copyright (c) 1994 by Paul Wheaton, Banana Programming
The ANSI-BBS industry is riddled with conflicts. Since the true ANSI
standard has not been strictly followed, a variety of variations have
evolved. Some have become popular.
This document spells out what BananaCom uses for it's terminal emulation: A
mish-mash of ANSI, VT100, pseudo-ANSI and pseudo-VT100 that tries to follow
what most modem services expect and use. Perhaps this will help to make
BBS's and COM programs work together with a little less research and
programming effort.
Note that some features of BananaCom are intentionally undocumented. This
has mostly to do with VT100 stuff which is well documented in other places
AND, I think, the use of which should be discouraged.
Terminal sends:
All ASCII characters from 1 to 127 are sent as is. If somebody wants to
feed a special character that comes through as a character 128 through
255, send that through too.
Note that "Doorway mode" is a simple, beautiful thing developed by
Marshall Dudley that allows a user calling a modem service to run DOS
programs on the modem service! Look for DRWY*.* on your favorite modem
service or call Marshall Dudley's support BBS at (615)675-3282. While
BananaCom is in Doorway Mode, all IBM PC extended keys send a NULL
character (ASCII value 0) followed by the scan code given by the BIOS.
The following keystrokes are well established:
Keystroke Sent Doorway mode
left arrow key ESC [ D NULL 75
right arrow key ESC [ C NULL 77
up arrow key ESC [ A NULL 72
down arrow key ESC [ B NULL 80
home key ESC [ H NULL 71
end key ESC [ K NULL 79
^home key ESC [ L NULL 119
^page up ESC [ M NULL 132
F1 key ESC O P NULL 59
F2 key ESC O Q NULL 60
F3 key ESC O w NULL 61
F4 key ESC O x NULL 62
capital "oh", not a zero^ ^ASCII value 0
All other keys send a NULL character (ASCII value 0) and then the BIOS
scan code (as a character, not multi digits representing the number).
Note that most com programs will use Alt-A through Alt-Z and Alt-1
through Alt-9 and Alt-0. If there happens to be keys left they will be
passed through.
Function keys are your best bet and are all passed through
Alone Shift Ctrl Alt
F1 NULL 84 NULL 94 NULL 104
F2 NULL 85 NULL 95 NULL 105
F3 NULL 86 NULL 96 NULL 106
F4 NULL 87 NULL 97 NULL 107
F5 NULL 63 NULL 88 NULL 98 NULL 108
F6 NULL 64 NULL 89 NULL 99 NULL 109
F7 NULL 65 NULL 90 NULL 100 NULL 110
F8 NULL 66 NULL 91 NULL 101 NULL 111
F9 NULL 67 NULL 92 NULL 102 NULL 112
F10 NULL 68 NULL 93 NULL 103 NULL 113
Some com programs use the Page Up and Page Down keys to initiate a file
transfer although this seems to be changing - these keys are of great
use to BBS's.
Page Up NULL 73
Page Down NULL 81
Insert NULL 82
Note that when you press control-page-down with some terminal programs,
they send ESC [ H ESC [ 2 J and a lot of BBS's simply ignore that.
ctrl-page-down NULL 118
ctrl-end NULL 117
ctrl-left-arrow NULL 115
ctrl-right-arrow NULL 116
shift-tab NULL 15
Terminal receives:
Most ANSI terminals use a screen 80x24 - with the last line reserved for
reporting the current status of the terminal program. BananaCom uses
this standard.
There are a few ASCII characters that have a special effect on the
terminal:
Dec Hex char function
7 7 ^G beep
8 8 ^H destructive backspace
9 9 ^I tab - move to next tab column (8,16,24,32,40...)
10 A ^J line feed - move down one. Scroll up if needed
12 C ^L clear screen & home cursor (1,1)
13 D ^M return - move cursor to column 1
Note that there is some controversy in the ANSI vs. VT100 worlds about
what color (attribute) to use when clearing the screen. From what I
could find out, this is the result of "might makes right" introduced by
DOS version 3.x. Before DOS 3.x, clear the screen was always "clear to
black". DOS 3 used "clear to current attribute background color" - this
introduced conflict. Now, some programs clear to black and some clear to
the current attribute. The safest thing to do, of course, is to set your
background attribute to black before you clear. Earlier versions of
BananaCom would clear to black, newer versions clear to current attribute
- don't count on this staying this way. HOWEVER! You can count on the
"ESC [ b" functions that allow you to color a region, including the whole
screen! See below for more details.
