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From: robert@gitpyr.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: While we're blaming the terminal...
Message-ID: <2800@gitpyr.gatech.EDU>
Date: Mon, 15-Dec-86 11:40:31 EST
Article-I.D.: gitpyr.2800
Posted: Mon Dec 15 11:40:31 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Dec-86 01:16:27 EST
References: <8612020023.AA05566@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <533@omssw2.UUCP> <2789@slate.Diamond.BBN.COM> <844@tpvax.tc.fluke.COM>
Reply-To: robert@gitpyr.UUCP (Robert Viduya)
Organization: Office of Computing Services, Georgia Tech
Lines: 30

>inc@tc.fluke.COM (Gary Benson) (inc@tc.fluke.COM, <844@tpvax.tc.fluke.COM>):
> Oops, I think your ignorance is showing there podner. ESC-[-A isn't just
> something DEC pulled out of the air to confuse poor EMACS! The VT-100
> terminal is so widely used and became an industry standard because it
> implements ANSI standard X3.41. Standards are awfully tough to come by, and
> it is not a trivial task to create them. X3.41 is responsible for ASCII,
> the 8-bit character standard that makes it possible for you to so
> effortlessly complain about "multiple character codes".

Just to set the record straight, ESC-[-A isn't in the X3.41 standard.  It's
in the X3.64 standard, along with most of the other control sequences the
VT100 and other ANSI standard terminal recognize.

However, I would like to add that no-where in the standard does it say that
cursor keys are supposed to send ESC-[-A, B, C, or D.  The standard has
nothing whatsoever to say about key definitions or keyboards at all.  All
it covers is what sequence the device will recognize in it's receiving
stream.  Now, while it may be perfectly logical to have the cursor keys
send ESC-[-A, B, C, or D, DEC's practice of having the function keys send
ESC-O-x (where "x" is just about any character) is, in my opinion, contrary
to the standard.  ESC-O is a Single-Shift-3, which is used to switch character
sets for the next received character, not for distinguishing function keys
from other keys on the keyboard.

				robert
-- 
Robert Viduya					     robert@pyr.ocs.gatech.edu
Office of Computing Services					(404) 894-4660
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia	30332