Re: LYNX-DEV Re: Lynx and Wyse 50

[Bela Lubkin]

Don Woodward wrote, and Fote forwarded:

> >I'm trying to compile Lynx on a Pyramid Unix system using Wyse 50
> >terminal for viewing - I can't seem to make the display and arrow
> >keys work like with vt100's. Is there some tips somewhere on how
> >to make Lynx work with wyse 50's?

The Wyse 50, like the Wyse 60, has really unfortunate arrow keys.  It
uses control-H for left, control-L for right, control-K for up,
control-J for down.  Many programs, including the Unix line discipline
with typical stty settings, have their own hard-wired interpretations
of control-H and J, and sometimes L.  I frequently use Lynx on Wyse 60s,
and it's difficult.  I've never complained because it's a limitation of
the terminal, there isn't a whole lot that Lynx can do about it.  (Well,
it could: it could introduce another whole set of terminal-independent
arrow keys.  I don't think that's a good idea.  And it actually already
has it, if you want to manually type in ESC [ A..D)

SCO's termcap/terminfo have an alternative definition for the Wyse 60,
called "wy60ak".  What it does is to program the arrow keys to send
different sequences (ANSI arrow keys -- ESC [ A..D).  That is, its init
string includes sequences to program the arrow keys, and the terminal
definition tells programs to expect those ANSI sequences.  The same idea
might work on a Wyse 50.  I don't know whether its arrow keys are
software programmable.

The Wyse 50 has an additional problem, that it is a "magic cookie"
terminal.  It supports several attributes such as reverse, dim, etc.,
but a special "magic cookie" character occupies a screen space between
sequences of characters with different attributes.  Again, there's a
workaround -- it supports a "protected" attribute which doesn't use a
magic cookie, and can be set to be visually marked with an attribute.
So your screen can have a total of one attribute.

I don't have an actual Wyse 50 to experiment with.  I have Wyse 60s,
which have a Wyse 50 emulation mode, but I wouldn't trust that to be
accurate on matters such as: can arrow keys be programmed.  (I just
checked: in "Wyse 50+" emulation mode, a Wyse 60's arrow keys can be
programmed.  The sequence is

  ESC Z 1 _fkey_designator_ _actual_chars_to_emit_ DEL

where the _fkey_designator_ for UpArrow is "+", DownArrow is ",",
LeftArrow is "-", RightArrow is ".".  Thus, the sequence:

  ESC Z 1 + ESC [ A DEL
  ESC Z 1 , ESC [ B DEL
  ESC Z 1 - ESC [ D DEL
  ESC Z 1 . ESC [ C DEL

sets the arrow keys to ANSI values.  Remember, you also have to change
your termcap/terminfo entry to reflect the new values.  (Lynx itself
will appear to work because it is always aware of ANSI arrow keys, but
almost all other software will be confused...)

>Bela<
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