Note also that in Doorway mode passing through a NULL (ASCII value 0), will
force the next character to be displayed on the screen and not
interpretted.
Example:
Sending a ^L that is not preceeded by a NULL character will result in
clearing the screen. Sending a NULL character and then ^L while in
doorway mode will result in the female symbol appearing at the current
cursor location.
Escape sequences do not have spaces in them. Spaces have been added
here for readability.
Anything appearing in angle brackets is an escape sequnce variable. The
angle brackets are not sent.
ESC D scroll up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of the text on the screen (or the scrolling region, if one is
defined) is scrolled up one line. The bottom line is filled with
spaces colored according to the current attribute.
Note that there is no left bracket "[" between the ESC and the 'D'.
Example: ESC D scroll all text up one line
ESC M scroll down
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of the text on the screen (or the scrolling region, if one is
defined) is scrolled down one line. The top line is filled with spaces
colored according to the current attribute.
Note that there is no left bracket "[" between the ESC and the 'M'.
Example: ESC M scroll all text down one line
ESC c reset terminal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is something of particular use to door programs and internet
service providers. Sometimes, a user will go into a door or telnet to
an internet service and they will set a variety of bizarre terminal
modes that BananaCom (and other COM programs) will retain until told to
drop them. If you send this sequence, you can know for certain that
you have the defaults and a clean slate. I strongly recommend that
modem services, door programs and any on-line utilities use this often.
Especially if your service is offered on the internet.
ESC [ @ insert char
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Insert a space into the current line at the current cursor position.
The character at column 80 is thrown out. The current attribute is
used for the new space.
ESC [ <NumLines> A cursor up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Move the cursor up specified number of lines (default is one).
If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since last "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r"
then the cursor will not be allowed to move beyond the top of the
scrolling region.
Example: ESC [ 1 0 A move up ten lines
Example: ESC [ A move up one line
ESC [ <NumLines> B cursor down
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Move the cursor down specified number of lines (default is one).
If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since last "ESC [ <var> ; <var> r"
then the cursor will not be allowed to move beyond the bottom of the
scrolling region.
Example: ESC [ 1 0 B move down ten lines
Example: ESC [ B move down one line
ESC [ <NumCols> C cursor right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Move the cursor right specified number of lines (default is one).
Example: ESC [ 1 0 C move right ten columns
Example: ESC [ C move right one column
ESC [ <NumCols> D cursor left
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Move the cursor left specified number of lines (default is one). Cannot
move beyond left of screen.
Example: ESC [ 1 0 D move left ten columns
Example: ESC [ D move left one column
ESC [ <Num> E line feed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Convert to specified number of line feeds. If the cursor is at the
bottom of the screen (or scrolling region if one is defined) text will
be scrolled up and the bottom line will be cleared.
Example: ESC [ 1 0 E convert and process as ten linefeeds
Example: ESC [ E convert and process as onr linefeed
(why not just send ^J ?)
ESC [ F undefined
ESC [ G undefined
ESC [ <row> ; <col> H move to
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Move cursor to this position.
If "ESC [ ? 6 h" has been received since the last
"ESC [ <var> ; <var> r" then the cursor will be positioned relative to
the scrolling region.
This will perform exactly the same as "ESC [ <row> ; <col> f".
Example: ESC [ 1 0 ; 5 H The cursor will be positioned at row 10
and column 5.
Example: ESC [ 10 H The cursor will be positioned at row 10
and column 1.
Example: ESC [ H The cursor will be positioned at row 1
and column 1.
ESC [ I undefined
ESC [ <type> J clear all or part of display
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clear all or part of the screen (or scrolling region if one is
defined).
The cleared region will always be the "current attribute", although
this could later change to "clear to black" due to some standards
issues.
Cursor does not move.
