[Coco] more that one shell from an external terminal(update)

[Bill Pierce]

George, I actually played around with this after reading your first email... using DriveWire4 & NitrOS9 3.3.0.
DW4 allows you to easily open terminal windows on the server host, but done easiest from the Coco (shell i=/Zx&). I'm not sure if this can be done from the server, but I don't think so (at least not in DW4).
The problem I found in using the DW4 terminals is that there is not much support for OS9 control codes (particularly $82 & $83 which switch windows). To be able to switch to another shell would require the terminal to be 'smart" enough to send (and receive) the control sequence for switching windows (clear) and for the Coco to know to ONLY switch to the next 'terminal' window and not the next 'actual' window. Those 'keys' (<CLEAR> & <SHIFT><CLEAR>) do not exist on a modern keyboard so the keys would have to be defined by the terminal and the 'server' would have to allow it to be sent to the Coco... then the shell would switch... but then the Coco would have to let the terminal know the shell has switched and to react accordingly... Most terminals are not that smart.

On another note.. DW4 will allow you to 'open' as many terminal windows (individual terminals) as you have terminal descriptors (and memory) in NitrOS9 (/z1-/z7) on that same PC host...
Now, with a widescreen monitor on my PC and the fact these windows are only 80x24 text, I can have about 4 or 5 of these terminal windows showing at once without overlapping, the active one being the last one clicked or 'tabbed' to..
I had 'Minted' running in one, my C compiler running in one, ded in one destroying a file, and a fourth I was listing directories... all on the PC screen at once! Switching between them was a matter of just clicking the window I wanted active or <alt><tab> to cycle through them (on the PC). The neat thing was all four windows were fully visible, no 'switching' to view... just to choose which was the active :-)

I have a 1 meg Disto expansion so theoretically, I should be able to open about 15-20 terminals (given the descriptors) before I would run out of system memory. That would have to be a 'stripped' down boot to give more system memory. The system memory would be my only limit as a shell only uses a little over 8k when started (outside of system memory), and since they are running in the background with no actual 'hardware window', the 4k required for the text screen is not used. And 'switching' windows on the Coco (<CLEAR>), only switched between the actual Coco hardware windows, not affecting the terminals on the PC at all... I mean, how would you switch to a window that doesn't actually exist? Only the shells & active programs are running sending all escape codes to the "/Zx" descriptors. There is no 'window' to select.

In this experiment (which again, was DW4 based), I could find no way to create a shell from a terminal and then switch to it. Someone with a little more knowledge may know a trick or two that I don't (many do) and may be able to do this, but I saw no way to be able to send the proper control codes for it to switch and the terminal had no way of knowing any different. As stated above, I did get 4 individual terminals going and could switch between them on the PC, with all 4 showing at once.


And.... I had a lot of fun trying... :-)

 

 


Bill Pierce
"Charlie stole the handle, and the train it won't stop going, no way to slow down!" - Ian Anderson - Jethro Tull

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: George Ramsower <georgera at gvtc.com>
To: coco <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 18, 2015 1:49 am
Subject: [Coco]  more that one shell from an external terminal(update)


Maybe I should make this a bit more clear(my mistake. DOH!)

  This is not
Linux. It's Microware's OS9 LII on a 512k Coco 3.
  My wish is to use an
external computer(This PC) as a terminal 
connected to an RS232 port on the said
Color Computer 3.

  I would like to be able to switch from one shell to another
while 
online with that CC3, leaving the previous Shell running. If I switch

back to that Shell, it will still be doing what it was doing when I 
switched
to another Shell, just like it can be done from the Coco's console.

  This way,
I can do much the same thing as using windows on that 
Coco(IE..switch from one
window to another).
   I figure if OS9 can do this from the built in /term, it
would be 
doable from a com port also. The issue I have is, I don't know how to

accomplish this.
  On this list, are gurus that might have an idea on how this
can be 
done. I don't!
  Wish I did!!
  I'm sure this can be done but...HUH? How
can this be done?
  I already know that graphics can't be done on a terminal
without 
software on the coco to accomplish this.

  So, I'm looking for some
suggestions on how this might be done.

  Thanks for any ideas based upon the
above issue only.

George R.

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