Free VT Terminal emulation
Richard Maher
For the seemingly few of you here that are running a VT Terminal emulation
product on a Windows PC to connect to your VMS servers, can you please tell
me what (hopefully free) product you are using?
I used to use Attachmate KEA! VT and like it very much but am now quite used
to Putty to connect to Linux boxes. If there are better freeware options out
there then please let me know.
Cheers Richard Maher
B.Eckstein
I always use PuTTy with VMS. Works fine for me.
smithfarm
apparently, but runs fine under Vista) in addition to PuTTY. It has a
main window with a "chooser" of sorts where you can select which server
you want to connect to. It also comes with terminal fonts.
Joseph Huber
While putty does a good job in mapping keyboard/keypad keys, me seems it
works only correctly for the default 24 line screen. As soon I make the
window larger, the position (in VMS editors) is no longer correct.
Also putty has no way to map the PF1...PF4 keypad keys if running on a
laptop with no numeric keyboard.
I usually do it this way:
run a Xwindow server on the windows side (free ones like CygwinX or Xming),
login to VMS by whatever means (putty,SSH,telnet from xterm,...), set
display to windows X server (if not yet done through SSH), then create a
DECTerm: CREATE/TERM/DETACH.
If the PC keyboard is not of the DEC LK/VMS type, use xmodmap to map keys
like F1...F4 to PF1...PF4.
This way You can use the VMS editors, and also whatever Xwindows programs.
--
Joseph Huber, http://www.huber-joseph.de
Simon Clubley
>
> While putty does a good job in mapping keyboard/keypad keys, me seems it
> works only correctly for the default 24 line screen. As soon I make the
> window larger, the position (in VMS editors) is no longer correct.
This is not true in my case.
I am using PuTTY on a 48 line window under Linux to connect to Eisner to
type this response with EVE and it works perfectly.
PuTTY also works perfectly when used to connect to a local server as well.
Did you remember to set the correct page size (either manually or with
$ set term/inq) ?
Are you using a editor which only supports 24 lines and doesn't work on
a greater page size ?
Simon.
--
Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Microsoft: Bringing you 1980's technology to a 21st century world
Joseph Huber
> On 2010-10-04, Joseph Huber <joseph...@NOREPLY.web.de> wrote:
>>
>> While putty does a good job in mapping keyboard/keypad keys, me seems it
>> works only correctly for the default 24 line screen. As soon I make the
>> window larger, the position (in VMS editors) is no longer correct.
>
> This is not true in my case.
>
> I am using PuTTY on a 48 line window under Linux to connect to Eisner to
> type this response with EVE and it works perfectly.
>
> PuTTY also works perfectly when used to connect to a local server as well.
>
> Did you remember to set the correct page size (either manually or with
> $ set term/inq) ?
>
> Are you using a editor which only supports 24 lines and doesn't work on
> a greater page size ?
Good to remind me: my bad experience was on an older putty on WinME, and so
I got used to not use putty.
Now I just did it on my WinXP version: right, it works with variable window
sizes.
Howard Siegel
Long ago I used to use SecureCRT from VanDyke Software on my PC at home. It
was quite good at VT100/VT200 emulation, handled resizing and non-standard
terminal sizes, and had a great macro recording/playback capability. Used
to to connect to both VMS and various Unix/Linux systems without any problems.
When me primary machine at work became a PC and they wouldn't buy me a copy
of SecureCRT I switched to using PuTTY. Again, connecting to VMS and Unix/Linux
hosts, handled resizing the terminal windows properly 99.5% of the time, and
I could easily use odd-sized terminal windows (e.g. 148x37 was as big as I
could get on one of my machines). Don't know if it even has macro recording
and playback as I stopped needing that capability and never looked in to whether
PuTTY can do it.
- h
--
hsiegel~at~pobox~dot~com <*> LHT <*> Netcom Class of '93, RIP Netcom!
