Re: VT100 (Fote?)

On Fri, 25 Jul 1997, Walter Ian Kaye wrote:

> I recently posted:
> 
>  > And why are we hamstrung by VT100 anyway? I've seen better
>  > technology in character mode (look at FoxPro for DOS and Xenix),
>  > so why aren't we seeing any improvements there?
> 
> Is there some technical limitation preventing the development and
> deployment of a character-based windowing environment via VT100?
> The implementation of popup menus in Lynx leads me to believe that
> windowing should be possible... perhaps even adjustable frames and
> tables...


As I recall the VT100 doesn't have an overstrike mode, so 
writing side-by-side frames would be accomplished by deleting to
end-of-line and repainting the adjacent frame from the host at 
4800 baud or whatever. It can do independant scroll regions
one-above-the other, though.

Some Lynx users in libraries here have been on actual terminals
over modems, so they can't just upgrade to Netscape without spending
a lot of $$$ on hardware.


(yes the VT100 can run at 19200. But only by using XOFF to stop the host
when it can't keep up)

Andrew Daviel

Received on Friday, 1 August 1997 04:35:38 UTC