Example: ESC [ 0 J Clear from cursor to end of screen
Example: ESC [ 1 J Clear from beginning of screen to cursor
Example: ESC [ 2 J Clear whole screen
(note that sending ^L does the same thing)
Example: ESC [ J same as "ESC [ 0 J"
ESC [ <type> K clear all or part of current line
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cleared region will always be the "current attribute" although
this could later change to "clear to black" due to some standards
issues.
Cursor does not move.
Example: ESC [ 0 K Clear from cursor to end of line
Example: ESC [ 1 K Clear from beginning of line to cursor
Example: ESC [ 2 K Clear whole line
Example: ESC [ K same as "ESC [ 0 K"
ESC [ <num> L insert line
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"<num>" blank lines will be inserted at the current cursor location.
These lines will have the color of the current attribute. The previous
current line and all of the lines below will be moved down. Lines that
are scrolled beyond the bottom of the screen (or scrolling region, if
one is defined) will be lost.
Example: ESC [ 1 0 K insert ten lines
Example: ESC [ K insert one line
ESC [ M ANSI Music / delete line
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the biggest conflict in ANSI emulation. The actual ANSI
standard clearly states that this sequence is to be used for "delete
line". The person that came up with "ANSI music" must not have known
this. There are still many modem services and mainframe computers that
depend on this being "delete line" - however, far more people are
served by systems that depend on this being "ANSI music".
What this means is that as a programmer, you cannot depend on ESC [ M.
Some modem services and com programs will lock up when they expect one
thing and receive another.
Here is a solution:
a) A modem service can send "ESC [ b" to the terminal. If the
emulation outlined in this document is supported, 003 will be sent
back. If it is not, the terminal will most likely not show the
escape sequence and you can then know that ESC [ M should be
avoided since its interpretation is unknown and could cause a
lockup.
b) Use "ESC [ N" for music and "ESC [ Y" for delete line.
What BananaCom supports for ESC [ M may change although at the time of
this writing, it is used for ANSI music. See "ESC [ N" and "ESC [ Y"
for information on how to use ANSI music and delete line.
ESC [ N <music codes> <^N> ANSI music
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This command is provided with BananaCom as a substitute to the
traditional ANSI music sequence of "ESC [ M" since that sequence has
conflicts.
For complete information on how to use ANSI music, look for the file
BBSAMT*.* (BBS ANSI Music Tutor) by Linda Bloom. This file is
available on the Montana Banana BBS (406)543-8234 and Bloomunit BBS
(407)687-8712.
Example: ESC [ N E 8 G 8 G 8 G 8 F 4 E 8 G 2 ^N this will belt out
the first few notes of "Popeye the Sailor". "ESC [ N" starts the music
sequence and the control-N character finishes. What's in between are
all of the notes and how long each note lasts. Further details of the
music may be provided as specified in BBSAMT.
Note that this is not an ANSI or VT100 standard, but something that is
in BananaCom. I hope other com program folks do the same.
ESC [ O undefined
ESC [ <num> P delete char
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delete the character at the current cursor position. All characters to
the right of the cursor will be shifted one to the left. The right
most character on the screen will be converted to a space and will have
the same attribute as the character that used to be there.
Example: ESC [ 1 0 P delete ten characters
Example: ESC [ P delete one character
ESC [ Q undefined
ESC [ R undefined
ESC [ S scroll up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
see ESC D
ESC [ T scroll down
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
see ESC M
ESC [ U clear
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clear the screen with the "normal" attribute and home the cursor.
New text will use the previously defined attribute.
Note that this does the exact same thing as ^L.
ESC [ V undefined
ESC [ W undefined
ESC [ X undefined
ESC [ <num> Y delete line
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This command is provided with BananaCom as a substitute to the
traditional delete line sequence of "ESC [ M" since that sequence has
conflicts.
"<num>" lines will be deleted at the current cursor location.
Lines from below will be scrolled up. The blank lines inserted at the
bottom of the screen (or scrolling region, if one is defined) will be
colored with the current attribute.
Example: ESC [ 1 0 Y delete ten lines
Example: ESC [ Y delete one line
Note that this is not an ANSI standard, but something that is in
BananaCom. I hope other COM program folks do the same.
ESC [ Z back tab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Relocate the cursor to the previous tab. Tabs are located at columns
1, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72 and 80. So, if your cursor is
currently located at column 10 and a "ESC [ Z" is received, the cursor
will be moved to column 8.
