Re: [LINUX5250] x5250 version 0.4.6 released

[Scott Klement <tn5250@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'm hoping that 0.4.6 is the last 0.4 release before 0.5.  If you find
> anything in tn5250 version 0.16.5 that can't be done with x5250 0.4.6
> please let me know.  x5250 and tn5250 should now match feature for feature
> and do it without mistakes.  If nothing wrong is found then this will be
> released as 0.5.0.  Then we can move on to the interesting stuff like
> proper keymapping.

a) "typeahead" (typing keys ahead of time while the system is busy.)
doesn't work properly, the keys appear to get into the keyboard buffer,
but do not get printed on the screen when they finally do get displayed.

To test this:

    type DLYJOB DLY(5) <enter>
    while that delay is running, type "WRKACTJOB" (do not press enter)

    when the delay completes, only part of the string "WRKACTJOB" will
    appear on the screen.  The cursor gets moved, but many of the
    characters you typed aren't painted.

b) It's not possible to use the left-control key as the error reset key.
   This should be the default, as it's what pretty much everyone is
   used to.

c) When you display something in reverse-image, the characters get
   reversed, but the underlines below them do not.  They should also
   be reversed.  When you have several lines of reverse-image on the
   screen, the reverse imaged spaces should look like a continuous area.
   Right now there are a few lines of black space in between them.

d) There are extra/unnecessary blank pixels between each line of text on
   the screen.  Compare an xterm screen with the same font to an x5250
   screen, note that the x5250 screen spaces the lines further apart.
   This is a waste of screen real-estate.  Makes it more difficult to
   multitask because windows don't all fit ont he screen at once.  (And
   really bugs the heck out of me.)

e) The TN5250 colsep_style config keyword should be implemented so that
   matches what the Win32 terminal has.

   This keyword controls the way that column separators are displayed,
   and has the following possible values:
      colsep_style=none
      colsep_style=dots
      colsep_style=full

f) It does not appear that the +local_print_key feature of TN5250 is
   implemented in x5250.  In tn5250 (or xt5250) you can specify this
   keyword, and several other tunables, to have the emulator generate
   a PostScript file with the screen image in it, and then direct that
   file to lpr or whatever.

   In Windows, this same feature exists, but instead of using PostScript
   it uses Windows GDI calls to send the print screen to your printer.
   This is why this print screen support was put into the terminal instead
   of into lib5250.

   Though, now that we've got tn5250, gtk-5250 and x5250, maybe it maeks
   sense to put the postscript routines in lib5250 (specifically,
   utility.c?) so that one copy of the code can be used for all of these
   terminal types.

   In any case, this needs to be implemented in x5250 if you want it to
   be feature-compatible.


Most of these things should be relatively simple to fix.  (I hope?)