F1 0 84 0 94 0 104 F2 0 85 0 95 0 105 F3 0 86 0 96 0 106 F4 0 87 0 97 0 107 F5 0 59 0 88 0 98 0 108 F6 0 60 0 89 0 99 0 109 F7 0 61 0 90 0 100 0 110 F8 0 62 0 91 0 101 0 111 F9 0 63 0 92 0 102 0 112 F10 0 64 0 93 0 103 0 113 Some com programs use the Page Up and Page Down keys to initiate a file transfer although this seems to be changing - these keys are of great use to BBS's. Page Up 0 73 Page Down 0 81 Insert 0 82 Note that when you press control-page-down with some terminal programs, they send ESC [ H ESC [ 2 J and a lot of BBS's simply ignore that. ctrl-page-down 0 118 ctrl-end 0 117 ctrl-left-arrow 0 115 ctrl-right-arrow 0 116 shift-tab 0 15 Terminal receives: Most ANSI terminals use a screen 80x24 - with the last line reserved for reporting the current status of the terminal program. BananaCom uses this standard. There are a few ASCII characters that have a special effect on on the terminal: Dec Hex char function 7 7 ^G beep 8 8 ^H destructive backspace 9 9 ^I tab - move to next tab column (8,16,24,32,40...) 10 A ^J line feed - move down one. Scroll up if needed 12 C ^L clear screen (normal attribute) & home cursor (1,1) 13 D ^M return - move cursor to column 1 Escape sequences do not have spaces in them. Spaces have been added here for readability. Anything appearing in angle brackets is a numeric variable. The angle brackets are not sent. ESC D scroll up All of the text on the screen (or the scrolling region, if one is defined) is scrolled up one line. The bottom line is filled with spaces colored according to the current attribute. Note that there is no left bracket "[" between the ESC and the 'D'. Example: ESC D scroll all text up one line ESC M scroll down All of the text on the screen (or the scrolling region, if one is defined) is scrolled down one line. The top line is filled with spaces colored according to the current attribute. Note that there is no left bracket "[" between the ESC and the 'M'. Example: ESC M scroll all text down one line ESC [ @ insert char Insert a space into the current line at the current cursor position. The character at column 80 is thrown out. The current attribute is used for the new space. ESC [ <NumLines> A cursor up Move the cursor up specified number of lines (default is one). If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since last "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r" then the cursor will not be allowed to move beyond the top of the scrolling region. Example: ESC [ 1 0 A move up ten lines Example: ESC [ A move up one line ESC [ <NumLines> B cursor down Move the cursor down specified number of lines (default is one). If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since last "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r" then the cursor will not be allowed to move beyond the bottom of the scrolling region. Example: ESC [ 1 0 B move down ten lines Example: ESC [ B move down one line ESC [ <NumCols> C cursor right Move the cursor right specified number of lines (default is one). Example: ESC [ 1 0 C move right ten columns Example: ESC [ C move right one column ESC [ <NumCols> D cursor left Move the cursor left specified number of lines (default is one). Cannot move beyond left of screen. Example: ESC [ 1 0 D move left ten columns Example: ESC [ D move left one column ESC [ <Num> E line feed Convert to specified number of line feeds. If the cursor is at the bottom of the screen (or scrolling region if one is defined) text will be scrolled up and the bottom line will be cleared. Example: ESC [ 1 0 E convert and process as ten linefeeds Example: ESC [ E convert and process as onr linefeed (why not just send ^J ?) ESC [ F undefined ESC [ G undefined ESC [ <row> ; <col> H move to Move cursor to this position. If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since the last "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r" then the cursor will be positioned relative to the scrolling region. This will perform exactly the same as "ESC [ <row> ; <col> f". Example: ESC [ 1 0 ; 5 H The cursor will be positioned at row 10 and column 5. Example: ESC [ 10 H The cursor will be positioned at row 10 and column 1. Example: ESC [ H The cursor will be positioned at row 1 and column 1. ESC [ I undefined ESC [ <type> J clear all or part of display Clear all or part of the screen (or scrolling region if one is defined). The cleared region will always be the "normal attribute" although future text will use the last set attribute. Cursor does not move. Example: ESC [ 0 J Clear from cursor to