HFS compatibe GS term pro

[jeff.blakeney@canrem.com (Jeff Blakeney)]

Subject: HFS compatibe GS term program

>Why not use the ANSI emulation instead.  After all, colour ANSI that is
>used on IBM BBS's is just a superset of VT-100 (which was also called
>ANSI way back when).  Mind you, you're still not using the desktop with
>the menu bar, which is the way I would prefer it to work.  :(

 AS> Because it doesn't work.

I didn't realize this.  I haven't tried it very extensively myself but on
colour ANSI boards, I have used the ANSI and VT100 online displays
interchangeably.  I use ANSI to get full colour and VT100 for speed.  I
don't need to change the setting on the BBS from ANSI to anything, I just
change online displays.  The VT100 display will not interpret all the
ANSI commands that are sent and the screen will look a little weird
sometimes but it does accept most of the commands.

This, and the reason I stated in the quote above are why I figured that
you could use the ANSI online display when VT100 emulation was needed.  I
guess I'll have to test this out sometime.

 AS> No, that isn't it. I have v2.0. Spectrum's scrollback is a reflection
   > of the capture buffer (at least this is the default setting - I don't
   > want to see the "standard" scrollback content). Unfortunately, the
   > capture buffer is everything but a true mirror of the actual terminal
   > display content. And no, I don't want to mess around with Spectrum's
   > filter just to have a proper scrollback / capture file. This really
   > stinks!

All you need to do to change scrollback buffers data to raw or filtered is
to create a file called User.Script in the Spectrum.Scripts folder and
have it contain the line:

    Set ScrollData Raw

or the line:

    Set ScrollData Filtered

The User.Script file is executed automatically whenever you start
Spectrum, therefore this command will always be executed and the
scrollback buffer will, in effect, default to whatever you want it too.
Raw will store every byte that comes into the serial port while Filtered
will act just like the capture buffer and store the data that comes into
the serial port AFTER it has been processed by the online display.

 AS> Problem with Spectrum is that its main focus is on the scripting
   > language, which seems to be the perhaps most powerful of all other
   > communication programs an any computer. But Spectrum's author
   > completely forgot to get all the standard features of such a program
   > right. If the terminal emulation and scrollback, the parts that mark
   > the interface to the user, are poor, the program turns out to be
   > nearly useless.

Yes, the scripting language is fantastic but the biggest reason I like
Spectrum is simply that it is a GS/OS program.  I prefer to stay in GS/OS
as much as possible because GS/OS programs will take better advantage of
my machine (ie. allowing access to all my desk accessories, FSTs, memory,
et al).  Besides, Spectrum is set up in such a way that the online
displays can be easily upgraded and with the scripting language, there is
practically nothing this program can't do.

 AS> I think exactly this is why many people dislike Spectrum and
   > continue using ProTERM.

Granted, not everybody likes GS/OS or GUI interfaces.  And another thing
in ProTERM's favour is the fact that it is very easy to use but is still a
very powerful program.  Spectrum can definitely be overwhelming to many
users because the power and complexity of the program are not hidden as
well in the interface as they are in ProTERM.

It kind of depends on how much work you want to put into using your
communications program.

 * 2qwk! 2.01 * What has four legs and an arm? A happy pit bull.