Re: [Fwd: Re: [LINUX5250] xt5250 Function Keys]

[Scott Klement <klemscot@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> OK, I'm finally getting back to this.  In the .tn5250rc file, where do I
> make this entry - I have three hosts set up, so do I put simply
> "-underscores" inside each host entry?

Yes, that'll work.   You can also put it at the top of the file, before
any hosts are defined, if you want it to apply to all of them.


> Also, I still need a suggestion for the function key problem.

Okay...  The contents of the XTerm file have always worked for me out of
the box on both FreeBSD and RedHat.  I've never tried Gentoo, but I'm
not sure why it'd be different.

Here's how keyboard mapping works, and maybe this'll help you solve the
problem yourself:

tn5250 looks for specific character strings ("escape sequences") in it's
input from the terminal.   When it finds these, it generates the
appropriate 5250 code to send to the AS/400.

X11 has a database called the "X resource database" which contains lots of
properties that the programs can use.  The .Xdefaults file is one way to
add entries to that database.   Another way is by adding files to the
XUSERFILESEARCHPATH variable...  the xt5250 shell script adds your
/usr/local/share/XTerm file to this path.  Again, all this does is put the
entries into your X resource database.   You can use the xrdb program to
manually manipulate that database as well.   If you want to see if your
.Xdefaults file has loaded successfully, you can do:
       xrdb -query

to list the contents ot the Xresource database..  or xrdb /path/to/file
to load more entries.

Once the entries are loaded, the xterm program reads them in and sends
the appropriate string to tn5250 when the appropriate key is pressed on
the keyboard.

So, if your keys aren't working, either the overrides aren't being placed
in the database, or the xterm isn't acting on them, or the wrong string
is being sent to tn5250.

I hope this helps you drill down and see what the problem is.   You might
also consider changing the "xt5250*" string at the start of your
.Xdefaults file to be "xterm*" and see if you can get your xterm to send
strings without tn5250.  This might help you to see what steps you need to
take to get strings sending properly.


An alternative to all of this is to try the gtk-5250 (gnome-5250) terminal
front-end for tn5250.   That version reads the raw keyboard scancodes
instead of letting xterm remap things, which may work better, who knows?