Windows in ASCII

In article <199...@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>
plb...@nyx10.cs.du.edu (Pete Buschman) writes:

> IUm

Obviously, you're trying to use SmartQuotes.  Unfortunately,
SmartQuotes come across as R, S, T, and U.  I suggest you just use the
regular characters ' and ".
Ronald

plb...@nyx10.cs.du.edu (Pete Buschman) writes:

>             *** ASCII gui Theoretical Hurdles ***

>Now, if such a system were to be implemented, fully integrated with
>whatever o/s it were to run under, what standards would be enforced? IUll
>try and list a few that come to mind. To all of you, please post
>additional points IUve probably missed.

>    1.) Window border characters & standards.
>    2.) Active window, passive window representation.
>    3.) Menu bars and scroll bars.
>    4.) Icons (Is this feasible?) 
>    5.) Window resizing.
>    6.) Text resolution & varying system fonts.

Such a system already exists.  It is called Nutec Desktop.  A version 
for SCO Unix is available by anonymous ftp from netcom.com:/pub/nutec.
It is the standard user interface for Ireland Online and a couple
of other online systems, but it is currently mostly used in the
business community.

It does all of the above things along with some other features I don't
think you have thought of.  On systems capabable of graphics, the
interface is graphical.  If the system has a mouse, the interface
is mouse driven.  The system supports every imaginable emulation.
It also supports AlphaWindow terminal that have all the above
capabilities implemented in hardware.  In short, it's been done.
And the standard exists already.

*Rasmus*

In article <199...@crosfield.co.uk> ra...@crosfield.co.uk (Richard Kirk) writes:
: I agree with the last posting.  There are many DOS packages that manage
: windows/mouse gui with the standard PC character set and those work well.
: It would be easily possible to come up with a good gui for a terminal that
: could manage highlighted and reversed text, and even an adequate one for
: a terminal that could only do the bare ASCII minimum.
: 
: ... deleted

  I was interested in these packages for DOS you mentioned a 
  while ago.  I have examined most of the public domain ones
  and many commercial products.  

  ALL of them lack one or both of the following features that I
  consider essential:

  . writing characters to a background window without first
    popping that window up to the front.

    - essential for multitasking applications.

  . moving a window partly off the screen.  for example, I'll
    send this command: window_move_right(window4, 30), which 
    moves a window to the right 30 units.  If the right border
    of that window is currently less than 30 units from the
    edge of the screen, I'd like it to go partly off right 
    part of the screen.  

    - essential for virtual desktop applications.

  That was about a year ago, and I am not confident there is
  any to date.
                                                             

   ______  ____________________                                     _      
   / / ._>____ __ __ __  __ __   Bryan So (s...@cs.wisc.edu)     ___-(o) ___ 
  / / . \ / ._>\ ' //. |/  ' /   Computer Sciences Department ////\_|_/\\\\
 /_/____//_\_\  / //_\_|_/\_/    1210 W. Dayton                     |      
______________ /_/_________      Madison, WI 53706                 '|`     
                                                             

In article <199...@cs.wisc.edu> s...@brownie.cs.wisc.edu writes:

>   ALL of them lack one or both of the following features that I
>   consider essential:
> 
>   . writing characters to a background window without first
>     popping that window up to the front.
> 
>     - essential for multitasking applications.
> 
>   . moving a window partly off the screen.  for example, I'll
>     send this command: window_move_right(window4, 30), which 
>     moves a window to the right 30 units.  If the right border
>     of that window is currently less than 30 units from the
>     edge of the screen, I'd like it to go partly off right 
>     part of the screen.  

I use PPP via a customised version of KA9Q (PC) called TextWin.
It can do all of the above, being an internally multitasking program
to allow serial access to the Internat as a real node.
So it's technically feasible, and for what it's worth, I think it's a great
idea. But then, I would, as I still use a Herculese mono screen :) If it
was good enough for my grandpa....

Hm... no OB-ASCII.ART as such, but here's a smiley I made up on the
spur of the moment when sorta flaming a friend:

<=3:-)   (DickHead)

If it doesn't already exist in the smiley dictionary, do you think
I'll get a mention? :)

Lance (Looking for fame)

-- 
Lance S. Buckley (LSB)  lan...@avalon.demon.co.uk
Living on the edge of the Brentford Triangle...
Make mine a pint of Large! (*sniff* Do you smell creosote?)

In article <199...@cs.wisc.edu> s...@brownie.cs.wisc.edu (Bryan S. So) writes:

>  I was interested in these packages for DOS you mentioned a 
>  while ago.  I have examined most of the public domain ones
>  and many commercial products.  
>
>  ALL of them lack one or both of the following features that I
>  consider essential:
>
>  . writing characters to a background window without first
>    popping that window up to the front.
>
>    - essential for multitasking applications.
>
>  . moving a window partly off the screen.  for example, I'll
>    send this command: window_move_right(window4, 30), which 
>    moves a window to the right 30 units.  If the right border
>    of that window is currently less than 30 units from the
>    edge of the screen, I'd like it to go partly off right 
>    part of the screen.  
>
>    - essential for virtual desktop applications.
>
>  That was about a year ago, and I am not confident there is
>  any to date.

DesqView (from Quarterdeck) can't move windows partially off
screen, at least not in the version (2.42) they were selling a
year or two ago.  However, it is ASCII oriented, easy to program
for, and very powerful.  I wrote a "supervisor" program to
operate Lotus 1-2-3 (in concert with another program) under
Desqview, by sending keystrokes to it and reading its screen,
even though 1-2-3 was not Desqview-aware.

\"Lance S. Buckley LSB (lan...@avalon.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: In article <199...@cs.wisc.edu> s...@brownie.cs.wisc.edu writes:

: >   ALL of them lack one or both of the following features that I
: >   consider essential:
: > 
: >   . writing characters to a background window without first
: >     popping that window up to the front.
: > 
: >     - essential for multitasking applications.
: > 
: >   . moving a window partly off the screen.  for example, I'll
: >     send this command: window_move_right(window4, 30), which 
: >     moves a window to the right 30 units.  If the right border
: >     of that window is currently less than 30 units from the
: >     edge of the screen, I'd like it to go partly off right 
: >     part of the screen.  

Serveral people have recommended Borland's Turbo Vision which is a part
of their application frameworks package. It is C++ based and can, I think,
do all the things you mention.


--
Dan Gould
gou...@waterloo.hp.com