end of screen Example: ESC [ 1 J Clear from beginning of screen to cursor Example: ESC [ 2 J Clear whole screen (note that sending ^L does the same thing) Example: ESC [ J same as "ESC [ 0 J" ESC [ <type> K clear all or part of current line The cleared region will always be the "normal attribute" although future text will use the last set attribute. Cursor does not move. Example: ESC [ 0 K Clear from cursor to end of line Example: ESC [ 1 K Clear from beginning of line to cursor Example: ESC [ 2 K Clear whole line Example: ESC [ K same as "ESC [ 0 K" ESC [ <num> L insert line "<num>" blank lines will be inserted at the current cursor location. These lines will have the color of the current attribute. The previous current line and all of the lines below will be moved down. Lines that are scrolled beyone the bottom of the screen (or scrolling region, if one is defined) will be lost. Example: ESC [ 1 0 K insert ten lines Example: ESC [ K insert one line ESC [ M ANSI Music / delete line This is the biggest conflict in ANSI emulation. The actual ANSI standard clearly states that this sequence is to be used for "delete line". The person that came up with "ANSI music" must not have known this. There are still many modem services and mainframe computers that depend on this being "delete line" - however, far more people are served by systems that depend on this being "ANSI music". What this means is that as a programmer, you cannot depend on ESC [ M. Some modem service and com programs will lock up when they expect one thing and receive another. Here is a solution: a) A modem service can send "ESC [ b" to the terminal. If the emulation outlined in this document is supported, 000 will be sent back. If it is not, the terminal will most likely not show the escape sequence and you can then know that ESC [ M should be avoided since its interpretation is unknown and could cause a lockup. b) Use "ESC [ N" for music and "ESC [ Y" for delete line. What BananaCom supports for ESC [ M may change although at the time of this writing, it is used for ANSI music. See "ESC [ N" and "ESC [ Y" for information on how to use ANSI music and delete line. ESC [ N <music codes> <^N> ANSI music (formerly unused) This command is provided with BananaCom as a substitute to the traditional ANSI music sequence of "ESC [ M" since that sequence has conflicts. For complete information on how to use ANSI music, look for the file BBSAMT*.* (BBS ANSI Music Tutor) by Linda Bloom. This file is available on the Montana Banana BBS (406)543-8234 and Bloomunit BBS (407)687-8712. Example: ESC [ N E 8 G 8 G 8 G 8 F 4 E 8 G 2 ^N this will belt out the first few notes of "Popeye the Sailor". "ESC [ N" starts the music sequence and the control-N character finishes. What's in between are all of the notes and how long each note lasts. Further details of the music may be provided as specified in BBSAMT. Note that this is not an ANSI standard, but something that is in BananaCom. Other COM program folks are welcome to do the same. ESC [ O undefined ESC [ <num> P delete char Delete the character at the current cursor position. All characters to the right of the cursor will be shifted one to the left. The right most character on the screen will be converted to a space and will have the same attribute as the character that used to be there. Example: ESC [ 1 0 P delete ten characters Example: ESC [ P delete one character ESC [ Q undefined ESC [ R undefined ESC [ S scroll up see ESC D ESC [ T scroll down see ESC M ESC [ U clear Clear the screen with the "normal" attribute and home the cursor. New text will use the previously defined attribute. ESC [ V undefined ESC [ W undefined ESC [ X undefined ESC [ <num> Y delete line This command is provided with BananaCom as a substitute to the traditional delete line sequence of "ESC [ M" since that sequence has conflicts. "<num>" lines will be deleted at the current cursor location. Lines from below will be scrolled up. The blank lines inserted at the bottom of the screen (or scrolling region, if one is defined) will be colored with the current attribute. Example: ESC [ 1 0 Y delete ten lines Example: ESC [ Y delete one line Note that this is not an ANSI standard, but something that is in BananaCom. Other COM program folks are welcome to do the same. ESC [ Z back tab Relocate the cursor to the previous tab. Tabs are located at columns 1, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72 and 80. So, if your cursor is currently located at column 10 and a "ESC [ Z" is received, the cursor will be moved to column 8. ESC [ a undefined ESC [ b Banana ANSI? If a terminal uses everything listed in this document, it will send back 000 later versions may return 001 or 002 or 003 etc. Note that this is not an ANSI standard, but something that is in BananaCom. Other COM program folks are welcome to do the same. ESC [ c VT100 query response Some modem services use anal retentive computers that send this and are looking for some unique response or they will assume your terminal is brain dead. BananaCom sends back "ESC [ ? 