Martin Vorlaender
While I use PuTTY a lot, my favorite when it comes to terminal emulation
(better than VT100, that is) is Kermit-95. Despite the name it runs on
all Windows versions up to Win7. Unlike the free C-Kermit (that relies on
the host for terminal emulation), it costs a moderate amount.
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html
cu,
Martin
--
One OS to rule them all | Martin Vorlaender | OpenVMS rules!
One OS to find them | work: m...@pdv-systeme.de
One OS to bring them all | http://vms.pdv-systeme.de/users/martinv/
And in the Darkness bind them.| home: martin.v...@t-online.de
Rich Jordan
wrote:
Not free. PowerTerm from Ericom, mainly because its the descendant of
the emulator that came with Pathworks way back when; a lot of our
customers used it and got used to it then, so it became the default.
Emulation is excellent. Otherwise it is quite competent. However it
has a history of needing to be upgraded when Windows is; XP broke
existing versions, then Win7.
Michael Moroney
>Hi,
>For the seemingly few of you here that are running a VT Terminal emulation
>product on a Windows PC to connect to your VMS servers, can you please tell
>me what (hopefully free) product you are using?
I like PuTTY myself. One small issue is it identifies itself as a
VT102 to a SET TERM/INQ command although it seems to emulate a more
modern DEC terminal and I don't see a way to set that (workaround is
to do a SET TERM/DEV=VTxxx).
For purists, it knows of the DEC MCS charset, which is similar but not
exactly the same as the ISO-8859-1 charset.
JF Mezei
> Hi,
>
> For the seemingly few of you here that are running a VT Terminal emulation
> product on a Windows PC to connect to your VMS servers, can you please tell
> me what (hopefully free) product you are using?
I use DECterm which pops a window up on my desktop Macintosh personal
computer.
H Vlems
wrote:
I have a VT320 emulator kit that was prpbably once part of Pathworks.
AFAIK it is now freeware and I use it occasionally.
The Ericom VT525 emulator has a couple of issues, depending on window
size it has problems with column 80 (IIRC). It was free for download
once and that's why I've got it.
The emulator (suite) I use most is the Reflection product. I got it on
eBay for an affordable price.
All three support CTERM. LAT and IP of course.
Hans
Bob Koehler
I use VTstar for my serial connections, and for my SIMH console,
but I have to use SSH over the 'net. So I that's what I pull out
PuTTY. Or a Mac terminal window.
Bob Koehler
>
> I use DECterm which pops a window up on my desktop Macintosh personal
> computer.
I've done that on both Mac and Windows, but never bothered to get
the key mapping right.
I know have a collection of key mappings that are supposed to
work, but I'm more likely to run a DECterm on another VMS system
with an LK4xx keyboard than anywhere else, so I'm too lazy to make
those mappings work.
Richard Maher
Thanks all!
Cheers Richard Maher
Arne Vajhøj
I think Putty is as good as it get free.
And it actually relative good.
Arne
GreyCloud
Is there DECterm for the Intel iMacs?
JF Mezei
> Is there DECterm for the Intel iMacs?
No. There is xterm that is part of the X11 software on OS-X (and a
"Terminal.App" application.
However, you can get VMS to pop a DECterm window on the mac.
xset fp+ "tcp/chain.vaxination.ca:7100"
on the Mac will get the mac to fetch the DECterm fonts from your Alpha.
bart...@gmail.com
PowerTerm V5.6 from the Pathwork32 V7.4 kit runs fine on Windows 7
64bit. I have never seen problems with Windows upgrades. However, this
is not a free solution.
I have been using TeraTerm, http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html
, which is freeware. It is old, but seems to run fine on Windows 7,
too.
HTH,
Bart
H Vlems
Out of sheer curiosity: what is bothering you with PuTTY, Arne?
Hans
VAXman-
Enable the VMS font server.
% xset +fp tcp/host:7100
% ssh -X user@host
$ create/terminal
Perfect emulation! ;)
--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
All your spirit rack abuses, come to haunt you back by day.
All your Byzantine excuses, given time, given you away.
