1. General Information
======================

TD (Terminal Definition) lets you edit any existing terminal definition
in SimpliFile.  The program is menu driven, and "almost" self-explanatory.

Two general points:

     * You will need your terminal hardware manual handy.

     * If you have any problems, CALL US.  We will help you out
       over the phone.  Durant Software's phone number is (415) 540-0912.

Before running TD, you should have run TERMINAL to define a terminal
to SimpliFile that is "close" to yours.  This terminal definition
will be the starting point for the edit process.  If you are unsure
of a terminal that is "close", try the Osborne 1.

After entering

     A>TD<RETURN>

you will be given an oppurtunity to change disks and read this documentation.
After that the master menu is displayed.  Start by typing

     1

to list your current terminal definition.  Compare the information with your
hardware manual, and when you see discrepancies, enter a

     2

to begin the edit process.  After making edits and returning to the master
menu, type a

     3

to update the SimpliFile terminal definition.  If you are dissatisfied
with your new terminal definition, type a

     4

to exit without changing SimpliFile.

Now run SimpliFile by entering

     A>SF<RETURN>

and looking at the results.  Repeat this process until you are satisfied
with the results.

2. Terminal Editing
===================

When editing a terminal definition, TD displays abouty 13 different
categories of terminal information to edit.  All but a few are
self-explanatory.  The ones that are not are Position Cursor,
Move Cursor, Highlight a Field, and Pad Character.

3. Editing: Position Cursor
===========================

SimpliFile's Terminal Definition  supports six different conventions for
positioning the cursor to a specified row and column.

The first, and by far the most common, is descended from
the ADM 3A, and requires a four character Escape sequence:
          ESC = R C
The ESC and = are transmitted as is.  The R is the desired
row number + 32 (where rows start at 0).  For example, row
20 would be the ASCII character 2, with a decimal value of
20+32 = 52, which is hexadecimal 32.  The C is the desired
column, using the same convention as for the row.  With
the exception of the terminals below, this is 
universally used.

The second is for the DEC VT-100 and other ANSI standard
terminals.  The sequence is:
          ESC [ Row ; Column H
The Row  and Column values start at 1 and are represented
as ASCII text strings.

The third is for the entire line of Vector Graphic
computers.  The sequence is:
          ESC Column Row
The column and row start at 0 and are represented as
ASCII numeric values.  Some implementations add 128 to the
values to turn on the high bit, but this is not required.

The fourth is for the ADDS Viewpoint and DEC VT-52.  The sequence is:
          ESC Y R C
The R and C are just like the ADM 3A.

The fifth is for the Hewlett Packard 125.  The sequence is:
          ESC & a  Row r Column C
The Row  and Column values start at 0 and are represented
as ASCII text strings.

The sixth is for you to specify exactly how the cursor is addressed.
You must carefully study your hardware manual, and then respond
to the following questions:

	1. The row bias, i.e. the row number to specify relative
        to zero.  For example, if the row bias were 32 (very common),
        then the topmost row (row 0) would be specified as a 32.
	2. The column bias; the same principle as the row bias.
	3. Whether rows or columns are transmitted first
	4. Whether row and column values are in binary
	   or ASCII text
	5. The ASCII sequence before the first of row or column
	   are transmitted (called The Leadin Sequence)
	6. The ASCII sequence (if any) separating the
	   row and column values (called The Middle Sequence)
	7. The ASCII sequence  (if any) after the latter of row
	   or column are transmitted (called The Ending Sequence)


4. Editing: Move Cursor
=======================

SimpliFile's Terminal Definition  supports cursor movement sequences
(i.e., up, down, left, right) of one to three characters in length.
By far the most common, but by no means universal convention,
is for one character sequences.

You are first asked to define the output cursor sequences, that is, the
sequences that are transmitted by the computer to move the cursor up, down,
etc.

You are then asked if the input cursor sequences should be the same.  In most
cases, the answer to this is Yes.  There are two notable exceptions
to this rule:

     * When the computer/terminal uses different codes for input and output.
       The Xerox 820 II is the only one we know of that does this, but
       there are no doubt others.

     * When you are used to using specific control keys that do not match
       the arrow keys to move the cursor around.  If someone has used
       WordStar, for example, for several years, they will probably want to
       customize their cursor input sequences to match WordStar.


5. Editing: Highlighting
========================

There are two ways terminals usually support highlighting.  Number one,
by writing a highlight on and a highlight off character to the screen.
Terminal falling into this category are the TeleVideo and the Lear
Siegler line.  Number two, by writing to the screen the whole field
to be highlighted, sometimes with the high bit turned on.
SimpliFile's Terminal Definition does not presently support method two.
This will be fixed in the near future.

6. Pad Character
================

Some terminals need pad characters after Clear Screen, Clear End of
Screen, or Clear End of Line.  Pad characters are non-displayable characters
that give the terminal time to finish the operation (e.g. Clear Screen)
before the displayable characters are received.  This is a characteristic of
older terminals without buffers for the characters being transmitted.  Newer
terminals and the modern integrated computer/terminals (Xerox 820 II,
Osborne 1, etc.) rarely (if ever) need these pad characters.  If you sometimes
see one to three characters of gibberish on the screen, go into the pad
character function and set the number of pad characters for all operations
to zero.


7. Conclusion
=============

We hope that TD lets you customize your terminal to SimpliFile in an orderly
manner.  Once again, if you have any problems, call us.  Have your hardware
manual handy, as well as a record of what happened.

A parting thought: to adequately read this documentation and keep a record
of your terminal definition, run everything with your <CTRL> P toggle on,
so it all comes out on your printer.
  Pad characters are non-displayable charac