Programming to RF Data Collection Terminals

Sdruvss

New Member
:confused: :confused: :confused:
I'm trying to use a RF terminal with vt100 emulation that have only 8 lines to 26 columns. Server is Windows2000 with telnet server software installed (Georgia from Softworks). If it was a Linux server I would use protermcap to define terminal specs (rows and columns) but under windows progress doesn't use protermcap. How do I define screen size (8x26) when I use telnet server under windows? Or, how do I inhibit status messagens at line 25?
 
Hi,

You can do the following:
1. Right click on the Title Bar
2. Select Properties
3. Select Layout Tab
4. Set the Following fields as shown:
Screen Buffer Size:
Width = 80
Height = 25
Window Size:
Width = 80
Height = 25

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Allan
 
Hi Allan,

You said:
You can do the following:
1. Right click on the Title Bar

Hummm:confused: where, when, how, why...

Sorry but I didn't understand of what are you talking about. I think I was not clear. I was asking how to tell to Progress 4GL, character mode (_progres.exe), running under windows2000, that screen size is not 25x80 as it assumes, but 8x26.

Thank you anyway.

Regards,
Sdruvss



 
hi Sdruvss,

I am sorry, probably i got your question wrong.
I thought you are having a problem with the display window while executing _progres.exe under windows 2000.

Regards,
Allan
 
I'm still waiting for someone help me :(:confused:

Does anyone have some piece of code, that runs under character mode (_progres.exe), that uses a small size screen?

Thanks.
 
Sdruvss said:
:confused: :confused: :confused:
I'm trying to use a RF terminal with vt100 emulation that have only 8 lines to 26 columns. Server is Windows2000 with telnet server software installed (Georgia from Softworks). If it was a Linux server I would use protermcap to define terminal specs (rows and columns) but under windows progress doesn't use protermcap. How do I define screen size (8x26) when I use telnet server under windows? Or, how do I inhibit status messagens at line 25?

SD,

I'm afraid I know nothing about terminals and the like, so can't help much. There is a terminal statement, which I would guess you would use like so:

TERMINAL = 'vt100'. (in your progress program on Windows)

However, I was actually going to suggest that if you haven't solved your problem yet, you try asking on the Peg, where similar issues have cropped up before, eg:

http://www.peg.com/lists/peg/history/200205/thrd4.html#01990

HTH

Lee
 
8 lines? A luxury :-) We have 5 lines on our RDTs.

What we do when using telnet to a Unix machine (although the same applies to Windows/DOS) is to ignore the screen size and use frames of a certain size.

So, taking a snippet of our code:

def var this_location as char form "x(4)" no-undo.
form
"Set Location" skip
this_location label "Loc" help ""
with
side-labels 1 down frame fr_loc row 1 col 1 no-box size 20 by 3.

So, we set the frame to be no-box to stop wasting space, row 1 col 1 to ensure it stays visible on the RDT, 1 down for the same reason, 20 by 3 so that it fits nicely on the screen and help "" so that Progress does not go to the bottom of the window and display the help.

We also generally use the bottom line of the screen for program-driven messages, for example:

procedure p_error_message:
def input param inp_message as char no-undo.
def input param inp_pressakey as logical no-undo.
display inp_message form "x(20)" help "" with
frame fr_message no-box no-labels row 5 col 1 overlay.
if inp_pressakey then do:
readkey.
hide frame fr_message no-pause.
end.
end procedure.

This puts a message on screen and waits for a key press, if required, hiding the message after the keypress, or leaves it on screen.

Genrally, things to look out for are:
1. Variables that go off the screen (use fill-in with the format of the fill-in greater than the width of the fill-in)
2. Long messages (truncate them to fit in the screen width)
3. Rogue help statements and messages
4. Progress Error Messages - these appear as alert-boxes and really confuse people.

Always use pause 0 before-hide and sprinkle pause 0 no-message statements wherever you get a space bar after frames.

Once you get a framework that works, stick with it and don't get too complicated. Also, make sure that all the programs you are going to call use the standard frame sizes. Don't use browses as they are really messy on an RDT. If you want key input, try to stick with numbers, where possible, as they are easier to key in while wearing gloves in a freezing warehouse.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Simon
 
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