Date   : Tue, 07 Jan 1986 15:22:00 EST
From   : haar%gmr.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
Subject: VT100 emulator

Fellow CP/Mers:

I have been looking for a VT100 emulation program for my CP/M system. I
recently downloaded a library called GATE from the Royal Oak RCP/M system.
Gate is a Generalized Asynchronous Terminal Emulator, that is customizable
by way of terminal definition tables.

The version I have is rev 0.85 . The documentation (dated May 6, 1985) refers
to an upcoming version 1.0 .  This is a pretty good, general purpose emulator,
but does not quite meet my needs. It has a built-in ANSI standard terminal
definition. This is not a full VT100 emulation. In particular, it does not
have the aux keypad that the editors on my work computers (VAXen/VMS) need.
I cannot add these because the function key definitions in the table are
limited
to ten (I need at least 18).

Also, it is set up for direct port I/O for both the local terminal and the
communications to the remote system. This doesn't work for me because my
system has the display output and the keyboard input on different ports.
What I would like to do is use BDOS calls for console input/output. The
documentation talks about patching in user code for I/O, but the work areas
it points to seem to already have code in them. (Source code was not
distributed with the program.)

My system is an S-100 bus, Z-80 CPU running CP/M Plus (3.0). I use a VDB8024
video display board and a serial keyboard (Keytronics) on a home-built
interface.

Does anyone know of a later release of Gate, or a better terminal emulation
program (either P.D. or commercial, but customizable), or have more information
about customizing GATE ?

Much thanks for any help.

       Bob Haar        (313) 575-3193
       G.M. Research Labs      

       Net address:  HAAR.GMR@CSNET

       (since I am on CSNET, I cannot do FTP, but can get most P.D. software
       from local RCP/M systems.)

P.S. a plea to software developers - If you are writing CP/M software, please
use the standard BDOS calls for I/O rather than direct I/O or BIOS calls. Also,
if you are distributing public domain software or "freeware", please include
source code.