1 ; 2 c" and that seems to keep most machines happy. ESC [ d undefined ESC [ e undefined ESC [ f undefined ESC [ g undefined ESC [ h set options There are only two options here, both include sending an actual question mark as part of the sequence: ESC [ ? 6 h certain functions which normally ignore the scrolling region, will now operate relative to the scrolling region. Note that those functions will again ignore the scrolling region the next time the scrolling region is changed. ESC [ ? 7 h Auto word wrap is turned on (it is normally on - this is provided in case you turn it off). ESC [ i undefined ESC [ j undefined ESC [ k undefined ESC [ l set options There are only two options here, both include sending an actual question mark as part of the sequence. These compliment the "ESC [ h" sequences. Note that these seqences end with a lowercase L: ESC [ ? 6 l Negates "ESC [ ? 6 h". This is the default. ESC [ ? 7 l Auto word wrap is turned off. Note that the next time you change the scrolling region, word wrap will be turned on again. ESC [ <num> ; <num> ; ... m set video attributes Set the foreground color, background color and blink attributes for future text. Note that each number may overwrite or enhance a previous number. There are four basic attributes: Foreground color: 8 colors Bright: On or off Background color: 8 colors Blinking: On or off Effects Possible numbers to pass: FC Br BC Bl 0 "normal": gray on black, no blink x x x x 1 bright foreground x 2 regular (non-bright) foreground x 4 underscore if available x 5 Blink on x 6 Blink on (yup, same as 5) x 7 reverse x x 8 invisible text (fore=back) x x x 30 black (+Br=dark gray) x 31 red (+Br=bright red) x 32 green (+Br=bright green) x 33 brown (+Br=yellow) x 34 blue (+Br=bright blue) x 35 magenta (+Br=bright magenta) x 36 cyan (+Br=bright cyan) x 37 gray (+Br=white) x 40 black x 41 red x 42 green x 43 brown x 44 blue x 45 magenta x 46 cyan x 47 gray x Examples: ESC [ 0 ; 1 ; 3 3 m yellow on black with no blink ESC [ 3 3 m use same background as before. no change to blink attribute. foreground is either brown or yellow depending on the bright attribute. ESC [ m use "normal" attribute - gray on black, no blink. ESC [ 6 n report current cursor location If the cursor is located in the lower-right corner of the screen, BananaCom will respond "ESC 2 4 ; 8 0 R". Many modem services will send "ESC [ 6 n" before asking a user what their name is. When the response is given, the modem service knows that the calling computer supports ANSI terminal emulation. ESC [ o undefined ESC [ p undefined ESC [ q undefined ESC [ <top> ; <bottom> r set scroll region Define a region of the screen for scrolling. This is usually used for full screen text editors. Some information can be stored on some parts of the screen that will remain for the entire editing session - such as what keys you push to indicate that you are done editing. The scroll region will be where the user types the text of their message. Some commands (escape sequences) always ignore the scrolling region; some default to ignoring the scrolling region, but can work relative to the scrolling region when the "ESC [ ? 6 h" sequence is sent; some always work relative to the scrolling region if one is defined. Example: ESC [ 2 ; 2 3 r leave the first and last lines out of the scrolling region. Example: ESC [ 5 r the first four lines are left out of the scrolling region. Example: ESC [ r turn off scrolling region ESC [ s save current cursor position The current cursor position is stored and can be reset with "ESC [ u" ESC [ t undefined ESC [ u restore cursor position from last save Restores the cursor position that was stored with "ESC [ s" ESC [ v undefined ESC [ w undefined ESC [ x undefined ESC [ y undefined ESC [ z undefined The information in this document is for programmers writing all sorts of communications software - whether BBS's, door programs, or terminal emulation programs. If you use this, I hope you mention "Banana ANSI" in your documentation.