VAXman-
There's also an iTerm application that works better than the xterm and
terminal.app. In most cases, unless for some reason I need double-high
double-wide character emulation, the iTerm works just fine for OpenVMS
access needs.
When in doubt, ...
% xset fp+ tcp/host:7100
% ssh -x user@host
$ create/terminal
Why *PAY* for faulty VT terminal emulation when you can get it freely.
AEF
wrote:
I use SmarTerm at work (it's free for me!). Once you get it set up it
works pretty well. It's FTP interfaces stinks, however. I prefer the
MS-DOS one!
SmarTerm's ssh doesn't work so well. I had a lot of trouble
configuring it to work with our Unix systems at work, and even then,
it's unstable and takes down all the other tabs in the window with it.
So I use PuTTY at work for Unix sessions.
At home I VPN and RDC to work from my Mac. I have to change the key
assignments slightly to fit the Mac, and I can't redefine the '=' key
on the Mac's numeric keypad without it also being redefined on the
main "keypad". On those occasions where my PC is hung (which has been
happening every few weeks due to some out-of-date driver, which our
help desk is working on, more or less), I use Terminal. But Terminal
doesn't map the PF1-PF4 keys where you want them.
But if my PC at work is hung I use Terminal on my Mac. The problem
with it is that it doesn't map the PF1 keys where you want them.
AEF
AEF
> In article <4caabb5b$0$23724$c3e8da3$9deca...@news.astraweb.com>, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spam...@vaxination.ca> writes:
>
> >GreyCloud wrote:
>
> >> Is there DECterm for the Intel iMacs?
>
> >No. There is xterm that is part of the X11 software on OS-X (and a
> >"Terminal.App" application.
>
> >However, you can get VMS to pop a DECterm window on the mac.
>
> >xset fp+ "tcp/chain.vaxination.ca:7100"
>
> >on the Mac will get the mac to fetch the DECterm fonts from your Alpha.
>
> There's also an iTerm application that works better than the xterm and
> terminal.app. In most cases, unless for some reason I need double-high
> double-wide character emulation, the iTerm works just fine for OpenVMS
> access needs.
>
> When in doubt, ...
>
> % xset fp+ tcp/host:7100
> % ssh -x user@host
> $ create/terminal
>
> Why *PAY* for faulty VT terminal emulation when you can get it freely.
I'll have to try this. What's with the above three commands, though?
AEF
Bob Koehler
>
> There's also an iTerm application that works better than the xterm and
> terminal.app. In most cases, unless for some reason I need double-high
> double-wide character emulation, the iTerm works just fine for OpenVMS
> access needs.
I thought Apple rolled all the iTerm improvements into terminal.app
by the time Leopard (10.5) shipped.
Bob Koehler
All you need is an X server, and that actually showed up in the
default dock icons on my Snow Leopard (10.6) Intel based system.
VAXman-
>On Oct 5, 7:05=A0am, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
>> In article <4caabb5b$0$23724$c3e8da3$9deca...@news.astraweb.com>, JF Meze=
>i <jfmezei.spam...@vaxination.ca> writes:
>>
>> >GreyCloud wrote:
>>
>> >> Is there DECterm for the Intel iMacs?
>>
>> >No. There is xterm that is part of the X11 software on OS-X (and a
>> >"Terminal.App" application.
>>
>> >However, you can get VMS to pop a DECterm window on the mac.
>>
>> >xset fp+ "tcp/chain.vaxination.ca:7100"
>>
>> >on the Mac will get the mac to fetch the DECterm fonts from your Alpha.
>>
>> There's also an iTerm application that works better than the xterm and
>> double-wide character emulation, the iTerm works just fine for OpenVMS
>> access needs.
>>
>> When in doubt, ...
>>
>> % xset fp+ tcp/host:7100
>> % ssh -x user@host
>> $ create/terminal
>>
>> Why *PAY* for faulty VT terminal emulation when you can get it freely.
>
>I'll have to try this. What's with the above three commands, though?
