Re: DDS Display attributes

Booth,

it would surprise me if using the hex codes will do you in.


The potential problem I am talking about is not replacing blanks with other
display attributes. That has been available since the S/34 and the original
5250 data stream. I was referring to the Write Extended Attribute (WEA)
display order added with the Enhanced WS Controller in the early 90's.

It lets every display position on a screen have its own color and attributes
like underline or reverse image *without* the need for a space between them
for the attribute byte. Adjacent characters can have their own colors, or
you can underline part of a word, etc.

The problem is when WEA was added to the 5250 data stream, IBM never added
the ability to utilize it from DDS so the feature is under utilized to say
the least. And because DDS does not use it, an emulator which does not
properly support it would quite likely not get reported to the vendor.

Sending a WEA display order in the 5250 data stream to a WS controller which
does not support it does indeed cause a device error. But I seriously doubt
anyone on this list is still using a WS controller from before the advent of
the "enhanced WS controller". So it is more a matter of whether the device
or emulator supports it. For physical devices, the WS controller may very
well be able to report whether WEA is supported.

For emulation, it is a matter of how closely the vendor supports all the
5250 data stream features even when they are not otherwise used by a typical
system.