ESC [ a undefined
ESC [ b Banana ANSI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are five different functions that can be accessed through this
sequence.
ESC [ 0 b
ESC [ b
Banana ANSI query. If a terminal uses everything listed in this
document, it will send back
003
later versions may return 004 or 005 or 006 etc.
ESC [ 1 <Row> ; <Col> ; <Wide> ; <High> ; <Att> b
Color box. All parameters are optional. Relative to the scrolling
region if one is defined. "ESC [ 1 b" would color the entire screen
(or scrolling region, if one is defined) to the current attribute.
Note that the default for "High" is 24 or the height of the scrolling
region if one is defined.
Note that "Att" is a number that represents PC text video attributes.
Examples:
ESC [ 5 ; 3 0 ; 2 0 ; 1 0 ; 1 6 b
This would put a blue box on the screen 20 columns wide and 10
lines high with the upper left corner being in position row 5 and
column 30.
ESC [ 5 ; 3 0 b
This puts a box on the screen colored with the current attribute.
The upper left corner is in row 5, column 30 and the lower right
corner of the box is in the bottom of the screen (or scrolling
region if one is defined) and column 80.
ESC [ 2 <Row> ; <Col> ; <Wide> ; <High> ; <Att> b
Draw box. Similar to "ESC [ 1 b" except that a single line box is
drawn.
ESC [ 3 b
Preserve the screen. The entire screen (except for the status line
at the bottom) is saved.
ESC [ 4 b
Restore a preserved screen. Whatever the screen looked like before
the last "ESC [ 3 b", is how it will look after this escape sequence.
Note that things like cursor location and current attribute are not
saved.
Note that these sequnces are not an ANSI standard, but something that
is in BananaCom. I hope other com program folks do the same.
ESC [ c VT100 query response
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some modem services use mainframe computers that send this and are
looking for some unique response or they will assume your terminal is
brain dead. BananaCom sends back "ESC [ ? 1 ; 2 c" and that seems to
keep most machines happy.
ESC [ d undefined
ESC [ e undefined
ESC [ f move to
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
see "ESC [ H"
ESC [ g not used - VT100 tabs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
not supported in BananaCom
ESC [ h set options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These options include sending an actual question mark or equals sign as
part of the sequence:
ESC [ ? 6 h certain functions which normally ignore the
scrolling region, will now operate relative to the
scrolling region. Note that those functions will
again ignore the scrolling region the next time the
scrolling region is changed.
ESC [ ? 7 h Auto word wrap is turned on (it is normally on -
this is provided in case you turn it off).
ESC [ = 2 5 5 h doorway mode on (default is off). This makes
BananaCom disable many user functions so that those
keystrokes may be passed through to the modem
service - also, all cursor keys that were passed
through as an escape sequence, are now passed
through as a null sequence (see top of file for
more info).
ESC [ i not used - VT100 print stuff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
not supported in BananaCom
ESC [ j undefined
ESC [ k undefined
ESC [ l set options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These options include sending an actual question mark or equals sign as
part of the sequence. They compliment the "ESC [ h" sequences. Note
that these seqences end with a lowercase L:
ESC [ ? 6 l Negates "ESC [ ? 6 h". This is the default.
ESC [ ? 7 l Auto word wrap is turned off. Note that the next
time you change the scrolling region, word wrap will
be turned on again.
ESC [ = 2 5 5 l doorway mode off
ESC [ <num> ; <num> ; ... m set video attributes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Set the foreground color, background color and blink attributes for
future text. Note that each number may overwrite or enhance a previous
number. There are four basic attributes:
Foreground color: 8 colors
Bright: On or off
Background color: 8 colors
Blinking: On or off
Effects
Possible numbers to pass: FC Br BC Bl
0 "normal": gray on black, no blink x x x x
1 bright foreground x
2 regular (non-bright) foreground x
4 underscore if available x
5 Blink on x
6 Blink on (yup, same as 5) x
7 reverse x x
8 invisible text (fore=back) x x x
30 black (+Br=dark gray) x
31 red (+Br=bright red) x
32 green (+Br=bright green) x
33 brown (+Br=yellow) x
34 blue (+Br=bright blue) x
35 magenta (+Br=bright magenta) x
36 cyan (+Br=bright cyan) x
37 gray (+Br=white) x
40 black x
41 red x
42 green x
43 brown x
44 blue x
45 magenta x
46 cyan x
47 gray x
Examples:
ESC [ 0 ; 1 ; 3 3 m yellow on black with no blink
ESC [ 3 3 m use same background as before.
no change to blink attribute.
foreground is either brown or yellow
depending on the bright attribute.