Certain "fonts" that may be used (double-height/double-wide) may not be
rendered to your liking in the iTerm. It does a fairly decent job with
DEC's line drawing set. If there are certain fonts you need and iTerm
doesn't handle them, then launch a DECterm.
The first command adds the remote font server to the local font path.
You will need to setup and run a font server on your VMS system. See
DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM for details. Basically, you'll need to
$ DECW$FONT_SERVERS == "tcp/node:7100"
$ DECW$START_FONT_SERVER == "TRUE"
$ @SYS$STARTUP;DECW$STARTUP RESTART
The 'xset' command will now add this server to the font path. When a
font is requested that does not reside on your system, it will cause
it to be looked up and served from the VMS host.
% xset fp+ tcp/host:7100
The 'ssh' command allows you access, securely, to the VMS host. '-X'
says to tunnel X11 over the ssh connection
% ssh -X user@host
In your 'ssh' terminal session, issue 'CREATE/TERMINAL' to launch the
DECterm on your X server.
$ CREATE/TERMINAL
If you want some real fun, take a look into 'xnest'. You can have an
entire DECWindows CDE session on your server. A bit of an overkill as
far as my needs but it works.
VAXman-
iTerm is not an Apple product.
Michael Kraemer
>
> iTerm is not an Apple product.
>
and I thought Apple had patented the letter "i".
Simon Clubley
>
> Out of sheer curiosity: what is bothering you with PuTTY, Arne?
> Hans
I'm not Arne, but for me, the main problem with PuTTY is that PF1 through
PF4 do not work as such unless PuTTY is running in application keypad mode.
This was reproduced when I reported it on comp.terminals.
There is also a problem with some non-ASCII characters not displaying in
TPU and hence throwing the cursor position off by one. This may be a
font issue however, but it hasn't bothered me enough to track it down.
Richard B. Gilbert
Lots of luck on a free one!!
I use Reflection IV from Attachmate (formerly Walker, Richer & Quinn).
I've never had a problem with it.
seasoned_geek
Hmmm... it would seem one should be able to do something similar with
KUbuntu or Ubuntu.
Actually, the Konsole application comes pretty close with 420
emulation out of the box...They still don't let you map the numLock
key which pretty much ruins the VMS portion. The Linux weenies use
the numLock key to toggle VIM between numeric and application keypad
mode...grrrrrrr
VAXman-
>On Oct 5, 6:01=A0am, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
>> In article <Hv6dnbe-gp0aMjfRnZ2dnUVZ_rudn...@bresnan.com>, GreyCloud <m..=>> >>> For the seemingly few of you here that are running a VT Terminal emul=
>ation
>> >>> product on a Windows PC to connect to your VMS servers, can you pleas=
>e tell
>> >>> me what (hopefully free) product you are using?
>>
>> >> I use DECterm which pops a window up on my desktop Macintosh personal
>> >> computer.
>>
>> >Is there DECterm for the Intel iMacs?
>>
>> Enable the VMS font server.
>>
>> % xset +fp tcp/host:7100
>> % ssh -X user@host
>> $ create/terminal
>>
>> Perfect emulation! ;)
>>
>> --
>dot)ORG
>>
>> All your spirit rack abuses, come to haunt you back by day.
>> All your Byzantine excuses, given time, given you away.
>
>Hmmm... it would seem one should be able to do something similar with
>KUbuntu or Ubuntu.
You can. Here are the commands for Ubuntu:
$ xset +fp tcp/host:7100
$ ssh -X user@host
$ create/terminal
>Actually, the Konsole application comes pretty close with 420
>emulation out of the box...They still don't let you map the numLock
>key which pretty much ruins the VMS portion. The Linux weenies use
>the numLock key to toggle VIM between numeric and application keypad
>mode...grrrrrrr
I use Ubuntu 9.10 xterm on a 17" Toshiba Satellite. I got the Toshiba
for a steal at a liquidation sale. I like it as it has the alternate
keypad too. The only negative to it was that it was infected with the
WEENDOZE virus. I never even booted WEENDOZE. I inserted a USB drive
with Ubuntu, erased the virus and then installed Ubuntu.