ESC [ m use "normal" attribute - gray on black,
no blink.
ESC [ 6 n report current cursor location
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If the cursor is located in the lower-right corner of the screen,
BananaCom will respond "ESC 2 4 ; 8 0 R". Many modem services will
send "ESC [ 6 n" before asking a user what their name is. When the
response is given, the modem service knows that the calling computer
supports ANSI terminal emulation.
ESC [ 2 5 5 n report screen size
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"ESC 2 4 ; 8 0 R" is always sent back.
ESC [ o undefined
ESC [ p not used - ANSI keyboard reassignment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
not supported in BananaCom
ESC [ q not used - VT100 keyboard lights
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
has to do with turning the VT100 keyboard lights on and off.
not supported in BananaCom
ESC [ <top> ; <bottom> r set scroll region
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Define a region of the screen for scrolling. This is usually used for
full screen text editors. Some information can be stored on some parts
of the screen that will remain for the entire editing session - such as
what keys you push to indicate that you are done editing. The scroll
region will be where the user types the text of their message. Some
commands (escape sequences) always ignore the scrolling region; some
default to ignoring the scrolling region, but can work relative to the
scrolling region when the "ESC [ ? 6 h" sequence is sent; some always
work relative to the scrolling region if one is defined.
Example: ESC [ 2 ; 2 3 r leave the first and last lines out of
the scrolling region.
Example: ESC [ 5 r the first four lines are left out of the
scrolling region.
Example: ESC [ r turn off scrolling region
ESC [ s save current cursor position
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The current cursor position is stored and can be reset with
"ESC [ u"
ESC [ t undefined
ESC [ u restore cursor position from last save
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Restores the cursor position that was stored with "ESC [ s"
ESC [ v undefined
ESC [ w undefined
ESC [ x undefined
ESC [ y not used - VT100 tests
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VT100 specs say that this is to invoke certain tests.
Not supported in BananaCom.
ESC [ z not used - reset
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
some "ANSI" terminals use this to reset
The information in this document is for programmers writing all sorts of
communications software - whether BBS's, door programs, or terminal
emulation programs. If you use this, I hope you mention "Banana ANSI" in
your documentation.
The latest version of this document can be found on
The Montana Banana BBS (406)543-8234
Anyone having any information on VT100 class emulation or ANSI emulation
that is not mentioned in this text file, I would appreciate a copy.
Paul Wheaton
Banana Programming
1916 Brooks #205
Missoula, MT 59801
CompuServe: 72707,207
Internet: 72707.207@compuserve.com
Resources:
BBSAMT40.ZIP - ANSI Music Tutorial by Linda Bloom
DRWY222.ZIP - Doorway by Marshall Dudley
VT101 Video Terminal User Guide - part EK-VT101-UG-003 by Digital
Equipment Corporation.
VT102 Video Terminal User Guide - part EK-VT102-UG-003 by Digital
Equipment Corporation.
ANSI.X34 - ANSI X3.64 encodings as interpretted by a BYTE magazine
author, April 1984 page 365.
BananaCom Philosophy:
Different modem services use different terminal emulations and different
"dialects" of terminal emulations.
COM programs are trying to keep up by offering users dozens (hundreds,
sometimes infinite!) of configuration switches. Users can pick which
emulation they want to use with each service and then create "dialects"
that will work best with that particular service.
Now modem services are trying to expand their markets - trying to
include people that are uncomfortable with computers and especially
uncomfortable with modems.
In an effort to help users get started with using their modem, and not be
intimidated by a plethora of options and features, BananaCom will have as
few features as possible while still giving users the functionality
necessary to cleanly accomplish simple tasks on VT100 and ANSI systems.