The DUMB LOCK key is easily redefined with 'xmodmap' and the META-KEY
(the one that has the WEENDOZE SWASTIKA on it but now boasts a lovely
Ubuntu logo instead) is mapped as my compose character key. 5 keys
in all are redefined in my 'xmodmap' as well as the pointer orienta-
tion because I can't handle retarded right-hand mousing. The over-
sized stupid [+] key I have defaulted to the KP_minus and becomes the
KP_comma with the control key.
Arne Vajhøj
> On 5 okt, 04:42, Arne Vajhøj<a...@vajhoej.dk> wrote:
>> On 04-10-2010 05:32, Richard Maher wrote:
>>
>>> For the seemingly few of you here that are running a VT Terminal emulation
>>> product on a Windows PC to connect to your VMS servers, can you please tell
>>> me what (hopefully free) product you are using?
>>
>>> I used to use Attachmate KEA! VT and like it very much but am now quite used
>>> to Putty to connect to Linux boxes. If there are better freeware options out
>>> there then please let me know.
>>
>> I think Putty is as good as it get free.
>>
>> And it actually relative good.
>
Nothing really bothers me about putty.
I use it.
And are happy with it.
The only missing feature I know of is the soft character sets.
(some time since I last tested, but at that point in time it
did not work)
Arne
Arne Vajhøj
> I use Reflection IV from Attachmate (formerly Walker, Richer & Quinn).
>
> I've never had a problem with it.
I used Reflection years ago.
A very fine product indeed.
But for VT emulation there are cheaper alternatives of
acceptable quality.
Arne
GreyCloud
> In article <Hv6dnbe-gp0aMjfR...@bresnan.com>, GreyCloud <mi...@cumulus.com> writes:
>> JF Mezei wrote:
>>> Richard Maher wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> For the seemingly few of you here that are running a VT Terminal emulation
>>>> product on a Windows PC to connect to your VMS servers, can you please tell
>>>> me what (hopefully free) product you are using?
>>> I use DECterm which pops a window up on my desktop Macintosh personal
>>> computer.
>> Is there DECterm for the Intel iMacs?
>
> Enable the VMS font server.
>
> % xset +fp tcp/host:7100
> % ssh -X user@host
> $ create/terminal
>
> Perfect emulation! ;)
>
Very Good! And thnxs for the excellent tips.
:-)
H Vlems
Simon, excuse me for misrepresenting your name.
The Function keys I try to avoid in any emulator because they never do
what the hardware
(VT100, VT320, whatever) did.
Some escape sequences play tricks in TPU, I've noticed that too. I
blamed the Windows box
and used EDT in stead...
Are these issues known to the developer of PuTTY?
Hans
Simon Clubley
> On 5 okt, 19:26, Simon Clubley <clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-
> Earth.UFP> wrote:
>> On 2010-10-05, H Vlems <hvl...@freenet.de> wrote:
>>
>> > Out of sheer curiosity: what is bothering you with PuTTY, Arne?
>> > Hans
>>
>> I'm not Arne, but for me, the main problem with PuTTY is that PF1 through
>> PF4 do not work as such unless PuTTY is running in application keypad mode.
>> This was reproduced when I reported it on comp.terminals.
>>
>> There is also a problem with some non-ASCII characters not displaying in
>> TPU and hence throwing the cursor position off by one. This may be a
>> font issue however, but it hasn't bothered me enough to track it down.
>>
>
You didn't. :-) You really did reply to Arne, but I jumped in and decided
to tell you what _I_ had problems with when using PuTTY. :-)
> The Function keys I try to avoid in any emulator because they never do
> what the hardware
> (VT100, VT320, whatever) did.
> Some escape sequences play tricks in TPU, I've noticed that too. I
> blamed the Windows box
> and used EDT in stead...
Apart from the font problem I mentioned, I have never had problems with
PuTTY rendering output on Linux. My only real problem is with the PF1-PF4
keys not working unless application keypad mode is active.
However, now that you have mentioned it, I will probably run PuTTY past
the vttest test suite sometime and see if anything turns up. (If I do,
I will report any problems to the authors via comp.terminals; the vttest
author also reads that newsgroup.).
VAXman-
>On 05-10-2010 14:00, Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
>> I use Reflection IV from Attachmate (formerly Walker, Richer & Quinn).
>>
>> I've never had a problem with it.
>
>I used Reflection years ago.
>
>A very fine product indeed.
2, maybe 3 years ago, I was at one of the proNJ's many Pharmaceuticals.
At this particular Pharma, they were using Reflection and it *STILL* has
a bug that I reported and they've never fixed in over 10 years! I still
fall victim to it from time to time; albeit, I personally do not use it!
Fine? Maybe but it's not Fantastic!
Bob Koehler
> The Function keys I try to avoid in any emulator because they never do
> what the hardware
> (VT100, VT320, whatever) did.
> Some escape sequences play tricks in TPU, I've noticed that too. I
> blamed the Windows box
> and used EDT in stead...
> Are these issues known to the developer of PuTTY?
I've been using TPU from PuTTY for years. I'm using it right now.
The only issue I've had is to avoid numlock. My TPU section doesn't
use it much (it's not Gold for me).
John Reagan
"Bob Koehler" <koe...@eisner.nospam.encompasserve.org> wrote in message
news:TC9cvK...@eisner.encompasserve.org...
I use PuTTY and LSEDIT so I use NumLock as my GOLD key. Works for me.
Notes works just fine as well.
Works on different sized terminals too.
And works just fine with emacs on various Unix-y boxes I log into these
days.
John
Arne Vajhøj
I never liked the Gold concept at all.
So my highly customized keyboard mapping does not have
it at all.
Arne
Bob Eager
I did! I wrote the add-on for MS-DOS Kermit to make Num Lock work
propwerly as Gold. Just wish the + key wasn't double height...
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor
Bob Koehler
>
> I did! I wrote the add-on for MS-DOS Kermit to make Num Lock work
> propwerly as Gold. Just wish the + key wasn't double height...
When TPU first came out they called it "Shift" instead of "Gold".
Learning from DEBUG's Gold and Blue keys, I set up three levels
of "shift" using the same key. On all three levels there are
buttons that I use to do the things I do quite often.
I use it, and I like it. And I'm still trying to learn enough emacs
and eLisp to emulate the my TPU button that inserts the current file
name (without extension) into the file.
seasoned_geek
are significant issues with it, especially copying to/from other
applications. I really wish the maintainers would put the final
finishing touches on Konsole.
On Oct 5, 7:16 pm, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
> In article <d2d74ae0-4d50-4516-b023-54f90552f...@l6g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>, seasoned_geek <rol...@logikalsolutions.com> writes:
>
>
>
> >On Oct 5, 6:01=A0am, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
> >> In article <Hv6dnbe-gp0aMjfRnZ2dnUVZ_rudn...@bresnan.com>, GreyCloud <m..=
seasoned_geek
> In article <4cabd197$0$23764$14726...@news.sunsite.dk>, =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?= <a...@vajhoej.dk> writes:
>
> >On 05-10-2010 14:00, Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
> >> I use Reflection IV from Attachmate (formerly Walker, Richer & Quinn).
>
> >> I've never had a problem with it.
>
> >I used Reflection years ago.
>
> >A very fine product indeed.
>
> 2, maybe 3 years ago, I was at one of the proNJ's many Pharmaceuticals.
> At this particular Pharma, they were using Reflection and it *STILL* has
> a bug that I reported and they've never fixed in over 10 years! I still
> fall victim to it from time to time; albeit, I personally do not use it!
>
> Fine? Maybe but it's not Fantastic!
>
> --
> VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
>
> All your spirit rack abuses, come to haunt you back by day.
> All your Byzantine excuses, given time, given you away.
Are you certain they weren't running a 10 year old version. I've been
to client sites that were still running the version of PowerTerm which
shipped with their original DecNet PC stuff.